Guest Editorial

Japa: Chanting of a Mantra

SWAMI BRAHMESHANANDA

Japa or chanting the name of God is g i v e n g r e a t importance in all the religions of the world. It is not only an integral part of all devotional spiritual practices, even Sage Patanjali has given an important place to it in his Yoga system. Patanjali recommends repetition of Om with thinking of its meaning as an effective means of control of mind: तज्जपस्तदर्थभावनम् (1.28)

Relation between God and His Name After describing the characteristics of Ishvara in three sutras, Patanjali mentions Om as the indicator, vaachaka, or name of Ishvara. तस्य वाचकः प्रणवः (1.27)In Katha Upanishad too, Om is mentioned as supreme or best आलम्बन support, means. (1.2.17). However, in the just preceding shloka it is equated with akshara brahma or the Supreme Spirit. In the Mandukya Karika, it is said that Om is no other than the Lower as well as the Supreme Brahman, without beginning; and also the beginning, middle and the end of all; unique and changeless. (I, 12, 27-29) We also get the proof of this attitude in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in Sri Ramakrishna’s conversation with a devotee from Dakshineswar village. Initially Sri Ramakrishna expresses the view that there must be something indicated by the Word. However, when the contending devotee says that the Eternal Word itself is Brahman, the Master agrees with him. (p.188) According to the third view of the devotees, the name of God is greater than God Himself. They quote two charming examples. Hanuman jumped across the ocean chanting the name of Rama, whereas Rama himself had to build a bridge to cross it! Once Krishna was being weighed. All the available gold, gems etc., became insufficient and Sri Krishna continued to remain seated in the lower of the pans of the balance. But when His name written on a tulasi leaf was placed on the other pan, the pan on which the Lord was sitting became lighter!

The meaning of the mantra Since the name of God must be repeated with thinking of its meaning, it is important that before chanting, the meaning is well understood. This again depends upon knowledge. The meaning of a gentleman named Mohan will be very much different for his mother and for a casual acquaintance. Hence it is often suggested that we must try to gain from various books and scriptures as much knowledge as possible about our chosen ideal, whose name we shall be chanting. Every divine personality has three aspects: an external form, divine qualities, and the indwelling divine spirit of which He or She is the embodiment. The mantra represents all the three. A devotee, when he begins chanting the name of his chosen ideal, first thinks of the holy form. This for him is the artha-bhavanam.

As he proceeds, he finds more and more divine qualities in his Ishta, and begins to meditate on them. This is the second stage of arthabhavanam. Finally, as he proceeds, he realizes that his Ishta is not merely a body, or a collection of divine attributes, but the supreme Spirit Itself. Thus the meaning of the mantra evolves and matures as the aspirant continues with chanting.

Beginning with mechanical Japa The conditions just mentioned, though simple, are not easy to fulfil. Most of the aspirants do japa mechanically for a fixed number of times. And the minimum number is generally fixed as 108. The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi used to do one lakh japa every day. And for those who complained to her of restlessness of mind, she would recommend 20,000 japa a day. Even this mechanical japa done without concentration has its value. Whether one takes bath in the Ganga knowingly, or slips into it or is pushed by someone into it, the result is the same. Suppose a person goes on chanting ‘rupee, rupee’, 10,000 times every day, will it not affect his psyche? His mind will get filled with the thought of money, he will start aspiring for it, will struggle to get it, and finally get it too, with all its good and bad consequences. If someone chooses to chant the word ‘war’ he is sure to start fighting with others within six months! Throughout the day, consciously or unconsciously, we listen to so many sounds of various types and these leave some effect on our mind. Why not then allow the music of japa to continue always? Swami Brahmananda used to say that the cycle of japa must always be flowing. As many times as we think of the world, so many times must the name be chanted to counteract the worldly thoughts. This can be done loudly if necessary, or can be combined with breathing. It is no wonder, then, that in the Kalisantaranopanishad just a mechanical chanting of the mantra: हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे, हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे has been considered the sole effective means of escaping from the clutches of the Kali Yuga, the Iron Age. (1-2) It is not always necessary that with Japa, thinking of the meaning of the word must be done. Like the images of Rama and Krishna, their names Rama and Krishna too are the symbols of the supreme Spirit. Just as by constant meditation on a specific form of God, it becomes conscious, chaitanya, ie., the divinity behind it manifests, similarly, one of the important methods is to LISTEN to the mantra mentally at a specific centre of consciousness like the heart or the centre between the eyebrows.

Conditions for Japa Apart from thinking of the meaning, Patanjali has not given any other instructions for the repetition in his sutras. However, Sri Ramakrishna has given some important instructions: ‘Japa means silently repeating God’s name in solitude. When you chant his name with single-minded devotion (ekamone), you can see God’s form and realize Him.’ (Gospel, p.878) ‘There is no doubt about the sanctity of God’s name. But can a mere name achieve anything without yearning love of the devotee behind it? One should feel great restlessness of soul for the vision of God.’ (Gospel, p.190) Thus the four conditions laid down by Sri Ramakrishna are: Chanting must be done 1) silently, 2) in solitude 3) with singlemindedness and 4) with yearning love and restlessness. The first condition for Japa is to do it silently. Japa can be done loudly (व ाचि क); silently but with lips moving (उपांशु) and mentally (मानसिक). Of course, mental japa is the best, but we generally start with loud vocal japa. Sometimes, if the mind is too restless or

agitated, loud vocal japa may help. Otherwise it must be done in such a way that others cannot hear. The second condition is, it should be done in solitude. While giving instructions about meditation also, Sri Ramakrishna emphasizes this condition by saying that it should be done in the mind, in the forest or in a secluded corner. Serious spiritual aspirants do japa and meditation in forests or caves. In the absence of such a possibility, Sri Ramakrishna recommends creating solitude in one’s own house, in a shrine made in a corner. The need for such seclusion is obvious; unless external sounds and disturbances are cut down at least to some extent, mind can’t be concentrated in japa or meditation. In solitude when external sense-stimuli subside, only internal mental modifications remain which can be controlled by japa and meditation. It is therefore advised that in cities, japa should be done at night when all are asleep. An important condition for japa laid down by Sri Ramakrishna is single-mindedness. Mind acts in various ways: thought, imagination, memory, fantasy, resolve, desire etc. If we desire to do japa but thoughts are different and imagination is running elsewhere, we cannot claim to have one mind or onepointed mind. Mind is restless by nature, running in various directions, constantly changing its resolve and vacillating between opposite desires. All these various functions of the mind must be made one-pointed. In the popular Christian book, The Way of the Pilgrim this has been very beautifully expressed: ‘Prayer must be done always constantly, uninterruptedly, with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart, forming a mental picture of His presence and imploring His grace.’ The next condition for success in japa is ‘yearning love and restlessness.’ The name and the named one, God, are the same, nay God’s name is even greater that God—we must have such faith. One does not get joy in japa initially. Hence, initially japa must be done with firm faith. The devotee will not leave japa once he starts getting joy in it. But till then, faith, determination, and dedication are necessary. But the most important is yearning. Imagine a person is drowning and he shouts Help – just one word! As soon as any passer-by listens to this earnest cry, he is bound to run to help. What great yearning, restlessness and utter helplessness is stored in that one word! Such was the single-word cry of the drowning Gajendra, or of Draupadi in the court of Kauravas when Dushasana was trying to derobe her. And the result was that in both the cases the Lord virtually ran to protect them. Or take the case of a baby playing with its toys. At times he does remember and call ‘maa’, but mother does not come. But when in the end, he throws away the toys and shouts loudly ‘MAA’ the mother immediately comes running. Japa also is like the words Help, or Maa, chanted with great yearning and earnestness. This of course does not mean that we shout at the top of our voice. What is important is the yearning of the heart. If there is yearning, the Lord will listen even if we do not open our mouth.

Benefits of Japa Japa and meditation are interrelated. Japa leads to meditation. It is like placing dots in one line: meditation is like joining those dots. Inversely, interrupted meditation is nothing but japa. We begin with vocal japa, then comes internal, mental japa which becomes meditation or an unbroken mental flow of thought towards God. Later even this stops and only the artha or the meaning of the word remains. Thus japa leads to meditation and samadhi. According to Patanjali there are two more benefits of japa: ततः प्रत्यक्चेतनाधिगमोऽप्यन्तरायाभावश्र्च (1.29) ‘From that is gained introspection and destruction of obstacles.’

Sri Ramakrishna has very succinctly defined the introspective mode of mind when he says: ‘Sandhya merges into Gayatri and Gayatri merges into Om.’ Introspection is essentially a process of concentration and turning within. When japa is done with concentration, all other words get merged into the one mantra being chanted, and when this is practiced for a long time, without break and with dedication, mind becomes controlled, indrawn and peaceful. What one gets is described as the व्यवस ायात्मि का बुद्धि (Gita, 2:41) by Sri Krishna in the Gita. One gets inner joy. In fact there is no joy outside. All joys are a mere reflection of the joy within which is experienced by japa. The destruction of obstacles to the path of Yoga is another benefit of japa. Patanjali enumerates nine such obstructions most of which are tamasic and mental. व्याध ि-स्त्या न- संशय-प्रमादालस्यावि रति-भ्रान्ति दर्शनालब्भूमि कत्वा न- वस्थितत्वानि चि त्तविक्षेपास्तेऽन्तरायाः (1.30) ‘Disease, languor, doubt, carelessness, laziness, lack of detachment, wrong notions, inability to ascend to higher spiritual levels and to get established there are the obstructions.’ The first one is disease, and interestingly and significantly, even physical illness gets reduced and may even be cured by japa. Doubts disappear, undue attachments get weakened, and one gets a clear understanding of the spiritual path. And a serious aspirant who persists with japa ascends to higher levels on the spiritual ladder and gets established there. According to Patanjali, pain, depression, trembling of the body and irregular respiration may accompany the above mentioned obstructions (1.31). These also are cured by japa.

Conclusion There is a large literature available on the subject of mantra and japa in all religious traditions. This is a short presentation of the subject, based on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna stressing the practical aspect.

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Reminiscences of Sargachhi

SWAMI SUHITANANDA

Conversations with Swami Premeshananda (1884-1967) a disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. (Continued from previous issue. . .)

37 Question: During the journey, is it proper to buy food, or should we beg for it? Maharaj: If you go in a sannyasin’s garb, then it is better to beg for food. However, it won’t be convenient in all places. You won’t be able to beg at a poor man’s door, and neither will it be proper. Collect information right from now. Question: It is not easy to get a person who can give such information. I will gather information when I find such a person. Maharaj: There is benefit even in gathering information; what is more, there is gain even if you just make a resolution to go. Have you not heard of people making a resolution to go to Kashi? Once I asked Sharat Maharaj with a bit of arrogance, ’Why don’t you discipline those who don’t follow the rules of the Order properly?’ He replied in a plaintive tone, ’If we are too strict, no one will remain.’ Such is the condition of the country! I regret having spoken so haughtily. But I also think that only by speaking those words could I get such a reply. Question: Is it true that when Sri Ramakrishna used to play games and act in rural plays in Manik Raja’s mango orchard, once he supposedly lost outer consciousness and came back to normal consciousness only when the name of Krishna was uttered repeatedly in his ears? This is not mentioned in the LilaPrasanga.

Maharaj: Yes. We have heard this from Ramlal Dada. 12.9.60

Attendant: Neither Shantananda Maharaj nor you engage in much work. Seeing this, we feel like following you.

Maharaj: The four yogas are a must for an ordinary spiritual seeker. Without these practices nothing can be accomplished. As you go on working, you develop detachment for the world; and then you feel an attraction towards God. After that you develop the desire to know His real nature and remain always united with Him.

Totapuri and I both have the same purpose – to unite with our true identity. For Totapuri, his intention is work enough; but since my mind is not refined, I feel that I have done some work only after I have laboured a lot. Totapuri’s devotion is in his mind; and I have to actualise my devotion by going to the temple, taking prasada and singing kirtana.

God doesn’t live in some far-away land. If you think about His leela, you get close to Him. We see in the life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that he would become totally mad at the sound of Krishna’s name, His scent and His words. Those amongst us who have come to Sri Ramakrishna,

not to avoid the troubles of the world, but because we’re really attracted to him, will in due course find the attractions of the world becoming insipid and worthless.

15.9.60

Maharaj: Always make it a point to carry on with the least possible expense. Follow the vows of poverty and celibacy. Gangadhar Maharaj never used Mission funds for his personal needs. He used to procure the money he needed by begging. However, nowadays it is impossible to do that because the workload has increased.

Some fancy that they have to meditate; but it can do them a lot of harm. First, you have to work and worship and observe your mind to see whether or not it becomes joyfully absorbed in the thought of Sri Ramakrishna. When you feel disinclined to leave your seat after meditation, then you should know that you are qualified to meditate.

Every sannyasin has dispassion and renunciation in the beginning; but they cannot keep it up till the end. Their devotees and followers turn their heads. But the point is – why should a sannyasin dance to the tune of his followers? What kind of a sannyasin is he?

17.9.60

Maharaj: Whatever work you do, always act after due deliberation. You have to be very alert about the goal and the means. In any work you do, however small it may be, take each step only after careful consideration. We are taking up all these activities, but the workers don’t know the right method. They go on working, but it does not purify their minds. But there will be some growth in them. A sannyasin should always pay attention and check whether or not each of his acts takes him forward along the path to liberation. He has left behind his parents, property, prestige, and position – everything. After offering funeral oblations to his father and even to himself, he is dead to society. Why should the goal of his activities be anything other than love of God?

Hold on to Sri Ramakrishna and regularly read The Gospel of

Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master, and The Complete

Works of Swami Vivekananda. You will then find answers to all your questions suddenly popping out from these books.

18.9.60

Maharaj: Sannyasa does not mean leaving parental home, living on funds collected through subscription, staying in an ashrama, wearing the ochre robe, keeping a tuft of hair as holy insignia on the shaven head, or not tucking behind into the waistband the hem of the dhoti [a novice has to tuck-in the hem of the waist cloth, which he stops after sannyasa]. The real significance of sannyasa lies in pratyahara or withdrawing the mind from sense-objects. It is to remain unaffected by dualities like hot/cold, happiness/misery, and praise/insult. It is to stay put like a block of wood detaching the mind from all these. If you continue to remain like this, after fifty years, you will one day clearly see that you are just a witness of this world. One day of a sannyasi is ten days of a thief; one day of a thief is ten days of a sannyasi. To become a sadhu, a sannyasi struggles the whole life with discrimination and austerity. But in a moment’s lapse he loses everything and stands disgraced. It is like a thief who steals day after day, until he is caught one day and suffers a long imprisonment. There is always a guard at the Mint. Maybe for fifty long years there might not have been any mishap; yet it is to be kept guarded. In fact, a few days ago, a Mint was attacked all of a sudden! A sadhu should always be on guard throughout his life. (To be continued. . .)

Life in the Kingdom of Heaven in Indian and Western Thought

GOPAL STAVIG

Most religious scriptures do not inform us of life in the Brahmaloka and the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a source of inspiration and motivation for the sincere devotees to gain some understanding of this subject.

The Vedantic Perspective Sri Shankaracharya [c. 688/788-720/820] affirmed that devotees who correctly worship the Personal God (Ishvara) proceed to ‘the third order of Heaven (Brahmaloka)’ after the death of the physical body, and undergo a process of gradual purification and illumination (Kramamukti). ‘They no more return to this world. Those who proceed along this path of the gods do not return to this human cycle of birth and death…. But non-return stands as an accomplished fact for those from whom the darkness (of ignorance) has been completely removed as a result of their full illumination.’ 1 ‘The Self that is beyond sin, free from all dirt, and free from death.’ ‘Moreover having transcended both hunger and thirst and having crossed over sorrow—being free from mental unhappiness, one rejoices in the Divine heavenly world.’ 2 They see Ishvara face to face and experience His bliss in the emancipated state, though there remains a sense of separateness. In the joyful beatified state, ‘The released soul gets all the Divine powers except that of running the universe (with its creation, continuance, and dissolution).’ 3 First, there is the vision of God, then participation in God, and ultimately absolute identity with God. After living with God until the end of the cosmic cycle, the soul ultimately attains to oneness with God by merging with the transpersonal nondual Brahman. In this state, there is neither subject nor object, self or world. 4 He adds, ‘Realise that to be [Nirguna] Brahman the attainment of which leaves nothing more to be attained, the blessedness of which leaves no other bliss to be desired, and the knowledge of which leaves nothing more to be known…. that to be Brahman which is Existence-KnowledgeBliss Absolute, which is nondual and infinite, eternal and One, and which fills all the quarters—all that is above and below and all that exists between.’ 5 For a Nondualistic Advaitist in the penultimate state, Brahman (God) is experienced as being separate from the worshiper. Ultimately, the final stage is reached where there is a perfect identity of the person with his Divine Essence, Brahman-Atman. Gradual illumination (Kramamukti) involves degrees of proximity to the Lord, similarity in experience, and even union with God. The founder of the Vishistadvaita (Qualified Nondualistic) School of Indian religious philosophy Sri Ramanujacharya (c.1017-1137) realised that all emancipated souls are under the complete control of the Supreme Lord, never to return to this world. In Heaven, they live in harmony with Brahman (God) and share and participate in His bliss, for the reason that they are part of Him. There is no difference in the magnitude of enjoyment

experienced by each liberated soul. 6 ‘The Self … is free from sin, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, …[its] desires and thoughts spontaneously realise themselves….’ ‘The released soul, freed from all that hides its true nature, possesses the power of intuitively beholding the pure Brahman, but does not posses the … ruling and controlling power over the entire world.’ ‘…. the released soul has freed itself from the bondage of karma, has its powers of knowledge fully developed, and has all its being in the supremely blissful intuition of the highest Brahman; it evidently cannot desire anything else nor enter any other form of activity and the idea of its returning into the Samsara, therefore, is altogether excluded. Nor indeed need we fear that the Supreme Lord when once having taken to Himself the devotee whom he greatly loves will turn him back into the Samsara.’ 7 From Sri Madhvacharya (1190/1238- 1276/1317) we learn, ‘The Shrutis speak of the great spiritual joy and enjoyment in that state.’ ‘Old age, hunger, thirst are the afflictions of Jiva (Soul) associated with the corporeal body and influenced by ego. The Jiva in Heaven being freed from the bondage of the corporeal body is not affected by these afflictions.’ 8 ‘Moksha (Liberation) is, by definition, a state of blessedness, free from all imperfections and bad passions of embodied existence, there is absolutely no fear of any strife or discord arising among the released, on account of their intrinsic capacities to enjoy their own distinctive bliss.’ ‘They have always complete happiness.’ 9 Spiritual bodies experience a state of supreme consciousness and bliss, which is an experience of blessedness that the human imagination can hardly comprehend. All things are totally united with and dependent on Brahman (God). In this state happiness is not something sought after, given that it is an expression of the person’s inner nature. Worship of Brahman is a blissful end in itself, not a means to another end. The liberated person is ‘released from bondage, by the direct vision of the Lord. And later having reached the Lord enjoys in His company the fulfillment of all his desires to his heart’s content. Reaching the Lord, the Supreme light, the Jnani experiences the bliss of his true self-nature... The jnanin, freeing himself from the mortal bodies attains his true nature as Pure Intelligence (Chid Svarupa). With that Svarupa Indriyas (pure senses), he sees, he hears, he meditates and knows all. This state is called the liberated state.’ 10 ‘The released though capable of realising all their wishes have their sovereignty limited. They have no power to carry on the cosmic functions of the Supreme Being, such as the creation, preservation etc., of the worlds.’ 11 ‘Those whose bodies are (of the nature of) consciousness and bliss, enjoy (liberation according to their) desire. And they lack the great power of emitting and creating the universe a well as other powers…. ’ 12 Madhva mentions that one experiences the bliss of Brahman and at the same time their ‘true selfnature.’ They go together. The conclusion reached by Jiva Goswami (d.1566) is: ‘They attain the eternal status and supreme tranquility by the grace of God.’ ‘They do not covet anything but the service of God. ‘A released soul, attaining Brahman, sees through Brahman, hears through Brahman, etc.’ As Jadunath Sinha points out according to Jiva Goswami, there are five levels of Vaikuntha (Heaven) or Mukti (Liberation), which are eternal states not subject to rebirth on earth: 1) Salokya moksha: ‘The finite souls acquire fitness for serving God through the grace of God and devotion. They acquire the appropriate spiritual bodies in Vaikuntha after their disembodied release. The devotees worship God as if they were His eternal comrades. Their physical bodies are produced by the potencies of their actions (karma) and perish. But when they acquire the spiritual bodies appropriate to

their specific modes of worship with devotion, they are never dissociated from these bodies because they are eternal.’ 2) Sarsti moksha: ‘The Shruti describes such moksha as “A released person can move from one sphere (loka) of existence to another at his will.” “A released person walks, eats, plays, delights in the company of women, moves in vehicles, and lives with kinsmen without a physical body.” “A released soul acquires sovereignty overall, like God, except for creating, preserving and destroying the world.” God alone can create, preserve and destroy the world.’ 3) Sarupya moksha: ‘A devotee constantly meditates on a particular form of God, is aboded in Him, and identified with His form in release. A disembodied released soul assumes the spiritual form of God and acquires community of nature with Him to a certain extent. It cannot assume an entirely identical form with God because it is different from Him as a part.’ 4) Samipya moksha: It ‘consists in proximity to God…. there is the external experience of God in Samipya moksha wherein a released soul experiences Him with the eternal spiritual body of His comrade, and enjoys proximity to Him. But in Salokya moksha, Sarupya moksha, and Sarsti moksha there is only the internal experience of God.’ 5) Sayuja moksha: It ‘consists in effecting a union with God or merging in his spiritual body. The chief characteristic of this kind of release is the experience of being absorbed in the bliss of God.’ 13 Srinivasa (fl. 1625) a member of the Ramanuja School of Vedanta who held ideas similar to Nimbarka (11 th -13 th century) describes heavenly existence. There the freed soul is minute while Brahman (God) is all pervading. ‘The individual soul, having approached “intelligence,” i.e., Brahman who is of the form of intelligence, becomes manifest “as that alone,” i.e., in the form of intelligence alone.’ ‘It is established that having attained the highest form of light, the individual soul becomes manifest in its own natural form endowed with the attributes of freedom from sin and so on.’ The soul is autonomous except for its reliance on the will of Brahman. ‘As the freed soul’s power of fulfilling its desires at will becomes manifest, so it becomes ‘without another ruler,’ i.e., without any ruler except the Highest Brahman.’ Moreover, it possesses the power to move to any location at will. ‘It has been established that the freed soul meets their relatives and so on through mere will.’ ‘The freed soul possesses the instruments, such as the body and the rest, created by the Lord; may have, according to will, a body or not, or many bodies; and is omniscient.’ ‘The freed soul intuits the Highest Brahman alone, ‘not subject to change,’ i.e., untouched by any change like birth and so on, free by nature from all faults, the one ocean of all auspicious qualities, and possessed of super-human powers.’ It remains eternally blissful and does not return to earthly life. ‘The lordship of the freed soul does not consist in the activities in connection with the controlling of the universe, such as its creation and so on.’ The soul is atomic, a fragment of existence that cannot create, maintain, or destroy the universe, unlike the all-pervasive Lord that is the totality of existence. Nimbarka had mentioned previously that the freed soul attains the nature and qualities of the Lord such as pure consciousness, omniscience, realising all of its wishes, meeting its forefathers, moving everywhere at will, and possessing several bodies simultaneously. 14 As Swami Vivekananda signified, after his passing the liberated soul meets ‘with another soul who is already blessed, and he guides the newcomer forward to the highest of all spheres, which is called the Brahmaloka, the sphere of Brahma. There these souls attain to omniscience and omnipotence, become almost as powerful and all-knowing as God Himself; and they reside there forever, according to the

dualists, or, according to the nondualists, they become one with the Universal at the end of the cycle.’ 15 ‘When the Jiva goes there, there comes another Jiva, already perfect, to receive it, and takes it to another world, the highest heaven, called the Brahmaloka, where the Jiva lives eternally, no more to be born or to die. It enjoys through eternity and gets all sorts of powers, except the power of creation. There is only one ruler of the universe, and that is God. No one can become God; the dualists maintain that if you say you are God, it is a blasphemy. All powers except the creative come to the Jiva, and if it likes to have bodies, and work in different parts of the world, it can do so. If it orders all the gods to come before it, if it wants its forefathers to come, they all appear at its command. Such are its powers that it never feels any more pain, and if it wants, it can live in the Brahmaloka through all eternity. This is the highest man, who has attained the love of God, who has become perfectly unselfish, perfectly purified, who has given up all desires, and who does not want to do anything except worship and love God.’ 16 Far beneath this level dwell many lower heavens, where people are able to fulfill all kinds of worldly desires. ‘There it enjoys happiness, so long as the effect of its good deeds endures. When the same is exhausted, it descends, and once again enters life on earth according to its desires.’ Residing in these planes of existence increases the number of desires and does not lead to the highest beatitudes. 17 (To be continued. . .)

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IV:3.10-1; IV:4.17, 21-22. 5) Self-Knowledge (Atmabodha). Shankaracharya. Trans.

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Motilal Banarsidass, 1966. IV:4.17-22. 7) VS. IV:4.3, 17, 19, 22. 8) Commentary of Sri Madhva on Katha Upanishad. Ed.

Nagesh Sonde. Bombay: Vasantik Prakashan, 1996. p. 31 9) Madhva’s Teachings in His Own Words. B. N. K.

Sharma. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1979. pp. 170-71; The Brahamasutras – commentary by Madhvacharya (hereafter BSM). Trams. S. G. Mudgal. Mumbai: Archish, 2005. IV:4.1, pp. 312-13, IV:4.22, p. 323. 10) BSM. IV:4.1, pp. 312-13; IV:4.6 7, p. 315. 11) Philosophy of Sri Madhvacarya. Sharma (1979), pp. 164, 168; B. N. K. Sharma. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986. pp. 447-53. 12) An Introduction to Madhva Vedanta. Deepak Sarma.

Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003, p. 94 13) Jivagosvami’s Religion of Devotion and Love. Jadunath

Sinha. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Vidyabhawan, 1983, pp. 24, 209-16. 14) Vedanta-Kaustubha. Roma Bose. Calcutta: Royal

Asiatic Society Bengal, 1943. II: 867, 877, 880-83; III: 44-45 15) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (hereafter

CW) Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1962), II:269. 16) CW. I:398. 17) CW. I:398-99; IV:40. References

Swami Vivekananda’s Visit to Shillong

ASIM CHAUDHURI

Shillong—The Scotland of the East Poet Rabindranath Tagore immortalized the picturesque, misty landscape of Shillong in his novel Shesher Kabita, written around 1928- 29; he was there earlier in 1919 for three weeks and then again in 1923 for about two months. But long before that, in 1901, the quintessential monk Swami Vivekananda had sanctified the town of Shillong with his footprints. Situated in the cradle of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills (in what was then Assam, a northeastern province of India), the town was, and still is, a salubrious hill station where people go for vacation or to recoup their health; playing golf is optional on its world-renowned 18-hole course, which opened three years before Swamiji’s visit and was modeled along the lines of St. Andrews of Scotland. If Swamiji saw the course, it would have reminded him of his experience playing golf, for the first and last time, while staying at Ridgely Manor in Stone Ridge, New York, in 1899; there he happened to score a hole-in-one on a par-four hole—a ‘double eagle’ in golf’s lexicon. 1 In 1901, Shillong was the administrative headquarters of Assam, which had been formed as the Chief Commissioner’s Province in 1874. At an average altitude of 5,000 feet above sea level, the town is considered one of India’s favorite hill stations. Nostalgic British expatriates often referred to the town as the ‘Scotland of the East’ for its eye-pleasing, rolling-hill landscape. It remained the capital of Assam until 1972, when the State of Meghalaya

photo taken in Shillong

was formed. Shillong then became the capital of Meghalaya, and Gauhati (now Guwahati) became the capital of Assam.

Prologue After returning from his second visit to the West in December 1900, Swamiji made only one trip to Mayavati before embarking on his journey to East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and Assam. This excursion was prompted by his earnest desire to take his mother on a pilgrimage, a sacred duty for the eldest son according to Hindu custom. On January 26, 1901, he wrote to Mrs. Bull, ‘I am going to take my mother on pilgrimage next week. It may take months to make the complete round of pilgrimages. This is the one great wish of a Hindu widow. I have brought only misery to my people all my life. I am trying at least to fulfill this one wish of hers.’ 2 But that didn’t happen until March 24, when Swamiji’s mother, aunt, sister, a cousin’s wife, and Swami Sadananda (Gupta Maharaj, a

disciple) left Calcutta and met him in East Bengal to go on the pilgrimage. Swamiji had already been in Dacca since March 19 with some of his disciples; Swamis Nityananda (Nitai) and Nirbhayananda (Kanai) were probably among them as we come to learn later from Swami Brahmananda’s diary. 3 Swamiji met his mother’s party at Narayanganj, and they all bathed in the Brahmaputra River at Langalbandha, or Langalbandh * , about twelve miles southeast of Dacca, probably on the Buddhashtami Day (the 8 th day of the lunar month in March-April), which fell on March 28 in 1901. Tens of thousands of Hindus attend the bathing ritual, called astami snan, every year on that day. They went back to Dacca after that, and on April 5 left for Chandranath (near Chittagong) and finally Kamakhya Dham (in Gauhati); both these places are associated with Goddess Sati (Lord Shiva’s consort) and are designated as Shakti Peeth. On their way to Kamakhya, the party stayed for some days at Goalpara and Gauhati. 4 Newly emerging information since then indicates that he must have touched a few more places on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, and that his visit to Kamakhya probably preceded the visit to Gauhati. The information is both sketchy and sometimes conflicting. Swamiji’s health had deteriorated earlier in Dacca, where he spent a total of two weeks meeting people and giving lectures, before embarking on his journey to Assam, and it became progressively worse as he approached Kamakhya; he was suffering from an acute attack of asthma. He then decided (probably on the advice of others) to go to Shillong, where he thought the air would be drier to give him some relief. 5 It was probably not a good decision,

Raj Ghat is where Swamiji and his family had supposedly taken the holy bath. (T. Acharjee, Mahatirtha Langalbandh (Toma Prakashan, Dhaka, 2004), p. 85)

which Swamiji realized later. There could also be other accompanying reasons for his visit to Shillong, as we shall see. It is well known that the main sources for tracing Swamiji’s footprints with respect to dates are his personal letters, but he didn’t write any between April 5, when he left Dacca, and May 12, when he went back to Belur Math after his East Bengal and Assam tour. The ‘Cyclonic Monk’, a title given to him in America, was in his elements as he moved constantly on the land and through the waterways of East Bengal and didn’t have time to sit down and write letters; the title would have been more appropriate in that part of the world. So, to establish the date of his arrival at Shillong we have to look at all the sources of information, some credible, some questionable, and some downright incorrect, and draw a logical conclusion. The only thing we know for certain is that he presented two ‘Pandas of Shri Kamakhya Peetham’ with a laudatory letter dated April 17; the letter had ‘Gauhati’ written at the top. The letter is quoted below: ‘I have great pleasure in certifying the great amiability and helpfulness of the brothers Shivakanta and Lakshmikanta, Pandas of Shri Kamakhya Peetham. They are men who help most and are satisfied with the least. I can unhesitatingly recommend them to the Hindu public visiting this most holy shrine.’ 6 According to Niranjan panda, Ramdas panda’s son and Lakshmikanta panda’s grandson, Swamiji stayed at the brothers’ (Shivakanta and Lakshmikanta) house for three days. 7 This may be true, because the Kamakhya pilgrims traditionally spent three nights at Kamakhya performing the customary rituals. 8 Niranjan panda also said that Swamiji came to Kamakhya through Parbatipur, Amingaon, and Pandughat. It is highly unlikely that Swamiji did that. Since there was no established railroad connection between East Bengal and Assam at

that time, he and his party travelled from Chandranath to Pandughat (next to Kamakhya) by steamer, touching various river towns in Assam on the west side of Gauhati along the way. ** As far as is known, railway connection between Parbatipur (East Bengal) and Dhubri (Assam) was first established in 1902, and that was extended to Amingaon around 1907. 9 Niranjan panda assumed that Swamiji had come by train. It is a safe assumption that Swamiji took his party to Kamakhya first, at least for his mother’s sake, but exactly when he arrived there is difficult to ascertain. From Pandughat, one has to go through Kamakhya to reach Gauhati. The letter to the pandas, which is the only verifiable document we have, could have been written when he was in Gauhati later. If it were written at Kamakhya, then he would probably have written Kamakhya, or Kamakhya Peetham, at the top instead of Gauhati. On the other hand, Kamakhya is in Gauhati, and so he could have written ‘Gauhati’ from that point of view. Accepting the latter view as correct, Swamiji must have reached Kamakhya on April 14 and stayed at the panda’s house near the temple for three days and left on April 17 for Gauhati proper. People usually write letters commending the host on the day of departure, after they have experienced the host’s ‘amiability and helpfulness’, and that’s what we presume Swamiji did. In 2001, commemorating the 100 th anniversary of Swamiji’s visit to

** There is no indication anywhere that Swamiji came through Parbatipur (in East Bengal). Although Parbatipur is about 60 miles west of Dhubri and Swamiji approached Gauhati from that direction, it is far from the Brahmaputra River, his steamer route. Moreover, Parbatipur is not known as a place of pilgrimage. Pandughat would have been his port of entry, so to say, to Kamakhya (in west Gauhati). If he had gone straight to central Gauhati, his port of entry would have been Sukreshwar Ghat, further east of Pandughat.

Kamakhya, a plaque with the text of Swamiji’s letter inscribed on it was placed at the house.

Toward Shillong After three to four days in Gauhati, where Swamiji was allegedly put up by an orthodox Brahmin named Padmanath Bhattacharya (a.k.a Padmanath Saraswati) and gave a few lectures in the town, he left for Shillong in poor health. Rai Saheb Kailash Chandra Das and Jatindra Nath Basu brought Swamiji and his entourage from Gauhati to Shillong, a distance of about 64 miles (102 kms), in a horse-drawn carriage. It took them two days, and the travelers spent the night at a roadside hut along the way. Kailash Chandra Das and Jatindra Nath Basu walked alongside the carriage all the way from Gauhati. Rai Saheb Kailash Chandra welcomed Swamiji to his house in Laban, a predominantly Bengali neighborhood in Shillong, and his honored guest stayed there the entire time he was in town. 10 Following the above reasoning, the party probably reached Shillong on April 23, give or take a day depending on the length of his stay in Gauhati. It is hard to imagine that the party made the uphill trip in two days, with two escorts on foot, with women and an ailing Swamiji on board, and the horses requiring periodic rest or being exchanged for fresh ones; three days would have been a more plausible time frame. Swamiji, however, was familiar with this mode of transportation through mountainous roads. He had covered such roads in Switzerland in 1896 in horse-drawn carriages, called ‘diligences’ in that part of the world.

In a Bengali book titled Shillonger Bangalee (The Bengalis of Shillong), written (edited?) by Prof. Shyamadas Bhattacharya (1931-2017), *** one can find a graphic

*** Prof. Bhattacharya was a history professor at Lady Keane College in Shillong from 1956 to 1991. He was a well-respected author, an educator, and a cultural

description of Swamiji’s travel from Gauhati to Shillong. 11 In his article, ‘Shillong Pahare Swami Vivekananda’ (‘Swami Vivekananda in the Shillong Hills’), Prof. Bhattacharya embellished his facts with some colouring occasionally, therefore making it hard to distinguish fact from fancy. It is unfortunate that he did not cite his sources at the points of use but lumped all of them together at the end of the book as bibliography, making it hard for the inquisitive reader to connect his text with the corresponding source. His article nevertheless provides some interesting materials that can be woven together with other available information to construct an acceptably credible story. (He must have written the article, or at least modified it, after 1997 because he lists the Diamond Jubilee Souvenir (1997) of the Shillong Ramakrishna Mission in the bibliography. The book was published in 2004.) We will assume that Swamiji’s mother and four other family members accompanied him to Shillong and stayed there the entire time he was there, although there is no clear record that they did. Prof. Bhattacharya mentioned only one carriage taking Swamiji to Shillong, with two companions in it to look after him. If that was true, then those two would be Swami Sadananda, and either Swami Nityananda (Nitai) or Swami Nirbhayananda (Kanai). However, the Life wrote, ‘The Swami, with Swami Sadananda, his own mother, sister, and aunt, and Ramdada’s wife, reached Calcutta from Shillong on May 12.’ 12 If the women family members were not with him in Shillong, where were they all that time? According to the information provided by Rai Saheb Kailash Chandra Das’s granddaughter, Dipanjali Majumdar, ‘Rai Saheb Kailash Chandra Das and Jatindra Nath Basu brought Swamiji and his

icon in the Shillong community, and was also a recipient of the “Bharat Jyoti” award by Govt. of India in 2001 for his multi-field contributions to the State of Meghalaya.

companions [italics by the author] from Gauhati to Shillong,’ but she did not reveal who those companions were. 13 Available information on Swamiji’s East Bengal and Assam tour says very little about his mother (and his other family members), for whom he was making that ‘complete round of pilgrimages.’ Prof. Bhattacharya’s account of the travel brought up some additional information that Swamiji’s party was accompanied by one Mr. Norton, a British officer, and that Swamiji and his party stayed one night in a village called Umiam, twelve miles from Shillong. It seems that Sir Henry Cotton, then the Chief Commissioner of Assam whom we will meet later, had invited Swamiji to be his guest in Shillong to restore his health, and that it was at the order of Sir Henry Cotton that Mr. Norton was escorting Swamiji to Shillong. Swamiji thanked Sir Henry for his kind offer (to be his guest) saying that his countrymen had already arranged for his stay there. 14

In Shillong—with its people According to Prof. Bhattacharya, many distinguished residents of Shillong came to see Swamiji when he arrived at the Laban house of Rai Saheb Kailash Chandra. He also mentioned the presence of Deputy Commissioner Capt. D. Herbert at the house to control the crowd that had gathered in anticipation of Swamiji’s arrival. Capt. Herbert informed Swamiji that the Civil Surgeon would come to see him that afternoon and so would Sir Henry Cotton the next morning. 15 According to the FIBIS (Families In British India Society) of London, Capt. Herbert, I.C.S., was the Deputy Commissioner in Shillong at that time. The Civil Surgeon whom Cotton had instructed to treat Swamiji was Major Robert Neil Campbell, who was the Civil Surgeon of Shillong from 1896-97 to 1906; he was in that position in 1897 when the great earthquake struck Shillong (and Assam) in 1897. 16

Some of the prominent citizens present there to welcome Swamiji were: Rai Bahadur Sadaya Charan Das, Rai Saheb Prasanna Kumar Bhattacharya, Upendranath Kanjilal, Bishnuprasad Barua, and Munsi Mohammed Amatullah, just to name a few. This may show that Swamiji had some interaction with the populace, because some of them came back the next morning to visit Swamiji; Hormurai Diengdoh, whom we will meet later was one of them. The visitors more or less covered Shillong’s social and religious spectrums. Rai Bahadur Sadaya Charan Das was the secretary of the Brahmo Samaj (Police Bazaar). 17 To get a feel for what the Bengali society of Shillong was like in the early part of the 20 th century, we will quote from a book by author Nirad Chaudhuri (no relation), who visited Shillong in that era, as follows: As regards to the Bengali population of Shillong, we formed two rather conflicting impressions. One was that the women were very much more free at Shillong that at any other place we know of, and the other was that the men were very much less so. It appeared to us that the men at Shillong spent their days shut up in a room and working at their desks. The impression was right because most of the Bengalis at Shillong were clerks in government offices. It also seemed to us that Shillong was a place where monotheism prevailed over polytheism and that in the face of the One-God or Brahma, as we called him following Brahmo theology, our familiar many-gods kept themselves very much in the background…. Nearly all the Bengalis [at Shillong] affected liberal and reformist religious views. 18 It seems that the Bengali society of Shillong was in tune with Swamiji’s views, but nothing more can be said about how it was influenced by his visit because there is not much available information about his interaction with the local populace, especially with the Bengalis. The fact that Shillong had a sizable number of educated Brahmos in the early 20 th century might have set the religious tone that Nirad Chaudhuri alluded to. Shillong’s Bengali population, therefore, could have come under the influence of the Brahmo monotheistic movement and was partly deists and partly rationalists. That may also explain why it took the town thirty-six years after Swamiji’s visit to establish a branch of the Ramakrishna Mission, with a gap of eight years between its conception and inception, as we shall see later. The Welsh Presbyterian missionaries, who were trying to evangelize the region, could have influenced that also. They probably looked at Swami Vivekananda in the same way their American counterparts did—with hostility. Who can forget the article ‘An Honest Hindoo’, published in The Interior, a Presbyterian journal in the U.S., in October 1893? 19 Sir Henry (John Stedman) Cotton (1845- 1915) was the Chief Commissioner of Assam at the time, stationed in Shillong. He had been born in South India to Indian-born British parents, but was educated in England, from elementary school until he passed his Indian Civil Service Examination. He joined the Service in India in 1867, and after serving in various capacities in Bengal, including Calcutta, he was posted to Shillong in 1896. He served there as the Chief Commissioner until 1902. For his demonstrated sympathy toward India’s struggle for freedom, he was chosen as the president of the Indian National Congress in 1904. He then went back to England and became a Member of the House of Commons. Sir Henry later wrote a book on his reminiscences of India, titled Indian and Home Memories, which was published in 1911. ‘To India the whole of my matured life has been devoted, and when I retired, after thirty-five years of official service, I did so with profoundest regret,’ he wrote in his book. 20 He mentioned a lot about the Assam earthquake of

1897, which he and his wife had narrowly survived but, quite surprisingly, nothing about meeting Swami Vivekananda. In his book, Sir Henry dedicated a chapter titled ‘Men I Have Known.’ There he mentioned names of people like Bunkim Chunder Chatterjee, Robindro Nath Tagore, Arabindo Ghose, Mohendra Lal Sircar, Keshub Chunder Sen, Romesh Chunder Dutt, and of many, many other such luminaries, but no Swami Vivekananda. It is not only surprising, but also puzzlingly mysterious, much to our disappointment. This is what the Life recorded about that encounter:

H e h a d h e a rd m u c h o f Swa m i Vivekananda and was anxious to meet him. At his request the Swami delivered a lecture before resident English officials and a large gathering of Indians. Later, Sir Henry Cotton, who had very much liked the Swami’s speech, visited the latter, exchanged greetings with him, and spent some time discussing India and her national problems. Seeing that the Swami was ill, he instructed the Civil Surgeon to render him all possible medical aid. Throughout the Swami’s stay, the Chief Commissioner daily made enquiries about his health. The Swami spoke of him as a man who understood India’s needs and aspirations, was working nobly for her cause, and deserved the love of the Indian people. 21 Sir Henry was sympathetic to Indian causes and the spirit of Indian nationalism, and Swa m i j i n o d o u b t fo u n d i n h i m a compassionate listening ear. They could have conversed in Bengali, because Henry Cotton could speak fluent Bengali, and could also ‘read the characters with facility.’ 22 They were on the same wavelength in many respects. Both considered education a priority. The Cotton College in Gauhati, the oldest college in Northeast India, was established by Cotton in 1901; it became a full-fledged university (Cotton University) in January 2017. Sir Henry visited Swamiji at the Laban house; he also inquired about his health on a regular basis. (To be continued. . .)

1) Swami Vivekananda in America: New Findings. Asim Chaudhuri. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2008, pp. 299- 300. 2) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. [hereafter CW] 5: 154 3) ‘Swami Vivekananda in Northeast India and Present

Bangladesh’. Swami Alokananda. Diamond Jubilee commemoration Souvenir 1937-1997, Ramakrishna

Mission, Shillong, p. 40. 4) Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and

Western Disciples, Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2: 589 5) Ibid. 6) CW. 9:156 7) ‘Swami Vivekananda in Northeast India and Present

Bangladesh’. Swami Alokananda, op.cit., p. 39. 8) Kamakhya-Tirtha. Dharanikanta Debsharma

Barapujari. Gauhati: Kamakhya Pradarshani, 1995, p. 93. 9) http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/ 66540/10/10_chapter%203.pdf; p. 76. 10)‘The Unknown Side of Swami Vivekananda.’ Rajiv Roy. The Assam Times, Tuesday, May 6, 2014; https://www.assamtimes.org/node/10815; Swami

Alokananda, op. cit., p. 40. 11)‘Shillong Pahare Swami Vivekananda.’ Shyamadas

Bhattacharya. Shillonger Bangalee. Kolkata: Patra

Bharati, 2004, pp. 34-36. 12) Life of Swami Vivekananda. 2:590 13)Swami Alokananda, op. cit., p. 40. 14)‘Shillong Pahare Swami Vivekananda.’ op. cit., p. 35. 15)Ibid., p. 37. 16) Indian and Home Memories. Sir Henry Cotton.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911, p. 233. 17)‘Shillong Pahare Swami Vivekananda.’ op. cit., p. 39. 18) The Autobiography of An Unknown Indian. Nirad

C. Chaudhuri. New York: The New York Review of

Books, 2001, p. 101. 19) Swami Vivekananda in America: New Findings. Asim

Chaudhuri. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, pp. 342-344. 20) Indian and Home Memories. op. cit., p. 56. 21) Life of Swami Vivekananda. 2: 590 22) Indian and Home Memories. op. cit., p. 71. References