rd

103
Year

of

Price: ` 10

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The Vedanta Kesari

THE LION OF VEDANTA

A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

Ramakrishna Math,
Tamluk, West Bengal

J une 2016

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

Editor: Swami Atmashraddhananda Managing Editor: Swami Gautamananda

Printed and published by Swami Vimurtananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust
2 0 1 6
h e
V e d a n t a KMath
e s aRoad,
r i ~ 2Mylapore,
~ J U N E Chennai
fromT No.31,
Ramakrishna
- 4 and Printed at
Sri Ramakrishna Printing Press, No.31 Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore,
Chennai - 4. Ph: 044 - 24621110

The Vedanta Kesari

103

rd

Year

of

Publication

VOL. 103, No. 6 ISSN 0042-2983

A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER

Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavdin,

it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914.

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

CONTENTS
JUNE 2016

Gita Verse for Reflection

205

Editorial
Bhagavad Gita: A Source of Eternal Wisdom and Values

206

Articles
In Search of TruthSome Reflections on Brahmasutras
Swami Golokananda
Musings on Indias Unity
Michel Danino
Youth and their Problems: Lessons in Coping with Life from Swami Vivekananda
Swami Satyapriyananda
Holistic Development through Religious Harmony

The Vision and Mission of Swami Vivekananda
T V Muralivallabhan
Reminiscences
Reminiscences of Sargachhi
Swami Suhitananda

216
219
226

234

211

New Find
Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda
232
The Order on the March 237
Book Reviews 240
Feature
Simhvalokanam (The Ethical aspect of the Vedanta)
Cover Story: Page 6

210

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The Vedanta Kesari

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Doing is very good, but that comes from thinking. . . .
Fill the brain, therefore, with high thoughts, highest ideals,
place them day and night before you, and out of that will
come great work.
Swami Vivekananda

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N Cover Story 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. o

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(continued on page 47)

The Vedanta Kesari

VOL. 103, No. 6, JUNE 2016 ISSN 0042-2983

E ACH

SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE.

T HE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN.

7

Gita Verse for Reflection

Tr. by Swami Tapasyananda

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.

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
soulthe Self, the Atman...
Swami Vivekananda,
CW, 1:470

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Editorial

Bhagavad Gita: A Source of Eternal

Wisdom and Values
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 commonersGita 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
lifesomewhere in future which, of course,
never comes!
Living in todays 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,
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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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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.
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7. At Arjunas request, Sri Krishna, acting

as Arjunas 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 Krishnas 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 righteousness 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 Arjunas 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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10

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 ones 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 aspectssuch 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. . .
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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 worlds 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):

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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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11

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 lifeanger!
Or let us take another sample (Gita 5:2324):
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 joythe Atman within, which is possible
only through purifying the mind and proper
discernment.
The Gita teaches us how to live our
lifework, 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 ones 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. o

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

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12

Simhvalokanam
From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari
(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
standpoint 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 minds 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 goalit 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 freewillist,necessarian in regard to one set of Vasanas and free-willist in regard to another. o

BB
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13

Reminiscences

Reminiscences of Sargachhi
SWAMI 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.
||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 onsixth time the outcome appeared.
Seventh time the stone broke. Like that, in
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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.

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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.

Swami Premeshananda
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Attendant: God is no person; surely He

doesnt 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 doesnt descend;
it seems as if He descends. As long as ones
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
seemsGod descends. As long as the sense of
ones body remains, descent of God too is true.
Attendant: How is it that Sri Ramakrishna 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. Gopals mother had
this knowledge that everything in this world
is rejectable, only Gopal is acceptable. This
experienceexperiencing as Consciousness
by ones 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
Gopals 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 Ramakrishnaloka? Where there
is a running discourse on Ramakrishna always
is verily Ramakrishnaloka.
Attendant: Vyasa-deva had real knowledge that he was witness of body, mind and

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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 Sargachhi 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 shrinecleaning, 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 latters 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
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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
Maharajs 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 milkthat is not
happening any longer. Let him bring the milk
himself. A little delay does not cause me any
trouble.
14.3.1959
Maharaj: 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.
20.3.1959
Attendant: 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
nightI am not the body, nor the mind, nor
the intellect; my real identity isI am Thakurs
child. Leave alone other things, a monk cannot
get beyond his Bengali identityhe 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
parentssuch 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 awayif
someone hurts himself in his sole?
That person replied, Nothing would
happen.
Maharaj: Would nothing happen? We
are old peoplewe 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.
22.3.1959
Swami Sukhadananda Maharaj was
Holy Mothers disciple. He was the abbot of
the Ashrama. He used to cherish great respect
for Maharaj and tried his utmost for Maharajs
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.
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25.3.1959
Narayan 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 dont want to keep
it in mindthat is why you dont remember.
Maharaj: Its true that now I dont
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 Sukhadananda 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 wont become
naughtwe would become vast.
Dr. Chaudhuri: You will diethrowing
us to the winds?
Maharaj: You seewe 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
temperWhy 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 minutesthink 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 Mothers 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 cats call
or a birds 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 everythingwe
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 startledif the boy would fall suddenly
and die. I knew many such boys. One was
Abuhad no lust from a young age, not a
trace of greedwas a god altogether. o
(To be Continued. . .)

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 endshis 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 doerthis
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 Realityfrom 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
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Article

In Search of Truth
Some Reflections on Brahmasutras
SWAMI GOLOKANANDA

The Shad Darshanas

Brahma-sutras or aphorisms on Ultimate Reality (Brahman) is one of the most
authentic texts of Vedanta. The Shad Darshanas 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 Philosophy 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 Shankara strengthened the Sanatana Dharma,
the Religion Eternal, by propounding
the glory of Vedanta through his
commentaries on Prasthanathrayathree pillars of Sanatana
Dharma, the Gita, the Upanishads 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 traditionsmostly 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

o The author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order.

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Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Owing

to Swamijis 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 Sutra
Now, 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 JijnasaNow, 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 excellencei.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 actionshere, in this life
and hereafter, in heaven.
3) Attainment of the six treasures of
virtuesSama, Dama, Uparathi, Titiksha,
Shraddha and Samadhanam.
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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 worldin heavenafter death. But the
scriptures proclaim the great truthBrahmavidapnotiparam, one who realizes Brahman
gains the highest which is the highest gain
of human life. Thats how the word Athah is
explained in the Shankara Bhashyarealise
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
MuktaHe 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 Vivekanandas 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 ithas 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). o

vvv
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
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Article

Musings on Indias Unity

MICHEL DANINO

Till a few decades ago, the concept of

Indias cultural unity was so self-evident that
few scholars or statesmen would have thought
of questioning it. Let us consider the following
observation:

The author of these thoughts is none

but Rabindranath Tagore. Or let us read Sri
Aurobindos 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

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
Smiths 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

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. Tagores 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 Apostles 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;

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. o
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the myth of a liberalizing Islam, which freed

Indias 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 unityand if so,
when and to what extent?
Cultural Unity: a Sacred Geography
Indias geographical unity, at least, is not
questionable. The Vishnu Puranas 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:

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;

Jyotirlingas, from Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west to Kedarnath in the north,
Vaidyanath (Deogarh) in the east, and Rameswaram in the south;
four Char Dham pilgrimage sites of the Himalayas
(Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath & Kedarnath);
four locations for the Kumbhamela (Allahabad,
Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik);
five sacred confluences (among many more):
Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag,
Rudraprayag, Devprayag;
twelve

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Divyadesams or Vaishnavite shrines, most of

them in the South;
five important temples of Shiva in the South,
each associated with one of the panchabhutas;
pilgrimage routes established by Indias
spiritual figures, from Shankaracharya to
Swami Vivekananda, also tended to frame as
much of the land as possible, from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari.
108

Such a web created on the map the

concept of punyabhumi: one holy land present
and living in everyones mind. It was
constantly recalled to ones memory through
a variety of devices, for instance the many
mantras and prayers listing Indias 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 AlBeruni) had no doubt in their mind that Alhind
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 NorthEast, 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 Unity
The 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

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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
Indias 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 Indias political
mind.
The Case of the North-East
The 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:
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At

Bhishmaknagar (Arunachal) excavations

revealed a fort of classic type (according to the
Arthashastras specifications) covering some ten
square kilometres; Hindu deities of the 8th-10th
centuries were found at the spot.
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.
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.
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
The Mahabharata mentions Pragjyotisha as
a great citadel ruled by the valorous Naraka,
who stole Aditis earrings (they were recovered
by Krishna). Narakas 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
Arjunas northern expedition.14
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 AjayMitra Shastri.
Buddhist literature calls the region Lohichcha
(= Lauhitya, another name of the Brahmaputra)
and connects it to Vedic culture.
The Arthashastra mentions Kamarupa as the
source of various products (including gems and
incense) and the Lauhitya.
Kalidasas Raghuvamsa also mentions the
Lauhitya.
In AjayMitra Shastris opinion, Graeco-Roman
writers (e.g. Ptolemy) refer to Assam as part of
their accounts of India, calling it Seres.
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 Lahiris words, That
Assam was within the mainstream of events in
the Gangetic valley is amply clear from the epic
references.15
We have about 32 pre-Ahom inscriptions of
Assam (5 th 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 Kalidasas and
Dandins 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 SankaraNarayana 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.
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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.

By

None of these factsthere are many

moreare compatible with a North-East
culturally or politically cut off from the
rest of India; immigrations from the ThaiBurmese belt did occur, but did not alter the
regions 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
Indias 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 longstanding 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 Indias unity, Dileep Karanth
recently defined Indias cultural oneness in
these terms:

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We thus see that the concept of Bharatavarsha, 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.

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 ones 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 Bharatavarshas
own. . .

The idea of a culturally united Indiacall it a

nation, or a civilizationclearly 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.
Indiathe 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 unitedand still has the potential
to unite. In a seminal essay entitled The History
of Bharatavarsha, Tagore, again, gave a beautiful
description of Indias 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. Bharatavarsha has forever been engaged in constructing with varied material the foundation of a
unifying civilization. And a unified civilization

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It needs talent to make outsiders ones

own. The ability to enter others beings and
the magic power of making the stranger
completely ones own, these are the qualities
native to genius. That genius we find in
Bharatavarsha.21
Making the Other ones ownprovided
he lends himself to the processis not
composite culture, which, at best, would
result in a formless hodgepodge. It is Indias
way, and one day it will have to be the worlds
way. o

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References
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.

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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. Sharmas 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.

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Article

Youth and their Problems

Lessons in Coping with Life from Swami Vivekananda
SWAMI SATYAPRIYANANDA

There is a growing
concern about the
many challenges of
youth because right
now and possibly in
a few years hereafter,
India will be the
country with the
largest percentage
of youth. It is
well known
that around
the age of
adolescence,
y o u n g
men
and
women face
psychological
p r ob l e ms. 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 Ramakrishna
Born on 12 th 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

o A former editor of Prabuddha Bharata, the author is a resident of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math.
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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 missionthe
removal of the miseries of humanity, not
merely of India but of the whole world.
Resolving An Ideological Conflict
Being 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
Narens 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.
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Those were the very words: a slave of you. And

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa made me over to
Her.1

Narens Family Circumstances

Sri 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 husbands 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 Vishwanaths 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 Narendranaths 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 mothers 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 mothers 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
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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 awarethrough
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 Ramakrishnas
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 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:

The Problems Swamiji Faced In America

In Madras Swamijis 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
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. . .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 myselfand 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
clayand hope to lay it down gladly.3

Variety of Experiences
Following 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 Interactions
Swamiji exhibited tremendous mental
powers during his interaction with three
notable people. He was surprised by the words
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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 thousandfold 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 strongwilled, 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 announced, he entered
Swamijis 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 didnt 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 Rockefellers
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 Masters 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 willI am a voice
without a form.
(To be continued. . .)

References: 1. CW, VIII, p. 263

2. CW, 5, p.19

3. CW, 7, pp. 453-54

Love knows no rival, for in it is always embodied the lovers 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.
Swami Vivekananda

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New Find

Unpublished Letters of
Swami Saradananda1
Aug. 18. 1910.
12, 13 Gopal Chander Neogis
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 hearts prayers for your speedy recovery.
Ever your Affectionate Boy
Saradananda

Sep. 29. 10
Math. 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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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 boy
Saradananda

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 affectionately
Saradananda
References
1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna

2. Mrs. Sara Bull, an American disciple of Swami Vivekananda

Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math

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
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Article

Holistic Development through

Religious Harmony
The Vision and Mission of Swami Vivekananda
T V MURALIVALLABHAN

Part 1
Introduction
Mans 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 Crises
A 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)
killing innocent
children and
teachers.
Suicidal
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

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. o
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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.
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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 Worlds Religions is Peace and Harmony
through inter-religious dialogues, in order to
assure proper and balanced development of
the human society.
Development: A Holistic view
During 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 interacted9
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.
(To be continued. . .)

References
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

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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

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42

The Order
on the March
News and Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Mission
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 <kayamkulam@rkmm.org>. o
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. o
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 Nivedita
Chennai 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.
Swamijis Ancestral House held three lectures on 15, 20 and 21 April which were attended altogether
by 850 people. o
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 Swamijis 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
Vivekanandas 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. o
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 centres 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. o
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
Value Education Camp activitySalem
participated.
For additional news and photos, please visit http://www.belurmath.org o
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. o

Drought Relief

Earthquake Relief & Rehabilitation: Nepal

BB
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Book Reviews

For review in The Vedanta Kesari,

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

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.250This slim volume is a collection
of thirty one scholarly essays brought out on
the occasion of Swami Vivekanandas 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 Vivekananda, 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 Narasimhananda, analyses how to face challenges in real life
the Vivekananda way. Purity, perseverance and
patiencethe three virtues most of us lackare
needed. Swamijis famous recommendation of
taking up one idea and making it ones lifes only
goal until it has been realised, is ignored by most.
We actually pride ourselves on multi-tasking,
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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 Ishadhyanananda, 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, Awakening 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
Swamijis 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 lions
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

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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 teachingsa 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 thoughtprovoking, 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 Periyavas Views
on Code for Women by
Ra Ganapati
Published by Director,
Veda Prakaasanam, #1,
Church Street, Puzhudiwalkam, Chennai 91
E-mail: purnavani@gmail.
com 2015, paperback,
pp.143, Rs. 70
Subtitled Sri Maha Periyavas
Views on Code for Women, Creepers of
Compassion is a quick review of some of the obiter
dicta expressed by His Holiess Sri Chandrasekharendra 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
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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 :
info@leadstartcorp.com 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,

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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 minds chatter.
The authors 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 Foundation C-9, Bhosale Park,
Shakar Nagar - 2, Pune 411 009. E-mail: pande.
satish@gmail.com; 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.
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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 mans 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 Buddhas 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 koelis 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
universeit would be salutary if we considered

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our descendants and bequeath to them a habitable

world.

The Secret of Bhagavad

Gita Discover the
Worlds Grandest Truth

___________________________ 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:
gph@sadhuvaswani.org,
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.

By Sri Vishwanath,
Published by author
B-605 Pine Wood, Vasant
Gardens, Near Swapna
Nagari, Milund West,
Mumbai- 400 080. Email:
vish@vish-writer.com;
Paperback, pp.124, price
not given.
The Secret of Bhagavad Gita offers an
analytical but compact presentation for readers to
discover the worlds 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 saysPerhaps, 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

_______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM, MUMBAI

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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.
Vedantais 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 (11991299 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 isa believer
and propagator of non-qualified, non-dual monism:
Ramanuja advocated swarupa-samarpana; phalasamarpana; 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 Kants (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 Swahanandas 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
SundariAshtakam. 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
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Branch Library, Thombakkulam, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 131

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Branch Library, Uppathur, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 136

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Branch Library, Vadamalapuram, Sivakasi (Taluk), T.N. - 626 131

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Branch Library, Vadamalaikurichi, Virudhunagar (via), T.N. - 626 001

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Branch Library, Virapatti, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 204

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Branch Library, Veerachozhan, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 611

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Branch Library, Aathipatti, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 159

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Branch Library, Kumarasamy Raja Nagar, Virudhunagar Taluk., T.N. - 626 002

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Branch Library, Mettukundu, Virudhunagar, T.N. - 626 004

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Branch Library, Azhagiyanallur, Virudhunagar, T.N. - 626 001

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Branch Library, Mallanginar, Virudhunagar, T.N. - 626 109

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Branch Library, Tamizhpadi, Virudhunagar Dist., T.N. - 626 129

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Branch Library, Nadu Street, Bommakottai, Aruppukottai Taluk, T.N. - 626 105

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Branch Library, West Street, Aaviyur Post, Kariyapatti Taluk, T.N. - 626 106

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Branch Library, Chinna Kaajiyar Street, Chidambaram, T.N. - 608 001

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Branch Library, Junction Road, Virudhachalam, T.N. - 606 601

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Branch Library, Govt. Head Hospital Campound, Cuddalore, T.N. - 607 001

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Branch Library, Pudukuppam, Cuddalore, T.N. - 607 001

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Branch Library, Vadalur,Thirupapuliyur, T.N. - 607 303

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Branch Library, Bhuvanagiri, Chidambaram Taluk, T.N. - 608 601
Dr. P.K. Baskar, Chennai All India Radio Library, Sansad Marg, New Delhi - 110 001

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Bhai Veer Singh Sahitya, Market Road, Gole Market, New Delhi - 110 001

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Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Kasturiba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110 001

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National Medical Library, Near Alims Flyouer Main Road, NDSE, Delhi - 110 049

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Delhi Public Library, Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi - 110 023

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The Centre for Womens Development Studies, Gole Market, New Delhi - 110 001

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Delhi University, University Road, Delhi - 110 007

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Indian Council of Historical Research, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi - 110 001

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Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi - 110 067

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National Science Library, Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110 067
Mr. RC. Balasubramanyam Raju, Chennai The T.K.C.M.BL., Nellai Dist., T.N. - 627 802
Ms. Sujatha Srinivasan, Chennai
Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi, Jabalpur, M.P. - 482 004

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Gulabrai H.S.S.M., Bhavnagar, Gujarat - 364 002

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Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Wawana, New Delhi - 10 039

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Hans Raj Mahila Mahavidyalaya,Jalandhar City - 144 008

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Gandhi Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Renwal, Jaipur Dist., - 303 603
Mr. Mukundan Srinivasan, Chennai
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Coimbatore, T.N. - 641 108
Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Chennai
Ramana Vidyalaya, Sholinganallur, Chennai - 600 119

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Central Library, Ganapathipuram, Kanyakumar, T.N. - 629 502
Mr. D.K. Pathak, Bangalore
L.L.A. Branch Library, V.H.Med. Centre, Chennai - 600 113

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M.S. Swaminathan Res. Foundation, Taramani, Chennai - 600 113
Mr. R. Venkatakrishnan, M.P.
Vidyavardhaka Law College, Mysore, Karnataka - 570 001
M/s. Merino Panel Products Ltd, W.B.
Girraj Govt. College, Nizambad, A.P. - 503 001

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Osmania University, Hyderabad, A.P. - 500 007
Nagpur University, Nagpur, Maharastra - 440 010
Sri Venkateswara Arts College, Tirupati, A.P. - 517 501
Padmavathy Womens College, Tirupati, A.P. - 517 501
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Inst. of Punjab University, Patiala, Punjab - 147 001
Shanti Niketan Vidyapeeth, Meerut, U.P. - 250 001
Gurukula Kangri Vishwa, Hardwar, Uttaranchal - 249 404

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Kanya Gurukula Mahavidyalaya, Dehradun, Uttaranchal - 248 001

National Inst. of Management, Gaziabad, U.P. - 201 001
Kalyan Mahavidyalaya, Chhattisgarh, M.P. 490 006
PT Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh - 492 010
Goa University, Taleigad Plateu, Goa - 403 203
Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, Gujarat - 380 014
Kumaun University, Almora, Uttaranchal - 263 601
Parmarth Niketan Library, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand - 249 301
Divine Life Society Library, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand - 249 192
Ghurni District Library, Dist. Nadia, W.B. - 741 103
National Inst. of Management, Alipore, Kolkata, W.B. - 700 027
Dhirendra Smiriti Sadharan, Nagerbazar, Kolkata,W.B. - 700 074
Vedic Sanskar Kendra, Ahemadabad, Gujarat - 380 015
Amar Singh College, Sri Nagar, Jammu & Kashmir - 193 201
Govt. Gandhi Memorial Science College, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir - 180 001
Dr. J.N. Mishra College, Deoghar, Jharkhand - 814 142
Tripura University, Suryamani Nagar, Tripura West - 799 130
American Friendship Resi. School, Karnataka - 561 209
Assam Rifles Public School, Shillong, Meghalaya - 793 010
Assam Valley School, Balipara, Assam - 784 101
Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, Rajasthan - 304 022
Belgaum Military School, Belgaum, Karnataka - 590 009
B.V.B.V.M. Public School, Baroda, Gujarat - 390 009
Bhavans Gandhi Vidyashram, Kodaikanal Dist., T.N. - 624 101
Bhavans Vidyashram, K.K. Munshi Marg, Jaipur, Rajasthan - 302 015
Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Tadepalligude, A.P. - 534 102
Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior, M.P. - 474 007
Bhonsala Military School, Ram Bhoomi, Nasik, Maharastra - 422 005
Bhorugram Jiram Dass Public School, Bhorugram, Rajasthan - 331 035
Birla Vidyamandir, Nainital, U.P. - 263 001
Bangalore Military School, Bangalore, Karnataka - 586 102
Brindavan Public School, Coonoor, Nilgiris, T.N. - 643 232
Chail Military School, Chail, Shimla Hills, H.P. - 173 217
Dalhousie Public School, Dalhousie, H.P. - 176 304
Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi - 110 003
G.D. Brila Memorial School, Ranikhet, U.P. - 263 647
(To be continued. . .)

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RAMAKRISHNA MISSION, VIJAYAWADA

City Centre: Gandhinagar, Vijayawada 520 003| Phone: 0866-2570799

Ashrama: Sitanagaram, Tadepalli Mandal, Guntur District | Phone: 08645-272248
Email: vijayawada@rkmm.org | Website: www.rkmissionvijayawada.org

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

APPEAL
You 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.

Particulars

Estimated
cost for
one day

Total for
12 days
(Rs.)

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

34000

408000

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

250000

3000000

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

45500

546000

Medical Camp

200000

Cultural & Spiritual programmes

300000

Accommodation arrangements: Sheds, Toilets, Bathrooms, Cloak

Room (Temporary)

500000

Water, Electricity & Washing

200000

Establishment & 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 Lords Service
Swami Sashikantananda
Secretary

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Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama

(A Branch of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math)

Sector 15-B, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh 160015
Tel: 0172-2549477 E-mail: rkmachandigarh@gmail.com Website: www.rkmachandigarh.org
A HUMBLE REQUEST
New 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
Indias 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.
Proposed Hall and Complex

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.)
Foundation Stone laying for the Universal
Total cost of the project: Rs. 3.4 crores (approx.)
Meditation Hall on 24.11.1985by Swami
Cheques/
Demand Drafts may be drawn in
Gambhiranandaji, 11th President of the
favour
of
RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION ASHRAMA,
Ramakrishna Order
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.
Construction in progress

Yours in the service of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna

Swami Satyeshananda, Secretary

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150

1200

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NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE

(FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED)
TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528 [Mob.]
E-mail: sreenavajeevan@gmail.com Website: www.navajeevan.org

An Appeal
37 Years of Service to Humanity 19792016
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

A Humble Request for Donation

1. Sponsor one day Annadan to Blind Children and aged

Rs. 5000/-

3. Sponsor one blind child or Orphan child for one year

Rs. 6000/-

2. Sponsor 5 IOL Cataract Eye Operations

4. Sponsor one poor aged person for one year

5. Sponsor one free eye camp at Rural/Tribal area

6. VidyadanEducational aid for one Child

Rs. 7000/

Rs. 5000/-

Rs. 2000/-

Rs. 50000/-

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,

We can attain salvation through social work

Swami Vivekananda
K. Sridhar Acharya
Founder/ President

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With Best Compliments From:

55

PRIVATE LIMITED

(Manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical

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Love never fails, my

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Swami Vivekananda

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56

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.
Date of Publication: 24th of every month

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-conscious activity.
Swami Vivekananda

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56 ~ J U NWebsite:
E 2 0 1 6 www.chennaimath.org
Contact:
Ramakrishna
T h Sri
e
V e d a n t a K eMath,
s a r i ~Chennai.