Author: V. G. Rao
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 12, 2004
On January 12, the nation commemorates
the birth of Swami Vivekanand, one of its greatest sons. With his spirited
advocacy of the teachings of Sanatan Dharm he took the world by storm.
In his rather short earthly life he singlehandedly achieved what generations
of men could scarce achieve. He earned respect for his religion. Till then
dismissed as a pagan faith, especially in the West, Hinduism began to be
looked on in a new light after Swamiji spoke to the enlightened audience
at the World Parliament of Religions on the September 11, 1893, in Chicago.
He began his speech with the gambit "Sisters and Brothers of America" to
the lasting delight of all those present. He expounded Hinduism with remarkable
clarity and in prehensile terms. Overnight many foreigners became disciples
of Swamiji. His powers of persuasion won over Sister Nivedita and others
to the Hindu fold. Hinduism was born again under the stewardship of Swami
Vivekanand.
Swamiji was known as Narendranath
Dutta in his pre-novitiate days. His father Vishwanath Dutta was a solicitor.
Naren, as he was called fondly, was a rational youth and sceptical to a
fault. He studied at the General Assembly Institution in Calcutta. Its
principal Hastie once referred to Ramakrishn Paramahamsa, to drive home
the meaning of the word "trance", which he claimed the English poet Wordsworth
used to experience, sometimes. Vivekanand, who was obsessed with the quest
for God, remembered Hastie's advice long afterward.
It was a chance meeting with Shri
Ramakrishn Paramahamsa that changed the course of Naren's life. He has
described how the first meeting made him question the wisdom of approaching
an illiterate person and thereafter to drop the idea of going to him for
the second time. Vivekanand has said that a strange, irresistible power
seemed to draw him to Ramakrishn despite his reluctance. Vivekanand is
said to have posed to the saint if he had seen God. The saint replied in
the affirmative that not only had he seen God but would gladly allow Naren
a glimpse of Him. Soon He touched Naren with his foot and an electric feeling
engulfed the youth's body. He fell into commune with the almighty.
An anecdote ascribed to Shri Ramakrishn
Paramahans shows why Naren was the dearest of his disciples. Once the master
gave his close disciples a bowl each and asked them to clean them and bring
back to him. All but one of the bowls were returned in sparkling new condition.
Only Vivekanand's was returned in the same condition as it had been earlier.
Yet the master chose his bowl to the confoundment of his wards. He explained
later that while all of them had bothered to scrub the exteriors of the
pots to near perfect sheen, Vivekanand alone had bothered to clean its
inside. His attention to the inner sanctity of a thing, regardless of the
appearance of the gross exterior, was conspicuously demonstrated by that
instance.
It was through such instructive
examples that the master groomed his wards to accept Swamiji as the natural
leader among them. Swamiji's ascension to the leadership of the Ramakrishn
Mission was a foregone conclusion. He established the Belur Math of December
9, 1898, to propagate Shri Ramakrishn's philosophy, the rubric of which
was that God realisation is man's main goal in life. To this purpose he
also founded the journal Prabuddh Bharat.
Swamiji was not an archetypal recluse
that the image of a Hindu monk conveys. Burning issues of his day consumed
much of his thought and energies. He was a fiery patriot whose ideas on
religion and nationalism were lapped up by some of the stalwarts of India's
freedom struggle. The inspiring slogan: "Awake, arise and wait not until
the goal is reached!" was a clarion call made by Vivekanand to the youth
of the country to goad them to work towards casting off the chains binding
India in the form of foreign slavery. It is well-recognised that Mahatma
Gandhi took cue from the teachings of Vivekanand. Swamiji's reference to
Daridranarayan, the poorest among the poor and whose cause he held close
to his heart, finds resonance in Gandhi's own pleadings on behalf of the
Harijans.
My first exposure to Swamiji came
during college when my father suggested that I pore over his works. I found
his writings easy going and captivating enough to foster my budding interest
in Hindu philosophy. That Swamiji also struck a chord with people subscribing
to different religions was made clear to me one day, around this time.
One of my English professors, a Christian by religion, mentioned during
class how much he admired Vivekanand for his lucid prose. He urged us students
to also read and enjoy the Complete Works of Swami Vivekanand, which to
recall what my late father claimed, contained everything there was to be
said about Hinduism.