Reminiscences
Lessons from Swamis
Vision of Lord Viswanatha
I was then serving at the Varanasi Sevashrama. Swami Turiyanandaji too was living at the Sevashrama. Every day we used to assemble before him and there would be reading from the scriptures, followed by his talks and guidance. One evening, a brother sannyasi and I were at the Dasashwamedha Ghat on the Ganga. The sun was about to set. We were not particularly talking about anything, when I suddenly saw Lord Shiva rising from the Ganga. His complexion was white, but not milk white. It was snow white. I stood there speechless. My gurubhai was in a similar state. After a while the vision disappeared. We compared notes and found that both of us had seen the same vision. We literally ran back to the Sevashrama, and burst into Turiyananda Maharaj’s room. He calmly received us and asked what made us call on him at that hour. When we described what we had seen, he quietly confirmed it saying, “Yes, many of us have seen Lord Vishwanatha.” He then warned us against gloating about it with others. — as recorded by Sri Raghu Raman, Australia
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Swami Diptananda
wami Diptananda (Prabodh Maharaj), an initiated disciple of Swami Shivananda, joined the Order in 1922 at Belur Math and served in the shrine-store of Sri Ramakrishna’s Temple until he fell sick in 1977. He attained mahasamadhi in 1989 aged 92.
Shraddha in Guru-vakya and Ishta-seva
Swami Shivanandaji had told Diptanandaji: “Serve in Sri Ramakrishna’s Temple with unswerving devotion, and you will attain everything.” Diptanandaji wholeheartedly obeyed his guru’s command. In a most meticulous and devoted manner, he would procure and arrange the articles for worship in the temple of Sri Ramakrishna, which is the main temple at Belur Math. His day would begin 3 AM. While preparing sandal paste, he would take utmost care and make sure that there were no coarse particles left in it. We learnt from him how to make sandal paste, pluck
March 2021
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Swami Vijayananda
n 1919, Pasupati joined Belur Math and received mantradiksha from Swami Brahmananda. Later in 1923 Swami Shivanandaji gave him sannyasa-diksha and the name. In October 1932 he was sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he started the Ramakrishna Ashrama in March 1933. The swami did pioneering work in spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna in Latin America till his passing away in 1973. He also authored several books in Spanish language.
41 The Vedanta Kesari
PA G E D O N O R : D R . S U B R A M A N I YA B H A R AT H I YA R R . , K A N C H E E P U R A M
The Dec 2020 Special Issue of The Vedanta Kesari was on the topic ‘Lessons from Swamis’. New content on this topic is being serialised this year.
