GS4 · 10 marks · 150 words

Swami Vivekanand brought religion to the centre-stage and gave a new meaning to it while stressing the need for harmony among faiths. In this context, discuss the relevance of his teachings in contemporary society.

Answered by 6 toppers · CSE 2017–2019

Indian ThinkersHuman Values

Syllabus: Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world.

How toppers approached it

From all 6 answers · about 140 words.

Opening

  • No separate opening83%
  • A date or context17%

Body

  • Points and prose33%
  • Points33%
  • Continuous prose33%

Close

  • No separate close33%
  • A summary33%
  • A way forward33%

The toppers’ answers

Saumya SharmaAIR 9 · CSE 2017 · 153 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening

Swami Vivekananda brought Hinduism's tenets to the world. His Ramakrishna Ashram has membership worldwide. The core beliefs are:-

Body · points and prose

  1. Harmony
  2. Brotherhood
  3. One God and One Religion
  4. Compassion
  5. Finding God by helping humans

The reason for its massive popularity was it was easy to adopt, allowed idol worship as a means to connect with divinity, and stressed on common characteristics between different peoples and communities.

Relevance of his teachings:

• In a post-truth world, his teachings tell us to not jump to conclusions that give rise to hatred. Instead, one should have feelings of trust on the other.

• The rise of far right groups that try to impose their own ideology on others should learn from the accomodative harmony promoted by Vivekananda.

• His teachings are relevant in environment protection.

• Respecting all humans equally - relevance for labour laws, informal workers, migrants and those belonging to 'low' castes.

Close · no separate close

None written.

More on Indian Thinkers

Moral thinkers and philosophers from India used as a source: Gandhi, Buddha, Vivekananda, Kautilya, Tiruvalluvar, Ambedkar, Kabir and others.

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