—A Spirited Swami
One of the most remarkable things achieved during the course of the nineteenth century was the spiritual message of the Universal Gospel of humanity delivered by a young Indian at the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago ( U. S. A.) " Never forget the glory of human nature, " he said, " We are the greatest God. Christs and Buddhas are but waves on the boundless ocean which I am. "
The young man had no credentials with him from any group or society in India. He was overwhelmed when he reached America. He cabled to his friends in India for help and applied to an official religious society that it might make to him a grant. The chief of the society replied, " Let the devil die of cold. " But Fate helped him as it has always helped those who know how to help themselves.
The man whom we must thank for his message is Swami Vivekananda. He was a disciple of Shri Ramkrishna Paramhansa— a great sage and saint of India. He was his master and he thought of translating his Master's thought into living action.
Naren Dutt
Vivekananda was not his name but his real name was Narendranath Dutt. He belonged to a respectable family of warrier caste. His master always called him Narendra or more shortly Naren. Shri Ramkrishna never gave monastic name? to the disciples. He never initiated anybody in the formal ceremony of Sannyasa. On the other hand He said, " He, who feels a strong detachment from life and an intense thirst for God, can take the. Sannyasa alone even without formal initiation. " This was doubtless the case with Naren. But he gave Naren a cognomen of Kamalaksha—lotus-eyed. The young man had an aversion for this name and dropped it immediately.
There is an interesting story about his name. During his preliminary travels across this country he appeared under different names in order to conceal his identity. But on the eve of departure to America, the Maharaja of Khetri suggested to him the name Vivekananda. The Maharaja was his great friend and the choice of the name was inspired by an allusion to the ' power of discrimination ' possessed by him. It seems Narendra liked this name. He accepted it provisionally, but he could never have changed it even if he had wanted to, for within a few months it had acquired a worldwide celebrity. The name given by the Maharaja, has lived long and it will ever live long. The name has made history. The grateful admirers of the Swami have erected a most befitting memorial at Cape Kanyakumari in the far south of this country where the three oceans meet known as Vivekananda Memorial in the shape of a huge image of the Swami blessing and gracing the sacred skyline of India.
At first, Naren hesitated to take up his Master's Mission. His master had foreseen with prophetic eye that the young man of 23 had the necessary strength and energy and constructive genius. " The day when Naren comes into contact, " Shri Ramkrishna said, " with suffering and misery, the pride of his character will melt into a mood of infinite compassion. " After many months of wandering here and there he saw with his own eyes the miserable body of humanity—his motherland India in all her tragic nakedness.
What was his mission to be ? Who was to dictate it to him ? His master was dead without having defined it for him. And among the living there was one Pavhari Baba. Naren went to find, him during the period (1888) of uncertainty. He visited him daily and was on the verge of becoming his follower and demanding initation of him.
Torment of Soul
This torment of soul lasted for several weeks. Naren was torn between the two mystic appeals of Shri Ramkrishna and Pavhari Baba. The latter would have satisfied his passion for the Divine Gulf, wherein the individual soul renounces itself and is entirely absorbed without any thought of return. And he would have appeased the remorse always gnawing at Naren's heart for turning away from the world and social service : for he professed the faith that the spirit can help others without help of body, and if that the most intense concentration. What religious spirit has not heard this voice with its deadly attractions ?
Naren was for twentyone days within an ace of yielding. But for twentyone nights the vision of Shri Ramkrishna came to draw him back. In the end after an inner struggle of the utmost intensity, whose vicissitudes he always consistently refused to reveal, he made his choice forever. He chose the service of God in Man.
The Turning Point
During his whirlwind tour across this venerable land, he happened to be the guest of the Maharaja of Khetri near Jaipur (1891) and a little charming dancer gave him all unwittingly a lesson in humanity. When she appeared to dance in court the saffron-robed monk rose to go out. The Maharaja begged him to remain. The little singer and dancer sang in sweet melodious , tones :—
" O Lord look not upon my evil qualities. Thy name O Lord is same sightedness. One drop of water is in the sacred Jumna and another is foul in the ditch by the roadside. But when they fall into the Ganga both alike become holy. So Lord do not look upon my evil qualities. Thy name O Lord is same sightedness. "
Naren was completely overwhelmed. The confident faith expressed in the humble song was the turning point in his life. His mission was revealed to him by the dancer Many years later he recalled it with emotion and said to his friends, " sinners are potential saints. "
Another event in his young age happened at Cape Kanya -kumari which opened his eyes, he viewed the most enchanting panorama of Sunrise—of infinite mystery. Soon he saw the vision of his mission and he felt within himself. Thenceforward he vowed to dedicate his life to the unhappy masses.
Vision Revealed
But how could he help the masses ? He lifted up his eyes to the ocean, to the land beyond the seas. An appeal from India to the Western world began to take shape in his mind. At Por-bandar, where he began to learn French a mendicant advised him to go to the West where his thought, " the Gospel of Vedenta " would be better understood than in his own country. He was struck by hearing the remark and began to turn the matter over in his own mind. At Khandwa (M. P.) in the early autumn of 1892 he heard of a Parliament of Religions to be held in the following year at Chicago (U. S. A. 1893) and his first thought was how he might take part in it.
Again he went to Khetri, where his friend the Maharaja listened to him and approved his view point. The Maharaja arranged everything for his western tour. He gave him his Dewan to escort him to Bombay, where he embarked on a ship bound for U. S. A. At the time of departure he put on the robe of red silk and ochre turban and the name of Vivekananda.
In America he never passed unnoticed anywhere but facinated even while he was unknown. He visited in Chicago the Worlds Columbian Exposition. It exhibited man's material progress. His eyes were dazzled. Again he thought what message could he give to the west ? He made up his mind to give to the West the spiritual message of Vedanta Philosophy.
Parliament of Religions
Amongst all the delegates, this strange young man drew the glance of the assembled thousands. His red robe drawn in at the waist by an orange cord, his great yellow turban accentuated the raven black of his hair, his olive complexion, his dark eyes, his red lips and his noble stature lent colour to the Parliament of Religions.
It was the first time that he had to speak before such an assembly of learned men and women representing each and every faith in the world. Most of the delegates read their speeches from written text but Vivekananda had prepared nothing. But then, when he addressed the gathering his speech was like a tongue of flame.
Hardly had he pronounced the very opening words " Sisters and Brothers of America " then thousands arose in their seats and applauded. Vivekananda was the first delegate to cast off the formalism of the Congress and speak to the masses in the language for which they were thirsty. He greeted Americans in the name of the most ancient monastic order in the world—the Vedic order of " Sannyasins. " He presented Hinduism as the mother of religions who had taught them the double precept :
" Accept and understand one another." He quoted two beautiful passages from the sacred books :—
" Whoever comes to me, through whatsoever form. I reach him. " All men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me. "
Vivekananda alone spoke of all their Gods and embraced them all in the Universal Being.
He got a tremendous ovation from the learned delegates and others at the World Religious Congress. Vivekananda the unknown became well known all over the world overnight. It was a most singular achievement in these days of slow communication. '• He spent the next two years in America travelling across the continent, teaching and preaching and impressing the American audiences with his message of love and the history of India. Thus he became the man of the hour. The Americans called him " the lightening orator. "
Thus lived and died a great sage of modern India. Swami Vivekananda, a name to conjure with and whose message of Universal Gospel " of equality and divinity of man—is still reverberating from all the directions.
V. H. Pandit
Indore City. (M. P.)
Topic: VIVEKANANDA (Read 7180 times)