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Vedanta Kesari March 2019
The
The Vedanta Kesari
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A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914
M arch 2019
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Inauguration of new temple of Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Asansol, West Bengal
COVER STORY Varanasi is the eternal abode of Lord Shiva where he bestows mukti on anyone dying there. The city is also called Swarnanagari, as it is covered with a luminous spiritual current. While on a boat trip to the Ganga ghats in Varanasi, Sri Ramakrishna had a divine vision at the Manikarnika Ghat. He saw Lord Shiva and the Divine Mother ‘untying all the knots of bondage, gross, subtle and causal’ of the Jivas and liberating them. The Cover Page, drawn by Sri Maniam Selvan, depicts this vision with the background of Mount Kailas. This month when we celebrate Shivaratri and Sri Ramakrishna Jayanti, may the Lord bestow his unqualified grace on us.
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106
th
T he V edanta K esari
Year
of
Publication
A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of The Ramakrishna Order
MARCH 2019
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Reminiscences of Sargachhi Swami Suhitananda l ica Top
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M us ing s
A Message to Garcia
The Aaranyaka Lakshmi Devnath da
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Just Read the Gospel Swami Medhasananda
FEATURES 7 8
Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra Yugavani
9 Guest Editorial 25 Pariprasna 27 Vivekananda Way 44 Book Reviews 48 The Vedas: An Exploration 50 Topical Musings 52 The Order on the March
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Saiva Religion and Philosophy: A Glimpse Dr. R. Gopalakrishnan Two Poets: Hafiz and Vivekananda Suman Bhattacharyya
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Vol. 106, No. 3 ISSN 0042-2983
CONTENTS
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What is Religion?
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RamakrishnaVivekananda in ‘The Land of Five Rivers’ Swami Atmashraddhananda
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Editor: Swami Mahamedhananda Published by Swami Vimurtananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai - 600 004 and Printed by B. Rajkumar, Chennai - 600 014 on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust, Chennai - 600 004 and Printed at M/s. Rasi Graphics Pvt. Limited, No.40, Peters Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 600014. Website: www.chennaimath.org E-mail: thevedantakesari@chennaimath.org
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Dear Readers, The Vedanta Kesari is one of the oldest cultural and spiritual magazines in the country. Started under the guidance and support of Swami Vivekananda, the first issue of the magazine, then called Brahmavadin, came out on 14 Sept 1895. Brahmavadin was run by one of Swamiji’s ardent followers Sri Alasinga Perumal. After his death in 1909 the magazine publication became irregular, and stopped in 1914 whereupon the Ramakrishna Order revived it as The Vedanta Kesari. Swami Vivekananda’s concern for the magazine is seen in his letters to Alasinga Perumal where he writes: ‘Now I am bent upon starting the journal.’ ‘Herewith I send a hundred dollars…. Hope this will go just a little in starting your paper.’ ‘I am determined to see the paper succeed.’ ‘The Song of the Sannyasin is my first contribution for your journal.’ ‘I learnt from your letter the bad financial state that Brahmavadin is in.’ ‘It must be supported by the Hindus if they have any sense of virtue or gratitude left in them.’ ‘I pledge myself to maintain the paper anyhow.’ ‘The Brahmavadin is a jewel—it must not perish. Of course, such a paper has to be kept up by private help always, and we will do it.’ For the last 105 years, without missing a single issue, the magazine has been carrying the invigorating message of Vedanta with articles on spirituality, culture, philosophy, youth, personality development, science, holistic living, family and corporate values. Over the years, production and publication costs have gone up manifold. A non-commercial magazine like this can continue its good work only with the generous financial support and active assistance of well-wishers. Hence, we appeal to our readers and admirers of Swamiji to support us by donating to the following schemes:
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To be continued . . .
Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra
यस्यैव स्फुरणं सदात्मकमसत्कल्पार्थकं भासते साक्षात्तत्त्वमसीति वेदवचसा यो बोधयत्याश्रितान् । यत्साक्षात्करणाद्भवेन्न पुनरावृत्तिर्भवाम्भोनिधौ
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Verse 3
तस्मै श्रीगुरुमूर्तये नम इदं श्रीदक्षिणामूर्तये ॥ ३ ॥
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3. Obeisance to him, Śrī Dakṣiṇāmūrti, by whose brilliance, which is of the nature of existence1, (this world which is) similar to unreality2 shines, who is enlightening those who have taken refuge in him3 by the message of the Vedas4, viz. ‘Thou art verily That!’5, and by realising which6 there is no return to this ocean of transmigration.7 1) Sattā and sphuraṇa, same as ‘sat’ and ‘cit’, are not two different things but identical. 2) The word used in the hymn is asat-kalpa—‘that which is almost or as good as asat’. This is just to show that this world, which is a product of māyā, which itself is anirvacanīya or indescribable, is neither sat (real) nor asat (unreal) in the absolute sense. Since it is being perceived and experienced, it is not asat. Since it is constantly changing, gets destroyed, and is transcended in the state of spiritual realisation, it is not sat either. 3) According to all the schools of Hindu religious tradition, spiritual realisation can come only by the grace of the guru. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.14.2) says: आचार्यवान् पुरुषो वेद - ‘It is (only) the person who is blessed by a teacher who can know the (Truth).’ 4) The Upaniṣads. 5) Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.8.7) 6) It is to be realised as one’s own Self. 7) Self-knowledge destroys avidyā or nescience which was responsible for saṁsāra or transmigration. Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra with Manasollasa. Translated and Annotated by Swami Harshananda
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PA G E S P O N S O R : S R I V E N K ATA R A M A N A N T. , C H E N N A I
Sri Shankaracharya
Yugavani
March 2019
Prayer
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W
hat can a man achieve through mere scholarship? What is needed is prayer and spiritual discipline. Devotee: ‘Does God listen to our prayer for bhakti?’ Sri Ramakrishna: ‘Surely. I can assure you of that a hundred times. But the prayer must be genuine and earnest. Can you weep for Him with intense longing of heart? Men shed a jugful of tears for the sake of their children, for their wives, or for money. But who weeps for God? Devotee: ‘How can I take delight in God’s name?’ Sri Ramakrishna: ‘Pray to God with a yearning heart that you may take delight in His name. He will certainly fulfil your heart’s desire.’ Devotee: ‘Which one is the way—love or prayer?’ Sri Ramakrishna: ‘First love, and then prayer.’ Cry to your Mother Syama, with a real cry, O mind! And how can She hold Herself from you? How can Syama stay away? How can your Mother Kali hold Herself away? O mind, if you are in earnest, bring Her an offering Of bel-leaves and hibiscus flowers; Lay at Her feet your offering And with it mingle the fragrant sandal-paste of Love. God is our very own. We should say to Him: ‘O God, what is Thy nature? Reveal Thyself to me. Thou must show Thyself to me; for why else hast Thou created me?’ Some Sikh devotees once said to me, ‘God is full of compassion.’ I said: ‘But why should we call Him compassionate? He is our Creator. What is there to be wondered at if He is kind to us? Parents bring up their children. Do you call that an act of kindness? They must act that way.’ Therefore, we should force our demands on God. He is our Father and Mother, isn’t He? To my Divine Mother I prayed only for pure love. I offered flowers at Her Lotus Feet and prayed to Her: ‘Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy knowledge, here is Thy ignorance. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy purity, here is Thy impurity. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy dharma, here is Thy adharma. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee. I used to pray to Her in this way: ‘O Mother! O Blissful One! Reveal Thyself to me. Thou must!’ Again, I would say to Her: ‘O Lord of the lowly! O Lord of the universe! Surely I am not outside Thy universe. I am bereft of knowledge. I am without discipline. I have no devotion. I know nothing. Thou must be gracious and reveal Thyself to me.’ I used to cry for God all alone, with a longing heart. I used to weep, ‘O God, where art Thou?’ Weeping thus, I would lose all consciousness of the world. —Compiled from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna of the Heart
Teachers from schools and colleges in and around Boston often bring their students to the Vedanta Society on field trips. What occurs during such visits has now become for me a familiar routine. Typically I welcome the group, give them an introductory talk on Vedanta, answer their questions, tell them about the programs offered at the Ashrama, and give them a tour of the place. Sometimes, seeing a picture of Ramakrishna in the room and even before I have had a chance to tell them about him, a student might suddenly point his finger at the picture and ask, ‘Who is he?’ In my earlier years in Boston, this question was jarring to my ears and the fingerpointing was mildly irritating. The question and the gesture no longer irritate me, maybe because I am now older and hopefully more mature. I now feel that strangers are not the only ones who should be asking that question. I should be asking it as well. Students of Ramakrishna’s life and even his devotees may have to ask the same question: Who is he? Similar questions have been asked in the past. Going as far back as the Vedas, we find this question: ‘Who is this Being to whom
we make these offerings?’ (Rig-veda, 10.121). Questions like these helped the early spiritual seekers probe deeper into the nature of reality and discover the infinite Being seemingly hidden behind the finite material world. A devotee of Ramakrishna may want to ask: ‘Is the Ramakrishna that appears to me the real Ramakrishna?’ Every great teacher lives in two dimensions: the spiritual and the historical. The spiritual dimension is beyond time, the historical is within the domain of time. When we look at the Ramakrishna of history, it is possible to think of him in terms of the past and the present.
Ramakrishna of the Past Ramakrishna of the past is separated from us by both space and time. The only way to meet him is through books—and there are plenty of them, written and translated in most major languages of the world. The two foundational texts to meet Ramakrishna of the past are his biography written by his disciple Swami Saradananda and the record of his conversations kept by his disciple Mahendra Nath Gupta (better known as simply ‘M’). Reminiscences of Ramakrishna can be found also in the books written by and about his other disciples. Based on the information from all these books, movies and TV serials have been produced, songs have been written, and works
The author is the Minister-in-charge of Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston, USA, and a former editor of The Vedanta Kesari. tyagananda@gmail.com
March 2019
SWAMI TYAGANANDA
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PA G E S P O N S O R : S M T. G . K A M E S WA R I D E V I , H Y D E R A B A D
Artist: Sudhir Mirage
Guest Editorial
March 2019 The Vedanta Kesari
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of art have been created. All of these avenues make Ramakrishna of the past accessible to us. We know that Ramakrishna was born in 1836 and spent his childhood in Kamarpukur before moving to Kolkata and worshiping at the Kali Temple in Dakshineswar. We read about his intense spiritual yearning, his first vision of the Divine Mother, his spiritual practices under the guidance of teachers from various traditions, his mystical visions, his pilgrimage to Benares and Vrindaban, the arrival of his disciples, the formation of the spiritual community around him, and his passing in 1886. Ramakrishna’s profound teachings regarding the goal of life and how to attain it make us question our existing assumptions. His affirmation of the harmony of religions and the divinity of the human soul shakes us out of our unconscious biases and prejudices. Even a chance reading of a book about Ramakrishna has opened up for many amongst us a whole new way of understanding the world and our place in it. Ramakrishna of the past educates us, broadens our intellectual horizon, and strengthens our emotional well-being. Nevertheless, he is still a distant figure. We can think about him but we cannot see him. His conversations are captivating—we can read the words and but we cannot hear him. Even his words are now more than a hundred years old, spoken to a group of people about whom we know very little. They heard him there at that time—while we are left stranded here at this time. Even as we feel close to Ramakrishna, time and space keep him way beyond our reach. It’s a span that seems impossible to bridge unless a way can be found to bring the Ramakrishna of the past into the present. Luckily such a way exists. Ramakrishna of the Present Earnest students of Ramakrishna’s life have found a way to connect with him. Ramakrishna of the past effortlessly moves
into the present when we make an effort to live according to his teachings. To understand what he said is one thing, but to live according to that understanding is quite another. It is the ‘living’ of Ramakrishna’s teachings that brings him into the present. We experience deep inner peace and fulfillment when we practice his teachings about the primacy of God in life, the channeling of emotions in the direction of God, the harmony of religious paths, seeing God in all and serving them, and the value of not clinging to the constantly changing, crumbling material world. Memory belongs to the past, but experience always occurs in the present. When the effects of practicing Ramakrishna’s teachings are experienced, Ramakrishna of the past effortlessly moves into the present. His teachings are no longer simply words or ideas that emerge from them. His teachings become somehow more real—making him, in turn, a reality that is not as distant as it appeared earlier. M o d i f y i n g t h e way o f s t u dy i n g Ramakrishna’s books can also help us bridge the gap between the past and the present. When we read an account of his conversation in Dakshineswar, for instance, we can either see it as a historical narrative or a personal encounter. As a historical narrative, we are merely reading about what Ramakrishna told a group of people sitting around him more than a century ago. With some amount of creative imagination, it is possible for me the reader to insert myself in that crowd. This produces a radical change in how the scene unfolds. Ramakrishna is no longer in the past speaking to them; he magically moves into the present speaking to me! This kind of study is potentially more transformative than doing it the old-fashioned way. The power of Ramakrishna’s life and teachings becomes manifest not only in the lives of individuals but also through organizations that derive their inspiration
Ramakrishna of the Now Thinking of Ramakrishna is an enriching experience and sensing his power operating in the world and in one’s own life is even more rewarding. But nothing comes anywhere close to actually seeing him directly. The Ramakrishna of history cannot really be seen. The Ramakrishna of the past can be known, the Ramakrishna of the present can be sensed, but it is only the Ramakrishna of the heart who can be seen. The Ramakrishna of the heart belongs to the spiritual dimension and transcends both time and space. He is here always. He does not belong to the past, not even to the generic present. He belongs to the immediate present. He is the Ramakrishna of the now. To see the Ramakrishna of the heart, we have to obviously go to the heart. It is not
March 2019
the physiological heart that we go to. There is hardly any space in there to accommodate him. We don’t even go to the other heart which is the seat of emotions. It is true that Ramakrishna’s presence can become quite vivid in that heart, but it is far from stable. Emotions are like tides—they have their highs and their lows. They come and they go. They don’t have enough staying power. The Ramakrishna of the emotional heart plays hide and seek with us. To see Ramakrishna fully and permanently, we need to go to the spiritual heart, the heart which is the home of the Divine. Finding the spiritual heart can take time. The Upanishads speak of the spiritual heart as a cave, deep and inaccessible, where the spirit manifests in a special way. A pure heart and a persevering mind with infinite patience are the only companions that can guide the search for this cave of the heart. Once it is located, it becomes easier to find Ramakrishna there. This happens in the state of deep meditation. When we encounter Ramakrishna in meditation, we don’t think about him anymore, we simply see him. We are not even conscious of his power. When we are in his presence, he is all that remains in our consciousness. Even the idea that ‘I am seeing him’ is not present. The ‘I’ has to vacate the heart in order for Ramakrishna to be revealed. Time comes to a stop. Space is nowhere to be seen. With time and space gone, ‘seeing’ is all that remains. Ramakrishna of the past educates us, Ramakrishna of the present inspires us, but it is only the Ramakrishna of the heart who can free us forever from samsara, the seemingly unending cycle of birth and death. All the three Ramakrishnas are connected, usually in a chronological order. Ramakrishna of the past leads us to Ramakrishna of the present who, in turn, leads us to Ramakrishna of the heart. When that happens, the spiritual life of a Ramakrishna devotee reaches its culmination and fulfillment.
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from him. The enormous work being done through the worldwide branches of the Ramakrishna Order, for instance, is a standing testimony to Ramakrishna’s power active in a world which no longer has his physical presence. The sick are treated, the hunger are nourished, the grieving are consoled, the homeless are sheltered, and the lost are given a new hope—none of this is possible merely through an organizational structure unless it is animated with a higher power. The power of Ramakrishna operating in the contemporary world brings him from the past into the present. He is not gone, he still is. His power is with us and amongst us. While Ramakrishna’s power can be felt and its tangible effects perceived, Ramakrishna himself somehow still feels out of reach. His presence can be sensed but not seen. The faithful know that he is present, but it is their faith that makes that kind of knowledge possible. Ramakrishna of the present is closer to us than Ramakrishna of the past, but not close enough. In order to see him, he and I need to come even closer. Is that even possible?
Reminiscences
Reminiscences of Sargachhi SWAMI SUHITANANDA
Conversations with Swami Premeshananda (1884-1967) a disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. (Continued from previous issue. . .)
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Question: The infinite knowledge and infinite power that abide in me have taken the form of incarnation: of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Isn’t that so? Maharaj: Yes, Brahman without attributes has endowed Itself with attributes through maya. But do you perceive that you are that infinite power? Of course you don’t. You see that you are a human being – you also see the incarnation. Again, when you attain knowledge of Brahman, you see that you had never been, and similarly, incarnations too are untrue. But so long as you think you are this body, and then pray, He responds and helps you. The fact is that when we pray, our mental powers increase and we feel that there is somebody behind us; and this itself increases our capacity for self-effort. Hanuman Singh’s victory came about this way.1 Take the case of two students who are equally intelligent, hardworking, and have equal opportunities. One of them works hard throughout the year and then prays to God before the examination; –he will perform well in the exam. However, if the other boy who has not at all studied the whole year, calls upon God just before the exams, it will not help him to do well in the exam. If you don’t put to good use the power that you have up to the last dot, nothing comes out of prayer. Question: Often I have two ideas about the same thing, and I and don’t know which is good
and which is bad. What if I lean towards the bad path, reasoning that it is the better choice? Maharaj: In such a state of the mind you should chant the name of the Lord and pray to Him, saying, ‘You make me do whatever is right.’ By thus thinking of the divine, the mind becomes quiet and pure. Then it will be inclined to do the right thing. The sannyasins write on every occasion, ‘By the grace of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother’! A householder may also write like that. The President of the Order writes like that, too, but that is because he has to teach ten thousand disciples. Of course you can write that way in special cases. Suppose all of a sudden there is a good conjunction of circumstances.
1) Narrated by Sri Ramakrishna in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: ‘At one time two men were engaged to wrestle. One of them was Hanuman Singh and the other a Mussalman from the Punjab. The Mussalman was a strong, stout man. He had eaten lustily of butter and meat for fifteen days before the day of the wrestling match, and even on that day. All thought he would be the victor. Hanuman Singh, on the other hand, clad in a dirty cloth, had eaten sparingly for some days before the day of the match and devoted himself to repeating the holy name of Mahavir. On the day of the match he observed a complete fast. All thought that he would surely be defeated. But it was he who won, while the man who had feasted for fifteen days lost the fight.’ – Recording from 23 March 1884
Maharaj: The body fell as soon as his prarabdha was exhausted. See, I have been thinking of telling you something. At the time of serving me, you mentally do your ishta-mantra japa. I entreat Mother: ‘Mother, please look after those who serve me, whatever state they may be in.’ Serve me with desire. Say to Mother: ‘Mother! I am serving your son; please give me knowledge and devotion.’ If you serve me while consciously regarding me as Mother’s son, you will be thinking about Mother, and this will do you good. Serving me will be beneficial to you only if you serve me in this way—i.e., thinking of me as Mother’s son. Otherwise, what is the difference between me and a dog? Question: We have been thinking of making a journey to Jayrambati on foot. Is that a good idea? Maharaj: Certainly. Collect information about the route right from now. Which route will be convenient, which village will come after which, in which village you can stop for a night –collect all such details. (To be continued. . .)
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Swami Premeshananda
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Then a sannyasin can say that it is due to the grace of God. But to mention the grace of God in every sentence and at every step – how can you do that? Question: What was the relationship between Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda? Maharaj: Have you heard about kayavyuha? This is where a yogi simultaneously assumes multiple bodies to exhaust his prarabdha karma (the effects of earlier acts which have started materialising). For instance, in one body he becomes a yogi, in another a king, in still another he does japa. In the same way, Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swamiji are three bodies of the same entity. They are working in three ways through three bodies. Mother tells Saradanandaji, ‘Are Sri Ramakrishna and I different?’ When a disciple worships Swamiji, Baburam Maharaj tells Swamiji, ‘Are you and Sri Ramakrishna different?’ Mother has seen Sri Ramakrishna entering into Swamiji. This verily is the idea of a Trinity. Question: Why did Swamiji go to Pavhari Baba? Maharaj: Swamiji wanted to stay in the nirvikalpa state. But Sri Ramakrishna used to restrain him to a lower level. Pavhari Baba used to stay in samadhi for thirteen days at a stretch. This tempted Swamiji to go to him, [and be initiated by him]. But then, Swamiji had the vision of Sri Ramakrishna for twenty-one days [and he understood that his wish did not have the approval of Sri Ramakrishna; it also turned out that Pavhari Baba himself wanted to learn from Swamiji]. Later on he realised that Sri Ramakrishna is the greatest yogi. Finally, he found that Pavhari Baba himself wanted to extract divine knowledge from him. Question: Why did Trailanga Swami live up to the age of two hundred and fifty years?
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March 2019
Sri Ramakrishna Math
(A Branch of Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math) Puranattukara P.O., Thrissur-680 551, Kerala. Phone Office: 0487-2307719; 082817 82193; 095261 72929 E-mail: thrissur@rkmm.org; thrissur.publication@rkmm.org Web.: www.rkmthrissur.org Appeal for Financial Help for Constructing
‘Publication & Research Centre’
Swami Sadbhavananda Adhyaksha
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Namaste. ‘Sri Ramakrishna Math’ situated at Puranattukara near Thrissur city in Kerala is a branch of ‘Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission’. Established as early as 1927 with a Gurukulam (hostel) for educating the poor Harijan children of the locality, this branch of the Ramakrishna Movement has since been tirelessly serving the society in a number of areas including value education, healthcare, propagation of Dharma, publication of Vedantic texts and spiritual ministration. The Publication Dept. of this Math has published 300-odd books. By its unique service of decades, this Publishing House has contributed to the material and spiritual progress of the society. Although it has developed over the years, its infrastructure has not developed in line with the increase in the volume of work and the Dept. now works under spatial constraints. It is under these circumstances that we plan to build a 4-storeyed ‘Publication and Research Centre’, estimated to cost Rs. 6 crores. The new building will house the Publication Godown, Despatch Office, Publications Office (Books Section), Prabuddhakeralam Magazine Office, Public Library, Research Section, Living Rooms for Monks and Guests etc. So, we request our devotees and well-wishers to make generous contributions to realize this unique project. I am fully sure that this project will contribute greatly to the welfare of society for decades to come. We will be greatly thankful to you if you could contribute even partially. Your donations may be sent as DD/Cheque in the name of ‘Sri Ramakrishna Math’ or transferred to our bank account: A/c Name: SRI RAMAKRISHNA MATH; SB A/c Number: 6711843752; Bank Name: Kotak Mahindra Bank; Branch Name: Thrissur; IFS Code: KKBK0000596. All donations are exempt from income tax under section 80-G of the I.T. Act. Thanking you in anticipation, Yours sincerely and affectionately,
March 2019
at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Thrissur, Kerala.
Article
Just Read the Gospel
March 2019
SWAMI MEDHASANANDA
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Once Swami Brahmananda, one of the foremost disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, was visiting a remote place in Bengal. While he was waiting for a train at a station, among those who came to see him off was a young devotee and his sister. Suddenly the devotee said to Swami Brahmananda, ‘Maharaj, this is my sister, and she has not had a chance to meet you before. Will you please give her some advice?’ Brahmanandaji then told the girl, ‘My child, there is very little time now to give you detailed instructions; just read The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Whatever is necessary for your spiritual life and mental peace you will find in the Gospel.’
The Original Title of The Gospel written in Bengali The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in English was originally written in Bengali and titled Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. This Bengali title is very suggestive as it means ‘The Nectar-like-words of Sri Ramakrishna’. Nectar is an elixir, drinking which one becomes immortal. Similarly, by studying the words of Sri Ramakrishna, the celebrated mystic of modern India, one becomes immortal; of course not in the physical sense but in the spiritual sense. Such study will remove all sufferings, doubts, fears, and anxieties from which modern people often suffer. It will fortify them with courage, strength, and wisdom, and enable them to face the challenges of life successfully, and at the same time attain inner joy and peace.
The Method of Studying The Gospel The study of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna does not mean mere reading but understanding, remembering, and then putting those words of nectar into practice. Though the words of Sri Ramakrishna appear to be simple and easy to understand, they are deep and profound. This is a book which should not be read quickly and then tucked away after one reading. It should be studied slowly, thoughtfully, and repeatedly in the backdrop of one’s own life experiences, and then put into practice as far as possible. If studied in this way, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna will bring not only new light to our understanding of life every time we read it, it will also give us many practical hints on how to lead a life of values, both moral and spiritual, bringing into it a new understanding of the Self, of the world and of God. Thus, the study of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna becomes profitable as it transforms one’s life slowly but surely without one even being aware of it. Advent of Sri Ramakrishna in the Modern Age The teachings of great spiritual masters like Sri Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Mohammed have no doubt eternal values, but such masters were born in ages past, and since then societies have changed drastically. The obvious question is, how these teachings delivered in the context of the societies of their times can be practiced today. The
The author is a senior sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Order and the Monk-in-charge of The Vedanta Society of Japan. medhasananda@gmail.com
Scenario of Sri Ramakrishna’s Message ‘M’ not only recorded the dialogues of the Master faithfully, but also presented these dialogues in the backdrop of the time, the Master’s mood, persons around him, the natural surroundings such as the flow of the Ganga with its murmuring sound, the scents and colours of flower gardens, gentle breeze in the pine grove, or the sonorous sound of the temple bells –all of which create an ethereal atmosphere. The descriptions of the Master’s surroundings in The Gospel are so vivid and so lively that they help the readers to visualise the whole scene with the Master occupying the centre stage. ‘M’ later confided that he purposely gave all these details of the surroundings of Sri Ramakrishna, so that the devotees could later visualise him during their meditation, which would help them in their spiritual practice. While presenting the words of the Master, ‘M’ checked the temptation of focusing also on himself or trying to give any interpretation of Sri Ramakrishna’s words. Though he has made some suggestive comments in the form of questions, he has completely hidden himself in The Gospel, and focused only on Sri Ramakrishna; this fact impressed Swami Vivekananda and drew his appreciation. But ‘M’ did not hide the Master disapproving some of M’s ways of thinking and behaviour, or the Master ridiculing or chiding him severely whenever he faltered. When the Master criticized, from the highest standpoint of morality and spirituality, the actions of some prominent people of the day, ‘M’ courageously incorporated them in The Gospel without bothering how the admirers of those personalities would react.
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Authentic Record of The Gospel ‘M’, or Mahendra Nath Gupta the author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna [henceforth The Gospel] meticulously maintained diaries, a habit which he had developed over many years. In these diaries he recorded the outline of what he had seen and heard when he met the Master. The Gospel was written on the basis of these diary notes. Thus the unique feature of The Gospel is that for the first time in the history of hagiography the words of a spiritual master of the level of Jesus and Buddha have been faithfully recorded in his very lifetime, and also authenticated by others around the prophet. The Gospel is validated by Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, and other direct disciples of the Master who were constant companions of the Master and thus knew him well. The task of recording The Gospel for posterity seemed to be assigned to ‘M’ by Sri Ramakrishna himself, and the study of “M’s” biography shows that he prepared himself over a long period to be able to accomplish this great task successfully. This enabled ‘M’ to leave behind a huge treasure-house of spiritual gems in the form of The Gospel for the benefit of successive generations of spiritual aspirants and afflicted souls around the world. This immortalised
M even as by recording the Gospel of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John became immortal.
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answer can be found in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, as Sri Ramakrishna was born in the modern age and was aware of the various problems of modern life. He offers valuable and practical suggestions on life and on spiritual practices. Thus, devotees of religions other than Hinduism, and followers of prophets other than Sri Ramakrishna, also find the study of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna very beneficial. There are cases which show Christian devotees who had lost interest in the study of the Bible, having their faith in it restored and developing a better understanding of Jesus in the light of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
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Different Moods of Sri Ramakrishna Another feature of The Gospel is that unlike other books presenting the great teachers, it exhibits the different moods of Sri Ramakrishna. Sometimes he is seen conversing, explaining abstruse philosophy through stories, anecdotes, and examples from day to day life; or singing and dancing; or cutting jokes and making the listeners laugh with his mimicry. The next moment some suggestive holy words or songs draws him into deep communion with God through samadhi, and he becomes totally oblivious of his environs; a complete silence reigns then with all eyes fixed on him in sheer amazement. All this happens with such spontaneity that no one has any idea how it happens or when it may happen again. Not only in Dakshineswar, whenever Sri Ramakrishna visited other places in Calcutta, he would create the same ambience around him, making spirituality palpable and bliss overflowing, converting the place into a mart of joy. If The Gospel is read with deep absorption, one is suddenly transported into the congregation, listening to the Master intently, watching him in all of his moods, enjoying and finally being lost in him. This is the reason why the study of The Gospel never becomes boring. Sri Ramakrishna’s Constant God Consciousness Once some of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna including Swami Saradananda, Swami Shivananda and ‘M’ were asked what was the most important characteristic of Sri Ramakrishna’s personality. Their answer was – his God Consciousness from which he would not deviate for a single moment. Devotees find mention of Nirvikalpa and Savikalpa Samadhi only in scriptures, and of the Mahabhava in the Vaishnava literature. Having these highest types of spiritual experiences even once is the rarest of the rare happening even
for very spiritually advanced souls. What is really amazing is that even in the modern age of skepticism and materialism, The Gospel documents Sri Ramakrishna’s experiences of samadhi and bhava not just once or twice, but sometimes many times in a single day. This shows the exceptional spiritual heights of Sri Ramakrishna and also substantiates the truths about God contained in different scriptures of the world, for, his life was a living demonstration of various spiritual states and experiences mentioned in them. In Sri Ramakrishna Everyone is Fulfilled The Gospel notes that among Sri Ramakrishna’s listeners were all types of people: men and women, young and old, monks and house holders, the uneducated and the scholars, common men and celebrities, people of all professions, saints and sinners, materialists and agnostics, and devotees of different sects of Hinduism and of other religions. Most of them came with some lacuna and Sri Ramakrishna fulfilled them, made them whole as Jesus did to his devotees. Sri Ramakrishna accomplished this not by performing any miracles, but by his simple words loaded with spiritual wisdom. Sri Ramakrishna’s Characteristics as a Spiritual Master Sri Ramakrishna who was born a poor villager, had no formal education and was later employed as a temple priest with no charisma. Then what was it that drew so many people to Sri Ramakrishna and filled them with joy, peace, and hope? It was Sri Ramakrishna’s realisation of the supreme Reality through different paths; it was a realisation that even surpassed the spiritual experiences of the sages documented in the scriptures. He was familiar with every aspect of these spiritual paths and could easily identify the problems confronted by spiritual seekers of all types and
Sri Ramakrishna: An Incarnation of God Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual message, though delivered in a particular frame of time and place are eternal, they are as vast as the sky and as deep as any ocean; they combine both faith and rationality. They are individualistic, yet universal and harmonistic, simple yet profound. Nevertheless, the aforesaid qualities cannot completely explain the tremendous attraction of Sri Ramakrishna and his profound impact on his listeners unless a special manifestation of divinity, as was the case with Krishna, Buddha or Jesus, is also recognised in Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna was not only a sage or a celebrated spiritual master, he was one of the incarnations of God, whose birth and death are not bound by the laws of karma, and who takes birth once in a while, out of deep compassion for the suffering humanity, to lead them on the path of joy, peace, wisdom,
Main Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna The following are the main teachings of Sri Ramakrishna which we often come across in The Gospel: v Realisation of the Self or God, which is basically the same, is the goal of life. v Supreme bliss and wisdom is impossible without such a realisation, because God/Atman is the only source of such bliss and wisdom. v For such realisation one needs attachment to God and detachment from worldly things; unless one gives up lesser, temporary things, one cannot get higher and eternal things. v Though self-effort is very important for spiritual realisation, finally, it depends on the grace of God. v While for monks both inner and outer renunciation is necessary, for householders inner or mental renunciation, or giving up attachment to the world is required. v To achieve detachment one needs to practice discrimination between the eternal and the non-eternal. v It is not enough to read or hear about God, one must do spiritual practices regularly and sincerely and with sincere yearning for God. v God is limitless; we should not limit Him. v As many faiths so many paths. v Each should wholeheartedly follow his/ her own religion, and respect the religions of others.
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and freedom. Moreover, the impact of Sri Ramakrishna is being felt now not only in the spiritual field but also in the contemporary society and culture. Consequently, The Gospel which records Sri Ramakrishna’s various spiritual moods and instructions, is now ranked in the same category as the Vedas, Bible and Koran.
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give effective solutions for them. Practitioners of various religious paths also found the fullest manifestations of their respective ideals in Sri Ramakrishna. His ability to harmonise apparently conflicting philosophical ideas and religious practices, his catholicity, deep compassion for the afflicted, positive attitude, keen observations, special skill in driving home a point using examples with appropriate gestures, his deep understanding of human nature, and instructing each devotee according to his background, were the aspects behind his successful spiritual ministration. Again his utmost simplicity, childlike nature, complete ego-less-ness, extreme renunciation, purity, truthfulness, love of fun, sweet voice, charming singing and dance along with the sweetest smile that no photograph could capture, made him a unique and attractive teacher. He was, indeed, all sweetness and also an embodiment of pure joy which he would distribute freely among his visitors.
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v The two important practices for householders are occasional solitary living for practicing spiritual disciplines, and holy company. v God incarnates as a human being to show people the path of eternal joy and wisdom and liberate them. v These are the four paths of realisation: Jnana (Knowledge) Karma (Selfless Work), Bhakti (Devotion) and Yoga (Meditation). And the fifth path is the harmonisation of all those Yogas. One should follow these paths according to one’s ability and aptitude.
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Some Common Criticisms Repetitions in the Gospel One common criticism against The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is that there are too many repetitions in it. Could that not have been avoided to make reading smoother? When this issue was raised before ‘M’, he justified it saying that if some of the Master’s words were omitted to avoid repetition, it would have affected the flow of his dialogue. Secondly, the same utterances assume different meanings when made to different people or groups in differing contexts. Furthermore, spiritual truths are so subtle and so very contrary to our common experiences that they require repeated explanation. Also, as our attachment to worldly things and hankering for sense enjoyments are very strong and deep, and consequently, our motivation for spiritual practices is very minimal, listening to repeated words of spiritual wisdom is absolutely necessary for most of us; it will reduce the powerful worldly samskaras deep within us, and form new spiritual samskaras. Woman and Gold One often comes across in The Gospel references to ‘woman and gold’ – kaminikanchana in the original Bengali. It actually means ‘lust and greed’ about which Sri
Ramakrishna was very critical and wanted his devotees to shun. This might baffle those who are reading The Gospel for the first time. Are women really so bad? If not, why was the Master so critical of women? Did he abhor them and instruct others to do so, too? No, it is far from it. First of all, it should be remembered that Sri Ramakrishna had a deep respect for women: his chosen deity was a Goddess; one of his spiritual teachers was a woman; he treated his wife with love and respect and once literally worshipped her; and he always received with honour women who came to meet him. In fact, he looked upon all women, irrespective of their age or character, as the living embodiments of the Divine Mother. Secondly, his frequent advice to be careful about the company one keeps was given to spiritual seekers who were to practice purity of body and mind as the foundation of their spiritual lives. Sri Ramakrishna, like other spiritual masters of the world, firmly believed that indiscriminate mixing with people of the opposite sex would be detrimental to a devotee’s practice of purity, and thus affect one’s spiritual life. Thirdly, ‘M’ recorded in The Gospel, with a few exceptions, only those sessions with Sri Ramakrishna in which men were present. As per the social customs of that time, women did not mingle with men at gatherings. Hence we find Sri Ramakrishna advising men to avoid the company of women for the reasons stated above until their spiritual lives had matured. Similarly, when women devotees met Sri Ramakrishna separately, he would also caution them about the company of men; this has been testified to by the reminiscences of the Master’s lady devotees. Impact of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna As regards the impact of The Gospel, it is too early to make any definite assessment because it has been only a little more than
Sri Ramakrishna singing and dancing Artist: P. Purushothama Karanth, Mangaluru
one hundred years since its first publication in Bengali. But even within this short period it is being observed that thousands of people around the world, irrespective of faith, are
Auxiliaries to the Study of The Gospel However, for a better understanding of Sri Ramakrishna and his utterances in a broader perspective, in addition to the study of The Gospel one should also read The Life of Sri Ramakrishna written by Swami Saradananda which explains the unique life and teachings of the Master, and the works of Swami Vivekananda which throws light on how the Master’s teachings can be put into practice in both one’s individual life and in social life in this modern age. Without this additional reading one may not understand the profundity of Sri Ramakrishna’s message in The Gospel, nor can one understand the rationale of such messages and how the teachings can be practiced.
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getting solace and peace from The Gospel. They discover new meaning of life and find the right direction when they get confused and lose their way along the path. They find important hints from The Gospel on how to lead an ideal householders’ life and invaluable advice on how to grow spiritually. There are also many who, upon reading The Gospel, have been dedicating their lives to the sole purpose of God Realisation and service to humanity, renouncing hearth and home. Thus, The Gospel has been evidenced to be an active and transforming force in the lives of multitudes of people, the number of whom is steadily growing with the passage of time.
Article
Saiva Religion and Philosophy: A Glimpse DR. R. GOPALAKRISHNAN
March 2019
Kapalishwarar Temple, Mylapore, Chennai
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M o d e r n i t y h a s b ro u g h t w i t h i t tremendous restlessness and sufferings. This article attempts to draw attention as to how these ordeals can be overcome through the teachings of the Saiva religion and philosophy, especially of the Tamil origin called Saiva Siddhanta. The twelve Thirumuraigal—the canonical literature of Saiva Siddhanta deal with the devotional outpourings of the saints and they implicitly or explicitly refer to Siva the Lord, human nature and the pernicious nature of the world. The saints with their philosophical bent of mind, and firm devotion to Lord Shiva uniformly declare that human life is noble and should be deeply respected for it gives us the opportunity to work out our salvation. It is a rare opportunity given by the gracious God to break out of the ordeals of the transmigratory existence and move towards His province. According to Saiva Siddhanta Lord Siva has neither name nor form. But is honoured with thousands of names, and He assumes innumerable forms to be adored by His devotees. He is called Pati, the Supreme Lord, who is not affected by Pasa, the three
impurities which actually cling fast to the Pasu or human soul. Besides the spiritual training and religious austerities, it is really Pati who rescues the qualified souls from becoming victims of the evil influence of the impurities. The soul or Pasu becomes the centrifugal element both in the states of bondage and release and hence the entire gamut of Saiva Religion and philosophy is seriously concerned with the soul. The existence of man is viewed from two perspectives: 1) Man in his tantalised condition, and 2) Man in his state of poise. The first state refers to the life of selfcentredness which is fully conditioned by the senses and the mind, and wherein man prefers material comforts and treats things having lower values as the summum bonum of life. Since man’s reason becomes the handmaid of his passions, he is tantalised between dualities like virtue and vice, good and bad, beauty and ugly, and clarity and confusion. This type of duality persists as long as man is under the sway of an assertive and possessive ego. This dark evil known as anavam or root evil,
The author is a retired professor of philosophy from University of Madras, and lives in Chennai. gopalki_rls@yahoo.com
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and the illustrious life of the Shaiva saints presents the different means for liberation. The moment the senses, and ‘I’ and ‘mine’ are annihilated, self-centred actions become God-centred, and mayai or craving for material pleasures will become like ‘eyes are opened but blind to the objects’. All the limbs of the body and the consciousness, when turned away from the ensnaring attractions of the world, are directed towards the adoration of the Lord in all sincerity as ordained in the scriptures. Sivagrayogin, who has written a number of books on Saiva Siddhanta, argues that ‘since the soul is eternal and pervasive, its attributes also must be eternal and pervasive. If we find that the soul’s intelligence manifests sometimes and not at other times, if we find it parviscient, these conditions must be due to an external factor; and that factor is anava.’2 To put it more precisely, the impurities obstruct the omniscience of the souls, limit their pervasiveness and make them prefer mundane enjoyment. The second state indicates a kind of unique experience wherein the aspirant enjoys the unalloyed bliss of the Lord and becomes a member in the spiritual commonwealth. He becomes overwhelmed with joy, is immersed in divine ecstasy and attains a state of tranquillity. As the impediments caused by the three impurities and the overpowering of the senses and the mind are curtailed, the soul easily enters into the region of Shiva, goes near the Lord, receives His manifested form and attains wisdom which will lead to a path of no return. The doctrinal expositions in Saivism explicitly elucidates the means by which one can overcome bondage and rest in rapture; these means are the path of true service, the path of absolute devotion, the path of meditation through yogic propensities, and the path of blissful wisdom. A sincere devotee of Lord Shiva is to seriously engage in devotion and systematically pursue the path of perfection.
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brings forth selfishness and converts karma and maya, which are originally beneficial to the soul, to become bondages. Unless egotism is erased, argues the Siddhantin, no emancipation is possible to the agonised souls. For, this root evil, called mula mala, deludes the pure souls by diverting them away from spiritual pursuits and making them forget the very purpose of taking birth. Thiruvunthiyar, a Saiva philosophical treatise, characteristically remarks: ‘The self, because of the impurities – anavam, karmam and mayai (maya)—is sterile, self-centred and world-centred. Instead of drinking the nectar of divine knowledge and love that is hidden in their very being, people drink the deluding toddy-like mayai; that is to say, they enjoy the objects of the phenomenal world provided by mayai.’1 The existence of anavam is established through a negative method. If there was no such thing called anavam, there would be nothing to obstruct the intelligence of the souls and they never would taste the hindrances caused by the bonds and would not be subjected to sorrows and births. They would revel for ever as infinite intelligence, and finitude would be unknown and unknowable to them. They would always exist similar to God as omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent beings. Selfishness and self-deception can be effaced only when we invoke the blessings of the Lord and are reverential towards the Lord and His devotees; according to Saiva Siddhanta there is not much difference between a staunch devotee and the Lord. The devotional poetry
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The eighth canto of Sivajnanabotham, a grand philosophical work by Meykandar, aptly illustrates that as a result of three kinds of religious austerities—cariyai, kiriyai and yogam—the primal indwelling intelligence of all souls (Isvara- Chit-Shakti) manifests as the spiritual preceptor to bring ashore the souls drowning in the whirlpool of worldly affairs. The prime Guru instructs the devout souls that they have been wandering in the company of the hunters like five senses and have forgotten their own brilliant state. The purified souls realize their stupendous position in the proximity of Shiva and at once detach themselves from the senses. In an inseparable union like the water absorbed by the red hot iron they reach the sacred feet of the gracious master and eternally enjoy His everlasting company. Again, in the Saivite tradition it is construed that Siva is known as always accompanied by His Shakti, His inseparable grace, like the sun and its rays. Shakti is the activating force in every soul which paves the way for perfection. Sri Manickavacakar in his famous Thiruvacakam points out the role of Siva’s grace in redeeming the souls from bondage:
picturesquely portrays the variety of forms assumed by Shiva out of His bounteous grace and includes them into His fold after causing them trials and tribulations. The devotees too acknowledge their indebtedness for the patronising attitude of Lord Siva in extending His grace and for an everlasting communion with delightful joyous enjoyment. Saiva Siddhanta maintains that Lord Shiva, the very embodiment of grace dwells in the hearttemple of those who contemplate on Him. Shiva, Pati, the formless Absolute enshrines in the temples as form-formless (linga) aspect and takes several forms to liberate His devotees. He stoops to conquer the fervent souls and succeeds in His earnest endeavour provided the saints concerned live up to the expectations of saintliness. The spiritually elevated people venerate fellow devotees and obey their commandments and hence they become the recipients of the grace of Shiva. According to Sivajnana Siddhiyar, ‘they love not God, who loves not His devotees; they love not others, neither do they themselves. What is good of talking about such senseless corpses? Leave off their company as their union will lead you again into births and deaths. Seek in love God’s true devotees, taking their wishes as commands, speak humbly, and With those that knew not right or good—men stand steadfast according to their gracious ignorant—I wandered directions, and worship and bow to them The First, the Primal Lord Himself three-fold and delight and dance.’4 The saints form pollution caused to cease; Even me He took as something worth—like dog in a spiritual federation in which equality, freedom, and fraternity, in true sense of the sumptuous litter born! It was thus the mother gave me grace; O Rapture! terms prevail. If these qualities are properly adhered to, then in the world-community Who so blest as I?3 level, no hatred will prevail. A true devotee of Shiva has to consider Saiva Siddhanta considers Shiva Him as the master, father, friend and preceptor and His ardent admirers on equal footing. to whom the devotee has to move like a In the fellowship of devotees only unstinted slave, son, friend and disciple. Here both and unswerving affection prevail and no divinity and humanity are fused together in resentments. A true Saiva devotee is a sacred establishing a harmonious sacred relationship. symbol of the living manifestation (mobile The Periyapuranam, a Saiva hagiology, (Continued on page 40...)
“
”
Pariprasna Q & A with Srimat Swami Tapasyananda (1904 to 1991), Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order.
Holy company Question: Scriptures inculcate that holy company (Satsanga) is necessary for the growth of one’s spiritual life. But then how is one to recognize a holy man? How are we to distinguish real holy men from spurious ones? Maharaj: It is true that holy company is the most important factor in the generation and strengthening of faith and devotion. It is also true that real holy men are very rare. The ideal of a holy man is described in the Bhagavata as follows: Wise men say that intense attachment of the mind to objects is bondage. But when such attachment is felt for holy men, it becomes an open gate to liberation. Holy men are persons endowed with equanimity in all ups and downs of life. They are full of mercy and friendliness to all. They are serene in temperament and they have no enemies. Their goodness is their ornament. They practise firm devotion characterized by the attitude of dependence on Me and Me alone. They consecrate all their actions to Me and they abandon all their relatives and clansmen for My sake. They hear of, and discourse on, My glories and attributes, which purify those who hear them. Those who are thus devoted to Me are never troubled by the various ills of life. Persons of the above description, who have abandoned worldly attachments, are holy men. By getting oneself attached to such persons, one overcomes attachments oneself.
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Question: On what does the efficacy of prayer depend? Is it not on the purity of one who prays? Maharaj: Purity may be an important factor. It is better to look upon cent per cent faith and intense longing as important factors too. It is also useful to combine prayer with austerities like fasting, observance of vows, worship etc. All these would perhaps add seriousness and concentration to the prayer. But it has to be understood that God is not exactly like an earthly father or patron in the matter of granting prayers. He is the judge of all, presiding over the Karmas of all beings. So, if our Karma is too adverse, the prayer may not be granted, as it may go against the moral law. So while it is legitimate for a devotee, who has intense faith in a Personal God, to pray to Him when he is in difficulty, he should not lose faith or take to disbelief if his prayer is not fulfilled.
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Approach the wise sages, offer reverential salutations, repeatedly ask proper questions, serve them and thus know the Truth. — Bhagavad Gita
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It is seen from the above that a Sadhu (holy man) is one who is full of benevolence and good will to all, who is not self-centred or self-aggrandizing, who is above all attachments, who is free from all restlessness and disappointments, who practises resignation to God, who is serene and who is always engaged in thinking of or speaking of the Lord and serving Him. One can measure men with this standard of holiness given by Bhagavata and form one’s own judgement. This is an ideal and, though we come across only very imperfect examples of it in actual life, it can none the less serve us as a touchstone. But what people ordinarily do is not to accept any such scriptural standard, but to follow standards based on one’s own preconceived notions. Often miracle-working, capacity for prediction, curing of diseases, etc., are taken as criteria for holiness. The possession of such powers only shows that the persons concerned have attained psychic development. Psychic power is just like any of the worldly powers we are aware of—muscular power, financial power, intellectual power etc. Real holy men, even if they possess such powers as a side effect of their Sadhana, never use them, much less display them. It is said that though Sri Ramakrishna possessed Ashtasiddhis (eightfold powers), he eschewed them as spiritually very abhorrent, and never used them. He went about as a common man from the point of view of psychic powers, but lived the life of true holiness as depicted in the Bhagavata verses quoted above. So power-seekers never went to him, but God-seekers and devotion-seekers gathered round him, and they got what they wanted.
Self-surrender Question: What should be the attitude of one who wants to surrender oneself completely to the Lord but is frustrated and hurt by sufferings in the world? Maharaj: Sometimes it is in the grip of intense sufferings that man learns the discipline of surrender to God. So in the Gita the Bhagavan includes ‘one distressed by sufferings’ among the types of people who seek Him. There have therefore been devotees who have considered severe ailments, bereavements and tragedies of life, as their Guru; for these experiences have made them turn Godward. It is true that physical and mental distress agitates the mind and distracts it from concentration and resignation. But it must also be noted that the success and joy of achievement cause mental agitation of another kind, the effect of which on concentration and resignation is not in any way different. So all that can be said is that undeterred by all these we must earnestly engage ourselves in spiritual practice with intense longing for Him welling up in our heart. Undeterred by failures, we must constantly pray to Him to give us strength to throw ourselves entirely at His feet without depending on anything else. Selections from Spiritual Quest: Questions & Answers by Swami Tapasyananda
PULLOUT FOR REFERENCE
Series 4: Swami Vivekananda's messages to the youth of India – a nine-part series Issue 15 issue 10
ISSUE 13: MESSAGE 1: It
is the youth who will transform
this nation ISSUE 14: MESSAGE 2: Take
IN THIS ISSUE:
ISSUE 15: MESSAGE 3: Stand
Message 3
on your own feet
ISSUE 16: MESSAGE 4: Awaken
Stand on your own feet
the spirit of ‘rajas’ within
you ISSUE 17: in yourself
ISSUE 18: MESSAGE 6: Be
This is the third of the 9-part series on Swami Vivekananda's message to the youth (refer series schedule on the right).
bold and fearless
ISSUE 19: MESSAGE 7: Expand
your heart
ISSUE 20: MESSAGE 8: Be
In this issue, we explore what it means to stand on one's own feet and how we can become entrepreneurs in our own right.
open to learning from anyone
ISSUE 21: MESSAGE 9: Develop
a gigantic will
“ Do not care for
anybody to help you - Swami Vivekananda CW:V:57.1
Designed & developed by
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March 2019
MESSAGE 5: Believe
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up an ideal and give your
whole life to it
Exploring Swami Vivekananda's vision: Six key principles for "standing on one's own feet" PRINCIPLE 1:
Your power does not come from your degree or position, but from within you CASE EXAMPLE
March 2019
“Within you
lies indomitable power. Only thinking, “I am nothing, I am nothing”, you have become powerless. [CW:VII:144.5]
Seeing his popularity, one of his customers decided to invest and set up a tea-stall in partnership with him. But when the tea-stall started making profits, the investor threw him out of the partnership. At this point, Ganapathy did not give up. He realized that his success did not come due to the money provided by the investor, but due to his own inner power. He set himself to do several things - opened his own tea stall, learnt how to make & sell 'idlis' and 'dosas' through trial & error, found the right spot to sell it, and so on. His dosas were a hit! Encouraged, he set up "Dosa Plaza". Though business was tough, his vision to grow and expand by providing better offerings & better customer service led him onward. Soon, he got a chance to set up outlets in malls. Today he has 26 outlets with over 150 employees and a turnover of 5 crores.
28 The Vedanta Kesari
Prem Ganapathy started out as a teaboy and dishwasher in Mumbai. He soon became very popular with customers.
PRINCIPLE 2:
Don't be a job-seeker; be an opportunity creator CASE EXAMPLE
Dilfaroze Qazi completed her Master’s in Education as well as got a degree in Law from the Kashmir University. Unable to land into a government job, she decided to start her own venture to earn a livelihood. From her rented house in Rajbagh area of Srinagar, she started her journey with vocational courses for women in 1988. She taught girls cutting, cooking, stitching and shorthand. Eventually, she set up the SSM College of Engineering, the first private engineering college in all of Kashmir. What started as a livelihood turned into a life-changing journey. Extreme militant situations didn't deter her resolve, and today she is an avid human rights activist. She has also been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.
“Even after learning so
much, you go about the doors of others, crying, “Give me employment”. Trampled under others’ feet doing slavery for others, are you men any more? [CW:VII:144-45]
PRINCIPLE 3:
Leverage the resources you already have CASE EXAMPLE
[CW:VII:145.1]
When visiting factories and companies for selling produce from his family farm, Shrikrishna realized that the middlemen and retailers were earning way more than the farmers, who were struggling to pay their debts because they were not wellequipped with marketing skills. Despite being busy with his CA articleship, he took up this problem as a research project to find a solution to this problem. He concluded that several farmers had value adding produce like squash, honey, etc., but didn’t realize the kind of market potential that they had. After speaking to various farmers and agricultural experts, he started ConnectFarmer – an online market place which helps farmers make their produce market-ready and sell it on the website. Not only are they able to remove the involvement of middlemen, but also get the price their produce deserves. PRINCIPLE 4:
Become innovators and create new types of value CASE EXAMPLE
Mansukbhai Prajapati from Rajkot, Gujarat began as a simple potter. While working at Jagdamba Potteries and learning the ropes of the trade, a business idea sparked in his mind. He decided to start an earthen plate manufacturing factory by deploying a tile press rather than the traditional potter’s wheel. He quit his job, borrowed 30,000 from a moneylender and bought a small piece of land to set up a workshop at Wankaner. His first innovation was a terracotta filter with a ceramic candle that bagged him an order worth Rs. 1 lakh. In the aftermath of the massive Gujarat earthquake of 2001, he decided to build a refrigerator from clay. It took him four years to get the combination right, and in 2005 he was credited for a ground-breaking green innovation "Mitticool", a refrigerator that runs without electricity. In 2010, he found himself on the Forbes’ list of Top 7 Rural Entrepreneurs. His company, 'Mitticool' has now spread to more than 63 cities in India.
“Modern education
has changed your fashion, but new avenues of wealth lie yet undiscovered for want of the inventive genius [CW:VII: 148.2]
March 2019
countries are turning out such golden results from the raw materials produced in your country, and you, like asses of burden, are only carrying their load
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“People of foreign
Shrikrishna Hegde Ullane, is the Founder of "Connect Farmer" connecting rural farmers to the urban dweller.
PRINCIPLE 5:
Think Global CASE EXAMPLE
BKS Iyengar is one of the foremost yoga teachers responsible for popularizing yoga abroad. Beginning as an obscure yoga teacher in India, his career trajectory changed when he took yoga abroad.
March 2019
As Iyengar advanced in yoga himself, the belief grew in him that yoga could be of benefit to all. One of his students suggested that Iyengar give yoga lessons in Europe and United States where he would find an accepting audience. Thus began 36-year old Iyengar's journey of giving yoga lecturedemonstrations on foreign land. As he saw the thirst of Westerners for yoga, he started systematizing his methods of teaching and gifted the world what is known as "Iyengar Yoga'.
“Take Indian cloth, towels,
bamboo-work, and other indigenous products, and peddle in the streets of Europe and America; you will find how greatly Indian products are appreciated in foreign markets even now [CW:VII.145.3]
Now there are hundreds of Iyengar Yoga Centers across the world. PRINCIPLE 6:
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Leverage your intelligence & thinking, and use the latest science CASE EXAMPLE
“With the help of
Western science set yourselves to dig the earth and produce foodstuffs – not by means of mean servitude of others – but by discovering new avenues to production, by your own exertions aided by Western science. [CW:VII.183.1]
Dr. Reddy was inspired by Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon. He realized that man can achieve anything in the world of science, if he is not scared or hesitant to try. “This changed my life forever. That’s when I started dreaming of creating my own pharmaceutical company that would one day stand proud and tall.”
He decided to manufacture rare drugs, which no Indian company had tried before. E.g. He re-made an expensive foreign drug at a lower cost and of same quality, making it affordable for Indians. “I always wanted to start something where others had felt there was a barrier to tackle”. While other companies only manufactured drugs already invented, Dr. Reddy worked on discovering new drugs. Today DRL is one of the major companies in the global pharmaceutical industry. DRL’s new drugs (medicines) are bought by other companies across the world.
Share examples of your experiences of trying out these practices, on
www.vivekanandaway.org Any questions that come up in your mind while doing so, can also be discussed here.
Article
Two Poets: Hafiz and Vivekananda ‘Hafiz has no peer.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American Transcendentalist writing about Hafiz says: ‘He fears nothing. He sees too far, he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to see or be.’ He calls Hafiz ‘a poet for poets’. After Emerson’s 1858 Atlantic monthly article, ‘Persian Poetry’, it was no longer intellectually respectable to be wholly ignorant of Hafiz. Emerson’s first volume of poems (1847) included two translations from Hafiz, one of them excerpted from his longest poem, the ‘Saqi-nama’. Hafiz‘s poems were also admired by such diverse personalities like Nietzsche and Arthur Conan Doyle; Doyle’s wonderful character Sherlock Holmes quotes Hafiz. Even Queen Victoria was said to have consulted Hafiz in times of need – which has been a custom in the Middle East for centuries. The Fal-e Hafiz, is an ancient tradition in which a reader asks Hafiz for advice when facing a difficulty or at an important juncture in life – treating his books as an oracle and opening them with a deep wish from the soul for guidance. The Poems of Hafiz Hafiz was a rare master of ‘utility of light’ or ‘the Sun’, and ‘the utility of art’. His poetry has the ability to comfort, enliven and enrich those in need. Perhaps one of the greatest attributes and values of art is to capture a person’s attention, for when beauty does that, the witness always benefits. As Hafiz says:
The author is a teacher at Madhyamgram APC Vidyayatan (H.S) and is associated with Ramakrishna Math, Barasat. sumanapc1980@gmail.com
March 2019
An Exclusive Meeting The year was 1888 and Swami Vivekananda was travelling towards Hrishikesh. On the way he got down at Hathras Station whose station master was Saratchandra Gupta. Swamiji’s bright eyes and happy countenance attracted Gupta. He approached Swamiji and asked ‘Well Babaji, why are you sitting here? Won’t you go further?’ Swamiji answered, ‘Yes, surely I will go.’ Gupta came closer and said, ‘Babaji, would you like to have a smoke?’ In a detached way Swamiji replied, ‘Yes, if you offer me one.’ Gupta then requested with folded hands, ‘Maharaj, you seem to be hungry. Please come to my home. I stay there alone.’ Without spending another word Swamiji accepted his invitation. Reaching his home Swamiji asked, ‘Well, how are you going to entertain your guest?’ In reply the host recited some lines from Hafiz. ‘O my Beloved, you have come to my house. I shall prepare the most delicious dish for you with my heart’s blood.’ This selfless surrender of Gupta expressed in Hafiz’s words immediately won the heart of Swami Vivekananda; Gupta soon became the first monastic disciple of Swamiji. Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz (C. 13201389) a Persian poet, considered by many as a literary wonder and the epitome of Persian literature has had a pervasive influence on mankind. His strong influence is seen even on some of the great minds of the West. Goethe declares,
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SUMAN BHATTACHARYYA
“
The Mountain’s face lifted me higher than itself. A song’s wink aligned me with joy And a tune paradise hums I came to know The forest letting me walk amongst its naked limbs, had me on my knees again in silence Shouting – yes, yes my holy friend, let your splendour devour me.
Every single line of Hafiz tries to light a candle in our heart, and support our perennial need to have fun, laugh and dance, ‘to lift the corners of your mouth’. Again, he writes:
Once a young woman came to Hafiz and said, ‘What is the sign of someone knowing God?’ Hafiz stood in silence for nearly a minute, then lovingly looking deep into the young woman’s eye, softly asked, ‘My dear, they have dropped the knife. The person who knows God has dropped the cruel knife most so often used upon their tender self – and others.’
”
Hafiz and Narendranath Datta Narendranath Datta (later Swami Vivekananda) was introduced to Hafiz by his father Biswanath Datta, who was a linguist and knew Persian and Arabic. If your knees have not buckled in ecstasy while Biswanath took great delight in reciting Dewan–i–Hafiz. Hafiz, who ‘drew a circle standing when a veil parts. If a cherished tear of gratitude has not sung in the ground and remained within that circle for forty days,’ 1 determined to leaping from your eye. If anything your palm does touch cannot help become Awakened, attracted the young God-seeking Narendranath. After his reveal the Beloved. My words are full of golden secrets that are not awakening, for ‘the next nine years until his death, Hafiz wrote more than half of too hard to crack and his total body of poetic work (these are Will remedy one hundred fears and ills. the poems which are considered to be the true core of his teaching) and taught Many of Hafiz’s poems are precisely students of his own as a Sufi Master.’2 about unfettering the senses and refining the Narendranath’s sensitive mind is sure to have will, so that we do more ‘wine–tasting of the soaked in the multiple dimensions and depths sky’, and more tenderly holding – in thought of Hafiz’s poems. or with arms – the things we most love and know as precious nourishment. Jason Espada Two poems in his Introduction to Daniel Ladinsky’s It is interesting to read Swami Selection of translations of Hafiz’s poems, Vivekananda’s poem ‘The Cup’ alongside Hafiz’s declares that Hafiz’s ‘poetry outlines the stages ‘Pass Around the Cups Fair Maiden’. of the mystic’s “path of love”; that journey of inner unfolding in which love dissolves Pass Around the Cup Fair Maiden personal boundaries and limitations to join Pass around the cup fair maiden, l a r g e r p ro c e s s e s o f g ro w t h a n d Because Love seemed easy at first, transformations. Through these processes But now I see how difficult it is. human love becomes divine love and the The hearts of Lovers bleed, lover merges ultimately with the source And will be doomed to break, and goal of all love, which Hafiz calls the When the scent of the Beloved blows away Divine Beloved.’ in the wind.
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”
“
Hafiz
disciple to ‘soak his prayer rug red with wine.’ Those who are still on the shore and have not yet jumped into the sea, have not known its
Swami Vivekananda: The Poet As noted by his friends and peers, Swami Vivekananda had a poetic temperament and his poems, concurring with Mathew Arnold’s idea of true poetry, were conceived and composed in his soul. He was a spiritual dynamo who perceived the divinity around him. At the same time, he was acutely aware of the exultations and the tribulations of a human life. He has his own unique sense of mysticism, which sets him apart from other poets. He was a prophet and his poetic attempt to capture in words the ethereal flashes give his verses a majestic force. These poems are also a window to the struggles, hopes, and joys of this hero who yoked a life of renunciation with public service. The biography of Swamiji states: ‘Poetry, because it is the language of ideals, made a strong appeal to Naren. Wordsworth was the fixed star of his poetic firmament. He lived in a world of ideals, where history and philosophy, poetry and all the sciences, are recognized as phases of Reality. He possessed a prophetic vision of learning, wherein thought was seen as subservient to the real purpose of life, ideas and ideals being the fuel which the soul burned in its supreme effort to go beyond intellect, beyond thought.’’3 Mrs. Funke, one of Swami Vivekananda’s followers, recalls, ‘A bird, a flower, a butterfly,
March 2019
In the first part of the poem Hafiz clearly states that the love which once had seemed to be very ‘easy’, now appears quite difficult. So he doesn’t want to enjoy ‘wine’ from the cup of love anymore. Like the Buddha, the illumined soul, he realizes that lovers have to bleed a lot, ‘falling upon the thorns of life’. The Master demands more and more. He wants the
waves and risks, do not understand ‘the dark nights and storms’ a real practitioner has to go through in his spiritual journey. It reminds us that the path which leads to spiritual enlightenment is not at all smooth. But however tiring the journey, ultimately Hafiz discovers the ‘secret’ which was surprisingly hidden in street corners. So now an enlightened soul himself, he advises his friend to suffer the darkness with courage because that can only bring one at the feet of light.
33 The Vedanta Kesari
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PA G E S P O N S O R : G R E E N M E S G . O R G , C H E N N A I
How can the traveller stay safe When the clarion calls its sound of parting? The Master tells us: ‘Soak your prayer rug red with wine, my friend.’ Those who are still on the shore Feel they have peace of mind, They don’t know our storms and dark nights. But at last, I find the Secret, Hidden in street corners, Revealed before me. Hafiz, enjoy her Love And instruct her, ‘Suffer the darkness for the sake of the light.’
will start him off, and he will tell us stories from the Vedas or recite Indian poetry. I recall one poem started with the line “Her eyes are like the black bee on lotus”. He considered most of our (American) poetry to be obvious, banal, without the delicacy of that of his own country.’ His poems are vibrant and rhythmic and exude dynamism. R. C. Majumdar writes about Swamiji, ‘Some of his English poems have reached a sublimity of no mean order. The best and most famous of them is Kali The Mother’.4
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The Cup This is your cup-the cup assigned to you from the beginning. Nay, My child, I know how much of that dark drink is your own brew Of fault and passion, ages long ago, In the deep years of yesterday, I know. This is your road – a painful road and drear. I made the stones that never give you rest. I set your friend in pleasant ways and clear, And he shall come like you, unto My breast. But you, My child, must travel here. This is your task. It has no joy nor grace, But it is not meant for any other hand, And in My universe hath measured place, Take it. I do not bid you understand. I bid you close your eyes to see My face.
The poem appears fatalistic in that it says each person is allotted a ‘cup’ of dark brew that he alone must drink. Here the ‘cup’ and the ‘dark drink’ refer to fate and destiny, which is the result of the person’s own actions. Like the Buddha, Swami Vivekananda realizes that life is full of sorrow and declares the road to be
Swami Vivekananda
painful and drear. Hafiz, we have already seen had his ‘storms and dark nights’. Swamiji’s God doesn’t hesitate to declare that ‘you’ have to go through this arduous path to reach Him, whereas others might be blessed with smooth serene ways of life. In Swamiji, one has no option but to accept the cup of life full of bitterness and poison. There’s no question of understanding it. The unknowing understanding would rather reveal His true identity before the seeker. Just a selfless, complete surrender is what Swamiji’s God expects from us. Hafiz too advises us in his poem to suffer the darkness for the sake of the light definitely following it. In both the poems, struggle and suffering is a common thing that a seeker has to bear throughout his life and the more sincerely he resigns to the Will of the Lord, the deeper is his vision and enlightenment.
”
References 1) Gates of Wisdom: The poems of Hafiz (A New Interpretation). Swami Anand Nisarg
2) Ibid. 3) The Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples. 1:105 4) Swami Vivekananda: A Historical Review R.C. Majumdar
Article
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda in ‘The Land of Five Rivers’
An Overview of Ramakrishna Movement in Punjab and Haryana SWAMI ATMASHRADDHANANDA
March 2019
Ramakrishna Mission Centres in the Punjab Region Ramakrishna Mission was founded in 1897 by Swami Vivekananda and ever since it has been carrying on its activities according to the twofold ideal which Swamiji placed before it: atmano mokshartham Jagad hitaya cha, ‘For one’s own liberation and for the welfare of others.’ Service and spirituality is the main motto. The Math and Mission together have nearly 200 centres—150 across India and others in Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Germany, United States of America and some other countries. While discussing the Ramakrishna Movement in Punjab and Haryana, it is contextually necessary to know how the movement came into existence in these provinces. We have already stated the visits of Swami Vivekananda and some of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna to Undivided Punjab. Relief Work in 1947-48: In the wake of the massive migration from the just-formed Pakistan to India, a large number of Hindus and Sikhs were accommodated by the Government in a make-shift colony of tents in Kurukshetra in today’s Haryana. The Ramakrishna Mission started large-scale relief work for assuaging
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(Continued from the previous issue. . .)
their pain and helpless condition. The main requirement of the refugees which the Mission tried to address was the medical needs of refugees and supply of milk to them. A free milk canteen and two dispensaries were started under the supervision of monks and volunteers of the Ramakrishna Mission, a work that continued for months. The Mission also helped the Government of India in the distribution of clothes. Lady Mountbatten, who visited our
The author is the secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Kanpur. He gratefully acknowledges the valuable and timely help in various ways that he received from many monks, brahmacharis, devotees and volunteers in preparing this article. atmashraddha@gmail.com
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Camp, wrote a letter of appreciation for the Mission’s relief work.19
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The Lahore Centre As we survey and document the Ramakrishna Movement in Punjab and Haryana, we should remember that before partition of India in 1947, Lahore was the cultural and economic epicenter of the Undivided Punjab. The Ramakrishna Mission had a branch in Lahore for over ten years, but it was closed in 1947. Prior to Lahore centre, the Ramakrishna Mission opened a centre in Karachi which in fact had a greater influence on the local populace thanks to the head of the centre, Swami Ranganathananda, later the 13th President of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. The Karachi centre drew many eminent people of the city and became a flourishing place of preaching, service and pure living. In 1936 it celebrated the birth centenary of Sri Ramakrishna, with the main function presided over by Swami Madhavananda, later the 9th President of the Ramakrishna Order. Prior to the opening of the official centre in Lahore, a ‘private’ centre was started in 1916 by a group of devotees who conducted some medical services and discourses. In 1919, as a report in the Vedanta Kesari shows, they ‘celebrated the birth-day of Swami Vivekananda under the auspices of Ramakrishna Sevashram, Lahore, in the compound of Bhai Nand Gopal’s temple. … Swami Sevananda read out his report of the work of the local Ashrama for the year 1918. The report gave an idea of the good work done by the Ashrama which was established in Lahore on the 17th April 1916, for administering medicines to the sick, of helping the famished stomachs with food and provisions, and of relieving the distress caused by epidemics.’
T h e f i r s t o f f i c i a l c e n t re o f t h e Ramakrishna Mission, however, was opened in Lahore in 1936. At the request of some local devotees interested in the ideals and activities of the Ramakrishna Mission, the Governing Body of the Mission decided to open a branch at Lahore at the beginning of the year, and deputed Swami Adyananda for the purpose. The formal opening of the Centre took place on the 21 February 1939—the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna. There was Puja, Homa and Path (chanting of the scripture) at the rented house. In the evening a public meeting was held at the Sanatan Dharam College Hall. The Hon’ble Justice Mr. M. V. Bhide presided. There was a good gathering and prominent ladies and gentlemen attended. Swami Adyananda, Sir Gokul Chand Narang, Prof. S. N. Das Gupta, Principal T. N. Maulick, Dr. T. N. Sita Ram, Prof. Hiralal Chopra and Prof. Teja Singh addressed the meeting on the ideas, ideals and activities of the Mission in different parts of the world. The Ashrama was started in a rented house at 3A, Lodge Road, Lahore. To begin with it conducted classes and occasional lectures on Vedanta as lived and taught by Sri Ramakrishna. The local public gave an enthusiastic response to it. It was first located at 16/2, and later at 16/1, Lodge Road. It slowly began to conduct an outdoor dispensary, a Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Chandigarh
Bhava Prachar Work Besides the Chandigarh Ashrama, there are some other centres run by devotees through which the message of the Holy Trio is propagated among the interested people. This activity is known as ‘Bhava Prachar’. Bhava Prachar (‘spreading the spirit of message’), in the context of Ramakrishna Math and Mission’s activities, means spreading the spirit of the message of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda. Besides the official centres of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, there are a number of groups, ashramas and study circles run
March 2019
Ramakrishna Mission in Chandigarh While both the centres (Karachi and Lahore) had to be closed in the wake of the Partition of India and the subsequent violence and prevailing tense atmosphere, Ramakrishna Mission in Lahore was sought to be revived at the newly under-construction capital of Punjab, Chandigarh. Swami Adyananda, the monk who headed the Lahore Centre, shifted to India, carrying with him a number of books from the Ramakrishna Mission, Lahore. A good number of these books (with the stamp of ‘Ramakrishna Mission, Lahore’ on them) are even now part of the small public library maintained by Ramakrishna Mission in Chandigarh. Ramakrishna Mission in Chandigarh was started in November 1956 in a rented house in Sector-9C and then moved to Sector-16D. In 1955, the Punjab Government allotted a plot of about three acres of land to the Mission at a concessional price in the well-situated Madhya Marg in its Sector 15-B, in the cultural zone near colleges and Panjab University. Swami Adyananda raised funds for the construction of the Ashrama buildings. After his demise in September 1957, Swami Vedananda took over and the Centre was moved to another rented house near the plot in Sector-15 B to facilitate supervision of construction work. The Governor of Punjab, Shri C. P. N. Singh, laid the foundation of the Ashrama in 1957.
The next year, a small building was partly constructed and the Ashrama moved to its present premises. Later, additions were made to the building to accommodate a charitable homeopathic clinic and a free library. A hall was built where weekly Sunday Satsangs and other religious functions and lectures were held. Through the grant from the Central Rehabilitation Ministry, a building to house a Students’ Home was started with 18 students in 1960. It has now over 50 students. A new shrine and a meditation and a multipurpose hall was consecrated and commissioned in the Chandigarh Ashrama on 8 September 2018. The foundation for this building was laid in 1985 by Swami Gambhirananda, the 11 th President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. For various reasons including the inordinate delay in obtaining permission from Chandigarh administration owing to its stringent rules regarding the design and construction of buildings, it took more than 30 years for the building to come up. Being the only centre of the Ramakrishna Mission in Punjab-Haryana region, Chandigarh Ashrama plays a crucial role in spreading the message of RamakrishnaVivekananda in north-west India.
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library, religious classes and occasional lectures outside. The centre also collected and sent to the Headquarters over Rs. 6,000/- towards Bengal Distress Relief—which was quite a large amount in those days! But in August 1947, owing to the violent outbreak of communal disturbances in the city and the province immediately after the partition of the country, the Swami in-charge and his assistants had to quit the premises leaving everything behind. Thus the activities of the centre came to a close.
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independently by devotees in different parts of India and outside India. Called ‘private centres’ or ‘unaffiliated centres’, these groups follow to a great extent the ideals and principles of Ramakrishna Mission. Owing to these common features, the need to bring these non-affiliated centres closer to the main stream represented by Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, an apex body, known as the Bhava Prachar Committee, was formed at the Headquarters of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, in 1980. This Committee consists of senior monks of the Ramakrishna Order, with the General Secretary as its exofficio chairman and another senior monk as its Convener. Under the overall guidance of this Committee, coordinating committees of lay devotees, called Bhava Prachar Parishads, were formed. They provide liaison between the Bhava Prachar Committee, consisting of monks of the Order at the Belur Math, and the Nonaffiliated member Ashramas in a particular area. They have been given ten-point guidelines with regard to their functioning. In 2006 was formed Uttar Paschimanchal Ramakrishna Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishad (North-west Ramakrishna Vivekananda Bhava Prachar Parishad). Its first conference was held in October 2006 at Amritsar. Presently it has nine centres under its guidance— two in Punjab, five in Haryana, one each in Chandigarh and Jammu.20 These centres are duly registered bodies under the Registrar of Societies Act. In Punjab Ramakrishna Seva Samiti, Amritsar (227 km from Chandigarh): Started in 1993, it is the oldest of all the private centres in Punjab. The Samiti members conduct Puja and Satsang in different devotees’ places. They also organize sale of books (on Ramakrishna Vivekananda tradition) in different places in Amritsar.
Ramakrishna Vivekanand Seva Samiti, Patiala (73 km from Chandigarh): The Seva Samiti conducts medical check-up camps, provides financial help to the poor and needy and arranges talks on the message of Sri Ramakrishna-Vivekananda by the Ramakrishna Mission monks in schools and colleges. In Haryana St Vivekanand Millennium School, Pinjore (20 km from Chandigarh): Started in 2000, it is a senior secondary school with over 1000 students, promoting the ideal of ‘worship of God in man’ (shiva jnane, jiva seva). Vivekanand Manav Seva Society, Kalka (28 km from Chandigarh): Started in 1975, and registered in 1994, the Seva Society has over 200 members who regularly provide financial assistance to poor and needy patients and widows. Vivekanand Seva Samiti, Panchkula (4 km from Chandigarh): It organizes regular lectures by monks of the Ramakrishna Mission in and around Panchkula, and also helps the Chandigarh Ashrama in its medical camps. Ma Sarada Vidya Mandir, Basolan (6 km from Chandigarh): It focuses on physical, mental and intellectual development of children hailing from slums, lower-income households and villages, deprived of proper nutrition, medical care and education, where 60 children from surrounding brick kilns are given basic education and are taught higher values and good habits. Sri Ramakrishna Seva Samiti, Dubaldhan (283 km from Chandigarh): The Samiti organizes National Youth Day and other important anniversaries and distributes books published by Ramakrishna Mission to students. In Chandigarh Sri Ma Trust, Chandigarh: It is housed in its own building named ‘Kathamrita Peeth’ in Sector-19 in Chandigarh. The Trust is named
Swami Vivekananda Study Circle, Punjab Another significant contribution to the spread of the teachings of RamakrishnaVivekananda in Punjab is by Swami Vivekananda Study Circle (SVSC). A registered body of a group of devotees and admirers of Swamiji, though not under the umbrella of Bhava Prachar, it was started in 1994 in Ludhiana, an important town in Punjab. The Study Circle has the support and encouragement of the monks of the Ramakrishna Order.21
The Centre for Vivekananda Studies, Punjab University, Patiala It is an important activity of the Punjab University in Patiala. The Centre for Vivekananda Studies was started in 200102 with the help of the University Grants Commission with a purpose to ‘disseminate the knowledge about our great cultural heritage’. The Centre initiated various activities including holding lectures and seminars with a special focus on Swami Vivekananda ‘who was its luminary’. The Centre celebrates the National Youth Day every year and maintains a Counselling Cell that helps students to overcome their emotional and psychological problems. Conclusion As we attempt to chronicle the Ramakrishna Movement in Punjab and Haryana, we realize that this ancient land has been blessed by the visits of Swami Vivekananda and some of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Swamiji gave some of his well-known Indian lectures in Punjab. The Movement made its inception in Lahore (in Undivided Punjab) in 1936, and despite many political and social upheavals that came its way, it continues to spread the message the Holy Trio. The committed efforts of numerous monks, devotees and admirers in spreading the
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In Uddhampur district (in Jammu and Kashmir) Srimat Vivekanand Forum, Ghordi (a village, some 100 km from Jammu): Run by a group of youths, the Forum conducts a number of activities including skilldevelopment and spreading the message of Swami Vivekananda. As is evident from the above, the Bhava Prachar activity in Punjab and Haryana, as in also Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, has started albeit late—since the last three decades, but is progressing well. And considering the positive response of the people, it is set to gain momentum in days to come. In recent times, a number of devotees associated with these unaffiliated centres have received the mantra-diksha from the revered President or the Vice-presidents of the Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math, and have been trying to imbibe and practice the message of the Holy Trio in their lives.
SVSC has established ‘Vivekananda Shelves’ in more than 100 colleges and schools. Each Vivekananda Shelf consists of books on Swamiji’s life and teachings, costing about Rs. 2500. One of SVSC patrons runs Swami Vivekananda Sarvodya Sanskar Kendra for the children of rag-pickers at Bhucho Mandi. SVSC also conducts a ‘Faceto-Face with Professionals’ where ideas of Swamiji’s ‘man-making education’ are discussed with doctors, engineers and other professionals.
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after Mahendranath Gupta or ‘M’, the recorder of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Trust has brought out its own English and Hindi translations of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (in Bengali). It publishes and distributes 500 copies of its annual journal, Nupur. Celebration of birthdays of Swami Nityatmananda (its founder) and ‘M’ are its annual events.
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message of Man-making and Service deserve appreciation and encouragement. From the dawn of human civilisation, P u n jab a n d Ha rya na h ave a sh a red history of numerous political and social trials. They have faced countless challenges and crises and continue their march towards prosperity, nobility and individual and social fulfilment. Despite all the advancements in many fields, they have to deal with many issues such as poverty, moral degradation, drug abuse and emotional problems among the youth, as well as securitythreats from across the borders. They also have to wrestle with numerous cultural and emotional challenges that prosperity and the cross-cultural interactions of the Punjabis and
the Haryanavis living abroad have given rise to. The message of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda has much to offer in this context especially in understanding and practicing India’s timeless spirituality and wisdom in contemporary times. The Ramakrishna Mission in Chandigarh which just celebrated its Diamond Jubilee (60 years) with its new Prayer hall and Multipurpose Hall will surely attract greater number of people. May the unique and timeless message of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda spread further in Punjab and Haryana, along with Himachal Pradesh and Jammu-Kashmir, bringing greater peace, meaning and joy in the lives of the people! (Concluded)
References: 19) From the old records at the Headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math.
information provided by Shri Piyush Punj of Panchkula, a member of the Bhava Prachar Parishad. information provided by Shri CS Talwar, the founder-secretary of SVSC.
20) Based on the 21) Based on the
Saiva Religion and Philosophy: A Glimpse (Continued from page 24. . .) shrine) of Siva Himself (static shrine). Keeping this idea in mind as the criterion of livelihood, the saints deliberately abandon communal temperaments and adhere to the path of selfless service and sacrifice which attitude will pave the way for mutual integration and human solidarity. Saiva Siddhanta lays stress on the necessity of living in the company of holy men since their elegant presence will eliminate the onslaught of ego-centrism which can erupt even after enlightenment due to pride and prejudice. The characteristic features like non-attachment, freedom from delusion, steadfastness in devotion, and liberation from bondage, are made feasible and realized when the aspirant attaches himself to the sacred band of saintly souls. Company of
saints and group worship paves the way for rescinding the residual effects of the impurities and ensures perfection in all respects. This attitude will culminate in the contemplative identification with the Lord and entry into his region with divine personality and everlasting wisdom. ‘Even if very slight gifts are made to Shivajnanins, these will increase like the earth into mountains, and the donors will be prevented from falling into the ocean of births and will enjoy supreme happiness in the higher worlds and losing their sin, they will get one more holy birth and will even without going through carya (physical service), kriya (devotional acts), and yoga, attain supreme knowledge and the lotus feet of the Lord.’5 The saints of Shiva develop universal brotherhood
The tree was concealed in the mad elephant The tree concealed the mad elephant The Supreme was concealed in the world In the Supreme was concealed the world 6
An elephant has been carved out of wood. If one looks at it as a piece of wood, the elephant disappears. If it is visualised as an elephant, wood goes out of focus. In the same way the Siddhantin holds that if the universe comprising of the five elements is viewed as the manifestation of Shiva, the elements will
”
References
1) Tiruvunthiyar. Trans. Dhavamony, Mariasusai. Love of God According to Saiva Siddhanta. p.178 2) Saiva Siddhanta. Devasenapathi, V.A. p.187 3) Thiruvacakam. Trans. G.U.Pope. 51:9
4) Sivajnana Siddhiyar. Trans. Nallasamy Pillai, J.M. 12:2 5) Unmai Vilakkam. Trans. Nallasamy Pillai, J.M. 35 & 36 6) Thirumanthiram. 2251
GLOSSARY
v Thirumuraigal—the devotional utterances of three main Saiva saints: Sambhandhar(1-3), Thirunavukkarasar or
Appar (4-6) and Sundarar (7)
v Thiruvachakam—the 8th Thirumurai by Manickavachakar for which Rev. G.U Pope had made an excellent translation
and this work is full of mystic revelations. Periya Puranam or Thiruthondar Puranam by Arulmozhithevar popularly known as Sekkizhar, which deals with the biographies of 63 individual saints and 9 group devotees. The work depicts the nature of saintliness. v Sivajnanabotham by Meikanda Dhevar is the foremost philosophical treatise in the Saiva tradition which systematically delineates the doctrinal expositions of Saiva faith. v Sivajnana Siddhiyar by Arulnandhi Sivachariyar is an verse commentary to Sivajnanabotham with an addition of alavai iyal—logic and epistemology; parapakkam—presentation and refutation of 14 alien schools of thought and supakkam—philosophy of Saivism. v Pati—philosophical term for Lord Siva v Pasu—philosophical term for soul and v Pasa—philosophical term for the bonds—anava, karma and maya v Siddhantha—Accomplished end or end of ends with reference to Saivism. v
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“
vanish. On the contrary, if the elements are gleaned as themselves, then Shiva has no place there. The true message here is that an aspirant has to adore the Lord Supreme through His manifestations including the five elements. Another underlying truth is that if the elements are revered as the manifestation of Shiva, neither misuse nor abuse of the natural resources would happen. Thus in Saiva philosophy we come across a well-knit principle of the three categories known as Shiva, Soul and the Bond. The three impurities are responsible for the pathetic plight and everlasting suffering of the souls and only the redemptive power of the Lord saves them from falling into the unfathomable abyss. The moment the grace of Shiva falls upon them they are freed from all the delimiting adjuncts. Hence the whole spectrum of Saiva religion and philosophy centre round the soul. Hence it is proved beyond doubt that man is the maker of his own destiny.
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in the real sense of the term, and neither regionalism nor nativism would be promoted by them. Their revelations indicate their global perspective in describing the relation between God and man, God and the world etc. This individual love of God and fellowmen, will pave the way for global affection, peaceful co-existence and prosperous living. The Thirumanthiram of Thirumular exemplifies the subsisting character of Shiva in His creation thus:
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Classical Yoga Philosophy and the Legacy of Sāṃkhya: With Sanskrit Text and English Translation of Pātañjala Yogasūtra-s, Vyāsa Bhāsya and Tattvavaiśāradī of Vācaspatimiśra.
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Book Reviews
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by Gerald James Larson Published by Motilal Banarsidass, 40-41UA Bulngalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi - 110 007. Email: mldb@mldb.com. 2018, hardcover, pp.1024+xv, Rs.3295. Professor Gerald James Larson’s aim in writing this text is to present a clear analysis of classical Sāṃkhya-Yoga philosophy, grounded in a systematic and full translation of the three most significant texts of Yoga: the Yogasūtras of Patañjali, the early short commentary (Bhāṣya) attributed to Veda Vyāsa and the later exposition of Vācaspatimiśra called Tattvavaiśāradi (“A Skilled Clarification of the Truth” [of Yoga]). Professor Larson is eminently qualified for this task. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on Saṃkhya philosophy, and this most recent book completes the work of a lifetime. His meticulous scholarship reveals an unusually deep and thorough knowledge of the material at hand. Professor Larson is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara as well as Rabindranath Tagore Professor Emeritus of Indian Culture and Civilization at Indiana University, Bloomington. Having retired from active teaching and with the time to invest in a magnum opus, Professor Larson decided to work on a project he had long contemplated— an accessible English translation of the Yogasūtras along with its two principal commentaries. Serious scholars of Indian philosophy and scholarly institutions will be grateful for this rigorous and thoughtful work, which is also Larson’s labor of love— twelve years in the making and over 1,000 pages in length. But this book is not only for scholars: it is for all those who would like to make a serious study of the Yogasūtras in the context of its authentic philosophical tradition. Translations of the Yogasūtras abound, of course, but some are out of date and employ abstruse terms, while others are inaccurate, and still others
For review in The Vedanta Kesari, publishers need to send us two copies of their
latest publication.
are based on Vedanta philosophy or on New Age assumptions outside the philosophical tradition of classical Sāṃkhya-Yoga. Few modern translations offer the clarity, philosophical accuracy, and scholarly rigor of this remarkable volume. The volume is divided into a number of sections. The main section and the bulk of the book— labeled “The Translation”—contains the Sanskrit texts and translations of the Yogasūtras along with the two classical commentaries. Perhaps the most important contribution of this work is the full text (in Devanāgarī) of these three works together with a new English translation of the complete Tattvavaiśāradī commentary. To help readers get an overview, near the beginning of the volume, there is a stand-alone section with an outline translation of all the verses of the Yogasūtras without the Sanskrit text and the commentaries. In addition to the Sanskrit texts, commentaries, and translations, the volume includes a short Preface, a thirty-five page Introduction, and a further sevenpage explication titled “A Brief Preliminary Note to the Reader.” In these three sections Prof. Larson provides an interesting description of the historical, textual and philosophical setting of the Yogasūtras along with all of its main commentaries, not just the two key commentaries included in this volume. One of these other commentaries, as some readers may be aware,
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depending on its context, may have many different possible meanings in English. Prof. Larson has provided thoughtful and clear explanations of all the key terms in these texts, and has made every effort to render Sanskrit terms into English consistently. Here is an example of a key technical term in the Yogasūtras that has been opaque or misleadingly translated previously. This term is citta, which occurs in the famous second sūtra as part of the definition of yoga. Earlier scholarly translators have rendered this term variously as “mind-stuff” or “mind-field,” whereas Prof. Larson translates it simply as “ordinary awareness.” It is interesting to see how Prof. Larson translates this key sūtra: “Disciplined meditation (yogaś) [involves] the cessation of the functioning of ordinary awareness.” In Larson’s estimation, citta is an umbrella term, a term that combines two or more notions (e.g., Brexit), and thus under the citta umbrella are included “emotional states, predispositions, mental capacities, intersubjectivity, memory, waking, dreaming and deep sleep, knowledge, misunderstanding, language, or any symbolic sounds, and so forth.” As Prof. Larson admits, the precise meaning of some technical terms in the Yogasūtras remains illusive. Nonetheless, in the Glossary he provides readers with pointers as to their possible meaning in the context of the developed Sāṃkhya-Yoga philosophy. One such term is mahat “the great one.” He explains: “in Sāṃkhya, usually used synonymously with buddhi; but possibly in Yoga referring to an all-pervasive citta that replaces the notion of a transmigrating subtle body.” A further feature of this volume that should prove helpful to readers, especially to scholars, is the Index, which shows at a single glance on what page a particular topic or technical term is discussed in the Yogasūtras, the Bhāsya and the Tattvavaiśāradī. Both scholars and general readers will appreciate the extensive bibliography that reveals the broad research and learning distilled into this single volume. This is undoubtedly a serious scholarly work by someone deeply learned in Sanskrit, classical Sāṃkya philosophy, and the historical development of Indian thought. Nonetheless, Prof. Larson makes it clear from the beginning that his purpose in writing this English translation of the central texts of classical Yoga has been to make them available to those whose interests are primarily religious and philosophical. Therefore for him in writing this book the grammatical and linguistic/philological issues have been secondary. The text’s philosophical and religious significance is, as he states, the sine qua non for any serious textual study. As we hope this review has made clear, this is a significant contribution to the literature on
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was rediscovered in the 20th century and is attributed to Śankara, the famous philosopher and proponent of Advaita Vedanta. Prof. Larson provides his own views on whether or not this commentary is in fact that of Śankara, and explains why, in his view, the tendency to interpret the Yogasūtras in terms of Advaita Vedanta has hindered a deeper understanding of Sāṃkhya-Yoga philosophy. Prof. Larson believes that Śankara in his various works, including in the commentary on the Yogasūtras attributed to him, “clearly misunderstood the nature of the Sāṃkhya dualism and thereby set in motion a misunderstanding of the Sāṃkhya philosophy, which continues even now in some contemporary accounts of Sāṃkhya.” Larson aims to right this perceived wrong, comparing Śankara’s critique of Sāṃkhya philosophy to Hegel’s dismissal of all Hindu philosophy. Both critiques can be seen, Professor Larson argues, as “hit pieces” that “come down hard on philosophical views that could possibly prove to be important rivals to their own positions.” The gauntlet thus being thrown down, Larson carefully presents the Sāṃkhya worldview, which asserts the “reality of the natural, material world (pradhāna) and the pluralization of consciousness (puruṣa-bahutva).” This worldview is thoroughly at odds with the better known philosophy of Śankara’s Advaita Vedanta. Most modern students of Yoga know precious little about the presuppositions of Yoga, which are grounded in the classical Sāṃkhya worldview, and one of the main aims of this book is to correct this misunderstanding. The book provides a welcome intellectual adventure for anyone who wants to explore seriously the presuppositions of Yoga practice grounded in its original context of SāṃkhyaYoga philosophy. One of the most interesting and helpful contributions of this volume is a clear point-by-point analysis in the Introduction of the seven ways in which the classical Yoga philosophy as presented in the Yogasūtras and the two key commentaries differs from the earlier classical Sāṃkhya philsophy. Prof. Larson argues that these differences are an interesting later development of what can be considered the combined Sāṃkhya-Yoga philosophy. Another very helpful feature of this volume is a complete glossary of Sāṃkhya and Yoga terminology, with the Sanskrit terms arranged in English alphabetical order followed by clear explanations of each term in the context of Sāṃkhya-Yoga philosophy. Hence no knowledge of Sanskrit is required to use the glossary and to explore the precise meaning of key terms. As is well known, the meaning of Sanskrit words can be particularly rich and multivalent. One word,
classical Yoga. The translations are systematic, thorough, coherent and in a form of contemporary English accessible to general readers. The Preface, Introduction, and Note to Readers place these careful translations in their historical , philosophical and religious context—namely that of Sāṃkhya-Yoga philosophy—and the extensive Glossary and Index should prove extremely helpful to all those who wish to explore ideas and technical terms in greater depth. Anyone who wants to understand Patañjali’s Yogasūtras in its original philosophical context would do well to read this book. __________ PRAVRAJIKA VRAJAPRANA, SANTA BARBARA, US. AND WADE DAZEY, PROF. EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF
WISCONSIN—WHITEWATER
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Rethinking the Cultural Unity of India
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Edited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. Published by Swami Suparnananda, Secretary,RMIC.,Gol Park, Kolkata-700 029. With Financial assistance from Ministry of Culture, Govt of India. 2014,hardback, pp. 540+ xix. Price not givan. The above collection of essays reflects and reiterates Swami Vivekananda’s dream of the unification of India, which has countless diversities, through social sciences in a scientific manner. The objective of this work, besides theoretical expositions, intellectual deliberations etc., is mainly a call for action. Swami Sarvabhutananda maintains that cultural unity is a perennial subject in India which has ‘a veritable ethnological museum’ in the forms of various civilizations and a mosaic of cultures promoting morality and spirituality with an anthropological dimension. The addresses and articles published in seven sections echo the above declaration, and Swami Prabhananda develops this thought and states that ‘our culture is the cumulative result of centuries of evolution and continuous effort at making a synthesis.’ Dirk Kolff extensively deals with a comparative study of Indian civilization in the light of European civilization. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya explicates Swami Vivekananda’s first-hand knowledge about India and the art of living of his people which enabled him to exemplify the significance of ‘Indianness’ to his foreign audience. In the first section captioned ‘The Notions of Continuity and Unity’, the contributors discuss how
Indian civilization has a global recognition; how its continuity is achieved through cultural settings and the episodes of the grand epics; how oneness of realty, unity in diversity, family values etc., are sources of India’s cultural unity; and how Swami Vivekananda’s amplification of yogic methods are oriented for spiritual life than religious boundaries. ‘Perception of Unity in Cultural Artefacts: Ancient India’ is the theme of the second section where the discussion is about how rock art promotes cultural harmony; how the relics and artefacts reveal the cultural heritage in the Gangetic plains; and how the iconic representation of Vishnu in His lying posture brings forth cultural unity. Section three is devoted to elucidate Sufism as a unifying bond in Medieval India. It highlights the contributions of Kabir, Namdev and others who through love, equality, brotherhood, music, yoga, and art paved the way for integrity in medieval India. Some other themes dealt with are – religions and castes in modern India and unity in diversity; search for unity through language; the nature and characteristics of Indian literature; and Tagore’s vision of India as one nation and India before and after the colonial rule. The Editor and the Publisher are to be congratulated for executing a wonderful assignment which is really the need of the hour. Scholars on Indian studies will be certainly enriched through the insightful and inspiring messages found in this work. Some may raise questions, generate debates, analyse critically the issues, estimate the conceptions truthfully so that the horizon of wisdom about Indian culture, civilization, harmony etc. are widened, deepened and heightened. ___________________________ R. GOPALAKRISHNAN, CHENNAI
Well, I do not understand his (Buddha’s) doctrine – we Hindus never understood it. But I can understand the motive behind that. Oh, the gigantic motive! The Master says that selfishness is the great curse of the world; that we are selfish and that therein is the curse. There should be no motive for selfishness. You are [like a river] passing [on] – a continuous phenomenon. Have no God; have no soul; stand on your feet and do good for good’s sake – neither for fear of punishment nor for [the sake of] going (to heaven or) anywhere. Stand sane and motiveless. The motive is: I want to do good, it is good to do good. Tremendous! Tremendous! I do not sympathize with his metaphysics at all; but my mind is jealous when I think of the moral force. Just ask your minds which one of you can stand for one hour, able and daring like that man. I cannot for five minutes. I would become a coward and want a support. I am weak – a coward. And I warm to think of this tremendous giant. We cannot approach that strength. The world never saw [anything] compared to that strength. And I have not yet seen any other strength like that. We are all born cowards. If we can save ourselves [we care about nothing else]. Inside is the tremendous fear, the tremendous
(continued on page 49....)
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Religion is the manifestation of the natural strength that is in man.1 Look at the choice of words here! Natural strength is the word Swamiji uses. What does he mean by this? Are we to understand that there is a classification of strengths such as natural and artificial in man? Then there is the idea of manifesting that natural strength. It obviously means that this natural strength is potential in some cases, under some situations and that it can be made manifest. A more important point to note here is: We seldom associate strength with religion! Religion is kindness, compassion, love and such ideas for most of us. As Sister Christine once exclaimed with reference to Swamiji himself, “A sickly saint everyone understands, but who ever heard of a powerful saint?” 2 We have various kinds of strength – physical, nervous, intellectual, social/political, economic/financial, and moral. Then we also have combinations of these in a single person which are denoted by terms such as grit, fortitude, and strength of personality. Then, you see that strength, power, and courage are things which are very peculiar. We generally say, ‘A courageous man, a brave man, a daring man’, but we must bear in mind that that courage or bravery or any other trait does not always characterize the man. The same man who would rush to the mouth of a cannon shrinks from the knife of the surgeon; and another man who never dares to face a gun will calmly bear a severe surgical operation, if need be. Now, in judging others you must always define your terms of courage or greatness.3 What Swamiji means by ‘natural strength’ is some very, very specific. He holds Bhagawan Buddha as the epitome of this ‘natural strength’.
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What is Religion?
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The Vedas: An Exploration
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The word Aaranyaka can roughly be introduced as the third section of the vast body of religious literature called the Vedas. Etymologically, it traces its origin to the Sanskrit word Aaranya meaning forest. The Aaranyaka texts, in the literal sense, hold a special position in Vedic literature. They form the end portions of their respective Braahmanas and they also have concluding parts known as the Upanishads. It forms a continuation of its Braahmana and is a precursor of the Upanishadic thought. The purpose of the Aaranyaka is to understand the reason as to why yajnas have to be done. It explains the ritualistic portion of the Vedas in all its connotations that includes both the esoteric and the modalities of the actual performance of the ritual. There is a school of thought that these texts were meant to be studied by those entering the third stage of life according to the Varnashrama Dharma of the Hindu religion. The number of Aaranyaka texts are few. The Rig Veda has the Aitareya and Sankhayana Aaranyakas. The Aitareya Aaranyaka belongs to the Aitareya recension of the Krishna Yajur Veda. The Brihadaaranyaka is attached to the Satapatha Braahmana of Sukla Yajur Veda. The Katha Aaranyaka has been discovered in recent times by the scholar M. Witzel. The Aitareya Aaranyaka that belongs to the Rig Veda has five books. The second and the third books are specifically attributed to one Mahidasa Aitareya and its contents are broadly theosophic in nature. We do not have any authentic information on who this Mahidasa Aitareya is, but there is however, a story in circulation that attempts to reveal the family lineage of Mahidasa Aitareya. Yajnavalkya had two wives. The elder was called by him as Priya and the other was
The Aaranyaka LAKSHMI DEVNATH (Continued from previous issue...)
called Itara. Itara means the other. Since this Aaranyaka has been revealed and taught by this sage, it is called Aitareya Aaranyaka. Ananda Theertha in his commentary describes him as the son of Vishala and an incarnation of Narayana. In the Chandogya Upanishad there is a reference that he lived for 116 years. At any rate he must have been a philosopher of some distinction. Otherwise his name would hardly have come down to us. Aaranyaka seems originally to have existed to give secret explanations of the ritual and to have presupposed that the ritual was still in use and was known. Originally an Aaranyaka must have merely meant a book of instruction to be given in the forest.
The author is a researcher and writer with various books and articles to her credit on Indian music and culture. lakshmidevnath@gmail.com
The subject matter of this Aaranyaka covers topics ranging from Prana-Upasana (meditation on the vital air) to such sacrificial ceremonies as the Mahavrata. The last three sections of the second book constitute the Aitareya Upanishad. The second Aaranyaka of the Rigveda called the Kaushitaki or Sankhayana Aaranyaka consists of three books. The first two are ritualistic in character while the third forms the Kaushitaki Upanishad.
The Taittiriya Aaranyaka is a direct continuation of the Samhita and the Braahmana of the Taittiriya school. In its first six books, it deals with sacrifices like the Sarvamedha, the Pitrmedha and so on. Its next three books constitute the Taittiriya Upanishad while its tenth and the last book is known as the Mahanarayana Upanishad. This brings us to the final and the most popular portion of the Vedas – the Upanishads. (To be continued. . .)
motive, all the time. Our own selfishness makes us the most arrant cowards; our own selfishness is the great cause of fear and cowardice. And there he stood: “Do good because it is good; ask no more questions; that is enough. A man made to do good by a fable, a story, a superstition – he will be doing evil as soon as the opportunity comes. That man alone is good who does good for good’s sake, and that is the character of the man.” 4 This complete absence of selfishness is the ‘natural strength’ in man. Every man can manifest such complete absence of selfishness. This is the great fact: strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery: weakness is death.5 Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson I have been taught in my life; strength, it says, strength, O man, be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses? – says man. There are, say the Upanishads, but will more weakness heal them, would you try to wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin, weakness cure
weakness? Strength, O man, strength, say the Upanishads, stand up and be strong. Ay, it is the only literature in the world where you find the word ‘Abhih’, ‘fearless’, used again and again; in no other scripture in the world is this adjective applied either to God or to man. Abhih, fearless! And in my mind rises from the past the vision of the great Emperor of the West, Alexander the Great, and I see, as it were in a picture, the great monarch standing on the bank of the Indus, talking to one of our Sannyasins in the forest; the old man he was talking to, perhaps naked, stark naked, sitting upon a block of stone, and the Emperor, astonished at his wisdom, tempting him with gold and honor to come over to Greece. And this man smiles at his gold, and smiles at his temptations, and refuses; and then the Emperor standing on his authority as an Emperor, says, ‘I will kill you if you do not come’, and the man bursts into a laugh and says, ‘You never told such a falsehood in your life, as you tell just now. Who can kill me? Me you kill, Emperor of the material world! Never! For I am Spirit unborn and undecaying: never was I born and never do I die; I am the Infinite, the Omnipresent, the Omniscient; and you kill me, child that you are!’ That is strength, that is strength! 6
References
1) The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda {hereafter CW}: Vol-8: Notes of Class Talks and Lectures: Man The Maker Of His Destiny 2) Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda: Sister Christine: Swami Vivekananda As I Saw Him 3) CW: Vol-2: Hints On Practical Spirituality 4) CW: Vol-3: Buddhistic India 5) CW: Vol-2: Work And Its Secret 6) CW: Vol-3: Lectures from Colombo to Almora: Vedanta In Its Application To Indian Life
March 2019
(Continued from page 47...)
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What is Religion?
March 2019
Topical Musings
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Advertise for a stenographer, and nine out of ten who apply, can neither spell nor punctuate- and do not think it necessary to. Can such a one write a letter to Garcia? “You see that Accountant”, said the foreman to me in a large factory. “Yes. What about him?” “Well he’s a fine accountant, but if I’d send him to town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, but there is an equal chance that he might stop at four shops on the way for some personal matter of his own, and when he got to Main Street, would forget what he had been sent for!” Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia? We have recently been hearing much sympathy expressed for the ‘downtrodden, poor people’ and the ‘homeless wanderer searching for honest employment’. Generally, along with such cries, we also hear many hard words spoken about the men in power, the people who employ. Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get these idiots to do intelligent work. No one ever speaks about the employer’s long & patient striving with ‘the assistant’ who does
nothing but loaf when his back is turned. In every store and factory there is a constant weeding-out process going on. (Continued from the The employer is constantly previous issue. . .) sending away ‘assistants’ that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues. The incompetent and unworthy worker goes out of work. It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best – those who can carry a message to Garcia. I know one brilliant man, who cannot manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to anyone else. Why? Because, he carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppress him! He cannot give orders; and he will not receive them. If we gave a message to him to take to Garcia, his answer would probably be, “Take it yourself”. Today, this man walks the streets looking for job. He doesn’t even have a good coat to protect him from the cold wind. No one who knows him will dare to employ him, for he is a regular fire-brand of discontent. He is
A Message to Garcia
Nothing makes us work so well at our best and highest as when all the responsibility is thrown upon ourselves….You will give up all your criminal ideas as soon as responsibility is thrown upon you — your whole character will change. … when we have nobody to grope towards, no devil to lay our blame upon, no Personal God to carry our burdens, when we are alone responsible, then we shall rise to our highest and best. —Swami Vivekananda
March 2019
finds there’s nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes. In my own life, there was a time when I have worked for daily wages. And I have also been an employer of labor. And I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty. Rags are no recommendation. And all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous. My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the ‘boss’ is away, as well as when he is in office. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly takes the letter, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no hidden intention of throwing it into the nearest sewer, never gets ‘fired’. Neither does he have to go on a strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. Such a kind of person is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village – in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such. He is needed, & needed very badly – the man who can carry a message to Garcia. (Concluded.)
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impervious to reason. And I believe that the only thing that can impress him is the sharp lick of a horse-whip! It may be argued that this man is morally deformed. And family conditions, school & college situations, and life in general are responsible for his moral deformity. As a result, he has to be pitied just as we pity a physically handicapped person. But in our pitying this imbecile, let us also drop a tear for the men who are striving to carry on a great enterprise, whose working hours are not limited by the siren, and whose hair is fast turning white through the struggle to hold in line the stupidly indifferent, the slip-shod imbecile, the heartless & ungrateful idiot. It is a fact that these imbeciles and idiots would be both hungry & homeless, if they were not painfully kept in employment by the very business that they curse day and night. Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have. But when the entire world has gone to sleep at night, I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds, the man who, against great obstructions, has directed the efforts of others, and having succeeded,
The Order on the March News & Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission
March 2019
National Youth Day & Birthday of Swami Vivekananda
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The 35th National Youth Day, & 156th birth anniversary celebration of Swamiji (according to Indian calendar) were observed in the Order with youth programmes on 12 January and with special worship, bhajans, and spiritual discourses on 27 January respectively. In the birth anniversary celebration at the headquarters, Belur Math, about 15,000 of the visiting devotees partook cooked prasad. On the occasion of National Youth Day, Chennai Math organised several programmes: Two Youth Conventions on 9 and 12 January attended by 420 students in total; a State-level ‘Swami Vivekananda Youth Football Championship’ in which 45 teams from 4 districts of Tamil Belur Math
Nadu took part; and a procession of Swami Vivekananda Chariot with the traditional Shaivite Kailaya Vathiyam through slums near Vivekanandar Illam. 10,000 people took part in a procession held by Narainpur centre on 12 January. Cultural Competitions were held by the following centres for school and college students: Aurangabad(4459 students), Madurai (8312 students), Nagpur (3618 students) and Rajkot (8500 students).
New Temple at Asansol The region of Asansol, the second largest metropolitan city in West Bengal, is sanctified by the visit of Sri Ramakrishna in 1868 when he changed from railway to road transport at Ranigunj, some 15 km from Asansol, on his way to Vaidyanath Dham at Deoghar. A small ashrama started Chennai Math
in 1926 was affiliated to Belur Math in 1939 and relocated to its current location in 1997. With an orphanage and a school for girls in the early days, the ashrama has now transformed into a huge complex of multifarious service activities with a boy’s secondary school and two junior basic schools for about 1200 students in total, a Vocational Training Centre for about 500 young girls and boys, a free coaching centre with transportation facility for more than 300 underprivileged students from 35 peripheral villages, a student’s home, a library and a charitable dispensary. The ashrama has built a magnificent temple of Sri Ramakrishna with a prayer hall for 800 devotees and a 1100 seater auditorium, which Vivekananda Award
Jubilee Celebration
125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda ’s Historic Chicago Addresses
Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Vidyamandir, Malda, started in 1944 as a single room night school by Swami Parashibananda, is now one of the top higher secondary schools in West Bengal with about 1000 students. The school celebrated its platinum jubilee from 2 to 6 January with a procession, a public meeting, seminars, an alumni meet, and a number of cultural events.
Vivekananda Award & Vivekananda Medal 2018 On 17 January, the Institute of Culture, Gol Park, Kolkata, conferred the Vivekananda Award, comprising a cash award of ` 1 lakh and a citation, to Sri Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
13,892 students participated in 61 student/youth programmes including conventions, lectures and cultural competitions organised by Baranagar Math, Institute of Culture, Indore, Mangaluru, Pune, Vijayawada, Sarisha and Hyderabad centres. 170 teachers attended a Teacher’s convention organised by the Vijayawada ashrama. Kamarpukur and Barisha ashramas conducted spiritual retreats attended by 1550 and 1400 devotees respectively. Chandpur ashrama, Bangladesh held a procession and a public meeting attended by about 1500 people. Continuing its Dhaka
planned celebrations in different cities across Netherlands, Amstelveen centre held the fourth one in the city of Eindhoven on 27 January with devotional music, talks and video show on the life and teachings of Swamiji and a special session on different aspects of Sanatana Dharma.
News of Foreign Centres The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to Ramakrishna Mission in recognition of the Mission’s service activities in South Africa. Sri Ram Nath Kovind, Hon’ble President of India, presented a citation and a medal to Swami Saradaprabhananda, head of the Phoenix ashrama, South Africa, at a function held in Varanasi on 25 January. A statue of Swami Vivekananda at Dhaka ashrama, Bangladesh was unveiled on 12 January by Swami Suvirananda in presence of Swami Tattwavidananda, one of the Asst. Gen. Secretaries of the Order, and other dignitaries.
Guests of Honour Sri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Meghalaya and Sri Bhupesh Baghel, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh participated in the Mysuru
March 2019
Thokchom Shiba Dutta Singh for his contribution to RamakrishnaVivekananda literature in Manipuri. The institute also gave the Vivekananda Medal jointly to Nanritam and Vivekananda Swasthya Seva Sangha, two charitable organisations in Purulia and Kolkata respectively. Each of these organizations was given a gold medal, a cash award of ` 1 lakh and a citation. Swami Suvirananda presented the award and the medals.
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was recently consecrated on 20 January, the holy birthday of Swami Turiyananda, by Srimat Swami Smaranananda Ji Maharaj, the President of the Order in a grand three-day function from 19 to 21 January. Swamis Suvirananda, Balabhadrananda, Girishananda, respectively the General Secretary, one of the Asst. Gen. Secretaries and the Treasurer of the Order, about 350 monks and 40,000 devotees attended the programme.
National Youth Day celebration at Shillong and Narainpur centres. Sri Kummanam Rajasekharan, Governor of Mizoram, visited Belur Math on 29 January.
Education Services
March 2019
The new building for the free coaching centre and the upcoming Industrial Training Institute at Asansol ashrama, funded by IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) in its CSR scheme, was inaugurated on 19 January by Sri Anirban Dasgupta, CEO, SAIL-ISP, Burnpur, in the presence of Swami Suvirananda. Foundation stones for two new buildings for Dhanya Ganga Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Sargachhi ashrama under the aegis of RKMVERI, Belur Math, were laid on 28 December 2018, the sacred birthday of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. A new English-medium primary school at Garbeta ashrama was inaugurated on 2 January. Swami Suvirananda laid the foundation stone of the proposed high school at Dhaka asharma, Bangladesh on 12 January.
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Values Education & Youth Programmes
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Mysuru Ashrama held a written quiz competition on Swamiji from July to December in which about 44,000 students from 452 schools and colleges took part. The Ashrama also conducted Shraddha a three-day r esidential T ga
youth camp at RIMSE in which 110 youths participated. Nagpur Math held a Parents’ Convention in which 225 parents participated. Outreach in programmes conducted by other centres: Baranagar Math (350 girl students), Madurai (115 girl students), Chennai Math (46 teachers), Delhi (263 principals), Gourhati (700 students and 45 teachers), Kailashahar (2,200 students and 100 teachers), Khetri (3275 students and 95 teachers), Nagpur (1800 students), Rajkot (2600 students), Salem (200 students)
Pilgrim Services On the occasion of Gangasagar Mela at Sagar Island during Makar Sankranti, Manasadwip centre held from 11 to 16 January a camp, in which 606 pilgrims were provided free board and lodging, and spiritual discourses and bhajans were held for the devotees. Free meals were served to about 3000 non-resident pilgrims. Our Seva Pratishthan hospital, Kolkata conducted a round-the-clock medical camp from 10 to 16 January treating 9025 patients.
Healthcare Services Medical/health awareness camps were conducted by Bagda Math, Chennai Math, Dibrugarh centre, Gourhati centre, and Medinipur centres. Centres at Bankura, Jamshedpur, Kamarpukur, Khetri, Lucknow, Madurai, Porbandar, Rajkot, Ranchi-Morabadi, and Salem arranged eye camps in December
and January either in our hospitals or outside treating 9164 patients, of whom 1760 were operated and 142 received spectacles. Khetri centre held a yogasana camp from 23 December to 1 January in which about 100 people participated.
Farmers’ Fair A kisan mela (farmers’ fair) was held on 8 and 9 January by the Kamarpukur asharma. About 600 farmers visited the fair.
Relief Services Winter Relief: The Order has distributed 20,422 sweaters, jackets etc. and 18,794 blankets through 39 centres in 15 states in India and 422 blankets through 3 centres in Bangladesh. Distress Relief: 918 mosquito nets, 140 children garments, 43,568 shirts, trousers etc.,345 dhotis/lungis, 1280 saris, 1133 school bags, 1365 belts, 897 wallets, 3391 notebooks, etc. were distributed through 28 centres in India. Economic Rehabilitation: Khetri centre distributed 104 sewing machines on 9 December, and Rahara centre distributed 6 sewing machines, 6 cycle rickshaws and 4 rickshaw vans. Fire Relief: In response to three fire accidents in January in Deomali, Arunachal Pradesh, Shillong, Meghalaya and Gohalia, Odisha, asharmas at Narottam Nagar, Shillong and Kothar distributed groceries and garments among 6, 5 and 14 affected families respectively.
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Vol.106. No.3 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) March 2019. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957. Postal registration number:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 2018-2020. Licensed to Post without prepayment TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2018-2020.
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