Essay on “Spirit of Adventure” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Spirit of Adventure

Essay No. 01

Adventure means the act of going out in search of the new and the unknown. In our country the desire for adventure is rare. To do a thing without an ulterior motive is foreign to our nature and temperament. We are an utilitarian people. If we go out on a journey, we do so with some object or business that may bring profit in this world, or one a pilgrimage that may bring profit in the world to come. We have records of ancient travelers coming from other countries to India; we do not know of many Indians who traveled in foreign lands in pursuit of knowledge.

There are only faint memories of Indian traders crossing the Bay of Bengal to Indonesian Islands. But this is certainly not adventure, pure an unmixed. True adventure lies in facing all the troubles and risks of running after unknown merely for the joy of it. It sends out a challenge to our spirit of heroism. It appeals to our strength of mind. The call of the unknown thrills us and excites us. Is there any risk in trying to remove the evil that keeps something hidden for our knowledge? We will take that risk and bring it within the range of our knowledge. If is the difficulty that lies in the way of discovering  the unknown, too great? We will overcome the difficulty and triumph over all the obstacles. That is the spirit. Dangers and difficulties are only the obstacles. That is the spirit. Dangers and difficulties are only the whetstone that sharpens the edge of our Endeavour.

The spirit of adventure is essentially of the west. There it is manifested in a variety of ways. People go out mountaineering or on voyages of exploration, or in the quest of knowledge. So great is this love of adventure in the people of the west that they  are not afraid to sacrifice their lives in its pursuit. The snow-capped Himalayas or the ice bound Antarctica or the wilds of Africa or the deserts of Central Asia Antarctica or the wilds of Africa or the deserts of Central Asia hold no terror for them. If it is not always, that they go out on these arduous expeditions for the sake of increasing knowledge; often it is a spirit of adventure that impels them.  Columbus voyaging across strange and unknown seas, or Gagarin hurling into the outer spaces and holding his life in the palm of his hand are a testimony to man’s eternal spirit of adventure.

The spirit of adventure has a great effect on man’s character. It makes a man brave and hardy. It makes him master of his destiny. It teaches him to be bold and yet cautious , enterprising and yet calculating, daring but no foolhardy. He must know how to balance his means against his ends. He must be vigilant and resourceful. An adventures character goes on all round  development. He is a much better man after an adventure than he was before it.

The spirit of adventure has to be fostered. We love life too well to be over – anxious to lose it. Yet it is not perhaps well to love life with a misers greed. It is good to forget about life and death and face risks with courage and boldness. It acts as a tonic and stimulant. It adds a zest to life. It makes life worth- living. 

Essay No. 02

The Spirit of Adventure

Since the coming of man on the earth, or the days of Adam and Eve in Eden, the desire to know the unknown has called forth man’s latent powers, and stimulated his spirit of adventure. The spirit of adventure acts upon man’s soul like an inspiration. It is the way to the stars and the depths of the oceans. It emboldens him to look straight into the face of greatest difficulties, odds and dangers. What is life without risk and adventure? It is from among the men of this spirit that we have had our explorers, martyrs, freedom-fighters, inventors, great rebels, revolutionaries and others who have shown the path to the mankind. It is this spirit of adventure, courage, exploits and enterprise in man that caused Shakespeare make Hamlet exclaim in wonder:

“What a piece ‘of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals”.

It is the spirit of adventure that makes man the paragon of animals. It is this courage, both moral and physical, that separates man from the beasts. This spirit has been the very essence of human existence.

Our civilization, our scientific, technological and cultural advancements owe much to these men of adventure. Where we would have been if there were no Socrates, Galileo, Marco Polo, Columbus, Captain Cook, David Livingstone, Gautam Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi and many others whose sole native power, throughout their life and career, has been this spirit of adventure. This spirit of adventure was almost the one power which was strong enough to make man conquer the circumstances however strong and hostile. It would be wrong to confine courage and adventure to the physical world alone. In the moral and spiritual world, the courage required is far more superior than physical courage. Spiritual and moral courage is of the rarest kind. Gandhiji was frail in body, but his moral courage had no match. It was because of this inner spirit of adventure and courage that Mahatma Gandhi defeated the Britishers with the weapons of truth, non-violence and non-cooperation. Think of the courage Jesus Christ showed throughout his life, and then in the face of crucifixion. Visualize the spirit of adventure and the amount of courage which Buddha showed while renouncing his kingdom, beloved wife and so darling a new born son. In his final hours of victory and enlightenment, he was attacked and assailed by the subtle demonic powers of Mara or Satan. Again it was Buddha’s soul-force and inner spirit of adventure that helped him overcome these powers of delusions, temptations and desires.

Our epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are a store-house of at adventures, exploits, fights and tales of the most fascinating enterprises. They have had been a great source of strength, courage, inspiration and determination in facing crises and undertaking adventures. Inspiration and adventure are two aspects of the same thing. Where there is inner inspiration, there is courage and adventure. Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Rani Lakshmi Bai and many other heroes of the first war of Indian independence fought in 1857, were moved by this spirit of adventure. The escape of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose from house-arrest in Calcutta to Afghanistan and then his travel to Russia, Germany and Japan and establishment of Indian National Army, all these form a series of thrilling adventure.

Man’s spirit of adventure has created one mile stone after the other on the road of progress and conquest of the forces of nature. It is because of this spirit that man could land on the moon, conquer the Everest, reach the South Pole and map the oceans. It is this indomitable spirit, exemplified by such heroes as Copernicus, Newton, Neil Armstrong, Joan of Arc, Christopher, Columbus, James Cook, Sir Fancis, Drake, Edmund Halley, Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Nietzsche, to name only a few, which has revealed the so many mysterious aspects of the unknown and translated things of fiction into those of fact and reality. Man is the master of this earth only because of his indomitable spirit to face the challenges and even to fight the death itself. Man’s courage, heroism, determination and the spirit of adventure have no limits. This spirit can be seen on both in the conquest of the forces of nature and the conquest of his own self within.

This indomitable spirit, which never knows defeat and surrender, is very beautifully illustrated by one of the fascinating tales of the Ramayana. In ancient times there were two brothers Jatayu and Sampati. They were the princes of the vultures. They were as adventurous as mighty. One day, inspired by their indomitable desire of adventure, they flew and soared higher and higher in the sky with a desire to have a very close view of the sun. Promoted by their courage they reached high in the sky following the course of the sun. From there the mountains appeared like pebbles, rivers like silver threads, the Himalayas and the Vindhyas looked like elephants in a pool of water. As they approached the sun, they were overcome with fatigue, their eyes dazed with the brilliance of the sun. They still gazed at the sun, but soon Jatayu, the younger brother had to descend precipitately to the earth. Sampati covered his younger brother with his wings to save him from being burnt, but in the process Sampati got his wings badly burnt and fell down headlong on the earth devoid of wings.

Essay No. 03

Spirit of Adventure

As human beings, we are active creatures. Our personality and the ways in which others judge us depend on what we do. Many of our activities may be obligatory in nature or absolute necessities; our lives may be in trouble if we do not do them. But there are others that are optional; those that we may do if we wish to, according to our tastes and abilities. While our choice of such activities depends on our imagination, we realize them by our spirit of adventure.

Though all of us may have the spirit of adventure; depending on our caliber and temperament, we are adventurous in different ways. A person who is physically strong may seek adventures that need endurance. Mountaineering is an adventure for which both stamina and strength are essential, besides skill and courage. Para jumping and long distance swimming are other adventures for which physical attributes have considerable importance. But all adventures are not products of endurance or physical abilities. A good majority of the numerous scientific discoveries man has made, are also the results of adventure: the adventure of thoughts, ideas and intelligence.

The spirit of adventure, in both body and mind, has contributed greatly to the progress humankind has made so far. Among other things, it was Columbus’s spirit of adventure that made him sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Had it not been for him, the American Continent might not have been discovered at the time it was. It was a similar zeal for adventure and advantage that made Marco Polo travel across Asia in the thirteenth century, and encouraged Admiral Robert Peary and Roland Amundsen to conduct expeditions to the North and South Poles respectively. A different type of adventure, inspired by the virtues of compassion and love, and fuelled by a missionary zeal, made Dr. Livingstone discover the southern part of Africa. It is thus clear, that if we were not as adventurous as we are, much of our world would still remain unknown.

We have not, however, restricted the spirit of adventure to our world only. Our fascination for the heavenly bodies and our curiosity to know about them, have encouraged us to send spacecraft to various parts of the solar system. Our knowledge about our surroundings and our understanding of the Universe are, therefore, much better than ever before. In comparison to the size and complexities of the Universe, what we know of it may be negligible. Nevertheless, we can be reasonably certain that the qualities that have helped us understand as much of the, Universe as we have, will continue to help us in the future also, until we know everything.

Though usually adventure is associated with explorations, discoveries or feats of endurance, it may be seen in ordinary, everyday life also, in a manner that is barely noticeable, until it starts showing results. Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle in South Africa started as a simple protest against racial discrimination. When he started it, even he could not have imagined that it would develop into a major and unique revolutionary movement in both South Africa and India. It was more the courage of his conviction, than his physical attributes, that helped Mahatma Gandhi succeed as he did. Nearer in time, we have the example of Mother Teresa, who started her missionary work in a small sanatorium for leprosy victims, over half a century ago. Hardly anyone could have foreseen the fruits of her zeal and faith, then.

The spirit of adventure may have helped us know our world better, made life easier and more convenient for us, or helped us achieve success that seemed improbable, but the fruits of adventure have not always been sweet or healthy. The exploration of far-off lands eventually led to their colonization and subsequently, to the exploitation and ill-treatment of the native populations. Dr. Livingstone’s expeditions to Africa is a typical example. Before his arrival, Africa was called the ‘dark continent’, but within a few decades of his death, the colonization of Africa had started, leading to exploitation of the natives. The liberation of the colonies, more often by the colonized people themselves, was in turn, inspired by their spirit of adventure and freedom.

 Similarly, after the Wright Brothers developed the aircraft, which helped promote contact among different countries, it was used as an instrument for warfare and destruction. In modern times, spacecraft, besides their use in space exploration, can also serve as weapons stations in outer space.

Thus, our tendency for adventure, based on the qualities of tenacity, self-confidence, courage, curiosity and intelligence, gives us both good and bad options. It is up to us to choose the better options so that we may continue to survive.