The late Swami Vireswaranandaji, President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, though a nonagenarian, was very youthful in spirit and took active interest in all youth movements. In this booklet is the English translation of his stirring appeal to the youth to rebuild India. This message in Bengali was distributed as a booklet on the occasion of the first National Youth Day celebrated on 12 January 1985 at the Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Order.
Those who have succeeded in attaching or detaching their minds at will have succeeded in Pratyahara, which means gathering towards, checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thralldom of the senses. When we can do this, we shall really possess character; then alone we shall have taken a long step towards freedom. Before that, we are mere machines.
-Swami Vivekananda