The Vedanta Kesari – November 2019 issue

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Vedanta Kesari November 2019

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The Vedanta Kesari

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The Dawn of a New India

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A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

N ovember 2019

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Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, Pakistan (birth place of Guru Nanak)

Guru Nanak Jayanti 12 November 2019 ‘He who eats what he earns through his earnest labour and from his hand gives something in charity; he alone, O Nanak, knows the true way of life.’

‘When mind becomes polluted by sins, it is washed by colouring it with His name.’

‘Man obtains the human body as a result of good deeds, but he reaches the gate of salvation with God’s kind grace.’

-- Guru Nanak Regd. Off. & Fact. : Plot No.88 & 89, Phase - II, Sipcot Industrial Complex, Ranipet - 632 403, Tamil Nadu.

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A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of The Ramakrishna Order

NOVEMBER 2019

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Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan for Swachh Bharath Swami Ekagamyananda

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FEATURES

Swami Vijnanananda and the Ramakrishna Order Swami Balabhadrananda

Reminiscences of Sargachhi Swami Suhitananda

7 Ātmārpaṇastuti 8 Yugavani 9 Editorial 27 Vivekananda Way 41 Book Reviews 43 Pariprasna 45 Topical Musings 48 What is Religion?

53 The Order on the March

An Ancient Vedic Institution Dr. Chithra Madhavan

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125th Anniversary of Chicago Addresses: Concluding Programme

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Vol. 106, No. 11 ISSN 0042-2983

CONTENTS

Poorva: Magic, Miracles and the Mystical Twelve

Shiva’s Demon Gitanjali Murari

Lakshmi Devnath

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Poc ke t

Editor: Swami Mahamedhananda

Published by Swami Vimurtananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai - 600 004 and Printed by B. Rajkumar, Chennai - 600 014 on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust, Chennai - 600 004 and Printed at M/s. Rasi Graphics Pvt. Limited, No.40, Peters Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 600014.

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The

Vedanta Kesari

November 2019

Dear Readers,

The Vedanta Kesari

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The Vedanta Kesari is one of the oldest cultural and spiritual magazines in the country. Started under the guidance and support of Swami Vivekananda, the first issue of the magazine, then called Brahmavadin, came out on 14 Sept 1895. Brahmavadin was run by one of Swamiji’s ardent followers Sri Alasinga Perumal. After his death in 1909 the magazine publication became irregular, and stopped in 1914 whereupon the Ramakrishna Order revived it as The Vedanta Kesari.

Swami Vivekananda’s concern for the magazine is seen in his letters to Alasinga Perumal where he writes: ‘Now I am bent upon starting the journal.’

‘Herewith I send a hundred dollars…. Hope this will go just a little in starting your paper.’ ‘I am determined to see the paper succeed.’ ‘The Song of the Sannyasin is my first contribution for your journal.’ ‘I learnt from your letter the bad financial state that Brahmavadin is in.’ ‘It must be supported by the Hindus if they have any sense of virtue or gratitude left in them.’ ‘I pledge myself to maintain the paper anyhow.’ ‘The Brahmavadin is a jewel—it must not perish. Of course, such a paper has to be kept up by private help always, and we will do it.’

For the last 105 years, without missing a single issue, the magazine has been carrying the invigorating message of Vedanta with articles on spirituality, culture, philosophy, youth, personality development, science, holistic living, family and corporate values.

Over the years, production and publication costs have gone up manifold. A non-commercial magazine like this can continue its good work only with the generous financial support and active assistance of well-wishers.

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November 2019

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November 2019

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Ātmārpaṇastuti

In this work he has praised Lord Shiva as the highest among the Trinity. This should not be understood to mean that he was a Shaivite with a bias against Vishnu. He was an advaitin and so made no distinction between Shiva and Vishnu. He expresses this clearly in these words:

November 2019

Sri Appayya Dikshitendra was one of the greatest exponents of advaita. He is said to have lived from 1520 to 1593 CE. One of his numerous works is Atmarpanastuti. It is a very moving work. The story is that once he wanted to test the intensity of his devotion. So, he consumed a datura seed which produces intoxication and asked his disciples to write down all that he spoke in that state. This turned out to be the beautiful Atmarpanastuti in praise of Lord Shiva.

‘Let Vishnu or Shankara be the purport of the words of the Upanishads. We advaitins have no dispute whatsoever on that point. My attempt is only to counter the biased statements of the evil-minded persons whose hearts are burning with the fire of hatred of Shiva. Let no one think that I am against Vishnu.’

The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : K U M . V. D H A R S H A N I H A R I , C H E N N A I

Sri Appayya Dikshitendra

विष्णुर्वा शङ्करो वा श्रुतिशिखरगिरामस्तु तात्पर्यभूमिः नास्माकं तत्र वादः प्रसरति किमपि स्पष्टमद्वैतभाजाम् । किन्त्वीशद्वेषगाढानलकलितहृदां दुर्मतीनां दुरुक्ती भक्तुं यत्नो ममायं न हि भवतु ततो विष्णुविद्वेषशङ्का ।।

The beauty of Atmarpanastuti lies in the sound of the words and the intensity of the devotion behind them more than on the meaning of the shlokas.

Sloka - 1

कस्ते बोद्धुं प्रभवति परं देवदेव प्रभावं यस्मादित्थं विविधरचना सृष्टिरेषा बभूव । भक्तिग्राह्यस्त्वमिह तदपि त्वामहं भक्तिमात्रात् स्तोतुं वाञ्छाम्यतिमहदिदं साहसं मे सहस्व ॥१

‘O Lord of lords, Who can know the extent of Your supreme glory, You from whom this multifarious creation has emerged! You are attainable only through devotion, and so I wish to praise You only out of devotion. Be so kind as to pardon this rashness on my part.’

Translated by Sri. S.N. Sastri.

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Yugavani

November 2019

Money

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W

hat does a man get with money? Food, clothes, and a dwelling-place— nothing more. You cannot realize God with its help. Therefore, money can never be the goal of life.

Money is a great upadhi.

The possession of money makes such a difference in a man! He is no longer the same person. A brahmin used to frequent the temple garden. Outwardly he was very modest. One day I went to Konnagar with Hriday. No sooner did we get off the boat than we noticed the brahmin seated on the bank of the Ganga. We thought he had been enjoying the fresh air.

Looking at us, he said: ‘Hello there, priest! How do you do?’ I marked his tone and said to Hriday: ‘The man must have got some money. That’s why he talks that way.’

A frog had a rupee, which he kept in his hole. One day an elephant was going over the hole, and the frog, coming out in a fit of anger, raised his foot, as if to kick the elephant, and said, ‘How dare you walk over my head?’ Such is the pride that money begets!

Money becomes the source of trouble

Money itself becomes a source of trouble. Brothers may live happily, but they get into trouble when the property is divided. Dogs lick one another’s bodies; they are perfectly friendly. But when the house-holder throws them a little food, they get into a scrap.

Can we make an effort to earn more money?

It is permissible to do so to maintain a religious family. You may try to increase your income, but in an honest way. The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God. Money is not harmful if it is devoted to the service of God. For householders money is a means of getting food, clothes, and a dwelling place, worshipping the Deity, and serving holy men and devotees.

It is useless to try to hoard money. With great labour the bees build a hive; but a man breaks it and takes the honey away.

—Sri Ramakrishna

ast month, India celebrated the success of Swachh Bharat Mission which is the world’s biggest movement for sanitation and cleanliness. The Mission or Abhiyan which began as a five-year project in 2014, had the goal of achieving a Clean India by the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 Oct 2019. It became a people’s movement and created cleanliness awareness all over the country. By building over 11 crore toilets across rural and urban areas, the Abhiyan saved over 750 million Indians from the fate of open defecation. This single achievement along with waste management and personal hygiene awareness has saved millions of lives from communicable diseases, and brought financial and economic benefits to millions of poor people.

The first positive duty that Yoga prescribes as a preparation for a meaningful, spiritual life is Shaucha or cleanliness of mind, speech and body. And indeed, Indians are one of the cleanest races in the matter of personal hygiene – we bath at least once a day and our homes are quiet clean. But then why did we end up – as a foreigner described us – as ‘a very clean people living in a very dirty place’? Our public or common places are dangerously dirty and for centuries have caused millions of deaths through epidemics.

But we know also of the high standards of cleanliness and sanitation that was present even from the times of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Somewhere down the time this aspect of social life was lost and we became, as Gandhiji observed, a race who saw no virtue in national or social sanitation.

Those with a keen understanding of history,

trace this downfall as beginning from the time foreign invasions disrupted our social structure.

Hence, in our struggle to regain our national identity, leaders like Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi laid great stress on social morality. From the very beginning of the Ramakrishna Math, Swami Vivekananda insisted that the sannyasis give importance to social cleanliness and orderliness. Once, very early in the morning someone was found to be cleaning the common toilet in Belur Math. It was uncleaned for many days. When curious sadhus went to see who it was, they were shocked to find Swamiji vigorously scrubbing and cleaning the whole place. He rejected their wailing request to desist and allow them to do the job. After a thorough cleaning, he came out and reminded the sadhus of the importance of keeping their surroundings clean. There is a symbiotic relationship between us and the external nature.

Swamiji’s concern for social morality developed a greater dimension when plague broke out in Kolkata in 1899. As the terrorstricken public fled the city in thousands, Swamiji who was recovering his health in the hills rushed back to Kolkata. Under the leadership of his disciples Swami Sadananda and Sister Nivedita he initiated the fight against the epidemic on 31 March 1899. He drafted a Plague Manifesto in which among other things he advised people to ‘Always keep the house and its premises, the rooms, clothes, bed, drain, etc., clean.’ He arranged a public meeting where university students and professors were gathered. He wanted the

November 2019

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Swachh Bharat Our Pride - Our Responsibility

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PA G E S P O N S O R : E C O N O M I C S D E P T. , 2 0 0 9 - 1 2 B AT C H , R A M A K R I S H N A M I S S I O N V I D YA M A N D I R A , B E LU R M AT H

Editorial

November 2019 The Vedanta Kesari

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students of Calcutta to volunteer and clean up with their own hands the Bagh Bazar locality which was most affected by plague.

He knew that nation-building depended on man-making. And a campaign against unsanitary condition was a definite step in building such a character.

Addressing the students, Sister Nivedita described to them the unsanitary condition of a bustee and the reasons for it as she understood: ‘Everywhere we found all kinds of refuse thrown in front of the clean door-sills, and more frequently than not the passage between two houses was the common dust-bin. … No one who has noted the cleanliness of a Hindu hut inside will take it that the dirt outside is wilfully produced. … I attribute the bad habit of throwing refuse on the roads, or into out of the way corners, to the zenana system, which prevents women realizing the state of their surroundings.’ So, it was her conviction that if women recognised the importance of public cleanliness, and did all in their power to promote it in their own immediate neigbourhood, the streets and lanes of the city would become clean.

Nivedita gave the students a new conception of civic life. She told them, ‘A sweeper who accomplishes his work through an ideal is ready for an even greater ideal.

What will that ideal be? It is for you to find out. By saving Bagh Bazar, we are writing the history of India with life itself; this history has never been written. This is our Ramayana.’

Nivedita, some sadhus, devotees, a handful of students, and a dozen paid scavengers waged a successful war against the plague. It was perhaps the first time a n o n - g ove r n m e n t o r g a n i s a t i o n h a d approached the task in a systematic way creating a model for others to follow.

Some years later, Gandhiji gave a national focus to the task of social cleanliness and hygiene. A few days before the Congress Session of 1921, he asked the participants to prove their fitness for Swaraj by accomplishing, among other things, a sense of national or social sanitation. He wrote: ‘Perfect cleanliness must meet the eye everywhere despite accumulation of waste water, refuse and night-soil. … Khadinagar ought to provide an object-lesson in cleanliness.’

Today, Ramakrishna Mission has once again presented a small modern model for public participation in social cleanliness. It is in the Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan conducted

by Ramakrishna Mission, Mangaluru, Karnataka which we have here as this issue’s Cover Story.

In his comparison of the East and the West, Swamiji writes: ‘The grace of both Lakshmi and Sarasvati now shines on the peoples of the Western countries. They do not stop at the mere acquisition of the objects of enjoyment, but in all their actions they seek for a sort of beauty and grace. In eating and drinking, in their homes and surroundings, in everything, they want to see an all-round elegance. We also had that trait once — when there was wealth and prosperity in the land.’ Historians and sociologists agree that there is a close connection between social cleanliness and social prosperity.

In the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, our country has spent more than 20,000 crores of rupees. Our society is awakening and the positive changes are there to see. To sustain these developments each one of us has to stand up and take the challenge of following safe and clean disposal of waste, and keep our immediate neighbourhood clean. Let us be responsible.

Article

Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan for Swachh Bharath A Journey from a Campaign to a Revolution!

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owards the end of September 2014, our headquarters at Belur Math instructed us to take up the Swachh Bharath Abhiyan and inspire our devotees and the people of Mangaluru to participate in the cleanliness drive. Initially I was not enthusiastic about getting involved in this Abhiyan. I saw it as a Central Government project and also thought that given the huge fan following of the Prime Minister our service would not be required for the success of the campaign.

Furthermore, I felt that our time and energy could be better utilised in more essential fields of service.

Ramakrishna Mission has always worked in areas that are usually neglected by others.

We step in only when a real need is perceived and then tirelessly work for its fulfillment. Here we can refer to two such projects successfully undertaken by the Mangaluru ashrama. One is the Balakashram, a hostel run in the Math premises for meritorious high school boys hailing from poor families in and around the

Malnad region of Karnataka. Malnad which is situated on the slopes of the Western Ghats is a tough terrain of hills, rivers, streams, and waterfalls and the interior villages do not have high schools in walking distance. Most of the students, even meritorious ones, drop out of school after primary education. Selected students from this category are admitted to our Balakashram.

The second project was born of a survey conducted in the local area. When we visited the local schools we came to know the plight of students coming from the lowest economic rung of the society—children of labourers and slum dwellers. They came to school hungry, illclad and dirty and they were also poor in studies because there was no one to guide them. To serve these unfortunate children, we started in our Math the ‘Vivekananda Coaching Center’. Every evening nearly 150 students from class 4 to 10, receive tuition classes for two hours. After the class, they are given nutritious food and milk. Every year they are given

The author is a sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Order serving at our Mangaluru centre. The write-up is prepared by Smt. Shobha Alva, a devotee of the Math. mangaluru@rkmm.org f swacchmangaluru

November 2019

Five years ago the Government of India requested Ramakrishna Mission to actively participate in the Swachh Bharath Abhiyan. The call was to conduct cleanliness campaigns every week for five years from 2 Oct 2014. The goal was to achieve a clean India as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Mangaluru answered this call in a manner that transformed the campaign into a revolution! The story of this adventure is presented here in the words of Swami Ekagamyananda who led the movement.

11 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : D R . V I R A L K A M D A R , N A G P U R

SWAMI EKAGAMYANANDA

Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan 5 years: 2015 – 2019 2500+ Programmes 250 Groups 200 Weeks (Sundays) 10,000 Proud Volunteers 20 Lakh Man-hours 13000 Swachhata Senanis in 130 schools 2000+ News Articles

November 2019

Srimat Swami Gautamanandaji & Dr. Harsha, Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru

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uniform, books, school bags, and umbrellas.

Routine health checkups are conducted. They are provided with soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair oil etc., and encouraged to be clean and tidy. Also every Sunday they received cultural and spiritual training. All these services are provided free of cost.

Swachh Bharath Abhiyan began on a grand scale at Rajghat, New Delhi on 2 Oct 2014 with the slogan ‘One step towards cleanliness’.

The Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi had earnestly requested our country men and women to dedicate at least 2 hours per week— around 100 hours in a year—for this Abhiyan. I imagined that millions of government officials and enthusiastic students would participate and this Abhiyan would be a giant leap in the progress of our country. But I was wrong! By the end of the month everything was back to square one. At many places, the Abhiyan was limited only to exhibition of banners. A few people took brooms in their hands and posed for photos and publicity and people continued dumping garbage on roadsides!

This prompted us to earnestly take up this project in Mangaluru and strive to create a rolemodel Swachh Bharath Abhiyan. We worked

The young and the energetic

hard for two months and prepared a plan to make this campaign a success. The major task was to present to the Mangloreans the concept of a Clean India. The first step we decided would be to clean the city and remove the garbage heaped in almost every street corner.

For this we needed a workforce of dedicated volunteers. We contacted devotees, schools and colleges and the general public of Mangaluru.

Wherever I went, I was welcomed with the words, ‘No Swamiji, it will not work. It is an impossible task.’ They said such a campaign wo u l d n eve r s u c c e e d i n M a n ga l u r u because most of the people here work in schools, colleges and offices. And who would volunteer to pick stinking garbage from roadside! ‘Nobody will come for shramadan at 7 AM on Sunday mornings’ they discouraged me.

But I didn’t lose hope. ‘Come what may, we will take up the project at least for a year as an experiment, if nobody comes I will sweep the roads alone’, was my thought. We launched the ‘Swachh Mangaluru for Swachh Bharath’ Abhiyan on 30 January 2015, which is the Martyr’s Day. Our programme began with a rally of 2000 students, oath taking ceremony

Though some volunteers began with great enthusiasm they gradually dropped off from the Abhiyan. To overcome this, I adopted a new approach. I first prepared a list of nearly 200 individuals who were close to the Math and then every Saturday for over two hours I sat with my mobile and rang up each one of them personally requesting them to assist us in the next day’s shramadan. The strategy worked.

Every Sunday nearly a hundred dedicated volunteers would show up at the shramadan site with brooms in their hands!

We divided the Abhiyan into five phases.

The first phase was in 2015, the second in 2016, the third phase in 2016 - 2017, the fourth phase was in 2017 - 2018, and the fifth in 2018 - 2019. In the first and the second phase, we worked as a single team and cleaned up different areas of our city. By the time we reached the third phase, the news of our work

Many people think that shramadan is nothing more than sweeping the city. But we had a different idea. We repaired footpaths and roads; we painted fly-overs and beautified them with artwork; we renovated old bus shelters replacing broken seats with new ones, and even built new bus shelters when requested by local people; we removed unofficial banners and posters from public walls and painted the walls with artwork; we erected more than 150 signposts; we constructed auto shelters; we put up barricade railings on roads for the smooth flow of traffic; we cleaned public toilets, we cleaned roadside garbage dumping places; and we constructed new parks wherever possible.

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We did not know from where we would get financial aid for the huge task before us. But I had faith in words of Swami Vivekananda who said that when we selflessly work for a noble cause, financial help will somehow come of its own. This proved to be true very soon. In one of our Swachhata Andolan programmes, the chief guest was Sri Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural gas.

Another important guest on the stage was Sri H. Kumar, the M.D. of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), Mangalore, a Central Public Sector Enterprise. Fortunately for us, the Union Minister requested Sri. H. Kumar to financially support our project and the latter immediately agreed. From then on M.R.P.L. became the major sponsor of this 5-year project! NITTE University and individuals also contributed their mite. The total expenditure of the Abhiyan was around 7 crores.

had spread across the city. And 50 teams of volunteers joined us out of their own will. We took up cleanliness drive in 10 - 15 places every week and completed five hundred shramadan projects in Mangaluru.

13 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : A D E V O T E E , C H E N N A I

and honoring of 100 Poura karmikas or Corporation workers.

before Abhiyan

November 2019

People have sometimes asked, ‘Do the places that you clean up, remain clean?’

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In the beginning this was a real challenge for us. After we cleaned a place, the very next day people would again dump garbage at the same spot. Banners with requests and warnings did not help. People did not care even when we told them that there were close circuit cameras.

They kept dumping garbage because they knew there were no cameras. Notices were put up that people who dumped garbage on roadsides would be fined; but nobody cared.

At the very beginning of the Abhiyan, we identified more than 900 black spots in the city.

These were places where people had been dumping garbage for a long time. Reducing these black spots by changing people’s behaviour was the challenge. Finally, we came up with a simple plan. We decided to remove the banners we had put up at these black spots warning people not to dump garbage. Strange but true, these boards seemed to guide people to the exact spot to dump their garbage!

To everybody’s surprise our plan worked!

People stopped throwing garbage in such black spots. And moreover, after cleaning up we before Abhiyan

after Abhiyan

decorated the places with flowerpots and beautiful plants. Slowly people started cooperating. At the same time a special team of 85 volunteers kept watch (often the whole night) over the cleaned black spots. They called themselves warriors of cleanliness! When people threw garbage, these volunteers would pick it up and deliver it back to their owners with the gentle request that they give it to the garbage collecting vans! Hard work reduced the black spots from 900 to just 40. Today, many roads of Mangaluru are garbage-free.

In the fourth phase we had four different kinds of programmes. There were the weekly shramadans on every Sunday. The second programme was ‘Swachh Manas Abhiyan’ or ‘Campaign for Clean Mind’ organized for school children. The third was ‘Swachh Gram Abhiyan’ or ‘Clean Village Campaign’ organized for one hundred villages of Dakshina Kannada. The fourth was ‘Swachh Soch’ or ‘Clean Thoughts’ campaign for college students. 50 teams of our volunteers visited various residential layouts everyday and conducted 200 awareness programmes in 200 days.

(Continued on page 21...)

after Abhiyan

Reminiscences

Reminiscences of Sargachhi SWAMI SUHITANANDA

Swami Premeshananda (1884 – 1967) was a disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. For over two decades he lived at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Sargachhi, West Bengal. Under his inspiration countless people led a life of spirituality and service, and many young men and women entered into monastic life. His conversations – translated from Bengali and presented below – were noted by his attendant who is now Swami Suhitananda, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order.

3.11.60 (continued …) aharaj: You cannot spend the whole day in meditation and japa. Without compromising on them, you have to devote the rest of your energy to work. In this way you can do your work, Swamiji’s work, and work for the good of the world. You cannot live without working, so do work that will benefit others.

M

A revolutionary once fled to Uttarkashi and became a sadhu. But he couldn’t do meditation or japa. The bank of the Ganga, where the sadhus lived, was getting eroded by the current of the river. So he carried boulders every day and built an embankment there.

There was another sadhu in the rural area of Mymensingh who was known as ‘Kodaley Baba’ (sadhu with a spade). He used to stay in a village for two years, grow a garden there, and then move on to another village.

17.11.60

Question: How does a jnani (a man of knowledge) work?

Maharaj: After the attainment of knowledge the jnani becomes the witness of

every action of this body-mind-intellect—he is totally detached, just like Mathuradas and Trailanga Swami. The cases of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi are different —they had to force their minds down to a lower plane. Totapuri also remained in an exceptional state. He went beyond the stage where Brahman is perceived in all living and non-living beings of the world—sarvam khalvidam Brahma. Sri Ramakrishna brought him down to this perception Question: If we pray to God, will the bondage of our body and mind be gradually cut asunder?

Maharaj: It is not possible to answer this question in a word. While meditating, focus on the heart (the psychic centre at the heart), not on the forehead. If the mind does not settle in the heart, imagine that your Chosen Ideal is sitting on a throne in front of you.

18.11. 60

Maharaj: The wave of the sea merges in the sea. I do not want to become sugar, I want to enjoy the taste of sugar. These are Sri Ramakrishna’s words. These words scare us.

15 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : A D E V O T E E , C H E N N A I

(Continued from previous issue. . .)

November 2019

44

November 2019

This prostrating at the feet of the Lord, weeping continuously, etc., weakens us. Rather, if we know that we are That, but have come down to this sorry state, and by ascending continuously will again be in that nirguna (attributeless) state – then we will have confidence and will also feel that we have a claim on Him. We will develop devotion and be able to pray to Saguna Brahman or God with attributes.

The Vedanta Kesari

16

Purushottama,the Supreme Being. (reference is to Bhagavad Gita 15:18)

Question: Can we come out of tamas?

Unless we reach sattva, how can we find the way out?

Maharaj: Oh dear! It is the way to progress that we are discussing! You cannot move ahead if you stay put under the excuse of being in tamas. That’s why I say that you acknowledge tamas and go forward.

As you proceed, tamas will diminish and gradually sattva will appear.

Listen very carefully so that you do not commit the slightest mistake. First there is the body-mind-intellect; then there is the karana It is not possible to anandamaya kosha or the lead the life of a sannyasin causal blissful sheath; as an individual. That is beyond that maha-karana; why we have the Order, and lastly Nirguna where everyone is Brahman. Creation does nourished by mutual not evolve out of Nirguna cooperation. Our Order has Brahman, it evolves from not yet fully blossomed. But Saguna Brahman. Sri we are still only in our second Ramakrishna is Nirguna generation—we are right after Brahman and Holy Mother Sri Sri Ramakrishna’s direct disciples.

Sarada Devi is Saguna Brahman. Swami Premeshananda After us, it will be your turn and you Holy Mother is a wave in the nirguna will create a favourable environment. ocean and we are wavelets. She showed us the Thereafter many will be born yogis. By then way and then merged into the ocean. What is people will have progressed in society, and this way? It is the way to reach the nirguna. We society also will be better. are kshara, perishable, Holy Mother is akshara, (To be continued. . .) imperishable, and Sri Ramakrishna is ‘Failures are the pillars of success!’ Knowledge arises through the combination of all our mistakes and errors, our good and bad deeds. … How many thousands and thousands of times you have assumed various bodies, how many good and bad deeds you have performed! You have forgotten all this and, by calculating the insignificant merits and demerits of this one little life, are suffering for no reason. Look at the numberless past lives you have lived; think about your limitless future lives. … You do not belong to your father or mother, to any caste or any person, to any country or any time—you are chaitanya, pure consciousness, beyond time, space, and causation. Don’t worry or have regrets for no reason.

—Letters of Swami Premeshananda. 1: 95

RAMAKRISHNA MATH (KATHAMRITA BHAVAN) 14, Guruprasad Choudhury Lane, Kolkata - 700 006 Mobile: 89025-53411 / 7980391808 E-mail: kathamrita.bhavan@rkmm.org An Appeal for Expansion of Service Activities

By Sri Ramakrishna’s grace, some adjacent houses have come forward to sell their properties to the Math. We have to urgently take up these offers for which we need a sum of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- (Rupees One Crore).

We humbly request the admirers and devotees to donate liberally and help us to raise this amount.

May the blessings of the Holy Trinity be bestowed upon all is our ardent prayer.

All donations are exempt from Income Tax under section 80G. Please send your donations by Cheque/DD/RTGS/NEFT in the name of Ramakrishna Math, Kathamrita Bhavan.

Along with your donation please also send a covering letter stating the purpose of the donation, your PAN number, your full postal address, phone number and Email.

Bank : State Bank of India Branch : Srimani Market A/C Name : Ramakrishna Math, Kathamrita Bhavan A/c No. : 37162044100 IFSC Code : SBIN0031539 With prayers for all, Yours in the Service of the Lord Swami Siddheshananda Adhyaksha

17 The Vedanta Kesari

The house is sanctified by the visits of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, and other direct-disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Moreover, Holy Mother stayed here on several occassions and many sannyasis of the Ramakrishna Order were groomed by M. in this very building. It is today a place of pilgrimage for thousands of devotees. But this historical house is a small building. So, to accommodate the centre’s expanding service activities, and also keeping in mind its future needs, we are trying to purchase some neighbouring buildings.

November 2019

Kathamrita Bhavan was the residence of Sri Mahendra Nath Gupta (M.), a householder devotee of Sri Ramakrishna and the chronicler of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamritha (translated as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna). This house is now a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Order and is known as Ramakrishna Math – Kathamrita Bhavan.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, THANJAVUR A NEW SUB-CENTRE OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH, CHENNAI An Appeal Dear Devotees, Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission centres across the world motivate people to come together & serve humanity as a form of worship in the fields of Health Care, Education & Spirituality.

Ramakrishna Vivekananda Educational Trust run by the devotees of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna at Mariyamman Kovil (near Thanjavur) is rendering service in the rural areas of Thanjavur District for the past 26 years. This trust is now taken over by the Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur, Kolkata & is functioning as a sub-centre of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai from July 2019.

To expand the service activities, a new Math of this sub-centre is being started in Thanjavur town.

We seek your generous contribution for these activities:

November 2019

1. Getting land for the Ashrama Rs.80 lakh 2. Establishing the Ashrama with a new Temple Rs. 3 crore 3. Nitya Pooja of Sri Ramakrishna Rs. 50 lakh

The Vedanta Kesari

18

4. Renovation of the existing Temple Rs. 20 lakh 5. Rural development projects Rs. 1 crore 6. Endowment for Sadhu Seva Rs. 50 lakh

AN APPEAL TO DEVOTEES AND WELL-WISHERS Dear Friends, Namaste. We pray for you and your family.

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai has been rendering service for over 120 years to the society in the fields of Health, Education, Publication of Spiritual & Inspirational books and magazines both in English & Tamil, cultural activities, relief work etc. In order to execute the projects on hand, we appeal to you for contribution.

Service activities in brief

Expenses

Maintenance of Vivekananda Centenary Girls Hr. Sec. School for under privileged (900 students) Maintenance of Sri Ramakrishna Math National School for under privileged children (350 students) Rehabilitation Service to Leprosy afflicted persons – 120 beneficiaries

Rs.8000/-

Per student Rs.800/-

For 10 Students

Monthly Rs.2,80,000/-

Rs.8000/-

Per student Rs.800/-

For 10 students

Monthly Rs.1,20,000/-

Rs.10,000/-

Per beneficiary Rs.1000/-

For 10 beneficiaries

Monthly Rs.5,40,000/-

Rs.9,000/-

Per patient Rs.900/-

For 10 patients

Medical Service to 600 - 800 poor patients daily Nursing Assistants Training for poor rural girls

Per batch Rs.7,50,000/-

– 30 students per batch of 1 year Rural development – Education, Women Welfare & Medical Help, Alcohol de-addiction – 100 beneficiaries

Your support needed

Monthly Rs.7,20,000/-

Monthly Rs.1,00,000/Per beneficiary Rs.1000/-

Sri Ramakrishna Daily puja, Neivedyam and Arathi

Rs.25,000/Per student Rs.5000/For 5 people Rs.10,000/- Per day

Daily Annadhanam for 200 devotees

Rs.10,000/-

Sadhu Seva per day for 50 members

Rs.5,000/-

Donations for both Thanjavur & Chennai Math may please be sent by cheque / DD favouring “Sri Ramakrishna Math”. For Online donation please visit https://donations.chennaimath.org Transfer directly & intimate us along with PAN details through email. Donations are exempted from Income Tax under Section 80G. May the blessings of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna be on you is my earnest prayer to Him.

Sri Ramakrishna Math 31, Sri Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai-4. & : 24621110. email : mail@chennaimath.org website : www.chennaimath.org For more details : 98409 87307

Yours in the Service of the Humanity, Swami Gautamananda Adhyaksha

Ramakrishna Mission, Shillong

Ramakrishna Mission Road, Laitumkhrah, Shillong, Meghalaya 793 003, India Phone : 0364-2221709 & 2536767 Email : shillong@rkmm.org

Bank Address : Laimukhrah, Bank Name : State Bank of India Shillong A/c. Name : Ramakrishna Mission, Shillong PAN No.

: AAAAR1077P Bank Account No. : 10613596070 IFSC No. : SBIN0002081 Please mention the purpose of donation – ‘Renovation of the Quinton Memorial Hall’, The PAN and full address through email at shilling.vcc@rkmm.org May Swami Vivekananda bless you all!

Swami Sarvabhutananda (Secretary)

19 The Vedanta Kesari

Not all the cities have the privilege to hear a Prophet, let alone hear his parting words in the last public lecture! Shillong was indeed blessed to hear Swami Vivekananda for the last time in a public lecture on 27th April 1901 at the Quinton Hall.

For a long time the Quinton Memorial Hall witnessed the evolution of the institute and the city as well. Apart from Swami Vivekananda, many eminent personalities including Swami Abhedananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Annie Besant, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Dr B.C. Roy and many others graced the hall with their illumined presence and eloquence.

And with a tryst with destiny, the Hall remained in a state of shambles for years, after it went to the custody of a business house, kept as a Cinema Hall for decades. But the phoenix rose again from the ashes and has taken the shape of the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Cultural Centre, catering to the needs of 6000 students annually in different fields.

The Hall presently needs urgent renovation, as it has not undergone any major repairing work for almost two decades and is in constant demand for various purposes of the Institute.

A sum of Rs. 1.2 crores is estimated for repairing, renovating and enhancing the facilities of the historical Hall. We request devotees and admires to donate generously for this noble.

Donation may be sent by means of Cheque/DD in favour of “Ramakrishna Mission, Shillong” or NEFT/RTGS. All donations will be duly acknowledged. Our bank details are:

November 2019

An Appeal For the Renovation of the Historical Quinton Hall

The Vedanta Kesari

20

November 2019

(Continued from page 14...)

Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan for Swachh Bharath

To create awareness among the college students, ‘Swachh Soch’ programmes were arranged in the city’s colleges. Symposiums were organized in about 50 colleges of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

Lectures, demonstrations, workshops and debates were conducted by our resource persons. District level and state level seminars

Japanese volunteers

A people’s movement

More than 2000 cleanliness drive programmes were organized in 100 villages of the Dakshina Kannada district and 100 villages of Udupi district under Swachh Gram Abhiyan or Clean Village Campaign. 100 volunteers from every village were nominated as the members of the Abhiyan. Over 8000 members took up shramadan projects on one Sunday of every month in their respective villages.

During the year 2017-18, fifty teams of our volunteers visited nearly 20,000 houses in Mangaluru city to create awareness among people under Swachhata Jagrithi Abhiyan. 200 programmes were organized in 200 days under this project.

Swachhata Jana Samparka Abhiyan events were organized every day at different residential layouts of the city. During each event, our volunteers organized awareness programmes with the slogan ‘Our Garbage, Our Responsibility’. They conducted demonstrations to educate people on how to prepare organic manure at home using earthen compost pots. ‘Swachh Bharat’ pamphlets were distributed to create awareness. 220 such events were conducted throughout the year.

Volunteers and experts explained to people the concept of decentralized waste management through proper ways of disposal.

Transgenders in the Abhiyan

November 2019

At this phase Swami Jitakamananda, head of the Mangaluru centre wanted to involve school children in the Swachhata Abhiyan. A nation is built when its children are educated. To create awareness of cleanliness among school children, over 500 ‘Swachh Manas’ programmes were organized in 130 city schools. 100 students from each school, adding up to 13,000 students were specially trained in cleanliness and recognised as Swachhata Senanis or Soldiers of Cleanliness. Innovative projects like the Swachhata Chintan (Clean Thoughts), Swachhata Divas (Cleanliness Day), Swachhata Darshan (Clean Perception) and Swachhata Manthan (Clean Discussion) were organized in these selected schools. 70 resource persons visited these schools to train the children.

were also organized for college and university students.

21 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : S R I H E M A N T G U P TA , C H A N D I G A R H

We had five types of programmes in the fifth phase of Swachh Bharath Abhiyan. Along with the four programmes of the fourth phase, the fifth and the most innovative addition was ‘Swachhata Jagrithi Jana Sampark Abhiyan’ or ‘Mass Contact Campaign for Cleanliness Awareness’.

November 2019

Swami Jitakamananda—the guiding force

The Vedanta Kesari

22

There are two kinds of domestic waste, the wet waste and the dry waste. The organic wet waste produced in kitchens is composed of vegetable and fruit peels and the leftover food.

It’s a known fact that such waste produces foul smell if not disposed of within a day. If the garbage collectors don’t come in time, people tend to throw it on the streets. Pot composting is the solution for this problem. We introduced the concept of pot composting for wet waste management in Mangaluru by providing households at subsidised rate earthen compost pots (each unit consisting of three pots placed one above the other) and a bag of coco fiber.

The wet waste from the kitchen is collected in the topmost of the three pots and a thin layer of coconut fiber is spread on the top every night. For a family of four to five members, it may take twenty to thirty days for the pot to be filled. Even non-vegetarian food waste can be collected in the pot. When the first pot is full, it is placed in the middle and the second pot is placed on the top. By the time the

Swachh Manas programme for 13000 school children

240 Magic shows

second pot gets filled, the natural manure of very fine quality will be ready for use in the bottom pot. Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (MCF) has certified the fine quality of the manure produced in this manner.

This natural manure is produced by small worms that breed in the pots and these tiny worms are not at all harmful. This manure can be used for gardening or sold for a profit.

The concept of pot composting is spreading in Mangaluru city. 1000 homes in Mangaluru already have these pots and more than 4000 people have placed orders for these compost pots which we procure from Mysuru and other places. What a wonderful way to dispose garbage! We are sure that this movement will end the practice of dumping city garbage in hundreds of acres of land outside the city and thus stop land, water and air pollution.

Generally, we have to pay for the disposal of dry waste that we generate. But we have designed a project where people can earn from

Dumpyard converted into Arise! Awake! Park

In his benedictory address Gautamananda Ji praised the whole team of monks, volunteers, and citizens of M a n ga l u r u fo r m a k i n g t h e Swachhata Mission a phenomenal success. He said if Swami Vivekananda Throughout the five years the Pot composting was physically present, he would have media was a constant source of proudly praised all those involved declaring, encouragement. There was regular, extensive ‘Sabhash! You have all become men of coverage in newspapers, magazines, and substance.’ Revered Gautamananda Ji said the television and more than 2000 articles were Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan was a successful published about Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan. model that could be replicated across India.

All the Swachh Mangaluru Abhiyan

This has been a fairy tale programmes witnessed enthusiastic transformation in the landscape of participation by people from all Mangaluru city, and more walks of life. There were importantly in the mindset of government officers, teachers, Mangalurians. Senior citizens, college students, and school elected representatives, and children; and there were even government officials have eminent personalities like Sri. requested us to continue our Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice campaign in the coming years.

President of India, Bollywood We will do it. Within the next 10 actor Sri. Nana Patekar, Dr. B.R. to 15 years, our goal is to convert Shetty of Abu Dhabi, Padma all the wet waste in our city into Bhushan Dr. B.M. Hegde, Nitte Vinaya H e g d e , U n i o n M i n i s te r s S r i . Swami Ekagamyananda compost manure, and recycle all the Dharmendra Pradhan and Sri leading the Abhiyan dry waste.

Ramesh Jigajinagi, MPs and MLAs. In Our Swachh Mangaluru the 5-year Abhiyan over 20 lakh hours of volunteers have set a goal before themselves— human resource were involved.

To convert Mangaluru’s Pacchanadi (the 100 acre dumping yard) into Swachhanadu (Clean The Concluding Programme of the Swachh Region)!

Mangaluru Abhiyan was held on 29 Sept 2019 at

November 2019

Magic shows for cleanliness was another innovative way of teaching people about cleanliness. We organized 240 magic shows by Sri Kudroli Ganesh, a famous magician, at various schools and other venues in the city. 1,30,000 students and general public were educated in this manner.

the Central Market of Mangaluru. Befitting the movement, it was organized as a massive shramadan in which more than 100 NGOs and groups of individuals joined hands with us to clean 23 black spots in the Market.

Srimat Swami Gautamananda Ji, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order, graced the occasion along with other dignitaries.

23 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : S R I M . S R I N I VA S K A M AT H , C H E N N A I

their dry waste! The plan is to visit residences that use compost pots and collect their dry waste. This dry waste will then be sent for recycling and the income thus generated distributed among the people who generated waste.

Special Report

Ratha Yatra, Kadapa

November 2019

125th Anniversary of Chicago Addresses : Concluding Programme

The Vedanta Kesari

24

For the last 12 months the branch centres of the Ramakrishna Order the world over celebrated the 125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s historic Addresses at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, USA. These celebrations strongly reawakened across India and in many other countries the memory of Swami Vivekananda’s historic addresses. Lakhs of students and general public were introduced to Swamiji’s Chicago lectures and through them to a deeper understanding of the fundamental tenets of Hinduism.

We have every month given brief reports of these events. This Special Report sums up some of the main activities and the concluding programmes of the celebration. The number of participants in each programme is given in brackets.

Programmes by the Head Quarters The year-long celebration which was formally inaugurated at Belur Math, the Head Quarters of the Order on 11 Sept 2018 had a grand finale with various programmes organised by the Head Quarters and the branch centres. The Inaugural Meeting of the Concluding Programme at Belur Math, presided

by Srimat Swami Shivamayananda Ji, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Order was held on 11 S e p t 2 0 1 9 ( 3 5 0 0 d evo te e s ) . Swa m i Suvirananda Ji, the General Secretary of the Order welcomed the gathering, Hon’ble Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Chairperson, Lokpal delivered the Chief-Guest address and Srimat Swami Smaranananda Ji Maharaj, the President of the Order, gave his benediction.

The Head Quarters organised a day-long Devotees’ Convention at Belur Math on 12th

Sept (5000); a Public Meeting on 19th Sept (1500) and a Sanskrit Seminar on 21st Sept (600 lecturers/students) at the Institute of Culture, Golpark; and a Youth Convention (2500) and Valedictory Meeting (1500 devotees) for the year-long programme at Nazrul Mancha, Kolkata on 27th Sept. The Public Meeting was presided by Srimat Swami Gautamananda Ji, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Order and Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India and Justice Biswanath Somadder, Calcutta High Court addressed the meeting. Swami Tattwavidananda, one of the Asst. Gen. Secretaries of the Order, Dr. Samiran Chandra Chakrabarti, Former Professor, School of Vedic Studies, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata and a number scholars spoke in the Sanskrit (Continued on page 50...)

Pocket Tales

Shiva’s Demon GITANJALI MURARI

The author, a media and television professional for over 20 years, is now a writer of fiction. She lives in Mumbai. gitanjalimurari@yahoo.com Illustrator: Smt. Lalithaa Thyagarajan. lalithyagu@gmail.com

November 2019

‘O

h children, give a poor man some coins…’

The scrawny beggar clutching his torn rags and trying to cover his body, looked piteously at Naren and his friends. Naren stopped playing and walked over to him.

The beggar cried again, ‘Give me some money so I can buy a shirt, little boy…’

‘I don’t have any money … but,’ Naren’s eyes lit up. ‘I will give you this…’ He quickly unwrapped the dhoti from around his waist. ‘It is new…and it will make you a nice shirt…’

‘Ah,’ exclaimed the beggar, feeling the cloth. ‘It is very fine…but not enough…’ Noticing Naren’s downcast expression, he added quickly, ‘Don’t worry child…I shall use it as a turban to cover my head…’

‘Naren!’ His mother’s shocked voice halted his steps as he ran into the courtyard.

‘Where is your dhoti?’

‘Ma, I gave it to a poor man,’ he replied beaming with joy.

‘But we just bought it for you…’ Bhuvaneshwari Devi looked upset. ‘How many times must I tell you not to give all your things away…promise me, you will ask the next time…’

Unrepentant, Naren smiled more widely and shook his head.

‘Alright then…’ Bhuvaneshwari Devi caught his hand and dragged him into a room.

‘Remain here for the rest of the day…if you change your mind, let me know…’

‘That’s not fair ma,’ Naren yelled throwing all the cushions from a couch on the floor.

‘Put them back at once,’ she ordered, but he turned his face to the wall refusing to look at her. ‘You are a very disobedient boy! I prayed to Shiva for a son, just like himself…instead he sent me one of his demons...’ Leaving the room, she locked the door behind her.

Naren frowned. ‘Why does ma get angry every time I give something away? She also gives so much…then what is the difference between my giving and hers?’

The sound of music reached his ears and he looked out of the window eagerly. It was a small band of minstrels singing one of his favourite bhajans in praise of Rama and Sita.

Clapping his hands to the beat, he sang along, the words sweetly tripping off his tongue.

Hearing his voice, the minstrels stopped under the window and danced with graceful movements.

25 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : S M T. B R A G A D A S . , C H E N N A I

A fictional narrative based on incidents from the childhood of Swami Vivekananda.

November 2019 The Vedanta Kesari

26

‘You sing very well,’ they said.

‘Thank you,’ Naren smiled back.

‘So do all of you…that was wonderful music…’ The singers laughed and bowed, charmed by his brightness.

Noticing other people giving them money, it occurred to Naren that he too should give something. But when he looked around the room, his face fell. It was empty, save for the couch and one old iron trunk.

‘Maybe,’ he thought.

‘Just maybe there is something in there…’

Lifting the heavy lid with some effort, he rummaged inside the box and found the perfect gift.

‘Wait,’ he called out to the minstrels, running back to the window and tossing out beautiful silk sarees to them. ‘ T h e s e a re ve r y e x p e n s i v e ,’ they exclaimed. ‘Won’t your mother be angry?’

Naren became serious, but the next moment his face broke into a delightful smile. ‘Ma will not mind…she says we must always share our good fortune with others …’

Blessing him and his mother, the minstrels waved goodbye and Naren stayed by the window, the strains of another song wafting back to him on the cool evening air.

The lowest man is he whose hand draws in, in receiving; and he is the highest man whose hand goes out in giving. The hand was made to give always.

—Swami Vivekananda

PULLOUT FOR REFERENCE

Series 5: Understanding India

- through Swami Vivekananda's eyes This issue of Vivekananda Way is based on the lecture "Reply to address of welcome at Ramnad" in the book, Lectures from Colombo to Almora. (Complete Works Vol. 3)

ISSUE ISSUE 22 10

This will be useful to gain an introduction to Swami Vivekananda's vision, but we recommend that you read the original lecture, if you seek deeper inspiration.

focus in this issue:

November 2019

“

The longest night seems to be passing away, the sorest trouble seems to be coming to an end at last, the seeming corpse appears to be awaking and a voice is coming to us —

27

away back where history and even tradition fails to peep into the gloom of the past, coming down

The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : S R I . R . C H I N T H A I A H , H Y D E R A B A D

India – the giant awakens

from there, reflected as it were from peak to peak of the infinite Himalaya of knowledge, and of love, and of work, India, this motherland of ours — a voice is coming unto us, gentle, firm, and yet unmistakable in its utterances, and is gaining volume as days pass by, and behold, the sleeper is awakening! Like a breeze from the Himalayas, it is bringing life into the almost dead bones and muscles, the lethargy is passing away, and only the blind cannot see, or the perverted will not see, that she is awakening, this motherland of ours, from her deep long sleep. None can desist her any more; never is she going to sleep any more; no outward powers can hold her back any more; for the infinite giant is rising to

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Here are nine memes that will helps us understand the key messages that Swami Vivekananda delivered in this lecture: 1 2

Religion is India's foundation

The Hindu mind is tuned to religious ideas, not necessarily material ones

November 2019

"Religion and religion alone is the life of India, and when that goes India will die, in spite of Kubera's wealth poured upon the head of every one of her children"

I am carrying out my dharma...

"This is the motherland of philosophy, of spirituality, and of ethics, of sweetness, gentleness, and love"

28 The Vedanta Kesari

"Let others talk of politics, of the glory of acquisition of immense wealth poured in by trade, of the power and spread of commercialism, of the glorious fountain of physical liberty; but these the Hindu mind does not understand and does not want to understand"

3

Renunciation is the central theme within the diversity of Hindu thought

Shaktism

Shaivism

hi

ant

rp

Buddhism

i Kab

"Touch him on spirituality, on religion, on God, on the soul, on the Infinite, on spiritual freedom, and I assure you, the lowest peasant in India is better informed on these subjects than many a socalled philosopher in other lands"

Jainism

The Idea of Renunciation

Sikhism

Vaishnavism

Varkaris

Smartism Nath

ami

Dashan

"From out of many voices, consonant and dissentient, from out of the medley of sounds filling the Indian atmosphere, rises up supreme, striking, and full, one note, and that is renunciation. Give up! That is the watchword of the Indian religions"

4

India's greatest minds have boldly ventured into the farthest boundaries of religion

5

"We have, perhaps, to gain a little in material knowledge, in the power of organisation, in the ability to handle powers, organising powers, in bringing the best results out of the smallest of causes"

Time Space Universe Material World

6

Furthermore, we may need to provide Hindus with 'grades of renunciation + enjoyment' and help them gradually climb to the highest

"Yet, perhaps, some sort of materialism, toned down to our own requirements, would be a blessing to many of our brothers who are not yet ripe for the highest truths"

materialism

highest truths Toned down materialism grades of renunciation + enjoyment

"We know that this is the ideal - to give up after seeing and experiencing the vanity of things.

But that ideal can only be realised after a certain amount of experience"

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Soul of religion

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Yet, we need to learn from the West, its power of organization

"The characteristic of my nation is this transcendentalism, this struggle to go beyond, this daring to tear the veil off the face of nature and have at any risk, at any price, a glimpse of the beyond"

7

November 2019

Thus, we need to build a new vision of the Hindu, rooted in our national ideals & global in outlook "There are two great obstacles on our path in India, the Scylla of old orthodoxy and the Charybdis of modern European civlisation.

Of these two, I vote for the old orthodoxy, and not for the Europeanised system; for the old orthodox man may be ignorant, he may be crude, but he is a man, Orthodox Hindu he has a faith, he has strength, he (rooted in tradition) stands on his own feet; while the Europeanised man has no backbone, he is a mass of heterogeneous ideas picked up at random from every source - and these ideas are unassimilated, undigested, Europeanised Hindu (mass of undigested ideas) unharmonised"

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30

Ideal of a Modern Hindu

Learns from every nation

But with the foundation of our national ideals

"Stand on your own feet, and assimilate what you can; learn from every nation, take what is of use to you. But remember that as Hindus everything else must be subordinated to our own national ideals"

8

9

As a nation, we must learn from everywhere and yet integrate/ subordinate it all to our spiritual core

This is the time to awaken — individually & collectively as a nation

"... whether you believe in spirituality or not, for the sake of the national life, you have to get a hold on spirituality and keep to it. Then stretch the other hand out and gain all you can from other races, but everything must be subordinated to that one ideal of life; and out of that a wonderful, glorious,

"Let us all work hard, my brethren; this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the India of the future. She is there ready waiting. She is only sleeping.

future India will come‌"

Protect your roots

Arise and awake and see her seated here on her eternal throne, rejuvenated, more glorious than she ever was - this motherland of ours"

If you have any questions on this lecture, do post your queries on

www.vivekanandaway.org

You can also access previous issues of Vivekananda Way here.

Ma

gic ,M ira cle s

and the

e Mystical Twelv LAKSHMI DEVNATH

(Continued from previous issue. . .)

’m falling – no, moving back!” Poorva shouted. She was totally shaken. “Swami Thaatha! Where is everybody? Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar, Pey Aazhvaar and …?”

Poorva’s voice trailed off when she discovered that the Swami was gone. She found herself in yet another new place. There was deep silence all around.

But the next moment her scream rent the air. Something had stung her arm. She looked down and saw a fat black insect crawling away. Poorva was about to crush it with a vengeance, when her glance fell on her dress. “Wu-hoo!” she whooped with delight. She was all spruced up, wearing a brand new set of clothes. Excited, she set about examining herself; and the offender, grateful for his six legs, used them all to scurry to safety. Once she finished admiring her pretty new dress, Poorva calmly surveyed her surroundings. What was that in front of her? She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Lying in the midst of a bamboo thicket was an infant!

“Poor thing,” Poorva clucked, as she moved towards the baby. She heard the sound of footsteps and was alarmed to see a hunter approaching. She stepped back hastily.

Only then did she remember that she was invisible here. Feeling sheepish, Poorva relaxed.

Predictably, the hunter saw the baby and stopped. From his amazed expression, Poorva deduced that he was not the father. If so, whose child could this be? Angry with the bad parents, she kicked the ground furiously.

Much to her alarm, she saw the man happily pick up the infant and walk away. What did he plan to do with the baby? Poorva ran frantically behind him.

At the front door of a small house, the hunter stopped and shouted excitedly, “Pangayachelvi! Look what I’ve brought you!”

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

November 2019

“I

The Story of Thirumazhisai Aazhvaar

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Roots in the Air and Shoots in the Soil

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A woman came running out of the house. “A baby boy!” she exclaimed. “How I’ve always longed for one! At last, we’ll have a child in this house. Where and how did you find him?”

Poorva smiled wryly. All her fears had been unfounded. It was an abandoned child that would now be adopted. Nevertheless, she could not for the life of her understand all this excitement over a mere baby. She looked around for a comfortable place to rest, when days and nights started alternating in quick succession before her very eyes! To Poorva, it seemed as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button on a DVD player. Not quite so, she corrected herself – the movements may be fast, but she could still see both husband and wife lovingly cuddle their baby and attend to his needs.

By and large, the child neither cried nor seemed to feel hungry. Poorva remembered her baby brother – eternally crying and perennially hungry – and felt sorry for her poor mother. Trying hard to control a giggle, she wondered whether there was some way she could exchange her brat of a brother for this baby. She was completely absorbed in working out the logistics of this brilliant idea when, once again, her attention was caught by what was happening in front of her. The baby had grown into a little boy! Poorva was flustered when she realized that many years had passed. Had she become older too? Worried, she ran to the water-pot and looked at her reflection. The next moment she heaved a sigh of relief. “I look the same … then how come …?”

Before Poorva could solve this mystery, a voice called out, “Thiruvaalan!” An old man and his wife were knocking on the door of the hunter’s house. Thiruvaalan and Pangayachelvi came out. The old man handed over a glass of milk to the child and told the parents, “Here is our daily offering for your little boy.

As I’ve been repeatedly telling you, this is no ordinary child. He is divine.”

The boy drank some of the milk and fondly offered what was left to the old couple. Smart boy, thought Poorva.

Obviously, he doesn’t like that yucky stuff either!

When the couple finished the milk and placed the glass down, Poorva’s eyes almost popped out in surprise – the aged couple had turned young! Poorva revised her opinion about ‘that yucky stuff ’ and marvelled silently at the magical qualities of milk.

(To be continued. . .)

This story book is available through www.lakshmidevnath.com

Chiselled Narratives

An Ancient Vedic Institution DR. CHITHRA MADHAVAN

This temple of the early Chola times, is small in structure but rich in epigraphs and minute carvings. On the outer walls of the main sanctum are miniature sculptures of various incarnations of Vishnu and episodes from the Srimad Ramayanam and the Bhagavata Puranam. The minute details of the sculptures, seen clearly even after many centuries, despite being exposed to sun, wind and rain, are a tribute to the talented sculptors of the Chola times.

A large number of inscriptions etched on the outer walls of the main garbha-griha or sanctum sanctorum belong to the Chola times.

These precious epigraphs are in the Tamil language and etched in the Tamil script of this era. The most important and probably the longest inscription in this temple, refers to an educational institution which functioned in its premises. This epigraph is of the reign of Rajadhiraja Chola I (10181054 C.E.), the grandson of Rajaraja Chola I and son of Rajendra Chola I. It is etched on the north and west outer walls of the garbha-griha.

This great centre of learning had 260 students and 12 teachers.

The subjects

The author is a historian focussing on temple architecture, iconography and epigraphy. She is a recipient of two post-doctoral fellowships, and author of nine books and several research papers. She lives in Chennai. drchithra@gmail.com

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T

ribhuvanai, a small and historical village, is located about 23 km from Pondicherry on the Villupuram road. Inscriptions mention that it was known in the Chola times as Tribhuvana Mahadevi Chaturvedimangalam, named so after the queen of Parantaka Chola I (10th C.E) who was the great-grandfather of Rajaraja Chola I. The word Chaturvedimangalam indicates that it was a place peopled by scholars of the four Vedas. An old temple for Vishnu, dating back to the reign of Parantaka Chola I originally called Sentangi Vinnagar and now known as the Varadaraja Perumal temple is located in Tribhuvanai. The epigraphs in this temple, state that the original name of the deity in this temple was Naduvil Sri Viranarayana Vinnagar Azhvar.

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This section presents less known but enlightening nuggets of information about our ancient culture as revealed in our temples, images, symbols, and inscriptions.

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34

Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple, Tribhuvanai

taught here were Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Chhandogasama, Talavakara Sama, Apurva, Vajasaneya, Bodhayaniya, Satyashadhasutra, Vedanta, Vyakarana, Rupavatara, Sri Bharata (Mahabharata), Ramayana, Manu-Sastra and Vaikhanasa Sastra. The number of teachers and students for each subject is also clearly given.

Provision was made for feeding Srivaishnavas in the temple and for the recitation of the Tiruvaimozhi (a composition of Nammazhvar, one of the twelve Azhvars—the preeminent devotees of Vishnu). The daily allowances of the students and the remuneration of the teachers was in measures of paddy. It is interesting to note that an earlier epigraph of the time of Rajendra Chola I found in the Alagiya Narasimha temple in Ennayiram (near Villupuram) has similar contents as also a later inscription of the time of Vira-Rajendra (another son of Rajendra Chola I) etched in the Appan Venkatesa Perumal temple in

Tirumukkudal (near Pazhaiya Seevaram) enroute from Chennai to Kanchipuram via Chengalpet. These two epigraphs refer to the existence of large educational centres in the premises of the temples in the ancient Tamil country.

The Varadaraja Perumal temple in Tribhuvanai is a protected monument of national importance under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India (A.S.I.).

Article (Continued from previous issue)

In 1900 Swamiji sent him to Prayag (Allahabad) to start a centre. Vijnananandaji first put up in a friend’s house and later, on the request of some young men shifted to the Brahmavadin Club which they had founded. Once while in the West, Swamiji had told his brother-disciple Swami Turiyanandaji, ‘Wherever you go, a centre (branch of the Order) will come up there.’ This was Swamiji’s faith in the spiritual power of his brother-disciples. This came true with Vijnananandaji at Prayag. With his presence, Brahmavadin Club turned into an ashrama.

From morning till afternoon he would be immersed in meditation and study. He lived on

November 2019

Swami Vijnanananda and the Ramakrishna Order SWAMI BALABHADRANANDA

The article introduces the life and work of one of the architects of the Ramakrishna Movement who was also a blessed directdisciple of Sri Ramakrishna. The Vedanta Kesari pays homage to this great Brahmajnani on his 151st birthday. simple, meagre food and did the daily chores himself. In the afternoon he would meet visitors, answer their spiritual queries, and conduct a class on Bhagavad Gita for young boys. Again from evening he would sit for long hours in meditation. Thus all through the ten years of his stay at the Club, he was everyday engaged for over fifteen hours in meditation and studies. Gradually, his exemplary life

The author is a senior sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Order and is serving as one of its Assistant General Secretaries at Belur Math.

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A

fter this Swamiji asked him to build a ghat and an embankment on the bank of the Ganga.

Vijnananandaji immediately plunged into the work braving a hot summer. He would supervise the work of the labourers standing the whole day in the blazing sun. One day while Vijnananandaji was supervising the work braving the intense heat, Swamiji was sitting in his upstairs room sipping a glass of juice chilled with ice. Just then Swamiji happened to see Vijnananandaji. Feeling sorry for his brotherdisciple, he wanted to share with him the chilled juice. But by then the glass was almost empty. Still Swamiji sent that glass to Vijnananandaji asking him to drink from it.

Vijnananandaji’s happiness at receiving a glass o f j u i c e f ro m Swa m i j i , t u r n e d i n to disappointment when he found only a few drops of juice in it. Nevertheless, he obeyed Swamiji’s order and drank those few drops as prasad. Miraculously, the next moment his thirst was quenched and all his weariness vanished!

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created in Prayag a group of sincere followers of Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji. In 1910 he bought a house and a vacant plot at Muthigunj, and a branch centre of Ramakrishna Math came into existence there in October 1910.

Thenceforth, Ramakrishna Math, Allahabad became his home until his end. When required, especially in connection with construction of buildings, he would visit the branch centres and Belur Math.

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S r i Ra m a k r i s h n a h a d c a u t i o n e d Hariprasanna to keep distance from women saying, ‘You belong to the Divine Mother, and you will have to do a lot of work for Her. A pecked fruit cannot be offered to the Mother.’

Therefore, when Swami Vivekananda in the course of his work in the West interacted with women, young Vijnananandaji wondered if Swamiji was not violating one of the basic instructions of the Master to his monastic disciples. One day he expressed this doubt to Swamiji. Swamiji replied, ‘Do you think that what you have understood about the Master is all that he is? What do you know about the Master? Do you know that the Master has eradicated the idea of difference between male and female from my mind? Is there any distinction of sex in the Atman? Moreover, the Master came for the good of entire world. Did he come to liberate only men? He will save all —both men and women.’ Vijnananandaji was embarrassed. But Swamiji in a kind voice continued, ‘Whatever the Master told you is true; you follow that implicitly. But to me his instructions were different. He not only gave me instructions, he clearly showed me everything. He holds my hands—whatever he makes me do, I do.’

Due to such interactions and experiences with Swamiji, Vijnananandaji’s attitude towards him was one of spiritual awe mixed with childlike behaviour. When Swamiji would be in a serious mood, Vijnananandaji would not go to him even when called for. He would send word

through someone saying, ‘I am now busy with some work, I will see you later.’ Even after Swamiji’s passing away, he said he could see Swamiji in his room. Therefore, he would always tiptoe by Swamiji’s room fearing that his footsteps would disturb Swamiji. After Swamiji’s mahasamadhi, Swami Brahmanandaji entrusted Vijnananandaji with the construction of Swamiji’s temple. During the construction work from 1919 to 1920, he would go to the site after breakfast and but for a little lunch-break at around 1 pm he would work till the evening. He would tell the labourers, ‘Work carefully! You are building the temple of Lord Shiva!’

Vijnananandaji’s immortal contribution to the Ramakrishna Order and to the devotees and admirers of Sri Ramakrishna the world over, is the grand temple of Sri Ramakrishna at Belur Math. When at Swami Vivekananda’s call Hariprasanna visited Ambala in October 1897, he had accompanied Swamiji to many ancient Hindu temples of Rajputana. Swamiji had then explained to Hariprasanna his ideas about the art and architecture of the future Ramakrishna Temple. Again, when the monastery was shifted to Nilambar Mukherjee’s Garden house, (which is just adjacent to Belur Math) Swamiji again elaborately discussed with Vijnananandaji his plans for the future Ramakrishna temple and even selected the site where he wished the temple to come up. He asked Vijnananandaji to draw a sketch according to his ideas.

Accordingly, Vijnananandaji prepared two or three sketches. Swamiji approved one of them, and the temple was later built based on that plan. After approving the drawing Swamiji said, ‘This temple will certainly come up, but I may not live to see it. ... I will see it from above.’

Swami Shivanandaji laid the foundation stone of the temple in 1929. But later it was felt necessary to shift the temple site farther from the Ganga. Therefore, in July 1935, Vijnananandaji re-laid the same stone onehundred feet south. From the very beginning of

That day Vijnananandaji got up early in the morning and put on a new ochre cloth. As his health was not good, a car was arranged to take him from the Math building to the new temple. Swami Omkaranandaji brought the relics of the Master from the old shrine and handed them to Vijnananandaji who was waiting in the car. The car then started to move, following a procession of sadhus and brahmacharins ahead, amidst singing, blowing of conchs and ringing of bells. On reaching the

All through his life Vijnananandaji preferred a secluded life and spoke only to selected individuals on spiritual matters. But this changed remarkably during the last five years of his life and he attributed this to the last blessings that he received from his brotherdisciple Swami Shivananda. In April 1933 Shivanandaji had a stroke, which left his right hand paralysed and he also lost his speech.

Vijnananandaji came from Prayag to see him.

While taking leave, Vijnananandaji had a unique experience when Shivanandaji blessed him placing his left hand on his head. Describing the experience, he later said, ‘… his touch changed my mental attitude. He passed on to me his great desire to help people spiritually and to assume responsibility for them. I now feel that as long as I live and have the least strength in my body I shall do the same and give the Master’s name to all.’ From then onward Vijnananandaji was found to mingle more freely with people and

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temple, Vijnananandaji entered the inner sanctum, placed the relics of Sri Ramakrishna on the altar and offered flowers. When the worship was over, he returned to his room and told his attendant, ‘I said to Swamiji, “You told me that you would watch from above. Please see now that the Master is seated in the new temple.” Then I vividly saw Swamiji, Rakhal Maharaj, Mahapurush Maharaj, Sharat Maharaj, Hari Maharaj, Gangadhar Maharaj and others standing in the southwest corner watching the consecration ceremony.’

After a pause he said, ‘Now my work is over. Today I am relieved of the responsibility that Swamii entrusted to me.’

After this event he came to Belur Math for the last time on 26 February 1938 to attend the birth anniversary of Sri Ramakrishna.

He returned to Prayag on 8 March 1938 and entered into mahasamadhi on 25 April 1938.

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the temple construction, Vijnananandaji was watchful so that every phase of the c o n s t r u c t i o n wo rk wa s c a r r i e d o u t meticulously. It took four years to complete the temple. As the work was nearing the end, Vijnananandaji grew restless for its early completion. First it was contemplated that the temple would be consecrated on the Jagaddhatri Puja Day in 1937. He, too, had reached Belur Math well in advance. But the idea had to be dropped as the final work of the sanctum sanctorum was not complete. He was a little upset at this development and said, ‘You are being exceedingly late! Finish the task of consecration as early as possible. Do not delay any more.

Swamiji made the plan of the temple, but the temple did not come up then. Raja Maharaj tried, he also could not initiate it. Mahapurushji laid the foundation stone, but could not proceed further. They all left one by one. That is why I am telling you, finish the work as soon as possible, do not delay.’ The hint was alarming. The sadhus therefore, decided not to wait for the completion of the natamandira and instead consecrate the temple as soon as the sanctum sanctorum was ready. The day selected for this was 14 January 1938, the last day of the Bengali month, Pousha.

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give initiation to anyone who sought spiritual refuge.

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Referring to his irresistible urge to shower grace on all, Shivanandaji used to say, ‘I h a v e n o w b e c o m e M o t h e r G a n g a .’

Vijnananandaji too became so, though outwardly he maintained a grave demeanour.

We may mention in this connection the experience of Swami Atmasthanandaji, the 15th president of the Ramakrishna Order. Hearing from others about the greatness of Swami Shivanandaji, as a teenage boy Atmasthanandaji had developed great devotion towards him. But before he could even see him once, S h iva n a n d a j i a t t a i n e d m a h a s a m a d h i .

Atmasthanandaji then went to Vijnananandaji; but he was terribly disappointed to find him sitting totally oblivious of who came or left. He decided not to see him again. But that night he had a strange dream; Vijnananandaji was merging into Shivanandaji and then Shivanandaji was revealing himself as Vijnananandaji. This continued the whole night.

The next day Atmasthanandaji rushed to meet Vijnananandaji. The aloof sannyasi of the previous day, now welcomed him with great warmth calling him eso bhai eso ‘Come, brother come!’ And Atmasthanandaji took eternal spiritual refuge at his feet!

Swami Brahmanandaji once said that Vijnananandaji was a gupta brahmajnani, ‘a hidden knower of Brahman.’ The Bhagavata says that ‘an illumined soul can play like a child, though he is wise; he can behave like a fool, though he is actually highly intelligent; he may speak like one who is mad, though he is learned; and though established in the Truth taught by the Vedas, he may still roam like cattle defying all codes of conduct.’ This verse of the Bhagavata applied perfectly to Swami Vijnananandaji. His behaviour and attire were very unusual. Usually he would wear a long flowing robe with many pockets. Irrespective of whether it was a hot, cold or rainy season, he

would wear a cap that would cover his ears.

When he was at the Allahabad ashrama, three beds had to be kept ready for him: one in the courtyard, one in the verandah and one in his room; and it was forbidden to move the beds in the verandah or courtyard even when it rained.

The room where he actually stayed was extremely disorderly, and he disapproved any attempt to tidy it. But this apparently whimsical sadhu had regular visions of gods and goddesses; such visions were as natural to him as the visible nature. When he would visit a pilgrim centre, the presiding deities would come alive to him. In Prayag, Mother Triveni, remaining true to Her name, revealed herself to him in the form of a girl having three braids.

Once in Varanasi, when he was having a high fever, Lord Viswanath Himself appeared before him and embraced him to heal his sufferings.

He had a sharp, rational brain, but when it came to travelling by train, his rationality would depart. He would be present at the railway station five or six hours before the train’s scheduled departure. No appeal to his common sense would then work. ‘I cannot trust this machine of the British. I am not sure if it will not leave without me’, he would say.

Once Vijnananandaji expressed his desire to visit the Khidirpur dock of Kolkata Port.

Swami Gangeshanandaji made all the necessary arrangements according to which they would leave for Baghbazar from Belur Math at 12 noon by a steamer and from there go in a devotee’s car to the dock. Some officials of the dock had agreed to receive Vijnananandaji and show him around. On the stipulated day, from 9 A.M. itself Vijnananandaji started asking for his lunch and finally had it at 10 A.M. But when Gangeshanandaji came just before noon, Vijnananandaji was not to be found anywhere!

The sadhus searched everywhere, asked everyone concerned, but to no avail. They finally found him in the evening returning from his dock visit! He explained that after his 10

A.M. lunch he went to the jetty and found a Baghbazar-bound steamer ready to leave. So, he boarded the steamer and from Baghbazar took a tram to the Khidirpur dock. After seeing the things of interest there he came back contented.

When a sannyasi asked Vijnananandaji why he had not waited for others before leaving for the dock, Vijnananandaji kept silent for a

Nobody can claim to have fully or correctly understood such great souls. One can only meditate on them and their life’s message, which is an unfailing spiritual practice.

(Concluded)

Sources 1) Pouranik Abhidhan. Compiled by Sudhirchandra Sarkar. Kolkata: M. C. Sarkar & Sons, 2005 2) God Lived with Them. Swami Chetanananda. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2011 3) Shri Ramakrishna-Bhaktamalika. Swami Gambhirananda. Kolkata: Udbodhan, 2005 4) Swami Vijnananander Smritikatha. Compiled by Swami Chetanananda. Kolkata: Udbodhan, 2014

5) Pratyakshadarshir Smritipate Swami Vijnanananda.

Compiled by Sureshchandra Das & Jyotirmoy Basuroy. Kolkata: General Printers and Publishers, 1977 6) Patravali (Swami Vivekananda’s letters in Bengali) Kolkata: Udbodhan 7) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Vol.8

Swami Vijnanananda Jayanti on 11 Nov 2019

If any one asked for advice, Swami Vijnanananda would say, ‘Practise what you studied in the primary book in your childhood days: Always speak the truth and do not steal or covet others’ things. Follow these two moral principles, and then everything else will take care of itself.’

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Swami Vijnanananda with his sevak Beni

Swami Bhuteshanandaji, the 12 th president of the Ramakrishna Order, who has recorded the above mentioned reminiscences explains such behaviour: ‘When any resolve arises in the mind of a Knower of Brahman, his mind gets concentrated on that resolve. He cannot feel any relief until that is done.’

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while and then replied, ‘We have seen that if the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) said he would do something, he would be restless till it was done.

If he was to go anywhere, every now and then he would come out of his room and see if the carriage had arrived. When the carriage arrived, he would not even wait to change his wearing cloth. With the cloth under his armpit, he would climb into the carriage! One day, when the carriage had arrived, he immediately got into it along with Latu and Baburam (two of his disciples), and asked the coachman to start.

But the coachman had gone somewhere. When he was informed, the Master said, ‘Then you drive the carriage.’

SWAMI ATMASTHANANDA BIRTH CENTENARY COMMITTEE 91/1, SOUTHERN AVENUE, KOLKATA - 700029, W.B. Email: swabcc2020@gmail.com Visit us: www.atmasthanandacentenary.com Mobile: +91 9433654275, 8617023976, 9804984939, 9836463887

November 2019

AN APPEAL

The Vedanta Kesari

40

Dear Devotees, Swami Atmasthananda Birth Centenary Committee is going to organise a Memorial Programme to celebrate the Centenary of Srimat Swami Atmasthananda Ji Maharaj, the 15th President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday, 10 May 2020.

The Committee is extremely glad to announce that two Commemorative Volumes— one compiling the writings, lectures, interviews, & letters of Revered Maharaj in Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati and English and the other comprising the reminiscences of Revered Maharaj by sannyasis of the Ramakrishna Math, sannyasinis of Sri Sarada Math, devotees and eminent personalities— will be released on that day. A pictorial biography and a documentary DVD based on the life and teachings of Revered Maharaj will also be released in the function. Most Revered President Maharaj and the VicePresidents of the Ramakrishna Order would grace the occasion.

The Committee requests devotees and admirers of Revered Maharaj to share from their personal collections the photographs and letters of Revered Maharaj via email for the Commemorative Volumes.

The Committee cordially invites you to become a Delegate Member and to attend the programme. Limited numbers of Delegate Membership cards on a first-come-first-served basis will be issued. The delegate charge is Rs. 1,500/- per person. Each Delegate Member will get a complimentary gift of the documentary DVD and 30% discount on the Commemorative Volumes and the pictorial biography.

The Committee appeals to the devotees, admirers and well-wishers of Revered Maharaj to support us with financial contribution for this noble cause. All donations (cash/ cheque) and registration charges should be made in favour of: “SWAMI ATMASTHANANDA BIRTH CENTENARY COMMITTEE”.

Bank Details: Bank name: State Bank of India Calcutta University Branch; A/c Name.: Swami Atmasthananda Birth Centenary Committee; A/c No.: 38782094486, IFSC Code: SBIN0007766.

After money transfer, please intimate us by email or phone about your registration/donation.

The registration for the Delegate Membership will begin from mid-Nov. 2019 at the following branch Centres of the Ramakrishna Order: Institute of Culture, Golpark; Udbodhan Office, Bagbazar; Saradapitha (Belur Math); Ramakrishna Math (Yogodyan), Kankurgaachi; Advaita Ashrama, Entally; and Swamiji’s Ancestral House, Kolkata. Entry card for the Programme will be available to the Delegate Members from the above mentioned Centres from Feb. 2020.

Thanking you, S. K. Roy, President, Centenary Committee

Science Universe Expansion in India.

Book Reviews

2016, artpaper, Rs.20.

PA G E S P O N S O R : A D E V O T E E , M Y L A P O R E , C H E N N A I

Both published by Ramakrishna Sarada Mission, Dakshineswar, Kolkata - 700 076.

Booklets, published on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary celebration of Swami Vivekananda.

T

hese are two aesthetically illustrated books, the first being an exposition of Swami Vivekananda and the second a book on Swamiji’s interest in science and technology as the means to take India forward.

Facets of Vivekananda has snippets showing Swamiji as a nation-builder through reform in all aspects of Indian society – religious belief, scientific temper, cultivation of the spirit of enquiry, attitudes towards women, and education – all of which combined to make him an icon of the youth of every generation. For example, he was unequivocal in his message that serving one’s fellow human beings, and not mere temple visiting, is true religious faith. Then again, he recommended autonomy for women, an unheardof concept in his times and not so widespread even today.

The second of the two books, Science Universe Expansion in India, traces Swamiji’s momentous meeting with Jamsetji Tata and their conversation which led to Mr. Tata’s investment in iron and steel and from there branching out into diverse fields which covered every aspect of India’s scientific future and established India as a fully self-sufficient nuclear power, using it in fields as varied as medicine and exploring Mars.

Both the books are bilingual in English and Bengali and the narration is short, crisp, and very readable. The production deserves special commendation. Printed on glossy art paper with apt illustrations, the books are a feast for the

For review in The Vedanta Kesari, publishers need to send us two copies of their

latest publication.

eyes, apart from being very good introductions to Swamiji’s amazing versatility. ____________________________PREMA RAGHUNATH, CHENNAI

Siva I am Siva I am Published by Adi Shankara Vedanta Pratishtanam, Plot No.1505, Mahatab Road, Bhubaneswar, Orissa - 751 002. Email: adishankaravedantapratisthanam@gmail. com 2014, paperback, pp.133. Rs150.

T

he tone of this Shankara Jayanthi Volume 2014 book is set by the pithy title Siva I am Siva I am. The Editorial titled ‘I (Aham) (A Vedantic Analysis)’ discusses the problem of the ubiquitous eclipse of the Self by the Ego and offers solutions. There are in all 11 articles dealing with topics like Adi Sankara’s teachings, Prana Tattva in the Upanishads, Gaudapada and his Karika, significance of ‘Visvam’ as the first name in Vishnu Sahasranama, the universality of Dharma, and the essence of Sakta Siddhanta. Two texts Nirvanasatkam and Atmaanatma Viveka are interpreted in two articles. The latter text covers nearly half the book and presents two commentaries in Sanskrit.

The contents of all the articles are interconnected, as spokes to the nave, to the central theme of Advaita. The book can be called a bouquet of Advaitic blossoms. The heady

November 2019

2015, artpaper, Rs.20

41 The Vedanta Kesari

Facets of Vivekananda

fragrance of the bouquet should be inhaled by one and all for their spiritual illumination.

__________________________________ N.HARIHARAN, MADURAI

What The Buddha Taught

The glossary of Pali words and index are of much help to the reader. This booklet is a concise and clear handbook of Buddhism. ______________________________ PANCHAPAGESAN, MUMBAI

Living Imprints of Indian Culture.

by Walpola Rahula

November 2019

Published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited 41, U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi - 110 007. 2017, paperback, pp.103. Rs.225.

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42

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alpola Rahula (1907-1997), a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, scholar and writer became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first bhikku to hold a professional chair in the Western world. Rahula wrote extensively about Theravada Buddhism.

What the Buddha Taught provides in eight chapters a succinct account of the teachings of the Buddha to a modern reader. It is based on the original, ancient Budddhistic texts from the Tibetan and Chinese translations in the absence of the original Sanskrit texts, which are lost.

According to Buddhism, there is nothing that is absolute in the world. Everything is relative, conditional and impermanent and there is no unchanging, everlasting absolute substance like Self, Soul, or Atman. What is known as ‘being’ or ‘individual’ is composed of Five Aggregates, the cause of ‘dukkha’ (suffering) - matter, sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness which is based on the five senses. It is connected to the other faculties. There is no ‘Self’ or ‘Soul’ or ‘Ego’ opposed to matter. A Buddhist does not accept that consciousness is a sort of Self or Soul which is permanent. God is also denied by him.

Regarding rebirth, a Buddhist says that one’s energies do not die after one’s death but continue to take another shape. ‘Every moment, we are born and we die too,’ says a Budddhist.

The Buddha’s teachings can be practiced successfully even by a family man. There are hints dropped by the Buddha about how a family man must order his social, economic, and spiritual life.

by Swami Atmashraddhananda

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Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 4.

2014, paperback, pp.102, Rs.30.

iving Imprints of Indian Culture is a compilation and analysis of twentytwo aspects of Indian culture. Aspects that feature in our everyday life yet whose true rationale we are most often not aware of. Rangoli to usher in auspiciousness is first described followed by a philosophical analysis of the term darshan. Namaste, the Indian form of welcome and Indian hospitality follow. Lighting of the lamp is part of the daily routine in every Indian home. Types of lamps used in various parts of the country are described.

Sacred marks on the body, bhajan and the beautiful custom of arati are detailed. Next comes the age old tradition of chanting of Vedas and sacred hymns. The concept of prasada and the vital role of Sanskrit as an integral part of Indian culture is defined as is the role of literature. The extensive tapestry of classical music, dance and folk music that form India’s artistic heritage is described.

The wide range of traditional Indian clothing and cuisine from various states of India is considered. The author touches upon the Silpa Sastra, Ayurveda and the contribution of Aryabhatta, the renowned Indian mathematician.

The amazing story of Dara Shikoh, the Mughal prince who translated the upanishads into Persian is recounted.

This publication is a handy compilation of information which helps to understand popular customs and traditions and explains in a concise manner details that help us to appreciate our culture better. ______________________________ JAYANTHI VARMA, CHENNAI

Pariprasna

November 2019

QUESTION: I am told that one can attain Self-realization through Karma Yoga alone. It seems to me that Karma alone, without thought, is often blind. If this is admitted, we have to admit the supremacy of thought over Karma Yoga. what are your general views on this?

MAHARAJ: Karma without thought is purely mechanical. It will not be Karma Yoga at all, for this word means ‘communion through work’ and communion always implies thought.

The position can be clarified if we bestow our attention on the various types of work known to man. There is work done through the machine, which involves no thought and no reaction in the machine except wear and tear of the parts. Above this, there is animal labour and slave labour.

Though the agents are living creatures, they are entirely passive and their only stimulation for work is the fear of the whip. Next higher in the scale is work done with the profit motive, which is the law at the human level and much of what we call human civilization has been motivated by this incentive. Here certainly there is a considerable play of thought but that is wholly directed to personal advantages.

But real Karma Yoga begins only when the incentive of pure personal gain is felt as unworthy and some impersonal incentive (is sought) as the motivation for action. When a man feels that it is unworthy to live for his narrow self-interest alone, he seeks some impersonal motives like patriotism, social uplift, humanism etc., as the sanction for action. Here it is only thought and reflection that raise man to this higher level of life. While the work that a man does with these motives has a sure effect in the external world, it has got a beneficial effect on himself too. By identification with an impersonal cause his self expands and gets identified with higher and bigger ‘wholes’ like country, community, mankind etc. There is thus a kind of Yoga, communion, with these ‘wholes’ and where the identification is sincere and complete, such persons become a conduit for the expression of the energy of the spirit involved in these ‘wholes’. This ‘at-one-ment’ in thought and emotion is the source of the power we find expressing through great patriots, humanists and social revolutionaries.

It was Swami Vivekananda who gave a new turn to the doctrine of Karma Yoga when he declared that it is in itself a self-sufficient path for the attainment of the spiritual goal. In the past it was always considered only as an indirect means or as a subsidiary aid. In Sankara’s system, Karma Yoga or detached and dedicated action leads to purification of mind which is the necessary psychological background for practising the discipline of Jnana or Knowledge of the unity of the Atman with Brahman. In the Bhakti school such action is a part of the practice of devotion to God. Actions are performed as offerings to God. Devotion in its maturity brings the grace of God on the devotees.

43 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : S R I R AV I C H A M U T U R I , H Y D E R A B A D

Srimat Swami Tapasyananda Ji (1904 – 1991), was one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order. His deeply convincing answers to devotees’ questions raised in spiritual retreats and in personal letters have been published in book form as Spiritual Quest: Questions & Answers. Pariprasna is a selection from this book.

November 2019

Swami Vivekananda’s gospel of Karma Yoga as a self-sufficient path does not seem to impose any metaphysical or theological dogma to begin with. It is a discipline of expanding our narrow self by identification with bigger and bigger ‘wholes.’ The Swami’s novel explanation of the two important technical expressions, ‘Pravritti’ and ‘Nivritti’ makes his attitude clear. Traditionally ‘Pravritti Marga’ is described as ‘an active life in pursuit of worldly values’ and ‘Nivritti Marga’ as ‘abandonment of actions in pursuit of Mukti.’ But Swamiji gives a new turn to these words by interpreting them on the basis of their root meaning. According to him, Pravritti means ‘going towards,’ and Nivritti means ‘going away from,’—a self-centred life. Self-centredness is the original sin, and freedom from it is real freedom. Here the contrast is not so much between worldly life and a life of renunciation of worldly goods and activities. The less we become self-centred, the more we grow spiritually, according to this view. The identification of our little self with impersonal causes and with bigger and bigger ‘wholes’ referred to earlier, indicates the spiritual development of man through pure Karma Yoga. A man may have no theory of God, soul, the hereafter etc, but if he can eschew personal values entirely and get fully identified with bigger and bigger ‘wholes,’ he attains to a state of mental purification in which truth should shine on Him automatically.

Although this idea of Karma Yoga is a novel idea, it will find acceptance today among large sections of people to whom metaphysics or theology is an anathema, and who yet feel the pursuit of pure personal values as ignoble. Here also Karma, if it is to become Yoga, involves thought. As the Gita says, ‘All Karmas find their final end in knowledge.’



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One must perform work. It is only through work that the bondage of work will be cut asunder and one will acquire a spirit of non-attachment. One should not be without work even for a moment.

Work saves the mind from going astray.

But then, prayer and meditation also are necessary. You must sit for meditation at least once in the morning and once in the evening. That will be like the helm to a boat. When one sits for meditation in the evening, there should be selfexamination in respect of the works done in the course of the day.

—Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

Topical Musings

‘Karma-Yoga makes us admit that this world is a world of five minutes, that it is a something we have to pass through; and that freedom is not here, but is only to be found beyond. To find the way out of the bondages of the world we have to go through it slowly and surely. There may be those exceptional persons who can stand aside and give up the world, as a snake casts off its skin and stands aside and looks at it. There are, no doubt, these exceptional beings; but the rest of mankind has to go slowly through the world of work. KarmaYoga shows the process, the secret, and the method of doing it to the best advantage.’2 ‘What does it say? “Work incessantly, but give up all attachment to work.” Do not identify yourself with anything. Hold your mind free. All this that you see, the pains and the miseries,

are but the necessary conditions of this world; poverty and wealth and happiness are but momentary; they do not belong to our real nature at all. Our nature is far beyond misery and happiness, beyond every object of the senses, beyond the imagination; and yet we must go on working all the time. “Misery comes through attachment, not through work.” As soon as we identify ourselves with the work we do, we feel miserable; but if we do not identify ourselves with it, we do not feel that misery.’3 ‘This “I and mine” causes the whole misery. With the sense of possession comes selfishness, and selfishness brings on misery.

Every act of selfishness or thought of selfishness makes us attached to something, and immediately we are made slaves. Never say “mine”. Whenever we say a thing is “mine”, misery will immediately come. Do not even say “my child” in your mind. Possess the child, but do not say “mine”. If you do, then will come the misery. Do not say “my house,” do not say “my body”. The whole difficulty is there. The body is neither yours, nor mine, nor anybody’s. These bodies are coming and going by the laws of nature, but we are free, standing as witness.

This body is no more free than a picture or a wall. Why should we be attached so much to a

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Our Sadhana

45 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : S M T. R A J A M S U B R A M A N I A M , C H E N N A I

‘W

hat is Karma-Yoga? The knowledge of the secret of work. We see that the whole universe is working. For what? For salvation, for liberty; from the atom to the highest being, working for the one end, liberty for the mind, for the body, for the spirit. All things are always trying to get freedom, flying away from bondage. The sun, the moon, the earth, the planets, all are trying to fly away from bondage.

The centrifugal and the centripetal forces of nature are indeed typical of our universe.

Instead of being knocked about in this universe, and after long delay and thrashing, getting to know things as they are, we learn from KarmaYoga the secret of work, the method of work, the organizing power of work. A vast mass of energy may be spent in vain if we do not know how to utilize it. Karma-Yoga makes a science of work; you learn by it how best to utilize all the workings of this world. Work is inevitable, it must be so; but we should work to the highest purpose.’1

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body? If somebody paints a picture, he does it and passes on. Do not project that tentacle of selfishness, “I must possess it”. As soon as that is projected, misery will begin.’4

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‘So Karma-Yoga says, first destroy the tendency to project this tentacle of selfishness, and when you have the power of checking it, hold it in and do not allow the mind to get into the ways of selfishness. Then you may go out into the world and work as much as you can.

Mix everywhere, go where you please; you will never be contaminated with evil. There is the lotus leaf in the water; the water cannot touch and adhere to it; so will you be in the world.

This is called “Vairâgya”, dispassion or nonattachment. I believe I have told you that without non-attachment there cannot be any kind of Yoga. Non-attachment is the basis of all the Yogas.’5

‘Non-attachment does not mean anything that we may do in relation to our external body, it is all in the mind. The binding link of “I and mine” is in the mind. If we have not this link with the body and with the things of the senses, we are non-attached, wherever and whatever we may be. A man may be on a throne and perfectly non-attached; another man may be in rags and still very much attached. First, we have to attain this state of non-attachment and then to work incessantly. Karma-Yoga gives us the method that will help us in giving up all attachment, though it is indeed very hard.’6 ‘The Karma-Yogi need not believe in any doctrine whatever. He may not believe even in God, may not ask what his soul is, nor think of any metaphysical speculation. He has got his own special aim of realizing selflessness; and he has to work it out himself. Every moment of his life must be realization, because he has to solve by mere work, without the help of doctrine or theory, the very same problem to which the Jnani applies his reason and inspiration and the Bhakta his love.’7

‘Here are the two ways of giving up all attachment.

‘The one is for those who do not believe in God, or in any outside help. They are left to their own devices; they have simply to work with their own will, with the powers of their mind and discrimination, saying, “I must be non-attached.”8

‘For those who believe in God there is another way, which is much less difficult.

They give up the fruits of work unto the Lord; they work and are never attached to the results. Whatever they see, feel, hear, or do, is for Him. For whatever good work we may do, let us not claim any praise or benefit. It is the Lord’s; give up the fruits unto Him. Let us stand aside and think that we are only servants obeying the Lord, our Master, and that every impulse for action comes from Him every moment. Whatever thou worshippest, whatever thou perceivest, whatever thou doest, give up all unto Him and be at rest. Let us be at peace, perfect peace, with ourselves, and give up our whole body and mind and everything as an eternal sacrifice unto the Lord.’9 ‘Instead of the sacrifice of pouring oblations into the fire, perform this one great sacrifice day and night — the sacrifice of your little self. “In search of wealth in this world, Thou art the only wealth I have found; I sacrifice myself unto Thee. In search of someone to be loved, Thou art the only one beloved I have found; I sacrifice myself unto Thee.” Let us repeat this day and night, and say, “Nothing for me; no matter whether the thing is good, bad, or indifferent; I do not care for it; I sacrifice all unto Thee.” Day and night let us renounce our seeming self until it becomes a habit with us to do so, until it gets into the blood, the nerves, and the brain, and the whole body is every moment obedient to this idea of self-renunciation.’10

‘What is duty after all? It is really the impulsion of the flesh, of our attachment; and when an attachment has become established, we call it duty. 12 Duty is good to the extent that it checks brutality. To the lowest kinds of men, who cannot have any other ideal, it is of some good; but those who want to be Karma-Yogis must throw this idea of duty overboard. There is no duty for you and me. Whatever you have to give to the world, do give by all means, but not as a duty. Do not take any thought of that.

Be not compelled. Why should you be compelled? Everything that you do under compulsion goes to build up attachment.’13

‘The highest men cannot work, for in them there is no attachment. Those whose whole soul is gone into the Self, those whose desires are confined in the Self, who have become ever associated with the Self, for them there is no work. Such are indeed the highest of mankind; but apart from them every one else has to work.

In so working we should never think that we can help on even the least thing in this universe.

We cannot. We only help ourselves in this gymnasium of the world. This is the proper attitude of work. If we work in this way, if we always remember that our present opportunity to work thus is a privilege which has been given to us, we shall never be attached to anything.’ 15

‘He is the all in all; He is all and in all. We can only worship Him. Give up all fruits of work; do good for its own sake; then alone will come perfect non-attachment. The bonds of the heart will thus break, and we shall reap perfect freedom. This freedom is indeed the goal of Karma-Yoga.’16

‘But how are we to fight? Most of us, by work. The world’s work is the great Sadhana, wherein we accumulate character, by which, when the time comes, we can rise even into the Nirvikalpa Samadhi itself. Character is selfrestraint. Self-restraint is self-direction.

Self-direction is concentration. Concentration when perfect is Samadhi. From perfect work to perfect Mukti. This is the swing of the soul. Let us then be perfect in work!’17

References 1) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. [hereafter CW] Vol-1: Karma-Yoga: Ch-VII: Freedom 2) Ibid 3) Ibid 4) Ibid 5) Ibid 6) Ibid 7) CW. Vol-1: Karma-Yoga: Ch-VIII: The Ideal of Karma-Yoga 8) CW. Vol-1: Karma-Yoga: Ch-VII: Freedom 9) Ibid 10) Ibid 11) Ibid 12) Ibid 13) Ibid 14) Ibid 15) Ibid 16) Ibid 17) The Complete Works of Sister Nivedita. Vol-3, Religion & Dharma: Ch-XXVI: Work

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‘Blessed are we that we are ordered out here. We serve our time; whether we do it ill or well, who knows? If we do it well, we do not get the fruits. If we do it ill, neither do we get the care. Be at rest, be free, and work. This kind of freedom is a very hard thing to attain. How easy it is to interpret slavery as duty — the morbid attachment of flesh for flesh as duty! Men go out into the world and struggle and fight for money or for any other thing to which they get attached. Ask them why they do it. They say, “It is a duty”. It is the absurd greed for gold and gain, and they try to cover it with a few flowers.

‘Why should you have any duty? Resign everything unto God. We are all simply working out His will, and have nothing to do with rewards and punishments.’14

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‘Go then into the midst of the battlefield, with the roaring cannon and the din of war, and you will find yourself to be free and at peace.

Karma-Yoga teaches us that the ordinary idea of duty is on the lower plane; nevertheless, all of us have to do our duty.11 The only true duty is to be unattached and to work as free beings, to give up all work unto God. All our duties are His.

What is Religion?

Religion Is Between You and Your God

R

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eligion is only between you and your God, and no third person must come between you. 1 It is interesting to note how Swamiji has systematically removed the dross from religion, and has distilled out the purest form of religion.

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‘Religion is not going to church, or putting marks on the forehead, or dressing in a peculiar fashion; you may paint yourselves in all the colors of the rainbow, but if the heart has not been opened, if you have not realized God, it is all vain.

If one has the colour of the heart, he does not want any external colour. That is the true religious realization. We must not forget that colours and all these things are good so far as they help; so far they are all welcome. But they are apt to degenerate and instead of helping they retard, and a man identifies religion with externalities. Going to the temple becomes tantamount to spiritual life.

Giving something to a priest becomes tantamount to religious life. These are dangerous and pernicious, and should be at once checked. Our scriptures declare again and again that even the knowledge of the external senses is not religion.

That is religion which makes us realize the Unchangeable One, and that is the religion for everyone. He who realizes transcendental truth, he who realizes the Atman in his own nature, he who comes face to face with God, sees God alone in everything, has become a Rishi. And there is no religious life for you until you have become a Rishi. Then alone religion begins for you, now is only the preparation. Then religion dawns upon you, now you are only undergoing intellectual gymnastics and physical tortures.’2 ‘Religion does not live on bread, does not dwell in a house. Again and again you hear this

objection advanced: “What good can religion do?

Can it take away the poverty of the poor?” Supposing it cannot, would that prove the untruth of religion? Suppose a baby stands up among you when you are trying to demonstrate an astronomical theorem, and says, “Does it bring gingerbread?” “No, it does not”, you answer. “Then,” says the baby, “it is useless.” Babies judge the whole universe from their own standpoint, that of producing gingerbread, and so do the babies of the world. We must not judge of higher things from a low standpoint. Everything must be judged by its own standard and the infinite must be judged by the standard of infinity. Religion permeates the whole of man’s life, not only the present, but the past, present, and future. It is, therefore, the eternal relation between the eternal soul and the eternal God. Is it logical to measure its value by its action upon five minutes of human life?

Certainly not.’3 ‘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. You are talking second-hand, thirdhand,’ 4 ‘Religion is not talk, or doctrines, or theories; nor is it sectarianism. Religion cannot live in sects and societies. It is the relation between the soul and God; how can it be made into a society? It would then degenerate into business, and wherever there are business and business principles in religion, spirituality dies.

Religion does not consist in erecting temples, or building churches, or attending public worship. It is not to be found in books, or in words, or in lectures, or in organizations. Religion consists in realization. As a fact, we all know that nothing will satisfy us until we know the truth for ourselves. However we may argue, however much we may hear, but one thing will satisfy us, and that is our own realization; and such an experience is possible for every one of us if we will only try.

The first ideal of this attempt to realize religion is that of renunciation.’5

‘Religion is not for the many; that is impossible. A sort of knee-drill, standing up and sitting down, may be suited for the many; but religion is for the few.’

Religion is not in doctrines, in dogmas, nor in intellectual argumentation; it is being and becoming, it is realization.6 Religion is here and now, in this present life.’7 ‘Religion is not an imitation of Jesus or Mohammed. 8 Religion is not a thing of imagination but of direct perception.’9

Sages of India 5) CW. Vol-4: Lectures and Discourses: My Master 6) CW. Vol-2: Bhakti or Devotion 7) CW. Vol-4: Lectures and Discourses: The Claims of Religion 8) CW. Vol-1: Lectures and Discourses: Mohammed 9) CW. Vol-5: Sayings and Utterances

You have only one mind, and if you fill it with everything that is written in various books and everything that has been said by various people, you will only get confused.

Have firm faith that whatever is to be achieved in spiritual life can be achieved by japa and meditation.

Know this for certain, that the Lord’s name cuts through all obstacles. However you may do it, whether perfectly or imperfectly, keep on repeating His name, which has a power of its own.

—Swami Subodhananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Swami Subodhananda Jayanti on 9 Nov 2019

November 2019

1) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. [hereafter CW] Vol-1: Lectures and Discourses: The Gita III 2) CW. Vol-3: Lectures from Colombo to Almora: The Work Before Us 3) CW. Vol-3: Lectures and Discourses: Unity, The Goal of Religion 4) CW.Vol-3: Lectures from Colombo to Almora: The

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References

(Continued from page 24...)

November 2019

125th Anniversary of Chicago Addresses : Concluding Programme

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seminar. The Youth Convention was addressed

by Swami Balabhadrananda, one of the Asst.

Gen. Secretaries of the Order, Swami Divyananda, a senior Trustee of the Order, Dr. Partha Chatterjee, Minister of Education, Govt. of West Bengal, Sri Vinayak Lohani, the founder of Parivaar, a humanitarian organization and others. The Valedictory meeting was presided by Srimat Swami Vagishananda Ji, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Order and addressed by Swami Chetanananda, Minister-in-Charge, Vedanta Society of St. Louis, Janab Firhad Hakim, Mayor of Kolkata, Sri Harsha Dutta, Former Editor of Desh Patrika and other sannyasis and dignitaries. Swami Suvirananda Ji participated in some of these programmes.

National Seminars across India

National Level Seminars on different themes apropos to the event of Chicago Addresses like ‘Hinduism for Youth’, ‘Relevance of Swami Vivekananda in Regeneration of Indian culture’, ‘Swami Vivekananda’s Universal Message’ were held at the following centres: Rajkot on 4th Aug (700), Mangaluru on 10th Aug (635), Pune on 11th Aug (425), Delhi on 7th Sept (540), Kanpur on 11th Sept (300), Mysuru on 20th and 21st Sept (1100) and Chennai Math on 21st Sept (220).

Sri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India sent his message for the seminar at Rajkot. The seminar at Mysuru was held in collaboration with the University of Belur Math

Puri

Mysore at the Senate Bhavan Manasagangotri.

A special feature of the seminar at Chennai Math was more than 70 paper submissions on 11 different themes and presentations of the 24 short-listed ones by the youth participants.

Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji, the 24th pontiff of Sri Suttur Math, Sri Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji, Pontiff, Adichinchungiri Mahasamsthana Math, Srimat Swami Gautamananda Ji, Swami Veetamohananda, Minister-in-Charge, Centre Vedantique Ramakrishna, Gretz, France, Swami Balabhadrananda, and Swami Satyeshananda, two Asst. Gen. Secretaries of the Order, Swami Muktidananda, Adhyaksha, Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysuru, Swami Nityasthananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, Davanagere, Swami Tyagananda, Minister-in-Charge, Vedanta Society of Boston and the Hindu chaplain at Harvard and MIT, Swami Atmapriyananda, Vice-Chancellor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational & Research Institute, Belur Math, Swami Shantatmananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, Swami Yuktatmananda, Minister-in-Charge, Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York, USA, Swami Nikhileswarananda, Adhyaksha, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Asharma, Rajkot, Swami Atmashraddhananda, Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Kanpur, Swami Suddhidananda, Adhyaksha, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Rajamata of Baroda Her Highness Shubhanginiraje Gaekwad, Chancellor of the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Prof. Abhay Mysuru

Programmes at Branch Centres

In West Bengal, (i) 13 Youth Conventions and lecture programmes, attended by about Delhi

Faridpur, Bangladesh

3144 students and others, were held by the a s h r a m a s a t A n t p u r, B a j e p r a t a p u r (Bardhaman), Baranagar Math, Cooch Behar, Cossipore, Gourhati, Joyrambati, Kankurgachi, Purulia, Rahara, Shyampukur Bati, Taki and Tamluk; (ii) Cultural competitions were organised by centres at Taki (155 students), Manasadwip (203 students from 19 schools), Bagda and Purulia (jointly 4500 students from 132 education institutions); and (iii) Devotees’ Conventions/Public Meetings were conducted by the centres at Kathamrita Bhavan, RajarhatBishnupur, Taki, Baranagar Mission, Baghbazar, Bamunmura, Barasat, Gadadhar ashrama, Jalpaiguri, and Medinipur in which 4805 people participated. Jalpaiguri ashrama held a series of programmes— conventions for devotees, youths, and military personnel, an interfaith meet, four public meetings and a few cultural events— at the centre from 22nd to 27th Sept attended by about 3000 people. Chandigarh centre arranged special lectures at Punjab University on 2nd Sept and Sri Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India addressed the Youth Convention at Puri Mission on 22nd Sept.

Cultural/Essay/Oratorical competitions over different periods were held for students by centres at Hatamuniguda (400), Vijayawada (32,391 from 257 schools and 7000 from 15

Kanpur

Chennai

November 2019

Karandikar, Dircetor, IIT Kanpur, Prof.

Makarand Paranjape, Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, Dr. Nitinkumar Pethani, Vice-Chancelllor, Saurashtra University, Prof. P.S. Yadapadithaya, Vice-Chancellor, Mangalore University, Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore, Dr. M.K. Surappa, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, Chennai, Dr. Sudha Seshayyan, ViceChancellor, The Tamilnadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical University , Prof. (Retd.) Sumita Roy, Dept. of English, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Dr. Sunita Singh Sengupta, Head & Dean, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi and Founder & Honorary Convener of ISOL Foundation, Delhi, Smt. Jyotiben Thanki, popular Gujarati writer, Sri Vinayak Lohani, Sri Rajiv Mehrotra, noted writer and documentary film-maker, Dr. K. Venkatesham, IPS, Commissioner of Police, Pune, Sri Sharad Vivek Sagar, an Indian Social Entrepreneur & CEO of Dexterity Global, Dr. V. Srinivas, Founder-CEO, Illumine Knowledge Resources, Mumbai, Sri Chakravarthy Sulibele, Founder of Yuva Brigade, Bengaluru, Sri Vijay Menon, mentor and motivation speaker from Kozhikode and several other sannyasis and dignitaries addressed in one or more of these seminars.

Khetri

51 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S 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

Rajkot

November 2019

colleges), Visakhapatnam (5840 from 152 colleges in 4 districts), Chennai Math (5000 from 125 schools), Chennai Students’ Home (200 from 14 polytechnic colleges in 3 districts), Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya (3191 at 44 schools/colleges), Ramanathapuram (915 students and 40 teachers from 12 schools and 2 colleges), Davanagere (800), Prayagraj (600 from 37 schools/colleges), Guwahati (230 from 35 schools), Shillong (3500), Aalo (1200 from 9 schools and a university) and Narottam Nagar (1800 from 12 schools in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh).

The Vedanta Kesari

52

Youth programmes including speeches, cultural events, processions, spiritual retreat etc., were conducted at the following centres: Puri Mission (284), Hyderabad (2000), Kadapa (1100), Visakhapatnam (1000), Bengaluru (665), Mangaluru (2500), Mysuru (300), Ponnampet (526), Aurangabad (476), Pune (450 in a convention and 10,000 at lectures in 34 colleges), Limbdi (1000), Porbandar (1131 in 10 workshops), Rajkot (400), Khetri (1362), Jammu (360 from 10 schools), Almora (80), Dehradun (325), Shyamla Tal (400), Vrindaban (250) and Karimganj (360).

The following centres arranged Public Meetings, Devotee’s Conventions and Seminars: Vijayawada (500), Coimbatore Math (150), Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya (168), Madurai (900), Koyilandy (350), Nagpur (300), Pune (250), Indore (150), Narainpur (1500), Raipur (300), Vadodara (300), Khetri (190), Chandigarh (300), Prayagraj (300), Guwahati (400), Karimganj (250), Aalo and Kailashahar.

Srimat Swami Gautamananda Ji addressed the programmes at Narainpur and Raipur. Srimat Swami Suhitananda Ji, one of the VicePune

Presidents of the Order gave a special talk in Karimganj before 300 devotees. On 11 Sept Shillong ashrama arranged a public meeting at the Meghalaya Raj Bhavan in which Sri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Meghalaya addressed the gathering. On the same day, Narottam Nagar centre held a public meeting in which Sri Chowna Mein, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh addressed the gathering Kadapa asharma flagged off on 7th Sept a Vivekananda Ratha which will pass through six districts in Andhra Pradesh in the next few weeks, and will disseminate Swamiji’s message.

Teachers’ conventions were held in the ashramas at Tirupati (200), Chennai Mission (200), Nattarampalli (370), Pune (400) and Khetri (278).

Interfaith meets were held on 11th Sept by Hatamuniguda (800), and Rajkot ashramas (400). The meet at Rajkot Ashrama was organised in collaboration with the Parliament of World’s Religions and was approved as a Post-Parliament Event as a follow-up of the Parliament of World’s Religions held at Toronto from 1-7 November, 2018.

Programmes Abroad

Bangladesh: Four Public Meetings for devotees: One meeting on 15th Sept at Faridpur Ashrama (350) and three meetings from 30th – 31 Aug by the Chittagong Ashrama (2500).

Amstelveen Ashrama, Netherlands held a Public Meeting on 15th Sept. Phoenix Ashrama held on 7th Sept a Seminar in Durban (65 people) and a Public Meeting on 9th Sept in the centre (350 devotees). Johannesburg Ashrama held a Seminar on 25 th Aug at a public auditorium (100).

Narainpur

Shyampukur Bati

The Order on the March

News of Branch Centres

Sri Ram Nath Kovind, Hon’ble President of India, accompanied by Sri Jagdeep Dhankhar, Governor of West Bengal, visited Belur Math on 30th September. Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Lokpal of India, visited Belur Math on 11th September. Sri Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for

Srimat Swami Gautamananda Ji, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order and Swami Suviranandaji Ji, the General Secretary of the Order, inaugurated the Skill Development Centre at Chennai Students’ Home on 1st September.

The School Education Department, Government of West Bengal, presented the Best School Award to the High School run by the Rahara centre in a function held in Kolkata on 5 th September. The award consisted of a certificate and a sum of one lakh rupees.

The renovated primary school building of Narottam Nagar centre was dedicated by Sri Chowna Mein, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, on 11th Sept.

Ranchi Morabadi centre observed the concluding phase of the Golden Jubilee of its Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra from 23nd to 30th September. Srimat Swami Vagishananda Ji, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Order, and the Governor of Jharkhand Smt Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the celebration. A commemorative volume was released and public meetings, an alumni meet, a seminar on ‘Regeneration of Rural India’, religious discourses and several cultural events were held.

President of India, attending sandhya arati in Belur Math

Culture and Tourism, Government of India, visited Chennai Math on 15th September. Sri Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India visited Puri Mission on 22nd Sept.

Governor of Jharkhand Smt Droupadi Murmu, attended a function at Ranchi Morabadi centre.

New Branch Centres A new branch of Ramakrishna Math has been started on the premises of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Purnea, following its merger with the Math. A new branch of Ramakrishna Mission has been started on the premises of Sri Ramakrishna Sangha, Rourkela, following its takeover by the Mission.

November 2019

Guests of Honour

53 The Vedanta Kesari

PA G E S P O N S O R : A D E V O T E E , K O C H A D A I , M A D U R A I

News & Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

November 2019

Values Education and Youth Programmes

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54

The following centres held workshops, conventions, personality development camps etc.: Delhi centre: 24 workshops in 13 towns and cities for 1754 teachers and 65 principals; Gadadhar Ashrama: three Students’ convention for 580 students in Kolkata and Hooghly districts and a Parents’ convention in a village in Bankura district for 245 parents and teachers; Rajkot centre: 21 programmes in the Ashrama, and programmes in 45 schools in ten districts of Gujarat covering 21,772 students, 2 two-day residential personality development camps for 79 students; Vadodara centre: two programmes in the ashrama and programmes in 44 schools in six districts reaching 11,607 students.

Healthcare Services Aalo centre: Three health awareness camps in four nearby villages benefitting 290 people. Asansol centre: Medical camp in which 611 patients were treated by 8 doctors. Jalpaiguri centre: Medical camps in which a team of 20 doctors and 15 paramedical staff treated 1220 patients and prescribed medicines. Madurai Math: A dental check-up camp in which 62 students were examined and 48 treated. Malda centre: A village medical camp in which 127 patients were treated.

Eye Camps: Bankura, Chennai Math (through Chengalpattu centre), Dehradun, Khetri, Lucknow, Madurai, Malda, Nagpur, Porbandar, Rajamahendravaram, Rajkot, Salem, Seva Pratishthan and Vadodara centres conducted eye camps in which 14,190 patients were treated, 1254 were operated, and 970 were given spectacles.

Swachha Bharat Abhiyan

Mangaluru Ashrama conducted the following activities in September: (i) five cleanliness drives in Mangaluru involving about 6530 volunteers, (ii) daily awareness campaign for 25 days in which volunteers reached out to 1850 households in different parts of Mangaluru and spread awareness about cleanliness, (iii) cleanliness drives in 172 villages of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. (iv) magic shows on the cleanliness theme in 4 schools in Udupi district which were attended by 2300 students in all, (v) workshops on cleanliness in 106 schools in which 10,636

students participated, and (vi) a seminar on Clean India on 14 September attended by 700 youths.

Distress Relief

18 centres distributed the following to needy people 11591 shirts, 10547 sweaters/jackets, 18702 trousers, 753 saris, 193 dhotis, 1120 notebooks etc.

Winter Relief Jamtara centre distributed 500 blankets to needy people.

Flood Relief In response to the floods in various parts of the country, the following centres conducted relief operations: Kerala: (a) Haripad centre distributed firewood and other food items in Alappuzha district; (b) Kalady centre distributed food grains, clothes, and other household items among 550 families in Wayanad district. Gujarat: Vadodara centre distributed food packets, ration kits and saris. Maharashtra: Pune centre distributed food grains, blankets, utensils, food grains, etc., among 878 affected families in Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur districts

Flood Rehabilitation Kerala: (a) In the aftermath of the floods that affected Kerala in August 2018, the Headquarters distributed 188 bicycles to school girls in Alappuzha district through Kochi centre. (b) In response to the recent floods in the state, Koyilandy centre distributed 10 sewing machines among 10 affected families in Kozhikode district.

Economic Rehabilitation Under self-employment programme, Porbandar centre distributed 9 sewing machines to needy people.

More details and photos at http:// media.belurmath.org/category/service/ relief.

PA G E S P O N S O R : A D E V O T E E , T E Y N A M P E T, C H E N N A I

Delhi centre added a digital section to its public library in August.

Hyderabad Math observed the 20th Foundation Day of its Vivekananda Institute of Human Excellence by organizing a Convention for the faculty members of engineering colleges and a Youths’ convention; 2300 people participated.

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Vol.106. No.11 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) November 2019.

Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957.

Postal registration number: TN / CH (C) / 190 / 2018-2020. Licensed to Post without prepayment TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2018-2020.

Date of Publication: 24th of every month; Posted on 26 October 2019

How many in our country truly understand the Shastras nowadays? They have only learnt such words as Brahman, Maya, Prakriti, and so on, and confuse their heads with them. Setting aside the real meaning and purpose of the Shastras, they fight over the words only.

— Swami Vivekananda

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