Disciple: Is the divine play of Shri Krishna with the Gopis of Vrindavan not good, then?
Swamiji: Under the present circumstances, that worship is of no good to you. Playing on the flute and so on will not regenerate the country. We now mostly need the idea of a hero with the tremendous spirit of Rajas thrilling through his veins from head to foot -- the hero who will dare and die to know the Truth -- the hero whose armour is renunciation, whose sword is wisdom.
We want now the spirit of the brave warrior in the battlefield of life, and not of the wooing lover who looks upon life as a pleasure-garden!
Disciple: Is then the path of love, as depicted in the ideal of the Gopis, false?
Swamiji: Who says so? Not I! That is a very superior form of worship (Sadhana). In this age of tremendous attachment to sense-pleasure and wealth, very few are able even to comprehend those higher ideals.
Disciple: Then are not those who are worshipping God as husband or lover (Madhura) following the proper path?
Swamiji: I dare say not. There may be a few honourable exceptions among them, but know, that the greater part of them are possessed of dark Tamasika nature. Most of them are full of morbidity and affected with exceptional weakness. The country must be raised.
The worship of Mahavira must be introduced;
the Shakti-puja must form a part of our daily practice;
Shri Ramachandra must be worshipped in every home.
Therein lies your welfare, therein lies the good of the country -- there is no other way.
- Swami Vivekananda,
Conversations and Dialogues,
recorded by Sharat Chandra Chakravarty
Swamiji: Under the present circumstances, that worship is of no good to you. Playing on the flute and so on will not regenerate the country. We now mostly need the idea of a hero with the tremendous spirit of Rajas thrilling through his veins from head to foot -- the hero who will dare and die to know the Truth -- the hero whose armour is renunciation, whose sword is wisdom.
We want now the spirit of the brave warrior in the battlefield of life, and not of the wooing lover who looks upon life as a pleasure-garden!
Disciple: Is then the path of love, as depicted in the ideal of the Gopis, false?
Swamiji: Who says so? Not I! That is a very superior form of worship (Sadhana). In this age of tremendous attachment to sense-pleasure and wealth, very few are able even to comprehend those higher ideals.
Disciple: Then are not those who are worshipping God as husband or lover (Madhura) following the proper path?
Swamiji: I dare say not. There may be a few honourable exceptions among them, but know, that the greater part of them are possessed of dark Tamasika nature. Most of them are full of morbidity and affected with exceptional weakness. The country must be raised.
The worship of Mahavira must be introduced;
the Shakti-puja must form a part of our daily practice;
Shri Ramachandra must be worshipped in every home.
Therein lies your welfare, therein lies the good of the country -- there is no other way.
- Swami Vivekananda,
Conversations and Dialogues,
recorded by Sharat Chandra Chakravarty
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