Madurai, July 16, 2013: The prime reason for societal degeneration is not our religion or culture, but our failure to understand and follow them, according to Ramakrishna Math (Madurai branch) president Swami Kamalatmananda.

After welcoming the Swami Vivekananda Rath yatra on the Math premises on the New Natham Road here on Monday amid chanting of Vedic hymns by a large number of youths from far and near, the Swami said a majority of the population blindly took to the Western culture, undermining our culture, which was rich and guided by the wisdom of our ancestors.

Ours was the most successful way (of life) and one of the faces of our nation was Swami Vivekananda, whose birthday was celebrated as National Youth Day, he noted.

The Swami said each country developed on a theme, and India’s base was spirituality. Renunciation and service were the twin ideals of the nation, which we had conveniently forgotten. Great men like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore were inspired by Swami Vivekananda, and they exhorted the youth to read the books authored by Vivekananda for their betterment, he noted.

In his address, Additional SP Myil Vaganan said the majestic posture and powerful words of Swami Vivekananda inspired him. India could rely on the large youth population as the most powerful of its resources, he asserted.

Prof. R.Srinivasan of Sastra University, Thanjavur, said freedom fighters were inspired by Swami Vivekananda, but he was not a freedom fighter. Social reformers were inspired by him, but he was not a social reformer. The Swami’s concern was only the spirit and he believed that if the spirit was alright, everything would go in the right direction. Thus, he awakened the people from a deep slumber, he noted.

Krishna Jagannathan, Adiseshan and Prof.Illango among others spoke.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 16, 2013.