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The Vedanta KesariTHE LION OF VEDANTA

A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

103rd

Year of Publication

June 2016

Price: ` 10

Ramakrishna Math, Tamluk, West Bengal

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2T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i J U N E 2 0 1 6~ ~

Editor: Swami atmaShraddhananda Managing Editor: Swami GautamanandaPrinted and published by Swami Vimurtananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust

from No.31, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 4 and Printed at Sri Ramakrishna Printing Press, No.31 Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore,

Chennai - 4. Ph: 044 - 24621110

The outer layers of cakes are made of rice flour, but inside they are stuffed with different ingredients. The cake is good or bad according to the quality of its stuffing. So are all human bodies made of one and the same material, yet men are different in quality according to the purity of their hearts.

—Sri Ramakrishna

Shrine of Ramakrishna Math,

Tamluk, West Bengal

2

JUNE 2016

A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER

Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavâdin,it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914.

For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.chennaimath.org

VOL. 103, No. 6 ISSN 0042-2983

Cover Story: Page 6

CONTENTS

The Vedanta Kesari 103rd

Year of Publication

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Gita Verse for Reflection 205

Editorial Bhagavad Gita: A Source of Eternal Wisdom and Values 206

Articles In Search of Truth—Some Reflections on Brahmasutras 216

Swami Golokananda

Musings on India’s Unity 219Michel Danino

Youth and their Problems: Lessons in Coping with Life from Swami Vivekananda 226Swami Satyapriyananda

Holistic Development through Religious Harmony The Vision and Mission of Swami Vivekananda 234

T V Muralivallabhan

Reminiscences Reminiscences of Sargachhi 211

Swami Suhitananda

New Find Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda 232The Order on the March 237Book Reviews 240

Feature Simhâvalokanam (The Ethical aspect of the Vedanta) 210

4T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i J U N E 2 0 1 6

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Cover StoryN N

Ramakrishna Temple, Tamluk Ashrama, West Bengal

The town of Tamluk is the district headquarters of Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal. An ancient place, present day Tamluk is believed to be the site of the ancient city variously known as Tamralipta or Tamralipti and is located on the banks of the Rupnarayan River close to the Bay of Bengal. A centre of Ramakrishna Math was started at Tamluk in 1914 and taken over by Belur Math in 1924 and the Mission centre was also started in 1914 and was taken over in 1929. Activities of the Math centre include religious discourses in and outside the Ashrama premises, daily worship and bhajans, celebration of the birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and other prophets, and also Kali Puja. The activities of the Mission centre include an industrial school which conducts a three-year course in carpentry, a primary school with 300 boys and 150 girls, a free students’ home, a library and a reading room and two charitable homoeopathic dispensaries, and welfare work by way of distribution of milk, clothing, pecuniary help, etc., to the needy. The shrine of the temple, featured on the cover, is adorned with a marble image of Sri Ramakrishna. The spacious prayer hall of the temple has the seating capacity of more than 150.

724. Dr. M.B. Aswath Narayan, Chennai725. Mr. H. Chetan, Bangalore

EACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE. T HE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN.

The Vedanta KesariVOL. 103, No. 6, JUNE 2016 ISSN 0042-2983

Gita Verse for ReflectionTr. by Swami Tapasyananda

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Whence comes all this bondage of action? Because we chain the soul with action. According to our Indian system, there are two existences: nature on the one side and the Self, the Atman, on the other. By the word nature is meant not only all this external world, but also our bodies, the mind, the will, even down to what says ‘I’. Beyond all that is the infinite life and light of the soul—the Self, the Atman. . .

—Swami Vivekananda, CW, 1:470

—Bhagavad Gita, 15. 2

Nourished by the Gunas and covered with the budding foliage of sense objects, its branches spread into regions high and low. Stretching forth on the ground below in the world of men, are its secondary roots, entangling man in the bondage of action.



Editorial

The Bhagavad Gita is a treasure-house of wisdom and divine qualities. It contains valuable insights into how to live life and is one of the most widely read spiritual classics of the world. The teachings of Gita have become part of lives of countless men and women everywhere. Scholars and thinkers of India and other countries alike, as also saints, leaders, scientists, spiritual seekers or simple commoners—Gita has been a source of inspiration and strength to one and all. It is indeed the Scripture of India.

While this is true and needs hardly any emphasis, not everyone in India, especially the young, know much of Gita. To many, Gita is a kind of riddle. They have heard of its name. And some also know that it is part of the epic Mahabharata. But many commoners, which includes the educated class, do not know whether Gita contains anything practically relevant for them. Often it is also felt that Gita deals with issues which are rather ‘too high’ for modern people. Of course they ‘revere’ Gita but think that it is just too difficult to understand (and give up reading it altogether) or postpone it to more suitable time, later in life—somewhere in future which, of course, never comes!

Living in today’s demanding world of diverse challenges and pressures, they ask, ‘What can Gita teach us?’

Modern day education does not pay much attention to cultivating interest in this matter. In these times of cell phones, SMSs,

Internet browsing, emails, digital cameras, iPods, television and reckless use of other electronic gadgets, the modern people live under great inner and outer challenges. The ‘outer’ challenges, in case of students for instance, come to them in the form of learning to keep their focus on their studies and examinations in the midst of constant distractions and pulls of various kinds. The ‘inner’ challenge comes to them through lack of a lasting goal, concentration of mind, resisting peer pressure and temptations to live a consumerist and selfish way of life. In the process, higher values such as truthfulness, honesty, unselfishness, gratitude, self-control, self-sacrifice and self-discipline, which form the basis of a healthy and strong personality, are pushed aside. No wonder parents, teachers and the wise ones among the students themselves, feel unhappy and disappointed with the students’ conduct and general direction in life.

Bhagavad Gita has much to offer to all types of minds in all conditions. Contrary to popular perception, Gita contains much to guide and help all, specially the youth, now, right when they are students and preparing for their adult years. Gita is not merely a book of deep philosophical thoughts; it is also a book of practical wisdom. However, in order to give an overview of Gita, here is an attempt to list out what the Gita contains and teaches:

1. The Bhagavad Gita is popularly known as the Gita. The Sanskrit word gita means a

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Bhagavad Gita: A Source of Eternal Wisdom and Values


song. Since this song is sung by Sri Krishna, the God Incarnate (Bhagavan), it is called Bhagavad Gita or the Song of God. Though there are many other Gita-s (such as Hamsa Gita, Avadhuta Gita, Ashtavakra Gita and many others), in the popular usage, by the word Gita, Bhagavad Gita alone is meant.

2. The Gita has 700 verses which are divided into 18 chapters. It forms a part of the epic Mahabharata (in Bhishma Parva, Chapters 25 to 42).

3. Every chapter of the Gita is regarded as a Yoga [i.e. a way to Self-perfection] and has a separate name such as Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and so on. These names are mentioned at the end of each chapter.

4. The book is in the form of a dialogue between Arjuna [who is variously addressed as Partha, Pandava, Bharata, Mahabaho, Kaunteya and so on] and Sri Krishna. Arjuna was one of the five Pandava brothers who had been deprived of their right to rule the kingdom and were much persecuted by the rival Kaurava cousins. After all negotiations and alternatives failed, the Pandavas were forced to wage a war against Kauravas.

5. As Sri Krishna, the God Incarnate, counsels Arjuna, he uses the personal pronoun ‘Me’ throughout the dialogue. ‘I’ or ‘Me’ in the Gita refers to God or Ultimate Reality.

6. The Gita begins with Dhritarashtra, the blind king and the father of Kauravas, asking Sanjaya, his companion who had been gifted with divine sight to see and describe the War, to tell him what happened on the battlefield. Sanjaya starts the narrative by telling how Duryodhana, the eldest of Kauravas, approaches the royal teacher, Dronacharya, and describes the various warriors on both the sides. Then both the sides sound the conchs announcing the beginning of the war.

7. At Arjuna’s request, Sri Krishna, acting as Arjuna’s charioteer, brings his chariot and stations it in-between the two armies. Arjuna sees Bhishma and Drona, his grandsire and the teacher, and sinks in horror and sorrow at the thought of having to fight them. He becomes nervous and tells Sri Krishna that it is meaningless to fight such a war because it would lead to various evil consequences such as the collapse of the society and kingdom. He sits down on the chariot, depressed and highly tense and asks Krishna’s advice as to what will lead to the highest good. In the ensuing dialogue, Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna, which Sanjaya narrates, and is presented to us as Gita, in the epic Mahabharata by Veda-Vyasa, the great rishi.

8. Sri Krishna reminds Arjuna about his duty as a warrior and the righteous- ness of the war. He advises him to give up all his nervousness and confusion and be ready to fight. This whole episode of Arjuna first wanting to fight and then becoming nervous is often compared to human mind which wants to fight the battle of life but loses all courage and enthusiasm when faced with the problems of life. Sri Krishna corrects Arjuna by gently scolding him and slowly clarifying his doubts and confusions.

9. Sri Krishna draws Arjuna’s attention to his inherent strength and wisdom that originates from his Divine Core within called Atman.

10. The War is supposed have been fought in Kurukshetra, a small town in the State of Haryana, some 120 km from the modern day cosmopolitan city of New Delhi. There are a number of places connected with the incidents in Mahabharata War in the Kurukshetra area.

11. Kurukshetra, however, can also be symbolically understood as the battle-

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field of life, with Pandavas representing forces of good and the Kauravas as the evil forces of wickedness born of an impure, un-disciplined and indiscriminate mind.

12. The Gita deals with various issues such as the results of selfish and unselfish works, the process of meditation, devotion to God, methods to control one’s passions and temper, and how to be spiritually and morally free and strong.

An earnest study of the Gita can make one a more effective and better human being. The Gita contains many suggestions and guidelines for self-improvement in all its varied aspects—such as real nature of man, developing concentration of mind, overcoming negative thoughts, overcoming anger, evolving a healthy outlook towards life and oneself, building a strong and pure personality and so on. Let us look what some of the great people have said of the Gita:

Swami Vivekananda: The teachings of Krishna as taught by the Gita are the grandest the world has ever known. He who wrote that wonderful poem was one of those rare souls whose lives sent a wave of regeneration through the world. The human race will never again see such a brain as his who wrote the Gita.

Mahatma Gandhi: The Gita is the universal mother. She turns away nobody. Her door is wide open to anyone who knocks. A true votary of the Gita does not know what disappointment is. He ever dwells in perennial joy and peace that passeth understanding. But that peace and joy come not to the sceptic or to him who is proud of his intellect or learning. It is reserved only for the humble in spirit who brings to her worship a fullness of faith and an undivided singleness of mind. There never was a man who worshipped her in that spirit and went back disappointed. . .

Sri Aurobindo: The Gita is the greatest gospel of spiritual works ever yet given to the race. . . . our chief national heritage, our hope for the future.

Madan Mohan Malaviya: To my knowledge, there is no book in the whole range of the world’s literature so high above all as the Bhagavad Gita, which is a treasure-house of Dharma not only for Hindus but for all mankind.

Albert Einstein : When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous. . . .

Henry David Thoreau: One sentence of the Gita is worth the State of Massachusetts [in USA] many times over.

Lord Warren Hastings: I hesitate not to pronounce the Gita a performance of great originality, of sublimity of conception, reasoning and diction almost unequalled; and a single exception, amongst all the known religions of mankind.

Robert Oppenheimer: [Gita is] the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue.

Some Sterling Verses The wisdom contained in the Gita is ever

relevant and applicable to our lives. However ‘modern’ and novel may be the circumstances, the Gita provides us enough to solve the complex situations we may find ourselves into. While the whole book is filled with precious wisdom, let us sample a few for our immediate benefit.

Anger is one issue that plagues us all. How is anger born and how does it work? Says Sri Krishna (Gita 2.62-63):

Thinking of objects, attachment to them is formed in a man. From attachment longing, and from longing anger grows. From anger

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comes delusion, and from delusion loss of memory. From loss of memory comes the ruin of discernment, and from the ruin of discernment, he perishes (or meets a moral death).’

These two verses give a graphic description of the complete picture of the origin, functions and result of anger. Anger starts with thinking of the objects of enjoyment, resulting in longing to possess them which when obstructed gets changed into anger. Anger clouds thinking and makes us to do things which lead to personal and collective harm. What a simple and clear way of understanding this mighty enemy of life—anger!

Or let us take another sample (Gita 5:23-24):

He who can withstand in this world, before the liberation from the body, the impulse arising from lust and anger, he is steadfast in Yoga, he is a happy man.

Whose happiness is within, whose realization is within, whose light is within, that Yogi, alone, becoming Brahman, gains absolute freedom.

The first verse quoted above speaks of attaining the highest bliss by self-control right in this life. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that ‘here’ is knowledge, ‘there’ is ignorance. In other words, knowledge of the Self is

attainable right in this life and it should be the aim of life.

The second verse underlines the importance of seeking inner joy. Generally man seeks joy from outside, from the objects of senses and getting associated with its various aspects. The Gita tells us to seek the real source of joy—the Atman within, which is possible only through purifying the mind and proper discernment.

The Gita teaches us how to live our life—work, be busy, but be not attached to the results. Do not be idle and lazy nor be restless but be healthily busy and do not get bogged down by results, good and bad. Retain your freedom!

At the end, Sri Krishna, the Godhead, gives the final message to Arjuna: give up all dharma and take refuge in Me. I will take care of all your worries and burdens. A timeless, eternal reassurance!

The Gita distils some of the highest and best ideas mankind has thought of, how it can enrich and strengthen one’s personal and collective lives. While a quick reading of this sacred work will reveal the beauty of the wisdom the Gita contains, a calm, repeated thinking over them will reveal a deeper and new meaning.

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He who has given up all attachment, all fear, and all anger, he whose whole soul has gone unto the Lord, he who has taken refuge in the Lord, whose heart has become purified, with whatsoever desire he comes to the Lord, He will grant that to him. Therefore worship Him through knowledge, love, or renunciation.

—Swami Vivekananda


From the Archives of The VedanTa Kesari

S i m h â v a l o k a n a m

(June, 1916-17, p. 39)

The Ethical aspect of the Vedanta

PROFESSOR K. SUNDARARAMA IYER, M.A.

The question naturally here arises,—if our Karmic activities leave Vasanas, impressions and tendencies, behind, and these Vasanas in turn determine the nature of our activities, then we shall ever be caught in this recurring circle, and no room is left for the will of man as an agency of improvement. This question has already been answered, but we propose to consider the question here from a stand point suitable to the present topic.

The Vasanas are merely potentialities determinative of activity,—Saktis, as they are called; and potentialities may either be results of activities impressed on the mind in the form of tendencies and impressions or may be so impressed as a result of the recurrent initiation; by the force of the will, of various kinds of Bhavanas (mental activities) confirmatory of, or contrary to the tendencies now acting on the mind and determining its direction. The latter are as much Saktis (potentialities) as the former, and both are due to the postulating or the assumption (kalpana) of a relation between the Atman and the material universe or object which in reality does not, and cannot, exist. All the mind’s potentialities or Saktis are thus Kalpita, i.e., superimposed falsely on the Atman,—whether they are of the kind which are impressed on the mind from without, or those which originate in the mind itself and are impressed on it by its own initiative. Hence the mind is not only subject to the law of necessity, but also capable of freedom in determining its own forward and progressive march to the goal—it is not only compulsorily enchained to the cyclic law of ‘Karma producing Vasanas and Vasanas producing Karma in their turn,’ but also capable of voluntarily initiating reform and determining its own purity and progress towards perfection. For the relation of the Atman to the matter superimposed on it is assumed (kalpita) and not real, and the potentialities of the mind resulting from such assumption and superposition may partake of either of the kinds above pointed out. And so, the Vedantin is not forced to choose one only of the alternatives of freedom and necessity (postulated for the will) so long hotly contested among philosophical partisans, but is both a necessarian and a free-willist,—necessarian in regard to one set of Vasanas and free-willist in regard to another.

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||6||13.3.1959

Attendant: This same world is seen by the Yogi as consisting of Brahman (Brahmamaya), to the discriminating as full of misery, and to one who wants to enjoy it as an object of enjoyment. Why is there such difference?

Maharaj: ‘Look. Whatever we see, we do not see the thing; we see the process. We think that the process itself is the thing. For this reason, what is true in the eyes of someone, is false to another. At Rishikesh, I saw that a workman was breaking stone. He was hitting it with a big iron hammer. Nothing happened after the first five blows. Sixth time a crack appeared. That is, although nothing could be perceived from outside earlier, action was going on—sixth time the outcome appeared. Seventh time the stone broke. Like that, in

Reminiscences of SargachhiSWAMI SUHITANANDA

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)

Sargachhi is located in Murshidabad district of West Bengal and is well-known to the devotees of Ramakrishna Order for being associated with Swami Akhandananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. The following writing is about another revered monk who lived in Sargachhi, Swami Premeshananda (1894-1967), a disciple of Holy Mother and well known for encouraging many young men and women, as also many married people to live a life of spirituality and service. The following reminiscences in Bengali, Sargachhir Smriti, is by Swami Suhitananda, General Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math. He was a personal attendant of Swami Premeshananda for several years and while serving him noted his conversations and teachings in his diary. The same is being serially published in the Udbodhan (our Bengali monthly published from Kolkata) from its Jyaishtha, B.S. 1419 issue. These reminiscences have been translated by Sri Shoutir Kishore Chatterjee, a long-standing devotee from Kolkata. English words and expressions which appear in the original have been put within single inverted commas ‘ ’. The numbers ||1||, ||2||, etc., denote the serial numbers of the Udbodhan instalments.

course of receiving blows in the world, when we are no longer able to endure blows and break down by the impact of blows, our mind would turn towards God. Hence we should not despise any living being in the world. One who cannot grasp God today, is not despicable for that reason. Perhaps action is going on that being slowly; sometime it would break down.’

A village doctor used to visit the Ashrama now and then. He used to send occasionally date-palm juice, gur, potol (gourd), etc., to the Ashrama. Somebody was speaking ill of him. Maharaj said: See. This is his stage of good intentions. Gradually, through this very stage would come love of God. We see the drawbacks of people, but this is not right. We would have to take the ‘Statement of fact’. To see the drawbacks of a person does not mean demeaning him. It means that I would have to take lessons and be careful myself.

Reminiscences

13


An old man once asked Maharaj: If everything could be got through chanting the name of Hari, then what is the need of controlling the senses? Maharaj used to make jest about this remark for many days. Today that old man had come. Immediately after seeing him, Maharaj called him and asking him to sit nearby, enquired about his various tidings.

Attendant: God is no person; surely He doesn’t have any wish. Then how is it that He is distressed to see the misery of living beings and descends to earth?

Maharaj: God really doesn’t descend; it seems as if He descends. As long as one’s unripe self persists, one has to recognize such things as the descent of the ‘greater self’. This is a ‘statement of fact’. As soon as I enter this body, I forget my true nature and then it seems—God descends. As long as the sense of one’s body remains, descent of God too is true.

Attendant: How is it that Sri Rama- krishna is God?

Maharaj: Well, every living being is God. But yet Sri Ramakrishna is worshipped because he had understood himself more. Whoever is able to understand oneself to as great an extent, would attain to Godhood to that great an extent. Sri Ramakrishna understood himself in entirety.

Attendant: Did Gopaler Ma (Aghormani Devi, a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna) have Jnana Yoga [knowledge of absolute truth]?

Maharaj: Certainly. Gopal’s mother had this knowledge that everything in this world is ‘rejectable’, only Gopal is ‘acceptable’. This experience—experiencing as Consciousness by one’s inmost Consciousness (‘bodhe bodh’ in Bengali)—is what is called knowledge. The meaning of knowledge is not only understanding what Gopal is. But admittedly we are not spiritually as highly endowed as Gopal’s mother. Therefore we would have to know what God is. Then only we would be able to love Him, feel a wish to work for His pleasure, and be connected with Him always. Where else is Ramakrishna–loka? Where there is a running discourse on Ramakrishna always is verily Ramakrishna–loka.

Attendant: Vyasa-deva had real knowledge that he was witness of body, mind and

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Swami Premeshananda


intellect. If the intellect was felt to be separate from his ‘I’, then how could he eat without taking the help of the intellect?

Maharaj: ‘At that time I am the observer. This happens through the prarabdha. i.e., “past momentum” of “I”. We cannot explain what it is through words. It is possible to do work even though “I” is “present” only as an observer. As the body perishes, the most tenuous of connections (what seems to be a connection) goes away.’

During that period everybody in Sarga- chhi Ashrama used to get up at 3 a.m. and after finishing ablutions used to be present at the shrine by 3.30 a.m. From 5 a.m. onwards all used to join their hands together and finish all the work of the shrine—cleaning, picking flowers, making sandal-paste, arranging the offering, etc.—and come downstairs within 6 a.m. The milk of the Ashrama cows used to be offered to Thakur in a pot. A part of that milk was used for making tea and a cup of milk was given to Premesh Maharaj.

At breakfast time Maharaj normally would take muri (puffed rice) made from aush rice (at that time muri made from aman rice was not available in the Ashrama). That muri used to be fried in the Ashrama itself. Bhaskar Maharaj would store that in a can once in two in three days. He was an old monk and a disciple of Mahapurush Maharaj. He used to do bits of service for Premesh Maharaj and sleep on a cot in the latter’s room itself. At breakfast Maharaj usually took the muri, mixed with a spoonful of ghee, putting a few black peppers in it. When cucumbers grew in the Ashrama fields, he would take a few pieces of cucumber too. Later on little bits of ripe papaya or mango were also served to him.

Banku-da was our cook. In the morning, after serving the food, as soon as he found

some time, he would bring a cup of milk to Premesh Maharaj. By that time his breakfast would have been over and he would be seated at work writing something or replying to letters. An attendant saw that Banku-da was being late every day and started bringing Maharaj’s milk himself. After he had brought the milk for about three days, Maharaj said: See, Banku comes to see me once every day on the pretext of bringing the milk—that is not happening any longer. Let him bring the milk himself. A little delay does not cause me any trouble.

14.3.1959Maharaj: The other day a Brahmacharin

came. He said that he had got Complete Works by heart, because later on that would come in handy for giving lectures. I kept silent. That is better than nothing. Instead of doing nothing, he is at least thinking about Swamiji. But he who earns his livelihood by hewing wood, remains satisfied if he gets daily the work of hewing wood; he never thinks whether it is possible to pursue any other easier and nicer means of livelihood. Like that those monks who remain engrossed in lectures, etc., think that things are going on all right! They never ponder for once whether there are any other means.

20.3.1959Attendant: What relation should a monk

maintain with his pre-monastic life?Maharaj: Even after one becomes a

monk, the ‘I’ of his previous home life does not go. Hence one has to discriminate day and night—I am not the body, nor the mind, nor the intellect; my real identity is—I am Thakur’s child. Leave alone other things, a monk cannot get beyond his Bengali identity—he hates others. There are some who go home after

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becoming a monk – to show off how one has dressed oneself. Be ‘normal’. ‘As I have become a monk, I would not look at the faces of my parents’—such an attitude is not good. If there is need, keep yourself posted about their news. But you have to remain careful, otherwise you would gradually become embroiled. Many householders are very complex-minded.

One day a fellow threw away a pin.Maharaj: You threw that away—if

someone hurts himself in his sole?That person replied, ‘Nothing would

happen.’Maharaj: Would nothing happen? We

are old people—we are scared of everything. Nothing happens in hundred years, then one day it will happen. I saw that in the treasury they used to guard with gun on their shoulders year after year, nothing happened. It seems that they are guarding for nothing. But all on a sudden there was an ‘attack’ in 1942. So many days’ preparation was for this 1942.

22.3.1959Swami Sukhadananda Maharaj was

Holy Mother’s disciple. He was the abbot of the Ashrama. He used to cherish great respect for Maharaj and tried his utmost for Maharaj’s service and care. Today he would have to undergo a surgical operation. Dr Chaudhuri would perform the operation. Sukhadananda Maharaj had become very nervous. He came to make obeisance to Premesh Maharaj before the operation. Maharaj said: I also get afraid. I become too nervous. It seemed that hearing this Sukhadananda Maharaj felt reassured.

A youth named Toto used to come. He showed little interest towards Japa and meditation. Maharaj talked to him in such a way as if he was doing the right thing. Then he told him: However, now onwards you may rather practise.

25.3.1959Narayan Babu and Dr. Chaudhuri had

come from Berhampur. Dr. Chaudhuri paid obeisance to Maharaj by touching his feet.

Maharaj: I have lost my ‘brain’ altogether. I cannot remember what was talked about half an hour ago.

Narayan Babu: You don’t want to keep it in mind—that is why you don’t remember.

Maharaj: It’s true that now I don’t have any liking for these things. It would be enough if only what is of crucial concern to me remains intact till the end.

Maharaj (to Dr. Chaudhuri): You were there; so such a major operation of Sukhada- nanda went off without any hitch.

Dr. Chaudhuri: Who am I? Thakur did it.Maharaj: Yes, He writes. But the pen also

must be good. Now goodbye, we will meet again if I remain.

Dr. Chaudhuri: What does ‘if I remain’ mean?

Maharaj: When we die, we won’t become naught—we would become vast.

Dr. Chaudhuri: You will die—throwing us to the winds?

Maharaj: You see—we are monks, we have to think of death all the time. A girl used to come. At that time she was young. As I used to talk of death every day, she used to lose her temper—‘Why do you always talk of death to me?’ Nowadays she smiles. Hearing again and again, she has grasped the matter. She is a college professor now.

At night Maharaj told the attendant: Whenever you get time, sit down to do japa. This has to be practised. At night before lying down, think for at least 10 minutes—think that the feet of Thakur, Mother and Swamiji are on the pillow and you are lying with your head on it.

Attendant: How much true is this world?

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Maharaj: As much as is being ‘revealed’ to me. If I have no eyes, I have nothing to see in the world. When I see something in dream, does it seem false? In the waking state this perceived world is as true as that is at that time —not more than that.

When Mother’s feet touched Rasbihari Maharaj accidentally, she saluted him and said, ‘My child, you are a precious treasure that gods covet’. Really, you are a treasure coveted by gods. You have come renouncing your parents and relatives all at such a tender age, without being inclined towards the world even a bit. As for myself, I came at old age. I see you as gods. Nowadays many boys who are like gods are coming.

I should have remained inactive after receiving what I got from the direct disciples of

Thakur. But driven by my precocity, I thought egoistically that I would propagate, I would attain God through meditation. That is why I have so much bodily suffering. I have become a victim of melancholia. The ‘nerves’ are very ‘sensitive’; I become restive if I hear a cat’s call or a bird’s call or if I see the misery of people. Our condition is lamentable. We could not go beyond the body-mind complex, nor could we die entrapped in it! We know everything—we know that life is full of sorrow; as we see the future of people we shudder. One day I saw a father, he had come with his beautiful son. I was startled—if the boy would fall suddenly and die. I knew many such boys. One was Abu—had no lust from a young age, not a trace of greed—was a god altogether.

(To be Continued. . .)

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Man is merely an instrument, and the Lord is the operator. Blessed is he through whom the Lord gets his work done. Everyone has to work in this world, no one can escape from it. But he who works for his own selfish ends—his work, instead of liberating him from the trap of maya, binds him. On the other hand, the wise man, working for the Lord, cuts the fetters of work. ‘Not I, but the Lord is the doer’—this knowledge severs the bonds. This is a gospel truth. The notion that ‘I am the doer’ is merely a delusion, because it is difficult to trace who this ‘I’ is. If one carefully analyzes this ‘I,’ the real ‘I’ dissolves in God. Our identification with the body, mind, intellect, and so on, is simply a delusion created by ignorance. Do they last long? Discrimination puts an end to them all. They all vanish, and there only remains the One Reality—from whom everything evolves, in whom all rest, and wherein they merge at the end. That Reality is the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, or Brahman, the witness of the ego-consciousness; and again It is the Omnipresent Lord, who is creating, preserving, and dissolving the universe, and is yet untouched by it all.

—Swami Turiyananda, Spiritual Treasures, P.62


In Search of Truth Some Reflections on Brahmasutras

SWAMI GOLOKANANDA

The author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order.

The Shad DarshanasBrahma-sutras or aphorisms on Ulti-

mate Reality (Brahman) is one of the most authentic texts of Vedanta. The Shad Dar- shanas or six systems of Indian philosophy which uphold the authorities of Vedas are Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa. The other set of systems of Indian Philosophy which do not hold the supremacy of Vedas include Jain and Buddhist schools of thought.

Of these Shad Darshanas are Brahma Sutras, also known as Badarayana Sutras, Uttara Mimamsa or Bhikshu Sutras. Each of these systems of Philo- sophy has its own world-view, trying to find out answers to the fundamental questions of philosophy viz: where this world has come from, how has it come, how it is functioning, etc. Each system gives its own answers to these basic questions.

Brahmasutras is the last one among the Shad darshanas which essentially expounds the Upanishadic philosophy. It examines other philosophical stands in many aspects, but basically stands on the Upanishadic philosophy, rejecting the conclusions of all others.

According to Sri Adi Shankara, the revered commentator of Vedanta, the Brahma-

sutras is like a garland made out of the flowers of Upanishadic passages (Vedanta Vakya Kusuma Granthanarthathwad Sutranam). According to the commentary of Shankara the first four sutras give the whole of its philosophy in a gist.

We must recall here that Sri Shan- kara strengthened the Sanatana Dharma,

the Religion Eternal, by propounding the glory of Vedanta through his

commentaries on Prasthana- thraya—three pillars of Sanatana Dharma, the Gita, the Upa- nishads and the Brahmasutras.

By thus writing these authentic expositions, he brought about a spiritual revolution in

India. After his commentaries on prasthanathraya, other great

Acharyas in the succeeding centuries also wrote separate commentaries on

these Vedantic traditions—mostly with their own interpretations as well. Thus came about a revival of Vedantic ideals in the country which proclaim the glory of human being and that work is still going on.

Presently, more importance is given to Vedanta than to rituals enjoined by Purva Mimamsa which was very powerful during the days of the Buddha and Sri Shankara. From the 19th century onwards, the Vedanta traditions have attained great impetus in the world through the realizations of Sri

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Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Owing to Swamiji’s efforts in proclaiming the glory of the Upanishads in America, England and in India itself, the light of the Upanishads, with its increasing lustre, eclipsed to a great extent the erstwhile influence of Purva-mimamsa in India. It is interesting to note that Kerala was the home of the Purva-mimamsa where it was a very powerful way of thinking. But today it is practised only by a few.

Studying The First SutraNow, let us turn to the first Sutra of the

Brahmasutras. From the first one itself we get detailed deliberation of the subject. The famous sutra, the very first one, runs as— Athato Brahma Jijnasa—‘Now, then, the enquiry into the real nature of the Brahman.’

Here in the Sutra ‘Atha’ means, something has to precede the commencement of the studies. So, what is that precedence? In the case of study of Purva Mimamsa, it is a prerequisite to study the Vedas. So, can the same be the precedence here also? No. The study of the Vedas is certainly appreciable, but one can go straight to the study of the Brahmasutras even without the study of the Vedas. So then, what is its precedence? Yes, there is something prescribed as the prerequisite for the study of this Vedanta. And what is it? It is, by all means, the attainment of character excellence—i.e., cultivating the four fold spiritual disciplines described in our scriptures which are:

1) Discrimination between eternal and ephemeral,

2) Renunciation of the idea of enjoyment of the fruits of actions—here, in this life and hereafter, in heaven.

3) Attainment of the six treasures of virtues—Sama, Dama, Uparathi, Titiksha, Shraddha and Samadhanam.

4) Intense longing for liberation (mumukshatva).

Without these four fold disciplines no one can attain the realization of highest Truth and Splendour. They are also the prerequisites for the study of Brahmasutras. In the modern times, we can see all these qualities in all its glory in the life of Swami Vivekananda who, as a youngster, as a student, was pining for this realization. His vast studies including the philosophical systems of both the East and the West made him an exceptional student. He was intellectually convinced of the existence of God and also the necessity to realize Him. Hence he was going about restlessly in search of someone who would help him realise God. ‘If God existed, I must realize Him, otherwise life has no meaning’, that was his reasoning. Swamiji stands before us as an ideal role model; he stands out as a blazing example of a person possessing this fourfold spiritual discipline.

On reflection we find that the attainment of prosperity that man gets in this life is short-lived. It does not give him the joy of spiritual fulfillment. Scriptures speak about the meritorious deeds (punyakarmas) that would enable him to gain greater joy in the other world—in heaven—after death. But the scriptures proclaim the great truth—‘Brahma- vidapnotiparam’, ‘one who realizes Brahman gains the highest’ which is the highest gain of human life. That’s how the word ‘Athah’ is explained in the Shankara Bhashya—realise Reality here and now, in this very life. In modern time Sri Ramakrishna kept up this ideal of realisation of the Highest Truth in this very life and insisted on all his disciples to struggle for it.

The second and third words in the sutra ‘Brahma Jijnasa’ means the enquiry into the real nature of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.

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We have to be clear in our mind as to what the meaning of the word ‘Brahman’ is which is very important. ‘Brahman’ is a unique entity. Everything that is great, everything that is good, everything that is beautiful is Brahman. Brahman is all-pervading, all-knowing and all-powerful. Brahman is the very essence of purity and excellence the characteristics of which are Nitya, Shuddha, Buddha and Mukta—He is eternity itself, eternally pure, the ever-awakened reality, eternally free and the self of all beings. This is how the term ‘Brahman’, according to the Vyakarnam (Sanskrit grammar), is to be understood—‘Brhi, Vriddhou’, to expand and go on expanding. The Vast One, the Ever-present is what is meant by Brahman.

‘Brahma Jijnasa’ means the desire to know Brahman. Desiring to know Brahman is not an intellectual assent of the idea but a wholehearted acceptance of the truth, the realization of Truth.

But the point is that the highest reality is understood differently by the different systems of philosophy.

There are different notions about the self and the ultimate reality such as the following:

The materialists of the Lokayata school recognize the body alone to be the self. Others hold that the mind is the self. One school of Buddhism says that it is merely momentary consciousness. Another school of Buddhism itself says that it is a void. The Naiyayika as well as the Vaisheshika schools hold that the soul transmigrates and is the agent (of work) and the experiencer (of results). Sankhya says

that the soul is a mere experiencer and not any agent. Yoga philosophy says that there is a God who is different from this soul and is all-knowing and all-powerful. Thus there are different views about the soul. Hence we have to exercise our discrimination and arrive at the truth about the soul so that we gain the joy and bliss of the Lord and become free from the miseries of life.

The Brahmasutras analyse the whole issue and give us the convincing understanding of ‘Who we are’ and of ‘What Nature is’. It tells us that essentially we are Brahman itself. In other words self is Brahman itself. We are divine in essence, which is all-knowing, pure and perfect. This knowledge of ourselves is to be discovered and not created. The ideal that the Brahmasutras place before us is that we should discover this grand truth in our lives, here and now.

Swami Vivekananda’s words throw a clear light on the subject under our discussion. He says,

The idea that the goal is far off, far beyond nature, attracting us all towards it—has to be brought nearer and nearer without degrading or degenerating it. The God of heaven becomes the God in Nature, and the God in Nature becomes the God who is Nature and the God who is nature becomes the God within this temple of the body and the God dwelling in the temple of the body at last becomes the temple itself, becomes the soul and man and there it reaches the last words it can teach. He whom the sages have been seeking in all these places is in our own hearts. (CW, 2.128).

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These conceptions of the Vedanta must come out, must remain not only in the forest, not only in the cave, but they must come out to work at the bar and the bench, in the pulpit, and in the cottage of the poor man, with the fishermen that are catching fish, and with the students that are studying. . . —Swami Vivekananda


Musings on India’s UnityMICHEL DANINO

Michel Danino has researched many aspects of Indian civilization and history, authoring books in English and French, as well as many papers published in journals of archaeology, history and culture; he lives near Coimbatore. He delivered the Vedanta Vachaspati Radhanath Phukan Memorial Lecture at Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati, on 7 September 2008, on the theme of this paper which was published later in Quest magazine. Our thanks to the author for his consent to republish this.

Till a few decades ago, the concept of India’s cultural unity was so self-evident that few scholars or statesmen would have thought of questioning it. Let us consider the following observation:

The most essentially fundamental Indian unity rests upon the fact that the diverse peoples of India have developed a peculiar type of culture or civilization utterly different from any other type in the world. That civilization may be summed up by the term Hinduism. India primarily is a Hindu country. . . .1

This straightforward statement, which few of our intellectuals would dare to make today, is found in the introduction to Vincent Smith’s classic Oxford History of India.2 Rarely do we find such an agreement between the colonial view of India and that of leading Indian figures of the day. Let us hear one of them:

In America and Australia, Europe has simplified her problem by almost exterminating the original population. Even in the present age this spirit of extermination is making itself manifest. . . India has all along been trying experiments in evolving a social unity within which all the different peoples could be held together, while fully enjoying the freedom of maintaining their own differences. . . This has produced something like a United States of a social federation, whose common name is Hinduism.3

The author of these thoughts is none but Rabindranath Tagore. Or let us read Sri Aurobindo’s view of the matter:

In India at a very early time the spiritual and cultural unity was made complete and became the very stuff of the life of all this great surge of humanity between the Himalayas and the two seas. . . Invasion and foreign rule, the Greek, the Parthian and the Hun, the robust vigour of Islam, the levelling steam-roller heaviness of the British occupation and the British system, the enormous pressure of the Occident have not been able to drive or crush the ancient soul out of the body her Vedic Rishis made for her.4

Today, such a language is disparaged. A steady stream of Marxist and postmodernist literature has sought to establish the now politically correct view that there exists no such underlying unity of ‘body’ for India; and since we are told that the Hindu identity is an ‘imagined’ one, there can be no ‘United States of a social federation, whose common name is Hinduism.’ Tagore’s plain statement would make our postmodernist scholars cringe. Their scholarly ‘deconstruction’ goes farther: not only does it deny a Hindu identity, it brings new myths into play: the myth of Thomas the Apostle’s evangelizing mission to India, so as to retroactively create an antiquity for a Christian identity in this country, and therefore an equal claim to its cultural sphere;

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the myth of a ‘liberalizing Islam,’ which freed India’s oppressed castes; the myth of a colonial rule bringing ‘modern’ education to India and preparing the country for modernity.

But we are not concerned here with such narratives (and any narrative seems acceptable as long as it portrays Hindu society and culture as divisive, oppressive and retrograde). Rather, we must face the central question: Was there or not in ancient India a sense of cultural unity throughout this geographical expanse? And was there a political unity—and if so, when and to what extent?

Cultural Unity: a Sacred GeographyIndia’s geographical unity, at least, is not

questionable. The Vishnu Purana’s definition is unambiguous:

The country that lies north of the ocean, and south of the snowy mountains, is called Bharata. (II.3.1)

But this Bharata is not an abstract expanse; it is a sacred geography given shape to by dense networks of holy places, tirthas that skilfully crisscross the Indian landmass. Among the many lists of such pilgrimage sites, let us mention:Ø 51 (or 52) Shakti peethas covering the whole of

India, with some of them in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka: in this tradition, the very land becomes the body of the Mother;

Ø twelve Jyotirlingas, from Gujarat and Maha- rashtra in the west to Kedarnath in the north, Vaidyanath (Deogarh) in the east, and Rames- waram in the south;

Ø four Char Dham pilgrimage sites of the Himalayas (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath & Kedarnath);

Ø four locations for the Kumbhamela (Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik);

Ø five sacred confluences (among many more): Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, Devprayag;

Ø 108 Divyadesams or Vaishnavite shrines, most of them in the South;

Ø five important temples of Shiva in the South, each associated with one of the panchabhutas;

Ø pilgrimage routes established by India’s spiritual figures, from Shankaracharya to Swami Vivekananda, also tended to frame as much of the land as possible, ‘from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.’

Such a web created on the map the concept of punyabhumi: one holy land present and living in everyone’s mind. It was constantly recalled to one’s memory through a variety of devices, for instance the many mantras and prayers listing India’s sacred rivers in various orders (generally starting with Ganga). And of course the impact of the two Epics, which not only mention most regions of India (the Mahabharata especially), but were warmly adopted by every region, to such a point that it is hard to find a place in India through which the Pandavas or Rama did not pass at some time or the other! The unparalleled cultural integration effected by the Epics was so powerful that it extended to much of South East Asia, a fact readily acknowledged by nations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia or Vietnam.

As far as India is concerned, the result was the creation of one integrated cultural entity: early Greek, Chinese and Arab travellers recognized it as such and referred to India as one country, not several. Islamic invaders too (or their chroniclers, such as Al-Beruni) had no doubt in their mind that Al’hind was one country, not many separate ones.

Tribal communities were not left out in the process; not only was their worldview always close to, or at least compatible with, that of Hinduism, but also the organic interaction between the two was constant, peaceful and far-reaching. A startling

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illustration can be found in a recent study that found among a few tribal communities of Western India the survival of a most ancient cult to the Vedic god Indra (called ‘Babo Ind’), while mainstream, ‘Brahminical’ Hinduism rarely if ever worships Indra anymore.5 Similarly, rural and tribal communities throughout the country, including the North-East, have preserved and continue to enact their own versions of the two Epics through tales, songs, new myths and customs.6

In effect, we could empirically define Hinduism as the result of a centuries-old peaceful, organic and decentralized interplay between Vedic and local cultures at all levels of Indian society, including the tribal one. Indeed, a recent study by Sandhya Jain on tribal contributions to Hinduism establishes that ‘Tribal society constitutes the keynote and the bedrock of Hindu civilization.’7

Political UnityThe dominant colonial view of India

was that whether or not this cultural unity was conceded, the subcontinent was home to a loose congeries of disparate and often unrelated ethnic groups, regional powers, languages and local cultures, none of which constituted a ‘nation’ in the European sense of the term; it was the British Raj that created the Indian nation, not the Indians. Without

going here into the considerable difference between the Indian and European concept of nationhood,8 we must point out that if the colonial rule did end up in creating a nation in the accepted sense, India had often achieved political unity in the distant past.

Attempts at political integration may be said to begin as early as in the third millennium BCE, with the Indus-Sarasvati civilization (2600-1900 BCE) spreading its remarkable administration and high standards over nearly one million square kilometres, almost a third of modern India. Whatever their protohistoric dates may be, the Vedic samhitas have a rich vocabulary of terms for rulers (raja, adhiraja, samraj, rajadhiraja or ‘king of kings’), sovereignty (rajya, samrajya, bhaujya, svarajya, vairajya, paramashthya, maharajya, adhipatya ...), and assemblies (sabha, samiti).9 We see this translated on the ground in the early republics of the Ganges Valley at the start of its urbanization, and on a grander scale with the repeated attempts to unify the whole subcontinent: the Mauryan Empire encompassed most of it (except the far South) and much of Afghanistan. Later empires (especially the Gupta) did not quite match the Mauryan reach, but ended up strengthening India’s cultural unity.

However, the term ‘empire’ evokes an absolute monarch heading an oligarchy

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and thus distracts us from a more important phenomenon: absolute monarchy was unknown in India, as everywhere elaborate systems of assemblies gave a considerable measure of control to communities at various levels. Exploring the growth of a democratic mind in India, historian Steve Muhlberger concluded:

The experience of Ancient India with republicanism, if better known, would by itself make democracy seem less of a freakish development, and help dispel the common idea that the very concept of democracy is specifically ‘Western.’ . . . It is especially remarkable that, during the near-millennium between 500 B.C. and 400 A.D., we find republics almost anywhere in India that our sources allow us to examine society in any detail. . . . The republics of India were very likely more extensive and populous than the poleis of the Greeks. The existence of Indian republicanism is a discovery of the twentieth century. The implications of this phenomenon have yet to be fully digested. . . Historians may find, in the Indian past as elsewhere, plenty of raw material for a new history of the development of human government.10

The phrase ‘almost anywhere in India’ points, again, to a political unity, if not in terms of a precise entity, at least of India’s political mind.

The Case of the North-EastThe above sketchy musings find an

illustration in the case of the North-East, so long the object of separatist propagandas. One of their favourite lines of attack is that the ‘North-East was never a part of India,’ either culturally or politically. Thankfully we have much impeccable evidence to demonstrate the fallacy of the argument. The briefest highlights will do for our present purpose:

Ø At Bhishmaknagar (Arunachal) excavations revealed a fort of classic type (according to the Arthashastra’s specifications) covering some ten square kilometres; Hindu deities of the 8th-10th centuries were found at the spot.

Ø At the important site of Vadagokugiri (or Bhaitbari, in the West Garo hills of Meghalaya), partly excavated in 1992 by A. K. Sharma,11 a fortified ancient capital town came to light, with many temples, huge tanks, well-laid metal roads and junctions. The brick temples (some of them in Orissa style, facing east) displayed Ganesha figures, Sivalingas with yonis, terracotta plaques of Brahma (or Shiva), Sarasvati, Kali, ascetics, gandharvas, dancing girls, etc. A Buddhist stupa was also unearthed, the first in Meghalaya, as well as a remarkable octagonal Siva temple, the first of its kind found in North-East India. The pottery of the lowest layers showed an early occupation of the site, on a smaller scale, right from 2nd century bce.

Ø In 1980, a gold mask was recovered from a hillock in Imphal (Manipur), along with bronze and stone statues of Buddha from Kakching, Chandel and Leuthabal.

Ø Turning to the literature, the Ramayana refers to ‘Pragjyotisha’ as a city built with gold on a seaside mountain (known as Varaha with golden peaks), ruled by Naraka. This king is in fact mentioned in pre-Ahom inscriptions as the founder of the Bhauma-Naraka or Varman dynasty.12 He is referred to as the father of the first historical ruler, Pushyavarman (4th century ce).13

Ø The Mahabharata mentions ‘Pragjyotisha’ as a great citadel ruled by the valorous Naraka, who stole Aditi’s earrings (they were recovered by Krishna). Naraka’s son, Bhagadatta (also mentioned in inscriptions, such as the Nalanda seal of Bhaskaravarman), was a friend of Pandu and fought against Arjuna with an army of Chinas, Kiratas and elephants in the course of Arjuna’s northern expedition.14

Ø Panini shows his awareness of the region in Ashtadhyayi: ‘Suramasa’ is one of the prachya-

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janapadas (others include Kosala, Kasi, Magadha, Kalinga) and was probably the Surma valley of Assam, according to Ajay Mitra Shastri.

Ø Buddhist literature calls the region ‘Lohichcha’ (= Lauhitya, another name of the Brahmaputra) and connects it to Vedic culture.

Ø The Arthashastra mentions Kamarupa as the source of various products (including gems and incense) and the Lauhitya.

Ø Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsa also mentions the Lauhitya.

Ø In Ajay Mitra Shastri’s opinion, Graeco-Roman writers (e.g. Ptolemy) refer to Assam as part of their accounts of India, calling it ‘Seres.’

Ø Kamarupa is mentioned in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta (4th century CE) as a frontier kingdom whose king paid obedience to Samudragupta. In Nayanjot Lahiri’s words, ‘That Assam was within the mainstream of events in the Gangetic valley is amply clear from the epic references.’15

Ø We have about 32 pre-Ahom inscriptions of Assam (5th to 13th century), all in Sanskrit and in a Brahmi script initially identical to the Kausambi style of the 4th century CE. The inscriptions are in an ornate language, with some expressions almost identical to Kalidasa’s and Dandin’s compositions. They comprise three major dynasties tracing their descent to Naraka, described as the ‘son of the holder of the wheel [i.e. Vishnu] who, in order to lift the earth from under the ocean, assumed the distinguished form of a boar.’16 Vishnu eventually becomes dominant, but in the 8th century he was often worshipped together with Shiva: the Sankara-Narayana and the Hari-Hara inscriptions celebrate both. Indeed, there are also many references to Shiva (also named Rudra, Sambhu and Sankara), for instance as ‘the great dancer.’ The inscriptions show a ‘very deep understanding of the myths which have revolved around the person of Lord Shiva,’17 observes Nayanjot Lahiri. But they also reveal contacts beyond North India, with Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka.

Ø By the 9th century, the spread of the Bhakti cult promoted the integration of tribals within Hinduism over several centuries: villages adopted Sanskritic names, while Sanskrit terms were prakritized, with the addition of Khasi, Bodo and other tribal words.

None of these facts—there are many more—are compatible with a North-East culturally or politically cut off from the rest of India; immigrations from the Thai-Burmese belt did occur, but did not alter the region’s integration with the rest of India. Ajay Mitra Shastri concludes his study of the archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence with these words:

Ancient Pragjyotisha or the North-East had very intimate relations with the rest of India, of which it was an integral component, geographically and culturally, despite its own distinctive culture and physical elements...18

India’s ‘Talent’Distinctiveness is not separateness. If

we turn to South India in ancient times, we can certainly point to distinctive features and contributions, yet, despite claims of a ‘separate Dravidian culture,’ the most ancient Tamil culture as revealed by archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics and literature reveals a long-standing integration with the rest of India and a happy acceptance of gods, concepts, myths and rituals borrowed from the Vedic stream.19

In a stimulating historical study of the concept of India’s unity, Dileep Karanth recently defined India’s cultural oneness in these terms:

We thus see that the concept of Bharata- varsha, even if considered cosmological to begin with, became firmly geographical, and that in ‘classical’ times. The words Jambudvipe Bharatavarshe chanted by the Brahmin in

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countless ceremonies could only have strengthened this geographical concept over the centuries.

The idea of a culturally united India—call it a nation, or a civilization—clearly did not depend upon the Arabs/Muslims. Nor was the idea born out of the labours of the Western Orientalist or the British colonial administrator.

India—the name which launched a thousand ships, and which has fired the imagination of explorers for ages, predates the emergence of Islam and Western Indology, by centuries, if not millennia.20

Yet with the spread of divisive ideologies and agendas, it is easier in India today to nurture what divides and fragments rather than what united—and still has the potential to unite. In a seminal essay entitled The History of Bharatavarsha, Tagore, again, gave a beautiful description of India’s ‘talent’ in the field:

Providence has pulled in diverse people onto the lap of Bharatavarsha. Since antiquity Bharatavarsha has been provided with the opportunity to put into practice the special talent her people were endowed with. Bharata- varsha has forever been engaged in cons- tructing with varied material the foundation of a unifying civilization. And a unified civilization

is the highest goal of all human civilizations. She has not driven away anybody as alien, she has not expelled anybody as inferior, she has not scorned anything as odd. Bharatavarsha has adopted all, accepted everybody. And when so much is accepted, it becomes necessary to establish one’s own code and fix regulation over the assorted collections. It is not possible to leave them unrestrained like animals fighting each other. They have to be appropriately distributed into separate autonomous divisions while keeping them bound on a fundamental principle of unity. The component might have come from outside but the arrangement and the fundamental idea behind it were Bharatavarsha’s own. . .

It needs talent to make outsiders one’s own. The ability to enter others’ beings and the magic power of making the stranger completely one’s own, these are the qualities native to genius. That genius we find in Bharatavarsha.21

Making the Other ‘one’s own’—provided he lends himself to the process—is not ‘composite culture,’ which, at best, would result in a formless hodgepodge. It is India’s way, and one day it will have to be the world’s way.

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1. The Oxford History of India by Vincent A. Smith, edited by Percival Spear (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 4th ed., p. 7. The last sentence goes on: ‘... the land of the Brahmans, who succeeded by means of peaceful penetration, not by the sword, in carrying their ideas into every corner of India.’ But that is a simplistic view of the complex process of cultural integration India underwent; other layers of the society (other ‘castes’) promoted it quite actively, sometimes as much as the Brahmins.

2. I have not consulted the first editions of the book and do not know whether this observation is made by Smith himself or one of the subsequent contributors.

3. Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism in India (republished New Delhi: Macmillan, 1999), p. 69.

4. Sri Aurobindo, The Foundations of Indian Culture (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1972), pp.365-367.

5. Jyotindra Jain, ‘Propitiation of Babo Ind: Survival of the Ancient Cult of India,’ in Living Traditions: Studies in the Ethnoarchaeology of South Asia, ed. Bridget Allchin (New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1994), pp.13 ff.

6. A number of illustrations of this can be found in Mahabharata in the Tribal and Folk Traditions of India, ed. K. S. Singh (Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 1993) and Rama-Katha in Tribal and Folk Traditions of India, eds. K. S. Singh & Birendranath Datta (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1993). See also Painted Words: an Anthology of Tribal Literature, ed. G. N. Devy (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2002), under chapter ‘Myth.’

7. Sandhya Jain, Adi Deo Arya Devata: a Panoramic View of Tribal-Hindu Cultural Interface (Delhi: Rupa, 2004). See also B.B. Kumar, ‘Caste-Tribe Continuum in Indian Society,’ Quest vol. 1, January 2008, pp. 211-240.

8. Sankrant Sanu conducts a fine discussion of the Western and Indian concepts of nationhood in his article ‘Why India Is a Nation,’ online at www.

ifih.org/whyindiaisanation.htm.9. See Radha Kumud Mukherji, Fundamental Unity of

India (1914, republished Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1954-1991), pp. 63-65.

10. Steve Muhlberger, ‘Democracy in Ancient India’: www.unipissing.ca./department/history/histdem/.

11. A. K. Sharma’s important archaeological discoveries are summarized in Emergence of Early Culture in North-East India (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1993), Manipur: The Glorious Past (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1994), Early Man in Eastern Himalayas (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 1996).

12. Nayanjot Lahiri, Pre-Ahom Assam (New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1991), p. 10-11.

13. Ajay Mitra Shastri, Ancient North-East India: Pragjyotisha (New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2002), pp. 20-21 & 44-45. Some of the literary and historical references to the North-East quoted here are borrowed from this important study.

14. Nayanjot Lahiri, Pre-Ahom Assam, p. 10-11.15. Ibid., p. 14.16. Ibid., p. 126.17. Ibid., p. 125.18. Ajay Mitra Shastri, Ancient North-East India:

Pragjyotisha, p. 102.19. Michel Danino, ‘Vedic Roots of Early Tamil

Culture,’ available online at www.bharatvani.org/michel_danino/tamil_cult01.html.

20. Dileep Karanth, ‘India: One Nation or Many Nationalities? Ancient Sources and Modern Analysis,’ History Today, No. 7, 2006-07, pp. 1-11 (a slightly revised version is available online at www.ifih.org/TheUnityOfIndia.htm).

21. Rabindranath Tagore, The History of Bharatavarsha, Bhadra 1309 Bengal Era (August 1903), translated from the Bengali by Sumita Bhattacharya & Sibesh Bhattacharya; available online at www.ifih.org/TheHistoryofBharatavarsha.htm.

References

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Youth and their ProblemsLessons in Coping with Life from Swami Vivekananda

SWAMI SATYAPRIYANANDA

A former editor of Prabuddha Bharata, the author is a resident of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math.

There is a growing concern about the many challenges of youth because right

now and possibly in a few years hereafter, India wi l l be the

country with the largest percentage

of youth. It is w e l l k n o w n

that around the age of adolescence,

y o u n g m e n a n d women face

psychological problems. In

addition, there is the growing responsibility placed on their young shoulders by the passing away of the elders in the family. There is the career development urge to acquire financial stability, a partner in life, and a respectable status in society. They look for guidance and a role model.

Problems are like the hurdles in an obstacle race. The obstacle race would not be the least interesting but for these hurdles. If you remove the hurdles, what justifies the name obstacle race? And yet the hurdles are present not for the competitor to stumble and

get injured. These obstacles are there for one to overcome.

Just imagine the super-cyclone of Orissa which ransacked the area in a matter of a few hours. Trees were uprooted, but not all of the trees. Those trees, whose roots were deeply spread in the ground below, stood the force of the cyclone. So too, if we are deeply rooted in the divine consciousness we may be tossed about but never uprooted. We use the term ‘divine consciousness’ because human perception in this matter is varied.

We shall recall the life of a young man, Narendranath Datta, whose entire life was one of unending problems and solving them with wisdom, patience and strength. While reading this narration, we invite the reader to pause, reflect and answer whether he/she had ever to face such mountainous problems!

Meeting Sri RamakrishnaBorn on 12th January 1863, Swami

Vivekananda was like any lad of his age, running about in the streets of Calcutta, mixing with friends, and smearing his body and clothes with the dust on the streets. He was a member of the Brahmo Samaj when he came to Dakshineswar to see the ‘Paramahamsa’ who had experienced ecstasy. Endowed with a resonant voice and a deep knowledge in music, Narendranath charmed Ramakrishna by singing a few songs as a proxy singer at

Article

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the house of Sri Surendranath Mitra. As usual Ramakrishna wanted Narendranath also to visit him at Dakshineswar. The first few meetings between this future leader of the band of monastic disciples and Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar show that Narendranath had been chosen for a specific mission—the removal of the miseries of humanity, not merely of India but of the whole world.

Resolving An Ideological ConflictBeing a member of the Brahmo Samaj,

Narendranath [or Naren, for short] had declared that he would not worship gods and goddesses in images or salute their images. Therefore, he could not accept the image of Bhavatarini at the temple of Dakshineswar. Ramakrishna, who had visualised the image of Bhavatarini as an ‘image of consciousness’ and not as a mere image of stone, was now up against bringing home this realisation to his favourite disciple. Several family problems faced by Naren forced him to ask Ramakrishna to speak to his Divine Mother on his behalf so that his family could have at least coarse clothing and simple food. Ramakrishna suggested Naren to pray to the Divine Mother directly and not through any intermediary. Thrice did Naren stand before the image in the temple, and thrice being in front of the living presence of the Divine Mother, he could only ask for jnana, bhakti, viveka and vairagya. That direct experience, again, is the story of Naren’s acceptance of the Divine Mother as a living presence in the image. Naren sang all night, ‘ma tvam hi tara’. Writing on this transformation, Swami Vivekananda said,

‘And then I, too, had to accept Her! No, the thing that made me do it is a secret that will die with me. I had great misfortunes at the time. . . . It was an opportunity.… She made a slave of me.

Those were the very words: ‘a slave of you’. And Ramakrishna Paramahamsa made me over to Her.1

Naren’s Family CircumstancesSri Durgacharan Datta, the grand-father

of Naren, had left the household to take to a life of renunciation. His son Vishwanath Datta was raised by his mother, enduring the constant enmity, hostility, and selfishness of her husband’s family. She too died when Vishwanath Datta was about 12 years old and Vishwanath had to stand on his own feet. Now an orphan, he grew up in the family of his uncle Kaliprasad, who usurped much of Vishwanath’s rightful property. Vishwanath earned money being a famous attorney. To earn money, live amply, and make others happy by practising charity as far as possible — these were the characteristics of Vishwanath.

Relatives turned into enemies. They even deprived the family of their ancestral house. On some far-fetched basis a case was made out against them, and the matter taken to court. The case was finally decided in favour of Narendranath’s family, and they secured their legal share in the property. However, for several years it was a struggle for them to obtain the coarsest food and clothing. Disputes had started while Vishwanath was living, and his family had been staying in a rented house since then. Vishwanath suddenly died when Naren was just 21 years old. The stark truth of debts galore, due to the spending spree of his father, dawned on Naren when debtors all around started urging Naren to clear up the dues.

Narendra, the eldest of the sons of Vishwanath Datta, had to bear the burden of maintaining a family; he was fairly well educated but could not get a job. His friends,

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who once would be happy to spend their time with him, now deserted him. There were some who made the ugly proposal of a marriage alliance so that Naren could be financially better off. The very suggestion was highly disgusting to Naren.

Naren was pained at heart till the last days of his mortal existence: ‘I have sadly neglected my mother. … Now my last desire is to serve my mother, for some years at least. I want to live with my mother.’ Sometime later, Swamiji took a loan of five thousand rupees and purchased a house from his aunt, who cheated him outright by refusing to hand over the legal title deed!

Swamiji left America on 26 July 1900, and eventually returned to India in shattered health due to diabetes, dropsy and asthma, the sight in his right eye almost gone. In spite of that, he never abandoned any duty which he considered sacred. He continued to visit his mother and tried to alleviate her economic troubles and solve her family affairs as best he could.

Swamiji continued to strain his utmost to settle the court case over a property dispute that had begun when he was just fourteen years old! He went to his mother’s residence on 19 June l902, gave an additional thousand rupees to the opposing party, and settled it. On 2 July, two days before his demise, Swamiji gave an additional four hundred rupees to settle the case. His mother was sixty-one years old when Swamiji left his body.

It was his mother’s dearest wish to go on a long pilgrimage with Swamiji, and, in spite of his bad health, Swamiji long nurtured this desire to fulfil her wish as well as a strong desire that they should spend their last days together. Finally, he arranged to take his mother and other relatives on a pilgrimage to Dacca and Chandranath in East Bengal and

Kamakhya in Assam, accompanying them in each place.

Spreading the Message of His Master Ramakrishna had picked for himself an

ideally suited bearer of his message for the yuga and told Narendra later on that there was a stage higher than even Samadhi, which Naren was to declare to the rest of the world: jo kuch hai so tu hi hai, and, therefore, serve all existence in the spirit of worship of God: that God can be meditated upon with eyes closed as with eyes open; that god may be worshipped in humanity as much as in images, that stars do exist even during the day when the brilliance of the sun makes it appear as if the stars did not exist. It meant that spiritual life was a two-pronged flight: inwardly, through internal concentration, to be aware of the Truth within, and, outwardly, through external concentration, to be aware—through service to humanity in the spirit of worship—of the Truth underlying the external world. Thus Samadhi was just half the story; the other half, expressed as ‘Siva jnane jiva seva’ [serve jiva as shiva], was equally important. This combined approach was the method of this Age.

Before his mahasamadhi, Ramakrishna had entrusted him with a mission, ‘Naren will teach others, both within and outside the country’. Not only was Ramakrishna’s mahasamadhi a second terrible blow, but a heavy load was placed on his shoulders to keep his brother disciples together and spread the message: shiva jnane jiva seva, harmony of yogas and religions; and to this Naren added tyaga and seva as the ideal of the individual and the nation, religion as the backbone of the country, and as the mission of the country in the harmony of nations. Naren felt the need to awaken the masses of India to the realisation

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of the national spiritual heritage and to the vision of India as the queen of all nations seated on her eternal throne, more rejuvenated than ever before. He was the patriot saint of national awakening and pointed out that the degradation was far worse, consequent to the rule of the Muslims and British, the tyranny of the privileged classes over the masses, and the neglect of women.

His travels through India made him realise that religion was not at fault for the nation lying prostrate under a foreign rule but that it was want of practical application of Vedanta. His travels in the West made him understand that the Vedantic religion would withstand the sledge hammer blows of science and technology and give a foundation for the western thoughts of utility and humanitarian service, without which basis the whole of the western nation was standing on a volcano which may erupt at any time.

His travels in India and abroad made him realize two things: 1) that education was the panacea for all social evils, and 2) that Indians needed to perform organized work like they do in the West.

The Problems Swamiji Faced In America In Madras Swamiji’s inherent potential

was recognised and Swamiji was urged to proceed to the Parliament of Religions as a representative of Hinduism. A very big responsibility was being placed on too young a shoulder by a group of dedicated people, highly emotional but not conversant with the methods to be adopted. The disciples had not envisaged that Swamiji would be needing credentials for participation in the Parliament. They did not know several other things: that the last day for registering as a delegate to the Parliament was long over; that one had to wait long before the Parliament commenced; that

the cost of living in the West was exorbitant; severe climatic conditions in winter at Chicago for which Swamiji did not have adequate clothes or funds to handle.

Swamiji too did not know what he would say at the Parliament nor had he a prepared speech. Also Swamiji had no idea of the value of money and was cheated right and left. As a contrast to Indian conditions, begging was not allowed in the West. It was divinely planned that Swami Vivekananda even under such circumstances was allowed to participate in the Parliament of Religions and that he became a celebrity overnight.

Swami Vivekananda always depended on the divine will. In a letter to Alasinga dated 20th August 1893 Swamiji wrote: ‘First I will try in America; and if I fail, try in England; if I fail, go back to India and wait for further commands from High.’2 That was before the Parliament commenced.

In a letter to Prof Wright, addressing him as Adhyapakji, Swamiji wrote on 8th October 1893, after the commencement of the historic Parliament:

. . .All my life I have been taking every circumstance as coming from Him and calmly adapting myself to it. At first in America I was almost out of my water. I was afraid I would have to give up the accustomed way of being guided by the Lord and cater for myself—and what a horrid piece of mischief and ingratitude was that. I now clearly see that He who was guiding me on the snow tops of the Himalayas and the burning plains of India is here to help me and guide me. . . . So I have calmly fallen into my old ways. Somebody or other gives me a shelter and food, somebody or other comes to ask me to speak about Him, and I know He sends them and mine is to obey. And then He is supplying my necessities, and His will be done! ‘He who rests in Me and gives up all other self-assertion and struggles I carry to him whatever he needs’. So

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it is in Asia. So in Europe. So in America. So in the deserts of India. So in the rush of business in America. For is He not here also? And if He does not, I only would take for granted that He wants that I should lay aside this three minutes’ body of clay—and hope to lay it down gladly.3

Variety of ExperiencesFollowing the Parliament of Religions,

there was an invitation from the Slayton Lyceum Lecture Bureau for Swamiji to make a tour of America. He lectured in most of the larger cities of the eastern, mid-western, and southern states, including Chicago, Iowa City, Des Moines, Memphis, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Madison, Detroit, Hartford, Buffalo, Boston, Cambridge, Baltimore, Washington, Brooklyn and New York. When he began to give lectures, people offered him money, $30 to 80, for the work he hoped to do in India. He had no purse. So he used to tie it up in a handkerchief and bring it to his place of residence. He had to learn the different coins and to stack them up neatly and count them.

Swamiji was such a dynamic and attractive personality that many women made every effort by flattery to gain his interest. He was young and, in spite of his great spirituality and his brilliance of mind, was very unworldly. True, Swamiji often slept in India under a banyan tree with just a bowl of rice given by a kindly peasant. But he was sometimes the guest in the palace of a Maharajah and a slave girl was appointed to wave a peacock feather fan over him all night long. He did not allow such circumstances to tempt him.

Interesting InteractionsSwamiji exhibited tremendous mental

powers during his interaction with three notable people. He was surprised by the words

of Robert Ingersoll expressing the intolerant attitude of Americans: ‘Fifty years ago you would have been hanged if you had come to preach in this country, or you would have been burned alive. You would have been stoned out of the villages if you had come even much later!’ Ingersoll who believed in ‘making the most out of this world, in squeezing the orange dry, because this world is all we are sure of’ was told of ‘a better way to squeeze the orange of this world’ which gets one more out of the world. ‘I know I cannot die, so I am not in a hurry. I know that there is no fear, so I enjoy the squeezing. I have no duty, no bondage of wife and children and property; and so I can love all men and women. Everyone is God to me. Think of the joy of loving man as God! Squeeze your orange this way and get ten thousand-fold more out of it. Get every single!’

John. D. Rockefeller, a fabulously wealthy American financier was yet another. Rockefeller was then not yet at the peak of his fortune, but was already powerful and strong-willed, very difficult to handle and a hard man to advise. One day, pushed to it by an impulse, he went directly to the house of his friend, brushing aside the butler who opened the door, saying that he wanted to see the Hindu monk. The butler ushered him into the living room. After a while, Swamiji told Rockefeller much of his past that was not known to any but himself, and made him understand that he was only a conduit for utilising the money he had already accumulated, and that his duty was to help and do good to people. Rockefeller was terribly annoyed. About a week after, again without being an nounced, he entered Swamiji’s study, threw on his desk a paper which told of his plans to donate an enormous sum of money toward the financing of a public institution. ‘Well, there you are,’ he said. ‘You

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must be satisfied now, and you can thank me for it.’ Swamiji didn’t even lift his eyes. Then taking the paper, he quietly read it, saying: ‘It is for you to thank me.’ Had not Swamiji made Rockefeller expand his consciousness to see himself in others as well? This was Rockefeller’s first donation to the public welfare.

He was always aware that a great power was working in and through him. ‘Wherever

the seed of his Master’s power will fall,’ Swamiji wrote to his brother monks, ‘there it will fructify, be it today, or in a hundred years.’ ‘I am amazed at His grace’, he wrote again to them: ‘Whatever town I visit, it is in an uproar. They have named me ‘the cyclonic Hindu’. Remember it is His will—I am a voice without a form.’

(To be continued. . .)

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Love knows no rival, for in it is always embodied the lover’s highest ideal. True love never comes until the object of our love becomes to us our highest ideal. It may be that in many cases human love is misdirected and misplaced, but to the person who loves, the thing he loves is always his own highest idea. One may see his ideal in the vilest of beings, and another in the highest of beings; nevertheless, in every case it is the ideal alone that can be truly and intensely loved. The highest ideal of every man is called God. Ignorant or wise, saint or sinner, man or woman, educated or uneducated, cultivated or uncultivated, to every human being the highest ideal is God. The synthesis of all the highest ideals of beauty, of sublimity, and of power gives us the completest conception of the loving and lovable God.

These ideals exist in some shape or other in every mind naturally; they form a part and parcel of all our minds. All the active manifestations of human nature are struggles of those ideals to become realised in practical life. All the various movements that we see around us in society are caused by the various ideals in various souls trying to come out and become concretised; what is inside presses on to come outside. This perennially dominant influence of the ideal is the one force, the one motive power, that may be seen to be constantly working in the midst of mankind.


References: 1. CW, VIII, p. 263 2. CW, 5, p.19 3. CW, 7, pp. 453-54


Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda1

New Find

Aug. 18. 1910.12, 13 Gopal Chander Neogi’s

Lane. Calcutta. India.Dearest Granny,2

Nivedita has not sent us any word relating to you by the last mail. So I trust she too has not heard from you. I hope that does not mean that you are having a relapse, or that the improvement is not continued.

The Holy Mother desires her love and blessings; and Jogin Maa and the friends here whom you know, are uniting with me to send their love and heart’s prayers for your speedy recovery.

Ever your Affectionate BoySaradananda

Sep. 29. 10Math. Belur. Howrah.

India.Dearest Grannie,I could not send you a line by the last mail. You must be at Greenacre by this time and

getting gradually stronger day by day. The Holy Mother, Jogin Ma and others are joining me to send their love to you and prayers for a speedy recovery.

I learn that Sister Christiana and Mrs.Sevier have booked their passages to India by Nov. 3, and are coming by Trieste. How we all wish that you were strong enough to do so! But in this condition of your health I will never dare to pray for the same; and the prospect of having a glimpse of my divine Grannie again, has gone so so far as to be a matter of impossibility! However as the Lord has willed it, and I am ever thankful that I have been allowed to know a perfectly beautiful soul so intimately in my life! May the Master always bless and protect you and keep you with us for a long long time yet, even though you are not allowed to come to India again! And may you have all that you wish in this and the life after!

I am so much concerned to hear about Miss Farmer. I pray that our dear friend might recover and the derangement prove to be a temporary thing!

I do not know where Mrs.Vaughan is now, though I have heard that [she] is happy with her ‘Sylvia’. Tender my kind greetings to her, please, if she be there.

I am now trying to give my evidence about the Master in Bengalli, and if I succeed in it, I will try to do so later in English.

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1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna 2. Mrs. Sara Bull, an American disciple of Swami Vivekananda

Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math

Sister Nivedita is well and working as hard as ever. We are editing the Jnana Yoga lectures of Swamiji at present. I hope you received the newly edited Chicago Addresses of the Swami, which we sent you some time ago, and like it.

I hope you often hear from Agnes and Santi, even though they are not allowed to remain with you. Kindly tender my kind greetings to them if possible.

With my dear love to you and prayers to the Master as ever for your growth in spirituality, I remain, dear Grannie,

Always your affectionate boySaradananda

Math. Belur. Howrah.India. Oct 3. 1910.

Dearest Grannie,Your kind letter to Nivedita was read to the Holy Mother and myself yesterday, by her and

I cannot tell you what a delight it was to see your hand again.The Holy Mother desires her love and blessings to you and has wanted you to know that

She is ever praying for your speedy recovery.The sister N. will be going to Darjeeling tomorrow for a few weeks. She is well and happy.I saw Mr.Mohini the other day. He has always been kind to us. The registration of the Pubs

by us (Sister N. Swami B & myself) we shall forward the same through you. I am sorry to tell you we cannot send the same until a month after, when the Swami Brahmananda will be here. For we three will have to sign the deed before the U.S.Consul here. So Mr.Mohini suggested that we should wait.

I am so glad to learn that you are now getting the proper kind of food and gaining gradually.

May you recover soon through the Grace of the Master! With my love and best wishes to you in which Jogin Ma is joining me (she comes here daily to the Holy Mother). I am, dear Grannie

Ever yours affectionatelySaradananda

References

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The work that you do is to be performed with a right attitude. You must feel that the duties that you are discharging have been entrusted to you by the Lord. You are doing them only to satisfy Him and not to satisfy your selfish will. No work is menial. Even scrubbing the floor may be turned into worship if there is the remembrance of the Lord within. —Swami Saradananda


Holistic Development through Religious Harmony

The Vision and Mission of Swami VivekanandaT V MURALIVALLABHAN

Part 1 Introduction

Man’s reckless pursuit of accelerated economic growth has brought in as we realize now a host of social, economic, political, cultural and environmental problems. These problems which affect every sphere of life have assumed alarming proportions and have posed a threat to the very existence of life on earth. This frightening scenario has induced thinkers all over the world to bestow serious thought on reaching permanent solutions through proper development.

From Problems to CrisesA problem is one for which finding

solution is rather easy. But when it becomes a crisis, finding solution becomes more difficult. Economic recession, political instability, cultural disintegration, religious terrorism and spiritual emptiness pose serious threat to the development efforts of all nations. This grave situation has occurred as a result of a multitude of factors and hence the problems have reached the proportion of a crisis, making it multidimensional and complicated.

In spite of the economic richness, the developed world in general and the USA in

particular are facing serious social security crisis, in the form stray shooting incidents (now become competitive, which is the characteristic feature of a free market economy) k i l l ing innocent c h i l d r e n a n d teachers.

S u i c i d a l rates are on the increase along with increasing rates of economic growth.

TV, Internet and Mobile phones which are considered as inevitable gadgets of modern life are breeding criminal traits in children and adolescents.1

Problems arising out of poverty could be tackled, by adopting suitable development measures. But crisis due to plenty, such as over eating and junk food intake along with the modern life style diseases have resulted in a higher morbidity rate in spite of a lower mortality rate. Kerala, which is in the forefront of Indian states in social sectors and women empowerment, is facing increased

Article

Dr. T V Muralivallabhan is a well-known Resource Person in the area of Indian culture, Eco spirituality and Environmental education, and is also, the Coordinator of Sri Ramakrishna Adarsh Sanskrit College, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Pala, Kerala, and former Principal of NSS college, Vazhoor, Kottayam, Kerala.

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gynecological problems due to lifestyle changes and job oriented stress.2 Pollution, radiation and insecticides are increasing the childhood cancers.3

Longer life-spans, combined with families opting to have fewer children have led the elderly to become a growing burden in family and create many social problems.4

The increase in per capita income in India, from 1951 to 2010 was about 100 times, but in the same period, increase in corruption has gone up to 300 times.5

A trip that began to build bridges between Indian and Chinese youth has ended with tragedy, when several male Indian delegates misbehaved and ill-treated the Chinese women delegates and translators.6

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Kerala, known for the highest literacy rate, records most number of obscene e-posting.7

Drinking has risen by a whopping 100 percent among the youth in India within a decade, revealed a survey conducted by ACICI.8

World population hit 7 billion in 2011, unleashing a host of socio-economic and environmental problems. World Population Fund predicts severe stress on food, water, jobs and environment. Global warming, climate change, Ozone depletion, deforestation, desertification, pollution of air, water and soil are posing unprecedented problems, questioning even the existence of all the life forms on this planet. The International Agency for the Strategic Studies says that the chances of religious conflicts are more in an overpopulated world.

The list of problems and crises do not end here. A certain section of the humanity still believes that science and technology can find permanent solutions to this grave situation.

But it is with the same science and technology that men have developed atom bombs, sufficient to destroy the entire planet many times. Therefore, it is the attitude of human beings which determines the fate of the planet and the life on it. The attitude is to be guided, not merely by materialistic motives alone, but, it should be equally guided by spiritual outlook as well.

International organizations like the UN are engaged in activities that are aimed to assure peace and security to the world citizens. UNESCO, UNEP and UNDP along with many national governments and agencies, through the programmes like Agenda for the 21st Century and Millennieum Development Goals (MDGs), are trying to bring harmony between man and nature and among men. The proposed agenda for the present Parliament of World’s Religions is ‘Peace and Harmony’ through inter-religious dialogues, in order to assure proper and balanced development of the human society.

Development: A Holistic viewDuring the 17th 18th and 19th centuries,

the conception of reality was based on the mechanistic view of the universe which depended on the mathematical theory of Issac Newton, the Philosophy of Rene Descartes and the Scientific Methodology advocated by Francis Bacon. ‘In this approach, matter is regarded to be the basis of all existence and the world is seen as a multitude of separate objects assembled into a huge machine. As a result the complex phenomenon of this world could be understood by reducing them to their basic building blocks and by looking for the mechanisms through which they interacted…’9 This approach led to the evolution of so many disciplines, which were treated in watertight compartments and as specialized studies.

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In the 21st century, modern scientific community is becoming aware of the limitations of the mechanistic view. Thanks to the development in Quantum Physics, the image of the universe as a machine has been transcended by a view of it as one indivisible, dynamic whole, whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as patterns of a cosmic process. Understanding reality in terms of integrated whole, whose proportion cannot be reduced to smaller units, is holistic approach. Everything is viewed here as the part of a system, based on the interrelatedness and interdependence of the parts. Thus isolated or partial study of any phenomena will be incomplete and hence insufficient to depict the reality/Truth. Therefore holistic approach and Systems theory promote multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies for the perfect understanding of the natural phenomena or human institutions. It is in this context that the study of development becomes multidimensional and reaches to the extent of including religion and spirituality (Inclusive growth)

Fragmented thinking and partial analysis which are the inevitable features of a mechanistic model have done enough damage to the society. Political, social and religious

segments at different levels have penetrated the minds of the people and sectarianism is haunting the concept of the ‘oneness’ of the society.

As already noted, development is a multidisciplinary and multidimensional concept. It is not mere partial and fragmented growth, but inclusive, sustainable, integrated and holistic advancement that assure the preyas (material prosperity) and shreyas (spiritual progress) of the society. The belief system, practices and rituals of the religions of the world, if properly understood and observed, lead to the realization of the harmony in society by uniting the minds of the people. The energy of human beings can be turned into synergy, resulting in the development which is both spiritual and secular. A large number of Gurus (seers and saints) in India for centuries have been disseminating the message of harmony of religions and it is still continuing. In this Guruparampara Swami Vivekananda occupies an important place.

The scientific, rational and reductionist approaches to understand reality are being replaced by the intuitive, integrated and holistic approach (Capra). The holistic approach does not recognize the antagonistic attitude but emphasizes a harmonious relationship.


1. Research report of University of Otago, New Zealand, 2013

2. The Times of India, Feb. 10, 2013 3. ICMR Report,2013 4. Times of India, Feb. 10, 2013 5. The Hindu, Oct. 7,2012

6. The Hindu, 23rd July, 2012 7. The Hindu, 4July,2012 8. The Hindu, 14 Nov.2011 9. Fritjo Capra, The Turning Point, Flemingo

Publishers

References

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News and Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Mission

The Order On The March

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New Math Centre

At the request of Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Kayamkulam, whose immovable properties already belonged to Ramakrishna Math, Belur, the possession and management of the Ashrama has been taken over by us. The address of this new centre is: Ramakrishna Math, P.O. Kayamkulam, Dist. Alappuzha, Kerala 690502, phone no.: (0479) 2445891 and email id <[email protected]>.

New Mission Sub-Centre

A sub-centre of Delhi Ashrama has been started at Vasant Vihar, Delhi. Its address is “Ramakrishna Kutir, F-4/13, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057”. Swami Vagishanandaji inaugurated the sub-centre on 11 April.

Celebration of the 150th Birth Anniversaries of the Monastic Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna

Delhi centre held public meetings on 10 and 26 April in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversaries of Swamis Akhandanandaji Maharaj and Saradanandaji Maharaj respectively.

Celebration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Sister NiveditaChennai Vidyapith held a special programme comprising speeches and cultural programmes on

5 April. The newly renovated lecture hall of the college, now named ‘Sister Nivedita Hall’, was also inaugurated on that day.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House held three lectures on 15, 20 and 21 April which were attended altogether by 850 people.

News of Branch Centres (in India)

Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama held two kisan melas (farmers’ fairs) and farmer awareness programmes on 30 March and 5 April.

Dr Krishan Kant Paul, Governor of Uttarakhand, visited Chandigarh centre on 3 April and participated in its annual celebration.

Sri O Ibobi Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur, inaugurated the newly set up primary school of Imphal centre at its Uripok campus on 14 April.

Swami Vagishanandaji inaugurated the renovated exhibition on Swami Vivekananda at Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama on 21 April.

The Government of Jharkhand has started a Kisan Single Window Centre at Getalsud farm of Ranchi Morabadi Ashrama. Sri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, declared open the centre at a function held in Jamshedpur on 24 April.


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Sri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura, inaugurated the new CT scan facility at Vrindaban hospital on 23 April.

Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the renovated kitchen-cum-dining-hall at Indore centre on 20 April.

A fibreglass bust of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled on 27 April at Thompson House, Almora, where Swamiji had stayed for several days in 1898. The bust has been installed by the joint efforts of Directorate of Culture of Uttarakhand Government, District Administration of Almora, and our Almora centre to commemorate Swamiji’s several visits to Almora.

Sri V Shanmuganathan, Governor of Meghalaya, visited Vivekananda Cultural Centre, Shillong, on 27 April and participated in the programme held by the Ashrama to observe the 115th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s visit to Shillong. About 2000 youths took part in the programme.

Three of our colleges in West Bengal, namely Residential College (Narendrapur), Vivekananda Centenary College (Rahara) and Sikshanamandira (Saradapitha), have been conferred the status of “Colleges with Potential for Excellence (CPE)” by the University Grants Commission. Under CPE scheme funds will be provided to the colleges to improve and strengthen their infrastructure to achieve higher academic standards.

Chennai Students’ Home and Narainpur centres received the ‘Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) and Solar Cooker Excellence Award 2016’ from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt of India, for effectively using CST system for cooking purpose in their institutions. Sri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy, handed over the awards comprising certificates and plaques at a function held in New Delhi on 29 April.

Swachchha Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) On 21 March, about 250 students of the polytechnic of Chennai Students’ Home cleaned the campus

of Sri Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Chennai, following an annual festival in the temple.On 14 April, Chennai Math, in association with Chennai Students’ Home, launched a yearlong

programme ‘Our locality, our responsibility’ to promote cleanliness and hygiene at Pattinapakkam in Chennai, a seashore area, which was severely affected by the floods in November 2015. About 50 students of the polytechnic of Students’ Home cleaned the area on that day.

Coimbatore Mission centre held six cleaning programmes at different public places in the city in April. Students from the various institutions run by the centre participated in these programmes.

Students of Jamshedpur centre’s school at Sidhgora cleaned their school campus and the surrounding areas on 23 April.

Kamarpukur centre carried out its fifth cleanliness drive on 24 April in which 81 persons, including monks, employees, volunteers and local people, cleaned Kamarpukur Bazar, Dak Bungalow crossing area and some interior places in the village.

Vadodara centre held a talk on cleanliness at a school in Vadodara on 21 March. The talk was followed by a cleaning programme in which about 500 students participated.

Values Education and Youth-related Programmes conducted by centres in India

Delhi centre conducted (i) nine two-day values education workshops for school teachers from 31 March to 30 April which were attended by 518 teachers in all, and (ii) a workshop at Chennai for school


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principals on 24 April which was attended by 35 persons, mainly principals.

Hyderabad Math held a personality development camp from 11 to 21 April in which 386 students participated.

Kochi Math conducted a personality development and values education camp from 5 to 10 April in which 50 students took part.

Salem Ashrama conducted a three-day residential values education camp from 24 to 26 April in which 203 students from three districts of Tamil Nadu participated.

For additional news and photos, please visit http://www.belurmath.org

Relief Work

1. Drought Relief: Maharashtra and Karnataka: Insufficient rainfall and searing heat wave had caused a drought-like situation in some parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. In response to this situation, two of our centres in those states conducted the following relief operations: (a) Belagavi (Belgaum) centre distributed about 28 lakh litres of drinking water among 77,200 people of 16 villages in Athani and Bailhongal taluks of Belagavi district from 10 to 27 April. (b) Pune centre distributed about 11 lakh litres of drinking water among 9000 people of 3 villages in Khatav taluk of Satara district from 8 to 25 April.

2. Earthquake Relief & Rehabilitation: Nepal: Continuing its relief work among the families affected by the devastating earthquake that had struck Nepal in April 2015, Kathmandu centre distributed 229 blankets and 3732 utensil sets (each set containing 2 cooking pots, 5 plates, 5 mugs, 5 spoons and a ladle) among 4020 families in Lalitpur, Kavre and Kathmandu districts from 27 March to 24 April, and 900 bamboos and 420 corrugated iron sheets among 40 families in Shankharapur Municipality area on 12 April to help them build their houses.

Value Education Camp activity—Salem

Drought Relief

Earthquake Relief & Rehabilitation: Nepal

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AwAkening with SwAmi ViVekAnAndA Edited by Susmita Bandyopadhyay and Dr.Mousumi Chakraborty.

Published by Dr.Subires Bhattacharyya, Principal, Fakir Chand College, Diamond Harbour, 24 Parganas (South), West Bengal. 2014, hardback, pp.320, Rs.250-

This slim volume is a collection of thirty one scholarly essays brought out on

the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary. Seventeen of the essays are in English, and fourteen in Bengali. This review will consider only the English essays.

Swami Vivekananda is of the nature of an ‘akshayapatram’, the vessel which is never ending in its treasures. He is infinite in his capacity and although much about him has been written about, debated, attributed and interpreted, there is always more gold waiting to be mined from the vein. This book is no exception. New writings and interpretations make this volume rich with significance.

The first essay in the book, by Swami Atmashraddhananda, entitled ‘Celebrating Viveka- nanda’, seeks to make the difference between the concepts of celebrating and celebrations. Celebrating Swamiji is to want to be like him, while celebrations are in the nature of honouring a great personality – to follow his path, put into practice his cherished ideals.

The second essay, by Swami Narasimha- nanda, analyses how to face challenges in real life the Vivekananda way. Purity, perseverance and patience—the three virtues most of us lack—are needed. Swamiji’s famous recommendation of taking up one idea and making it one’s life’s only goal until it has been realised, is ignored by most. We actually pride ourselves on multi-tasking,

thereby dissipating much physical and spiritual energy not quite understanding the significance of straight focus. The writer also analyses the concept of love and defines it as being a fearless and pure emotion, instead of the connotations of delusion and infatuation it now has.

One of the essays, by Swami Ishadhyana- nanda, is a very interesting exposition and analysis of the present day dystopian view of life where universal truths are often ignored: instead everything is contextualised with no fixed goal, often with chaotic results. To bring back order, we need to be free as Swami Vivekananda often reiterated, with the definition of freedom most closely approximating discipline and order.

The next three essays concern themselves with the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda, with his call to the youth of the world, but more specially of his own beloved India, to dedicate themselves to service, which he defined both as tyaga (sacrifice) and puja (worship). ‘Seva performed properly is also a form of tyaga’ (p. 32, Awaken- ing with Swami Vivekananda). A further exploration enlarges the idea where the idea of seva as a tradition of the Ramakrishna Order is examined.

Later essays examine other aspects of Swamiji’s infinite world view. His vastness and his limitless love and simplicity are investigated and explained. While he was as soft as a child, he was unyielding and uncompromising in his ideals. Morality he viewed as something which asserts itself when we do our duty. The manner in which Swamiji made his deep and significant proclamation on India and her civilisation, beginning with his never to be forgotten speech at the Parliament of Religions, echoing and reverberating like a lion’s roar across the world wherever he spoke, reveals the depth of his knowledge to some extent. For instance, his masterly and scholarly analysis of the Aryan and Dravidian migrations in India, showing the roots of Indian culture, is highly erudite handling of a very complex problem and demonstrates

Book ReviewsFor review in The VedanTa Kesari,

publishers need to send us two copies oF their latest publication.

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how he made connections in human behaviour at every level. Integration, according to him, is merely an understanding of this and in the essay following, Vedanta as the basis of integration is examined.

One of the most influential essays in the volume is the one examining the mentoring of Josephine Macleod (also called Tantine) by Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda understood her complete identification with his purpose in life and his letters to her contain the distilled essence of all his teachings. In turn Miss Macleod was ready to receive those teachings—a state of mind that all of us should be in if we want to benefit from his endless grace.

All the essays in the book are thought-provoking, with the writers presenting their views very naturally and simply. The writings are at once scholarly, yet accessible demonstrating very clearly, if demonstration were required, that Swami Vivekananda remains an inexhaustible powerhouse of inspiration. More than a century after his departure from this earth, we are still turning to him. Nor are we turned away disappointed: we find and enjoy new nuggets of knowledge and guidance every time we look. This is surely a collection for readers to enjoy and derive joy from.__________________________ PREMA RAGHUNATH, CHENNAI

CreeperS of CompASSion, Sri mAhA periyAVA’S ViewS on Code for women by rA gAnApAti

Published by Director, Veda Prakaasanam, #1, Church Street, Puzhudi- walkam, Chennai – 91 E-mail: [email protected] 2015, paperback, pp.143, Rs. 70

Subtitled ‘Sri Maha Periyava’s Views on Code for Women’, Creepers of Compassion is a quick review of some of the obiter dicta expressed by His Holiess Sri Chandra- sekharendra Saraswati in his discourses. Coming from the Maha Periyava, one cannot ignore them as incidental remarks. Our society is incredibly dependent upon woman power. Since woman is the central beam of the family structure, much depends

on her readiness for self-control and self-sacrifice. As Nature has also put the severe burden of being mothers on women, her position is unenviable indeed. It must also be remembered that her presence in our agriculture is almost indispensable.

All this can be borne if she is treated as an equal. When she is not, or she perceives that she is being denied her right place, there are questions: ‘Why should women not study the Vedas?’ There are Savitris in all homes but are there worthy Satyavans in equal number?’ Maha Periyaval takes a total view: ‘The shastra expects women to be humble through their volition, and not through subjugation by others. And that is what I ask of them now.’ Such quotes have been commented upon by Ra. Ganapati attuning them to contemporaneous conditions. They may not reflect accurately the views of Maha Periyaval, but it is good to have a book which gives a shoal of sensible advice to the Indian woman of today.__________________________ PREMA NANDAKUMAR, TRICHY

know thySelf By Gian Kumar

Published by Celestial books, Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd, trade Centre, Level 1, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (E) Mumbai- 400 051, E-mail : [email protected] 2015, hardback, pp.336,Rs. 399. ($16.)

The elegant book under review is an exploratory voyage of a

vigorous thinker into the complex alleys of Advaita Vedanta. In the course of his voyage, the author stumbles upon all the profound concepts of Advaita. The path delineated to reach the summum bonum of Self-knowledge is the time-honoured one of negating all our matter-vestures which are the non-Self and asserting our identity with the Self, the Microcosmic Reality which is one with the Macrocosmic Reality. The distinctiveness of the book lies in its lucid narrative by steering clear of all the Vedantic jargon and Sanskrit terminologies and by substituting for them modern scientific nomenclatures. The typical terms of Brahman, Atman, Pratibhasika, Vyavaharika, Paramarthika,


Caitanya, antahkarana, etc., are avoided and the modern terms of scientific flavour such as energy, unified field of consciousness, Awareness, consciousness, illusory appearance, empirical reality, absolute reality, mind etc are employed to expound the philosophy. The author makes a comparative study of science, religion and spirituality and insists that Spirituality is the royal road to beatitude. All dualities are condemned as Maya. Mind is branded the villain of the piece. It is mind with its penchant for reminiscences of the past and ruminations about the future and its inability to fasten on the ‘Now’ that is a bar to Self-realisation. The Nondual Ground of Existence gets splintered into the pluralistic universe as it passes through the refractory prism of the mind. Ego, the divisive force, makes for insularity and hampers universal consciousness. The prerequisite to the State of Abidance in the Self which is the sahaja sthiti is the attenuation of ego and stoppage of mind’s chatter. The author’s sweep of study is quite extensive as it deals with such topics as ‘Sex, Love and Spirituality’ and ‘The Philosophy of Money’.

The book is lucid and provocative. It may aptly be deemed as ‘old wine in new bottle’ wherein the newness of the bottle, besides being ornamental, adds ‘kick’ to the wine. The book is a boon to thinking minds. _________________________________ N.HARIHARAN, MADURAI

florA, fAunA And nAture in buddhiSt thought by Dr Suruchi Pande and Dr Satish Pande

Published by Ela Foun- dation C-9, Bhosale Park, Shakar Nagar - 2, Pune - 411 009. E-mail: [email protected]; pp. 80 Price Not Mentioned.

Environmental issues have assumed great importance

in the last four decades, with special emphasis in the last twenty years, although the World Environment Day is given just a nominal place in our newspapers and news channels even as we degrade our surroundings every minute by despoiling our ponds, rivers, forests, mountains, oceans.

In actual fact our environment is no different from us: it is well known that, as human beings, our bodies are composed of the five elements to which we return upon death. Our religious books abound with lines laying strong connections with the panchabhutas.

This book elucidates man’s closeness with his environs from the Buddhist point of view which has placed utmost emphasis on compassion, kindness, love for and joy in all sentient and insentient beings which make up our world. Researched and written by Drs Suruchi and Satish Pande, prominence is placed on human interdependence with the natural world, one in which man and nature occupy positions of equal significance in the world order. The Buddha is believed to have been born under a tree, delivered his first sermon under a tree and attained Samadhi under a tree. This belief is not without deeper meaning: it shows the enormous influence of nature in the life cycle of the human being. The Buddha’s travels are well-documented. Forests, rivers, birds are given as much import as the followers who gathered there to listen to him. Many figures of speech in his sermons are drawn from rocks, flowers, water, birds and even insects. Life in any form was respected and worshipped, as in Hinduism.

This book separately examines six areas of nature in Buddhism: bio-diversity, trees, plants, birds and animals, observations on nature and finally there is a message to the human world. Quotations from some of the more important Buddhist sutras and texts are given to authenticate the text of the book. Jataka Tales, which uses birds and animals to make spirituality more accessible, have been quoted to support the authors’ thesis.

Dr Suruchi and Dr Satish deserve our admiration for the amount of information they have compressed into 80 pages. The Preface, though short, is very comprehensive. An absorbing addition is the ‘Avadanakalpalata’, which outlines Buddhist dharma among birds wherein a cuckoo —the koel—is the spokesperson for the birds of the forest. Special mention must be made of the photographs and illustration used in the book. They are of the highest order and add values to this slim volume which is part of a series entitled ‘Conservation Ethics in Indian Culture’. Our ancestors understood fully their place in this vast universe—it would be salutary if we considered

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our descendants and bequeath to them a habitable world.___________________________ PREMA RAGHUNATH, CHENNAI

immortAl StorieS—wiSdom to nouriSh your mind And Soul By J.P. Vaswani

Published by Hay House Publishers India Pvt. Ltd., Available at Gita Publishing House,10, Sadu Vaswani Path, Pune - 411 001.email: [email protected], 2014, paperback, pp.370, Rs.399.

As ‘tabs and gaming devices’ and other gadgets occupy children and elders, will a book of stories from scriptures be welcomed? Raising this query, the revered author, being an ‘indefatigable optimist’, is convinced that ‘good things’ will survive.

Thirteen popular faiths beginning with Bahai, the ‘youngest’, have been introduced.

The introduction is followed by selected stories in each case. Selfless service, love of God, empathy, compassion and other virtues are conveyed through stories. As the author points out, while sections of society appreciate other faiths, fundamentalists try to dismiss them.

Incarnations of the Divine, their sufferings, are ridiculed by skeptics through ignorance. The resistance by vested interest who feared erosion of their authority by religious leaders has also been highlighted.

The concluding story recalls the interesting incident when the first group of Zoroastrians migrated to India. The ‘Epilogue’ has a very impressive account of Guru Sadhu Vaswani.

Stories have been a source of inspiration always. Panchatantra stories attract attention even today. Interestingly values are taught even by children (Prahlada and Dhruva) in puranic stories. Sri Ramakrishna conveyed abstract scriptural lessons through similitudes and allegories from our normal life experience.

‘Immortal Stories’ will serve to promote a healthy society and inter-religious harmony._______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM, MUMBAI

the SeCret of bhAgAVAd gitA – diSCoVer the world’S grAndeSt truth

By Sri Vishwanath,

Publ i shed by author B-605 Pine Wood, Vasant Gardens, Near Swapna Nagari, Milund West, Mumbai- 400 080. Email: v i sh@vish-wr i ter .com; Paperback, pp.124, price

not given.

The Secret of Bhagavad Gita offers an analytical but compact presentation for readers to ‘discover the world’s grandest truth.’ On a personal note, Sri Vishwanath tells us in chapter 4 how he first came into touch with the eternal teachings. It was on a train journey when he came across a verse from the Song of God which was being quoted by the cyclonic monk Vivekananda to a disciple: ‘Futile are your desires. Futile are your actions. Futile are your experiences if you do not know your real nature.’

The Preface of the book depicts the despair of Partha at a crucial hour after his chariot had been stationed by the Supreme Sri Krishna in front of the enemy lines in the battle between the cousins Pandavas and Kauravas. The despair of the protagonist Pandava is not unique but universal. Krishna says it is ‘unbecoming’ and the author says that word ‘unbecoming’ is the seed which the entire Bhagavad Gita is based. From thereon Krishna delivers more truths to Arjuna.

The book is divided into 8 short and readable chapters. The foreword by John Harricharan is also revelatory. Especially when John says—‘Perhaps, in your reading of this book you may find some things that you want to question. That is fine. Questions are always good. But you will also find many thoughts that resonate with your deepest feelings.’ This book is for both the serious student as well as for those who read to pick pearls in the ocean of life.______________________________________ SRINIVAS, CHENNAI

VedAntA SAdhAnA And ShAkti pujA By Swami Swahananda,

Published by Advaita Ashrama, 5, Dehi Entally Road, Kolkta - 700 014. E-mail: mail@

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advaitaashrama.org 2012, Hardbound pp.336, Rs.70.

‘Vedanta…is divided into three main schools – advaita, vishishtadvaita, and dvaita’ (148) and yet the aim of all Vedanta is epistemic Self-knowledge for ‘the world, even though fleeting, is real because it is perceived as real’ (149) to even an apparent dualist

like Sri Madhvacharya (1199–1299 CE). Thus all Hinduism deal with modes of seeing/ of hermeneutics, of darshana (as against the etymologic Greek idea of philosophy) and all Hindu praxis, all Hindu theologies are concerned with this construction of insight and thus Swami Swahananda writes of ‘a saying among the advaitins that they are advaitins in views but dvaitins in deeds’ (155). The Shaiva Tantras from Kashmir and the Mahanirvana Tantra speak of union with an attributeless Purusha as the ultimate end within those paths. Swami Swahananda rightly observes that within Vaishnavism Bhakti ‘becomes Bhava. Next is mahabhava, then prema, and last of all is the attainment of God’ (179). Earlier in the book he stresses the true nature of the Mother Goddess Kali as ‘trigunamayi. . . as well as gunatita’ (95). Sri Ramanujacharya (1017-1137 CE) is rightly shown by Swami Swahananda as he truly is—a believer and propagator of non-qualified, non-dual monism: Ramanuja advocated swarupa-samarpana; phala-samarpana; bhara-samarpana leading to the negation of ‘the sense of being the “doer” [who offers] this “doership” to God’ (143).

Advaita Vedanta has an ancient lineage whose best known advocate is Adi Shankaracharya (circa 8th CE) on whom Swami Swahananda justly

devotes an entire chapter (303-311). This is fitting since Adi Shankaracharya not only transformed Indian metaphysics but influenced Europeans like Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804 AD) narrative of the categorical imperatives which make their presence felt even now (308). Special notice must be taken of the treatment of the Ramayana in this book. The Swami rapidly recapitulates the various Ramayanas avoiding reductive readings of the epic which see it as pastiches; instead the author focuses our attention to the core of the Ramayana and takes us through the Adhyatma Ramanaya ‘which presents the glory of … the Paramatman’. Thus Swami Swahananda’s reading of the Hindu canon corrects Marxist readings of sacred Indian Scriptures: the cultural work performed by this book is needed to understand what makes for the Hindu religion as against Hindu ethics or rituals. The Swami asserts the vitality of Hinduism since even though it is certainly polyphonic, heteroglossic and carnivalesque; the aim of all Hindu teleologies is jouissance; or samadhi. Critics of Vedanta forget that Adi Shankaracharya exhorted us to do japa in his famous Bhaja Govindam and The Tripura Sundari Ashtakam. The value of Hinduism is that it is an open-source project which does not believe in inculturation but in dialogic assimilation; yet always asking us to realize first through the naamrupa and then move on to the Brahma-rupa for it validates the ‘synthetic vision of Ramakrishna’ who contained within Himself ‘all honest doubt’ since it is ‘Better to have practising sectarians than talkative liberals’ (335). Swami Swahananda throughout this syncretic book negates any theoretical approach to Hinduism which is not based within a unique faith community. He has little time for the subtleties of scholasticism unless the latter helps one to reach samadhi.___ SUBHASIS CHATTOPADHYAY, BISHNUPUR, WEST BENGAL

Work and worship must go hand in hand. . . . Two types of men can sit still without work. One is the idiot, who is too dull to be active. The other is the saint who has gone beyond all activity. . . [Hence along with work] Make a regular routine for your spiritual practices. You must have certain fixed hours for meditation and study. Under all circumstances follow this devotedly.

—Swami Brahmananda


6027. Mr. Bhogilal Patil, U.K. Branch Library, Thombakkulam, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 1316028. -do- Branch Library, Uppathur, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 1366029. -do- Branch Library, Vadamalapuram, Sivakasi (Taluk), T.N. - 626 1316030. -do- Branch Library, Vadamalaikurichi, Virudhunagar (via), T.N. - 626 0016031. -do- Branch Library, Virapatti, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 2046032. -do- Branch Library, Veerachozhan, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 6116033. -do- Branch Library, Aathipatti, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 1596034. -do- Branch Library, Kumarasamy Raja Nagar, Virudhunagar Taluk., T.N. - 626 0026035. -do- Branch Library, Mettukundu, Virudhunagar, T.N. - 626 0046036. -do- Branch Library, Azhagiyanallur, Virudhunagar, T.N. - 626 0016037. -do- Branch Library, Mallanginar, Virudhunagar, T.N. - 626 1096038. -do- Branch Library, Tamizhpadi, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 1296039. -do- Branch Library, Nadu Street, Bommakottai, Aruppukottai Taluk, T.N. - 626 1056040. -do- Branch Library, West Street, Aaviyur Post, Kariyapatti Taluk, T.N. - 626 1066041. -do- Branch Library, Chinna Kaajiyar Street, Chidambaram, T.N. - 608 0016042. -do- Branch Library, Junction Road, Virudhachalam, T.N. - 606 6016043. -do- Branch Library, Govt. Head Hospital Campound, Cuddalore, T.N. - 607 0016044. -do- Branch Library, Pavunambal Nagar, Thiruppauliyur, Cuddalore, T.N. - 607 0026045. -do- Branch Library, Pudukuppam, Cuddalore, T.N. - 607 0016046. -do- Branch Library, Vadalur,Thirupapuliyur, T.N. - 607 3036047. -do- Branch Library, Bhuvanagiri, Chidambaram Taluk, T.N. - 608 6016048. Dr. P.K. Baskar, Chennai All India Radio Library, Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110 0016049. -do- Bhai Veer Singh Sahitya, Market Road, Gole Market, New Delhi - 110 0016050. -do- Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Kasturiba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110 0016051. -do- National Medical Library, Near Alims Flyouer Main Road, NDSE, Delhi - 110 0496052. -do- Delhi Public Library, Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi - 110 0236053. -do- The Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Gole Market, New Delhi - 110 0016054. -do- Delhi University, University Road, Delhi - 110 0076055. -do- Indian Council of Historical Research, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi - 110 0016056. -do- Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi - 110 0676057. -do- National Science Library, Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110 0676058. Mr. RC. Balasubramanyam Raju, Chennai The T.K.C.M.BL., Nellai Dist., T.N. - 627 8026059. Ms. Sujatha Srinivasan, Chennai Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi, Jabalpur, M.P. - 482 0046060. -do- Gulabrai H.S.S.M., Bhavnagar, Gujarat - 364 0026061. -do- Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Wawana, New Delhi - 10 0396062. -do- Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalaya,Jalandhar City - 144 0086063. -do- Gandhi Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Renwal, Jaipur Dist., - 303 6036064. Mr. Mukundan Srinivasan, Chennai Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Coimbatore, T.N. - 641 1086065. Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Chennai Ramana Vidyalaya, Sholinganallur, Chennai - 600 1196066. -do- Central Library, Ganapathipuram, Kanyakumar, T.N. - 629 5026067. Mr. D.K. Pathak, Bangalore L.L.A. Branch Library, V.H.Med. Centre, Chennai - 600 1136068. -do- M.S. Swaminathan Res. Foundation, Taramani, Chennai - 600 1136069. Mr. R. Venkatakrishnan, M.P. Vidyavardhaka Law College, Mysore, Karnataka - 570 0016070. M/s. Merino Panel Products Ltd, W.B. Girraj Govt. College, Nizambad, A.P. - 503 001

(continued from page 6. . .)


6071. -do- Dist. Central Library, P.O. Khammam, A.P. - 507 0016072. -do- Osmania University, Hyderabad, A.P. - 500 0076073. -do- Nagpur University, Nagpur, Maharastra - 440 0106074. -do- Sri Venkateswara Arts College, Tirupati, A.P. - 517 5016075. -do- Padmavathy Women’s College, Tirupati, A.P. - 517 5016076. -do- Maharaja Ranjit Singh Inst. of Punjab University, Patiala, Punjab - 147 0016077. -do- Shanti Niketan Vidyapeeth, Meerut, U.P. - 250 0016078. -do- Gurukula Kangri Vishwa, Hardwar, Uttaranchal - 249 4046079. -do- Kanya Gurukula Mahavidyalaya, Dehradun, Uttaranchal - 248 0016080. -do- National Inst. of Management, Gaziabad, U.P. - 201 0016081. -do- Kalyan Mahavidyalaya, Chhattisgarh, M.P. 490 0066082. -do- PT Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh - 492 0106083. -do- Goa University, Taleigad Plateu, Goa - 403 2036084. -do- Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, Gujarat - 380 0146085. -do- Kumaun University, Almora, Uttaranchal - 263 6016086. -do- Parmarth Niketan Library, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand - 249 3016087. -do- Divine Life Society Library, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand - 249 1926088. -do- Ghurni District Library, Dist. Nadia, W.B. - 741 1036089. -do- National Inst. of Management, Alipore, Kolkata, W.B. - 700 0276090. -do- Dhirendra Smiriti Sadharan, Nagerbazar, Kolkata,W.B. - 700 0746091. -do- Vedic Sanskar Kendra, Ahemadabad, Gujarat - 380 0156092. -do- Amar Singh College, Sri Nagar, Jammu & Kashmir - 193 2016093. -do- Govt. Gandhi Memorial Science College, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir - 180 0016094. -do- Dr. J.N. Mishra College, Deoghar, Jharkhand - 814 1426095. -do- Tripura University, Suryamani Nagar, Tripura West - 799 1306096. -do- American Friendship Resi. School, Karnataka - 561 2096097. -do- AssamRiflesPublicSchool,Shillong,Meghalaya-7930106098. -do- Assam Valley School, Balipara, Assam - 784 1016099. -do- Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, Rajasthan - 304 0226100. -do- Belgaum Military School, Belgaum, Karnataka - 590 0096101. -do- B.V.B.V.M. Public School, Baroda, Gujarat - 390 0096102. -do- Bhavans Gandhi Vidyashram, Kodaikanal Dist., T.N. - 624 1016103. -do- Bhavans Vidyashram, K.K. Munshi Marg, Jaipur, Rajasthan - 302 0156104. -do- Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Tadepalligude, A.P. - 534 1026105. -do- Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior, M.P. - 474 0076106. -do- Bhonsala Military School, Ram Bhoomi, Nasik, Maharastra - 422 0056107. -do- Bhorugram Jiram Dass Public School, Bhorugram, Rajasthan - 331 0356108. -do- Birla Vidyamandir, Nainital, U.P. - 263 0016109. -do- Bangalore Military School, Bangalore, Karnataka - 586 1026110. -do- Brindavan Public School, Coonoor, Nilgiris, T.N. - 643 2326111. -do- Chail Military School, Chail, Shimla Hills, H.P. - 173 2176112. -do- Dalhousie Public School, Dalhousie, H.P. - 176 3046113. -do- Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi - 110 0036114. -do- G.D. Brila Memorial School, Ranikhet, U.P. - 263 647



RAMAKRISHNA MISSION, VIJAYAWADACity Centre: Gandhinagar, Vijayawada – 520 003| Phone: 0866-2570799

Ashrama: Sitanagaram, Tadepalli Mandal, Guntur District | Phone: 08645-272248Email: [email protected] | Website: www.rkmissionvijayawada.org

KRISHNA PUSHKAR MELA - 2016 (FROM 12 AUGUST TO 23 AUGUST 2016)

APPEALYou are aware about the various service activities being conducted by the Ramakrishna

Mission in the fields of education, medicine, culture, spirituality and also at the time of natural calamities.

Krishna Pushkaram, an important event occurs once in 12 years. Lakhs of pilgrims take a dip in the Holy River Krishna during the Mela. We fondly remember the great response received from both donors and beneficiaries, during Krishna Pushkar Mela 2004 rendered by the Mission. During Krishna Pushkaram Mela from 12th – 16th August, this year also Ramakrishna Mission, Vijayawada is organizing the following free services for the benefit of pilgrims at its premises at Sitanagaram Village, Guntur District (near the Prakasham Barrage) on the right bank of Krishna river:

Sl No.

ParticularsEstimated

cost for one day

Total for 12 days

(Rs.)

1 Milk for 2000 children per day @ Rs.17/- per head 34000 408000

2 Feeding 5000 pilgrims per day @ Rs.50/- per head 250000 3000000

3 Butter Milk for 10000 pilgrims per day @ Rs.4.55/- per head 45500 546000

4 Medical Camp - 200000

5 Cultural & Spiritual programmes - 300000

6Accommodation arrangements: Sheds, Toilets, Bathrooms, Cloak Room (Temporary)

- 500000

7 Water, Electricity & Washing - 200000

8Establishment & Miscellaneous (Printing and stationery, Office expenses)

- 300000

Estimated Total Cost Rs. 54,54,000/- - 5454000

We appeal to all philanthropists, well-wishers and admirers to help us in this noble cause. We request you to extend your helping hand to join us in this sacred endeavor.

Cheques/ Drafts may be drawn in favour of Ramakrishna Mission, Vijayawada and sent to the Secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, Gandhinagar, Vijayawada – 520 003, Krishna Dist., A.P., India. All donations are exempt from Income Tax Under section 80 G. You can also use online services to transfer donations to our a/c No.10442746439 with State Bank of India, Gandhinagar Branch, Vijayawada-3, IFSC Code No.SBIN0001208. In case of online transfers, we request you to inform us the transaction details immediately.

05 May 2016 Yours in the Lord’s ServiceSwami Sashikantananda

Secretary


A HUMBLE REQUESTNew Universal Meditation Hall, Educational and Cultural Complex at Chandigarh Ashrama

Dear devotees, well-wishers and friends,Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama at Chandigarh was started in 1955 in the aftermath of

India’s partition. Since then the Ashrama has been providing spiritual solace to seekers in search of peace, free mobile medical service, a Boys’ Hostel for college students, value education programs in schools and colleges, spread of inspirational and ennobling literature among the masses, etc.

Over the years, these activities have steadily increased and so also the number of devotees attending these programs as well as morning and evening prayers, and those coming for meditation, spiritual retreats/ satsangs. To meet the increasing needs for space, it has been decided to construct a new building having

a) A spacious Meditation Hall and Monks Quarters - Rs. 1.3 Crores (approx.)

b) Educational & Cultural Centre: Rs. 2.1 Crores (approx.)

Total cost of the project: Rs. 3.4 crores (approx.)Cheques/ Demand Drafts may be drawn in

favour of ‘RAMAKRISHNA MISSION ASHRAMA, CHANDIGARH’ and can be sent to the address given above. Contributions, from within India, can also be directly deposited in any of the following banks:

1) ICICI A/c No. – 001301029198, Branch – Sector 15-C, Chandigarh, IFSC – ICIC0002429

2) IDBI A/c No. – 003104000083216, Branch – Sector 8-C, Chandigarh, IFSC – IBKL0000003 (Kindly intimate us the details of the deposit, your address and phone number by e-mail on the same day)

Contributions to the Ramakrishna Mission are exempted from Income Tax u/s 80(G) of I.T. Act, 1961.

Yours in the service of Bhagavan Sri RamakrishnaSwami Satyeshananda, Secretary

Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama(A Branch of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math)

Sector 15-B, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh – 160015Tel: 0172-2549477 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rkmachandigarh.org

Proposed Hall and Complex

Foundation Stone laying for the Universal Meditation Hall on 24.11.1985—by Swami

Gambhiranandaji, 11th President of the Ramakrishna Order

Construction in progress


150

1200


NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE

‘We can attain salvation through social work’ – Swami Vivekananda

K. Sridhar AcharyaFounder/ President

1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind Children

– Tirupati, Parlekhimundi, Golamunda

2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital – Tirupati

3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged – Tirupati, Rishikesh, Parlekhimundi and Chennai

4. Navajeevan Dumb & Deaf Home - Patapatnam

5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram – Tirupati

6. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres - Berhampur [Orissa]

7. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres - Serango & Kalahandi [Orissa]

8. Navajeevan Orphanage Children Homes – Tirupati, Parlehkimundi, Saluru, Golamunda, Berhampur, Pandukal, Vizag & Araku, Dundelmal

9. Navajeevan Atharvana Veda Pathasala - Tirupati

1. Sponsor one day Annadan to Blind Children and aged – Rs. 5000/-2. Sponsor 5 IOL Cataract Eye Operations – Rs. 7000/-3. Sponsor one blind child or Orphan child for one year – Rs. 6000/-4. Sponsor one poor aged person for one year – Rs. 5000/-5. Sponsor one free eye camp at Rural/Tribal area – Rs. 50000/-6. Vidyadan—Educational aid for one Child – Rs. 2000/-

(FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED)TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI–517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528 [Mob.]

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.navajeevan.org

An Appeal37 Years of Service to Humanity 1979–2016

Donor devotees can send their contributions by cheque/DD/MO to the above address on the occasion of birthday, wedding day or any other special occasion and receive prasadam of Lord Balaji Venkateswara of Tirupati as blessings.Contributions to NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE, Tirupati are eligible for Tax Relief U/S 80G of Income Tax Act.

Our Bank details for online transfer :Bank Name : Indian Bank , Gandhi Road Branch, Tirupati SB A/c No: 463789382, Account Holder : Navajeevan Blind Relief Centre, Branch Code: T036, IFSC code: IDIB000T036,

A Humble Request for Donation


55

Love never fails, my son; today or tomorrow or ages after, truth will conquer! Love shall win the victory. Do you love your fellow-men? —Swami Vivekananda

PRIVATE LIMITED

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With Best Compliments From:


Vol.103-6 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) June 2016. Regd. with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957. POSTAL

REGISTRATION NUMBER:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 15-17. LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2015-2017.

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v Subscription (inclusive of postage) Annual : ` 100 10 years: ` 1000Contact: Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. Website: www.chennaimath.org

Teach yourselves, teach everyone his/her real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-con-scious activity.


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