1

332

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ISSN 0032-6178

RABUDDHA
R.N. 2585/57 REGISTERED Postal Registration No. Kol RMS/96/2019–21
Published on 1 January 2019

9 770032 617002
HARATA
The best guide in life is strength. In religion, or AWAKENED INDIA
A monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order
as in all other matters, discard everything started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896
that weakens you, have nothing to do
with it.

Prabuddha Bharata • January 2019 • Thoughts on Yoga

—Swami Vivekananda

W ith
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Thoughts on Yoga
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January 2019
and Intermediates Vol. 124, No. 1
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68

PB
ISSN 0032-6178
R.N. 2585/57 REGISTERED Postal Registration No. Kol RMS/96/2019–21
1
Published on 1 February 2019
RABUDDHA
9 770032 617002

HARATA
The best guide in life is strength. In religion, or AWAKENED INDIA
as in all other matters, discard everything A monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order
started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896
that weakens you, have nothing to do
with it.
—Swami Vivekananda

W ith
Best Compliments From :

Manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

and Intermediates
Regd. Off. & Fact. : Plot No. 88 & 89, Phase-11. February 2019
Sipcot Industrial Complex. Ranipet-632 403, Tamil Nadu.
Phone : 04172-244820, 651507, Tele Fax : 04172-244820 Vol. 124, No. 2
E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.svisslabss.net
` 15.00
If undelivered, return to: ADVAITA ASHRAMA, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014, India
2

THE ROAD TO WISDOM

Swami Vivekananda on
Mind Management in Work

O ne of the greatest lessons I have learnt

in my life is to pay as much attention
to the means of work as to its end. He was
a great man from whom I learnt it, and
his own life was a practical demonstration
of this great principle. I have been always
learning great lessons from that one
principle, and it appears to me that all the put our whole mind in the work. At the
secret of success is there; to pay as much same time, we must not be attached. That
attention to the means as to the ends. Our is to say, we must not be drawn away from
great defect in life is that we are so much the work by anything else; still, we must
drawn to the ideal, the goal is so much be able to quit the work whenever we
more enchanting, so much more alluring, like. If we examine our own lives, we find
so much bigger in our mental horizon, that that the greatest cause of sorrow is this:
we lose sight of the details altogether. But we take up something, and put our whole
whenever failure comes, if we analyse it energy on it—perhaps it is a failure and yet
critically, in ninety-nine percent of cases we cannot give it up. That is the whole
we shall find that it was because we did secret of existence. We are caught though
not pay attention to the means. Proper we came to catch. We came to enjoy; we
attention to the finishing, strengthening, are being enjoyed. We came to rule; we are
of the means is what we need. With the being ruled. We came to work; we are being
means all right, the end must come. We worked. All the time, we find that. And this
forget that it is the cause that produces comes into every detail of our life. We are
the effect; the effect cannot come by itself; being worked upon by other minds, and
and unless the causes are exact, proper, and we are always struggling to work on other
powerful, the effect will not be produced. minds. We want to enjoy the pleasures of
Once the ideal is chosen and the means life; and they eat into our vitals. We want
determined, we may almost let go the ideal, to get everything from nature, but we find
because we are sure it will be there, when in the long run that nature takes everything
the means are perfected. The means are the from us—depletes us, and casts us aside.
cause; attention to the means, therefore, is
the great secret of life. We also read this in
the Gita and learn that we have to work,
constantly work with all our power [and]
F rom The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda,
(Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2016), 2.1-2.
 67

W ithin the USA, in order to impart the message of the Holy Trio
along with Indian cultural/spiritual values to children of Indian
Origin, born and raised in the USA, we provide the following activities:
1) Saturday Class and prayers: Center conducts a Bengali language
and music classes for the first generation of Bengali American kids.
The Center also conducts evening prayer on Saturdays.
2) Monthly Spiritual Program: Center conducts 15-20 spiritual
programs yearly with Ramakrishna Mission Swamis. This Center
has been blessed with the holy visit of many Senior Revered
Swamis of Ramakrishna Order including:
Revered Swami(s) Suhitanandaji, Girishanandaji, Purnatmanandaji,
Atmapriyanandaji, Atmajnanandaji, Shubhakaranandaji,
Devapriyanandaji, Sumanasanandaji, Shantatmanandaji,
Baneshanandaji, Sarvasthanandaji, Kripamayanandaji,
Sarvadevanandaji, Mahayoganandaji, Atmavidyanandaji,
Harinamanandaji, Paritushtanandaji, Sarvapriyanandaji,
Chetananandaji, Ishatmanandaji, Atmajnananandaji,
Chidekanandaji and Yogatmanandaji Maharaj.
3) Major Event Celebrations: Kalpataru Day, Birthday Celebrations of
Thakur, Ma, Swamiji, Saraswati Puja, Vijaya Dashami and Shanti
Jaal, Kali Puja, Thanksgiving Day celebrations, Christmas and Kids
Annual Music program.
4) International Seminar: Center arranges International Seminars
with Revered Ramakrishna Order Swamis, Distinguished
University Professors, Elected Political Leaders, Human Right
Activists, Religious leaders from all major religions and hosts
International Artists such as Singers Haimanti Sukla, Sri Subir
Nandi and Sri Rathindra Nath Roy, Vocalist Esha Banerjee, Tabla
Player Rishi Chatterjee and Sitar Player Partha Bose etc.
5) Vivekananda Award: The Center presents the Vivekananda Award
to those exceptional individuals who render services to advance
society according to the idea and ideals of Swami Vivekananda.
6) Community Services: Center helps new immigrant families from
Bangladesh to find jobs, apartments, good schools for their kids,
good attorneys, tax accountants, health insurance and citizenship
help.
Contact us:
172-05 Highland Ave, Jamaica Estate, NY 11432
Email: [email protected]

Managing Editor: Swami Muktidananda. Editor: Swami Narasimhananda. Printed by: Swami Vibhatmananda
at Gipidi Box Co., 3B Chatu Babu Lane, Kolkata 700 014 and published by him for Advaita Ashrama (Mayavati)
from Advaita Ashrama, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014, on 1 February 2019.
Vol. 124, No. 2
February 2019 PBRABUDDHA
HARATA
or AWAKENED INDIA
Managing Editor A monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order
Swami Muktidananda started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896
Editor
Swami Narasimhananda
Associate Editor and Design Contents
Swami Divyakripananda
Production Editor
Swami Chidekananda
Traditional Wisdom 295
Cover Design
Subhabrata Chandra This Month 296
Print Production Coordination
Swami Vedavratananda Editorial: #moksha 297
Internet Edition Coordination
Swami Jnanishananda Sister Nivedita— 299
Circulation Her Understanding of Swami Vivekananda
Indrajit Sinha
Tapas Jana Swami Atmapriyananda
Editorial Office
Prabuddha Bharata Spiritual Quest 311
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Uttarakhand, India The Courage to be Human 319
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Printed and Published by Young Eyes: How I Look at Dogs 329
Swami Vibhatmananda
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Internet Edition
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4
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8

N N
Swami Brahmanandaji’s
156th Birthday Anniversary

An aspirant should not feel dejected in spirit, brooding on his failures

and mistakes. However great a sin a man may have committed, it is a
sin only to the limited vision of man; from the absolute standpoint, it
is nothing at all. A single glance of the Lord sets at naught all the sins
of millions of births. God, our Father, is ever merciful to us. His Name
removes all evils. Therefore, there is no cause for dejection if we call
upon Him sincerely.
—Swami Brahmananda

With loving pranams from

your Dedicated Servants.
—USA Devotees
9
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Swami Swahananda
A Profile in Greatness
by Dr. Malay Das
The spiritual head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California for
thirty-six years, Swami Swahananda, a direct disciple of Swami Vijnanananda,
worked ceaselessly to spread Sri Ramakrishna’s message. He established
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In this intimate, loving portrait, Dr. Malay Das presents Swami
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Pages: 234 | Price: ` 80 ability to love with detachment, and his dignity and grace during his final
Packing & Postage: ` 50 illness.
Written in a simple, lucid and entertaining style, this spiritual biography
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 Traditional
Wisdom
Wrút²; std{; ŒtËg JhtrªtctuÆt; >
Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached!

February 2019
Maitrayaniya Upanishad Vol. 124, No. 2

मैत्रायणीयोपनिषत‍ ्

अथान्यत्राप्क् यु तं द्वे वाव ब्रह्मणो अभिध्येय े शब्दश्चाशब्दश्चाथ शब्देन ैवाशब्दमाविष्क्रियतेऽथ तत्र ओमिति-
शब्दोऽनेनोर्ध्वम-ु त्क्रान्तोऽशब्दे निधनमेत्यथाहैषा गतिरेतदमृतमेतत‍साय ् ज्य
ु त्वं निर्वृतत्वं तथा चेत्यथ
यथोर्णनाभि-स्तन् तुनोर्ध्वमत्क ु ्रान्तोऽवकाशं लभतीत्येवं वाव खल्वसा अभिध्याता ओमित्यनेनोर्ध्वमत्क ु ्रान्तः
स्वातन्त्र्यं लभतेऽन्यथा परे शब्दवादिनः । ॥६.२२॥

Atha-anyatrapy-uktam dve vava brahmano abhidhyeye shabdash-cha-ashabdash-cha-atha

shabdenaiva ashabdam avishkriyate’tha tatra omiti shabdo’nenordhvam utkranto’shabde
nidhanam-ety-atha-ahaisha gatir-etad-amritam-etat sayujyatvam nirvritatvam tatha chety-atha
yathorna-nabhis-tantunordhvam-utkranto’vakasham labhatityevam vava khalvasa abhidhyata
omity-anenordhvam-utkrantah svantantryam labhate’nyatha pare shabdavadinah. (6.22)

And thus it has been said elsewhere: ‘There are indeed two Brahmans to be meditated upon,
sound and non-sound. By sound alone is the non-sound revealed. Now here the sound is
Om. Moving upward by it one comes to ascend in the non-sound. So this is the way, this is
immortality, this is complete union and also tranquillity. And now as the spider moves up-
ward by the thread, obtains free space, thus certainly indeed, the meditator moving upward
by the syllable Om obtains independence.’ Other expounders of the sound as Brahman think
otherwise.(6.22)

PB February 2019 295

THIS MONTH

V
arious topics become the fad of the crusade against an anonymous authority. Under
day. Trends and viral phenomena have the spell of this anonymous authority one has to
sprialled in this age of burgeoning social present oneself in a way approved by the group.
media. What should be the existential fad and Such conformity gives rise to existential prob-
what should become viral in human societies is lems. Swami Kritarthananda, Ramakrishna
discussed in #moksha. Math, Belur Math, analyses various aspects of
Swami Atmapriyananda, vice chancellor, The Courage to Be Human.
Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational The young have wonderful insights on various
and Research Institute (rkmveri), attempts to issues. In Young Eyes, such insights are brought
capture Sister Nivedita’s understanding of Swami to the readers every month. This month, Aadrika
Vivekananda in Sister Nivedita—Her Under- Chattopadhyay, a school student of class four
standing of Swami Vivekananda. from Kolkata, shares her insights on pet dogs in
Swami Satyapriyananda, a former editor of How I Look at Dogs.
Prabuddha Bharata, presently residing at Rama- Many wonderful nuggets of wisdom con-
krishna Math, Belur Math emphasises the im- tained in ancient scriptures are difficult to
portance of discernment, detachment, and understand. In Balabodha, such ancient wisdom
renunciation in spiritual life in Spiritual Quest. is made easy. This month’s topic is Bhagavan.
Courage finds expression in an infinite num- Understanding this popular word is necessary
ber of ways in our day-to-day life. Wherever to understand its meaning.
there is lack of courage, life ceases to be worth We suffer because of our desires and attach-
the name. It is no better than mere vegetation. ments. Thus, we ourselves create our bondage.
At present we are living in an era of automa- This is explained in the second and concluding
ton conformity to the majority or group. The instalment of the story Self-created Bondage.
idea of conformity has dissipated so much into This story is this month’s Traditional Tales and
our being that we never feel to question its val- has been translated from the Tamil book An-
idity. But at the same time we feel the prick of mika Kathaigal.
conformity to a group or majority. When this Joel Brockner, the Phillip Hettleman Profes-
conformity is related to an overt authority, we sor of Business at Columbia Business School,
express our pent up feelings against that author- the author of A Contemporary Look at Organiza-
ity through rebellion or violence. But the case tional Justice and Self-Esteem at Work, and the co-
becomes tough when the authority demand- author of Entrapment in Escalating Conflicts, has
ing our conformity is a covert one, namely, so- written the book The Process Matters: Engag-
ciety, market, ‘common sense’, public opinion, ing and Equipping People for Success. From
economic necessities, and so on. One cannot this book, we bring you this month’s Manana.

296 PB February 2019

EDITORIAL

#moksha

I
t is quite trendy to follow what is trending or viral. A person should then, first feel
trending these days. One wears what is the the inspiration or even a need for creating some-
fashion, talks what is the fad, eats in places thing and then, also consider it important to
that are happening, watches movies that have
rave reviews, buys mobile phones with highest Hashtag moksha should be our call to our-
star ratings, and sheepishly surrenders one’s wit selves and a wisdom shared with others.
and will to the scales of five-star markings, ‘most
likely’ to ‘least likely’, serials of one to ten, and share such a creation. This act of sharing only
all other such euphemistically foolish human increases the value of that thing to the creator,
inventions of mass subordination. What has because in true sharing, one acknowledges the
happened to the human ability to think, one fact that the thing shared is, or could be, of the
might wonder. In a race to prove to be better same significance to others as it is to the creator.
than the others, in a race to find concurrence This is quite opposite to the general percep-
with others, and also in desperate attempts to tion that something that is personally important
be liked and loved, human beings are being en- to someone should not be shared with others,
gulfed in a vicious whirlpool of trending topics to preserve the sanctity of personal memories,
and viral phenomena. thoughts, and feelings. However, do these so-
How does something trend? How does called personal memories, cherished moments,
something go viral? For something to trend or connections, or relationships give true happi-
go viral, two things are necessary: the arising of ness or joy or is it the connection of our self or
a new creation and the acceptance of this cre- being that adds joy to the otherwise mundane
ation by a large number of people. Any such cre- commonalities of life? In truth, these personal
ation could be an artistic creation, some work of somethings are not existentially important to
utility, or could even be a thought or idea. One us. That is why we do not want to share them.
who creates this creation has to have some kind Without our ‘I’ connected to these things, they
of inspiration to accomplish this feat. Though lose all meaning. On the other hand, we do share
the degrees of subtlety or finesse of the creation wisdom of all kinds. Human beings shared the
might vary, the creator should feel the inspir- wisdom of fire and the wheel. We humans have
ation from within. an inborn tendency to network. And through
Integral to the phenomena of trending or the networks that we create, we share all exist-
going viral is the willingness or ability of the cre- ential wisdom.
ator to share one’s creation. Unexpressed gems of Thus, it is not enough if the creator has a cre-
thought or hidden works of art can never reach a ation and the willingness to share it, but that
person other than the creator, much less become creation should be existentially relevant. Then

PB February 2019 297

 14 Prabuddha Bharata

arises the natural question whether the innu- we call sages and saints. They went out of their
merable songs, videos, tweets, memes, and other way to share this twin idea with the world; they
such countless phenomena are existentially ne- wanted to share their bliss with others. Uncount-
cessary for human beings. These things are by able incarnations and prophets have flooded this
themselves, of course, not necessary for us, but world with their wisdom; more will come in the
the feelings of humour, togetherness, love, and future. But, it is a pity and a great loss, a great
a host of other such human emotions are defin- misfortune, that this twin idea of the problem
itely existential to the human condition. That and the solution has not been accepted by the
explains why a creation willingly shared by a masses, that it has not started trending or not
creator is accepted by others. This acceptance gone viral. The reason is contained in the twin
comes due to the shared need for the diverse idea itself, suffering, or more accurately, the suf-
human faculties. fering of the ignorance of the truth of suffer-
On a closer look, though, one immediately ing. To draw a parallel from present times, this
understands this sharing and acceptance to be is much like a person being oblivious of some
mere dabbling on the surface of human exist- ailment, who has to be told of this suffering by a
ence. As is well-known, it is death that is certain doctor after conducting many investigations, and
in human life. Similarly, it is suffering that is the then the person starts suffering or starts being
common denominator of all stages of the human aware of the suffering.
existence. However, one would be surprised at This twin idea of suffering and moksha needs
the obtuse nature of the general human intellect to trend today more than ever in the history of
that fails to comprehend this all-pervasiveness of humanity. We have created an impenetrable lab-
suffering in every moment of human life. Had it yrinth of illusions within illusions, concentric
not been the case, Lord Buddha would not have circles within concentric circles, whirlpools in
had to proclaim to the world the obvious truth whirlpools of misery, series within series of lies,
that there is suffering in this world. He was only and have marred a clear vision of our perfect
repeating what numerous seers and rishis before selves with fleeting dreams, foggy as ever. Swami
him had told to the world. Vivekananda promised us that he would con-
This idea of suffering has a corollary idea of tinue to work till every being in this universe re-
a way that leads us out of this suffering. The alises its identity with God. While we have made
first task at hand is to understand that suffer- Swamiji, the person, a trending topic, and while
ing pervades every moment of our lives and many of his utterances are going viral, have we
then to understand that we have to have a com- or should we not accept the need to know that
pletely different outlook on and understanding we are one with God? Why are we embroiling
of every moment of our lives. When we have ourselves in this deep mire of murk? Why do
the correct understanding of our selves, this not we see light that is beckoning us to be seers?
universe, and our lives, we would know that Let us trend this moksha, let us tweet mukti, let
there was no suffering in the first place, and us make this twin idea viral. #moksha should
that all this suffering was created due to our be our mantra till we find light, till we find that
wrong understanding. one answer to all questions. Hashtag moksha
This idea of suffering and a way out of it is the should be our call to ourselves and a wisdom
creation of great experimenters of reality, whom shared with others. P

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 Sister Nivedita—
Her Understanding
of
Swami
Vivekananda
Swami Atmapriyananda

J
osephine MacLeod, Swami Vivekananda’s
American disciple who chose to call herself a
‘friend’ rather than a disciple, described his
personality in an aphoristic sentence as fol-
lows: ‘The thing that held me in Swamiji was his
unlimitedness. I never could touch the bottom—
or top—or sides. The amazing size of him! … Oh,
such natures make one so free. … It is the Truth
that I saw in Swamiji that has set me free!’1 Medi-
tation on any aspect of this multi-faceted genius
is a highly rewarding exercise and it could in- there were another Vivekananda, he would have
deed set us free! In fact, the profundity and com- understood what Vivekananda has done!’2 I be-
plexity of Swamiji’s personality and thoughts, at lieve that it was only his divine Master, Sri Ra-
once full of simplicity and perspicuity, are best makrishna, who understood him fully. The won-
understood though the lens of his disciples who derful and enigmatic fact is that Swamiji himself
lived with him closely, listened to his talks day did not understand himself fully because of the
in and day out, saw him in his sublime as well as divine play of his Master who put a veil over him
normal moods, meditated upon his personality in order to prevent him from understanding him-
and words with utmost reverence by bringing self. Sri Ramakrishna said: ‘The day he knew his
their hearts and minds in unison. One such out- real nature, he would give up the body through
standing disciple among his western disciples is Yoga, by an act of will’ (1.80).
Sister Nivedita, through whose eyes our ordinary One of the chief concerns of Sri Ramakrishna
and dull minds could have a powerful glimpse of was that his beloved Narendranath, Swamiji’s pre-
Swamiji’s gigantic and multi-faceted personality. monastic name, should be prevented from know-
Understanding Swamiji is a task that baffles ing his own real nature and Sri Ramakrishna’s
us and we stop at just admiring and adoring him! other monastic disciples—Swamiji’s brother-disci-
Swamiji himself said at the very end of his life: ‘If ples—were specially mandated to see that Swamiji

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did not lapse into that divine mood in which the work—bhakti, jnana, and karma, that made Sis-
veil that was thrown over him by divine will, to ter Nivedita a unique model, a guiding spirit dur-
prevent him from having a revelation about his ing her fairly short life on this earth and after her
real nature, was rent asunder! Swamiji, speaking death, she continues to remain an eternal source
about his Master Sri Ramakrishna said: ‘You see, of inspiration particularly to our women—to in-
the fact is that Shri Ramakrishna is not exactly spire, enlighten, and to empower them in their
what the ordinary followers have comprehended journey towards greatness and glory at the indi-
him to be. He had infinite moods and phases. vidual and the collective levels.
Even if you might form an idea of the limits of A gigantic and multifaceted personality like
Brahmajnana, the knowledge of the Absolute, Swamiji cannot be understood through intellec-
you could not have any idea of the unfathomable tual powers of comprehension alone. One needs
depths of his mind!’3 The same could be said, in a to bring the intuitive faculty, merge the heart in
lesser measure, of Swamiji himself—‘O, the amaz- the mind—mano hridi niruddhya as the Gita
ing size of him!’ as Josephine MacLeod exclaimed (8.12) puts it and through the multi-pronged
in wonder and amazement. This is perhaps an attempt of the blended powers of heart, higher
echo what Sri Krishna said in the Bhagavadgita: intuition, and mind—hrida, manisha, manasa-
‘Some see It [the Atman] as a wonder, some speak abhiklipto, in the words of the Katha Upani-
of It as a wonder, some hear about It as a wonder, shad—one could catch a glimpse of the infinite
[but alas] none knows It [even] after hearing about dimensions of this cosmic person although ap-
It.’4 Swamiji, indeed, is such a wonder! pearing confined in this finite human frame by
Being trained and educated in the West and a blend of these three.5
having had the privilege of being re-trained and Sister Nivedita could, to a large extent,
re-educated by Swamiji, her illustrious Master achieve this level of intuition that enabled her
in the East, Sister Nivedita represents a unique to be blessed with a peep into the mind and heart
and beautiful blend of the best elements of the of the world prophet of infinitely ‘amazing size’
East and the West as envisioned by his Master as Josephine MacLeod put it. She could accom-
Swamiji. In actualising this vision of Swamiji, plish this understanding largely through merg-
Sister Nivedita contributed immensely to creat- ing her own little personality in that vastness,
ing a blend of the rich cultural and spiritual her- infinity, that Swamiji himself was. In this erasing
itage of India—its mysticism and inward con- of her own little personality for which she strug-
templative approach—energised and reinforced gled and struggled for years, Nivedita was blessed
by the dynamism and creativity of modern sci- with a glimpse of Swamiji’s personality. She was
ence and technology of the West. Her scholar- granted access to Swamiji’s infinite storehouse
ship was as vast as it was intense and her feeling of spiritual and philosophical thoughts of rarest
heart blended beautifully with her scintillating wisdom arising in this amazing mind endowed
intellect. Combined to both was her fearless and with a penetrating insight. What were the es-
bold approach in executing what she thought and sential components in Nivedita’s understanding
felt was for the good of India, which she adopted of Swamiji? The answer to this question, albeit
as her motherland. It is this unique combination sketchy, is being attempted in this article.
that her Master Swamiji gifted to her—the heart Nivedita’s understanding of Swamiji has
to feel, the brains to conceive, and the hands to two dimensions: one, her understanding of

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 Sister Nivedita—Her Understanding of Swami Vivekananda 17

Swamiji’s personality; and two, her understand- source of Swamiji’s power which was Sri Ramak-
ing of Swamiji’s philosophy. A glimpse of her rishna. Another person who knew this was Mrs
understanding of Swamiji’s personality has been Ole Bull, a fact that Swamiji himself acknowl-
given before. Now, Nivedita’s understanding of edged. He wrote to Mrs Bull in a letter: ‘You have
Swamiji’s philosophy was as profound as her un- been one friend with whom Shri Ramakrishna
derstanding of Swamiji’s personality. I give below has become the goal of life—that is the secret of
some of Nivedita’s understanding of Swamiji’s my trust in you. Others love me personally. But
personality and later move on to her understand- they little dream that what they love me for is
ing of Swamiji’s teachings and philosophy. Ramakrishna; leaving Him, I am only a mass of
The very first vital understanding of Swamiji foolish selfish emotions.’7 Sister Nivedita could
that made Nivedita unique among Swamiji’s dis- realise the role of Swamiji as a playmate and help-
ciples was that Swamiji was inseparably tied to Sri less instrument of Sri Ramakrishna in the Ra-
Ramakrishna. Very few of Swamiji’s own follow- makrishna-Vivekananda divine play, lila. Nived-
ers and disciples could understand, in his own life- ita’s own words are worth quoting in this context:
time, that Ramakrishna-Vivekananda were twin In his Master, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, liv-
souls come to redeem humankind, two in one and ing and teaching in the temple-garden at Dak-
one in two, inseparable. The signature that Nived- shineshwar, the Swami Vivekananda—‘Naren’
ita standardised and retained even after she had as he then was—found that verification of the
to formally quit the Ramakrishna Mission itself ancient texts which his heart and his reason
in reverential obedience to her guru’s firm dictate had demanded. Here was the reality which
the books only brokenly described. Here was
that no member of the Mission can indulge in
one to whom Samadhi was a constant mode
active politics, is now well known: N of RK-V— of knowledge. Every hour saw the swing of the
Nivedita of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda. Swamiji mind from the many to the One. Every mo-
would rarely discuss his guru Sri Ramakrishna ment heard the utterance of wisdom gathered
with his disciples unless they were highly intimate superconsciously. Everyone about him caught
and had the subtle understanding to fathom the the vision of the divine. Upon the disciple came
depth of his personality and the ultimate source the desire for supreme knowledge ‘as if it had
of his power and inspiration. been a fever’. Yet he who was thus the living em-
bodiment of the books was so unconsciously,
Swamiji told Nivedita during a sea voyage:
for he had read none of them! In his Guru, Ra-
‘He [Sri Ramakrishna] is the method, that won- makrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda found
derful unconscious method! He did not under- the key to life (1.xvi).
stand himself. … But he lived that great life—and
I read the meaning.’6 This was such a rare revela- The second understanding of Nivedita, flowing
tion that shows Swamiji as just an image cast in from the first mentioned above, was that Swamiji’s
the mould of Sri Ramakrishna, as ‘his Master’s mission on earth was the same as Sri Ramakrish-
voice’ whose significance is profound so much so na’s own mission—to awaken humankind to the
that Nivedita considered that ‘this one talk of my realisation of their innate divinity and to realise
Master had been well worth the whole voyage, to their oneness with the Infinite. Nivedita’s com-
have heard’ (169). ments on Swamiji’s vision: ‘He, indeed, had the
Thus, from Nivedita’s own writings one could generosity to extend to the West, the same gospel
surmise that Nivedita clearly knew this divine that the Indian sages had preached in the past to

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the Indian people—the doctrine of the Divinity practices, made him the veritable embodiment
in man … He was for ever finding new ways to of spiritual power, a dynamo of spiritual energy,
express his belief that all men alike had the same who had the extraordinary capacity to transmit
vast potentiality.’8 The words of blessings that Sri it and transform people by a mere touch.
Ramakrishna uttered to humanity just a couple Swamiji said: ‘Accumulate power in silence
of months before he passed away may be recalled and become a dynamo of spirituality’ (7.61). Ro-
in this context: ‘May you all be illumined!’9 It was main Rolland wrote, in his famous biography
to Nivedita that Swamiji revealed this aspect of of Swamiji: ‘He was the personification of the
his mission, that was the same as of his guru Sri harmony of all human energy.’11 This energy,
Ramakrishna, when he wrote to her: ‘My ideal though flowing through a human channel, was
indeed can be put into a few words and that is: in reality the spiritual power that Swamiji had
to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how accumulated over decades of spiritual practice
to make it manifest in every movement of life.’10 and the power that Sri Ramakrishna had poured
The third understanding of Nivedita was the into him. Nivedita understood this dimension
spiritual dimension of Swamiji’s personality, his of Swamiji’s personality through her own spiri-
scaling the Everest of spiritual realisation, namely, tual wisdom as well as by being a recipient of
nirvikalpa samadhi by the grace of his guru Sri Swamiji’s spiritual power through his transform-
Ramakrishna and his forced climb down there- ing touch. She describes this rare moment of
from again at the loving behest of his guru for benediction in the following words:
the spiritual amelioration and emancipation of He lifted his hands and blessed, with silent
humankind wallowing in the mire of worldliness depths of blessing, his most rebellious disciple,
and crying in intense despair and sorrow. Not by time kneeling before him. … It was assuredly
many of Swamiji’s western disciples possessed a moment of wonderful sweetness of reconcili-
knowledge of this aspect of his personality—his ation. But such a moment may heal a wound. It
unfathomable spiritual dimension rarely accessi- cannot restore an illusion that has been broken
ble to ordinary minds. That was the real Swamiji, into fragments. And I have told its story, only
that I may touch upon its sequel. Long, long
this innocent child of Sri Ramakrishna as he him-
ago, Sri Ramakrishna had told his disciples that
self revealed on rare occasions. the day would come when his beloved ‘Noren’
In a remarkable letter dated 18 April 1900 to would manifest his own great gift of bestow-
Miss Josephine MacLeod, who he nicknamed ing knowledge with a touch. That evening at
‘Joe’, Swamiji laid bare this confession—revela- Almora, I proved the truth of his prophecy.
tion of his ‘true nature’ in the following words: For alone, in meditation, I found myself gazing
‘After all, Joe, I am only the boy who used to deep into an Infinite Good, to the recognition
listen with rapt wonderment to the wonderful of which no egoistic reasoning had led me. I
words of Ramakrishna under the Banyan at Da- learnt, too, on the physical plane, the simple
everyday reality of the experience related in the
kshineswar. That is my true nature; works and
Hindu books on religious psychology. And I
activities, doing good and so forth are all super- understood for the first time, that the greatest
impositions’ (6.431). Sri Ramakrishna literally teachers may destroy in us a personal relation
poured himself, emptied himself, into his beloved only in order to bestow the Impersonal Vision
Naren on the eve of his passing away and that, in its place.12
reinforced with Swamiji’s own intense spiritual As to Nivedita’s profound insight into

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Swamiji’s teachings and philosophy, it may be potentially divine’, he was articulating one of the
said that it was to Nivedita that Swamiji revealed most fundamental ideas of Vedanta. He wanted
some of his marvellous insights born of his deep the Indian civilisation and the world civilisation
realisation of his mission in life. I would cite later to be based upon this particular idea of the di-
a few examples of this rare insight of Nivedita as vinity of human soul. In addition to this funda-
revealed by her in her magnum opus, The Master mental idea, there is another fundamental idea
As I Saw Him, containing rare gems of thoughts that he made the bedrock of his philosophical
collected by Nivedita, by diving deep into the thought structure and that is ‘oneness of all ex-
fathomless ocean of Swamiji’s mind and heart. istence’ or ‘solidarity of the universe’. In his fa-
mous Lectures from Colombo to Almora deliv-
Insight One: Swamiji’s Ideal Aphoristi- ered immediately on his triumphal return from
cally Conveyed to Nivedita the West in 1897, he hammered these two ideas
What was Swamiji’s ideal in life? What exactly in almost every lecture: the divinity of the soul
did he teach? The following famous and oft- and the oneness of all existence or the solidarity
quoted statements about what Swamiji con- of the universe.
sidered his ideal in life was revealed by him to When he spoke in Madras, Swamiji said: ‘I
Nivedita: ‘My ideal indeed can be put into a need not tell you today, men from Madras Uni-
few words and that is: to preach unto mankind versity, how the modern researches of the West
their divinity, and how to make it manifest in have demonstrated through physical means the
every movement of life.’13 Innate divinity of oneness and the solidarity of the whole uni-
man, what Swamiji called the ‘potential divin- verse’ (3.188). In his famous paper on Hindu-
ity of the soul’ is one of the cardinal principles ism presented in the World’s Parliament of Re-
of Swamiji’s teachings, whose implications are as ligions, 1893 at Chicago, which is one of the
vast as they are deep. Swamiji repeatedly men- very few pieces that he actually wrote—and we
tioned that he spoke nothing but the Upani- know Swamiji wrote very little except his let-
shads. He said: ‘If you look, you will find that ters that have become immortal, but he spoke
I have never quoted anything but the Upani- much—he writes about, three kinds of monism,
shads. And of the Upanishads, it is only that which I believe is one of the greatest contribu-
One idea, strength’ (8.267). Swamiji was so fond tions of Swamiji to the modern thought and
of Upanishads and wanted to revive the Upani- world civilisation.
shadic culture of thought in India. He wanted to Monism or Advaita is usually spoken of in
bring the Puranic India back to the Upanishadic the spiritual sense. All of us know that Acha-
India. Why was that? Swamiji himself answered rya Shankara, one of the greatest exponents of
it by saying that the Upanishads are the source Advaita, talked about Atman-Brahman aikya,
of strength because the Upanishads steer clear the oneness or the identity of the Atman, which
of all the dogmas and doctrines, all the various is the individual consciousness; and Brahman,
creeds and theories, and help us directly encoun- which is the universal supreme Consciousness.
ter the supreme Reality which is identical with All the schools of Vedanta talk about Brahman-
the Reality in every being. Atman relationship in varying degrees but the
When Swamiji phrased his philosophical sum and substance of all these schools is the fun-
thought in the simple aphorism, ‘each soul is damental divine nature of the human soul. We

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need not debate on whether it is a part of the su- Swamiji discovered this to be the central, core
preme Consciousness, or one with the supreme message of the Upanishads. This idea of One-
Consciousness, or eternally different but sub- ness at all levels of existence, as expounded by the
ordinate to the supreme Consciousness—the Upanishads, always fascinated him. For, he re-
three Vedantic schools of Vishishtadvaita, Ad- alised, like nobody before him, that the modern
vaita, and Dvaita hold these three views respec- age belonged to science and technology, whose
tively—but focus on the fundamental idea of the unprecedented rise and challenge could be faced
divinity of the soul and blend it with the idea of only by Upanishadic thought, Vedantic wisdom.
the oneness of all existence, arrive at the grand The age that Swamiji saw emerging at that
conclusion that all that is, is divine; all that is, is time, later developing through the nineteenth
pervaded and interpenetrated by divinity. and twentieth centuries, was the age of criti-
Now, Acharya Shankara spoke about the cal reason, the age of science and technology,
identity of Atman and Brahman in a spiritual wherein nothing would be taken for granted
sense, and he said that the essence of the Vedanta until passed through the fire of reason. Swamiji
is the realisation of the identity of the Atman could see the fury and power of this age rising
and Brahman which is spoken of in the Upani- fast and said therefore, in his own inimitable
shads. According to him the Upanishads spoke style: ‘The sledge-hammer blows of modern sci-
about the identity of the individual soul and the ence are pulverising the porcelain mass of sys-
universal Spirit, Atman-Brahman aikya, which is tems whose foundation is either in faith or in
aphoristically stated in the famous maha­vakyas, belief or in the majority of votes of church syn-
the great sayings of Vedanta, namely, ‘Aham ods’ (4.348–9). He could foresee that religion or
brahmasmi; I am Brahman’,14 ‘Tattvamasi; you philosophy or theology or metaphysics based on
are that’,15 ‘Ayamatma brahma; this Atman is doctrines and creeds and dogmas is not going to
Brahman’,16 and ‘Prajnanam brahma; Con- survive any more as it would fail the test of rea-
sciousness is Brahman’.17 son. The modern age needs a scientific and ratio-
Swamiji applied this wonderful idea expand- nal basis of philosophy and religion and Swamiji
ing its scope to cover the entire spectrum of ex- saw that it was only Vedanta, the Upanishadic
istence—physical, mental, and spiritual planes. wisdom that could provide such a basis—that is
This, we may say, is one of his greatest contri- the Upanishadic idea of Oneness of the Atman
butions to world thought in the modern age. and Brahman, the atma-brahma aikya, inter-
This realisation of the all-encompassing applica- preted and understood as meaning oneness at
tion of mahavakyas interpreted in a very modern all levels of existence—physical, mental, intel-
sense, Swamiji believed, would bring about ma- lectual, and spiritual.
terial and intellectual upliftment as well as spiri- Now, how is it that the Upanishads provide
tual emancipation. In that famous paper that he such a rational and scientific basis? Because the
wrote and read out at the World’s Parliament of whole of the Upanishads is based on investiga-
Religions, the ‘Paper on Hinduism’, he speaks tion and not mere belief. Upanishads or Vedanta
about three kinds of monism: first, he calls the is not mere doctrine, it is not a dogma, it is not a
materialistic monism; second, the philosophi- creed, it is not metaphysics, it is not even philos-
cal monism at the intellectual level, and the ophy or religion. It is just clear investigation into
third, spiritual monism at the level of the spirit. the nature of Reality, it is investigation into who

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 Sister Nivedita—Her Understanding of Swami Vivekananda 21

we really are, into what is the core of our being. universal and inclusive—is transformed into a
This investigation is called jijnasa, as in athato ‘science of consciousness’ contradistinguished
brahmajijnasa, or athato dharma jijnasa, that from the popular notion of religion as ‘doctrinal
is, ‘Now begins the enquiry into the nature of conformity, ceremonial piety’. Religion sheds its
Brahman, supreme Reality’, or ‘Now begins the religiosity to become a science of spirituality. In-
enquiry into the nature of dharma’.18 It is called terestingly, the modern youth, particularly in the
jijnasa, enquiry, and is also called mimamsa, as in West, fired by scientific thought and temper, are
purva mimamsa and uttara mimamsa dealing re- looking exactly for this kind of religion, which in
spectively with dharma and moksha. Mimamsa fact is the science of spirituality. This new wave
means, a conclusive fact of realisation, clear de- movement in the West is the question raised by
termination at the end of a scientific enquiry. the modern scientifically-minded youth: ‘How
to be spiritual but not religious?’
Insight Two: Religion is Realisation, Swamiji anticipated this long ago when he
Hinduism Characterised by asserted in his inimitable powerful language
‘An Infinite Inclusiveness’ that under the sledge-hammer blows of mod-
Another cardinal principle that Swamiji was ern scientific discoveries, the doctrines of the
never tired of teaching and which forms the church will get pulverized like pieces of porce-
core of his definition of religion is that the lain. We may do well to quote Nivedita herself
Hindu faith is essentially experiential, based on who caught this fundamental idea through her
direct realisation—what the Upanishad calls insightful mind: ‘The vast complexus of systems
sakshat, aparokshat, that is, direct and imme- which made up Hinduism, was in every case
diate super-sensory perception of the Truth of based upon the experimental realisation of reli-
super-consciousness. gion, and characterised by an infinite inclusive-
In an era when psychology was groping with ness. The only tests of conformity ever imposed
sub-conscious, conscious, and unconscious, it by the priesthood had been social, and while
was Swamiji who emphasised that the Indian this had resulted in a great rigidity of custom,
and Hindu idea of religion is based on super- it implied that to their thinking the mind was
consciousness, which is dormant, potentially eternally free.’19
present, waiting to be manifested in all beings.
Religion is the struggle to ascend along the Insight Three: Swamiji’s Contribution to
inner staircase leading to the realisation of su- Solving an Age-Old Dispute Between
per-consciousness when the ‘potential divinity’ the Main Schools Of Vedanta
gets fully manifest and a brute passing through The dispute among the three main schools of
purification to become a human, ultimately be- Vedanta philosophy is well known, that has
comes so completely purified—what is known unfortunately derailed the very purpose of Ve-
in technical terms as shuddha sattvic, that is, danta which is to realise oneself as the divine,
endowed with the purest sattva—that one is which Swamiji called, ‘the manifestation of the
transformed into God, realises one’s innate di- Divinity within’. This has led to senseless acri-
vine Self called Atman. mony and ill-will culminating in vituperation
Religion, thus understood, is purged of its of the worst kind snowballing into the produc-
narrow, sectarian, dogmatic taint and becomes tion of very many Vedanta texts replete with the

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vilest vituperative expletives, like ‘hundred vi- and Modified Unism, were but stages on the
tuperative verses’—Shata-dushani of Vedanta way to Unism itself; and the final bliss, for all
Desika, ‘the sweetness of cutting the opponent alike, was the mergence in One without a sec-
to pieces’—Khandana-khanda-khadya of Sri ond. It is said that at one of his midday ques-
tion-classes, a member of his audience asked
Harsha, and so on.
him why, if this was the truth, it had never be-
This has been going on for decades if not fore been mentioned by any of the Masters. It
centuries and Vedanta not only lost its orienta- was customary to give answers to these ques-
tion and purpose, but India came into the grip tions, first in English, and then in Sanskrit, for
of divisive forces that were destroying the basic the benefit of such scholars present as knew no
fabric of peace and harmony so characteristic of modern language, and the great gathering was
Hindu society. It was at this juncture that the startled, on this occasion, to hear the reply ‘—
prophet of harmony, Sri Ramakrishna, appeared Because I was born for this, and it was left for
me to do!’ (200–1).
on the scene and through his beloved ‘Noren’,
Swami Vivekananda, proclaimed to the world
Insight Four: Swamiji’s Revolutionary
that the various paths leading to the supreme
Perception ‘In The Many and The One,
Reality were not contradictory, but comple-
The Same Reality’
mentary. Sister Nivedita’s understanding of this
truth, uninitiated into the origin and nuances of Swamiji realised that the modern age is an age
the ideological conflict raging over centuries and of intense activity rather than intense thought
unfamiliar with its idioms, is indeed remarkable. as the modern person, with much vaunted pride
Her penetrating insight and brilliant intellect in the glory of technology, would be a victim of
purified by penance could at once grasp the im- restless activity and find little time to ‘stand and
mensity and intensity of Swamiji’s reconciliation stare’. Given this inevitable fact of the modern
of the warring schools of Vedanta that saved Ve- person’s rajas-predominance, Swamiji wanted
danta itself from getting lost in the quagmire of to teach a universal doctrine of karma or ac-
self-destructive conflict. She records this insight tivity à la Sri Krishna in the Gita elucidating
in The Master as I Saw Him, citing an incident the secret of transforming karma as a potent
that occurred in Madras in 1897 on Swamiji’s re- means of liberation or mukti suited to the mod-
turn from the West: ern age. This new brand of karma yoga which
It was on his return to India, in January 1897, subsumes jnana and bhakti as well as integrates
that the Swami, in philosophic form, made yoga into it, was Swamiji’s unique contribution
that contribution to the thought of his people, to the spiritual and philosophical thought of
which, it has been said elsewhere, is required the modern age.
by India of all her epoch-makers. Hitherto, the Nivedita was not only quick to realise the
three philosophic systems—of Unism, Dual- uniqueness of this new teaching, in fact the new
ism, and Modified Unism or Advaita, Dvaita, emphasis given by Swamiji to the already exist-
and Visishtādvaita—had been regarded as of-
fering to the soul, three different ideals of lib- ing karma yoga, but could also realise—which
eration. No attempt had ever before been made appears to be an extraordinary insight—that
to reconcile these schools. On reaching Madras, this new vision of karma yoga was rooted in
however, in 1897, Vivekananda boldly claimed and emerged as a natural consequence of Sri Ra-
that even the utmost realisations of Dualism makrishna’s realisation of what he called vijnana

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that made him remain stay put most naturally in Nivedita not only quickly realised the deeper
the state of consciousness called bhavamukha, significance of this doctrine but could relate it
transcending even Advaita, albeit not negating easily with Sri Ramakrishna, poised in bha-
it. This is clear from Nivedita’s comparison of vamukha as he was, when he said that God is
Swamiji’s karma yoga as ‘not divorced from, but both with form and without form. This doc-
expressing jnana and bhakti’ with Sri Ramakrish- trine of the equal reality of the One and the
na’s saying that God is both with form and with- many emerging naturally from Sri Ramakrish-
out form. This simultaneity of saguna and nir- na’s vijnana realisation, forms the bedrock of
guna aspects of the supreme Reality, hitherto un- the Ramakrishna Order’s plan of karma yoga
thought-of in religious and philosophical history that Swamiji worked out and transmitted to his
before Sri Ramakrishna, is realised in the state followers. I may do well to quote from Nivedita’s
of bhavamukha that was Sri Ramakrishna’s most immortal ‘Introduction’ to The Complete Works
natural abode, wherein he stayed put as a vijnani, of Swami Vivekananda:
looking upon the world and its beings, both liv-
ing and non-living, as saturated and enveloped by It is this which adds its crowning significance
God, by divine Consciousness that is at the same to our Master’s` life, for here he becomes the
meeting-point, not only of East and West,
time both personal and impersonal, relative and
but also of past and future. If the many and
absolute, immanent and transcendent. the One be indeed the same Reality, then it
This was such an extraordinary teaching, a is not all modes of worship alone, but equally
new teaching with new emphasis as Swamiji all modes of work, all modes of struggle, all
himself admitted—as I would show in the dis- modes of creation, which are paths of realisa-
cussion below on the philosophical underpin- tion. No distinction, henceforth, between sa-
nings of this doctrine—that Nivedita could cred and secular. To labour is to pray. To con-
comprehend and grasp through her pure and quer is to renounce. Life is itself religion. To
intuitive insight. It was given to Nivedita to be have and to hold is as stern a trust as to quit
and to avoid.
blessed with the understanding of this insight
revealed by Swamiji himself. This is the realisation which makes Vive-
kananda the great preacher of Karma, not as
In a rare moment of revelation, Swamiji told
divorced from, but as expressing Jnāna and
her of this revolutionary discovery, which Nived- Bhakti. To him, the workshop, the study, the
ita describes in her The Master as I Saw Him: farmyard, and the field are as true and fit
Years afterwards, in Paris, someone approached scenes for the meeting of God with man as
him with a question as to the general history of the cell of the monk or the door of the tem-
the development of Indian ideas on these sub- ple. To him, there is no difference between
jects. ‘Did Buddha teach that the many was real service of man and worship of God, between
and the ego unreal, while Orthodox Hindu- manliness and faith, between true righteous-
ism regards the One as the Real, and the many ness and spirituality. All his words, from one
as unreal?’ he was asked. ‘Yes’, answered the point of view, read as a commentary upon
Swami. ‘And what Ramakrishna Paramahamsa this central conviction. ‘Art, science, and re-
and I have added to this is that the Many and ligion’, he said once, ‘are but three different
the One are the same Reality, perceived by the ways of expressing a single truth. But in order
same mind at different times and in different to understand this we must have the theory
attitudes’ (19–20). of Advaita.’ 20

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 24 Prabuddha Bharata

Insight Five: Swamiji’s Assertion That by the enthusiasm of a certain great Personal-
Truth Is Universal, Broad as Daylight, ity’, he said once, ‘but what of that? Inspiration
Open to All was never filtered out to the world through one
All the religions of the world have certain secret, man!’ Again he said, ‘It is true that I believe
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa to have been in-
esoteric doctrines that are not universally accessi-
spired. But then I am myself inspired also. And
ble and are kept as secret messages within the nar- you are inspired. And your disciples will be;
row bounds of their own faith. On the one hand, and theirs after them; and so on, to the end of
even the divine personalities who are sources of time!’ And on another occasion, to one who
universal inspiration are thought to be the mo- questioned him about the old rule of the teach-
nopoly of particular religious creeds and faiths. ers, that truth should be taught only to those of
On the other hand, it is claimed that inspiration proved and tested fitness, he exclaimed impa-
ought to be received only from these personalities tiently, ‘Don’t you see that the age for esoteric
interpretations is over? For good or for ill, that
who are the only saviours of mankind. Swamiji
day is vanished, never to return. Truth, in the
was one religious leader in modern times whose future, is to be open to the world!’21
inquiring mind, scientific temper, and daring
search for Truth, unbiased and uninhibited, mer- Insight Six: ‘The Many and The One, the
cilessly blasted the myth of esotericism and se- Same Reality’—Its Multi-Dimensional Im-
crecy in the quest for the Ultimate, which is what plications Including Swamiji’s Emphasis
religious pursuit essentially is. On Character and Strength
Sister Nivedita, with her Western training It is well known that Swamiji preached charac-
coupled with the training in Indian religious ide- ter and strength as hallmarks of spiritual growth,
als imparted to her by Swamiji himself, could rather than spiritual ecstasy and spiritual visions,
quickly understand the implications of this new which are usually considered milestones of spiri-
approach of Swamiji to the traditionally ac- tual progress. Nivedita’s understanding of this
cepted ideal of adhikaravada, the criteria of eligi- teaching of Swamiji, as a social and practical ap-
bility and competency for receiving knowledge. plication of Swamiji’s philosophic dictum about
I quote Nivedita’s own words in elaboration of the One and the many being the same Reality,
the raison d’être of this new approach: is a unique insight rarely matched by any of her
He, indeed, had the generosity to extend to the own insights that are aplenty. In fact, Swamiji
West, the same gospel that the Indian sages had went to the extent of saying that manliness was
preached in the past to the Indian people—the his new gospel. The emphasis on character and
doctrine of the Divinity in man, to be realised strength, on manliness, may appear simplistic and
by faithful service, through whatever forms. strange, coming as it does from a spiritual leader
The life of externals, with its concentration of of the higher order, but then as Nivedita observes,
interest in sense-impressions, was, according to ‘These simple truths may prove after all, to be the
him, a mere hypnotism, a dream, of no exalted very core of the new gospel’ (282).
character. And for Western, as for Eastern, the
Why is it that Swamiji extols these qualities
soul’s quest was the breaking of this dream, the
awakening to a more profound and powerful as forming the core of his own brand of spir-
reality. He was for ever finding new ways to ex- ituality? Discussing the ‘intensity of monasti-
press his belief that all men alike had the same cism’ vis-à-vis ‘the sacredness and helpfulness
vast potentiality. ‘Yes! my own life is guided of marriage’ Swamiji, a strong advocate of the

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 Sister Nivedita—Her Understanding of Swami Vivekananda 25

supreme glory of monastic life, wrote the follow- civilisation. When he founded the Ramakrishna
ing last sentence: ‘As you have come to see that Order, he was envisioning the Order to be a ve-
the glory of life is chastity, so my eyes also have hicle to carry on such a mission. The new ideal of
been opened to the necessity of this great sanc- obedience, so central to an organisation, struc-
tification [of marriage] for the vast majority, in tured as it is on a certain hierarchy, had to be har-
order that a few life-long chaste powers may be moniously blended with the tremendous inner
produced’ (281). It is to Nivedita’s glory that she freedom that characterises any monk, a sannya-
could read in this last sentence a ‘wide-ranging sin worth his name and which appears directly
significance’ that perhaps Swamiji himself would opposed to obedience.
not have ‘thought of ascribing to it’. Nivedita’s Nivedita, analysing Swamiji’s inner conflict,
commentary on this sentence shows her remark- what she calls the ‘pain of the pioneer’,22 the
able insight: ‘pain endured by the sculptor of a new ideal’, saw
It was the last sentence in the great philosophy how ‘it was inevitable that he [Swamiji] himself
which saw ‘in the Many and the One the same should from time to time go through the anguish
Reality’. If the inviolability of marriage be in- of revolt’. How remarkably perceptive Nivedita
deed the school in which a society is made ready was in empathetically trying to catch glimpses of
for the highest possibilities of the life of solitude Swamiji’s psyche when he was tossed with this
and self-control, then the honourable fulfil-
conflict of ideals and the pain of harmonious
ment of the world’s work is as sacred a means to
supreme self-realisation, as worship and prayer. reconciliation of the inner life of utter freedom
We have here, then, a law which enables us to that is the birthright of a sannyasin with the ideal
understand the discouragement of religious ec- of obedience that a monastic Order would nat-
stasy, by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and his urally demand. Swamiji himself once said, ad-
great preference for character, in his disciples. dressing the monks of Ramakrishna Order he
We understood, too, the inner meaning of Vive- had just formed, ‘You must be as free as the air,
kananda’s own constant preaching of strength. and as obedient as this plant and the dog’.23 Thus
The reason is very simple. If ‘the Many and the one should harmoniously combine in oneself
One be the same Reality, seen by the same mind
contradictory ideals. Again, let Nivedita speak
at different times, and in different attitudes’,
then, in three words, Character is Spirituality. of her perception of this amazing ‘inner conflict’:
‘Greatness’ really is, as a deep thinker has af- To a Western mind, it might well seem that
firmed, ‘to take the common things of life, and nothing in the Swami’s life had been more ad-
walk truly amongst them; and holiness a great mirable than this. Long ago, he had defined the
love and much serving’. These simple truths may mission of the Order of Ramakrishna as that of
prove after all, to be the very core of the new realizing and exchanging the highest ideals of
gospel. And in endorsement of this possibility, the East and of the West. And assuredly he here
we have the Master’s own words ‘The highest proved his own power to engage in such an un-
truth is always the simplest’ (281–2). dertaking as much by his gift of learning as by
that of teaching. But it was inevitable that he
Insight Seven: Swamiji’s Definition of the
himself should from time to time go through
Mission of the Ramakrishna Order the anguish of revolt. The Hindu ideal of the
One of Swamiji’s favourite themes was harmo- religious life, as a reflection on earth of that of
niously blending the best elements of the East the Great God in the Divine Empyrean—the
and the West in order to create a new world Unmoving, the Untouched, ‘pure, free, ever the

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 26 Prabuddha Bharata

Witness’—is so clear and so deeply established navigates effortlessly through the turbulent and
that only at great cost to himself could a man powerful waves of the ocean of Swamiji’s genius
carry it into a fresh channel. Has anyone real- with fearless and joyous abandon. Only those
ized the pain endured by the sculptor of a new who dare to undertake the heroic adventure of
ideal? The very sensitiveness and delicacy of
accompanying her in this voyage would know
perception that are necessary to his task, that
very moral exaltation which is as the chisel in its value and the courage it takes to dare to peep
his hand, are turned on himself in passive mo- into the world of Swamiji’s thought—the inner
ments, to become doubt, and terror of respon- workings of the gigantic mind and heart of this
sibility. What a heaven of ease seems then, to world prophet.  P
such a soul, even the hardest and sternest of
those lives that are understood and authenti- References
cated by the imitative moral sense of the crowd! 1. His Eastern and Western Admirers, Reminis-
cences of Swami Vivekananda (Kolkata: Advaita
I have noticed in most experiences this con-
Ashrama, 2004), 244.
sciousness of being woven out of two threads, 2. His Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of
one that is chosen and another endured. But Swami Vivekananda, 2 vols (Kolkata: Advaita
in this case the common duality took the form Ashrama, 2008), 2.652.
of a play upon two different ideals, of which 3. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9
either was highest in its own world, and yet vols (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1–8, 1989; 9,
each, to those who believed in its fellow, almost 1997), 6.479.
as a crime.24 4. Gita, 2.29.
Conclusion 5. See Katha Upanishad, 2.3.9.
6. Sister Nivedita, The Master as I Saw Him (Kol-
This article is a feeble attempt to capture Sister kata: Udbodhan, 2007), 168.
Nivedita’s understanding of Swamiji, that is but 7. Complete Works, 8.497.
an amplification echoing Swamiji’s fascinating 8. The Master as I Saw Him, 207.
variety of ideas, all of which show Nivedita and 9. Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna and His
Divine Play, trans. Swami Chetanananda (St
her Master Swamiji as master composers of the Louis: Vedanta Society of St Louis, 2003), 926.
symphony of the ‘Music of the Spheres’ that only 10. Complete Works, 7.501.
the greatest of sages have the privilege of listen- 11. Romain Rolland, The Life of Vivekananda and
ing to as emanating from the depths of the Cos- the Universal Gospel, trans. E F Malcom-Smith
mos on the one side and from the deeper recesses (Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama, 2009), 234.
12. The Master as I Saw Him, 88–9.
of the human heart on the other. Although what 13. Complete Works, 7.501.
I have attempted in this paper is but a faint and 14. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1.4.10.
sketchy portrayal of Nivedita’s understanding of 15. Chhandogya Upanishad, 6.8.7.
the gigantic personality of Swamiji, even that is 16. Mandukya Upanishad, 1.2.
an attempt so fulfilling, elevating, and rewarding 17. Aitareya Upanishad, 3.3.
18. Brahma Sutra, 1.1.1 and Mimamsa Sutra, 1.1.1.
as it is a meditative exercise on these two great 19. The Master as I Saw Him, 199.
souls, the Master and his divinely gifted disciple. 20. Complete Works, 1.xv–xvi.
As one wades through the vast literature left 21. The Master as I Saw Him, 207–8.
behind of Nivedita’s life and works, and particu- 22. Sister Nivedita, The Master as I Saw Him (Lon-
don: Longmans and Green, 1910), 58.
larly, The Master as I Saw Him, one finds innu- 23. Complete Works, 3.448.
merable gems of thought, revealing Nivedita’s re- 24. Sister Nivedita, The Master as I Saw Him (Kol-
markable mind, luminous and penetrating, that kata: Udbodhan, 2007), 37–8.

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 Spiritual Quest
Swami Satyapriyananda

T
he ancient seers, mantra-drashtas, Brahman as Different from
took quite a bold and logical step in study- Name and Form
ing the entire universe and used the uni- Having projected the universe, tat srishtva, Brah-
form principle that the effect is the same as the man entered into the bodies of embodied be-
cause in a different form. We know that water is ings tadeva anupravishat,1 ‘up to the very tips of
the effect of the combination of hydrogen and the nails’, as a razor lies hidden in its case, or as
oxygen. Therefore, in water we can infer that fire, which sustains the world, lies hidden in its
both hydrogen and oxygen are in a state of com- source, a piece of wood. The word used is ‘hid-
bination. By studying water through electroly- den’. Brahman is very much there being all-per-
sis, we can ascertain what the cause contained, vading, but it is just hidden from view. When the
IMAGE: ASHOK DILWALI

namely, hydrogen and oxygen. case is opened, we can see the razor inside; when
The rishis therefore studied the universe as wood is rubbed with another piece of dry wood,
the effect and found that it is differentiated by the heat generated thereby causes the wood to
name and form. This led them to infer that the burn and we can see that the fire was there in the
cause, which was originally undifferentiated, be- wood. Similarly, one gets fire sparks by striking
came differentiated by name and form. two pieces of flint against one another.

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 28 Prabuddha Bharata

Other examples of one thing hiding another incomplete? Associated with different func-
are found in the Bhagavadgita: dense smoke tions, it gets different names. For example, (1)
covering fire; dust covering mirror; and womb when breathing, it is called the vital breath,
covering the embryo.2 Another example is that prana; (2) when speaking, the organ of speech;
of a pond covered by moss. So too, ignorance, (3) when seeing, the eye; (4) when hearing,
ajnana, covers knowledge, jnana; just as the sun the ear; (5) when thinking, the mind, and so
is shining bright in the sky but a patch of cloud on. These are merely its names according to its
covers the path of one’s vision and hides the sun different functions. ‘Yatha soumya ekena mr-
from view. The small patch of cloud is far too itpindena sarvam mrinmayam vijnatam syat,
small to cover the sun. So, even when the sun is vacharambhanam vikaro namadheyam, mrit-
hidden from our view, it is shining brightly. By tika ityeva satyam; even as by knowing a piece
personal effort one can fly above the cloud and of mud, all objects made of mud are known,
see the sun; or else a brisk wind can blow away thus all modifications of mud are caused out
the cloud and the sun gets revealed! The first is of word and thereby mere names alone; mud
the language of the method of knowledge, which alone is real.’5 So too one can think of all orna-
depends on personal effort, and the second of ments made of gold or all gadgets made of steel.
the method of devotion, which depends on sur- One who meditates on one or the other of
render and grace. In medicine too, we find that its functional aspects, does not know it in its
even those things that cannot be seen directly entirety, for it is then incomplete. Brahman
with the naked eye can be seen with x-rays or is ‘separated from its totality’ by being associ-
similar penetrating rays. ated with a single characteristic function. So,
This Brahman is experienced, drishyate, by Brahman is not any one of the several associ-
the sharp and penetrating intellect of those who ated forms or names, nor all of them, on ac-
are adept in seeing the subtle, tvagrayaya bud- count of transcending all functions and forms
dhya sukshmaya sukshmadarshibhih, that is, or names, and being the very foundation of all
those whose vision is not gross,3 and this experi- these. Thus, we say that it is beyond mind and
ence becomes firmly grounded by long constant speech, vakya-mana-atita; yet it, being Con-
efforts with great love for the end to be attained, sciousness, is the very foundation of mind and
dirgha-kala nairantarya satkara-sevito dridha- speech, vakya-mana-adhara. Just as many elec-
bhumih.4 Truly, the enquiry after Self even in trical appliances function when they receive the
the method of knowledge is bhakti or love! How supply of electricity, even so everything in the
else other than intuition and subtle vision does universe functions because of the underlying
one make scientific discoveries—deep within an Consciousness. The appliances by themselves
atom, or far beyond in the outer space? cannot function; nor can electricity function
Similarly, people do not see the all-per- by itself without the appliance having the req-
vading Brahman because of its characteris- uisite hardware.
tic of being hidden as in the several examples We have the familiar example of blind peo-
given above; when viewed in parts as associ- ple seeing an elephant. The blind touched dif-
ated with a characteristic, it is incomplete and ferent parts of the same elephant and came to
remains hidden. How does that which is self- different conclusions about what the animal in
effulgent and indivisible ‘become’ hidden and their presence was! They said: it is a very big

312 PB February 2019

 Spiritual Quest 29

fan; it is a huge wall; no, it is a stout rope; or it real ultimate Truth, Brahman. However, Brah-
is a huge pillar. Thus, each statement is incor- man does not require any other foundation to
rect, for the elephant is none of these differing rest upon: it rests upon its own splendour, sva-
perceptions nor a sum of these perceptions; it is mahimne pratishthita.
what it is. Sri Ramakrishna taking the example
of ghee said, that the question how ghee tastes The Method of Knowledge
can be answered by only saying, ‘ghee is what Brahman alone is to be meditated upon, not as
ghee tastes like’.6 This is true of the Self when associated with any single characteristic func-
viewed through the various sheaths: anna­ tion—for, in it, being the very foundation, all
maya kosha, sheath of physical body; prana- these different characteristic functions become
maya kosha, sheath of vital force; manomaya unified. The ear hears, no doubt; but the Self is
kosha, sheath of the mind; vijnanamaya kosha, the ear of the ear, and so on.8 Of all these, this
sheath of intelligence; and anandamaya kosha, Self alone should be known, for one knows all
sheath of bliss. In these five koshas, sheaths, these different characteristics through it. If one
grouped into three bodies—sthula, gross; su­ sees the footprint—stands for Brahman—one
kshma, subtle; and karana, causal—spanning knows the animal—Brahman associated with
the three periods of time—past, present, and some characteristics—the footprint corresponds
future—and spanning the three states of exis- to—a deer or a cow or some other thing.
tence—waking, sleep, and deep sleep; Atman, If one knows Brahman by meditation on
the vyashti abhipraya or individualised percep- Brahman alone, then one can know Brahman—
tion, of Brahman, which is the samashti abhi­ prana, speech, eye, ear, mind, and so on—which
praya or collective perception, is hidden by are but different names associated with its differ-
ajnana, ignorance. ent characteristic functions—breathing, speak-
Brahman is not undergoing any of the pro- ing, seeing, hearing, thinking, and so on. Thus,
cesses of creation, preservation, or destruction, in reply to the question, ‘Knowing what can
though the Upanishads themselves say: ‘Yato va all this universe be known?, is the idea that by
imani bhutani jayante, that from which all these knowing one thing, Brahman or the Self, the
beings arise; yena jatani jivanti, that by which all underlying Consciousness, everything else is
beings live; and, yat prayanti abhisamvishanti, known in and through it.9 There is no end to
that unto which they return upon destruction; acquiring the knowledge of the multiplicity of
tat vijijnasasva tat brahmeti, know that to be things in the universe for these are only names
Brahman.’7 The projected, changing world is an and forms, an unreal superimposition, serving a
unreal superimposition on the only real substra- specific purpose.
tum called Brahman. It is like a dream and is One may give any number of forms to gold
real only so long as the dream lasts. Once the or clay or steel but the essence of all these forms
dream breaks and one wakes up, that is the end is the substance, namely, gold or clay or steel as
of the dream state and of the dreams we see. So the case may be. No form exists separate from
too when our dreams about our waking state the substance; one cannot separate the form of a
ends upon realisation of the ultimate Truth, only necklace from the gold of which it is made! Fur-
Consciousness exists. It is to be noted that even ther, the necklace, the crown, the ring, the amu-
though the projection is unreal, it rests on the let, all serve different purposes. One lights a clay

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 30 Prabuddha Bharata

without the kingdom and the

soldier without his weapons
and shield are both human
beings. Hence a wise person
should strive to know Brah-
man alone that removes all
sorrow.10 Sri Ramakrishna
also points out that to know
God is knowledge and not to
know him is ignorance.11 Thus
our present-day approach at
acquiring knowledge keeps us
in ignorance about Brahman,
our very foundation, the only
thing to be known in human
life. How badly we are using
this rare gift of human birth
for career building! And we
glorify worldly knowledge as
something basic for human
existence, and generations
after generations have been
following this approach like a
bunch of sheep following one
another!

How to ‘Unhide’
the Hidden Brahman
We have observed earlier that
Brahman is hidden by being
associated with certain char-
acteristics; these characteris-
lamp and fills a clay pot with water. Imagine the tics are all action-oriented such as thinking, see-
foolishness of the person who fills the pot with ing, and so on, which result in many names and
oil and lights a wick or of the person who keeps a forms, and serve different purposes, which is the
few spoons of water in the lamp to get cool water nature of this world, samsara, characterised by
to alleviate thirst in summer! the cycle of birth and death.
The clay mouse and the clay elephant are Consider a huge ocean, infinite in depth, infi-
both made of clay, no doubt; however, the nite in extent, without eddies or boundaries, ho-
mouse and elephant are different. A king and mogeneous; this is one way of symbolising Self
a soldier are far different; but the same king or Brahman. The vast sky and the effulgent sun

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 Spiritual Quest 31

are some of the other commonly used illustra- path of knowledge, which is very restrictive and
tions. Upon the self-same ocean are waves, small excludes the vast majority. The persons of know-
and large, whirlpools, bubbles, froth, and so on, ledge dive deep below the surface of the ocean
arising from the same ocean, moving about on and enter the calm depths of the ocean and iden-
the surface, clashing against one another, rais- tify themselves with Brahman by meditating on
ing high decibel sounds, and again getting sub- one of several mahavakyas, great sayings. Though
merged in the ocean. This is the world of name- four mahavakyas are popular, many others are
form-purpose which has Brahman, the ocean, oft-quoted, for the Upanishads, focussing on the
for its basis. identity of Atman and Brahman, have exhausted
Brahman is the One whole, the One with- the Sanskrit vocabulary as it were to throw up
out a second alike it or different from it; self- several such mahavakyas! Indeed, many Upani-
effulgent, all-pervading, without the touch of shadic utterances keep this identity in view, the
any type of work; Consciousness per se without revelation of this identity, which is very fruitful,
the need for another to be conscious of; perma- not knowable by any other means, being the sole
nent, without any decay, itself the support of it- purpose of the Upanishads.
self without needing anything else to support it; ‘Atma va arey drashtavyah, shrotavyah, man-
the world is diametrically opposite! It is a world tavyah, nididhyasitavyah; this Self or Atman is
of multiplicity, shining in the effulgence of the to be seen, to be heard, to be reflected upon, and
light of Brahman reflected on inert Nature, finite to be meditated upon.’13 Though the meaning
with boundaries, ever active where ‘one cannot of the words, ‘Aham brahma asmi; I am Brah-
remain without work for even a moment’,12 con- man’, one of the mahavakyas, is not true in the
scious of other objects with this consciousness literal sense, we have to interpret them in the
founded on the pure Consciousness of Brah- implied sense, which is as follows: I or jiva, the
man, evanescent, decaying, resting on Brahman embodied being, bereft of its attribute, ajnana
as its support. In the latter, samsara, Brahman or ignorance, implies Atman or the Self; Brah-
remains hidden just as a snake perceived on a man as ishvara, without its attribute or maya,
rope hides the underlying rope and frightens the is Brahman. Thus the implied meaning is that
seer. Where the snake is seen, there the rope ex- the Self is Brahman. The practice of the persons
ists as the underlying reality. It is not that the of knowledge is to meditate on this concept of
rope is in one place and the superimposed snake identity of Atman and Brahman, without letting
is elsewhere. So, it is customary to hold that this the mind wander to worldly objects.
world, considered unreal, also is Brahman, the This thought on Brahman, brahmakara vritti
real existence. or sadvritti, is used to attenuate the thought
There are ways open to us for uncovering that on non-Brahman, anatma vritti or asadvritti.
which is hidden: Brahmakara vritti itself is called mukti or libera-
1. Meditation is the answer given by the persons tion, by some. Though one eliminates the sense
of knowledge for this uncovering. But it is a sin- of ego associated with the body, child, spouse,
gle monotonous note played on an instrument property, one has to be extremely careful and
that is capable of setting several notes into a me- see that the sense of ego does not raise its ugly
lodious music. Further, there is the question of head through the stirring of the latent tenden-
competence of the aspirant for following the cies, by meditation—thinking internally—on

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 32 Prabuddha Bharata

the sense-objects and related action outside. immense Consciousness of Brahman. The waves,
The case is just the same as that of a lemon whirlpools, bubbles, froth, and the ocean below
tree considered to be dead, which puts forth are the same water; the difference is that the sur-
its leaves when it receives a few sprinklings of face phenomena have far more glory attached to
rain. Hence, carelessness, pramada, is equated it, divine power of ishvara, God.
with death. The Gita warns that the senses are Sri Ramakrishna observes that the stairs are
extremely turbulent and drag away forcibly even made up of the same material as the roof, an ob-
the mind of a wise person striving very hard to servation made by persons of knowledge after
control the senses.14 discarding the stairs as not being the roof and
The next wonderful idea is that this Self, climbing to the roof. They too say that the world
which is hidden, is dearer than a son, dearer than is only Brahman.
wealth, dearer than everything else, because it He further points out that people belong-
is the innermost. And so, one should meditate ing to different language systems call the same
upon the Self alone as dear. One who meditates thing as water, aqua, pani, or jal. Taken out of
upon the Self alone as dear—whatever one holds the language context, they are all the same. So
dear will not perish, for the Self is not perishable; too, he says that people refer to a chameleon as
it is immortal. So persons of knowledge meditate possessed of different colours and come to blows
on the Self alone and understand that behind all failing to recognise that a chameleon is capa-
worldly love is the love for the Self. ble of changing its colour to correspond to the
What is the corollary? If anything or any- background to protect itself and sometimes is
one is dear to a person, certainly it is so because even without any colour; whatever the colour
there is the Self in that, albeit hidden. There is no or be it of no colour even, it is the same cha-
dearth of things and people on which one show- meleon. The ancient Vedas declared: ‘Ekam sat,
ers love. It is true that the Self is all-pervading, viprah bahudha vadanti; truth is one; sages call
that we suffer because we lack this perception it variously.’16 Sri Ramakrishna asks whether the
that these are all nothing but the Self, and come stars seen at night vanish during the day? God
to grief seeing them perish before our very eyes. can be worshipped in images; can God not be
The Upanishads say: ‘Tatra ko mohah, kah sho- worshipped in all existence? God can be seen
kah, ekatvam anupashyatah; where can there be in meditation with eyes closed; can God not be
delusion or grief when one has unitary vision?’15 seen with eyes wide open? Thus, the world is not
2. The devotees look upon this world of name- the thing that causes the problem; it is the per-
form-purpose not as unreal superimposition, but ceiving mind which sees the difference between
as the manifestation of the glory of Brahman by a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother, and ex-
its power Shakti, which is non-different from hibits love towards them in different ways.
Brahman. Brahman and Shakti are identical. It is with this intuitive perception that
Reality that is eternal has two modes of expres- even a devotee can ‘see’ what is stated to be
sion, changeless and with change. Both chang- ‘Nityo’nityanam, chetanah-chetananam, eko ba-
ing and unchanging belong to the same Reality, hunam; eternal among things non-eternal, Con-
said Sri Ramakrishna. So, even swimming on the sciousness in things endowed with conscious-
surface amidst waves, persons of devotion try to ness, the One in the midst of multiplicity’.17 It is
perceive the play of Shakti, in and through the otherwise futile to even think that in this world

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 Spiritual Quest 33

where even a child knows that everything is eva- situated in the region of the heart of all beings, O
nescent, there could be anything eternal to look Arjuna; all beings whirl around by my maya, as if
for. Even so, beings are conscious of each other mounted on a machine’.19 Thus, they look upon
and they fail to see that the pure Consciousness all existence as so many pointers to the divine
is the foundation for the relative consciousness within. It is like a room inlaid with several pieces
of various objects. of mirrors and an object placed in the middle; in
The multiplicity we see all around us is due to whichever direction one sees that object is seen!
our seeing differences and the consequent clas- In Sri Ramakrishna’s literature one gets the
sification of things into various classes and sub- example of looking upon Baby Krishna in one’s
classes; once we surmount the differences and nephew or of God in the sheep one is tending
see the underlying unity then we shall be able to with love. What is the great change one sees? In-
appreciate the unitary existence of what we see stead of saying that Brahman is hidden because
outside and consider them as various glorious of its apparent association with external char-
manifestations. Differences are of three types: acteristics, one says that in whichever direction
vijatiya, between things of different categories, one’s eyes go, one only meets the chosen deity.
as between wealth, material substance, and a Be it the ocean or the waves or bubbles or whirl-
miser, living being; svajatiya as between differ- pools or froth, it is all water. This is the position
ent types of the same category—different fruits of the Vedantin also. Brahman is no more hid-
like lemon, mango, apple, and so on; and svagata den; it is immanent in Nature and self-revealed
as between components of a particular thing— by meditating on all objects and people as the
root, trunk, branch, leaves, fruits, and so on—of seat of the chosen deity, and is not caught up in
the same tree. name-form-purpose net.
The path of devotion does not have rigorous The path of devotion has a parallel to the ma-
constraints for eligibility like the path of knowl- havakyas or great sayings of the path of knowl-
edge. In it the devotee treads the path of love for edge. It is the mantra, which means, ‘Mananat
God and ultimately reaches the God of Love. trayate iti mantrah; that mystic formula which
There are several deities one can choose from. takes one across the ocean of samsara, charac-
There are several levels of proximity one can at- terised by birth and death’. By repetition with
tain with God even up to identity with God, an understanding of the meaning of the mantra,
which a devotee does not want; the devotee ‘Tat japah tad-artha-bhavanam’, as stated in Pa-
prefers to taste sugar and not to become sugar. tanjali’s Yoga Sutra,20 everything in this world is
A devotee enjoys several types of relationships the manifestation of the glory of Brahman, sym-
with one’s chosen deity and observes a large va- bolised by a seed word, by its Shakti, symbolised
riety of devotional practices. This is the luxurious by another seed word, which is non-different
beauty and abundance of the path of devotion. from it. The waves, whirlpools, bubbles, spray—
The devotee interprets the Upanishadic state- are all various forms with their respective names.
ment: ‘Ishavasyam idam sarvam yat kincha jag- Of these, there are some gigantic tidal waves of
atyam jagat’ as ‘Cover everything, moving and immense spiritual strength, referred to as incar-
unmoving, with the face of God’.18 They also nations of God, and many other inferior man-
take recourse to the statement of Sri Krishna, ifestations, the embodied beings, which filled
‘I reside in the hearts of all beings’, and ‘I am with immense humility, surrender themselves to

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 34 Prabuddha Bharata

the incarnation. This is the central idea behind of actions, one attains perfection.’21 In simple
the repetition of the mystic formula with con- terms, in the language of the devotees, the idea
templation of the meaning. translates to shiva-jnane jiva-seva, service to em-
What is the nature of this surrender? Just as bodied beings in the spirit of worship of God.
a pen and paper are not sufficient to write an Thus we should have a detached attachment;
article, just as paint, brush, and canvas are not detachment to things and people as endowed
enough to draw a portrait without one taking with name and form or tyaga; and attainment
up the pen or brush; even so we are incapable of of immortality through attachment to the Self
performing any action without God performing or Divine within. Both the person of knowledge
the action through us. Devotees hold that God and the person of devotion should look within;
is the doer, in whose hands we are merely instru- the former withdrawing oneself diligently from
ments. In and through every action, the devotee the sensory world of name and form outside and
sees the tangible presence of one’s chosen deity. the latter trying always to direct one’s attention
It is because of grace that God makes different to the divine deity within all existence. Together,
people the instruments for getting God’s work these two approaches, knowledge and devotion,
accomplished. So, the devotee surrenders oneself enliven one’s spiritual life by being complemen-
to that tidal wave of spirituality, the incarnation, tary to each other: meditate on the transcendent
conceived as the highest among the glorious Self within and serve the immanent Divinity
manifestations of Brahman by its power, Shakti. pervading all existence. P
This attitude is strengthened by the repetition
of the mantra and contemplating on its mean- References
ing. This is the meditation of the devotee. God 1. Taittiriya Upanishad, 2.6.1.
commits to provide yoga, union with whatever 2. See Gita, 3.38.
one may have need of and kshema, protection 3. Katha Upanishad, 1.3.12.
4. Patanjali, Yoga Sutra, 1.14.
of whatever one has. God also grants fearless- 5. Chhandogya Upanishad, 6.1.4.
ness and freedom from worry regarding merit 6. See M., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans.
or demerit accruing from actions as their fruits, Swami Nikhilananda (Chennai: Ramakrishna
by the very fact that all actions are performed Math, 2002), 524.
by God alone and one is merely an instrument. 7. Taittiriya Upanishad, 3.1.1.
8. See Kena Upanishad, 1.1.2.
Can a mere instrument ever justify the claim to 9. See Mundaka Upanishad, 1.1.3.
the fruits of one’s actions? 10. See Chhandogya Upanishad, 7.1.1; The dialogue
Devotees love the entire world seeing in it the between Narada and Sanatkumara.
chosen deity. Though persons of different castes 11. See Gospel, 80.
perform different activities, they are all effective 12. Gita, 3.5.
13. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 4.5.6.
means for attaining perfection if the attitude 14. See Gita, 2.60.
behind the performance of works is devotional: 15. Isha Upanishad, 7.
‘Yatah pravrittir bhutanam, yena sarvam idam 16. Rig Veda, 1.164.46.
tatam; svakarmana tam abhyarchya, siddhim 17. Katha Upanishad, 2.2.13.
18. Isha Upanishad, 1.
vindati manavah; that from which all beings 19. Gita, 15.15; 18.61.
originate, that by which everything is permeated, 20. Patanjali, Yoga Sutra, 1.28.
by worshipping that through the performance 21. Gita, 18.46.

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 The Courage to be Human
Swami Kritarthananda

Existential Force a beautiful wild red flower raising its head, as if

M
om, what is courage?’—A five- to pronounce proudly the existence of life by
IMAGE: HTTP://MARCHOLZMAN.COM

year-old boy once asked his mother. smiling at all signs of death. The mother’s face
His mother could not find out an im- lit up. She drew her son’s attention to that brave
mediate satisfactory answer for the child. That little flower and said: ‘There, my son, that is what
evening, when the mother took her child for is called courage. A wild little flower standing
an outing at the countryside, they happened to bravely in the valley of death.’
pass by a place where a devastating conflagration This story at once reminds us of the unique
had destroyed the whole forest just the night be- definition of life given impromptu by Swami
fore. There, amidst the charred debris, they saw Vivekananda to the Maharaja of Khetri: ‘Life

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 36 Prabuddha Bharata

is the unfoldment and development of a being to existential problems like anxiety, loneliness,
under circumstances tending to press it down.’1 boredom, depression, ennui, and so on. Just as
Indeed, life is a sign of great courage to grow fever, cold, and so on, are the indications of a
amidst all adversities. The external nature chal- fight going on in the castle of the body between
lenges our existence every moment and the soul its ever-awake autoimmune system and exter-
forges ahead courageously amidst the darken- nal agents like bacteria, germs, viruses, and the
ing gloom. Courage is life; fear is death. As like, so also are the expressions of anxiety and
long as we are afraid of the world, we are more the like, indications of threat to our existence.
dead than alive. The famous neurologist, Dr Thus it is that the very opposite of courage is
Kurt Goldstein (1878–1965), has defined cour- not cowardice but conformity of an automa-
age as ‘nothing but an affirmative answer to the ton. In the present age, the human being has
shocks of our existence, which must be borne made itself an automaton by trying desperately
for the actualization of one’s own nature’.2 From to conform to a group or society. Courage is
the above definitions it is clear that courage is the only remedy for all the existential problems
closely linked to our being, or existence. The mentioned above. That is why Swamiji was so
Sanskrit word for existence is satta. The essen- intent on ingraining the spirit of courage into
tial nature of the Atman is existence-knowledge- the masses. Without courage our very existence
bliss, sat-chit-ananda. Hence courage is the becomes meaningless. Hence courage may fit-
force needed to defend one’s existence, which tingly be termed as the saving challenge of life.
is an essence of the soul.
Courage finds expression in an infinite Two Fields of Expression
number of ways in our day-to-day life. Wher- Courage being an existential challenge, there are
ever there is lack of courage, life ceases to be innumerable fields of its manifestation. Wher-
worth the name. It is no better than mere veg- ever there is life, there is courage. Some call
etation. At present we are living in an era of au- it a struggle of the conscious over the uncon-
tomaton conformity to the majority or group. scious, while others call it a struggle between
The idea of conformity has dissipated so much the soul and the matter; again, at other places it
into our being that we never feel to question its is a struggle between good and evil, higher and
validity. But at the same time we feel the prick lower values, and so on. Broadly speaking, there
of conformity to a group or majority. When are two fields in which courage finds expression:
this conformity is related to an overt author- secular or the worldly level and the spiritual or
ity, we express our pent up feelings against mystic level.
that authority through rebellion or violence.
But the case becomes tough when the author- Secular Level
ity demanding our conformity is a covert one, Courage in the secular level finds expression in
namely, society, market, ‘common sense’, public several ways. One is momentary courage. Obvi-
opinion, economic necessities, and so on. One ously, this type of courage is called for at times
cannot crusade against an anonymous author- of emergency. For example, saving others from
ity. Under the spell of this anonymous author- fire, from imminent accident or danger, from
ity one has to present oneself in a way approved the hands of hooligans, and so on. Swamiji in his
by the group. Hence such conformity gives rise teens once saved a boy from being run over by a

320 PB February 2019

 The Courage to be Human 37

horse carriage, risking his own life. The Readers the mouth of a cannon in the midst of a fusil-
Digest records many such sagas of people saving lade, jump into the fire whenever ordered to do
others from inevitable death by a hair’s breadth. so. Such acts call for an inhuman desperation, a
Sometimes the rescuer loses her or his life in the devil’s daring. The soldiers leave behind no tale
attempt. Such heroic tales are written in golden to tell. Except a handful of close mates, very few
letters on the pages of history. people come to know of the heroism and chiv-
Then there are various aerobatics and acro- alry displayed by a soldier who dies on the bat-
batic displays of courage, of walking over hot tlefront. They serve the country through their
charcoal, funambulism or tightrope walking, courage and die a martyr’s death. Swamiji highly
circus techniques, equestrian skills, skydiving, eulogised the attitude of a soldier and wanted to
surf-riding, and scores of other sensational ingrain that spirit into the lives of each and every
shows of courage and heroism. Though taken monk of the Ramakrishna Order. If one wants to
mostly as pastimes, these need, beside intense learn something about courage, one has to sit at
concentration, persistence, perseverance, and the feet of such people who possess such spirit
an indomitable courage to succeed and over- of daredevilry.
come fear. The fifth kind of courageous act lies in the
The third type of courage lies in our day-to- lives of the physically challenged persons. They
day living. Every day we come across so many do not just passively accept the disability or dys-
people and work with them. No two of them are function of their organ; they work hammer and
of the same nature. The husband and wife have tongs to make for the loss they have incurred by
to live and work together with a common in- a decree of fate. And it is a strange phenomenon
terest. Naturally there arise differences of opin- of nature that it compensates for the defect in
ion, irksome feeling, domination, misunder- one limb by raising the capacity in some other
standing, intolerance, fault-finding, and many respect in that person. The visually challenged,
others. Indeed, it needs extraordinary courage for instance, are seen to develop some extrasen-
and mental strength to forge a bright future sory nerves that an ordinary person lacks. The
out of bleak, adverse surroundings. To toler- legendary personality of Helen Keller speaks vol-
ate others with all their ferocity and shortcom- umes in this respect. As everyone knows, she was
ings, one needs courage. To forgive and forget handicapped, not in one, but in several respects.
the lapses of others, one needs heroic strength. Still, her success in life was phenomenal. She
Above all, a person needs a stoic forbearance knew every inch of the path of struggle ahead of
to live peacefully with others, which is another her. The only capital she had was an indomitable
example of courage. When the Holy Mother Sri courage, an unflagging zeal, and to top it all, an
Sarada Devi said in her parting advice, ‘If you unwavering faith in God. A few words from her
want peace … don’t find faults with others, but bear mention in this context:
find fault rather with yourself ’,3 she actually put
When it seems that our sorrow is too great to
before posterity a huge responsibility of practis-
be borne, let us think of the great family of the
ing a heroic courage in eking out a happy living heavy-hearted into which our grief has given us
amidst the unavoidable hardships of life. entrance, and inevitably, we feel about us their
The fourth type of courage is that of a soldier arms, their sympathy, their understanding. …
during a war. The soldier must be ready to go to Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there

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 38 Prabuddha Bharata

of direction, batter ourselves against trees and

rocks in our attempt to find a path. All the
while there is a path—a path of Faith—that
leads straight out of the dense tangle of our dif-
ficulties into the open road we are seeking (37).
Keller also says: ‘I thank God for my
handicaps, for, through them, I have found
myself, my work, and my God.’5
Another kind of courage consists in tak-
ing up responsibility for one’s own deeds.
However simple it may seem, it is difficult
to practise. People display courage to do
everything under the sun, as if they can
bring everything under their control. But
behind the facade of desperation, most
people nurture a coward’s attitude towards
life. That is why in most cases it is found
that people take up huge enterprises to do
something ‘big’; but the moment a little
jolt from the world comes by way of fail-
ure, frustration, or hopelessness, they are
nowhere to be found. The brave person is
one who takes in one’s stride many a fail-
ure, frustration, and challenge of life and
stays unmoved in one’s endeavour. A popu-

IMAGE: LOS ANGELES TIMES PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE, UCL A LIBRARY

lar Sanskrit verse says in a lighter vein that
Helen Keller Holding A Magnolia (c. 1920) people hanker for the result of their good ac-
is something for you to do in the world. So tions but refrain from doing good; while they
long as you can sweeten another’s pain, life is do not crave for the bad results; still they go
not in vain.4 … on doing evil deeds willingly.6 This is nothing
Robbed of joy, of courage, of the very desire but a sign of cowardice, that is, passing on the
to live, the newly-bereaved frequently avoids buck to others. One who is really brave will say
companionship, feeling himself so limp with forever, ‘The buck stops here’, not in a pessimis-
misery and so empty of vitality that he is ill
tic sense but with a spirit of acceptance of one’s
suited for human contacts. And yet no one is
so bereaved, so miserable, that he cannot find capacities as well as limitations, with an air of
someone else to succour, someone who needs equanimity in success and failure. The word
friendship, understanding, and courage more ‘equanimity’ traces its root in the Latin word
than he (31). … ‘æquanimitas’, meaning equal, æqua, mind,
Often when the heart is torn with sorrow, spirit, or feeling, animitas. The courageous
spiritually we wander like a traveller lost in a person learns to acquire the strength of a calm
deep wood. We grow frightened, lose all sense patience to accept the trials of life.

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 The Courage to be Human 39

This, again, is one of the striking features of pulls of the world and the flesh, by being aware
monastic life. A monastic does not have to take of oneself every moment of life, by rediscov-
any vow except this one. The monastic is sup- ering the static element amidst all dynamism,
posed to renounce everything including one’s or by seeing the eternal cosmic dance behind
ego. The only exception is one taking this one the apparently static condition of the universe.
vow, namely, of shouldering the responsibil- If secular life has tension, anxiety, frustration,
ity for one’s actions. As opposed to the gen- depression, and the like, as its thorns, spiritual
eral trend one never holds others responsible life has discontent, inner struggle, forbearance,
for one’s fate; rather one says, as Swamiji has patience, and the like as its crossroads, U-turns,
pointed out: ‘Peace to all: From me no danger and speed bumps. Strictly speaking, the paths
be / To aught that lives. In those that dwell on of secular and spiritual life are not two differ-
high. / In those that lowly creep, I am the Self ent highways. They are not even parallels. They
in all!’7 This poem is deeply significant. One are two phases of one and the same path. Nay,
should not hold others responsible for all the more, the secular path ultimately merges into
mishaps in one’s life, much less inflict injury to the spiritual. Depending on the mental state
others for all the wrongs done by them. Swamiji and attitude of the aspirant, the function of
has inculcated this profound idea in the heart courage in spiritual context varies.
of posterity. In one of his lectures he exhorted The first is the courage to seek the Divine.
in a clear strain: The external world is so attractive with its glitters
Therefore, blame none for your own faults, that the senses naturally rush towards them. The
stand upon your own feet, and take the whole Katha Upanishad made a unique statement be-
responsibility upon yourselves. Say, ‘This mis- fitting the context: ‘The Self-Existent One [Di-
ery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and vine] has made the senses outgoing, defective.
that very thing proves that it will have to be un- Thus it is that people do not see the indwell-
done by me alone.’ That which I created, I can
ing Spirit. However, there are some courageous
demolish; that which is created by some one
else I shall never be able to destroy. Therefore, people who dare to see the Self by shutting down
stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole re- their senses through will power and directing
sponsibility on your own shoulders, and know them inwards. They seek immortality.’8
that you are the creator of your own destiny. The whole world is crazy after achieving the
All the strength and succour you want is within petty ends of life. People run after ambition,
yourselves. Therefore, make your own future. name and fame, wealth, prosperity, and what
‘Let the dead past bury its dead’ (2.225). not. It is rightly pointed out to be a frantic stee-
plechase after nothing. At long last, people dis-
Spiritual Level cover to their utter chagrin and dismay that they
In the spiritual context also, courage manifests are left back to square one without making an
in a great many number of ways. We shall dis- inch of progress. All their mad pursuits have
cuss only a few among them here. Spiritual life been futile. This is really an unsettling situation.
is a life of freedom from compulsion, influence, Yet people do not hesitate to scoff at those rare
or bondage. It is a way of affirming our identity souls who dare to hold on to the Divine under
with the Divine. One can establish this identity all trying circumstances.
in various ways—by negating or ignoring all Seeking a Divine being whom we cannot

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 40 Prabuddha Bharata

see, and holding fast to that being through all member evinces extraordinary talent, the first
the trials and fiery ordeals of life in the midst tendency of the rest of the members would be
of the glamour of this world is not an easy task. to drag such person down to the level of the
It needs superhuman courage and one-pointed common people.
will to live in the tune of the Divine with unwav- Let us take a living example from the pages
ering enthusiasm for years, perhaps for births of history. When Galileo proclaimed the truth
together. Faith and hope are the two weapons that not the sun but it is the earth that moves
to win the battle. Of course, character is another round the sun, he was asked to recant his view,
weapon. How to judge the character of a per- which went against the extant belief of the peo-
son? Swamiji pointed it out in one of his lectures ple. Galileo had no options left but to make an
on karma yoga: outward compromise by withdrawing his con-
If you really want to judge of the character of a clusion based on scientific experiment. But leg-
man, look not at his great performances. Every end has it that in an aside he said, ‘It still does
fool may become a hero at one time or another. move round the sun.’ As a result of his showy
Watch a man do his most common actions; confession Galileo was allowed to carry on with
those are indeed the things which will tell you his research work. One may look askance at his
the real character of a great man. Great occa-
lack of courage to hold on to the truth.
sions rouse even the lowest of human beings to
some kind of greatness, but he alone is the really But one point should not be lost sight of in
great man whose character is great always, the this context. It needs greater courage to preserve
same wherever he be (1.29). one’s inner freedom than clamour for outer free-
dom. Rashness is quite different from courage.
This clearly means that the person of char- Galileo had to make a compromise in order to
acter can convert the most commonplace work proceed undeterred in the inner realms of spiri-
into the worship of the Divine. For such a person tual life. From his standpoint, it was meaningless
the line of demarcation between the sacred and to raise a hue and cry on maintaining outer free-
secular disappears. dom. Moreover, he was confident that the truth
The next in line is the courage to preserve would establish itself in the long run.
inner freedom. The world we live in has a ten- The third function is the courage to develop
dency to bind everyone to its Procrustean bed self-awareness. One who desires to go within
of obligations, duties, social norms, and mores, the recess of the heart must convert his life into
and even beliefs of the majority. Outwardly we a conscious flow of energy. Strange as it may
cry hoarse on freedom of choice, civil rights, sound, most of our actions in daily life are just
and many other such rights. But whenever any an unconscious flow of the life-force. We claim
individual gathers up courage to maintain inner that we are aware of everything we do, while in
freedom, the majority is seen to antagonise truth we are being led helplessly by the impetu-
such a person. osity of work. Work controls us, we do not con-
The common run of people has a nature of trol it. This is the verdict of the Bhagavadgita. In
crabs. The vendors take the crabs to the market the third chapter the Lord says: ‘All are forced
in a huge open basket without any risk. Any to work helplessly by qualities born of nature.’9
crab trying to crawl out of the basket would be In order to develop self-awareness, the first step
held back by another. In society, too, when a is to do all work without any compulsion from

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external authority. Non-compulsive, self-di- songs; they offer oblations in sacrificial rites, and
rected work leads to develop self-awareness in so forth. Obviously these feats do not need any
us. Swamiji said: ‘Everything that you do under courage. Then where lies the courage to pursue
compulsion goes to build up attachment.’10 spiritual life?
But in doing so, one may incur the displea- To get the answer, we have to be keen observ-
sure of the authority under which one has to ers. It is a strange anomaly that religious peo-
work. What, then, is the way out? The solution is ple of the abovementioned kind praise God for
simple. As regards obligatory, or even occasional all their success only when things go well with
duties, one cannot but obey the authority. Of them; but when the case is contrary, that is, when
course, illegal or forbidden works are excluded they fall into hard times, more often than not,
from this list. The primers on Vedantic texts pre- the faith of such people vanishes into thin air.
scribe four kinds of work, namely, obligatory, This happens because, as Ramana Maharshi has
nitya; occasional, naimittika; desirable, kamya; aptly pointed out, our idea of grace is success in-
and forbidden, nishiddha. Of these, the first type sured. We forget that God’s grace also lies in our
of work must be carried out regularly, even if in self-effort to brave all the adversities and ordeals
a casual way. For, refraining from it might give of life. God’s grace is there when the honest per-
rise to adverse effects, just as the daily habits of son has to bear the evil consequences of one’s
eating, drinking, sleeping, and the like, must be honesty. A truly spiritual person never cares to
carried out if we want to keep the doctor away blame God for all one’s failures. Such a person
from our doors. Yet, even amidst our busy sched- has deep, unshakeable faith in God’s power to
ule of daily chores, it is possible to keep some protect one under all circumstances. One does
time apart for our private practice of creative, not care even for ‘spiritual visions’ or miracles.
self-directed work. As opposed to all other un- Does it not need a Herculean courage to lin-
conscious drives, this type of work never tires us; ger to an invisible entity called God at all costs
instead it restores our energy and enthusiasm, for years together without caring for any other
and in addition we rediscover ourselves with our support? Just as a faithful dog does not leave its
creative skills. Again, by doing all works with a master even when the latter punishes it, so is the
spirit of worship also, one can bring self-aware- attitude of a lover of God. The lives of Brother
ness even into the daily menial chores like sweep- Lawrence, St Francis of Assisi, Sri Ramakrishna,
ing, mopping, cooking, and others. No author- Mira Bai, and a host of saints from every clime
ity under the sun has the power to change the and creed stand as beacon lights of such courage
attitude of a person towards the objective world and faith in spiritual life.
unless one oneself does it. We now come to the fifth type of courage
The fourth type of courage lies in pursu- in the spiritual context, to wit, courage to face
ing spiritual life. Many of us do lead spiritual the truth. We grow up from childhood into
lives. Hordes of people go to temples, churches, adulthood under the protective care of our par-
mosques, and other holy places; pilgrim centres ents and guardians who carefully hide from us
thrive with the money donated by such religious a number of truths about life. In answer to the
people. Then, people make a lot of charities with innocent but critical queries of the children
a view to expiating their sins; they engage in con- they either avoid it because of their own igno-
gregational services, masses, group devotional rance, or try to impose some superstitions like

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 42 Prabuddha Bharata

fear or death of a loved one because they feel retreated and disappeared into the darkness.
that particular truth as ‘sin’. They feel that un- Swamiji waited the whole night, but the tiger
mitigated, undiluted truth may be devastating to never came back. This is called courage to face
their child’s wellbeing. All these forces act as de- the baldest truth of life, namely death, with a
vices to promote our self-blinding process. Often calm bearing.11
the parents or guardians consider it wise ‘not to
wake up the sleeping lion’, since it would be dif- Courage to be Human
ficult for them to control the awakened soul. We now come to the concluding and most im-
But truth, as Swamiji has pointed out, is like a portant part of our discussion. We have already
‘corrosive substance of infinite power. It burns discussed two broad fields in which courage
its way in wherever it falls—in soft substance manifests, namely, secular and spiritual. The
at once, hard granite slowly, but it must’ (5.71). courage to be human is like the common de-
Truth cannot be kept hidden for a long time. It nominator of the two. The human species has
will make its appearance on the surface of our several distinctions above all other species. For
consciousness one day or the other. To bear its the same reason, human beings experience much
impact one needs a lot of self-awareness coupled more mental sufferings than the physical suf-
with detachment of the will. ferings of animals. These mental sufferings are
When the little boy Nachiketa wanted to see called the pains of being human. In the words of
the truth, the king of death tried to dissuade him Father Eugene C Kennedy,
from that resolve by luring him to power, posi- Man cannot run away from this pain without
tion, wealth, longevity, and everything a worldly running away from himself. … He can narco-
person can aspire for. But the wise boy passed the tize himself in a hundred ways against it but at
acid test by holding firmly to his resolve. the high price of numbing himself to the very
Spiritual aspirants sometimes feel a divine deepest meaning of life. Man can only face and
deal with it honestly. Indeed, his manner of re-
discontent in their hearts after years of spiritual
sponding to its challenge becomes the best mea-
practice. Life loses all meaning for them. This, sure of his maturity.12
of course, is a temporary setback. As a matter of
fact, this discontent is a harbinger of the dawn This response to the challenges is called the
of truth. It is a test of the capacity of the aspi- courage to be human. Generally, it is seen that
rant to hold on to truth at all costs. Such cri- our response to any threat is bestial. Whenever
sis came to Swamiji also. During his itinerant our ego is threatened, we try to counter it by re-
days once he became disgusted with himself viling or backbiting. When we are humiliated,
and decided to give up his body in exclusive we stick to the maxim of retaliation. In other
meditation. So, he entered a trackless forest words, we tend to switch over to animal nature
and spent the whole day walking without food. under straitened circumstances. Very rarely do
As a natural outcome, he became exhausted at we find people who possess the courage to as-
sundown and lay down under a tree. There he sert humanness in exchange for all the crook-
saw a tiger approaching him. Swamiji resolved edness and bestiality from the world. Swamiji’s
to offer his body as a sacrifice to the hungry short span of life brings home this fact. In fact,
beast, and quietly waited for the tiger to pounce he lived mainly to demonstrate this indomitable
upon him. But for reasons unknown, the tiger courage to assert his humanness through thick

326 PB February 2019

 The Courage to be Human 43

and thin. Despite so much defection, disloyalty, best arrangements due for a venerable guest. At
and antagonism from others, he went on doing night, when the guest was resting in the cosy
good to them unstintedly. Towards the end of his bed provided for him, the old bogey of evil ten-
life he proclaimed: ‘The older I grow, the more dency once again raised its ugly head, and the
everything seems to me to lie in manliness. This man stole the gold and silver utensils arranged
is my new gospel.’13 for his dinner. Next morning, he was caught
Once Gautama Buddha went to a king’s red-handed by the vigilant cop sergeant and
court, where some sacrificial rites were being ob- brought before Bishop Myriel for identifica-
served. A little lamb was made ready for sacrifice. tion. But, to the consternation of the sergeant,
But suddenly he entered the spot, and hearing the noble bishop said that he had gifted those
the bleat of the lamb he rushed to the site, took vessels to the man. Not only so, but he handed
it in his arms and asked the king quietly the pur- over the remaining silver candle-stands to the
pose of sacrificing the lamb. The king replied man in front of the dumbfounded inspector Ja-
that it was arranged in order to incur the merits vert, who left the place disappointed. Through
for his subjects. Buddha then said: ‘O king, I am that small, momentary act of love, the bishop
ready to sacrifice my body, which has earned a ushered in an unprecedented change in the
lot of merit, in lieu of the lamb’s. This body has life of the convict. What could not be brought
committed no sin. You will incur more merit by about through years of incarceration was done
sacrificing me.’ The king hung his head in shame in a few moments.
and the upshot was that from that day onwards, The reaction was revolutionary and phe-
all animal sacrifices were abolished in that king- nomenal. Gradually the man became trans-
dom. In recent past, Swamiji, inspired by the formed into a great Mayor who saved the life
life of Buddha, wrote in one of his letters: ‘They of a poor cart-man stuck up under the wheel
alone live who live for others, the rest are more of his own loaded cart. Jean Valjean had gained
dead than alive.’14 the courage to exercise his humanness even
Another channel through which the inspira- though the law was breathing heavily down
tion for courage to be human descends is love. his neck. Was he not initiated from bestial-
True, unselfish, detached love makes the impos- ity to humanness by Bishop Myriel? Again, he
sible possible. The most touching illustration went to save the life of a poor woman assaulted
of this transforming power of love has been by a mob. The woman could not survive the
depicted in Victor Hugo’s immortal epic, Les shock, but died peacefully after handing over
Misérables. The hero of the story, Jean Valjean, the charge of her only little daughter to the
was released from the gaol after a long period Mayor. The daughter was in the custody of a
of rigorous imprisonment, with a passport that hotelier. But long before reaching her, Jean
did not enable him even to buy a frugal meal in Valjean was once again sent behind the bars.
France. All the doors were slammed in his face. This time he fled, and released the child from
Overcome with hunger, thirst, and frustration, the clutches of the hotelier for a huge ransom.
the man at last forced his way into the house Keeping himself carefully away from public
of a reverend bishop. The bishop welcomed the gaze, he brought up the child, and after she
stranger and ignoring his fierce appearance and came of age, married her to a suitable young
the opposition from family members, made the man. But the most dramatic part of the story

PB February 2019 327

 44 Prabuddha Bharata

is yet to be told. Inspector Javert was caught by the fairest of roses. Those who come into the
a group of young rebels during a civil war. Jean proximity of such people get completely trans-
Valjean happened to be present on the spot. formed into real human beings. Here are the
The group unanimously gave the verdict of cap- lines from a small poem by Swamiji entitled
ital punishment for Javert. When no one felt to ‘To an Early Violet’:
murder the unarmed captive, Jean Valjean took What though thy bed be frozen earth,
the onus of killing the man on himself. After Thy cloak the chilling blast;
everyone left, he set free his sworn enemy, the What though no mate to cheer thy path,
Thy sky with gloom o’ercast;
captive Javert, and fired the bullet in the air.
What though if love itself doth fail,
The inspector could not believe his eyes. How Thy fragrance strewed in vain;
could he know what revolution had trans- What though if bad o’er good prevail,
formed a criminal into a man! Torn between And vice o’er virtue reign:
his conscience and duty, inspector Javert at last Change not thy nature, gentle bloom,
chose suicide as the only solution. Thou violet, sweet and pure,
To many, this may be just a novel. But let us But ever pour thy sweet perfume
ask ourselves: ‘Do we not encounter in our real Unasked, unstinted, sure! (8.169–70)  P
life such cruelty and tough situations as has been
References
depicted in this realistic, life-oriented novel?’
Every moment our dignity of humanness is chal- 1. His Eastern and Western Disciples, The Life of
lenged, and we have to stand the acid test boldly. Swami Vivekananda, 2 vols (Kolkata: Advaita
Ashrama, 2008), 1.281.
Epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata inspire us 2. K Goldstein, ‘The Structure of Anxiety’, Progress
only because we find striking parallels in real life in Psychotherapy, eds J H Masserman and J L
even in this modern age. This fact should never Moreno (New York: Grune and Stratton, 1957),
be lost sight of. 68.
One who has once tasted the bliss of pure, 3. Swami Gambhirananda, Holy Mother Sri Sarada
Devi (Chennai: Ramakrishna Math, 2001), 519.
unselfish love will not even care for any opposi- 4. Hellen Keller, We Bereaved (New York: Leslie
tion from the world and will give love freely in Fulenwider, 1929), 1.
an unbroken stream. Such a person will patiently 5. Hellen Keller, Light in My Darkness, ed. Ray
and stoically bear all the pathos of being human. Silverman (West Chester, PA: Chrysalis, 1994),
134.
This is what we call the courage to be human. 6. ‘Punyasya phalam-ichchhanti punyam nechch-
hanti manavah, na papa-phalam-ichchhanti
End Note papam kurvanti yatnatah.’
Swamiji went one step further. In an enthrall- 7. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9
vols (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1–8, 1989; 9,
ing poem he expressed the idea that one who
1997), 4.394.
is mature enough to give love will give only 8. Katha Upanishad, 2.1.1.
sweetness in return for harshness and cruelty. 9. See Gita, 3.5.
Such characters are not just found in novels. 10. Complete Works, 1.104.
Even in this relentless world they move about 11. See Life, 1.352–3.
12. E C Kennedy, The Pain of Being Human (New
incognito. Their role is like that of the unseen, York: Image, 1972), 13.
unheard dewdrop that falls in the night hidden 13. Life, 2.465.
from the common gaze and brings into blossom 14. Complete Works, 4.363.

328 PB February 2019

YOUNG EYES
How I Look at Dogs
Aadrika Chattopadhyay

I
look at dogs as human beings’ best the people in our apartment building might take
friends, but that does not mean we should our apartment away because I was feeding a dog
cage them. If you want to keep a dog or any in the compound. In our compound, dogs are
other animal as a pet then you have to wait until hated and many people have complained about
you grow up and earn, because to maintain a dogs being in our compound, and I also stopped
healthy pet, you need to earn. If you keep any giving her biscuits to eat. When I went down
animal in your house without properly taking to the ground level of our building, Snowflake
care of it, it will feel tortured, and hence you came and started licking me. I told that to my
would have to earn and give that pet much space. father and he said that I might be infected with
We think that the dogs that are all over the diseases. And now, Snowflake tries to lick me,
streets are harmful and can bite. Yes, it is true but I don’t let her.
that they can bite and also spread diseases, but This is the story of Snowflake. I have many
just sitting at home and saying such things other stories to share with you. So, let me tell
won’t help. What would help is studying hard you another story about many dogs in a dog
and doing something for them. And no, street show. My father, grandfather, and I went to a
dogs don’t always bite. Now let me talk about dog show, some time ago. When we reached the
a dog named Snowflake, who was always quite dog show, we saw dogs in small cages, and they
caring of me. were all barking. There were breeds like Dober-
Once, when my friends and I went down the mann, golden retriever, chihuahua, dachshund,
road cycling, my eyes fell on this dog who was German shepherd, Labrador, toy poodle, beagle,
bleeding from a wound on her head. Just then and Lhasa apso, but they all were underfed or
my friend told me it was a female because she overfed.
had given birth to puppies earlier and the pup- Taking dogs to a dog show is torturing them.
pies were taken away and killed. My friends and If you want to exercise your dog, then let it run
I gave her some water and biscuits. The next day and play in a field or some kind of a garden, be-
I gave her some water and biscuits. Like this, I cause taking it to a dog show is not exercising
kept giving her biscuits every day and suddenly it or doing any good to its body. Just because
I got the courage to touch her, and touched her. you want to win and make your dog win some
I told my parents what I had done. They told money and a trophy, you are torturing it. What
me that I had done something quite wrong and I feel is that a street dog’s life is better than a pet
that I could have had caught some diseases. So dog’s life, because a pet dog has no freedom and
I stopped touching the dog and gave her the is kept caged, while a street dog has freedom and
name Snowflake. Then my father told me that can have whatever it wants, including meat. I and

PB February 2019 329

46 Prabuddha Bharata

my mom go out for morning walks sometimes, not edible. A dog, especially a puppy, would try
and then I see an old man giving meat and fish to to chew on your hands, but chewables and toys
street dogs. Some people even show love to street are not edible items. Instead, why don’t you try
dogs, as with me and Snowflake. If you are fond to give meat to your dog? Even puppies would
of dogs and you are quite young, then if you have be able to chew it and it will be healthy for your
the permission, you can feed street dogs. dog. Remember to vaccinate your dog and then
In a way, street dogs or any other dog is caged, get it completely clean by the vet, because oth-
because all dogs belong to the wild. We cut trees, erwise your dog is harmful enough to kill you,
which is their home and when we do that, the but it won’t be your dog’s fault, because there are
dogs get caged in the city and in that way, all some diseases that animals carry but they don’t
dogs are caged. If dogs would be in the wild, suffer from them. These diseases get passed on
then they would hunt and they might be eating by animals to humans. So, you better not for-
us, but they still could be human beings’ best get to vaccinate and clean your dog. Most dogs
friends. As far as I think, if you work hard, then like golden retrievers and Labradors can play any
one day you could get a dog. But remember, if game with you.
you don’t have the money to maintain a pet dog, Some dog breeds like beagle and poodle
then there is another way and that is to maintain need much exercise. So, if you have a dog,
a street dog. then don’t forget to give much exercise to your
In my experience, a street dog can be as lov- dog. You should not make your dog wear any
ing and caring as a pet dog. So, think twice be- clothes because a dog is resistant to many dis-
fore you say no to a street dog. I think all dogs eases like cold. When your dog falls ill, then it is
can be loving and caring if we show some love not because you have not made it wear clothes;
to them. A dog is loyal to its owner but we don’t it could be because of the pollution and some
have that much of love for our dogs. So, keep other reasons like that. In fact, your dog will feel
your dog maintained and exercised. When we tortured if you make it wear clothes. You should
get a dog, we tend to give it toys like chewing only make your dog wear clothes when the air
bones and things like that, but those toys are conditioner is on! P
BALABODHA
Ancient Wisdom Made Easy

Bhagavan

T
he word ‘bhagavan’ is a commonly of bhaga. A person who has the six qualities of
used Sanskrit word. It is used by people, complete sovereignty, valour, honour, prosperity,
who do not even know Sanskrit, as it is knowledge, and dispassion is called ‘bhagavan’.
present in almost every Indian language. The ‘Bhagavan’ also refers to one who knows about
widely used meaning of the word ‘bhagavan’ is the creation and dissolution of the universe, the
God. In many Indian languages, it also means appearance and disappearance of living beings,
an honourable person. However, it is necessary and wisdom and ignorance. ‘Bhagavan’ means a
to see the other meanings and the origins of this form of God, the signs of the presence of God, il-
word. This is a Sanskrit word. Sanskrit is a clas- lumined, omniscient, Lord Buddha, rishi, Atman,
sical language like Greek, Latin, and Persian. honourable, worshipful, adorable, prince, deity,
And in Sanskrit, as in most classical languages, Jina, glorious, illustrious, revered, venerable, di-
most words are derived from a stem or root. vine, holy, fortunate, prosperous, and happy.
The word ‘bhagavan’ is derived from the stem ‘Bhagavan’ also refers to one receiving the
word bhaga by adding a matup suffix. Bhaga is de- bhakti of the devotees. Sanatana Dharma be-
rived from the root word bhaj, which means to lieves in the incarnation of God or bhagavan
divide, distribute, allot, apportion, share, grant, whenever virtue subsides and evil increases.
bestow, furnish, supply, to obtain as one’s share, Bhagavan is male in gender and the female equiv-
receive as, partake of, enjoy, possess, have, to turn alent is called ‘bhagavati’. However, many con-
or resort to, engage in, assume, put on, experi- sider the term ‘bhagavan’ to be beyond gender.
ence, incur, undergo, feel, go or fall into, pursue, This word is used in Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and
practise, cultivate, fall to the lot or share of, de- Buddhist texts. In most parts of India, this word
clare for, prefer, choose, serve, honour, revere, is also used as an honorific title to address a per-
love, adore, deal out, put to flight, chase, cook, son of importance. The essence of the supreme
and dress food. Bhaga means dispenser, gracious Truth or Brahman is also referred to by the word
lord, patron, good fortune, happiness, welfare, ‘bhagavan’. A person who completely under-
prosperity, dignity, majesty, distinction, excel- stands the meaning of this word attains holy
lence, beauty, loveliness, love, affection, glory, wisdom and the gist of the entire Vedas. The let-
desire, knowledge, greatness, effort, dharma, ter bh means the cherisher and supporter of the
moksha, lustre, sun, moon, part, wife, relative, universe. The letter ga means leader, impeller, or
characteristic, attendant, quality, mental state, es- creator. The letter va denotes that fundamental
sence, action, omnipotence, virtue, occult power, spirit that pervades all beings. In its entirety,
and dalliance. There is a god named Bhaga in the the word ‘Bhagavan’ denotes the supreme Lord,
Vedas, who distributes wealth. who is the creator, sustainer, and the destroyer
‘Bhagavan’ is a person having the qualities of this universe.  P

PB February 2019 331

TRADITIONAL TALES

Self-created Bondage
(Continued from the previous issue)

R
emembering his past life, the con- had now taken birth as the dog that was barking at
fectioner in the form of the bull said with him. After being born as a bull, the confectioner
eyes full of tears: ‘Sir, you have come was now born as a dog because of his attachment
after eight years just as I requested. But, what to his sons, and was now guarding them. He was
can I do? You can well see the poverty of my being a companion to his sons and was ensuring
sons. If they continue in this manner in pov- that no one takes away anything that belonged to
erty, they will die out of starvation. So, please them. The sadhu went near the dog that barked at
come after some more years and take me with him. By the power of his austerities, he reminded
you. Please allow me to help them now.’ Hear- the dog of its previous births.
ing these words of the confectioner in the form As soon as the dog remembered its past
of the bull, the sadhu felt compassion towards births, it fell at the feet of the sadhu and started
him, who was bound by attachment. The sadhu shedding tears and said to the sadhu: ‘Sir, you
promised to return after some more years to free can well see the pitiable condition of my sons.
that soul, which was deluded at the self-created Hence, how can I come with you leaving them in
bondage and was unable to break it. this condition? Therefore, if you come after some
Some years passed. The sadhu’s body was get- more time, I will immediately come with you.’
ting weaker by the day because of old age. He The sadhu thought with compassion: ‘This
went again to the confectioner so that he could soul is bound because of his previous actions
pay his gratitude and not have any debts in this and is suffering by moving in the cycle of sam-
world. However, he saw a dog dying in starva- sara! Even after so much time, he cannot give up
tion in front of a dilapidated old house. The dog the bonds arising out of the petty ideas like “my
barked as it saw the sadhu and made the people wife” and “my children”, and he cannot strive
in the house come out. The elder son came out for attaining moksha.’ Then, the sadhu accepted
hearing the dog’s barking. The sadhu asked him the request of the confectioner turned dog, and
about the family’s condition. Then, he enquired promised to return after some time, in his old
about the bull that had been helping them. The age. Some time passed. The sadhu again went
elder son told the sadhu: ‘Sir, that bull died a to the house of the confectioner’s sons. He ob-
year ago. Do you know how helpful that bull served that the sons and their families were now
was? It would not eat much. But, it toiled heavily in a worse condition than before.
for us, without any rest. The poor creature died! Both the sons became angry at the sight of
We would never get such a bull now!’ The elder the sadhu. They thought: ‘Every time this sadhu
son thus highly praised the bull. visits us, we end up being in a worse condition
The sadhu could understand through intu- than before. It appears that he is the carrier of
ition that the confectioner in the form of the bull misfortune.’ Hence, they started scolding the

332 PB February 2019

 Self-created Bondage 49

sadhu. However, the sadhu said to them full of because of his attachment to his family, that was
compassion: ‘Children, you have become quite born as a snake in this lifetime. Because he was
impoverished. Do you need money? If so, dig up killed and because of the great compassion of the
the place your parents used for sleeping. There sadhu, the confectioner in the form of the snake
you would find a jar full of gold coins. You two gradually became free of his attachments. The
can take it.’ confectioner became very happy knowing that
Immediately, both the sons went to the place the sadhu will take him to Vaikuntha, the abode
used by their parents for sleeping, dug up the place, of Lord Vishnu, and get him moksha.
and just after digging a little, a snake came out hiss- Selfish interest only brings misery. It was the
ing. At the sight of the snake both of them stopped inconsequential attachment of the confectioner
digging and angrily went to the sadhu to give a towards his sons that made him take birth over
piece of their mind. Understanding their state and again in various lifetimes. He himself created
of mind, the sadhu said: ‘You are angry thinking more and more attachments. It was his lack of dis-
that I lied. But, see the pit properly. There, you can cernment that made him go through repeated cy-
see the tip of the jar. Do as I say. Both of you kill cles of births and deaths. Had he just met his obli-
this snake.’ The anger of both the sons subsided gations in this world without any attachments, he
and they looked closely at the pit. They could see would have attained moksha in one lifetime itself
under the snake, what could be called the tip of a by the great compassion of the sadhu.
jar. Then, they beat the snake with full force and Therefore, we should meet our obligations
garnered all their strength to retrieve the jar. Heav- without any attachments just like water that does
ily beaten, the snake died. The sons brought out not stick to lotus leaf. Let us pray to God that we
the jar from the pit. Seeing a large number of gold get a suitable state of mind and mental strength
coins, their joy knew no bounds. to do so.1P
However, the sadhu went near the dead snake
Reference
and sprinkled holy water on it and started ob- 1. This is an adaptation of the story in Swami
serving it unabatedly. It was the confectioner, Rama­k rishnananda, Universe and Man
who was reborn as a bull and then as a dog (Madras: Ramakrishna Mission, 1908), 103–13.
Tibetan Buddhist Painting of The Wheel of Life
IMAGE: HTTPS://WWW.BBC.CO.UK

PB February 2019 333

 REVIEWS
For review in P RABUDDHA B HARATA,
publishers need to send two copies of their latest publications

The Penguin Book of Hell The Penguin Book of Hell narrowly focuses
Ed. Scott G Bruce on primarily Greco-Roman and Christian
Penguin Books, Penguin Random ‘hellscapes’ without referring to Hittite
House llc, 375 Hudson Street, New conceptions of hell. The Israelites defined their
York, New York 10014, usa. Website: hell after coming in touch with the Near East
https://www.penguinrandomhouse. when they were fleeing Egypt. Bruce does not
com. 2018. $11.59. 304 pp. pb. isbn include any description of this proto-hell from
9780143131625. Near Eastern cultures. How can there be a

H ell and hell-beings are found in all

religions and all literatures of the world.
Hells connote variously real suffering in other
Judaeo-Christian anthology of hellscapes without
referring to Near Eastern hells? As a sourcebook
on hell, Bruce’s scholarship is at best archival in
worlds; metaphorical suffering in this world a pejorative manner. His presentations on why
and even the state in which say, animals are some medieval men chose to become Cistercian
in. Hells can be imaginative constructs and monks are repetitive and naïve. Contemplative
history itself can be hellish. For example, medieval Christian spirituality arose because
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) maps an of European mysticism and not out of a fear of
apocalyptic, possibly cannibalistic hell. And the demons; Bruce’s book makes one feel that the
history of America as constructed by Richard basis of Western monasticism is the fear of Satan
Slotkin in his Gunfighter Nation trilogy shows and not the love for God.
how America had been transformed into hell for Unlike most Penguin editions, this book is
Native Americans when white cowboys decided best avoided unless one wants to know what a
to conquer the American West. Alice Walker first world scholar can get away with; had an
in The Color Purple (1982) charts the horrors of Indian compiled this anthology then the latter
being a black in Wasp America. It is hell which would be thought deficient of meticulousness
is the alternative right in today’s America and in naming the book, this is only to begin
the rise of Richard B Spencer (b. 1978) with his with. Nowhere does the editor say that his is a
neo-Nazi salutes have made Charlottesville a sourcebook on Greco-Roman, Christian, and
magnet for white supremacists. In other words, white man’s hells. In his Introduction Bruce
hells are relative and a white person’s hell is very grandiosely states: ‘The tenacity of the belief in
different from a coloured person’s hell. Scott G Hell in the modern world invites inquiry into its
Bruce being white has failed to provide a thick long history. Depictions of a punitive afterlife are
description of hell(s) in the book under review. as old as writing itself. Ancient Mesopotamians
One assumes that he is too privileged in white imagine a grim otherworld’ (xiii). Nothing from
land to comprehend the ‘darkness visible’ in Mesopotamia is to be found anywhere in this
hells throughout history and in his own country, book. The worst is kept for the last: Bruce could
the US. have been more elaborate and systematic in his
Descriptions of hell are to be found in Near treatment of the hell that was the Abu Ghraib
Eastern cultures like those of the Hittites and (253) detention centre operated by the US.
the Numidians. They are found in all branches Instead, he just provides an abrupt and cursory
of Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. And, of vision of that hell on earth. There is only one
course, within the Judaeo-Christian continuum. exception to this skewed anthology. Bruce’s

334 PB February 2019

 Reviews 51

excerpt from Vasily Grossman’s description aim in another area: Bruce does not discuss
of the Nazi Treblinka extermination camp in apocalyptic hells within any religion. Bruce
occupied Poland is veritably what ‘Not even cannot be bothered to read St John of Patmos,
Dante, in his Hell’ could have imagined (233). leave alone that superb apocalyptic hell
Grossman’s description of Nazi sadism needs described in Anagatavamsa Desana: The Sermon
to be quoted to show what the white Nazi is of the Chronicle-to-be (1993) translated by Udaya
capable of: Meddegama. The arrogance of the publisher and
the compiler leave a bad taste in the brain. The
The SS singled out for particular torment those Penguin Book of Hell misses all fictional hells too,
who had participated in the uprising in the as has been mentioned above. We never get to
Warsaw ghetto. The women and children were hear of the hells of Stephen King, Paul Tremblay,
taken not to the gas chambers but to where the or the hell that we find in Cormac McCarthy’s
corpses were being burned. Mothers crazed Blood Meridian. Another hermeneutical problem
with horror were forced to lead their children with Bruce is that he does not define hell in any
onto the red-hot grid where thousands of constructive manner. His hell is a word which
dead bodies were writhing in the flames and has no essentiality. It is because of his lack of
smoke, where corpses tossed and turned as if rigour that we do not ever know whether the
they had come back to life again, where the anthologiser believes in hells or just thinks
bellies of women who had been pregnant burst of hells as metaphors for suffering. This book
from the heat and babies killed before birth fails because Bruce does not have the domain
were burning in open wombs. Such a spectacle expertise of a philosopher of evil, that is,
was enough to rob the most hardened man expertise in theodicy, to know where to start and
of his reason, but its effect—as the Germans where to end.
well knew—was a hundred times greater on a Four Views on Hell (1996) published as part
mother struggling to keep her children from of the Counterpoint Series by Zondervan is a
seeing it. The children clung to their mothers more valuable Christian resource book for hell
and shrieked, ‘Mama, what are they going than the anthology under review. It is sad that
to do to us? Are they going to burn us?’ Not expensive Cambridge Companions and Norton
even Dante, in his Hell, saw scenes like this. Anthologies in recent years are just quid-pro-
After amusing themselves for a while with this quo cram books with little value. A case in
spectacle, the Germans burned the children (236). point is the original Cambridge Companion to
St. Augustine edited by Eleonore Stump (2001).
This book is remarkable for the non-existent The more recent version edited by David
scholarship in this field. Were all scholars to Vincent Meconi (2014) and Eleonore Stump is
have open access to The Penguin Book of Hell, poorer as far as the collection of essays in the
Bruce’s puerile neglect of ‘cosmopolitanism’ newer edition goes. The Penguin Book of Hell
would have cost him dear. Most books from is a misleading dumbed down anthology with
the first world today need to be first made no meaningful annotation and not worth our
available in an open-access model and also, be attention. This book had great potential because
possibly self-published. Those who scorn self- it could have been a resource for Medieval
publication need to remember that no less than scholars and also of scholars of both Dante and
John Milton and Percy Bysshe Shelley freely Milton. But except for being a non-plagiarised
distributed many of their seminal pamphlets copy-paste hack-job, this Penguin anthology is
through self-publication. In today’s world if one less than a cram-book.
is afraid of being open about their scholarship, Subhasis Chattopadhyay
then we know something is rotten in the state of Psychoanalyst
publishing and academic excellence. Assistant Professor in English
The Penguin Book of Hell misses its normative Narasinha Dutt College, Howrah.

PB February 2019 335

 MANANA
Exploring thought-currents from around the world.
Extracts from a thought-provoking book every month.

The Process Matters:

Engaging and Equipping
People for Success
Joel Brockner
Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Prince-
ton, New Jersey 08540. 2016. x + 320 pp. $27.95. hb.
isbn 9780691165059.

S
ee if you can figure out what these in second out of fifty people. My sons brought
two situations have in common: me down to earth quickly: ‘So, Dad, you lost!’
(1) John works for a high-powered invest- they cried out, practically in unison.
ment bank. His work environment is always At first blush these two situations seem pretty
stressful, but this time he is really feeling the heat. different from one another. But they also display
His firm has had several bad quarters in a row. In a a noteworthy commonality: our obsession with
recent meeting with their boss, John and his team results. Indeed, several familiar expressions re-
had been given a strict order: they needed to in- veal the great importance we assign to outcomes,
crease their contribution to the bottom line by 15 such as ‘The bottom line is …’ or ‘At the end of
percent relative to the previous quarter. Seated in the day …’ Don’t get me wrong—we should care
John’s memory were his boss’s parting words: ‘I about outcomes. Obviously we would rather suc-
don’t care how you get there, just get there.’ ceed than fail, win rather than lose, and make
(2) I returned home late one night after more money rather than less. The problem is that
taking part in a basketball free-throw shoot- all too often our obsession with results blinds us
ing contest open to all members of the Colum- to the reality that how we get there, the process,
bia University community. I was feeling pretty also makes a big difference.
good about things. Out of the fifty contestants How the process is handled really matters to
who entered, I tied for first (making twenty-two those on the receiving end of decisions. Just ask
out of twenty-five shots), which necessitated an Jay Leno, the long time host of NBC’s The Tonight
overtime round between the other top finisher Show. Jay didn’t take it well when NBC replaced
and me. The other person shot better than I did him with Conan O’Brien in 2009. Why? Was it
in overtime, so I finished as the runner-up. The because, after being No. 1 in late-night TV, he re-
next morning at breakfast, my three sons, then sented being told that his services were no longer
ranging in age from five to eleven, asked me how needed? Was it because, at sixty, he felt hurt that
it had gone. I decided to make this a teaching someone ten to fifteen years younger would be
moment, as in, there’s more to life than winning replacing him? It is hard to know the real rea-
and losing. So I proceeded to tell them that I had sons, but his more recent reactions to being re-
tried as hard as I could, that I really enjoyed the placed by Jimmy Fallon (who is even younger
experience, and, oh, by the way, that I had come than Conan O’Brien) give us some clues. As he

336 PB February 2019

 Manana 53

put it himself, ‘the main difference between this employees’ productivity and morale, on the aca-
and the other time is I’m part of the process. The demic performance of chronically underachiev-
last time the decision was made without me. I ing students, on how ethically we behave, and
came into work one day and [was abruptly told], even on how we feel about ourselves. The saga of
you’re out. This time it feels right.’ Jay Leno is anything but an isolated case. I also
Part of Jay Leno’s satisfaction the second time will discuss what goes into doing things in the
around was probably because NBC’s CEO, Steve right way. The specific elements that affected Jay
Burke, made a point of meeting with Jay himself Leno’s satisfaction with the process are part of the
before any changes were announced. As Burke story, but many other factors go into a high-qual-
said after their meeting, ‘Clearly our goal has ity process. I also will provide answers to the puz-
been to make this a smooth transition. Jay de- zling question of why doing things in the right
serves to be treated like someone who has done way frequently fails to happen. After all, if some-
a wonderful thing for our company for two dec- thing so simple and straight-forward can have
ades.’ Another important member of NBC’s se- such positive effects, shouldn’t it be done more
nior management team, Lorne Michaels (the often? What is getting in the way? By identifying
creator of Saturday Night Live), agreed: ‘What the obstacles, we can figure out ways to deal with
has been key to this transition has been the ab- them, thereby unleashing the many benefits that
solute consideration for everyone’s feelings by result from doing things in the right way.
all involved. It has been a transparent process.’
Jimmy Fallon also facilitated things by saying, ‘I Mapping the Terrain
have nothing but respect for Jay. If it weren’t for Throughout the book I will consider a wide array
him, I wouldn’t have a show to be taking over.’ of situations in which two or more parties are
The Jay Leno example illustrates three of the interacting with one another, or have a relation-
central points of this book. First, look at how dif- ship with one another, and are trying to complete
ferently Jay reacted to the exact same decision some task or attain some goal. Most of my ex-
when the process was done well rather than poorly. amples come from the workplace: for instance,
As the old saying goes, it’s not only what you do, how employees react to a significant change in
but also how you do it. Second, doing the pro- their organization such as a merger or acquisi-
cess well often entails simple things like involving tion. I also will examine more microlevel work-
people in decisions, showing respect, and doing place encounters such as one-on-one interactions
things transparently. Not exactly rocket science. employees have with their bosses. The book’s con-
Furthermore, doing the process well may not re- tents are also relevant to people in authority pos-
quire much in the way of people to show him real itions, such as parents, educators, and politicians.
respect; this cost very little time or money. Third, Moreover, the importance of how things are done
given how much the process matters, and given also applies to our encounters and relationships
the simplicity of doing it right, you would think with others who are important to us (family,
that processes would be handled well more often friends) as we go about our various life activities.
than not. Sadly and alarmingly, this is not the case. In all of these situations, Party A is taking
Hence this book: I will be talking about how some action toward Party B that, from Party B’s
doing things in the right way can make lots of im- perspective, consists of both a ‘what’ (outcome)
portant differences. It can have positive effects on and a ‘how’ (process).  P

PB February 2019 337

 REPORTS

Consecration of Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Aurangabad

New Mission Centre from 16 schools participated. Coimbatore Mis-

The Phoenix Ashrama in South Africa, which sion: Cultural competitions in 13 schools and col-
was so long a sub-centre of Durban Ashrama, has leges in Coimbatore between 26 September and
been made a full-fledged branch centre of Rama- 16 October. In all, 2,085 students took part in the
krishna Mission. Its contact details are as follows: competitions. At all the venues, the competitions
Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa‒Phoe- were followed by a talk, an awards ceremony, and
nix, physical address: ‘17 Forest Haven Drive, a skit. Indore: An inter-school elocution compe-
Foresthaven, Phoenix 4068’, postal address: ‘PO tition on 27 October in which students from 13
Box 60976, Phoenix 4080’, phone: 27-315056693, schools participated. Jammu: A youths’ conven-
email:<[email protected]>, tion on 10 November in which 140 youths took
and website:<www.ramakrishnaphoenix. org. part. Jhargram: A spiritual retreat on 23 Novem-
za>. Further, the sub-centre at Johannesburg ber in which about 1,000 people took part. Koyi-
has been kept under the supervision of Phoenix landy: A public meeting on 21 October attended
Ashrama. The sub-centre’s contact details are as by about 250 people. Mangaluru: Lecture pro-
follows: Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa grammes in 33 colleges from September to Novem-
-Johannesburg, physical address: ‘Unit 9, 108 ber which were attended by about 7,500 students.
on Blandford, 260 Blandford Road, Noordhang The centre also observed a day-long music festi-
Ext. 79, Johannesburg’, postal address: ‘Postnet val on 7 October, attended by about 800 people.
Suite 204, Private Bag X3, Northriding, 2162, Mumbai: A day-long programme at a public audi-
Johannesburg’ and email:<johannesburg@rama­ torium in Mumbai on 29 September, which in-
krishna-phoenix.org.za>. cluded talks, screening of a documentary, and
cultural events. Sri C Vidyasagar Rao, Governor
Commemoration of the 125th of Maharashtra, inaugurated the programme; and
Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Swami Suvirananda, General Secretary, Rama-
Addresses at the World’s Parliament of krishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, and a
Religions in Chicago, USA few others addressed the gathering. About 800
The following centres held programmes men- people, comprising mostly youths, were in attend-
tioned against their names: In India: Almora: ance. Mysuru: Three students’ conventions on 3, 4,
A public meeting on the Almora campus of Ku- and 6 October in which 708 college students took
maun University on 25 October 2018, attended part, and three workshops for students on 3, 24,
by nearly 400 people. Baghbazar: A spiritual re- and 29 November in which a total of 981 students
treat on 25 November, nearly 900 devotees par- participated. Pune: A devotees’ convention on 11
ticipated. Chennai Students’ Home: A students’ November attended by 350 devotees. Sarisha: A
convention on 26 October, about 500 students students’ convention and a devotees’ convention

338 PB February 2019

 Reports 55

on 6 and 7 October, attended by about 1,500 the hospital of Ramakrishna Math and Rama-
people. Shillong: A seminar on the topic ‘Towards krishna Mission Sevashrama, Kankhal was in-
the Emergence of a Universal Religion’ on 10 No- augurated on 10 October.
vember, in which 70 people took part. Vadodara: Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj,
An interfaith meet on 2 October, attended by 250 President, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna
people. Visakhapatnam: Cultural competitions Mission, inaugurated the new monks’ quarters
in four districts of Andhra Pradesh from July to and a multipurpose hall at Ramakrishna Math
November in which 49,698 students took part. and Ramakrishna Mission, Kamarpukur on
In the first round 4,948 prizes were given and in 14 November.
the final round 16 students were awarded prizes Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Aurang-
and certificates. Outside India: Durban, South abad conducted a three-day programme from
Africa: A public meeting at the Pietermaritz- 16 to 18 November in connection with the con-
burg sub-centre on 2 October in which Srimat secration of its Sri Ramakrishna Temple. On the
Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj, Vice-President, first day, Srimat Swami Gautamanandaji Maha-
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission raj and Srimat Swami Shivamayanandaji Ma-
and Adhyaksha, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, haraj, Vice-President, Ramakrishna Math and
and others delivered speeches. Faridpur, Bangla- Ramakrishna Mission, inaugurated Vivekananda
desh: A public meeting on 11 November in which Hall and monks’ quarters respectively. Srimat
Swami Suvirananda and a few others spoke. Gretz, Swami Vagishanandaji Maharaj, Vice-President,
France: A programme on 30 September consisting Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission,
of meditation, talks, and music. The venue was a consecrated the new temple on 17 November,
big boat, which went sailing on the River Seine the day of Jagaddhatri Puja. Public meetings, re-
in Paris while the event was in progress. Sri Vinay ligious discourses, and cultural events were held
Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of India to France, on all three days, in which 325 monks and about
and others numbering about 240 participated in 5,000 devotees participated.
the programme. The Netherlands: A programme Srimat Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj laid
of talks, recitations, music, and video shows in the foundation stone for the proposed girls’ high
Groningen city on 18 November. New York Ved- school building at Ramakrishna Mission, Shi-
anta Society, USA: An interfaith conference on vanahalli on 22 November.
17 November, which was attended by about 200 Ramakrishna Math, Bengaluru celebrated
people. Phoenix, South Africa: Public meetings the platinum jubilee of its Vidyarthi Mandiram,
on 25 September and 1 October at the Johannes- students’ home, from 23 to 25 November with
burg sub-centre and Phoenix centre respectively, public meetings and cultural programmes.
which were attended by about 700 devotees in all. Swami Suvirananda presided over the public
Srimat Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj addressed meeting held on the last day.
both the meetings. Sacramento, USA: Three spe- The headmistress of Higher Second-
cial lectures and two musical concerts in Septem- ary School (Main) of Ramakrishna Mission
ber and October attended by about 200 people. Ashrama, Chennai received Mahatma Gandhi
Leadership Award from NRI Welfare Society of
News of Branch Centres India (UK Chapter) at the House of Commons,
The newly set-up High Dependency Unit at London, on 25 October.

PB February 2019 339

 56 Prabuddha Bharata

Relief 300 sets of utensils—each set containing a pres-

Flood Relief: Kerala: Centres continued relief sure cooker, 2 pots, 5 plates, 2 cups, 3 tumblers,
operations among the families affected by the dev- 5 spoons, and a ladle, among 300 flood-affected
astating floods that had hit the state in the month families in Kottayam district on 24 October.
of August. (a) Haripad centre distributed 5,596 Cyclone Relief: (i) Odisha: Continuing its re-
kg rice, 700 kg flour, 3,927 kg dal, 552 litres of ed- lief work among the victims of the cyclonic storm
ible oil, 348 kg assorted spices, 458 kg salt, 1,582 Titli, Bhubaneswar centre distributed 1,000 saris,
packets of biscuits, 350 kg milk powder, 98 kg tea 800 dhotis, 200 lungis, 500 blankets, and 200
leaves, 1,371 kg sugar, 1,053 saris, 1,954 assorted gar- mosquito-nets among 500 families in Gajapati
ments, 1,286 lungis, 478 bedsheets, 1,917 towels, district from 31 October to 3 November. (ii) Tamil
816 mats, 878 plates, 380 tumblers, 352 buckets, Nadu: In the wake of the devastating cyclone Gaja,
344 mugs, 804 tubes of toothpaste, 804 tooth- which severely affected several districts of the state,
brushes, 383 vials of antiseptic lotion, 1,224 bars Chennai Math commenced relief work by serving
of bathing soap, 350 kg of washing powder, 700 more than 62,000 plates of cooked food—rice,
packets of vessel-cleaning soap, 700 vials of hair pongal, and so on—to affected people in Nagai
oil, 483 mosquito-repellents, 737 sanitary items, and Thiruvarur districts from 18 to 22 November.
700 packets of candles, 229 packets of matchboxes, Fire Relief: (i) Arunachal Pradesh: In a fire
and 444 kg bleaching powder among 726 flood- incident at Yoji Yora village, 2 houses were com-
affected families in Haripad from 27 to 30 August. pletely burned down. Aalo centre distributed 30
(b) Kalady centre distributed 4,000 sets of uten- shirts, 45 trousers, 7 jackets, 30 sweaters, 45 belts,
sils—each set containing a pressure cooker, 2 pots, 25 wallets, and 2 sets of utensils—each set con-
5 plates, 2 cups, 3 tumblers, 5 spoons, and a ladle, taining a karahi, a pot, a kettle, a bucket, 4 plates,
6,679 shirts, 6,235 trousers, 4,200 lungis, and 9,269 4 bowls, a ladle, a jug, a tumbler, a mug, and a pan,
ladies’ garments among 4,000 affected families, among the victims on 18 November. (ii) Assam:
and 13,016 notebooks, 5,895 pens, 13,000 geom- In response to a fire accident at Bagchipara in Di-
etry boxes, and 147 crayon boxes among 15,491 brugarh town, Dibrugarh centre distributed 11
students, in Ernakulam district from 23 October saris and 8 dhotis to the victims on 15 November.
to 28 November. (c) Koyilandy centre distributed Distress Relief: The following centres distrib-
200 sets of utensils—each set containing a pres- uted various items, shown against their names, to
sure cooker, 2 pots, 5 plates, 2 cups, 3 tumblers, 5 needy people: India: Bamunmura: 1,086 shirts
spoons, and a ladle, and 200 solar lamps among and 962 trousers from 7 to 14 October. Barisha:
200 affected families in Kannur and Wayanad 600 shirts from 14 October to 18 November.
districts on 10 and 25 November. (d) Kozhikode Gourhati: 90 saris in November. Jhargram: 350
centre distributed 1,000 sets of utensils—each set saris and 30 dhotis on 13 October. Karimganj:
containing a pressure cooker, 2 pots, 5 plates, 2 70 shirts, 70 trousers, 50 dhotis, 50 saris, 90 note-
cups, 3 tumblers, 5 spoons, and a ladle, 3,234 as- books, 90 pens, 90 erasers, and 90 pencil-sharpen-
sorted garments, 11,688 notebooks, 1,612 draw- ers on 7 October. Malda: 966 shirts, 692 trousers,
ing books, 1,894 geometry boxes, and 4,563 pens and 59 sweaters among men, and 269 tops, 141
among 1,500 flood-affected families and 4,454 stu- shirts, 318 trousers, 162 leggings, and 30 sweaters
dents in Kozhikode and Pathanamthitta districts among women, from 13 August to 13 October, and
from 3 to 27 October. (e) Pala centre distributed 397 school bags among students from 4 July to 26

340 PB February 2019

 Reports 57

September. Nattarampalli: 76 churidars, 43 saris, secured the third position under the colleges
45 lungis, 45 towels, and 240 children’s garments category in the all-India Swachchhata rankings.
on 5 and 6 November. Saradapitha: 882 saris from In commemoration of the 150th birth anni-
29 September to 12 October. Sikra-Kulingram: versary of Swami Abhedananda, four national
132 saris and 45 dhotis from 24 September to 4 seminars on Indian Culture and Philosophy, and
October. Silchar: 2,757 saris, 500 dhotis, 3,000 a number of other programmes were held at dif-
shirts/T-shirts, 3,000 trousers, 200 packets of ferent centres of Ramakrishna Math and Rama-
Horlicks, health drink, and 1,00,000 halogen tab- krishna Mission.
lets from 14 July to 12 October. Vrindaban: 430 The 150th birth anniversary of Sister Ni-
kg rice, 430 kg flour, 107 kg dal, 107 kg mustard vedita was celebrated by the headquarters and a
oil, 21 kg turmeric powder, 215 kg salt, 21 kg tea number of branch centres in India and abroad.
leaves, 43 kg milk powder, 107 kg sugar, 215 bars Nearly 55,000 people attended 115 seminars and
of bathing soap, and 215 phials of hair oil among conventions held in this connection, and about
215 old women in Vrindaban on 17 November, 50,000 students took part in the cultural compe-
in addition to the regular monthly distribution titions. A few new books on Sister Nivedita were
of ration conducted by the centre. Bangladesh: also published in different languages.
Sylhet: 100 dhotis and 375 saris on 15 October. New branch centres of Ramakrishna Mis-
sion were started in: (i) Goa, (ii) Lumdung,
Synopsis of the Ramakrishna Mission Arunachal Pradesh, (iii) Jhargram, West Bengal,
Governing Body’s Report for 2017-18 (iv) New Town, Kolkata, (v) Davanagere, Kar-
The 109th Annual General Meeting of the Rama- nataka, and (vi) Dibrugarh, Assam. A sub-cen-
krishna Mission was held at Belur Math on Sun- tre of Lucknow Mission Sevashrama was started
day, 16 December 2018, at 3.30 p.m. A synopsis of at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
the report presented in the meeting is given below. In the educational field, the following new
Some of the major awards received by the developments deserve special mention: (i) NAAC
Ramakrishna Mission together with its twin awarded A++ grade to the College of Education
organisation Ramakrishna Math and their at Coimbatore Mission centre and A+ grade to
branches in the year 2017-18 are as follows: (i) the Vivekananda College of Chennai Vidya-
Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Ranchi pith. (ii) UGC conferred autonomous status
Morabadi Ashrama was awarded Pandit on Vivekananda Centenary College of Rahara
Deendayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vig- centre for six years. (iii) Visakhapatnam centre
yan Protsahan Puraskar at the national level started Vivek Institute of Excellence, which con-
by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. ducts life-enhancing courses and programmes
(ii) Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mis- mainly for the youth. (iv) Our centres in Coim-
sion were listed in the World Book of Records, batore, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam added
London, as a spiritual movement working for the smart classroom facility to their schools.
harmony of religions. (iii) Kamarpukur school In the medical field, mention may be made of
and Narendrapur Vidyalaya received the Best the following new developments: (i) Itanagar
School Awards from the School Education hospital started four new departments: Oncol-
Department, Government of West Bengal. (iv) ogy, Plastic Surgery, Cardiology, and Ayurveda.
Vivekananda College of Chennai Vidyapith (ii) Lucknow hospital was accredited by NABH

PB February 2019 341

 58 Prabuddha Bharata

(National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Bangladesh, centre was consecrated. (ii) Phoenix,
Healthcare Providers) for a period of three years. South Africa, centre built a kitchen-and-dining-
(iii) A cardiac catheterisation laboratory and a hall building at a home for terminally ill patients
cancer centre were set up at Vrindaban hospital. in Inanda, South Africa. (iii) Dhaka, Bangladesh,
(iv) Varanasi Home of Service started dental centre celebrated its centenary, and kindergarten
and dialysis units and a pharmacy. (v) Many of of Singapore centre observed its silver jubilee.
our hospitals and dispensaries added new med- The Mission and Math undertook several re-
ical equipment to their diagnostic laboratories. lief and rehabilitation programmes in different
In the rural development field, the following parts of the country involving an expenditure of
new projects deserve special mention: (i) Chen- ` 44 crore, benefiting 10.53 lakh people.
nai Students’ Home built a community hall at During the year, the Mission undertook
Poovalambedu village in Tiruvallur district. (ii) welfare work in a number of ways, including
Ranchi Morabadi centre developed watersheds providing scholarships to poor students and pe-
covering 6,969 hectares of land and started two cuniary help to old, sick, and destitute people.
projects to conserve a variety of scented rice Expenditure incurred was ` 17 crore.
crop. The centre also undertook a Seed Village Medical service was rendered to more than
Programme in which farmers were trained in 72.74 lakh people through 10 hospitals, 80 dis-
the production of paddy seeds. Under this pro- pensaries, 40 mobile medical units, and 928
gramme, farmers from 25 villages produced 1,025 medical camps run by the Mission. Expenditure
quintals of paddy seeds. incurred was ` 227 crore.
A number of our centres took forward Swach- Nearly 2.31 lakh students studied in Mission’s
chha Bharat Abhiyan by holding cleanliness educational institutions ranging from kinder-
drives and awareness campaigns. Special men- garten to university level and also in non-for-
tion may be made of Mangaluru centre which mal education centres, night schools, coaching
conducted the following: (i) 184 cleanliness classes, and the like. A sum of ` 324 crore was
drives in and around Mangaluru. (ii) Cleanli- spent on the educational work.
ness drives in 332 villages of Dakshina Kannada A number of rural and tribal development
district. (iii) 426 awareness programmes in 110 projects were undertaken by the Mission with a
schools covering nearly 44,000 students. total expenditure of ` 71 crore, benefiting about
Under Ramakrishna Math, the following 42.86 lakh people.
new projects deserve special mention: (i) New We take this opportunity to express our
dispensary buildings were constructed by Ant- heartfelt thanks to our members and friends for
pur and Nagpur centres. (ii) Cooch Behar their kind cooperation and help in carrying for-
and Rajkot centres added extra floors to their ward the service programmes of Ramakrishna
medical units. (iii) Nattarampalli centre con- Mission and Ramakrishna Math.
structed an annexe to the school building. (iv) Swami Suvirananda
Coaching-cum-vocational training centre was 16 December 2018 General Secretary
started at Bagda Math.  P
Outside India, the following new devel- Corrections ∙ January 2019, p. 254, left col., line 30: Read
opments deserve special mention: (i) The Mundaka instead of Mandukya. January 2019, p. 257,
newly built Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Jessore, Reference No. 6: Read Mundaka instead of Mandukya.

342 PB February 2019

 59

1911 picture of San Francisco

Old Temple Auditorium where
Swami delivered his lectures

“In the spring of 1914, Swami Trigunatitananda

asked one of the students to criticize his lectures
from the standpoint of language, diction, style,
and delivery. The student noticed an increasing
tremor in speech. When it was brought to Swami’s
attention, he replied, “I have tried my utmost to
control it so that it would not be noticeable to
the audience, but even now, just as I go on to
the platform, my Divine mother appears to me
and fills me [with] such feeling of love that it is
sometimes difficult for me to articulate. When
by great effort I have brought the voice under
control the tremor remains”.

Swami Trigunatitanandaji’s
154th Birthday Anniversary

With loving pranams from

your Dedicated Servants.
—USA Devotees
60
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• Electrical & Fire monitoring system engineers.

• Consultant and Government licenced Engineers
• Engaged in the electrification of National Capital Region
(Delhi Under BSES Rajdhani and Yamuna Power Ltd &
Greater Noida under Noida Power Company Ltd)

Registered Office: Corporate Branch:

4/2A Siraj Ud Daullah Sarani 85 A Kilokri (Top Floor)
Kolkata 700 069 New Delhi 110 014
Ph: 033-40048573/ 9331203852 Ph: 09312343592
62
63
64

Some of Our Publications...

Sri Ramanuja:
His Life, Religion & Philosophy
Swami Tapasyananda
Vedanta is often equated exclusively to Advaita Vedanta of Sri
Shankaracharya, but there are several other acharyas who have
expounded the Vedanta in quite a different way and whose status as
teachers of Vedanta requires recognition.
Pages 106 | Price ` 40
This book by Swami Tapasyananda, a scholar-monk and former
vice-president of the Ramakrishna Order, expounds the life and philosophy of Sri Ramanuja,
whose philosophy, Vishishthadvaita, is the most pre-eminent among the Bhakti schools of
Vedanta. This book will help readers to briefly acquaint themselves with his celebrated life and
understand the fundamental concepts of Vedanta as elucidated by him.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

His Life, Religion & Philosophy
Swami Tapasyananda
This book by Swami Tapasyananda, a scholar-monk and former
vice-president of the Ramakrishna Order, expounds the life and
philosophy of Sri Chaitanya, whose illustrious disciples formed a
distinctive set of metaphysics and theology around his teachings that
Pages 130 | Price ` 45
came to be known as Acintya-bhedabheda philosophy. This book will
help readers to acquaint themselves with his devotional life and the fundamental concepts of
Vedanta as formulated by his disciples based on his teachings.

Sri Vallabhacharya:
His Life, Religion & Philosophy
Swami Tapasyananda
This book by Swami Tapasyananda, a scholar-monk and former vice-
president of the Ramakrishna Order, expounds the life and philosophy
of Sri Vallabhacharya, whose philosophy is known as Suddhadvaita.
This book will help readers to acquaint themselves with his great life and
Pages 48 | Price ` 25 understand the fundamental concepts of Vedanta as elucidated by him.

For copies mail to Publication Department, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai <[email protected]>
Buy books online at istore.chennaimath.org and eBooks at www.vedantaebooks.org
 65

We want to lead mankind to the place

where there is neither the Vedas, nor
the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has
to be done by harmonising the Vedas,
the Bible and the Koran.

Mankind ought to be taught

that religions are but the varied
expressions of THE RELIGION,
which is Oneness, so that each may
choose the path that suits him best.

Swami Vivekananda
66

An Appeal
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our greetings and best wishes.
The temple at Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Nettayam, Thiruvananthapuram was constructed between 1916
and ’24. Revered Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj, the spiritual son of Sri Sri Takkur and the first President of
Ramakrishna Math, laid the foundation stone of this Ashrama in 1916 and Revered Swami Nirmalanandaji
Maharaj consecrated it in 1924. Revered Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj, another direct disciple of Sri Ram-
akrishna had visited this Ashrama and got Sri Sri Takkur’s vision in the shrine. The Ashrama is located on a
hilltop at Nettayam in Trivandrum. This hundred year old Ashrama is an ideal place for worship, japa and
meditation and an inspiration for sincere spiritual aspirants. Many senior monks of Ramakrishna Math had
stayed and did tapasya here. Devotees visiting this serene, calm and holy place feel a spiritual current and
often expressed it.
Due to ageing this important shrine is in a dilapidated condition and often leaks at multiple places dur-
ing monsoon and as such a thorough revamping of the roof and other parts of the structure including the
rubble construction is required to be done immediately to preserve it for posterity. The repair & renovation
project will cover civil, electrical and structural work is estimated to cost rupees 52 lakhs. Ashrama has to
mobilize this amount immediately for completing this noble work as early as possible so that the next all
Kerala Sri Ramakrishna Devotees’ Conference in May, 2019 can be held in the renovated Ashrama.
We earnestly request you to donate generously for this holy endeavor and be blessed by Sri Ramakrishna.
Praying for the blessings of the Holy Trio,
5th December, 2018 Yours in Sri Ramakrishna,
Swami Mokshavratananda,
Adhyaksha.
Donations may be sent in favor of “Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Thiruvananthapuram” in the above address
or deposited in any of the following bank accounts directly with an sms to (mob)8289916882.
Savings a/c Name & No.
1. State Bank: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Charitable Hospital 30549599482
IFSC:SBIN0004685 Jawaharnagar Branch
2. Syndicate Bank: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Charitable Hospital 40182200003630
IFSC:SYNB0004018 Sasthamangalam Branch
3. Canara Bank: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Charitable Hospital 0821101007005
IFSC:CNRB 0000821 Sasthamangalam Branch
4. FCRA a/c: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Charitable Hospital 0821101008404
SWIFT Code:CNRBINBBTDC

Ramakrishna Ashrama
Sasthamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695 010, India
Phone: 0471-272 2125, 272 2453, 272 6603, 272 7393 & 272 7607; Fax: 0471-231 3502
E-mail:[email protected]; Website: www.ramakrishnaashramahospital.com/
 1
332

PB
ISSN 0032-6178

RABUDDHA
R.N. 2585/57 REGISTERED Postal Registration No. Kol RMS/96/2019–21
Published on 1 January 2019

9 770032 617002
HARATA
The best guide in life is strength. In religion, or AWAKENED INDIA
A monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order
as in all other matters, discard everything started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896
that weakens you, have nothing to do
with it.

Prabuddha Bharata • January 2019 • Thoughts on Yoga

—Swami Vivekananda

W ith
Best Compliments From :

Thoughts on Yoga
Manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
January 2019
and Intermediates Vol. 124, No. 1
Regd. Off. & Fact. : Plot No. 88 & 89, Phase-11.
Sipcot Industrial Complex. Ranipet-632 403, Tamil Nadu. ` 100.00
Phone : 04172-244820, 651507, Tele Fax : 04172-244820
E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.svisslabss.net

If undelivered, return to: ADVAITA ASHRAMA, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014, India

68

PB
ISSN 0032-6178
R.N. 2585/57 REGISTERED Postal Registration No. Kol RMS/96/2019–21
1
Published on 1 February 2019
RABUDDHA
9 770032 617002

HARATA
The best guide in life is strength. In religion, or AWAKENED INDIA
as in all other matters, discard everything A monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order
started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896
that weakens you, have nothing to do
with it.
—Swami Vivekananda

W ith
Best Compliments From :

Manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

and Intermediates
Regd. Off. & Fact. : Plot No. 88 & 89, Phase-11. February 2019
Sipcot Industrial Complex. Ranipet-632 403, Tamil Nadu.
Phone : 04172-244820, 651507, Tele Fax : 04172-244820 Vol. 124, No. 2
E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.svisslabss.net
` 15.00
If undelivered, return to: ADVAITA ASHRAMA, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014, India