Swami Vivekananda
Introduction
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Swami Vivekananda was the greatest spiritual prophet in modern times and probably the greatest India-worshipper in history. His message to the world is all-encompassing; it seeks all-round development of each soul towards ultimate Freedom. Throughout his life he also strived for all-round development of India and even after his passing away he continues to work for India. He had famously said,'It may be that I shall find it good to get outside of my body -- to cast it off like a disused garment. But I shall not cease to work!' True indeed it has been; as decades roll by, we see the influence of Swami Vivekananda growing in ever wider circles.
Sister Nivedita rightly observes in her immortal introduction to the 'Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda':
'... the thought of India was to him like the air he breathed. ... ... he was born a lover, and the queen of his adoration was
his Motherland. |
There was no cry of fear, no tremor of weakness, no shrinking from mortification, that he had not known and understood. He was
hard on her sins, unsparing of her want of worldly wisdom, but only because he felt these faults to be his own. And none, on
the contrary, was ever so possessed by the vision of her greatness. ...
His country's religion, history, geography, ethnology, poured from his lips in an inexhaustible stream. ... ...In these talks
of his, the heroism of the Rajput, the faith of the Sikh, the courage of the Mahratta, the devotion of the saints,
and the purity and steadfastness of noble women, all lived again. Nor would he permit that the Mohammedan should be passed over.
Humayoon, Sher Shah, Akbar, Shah Jehan, each of these, and a hundred more, found a day and a place in his bead-roll
of glistening names. ...
Like some great spiral of emotion, its lowest circles held fast in love of soil and love of nature; its next
embracing every possible association of race, experience, history, and thought; and the whole converging and centring
upon a single definite point, was thus the Swami's worship of his own land. And the point in which it was focussed was the
conviction that India was not old and effete, as her critics had supposed, but young, ripe with potentiality, and
standing, at the beginning of the twentieth century, on the threshold of even greater developments than she had known in the past.
Only once, however, do I remember him to have given specific utterance to this thought. "I feel myself" he said in a moment of
great quiet, "to be the man born after many centuries. I see that India is young." But in truth this vision was implied in
every word he ever spoke. It throbbed in every story he told. And when he would lose himself, in splendid scorn of
apology for anything Indian, in fiery repudiation of false charge or contemptuous criticism, or in laying down
for others the elements of a faith and love that could never be more than a pale reflection of his own, how often did the habit
of the monk seem to slip away from him, and the armour of the warrior stand revealed! ...
...Just as Sri Ramakrishna, in fact, without knowing any books, had been a living epitome of the Vedanta so was
Vivekananda of the national life.'
A spiritual prophet like Swami Vivekananda rarely manifests on Earth and it is very difficult for ordinary humanity to understand his greatness. Even his brother-disciples, who lived with him, did not comprehend him fully! Following incident from Swami Turiyananda's life, when the Swami was residing at Varanasi Sewashrama, is quite instructive:(from 'Swami Turiyananda - Life and Teachings' by Swami Ritajananda, P193-95)
One day Kamaleswarananda was reading the passage in the Bhagavata in which Uddhava, weeping at the demise of Krishna, comments on the
mystery of divine incarnation. 'How strange! Krishna was born in the Yadu dynasty; but none of the Yadavas understood him in the
least. They lived in close companionship with him - with an incarnation! But they did not recognize him.'
The passage was studied for more than an hour, while Turiyananda listened intently, in a serious mood. Usually, the Swami made some
valuable suggestions based upon the reading, but this day not a single word esacped his lips. The class ended. There was complete
silence. No one got up to leave, and Swami Turiyananda did not say anything for a long time.
At last he spoke: 'You see, when Kamaleswarananda was reading these words of Uddhava, i felt how right Uddhava was. Do you know
what i was thinking? For years we were all associated so closely with Swamiji - eating, talking, sharing jokes and stories. Yet we
were never able to recognize his true nature. He was such an extraordinary soul - how remarkable, we did not realize while he was
alive. Now we understand a little. It was beyond the reach of our intellect to appreciate what a great sage our Master had brought
with him. The longer i listened to Uddhava's words, the more i realized this. We did everything together with Swamiji, yet he
eluded us. In those days, we all thought he was one of us - only perhaps more able, more talended. An expert in all fields - as a
lecturer, as a musician. But how much more than this he was! It seems to me that such a great man, with so many perfections and
such adeptness in so many fields was never born before. And what a capacity he had to see the potentialities for good in others!
If there was just a tiny bit of virtue in a person, even that he would make much of. That was his capacity. He had the power to
awaken people and make them reach great heights. And what a heart! How deeply he felt for others! He had infinite love for all.
Such sympathy i never witnessed before and shall not see again. His words could almost bring a dead man back to life! When i talk
with you, you soon become drowsy and lose interest. But when Swamiji spoke, even a man his grave would almost have to jump up and
say: "Let me hear these words!" Swamiji's words were so powerful, both in feeling and language, that they straightway enetered the
heart. Everything else was forgotten when he spoke. He was capable of lifting us all to a higher level of consciousness."
In this manner Swami Turiyananda continued for more than half an hour. 'Swamiji just gave us slip,' he concluded. 'The more time
passes, the more i regret that i did not associate with him more and listen more attentively to him.' When Turiyananda finished,
he was plainly overcome with emotion.
Swami Vivekananda's mission on this Earth was to help all souls move towards ultimate spiritual Liberation (मुक्ति Mukti) as he himself puts it, 'My ideal indeed can be put into a few words and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.' Further he proclaims:
'Each soul is potentially divine.
The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.
Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy -- by one, or more, or all of these -- and be free.
This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.'
Fortunately for us, we have authentic record of Swami Vivekananda's life and teachings; 'Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda' is one such ocean of nectar containing pearls of wisdom, about which Sister Nivedita says:
'In the ... works of the Swami Vivekananda ..., we have what is not only a gospel to the world at large, but also to its own children, the Charter of the Hindu Faith. What Hinduism needed, amidst the general disintegration of the modern era, was a rock where she could lie at anchor, an authoritative utterance in which she might recognise herself. And this was given to her, in these words and writings of the Swami Vivekananda.'
In following pages we present some notes, taken from these books, which we hope readers would find useful.
Life of Swami Vivekananda in detail can be read online here: Life of Swami Vivekananda
----------- Om Tat Sat -----------
