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Memoirs of great lives - 2 (Mahapurushon Ke Avismarniya Jivan Prasanga - I): Vangamaya Vol-50

Every episode of the lives of great personalities showers the nectar of inspiring guidance, solace and courage to soothe our minds and heart even in the moments of fury, tension, anguish, apprehension, depression, tragedy, anxiety, dilemma or confusion…. The noble company of such persons is described in the scriptures as of immense help in spiritual, intellectual and moral refinement and arousal of ideal tendencies. Be those the challenges of unprecedented adversities, contemporary problems of a society, nation, or of the world as a whole, or those associated with the ‘routine’ matters of ups and downs in the lives of most people, the pure intellect and divine sentiments of great persons find amicable and efficient solutions of every problem. Meeting and discussions with them offers instant courage and inspirations.
Finding the noble company of the above kinds of people, who possess absolute integrity and eminence of character and self-less attitude and purity of heart, appears to be almost impossible in the present circumstances. Although, a large number of religious leaders, scholars and dedicated social workers exist in different parts of the globe, the proportion of those having perfect consonance of words and deeds is significantly low. Very few of them can create deeper impulses in the inner minds of their disciples or educe virtuous tendencies in the people who come in their contact. Nevertheless, the vivid memories, the biographies, the historical accounts of the gamut of activities associated with the great lives continues to serve the purpose of their inspiring company and guidance even when they are no more with us…..
Biographies of some divinely enlightened saints, altruist social reformers, immortal leaders and architects of modern history were reviewed in the volume nos. 43, 44, 45 of this series with thorough discussions on the philosophies of divine culture resurrected by them in real life. The major objective there was to arouse the otherwise dormant virtuous tendencies existing in every human being in one form or the other. These volumes also aimed at the same time at re-orienting the intellectual eminence, valor, endurance, determination and other talents and potentials of the ‘supposed’ architects of the world today towards the righteous path of altruist service and welfare which would lead to culmination of their own success and glory along with brightening the chances of happy future for humanity.
The present volume together with the next in this series compiles important and interesting episodes and memoirs of the illuminated lives of all those who have made significant contributions in different areas of importance in the cultural evolution and civilization of the world since several thousands years and are of special relevance in the present times.
The lucid style of presentation and vivid descriptions here would help each one of us enjoy and enlighten ourselves in the noble ‘company’ of those who have added to the happiness, hope, prosperity and peace of our world…..
People of different age-groups and different social, educational, and psychological backgrounds will all find something preciously useful in these volumes. Different episodes of the gamut of great lives are presented here in the style of short stories. These would serve as excellent teachers of morality for the children too. Reading these will be no less interesting for the children than the storybooks, which they eagerly look for! These volumes would collectively offer rare information, moral education, entertainment and adept guidance for solving different problems of human life too.
The first two chapters of the present volume describe important incidents associated with the lives of – Jesus Christ, Gautam Buddha, Mahaveer Swami, Kumarjeeva, Maharshi Panini, King Ashoka, Chanakya, Socrates, Confucius, Aristotle, Shankaracharya, Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa, etc. Special attention is paid on the aspects which would encourage the readers to boldly face the challenges and problems of day-to-day life and inspire them to overcome all hindrances on the way of achieving higher goals of human dignity….. Although the biographies of many of the great personalities are published and might be known to many of us, the grand collection of the rare memoirs of such lives at one place is indeed rare and adds to the significance of these volumes.
The apparently simple narration, without heavy philosophical discussions and intellectual analysis, presented here is like a ‘tiny arrow’ which is light but sharp enough to penetrate our minds and hearts and vibrate our inner sentiments…. Same is true of the pathetic descriptions of the struggles, which were smilingly faced by the spiritually elevated saints and social reformers in their worldly lives for the noble cause of sharing others’ pains and agony and distributing love, peace and knowledge beyond all barriers. The list of these monuments of the glory of Indian culture presented here includes – Saints Raidas, Tukaram, Chaitanya, Namdeva, Gyaneshwar, Pauhari Baba, Matsyendra Nath, Swami Vivekananda, Maharshi Arvind, Maharshi Raman, Swami Ramtirtha, Guru Nanaka Deva and other noble gurus of the Sikh cult, Saints Kabir, Malookadas, Vasaveshvar, Dadu, Ekanath, Raghavendra Swami, Swami Virajananda, Acharya Ramdas, etc…...
The next chapter is devoted to the memories of the brilliant messengers of humanity whose ‘self ’ had been refined, culminated and expanded so much that it could encompass the entire world in its domain of affection…. Swami Sahajanand, Sane Guruji, Vir Haqiqata Rai, Saint Emerson, Father Damiyen, Pope Pious, Robert Isop, J. Krishnamurthi, Guru Gorakhanath, Sadhu Waswani, Ravishankar Maharaj, Swami Tukadoji, Narayana Guru, Jalaram Bapa, Swami Bhakti Vedanta, Saint Fateha Singh, Mahatma Bhagawan Deen, Guru Golwalkar, Swami Muktananda, Sir John Woodroffe, etc – are among those, the inspiring events, teachings and contributions of whose creative lives are highlighted here.
The fourth chapter describes the shining examples and memoirs selected from the life-histories of the architects of the progressive society of India in the modern times. Significant among these are – Devamitra, Dharampal, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Chittaranjan Das, Thakkar Bapa, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Lala Hardayal, Raja Mahendra Pratap, Lokmanya Tilak, Maharshi Karve, Saradar Patel, Damodar Satawalekar, Dr. Bhima Rao Ambedakar, Dada Bhai Nauroji, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Raghavdasji, etc.
The last chapter is a tribute to the sincere dedication, unperturbed endeavors and eminent contributions of the great thinkers, scholars and scientists like – Romain Rolland, Prince Kropatkin, Voltaire, Maxim Gorki, Martin Luther King, Binova Bhave, Henry Doona, Luis Pasteur, Theodore Wilder, Dr. Edward Jenner, Sir Garfield, Isaac Newton, Openhymer, Max Plank, Ramanujam, Maulana Mazaharula Haq, Dr. Homi Bhabha, etc, who have laid the foundation of the prosperous development of the world in the modern age…..
Sacrifices and miraculous eminence of some ancient rishis – such as Maharshis Dadhichi, Parashuram, Dhaumya, Nagarjuna, etc are also cited for relevant comparison and emphasizing the limitless potentials of human life…
At the present juncture of two millenniums of the flow of time, of the conjugation of two opposite trends of ‘materialist advancement’ and ‘moral decline’ in the human society, when the crisis of faith has reached an alarmingly high level, one naturally feels apprehensive about the future…. However, even in these moments of despair and threats to the happy survival of humanity and its original culture…., the immortal lives and glorious deeds of great personalities do educe our faith in the divinity existing in the human self and arouse our inner strength with instant enlightenment.
The present volume offers us this opportunity in an interesting and inspiring way with multiple reflections of integrity, piety, generosity, compassion, endurance, dedication, acumen, wisdom, enthusiasm, foresight, altruism, spirituality, and other virtues and powers bestowed upon human life, which, if aroused and used the way the great men and women before us had, can indeed culminate this life up to the high realms of divine glory.