Like many
others, this monk from Gourmohan Mukherjee Street in North Calcutta caught my imagination as a teenager. I read about him & his guru but his
teachings on Vedanta were heavy-duty
stuff for me back then. Thus, as life slipped into the routine stuff of
earning, eating, sleeping, reproducing, Swami Vivekananda was forgotten.
About two and a
half years ago, I was introduced to my Guru, Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya and from thereon, I decided to tread
on the difficult path of spiritual awakening hitherto unknown to me. Although Gurudev shed his
physical self in 1990, his writings, in excess of 3000 books, still illuminate
and enlighten millions. He used to say “I am not a person but a thought”. It
looks like an invisible force is guiding me to lead life in a particular way
and make it worth wile. A pre-requisite of spiritual awakening is a disciplined
life and continuously attempting to lead it with austerity.
There are three
or four prominent figures from the spiritual realm, which Gurudev has repeatedly
referred to in his writings viz. Mahrishi
Raman, Arvind, Mahatma Gandhi & Vivekananda. On account of spiritual
endeavours, my previous fascination for Swami Vivekananda re-surfaced and I
began to draw parallels between a “modern” day average individual and the
teachings of Swami Vivekananda. Let us try and glance at the life he led and
the way he showed to humanity for thousands of years to come
Early Life
Born in a
relatively privileged & well-to-do family from North Calcutta, Naren (as
Swami Vivekananda was called before becoming a monk & formally accepting Sanyas) had quite a comfortable
childhood. He was blessed with a photographic memory and was a restless child.
As he grew up, he used to discuss Western Philosophy & other literary stuff
with his father, Attorney Bishwanath Dutta, who was a well-read man. His mother, Bhuvneshwari Devi, had a deep influence on him and recited to him, inspirational stories from ancient religious texts. He got
introduced to Thakur Ramkrishna Parmahans at a common acquaintance’s house.
Thakur immediately took a liking for the boy and invited him to Dakshineshwar
Temple, where he served as a priest. Perhaps he had already foreseen Naren’s future
and had planned things for him. Naren was sceptical of this man and thought he
was mad, claiming to go in bhaav Samadhi (trance).
He was restless to meet a person who could claim to have seen God or direct him
to God! Thakur claimed he had and would help Naren see God as well. Naren did
not believe in these assertions easily. He was a classic example of an
educated, city bred boy who would not take things on their face value. He believed
in testing everything on the thresh-hold of “proof” and not beliefs. Thakur was
patient with him and layer by layer cleared all the doubts in his mind
regarding existence and the purpose of life.
Tragedy
intervened and Bishwanath Dutta passed away, leaving Naren as the sole earning
member of the family. There were times when he used to be completely hungry. This
period was of uncertainties, dejection & acute poverty. But then, such has
been the story of all great men.
From Narendra Nath Dutta to Swami
Vivekananda
Naren requested Thakur to pray to Goddess Kali to take care of his
problems & provide respite to him and his family. Thakur suggested Naren to
go before the deity himself and ask for it. He went thrice and could only ask
for knowledge (gyaan), devotion (bhakti) and renunciation (vairagya). He understood that the
purpose of his life lay elsewhere and not in worldly affairs. He formally
entered Sanyas along with other
disciples of Ramkrishna. He pledged to spread the teachings of his Guru for
upliftment of humanity. Ramkrishna was diagnosed with throat cancer which
proved to be fatal. Entrusting Naren with the responsibility of taking care of
other Guru Bhais and of spreading his
teachings, Ramkrishna gave up his
physical self. Naren organised his guru
bhais into a monk-order which was the nucleus of the present day Ramkrishna
Mission. These young men, barely in their late 20s, discussed a wide range of
subjects, with spirituality being at the core. They used to beg food like true Sanyasis. Naren assumed the name of Swami Vivekananda.
Swamiji decided
to tour the entire country alone, which apart from being under a foreign rule,
was also chained by superstitions, casteism, point-less regressive rituals and
practices. He travelled the length & breadth of the country and was
appalled at the poverty, ignorance & pitiable state of his fellow
countrymen. At times, tears would
trickle down on his face uncontrollably. He decided to devote his life to serve his
countrymen and therefore, his first
& the most valuable teaching was-serve the poor countrymen and it is equal
to serving god. It is the greatest religion to serve humanity and no religion
can be greater than that.
At Kanyakumari,
he sat on a rock few kilometres away from the sea shore, and meditated for
three days. He had swam the entire distance to be on the said rock! From
thereon, he conceptualised the idea of crossing the sea and going to the West
and spreading the message of Hindu Religion & Indian culture. It looked
like an indication & instruction from his Guru.
The Parliament of World’s Religions
With the help of
Maharaja Ajeet Singhji of Khetri (Rajasthan), he reached America and despite a
number of difficulties, he stood to address a wide range of audience hailing
from different cultures, religions, countries & ethnicities on 11 September
1893 at the Parliament of World’s Religions, Art Institute of Chicago. He
started his address by the now famous phrase “Sisters & brothers of America..”. Barely had he spoken and the
audience burst into an applause, giving him a standing ovation. But Vivekananda
had mustered a lot of courage to stand up and speak. In fact, he let other
speakers speak and skipped his turn on multiple occasions. He was nervous and
he was doubtful. So he invoked his Guru and sought confidence & courage.
The plea was answered and when he rose to speak he was radiating with energy
and confidence. He spoke of the most ancient orders of the monks in the world,
of the mother of religions (Hindu Dharma). His message “We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all
religions as true” gives the crux of entire Hindu Religion in one sentence.
He asserted the principle enshrined in the Bhagwat Geeta that "Whosoever comes to Me, through
whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the
end lead to me." He concluded by calling for universal harmony and
co-existence of all religions and the principles of "Help and not
fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and
Peace and not Dissension." This speech of his is relevant even after over
a century later continues to inspire people across all horizons. An important and
underlining teaching from this is unflinching faith in Guru. Swamiji
had tremendous faith in his Guru. After his initial phase of doubts &
questions, once he realised his relationship with his guru, he offered total
surrender, irrespective of physical existence of his guru.
A lot of people
ask these days “What is the need of a Guru?” Their perception is based on stories
of those who claim themselves to be Gurus
but turn out to be deceits. In today’s times, there are a lot of people, or
thugs, who fool people on the name of
religion. Therefore, it is natural to be sceptical of the guru-shishya concept. However, it must be kept in mind that guru-shishya tradition is an age old
concept in Indian culture. A guru has been equated with the trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. A guru has been
placed above parents. A Sadguru can
turn an ordinary man into a great human being. Samarth Ramdas-Shivaji,
Chanakya-Chandragupta, Gokahle-Gandhi etc. are a few from the innumerable
examples of guru-shishya. In the
Bhagwat Geeta, Arjun argues and reasons with Krishna against killing of his own
kith & kin, but after a point, he clearly says, I am your Shishya (disciple), show me the right
way. It is often said that real geeta begins from this point, when Arjun offers
surrender to his Guru as a Shishya. "Shishyaste ham shaadi maam
tvaam prapannaa- I propose to be your disciple, please guide me”
says Arjun. Thus, it is important to have a Guru and offer total surrender to
him like these great men did.
Youth & Swami Vivekananda
Swamiji was
passionate about moulding Youth. He almost gave a war cry to the Youth when he
said “Arise, awake and stop not, till the goal is reached”. To him, it was
inexplicable, that while his motherland & her thousands of destitute
children suffer, how could one rest and think of material pleasures? Humans and
animals have somethings in common. Eating, sleeping & reproduction. But man
has been given the power of speech, of being rational, of communicating, of
doing great things. By indulging in material pleasures why is man degrading
himself when he has been bestowed with powers to do great things? Yogeshwar
Krishna says in Geeta “Like a tortoise contracts all of its organs into its shell,
a man should have the power to control his senses.”
Swamiji’s
birthday 12 January is celebrated as “Yuva Diwas” or “Youth Day” in India. His life
is an example for the youth of this country to follow. By 2020, a major chunk
of the population will be between the age-group 18-35. This period is a period
of transition and change and his following message to the Youth is something
for all of us to imbibe and practice:-
I have faith in my country, and
especially in the youth of my country. My hope is in you. With an immense
amount of feeling and enthusiasm in the blood, will come heroes who will march
from one corner of the earth to the other, preaching and teaching the eternal
spiritual truths of our forefathers. And this is the great work before
you. Each one of you has a glorious future if you dare believe me.
Rouse yourselves, therefore, for
life is short. A far greater work is this sacrifice of yourselves for the
benefit of your race, for the welfare of humanity. I will tell you in plain language that you work best when you
work for others. The best work that you ever did for yourselves was when you
worked for others. This life is short, vanities of the world are
transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than
alive. Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work.
He had uttered these words over a century ago but the strong effect they
have can be fathomed and applied in today’s context easily. India has great
potential and if its youth can be channelized, it can offer solutions to all
the global problems. The problems during Swamiji’s period ware akin to those what we face today, although their form and intensity may vary from those
which existed back then. Terrorism, global warming, illiteracy, poverty are
some of the broad problems which exist today. Other than these problems a wider
range of other problems like depression of various kinds, jealousy, a mad-want
for materialistic pleasures, of accumulating and amassing, degradation of
values etc. persist. If one reads the works of Swami Vivekananda and his life
carefully, one can find all the solutions to these problems. Swamiji used to
say, what I’ve done is perhaps sufficient for the coming thousand years. It is
about time that we, the young men and women of India, pay heed to Swamiji’s
teachings and messages in order to build a strong family, society and
nation. Continuous efforts must be made
to remove bad tendencies hiding in the subtle mind. It is absolutely necessary
that whatever bad tendencies we find in our actions, thoughts and personality,
we gather positive thoughts to counter these tendencies. Eradication of bad
thoughts is only possible by current of good thoughts. Only when we are
equipped with good thoughts and vision, we will be able to serve others and
rise above selfishness.
Swamiji lived for little less than 40 years. He worked tirelessly, ignoring his health, in completing the task assigned to him by his guru. He had foreseen his end long back. To science, his end may seem as something which was brought about by the numerous diseases such as diabetes, asthma etc. he suffered from during his final years. If we try to understand it from a more subtle-spiritual angle, it can be said that his consciousness or chetana had become so huge, that his body was unable to contain it and he had to leave it.
Whatever the case may be, the fulcrum of his life was serving humanity and passing on teachings which will help men become better human beings. Till the very end, he suffered with the sufferings of his fellow beings. In conclusion, it can be said that for generations to come, he will inspire us to grow spiritually, devote ourselves to service of all those in need and eventually service of the nation.
