— Attributed to Swami Vivekananda; no primary source given
About this quote
हिन्दी में
ब्रह्मांड की सारी शक्तियाँ पहले से ही हमारी हैं। हम ही अपनी आँखों पर हाथ रख लेते हैं और फिर रोते हैं कि अँधेरा है।
What it means
Two claims, and the second does the real work. The first is metaphysics: nothing has to be acquired, only uncovered. The second is an image that places the hands precisely — they are ours, we put them there, and the verb keeps them there. Nobody blindfolded us; the obstruction has to be actively maintained, which means it costs us effort to keep it in place.
Quoted as motivation, it becomes you can do anything if you believe — but the sentence says nothing about achievement. It is about a false report on conditions. The complaint is not that we fail, it is that we describe a room as dark while holding our own hands over our eyes, and the crying is listed as part of the act, not as a reaction to it.
What it teaches you
Treat the complaint as a present-tense action rather than a description. When you hear yourself say there is no scope here, no one will listen, it is too late — ask what you would have to stop doing for that sentence to become untestable, not what you would have to start. Hands come down; they do not need to be replaced with anything.
अर्थ और सीख
पहली बात दर्शन की है — शक्ति पहले से मौजूद है, उसे कमाना नहीं, खोलना है। दूसरी बात ज़्यादा तीखी है: हाथ हमारे हैं, हमने ही रखे हैं, और उन्हें टिकाए रखने में भी मेहनत लगती है — यानी अँधेरे की शिकायत खुद एक क्रिया है, कोई प्रतिक्रिया नहीं। सीख यह है कि अगली बार जब मन कहे कि यहाँ कुछ नहीं हो सकता, तो पूछिए कि क्या शुरू करना है — नहीं, यह पूछिए कि क्या करना बंद करना है।
