The Vedanta Kesari February 2010

F ebruary 2010

February February February February February 20102010201020102010

A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER

Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavâdin,it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914.

For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.sriramakrishnamath.org

Vedic Prayers 45

EditorialHolding the Mirror to Oneself 46

Articles� The Sanskrit Commission (1956 - 1957)

A Brief Summary of the Report 50

Swami Harshananda� Swami Vivekananda in Karnataka during 1892 61

M S Nanjundiah� Understanding Christian Monasticism 70

Swami SarvamayanandaAnnual Report� Synopsis of the Governing Body’s Report for 2008-09 54

Swami Prabhananda

New Find� Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda 68

Reminiscences� Memoirs of Mahapurush Maharaj 56

Swami Shivakrishnananda

Special Report� Parliament of Religions—Melbourne 2009 75

The Order on the March 79

Book Reviews 81

FeaturesSimhâvalokanam (Work at the Shanti Ashrama)—49, Vivekananda Tells Stories—78

VOL. 97, No. 2 ISSN 0042-2983

CONTENTS

Cover Story: Page 4

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Temple of Sri Ramakrishna, Ichapur, West Bengal

Ramakrishna Math, Ichapur (earlier called Mayal Ichapur) isthe birthplace of Swami Ramakrishnananda (Shashi Maharaj), adirect disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Located in a rural setting, nearKolkata, the centre was started in 1994. It conducts free coachingclasses, a homoeopathic dispensary, a mobile medical unit, sev-eral welfare works by way of providing clothes, foodstuff,medicines, books to the needy students and assistance to villag-ers. Daily worship, bhajans, religious classes and celebrations ofthe birthdays of the Holy Trio and other religious luminaries arethe other activities. The newly built temple of Sri Ramakrishna,featured on this month’s cover, was consecrated in April 2009 inthe presence of several monks and thousands of devotees.

DONOR

Mr. Shekhar Krishnan, U.K. Rs.8000

578. Mr. A.J. Lakshman Rao, Hyderabad579. Mr. Gaddamu Rama Subba Reddy, Hyderabad

PATRONS

SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS

4260. Mr. G. Rajkumar, A.P. Sri Ramachandra Arts & Science College, Kothagudem - 507 1114261. -do- Sri Venkateswara Hindu College of Eng., Machulipatnam - 521 1314262. Dr. B.V.S.S.S. Prasad, Chennai ICFAI Inst. of Science & Tech., Hyderabad - 500 0824263. -do- Govt. T.T.I for Women, Tanjore - 613 0014264. -do- Amity Inst. of Bio. Technology, New Delhi - 110 0244265. -do- Viswam College of Education, Madanapalli - 517 3254266. Mr. K. Unnikidar, Chennai Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission, Wayanad, Kerala - 673 122

The Vedanta Kesari Library Scheme

Cover StoryCover StoryCover StoryCover StoryCover Story

(To be continued. . .)

580. Mr. B. Srinivasan, Chennai581. Dr.V.K. Mahadik, M.P.

45T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9~ ~

E ACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE. T HE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN.

VOL. 97, No. 2, FEBRUARY 2010 ISSN 0042-2983

Vedic PrayersTr. by Swami Sambuddhananda

`É qH${MÇmJÀ`pÒ_›—Ì`Vo ly Vo@{ndm &A›V~©{h¸ VÀgd™ Ï`mfl` Zmam`UÖ pÒWVÖ &&

—Mahanarayanopanishad, 13.5

`É whatever qH${MV≤ anything ApÒ_Z ≤ in this OJ{V world —Ì`Vo seen

ly Vo is heard of A{n or VV≤ that gd™ all A›VÖ inside ~{hÖ outside M as well

as Ï`mfl` pervading Zmam`UÖ Narayana (Supreme Being) pÒWVÖ exists.

Whatever is seen or heard of in this world, Narayana (the Su-preme Being) pervades all that, inside as well as outside.

So work, says the Vedanta, putting God in everything, and knowingHim to be in everything. Work incessantly, holding life as somethingdeified, as God Himself, and knowing that this is all we have to do, thisis all we should ask for. God is in everything, where else shall we go tofind Him? He is already in every work, in every thought, in everyfeeling. Thus knowing, we must work—this is the only way, there is noother. Thus the effects of work will not bind us. We have seen howfalse desires are the cause of all the misery and evil we suffer, butwhen they are thus deified, purified, through God, they bring no evil,they bring no misery.

—Swami Vivekananda, CW, 2: 150

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46T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0~ ~

Holding the Mirror to Oneself

Seeing ClearlyOn the occasion of Vishu, the New Year

Day in Malayalam tradition, a simple cere-mony is held in the morning. There may beslight variations in details but this practice isfollowed more or less whenever Vishu iscelebrated.

Called vishukkani (‘seeing on Vishu day’),the elder in the house (grandmother or mother)wakes up early in the morning (often duringthe auspicious hour of the brahma muhurta—‘the hour of brahman’—between 4 and 6). Shelights up the oil-lamp that forms part of thearrangements consisting of decorating apicture of Sri Krishna, keeping flowers, fruits,gold ornaments, coins, a mirror and otheritems. This arrangement too is called vishu-kkani. She then goes to the rooms where therest of the family is sleeping and wakes themup one by one. Covering their eyes, she thenleads them to the puja room, where she asksthem to see vishukkani—and especially look atthe picture of the Lord and the mirror.

Upon opening one’s eyes, one is over-whelmed with the glorious darshan of theLord. The mirror—symbolic of Divine Mother—brightens up the vishukkani through reflect-ing the burning lamp. One is also asked tolook at one’s image in the mirror. Thus beginsa splendid new year on an auspicious note.

The presence of a mirror, however, hasanother important meaning. The mirror pointsout the importance of making the mind pure,clean like a spotless mirror. Just as a mirrorreflects our face faithfully and objectively, ourmind too should be cleansed of all dirt of

attachments and aversions in order to see theReality beyond our daily chores. Such a seeingalso clears up one’s priorities in daily life, withthe ultimate purpose of life in perspective—clearly and completely.

Through the light of the lamp filling theplace, one is reminded of the all-pervadingpresence of God. And also, it provides achance, albeit symbolically, to look within—an opportunity to clean up the inside throughintrospection and retuning one’s thoughts.

Mirror: Outer and InnerMirror is a common article in every

household. Everyone uses it, more so theyoung, or those who are concerned about theirlooks. One of the Sanskrit words for mirror isdarpan. According to one explanation, darpanis that which increases darpa, haughtiness.Seeing one’s image in the mirror, most peopleadmire their facial features or try to believethat they are handsome. Thus they becomeinfatuated with themselves, and often forgetthat looks are deceptive!

Mirror is used in many other ways also.Most cars and automobiles, including bikes,are fitted with a set of rear mirrors. They aidthe driver to keep an eye on the vehicles inthe rear and this knowledge helps them todrive safely. Again, mirror is found in manyshops selling garments for the prospectivebuyers to try the new clothes and check howthey fit them. At times, people enjoy makingfaces before the mirror—it gives them somekind of entertainment and an opportunity tolaugh at themselves; and so on.


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One of the traits of mirror is that it isquite faithful. Ugly or beautiful, it just reflects.It makes no distinction and has no preferences,be it a beautiful flower or a thorny bush. Thereare, of course, curved mirrors—convex orconcave—which are often placed in amuse-ment parks or exhibitions. Curved mirrorseither enlarge or reduce our physical featuresto ridiculous shapes and sizes, giving a dis-torted self-image. And moments of laughter!

Like a good external mirror, we also needa good inner mirror. The inner mirror is ourmind itself. Often this inner mirror liesunclean, with layers of dirt over it. In order toclean up the inner mirror, one needs an ideal.Another interesting Sanskrit term for mirroris adarsh. The word adarsh also means an ideal,or a perfect yardstick for measuring any object,person, situation and so on. In order toimprove anything, one needs an ideal, aprojected state of perfection. It may be abstractat first but as one makes progress, one findsthe ideal become more actual than earlier.

Now let us look at both the words usedfor a mirror—darpan and adarsh. As a lookingglass, a darpan is faithful and unfeeling. Itsfunction and duty is to reflect, and it does so.But we might, in our desire to praise ourselves,use the darpan to increase our darpa or self-importance. Mirror is not to be held res-ponsible for our enhanced sense of self-impor-tance; it only does its duty without bias andpreferences. When we laugh, the mirror laughsand when we weep, the mirror weeps too.

On the other hand, a mirror can help usdiscover an ideal (adarsh). A mirror is truthfulin reflecting whatever comes before it. It refle-cts us—both our beauty and our ugliness. Italso reflects the highest potential present inus. It may help us to discover our adarsh. Anideal is the highest potential present withregard to any object, situation or person.

Cleansing Inner MirrorThe gist of all efforts at self-change, or

making progress in one’s spiritual life, can besummed up in one word: cleaning up themirror of our mind. In his famous lecture givenin Rameshwaram after his return to India in1897, Swami Vivekananda said,

Let me tell you again that you must be pure andhelp anyone who comes to you, as much as liesin your power. And this is good Karma. By thepower of this, the heart becomes pure (chitta-shuddhi), and then Shiva who is residing in everyone will become manifest. He is always in theheart of every one. If there is dirt and dust on amirror, we cannot see our image. So ignoranceand wickedness are the dirt and dust that areon the mirror of our hearts.1

Explaining further the meaning of ‘igno-rance and wickedness’, Swamiji says,

Selfishness is the chief sin, thinking of ourselvesfirst. He who thinks, ‘I will eat first, I will havemore money than others, and I will possesseverything’, he who thinks, ‘I will get to heavenbefore others, I will get mukti before others’ isthe selfish man. The unselfish man says, ‘I willbe last, I do not care to go to heaven, I will evengo to hell if by doing so I can help my brothers.’This unselfishness is the test of religion. . .2

Before we try to remove the dirt and duston our inner mirror, first of all, we need to re-cognize that our inner mirror is dirty and needscleansing. We must become aware of this dust,and accept the fact that our thinking is mud-dled and distorted. This recognition can takeplace only when we turn our attention inwards.

A popular verse in Sanskrit says thatmost of us are good in observing others butvery poor with regard to ourselves. If there beeven a mustard-sized defect in others, we caneasily point out. But even a defect as large asthe fruit of bael tree (the size of an orange) inourselves, we may fail to notice!


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Often, we turn within only when we arecriticized or when there are trying momentsin interpersonal issues. How do we face lifethen? In Swamiji’s words,

Be grateful to him who curses you, for he givesyou a mirror to show what cursing is, also achance to practise self-restraint; so bless him andbe glad. Without exercise, power cannot comeout; without the mirror, we cannot see ourselves.3

To turn the mirror of our mind within,generally speaking, is hard. Why? Swamijipoints out,

From our childhood upwards we have beentaught only to pay attention to things external,but never to things internal; hence most of ushave nearly lost the faculty of observing theinternal mechanism. To turn the mind, as it were,inside, stop it from going outside, and then toconcentrate all its powers, and throw them uponthe mind itself, in order that it may know itsown nature, analyse itself, is very hard work.Yet that is the only way. . . 4

Kathopanishad says something quitesimilar:

Going outward is inborn to us. Hence, we seethe outer things and not the inner Self. Only arare discriminating, brave man, desiring ever-lasting bliss and peace, turns his eyes away fromthe external and searches within.5

To turn within? To most people such aproposal sounds pointless. What is there with-in—if we close the eyes, we see only darkness!And the more we try to turn within, the morerestless we feel—thanks to the endless wavesof thoughts, desires, memories and our reac-tions to them. Moreover, what do we do whenwe turn within?

All our protests and arguments notwith-standing, all teachers of spirituality tell usrepeatedly the same thing: ‘turn within!’

Can one really discover somethingwithin? Yes. Let us think of what happenswhen we enter a cinema hall. After punchingthe ticket at the entrance, the first thing thatwe face there is darkness. It is all dark inside.We perhaps stumble on someone’s leg or feela sense of being lost. But after we settle downon our seat, and as our eyes become moreaccustomed to darkness, we begin to discoverthe presence of others in the hall. In the samemanner, as we turn within, it all looks darkand mysterious and, at times, quite frightening.We wonder at the childish ideas—about life,God, people and the world—that we have beenholding on to. Looking at all our weaknessand mistakes may be scary but we have toface ourselves one day or the other.

But then, it is not just that there are onlyghostly images of our weaknesses and failureslying within our mind, we also have ourstrengths and victories. When we turn within,slowly but surely, we begin to uncover theinner man and finally come face to face withour Divinity or the eternal Atman, the undyingSource of our existence. There may bemoments of desperation and struggles, butfinally it is our divine nature that is theconclusive truth of our being. When the mirrorof our mind becomes sparkling clean, theperfection of our inner being will standrevealed. Striking a chord of hope andconsolation, Swamiji counsels,

The infinite future is before you, and you mustalways remember that each word, thought, anddeed, lays up a store for you and that as the badthoughts and bad works are ready to springupon you like tigers, so also there is the inspiringhope that the good thoughts and good deedsare ready with the power of a hundred thousandangels to defend you always and for ever.6 �

References: 1. CW, 3: 143 2. CW, 3: 143 3. CW, 7: 69 4. CW, 1: 130 5. cf. KU., II.i.1 6. CW, 2: 225

MM


From the Archives of THE VEDANTA KESARI

S i m h â v a l o k a n a m

Work at the Shanti Ashrama

(January & February, 1919-20, pp. 299-300)

On June 30th, ended our yearly visit to the Shanti Ashrama,in the mountains where seventeen students had gone to attendsummer classes, and to practise meditation and Yoga under Swami’s guidance.

Under a large oak tree the meditation platforms have been built where the studentsrepair three times a day (sunrise, noon, and sunset) to listen to Swami explain from the greatbooks of wisdom such as Crest Jewel of Discrimination, Upanishad, Sayings and Gospel of SriRamakrishna, etc. Before reading, we meditate for a half hour, and terminate the service bysinging hymns to the Lord.

At the time of the full moon we had the Dhuni Night (all night service). It was held on ahigh hill on which a large triangle was built and in that triangle a huge fire. The Swami satfacing the fire. The men sat on his right and the women on his left and we commenced theservice by marching around the fire and chanting hari bol. The night was clear; the stars, largeand brilliant, seemed so near, one felt them to be friends coming to join in chanting the gloriesof the Lord; all was so still and peaceful, the air was vibrant with spirituality; one becameaware of an expansion of consciousness that the sensual life, the worldly knowledge, but hidesthe lighter and subtler truths as yet not realized, but at that moment seemed possible ofattainment; a dream seen through a mist.

It was easy to discard all our sins in the purifying fires that night, and to consecrate ourlives for the search of the Lord. Many students asked for, and received Sanskrit names, andexpressed their heartfelt thanks to the Swami for the privilege of being there. The earnestnessand devotion displayed by the several young men present, was a sight unheard of in thismaterialistic country. All seemed for the moment transformed into other beings in higherspheres. It was a night that will long be remembered by all and will be to some as a landmarkin their spiritual progress.

At last came the sad day of return to the city, there to pick up our burdens and problemsof life again;—but with renewed strength and clearer vision, and the feeling that the DivineMother is ever within call of our earnest prayer. . .

(Sid.) DURGA DEVI.(Clara M. Pettee.)

San Francisco, Cal.


The Sanskrit Commission (1956 - 1957)A Brief Summary of the Report

SWAMI HARSHANANDA

RecommendationsThe Recommendations are categorized

under the following headings:1. Sanskrit Education;2. Sanskrit Research;3. Manuscripts;4. Sanskrit Universities;5. General;6. Administration and Organisation.

1. Sanskrit EducationSanskrit should be made a compulsory

subject in the Secondary School Curriculum.The Three Language Formula should beamended as follows:

a. The mother-tongue (or the regionallanguage);

b. English;c. Sanskrit (or a classical language as

equivalent to Sanskrit).The traditional Pàêhaáàlà system should

be continued and preserved. It should bereorganized so as to include some modernsubjects like the mother tongue, English,General Science, Mathematics and SocialStudies including Ancient Indian History andCulture.

The Pandit-teachers should undergo acourse of Teachers’ Training.

The remodelled Sanskrit High Schools orremodelled Pàêhaáàlàs should lead to Sanskritcolleges. The Pandit-Teachers should betreated as equal to Graduate-Teachers in allrespects.

In the college course leading up to theGraduate and Post-graduate Degrees thereshould be a provision for the study of Sanskritunder general as well as special subjects.

The Pàêhaáàlà system and the Universitysystems should be retained as separate units,but gradually reformed to bring about greatermeasure of cooperation between them.

The Pàêhaáàlà Pandits should be emp-loyed to teach in the latter, in the moderncolleges and the professors of the latter, in thePàêhaáàlàs, for the betterment of both systems.

In the degree and post-graduate coursesin Indian languages and Humanities, Sanskritalso should be one subject.

There should be an investigation into themethods of teaching Sanskrit to differentcategories of students, Indian and foreign.

The Pàêhaáàlà system has to be reformedby having Sanskrit as the medium of instruc-tion, at least at the higher level, by introducingsome subjects connected with Western thoughtand also adding suitable extra-curricularactivities. The examination system too needs

A senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, the author is the Adyaksha of Ramakrishna Math, Basavanagudi,Bangalore. He is a versatile speaker and a prolific writer having several publications in English, Kannada, andSanskrit to his credit. His monumental work A Concise Encyclopaedia of Hinduism was published in 2008. �

(Continued from previous issue. . .)


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drastic change. Oral examination of the oldáàstràrtha type (discussion and disputation onholy texts) should be a part of this new systemof testing.

2. Sanskrit ResearchPàêhaáàlà Pandits too should be given

the same facilities for Research in the Univer-sities and Colleges.

High-grade Sanskrit Colleges withreputed Pandits on their staffs and wellequipped libraries should be recognized bythe Universities for Research.

Critically editing and publishing raremanuscripts, starting of Research Journals inSanskrit, opening of Research Departments fordifferent áàstràs should be encouraged.

New Research Degrees like M.Litt. andD.Litt. should be introduced, both having VivaVoce tests. Attention should be paid to themany neglected fields demanding investi-gation by Research scholars. For instance:Vedic Rituals; Kalpasùtras; áilpa (sculpturing);Jyautiäa (Astronomy); Iconography; Saîgìta(Music); Nàêya (Dancing).

Greater facilities should be offered forthe publication of results of Research.

Manuscript libraries should be helped tobring out inventories and even publicationsof the rare works.

Non-official Sanskrit and IndologicalInstitutes in the country should be broughtunder a comprehensive scheme of co-ordi-nation and assisted with liberal grants.

A Central Institute of Indology shouldbe established, its core-section being devotedto Sanskrit.

The All-India Oriental Conference shouldbe placed on a permanent basis with adequatefinancial assistance. It should be encouragedto invite scholars from other Asian Countriesand even beyond.

Suitable prizes and Awards should beinstituted for the Sanskrit and Indologicalwork.

3. ManuscriptsA central Manuscripts survey should be

established with branches in different regionsof the country. Its work should consist ofsearch, survey, collection, safeguard, Cata-loguing and Publication of Manuscripts ofSanskrit and allied works.

The flow of manuscripts to foreigncountries must be prevented by all means. TheManuscript Libraries should give facilities tobonafide scholars and institutions to consult orborrow them.

4. Sanskrit UniversitiesSanskrit Universities should be esta-

blished in different areas to tone up and up-grade the traditional system of SanskritEducation. They should be the apex of the re-organised Pàêhaáàlà system. They shouldco-ordinate the working of the Pàêhaáàlàs andSanskrit Colleges. They should also functionas Centre of Higher Learning and Research inSanskrit.

All the Sanskrit Universities should beunder the aegis of the Central Sanskrit Board,which must be a Statutory body.

They should adopt Sanskrit medium atall levels, academic as well as non-academic.They should also produce books in Sanskritembodying modern knowledge.

The Central Government should give alead by establishing a centrally administeredSanskrit University, preferably in South India.

5. GeneralSanskrit should be declared as an

Additional Official Language. Sanskrit shouldbe officially used on all ceremonial occasions.


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The infinite resources of Sanskrit litera-ture like the Subhàäitas should be utilized inSchools and Colleges for moral instruction.

Efforts should be made to teach aUniform Standard Pronunciation of Sanskritin all parts of the Country, by employingqualified readers and teachers in areas whereit is defective.

A comprehensive English-Sanskrit Dic-tionary of Scientific and Technical Termsshould be compiled with the help of suitableexperts.

Personnel recruited for the Indian Ad-ministrative and Foreign Services should begiven opportunities through special coursesof lectures to acquire adequate knowledge ofSanskrit Thought and Indian Culture. Samepolicy can be adopted with regard to Indianstudents going abroad for higher studies.

Indian Embassies abroad must haveCultural Attachøs possessing special compe-tence in Sanskrit Language, Literature andCulture.

Special attention should be made topreserve the Oral Tradition of the differentVedas and their recensions as current in thedifferent parts of India; and especially theSàmaveda. Tape-recordings can be madethrough the All India Radio.

(Now, far better facilities are availablefor this purpose.)

Steps should be taken to train therequired personnel for the exposition ofItihàsa-Puràna. Pàêhaáàlàs should introducethis also among their regular courses.

Gifted exponents of the Ramayana, theMahàbhàrata, the Gìtà and the Purànas shouldbe employed in community projects andNational Extension Service Schemes to spreadour culture among the masses.

Courses in Paurohitya and Karmakàëåamust be introduced in the Pàêhaáàlàs.

Students of modern science and tech-nology should be made familiar with thedevelopments made in our ancient andmedieval periods as per the standard worksproduced then.

Sanskrit should be popularised byadopting suitable measures. Some of them are:organisation of private classes; producingpopular Sanskrit booklets and selections withtranslations; celebration of days in comme-moration of important Sanskrit writers andworks; simplifications of the methods ofteaching Sanskrit; Sanskrit Literacy Con-ferences; promotion of Sanskrit debates andoriginal writings in Sanskrit; competitions inshort stories, plays, etc., in Sanskrit; musicalrecitals of Sanskrit classics; enacting SanskritDramas.

Important Sanskrit Texts which are nolonger available, should be brought out in neweditions by the Sahitya Akademi and otherbodies.

6. Administration and OrganisationA number of Trusts and Endowments

formed for the promotion of Sanskrit andallied purposes, now lying dormant, shouldbe unearthed and be put to use to implementthe various proposals given in this Report.

A Central Sanskrit Board should beconstituted and run on the lines of the Uni-versity Grants Commission. It should concernitself mainly with Pàêhaáàlà education andprivately organised Research Institutions in theCountry, by helping them in all possiblemanners. It should be vested with the autho-rity to sanction the starting of SanskritUniversities, to recognise them as statutorybodies, to give them suitable grants andgenerally to control their working. It shouldalso co-operate with the Central Institute ofIndology and the Central Manuscript survey.


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A separate Ministry of Culture shouldbe created in the Central Government andplace all cultural affairs, (now spread overvarious departments or ministries) under it.

In the National plans adopted by theGovernment, substantial amounts should beset apart for the development and promotionof Sanskrit on the lines set forth in this report.

EpilogueSince the dawn of political independence,

several Commissions have been constitutedboth by the Central and the State Govern-

ments, concerning various issues facing thecountry. However, even though these Com-missions with distinguished persons had givenvery valuable reports, not many of therecommendations have been implemented dueto various factors including narrow politicalconsiderations. Unfortunately, most of therecommendations of this Report also haveremained till now, on paper only. It needs truepatriotism and statesmanship to appreciateand implement this magnificent Report,magnificent in the truest sense of the term. �

(Concluded.)

Swami Vivekananda's Study of Sanskrit Grammar� The Swami [Vivekananda] remained at Jaipur for two weeks, during which time he

met a noted Sanskrit grammarian. He decided to study grammar (Panini's Ashtadhyayi)with him. But the pandit, though very learned, had not the gift of teaching. For threedays he tried to explain the commentary on the first Sutra (aphorism), but withoutsuccess. On the fourth day, the pandit said, ‘Swamiji, I am afraid you are not derivingmuch benefit from studying with me, for in three days I have not been able to makeyou grasp the meaning of the Sutra.’ The Swami resolved to master the commentary byhimself. In three hours he accomplished what the pandit could not do in three days.Shortly after, he went to the pandit and in a casual way explained the commentary andits purport. The pandit was amazed. After this the Swami proceeded to master Sutraafter Sutra and chapter after chapter. Later he said, speaking of this experience, ‘If themind is intensely eager, everything can be accomplished—even mountains can becrumbled into atoms.’

� At the Khetri palace the Swami became acquainted with Pandit Narayandas, theforemost Sanskrit grammarian of his time in Rajputana. Believing this to be a greatopportunity, he decided to resume his study of the Mahabhashya (Patanjali's greatcommentary) on the Sutras of Panini, which he had begun at Jaipur. The pandit waspleased to have him as a pupil. At the end of the first day he remarked, ‘Swamiji, it isnot often one meets a student like you!’ One day the pandit questioned the Swami on avery long lesson given the day before. To his surprise the monk repeated it verbatim,adding his own comments. After a time the pandit, noting that his pupil was oftenforced to find the answer to his own questions in default of an answer from himself (thepandit), said, ‘Swamiji, there is nothing more to teach you. I have taught you all that Iknow, and you have absorbed it.’ And so the Swami, saluting the pandit respectfully,thanked him for his kindness, and became in many respects the teacher of the pandit.

—Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples, 1: 277, 1: 284

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Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Synopsis of the Governing Body’s Report for 2008-09

The 100th Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math onSunday, the 20th December 2009 at 3.30 p.m. The Mission completed 100 years since its registrationon 4th May 1909 with the Registrar of Societies. Following is the synopsis of the annual reportpresented at the meeting which was attended by monastic and lay members.

During the year under review theRamakrishna Mission started a new centre atHatamaniguda in Rayagada, Orissa.

In educational field, the following newprojects deserve special mention: starting of apostgraduate course in Bengali at Vidya-mandira college of Saradapitha centre; apostgraduate course in Chemistry at Viveka-nanda Centenary College of Rahara centre;three courses, viz. Communicative German,Communicative Chinese and Business Chineseat the School of Languages of the Institute ofCulture, Gol Park; two programmes, viz.Industry Sponsored Skill Training programmefor school drop-outs and Skill Training courseon construction at Industrial Training Institutein Coimbatore centre; postgraduate trainingcourses in Plastic Surgery and Pathology inthe Vivekananda Polyclinic of Lucknow centre;a post basic B.Sc. nursing college in SevaPratisthan centre (Kolkata).

In medical field, the following newprojects deserve special mention: starting ofan MRI unit at Seva Pratishthan centre; a 24-bed orthopaedic ward at the VivekanandaPolyclinic of Lucknow centre; a panchakarmatherapy unit at Narendrapur centre; a mobilemedical unit at Purulia centre and a physio-therapy department in the dispensary ofVrindavan centre.

In rural development field, the followingnew projects deserve special mention: distri-bution of 200 bee-keeping boxes along withkits and tools to 200 villagers by Cherrapunjeecentre; construction of 2 check dams at thefoot of Ayodhya hills by Purulia centre;construction of a stop-dam and 3 lift-irrigationsystems by Narainpur centre in Chattishgarhto provide irrigation facilities for 176 acres ofcultivable land in villages benefiting 79 tribalfamilies; renovation of 25 dilapidated housesof poor rural people in North 24-Parganasdistrict in West Bengal by Janasikshamandiraunit of Saradapitha centre; a number ofprogrammes started by Lokasiksha Parishadof Narendrapur centre (Kolkata), viz. a specialaromatic plantation training course, povertyalleviation programme through rice innovationsystem, fluoride mitigation programme,national hand-washing programme, etc.

The Ramakrishna Math started newcentres at Haripad in Kerala and at RajarhatBishnupur, Kolkata in West Bengal. Under theMath, the following new developmentsdeserve special mention: starting of an audio-visual unit with personality developmentprogramme by Kankurgachhi centre; a mobilemedical service unit by Barasat centre; an eyecare centre by Rajkot centre and youthawareness programme by Ulsoor centre.


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Outside India, the Math started a newcentre at St. Petersburg, Russia. Durban centrein South Africa built 35-bed home for termi-nally-ill patients. Germany centre shifted itsregular activities to its newly acquired housein Muehlheimam Main near Frankfurt. Japancentre published three books in Japaneselanguage on Srimad Bhagavatam, disciples ofSri Ramakrishna and Vedanta. In Bangladesh,Mymensingh centre started a computer centre,Dinajpur centre constructed a building forstudents’ home and Dhaka centre upgradedjunior high school to high school.

During the year, the Ramakrishna Mathand Ramakrishna Mission, in the wake ofnatural calamities, undertook extensive reliefand rehabilitation programmes in several partsof the country involving an expenditure of Rs.6.20 crore, benefiting 10.29 lakh peoplebelonging to 2.49 lakh families in 1616 villages.

Welfare work was done by way of provi-ding scholarships to poor students, pecuniaryhelp to old, sick and destitute people, etc; theexpenditure incurred was Rs. 9.54 crore.

Medical service was rendered to morethan 79.05 lakh people through 15 hospitals,125 dispensaries and 53 mobile medical units;the expenditure incurred was Rs. 77.53 crore.

Nearly 4.84 lakh students were study-ing in our educational institutions fromkindergarten to university level. A sum of Rs.144.53 crore was spent on educational work.

A number of rural and tribal develop-ment projects were undertaken with a totalexpenditure of Rs.26.13 crore.

During the year, 72, 706 people parti-cipated in various programmes conducted by328 Cultural Centres of the Math and Missionsuch as Balak Sanghas, Youth Sanghas, JnanaVahini, Viveka Murasu, VIDYA, Institute ofHuman Excellence, etc.

Apart from this, 250 libraries containing26, 66, 372 books and 10, 089 newspapers andperiodicals were run by our Math and Missioncentres. Most of these libraries had attachedreading rooms also.

Centres of the Math and Mission publi-shed several books and 23 journals in differentlanguages. The Math centres at Mayavati,Baghbazar (Kolkata), Chennai, Hyderabad,Nagpur, Mysore, Rajkot, Thrissur and Bhuba-neswar, in particular, have to their credit aconsiderable number of publications. A sumof Rs.14.07 crore was spent on publicationwork during the year.

The Math and Mission centres in dif-ferent parts of India and other countries main-tained temples and prayer halls, and organizedlectures, retreats and devotees’ meets. Thou-sands of people were inspired to accept highervalues of life by coming into contact with thedifferent centres.

Swami Vivekananda placed before us theideal of Atmano Mokshartham Jagaddhitaya ca—For one’s own liberation and for the welfareof the world. This ideal, viewed in the light ofthe life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, hasbeen the source of inspiration and sustenancebehind all the activities of the RamakrishnaMath and Ramakrishna Mission. �

We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to our members and friends fortheir kind co-operation and help.

Swami Prabhananda(General Secretary)

� � �


Memoirs of Mahapurush MaharajSWAMI SHIVAKRISHNANANDA

Mahapurush Maharaj or Swami Sivananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was thesecond President of Ramakrishna Order. A spiritual luminary of high order, he was deeply veneratedfor his spiritual insights, calm demeanour and unbounded love. The following reminiscences of himby Swami Shivakrishnananda, a monastic disciple of Mahapurush Maharaj, have been translated bySwami Atmajnanananda (assisted by Swami Mahayogananda) of Vedanta Centre of GreaterWashington DC, USA. The original reminiscences in Bengali are from Shivananda-Smriti-Sangraha (2: 149-163), collected by Swami Apurvananda and published by the Ramakrishna-Shivananda Ashrama, Barasat, West Bengal.

A few years later, with his permission, Icame to the Math during the Christmasholidays to have the darshan of his holy feet.He was not in very good health at the time.His body had aged—and some of the moresevere ailments of old age were visible in him.But his mind was serene. His lotus face wasshining, radiating joy, and lit with a smile, asif the cruel touch of his frightful ailments wascapable of afflicting only the body, but had nopower to affect his mind. And so, this ever-free great soul, devoid of any identificationwith the body and ever dwelling within hisown real nature, had full control over themodifications of nature which were attackinghis body and senses, and spontaneouslyremained engulfed in his own bliss—anàtmàràma, one who rejoices in the Self, sportingwith his own Self. The pain and suffering ofthe body were confined to the body, and he,having transcended the body, free from theinfluence of nature, and perfectly unattached,dwelt in the Self. His state at that time wasprecisely that of the ever-free yogi, the sthita-prajña (sage of steady wisdom) described in

the Gìtà (6.22): yasmin sthito na duækhenaguruëàpi vicàlyate, established wherein, one isnot moved even by heavy grief.

I had the good fortune to dwell at theholy feet of my guru for five or six days onthat occasion. Every morning he would sit ona chair in one of the upstairs rooms. Thesadhus, brahmacharis, and devotees all feltblessed to have his holy darshan and to bowdown at his feet. I would also go along withthe others. Having been sanctified by hisdarshan and by making pranams before him,I would sit quietly in a corner of the room foras long as he remained there, and would gazeat his gracious form, the image of compassion,and listen to his sweet words, suffused withnectar. In his holy presence all my problemswould automatically be resolved.

One day a devotee from South Indiaasked, ‘Even though I am not very keen on it,my parents are quite anxious to arrange amarriage for me. What is my duty?’

Maharaj replied, ‘Birth, death, andmarriage are in the hands of God. We do nothave much to say about such things. All of

(Continued from previous issue. . .)


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you must think it through carefully and thendecide.’

Someone asked, ‘I perform spiritualpractices, worship, japa, and meditation, nodoubt, but the mind does not become quiet; Idon’t get the slightest joy out of it. It seems asif I am doing it like a machine. What is theremedy for this?’

The following is the gist of Maha-purushji’s reply:

This is the way of the mind. Restlessness is itsvery nature. There is nothing to fear in that—whether you feel joy or not, whether you tastethe sweetness or not, do not give up yourdevotional practices. As you continue with yourjapa and meditation, the mind will becomesteady—then you will experience joy. Try toperform your spiritual practices and devotionswithout break and with great zeal, and pray toThakur with real yearning. Through constantpractice, dispassion, and with his grace, the mindwill become steady and you will experience joy.Be one-pointed in your devotion and enthu-siastically perform your spiritual practice withfaith and firm conviction. Through these means,success is certain. . .

How many questions I often thought ofasking Mahapurush Maharaj before taking myleave of him, and how many doubts I en-visioned him solving! But whenever I went tohim, I found I was unable to say a word. Iused to feel joy within, but at the same time, Ialso felt outwardly a strange kind of appre-hension, and I would not be able to sayanything. I would simply see him and listento whatever he had to say to others. Andthrough that alone, many of my questionswere answered.

I was sitting there one morning in thisfashion. All had come, one by one, to have thedarshan of his holy feet, and then went away.I remained seated all alone. When I went to

make my pranams following all the others,suddenly my eyes became moist. Tearfully Isaid, ‘Baba, you are the sole refuge for thispoor soul who has taken shelter at your feet.Whether or not I am really doing any spiritualpractice or devotions, you yourself know. Yourgrace is my only support.’ An ocean of com-passion, Mahapurush Maharaj smiled andsaid, ‘Pray to Thakur, my child. Victory is hisalone. He is our all in all; we are his obedientservants. You must know the story1 —“Gloryto Sri Krishna; Glory to Sri Krishna.” Thesewere the words Sri Radha uttered after thestain on her reputation was removed.’ Sayingthis, he narrated the story of Radha and therestoring of her good name.

After finishing the story, Mahapurushjibecame overwhelmed with emotion and said,

Know for certain that that same Sri Krishna hascome this time in the form of Sri Ramakrishna.The whole world will reverberate in the song ofhis victory and the fragrance of his renown. Theentire world will become mad with joy. Youmust all sing the praises of that Sri Ramakrishna,my child. Become perfectly mad with joy bytaking his name. Just as Sri Krishna came toremove the stain from Radha’s reputation, sohas Sri Ramakrishna come this time to removethe tarnish and stain of ignorance of his devotees.One who takes refuge in him with a one-pointedmind, who becomes fully united with him byoffering everything unto him, will certainlybecome free from ignorance and attain to thathighest state of freedom. . . .

I had the good fortune of staying on fora few more days at the Math on that occasion.One day Mahapurush Maharaj was explaininghow to have the vision of God. The gist of hiswords is as follow:

His vision is possible through his grace alone.One must engage in meditation, japa, and prayeras much as possible, but his grace is the one


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essential thing. One must have firm faith in hisgrace. Is he an ordinary person? Through hisvision, all of a person’s wants disappear; allhopes and desires are satisfied; all of the bondageof this life and past lives is removed; one’s heartbecomes filled with knowledge, devotion, andconviction. Will it do to think, ‘I have beencalling on him for several years, but nothing hascome of it.’? One must dedicate one’s whole lifeto this task. If one does not succeed even throughthat, then one should continue calling on himlife after life. In this way one must cling to himwith devotion, faith, firmness, love and sincerity.Only then will one succeed.

One must have intense yearning to realize him.When one’s heart feels restless for him, whenone feels a great yearning to realize him, as if hecannot live another moment without him—whensuch a state of mind comes, then know that onedoes not have to wait long for his grace.

After spending about a week thus in hisholy company, I returned home with a fullheart. This was my final meeting withMahapurush Maharaj while he was still ingood health. I saw him twice more, but thenhe was seriously ill and had lost the power ofspeech.

* * *After returning home, I wrote letters to

Mahapurush Maharaj from time to time. Inreply, he encouraged this poor soul withvarious kinds of instructions, with words fullof hope and fearlessness, and graciously savedme from the dangerous snares of the world.In 1931 a situation arose which was a kind ofordeal by fire in my life. Feeling helpless, Iwrote a letter to him. The answer came, ‘Youhave written about marriage—it is a tremen-dous obstacle for the attainment of God. Neveragree to marry. Your mother may weep todeath—even then do not agree. Since, throughGod’s grace, you have no desire for worldly

enjoyment, then what do you have to worryabout? May Thakur protect you! If you marry,know for certain that you will experienceserious difficulties on the spiritual path.’ Thesewords of warning and fearlessness from mygurudeva saved this wretched soul from theterrible clutches of the householder’s life, filledwith misery and torment, and have kept meon the proper path under all circumstances.

Once I sent him a letter requesting himto write in his own hand a set of dailyinstructions. He wrote in reply, ‘What shall Isay regarding a routine? Perform your japaand meditation morning and evening, observebrahmacharya, and try to always speak thetruth, regardless of the consequences.’

Another letter from Mahapurush Maha-raj contained this portion: ‘As you have takenshelter with him [Sri Ramakrishna], yourbondage has been cut. What is taking placenow is due solely to your pràrabdha karma.And you will see that the small amount ofblows from the world you have received willprove helpful in increasing your devotion andfaith. Pray intensely that you do not forgethim. I bless you that your devotion and faithgrow ever stronger.’ These unfailing blessingsof his have guided me in every step of my lifeand awakened blessed memories of him.

One day, out of the blue, I received aletter from one of my brother disciples inKolkata. Our blessed gurudeva was seriouslyill and there was some doubt as to whether hewould survive or not. I hurriedly set off forthe Math. The Math was teeming with people.A veritable flood of people had poured in fromall quarters to see Mahapurush Maharaj andto ascertain his condition. I felt a kind of joyin my heart seeing the great anxiety of thedevotees and their devotion to the guru. Howmany people had been charmed by the naturalguilelessness, affection, and love of this great


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soul! How many had felt the urge for Godgrow in their hearts and felt the awakening ofa longing for the Lord, through their attractionto him! How many were saved from thecrooked path of worldliness and placed on thepath to the highest good! Today their heartswere all immersed in the thought of their guru,and they rushed anxiously to see him. Theirunswerving devotion for the guru filled myheart with immense joy.

However, to receive the darshan ofMahapurush Maharaj in the midst of such acrowd was a very difficult matter. As he wasbedridden and in an unconscious state, it wascompletely forbidden for anyone to have hisdarshan. It was not possible to see him evenafter several days.

One day later, I somehow was able tosee him for just a few moments. His body hadbecome paralyzed as a result of this terribleaffliction, but his face was shining brightly. Itwas as if he had lifted his mind up from thebody and was merged in his own true nature.With mournful eyes I gazed at his form, theembodiment of compassion. Silently I madepranam and then had to leave—but it was apranam to the blessed external form alone. Thefew memories I had of him remained in myheart.

This devastating disease had left himparalyzed on one side. He remained in thatstate for nearly a year, bereft of the power tostand on his own. In November 1933 I tookmy mother on pilgrimage and once more hadthe opportunity to see Mahapurush Maharaj.He was still in very poor physical health andbed-ridden. Swami Apurvananda Maharajgraciously arranged for us to have his darshan.

On Wednesday, November 8, 1933, I saw himfor the last time. I had brought my motherwith me, and together we stood beforeGurudev’s blessed feet. We rose after bowingat his feet. His attendant said to him, ‘He istaking his mother on pilgrimage and seeksyour blessings.’ He then cast a glance at mefilled with love and compassion, and it seemedas if a stream of grace and blessings flowedfrom his compassionate gaze, flooding myheart with joy. He was unable to speak, buthe blessed me through that sweet, compas-sionate glance, and my heart and mind over-flowed with joy. The worshipful pranamwhich I offered at his blessed feet that daywas my final pranam to him. I did not havethe good fortune of seeing him again duringhis lifetime.

However, within the deepest recesses ofthe heart ever shines that image of infinitecompassion, the effulgent gentle image ofShiva. Whenever I think of MahapurushMaharaj, I see his sweet smile within my heartand his affectionate, loving gaze, and I hearhis reassuring words of hope. He seems to meto be eternal and everlasting. I feel that hewill dwell in my heart forever and hold meby the hand—and on the final day he willassume the form of a guide, a helmsman tocarry my boat to the other shore. My heartoverflows with joy, and I truly believe thatmy life has become blessed by taking refugeat the feet of the holy guru and knower ofBrahman, that this human birth has beenfruitful. And with a heart filled with devotionI bow my head low at his blessed lotus feetagain and again. Om peace, peace, peace. �

(Concluded.)

1. The story is: People were gossiping throughoutVraja—saying that Radha was unchaste, that she

had had an affair with Krishna. Sri Krishna, fullof affection for his devotees, decided to remove

References


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the stain from Radha’s name.One day Krishna suddenly became unconscious.Finding no way to bring him back to his senses,all of Vraja began to weep and wail. In themeantime, a Kaviràj arrived and, after learningthe cause of their crying, reassured them with thewords, ‘Have no fear. Your Krishna will be fine inno time. However, you will have to do one thing.If one chaste woman can draw a pitcher full ofwater from the Jamuna using this pitcher with ahundred holes, then the water can be sprinkledon Gopal and he will immediately regainconsciousness. Now, there is no dearth of chastewomen in Vraja! But mind you, not a single dropof water must spill.’Many residents of Vraja assembled to witness thisstrange spectacle—carrying a pitcher full of waterin a pitcher with a hundred holes! Jatila, Kutila,and others, who prided themselves on theirpurity, came forward, one after another, and wentto the Jamuna with the pitcher of a hundred holesto fetch the water. But even as they were fillingthe pitcher, the water all began to drain out. Each

one returned with her head bowed in shame. Notone was able to bring the water. Gopal did notrecover.Finally, after consulting all of her milkmaidcompanions, Sri Radha took the name of SriKrishna, lifted the pitcher of a hundred holes ontoher waist, and with her head bowed low, headedtoward the Jamuna. A crowd of onlookers hadgathered. There was great commotion all about.Uttering ‘Victory to Sri Krishna,’ Radha filled thepitcher with water from the Jamuna. Not a dropof water fell out, and she returned with thepitcher filled to the brim. The Kaviràj cameforward and declared, ‘Ah, it seems then thatJatila and Kutila are not chaste. Radha alone ischaste.’As soon as the water was sprinkled over Gopal,he regained consciousness. Seeing this, all liftedtheir voices in unison, ‘Victory to Radha! Cry,victory to Radharani! Victory to Radha!’Sri Radha then said in a voice filled with emotion,‘Oh no, victory belongs to Sri Krishna. Thisvictory is not Radha’s. It is Krishna’s victory.’

Be Regular in Your Spiritual PracticeOne day I said to the Holy Mother that I could not concentrate well my mind during

meditation. My mind was very fickle and unsteady. She smilingly replied, ‘Oh, nothing—that is the nature of the mind, just like that of the ears and eyes. Do it regularly. Thename of God is more powerful than the senses. It will become all right in time if youpractise regularly. Always think of the Master who is looking after you. Don’t be worriedabout your lapses.’ I said, ‘Mother, bless me that I may practise regularly.’ Mother, witha kind smile, told me, ‘Be sincere in your practise, words, and deeds. You will feel howblessed you are! His blessings are always on all creatures on the earth. It is needless toask for it. Practise meditation sincerely and then you will understand His infinite grace.God wants sincerity, truthfulness, and love. Outward verbal effusions do not touch Him.Observe punctuality of time in your practice, take His name, and utter the mantraconcentrating your mind with all your might. If you exert yourself sincerely and,banishing all other thoughts, pray to Him from the core of your heart,then your call will be responded to and your prayers granted through Hisgrace.’ I touched the Mother’s feet and went downstairs taking theprasad which was given to me by Golap-ma at the direction of theHoly Mother. —Reminiscences of Sri Sarada Devi, p.300

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Swami Vivekananda in Karnatakaduring 1892

M S NANJUNDIAH

A long-standing devotee of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri M.S. Nanjundiah from Bangalore worked in the World Bank atWashington D.C., USA for about sixteen years, and held the positions of Financial Adviser and SeniorOperations Adviser. Prior to joining the World Bank he was a Senior Officer in the Ministry of Railways and laterin the Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs Department. His deep association with Ramakrishna Movement ledto the publication of A Spiritual Centre Blossoms—a large volume chronicling the 100-year history ofRamakrishna Math, Bull Temple Road, Bangalore. �

In RetrospectSwami Vivekananda spent a significant

amount of time in what is now calledKarnataka, during his wandering days—October-December 1892, i.e. before he went toAmerica and addressed the Parliament ofReligions in Chicago in September 1893. Thereare, however, gaps in our knowledge of thedetails of Swami Vivekananda’s sojourn inKarnataka. While some details have beenmentioned in published literature, the datesof arrival and departure from places, whereexactly he stayed, the dates of stay, the datesand details of any talks he delivered are notfully clear. It should also be mentioned thatduring his wandering days, Swamiji calledhimself by various names—Swami Sacchita-nanda, Vividishananda, Vivekananda.

The Life of Swami Vivekananda by hisEastern and Western disciples (called hereafteras the Life), published in 1912, and preparedwith great care to include only authenticinformation, has a good bit of events and sometravel details. To supplement this, efforts havebeen made to get more details from thecontemporary newspapers of the time, otherarchival records and sources of information.

We make an attempt here to put togetherwhatever is known and clues to futurepossibilities.

Swamiji in Belgaum

Swamiji came to Belgaum, in northKarnataka, in October 1892 and stayed at thehouse of Mr. Sadasiva Rao Bhate initially forthree days. Later he went to the house ofHaripada Mitra (Subdivisional forest officer)on 19 October 1892 and stayed with him fornine days. The Life gives quite some details ofhis stay at Belgaum and his activities there.

Haripad Mitra’s house—now a part of Belgaum Ashrama


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Haripad Mitra’s reminiscences of Swamiji’sstay at Belgaum and his conversations withhim are graphically recorded in Reminiscencesof Swami Vivekananda, published by AdvaitaAshrama, Kolkata.

The two places where Swamiji stayed inBelgaum have now been taken over by theRamakrishna Mission—the house of HaripadaMitra in the Fort area is now part of theRamakrishna Mission Ashrama, Belgaum sinceJune 2000. The house of Mr. Bhate in the city(where Swamiji stayed) is now the city sub-center of the Ramakrishna Mission Ashramasince 2007.

In GoaSwamiji left Belgaum for Mormagao on

27 October 1892. Dr. Vishnupant V. Shirgaokarof Belgaum gave Swamiji a letter of intro-duction to Mr. Subba Rao Naik of Mormagao(Mudgaon). Mr. Subba Rao Naik later becameSwami Subramanya Thirtha and his Marathibiography gives some details of Swamiji’s stay

with Mr. Subba Rao Naik. Swamiji appears tohave met a number of people in Goa. It seemsthat Swamiji, with the help of a pleader, JujaPhillip Alwaish, visited the Rachol Seminary

in Goa to study Christian texts (Latin texts,etc). He is said to have stayed for two days atthe Seminary and interacted with seekers atthe Seminary. The Rachol Seminary wascontacted by the author to get more details ofthe visit (the dates of the visits) and any otherdetails their records show. However, noinformation has been available so far. Itappears that on return from the seminarySwamiji stayed with Mr. Subba Rao Naik. Healso met many scholars there and was given areception at the Damodar Hall. Swamiji is alsoreported to have visited the Shanta Durga,Mangeshi and Mahalakshmi Temples andsung in all the temples. The room whereSwamiji stayed is still preserved by thedescendants of Mr. Subba Rao Naik. It seemsthat Swamiji’s stay in Goa was a short one.1

In BangaloreThereafter Swamiji came to Bangalore.

There is a report that he first went to Dharwad/Hubli and then came to Bangalore, but

nothing has been found to substantiate thatview. Swamiji should have come to theCity Station at Bangalore (the CantonmentStation was not there at that time). Swamijishould have reached Bangalore in the earlydays of November 1892.

It is not clear where Swamiji stayedat Bangalore (The Life says that Swamiji‘lived an obscure life’ for the first fewdays). Reports are that he stayed for a fewdays in the then existing Kalappa Choultryin the ‘Tulasi Thota’ area, near the CityRailway Station. A stone slab, in front of ahouse in this area, on which Swamiji usedto sit during this time, has been donated

to the Ramakrishna Math, Bull Temple Road,Bangalore by the owners of the house in 1997.A Mandapam for this stone slab wasconstructed at the base of the Holy Mother’s

Mr. Subba Rao Naik's house in Mudgoan, Goa


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rock in the Math premises and inaugurated inApril 2009.

While in the Thulasi Thota area, Swamijiseems to have visited Dr. Palpu who was stay-ing in the nearby Mental Hospital quarters(when exactly is not clear). That Swamijivisited Dr. Palpu is mentioned in a biogra-phical note of Dr. Palpu and his relations withSwami Vivekananda—the manuscript is in theNehru Memorial Museum and library, NewDelhi. Swami Vivekananda met Dewan K.Sheshadri Iyer (when and where are notexactly clear but probably after a few daysstay in Bangalore). Sheshadri Iyer was ‘deligh-ted with this learned Sadhu’. The Life mentionsthat Swami Vivekananda was a guest ofDewan K. Sheshadri Iyer for ‘some three tofour weeks’ during which time he met thedistinguished officials and noblemen of thecourt of Mysore.

In MysoreThe Life (1912 edition, page 193) says,

‘Thinking that the Maharaja of Mysore wouldbe interested in this “young Acharya”, SirSheshadri Iyer brought him to Mysore andintroduced him to the Prince. . . The Princewas delighted with him. . . The Swami wasassigned apartments in the palace itself’.

The Life also gives quite some details ofthe Swamiji’s interaction at the palace—someof the direct talks with the Maharaja, the dis-cussion of Vedanta in an assembly of pundits,the discussions with an Austrian musician whowas there then, an electrician of repute, etc.

The Life gives an account of what Swamijitold the Maharaja in relation to his travel tothe West and his mission. The following extractfrom the Life is interesting:

One day the Swami was called to the apartmentsof the prince and the Prime Minster went with

The erestwhile Mysore wooden Palace which Swamiji visited(the present palace was completed in 1912 after this building got burnt in a fire accident in 1897)2


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him. The Maharaj asked, ‘Swamiji, what can Ido for you?’ Then the Swami, evading a directreply, burst forth into an eloquent descriptionof the contents of his mission. He spoke for morethan an hour dwelling on the condition of India,

saying that India’s possession was philosophicaland spiritual, and that it stood in need of modernscientific ideas as well as a thorough, organicreform. The prince listened spellbound. TheSwami continued, saying that he felt it wasIndia’s place to give what treasure it possessedto the peoples of the West and that he himselfintended going to America to preach the Gospelof the Vedanta to the Western nation. ‘And whatI want’, he added, ‘is that the West shall help usin improving our material condition by pro-viding us with the means of educating ourpeople in the modern lines of agriculture,industries and other technical sciences.’ He grewmore and more eloquent as he spoke. And theprince promised, then and there, the necessarymoney to defray his travelling expenses; but forsome reason, best known to himself, perhapsbecause of his vow first of all to visit Rames-waram, the Swami refused the generous offer ofthe Maharaja at this time. From that day theprince and the Prime Minister regarded him as‘the man born for the redemption of India’, and

as one in whom was incarnate the nation’sspirit.

The longer the Swami remained with theMaharaja, the greater became the latter’sattachment and admiration for him. When theSwami spoke of departing, he was visiblydistressed and requested him to stay a few daysmore. He added, ‘Swamiji, I must havesomething with me as a remembrance of yourpersonality. So, allow me to take a phono-graphic record of your voice. Do speak someof your inspiring words into the phonograph,so that they may be with me always.’ This theSwami consented to, and even now the recordremains preserved in the Palace, though it haslong since become indistinct. In truth, so great

was the admiration of this ruler for the Swamithat he proposed to make padapuja to him, thatis, to worship his feet, even as one worships ofthose of his Guru; but this the Swami did notallow him to do.’

Sir Sheshadri Iyer

A view of the surroundings of Dewan SeshadriIyer’s House


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There is a report that Swamiji stayed forsome time at the ‘Niranjana Mutt’ near thethen residence of the Dewan at Mysore.3 Thisseems to have been also stated by some peoplewho were then in the area. Other supportingdocuments indicating the dates, etc., are notnow available. However, such a stay was likelywhen considered in the context of the thenViceroy’s visit to Mysore during the period 10to 21 November 1892. It is unlikely thatSwamiji stayed at the palace or even DewanSheshadri Iyer’s place when the Viceroy wasat Mysore. It has to be remembered that, asmentioned in the Life, ‘he was for a time underthe sharp eyes of detectives who watched hisdoings and movements’. Also, Mysore statehad been under the direct administration ofBritish commissioners from 1831 to 1881 andit was only in 1881 that ‘Rendition’ orrestoration of the rule of the kingdom to theWodeyars occurred and Chamaraja Wodeyarwas handed the reins of governance in 1881—he would have to be careful not to displeasethe British.

It is also said that Swamiji gave a talk ortalks at the nearby Sadvidya Pathasala—nowa well-known composite junior college in thecity of Mysore. In the Life History of Ambale

Anniah Pandit4, there is reference to translationby Ambale Anniah Pandit of Swamiji’s speechat the Pathasala. However, the details of howmany talks and on what dates they were givenare not now available at the Sadvidya Patha-sala Trust.

Some New FindingsAn effort to check contemporary records

of that period have been made. VrittanthaPatrika was a weekly published every Thurs-day, and microfilm records of the weekly havebeen preserved in Bangalore Vidhana SoudhaArchives of the Karnataka Govt. (16 June 1892to 30 October 1902). Records from September1892 to end 1893 have been examined.Similarly Karnataka Prakasika—another weekly—records of September 1892 to August 1894,also available in microfilm at the VidhanaSoudha Archives, have been referred to.Besides this, the proceedings of the H.H. theMaharaja of Mysore have also been refereed

What is left of Niranjana Mutt now

Old Shiva temple close to Niranjana Math


to. All these apart, the Palace Archivesat Mysore have also been referred to.Efforts at getting to the palace diarieswhich were being maintained (at thetime of Swamiji’s visit) at the Palaceitself are continuing but are so far notsuccessful. Efforts at securing thediaries of Dewan Seshadri Iyer havealso been not successful.

From the above records it is seenthat the then Viceroy, Lord Lans-downe, visited Mysore between 10November 1892 and 21 November1892—preparations for this are men-tioned in the records. There is noreference to Swamiji in any of therecords pertaining to 1892. Vrittanta Patrika of23 November 1893 has the first reference toSwamiji; Karnataka Prakasika refers to Swamijion August 27,1894. From these records it isseen that the Dewan returned to Bangalorefrom Mysore on 5 December 1892 and thatHis Highness the Maharaja of Mysore left for

Calcutta (viaMadras) on 11December 1892.He reached Cal-cutta on 21 Decem-ber 1892. It is alsoseen that the thenDewan of Cochin(Mr. Tiruvenkata-charya) passedaway on 18 Nove-mber 1892 and on28 November 1892Sri Subba RayaIyer became the

acting Dewan. Sri Shankariah, who ismentioned in the Life as the Dewan of Cochinto whom a letter was given introducingSwamiji, should have assumed charge later—

perhaps in December 1892. Swamiji shouldhave left Mysore for Trichur (via Shoranur bytrain) in early December 1892, as both theDewan and the Prince were going elsewhere.

It appears that Swamiji was in Trichurfor a few days and he then went to Tri-vandrum. From the reminiscences of Prof.Sundararaman published as Appendix A ofthe Life5, it appears that Swamiji reached Tri-vandrum (now called Thiruvanathapuram) onor about 12 December 1892, as he left theprofessor’s place on 22 December 1892, after astay of nine days. These reminiscences alsogive credence to the view that Swamiji stayedin the palace for some time.

Efforts at tracing the other details ofSwamiji’s movements and activities in Ban-galore and Mysore are continuing, to get aclearer picture.

There is an interesting source whichwould have been extremely valuable, if it wereavailable. In a letter to Mrs. Ole Bull writtenfrom New York on 25 January 1895 (6?)Swamiji says ‘I have a notebook which hastravelled with me all over the World. I findthese words written seven years ago. . . .’

The frontage of Sadvidya Pathashala, Mysore

Ambale Anniah Pandit

26


1. For a detailed article on Swami Vivekananda inGoa, see The Vedanta Kesari, January-February 2008

2. This photograph was taken in 1886 by Mr. JohnBirdwood in 1886: photo courtesy: Sri T Srinivas,Mysore.

3. Thathiah Smarana Samputa-Memorial Volume, p.153-155

4. Life History of Ambale Anniah Pandit p.12 and p.62pub. in 1935 by Kadambari Grantha Mala Vol. 36

5. Life, Volume 4, 1918, pages 239 to 249

References

Excerpts from a letter written by Swami Vivekananda from Chicagoto H.H. the Maharaja of Mysore. (CW, 4: 361-364)

The one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor. Thepoor in the West are devils; compared to them ours are angels, and it is therefore somuch the easier to raise our poor. The only service to be done for our lower classes isto give them education, to develop their lost individuality. . . . Give them ideas—that isthe only help they require, and then the rest must follow as the effect. Ours is to putthe chemicals together, the crystallisation comes in the law of nature. Our duty is toput ideas into their heads, they will do the rest. This is what is to be done in India. It isthis idea that has been in my mind for a long time. I could not accomplish it in India,and that was the reason of my coming to this country [America]. The great difficulty inthe way of educating the poor is this: Supposing even your Highness opens a free

school in every village, still it would do nogood, for the poverty in India is such, that thepoor boys would rather go to help their fathersin the fields, or otherwise try to make a living,than come to the school. Now if the mountaindoes not come to Mohammed, Mohammedmust go to the mountain. If the poor boy can-not come to education, education must go tohim. . . .

My noble Prince, this life is short, the vanitiesof the world are transient, but they alone livewho live for others, the rest are more deadthan alive. One such high, noble-minded, androyal son of India as your Highness can domuch towards raising India on her feet againand thus leave a name to posterity which shallbe worshipped. That the Lord may make yournoble heart feel intensely for the sufferingmillions of India, sunk in ignorance, is the prayerof —Vivekananda

H.H. Chamaraja Wadiyar,the Maharaja of Mysore

27

Efforts to trace this notebook have not beensuccessful so far. How one wishes it could be

found and Swamiji’s movements and thoughtsrevealed to us! �


Aug.15th 1898The Math, Belur, Howrah.

Dearest Granny,2

I have been just surprised with a telegram from you. I did not realise the news of mylittle illness will make you so anxious. However, I am to be blamed in not making theexertion of writing you, as soon as I got well. But the duties here have been neglected byillness for over a week & then the accounts of the Math wanted to be attended, & so Idirected my attention towards that. However dear G., I am all right again & have resumedmy duties from today. I thank you much, nay I cannot express to you my gratitude to youfor your loving kindness. May God & Sri R. [Ramakrishna] bless you for ever & ever.

I have received your kind letters forwarded to me & it came in such a moment, when Iwas lying ill & was so refreshing. It is so considerate of you, but you are always so, to everyone. Jojo’s & your kind letters came this morning & made me happier. It is so bad of me notto have been able to answer Jojo’s letters in time. Kindly tell her, I appreciate her kindnessso much & now that I am well again, I am going to write her often. I have sent you thismorning your Outlook article & the hundred verses on renunciation for the prophet totranslate. It is a poor copy but we have no other at hand. Dear Jojo is so kind. Give her mywarm regards & thanks. My regards & congratulations to Nivedita for her successfulpilgrimage. I will send the kindergarten toys tomorrow, as it is too late in the day.

I am sorry to hear the troubles of Mrs.Patterson. My kind regards to her & the General,when you meet next.

I am so glad you are going to Baroda with the Swamiji & of his prospects[?] there. Ofcourse it would be such a pleasure to be with you in October, but I do not know whetherSwamiji will be able to spare me from the Math. However I will do as you are doing there,not to plan beforehand but to feel my way, as it opens before me. I will send you the foot[?]outline tomorrow & the cotton robe too, if I get it from the tailor here, who has taken it tomake another cotton one, after the same pattern. Thank you so much for Mrs.V’s address—she is ever in my mind. With constant love & prayers & blessings,

Ever yoursSaradananda

-------------Math Belur, Howrah, Bengal,

Sept. 7th 1898.My dear Granny,Your kind letter of the 2nd was most welcome. Such a sweet letter came from

Mrs.Vaughan last mail. I ought to have written you before of it—but I have been rather

Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda1



29

busy this week, owing to the absence of Swami Nirmalananda, who teaches the Upanishadsto the boys. He has gone to Calcutta to see his brothers, one of his brothers having diedsuddenly, a few days ago. Mrs.V. has very kindly sent me a little spray of feather[?], addingthat this wealth was from Edwina’s hands, while she lay quietly in her pillow. It reallytouched me & the little souvenir I prize above everything else. It will be with me for all mydays. Otherwise Mrs.V’s letter was so tender and withal full of courage & trust—that itreally consoled me. May Sri R. bless her & keep her always. Both the mother & the child areconstantly with me in my meditations. The mother’s love goes out for her & surrounds hereveryday and for you, it is there all the time.

A letter from Dr.James to say poor Cola is dead! May God bless him. I am going towrite to his family very soon.

Letters from Agnes & Santi too. Agnes has been visiting Mrs.Rothlis[?]longer in August& getting lessons in French & teaching Mrs. R’s sister, just come from abroad—the methodof Mrs.Adams. She goes to Wanpuca[?] again in Sept. & thus will have a month’s rest &quiet before joining her work again. She is growing fast I can see by her letter & I am sothankful for it to Sri R. The rumour of dear Edwina living in Heaven has reached Santi & itis really touching the way that she writes of it, though she is not sure yet.

Letters from Mrs.Cochrane[?] and Swami Abhayananda [Marie Louise?]. Mrs.Cochraneoffers the same hospitality for my brother & writes very frankly about her intentions ofhelping India by whatever means she has in her reach. Abhayananda writes her work isgrowing tc.

Turiananda cannot come & I have written him not to come at present. Considering thefew days that you are going to be at Cashmere, I do not think I will make the attempt to joinyou there incurring such an enormous expense. But I will join you in October surely.

I feel such nearness of you & A. & S. in my meditations & also of Mrs.V & Edwina. Iam glad you are gaining by the quiet.

Thank Jojo for her two kind letters. I will write her soon. I called on Mr.Mohini oneday, as I have written you already. I believe—but he could not give me any definite time forcoming to you. So I do not think we can start together.

My kind regards to Nivedita & Jojo & the Pattersons & for yourself. You know what Ihave in my heart. With best prayers always, I am yours

As everSaradananda

On the envelope—Mrs.Sara C.BullC/o The Post OfficeSrinagar [‘Srinagar’ struck off by the Post Office and written ‘Islamabad’]Cashmere

1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna 2. Mrs. Sara Bull, an American disciple of Swami Vivekananda

Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math



Understanding Christian MonasticismSWAMI SARVAMAYANANDA

The author is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order at its branch in Bamunmura, a suburb of Barasat town, some30 km from Kolkata. �

Christian Monastic Principles and ExamplesAs noted in the first part of the article,

the ideal of Christian monasticism has beenthe conquest of the spiritual evils by means ofthe renunciation expressed through the vowsof Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, whichrefer to 1) renunciation of the world, 2)renunciation of the flesh and, 3) renunciationof self-will. We shall now discuss these threevows and see how they shaped the monastictraditions in Christianity.

1. Poverty: This is the first vow of a monkin Christianity. It refers to renunciation of theworld.

The spirit of voluntary poverty has beenemphatically pointed out in the Gospels inmany places. St. Mathew says, ‘If you wish togo the whole way, go, sell your possessionsand give it to the poor and you will have richesin heaven; and come, follow me. It is easierfor a camel to pass through the eye of a needlethan for a rich man to enter the Kingdom ofGod.’5

These words are the eternal springs ofinspiration for the seekers of God and havebecome the keynote of Christian monastic life.Poverty or the renunciation of wealth has beenregarded from the earliest times as one of themarks of the perfect. ‘If any man calleth aughthis own’ said Bacil, ‘he maketh himselfstranger to the elect of God’.6

In the Egyptian monasteries, howevermuch remunerative the toil of individual monkmay be, all must go into the common treasury,except two biscuits with three pence. Themonk who boasted of ‘my book, my pen, mycloak, my shoes’ or who attempted ‘to sealanything with his own seal’ was guilty of asin which St. Columban punished with sixlashes!7

In Benedictine Orders, the fundamentallaw was the absolute community of all pro-perty. But the history of monasticism showsus the toughest struggles of successive mona-stic reformers to escape from corporate wealthand the impossibility of securing poverty bythe negation of individual possession. TheFriars, of course, tried to get out of this swirl.They were not allowed to possess anythingfor themselves, not even the monastery (Friary)should have any possession or property excep-ting only the monastic building (the church).So, certain brethren called limiters were appoin-ted in every Friary to procure food for theconvent, during some fixed period, by begging,two by two, from door to door. In theirjourneys, the Friars did not have money; theywere not allowed to have a mule to ride over.

But the Friars failed to maintain the spiritof poverty, even in this new form, in spite ofthe burning examples of St. Francis, in spite ofhis Rule and his solemn injunctions, in spite of

(Continued from the previous issue . . .)


31

all the arguments and struggles of the more‘sincere’ of his followers. Francis was scarcelydead, before the Friars declared that his wordswere but counsels of perfection and could bepractised alone by Christ and his apostles, notthe commons like us.

Though the ownership was denied, theFriars would enjoy the benefits of property byvesting them in the name of others and yetkeep the Rule, in the letters. There were otherslike Jacopona da Todi, hundreds of spiritualFranciscans, who chose to rot in chains orendure death in the fire, rather than tosurrender the ideals of their beloved founder—St. Francis.

2. Chastity: This vow refers to renun-ciation of the flesh.

Regarding the principle of chastity, Gospelsays, ‘If any one wishes to come after Me, lethim deny himself and take up his Cross andfollow me.’8

‘According to what Jesus Christ Himselfsaid,’ explains St. Vincent de Paul, ‘he whowishes to follow Him, must deny himself, thatis, deny his senses, mortify his passions, hiswills, his judgement and all his natural desires,for the love of God.’9 This spirit of self-denialis glorified is many ways. One sees this, forexample, in the life St. Pachomius who, in hisdeath-bed, condemns his body saying, ‘Why Iwas ever attached to thee and why should Isuffer because of thee an eternal condem-nation.’10 Brother Giles, the joyous companionof St. Francis, exclaims in the same strain ashe writes: ‘Our wretched and weak humanflesh is like the pig that ever delighteth towallow and befoul itself in the mud, deemingmud itself great delight. Our flesh is the devil’sknight, for it resists and fights against all thosethat are of God and for our salvation.’11

From its very beginning, monasticismrested upon celibacy, though other sensual

licenses are equally condemned as spiritualevils. ‘There is nothing worse than immodestyand licentious glances’, said St. AlphonsusRodriguez, ‘to expose a person to the dangerof becoming lax and loose in morals’.12 JesusChrist Himself points the same when He says,‘Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust afterher, hath committed adultery with her alreadyin his heart’.13

Control of tongue is also as muchimportant as other senses. ‘God is not pleasedby the rumblings of our bowels, nor for theemptiness of our bellies in themselves,’ wroteJerome in his letter, ‘but without control overthem our chastity cannot be guarded’.14 St.Vincent de Paul also draws our attention tothe same when he says, ‘He who is unable toovercome gluttony, will find it hard toovercome the other vices which are moredifficult to conquer.’15

But celibacy, as is mentioned above, hasbeen thought of as duty for a monk in all ages.All monastic figures such Christian Fathers(after the first three centuries), Basil, the twoGregories (I & VII), Ambrose, Augustine,Jerome and Chryston spared no effort to exaltthe practice of celibacy. About Abba Paoulus,St. Cassian says, ‘He had made such progressin purity of heart, that he would not allow, Iwill not say a woman’s face, but even theclothes of one of that sex to appear in hissight’.16

Of a monk we read that when he foundit needful to carry his aged mother over astream on a journey, he carefully wrapped herin his cloak, lest by touching this fire theremembrance of other woman should return.Once one virgin refused to see St. Martin thebishop who achieved many occult powers inspiritual life, but Martin praised her for herrefusal. He (Martin) never allowed any womanto touch him excepting once when he could


32

scarcely escape the contact, for it was a queenwho, all of a sudden flung herself at his feet.

St. Augustine would not see any womanexcept in the presence of a third party. Pior,an Egyptian monk for fifty years, refused tosee any member of his family even when theycame to visit him. When, on her appeal, hisbishop bade him visit his sister, he obeyedbut kept his eyes closed all the time.

Once a nun when she was dying, refusedto let her brother see her. We read manyinstances amongst monks where an evilthought would be considered as an un-pardonable sin. Once a fair-faced haunted St.Benedict and at last, throwing away the skinwhich was his only dress, flung himself nakedinto a thorn bush, rolled himself in that beduntil he had extinguished the lure of senses.

St. Barnard, tormented by impurethoughts, rushed into an icy-pool and stoodneck-deep until he had subdued his body.

A question may be asked: What was itexactly that gave celibacy this extra-ordinaryhold as an ideal? Surely the answer will bethat the renunciation of the best and deepesthuman instincts is necessarily the best anddeepest renunciation as its goal is no less thanthe achievement of God and become full withHis spirit. The struggle for it is not at all asilly one but calls for the sincerest endeavourin a person. We see this idea in the answer ofSt. Martin to the request of a certain monkthat his wife, who had taken the oath ofallegiance in the same service as himself,should be allowed to live with him. ‘Tell me’said Martin, ‘have you ever stood in the lineof the battle?’ ‘Frequently’ he replied, ‘Wellthen, did you ever, in the line of battle see anywoman standing with them or fighting?’17

By this analogy, Martin convinced themonk that he must abandon his wife if he wasto live the life of a monk.

3. Obedience: The third basic principleof Christian monasticism is obedience or renun-ciation of the self-will, also known as humility,though in reality from the monastic standpoint,they all tend to become one. In fact, they arerelated as cause and effect. The man who hasnailed his inner self to the cross cannot beotherwise than humble; while the humble manwill show his humility by a perfect obedience.‘The first degree of humility’ said St. Benedict,‘is obedience without delay.’ ‘This is the virtueof those’ he adds, ‘who hold nothing dearer tothem than Christ, for the obedience given tosuperiors is, given to God, since He Himselfhas said, “He who hears you, hears Me.”18 ‘Itis a very great thing’ writes Thomas a’ Kempis,‘to stand in obedience, to live under a superiorand not to be at one’s own disposal. It is muchsafer to obey than to govern.’19

Obedience and humility gained increas-ing importance with the growth of corporateform of monasticism. In fact, without obe-dience, life in a brotherhood becomes im-possible. Obedience is the basic principle uponwhich the Order and welfare of a monasterymust depend. But monasticism could neverbe content with a measure of obediencesufficient for utilitarian ends.

‘Many are under obedience’ writesThomas a’ Kempis, ‘more out of necessity thanfor the love of God, and they suffer and easilymurmur.’20

The rules of obedience or humility aimat wiping out one’s egocentric tendencies.Humility reached to such a degree that monkswould even take glory in shame or other’shatred. We read one such story of a saint underwhose bed a stolen book was placed by hisenemies. When the book was found and hewas charged for that, he suffered all badremarks and threatening but did not care toestablish his innocence.


Again, we can mention here the story ofAbbot Piniphius, whose humility was soblessed that when he saw that all menreverenced him either for his life, or for hisage or for his priest-hood, he fled away fromthe convent he ruled and entered as a laynovice in a distant monastery, where he wasunknown. When discovered and brought backhe once again left and came to a monasterynear the cave where Jesus was born.

Eulogising obedience, Apostles say abouttheir lord, Jesus, ‘He became obedient evenunto death.’ Jesus himself agrees to this ideawhen He says, ‘I have come not to do myown will, but the will of Him who sent me.’

We see the same spirit in many instanceswhere obedience transcends all other moralprinciples in monastic life. We read of a monk,John the short, who, when ordered by hissuperior to water a dry log of firewood, didhis task for three years, carrying water from adistance of two miles. Of course he waswonder-struck when he saw the log sprout atthe end.

Another monk who, when ordered tocross a river swarmed with crocodiles, obeyedat once.

Story of Paul the simple, may be menti-oned in this connection. At his sixty years ofage, he fled into the desert of Egypt leavinghis hearth and home and met St. Anthony.When Anthony told him that condition ofsalvation lay in implicit obedience, he pro-mised. ‘Stand here, then in prayer’, Anthonybade him, ‘Until I return.’ Throughout the heatof the day and dew of the night he stood untilon the next day Anthony returned fullysatisfied with his test.21

Even the Rule of Benedict, with all itsliberality, cannot allow the individual judge-ment much discretion, as to the limits ofobedience. ‘If a brother is commanded to do

anything that is impossible’ says Benedict inhis Rule, ‘let him represent the matter to hissuperior calmly and respectfully. If thesuperior still insists, let the junior be persuadedthat it is for his spiritual good.’ ‘Therefore’ headds further, ‘immediately leaving their ownaffairs and forsaking their own will, droppingthe work they were engaged in, and leavingit unfinished, with the ready step of obedi-ence they should follow up with the voice ofhim who commands’. ‘And the brothersshould,’ as he asks again, ‘offer their obediencewith a good will, for “God loves a cheerfulgiver.”’22

If now we analyse a little, we shall findthat liberty or freedom and obedience, thoughseems opposed to the other, are very closelyrelated, so to say, obverse and reverse of thesame coin. Thomas a ‘Kempis gives a detailedand lively picture of the contrast in his Imitationof Christ when he writes,

You cannot possess perfect liberty unless youwholly deny yourself. For all self-seekers andself-lovers, full of desires, full of cares, everunsettled and always seeking their own comfortand not the things of Jesus Christ, often timesdevising and framing that which shall not stand,are but bound in chains.23

ConclusionIf we carefully study the history of the

evolution of Christian monasticism, we shallfind that amongst the above three fundamentalprinciples or vows, any one or two got specialstress in some periods in the history ofmonastic evolution and others were taken ascorollaries.

At the beginning, in the solitary hermitlife the central thought was asceticism; celibacywas corollary, while obedience was impossible.

Next in the coenobitic monastic life, inspite of all the intentions and care of its

33


founders, poverty became a counsel ofperfection, as such it was thought impossibleto reach its ideal, whereas celibacy andobedience got the distinctive marks. Amongstthe mendicants, the thought of Lady Povertyagain came to the uppermost and rule of lifewas framed in order to guard her. But duringthis time all the three principles took a different

References

34

shape in respect of their previous way ofthinking. The previous idea was that to serveGod is to fight the world, St. Francis changedthis into the nobler formula: To serve Godwe must serve the world. In this progress wemark a shifting of the very centre of gravity ofthe fundamental monastic ideas to a greatextent. �� (Concluded.)

5. Matthew-19/21 & 23, 24 6. Evolution of the Monastic Ideal, p.67 7. Ibid. p.68 8. Matthew 16/249. Evolution of Monastic Ideal, by Herbert B. Workman. 1962-p.58 10. Ibid p.59 11. Ibid p.5912. Ibid, p.60 13. Matthew 5/28 14. Ibid p.55 15. Ibid p.56 16. Ibid p.59 17. Ibid p.6618. Ibid p.69 19. Thomas a’ Kempis, De Imit Christi- p.9 20. Ibid p.10 21. Evolution of Monastic Ideal, p.7222. St. Benedict’s Rule of Monasteries, Translated by Leonard J. Doyle, 1948 Publication p.923. Thomas a’ Kempis- De Imiti Christi, p.ll

A Fine Example of Dasya-bhaktiExcerpts from the translation of an original Bengali writing of Swami Vivekananda. It

is the preface to his Bengali translation of The Imitation of Christ (by Thomas a'Kempis)which he contributed to a Bengali monthly. Swamiji translated only six chapters withquotations of parallel passages from the Hindu scriptures. (CW, 8: 160)

All wise men think alike. The reader, while reading this book, will hear the echo ofthe Bhagavad-gita over and over again. Like the Bhagavad-gita it says, ‘Give up allDharmas and follow Me’. The spirit of humility, the panting of the distressed soul, thebest expression of Dasya Bhakti (devotion as a servant) will be found imprinted onevery line of this great book and the reader's heart will be profoundly stirred by theauthor's thoughts of burning renunciation, marvellous surrender, and deep sense ofdependence on the will of God. To those of my countrymen, who under the influence ofblind bigotry may seek to belittle this book because it is the work of a Christian, I shallquote only one aphorism of Vaisheshika Darshana and say nothing more. The aphorism

is this: Am·monXoedmä ß e„XÖ—which means that the teachings of Siddha Purushas (perfected

souls) have a probative force and this is technically known as Shabda Pramana (verbalevidence). Rishi Jaimini, the commentator, says that such Apta Purushas (authorities)may be born both among the Aryans and the Mlechchhas.

If in ancient times Greek astronomers like Yavanacharya could have been so highlyesteemed by our Aryan ancestors, then it is incredible that this work of the lion ofdevotees will fail to be appreciated by my countrymen.

Be that as it may, we shall place the Bengali translation of this book before ourreaders seriatim. We trust that the readers of Bengal will spend over it at least onehundredth part of the time they waste over cart-loads of trashy novels and dramas.

Z

Z


Parliament of Religions—Melbourne 2009

BackdropThe World’s Parliament of Religions of

1893 was the first attempt to create a globaldialogue of faiths. In 1893, the city of Chicagohosted the World Columbian Exposition, anearly world’s fair. So many people werecoming to Chicago from all over the worldthat many smaller conferences, called Con-gresses and Parliaments, were scheduled totake advantage of this unprecedented gather-ing. One of these was the World’s Parliamentof Religions. The Parliament of Religions wasby far the largest of the congresses held inconjunction with the Exposition.

The 1893 Parliament, which ran fromSeptember 11 to September 27, had markedthe first formal gathering of representatives ofEastern and Western spiritual traditions.Today it is recognized as the occasion of thebirth of formal inter-religious dialogueworldwide. The eloquence of Swami Viveka-nanda and his introduction of Hinduism tothe West are particularly remembered. Theopening line of his speech, ‘Sisters andBrothers of America . . .’ was greeted by athree minute standing ovation from theaudience of 7000. ‘Sectarianism, bigotry, andits horrible descendant, fanaticism’ he said,‘have long possessed this beautiful earth. Theyhave filled the earth with violence, drenchedit often with human blood, destroyed civili-sations, and sent whole nations to despair. Hadit not been for these horrible demons, humansociety would be far more advanced than it isnow.’ (CW, 1.4)

1993 ParliamentIn commemoration of the first Parliament

of Religions of 1893, a World’s Parliament ofReligions was held in 1993. This led to a newseries of conferences under the official title‘Parliament of the World’s Religions’.

The Council for a Parliament of theWorld’s Religions (CPWR), the host organi-sation for the Parliaments of the last twodecades, officially dates from 1988 when twomonks from the Vivekananda Vedanta Societyof Chicago suggested organising a centennialcelebration of the 1893 World’s Parliament ofReligions.

In 1993, the Parliament convened at thePalmer House hotel in Chicago. Over 8,000people from all over the world, from manydiverse religions, gathered to celebrate anddialogue and explore how religious traditionscan work together on the critical issues whichconfront us all.

Dr. Gerald Barney of the MillenniumInstitute gave the keynote address on the stateof the environment. This keynote and theintroduction of the document, Towards a GlobalEthic: An Initial Declaration, mainly drafted byHans Küng, set the tone for the subsequentten days of discussion. This global ethic wasendorsed by many of the attending religiousand spiritual leaders who were part of theParliament Assembly.

Also created for the 1993 Parliament wasa book, A Sourcebook for the Community ofReligions by the late Joel Beversluis which hasbecome quite popular.


36

1999 ParliamentMore than 7,000 individuals from over

80 countries attended 1999 Parliament in CapeTown, South Africa. The Parliament beganwith a showing of the International AIDS Quiltto highlight the epidemic of AIDS in SouthAfrica, and of the role that religious andspiritual traditions play in facing the criticalissues that face the world. The event continuedwith hundreds of panels, symposia andworkshops, offerings of prayer and meditation,plenaries and performances. The programmesemphasized issues of religious, spiritual, andcultural identity, approaches to inter-religiousdialogue, and the role of religion in responseto the critical issues facing the world today.

The Parliament Assembly considered adocument called A Call to Our Guiding Insti-tutions, addressed to religion, government,business, education, and media inviting theseinstitutions to reflect on and transform theirroles at the threshold of the next century.

In addition to the Call, the Parliamentstaff had created a book Gifts of Service to theWorld showcasing over 300 projects making adifference in the world. Assembly attendeesalso deliberated about Gifts of Service whichthey could offer or could pledge to supportamong those gathered in the Gifts document.

2004 ParliamentIt was celebrated in the Universal Forum

of Cultures. More than 8,900 individualsattended the 2004 Parliament in Barcelona,Spain. Having created the declaration Towardsa Global Ethic at the 1993 Parliament andattempted to engage guiding institutions at the1999 Parliament, the 2004 Parliament concen-trated on four pressing issues: mitigatingreligiously motivated violence, access to safewater, the fate of refugees worldwide, and theelimination of external debt in developing

countries. Attendees were asked to make acommitment to a ‘simple and profound act’ towork on one of these issues.

Over the next five to six years peoplearound the world should implement theircommitments. Then this vibrant embodimentof the international interfaith community willagain come together to strive to, in the wordsof the CPWR mission statement, ‘cultivateharmony between the world’s religious andspiritual communities and foster their engage-ment with the world and its other guidinginstitutions in order to achieve a peaceful, just,and sustainable world’.

2007 Monterrey Forum of CulturesForum Monterrey 2007 was an inter-

national event which included Parliament-styleevents and dialogues. It was held as part ofthe 2007 Universal Forum of Cultures, whichfeatured international congresses, dialogues,exhibitions, and spectacles on the themes ofpeace, diversity, sustainability and knowledge.Special emphasis was placed on the eightobjectives of Millennium Development goalsfor eradicating abject poverty around theworld.

2009 ParliamentMelbourne, Australia hosted the 2009

Parliament of the World’s Religions. The 2009Parliament took place December 3 throughDecember 9. It was attended by over 6,000people from some 80 countries.

The Melbourne Parliament of World’sReligions addressed several contemporaryissues such as aboriginal reconciliation. Theissues of sustainability and global climatechange were explored through the lens ofindigenous spiritualities. Environmental issuesand the spirituality of youth were also to bekey areas of dialogue.


37

H.H. The Dalai Lama was the Guest-in-Chief for the concluding plenary session. Inhis speech he clearly and candidly mentionedSwami Vivekananda’s name, saying that it wasSwamiji who powered the inter-religiousmovement and it is owing to this great man

that the present Parliament could take place.This remark was well received and everybodyclapped and cheered.

The whole conference was simply amaz-ing—nearly 5500 participant-delegates from 80countries of the world, 1200 speakers/presenters, 550 volunteers, 650 panel discus-sions held concurrently in as many as 30-35halls, 220 religious/faith groups represented,the deliberations taking place on a very vastvariety of subjects, everyday from 8 am to 6pm, with cultural programmes (which inclu-ded prayers, music and dance performancesfrom religious traditions of the world) from7.30 to 9.30 pm. The quality of discussions andinteractions was quite high. Swami Viveka-nanda was so much remembered and spokenabout as having been the chief inspiration ofthis kind of inter-religious exercise. Whatappeared to be encouraging was that severalyoungsters—Christians as well as Jews—said

that Swami Vivekananda was their greatinspiration. . Swami Amarananda, the head ofCentre Vedantique, Geneva (Switzerland)spoke at several panels on invitation. SwamiAtmapriyananda, Vice chancellor of Rama-krishna Mission Vivekananda University, gave

a DVD presentation on Swamiji’s life, followedby a 40-minute talk on the message of Swamiji.It was followed by a number of questions bythe participants.

Swami Sridharananda, Swami Atmesha-nanda, Swami Chandrasekharananda ofVedanta Centre of Sydney, Swami Varada-nanda from Chicago (he also serves on theBoard of Trustees for the Council for Parlia-ment of Religions) and Swami Atmatattwa-nanda from Hollywood Vedanta Societiesattended the events. The book-stall set up bythe Sydney Vedanta Centre (among the nearly90 or so stalls from various groups) was wellattended.

Though for some inexplicable reasons,the news about the Parliament did not findmention in most Indian media (both print andvisual), it was widely reported by online newssuch as BBC News, Reuters, The WashingtonPost, Times Online and The Age. �

(Courtesy: http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki Parliament_of_World_Religions and a report sent by Swami Atmapriyananda of Vivekananda University, Belur Math)

Some of the delegates of Parliament of Religions and H.H. The Dalai Lama addressing the gathering

N N


Swami Vivekananda was a great storyteller. His talks and writings are interspersed with numer-ous anecdotes, examples, similes, and illustrations mirroring his vast knowledge of human nature—itspotential and its relative limitations. Some of these stories are well known, many others are littleknown. We present here some more of these insightful stories, selected from his Complete Works.

XXXXXII

Whom to Blame?What did we do for these people who

forsook their own religion? . . . I heard of anhonest girl in England who was going tobecome a streetwalker. When a lady asked hernot to do so, her reply was, ‘That is the onlyway I can get sympathy. I can find none tohelp me now; but let me be a fallen, down-trodden woman, and then perhaps mercifulladies will come and take me to a home anddo everything they can for me.’ We areweeping for these renegades now, but whatdid we do for them before?

Let every one of us ask ourselves, whathave we learnt; have we taken hold of thetorch of truth, and if so, how far did we carryit? We did not help them then. This is thequestion we should ask ourselves. That wedid not do so was our own fault, our ownKarma. Let us blame none; let us blame ourown Karma. (3: 166)

Wherein is the Reality?Really speaking nobody is ever born or

dies. There is neither heaven nor hell nor thisworld; all three never really existed.

Tell a child a lot of ghost stories, and lethim go into the street in the evening. There isa little stump of a tree. What does the child

see? A ghost, with hands stretched out, readyto grab him. Suppose a man comes from thecorner of the street, wanting to meet hissweetheart; he sees that stump of the tree asthe girl. A policeman coming from the streetcorner sees the stump as a thief. The thief seesit as a policeman. It is the same stump of atree that was seen in various ways. The stumpis the reality, and the visions of the stump arethe projections of the various minds.

There is one Being, this Self; It neithercomes nor goes. When a man is ignorant, hewants to go to heaven or some place, and allhis life he has been thinking and thinking ofthis; and when this earth-dream vanishes, hesees this world as a heaven with Devas andangels flying about, and all such things. If aman all his life desires to meet his forefathers,he gets them all from Adam downwards,because he creates them. If a man is still moreignorant and has always been frightened byfanatics with ideas of hell, with all sorts ofpunishments, when he dies, he will see thisvery world as hell. All that is meant by dyingor being born is simply changes in the planeof vision. Neither do you move, nor does thatmove upon which you project your vision. Youare the permanent, the unchangeable.

(3: 22-23)


�� Vedanta Centre in Germany—New DevelopmentsThe Ramakrishna Order’s Vedanta work in Germany achieved a significant milestone with the opening of

Vedanta Gesellschaft’s town centre in Mühlheim am Main on 17 May 2009. Until then the German VedantaSociety was functioning from a retreathouse in a village called Bindweide, 130km from Frankfurt, where its work wasmore or less restricted to monthly spiritualretreats. In order to make the life-givingmessage of Ramakrishna-Vedanta moreaccessible to a greater number of people,it was important to have a centre in one ofthe country’s major cities for greaterinteraction with devotees and spiritualseekers.

The new centre in Mühlheim am Main(‘am Main’ means ‘on river Main’) is only15 km away from the city of Frankfurtand 32 km from Frankfurt airport.Mühlheim is a small town that has all theadvantages of a big city, yet none of itsdisadvantages! The new centre is housedin a three-storey building, situated in a beautiful,quiet locality of the town. More importantly, beingjust half an hour away from Frankfurt airport andtwenty minutes from Frankfurt main railway station,the place is ideal from the point of view ofaccessibility.

After the Society took possession of the houseon 14 January 2009, renovating the interior andfurnishing the house took three more months. It wasinaugurated on 17 May 2009, at a modest functionattended by over 60 members, devotees, friends andwell-wishers. Now, in addition to daily prayer-and-meditation sessions in the mornings and evenings,and scriptural classes on Saturday after-noons, the swami-in-charge gives personal interviewsand spiritual counselling. (Address: VedantaGesellschaft, Pestalozzistrasse 2, 63165 Mühlheim/Main, Germany. Website: www.vedanta-germany.org) �

��

The new centre at Mühlheim am Main

Retreat in progress at Bindweide centre


40

Youth Awards Presented by T. Nagar AshramaRamakrishna Mission Ashrama at T. Nagar in Chennai presented the Youth Leadership Award for the

year 2009 to Ms M. Vahini, an eleventh standard student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec School,Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034.

Christened as Yuva Sangharsh-2009, the YouthLeadership Award for the senior school studentsconsisted of several rounds of selection. The purposeof the Award is ‘to encourage, appreciate and recognizethe leadership potential in the youth of India.’ Theparticipants were encouraged to think in terms ofexcellence in character, leadership traits and a visionfor a better India.

In the first round, 230 students participated. Theselection was based on the content and competency ofthe student’s speech on leadership lessons from thebook Swami Vivekananda—His Call to the Nation andinteraction with the Judges. The second round,consisted of 109 students, included extempore speechand essay writing. Video clippings on social issueswere shown and the challenge was to provide solutionsbased on Swami Vivekananda’s leadership lessons. In quarter-finals, 45 students participated. Selection wasbased on Group Discussion on Ethics, Positive Attitude, team-building and other qualities from a Managementcase-study and also on practical projects on social, personal and national issues. In the semi-finals and finals,24 participants took part.

The panel of judges for the finals included, among others, Sri N Vital, Former Central VigilanceCommissioner, Government of India. The Award was presented on 6 December by Dr S S Badrinath,Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Netralaya, Chennai. Swami Atmaghanananda, the Secretary, VivekanandaCollege, gave the benediction. �

Principals’ Meet at Vyttila AshramaRamakrishna Math, Vyttila, Kochi organised a confe-

rence for the Principals of schools in and around Kochi on28th November 2009. More than forty heads of educationalinstitutions actively participated in this academic gettogether. The chief guest Ms.Niveditha, Vice President,Vivekananda Kendra, spoke on the role of the Heads ofinstitutions in moulding the younger generation. Sri VijayMenon, a visiting faculty at the Lal Bahadur Academy ofAdministration, Mussorie, spoke on ‘Teachers as rolemodels of society’. This was followed by a short butspirited interactive session. �

Conventions Organised at Vijayawada CentreRamakrishna Mission, Vijayawada, organized Youth Convention, Teachers’ Convention and Parents’

Convention on 27, 28 and 29 November 2009 respectively at its Vivekananda Vidya Vihar situated inSitanagaram. The subjects for discussion included Modern Youth—Swami Vivekananda, Developing theInner Strength—the Vivekananda Way, Teachers as Torch Bearers, Spiritual Training to Children, and soon. The speakers included many monks, academia, and government officials. 700 Youth, 300 Teachers and400 Parents took part in the deliberations. �

.

��

��

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Presentation of Youth Award


For review in THE VEDANTA KESARI,publishers need to send us

two copies of their latest publication.

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA AND THE

ERASING OF THE DIVIDING LINE

By Swami RanganathanandaPublished by Advaita Ashrama, 5Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata - 700014. 2008, paperback, pp.32, Rs.12.

This little booklet containstwo articles of Swami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj,the late thirteenth President of the RamakrishnaOrder. The first was written by him in Karachi onthe 15th of August 1947, on the occasion of India’sIndependence Day. The second is an extract fromthe speech given by him in 1986 at Vigyan Bhavan,New Delhi, while accepting the First Indira GandhiAward for National Integration.

The ‘Dividing Line’ refers to the visible andinvisible factors that gave rise to the Two-Nationtheory at the time of independence. The seed ofthis theory had been planted insidiously by theBritish Government in the minds of the Muslimleaders, some of them being prominent membersof the Indian National Congress.

Today, there is hardly anyone on either sideof the ‘Dividing Line’ who is optimistic about thisline disappearing. But, in those days, there weremany people on both sides who felt that thistemporary insanity will blow over and the twopeoples will come together again. Swami Ranga-nathanandaji was one such. He is a true disciple ofSri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, both ofwhom fervently hoped that the two communitieswould learn to live in true harmony. Swamiji evenfervently hoped that Vedanta in its pure formwould be the panacea. Who knows? A day maycome when the apparently impossible may becomepossible. Did not the Cold War end? Did not theBerlin Wall fall?

Swami Ranganathanadaji was asked severaltimes by many people, including this reviewer,

about the turmoil in the subcontinent. His answerwas that the countries of this subcontinent are nowmaking a transition from the state of tamas (inertia)to rajas (activity). Very soon they would realize theneed for moving over to sattva (equilibrium).

The second article is quite short and talks ofthe need for us to understand the correct meaningof Secularism, not the fake one parading aroundthe country. What we need today is the ancientwisdom that considered the whole world as one.The Swami feels that not only should there be anintegration within the nation, but it should extendbeyond its boundaries too.

Both the articles carry the distinct style ofSwami Ranganathanandaji, viz., lucidity and clarity.Bringing out this booklet is the tribute paid by theAdvaita Ashrama to the Swami during hiscentenary year.______________________________ NVC SWAMY, BANGALORE

A COLLECTION OF SPIRITUAL

DISCOURSES [Vol. – II (A)]

By Swami Dayanand Giri JiMaharaj . Translation by Prof.A.S. Mahajan, Smt. Girija VyasSastry and Dr. V. Uma Sanga-meswaran.

Published by Devotees of SwamijiMaharaj. 2008, Hardback, Pp.404, availablefree of cost from: 1. G.C. Garg, 99, Preet Nagar,Ambala City-134 003, Haryana. 2. Sant Niwas,Ujjar Gaon, Virakt Kuti, Opp. Rama Vihar, Vill.Karala, Delhi-81.

This book is the 3rd volume of the Englishversion of spiritual discourses—Pravachan—ofSwami Dayanand Giriji Maharaj, delivered during1987. The revered Swami delivered several dis-courses for promoting a spiritual outlook in life


42

among devotees. Touching on every conceivablearea of human conduct, good and bad, thediscourses are intended to enable people to enjoyan organized life through ‘right conduct’, ‘rightdevotion’ and ‘right knowledge’.

The thirteen discourses covered in thisvolume are not subject-specific but identify andanalyse all forms of weaknesses haunting humanmind related to one’s profession, acquisition ofwealth, interpersonal relationships, etc. Theemphasis is on getting rid of negative feelings suchas hatred, fear, suspicion, anger, and becomingaware of the transitory nature of worldly pleasures.The search for peace and happiness ends onrealizing the indwelling divinity. Instead of findingfault in others, the focus should be on their goodqualities and appreciating them.

The author chooses the most commonplaceevents in life some of which appear too basic, sothat the lessons are understood by all sections ofpeople.

The translators have handled a tough assign-ment as appropriate expressions to convey the spiritof the original are sometimes hard to find. Thisperhaps explains the use of expressions like ‘truthbearing knowledge’ and ‘thoughtful wisdom’. TheEditor’s note points out the inevitability of repetitionof ideas._______________________________ P S SUNDARAM, CHENNAI

BALANCED YOGA

By Dr. Svami PurnaPublished by New Age Books, A –44, Naraina Phase I, New Delhi –110 028. 2006, Paperback, Pp.95,Rs.125.

Yoga as a discipline is gain-ing popularity the world over and

of late several books have been published on thissubject. This book was published initially by theAdhyatmic Foundation, USA in the year 1990 andhas seen several reprints.

The author has chosen the title ‘BalancedYoga’ for this book as it is designed to be a simpleguide to overcome the stressful conditions ofmodern living and bring about mental andemotional growth through yogic practices. Thoughthe emphasis is on Hatha Yoga, the lessons are sodesigned as to combine physical exercises (asanas),

breathing techniques (pranayama), and variousrelaxation methods with adequate importance toconcentration and meditation, and also on eatinghabits and a few simple disciplines. The selectedpractices prescribed for the twelve week period areso balanced with a guiding thought or principle foreach week as to enable a balanced growth of thebody, mind and the spirit.

The postures (asanas) selected in this bookfor practice are suitable for both men and womenand have been well illustrated through simplesketches. The author makes it clear that ‘Hatha Yogais a scientific tool, pleasant and enjoyable that canhelp one to achieve balance of body, mental andemotional functions’. Both Kundalini Yoga with abrief introduction and some Mantras for meditationhave also been well integrated in the prescribedpractice.

The book is economically priced and is wellwithin the reach of all. In the present day, whenthe students are led astray due to the fall-outs ofglobalization, unbridled information proliferationand libertarianism (leading to pub culture,promiscuity and suicides), it is imperative to makeYoga a subject of study in all schools. This countrywill be much benefited if everyone (all Hindus atleast!) read this book, practice yoga themselves andalso advise their children to take up yoga practice.__________________________ H. SUBRAMANIAN, BANGALORE

TAPOVANA TAPASVI

By Siddhanta Tulasi

Published by Vedanta SasthraPrachara Trust (Sri ChidbhavanandaAshramam) P.B.No.23, ChatrapattiRoad, Vedapuri, Theni - 625 531.2008, Paperback, Pp.515, Price notgiven.

A mere glance through The Gospel of SriRamakrishna served as a turning point for youngChinnu, who, as Swami Chidbhavananda, foundedSri Ramakrishna Tapovanam and dedicated himselfto the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna and SwamiVivekananda. The book is about the dedicated workof the revered swami to spread the message of Holy-Trio and Vedanta in Tamil Nadu. In an Introduction,Swami Dayananda Saraswati points out the untiringefforts of Swami Chidbhavananda to revive thespirit of Vedanta tradition in Tamil Nadu.


43

As a disciple of Swami Sivananda (Maha-purush Maharaj), Swami Chidbhavananda hadcome in contact with some of the direct disciples ofSri Ramakrishna. Later, he established Sri Rama-krishna Tapovanam in Tirupparaithurai, and startedseveral educational institutions. His efforts to bringabout a renaissance in education were applaudedby Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.

Several outstanding books on Sri Rama-krishna and religion and philosophy were authoredby Swami Chidbhavananda. Particular mentionmay be made of Ramakrishna Lives Vedanta, the bookon Bhagavad Gita, and the aphorisms of Thayumana-swami.

The revered swami introduced modernmanagement practices in running the institutions.He believed in delegation of authority andeliminating power centres.

The author has devoted a major part of thebook to highlight the personality of the saint, hisextraordinary talents, spiritual insights and hisreverence to the Ramakrishna Movement. There arealso references to Indian classics and scriptureswhich are useful. The revered swami had a widecircle of disciples, Indians and foreigners._______________________________ P S SUNDARAM, CHENNAI

VEDAS : TRADITIONAL AND MODERN

PERSPECTIVES

General Editor V.Kameswari

Published by The KuppuswamiSastri Research Institute, No.84,Thiru-Vi-Ka. Road, Mylapore,Chennai – 600 004. 2007, hard-back, pp.311+vii, Rs.250

One need not get frightened while openingthe first page. It is in Sanskrit, but the language ofAgnihotram Thathachariar is pellucid and conveysclearly the importance of the Vedas forcontemporary life. According to him the problemof sidelining the Vedas is due to mutual ignorance.The modern scientific mind does not know whathas been imbedded in the Veda; traditional Vedicscholarship has no idea of the scientific world oftoday. The eminent scholar points out how the fourVedas remain focused on a total view of life whilenot turning away from details like global unity,domestic harmony and the nation’s polity. C.R.

Swaminathan expresses anguish that Maharashtraand Kerala which were once in the forefront oftraditional knowledge have been lax in upholdingVedic studies in recent times.

The moment the term ‘Veda’ is mentionedwe see scenes of sacrifices performed under theaegis of mantras. Vidhyadharshastri Bhide dealswith certain Vedic terms and their interpretationsby Sayana as performing mantras. Highly technicalessays by Bhalasubrahmanya Ghanapati, Viswa-natha Srauti and K. Balasubramania Iyer are aresearcher’s delight. Going through the essays (inSanskrit or English) one comes across veryinteresting information. We learn from T.N.Makarabhushanam Iyengar that the TalavakaraSakha of Sama Veda alone has the sound ‘zha’which is said to be unique to the Tamil language.

Among individual Vedic terms taken forinterpretation, Indra is O.K. Anantalakshmi’schoice. Skillfully drawing upon the fact that Indrahas the maximum space in the mantras she seeshim as the Self or Spirit of man ‘(atman-breath)’. Itmay be pointed out here that Sri Aurobindo haddrawn to a like interpretation by observing in Indrathe ‘illumined thinker within’, dhiyesito viprajutah(On the Veda).

An important contribution for our societalgood comes from T.R. Venkatrama Sastri whocategorically states after studying the relevant RigVedic mantra (X.18.8) that there is ‘no warrant forSati in the Vedas.’ Equally felicitous is the choice ofProf. Louis Renou’s ‘Vedic Study—Its History andits Future’ for republication after sixty years. C.S.Sundaram’s pointed essay, ‘Vedic Studies inAncient Tamil Nadu’ deserves a wider dissemi-nation in view of the myopic Aryan invasion theorywhich is still being spouted by certain groups togain political mileage. The attention-grabbers forthe younger generation are the studies on plantscience and cyto-genetics by V. Kameshwari andK.S. Balasubramaniam respectively. The world ofVedic scholarship had definitely been enriched bythe very well produced Vedas: Traditional and ModernPerspectives.___________________________ PREMA NANDAKUMAR, TRICHY

Cultural and Spiritual History of India

by Dr.R.Rangan


Published by Akila Bharatha SadhuSangam Trust, No.1, 13th CrossStreet, (B-21) Hindu Colony, Nanga-nallur, Chennai - 600 061. 2009,hardback, pp.204, Rs.100. (Copiescan be had also from K.Ramesh, SriDwaraka, Plot No.A/25A, DoorNo.20/8, 36th Street, (off) 3rd MainRoad, Nanganallur, Chennai - 61.

This is an account of Indian cultural andspiritual history and the first thing that has got tobe said is that the author, Dr Rangan, has managedto pack in a lot of information into a little over 200pages. Starting with the Aryan times, the history ofIndia has been traced through all the invasions anddynasties, she has been subject to and ends with anaccount of the reformist movements and theindependence struggle.

This is done in five chapters, with some ofthe chapters having subdivisions. An accompanyingbooklet contains the essence of the first twochapters. The booklet discusses the relevance ofsome Hindu beliefs, the rationale behind them andmakes prophesies – admittedly pessimistic – aboutthe future of India if we go down the same road ofnonchalance and disregard of earlier norms ofHindu society, which, the author reiterates, havebeen established with much care and experiencebacked by spiritual and religious injunction andauthority.

The treatment of the various aspects of historyand culture has been very comprehensively done.Particularly remarkable is the brevity with whichDr Rangan has been able to give a bird’s eye viewof the literature, architecture, philosophy and theinfluence of Indian thought across the world. Thethird chapter which has eleven subheadings, is themost comprehensive and informative in the book.

However, the book has many grammaticaland syntactical errors which a good editor shouldhave noticed and removed or changed before thebook went into print. Also debatable are somegeneralisations about other cultures which the book,and the booklet, contains, although an author canjustifiably claim that his/her work expresses apersonal point of view. Dr Rangan may want tolook at these two aspects if and when the book isreprinted.___________________________ PREMA RAGHUNATH, CHENNAI

THUS HAVE I BEEN TAUGHT

By J.P. Vaswani

Published by Sterling PublishersPrivate Limited, A- 59, OkhlaIndustrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi-110 020, 2008, paperback, pp.120.Rs.99.

Swami Vivekananda calledthis world ’a gymnasium’ where we have come tomake ourselves strong. Dada J.P.Vaswani considersthis world a school where every experience thatbefalls us is to be understood as God’s prasad. Everyincident, every accident and every adversity hassomething new to teach us. A firm faith in the‘Moving Finger that writes’, ‘the awful daring of amoment’s surrender’, and an attitude of ‘Thou, NotI’ will confer peace and happiness on one whoacquiesces in the Will of God. God does not grantour prayers at times which may be frustrating butas Shakespeare says, ’We, ignorant of ourselves,beg often our own harms, which the wise powersdeny us for our good’.

The author pokes light fun at those whoclutter their homes with the new gadgets thatinvade the market every day and fill their ward-robes with the trendiest clothes. ’We feel life is notworth living without pizzas, hamburgers andnoodles’, says the Dada more in sorrow than inanger. He points out that there are millions ofpeople in India and all over the world for whom ameal a day is a luxury.

In the episode, ‘Man is the Maker of His OwnDestiny’, the author tells us that God has endowedeach one of us with Free Will with which we haveto make the choice at every step in life betweenwhat the Upanishads call ‘preya’ and ‘shreya’—those that are pleasing and those that lead to ourgood.

The book contains 15 episodes on a widevariety of themes useful for daily living in simpleand conversational English. Each episode beginswith an anecdote from the author’s life which iselaborated in greater detail leading to a moralreflection on the event and concludes with practicalsuggestions for a stress-free life.

The book is a ready reference for thoseinterested in making life a celebration.__________________________ K PANCHAPAGESAN, CHENNAI

44

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 045

(2004) Sri Ramakrishna in Todays Violent World : Rs.45/-(2005) Channelling Youth Power : Rs.45/-(2006) No One is a Stranger : Rs.45/-(2007) Upanishads in Daily Life : Rs.70/-(2008) Gita for Everyday Living : Rs.70/-

Some of the recent Annual Issuesof The Vedanta Kesari available

in book form:

Published bySri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004

Plus postage Rs.23/- for single copy. No request for VPP entertained


A comprehensive account ofSwami Vivekananda’s nine-day stayat the Ice House/Castle Kernan(now called Vivekanandar Illam—the Tamil word for a house;‘Vivekananda House’) after histriumphal return in 1897, followed by the founding of Chennai SriRamakrishna Math there and the hardships and challenges SwamiRamakrishnananda underwent during the initial years. The book bringsalive, with the help of archival photographs and memoirs, the history ofthe building, and its association with many eminent people ofcontemporary India. It was at the Vivekanandar Illam that the first centreof Ramakrishna Math in South India functioned for 11 years.

A source of inspiration to thousands of people who visit it every year,it is located on the picturesque Marina beach road in Chennai and housesa ‘Permanent Exhibition on Indian Culture and Swami Vivekananda’,maintained by Chennai Ramakrishna Math.

The hardbound book (size 1 x 4 crown) has 256+viii pages, with morethan 300 photographs in colour—printed on glossy paper—spread over18 chapters and 12 appendices.

Price : Rs.200/- + postage: Rs. 40/-. No request for VPP entertained

46


Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University(Declared by Government of India under Section 3 of UGC Act)

PO Belur Math, Dist Howrah 711202, West Bengal

Phone: (033) 2654 999 / 2654 3503; Fax: (033) 2654 4640Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

AN APPEAL

47

Swami Vivekananda once prophesied, ‘Now, the aim is to gradually develop this [Belur]Math into an all round university.’ Ramakrishna Mission’s newly established University at Belur,inaugurated on 4 July 2005, is a humble first step in this direction.

The uniqueness of the University consists in (i) the emphasis on certain ‘thrust areas’ whichare also ‘gap areas’ in that these areas scarcely receive any attention in the conventionaluniversities in India, (ii) the multi-campus character of the University—it operates through awide network of specialized Faculty at the various branch-centres of Ramakrishna Mission someof which have been working in these areas for decades, (iii) the inculcation of higher humanvalues in our attempt to realize Swami Vivekananda’s vision of value-based education forms theessential component of all the courses run by the University.

Some of the courses and programmes being offered at present are:(i) B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses as well as M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes in Disability

Management and Special Education(ii) Courses in ‘General & Adapted Physical Education and Yoga’ including Special

Olympics meant especially for mentally retarded children—the first of its kind in Asia by anyUniversity

(iii) M.Sc. courses in Integrated Rural Development and Management (IRDM) as well asIntegrated Rural and Tribal Development (IRTD)

(iv) Postgraduate Diploma course in Agro-based Bio-technology(v) Diploma courses in ‘Integrated Self-Development’—Essentials of Indian Cultural and

Spiritual Heritage, etc.(vi) Integrated M.A. course in Sanskrit, taught fully in Sanskrit medium, in gurukula spirit

with free food and accommodation; M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes in Sanskrit Studies(vii) M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Bengali Literature and Language Studies, doctoral and post-

doctoral programmes in Ramakrishna-Vivekananda philosophy and thought, TranslationStudies, Consciousness Studies etc.

(viii) M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Pure Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, M.Phil.and Ph.D. programmes in Theoretical Physics

We urgently need to create a sizeable corpus fund—at least 25 crores in the next couple ofyears—to strengthen the foundations of the University and make it grow further. We thereforeappeal to all the friends, devotees, followers, well-wishers and admirers of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda ideology to contribute generously for building up such a corpus fund. Donors tothe University will enjoy 100% exemption from Income Tax under a special provision—Section80G, subsection 2(a) (iiif ) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as notified by the Ministry of Finance,Government of India.

Belur Math, 1 October 2009 Swami AtmapriyanandaVice Chancellor


NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE REGD.

We can attain salvation through social work– Swami Vivekananda K. Sridhar Acharya

Founder/ President

1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind Children – Tirupati & Orissa2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital – Tirupati3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged – Tirupati & Rishikesh4. Navajeevan Harijan Sewa Ashram – Kothapeta5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram – Tirupati6. Navajeevan Orphanage – Patapatnam /

Parlaki Mudi [Orissa]7. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres - Berhampur [Orissa]8. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres - Serango [Orissa]

1. Sponsor one day Annadanam to Blind Children and aged – Rs. 5000/-2. Sponsor 5 IOL Cataract Eye Operations – Rs. 7000/-3. Sponsor one blind child or Orphan child for one year – Rs. 6000/-4. Sponsor one poor aged person for one year – Rs. 5000/-5. Sponsor one free eye camp at Rural/Tribal area – Rs. 50000/-6. Vidyadan - Educational aid for one Child – Rs. 2000/-

(FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED)TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI - 517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.navajeevan.org

Donor devotees can send their contributions by cheque/DD/M.O to the above address onthe occasion of birthday, wedding day or any other special occasion and receive prasadam of LordBalaji Venkateswara of Tirupati as blessings.

Contributions to NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE, Tirupati are eligible for TaxRelief U/S 80G of Income Tax Act.

D E E P A V A L I G R E E T I N G S 2 0 0 9

49


The Ashrama has been running a free hostel for the poor, underprivileged and orphanchildren from classes V to X since 1936. There is an urgent need of creating a corpus fundof Rs.2 Crores for maintaining the hostel of 100 children, providing them with food, accom-modation and study materials free of cost.

We appeal to the generous public and well wishers to donate liberally for this purpose.An Endowment of Rs.1 lakh and above may be created in memory of the loved ones.

Donations towards the Endowment/Corpus Fund are exempt from 100% Income Taxunder 35AC. Donations towards other activities of the Ashrama—Daily Puja, CharitableDispensaries, Celebrations, Maintenance etc.—are exempt from I.T. under 80G.

Cheques/Bank Drafts/M.O. may be drawn in favour of Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama,Kalady and sent to the above address.

Foreign donors can send their contributions in foreign currency online to our AccountNo. 338602010009164 at Union Bank of India, Kalady (IFSC Code: UBIN0533866).

Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama(Hqs.: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Belur Math)

P.O. Kalady, Ernakulam - 683574Ph: 0484-2461071; 09447051231

Swami AmaleshanandaAdhyaksha

51

Written by Seeta Lakhani and edited by Jay Lakhani

Illustrated with multi-coloured drawings on art paper

Especially designed to meet the needs ofteaching Hinduism to children between the agegroup of 5 to 14, the book has 10 chapters onthemes such as What is Hinduism, Worship andCelebration, Hindu Holy Books, Hindu FamilyTraditions and so on.

Can be adapted for teaching by schoolsand individuals

Hardbound, number of pages 116Price: Rs. 225/- + postage: Rs.30/- per copy

No request for VPP entertained

Published bySri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore,

Chennai - 600 004

Primary Hinduism


,

The Vedanta Kesari February 2010

Documents

Transcript of The Vedanta Kesari February 2010