12 the vedanta kesari december 2013 by Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai

The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 100, No. 12

ISSN 0042-2983

A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER

Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavâdin, it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914. For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.chennaimath.org

Spotlight: Swami Vivekananda—The Man and His Message

CONTENTS DECEMBER 2013

Prayer

445

Editorial  Swami Vivekananda—the Man and His Message

452

Articles  Swami Vivekananda, the Great Spiritual Master 461 Swami Gautamananda  The Continuing Development of The Complete Works 468 Swami Atmarupananda  Swami Vivekananda: A Knower of God 474 Swami Brahmeshananda  Swami Vivekananda —An Exponent of the Scriptures 481 Swami Atmapriyananda  Perfect Independence—Vivekananda, Freedom and Women: East and West 488 Pravrajika Vrajaprana  Swami Vivekananda as a Scientific Thinker 493 N.V.C.Swamy  Swami Vivekananda’s Sense of Humour 498 Swami Bhaskarananda  Swami Vivekananda, An Inspiring Educationist 502 Swami Abhiramananda  Swami Vivekananda—A Quintessential Servant-Leader 509 Asim Chaudhuri  Swami Vivekananda: An Ideal Monk 515 Swami Dayatmananda  Swami Vivekananda—the Great Worshipper of the Divine Mother 521 Swami Mahayogananda

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Swami Vivekananda’s Message to Modern Indian Women Prema Nandakumar Swami Vivekananda’s Concept of A Monastic Organization Swami Kritarthananda Swami Vivekananda—The Prophet of Service R Balasubramaniam Swami Vivekananda: the Prophet of Religious Harmony Swami Atmajnanananda Manliness, Strength, and the Religious Connection William Page Swami Vivekananda—The Icon Before the Indian Youth M. Pramod Kumar Swami Vivekananda’s Guidelines on Living Satish K Kapoor Swami Vivekananda and Youth—A Global Perspective Pravrajika Shuddhatmaprana Swami Vivekananda: A Genius in Music Swami Kripakarananda Swami Vivekananda—The Monk on the Move Swami Sarvasthananda Swami Vivekananda: The Source of Inspiration for India’s Freedom Struggle Somenath Mukherjee Swami Vivekananda’s Message of Social Upliftment Swami Lakshmidharananda Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas on Economics P. Kanagasabapathi ‘An Orator by Divine Right’ K Subrahmanyam Swami Vivekananda—An Outstanding Communicator Prema Raghunath

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527 532 541 547 552 561 565 570 574 583 591 598 605 610 616

Compilation ‘There is Not one Like Him’  A Prince Among Men  ‘I am a Voice without Form’

447 555 622

Features  Simhâvalokanam (Swami Vivekananda—A Spokesman of the Divine Logos) Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

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Annual Index 626 Cover Story: Page 4

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The Vedanta Kesari Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 h (044) 2462 1110 (4 lines) Fax : (044) 2493 4589 Email : mail@chennaimath.org Website : www.chennaimath.org TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS

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N Cover Story N The Man and His Message Swami Vivekananda was a unique personality in the world history. His message was the message of eternity—eternal message for a changing world. Swami Vivekananda, the man, was an embodiment of his message. He personified his own message. This spotlight issue of the Vedanta Kesari focuses on how Swamiji—his personality and life, and his message—the grand ideas and ideals he expounded with rare clarity and conviction, continues to light up the path mankind longs to tread. Two images of Swamiji on the cover, bright one in the front with a shadow image behind it, represent the fact that behind his message was the man—his experiences, convictions and the movements that he set into motion. The lighted lamp in the corner is indicative of his Presence in the midst of all challenges and harsh facts that we need to overcome. Surely, as Sri Aurobindo said, ‘Behold, Vivekananda still lives in the soul of his Mother and in the souls of her children.’ 

T he V edanta K esari P atrons ’ S cheme We invite our readers to join as patrons of the magazine. They can do so by sending Rs.2000/- or more. Names of the patrons will be announced in the journal under the Patrons' Scheme and they will receive the magazine for 20 years. Please send your contribution to The Manager, The Vedanta Kesari by DD/MO drawn in favour of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai with a note that the enclosed amount is for the Patrons' Scheme. (This scheme is valid in India only). DONORS

PATRON

Dr. Pankajam Sitharam, Srirangam Mr. V. Venkateswaran, Chennai

Rs. Rs.

5000 1000

671. T.J. Jayadevan, Kerala

The Vedanta Kesari Library Scheme SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS

AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS

5724. Dr. Triveni Shekaraiah, U.K. 5725. -do- 5726. -do-

Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, Karnataka - 560 029 Tata Memorial Centre, Solapur, Maharashtra - 413 401 Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal - 462 001

5727. 5728. 5729. 5730. 5731. 5732.

Cancer Institute (WIA), Sardar Patel Road, Chennai - 600 020 Rotary Cancer Hospital, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi - 110 029 Indian Cancer Society, Jerbai Wadia Road, Mumbai - 400 012 Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai - 400 012 Girijana Seema Welfare Association, Chintur Post, Khammam Dist. - 507 126 H.V.R.A. Welfare Society of Aged Persons, Thiruvaru, T.N. - 521 227

-do- -do- -do- -do- -do- -do-

To be continued . . .

The Vedanta Kesari VOL. 100, No. 12, DECEMBER 2013 ISSN 0042-2983

E ACH

SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE.

T HE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN. 5

Salutations to Sage Vivekananda

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Compilation

‘There is Not one Like Him’ Swami Vivekananda [Narendra] in the Eyes of Sri Ramakrishna Narendra’s Divine Origin Narendra belongs to a very high plane— the realm of the Absolute. He has a manly nature. So many devotees come here, but there is not one like him.1 One day I saw that, through Samadhi, my mind was going up by a luminous path. Going beyond the gross world studded with the sun, the moon and the stars, it entered first of all into the subtle world of ideas. The more it began to ascend to subtler and subtler strata of that realm, the more did I see beautiful ideal forms of deities existing on both sides of the path. It came gradually to the last extremity of that region. I saw a barrier of light there separating the realm of the divisible from that of the indivisible. Leaping over it, the mind entered by degrees the realm of the indivisible. I saw that there was no more any person or thing there having a form. As if afraid to enter there, even the gods and goddesses possessing heavenly bodies exercised their authority only over realms far below. But the very next moment I saw seven wise Rishis having bodies consisting of divine Light only, seated there in Samadhi. I felt that in virtue and knowledge, love and renunciation, they had excelled even the gods and goddesses, not to speak of human beings. Astonished, I was pondering over their greatness when I saw before me that a part of the homogeneous mass of Light of the ‘Abode of the Indivisible’, devoid of the slightest tinge T h e

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of difference, became solidified and converted into the form of a Divine Child. Coming down to one of those Rishis, and throwing its soft and delicate arms round his neck, the Divine Child embraced him, and afterwards calling him with its ambrosial words, sweeter than the music of the Vina, made great efforts to wake him up from his Samadhi. The Rishi woke up at the delicate and loving touch and looked on at that wonderful Child with half-shut eyes, free from winking. Seeing his bright face, full of delight at the sight of the Child, I thought that the Child was the treasure of his heart, and that their familiarity was a matter of eternity. The extraordinary Divine Child then expressed infinite joy and said to him, ‘I am going, you must come with me!’ The Rishi said nothing at that request, but his loving eyes expressed his hearty assent. Afterwards, looking on the Child with loving eyes, he entered again into Samadhi. Astonished, I then saw that a part of the mind and body of that Rishi, converted into the form of a bright light, came down to the earth along the reverse path. Hardly had I seen Narendra for the first time than I knew that he was the Rishi.2 First Meeting with Narendra Naren entered this room on the first day through the western door (facing the Ganga). I noticed that he took no care of his body. The hair of his head and his dress were not at all trim. Unlike others, he had no desire at all

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for any external object. He was, as it were, unattached to anything. His eyes indicated that a major part of his mind was perforce drawn ever inward. When I saw all these, I wondered, ‘Is it ever possible that such a great spiritual aspirant possessing a superabundance of Sattva, should live in Calcutta, the home of worldly people?’3 There was a mattress spread on the floor. I asked him to sit down on it. He sat down near the jar of Ganga water. A few acquaintances of his also came with him that day. I felt that their nature was just like that of ordinary worldly people and was quite opposite to his. Their attention was directed to enjoyment only.4 On inquiry, I came to know that he had learnt two or three Bengali songs only. I asked him to sing them. He began singing the Brahmo song.5 When Narendra had lost his normal consciousness, I asked him that day many questions, such as who he was, where he came from, why he came (was born), how long he would be here (in this world) and so on. Entering into the depths of his being, he gave proper answers to all these questions. These answers of his confirmed what I thought and saw and knew about him in my visions. It is forbidden to reveal those things. But I have known from all these that on the day when he will know who he is, he will no more remain in this world; he will immediately give up his body through Yoga, with the strong power of will. Narendra is a great soul perfect in meditation.6 At my first meeting with Narendra I found him completely indifferent to his body. When I touched his chest with my hand, he lost consciousness of the outer world. Regaining consciousness, Narendra said: ‘Oh, what have you done to me? I have my T h e

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father and mother at home!’ The same thing happened at Jadu Mallick’s house. As the days passed I longed more and more to see him. My heart yearned for him. . . On coming down to the plane of ordinary consciousness, a man established in Samadhi enjoys himself in the company of sattvic people. He feels peace of mind at the sight of such men.’ When I heard this my mind was set at ease. Now and then I would sit alone and weep for the sight of Narendra.7 There are certain signs of a Jnani [seeker or knower of Absolute Reality]. Narendra has big protruding eyes.8 Look at Narendra. He doesn’t care about anyone. One day he was going with me in Captain’s carriage. Captain wanted him to take a good seat, but Narendra didn’t even look at him. He is independent even of me. He doesn’t tell me all he knows, lest I should praise his scholarship before others. He is free from ignorance and delusion. He has no bonds. He is a great soul. He has many good qualities. He is expert in music, both as a singer and player, and is also a versatile scholar. Again, he keeps his passions under control and says that he will never marry. . . . Narendra doesn’t come here very often. That is good, for I am overwhelmed by his presence.9 I forget everything when I see Narendra. Never, even unwittingly, have I asked him where he lived, what his father’s profession was, or the number of his brothers.10 Narendra is Special Every now and then I take stock of the devotees. I find that some are like lotuses with ten petals, some like lotuses with sixteen petals, some like lotuses with a hundred petals. But among lotuses Narendra is a thousandpetalled one.11

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I have not seen another boy like Narendra. He is as efficient in music vocal and instrumental, as in the acquisition of knowledge, in conversation as well as in religious matters. He loses normal consciousness in meditation during whole nights. My Narendra is a coin with no alloy whatsoever—toss it up, and you hear the truest sound. I see other boys somehow pass two or three examinations with the utmost strain. There it ends—they are spent-up forces. But Narendra is not like that. He does everything with the greatest ease, and passing an examination is but a trifle with him. He goes to the Brahmo Samaj also and sings devotional songs there; but he is not like other Brahmos. He is a true knower of Brahman. He sees Light when he sits for meditation. Is it for nothing that I love Narendra so much?12 Other devotees may be like pots or pitchers; but Narendra is a huge waterbarrel. Others may be like pools or tanks; but Narendra is a huge reservoir like the Haldarpukur [a large water tank in Kamarpukur]. Among fish, Narendra is a huge redeyed carp; others are like minnows or smelts or sardines. Narendra is a ‘very big receptacle’, one that can hold many things. He is like a bamboo with a big hollow space inside.13 Narendra is not under the control of anything. He is not under the control of attachment or sense pleasures. He is like a male pigeon. If you hold a male pigeon by its beak, it breaks away from you; but the female pigeon keeps still. Narendra has the nature of a man; so he sits on the right side T h e

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in a carriage. . . I feel great strength when Narendra is with me in a gathering.14 He has the sword of knowledge ever unsheathed with him. He will not be harmed if he takes these things. His spiritual insight will remain unimpaired.15 Narendra and people of his type belong to the class of the ever-free. They are never entangled in the world. When they grow a little older they feel the awakening of inner consciousness and go directly toward God. They come to the world only to teach others. They never care for anything of the world. They are never attached to ‘woman and gold.’16

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Narendra is eternally perfect . . . he is perfect in meditation. The fire of knowledge, ever ablaze in him, would reduce to ashes all blemishes pertaining to food. His mind, therefore, will not be tarnished or distracted even if he takes whatever he likes at any place and from any person. He daily cuts to pieces Maya’s bondages with the sword of knowledge; Mahamaya, therefore, fails to bring him under Her control.17 Haven’t you observed his [Naren’s] many virtues? He is not only well versed in music, vocal and instrumental, but he is also very learned. Besides, he has controlled his passions and declares he will lead a celibate life. He has been devoted to God since his very boyhood.18 When peasants go to market to buy bullocks for their ploughs, they can easily tell

the good from the bad by touching their tails. On being touched there, some meekly lie down on the ground. The peasants recognize that these are without mettle and so reject them. They select only those bullocks that frisk about and show spirit when their tails are touched. Narendra is like a bullock of this latter class. He is full of spirit within.19 I saw Keshav [Keshav Chandra Sen, the famous Brahmo leader and orator] has become world famous on account of the abundance of one power, but Narendra has in him eighteen such powers in the fullest measure. The hearts of Keshav and Vijay, I saw again, are brightened by a light of knowledge like a flame of a lamp; but looking at Narendra, I found that the very sun of knowledge had risen in his heart and removed from there even the slightest tinge of Maya and delusion.20 o

 References 1. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, p.810 2. Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, p.846 3. Great Master, p.823 4. ibid. 5. ibid. 6. Great Master, p.845

7. Gospel, p.231 8. Gospel, p.249 9. Gospel, p.279 10. Gospel, p.152 11. Gospel, p.810 12. Great Master, pp.862-863 13. Gospel, p.812 14. Gospel, p.810

I well remember my first meeting with the Swami Vivekananda, whose nativity we are commemorating this evening. . . I was seated in the class-room waiting for the Swami's appearance when soon a man came in—one whose walk expressed dignity and whose general bearing showed majesty, like one who owns everything and desires nothing. After a short observation I also saw that he was a very superior man, and withal, one who quickly disclosed a most lovable character. —H.J. Van Haagen

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15. Great Master, 754 16. Gospel, p.88 17. Great Master, p.871 18. Gospel, p.127 19. Gospel, p.91 20. Great Master, 866

that great teacher

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Editorial

Swami Vivekananda— the Man and His Message His Amazing Size!

Coming from afar are the voices of the Silence. Rarely are they heard, save by mystics and sages. And when one of these voices becomes embodied as sound audible to mortal hearing, blessed is the time and blessed are those who hear. Formless is the Spirit and subjective is the vision thereof; dense is the illusion that hangs as the cosmic veil before Reality! How divine, therefore, must be the personality that makes objective the vision of the Spirit! How priceless the history of one who has lifted even a fringe of the veil! The illusion becomes transparent in the effulgence of such a spiritual personality. Verily, the Spirit Itself becomes revealed; and those who see are brought face to face with Reality!

The thing that held me in Swamiji was his unlimitedness. I never could touch the bottom—or top—or sides. The amazing size of him! . . .1

In these few words, Josephine Macleod, a western ‘friend’ of Swami Vivekananda, says it all about Swamiji’s personality and message. It was his unlimitedness, boudlessness, vastness—in every way—that astounds anyone who reads his life and descriptions of his personality, and goes through his nine-volume Complete Works. He, his life and his message, are truly amazing. What is even more, how could he accomplish so much in such a short life-span of less than 40 years?! One hundred and fifty years have passed by since the great Swami was born. Much water has flowed through the river of history since then, yet his message continues to shine like sun—ever-resplendant and ever fresh. We might as well join Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University who told Swami Vivekananda: ‘To ask you, Swami, for your credentials is like asking the sun about its right to shine,’ and say, ‘To ask if Swami Vivekananda’s message is relevant today is to ask the sun of its relevance today!’ Voices of Silence But, then, who was Swami Vivekananda? Though the toughest question to answer, the introduction to the life of Swami Vivekananda published by the Advaita Ashrama answers it befittingly and vividly thus: T h e

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To introduce the life of Swami Vivekananda is to introduce the subject of spiritual life itself. All the intellectual struggle, all the doubts, all the burning faith, all the unfolding process of spiritual illumination were revealed in him. As a man and as a Vedantist he manifested the manliness that is sanctity, and the sanctity that is manliness; he manifested the patriotism that proceeds from the vision of the Dharma and the universality that comes when God is seen in everything; and through the true insight of divine wisdom, he lived a life of both intense activity and Supreme Realization. Indeed, his life revealed throughout, the glory of the supersensuous life.2

Indeed, what more can be said of Swamiji’s great and multifaceted personality and message—a perfect blend of inner and outer greatness! Yet, let us look at another description. On the occasion of America’s Bicentennial

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Celebration in 1976, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., mounted a large portrait of Swami Vivekananda as part of its exhibition ‘Abroad in America: Visitors to the New Nation,’ which paid tribute to the great personalities who visited America from abroad and made a deep impression on the American mind. Among those honored in the exhibition, some influenced art or literature, some science, education or social reform. But Swami Vivekananda touched the very soul of American people. The commemorative volume of the exhibition says: The Swami charmed the audiences with his magical oratory, and left an indelible mark on America’s spiritual development.

His Multifaceted-ness Like a multifaceted gem of shining lustre, Swami Vivekananda remains one of the brightest jewels in the galaxy of saints, thinkers and reformers that India has been blessed with. It is, however, difficult, if not impossible, to classify Swamiji as a traditional saint. He was of course a man of God, a knower of the deepest reality of creation called God, yet his was not a life of only inner contemplation and reflection; he was deeply moved by the socio-economic conditions of people among whom he was born. He was for an all-round growth—physical, mental, spiritual. He spoke of man-making as the aim of religion. And man-making included all aspects of living:

Says one of the monks of the Ramakrishna Order, This is no exaggeration. Swami Vivekananda was the first Hindu monk from India ever to visit America. Guided solely by the will of Providence, he embarked on this journey to the new world. The unknown wandering monk, lost in the streets of Chicago, suddenly became famous after his first day’s brief address before the Parliament. A select audience of nearly 7,000 enlightened representatives of different branches of American thought became thrilled to hear his message and welcomed him with sustained and thunderous applause. He captured the hearts of the American people. Crowds gathered in the streets of Chicago to see the picture posters of Swami Vivekananda placed on billboards around the city, and lecture bureaus vied with one another to enlist him for lectures in different cities. Leading newspapers and journals published his words in bold letters. Some of these newspapers described him as the ‘cyclonic Hindu,’ some as ‘prince among men’ or ‘Brahmin monk’, while others chose to designate him by such epithets as ‘warrior prophet’ and ‘militant mystic.’3 T h e

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What we want is to see the man who is harmoniously developed . . . great in heart, great in mind, [great in deed]. . . . We want the man whose heart feels intensely the miseries and sorrows of the world. . . . And [we want] the man who not only can feel but can find the meaning of things, who delves deeply into the heart of nature and understanding. [We want] the man who will not even stop there, [but] who wants to work out [the feeling and meaning by actual deeds]. Such a combination of head, heart, and hand is what we want.4

Swamiji has varied facets of personality, each one skillfully embellished like a polished diamond. For instance, he was a nationalist whose love for India was truly remarkable. When someone asked him what can he do for him, he immediate reply was, ‘Love India’. Though unattached to the world, he said, ‘I am sincere to the backbone, and my greatest fault is that I love my country only too, too well.’5 He further said,

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my motherland; and if I had a thousand lives, every moment of the whole series would be consecrated to your service, my countrymen, my friends.6

If his love for his motherland was deep and undiminishing, his love for mankind knew no bounds either. He wrote in one of his letters, I stand at nobody’s dictation. I know my mission in life, and no chauvinism about me; I belong as much to India as to the world, no humbug about that. I have helped you all I could. You must now help yourselves. What country has any special claim on me?7

He was an internationalist in the truest sense of the term. More than half a century before UNO was founded, he had said, Even in politics and sociology, problems that were only national twenty years ago can no more be solved on national grounds only. They are assuming huge proportions, gigantic shapes. They can only be solved when looked at in the broader light of international grounds. International organisations, international combinations, international laws are the cry of the day.8

No wonder, in a speech made in 1993, Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, stated: I am indeed struck by the similarity of the constitution of the Ramakrishna Mission which Vivekananda established as early as 1897 with that of UNESCO drawn up in 1945. Both place the human being at the center of their efforts aimed at development. Both place tolerance at the top of the agenda for building peace and democracy. Both recognize the variety of human cultures and societies as an essential aspect of the common heritage.9

The scope of Swamiji’s thinking and action was unfathomable. He was truly, ‘a man without frontiers.’ He was, par excellence, a patriot, a musician, a scientific thinker, a poet, T h e

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a social reformer, a world traveler, a historian, a leader, a yogi, a devotee, a philosopher, an organizer, an eternal source of inspiration . . . the list goes on. He had some startlingly original ideas in every field. However we may try, to exhaust the list of qualities of his multifaceted-ness seems unending. Fathomless, new aspects of his personality continue to be unravelled as the days pass by. More than his extraordinary qualities of head, which indeed leave people wondering, his extraordinary qualities of the heart must not be forgotten. He was a man of feeling, so deep a feeling that anyone who had known him once was struck by his intense goodness and sensitivity. Not that he was great; he made everyone in his presence great. His very presence elevated those who came in touch with him. A Spiritual Master He was, however, eminently a spiritual giant. It was his profound spirituality and direct experience of the Ultimate Reality that outshone every other aspect. Like his master, Sri Ramakrishna, he had had the highest spiritual experience. Recalled one of his disciples, Once in Kashmir, after an attack of illness, I had seen him lift a couple of pebbles, saying, ‘Whenever death approaches me, all weakness vanishes. I have neither fear, nor doubt, nor thought of the external. I simply busy myself making ready to die. I am as hard as that’—and the stones struck one another in his hand—‘for I have touched the Feet of God!’10

It was not just a casual statement. Many others have recorded similar words in different ways. Says one of them who had gone to meet him:

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motionless, eyes half-closed and very bright; his face indicated divine emotion, power, and love. He was the very personification of ananda; but his austere calmness had subdued all emotions which remained there frozen and fixed, without a ripple or wave. It was one person who had beckoned me inside the room, with the charm of love and smiles; it was now another personality that sat before me, who had transcended love or any other emotion. He sat thus motionless and time remained barred outside us. He seemed to fight against this manifestation and the emanation of divine Presence, and it was slowly subdued and remained controlled within his body.11

Like the Krishna of the Gita, like Buddha, like Shankaracharya, like every great teacher that Indian thought has known, his sentences are laden with quotations from, the Vedas and Upanishads. He stands merely as the Revealer, the Interpreter to India of the treasures that she herself possesses in herself. The truths he preaches would have been as true, had he never been born. Nay more, they would have been equally authentic. The difference would have lain in their difficulty of access, in their want of modern clearness and incisiveness of statement, and in their loss of mutual coherence and unity. Had he not lived, texts that today will carry the bread of life to thousands might have remained the obscure disputes of scholars. He taught with authority, and not as one of the Pandits. For he himself had plunged to the depths of the realisation which he preached, and he came back like Ramanuja only to tell its secrets to the pariah, the outcast, and the foreigner.13

Sri Ramakrishna had long called Naren an ever perfect in meditation. Someone who was witness to Swamiji’s meditation in later years, said, Seated cross-legged on the divan, clothed in his sannyasin garb, with hands held one within the other on his lap, and with his eyes apparently closed, he might have been a statue in bronze, so immovable was he. A yogi, indeed! Awake only to transcendental thought, he was the ideal, compelling veneration, love, and devotion.12

He was Vedanta Personified. His masterly expositions of all Yogas—Jnana, Bhakti, Karma and Raja—are the bedrock of modern Hinduism. He infused a new vigour in the ancient faith —the Sanatana Dharma—by restating it in new perspective and present-day language. As Sister Nivedita wrote:

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Conclusion An extraordinary exponent of religious ideas of mankind, a penetrating and profound thinker sensitive to the needs of the modern mind, a true messenger of his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna—‘the consummation of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three

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hundred million people’—, and a lover and worshiper of India in the truest sense of the term, Swami Vivekananda indeed remains a phenomenon and a ‘gift unopened’. A century and half—though quite a time—cannot exhaust the profoundness and greatness that is Vivekananda! In summary, we cite what Sister Nivedita wrote more than a hundred years ago, putting in a nutshell the core substance of Swamiji’s message: These, then—the Shastras, the Guru, and the Motherland--are the three notes that mingle themselves to form the music of the works of Vivekananda. These are the treasure which it is his to offer. These furnish him with the ingredients whereof he compounds the world’s heal-all of his spiritual bounty. These are the three lights burning within that single lamp which India by his hand lighted and set up, for the guidance of her own children and of the world in the few years of work between September 19, 1893 and July 4, 1902. And some of us there are, who, for the sake of that lighting, and of this record that he has left behind him, bless the land that bore him and the hands of those who sent him forth, and believe that not even yet has it been given to us to understand the vastness and significance of the message that he spoke.14

This year’s annual issue is dedicated to Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) in comme-

moration of his 150th Birth Anniversary (20102014). Swamiji’s actual 150th birth anniversary year is January 2013-January 2014. The event is being celebrated by many organizations and lakhs of people all over India and in many other parts of the world. The celebrations organized by Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission include a series of service programmes as a prelude to the actual birth anniversary celebration. Right from 2010 itself certain important service projects which were dear to Swami Vivekananda such as Value education and service to marginalized people (who include the poor, the backward, and the tribal) were launched, besides, several cultural and spiritual programmes all over the world. Numerous youth conventions and inter-faith meets in different parts of India and service activities for slum-dwellers are the hallmark of these celebrations in India. Outside India, special concerts, meetings, workshops and lectures have been organised. Indeed, seminar, postal stamps, installation of statues, taking out Ratha Yatras, publication of books and magazines have been going on all over. This issue of The Vedanta Kesari is our humble homage to the Great Swami Vivekananda. We have attempted to explore different aspects of his personality and message and are thankful to all our learned contributors for their valuable writings. o

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References 1. Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, p.224 2. Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 1.1, (hereafter, Life) 3. Essay by Swami Adiswarananda, http://www. ramakrishna.org/sv_sa.htm 4. Complete Works, 6.49 5. CW.8.309 T h e

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6. 7. 8. 9.

CW, 4:312 CW, 5.95 CW, 3:241 Profiles of famous educators—Swami Vivekananda. Prospects. XXXIII (2). June 2003 10. Life, 2.65 11. Reminiscences, p.395 12. Reminiscences, p.436 13. Introduction, CW, 1:xv 14. CW, 1: xvii

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Simhâvalokanam From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari (August, 1963, Pp. 160)

Swami Vivekananda—A Spokesman of the Divine Logos SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN

[Excerpts of a lecture given by Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, President of India, on 31 March 1963, on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda Birth Centenary at Sri Avinashilingam Home Science College, Coimbatore.] In any living culture, you will always find a perpetual process of renewal. What happens to be heresy today becomes heritage tomorrow. What is adventure for us today, becomes legacy tomorrow. In other words, if a culture is to perpetuate itself, it is reaffirming its fundamentals and trying to readjust them to the requirements of each generation. If we lose this quality of self-renewal, the culture itself becomes decadent. It has been our good fortune that so far as the Indian culture is concerned, it has had this living vitality, this capacity to renew itself, to shed away the old and reincarnate itself in the new. In chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita, the Teacher says: ‘ I taught this yoga to Vivaswan, Vivaswan taught it to Manu. Manu taught it to Iksvaku. Today I am teaching it to you, Arjuna.’ In other words it is the same old Puratana Dharma also called Sanatana Dharma, the ancient doctrine. It is the eternal doctrine, that is being expressed in different ages by different individuals. . . The great teachers are the vehicles of the living Word. They are the voice of the inspired Logos. They are the people who give utterance to the Eternal, dwelling in each individual. They have the capacity to give articulate expression to them. Swami Vivekananda was a spokesman of this divine Logos and he took hold of the requirements of this age in which he was born and presented it so as to make a fervent appeal to the hungry heart and the searching mind of his generation. He was born in an age when science was predominant. He was a student in a Calcutta college where he read the great works of Herbert Spencer, John Stuart Mill, Bentham, Thomas Henry Huxley etc. He was steeped in the spirit of science. He was restless in spirit. . . . He wanted to know whether there was anyone in this world who could catch the spirit, who could convince him that he saw God, even as we see the walls before us or the audience here. . . . Chance as some people would call it, providence as others would say, led him to the door of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He went to him in dire distress and asked him, ‘Have you seen God? Can you prove God to me?’ The answer came: ‘Yes. T h e

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I have seen God. I have seen Him much more intensely than I see you here.’ That was the man who was able to transmit to him, to communicate to him and to tell him, that he saw the Divine Reality even as we see tables and chairs. Then the. . . conversion happened. It was a moment of his rebirth, so to say. He became convinced of the reality of God. He said religion is not a matter of doctrinal conformity or ritualistic piety. They may be essential for people to reach a particular goal, but its fundamental reality is the sight of God. Faith must be replaced by sight. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. It is that seeing of God that makes a man truly religious. . . . Here it was that Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa were echoing the great tradition of this country, the country which laid stress on the sight of God. ‘The sages see constantly,’ as the Gita puts it. ‘I know this eminent Purusha’, as the Upanishads say it. It is not a question of talking about God, acquiring a doctrine about God or accepting dogmas about God. It is a question of seeing God face to face, as other individuals see other sights. That is what distinguishes the authentically religious souls from the spurious souls who pretend to be religious as most of us do. We go about talking religion but denying God in every act which we do, paying our courtship to the world, the flesh and the devil. We accept God in theory, but deny him in practice. But a man who has realized God becomes incapable of doing anything which is undivine or irreligious. It is not possible. He has psychologically died to any kind of egoism or sin. That experience has made him a new being altogether, seeing with different eyes, feeling with different hearts, and his heart beating in sympathy with every kind of suffering, which we come across in this world. So his spirit of science was satisfied, because here was a man who told him that God is a fact, is a reality, is something which we can experience. . . He passed through spiritual T h e

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exercises, practised meditation till at last he was able also to say, ‘I have felt the reality of God. I have seen God.’ That was the kind of experience which Swami Vivekananda was able to accept. The touch of Sri Ramakrishna made him into a different being, gave to him the vision, ‘the divine eye’, divyachaksus, by which we are able to apprehend the Truth or the Ultimate Reality or the Supreme. Science, therefore, in him was satisfied. Religion, he knew, talked in a hundred different ways. What is it that we can say of this sensed reality, of that experienced reality, of that which we feel in our hearts? What is it we can say if we see a beautiful sunset? We say, it is beautiful. But to describe it in words will test you a lot. You can never bring out the beauty of a sunset by a series of words. It is something one has to see, if one is to appreciate its beauty; so also, the immensity of God, the mysteriousness of God is something which we can only see by ourselves. Other people may lead us but each one has to exercise the vision for himself. He has to see the reality for himself. . . . . . . All people have asserted it, not merely our people; they have all asserted that the Supreme Reality cannot be expressed in words, cannot be expressed in logical propositions, but forms are necessary. It is achintya, it is aprameya, it is ashareera, it is nirvikara. If forms are given to it, it is because forms have to be given to the Supreme for the sake of satisfying the desires, the ambitions of the ordinary people who cannot rise to that immense height of apprehending the Divine face to face. For such people you have to give them pathways, steps, rungs in the ladder. . . It is for the sake of the devotees that we have them. When we know that these are pathways to reality, these are forms which we accept for apprehending the supreme reality, all quarrels about, which way you adopt, which approach, which address you make, these things become utterly irrelevant. So it is, he was able to say in that Chicago Parliament of Religions—’I don’t want a Christian to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, or a Hindu or Buddhist to become a Christian. I want each of them to learn from one another and grow according to his own genius and try to understand the fullest implications of his own particular religious idea.’ If you are able to do it, the path may turn and twist, but when you reach a hill top, you see, you observe the exact spiritual landscape which is the same whatever pathway you adopted, whatever method of approach you accepted. So he said, ‘Friends, we are one in God, in God the Supreme, who is called differently by different people. I don’t want you to give up your religion, but I want you to understand other religions. Learn from them, learn from them the tranquil spirit, learn from them patience under suffering, learn the need for calm meditation, learn from others whatever is valuable, whatever is of good report which they are able to give to you.’ So religion for him became a kind of an order, a kind of a norm, a kind of a harmony in which all religions have their place, provided you look upon them as partners in a quest, not rivals. . . . o T h e

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Swami Vivekananda, the Great Spiritual Master SWAMI GAUTAMANANDA

The Mission of Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda was quite modern in teaching the most ancient message of Vedanta. He taught the core principles of the Perennial Philosophy to the West as well as to the East. Said Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Swamiji’s mission: Twelve centuries ago Shankaracharya was the only great personality, who not only spoke of the purity of our religion, not only uttered in words that this religion was our strength and wealth, not only said that it was our sacred duty to preach this religion in the length and breadth of the world—but also brought all this into action. Swami Vivekananda is a person of that stature—who appeared towards the last half of the 19th century.

Swami Vivekananda worked relentlessly towards bringing out the common basis of Hinduism (otherwise called Vedic Religion or Sanatana Dharma) and largely succeeded in doing it. He thus united various sects and schools of thought of Hinduism such as Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakta, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita and Advaita and gave a comprehensive picture of this ancient religion. Rightly did C Rajagopalachari say of him: Swami Vivekananda saved Hinduism and saved India. But for him we would have lost our religion and would not have gained our freedom. We therefore owe everything to Swami Vivekananda.

Indeed, Swamiji infused a new dynamism into Hinduism by restating, in a way that is compatible to the modern scientific findings, its power to demonstrate Vedantic findings regarding God, man and creation. He drew parallels between Hindu ideals and the modern scientific principles of conservation of energy, evolution of life from amoeba to man, and emphasized the supremacy of consciousness over matter and the place of God, man and nature in the creation. A Spiritual Past By any measure, Swamiji’s spiritual stature was one of the most exalted and elevated. He had a great spiritual past. Even as a child, Every night brought some strange vision to Naren. Singular was the manner in which he fell asleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, there would appear between his eyebrows a wonderful spot of light of changing hues, which would expand and burst and bathe his whole body in a flood of white radiance. As his mind became preoccupied with this phenomenon, his body would fall asleep. It was a daily occurrence which he would court by lying down on his chest; as soon as drowsiness overtook him, the light appeared.1

When he was a young man, he had an experience which had a lasting impression on him. In his own words:

A senior trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and a member of the Governing Body of the Ramakrishna Mission, the author is the Head of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. o T h e

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One day when I was sitting in that condition at the end of the meditation, I saw the wonderful figure of a monk appear suddenly—from where I did not know—-and stand before me at a little distance, filling the room with a divine effulgence. He was in ochre robes with a Kamandalu (water-pot) in his hand. His face bore such a calm and serene expression of inwardness born of indifference to all things, that I was amazed and felt much drawn to him. He walked towards me with a slow step, his eyes steadfastly fixed on me, as if he wanted to say something. But I was seized with fear and could not keep still. I got up from my seat, opened the door, and quickly left the room. The next moment I thought, ‘Why this foolish fear?’ I became bold and went back into the room to listen to the monk, who, alas, was no longer there. . . That face has been indelibly printed on my heart. It may have been a hallucination; but very often I think that I had the good fortune of seeing Lord Buddha that day.2

In latter life, he traveled and spoke extensively, preaching the message of Vedanta all over the world. His talks and writings bore a sure impress of a great spiritual teacher. A prophetic thinker and teacher, Swamiji once said, ‘I have a message to the West as Buddha had a message to the East.’ Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna When he met Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna immediately recognized him as the immortal sage Nara mentioned in Hindu Puranas, who was part of Narayana (the Supreme Soul). [Together Nara-Narayana are held to be the incarnation of the Lord Vishnu on earth, working for the preservation of dharma or righteousness.] During one of his earliest meetings Sri Ramakrishna said to him, ‘Lord, I know you are that ancient sage, Nara, the Incarnation of Narayana, born on earth to remove the miseries of mankind.’ T h e

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In another extraordinary spiritual experience, Sri Ramakrishna found that Narendra was one of the Sapta Rishis and had come down to earth on his own wish to relieve the miseries of humanity. Swamiji realized the highest spiritual state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi when he was in his early twenties. Sri Ramakrishna, strangely, did not want him to remain in that transcendental state for long and wanted him to remain ‘bound’ to the body so that he could carry on his divine mission. Sri Ramakrishna prayed to the Divine Mother, ‘Mother, cover up his vision, otherwise he will fly away!’ Sri Ramakrishna’s relation with Narendra was not the one of an ordinary Guru with disciple. Although Sri Ramakrishna insisted on restrictions regarding food and association with people for his other disciples, Narendra was fully exempt from all such restrictions. Contrary to the practice of doing menial service to the Guru, Sri Ramakrishna never allowed Narendra to do menial service to him. Narendra was rational to the core even when all his brother-disciples were taking the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna in good faith. He tested if Sri Ramakrishna was really allergic to the touch of metal—representing his dislike for money (as metal currency was in vogue then). He tested, questioned and only then accepted Sri Ramakrishna and his teachings. Though generally Sri Ramakrishna did not to pray to Divine Mother for any worldly help, he prayed to Her for Narendra for tiding over his financial hardship! He even admitted, ‘For his (Naren’s) sake, I can even beg’! Narendra even questioned the very fact of incarnation of Sri Ramakrishna. Only a few days before his Mahasamadhi, Sri Ramakrishna had to reassure, ‘O my Naren, are you

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not yet convinced? He who was Rama, He who was Krishna, He Himself is now Ramakrishna in this body.’ One can see a faint resemblance of the most intimate Guru-Disciple relationship of Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda in that between Sri Krishna and Arjuna as we read in the Gita (11. 41). This intimacy was rooted in their feeling of Oneness, born of mutual love based on spirituality. A Spiritual Dynamo One can refer to the ‘ordinary’ spirituality of saints to the electricity of a few 1000 watts passing through conductors but, a prophet like Swamiji’s spiritual power is like a lightning of millions of volts, charging from one end of the sky to the other, over thousands of kilometres even without any conductor. Spirituality, as we see in other saints, manifests as the conquest of temptations. Mrs. S. K. Blodgett was an American eyewitness at the Parliament of Religions. Mrs Blodgett later recalled: When that young man got up and said, ‘Sisters and Brothers of America,’ seven thousand people rose to their feet as a tribute to something they knew not what. When it was over I saw scores of women walking over the benches to get near him, and I said to myself, ‘Well, my lad, if you can resist that onslaught you are indeed a God!’3

His admittance itself to the World Parliament of Religion, without any credentials, was undoubtedly an act of providence. His unexpected meeting with Prof. Wright whose recommendation enabled him to become a delegate was even more providential and to cap them all, being picked up from the street by Mrs. Hale whose hospitality finally made him a registered delegate was the most providential of all the events leading to his glorious success. T h e

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He was being carried, as it were, on the shoulders of the Providence to the world platform of Parliament of Religions, to start a new age of universal tolerance and acceptance based on a new Universal Religion of finding Unity in Diversity and manifesting the divinity already present in every man through the service of God in man. From that day started the awakening of the western mind to the need of spiritual light from India, which spoke of Universal Harmony and Peace and discarding of all barriers of exclusiveness, bigotry and fanaticism. About the tremendous spiritual power behind his lectures, Sister Christine, his disciple, wrote, ‘Through his lectures ran India’s most sacred teaching—the divinity of man, his innate and eternal perfection, that this perfection was not a gradual attainment but a present reality “Thou are that”! You are that now! There is nothing to do but to recognize it!’ She writes further that Swami said, ‘We are like men walking over a golden mine all the while thinking we are poor! We are like the lion who thought and behaved like it was a sheep!’ Swamiji never referred to any notes during his lectures. He gave something of himself, viz., from his superhuman experience. People at the rear of the lecture halls many times would shout ‘Louder’, in order not to miss his words. Regarding the charm of his lectures Sister Christine writes [Miss Christine Greenstidel], ‘Those who came to his first lecture at the Unitarian Church (New York) came to the second and to the third bringing others with them saying, “Come, hear this wonderful man—he is like no one we have ever heard.” They came until there was no room to hold them.’ This is quite reminiscent of the verse from the Kathopanishad:

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The expounder is wonderful and the receiver is wonderful; wonderful is he who knows under the instruction of an adept.4

My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.5

He was indeed an extraordinary teacher. His Message for India—and Beyond Swamiji preached the divinity of man and showed how to manifest it through the four paths of yoga and thus become ‘perfect’. To make God of man was his mission. To make the whole activities in the life of man a religion was his message. He gave a goal and a meaning to human life which had, as it were, lost its spiritual bearing due to overemphasis on worldly pleasures, permissiveness and consumerism in every sphere of life. Swamiji countered materialism with spirituality and proved that the primal cause of creation was the infinite ‘consciousness’ and not ‘matter’. Through his powerful writings, lectures and letters he proved that consciousness alone created matter and controlled it and never the other way round. Swamiji prophesied a great future for India as the spiritual guru of the world and growth of a holistic society in the West with the lofty Indian ideal of Vedanta. He contributed immensely for an East-West connection through which could travel the science and technology of the West to develop civic life in India and spirituality from India would flow to West to stop the decaying human relationships in families, society and state. In India Swami Vivekananda preached the message of spiritual equality, message of service to God in man and message of upliftment of masses and women through man-making and character-building education. Thus we see this great spiritual master guiding humanity to spiritual realization through divinizing all the life’s activities. He said, T h e

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Swamiji said that if India has to survive and grow, she should continue to contribute her spiritual knowledge, namely faith in God and soul, faith in spiritual values like truthfulness, celibacy, selflessness, sacrifice and service. He believed that India would rise if she held on to her ancient moral and spiritual ideals, but if for any reason she gives them up, she would be annihilated in three generations. Indian women were to be educated in civic ideals, health, patriotism, etc., along with spiritual ideals of holiness of Sita, heroism of Draupadi and meditation and spiritual powers of Sati. Swami Vivekananda was not a social reformer though he helped society to allround progress. He taught each individual to know and manifest his divinity. That made individuals perfect and consequently society also progressed to perfection. Seeing God in Others During his visit to Cairo in Egypt, Swamiji along with his lady western devotees, once wandered away into an area where prostitutes lived. The lady devotees saw that the fallen women were approaching him with base intentions. But, soon they were revering him touching his garment with awe and reverence, uttering in their language, ‘Man of God, Man of God.’ He in turn was looking on and was shedding tears of compassion for their misery! Without this spiritual knowledge, one cannot love all as one’s own and without this love for fellow beings, all power acquired through science and technology may prove dangerous by being misused for mutual

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destruction through competition for material gains as happened in the last two world Wars. Ordinary human love should be transmuted into a divine love. Ordinary love has many limitations but divine love liberates us of all distinctions and encumberments, as Swamiji says, The highest love is the love that is sexless, for it is perfect unity that is expressed in the highest love, and sex differentiates bodies. It is therefore only in spirit that union is possible. The less we have of the physical idea, the more perfect will be our love; at last all physical thought will be forgotten, and the two souls will become one. We love, love always. Love comes and penetrates through the forms and sees beyond. It has been said, ‘The lover sees Helen’s beauty in an Ethiopian’s brow.’ The Ethiopian is the suggestion and upon that suggestion the man throws his love. As the oyster throws over the irritants, it finds in its shell, the substance that turns the irritants into beautiful pearls, so man throws out love, and it is always man’s highest ideal that he loves, and the highest ideal is always selfless; so man loves love. God is love, and we love God—or love love. We only see love, love cannot be expressed. ‘A dumb man eating butter’ cannot tell you what butter is like. Butter is butter, and its qualities cannot be expressed to those who have not tasted it. Love for love’s sake cannot be expressed to those who have not felt it.6

This is the highest culmination of the ideal of love. A Bridge Between East and West A new age of East-West cultural and social exchange began with the appearance of Swami Vivekananda on the platform of Chicago Parliament of Religions. He not only broadcast his message through his inspired lectures, but also started training the Americans as Yogis who would carry on his spiritual mission even in his absence. T h e

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He all but single handedly changed the course of world’s as also of Indian history. His advent created a feeling of respect and reverence towards India’s religion and culture in the minds of Americans. This in turn has aroused the sleeping Indians to their national spiritual strength and the glory of their rational religion of Vedanta. The lamp of Vedanta which he lighted then has illumined USA and the West so that now there are, as reported by Time magazine, nearly 10 millions of Americans following Vedanta tradition of meditation in their lives. By his exalted spiritual realizations, he impressed on the great scientists that religion of Vedanta was also a science. Religion is the science of the Atman, based on the direct experience of spiritual truths of God and human soul. He taught science and Vedanta were complimentary, not contradictory. For example, he explained Darwin’s Theory of Evolution as incomplete. He emphasized that man would further evolve to become God and God would further, according to His own will and wishes, become cells, molecules and everything in creation. Thus, according to Vedanta, an eternal circle would go on. He pointed out that inborn tendencies of a new born duck to swim, a new born child to suckle mother’s breast, etc., proved the pre-existence of the soul. The law of cause and effect proved the necessity for the future existence of the soul so as to reap the fruits of its unfulfilled actions in this life. He challenged the Western scientists to prove where matter had produced consciousness. He showed that always consciousness had proved the existence of matter. He attributed all this knowledge to the ‘power of intuition’ of the mind which can make man a God. According to Swamiji, this manifestation of the infinite life, knowledge

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and bliss lying dormant in every soul of man is the course of future evolution of man into a spiritual being, viz., God. He declared that real civilization lay in the spiritual evolution only and not in the material development. He declared that Vedanta accepted secular education as a preliminary step only to the spiritual education, and the real education is a continuation of the secular and spiritual educations (of the apara vidya and the para vidya), the former leading to the secular progress and the latter leading to spiritual progress. He observed that the Universal Religion of the Vedanta had been interpreted wrongly as an exclusive religion of Hindus only by the small intellects of the middle ages. The Swami presented Vedanta as the Universal Religion of which all exclusive religions like Christianity, etc., were parts. He explained the caste system as a universal social phenomenon of grouping of people of a particular vocation and culture. It had nothing to do with religion as such. The priest, the warrior, the trader and the labourers are the universal groupings seen in all societies. Only in India, this grouping wrongly assumed the form of hereditary castes which had no scriptural sanction as the Gita said [4.13], ‘Castes are formed according to the qualities and vocations.’ They should go and Swamiji saw them already going away and a new world order coming to surface. He taught that real individuality lay in knowing oneself as the changeless, infinite and immortal Self, and not before that.

for common man’s rule had come. Swamiji had predicted the change in Russia and China. The overthrow of dictatorial regime in Russia, China, etc., has proved him true. Swamiji had said, ‘I see before me the body of an elephant. There is a foal within. But it is a lion-cub that comes out of it. It will grow in future, and China shall become great and powerful.’7 He saw the reason for survival of some races in spite of all odds. It was because of their continued contribution to the total culture of the world. For example, British contributed commercial knowledge, France, the artistic culture, USA, freedom of individuals and women and India, the spiritual culture. Swamiji’s words came not from his mere intellect or heart but from his divine realizations. It burnt itself into the hearts of the listeners and they were, as it were, compelled to follow them in life! He thus transmitted power through his words and transmuted the very lives of his audience! So people crowded to hear him as one reporter said, ‘He could fill a circus tent’. Such statements, supported by his very life, placed him with the world’s greatest spiritual teachers. His Teaching on Meditation Sri Ramakrishna used to say that Narendranath is born perfect in meditation. He could enter into deep state of absorption at a moment’s notice. Swamiji said to those wanting to meditate:

A World Teacher As a prophet, Swamiji read through the movements of the world history and concluded that the governing by priests, warriors and traders were over and the time T h e

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The first point is the position. Sit with the spine perfectly free, with the weight resting on the hips. The next step is breathing. Breathe in the left nostril and out the right. Fill the lungs full and eject all the breath. Clear the lungs of all impure air. Breathe full and deep. The next thing is to think of the body as luminous, filled with light. The next thing is to concentrate on the base D E C E M B E R

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of the spine, not from the outside, but look down the spinal column inside to the base of the spine.8

Once, after a lecture on Raja Yoga, he instructed a group of persons on meditation thus: When practicing breathing think of your body as luminous. Try to look down the spinal cord from the base of the brain to the base of the spine. Imagine that you are looking through the hollowed Sushumna to the Kundalini. Then you imagine that you see this Kundalini rising upward to the brain.9

One can read a similar meditation he speaks about in his ‘Six lessons of Rajayoga’. One is thrilled as to how he encouraged his audience that they, even with a little faith and a little patience, can attain the highest spiritual enlightenment. He preached chastity as the surest means of strengthening the mind. He advocated seeing all women as one’s mother as the best way to develop purity of mind. He asserted, ‘Yes, when I think of my mother, she appears different from any other woman. We cannot deny it. There is a difference’. To attain purity, he said this was to be meditated and realized. He narrated what some doctors in America advocated that chastity was against nature and hence injurious to health. He asserted, ‘What did they know about it? Indian

sages have experimented with it for thousands of years and found it beneficial!’ None of the doctors in the audience uttered a single word in reply.10 He was firm in his conviction that man was Divine, ever free and holy! Hence he once cried out, Don’t repent, Don’t repent. . . Throw off the load of sin by knowing your true self! The pure! The ever free! That man in blasphemous who tells you that you are sinners!’11

Conclusion Thus, considering all these aspects of his life, we can definitely say that Swami Vivekananda was one of the greatest spiritual masters of the world. We conclude by offering our salutation through the well-known verse composed in honour of Swami Vivekananda, by Swami Saradananda, one of his brotherdisciples:

I bow down to Viresham [Swami Vivekananda, a reference to Vireshwar Shiva by whose blessings he was born], ever-engrossed in the Supreme Truth, as great as Sri Ramakrishna, in the task of establishing Dharma. o

 References 1. Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 1:19 2. Life, 1: 113 3. Life, 1.418 4. Kathopanishad, I.ii.7 5. CW, 7.501 6. CW, 6:143 8. CW, 9,274 9. Reminiscences of Swami 7. Life, 2:559 Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, p.436 10. Reminiscences, p.428 11. Reminiscences, p.429

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The Continuing Development of The Complete Works SWAMI ATMARUPANANDA [Vivekananda’s] words are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Handel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books at thirty years’ distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And w h a t sh oc ks, what transports must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero!1

When I first read these well-known words of Romain Rolland, I was delighted because, having begun the study of Swami Vivekananda’s works myself, I had had the same experience: they were electrifying, awakening, liberating; they gave a new meaning to life. In spiritual life, especially in the early years, such confirmation is extremely important: it lets one know that one is not alone and not misguided, it gives faith, and it gives communion with others of like mind. As I read the Complete Works in those early days, I felt that the Swami was my own:

he was speaking to me, not in any exclusive sense, but nonetheless in a personal way. Since that time, now almost half a century ago, through all the ups and downs of life and through all the actions and reactions of spiritual life—its inspirations and its periods of drought—he has been a constant. And therefore it is a delight to say something, however humble, about the words of Swami Vivekananda. As Sri Krishna promises us in the Gita, he accepts whatever we bring in offering—a leaf, a flower, a fruit, simple water.2 Swami Vivekananda is no less gracious, being Asutosha himself—Shiva, the easily pleased. To him these simple words are offered. We will begin with a bit of history, leading to a discussion of the present work of revision of the Complete Works, then conclude with a word about where the development of the Complete Works might go in the future. The Origin of the Complete Works

The author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order who, after many years in our centres in America, now lives at the Headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math. There he is part of a team working on a new rearranged edition of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. o T h e

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From the vantage point of the present, we tend to think of the past as obvious, as what had to happen because, after all, it did. So it is with the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement. Of course there would be a complete collection of all the works of the Swami—whatever could be found. But that is hindsight. It took someone to conceive of the need, others to begin the task, and now over one hundred years later we are still forming the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. And the work will not be finished soon. During the winter of 1895-96—one of the most active periods in the Swami’s incredibly active life—he gave a series of classes in New York on the four yogas. At the time, he wanted to use these classes to provide the material for books on the four yogas which, he thought, would serve as the literary core of his enduring legacy. Two of the courses were quickly formed into books and published— first Karma Yoga and then Raja Yoga. Several years after his mahasamadhi, his New York classes for beginners on Bhakti Yoga were made into the book Religion of Love, published by the Udbodhan Office in Kolkata; and then the same were included in the first edition of volume IV of the Complete Works under the title Addresses on Bhakti Yoga. The main part of the book we now know as Bhakti Yoga was made from the Swami’s writings on bhakti for the English-language periodical Brahmavadin; to that was added the concluding section on Para Bhakti, comprised of his advanced classes on Bhakti Yoga from New York. There were several early versions of Jnana Yoga, each somewhat distinct in its selection of lectures. The first was a collection of various classes given in New York and London entitled Lectures on Gnana Yoga and published by the Prabuddha Bharata Office in Madras in late 1897. 3 In 1902 Swami T h e

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Trigunatita brought out another version with a somewhat different collection of lectures from the Udbodhan Office. And in New York a distinct two-part edition was published by the Vedanta Society, Part I in 1902 and Part II in 1907.4 The text Jnana Yoga, as we have come to know it, now is the particular collection of lectures from New York and London made for the first edition of volume II of the Complete Works, published in 1907. Besides varying editions of the four Yogas, there were a few other publications during the Swami’s lifetime, such as booklets and pamphlets containing some of his lectures, and his magazine articles in English and Bengali. These were scattered over three continents and handled by several publishers. Books with almost the same title contained different collections. There were unpublished manuscripts of class talks and lectures in different hands in different countries, letters written to a large number of private individuals—friends and acquaintances— spread across the world, notes of private conversations made by different people, newspaper articles sitting in the publishers’ archives in various cities East and West, and more. But when the Swami was alive, he was so alive, so vibrant, so immeasurable, that who could think in terms of a collected works? How could you contain him between bookends? Moreover, his work was developing apace with amazing vitality: why would anyone think of a summation of his life’s work? Then at the young age of thirty-nine, after many warnings but no one was able or willing to believe them, he was gone. The Mythic Hero was gone, the Great Leader who seemed capable of moving heaven and earth, the Awakener of Souls, the Vessel of the power of Sri Ramakrishna—gone.

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It took years for his brother-disciples and followers to get over the tremendous cataclysm of the Swami’s disappearance. Yet the people he left behind had been trained, and the work continued. Within two or three years after the Swami’s Mahasamadhi—we don’t know exactly when—the brilliant and talented president of the Advaita Ashrama, Swami Swarupananda, began to gather the available talks and writings of Vivekananda with the idea of publishing the collected works. But Swami Swarupananda died quite unexpectedly in the summer of 1906, before the first volume could be finished. Swami Virajananda then took up the work, aided by Mother Sevier [Mrs Charlotte Sevier, wife of Captain James Henry Sevier, Swamiji’s English disciples who helped founding the Advaita Ashrama]. Sister Nivedita was also much involved, and wrote the Introduction to the Complete Works, a masterpiece that is

must-reading for anyone who wishes to understand the Swami and his works. Miss Ellen Waldo in America had already done much before there was any thought of a collected works, as had Swami Trigunatita before he left for America in 1903. In Kolkata, Swami Saradananda was active in the collecting and editing work. And Sister Devamata [an American nun of Ramakrishna Order] also took up some of the collection and editing work from New York. At first the team at Mayavati thought they had enough material for four volumes, and began the work. But as they proceeded, they found they had enough for a fifth. And in fact, the first four volumes show evident planning, whereas the fifth seems to have been made from what was

Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati

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left over—extremely valuable, but not part of a larger, original plan. The first two volumes were published in 1907. The third was published in 1908, fourth in 1909, and fifth in 1910. The contents of these five original volumes would be familiar to a student of the Complete Works even today. A sixth volume didn’t appear until 1921, under the guidance of Swami Madhavananda [later, the 9th President of the Ramakrishna Order]; but the publishers found that there was more material than they could fit into one volume, and so a seventh appeared in 1922. The preface to the seventh volume said that, though more material might be found in time, it was already twenty years since the Swami had passed away and so it was highly unlikely that another volume would see the light of day—whatever few materials might still be discovered would surely be accommodated easily in the existing seven volumes. More matter was added to the other volumes over the years, as expected. Even so, after almost thirty more years enough new material had been found to make an eighth volume—as large as the others—and was published under the guidance of Swami Yogeswarananda in 1951. Forty-six years later, enough new material had been discovered that a ninth volume was published under Swami Mumukshananda in 1997. And even now in 2013, 111 years after the Mahasamadhi of the Swami, there are still new materials coming in—very slowly, it’s true, but nonetheless every now and then a few new letters are discovered, much more rarely a manuscript. Now we are in possession of a collection of Bengali songs, Sangit Kalpataru, made by the future Vivekananda—that is, by Narendra Nath Dutta—and a friend. The long introduction, which was written by Narendra Nath before he had begun visiting Sri RamaT h e

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krishna, shows the precocious teenager’s deep knowledge of classical Indian music and the modern physics of sound. An English translation of this introduction will be included in the new edition of the Complete Works now being prepared. And the whole volume— Introduction and songs—has been published by the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture in the original Bengali. A New Edition The growth of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda has been an amazing process. But the manner in which it took place points to a problem which has grown with time: the volumes grew organically, as more material was discovered. That means they were begun and continued without an overall conception of what the end collection would look like, and therefore there is no real organization to the materials. Collections of letters were added to new volumes as they were found. Lectures and notes of talks were added as they were found. Conversations are spread over the later volumes. At present, a committee of monks under the guidance of the Trustees of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, is working on a new edition of the Complete Works which will incorporate some new materials, correct known errors, modernize spellings and punctuation and paragraphing, give extensive references to quotations and paraphrases made by the Swami, and most importantly, rearrange the materials. Similar materials will be brought together: all the letters will be together, arranged chronologically; conversations will be together, poetry together; lectures and class talks and notes on talks will be arranged according to general topic, and within the topic they will be—where it adds to understanding and the

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development of the Swami’s ideas—arranged chronologically. To give specific examples, the class talks that make up the collection we know as Karma Yoga were originally given by the Swami as four beginners’ classes and four advanced classes, but from the very first New York edition to the present day, the order of the talks was altered by editors from the order given by the Swami. When they are put in the original order—starting with the four beginners’ classes and continuing in order through the advanced classes—the development of the Swami’s thought is made visible. Though the lectures that form the book Karma Yoga will still be together, albeit in the new order, all other talks on Karma Yoga will also be brought together in the same volume and placed after Karma Yoga itself. Similarly with the other Yogas: the many talks on the topic of Raja Yoga will follow the book Raja Yoga in the same volume, and so on. Are the Complete Works Now Complete? Though I would like to be proven wrong, I think that now it is safe to say that there will not be many more original works of the Swami discovered in the future. Some letters, yes, maybe some notes of class talks or conversations, possibly a transcription or so of a lecture hidden in some unknown attic. Predictions that the age of new discoveries of original texts is closing have thankfully been proven wrong in the past, but increasingly with time they are bound to come true. So in that sense, the Complete Works are close to complete. What about the arrangement and editing? With the new edition that is presently being worked on, will work on the Complete Works be completed? The answer to that is simple and straightforward: an unequivocal T h e

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no. The work will not be close to finished. What is being done now will, it is hoped by all involved, be a great improvement, giving new information and new insight in a much more readable form. But it will be a readers’ edition, and not even the final readers’ edition. There will still be a great need for a critical edition. Take the Christian Bible or Jewish Torah, for instance. In the case of the Bible, after almost 2,000 years new editions are still being published, new critical editions are still being brought out. And we don’t yet have a single critical edition of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda in any language. So let me conclude by saying what we yet need, and what we will have in the future – there’s no doubt that we’ll have it. Both human nature and history demand it. First, it is necessary to understand clearly that Swami Vivekananda is not just for devotees of the Ramakrishna Movement. He is for them, but not just for them. Nor is he just for India. Swami Vivekananda belongs to the world: we can’t fence him in nor trademark him. We can’t even copyright him now that the limit on copyright has been exceeded. And we must begin thinking of him and his works in global terms. Given that, we need at least three versions of the Complete Works in every language, updated as languages evolve. First, an edition for general reading: that is what we have had, and what is being reworked at present. The Swami’s lectures were given extemporaneously, and any extemporaneous talk needs editing, no matter who the speaker: the spoken word and the written word are different. The Swami’s extemporaneous talks are nothing short of remarkable for how little editing they need, but even they need light editing for readability.

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Second, an arranged and annotated but unedited edition is needed as the ‘source’ edition, to give validity to the reader version. Without that, the edited versions will gradually drift further from the original. Moreover, such a source edition is necessary to give full authenticity to all other editions. Translations and new editions should, ideally, be made from the unedited version. In such an edition, original English talks and writings need to be in unedited English, Bengali works in Bengali, Sanskrit in Sanskrit, Hindi in Hindi, and French in French. Those who have had the blessing of working on the present project can say unequivocally that the existing Complete Works do represent Swamiiji. But the world needs a touchstone of authenticity to return to, which will be the unedited version. The need for this will be felt much more in the future. Just as the Rishis’ grammatical mistakes were retained in the Vedas, as great attention was paid to keeping the Koran out of the hands of editors, so an edition that is based as far as possible on the original records is needed as the basis of all future editions. And we have the basis for such an edition: we have some original manuscripts, and in all other cases we have the first published versions. Where more than one version of a text was published,

we usually know which was edited the least before publication. And thus we have the basis for an authentic source version. And finally, we need a critical edition for scholars and for detail-oriented devotees, with extensive explanatory notes, cross-references, and extensive references for the Swami’s quotes and paraphrases, no matter how casual, that give the actual passages referred to, so that one doesn’t have to consult thirty-five books while sitting in a library just to read the critical edition. One of the great discoveries while working on the new edition of the Complete Works is to see how vast the Swami’s mind was, how widely read, how informed of traditional texts as well as modern. Each of these editions is a huge project in itself, demanding years of patient work on the part of many people, which explains why there is as yet only a readers’ edition. But in the future, as the need is felt more acutely, these other versions will surely be accomplished, together with translations into many more languages, so that the Swami’s gift to the whole world will be accessible to all. As he said, ‘I have given [the world] enough for fifteen hundred years!’5 What a treasure, then, we have in the recorded words of the great Swami! The time is nigh when the world will want to open that treasure. o

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References 1. Romain Rolland, The Life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1947) p. 162. 2 The Gita, 9.26. 3 The Prabuddha Bharata had not yet been moved first to Almora and then to Mayavati. The book might have been published in early 1898: there is no date printed on the book.

Part I contained some of the Swami’s London lectures, and Part II contained his New York lectures on Jnana Yoga from the winter of 189596. Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of Swami Vivekananda (Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2001) vol. 2, p. 590.

Great convictions are the mothers of great deeds. —Swami Vivekananda T h e

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Swami Vivekananda: A Knower of God SWAMI BRAHMESHANANDA

The Knower of God: The Vedantic Idea Says Swami Vivekananda: ‘Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.’1. This can be done by four means called Yogas: Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Jnana Yoga is the path of reason and philosophy, in which the Real is discriminated from the unreal and the Eternal is likewise separated through reason from the non-eternal or the transitory. This process is aimed at achieving the identity between the individual soul, the Atman, with the cosmic consciousness, Brahman, according to the Upanishadic dictum ‘Aham-Brahmasmi’ or ‘I am Brahman’. The person who attains this state of identity of the individual consciousness with the cosmic consciousness is called a Brahmajnani, a knower of Brahman. The Vedas declare that ‘he becomes Brahman Itself’ (brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati).

The Vedantic scriptures have laid down specific qualifications for an aspirant of the path of discrimination i.e., Jnana yoga. These are four in number and are called `Sadhana Chatushtaya’: 1. Viveka or discrimination, 2. Vairagya or a spirit of dispassion, 3. Shatsampatti or six noble virtues (control of mind and senses, forbearance, withdrawal from sense objects, faith and concentration) and 4. Mumukshutva i.e., desire for liberation. When a competent aspirant for knowledge is imparted spiritual wisdom by an equally competent guru, he is blessed with Brahmajnana. After this attainment, that knower of Brahman lives as a jivanmukta—`liberated while living’. After physical death, he becomes totally liberated (becomes videhamukta). An Ideal Aspirant Swami Vivekananda was a highly competent aspirant (uttama-adhikari) for Jnana

A former editor of the Vedanta Kesari, the author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, now living at the Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, Varanasi.o T h e

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Yoga, the path of knowledge. Sri Ramakrishna considered him, then Narendranath Dutta, as the only aspirant of the path of knowledge among his disciples. His other disciples were instructed to follow certain restrictions about food like taking pure food uncontaminated by the three types of impurities. But no such restrictions were imposed upon Narendranath, for, as Sri Ramakrishna said, the fire of knowledge was constantly burning within him, which consumed all the impurities. The second characteristic of an ideal aspirant, Vairagya, dispassion, was intensely present in Narendra, which was tested often during his life. Immediately after the sudden and untimely death of Vishwanath Dutta, Narendranath’s father, the Dutta family was plunged into dire poverty. Some friends of Narendranath who earned their livelihood by unfair means asked him to join them. A rich woman sent him an ugly proposal to end his days of penury, which he sternly rejected with scorn. Another woman who made similar overtures was severely reprimanded by him and advised to give up filthy desires and remember God. Narendra also possessed the ‘six treasures.’ He had perfect control over his mind and senses (shama, dama). His concentration was phenomenal, and though it took time for his faith (shraddha) in Sri Ramakrishna, his Guru, to grow, it was unshakable. He did test Sri Ramakrishna on occasions, but followed his spiritual instructions implicitly. And he did forbear lot of hardships (titiksha) not only soon after the passing away of his father, including fasting for days together, but also all through his short but intense life—a life which was a tapasya in itself. Narendra’s yearning for spiritual illumination was as intense as was his renunciation. Once as he was trying to concentrate on his T h e

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law-studies, he was seized with a great fear as if studying were a terrible thing. He then left his books and ran non-stop to Cossipore to Sri Ramakrishna, oblivious of the situation around.2 According to Adi Shankaracharya, of the four qualifications for an aspirant for the knowledge of Brahman, renunciation and yearning were the most important and other qualifications become fruitful only in one who has these two in intensest degree.3 And Narendra had them. With an Ideal Guru Finding Narendra, a competent aspirant for the knowledge of Brahman, Sri Ramakrishna, a Guru par excellence, wanted to initiate him into the truth of Advaita Vedanta. Accordingly, he would ask Narendra to read aloud to him passages from AshtavakraSamhita and other Advaita treatises. But Narendra would consider such teachings as `I am God’, `You are God’, `All the created things are God’, absurd and blasphemous, and whenever possible, would ridicule the Advaita philosophy. On one such occasion, when he and Pratapchandra Hazra were making fun of the Advaita teachings, Sri Ramakrishna came out of his room and touched Narendra.4 At that magic touch of Sri Ramakrishna, Narendra was astounded to find that there was nothing in the world but God. At home too, he saw the food, the plate, the person who served and himself as God. While walking in the streets he felt that he and the cabs were of the same one stuff. When there was a slight change in this state, the world began to appear dream-like. While walking, he would strike his head against the iron railings to see if they were real. This continued for some days before he became normal again. After this experience, he did not deny the principles of Advaita Vedanta.

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Under the guidance of Sri Ramakrishna, Narendra henceforth proceeded on the path of Advaita Vedanta and finally by his guru’s grace, he had the experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhi5—the greatest moment of his spiritual disciplines and the crest of his spiritual realization. He had longed to realize the central theme of Upanishads and to be able to say from his direct experience: Aham Brahmasmi, ‘I am Brahman’. This realization came one evening unexpectedly when he passed into that Absolute state beyond description. Later he hinted at this state in his ‘The hymn of Samadhi’.6 Narendra wanted to remain absorbed in Samadhi continually for three or four days and only once in a while came down to the sense plane to eat a little food. But when he said this to Sri Ramakrishna, he said, ‘. . . There is a state higher than even that.’ And he reminded him of the song he often sang: ‘All that exists are Thou’. Sri Ramakrishna had thus been hinting at the state of what he called ‘Vijnani’.7 The Knower of God While Sri Ramakrishna did not grant Narendra’s earnest wish to remain merged in Samadhi always, Narendra did live the rest of his life like a sage fully established in the knowledge of Advaita, like a Brahmavit, a knower of Brahman. At least, on three other occasions, he, as Swami Vivekananda had experienced Nirvikalpa Samadhi while in USA: at Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan; at Camp Percy, in New Hampshire; and at Thousand Island Park. Who knows how many more occasions there may have been! Once during his Parivrajaka days, he became dizzy from exhaustion and being unable to walk, he took shelter under a tree. He was totally exhausted. Then the thought came to him: ‘Is it not true that within the soul T h e

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resides all power? How can it be dominated by the senses and the body? How can I be weak?’ He got up and continued his journey. Later in one of his lectures in California describing his experience, he said: . . . At last the mind reverted to the idea, ‘I have no fear nor death; never was I born, never did I die; I never hunger nor thirst; I am It, I am It. The whole of nature cannot crush me; it is my servant. Assert thy strength, thou Lord of Lords, God of gods. Regain thy lost empire! Arise, awake and stop not’ . . . and I would rise up, reinvigorated; and here I am today, living.8

In another trying experience, Swamiji’s experience of Advaita realization was tested in the West. While explaining Indian philosophy, he had said that the person who had realized the Highest remains undisturbed under all conditions. To test his statement, some cowboys invited him to lecture to them. Swamiji commenced his lecture and soon became absorbed. Suddenly there was a deafening noise of firing and shots whizzed past his head. But he continued to speak as though nothing had happened!9. Once in England, he and his companions were chased by an angry bull, and to protect a lady of the party who had fallen down, he had squarely faced the charging bull which meant certain death. Being established in the omnipresent, Timeless Brahman, Swamiji exhibited timeless awareness—beyond time, space and causation. Once, when he was in California, a reporter of a newspaper interviewed him. As she came to the close of the interview, she just said: ‘I must go, I have to catch a train.’ Swamiji smiled and said, ‘That is like all Americans’, and the reporter, a young woman, named Miss Blanche Partington, had a glimpse of eternity in his complete freedom from restlessness.10 On another occasion, he was to address a gathering at 3.00 p.m. in Oakland, California,

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but he was not there. Mr. Allen, who acted as the usher at lectures, came out and found Swamiji at a distance walking in his own composed majestic rhythm. When Mr. Allen reminded him that they were late by over half an hour, Swamiji said, ‘Mr. Allen, I am never late. I have all the time in the world. All time is mine.’ On the way they found a shoe-shiner. Swamiji stopped to get his shoe shined.11 Swami Turiyananda has narrated a similar incident of Swamiji’s indifference to time: Once Swamiji and some American gentlemen on a trip to an island had to catch a steamer at San Francisco. His companions hurried on but Swamiji walked leis u r e l y . When they remarked that Indians had no idea of time, Swamiji made a neat retort, `Yes, you live in time, we live in eternity’.12

If Swamiji lived beyond time, he was also not bound by form and figure. It was difficult for him, like a true Brahmajnani to identify with the body. Once, Swamiji stood before a large mirror again and again, Miss Waldo recalled. She thought Swamiji is full of personal vanity. Suddenly he turned and said, ‘Ellen, it is the strangest thing. I cannot remember how I look. I look and look at myself in the glass, but the moment I turn away, I forget completely what I look like.’13 This transcendental mode of consciousness T h e

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was also revealed once by a single sentence when in reply to a greeting by a devotee, Mr. Allen: ‘Well, Swami, I see you are in Alameda’, he had gravely said: ‘No, Mr. Allan, I am not in Alameda, Alameda is in me.’14 Indeed, during his second visit to the West, Swamiji remained in a state of total identification with the cosmic consciousness, Brahman, a state which found expression in his talks, conversations and letters written during this period. Although he delivered lectures and moved about in various cities and lived and mixed with people, his mood of a Brahmajnani always remained intact. Mrs. Lillian Montgomery who saw and heard Swamiji in June, 1900 at New York, felt, As he spoke, veils just seemed to fall from your eyes . . . In some way, there was no limit to his personality. . . As we see people we see them limited because this awareness is certainly connected to the body. It seemed to me that there was an ocean of consciousness back of Swami Vivekananda, and in some ways, it focused and flowed through his words . . .15

About the same time, Swamiji had said to Swami Abhedananda, ‘Well, Brother, my days are numbered. I shall live only for three or four years at the most.’ When Swami Abhedananda remonstrated, Swamiji had replied, ‘You do not understand me. I feel that I am growing

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very big. My self is expanding so much that at times, I feel as if this body could not contain me anymore. I am about to burst. Surely this cage of flesh and blood cannot hold me for many days.’ 16 Swamiji expressed this feeling of transcendental peace in his letters. On March 25, 1900, he wrote Sister Christine, I am an infinite blue sky; the clouds may gather over me, but I am the same infinite blue. I am trying to get a taste of that peace which I know is my nature and everyone’s nature . . . My dreams are breaking. Om Tat Sat.17

And to Mary Hale, three days later: I am attaining peace that passeth understanding, which is neither joy nor sorrow, but something above them both . . . he whose joy is only in himself, whose desires are only in himself, he has learnt his lessons . . . Alone through eternity, because I was free, am free and remain free for ever . . . I am realizing it now every day. Yes, I am. ‘I am free’. Alone, alone, I am the one without a second.18

In one of the lectures delivered at Alameda after taking the audience step by step up to the heights of Advaita, he finished by placing his hand on his chest and saying, ‘I am God’ (meaning Brahman because in English there is no better word). According to Swami Saradananda, Swamiji always spoke about of his own direct experience.19 A Vijnani Swami Vivekananda not only expressed in words his experience of cosmic consciousness, he actually experienced unity with the whole universe. Swami Vijnanananda once found Swamiji pacing up and down in the verandah outside his room at 2 a.m. at night. On asking why he was still awake, Swamiji said that he was sound asleep but he felt a sort of jolt which broke his sleep. He thought there T h e

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is a major disaster somewhere in which many people have suffered. Next day, the newspaper carried the news that at that time, there was a volcano eruption at one of the islands near Fiji* in which many people had died, rendered homeless and suffered variously. Such was Swamiji’s identification with the universal consciousness, a mark of a Brahma-vijnani.20 Sri Ramakrishna wanted Swami Vivekananda not only to be a Brahmajnani, but Vijnani—one who not only experiences the identity of oneself with Brahman in Samadhi but also sees the same Brahman in all creatures with open eyes. And this Swamiji did. He saw divinity especially in the poor and downtrodden. While returning to India from his second visit to the West, he and his party visited Egypt. One day, they lost their way in Cairo and entered the street of the illfamed ones, with improperly clad women peeping from windows and on doorsteps. The ladies of Swamiji’s party tried to hurry along but Swamiji detached himself gently and approached the women on the bench who were laughing and calling to him, and said: ‘Poor child, she has forgotten who she is and has put her divinity into her body’, and tears began to trickle down his cheeks . . . The women were ashamed; one of them kissed the hem of his robe and said, ‘Man of God’.21 Towards the end of his life, at the Belur Math, Swamiji gave a sumptuous feast to the Santhal labourers who were engaged to clear and level the Math grounds. When the meal was over, Swamiji told them, ‘You are *

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On 8th May, 1902, a volcano, Mt. Peelee, in Carrabian Islands had erupted killing around 35000 people. There was no such mishap in or around Fiji during those years. This only substanciates Swamiji’s experience irrespective of the site of the volcanic eruption. D E C E M B E R

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Narayanas; today I have entertained the Lord Himself by feeding you!’ Later to a disciple he remarked, ‘I actually saw the Lord Himself in them . . .’22 On another occasion, he decided to perform the worship of Sri Ramakrishna. After taking the seat of the worshipper, he meditated for a long time. Then, instead of placing the flowers before the Lord, he placed them first on the heads of each disciple who was sitting there. Actually, he did not worship the disciples but Sri Ramakrishna in them.23 Not only was Swamiji established in Brahman-consciousness, not only did he see God in all creatures with open eyes, but he could actually transmit that supreme experience by mere wish to competent persons. Swamiji was once sitting as usual under the mango tree in the Belur Math courtyard. The monks around were busy with various activities, and Swami Premananda was climbing the steps to the shrine. Suddenly Swamiji said to a disciple,

or an inert person, or a ghost or a mad man (balavat, jadavat, pishachavat, unmattavat). When Swamiji came to America, he was already established in the state of a Paramahamsa and had become in his total purity similar to a child, uncontaminated and blissful. In June 1895, he wrote to Mary Hale, where he referred to the state of a Paramahamsa: Every day I feel I have no duty to do; I am always in eternal rest and peace. It is He that works. We are only the instruments. . . once more even here [in Thousand Islands Park] I feel what sometimes felt in India. ‘From me all differences have fallen, all right and wrong, all delusion and ignorance has vanished, I am walking on the path beyond qualities. What law I obey, what disobey?’ From that height the universe looks like a mud-puddle. Hari Om Tat Sat. He exists; nothing else does. I in Thee, and Thou in me. . . .25

The result was that no one moved for about fifteen minutes and all experienced indescribable peace and joy. Swami Premananda went into ecstasy.24

While meditating, Swamiji became as it were infinity itself. But often the childlike joy characteristic of the Paramahamsa manifested without any restrain. He would be engrossed in singing songs in Bengali, giving voice to the continual inner joy, and at time he would be just soaked in bliss and guilelessly absorbed in joy.26 According to Mahendra Dutta, Swamiji would, at times, dance like a child. Once, after sitting for a long time in deep thought, Swamiji began to chant ‘So’ham, So’ham’. His look and the tone of his voice changed and his countenance became a veritable picture of joy. In that state of bliss he began to pace up and down and danced for a while. 27

A Paramahamsa A knower of Brahman spontaneously transcends the limitations of body and the social obligations and injunctions associated with the station of life. Such a Brahmajnani is called a Paramahamsa, who lives like a child,

The Great ‘Return’ The physical body of a jivanmukta falls off of its own accord on the exhaustion of the prarabdha karma—like a lamp which gets extinguished of its own accord when the oil in the lamp gets exhausted. This may be true,

Where will you go to seek Brahman? He is immanent in all beings. Here, here is the visible Brahman! Shame on those who, neglecting the visible Brahman, set their minds on other things! Here is the visible Brahman before you as tangible as a fruit in one’s hand. Can’t you see? Here-here-here is Brahman!

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but the case of Swamiji was different. He had conquered death while living and had faced it more than once in his life. Besides, mystically, he had ‘hugged the form of death’, when he had meditated and experienced the Terrible Aspect of Kali, the Divine Mother, during his trip to Kashmir.28 During his pilgrimage to Amarnath, Swamiji had received from Lord Shiva the boon not to die until he himself willed it. And at the end of his temporary sojourn in this

transitory world, he willingly passed away into Peace Eternal and life Immortal. He was a Rishi of the realm of the Absolute who had voluntarily descended to this mortal world to demonstrate and teach to it its real nature and went back equally voluntarily to his Transcendental Realm. His whole life was a shining demonstration of the fact that eternal life could only be in the Self which neither takes birth nor dies. o

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References 1. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, in nine volumes, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, (hereafter, CW). 1:124. 2. Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, (hereafter, Life) I.162. 3. Viveka-chudamani, verse 17 4. Ibid. p. 95-96. 5. Ibid. p.177 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid. p.162 8. Ibid, p. 353. 9. Ibid. p. 454-455 10. Swami Vivekananda in the West—New Discoveries, Marie Louise Burke, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, (New Discoveries). Vol. 6. p.394. 11. Ibid, Vol. 5 p.399. 12. Prabuddha Bharata, Vol. XXXI, 1926, p.243. 13. Ibid., Vol. XXXVII, 1932, p.243.

14. Unpublished notes of Thomas J. Allan, quoted in ND. Vol. 6, p.136. 15. Talk at New York Vedanta Society, April 27, 1955 quoted in ND. Vol. 6, p.281. 16. Life, Vol. II, p.489 17. CW. Vol. VI, p.430. 18. Ibid, Vol. 6, p.44. 19. ND. Vol.6, p. 120. 20. Swami Vireswarananda quoted in Smritir Aloye Swamiji, Udbodhan Karyalaya, Kolkata 2010, p.23. 21. ND. Vol. 6, p. 396. 22. Life,Vol. II, p. 616). 23. God lived with Them, Swami Chetanananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 1998, p.66. 24. Ibid. p. 67. 25. CW, Vol. VIII, p.345. 26. Mahendra Dutta, quoted in ND. Vol. 4, p.174. 27. Ibid 28. Life, Vol. II.380.

Religion does not depend on our intellectual assent or dissent. You say there is a soul. Have you seen the soul? How is it we all have souls and do not see them? You have to answer the question and find out the way to see the soul. If not, it is useless to talk of religion. If any religion is true, it must be able to show us the soul and show us God and the truth in ourselves. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 4:34

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Swami Vivekananda —An Exponent of the Scriptures SWAMI ATMAPRIYANANDA

‘I Have a Message to Give’ In certain rare moments of selfrevelation, Swami Vivekananda let the world have a glimpse of his personality and mission on this earth as a ‘World Teacher’1, as a Prophet with a mission to deliver a message: v I have a message to the West as Buddha had a message to the East.2 v In one word, I have a message to give, . . I have no work under or beyond the sun. I have a message, and I will give it after my own fashion.3 v I have a message to give, let me give it to the people who appreciate it and who will work it out.4 v I have a message for the world which I will deliver without fear and without care for the future.5 v I know my mission in life, no chauvinism about me.6

What was the message that he came to deliver? Was it anything new that the world did not know about earlier? Was he creating a new scripture of his own through his message or was he merely interpreting, expounding, and throwing a new light on the ancient scriptures by his luminous and penetrating insights? This is a humble attempt to provide a tentative answer to this question as a paradoxical yes and no. ‘My Ideal indeed. . .’ o

Swami Vivekananda spoke about his message, the Ideal he preached, in pithy, aphoristic sentences on several occasions. In a letter to Sister Nivedita, his dedicated Irish disciple, he wrote: My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.7

There are two more wonderful revelations of his specific mission in life, one of which Swami Vivekananda called ‘his life’s work’ and another, the message he wanted to give to the West: The dry, abstract Advaita must become living— poetic—in everyday life; out of hopelessly intricate mythology must come concrete moral forms; and out of bewildering Yogi-ism must come the most scientific and practical psychology—and all this must be put in a form so that a child may grasp it. That is my life’s work.8 I want to give them dry, hard reason, softened in the sweetest syrup of love and made spicy with intense work, and cooked in the kitchen of Yoga, so that even a baby can easily digest it.9

The Foundational Principles of His Message From a study of Swami Vivekananda’s various teachings and writings, we may summarize his message in the form of certain Foundational Principles, which, as we shall

The author is the Vice Chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math, West Bengal. T h e

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see, flow directly from the ancient Vedantic scriptures of the Sanatana Dharma of which Swamiji was but a modern exponent. Swamiji was a Yugacharya—literally, ‘Exponent of the Age’ or ‘Prophet of the Modern Age’ who, while teaching the same old truths, shone on the spiritual horizon of the modern world as a Master Exponent of the ancient wisdom couching the ancient teachings in a language and an idiom that are comprehensive, acceptable, relevant to the modern minds and practically realizable in the modern age. Swamiji’s own mission statements quoted above would vouch for the veracity of this claim. Swami Vivekananda’s teachings are based upon the following two foundational principles:10 Principle (I): Divinity of the Jiva (being); Principle (II): Unity of Existence (that is, Solidarity of the Universe) As can be easily seen, Principle (I) is related to the ‘microcosm’ or individual aspect of Existence (sat) and is based on the Vedantic equation that sat is the same as chit (Awareness or Consciousness). Principle (II) speaks about the identity of the ‘microcosm’ and the ‘macrocosm’. In the language of modern science, it is a statement about the ‘dynamic equilibrium’ between the microcosm and the macrocosm. Swami Vivekananda, the modern exponent (yugacharya, Teacher of the Age) of the ancient truths of Vedanta, has couched the content T h e

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of the famous mahavakyas (literally, ‘Great Statements’) that speak of the identity of the jiva (the individual being) with Brahman (the Universal Being) in the above two foundational principles in order to (i) enable the modern minds to easily grasp this truth in the light of the body of scientific knowledge developed in this age of science, and (ii) make it easily applicable in practice in the modern world for the all-round development of both the individual and the society. Swami Vivekananda, the modern exponent of the scriptures, particularly of the Vedanta Darshana (Vedanta philosophy) embodied in the magnus opus of Bhagavan Veda Vyasa, the Brahmasutras, composed, as it were, his own Vedanta sutra (Vedanta aphorism), expounding the purpose of Vedanta as follows: atmano mokshartham jagaddhitaya cha, ‘for the liberation of the individual self and for the welfare of the world’. The first four sutras of the ancient Vedanta Sutras of Bhagavan Veda Vyasa are called the chatussutri (the four sutras or aphorisms). The modern chatussutri of Swami Vivekananda (we may call them viveka sutras) are the following:11 Sutra 1: Each soul is potentially divine. Sutra 2: The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Sutra 3: Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy— by one or more or all of these—and be free.

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Sutra 4: This is the whole of religion. Doctrines or dogmas or rituals or books or temples or forms are but secondary details. Practical Vedanta: His Unique Contribution Swami Vivekananda’s exposition of the ancient Vedantic scriptures in the modern idiom and as suited to the modern age was in perfect tune with his mission to bring the Vedanta hidden in the forests and the mountain caves to the workplace and the households of the common people. To quote his own words: The Vedanta, therefore, as a religion must be intensely practical. We must be able to carry it out in every part of our lives. And not only this, the fictitious differentiation between religion and the life of the world must vanish, for the Vedanta teaches oneness—one life throughout. The ideals of religion must cover the whole field of life; they must enter into all our thoughts, and more and more into practice. . . and so we must first apply ourselves to theories and understand how they are worked out, proceeding from forest caves to busy streets and cities.12

civilization to emerge, based upon the above two foundational principles. The following conversation that took place at the Harvard Philosophical Club during Swamiji’s first visit to America is worth recalling in this context. To the question: ‘What is Vedantic idea of civilization?’, Swamiji answered as follows: True civilization is the manifestation of the divinity in man. That land is the most civilized wherein the highest ideas are made practical.13

Swamiji was keenly aware that this unique work was left for him to do as the Yugacharya. When he was once challenged by a group of pundits (orthodox scholars) in South India as to why the earlier Acharyas (Exponents of the Scriptures) did not say what he said in his interpretation of the three famous Vedantic outlooks of Dvaita (dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) and Advaita (non-dualism), Swamiji was roused to come out in his real form as the Exponent of the Scriptures in modern times and he startled the audience by his thundering reply speaking ‘as one with authority and not as the scribes’14:

Swamiji himself was aware that his was a unique mission of expounding the ancient Vedantic scriptures in the light of the life and message of his unique Master, Sri Ramakrishna, harmonizing and synthesizing the apparently contradictory points of view, different angles of vision, various perspectives and outlooks, and putting it all in a capsule of distilled wisdom that is at once acceptable to modern minds as well as applicable in practice for all-round development and growth of the entire humankind. He wanted a new world T h e

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Because I was born for this and it was left for me to do [that is, expound this doctrine of harmony and synthesis].15!

Readers of Swami Vivekananda’s writings and speeches often feel that he lacks ‘consistency’ and there are ‘contradictions’ in his thought. In fact, a powerful and keen disciple like Arjuna raised the same objections against Sri Krishna in the BhagavadGita [3.2], going to the extent of saying: ‘By making contradictory statements you, O Krishna, are confusing me as it were!’ D E C E M B E R

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The apparent contradictions found in the utterances of great Prophets and Acharyas are traceable to their extraordinary power to move swiftly, with lightning speed in the case of Swami Vivekananda, from one point of view to another and their remarkable ability to be able to perceive the Truth from ever so many perspectives, points of view, and to move from one position to another with an ease and alacrity that baffles the minds of ordinary intellects like ours. The minds of these great Prophets and Acharyas are dazzlingly beautiful like the multi-coloured rainbow in the sky or the breath-taking Himalayan panorama, while ours are dull and monolithic. The Tamasic inertia of our minds gives us little mobility to move, thereby preventing us to have the blessedness of tasting the innumerable varieties in which Truth manifests and seeing the countless hues and shades of delight in which the ‘white Radiance of Eternity’ breaks up in Its play of sportive joy (lila). That was why Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said: ‘A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.’ Great minds, standing tall at the top of a Himalayan peak, as it were, have a range and breadth of vision that Truth gets revealed to their minds ‘deep as the ocean and broad as the skies’ as they are, that these great minds throw up spontaneously gems of vision that they perceive in their ever-growing and never-ending vision-play with the Reality, the Infinite and the Absolute Truth. For minds that are uncomfortable with the above idea—as many of us are not only uncomfortable with it but literally scared because our logical thought-structure gets demolished by the swiftness of the movement of their great minds, it strikes T h e

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us like lightning—there is one other way of studying Swami Vivekananda to appreciate and understand him in the framework of ‘consistency’. This is the traditional way of interpreting the scriptures, the ancient mimamsa exegetics, hermeneutical study through shad-vidha-linga, six limbs or signs. A very brief and sketchy account of these signs or lingas is given below. Study and interpretative understanding of Swamiji’s works in the light of these six signs are a matter of elaborate research and we refrain from delving deeper into this exercise in keeping with the scope of the present paper. The Six Signs of Perfect Exposition are:

The six signs of perfect expositions are: (1) Upakrama—Approach (2) Upasamhaara—Conclusion (3) Abhyaasa—Repeated Practice (4) Phalaapoorvataa—Uniqueness of the fruit (5) Arthavaada—Extolling statements (6) Upapatti—Attainment through reason Another remarkable and distinctive feature of Swami Vivekananda's exposition of the scriptures, which sets him apart from the earlier Acharyas is that whereas the ancient Acharyas were committed to definite schools of Vedanta and interpreted the scriptures to show that these scriptures in fact justified, vindicated and proved the points of view that their own schools staunchly and uncompromisingly held, Swami Vivekananda's exposition of the scriptures was in the light of the all-inclusive, all-emcompassing, all-reconciling and all-harmonizing liberal teachings of his Master Sri Ramakrishna. In fact, Swami

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Vivekananda exhorted the followers of Ramakrishna Vedanta, in emphatic language, that the ancient scriptures must be interpreted, expounded and understood ‘through the microscope of Sri Ramakrishna's life and teachings’ and vice versa, Sri Ramakrishna should be interpreted, understood, taught and expounded in the light of the ancient scriptures. His Message of Harmony and Synthesis It is easy to see that the foundational Principle (I) mentioned above states that the jiva (being) is divine. Now, since jiva is the ‘microcosm’, this Principle would come to mean that the microcosmic existence is divine. Principle (II) states that microcosm Ì! macrocosm. [The symbol (Ì!) denotes dynamic equilibrium’ in modern scientific terminology]. Hence it follows that all of Existence, both in its micro and macro-aspects, is divine. These two Principles together form the core of Swami Vivekananda’s message of Vedanta, sometimes called the Neo-Vedanta (Modern Vedanta) of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda. Sri Ramakrishna was the pioneer Teacher of Harmony and Synthesis. And Swami Vivekananda inherited that genius from his Master. In his holistic approach to Existence in all its aspects—individual and collective, or microcosmic and macrocosmic— there is harmony (samanvaya), synthesis (samucchaya), equilibrium (samatva), integraT h e

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tion (paripurnatva), unification (ekatrikarana) and balance (samata) of all aspects of Life and Existence: those aspects which appear to be apparently contradictory melt into one homogeneous whole, losing their contradictoriness. The Supreme Reality (God or Atman or Brahman) is one in which all apparent contradictions meet and lose their contradictoriness, and any presentation of Reality must, therefore, be based upon the fundamental outlook in which noncontradiction will be the philosophy. This was the message that Swamiji gave out in one of his very first addresses in Chicago where his world-mission was launched: . . . Holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: ‘Help and not Fight,’ ‘Assimilation and not Destruction,’ ‘Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.’16

This message of harmony Swamiji learned at the feet of his Master, Sri Ramakrishna. ‘The angelic Master had instinctively resolved all the dissonances of life into a Mozartian harmony, as rich and sweet as the Music of the Spheres. And hence the work and thought of the great disciple was all carried out under the sign of Ramakrishna.’17

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Speaking of his Master, Swamiji laid special emphasis on the harmonizing character of Sri Ramakrishna’s message: The time was ripe for one to be born, who in one body would have the brilliant intellect of Shankara and the wonderfully expansive infinite heart of Chaitanya, one who would see in every sect the same Spirit working, the same God; one who would see God in every being, one whose heart would weep for the poor, for the weak, for the downtrodden, for everyone in this world inside India and outside India; and at the same time whose grand brilliant intellect would conceive of such noble thoughts as would harmonize all conflicting sects, not only in India but outside of India, and bring a marvellous harmony. . . The time was ripe, it was necessary that such a man should be born. . . and I had the good fortune to sit at his feet. . . He came, the living spirit of the Upanishads, the accomplishment of Indian sages, the sage for the present day.18 It was given to me to live with a man who was as ardent a Dualist, as ardent an Advaitist, as ardent a Bhakta as a Jnani. And living with this man first put it into my head to understand the Upanishads and the texts of the scriptures from an independent and better basis than by blindly following the commentators. . . I came to the conclusion that these texts are not at all contradictory . . . The one fact I found is that . . . they begin with Dualistic Ideas. . . and end with a grand flourish of Advaitic ideas. I have seen the harmony which is at the back of all the faiths of India.19

four yogas in their entirety, renunciation and service, art and science, religion and action from the most spiritual to the most practical. Each of the ways that he taught had its own limits, but he himself had been through them all, and embraced them all. As in a quadriga, he held the reins of all the ways to Truth, and he travelled towards Unity along them all simultaneously. He was the personification of the harmony of all human energy.20

And the magic watchword was Unity. Unity of every Indian man and woman (and world-unity as well); of all the powers of the spirit—dream and action; reason, love and work. Unity of the hundred races of India with their hundred different tongues and hundred thousand gods springing from the same religious centre, the core of present and future reconstruction. Unity of the thousand sects of Hinduism. Unity within the vast ocean of religious thought and all rivers past and present, Western and Eastern.21 Conclusion In the present age, with all our vaunted glory of the advance of science and technology, the ‘world is burning with misery.’22 Peoples of the world living in an atmosphere of perpetual panic and nerve-wrecking tension would therefore do well to listen to the voice of this great exponent of the scriptures in the modern times. This voice burst forth

The genius of synthesis that Swamiji was has been portrayed in the following memorable words by his French biographer Romain Rolland: In the two words equilibrium and synthesis Vivekananda’s constructive genius may be summed up. He embraced all the paths of the spirit: the T h e

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on the earth when it came as a shrill cry of the baby Narendra exactly 150 years ago, and this voice, gaining in volume and momentum, has since transformed into a thunder, reverberating everywhere on the earth and in the skies. May this voice of harmony and synthesis, all-inclusive and all-embracing, resonate with every pulsation and every beat of every human heart all over the globe and bring peace

and joy to humankind at large, is our prayer. Now that humankind appears to be passing through one of its worst crises in civilization, battered and bruised, panic-stricken and strife-smitten, conflict-ridden and stress-torn, it ought to listen in deep silence, if it has to survive with sanity, to this Music of the Spheres arising perpetually from the heart of Vivekananda and ‘bursting on society like a bomb-shell!’23 o

 References 1. Life of Swami Turiyananda by Swami Jagadiswarananda, Published by Udbodhan, Kolkata, 1986, p.47 2. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (hereafter Complete Works), Vol.5, p.314 3. Complete Works, 5.72 4. Ibid. 5.67 5. Ibid. 3.213 6. Ibid. 5.95 7. Ibid. 7.501 8. Ibid, 5.104 9. Ibid.5.104 10. For a more elaborate exposition of this theme, the reader may refer to the author’s article on ‘What did Vivekananda teach?’ published in Vedanta Kesari, July 1990 11. Complete Works, 1.257 12. Ibid. 2.291

13. Life of Swami Vivekananda by his Eastern and Western disciples (hereafter Life), publ. Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Himalayas (6th edn. January 1989, Vol.2, p.77) 14. The Holy Bible, Gospel according to St. Mathew, Sermon on the Mount 15 Swami Vivekananda in America: New Discoveries, 3.140, 6.190 16. Complete Works, 1.24 17. Romain Rolland, The Life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel (hereafter Rolland) (Advaita Ashrama, 1988), p.79 18. Ibid.pp.281-282 19. Ibid. footnote on p.282 20. Rolland, p.281 21. Ibid.p.287 22. Complete Works, 7.501 23. Life of Swami Vivekananda, Vol.1, p.248

Naren [Swami Vivekananda] is of divine origin and full of purity from his infancy, and about whom the Master mentioned that he was a Rishi, a great sage. . . Though fully imbued with the spirit of renunciation and an all-embracing love, and immersed in the eternal joy of communion with the Infinite, he has been suffering for the good of others. . . . He gave his life blood to the service of others. . . He was specially brought by the Master. . . for preaching his lofty ideals, for the elevating of the masses and for the good of humanity. —Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

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Perfect Independence —Vivekananda, Freedom and Women: East and West PRAVRAJIKA VRAJAPRANA

A Passionate Lover of Freedom Alasinga Perumal, an orthodox Vaishnava Tamil brahmin, was one of Swami Vivekananda’s most devoted disciples. By 1896, Alasinga had known him for four years, and so was perhaps unsurprised by some of his more creative, if not maverick, ideas. But this bit of news must have left Alasinga stunned: ‘One of my new sannyasins is indeed a woman,’1 Swamiji had written him in a letter, the words implying that there must have been some dismayed questioning of a report which appeared in the New York Herald in January of 1896.2 Swamiji continued: ‘She [Marie Louise, later Swami Abhayananda] was a leader of the labourers’—as if the addition of this equally jaw-dropping information was somehow more appealing than his earlier phrase. If Swamiji had written that the time was ripe to start a Vedanta center on the moon, it would have scarcely been less surprising. But Swami Vivekananda didn’t care which cherished apple carts he overturned, if the overturning led to humanity’s greater freedom, wisdom and strength. Freedom was, above all else, what he sought for humanity and when he found it missing, he would do anything in his power to right the situation. ‘Freedom,’ he said, ‘is the first condition of

growth. What you do not make free, will never grow.’3 Because freedom was the highest value for Swamiji and because spiritual freedom is the highest of all human goals, Swamiji gave sannyasa to Marie Louise, even though she did not appear to be the most promising of candidates. Any sort of enslavement, whether enforced by societal dictates or self-imposed, was abhorrent to Swami Vivekananda. For that reason, the freedom of women was deeply important to him. First, because women have historically endured oppression, both in the East and the West, and Vivekananda hated oppression of any kind. Second, as a devotee of Shakti in all her manifestations, it pained him to see women treated as second-class citizens or treating themselves as something lesser than what they really were. And, what they really were, were the veritable manifestations of the Divine Mother, strength and power being their essential nature and birthright. Understanding Freedom Freedom is the key to understanding Swamiji’s approach to women (no less than it was for men), both East and West. What, then, do we mean by ‘freedom’? Freedom from what? From limitations, from that which

The author is a nun of the Ramakrishna Order at Sarada Convent, Santa Barbara, Vedanta Society of Southern California, USA. o T h e

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keeps us from being aware of our own innate divinity. What prevents us from realizing our innate divinity? Ignorance. In our ignorance we identify ourselves with our lower nature, with our body/mind complex instead of the divinity at the core of our being. This fundamental ignorance is the root of all personal and societal woes. Ignorance makes us forget our real nature and it also makes us mis-identify the nature of others. We see difference, we see gender, we see race, class and nationality, instead of the divinity standing there before us. Our human nature is intrinsically noble, divinity lying at the very heart of our being. That being the case, to identify ourselves as human beings is in itself a noble reminder. ‘We should not think that we are men and women,’ Swamiji said, ‘but only that we are human beings, born to cherish and help one another.’4 This is our basic starting point. We need to dis-identify ourselves with gender and identify in the common factor of our humanity. Only with this dis-identification can we then start to identify ourselves in the right sense. In America Swamiji met women who had the highest intelligence as well as the highest spiritual aspirations. They were a thousand times freer than their sisters in India. In India, women were much more confined, much more controlled, suffering from a lack of education and many other miseries. Yet despite all the barriers that held them back, they nevertheless maintained the highest spiritual standard. While speaking to an American audience, Swamiji said: I should very much like our women to have your intellectuality, but not if it must be at the cost of purity. I admire you for all that you know, but I dislike the way that you cover what is bad with roses and call it good. Intellectuality is not the highest good. Morality and spirituality are the T h e

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things for which we strive. Our women are not so learned, but they are more pure.5

What does ‘pure’ mean? Disentangling ourselves from our sexuality, our gender, our small identifications which chain us to our body and make us forget our real nature. ‘The ideal of the Indian race,’ Swamiji said, ‘is freedom of the soul.’6 What Swami Vivekananda sought for us all, irrespective of male or female, East or West, is freedom of the soul. Freedom from this wrong identification that we cling to so tightly. The great advantage for India, despite any of the other myriad problems she had, was that this freedom of the soul was the ideal, one that was understood, recognized and appreciated. In the West, particularly in America, freedom has remained the political and social ideal, the ideal never migrating into the spiritual realm. While the West has tried to achieve freedom through political action and social liberation, the drawbacks from the latter have been great. Freedom has often been confused with license, which isn’t freedom at all. It’s mere bondage to the senses that creates ever more bondage in its wake. Swami Vivekananda said: ‘The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence’.7 ‘Independence’ here does not mean the freedom to do what one wants, whenever one wants, at the cost of no matter what. Certainly the freedom which Swamiji cherished and which the ancient Rishis invoked was not freedom to indulge the senses but freedom from the hypnotism of the senses. The ‘independence’ of which Swamiji speaks is the freedom that comes with the knowledge that my real nature is perfect, that no one or no thing will make me more intrinsically perfect and complete than what I am already. I am dependent on no one and nothing is dependent upon me because freedom is my

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real nature. Divinity needs no prop to make it stand on its own. If Alasinga could be dumbfounded by Swamiji’s way of doing things, no less bewildered was Sister Christine in Thousand Island Park. In 1895 Swamiji had gone out for a walk in the woods. In this heavily forested area, the undergrowth is thick and wild. There is no easy pathway, no chance for a gentle stroll. Unaccustomed to hiking in a forested terrain, slippery with moisture, Sister Christine was expecting a helping hand from Swamiji, especially since he had such high regard for women. When the expected help didn’t arrive, she was exasperated. ‘We were allowed to climb up and slide down the rocks without an expected arm to help us,’ she later wrote. ‘When he sensed our feeling, he answered, as he so often did, our unspoken thought, “If you were old or weak or helpless, I should help you. But you are quite able to jump across this brook or climb this path without help. You are as able as I am. Why should I help you? Because you are a woman? That is chivalry, and don’t you see that chivalry is only sex? Don’t you see what is behind all these attentions from men to women?”’8 We have here a potent example of Swamiji’s ideal: perfect womanhood is perfect independence. Freedom: Its Practical Aspect In practical application, this meant: ‘No man shall dictate to a woman; nor a woman to a man. Each one is independent.’9 While American women had much more social freedom than their Indian sisters, they squandered it. With the ideal of chivalry placed before them as a model, women were presumed to be helpless and weak. Even if they weren’t helpless and weak, they were supposed to act as if they were. Swamiji knew how truly pernicious this was. It was T h e

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pernicious because it was both intellectually and spiritually dishonest: intellectually, because it was factually not true; women knew it and used it for their advantage, making them manipulative and deceitful. About this Swamiji said: If you do not allow one to become a lion, he will become a fox. Women are a power, only now it is more evil because man oppresses woman; she is the fox, but when she is no longer oppressed, she will be the lion.10

Chivalry was spiritually dishonest because all strength, all purity and power is within us. Only with strength, strength in the knowledge of the Atman, in the fact that we are all birthless, deathless, free and pure, only with such strength can we realize our true divine nature. In recalling Swamiji’s admonition to her, Sister Christine said: ‘With these words came a new idea of what true reverence for womanhood means.’11 Christine continued: From men he demanded manliness and from women the corresponding quality for which there is no word. Whatever it is, it is the opposite of self-pity, the enemy of weakness and indulgence. This attitude had the effect of a tonic. Something long dormant was aroused and with it came strength and freedom.12

Strength and freedom go together. Only with strength does freedom come and only with freedom does spiritual growth and realization come. Knowing this as a certainty, Swamiji gave sannyasa and brahmacharya vows to Western women, fearlessly breaking through the sandalwood ceiling that had been kept in place for thousands of years. ‘The greatest of all lies,’ he said, ‘is that we are bodies, which we never were nor even can be,’ Swamiji said.13 He refused to see women as anything less than equal beings. Today for a woman to take sannyasa is not

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an earth-shaking occasion. It is an unusual life choice, especially in the West where renunciation is not seen as a wise career move. But over a century ago, giving monastic vows to a woman, particularly a Western woman, was literally unthinkable. The breadth of vision and the fearlessness involved in such a decision is breathtaking. Only such a one as Swami Vivekananda could have done it. Monasticism for Women For that, all women and men, whether in the East or the West, should be grateful. We are, all of us, the recipients of his large heart, his breadth of vision, his desire to pull us all to freedom. We should remember, too, that Swamiji wanted a women’s monastic order to be established, even including it in the rules he formulated for the Ramakrishna Order. At its centre would be Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi. Writing to his brother-disciple Swami Shivananda, Swamiji said:

Without the grace of Shakti nothing is to be accomplished. What do I find in America and Europe?—the worship of Shakti, the worship of Power. Yet they worship Her ignorantly through sense-gratification. Imagine, then, what a lot of good they will achieve who will worship Her with all purity, in a sattvika spirit, looking upon Her as their mother! I am coming to understand things clearer every day, my insight is opening out more and more. Hence we must first build a Math for Mother. First Mother and Mother’s daughters, then Father and Father’s sons—can you understand this? . . . To me, Mother’s grace is a hundred thousand times more valuable than Father’s. Mother’s grace, Mother’s blessings are all paramount to me.14

You have not yet understood the wonderful significance of Mother’s life—none of you. But gradually you will know. Without Shakti there is no regeneration for the world. Why is it that our country is the weakest and the most backward of all countries?—Because Shakti is held in dishonour there. Mother has been born to revive that wonderful Shakti in India; and making her the nucleus, once more will Gargis and Maitreyis be born into the world. Dear brother, you understand little now, but by degrees you will come to know it all. Hence it is her Math that I want first. . .

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Although formal monasticism for women started long after his passing, Swamiji nevertheless laid down a powerful foundation for it, and it is because of his words, and his will, that Sarada Math in India and the convents of the Vedanta Societies in the West have taken root. What a privilege for us all, what a privilege for both women and men, to be acknowledged in the highest sense, to be seen as living divinities first and foremost, not men or women, but all of us, embodiments of the divine. When we can see each other in such a light, then and only then will individuals, families and societies thrive. Seeing divinity

in others is the only way to make human life a divine experience. Conclusion Where there is no freedom, there is no growth. Whether the lack of freedom comes from societal strictures or from self-imposed limitations, the result is the same. What is important is freedom. Once women are respected as equal and noble human beings, and once they see themselves as equal and noble human beings and think and act accordingly, then and only then, can we really become worthy human beings, worthy of our divine birthright. o

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References 1 Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9th ed. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1972), 5:105. (Hereafter referred to as CW.) 2 Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries: The World Teacher (Mayavati: Advaita Ashrama, 1985), 126. 3 CW, 2.115. 4 CW, 5. 412. 5 Ibid. 6 CW, 8. 70.

7 CW, 8.198. 8 Greenstidel, Christine, Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1962), 214–5. 9 CW, 8. 91. 10 CW, 7.22. 11 Reminiscences, 214. 12 Reminiscences, 212. 13 CW, 2. 279. 14 CW, 7. 484.

We reached the hall just as Vivekananda was going on the stage in his robe and turban. We sat in the very last seat of the hall, clasping each other's hands as the impressive orator gave a never-to-be forgotten talk on things spiritual. When we went out my husband said: ‘I feel that man knows more of God than we do. We must both hear him again.’ My husband attended with me not only a number of evening lectures, but on several occasions came from his business office during the day to listen to the Swami. I remember him saying, as we went out on the street one day: ‘This man makes me rise above every business worry; he makes me feel how trival is the whole material view of life and how limitless is the life beyond. I can go back to my troubles at the office now with new strength.’ —Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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Swami Vivekananda as a Scientific Thinker N.V.C.SWAMY

Quest for Knowledge One of the most popular Upanishads of the Indian scriptural literature is the Kathopanishad of the Yajurveda. This was the favorite Upanishad of Swami Vivekananda, mainly because of the character of the young boy Nachiketas. Swamiji used to hold Nachiketas up as a role model for our youth. The young lad was a brave, fearless seeker after Truth, who was prepared to undergo any kind of difficulty in his quest. This Upanishad is basically a dialogue between Nachiketas and Yama, the Lord of Death. Yama has been depicted in our mythological literature as a terrifying figure, of whom the whole humanity and even the gods are afraid! But, he deserves to be considered, in fact, as the Lord Chief Justice of the Universal Court, dispensing justice to all evenly. In this Upanishad he is the ideal Guru. There is an interesting passage (2.1.1) in this Upanishad. Yama tells Nachiketas that when the Creator created creatures, He endowed them with the organs of knowledge and the organs of action, all of them directed outwards. Hence it is that all creatures, including human beings, can observe only the external world, and not the inner world of the mind, the intelligence and the self. Once in a way comes along a wise person, who shuts all

doors pointing outwards, and turns the gaze inwards to discover the Self within. Science and Spirituality The above statement is of great significance to the growth of human cultures down the ages. Observation of the external world was the origin of Science, which is nothing but collating of observable data and drawing conclusions therefrom. This is the bread-andbutter of human existence, without which human life would be almost indistinguishable from that of animals and plants. But, this alone does not satisfy human beings. A human being is basically a thinking being, who lives not only in a physical world, but has also his own thought world. Just as he faces a lot of problems in the physical world, whose solution he seeks in Science, he also encounters problems in the mental world for which he cannot find answers in Science. He needs a separate method for their solution, which he finds in the inner world itself. This is the field of Spirituality. It is thus obvious that Science and Spirituality are both essential for human beings to understand Existence. On the face of it these two appear poles apart, and do not appear to have anything in common. But, this is only apparent. A deeper study of

Dr. N.V.C. Swamy, former Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, is currently the Dean of Academic Courses at the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, a Deemed University in Bangalore. o T h e

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either reveals that Science appears to need the support of Spirituality in understanding Nature, especially at the level of sub-atomic phenomena. This has been realized recently by many top-ranking scientists in fields like Quantum Physics and Theories of Relativity. Spirituality, as a method of human quest of Truth, is the contribution of the Vedic Rishis. They boldly investigated their own Inner Self, and brought to the surface several hidden truths about the human psyche. These formed the backbone of the Vedas and Upanishads. They were truly the Scientists of the Spirit. But, just as a man in the street cannot understand or appreciate discoveries of Science, so also he could not understand the deep scientific thinking behind the revelations of these Rishis, and tried to dilute and adapt them to his intellectual level. Just as Science was sidetracked into mass production of destructive weapons, Spirituality also was corrupted into superstitions, priest craft and similar misuses. It is only in recent times that practitioners of both Science and Spirituality have made serious attempts to restore their purity, and have shown that both of them need each other for their fulfillment. The foremost among them are Sri Ramakrishna and his star disciple, Swami Vivekananda.

possessed what is called ‘Scientific Temper’. As a matter of fact, Swami Vivekananda was even of the opinion that all religious beliefs should be subjected to the kind of rigorous tests to which all scientific hypotheses are subjected. He felt that any religious belief that failed these tests should be discarded, the earlier the better. This is what he practiced throughout his life, right from childhood. He had started demonstrating this characteristic right from his boyhood. One can quote an instance from his childhood to illustrate this. He was a boy full of energy, which he would try to let out by engaging in strenuous physical activities. He used to swing from the branches of a huge tree in the compound of a neighbour. An old man living in that house used to admonish Narendra to stop this activity to avoid getting hurt. Nothing availed. One day, the old man tried to frighten Narendra by telling him that there is a ghost in the tree which would catch young boys swinging from its branches. Narendra did not desist. When one of his friends reminded him of the warning of the old man, the boy replied, ‘Had there been a ghost on the tree, it would have caught me long ago! I do not believe in such superstitions.’ Coming from a young boy, it showed a remarkable logical approach to the situation.

Aspects of Scientific Temper Can we consider spiritual practitioners, like the Vedic sages, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, as scientific thinkers? After all they were not students or practitioners of Science. But all of them possessed that most important quality needed by scientists viz., an inquisitive mind, the courage to see truth face to face and not to accept anything unless it has been subjected to a critical test. In this sense, all of them

Narendra and Sri Ramakrishna When Narendra later met Sri Ramakrishna, this was one of the qualities the latter appreciated in the former. Sri Ramakrishna himself was a person of that type, as can be witnessed from a study of his life. He encouraged Narendra and told him—‘Do not accept anything as true just because somebody says so. Test everything and only after verifying that it is correct, accept it.’ Narendra remembered this advice throughout his life.

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Apart from Sri Ramakrishna, there was another person who had become aware of Narendraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potential. This was Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar. Dr.Sarkar was a medical practitioner, belonging to the very first batch of medical graduates of the Calcutta University. He later went to Germany and learnt Homeopathy. When he returned to Calcutta, he switched his practice from Allopathy to Homeopathy. He happened to be the family physician of Rani Rashmani and her family. He was engaged by the householder devotees of Sri Ramakrishna to treat his throat cancer, in Shyampukur Garden House as well as in Cossipore Garden House. He came into close contact with Narendra during this time and had several dialogues with him. These can be found in the pages of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar, though not an active practitioner of Science, had a scientific bent of mind. Since Narendra displayed the same characteristic, he came to the notice of Dr. Sarkar, who almost came to regard him as his own son. Dr. Sarkar was also happy to notice that unlike many religious leaders Sri Ramakrishna encouraged among his disciples the quality of independent thinking. Swami Vivekananda was heard several times telling his brother monks and brahmacharis that just as their Guru was original, they should also be original. An interesting fact about Dr. Sarkar is that he later went on to found an institution in Calcutta called the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. It was in this Institution that Dr.C.V.Raman was a researcher in Physics, and did his famous experiments on the Scattering of Light, which earned him the Nobel Prize. This Institution still exists, and is being maintained by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi. T h e

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There was only one negative influence of this kind of scientific thinking on the mind of Narendra. From being a believer in God, he gradually became an agnostic. His deep study of Western Philosophy, especially of the agnostic and atheistic schools, also influenced his mind to some extent. But, unlike many people, he did not give up his quest for Truth. Had he wanted it, he could have become a great advocate for Atheism, and with his extraordinary brilliance he would have become a world-mover. If this did not happen, and if he became a world-mover in the field of Spirituality, it was because he would not accept on face value anything. He had to investigate if his agnosticism or atheism had firm foundations. This set him off on his real quest for the Divine. Till then, until he became an agnostic, he had taken for granted the existence of God. But, the time had come now to prove to himself logically and unequivocally the existence or otherwise of God.

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Quest for God Thus started his quest, which ultimately brought him to Sri Ramakrishna. Even though Narendra had met several important persons earlier and had asked them about the existence of God and whether they had seen God, he had received only vague replies. It was only Sri Ramakrishna from whom he received an unequivocal answer. It was his assertion that he had seen God and that too more clearly than he was seeing Narendra himself that took the young man aback. This happened during their very first meeting. But, the rational mind of Narendra refused to accept this immediately. It took a couple of more meetings before Narendra finally came to accept it. This was appreciated very much by the equally rational Sri Ramakrishna, who used to advise his disciples, ‘Test your guru the way a money changer tests a gold coin.’ Later, Swami Vivekananda was to discover the same rational spirit in his famous disciple, Sister Nivedita. Sri Ramakrishna had a host of disciples, householders as well as college students. Most of them had been bowled over by the personality of Thakur [Sri Ramakrishna] and had accepted him wholeheartedly as their teacher. Then, why did Narendra hesitate to give Thakur his heart? He did not want to go by what others had said about Thakur. He wanted to ensure that Sri Ramakrishna was really what he was claimed to be. He got this assurance during their third meeting. This made Narendra say later, ‘I am the slave of the slave of Sri Ramakrishna.’ Such an admission coming from a highly rational person endowed with a true scientific temper is indeed remarkable. Reference has been made earlier to Narendra’s interaction with Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar in Cossipore Garden House in north T h e

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Kolkata. Two incidents happened during this period which highlight Narendra’s logical and scientific mind. Some of the disciples of Thakur spread a rumour that the throat cancer he was supposed to have developed is only a pretext to bring together all his disciples, and once that was achieved the cancer would disappear. Narendra vehemently opposed this. He had studied several medical books in his college days and was convinced that Thakur was really suffering from throat cancer, as borne out by several diagnostic tests. He felt that more attention should be devoted to Thakur’s service than on such wild unsupported speculations. Another rumour was spread around this time that the cancer contracted by Thakur was contagious. This frightened his disciples so much that service became slack. Narendra tried to counteract this as much as possible. He was aware from his studies that this type of cancer was not contagious. One day he was sitting by the bedside of Thakur with some of his companions, arguing on these points. He saw a cup of porridge by the side of the bed. Thakur had drunk part of it. There was still some mucus sticking to the side of the cup. Narendra lifted the cup and drank the rest and told his companions ‘If the cancer is contagious, I should also get it, since I have consumed the contaminated porridge.’ This scotched the rumour once for all. The disciples could then devote their attention to the service of Thakur without such fears. Swamiji and The West It was this spirit of rational thinking that Narendra carried with him throughout his life. He was thus ideally suited to carry the message of his Master to the West. No wonder the men and women of the West took him to their hearts. The West was until then

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used to religion as preached in the sermons of churches, especially the pulpit and table thumping variety, frightening the churchgoers with fire and brimstone. But, in the World’s Parliament of Religions, the congregation witnessed religion being taught in a rational and logical manner. This was seen especially in the speech of Swamiji, ‘A Paper on Hinduism’. There is not even a whiff of dogma anywhere in this speech. All conclusions follow in a logical sequence from basic principles. A perusal of any scientific publication would indicate that Swamiji followed the same procedure in his presentation. It was the practice for a long time to end all research papers with the phrase ‘Quad erat demonstrandum’ (‘what had to be proved’), often shortened to Q.E.D. Any lecture of Swamiji on Jnana Yoga could end with this phrase! Is it any wonder that great scientists of that era like Von Helmholtz, Kelvin and Nikola Tesla considered Swamiji as one of themselves? Religion and Science In this age of Nuclear Science and Space Technology, humanity has literally abandoned religious dogma. Unfortunately, it has also thrown away the baby with the bathwater! But, fortunately we have people like Swami Vivekananda, who have demonstrated that even religion can be approached and understood on scientific lines. It is indeed remarkable that these days many well-known scientists have drawn inspiration from Vedanta or Spirituality, like Heisenberg,

Schrödinger, Bohm, Oppenheimer (father of the Atomic Bomb), Chandrasekhar (the Cosmologist who considered the Gita closest to Modern Astrophysics), and several others. Recent developments like the Dual Nature of Subatomic particles, the Einstein-PodolskyRosen paradox and its explanation and others have brought Science and Spirituality closer together. This was after all Swami Vivekananda’s dream, which appears to be well on its way to fulfillment. Conclusion Swami Vivekananda is perhaps the first modern Eastern spiritual leader to have gone to the West to preach Spirituality, especially Vedanta. In a talk given to the student community of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Swami Chinmayananda said, Swami Vivekananda laid such a solid foundation for Vedanta in the West through his logical, rational and scientific explanations that the path was smoothened for many other preachers to follow.

Swamiji firmly planted Yoga in the minds of the westerners, as witnessed by a large number of them coming to India to learn Yoga and the large number of Yoga Centers being opened there. Today, at the time the world is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Swamiji, it is our duty to start looking at Religion and Spirituality from the same scientific view-point as demonstrated by Swami Vivekananda. This would be the best tribute we can pay to the memory of this great Son of India. o

 Science and religion are both attempts to help us out of the bondage; only religion is the more ancient, and we have the superstition that it is the more holy. In a way it is, because it makes morality a vital point, and science does not. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 7:103 T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s Sense of Humour SWAMI BHASKARANANDA

Humour and Spirituality Do divine incarnations have a sense of humour? From whatever sketchy accounts we have about the lives of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Sri Chaitanya we are unable to know for sure if they ever indulged in jokes or humour. As divine teachers of humankind, they have mostly been described as very personifications of seriousness. But the latest divine incarnation, Sri Ramakrishna, seems to have been an exception. Sri Ramakrishna, by his own admission, had once prayed to the Divine Mother, ‘Mother, please don’t make me a dry Sadhu devoid of a sense of humour. Please grant me a good sense of humour, but let it not be unbridled or devoid of due restraint.’1 Humour, which is supposed to give joy, can sometimes be used as a weapon to hurt people. Sri Ramakrishna prayed to the Divine Mother to enable him to use only that kind of humour that makes people happy and doesn’t hurt anyone. That explains why there is need for restraint in humour.

to Swami Vivekananda (then Narendranath Dutta). He must have given to Swamiji along with those spiritual powers his keen sense of humour as well. While visiting the West, where most of the people were Christians, Swami

‘Why Do You Laugh so Much . . ?’ We know that Sri Ramakrishna was very humourous. So there should be no surprise that his foremost disciple, Swami Vivekananda, was also humourous. Aside from this, before his passing away, Sri Ramakrishna gave all his spiritual powers

Vivekananda often used a lot of humour. To quote him:

Swami Vivekananda

I have been asked many times, ‘Why do you laugh so much and make so many jokes?’ I become serious sometimes when I have a stomachache! The Lord is all blissfulness. He is the reality behind all that exists. He is the

The author is the Head of Vedanta Society of Western Washington, Seattle, USA. He is the editor of Global Vedanta, a quarterly published from there and has several books to his credit. o T h e

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goodness, the truth in everything. You are His incarnations. That is what is glorious. The nearer you are to Him, the less you will have occasions to cry or weep. The farther we are from Him, the more will long faces come. The more we know Him, the more misery vanishes.

Ida Ansell writes in her memoirs about Swamiji: No one had ever been so sublimely eloquent or so deliciously humorous, such an entrancing story-teller, or such a perfect mimic.

Christian missionaries in the West claimed that they would go to India to save the heathens from damnation. In that context Ida Ansell writes that a Christian hymn that amused Swamiji was the ‘Missionary Hymn’: From Greenland’s icy mountains To India’s coral strand. . .

explaining how God created Adam, shouted to his congregation: ‘You see, God was making Adam and He made him out of mud. After making him, God stuck him up against a fence to dry.’ ‘Hold on there, preacher!’ suddenly cried out a learned listener, ‘What’s that about this fence? Who has made this fence?’ The preacher replied sharply: ‘Now you listen here, Sam Jones. Don’t you be asking such questions. You’ll be smashing up all theology!’ Swamiji also used to sometimes make fun about his own plump body. While in America, one American woman, who had heard from Western missionaries who work in India, that Hindu women there throw their babies to alligators, asked Swamiji whether that was true. Swamiji replied humourously, Yes, my mother also must have thrown me into the mouth of an alligator, but I was so fat that it couldn’t swallow me! That’s why I could come here!

She writes, He would sing it all through to the end, in his rich voice, and then pause, point dramatically at himself, and say, smilingly: ‘I am the heathen they came to save!’

Swami Vivekananda loved to tell the funny story of a Christian missionary who was sent to preach to the cannibals. After his arrival, the missionary proceeded to the chief of the tribe and asked him, ‘Well, how did you like my predecessor?’ The cannibal replied, smacking his lips, ‘Simply delicious.’ Another favourite joke of Swamiji: I read somewhere in a funny book that an American vessel was being foundered in the sea; they were desperate and as a last solace wanted some religious service being done. There was ‘Uncle Josh’ on board who was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. They all began to entreat, ‘Do something religious, Uncle Josh! We are all going to die.’ Uncle Joseph took his hat and took up a collection on the spot!2

Swamiji used to tell another funny story about a black clergyman who, while T h e

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In the Company of His Brother-disciples Swamiji also joked about his brother disciples. Among Sri Ramakrishna’s saintly disciples there was one who was completely unlettered. He was Swami Adbhutananda. Swami Adbhutananda’s nickname was Latu. Sri Ramakrishna used to lovingly call him ‘Leto’. But Swami Vivekananda used to humorously call the unlettered Latu by the name ‘Plato’! As we know, Sri Ramakrishna once tried to teach Latu the alphabet, but gave it up shortly thereafter considering it almost an impossible task! He, however, said to Latu, ‘Don’t worry, a day will come when the teachings of the Veda and the Vedanta will come out of your mouth.’ Eventually that happened. In later years many devotees would come to Swami Adbhutananda and benefit by listening to his deep spiritual talks.

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Another saintly disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Brahmananda, once went to visit the temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri. While standing in front of the image of Lord Jagannath, he entered into deep spiritual ecstasy and started shedding tears. Referring to this incident, Swami Vivekananda said jokingly, ‘Seeing the strange cymbal-shaped eyes of Lord Jagannath, Rakhal (Swami Brahmananda’s pre-monastic name) began to cry out of fright!’ Once Swamiji wrote the following humourous letter to his junior brother disciple, Swami Trigunatitananda. Swamiji had already decided to send him to the West for the Lord’s work. . . .By the bye, can’t you shorten your name a bit, my boy? What a long, long name — a single name enough to fill a volume! Well, you hear people say that the Lord’s name keeps away death! It is not the simple name Hari, mind you. It is those deep and sonorous names, such as agha-bhaga-naraka-vinashana (Destroyer of Agha, Bhaga, and Naraka) Tripura-mada-bhanjana (Subduer of the pride of Tripura, demon of the ‘three cities’), and ashesha-nihshesha-kalyana-kara (Giver of infinite and endless blessings), and so forth—that put to rout King Death and his whole party. Won’t it look nice if you simplify yours a little? But it is too late, I am afraid, as it has already been abroad. But, believe me, it is a world-entrancing, death-defying name that you have got!’ (Later, while working in America, most probably following Swamiji’s advice, Swami Trigunatitananda shortened his name to Swami Trigunatita.)

Swami Trigunatitananda that the journal was not having enough subscribers. So, on August 10, 1999, he wrote the following letter to Swami Brahmananda: Sarada (Swami Trigunatitananda’s premonastic first name) writes that the magazine is not going well. . . Let him publish the account of my travels, and thoroughly advertise it beforehand, he will then have subscribers rushing in. Do people like a magazine if three-fourths of it are filled with pious stuff? Anyway pay special attention to the magazine. . .

Then Swamiji wrote a very entertaining account of his travels in Bengali containing a lot of humour. He also wrote some satire in Bengali for the Udbodhan, which later on was published as a book entitled Bhabbar Katha (in English: Serious Matters To Ponder Over, CW, 6). In that book of satire Swamiji created some very funny characters such as the ‘allknowing’ Gurgure Krishnavyal Bhattacharyya, the fake Vedantin monk Bhola Puri, and the pseudo-teacher of religion, Ram Charan. In the Words of Swamiji

Swami Vivekananda was also a master of writing satire. The Bengali monthly journal Udbodhan was first published in India under Swamiji’s inspiration in January, 1899, and Swami Trigunatitananda was made its editor and manager. While visiting America for the second time in 1899 Swamiji heard from T h e

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Gurgure Krishnavyal Bhattacharyya is a vastly learned man, who has the knowledge of the whole world at his finger-tips. His frame is a skeleton; his friends say it is due to the rigours of his great spiritual austerities, but his enemies ascribe it to want of food. The wicked, again, are of the opinion that such a physique is natural for one who begets thirty children every year! Whatever that may be, there is nothing on heaven and earth that Krishnvyal does not know; specially D E C E M B E R

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he has all the knowledge about the flow of electromagnetic currents all over the human body starting from the tip of the holy pigtail on his head down to every nook and corner of his body. And being the possessor of such esoteric knowledge, he is incomparably the best authority for giving a scientific explanation of all things—starting from why earth collected from the home of a prostitute should be used for the worship of the Divine Mother Durga and why should a young girl of ten should be married for begetting children, and so on and so forth! And he claims that he is fully capable of giving scientific proofs for all these things in a language, which even children will understand!. . .

Among other things, Swamiji writes about Bhola Puri: Bhola Puri is out and out a Vedantin monk; whatever he says, through that he tries to proclaim that he is Brahman. He remains unaffected even if people around him go on starving. He then teaches them the futility of pleasure and pain. It doesn’t affect him in the least if through disease, or affliction, or starvation people around him die by thousands. At that time he thinks of the immortality of the soul! When, before his very eyes, those who are strong torture and kill those who are weak, Bhola Puri gets lost in the profound depths of the meaning of the spiritual dictum, ‘The soul neither kills nor is killed.’ But if he is not given enough Bhiksha (food) by some householders, as they should give to Sadhus, or do not offer him proper adoration and respect, he thinks that those householders are the most despicable creatures on earth. In other words, Bhola Puri is most selfish and is only concerned about his

own self-interest; he doesn’t at all care about the well-being of others!

About the self-proclaimed religious teacher Ram Charan, Swamiji writes: I say, Ram Charan, you have neither education nor the means to set up a business, nor are you fit for any physical labour. Besides, you cannot give up the habit of taking narcotics and your other wicked tendencies. Tell me, how you will make a living! Ram Charan: ‘That’s an easy job, sir; I give spiritual advice to all!’

There are also other similar funny characters in Bhabbar Katha. Conclusion We would like to conclude this article by giving two more examples of Swamiji’s wit and humour. During the historic Parliament of Religions some Americans for the first time heard about non-Christian religions like Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Once one person asked Swamiji, ‘Sir, are you a Buddist?’ That person obviously did not know how to correctly pronounce the word, Buddhist. Then Swamiji (perhaps, with a smile) replied, ‘No, I am a florist!’ While in England, in order to humiliate Swamiji, one Scottish person asked him, ‘What’s the difference between a Baboo (a term meaning a respectable gentleman in India) and a Baboon?’ Promptly came Swamiji’s witty reply: ‘It’s like the difference between a Scot and a sot!’ o

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References 1. In Bengali: Ma amai shukno sadhu korishney, amai roshey boshey rakhish

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2. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 8:342.

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Swami Vivekananda, An Inspiring Educationist SWAMI ABHIRAMANANDA

Swami Vivekananda had experienced in his own life all the truths that he spoke about and this is equally applicable whenever he addressed the subject of education. It is therefore no wonder that his deep insightful ideas and his farreaching vision on education continue to influence an increasing number of thoughtful people the world over. While Swami Vivekananda is regarded by many as a spiritual luminary, a patriotprophet and an intuitive thinker, many national and international leaders, thinkers, intellectuals, erudite academicians and scholars from all parts of the world have rightfully recognized the inherent educationist facet in him by acknowledging with admiration his invaluable contribution to the field of education. In fact, Swami Vivekananda was an educationist par excellence f o r his educational philosophy was revolutionary in revealing education as a ‘life-building and man-making’ process.

An Exceptional Outlook of Education Some educationists have defined only one aspect of education and some others have emphasized a few of its other features. But Swami Vivekananda’s exposition of education is all-inclusive, comprehensive, absolute, realistic, eternal, and at the same time practical, rational and balanced. Dr. T. S. Avinashilingam says, His message in the field of education was unique in that it was based on the divinity of the human soul. He believed that all souls are potentially divine and that education should be the manifestation of the divinity already in man.1

Swami Vivekananda’s conception of education is inimitable for another important reason too. It had its foundation on the ancient traditional Indian concept of education, which is rooted on ethics, morality, values, virtues, service and principles that govern life rather than being merely secular and curricular. His educational ideology was thus based on his deep understanding of the

Swami Abhiramananda is the Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. His thoughtfully written articles appear in The Vedanta Kesari occasionally. o T h e

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nature of human life. Swami Yatiswarananda [an eminent monk of the Ramakrishna Order], while expounding Swami Vivekananda’s idea of education says, It is impossible to formulate any system of education without having a definite conception of the nature, the inner potentialities of the being we want to educate and train.2

Swami Vivekananda gave a new dimension to the perception of education by emphasizing that education should cater to the development of the all-round harmonious personality of the individual thereby enabling the simultaneous growth of his intellectual, social, moral, spiritual, cultural, and physical faculties. By thus establishing education as a life-building process aimed at the concurrent development of all the aspects of one’s personality, Swamiji redefined the term as it was understood by the common man or for that matter even by many educationists. A deep study of Swamiji’s works on education brings out the fact that the structure of education rests on three bases—the philosophical base, the psychological base and the sociological base. Swami Vivekananda’s elaborate yet down-to-earth account of these underlying features

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of education makes him unquestionably the ideal educationist of modern times. An understanding of these bases of education and their interrelation as put forth by Swamiji is mandatory for anyone to have a comprehensive vision of education. Philosophical Base of Education Human life cannot be well understood without the comprehension of philosophy. Indeed, the conception of life originates from philosophy. Philosophy gives a spirit of enquiry after truth. Since education is intimately connected with the life and experience of an individual, educational theory and practice too are conditioned by philosophy. John Dewey holds that ‘education is the laboratory in which philosophic truths become concrete and are tested.’ Unquestionably, the present crisis of man is due to an erosion of values. An imbalance is seen between the hankering for material pursuits on the one hand and the neglect of ethical and moral values on the other. Radical changes are necessary and restoration of the moral order is possible only if a perfect methodology of education that strikes a balance between science and spirituality is put into place. Swami Vivekananda has given us such an ideal

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and comprehensive philosophy of education with higher and nobler objectives as the ultimate aim. In its narrowest sense, education has only the vocational dimension. But in the broader perspective, it has other nobler aims such as knowledge, culture, moral, character-building, spiritual and social objectives and a goal for complete living as the ultimate. Such an ideal system of education which integrates all these aims in the right proportions was coined up brilliantly by Swami Vivekananda as ‘manmaking education’. Swamiji wanted to conjoin the attributes that are prerequisites for spiritual and moral development with the prevailing secular system of education. Time and again, he highlighted the fact that the real concept of education lies in the merger of these two processes. He wished that the knowledge of the spirit and the knowledge of matter be blended and synthesized and brought into unity and complete integration. Swamiji’s thoughts on education had the philosophical backing of our scriptures which broadly categorize knowledge into two categories—para vidya, the higher knowledge or the knowledge that leads to Selfrealization, and apara vidya, the knowledge that encompasses everything else. While Para vidya can be equated with the results of pursuing spiritual science, apara vidya can be equated with all the branches of knowledge. Swami Vivekananda never condemned apara vidya while emphasizing the need for para vidya. He acknowledged the basic material and economic needs of man and said, ‘Real education is that which enables one to stand on one’s own legs.’3 However, he cautioned that ‘The ideal of all education, all training, should be manmaking. The end and aim of all training is to T h e

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make the man grow.’4 He thus exhorted us not to ignore spirituality, morality, values, and character enrichment in the pursuit of secular knowledge, prosperity, name, fame and wealth. Character is the foundation for selfdevelopment. Character formation requires the development of traits such as purity, perseverance, faith, sincerity, obedience, fortitude, veneration, humanistic tendencies, etc. Character, being the cream of life, is a vital aim of education. The secret of character building lies in strengthening of the will and training of the mind. As such, characterbuilding was a fundamental feature of Swami Vivekananda’s educational scheme. Swamiji said that education must provide ‘life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas’.5 He asked: The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out the strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion—is it worth the name?6

True education should have the capacity to transform the physical being of the individual into a strong base for sustaining the growth and perfection of his vital, mental, and higher aspects of personality and that is possible only with virtuous and righteous character enhancement .

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In order to counterbalance the uneven development between the secular and spiritual aspects, Swami Vivekananda strongly recommended the adoption of a ‘spiritual and ethical culture’, and looked upon religion as the innermost core of education. By ‘religion’ he did not mean any particular religion, for, he clarified, ‘Mind, I do not mean my own or anybody else’s opinion about religion.’7 He said, ‘The true eternal principles have to be held before people’.8 Psychological Base of Education Learning is essentially a process of uncovering the knowledge that remains concealed within us through mind control and concentration. Swami Vivekananda said, What we say a man ‘knows’, should, in strict psychological language, be what he ‘discovers’ or ‘unveils’; what a man ‘learns’ is really what he ‘discovers’, by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge9.

He thus brought out the essential psychology underlying education and laid great emphasis on the need to realize the inherent knowledge present in us besides underlining the value of concentration and mind power. Citing Newton’s discovery, he said that the principle of gravitation was not sitting in a corner waiting for him; it was in fact in his own mind. The falling of the apple just gave him a suggestion—it was purely incidental—and Newton had to apply his own mind and rearrange all his previous links of thoughts to discover the underlying principle behind. All knowledge is therefore in the human mind. When the covering is being taken off, we call it ‘learning’. The more efforts we put in to apply the mind and uncover, the faster is the process of discovery and sooner is the acquisition of knowledge. We call a person ‘all-knowing’ or ‘knowledgable’ when this veil T h e

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has been lifted and we call another ‘ignorant’ when it remains hidden. The fact of knowledge being naturally intrinsic in us was summed up by Swamiji in his remarkable oft-quoted statement, ‘Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man’.10 This outstanding, enlightening and thought-provoking definition of education by Swamiji outshines all other definitions and conceptions about education. Swami Prabhananda, in his monograph ‘The Educationist Par Excellence’, while elaborating on this statement says, Manifestation’ indicates spontaneous growth, provided the impediments, if any are removed. . . . the expression ‘already in man’ refers to a human being’s potential, which is the range of the abilities and talents, known or unknown that he is born with . . . ‘perfection’ in educational parlance is the goal of actualizing the highest human potential’.11

This leads us to the psychology behind teaching and learning. Swamiji believed that all souls had tremendous potentiality coupled with the ability to express them. Only the requisite effort, training and guidance were necessary. The educator’s task was to guide the child according to the abilities and powers that he observes in it. Swamiji believed that a child learns by himself, provided the right circumstances are provided. He said, Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge— even in a boy it is so—and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of a teacher. We have to do only so much for the boys that they learn to apply their own intellect to the proper use.12

Swami Vivekananda thus firmly believed in the potentiality of the soul and the capacity for self-learning. It is unfortunate that education today has become synonymous with book-learning

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and mere collection of facts to such an extent that ingenuity, contemplation, deliberation, judgment and creative thinking are slowly dying out. While Swamiji did not totally discourage collection of facts, he stressed the need for developing the power of concentration and a spirit of detachment whenever he spoke about education. He said, Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there.13 To me the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts. If I had to do my education over again, and had any voice in the matter, I would not study facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and detachment, and then with a perfect instrument I could collect facts at will. Side by side, in the child, should be developed the power of concentration and detachment.14

Swami Yatiswarananda observes, The object of the ideal system of education, then, should not merely be the advancement of theoretical knowledge but also the advancement of life, development of the highest powers and capacities, and the unfoldment of the noblest potentialities of the student. He must be enabled at the same time to apply intelligently to his own life all the ideas that he has learnt and gathered and thus promote his growth—physically, intellectually, morally, and spiritually.15

Swamiji repeatedly reminded us about the need to develop concentration and he said, ‘The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge’16 He urged us not to fill our minds with mere facts but endeavour to make it a perfect instrument for our transactions. He assured us that any work done with a controlled mind and concentrated effort is sure to accomplish perfection. He said, ‘the more the power of concentration, the more knowledge is acquired.’17 T h e

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Sociological Base of Education Education takes place in a society constituted of individuals and hence is a social process. While education should be conducive to the growth of the overall personality of an individual, it should at the same time facilitate the empowerment and enrichment of the people of the society to which the individual belongs. Every individual has a responsibility towards the progress of the society and education should aid in enlightening the people to take an integrated view of life. Education should therefore be capable of stabilizing social order, conserving culture in the society and act as an instrument of social reconstruction. Education should not only preserve the social heritage but also be able to enrich it. In short, education should have the capacity to transform an individual into an effective and valuable member of the society. Swamiji often emphasized the concurrent development of society of which the individual is an integral part. He has expressed in the strongest terms the role of the educated to the progress of the society, and thereby to the nation. If ‘Integrated Education’, ‘Education for All’ ‘Inclusive Education’, and ‘Value Education’ are getting prominence today, Swami Vivekananda rightfully deserves all the glory for having enthused many through his elaborate explanation of the sociological aspects of education. Swamiji said, I call him a traitor who, having been educated, nursed in luxury by the heart’s blood of the downtrodden millions of toiling poor, never even takes a thought for them.18

His ambition was to set in motion a system which

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will bring noble ideas to the doors of everybody. He asked, ‘How can there be any progress of the country without the spread of education, the dawning of knowledge’?19 He wanted hundreds of unselfish, good and educated men to go from village to village bringing not only noble and religious ideas to the door of everyone, but also education and thus restore their lost individuality. He said, ‘If the poor cannot come to education, education must reach them at the plough, in the factory, everywhere’.20 Neglect of the masses, according to him, was a national sin and a major cause for the country’s downfall. Education—A Means for Harmonious Development The holistic development of the individual is the summum bonum of education. Education should be a means for the all-round harmonious development of the personality. It should be concerned with the totality of life and not with mere responses to immediate challenges. Hence the supreme function of

education rests in the moulding of a human being into an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with life as a whole. The inspiring thoughts of Swamiji is the need of the hour to produce such an ideal system of education and thereby transform our youth into integrated persons who have learned not just the art of widening their intellect but also the art of living a life of fulfillment enriched with values and virtues built upon renunciation and service, the twin ideals of Swamiji. Swami Vivekananda’s educational ideas are a reflection of his life and his very life the supreme illustration of purity, peace and perfection. What else but his life and message could be the greatest education for mankind? At a time when the whole world is celebrating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, may his enlightening and inspiring man-making and life-building ideals bring about the much needed sweeping reforms in our educational system aimed at the evolution of the self and the welfare of the entire humanity. o

 References 7.147-8 4. ibid., 2.15 5. ibid., 3.302 6. ibid., 7.147 7. ibid., 5. 231 8. ibid., 5.387-8 9. ibid., 1.28 10. ibid., 4.358 11. Swami Prabhananda, Monograph titled, ‘The Educationist Par Excellence’,

1. Dr. T. S. Avinashilingam, Educational Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, p.20 2. Swami Yatiswarananda, article titled, ‘Swami Vivekananda on Education’, My Ideal of Education, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, (hereafter My Ideal) p.37 3. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, (hereafter CW)

My Idea, p.17-8 12. CW, 5.366 13. ibid., 3.302 14. ibid., 6.38-9 15. My Ideal, p.35-6 16. CW, 2.391 17. ibid., 2.390-1 18. ibid., 8.329-30 19. ibid., 6.489 20. ibid., 8.308

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be. —Swami Vivekananda

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Swami Vivekananda—A Quintessential Servant-Leader ASIM CHAUDHURI

Introduction In the late 1970s, Robert Greenleaf, an AT&T executive, who realized the ineffectiveness of power-centered leadership, presented a simple but profound management and leadership model in his seminal book, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. In the book, Greenleaf wrote,

servant in an extraordinary way, and when Leo disappears somewhere along the road the entire group loses its cohesion and falls into total disarray. Hesse deserts the group, but comes across Leo several years later and realizes that the servant was actually the group’s guiding spirit—its servant-leader.

The servant leader is servant first. . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. This conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.1

Many management and leadership experts may be surprised to learn that forty years before Hermann Hesse’s introduction of the character Leo in his novel, and eighty years before Robert Greenleaf’s introduction to the corporate world the powerful servantleadership concept based on that character, Swami Vivekananda knew all about the power of servant leadership. While in the U.S. in 1894, Vivekananda started thinking about his future organization in India and wrote to Swami Ramakrishnananda, asking him to assume a leadership role,

This concept captured the attention of the corporate world as one of the most effective management and leadership models, and the book has been recommended by leadership experts as the foremost on leadership. Many U.S. corporations, Southwest Airlines being the most prominent among them, adopted the concept as their corporate philosophy. Greenleaf drew his inspiration for the book from the character of a servant (named Leo) in Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse’s novel Journey to the East, published in 1932. In the novel, Hesse and his companions, taking the mythical journey to the East in search of truth, are constantly served and enchanted by the

Vivekananda on Servant-leadership

It is a very difficult task to take on the role of a leader. One must be dasasya dasa—a servant of servants, and must accommodate a thousand minds.2

In a similar vein, he wrote to his disciple Alasinga Perumal, ‘Do not be afraid of a small

Having migrated to United States in 1965, the author worked as a manager at Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of earthmoving equipment. He has authored two seminal works: Swami Vivekananda in Chicago: New Findings and Swami Vivekananda in America: New Findings (both published by Advaita Ashrama). He is the recipient of the prestigious Vivekananda Award 2009, given by the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, and now lives in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. o T h e

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beginning, great things come afterwards. Be courageous. Do not try to lead your brethren, but serve them.’3 Three months later, he wrote to him again, ‘Now organize a little society. You will have to take charge of the whole movement, not as a leader, but as a servant.’4 Such an emphatic endorsement of the servantleadership concept could only have come from a servant-leader. Characteristics of a Servant-leader Lists of traits, characteristics, or virtues attributed to servant-leaders are plentiful in the literature. The following list of ten characteristics was extracted from a major researcher in the field of servant leadership:5 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Listening Empathy Healing Awareness Persuasion Conceptualization Foresight Stewardship Commitment to the growth of people Building community

The book Vivekananda: A Born Leader lists the principal characteristics of leadermanagers and shows, by real life examples, how Vivekananda was endowed with those characteristics.6 The list of twenty-five traits includes all of the ten servant-leadership characteristics, either directly or indirectly, and at times subtly. This will be apparent as we discuss each of the ten in the next section and show how Vivekananda possessed these characteristics. Vivekananda—a Servant-leader One essential characteristic of a leader that Spears, quoted above, failed to include in his list of ten is ‘integrity’. This is where many T h e

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so-called leaders fail the leadership test. He probably took it for granted as being integral to any leadership role, especially to that of a servant leader. Vivekananda’s integrity was impeccable, and it has been addressed elsewhere as he had looked at it from the point of view of business integrity.7 1. Listening: Speaking and listening are two essential parts of communication skill for which the leaders are valued. As an ‘orator by Divine right’, Vivekananda’s communication skill is legendary. He patiently listened to others and at the same time listened to his own inner voice. This intent listening, coupled with personal reflection, is an important attribute of a servant leader. During his lecture tour in the U.S., he often invited questions from the audience after the speech. He intently listened to the person and answered his question to the person’s complete satisfaction. The fifth volume of the Complete Works is replete with transcripts from these question-and-answer sessions and other dialogues that show how seriously he entertained those questions and how in-depth were his answers.8 2. Empathy: This means striving to understand others from their perspective, meaning putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Servant leaders are especially endowed with this characteristic. Vivekananda was empathy personified. He was able to promulgate his vision because he was attuned to his followers and recognized their hopes, needs, and aspirations. For a down-to-earth example of his empathetic nature, one can cite the following story. Once Vivekananda was watching a Bhutia woman carrying a heavy load on her shoulder and literally dragging herself under the load. When he noticed her stumble and fall, he felt an excruciating pain in his ribs. When his companions asked about the source of the pain, he said pointing at his

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ribs, ‘Right here! Did you not see how badly the woman was injured a few moments ago?’9 Psychologists may explain it away as a ‘mirrortouch synesthesia experience’, but it was nothing but a stab of intense empathy. There are numerous examples of Vivekananda’s deeply empathetic nature that one can find in the literature related to him.10 3. Healing: Helping to make people ‘whole’, which means raising the broken spirits of people who are struggling with life’s personal and professional issues, is an important characteristic that a servant leader possesses. As distinguished from the organizing or decision-making skill of a leader, this soft skill is more appropriate for a spiritual leader. Evidence of Vivekananda’s healing power is plentiful in his letters to his disciples and others with whom he came into contact. Sometimes his mere presence was a perpetual source of inspiration, akin to living in an intensely spiritual atmosphere of transformation and renewal. The best example of that comes from Emma Calvø’s autobiography. When Mme Calvø was going through a turbulent period in her life, contemplating even suicide, she met Vivekananda. ‘He seemed to have emptied my brain of all its feverish complexities and placed there instead his clear and calming thoughts. I became once again vivacious and cheerful, thanks to the effect of his powerful will,’ she recounted in her autobiography.11 4. Awareness: The servant leader has a strong sense of awareness—self-awareness. This is intimately associated with other leadership characteristics such as selfknowledge, self-confidence, and assertiveness. Introspection leads to self-knowledge, which is distinguished from the knowledge that is exterior to the individual. Self-knowledge, T h e

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or discovering new truths about oneself, paves the way for expanded self-awareness. Self-confidence grows out of this expanded self-awareness. Assertiveness, or the ability to express one’s views, principles, and desires forcefully, is an external manifestation of self-confidence—what people ultimately see. Vivekananda had a keen sense of selfawareness, which was the foundation for his over-abundant self-confidence that radiated from him whenever he spoke or wrote. He once wrote to Mary Hale,

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I have a message, and I will give it after my own fashion. I will neither Hinduise my message, nor

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Christianise it, nor make it any ‘ise’ in the world. I will only my-ise it, and that is all.12

You can hardly get any more assertive than that. On the day he left the mortal world, Vivekananda was overheard saying, almost in a whisper, ‘If there were another Vivekananda, then he would have understood what Vivekananda has done! And yet, how many Vivekanandas shall be born in time!!’13 This was probably the most moving statement of self-awareness he ever made—but it was to himself. 5. Persuasion: A servant leader seeks to convince others, rather than coerce compliance. Since Vivekananda had to work with and through his followers, he needed to persuade—but not coerce—them to achieve his, or his organization’s objectives. To convert his vision into reality, he needed his followers to be willing to take his chosen path with enthusiasm and commitment. Probably his greatest triumph in the field of persuasion was in re-directing the outlook of his brother-disciples from ideas of personal salvation to a sympathetic comprehension of the needs of the poor and afflicted of the world. ‘As a first tangible result of this Swami Ramakrishnananda abandoned his twelve years’ secluded life of worship and self-culture to proceed to Madras in March 1897, to start a Ramakrishna centre there.’14 While his letters from the U.S. to his brother-disciples had induced intellectual convictions, the face-toface meetings and persuasion after he went back to India effected active conversion. 6. Conceptualization: This characteristic (of conceptualization) comes close to what one may envisage as ‘having a vision’, which, though missing from the list, is the very essence of effective leadership. Dreaming T h e

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great dreams is one of the attributes of a servant leader. That accomplished, he works relentlessly to transform his vision into reality. ‘Vision’ describes a desirable future state, how things should be. In order to develop that, it is imperative to see the present (how things are) clearly. During his extensive travel in India prior to his visit to the U.S., Vivekananda noted the reality as it pertained to India’s poverty and lack of proper education, and he formed some ideas for the regeneration of India. Culling those ideas and formatting them as vision statements we find the following:15 v Much has been done to uplift the masses—with opportunities for all-round development ‘without injuring their religion’ v Untouchability has been eradicated to a large extent v People in distress are being helped with many rich people coming forward to do it v Women are getting proper education for self-improvement v People are universally receiving the right kind of education v Science and technology are cultivated leading to industrial development v Society has the freedom for its onward movement These Vivekananda envisioned as the future state of India—how things should be— and he worked relentlessly toward these ends until his last day on earth. 7. Foresight: Servant leaders have the ability to foresee or know the likely outcome of a situation. Greenleaf calls this the faculty of ‘knowing the unknowable, and foreseeing the unforeseeable.’16 When not all of the information necessary to make a decision is available, a leader gifted with this attribute can delve into his subconscious and process whatever

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information is stored in his mind, interpolate or extrapolate it as necessary, and come up with a decision while simultaneously visualizing its projected consequences. Vivekananda was generously endowed with this attribute and it manifested itself in various ways in his life. Two examples, among many, stand out as being highly representative. After founding his socio-religious institution in 1897, he compared it to a tiny sprout of the banyan and said that it would eventually develop into a gigantic banyan tree and shed its luster over the whole country.17 There are now over one hundred such institutions in India, and twenty-nine others elsewhere in the world, at least one in every continent except Antarctica. During a discussion about China, he once said,

9. Commitment to the Growth of People: A sign of outstanding leadership, or servantleadership, appears among the followers as they are nurtured by the leader to reach their inherent potential. A good leader is invariably a good teacher; he develops people to carry forth his ideas when he is there, but more importantly when he is not there. Vivekananda was a World Teacher, and he made sure that the various operations would run like clockwork, with adept people in leadership positions, when he would be gone. He trained his disciples and brother-disciples, counselled and nurtured them, and prepared them for future leadership positions. His ultimate comment about the training and development of his followers came shortly before he passed away, when he said,

‘I see before me the body of an elephant. There is a foal within. But it is a lion-cub that comes out of it. It will grow in future, and China shall become great and powerful.’18

How often does a man ruin his disciples [followers] by remaining always with them! When men are once trained, it is essential that their leader leaves them; for without his absence they cannot develop themselves!20

We all know what happened. After nearly one hundred years, the ‘lion-cub’ has grown to become the second biggest economic powerhouse in the world. 8.Stewardship: Servant leaders play major roles in holding their organizations in trust, which means caring for the organization and serving the needs of others in the organization. Stewardship replaces self-interest with service as the basis for the leader holding and using his power—ethical power. Vivekananda’s role as a steward-leader of the Ramakrishna Movement was exemplary. His sense of stewardship operated on two levels: stewardship for the people he led, his brotherdisciples and followers, and stewardship for the large purpose or mission that was fundamental to the Movement. Block says that this role is very appropriate for religious or spiritual leaders, which Vivekananda was.19 T h e

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Vivekananda had carefully moulded the new cadre of leaders and workers and thought it would be best to leave them alone to grow under their own power and realize the best in themselves. That was leadership at its best. 10. Building Community: A servant leader’s approaches to ‘building community’ may include contributing to the community through service, investing into the community, and caring about it. In Vivekananda’s case, this community can be looked at as the global community in a broad sense, or as the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission community in a narrow sense. Although he had a global vision, he did not live long enough to translate his vision of universal religion into a reality,

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but he built his organization with all the care and wisdom of a model servant-leader and assured its perpetuity. Concluding Remarks Greenleaf developed the concept of servant-leadership by relying on the inspiration he drew from a fictional character. If he had the chance to read about Vivekananda’s life, it would have provided him with the real-life model of servant-leadership in action. In modern times, Vivekananda was probably the first to specifically talk about the concept of servant-leadership clearly and practice it. Aspiring leaders in every field will gain an understanding of the basic principles of servant-leadership in action by looking at how Vivekananda had followed them, and how he transformed values into actions, vision into reality, and mobilized ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Rarely in the history of this world had any one person done so much for so many in so short a time—nine years to be exact.

Western scholars on the subject of leadership have largely ignored Vivekananda, the most widely known Indian in the late 19thcentury America. Although he was the embodiment of religious harmony, people know him mainly as an Apostle of Hinduism. In the highly parochial world of religion, you hardly get a point for that. At the same time, the secularists have also ignored him for his unrelenting emphasis on Hinduism, or more specifically, the Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Religion). Being ignored by both groups, his unique ‘servantleader’ persona remains hidden for most people. To most people Swami Vivekananda was known as a spiritual leader, a prophet, a social reformer, a nationalist, a philosopher, a yogi, a writer, an orator, an educationist, and so on. But he was all these and yet more than all these. On his 150 th birth anniversary, it is indeed an honor to pay homage to Vivekananda by presenting him as a quintessential servant-leader. o

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Reference 1. Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, (Paulist Press, New York, 2002), p. 27. 2. Complete Works, vol. 6, p. 284. 3. Ibid., vol. 5, p. 36. 4. Ibid., p. 41. 5. Larry C. Spears, Tracing the Growing Impact of Servant-Leadership, Insights on Leadership, Edited by Larry C. Spears, (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1998), pp. 3-6. 6. Asim Chaudhuri, Vivekananda: A Born Leader, (Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 2012), pp. 68-163. 7. Ibid, pp. 105-109. 8. Complete Works, vol. 5, pp. 297-406. 9. Swami Vivekananda, My India, the India Eternal, (Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, 1993), p. 194. T h e

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10. Asim Chaudhuri, Vivekananda: A Born Leader, (Advaita Ashhrama, Kolkata, 2012), pp. 79-81. 11. New Discoveries, vol. 1, p. 486. 12. Complete Works, vol. 5, p. 72. 13. Life, vol. 2, p. 652. 14. Swami Gambhirananda, History of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, (Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 1957), p.118. 15. Life, vol. 1, pp. 530-531. 16. Robert K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, (Paulist Press, New York, 2002), pp. 35-37. 17. Complete Works, vol. 7, pp. 216-217. 18. Life, vol. 2, p. 559. 19. Peter Block, Stewardship, (Barrett-Koehler Publishing, San Francisco, 1993) p. 42. 20. Complete Works, vol. 9, p. 426.

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Swami Vivekananda: An Ideal Monk SWAMI DAYATMANANDA Wake up the note! The song that had its birth Far off, where worldly taint could never reach, . . . Sing high that note, Sanyasin bold! Say— Om Tat Sat, Om! [Song of the Sannyasin)

A Born Sannyasin Few can be compared to Swami Vivekananda. Sri Ramakrishna used to say such a great receptacle as Naren is rarely born on earth. He had the intellect of a Shankara, the heart of a Buddha, the deep feeling of a Rantideva, and the unselfishness of a King Janaka. The fire of Jnana, Bhakti, Viveka and Vairagya was ever burning bright in his heart. These are not the outbursts of an emotion-ridden, sentimental admirer. The Great Master, Sri Ramakrishna himself, has no tongue to praise his beloved Naren. He said, Narendra is a Nitya Siddha, he is a Dhyana Siddha [perfect in meditation]. The fire of knowledge is ever ablaze in him. He daily cuts to pieces Maya’s bondages with the sword of knowledge; Mahamaya, therefore, fails to bring him under Her control.1

Swami Vivekananda was a born monk —a Sannyasin par excellence. He was one of the seven Rishis which the Hindus scriptures extol. He was born as the foremost knower of Brahman in order to uplift humanity. It is said love is ‘blind’—this is true of Swamiji’s love for monks. He adored monks, talked of monks and loved to see monks; he inspired others with the spirit of renunciation.

His face used to brighten whenever he spoke of renunciation, discrimination and dispassion. Why was Swami Vivekananda born? He was born to save India for the third time. Swami Vivekananda once made a statement that Advaita twice saved India from materialism in the form of Buddha and Shankara. Though he did not specifically mention surely, we can infer that for the third time Advaita philosophy rescued India through Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. It was for this purpose alone that Sri Ramakrishna brought Swami Vivekananda down from the sublime heights of the indivisible, Akhanda. What is Sannyasa? Sannyasa is the total surrender of oneself to God. All souls wending their way Godward must pass through this stage, irrespective of East or West, past or future. In order to prove the truth of this and to inspire souls everywhere was Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda born on this earth. Early Signs of Renunciation It was Shiva, the Great God of renunciation, whom Narendra worshipped. Even from childhood he had the fancy of becoming a Sannyasin. When he was very young, one day he was found moving about nude except for an ochre loin-cloth which he had put on in the manner of Hindu monks. ‘What is this?’ asked his mother in alarm. ‘I am Shiva! Look, I am Shiva!’ cried out Naren in triumph.

o Swami Dayatmananda is the Head of Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, Buckinghamshire, UK. T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s sub-conscious was saturated with the idea of monastic life; he was always dreaming of becoming a monk. During his youth, two strikingly dissimilar visions of life would come up before his mind’s eye as he would go to sleep. One was of a life of ease and luxury, and the other was of the Sannyasin, a wandering monk having no possessions, established in the consciousness of Divine Reality, drifting in the current of God’s will. He believed himself capable of realising either of these ideals. But the more inward he became, the clearer became the picture of renunciation. Sannyasa Means Renunciation and Service For Swami Vivekananda Sannyasa was no idle life. It is the highest ideal any human being can cherish and attain. On the day previous to initiating some Brahmacharins into Sannyasa, he spoke of the glory of renunciation, his eyes emitting fire, as it were, and his words infusing strength into the young men; his concluding words were: Remember, for the salvation of his own soul, and for the good and happiness of the many, the sannyasi is born in the world. To sacrifice his life for others, to alleviate the misery of millions rending the air with their cries, to wipe away the tears from the eyes of the widow, to console the heart of the bereaved mother, to provide the ignorant and depressed masses with the ways and means for the struggle for existence, and enable them to stand on their own feet, to preach broadcast the teachings of the Shastras to one and all without distinction for their material and spiritual welfare, to rouse the sleeping lion of Brahman in the hearts of all beings by the diffusion of the light of Knowledge—for this the sannyasi is born in the world! You must renounce everything, you must not seek pleasure or comfort for yourself. All attachment will have to be cut and cast aside. T h e

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You must look upon lust and gold as poison, name and fame as the vilest filth, glory as a terrible hell, pride of birth or position as sinful as drinking wine. . . you will have to live to attain freedom and for the goo3d of the world.2

Swami’s words were not a mere platform speech; he lived this ideal fully. A Monk with a Buddha’s Heart Swami Vivekananda was no dry monk. He was a born lover of God, man and the world. At the beginning of his life, though, we find him wanting only to be immersed in Samadhi. Sri Ramakrishna chided him saying, ‘I expected you to be like a huge banyan tree who would give shade and shelter to the weary pilgrims of this burning world’. Sri Ramakrishna through four years of unrelenting Sadhana made him the biggest banyan tree which would give rest for the countless world-weary pilgrims for centuries to come. Swami Turiyananda, his brother-disciple, recalled once: I vividly remember some remarks made by Swamiji at that time. The exact words and accents, and the deep pathos with which they were uttered, still ring in my ears. He said, ‘Haribhai, I am still unable to understand anything of your so-called religion.’ Then with an expression of deep sorrow on his countenance and intense emotion shaking his body, he placed his hand on his heart and added, ‘But my heart has expanded very much, and I have learnt to feel. Believe me, I feel intensely indeed.

His voice was choked with feeling; he could say no more. For a time profound silence reigned, and tears rolled down his cheeks. In telling of this incident Swami Turiyananda was also overcome. He sat silent for a while, his eyelids heavy with tears. With a deep sigh he said, ‘Can you imagine what passed through

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my mind on hearing the Swami speak thus? “Are not these”, I thought, “the very words and feelings of Buddha?” . . . I could clearly perceive that the sufferings of humanity were pulsating in the heart of Swamiji: his heart was a huge cauldron in which the sufferings of mankind were being made into a healing balm.3 During his childhood Swami Vivekananda had a vision of Lord Buddha. Even though he ran away out of fear, the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna believe that ever since he had that vision, the spirit of Buddha possessed Swami Vivekananda. Like the Buddha his heart too was filled with compassion for all creatures, who was prepared to give up his life even to rescue a kid. Indeed, only the heart of a Buddha can exclaim:

bouts of study. There was a young widow in the house opposite, across the lane. She often came and stood by her window, unknown to him, and listened to him singing. On one occasion she crossed over from her house, and in the dim light Narendranath saw her standing in the doorway of his room. She was young, and she had come. She had seen him often without his knowledge, and bore great love for him. She had heard him singing this night. To her it was romantic. Narendranath was amazed. He had never seen the girl before. He fell at her feet. ‘Mother! Mother!’ he exclaimed, emphasizing the word, ‘why have you come? Let me regard you as I would my own mother.’ The girl understood. A moment later, and Naren was alone. The next day he

May I be born again and again, and suffer a thousand miseries, if only I may worship the only God in whom I believe, the sum total of all souls, and above all, my God the wicked, my God the afflicted, my God the poor of all races.4

A Master of His Senses From his childhood Naren was fearless, truthful and a master of his senses. Sri Ramakrishna knew this. When some devotee, who was, perhaps, jealous of Sri Ramakrishna’s love for Narendra, gleefully whispered some wrong reports about Naren, Sri Ramakrishna became grave and said, ‘My Naren would never tell a lie and he is a master of his senses. He can never fall down, my Mother told me. If I hear one word more against him I will never see your face again’. There are many incidents proving the truth of Sri Ramakrishna’s words. We narrate one below: Naren rented a room for his studies. In this room Naren often used to sing between his T h e

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changed his quarters and was never seen again in that room. Already his great renunciation was being foreshadowed.5 Sannyasa: A Most Difficult Ideal It is not easy to become a monk. Even after one attains Samadhi, one has to test himself again and again. Once Swami Vivekananda during his wandering days, saw a low caste man smoking a pipe. He too felt like smoking and asked the man to give him the pipe. The man felt abashed and said, ‘I am a low caste man, a bhangi, please do not ask me. By giving this pipe to you I will incur sin’. But the Swami would not listen to his objections and insisted on having a smoke from that pipe. That was the incident. Here is the interesting sequel. Many days later, when Girishchandra Ghosh heard of this incident, he said to the Swami, ‘You are addicted to hemp. That’s why you could not avoid the temptation of smoking even from a sweeper’s pipe.’ The Swami said in reply, ‘No, G. C., truly, I wanted to test myself. After taking Sannyasa, one should test oneself, whether one has gone beyond the limitations of caste and colour. It is very difficult to observe the vows of Sannyasa strictly: there should be no contradiction between word and deed.’ The devotees of Sri Ramakrishna may also recollect the incident of the nautch girl at Khetri. Swami Vivekananda remembered this incident all his life. He was invited by the Maharaja of Khetri to a musical entertainment in which a nautch-girl was to sing. Swamiji refused to come, since he was a monk and not permitted to enjoy secular pleasures. The singer, a devout woman, was hurt and sang a song of Surdas, in a strain of lamentation. Her words reached the Swami’s ears: (Prabhu mere avagun chitta na dharo) T h e

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Look not, O Lord, upon my sins! Is not Same-sightedness Thy name?

The Swami was deeply moved. This girl, whom society condemned as impure, had taught him a great lesson: Brahman, the Ever Pure, Ever Free, and Ever Illumined, is the essence of all beings. Before God there is no distinction of good and evil, pure and impure. Such pairs of opposites become manifest only when the light of Brahman is obscured by maya. A monk ought to look at all things from the standpoint of Brahman. He should not condemn anything, even a so-called impure person. The Swami then joined the party and with tears in his eyes said to the girl: ‘Mother, I am guilty. I was about to show you disrespect by refusing to come to this room. But your song awakened my consciousness.’ In speaking of Sannyasa to a disciple later on, the Swami cited this incident and said, ‘Do you think the ideals of Sannyasa are easy to practise in life, my boy? There is no other path of life so arduous and difficult. If one has taken the Sannyasin’s vow, one has to examine oneself every moment to see if one is free from the ideas of caste, colour and so forth. That incident taught me the great lesson that I should not despise anyone, but must think of all as children of the Lord.’ ‘My Shuka’ Sri Ramakrishna used to call Naren lovingly as ‘My Shuka’, a reference to Shukadeva, mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam, who is absolutely devoid of the slightest tinge of body-consciousness. Shukadeva reigns as the emperor of Sannyasins. It was said of Shuka, the typical Paramahamsa, that he refused to be born for fifteen years. Then his father prayed to Mahamaya, the Divine Mother. The Divine Mother

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consented to cast her net on him, for one moment only, and that moment the child was born. He came forth a young man, sixteen years of age, unclothed, like a sword unsheathed, and walked out, followed by Vyasa, his father crying, ‘O my son! O my son!’ The cry of his father was answered only by the echo, ‘Om! Om! Om!’ Such was his identity with Brahman. Sri Ramakrishna’s words on Shuka (spread throughout the Gospel) aptly describe his beloved Naren, the future Swami Vivekananda. Sri Ramakrishna said: Yes, Shukadeva was a Brahmarishi. He was not a mere jnani; he was the very embodiment of Jnana, Divine Knowledge. Shukadeva was the very image of Knowledge, in other words, a form of concentrated Knowledge. He attained Knowledge spontaneously, without any labour.

Shukadeva had a command from God to recite the Bhagavata. He had to recite the Bhagavata to King Parikshit and had to teach people in various ways; therefore God did not destroy his ‘I’ altogether. God kept in him the ‘ego of Knowledge.’

Shuka was indeed the ideal of Swami Vivekananda. He was the type, to him, of that highest realization. Like Shuka he too was destined to sing the Ramakrishna Bhagavatam to the suffering humanity. Conclusion Before the advent of RamakrishnaVivekananda, a Sannyasin was considered as a person who is completely indifferent to the world, and one who had nothing to do with love, compassion, and service. This view has been thoroughly transformed by Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. They have a new turn to the ideal of Sannyasa. A brilliant intellect, a heart filled to the brim with love and compassion for all, an unparalleled dedication to the service of God in man, a will that can plunge into the uttermost depths of Samadhi at a moment’s notice, yet full of fun and frolic—perhaps, even these words are inadequate to describe the personality of Swami Vivekananda. In view of what we have discussed, who can deny that Swami Vivekananda was, indeed an ideal monk? o

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References 1. Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master, p.871

2. Life, 2.243

3. Life, 1.388

4. CW, 5:137

5. Life, 1:53

True renunciation consists in giving up all attachments for worldly objects to which the mind is bound. When the mind is once freed from this shackle it will not be affected in the least, even though it is placed in the midst of numberless objects of (the) senses. Hence the value of struggle. A man who has no struggle in his life is lifeless. But he who bravely faces any obstacle that comes in his way will have the reward of everlasting peace. When a man renounces all worldly cravings and regards God as his own, God is very near. Such a man binds God to him with the fetters of love. —Swami Brahmananda

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Swami Vivekananda—the Great Worshipper of the Divine Mother SWAMI MAHAYOGANANDA

The world is coming to know of Swami When the young Narendra first came Vivekananda as a great Prophet, as the modern to Sri Ramakrishna, he was a follower of messenger of Vedanta, of Advaita, of strength the Brahmo Samaj, which postulated a and fearlessness, of the eternality of the Self, formless, personal God. He had even signed the truth of Brahman, and also of the harmony a pledge not to bow down before images of of religions. He is the consummate jnani, deities, as the Brahmo Samaj rejected image yogi, and worker, who proclaimed spiritual worship as ‘idolatry’. When he saw his truth to the world, and friend Rakhal—the future ‘put in a lever for the good Swami Brahmananda— of humanity. . . which no enter the Kali temple and 1 power can drive back’. bow before the image, he Yet, when we study his life, chastised him, for Rakhal through his biographies, had also signed the Brahmo letters, and conversations, pledge to eschew image we find a more complex worship. Sri Ramakrishna truth: Vivekananda the had to intervene to restore prophet was indeed the cordial relations between messenger of Advaita, the two friends. Sri Ramathe world-mover, the inskrishna’s devotion for pirer, a great tidal wave the Divine Mother Kali, bringing spirituality to Narendra seems to have all; but Vivekananda the viewed as an aberration, mystic, Vivekananda the or a mental weakness. He man, was deeply dedicated disliked his visions and to the Divine Mother, ecstasies, regarding them seeing himself as a mere as hallucinations. But he kept coming to the Master, instrument in her hands, The image of Bhavatarini Kali her devout worshipper, her drawn by his love, his child. This article will look at some facets of purity, and his renunciation. this lesser-known side of Swami Vivekananda. Three years or so after Narendra began visiting Sri Ramakrishna, his life was thrown From Doubt to Acceptance into turmoil. This would eventually lead o The author is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order currently stationed at its Hollywood branch. T h e

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to a transformation. On 25 February 1884, Narendra’s father died, plunging his family into dire poverty. Narendra, as the oldest son, was expected to maintain the family. But he was destined to become an allrenouncing monk, destined to become Swami Vivekananda. He was in great anguish, and couldn’t find any way out of his difficulty. To make matters worse, his relatives turned against his family, and tried to usurp their property. Narendra was forced to file a lawsuit against them. Sri Ramakrishna apparently attributed at least some of Narendra’s difficulties to his rejection of Mother Kali. When, in August of 1884, Hazra told Sri Ramakrishna, ‘Narendra is again involved in a lawsuit’, he replied, ‘He doesn’t believe in Shakti, the Divine Mother. If one assumes a human body, one must recognize Her. . . It is not good for him to go to the extreme of denying the Divine Mother. He is now under Shakti’s jurisdiction.’2 We can imagine that Sri Ramakrishna would have urged and even exhorted Narendra to accept Mother Kali, and surely the disciple would have at least thought about doing so. On 11 March 1885, Narendra complained to his master, ‘Why, I have meditated on Kali for three or four days, but nothing has come of it.’ Sri Ramakrishna reassured him as follows: All in good time, my child. Kali is none other than Brahman. That which is called Brahman is really Kali. She is the Primeval Energy. When that Energy remains inactive, I call It Brahman, and when It creates, preserves, or destroys, I call It Shakti or Kali. What you call Brahman I call Kali.3

Finally the great turning point came. In Swami Vivekananda’s own words: One day the idea struck me that God listened to Sri Ramakrishna’s prayers; so why should I not ask him to pray for me for the removal of my T h e

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pecuniary needs—a favour the Master would never deny me? I hurried to Dakshineswar and insisted on his making the appeal on behalf of my starving family. He said, ‘My boy, I can’t make such demands. But why don’t you go and ask the Mother yourself? All your sufferings are due to your disregard of Her.’ I said, ‘I do not know the Mother; you please speak to Her on my behalf. You must.’ He replied tenderly, ‘My dear boy, I have done so again and again. But you do not accept Her, so She does not grant my prayer. All right, it is Tuesday—go to the Kali temple tonight, prostrate yourself before the Mother, and ask of Her any boon you like. It shall be granted. She is Knowledge Absolute, the Inscrutable Power of Brahman. By Her mere will She has given birth to this world. Everything is in Her power to give.’ I believed every word and eagerly waited for the night. About 9 o’clock the Master asked me to go to the temple. As I went, I was filled with a divine intoxication. My feet were unsteady. My heart was leaping in anticipation of the joy of beholding the living Goddess and hearing Her words. I was full of the idea. Reaching the temple, as I cast my eyes on the image, I actually found that the Divine Mother was living and conscious, the perennial fountain of Divine Love and Beauty. I was caught in a surging wave of devotion and love. In an ecstasy of joy I prostrated myself again and again before the Mother and prayed, ‘Mother, give me discrimination! Give me renunciation! Give me knowledge and devotion! Grant that I may have the uninterrupted vision of Thee!’ A serene peace reigned in my soul. The world was forgotten. Only the Divine Mother shone within my heart.

When Narendra returned to Sri Ramakrishna, the latter asked him if he had prayed to the Mother to solve his worldly problems. Narendra was startled by the question, and admitted that he had forgotten all about it. Sri Ramakrishna sent him back to the temple

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a second time; and a second time Narendra was overwhelmed with devotion, asking the Mother only for love and devotion. Sri Ramakrishna sent him a third time to the temple, scolding him for his thoughtlessness; this time, Narendra was overcome with shame for approaching the Mother with such a paltry request as the removal of worldly distress, and reiterated his prayer for devotion and knowledge alone.4 (We may add that at Narendra’s repeated insistence, Sri Ramakrishna finally granted that his family would not lack plain food and clothing.) This event thrilled Sri Ramakrishna. Narendra himself spent the whole night singing to the Mother, singing the song he had just learned from the Master: Ma! Tvam hi Tara!—O Mother, thou art our sole redeemer! And Sri Ramakrishna was ecstatic, repeating again and again, ‘Isn’t it wonderful that Narendra has accepted Mother?’ This was clearly a major turning point in Narendra’s life. The Mother became a living Reality to him, in spite of his unwillingness to accept her. What exactly happened on that night will always remain a mystery, but much later he let fall a few hints, in conversation with Sister Nivedita. She records:

of my six years’ fight—that I would not accept Her. But I had to accept Her at last! Ramakrishna Paramahamsa dedicated me to Her, and now I believe that She guides me in everything I do, and does with me what She will. . . . No, the thing that made me do it is a secret that will die with me. I had great misfortunes at the time. . . It was an opportunity. . . She made a slave of me. Those were the very words: ‘a slave of you.’ And Ramakrishna Paramahamsa made me over to Her.5

Evidently Narendra heard the direct words of the Mother, and was made ‘her slave’. But what exactly happened, Swamiji was unwilling to divulge. In August of 1886, just before Sri Ramakrishna left his body, he cemented Narendra’s relation with the Mother. Swami Vivekananda related what happened much later, in 1901. His disciple Sharat Chandra records that he asked Swamiji to take a sabbatical of sorts, to rest and recover his health. Swamiji replied:

‘How I used to hate Kali!’ he said, referring to his own days of doubts in accepting the Kali ideal, ‘And all Her ways! That was the ground

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My son, there is no rest for me. That which Sri Ramakrishna called ‘Kali’ took possession of my body and soul, three or four days before his passing away. That makes me work and work, and never lets me

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keep still or look to my personal comfort. . . . Two or three days before the Master’s passing away, he called me to his side when alone, and, making me sit before him, gazed intently into my eyes and entered into samadhi. I then actually perceived a powerful current of subtle force like electricity entering me from his body. After a time I too lost all outward consciousness and was merged in Samadhi. . . .When I came down to the sense-plane, I found the Master crying. On being asked he said with great tenderness, ‘O my Naren! I have now become a fakir by giving away my all and everything to you! By the force of this Shakti, you will do many great things in this world, and only after that will you go back!’ It seems to me that it is that power that makes me work and work, whirling me, as it were, in its vortex. This body is not made for sitting idle.6

So, even before Narendra became Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna had dedicated him, offered him to the Mother, and the Mother too had taken possession of his body and soul.

ples, not personalities, to preach only that which would invigorate and inspire and bring all humanity towards our common destiny. His letter continues: Religion is that which does not depend upon books or teachers or prophets or saviours, and that which does not make us dependent in this or in any other lives upon others. In this sense Advaitism of the Upanishads is the only religion. But saviours, books, prophets, ceremonials, etc. have their places. They may help many as Kali worship helps me in my secular work. They are welcome.8

The Voice of the Mother In 1898, travelling with western disciples in Kashmir, Swamiji entered on a period of intense seeking, seeking the Mother in the ‘terrible’. This quest culminated in his third great experience of the Mother. Sister Nivedita recalls:

Kali Worship—Swamiji’s Special Fad If this is the case—if Swamiji was so much devoted to the Mother, and she the master of his life—why did Swamiji not tell the world about her? Why did he keep her a secret? Swamiji seems to have made a distinction between his personal spiritual attitude, and his message. Writing to Mary Hale on 17 June 1900, he explains: Kali worship is not a necessary step in any religion. The Upanishads teach us all there is of religion. Kali worship is my special fad; you never heard me preach it, or read of my preaching it in India. I only preach what is good for universal humanity. If there is any curious method which applies entirely to me, I keep it a secret and there it ends.7

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The Swami’s attention appeared to shift, during the month of August, from Siva to the Mother. He was always singing the songs of Ram Prasad, as if he would saturate his own mind with the conception of himself as a child. He told some of us once, that wherever he turned he was conscious of the presence of the Mother, as if She were a person in the room. . . Gradually, however, his absorption became more intense. . . now he seemed to fasten his whole attention on the dark, the painful, and the inscrutable, in the world, with the determination to reach by this particular road the One Behind Phenomena. . . ‘The worship of the Terrible’ now became his whole cry. Illness or pain would always draw forth the reminder that ‘She is the organ. She is the pain. And She is the Giver of pain, Kali! Kali! Kali!’ His brain was teeming with thoughts, he said one day, and his fingers would not rest till they were written down. It was that same evening that we came back to our houseboat from some D E C E M B E R

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expedition, and found waiting for us, where he had called and left them, his manuscript lines on ‘Kali the Mother’. Writing in a fever of inspiration, he had fallen on the floor, when he had finished as we learnt afterwards, exhausted with his own intensity.9

Afterwards, Swamiji spent a week in retreat at Kshir Bhavani, a shrine dedicated to the Mother, practising intense sadhana. Of this period, he said, quoting from ‘Kali the Mother’— ‘It all came true, every word of it—”Who dares misery love, / Dance in Destruction’s dance, / And hug the form of death, / To him the Mother does indeed come. I have proved it. For I have hugged the form of Death!’ Here it was that he heard the voice of the Mother. He had been pondering over the ruination and desecration of the Kshir Bhavani temple by earlier Muslim invaders. Distressed at heart he thought: ‘How could the people have permitted such sacrilege without offering strenuous resistance! If I were here then, I would never have allowed such things. I would have laid down my life to protect the Mother.’

patriotism is gone. Everything is gone. Now it’s only “Mother Mother!”’ ‘I have been very wrong,’ he said simply, after another pause. ‘Mother said to me, “What, even if unbelievers should enter My temples, and defile My images! What is that to you? Do you protect ME? Or do I protect you?” So there is no more patriotism. I am only a little child!’10

Reconciliation and Refuge We may wonder, how did Swamiji reconcile his staunch Advaitic outlook on the one hand, with his devotion to the Mother on the other? He explained it as follows: You see, I cannot but believe that there is somewhere a great Power that thinks of Herself as feminine, and called Kali and Mother. . . And I believe in Brahman too. . . But is it not always like that? Is it not the multitude of cells in the body that make up the personality, the many brain-centres, not the one, that produce consciousness? . . . Unity in complexity! Just so!

Then he heard the Mother speak. Nivedita describes how he returned after this experience: He entered our houseboat, a transfigured presence, and silently passed from one to another blessing us, and putting the marigolds on our heads. ‘I offered them to Mother,’ he said at last, as he ended by handing the garland to one of us. Then he sat down. ‘No more “Hari Om!” It is all “Mother,” now!’ he said, with a smile. . . ‘All my T h e

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An archival picture of Kshir Bhavani temple, Kashmir, as it was when Swamiji visited it

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And why should it be different with Brahman? It is Brahman. It is the One. And yet—and yet—it is the gods too!11

On the morning of the 4th of July, 1902, Swamiji locked himself in the shrine room for three hours, something he had not done before. When he emerged, he was singing to himself one of Kamalakanta’s songs to the Mother: ‘Is Kali, my Mother, really black? / The Naked One, of blackest hue, /Lights the lotus of the heart.’ It was the last day. That evening, Swami Vivekananda would give up his body in mahasamadhi. Did he feel that his offering was complete? Was he again saying, ‘I come! Mother, I come! In Thy warm bosom, floating wheresoever Thou takest me’? 12 Perhaps the last verse of his ‘Amba Stotram’ would hint of his mood:

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Whether I succeed or fail, She, who has ever inspired my understanding on the earth, Who, devising sweet playful ways, has led me, since by birth, Along the most painful paths to Perfection— She, the Mother, the All, is my refuge.13 o

References 1. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 5.136–7 Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 504 Ibid., 734 Life of Swami Vivekananda, by His Eastern and Western Disciples, 1.127–8 Complete Works, 8.263–4 Life of Swami Vivekananda, 2.604 Complete Works, 8.522–3 Ibid.

10 11 12 13

The Master as I Saw Him, by Sister Nivedita, 162 ff (Chapter Kshir Bhowani, 1910 edition—sorry, I don’t have the current edition with me) Ibid. Complete Works, 8.263–4 Ibid., 6.432 Complete Works 4.501, translation from The Voice of India, March 1946, p. 134 (Must be by Swami Ashokananda, though no translator is given)

A baby wants to go upstairs, but it cannot do so; what can it do? It can only call to the mother to take it (up). So must we call on God. Therefore, he is constantly telling us not to be proud, not to be vain; (he is telling us) to confess that although we know what is right, we have no power to do it. So we must say to God, ‘I confide myself absolutely to Thy care.’ At first, vain, proud man thinks, ‘I must resist maya. I must conquer her.’ But he learns that it is impossible, just as it is impossible for the astronomers to conquer the universe. —Swami Ramakrishnananda T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s Message to Modern Indian Women PREMA NANDAKUMAR

The Indian Idea of Woman It is now hundred and fifty years since Narendra was born to Bhuvaneswari Devi and Viswanatha Dutta. And 120 years since he began his epic journey to the West and delivered an epoch-making address at Chicago on 11th September, 1893. At that time Indian womanhood lay in darkness, silently toiling in households or in darker places exploited by the animal in man. If there were tiny candles here and there that dared the darkness, it was because Indian tradition had taught its women to strive boldly and patiently, never yield to fate silently. Women like Bhuvaneswari Devi and Sarada Devi drew reserves of strength from scriptures, from rituals, from meditation and Bhakti. What were the challenges faced by women as Swami Vivekananda noted them when he was a Parivrajaka, going round India? Illiteracy was at the top of the list, of course. He saw much that had to be changed and a good deal about Indian womanhood of which he was justly proud. He crystallized his thoughts on the spot, years later when he was asked to speak about women at the Shakespeare Club House in Pasadena on 18th January, 1900. The first point he made was that you cannot generalize about the condition of Indian women when you deal with the variety of races, languages and customs in

the land. Each nation, however, forms its own ideal. Comparing and contrasting the woman ideal in India (his native land) and in America (where he was addressing an audience), he said: Now, the ideal woman in India is the mother, the mother first, and the mother last. The word woman calls up to the mind of the Hindu, motherhood; and God is called Mother . . . In the West, the woman is wife. The idea of womanhood is concentrated there—as the wife. To the ordinary man in India, the whole force of womanhood is concentrated in motherhood. In the Western home, the wife rules. In an Indian home, the mother rules.1

Swamiji was practical and emotional at the same time, when he described this ideal. It is by seeing every woman as a mother that man gets freed from lustful thoughts. That is why our ancients placed such an ideal before us. ‘The name has been called holy once and for ever, for what name is there which no lust can ever approach, no carnality ever come near, than the one word mother? That is the ideal in India.’ Aspirations of Indian Women When we proceed to seek Swami Vivekananda’s message to the Indian woman of today, we have to tread carefully. The India, in which he lived, belonged almost to the

Dr. Prema Nandakumar is a devotee from Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. She has several publications to her credit, and regularly reviews books for The Vedanta Kesari and other journals. o T h e

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Middle Ages as far as women were concerned. Tradition spoke highly of woman and elevated her to the position of a mother Goddess. In everyday life also, there was a natural grace in the manner in which women were addressed. Among the seers who gave us the Vedic Riks were women. Women who were learned and took to teaching the high lore to others were addressed as Brahmavadinis. However, it is sad to note that woman’s position had indeed deteriorated during the intervening centuries. Any number of reasons can be listed for this progressive degradation. The coming of foreigners who wielded the sword ferociously and enslaved people was no doubt one reason. Received traditions were mercilessly trampled upon. Naturally society tried to guard its womenfolk by sheltering them within the confines of their homes which gradually resulted in their becoming secondhand citizens. One could go on seeking such grounds for developing a thesis. All that we can say is the woman’s condition was totally pitiable, as we find in contemporary records. Sister Subbulakshmi Ammal, who founded a home for young widows in the early years of the twentieth century Madras, writes:

some of his ideas regarding the future Indian woman remain relevant for all time, we ought to draw closer to these golden nuggets. Swami Vivekananda wanted the Indian woman to be a perfect mother, an efficient homemaker, a heroine like Rani Lakshmibai, a Tapasvi like Sanghamitra. None of these women could have achieved what they did unless they had been literate. Educating women in the same way was not possible any more. Women in the past had come to the fore when their presence was needed. Generally they were silent home-makers or meditative personalities in search of spiritual illumination. Bhakti was the chosen path. Be it Akka Mahadevi of Karnataka, Lal Ded of Kashmir or Andal of Tamil Nadu, it was a desire for personal at-one-ment with the Divine. Swami Vivekananda realised that this would not be enough for modern conditions. Mere knowledge of scriptures, philosophy and devotional piety were not enough for the girl of today. Though it is one hundred years since Swami Vivekananda thought on these

Last year the widow of a gentleman who had been earning two hundred rupees per month came to me with her six children, not knowing where to go. If only she had studied upto S.S.L.C., she could have made a living by giving tuition. It is terrible to see her struggle to bring up her children. Alas, women in ninety-nine percent of the families are illiterate. Relations are nowadays not prepared to look after them. They have no other go except to become cooks in the houses of strangers. Hence, in today’s society where poverty is widespread it is imperative to educate men and women.2

In such a situation, Swami Vivekananda sought to train his eyes on the future. Since T h e

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lines, it is amazing what a visionary he was in this matter. Education, yes. But what kind of education? Certainly not an education that took away the native strength of mind possessed by the Indian woman who could face the greatest calamities boldly and never think of taking the easy way out. The loss of a dear sister due to marital discord remained a fresh wound in his heart. This is the land of Sita and Damayanti, Sukanya and Renuka who never thought of self-destruction as the way to permanent peace. Winds of Change At the same time the world was getting transformed by industrial civilization. Woman had to come out of the zenana and education was the proper help in this matter. Woman had to prove she was equal to man. He was happy that Sister Nivedita had acceded to his request to come to India and work for the education of women. She had few resources, and it was no easy task. But Mother Sarada Devi’s love and Swami Vivekananda’s stolid support helped her achieve almost the impossible. Swamiji was very happy about this. Sister Nivedita had become an earnest disciple when he was lecturing in London and in her he found an ideal teacher for the Indian women. Only when Indians saw her would they know the value of education and selfsacrifice. Indian women were already models of self-sacrifice in an instinctive way. But they were confined into domestic limitations encircled by male domination. Was it not the reason why he had lost his own sister, so dear to him? If as a monk he saw all women as his sisters, it became his duty to help them as he should have helped the sister whom he had lost. He also knew that when a command came through a foreigner’s lips, it had a better T h e

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reception in the Indian mind. He told Sister Nivedita: Thousands of Indian women are waiting, and will lift their heads when a woman from the West comes to fight with them, live with them,

Sister Nivedita and show them the way. In her seclusion the Hindu woman, thought only to have the soul of a child, possesses the inestimable treasure of a valiant faith and ever-renewed energy. It is thanks to her life of patience and resignation, and to her power of fighting for an ideal, that the fire of honour burns bright within her. Many workers, both men and women, will be needed to respond to the call of the country when the wave of love for Sri Ramakrishna penetrates the cottages, the prisons, the mountains, the populous cities.3

These women who would respond in the future will not be just Bhajan-singers. They would be as proficient in arts and sciences

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as the men of the future, as the technological revolution was already penetrating the corners of India. There is a touching incident in the Swami’s life when he was ready to clutch at any straw and give a new future to the Indian woman. When Sister Nivedita did rent a house in Bagh Bazar in Kolkata and start a school, she dare not request the Swami to visit the premises. He was too ill; every extra moment he breathed was precious. She would not bother him with details either. The Swami’s command had been clear enough. While in the States she gave talks on the women of India and how they needed to be helped to join the mainstream. She did not ask for anything for herself but welcomed their voluntary help so her mission would prosper. Would she be able to achieve anything with so little money, she was asked. The reply came with natural ease: Build for the future. I want your co-operation, the cooperation of all of you, to establish a permanent fund for the women and children of India. That is what counts, and that will be your achievement.

Swami Vivekananda may not have known the day-to-day, humdrum details of her preparations abroad including her ‘Nivedita Mutual Assistance Guild’. But he knew that Indian women needed such a role-model, absolutely fearless, prepared to sacrifice, overcome the call of mundane happiness. It was enough that he attended her lecture on ‘The ideal of the Hindu Woman’ at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. Lizelle Raymond writes that this was the first and only time he heard her address a Western audience. ‘He found her moving, simple and fervent, more Hindu than a Hindu, speaking of the land of her soul, as luminous as light itself. And he wept with gratitude.’ In Sister Nivedita, Swami Vivekananda had found a role model for the educated T h e

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Indian woman of the future. So he limned the personality of the future woman in the gemlike poem he wrote to Sister Nivedita with his blessings: ‘The mother’s heart, the hero’s will, The sweetness of the southern breeze, The sacred charm and strength that dwell On Aryan altars, flaming, free; All these be yours, and many more No ancient soul could dream before— Be thou to India’s future son The mistress, servant, friend in one.’

Sister Nivedita knew she was trying to make his dream-vision a reality. Still, she did not invite him to come and see her school, the laboratory for women’s future in India. What a pleasant surprise awaited her on the morning of June 28th, 1901! Swamiji was entering her school along with two of the monks from the Math! She welcomed him with great joy and humility. Now Swami Vivekananda went into the house, examined the rooms and the accessories. He was particularly delighted that she had got ready a magic lantern, a microscope and a camera! Ah, Indian women will now enter the world of science and technology! Reading the words and observing the movements of Swami Vivekananda, we do draw close to his message to modern women. Since Sister Nivedita was practically moulded by him, we can have a clearer picture of his vision. A random choice from two generations of Indian women about what they want Indian woman to be, brought me some information. Usually it was a lack of faith in the motherland. ‘Where is the future for woman here with all its casteist controls? I do hope I will escape and join a college in the States and settle down there.’ However, a girl in the late teens was brief and had a surprising message. ‘I wish

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the new woman to be happy in the successes of others.’ Coming in a milieu where women have been accused of being easily prone to fits of jealousy, this was welcome indeed. A representative of the earlier generation (in their ’forties and ‘fifties), harped upon economic freedom as the only way for the new woman but I found a dissent or two here. A lady wrote out her vision of the future woman:

involvement with the political struggle was crucial, and this could blossom only when at the top of the agenda, the Indian woman had patriotism as a religion. In this, she needed no role-models from elsewhere: What is the type of woman we most admire? Is she strong, resourceful, inspired, fit for moments of crisis? Have we not Padmini of Cheetore, Chand Bibi, Jansi Rani? Is she saintly, a poet, and a mystic? Is there not Meera Bae? Is she the queen, great in administration? Where is Rani Bhowani where Ahalya Bae, where Sanhabi of Pipperah? Is it wifehood in which we deem that woman shines brightest? What of Sati, of Savitri, of the ever-glorious Sita? Is it in maidenhood? There is Uma. And where in all the womanhood of the world, shall be found another as grand as Gandhari?4

Independent, alert, balanced, not swayed by commercialism and quick ways to make money or earn fame. Rooted in values yet not prey to ritualism. Humble but walk tall with head high. . .

Idealistic? But ideals are needed to transform matter human into matter divine. Swamiji’s Message to Indian Women It may be pertinent to point out here that Swami Vivekananda was a votary of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s hymn, ‘Bande Mataram’. Because he did not want to get entangled with the British Government which was engaged with the Bande Mataram Movement at that time, he kept the fledgling Math scrupulously distanced from politics. Sister Nivedita knew that women’s

With the heart in the right place, science, history and geography would strengthen the veins of the Indian woman. Swami Vivekananda’s message is clear: not amazons but our epic heroines whose steely will power and capacity to pour abundant love created the great women of Indian history. With his teachings held fast, the Indian woman would blaze new flames of glory in the future as well. o

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References 1. CW, 8:57 2. Kalaimagal, June, 1945 3. Lizelle Reymond, The Dedicated A Biography of Nivedita (1985 edn.), p. 51

4. Selected Essays of Sister Nivedita (Ganesh & Co, Madras. Year of publication not mentioned), pp. 216-7

The Indian home thinks of itself as perpetually chanting the beautiful psalm of custom. To it, every little act and detail of household method, and personal habit is something inexpressibly precious and sacred, an eternal treasure of the nation, handed down from the past, to be kept unflawed, and passed on to the future. This mode of thought is interwoven with the passionate quest of ideal purity, and with the worship of motherhood, to make the guiding and restraining force of the whole Indian character. The East worships simplicity, and herein lies one of the main reasons why vulgarity is impossible to any Eastern people. —Sister Nivedita T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s Concept of A Monastic Organization SWAMI KRITARTHANANDA

Need for Reconciliation In the lives of almost every great soul one common characteristic is observed. It is that their lives are a strange blend of mutually opposite phenomena or messages uttered by them. At times it becomes difficult for the keen readership to reconcile those pairs of contrary events, and unless these conflicts are resolved, such sublime messages for humankind may not benefit them. Hence before we launch an enquiry into Swami Vivekananda’s ideas on organized living for monks, we should keep in mind the fact of coexistence of apparently opposite ideas in the same personality. The Plan for Organization It is said that towards the end of his life at Cossipore in Calcutta, Sri Ramakrishna confided to Narendranath many things behind the closed door. We do not have a first-hand report of such conversations. But from some stray utterances of Swami Vivekananda in later years we may safely conclude that forming an organization with the monks in the interest of the afflicted masses constituted one of the topics. A casual reader may raise a question here: How can one who is born to break all worldly bonds of people make arrangement to forge another link in the chain by trying to unite all the monastic disciples through a bond of ‘love’? As a viable answer it can be said that

Sri Ramakrishna came to liberate one and all irrespective of caste, creed, and sect. Liberation cannot be the monopoly of a few privileged ones alone. It is the birth right of every soul. Swami Vivekananda, on the eve of his second departure for the West (19 June, 1899), upheld this unique ideal of sarvamukti to the monastics of Belur Math. He went on to say: In our country, the old idea is to sit in a cave and meditate and die. To go ahead of others in salvation is wrong. One must learn sooner or later that one cannot get salvation if one does not try to seek the salvation of his brothers.1

This idea of liberation for all made room in the hearts of many wandering monks throughout the length and breadth of India even during Sri Ramakrishna’s life time. Swami Vivekananda was the witness to such forms of ‘worshipping God in humankind’ during his travels across India. In his reply to the Madras address he narrated one such story from real life. It goes like this: The ever-travelling Tyagis of the various orders, Dashanamis or Vairagis or Panthis bring religion to everybody’s door, and the cost is only a bit of bread. And how noble and disinterested most of them are! There is one Sannyasin belonging to the Kachu Panthis or independents who has been instrumental in the establishing of hundreds of schools and charitable asylums all over Rajputana. He has opened hospitals in forests, and thrown iron bridges over the gorges in the

The author is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order at its Headquarters at Belur Math, West Bengal. T h e

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Himalayas, and this man never touches a coin with his hands, has no earthly possession except a blanket, which has given him the nick name of the ‘blanket Swami’, and begs his bread from door to door. I have never known him taking a whole dinner from one house, lest it should be a tax on the householder. And he is only one amongst many. Do you think that so long as these Gods on earth live in India and protect the ‘Religion Eternal’ with the impenetrable rampart of such godly characters, the old religion will die?2

gathers no moss. That is why Swamiji, after establishing the Ramakrishna Order, called it a ‘non-sectarian sect’. The members of this organization should not only be tolerant to others’ ideas or religions but also accept them heartily. And this acceptance should come while maintaining a steadfast devotion to one’s own ideal. He expressed this idea beautifully in his lecture entitled ‘The Way to the Realization of a Universal Religion’:

From such a direct evidence of none else but Swamiji, it can be inferred that some of the monks of India were also engaged in such pursuits of ‘liberation of the many’. Of course, Sri Ramakrishna was the first who, after Buddha, implemented the power of organisation to lead the masses from ignorance to the light of consciousness. Here again, another doubt may assail the mind of the readers: Sri Ramakrishna himself used to say that weeds grow only in stagnant waters. Then why did he moot the idea of this great organization to introduce the philosophy of work among the monks? The answer to this question is that he planned an organization which will be free from all the dark sides of organized life. In other words, its members should be as liberal as the sky. No idea of narrowness should find a place in this organization. It should be like a flowing river that

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Not only toleration, for so-called toleration is often blasphemy, and I do not believe in it. I believe in acceptance. Why should I tolerate? Toleration means that I think that you are wrong and I am just allowing you to live . . . I accept all religions that were in the past, and worship with them all; I worship God with every one of them, in whatever form they worship Him. . . . Not only shall I do all these, but I shall keep my heart open for all that may come in the future. Is God’s book finished? . . . The Bible, the Vedas, the Koran, and all other sacred books are but so many pages, and an infinite number of pages remain yet to be unfolded. I would leave it open for all of them. We stand in the present, but open ourselves to the infinite future. We take in all that has been in the past, enjoy the light of the present, and open every window of the heart for all that will come in the future.3

Needless to say, this idea clearly represents the characteristics of the Ramakrishna Order. Swamiji unequivocally

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indicated that the members of this Order should be strictly devoid of any snobbish attitude towards other sects or religions. Another fact also bears mention in this context. The Ramakrishna Order takes up various service programmes all over the world through its branch centres. Yet the purpose of this organization is not work or mere service to humanity. It is rather a means of attaining liberation for oneself in a way that leads to the good of the world. The service projects are but a commitment to the society and nation. This is a composite ideal put forward by Swami Vivekananda in the Sanskrit phrase ‘atmano mokshartham jagad hitaya cha’, meaning ‘for one’s own liberation that simultaneously caters to the good of others too.’ This forms the motto of the Ramakrishna Order. Channelling Spiritual Power With the inspiration of Sri Ramakrishna, Swamiji founded the Ramakrishna Order. Travelling through the length and breadth of the country as a wandering monk, he felt the need to unite the dispersed force of goodness, integrity, etc., of monks to cater to the all-round development of the country. Swamiji often used to quote a Sanskrit adage: ‘Grass blades, though very tender, can be twined into a rope strong enough to hold back a mad elephant.’ Spirituality forms the vital force of the Indians, and this force has to be applied in a unified form to uplift this country. Swamiji had noted that this tremendous energy was not being applied to its fullest potential. In

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the second place, Swamiji felt on the basis of direct observation that though the monks of India wield tremendous power, this may also lead to greed followed by exploitation after a few generations. Hence a bridge has to be erected between spiritual and secular powers; in other words, he wanted to establish a bridge of mutual bonds between the monks and the householders. Swamiji on Organized Religions Before founding the Ramakrishna Order, Swamiji made a thorough analysis of the past spiritual history of India and drew many lessons from it. All organized religions have their bright and dark aspects. Swamiji was well aware of that. Yet he took great pains to establish this great organization and called it the body of Sri Ramakrishna with every member constituting its various limbs. So each one of them has a distinct role to play. And the pillar that holds the whole edifice in its place is the bond of deep love and understanding among the members. In a letter to his beloved disciple Alasinga Perumal, written from America, Swamiji gave a hint to the thought that was uppermost in his mind: The faculty of organization is entirely absent in our nature, but this has to be infused. The great secret is—absence of jealousy. Be always ready to concede to the opinions of your brethren, and try always to conciliate. That is the whole secret.4

Notwithstanding all this, Swamiji was not much interested to bring into action all this work philosophy in an organized way. In his

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lecture on the Bhagavad Gita at San Francisco he said, We start a religion and make a set of dogmas and betray the goal of mankind and treat everyone as having the same nature. No two persons have the same mind or the same body. No two persons have the same religion. If you want to be religious, enter not the gate of any organized religions. They do a hundred times more evil than good, because they stop the growth of each one’s individual development. Study everything, but keep your own seat firm. If you take my advice, do not put your neck into the trap. The moment they try to put their noose on you, get your neck out and go somewhere else. As the bee culling honey from many flowers remains free, not bound by any flower, be not bound. . . Enter not the door of any organized religion. Religion is only between you and your God, and no third person must come between you.5

This can be taken simultaneously as an inspiration and a warning—inspiration in the sense of maintaining the individuality of each member intact by strengthening the bond between him and God, the only bond that endures beyond death, and a warning to be careful of the ill effects of any organized life. Swamiji further explained the reason behind such thought. As if to fore-warn the future generation, a world teacher as he was, made this simple yet historic statement: The moment you form yourselves into an organization, you begin to hate everybody outside of that organization. When you join an organization you are putting bonds upon

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yourself, you are limiting your own freedom. Why should you form yourselves into an order having rules and regulations thus limiting everyone as to his independent action? If one breaks a law of an Order or society, he is hated by the rest. What right has anyone to lay down rules and laws governing others? Such laws are not laws at all. If it were a law, it could not be broken. The fact that these so-called laws are broken shows clearly they are not laws.6

Obedience and Freedom Another watchword of organized life is obedience. This particular word more often than not becomes the source of all dissension and misgivings among the members of a society or organization. It is because everywhere—be it a family, society, or an organization—the seniors, the powerful or resourceful members claim implicit obedience from the junior members. The desire to become free is latent in every individual, and hence obedience should be carefully understood and followed in the light of that inherent urge. On the other hand, obedience never becomes a source of conflict, nor creates a gulf in mutual relationship where true love finds expression in the dealings among the members. When Swamiji wrote to his brotherdisciples such words as, ‘The first thing needed is obedience. You must be ready to plunge into fire,. . .’7 ‘Organization is power, and the secret of this is obedience,’8 what did he actually mean by obedience here? That obedience does

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not mean a slavish, unconditional subservience to a particular individual. It is an expression of surrendering one’s own whimsical desires to a sublime, noble ideal. It is in the name of this very ideal that people assemble under the same banner having thrown overboard all their home and hearth, kith and kin, desires for name and fame, etc., because even their hearts’ blood becomes insignificant, the sacrifice of their lives becomes meaningful, on the altar of that noble ideal. Whenever a large crowd of youths form into a group centring around a leader, it should be kept in mind that they have surrendered themselves to the ideal represented by that man, and not to the individual in flesh and blood.

‘Vivekananda asks obedience of his students, only to those ideals they voluntarily assume, not to his teachings, if I understand him.’10 In other words, she vouched for Swamiji’s idea of obedience to a principle rather than an individual. The former type helps a man direct his creative genius through proper channel while the latter confines him to a corner and cry inconsolably all his life, lose his individuality eventually. One may ask how is it possible to reach a principle without having recourse to an individual. And pat comes Swamiji’s reply: Obedience and respect cannot be enforced by word of command; neither can they be exacted. It depends upon the man, upon his loving nature and exalted character. None can resist true love and greatness.11

In this context also, Swamiji’s comments are worth recalling: If it is finally settled that the path of human welfare is forever chalked out by these omniscient men, society naturally fears its own destruction if the least deviation be made from the boundary line of the path, and so it tries to compel all men through rigid laws and threats of punishment to follow that path with unconditional obedience. If society succeeds in imposing such obedience to itself by confining all men within the narrow groove of these paths, then the destiny of mankind becomes no better than that of a machine . . . In course of time, for want of proper use, all activity is given up, all originality is lost, a sort of Tamasika dreamy lifelessness hovers over the whole nation, and headlong it goes down and down.9

Once Mr. Leon Landsberg (later Swami Kripananda), an American monastic disciple of Swami Vivekananda, wrote a letter to Mrs. Sarah Chapman Bull (Dhiramata, as Swamiji called her) with some complaints born out of his own misunderstanding against Swamiji in points of obedience. In reply Mrs. Bull tersely and unequivocally wrote to him, T h e

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One whose life is founded on the firm bed-rock of love and truth will certainly win the respect and unconditional love of others even unasked; he need not have to impose any rule or command to exact obedience. On the contrary, those who enforce laws in their desperate effort to keep other members under control are actually under a sway of mental aberration termed ‘necrophilia’ by the western psychologists. People possessed by this attitude evince a strong tendency to destroy their opponents; but they cannot actually do so in fear of law breathing heavily down their neck. Hence they take recourse to tricky ways of turning their subordinates into slaves. Jealousy, an Obstacle to Organizational Life Side by side with obedience, Swamiji was also vociferous in denouncing jealousy among the members. He poignantly pointed out that jealousy only betrays one’s weakness; it is a ridiculously desperate attempt to highlight oneself at the cost of others. One having full confidence on one’s own talents, knowledge,

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and capabilities will never be overpowered by jealousy. This truth is particularly relevant in the context of organized life. Swamiji demonstrated this teaching in his own life by transferring the overall responsibility of the whole organization to his beloved brother-disciple Swami Brahmananda. Even one of the motives of his giving up his body was to allow smaller personalities to come up and express themselves freely. Smaller plants cannot grow around a huge banyan or peepul tree. What a sky-high greatness Swamiji had! In a letter to Swami Ramakrishnananda, Swamiji expressed his deep concern over this weakness of Indian mind: Let all give up party-spirit and jealousy, and unite in action. A universal religion cannot be set up through party faction. . . If all understand one day for one minute that he only rises whom He raises, and he falls whom He brings down, then all trouble is at an end. But there is that egotism—hollow in itself, and without the power to move a finger; how ludicrous of it to say, ‘I won’t let anyone rise!’ That jealousy, that absence of conjoint action, is the very nature of enslaved nations. But we must try to shake it off. The terrible jealousy is characteristic of us.12

Aspects of Organizational Life One of the bright sides of organizational life is that it helps its members to come out of a crude condition to a substantially cultured and developed state of life. The members also grow a confidence in their abilities by shouldering responsible jobs by degrees. It also supplies the members with a sense of security. It is beyond the pale of intelligence of common people to realize that true security comes out of self-surrender to God alone, and not from the support of some of the powerful members. T h e

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Swami Saradananda, the first General Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, said in his address to the monastic brethren at the first convention of the Ramakrishna Order in 1926 that like every other movement in the world, a spiritual movement has to pass through three stages. The first is opposition from the public; the second, their indifference; and the third is acceptance. Among these, the first two are the stages of intense struggle for the aspirants while the third implies a conducive progress in which the members run the greatest risk of losing the battle due to a sense of lethargy. At this stage the obstruction comes from inside and not outside. This thought was only an echo of Swamiji’s words which he jotted down in his letter dated 9 July 1895 to the Maharaja of Khetri: Each work has to pass through three stages— ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Each man who thinks ahead of his time is sure to be misunderstood. So opposition and persecution are welcome, only I have to be steady and pure and must have immense faith in God, and all these will vanish.13

Even an organized spiritual life is nothing but a developed type of social life. One has to guard against the common tendency pulling down other members to the average level. Another aspect of organizations is that their members are prone to look down upon others with a ‘holier-than-thou’, ‘more competent-than-thou’ or such other attitudes. It is very good to develop confidence but not by lowering others’ dignity. One who is well aware of his own capacities and limitations will also have a right assessment of others’ good qualities. He will treat others with dignity and, above all, will have full faith in divine dispensation. Swamiji wrote in a letter,

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None deserves liberty who is not ready to give liberty.14 Leadership in an Organization Wherever a number of people assemble under the banner of an ideal, the question of leadership becomes quite relevant. Leadership means wielding power and resources including human resources. And human psyche being variegated and complicated, leadership involves a tough struggle. How to overcome this? According to Swamiji the solution is simple. He points out that a leader should also be ready to serve others without the least hankering for name or fame or selfishness. He thus has to set a living example by himself maintaining a spirit of service to others. He must even be ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of the organization. Swamiji wrote to Alasinga Perumal,

such a defeat. He replied that the leaders among them, instead of advancing forward, only kept shouting from a safe position in the rear, ‘Fight on, brave lads,’ and so forth; but unless the commanding officer goes ahead and faces death, the rank and file will never fight with heart. It is the same in every branch. ‘A captain must sacrifice his head’, they say. If you can lay down your life for a cause, then only you can be a leader. But we all want to be leaders without making the necessary sacrifice. And the result is zero—nobody listens to us!17

Another necessary quality for leadership is the strength of character. While giving classes on Raja-yoga in England Swamiji upheld this side of human personality. He pointed out to his students, The majority of sects will be transient, and last only as bubbles because the leaders are not usually men of character. Perfect love, the heart never reacting, this is what builds character. There is no allegiance possible where there is no character in the leader, and perfect purity ensures the most lasting allegiance and confidence. Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on in patience, and the sun will rise for you.18

Do not try to lead your brethren, but serve them. The brutal mania for leading has sunk many a great ship in the waters of life. Take care especially of that, that is, be unselfish even unto death, and work.15

Again, You will have to take charge of the whole movement, not as a leader, but as a servant. Do you know, the least show of leading destroys everything by rousing jealousy?16

Another burning example was upheld by Swamiji from the pages of Indian history, laying open the root cause of failure of Indian soldiers in the Sepoy Mutiny. He proceeded to jot it down in a humorous tone for the keen readership: An English friend of mine, named General Strong, was in India during the Sepoy Mutiny. He used to tell many stories about it. One day, in the course of conversation, I asked him how it was that the sepoys who had enough of guns, ammunition, and provision at their disposal, and were also trained veterans, came to suffer T h e

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More often than not Swamiji would go to the forefront to bear the brunt of any tough situation, just to save his brother-disciples or even disciples. During the days of hardship at Baranagar Math, the brother-disciples used to share the household chores among them. One of them was given a bit to the study of scriptures. This aroused some mild objection from some of the brothers. When it reached Swamiji’s ears, he got up and said, ‘What harm if one of our brothers spends a little more time after studies? Bring all the vessels to be scoured and cleaned, and I myself shall finish the job in no time.’ This is leadership— the readiness to do anything for the fellow brethren even at the cost of one’s comfort.

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The Ideal of Collective Harmony Sri Ramakrishna wanted to express a symbol of harmony through each of his monastic disciples. He trained each of his disciples according to their inherent tendencies to reveal various aspects of monasticism while keeping pace with the march of time. Some of these were also common traits of monastic life like self-sacrifice, austerity and discipline while some other faculties were unique to each disciple. For example, he trained Swami Brahmananda thoroughly in true leadership, Swami Premananda in unbounded love, Swami Ramakrishnananda in steadfastness of devotion, Swami Akhandananda in the service of God in man, Swami Turiyananda in translating non-dual Vedanta in life, Swami Abhedananda in scriptural knowledge with yogic excellence, Swami Adbhutananda in the attitude of self-surrender and service, and so on. Thus the organization that Swamiji founded was replete with the austere lives of monks, scriptural studies, devotional attitude, work philosophy, and service of God in mankind. Sri Ramakrishna himself was the embodiment of all these traits, and hence he may be treated as a symbol of harmony. The Order set up by him pays full respect to the modern scientific advancement and its applications, while the monks of this Order also do ritualistic worship, chant the Vedic Suktas, and follow several age-old traditions of our country. It is a representation of harmony of knowledge, devotion, work, and concentration. But this is not all about the Order that he founded. In fact, Sri Ramakrishna did not come merely to create a new order of monks. He came for the salvation of the worldly people too. The Ramakrishna movement is a joint venture of the householders and T h e

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The official emblem of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Conceptualized by Swami Vivekananda in 1901

‘The wavy waters in the picture are symbolic of Karma; the lotus of Bhakti; and the rising-sun, of Jnana. The encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture stands for the Paramatman (Supreme Self). Therefore the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti, and Yoga, the vision of the Paramatman is obtained.’ —Swami Vivekananda, (CW, 7:204) monks. Swamiji always insisted on small groups of people working under the banner of the Ramakrishna movement independently without losing their individual significance and distinction. He gave expression to this idea in a letter to Mrs. Bull: ‘My idea is for autonomic, independent groups in different places. Let them work on their own account and do the best they can. As for myself, I do not want to entangle myself in any organization.’19 Through such a way of propagation the householders will also be

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able to engage themselves in improving the condition of the masses. The members of this organization may have differences of opinion, but it leaves no room for discord, partiality, desire for name and fame, going ahead of others by elbowing them out, and such other defects. So long as the order maintains this attitude, it will stand with upright head in its own glory, much more rejuvenated than ever before.

Conclusion Thus we find the idea of a monastic brotherhood that Swamiji founded is most inclusive and accommodative. Based on the idea of Self-realisation, with love and service as the guiding principles, the Order represents Swami Vivekananda’s great understanding of organised living as well a combination of ancient and modern ideals of a nobler and selffulfilling life. o

 References 1 CW, April, 1979, Vol.3, p.447. 2 CW, January 1978 edn.,Vol.4, pp.338-39. 3 CW, April 2011, Vol.2, p.374. 4 CW, April, 1979, Vol.5, p.37. 5 CW, March 1977 edn.,Vol.1, pp.473-74. 6 Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West, New Discoveries (Hereafter ND), Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Vol.6, p.216, Rhodehammel Notes, VSNC. 7 CW, February 1978 edn., Vol.6, p.322. 8 CW, February 1978 edn., Vol.6, p.364. 9 CW, January 1978 edn.,Vol.4, pp.434-36.

10 ND, Vol.6, pp.254-55. 11 Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Vol.2, p.569. 12 CW, February 1978 edn., Vol.6, pp.285-86. 13 CW, April 1979 edn., Vol.5, p.91. 14 CW, January 1978 edn.,Vol.4, p.368. 15 CW, July 1979 edn., Vol.5, p.36. 16 CW, July 1979 edn., Vol.5, p.41. 17 CW, June 1979 edn., Vol.7, pp.325-26. 18 CW, February 1978, Vol.6, p.135. 19 CW, February 1978, Vol.6, p.353.

Seeing God in Others If you cannot see God in the human face, how can you see him in the clouds, or in images made of dull, dead matter, or in mere fictitious stories of our brain? I shall call you religious from the day you begin to see God in men and women, and then you will understand what is meant by turning the left cheek to the man who strikes you on the right. When you see man as God, everything, even the tiger, will be welcome. Whatever comes to you is but the Lord, the Eternal, the Blessed One, appearing to us in various forms, as our father, and mother, and friend, and child—they are our own soul playing with us. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2: 326

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Swami Vivekananda—The Prophet of Service R BALASUBRAMANIAM

India Today India is a land of tremendous contradictions. On the one hand, one sees such enormous prosperity and wealth, and on the other, one-third of Indians struggle to get two square meals each day. While India’s scientific achievements in the field of telecommunication, information technology and space are enviable, it makes one’s heart bleed to know that only around 30% of rural Indians have sanitation facilities and 40% of them are able to get potable water to drink. Even today nearly 42% of our children in the villages find it difficult to access schooling while many children are still labouring away in the fields and factories to make their family’s ends meet. While we are able to find solutions to all kinds of technical and software challenges all over the world, we are still grappling with having nearly 25% of the world’s poor in our country. Finding solutions to the complex social, economic, infrastructural, political and poverty-related problems is indeed a great challenge. This challenge needs enormous energy, a fresh perspective, a grandiose vision and superhuman effort. How do we get to address the myriad problems facing us? Where are the people who will pick up the cudgel and

put their shoulder’s to work to ameliorate the pain and suffering in society? And who will inspire them to these great deeds. What India needs today is a dedicated group of young people, who know and understand the problems that India faces and are willing to cast aside their own personal pleasures and apply themselves completely to the task on hand. Such people need to be fired with extraordinary power; they need to be inspired by a larger than life image and they need to have a role model who is as much pragmatic as he is ideological. And who can be a better role model than Swami Vivekananda, the Prophet of Service, to lead us in the right path? Service: the Only Way to Social Change Swami Vivekananda once wrote to a disciple, I do not believe in a God or religion that does not bring a piece of bread to the orphan’s mouth or wipe away the widow’s tears.1

In another place he says, ‘Half a loaf of bread is better than no bread at all.’2 These words reflect his constant and deep concern for the common man and his vision of a religion that is at once practical and provides the individual with the inspiration to know and seek God. It also shows the socialist side

Dr R Balasubramaniam, former Visiting Professor, Vivekananda Chair, University of Mysore, is the founder of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, Mysore, and Frank Rhodes Professor, Cornell University, USA. o T h e

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of his nature. Swami Vivekananda was deeply troubled by the inequities that prevailed in Indian Society. He just could not accept the fact that the gap between the rich and the poor was something that could not be bridged. India of today is not very different from what it was then. Today the top 20% of Indians generate and control 85% of India’s wealth, while the bottom 20%, for whom Swamiji’s heart bled, generate and control a mere 1.5% of India’s wealth. What is it that Government or Society can do to reduce such gross inequities? Is mere charity a solution or should we look at this issue with more depth and explore more empowering options of bringing in equity? Swami Vivekananda believed in raising the poor and ignorant masses not through mere doles, but wanted them to be empowered and made capable of building their own destinies. All that he wanted the ‘haves’ in society to do was to create an enabling and facilitatory environment wherein the poor could raise themselves up without affecting their self-esteem and dignity. He was not only sensitive to the economic disparities but was deeply pained by the social inequities that were prevailing. He considered that the great national sin was the neglect of the masses and that was one of the causes of India’s downfall. He wanted these masses to be once more well educated, well fed and well cared for. He said, ‘If you want to regenerate India, we must work for them.’

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For Swamiji, bringing in equity was not by bringing down the rich but by pushing up the poor. This is so very relevant in today’s India. We now have a country wherein more than 200 districts are affected by violence, and people are adopting the ideology of bringing in social equity from the barrel of a gun. Swamiji often remarked that social rising up in India should happen not by ‘revolution’ but by ‘evolution’. What foresight he had! He understood that people would not sit and tolerate this inequity for too long. They would get restless and take to addressing this problem from an emotive plane rather than from a rational one. An agitated and restless group of people can be easily motivated to take to violence with disastrous consequences. At the same time, Swamiji also understood that a country could not truly grow and thrive till the benefits of economic prosperity reached out to the last man on the street. He also understood that mere charity can be very demeaning and take away human enterprise and initiative. This would also not be a sustainable and permanent way of solving this problem. He insightfully urged people to see religion as a means of serving the less fortunate without snatching away their sense of pride, dignity and self-esteem. He wanted this kind of assistance to be life-giving and enabling. He wanted to make sure that the masses would once and for all be raised and would not have to depend either on a

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benevolent government or on a philanthropic society. This practical and non-violent way forward would neither create insecurity in the minds of the wealthy nor any negative emotion in the people trying to climb up the economic ladder. What India needs today are leaders and planners who can think and act like Swami Vivekananda. Otherwise, the rapid economic growth that we see today will continue to rest in the hands of a chosen few. And this could only strengthen the hands of those who ideologically believe that a violent snatching away from the rich is the only way to provide for the poor. How to Serve Considering the complexity and diversity of the problems on hand, it is indeed difficult to know where to begin and what sectors to focus on? What are the areas in which one could engage productively and who should be doing so? Considering that more than 80% of Indians are less than 40 years, it is not only demographically prudent, but practical too to engage the youth of the country in this mammoth task. The young today are extremely result oriented and seek explanations for everything that they need to do. To them Swami Vivekananda had a simple formula. He laid down in clear and simple terms the three levels of service that one can do.

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The first is that of Physical Service—taking care of the human body and undertaking activities to ameliorate human physical suffering. Running hospitals, orphanages, old-age homes and various income generation programs would qualify for this level. The next higher level was that of Intellectual Service. Running schools, colleges and awareness and empowerment programs would operate at this level. And finally for the evolved—he prescribed the highest level of Spiritual Service. Swamiji did not forget to warn us of the pitfalls of undertaking such service activities. He understood the human ego and its extraordinary potential for creating problems. He repeatedly warned us against placing ourselves higher than what we should. His famous quote of not standing on the pedestal and offering the poor man five cents is legendary. He wanted us to undertake these activities, not merely for the betterment of society but for the evolution and growth of the person undertaking the same. He saw the ‘means’ of serving society leading to the ‘end’ of spiritual growth of the person doing it. And he so beautifully advised us to ‘Serve God in man’. All his philosophy is so elegantly and simplistically packed into one statement; in such simple and lucid language that makes it at once achievable and attractive. This ideal is not only within the reach of each one of us but makes it so emotionally appealing and motivating to undertake.

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The Three H’s Swami Vivekananda realised that inspiring Indian youth was the most appropriate, contextually relevant and practical way of spreading the message of service. But then inspiration can be limiting and unsustainable if it is not based on a platform that is both emotional and rational and something that can appeal to the youth of today. And he did this in his own inimitable way. He understood that youth is an impressionable age and ideas formed during that time stay for life. His clarion call to the youth was to focus their collective energies towards Nation-building. Amongst the many inspirational writings of his, one that conveys what the youth can do is his call to focus on what may be called as the three ‘H’s. The first ‘H’ that he writes about is the ‘Heart’ to feel. He wanted everyone to feel for the poor, the downtrodden, and the marginalized. He wanted us to feel till our head reeled and our hearts stopped. Only with the power of emotion driving us, can one inspire oneself or others to think beyond the ordinary mundane existence. While an emotional reaction in isolation has its own limitations, Swamiji wanted one to go beyond and bring in the thinking that is required for appropriate action. Finding solutions to the complex social, economic, infrastructural, political, and poverty-related problems that India faces today is indeed a great challenge. This challenge needs enormous energy, a fresh T h e

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new perspective, a grandiose vision, and superhuman effort. Our response to solve these issues cannot be just emotional. We need to think through, strategize, and then arrive at a workable, well thought out solution. Swamiji called this cognitive phase as the second ‘H’— the ‘Head’ to think. Merely feeling for the poor and thinking through a solution is by itself a meaningless exercise. One needs to be able to implement the plans and strategies that we conceive of. This is the third ‘H’ that Swamiji wrote about— we need ‘Hands’ to work too. We need to convert our emotions into concrete strategies and have the discipline and willingness to apply ourselves to the task of translating them into pragmatic action. Only then can the young of today help in realizing Swami Vivekananda’s dreams for India. ‘Who’ Can Serve One also needs to understand that social service does not automatically translate as giving up all the worldly responsibilities and sitting half-clad and starving in a remote village. It begins with arousing one’s social conscience and translating this in practical terms into social action. One needs to be pragmatic and keep one’s needs and limitations in mind before embarking on any such activity. One needs to begin with oneself first and then gradually expand this reach concentrically to include more and more deserving persons. Each young person can continue to be what he is—a technocrat, a scientist, an engineer or a doctor. There is so much within

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Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success.3

Purity: In a world where one has to deal with corruption and negativism at every step, purity in thought, word and deed helps build strength of character and one can stand out like an oasis. Social service is also a very stressful activity and it is easy for one to give up in frustration. It is during those circumstances that the virtue of patience pays off. The tendency of most people is to keep searching for motives and one tends to look at those doing selfless service with a lot of suspicion. Patience: One needs enormous patience to accept people as they are and continue to do what one is doing with no desire for name, fame or any other tangible return. Gandhiji also talks about the need for enormous patience. In his remarks on â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Social Service and Reformâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, he mentions that since it is the social worker who goes in search of people to serve, he needs to cultivate enormous patience not to get demotivated by the non-responsiveness of society towards the acts of service that he does. Perseverance: Finally one needs to understand that any social change is a gradual process. In these days of instant gratification, one should have enormous perseverance to sustain our attempts and energy at bringing about this change. The problem that one needs to surmount today requires enormous will and Vivekananda maintained that perseverance will always conquer. Having these qualities of purity, patience and perseverance not only helps a social worker serve society better, but also enables him to mature spiritually. Swami Vivekananda always saw selfless service to mankind as an opportunity for self-purification and a means to salvation.

These are the three qualities that every social worker needs to have. This is not only extremely relevant but a very practical mantra that one needs to imbibe before getting into the world of service.

Conclusion When one thinks of Swami Vivekananda, what comes to the mind immediately is his boundless love for humanity. This love for

the circle of our own small lives that we could do something concrete. The idea is to start with these small changes and incrementally build on them. Being a good and honest technocrat, scientist, engineer and a doctor by itself is a good beginning. We could then expand to include more and more lives that we touch in our everyday existence. And finally Vivekananda wanted us to realise that what matters most is the understanding that in undertaking social activities lies the answer not only to the problems of people around us, but also to our own inner problems and dilemmas. The Qualities needed to do Social Service What qualification should one possess to involve oneself in the world of social work? Should one be a professional social worker or a doctor or teacher before one can get involved in the service of others? While formal qualifications and training do add to the competence of people engaged in this kind of work, we need to understand the qualities that Swami Vivekananda saw as a basic requirement of people wanting to work for others. Swami Vivekananda felt that unless one knew how to swim, one should not attempt to jump into the ocean. He felt that the basic preparation that one had to undergo before one contemplated getting into such activities was very critical. One may have seen many a person begin to engage in social service activities with a lot of enthusiasm only to crumble at the first sign of a problem. Swamiji hence said,

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humanity manifested in his call for serving them. Service to Swamiji was not just about society, but was also a process of spiritual evolution for the participants. One lifetime is too short for putting together his prophetic message and internalizing it. Language and words are inadequate to describe something that is indescribable. Vivekananda, the Prophet, cannot be truly defined or described—he needs to be experienced. He is much more than what we think we see about him. He is a force, a concept that

gives meaning to the very purpose of human existence itself. He is something that one can only experience. This experiential message of service of Swamiji is timeless, endless, limitless, ever relevant, and ever pragmatic. This ‘concept’ is not something that can be limited by geography or by the other limitations that a human mind can conceive of. This force can only be felt and experienced fully and meaningfully by surrendering oneself to the instrumentality called Swami Vivekananda. o

 References 1. CW, 5:50

2. CW, 6.381

3. CW, 6:281

Let These People Be Your God Let each one of us pray day and night for the down-trodden millions in India who are held fast by poverty, priestcraft, and tyranny-pray day and night for them. I care more to preach religion to them than to the high and the rich. I am no metaphysician, no philosopher, nay, no saint. But I am poor, I love the poor. I see what they call the poor of this country, and how many there are who feel for them! What an immense difference in India! Who feels there for the two hundred millions of men and women sunken for ever in poverty and ignorance? Where is the way out? Who feels for them? They cannot find light or education. Who will bring the light to them—who will travel from door to door bringing education to them? Let these people be your God—think of them, work for them, pray for them incessantly—the Lord will show you the way. Him I call a Mahatman (great soul) whose heart bleeds for the poor, otherwise he is a Duratman (wicked soul). Let us unite our wills in continued prayer for their good. We may die unknown, unpitied, unbewailed, without accomplishing anything—but not one thought will be lost. It will take effect, sooner or later. My heart is too full to express my feeling; you know it, you can imagine it. So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them! I call those men who strut about in their finery, having got all their money by grinding the poor, wretches, so long as they do not do anything for those two hundred millions who are now no better than hungry savages! We are poor, my brothers, we are nobodies, but such have been always the instruments of the Most High. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 5:58 T h e

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Swami Vivekananda: the Prophet of Religious Harmony SWAMI ATMAJNANANANDA

Introduction Swami Vivekananda’s name will forever be associated with the ideas of religious harmony, tolerance, fellow-feeling, and universality. It was the theme he stressed at the Parliament of Religions, to such an extent that he seemed to represent all religions in the highest sense, while all other delegates represented only their own tradition. His emphasis was not on the particular dogmas and creeds of Hinduism, but on the Sanatana Dharma, the eternal principles of spirituality, which transcend all religions and yet include all religions. In addition to that, Swamiji held many profound views with regard to the relationship between different religious traditions, the need for a variety of faiths, the special features of each religion, etc. Much of what he preached, both at the Parliament of Religions and throughout his travels in the West, came directly from the very earliest Vedic traditions, many of his ideas are found in the liberal teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, and much also came out of his own experiences. Of course, Swamiji’s intimate association with Sri Ramakrishna, the very embodiment of all religions, was the most important factor in shaping Swamiji’s

views regarding religious harmony, since Sri Ramakrishna not only spoke about sarvadharma-samanvaya, the harmony of all religious traditions, he experimented with it, verified it in his own life, and was convinced of it. Historical Background In a very important sense, religious harmony is one of the essential teachings of the earliest Vedic Rishis. At a time when the tradition could have remained a polytheistic system, like the mythological systems of ancient Greece and Rome, these early sages reached what was then a very radical conclusion. In a statement that has been quoted perhaps more often than any other Vedic pronouncement, they declared that the seeming plurality of gods and goddesses was the real myth, and the actual truth was that there is only one ultimate reality, called by different people by different names. Thus, the great statement, ekam sad viprah bahudha vadanti, launched the Vedic tradition on an entirely new course from that followed by the other great civilizations of the world. This concept, that various sects are worshipping the same Supreme Being, perhaps unknowingly, using different names, modes of worship, language, etc. became

o Swami Atmajnanananda is Resident Monk of the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC, USA. T h e

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a standard idea within the entire Hindu system of worship. It is featured prominently in the Bhagavad Gita in verses such as 4.11 (‘In whatever way devotees worship me, in the same way do I fulfil their desires. It is my path that they tread in all ways.’), and 7.21 (‘Whatever form any devotee seeks to worship with devotion, I make that devotion unwavering’). And it is the reason why religious persecution was not only a foreign concept in India and virtually unknown, but also the reason why persecuted religious groups from other countries found a safe haven in India, most notably the Parsees and Jews. It also explains how the early Buddhists and Jains, and later the Sikhs, were able to freely preach their doctrines throughout India without any fear of violence, though denying the final authority of the Vedas. Swami Vivekananda’s Upbringing The young Narendra was raised in a family that was both pious, due to the influence of his mother, and liberal, on account of the attitude of his father. As an attorney, Swamiji’s father often invited members of different religions, Christians, Muslims, and Hindus, to their home. He was a great admirer of Sufi poetry, especially that of Hafez, and also of the Christian Bible. The idea that all religions are sacred and genuine was something that Narendra absorbed without even thinking of it. At the opening session of the World Parliament of Religions, he remarked [quoting from Shiva-mahimna-stotram]: I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: ‘As the different streams having their sources in T h e

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different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.’

This liberal bent of mind only increased as Narendra came under the influence of Keshab Chandra Sen and the Brahmo Samaj, due to the great respect Keshab had for the divine personality of Christ. Sri Ramakrishna’s Divine Influence None of this, however, could compare to the tremendous and transformative influence that Sri Ramakrishna had on Narendra. Narendra met Sri Ramakrishna while still a school boy. The meeting of this brilliant young student, well versed in various branches of English literature, Western Philosophy, world history, etc. with the practically illiterate village priest, the God-intoxicated, half-mad saint of Dakshineswar was one of the greatest events in the religious history of the world. Sri Ramakrishna recognized Narendra’s greatness at first sight and quickly came to the conviction that he would be the main instrument through which his liberal and lifegiving ideas on spirituality would flood the world. Sri Ramakrishna had many different techniques by which he trained his disciples, especially Naren. He could awaken spirituality by a simple touch and could throw the chosen disciple into a completely new realm of experience. At times he would give a teaching and cement the deeper significance of it by singing a song of Ramprasad or another of the great poet saints of India. Or speaking of a particular spiritual state of consciousness or ecstasy, he would himself enter into that state, giving a tangible form to the abstract teaching and removing all doubt regarding the truth of his statements. In

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Narendra’s case, he went so far as to request him to read out to him from one of the classics of Advaita Vedanta, the Ashtavakra Samhita, so that he could imbibe the very highest ideas of oneness with the divine and seeing God in all things. And when that was not enough to accomplish his goal, he used his old trick of touching Narendra and causing his mind to reach heights of spirituality never attained before, Swami Vivekananda on the Platform of the Parliament of Religious so that he had a direct There is a very nice incident related by experience of the world as the manifestation Sister Nivedita regarding Swami Vivekananda. of Brahman. At other times, Sri Ramakrishna They were travelling by ship together from would speak to the Divine Mother aloud in the India to England and Swamiji was praising presence of others, pray to her, converse with the skill and courtesy of the Turks who were her, and in this way deepen their conviction working on the ship. Nivedita was astonished about the reality of the world beyond the reach to see the enthusiasm with which Swamiji of the five senses. spoke of them and asked him how he had But one of Sri Ramakrishna’s most developed the habit of seeing every people effective techniques was reminiscing about from their strongest aspect. Was it perhaps, his early days of sadhana. When we read Nivedita wondered, something that he had the recorded conversation in the Gospel of received from Sri Ramakrishna? Swamiji had Sri Ramakrishna, we find seemingly endless a puzzled look on his face and then replied: descriptions of his spiritual disciplines under the different gurus that came to It must have been the training under Sri Dakshineswar during Sri Ramakrishna’s Ramakrishna. We all went by his path to some stay there. The twelve long years of sadhana extent. Of course it was not so difficult for us as he made it for himself. He would eat and dress that Sri Ramakrishna passed through were like the people he wanted to understand, take relived in the eyes of the disciples through their initiation and use their language. ‘One must his many references to them in the course of learn,’ he said, ‘to put oneself into another man’s conversation. Thus, in a very significant way, very soul.’ And this method was his own!1 Sri Ramakrishna was a living Parliament of Religions, and all of the disciples, especially Swamiji’s Own Teachings on Religious Narendra, imbibed that attitude to a very great Harmony extent. T h e

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By his own admission, the question of religious harmony intrigued Swamiji even when he was a boy, and he thought deeply about the topic throughout his life. As a result, he came to various conclusions, many of which can be directly traced back to Sri Ramakrishna, and some of which seem to be his very own. One of these concerned the search for a universal religion. The idea of a universal religion, of a single religious system that could satisfy all peoples at all times and cultures, has intrigued mankind for centuries. This quest has led thinkers to go in two completely separate ways. The first strategy was to strip religion of everything particular, of its own rites and rituals, its own sacred texts, its own mythologies, creation stories, etc., its own prophets and saints. The problem with this approach was that there was not much left remaining other than a vague set of doctrines and ideas. The other approach was to boldly claim that ‘my religion is the one true religion, my prophet is the one true prophet, my explanation of creation is the sole legitimate explanation, my path is the only path to salvation.’ The difficulty here is that every religion can make the same claim, cite its own scriptures in support of that claim, and deny the validity of every other claim. Swamiji also gave some thought to this idea of a universal religion, based, of course on the first model and the spiritual truths of Vedanta. He grappled with the question: Could Vedanta be the future religion of mankind? And the conclusion he came to was, no. On the one hand, the world needs variety in religion. It needs different types of doctrines, rituals, mythologies to suit peoples of different tastes and temperaments. As Sri Ramakrishna used to say, the mother of the household knows the different tastes and powers of digestion of her children, so she prepares dishes in different T h e

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ways to satisfy each one of them. But Swamiji also felt that the world was not in need of a universal religion, because in a sense it already existed. The Sanatana Dharma, or Eternal Religion, already exists as a set of universal spiritual principles, every bit as valid and demonstrable as the laws of science. Many Sects will Continue to Exist Despite Swamiji’s faith in the authority of the Sanatana Dharma, he nevertheless understood the need for variety within religion. The proliferation of varieties of sects within religious traditions was seen by him as something positive. He would even go so far as to say that each person should represent a sect unto himself, that religion should be handtailored to suit the needs of the individual. The more sects, the better the chance one could find a religious tradition that one felt at home in. Swamiji was once engaged in conversation with a Mormon preacher. They seemed to disagree on many points. Swamiji noted that the preacher believed in having several wives, and he, as a sannyasin, believed in none. And yet after managing to find differences in various aspects of their faiths, Swamiji suggested to the minister that he go to India and preach his religion there. The minister was surprised, since Swamiji seemed to disagree with so many of his ideas. But Swamiji explained that there might still be in India some who had not yet found any religious tradition that suited them and that Mormonism might be the one that could inspire them to lead a spiritual life. Swamiji also had a theory that religions were not merely harmonious, but that they supplemented and complemented each other. What was lacking in one faith tradition might be found to be the dominant feature of

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another. He explained this theory in terms of the ‘soul’ of a religion, without which it would not survive. For Christianity it was, ‘Purify the heart and prepare yourself for the kingdom of heaven.’ For Hinduism: ‘Renounce all for the realization of God.’ And for Islam, it was universal brotherhood. Conclusion Swami Vivekananda devoted his life to spreading the liberal teachings of Sri Ramakrishna with regard to the universality of religion. Religious harmony was a passion with him, and something he lived throughout his life. He was at home with people of all

faiths and made no distinctions. His love of Buddha and Christ, his respect for the democratic spirit of Islam, his longing for mutual love and respect for all traditions were all perfectly genuine and sincere. His efforts to remove all bigotry and religious hatred, especially through his many utterances to audiences in the West, have all born fruit to a very great degree. One can only imagine how much more sectarianism, violence, and hatred there would be in this world had Swamiji not spoken his burning words of love and sympathy one hundred and twenty years ago at the Parliament of Religions. o

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Reference: 1. Complete Works of Nivedita I.160

Each must Assimilate the Spirit of the others Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid. The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant. Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 1:24

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Manliness, Strength, and the Religious Connection WILLIAM PAGE

Manliness Means Strength Swami Vivekananda’s favorite ideal was manliness. ‘The older I grow,’ he declared at one point, ‘the more everything seems to me to lie in manliness. This is my new gospel.’1 He believed that the entire message of the Bhagavad Gita was summed up in one verse:2 ‘Yield not to unmanliness, O Partha! It does not become you. Shake off this base faintheartedness and arise, O scorcher of your foes!’3 Elaborating on this theme, Swamiji taught, ‘Strength and manliness are virtue; weakness and cowardice are sin.’4 The American movie industry has embraced this ideal and immortalized it (sometimes to excess!) in its action movies. Take the ‘Rocky’ series. Swami Vivekananda would have liked Rocky. In the first episode, Rocky Balboa is a small-time boxer who calls himself the Italian Stallion and gets a chance to fight the world heavyweight champion. In an unusually bloody encounter, he fights him to a split decision. In the second episode, he defeats the champion in a rematch and wins the world heavyweight title. Subsequent episodes have him taking on an improbable array of challengers, each of them a human behemoth who towers over him like Godzilla over a rabbit. In every movie, Rocky faces

overwhelming odds. He gets hammered till his face turns to pulp and he can hardly stand. But every time he gets knocked down, he struggles to his feet and keeps fighting till he finally wins. The Cyclonic Monk would have found a kindred spirit in the Italian Stallion. A Question of Terminology Manliness is a fine ideal to preach to men—but what about women? Do we want them to be manly? Not in the popular sense of the word. Nobody I know of would want women to chew tobacco, curse like longshoremen, and challenge men to armwrestling contests. (They might beat us.) We could hold up the ideal of womanliness, but that has different connotations. The word we’re looking for, the genderfree word that Swamiji might have used, is heroism. There are other words we could use— courage, bravery, dauntlessness, fearlessness, valor—but none has quite the force of heroism. In fact, Swamiji sometimes did use this word and its derivatives: ‘ “The earth is enjoyed by heroes”—this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.”’5 Women as well as men can and ought to be heroic: bold, brave, and unafraid, always ready to fight against injustice, oppression, and evil of every kind. In recent years, the

William Page has been associated with the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Massachusetts since 1960 and is a member of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Thailand. o T h e

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international cable network CNN has honored many women by naming them CNN Heroes, never mind that they are technically heroines. (We could also call them she-roes.) In the past five years, three women have been voted CNN’s Hero of the Year, outnumbering the men. Several African women on the list look so feisty that even Rocky would be nervous about getting into the ring with them. Swamiji’s ideal transcended mere physical strength. It encompassed moral courage, strength of character, fortitude, resoluteness, tenacity, refusal to bend before adversity—qualities that Mahatma Gandhi later encapsulated in his famous term satyagraha, firmness in the truth. Gandhi, of course, was a prime exemplar of these qualities, a personification of the sthita-prajna, the ‘man of steady wisdom’ (it could also be a woman) extolled in the Gita.6 In our own time we have exemplars in Nelson Mandela, who endured 27 years of imprisonment at hard labour for the cause of South African freedom; and Aung San Suu Kyi, who endured 15 years of house arrest for the cause of democratic rule in Burma. She showed the world that you don’t have to be a man to be a hero. Indeed, if there were sthita-prajna awards, or CNN awards for Hero of the Century, these two embodiments of Swamiji’s ideal would be leading candidates. Religion as a Source of Strength What about people who are timid by temperament, afraid to venture out of their houses after dark? There’s good news for them, because religion can give them the courage, the heroism, the strength they need. Of all the religious viewpoints, Swamiji believed that monism conveys the greatest T h e

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strength: ‘Nothing gives such strength as this idea of monism.’7 But some people are disinclined toward monism, and for them dualism can also do a pretty good job. Note that Sri Ramakrishna believed that ALL religions are valid paths to God. He taught monism to Swami Vivekananda, but he taught dualism to those of his followers who were dualistically inclined. Dualism features prominently not only in some schools of Hinduism, but also in other religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The dualistic belief that there is a powerful personal God who loves me, watches over me, and protects me, can generate great strength. Christians often quote a famous verse

from St. Paul: ‘I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me.’ (Philippians 4: 13) When I was a boy in Sunday school, we used to sing a hymn called ‘Jesus Loves Me’, which went: ‘Little ones to him belong; / We are weak, but he is strong.’ And the belief that he is strong made us strong. The strength that comes from dualism is a borrowed strength that comes from faith in a strong protector; but borrowed strength

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can be strength enough. In one of his parables, Sri Ramakrishna observes that a sapling has to be protected by a fence against the goats that want to nibble its shoots. Eventually the sapling will grow big enough to survive without the fence. Faith in a personal God is a little like the fence. Such faith gives us a strength that enables us to endure. We’ve all heard stories of prisoners of war who have been incarcerated for years and suffered unimaginable hardships: torture, beatings, starvation. When asked how they managed to muster the strength to survive, they often say, ‘My faith in God got me through it’. There’s a story about a Hasid, an orthodox Jew, who was forced to shovel excrement in an outdoor latrine in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. A Nazi guard looked down at him and sneered, ‘Where is your God now, Jew?’ The Hasid looked up at him steadily and replied, ‘He is right down here with me in the piss and shit’.

‘You Need a Friend. . .’ When I was young, the army sent me to language school to study Chinese. Our class came to know that one of our teachers, Sidney Wong, had been a pilot in the Chinese Nationalist air force during World War II. He had been shot down several times over mainland China, and had managed to escape every time. We also heard that he was a Christian. We knew that Chinese people were traditionally Taoists or Buddhists, so one day a classmate asked him, ‘Mr. Wong, how come you’re a Christian?’ Mr. Wong looked thoughtful, and then answered: ‘You need a friend by your side’. That statement struck me very forcibly, and serves to this day as a reminder that dualism, like monism, can generate great strength. I’ve always wondered whether Mr. Wong would have been able to survive if he had not been convinced that he had a friend by his side. o

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References 1. CW, 8: 264.

2. Bhagavad Gita, 2:3. 7. CW, 2: 201

6. Gita, 2: 55-72

3. CW, 4:110.

4. CW, 5: 419.

5. CW, 7: 136.

Strength is Life The weak have no place here, in this life or in any other life. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death. There are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them. There may be a million microbes of misery, floating about us. Never mind! They dare not approach us, they have no power to get a hold on us, until the mind is weakened. This is the great fact: strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery: weakness is death. This is the one question I put to every man, woman, or child, when they are in physical, mental, or spiritual training. Are you strong? Do you feel strength?-for I know it is truth alone that gives strength. I know that truth alone gives life, and nothing but going towards reality will make us strong, and none will reach truth until he is strong. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2:3, 2:201 T h e

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Compilation

A Prince Among Men A description of how Swami Vivekananda looked like, walked, spoke, interacted and carried himself in his public appearances. Picturing Swamiji Marie Louise Burke, the author of celebrated six-volume Swami Vivekananda in the West—New Discoveries, observes that the reporters of the 1890’s left us a fairly complete description of Vivekananda for which we can be extremely grateful as Indian biographies neglect this aspect of the Swami, perhaps because their emphasis was naturally on his spiritual message. ‘Be that as it may,’ says Burke, ‘American reporters have happily made up for this lack . . . Although in some instances their descriptions are contradictory, on the whole they agree and, combined, give a fairly clear picture of him as he was in the full vigour of his youth. His Appearance ‘According to the consensus, he was a little over medium height and strongly built. After the summer of 1894 he is spoken of as heavy, weighing, one reporter guessed, 225 pounds. Most likely, however, this was a wild guess, for the Phrenological Journal, whose writers are given to taking accurate measurements, described him as five feet eight and a half inches tall, weighing 170 pounds. But perhaps accurate measurements were impossible in Swamiji’s case, for we learn from a reporter of the New York Herald, writing on January 18, 1896, that he had a curious habit of altering his height up and Courtesy: The Gift Unopened, A New American Revolution, by Eleanor Stark, Peter E. Randall Publisher, Box 4726, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USA, pp. 213-218. T h e

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down to an astonishing degree! This may also have been true of his weight. But whatever Swamiji’s weight may have been at any given time, he was always described as wellproportioned, and his carriage was always spoken of as majestic, graceful, and utterly unself-conscious . . . It was no doubt Swamiji’s “superb carriage” that lent so much glamour to his robe and turban, for while these were in themselves sights to behold, they became on him the raiment of a king . . . ‘While Swamiji’s robe and turban and the majestic way in which he wore them drew the attention of everyone, it was his face that held people spellbound. According to all reports, he was extraordinarily handsome, indeed strikingly so—”as handsome as a god of classic sculpture,” Mrs. Constance Towne wrote in her reminiscences . . . All in all it appears that Swamiji was, for a Hindu, more fair than dark and perhaps when a flush mantled his face, as it did during a lecture in Brooklyn, his complexion became red-gold and luminous. His Physical Features ‘His features were regular and wellrounded. His forehead was called “intellectual,” and his face, “fine, intelligent and mobile,” “strong and yet refined,” “its lineaments expressive at once of both intellectuality and sentiment.” His hair was thick, wavy, and “black as midnight,” and sometimes, when not wearing a turban, he let it fall over his forehead, so that it reached “nearly to his eyebrows.” His teeth, which rarely show in his known photographs, were “straight, even and pearly white.” But the most wonderful and arresting features of his face were his eyes. They were large, jet- black . . . “of great brilliancy,” “bright,” “sparkling,” “flashing,” “full of light,” “bright with the enthusiasm of a prophet,” “dark, T h e

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subtle, penetrating,’’ and “suggestive of deep spirituality”; indeed, although the reporters do not say so, these were the eyes that had looked upon God and held within their depths the light of infinity.’ A ‘Pair of Magnificent Eyes’ (In a memorial booklet printed in India, a devotee speaks of those eyes of Vivekananda: ‘His very eyes shone with a brilliant lustre. The eyes reminded you of those of the lion. He was indeed a lion. Weakness for him was tantamount to death itself.’ Besides the strength revealed by the eyes, the author says that one will be ‘mesmerized by the devilish pair of eyes he had. He could look at a man and hold him tight and fast . . . it was the purity of heart’ which beamed forth from those brilliant eyes. Madame Calvø spoke of the ‘magic of his penetrating eyes.’ Romain Rolland said that he had a ‘pair of magnificent eyes, dark and rather prominent, with heavy lids, whose shape recalled the classic comparison to a lotus petal. Nothing escaped the magic of his glance, capable equally of embracing in its irresistible charm, or of sparkling with wit, irony, or kindness, of losing itself in ecstasy, or of plunging imperiously to the very depths of consciousness . . .’) His ‘Beautiful Voice’ ‘Swamiji’s voice was often compared to a musical instrument. In her story of his conversations at Annisquam, Mrs. Wright tells of how in his serious and intense utterances his “beautiful voice” deepened “till it sounded like a bell.” “He had a beautiful voice like a violincello,” Miss Josephine MacLeod told Romain Rolland, “grave without violent contrasts but with deep vibrations that filled both hall and hearts. Once his audience was

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held he could make it sink to an intense piano piercing his hearers to the soul.” Emma Calvø who knew him, described it as “an admirable baritone, having the vibrations of a Chinese gong.” Harriet Monroe wrote of his voice as being “rich as a bronze bell,” and Mary Funke as being “all music—now like the plaintive minor strain of an Eolian harp, again, deep, vibrant, resonant.’ The newspaper reports amply confirm this, consistently, describing Swamiji’s voice as “music, had you not understood a word,” as “deep and musical,” “rich and sonorous,” “prepossessing one at once in his favor ‘a voice capable of electrifying an audience.’” His Command over English ‘As for his speech, his fluent, eloquent, and precise use of the English language was “beyond praise” and was sometimes a source of as much amazement as was the subtlety and brilliance of the thought it carried. “This heathen,” wrote a Detroit reporter, “speaks the English language with more elegance than is usually heard from our platforms and pulpits, and he seasons his descriptions with a refinement of wit that is almost unequalled among all the speakers whose words are familiar to our ears in public addresses.” “His choice of words,” wrote another reporter, “are the gems of the English language.” “He speaks without notes,” commented Lucy Monroe of the Critic, “presenting his facts and his conclusions with the greatest art, the most convincing sincerity, and rising at times to a rich, inspiring eloquence.” Swamiji’s accent, we are told was only slight, “similar to that of a cultured member of the Latin race familiar with the English language.” (Miss Conger refers to it as “the lilt of a slight well-bred Irish brogue.”) Sometimes he stressed the wrong syllable of an English word, and sometimes, if T h e

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he has been quoted correctly, he gave a quaint twist to an English phrase, all of which must have lent further charm to the wit and poetry that wove through his lectures, giving “light and life to every subject he touched.” “The working of his mind, so subtle and so brilliant, so well stored and so well trained, sometimes dazzled his hearers,” wrote one reporter; and another: “He speaks English not only distinctly, but fluently, and his ideas as new as sparkling, drop from his tongue in a perfectly bewildering overflow of ornamental language . . . He is an artist in thought, an idealist in belief and a dramatist on the platform.” ‘But although Swamiji’s lectures were suffused with poetic imagery and drama, they were at the same time logically precise. “The speaker differs in one respect in particular from some American orators,” commented a Memphis reporter. “He advances his ideas with as much deliberation as a professor of mathematics demonstrates an example in algebra to his students. . . He advances no ideas, nor makes assertions that he does not follow up to a logical conclusion.” As the Northhampton Daily Herald commented, “To see and hear Swami Vive Kananda is an opportunity which no intelligent fair-minded American ought to miss if one cares to see a shining light of the very finest product of the mental, moral and spiritual culture of a race which reckons its age by thousands where we count ours by hundreds and is richly worth the study of every mind.” “All classes flocked to hear him,” the same paper reported, “and professional men in particular were deeply interested in his logic and soundness of thought.” His Prodigious Learning ‘Swamiji’s learning was prodigious “beyond comparison with most of our scho-

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lars”; and this, together with his irresistible charm and “magnetic attractiveness,” made him not only an incomparable lecturer but a superb conversationalist. . . The combination of humility and erudition, of simplicity and wisdom endeared him to all with whom he came in contact. “He is remarkably well-versed upon religious, scientific and metaphysical literature, another Memphis reporter wrote, ‘not only of his own country but of the world as well, and is capable, by reason of his versatility, of maintaining himself in any position in which circumstances cast his lot. There is throughout his bearing and conversation a certain child-like simplicity of manner that enlists one’s sympathy and convinces one of the sincerity of the man’s utterances before he begins to speak. . . .’” The ‘Majesty of His Spiritual Stature’ ‘Yet there was about him the majesty of his spiritual stature. Though he was “jolly” and sometimes “turned the laugh on the (impertinent) inquirer, one senses throughout the reports of his lectures and conversations his immense, though ‘modest’ dignity and ‘magnetic power’.” “There was a sense of tranquillity and power about him”, Malvina Hoffman2 wrote, “that made an imperishable impression upon me. He seemed to personify the mystery and the religious aloofness of all true teachers of Brahma, and combined this with a kindly and gentle attitude of simplicity towards his fellow men.” ‘The word “dynamic,” so often used in connection with Swamiji, is apt to give rise to a false picture. He was not “dynamic” in the ordinary sense of the word; that is, he was not explosive. His intense power and magnetism were felt rather than seen; and far from being violent he was “gentle in manner, deliberate in movement, and extremely courteous in every T h e

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word, movement and gesture.” In spite of the power and vitality of his words, his manner of speaking was quiet and precise. Unlike the majority of contemporary lecturers, who stood glued to one spot from which they held forth,

he had a habit of walking about the stage or platform, “talking sometimes in a way that suggests a soliloquy.” He never orated, nor did he ever substitute loudness of voice for true force of expression. He convinced his hearers “by quietness of speech rather than by rapid action”, “his low, earnest delivery making his words singularly impressive.” As a Northampton reporter ably expressed it, “the slow, soft, quiet, unimpassioned musical voice, embodying its thought with all the power and fire of the most vehement physical utterance, went straight to the mark . . .”’ Lifting People to Higher Level

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‘Swamiji’s criticisms of Western life, of which there were more and more as time went on were never exaggerated, and despite their pointedness were always “courteously, kindly, gracefully expressed.” “If he stabs a belief or custom which is distasteful to him he always does it with a needle and not with a pikestaff”, a Detroit reporter- wrote, and, expressing the same idea, Lucy Monroe wrote of his early lectures, “Though the little sarcasms thrown into his discourses are as keen as a rapier, they are so delicate as to be lost on many of his hearers. Nevertheless, his courtesy is unfailing, for these thrusts are never pointed so directly at our customs as to be rude.” ‘Although Vivekananda was assertive, he was never “aggressive,” and only those who stood to lose by the keenness and truth of his observations took offense. He himself was totally innocent of personal rancor. “He does not antagonize,” Mrs. Bagley wrote, “but lifts people up to a higher level—they see something beyond man-made creeds and denominational names, and they feel one with him in their religious beliefs.” His simplicity was often remarked upon by those whom he

engaged in conversation. “Those who came to know him best,” wrote the Iowa State Register, “found him the most gentle and lovable of men, so honest, frank, and unpretending, always grateful for the kindnesses that were shown him.” ‘His brilliance, his ready wit, his vast and astonishing fund of knowledge on every subject and his insight into every person and every situation were so devoid of selfconsciousness and egotism that they enhanced rather than concealed his childlike nature. . . .’ Simple As a Child ‘Even when Vivekananda was in the midst of arduous work we again and again find comments upon his holiness and “childlike simplicity of manner . . . “ After he had traveled through the Midwest and the East, maligned by ill-wishers and lionized by intellectual and social leaders, Mrs. Bagley wrote of him: “He is a strong, noble human being, one who walks with God. He is as simple and trustful as a child,” and the Brooklyn papers spoke of “his purity, sincerity and holiness.”’ o

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References 1. Quoted from Swami Vivekananda in the West, Vol.2 “His Prophetic Mission,” Marie Louise Burke. 2. American sculptress who made a bust of him.

A sickly saint everyone understands, but who ever heard of a powerful saint? The power that emanated from it. It was overwhelming. It threatened to sweep everything before it. This one sensed even in those first unforgettable moments. Later we were to see this power at work. It was the mind that made the first great appeal, that amazing mind! What can one say that will give even a faint idea of its majesty, its glory, its splendour? It was a mind so far transcending other minds, even of those who rank as geniuses, that it seemed different in its very nature. Its ideas were so clear, so powerful, so transcendental that it seemed incredible that they could have emanated from the intellect of a limited human being. —Sister Christine T h e

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Swami Vivekananda â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Icon Before the Indian Youth M. PRAMOD KUMAR

Hero Worship The modern mind frowns upon hero worship. Worshipping an ideal man, historical or mythical, is perceived as a psychological weakness that has to be outgrown sooner than later. I recall a personality development training session I had undergone when I was working as an employee in a leading software firm. The trainer asked the participants whether they had a personal idol and then went on to explain that no man is perfect and that looking up to a role model for perfection is a naive belief!

This attitude of cynicism towards ideals is undoubtedly at the root of the degeneration of personal values we see all around us today. It is unnecessary to mention the depressing long list of problems plaguing humanity in general today and in Indian society in particular, to convince ourselves that we are in the midst of a crisis of values and leadership. The Indian youth are restless for change today. They have had too much of theoretical philosophising and hair splitting discussions. They are thirsting for leadership, for a man of action who can bring the change they much desire. They are fed up with the ubiquitous hypocrites who talk too much and do too little. They are thirsting for an icon, a leader who can walk the talk and reverse this steep fall. If this is the scenario today, imagine how much more depressing the scenario must have been in the times Swami Vivekananda was born in. And yet Swami Vivekananda stood up to the most difficult challenges of his time and became a beacon light of hope and inspiration for millions of people across the world and continues to inspire millions of people, 112 years after his Mahasamadhi. What made him a source of limitless inspiration to seekers of truth, young freedom fighters, social reformers, religious leaders? And what draws youth today towards Swami Vivekananda like bees to honey?

The author is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural Education at Amrita University in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. o T h e

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Courage to Defy Death Itself Sister Nivedita remarks that the young Bhima is a better role model for the youth (even if with some faults) than the old Bhishma, ideal and wise. What defines youth is the ability to take risks in life which seems to mellow with age. Young people do not like to be told what to do and what not to do. Nothing attracts young people better than a spirited call for sacrifice and dynamic action coupled with the freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them. Swami Vivekananda personifies this fiery spirit of youth. We find

in him the ability to make immense sacrifices in life, a life full of energy, enthusiasm and spirited action and added to them is the free spirit of the bold and fearless sannyasin, unfettered by any compromises of the world and ready to defy death itself. This is what makes the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda such an explosive combination of inspiration and motivation for the youth. Courage and fearlessness seem to be the ‘shruti’ note which pervades all other aspects of Swami Vivekananda’s personality—his courage in testing the character of his guru T h e

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Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, courage with which he withstood the sufferings his family went through after his father’s untimely demise, courage in choosing the austere life of a monk despite his personal struggles, courage with which he spoke out fearlessly against the evils of his own society as well as the atrocities committed by the British. Imagine the fearless Vivekananda standing up to a British man who criticized his beloved Mother India, the young wandering monk who was willing to give up his body as food for an old tigress, the bold Swami who composed ‘The Song of the Sannyasin’ as a response to those who wanted to fetter him with chains of money, power and fame. It is this courage of the Swami which appeals to the youth and makes him a bold icon for the youth. Subash Chandra Bose caught a spark of the Swami’s courage and made the British tremble with his Indian National Army. Sri Aurobindo imbibed the Swami’s fearlessness and came to be feared as the ‘most dangerous man’ by the British. Relentless Pursuit of Truth Imagine the young Narendranath who was willing to pursue his spiritual quest relentlessly, who was not satisfied till his spiritual austerities, tore away the veils of ignorance, revealing the crystal clear vision of Satyam and Brahman. It is this uncompromising commitment to the Truth that appeals to youth. Mahatma Gandhi caught a spark of his commitment to Truth and made Satyagraha his sole weapon in fighting imperialism. Bala Gangadhara Tilak imbibed his clarity and gave us the Gita Rahasya, the great treatise on the Karma Yoga of the Gita. Swami Vivekananda’s pursuit of Truth was equipped with two potent weapons—

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sharp scientific mind and an independent rational intellect. His passion for scientific inquiry touched the heart of Jamshedji Tata and led to the founding of the Indian Institute of Science which continues to produce many brilliant young scientists. ‘They Alone Live who Live for Others’ Visualize the young Vivekananda who wrote in one of his letters, ‘Life is short and the vanities of the world are transient. They alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.’ He wept for his poor countrymen and decided to go to foreign shores alone, to seek a way out for their upliftment. He added a new fragrance of selfless action to the ochre robe of the sannyasin and created a band of monks who continue to dedicate their lives not only for moksha but also for jagat hita. His compassion was so intense that he could physically feel the pain and suffering of people who died in an earthquake in the Pacific Islands thousands of miles away. It is this intense compassion and selfless spirit of Swami Vivekananda which appeals to the youth. The young Margaret Noble heard his call for service and dedicated her life for the upliftment of Indian women and became the glorious Sister Nivedita. A young soldier Kisan Baburao Hazare caught a spark of this spirit of service and became Anna Hazare, the champion of India’s fight against corruption. A young doctor, Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy, imbibed this spirit of compassion and dedicated his life for the upliftment of the tribal communities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and founded the NGO called Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra. 19 year old Babar Ali, inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s message of selfless service, started a free evening T h e

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school for the poor children of his village and became the youngest school Principal in the world. Inspired by the same force, a young revolutionary freedom fighter, Eknath Ramkrishna Ranade, launched a spiritually oriented service mission called Vivekananda Kendra which is today providing purpose to the lives of many dedicated and selfless young men and women. Unfolding the Real MAN out of Man A liberating aspect of Swami Vivekananda’s life and message is his dislike for emotional dependence on personalities and cults. He wanted his disciples to become Vivekanandas and not simply worship or adore Vivekananda. It is this emotionally independent and impersonal approach of Swami Vivekananda which appeals to the youth. They are fed up of personality centred cults which collapse when the leader is exposed or compromised. Young people are in search of abiding principles which they can cherish and practice in their own lives and uplift themselves from ignorance to knowledge, from dependence to independence.

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Shankaran Kutty, a 17 year old young boy from Thrissur, inspired by the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda, got transformed into a spiritual giant called Swami Ranganathananda and spread the message of Swami Vivekananda to more than a hundred countries as India’s spiritual ambassador. He coined the terms ‘Human Excellence’ and ‘Enlightened Citizenship’ and inspired thousands of young men and women to strive for all round excellence. Rama Tirtha, a young professor of mathematics was transformed into one of India’s shining spiritual leaders after a chance meeting with Swami Vivekananda. Swami Rama Tirtha popularized Vivekananda’s concept of ‘practical Vedanta.’ He proposed

bringing young Indians to American universities and helped establish scholarships for Indian students. Icon before the Modern Youth In the year 1984, the Government of India declared 12th January, Swami Vivekananda’s birthday, as the National Youth Day. His universal message cuts across all barriers of identity and his teachings address the deepest problems of human existence. His personality has an everlasting charm and appeal for the modern youth of all nationalities. As we celebrate his 150th birth anniversary, it would not be an exaggeration to demand that it is now time to declare Swami Vivekananda’s birthday as International Youth Day. o

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Continence and Character Continence is such a great power, so noble, so necessary for all, that it should not be confined only to the first stage of life. It is wrong to think that it should be practised only in boyhood. Its function is not finished with the mere laying out of the foundation-stone of life; it is not ended with the climbing of the first step of the ladder of life. It functions throughout life. Without Brahmacharya it is impossible to build one’s character even as it is impossible to raise a building without mortar. Again, just as a particular part of a building totters where the strength of mortar is lost or weakened, so also that part of our life is exposed to dangers wherein the strength of Brahmacharya or continence is lacking. The qualities that are practised in the first stage of life are, all of them, equally necessary in all other stages of life. Even in the householder’s life, continence is of great importance, not to speak of its necessity in the other three stages. Without Brahmacharya it is absolutely impossible to lead a householder’s life according to the injunctions of the scriptures. Without self-control householders can never be true to their ideals. Sri Ramakrishna used to say to all, not excepting the householders, ‘Make the knowledge of oneness your own first and then do your work’; ‘Take firm hold of the post, i.e. God, and then go on whirling’; ‘Keep the greater part of your mind fixed on God and with the rest attend to your ordinary rounds of duty.’ With these and many other beautiful similes he used to teach householders how they should lead their lives. If one is to live as a householder up to these instructions, the first thing that is necessary is Brahmacharya. —Swami Tirigunatitananda T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s Guidelines on Living SATISH K KAPOOR

Swami Vivekananda’s ideas on how to live life meaningfully are scattered throughout the pages of his nine-volume Complete Works, and may be compressed into eleven principles: 1. Move towards inner perfection, believing first in yourself then in God; ‘Have Faith as Naciketa.’1 2. Build up character and manifest your real nature—divinity: ‘Is not the whole world you?’2 3. Adhere to Dharma, righteousness, dehypnotizing yourself of the feelings of weakness or guilt, and live in total freedom in the present, with courage and without fear, abandoning baggage of the past and worry about the future. 4. Rise above animal instincts, through Viveka [discernment] and cultivate the sense of gratitude towards fellowmen and nature. 5. Keep balance in pleasure or pain, success or defeat, poverty or royalty, praise or condemnation, as the world is ‘a play of good and evil’,3 and the need to rise above both. 6. Life being one, feel yourself in others, and adore the living God; practice selfabnegation, and be ready to sacrifice for a higher cause. 7. Increase mind-power, strengthen body, and develop consciousness; be virile like a Karma Yogi, erudite like a Jnani, and virtuous like a Bhakta.

8. Remain in harmony with yourself and the world; do not quarrel or backbite, or be jealous or a hypocrite; each is great in his own place. 9. Always think big to become big—do intense activity with inner calmness; ‘Never say, “no”, never say, “ I cannot”, for you are infinite.’4 10. Assimilate not destroy, accept not tolerate, and shun all forms of fanaticism. 11. Listen to the inner voice, observe inner silence and develop inner power. Stick to Truth.

o Dr Satish K. Kapoor, Ex-British Council Scholar, lives in Jalandhar, Punjab. T h e

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First, Surround Yourself with Positive Thoughts In order that we make a beginning in living a life of meaning, we must adopt a positive approach. This is the first step to come out of the mire of wrong living. Swami Vivekananda suggested the following method before daily prayer or meditation: Sit in a straight posture, and the first thing to do is to send a current of holy thought to all creation. Mentally repeat, ‘Let all beings be happy; let all beings be peaceful; let all beings be blissful.’ So do to the east, south, north and west. The more you do that the better you feel yourself. You will find at last that the easiest way to make ourselves healthy is to see that others are healthy, and the easiest way to make ourselves happy is to see that others are happy.’5

He advised that sanddhya kala—the junction time of day and night—was best for prayer, since it is ‘the calmest time in the tide of human bodies’, ‘the zero point between two states’ when nature becomes tranquil.6 The method appears to be similar to the one suggested by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American author and poet (1850-1919) in The Heart of New Thought, of which the author has a damaged copy. Wilcox had heard Swami Vivekananda lectures at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, and was much impressed by his eloquence and universal outlook. Swamiji’s influence on her thought is obvious. Practice of ‘That Thou Art’ Although Swami Vivekananda was aware that the loftiest form of Advaita— merging into the Reality—is not easy to be ‘brought down to practical life’, he suggested that one could realise the ideal by the verbal repetition of the sacred syllable So’ham, ‘I T h e

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Swamiji’s statue at Vivekanandar Illam, Chennai

am He’, till the idea of universal oneness percolates to the nerves. Realizing the inherent divinity is the core of Swamiji’s message. To the dualists, who might not reconcile with man-is-God idea, he advised that they could gradually rise to qualified monism and then to perfect monism, by ruminating: ‘I in you, you in me, and all is God.’7 He argued that so long as one considered oneself a tiny, mortal being, one shall remain ‘vile, weak and wretched.’8 However, one could gain in self-esteem, and feel empowered by accepting one’s inherent divinity. He said, Know then, that thou art He, and model your whole life accordingly; and he who knows this, and models his life accordingly will no more grovel in darkness.9

He advised that this ennobling concept of man can be realized easily ‘in all conditions of

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life.’10 He who considers himself weak pollutes the atmosphere by ‘throwing a bad thought in the world.’11 Swamiji laid great emphasis on the observance of Brahmacharya or chastity, for a happy, healthy, and balanced life. His admonition was: ‘Save the spiritual store in your body observing continence.’12 Cultivating Calmness Swami Vivekananda gave an important Sutra for achieving success—cultivating the power of calmness. ‘The calmer we are the better for us, and the more amount of work we can do.’13 Negative feelings and emotions, like anger, hatred or unbridled passion, divert attention from the target, shatter nerves, exhaust the reservoir of inner energy, and lead to physical and psychological ailments. ‘It is the calm, forgiving, equable, well-balanced mind that does the greatest amount of work.’14 He regretted that humans wasted time and energy in condemning others.15 Condemnation is a proof that man’s energy is not flowing through the right channels, and that one has a negative state of mind. In his view, all differences in this world are ‘of degree, and not of kind.’16 When the flame of spirituality is kindled within, calmness and peace descend, and, as a result, weakness and complexes burn up like moths. Inner peace nurtures love and compassion, dissipates bias and improves the quality of relationships, leaving little scope for petty disputes and quarrels. Strength comes with purity and righteous acts, and it helps one to cope with the vicissitudes of life. Swami Vivekananda’s words ‘Pleasure will come, good: who forbids? Pain will come, welcome that too,’17 is the key to happiness. True happiness does not lie in worldly possessions or high position, as even a small deficit on these fronts, may cause misery. T h e

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The spiritually empowered alone, who do not view the world with a materialistic lens, remain happy and contented. Spirituality helps one to discipline negative emotions, which sometime lead to an instant fall of man into the ditch of anger, greed or passion. Life acquires meaning when work becomes worship, love becomes devotion, and knowledge reaches its source; when one feels oneself in others, serves without motive, and surrenders the fruit of one’s actions at the feet of God. Advice to Householders Basing his ideas on the Mahanirvana Tantra, Swami Vivekananda advised the householders to perform their legitimate duty towards all members of family, adhering to the ideals of self-surrender and self-sacrifice. The householder should respect his parents—‘the visible representatives of God’, and care for his children, his wife, and the poor in the community. He should not partake of food, drinks and clothes without fulfilling the needs of other family members. In no case should he scold his wife, disrespect elders, or cause trouble to others. He must always speak the truth, shun the wicked, be careful in choosing friends, avoid gambling, and go about his duties without being perturbed by criticism. He should not be lazy, show signs of weakness, indulge in self adulation or have ‘excessive attachment to food, clothes and the tending of the body and dressing of hair’, as the mind which remains engrossed in senseobjects, leads to bondage. Swami Vivekananda held that a householder could thus attain salvation, like an anchorite, by fulfilling his social obligations (dharma).18 Swami Vivekananda asked the householders to use one fourth of their income for charity, and the rest, in equal ratio, for family, personal needs and savings.19 He was not

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against anyone earning money, but desired, like the Rishi in the Taittiriya Upanishad (I.ii.3), that one should cultivate the habit of giving.20 To quote him: ‘A householder who does not struggle to get wealth is immoral.’ 21 By creating water-resources, planting trees, constructing rest-houses and animal-care centres, making roads or bridges, the householder achieves ‘the same goal as the greatest yogi.’22 Philanthropic activities elevate the soul, and bring one nearer to the concept of the unity of existence. Swamiji’s social concern can be seen from his observation that ‘man has no right to live in a house himself, until he builds for the poor also, or for anybody who needs it.’23 He also wanted the householders to take care of the lower animals24—birds, beasts and insects—as a gesture of kindness towards them, in accordance with the Vedic injunction of the daily performance of Bhuta-yajna (also called Vaishvadeva rite). He was against the indiscriminate slaughter of animals in the name of religion. To quote him: It is diabolical to say that all animals are created for men to be killed and used in any way man likes. It is the devil’s gospel, not God’s. Think how diabolical it is to cut them up to see whether a nerve quivers or not, in certain parts of the body. 25

Observing Ahimsa Swami Vivekananda stressed the age-old Hindu belief that one should not harm anyone, as any action would recoil, as per the eternal law of cause and effect. ‘You cannot injure anybody

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and sit quietly. It is a wonderful machinery— you cannot escape God’s vengeance.’26 The practice of Ahimsa entails the nurturing of love for all. The light of love ignited by spiritual discipline dispels the darkness of anger and hatred in the human mind, and makes one peaceful. Swamiji provided many more nuggets of wisdom like, getting up in early morning hours (brahma-muhurta), practicing yoga, Pranayama and so on for physical and mental health, nurturing the mind with noble ideas for cultivating the will, and observing silence, preferably in a natural environment, for resuscitating the spirit. Himself a good vocalist, he advised the use of music for concentration.27 Music being the language of the heart, it easily changes one’s mood, and depending on its quality, has a soothing effect on the human mind. Religious recitals uplift the soul, and transport one to the higher regions of Being. Laughter: Sauce of Life Perhaps, for the first time, in the religious history of mankind, Swami Vivekananda suggested the use of laughter to cope with worry, tension, anxiety, and other psychological conditions. ‘Despondency is not religion’, he said. 28 ‘To laugh is better than to pray. Sing. Get rid of misery. Do not for heaven’s sake infect others with it. . .’29 He advised everyone to remain cheerful, and to keep smiling, and not make ‘the longest faces’ like some fanatics. ‘How can those minds that are gloomy and dull, love?’ he asked.30 He had a great sense of humour, and would ‘joke and laugh like a child’, as testified by Mme Calvø, 31 and others. He would sometime laugh alone with God, while in meditation. When asked by his host in New York about the reason, he

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replied, ‘Oh, God is so funny!’32 Who knows he may be called the real inspiration behind the Laughter Yoga, which is gaining popularity now-a-days. Conclusion One finds, thus, in Swamiji a perfect guide to living a meaningful life. His words were full of practical wisdom and insights to live a meaning of life. Life without a higher goal has no meaning. One has to evolve from the animal state to divine state. It is a journey in inner evolution of man.

In Swamiji’s words, Man is like an infinite spring, coiled up in a small box, and that spring is trying to unfold itself; and all the social phenomena that we see are the result of this trying to unfold.

In his most well worded statement about the goal of living a meaningful life, Swami Vivekananda said that one should live for one’s spiritual growth and for the good of others (atmano mokshatham jagad hitaya cha). This is a comprehensive ideal, covering all aspects of life and the best guideline for living. o

 References 1. CW, 3.244. 2. CW, 2.251. 3. Ibid., 179. 4. Ibid., 300. 5. CW, I, 145-46. 6. CW, 6.130. 7. Ibid., 122. 8. CW, 2. 295. 9. Ibid., 237. 10. Ibid., 296. 11. Ibid., 295. 12. CW, 6. 114. 13. CW, 2. 293. 14. Ibid., 293. 15. Ibid., 299. 16. Ibid.

17. CW, 6.149. 18. CW, 1. 42-46. 19. CW, 6.114. 20. ‘ That which is to be given should be ‘given with faith, should not be given without faith, should be given in plenty, should be given with modesty, should be given with fear, should be given with sympathy.’ Taittiriya Upanishad, I. II. 3. 21. CW, 1.45. 22. Ibid.,46. 23. CW, 6.p.9. 24. Ibid.,10.

25. Ibid.,10. 26. CW, 6.116. 27. CW, 4. 9. 28. Ibid, 11. 29. CW, 8.227. 30. CW, 4.11. 31. Vide Swami Vivekananda in the West. New Discoveries, A New Gospel, Marie Louise Burke, Vol. 6, Part Two, Advaita Ashrama, p.394. 32. Ibid, Vol.3, The World Teacher, Part One, Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, pp. 80-81.

The ideal of all education, all training, should be this man-making. But, instead of that, we are always trying to polish up the outside. What use in polishing up the outside when there is no inside? The end and aim of all training is to make the man grow. The man who influences, who throws his magic, as it were, upon his fellow-beings, is a dynamo of power, and when that man is ready, he can do anything and everything he likes; that personality put upon anything will make it work. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2:15

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Swami Vivekananda and Youth —A Global Perspective PRAVRAJIKA SHUDDHATMAPRANA

Discovering the Lion Within There is a story that Swami Vivekananda used to tell which he heard from Sri Ramakrishna: Once a starving and pregnant lioness attacked a flock of sheep, but as she pounced on one sheep, she lost her strength and died. At the same time, she gave birth to a cub. Now, the sheep were very soft-hearted, and perhaps a bit low on intelligence. They did not know where the cub came from, but they took it in and raised it as one of their own. So the baby lion grew up in the company of the sheep, thinking all along that he too was a sheep. The sheep ate grass, and so did the lion cub. They bleated, and the cub learned to bleat also. Gradually he grew to be a big lion. But the dim-witted sheep still thought he was one of them, and so too did the lion. The flock of sheep was his whole world. This was all he knew. One day another lion came to attack the same flock, and he was amazed to see the grass-eating lion there. Running after it, the wild lion at last seized it. But the grass-eating lion began to tremble and bleat out of fear. Then the wild lion scolded him, saying: ‘What is this! You—a lion—eating grass and bleating like a sheep! Shame on you!’ But the grasseating lion just bleated and in a pathetic voice cried: ‘I’m not a lion. I’m a sheep.’

‘Nonsense,’ roared the wild lion. Then, dragging the grass-eating lion to a pond, he said: ‘Look at your face in the water. It’s just like mine. You’re not a sheep. You’re a lion.’

Then he thrust some meat into the mouth of the grass-eating lion. At first the grass-eating lion would not swallow it, but as he bleated he soon got the taste of the meat. Suddenly something awoke within him, and he let out a roar—a roar of a lion.1

Pravrajika Shuddhatmaprana is a nun of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, posted at the Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, in New York State, USA. o T h e

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Again and again Swami Vivekananda urged us to realize that we are ‘lions’ and not sheep—that we have all power within us. As he said: Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter.2

There is a belief that a sheep will follow the whim of any other sheep in front of it. It will even jump to its death over a cliff if others do so. It cannot lead. It cannot think. It can only follow—sometimes to its own destruction. And so it is with human beings. This world continually tells us we are mere sheep, that we must simply follow the herd—not thinking, just existing, living a meaningless life. We have all seen this again and again. There are enough people in this world who love being sheep. They are asleep and don’t want to wake up. They don’t want to think. They don’t want to hear the call of the lion within. But most young people today are not satisfied with this. They don’t want to be sheep. They don’t want to just follow the herd. They want to become lions, to become leaders—to be unique, as Dr. Abdul Kalam describes it. But how do we become lions? Swami Vivekananda’s idea is that, if you firmly believe you are great, you will become great. He once told his disciple Sharat Chandra Chakravarty: If you think that infinite power, infinite knowledge and indomitable energy lie within you, and if you can bring out that power, you also can become like me. . . . Go and preach to all, ‘Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of you there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe this, and that power will be manifested.’3 T h e

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But there is another step to this manifestation that Swamiji gives. He also says: ‘Of one thing I am sure—that whoever wants to help his fellow beings through genuine love and unselfishness will work wonders.’4 So with the sincere desire to work for the benefit of others, that power and strength of a lion will automatically come. The King of Animals We do not know if there are any remote forests still left in this world. But it is said that in the recent past—that is, before the war in Vietnam—there were some there. And in the forests of Vietnam, it was the lion who was the protector of all the other animals there. He was the king of the forest because he was the protector of the forest. He was the one who was always alert. From his cave overlooking the forest he was constantly vigilant, looking out for any hunters who might enter there. As soon as he detected the sound of hunters, he would roar, sounding an alarm to warn the other animals. And this is why he was the king of the forest. The other animals looked up to him for protection. So also, those who would be leaders must realize that along with the privileges of leadership comes great responsibility and self-sacrifice. Leaders must be ever alert that their actions benefit others. And the greater the leadership—that is, the greater the responsibility—the greater are the consequences of one’s actions. Leadership on a global scale implies that the consequences of one’s actions are of global proportions. That’s a heavy responsibility. Due to the drastic changes that have taken place in the world in the last fifty years, young people today understand—more than any previous generation—what a global society is. Nowadays it is not uncommon

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that one’s own neighbourhood is made up of people of various races, nationalities, and religions. Again, in one’s job a person might be sent to various countries around the world for business purposes. Or a school teacher might have in one classroom students who were born in five different countries. One’s own parents might be of different races, countries, or religions. Or some other member of one’s family might marry someone of a different race, country, or religion, or he or she might live in a different country. These things were almost unheard of fifty years ago. All these changes have required major adjustments in people’s attitudes and ways of thinking, and for older people this has not come easily. Many problems have come about all over the world simply due to people’s lack of understanding of cultures different from their own. It is the young people, therefore, who have to show the way.

For this reason young people today are beginning to feel how urgent Swamiji’s call is. In fact, many of them are already starting to feel the burden that society is placing on their shoulders, and they understand that this world needs lions to lead it—not sheep. Today’s problems are not just local or national. In a global society, like ours today, all problems—including serious political problems—reverberate around the world, so young people must be ready to serve a global society. Character; the Lasting Basis of Leadership Yet taking up the challenges of any type of leadership—with all the sacrifices it requires—is Swamiji’s idea of real character. This is his ideal of a true man or woman. As he said: ‘The true man [or woman] is he who is strong as strength itself and yet possesses a woman’s heart. You must feel for the millions of beings around you, and yet you must be

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strong and inflexible . . . .’5 By ‘inflexible’, Swamiji means that in spite of all temptations you must remain firm in moral principles; for the greater the power and responsibility that one acquires, the greater are the temptations that will arise. Therefore, tremendous mental and moral strength is required to resist those temptations. Regarding feeling for others, Swamiji’s own life is a wonderful illustration of this. The following is just one example: Late one night at Belur Math, one of Swamiji’s brother disciples, Swami Vijnanananda, came out of his room and found Swami Vivekananda pacing back and forth on the verandah. Swami Vijnanananda was concerned and asked him why he was not sleeping. Swami Vivekananda replied: ‘I cannot sleep. I am feeling very restless and deeply disturbed. I feel that there has been a terrible calamity somewhere, and that many people are suffering.’ Swami Vijnanananda was confused, as he could not understand what Swamiji was talking about. The next day it was learned from the newspapers that there had been a great disaster on an island in the Pacific, and that many thousands of people had died. Swamiji had become one with those people thousands of miles away, and had felt their suffering.

Love for others, by its very nature, will attract love from others. As Swami Ranganathananda, the 13th President of the Ramakrishna Order, once wrote: ‘Learn to attract, by conduct and behaviour, people’s love and respect. Attracting respect alone is not

enough, for it contains an element of fear.’ Like the lion in the forest, there is great power, but the power is to be used out of love. Now, some young people may be thinking, ‘Do I really want to be a leader?’ Perhaps they have gotten a bad impression of local leaders and politicians. But there is another way of looking at this: Whether one becomes a teacher, shopkeeper, engineer, IT specialist, or a political or business leader, or a President or Prime Minister of a country—whatever one becomes—one should live one’s life in such a way that one’s actions inspire others. One should live for others. And whether one’s actions affect just a few people, or they affect one’s whole country or the whole world, one should be an inspiration for others. That is the real leader—the real lion. But from what we generally observe about the young people with idealism and energy, we should say, ‘It is you whom we want to be the future leaders.’ In fact, young people cannot sit satisfied being mere sheep. All of them at some point of time or other feel something of the power of the lion within. And for those who feel the strength of the lion within, leadership comes automatically. You won’t have to seek it. It will seek you. It will seek you, that is, as long as one follows Swamiji’s advice:

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Even the least work done for others awakens the power within; even thinking the least good of others gradually instils into the heart the strength of a lion.6 o

References 1. Adapted from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. by Swami Nikhilananda (Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1986), p. 232-33. 2. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati Memorial

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Edition), vol. I, p. 11. Ibid., vol. VI, p. 454. Ibid., 1997 ed., vol. IX, p.77. Ibid., Mayavati Memorial Edition, vol. III, p. 448. Ibid., vol. V, p. 382.

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Swami Vivekananda: A Genius in Music SWAMI KRIPAKARANANDA

Music and Spirituality One quiet afternoon in Belur Math, a young Brahmachari (spiritual novitiate) approached Swami Shivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the second President of the Ramakrishna Order. Swami Shivananda, reclining on easy-chair in his room, facing the sacred river Ganges, was in a meditative mood. The Brahmachari asked him in an earnest tone, ‘Maharaj, please tell me how Sri Ramakrishna would instruct you [the direct disciples] regarding spiritual practices such as doing Japa and meditation.’ Without a pause Swami Shivananda replied, ‘Ah me! What to speak of meditation et al? Thakur [Sri Ramakrishna] used to sing at dawn with such a divine fervor that even stones would melt away. Even his songs had such a divine power.’ Indeed, music has been an integral part of spiritual life. As cited above, all the Divine Incarnations, saints and sages in India were deeply connected with music. Nay, a large number of them were saint-singers!

music wholly and completely. Music requires emotion, patience, simplicity and absorption to

The Indian Tradition of Music Music has been given a place of eminence in the Indian tradition. Says a popular Indian adage, ‘There is nothing greater than the knowledge of music’ (na vidya-sangeetaat-para). While everyone has an instinctual liking for music or sound, only a few give themselves to A monk of the Ramakrishna Order at Belur Math, the author, besides being a professionally trained doctor, is a singer himself with training in Indian Classical Music. o T h e

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master it. Music is a form of spiritual practice (sadhana) in India. God is conceived as Nada Brahman. Explaining the philosophy of Nada Brahman, Swami Vivekananda says, In the universe, Brahma or Hiranyagarbha or the cosmic Mahat first manifested himself as name, and then as form, i.e. as this universe. All this expressed sensible universe is the form, behind which stands the eternal inexpressible Sphota, the manifester as Logos or Word. This eternal Sphota, the essential eternal material of all ideas or names, is the power through which the Lord creates the universe; nay, the Lord first becomes conditioned as the Sphota, and then evolves Himself out as the yet more concrete sensible universe. This Sphota has one word as its only possible symbol, and this is the (Om). . . The Sphota is the material of all the words, yet it is not any definite word in its fully formed state. That is to say, if all the peculiarities which distinguish one word from another be removed, then what remains will be the Sphota; therefore this Sphota is called the Nada-Brahma, the Sound-Brahman.1

The worship of Nada Brahma, or music, is called Nada Brahma Upasana. And this form of worship can be traced back to the hoary Vedic times when Sama-gayana, or singing of Vedic hymns, was in vogue. Singing of Vedic hymns was part of the Vedic way of life. Later, blessed by a long tradition of distinguished musicians, music in India became a form of worship. These musical geniuses refined and consolidated the music tradition and music in

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India became a kind of science (sangeet vidya). The system of seven-notes (sapta swaras) was discovered and ragas and raginis began to be revealed. Music acquired its own grammar and precision of notes. Dhrupad style singing was born and along with the spiritual emotions and yearnings of the common folks, the Bhakti tradition of singing Kirtanas came into being. The long history of India too had its bearing on its musical tradition. Vedic singing, in due course, was joined by the intricacies of Khayal style of singing brought in by Islamic influence. This gave rise to a sense of experimentation and creativity in the field of music. Gharanas, or ‘families of music,’ as well as guru-shishya parampara, or tradition of teacher-student became the hall mark of music learning and teaching in India. Music became a way to attain God by pleasing Him through singing and dedication. Says Sri Ramakrishna, ‘If one sings with yearning in solitude one will surely have spiritual awakening.’ Swamiji’s Training in Music Born in a affluent family where music learning was considered part of good upbringing, Narendra, the future Swami Vivekananda, received tutelage in different Indian musical traditions from expert musicians. Says Swamiji’s Life,

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Vishwanath [Swamiji’s father] was a lover of music and used to sing himself. He also created in his house an atmosphere suitable for the cultivation of music. . . . He had noticed Naren’s love of music and his musical potentialities from early in the boy’s life and had nurtured them carefully. He was of the opinion that unless one received proper training in a traditional manner under masters of music, one could not really earn competency in the art. He himself had given Naren his first training in music, and now while at Raipur, where he had more intimate D E C E M B E R

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contact with his son, he taught him many songs of various kinds. Later, after the family’s return to Calcutta, he arranged for Naren’s training in classical vocal and instrumental music under reputed masters like Beni Gupta (also known as Beni Ostad), and later under the latter’s Mohammedan teacher, Ahmad Khan. . . . From Ahmad Khan, Narendranath learnt many Hindi, Urdu and Persian songs, most of them devotional. Ujir Khan, Senior and Junior Dunni Khan, Kanailal Dhendi and Jagannath Mishra are also named by some as his music teachers. We do not have conclusive information about his teachers in instrumental music. It has been said that Kasi Ghoshal, who used to play the Pakhawaj at the Adi Brahmo Samaj, taught him Pakhawaj and Tabla; but according to others Beni Ostad taught him these instruments. It is also said that he learnt Esraj from Jagannath Mishra. Though Naren learnt to play with mastery on Pakhawaj, Tabla, Esraj and Sitar, his

forte was vocal music, in which he even excelled the masters who taught him singing. He was taught and trained until he became widely known as an accomplished singer of high calibre. He himself became infatuated with music and with song, and practised for hours in a small room on the first floor of his maternal grandmother’s house, or at the house of a friend. His companions would often assemble to listen to his music. Naren’s own family was charmed with his voice, and he often sang to his father, now seriously, now gaily, as the mood took him. Of all his earlier attainments, music must be counted as one of the most remarkable, because his musical attainments at this time were rather striking. Naren’s voice was so lively and sweet that whenever he rendered a tune in a song, the spirit of it became incarnate, as it were, in cadence and beauty. In fact, with Naren music became a wonderful instrument for the adoration of

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the Divine. It was through music that his first communion with Shri Ramakrishna took place. On listening to his singing, the latter would be deeply moved and go into Samadhi.2

replied, ‘Very little.’ Being pressed hard by us he sang, and what was my surprise to see that as in learning so in music he was wonderfully accomplished! Next day I asked him if he were willing that I invite some singers and musicians; he consented, and I asked many musicians, several of whom were ostads, or adepts in the art, to come. Believing that the music would end by nine or ten at the latest, I did not arrange supper for the guests. Swamiji sang without ceasing till two or three o’clock in the morning. All without exception were so charmed that they forgot hunger and thirst and all idea of time! None moved from his seat or thought of going home. Kailashbabu, who was accompanying the Swami [on Tabla?] in his songs, was forced to give up finally, for his fingers had become stiff and had lost all sensation. Such superhuman power I have never seen in anybody, nor do I expect to see it again.5

Even as a young man, he had an uncanny understanding of music as something more than sound, as the following incident will make it clear: One day, hearing a friend singing like a professional, Naren said, ‘Mere tune and keeping time are not all of music. It must express an idea. Can anyone appreciate a song sung in a drawling manner? The idea underlying the song must arouse the feeling of the singer, the words should be articulated distinctly, and proper attention be given to tune and timing. The song that does not awaken a corresponding idea in the mind of the singer is not music at all.3

This initial talent and training in music continued to express itself in later years of Swamiji’s life. During his wanderings in different parts of India, Swamiji is seen leaving a deep impression on those who had a chance to hear him. When he visited Goa, Swamiji was the guest of one Ayurveda physician in whose house the following incident took place: One day, it is said, the Swami sang some devotional songs and was accompanied on the Tabla by a reputed Tabla-player named Kharupji. After the singing was over, the Swami spoke to Kharupji of his habit of distorting his face while playing on the Tabla. He said that one could play on the Tabla without making faces; but Kharupji said that that was impossible. Then the Swami himself played on the Tabla and showed that it is possible.4

Swamiji had a fine sense of listening and appreciating music. It is said that once on listening to the murmur of river Mandakini in the Himalayan region for a while, he remarked to his brother disciple that it was singing in ragini Kedar at that time.6 Even during his last days when he lived in Belur Math, it is said of Swamiji, Oftentimes his meditation would last for more than two hours. Then he would get up chanting ‘Shiva! Shiva!’ and bowing to Shri Ramakrishna he would go downstairs and pace to and fro in the courtyard, singing a song to the Divine Mother or to Shiva as he walked.7

Another incident happened when he was in Bhagalpur [in UP] where he was the guest of one Mathuranath Sinha, a pleader, who recalled later,

Swamiji’s Book on Music Not many, however, know that Swamiji had written a book in Bengali on music titled Sangeeta Kalpataru, and that was when he was twenty-three and was known as Naren. About the book, says an eminent writer,

Once I noticed him [Swamiji] humming a tune to himself. So I asked him if he could sing. He

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Datta, a youth of about 23 years. As far as is known this was some time in 1886, a little before or after the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna. Vaishnav Charan Basak, a well-known dealer in books, joined Narendra Nath in this venture at a later stage. Though some of the songs in the book were collected by him, it need hardly be pointed out that in the presence of such a strong personality as Swamiji’s, the predominance of his thoughts and views in the book could not be avoided by Vaishnav Charan. The book was published in 1887. The book begins with Sangeeta O Vadya (Music and Musical Instruments), a 90 page treatise on music written by Narendra Nath followed by the collection of songs and lastly an appendix with brief introductions to 17 lyricists. This layout of the book reveals conception of music to an extent possible only because of Narendra Nath’s expertise in the subject. In particular it should be noted that he attached equal importance to the two aspects of music—entertainment and academic. This is demonstrated in Sangeeta O Vadya which is an exposition of the theory of music essentially meant for learners. It aims at acquainting the reader with theoretical knowledge and the history of songs before

actually presenting the songs. The exposition of the theory of music and the compilation of songs are two inseparable parts of the book, complementary to each other.8

His Thoughts on Music What is important to note is that Swamiji had some original thoughts on music. Let us discuss some of these: 1. Swamiji once wrote, Music is the highest art and, to those who understand, is the highest worship.9

In other words, music is not just entertainment (though it does the play of relaxing the listeners), it is a sublime form of art. Huston Smith, an authority on Religious Studies, observes about the subtler aspect of art thus: At their best, they [the arts] transport us to a higher plane of existence. I can’t tell you how they do this. It’s truly magical. But when it happens, we know something different is happening. And what happens is identical with authentic religious experience.

Albert Einstein, a scientist of the highest calibre, ever busy with the hard facts of observable universe, says, If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.

Swamiji says, The greatest aid to this practice of keeping God in memory is, perhaps, music. The Lord says to Narada, the great teacher of Bhakti, ‘I do not live in heaven, nor do I live in the heart of the Yogi, but where My devotees sing My praise, there am I’. Music has such tremendous power over the human mind; it brings it to concentration in a moment. You will find the dull, ignorant, low, brute-like human beings, who never steady their mind for a moment at other times, when

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they hear attractive music, immediately become charmed and concentrated. Even the minds of animals, such as dogs, lions, cats, and serpents, become charmed with music.10

similar high state of absorption on listening to it.15 Another popular Sanskrit verse opines, Japakoti-gunamdhyanam, dhyana-kotigunamlayah Layakoti-gunam-gaanam, ganat-parataramnahi

Elsewhere he said, We all concentrate our minds upon those things we love. When we hear beautiful music, our minds become fastened upon it, and we cannot take them away. Those who concentrate their minds upon what you call classical music do not like common music, and vice versa. Music in which the notes follow each other in rapid succession holds the mind readily. A child loves lively music, because the rapidity of the notes gives the mind no chance to wander. A man who likes common music dislikes classical music, because it is more complicated and requires a greater degree of concentration to follow it.11

Swamiji was himself an example of this extraordinary power of music. He was an excellent singer and Sri Ramakrishna used to say,

Music is greater than even crores of Japa: nothing reaches greater heights than music in accomplishing success in spiritual practice.

Sri Ramakrishna would enter into high spiritual moods after listening to a devotional song, indicating the immense spiritual potential of music, especially the classical music. 2. Swamiji had a comprehensive knowledge of music. Let us look at one discussion16 between a disciple and Swamiji which will give us an idea of his vast understanding of the subject.

When you sing, He who dwells here (touching his heart), like a snake, hisses as it were, and then, spreading His hood, quietly holds Himself steady and listens to your music.12

A Sanskrit verse extolling music says13, Veena-vadana-tattwajna shruti-jaati-visharadah Taalajnash-chaa prayatnena mokshamargam niyacchati Those who are accomplished in the profound musical aspects like Shruti, Jati, Tala, playing of the Veena attain salvation effortlessly.

Sri Ramakrishna too said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;If a person excels in singing, music, dancing, or any other art, he can also quickly realize God, provided he strives sincerely.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;14 On listening to the soul-stirring tunes of Shehnai being played at Nahabat in the Kali Temple at Daksineshwar, Sri Ramakrishna would enter into Samadhi. He used to say that any person who had experienced Samadhi would enter into the T h e

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Disciple: What is Western music like? Swamiji: Oh, it is very good; there is in it a perfection of harmony, which we have not attained. Only, to our untrained ears, it does not sound well, hence we do not like it, and think that the singers howl like jackals. I also had the same sort of impression, but when I began to listen to the music with attention and study it minutely, I came more and more to understand it, and I was lost in admiration. Such is the case with every art. In glancing at a highly finished painting we cannot understand where its beauty lies. Moreover, unless the eye is, to a certain extent, trained, one cannot appreciate the subtle touches and blendings, the inner genius of a work of art. What real music we have lies in Kirtana and Dhrupada; the rest has been spoiled by being modulated according to the Islamic methods . . . Accordingly, to those who are past masters in the art of singing Dhrupada, it is painful to hear Tappas. But in our music the cadence, or a duly regulated rise and fall of voice or sound, is very good. The French detected and appreciated this trait first, and tried to adapt and introduce it in D E C E M B E R

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their music. After their doing this, the whole of Europe has now thoroughly mastered it. Disciple: Maharaj, their music seems to be preeminently martial, whereas that element appears to be altogether absent in ours. Swamiji: Oh, no, we have it also. In martial music, harmony is greatly needed. We sadly lack harmony, hence it does not show itself so much. Our music had been improving steadily. But when the Mohammedans came, they took possession of it in such a way that the tree of music could grow no further. The music of the Westerners is much advanced. They have the sentiment of pathos as well as of heroism in their music, which is as it should be. But our antique musical instrument made from the gourd has been improved no further. Disciple: Which of the Ragas and Raginis are martial in tune? Swamiji: Every Raga may be made martial if it is set in harmony and the instruments are tuned accordingly. Some of the Raginis can also become martial.

Indeed nothing more need to be said how deep his understanding of music was! 3. Swamiji was exceedingly fond of the Dhrupad style of singing. Mahendra Nath Dutta, Swamiji’s younger brother, wrote of Swamiji’s interest in this form of music, Music, to him, was not anything frivolous or childish. It was profound, Rishi-Vidya. Pure and Perfect. He would transform into a different being altogether. When he would sing Dhrupada his eyes would become bright, his vision fixed and nonchalant, deep resonant voice would emanate from him. There was no trait of frivolity in his face. The listeners also could not but help being serious. Narendranath, during singing, used to become so illumined and solemn, that energy would deluge everyone and all would be elevated to a higher plane. All used to be spontaneously drawn towards a contemplative state of mind.17 T h e

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Swamiiji liked the martial nature of Dhrupad. [Dhrupad is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words dhruva and pada (verse), where a part of the poem (dhruva) is used as a refrain. The term may denote both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung.] In Sangeeta Kalpataru, Swamiji writes, Dhrupad means singing the glories of the Lord. This branch of music is especially devoted to singing glories of God. A classical singer must pay close attention to the purity of Raga and Raginis.

He felt that If the musical talent of any accomplished singer can ably combine the emotive current of Keertana and the subtle science of Dhrupad and Khayal; then alone the appropriate and ideal music will be created.

Swamiji was fond of the bold, steady and martial movement of Dhrupad singing. His competence in singing Keertana was extraordinary. He always emphasized that the bhava (the true spirit) is the life force of music. He clarified, ‘Whatever is without bhava, lifeless, that is of no use; be it language, art or music.’ He felt that the idea underlying the song must arouse the feeling of the singer, the words should be articulated distinctly and proper attention be given to tune and timing. The song that does not awaken a corresponding idea in the mind of the singer is not music at all. ‘Khayal means freedom,’ Swamiji said, ‘in it, both the seriousness of Dhrupad and the sweetness of Tappa are present.’ But he always emphasized Dhrupad for rejuvenating the classical music in India. Not wonder, when he composed his Arati song to Sri Ramakrishna, which is sung in all centres of the Ramakrishna

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Order and countless homes the world over, he set it to the Dhrupad style of singing. Swamiji composed many other songs and set them to various Ragas. 4. About learning classical music from Ustads [music maestros], Swamiji said, ‘Is music—which pleases one and all—liberates and relieves men of their suffering that easy, that it will be in the domain of the ignorant and superstitious Ustadjis?’18 Despite being respectful towards the Ustads, Swamiji was not in favour of the traditional method they used. He wanted that music learning should come out of the gharanas, the families and schools of singing, and made accessible to one and all. Though he knew of the necessity of fencing around

these valuable treasures of music for their survival, sustenance and development, he also felt overdoing it stagnates music. He wanted music teaching to be made available freely to all. Was it forethought of the Age of Liberty that we are in now? Knowledge being open to all? Conclusion Swami Vivekananda, a multifarious personality, was genius in music. His inborn musical gifts, honed by the training he received in his youth, and his deep understanding of music makes him stand out as an exceptional musician. Not only was he a patriot-monk but a distinguished musicianmonk of our times. o

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References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

CW, 3:57 Life 1:44 Life, 1.39 Life, 1: 320 Life, 1: 245 Yuganayak Vivekananda (Bengali), volume 1, pp. 233

7. Life, 2.641 8. For more details, please see The Vedanta Kesari, January 2006 9. CW, 5.125 10. CW, 4:9 11. CW, 6:38 12. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p.986 13. Yagnavalka Smriti, Dharma

Prakarana 3.4.115 14. Gospel, p.427 15. Gospel, p.986 c.f. 16. CW, 5: 363 17. cf. Srimat Vivekananda Swamijir Jiboner Ghotonaboli by Mahendranath Dutta 18. cf, Sangeeta Kalpataru

The Hymn of Samadhi (Rendered from Bengali) Lo! The sun is not, nor the comely moon, All light extinct; in the great void of space Floats shadow-like the image-universe.

Slowly, slowly, the shadow-multitude Entered the primal womb, and flowed ceaseless, The only current, the "I am", "I am".

In the void of mind involute, there floats The fleeting universe, rises and floats, Sinks again, ceaseless, in the current "I".

Lo! 'Tis stopped, ev'n that current flows no more, Void merged into void-beyond speech and mind Whose heart understands, he verily does. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 4:498

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Swami Vivekananda—The Monk on the Move An Overview of Swamiji's Travel SWAMI SARVASTHANANDA

Fulfilling His Mission and Education through Travels Few admonitions would have been as momentous as the one uttered by Sri Ramakrishna, ‘Shame on you! You are asking for such an insignificant thing . . . I thought that you would be like a banyan tree and that thousands of people would rest under your shade. But now I see that you are seeking your own liberation,’ exhorting Swami Vivekananda [then a young Narendranath] to fulfill his manifest and peripatetic destiny. The banyan tree in mythic imagination represents the tree of life, the still centre of all order, life and rejuvenation; ‘I am the banyan among the trees’, declared Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (10.26). Yet, we wonder at the anomalous metaphor, for Swami Vivekananda was not the rooted stationary tree at the Panchavati unto which the world beat a pilgrim trail as unto his Master, Sri Ramakrishna, but was born with wings on his sandals like the Greek God Mercury in his brief sojourn. Strikingly his first offering of song at the feet of his Master, ‘Hearken O heart, let’s return to our real abode, than tarry as a stranger in foreign lands,’ [mano chalo nija niketan] hinted the metaphor of an ancient archetype that of the ‘wanderer’. ‘There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller who is foreign,’ remarked

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the writer R.L. Stevenson, echoing the view of Swamiji as Sister Christine does as ‘unquestionably a wanderer from another sphere’; he longed for home, making his journey itself his provisional home. And journey he did, in a way few have ever done, like the Dig Vijaya-s [victories] of yore, not merely across India, but beyond her shores into the wide world. The sojourner Vivekananda is a multifaceted Parivrajaka, from the most ancient order of monks, a wandering minstrel taking his song unto strange lands, a peripatetic teacher in the best traditions of the world, a curious student amongst new landscapes seen with new eyes, a missionary seeking to rejuvenate his own motherland, a messenger from his Master carrying his ‘gospel’ to the people of the world. When Augustine of Hippo wrote that, ‘The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page’; he meant that to travel was to live, learn and love and render fatal the prejudice of time, place and circumstance. The word traveller comes from the old French ‘travailler’ which is ‘to toil strenuously’ which was what travel then was. We inhabit a world which now has only tourists and few, if any, travellers. An Extensive Traveller—and a Learner

The author is Adyaksha of the Ramakrishna Ashrama, Rajkot, Gujarat

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Abiding by his Master’s instruction to be the banyan to a fledgling monastic life, Swamiji and his brother-disciples invoked their sacrifice by performance of viraja-homa [ritual signifying the vows of a monk] at Baranagore Math in Kolkata. Amidst their ascetic observances there grew the restlessness in their bosom to embark on undefined travels to seek their mission; not unlike a river keeping up its flow unto its fulfillment, the ocean, retaining its purity. This period of incubation for Swamiji gave outline to the yet inchoate idea of the regeneration of his beloved motherland, to reweave the fraying threads of her rich tapestry. Setting off with a water pot and staff with the blessings of the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi he embarked in 1890, on a journey of a Parivrajaka. Travel entails the inevitable burden of plans on modes, stays, tickets, currency and baggage. The Parivrajaka, on the other hand, renounces these very things to re-collect only himself, wandering without

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money, a mendicant reining his senses, abstaining from any indulgence including work, social company, retiring unto the uninhabited and abandoned, and flitting bee like begging for sustenance. Swamiji’s was on an extraordinary journey—Parivrajana. Travelling on foot he journeyed through Vaidyanath, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Nainital and the lofty Himalayas, wanting to ‘burst upon society like a bombshell.’ Like Adi Shankara who traversed India from the Malabar to Badrikashrama in the Himalayas, Swamiji took the reverse route. Under a banyan on the banks of the Kosi river near Almora he discovered the grand unity of all existence, like the words of the poet Blake, ‘To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour’ thereby equating the service to man as service to God. He descended to the vast north Indian plains via Delhi, and journeyed through Rajputana (1891) traversing Alwar, Jaipur, Ajmer, Khetri, among others. He travelled through Gujarat (1892) to Ahmedabad, Limbdi, Kutch, Porbandar, Junagadh, Dwa-

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raka, Somnath, Palitana and Baroda. He encountered the India that he loved in the huts of the untouchables and shared their gruel, conversed with Kings and the learned, counseled seekers, wiped the tears of the suffering resonating Kipling’s lines, ‘If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch . . . If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!’ Swamiji studied Sanskrit scripture in the Himalayas, grammar at Jaipur, Muslim and Jain thought at Ahmedabad, Christian theology at Goa and Vedic culture at Porbandar and became familiar first hand of the arts, architecture, cultural diversity and customs of his people. He exhorted reforms social and educational to the princes, admonished the emulation of the materialistic culture of the West, promoted the study of science and industry, spoke feelingly about the benighted poor, of caste oppression and anachronistic social traditions. He liberalized his views and outlook and conjoined to his wisdom the healing waters of compassion to the toiling masses mired in ignorance. He continued his journeys through Bombay, Pune, Goa, and into the heartlands of the Deccan (1892-93). There he travelled Belgaum, Bangalore, Cochin, Malabar, Travancore, Rameshwaram, Madurai and finally Madras. The Virgin Goddess at Cape Comorin illuminated his mind with her fabled nose ring showing him with clarity his mission to restore the submerged individuality of India and raise her masses; she illumined the waters unto which his Master strode, beckoning him to follow into unknown lands across the seven seas, taking with him the perennial waters of Indian spirituality and to bring back T h e

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material assistance and secular education unto the indigent. He would attend the World’s Parliament of Religions at Chicago. Dig Vijaya: The Conquest of the Quarters The hyperbole of Dig Vijaya is an ancient tradition that extols the geographic spread of faith and influence of great masters as they ascend the sarvajnapitha or role of a world teacher. ‘Haribhai, I am going to America,’ Swamiji blurted out when he met his bewildered though beloved brother who little imagined that he would soon follow those footsteps. The Parivrajaka metamorphosed into an international traveller with the name Swami Vivekananda. The Guru of a Raja, he would soon travel not just with his water pot but with the trappings of travel, royal robes and a handsome purse, though ill-equipped for the colder climes. Astride the deck of the steamer ‘Peninsular’ in May 1893, bound for Japan via Hong Kong, he looked back lost in thought. Befriending his fellow travellers and watching the many faces of the sea and the sky, and the customs of his fellow Western passengers, he spent his time at ease and reflection. En route he visited Canton and familiarized himself with the Chinese, proceeding to Japan where he visited Nagasaki, Kobe, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, deeply admiring the meticulousness, art and industry of the people. He took the ‘Empress of India’ and sailed to Vancouver, warmed by a coat given by the captain. Swamiji took the train across the snow-clad countryside of southwest Canada and travelled to Winnipeg and thence across the lake spangled hills of Minnesota and further to St. Paul and Chicago. Tired and haggard after an arduous journey, with a minimum baggage, little money and no idea of its value and use,

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no advance arrangements, amidst strange surroundings, Swamiji found himself in an unexpected situation. He found the Parliament of Religions that he was to attend was postponed and that he lacked the credentials of an established institution to register as a delegate. His meagre resources fast depleting, he went to Boston, thinking he would find it cheaper and then come back to Chicago to register as a delegate. Though looked upon initially as an exotic object of curiosity, he soon won the hearts and minds of his several hosts including learned professors like Prof. Wright of Harvard who declared, ‘To ask you Swami for credentials is to ask the sun for its right to shine’. He moved to Salem and Saratoga speaking on varied subjects and platforms from pulpits to private chambers, also invoking the hostility of the pastors and ministers of the evangelical and other churches. On 8 September 1893 Swamiji was at Chicago with ‘sky for roof, and earth for bed’ in a boxcar, until exhausted he was delivered unto the care

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of his helpful angel Mrs. Hale, who moved by his innocent narration of his trials, got him to register at the Parliament. Resplendent in his exotic silken attire of robe and turban, he outshone his fellow delegates. Yet when the momentous occasion arrived, he kept postponing his turn with trepidation until Goddess Saraswati seized his heart, kindled his tongue, invoked the universality of all religious endeavour, and enshrined that moment in the hearts of millions of his countrymen even a century after that roar had died. A destitute, unknown monk from an unheard of monastic order, from an impoverished, slave nation, riddled with ignorance and superstition became the ‘Cyclonic Monk’, a star. Vedanta was ushered into the West, not as an exotic translation of a Brahmanical scripture but as a living, teaching tradition. With this encounter by a ‘native’ speaking from tradition and experience, a new sense of identity was established as an awareness of the ‘other’. India found a new voice not as

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just a benighted colony in service of a Western interest but in struggling to define its own identity, a place in the comity of nations, a people of unbroken civilizational continuity that had yet to be dragged into its own encounter with modernism; a project that is playing out unto this day. Soon Swamiji would exhaust his energies across America, hoping to raise funds for work in India which was at the heart of all his activity, delivering talks at Chicago, Madison, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Memphis, Detroit, Boston, and New York and founding the Vedanta Society of New York in 1894. He met the luminaries of his day in America and Europe from diverse walks of life notably William James, the father of modern psychology, the great agnostic, Robert Ingersoll, scientists—Nikola Tesla, Lord Kelvin, Hermann Von Helmholtz, actress, Sarah Bernhardt, singer Emma Calvø, poets—Ella Wilcox, Harriet Monroe, philanthropist, John Rockefeller and the great Indologists, Max Muller and Paul Deussen.

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By 1895 the wandering monk had to set his instrument aside and rest teaching in private while recuperating. He journeyed twice to England in 1895-96 and added among his many followers Margaret Noble whom he later christened as Sister Nivedita. He travelled Continental Europe, visiting Paris, Geneva, Lucerne, Kiel, Hamburg, Bremen, and Amsterdam returning to London. In London someone asked him; ‘Swami, how do you like now your motherland after three years’ experience of the luxurious and powerful West?’ Swami Vivekananda said: India I loved before I came away. Now the very dust of India has become holy to me, the very air is now to me holy, it is now the holy land, the place of pilgrimage, the Tirtha!

Vijaya Dindima: The Triumphalist Drumbeat Swamiji set to return ‘home’ with friends, disciples and resources travelling from London with Captain and Mrs Sevier and JJ Goodwin visiting Milan Pisa, Florence and Naples on

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the way. The ‘Virgin Goddess’ smiled across the straits as he touched Colombo in January 1897 and as he set foot on the soil the very Yaksha, Kinnara, Gandharva [the celestial singers of Hindu mythology] beat the drums and showered his path with flowers, his chariot pulled by the very Dikpalas and kings. He sounded his conch, like the vijayaghosha of the Panchajanya [the conch blown by Sri Krishna in the Mahabharata War] across the Indian subcontinent from Colombo to Almora, igniting a nationalist fervor wherever he went. He moved relentlessly, exhorting people to awake to the burden of colonial rule, uplifting the downtrodden, eradicating social ills, educating in secular sciences and industrialization but pointing out very clearly that religion and religion alone was the backbone of our nation. He journeyed through Rameshwaram, Ramnad, Madurai, Kumbhakonam, Madras, and thence to Calcutta. To recuperate from his exhausting travels he retired for a short while to Almora. In a few months he proceeded to

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Bareilly, Ambala, Amritsar and Rawalpindi, thence to Srinagar, Sialkot and Lahore, all the while lecturing, attending to requests for visits, visits to kings and princes, meeting common people, holding discussions in an interminable procession following him, even holding up trains to stall his journeys. He then moved to Dehradun, Saharanpur and Delhi proceeding to visit Rajputana and meet up with his old friends and disciples at Alwar, Khetri, and finding time to dine in the houses of the poor who had hosted him when he was just another monk. He then proceeded to Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, and thence through the Central Provinces of Khandwa, Ratlam, and Jabalpur and was forced to abandon a trip to Gujarat due to ill health. He now set his heart on founding the Ramakrishna Mission. This took place in May 1897. This also led to, in due course, the laying of foundation of the magnificent temple to rest his Masters ashes. Thus came into existence the splendid institution, the Ramakrishna Mission, which incorporated the twin founding ideals—

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‘atmano mokshartham jagaddhitaya cha’ [‘for one’s spiritual freedom and for the good of others] of wisdom and compassion, liberation and service. He surprisingly stayed for long at Belur Math, undertaking the training of monks and novices until the plague broke in mid-1898 when he initiated relief efforts. He took his Western disciples to Almora to attend to their training but in two months proceeded to Kashmir after a brief passage through Punjab. This was his pilgrimage to the shrine of Amarnath where clad in a loin cloth, besmeared in ashes, he almost swooned and beheld the Lord and received his blessings. His health took a turn for the worse but he shone in a deep mystical vision of the divine Mother at Kshir Bhavani, the sacred temple of Divine Mother near Srinagar. He retreated to Lahore to return to Calcutta late 1898. Until the middle of 1899, he remained at the Math. By June 1899 Swamiji unfurled his sails to travel to the West all over again partly by compulsions of recuperating his deteriorated health and partly to visit his old friends and

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disciples. He reached London by August 1899 and proceeded to New York where he stayed for ten weeks permeating the place with his presence. He then traveled to the West Coast to Los Angeles, Pasadena, and San Francisco. Swamiji then returns to Europe and takes the Orient Express with some friends to travel through Vienna, Constantinople, Athens and Cairo, where he suddenly decides to return home to Belur Math in Jan 1901. Soon he sets out on another pilgrimage to Dhaka, Guwahati and Shillong with his beloved mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, trying to fulfil ‘at least one wish of hers’. In April during a severe attack of asthma in Shillong he exclaimed, ‘What does it matter! I have given them enough for fifteen hundred years.’ Early in 1902 Swamiji made his last of his sojourns to Varanasi, that city of light and learning from times immemorial, of the abode of the Lord of the worlds, of Shiva dancing to his drumbeat at the Ghats of all dissolution. ‘Oh! I am sick of this unending force; these shows they please no more. This ever running,

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never reaching, nor e’en a distant glimpse of shore!’ wrote Swamiji some years back in reflective poem, ‘My Play Is Done!’ It is difficult to imagine that such a mighty heart be stilled; death of their bodies doesn’t cease their perennial work like that of the Bodhisattva, refusing rest. Conclusion The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna that Swami Vivekananda preached the world over was the presence of divinity in everything and everyone asserting an equality that is as socially and politically potent as it was spiritually—an imperative to serve God in man. Swamiji’s message was the missing link that united compassion to its ideal of unifying wisdom. Also, Swamiji’s faith in the human potential and its divinity was astounding— insisting on investing all faith back from God to Man and assert their essential equality. This dual closure of the circles was the journey of the Hero; his journey true to his message. In

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the brief span of 39 and half years, he had done what takes an ordinary mortal many lives to even understand, assimilate! Swamiji’s extensive travels had as much astonishing influence as his life and message. o

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Swami Vivekananda:

The Source of Inspiration for India’s Freedom Struggle SOMENATH MUKHERJEE

A Seeker of Freedom Swami Vivekananda was, in the widest sense of the term, an epitome of freedom. His search took him to Sri Ramakrishna in whom he found the real meaning of freedom. He came face to face with the ideal of Vedanta where he found his illimitable sky. As long as he was among us, his spirit had hardly any rest. But he never compromised his freedom with whatsoever reward or hazard that came in the way. The amazing broadness of heart he inherited from his noble parents was further reshaped by the greatest spiritual personality the world has ever seen to suit the latter’s purpose—to uplift the humankind, both from material and spiritual poverties. Political freedom, undeniably inevitable from a specific social standpoint, was obviously a minute agenda within Swamiji’s broad scope of things. But he hardly could escape the pangs for its absence in his motherland. A Historical Perspective Before the Parliament of Religions, one of his early Western acquaintances, while expressing her experience, wrote about the swami,

white teeth, ‘and my death would run through the land like wild fire.’1

The sense of subjugation was inescapably within him when he went to the West. And why not, in his speech at the reception following his return from the West in 1897, we heard him say, No one ever landed on English soil with more hatred in his heart for a race than I did for the English. . .2

But when he came back, he gave answer as to why his people had lost their freedom,

. . . At times he even expressed a great longing that the English government would take him and shoot him. ‘It would be the first nail in their coffin,’ he would say, with a little gleam of his

Forty millions of Englishmen rule three hundred millions of people here? What is the psychological explanation? These forty millions put their wills together and that means infinite power, and you three hundred millions have a will each separate from the other.3

The author is engaged in research work on the life of Swami Vivekananda under instruction and guidance of the Swami Vivekananda Archives, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata. o T h e

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Therefore, he gave more stress to ‘put’ the nation’s ‘wills together’. But to do that, there had to be a nation first. The fact was, conceptually apart, India was not a nation (as a westerner would call it) over which the English began to rule. And this, arguably,

In 1861 Rajnarain Bose. . . . established a ‘Society for the promotion of National Feeling among the Educated Natives of Bengal’ and asked his fellow countrymen to turn their gaze from the West to their own culture and traditions.’4

Elsewhere, the same essay confirms that, The period between 1861 and 1905 mark the stage of vigorous adolescence of the nationalist movement in Bengal. It was a period during which the illusions of the middle class together with their hopes and aspirations were dashed to the ground.5

continued to be so till the early second half of the nineteenth century. A publication from the Institute of Historical Studies Calcutta reads, T h e

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To a great extent, the advent of nationalism in the latter half of the nineteenth century had in its root the inspiration from ‘the history and literature of Europe’ which enlightened the ‘newly educated gentry and zamindars.’6 But their efforts were largely restricted to ‘the British Indian Association, through which a memorandum was sent to the British Parliament for a little share in the Government of the country by way of representation in the legislative council and greater opportunity of employment in the higher services . . .’7 Hence, however great the patriotic feelings were, going against the English rule had never been within the agenda. The mindset of the period, somehow, was smeared with pronounced loyalty to the British Crown. This was the contemporary socio-political environ in which Swami Vivekananda was born. Later, The Indian National Congress had come into being in December 1885, and till 1905 it remained moderate in approach and ritually confined itself in annual debates of various political issues and pragmatic reforms without faltering in its allegiance to the Crown. The English occupation of India underwent a change of guard when, ‘from 1833, the [East India] Company ceased to exist as a trading body. It existed as an administrator

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of India in partnership with the Crown.’8 In recognition to the Company’s role ‘in making an Indian Empire possible’, and for its contribution to the remarkable growth of Britain’s own industrialization, the ‘[British] Parliament endorsed the formal right of the Company to administer India in 1853.’9 But the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 made everything look sinister and ‘the Company was more exposed to public scrutiny than was the Board of Control.’10 And in 1858, the Queen of England pronounced British India a Crown possession. Less than five years from this date a remarkable child was born in an aristocrat family in the northern precinct of Calcutta, who would single-handedly infuse greatest amount of energy and inspiration to his subjugated nation. Swamiji’s Powerful Influence Born in 1863, the young Narendranath, the future Vivekananda, had keenly observed and analysed the socio-political world in which he was born. As a wandering monk, he went around the whole country, mixing and interacting with kings, ministers, scholars, rich, poor, commoners, all. He obviously had a remarkably clear and comprehensive understanding of India. Though he had all along distanced himself from politics, Swamiji was not unaware of the situation. On 21 February 1900 he wrote to Swami Akhandananda,

1892 with provision for more Indians in the Supreme and Provincial Councils, but ‘did not concede to the people the right of electing their own representatives to the Council.’12 Dissatisfaction stemming from this and a few more disparities and injustices prompted the Congress to adopt a different path since 1892. Exactly during this point of time Swami Vivekananda made his majestic appearance at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. There he gave a message which the world had never experienced before. In those days communications were slow but, as the saying goes, steady; it began to trickle in India through newspapers and magazines and, eventually, flooded the whole country. The nation, surpassing all distinctions, decided to follow the Monk’s every word. This was the first part of a great turning point in India. The country witnessed the other-half when Swamiji came ashore on 15 January 1897 at Colombo. He began his onward lecture march which ended at Lahore on 12 November 1897. His immediate message to the eager citizens of Colombo was exhilarating,

In these days of dire famine, flood, disease, and pestilence, tell me where your Congressmen are. Will it do merely to say, ‘Hand the government of the country over to us?’ And who is there to listen to them? If a man does work, has he to open his mouth to ask for anything?11

The debt which the world owes to our Motherland is immense. . . Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist, when Rome was not thought of, when the very fathers of the modern Europeans lived in the forests and painted themselves blue. Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from then until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live.13

The British knew how to negotiate with such kind of ‘moderate politics’; they came out with the Indian Councils Act

While Swamiji’s words aroused the national pride and confidence, he also knew that India needed strength—in every way.

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Aurobindo Ghosh yet cannot worship the god that we see all round us, the Virat? . . These are all our gods—men and animals; and the first gods we have to worship are our countrymen.15

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

He charged up his listeners when he spoke in Madras on 13 February, We have become real earthworms, crawling at the feet of everyone who dares to put his foot on us. Therefore, my friends, as one of your blood, as one that lives and dies with you, let me tell you that we want strength, strength, and every time strength.14

His Immense Love for India Swamiji’s love for India was never abstract. It predominantly embraced the people residing within. His wandering days had increased that love manifold. He made his love more palpable when he addressed the nation from Madras on 15 February, Give up being a slave. For the next fifty years this alone shall be our keynote—this, our great Mother India. Let all other vain gods disappear for the time from our minds. This is the only god that is awake, our own race—‘everywhere his hands, everywhere his feet, everywhere his ears, he covers everything.’ All other gods are sleeping. What vain gods shall we go after and T h e

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The nation was electrified as never before; Vivekananda continued on his path with aim and spirit focused to his central theme—Man-making. The leviathan, which once was a glorious country, began to rise again from her long stupor. Romain Rolland, while assessing the contribution of the swami, asked in the latter’s biography, Did the dead arise? Did India, thrilling to the sound of his words, reply to the hope of her herald? Was her noisy enthusiasm translated into deeds?

And Rolland himself gave answers to his own questions,

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It is impossible to change in a moment the habits of a people buried in a dream, enslaved by prejudice, and allowing themselves to fail under the weight of the slightest effort. But the Master’s rough scourge made her turn for D E C E M B E R

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influenced by Vivekananda. Their affirmations are well available. Bipin Chandra Pal has even called him ‘the prophet of nationalism’. But it was Tilak who once even came to Belur Math and had a long talk with the Swami. In Tilak’s English Paper Mahratta an editorial on 7 May 1899 reads, His speeches and addresses, however, have a peculiar feature in that they disclose him not a mere speculator or philosopher, but a high class patriot, the inmost depths of whose feeling are stirred by an honest and powerful desire to regenerate all around his fallen countrymen.17

Mahatma Gandhi the first time in her sleep, and for the first time the heroic trumpet sounded in the midst of her dream the Forward March of India, conscious of her God. She never forgot it. From that day the awakening of the torpid colossus began. If the generation that followed, saw, three years after Vivekananda’s death, the revolt of Bengal, the prelude to the great movement of Tilak and Gandhi, if India today has definitely taken part in the collective action of organized masses, it is due to the initial shock, to the mighty ‘Lazarus, come forth;’ of the message from Madras.16

When the Swami was no more, the Mahratta bemoaned in their editorial on 13 July 1902, We really doubt whether the last century produced another man within whom such true patriotism was combined with such religious fervour.18

Between 1902 and 1910 it was Aurobindo Ghosh who, to a great extent, influenced the Indian freedom struggle. He was more than transparent in his views, Vivekananda was a soul of puissance if ever there was one, a very lion among men, but the definite work he has left behind is quite incommensurate with our impression of his creative might and energy. We perceive his influence still working gigantically, we know not well how, we know not well where, in something that is not yet formed, something leonine, grand, intuitive, upheaving that has entered the soul of India and we say, ‘Behold, Vivekananda still lives in the soul of his Mother and in the souls of her children.’

These lines were written around 20 years before independence came to India. The Galvanizing Effect Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of Independent India, once said, Men who lead their fellow beings in any sphere of life are rare and those that lead their leaders are rarest still. These super guides come not very often upon this earth to uplift the sinking section of humanity. Swami Vivekananda was one of these super souls.

Mahatma Gandhi was very articulate and measured in what he said. While in Belur Math on 6 February 1921, he was heard saying,

The first ‘extremists’ of Indian freedom movement, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, were all

I have come here to pay my homage and respect to the revered memory of Swami Vivekananda, whose birthday is being celebrated today. I have

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gone through his works very thoroughly, and after having gone through them, the love that I had for my country became a thousandfold.

Subhas Chandra Bose, like Gandhi, needs no introduction for his matchless role in the country’s freedom struggle. He is forthright about the swami’s role, He tried to infuse into the new generation a sense of pride in India’s past, of faith in India’s future and a spirit of self-confidence and self-respect . . . Everyone who came into contact with him or his writings developed a spirit of patriotism and a political mentality.

Subhas Chandra made no hesitation in betraying his innermost feelings, ‘I cannot write about Vivekananda without going into raptures.’ And, likewise, confirmed that Swamiji consecrated his whole life to the moral and spiritual uplift of his nation and of humanity . . . if he had been alive, I would have been at his feet.

Subhas Chandra Bose of us in India into a new channel. . . When we calmly reflect on our social scene, we feel bound to admit that the moral revolution not merely preached but actually accomplished by his life and example, is the dominating force of Hindu Society in the 20th century.

C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor-General of India between 1948 and 1950, unequivocally declared, Swami Vivekananda saved Hinduism and saved India. But for him we would have lost our religion and would not have gained our freedom. We therefore owe everything to Swami Vivekananda.

In the Eyes of Historians Sometimes we tend to forget that freedom movement of a country, apart from inescapable struggles and noble sacrifices, has in its beginning the keen urge of her people to set themselves free. The evaluation of Sir Jadunath Sarkar (1870-1958), the legendary historian, had the advantage of his witnessing role to what happened in those days,

Professor Hiren Mukherjee (1907-2004), the renowned Communist parliamentarian, a scholar par excellence and avowedly ‘a sceptic and atheist’, once said of Swamiji, It was this man who actively inspired a whole host of national revolutionaries in the ‘Swadesi’ era. . . . No wonder the sedition (Rowlatt) Committee Report (1918) affirmed that Vivekananda had an important influence on those who created a big, pro-freedom tumult in the first decade of the century.

And what the Professor further added becomes befittingly our concluding lines,

Ninety-one years ago a boy [refering to Swamiji] was born who has turned the lives of millions T h e

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Vivekananda . . . will always be with us, as a great and gorgeous liberator, a man with whom indeed we can match our mountains and the sea. D E C E M B E R

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No wonder Swamiji’s inspiring influence on India’s freedom movement played a lasting role in arousing and channelling the

intense national pride and love for freedom which formed its fountainhead. Was not he a freedom-lover to the core? o

References 1.

Mary Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West : New Discoveries (Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata) Volume 1 (2000) , page 34 Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda,Volume III, page 310

ibid, 299

Dr Tarasankar Banerjee, Bengal, Ref.: Historical Writings on the Nationalistic Movement in India, Edtd. By S. P. Sen (Institute of Historical Studies Calcutta, 1977), page 20

5. 6.

ibid ibid, 3

Dr Bimanbehari Majumdar, Bengal, Ref.: Historical Writings on the Nationalistic Movement in India, Edtd. By S. P. Sen (Institute of Historical Studies Calcutta, 1977), page 3 Tirthankar Roy, The East India Company : The World’s Most Powerful Corporation (Penguin Books

Note:

India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012), pp. 200-01

9. ibid, 201 10. ibid, 202 11. Complete Works, Volume VI, page 426 12. S. N. Sen, History of the Freedom Movement in India (1857-1947), (New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers, New Delhi, 2003), page 72 13. Complete Works, Volume III, page 105

14. ibid, 238 15. Complete Works, Volume III, page 300-301 16. Romain Rolland, The Life of Vivekananda: And the Universal Gospel (Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 2012), page 93 17. Vivekananda in Indian Newspapers – 1893-1902, Edited by Sankari Prasad Basu and Sunil Bihari Ghosh (Basu Bhattacharyya And Co. Pvt. Ltd., Calcutta, 1969), page 384 18. Ibid, page 395

For quotes without citations reference may please be made to a book entitled ‘Great Thinkers on Ramakrishna Vivekananda’ (Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, 2009)

Swamiji's Meditation on India There [in Kanyakumari], sitting on the last stone of India, he passed into a deep meditation on the present and future of his country. He sought for the root of her downfall. With the vision of a seer he understood why India had been thrown from the pinnacle of glory to the depths of degradation. Where only wind and surf were to be heard, he reflected on the purpose and achievement of the Indian world. He thought not of Bengal, or of Maharashtra, or of the Punjab, but of India and the life of India. The centuries were laid out before him. He perceived the realities and potentialities of Indian culture. He saw India organically and synthetically, as a master-builder might visualize in the concrete an architect's plans. He saw religion to be the life-blood of India's millions. 'India', he realized in the silence of his heart, ’shall rise only through a renewal and restoration of that highest spiritual consciousness that has made her, at all times, the cradle of the nations and cradle of the Faith.’ He saw her greatness: he saw her weaknesses as well—the central one of which was that the nation had lost its individuality. To his mind, the only hope lay in a restatement of the culture of the Rishis. Religion was not the cause of India's downfall; but the fact that true religion was nowhere followed: for religion, when lived, was the most potent of all forces. . . . The single-minded monk had become transformed into a reformer, a nationbuilder, a world-architect. —Life of Swami Vivekananda, 1:341 T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s Message of Social Upliftment SWAMI LAKSHMIDHARANANDA

At the Crossroad of History Sitting on the last tip of India at Kanyakumari, Vivekananda grappled with the problem of the socio-economic condition of the masses and the socio-cultural status of women. Before his mind’s eye flashed the pitiable condition of the poor and the downtrodden, victimized on the one hand by the tyranny of economic oppression by their masters, and on the other hand by the tyranny of caste oppression by the so-called upper castes. His heart revolted against aristocracy and feudalism. He detested the privileges misappropriated by the upper classes and he had no sympathy for those who talked high philosophy and practiced little. Coming under the influence of Western education and contemporary socio-religious reform movements holding religion as the source of all social evil, years earlier, Vivekananda too, as Narendranath, went about criticizing Hindu religion, wanted women’s liberation and abolition of caste system. But when Narendranath met Sri Ramakrishna, his guru, he was baffled. The mystical and spiritual glow of Sri Ramakrishna’s life was ablaze in front of his scrutinizing eyes. This illiterate Brahmin priest of Dakshineswar, hardly different outwardly from any other mystic, with his trances, withdrawals, and apparent indifference to outside world, was o

yet modern and liberal in providing original solutions to contemporary socio-religious crisis. If anyone criticized idol worship, Sri Ramakrishna demonstrated that the idol of clay was actually the idol through which Consciousness was worshipped. If anybody lamented that women were ill-treated, he demonstrated how to respect women by worshipping his own wife. Sri Ramakrishna neither formed a reformist society nor joined one already existing. But he was a reformer of reformers. Unlike the votaries of the contemporary socio-religious movements, instead of rejecting some aspects of religion and completely reinterpreting others, Sri Ramakrishna strove to reconcile all of them, even the apparently contradicting ones. He saw various aspects of Hinduism as but different stages in the evolution of the soul. In the light of Sri Ramakrishna’s experiences and teachings, Vivekananda patiently and dispassionately examined the purpose of religion, the rationale of traditions and customs, lessons to be learnt from Indian history, and the impact of modern socioreligious movements on India’s future. His penetrative insight showed that religion was not the cause of social evils as many of the foreign critics and Indian reformers held. India had always been the cradle for religious aspirations and the manifestation of highest spiritual consciousness. In fact,

The author is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai.

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religion was the backbone of Indian nation. He boldly declared, contrary to the language of reformers: I claim that no destruction of religion is necessary to improve the Hindu society, and that this state of society exists not on account of religion, but because religion has not been applied to society as it should have been. This I am ready to prove from our old books, every word of it.1

Understanding the Indian Mind Whenever we talk of history, we are generally taught to think in terms of kings, kingdoms, wars and annexations. But for Vivekananda, study of history, especially in the Indian context, was study of her religious impulse and its cultural expressions. For him, more than the kings, warriors or traders, it was the lives and teachings of innumerable saints and sages of India with their social ramifications and reformations that shaped the Indian history. Vivekananda made us understand that spirituality was India’s soul, philosophy her head, culture her heart, and society her body. And therefore anyone intending to work for the upliftment of the society must not only bear in mind the organic relationship between these aspects, but also work in such a way that none of them is either stifled or distorted. He wanted something more—creating a social milieu for asserting and enhancing one’s selfdignity, one’s culture, one’s philosophies and one’s spiritual ideals.

denounced the practice of untouchability as a blot and a disease in the Hindu society. He had even declared that the conviction was gaining in his mind that the idea of caste is the greatest dividing factor and the root of Maya; all caste either on the principle of birth or of merit was a bondage2. But unlike the defiant, self-demeaning and apologetic Hindus ever anxious to plead guilty for not only the social institutions like the caste system but anything Hindu, unable to the bear the pressure of ridicule or criticism either from the ignorant or from the perverted, Vivekananda patiently and impartially studied the role and significance of the caste system. He observed, These institutions have been necessary to protect us as a nation, and when this necessity for selfpreservation will no more exist, they will die a

The Socio-cultural Hierarchy Perhaps the most criticized aspect of Hindu society is the Varna system and its distorted version, the caste system. All his life, Vivekananda was an uncompromising critic of caste tyranny and oppressions. He vehemently T h e

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natural death. But the older I grow, the better I seem to think of these time-honoured institutions of India. There was a time when I used to think that many of them were useless and worthless; but the older I grow, the more I seem to feel a diffidence in cursing any one of them, for each of them is the embodiment of the experience of centuries3 . . . This caste made walls, around which all sorts of invasions rolled and surged, but found it impossible to break through. That necessity has not gone yet; so caste remains.4

hierarchy, perhaps based on political, economic or any other considerations. Whoever is politically or economically more powerful influences the society more and commands or demands respect from lesser privileged section. In Hindu society, we have ‘cultural hierarchy’. That is, more cultured (refined and self-controlled) a person is, greater is the respect he or she commands and more is his or her influence on society. This is because cultural life in India, with its emphasis on refinement and selfcontrol, has always been both a path to and a consequence of spiritual illumination. It is for this reason, Brahmins commanded great respect, Kshatriyas, who had lesser selfcontrol and more desires, commanded lesser respect and so on. It is more for this reason, the Hindu society, except for a few petty minded people, always idolized and followed any saint or sage even if he or she be born in a socalled ‘low caste’. This has been true, right from Vedic times through the Bhakti Movement to modern age. So it is this ‘cultural hierarchy’ that Vivekananda wanted us to understand when we talk of caste system. He said,

The word ‘society’ itself implies some sort of organization and hierarchy. Without a hierarchy, it would just be a mob, not a society. And so every society has some kind of T h e

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What caste is, not one in a million understands. There is no country in the world without caste. In India, from caste we reach to the point where there is no caste. Caste is based throughout on that principle. The plan in India is to make everybody a Brahmin, the Brahmin being the ideal of humanity5 . . . By the Brahmin ideal what do I mean? I mean the ideal Brahmin-ness in which worldliness is altogether absent and true wisdom is abundantly present. That is the ideal of the Hindu race6. D E C E M B E R

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Vivekananda, much to the surprise or embarrassment to those who want to champion against caste system, clearly states, I fully agree with the educated classes in India, that a thorough overhauling of society is necessary; but how to do it? The destructive plans of reformers have failed. My plan is this . . . Caste should not go; but should only be readjusted occasionally. Within the old structure is to be found life enough for the building of two hundred thousand new ones. It is sheer nonsense to desire the abolition of caste. The new method is-evolution of the old7 . . . The solution is not by bringing down the higher, but by raising the lower up to the level of the higher8. . .

Vivekananda neither believed in the abolition of castes nor in promoting them. He wanted stable social systems that provide scope for raising the individuals and communities up the socio-cultural ladder. He wanted the accumulated cultural treasures of the ‘upper castes’ to be made available to everyone in society so that they can gradually rise with help of these. He asserted that No amount of force, or government, or legislative cruelty will change the condition of a race, but it is spiritual culture and ethical culture alone that can change wrong racial tendencies for the better.9

Respecting Womanhood Ever since Swami Vivekananda heard about the suicide of his sister while at Almora during his wandering days, his heart was in great anguish, rudely awakened to the grave problems of Indian women. All his life he fought tooth and nail for the emancipation of women from the male-chauvinist society. He severely criticized men for hypnotizing women into helplessness, servile dependence and lack of confidence to address the challenges before them. T h e

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There had been equal opportunities for boys and girls in the old forest universities and other social institutions of the Vedic period. Some of the Rig Vedic hymns were contributions of great women like Lopamudra, Visvavara, and Ghosha. There were great women philosophers like Sulabha, Maitreyi, and Gargi. There were ideal women like Sita, Savitri and Damayanti. There were women saints in the later periods too who were revered and followed. The wife was called Sahadharmapatni—an equal partner in discharging one’s responsibilities. Perhaps there was a need for some restrictions during the period of invasions and socio-political turmoils to protect the honour and chastity of women. But there can be no legitimacy in men oppressing women. Vivekananda believed in giving equal opportunities for both men and women. He pointed out that unless the women are raised, given education and freedom, there was no salvation for India. But unlike the self-styled champions of women’s emancipation, Vivekananda was not interested in addressing issues like widow’s remarriage or the age when the girls can be married off. Nor did he like men interfering with their affairs. He clearly asserted that it is wrong, a thousand times wrong, if any man dare say, ‘I will work the salvation of this woman or child.’10 He said, Our right of interference is limited entirely to giving education. Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems in their own way. No one can or ought to do this for them. And our Indian women are as capable of doing it as any in the world.11

He believed in the capabilities of women, provided they were properly educated. He believed in the self-respect and self-dignity of

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women and wanted no man to trample upon it, be it in the guise of protection or in the guise of reformation. While recognizing the equality of men and women on a spiritual plane, Vivekananda however did recognize that man and woman had their own distinct natures on a psychophysical plane and that each must grow and function according to his or her nature in order to attain fulfillment in their respective roles—personal or social. He was never tired of reminding the Indians that the ideal of Indian womanhood was the ever-pure, ever chaste, all-sacrificing Sita and that Indian womanhood found fulfillment in motherhood, in what he called, ‘marvellous, unselfish, allsuffering, ever-forgiving mother’. So when it is said that Sita is the ideal for Hindu women, it only means that women must assimilate the noble qualities of Sita and also take an active role in establishing dharma in society, not just be weeping and wailing as popular imagination depicts. But at the same time, Vivekananda was never tired of praising the freedom that the western women enjoyed in their practical and cultural life. He wanted Indian women to be bold and free without losing their modesty and grace. According to Sister Nivedita, ‘Strength, strength, strength, was the only quality he called for in woman as in man’12. But Vivekananda abhorred women imitating men. For him, womanhood of a woman was as sacred and unique as the manhood in man. The Multiple-Culture Disorder Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies in Indian history was either complete or partial denial to the ‘lower castes’ the grand and ennobling philosophical and cultural treasures embedded in the Sanskrit texts by petty and narrow-minded priests and scholars. Instead T h e

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of helping everyone to rise from wherever he or she was to greater cultural refinement and spiritual enlightenment, the priests and scholars were more interested in their own social privileges and economic gains. And those who knew better or were more broadminded were usually less in number and generally out of the pale of social interactions or influences and as a result the general populace got more and more alienated from its own cultural roots. This made them vulnerable to other alien cultures. Worse, majority of the Hindus began to imitate Western values in public life confining their own cultural and religious values to their homes. That is, they were one type of person in public and another at home. These double standards led to a phenomenon which may be termed as ‘Multiple-culture Disorder’. Many others take pride in India having a ‘composite culture’. But they hardly recognize that ‘composite culture’ is a disorder—either there is a culture which is endogenous but limited and parochial or a high and broad culture that not only accepts other cultures, but also assimilates and internalizes the best elements in them, after mature scrutiny and approval, without losing pride or security in one’s own cultural roots. Having currents and crosscurrents of dissociated and artificially grafted values can only lead to disorder in the social fabric. A goody-goody cosmopolitan outlook may sound universal, but is self-alienating. There can be no stable society without a stable culture because culture forms an integral part of any society, primitive or advanced. One of the greatest challenges of modern India is to understand the pathology of this disorder and seek mature treatment. Without treating this disorder, we cannot dream of significant social upliftment because upon this depends the creation of successive generations

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who would be aligned to their own social and national ideals with self-respect and self-esteem. Vivekananda showed how to assimilate the best of other cultures without getting swept away from one’s own ethos. Remedies for Social Maladies Education in modern India has been more or less only a job-fetching exercise. Of course, it is a great boon to the hungry stomachs, but we cannot just feed the body and kill the soul. There are people in society, fed sumptuously at the physical level, but starving at the cultural or spiritual levels. Unless their needs are recognized and opportunities are given to them for learning and expressing higher values in life, we would continue to have socio-cultural neurosis. Education, according to Vivekananda, had to train and harness the energies and fulfill the needs of people not only at the physical, but also mental, intellectual, cultural (moral) and spiritual. It was for this reason he emphasized so much about spreading spiritual ideas, religious fervour, and cultural refinement, along with providing bread for the hungry. Vivekananda drew up his theory of social dynamics to show that the labour class, the masses, with their innate nature and habits, would raise and gain supremacy by the power of their sweat and labour. They would supersede the domination of priestly classes, influential warrior classes, and prosperous merchant classes. And that would mean a better distribution of knowledge, power and wealth. But there was a danger of lowering of culture . . . Modern India has been providing education to earn bread and cultivate the intellect, but perhaps the time has come to emphasize on cultural and spiritual education as well. T h e

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Meaningful and healthy social upliftment presupposes cultural refinement and spiritual orientation, anywhere in the world, more so in India. Evolution, not Revolution The distinctive feature of Vivekananda’s method for social upliftment was to have as its watchword ‘Evolution’ rather than ‘Revolution’. He wanted the social reformers and workers to have a positive approach. What he said more than a hundred years ago is still very relevant. He observed:

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For nearly the past one hundred years, our country has been flooded with social reformers and various social reform proposals. Personally, I have no fault to find with these reformers. Most of them are good, well-meaning men, and their aims too are very laudable on certain points; but it is quite a patent fact that this one hundred years of social reform has produced no permanent and valuable result appreciable throughout the country. Platform speeches have been made by the thousand, denunciations in volumes after volumes have been hurled upon the devoted head of the Hindu race and its civilisation, and yet no good practical result has been achieved; and where is the reason for that? The reason is not hard to find. It is in the denunciation itself. As I told you before, in the first place, we must try to keep our historically acquired character as a people. I grant that we have to take a great many things from other nations, that we have to learn many lessons from outside; but I am sorry to say that most of our modern reform movements have been inconsiderate imitations of Western means and methods of work; and that surely will not do for India; therefore, it is that all our recent reform movements have had no result13 . . .We must grow according to our nature. Vain is it to attempt the lines of action that foreign societies have engrafted upon us; it is impossible.14 D E C E M B E R

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. . . Denunciation is not at all the way to do good. That there are evils in our society even a child can see; and in what society are there no evils? And let me take this opportunity, my countrymen, of telling you that in comparing the different races and nations of the world I have been among, I have come to the conclusion that our people are on the whole the most moral and the most godly, and our institutions are, in their plan and purpose, best suited to make mankind happy. I do not, therefore, want any reformation. My ideal is growth, expansion, development on national lines. As I look back upon the history of my country, I do not find in the whole world another country which has done quite so much for the improvement of the human mind. Therefore I have no words of condemnation for my nation. I tell them, ‘You have done well; only try to do better.15 To the reformers I will point out that I am a greater reformer than any one of them. They want to reform only little bits. I want root-and-

branch reform. Where we differ is in the method. Theirs is the method of destruction, mine is that of construction. I do not believe in reform; I believe in growth. I do not dare to put myself in the position of God and dictate to our society, ‘This way thou shouldst move and not that.’ I simply want to be like the squirrel in the building of Rama’s bridge, who was quite content to put on the bridge his little quota of sand-dust. That is my position.16

Conclusion To summarize, Vivekananda wanted us to understand what Indian society really is, its history, its ideals, its aspirations, its uniqueness and its possibilities, and seek its upliftment and development not only through socio-political methodologies, but with inner religious and cultural growth; through a mature evolution and not through any violent, alienating, and self-demeaning approaches. o

 References 1. CW, 5. 47 2. Cf. CW, 6. 394 3. CW, 3. 132 4. CW, 5. 307

5. 6. 7. 8.

CW, 5. 214 CW, 3. 197 CW, 5. 215 CW, 3. 295

9. CW, 3. 182 10. CW, 3. 246 11. CW, 5. 229 12. Nivedita

Centenary Volume p 62, Nivedita School Publication

13. CW, 3. 194-195 14. CW, 3. 219 15. CW, 3. 195 16. CW, 3. 213

'Do You Feel . . .' Love opens the most impossible gates; love is the gate to all the secrets of the universe. Feel, therefore, my would-be reformers, my would-be patriots! Do you feel? Do you feel that millions and millions of the descendants of gods and of sages have become next-door neighbors to brutes? Do you feel that millions are starving today, and millions have been starving for ages? Do you feel that ignorance has come over the land as a dark cloud? Does it make you restless? Does it make you sleepless? Has it gone into your blood, coursing through your veins, becoming consonant with your heartbeats? Has it made you almost mad? Are you seized with that one idea of the misery of ruin, and have you forgotten all about your name, your fame, your wives, your children, your property, even your own bodies? Have you done that? That is the first step to become a patriot, the very first step. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 3:225 T h e

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Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas on Economics P. KANAGASABAPATHI

Swami Vivekananda remains one of the most influential personalities of India and the modern world. Though vast changes have taken place in the country since the beginning of the twentieth century, his influence continues to increase over the years. In fact many of his thoughts are more relevant today. Swamiji was a great visionary, with a rare clarity on diverse aspects of human life. His intimate knowledge of the Indian situation, wide experience across different countries, deep understanding of the civilizational backgrounds and keen intellect gave him a unique opportunity to develop new insights on different subjects, including economics. Indian Economy in His Times The Indian economy was at its worst period during the times of Swamiji. Let us look at some of the facts and figures of those times. Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), the Grand Old Man of India, calculated that the national income of India during 1867-68 was 3.4 billion rupees for a population of 170 million, with a per capita income of just 20 rupees1. Comparison of per capita incomes of different countries revealed that India’s income was very low; ‘even the most oppressed and misgoverned Russia’ was much better and it was believed that India was ‘the poorest country in the civilized world.’2

The British domination had made India, a nation with a long history of prosperity and superior achievements, a poor country. The

agricultural, industrial and business sectors were destroyed. The replacement of the native education with the Macaulay’s system resulted in changing the entire course of education, apart from denying it to larger sections of the society. The value based systems that governed the functioning of the society and

o Dr. P. Kanagasabapathi is a professor of economics and author based in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. T h e

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economy since the ancient times suffered severe damages. Swamiji’s Insights into Economic Issues Swamiji had a remarkably clear and deep understanding of the Indian economy due to his first-hand knowledge of the issues as an itinerant monk covering different parts of the country. His experiences and interactions in the foreign countries provided him an opportunity to understand and compare the economic and social systems of different parts of the world. Though Swamiji was not a student of economics in the narrow sense of the term, he was well-read in economics and was familiar with the works of political economists like John Stuart Mill. His expertise on economic concepts could be understood from the fact that he gave a lecture (CW, 3.470) to the experts at the American Social Science Association in the United States on the ‘Use of Silver in India’ during 1893. Manifold Contributions Swamiji proposed many new ideas in the field of economics at the global and the Indian levels. He emphasized the need for combining material prosperity with the spiritual values for the all-round development of people in different countries. When the western countries were accumulating wealth and involved in enjoying material pleasures, he told them clearly that it was necessary to imbibe higher principles for a meaningful life. The west is beginning to realize the meaning of his words only in recent years—after braving many sufferings and hard times. The western economic ideas revolve around materialistic aspects. The economic theories and models that the western economists had been advocating over the years T h e

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are now proved wrong. It is only now that the idea that life is a complex process of which economics is only a part is gaining ground. Swamiji’s thoughts for the Indian economy encompass different areas that are crucial to the functioning of the economic system. He remains the one spiritual monk who emphasized the need for material progress of the society more than anyone else. This is the reason why he was called as ‘father of modern materialism.’3 But he was not an arm-chair theorist, confined to standard sets of beliefs. His ideas cover diverse aspects necessary for the all-round development of different sections of people and the progress of the nation. India’s Downfall due to Exploitation Swamiji had a clear understanding of the background of the Indian and Western economies during those times. He was aware of the higher performance of the Indian economy till the eighteenth century. He was one of those who understood that the primary source of wealth of the Europeans was the Indian resources. Swamiji noted: Indian commerce, Indian revenue and all are now in the possession of the English; it is therefore that they are foremost of all nations now . . . That India, the India of the ‘natives’, is the chief means and resources of their wealth and civilization, is a fact which they refuse to admit, or even understand.4

Detailed research studies during the recent decades prove the above statements. The noted economic historian Angus Maddisson has established the supremacy of the Indian economy at the global level since the beginning of the Common Era5. Economists such as Andre Gunder Frank reveal as to how the western historians were engaged in

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projecting a wrong image of the West over the years 6. ‘Stand up On Your Feet’ During those times, two noted economists Naoroji and Romesh Chandra Dutt were producing works and arguing that the exploitation of India should be stopped forthwith. Even at that time, Swamiji went many steps further and stated that India had to evolve her own economic policies for all her round development without imitating other countries. He was worried that the western countries were getting rich with the Indian resources, while Indians remained unaware of the opportunities. He said: In this country of abundance, the produce of which has been the cause of the spread of civilization in other countries, you are reduced to such straits! Your condition is even worse than that of a dog . . . People of foreign countries are turning out such golden results from the raw materials produced in your country, and you, like asses of burden, are only carrying their load. The people of foreign countries import Indian raw goods, manufacture various commodities by bringing their intelligence to bear upon them, and become great. 7

Inclusive Economics was His Vision Swamiji’s vision of economics was concerned with the wholesome development of all categories of people in the country. He T h e

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strongly advocated what the economists in the recent periods call as ‘inclusive economics.’ His priority was the removal of poverty and uplifting the poorer and downtrodden sections of the society. He wanted all sections of the country to progress. His emphasise was on the weaker sections and women. He underlined that education and basic facilities be provided to all. Indian Agriculture is Unique India is basically an agricultural country. As a true visionary, Swami Vivekananda was fully aware of the importance of agriculture and noted that ‘Indians must not shy off from their unique characteristic of being an agrarian economy.’8 He wanted India to adopt modern scientific practices to improve agriculture. He was particular that the small farmers need to be encouraged. His emphasis on agriculture remains true even in the present context, as about 60 percent of the population still depends on agriculture and rural activities. We are witnessing as to how the neglect of agriculture after independence is resulting in suicides and the younger generations leaving farming activities. This is not good for the future of the country. India has inherent strengths in agriculture, which the other countries lack. Besides, there is no other nation in the world that is capable of feeding our population, which is one sixth of humanity.

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Industrialization Swami Vivekananda advocated the development of the industrial sector for economic progress. He gave much importance to the promotion of a vibrant industrial sector. He was clear about the nature of industrialization also. He wanted Indians to take steps to make the required items without depending on foreign countries. His discussions with Jamshedji Tata during his voyage to Chicago in 1893 reveal his vision for the development of the industrial sector. Swamiji’s emphasis on domestic production instead of imports has become very important for India now, as the country has been facing the heat at several fronts due increased imports in different sectors during recent periods. Entrepreneurship and Promotion of Traditional Works Swamiji was aware that India could be built only by developing the entrepreneurial talents of people. Hence he encouraged selfemployment activities at different levels. He was concerned that the art works of the village communities were neglected and wanted them to be taken up by those in towns. Swamiji underlined the need for the cottage and small scale units, as he was aware of the negative effects of the big industries. Emphasis on Science and Technology Swamiji emphasized the use of modern science and technology to solve India’s problems. He wanted India to develop into a scientific and technological power. In this connection it is necessary to remember that it was the suggestion made by Swamiji to Jamshedji Tata that led to the establishment of the prestigious Indian Institute of Science. T h e

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Swamiji wanted Indians to learn Western science and adopt them in India. He said: With the help of Western science, set yourselves to dig the earth and produce food-stuffs—not by means of servitude of others—but by discovering new avenues of production, by your own exertions aided by Western science.9

India to be built on Indian methods Swamiji was particular that India should be built on her own methods. In this context, he quoted Japan to admonish Indians who imitate the West. To quote: There, in Japan, you find a fine assimilation of knowledge, not its indigestion, as we have here. They have taken everything from the Europeans, but they remain Japanese all the same, and have not turned European; while in our country, the terrible mania of becoming westernized has seized upon us like a plague.10

Swamiji was perhaps the first person who suggested an Indian model of economic development, even when the country was under the colonial rule. Ghosh notes: The uniqueness of the Vivekananda doctrine lies in the fact that whatever remedies it suggests for India’s economic, political and spiritual regeneration, it derives from Swami’s practical experiences of life. He used to meet the common Indians directly whenever he went to different places. This made him confident that India has to develop an economic model for herself which will take the peculiarities of her social life into consideration.11

India as the Jagat Guru After the rise of the West in the global arena, the entire world was made to believe that their economic models are the only solutions for progress. Now after the global economic crisis during 2008, people have realized that the western ideologies cannot

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solve the basic problems even in their own countries. Studies undertaken by experts at different levels during recent periods clearly reveal that India need not follow the western models, as her fundamentals and functioning systems are unique. Many western scholars acknowledge that there is ‘the Indian way’ due to the peculiar social and cultural backgrounds of the country.12 Our experience shows that India has failed to realize her full potential as

the policy makers have been blindly following the western approaches. As a pioneering thinker, Swamiji underlined the need to develop India on the national lines. He said: My ideal is growth, expansion, development on national lines.13

Indeed if we frame our policies with the nation-centric approaches, India has the potential to emerge as the Jagat Guru, as Swami Vivekananda had envisioned. o

 References 1.

4. 5.

Naoroji, Dadabhai, Poverty and Un-British Rule India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 1996, p.II Quoted in Bipan Chandra, The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India, Anamika Publishers and Distributors (P) Ltd., New Delhi, 2004, p.17 Binoy Kumar Sarkar quoted in Santwana Dasgupta, Social Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, p.459 Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works, Vol. VII, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, Sept.1992, p.358 Angus Maddison, The World Economy—A Millennial Perspective, Overseas Press (India) Ltd., New Delhi, 2003

7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13.

Andre Gunder Frank, ReOrient: Global Economy in the Asian Age, Vistaar Publications, New Delhi, 1998 Swami Vivekananda, op.cit., Vol. VII, p.145 Swami Gambhirananda quoted in Ghosh, Sarup Prasad, Swami Vivekananda’s Economic Thought and in Modern International Perspective: India as a Case Study, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, 2010, p.53 Swami Vivekananda, op.cit., Vol. VII, p.182 Ibid., p.372 Ghose, op.cit., p.526 Peter Cappelli et al., The Indian Way: How India’s Top Business Leaders are Revolutionizing Management, Harvard Business Press, 2010 Swami Vivekananda, op.cit., Vol. III, p.195

Religion and Economics Whenever any religion succeeds, it must have economic value. Thousands of similar sects will be struggling for power, but only those who meet the real economic problem will have it. Man is guided by the stomach. He walks and the stomach goes first and the head afterwards. Have you not seen that? It will take ages for the head to go first. By the time a man is sixty years of age, he is called out of [the world]. The whole of life is one delusion, and just when you begin to see things the way they are, you are snatched off. So long as the stomach went first you were all right. When children's dreams begin to vanish and you begin to look at things the way they are, the head goes. Just when the head goes first, [you go out]. —Swami Vivekananda, 1:454 T h e

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‘An Orator by Divine Right’ K SUBRAHMANYAM

Swami Vivekananda was ‘an orator by divine right’—that is how many well-known newspapers in America described after he spoke at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago. His oratorical skills were at once inborn and divine. Let us attempt to understand his oratory and how he employed it to convey the message of strength and manliness wherever he went. His Lasting Legacy Every art is the flower and fulfilment of the latent gift which is systematically built up by the grace of God. Oratory is no exception. Swami Vivekananda laid before the Western people the charm of literary beauty through his powerful lectures, giving them an idea to understand the glory of Indian intellectual and spiritual heritage. He placed before them the grandeur of the Hindu view of life in a sonorous rhetoric to the awe and utter dismay of the Western materialism. Through his oratory, the hard snow of terseness in the Indian philosophical texts was made to melt. The unfriendly attitude of many Western thinkers to Indian ideas as a mere superstition was transformed by Swamiji’s persuasive presentation of Truth in elegant oratory. The sleeping lion of Vedanta was roused up to roar and drive away fear once for all from every mind through his oratory. The petty minded youth of low aspirations were awakened to fly high in global vision through his oratory. And through his oratory, recorded in his immortal

Complete Works, he continues to inspire all to rebuild their lives, bringing in a wholesome world for the well-being of all. Oratory, like good food, can be nutritious, medicinal and delicious. It is first and foremost based on the firm foundation of Truth. It is meant to prevent misconceptions and set right the setbacks, if any, in understanding Truth, so that positive and healthy progress is promoted. While having all these, Swamiji’s oratory is also full of love and beauty, attractive and enriching, lucid and captivating, magnificent and mesmerizing, majestic and man-making. What His Oratory Did Oratorical skill is essential to present an idea elegantly, to express an opinion convincingly and to win willingly the hearts of the listeners. It is required to obtain the wholehearted acceptance of the speaker’s point of view. However truthful and profound the idea may be, if it is not presented in logical and appropriate words, it fails to draw the attention of the audience. Pearls of wisdom will only remain like pebbles, if not presented in a proper form and with endearing love. It is like nutritious milk—when it is flavoured and offered in a beautiful cup with love will have a welcome effect. As and when there is a social setback, moral depravity, psychic depression or widespread indecisiveness and the subsequent inaction, there is the need for the orator’s

o Dr. K Subrahmanyam is retired Principle of Vivekananda College (Gurukul), Madurai. T h e

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excellence to set right the minds and rouse them to decide and act nobly for both individual and social betterment. In the Mahabharata, Arjuna of valour and vitality suddenly was caught in the clutches of despondency and dilemma, unable to be of clear vision and a right course of action. Sri Krishna, therefore, had to rise to the occasion

ignorance. Poverty and abject misery, for want of activity and enlightenment were their lot. Contemplating over their plight, Swamiji reached the Southern most tip of the land at Kanyakumari. Swimming across the strip of the seas, he went to the solitary rock at the feet of Mother Bharat. He sat there in meditation for full three days—from 24 to 26 December 1892. He decided to drive away the despondency of Indians and wake them up giving them the rousing call, ‘Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached’. In the West, Swamiji observed their dynamic activity, but it was prompted by many unwanted ideals. If the evil at home in India was more due to inactivity, the hitch in the West was not lethargy of the body but materialism and misunderstanding of life’s goal. Also, there was a misconception in the West about India and Indian philosophical thought. In her monumental treatise, Swami Vivekananda in America: New discoveries, Marie Louise Burke [1:223] describes how the great land of Bharat was deplorably depicted in the West by the missionaries:

All strata of society had been bombarded with falsehoods and slander regarding India. When Swamiji later said that all the mud on the bottom of the Indian Ocean could not balance the filth that had been thrown at his motherland, he was not exaggerating. Characteristic was a book entitled India and Its Inhabitants. First The well-known poster of Swamiji made in 1893 and posted published in 1858, it comprises 335 pages throughout the city of Chicago of lectures delivered throughout America with his oratory, grounded in the Truth of by a Mr. Caleb Wright, M.A. (no relation of Eternity, to set him right. Prof. John Henry Wright). On the title page As a wandering monk, Swamiji found is the information that ‘The Author Visited Indians immersed in inertia, indolence and India and Travelled Extensively There, For the T h e

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Express Purpose of Collecting The Information Contained in This Volume’—information which was predominantly false, calumnious, and sensational. This book, profusely illustrated with line drawings and replete with moral reflections on the order of ‘Send, oh send the Bible there,’ had a phenomenal success among the intelligentsia. A preface cites testimonials from the presidents of twenty American colleges who gave unstinting praise to the lectures of Caleb Wright. A comparison of two editions of the book shows that within a space of two years over 36,000 copies were printed.

While this was the situation in the West, the scene at home in India was gloomy with ignorance and inertia requiring fiery light to dispel darkness and inspire people to be active. The roaring oratory of Swami was a well awaited remedial need in India and abroad. Thanks to Swamiji and his commanding oratory, India was awakened and the West realized their folly in sending their Missionaries to such an enlightened country like Bharat. India and the West, both were shaken from their long slumber—from ignorance, superstitious beliefs and weakness. The Content of His Oratory Truth is at the core of Swamiji’s oratory. And it is beautiful and powerful not only because of the intrinsic truth, but also because of his love of mankind. Spontaneously and in a flood, his utterances of endearing veracity drown all petty minded views and ways. They energize the latent humanism and cosmic oneness. It is this trident of love, truth and beauty that had ennobled and enlivened the audience in Chicago on 11th of September 1893 and there was rapturous applause. It is in tune with the Upanishadic lore of India that Swamiji roared in the exhortative and electrifying oration of an T h e

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aggressive Vedantin the latent human values and aspirations to strengthen the weak and enlighten the ignorant. He offered an apt and accurate answer asserting the utilitarian aspect of Indian philosophy in his reverberating oratory to the questions such as: Has philosophy played an important role in historical reality? Has it been the guiding power in human destiny in these thirty centuries or has it only been the luxury of the leisured few, a parenthesis in people’s lives? If political leaders and scientific inventors have decided the fate of nations, has philosophy been an echo dying away among the mountains? Is it a tempting but fruitless exercise of the mind, a flight from the objectives of immediate living?

The Swamiji’s philosophy presented rational and man-making ideas. He laid bare the treasures of spirituality to the common man in words and phrases of crisp and captivating lustre. Vivekananda’s oratorical skill lies in making philosophy simple and practical, beautiful and inspiring. The grandeur and glory of Adavita cannot be comprehended and presented easily by all. Nor can the truth in the philosophical treatises be brought out easily and described lucidly by all. But Swamiji with ease was able to lay bare in simple words the hidden truth in the complex concepts of philosophy so that all can be led to the Altar of Divinity. His oratory was a friction-free vehicle to transport the audiences to higher regions of spiritual sublimity. Oratory: the Art of Persuasion According to Aristotle, a successful orator has to usher in all means of persuasion and every type of appeal to elevate the audience. There are two kinds of arguments or means available to the speaker; ‘non artistic’ and ‘the artistic’. Also, there are a few types of

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appeals—physical, rational, emotional, moral, ethical and spiritual. If they are all pressed into service, one is bound to become a good orator. They can be cultivated, and in some, they are readily present in the very blood. Many may learn the science of music, but only a few can make it an art. Vivekananda was an orator by divine right. The art in him was inborn. Unlike ordinary orators, swami Vivekananda gave an artistic and godly expression even to the nonartistic arguments and means of persuasion. The non-artistic means are readily available; there is no need to invent them. It is left to the speaker’s memory and resourcefulness to avail of them. Non-artistic means such as laws, witnesses, contracts, bonds, sections and legal points are used by the lawyers and litigants. Preachers cull out the relevant lines from the religious texts to fall back upon. But while making use of them one has to be poetic, artistic and dramatic; never dry and prosaic. Swami Vivekananda was gifted with a powerful memory and was highly resourceful to use the scriptural utterances and philosophical treatises aptly and appropriately. He had them on the tip of his tongue. No where do we find a dry and pedantic presentation of a law or rule, personality or a quotation in his lectures. Every expression of his is artistic and authentic, appealing at once to the heart and intellect. Very often the Swamiji’s use of scriptural passages and words is such that his statements acquire additional vitality and validity in his speeches. They, in turn, enjoy an authoritative reputation and charm when ushered in by him for emphasis. The purity of his character, the truthfulness of the content and the powerfulness of his expression were such that every one of his words came like an electric shock energising every nerve in the entire system of the listeners. For example, his oft T h e

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quoted, ‘Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached,’ and, ‘Fly from Evil and Terror and misery and they will follow you; face them and they will flee’, convey the message of strength, fearlessness and perseverance, echoing the Upanishadic statements ‘uttishthata, jaagrata.’, ‘naayam-atma-balahinena-labhyah’, and ‘abhih’. The spirit of Upanishads, the message of Gita, aphorisms of Narada, Patanjali and Bhartrihari on Bhakti, Yoga and ethics; Manu Smriti and the holy Bible; Eastern and Western philosophical texts; statements of scientific facts, Sri Ramakrishna’s parables and even the age-old proverbs of time-tested veracity; the great epics and the mythological texts of the world, besides his intuitive revelations form the inexhaustible source of authority to his spontaneous overflow of powerful oratory. The second mode of exhortative persuasion in oratory is the artistic element. In this artistic expression lies the unpremeditated fountainhead of humanism and love. Vivekananda was a born humanist and artist of poetic imagination and rhetoric expression. His loving ideas gain added beauty while flowing from his metallic voice of reverberating vocal chords. There is none who has not been charmed by his musical words of rhetoric. A Successful Orator Every human being is a combination of body, mind and intellect. A good orator, for total success, has to win over all the three parts that constitute the individuals. Body with its sense organs has to be won over, first by the speaker’s personality, manners, endearing looks and loving gestures. People seek liking and sense-gratification especially from sight and sound. The eyes like to see a pure and perfect person, and ears like to listen to a musical voice.

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The mind inside seeks something more. It sees, through the person the moral uprightness before submitting to the orator’s physical personality and magical words. If there is clash between the precept and practice, speeches remain only as a word jugglery without any tangible impact. Human minds are reluctant to accept transient outbursts of powerful sounds. They are like lightning and thunder without any ability to quench the thirst of the Earth. Finally, therefore, the intellect comes up to cross examine the veracity of the speaker’s content. The imperative need, on the part of the orator, is to resort either to the deductive or inductive means while presenting a point. Mere rational appeal is not enough to win an audience. All types of persuasion must be pressed into service. Above all, the ethical appeal or humanism plays a powerful role. Without it, every other appeal collapses like a house of cards built in quick sands while the cyclonic winds are heavy. ‘This appeal stemmed from the character of the speaker, especially as that character was evinced in the speech itself.’ One is sure to win the love and admiration, trust and goodwill of the audience, if only one can impress upon the audience that he is a person of ‘intelligence, benevolence, and propriety’. Aristotle considered ethical appeal to be the most potent of all. Orator’s skill in ‘convincing the intellect’ and ‘moving the will’ is futile, if the listeners do not love and trust the speaker. All the vital factors contributing to the oratory of a successful person are found in the very first heroic and historic speech of Swamiji on 11th September, 1893. By his very physical personality of purity and perfection, he has electrified the audience. It is his ‘dress and address’, personality and presentation, bearing and behaviour that have won the attention and admiration at the very first sight. His T h e

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majestic figure endowed with metallic voice soon mesmerised all. His form was magnetic and his words were enchanting music. Says a contemporary account: When the Parliament opened, on the morning of 11th September, Vivekananda immediately attracted notice as one of the most striking figures seated on the platform, with his splendid robe, yellow turban, and handsome bronze face. In his photographs, one is struck by the largeness of his features— they have something of the lion about them—the broad strong nose, the full expressive lips, the great dark burning eyes. Eye witnesses were also impressed by the majesty of his presence. Though powerfully built, Vivekananda was not above medium height, but he seems always to have created the effect of bigness. It was said that despite his size, he moved with a natural masculine grace, ‘like a great cat’, as one lady expressed it. In America, he was frequently taken for an Indian prince or aristocrat, because of his quiet but assumed air of command.

An American author goes a step further and says, Others commented on his look of being ‘inlypleased’; he seemed able to draw upon inner reserves of strength at all times, and there was a humorous, watchful gleam in his eyes, which suggest calm, amused detachment of spirit. Everybody responded to the extraordinary deep bell-like beauty of his voice; certain of its vibrations caused a mysterious psychic excitement among his hearers. And no doubt, this had something to do with the astonishing reaction of the audience to Vivekananda’s first speech.’

When he, in his deep voice, addressed the audience as sisters and brothers, his humanism was at its height with love and universal brotherhood. The American mind which was hither to entrenched in staunch materialism was thrilled when the milk of

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humanism with the nutritive spirituality showered on it in a sudden flood of all embracing oneness. While the impact of his speech was galvanizing, the response to his clarion call for moral and spiritual awakening was instantly vibrant and overflowing. The trident of rational, ethical and emotional appeals has at once proved to be unfailing, since it is from the mouth of a pure person accustomed to singing the spiritual truth, experiencing it always. With the universal love, he speaks the eternal truth. Duality and individuality are only to the body. Soul is eternal and infinite and is ONE. All forms are only the reflections of the same sun, the soul. They are from the same source, striving to return to the same source. The light shining in all, the life vibrant in all, and the love embracing all in oneness bring and unite all under the umbrella of universal brotherhood. It is but logical deduction as well that all mankind is but one community of brothers and sisters on account of their oneness of origin and abode. Normally too, it is an established fact in all religions that an ethically evolved person finds all to be brothers and sisters. When the spiritual, philosophical and ethical truth is spoken of with the intensity

of love and in a magnetic voice by a perfect character of purity, it appeals unfailingly to all emotionally as well, since there is in every heart a mute and hidden longing for Truth, for Love and for Purity. Swamiji was an orator always, even when he was not addressing an audience from a platform. He was an ever-successful speaker. Romain Rolland writes, Vivekananda never passed anywhere unnoticed, but fascinated even while he was unknown. In the Boston train, his appearance and conversation struck a fellow traveller, a rich Massachusetts lady, who questioned him and then interested herself in him invited him to her house, and introduced him to the Hellenist, J.H. Wright, a professor at Harvard; the latter was at once struck by the genius of this young Hindu and put himself at his disposal; he insisted that Vivekananda should represent Hinduism in the Parliament of Religions, and wrote to the President of the committee. He offered the penniless pilgrim a railway ticket to Chicago, and letters of recommendation to the Committee for finding lodgings.

No wonder Swami Vivekananda continues to be a successful orator even after a century as ‘a voice without form’, inspiring and guiding millions the world over. o

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For the first time in history, as has been said elsewhere, Hinduism itself forms here the subject of generalisation of a Hindu mind of the highest order. For ages to come the Hindu man who would verify, the Hindu mother who would teach her children, what was the faith of their ancestors will turn to the pages of these books for assurance and light. Long after the English language has disappeared from India, the gift that has here been made, through that language, to the world, will remain and bear its fruit in East and West alike. What Hinduism had needed, was the organising and consolidating of its own idea. What the world had needed was a faith that had no fear of truth. Both these are found here. . . . Of the Swami's address before the Parliament of Religions, it may be said that when he began to speak it was of "the religious ideas of the Hindus", but when he ended, Hinduism had been created. —Sister Nivedita, CW, p.x T h e

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Swami Vivekananda—An Outstanding Communicator PREMA RAGHUNATH

Swami Vivekananda ‘s name is synonymous, even to those who may not have read his writings, with the World Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago in 1893. This is because by addressing his listeners as ‘Sisters and brothers of America’, he created history not only by the speech which followed, but also by the dynamism and novelty of the address. At a time when India was considered to be no more than an underdeveloped, poor and backward colony of the mighty British Empire, these words must have come as a thunderbolt from the blue: . . . It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the cordial welcome which you have given us. . .. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. . . I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted.1

The words ring out with confidence and pride, quelling with one blow any idea—and there must have been plenty—that real progress meant economic and political supremacy. Swamiji was able to establish with his initial words his great self-regard and a sense of honour for his country, its people and its traditions and culture, culminating in its philosophy which is of the highest order. He was a powerful communicator. A Powerful Communicator o

India’s greatness—this is what Swami Vivekananda intended to convey, and he succeeded in doing it fully and completely. Communication becomes powerful and effective when it reaches the heart of the listener. Indeed communication can be regarded as good when it fulfills the purpose for which it was intended. When, as in the case of Swamiji, it is accompanied by passion, truth, knowledge, work and sacrifice, communication becomes excellent. It is a self-evident truth which needs no expansion, yet an assessment of his faculty of communication will be highly profitable. It will help us know better his brilliant and sparkling thoughts—firing and inspiring millions of minds, bringing to light many esoteric texts and explaining the difficult, organizing minds rendered confused and hazy by poor thinking. It is, of course, true that his own Master, Sri Ramakrishna, was a communicator of the highest order. However, while Sri Ramakrishna’s language was simple and homely, deriving its immediacy from those qualities, Swamiji’s language, though lucid, was complex and intricate, requiring sometimes more than one reading. Thus do the extremely simple and complex meet, each needing great powers of deduction in order to comprehend its real meaning. Swami Vivekananda’s lectures, sermons and articles all display an overwhelming

Mrs. Prema Raghunath, a long standing devotee of Sri Ramakrishna from Chennai, teaches English. T h e

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ability of felling illusion of all types, and establishing Truth of all things. Swamiji wanted that people should shed false beliefs and pursue spirituality through recognising the divinity that lies in each of us. This recognition establishes a direct connection with others and serving others becomes the highest religion. Every word, thus, Swamiji spoke was an exhortation or a call to give up blind, ritualistic mumbo-jumbo and replace it with a joyously participative and inclusive faith. Swamiji’s whole effort was to interpret his Master’s life in terms that would become intelligible to future generations. Meaningless ritual was to be replaced by the ability to feel. Swamiji placed feeling—and the workings of the heart—over the abilities of the intellect, itself a novel idea in a religious world dominated by those who wanted to make religion inaccessible by drawing a veil of intellectualism over it. Logic and reason, so prized by 19 th century thinkers, were not to him the instruments of God-realisation, as commended by Sri Ramakrishna. At their first meeting, Sri Ramakrishna made the young Naren (later Swami Vivekananda) speechless by saying quite calmly that he had seen God as intimately as he saw Naren sitting before him. Sri Ramakrishna also asserted that the goal of human life was ‘Ishwar-darshan’ [Godrealisation]. He spoke through experience and that touched the heart of all who heard him. Swamiji’s lectures, talks and writings are object lessons of great language as they seek to guide people of varied abilities and interests— students, disciples, friends and anyone who wanted his advice—on the path to realizing his Master’s simple, but powerful dictum: realizing God as the purpose of life. Swamiji had many things to perform through his communication skills. These T h e

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included rousing a sleeping giant called pre-independence India, peopled as it was by diffident, broken and beaten masses who had forgotten their own greatness and vast knowledge through years being browbeaten into submission by foreign powers, and also communicating this greatness to the others, the West in particular. Swamiji’s overriding sense of justice and compassion made it impossible for him to watch the suffering brought on by centuries of self-abasement and lack of ‘manmaking education’. His lectures and writings resonate with and reflect this sense; they have a sonorous ring to them, a formality of expression in which he displays a combination of brilliant linguistic prowess with the most profound human truth. A Great Letter-writer His letters, on the other hand, present a more human side of Swamiji which is at once endearing and immediately accessible. If his lectures denounce, encourage, diagnose and prescribe, his letters are by turn affectionate, angry, personal and provide solutions. Swami Vivekananda is shown to be a communicator of the highest order: he used his medium for delivering his message. Swamiji’s letters address a variety of people—his Gurubhais [brother-disciples], his friends and well-wishers, his foreign devotees, most of whom befriended this sparkling young monk the likes of whom they had never seen (and certainly never expected), after his spectacular success at the World Parliament of Religions. As readers and students of communication methodologies, or as his faithful followers, as those who have been fired by the Vivekananda Effect, we can recognize the patterns which made up the whole. There are letters which are written pre-1893 where

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he sounds angry and tired, worried and His letters gain in assurance as the concerned: for had his Master not left him, years go on as his travels established him with all His powers transferred, in full charge to be a wonderful speaker and teacher. of spreading His life’s message? Mindful They are full of erudition, concern, ideology of this enormous and commentary, responsibility immensely valuable and the honour it to students of bestowed on him, spirituality, socioSwami Vivekananda logy, history and knew with certainty politics alike. A case what his life’s path in point is a letter must be. In a way to Swami Akhanit had been predananda written ordained. It must be from Ghazipur in utilized for the best February 1890, a possible purpose of brilliant discursive stirring the masses piece on Buddhism: into becoming the ‘Buddha is my best they could Ishta,’ he declares, A facsimile Swamiji handwriting possibly be, through he preached no theory his writings and his speeches, whether in about Godhead—he was himself God, I fully English or Bengali [there is a lone letter he believe it. But no one has the power to put a wrote in French!]. limit to God’s infinite glory. No, not even God Himself has the power to make Himself His earliest letters display his desire limited.3 to learn more; for example his letters to Sri Pramada Das Mitra, a scholar for whom he In another letter to Swami Akhandahad the greatest respect. To Pramada Das nanda, he speaks of those who consider that Mitra, he wrote in March 1890 about Sri his devotion is failing because of his travels. Ramakrishna: This does not bother him: ‘These ideas I count as those of lunatics and bigots’, he comments. Never during his life did Ramakrishna refuse a single prayer of mine. . .Such love even my Swami Vivekananda could come directly parents never had for me. There is no poetry, no to the point and, in the most fiercely frank exaggeration in all this. It is the truth and every language, condemn or praise. His talents disciple of his knows it.2 in communication are so multifarious and resolute that for purposes of convenience they Brave, powerful words, exceedingly can be considered under different headings. simply put, straight from the heart, these Each of these is different in tone and register, words convey Swamiji’s love for and loyalty aiming directly at their readers’ immediate to Sri Ramakrishna. When his later letters are and permanent gain. To live up to its highest read, it is clear that this love is at the basis of ideals, communication—any form of it—has every one of his efforts, almost superhuman to make sense to its receiver. In this particular in their intensity, to establish a Ramakrishna quality, Swamiji excels. Mission. T h e

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Communication, Travel and Humour As Swamiji took to an itinerant life after Sri Ramakrishna’s passing, he never lost touch or sight of his highest ideals for the spread of Vedanta. Wherever in the world he may have been, he had an immense network of those he relied upon, such as the Maharajas of Khetri and Mysore and of course all those who relied upon him. Another group consisted of his western admirers and friends who saw in him the magnificence of a prophet. To them, who helped him towards his global impact, his letters show love, gratitude and deepest concern as for a son towards his parents or a brother for his sisters. In the interim was another group of his south Indian admirers, Alasinga Perumal, the Raja of Ramnad and Subramaniya Ayyar, who made it possible for him to undertake the epic journey to Chicago and thereby to the whole of the western world. The letters to his Gurubhais fall into a category by themselves for they were the people he knew best and who he knew the most intimately for they had shared the most significant and vital part of their lives under the loving tutelage of Sri Ramakrishna. They exude concern and love and his immense, all-consuming desire to help everyone around him to achieve their highest potential. His letters are sometimes written in a tone of a fever of impatience, as when he wrote to Swami Shivananda for the establishment of Holy Mother’s house:

making her the nucleus, once more will Gargis and Maitreyis be born into the world. . . . . Hence it is her Math that I want first.4

At other times, his letters abound in humour. Reading his opinions expressed, one can almost see a laughing Swamiji, able to see the funny side of any given human situation. Swamiji’s extreme sophistication and refinement are everywhere present in these missives. They are diverse and discursive, resembling a good conversation, in which he touches upon several subjects with equal ease and authority. In a letter to his brother disciples written from New York in September 1894, Swamiji communicates several things all at once, excitedly telling them of strange customs and manners, beliefs and lifestyles, interspersed with serious instructions. ‘It gives me great pleasure,’ he says in a letter

You have not yet understood the wonderful significance of Mother’s life—none of you. But gradually you will know. Without Shakti (Power) there is no regeneration for the world. Why is it that our country is the weakest and the most backward of all countries?—because Shakti is held in dishonour there. Mother has been born to revive that wonderful Shakti in India; and T h e

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‘to learn that Shashi [Swami Rama-krishnananda] and others are making quite a stir. We must create a stir, nothing short of this will do. . . . I shall now tell you something of the Hales to whose address you direct my letters. He and his wife are an old couple, having two daughters, two nieces, and a son. The son lives abroad where he earns a living. The daughters live at home. In this country, relationship is through the girls. The son marries and no longer belongs to the family, but the daughter’s husband pays frequent visits to his father-in-law’s house. They say, ‘Son is son till he gets a wife; The daughter is daughter all her life.’ . . . Marriage is a very troublesome business here. In the first place, one must have a husband after one’s heart. Secondly, he must be a moneyed man. . . .’5

This is followed almost immediately by, Here in summer, they go to the seaside. They have got almost a mania for boating and D E C E M B E R

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yachting. A yacht is a kind of light vessel which everyone you or old, who has the means, possesses.6

Swamiji’s brilliant analysis and exactitude of description and the manner in which he makes his observations are masterpieces of good communication. On reflection, a reader understands that yachting is a sport of the rich (‘Everyone. . ...who has the means’). In the same letter, he has analysed the institution of marriage as practiced in the west, the relationship of sons and parents as against daughters and parents. However, later in the letter he speaks about graver things in his comment about the position of American women in their society. ‘I am struck with wonder,’ he says, ‘how gracious the Divine Mother is on them. . . . They are about to corner the men, who have been nearly worsted in the competition.’7 Some of his letters to his brother monks are prototypes of concerned mentorship. In one letter he asks, ‘Were you not going to start a paper, or something of the sort, what about that? You shall have to edit a magazine, half Bengali and half Hindi—and if possible another in English.’8 The tone in these letters is direct and forceful. There is no beating round the bush or softening the blow. ‘Try to give less of material food in the anniversary celebrations, and give some food for the brain instead.’9 (written to Swami Ramakrishnananda). In his letters to his American friends, Swamiji shows formality and courtesy. In his letters to Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Sturges and Francis Leggett, he sounds very contemporary, showing his keen grasp of the American way of life, with it open and powerful quality of life which prizes frankness and honesty, attention to detail and personal independence. Swamiji is able to convey a sense of identity T h e

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with his new surroundings, at the same time exhibiting his sense of total identification with his own country. Mr Sturdy is specially liked: addressing him as ‘blessed Beloved’, he feels free to request him for help at the arrival of Swami Abhedananda to England. He mentions particularly that since it would be cold weather and Swami Abhedananda would not be adequately warm he might need help. What loving solicitude!

Swami Vivekananda and Narasimhacharya

In his letters to Alasinga Perumal and other Indian well-wishers, Swamiji opens up about his plans and concerns about the future. Once in a way, his letters sounded hard hitting and direct: ‘. . .why should I waste my energies defending Hinduism if the Hindus all go to sleep? Why do you not take up the fighting and leave me to teach and preach?’10

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In another letter to Swami Brahmananda he says, Do you think there is any religion left in India? The paths of knowledge, devotion and yoga—all have gone, and now there remains only that of Don’t-touchism—‘Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me.’11

Swamiji’s legendary powers of communication did not stop with his writing and his speeches. His body language and facial expressions were as vivid and telling as any words could be. Regal of bearing and exuding strength at every step, Swamiji taught what globalization really meant while all the time burning with love for his country and compatriots. The Feelings behind Communication Finally, his extreme compassion and love for those who struggled in religious life gave birth to some of his most tender lines. In February 1902, he wrote to Sister Nivedita, ‘May all power come unto you! May mother herself be your hands and mind! It is immense power—irresistible—that I pray for

you and, if possible, along with it—infinite peace.’ We have been celebrating the 150 th anniversary of one of India’s most glorious sons and yet, when we read his writings it is impossible to believe that these words were written—and spoken—over a century ago, so contemporarily powerful are they. That Swami Vivekananda had divine power is a certainty: one can almost see him striding out and saying in tones ringing with passion and fervour: Do you feel for others? If you do, you are growing. . . If you do not feel for others, you may be the most intellectual giant ever born but you will be nothing: you are but dry intellect and you will remain so.12

It is this feeling, earnestness behind his words which makes the most powerful and effective communicator of our times. About the freshness of his words, as Jawaharlal Lal Nehru remarked, If you read Swami Vivekananda’s writings and speeches, the curious thing you will find is that they are not old . . . They are fresh even though you read them now.13 o

 References 1. CW, 1:3

2. CW, 6:232

3. CW, 6:227

4. CW, 7:484

8. CW, 6:274 9. ibid, 279 10. CW, 5:80 7. Ibid, 272 13. Great Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, RKMIC, Kolkata, p.120

5. CW, 6:268

6. Ibid, 269

11. CW, 7:486

12. CW, 2:307

Simplicity is the secret. My ideal of language is my Master's language, most colloquial and yet most expressive. It must express the thought which is intended to be conveyed. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 5:259

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Compilation

‘I am a Voice without Form’ SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

While Swami Vivekananda was a personification of self-abnegation and reticent to the core, there were occasions when he spoke about himself and the historic contributions he has made to India and abroad. The following compilation gives a peep into it. ‘I am Proud . . .’ looked back, more and more has this pride I am proud to belong to a religion come to me, and it has given me the strength which has taugand courage of ht the world conviction, raised both tolerance me up from the and universal dust of the earth, acceptance. . . . I and set me working am proud to tell out that great plan you that we have laid out by those gathered in our great ancestors bosom the purest of ours. Children remnant of the of those ancient Israelites, who came Aryans, through the to Southern India grace of the Lord and took refuge may you have the with us in the very same pride, may year in which their that faith in your holy temple was ancestors come shattered to pieces into your blood, by Roman tyranny. I may it become a am proud to belong part and parcel of to the religion your lives, may it which has sheltered work towards the and is still fostering salvation of the the remnant of the world!2 grand Zoroastrian I want no nation.1 name—I want to Swami Vivekananda I am one of the proudest men ever be a voice without a form. I do not require born, but let me tell you frankly, it is not for anybody to defend me.3 myself, but on account of my ancestry. The I have a message to the West as Buddha more I have studied the past, the more I have had a message to the East.4 T h e

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What! I, who have realised the Spirit and the vanity of all earthly nonsense, to be swerved from my path by babies’ prattle!5 You know the greatest difficulty with me is to keep or even to touch money. It is disgusting and debasing. So you must organise a Society to take charge of the practical and pecuniary part of it. . . . It will be a wonderful relief to me to get rid of horrid money affairs.6 My Love for India India I loved before I came away. Now the very dust of India has become holy to me, the very air is now to me holy; it is now the holy land, the place of pilgrimage, the Tirtha.7 India must listen to me! I shall shake India to her foundations. I shall send an electric thrill through her national veins. Wait! You shall see how India will receive me. It is India, my own India, that knows truly how to appreciate that which I have given so freely here, and with my life’s blood, as the spirit of Vedanta. India will receive me in triumph.8 These feet have been washed and wiped and worshipped by the descendants of kings, and there has been a progress through the country which none ever commanded in India.9 Let me tell you that India is already Ramakrishna’s and for a purified Hinduism I have organised my work here a bit.10 He who has been with me through hills and dales, through deserts or forests will be with me . . . I am sincere to the backbone, and my greatest fault is that I love my country only too, too well.11 I know my mission in life, and no chauvinism about me; I belong as much to India as to the world, no humbug about that.12 My Religion T h e

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I do not care for liberation, or devotion; I would rather go to a hundred thousand hells, vasantavallokahitam charantah—‘doing good to others (silently) like the spring’—this is my religion.13 I see a greater Power than man, or God, or devil at my back. I require nobody’s help. I have been all my life helping others. . . I hate cowardice; I will not have anything to do with cowards or political nonsense. I do not believe in any politics. God and truth are the only politics in the world, everything else is trash.14 I have all along been like a hero—I want my work to be quick like lightning, and firm as adamant . . .15 I have nothing whatever to do with ritual or dogma; my mission is to show that religion is everything and in everything. . . .16 I was never taught any comfortable religion in my life. I want truth for my religion. Whether it be comfortable or not, I do not care.17 In my eyes this world is mere play— and it will always remain as such.18 [Ramakrishna] was all Bhakti without; but within he was all Jnana. I am all Jnana without; but in my heart all is Bhakti.19 I am a sort of a mystic and cannot move without orders, and that has not come yet.20 My Ideal and Experience My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.21 I have experienced even in my insignificant life that good motives, sincerity, and infinite love can conquer the world. One single soul possessed of these virtues can destroy the dark designs of millions of hypocrites and brutes.22

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May I be born again and again, and suffer thousands of miseries so that I may worship the only God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls -- and above all, my God the wicked, my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races, of all species, is the special object of my worship.23 I believe in acceptance. Why should I tolerate? Toleration means that I think that you are wrong and I am just allowing you to live. Is it not a blasphemy to think that you and I are allowing others to live?24 I am a child of the Divine Mother, the source of all power and strength. To me, cringing, fawning, whining, degrading inertia and hell are one and the same thing.25 I do not believe in a God or religion which cannot wipe the widow’s tears or bring a piece of bread to the orphan’s mouth. However sublime be the theories, however well-spun may be the philosophy—I do not call it religion so long as it is confined to books and dogmas.26 It is selfishness that we must seek to eliminate. I find that whenever I have made a mistake in my life, it has always been because self entered into the calculation. Where self has not been involved, my judgment has gone straight to the mark.27 I Shall Inspire Men . . .

The power behind me is not Vivekananda but He the Lord, and He knows best.28 Work unto death—I am with you, and when I am gone, my spirit will work with you.29 What does it matter! I have given them enough for fifteen hundred years!30 If there were another Vivekananda, he would have understood what Vivekananda has done! And yet, how many Vivekanandas shall be born in time!!31 It is better to wear out than rust out. Don’t be anxious even when I die, my very bones will work miracles.32 I only tell you this, that whoever reads this letter will imbibe my spirit! Have faith! Onward! Great Lord!. . . I feel as if somebody is moving my hand to write in this way.33 You have heard that Christ said, ‘My words are spirit and they are life’. So are my words spirit and life; they will burn their way into your brain and you will never get away from them!34 Know for certain that the work done by me is not the work of Vivekananda, it is His work—the Lord’s own work!35 It may be that I shall find it good to get outside of my body—to cast it off like a disused garment. But I shall not cease to work! I shall inspire men everywhere, until the world shall know that it is one with God.36 o

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References Complete Works, 1.3 CW, 3.368 CW, 6.283 CW, 5.314 CW, 5.136 CW, 5.42 CW, 3.309 Life of Swami Vivekananda 2.32 9. CW, 5.135 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

T h e

10. CW, 7.506 11. CW, 8.309 12. CW, 5.95 13. CW, 7. 486-487 14. CW, 5.96 15. CW, 8.430 16. CW, 5.202 17. CW, 9.216 18. CW, 8.431 19. Life, 1.145

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20. Swami Vivekananda in the West—New Discoveries, 2:380 21. CW, 7.501 22. CW, 5.127 23. CW, 5.137 24. CW, 2.374 25. CW, 8.432 26. CW, 5.50 27. CW, 8.265 D E C E M B E R

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28. CW, 5.137 29. CW, 5.114 30. Life, 2.590 31. Life, 2.652 32. CW, 6.406 33. Life, 1.550 34. CW, 9.407 35. CW, 5.358 36. CW, 5.414

185

Volume 100

Index to Titles and Authors

The Vedanta Kesari January–December 2013 Managing Editor: Swami Gautamananda { Editor: Swami Atmashraddhananda Printed and Published by Swami Asutoshananda for

SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH MYLAPORE, CHENNAI 600 004

‘Let the Lion of Vedanta roar, the foxes will fly to their holes.’ —Swami Vivekananda T h e

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Annual Index Title - Index A Art of Listening, The—Pravrajika Virajaprana 298, 338 Aum: Symbol, Sound and Supreme Way—Satish K. Kapoor 135 B Blessed By Their Sacred Touch: An Account of the Visits of Swami Vivekananda and Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna to the City of Delhi —A Monastic Sojourner 417 Book Review 39, 80, 121, 161, 201, 241, 281, 321, 359, 401, 441 Brahma-sutras—What They are and What They Teach—Swami Golokananda 257 D Dealing with Uncertainty—V. Kumar Murty 275, 311 Doing Svadharma—the Way to Inner Development—T. Diwakar Rao 146 E Editorial—Swami Atmashraddhananda A Prescription for Inner Peace 2 Celebrating Vivekananda 46 Freedom from Narrowness 86 Real and Unreal 126 The World We Live In 166 Peace of Mind 206 The Goal of Life 246 The Pursuit of Desires—and Beyond 286 ‘Greatness in Little Things’ 326 The Highest Empowerment 366 ‘Unselfishness is God’ 406 Swami Vivekananda—the Man and His Message 452 Education for Life—Swami Supradiptananda 68 Enlightened Citizenship: A Modern Indian Understanding—Ashwani Kumar 192 Entering the Himalayas—Lord Shiva’s Abode: A Pilgrimage to Almora—Pravrajika Brahmaprana 223, 264, 304 F T h e

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Features Ramakrishna Tells Stories, Sri 31, 67, 103, 143, 191, 228, 260, 317, 355, 384 Simhâvalokanam Class Talks: Swami Ramakrishnananda 369 Eternal Thinker of Eternal Thoughts, The 209 Letters 330 Master As I Saw Him, The 51 Notes of the Month 129 Notes of the Month 170 Notes of the Month 410 Reminiscences of Swamiji 6 Spiritual Basis of Life, The 289 Two Thought-Currents—the Social and the Super-Social 250 Vedantic View of Indian History 89 G Gayatri Mantra—Its Glory and Practice—Anna Subramanian 350 Gems From the Complete Works—Make Your Own Destiny —Swami Vivekananda 13 Glimpses of Swamiji 12 January 1863 53 Courageous Sannyasin—Two Notable Incidents, The 296 Face the Brutes 274 Find Out the Truth for Yourself! 96 Kerala, In—Interactions with Chattambi Swami 377 O Mother, Give Me Knowledge and Devotion 234 Spiritual Struggles and Realisation 179 Until You Have Tested Me . . . 139 Vivekananda, Swami—The Wandering Monk 35 Golden Amulet Which Sri Ramakrishna Wore: Some Facts, The—Girish 104 Growing Old—A Holistic Perspective —Swami Satyeshananda 27 H Holy Mother and Her Teachings—Swami Sudarshanananda 272 I I Shall Look Upon Them As the Blissful Mother Herself—Hironmoy Mukherjee I have Always Been There . . .

131, 171, 210 392

L Life Beyond Numbers—Sushruth L 109 Literary Vivekananda: Some Reflections, The—Panchapagesan K. 307 Living the Spiritual Life: Some Personal Anecdotes —Swami Swahananda 8 T h e

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M Maya and Computer Programs: Some Parallels—K Srikanth 434 Maya is a Statement of Facts—Umesh C. Gulati 15 Multiplicity Is Only Apparent—Jay Lakhani 61 N New Find—Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda

21, 70, 107, 150, 185, 232, 270, 309, 336, 390, 432

O Order on the March, The 34, 76, 116, 155, 197, 236, 279, 318, 356, 396, 437 Our Attitudes Towards Work—N Gokulmuthu 114 P Practice of Quiet Time, The—Subhashish Chatterjee 32 R Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University—Swami Atmapriyananda 97 Rediscovering Swami Vivekananda through the Lens of Social Justice—Rhyddhi Chakraborty 379, 412 Reminiscences of Swami Shivananda— A Direct Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna—Swami Tapasyananda 331, 371 Reports Landing Named After Vivekananda, The 75 Synopsis of the Governing Body Report for 2011-12 64 Role of Philosophy in Personal Counseling, The—Ranjith K K 152 S

Sage Vasishtha’s Advice to Prince Rama—Swami Sarvadevananda 91, 141, 176, 215, 261 Shiva Jnane Jiva Seva—A Modern Mahavakya—Swami Vireshananda 385 Special Report—Tamilnadu Chief Minister Inaugurates Celebrations at Vivekananda Illam 144 Spiritual Significance of Rituals—Swami Yatiswarananda 101

T Three Touching Stories —Dipankar Bhowmik 187 Three Transforming Statements —Swami Sunirmalananda 229 Travelogue His Abiding Presence—A Pilgrimage to Swami Vivekananda’s Room —A Monastic Sojourner 343 House Where Swami Vivekananda Was Born, The—A Traveller 55 U Underlying Oneness of Life, The—Swami Sthiratmananda 23 Unpublished Letter of Swami Vivekananda , An 213 T h e

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V Vedic Prayers 1, 45, 85, 125, 165, 205, 245, 285, 325, 365, 405 Vivekananda and the Psychic Powers, Swami—Sudesh 251 Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga: A Contemporary Perspective, Swami—Swami Brahmeshananda 181, 219 W When God Himself was a Student 301 When Shraddha ‘Enters’ Life—Swami Shrimohanananda 72 Why Celibacy?—A Hindu Perspective—Swami Tyagananda 291

Author - Index A Anna Subramanian—Gayatri Mantra—Its Glory and Practice 350 Ashwani Kumar—Enlightened Citizenship: A Modern Indian Understanding 192 Atmapriyananda, Swami—Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University 97 Atmashraddhananda, Swami—Editorial A Prescription for Inner Peace 2 Celebrating Vivekananda 46 Freedom from Narrowness 86 Real and Unreal 126 The World We Live In 166 Peace of Mind 206 The Goal of Life 246 The Pursuit of Desires—and Beyond 286 ‘Greatness in Little Things’ 326 The Highest Empowerment 366 ‘Unselfishness is God’ 406 Swami Vivekananda—the Man and His Message 452 B Brahmaprana, Pravrajika—Entering the Himalayas—Lord Shiva’s Abode: A Pilgrimage to Almora Brahmeshananda, Swami—Swami Vivekananda’s Raja Yoga: A Contemporary Perspective

223, 264, 304 181, 219

D Dipankar Bhowmik—Three Touching Stories 187 Diwakar Rao, T—Doing Svadharma—the Way to Inner Development 146 G Girish—The Golden Amulet Which Sri Ramakrishna Wore: Some Facts 104 Gokulmuthu, N—Our Attitudes Towards Work 114 T h e

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Golokananda, Swami—Brahma-sutras—What They are and What They Teach 257 H Hironmoy Mukherjee—‘I Shall Look Upon Them As the Blissful Mother Herself’ 131, 171, 210 J Jay Lakhani—‘Multiplicity Is Only Apparent’ 61 K Kumar Murty, V—Dealing with Uncertainty

275, 311

M Monastic Sojourner, A—Travelogue His Abiding Presence—A Pilgrimage to Swami Vivekananda’s Room 343 Monastic Sojourner, A—Blessed By Their Sacred Touch: An Account of the Visits of Swami Vivekananda and Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna to the City of Delhi 417 P Panchapagesan K.—The Literary Vivekananda: Some Reflections

307

R Ranjith K K—The Role of Philosophy in Personal Counseling 152 Rhyddhi Chakraborty—Rediscovering Swami Vivekananda through the Lens of Social Justice 379, 412 S Sarvadevananda, Swami—Sage Vasishtha’s Advice to Prince Rama 91, 141, 176, 215, 261 Satish K. Kapoor—Aum: Symbol, Sound and Supreme Way 135 Satyeshananda, Swami—Growing Old—A Holistic Perspective 27 Shrimohanananda, Swami—When Shraddha ‘Enters’ Life 72 Srikanth, K—Maya and Computer Programs: Some Parallels 434 Sthiratmananda, Swami—The Underlying Oneness of Life 23 Subhashish Chatterjee—The Practice of Quiet Time 32 Sudarshanananda, Swami—Holy Mother and Her Teachings 272 Sudesh—Swami Vivekananda and the Psychic Powers 251 Sunirmalananda, Swami—Three Transforming Statements 229 Supradiptananda, Swami—Education for Life 68 Sushruth L—Life Beyond Numbers 109 Swahananda, Swami—Living the Spiritual Life: Some Personal Anecdotes 8 T Tapasyananda, Swami—Reminiscences of Swami Shivananda— A Direct Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna T h e

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Traveller, A—Travelogue—The House Where Swami Vivekananda Was Born 55 Tyagananda, Swami—Why Celibacy?—A Hindu Perspective 291 U Umesh C. Gulati—Maya is a Statement of Facts 15 V Virajaprana, Pravrajika—The Art of Listening 298, 338 Vireshananda, Swami—‘Shiva Jnane Jiva Seva’—A Modern Mahavakya 385 Vivekananda, Swami—Gems From the Complete Works Make Your Own Destiny 13 Y Yatiswarananda, Swami—Spiritual Significance of Rituals

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December 2013 (Spotlight Issue) Prayer 445 Editorial  Swami Vivekananda—the Man and His Message—Swami Atmashraddhananda 452 Articles  Swami Vivekananda, the Great Spiritual Master—Swami Gautamananda 461  The Continuing Development of The Complete Works— Swami Atmarupananda 468  Swami Vivekananda: A Knower of God — Swami Brahmeshananda 474  Swami Vivekananda —An Exponent of the Scriptures— Swami Atmapriyananda 481  Perfect Independence—Vivekananda, Freedom and Women: East and West — Pravrajika Vrajaprana 488  Swami Vivekananda as a Scientific Thinker — N.V.C.Swamy 493  Swami Vivekananda’s Sense of Humour — Swami Bhaskarananda 498  Swami Vivekananda, An Inspiring Educationist — Swami Abhiramananda 502  Swami Vivekananda—A Quintessential Servant-Leader— Asim Chaudhuri 509  Swami Vivekananda: An Ideal Monk — Swami Dayatmananda 515  Swami Vivekananda—the Great Worshipper of the Divine Mother — Swami Mahayogananda 521  Swami Vivekananda’s Message to Modern Indian Women — Prema Nandakumar 527  Swami Vivekananda’s Concept of A Monastic Organization — Swami Kritarthananda 532  Swami Vivekananda—The Prophet of Service — R Balasubramaniam 541  Swami Vivekananda: the Prophet of Religious Harmony — Swami Atmajnanananda 547  Manliness, Strength, and the Religious Connection — William Page 552  Swami Vivekananda—The Icon Before the Indian Youth — M. Pramod Kumar 561  Swami Vivekananda’s Guidelines on Living — Satish K Kapoor 565  Swami Vivekananda and Youth—A Global Perspective — Pravrajika Shuddhatmaprana 570  Swami Vivekananda: A Genius in Music — Swami Kripakarananda 574  Swami Vivekananda—The Monk on the Move — Swami Sarvasthananda 583 T h e

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 Swami Vivekananda: The Source of Inspiration for India’s Freedom Struggle

— Somenath Mukherjee 591  Swami Vivekananda’s Message of Social Upliftment — Swami Lakshmidharananda 598  Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas on Economics— P. Kanagasabapathi 605  ‘An Orator by Divine Right’ — K Subrahmanyam 610  Swami Vivekananda—An Outstanding Communicator — Prema Raghunath 616 Compilation  ‘There is Not one Like Him’ 447  A Prince Among Men 555  ‘I am a Voice without Form’ 622 Features  Simhâvalokanam (Swami Vivekananda—A Spokesman of the Divine Logos) —Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 457 Annual Index 620

Review - Index Alasinga Perumal: An Illustrious Disciple of Swami Vivekananda—by Swami Sunirmalananda 39 Ancient Sages—by Swami Satyamayananda 441 Biography of Guru Devi Janaky Matha—by Dr. G. Swaminathan 323 Blessed Life, A—Biography of Pravrajika Bharatiprana—by Pravrajika Jnanadaprana 121 Contemporary Indian Philosophy—by Bddasant Kumar Lal 402 Daily Meditation on the Divine Spiritual Life based on Spiritual Teachings of Swami Dayananda Giri.—compiled by Dr.B.N. Mathur 244 Daily Satsanga with Swami Krishnananda Advaita-siddhanta-sara-sangraha —Reconstructed and edited by Prof. Dilip Kumar Mohanta 362 Deep Yoga—by Bhava Ram 43 Dharma, the Global Ethic—by M. Rama Jois 322 Finding Peace of Mind—by J.P. Vaswani 204 Four Indian Philosophers on Education, The—by C. Thriveni 443 Gita for Professionals—by CA Chetan Dalal 83 Influences of Ancient Hinduism on Early Christianity—by A.L. Herman. 124 Introspections on the Gita—by Narayan Singh Masuda 203 Joy of Teaching, The—by Dr. C Balaji 162 Light of the Modern World, The—by Swami Bhajanananda. 281 Living in the Now and Other Heart-to-Heart Talks—by J.P. Vaswani 324 Mantra Yoga and Primal Sound—by David Frawley 123 Mind and Modern Problems—by Swami Bodhamayananda 82 Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—by Ravi Ravindra 403 Patriot Monk Swami Vivekananda, A—by Shanta Kumar 321 Radiant Sameness, The—Translation by Som Raj Gupta 163 Ramakrishna Mission’s Relief Services, The—An Illustrated Outline of a Century & Beyond of Service (1897-2010) by Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math 122 Ramakrishna Stotramanjari, Sri—by Swami Harshananda 241 T h e

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Ramakrishna, Sri: Myriad Facets—by Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata 161 Sanskrit is Fun—Part 1 to 3—edited by Warwick Jessup and Elena Jessup 201 Secret of Happiness, The—by Swami Brahmeshananda 442 Serpent Power, The—by Arthur Avlon 404 Seven Quartets of Becoming —by Debashish Banerji. 122 Shake Hands with Life—by J.P. Vaswani 444 Sister Sudhira—by Pravrajika Prabhuddhaprana 40 Spiritual Guide to Heal Your Chronic Pain, A—by Dr. Greg Fors 41 Stories of Krishna, The—edited by Warwick Jessup and Elena Jessup 201 Story of Rama, The— edited by Warwick Jessup and Elena Jessup 201 Teacher—As a Torch-Bearer of Change—by Swami Nikhileshwarananda 402 Ten Companions of God—Life and Teachings of the Sikh Gurus—by J.P. Vaswani 164 Thirumazhisaipiran’s Tiruchanda Viruttam—by Vankeepuram Rajagopalan 364 Transforming Self Through Yoga—by Tom Pilarzyk 42 Trivarga—by M. Rama Jois 322 Truth is One, The—by Sadhu Vaswani 243 Universal Mother, The—by Swami Brahmeshananda 442 Universal Temple Dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna—by Venkataramana Reddy 361 Vachanamrut—by Siddharameswar Maharaj 44 Vedanta: The Solution to our fundamental problems—by D. Venugopal 202 Vivekananda as the Turning Point. The rise of a new spiritual wave —edited by Swami Shuddhidananda 282 Vivekananda His Contribution to the Present Age, Swami—by Swami Satprakashananda 241 Vivekananda Reader—compiled by Dr M Sivaramkrishna edited by Swami Narasimhananda 242 Vivekananda, Swami— His Human Bonds—by J B Goyal 359 Vivekananda, Swami—Leader of sacred nationhood—by Prof S K Chakraborty 283 Vivekananda’s Ancestral House and Cultural Complex, Swami—A Heritage Building and A Place of Pilgrimage—Compiled by Swami Satyapriyananda 124 Vivekananda’s Devotion to His Mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi—by Swami Tathagatananda. 81 Vivekananda’s Influence on Subhas—by Nanda Mookerjee 360 Vivekananda’s Neo-Vedanta, Swami—In Theory & Practice: A Critical Study —by Dulal Chandra Panday 321 Vivekananda—His Gospel of Man-making—compiled and edited by Swami Jyotirmayananda 80 Viveka-Sourabham—by Swami Harshananda 401 WHAT SHALL I DO?—by Swami Harshananda 81 What to Do When Difficulties Strike—8 Easy Practical Suggestions—by J P Vaswani 162 Why Me?–An Inward Odyssey—by Krishna Narayanan 363 World as Power, The—by Arthur Avlon 404

Reviewers Chetana Mandavia Divyakripananda, Swami T h e

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Eakambaram, N Gokulmuthu, N Gopalakrishnan, R. K.Panchapagesan, K Karunakarananda, Swami Prasannakshi, K.L. Prema Nandakumar Prema Raghunath Probal Ray Choudhury Sharma, V.S Shanti Chaitanya, Br. Sivaramakrishna, M Sundaram, P.S Chidambarananda, Swami Swamy, NVC Vireshananda, Swami VK Office

321, 402 441 42, 43, 202, 402, 404 163, 364 241 201 39, 122, 281, 282 82, 162, 359, 442, 359, 363 123, 243 322 361 241 44, 81, 121, 242, 283, 324, 441, 444 162, 444 80, 83, 203, 403 124, 204, 401 122, 124, 321, 362

The Vedas say the whole world is a mixture of independence and dependence, of freedom and slavery, but through it all shines the soul independent, immortal, pure, perfect, holy. For if it is independent, it cannot perish, as death is but a change, and depends upon conditions; if independent, it must be perfect, for imperfection is again but a condition, and therefore dependent. And this immortal and perfect soul must be the same in the highest God as well as in the humblest man, the difference between them being only in the degree in which this soul manifests itself.6 Freedom means independence of anything outside, and that means that nothing outside itself could work upon it as a cause. The soul is causeless, and from this follow all the great ideas that we have. You cannot establish the immortality of the soul, unless you grant that it is by its nature free, or in other words, that it cannot be acted upon by anything outside. For death is an effect produced by some outside cause. I drink poison and I die, thus showing that my body can be acted upon by something outside that is called poison. But if it be true that the soul is free, it naturally follows that nothing can affect it, and it can never die. Freedom, immortality, blessedness, all depend upon the soul being beyond the law of causation, beyond this Maya. Of these two which will you take? Either make the first a delusion, or make the second a delusion. Certainly I will make the second a delusion. It is more consonant with all my feelings and aspirations. I am perfectly aware that I am free by nature, and I will not admit that this bondage is true and my freedom a delusion. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Swami Vivekananda T h e

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New Release

Indian Culture Its Timeless Appeal and Ageless Charm The core philosophy of Indian Culture a nd its significance in modern times

Hard bound, Pages. x + 374 Price: Rs. 275/+ Postage: Rs.30/for single copy. Request for VPP not accepted

Indian culture is one of the most ancient and diverse cultures in the world. What is more, it is a living culture, not tucked away in museums and dusty volumes but a living force in the daily and social lives of millions of Indians, in India and abroad. India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world. Continuity, diversity and vitality of Indian culture have astonished the scholars and commoners alike. Despite these ennobling truths, it is also a fact that much needs to be done to preserve and cultivate Indian culture especially amongst youth. Dwelling on various aspects of our cultural heritage and the grand philosophy, this volume tries to bring together the scholarly and everyday approach to Indian culture. This aims at promoting understanding of Indian culture in a simple and easy-to-read style, without losing its serious and profound dimensions.

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Email: mail@chennaimath.org

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Vivekananda by Vivekananda A Film on Swami Vivekananda Available in English, Hindi and Tamil Duration: 125 minutes DVD, Format: PAL A narrative of the extraordinary life of Swami Vivekananda, in his own words

Based on his autobiographical remarks, ‘Vivekananda by Vivekananda’ is a feature film. It begins with the young Swami swimming across the turbulent Indian Ocean, climbing the rock in the middle of the ocean to meditate. In solitude, he realizes his life's mission—‘Upliftment’ of the masses of India. Thus begins one of the most adventurous journeys in Indian history.

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Here Swamiji reminisces about his childhood, his youth, poverty at home, his first meeting with his teacher Sri Ramakrishna, his constant disagreements with his Master, his Master's Mahasamadhi, establishment of Ramakrishna Math, his days as a wandering monk in India and finally his journey to America and so on. Concept, Script, Screenplay and Direction: Karthik Saragur Postage: Rs.50/-for single copy. For more details, contact: Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004, Tamil Nadu Website: www.chennaimath.org Email:mail@chennaimath.org

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The Vedanta Kesari

Some of the recent Annual Issues of The Vedanta Kesari now available in book form: (1999) Globalization (2002) How to Organise Life (2004) Sri Ramakrishna in Todays Violent World (2005) Channelling Youth Power (2006) No One is a Stranger (2007) Upanishads in Daily Life (2008) Gita for Everyday Living (2009) How to Shape the Personality (2010) Facets of Freedom (2011) Joy of Spirituality

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ALASINGA PERUMAL An Illustrious Disciple of Swami Vivekananda A Saga of Commitment, Dedication and Devotion to His Guru ‘One rarely finds a man like our Alasinga in this world—one so unselfish, so hard-working, and devoted to his guru, and such an obedient disciple is indeed very rare on earth.’ —Swami Vivekananda Alasinga Perumal (1865-1909) was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. He played a pivotal role in Swamiji’s going to the West and also helped materialise many of Swamiji’s ideas regarding starting of Ramakrishna Movement in India. Hailing from an orthodox background, he was born in Chikkamagalur in Karnataka and later, after many ups and downs in life, shifted to Madras where he taught in a college. He met Swamiji in 1892 when the latter visited Madras as a wandering monk. Swamiji addressed many of his letters to Alasinga and had much appreciation for Alasinga’s selfless and pure character. Here is the story of an extraordinary individual whose legendry dedication and commitment, and devotion to his Guru are an everlasting source of inspiration and strength. The book has 19 chapters, 3 appendices and over 50 illustrations.

Author: Swami Sunirmalananda Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Hard bound, pages ix + 342 Price: Rs. 75/- + Postage: Rs. 30/- for single copy. No request for VPP entertained

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SRI RAMAKRISHNA: THE PERSONIFICATION OF GODS AND GODDESSES By Rasipuram Ramabadran with a foreword by Swami Tapasyananda An inspiring and thought-provoking book comparing different traits of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi with those of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Pages xiI + 521

Price: Rs. 90/- + Postage: Rs.25/for single copy. No request for VPP entertained

SRI RAMAKRISHNA ADVAITA ASHRAMA (HQS: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Belur Math) P.O. Kalady, Ernakulam-683574, Kerala Phone: 0484-2462345, Mob: 9447051231 E-mail: srkaadv@dataone.in The Ashrama has been running a free hostel for the poor & underprivileged children from classes V to X since 1936. They are provided with food, uniforms, accommodation and education up to Xth Std. absolutely free of charge. They are enrolled in the school managed by the Ashrama within its campus. There is an urgent need for repair and renovation of the old hostel buildings and also creating a ‘Hostel Corpus Fund’ of Rs. 2 Crores for maintaining the hostel with 100 boys. We appeal to the generous public, friends and well wishers to donate liberally for this most essential educational project. You are also welcome to donate towards various other regular activities: a) Daily Puja & Seva; b) General Maintenance of the Ashrama; c) Charitable Dispensary; d) Widows’ Welfare. Donations towards the activities of the Ashrama are exempt from Income Tax under 80G. Cheques or Bank Drafts may be drawn in favour of ‘Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, Kalady’ and sent to the above address. Donations also can be sent directly through RTGS/NEFT to our A/c No. 338602010009164 at Union Bank of India, Kalady (IFSC Code: UBIN0533866). Swami Amaleshananda Adhyaksha

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Bhavan’s Book University RECENT RELEASES 1. My World of Music (Smrutikatha) --Juthika Roy Tr. from Bengali by Gita Chadhuri 2. Guru of Gurus --Indira Ramanathan 3. Thinking Through Gandhi: Gandhi’s Ideas and How They Can Still Inspire --Krishna A. Chokshi 4. Srividyasara-Prasnottara-Malika --Dr. Goda Venkateswara Sastri 5. Sri Krishnam Bhaja Maanasa (A Collection of Kritis on Sree Krishna) --Parvathi Sankaran & G. Sankaran 6. KURAL: The Great Book of TIRU-VALLUVAR --C. Rajagopalachari 7. Sandhyavandanam --P. Seshadri 8. The Vedas --Kanchi Paramacharya 9. Roses in December --M.C.Chagla 10. Mahabharata --C.Rajagopalachari 11. Ramayana --C. Rajagopalachari 12. To the Best of my Memory --P.B.Gajendragadkar 13. Towards the Silver Crests of Himalayas --G. K. Pradhan 14. Foundations of Indian Culture --K. M. Munshi 15. Pilgrimage to Freedom --K. M. Munshi 16. Krishnavatara Series I-VII --K.M.Munshi 17. Adi Sankara: His Life & Time --H.H.J.S.Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Tr. by T. M. P. Mahadevan 18. Dimensions of Indian Culture --P.N.Santhanagopal

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“I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the causes of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well educated, well fed, and well cared for.” With the Spirit of Swamiji

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The Vadasery Handloom Weaversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Store New No. 25, R.K. Matt Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 Head Office: Nagercoil Tel No: (044) 2464 1746

For

High Quality 10 x 6, 9 x 5, 9, 8, 4 Dhoties and towels

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Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life-think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone.This is the way to success. –Swami Vivekananda

With Best Compliments From:

Sanvik PRINTERS

No. 9, Appavu Gramani 2nd Street, Mandaveli, Chennai - 600 028

 : 2431 0419, 2432 0569, 2495 1979

Fax : 4206 7879

Email : sanvikprinters@gmail.com

With Best Compliments

Scope Software Pvt. Ltd., Regd. off.9, (Old No.4), 10th Street, Nanganallur, Chennai - 600 061. Phone : 2267 1088 Email: sspl1985@gmail.com

It is not possible for you to give up work altogether. Your very nature will lead you to it whether you like it or not. Therefore the scriptures ask you to work in a detached spirit, that is to say, not to crave for the work’s results. To work in such a spirit of detachment is known as Karma Yoga. —Sri Ramakrishna

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Sri Ramakrishna Book Stall Working Hours: 8 a.m to 8 p.m Sunday Holiday

Egmore Railway Station, Chennai - 600 008. Ph: 9444437174 / 9445143339

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With Best Compliments

Shree Jayalakshmi Binding Works Account books and school note books manufacturers Dealers in paper & stationery Regd. Office: 3/30, Badrian street, Chennai- 600 001. Phone Office: 25386661, 25384921 Residence: 24723511

With Best Compliments

Krishnaa Exports Manufacturers & Exporters of Cotton Fabrics 631/15, Alangulam Road, Chatrapatti- 626 102 Phone no: 04563 257685, 258922 Fax:257922

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With Best Compliments

CMC Manufacturing Co. Pvt. Ltd. An ISO 9001-2008 COMPANY - Certified by DNV) Manufacturer of Copper, Aluminium Bus Bar, Switchgear Component, CNC Machining Component, Transformer Busing Stud, Flexible Jumper, Industrial Battery Connectors, inserts, Fasteners & Lead Casting Strap.

Office 85, Netaji Subhas Road, 1st. Floor, Kolkata - 700 001 Ph: 2243 3433, Fax: (033) 2337 9333 Email: cmc@cmcpl.co.in Contact Person: Mr. D. Saha, Mob: 9830045610

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With Best Compliments

Malti Prints 'Shardashram',opp. Durga Mata Mandri, Bhanudas Nagar, Jawahar colony road, Aurangabad. Phone: 2352264, Tel Fax: 2322732 Email:printsmalti@gmail.com/ maltiprints@yahoo.com

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With Best Compliments

Palepu Pharma Pvt. Ltd Registered Office: ‘‘Lalitha Sadan’’ No. 1, Ramachandra Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004 H : 044 - 2467 2711 / 12 / 13 / 14

Branch Offices: C-24, J.J. Nagar East, Mugappair Industrial Estate East, Mugappair, Chennai - 600 037 Ph: 26560599

No.29A, Ayyasamy Street West Tambaram, Chennai - 600 045 Ph: 22265068

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THE VEDANTA KESARI DECEMBER 2013 SPECIAL ISSUE—ADVERTISERS’ INDEX 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57.

ADVAITA ASHRAMA, KOLKATA 200 ADYAR BAKERY 218 APOLLO HOSPITAL ENTERPRISE LTD. 202 APOLLO SINDHOORI HOTELS LTD 207 BAKER'S CAFE 231 BALAJI INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS 232 BHAVAN’S BOOK UNIVERSITY 210 CMC MANUFACTURING CO. PVT. LTD. 229 DECCAN CEMENT 230 GIRI TRADING AGENCY PRIVATE LTD 226 GOPAL KRISHNA INDUSTRIES 223 HI-TECH ENGINEERING PVT LTD., 226 HMTC ENGINEERING COMPANY (KOLKATA) PRIVATE LIMITED 220 KRISHNA AGENCIES & SERVICES COMPANY 222 KRISHNAA EXPORTS 228 LAVINO-KAPUR PVT. LTD., 4TH COVER LUCAS-TVS 224 MALTI PRINTS 230 MARUTHI COACHING CENTRE 204 MATHRUBHUMI BOOKS 217 MERIT TECHNOLOGIES INDIA LTD 219 MUTHURAMAN AND SONS AGENCIES 216 NALLI SILKS 208 NATIONAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE 224 NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE 213 OM SAKTHI BINDING WORKS 221 PALEPU PHARMA PVT. LTD 232 PRIME ACADEMY 2ND COVER RAMAKRISHNA-VIVEKANANDA VEDANTA LITERATURE SHOWROOM 227 S & SR OF NATIONAL ENGINEERING INDUSTRIES LTD 218 SANGEETHA VEG. RESTAURANT 231 SANVIK PRINTERS 225 SCOPE SOFTWARE PVT. LTD., 225 SHREE JAYALAKSHMI BINDING WORKS 228 SHRI GURU KRIPA LEARNING CENTRE 205 SINDOORI FABER 206 SOUTHERN ELECTRONICS 203 SRI KRISHNA PHARMACY 222 SRI NACHAMMAI COTTON MILLS LTD 220 SRI RAMAKRISHNA ADVAITA ASHRAMA, KALADY 199 SRI RAMAKRISHNA BOOK STALL, EGMORE 227 SRI RAMAKRISHNA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY, VILLUPURAM 211 SRI RAMAKRISHNA MAT. HR. SEC. SCHOOL 229 SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH MYLAPORE (SRI RAMAKRISHNA: THE PERSONIFICATION OF GODS AND GODDESSES) 199 SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MYLAPORE ( THE VEDANTA KESARI ANNUAL ISSUES ) 197 SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MYLAPORE (ALASINGA PERUMAL) 198 SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MYLAPORE (INDIAN CULTURE) 195 SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, MYLAPORE (VIVEKANANDA BY VIVEKANANDA) 196 SRI RAMAKRISHNA YATHRA SERVICES 221 SRM UNIVERSITY 209 SUDARSHAN SAUR 233 SUNDARAM FINANCE GROUP 215 TECHNICAL SYSTEM 201 THATIKONDA VATSALA RAMACHANDRA FOUNDATION 212 THE VADASERY HANDLOOM WEAVERS' STORE 223 URC CONSTRUCTION (P) LTD 214 SVIS LABS 3RD COVER