The Secret of Work by Swami Vivekananda Prose summary, Indian Writing in English, B.A English Literature 1st Year 2nd Semester, University of Madras

 BA English Literature

 [1^st Year, 2^nd Semester] 

Core Paper IV: INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH 

UNIT 2: Prose

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2.1“The Secret of Work” - Swami Vivekananda 

About Author:     

The original name of Swami Vivekananda is Narendranath Dutta (1863 - 1902). Narendra left Bombay for Chicago on 31 May 1893 with the name "Vivekananda", as suggested by Ajit Singh of Khetri, which means "the bliss of discerning wisdom".

Swami Vivekananda, the most well-known of disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, is well know for his extensive exposition of the four types of Yoga – Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga. The lecture titled “The Secret of Work” belongs to his extensive commentaries on the Yoga of Action (Karma Yoga).

He revived Hinduism in India and introduced it in the West. His famous speech was in the Parliament of Religions, Chicago, which took place in September 1893. He call to the nations was “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached”.

He adopted Hindu philosophy with new interpretations. Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated in India as National Youth Day. He died at the age of 39.         

Notable works:            

Some of his books include Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, The East And The West, Pearls Of Wisdom, Jnana Yoga, My India, The India Eternal, Practical Vedanta, and the poem Kali The Mother.

His works were compiled to form a nine volume set “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”.

About Prose:

The secret of work is written by Swami Vivekananda. It is taken from “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Volume I ”. Karma- Yoga, Chapter III – The Secret of Work.

Karma Yoga means; even at the point of death any one, without asking questions. 

In the essay ‘The Secret of Work’, he explains the nature of work, the things that guide the conduct of human beings and the direct method of curing the miseries of the world.

The Secret of Work:     

The secret of work is written by Swami Vivekananda. It is taken from “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Vol. II”

Swami Vivekananda was one of the greatest Indian philosophers. He was also a preacher and a writer.

This essay is about the importance of spiritual help. According to Vivekananda a person can help others by different ways. According to that there are mainly three types of help.

1) Physical help

2) Intellectual help

3) Spiritual help 

Examples for the three types of help :

• An example of physical need is hunger. 
• An example of intellectual need is knowledge. 
• An example of spiritual need is enlightenment. 

Vivekananda describes the greatest help that can be given is the spiritual help because the spiritual knowledge only can give permanent satisfaction to the human beings.

Next important help for the author is the intellectual help because giving knowledge with the help of reason or the intellectual help is important to remove ignorance from human life.

The Swami continues his explanation of the nature of real life and its relationship to knowledge. The lack of spiritual knowledge and the addiction to wants is true misery. So, as and when we help others in this aspect of life, we have the potential to do greatest good. However, elsewhere, Vivekananda has also said – “One cannot give spirituality and religion to a physically hungry person…” – for that is their primary want. This is not a contradiction. We help them physically. But, if possible, we are not to stop there. We open the door for them to intellectual and spiritual knowledge.

He describes these three types of help in detail and comes to the conclusion that spiritual help is the greatest help.  He is of the view that physical help can remove physical needs of the human beings but human needs are endless. So there is no end to the suffering of the humanity. Hence most important thing in human life is to put an end to the needs in life. This can be done with the help of spiritual knowledge only. Swami Vivekananda thinks that a spiritually strong person can only be satisfied.

He also talks about the importance of intellectual help. According to him giving intellectual help through knowledge can remove ignorance from human life. He also thinks that “Ignorance is the mother of evil and of all the misery’’. Knowledge removes ignorance and, in that way, removes all the miseries in human life.

He further explains his assertion that “spiritual help is the highest help” by stating that “spirituality is the true basis of all activities in life”. In this way according to Vivekananda spiritual help is the greatest help that can be given to others. Next to the spiritual help is the intellectual help that is giving knowledge to others to destroy ignorance. He also talks about the physical help. In this way helping others in different ways is the secret of work according to Swami Vivekananda.

Regarding work, he discusses three things: 

1) how we must work, 

2) what are the effects of a work and 

3) what are the objectives of a work. 

Vivekananda explains about the impacts on a person's character. He gives reference of Bhagavad Gita which asks us to work incessantly. There are two effects of any work upon its performer: Goodness and badness. Effects of a work leave impressions in the mind which in turn determine the character of a person. Good effects leave good impressions in the mind which in turn make the character of a person good. Similarly with bad. Our mind should be like a lake. When it is disturbed, ripples are formed but later subside leaving no impression on the surface. Similarly, we will receive impressions but we should not let it get inscribed on our brain. The more the impression the stronger is the character, be it good or bad. Just like a tortoise tucks itself inside its shell and never comes out during disturbances, a person's character will never let him do anything against his will.

      The rippling effect of the work done by us is called ‘Samskara’. Good and evil actions will have their consequences. Good actions bring good and bad actions lead to bad. We have to work continuously without any attachments. Then only, our soul can be free of bondage. Every work we do leaves an impression on the subconscious region of the mind. The sum total of such impressions makes our character. We have do good work without expecting result to build a good character. If our ‘Samskara’ is good our character will be good.

We have to work continuously without being ‘attached’ to it. Our work should not affect our mind. Then only, our soul can be free of bondage. Every work we do leaves an impression on the subconscious region of the mind. The sum total of such impressions makes our character. We have do good work without expecting result to build a good character.

When we work like stranger to the land without bonding ourselves to it. If we are able to work like that, we are working like masters. If we are bound by our work, we are doing our work as slaves. We have to work with love and without attachment. We must not be selfish while working. Selfish work is slave’s work. 

Every act of love brings happiness, peace and blessedness. Real love makes us ‘unattached’. We have to look upon work as ‘worship’, dedicating the result of our work to God. Therefore be “unattached”; let things work; let brain centres work; work incessantly, but let not a ripple conquer the mind. The great saying of the Sankhya, “the whole of nature is for the soul, not the soul for nature”. The very season of nature’s existence is for the education of the soul; it has no other meaning; it is there because the soul must have knowledge, and through knowledge free itself. 

After the battle of Kurukshetra the five Pandava brothers performed a great sacrifice and made very large gifts to the poor. But the sacrifice of the Brahmin family as narrated by the mongoose was greater. The idea of complete self-sacrifice is illustrated in the story. This self sacrificed, unattached work is called as the secret of work.

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Unit 2, Organs of Speech, Respiratory Region, Phonatory Region and Articulatory Region, Air Stream Mechanisms and its types, Aspects of English Language – II, 2nd Year, 4th Semester, BA English Literature syllabus, University of Madras

 University of Madras

Syllabus with effect from 2020-2021

BA English Literature

[2^nd Year, 4^th Semester]

ASPECTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE – PAPER II

Unit 2: Organs of Speech, 

Respiratory Region, Phonatory Region and Articulatory Region, 

Air Stream Mechanisms and its types

Organs of Speech:

Respiratory Region, Phonatory Region and Articulatory Region:

In the production of speech sounds, we need an air-stream mechanism. In the process of the air passage, various organs act for the speech sounds. These organs are organs of speech. The organs, which involve in the production of speech sounds, are the lungs, the vocal cords, the tongue, the teeth and the lips. Based on the roles they perform in the conversion of air into sounds, these organs can be grouped as:

(1) The Respiratory system

(2) The Phonatory system

(3) The Articulatory system

The Respiratory System:

        It consists of the lungs, the muscles of the chest and the windpipe. Through the expiration process, the air is pushed and this is the basis of most of the speech sounds.

The Phonatory system:

It consists of larynx, situated at the top of the windpipe. Larynx is also called Adam’s apple. The vocal cords are situated in the larynx. The opening between the cords is called the glottis. These cords can be opened and closed. When the two cords come very close to each other, the glottis will be shut completely. The glottis is opened when we breathe in and out and the cords are drawn wide apart. At this time, the air gets out of the lungs through this wide open glottis. Sounds produced with a wide open glottis are called voiceless sounds.

The consonant sounds /p/, /t/, /k/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/ and /h/ are examples for voiceless sounds. In the production of some speech sounds, the vocal cords are loosely held together, and during this time the pressure of the air from the lungs makes the cords open and close rapidly.

The vocal cords vibrate at this time and the sound that is produced by the vibration of the cords is called voiced sounds. All vowels are normally voiced. The consonant sounds such as /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /l/ and /r/ are voiced sounds. Whether a sound is voiced or voiceless can be determined on the basis of this vibration. This vibration can be felt by placing our fingers lightly on the larynx. During the production of a voiced sound, it vibrates. If it is a voiceless sound, no vibration.

The Articulatory system:

Articulatory system consists of the roof of the mouth, tongue, the lips, the teeth, and the nose. Their position and function at the time of the air passage produce speech sounds. Each of this organs either actively or passively has a role in producing sounds. 

The following are the major articulators involved in the production of speech sounds.  

(a) The Larynx and Vocal Cords:

The larynx is the little box that is popularly called the Adam’s apple. It is a casing, formed of cartilage and muscle, a bony box like structure in the front of the throat, situated in the upper part of the wind-pipe or the trachea, containing a valve like opening consisting of two memberanous tissues, the vocal cords. The vocal cords are like a pair of lips placed horizontally from front to back. They are joined in the front, but can be separated at the back, and the opening between them is called glottis. When we breathe in and out, the glottis is open. This is the position of production of the breathed or voiceless sounds. For example /f, θ, s, h/ as in the English words fan, think, sell, hell.

(b) The roof of the mouth:

The parts the teeth-ridge, the hard palate, soft palate and the uvula form the roof of the mouth.

The convex bony part of the roof of the mouth which lies immediately behind the upper front teeth is called teeth-ridge, also known as alveolar ridge or alveolum. Immediately after the teeth-ridge, the roof of the mouth becomes concave and hard and bony. This surface part is called hard palate. Soft palate lies just behind the hard palate where the surface of the roof of the mouth is soft and fleshy. Soft palate is also known as velum. The fleshy structure hanging loose at the extreme end of the roof of the mouth is called uvula.

The passage of air is possible through nasal cavity as well. It becomes possible when the soft palate is lowered and the passage of air into the nose is opened and the passage into the mouth is blocked. So the air from the lungs escapes only through the nose. Sounds produced at this time are called nasal sounds. The consonant sounds /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/are nasal sounds.

If the soft palate is raised and it touches the back wall of the pharynx, the air passage into the nose is closed. So the air escapes only through the mouth. Sounds produced during this time are called oral sounds. The closure of the nasal passage of air by raising the soft palate is called velic closure.

(c) The tongue:

The tongue is the active articulator in the production of speech sounds. Considering its positions and function, the tongue can be divided into the tip, the blade, the front, the back, and the root of the tongue. The extreme edge of the tongue is called the tip. Immediately after the tip is the blade of the tongue and it lies opposite of the teeth-ridge. Beyond the blade lies the front of the tongue and its position is opposite of the hard palate. The back of the tongue lies beyond the front of the tongue and its position is opposite of the soft palate. Even beyond the back of the tongue is its root.

(d) The lips:

The lips are also active articulators in the production of certain speech sounds. Both the upper lip and the lower lip function together to produce the consonant sounds like /p/, /b/ and /m/.

(e) The teeth:

Both the upper teeth and the lower teeth are articulators in producing sounds. They are passive articulators and lie immediately behind the lips. The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds. Sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth are called dental. E.g. /f/ and /v/.

The Air-Stream Mechanism:

An air-stream mechanism is needed in the production of speech sounds. The air flows through the mouth for producing different sounds. This stream of air is the basis of speech sounds. For the production of many speech sounds, lung-air is used. The air that we breathe out is modified into speech sounds. Our breathing system or respiratory mechanism consists of the lungs, the muscles of the chest and the windpipe. The respiration process involves inspiration and expiration, the former is taking outer air into the lungs and the latter is throwing out air from the lungs. It is the expiratory air or the air that we breathe out is the basis of most of the speech sounds.

There are three main air-stream mechanisms:

(1) Pulmonic air-stream mechanism

(2) Glottalic air-stream mechanism

(3) Velaric air-stream mechanism

Pulmonic air stream mechanism:

This air-stream mechanism is used in all languages in the production of most speech sounds. It consists of the lungs and the respiratory muscles. In the production of a sound, an initiation is required. Here the walls of the lungs act as the initiator. When the air-stream mechanism is used to push air out, it is called egressive and when it is used to draw air in, it is called ingressive. In producing sounds, the air needs to be pushed out, so we are using an egressive air-stream mechanism for most of the speech sounds. All English sounds are produced using this mechanism and ingressive mechanism is not used for speech sounds.

Pulmonic egressive sounds are found in all human languages. In many languages, such as English, all of the sounds are pulmonic egressive. Pulmonic ingressive sounds are physically possible but seem not to be used in human languages. Some languages use them paralinguistically, that is, for communication outside of the normal linguistic system. It is unclear whether pulmonic egressives occur as normal speech sounds.

Glottalic air-stream mechanism:

The closed glottis acts as the initiator and the air in the pharynx is used. The body of air that’s trapped inside the vocal tract above the larynx while the glottis (the opening between the vocal folds) remains closed. The closed glottis can be moved upward to push the air out of the mouth (egressive). It can also be moved downward to pull the air into the mouth (ingressive). When either of these actions occurs, it is said that there is a glottalic airstream mechanism, denoting the central role of the glottis in this process.

Both egressive and ingressive glottalic air-stream mechanism are used for the speech sounds of some languages. An egressive glottalic airstream mechanism is used to produce ejective stop consonants. Several languages in the world including American Indian languages, African languages and languages spoken in the Caucasus have ejective consonants in their sound systems. An ingressive glottalic airstream mechanism is involved in the production of implosive stops. Several languages in the world including Vietnamese, Cambodian, Sindhi etc. include implosives in their sound systems.

Velaric air-stream mechanism:

The back of the tongue is the initiator and the air in the mouth is set in motion. This mechanism is also referred to as oral air-stream mechanism. This is the airstream mechanism used to produce a class of stop consonants called ‘clicks.’ In the production of clicks, there is a velar closure in which the back of the tongue is raised to make a complete contact with the soft palate, and the body of air involved in click production is in front of this closure. Many English speakers have some clicks used paralinguistically.

Velaric egressive sounds are physically impossible because there is no way to compress the portion of the oral tract between the velar closure and the anterior closure. Velaric ingressive mechanism is used in several African languages.

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