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Vivekananda Way
ISSUE 44
In this and the next issue, we will be exploring Swami Vivekananda's third public lecture during his stay in Madras, titled - The Sages of India.
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focus in this issue: The Sages of India - Part 1
In this lecture, Swami Vivekananda shares with us, his study of the sages of India. In this and the next issue, we will explore Swami Vivekananda's key messages in this talk.
I: TWO IDEALS OF TRUTH
– The eternal relations which deal with the nature of the soul, and of God, and the relations between souls and God, are called
Shrutis and are embodied in the Vedas. – The next set of truths are the Smritis, which include the writings of Manu (Manu Smriti),
Yâjnavalkya, and other writers (Yajnavalkya
Smriti, Narada Smriti, etc.), the Purânas (encyclopedic literature on diverse topics, particularly about legends and other traditional lore), and go right down to the
Tantras (frameworks or systems associated with a particular tradition and a deity). – The Smritis are subordinate to the Shrutis, and whenever any Smriti contradicts anything in the Shrutis, the Shrutis must prevail. – Shrutis have many sages as recorders of truth, both men and women. It is important to note that while very little is known of their personal lives, their best thoughts and discoveries are preserved here. In the
Smritis, on the other side, personalities are more in evidence. Exceptional worldmoving personalities stand before us, who are sometimes even greater than their teachings.
Smriti
Shruti
Eternal truths (the unchanging principles embodied in the Vedas)
Truths contexted to time, place, and circumstances (and therefore can be changed)
Two ideals of truth are in our scriptures; the one is, what we call the eternal, and the other is not so authoritative, yet binding under particular circumstances, times, and places.
The idea is that the framework of the destiny and goal of man has been all delineated in the Vedas, the details have been left to be worked out in the Smritis and Puranas. As for general directions, the Shrutis are enough; for spiritual life, nothing more can be said, nothing more can be Designed & developed by known. ILLUMINE
Knowledge Resources
Smriti
Shruti
Contains the Impersonal dimension of Hinduism
Brings out the Personal dimension of Hinduism This is a peculiarity which we have to understand — that our religion preaches an Impersonal Personal God. It preaches any amount of impersonal laws plus any amount of personality, but the very fountain-head of our religion is in the Shrutis, the Vedas, which are perfectly impersonal; the persons all come in the Smritis and Puranas — the great Avatâras, Incarnations of God, Prophets, and so forth.
The Impersonal Vision
– Every other religion depends on the life or lives of some personal founder or founders. For example, Christianity on the life of Jesus Christ, Islam upon
Mohammed, Buddhism upon Buddha, etc. And therefore, great importance is given to the historical evidences of these great personalities. If this historical evidence becomes weak, then the entire structure of the religion starts getting questioned. – In India, however, it is not so, because the religion is not based on the authority of a sage or even an incarnation. Rather, the first principle in Hinduism is that all that is necessary for the perfection of man and for attaining unto freedom is
The Personal Vision
– From the earliest times, our sages were conscious of the fact that the vast majority of mankind require not just an impersonal god, but that they must have a personal god in some form or the other. – Swami Vivekananda gives the example of Buddha who rejected the idea of a personal god, but who was himself turned into a personal god by his disciples within 50 years of his death. – But Swami Vivekananda also says that while a personal god is necessary, if we left a personal god to the imaginations of already available in the Vedas. There is nothing new to find. For example, religious knowledge became complete when 'Tat
Twam Asi' (Thou art That) was discovered, and that was already in the Vedas. – Even a great incarnation like Krishna is not treated as an authority on the Vedas, rather the Vedas are treated as the authority of
Krishna himself. Therefore, in India, it is believed that many great incarnations or great sages come from time to time, each time carrying the core message, but in a different form appropriate to time, place and circumstances. – Therefore, Vedanta can be treated as a universal religion, because it teaches principles and not persons.
people, then 99 cases out of 100 would be worthy of human worship. Therefore, there is a focus on a few extra-ordinary human beings who are living and walking among us. These are "living gods". – Swami Vivekananda tells us that these living gods are more worthy of worship than any imaginary god that we can conceive. For example, he points out that
Shri Krishna is much greater than any idea of God you or I can have. Buddha is a much higher idea, a more living and idolised idea, than the ideal you or I can conceive of in our minds.
Vedanta only can be the universal religion, that it is already the existing universal religion in the world, because it teaches principles and not persons. No religion built upon a person can be taken up as a type by all the races of mankind.
– Therefore, these incarnations of god have always commanded the worship of mankind even to the exclusion of all imaginary deities. – The Indian sages knew this, and therefore they left it open for the Indian people to worship such great personages and incarnations (despite the existence of an impersonal religion which was in many ways complete). – The Hindu can therefore worship any sage or any saint from any country. For example, Hindus often do worship in the churches of the Christians, and in the
Mohammedan mosques, and that is good, as Hinduism is the universal religion. It is inclusive enough, and broad enough to include all ideals. – In the words of Swami Vivekananda, "All the ideals of religion that already exist in the world can be immediately included, and we can patiently wait for all the ideals that are to come in the future to be taken in the same fashion, embraced in the infinite arms of the religion of the Vedanta".
III: THE RISHIS: DISCOVERERS OF SPIRITUAL TRUTHS
– In India, along with the Avataras, the mighty personages who embody the highest truths, we also find a second group of sages called the Rishis. – The Rishis were great authorities. They are
Mantra-Drashtâs − seers of thought. – To understand the special role of the
Rishis, we have to understand the nature of proof/ truth in religion – From the ancient times it was clear that the human senses are limited in their reach.
Nature, or the world outside, cannot give answers to fundamental questions like existence of the soul, existence of God, the goal of man, etc. The mind itself is continuously changing, in flux, and fragmented. – How can such a mind tell of that which in Swami Vivekananda's words, is "the
Infinite, the Unchangeable, the Unbroken, the Indivisible, the Eternal"? – The mind is ordinarily choppy and fragmented. But there are moments of extreme blessedness or shock - when the mind becomes calm and the infinite beyond is revealed. This state, which How comes, then, the knowledge which the Vedas declare? It comes through being a Rishi.
Beyond consciousness is where the bold search lies. Consciousness is bound by the senses. Beyond that, beyond the senses, men must go in order to arrive at truths of the spiritual world, and there are even now persons who succeed in going beyond the bounds of the senses. These are called Rishis, because they come face to face with spiritual truths.
happens under exceptional circumstances in ordinary life, needs to be heightened, practised and perfected. – Men discovered ages ago that the soul is not bound by its senses, nor by consciousness (which is but a part of
Being). – Beyond individual consciousness, beyond the senses, men must go to discover truth of the spiritual world. – Such men, who can go beyond the boundaries of the senses, and come faceto-face with spiritual truths, are Rishis. – The nature of proof of the Vedas in spiritual life is therefore the same as the nature of proof of the senses in the material world outside − direct perception (Pratyaksha). – Just as I see material truths with the senses, so also we can see spiritual truths in a superconscious state of the human soul. – Such a Rishi state is not limited by time, place, sex, or race. It is the common property of all.
Religion is not in books, nor in theories, nor in dogmas, nor in talking, not even in reasoning. It is being and becoming. Ay, my friends, until each one of you has become a Rishi and come face to face with spiritual facts, religious life has not begun for you. Until the superconscious opens for you, religion is mere talk, it is nothing but preparation.
– In India, the ideal of religion is the Rishi state.
Religion is not in books or theories, dogmas, discussions, or reasoning − it is in being and becoming. – Swami Vivekananda points out that this ideal is the answer to all nations of the world who are fighting and quarrelling over a God.
He asks, "Vain are your fights and your quarrels; have you seen God whom you want to preach? If you have not seen, vain is your preaching; you do not know what you say; and if you have seen God, you will not quarrel, your very face will shine." (See Box 1) – Swami Vivekananda then says that Rishihood − directly perceiving the truth, is the ideal of our religion. The rest, all talks, reasoning, philosophies, dualisms/monisms, even the
Vedas themselves are secondary. (See Box 2)
When you have known God, your very face will be changed, your voice will be changed, your whole appearance will he changed. You will be a blessing to mankind; none will be able to resist the Rishi. This is the Rishihood, the ideal in our religion.
– Thus, Rishi is the name of a type or a class which every true Hindu is expected to become at some parts in their life − and becoming who is salvation. Swami
Vivekananda reminds us, "Not belief in doctrines, not going to thousands of temples, nor bathing in all the rivers in the world, but becoming the Rishi, the Mantra-
Drashtâ — that is freedom, that is salvation".
BOX 1: A discussion that Buddha had with some Brahmins...
They came discussing about the nature of Brahman, and the great sage asked, "Have you seen Brahman?" "No, said the Brahmin; "Or your father?" "No, neither has he"; "Or your grandfather?" "I don't think even he saw Him." "My friend, how can you discuss about a person whom your father and grandfather never saw, and try to put each other down?"
BOX 2:
A story from the Upanishads...
An ancient sage of the Upanishads sent his son out to learn about Brahman, and the child came back, and the father asked, "what have you learnt?" The child replied he had learnt so many sciences. But the father said, "That is nothing, go back." And the son went back, and when he returned again the father asked the same question, and the same answer came from the child. Once more he had to go back. And the next time he came, his whole face was shining; and his father stood up and declared, "Ay, today, my child, your face shines like a knower of Brahman."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Magic , Miracles and the Mystical Twelve
LAKSHMI DEVNATH
The Divine Bride
The Story of Aandal
(Continued from the previous issue. . .)
The next day, as the Swami had predicted, Poorva heard Aandal sing a different song. The Swami explained its meaning: “‘O people of the world, listen to the vows we are to undertake. Singing the praise of the Lord who sleeps in the Ocean of Milk, we shall abstain from milk and ghee, and bathe before dawn. We shall avoid wrongful deeds and speaking ill of others.’”
“This gives me an idea. I’m going to tell anybody who asks me to drink that awful stuff that I’ve undertaken a vow not to drink milk,” Poorva told Curly and Chatter.
Her animal friends were her constant companions during her stay at Srivilliputhur, and together they made a happy threesome. One morning, Poorva, while trying to make Curly and Chatter do cartwheels, remarked, “Swami Thaatha told me that Aandal is waiting for the day when she’ll get married to Lord Vishnu. You know, back home, I’ve been to so many temples and seen so many forms of Vishnu. Is she going to be Mrs. Padmanabha or Mrs. Ranganatha or …?”
“Stop guessing, Poorva,” the all-too-familiar voice of the Swami rang clearly. He said, “I told you to keep your eyes and ears open. You’ve missed out on Aandal telling Periaazhvaar that she will not marry any human. Periaazhvaar was initially taken aback by his daughter’s unusual request. However, when he realized that his daughter was steadfast in her decision –”
“What did he do?” interrupted Poorva.
The author is a researcher and writer with various books and articles on Indian music and culture to her credit. lakshmidevnath@gmail.com Illustrator: Smt. Lalithaa Thyagarajan. lalithyagu@gmail.com
Disappointed at missing out on that important conversation between Aandal and her father, Poorva chided her friends: “You two are distracting me. From now on, I’m going to be more alert.” They promptly turned their backs on her and sulked.
Aandal’s mellifluous music, flowing along on the silent breeze, reached Poorva. It struck her that Aandal ended every one of the verses that she sang that day with the phrase ‘kanaa kanden thozhi naan’. She understood that the words meant ‘I had a dream, my friend’.
But the rest of the song went over her head. The Swami explained, “She is describing her dream to her friend. One of the verses that you heard means: ‘I had a dream, O dear friend! The town was decked with festoons … and our Lord Narayana came walking towards me.’ In another verse, she tells her friend that Indra and the other gods have approved of their match. And in yet another, how the Lord held her hand as they both stood in front of the sacred fire.”
The Swami paused and Poorva asked, “When is the marriage going to take place?”
Poorva turned around to see a crowd gathered at the Aazhvaar’s house. Aandal walked into the room, dressed as a bride. She looked stunning.
The Swami, with his characteristic insight said, “Last night, Periaazhvaar had a dream in which Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam told him that He wanted to marry Aandal and that she should be brought to Srirangam. Now they are all getting ready to leave for that holy place. We’ve seen the respect that the Pandya king has for Periaazhvaar. His Majesty has now volunteered to make all the preparations for this wedding. Poorva, this is a divine marriage, and it is a rare privilege to be a part of it. Hurry up or we’ll be left behind.”
Poorva tearfully bid goodbye to her friends, Curly and Chatter. Much as she wanted to stay with them, she didn’t want to miss the wedding. As she gave them a big hug, the air resonated with the sounds of drums, trumpets and conch-shells. Waving goodbye to her friends, Poorva ran to the road.
She saw a group of musicians walking towards Periaazhvaar’s house. Following them were men carrying huge Vishnu temple in Srivilliputhur where Andal umbrellas, and behind them were four worshipped the Lord others bearing a lovely palanquin. They halted in front of Periaazhvaar’s house and placed the palanquin on the ground. One of the men from that group stepped forward and explained to the Aazhvaar that they were the emissaries of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam.
She heard him say, “Last night, the Lord appeared in our dreams and commanded us to escort His divine bride Aandal to Srirangam with all honour. We request the divine bride to sit in this palanquin and we shall carry her to the temple of Srirangam where the Lord awaits her.”
“Aandal, come here,” Periaazhvaar called out to his daughter. He was ecstatic that his daughter was getting married to one beyond the reach of mere mortals. The bride stepped into the palanquin and the marriage procession left with great fanfare for Srirangam. Poorva and the Swami, along with many others, followed the palanquin. (To be continued. . .)
Nistarini Devi
DR. RUCHIRA MITRA
यमदेिैष ि्णुत तन लभयः
It is attained by him alone whom It chooses (Kathopanishad. 1.2:23)
This is the sixteenth story in the series on devotees who had a role in the divine play of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna.
Once, a cat and her kittens took shelter in Sri Ramakrishna’s room at Dakshineswar. This made him anxious, because he felt the cat family would not get proper food at the temple. So, he asked a devout lady disciple, “Will you do something for me?” She readily replied, “Whatever it is, I will do it.” He told her about the cat and her kittens and asked her to take them home with the command, “Remember that they have taken refuge here. See that they get the best of care.” The lady happily took them home. On her every subsequent visit, Sri Ramakrishna would ask her in detail about the cats: Were they getting proper food? Had the kittens grown? What would she do with them? And again, he would remind her, “Remember, they took refuge here.” The lady did her best to care for the cats. Later, when the mother cat was dying, she poured Ganga water into her mouth, repeating Sri Ramakrishna’s name. Pleased with her devotion Sri Ramakrishna blessed her, “May all good attend you. May you have Ishta-darshan.” Much later, while repeating her mantra the lady had the vision of her chosen deity Lord Rama. As she bent down to do pranam, she saw her dear guru, Sri Ramakrishna in place of Lord Rama. He smilingly told her, “Now you know who I am!”
This fortunate lady was Nistarini Devi, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna’s eminent householder disciple, Nabagopal Ghosh. Sri Ramakrishna said about her, “She is a great soul, a partial incarnation of Divine Mother…her hand is endowed with divine power capable of defying even Death… Through the influence of his wife, Nabagopal escaped from Maya.” At the Radharaman temple in Vrindaban, Holy Mother saw her in a vision fanning Lord Krishna!
Nabagopal Ghosh and Nistarini Devi were blessed with a harmonious marriage. They nurtured their family to become staunch devotees of Sri Ramakrishna. Nistarini felt very free with the Master. This rare trait of freedom comes from simplicity, purity, love, and unselfishness. God loves to play with free souls because they do not bother Him with worldly desires. Sri Ramakrishna too was very fond of Nistarini and allowed her to touch his feet. Once he asked her what she had found in him that drew her so often to Dakshineswar. She replied, “It is hard to explain. That which made Prahlada forget his father, Dhruva and others forget their parents, that I find here.”
During her pregnancy she decided that if a son were born to her, she would dedicate him to the service of Sri Ramakrishna. Accordingly, when her son was a few weeks old, she and Nabagopal carried him to Dakshineswar. Sri Ramakrishna, in an ecstatic state said, “Hello, what have you brought for me?” Nistarini
placed the infant at his feet and replied, “I have brought you this offering.” Sri Ramakrishna looked at him for a few moments and remarked, “Ah! What a nice child! You offer it to me? Good!” He took him on his lap, blessed him by putting his right palm on his head, and then placed him back in his mother’s arms, saying, “Take care of this child now, but know that he belongs to me. In due time I will take him back.” Years later when this son joined the Ramakrishna Order, Nistarini was the happiest of all, for she felt that Sri Ramakrishna had accepted him. This youth was an excellent singer and became almost a constant companion of Swami Brahmananda. He was named Swami Ambikananda.
Once, when Sri Ramakrishna visited their home, many devotees were invited. At dinner time, while serving Sri Ramakrishna one dish after another, Nistarini had a desire to feed him sweets with her own hand. Sri Ramakrishna read her thought and said, “What? You want to feed me with you hand? All right. Feed me.” So saying, he opened his mouth. As Nistarini put the sweet in his mouth, she saw that a mysterious being gulped it down. Frightened, she stopped feeding him. He then slowly ate by himself and gave the prasad to Nistarini. She was reluctant to eat anything before feeding her guests but Sri Ramakrishna persuaded her to have it first, because he knew that after it was offered to the guests there would be none left! She obeyed and sent the remaining prasad downstairs. News of what Nistarini had seen in Sri Ramakrishna’s mouth spread quickly among the devotees, and they all lapped up the prasad enthusiastically.
When Sri Ramakrishna was ill, devotees were restricted from meeting him. When Nistarini was stopped, she felt dejected. But the all-knowing Sri Ramakrishna sent his photo downstairs to her, with the message, “Tell her to be content with looking at this today.” About this photograph, Sri Ramakrishna himself told her that “it would travel in railway carriages and on ocean steamers, and people would carry it in their pockets and even on their watch-chains.”
In 1898, Nabagopal and Nistarini shifted to Ramkrishnapur in Howrah district just because the area bore Sri Ramakrishna’s name. After returning from America, on Maghi Purnima, Swami Vivekananda came barefoot along the streets, singing songs with the other devotees, to their home. He inaugurated the marble shrine and after worshipping Sri Ramakrishna, chanted impromptu, Sthapakaya cha dharmasya sarva dharma swarupine / Avatara varishthaya Ramakrishnaya te namah!! This spontaneous outpouring became the pranam mantra of Sri Ramakrishna. Then onwards, the descendants of the family commemorate Maghi Purnima daywith public festivities every year even now!
Nistarini was highly respected by the monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Years later, when she visited Belur Math Swami Shivananda joyfully welcomed her, saying, “Mother, please come. Please come close and bless me by touching my head with your hand.” Like a loving mother, she touched the swami’s head. What a wonderful sight — a householder devotee of Sri Ramakrishna blessing the President of the Order! Then, Shivanandaji told his disciples, “They are not just ordinary mortals; they are the companions of the Master. They come in every age with the avatar to act their respective roles in his divine play. Ah, what love and devotion she had for the Master! She was like one of the gopis.”
She once told somebody, “You may do all kinds of spiritual practices, but your real success lies in knowing how to die.” She proved it in her life. She cast off her body hugging Sri Ramakrishna’s picture and repeating his name.
