The Vedanta Kesari - February 2015 issue

The Vedanta KesariTHE LION OF VEDANTA

A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

102nd

Year of Publication

F ebruary 2015

New Temple at Ramakrishna Mission

Limbdi, Gujarat

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Give up hundred things when time to eat comes. Give up thousand things and take bath. Give up lakhs of things and give in charity. Give up crore of things and remember the Lord Hari. —Traditional Saying

India's Timeless Wisdom

FEBRUARY 2015

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.chennaimath.org

VOL. 102, No. 2 ISSN 0042-2983

Cover Story: Page 6

CONTENTS

The Vedanta Kesari 102nd

Year of Publication

Gita Verse for Reflection 45

Editorial ‘Ignorance’ and ‘Knowledge’: A Spiritual Seeker’s Perspective 46

Articles A Few Women Disciples of Swami Vivekananda 51

Prema Nandakumar

From the River of Time into Timelessness 55Pravrajika Virajaprana

Overcoming Religious Intolerance: A Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Vedanta Perspective 63

R. Lekshmi and V. Vijitha

Five Pointers for Good Governance: Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas and the Politics of Our Times 69

Sandipan Sen

Annual Report Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Synopsis of the Governing Body Report for 2013-14 60

Special Report The Vedanta Kesari Centenary Programme 74

New Find Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda 67The Order on the March 76Book Reviews 79

Feature Simhâvalokanam (News and Reports—December 1924-25) 50

4T 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 5

The Vedanta KesariSri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004

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Cover StoryN N

A New Temple of Ramakrishna Mission, Limbdi, Gujarat

Limbdi in Gujarat is associated with Swami Vivekananda who visited it as a wandering monk in 1891. After a dramatic encounter with a sect of degenerate worshippers, he was rescued by Thakor Saheb Yashwantsinghji of Limbdi who accommodated him in his Royal Palace and became his great admirer. The building housing the Royal Palace (Durbar Hall) was gifted to a trust managed by a group of devotees in 1968. In 1994, a sub-centre of the Ramakrishna Mission was started in Limbdi and Tower Bungalow (the Palace) was made into a memorial (now called Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Tower Bungalow). The Mission campus is located at a place close to the memorial where it conducts a number of spiritual, cultural and charitable activities.

A new temple of Sri Ramakrishna was consecrated at the Mission premises on 1 November 2014. See report on page 76.

704. Mr. S. Kameswaran, Mumbai705. Mr. Sezhian Gandhi Kumarasamy, UAE

PATRONS

Mr. V. Jayaram, Mumbai Rs. 2000Mr. V.S.C. Mani, Kerala Rs. 2000Mr. Sushaanth Srinivasan Rs. 2000

DONORS

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

The Vedanta KesariVOL. 102, No. 2, FEBRUARY 2015 ISSN 0042-2983

Gita Verse for ReflectionTr. by Swami Tapasyananda

B

—Bhagavad Gita, 12-3

Those who are devoted to the Imperishable (the Impersonal Absolute)—who is the firm support of the world and is also undefinable, unmanifested, transcend-ent, motionless, eternal and all-pervading,—even they reach Me alone, striving with their senses controlled, and with mind tranquillised and set on the welfare of all.


When this highest ideal of love is reached, philosophy is thrown away; who will then care for it? Freedom, Salvation, Nirvana—all are thrown away; who cares to become free while in the enjoyment of divine love? ‘Lord, I do not want wealth, nor friends, nor beauty, nor learning, nor even freedom; let me be born again and again, and be Thou ever my Love. Be Thou ever and ever my Love.’ ‘Who cares to become sugar?’ says the Bhakta, ‘I want to taste sugar.’ Who will then desire to become free and one with God? ‘I may know that I am He; yet will I take myself away from Him and become different, so that I may enjoy the Beloved.’ That is what the Bhakta says. Love for love’s sake is his highest enjoyment.

—Swami Vivekananda, CW 3.99


Editorial

Ignorance and Knowledge In some context or other, all spiritual

seekers encounter the term ignorance. But ignorance of what? And knowledge of what? How ‘ignorance’ affects us and how ‘knowledge’ changes our lives—we are left wondering about these questions.

In practical world, we use these two terms—knowledge and ignorance—in a variety of ways. We all know how knowledge and ignorance play a vital role in serious issues of life. Think of a subject that one is studying (and the tension and anxiety of not knowing our subject well while appearing for a school or college examination!) or the latest discoveries in science or changes in government policies or legal matters, and so on—knowledge or ignorance of something can create or destroy a situation. Of course ‘too much of knowledge’ has a lighter side as well. ‘My mother can speak for hours on any subject,’ said a boy to his friend. ‘So what! My mother can speak for hours without any subject,’ responded his friend. ‘Ah, knowledge’!

Indeed, we all want ‘knowledge’. The urge to know is inherent in man. But mere knowledge is not sufficient. Knowledge is power but only increase of knowledge will result in increase of sorrow—unless there is increase in wisdom as well.

The terms knowledge and ignorance, however, acquire a completely refreshing meaning when used in the context of spiritual life. In mundane matters, ignorance can be overcome by studying and knowing things

but in spiritual matters, ignorance is rather intangible, invisible and incomprehensible ‘something’. For instance if we do not know how to operate a simple email, we can learn from others and in a trice we can become ‘experts’ in handling the emails. But spiritual ignorance does not go away by just increasing our ‘knowledge’ by reading or listening. With all his knowledge of emails, internet, and modern technology, a person may still be utterly ignorant—spiritually speaking! For spiritual knowledge is something so very different from our knowledge of the world.

Two Types of ‘Ignorance’According to the Mundaka Upanishad,1

there are two types of knowledge—objective and subjective. Objective knowledge is the knowledge about various properties, functions and aspects of the world of objects which senses can perceive. It is objective knowledge that we mean when we use the term ‘general knowledge’. Where there is ‘knowledge’, there is also ‘ignorance’. All science, literature, political news, Internet data and so on, all comes within the purview of objective knowledge.

The Upanishad goes further and classifies even knowledge of spiritual knowledge one gets from spiritual books or scriptural texts, without ‘realisation’ as ignorance. Referring to it Swami Vivekananda says,

Talking, arguing, and reading books, the highest flights of the intellect, the Vedas themselves, all these cannot give knowledge of the Self.2

‘Ignorance’ and ‘Knowledge’A Spiritual Seeker’s Perspective


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Knowledge in the spiritual sense is a specific term. It is not about knowing and quoting what one knows but becoming wise, growing in love and calmness, and cultivating unselfishness and purity of character which is the real sign of spiritual knowledge. Swamiji further says,

In intellectual development we can get much help from books, but in spiritual development, almost nothing. In studying books, sometimes we are deluded into thinking that we are being spiritually helped; but if we analyse ourselves, we shall find that only our intellect has been helped, and not the spirit. That is the reason why almost everyone of us can speak most wonderfully on spiritual subjects, but when the time of action comes, we find ourselves so woefully deficient.3

‘He whose efforts are bereft of all desire and selfishness has burnt all this bondage of action with the fire of knowledge. He is wise.’ Reading books cannot do that. The ass can be burdened with the whole library; that does not make him learned at all. What is the use of reading many books?4

Reading books helps one get some knowledge about spirituality but intellectual knowledge does not guarantee spiritual realization. It is an inner experience, change in one’s thinking that is the function of spiritual knowledge. The Chandogya Upanishad says, ‘The knower of Self goes beyond all sorrow.’ Knowledge of the objective world cannot extinguish the flames of pain and sorrow, fear and anxiety or the cycle of birth and death that plague the human existence. Which law of physics and chemistry or which accounting principle or which political news can remove the pain of a heart sunk in ignorance of Self? Swami Vivekananda says,

Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for ever; any other

knowledge satisfies wants only for a time. It is only with the knowledge of the spirit that the faculty of want is annihilated for ever; so helping man spiritually is the highest help that can be given to him. He who gives man spiritual knowledge is the greatest benefactor of mankind and as such we always find that those were the most powerful of men who helped man in his spiritual needs, because spirituality is the true basis of all our activities in life. . . Next to spiritual comes intellectual help. The gift of knowledge is a far higher gift than that of food and clothes; it is even higher than giving life to a man, because the real life of man consists of knowledge. Ignorance is death, knowledge is life. Life is of very little value, if it is a life in the dark, groping through ignorance and misery.5

In other words, knowledge is the true basis of life, peace and joy, and ignorance is the source of all pain and death.

‘Ignorance’ through the Prism of Four YogasAccording to Santana Dharma, the

Perennial Philosophy of India, there are four major pathways to spiritual knowledge. Called by the generic term Yoga, these paths are: Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Raja or Dhyana Yoga. Each of these Yogas aims at removing ‘ignorance’ by getting ‘knowledge’ but have their own ways of understanding ‘ignorance.’ We may try to have a clearer idea about ‘ignorance’ following these four yogas:

According to Jnana Yoga, the Path of Knowledge, ignorance means ignorance of the true nature of the Self. We are all aware of ourselves. But what is self? We mistakenly think of self as body, mind and ego. This mistaken thinking is born of ignorance called Maya—a conglomerate of time-space-causation (also called Upadhis, ‘limiting conditions’). To know the Self, one has to overcome this identification with body-mind-ego. The process of doing it is


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called Jnana Yoga. While one has to analyze, separate the real Self from the non-self, one also has to cultivate virtues such as patience, forbearance, non-violence and so on. To ‘have’ knowledge, in this sense, means that one is ever aware of one’s divine nature—the atman.

According to Karma Yoga, the Path of detached action, ‘ignorance’ means ignorance of the true nature of the agent of work (karta—as also bhokta or enjoyer). A true Karma Yogi is never attached to action, or the fruits of action, nor to even non-action. He lives without expectations, just for the good of others. Removing ignorance, in case of Karma Yoga, means to get rid of the idea of being identified with Prakriti or Nature which included body, mind and ego, and being aware of one’s true being which is beyond all conditions and fetters. To ‘have’ knowledge, in this sense, means that one is ever free from all desires, expectations and being aware of one’s divine nature—so to say.

According to Bhakti Yoga, the Path of divine love, ‘ignorance’ means ignorance of the eternal relationship or oneness between the lover and the loved—i.e., devotee and God. Bhakti is of two stages, preparatory and ripe. In the preparatory stage, a devotee follows rules of worship and love through forms, rituals, chantings and so on. At the ‘ripened’ stage, he needs no supports to cultivate love; he is established in love. To ‘have’ knowledge, in this sense, means that one is free from all hatred and negative feelings and one is full of sweetness and joy of divine love. It is a kind of divine madness.

According to Raja Yoga, the Path of Meditation, ‘ignorance’ means ignorance of the eternal separation of the seer and seen. We ‘see’ through our mind, using our eyes. And in the process become one with the object of perception. That is what causes pain and

sorrow—since all objects are in Nature which is ever changing, subject to the laws of decay, change and death. One should separate the Eternal Seer from what is experienced or ‘seen’, in order to attain perfect peace and joy. To ‘have’ knowledge, in this sense, means that one has overcome the Nature by getting rid of all false identifications through the practice of concentration and absorption.

Other Meanings of ‘Ignorance’Sri Ramakrishna said that knowledge of

many is ignorance and knowledge of One is true knowledge. How? According to the mystic experience of sages, the whole world itself is a manifestation of God. It is God, who is of the nature of Pure Consciousness, who becomes the multiplicity called the world. Multiplicity though tangible is not real; it is One out of which all have come from. Hence multiplicity is ‘ignorance’ and oneness is ‘knowledge’.

Sri Ramakrishna also refers to ego, the sense of ‘I’ as ignorance. God is the doer but ego thinks it is the doer. He says,

Ignorance lasts as long as one has ego. There can be no liberation so long as the ego remains. ‘O God, Thou art the Doer and not I’—that is knowledge.6

Further, Sri Ramakrishna says that God creates through his Primordial Energy called Shakti. Also called Maya, it is of two types:

Shakti alone is the root of the universe. That Primal Energy has two aspects: Vidya and Avidya. Avidya deludes. Avidya conjures up ‘woman and gold’ [i.e. lust and greed], which casts the spell. Vidya begets devotion, kindness, wisdom, and love, which lead one to God. This Avidya must be propitiated, and that is the purpose of the rites of Shakti worship.7

To a man of spiritual knowledge, the whole world, life itself, appears as unreal, like a film or drama. He is established in


1. Mundaka Upanishad, 1.1.4-5 2. CW, 7.70 3. CW, 4.22 4. CW, 1.477 5. CW, 1.52 6. Gospel, 204 7. Gospel, 116 8. CW, 2.112 9. CW, 1.238 10. Kena Upanishad, 11.3 11.CW, 1.53 12. Eternal Companion, p.39

the Witness Consciousness which watches everything external and ‘internal’. It remains unchanged in the three states of being too—waking, dreaming and sleeping.

Speaking of Maya, Swami Vivekananda says,

We are born in this Maya, we live in it, we think in it, we dream in it. We are philosophers in it, we are spiritual men in it, nay, we are devils in this Maya, and we are gods in this Maya. Stretch your ideas as far as you can, make them higher and higher, call them infinite or by any other name you please, even these ideas are within this Maya. It cannot be otherwise, and the whole of human knowledge is a generalisation of this Maya trying to know it as it appears to be. This is the work of Nama-rupa—name and form. Everything that has form, everything that calls up an idea in your mind, is within Maya; for everything that is bound by the laws of time, space and causation is within Maya.8

According to the Bhagavad Gita, the whole creation, including our body and mind, are made of three Gunas or primordial qualities called Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. As they are the evolutes of Prakriti, they produce the sense of multiplicity which is ‘ignorance’. To see the Reality beyond the Gunas is ‘knowledge’.

Another definition of ‘ignorance’ is given by the sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Here is Swami Vivekananda’s translation of it9:

Ignorance is taking the non-eternal, the impure, the painful, and the non-self for the eternal, the pure, the happy, and the Atman or Self (respectively).

Here ‘ignorance’ means a kind of mistaken thinking—taking the non-eternal as eternal and so on. It is a kind of confusion or delusion or wrong thinking. ‘Knowledge’ means correcting this distorted thinking.

Finally, knowledge and ignorance, in the spiritual sense, refer to the knowledge of Self and absence of it. It is Self-knowledge which is the source of lasting happiness and joy in life. What happens when one ‘knows’ the Self? He becomes peaceful, unruffled, pure and strong. The Kena Upanishad10 says,

He who says he does not know (Brahman, the Ultimate Reality), knows it. He who says he knows, does not know it. It is known to those who say they do not know it; it is not known to those who say they know it.

In Swamiji’s words,

Ignorance is the mother of all the evil and all the misery we see. Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated, then alone will misery cease in the world, not before. We may convert every house in the country into a charity asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but the misery of man will still continue to exist until man’s character changes.11

It is this inner change that a spiritual seeker aims to attain through ‘knowledge’.

Or as Swami Brahmananda said,

Man suffers because of his ignorance. This ignorance is his sense of ego. When a man is free from this egoism, surrendering his life, his mind, and his intellect at the blessed feet of the Lord of all, renouncing all that he calls his own—then is he blessed indeed. That man alone is happy.12

References

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From the Archives of The VedanTa Kesari

S i m h â v a l o k a n a m

(December, 1924-25, p. 320)

News and Reports

The announcement made by Sir John Marshall, Director-General of Archaeology in India, of the discovery of a very ancient civilization in the Punjab and in Sindh has evoked the keen interest of scholars. Students of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities like Mr.C.T.Godd and Mr. Sidney Smith, who have examined Sir John Marshall’s report, find a very striking similarity between the relics that have been dug up at Hosappa in the Montgomery district of the Punjab and in the Larkhana district of Sindh, and objects that have been commonly found at Susa and on Babylonian sites, dated about 3,000 B.C. The similarity is very marked both in the seals and pottery that have been unearthed, while the ritual symbols inscribed are so closely alike as to lead one to the conclusion that there must have been close contact between the people of India and of the Sumerians of 3000 to 2000 B.C. How desirable is the further exploration of the Indus valley in the light of even the little that is now known will be manifest to all who are in any way interested in the origin and development of Indian civilization or in the assessment of the full influence on the evolution of Asiatic culture.

The death of Dr. S. Subramania Aiyar which we have learnt with the greatest regret, deprives India of one of her best sons, best in every sense of the term. He has passed away full of years and honours, having earned the approbation of Government and enjoyed the fullest confidence and esteem of the people. He lived a full life. The earlier years of his notable career were devoted to the service of his country. If his splendid achievements in that sphere have evoked admiration and earned the respectful thanks of a grateful public, the years of his retirement and seclusion were no less remarkable. The beauty of his secluded life at Guindy was illumined by a quiet contentment. When Swami Vivekananda first came to Madras, Dr. Subramania Aiyar was one of the first to recognise the greatness of the Swami. Dr. Subramania Aiyar encouraged the Swami to cross the seas to go to America. Dr. Subramania Aiyar also discovered the late Mr. P. Subramania Aiyar, whose High School in Mylapore owes its existence entirely to his efforts. The Trustees of the P.S.High School and Charities cannot better honour the memory of the founder and his revered friend and master Dr. Subramania Aiyar than by taking early steps to give the School a habitation which it so much needs, and enlarging the scope of the institution.

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A Few Women Disciples of Swami Vivekananda

PREMA NANDAKUMAR

Dr. Prema Nandakumar is a devotee from Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. She has several publications to her credit, and regularly reviews books for The Vedanta Kesari and other journals. This article is based on the talk delivered at the Devotees’ Convention to Commemorate the 150th Birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda held at Belur Math on 26th January, 2014.

Mrs. SevierYet another woman disciple of Swami

Vivekananda was Mrs. Charlotte Sevier. If Josephine’s consistent backing helped the blossoming of the Belur Math, Mrs. Sevier was responsible for Swamiji’s dream of a Himalayan retreat come true. When Swamiji was traveling through Switzerland, Germany, and Italy with Captain and Mrs. Sevier for close to nine months, the Alps caught his imagination in a big way. We are told by Swami Nikhilananda that Swamiji was inspired to found a Himalayan monastery when he came to a small village at the foot of the Alps. He said:

Oh, I long for a monastery in the Himalayas, where I can retire from the labours of my life and spend the rest of my days in meditation. It will be a centre for work and meditation, where my Indian and Western disciples can live together, and I shall train them as workers. The former will go out as preachers of Vedanta to the West, and the latter will devote their lives to the good of India.4

Mr. Sevier speaking for himself and his wife, said:

How nice it would be, Swami, if this could be done. We must have such a monastery.

The dream was fulfilled through the Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati, which

Article

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)

commands a magnificent view of the eternal snows of the Himalayas. It is yet another marvellous happening in the history of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Movement on how the dedication of Charlotte Sevier backed by her husband founded the Ashrama. Swamiji was delighted when they accompanied him to India after his first visit to the West. Charlotte, about fifty now, threw herself into making the Ashrama a viable reality. When the Vedantic magazine Prabuddha Bharata had to be shifted from Madras to Almora, Charlotte did a marvellous job of relocation. As St. Nihal Singh put it,

Mrs. Charlotte Sevier


Never before had a good woman been led by her maternal instincts to assume an obligation that called for such ceaseless vigilance and drew upon the art and science of management, quite to the degree that Mrs. Sevier had been.5

A typical product of Victorian England, yet Charlotte Sevier was something more than a conventional housewife and perfect family woman. As the West was awakened by the Vivekananda phenomenon, this Sita-like Sahadharma-chari [a companion in living Dharma] to Captain Sevier wished to know the world of Vedanta and the discipline of yoga. At the same time, she was a British woman, practical in the matter of every affairs. So what drew her to Swamiji was his clear vision of the work to be undertaken both for spreading Vedanta and regeneration of his countrymen.

At the same time, Swamiji had made no attempt to draw his listeners away from their received religion and tradition. Charlotte had a sense of fulfilment as well as inspirations for the future from the much younger Swami Vivekananda. The Seviers had no children and here was a son after their heart. The Indian conditions were far from comfortable. But she had no complaint. She wore Indian clothes, meditated sitting like a marble statue, interacted with the villagers giving them advice when they asked for it, medicines and monetary help. The building of the Advaita Ashrama was a heroic endeavour, and Charlotte and her husband were cast in the heroic mould. Such was the power of Charlotte’s devotion for Swamiji and Vedanta.

The Advaita Ashrama was established and all seemed tuned to a rich future when

Captain Sevier passed away. But Charlotte stayed back, facing the future heroically engaged in her yoga of divine works. She proceeded to put the Ashrama on a firm footing. The members would take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Physical work would accompany study hours. Charlotte had green fingers too. Swami Vivekananda spent a fortnight at Mayavati in 1901, soon after his return from the west. He was delighted with what he saw. He wrote to Mrs Ole Bull on 6th January, 1901:

Mrs. Sevier is a strong woman, and has borne her loss quietly and bravely. She is coming over to England in April, and I am going over with her.

I ought to come to England as early as I can this summer; and as she must go to attend to her husband’s affairs, I accompany her . . .

This place is very, very beautiful, and they have made it simply exquisite. It is a huge place several acres in area, and is very well kept. I hope Mrs. Sevier will be in a position to keep it up in the future. She wishes it ever so much, of course . . . Today I walked over the snow uphill

An archival picture of Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati

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about a mile, seeing Mrs. Sevier’s lands; she has made beautiful roads all over. Plenty of gardens, fields, orchards, and large forests, all in her land. The living houses are so simple, so clean, and so pretty, and above all so suited for the purpose.6

We have no record of Charlotte (or her husband) getting any formal initiation from Swami Vivekananda. Where a mother’s heart was concerned, there was perhaps no need for such formalities. Swamiji had spoken of her as ‘a jewel of a lady, so good, so kind’. Where was the need to say anything more? She had placed her wealth, her abilities and heart for doing something so close to Swamiji’s heart—the spread of Vedanta and service to the poor. When we learn that in her twenty-one years stay in India she was engaged in these twin tasks all the time, our heads automatically bow in adoration and respect for one whom the villagers near the Advaita Ashrama lovingly called as Bhagavati, the Divine Mother.

Swamiji and Charlotte exchanged letters. He called her Mother and she referred to him as a ‘dear son’. She bore with fortitude his Mahasamadhi and proceeded with the works dear to him. The image we have of her as she lived as a Tapasvini and served India in ways dear to Swamiji purifies our thoughts no end.

Her biographer says,Charlotte’s life at Mayavati was remarkable. She was a founder and trustee of Advaita Ashrama, which entitled her to make important decisions about its objectives and operations. She was a mother to the monastic members and to the villagers who came to love and respect her.

In many respects Charlotte lived as a nun, one who combined the best of Eastern and Western monastic practices.7

With all her responsibilities in managing the Ashrama, she found time to look after vegetable and flower gardens. She edited the articles that came for Prabuddha Bharata and

undertook the onerous responsibility of editing The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda and The Life of Swami Vivekananda. Though far away from the land of her birth and her people, Mrs. Sevier managed never to be bored in the isolated spaces of Advaita Ashrama in Mayavati or Vivekananda Ashrama in Shyamla Tal. Like the divine armaments of Vishnu incarnating along with the Supreme Lord, the disciples had incarnated along with Swami Vivekananda to help him in his mission. The rock-solid work done by Mrs. Sevier for the Movement will ever remain a fragrant memory for all time to come.

Of the many women disciples and admirers of Swami Vivekananda, those who received initiation from him directly were very few. Of them, three stand out: Mrs. Ole Bull, Sister Christine, Sister Nivedita. Indeed, the first western lady to be initiated by him into the monastic order was Marie Louise who was given the name Swami Abhayananda. But she broke away from the connection when she came to India and began to preach independently. We are given to understand that her materialist ambitions had drawn her away. All the same, Swamiji himself never reviled her and let her go her own way.

Sarah Ole BullSarah Ole Bull (1850-1911) was the wife

of a well-known Norwegian violinist. She had married Ole in 1868 and they had a very happy married life. She was his pianist and together they held house which was a gathering place for leading intellectuals of their time like William James and George Santayana. Ole’s death in 1880 was a great blow to Sarah. She continued to be active but her interests shifted to philosophy. She met Swami Vivekananda in 1894 and found in him a kindred spirit. As with Mrs. Sevier, Mrs. Bull also became

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a mother to Swamiji who named her Dhira Mata, the Serene Mother. In her he found a compassionate heart ready to help with his work for the resurgence of Indian women. She was a generous giver to the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Movement as also people from outside who were associated with it like Jagadish Chandra Bose, the eminent botanist.

Mrs. Bull’s admiration for Swamiji was both for the man and his enormous knowledge and deep spirituality. She writes to Mary Hale in April 1895 which seems a good example of perfect observation:

He worked continually and faithfully; his lectures requiring on his part reading and careful thought. His teaching in class was so clear and gentle in spirit that I felt it to be perhaps the best of all his work. It has served to call together earnest people among those who came to him, and I hope that a center of work for him in this country may be the permanent result of it all. He is tired now, but rest will soon make all the positive good apparent to him. The real character of the man and his work are now known to many

and at any time may be resumed, as there are those who would always gladly welcome and assist him . . . All who know him love the beauty of his life and he brings with him the realization of all good and noble endeavor Godward.8

As for Swamiji, Mrs. Bull was one to whom he could express his reactions to men and matters with perfect ease. There was such a depth of calm in her approach to life which steadied at once persons affected and afflicted by everyday life. The spontaneity of Swamiji’s utterances bridged the gap of spatial distance in a trice as when he wrote to her on 20th March, 1901. His health was not too good but this does not show in his enthusiastic love of his motherland:

My dear Mother, at last I am in Eastern Bengal. This is the first time I am here, and never before knew Bengal was so beautiful. You ought to have seen the rivers here—regular rolling oceans of fresh water, and everything so green—continual production. The villages are the cleanest and prettiest in all India. . . I am peaceful and calm—and am finding every day the old begging and trudging life is the best for me after all.9

To borrow from current idiom, Swamiji’s networking was amazing. Constantly the good in one person was conveyed to the rest. As when he refers to Mrs. Bull as an angel when writing to another woman disciple from America, Christine Greenstidel. One comes across amazing tales of idealism, endurance and selfless work when studying the lives of persons who had been drawn to Swami Vivekananda. Sister Christine’s life is one such saga of self-giving from a nature thoroughly selfless. (To be continued. . .)

4. New Discoveries, 4: 2545. Mother of Mayavati, p. 596. CW, 5: 152

7. Mother of Mayavati, p. 108.8. New Discoveries, 3: 749. CW, 9: 152

References

Sarah Ole Bull

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Time and MindThis relativity leads to a subtler idea of

time; that is, the sense of time is actually a form of perception, a concept. Our time sense is completely bound up with our state of mind. Our mystics have demonstrated that time does not exist outside the mind; it exists in relation to our mind. This subjectivity of time is explained by Einstein in this way:

The experiences of an individual appear to us arranged in a series of events, in this series the single events which we remember appear to be ordered according to the criterion of earlier and later. There exists, therefore, for the individual, an ‘I-time’ or subjective time. This in itself is not measurable.

The suggestion is given, however, that practically we can associate numbers with events in such a way that a smaller number, say three, is associated with an earlier event than with a later one, twelve. This association can be defined by a clock, as we do automatically, by comparing the order of a series of events with the measurement of the passage of clock time. This is how we live. In other words, by referring our own experiences to a clock or a calendar, we are making time

From the River of Time into Timelessness

PRAVRAJIKA VIRAJAPRANA

an objective concept which is, of course, pure fabrication. Time is subjective.

Further, in our perception of time there are different modes. In our daily maze of activities we pass from one to the other; we enter various time zones without much thought about the difference. For example, there’s clock time, just referred to, which measures time numerically in relation to a series of events. I get up in the morning, meditate, read something spiritual, have breakfast, walk the dog, go to work, and by the clock two and a half hours have passed. Then there is psychological time, which is identification with the past and a continuous projection into the future. I was born in New York, went to high school and university there; I plan a trip to Alaska next summer, and ultimately my retirement. These trips down memory lane and launches into the future make time part of our sense of self because it is always linked to a false identity. Then there is existential time or ‘I time’ that we experience in our lives as a series of events that occur in the length of time we have available, reminding us of the stark reality of its limitations since it is always running out.

A nun at the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, USA, since 1972, Pravrajika Virajaprana is the editor and compiler of Photographs of Swami Vivekananda. She has contributed many thought-provoking articles for Vedanta Kesari and Prabuddha Bharata. This article is based on her talk on the same subject delivered at the Vedanta Society in May 2012.

Article

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)


And then there are other modes of time perception that we use such as, historical time, as when we speak of ancient cultures of India, China, or Greece; philosophical and metaphysical time; poetical time; archeological time; geologic time, and the time of quantum physics. A particle can travel faster than the speed of light. Two particles once in contact then separated, even by a great distance, change simultaneously, giving rise to the concept of a seamless universe or holoverse. And then there’s string theory with its multiple dimensions, eleven or so, existing simultaneously that turns the whole concept of time on its head. So which time, whose time is correct?

Dimensions of TimeObviously, the time of the physicist

is not that of the poet. The time of a mystic is certainly not that of a CEO of a big corporation. The time of the calendar cannot tell us how long to cook green beans, like a clock can, but it can indicate when to plant them. By recognizing that there are these various modes of time perception, we begin to understand that there is no single concept of time. How we interpret and experience time and its duration depends entirely on how we think about it, which varies vastly under different circumstances.

So what are the dimensions of our day-to-day experience of time modes? For seekers of truth, this practical time perception is the most relevant. Every one of our experiences in daily life, whatever it happens to be, takes place in a unique instant in time—an instant

dividing the past from the future (as if time has length, that we can divide); this instant we call the present. The present is a split second perception of short-lived intervals; the past is a memory stored in the mind; the future is a projection of the mind. In truth, we only experience the present, the now, because in our movement through the flow of time the future becomes the present and then flows into the past. When you remember the past, you remember it in the present moment; when you anticipate the future you do it in the present.

There never was an instant that we are not in the present moment. We are always in the present moment. Swamiji remarks (CW, 6.13),

There is no break in time beyond what we make. What difference is there between ten and twelve o’clock, except what we make by certain changes in nature. Time flows on the same.

This is why our spiritual teachers, especially the Buddhists and Vedantins, emphasize the practice of living in the now, of giving full attention to whatever the moment presents. By doing so, we accept what is; otherwise, we can’t give our complete attention to something and at the same time resist it because that divides us. When we try to be in the present moment, it helps us to live meaningfully in a connected way on a deeper level. The past and future have no reality of their own. Just as the moon has no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun, so the past and future borrow their so-called reality from the present.

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Swamiji mentions (CW, 8: 128):

This present is all that is . . . All is here right now. One moment in infinite time is quite as complete and all-inclusive as every other moment. All that is and was and will be is here in the present. . . It is all one complete whole.

We’ve talked about the dimensions of our daily time modes and how we use a clock to measure them, but how do we feel or sense the passage of our day-to-day time experience? One factor is age. Very young children live in the eternal present; as they grow up they learn sophisticated ways of delineating, or fragmenting time and use words such as today, tomorrow, next year, and so on.

Language itself conditions our thinking and perception of reality; for example, just consider the use of verb tenses. We are constantly dividing time with language. The ceaseless flow of time is a continually changing perception: sometimes slowing, sometimes speeding up, and sometimes stopping completely. The way we feel the sense of time passing and the actual way we estimate time duration varies. For example, we all know from our personal experience if we are bored or tired, time slows down; five minutes may seem like an hour. On the other hand, if our minds are concentrated in some activity that we love—music, reading, art, and so on—time seems to speed up, though our subjective sensation of the passage of time has decreased, and we say, ‘I lost track of the time.’ Three hours of clock time may seem like one. According to the yogis, in deep meditation time stops because the mind stops. There is a Zen parable:

One windy day two monks were arguing about a flapping banner. The first said, ‘I say the banner is moving, not the wind.’ The second said, ‘I say the wind is moving, not the banner.’ A third monk passed by and said, ‘The wind is not

moving. The banner is not moving. Yours minds are moving.’

Time perception is a mental concept depending entirely on the movement of our mind.

So not only is time relative, a subjective perception, experienced in different dimensions and modes; the bottom line is time is an illusion. Once Einstein poignantly wrote to the sister of a close friend and fellow scientist who had just died, ‘For us convinced physicists, the distinction between past, present, and future is an illusion, although a persistent one.’

Experiencing TimeThough we don’t have a particular sense

organ to perceive time flow (like other organs which contact the external world), we feel it as an integral part of our experience. The great spiritual masters have demonstrated this illusory nature of time, yet they recognize time as a condition of all experience, both inward and sensory. Their main focus is on the eternal present; eternity is not an indefinite amount of time, a long time, but an awareness which is totally devoid of time. That which is eternal is outside of time. But they have a peripheral awareness of time; they use clock time but are free from psychological time. However, for the unenlightened, our existence in the phenomenal world presupposes our being bound by time, especially by psychological time. This is the cosmic riddle that all truth seekers are faced with—how to deal with time.

Maya Includes ‘Time’In Vedanta the concept of maya, the

divine power, is put forth by the mystics to indicate this most difficult and intricate state of things to the unenlightened. From the standpoint of enlightenment, there are no contradictions, no time; hence, no confusion,

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but short of that—it is total confusion. As the power of time, Divine Mother Kali regulates everything this side of the Absolute. In Sans- krit the word kala means time, a cycle, and a continuous dynamic flow. Again, it is that which devours all and wears everything down. Her world is an eternal flow in which things rise and disappear again. It is within time that everything emerges, exists for a while, and then becomes extinct. All evolution, transformation, and progression are within time.

However, according to Advaita Vedanta there is only non-dual, unchangeable, indestructible Reality, noumenon. But then there is the other relative aspect, which is phenomenon, changing and destructible. In our current state, our being consists of both. Swamiji calls this the ‘real and apparent man.’ The one Reality manifests or appears as this universe of innumerable forms of all shapes, sizes, and colours with millions of names passing through the veil of time, kala, space, desha, and causation, nimitta. The state of maya may be compared to passing white light through a prism; the result is the light appears as multiple colors. Remove the veil or the filter and it is just white light; it is all one being, the seamless universe.

The conundrum is we can’t say that maya exists (in that it always exists in the absolute sense), nor can we say that it is nonexistent. We can’t ask, ‘Why maya?’ It’s an illogical question which can never be answered, because at this stage it is the fabric of our existence. In the cosmology of Vedanta, mind is a product of maya; the mind can never go beyond the confines of time, space and causation. In this world of action, everything that happens, happens within maya. So we are trapped, caught between a rock and a hard place. As Sri Ramakrishna said, as long as a

person exists as an individual, he or she is under the control of this divine power.

However, the mystics’ experiences verify that maya has no real existence. Essentially we are confronted with trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, but that we feel exists. So that one being, which is beyond speech and mind, avang-manasa-go-charam, is covered by maya which is anir-vacaniya, inexpressible. Now this is hardly an encouraging combination for us. Fortunately, with help from our spiritual masters, there is an answer; there is a way out—a way to cross the sea of relative existence, now, in this life. Freedom from maya and especially the domination of time lies not in solving the riddle, but in transcending it.

Swamiji says, The Infinite is self-existent, eternal and unchangeable. The passage of time makes no mark whatever on the dial of eternity in its supersensuous region . . . there is no past and there is no future.

Again he says, Time is but the method of our thinking, but we are the eternally present tense.

In other words, ‘I am Brahman.’ But, relatively, our experience is something different.

Going Beyond TimeOur main problem in spiritual life is

the time-bound mind; our instrument may be blunt, but it is all we have to work with. Our thinking fragments reality by shredding it into conceptual bits and pieces in the time machine; this mode of consciousness is deeply entrenched in the human psyche. Since we experience time and its duration through the succession of our thoughts, then according to the mystics taking the first step out of time becomes possible when we learn to control our thoughts through systematic spiritual

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practice, especially through discrimination and meditation. It is universally recognized that sadhana is essential for spiritual transformation, for lifting the veil of maya, resulting in realization or direct experience of our own divine nature.

The beauty of this philosophy is that we are that divine being right now. The Infinite, timeless being exists fully, in every being, from the tiniest insect to the most distant galaxy, in every perception. But the restlessness, the incessant motion, of the mind blocks the experience of our pure, serene nature. This moment we could realize it, if our mind quiets down. If a body of water is covered with waves, the surface turbulence completely obscures the calm bottom from view. Restraining this mental motion can be done through the practice of yoga.

Broadly speaking, yoga is the method of joining the individual, the phenomenon, with the divine, the noumenon; thereby, we disassociate with nature and identify with the divine within. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is the science of mind control through concentration. The sutras, which deal exhaustively with various techniques to achieve this, can be summed up in these four words of the second aphorism: yogashchitta vrtti nirodhah, ‘Yoga is restraining the mind from taking various forms.’ That is, reducing the number of thoughts in the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna extensively chalks out various paths for the practice of yoga. Swamiji divided these into four: jnana, bhakti, raja, and karma, or service: the worship of God in man. Regardless of the path or paths we choose, the common factor of all of them is concentration.

Concentration of mind is the means to enter the timeless realm on the other side of mind.

Through persistent steady practice of concentration and meditation on the divine within, our inmost Self, the mind becomes more tranquil and transparent; our experience of time changes. The illusory division of time flowing from past, present and future begins to recede. All time will have the tendency to merge in the eternal present. The incessant stream of thinking slows down, although it is an intensely dynamic state. When the mind is concentrated, the idea of time vanishes. The more time passes unnoticed, the more forgetful we are of our self, the more concentrated we are.

Into the TimelessAs we learn to release ourselves from

our thoughts, we begin to realize that we are vaster and deeper than our thoughts. The moment we are able to grasp this simple truth, there is a shift in consciousness from the lower mind, from time, to infinite being, to a living reality. Within the timeless dimension comes a different kind of knowing. This diversified world turns out to be a continuous existence without the least break anywhere. Swamiji has said if we still the mind even for a moment, the truth of our real nature will flash upon us; we will be free, no more bondage. If we know an instant of time, we know all time, because the whole is the rapid succession of one. The past, present and future merge into a timeless silence. Time ceases to flow; it stands still. All boundaries are broken.

We pass from time into timeless existence. (Concluded.)

After realizing God, one rightly feels that God is our Father or Mother. As long as we have not realized God, we feel that we are far away from Him, children of someone else.

—Sri Ramakrishna

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Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Synopsis of the Governing Body Report for 2013-14The 105th Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math

on Sunday, the 21st December 2014 at 3.30 p.m. Following is the synopsis of the annual report presented at the meeting which was attended by monastic and lay members. The meeting also included presentation of the Report on the Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

Annual Report

Samaj Sevak Shikshana Mandir (Saradapitha, Belur) was adjudged the third best Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) in India under Category-II (over three years old RSETIs) by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. Bharat Chamber of Commerce awarded B P Poddar Memorial Award to Lokasiksha Parishad of Narendrapur Ashrama for its contribution to environmental improvement.

A new branch centre of Ramakrishna Mission was started at ‘Roy Villa’ in Dar- jeeling where Sister Nivedita (Margaret Elizabeth Noble) breathed her last. Outside India, a new sub-centre of Chittagong (Bangladesh) Mission centre was started at Dhorla, Bangladesh.

In educational field, the following new developments deserve special mention: (i) The Vocational Training Centre run by Viveknagar (Tripura) centre was upgraded to Industrial Training Institute (ITI); (ii) Kothar (Odisha) centre started a computer training institute, (iii) Delhi centre developed a 5-module value education programme titled ‘Awakening’ which was conducted in 50 CBSE schools in and around Delhi.

In medical field, the following new developments deserve special mention:

(i) Opening of Cardiac OT Complex with 5-bed Intensive Therapy Unit and addition of Advanced Phaco Emulsification Unit, Coblator II Surgery System-ENT, Fiberoptic Bronchoscope, etc in Lucknow hospital; (ii) addition of Haemodialysis Machine, UGI Video Endoscopy, Phototherapy, etc in Itanagar hospital; (iii) laying of Foundation stone for the proposed Swami Vivekananda Diagnostic and Cardiac Care Centre at Seva Pratishthan,

Kolkata.In rural development field, the

following new projects deserve special mention: (i) Ranchi (Morabadi) centre constructed 181 percolation tanks under

the IWMP (Integrated Watershed Management Programme), created 120 units of contour trenching,

made frontline demonstration of crops like paddy, wheat, mustard, and different

pulses to 1052 farmers; (ii) Narendrapur centre started two community colleges, each having capacity of 250 trainees, at Gosaba, South 24 Parganas, and Matgoda, Bankura, of West Bengal, for upgrading the skill of backward communities in 5 trades.

Under the Math, following new projects deserve special mention: (i) A computer training unit at Bagda (Purulia); (ii) addition of a five-storey building with an operation theatre


at Mayavati (Uttarakhand) hospital; (iii) Dispensary buildings at Cooch Behar and Naora (West Bengal); (iv) Operating Microscope and some other ophthalmic instruments in the dispensary of Antpur centre.

Outside India, the following new developments deserve special mention:

(i) Sarada Kindergarten of Singapore centre received the prestigious ECDA (Early Childhood and Development Agency) Out- standing Centre for Teaching and Learning Award 2013 and the Principal of the Kindergarten received ECDA Outstanding Early Childhood Leader Award 2013 from the Ministry of Education, Singapore;

(ii) Fiji centre received Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award from the Government of India for raising the prestige of India by rendering commendable community service in that country.

During the year, the Mission and Math undertook several relief and rehabilitation programmes in different parts of the country involving an expenditure of Rs. 10.86 crore,

benefiting 4.15 lakh people of 1.20 lakh families.

Welfare work was done by way of providing scholarships to poor students, pecu- niary help to old, sick and destitute people, etc (about 28.59 lakh beneficiaries); expenditure incurred Rs. 14.74 crore.

Medical service was rendered to more than 83 lakh people through 15 hospitals, 111 dispensaries, 59 mobile medical units and 1255 medical camps; expenditure incurred Rs. 166.71 crore.

Nearly 3.45 lakh students were studying in our educational institutions from kindergarten to university level, non-formal education centres, night schools, coaching classes, etc. A sum of Rs.276.56 crore was spent on educational work. A number of rural and tribal development projects were undertaken with a total expenditure of Rs. 52.45 crore benefiting about 30.73 lakh rural people.

We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to our members and friends for their kind cooperation and help.

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The Ministry of Culture, Government of India, held the closing ceremony of Swamiji’s

150th birth anniversary celebration at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, on 12 January 2014. The Government of West Bengal marked the conclusion of Swamiji’s 150th birth anniversary with a public function at Red Road, Kolkata, on 10 January 2014. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu announced the creation of higher research and education centres in the name of Swamiji in nine universities of Tamil Nadu.

Commemoration of the 150th Birth anniversary of swami vivekananda


1. Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa (Integrated Child Development): Running 174 units in 23 states. About 18,100 children were benefited. A sum of Rs. 2459.48 lakh was spent.

2. Vivekananda Swasthya Parisheva Prakalpa (Health Services Project for Mothers & Children): Running 126 units in 22 states. About 13,500 mothers and children were benefited. A sum of Rs. 1689.29 lakh was spent.

3. Sarada Palli Vikas Prakalpa (Women Self-Empowerment): Running 10 units in 8 states. In all, 1619 women were benefited. A sum of Rs. 191.18 lakh was spent.

4. Swami Akhandananda Seva Prakalpa (Poverty Alleviation): Running 10 units in 6 states. Altogether 1135 people were benefited. A sum of Rs. 191.10 lakh was spent.

5. Special Service Activities (For Pro- fessionals and Parents): Through 18 units in 11 states. Altogether 3350 people were benefited. A sum of Rs. 79.24 lakh was spent.

6. Print Media Project: In all, 28.49 lakh copies of books were printed. They included 12.68 lakh copies on Swamiji’s life and teachings in 23 Indian languages and 0.04 lakh in 2 foreign languages (German & Zulu), besides 14 lakh copies of 17 other titles on Swamiji, in 10 languages. A sum of Rs. 485.63 lakh was spent.

7. Special Programmes for the Youth: Started 10 Youth Counseling Cells in 8 states -

counselled 4860 youths; Organized 2 National Level Youth Convention - total participants 19,000; Held 5 Regional Level Youth Con- ventions / Camps - total participants: 11,594; Organized 14 State Level Youth Conventions / Camps - total participants: 58,324; Conducted Sustained Graded Value Education Programmes through (a) 397 units (Non-formal type) in 14 states with 17,654 students of 239 institutions; and (b) 2,692 units (Classroom-based) in 16 states with 1,20,870 students of 767 schools. A sum of Rs. 2434.14 lakh was spent.

8. Electronic Media Project: A DVD on ‘Women of India’ based on the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, a Documentary Feature ‘A Poet, a Man, a Monk’ on Swami Vivekananda and his teachings in digital format were completed. Multimedia e-books on ‘Personality Development’ and ‘Education according to Swami Vivekananda’ were produced. A sum of Rs. 224.15 lakh was spent.

9. Cultural Programmes Project: Orga- nized 13 State-Level seminars on ‘Religious Harmony’, interfaith dialogues in 12 states, Conferences on ‘Unity in Diversity’ in 11 states, 5 regional programmes on tribal and folk culture, Classical Music programmes in 14 states. A sum of Rs. 529.81 lakh was spent.

In all, a sum of Rs. 83.52 crore was spent on the above projects.

(Swami Suhitananda)General Secretary

We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to our members and friends for their kind cooperation and help.

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The four-year-long service programmes started in different parts of the country in 2010 entered its last phase. A sum of Rs. 83.52

crore was spent on these central-government- aided service projects from 08.10.2010 to 30.06.2014.

A brief progress report of the Central-Government-grant-aided service projects from 08.10.2010 to 30.06.2014


Overcoming Religious IntoleranceA Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Vedanta Perspective

R. LEKSHMI AND V. VIJITHA

Religion is RealisationReligion in the context of Ramakrishna-

Vivekananda-Vedanta tradition means inner growth and spiritual realisation. Sri Rama- krishna and Swami Vivekananda, rooted in the experience of Vedanta tradition of oneness and love, remind us of our real nature which is divine and eternal. This sacred tradition aims to make everyone realise his or her innate divinity. As Swami Vivekananda said,

My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.1

To Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveka- nanda, religion was a matter of experience. Sri Ramakrishna experimented with various religious ideals and experienced the underlying truth that they taught. He showed through his life how different religions are but paths to reach one and the same mystic goal called Self or God experience. Swami Vivekananda, his chosen disciple, recognised his master’s message of oneness and spoke of it in many ways and contexts. Hence we find in the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta tradition great truths of immense value—such as oneness of existence, underlying unity of religions and the need to accept all religions as true.

Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta For Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveka-

nanda, Vedanta is a living philosophy and a great source of inspiration. Swami Vivekananda holds that Vedanta is a universal phenomenon, a world literature and an eternal religion. He rightly said,

By the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times. Just as the law of gravitation existed before its discovery and would exist if all humanity forgot it, so is it with the laws that govern the spiritual world.2

It is this inclusiveness and scientific approach that make Vedanta a living philosophy of life.

Universality and humanism are two of the essential characteristics of Ramakrishna- Vivekananda-Vedanta tradition. It seeks the real welfare, peace and spiritual uplift of man everywhere. It is concerned with man in his depth beyond the frontiers of narrow and parochial dissensions. Swamiji preached the universal truths contained in ancient Vedic scriptures, combining the spiritual ideal of Shankaracharya and ethical embellishment of Buddha. He gave a new direction to Vedanta by making it a practical system meant for the common people. God-centred philosophy was

Dr. R. Lekshmi is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and R. Vijitha is a Research Scholar at the Department of Philosophy, Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Article


transformed into a man-centred philosophy—a philosophy for daily life.

The Vedanta tradition of Sri Rama- krishna and Vivekananda is not only universal and humanistic but also scientific and rational. Vivekananda delineated the rationalistic aspect of Vedanta in the following way. The first principle of reasoning is that the particular is explained by the general, the general by the more general, until we come to the universal. Everything at last comes to the universal and Existence is the last and the most universal concept we have.3 Vedanta holds that the very nature (svarupa) of reality, namely Atman or Brahman, is but sat (Existence).

Again the Vedanta tradition of Rama- krishna-Vivekananda satisfies the demand of the scientific minds by referring it to the law of evolution that the explanation of a thing comes from within.4 The Brahman of Vedanta has nothing outside of himself. He is the universe himself. Vivekananda said:

To my mind if modern science is proving anything again and again it is this that we are one- mentally, spiritually and physically. . . Coming to a still further generalisation, the essence of matter and thought is their potentiality of spirit. . .This oneness is the one fact that is being proved every day by modern science.5

In matters of religion, Swamiji described reason as a powerful tool which clears away dogmatism and intolerance. He said:

I am sure God will pardon a man who will use his reason and cannot believe, rather than a man who believes blindly instead of using his faculties. He simply degrades his nature and goes down to the level of beasts—degrades his senses and dies.6

Swamiji was however intensely aware that reason had definite limitations.

Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveka- nanda went beyond all religious narrowness.

They taught the message of universal truth. Vivekananda’s ideal of universal religion was one that will be equally acceptable to all minds, which will be equally philosophic, emotional, mystic and conducive to action. He held that all narrow, limited fighting ideas of religion must be given up. Since each man grasps what he can of the truth, acceptance and not mere tolerance should be the attitude of each towards all religious. Speaking at the World Parliament of Religions, Chicago he said:

I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true.7

The Need for Religious Tolerance According to Vivekananda, there are

three parts in every religion.8

v First there is the philosophy which presents the scope of that religion setting forth its basic principles, the goal and the means of reaching it.

v The second part is mythology, which is philosophy made concrete. It consists of legends relating to the lives of men, or of supernatural beings and so forth.

v The third part is rituals. This part is more concrete and is made up of forms and ceremonies, physical attitudes, flowers and incense and many other things.

All recognised religions have these three elements. Some lay more stress on one, some on another. Each religion brings out its own doctrines and insists upon them as being the only t r u e o n e s .

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This ends in what is called fanaticism and dogmatism which breeds what may be called intolerance towards other religions.

Another case of religious intolerance comes from people who deny the efficacy of any rationalistic investigation into religion. In the absence of reason, quarrels may arise between prophet and prophet or books and books. The question is then, how to decide between books and books? Vivekananda says,

We have to admit that there is something more universal than these books, something higher than all the ethical codes that are in the world, something which can judge between the strength of inspirations of different nations. Whether we declare it boldly, clearly, or not—it is evident that here we appeal to reason.9

Fanaticism and the lack of proper reason are the two important causes of religious intolerance. In fact, one leads to the other.

Complementarity of ReligionsThe rationale for religious tolerance

comes only when there is either the idea that the different religions are contradictory or they are supplementary. Vivekananda says:

I believe that they are not contradictory; they are supplementary. Each religion, as it were, takes up one part of the great universal truth, and spends its whole force in embodying and typifying that part of the great truth. It is, therefore, addition, not exclusion. That is the idea. System after system arises, each one embodying a great idea, and ideals must be added to ideals. And this is the march of humanity.10

Swamiji further holds that all religions are different forces in the economy of God, working for the good of mankind. The ideal which every religion represents is never lost, and so every religion is intelligently on the march. He says,

Unity in variety is the plan of the universe. We are all men, and yet we are all distinct from one another. As a part of humanity I am one with you, and as Mr. So-and-so I am different from you. As a man you are separate from the woman; as a human being you are one with the woman. As a man you are separate from the animal, but as living beings, man, woman, animal, and plant are all one; and as existence, you are one with the whole universe. That universal existence is God, the ultimate Unity in the universe. In Him we are all one. At the same time, in manifestation, these differences must always remain. In our work, in our energies, as they are being manifested outside, these differences must always remain.11

If it be true that God is the centre of all religions, and that each of us is moving towards Him along one of those radii, then it is certain that all of us must reach that centre. And at the centre where all the radii meet, all our differences will cease.12

From the Particular to the Universal One of the successful ways through

which religious tolerance can be effectively realised is by moving from the particular concept to the most universal concept. This is one of the contexts where reason plays its role in religion.

The first principle of logical reasoning is that the particular is explained by the general, the general by the more general, until we come to the universal. A second explanation of knowledge is that the explanation of a thing must come from inside and not from outside. The question is: can religion satisfy these two conditions? These conditions are fulfilled by the idea of Brahman of the Vedanta because it is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. Existence is, indeed, the ultimate generalisation which the human mind can come to.

Again, Vedanta also holds that the whole of universe is but an evolution and not a

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creation. Brahman has nothing outside of it. He is in the universe. He is the universe himself. Thus there exists no difference between man and man, religion and religion, for there is difference only in degree and not in kind.13

But it does not mean that reason is the only instrument in matters of religious knowledge. In fact, one has to transcend the limitations of logical ratiocination. Viveka- nanda called that instrument, inspiration. But inspiration never contradicts reason.

It is important to mention about the universal religion of Swami Vivekananda. By universal religion is not meant any one universal philosophy, or any one universal mythology or any one universal ritual held alike by all. What is needed is not to destroy the individuality of any man in any religion but to show him a point of union with all others. Vivekananda says:

The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others ant yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.14

The Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta tradition is a path that is equally acceptable to all minds; it is equally philosophic, equally emotional, equally mystic and equally conducive to action. It supplies the strength of philosophy to the philosopher, the devotee’s heart to the worshipper, to the ritualist, it gives all that the most marvellous symbolism can

convey; to the poet, it gives as much of heart as he can take in, and other things besides.

Learning to Accept Others

In spite of all the cries that we hear from the various corners of the world in achieving religious harmony, there exists no end to religious antagonism and unrest. It makes us think that we must move one step forward from religious tolerance to religious acceptance. Vivekananda’s profound and practical words are quoted here to see how important it is to develop the attitude of acceptance.

Our watchword then will be acceptance, and not exclusion. Not only tolerance, for so called toleration is often blasphemy and I do not believe in it. I believe in acceptance. Why should I tolerate? Toleration means that I think that you are wrong and I am just allowing you to live.15

Again he continues,

The Bible, the Vedas, the Koran and all other sacred books are but so many pages, and an infinite number of pages remains yet to be unfolded. I would leave it open for all of them.16

What is needed is an attitudinal change from toleration to acceptance. The Vedanta tradition as practised and preached by Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda is one that is universal, rationalistic, humanistic and all-comprehensive. Thus one who sincerely takes up this mature and wise path would surely be raised to the level of acceptance of all religions.

1. CW, 7.5012. Meditation on Swami Vivekananda, Swami

Tathagatananda, Vedanta Society, New York, 1994, p.49

3. CW, p.370

References

4. Ibid, p.3705. Ibid, p.3736. CW, pp.12-137. CW, 1.38. CW, 2.37 7

9. CW, 1.36910. CW, 2. 6511. CW, 2.38212. Ibid, p.385

13. CW 1. 374 14. Ibid, p.2415. Ibid, p.37416. Ibid, p.374

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Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda1

New Find

2/1 Bagbazar Street.Feb 20th 1904.

My dear Hari2,I thank you for your kind letter of the 2nd inst. & for your still

kinder sympathies for Sister Christine’s work.The Janmatithi of Sri Guru Maharaj has just been celebrated

as usual. The Utsab is coming tomorrow. I wish you were with us to celebrate it.

The Holy Mother has come to Calcutta on the evening of the 1st Falguna. She is well though much reduced. I have conveyed your respects to Her & She has expressed Her desire to send Her blessings to you with this.

Rakhal Maharaj was laid up with influenza. He is now better.I have just met your brother & told him of your unwillingness to take opium for fear of

getting into a bad habit all through life. He suggested your taking the medicine now for a few months & then gradually leave off taking when cured. Many have done the same; why not you?

With my love & pranams to you & blessings to KrishnalalYrs Affly

Saradananda

June 2. 1904.Math Belur. Howrah. India.

My dear Granny3 –I thank you for your kind letter of April 4th. I am sorry I could not acknowledge it before

this. The cheque for £50 has come to the Bank duly. I thank you for the same.I cannot tell you how many sad things have occurred here since I wrote you last. The

saddest of them all is the death of my youngest brother, the little one, whom you can recall perhaps. He died of plague in three days! We could not save him in spite of all our efforts. It was a sad blow to my mother. Poor mother, she was just becoming herself again in Holy Mother’s company when this thing happened. The poor boy was eleven years old & was very sweet and devoted to his old mother. I remember the day, a few months before his death, when one day he told mother that he feels so hungry at school & pressed her that she might ask me for a rupee every month that he might buy some sweets & pastry with it every day. Three days before his death a nephew (son of my eldest sister) of mine died of malarial fever. He was twenty years old and again a fortnight before my brother’s death a niece died in childbed! So you see granny I have been kept very busy with these family troubles.


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1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna 2. Swami Turiyananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna3. Mrs. Sara Bull

Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math

Again Swami Niranjan died at Hardwar of Cholera just about the time my brother was laid up with the plague! His was a severe attack & he died in twenty four hours! Poor man, in his case it was a relief!

The Holy Mother is doing well with her family. She sends her love & blessings to you & Santi. I am sorry to hear Santi suffers severely at times. My dear love & blessings to her. I wish I could see her once with you at the Studio. It would be such a joy & peace! The dear days in the House & the Studio have left their marks deep within the lives of each one of us !

In spite of all my attempts to be very economical these troubles come now & then & makes big holes in ones purse, I am sorry. I am trying as best as I can to console my mother.

Nivedita & Christine are at present guests of Mrs.Sevier at Mayabati. I am glad they are having the cool of the hills. It has been very hot here since a week; it looks as if the shower will come to our relief today.

I am glad to hear of your plea for a Hospital. How is Olea & where? Tender my kind greetings to her when you write next. I hope Mr. & Mrs. Thorp & the children are well.

The boarding has been a great success last year & Nivedita helped us a great deal in it. But the landlord has increased the rent of the house very much & we have left his house. We have not been able to secure a suitable house as yet & might have to close the work for a year.

The female work will be extended much more after the Sisters come down from the hills. I will inform you of this later. We have secured another carriage for the work. We will sell it if we cannot get the funds to keep it.

My love to the dear Granny & best prayers that more light & peace will come to her & to her dear ones

Ever your affect boySaradananda

[On the envelope:]Mrs. Sara C. Bull.168 Brattle Street.Cambridge. Mass.U.S.America.

References

The main thing is one-pointedness of mind. . . It is hard to control the mind, but it must be done. There is no other way. The more you think of the Lord, the more will other thoughts decrease. There must be a continuous flow of one thought—the thought of God—during the period of wakefulness. Then, at the time of meditation or in sleep, unbecoming thoughts will not find any loophole to enter. —Swami Saradananda


Swamiji’s Influence on Indian PoliticsIn a letter to his disciple Alasinga

Perumal in 1894 Swami Vivekananda wrote:

I am no politician or political agitator. I care only for the Spirit—when that is right everything will be righted by itself . . . So you must warn the Calcutta people that no political significance be ever attached falsely to any of my writings or sayings.1

While Swamiji wanted to maintain a careful distance from politics, he influenced the contemporary political scene in more than one way. Scholars like Benoy Kumar Sarkar (1936), Bhupendranath Datta (1954), Amales Tripathi (1968), Dennis Dalton (1986) and many others have claimed that Vivekananda had exerted considerable influence on many important political thinkers and leaders in pre-Independence India.2 Jawaharlal Nehru in a speech in 1949 had remarked:

He [Vivekananda] was no politician in the ordinary sense of the word, and yet he was, I think, one of the great founders—if you like, you may use any other word—of the national modern movement of India, and a greater number of people who took more or less an active part in that movement at a later date drew their inspiration from Swami Vivekananda.3

Even in the recent past, political leaders from across the ideological spectrum in India have actively participated in celebrating the

sesquicentennial birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda (1863-2013).

If there was no ‘political significance’ of his words, then how could they inspire the political thinkers and activists in India across generations? Rather, we would like to argue that the nature and extent of the political significance of Swami Vivekananda’s ideas is shifting over time. To the ‘degenerated’ people of colonial India, Swamiji’s ideas were the source of power, motivation and courage to fight for freedom. To the enthusiastic citizens of a young Indian state, his ideas provided vital guidelines for the urgent task of nation-building. And now, for the ‘netizens’ of a globalised society Vivekananda’s ideas seem to have many new implications.

To understand the inherent dynamism of his ideas, we may refer to five important aspects of them with profound significance to the politics of our times. These are: the politics of conscience, commitment, harmony, people’s power and comprehensive development. Let us put these ideas in today’s context by elaborating them further.

Swamiji’s Five Features for Politics 1. Politics of Conscience:

Swami Vivekananda did not endorse any political interpretation of his ideas. He knew that if he had openly made any

Five Pointers for Good GovernanceSwami Vivekananda’s Ideas and the Politics of Our Times

SANDIPAN SEN

The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math, Howrah - 711202, West Bengal.

Article


political remarks it would have made him an easy prey to the vested political interests. Besides, he could not associate himself with any of his contemporary social and political movements. In his assessment, they were mere imitations of foreign ideas having no concern for and connection with the vast majority of the Indian masses. But most importantly, his idea of politics was altogether different. For him, politics was not just about grabbing the state power and retaining it by any means. On the contrary, he considered politics as a conscientious endeavour for social change to secure justice and freedom for all, particularly for the most marginalised ones. And, a necessary precondition for doing such politics was renunciation of one’s self-interest for the interest of many. In that sense it was a moral, and ultimately, a spiritual enterprise. He believed:

. . . the basis of all systems, social or political. . . rests upon the goodness of men. No nation is great or good because Parliament enacts this or that, but because its men are great and good. . . Religion goes to the root of the matter. If it is right, all is right.4

Thus, Swamiji did not prescribe any preferred political arrangement. Instead, he sought to focus on preparing men and women who would be able to build up a system that they considered best for them. Emphasising this, he wrote:

Does man make laws, or do laws make man? Does man make money, or does money make man? . . . Be a man first, my friend, and you will see how all those things and the rest will follow of themselves after you. Give up that hateful

malice, that dog-like bickering and barking at one another, and take your stand on good purpose, right means, righteous courage, and be brave.5

And for that, he felt it was necessary, particularly in India, to imbibe religious ideals. But he needed to redefine religion altogether to meet his purpose and convey his message. He considered that religion should be made socially relevant; otherwise it would remain confined only to the ‘books and dogmas’.6 Thus, he wrote:

You have read—‘Matridevo Bhava, Pitridevo Bhava’—‘Look upon your mother as God, look upon your father as God’, but I say ‘Daridradevo Bhava, Murkhadevo Bhava’—‘The poor, the illiterate, the ignorant, the afflicted—let these be your God.’ Know that service to these alone is the highest religion.7

Swamiji sought to define politics in terms of this ‘new’ idea of religion and expected all efforts for socio political transformation in India be guided by these, effectively, moral and spiritual principles.

Unfortunately, politics in India today has become almost synonymous with corruption and crimes. According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), at present 82% of our Members of Parliament (MPs) have criminal cases against them, 32% of them are booked under serious criminal offences, and 21% of them are ‘crorepatis’.8 According to the ‘Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) Report 2013’ published by the Transparency International, India is ranked 94 out of 177 countries under survey with a CPI score of 36. India is ranked alongside

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Algeria, Armenia, Benin, Colombia, Djibouti, Philippines and Suriname; whereas Brazil (72), South Africa (72), China (80) and Sri Lanka (91) are placed at higher ranks.9 But Swamiji’s ideas call for a rejection of such narrow perspectives of politics and replacing it with a politics of conscience. This is the kind of politics which motivates one to place the interests of his nation or the humanity as a whole, before his own self-interests or the parochial interests of his family, community or party.

2. Politics as Committed Social ActionSwamiji considered the common masses

as the source of all legitimate authority in society. But he felt, the lack of unity among the masses was the chief cause behind their miseries. In his words:

Though themselves the reservoir of all powers, the subject masses, creating an eternal distance between one another, have been deprived of all their legitimate rights; and they will remain so as long as this sort of relation continues.10

One remedy, according to him was making the masses aware of their shared interests. As he argued: ‘A common danger, or sometimes a common cause of hatred or love, is the bond that binds people together.’11

He felt that the people should be moti- vated to believe that ‘In the interest of one’s own nation is one’s own interest; in the well-being of one’s own nation is one’s own well-being.’12 and join ‘friendly hands in mutual help.’13 That was why Swamiji repeatedly urged his followers to organise themselves for rendering selfless service to the marginalised people. In a lecture delivered in Madras in 1897, he passionately appealed to youth to engage themselves in the service of their poor countrymen. He said:

Instead of spending your energies in frothy talk, have you found any way out, any practical

solution, some help instead of condemnation, some sweet words to soothe their miseries, to bring them out of this living death?14

In 1897, Swamiji founded the Rama- krishna Mission in Calcutta, to lay down a model about how to realise his idea of Seva or the service of God in man. The Mission is now one of the oldest active indigenous voluntary social service organisations in India. In an effort to blend spirituality with selfless social service Vivekananda proclaimed the motto of the organisation as ‘For one’s own salvation, and for the welfare of the world.’15 The ‘Methods of Action’ of the Mission included: ‘(a) To train men so as to make them competent to teach such knowledge or sciences as are conducive to the material and spiritual welfare of the masses; (b) to promote and encourage arts and industries.’16

Addressing the members of the newly formed Ramakrishna Mission and some of his young followers through many of his lectures, letters and informal conversations

Swami Vivekananda

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Vivekananda had left an array of instructions and detailed guidelines covering some of the most crucial aspects of conducting organised efforts for social change. He stressed on having a positive outlook and the need to get actual work done rather than engaging in aimless arguments over policy matters.

He left guidelines on many important aspects of organisational affairs, such as the question of leadership, the attitudes, motivation and exposure of the workers, effective division of labour, issues related to accountability and transparency, methods of resource mobilisation, democratisation of the decision-making process, and many related subjects. Vivekananda’s idea of intervention for social change was also ahead of his times. Instead of merely doling out to the poor, he was in favour enabling people to claim their rightful positions in society. In his words:

My whole ambition in life is to set in motion a machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody, and then let men and women settle their own fate. Let them know what our forefathers as well as other nations have thought on the most momentous questions of life. Let them see especially what others are doing now, and then decide. We are to put the chemicals together, the crystallisation will be done by nature according to her laws.17

In this age of Liberalisation-Privatisation-Globalisation (LPG), the role of the welfare state seems to be shrinking. It may not make any difference to the lives of the rich and aristocrats, but it has profound implications to the lives of the millions of marginalised people in society, particularly in the developing nations. Here, the role of voluntary non-governmental organisations in reaching out the unreachable has become increasingly significant. According to a government sponsored survey published in March 2012 there were 6.94 lakh Non-profit Institutions (NPI) across India and 48.2 per cent of them were registered in 2001 or after, i.e., after the introduction neo-liberal policies in India.18

The Government of India in its first ever ‘National Policy on the Voluntary Sector - 2007’ acknowledged the significance of the voluntary sector in facilitating development.19 At the same time, the report observes that efforts must be made ‘to bolster public confidence in the voluntary sector,’ particularly with regard to its ‘governance, accountability, and transparency.’20 In this context, Swamiji’s idea of committed voluntary action for social change seems to be quite significant in conducting today’s organised voluntary initiatives in a more meaningful and effective manner. (To be continued. . .)

1. Vivekananda, Swami, 1992, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (henceforth: CWSV), Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, Vol 5, p 46

2. See: Sarkar, Benoy Kumar, 1936, The Might of Man in the Social Philosophy of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, Madras: Ramakrishna Math; Datta, Bhupendranath, 1954, Swami Vivekananda, Patriot-Prophet;A Study, Calcutta: Nabhabharat Publishers; Tripathi, Amales, 1968, The Extremist Challenge: India between 1890 and 1910, Calcutta:

Orient Longmans; Dalton, Dennis, 1986, ‘The Ideology of Sarvodaya: Concepts of Politics and Power in Indian Political Thought’ in Thomas Pantham and Kenneth L. Deutsch (ed.), Political Thought in Modern India, New Delhi: Sage Pub.

3. Quoted in Gambhirananda, Swami, 1957, History of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Calcutta: Advaita Asharama, p 209

4. CWSV, ‘India’s Mission’ (interview with the Sunday Times, London, 1896 ), Vol 5, p 192

Notes and References

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5. CWSV, ‘The East and the West (original in - Prachya O Pashchatya, 1899), Vol 5, pp 461-62

6. CWSV, Letter to Alasinga Perumal from Washington (dated 27 October, 1894), Vol 5, p 50

7. CWSV, Letter to Swami Akhandananda from USA (dated March/April ? 1894), Vol 6, p 288

8. See: ‘Money and Muscle Power of Our MPs: 2014’, Association for Democratic Reforms, (http://www.google.com/url?), Accessed on 2.12.14

9. See: ‘2013 Corruption Perceptions Index — Results’, Transparency International, (http://www.transparency.org/ cpi2013), Accessed on 28.11.14

10. CWSV, ‘Modern India’ (original in Bengali — Bartaman Bharat, 1899), Vol 4, p 471

11. Ibid, Vol 4, p 47112. Ibid, Vol 4, pp 471-7213. Ibid, Vol 4, p 47214. Ibid, ‘My Plan of Campaign’ (lecture delivered at

the Victoria Hall, Madras on 9 February, 1897), Vol 3, p 226

15. In original Sanskrit: ‘Atmano mokshartham jagad hitaya cha.’

16. Gambhirananda, Swami, 1957, History of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Calcutta: Advaita Asharama, p 120

17. CWSV, Letter to his disciples in Madras from USA (dated 24 January, 1894), Vol 5, p 29

18. See: National Accounts Division, Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India: March 2012: ‘Final Report on Non Profit Institutions in India. A Profile and Satellite Accounts in the framework of System of National Accounts (including State-wise Comparison of Profiles)’, (http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_new/upload/Final_Report_Non- Profit_Instiututions_30may12.pdf), last accessed on 17.06.2014

19. The Report says: ‘The voluntary sector can play an important role in the development process, particularly through community participation. VOs (voluntary organisations) can offer alternative perspectives; committed expertise; an understanding of the local opportunities and constraints; and perhaps most importantly, the capacity to conduct a meaningful dialogue with communities, particularly those that are disadvantaged.’

20. See: Government of India, Planning Commission (Voluntary Action Cell): May 2007, ‘National Policy on the Voluntary Sector — 2007’, pp 1 & 4 (http://www.indg.in/social-sector/ngos-voluntary-sector/national_policy_on_the_voluntary_sector.pdf), last accessed on 17.06.2014

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant. Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

—Swami Vivekananda, CW, 1.24

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The Vedanta Kesari organised a function on 30 December 2014 at the Vivekananda Centenary Hall at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai, to commemorate its centenary. The Vedanta Kesari Centenary Issue highlighting the history and development of the Vedanta Kesari and Spirituality Today as its spotlight along with Manifesting Inherent Perfection, Education for Complete Self-development, a book containing 50 articles from the Vedanta Kesari Archives, were released by Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj, the Adhyaksha of the Chennai Math. He also released the DVD containing the digitised archives of the magazine for 101 years, with search options (earlier in 2010, the DVD containing 96 years of Archives was released; now the updated DVD is released). A demo of the DVD on the large projector screen was also held.

The function included Vedic chanting by monks of Ramakrishna Math, Welcome and Introduction by Swam Atmashraddhananda, and three talks—Swami Abhiramanandaji, the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore (topic: Vedanta in Daily Life), Mrs. Prema Nandakumar, noted writer, Srirangam (topic: Vedanta and Bhakti Tradition) and Sri C Balaji, Prof. of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras (topic: Vedanta and Scientific Temper). Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj, Adhyaksha of Chennai Math, gave the Presidential Address.

As a token of appreciation and gratitude, a few persons associated with the Vedanta

The Vedanta Kesari Centenary Programme

Release of the Centenary issue of the Vedanta Kesari

Release of DVD—archives of the 101 years of the Vedanta Kesari

Release of new book on Education

Special Report


Kesari were felicitated. They included a few volunteers and staff members. The programme concluded with a Bhajan by Swami Atmajnanandaji of Chennai Math.

We may recall here that except for the production and operational cost, the Vedanta Kesari is entirely run on charitable lines. No one—writers or reviewers or editors and proof-readers—is paid for the services

rendered to the cause of Vedanta Kesari; it is only done as a labour of love and commitment to the ideal of atmano-mokshartham-jagad-hitaya-cha, for one’s own spiritual liberation and for the good of others.

More than 300 people which included the Vedanta Kesari readers, donors and devotees, attended the event which was well reported in the media in Chennai.

Swami Abhiramananda

A section of the audience, closing Bhajan and Sale of books and DVDs

Dr. Prema Nandakumar Dr. C. Balaji

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The Order On The March

Ramakrishna Math and Mission—News and Notes

New Temple Consecrated

A new Temple of Sri Ramakrishna at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Tower Bungalow, Limbdi, Gujarat, was consecrated on 1 November, the sacred Jagaddhatri Puja day—when the Divine Mother is worshipped as the ‘supporter of the world’ (Jagaddatri). Located on the sprawling campus of the Limbdi Centre, the new temple is an exquisite structure incorporating many architectural features from Ramakrishna Temples at Belur Math and at Rajkot (Gujarat). Adored with portraits of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda in its Garbha Mandir, the temple has a spacious prayer hall which can accommodate 250 to 300 persons.

Swami Vagishanandaji Maharaj, Vice President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, consecrated the newly built Temple in the early hours of November first 2014. The sacred ceremony was marked by a procession of monks and devotees followed by special homa and worship, feeding of devotees and cultural programmes. The three-day programme included public meetings, presided over by Swami Vagishanandaji and Swami Suhitanandaji, the General Secretary of Math and Mission, were held on 31 October, and 1 and 2 November. Many eminent persons including members of the royal family of Limbdi took part in the celebrations.

About 200 monastics from various centres of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission and 6000 devotees attended the programme.

General News

The birthday of Holy Mother was celebrated at Belur Math on Saturday, 13 December. Thousands of devotees attended the celebration throughout the day. Cooked Prasad was served to about 27,000 devotees. Swami Nityasthananda chaired the public meeting held in the afternoon.

Devotees procession and cultural programme


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Our Shillong centre has been conferred Youth and Education Award 2014 by Christ School International and Don Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures, both organizations based in Shillong. The award, comprising a certificate and a sum of 25,000 rupees, given in recognition of the centre’s excellent service in Northeast India, was handed over by Sri K K Paul, Governor of Meghalaya, on 6 December.

The newly constructed staff quarters at Chennai Mission Ashrama was inaugurated on 10 December.Swami Smarananandaji laid the foundation stone for the proposed dispensary building at

Kankurgachhi Math on 14 December.The General Secretary inaugurated the newly constructed building, housing a workshop and

classrooms, at Janashiksha Mandir of Saradapitha, Belur, on 16 December.As a part of its platinum jubilee celebrations, Visakhapatnam Ashrama conducted a youth convention

on 19 December attended by 1500 youths, and a state-level devotees’ convention from 19 to 21 December attended by about 70 monastics and 3000 devotees.

Baghbazar Math has been awarded Swami Vivekananda SREI Samman Award 2014 by SREI Foundation, Kolkata. The award comprising a memento and a purse of 50,000 rupees was handed over by Sri Keshari Nath Tripathi, Governor of West Bengal, on 28 December.

Relief News

1. Winter Relief: The following centres distributed various winter garments to needy people:(a) Gadadhar Ashrama: 35 sweaters in November and December.(b) Gourhati: 50 wrappers from 2 October to 2 December.(c) Kamarpukur: 200 jackets from 5 November to 26 December.(d) Khetri: 775 sweaters on 13 December.(e) Narottam Nagar: 397 sweaters in November and December.2. Hudhud Cyclone Relief: Andhra Pradesh: Visakhapatnam centre distributed 150 kg sugar,

300 packets of biscuits, 30 assorted utensils, 50 school bags and 100 notebooks among the afflicted people in October. Further, the centre distributed 1852 blankets and 941 solar lanterns among 941 families belonging to 10 areas of Srikakulam, West Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts from 28 to 30 November.

3. Flood Relief: (a) India: (i) Jammu & Kashmir: Continuing its relief work among the people affected by flash floods and landslides in the state, Jammu centre distributed 1000 corrugated sheets, 200 iron pipes (20 feet each), 25 blankets, 25 shawls, 25 jackets and 25 sets of utensils among 50 families belonging to 7 villages of Jammu district on 29 and 30 December.

(ii) Uttarakhand: Dehradun centre continued its relief work in Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts. The centre distributed 22,200 kg rice, 4240 kg dal (lentils), 4240 litres edible oil, 1696 kg salt, 200 blankets, 45 sleeping bags, 70 jackets, 450 sweaters, 140 solar lanterns, 8968 notebooks and 3000 school bags among 888 families of 14 villages from August to October.

(b) Sri Lanka: Following severe floods caused by unprecedented rains, Batticaloa sub-centre of Colombo Ashrama distributed 710 kg rice, 106 kg dal (lentils), 106 kg sugar and 142 matchboxes among 71 families in Vavunatheevu area of Batticaloa district in December. Further, 45 kg rice, 13 kg dal (lentils), 9 kg milk powder, 13 kg sugar and 18 kg flour were provided to 9 families living in the vicinity of the Ashrama.


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4. Distress Relief: The following centres distributed various items to needy people:(a) Belgharia: 275 saris, 216 dhotis, 782 lungis, 307 shirts, 50 pants and 302 frocks from October

to December.(b) Chapra: 200 saris, 200 dhotis, 243 uttariyas, 112 adult garments, 127 children’s garments and 12

bed-sheets from 27 October to 10 November.(c) Cherrapunji: 220 saris from 8 November to 27 December.(d) Gadadhar Ashrama: 172 saris and 46 assorted garments in November and December.(e) Ghatshila: 200 saris and 200 dhotis from 15 to 25 September.(f) Gourhati: 100 saris and 100 dhotis from 2 October to 2 December.(g) Kadapa: 125 saris on 13 December.(h) Karimganj: 250 dhotis on 11 December.(i) Taki: 150 saris and 120 mosquito-nets from 8 August to 15 December.(j) Vrindaban: 1500 dhotis, 1500 pairs of socks, 1500 bottles of body oil and 3000 soap-bars on 13

December.5. Economic Rehabilitation: The following centres distributed sewing machines etc to needy people:(a) Antpur: 123 sets of dhadda (weaving accessories), 41 sewing machines and 2 van rickshaws from

25 November to 14 December.(b) Chandipur: 2 sewing machines on 21 November.(c) Khetri: 28 sewing machines on 13 December.(d) Narottam Nagar: 20 sewing machines and 34 sets of tailoring kits on 30 November.For relief photos etc, please visit www.belurmath.org/relief.htm

Celebrations at Bangalore Ashrama

This year, as part of the Annual Public Celebrations of Ramakrishna Math, Bull Temple Road, Ban- galore, the Book Exhibition and Sale, featured the Kali Temple of Dakshineswar, Kolkata, as its Entrance. A spacious Pandal is put up every year to hold the sale of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta books published from various centres of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. The entrance to the Pandal, using plywood, thermocol, cloth, paper and paint and well-lit up by electrical fittings, gives one the feeling of entering the Kali Temple at Dakshineshwar, Kolkata, where Sri Ramakrishna spent most of his life in Sadhana. The book sale with discounted prices was held from 25 December 2014 to 12 January 2015.

Entrance to the books sales Pandal and interior of the Pandal


SaintS of SaiviSm

Periya Puranam (Pictorial)

Narration by Dr. Prema Nandakumar, Art by S Rajam, General Editor: Dr. N Mahalingam.

Published by Sri Rama- krishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai – 600 004. 2013, Hardbound, pages 301, Rs. 300.

India is the abode of hundreds of saints, which has made this land a blessed nation. An inseparable part of its glorious heritage, Tamil Nadu has a distinct record being the birth place of numerous Shaiva and Vaishnava saints, who inundated this southern tip of India with the ecstatic flow of divine love. Tamil land still reverberates with the highly refined devotional sentiments expressed by these divine mystics, who drenched the dwellings of even the lowliest of the low with the lofty ideal of love of God through their ballads and rhymes.

Periya Puranam is one of the gems of ancient Tamil Literature. Written in a charming poetic style, it depicts the lives of 63 Shaiva saints known as Nayanmars with a graphical portrayal of their devotional outbursts in words and actions. The revered author of this great work Sekkhizar himself was a great devotee of Shiva. The English rendering of this great Tamil epic in prose has already been brought out by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. A new pictorial edition of the stories of saints is also published from the Math, aiming especially children with the heartening stories of devotion, service and dedication of these great Shaiva Saints.

The depiction of each saint contains three parts: 1. Story of the saint in brief; 2. Related traditional picture in full color; 3. Line drawings representing the story, and 3. Translation of selected verses from Periya Puranam

The well-known scholar Dr. Prema Nanda- kumar has put the lofty devotional sentiments of the original epic in simple but poignant style. Small sentences devoid of any artificiality effectively convey the innocent character of the ennobling lives of the saints. Here we enter into a world where intimate and highly personal relationship between Shiva and his devotees pervades every shade of human existence bereft of any unnatural grandeur or pomp. The abstract principle of Bhakti takes its pure and pristine concrete form in the extraordinary personalities portrayed here.

The language of the prose and the verses, though appearing to be a little archaic, succeeds in effectively conveying the essence of the original. The classical colour paintings and black-white line drawings by eminent artist S Rajam beautifully illustrate the noble devotional outpourings described in the text. (Late) Dr. N Mahalingam, a noted industrialist and philanthropist, the brain behind this wonderful work must be commended for this remarkable work. Printed beautifully on thick paper and a pleasing design, the book is a must read for all the devotees of God.________________ SWAMI VIRESHANANDA, MONASTIC PRO-

BATIONERS’ TRAINING CENTRE, BELUR MATH

Saranagati By T.K. Parthasarathy

Published by Sri Vishnu M o h a n F o u n d a t i o n , 7/15, New Giri Road, T.Nagar, Chennai, 2013, paperback, pp.113. Price not mentioned.

The concept of Sara- n a g a t i [ s u r r e n d e r ] is the bedrock of Sri

Vaishnavism. The author of this book traces its origins in the Vedas,

epics, Puranas, Agamas and Alwar’s pasurams. Sri Ramanuja, it is said, has mentioned it in his

Book ReviewsFor review in The VedanTa Kesari,

publishers need to send us two copies oF their latest publication.


42

gadyams. Post-Ramanuja Acharyas Swami Desikan and Pillai Lokachaarya have treated the subject in greater detail in their works.

Sri Nammalwar says: ‘Abdicate all attach- ments for the worldly things. Then, after leaving them, hand over your Atman in full to Him Who owns Parama Padam’. In Swami Vivekananda’s words, ‘We must hold ourselves as if we are altogether dead to all things of the world—it is the meaning of self-surrender’. It is more by God’s Grace than by self-effort that Jivas attain liberation from bondage. But Jivas must carry out the commands of God as prescribed in the Shastras. Bhakti Yoga demands one-pointed contemplation on God along with the meticulous observance of the Shastraic rituals whereas self- surrender is more appealing and easier in execution.

According to the tenets of Saranagati, the Acharya is the mediator between the distressed soul and God through the ‘Mediatory Grace of Mahalakshmi’. Saranagati can be performed by anyone without any discrimination whatsoever who is a resortless destitute. The five-fold scheme called ‘Artha panchakam’ enjoins on the ‘prapanna’ knowledge about Brahman, the individual soul, the means of attaining the goal, the goal itself and the obstacles on the way.

The nature of the individual souls is beautifully depicted by Sri Ramakrishna in his description of the different fishes—those ever-free, those caught in the net, those which escape after a struggle and those deluded to be free. Worldly attractions are the impediments which find a poetic statement in ‘The Hound of Heaven’ of Francis Thompson. ‘Nought shelters Thee that shelters not Me’, says God there.

The learned author suggests that self-surrender is the panacea for the present-day stress prevalent among the youth. By practicing non-attachment, even-mindedness, consuming Sattvic food and by entrusting all their burdens and fears to God can they attain equanimity and lasting peace. They must reduce their wants. The Holy Mother’s recipe for happiness is contentment which is sadly missing in a consumerist life style.

Advaitins, on the other hand, say that the surrender spoken of in the Gita is more in the nature of Self-realization.

The author rightly concludes the book with Ramanuja’s quote: ‘A true Vaishnavite is one who

is not a worshipper of Vishnu alone but one who really sympathizes on the grief of others.’

A few typos in the book are visible. A discriminating reader wanting more information on the list of books in the Bibliography section would naturally expect more publishing details. The book is a good introduction to Sri Vaishnavism._______________________ K.PANCHAPAGESAN, BANGALORE

Be in the Driver’S Seat

By J.P.Vaswani

Gita Publishing House, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, 10, Sadhu Vaswani Path, Pune- 411 001, 2013, paperback, pp.136, Rs.100.

Here is yet another among the scores of good books by Dada Vaswani on the way to live a fruitful

life and overcome our day-to-day problems. This book will enable the reader

to take control of his/her life and steer it in the direction of one’s choice.

The book has 31 chapters. In the Preface the author refers to the incident in the life of Swami Vivekananda when he was chased by a group of monkeys, who, however, fled away the moment he faced them instead of running away from them. Let us learn to face the situation, concludes the author.

In the first of the thirty one chapters, ‘Where are You Heading?’ the author raises many questions about the meaning of life and concludes that not many would be able to clearly state the goal of their life and what life means for them. In the last chapter ‘Start Now’, after giving 29 instructions he urges the readers to remain no more in dilemmas and begin earnestly after setting a clear goal.

The chapters have various themes. Some clearly deal with our negative tendencies such as ‘Rid yourself from the Burden of Anger,’ ‘Do not Let Irritation Sap Your Energy’, ‘Give up your Ego’, and ‘Escape from the Turmoil of Life’. There are others which clearly show path towards spirituality, such as, ‘Make Spirituality a Reality’, ‘Chat with Your Best Friend’, and ‘Build the Connection Upwards’. Then there are others which hint at the unfoldment of goodness within like ‘Be Yourself’, ‘Welcome


43

the Now’ and so on. Another group of chapters has guidance as to how to deal with others like ‘Love, Give and Share’.

The articles are all small—just three pages each. The book is so designed that the average modern age reader would rather be attracted by it than repulsed. For example, each chapter starts on the odd page with a symbolic picture or design on the even page facing it. There is an exception, however, on page 99. It carries a message in bigger font, ‘Don’t be totally worried about everything that’s going around you. It’s my Job. Signed, GOD!’ There are plenty of anecdotes, though not in every chapter, but Dada’s style is conversational, as if he is talking to the reader.

This little book is a treasure chest of spiritual gems. Take, for example, this passage on prayer: ‘Opening your heart to God is the most effective form of prayer. I urge my friends never, ever to forget their “daily appointment with God”, as I call it—a brief, simple prayer first thing when you get up and a quiet reflective prayer before you fall asleep at night.’ The reader will get at least one such gem from every chapter.

Although Dada Vaswani is a religious person and many of his instructions are spiritual, there are also ‘non-religious’ guidelines. In chapter six, for example, he describes the healing effect of laughter. He narrated the story of a man who prepared an album of `laughing’ pictures collected from newspapers and magazines. With it, he went to suffering patients who had almost forgotten to smile. On seeing the laughing pictures they would burst into laughter and felt very much better.

Although the book appears a little costly, it is worth spending Rs.100/- for it. It would become the reader’s constant companion._____________________________ SWAMI BRAHMESHANANDA,

RAMAKRISHNA ADVAITA ASHRAMA, VARANASI

inDia a SacreD geograPhy By Diana L. ECK

Published by Harmony Books, Crown Publishing Group, Random House, inc., New York, USA. www.crownpublishing.com Hardbound, 2012, Price Rs.599.

‘What is India?’ is a question that is persistently asked and debated tendentiously, when India’s integrity as a nation is at issue.

According to Professor Diana L. Eck, the author of this book, wisely steers clear of purely historical questions and builds her thesis mainly on the strength of pilgrimage places and mythologies connected with them turning the topology of the land into her primary tex t . ‘The p i lgr ims ’ India reaches back many

hundreds of years and brings to us astonishing picture of a land

linked not by the power of kings and governments but by the footsteps of pilgrims.’(p6)

By about the 4th century before the common era the idea of a unified India had already crystallised that surprisingly corresponds with the country as we know of it now. The intelligence Alexander and later Megasthenes gathered, described India ‘as roughly quadrilateral in shape, with the Indus River forming the western boundary, the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush stretched along the north, and the seas skirting the other two sides.’(p69). Their informants even cited its measurements. ‘Megasthanes also tells us that pillars have been set up at intervals to show the byroads and distances’ (ibid.). The author’s surmise is that the informants of the Greeks were pilgrims.

Professor Eck’s approach is ‘from the other side’, the subject’s side and refreshingly new. History has only an incidental and corroborative role. ‘Political analyses do not touch this question. Post-colonial studies do not reach very deeply into the pre-modern subsoil of India to inquire whether there have been alternative ways of imagining the complex collectivity of India in a distinctively Indian idiom. ‘Hindu narrative and mythology are richly interwoven with the geography of India’. In this sense, despite its strong transcendental spirituality, Hinduism is a highly locative tradition in which place matters.’(p48) The uniqueness of the pilgrim’s picture of India is that it is strongly rooted in his heart, in his beliefs and myths he has imbibed as well as the topography of the land. ‘As Hindus have moved around the world, they have taken their places with them. Among the Indian diaspora—whether the older diaspora in Thailand,


44

Cambodia, and Indonesia or the recent diaspora communities of the West—many of India’s most important sacred sites are replicated. (p40)’

This book brings back to life the hackneyed phrase ‘unity in diversity’ with a fresh focus on pilgrimage places and practices and mythology, not on philosophy. ‘The pilgrim’s India is a vividly imagined landscape that has been created not by homing in on the singular importance of one place, but by the linking, duplication, and multiplication of places so as to constitute an entire world. (p5)’ ‘The profusion of divine manifestation is played in multiple keys as the natural counterpart of divine infinity, incapable of being limited to any name or form, and therefore expressible only through multiplication and plurality.’ (p40).

The idea has its roots in the Prithvisukta of the Atharvaveda, and the famous and oft quoted verse of the Rigveda—‘Truth is one. The wise speak of it in many ways.’ Professor Eck points out that the worship of the land as a deity is many hundreds of years older than the equation of Mother India with Durga, usually dated from Bankim Chandra Chatterji’s lyric Vande Mataram, and is associated with the worship of the Divine Mother in the Shakti Pithas which involves the identification of parts of the Devi with holy places. This has a parallel in the Purushasukta which visualizes the transformation of the Purusha into the universe of the moving and the unmoving. ‘The goddess is sometimes called Mahisvarupa, the one ‘whose very self is the earth’ (p270). The suggestion is that, ‘the earth as Adi Shakti is the very ground of all sacred geography.’

The book also explores the ways in which the imagined landscape relates to the notion of ‘nation’ as expressed in the nation- state. Overlapping Bharata is the Muslim concept of Hindustan. ‘This included the love of its cities—the love of the soil of its dargahs and even the love of its Ganga waters, which Muhammad bin Tughlak had carried south for his use when he moved his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (p93). Indians, Hindu and Muslim alike, had a very clear, if not entirely congruent, sense of “India‘’’ (p93-94). There is greater incongruity, however, between the modern idea of nation and the emotionally charged concept of a sacred land whose roots go far deep into pre-history. The thinkers and activists who shaped the nationalist movement largely defined the nation in Hindu

terms which alarmed the Muslim component of the population. The verses of the inspiring Vande Mataram that evoke the image of Durga epitomises the spirit of the times. This Hindu-Muslim dichotomy in the body politic remains to be satisfactorily resolved. (c.f. p6)’

In the section ‘From Landscape to Nation’ (pp93-100) the author discusses the development of Indian nationalism and inter alia touches upon Swami Vivekananda also. One of her observations, I am afraid, misrepresents Swami Vivekananda. There is no doubt that Swami Vivekananda’s speeches in India redeemed the much maligned Hindu’s pride in his religion, which was characterised in an editorial in The Hindu as a whitewashed sepulchre, shortly before the Swami’s departure to the West. When he spoke of India, he primarily meant its people. He was the first to equate India with her masses and in this he was a forerunner of the Mahatma.

On the previous page, (p96) the author quotes a passage from one of Vivekananda’s addresses in India, the last sentence of which is misleading if not read in the wider context of the entire address. ’There must be the recognition of one religion throughout the length and breadth of this land.’ This can easily be misconstrued as vindicating the author’s misconception that the Swamiji was articulating a majoritarian view. In this particular speech as in many others in that collection of speeches titled Lectures from Colombo to Almora Swamiji was interpreting Vedanta as the common ground of Indian religions. In his lectures in the West and many of his letters he had already shown how Vedanta can be a universal religion, not in the sense in which evangelical religions are so called, but because Vedanta embodies those universally verifiable and eternally valid truths, which is the ground of all religions. His focus was man, not God. His stress was on the divinity inherent in Man. He characterised himself as ‘we who worship that God, whom the ignorant call man’. It is a travesty of truth to ascribe to such a man a parochial and exclusionist view. The liberal and humanist values the West developed since the Age of Enlightenment and the transcendent spiritual vision of Vedanta find their meeting ground and fulfilment in this man.

Several errors and imprecise statements have crept into the text which can be attended to in the next edition.


There are certain views of the author expressed incidentally with which this reviewer disagrees, but they do not detract from the value of the book or his profound admiration for the book and the scholarship and dedicated research that has gone into its making. It has indeed greatly augmented his understanding of his country.____________ M.C.RAMANARAYANAN, THIRUVALLA, KERALA

awakeningS, vol-1 By Srihariprasad

Published by Sri Vishnu Mohan Foundation, 7/15, New Giri Road, T.Nagar, Chennai. 2013, paperback, pp.75. Price not mentioned.

This small book ‘is a compilation of talks, discussions and reflections over a period of time’ by

Shrihariprasad, a disciple of Swami Gnanananda Saraswathi. The unique stature of the Satguru in Indian

ethos and various acharas (conduct rules) to be observed for purposeful living form the focus of the book. Guru is Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesvara and Parabrahmam according to a popular sloka. In Granth Sahib, Satguru is referred to in ‘more than two thousand five hundred times’. A devote camping in the holy shrine of Guruvayoor was saved from disaster due to his abiding faith in his Satguru.

The imperatives of observing acharas [external are forcefully mentioned in order to live happily for ever. They ensure the influence of good shakti and save us from misfortunes. The incident involving the British Resident of erstwhile Travancore State and Maharaja Swati Tirunal, appears an extreme example. Orthodoxy could result in irrational observances in the name of acharas.

There is an elaborate list of do’s and don’ts in the matter of food. The preparation, persons involved, the bhava with which food is offered, manner of consuming it, company in which it is eaten, posture and connected matters are too many and some of them hard to practice.

One should respect elders. The presence of spiritually evolved persons tends to elevate ‘prana’.

The author refers to an observation by Sri Sarada Devi, consort of Sri Ramakrishna, ‘that sannyasins are like snakes in that a layman cannot understand their nature at first sight’. (p. 51).

Rules of conduct or acharas have an important place in our lives. We have to decide how far the do’s and don’t’s are practicable depending on the circumstances in which we are placed.

There are some spelling and grammatical errors that need to be attended._______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM, MUMBAI

riShikaS of the rigveDa By Swamini Atmaprajnananda Saraswati

Published by D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., Vedasri, F-395, Sudarshan Park, (Metro Station: Sudarshan Nagar) New Delhi - 110 015. 2013, hardbound, PP. 151+xvi. Rs.400

Swami Vivekananda’s advent changed many things. One

of them was the public recitation of the Vedas by women. For centuries past women had been debarred from the right to declaim these scriptural verses. Actually many of the verses invoked Gayatri described as the Mother of Vedas and paid homage to Saraswati. Among the achievements of the founding of the Ramakrishna Mission was the Vedic recitation by the nuns of the order. Swamini Atmaprajnananda Saraswati’s Rishikas of the Rigveda is important because it states clearly that the Vedas had amongst its rishis, many women as well. The author points out that there is nothing in the Vedas to show that women could not be adhikaris of the mantra.

Armed thus, we meet the women seer-poets of the Rig Veda, beginning with Ghosa Kaksivati. A granddaughter of the eminent Rishi Dhirgatamas, Ghosa was struck by leprosy and remained unwed for sixty long years. Propitiated by her in the proper way, the celestial Asvins cured her and gifted her youth, married life and progeny. The social relevance of the Vedic riks to our modern times is also indicated by the author as when she links Rajinder Singh’s novel, Ek Chadar Maili Si to the phrase sayutraa vidhaveva devaram.

45


46

Some rishikas are known by relationship only. Among them are Agastya Svasa (Agastya’s sister), Indra Matarah (Indra’s mothers) and Indrasnusha (Indra’s daughter-in-law) who is also known as Vasukrapatni (wife of Vasukra). Godha is another Vedic poetess and it is often fondly said that Perialvar named his daughter Goda Devi after the Vedic poetess. Goda Devi became a great Tamil poetess of the Bhakti Movement and is now revered as a goddess in temples dedicated to Vishnu.

The celestial dog of Indra, Sarama is seen as the name of a Vedic poetess. Among others is the interesting poetess Ratri and we get to know her better with the commentary in this book: ‘She is the sister of Ushas, and like her is called a daughter of heaven. She is not conceived as the dark, but as the bright starlit night. Decked with all splendour, she drives away the darkness. At her approach, men, animals, and birds go to rest. She protects her

worshippers from the wolf and the thief, guiding them to safety.’ (p.99)

Ratri is then the diamond-studded heaven that we all love to this day! There is then the poetess Surya Savitri (daughter of Surya) whose verses are recited during wedding ceremonies even today. Thus, the work demonstrates the unequalled Indian culture that has survived for several millennia. Swamini Atmaprajnananda Saraswati has also indicated in the appendix some of the women poetesses who have contributed to Yajus, Sama and Atharva Vedas.

A book by an in-depth scholar who has studied traditional commentaries as well as modern interpretations with a dependable bibliography, Rishikas of the Rigveda is a fine source-book for studying Indian feminism, for it gives the original Sanskrit Riks also indicating a new renaissance in Indian studies in this century._____________________ PREMA NANDAKUMAR, SRIRANGAM

SamarPanam life anD teachingS of yogi ramSuratkumar by R.K.Alwar, 69, Indira Nagar, Neyveli-607 801. [email protected] , 2012, Paperback, pp.190, Rs.80.

Sri garuDaPurana by Aru Ramanathan. Published by Author, Aruram India Publishers, Prema Pirasuram, 59 Arcot Road, Chennai, 600 024.2013, paperback, pp. 175, Rs.80.

Sruti PraDeePa by VK Narayana Bhattathiri. Published by Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, Samskriti Bhavan, G.P.O. Lane Thiruvananthapuram, 695 001(Copies can be had from P.Chandrasekharan, 20/150M.S. Baburaj Road, P.O. Kallai, Kozhikode-673 003, Kerala 2013, paperback, pp.80, Rs.80.

SanSkrit Drama with reference to PrahaSana anD vithi by S.Ramaratnam. Published by D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., Vedasri, F-395, Sudarshan Park, Metro Station: Ramesh Nagar, New Delhi-110 015. [email protected] 2014, Hardbound, pp.532. Rs1300.

Books Received

For decades Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, has been running the following two schools:1. Sri Ramakrishna Math National School, at Basin Bridge Road, Mint, Chennai. Swami Ramakrishnananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, started this School in 1906 -

now having 370 girls and boys on the roll, from classes 1 to 5. See website: www.rkmns.edu.in2. Sri Ramakrishna Math Vivekananda Centenary Girls’ Higher Secondary School

at Saravana Street, Mint, Chennai-79.Started in 1962, having 900 girl students from classes 6 to 12. See their Website:

www.rkmvcs.edu.inLocated in underprivileged sections of populace in north Chennai, 85% students

in both the schools are from the below poverty line. Striving to serve the poor students with financial and other constraints, the school urgently needs to improve its infra-

structure. We appeal to all the good-hearted citizens, funding agencies and philanthropic

orgainsations and especially Corporate Social Responsibility de-partments of all Business Houses to contribute generously for the noble cause.

Cheques / Drafts may kindly be drawn in favour of ‘Sri Ramakrishna Math National School’ or ‘Sri Ramakrishna Math Vivekananda Centenary Girls’ Higher Secondary School’ and sent to our address. Please mention your full name, postal address, contact numbers and mail ID along with PAN.

Contributions of above 1,000/- rupees will be added to our Endowment Fund.

All donations, however small, will be thankfully received and acknowledged.

‘Educate your women first and leave them to themselves’ - Swami Vivekananda

You may also send your contribution by NEFT/CTGS transfer directly and intimate us along with PAN details through email. The following are the details for bank transfer:Sri Ramakrishna Math National SchoolBank and Branch: SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, Mylapore Br. Chennai-600004.Account No. : 61003734105IFSC : SBBJ0010419SRKM Vivekananda Centenary Girls' Higher Secondary SchoolBank and Branch : CB. Canara Bank, Mandaveli Br., Chennai - 600028.Account No. : 8636101036893IFSC : CNRB0000937

Yours in the service of the Lord, Swami Gautamananda

Adhyaksha

Sri Ramakrishna Math, No. 31, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai-600 004.For more details contact: Swami Vimurtananda, Manager, or Swami Srividyananda, School Secretary - 09445738065

e-mail : [email protected] & [email protected]

SRKM Vivekananda Centenary Girls’ Hr. Sec. School

Sri Ramakrishna Math National School

All donations made to Sri Ramakrishna Math are eligible for tax benefit under section 80-G of Income taxt Act.

47 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5


Ramakrishna MathSouth Nada, Opp. Ashoka Petrol Pump,

Haripad - 690514 Dist. Alleppey, Kerala. Phone: 0479-2411700,

0974 5325 834. Email: [email protected], [email protected] Website: www.rkmathharipad.org

Help Build A New Centre For Sri Ramakrishna An Appeal

Dear Devotees, well-wishers and friends,Ramakrishna Math at Haripad in Kerala was started in 1912 and has been sanctified by the

stay of Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj, the Spiritual Son of Sri Ramakrishna. But by long lapse of time, the buildings have become totally unfit for use.

To start with, we propose to have the Monk’s quarters, rooms for Welfare and social activities, office building, Library and free reading room, guests room and a Universal Temple of Sri Ramakrishna. The entire infrastructure has to be re-constructed. By the grace of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna, the plans for rebuilding the whole centre has been prepared.

The estimated expenditure for this project is Rupees 5 Crores.We invite every one of you the noble-hearted people, specially the devotees of Sri

Ramakrishna, to come forward with their generous donations to enable us to erect this abode for Sri Ramakrishna and serve humanity. Every one, who participates in this seva-yajna (service-sacrifice) will be a sure recipient of the blessings of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda.

Details for sending donationsDonations from India: Cheque / D.D may be drawn in favour of ‘Ramakrishna Math, Haripad’ NEFT

Transfer :A/C Number : 30642551603, : State Bank of India. Haripad. RTGS/NEFT/IFSC code: SBIN0010596.(In case of NEFT transfer please email your Name, Amount, Postal Address, PAN NUMBER, phone

number &transaction details to [email protected] This is for accounting purposes.)Donations from Foreign countries: Kindly draw a Cheque / Draft in favour of "Ramakrishna Math" and

send it to the General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, Dt. Howrah (West Bengal), Pin -711 202, India.

In the covering letter mention that it is a donation for Haripad Centre building fund. And inform all the details of the donation to e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Donations to Ramakrishna Math are Exempt from Income Tax Under Section 80 G.

Yours in the Lord,Swami Virabhadrananda, Adhyaksha

Swami Brahmananda

Old godown used as Monks’ Quarters at present Old building in a dilapidated condition


Old building in a dilapidated condition

BUILD A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDRENDaridra Narayan Seva: Serving the uneducated, illiterate women, and people

affected by flood/drought, irrespective of caste, creed, and religion by regularly distributing dhoti and sarees (about 800 per year), blankets (about 700 per year), food packets to the suffering villagers, and 15 to 10 bicycles every year to poor high school girls.

Education Seva: Serving the indigent tribal children, who are first generation learners, by running three rural primary schools and six free coaching centres in the remote village areas. In addition, the Ashrama administers a higher secondary school, a primary school, and a kindergarten school for the indigent children of Malda. Finally, we also provide a hostel for 70 students, either at nominal cost or free.

Medical Seva: Serving the indigents who dwell in the slums and do not have the means for proper medical care, by operating both allopathic and homeopathic dispensaries, providing mobile medical service for the poor, and conducting ten medical camps every week. T B patients are given free medicines and injections. Every year approximately 30,000 people receive free medical care in the units of the Ashrama.

Dear Friends,Your contributions are the sole sustenance for the above seva. I humbly request

you to donate generously. We hope to create a corpus fund of two crore rupees, the interest of which will help us to meet the above expenses. In your donation, kindly mention that it is for the ‘corpus fund for the philanthropic activities of our Ashrama’. All donations for this noble cause are tax exempt as per the Income Tax Act, 80G. A/c payee Cheque/ Draft may be drawn in favour of ‘Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Malda’. Online donations may be made to the following bank accounts of Malda Ashrama with intimation to us: State Bank of India of Malda - 111753632.70, United Bank of India 0133010034363.

Swami Parasharananda Secretary

RAMAKRISHNA MISSION ASHRAMA(A branch centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, West Bengal)Malda, West Bengal - 732,101. Tel.- 03512-252479; email: [email protected]


AN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATEThe Ramakrishna Math, Koyilandy, Kerala, a branch centre of the Ramakrishna Math Belur

Math, established in the year 1915 will celebrate its centenary in 2015 with launch of various programs. Our devotees and well-wishers are invited to participate in yearlong function.

Humble beginnings: There was a Yogi Math & Subrahmanya Temple at Melur near Koyilandy managed by Sri K.P. Krishnan Nair and few others. They requested Swami Nirmalanandaji who was halting then at Vadakara to establish Ramakrishna Math there. Swami Nirmalanandaji accepted the property in April 1914 and installed Sri Ramakrishna at the Math in March 1915. In 1929 the main ashrama building was dedicated and in 1987 a new prayer hall and Shrine was consecrated.

Activities at the Ashram: Besides daily worship at the shrine and birthday celebrations of the Holy Trio & other important Hindu festivals the centre conducts weekly classes on scriptures and value education for students. It serves the needy in a spirit of worship providing medical help / educational assistance to the deserving poor. It also runs a Non-formal education centre for 100 deprived children who are provided books, stationeries and uniforms. Teachers at the free coaching centre help poor students acquire proficiency in academics. Every year about 700 poor students are given free note books and stationeries.

Plans for the Centenary year: To commemorate the centenary year 2014-2015 we wish to build a centre of learning and excellence for our village youth who will be provided training and guidance in:

• Waste recycling and management• Programs to promote learning of Sanskrit, English, and Hindi• Programs to promote positive health and life style management • Sustained Graded Value Education Program [SGVEP] for studentsThe project is estimated to cost about Rs. 2 Crores. The task is big but the funds at our

end are meagre. With no support from Government our activities are run only on donations from public. We therefore seek generous involvement and participation of devotees, friends, admirers and well-wishers through donations and contributions to this noble endeavor to make the centenary celebrations a grand success.

All donations made to the Math are exempted from Income Tax Section 80G the Income Tax Act. You may please send your donation by Cheque/Draft in the name of “Ramakrishna Math, Koyilandy “

Bank A/C No: 10632417896 State Bank of India, Koyilandy, IFS Code SBIN0003338.

Yours in the Service of Lord, Swami Bhuvanatmananda

AdhyakshaRamakrishna Math, Koyilandy

Swami Vivekananda Road, RO Melur, Koyilandy, Dt. Kozhikode, Kerala 673 306E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Phone: 0496-2630990. Cell no: 09447863787


Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004

Digitised Archives of the Vedanta Kesari (1914 to 2014)

DVD containing the archives of 101 years of the Vedanta Kesari

The Vedanta Kesari has been effectively disseminating Indian Ethos and Values, with uninterrupted publication for the 101 years. The entire collection of archival articles (1914-2015) by scholars and thinkers, savants and admirers, monks and practitioners of Vedanta is now available in one DVD. With search facility indexed author-wise, title-wise, year-wise and by keywords, plus other features, it is a veritable encyclopedia of Vedanta is now available to you at the click of a button!

Price: Rs.300/-Packing and Posting charges: Rs.60/- (within India)

Hardbound, Pages 586, Price: Rs.250/- Postage: Rs.75/-for single copy. No request for VPP entertained

Manifesting Inherent PerfectionEducation for Complete Self-improvement

This book attempts to discuss this ‘inside’ of education which is man-making. A collection of 50 writings on various aspects of education ‘in its widest sense’, this book presents the Indian worldview of divinity of man and unity of existence. Compiled from the archives of The Vedanta Kesari, these writings deal with various aspects of education, particularly the key ideas of Yoga and Vedanta which are of great value to all educationists and students. ‘As long as I live, so long do I learn,’ said Sri Ramakrishna. This handy volume on education draws our attention to this fact through articles, stories and personal accounts of monks, teachers, students, scholars and commoners.

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004Email : [email protected]

For ordering your copy, draw your DD in favour of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai and send to: The Manager, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai – 600004,You can also order Online. Email : [email protected]

New Release

New Release


Hardbound, Pages 372, Price: Rs.80/- Postage: Rs.40/-for single copy. No request for VPP entertained

Dewdrops—Daily quote from the Holy MotherHere some dewdrop from the eternal river of love, peace and

wisdom—Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna.

It is the English translation of the Tamil book Dinam Or Anbumozhi, containing the datewise compilation of selected teachings of the Holy Mother culled from the Gospel of Holy Mother. Coverpage design, sketches and layout by Sri Maniam Selvan, Smt. Pushpa Chitrak, Sri Natarajan and Sri Ravi had

designed the cover page, sketches and layout.Produced in a size that reminds one the traditional old-style Hindu manuscripts,

the book will surely nurture the readers with Mother’s quiet sweetness and unselfish love. Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004

Email : [email protected]

Printed in four-colours, the book gives a bird’s eye-view of the excellence achieved in ancient India in diverse fields. Copious citation of the research and literary evidences and references lend a stamp of authenticity to the book. It gives some glimpses of the skill, dexterity and perfection the ancient Indians achieved in various fields of human endeavour that can baffle even the experts of the today’s world!

Glimpses of ExcellenceDr. Suruchi Pande

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600004 Email: [email protected]

Pages 140 + x. Price: Rs. 110/- + Postage: Rs.30/-for single copy.

New Release


(1999) Globalization : Rs.60/-(2002) How to Organise Life : Rs.45/-(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/-(2009) How to Shape the Personality : Rs.70/-(2010) Facets of Freedom : Rs.60/-(2011) Joy of Spirituality : Rs.80/-(2012) Indian Culture : Rs.275/-(2013) Swami Vivekananda— The Charm of His Personality and Message : Rs.110/-

The Vedanta Kesari

Some of the recent Annual Issues of The Vedanta Kesari now available in book form:

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004Plus postage Rs.30/- for single copy. No request for VPP entertained


New Release

Swami Yatiswarananda As We Knew HimReminiscences of Monastic and Lay Devotees

Compiled and edited by the monks and devotees of the Ramakrishna order

Swami Yatiswarananda (1889-1966) was an eminent disciple of Swami Brahmananda

Maharaj, the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna and the first President of the Ramakrishna Order. Swami Yatiswarananda lived with many direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and was the President of Mumbai and Chennai Centres of Ramakrishna Math before leaving for Europe in 1933. At the request of earnest devotees in Germany, he was

sent to Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and later America. He returned to India in 1950 and was the President of Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore, from 1951 to 1966. He was one of the Vice Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order.

His well-known books, Adventures in Religious Life, and Meditation and Spiritual Life, are classics in holistic approach to spirituality, harmonizing the Four Yogas of Jnana, Karma, Bhakti and Dhyana.

Containing more than 100 articles by senior monks, nuns and devotees of the Ramakrishna Order, the new book has a detailed biography of Swami Yatiswarananda, select letters, precepts and several pictures.

An audio CD containing 16 recordings of his lectures and chanting are a part of the book.

Book Size : ‘Royal’, hardbound Price: Rupees 200/- per set (total pages 1550)

Postage: Rupees 100 per set (registered parcel)No request for VPP entertained

Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600004 Email: [email protected]

(A set of two volumes)


We are happy to notify the readers about the new “ENHANCED EDITION” of The Monk without Frontiers—Reminiscences of Swami Ranganathananda. In this edition two more articles on the Swami have been included. The size (layout) of the book has been changed to a larger one, and also the typeset is new, enhancing the overall look and readability of the book. The book now has a new cover.

This book is a compilation of articles on Swami Ranganathananda written by the monks of the Ramakrishna Order, nuns of the Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission, and devotees and admirers of the Swami. There are 136 pieces of writing presenting before us his multi-faceted personality in an inspiring as well as interesting manner.

The Monk without Frontiers

Pages: 648 Price: Rs. 480/-


NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE

‘We can attain salvation through social work’ – Swami Vivekananda

K. Sridhar Acharya Founder/ President

1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind Children – Tirupati, Parlekhimundi, Golamunda2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital – Tirupati 3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged – Tirupati, Rishikesh,

Parlekhimundi and Chennai4. Navajeevan Annaksetram - Kothapeta / Rishikesh5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram – Tirupati6. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres - Berhampur [Orissa]7. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres - Serango & Kalahandi [Orissa]8. Navajeevan Orphanage Children Homes – Tirupati, Parlehkimundi,

Saluru, Golamunda, Berhampur, Pandukal, Vizag & Araku

1. Sponsor one day Annadan 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 [Mob.]

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

An Appeal35 Years of Service to Humanity 1979 - 2014

Donor devotees can send their contributions by cheque/DD/MO to the above address on the occasion of birthday, wedding day or any other special occasion and receive prasadam of Lord Balaji Venkateswara of Tirupati as blessings. Contributions to NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE, Tirupati are eligible for Tax Relief U/S 80G of Income Tax Act.

Our Bank details for online transfer :Bank Name : Indian Bank , Gandhi Road Branch, Tirupati SB A/c No: 463789382, Account Hold-er : Navajeevan Blind Relief Centre, Branch Code: T036, IFSC code: IDIB000T036,

A Humble Request for Donation


Vol.102-2 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) February 2015. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957. POSTAL

REGISTRATION NUMBER:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 15-17. LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2015-2017.

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Teach yourselves, teach everyone his/her real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-con-scious activity.

—Swami Vivekananda

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The Vedanta Kesari - February 2015 issue

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Transcript of The Vedanta Kesari - February 2015 issue