Swami Vivekananda and Sudra Jagaran or the Awakening of the masses - His visions for a future world order - Part 9

Another trend that we see worldwide is the decline of the geniuses, extra ordinary merits. In every sphere esp. in science, there are very few ground breaking ideas. So the decline in culture which Swamiji described as one of the chief traits of the coming of the age of the Sudras is probably already evident. There are not literature well worth speaking, no art that can command respect. Innovations are mostly in the commercial realms. Life expectancies and medical cares have increased but so is the need of the persons providing such services, i.e. Sudras, the serving classes. The service industry is growing exponentially and the mainstay of the jobs for a large number of people, again by definition they are Sudras. There are no charismatic leaders and military expeditions are less and less. On a global scale rise of China is an extra ordinary event as China was reduced to a deplorable state in the nineteenth and early twenthieth century. There are a billion people out there whose rising aspirations are overwhelming and unnerving the prosperous few. As predicted by Swami Vivekananda, China is now a global power and it will only increase its clout in days to come. He said, “I see before me the body of an elephant, there is a foal within, but it is a lion-cub that comes out of it. It will grow in future and China shall become great and powerful. But remember China is a sleeping giant, when she shall open her eyes it shall be directed towards India.” The last part is of concern to India, but hasn’t that already started happening in the glaring view of the callous Indian leaders who prefer to keep their eyes closed? It seems that the next in line would be Africa because it contains vast mineral reserves and other natural resources. It can well be the next seat of warfare because of its untapped wealth and huge workforce. The poor African nations are now at the receiving end but for how long? Sudra awakening is bound to spread there as well.

So what will happen under the new set up? Will large corporations decline and give way to communist like state sponsored corporations? Unlikely, because state sponsored set ups are failed experiments. We have seen that the four orders remain at any point of time, only their relative importance increase or diminish. Just as Brahmins or the scholars, flourished during Kshatriya rule but had less power, just as militaries and governments remained even when Vaishyas were powerful, the giant corporations were the ruling elite and the wars were determined by commercial interest, the other three set ups are bound to remain during Sudra rule. Only their relative importance will diminish.

Swamiji said that it is a poetic justice that the fourth order will have its day. He saw this as the divine way of delivering justice and giving everybody a fair chance to progress. His concluding words in his letter were - The other systems have been tried and found wanting. Let this one be tried — if for nothing else, for the novelty of the thing. A redistribution of pain and pleasure is better than always the same persons having pains and pleasures. The sum total of good and evil in the world remains ever the same. The yoke will be lifted from shoulder to shoulder by new systems, that is all. Let every dog have his day in this miserable world, so that after this experience of so-called happiness they may all come to the Lord and give up this vanity of a world and governments and all other botherations.