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Vivekananda Way
ISSUE 45
Sages of India - Continued.
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focus in this issue: The Sages of India - Part 2
The lecture is being explored in 3 parts: Part 1: Swami Vivekananda speaks about the Personal-Impersonal Ideal, and the Rishis who see and discover the impersonal truths. [covered in the previous issue] Part 2: Swami Vivekananda talks about the world moving sages − the great incarnations, of which we will cover Rama & Sita, and Krishna. [current issue] Part 3: Swami Vivekananda also talks about Buddha, Shankara, Ramanuja, Chaitanya and Ramakrishna. [to be covered in the next issue]
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON RAMA & SITA
On Rama:
Rama, the ancient idol of the heroic ages, the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband, the ideal father, and above all, the ideal king, this Rama has been presented before us by the great sage Vâlmiki
On Sita:
Sita is unique; that character was depicted once and for all. ..She is the very type of the true Indian woman, for all the Indian ideals of a perfected woman have grown out of that one life of Sita. There she will always be,this glorious Sita, purer than purity itself, all patience, and all suffering. She who suffered that life of suffering without a murmur, she the ever-chaste and ever-pure wife, she the ideal of the people, the ideal of the gods, the great Sita, our national God she must always remain. ...Sita has gone into the very vitals of our race. She is there in the blood of every Hindu man and woman; we are all children of Sita. Any attempt to modernise our women, if it tries to take our women away from Designed &
developed by
that ideal of Sita, is immediately a failure, as we see every day. ILLUMINE The women of India must grow and develop in the footprints of Knowledge Resources Sita, and that is the only way. ® www.illumine.in
Sita-Ram Darbar - Tanjore Painting
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON KRISHNA
He who is worshipped in various forms, the favourite ideal of men as well as of women, the ideal of children, as well as of grownup men. I mean He whom the writer of the Bhagavata was not content to call an Incarnation but says, "The other Incarnations were but parts of the Lord. He, Krishna, was the Lord Himself."
Krishna of Vrindavan – Swami Vivekananda talks about the marvellous phase of Krishna’s life with the Gopis. – According to him, it is very difficult to understand this phase unless one has become perfectly chaste and pure. – The entire episode is an allegory that can be perceived and understood only by one who is mad with the love of God. – The Gopis of Vrindavan represent the very ideal of love, a love that wants nothing, that does not care for heavens, does not care for anything in the world or the world to come. – According to Swami Vivekananda, the love of the Gopis represents the only solution to the conflict between the Personal and the
Impersonal God. – What is the conflict? At a philosophical level we believe in an Impersonal God, immanent in the
Universe, of which everything is a manifestation.
At the same time, our souls hanker for something concrete, something we can grasp, and at whose Feet we can pour our souls. The conception of the Personal God is therefore the highest conception of human nature. – The conflict comes when we accept an allmerciful, all-powerful Personal God and then seeing that there is so much injustice in the world, that life on earth is a hell, we conclude that this same Perfect God is also partial! – Swami Vivekananda says that there is no solution to this conflict except in the path followed by the Gopis. The Gopis did not care to know that Krishna was Lord of Creation,
Almighty, Omnipotent, etc. Instead, they only understood that he was infinite Love − and offered their all at his Feet.
Krishna Painting by Jamini Roy
Krishna: a many-sided character
“… we marvel at the many-sidedness of his character. He was the most wonderful Sannyasin, and the most wonderful householder in one; he had the most wonderful amount of Rajas, power, and was at the same time living in the midst of the most wonderful renunciation.”
Krishna: the embodiment of the Bhagavad Gita
“Krishna, the preacher of the Gita, was all his life the embodiment of that Song
Celestial; he was the great illustration of non-attachment. He gives up his throne and never cares for it. He, the leader of India, at whose word kings come down from their thrones, never wants to be a king. He is the simple Krishna, ever the same Krishna who played with the Gopis.”
– Thus the Gopis cherished the ideal of pure and selfless love for “their Krishna” – Krishna of Vrindavan. Their ideal was “Let one be born again and again, but Lord, grant me this, that
I may have love for Thee, and that for love’s sake.” – Swami Vivekananda points that it is very difficult to understand the love of the Gopis. – Most of us are impure and shrink from such ideas. As long as there is selfishness in the heart, so long, love of God is impossible; it is nothing but shop-keeping. – Most of us seek something in return. As long as such ideas are in the brain, one cannot understand the mad love of the Gopis. – Swami Vivekananda also responds to some
Western and Indian commentators who believe that the Gopi phase of Vrindavan was an interpolation in the Mahabharata. – He says that, such commentators, being steeped in commercialism, are unable to comprehend the pure love, untainted by transaction. – In fact, Swami Vivekananda goes further and says that the ideal of love in the story of
Vrindavan is on a much higher plane than the ideal of work in the Bhagwad Gita.
Sri Sri Radha-Kanta worshiped in the Radha Krishna Temple at Dakshineswar Kali Temple Complex The love of the Gopis: The resolution of the Personal and the Impersonal God.
...this love of the Gopis has been found the only solution of the conflict between the Personal and the Impersonal God. We know how the Personal God is the highest point of human life; we know that it is philosophical to believe in an Impersonal God immanent in the universe, of whom everything is but a manifestation. At the same time our souls hanker after something concrete, something which we want to grasp, at whose feet we can pour out our soul, and so on. The Personal God is therefore the highest conception of human nature
The ideal of the Gopis: a great landmark in the history of religion!
A great landmark in the history of religion is here, the ideal of love for love's sake, work for work's sake, duty for duty's sake, and it for the first time fell from the lips of the greatest of Incarnations, Krishna, and for the first time in the history of humanity, upon the soil of India. The religions of fear and of temptations were gone for ever, and in spite of the fear of hell and temptation of enjoyment in heaven, came the grandest of ideals, love for love's sake, duty for duty's sake, work for work's sake.
Krishna: The preacher of the Gita
According to Swami Vivekananda: – The Upanishads – the essence of the Shrutis – are hard to understand. The main reason is that there are so many commentators, each trying to interpret them in their own way. – To elaborate, the non-dualistic commentator, on encountering dualistic passages in the
Upanishads, tries to twist and torture them into a non-dualistic meaning. Similarly, a dualistic commentator, on encountering non-dualistic passages, tries to impose a dualistic meaning.
Thus, each commentator sees the entire
Upanishads through a single lens. – The Bhagavad Gita, on the other hand, does not try to torture or modify the meaning of any Upanishadic ideas. Rather, it is built on the vision of the human soul “rising up and up, step after step, from the gross to the fine, from the fine to the finer, until it reaches the
Absolute, the Goal”. In this vision, both dualism and non-dualism have their place and thus the
Bhagavad Gita affirms all ideas without text-torturing any. – The Bhagavad
Gita affirms even the Karma
Kanda, pointing out that it may not lead to salvation, but is also valid.
Similarly, it Krishna preaching the Gita to Arjuna affirms ceremonies and form on the condition that the heart of the worshipper must be pure and sincere. – Religious pathways of all kinds are the necessities and hankerings of different classes of human minds. The day their necessity ceases, they vanish with the necessity. And, until then they will remain, despite your criticism.
Thus, Lord Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, not only affirms the pathways to God, but we also understand from Sri Krishna why these pathways should remain. "There is no better commentary on the Vedas than the Gita"
Swami Vivekananda
You find in the Gita there is no attempt at torturing any one of them [Upanishadic ideas]. They are all right, says the Lord; for slowly and gradually the human soul rises up and up, step after step, from the gross to the fine, from the fine to the finer, until it reaches the Absolute, the goal. Religions and sects are not the work of hypocrites and wicked people who invented all these to get a little money, as some of our modern men want to think. ...They are the outcome of the necessity of the human soul. They are all here to satisfy the hankering and thirst of different classes of human minds, and you need not preach against them. The day when that necessity will cease, they will vanish along with the cessation of that necessity; and so long as that necessity remains, they must be there in spite of your preaching, in spite of your criticism. You may bring the sword or the gun into play, you may deluge the world with human blood, but so long as there is a necessity for idols, they must remain. These forms, and all the various steps in religion will remain, and we understand from the Lord Shri Krishna why they should.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Magic , Miracles and the Mystical Twelve
LAKSHMI DEVNATH
The Divine Bride
The Story of Aandal
(Continued from the previous issue. . .) “Aandal has proved,” began the Swami as they walked, “that if one sings the name of the Lord with devotion, one is sure to attain Him. She has offered garlands of both flowers and verses to the Lord. The songs of Aandal are filled with great philosophical truths –”
“Will they also be commented upon, Swami Thaatha?” asked Poorva, parroting what the Swami had said of Nammaazhvaar’s songs.
Suppressing a smile, the Swami said, “Of course. In fact, among all the songs of the Aazhvaars, these will be the ones most commented upon. Besides, her songs will be very, very popular amongst saints, musicians, traditional storytellers, and ordinary devotees.
Sri Ramanuja, whom I have talked about earlier, will be honoured with the title ‘Thiruppaavai Jeeyar’ because he will recite the Thiruppaavai every day. Vishnu devotees will include Aandal’s songs as part of their daily prayers. All through the year, but especially in the month of Margazhi, the entire Tamil region will reverberate with the voice of Aandal.
Incidentally, many of the Aazhvaars have signed their compositions. Aandal calls herself Kodhai, the daughter of Pattarpiraan, and Nammaazhvaar describes himself as Kurugoor Shattakopan.”
“How absolutely fantastic!” Poorva looked with greater awe and respect at the slender young girl being carried in the palanquin.
“Continuing from where I left off,” said the Swami briskly. “Aandal has sung in one of her songs: ‘To the Lord of Maalirumcholai surrounded by fragrant groves, I give my word
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
to offer a hundred pots of butter today and a hundred pots filled with sweet rice.’ Unfortunately, she has had no time to fulfil her promise. You know who is going to do it for her?”
“I suppose Periaazhvaar,” Poorva replied logically.
“Wow!” exclaimed Poorva as she heard Swami Thaatha rattling off ‘future’ events with absolute certainty. “Swami Thaatha, since Aandal is immersed in her love for Vishnu, I guess that she too is an Aazhvaar,” Poorva stated smartly.
The Swami appeared not to have heard her. He asked, “Poorva, I’m sure you know about the ten incarnations of Vishnu – Matsya, Koorma, Varaaha, Narasimha, Vaamana, Parasurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna and Kalki.” Not waiting for an answer, he continued, “Sri Vedantha Desika says Lord Vishnu once again incarnated ten times as the ten Aazhvaars, in order to spread the message of the Vedas in Tamil.”
The Swami laughed, “Poorva, I’m quite aware of what I’m saying. Aandal, as I told you, is a goddess. So she is actually much more than an Aazhvaar. And you may recall our discussion on Madhura Kavi. He worshipped his master, Nammaazhvaar, as God, while the others are devotees of Vishnu. However, the compositions of these two will be included in the compilation of the Aazhvaars’ songs.”
She once again focused her attention on what the Swami was saying.
“Great poets and philosophers will compose poems and other works in praise of Aandal. Also, temples are going to be built for this goddess, poet and composer, the only woman among the saintly ‘twelve’.
The Swami went on to tell Poorva that, around the fifteenth century, a famous saint of Rajasthan, Meerabai, would also choose a God – Krishna – as her husband.
They walked along, talking and sharing jokes, and then the Swami pointed to a small temple on top of a hill. He said, “We’re at Trichy, not too far from Srirangam. That is the famous rock temple that you are familiar with as Malaikottai. There are two cave-temples in there. In the lower one are sculptures of Shiva, Vishnu, Surya and a few other gods. I don’t know who carved them, but the cave was excavated by the Pandyas. The one above
was excavated by Mahendravarman Pallavan who ruled about the seventh century. That cave has an image of Lord Shiva bearing the River Ganga in His locks. Of course, you must have heard of the famous Pillaiyar temple. That shrine will, however, be built much later.”
“It’s okay,” said Poorva, though there was a tinge of disappointment in her voice.
After what seemed like a few hours of walking, the Swami asked, “Poorva, by any chance, are you sleepwalking?” Shaken by that question, she looked around, and he pointed out, “Look. We’ve reached the Srirangam temple.”
Only then did Poorva realize that they were inside the temple and approaching Lord Ranganatha’s shrine. “Don’t let your attention wander, Poorva. What you are about to see is not an ordinary wedding. It is the wedding of Aandal with Lord Ranganatha. She has fulfilled the purpose for which she was born on this earth.”
The doors of the shrine opened. Poorva, on seeing the beautiful figure of Lord Ranganatha in a reclining pose, stood awestruck. As she watched expectantly, Aandal entered the shrine and, right before her very eyes, merged with the Lord. The divine sight was too much for the little girl to take in. She felt faint, yet several thoughts passed through her mind. Maybe I will also sing Aandal’s songs every day … How many songs did she compose? Oh, where is Swami Thaatha?
From somewhere in the distance came Swami Thaatha’s voice. “Aandal composed two poetic works. Besides the set of 30 songs, she composed another set with 143 verses describing her intense love for the Lord and her desire to be united with Him. By the way, Periaazhvaar has now attained an enviable status – he has become the father-in-law of the Lord. This is also one of the reasons why he is called Periaazhvaar.” His voice faded and Poorva found herself dropping down on the temple floor. Then amazing things started to happen.
(To be continued. . .)
Upendranath Mukhopadhyay
DR. RUCHIRA MITRA
्िटेिैष िधृ्णुत तन लभ्ः
It is attained by him alone whom It chooses (Kathopanishad. 1.2:23)
This is the seventeenth story in the series on devotees who had a role in the divine play of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna.
Once Sri Ramakrishna asked a young boy, “What do you want?” This fair and handsome boy with curly hair Everyone knew that he was poor. When a devotee questioned why Sri Ramakrishna was not showering his grace upon Upendra, he had used to visit Sri Ramakrishna regularly; but on account of his poverty he hesitated to mingle freely with Sri Ramakrishna and the devotees. Brought up in his uncle’s home, he faced constant humiliation from his uncle who harped on his uselessness. Though he had deep devotion, his mind was always preoccupied with the thought of overcoming poverty. Now on being asked, his heart’s desire found expression, “Money!” The blessing came as an oracle, “Khub hobe – You’ll get plenty!”
Coming from Sri Ramakrishna, this blessing seems strange, as his principal teaching was to renounce the attraction for lucre! But Sri Ramakrishna knew that in this boy’s case, a real need of money was acting as an obstacle to gaining true devotion. So, by answering his prayer, he removed this hindrance from his Godward path.
The recipient of this grace was Upendranath Mukhopadhyay, who used his wealth nobly in the service of the Order. He later founded the Basumati Publishing House, and made it one of the chief organs for popularising Sri Ramakrishna’s message among the masses. replied, “I know his wish: his small door should be big. It will be!” Once, Sri Ramakrishna asked him, “Is there daily worship at your house?” Upendra answered, “Yes. There is daily worship of Narayana at our home.” “Will you bring prasad of Narayana from your home?” Upendra agreed. But he was apprehensive whether his request would be turned down at home. So, he meekly told his aunt that a Brahmin of Dakshineswar Temple had asked for Narayana prasad. His aunt agreed. When he arrived at Dakshineswar with the prasad, Naren, Rakhal and others were seated for lunch. Sri Ramakrishna happily took some prasad and asked Upendra to distribute the remaining among the disciples. Though apparently money-minded Upendra was, at heart, a devotee of God. With his monetary problem taken care of by the compassionate Sri Ramakrishna, his love for Sri Ramakrishna and his devotees blossomed. Swami Akhandananda has devoted a sizeable portion of his Smriti-Katha (Reminiscences) in praise of Upendra’s benevolence during the days of extreme privation the monastic direct disciples underwent while at Baranagar Math.
He writes: “Let me say here something about the devoted service rendered to sadhus by Upendra. Immediately after the passing away of the Master, some of our Gurubhais including Swamiji and myself, used to go out in a desolate condition from Baranagar Math and walk up to Kankurgachi. From there we would go to the doors of the householder devotees of the Master, uttering, as we walked, Wa Guruji ka fateh! At last, at about eight at night we would reach, hungry and tired, the small shop of Upendra’s, and he invariably refreshed us with a basketful of various sweets and betel. There was a hackney carriage-stand nearby. The drivers there would be shouting, “Baranagar, Kashipur, four pice.” Upendra would hire a carriage for us, paying from his own pocket. Many were the days when he thus fed us and paid our carriage fare.” Latu Maharaj and Nityagopal got shelter and daily supper from Upendra during their days of austerity in solitude.
Those days, Bengalis were not into the business of selling books. Shops selling books were mostly owned by Marwaris and North Indians and they were concentrated in the Battala area; Upendra took a menial job there. He was honest, sincere and hard-working. When the owner decided to sell the shop for Rs 75 Upendra bought it with a loan taken from his aunt, and repaid her very soon. His sincerity paid off. Little by little, he started compiling rhyme booklets and selling them cheap. He started selling books of various publishers at low prices, thereby making them affordable to poor book-lovers. He was the sole seller of the poetry books written by the famous poet Surendranath Majumdar. Thus, he got acquainted with the literary milieu of Calcutta. He himself started publishing in a small way with a journal called Jnanankur, in which he serially published Ishanusharan — Swami Vivekananda’s Bengali translation of the Imitation of Christ. He published a book called Rajbhasha, an easy-to-follow book on learning English. This book became a best-seller and turned his fortunes. He bought a spacious building in Beadon Square, where he established the Basumati Sahitya Mandir. He started the Basumati, first as a weekly journal, and then as a daily newspaper, and published detailed news during the years of the World War. But all this prosperity came to him gradually, after Sri Ramakrishna’s passing.
Akhandanandaji writes: “I have said how Upendra wanted to amass money. His financial condition improved through the grace of the Master and as a result of his devotion to sadhus. Swamiji would say, ‘See, how Upen has fared? From Upen’s case one can see how readily devotion to sadhus produces good fortune.’ Swamiji said one day, “Upendra’s business acumen is admirable!” Swamiji suggested Namo Narayana — the greeting of the sannyasis — as the permanent caption of the Basumati!
In 1897, a Reception Committee was formed to honour Swamiji for his American success and to welcome him to his hometown, Calcutta. The Committee did not work at publicity. After announcing the date of Swamiji’s arrival in the newspaper, they sat quiet. The evening before the event, Swamis Brahmananda, Yogananda, Girish and other devotees were discussing the arrangements. Swamiji’s train was scheduled to arrive at Sealdah station at 7 a.m., and they doubted if people would gather to welcome him on such a cold morning. When Upendra heard of their anxiety, he assured them: “Tomorrow thousands of people will welcome Swamiji. I have pasted placards all over Calcutta, Baranagar, Kashipur, Bhavanipur, Alipur etc., and freely distributed fifty thousand handbills and ten thousand copies of the Basumati, with
