India depends on the strength of the individual, and the realisation by each man of the divinity within. Emancipation is the ultimate aim of every human being.
Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. He suggested the centrality of courage and hard work. Patience and consistent effort, according to Swami Vivekananda, is the only way to success. ‘Faith in ourselves and faith in God - this is the secret of greatness’.
His guidance to humanity, and particularly to the youth, remain relevant and resonant even today. Fear is the root cause of evil and misery. When we do good to others our thoughts get purified. ‘We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far. The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.

Shakti and Service

Chapter fourteen is about women. Swamiji was a ‘shakti–worshipper ’. He had a sacred esteem for women and motherhood. He believed that if women are empowered, they would solve their own problems. He

wanted women to have full freedom to understand their own ideals, their problems and to propose solutions for their own betterment. Women could tap into and use their capabilities, if they were properly educated. He believed in the self-respect and self-dignity of women and wanted no man to trample upon it, be it in the guise of protection or otherwise.
Motherhood and womanhood in general, turned out for him to be the repository of Indic culture and traditions. Reposing his faith in ancient Vedic literature, he claimed that women’s freedom and equality were inherent within the Indic culture and that these values had been passed on through generations by the people of the Vedic era. A society that regarded Devi as the soul-force of the universe surely had to place women on an equal pedestal with men, if not superior. This is also the reason why Vivekananda believed that a society’s progress, well-being, and salvation lay with its women.
He identified responsibility as the core value of motherhood, and consequently that of the Indic civilisation. Swami Vivekananda, as a futurist, viewed women as the harbingers of our civilisation and

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