My stand is still the same. I cannot name even 100 leave apart one as there were different great people in different fields and naming just one would be to much.

Just think of any one whom you admire and compare with Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Abraham Lincoln. Here I may add that I considered only the successful ones who performed despite odds. Odds were very heavily against Roy. Even the victims of oppression wold not support him.

Am surprised that even the victims did not support him!! Could you explain something more about it?

Ram Mohan Roy fought against SATI system. In this system, when somebody died, his wife would also be burnt with his dead body. This was indeed very cruel and a blot on entire human race. Victims were women. But women also believed in sati system and they were proud of devotion to their husbands whom they would not leave even after death. Sati is still performed some times in Rajasthan. There are Sati temples. There is case of one Roop kanwar made Sati (killed/ burnt) in 1984. I wonder if the present day reformers like Ram Dev and anna can utter even a single word against Sati in Rajasthan and undertake fast unless sati temple is demolished.

Here the victims were the women whose husbands died. No woman would oppose Sati. Raja ram Mohan Roy fought this most evil practice despite opposition from all sections of people including women who could be killed by burning with their husbands' dead bodies.

Contrast this with others. Abraham Lincoln fought against slavery but negro slaves supported him. Lenin led Russian revolution and he was supported by masses and working class/ peasantry. In French revolution, people supported the revolution. Dr. Ambedkar was supported by the Dalits. One member has named Swami Vivekanand. He was a preacher supported by Hindus. Chankya, mentioned by one member did nothing for society but only fought against some kingdom. The freedom fighters- Gandhi, Subhash and Bhagat Singh had support of freedom loving Indians. But Raja Ram Mohan Roy got no support. He had to manage support of British rulers to make law against most inhuman practice. His work is much more significant even than India's independence. The British only ruled and did not kill anyone unless he revolted. But the Sati followers killed women without any fault of theirs except for the misfortune of widowhood.

Thus Raja Ram Mohan Roy cannot be compared to anyone and he is greatest of all- India and abroad.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh I believe was the greatest human being who shed away his life to make our nation independent. :blink:

Really a very difficult question to answer.....very very difficult. I have to think a lot :whistle: :whistle:

No one is perfect.... :evil: :evil: . Yet, let us try to find the greatest few persons.

Many names are flashing through my mind........
Gandhiji (whom I admire most), Lincoln, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Socrates, Valmiki, Vyasa, Homer ......

Now two more names are also coming in mind, Einstein, Edison and Newton.....their contributions towards the world are also not the least. Modern world is mainly standing on contributions of these two great scientists, their hard work also, I feel, is to be mentioned in this thread :) :)

Yet, let me tell you, great persons can't be compared with any other.....they are best in their own way, leaving behind them, distinct foot marks, for we people to follow. :P
So, I can't name a single greatest person. :sick: :sick: :sick:

If we talk about the 20th and 21st century only Vivekanand is a man of superman stature.

Vivekanad only gave lectures. Then why karl Marx not be considered as the top person.

Vivekanand, Aristotle, Socrates, Dayanand were men of thoughts. Let us consider men of actions and successful action, who fought against odds.

Who comes at top? One who fought against odds and with no support. This is undoubtedly Ram Mohan Roy. He fought for abolition of Sati. even the women who suffered from Sati would not rally behind him. who could be greater?

I agree with Gulshan sir, Vivekananda was an intellectual who displayed his excellent orator skills in the International world. Here we are talking about people who are known and admired for their actions.

Really a very difficult question to answer.....very very difficult. I have to think a lot :whistle: :whistle:

No one is perfect.... :evil: :evil: . Yet, let us try to find the greatest few persons.

Many names are flashing through my mind........
Gandhiji (whom I admire most), Lincoln, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Socrates, Valmiki, Vyasa, Homer ......

Now two more names are also coming in mind, Einstein and Newton.....their contributions towards the world are also not the least. Modern world is mainly standing on contributions of these two great scientists, their hard work also, I feel, is to be mentioned in this thread :) :)

Yet, let me tell you, great persons can't be compared with any other.....they are best in their own way, leaving behind them, distinct foot marks, for we people to follow. :P
So, I can't name a single greatest person. :sick: :sick: :sick:

Even Edison who invented electric bulb. :blink:

Graham Bell who invented telephone which has made greatest change in our lives. :blink:

Really a very difficult question to answer.....very very difficult. I have to think a lot :whistle: :whistle:

No one is perfect.... :evil: :evil: . Yet, let us try to find the greatest few persons.

Many names are flashing through my mind........
Gandhiji (whom I admire most), Lincoln, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Socrates, Valmiki, Vyasa, Homer ......

Now two more names are also coming in mind, Einstein and Newton.....their contributions towards the world are also not the least. Modern world is mainly standing on contributions of these two great scientists, their hard work also, I feel, is to be mentioned in this thread :) :)

Yet, let me tell you, great persons can't be compared with any other.....they are best in their own way, leaving behind them, distinct foot marks, for we people to follow. :P
So, I can't name a single greatest person. :sick: :sick: :sick:

Even Edison who invented electric bulb. :blink:

Graham Bell who invented telephone which has made greatest change in our lives. :blink:

Yes, I forget to mention his name. Let me edit it :sick:

As many members have pointed out that it's, indeed, an unenviable job to pick any particular name! Talking about thinkers and doers I have a different take. Swami Vivekanand was not mere thinker,he believed in actions. A rationalist - a pragmatist. In his short life he was one who prepared Ramakrishna Mission to plunge into actions. Today this Mission is into all kinds of nation-building activities. Rabindra Nath Tagore too believed in a similar philosophy.

It is pleasure to see that now members have come with some opinions and gave their versions. Chinmoy rightly commented that Swamy Vivekanand was not mere thinker. Some have also talked of inventors.

No doubt many have contributed to life as we find. Yet I feel that there Raja Ram Mohan Roy stands apart. This is because he had only opposition and no support. He was fighting against tide. Nobody will oppose an invention. The downtrodden will always support their savior. .Also, one is naturally inclined to help his own class. A Dalit will like to uplift Dalits. A Hindu priest or preacher will like to propagate his religion. There is not so significant about these.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was not working for his own class. He was a man and if his wife survived him, she would be Sati. He or his gender would not suffer. He did nothing specifically for himself, his own class and nobody even victims did not support him. Here lies his uniqueness. In rating him as the greatest man ever born on Earth and India, I do not mean to underrate others. I only wish to rank him First.

Albert Einstein is believed to be the most intelligent person ever had been on the earth. Einstein's "Theory of relativity" was the best ever theory any one gave to this world. :)

Albert Einstein is believed to be the most intelligent person ever had been on the earth. Einstein's "Theory of relativity" was the best ever theory any one gave to this world. :)

If you were to look for a scientist for this category why don't you pick Stephen Hawkins who despite being disabled is among the top of our times. He can neither speak, move and is on a wheelchair most of the time.