Swami Vivekanand-Education of women

Dr V.K.Maheshwari . Ph.D Dr Veena Shastri. Ph.D

Former Principal Former Principal
K.L.D.A.V.College ROORKEE Sati Kund College . HARIDWAR
INDIA INDIA

“There is no chance of the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is
improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing.”
- Swami Vivekananda

Free India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote: “Rooted in the past, full of pride
in India’s prestige, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s problems, and was
a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present … he came as a tonic to the
depressed and demoralized Hindu mind and gave it self-reliance and some roots in the past.”
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose wrote: “Swamiji harmonized the East and the West,
religion and science, past and present. And that is why he is great. Our countrymen
have gained unprecedented self-respect, self-reliance and self-assertion from his
teachings.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863 – 1902), a great thinker and reformer of India, embraces
education, which for him signifies ‘man-making’, as the very mission of his life. In this
paper, which purports to expound and analyze Vivekananda’s views on women , an
endeavor has been made to focus on the basic theme of his philosophy.

Swami Vivekananda came as a dynamic force in the rise of a New India. His words and
workscontinue to be a force even after half a century of his passing away and will
continue to be same till the end of time, for all seekers of Truth

Vivekanand strongly believes that “All nations have attained greatness by paying proper
respect to women. That country and that nation which do not respect women Real Shakti
have never become great, nor will ever be in future. There is a huge difference in the
attitude of indian men and their western counterparts .Indian men believes that the
women are born to please them. The real Shakti-worshipper is he who knows that God is
the omnipresent force in the universe, and sees in women the manifestation of that
force.In America men look upon their women in this light and treat their women as well
as can be desired, and hence they are so prosperous, so learned, so free and so energetic.

So what happened to the theories that said that Indian men are family oriented and have a
deep set of values embedded in them in them since childhood?.Actually it has a lot to do
with their upbringing. In India, little boys are told that they are stronger than girls. That
sparks off a dominating streak in them that stays with them throughout their lives and
manifests various ways, be it teasing a women on the road or treating the wife like a sex
toy. It is the value learnt at home that affect through subtle messages parents often
indicate that the girl will be going to another household, while the boy will earn and
would inherit the family’s wealth. Naturally they grow up believing that they are superior
to women and may mistreat their partners later. Why can’t we just tell little boys to be
more sensitive towords girls rather than feeding their brains about such lame notion.
There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is
improved. Swami Vivekananda ,rightly observed that the condition of women in Mughal-
ruled and British-ruled India was deplorable. Swamiji said, “It is very difficult to
understand why in this country so much difference is made between men and women,
whereas the Vedanta declares that one and the same conscious self is present in all
beings. You always criticize the women, but what have you done for their enlistment?”

Swami Vivekananda glorified Indian women of the past for their great achievements as
leaders in various walks of life. He proudly states that “Women in statesmanship,
managing territories, governing countries, even making war, have proved themselves
equal to men, if not superior. In India I have no doubt of that. Whenever they have had
the opportunity, they have proved that they have as much ability as men, with this
advantage – that they seldom degenerate. They keep to the moral standard, which is
innate in their nature. And thus as governors and rulers of their state, they prove-at least
in India far superior to men. John Stuart Mill mentions this fact.”

Vivekanand strongly reasoned the cause of such degradation of Indian women “

The principal reason why our race has so degenerated is that we had no respect
for these living images of Shakti. Manu says,” Where women are respected, there
the Gods delight, and where they are not, there all work and efforts come to
naught.'’ There is no hope of rise for that family or country where they live in
sadness. The Swami was particularly worried about the degradation of women in
India.

He was emphatic that women must be educated, for he believed that it is the
women
who mould the next generation, and hence, the destiny of the country? In Vivekananda’s
educational scheme for India, the uplift of women and the masses received the highest
priority,

It is very difficult to understand why in this country so much difference is made

between men and women, whereas the Vedanta declares that one and the same
Self is present in all beings. Writing down Smritis etc., and binding them by hard
rules, the men have turned the women into mere manufacturing machines.
Vivekananda repeatedly told that India’s downfall was largely due to her
negligence of women. The great images of Brahmavadinis like Maitreyi and
Gargi of the Upanishad age, and women missionaries like Sanghamitra carrying
Buddha’s message to Syria and Macedonia, all were laying buried deep due to
millennium of foreign domination. The mid-nineteenth century India saw
women, the great mother – power shackled and degenerated to mere “child
producing machines” as Vivekananda saw it.

In the period of degradation, when the priests made the other castes incompetent to
study the Vedas, they deprived the women also of all their rights. You will find in
the Vedic and Upanishadic age Maitreyi, Gargi and other ladies of revered memory
have taken the place of Rishis.In an assembly of a thousand Brahmanas who were
all erudite in the Vedas, Gargi boldly challenged Yajnavalkya in a discussion about
Brahman,

Swami Vivekananda was of the firm opinion that women should be put in positions
of power to solve their own problems in their own way. The welfare of the world is
dependent on the improvement of the condition of the women.

The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence.

What was the way out to save and elevate Indian woman? Education was the
answer. But what kind of education? What is women’s education? Sister Christine
wrote that for weeks and months Vivekananda would be buried in thought, creating
and recreating the splendid image of the Indian woman of the future. Would a
combination of the western spirit of independence, freedom, and dynamism with
Indian austerity, purity and chastity in woman’s life be possible?

Women have many and grave problems, but none that cannot be solved by that magic
word: Education. ‘Daughters should be supported and educated with as much Care and
attention as the sons.' As sons should be married after observing Brahmacharya up to the
thirtieth year, so daughters also should observe Brahmacharya and be educated by their
parents Vivekananda was against the early marriage. Early marriage was the very reason
for the existence of so many widows, so many women dying early and the birth of
emaciated children who would only increase the number of beggars in the country.

“ Women – I should very much like our woman to have your intellectuality,
but not if it must be at the cost of purity.”

Our Hindu women easily understand what chastity means, because it is their
heritage. First of all intensify that ideal within them above everything else, so that
they may develop a strong character by the force of which, in every stage of their
lives, whether married or single if they prefer to remain so they will not be in the
least afraid even to give up their lives rather than flinch an inch from their chastity.

Swami Vivekananda views woman exactly as he views man, an individual with a

destiny. In the sphere of the pursuit of spiritual realization, which is the highest
reach of life, woman as well as man, has to walk in a single file. Perfect freedom,
independence and responsibility are involved in the individual, be it man or
woman, who longs for God alone. “In India the mother is the centre of the family
and our highest ideal. She is to us the representative of God, as God is the mother
of the universe. It was a female sage who first found the unity of God, and laid
down this doctrine in one of the first hymns of the Vedas. Our God is both personal
and absolute, the absolute is male, the personal, female,” he said.
. But what are we actually doing? They have all the time been trained in helplessness
And servile dependence on others; and so they are good only to weep their eyes out
at the approach of the slightest mishap or danger. Women must be put in a position
to solve their own problems in their own way. Our Indian women are as capable of
doing it as any in the world.

Swami Vivekananda glorified Indian women of the past for their great
achievements as leaders in various walks of life India’s reverence for women as the
symbol of chastity brought such words from Vivekananda’s lips:
“I know that the race that produced Sita – even if it only dreamt of her – has a
reverence for woman that is unmatched on the earth.”

The women of India must grow and develop in the footprints of Sita. Sita is unique.
She is the Very type of the true Indian woman,.And here she stands these
thousands of years, commanding
The worship of every man, woman and childThroughout the length and breadth of
Aryavarta.

There she will always be, this glorious Sita, purerThan purity itself, all patience, and all
suffering.
She who suffered that life of suffering without a murmur, she the ever chaste and ever
pure wife, sheThe ideal of the people, our national God she must always remain. She has
gone into the very vitals of cur race. Any attempt to modernise our women,If it tries to
take our women away from that ideal of Sita, is immediately a failure as we see everyday.

Studying the present needs of the age, it seems imperative to train some of them up in the
ideals of renunciation, so that they will take up the vow of We-long virginity, Fired with
the strength of that virtue of chastity which is innate in their blood from hoary antiquity.
Our motherland requires for her well-being some of her children to become pure souled
Brahmacharins and Brahmacharinis.
Even if one amongst the women became a knower of Brahman, then by the radiance of
her personality, Thousands of women would be inspired and awakened to truth, and great
well-being of the country and society would ensue.

Female education should be spread with religion as its centre. All other training should be
secondary to religion. Religious Training, the formation of character and observance of
the vows of celibacy these should be attended to Brahmacharinis of education and
character
should take up the task of teaching. In villages and towns they must open centres and
strive for the spread of female education. Through such devout preachers of character,
there will
secular education .The real spread of female education in the country.

History and Puranos, house-keeping and the arts, the duties of home life and the
principles that make for the developmentof character have to be taught.
Other matters such as sewing, culinary art, rules of domestic work and upbringing of
children will also be taught. Japa, worship and meditation shall form an indispensable
part of the teach-Self-defense. . . Along with other things they should acquire the spirit of
velour and heroism. In the present day it has become necessary for them also to learn
self-defense how grand was the Queen of Jhansi!

Women – “Be Emboldened”; “Embodiment of Goddess of Mother”

Vivekananda declared that the western ideal of womanhood is wife, while the eastern
ideal is mother. “The very peculiarity of Hindu women which they have developed and
which is the ideal of their life, is that of the mother…………”A nation that has educated
itself to look upon God as Mother has learnt to invest its view of woman with the utmost
tenderness and reverence. Swami Vivekananda is the first monk to uphold and do work
for the freedom and equality of women and realizing her importance for the functioning
of home and society.

So shall we bring to the need of India great fearless women? Women worthy to continue
the traditions of Sanghamitta, Lila, and Ahalya Bai and Mira Bai women fit to be mothers
of heroes, because they are pure and fearless, strong with the strength that comes of
touching the feet of God." We must see to their growing up as ideal Matrons of home in
time. The children of such mothers will make further progress in the virtues that
distinguishes them. It is only in the homesof educated and pious mothers are born.

It is the strong belief of Swami Vivekanand that if the women are raised, their children
will by their noble actions glorify the name of the country; then will culture, knowledge,
power and devotion awake in the country.

With five hundred men, the conquest of India might take fifty years; with as many
women not more than a few weeks.

The rise of outstanding women administrators, statesmen, scientists, writers and spiritual
teachers, is gradually proving the truth of these prophetic words.Today Swamiji’s words
have proved true. Following the footsteps of Sarada Devi and Sister Nivedita hundreds of
women all over the world are coming forward with a combination of the ‘mother’s heart
and the hero’s will,’ a combination of the purity of Holy Mother and the dynamism of
Rani of Jhansi or Joan of Arc.

All nations have attained greatness by paying proper respect to women. That
country and that nation which do not respect women have never become great,
nor will ever be in future, amen.

References

• Srimad Bhagavad Gita 5.25. An ancient Indian scripture.

• Speech by Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, on the
occasion of theExhibition and Seminar in Commemoration of the
Centenary of Swami Vivekananda’sAppearance at the Parliament of
Religions, Chicago, 1893, given at UNESCO Headquarters, 8 October
1993.
• Vivekananda had inspired Sir Jamshedji Tata to set up this educational
scheme when they had travelled together from Yokohama to Chicago on
the Swami’s first visit to theWest.
 • Israel Scheffler, Of human potential, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul,
1985.
• G.H. Bantock, T.S. Eliot and education. London: Faber & Faber, 1970, p.
86.
• Srimad Bhagavatam, 3.29.27.
• Edgar Faure et al., Learning to be, Paris: UNESCO, 1972, p. 156.
• Paulo Freire (1921–1997) of Brazil, one of the best known educators of
our time, developed a teaching system based on an educational process
that focuses on the learner’s environment. According to Freire, the
learner must be aware of the historical situation in which he is situated,
and he must understand how the knowledge he acquires relates to
himself and to the society he lives in. Freire lay emphasis on building
critical awareness to enable a person to read and write not words, but
true reality – i.e. to understand true reality. Critical awareness building
does not stop at reflection but includes action on that reflection.
Vivekananda also believed that a person is the maker of his own destiny
and proper education can help him achieve this.
In this connection we can cite the views of some historians. Will and Ariel
Durant, in their The lessons of history, said, ‘Evolution in men during
recorded time has been social rather than biological: it has proceeded not by
heritable variations in the species, but mostly by economic, political,
intellectual and moral innovation transmitted to individuals andgenerations by
imitation, custom or education’ (Will Durant and Ariel Durant, The lessons
of history, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968, p. 34).

• Ahluwalia, B. 1983. Vivekananda and the Indian Renaissance. New

Delhi: Associated PublishingCo.
• Avinashalingam, T.S. 1974. Educational philosophy of Swami
Vivekananda. 3rd ed. Coimbatore:
• Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya.
• Burke, M.L. 1984. Swami Vivekananda in the West: new discoveries, 6
 vols. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama.
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Madras: VivekanandaPrakashan Kendra.
• Gnatuk-Danil’chuk, A.P. 1986. Tolstoy and Vivekananda. Calcutta: The
Ramakrishna Mission.
• His Eastern and Western Admirers. 1983. Reminiscences of Swami
Vivekananda. 3rd ed. Calcutta:

• His Eastern and Western Disciples. 1989. The life of Swami Vivekananda.
2 vols. 6th ed. Calcutta:

• Hossain, M. 1980. Swami Vivekananda’s philosophy of education.

Calcutta: Ratna Prakashan.
• Nivedita, Sister. 1999. The Master as I saw him. 9th ed., 12th printing.
Calcutta: Udbodhan Office.
• Raychaudhuri, T. 1988. Europe reconsidered: perceptions of the West in
nineteenth century Bengal.Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Sengupta, S.C. 1984. Swami Vivekananda and Indian nationalism.
Calcutta: Shishu SahityaSamsad.
• Singh, S.K. 1983. Religious and moral philosophy of Swami Vivekananda.
Patna: Janaki Prakashan.
• Toyne, M. 1983. Involved in mankind: the life and message of
Vivekananda. Bourne End, United Kingdom: Ramakrishna Vedanta
Centre.
• Williams, G. 1974. The quest for meaning of Swami Vivekananda: a study
of religious change. California: New Horizons Press.