4th July was a significant day in the life of Swami Vivekananda
Today is 4th July. This day was a significant day in the life of Swami Vivekananda.It links two moments which seem separated by time yet are united by profound symbolism.
On 4 July 1898, while staying in Kashmir with his Western disciples, Swami Vivekananda composed his famous poem To the Fourth of July. The occasion was the anniversary of American independence, but the poem rises far above politics. It celebrates freedom, not merely the freedom of a nation, but the eternal human quest for liberty from ignorance, fear, and bondage. Written on a houseboat in Kashmir, the poem reveals Vivekananda's conviction that true freedom is the birthright of every soul.
Exactly four years later, on 4 July 1902, the great sage consciously laid down his mortal body at Belur Math after a day of meditation, teaching, and routine monastic activities. He had often remarked that he would not live to see the age of forty, and he passed away at just 39 years 5 months. To many admirers, the coincidence is deeply moving: the man who celebrated liberty on 4 July 1898 attained what Vedanta calls the highest freedom, i.e. Mahasamadhi, on the very same date in 1902.
For the interested readers, the poem written by Swami Vivekananda on 4th July 1898 is quoted below:
To the Fourth of July
Swami Vivekananda
Behold, the dark clouds melt away,
That gathered thick at night, and hung
So like a gloomy pall above the earth!
Before thy magic touch, the world
Awakes. The birds in chorus sing.
The flowers raise their star-like crowns—
Dew-set, and wave thee welcome fair.
The lakes are opening wide in love
Their hundred thousand lotus-eyes
To welcome thee, with all their depth.
All hail to thee, thou Lord of Light!
A welcome new to thee, today,
O Sun! Today thou sheddest Liberty!
Bethink thee how the world did wait,
And search for thee, through time and clime.
Some gave up home and love of friends,
And went in quest of thee, self-banished,
Through dreary oceans, through primeval forests,
Each step a struggle for their life or death;
Then came the day when work bore fruit,
And worship, love, and sacrifice,
Fulfilled, accepted, and complete.
Then thou, propitious, rose to shed
The light of Freedom on mankind.
Move on, O Lord, in thy resistless path!
Till thy high noon o'erspreads the world.
Till every land reflects thy light,
Till men and women, with uplifted head,
Behold their shackles broken, and
Know, in springing joy, their life renewed!