traditional wisdom - advaita ashramacludes his interesting study of dhan gopal mukerji and the face...

Traditional WisdomVIVEKANANDA’S IDEAL OF SERVICE

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fUrboKu Òttrllu aiJ CÿUtg ôJtrblu vwl& >rJJufUtlà=Ávtg Cqgtu Cqgtu lbtögnbT >>

One whose aim was to serve the jivas (as Shiva) on this earth, and who realized theknowledge of the Atman treading this very path—that Swami Vivekananda, a man ofaction, a jnani and a bhakta, I salute again and again.

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stŸÔgt& mw;xuMw dtizdnlu dtihtE¸=uJô;:t >;ÀmuJtJ{;b‘ mtÆtfUJh& ôJtbe vwlDtuoM;u >>

That path of service which was declared by the seers, Buddha, Mahavira and Shankara,by Rama in the lovely forest of Dandaka, by Krishna in Vrindavana, and by Chaitanyaon the shores of the Ganga in the heart of Gauda—that same path of service has againbeen proclaimed by Vivekananda, the prince of sadhakas.

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mJuo lthtgKtô;u Jgbrv a ;:t gqgbËgºtCq;tytÀbt lthtgKtu~gk v{ahr; cnwN& muÔg;tbtÀbÁv >>

Be it an outcaste or a brahmin, elderly or young in age, learned or ignorant, poor orrich, possessing a wealth of virtues or bereft of them—They are all Narayana, so arewe, and you who are here; this Atman, which is verily Narayana, moves about in mani-fold forms. Serve them, you who are the Atman!

—adapted from Dakshinaranjan Bhattacharya, ‘Sri-Vivekananda-Stotram’

11 PB - FEBRUARY 2006

PRABUDDHA

BHARATA

Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached!

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Vol. 111 FEBRUARY 2006 No. 2

� This Month �

The inspirational quality of Swami Vive-kananda’s message has been universally ac-knowledged, although the reasons for thishave been varied. This month’s editorial ex-plores some reasons why Swamiji and hismessage have remained A Perennial Inspira-tion.

Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago pre-sents extracts from Justice N G Chandavar-kar’s much acclaimed Social Conference ad-dress at Benares in 1905.

Prof. Urmila Srivastava, who holds theVivekananda Chair at the Department of Re-ligious Studies, University of Nairobi, pres-ents a lucid summary of Swamiji’s life andmessage in Swami Vivekananda and HisUniversal Gospel.

‘One of the most fascinating developmentsis the increasing visibility of the linkage be-tween Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Vedantaand almost all fields of human concern’, saysProf. M Sivaramkrishna, former Head of theDepartment of English, Osmania University,Hyderabad. He plans to explore this in hisnew series, The Many-splendoured Rama-krishna-Vivekananda Vedanta.

After Sri Ramakrishna’s Passing Away isSwami Chetananandaji’s translation of four ofM’s (Mahendranath Gupta’s) diary entriesthat were first published in the Bengalimonthly Navya Bharat in 1904, but have notas yet been included in the Sri Sri Ramakrish-na Kathamrita. The translator is Minister-in-Charge, Vedanta Society of St Louis.

In the first instalment of his article Under-standing Vivekananda, Swami Sandarshana-nandaji of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith,

Deoghar, underscores the pragmatism and theideal of discipleship that characterize SwamiVivekananda’s personality.

Dr C V Madhava Reddy of the Depart-ment of Phiosophy, Sri Venkateswara Univer-sity, Tirupati, has given us a succinct accountof the philosophical basis and practical impli-cations of Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas onPractical Vedanta.

Sri M M Barik, Senior Teacher in Englishat the Ramakrishna Mission school in Along,has beautifully outlined how Vedanta, Shaktiworship and a man-making education wentinto the making of Swami Vivekananda—theEpitome of Strength.

Westerners Who Saw Sri Ramakrishna isa well-researched article about the life andworks of some important westerners who hadoccasion to meet Sri Ramakrishna. The au-thor, Dr Gordon Stavig, is a researcher fromHollywood.

Swami Tathagatanandaji, Minister-in-Charge, Vedanta Society, New York, con-cludes his interesting study of Dhan GopalMukerji and The Face of Silence by explor-ing how the meeting between Mukerji andRomain Rolland culminated in the latter’sfamous biographies of Sri Ramakrishna andSwami Vivekananda, and how these foundtheir way into Soviet Russia.

Anger, as an emotion, is as ubiquitous as itis destructive. It wreaks havoc on its subject aswell as on the surroundings. The Bhagavatastory of King Ambarisha underscores this facteven as it highlights genuine devotion. Wagesof Wrath is an insightful retelling of this pop-ular legend by Sri N Hariharan of Madurai.

PB - FEBRUARY 2006 12

A Perennial InspirationEDITORIAL

Role Models of Indian Youth

A2003 Hindustan Times survey identifiedparents, Sachin Tendulkar, AmitabhBachchan and Swami Vivekananda as the

most important role models of Indian youth.That youth in India consider parents as primaryrole models certainly lays to rest speculationsthat family values have been irreparably dam-aged. Family bonds remain a significant deter-minant not only of social values and interac-tions but also of political alliances and businesstransactions—areas where filial affiliations maybe supposed to play a less important role. Andthis holds good for the whole of Asia, where amiddle-aged son is still likely to consider hismother his best friend.

That a celluloid icon or the country’s mostprominent sports personality should act as arole model for youngsters is in keeping with thedisproportionately large media coverage givento these figures—the larger-than-life dramaticimages and the subliminal effects of publicityand crowd adulation. This form of hero-wor-ship is a global phenomenon.

Our interest here lies in Swami Viveka-nanda. Why should Indian youth look up to aperson—that too a monk—who passed awaymore than a hundred years ago? What makesfor his enduring appeal?

The Power That Was Vivekananda

Both during his parivrajaka days and onhis return from the West in 1897 Swami Vivek-ananda generated a great deal of enthusiasmamong the youth. They would attend to hisneeds, take his advice, argue with him, collectfunds for his travel, work out his instructionsand give him mammoth receptions.

But appraisals of the reasons for his appealvaried. He had a remarkable physical appear-

ance that would make him stand out anywhere.Annie Besant found in him ‘a striking figure,clad in yellow and orange, shining like the sunof India … a lion head, piercing eyes, mobilelips, movements swift and fast. … Purposeful,virile, strong, he stood out, a man among men,able to hold his own.’ There were others whosaw in him ‘a God of Greek sculpture’. Therehave been numerous comments on the ‘powerof his eyes’ of which ‘no photograph or descrip-tion can give a correct idea’. According to Sri-nivasa Pai, ‘like the “Ancient Mariner” in Cole-ridge’s famous poem he “held you by the eye”.’

However, in the words of Sister Christine,‘it was not this which made the first outstand-ing impression. … It was the mind that madethe first great appeal, that amazing mind! … Itwas a mind so far transcending other minds,even of those who rank as geniuses, that itseemed different in its very nature. Its ideaswere so clear, so powerful, so transcendentalthat it seemed incredible that they could haveemanated from the intellect of a limited humanbeing.’

To his disciples who saw him during theparivrajaka days in Madras, ‘the Swami’s per-sonality towered over everything. His thrillingmusical voice, his songs, his strength of soul, hispower of intellect, his luminous and ready re-plies, his scintillating wit, his epigrams and elo-quence—these all held his hearers spellbound.’

To the young collegian Kamakhya NathMitra, ‘his awakening power was incredible. …Here was a man of faith in an age of doubt, sin-cere to the backbone, a dynamo of supernalforce. To have seen him was education. To haveheard him was inspiration.’

‘On the platform another side came out’,adds Annie Besant. ‘The dignity and the in-born sense of worth and power still were there,


but all was subdued to the exquisite beauty ofthe spiritual message which he had brought …the wondrous teaching of the Self.’ To MaryFunke, to be with the swami at Thousand Is-land Park was an extraordinary experience:‘Even in my wildest dreams I could not imagineanything so wonderful, so perfect. To be withVivekananda! To be accepted by him! … I feelthat I shall never be the same again for I havecaught a glimpse of the Real. … We are taughtto see God in everything from the blade of grassto man—“even in the diabolical man”. … Inhis talks he may go ever so far afield, but alwayshe comes back to the one fundamental, vitalthing—“Find God! Nothing else matters.”’Thomas Allan, who heard the swami lecture atOakland, was convinced that he had heard ‘nota man, but a God!’

The Power That Is Vivekananda

To have met Swami Vivekananda in per-son was obviously an unforgettable experience.But human memory is short, and heroes rarelysurvive their lifetimes. If they do, their charismaclearly lies beyond their physical person. Ac-cording to Sri Aurobindo, ‘It was the spirit ofVivekananda who first gave me a clue in the di-rection of the Supermind. … He visited me forfifteen days in Alipore jail and, until I couldgrasp the whole thing, he went on teaching meand impressed upon my mind the working ofthe Higher Consciousness—the Truth-Con-sciousness in general—which leads towards theSupermind.’ This event took place more thansix years after Vivekananda’s passing. If therehave been other reports of such supernaturalappearances, they have not been all too com-mon. But Aurobindo was himself to state in hislater years: ‘We perceive his influence workinggigantically, we know not well how, in some-thing that is not yet formed, something leo-nine, grand, intuitive, upheaving that has en-tered the soul of India, and we say, “Behold,Vivekananda still lives in the soul of his Motherand in the souls of her children.”’

When Subhas Chandra Bose was under-

going tremendous mental struggle as a preco-cious adolescent, he happened to chance uponthe works of Swami Vivekananda at a neigh-bour’s house. Having leafed through a fewpages he realized that this was precisely what hehad been seeking for long. These words pro-vided an ideal to which he could dedicate hisentire being. He wrote, ‘I was barely fifteenwhen Vivekananda entered my life. Then therefollowed a revolution within. … It was, ofcourse, a long time before I could appreciate thefull significance of his teachings or the greatnessof his personality, but certain impressions werestamped indelibly on my mind from the outset.Both from his portrait as well as from his teach-ings, Vivekananda appeared before me as afull-blown personality. Many of the questionswhich vaguely stirred my mind, and of which Iwas to become conscious later on, found in hima satisfactory solution.’ These books led SubhasBose to Vivekananda the person. So in 1932 hecould say: ‘I cannot write about Vivekanandawithout going into raptures. … His personalitywas rich, profound and complex and it was thispersonality—as distinct from his teachings andwritings—which accounts for the wonderfulinfluence he has exerted on his countrymen. …Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in his activ-ity, boundless in his love, profound and versa-tile in his wisdom, exuberant in his emotions,merciless in his attacks but yet simple as a child—he was a rare personality in this world of ours.’

Lal Bahadur Shastri said, ‘I remember, Iwas deeply attracted by reading Swamiji’slecures as a student. It so influenced my mindthat it changed my outlook, and brought a dif-ferent perspective upon life.’ The famous lin-guist Suniti Kumar Chatterjee was introducedto Vivekananda at thirteen through such textsas Lectures from Colombo to Almora. And whatdid he receive from him? ‘It was, in the first in-stance, a sense of the Infinite, and a necessityand duty of man to realise within himself thisInfinite and at the same time to put himself intune with It by leading a normal—a moral anda natural and altruistic—life. Vivekananda ap-


132 Prabuddha Bharata

peared to me immediately to be a man who wasintensely moved by the sufferings of Humanity.’

The Power of His Message

It has been pointed out that one comesacross several apparent contradictions as onegoes through the works of Swami Vivekananda.‘It is difficult, for instance,’ writes SwamiShuddhananda, ‘for many to find out, whetherSwamiji was a champion of orthodoxy or socialreform; whether he was a staunch advocate ofpolitical freedom—whether he was a national-ist or internationalist; whether he was an advo-cate of the caste system or against it; whether hewas a supporter of vegetarianism or meat-eat-ing; whether he advised meditation in solitudeor work in the bustle of society as the bestmethod of realising God; whether he favouredorganisation or wanted individual spiritual cul-ture in preference to any organisation, etc.’

It is curious that it is precisely in thatwhich the pedant considers confusing otherbrilliant minds have discovered the power ofVivekananda. ‘One of the most enchantingthings about Vivekananda’, writes ChristopherIsherwood, ‘is the way he was eternally chang-ing sides when he was speaking to different peo-ple; he could denounce the British in words offire, but again he would turn on the Indians andsay, “You cannot manufacture one pin, and youdare to criticize the British!” And then he wouldspeak of the awful materialism of the UnitedStates, and on the other hand, he would say thatno women in the world were greater, and thatthe treatment of women in India was absolutelydisgraceful. And so in every way, he was inte-grating. … I’m quoting all this because by con-sidering all these different attitudes thatVivekananda took, one sees the immense scopeand integrity of his good will.’

The reason for the ‘irresistible appeal’ thatGandhiji found in Vivekananda’s works isprobably best summed up by Rabindranth Ta-gore: ‘This message has, at one and the sametime, imparted dignity and respect to manalong with energy and power. … It has indeed

invested his life with a wonderful dynamism invarious spheres. There at the source of the ad-venturous activities of today’s youth of Bengalis the message of Vivekananda—which calls thesoul of man, not his fingers.’ Jawaharlal Nehruobserved: ‘What he wrote or spoke about dealtwith certain fundamental matters and aspectsof our problems or the world’s problems.Therefore they [his writings and speeches] donot become old. … Directly or indirectly he haspowerfully influenced the India of today.’

‘Vivekananda may have ostensibly preach-ed religious reform, social reconstruction aswell as crusade against poverty,’ notes the re-puted sociologist, Benoy K Sarkar, ‘but it is themaking of individuals, the training of man-hood, the awakening of personality and indi-viduality on which his whole soul was focussed.… The objective of his diverse treatises on Yogais none other than the “chiselling forth” of suchindividuals as may be depended on as “divini-ties on earth”, as persons who are determined tomaster the adverse conditions of life and con-quer the world.’ Swami Vivekananda continuesto provide direction to the youth of today—asense of purpose that is hugely sought after butscarcely available in today’s postmodern world.

But even this does not exhaust the possi-bilities of Vivekanada’s works. Swami Vive-kananda had said to Hemchandra Ghosh, wholater went on to become a noted revolutionaryleader, ‘It is as clear as daylight that the entireOrient will have a resurrection to build anew ahuman world. Lo! The future greatness ofChina, and in the wake of it of all Asiatic na-tions. … You take it from me, this rising of theSudras will take place first in Russia, and then inChina. India will rise next and will play a vitalrole in shaping the future world.’ Has therebeen a better prediction of the course of globalevents over the last hundred years? It is this un-erring vision that sets Swami Vivekanandaapart as a guide, as our youth try to set personaland social goals for themselves. In uncertaintimes a beacon light such as this can hardly bedispensed with. ~


A Perennial Inspiration 133

Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years AgoFebruary 1906

Mr Chandavarkar’s Social Conference Address

The ancient world, said Mr John Morley, thought that Man existed for the State, whereas we in

modern times think that the State exists for Man. ‘The relation of man to humanity at large, to the

Universe of which humanity is but a part, was not an integral factor of the common morality of the

ancient world’, though ‘Socrates made an approach towards universal morality.’ The same opinion is

shared by other thinkers of our times. For instance, Mr Bernard Bosanquet remarks that the concep-

tion of a universal humanity, that humanity has a birth-right, is absolutely modern and is the outcome

of the conviction that ‘a single principle or will lies at the root of nature and is also embodied in the

minds and actions of men’.

These remarks are suggestive of the question, whether the ancient Hindoos fall within the de-

scription of Mr John Morley and Mr Bernard Bosanquet. I am not the man to go into hysterics over our

ancient civilization and paint it in colours of exaggeration, because it suits our pride at the present

moment; but, viewing it in a spirit of calmness and making due allowance for its defects, it appears to

me that the Rishis of old, who laid down our laws and conceived the ideas, out of which ancient

Hindoo society emerged, started with the conception of a universal morality and the birth-right of hu-

manity as the deep-down basis of life. What is familiar to us in these days as ‘the eternal verities’, or,

as ‘the Everlasting Yea’ and ‘the Everlasting Nay’, in the expressive language of Carlyle, had found

its eloquent exponents in the Rishis, who never tired of their faith in the principle of unity underlying

the mind and actions of men as well as the mind and actions of Nature. They gave it the name of

‘SANATANA DHARMA’ or Shashwata Dharma, i.e. the religion of the Eternal Verities unconditioned and

applicable to all human beings of whatever caste, class, or creed, embodying the laws of the univer-

sal mind, and the principle of universal morality, as distinguished from the Varnashrama Dharma or

the laws applicable to particular castes or conditions of life. For instance, in the Apaddharma Parva of

the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, Truth is represented as the Sanatana Dharma or the religion of

the Eternal Verities and Truth is described as comprehending the virtues of Samata (equity or jus-

tice), Dama (self-control), Amatsaryam (freedom from jealousy), Kshama (mercy), Hri (self-respect),

Titiksha (patience), Anasuyata (freedom from fault-finding), Tyaga (liberality), Dhyana (meditation),

Aryatva (magnanimity), Dhriti (resolution), Daya (sympathy), and Ahimsa (humanity). And in the

Bhagavad Gita, God after saying that He has established the Dharmas of the four castes, according

to qualities and actions—not, mind you, according to birth—declares that He is the Creator and

Founder of the Shashwata Dharma, i.e. the religion of the Eternal Verities or Universal Morality. this

conception of the fundamental unity and universal morality is acknowledged by Emerson as finding

‘its highest expression’ in our Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Vishnu Purana. …

Starting with this idea of fundamental Unity and universal morality, the Rishis conceived of man,

as a spiritual being, standing for the spiritual interests of the world. Get into the heart of the best of their

descriptions of Man in relation to the universe surrounding him, pore over their subtlest analysis of his

actions and emotions and you find that Man the individual stood to them not as ‘a mere fraction of soci-

ety’, or, what the ancient Greeks and Romans, according to Mr John Morley, regarded ‘as a mere cog

or pinion on the vast machine of the State’; but as an ‘epitome’ of Society and of the State as well. ~


Swami Vivekananda and His Universal GospelPROF. URMILA SRIVASTAVA

Swami Vivekananda and his universal gos-pel, which has heralded the beginning of anew era, are widely recognized as instru-

ments for the renovation of India and for the re-vival of the world. Though Swamiji lived a veryshort public life he achieved a great lot withinthat period of less than a decade. The workdone by him during that period and the re-markable reform movement led by him in theform of the Ramakrishna Mission still occupythe same status they had in the past and will sur-vive through centuries. A chosen instrument ofSri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, his proclama-tions have helped generations to wake up fromtheir age-long sleep with an unfading freshnessand everlasting warmth.

The Genius Unfolds

The future hero Swami Vivekananda wasborn in the famous Datta family of Calcutta in1863 on 12 January. His childhood name wasNarendranath Datta and as Swami Vivekanan-da he appeared on the stage of Indian nationallife to remind people that the purpose of life wasto develop the potentiality to transform one’sself into the Divine, for man is but a spark of thesupreme Divinity. All the functions of the hu-man mind such as thinking, feeling and willingmust support this evolutionary process of spiri-tual growth.

Narendranath’s mother had a great influ-ence over his personality throughout his life.Swamiji used to recall memories of events of hislife associated with his mother. In his youngerdays he liked to play the game of meditation.Though it was only play, sometimes it carriedhim into deeper states of mind when he becameunaware of the outer world. Once he lost him-self in such a meditative condition in a lonelypart of the house. His family members had to

enter the room after smashing the door latchand shake him out of his meditation.1

Besides this calmness there was anotherside to Narendranath. He had great respect forelders and love for his playmates. He was thesoul of social circles, a sweet singer, a brilliantconversationalist and a meritorious student.And above all he possessed an ascetic instinctbeneath the surface of his normal attitude.When the matter of his marriage arose in hisfamily, he rebelled, and strange to say, some un-foreseen difficulty always obstructed the nego-tiations of marriage.

As a young man when his intellectual hori-zon began to widen, some doubts and questionsregarding orthodox beliefs haunted him. Hehad faith and devotion for his family religioustraditions, but he needed reasons to supportthem. At this time the renowned leader of theBrahmo Samaj movement, Keshab ChandraSen, captivated him with his lectures and writ-ings. It was the aim of the movement to protestagainst orthodox tenets of religion, polytheism,child marriage, idol worship and the caste sys-tem, and to encourage women’s education. It isnot surprising that this movement had influ-enced young Bengali intellectuals. Narendra-nath was also imbued with the same thinking asthe Brahmo Samaj leaders, who hoped to findrevolutionary solutions to social evils.

Looking for satisfactory answers to thequestions tormenting his mind, he came incontact with Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,who had realized the living presence of God inthe image of Kali through intense spiritual dis-ciplines. Narendranath was conquered by SriRamakrishna’s love. It is difficult to describethe sweet relationship that existed between thetwo. The master was a living example of genu-ine spirituality and the disciple was ‘a thou-


sand-petalled lotus’ (1.91). The future of Indiawas being moulded in the shape of young Nar-endranath by his teacher through discourses onspiritual practice. In the last days of his life, SriRamakrishna initiated Narendranath intomonasticism and actually commissioned himfor his future mission. As a tribute to histeacher, the young monk used his organizingcapacity to set up a monastery in Calcutta in1886 in order to promote the Hindu religion inaccordance with the life and teachings of SriRamakrishna. Swamiji considered himself themost obedient servant of his great master. Helaid no claim to his merits; it was all his master’straining. He said:

If there has been anything achieved by me, bythoughts, or words, or deeds, if from my lips hasever fallen one word that has helped any one inthe world, I lay no claim to it, it was his. But ifthere have been curses falling from my lips, ifthere has been hatred coming out of me, it is allmine and not his. All that has been weak hasbeen mine, and all that has been life-giving,strengthening, pure, and holy, has been his in-spiration, his words, and he himself.2

As was the custom with monks, SwamiVivekananda left Calcutta and roamed all overthe country to experience first-hand the un-known and difficult path of a monk’s life. Hewandered free of any plans and with thethought of God constantly in his mind. In thecourse of his pilgrimage he met all sorts of peo-ple in all conditions of life. Some days he spentwith despised beggars and others as a guest ofmaharajas.

He sailed from Bombay to Chicago in1893 to attend the Parliament of Religions andwith some difficulty secured entry. Dr J HWright, a professor of Greek classics at HarvardUniversity, was so deeply impressed bySwamiji’s rare abilities that, recognizing his ge-nius, he said, ‘To ask you, Swami, for creden-tials is like asking the sun to state its right toshine!’3—meaning that the flame had reachedits full splendour and would shed its lustre forthousands of years. As it happened, Swamiji

had a great impact on world citizens from vari-ous walks of life—inspiring them, transform-ing them and elevating them. Late in the after-noon when Swami Vivekananda opened hislips, hardly had he pronounced these simpleopening words—‘Sisters and Brothers of Amer-ica’—when hundreds of deafening shouts ofapplause arose in the hall. The congregationwent mad for a full two minutes. This was thelanguage of affection in which Swamiji ad-dressed his audience. When silence was re-stored, he presented Hinduism with its combi-nation of love and tolerance as the mother of allreligions. It was a short but profound speech.Swami Vivekananda had made his mark. Allleading American newspapers gave him widecoverage and he became a reputed person. TheNew York Herald referred to him as ‘undoubt-edly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Re-ligions’. It went on to admit, ‘After hearing himwe feel how foolish it is to send missionaries tothis learned nation’ (1.428).

Everywhere in the world, including India,the name of Vivekananda was recognized andlecture bureaus offered to take him on a tour ofthe United States. Swamiji took this opportu-nity to speak of the glories of India and thegreatness of Indian culture and spirituality. Hewas satisfied that the ideals of Hindu religionand its philosophy of Vedanta were spreadingand percolating throughout the whole thoughtworld of America. He soon sailed to England tocarry to the English people the same messagewhich he had preached in America. His mainpurpose was to bring about an exchange ofthought between the West and the East. Theprofound learning and universal teachings ofSwamiji made a deep impression upon theminds of the world intelligentsia. He com-manded great admiration with his brilliant,philosophical speeches, and in his home coun-try his words were regarded as gospel truth.Then, after a short tour of continental Europe,he came back home to his beloved country viaCeylon on 26 January 1897. The whole nationreceived him like one man, with the most en-



thusiastic greetings. His achievements abroadhad created in the average Indian mind a pridein its past and a confidence in its future, as if bya miracle.

In spite of all this recognition, applauseand popularity, Swamiji never forgot his dutyto the sunken masses of India. Here, in India,he had to work for the millions of his brothersand sisters who were suffering in misery anddistress—for them who were the backbone ofthe nation because of their hard labour, butabout whom nobody thought. Swamiji dedi-cated his body and soul to their service and reac-tivated, as it were, the paralysed part of the na-tion by circulating the blood of energy uni-formly throughout the whole body of the na-tion. In spite of his physical ailments due tostress of work, he was ever fresh mentally andinspired his followers to start new projects toserve the motherland. Austerities, hard work,extensive travels, endless public lectures andchanging environments undermined hishealth. At last, on 4 July 1902, at the age of onlythirty-nine years, the tired child went to sleep inthe lap of his Mother, never to wake up again.‘When death is inevitable, is it not better to dielike heroes than as stocks and stones? And whatis the use of living a day or two more in thistransitory world? It is better to wear out than torust out—specially for the sake of doing theleast good to others’4—that was his firm opin-ion till the last. The worthy son of Mother Indiahad dreamt of rousing the land of his birth sothat it could regain its high position in the co-mity of nations. He roared like a lion: ‘Nonecan resist her any more; never is she going tosleep any more; no outward powers can holdher back any more; for the infinite giant is risingto her feet’ (3.146).

Vedanta: the Universal Gospel

Man suffers under the crushing weight ofhis own self-image, his own limited ideas andattitudes. Nevertheless, he can outgrow thisnarrow disposition. Here lies the relevance ofSwami Vivekananda’s teachings of Vedanta

philosophy, the inspirational quality of whichcan never fade. It is a philosophy which will en-able us to face the challenges of today’s compli-cations brought about by scientific and psycho-logical advancement; it is a philosophy which iscapable of uniting all life, which has a vision ofuniversal religion and universal brotherhood; itis a philosophy which offers us a peculiar way oflife which vibrates with rhythms of harmonyand love. In fact, a new reformation of mankindcould be achieved by teaching the universaldoctrines of Vedanta and keeping these as thebackground of all our dealings. Then the resultwould be a simultaneous development of boththe individual and society at all stages of evolu-tion. The basic premise of Vedanta is that ‘At-man, the reality underlying man’s conscious-ness, is non-different from Brahman, the realityunderlying the whole universe.’ It then assertsthat man’s real nature being divine, the aim ofhuman life is to unfold and manifest this divinenature. This universal truth is the central tenetof Vedantic religion and helps the process ofhuman development by aiding it in the attain-ment of salvation. Thus human developmentand the ultimate object of human life are insep-arably united. All religions, philosophies, theol-ogies, rituals or dogmas are to be valued only tothe extent they help mankind realize and mani-fest its latent divinity. This was the universalphilosophy that Swami Vivekananda preachedunder the banner of Vedanta in order to estab-lish harmony and mutual goodwill in thesetimes of religious pluralism. He was of theopinion that the basic structure of any practicalphilosophy of life ought to include these fourprinciples: i) divinity of the soul, ii) brother-hood of man, iii) universal outlook, and iv) ser-vice to mankind. And this was all the more truein the context of Indian national regeneration.

The demon of materialism is on the ram-page and is devouring culture, a state of life inconsonance with natural laws. Society and so-cial relationships are all coming under its evilgrip. Swami Vivekananda’s message warnsmankind against the threat of losing cultural


Swami Vivekananda and His Universal Gospel 137

values in day-to-day life. In keeping with theHindu scriptures, he never opposes man’sworldly pursuits but he resists man’s materialis-tic mentality that increases selfishness andgreed. For these two are the cause of total dis-ruption of individual and social relations, acomplete imbalance between man-made andnatural laws. A universal spiritual gospel of thekind that Swamiji delivered is a necessity inthese circumstances and can liberate peopleright here in the world and also lead them be-yond it. So Swamiji exhorts humankind to rec-ognize the call of its innate divinity, as it is an es-sential preparation for spiritual development. Ifwe are to survive our present mode of life, a real-istic philosophy with a broad vision of universalbrotherhood has to emerge and pave the way toa new culture of humanism. Since India is atreasure chest of culture and spirituality, it is forthis country to bear the lion’s share of the re-sponsibility of providing leadership in this cul-tural transformation.

Today humanity needs Swami Viveka-nanda’s universal gospel in order to face thechallenges perplexing it, because the only wayto deliverance is the realization and manifesta-tion of the divinity existing within us. If we suc-ceed in doing that, peace and harmony in soci-ety would be assured and mankind will moveonward until the goal is reached. Swamiji said:‘Men, men, these are wanted: everything elsewill be ready, but strong, vigorous, believingyoung men, sincere to the backbone, arewanted. A hundred such and the world be-comes revolutionised’ (3.223-4).

Man-making: Individual Transformation

Swami Vivekananda’s teachings are morethan enough to inspire the youth to achieve glo-rious ends, but they need to be guided by spiri-tual people whose power can be directly trans-mitted to their souls. Based on such spiritualstrength the enlightened youth can then takethe right decisions in life. The divine touch ofan illumined soul deeply affects the human per-sonality, giving rise to gentleness, kindness and

egolessness. Such a soul only desires to help theworld, sacrificing oneself for the welfare of hu-manity. This silent influence effects a tremen-dous change for good.

The best way to transform society is to pu-rify oneself; the world will change of itself if theindividual is changed. When the individual isnoble, society improves and the nation auto-matically attains a higher level of civilization.We are the means and so the change should oc-cur within ourselves first; then everything in theworld will be in order. The transformation ofindividual character is the most effective meansof bringing about peace in the world.

The irony is that we think of transformingothers, instead of changing ourselves. We donot have the power to change others but we cer-tainly have sufficient power to bring aboutchange within ourselves. This is the only solu-tion to the problem: we must discover the di-vine life first and foremost within our own be-ing. As Swamiji said, ‘Power will come, glorywill come, goodness will come, purity willcome, and everything that is excellent will comewhen this sleeping soul is roused to self-con-scious activity’ (3.193), and that will certainlychange the world. It is this inner victory thatconquers the world. The gospel of SwamiVivekananda provides a comprehensive, practi-cal philosophy of life which shows us how to re-alize our own divinity and promote the welfareof others.

Swami Vivekananda wanted to rouse mento the glory of the divinity within. The removalof human problems lies in becoming men in thetrue sense, men without weakness—shiningstars that can help others shine! ‘Be and make;let every one be taught that the divine is within,and every one will work out his own salvation’(4.351, 3.246). His message to India was meantto infuse life into her people, to add vigour tothe national life, to shake the people of thecountry out of their ages-long lethargy and tomake them appreciate their great destiny. Hestudied in depth and explained to people thecauses of India’s ills, which were eating into her



vitals and which had led to her downfall. In thisway, Swami Vivekananda not only made Indi-ans conscious of their past glory and presentstrength but also pointed out their defects anddrawbacks. Indians were steeped in ignoranceand mistook weakness for non-attachment andrenunciation. He made people aware of thiswrong notion and taught them how to breakout of it and stand erect: ‘A hundred thousandmen and women, fired with the zeal of holiness,fortified with eternal faith in the Lord, andnerved to lion’s courage by their sympathy forthe poor and the fallen and the downtrodden,will go over the length and breadth of the land,preaching the gospel of salvation, the gospel ofhelp, the gospel of social raising-up—the gospelof equality’ (5.15).

In order to manifest the divinity in manSwami Vivekananda advocated the fourfoldpath of yoga based on reasoning, devotion,meditation and selfless action. These four waysof yoga—jnana, bhakti, dhyana and karma—supplement each other. Anyone can practiseany of the yogas according to his temperamentand tendencies: jnana yoga sharpens the intel-lect and transforms it into intuition; bhaktiyoga purifies the heart and sanctifies the emo-tions; raja yoga spiritualizes human behaviour;and karma yoga inspires one to discharge one’sduties selflessly. The practice of these yogas re-minds one to achieve the purpose of life and theintegration of one’s personality. The combina-tion of this fourfold path of yoga makes a manfree from possible defects and produces a bal-anced character by harmonizing intellect, intu-ition, emotion and action. In short, Swamijilaid emphasis on the ideal combination of head,heart and hand.

Throughout the world Swami Viveka-nanda is regarded as a saint and a patriot, as ateacher and a reformer. His personality, with all

its charm and force, impresses people every-where. His sayings and writings all illumine hu-man minds with a divine light. He was God’sprecious gift to the whole world, not just to In-dia. In the words of Sister Nivedita, ‘TheShastras, the Guru, and the Motherland are thethree notes that mingle themselves to form themusic of the works of Vivekananda. … Theseare the three lights burning within that singlelamp which India by his hand lighted and setup, for the guidance of her own children and ofthe world’ (1.xvii).

The Clarion Call

Swami Vivekananda was born to proclaimto the Indian youth this message of fearlessness:‘Arise! Awake!’ He said, ‘Be you my helpers inthis work! Go from village to village … andpreach this message of fearlessness to all. … Telleach and all that infinite power resides withinthem, that they are sharers of immortal Bliss.Thus rouse up the Rajas within them’ (7.182).Himself a dynamo of spirituality, SwamiVivekananda wished to see men and women ofcharacter imbued with strength and spiritualityin all conditions and circumstances. Man-mak-ing was his mission in life and he wanted his fol-lowers to try to turn this mission into reality.He said, ‘The older I grow, the more everythingseems to me to lie in manliness. This is my newgospel’ (8.264). ~

References

1. His Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life ofSwami Vivekananda, 2 vols. (Kolkata: AdvaitaAshrama, 2001), 1.15.

2. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1-8, 1989; 9,1997), 3.312.

3. Life, 1.405.4. CW, 7.176.


Swami Vivekananda and His Universal Gospel 139

One of the main results of his [Swami Vivekananda’s] historic visit to the United States of America …

was the finding of a synthesis between India and the United States, and through it, between Asia

and the West. To understand Swami Vivekananda, it is very important to understand the cultural and

spiritual background of India and Asia. —U Thant

The Many-splendouredRamakrishna-Vivekananda Vedanta - I

DR M SIVARAMKRISHNA

In his collection of essays on Hinduism theGerman scholar Heinrich von Stietencronpoints out:Hinduism, … which all books term the religionwith the third-largest number of adherents inthe world, is not really one of the religions. It is acivilization or culture containing several reli-gions. Precisely this fact is what makes Indianculture so interesting and so attractive to manyyoung people from the West today: that here aculture remained vibrant that has been based onthe principle of free religious pluralism for a verylong time, and which thus places great impor-tance on tolerating the values and peculiarities ofthe Other.1

A good starting point for taking a glance atsome recent studies which cite Sri Ramakrishna(and Swami Vivekananda) in varied contextsand themes. One need not confine his signifi-cance to ‘free religious pluralism’. Books thattreat subjects as varied as photography and seatravel also cite the Great Master. In short, oneof the most fascinating developments is the in-creasing visibility of the linkage between Rama-krishna-Vivekananda Vedanta and almost allfields of human concern.

To begin with, I idly glanced through afascinating study entitled Yankee India. I wasintrigued by the title. The subtitle gave mesome clue: American Commercial and CulturalEncounter with India in the Age of Sail. Thewords Yankee and sail reminded me of the well-known travelogue A Yankee and the Swamis byJohn Yale.2 And Swami Vivekananda sailed tothe US of A. I thought there must be some ref-erence to Swamiji. My hunch proved right. Itwas there: ‘Indian religious teachings have at-tracted followers in the United States since theimpact of Swami Vivekananda at the 1893

World Congress of Religions in Chicago; todayHindu philosophy and practice is well estab-lished with large number of admirers who arenot of South Asian origin.’

This really roused my curiosity. For todayscholars do not study anything in isolation.They believe in what is called ‘thick descrip-tion’ of a subject. A chosen theme is looked atnot merely in terms of its specific area but alsoin the context of related studies. Or they at-tempt to relate their specific subject to other ar-eas. These are intertexts which illumine the textfrom varied but related perspectives. In theIndic exegetical traditions there are the anu-bandha chatushtaya—adhikari, sambandha, vi-shaya and prayojana. What I refer to here is, per-haps, sambandha: interrelatedness of one sub-ject to all others—the centre and the margins.

Then I thought, if Swamiji appears, surelyhis guru must be there in that study. Yes, SusanS Bean, the author, did not overlook or bypassthe Master. The Great Master appears in thecontext of—of all things—the then medicalscene. Among a contemporary homeo physi-cian Rajendra’s patients was, Bean tells us, ‘thegreat religious leader Sri Ramakrishna’. Butwhat she added to that fact is a bloomer: SriRamakrishna, ‘founder of the movement thatbecame International Society of Krishna Con-sciousness’, she says.3 A charming mistake.

How lucky the ship that carried Swamijiacross seas to land in that fascinating cross-cul-tural cauldron, the United States! In this historyof sailing by which thousands of travellers wentto the US, only the most illustrious appear andSwamiji’s mention is right in tune with it. And,one may add, untold numbers of ‘Yankees’ nowfind inspiration in the Ramakrishna-Viveka-


nanda Vedanta. Like the sailing over stormyseas, this tradition perhaps has its own tempes-tuous waves, torrential rains but always with as-sured ‘safe landings’.

The next book is also equally in the line ofsignificant intertexts. It is entitled Photos of theGods: The Printed Image and Political Struggle inIndia.4 Like Yankee India, this is ‘a lavishly il-lustrated’ study of perennial fascination to bothphoto- and other image-watchers as well as po-litical and social analysts in India. It ‘examinesthe history of the printed image in India fromthe beginnings in the 1870s to the present day.Using many intriguing and unfamiliar visuals,it shows how printed images have been pivotalto the constructions of new forms of religiousidentity and the struggle for political independ-ence in India’ (blurb).

Christopher Pinney, the author, is SeniorLecturer in Material Culture, University Col-lege, London. The year 1870 struck me as sig-nificant and I felt that there must be somethingabout Ramakrishna, the simple logic being: hewas among those who were photographed dur-ing that period. But it was not just the contextof photographs but the place of Ramakrishna inthe theme of political struggle in India that thebooks tries to explore which interested me.

Pinney suggests that during that period,‘alongside the enchantment with a western ra-tionalism was a growing disdain for theeulogization of the colonizer’s culture. This re-volt was most clearly crystallized around Rama-krishna and would find a very precise articula-tion in the writings of one of his followers,Swami Saradananda.’ Pinney quotes a passagefrom Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master: ‘Therearose a clamour on all sides … the spread ofWestern ideas and ideals, instead of curing thedisease, was on the point of killing the patient.’

Apart from a challenge to rationalism,Pinney also notes that Ramakrishna brought asense of the sacred to theatre. Elaborating thishe says: ‘Perhaps the most remarkable incidentduring Girish Chandra’s tenure at the StarTheatre was the visit to a performance of Chai-

tanya Leela on 24 September 1884, an eventwhich led to a rapprochement between the previ-ously morally marginalized public theatre and re-ligious respectability’ (emphasis added; 39).

Moreover, ‘Chaitanya Leela, which capi-talized on this renewed interest, was a hugelysuccessful play and Ramakrishna’s experienceas a spectator was to play a part in the new rela-tionship between the public theatre and reli-gious respectability ….’ In short, one historianwhom Pinney quotes epitomized the wholeevent of Ramakrishna going to the theatre as ‘asaint in the hall of Satan!’ (140), or, as BhaskarMukhopadhyay, quoted by Pinney, says, ‘onemight see here the transformation of originaryWestern theatre as a sign of colonial purity intoa hybridized jatra or local theatrical, devotionalperformance’ (43).

But Pinney says that the most remarkableaspect of Ramakrishna vis-a-vis the theatre isthat ‘he did not simply bestow respectability onpopular theatre. It is probable that a muchmore profound validation occurred since …’,for Ramakrishna witnessing the play enteredinto a state of samadhi or divine ecstasy and ‘theattainment of such states of yogic oblivion hadby this stage become defined as Ramakrishna’sresponse to divinity’ (40). No wonder, says theauthor, ‘Ramakrishna’s devotional ecstasy is ahugely popular subject in current Bengalichromolithograph production’ (ibid.).

Similarly, Pinney sees Ramakrishna’sblessing the ‘many pictures of gods and god-desses’ in Nanda Bose’s house (the goddessespictured there include Dhumavati, Shodashi,Bhuvaneshvari, Tara and Kali apart from litho-graphs of many scenes from dramas) as theWestern art-production strategies ‘being put tonew and unexpected uses’. Indeed, though onemay not see the point behind, all this could aswell mean ‘a part of what was inevitably the po-litical project of being “a real Hindu”’ (43).

Pinney extends his response to Ramakri-shna’s experience of the ‘mythological-real’ as‘alternative modernity as distinct from anon-modernity’ which ‘takes the form of popu-


The Many-splendoured Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Vedanta - I 141

lar historicity configured by a rejection of arbi-trary colonial signs in favour of a dense “semio-ticity”’ (204). To put it simply, Ramakrishna’sblurring of the distinction between the real andits image is ‘a rejection of colonial rationalities’.If you are deterred by all this and you are a devo-tee, the book is still dazzling for its illustrations,and the one calendar picture of the Great Mas-ter reproduced (on page 41) is simply enchant-ing (in the background is Kali Ma).

I would like to mention one more re-sponse: Sumanta Banerjee’s mention of Rama-krishna in essays entitled Logic in a PopularForm: Essays on Popular Religion in Bengal.5 Ifelt that his contrastive study of Bamakshepa,the Bengali mystic of Tarapith, and Rama-krishna, though not very convincing in certainaspects, is still a pioneering study in this area.What he says about the ethos of Bengal at thattime applies to both: they ‘dramatized’ in a fas-cinating way both the conflict and the concilia-tion between the values and norms of a tradi-tional rural belief-system on the one hand, andnew articles of faith encouraged by colonial,commercial needs, administrative require-ments and beliefs in the invincibility of modernscience and medicine on the other (147). Butthe most important aspects of the book of criti-cal significance for Ramakrishna-VivekanandaVedanta are those on Kali and the role ofinstitutionalization in the context of making atradition enduring (187).

Finally, in a volume entitled Spiritual In-novators: Seventy-five Extraordinary People whoChanged the World in the Past Century one findsan entry on Vivekananda in the third section,entitled ‘Their Presence Changed the World’.The book is described by Bob Abernethy, Exec-utive Editor, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly,PBS, as ‘a wonderful, provocative collection ofshort biographies of seventy-five reformers,scholars, martyrs and mystics … who shook upreligious thought and practice in the twentiethcentury’. It is a short write-up which consists ofthree pages and gives the reader a summary ofVivekananda’s life, two extracts from his lec-

tures, a short bibliography and the address ofthe Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of NewYork for further information. The writer de-scribes Vivekananda as ‘the first teacher fromthe Hindu tradition to bring to a large Westernaudience the teachings of Vedanta, a philoso-phy of the divine nature of all things based onthe Vedas, the Bhagavad-Gita and other Indianscriptures’, and points out that Vivekananda’sdecision that ‘it was necessary to take Vedantato the West’ was ‘revolutionary at the time’ (100).

Incidentally, the book is a publication, in2002, of SkyLight Paths Publishing, Wood-stock, Vermont, who also published two othervolumes of similar interest: Selections from theGospel of Sri Ramakrishna annotated and ex-plained by Kendra Crossen Burrough (2002)and Meditation and Its Practices by SwamiAdiswarananda (2003). Edited by Ira Rifkinand others, Spiritual Innovators is a sumptuousvolume of 300 pages. Looking at all this, onecan only repeat Vivekananda’s words (with avariation): Ramakrishna Vedanta is ‘like thegentle dew that drops unseen and unheard’ butis bringing into blossom countless seekers ofvaried colours in both the East and the West. ~

References

1. Heinrich von Stietencron, ‘The Preconditionsof Western Research on Hinduism and TheirConsequences’ in Hindu Myth, Hindu History(Delhi: Permanent Black, 2005), 226.

2. John Yale (Swami Vidyatmananda), A Yankeeand the Swamis (Chennai: Ramakrishna Math,2001).

3. Susan S Bean, Yankee India: American Com-mercial and Cultural Encounter with India inthe Age of Sail, 1784-1860 (Ahmedabad:Mapin Publishing, 2004), 22, 219.

4. Christopher Pinney, Photos of the Gods: ThePrinted Image and Political Struggle in India(London: Reaktion Books, 2004; Delhi: Ox-ford University Press, 2004).

5. Sumanta Banerjee, Logic in a Popular Form: Es-says on Popular Religion in Bengal (Calcutta:Seagull, 2002).




After Sri Ramakrishna’s Passing Away1

M (MAHENDRA NATH GUPTA); TRANS. SWAMI CHETANANANDA

The five volumes of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, recorded by M (Mahendra NathGupta) in Bengali, were not written in chronological order. At the end of the first four volumes,M added some information about the disciples of the Master and the Ramakrishna monastery atBaranagore that was established after Sri Ramakrishna’s passing away. A few years ago, someresearchers discovered that four of M’s diary entries (25 August 1886, 2 September 1886, 12October 1886, and 17 February 1887) had been published in 1904 in the Navya Bharat(Jyaishtha-Asharh 1311 BE), a monthly magazine. Perhaps M intended to add these entries atthe end of the fifth volume of the Kathamrita, but unfortunately that volume was only publishedposthumously. I have translated this newly found material from Bengali into English. I mustacknowledge that I have used some songs from Swami Nikhilananda’s translation, The Gospelof Sri Ramakrishna, which I have referred to in the endnotes. In this precious historical recordwe learn that the Ramakrishna Math at Baranagore was inaugurated sometime before 12October 1886. —Translator

Chapter 1

Wednesday, 25 August 1886

It has been ten days since Sri Ramakrishnawent to his own abode, leaving his devoteesbehind. Imbued with renunciation, Naren-

dra and his brother disciples have been prac-ticsing sadhana.

Narendra and the Master’s devotees haveassembled in the parlour of Balaram Basu’shouse in Calcutta. They are like motherless or-phans. By merely looking at them, one can feeltheir intense grief, the result of the Master’spassing away. One thought fills their minds:The Master has gone to his own abode; whatshould we do now? The devotees have no placewhere these young disciples can stay together.They are forced to return home for food andshelter every day. The thread holding the pearlstogether as a necklace has broken, and thegroup is about to fall apart. The disciples con-tinually think: Where shall we go? What shallwe do? Sitting in seclusion, they think of theMaster and cry for him.

Narendra, Rakhal, Kali, Sharat, Shashi,

Tarak, Gopal, Bhavanath, and M arrived first,and later Niranjan came.

Everyone looks to Narendra. He is plan-ning to send some of his brother disciples toVrindaban, so he has been collecting somemoney from the devotees.

Sri Ramakrishna’s Advice:Renounce ‘Woman and Gold’

Narendra leaves for Girish’s house nearby,accompanied by some of his brother disciples.He and M talk on the way.

Narendra (to M): ‘Sir, please pay for aone-way fare for Baburam.’

M: ‘Certainly. I will pay.’Narendra: ‘Right now, if you would,

please.’M: ‘Right now?’Baburam is one of those who has been

chosen to go to Vrindaban. The group of devo-tees arrives at Girish’s parlour. Narendra asksGirish for money.

Girish: ‘I don’t have much money with me



at present, but if you want I can contribute tenor eleven rupees right now. Why are they goingto Vrindaban?’

Narendra (gravely): ‘The Master has toldus to renounce “woman and gold”.’

A Devotee: ‘Are you also going away?’Narendra: ‘Let us all move out. I have

some business at home. The litigation has notyet been settled. (After some thought) Let the liti-gation take its own course. I haven’t under-stood the truth. Getting involved in this familyaffair is useless.’

Rakhal: ‘If I stay here, I shall feel pulled bymy family.’

Narendra’s father has passed away, and hehas two younger brothers and sisters. They haveno guardian and no means with which to pur-chase food and clothing. Narendra has passedhis BA examination, and if he so wishes, he canget a job to maintain his family. Rakhal has hisfather, wife and child at home.

The topic of the Kankurgachhi gardenhouse arises and they discuss how the trusteesshould be appointed.

Rakhal: ‘We will be pleased if they makeNarendra a trustee.’

Narendra: ‘No, no. What good is there inbeing a trustee?’

When everyone asks Narendra to be atrustee, he tells Girish: ‘All right. Let it be so.’

But Narendra is not appointed.

Devotees Are Grief-strickenbecause of the Master’s Passing Away

In Girish’s room Mani2 and a devotee be-gin to talk.

The devotee heaves a sigh and says: ‘I shallnot pray to the Master for anything.’

Mani: ‘Not for anything?’Devotee: ‘No, I will not pray for anything

—neither for devotion nor for my family.’Having thus spoken, the devotee again

sighs deeply.Devotee: ‘The Master said: “Why so much

milk? Devotees have their families; how canthey afford to pay for it?” How painful! I willnever forget it.’

While the Master was suffering from can-cer at the Cossipore garden house, the house-holder devotees had borne all the expenses forthe Master’s service. The Master was alwayswatchful, so that they might not spend toomuch money.

Devotee: ‘I wanted to engage a full-timedoctor to treat the Master, but I couldn’t do it.’

The devotee remains silent for a while andthen says: ‘Well, do you think that I would tryto improve the condition of my family bychanting the Master’s name? What do I carewhether people call me good or virtuous?’

Chapter 2

Thursday, 2 September 1886Shashi has come to M’s house on Guru-

prasad Chaudhury Lane in Calcutta. He and Mare seated on a wooden cot in the study. Shashiand Sharat live in their family home at Patal-danga. Today Shashi wears clean clothes andcarries a new umbrella. Shashi and M begin totalk about the Master.

M: ‘The Master told me that Narendrawas the main disciple among the group.’

Shashi: ‘I vividly remember that the Mas-ter said that Narendra would be our leader.’

M: ‘Do you remember what the Mastersaid about further study?’

Shashi (with a smile): ‘Yes, I distinctly re-member that the Master told Narendra oneday, “Don’t allow them [the young disciples] tostudy in school any more.”’

M: ‘What about Kali?’Shashi: ‘Yes, the Master scolded Kali and

said to him, “You have introduced studieshere.” I had begun to study the Persian lan-guage, and as a result I got a scolding from him.’

Then Sharat and Narendra arrived, and

After Sri Ramakrishna’s Passing Away 145


they all began discussing when Sri Ramakri-shna’s message would be preached. Who wouldpreach it first?

M: ‘Who has understood the Master? Doyou remember what the Master said aboutVaishnavcharan’s writing?’

Sharat: ‘Yes, I remember. The Master said:“Vaishnavcharan understood every one of my

spiritual experiences.” I thought that he wouldbe the first to make them public.’

Narendra: ‘The Master told me, “Theknowledge of Brahman is the goal. Vaish-navcharan was supposed to spread the messagefirst.” But it didn’t work out. Keshab Sen wasfirst to make the message public.’

Chapter 3

Sri Ramakrishna’s First Monasteryat Baranagore12 October 1886

Nearly two months had passed since theMaster left this world, after binding his devo-tees with a cord of love. Where would they gonow? They could no longer enjoy staying attheir homes. They wanted to be together alwaysand to spend their days and nights thinking ofhim and talking about him. Two or three of thedisciples had no home. At this juncture Suren-dra came forward and told them: ‘Brothers, youhave no place to live, and we have no place togive rest to our hearts. Let us rent a house inBaranagore, where you will live, and we shallvisit from time to time.’

Surendra used to pay fifty rupees everymonth for the Master’s service at the Cossiporegarden house. He now said: ‘Brothers, I used tocontribute a little money for the Master’s ser-vice. I shall provide that amount to pay the ex-penses of this house in Baranagore.’

Gradually, Narendra and the Master’sother unmarried disciples moved to the Bara-nagore monastery and they did not return totheir homes. The number of monastic brothersincreased over time, and eventually Surendrawas donating one hundred rupees per month.

Blessed Surendra! It is you who have laidthe foundation of this first monastery. Thisashrama owes its existence to your good wishes!Through you the Master has made it possiblefor his disciples to live in the world as the em-bodiment of his central teaching—the renunci-

ation of ‘woman and gold’. Through Narendraand other young renunciants he has demon-strated the Eternal Hindu Dharma among peo-ple. Who can forget the debt owed to you? Thebrothers lived at the monastery like orphanboys. Sometimes they would not have themoney to pay their rent; sometimes they wouldhave no food. They would wait for you to comeand settle all these difficulties. Who would notshed tears on remembering your selfless work!

Narendra and Jnana Yoga

Baranagore Math. On this moonlit nightNarendra and Mani are walking on the easternveranda of the Master’s shrine. It is the night ofthe full moon, when the goddess Lakshmi isworshipped. Narendra and Mani converseabout the Master and also about jnana yoga andbhakti yoga.

Mani: ‘The Master described two paths—knowledge and devotion—and said thatboth lead to the same goal. The followers ofjnana and the followers of bhakti reach thesame place.’

Narendra: ‘But the Master told me: “TheKnowledge of Brahman is the goal. Devotion ismeant to maintain the external aspect of life.The elephant has outer tusks and inner grindersas well. The tusks are mere ornaments; but theelephant chews its food with the grinders.”’

Mani: ‘The Master also said that one canattain the Knowledge of Brahman through thepath of devotion. The Knowledge of Brahmancan be attained from the path of knowledge as



well as from the path of devotion. Perhaps youremember that the Master also said: “After at-taining the Knowledge of Brahman, some em-brace devotion and live in this world. One canthen ascend from the lila (relative plane) to thenitya (Absolute plane) and descend from thenitya to the lila.”’

Narendra: ‘Were you present that daywhen the Master talked about the Knowledgeof Brahman at the Cossipore garden house?’

Mani: ‘I was not present at that time; but Iheard that he talked about it for a long time. Doyou remember what he said about Shukadeva?’

Narendra: ‘No, I don’t remember.’Mani: ‘I have heard that the Master said

on that day: “Shukadeva and sages like him mayhave been big ants; but even they could carry atthe utmost a few grains of sugar. Shiva touchedthe water of the Ocean of Brahman-Conscious-ness, or at the most drank a handful of that wa-ter.” Did you hear such things?’

Narendra: ‘Yes, the Master said many suchthings on that day.’Narendra’s Vision and Abnegation of Ego

Mani and Narendra begin a discussionabout the brothers of the monastery.

Mani: ‘Now everything depends on you.You will have to look after them.’

Narendra: ‘The ego is very troublesome.The other day I scornfully scolded H a little.Immediately I had a vision of the Master. Doyou know what he told me? He said: “What areyou thinking? Know for certain that I can makeany one amongst you who is the smallest, thegreatest, and again I can make any one amongstyou who is the greatest, the smallest.”3 I havebeen extremely careful since I had that vision.“The least shall be greatest and the greatest,least.”’

Mani: ‘You are right. One attains God byHis grace only. He can make a person great, andalso small. Can anyone attain Him by one’sown efforts? One needs His grace.’Narendra’s Longing for God-vision

Narendra enters the room. It seems that

his hope for God-realization has weakened a lit-tle. He begins to sing:

Can everyone have the vision of Shyama?Is Kali’s treasure for everyone?Oh, what a pity my foolish mind

will not see what is true!Even with all His penances,

rarely does Shiva Himself beholdThe mind-bewitching sight

of Mother Shyama’s crimson feet.To him who meditates on Her

the riches of heaven are poor indeed;If Shyama casts Her glance on him,

he swims in Eternal Bliss.The Prince of yogis, the King of the gods,

meditate on Her feet in vain;Yet worthless Kamalakanta yearns

for the Mother’s blessed feet!4

Narendra goes to another room in themonastery. What is he thinking? Has Sri Rama-krishna’s loving form suddenly come alive inhis heart? He again begins to sing:

Dear friend, my religion and pietyhave come to an end:

No more can I worship Mother Shyama;my mind defies control.

Oh, shame upon me! Bitter shame!I try to meditate on the Mother

with sword in hand,Wearing Her garland of human heads;But it is always the Dark One,5

wearing His garland of wild wood-flowersAnd holding the flute to His tempting lips,That shines before my eyes.I think of the Mother with Her three eyes,

but alas! I seeHim alone with the arching eyes,

and I forget all else!Oh, shame upon me! Bitter shame!I try to offer fragrant flowers

at the Mother’s feet,But the ravishing thought of His graceful form

unsettles my helpless mind,And all my meditations meant for

the Naked One6 are drawn awayBy the sight of His yellow scarf.7

After singing this song, Narendra remainssilent for a while and then suddenly announces,‘Let us go to the cremation ground.’ He then re-



marks: ‘My goodness! It seems to be a parlourand not a cremation ground.’ (All laugh.)

Paramanik Ghat is just near the monas-tery, and the cremation ground is near thatghat. The cremation ground is surrounded bywalls, and there is one brick building with threerooms at the east end. Sometimes at nightNarendra and others go there alone to practisesadhana.

* * *The Holy Mother now lives in Vrindaban.

Narendra and M are talking about her. One day

at the Cossipore garden house, the young devo-tees told Sri Ramakrishna about the HolyMother’s affection for them. At that time shewas living at the garden house to serve the Mas-ter. The disciples told the Master that they hadnever met another woman as large-hearted asshe was.

M: ‘What did the Master say?’Narendra: ‘The Master began to laugh

and then said: “She is my Shakti [Power]. Soshe loves all.”’

Chapter 4

Friday, 17 February 1887It is 12:30 p.m. at the Baranagore monas-

tery. Narendra and the other monastic brothersare living at the monastery. Haramohan and Mhave arrived. Shashi is busy with the Master’sworship service. Narendra is about to go to theGanges for his bath.

Narendra: ‘Krishna mainly discussed japaand austerity in the Gita.’

M: ‘How is that? Then why did he give somuch advice to Arjuna?’

Narendra: ‘Krishna did not ask Arjuna toperform family duties.’

M: ‘When Krishna asked Arjuna to fight,Arjuna was a householder. He, therefore, wasadvising Arjuna to perform his family duties ina detached way.’

(Narendra later changed his opinionabout this. While in America he lectured onkarma yoga, and there he advised his studentsto perform action without attachment. WhenNarendra first took the vows of sannyasa, hewas extremely disgusted with the duties of theworld, so he said that japa and austerity werethe main focus of the Gita.)

A householder devotee is talking with amonastic brother; his intention is to stay at themonastery. The devotee is impressed with thespiritual atmosphere of the monastery, andfamily life has become distasteful to him. They

are talking on the southern veranda of thekitchen, where Niranjan is working.

The Devotee: ‘If I stay in the monastery,will I be blamed for neglecting my family?’

The Monk: ‘No one will blame you for liv-ing here, but you have a responsibility to lookafter your family.’

Niranjan (from the kitchen): ‘Hellobrother, what are you doing? What kind of ad-vice are you giving to him?’ (All laugh.)

Narendra and Kali have returned fromtheir bath in the Ganges. Kali is always engagedin studying Vedanta. He does not care for theattitude: ‘You are my Lord and I am Your devo-tee.’ He reflects continually: ‘I am that Brah-man. I have no name and form.’ So after return-ing from his bath, he goes to his room and startsrepeating: ‘I am beyond name and form. I amthat Absolute Being. I salute You, I salute You, Isalute You and Myself.’

The devotees sit down to have lunch.There is only one cook at the monastery. Afterlunch everyone clears away their own leaf-plates; but Narendra removes M’s leaf-plate.When M objects, Narendra replies, ‘Here allare equal.’

After lunch everyone assembles in theparlour. Some are chewing betel-rolls; some aresmoking hubble-bubbles.

Rakhal (to M): ‘I want to visit you some



day. I am eager to hear what you are writingabout the Master.’

M: ‘I have decided that until my life istransformed I will not share those teachingswith anybody. Each of the Master’s words islike a mantra. Is it not good to translate thoseteachings into one’s life?’

Rakhal: ‘Yes, indeed. Well, how do youlike your family life?’

Shashi: ‘Look, brothers, Rakhal is lectur-ing.’

Rakhal (smiling, to M): ‘Previously I wasnot inclined to come here. Now I see that thecompany of the brothers is beneficial.’

Narendra: ‘Where is the real substance inhuman beings? I care for no one, except one.[Perhaps he meant Sri Ramakrishna.] Who hashis own power? Every one is subject to circum-stance—a slave to maya. Every one is a slave likeme—a sport of circumstances.’

Rakhal smiles and whispers to Haramo-han. Prompted by Rakhal, Haramohan asks:‘What about Brother X?’

Narendra: ‘Brother X is a wretched fellow.If he wants to be a monk, why is he savingmoney? A sadhu should be penniless.’

A Monk: ‘Everyone is wretched and youconsider yourself great.’

Narendra: ‘I am also wretched because Iam a slave of circumstances. Do I have anypower?’

M (to himself): ‘Is it circumstance or God?The Master used to say, “Everything happensby the will of Rama.”’

Narendra: ‘How can a man who hasmoney be a monk? Moreover, he gives lecturesto people. Is he not ashamed to preach?’

Narendra and Buddha

Haramohan: ‘Well, if a man experiencesecstasy or samadhi, he must be great.’

Narendra: ‘Go and study Buddha. Ac-cording to Shankara the ultimate spiritual expe-rience is nirvikalpa samadhi, which is the firststage that Buddha attained.’

A Devotee: ‘If nirvikalpa samadhi is the

first stage, then there must be higher stages thanthat. Why don’t you describe a few to us? Bud-dha must have said something about it.’

Narendra: ‘I don’t know.’A Devotee: ‘If nirvikalpa samadhi is the

first stage of Buddha’s experience, then why didhe later preach this doctrine: “Non-violence isthe supreme dharma?”’

Narendra: ‘It is hard to understand thisview, but the Vaishnavas learned their non-vio-lence from Buddha.’

A Devotee: ‘Is it necessary for one to learnnon-violence from Buddha? It often happensthat one gives up eating fish without having anyinstruction from anybody. It may not be truethat the Vaishnavas learned non-violence fromBuddha.’

Narendra: ‘If someone renounces the kill-ing of animals without being asked to, then it isto be understood as hereditary transmission.’

A Devotee: ‘Then what about the peoplein Europe who have given up killing animals?They were beef-eaters. They have not learnedfrom Buddha.’

Narendra: ‘However, Buddha discoveredthis path.’

M (to himself): ‘Wonderful! Each discipleof the Master is a hero. Everyone is an inde-pendent thinker, not just Narendra. And whynot? They are disciples of the Master and hetrained them himself.’

* * *Narendra is reading the Gita and explain-

ing it to the brother disciples. He has been elu-cidating the following verses from the Gita(5.7-9): ‘He who is devoted to yoga and is purein mind, who has conquered his body and sub-dued his senses, who has realized his Self as theSelf of all beings—he is undefiled though heacts. “I do nothing at all”, thinks the yogi, theknower of Truth; for in seeing, hearing, touch-ing, smelling, and tasting; in walking, breath-ing, and sleeping; in speaking, emitting, andseizing; in opening and closing the eyes, he is as-sured that it is only the senses busied with theirobjects.’



After reading the Gita for a while,Narendra says: ‘I am leaving; now you have thejoyful company of M.’ But Narendra cannotgo.

Baburam: ‘I don’t understand the Gitaand other scriptures. The Master said the rightthing, “Renounce, renounce.”’

Shashi: ‘Do you know what the real im-port of the word ‘renounce’ is? It means to re-main in this world as an instrument in thehands of God.’

Prasanna begins to study the Gita in Kali’ssolitary room; Sharat is also there readingLewis’ History of Philosophy. Another monk ismeditating in the Master’s shrine.

Narendra and the Vision of God

The discussion turns to the vision of God.Narendra: ‘The vision of God is a kind of

false perception.’Rakhal: ‘What do you mean? You have ex-

perienced it.’Narendra (with a smile): ‘One gets such a

vision because of a derangement of the brain,like a hallucination.’

Mani: ‘Brother, whatever you may say, theMaster had visions of divine forms; so how canyou say that it is a derangement of the brain? Doyou remember when Shivanath remarked thatthe Master’s samadhi was a kind of nervous dis-order or mental illness, the Master replied,“Does anyone become unconscious thinking ofConsciousness?”’

Narendra and the other brothers have as-sembled in the parlour. Some are chewing be-tel-rolls, some are smoking hubble-bubbles. Itis spring, and the nature as if is pulsating withjoy. The monastic brothers are also joyful. Theypractise celibacy and renunciation and think ofGod day and night. Always before them is theirgreat ideal, their guru, Sri Ramakrishna. Some-times out of exuberant joy, they shout the greatsaying of the Sikhs: ‘Wah guruji ki fateh!’—Vic-tory to the guru! Narendra taught them thismantra, prefacing it with ‘Om’.

M asks Sharat to join him in repeating

‘Victory to the guru!’ one hundred times, whichmakes him happy.

Narendra: ‘It does not work to just give anorder. One should first start repeating the man-tra, then others will join in.’

Balaram has sent some sweets and otherthings from his Calcutta residence. The kachu-ris (fried bread with a spicy filling) are delicious.All of the brothers enjoy the refreshment. Onebrother tries to eat more than his share.

Narendra (to the brother): ‘You greedy ras-cal! It is not good to eat too much.’

Vesper Service in the Monastery

It is evening. Shashi burns incense in theshrine and bows down to the Master, glorifyinghis sweet name. Then he visits the pictures ofgods and goddesses in each of the rooms, ad-dressing them one after another and waving in-cense in front of each of them. He chants in hismelodious voice: ‘Salutations to the guru’; ‘Sal-utations to Mother Kali’; ‘Salutations to Chait-anya taking the form of Rama and Krishna’;‘Salutations to Radha and Krishna’; ‘Saluta-tions to the beloved of Radha’; ‘Salutations toAdvaita Acharya and other devotees’; ‘Saluta-tions to Gopala and Mother Yashoda’; ‘Saluta-tions to Rama and Lakshmana’; ‘Salutations toVishwamitra’.

The senior Gopal performs vespers bywaving the light and the devotees watch him.Narendra and M are in the main hall. M hadasked Narendra to join the vesper service, butdue to some work he could not do so.

After the vespers, the devotees sing a hymnto Shiva in chorus: ‘Jaya Shiva Omkara, BhajaShiva Omkara; Brahma Vishnu Sadashiva,Hara Hara Hara Mahadeva.’

As night falls, everyone sits for a light sup-per, which Baburam serves. Each person isserved a few chapatis, some vegetable curry, anda little bit of molasses. M is eating with them,sitting next to Narendra. When Narendra sees acouple of burnt chapatis on M’s plate, he im-mediately replaces them with good ones.Narendra keeps a vigilant eye on everything.



After supper everyone sits together in theparlour. A monastic brother tells M: ‘Nowa-days we hardly get to hear any songs on the Di-vine Mother. Why don’t you sing that favouritesong of the Master’s?’

M sings:O Mother Shyama, full of the waves

of drunkenness divine!Who knows how Thou dost sport

in the world?Thy fun and frolic and Thy glances

put to shame the god of love.O Wielder of the sword!

O Thou of terrifying face!The earth itself is shaken

under Thy leaps and strides!O Thou Abode of the three gunas!

O Redeemer! Fearsome One!Thou who art the Consort of Shiva!Many the forms Thou dost assume,

fulfilling Thy bhaktas’ prayers.Thou dancest in the Lotus of the Heart,O Mother, Eternal Consort

of Brahman! (808).

While talking with M, Rakhal says: ‘I want

to visit Varanasi. I feel I should go there alone.’Rakhal has his father, wife, and son at

home, but he has renounced everyone and ev-erything for God-realization. He is endowedwith intense renunciation. His mind is longingfor God all the time, so he wants to wanderalone. ~

Notes and References

1. Translated from Udbodhan, vol. 102, no. 10and vol. 103, nos. 2 and 3.

2. ‘M’ and ‘Mani’ are pseudonyms for MahendraNath Gupta, the recorder of The Gospel of SriRamakrishna.

3. Compare: ‘I teach the Knowledge of Brahmanto the gods and human beings. I am endowedwith the Knowledge of Brahman. I make a per-son great if I want to. I can make a personBrahma, a rishi, or a knower of Brahman.’—‘Devi Sukta’, 5.

4. Gospel, 679.5. Krishna.6. Shyama.7. Gospel, 873.

Great Heart

(to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa)

A white flame burning in a swampy place,

Mere squelchy wilderness of weed and briar,

Tussocks and rotten turf-stuff, and the mire

That sucks and slavers round each planted pace,

The wide, unwinking sky’s blind-seeing face,

Moonless, unstarred, where now and then mock fire,

Dancing, deludes wan hearts and feet that tire,

Yet deeper, deathward, lures into the maze,—

God made of thee a beacon. We to thee

Tend not, but, circling, keep upon our road.

Thou givest us the light, wherewith to see

Our stumbling-stones, and our too-heavy load,

Thou easest. Yea, thou, standing steadfastly,

Smilest on us the sure, sweet Smile of God.

—J C Johnston

Understanding VivekanandaSWAMI SANDARSHANANANDA

Introduction

There is perhaps no yardstick by which wecan measure the greatness of a WorldTeacher whose teachings take millennia

to flower. By this token, it is for sure that wehave not yet been able to understand Buddha,Jesus or Muhammad fully, though considerabletime has elapsed since they were born. Viveka-nanda, though modern, belongs to the samecategory, for his precepts have also been valuedas containing the essence of time-honouredwisdom. We can therefore hardly predict howlong it will take us to translate all his ideas intoaction. As he himself said, another Vivekanan-da alone could understand what this Viveka-nanda has done.

Interestingly, although he believed thathis own life ‘is guided by the enthusiasm of thatgreat personality [Sri Ramakrishna]’,1 he alsoheld the opinion that ‘inspiration is not filteredout to the world through one man’ (ibid.). Ob-viously, for Vivekananda Truth is inexhaustibleand is not expressible in its entirety in any onesingle life, however great that life might be. SriRamakrishna’s statement about Shukadevacorroborates Swamiji’s assumption: ‘Ùukadevaand sages like him may have been big ants; buteven they could carry at the utmost eight or tengrains of sugar!’ Shukadeva’s knowledge of Goddid not exhaust the latter, even though Shuka-deva was a seer par excellence. Sri Krishna says:‘Neither the hosts of gods nor the great sagesknow My origin (or majesty); for, in all re-spects, I am the source of the gods and sages.’2That the mystery of God is never exhaustivelyknown was clear to Vivekananda. He earnedthis conviction from his preceptor.

The Master-Disciple Relationship: SriRamakrishna, the preceptor, falls in the line ofthe great preceptors of yore, and Vivekananda

embodied the scriptural statements on disciple-ship. It is therefore small wonder thatVivekananda had a steady devotion to God andguru. His devotion to God is seen in his sus-tained urge to know Him, and his love for hisguru is observed in his ability to discern SriRamakrishna’s unwavering affection for himdespite his utter indifference in the beginning.This master-disciple relationship was estab-lished through an unobtrusive spiritual process,demonstrating the truth that a competent guruis eternally linked with the competent disciple.

When a disciple is ready, he is drawn by hisguru on mere approach. But this readiness is as-certained in terms of purity of heart, ability toplumb the depths of truths enshrined in thescriptures, and by the earnestness to realizeGod. The true guru, necessarily a realized soul,takes no time to recognize such a disciple. Allthese conditions are fulfilled by Ramakrishnaand Vivekananda. The former realized Godthrough rigorous sadhana and was eagerly ex-pecting the arrival of the latter. Similarly, thelatter was frantically in search of a guru whocould show him God, for intellectually he wasat a loss for such vision. When he reached Dak-shineswar, Ramakrishna instantaneously knewthat this was the person for whom he had beenso restless. Vivekananda’s appearance wasmarked by a detachment from the externalworld with most of his consciousness beingpulled inward, his mind astir with questions re-garding the existence of God. The spiritual evo-lution within that Vivekananda had been un-dergoing for long thus attained its culmination.He needed a perfect guru who would removethe last barrier to God-vision. Hence SriRamakrishna deliberately gave him a spiritualtouch with a view to undoing this barrier; andimmediately there dawned in him, with over-


whelming impact, the Advaitic vision. SriRamakrishna endowed him with the highest re-alization, but held the reins of his disciple’s lifein his own hands, for he was to use Vive-kananda for his work. That he did remainingbehind the scenes, while in his mortal frame aswell as after his passing away.

Pragmatist Per Se

Vivekananda reflects a harmonious blendof spirituality and practicality in his characterwhich distinguishes his persona from a host ofcontemporary thinkers. His originality lies inhis ability to weave the social, the secular andthe sacred into one parlance and comprehensi-bly accommodate them in a scientific synthesis.As a result, he seems interesting where othersappear dull and disappointing. This is reflectedin Merwin-Marie Snell’s, account of the 1893Parliament of Religions in Chicago: ‘And by farthe most important and typical representativeof Hinduism was Swami Vivekananda, who, infact, was beyond question the most popular andinfluential man in the Parliament. He fre-quently spoke, both on the floor of the Parlia-ment itself and at the meeting of the ScientificSection, over which I had the honour to pre-side, and, on all occasions he was received withgreater enthusiasm than any other speaker,Christian or “Pagan”.’3 He presented histhoughts in crystal-clear terms before audienceseverywhere and caught their imagination byleading them to rethink their personal reckon-ings.

By his own admission, this quality he hadacquired from his guru, who knew how to makehis views intellectually attractive and conduciveto the young and critical minds of his time. Forinstance, the texts of Sri Ramakrishna’s interac-tions with Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagarand Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, two intellec-tual stalwarts of renascent Bengal, are as en-thralling as they are substantial. The deftnesswith which he weaves wit and irony into theseconversations makes for their impact. On suchoccasions he exhibited an extraordinary ability

to lift the topic of discussion from the mundaneto the sublime, never in the process losing sightof the point he wanted to drive home.

Vivekananda’s keenness to get to the truthin all matters marked him out from the resteven at an early age. Thus, his childhood in-quisitiveness to see if smoking the hubble-bub-ble used by Muslim visitors in his father’sparlour really violated his caste is suggestive of aseer in the making, providing a glimpse of hisconstant quest after truth. Likewise, as an itin-erant monk, his dialogue with the Raja of Alwarregarding the concept of image worship is remi-niscent of the style that Ramakrishna adoptedin his conversations with Vidyasagar andBankim. The resemblance points to a mas-ter-disciple legacy, laying the foundation of aunique culture, which was to give rise to amovement that would influence the world atlarge. Their down-to-earth approach has carvedfor them a special niche among contemporarypragmatists. Their contributions have thereforeretained their relevance.

Disciple Par Excellence

That Vivekananda was no different fromhis master by virtue of a common earnestness inpursuit of truth becomes apparent when he nar-rates Sri Ramakrishna’s attitude while practis-ing the disciplines of other religions: ‘He wouldeat and dress like the people he wanted to un-derstand, take their initiation, and use their lan-guage. “One must learn”, he said, “to put one-self into another man’s very soul.” And thismethod was his own! No one ever before in In-dia became Christian and Mohammedan andVaishnava, by turn!’4 Actually, Ramakrishnaand Vivekananda are the obverse and reverse ofthe same coin. It is impossible to comprehendthe one while ignoring the other. The impactthat the latter generated while addressing theenlightened societies of the world was compara-ble to the aura that the former evinced whilespeaking to the able representatives of the intel-ligentsia in private. Listeners always appearedcaptivated—while one held them spellbound



with his keen reasoning and persuasive presen-tations, the other did so by the charm of his in-formality and a sunny sense of humour. Butboth kept their intuitive awareness alive in theirpursuits.

The ‘wonderful unconscious method’ thatSri Ramakrishna was needed to be interpretedwith due expertise, and this Swami Viveka-nanda did with all dexterity. There were threestrong influences working over him: his formaleducation and Brahmo thought, his guru andthe sacred literature of the world, and ‘hisknowledge of India and Indian peoples, as animmense religious organism, of which his Mas-ter himself, with all his greatness, had beenonly, as it were, the personification and utter-ance’.

How Sri Ramakrishna Taught: These arethe factors that shaped his personality, but hisguru’s influence outweighed the others. He wasconvinced that Sri Ramakrishna had firmlytaken hold of him, driving out everything thatwas left in him as a consequence of other influ-ences. But this is not to say that his struggle wasinsignificant. To be shorn of skepticism, he hadto deal out blows against his own avowed ideas.He abhorred idol worship and this idea was allthe more reinforced by the iconoclastic Brahmoteachings. Describing the state of his mind atthis time he would say later: ‘How I used to hateKali! And all Her ways! That was the ground ofmy six years’ fight—that I would not acceptHer. But I had to accept Her at last! Ramakri-shna Paramahamsa dedicated me to Her, andnow I believe that She guides me in everything Ido, and does with me what She will’ (8.263).Consequently, he could appreciate the great-ness of his guru and feel that Sri Ramakrishna‘never recognized any sin’ in man. He was ‘thequiet prophet’ who ‘had worked out a revolu-tion’. He lived and loved and withdrew himself.He never said ‘me’ and ‘mine’.

Sri Ramakrishna entered him, as it were,in order to fulfil the purpose of his advent.Hence there is an astounding similarity, even intheir languages, while giving out an important

message, namely, that of the harmony of reli-gions, under two different circumstances withalmost two decades setting them apart.

Once in 1882, in an ecstatic mood at Dak-shineswar, Ramakrishna said: ‘Mother, every-one says, “My watch alone is right.” The Chris-tians, the Brahmos, the Hindus, the Mussal-máns, all say, “My religion alone is true.” But,Mother, the fact is that nobody’s watch is right.Who can truly understand Thee? But if a manprays to Thee with a yearning heart, he canreach Thee, through Thy grace, by any path.’This soliloquy of his is what Swamiji’s procla-mation echoed later on. Ramakrishna contin-ued, ‘Mother, show me some time how theChristians pray to Thee in their Churches.’5

Sri Ramakrishna laid stress on the ideathat rites, rituals, dogmas and scriptures arematters of detail. They are aids, assisting menand women to proceed along different paths,chosen according to their aptitudes, towards acommon Goal. In view of this, Christianity, Is-lam and Hinduism are equally valid, but to alimited extent, since they lose their identities aswell as importance once their aspirants reachthe point of absolute convergence and absorp-tion, namely God, eternally poised as the ulti-mate End of all sacred endeavours.

Vivekananda’s mind was perfectly tunedto Ramakrishna’s thought current. Catchingthe essence of Sri Ramakrishna’s dispensation,he was waiting for the right moment to come.When the opportunity arrived he explained itsbroad implications to the public. He laid thefoundation of a Universal Religion on this verybasis, drawing abundant comparisons with theconcepts harboured by various religions. Heshowed that the extant religions had historicallyproved their indispensability in human life. Bytheir prolonged existence in the march of civili-zations, despite innumerable odds, they haddemonstrated their worth. Swamiji contem-plated the underlying principles of all religionsand gave a scheme which might be universallypracticable and which ‘does not destroy the in-dividuality of any man in religion and at the

Understanding Vivekananda 153


same time shows him a point of union with oth-ers’. He has gone to great lengths to removedoubts from our minds while inspiring us topractise this universality. He could himself do itwith perfect ease as he was trained by his master,having undergone a thorough reformation ofhis preconceived notions in the process.

Sri Ramakrishna applied the directmethod while teaching his disciple, killing hisskepticism and thereby shaping him into a fitinstrument for the successful execution of hisplans. Vivekananda declared: ‘Mine is the de-votion of the dog! I don’t want to know why! Iam contented simply to follow!’6 No wonder,therefore, later on, bereft of any inhibitions, hewould say like his Master, ‘I shall enter theChristian’s church and kneel before the cruci-fix’(2.374). He was faithful to his guru to thecore. He knew that his subconscious mind wasopen to the superconscious perceptions of SriRamakrishna. Ramakrishna gathered informa-tion from the deepest recesses of Vivekananda’sinner being and thus determined his future inan inscrutable mystical way.

Two Forms, One Spirit: Since Ramakri-shna and Vivekananda are one in spirit, theirthoughts are inextricably intertwined. The lat-ter’s feelings to this effect would sometimes getexposed. When someone asked him, ‘Did Bud-dha teach that the many was real and the egounreal, while orthodox Hinduism regards theOne as the real, and the many as unreal?’ he re-plied, ‘Yes, and what Ramakrishna Parama-hamsa and I have added to this is, that the Manyand the One are the same Reality, perceived bythe same mind at different times and in differ-ent attitudes’ (8.261). The statement under-

lines the fact that he could hardly imagine hav-ing any idea which he could claim exclusivelyfor himself. He was always confirmed in the be-lief that it was his master who was relentlesslyworking through him. It was therefore not un-natural that when occasions arose he referred tothe name of his master in the same breath as hisown. In a deep sense of humility and indebted-ness he says: ‘If there has been anythingachieved by me, by thought, or words, or deeds,if from my lips has ever fallen one word that hashelped any one in the world, I lay no claim to it,it was his’ (3.312).

Sri Ramakrishna eliminated the ego iden-tified with the body-mind complex and in-stalled Mother Kali in its place. He consideredhimself Her instrument. ‘Yes,’ said SwamiVivekananda, ‘I think there’s no doubt that Sheworked up the body of Ramakrishna for Herown ends.’7

(To be concluded)

References


2. Bhagavadgita, 10.2.3. His Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of

Swami Vivekananda, 2 vols. (Calcutta: AdvaitaAshrama, 1989), 1.428-9.

4. CW, 9.332.5. M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans.

Swami Nikhilananda (Chennai: RamakrishnaMath, 2002), 93.

6. CW, 9.426.7. Sister Nivedita, The Master as I Saw Him (Cal-

cutta: Udbodhan Office, 1972), 165.



The message of Vivekananda, though delivered in the term of the popular Vedantic speculation, was

really the message of his Master to the modern man. … The man of religion in India had been a

mediaeval man. His religion was generally a religion of the other world. … But this was not the real mes-

sage of Paramahansa Ramakrishna. He was as much a Vedantin as a Vaishnava. His ideal of piety was a

synthesis between these two rival schools of Hindu religion. … With the Paramahansa … the real form of

the Ultimate Reality is the Human Form—not the sensuous form …, but the spiritual form which stands

behind it, invisible to mortal eye. Man and God are generically one. —Bepin Chandra Pal

Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas on Practical VedantaDR C VENKATA MADHAVA REDDY

We want to lead mankind to the place wherethere is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor theKoran; yet this has to be done by harmonisingthe Vedas, the Bible and the Koran. Mankindought to be taught that religions are but the var-ied expressions of THE RELIGION, which isOneness, so that each may choose that paththat suits him best.

—Swami Vivekananda1

According to some people Vedanta ismerely theoretical and speculative andcannot be carried into practice. But such

a view is not true to facts. Vedanta is the mostpractical of all philosophies that exist in theworld. It has been stated by Max Muller that‘Vedanta is the most sublime of all philosophiesand the most comforting of all religions’.2

The Vedantic Ideal

In India philosophy has always been thetheoretical side of religion and religion has al-ways been considered the practical side of phi-losophy. According to Vedanta, the ideal of re-ligion must cover the whole field of life—itmust enter into all our thoughts and find ex-pression in all our actions.

Generally, people are keen to know what ispractical. Swami Vivekananda observes: ‘If anyman comes to preach to me a certain ideal, thefirst step towards which is to give up selfishness,to give up self-enjoyment, I think that is im-practical. But when a man brings an ideal whichcan be reconciled with my selfishness, I am gladat once and jump at it. That is the ideal for me.’3

Vedanta is a high ideal, but Vivekanandawanted it to be intensely practical at the sametime. We must make Vedantic principles partand parcel of our lives. However, they have tobe put into practice without compromise or di-lution. For this, the fictitious differentiationbetween religious life and secular life must go.

Vedanta teaches absolute oneness—one lifethroughout. That is why an ideal religionshould not leave any aspect of life uncovered.We must reflect the religious ideal at every stepin our lives.

The Divinity of Man

In Vivekananda’s view the essence ofVedanta is embodied in its assertion of the di-vinity of man—‘That thou art.’ The spirit ofman has always been pure and perfect. SoVedanta teaches us to have faith in ourselvesfirst. Says Vivekananda: ‘He is an atheist whodoes not believe in himself. The old religionsaid that he was an atheist who did not believein God. The new religion says that he is theatheist who does not believe in himself’(2.301). Unbelief in the glory of the humansoul is what Vedanta calls atheism.

We say the Vedantic ideal is to be madepractical, but forget that it has always been so,because the Spirit is our own nature. Every-thing else that we perceive due to ignorance isfalse and untrue, and therefore weakening. Andwhenever we think ourselves weak and impurewe throw a bad thought into the world. This wemust always bear in mind that in Vedanta thereis no place for such false assumptions—Ved-anta gives no room for self-hypnotism. The factis that the Spirit alone exists, and we only needto manifest it more and more. This can be doneby purifying ourselves. When the veil of igno-rance drops, the Spirit, shining in its native pu-rity, manifests itself.

However, these positive teachings of Ve-danta regarding our inherent power and purityshould not engender in us a lack of sympathyfor others—that would be weakness! We are alladvancing towards the same goal, and the dif-ferences between us—of weakness or strength,


vice or virtue—are only one of degree.Vivekananda makes that clear, especially whenhe says that oneness is the secret of everything.He emphasizes the positive side of things anddiscourages the habit of dwelling on the nega-tive side. In fact, both Vedanta and Vive-kananda assert that if there is anything calledsin it is only ignorance. But it is more importantto know the greater truth that the human soul isdivine and that nothing can affect this essentialnature of the soul.

Selfless Work

The basic tenor of Vivekananda’s teach-ings is the divinity of the human soul and theunity of all existence. But how did he makethose Vedantic doctrines practical? By harmo-nizing the path of knowledge and the path ofselfless service. By synthesizing the comple-mentary paths of service and spirituality he hasoffered the idea of lokasangraha, welfare of theworld, as an excellent form of worship of theSupreme.

The Bhagavadgita points out that nobodycan live without work. None can enjoy any-thing unless they earn it with their own effort.All human achievements, big or small, are butfruits of their labour. No religion or philosophyhas ever advised giving up action. ‘If you wantany good to come,’ said Swami Vivekananda,‘worship the Living God, the Man-God—ev-ery being that wears a human form—God inHis universal as well as individual aspect. Theuniversal aspect of God means this world, andworshipping it means serving it—this indeed iswork’ (6.264).

Action has to be understood in the abovespirit. What is ordinarily understood as work isprompted by selfish desires and cannot be re-garded as worship. Only such actions as aregood, selfless and conducive to spiritual perfec-tion deserve to be called work, not others. In-deed, action in itself is neither good nor bad; ithas no inherent moral qualities. It is good orbad, selfless or selfish according to the purity orimpurity of the doer’s motive. When the doer

desires his own enjoyment, his actions becomeselfish and they imprison him in the dark cham-ber of his ego. Such a person works all the timeto satisfy his never-ending desires and hisshort-sightedness prevents him from having aglimpse of his spiritual self; he never realizesthat he is greater than his desires. This is the rea-son why religion regards selfish action as an ob-stacle to universal welfare.

Selfless work, nishkama karma, on theother hand, is free action; it is never fettered bythe desire for personal or material gain. Itsprings from the fullness of the heart and is anexpression of bliss, ananda. Selfless service isnothing but spiritualized action. Only a personwho has cultivated a deep devotion to Life Eter-nal can perform it. Such a person constantlyendeavours to outgrow his narrow ego anddwell in the blissful Spirit. Really speaking, truehuman life is life in the Spirit; it is indeed a sinto remain confined within the shell of one’sego.

In order to attain one’s full stature as a hu-man being one has to accept the idea of self-sac-rifice as the principle of life. Egocentric im-pulses have to be supplanted by sincere at-tempts at doing good to the world. After all,there is only one Reality; all life is one. Individ-ual souls are only different manifestations ofone and the same Reality and there is actuallyno essential difference between individuals.That being so, a person who would call himselfa Vedantin should have ‘Life for Others’ as hismotto.

Work performed with an attitude of hu-mility, devotion and love solely for the good ofothers is nothing but a form of spiritual prac-tice, sadhana. It too will take the aspirant to hischerished goal as surely as any other spiritualdiscipline. So convinced was Swami Viveka-nanda about this that he went to the extent ofdeclaring that ‘The Karma-Yogi need not be-lieve in any doctrine whatever. He may not be-lieve even in God, may not ask what his soul is,nor think of any metaphysical speculation. Hehas got his own special aim of realising selfless-



ness; and he has to work it out himself’ (1.111).All he needs to do is ‘Build up your character,and manifest your real nature, the Effulgent,the Resplendent, the Ever-Pure, and call It upin everyone that you see’ (2.357).

Religion and Life

It is wrong to suppose that spirituality re-sults in laziness and escapism, or that it is onlyfit for a race of half-starved, half-naked monkswho are interested more in the other world thanin this. Whoever was more concerned about thepoor and ignorant masses than that paragon ofVedantins, Swami Vivekananda? To him indi-vidual spiritual progress divorced from socialuplift was a contradiction; atmano moksha andjagat hita have to go hand in hand. ‘It is an in-sult to a starving people to offer them religion;it is an insult to a starving man to teach himmetaphysics’, he cried (1.20). The idea that re-ligion and spirituality are opposed to life andactivity does not hold water. On the contrary, itis religion that makes us aware of our divineheritage.

As said earlier, the spiritual ideal must en-compass all aspects of life, personal and social,making people strong and courageous to facethe world. Their souls thus purified by spiritu-ality, such people should return to active lifewith the mission of doing good to the world.Karma yogis like these see themselves in othersand others in themselves. They do not neglectlife, but harmonize it with the Eternal. All theirdealings are grounded in the universal moralprinciples of truth, equality, love, forgiveness,self-control and self-sacrifice. These valuesmust also constitute the foundation stone ofour social life, for they are intimately connectedwith the perfection of human character. ~

References


2. Complete Works of Swami Abhedananda, 10vols. (Calcutta: Ramakrishna-Vedanta Math,1967), 344.

3. CW, 2.294.

Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas on Practical Vedanta 157


A Conundrum: The Idea of Light

Someone left a light on upstairs.

Someone went up to turn it off and never came back, but the light was brighter.

Someone followed him with his sorrow, and came back empty-handed.

Someone wanted to lose her sorrow, too, but didn’t trust it enough to let it out of her sight.

Someone kept searching the dark for the light.

Someone tried to shoot out the light, but the ammunition was light, too.

Someone thought she would recognize someone else when the light was right, but it already was.

Someone was selling the idea of light, but the light wasn’t included.

Some people went to change the light, but trying to get to it changed them.

Someone claimed to be the light, but the light only winked when he died.

—Hiranyagarbha

* * Your Views, Please! * *‘Someone tried to shoot out the light, but the ammunition was light, too.’ Well, what exactly does

the line mean? It will mean different things to different minds, of course; in fact the whole poem seems

to lend itself to a number of interpretations. We would like to know your interpretation of the words

shoot, light and ammunition in the above line. Your readings of the entire poem are also welcome. We

would like to have your explanations by mid-March.

Swami Vivekananda—the Epitome of StrengthM M BARIK

Swami Vivekananda, a paragon of humanexcellence, is the epitome of strength. Thiselement has lent his personality an aura of

divine radiance and won him worldwide cha-risma and appreciation. Just as each and everycrawling oyster on the ocean floor does not be-get a pearl and each and every piece of wood isnot sandalwood, similarly each and every manis not a great man like Swami Vivekananda. Hisgarland of thoughts, ideas and ideals, garneredfrom the depths of the Vedas and Upanishadsand enshrined in his writings and sayings, spar-kle like pearls of wisdom and distil the rare per-fume of purity and strength.

Swami Vivekananda, the Vedantist

Swami Vivekananda, a staunch advocateof Vedanta, is undoubtedly a symbol of leoninestrength. For him Vedanta is a veritable mine ofinexhaustible strength. Vedanta gives us an in-kling of our inner core by proclaiming that weare not merely the body and mind but the efful-gent Spirit—infinite and eternal, stainless andsinless, and a fountain of perennial bliss, knowl-edge and power. Swamiji ignited the divinespark within himself and drank the nectareansweetness of the ocean of divinity. He harnessedit for the betterment of society and the uplift ofhumankind, and reaped rich dividends in theform of glory, goodness, greatness, power andexcellence. So he wants everyone to rouse theirsleeping soul and become conscious of the di-vine flame within. If we do that, the concomi-tant result will be that the rumblings of war willno longer be heard. The canker of jealousy,envy, hatred and suspicion will no longer cor-rode the corridors of our mind. A gentle breezeof mercy, kindness, love, fellow feeling, mutualrespect, understanding and cooperation willblow in all directions, and an aroma of sweet in-

terpersonal relationship will spread everywhere.Just as heavenly bodies shine together to illu-mine the earth, similarly all the religions of theworld will sacrifice their artificial barriers andchime together in the symphony of unparal-leled music, when each individual is imbuedwith spiritual illumination.

Swami Vivekananda, the Shakti-worshipper

Swamiji dreamt of a brave new India inwhich every young man and woman would beglowing with vim, vigour and vitality. He said,India needed ‘muscles of iron and nerves ofsteel’. He could visualize with his foresight andvision that the future of India would bedoomed to darkeness if her citizens were weak-lings. That is why he said, ‘You will be nearer toHeaven through football than through thestudy of the Gita.’ Thus he gave greater priorityto the development of physical strength, be-cause it leads to the culture of the mind and ul-timately to the enlightenment of the soul.

As Swamiji was a worshipper of Shakti, tohim all that was positive represented strength:spirituality was strength, courage was strength,faith was strength, truth was strength, characterwas strength and education was strength. Spiri-tuality is strength because it is illumination, afountain of inspiration and a beacon in times ofvicissitudes. As religion lies not in theory but inpractice, according to him, it unveils the divin-ity within. So he exhorted us to respect the di-vine spark within all and serve God in the poor,the downtrodden and the destitute. Faith alsounlocks the door of the temple of God within.So we have to nurture faith in the divinitywithin. Once the individual is spiritually per-meated, he will shed all fear. He will bow hishead to none else except the Almighty. He willfeel lion-like courage and virility within.


For Swamiji, truth is also strength as itdoes not pay tribute to anybody but everyonehas to pay tribute to it, for truth is just anothername for God, the cosmic Ruler. A truth-lovingperson fears none but God.

By character Swamiji means the sum totalof ideas, both positive and negative, accumu-lated in an individual. The former exert a be-nign impact on society while the latter have amalignant effect on it. Positive character im-plies chastity of thought, word and deed. Nei-ther a nation nor an individual can thrive orflourish in the absence of unalloyed character.Character is also destiny. A person of exemplarycharacter moulds the destiny of a nation. Such aperson is like a human magnet, a precious orna-ment of society and a valuable asset to the na-tion. A pure character is like a rare diamond.Just as a diamond adds to the beauty of a goldring, so character adds to the glory of a humanbeing. It is the sole responsibility of parents andteachers to mould the character of our youth.

Courage is another aspect of strength. It isthe wellspring of joy and success, whereas weak-ness is death and defeat. Courage is the badge ofhonour and weakness is a sign of sin and igno-miny. Only courageous children can crownMother India with the diadem of victory.Swamiji abhorred cowardice as it is a stigma onthe fair name of our nation.

Education, the Basis of Strength

Education is a shield that protects us like anever-failing friend. Knowledge that remainshidden like arrows in a quiver and does not en-kindle the divine spark within or enlighten oth-ers, does not deserve to be called education.Such an education only encourages the devil’sdance of destruction. Swami Vivekananda saidthat an ‘excess of knowledge and power, with-out holiness, makes human beings devils’. Hecalled this type of education a negative educa-tion. That is why he wanted a man-making,character-building and life-giving education bywhich strength of mind is increased and the in-tellect expanded. By education he did not mean

mere collection of facts or accumulation of in-formation or even development of skills; he im-plied an orientation to socio-ethical, moral andspiritual values. He said education is a kind of‘training by which the current and expression ofwill are brought under control’. Really,self-control is strength, will power is strength.Only that person can be called a conqueror ofthe world who has conquered himself, not onewho has won wars. It is rightly said that self-dis-cipline, self-control and self-direction lead aperson to sovereign power. Will power can alsowork miracles if it is seasoned with rationality.A person can reach the pinnacle of success if hecan channelize his will power in the proper di-rection. Also, Swamiji does not ignore thepower of words. Every word that an individualuses, every thought he gives tongue to can alsowork wonders, if tempered with reason.

According to Swami Vivekananda, educa-tion will only then emit its sweet fragrancewhen the divine lotus lying dormant within un-folds its golden petals and when it is perfumedby an individual’s selfless interest in society. Itwill not be irrelevant to quote one of his oft-quoted ideas on education in this connection:‘Education is the manifestation of the perfec-tion already in man.’ Hence genuine educationmust help discover the covered human being, as‘each soul is potentially divine’. When thissleeping soul is awakened, one will feel withinoneself a tremendous flow of dynamism, whichcan make the impossible possible, be it in thematter of one’s own salvation or collective wel-fare.

A Prayer

Let every word emanating from our hum-ble lips be a paean to Swamiji and a fitting trib-ute to this great son of Mother India! Let everygrain of Indian earth, every little ripple on theIndian Ocean sing the glory of this mightyhero! If we follow his ideas and ideal in letterand spirit, we will be assured of supernal bliss.Let us offer our prayerful salutations at his lotusfeet! ~

Swami Vivekananda—the Epitome of Strength 159


Westerners Who Saw Sri RamakrishnaDR GORDON STAVIG

The New Dispensation was a publicationput out by the Brahmo Samaj under theleadership of Keshab Chandra Sen

(1838-84). In the 26 February 1882 edition itwas recorded that,

On the Thursday last [23 February] there was aninteresting excursion by a steam launch up theriver to Dakshineswar. The Rev. Joseph Cook,Miss Pigot, and the apostles of the New Dispen-sation together with a number of our young menembarked at about 11 o’clock. The revered Para-mahamsa of Dakshineswar [Sri Ramakrishna],as soon as he heard of the arrival of the party,came to the riverside, and was taken on aboard.He successively went through all the phases ofspiritual excitement which characterizes him.Passing through a long interval of unconscious-ness he prayed, sang, and discoursed on spiritualsubjects. Mr. Cook represented the extreme cul-ture of Christian theology and thought. TheParamahamsa represented the extreme cultureof Indian Yoga and Bhakti, in short the tradi-tional piety of the East. And the apostles of theBrahmo Samaj in bringing together the twoproved that they combined both in the all-inclu-sive harmony of the New Dispensation.1

An obituary for Sri Ramakrishna published inthe Indian Mirror on 10 September 1886 men-tioned that ‘Mr. Cooke, the American evange-list, who came to this country a few years ago,once witnessed Ramakrishna’s divine exercisesand he expressed his great surprise at it and re-marked that he was not aware before that a mancould become so much immersed in divine spiritas to lose all perception of the external world’.2

Reverend Joseph Cook’s meeting with SriRamakrishna is described in the Great Master.Sri Ramakrishna mentioned that Keshab Senlet him know in advance that he would bring awesterner with him and that they would take avoyage in a steamer on the Ganga River. Appar-

ently, the Master was unconscious of the exter-nal world during the entire period of Cook’svisit, yet he spoke ‘a ceaseless flow of words’.Later he was told that he ‘imparted much in-struction’, but he knew nothing of it.3

Joseph Cook (1838-1901) was a promi-nent Christian evangelist. In 1878 in a periodof about seventy days he delivered forty-threelectures in ten different states in the US, speak-ing to 50,000 people. He authored over threedozen books. His ‘Boston Monday Lectures’which ran for a series of years drew audiences of3,000 people. In March 1887 Pundita RamabaiSarasvati (1858-1922), the social reformerfrom Bombay, lectured as Cook’s guest to aBoston audience on ‘High-caste HinduWidows’. Cook’s organization later publishedand sold her speech and recommended pur-chasing her book on the same subject.4 Six yearslater, in a letter to Alasinga Perumal dated 20August 1893, Swami Vivekananda mentionedthat he was going to Boston ‘to speak at a bigLadies’ Club here, which is helping Ramabai’.

Although Rev. Cook did not agree withKeshab Sen’s Unitarian theology, he greatly ad-mired his spiritual nature. Cook provides uswith some insights into the mystical nature ofKeshab Sen, who was visiting Sri Ramakrishnaat that time. He wrote that ‘it was Mr. Burlin-game, I believe, who said that in Asia there areat least ten thousand Emersons. The character-istic type of mind in India is the intuitive andnot the philosophical. Mr. Sen speaks throughhis lofty moral feelings. He sees religious truthsthrough his conscience, rather than throughmere reason.’ Keshab Sen ‘feels the touch ofGod within him, as the Oriental always hasdone at his best. He listens to the Inner Voicewith the devoutness of one of the best of theQuaker mystics. … He is perpetually inculcat-


ing the duty and blessedness of prayer and ofself-surrender to all the loftiest impulses of con-science, which, as he teaches, are really super-natural touches of God upon the spirit of man.’‘He is unquestionably the most eloquent Asi-atic I have ever heard. … He usually fascinatesevery one who comes near him.’ ‘KeshubChunder Sen was not a reformer and oratormerely; he was also a religious seer. When hisinfluence over his followers is closely analyzed,it will be found that his deep communion withthe unseen world was the chief source of au-thority he was allowed to exercise among hisfriends and disciples.’5 ‘He depends for hisknowledge of religious truth on religious exer-cises continued through three, four and some-times five hours a day. I thoroughly believe himto be an honest and devout man. My feeling isnot that he should pray less, but that he shouldstudy more.’6 At the news of Keshab’s deathCook wrote, it ‘overwhelms me with a moreprofound sense of personal bereavement than Ican now remember to have felt before at the de-parture of any public man’.7

It was Harold French who made the dis-covery that the missionary Cook mentioned inthe Great Master was the same person who was agood friend of Keshab Sen in India, and whowas a speaking delegate at the Parliament of Re-ligions in 1893. Cook was politically liberal, fa-vouring the rights of labourers, women, chil-dren, and ethnic minority groups. Conversely,he was a religiously conservative representativeof orthodox evangelical Protestant Christian-ity, being critical of the Mormon, Catholic andUnitarian Churches.8 Consequently, at theParliament, Reverend Cook was an adversary ofSwami Vivekananda. Near the end of the Par-liament, they got into a heated debate over thequestion of the origin of the universe. SwamiAbhedananda in a lecture on ‘What Is the NewPantheism’ (1902-03), referred to a criticalstatement made by Joseph Cook of Boston,who referred to Emerson as a pantheist.9

Miss Pigot, who accompanied Cook, hadthe privilege of seeing Sri Ramakrishna in sam-

adhi, according to the New Dispensation reportcited in the opening paragraph of this article.Mary Pigot (b. 1837) who sometimes went bythe name of Henrietta, was an Anglo-Indianlady, being the daughter of Julius Pigot and De-sire Casabon. She was head of the LucknowGirls’ School (1859-64), in charge of the Beth-une School in Calcutta (1865-68) and chief ofthe Calcutta Girls’ School (1868-70). While inher early thirties, in 1870 she distinguished her-self by becoming the Lady Superintendent ofthe Female Mission of the Scottish Ladies’ As-sociation in Calcutta. This organization wasrun by the Foreign Mission of the PresbyterianChurch of Scotland, whose headquarters waslocated in Edinburgh. She held the position atleast until 1883. The Female Mission consistedof a zenana teaching establishment, an upperschool, a lower school divided into two sec-tions, and an orphanage. In March 1883, MissPigot lived at 19 High Street in the town ofSerampore, about five miles north of Dakshin-eswar on the Hooghly River.10

In 1878 William Hastie (1842-1903) be-came the principal of the General Assembly’sInstitution (established in 1830) later known asthe Scottish Church College. He remained inthe College operated by the Missionary Boardof the Church of Scotland until the end of1883. Narendranath Dutta, the future SwamiVivekananda (1863-1902), very much likedWilliam Hastie, who he said ‘lived on nothingand regarded his room as his boys’ home asmuch as his own. … towards the end of his stayin India he used to say, “Yes, my boy, you wereright, you were right!—It is true that all isGod!” I am proud of him.’11 He was an intelli-gent man who lived an austere lifestyle and hada loving rapport with his students.12 Hastie ut-tered the prophetic statement that ‘Narendra-nath is really a genius. I have travelled far andwide, but I have never yet come across a lad ofhis talents and possibilities, even in the GermanUniversities, amongst philosophical students.He is bound to make his mark in life.’13

It was from Hastie that Narendra first

Westerners Who Saw Sri Ramakrishna 161


heard about Sri Ramakrishna. On one occa-sion, the professor of literature was absent fromthe school, and he was replaced by Hastie, theprincipal. During the course of the lecture,Hastie discussed William Wordsworth’s(1770-1850) book-length poem Excursion(1814). He mentioned that Wordsworth fellinto a trance when he experienced the sublimebeauty of nature. Hastie added, ‘I have seenRamakrishna Paramahamsa of Dakshineswarattain that state among contemporaries. Youwill understand it if you go and see once thatstate of his.’ Soon after this event, Narendra sawSri Ramakrishna for the first time at Surendra-nath Mitra’s house in 1881.14

Ironically, Rev. William Hastie and MissMary Pigot maintained a feud that began in1879 and culminated on 21 March 1883, whenshe raised an action for libel in the High Courtof Calcutta against Hastie. It was a sensationaltrial that has been preserved in a 343-pagebook. The contention was between Hastie, theprincipal of the Male College Mission, andPigot, the head of the Female Missionary Mis-sion in Calcutta, both of whom were connectedwith the Church of Scotland. Miss Pigotclaimed that when Rev. Hastie came to India heattempted to gain control over the Female Mis-sion by placing her in a subordinate role. Shealso claimed that Hastie and others had chargedher with mismanagement of the school, crueltyto children and immoral conduct, which dam-aged her reputation and deprived her of herlivelihood. In May 1882, Pigot had travelled toEdinburgh to improve her relations with theScottish Church authorities. The Pigot v Hastiecase began on 31 August 1883. While the origi-nal judge decided in Hastie’s favour, the Courtof Appeal reversed the decision. Consequently,in February 1885 Rev. Hastie, the former prin-cipal of the largest and most successful educa-tional institution in India, spent a month in thePresidency Jail. Fortunately, he was allowed toleave the jail after he paid a fine of 300 pounds,which he had saved up for years by undergoinga frugal lifestyle. Many people thought Rev.

Hastie received unjust treatment and therewere protests, but he wisely decided to returnpenniless to Scotland. In May 1885, the Com-missioners of the General Assembly exoneratedMiss Pigot.15 Presently, the Foreign Missiondivision of the Church of Scotland has no re-cord of Miss Pigot’s whereabouts after 1885.16

In 1885, Hastie returned to Scotland,where he distinguished himself by translatingand editing seventeen books from German intothe English language. His translations includefour difficult works written by the German phi-losopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), andone by Rumi the Sufi. He also translated atwo-volume jurisprudence manuscript fromItalian and authored at least six theology books.Portions of two of Hastie’s translations of Im-manuel Kant’s writings were selected to be partof the University of Chicago’s ‘Great Books ofthe Western World’ series (Volume 42). Theol-ogy and jurisprudence were the two primary ar-eas of specialization for the versatile Hastie,who taught courses in law at Edinburgh Uni-versity. He also composed or translated booksdealing with scientific cosmology, ethics,Christian missions, mysticism, politics and po-etry. For his efforts, in 1895 he was appointedto the chair of divinity at the University of Glas-gow. It is most unfortunate that this Glasgowscholar died suddenly during the peak of his ca-reer, in 1903, at sixty-one. After his deathHastie became a local legend. At the Universityof Glasgow the Hastie Lecturer series com-menced in 1906, the Hastie Club composed ofover fifty reverends was formed, and a 300-pagebiography on his life was written in 1926.17

Ramchandra Dutta, the Chemical Exam-iner of the Calcutta Medical College, arrangedfor Dr J M Coates to visit the ailing Sri Rama-krishna on 15 March 1886. At Cossipore, DrCoates met Swami Ramakrishnananda, and de-scribed Sri Ramakrishna as a ‘gentleman’. Heexamined the patient and correctly diagnosedhis illness. By using signs, Sri Ramakrishna ex-plained to him that God is One, and He is im-manent in all beings. Dr Coates was astonished



to see Sri Ramakrishna in samadhi, though heknew that Jesus Christ had similar experiences.18

John Martin Coates MD (1832-95) wasborn in Belfast in Northern Ireland on 6 July1832 and attended Queen’s University. Hejoined the British army in the Bengal Presi-dency as an Assistant Surgeon (1855), Surgeon(1867), Surgeon Major (1873), Brigade Sur-geon (1881), and retired with an extra pension(1890). Dr Coates served during the SepoyMutiny (1857) and was the Superintendent ofJails in Hazareebaugh (1866). As a scholar, hedemonstrated his interest in Indian culture byauthoring Vocabulary of Seven Languages or Di-alects of Chota Nagpore (1875). Dr Coates wasserving as the ninth principal of the CalcuttaMedical College (1880-90), when he examinedSri Ramakrishna. The College was created bythe British in 1835 with an adjoining hospital(1838) to train Indian doctors. During the timeDr Coates was the Principal of the College, theEden Hospital (1881-82) and Ezra Hospital(1887) were added to the facilities. He died inCalcutta on 18 July 1895.19

~

Notes and References

1. Sri Ramakrishna in the Eyes of Brahma andChristian Admirers, ed. Nanda Mookerjee(Calcutta: Firma KLM, 1976), 127; Swami Pra-bhananda, More About Ramakrishna (Calcutta:Advaita Ashrama, 1993), 130-5 discusses otherChristians who met or saw Sri Ramakrishna.

2. Nanda Mookerjee, op. cit., 135; HaroldFrench, The Swan’s Wide Waters (London:Kennikat Press, 1974), 33.

3. Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna theGreat Master, trans. Swami Jagadananda (Ma-dras: Ramakrishna Math, 1956), 631-2.

4. Steven Pointer, Joseph Cook, Boston Lecturerand Evangelical Apologist (Lewiston: EdwinMellen Press, 1991), 65; Pundita Ramabai,‘High-Caste Hindu Widows’ in Boston MondayLectures (15 July 1887), 251-66.

5. Joseph Cook, Orient (Boston: Houghton,Mifflin, 1891), 110, 114-15, 285-6.

6. Manilal Parekh, Brahmarshi Keshub Chunder

Sen (Rajkot: Oriental Christ House, 1926),177-8.

7. Joseph Cook, op. cit., 283.8. Harold French, op. cit., 33-4, 55-7; Steven

Pointer, op. cit., 117-23, 130-3, 163-4, 206,210.

9. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1-8, 1989; 9,1997), 3.473; Swami Abhedananda, Religion,Revelation and God (Calcutta: RamakrishnaVedanta Math, 1968), 7-8, 23. For more de-tails on Reverend Cook and India see GordonStavig, ‘Reverend Joseph Cook and Vedanta inthe Nineteenth Century’ in American Vedant-ist (1998), 4.21-6; Gordon Stavig, ‘ReverendJoseph Cook and India in the Nineteenth Cen-tury’ in Religion and Society, 1999, 112-8; Jo-seph Cook, op. cit.

10. The Pigot Case: Report of the Case Pigot vs Hastie(Calcutta: Thomas S Smith, 1884), 1, 195, i;Donald Macmillan, The Life of Professor Hastie(Paisley: Alexander Gardner, 1926), 94.

11. CW, 9.350.12. Jaiboy Joseph, ‘Reverend William Hastie’ in

The Hindu, 23 June 2002.13. His Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of

Swami Vivekananda (Calcutta: Advaita Ash-rama, 1965), 26.

14. Swami Saradananda, op. cit., 740, 896; TheHindu, 23 June 2002.

15. The Pigot Case, 1-6, 195-6, 229-30, 329-30,i-v; Donald Macmillan, op. cit., 94-7, 100-1,157-9; The Hindu, op. cit.

16. Personal e-mail correspondence with SallyHarrower, Archival Historian (ManuscriptsDivision), National Library of Scotland.

17. Donald Macmillan, op. cit., 202, 226, 279,284-5, 297-303; Jaiboy Joseph, op. cit.

18. Swami Prabhananda, op. cit., 133-5.19. D G Crawford, Roll of the Indian Medical Ser-

vice (London: W Thacker, 1930), 151; D GCrawford, A History of the Indian Medical Ser-vice, 2 vols. (London: W Thacker, 1914),2.427-8, 435, 438; Swami Prabhananda, op.cit, 133-5.

Westerners Who Saw Sri Ramakrishna 163


Dhan Gopal Mukerji and The Face of SilenceSWAMI TATHAGATANANDA

(Continued from the previous issue)

Romain Rolland invited Dhan GopalMukerji to his home and waited eagerlyfor the opportunity to meet him person-

ally. Fulfilling Rolland’s earnest desire, Mukerjicame to see him from Geneva on 4 October1926; Rolland left a lengthy and vivid descrip-tion of this visit in his diary. Their contact gaveRolland a positive indication of Mukerji’s stateof mind, which solely aspired after spiritual illu-mination, as he wrote in his diary. After thisvisit, Rolland’s interest in Sri Ramakrishna andSwami Vivekananda increased beyond mea-sure.

Rolland also recorded his first visit withMiss MacLeod on 13 May 1927, including hisremarkable statement that ‘many months—nearly a year—after the coming of Mukerji,my sister and I developed an attraction towardsRamakrishna and Vivekananda. Mukerji ac-quainted us with the Ramakrishna Mission inIndia.’9 He further wrote that he received ‘awhole library of books’ on Sri Ramakrishna andSwami Vivekananda ‘through the medium ofMiss MacLeod’.10

Along with the books, Miss MacLeod senther encouragement. In December 1926 she re-ferred to a personal experience during her visitwith M, the author of Sri Sri RamakrishnaKathamrita. M’s entire being remained efful-gent with Sri Ramakrishna’s touch long afterthe Master’s departure. He told Miss MacLeodthat the authentic Ramakrishna—‘too daz-zling’ for most—could be experienced through‘Vivekananda the Moon of his reflection’(405). She wrote: ‘There is great joy [in India]that you mean to write of Rama Krishna …they say, “One body could not containit—Ramakrishna represents the last 3000

years, Vivekananda the next 3000”’ (ibid.).Miss MacLeod visited Rolland in Switzer-

land twice more in 1927, on 14 and 16 May.Afterwards, he wrote of her in his diary: ‘Sheloves to give and take of the spiritual knowledgethat she acquired on the path. She is like thoseinsects that take nectar from a flower and trans-port the regenerating pollen from one flower toanother’ (405-6). Her visits served to furtherinspire and encourage him to write about SriRamakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. He wasgreatly helped in this work by Swami Ashoka-nanda. Rolland wrote to him on 26 June 1927:

It is now one year since some pages of DhanGopal Mukherjee … have effectually revealed tome the great soul of Sri Ramakrishna; and thisbeam of light has impelled me to know more ofhis life and thought. … during the days passedtogether [with Miss MacLeod] we talked atlength of Swami Vivekananda. I look uponSwami Vivekananda as a fire of spiritual en-ergy—and on Sri Ramakrishna as a flower oflove. Both radiate God and Life Eternal. Thegreater genius is Vivekananda, but Sri Ramak-rishna is above genius.11

On 4 October 1927, exactly one year afterthey met, Rolland wrote to Mukerji:

When I happen to read in some text about Indiasome revelation which makes a deep impressionon my mind, I do not discover it as a newthought, I recognize it as one of my own hiddenthoughts. It was engraved within me, since eter-nity. … The Eternal has scattered Himself, inhandfuls, over the entire field of humanity. Theearth is not yet ready everywhere to make theseed germinate. Somewhere, it rises and bearsfruit. Somewhere else, it lies dormant. But theseed is everywhere. And turn by turn, what wasdormant awakens, and what was awake goes


back to sleep. The Spirit is always moving, frompeople to people, from man to man. And nopeople, no man, imprisons it. But it is the fire ofthe eternal life in each one, the same Fire. Andwe live, to feed it.12

Rolland’s Inspired Biographies ofSri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda

The ancient spiritual truths of In-dia—through an embodied form that broad-casts them to the world—continue to be mas-tered and given to humanity in every age with asuitable dimension and depth. All of India waselated with joy at the publication of Rolland’sbiographies of Sri Ramakrishna and SwamiVivekananda. They were originally publishedin French and then translated: The Life ofRamakrishna (French: 1st edition, 1928, 2ndedition, January 1929; English: August 1929);Prophets of the New India (combining the twobiographies; English: 1930); and The Life ofVivekananda and the Universal Gospel (English:1931). E F Malcolm-Smith translated them allat Cambridge. The English translation of theLife of Ramakrishna was first serialized in Asiamagazine, a New York monthly journal. It wasintroduced in the October 1929 issue, with thefollowing editorial commentary: ‘In it, the dis-tinguished French man of letters offers a mes-sage to the peoples of the West. It is one of hu-man realization—not new nor limited by raceand national boundaries—not unshared by usall, but so clear and full in this Hindu saint thatit can be passed on for the universal enrichmentof man’s spirit.’13

The biographies reached many eminentreaders. Rolland was a renowned writer outsidehis native France. He now successfully revealedto France and the West the existence of ancientIndian wisdom in modern times in Rama-krishna-Vivekananda. His prodigious and in-spired writings on this subject created a strongspiritual bond between India and France. Ear-lier in his life, Rolland had believed that the in-tellectual European elite could solve the prob-lems of the West and had envisioned a Welt-bibliothek or meeting place for European and

Asian writers. He had even prepared a blueprintfor a ‘Friendship House’. However, he aban-doned these ideas and other noble plans. In theLife of Vivekananda, he framed his appeal to theWest: ‘Among the spiritual ruins strewn all overEurope, our “Mother India” will teach you toexcavate the unshakable foundations of yourCapitole. She possesses the calculations and theplans of the “Master Craftsman”. Let us rebuildour house with our own materials.’14

Rolland desired to bring spiritual enlight-enment to the West. He also possessed a deepappreciation of those Incarnations of Truthwho were also capable of social action to intro-duce, implement and maintain unity amongthe people. In I Will Not Rest, Rolland dis-closed: ‘When I set out on an intellectual pil-grimage to India, I brought back with me notthe static dream of the infinite in which Indianthought is exhausted, but men who knew howto derive energy from Dream, men who couldplunge into the seething arenas of action: Gan-dhi, the shepherd of the peoples, and the hero,Vivekananda.’15

The final chapters of the Life ofRamakrishna, ‘The Swan Song’ and ‘The RiverRe-enters the Sea’, inspired an Indian scholar towrite that they could have been composed ‘onlyby one whose learning was illumined by whatwe call in Indian epistemology árøa-jñána orsiddhadarùana’.16

Seven years after the two biographies werepublished, Rolland’s close friend Jean Herberttravelled to India and sent him word that ‘thewhole Ramakrishna Order recognizes that thewidespread extension of the thought and theglory of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda is dueto [Rolland’s] books’.17 Around 1935 JeanHerbert met Miss MacLeod and was inspiredby her encouragement to translate SwamiVivekananda’s ‘Four Yogas’ and ‘InspiredTalks’ into French. This was followed, remark-ably, by the commemoration of Sri Ramakrish-na’s one-hundredth birth anniversary at theSorbonne, at which the French orientalist PaulMasson Oursel lectured on Swami Vivekanan-

Dhan Gopal Mukerji and The Face of Silence 165


da and the impending publication of Herbert’stranslations was announced. The foundation ofthe Centre Vedantique Ramakrichna in Pariswas a direct result of this event (the Centre hassince moved to Gretz). Miss MacLeod’s vigilantdesire, over many years, to have these workspublished by Macmillan & Company was nowrealized through the intervention of her friend,American author Edgar Lee Masters (1869-1950). When Masters wrote to Macmillan thatthe ‘spiritual solution of the world dependsupon the assimilation of these works’, the pub-lisher asked him to return Swami Viveka-nanda’s books for further consideration (409).They were published in very popular pocketeditions in English (American Pocket Edition,1941) and German.

Struggling to define Indian mysticism, theFrench philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941) drew inspiration from Rolland’s biogra-phies of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveka-nanda. Another inspired reader was Dr FelixMarti-Ibanez, who confessed in The Mirror ofSouls that he took only one volume from hisvast treasured collection when he had to flee hiscountry during the Spanish Civil War. It wasRolland’s Life of Vivekananda and the UniversalGospel, because, he wrote, ‘That uniquely mag-nificent, mystical book inspired me through theyears to dedicate my life to the service of others’(407-8).

In his preface to the Life of Ramakrishna,Rolland expressed his gratitude to ‘Mr DhanGopal Mukerji, who first revealed Ramakrish-na’s existence to me, and to my faithful friend,Dr Kalidas Nag, who has more than once ad-vised and instructed me. May I have made thebest use of so many excellent guides for the ser-vice of the India which is dear to us and of thehuman spirit!’18 In the bibliography he wrotethat ‘Mukerji has consulted all the principaldocuments. He has also interviewed several ofthe eminent personalities of the RamakrishnaMission, who knew the Master, in particularSwami Turiyananda, and he has used the Mem-oirs of Swami Premananda, one of Ramakrish-

na’s dearest disciples’ (302).Mukerji read Rolland’s biography of Sri

Ramakrishna, which his Face of Silence had in-spired. On 10 November 1931 he wrote a letterto Rolland from New York, expressing hispraise and appreciation:

At last I have read your Ramakrishna and Vive-kananda both in French and English. In theEnglish translation I have studied the notes withcare. … This is not a book but the epic poem ofthe holiness of our time. You have traced the ho-liness of all mankind under every sentence.

The Ramakrishna that emerges from yourpages is not a Hindu saint only, [he is] also theagony of our modern soul for Godhood. Thepain of man-God for God-man nowhere do Ifind so poignantly stated in the literature of theworld since Tolstoy penned his Confessions!Now I feel I have earned my passport to Paradisebecause I introduced you to Ramakrishna. I hadno idea that I was bringing Prometheus to thehidden source of the Flame Eternal. … YourRamakrishna is as simple and as fierce as the onethey, his apostles, knew. I wish Vivekananda wasalive to gaze upon the portrait that you havedrawn of the Master. He alone could give youthe praise that you deserve. As for Vivekananda,yours is the only one that India recognises.Where you say ‘Ecce Homo’, we recognise ofwhom you speak. He was implicit in all of us;but you have made him explicit. If yourRamakrishna is the eternal India, yourVivekananda is the precipitation of that Eternalin our history. Ramakrishna IS; VivekanandaMoves. What a magical composition of holinessyou have wrought in two keys!19

An Indirect Benefit of Rolland’s Pacifism:His Books Are Published in Russia

The letter I received from Dhan GopalMukerji II included an important addition toour homage to his father’s role in disseminatingRamakrishna-Vivekananda in the West. Rol-land’s pacifism led indirectly to this significantbenefit. Mr Mukerji wrote that the followingstory ‘came from Tantine via Swami Nikhil-ananda’:

Sometime after 1928, Romain Rolland remar-



ried. She was French and an ardent pacifist in theCommunist movement in Europe. Stalin had apropaganda program going on the theme thatCommunism was pacifist and seeking the broth-erhood of mankind. His followers organized vis-its to Russia by prominent personages whowould carry this message back to their homecountries. A delegation of prominent writers,professors and philosophers was recruited fromEurope. Romain Rolland, known as an ardentpacifist and Nobel Prize Laureate, was encour-aged by his wife to join it.

Romain arranged with various Europeanpublications and newspapers to send regular re-ports on what he would see during his visit. So heand his wife made what equated to [a] guidedtour sponsored by the Communist Hierarchy.He was easily seduced by what he saw and whathe heard and sent very favorable reports back toWestern Europe. So favorable, in fact, that Sta-lin himself offered him an interview and [the op-portunity] to discuss ‘our shared belief in Peace.’In his recognition, Stalin asked Romain Rol-land, ‘What can I do for you?’ And RR said: ‘Letmy books be published and distributed in Rus-sia.’ Stalin agreed—and his books on (1) SriRamakrishna and (2) on Swami Vivekanandaentered circulation in the USSR.

Tantine wrote from Helsinki in July 1936on hearing of my Father’s death and gave tributeto my Father for his role in introducing their‘messages’ indirectly into the USSR.

Romain Rolland’s biographies of SriRamakrishna and Swami Vivekananda and hisarticle, ‘Asia’s Reply to Tolstoy’, which formeda chapter in K Lomunov’s Tolstoy and the Con-temporary World, ignited Russia’s interest in theteachings of Sri Ramakrishna and SwamiVivekananda. Rolland’s biographies of Rama-krishna and Vivekananda were also primary ve-hicles of the living wisdom of the Upanishads.

In 1936, during the period of the heaviestcensorship in Russia, Rolland’s Life of Rama-krishna was inconspicuously published in Rus-sia.20 Rolland’s volumes that escaped the terri-ble literary purges were published anew in theirentirety after the Second World War and be-came available through the public libraries. It isremarkable that the edition most favoured and

requested by Russian readers was ‘that small oldedition which appeared first’ (749). Brezhnevpermitted Rybakov, Russia’s eminent Indo-logist, historian and a senior research fellow atthe Institute of Oriental Studies of the RussianAcademy of Sciences, to rewrite selections fromthe Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (originally pub-lished in New York in 1942). Russian editors,however, restricted Rybakov, forcing him todelete all references to ‘God’ (ibid.).

In later years Gorbachev permitted theimmediate publication of newly revised and re-printed editions of Rolland’s Life of Rama-krishna as a part of perestroika, his liberal re-forms. Rolland’s biography of Sri Ramakrishnawas first published in monthly serial form,causing widespread duplication and a triplingof sales for the journal Nayuka u Religia (Sci-ence and Religion), in which pictures of SriRamakrishna and Swami Vivekananda werealso published for the first time. Simultaneouspublications of the book appeared in Leningradand Kiev. A Vivekananda Society also was es-tablished to promote spiritual culture. SriRamakrishna’s sayings were modernized andthese, as well as Swami Vivekananda’s most im-portant works, were translated and published.Over the years, Rolland’s works have attractedand inspired Ramakrishna-Vivekananda schol-ars as well as scholars interested in Hindu phi-losophy. Rybakov has written:

The teachings of Sri Ramakrishna and his closestdisciple Swami Vivekananda have always consti-tuted an issue of lively interest for the Russianreaders from the beginning of this [twentieth]century. Several years before the October Revo-lution, or more precisely, even before the com-mencement of the First World War, the first vol-umes of the translated version of the precepts ofSri Ramakrishna and the works of Swami Vivek-ananda were published and became knownamong the elite circles of Russian intelligentsia(746)

… the prophetic teachings of Sri Rama-krishna and Swami Vivekananda are of universalimport and of great moral worth for the whole ofhumanity. Transcending the barriers of politicalfrontiers and time, these ideas are bound to be

Dhan Gopal Mukerji and The Face of Silence 167


embraced by all the people of the earth seekingto reach the realm of truth—irrespective of theircaste, creed, colour, sex, social standing, or reli-gion and other doctrinal beliefs (750).

A preacher of an eternal philosophy, Swamijiis the most suitable person to help our countrytoday. What is required by a tormented land ismoral rejuvenation. Swamiji himself has saidthat even if all the wealth of the world were in-vested in one village of India, the conditionsthere would never improve. What is required isthe awakening of sleeping souls. The philosophyof Vivekananda is a perfect blend of religion andscience, and it contains ample flexibility. It isdefinitely not bound by an imposed rigidity, asmost ideologies are (755).

We are not including substantive infor-mation about the Ramakrishna-Vivekanandaphenomenon in Russia; it is not the subject ofthis essay. However, all these events are links inan unbroken chain of quiet, profound spirituallabour. As of this writing, newly discovered ar-chival materials about Dhan Gopal Mukerji areen route to his son from his cousin in France. �

References9. Romain Rolland, Inde (Journal 1915-1943)

(Paris, 1960), 192, as in Journey of the Upani-shads, 212.

10. Josephine MacLeod and Vivekananda, 404.11. Prabuddha Bharata, May 1966, 204.12. Inde as in Journey of the Upanishads, 213-4.13. Asia, October 1929, 761.14. Romain Rolland, Life of Vivekananda and the

Universal Gospel (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,1979), 295.

15. Romain Rolland, I Will Not Rest (London),265, as in Journey of the Upanishads, 217.

16. Bulletin of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute ofCulture, February 1991, 36.

17. Josephine MacLeod and Vivekananda, 407.18. Life of Ramakrishna, ix-x.19. Vedanta Kesari, May 1946, 16.20. R B Rybakov, ‘Vivekananda for Post-Commu-

nist Russia’ in Swami Vivekananda—A Hun-dred Years Since Chicago: A CommemorativeVolume (Belur: Ramakrishna Math andRamakrishna Mission, 1994), 748.



The Meeting of Faith and Intellect

Ramakrishna was the representative of the totality of Hinduism. The Puranic aspects of Hinduism

had been roundly criticized by Christians and rationalists. When Rammohan Roy and Dayananda

stood up to speak for Hinduism, even they could not muster courage to speak in favour of Puranic Hin-

duism, for no argument acceptable to the rationalists could be adduced in its favour. … Hinduism mani-

fested its living form in the person of Ramakrishna and said to its critics, ‘See with your eyes that which

you cannot understand with your reason.’ So Ramakrishna was the representative of those forms of

Hinduism towards which Christian preachers were antagonistic, and which rational Hindus could not

understand. But Narendranath was the very image of reason. He personified European thought, and all

the factors that led even English-educated Hindus to criticize Hinduism were present in him. When

Vivekananda sought refuge in Ramakrishna, it was, in reality, modern India seeking refuge with ancient

India, or Europe coming face to face with India. Ramakrishna's meeting with Vivekananda was the

meeting of faith and intellect, of esoterism and rationalism. Of these two images, one was wrapped in

Puranic truths, took even the external forms of religion to be valid and wanted to keep them intact,

and was keen on proving all the spiritual practices of ancient India to be true; the other was eager to

cut through the dialectics and external bonds of religion. Ramakrishna did not take anything from

Narendranath; but yes, he made a Vivekananda out of Narendranath by pouring into him his spiritual

power and transcendent vision. Maybe the East and the West have met in the meeting of Ramakrishna

and Vivekananda, and in all probability true global welfare will come to pass the day when the Western

world comes to imbibe the spiritual wealth of the East—and on that day will be realized the goals of all

peace-seekers.

—translated from Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Vivek-Jyoti, January 1963

Wages of WrathN HARIHARAN

‘Power corrupts and absolute power cor-rupts absolutely.’ This is a famousmaxim laid down by Lord Acton in the

rule book of politics. Lord Acton should know,because he had a thorough grasp of the chemis-try and operational dynamics of power. It logi-cally follows that, as a rule, the repositories ofabsolute power are squalid cesspools of moraland spiritual depravity and shocking specimensof corruption. The bane of concentration ofpower is sought to be whittled down in themodern era by the machinery of democracy,which is essentially an institutional device fordecentralization and dispersal of power. But indays of antiquity when absolute monarchy wasthe rule, power, absolute and arbitrary, inheredin an individual. The king’s power was enor-mous and unquestioned. No wonder the ma-jority of kings personified brutal power, arbi-trary whims and despotic impulses. The headywine of power intoxicated them. They were ar-rogant, aggressive, sinful and sadistic. The kingwas more feared than loved. He was a veritablemillstone around the neck of his subjects.

But there were notable exceptions also.Ashoka, the beloved of the gods, Akbar theGreat and Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-king, were all outstanding monarchs unbittenby the bug of power. They were, in spite of theunlimited regal power they enjoyed, benevo-lent, magnanimous and caring, mainly becauseof the spiritual core that defined their personali-ties. Our epics and Puranas are replete with in-stances of righteous kings who were unobtru-sive and humble in spite of the stupendouspower they wielded. To the impressive galaxy ofsuch noble monarchs belongs King Ambarisha,of whom the Bhagavata speaks in glowingterms. The story of Ambarisha as related by theBhagavata1 is a saga of self-effacing devotion

humbling the egregious spiritual insolence ofan eminent sage who falls victim to anger in anunguarded moment.

A Noble Lineage

Rajarshi Ambarisha is a scion of the Iksh-vaku dynasty. He is descended of a noble and il-lustrious lineage. The sterling virtues that hehas are both congenital and cultivated. He is amighty king exercising sovereignty over a vastempire. Shuka calls him a ‘blessed soul’ (mahá-bhága) who has in mind not his status as theruler of the earth but his exalted position as adevotee of Vishnu. His opulence is inexhaust-ible and his glory unfading. He is heir to a dou-ble patrimony—one in the form of materialwealth and the other in the form of spiritualtreasures.

Ambarisha’s father Nabhaga was a para-gon of virtue and a model of rectitude andtruthfulness. An incident in Nabhaga’s earlylife illustrates his dedication to truth. Nabhagawas mulcted of his share of inheritance by hisbrothers when he was away engaged in his stud-ies. On his return from the gurukula, he was ex-horted by his helpless father to go to a sacrificeperformed by certain sages and help them byclarifying doubts that often occurred to them inthe course of their ritual. His father also toldhim that the sages, pleased with his timely ser-vices, would bestow on him all the remnants ofthe sacrificial materials on completion of therite. Accordingly, Nabhaga went to the sacrificeconducted by the sages and waited upon them.At the end of the sacrifice, the sages bequeathedthe residue of the materials to Nabhaga. WhenNabhaga was about to take possession of them,there appeared on the scene a dark-complex-ioned person pressing his exclusive claims onthe full quantum of the materials. They finally


agreed to refer the dispute to Nabhaga’s father,who with an exemplary sense of judicial impar-tiality pronounced the verdict in favour of thedark-complexioned person. He said that it hadbeen settled long ago that the remnants of sacri-ficial materials rightfully belonged to Rudra.Nabhaga dutifully abided by his father’s deci-sion and renounced his claim. Impressed withthe sense of probity, righteousness and truth-fulness of Nabhaga and his father, the dark-complexioned Rudra gave the materials to Na-bhaga and vanished.

A True Jnani and a Perfect Bhakta

No wonder then that Ambarisha, the sonof the truthful Nabhaga, is a repository of all thefinest virtues. Shuka’s delineation of the profileof Ambarisha is sharp, suggestive and signifi-cant. Shuka loses himself in a cascade of elo-quence as he describes Ambarisha’s uniquecharacter in inimitable language. Says he: ‘Am-barisha, though the master of the vast earthcomprising seven continents and endowedwith inexhaustible wealth and incomparableprowess, knew it all to be short-lived anddream-like (sarvaó tat svapnasaóstutam)—even though for ordinary men it was most diffi-cult to attain (ati durlabhaó puósám)—andthat it led only to spiritual blindness (vidvánvibhavanirváîaó tamo viùati yat pumán). Beingsupremely devoted (prápto bhávaó param) toBhagavan Vasudeva and his pious devotees, heregarded the whole universe as nothing morethan a mere clod of earth (loøôavat smìtam)’(9.4.15-7).

Here is an unmistakable clue to the subtleand inexorable workings of true devotion. Gen-uine devotion sees through the hollowness oftemporal pomp and ignites the spark of extremedispassion. Being a devotee par excellence,Ambarisha, though surrounded by a sea of opu-lence, stands immovable as a mighty rock ofdispassion. Now, this incredible same-sighted-ness that looks equally upon a piece of gold anda lump of clay is possible only for a sthitaprajnawho is ever poised in the non-dualistic state. So

Ambarisha fully answers to the description of ajnani contained in the Bhagavadgita: ‘En-lightened men are those who see the same (At-man) in a learned and humble brahmana, acow, an elephant, or even a dog or an outcaste.’2Shuka clearly indicates through his pregnantwords that Ambarisha is a jnani.

A perfect jnani has inevitably to be a per-fect bhakta. He is the worshipper of either theImpersonal Absolute or the Personal God.Ambarisha is a staunch devotee of Vishnu. Allhis faculties, physical and mental, are oriented,in their entirety, to the adoration of Achyuta.Shuka says: ‘His mind ever clings to the lotusfeet of Krishna, his speech in recounting the di-vine glories of Vaikuntha, his hands in cleaningthe temple of Hari, his ears in hearing the sto-ries about Achyuta, his eyes in seeing the beau-teous idols and temples of Mukunda, his physi-cal frame in embracing His devotees, his nose insmelling the fragrance of tulasi leaves offered atthe feet of the Lord, his feet in treading the holytracts consecrated to Hari and his head in bow-ing at the lotus feet of Hrishikesha.’3 By de-scribing Ambarisha’s total dedication to theLord, Shuka demonstrates that true bhakti isnothing but a state of being in perpetual unionwith the Lord.

A Sage King

It might be supposed that Ambarisha isipso facto an inept monarch who, ever im-mersed in self-forgetting devotion and tran-scendental wisdom, is ill-equipped for the ex-acting tasks of governance and statecraft.Shuka’s significant remark dispels the miscon-ception and shows that Ambarisha is in fact anideal king who wields the sceptre as it should be:‘He rules his kingdom dedicating all his secularand spiritual activities to Adhokshaja, with hismind ever anchored in the Lord (bhagavaty-adhokøaje sarvátmabhávaó vidadhan) andguided by the counsel of men of sagely wisdom(tanniøôhaviprábhihitaë) (9.4.21).

Dedication of one’s actions to God, withthe conviction that one is a mere instrument of



the divine Will is the crux of karma yoga. Thus,Shuka implies that Ambarisha, being a jnaniand a bhakta, cannot but be a full-fledgedkarma yogin. The Gita categorically affirmsthat yoga is skill in action.4 Performance ofone’s allotted duties in the spirit of karma yogaand being ever united with the Divine cannotbut be skilful action. In the eloquent words ofShuka, ‘The king, by his assiduous practice ofthe triple disciplines of bhakti yoga, the yoga ofpenance and the yoga of disinterested perfor-mance of his duties pleased Hari (bhaktiyogenatapoyuktena svadharmeîa harió præîan) andgradually cut the cords of attachment (saïgánsarváðchanairjahau) and developed a notion ofunreality (akarodasanmatim) with respect to hishouse, wife, sons, relatives, elephants, chariots,horses, soldiers, jewels and ornaments, weap-ons and all his inexhaustible treasury.’5

These remarks of Shuka clearly show thatAmbarisha is a royal sage in whom the triunedisciplines of jnana yoga, bhakti yoga andkarma yoga have attained a happy fusion.Ambarisha is a standing testimony to the factthat the holy staff of the recluse, the rosary ofthe devotee and the sceptre of the monarch arenot mutually exclusive and can conjointly takethe spiritual aspirant to the summum bonum offinal release.

Divine Protection

The Lord is so mightily pleased with Amb-arisha’s rare devotion (ekánta bhakti bhávenapræto) that He does him an unprecedented fa-vour. He stations His potent and terrifying dis-cus, Sudarshana, at Ambarisha’s palace for hisprotection (bhìtyábhirakøaîam)! (9.4.28). It isdoubtful whether the Lord has ever shown asimilar marked favour to any other devotee.What makes Him extend such a strange andspectacular favour to Ambarisha? Could it bethat the Lord’s appointment of the Sudar-shana-chakra for Ambarisha’s eternal safety isdue to His knowledge that, as a king, Ambar-isha is vulnerable to the perils of external aggres-sion and internal uprising, which are likely to

hamper his serious devotional pursuits? Orcould it be that He has a premonition of thegrave tribulation and risk of personal dangerAmbarisha is to soon face in the course of hissincere fulfilment of religious vows? Or could itbe that He wants to demonstrate to the worldthe reward that awaits unflagging devotion of ahigh order? Surely, the ways of the Lord are in-scrutable. But the fact remains that the divinediscus, terrible and invincible, keepsunwinking vigil at Ambarisha’s palace to wardoff dangers that are likely to threaten him.

On the Horns of a Dilemma

As part of his devotional exercises in ado-ration of Achyuta, Ambarisha scrupulously ob-serves the dvádaùæ-vrata, a religious vow that in-volves prolonged fasting and single-mindedmeditation on the Lord, along with his wife,who is equal to him in all virtues. At the end ofthe vow, he worships Keshava at Madhuvanawith great devotion by performing all the pre-scribed acts of adoration. He feeds the brah-manas sumptuously and gives them liberalpresents like well-adorned cows that yield copi-ous milk. The rules of the vow demand that hecomplete it by ending his fast within a particu-lar time. Now that point has almost approachedand Ambarisha, with the permission of the as-sembled brahmanas, is about to take his meal—when the eminent sage Durvasa appears onthe scene.

Ambarisha is extremely delighted at thearrival of the venerable sage. He extends to himall the traditional honours due to an esteemedguest (atithi) and humbly prays him to dine athis place. The sage readily accepts the invitationand goes to the nearby Yamuna for his bath anddevotions, promising to return soon.

Time passes inexorably, and the deadlinefor ending the fast is almost at hand. Ambarishais anxiously awaiting Durvasa’s return, butthere is no sign of it. The king finds himselfstuck on the horns of a dilemma. What is he todo now? If he delays ending his fast till the sagereturns, he would be guilty of a serious lapse in

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the fulfilment of the vow; that would be sacrile-gious. And if he ends the fast by eating beforethe arrival of the sage, he would be guilty of dis-respecting an honoured guest; that wouldamount to insulting the puissant sage. In all hu-mility, Ambarisha appeals to the elders conver-sant with the scriptural rules to show him theway out of the imbroglio. He says: ‘If I eat, thesin of slighting the sage would befall me. If I donot eat, my vow will prove abortive. Pray showme the line of action I should adopt so thatgood may betide me and sin may not touch me(yatkìtvá sádhu me bhuyádadharmo vá na máóspìùet)’ (9.4.39).

Ambarisha’s appeal to the bar of scripturalwisdom for the resolution of the crisis throws aflood of light upon his lofty character. Here isan all-powerful monarch whose writ runs un-questioned throughout the length and breadthof a vast kingdom. If he wants, Ambarisha canarrogate to himself the wisdom and final au-thority to decide on this ticklish issue and uni-laterally take a decision one way or the other.But his act of eliciting the expert opinion of theassembled elders is a measure of his deep humil-ity, high regard for his elders in age and wis-dom, and firm loyalty to scriptural mandate.The elders voice their view by saying, ‘You maybreak the fast, O King, by taking a sip of water(ambhasá kevalena). Wise men say that taking asip of water is, at once, tantamount to eatingand not eating food (práhurabbhakøaîaó vipráhyaùitaó náùitaó ca tat)’ (9.4.40).

Accordingly, Ambarisha ends his fast byhaving a sip of water, all the while meditatingon Achyuta, and eagerly awaits Durvasa’s re-turn.

Durvasa’s Rage …

Then the sage comes back from the river.Even as he approaches Ambarisha, he comes toknow, through his power of clairvoyance, ofwhat he considers a grave offence on the king’spart: Ambarisha’s act of ending the fast even be-fore he is fed. The choleric Durvasa’s eyes red-den, his face contorts into a forbidding frown

and he flies into a paroxysm of rage. With knit-ted brows, he casts a blazing look at Ambarisha,who receives the sage with folded hands.Durvasa thunders: ‘Look at the flagrant viola-tion of dharma by this man who is intoxicatedwith the pride of wealth and who considershimself the supreme overlord, but who is, infact, destitute of even a tinge of devotion toVishnu. He invites me, a guest, to accept hishospitality, but humiliates me by breaking hisfast even before feeding me! Now he will knowwhat the supreme penance of a sage like me cando to quell his overweening insolence. I shallforthwith show him the consequences of hisunrighteous act.’

So saying, Durvasa wrathfully plucks alock of hair from his head and, lo, out of itemerges a goblin, fierce as the Fire of Dissolu-tion! The grisly fiend rushes, sword in hand, to-wards Ambarisha to slay him. But the king, apicture of serenity and sangfroid, stands mo-tionless, willing and ready to submit himself todeath if he were indeed an offender deservingsuch a terrible punishment. With his whole be-ing anchored in Vishnu-consciousness, he at-tempts neither to fight nor to flee. He juststands there as a perfect model of poise andself-surrender.



… and Its Terrible ConsequenceNow happens the miracle. The divine dis-

cus Sudarshana, appointed by Lord Hari tosafeguard Ambarisha, swings into action and ina trice burns down the fiend as a blazing firewould an angry cobra. Then it turns towardsDurvasa himself and starts chasing him! In ut-ter fright the sage takes to his heels and runs indifferent directions to different realms inhab-ited by various heavenly beings. But the discuswould not leave him. He seeks refuge inBrahmaloka, but the Creator pleads his inabil-ity to help, saying, ‘All of us including the entireuniverse owe our existence to Sri Hari in whom,at the time of Cosmic Dissolution, everythingmerges and dissolves by His mere will. All of us,including Lord Bhava, Daksha and Bhrigu,carry out with bowed heads His behests for thewelfare of the world. How am I to pit myselfagainst the Lord’s inexorable will?’ Durvasa,distraught with grief, then seeks sanctuary inKailasa and appeals to Shiva for rescue fromSudarshana. Shiva too expresses his helplessnessin the matter and says, ‘We are all under thethumb of His maya and powerless to compre-hend His inscrutable ways. We spring intomanifestation and dissolve into latency repeat-edly by His mere will. We cannot oppose the ir-resistible power of the divine discus, the dread-ful weapon of Sri Hari. You would do well toseek refuge at His own feet, for He alone can en-sure your welfare.’ Harried by Sudarshana’s re-lentless pursuit, Durvasa hurries to Vaikuntha,where Sri Hari resides with His divine consort.Trembling with fear, he throws himself at LordNarayana’s feet and laments piteously: ‘OAchyuta! O Ananta! Ignorant of Thy supremeprowess, I have committed a grave offenceagainst Thy dear devotee. Please pardon my sinand save me!’

The Power of Devotion …

Lord Vishnu takes the opportunity to ar-ticulate a mystic truth that forms an importantaspect of the doctrine of devotion.

He says: ‘O Sage! I am under the control of

My devotees and destitute of any freedom, as itwere (ahaó bhaktaparádhæno hyasvatantra ivadvija). My heart is taken captive by the sadhuswho are ever devoted to Me (bhaktaië sádhu-bhirgrastahìdayo) and I am the only beloved forthem (bhaktajanapriyaë). I covet not anythingmore than the unmotivated love of My devo-tees (náham átmánam áùáse madbhaktaiësádhubhirviná). Giving up all—their wives,sons, home, friends, wealth, and even their verylife—they have resorted to Me as the sole haven(ye dárágáraputráptán práîán vittamimaóparaó hitvá máó ùaraîaó yátáë). How can Idesert them (kathaó táóstyaktum utsahe)?Their hearts ever tied to Me, they attract Me assurely as chaste women attract their noble hus-bands (mayi nirbaddhahìdayáë vaùækurvantimáó satstriyaë satpatió yathá). Their sole de-light is in rendering loving service to Me (mat-sevayá pratætaó). They disdain even the four su-pernal blessings of sálokya (residence in Myrealm), sámæpya (living in proximity to Me),sárépya (attainment of My form) and sáyujya(complete absorption in Me) (sálokyádi-catuøôayam necchanti), being sated through ded-icated service to Me (sevayá pérîáë). Will they,then, be enamoured of the petty delights sub-ject to the sway of Time (kuto’nyat kála-vidrutam)? Sadhus are My very heart and I amthe heart of sadhus (sádhavo hìdayaó mahyaósádhénáó hìdayaó tvaham); they know notanything else than Me, nor do I know in theleast anything other than them (madanyat te najánanti náhaó tebhyo manágapi)’ (9.4.63-8).

These words of the Lord give us an inklingof the esoteric relationship that exists betweenHim and His devotees. In a word, He is their al-pha and omega.

… and the Dangers of Conceit

Lord Vishnu then makes a very profoundobservation that spiritual aspirants can ill affordto ignore: ‘O Sage! Austerity and knowledge areboth conducive to spiritual welfare for personsendowed with humility (tapo vidyá ca vipráîáóniëùreyasakare ubhe). But in the case of a person

Wages of Wrath 173


lacking in modesty, those very things lead tocontrary results (te eva durvinætasya kalpetekarturanyathá)’ (9.4.70).

The poison of pride vitiates all the noblevirtues in a person and renders them worthless.Even scholars and sages are not exempt fromthe stigma of self-conceit. That is why in thevery opening line of his Vishnu-shatpadi Shan-karacharya, an embodiment of humility, praysfor the removal of pride: ‘O Vishnu! Removepride (avinayamapanaya viøîo).’

The Devotee’s Glory

Vishnu then exhorts Durvasa to seekAmbarisha’s help in escaping from the menac-ing Sudarshana. The sage rushes to the king,clasps his feet and craves pardon for his un-thinking misdemeanour. The king shudders inanguish and embarrassment at the sage’s act.Then he utters a stirring hymn in praise of thedivine discus, praying to it to be benign andpropitious to the sage and grant him safety.Sudarshana promptly calms down and ceasesfrom its murderous chase. Durvasa, with a be-wildered mind and a contrite heart, now sings apaean in praise of the glory of the Lord’s devo-

tees. He exclaims in great astonishment: ‘Ah! Ihave seen today the glory of the servitors ofAnanta. You strive, O King, for the good ofeven him who has wronged you. Indeed, what isimpossible of accomplishment for such sadhusand what is there too hard for them to re-nounce? (Aho anantadásánáó mahattvaódìøôamadya me; Kìtágaso’pi yadrájan maïgalánisamæhase. Duøkaraë ko nu sádhénáó dustyajo vámahátmanám)’ (9.5.14-5).

Ambarisha has been waiting for one fullyear without eating anything, expecting Dur-vasa’s return. Now that the sage has come, theking honours him by feeding him sumptu-ously. Then, permitted by the contented Dur-vasa, he takes his meal consisting of the rem-nants of food that had been partaken of by thesage. Finally Durvasa showers his blessings onAmbarisha and takes leave of him.

The Source and Course of Anger

Durvasa is an eminent sage who has prac-tised the severest austerities. Even in the mindof that sage prowls the growling beast of anger.What is the reason? To understand this para-dox, we have to find out what the source of an-ger is.

The verses of the Bhagavadgita locate thesource of anger precisely. The Gita portrays in acouple of arresting verses the unstoppable slidetowards utter perdition of an individual whobroods on sense objects: ‘In one who dwellslongingly on sense objects, attachment to themis produced. From attachment develops desire,and from desire comes anger. From anger arisesdelusion and delusion results in loss of mem-ory. Loss of memory brings about the destruc-tion of intelligence and by the destruction of in-telligence he is ruined.’6 So the Gita clearly pin-points the act of brooding on sense objects asthe villain of the piece.

But Durvasa is a model of self-control notgiven to indulging in sensuous fantasies. A manof intense self-discipline, he is apparently a spir-itual giant in whom there is not even the mild-est flicker of desire. True, he is proof against the



lures of sense delights that abound in the objec-tive universe. But there is in him, perhaps bur-ied deep down in his subconscious mind, a sub-tle craving, far more insidious and irresistible,for constant public acknowledgement and ac-claim of his spiritual eminence. His overween-ing sense of self-importance and his domineer-ing manner make him highly sensitive to eventhe smallest acts of other people, however in-consequential they may be. He perceives insultswhere none is intended.

And here is Ambarisha, an innocuous kingwho is so good and peace-loving that he wouldnot so much as hurt a fly. In order to meet an in-dispensable requirement of a religious vow hehas already undertaken, and thus avoid a lapsein its fulfilment, he takes a sip of water as coun-selled by the wise men and symbolically endshis fast. But even this simple act of the king’sDurvasa misconstrues as an insufferable affrontto him, and his obsessive sense of vanity ispricked. It sends the sage up a spiral of infernalfury. In stark contrast, even when faced withthe danger of physical annihilation, Ambarishakeeps his cool and does not let the impendingdisaster impair his high regard for the man whois its cause!

Notwithstanding all his austerity and pen-ance, Durvasa is still a prisoner of his own nar-row ego. His mind is still a playing field for thethree gunas and subject to violent mood swings.True to the Gita statement that kama andkrodha are born of rajas, his craving for publicacclaim and his anger at imaginary slights arethe products of his rajoguna. The triple gunas

can have their riotous play only in the environ-ment set up by ego consciousness. In the uni-versal consciousness that Ambarisha’s mindtypifies, the interplay of the gunas ceases. Inthat serene mind bereft of the clash of the gunasprevails the supreme ‘peace that passeth under-standing’.

There are a couple of crucial lessons thatthe story of Ambarisha teaches. First, the bestethical and spiritual qualities are of no availwithout the support of the golden virtue of hu-mility. And humility is an expression of ex-panded consciousness. Second, anger is an in-dex of ego consciousness or constricted con-sciousness. It is certainly bad, under any cir-cumstance, to deliver oneself into the hands ofthe scourge of anger. But to vent the venom offury on a peace-loving soul for imaginary griev-ances is positively atrocious. As described ear-lier, the inevitable corollaries of anger are delu-sion, failure of memory, destruction of intelli-gence and total ruin.

In a word, the wages of wrath are igno-miny and extinction. Like it or not, once thewages are earned they are not open to the luxuryof non-acceptance! ~

References

1. Bhagavata, 9.4-5.2. Bhagavadgita, 5.18.3. Bhagavata, 9.4.18-20.4. Bhagavadgita, 2.50.5. Bhagavata, 9.4.26-7.6. Bhagavadgita, 2.62-3.

Wages of Wrath 175


Direct Disciples on Anger

Anger is controlled through patience. Be patient, forbearing, and humble. … Sri Ramakrishna used to

say: ‘He who can forbear, lives. He who cannot, is lost.’ —Swami Brahmananda

Hatred and anger are signs of ego. If a man hates anyone or gets angry with anyone, you may be sure

he has not conquered his ego and cannot feel true love in his heart. —Swami Ramakrishnananda

Lust, anger, and avarice—these are but different forms of the same thing. … Join the senses to the

Lord. That is the best way to teach the senses a lesson. —Swami Turiyananda

& Reviews &For review in PRABUDDHA BHARATA

publishers need to send two copies of their latest publications.


J. Krishnamurti: Great Liberator or FailedMessiah? Luis S R Vas. Motilal Banarsidass,41 U A Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar,New Delhi 110 007. E-mail: [email protected]. 2004. vi + 191 pp. Rs 195.

This book makes an assessment of writings appre-ciating as well as criticizing the controversial

philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. (Among his ad-mirers may be mentioned Fr Anthony de Mello, FrCarlos Valles, and Mary Lutyens, while his detrac-tors include Lama Anagarika Govinda.) There was atime when the Theosophical Society was all praisefor him and selected him to be a messiah and worldteacher. Did he come up to the expectations of theTheosophical Society? Luis Vas mainly attempts toanswer this question. He also discusses, inter alia,the originality of Krishnamurti’s thinking, the sig-nificance of his impact, and the relevance of histeachings. As Vas himself writes in the introduction:‘In this book I consider various assessments of Krish-namurti as well as charges against him, what mightbe the answers to them and, most important, howbest to access his insight.’

Aldous Huxley, in his foreword to Krishna-murti’s book The First and Last Freedom (1954),wrote: ‘In this volume … the reader will find a clearcontemporary statement of the fundamental humanproblem, together with an invitation to solve it inthe only way in which it can be solved—for and byhimself.’ This is very true. One is reminded of Krish-namurti’s own words in the same book: ‘What youare, the world is. So your problem is the world’sproblem. Surely, this is a simple and basic fact, is itnot? In our relationship with the one or the many weseem somehow to overlook this point all the time’(25). As a matter of fact, as Vas rightly points out,Krishnamurti always emphasized the importance ofrelease from entrapment in the ‘network of thought’through a perceptual process of attention, observa-tion, or ‘choiceless awareness’ which would releasethe true perception of reality without the mediationof any authority or guru.

In the first chapter, ‘Legacy’, Rohit Mehta is

quoted: ‘What Krishnaji is trying to bring about is ashift in consciousness.’ Then there is Radha Burnier,who quotes Krishnamuti’s own words: ‘Use me as amirror to question yourself. Don’t be influenced byanyone, not even me. I am nobody.’ The chapter re-cords a long conversation between Krishnamurtiand Ruben Feldman-Gonzales.

The next chapter of the book is entitled ‘Recol-lections and Assessments’. Here are David Frawley,S Balasundaram, Maurice Frydman, Wanda Dyno-wska (Uma Devi), Shiva Rao, David Bohm, AsitChandmal, Achyut Patwardhan, Nadesan Satyen-dra, Gopal Krishna, and others. Their interactionswith Krishnamurti are faithfully recorded. Most ofthem are positive and favourable.

Perhaps the most interesting chapter of the bookis the third one, ‘Krishnamurti and Theosophy: FullCircle?’ The question mark is rather confusing(there is already one in the title of the book). The au-thor makes it plain that relations between Krish-namurti and the Theosophical Society underwent acircular development: the initial adulation of Krish-namurti by the Theosophists, their rejection by him,and finally an apparent mutual accommodation byboth. The wheel indeed came full circle.

The final chapter, ‘Assessing Krishnamurti’s In-sights’, explains Neurolinguistic Programming (thenew art and science of getting what one wants), andKrishnamurti is here assessed against this new per-spective. It is pointed out that life is to be enjoyed, tobe made conscious by enjoying it. For joy is con-sciousness and that is our natural state. Finally, Vasconcludes: ‘He [Krishnamurti] may have underesti-mated the difficulties on the way, but he certainlymade it easier for others to trek the same terrain. Hissuccess lies chiefly in that.’ A sensible conclusion.

More a compilation than an original composi-tion (in fact, some of the long quotations may besuitably abridged), the book under discussion is auseful one on Krishnamurti. The author has donehis homework well and has tried to be unbiased, andthis is commendable. Dr Visvanath Chatterjee

Formerly Professor of EnglishJadavpur University, Kolkata


Reviews 177

Swami Vivekananda’s Message to theModern India. Vivekananda Kendra Pra-kashan, 5 Singarachari Street, Triplicane,Chennai 600 005. E-mail: [email protected] 2004. 64 pp. Rs 20.

This booklet is a compilation of three learned arti-cles originally published in the prestigious vol-

ume of the Vivekananda Kendra entitled India’sContribution to World Thought and Culture. Thecontributors are eminent thinkers on Swami Vive-kananda and Indian culture.

In his article ‘Swami Vivekananda on Educa-tion’, Sri T S Avinashilingam, freedom fighter andfounder of the massive educational complex, Rama-krishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore, discussesthe salient points of Swamiji’s philosophy of educa-tion, namely, development of the multi-dimen-sional personality of students, the necessity of culti-vating a scientific temperament, the importance of apositive attitude towards life, practice of concentra-tion and continence, emphasis on self-confidence asthe bedrock of one’s very existence and service to hu-manity as a form of worship of God. He concludeswith the hope that this type of education as envis-aged by Swami Vivekananda would be implementedall over the nation and would subsequently result inthe revival of her pristine glory.

Swami Gambhiranandaji is widely known forhis pioneering work of translating the ancient scrip-tures of India into English and interpreting them inthe light of the life and message of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda. His article ‘Worship of God in Man’enumerates the philosophical background of themultifarious welfare activities carried out by theRamakrishna Mission throughout the country. Hetraces these concepts to Sri Ramakrishna’s experi-ences and teachings and their elaborations by hisforemost disciple Swami Vivekananda. The authorpoints out that merely worshipping God in an imagewhile neglecting his suffering children is tanta-mount to heartlessness and hypocrisy and exhortsthe sadhakas to carry out service activities in a spiritof worship of the Divine.

In an interesting article, eminent historian Sri MC Joshi points out how India has always had an in-trinsic and resilient ability to spiritually renew her-self and bounce back in the world forum wheneverthere was a need. This has occurred time and againand has invariably been followed by a socio-culturalregeneration and revival. As examples, he cites the

several incarnations of God including Buddha, theworks of Chanakya, Patanjali, Manu and Adi Shan-karacharya, the great saints of the bhakti movementsuch as Ramananda, Namdev, Jnaneswar, Kabir,Guru Nanak, Chaitanya, Vallabhacharya, Tulsidas,Raidas, Samartha Ramdas and Raja Rammohan Roy,culminating in the ‘brightest luminary of the nine-teenth century’—Swami Vivekananda, the discipleof Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. His findings only re-inforce Swami Vivekananda’s assertion that religionis the backbone of India and that she can progressonly in and through religion and spirituality.

Swami AbhiramanandaAcharya, Probationers’ Training Centre

Belur Math

Gita Today. Dr Krishna Bhatta. BharatiyaVidya Bhavan, Kulapati Munshi Marg,Mumbai 400 007. E-mail: brbhavan@ bom7.vsnl.net.in. 2004. xxix + 325 pp. Rs 450.

There have been scores of studies on the Gita. Yet,Dr Krishna Bhatta’s book is a welcome addition

to the whole literature. The author, a doctor by pro-fession, has been a US resident for quite some time.This treatise on the Gita is a look into the ancientscripture from a modern perspective. Originally, thematerial of this book was posted as ‘Gita’ columnson a website. Only later were they compiled into thisbook. It thus appears as a journalistic attempt tobring down the message of the Gita to the level ofcommon people, couched in a modern language.

The ‘Introduction’ to the book analyses the di-lemma of an ‘intellectual’ Arjuna on the propriety ofa war between relatives of his own clan. There is acertain amount of ‘uneasiness’, as the author puts it,among educated people about Krishna encouragingArjuna to plunge into a deadly war. But one shouldremember the specific situation when a particulardoctrine of morality is propagated. As SwamiVivekananda pointed out in his lectures, for the ma-jority of people, the doctrine of ‘non-violence’ canwreak havoc if carried out to its fullest. Non-vio-lence can be practised in the true spirit by peoplewho are endowed with an abundance of sattva, butnot by those who are fettered by the chains of rajas,the tendency to work tirelessly. Indeed, Swamiji ad-vised people to imbibe the ideals of Krishna on thebattlefield of Kurukshetra, thus shelving, for thetime being, the other aspect of Sri Krishna—the di-



vine lover of Vrindavana as portrayed in the Bhaga-vata.

The chapter entitled ‘Miscellaneous’ positsDraupadi as a role model for modern women. Theuprightness of Draupadi and her ability to protestagainst all the humiliations meted out to her havebeen portrayed as desirable qualities, especially inthis modern age. The author goes on to argue thatSita and Radha are characters that are far removedfrom and too idealistic for the lives of today’swomen.

The book is a modern way of looking at the Gita.The devotion of the author is unquestionable. Yethis interpretations sometimes appear to be clumsy,losing their focus on the deeper spiritual significanceof the scripture. All said and done, the book has avery positive message and would certainly help onegain respect for the great traditions that our countryhas offered over the ages.

Swami TyagarupanandaPrincipal, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira

Belur, Howrah

Like the Gods: The Creation Story for the21st Century. Juliette S Karow. Black Wal-nut Press, 2208 East Baltimore St, Balti-more, Maryland 21231, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. 2003. xii + 82pp. $12.95.

Aconcept that could revolutionize our under-standing of Christianity has inspired Like the

Gods. Calling upon her readers to read the Bible notliterally but as a symbol, Dr Juliette Karow chooses afamiliar sentence for a detailed commentary: ‘ForGod doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, thenyour eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,knowing good and evil’ (Genesis, 3.5).

According to Dr Karow, Judaism, Christianityand Islam have not cared to study the profoundmeaning of the creation story in the Bible. On thecontrary, the New Thought Religions (includingChristian Science, Unity, and Science of Mind thatare actually Bible-based) as well as the Vedic, NativeAmerican and Shramanic religions consider the cre-ation of mankind as good. Dr Karow gives a briefnote on these religions and zeroes in on the kunda-lini chakras of the Tantra to explain the symbologybehind the myth of genesis. So we find the snakerepresenting knowledge, the woman signifying our‘intuitive, super sensory nature’, and Adam’s aware-

ness of his nakedness to be a mystic experience of therealization that he too is like God, ‘made in the trueimage of Divinity’.

In fact, Dr Karow goes so far as to say that theconcept of original sin could be a latter-day inser-tion. The message of the Bible is about a God ofLove and his teachings. Jesus was an incarnationwho came to teach us about God’s love for us. Hisdisciples have spread this message. ‘Mystical reli-gion has always known that each one of us is poten-tially divine. More and more people are now realiz-ing the power of God in their individual lives.’ Theancient Vedas have spoken of human beings as chil-dren of immortality, amìtasya putráë. Like the Godsis a persuasive, amiable and significant publicationfor ushering in a divine harmony for humankind.

Dr Prema NandakumarResearcher and Literary Critic

Srirangam

The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgætá. S MSrinivasa Chari. Munshiram Manoharlal,54 Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi 110 055.Website: mrmlbooks.com.2005. xxvi + 294.Rs 575.

An in-depth, two-part study of the philosophy ofthe Gita by a scholar who has had training under

eminent traditional teachers.The first part discusses the philosophical impli-

cations of crucial verses selected from every chapterof the scripture with particular reference to the doc-trines advanced by Shankara, Ramanuja andMadhva while interpreting them in their commen-taries. This gives the reader an idea of how differ-ently the basic Vedantic tenets are explained by thegreat commentators, and how much of their expla-nations are actually reflected in the original text. Inthe second part the philosophical, theological andethical ideas of the Gita are consolidated and recon-structed under three broad headings: ‘Tattvas’,‘Sadhana’ and ‘Parama-purushartha’.

Armed with ‘sufficient textual authority’, theauthor concludes that some of Shankara’s andMadhva’s doctrines do not fully conform with theteachings of the Gita.

PB

Book Received

ReportsNews from Belur Math

The 96th Annual General Meeting of theRamakrishna Mission was held at Belur Mathon Sunday, 18 December 2005. It was chairedby Srimat Swami Gahananandaji Maharaj,President, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakri-shna Mission. 128 monastic members, 57 laymembers and 44 associates participated in it.

News from Branch Centres

On 9 December (Swami Premanandaji’sbirthday), Most Revered President Maharaj in-augurated the 4-semester diploma course on‘Meditation and Spiritual Life’ introduced byour deemed university, RKMVERI, and gave ashort benedictory address to the participants atVivekananda Sabhagriha, Ramakrishna Mis-sion Saradapitha, Belur. Classes began from thenext day at Saradapitha’s Shikshanamandira(BEd college) campus.

On the 23rd (Holy Mother’s birthday)Revered President Maharaj laid the foundationstone for the proposed central administrativeoffice building at Belur for RKMVERI. SrimatSwami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, Vice Presi-

dent, Ramakrishna Math and RamakrishnaMission, and Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj,General Secretary, were also present.

Relief and Rehabilitation Work

The following branch centres distributeda total of 6,078 blankets to poor people affectedby the severity of winter in December: Asansol,50; Baranagar Math, 100; Baranagar Mission,1,040; Bhubaneswar, 500; Chandigarh, 215;Cooch Behar, 300; Jalpaiguri, 200; Kamar-pukur, 400; Karimganj, 300; Manasadwip,300; Puri Math, 928; Rajahmundry, 245;Saradapitha, 500; and Tamluk, 1,000.

The recent floods in Tamil Nadu causedmuch devastation in the state. Our centres pro-vided the following relief to the affected people:Chengalpattu: 11,500 plates of cooked food inChengalpattu and 6 nearby villages; ChennaiMath: primary medical relief to 4,565 victimsof Cuddalore district; and Chennai MissionAshrama: 8,100 plates of cooked food and 201saris, 50 garments, 100 plastic pots, 300 plates,300 tumblers and 200 bowls in Chennai’sJaffarkhanpet area.


Synopsis of the Governing Body’s Report for 2004-05

The 96th Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math on Sunday, 18

December 2005, at 3.30 p.m.

In the wake of the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the Ramakrishna Math and the

Ramakrishna Mission launched massive relief operations in Andaman Islands, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and

Sri Lanka. Several thousands of victims were served with cooked meals, food materials, medical aid,

temporary shelters and essential commodities like clothing, utensils and sleeping mats. Centres in

Chennai, Kalady and Batticaloa distributed fibreglass boats and catamarans as well as fishing nets and

other fishing gear to the fisherfolk, the worst sufferers in the tsunami disaster. In all, up till November

2005, 487 boats were distributed, and out of 324 houses undertaken for construction, 150 were com-

pleted and handed over to the beneficiaries; construction of 3 community halls and 1 school-cum-shel-

ter house is in progress. A few tsunami-affected children were also admitted to our hostel in Port Blair.

A sum of Rs 5.22 crore has been spent on these relief operations as of 31 March 2005.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, on recommendation of the

University Grants Commission, declared Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research



Institute (RKMVERI) a deemed-to-be university under the aegis of the Ramakrishna Mission. To start

with, the following ‘thrust areas’ have been chosen: 1) Disability Management and Special Education,

2) Integrated Rural Development including Tribal Development, 3) Indian Cultural and Spiritual Heri-

tage and Value Education, and 4) Disaster Management including Relief and Rehabilitation.

During the year under review, the Mission started a new centre at the site of the birthplace and an-

cestral house of Swami Vivekananda under the name ‘Ramakrishna Mission Swami Vivekananda’s An-

cestral House and Cultural Centre’.

In the medical field, the following deserve mention: the starting of an eye-care unit at the dispen-

sary of Patna centre, a telemedicine service unit at the polyclinic of Lucknow centre and a blood bank

at the hospital of Vrindaban centre.

In the educational field, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council of India (an autono-

mous body of the UGC) accredited the Vidyamandira (Saradapitha centre, Belur) with an A+ (90%-95%)

grade. The Vivekananda College of Chennai Vidyapith centre was granted autonomous status from the

academic year 2004-05 for all courses affiliated to the University of Madras. Its Algal Biotechnology unit

of the Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology has entered into an MoU with 4 Indian com-

panies for effluent treatment and with a Japanese company to work on polymer biodegradation.

In the rural development field, Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), a unit of the Lokashiksha Parishad of

Narendrapur centre (Kolkata) was chosen as the lead JSS to help and guide the JSSs of West Bengal and

north-eastern states. The Agricultural Training Centre of the Lokashiksha Parishad was nominated by

the West Bengal government as a State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute

(SAMETI) to support the state government by taking up a series of activities relating to human resource

development in agriculture and agro-allied fields, and help it in the reformation of State Extension

Programmes. The Lokashiksha Parishad’s Medinipur Demand-driven Sanitation Strategy has been rec-

ognized as a role model in the promotion of the central government’s Rural Sanitation Programme. The

Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, recog-

nized the Lokashiksha Parishad as one of 4 chief resource institutes in 2004-05 for capacity develop-

ment of key functionaries of its Total Sanitation Campaign programme.

Under the Ramakrishna Math, the following developments deserve special mention: the starting of

new centres at Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh, Ghatshila in Jharkhand and Bindweide (near Bonn) in Ger-

many; and the inauguration of a nursery-school building at Mekhliganj centre in West Bengal, a school

building at Kalady centre in Kerala, and a dispensary building at Ulsoor centre in Bangalore.

During the year, the Mission understood extensive relief and rehabilitation programmes in several

parts of the country involving an expenditure of Rs 13.05 crore and benefiting 8.97 lakh people belong-

ing to 2.20 lakh families in 2,180 villages. Welfare work by way of scholarships for poor students and pe-

cuniary help to old, sick and destitute people amounted to Rs 3.36 crore. Medical service was rendered

to more than 66.10 lakh people through 10 hospitals and 131 dispensaries, including mobile ones, and

the expenditure incurred was Rs 39.59 crore. Nearly 1.86 lakh students including 64,000 girls were

studying in our educational institutions from kindergarten to postgraduate levels. A sum of Rs 92.66

crore was spent on educational work. A number of rural- and tribal-development projects were under-

taken with a total expenditure of Rs 10.63 crore.

We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks and sincere gratitude to our members and

friends for their kind cooperation and continued help.

Swami Smaranananda

General Secretary

Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

traditional wisdom - advaita ashramacludes his interesting study of dhan gopal mukerji and the face...

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