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The Vedanta Kesari
THE LION OF VEDANTA
A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914
Swami Vivekananda’s statue at
Ramakrishna Mission,
Baranagore, Kolkata
A pril 2015
2
India's Timeless Wisdom
Endless are the scriptures and endless are the things
to be known, and obstacles in life. But life is short.
[Therefore] like a swan separates milk from water, in
the same way one should [separate] and know the
essentials, and leave the non-essentials.
—Traditional Saying
Editor: Swami Atmashraddhananda Managing Editor: Swami Gautamananda
Printed and published by Swami Vimurtananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust
L 2 0 1 5
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~ A P R I 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
102
nd
Year
of
Publication
VOL. 102, No. 4 ISSN 0042-2983
A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER
Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavâdin,
it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesari in 1914.
For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.chennaimath.org
CONTENTS
APRIL 2015
Gita Verse for Reflection
125
Editorial
 How Much Do We Need?
Aspects of Cultivating Contentment126
Articles
 Down the Memory Lane—The First Centenary Celebration of
Sri Ramakrishna’s Birth
131
Swami Sambuddhananda
 An Introduction to ‘Sadhana’
135
William Page
 The Never-say-die Spirit: A Firsthand Account of What Determination,
Hard Work and Faith Can Achieve137
Arunima Sinha
 Worshipping God through Images: A Hindu Perspective 144
Umesh Gulati
 Vedanta and Scientific Temper
150
C. Balaji
 Karma Yoga—the Path of Non-attachment in Action
154
Radhanath Behera
Compilation
 Insights into Some Keywords: In Swami Vivekananda’s Words
147
New Find
Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda
148
 The Order on the March156
 Book Reviews159

Feature
 Simhâvalokanam (The Ascent of Values)
Cover Story: Page 6
130
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N Cover Story N
Swamiji’s Statue at RKM Ashrama, Baranagar, Kolkata
Installed on 12 January 2011 in the open courtyard of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama at Baranagar in north Kolkata, this
fibreglass statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled by Swami
Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, the President of Ramakrishna Math and
Mission. The statue has been installed to mark the Centenary of the
Baranagar Ashrama (started in 1912). The eight-foot high statue is
placed on a pedestal under a canopy. Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama
at Baranagar (situated near Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar) runs a
high-school and primary school, two coaching centres, a library,
homeopathic dispensary, a mobile medical unit, and conducts
value education seminars for students, as also a number of welfare
and religious activities. o
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To be continued . . .
The Vedanta Kesari
VOL. 102, No. 4, APRIL 2015 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, 12-6-7
But, O son of Pritha, soon will I lift from this ocean of death-bound worldly existence,
those whose minds are ever set on Me—those who abandon to Me the fruits of all their
actions together with the sense of agency thereof, and who worship Me, meditating on
Me as their sole refuge and their only love.
B
Those who give themselves up to the Lord do more for the world than all the socalled workers. One man who has purified himself thoroughly accomplishes more than a
regiment of preachers. Out of purity and silence comes the word of power.
‘Be like a lily—stay in one place and expand your petals; and the bees will come
of themselves.’ . . The power is with the silent ones, who only live and love and then
withdraw their personality. They never say ‘me’ and ‘mine’; they are only blessed in being
instruments. Such men are the makers of Christs and Buddhas, ever living fully identified
with God, ideal existences, asking nothing, and not consciously doing anything. They are
the real movers, the Jivanmuktas, absolutely selfless, the little personality entirely blown
away, ambition non-existent. They are all principle, no personality.
—Swami Vivekananda, CW, 7.16
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i ~ 125 ~
A P R I L
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Editorial
How Much Do We Need?
Aspects of Cultivating Contentment
How Much?
‘How much land does a man need?’ asks
Leo Tolstoy, the renowned Russian thinker
and author in one of his famous short stories,
and ends by saying, ‘Six by two’—a reference
to the fact that the acquisitive protagonist of
the story who, in his desire to have ‘vast land’,
falls dead as he walks through the land ‘as
much as possible’ before the sunset in order
to own it, and is then buried in a grave: six
by two. If the protagonist was from Hindu
tradition, he might have needed even less—
just a place to cremate his mortal remains and
then dispose off the ashes!
Likewise, not only land, how much
food, clothing, books, how much big house
and car and salary does a man need? And
now, in today’s trends, how many computers,
hard disks, ‘likes-dislikes’, smartphones, MP3
players, designer’s goods and so on does a
man need! Objects change their forms and
names but ‘needs’ do not. Having more is
what is called ‘progress’, generally speaking.
But is it? More than a century ago, Swami
Vivekananda observed,
I do not see that what you call progress in the
world is other than the multiplication of desires.
If one thing is obvious to me it is this that desires
bring all misery; it is the state of the beggar, who
is always begging for something, and unable to
see anything without the wish to possess it, is
always longing, longing for more. If the power
to satisfy our desire is increasing in arithmetical
progression, the power of desire is increased in
geometrical progression.1
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i To think that one can overcome or
decimate one’s desires, whatever be their
names, forms and shapes, by fulfilling them
is like adding fuel to fire with the hope that it
will get extinguished. Unbridled enjoyment
only adds to our desires. We get caught and
entangled in them more and yet more, as
Swamiji describes:
The bee came to sip the honey, but its feet stuck
to the honey-pot and it could not get away.
Again and again, we are finding ourselves in that
state. That is the whole secret of existence. Why
are we here? We came here to sip the honey, and
we find our hands and feet sticking to it. We are
caught, though we came to catch. We came to
enjoy; we are being enjoyed. We came to rule;
we are being ruled. We came to work; we are
being worked. All the time, we find that. And
this comes into every detail of our life. We are
being worked upon by other minds, and we are
always struggling to work on other minds. We
want to enjoy the pleasures of life; and they eat
into our vitals. We want to get everything from
nature, but we find in the long run that nature
takes everything from us—depletes us, and casts
us aside.2
But there comes a time when we seek to
get out of this network of illusion of getting
and losing, this endless suffering of being at
the mercy of desires. The Gita (7.19) says it
needs several births (i.e., time and experiences)
to realise the true meaning of happiness. And
thus begins our journey of tracing back to
‘where it all started’—the source of our mental
distress and turmoil—and we start dissecting
~ 126 ~
A P R I L
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9
our own actions and reactions, emotions and
expectations, successes and failures. And
lo! There we discover the problem is not
out there but in here. It is right in our own
mind or personality, its current structure and
inclinations, its deep-rooted thought patterns
and areas which it considers important and
sources of pleasure; it is desire that is at the
root of all mischief. And then arises the need
for practice of contentment.
Practice of santosha or contentment is
one of the pre-requisites of Ashtanga Yoga.
It forms a part of the five Niyamas that sage
Patanjali lays down.
What Brings Dissatisfaction
Desire is what makes a prisoner of us. We
are caught in the endless maze of seeking, and
yet more seeking and never finding a place to
lay our head on. How to emerge out of this
maze? By cultivating a sense of contentment.
Contentment brings us true riches that we
have been seeking. Asks Adi Shankaracharya:
‘Who is rich? One who is content.’ What
material prosperity is it supposed to bring?
Happiness. But does happiness come from
fulfilling a desire?
According to Vedanta psychology, happiness is not in the object of senses. They seem
to give happiness. We come in touch with
them, and then they bring happiness. If we
are out of sorts for any reason—disturbed or
distracted or depressed due to an unpleasant
event or experience such as failing in a school
examination or being dismissed from our job
and so on—we cannot get the enjoyment that
seems to come from what we like. A sweet,
for instance, may be what we like but if it is
offered when we had just fractured our leg!
Cruelty we call it. So, it is not just objects but
object plus senses plus our mind—that is how
happiness seems to occur.
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i But Vedanta goes further and asserts
that even coming together of these factors
is also not the real source of happiness. The
real source is Atman, the eternal, divine and
joyful nature of ours. The calmer and purer
our mind is, the more we experience this
now-faintly- perceived source of happiness.
Happiness comes from within, though it
appears to come from outside. What happens
is when a desire arises in us, our mind or
Chitta becomes restless. The supply of inner
happiness thus gets snapped or temporarily
disrupted. The basic ground of our existence
becomes hazy and unclear. But instead of
returning to our pristine state of joy and
calmness, we get involved with senses to
fulfill the desire. A desire, thus, is a kind
of distraction or diversion from the innate
happiness present within. When the desire
gets fulfilled, for time being, the Chitta seems
to calm down, resulting in ‘happiness’. But
soon this happiness or the state of joy is
replaced by restlessness caused by another set
of desires which emerge by then. We thus get
into action, again, to fulfill the next desire (i.e.
to remove what causes disruption in our inner
happiness). And thus it goes on and on in our
lives.
Further, how does this mistake or error in
finding the right source of happiness happen?
Sage Patanjali says that it is because the Self
within becomes identified, through mind,
with various objects of senses. He says that
when we are full of calmness, the Eternal Seer
within rests in his unmodified state. Swami
Vivekananda explains,
~ 127 ~
The bottom of a lake we cannot see, because its
surface is covered with ripples. It is only possible
for us to catch a glimpse of the bottom, when the
ripples have subsided, and the water is calm. If
the water is muddy or is agitated all the time,
the bottom will not be seen. If it is clear, and
A P R I L
2 0 1 5
10
there are no waves, we shall see the bottom. The
bottom of the lake is our own true Self; the lake is
the Chitta and the waves the Vrittis. . . The Chitta
is always trying to get back to its natural pure
state, but the organs draw it out. To restrain it, to
check this outward tendency, and to start it on
the return journey to the essence of intelligence
is the first step in Yoga, because only in this way
can the Chitta get into its proper course. . . . As
soon as the waves have stopped, and the lake
has become quiet, we see its bottom. So with
the mind; when it is calm, we see what our own
nature is; we do not mix ourselves but remain
our own selves.3
be content. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi
observed ‘There is no greater virtue than
contentment.’
Contentment means being established in
our own nature. The Bhagavad Gita says:
When a man completely casts away, O Partha, all
the desires of the mind, satisfied in the Self alone
by the Self, then is he said to be one of steady
wisdom.4
With their minds wholly in Me [the Supreme
Being], with their senses absorbed in Me,
enlightening one another, and always speaking
of Me, they are satisfied and delighted.5
He who hates no creature, and is friendly and
compassionate towards all, who is free from the
feelings of ‘I and mine’, even-minded in pain
and pleasure, forbearing, ever content, steady
in meditation, self-controlled, and possessed of
firm conviction, with mind and intellect fixed
on Me—he who is thus devoted to Me, is dear
to Me.6
Happiness or true joy is our very nature,
and we need not search for it elsewhere!
Other Facets of Contentment
The above discussion apart, there are
other factors that make us restless and unsatisfied. One of the most powerful of these factors
is comparison with those who have more
than what we have. This may be due to peerpressure or our own heightened sense of value
attached to something. It could be anything—
objects that please our senses, physical beauty,
better place of living and superior means of
transport, talents, speaking or writing skills,
enhanced status and position in society or in a
hierarchy and so on. The list is so encompassing
that it can cover all our activities, plans,
accomplishments, whole life itself. So the
issue of being or not being content needs to be
understood in a larger perspective of life.
Extolling the virtue of contentment a
Hindu mystic says, ‘Do not look at the wellcooked meals that others eat and become
greedy. Instead enjoy eating whatever you can
afford, however dry and tasteless it might be.’
It is only when we turn our attention
within and discover the source of joy and
peace, that Atman, our real Self, can we truly
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i It is discontentment, again, which is
the root-cause of many social, environmental
and other issues that are threatening our very
existence. Greed, ‘wanting more and more’,
is what gives rise to many contemporary
challenges. Unchecked pollution, deforestation, increasing mental and social unrest
and a host of other problems directly arise
from wanting to have more.
Need Versus Greed
Mahatma Gandhi rightly proclaimed,
‘The world has enough for everybody’s need
but not enough for one man’s greed.’ To live
a life of satisfaction, one must have a sense of
discernment. The same old question, ‘How
much do we need?’ Well, besides the general
dictum of sticking to need-level, our needs
vary depending on our station in life, age,
health, the work at hand and so on. Sant
Kabir’s wisdom may be recalled in this context,
~ 128 ~
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11
Sayeen Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye
Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahun, Sadhu Na Bhookha
Jaye
Give so much O God, suffice to envelop my clan;
I should not suffer cravings, nor does the visitor
go unfed.
This means our level of needs can or
should include enough resources to serve
others. The idea of service to others in some
way or the other is also a part of the ideal of
contentment. One should not, in the name of
contentment, become self-centred and selfish.
How to live in the world then? Swami
Ramakrishnananda, a direct disciple of Sri
Ramakrishna, says,
If you wish to be happy, if you wish to be wise,
if you wish to be strong, never let the world take
you. The boat may be in the water, but the water
must not be in the boat; so we may be in the
world, but the world must not be in us.7
One vital aspect of need versus greed
is the ability to distinguish between real
need and assumed need. A wrist watch, for
instance, is a need for most people but a
branded wrist-watch, expensive and glittering,
is only an assumed need. Many a time we
forget the purpose for which we want an
object. The irony is that sometimes people
wearing commonplace watches may be more
punctual than those wearing the branded ones!
Punctuality is the point, not the watch.
While we must be able to gauge where
our needs end and greed begins, there is
another aspect of cultivating contentment
which a spiritual seeker needs to bear in mind.
And this aspect is with regard to spiritual
dissatisfaction. Unlike worldly dissatisfaction,
spiritual dissatisfaction is a much needed and
praised state. One should be spiritually hungry
in order to grow. Called divine discontent,
this form of dissatisfaction is welcome.
Sri Ramakrishna laid great emphasis on
longing for God which is a form of spiritual
dissatisfaction. Says Swami Brahmananda, the
spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna and the first
President of the Ramakrishna Order,
At the very start how can one attain peace? First
must come restlessness, yearning and intense
pain for not having seen Him. The greater the
thirst, the sweeter the water. We must rouse
unrest in the heart. When a man does not find
happiness in the world, then he grows restless
and attachment to God awakens in him.8
Lack of spiritual hunger or getting
satisfied with the little one has obtained in
one’s spiritual practice is not a virtue but
an obstacle which a seeker should try to
overcome.
Conclusion
One needs only that much—as much
as we perceive what our real needs are and
it requires wisdom to separate need from
greed. One should develop discernment and a
proper sense of proportion. An understanding
of the passing nature of life and objects of
senses too helps us overcome discontentment.
Ultimately, Self-experience or God-experience
or experience of our ever-fulfilled divine
nature alone can make us truly content and
satisfied. And such a person, says the Gita:9
Whose happiness is within, whose relaxation
is within, whose light is within—such a man of
inner awakening, becoming one with the Infinite
spirit, attains pure calm of eternity. o
References
1. CW, 2.172
2. CW, 2.2
7. Precepts for Perfection, p.115 T h e
V
e d a n t a
3. CW, 1.202-203
4. Gita, 2. 55
8. The Eternal Companion, P:169, 170
K
e s a r i ~ 129 ~
A P R I L
5. Gita, 10.9
9. Gita, 5.25
2 0 1 5
6. Gita, 12.14
Simhâvalokanam
From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari
(January, 1924-25, p. 346-347)
The Ascent of Values
K.S. RAMASWAMI SASTRI, B.A. B.L.
Generally values are determined by desires. In the realm
of economics this is always so. Diamonds are more valuable than
pebbles because human beings desire the former for self-adornment and the supply of
diamonds is limited while pebbles are not desired and their number is unlimited.
But there are not only temporary relative values but also permanent relative values.
The things which are the objects of steady and continued desire and are necessary for the
functioning of the soul have a higher value than other things. Light, air and water may or
may not have an economic value according to their availableness or unavailableness in
plenty, but they have certainly and at all times have this higher value.
The next rung in the ladder of values is that of absolute and universal values which are
more intimately connected with the will of man than the values above indicated. Our ideas
of duty, justice, truth, and beauty belong to this higher order of values. If our consciousness
consisted of a discontinuous series of isolated flashes of experience, this higher order of
values cannot exist. Upon the continutity of our consciousness and of our self-awareness of
identity of personality depend the fundamental directions of evaluation.
In this higher realm of universal and absolute values, there are various important
aspects. We have first of all the values of being. We realise the existence of the objective
and the subjective worlds, of nature and personalities, of things and persons. The interconnections of these form a realm of values. History is the connections of persons just as
nature is the connection of things. In nature’s causal series there is only sequence; but in
the case of wills there is union.
Quite as important as the values of being are the values of beauty. Unity in variety and
variety in unity—this is the first great law of art. Harmony is the perfect adjustment of unity
and variety.
‘Fair is the swan whose majesty, prevailing, O’er breezeless water, on Locarno’s lake
Bears him on while proudly sailing, He leaves behind a moon-illumined wake.’
By these lines the poet creates in us the harmony of peace and brightness and unity in
variety. Love is the harmony—nay, fusion—of wills: Love is the joy of self-realised harmony.
The unity of love brings the unity of happiness. Happiness is the bright point of touch where
truth and beauty meet. o
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i ~ 130 ~
A P R I L
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Article
Down the Memory Lane
—The First Centenary Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna’s Birth
SWAMI SAMBUDDHANANDA
(Continued from the previous issue. . .)
The following article, of much archival and documentary significance, is based on a recorded
talk given in the early 1960s by late Swami Sambuddhananda (1891-1974) at the Vedanta Society of
Hawaii in Honolulu, USA. Swami Sambuddhananda was a disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi.
He was appointed a Trustee of Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1947 and had the distinction of
playing a pivotal role in organizing the Centenary Celebrations of Sri Ramakrishna in 1936 and Swami
Vivekananda in 1963. This very interesting and informative talk has been thoroughly edited by Swami
Bhaskarananda, the Head of Vedanta Society of Seattle, USA. It was first published in Global Vedanta,
the English quarterly published from there. We are grateful to the Editorial Board of Global Vedanta
for permitting us to reproduce it here.
As the work progressed according to
the programme already chalked out for the
Centenary Celebration [in 1936], we had to
prepare for a Parliament of Religions. And it
was decided that the Parliament of Religions
would be held for seven days, and it would
have 14 sessions. The Town Hall of Calcutta,
which could hold an audience of 2,500, was
chosen to be the venue of the Parliament. Had
the sessions been left open to the public, the
rush of attendees would be so great that it
would be impossible for us to accommodate
them in that hall. That’s why we decided that
one would have to buy tickets to attend the
sessions. Every day there were two sessions—
one in the morning and one in the evening.
And the attendance at the evening sessions
was very large. The hall would be packed with
2,500 people every evening. As people had to
go to work in the morning, only a few hundred
attended the morning sessions, except on
Sunday when we had a full house.
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i In the evening sessions various famous
speakers and dignitaries, not only from India,
but also from Europe and America, would give
their talks or read their papers. In this manner,
the Parliament of Religions was conducted.
But the first requirement, according to
the programme of the Centenary Celebration,
was that a message of the President of the
General Committee of the Centenary should be
broadcast all over the world. But how to secure
the message of the President, who was no
other than Swami Akhandananda, was a great
problem, considering the fact that the Swami
was dead against holding the birth-centenary
of Sri Ramakrishna.
All the brother disciples of Swami
Vivekananda loved him so much that anyone
who was a friend or disciple of the great
Swami was also very dear to them. Miss
MacLeod figured very highly as an ardent
admirer and friend of Swami Vivekananda.
At that time she was staying at Belur Math.
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Miss MacLeod
When she heard about this problem, she
came forward and wanted to help us out.
She thought that if she went to Swami
Akhandananda, who was at that time staying
in our Sargachhi Ashrama, at a distance
of nearly 100 miles from Belur Math, she
would be able to persuade him to give a
message for the Centenary. So she hired for
herself an entire railroad coach, known in
Indian Railways as the saloon car. A saloon
car is like a self-contained house on wheels
with bathroom, kitchen facilities, etc. That
saloon car was attached to the ‘mail’ train for
Behrampore. With Miss Macleod, her servant
and also her cook went by the saloon car. The
train on its way to its destination would pass
through Sargachhi railroad station, where
Miss MacLeod’s saloon car would be detached
from the train. It would be reattached again
when the same train would head back toward
Calcutta from Behrampore some twelve hours
later.
When she went to see Swami Akhandananda he was naturally overjoyed at her
T h e
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e d a n t a
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e s a r i surprise visit. Then the Swami heartily
welcomed her and took her around the
Ashrama and happily showed her the
garden, different kinds of flowering plants,
fruit trees, etc. At last they came back to
the covered porch of the Ashrama building
where the Swami usually would grant
audiences to people. Both Miss MacLeod
and the Swami sat there. Then by way of
conversation she skillfully raised the topic of
the Centenary Celebration. In so many words
Swami Akhandananda expressed his strong
disapproval of the very idea of celebrating
the birth-centenary of Sri Ramakrishna. Miss
MacLeod had taken with her some note sheets
and recorded on them whatever the Swami
said.
Then she took leave of the Swami, and
came back to her saloon car. There she finished
her bath, worship and lunch, and then took
rest. In the evening she had her supper and
waited for the mail train to come around 9 or
10 pm, attach her saloon car to itself and speed
toward Calcutta. Next morning she came back
to Belur Math and submitted those note sheets
to Swami Shuddhananda, another disciple of
Swami Vivekananda, as well as a very highly
respected senior Swami [and later President]
of the Ramakrishna Order. He was also the
Secretary of both the General Committee as
well as the Working Committee of the Sri
Ramakrishna’s Birth-Centenary Celebration.
Swami Shuddhananda called me and said,
‘Well, Sambuddhananda, Miss MacLeod
went to secure the message of our President
at Sargachhi, and these are the papers that she
has brought, you may read them.’
I asked him, ‘Maharaj,4 haven’t you read
them yet?’
He said, ‘Yes, I’ve read them.’
Then I said to him, ‘In that case, I don’t
see any necessity for me to go through them
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again. Will you please tell me what these
papers contain?’
Then the Swami replied, ‘I have gone
through all the six pages of her note sheets, but
I couldn’t find a single sentence which could
be used as a message from our President to the
whole world.’
Now what would you do? He wanted
my suggestion, so I told him, ‘In that case, it
is better to substitute our President’s message
with some suitable comments of Swami
Vivekananda about Sri Ramakrishna.’
He accepted my suggestion and asked,
‘Can you tell me where such comments occur?’
I told him, ‘No, I can only say that these
must be somewhere in The Complete Works of
Swami Vivekananda.’ The Complete Works has
over eight volumes, how could I remember
where those comments were!
The Swami at once asked one of the
junior monks to bring a certain volume of the
third edition of the book. And as soon as the
book had been brought, he told that monk,
‘Well, open to page 264.’ Then he asked the
monk to open another page. I was simply
astounded by seeing Swami Shuddhananda’s
wonderful memory power! Among the eight
volumes, the pages that he had pointed out
contained the lecture and the passage where
we found the comments that we had been
looking for. An amazing feat indeed!
Swami Vivekananda’s comments were
presented at the Committee meeting. Some
members wanted to omit a few words from
Swami Vivekananda’s comments, because
they thought that they could be interpreted
as seditious by the British Government. But
I said that we must not omit even a single
word from Swami Vivekananda’s comments.
I argued that had those words been seditious
the British Government would already have
proscribed them.
T h e
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So nothing was omitted and we decided
to send that message to many different places
in Asia, Europe and America. We hardly had
one day left for sending the message of Swami
Vivekananda to those places, because any
more delay would only mean that the message
would not reach the destinations before their
Centenary Celebrations. So we all worked
feverishly day and night. But by the time we
had made the letters enclosing that message
ready for dispatch and went to the post office,
they told us that the mailbags had already
been sealed.
Luckily, one of the volunteers at our
Centenary office was a retired Assistant Post
Master General of the Government of India. So
I caught hold of him and requested him to see
if he could do anything about it.
He went to the General Post Office of
Calcutta and threw his entire weight as the
retired Assistant Post Master General, and
was thus able to persuade his successor to
reopen those mailbags and put all our letters
in them. After the bags had been re-sealed and
dispatched to the airport he came back to us
and gave that good news.
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After two or three days, by the time
the dispatched letters had reached their
destinations, a messenger arrived from the
Sargacchi Ashrama carrying a letter from our
President, Swami Akhandananda. It contained
the Swami’s message for the Centenary!
Swami Shuddhananda then called me and
said, ‘Well, Sambuddhananda, at last our
President has sent his message.’
I said to him, ‘Maharaj, I hope you have
gone through it.’
He replied, ‘Yes.’
‘How do you find it?’ I asked.
‘He knows how to write, and he has
written quite well.’
The letter was written in Bengali. With
only two days left before the Centenary
Celebration would commence all over the
world, we had another difficult problem to
solve. We would have to translate his nearly
300-word long message into English and send
it to all those different places in Asia, Europe
and America by cablegram in a day! How that
problem was resolved is another interesting
story.
(To be continued . . .)
vvv
References :
4. In the Ramakrishna Order tradition, monks are addressed by using the word ‘Maharaj’.
What Religion Does for Man
Well has it been said that man is the only animal that naturally looks upwards; every
other animal naturally looks down. That looking upward and going upward and seeking
perfection are what is called salvation; and the sooner a man begins to go higher, the
sooner he raises himself towards this idea of truth as salvation. It does not consist in the
amount of money in your pocket, or the dress you wear, or the house you live in, but in
the wealth of spiritual thought in your brain. That is what makes for human progress,
that is the source of all material and intellectual progress, the motive power behind, the
enthusiasm that pushes mankind forward.
Religion does not live on bread, does not dwell in a house. Again and again you hear
this objection advanced: ‘What good can religion do? Can it take away the poverty of the
poor?’ Supposing it cannot, would that prove the untruth of religion? Suppose a baby
stands up among you when you are trying to demonstrate an astronomical theorem, and
says, ‘Does it bring gingerbread?’ ‘No, it does not’, you answer. ‘Then’, says the baby, ‘it
is useless.’ Babies judge the whole universe from their own standpoint, that of producing
gingerbread, and so do the babies of the world. We must not judge of higher things from
a low standpoint. Everything must be judged by its own standard and the infinite must be
judged by the standard of infinity. Religion permeates the whole of man’s life, not only the
present, but the past, present, and future. It is, therefore, the eternal relation between
the eternal soul and the eternal God.
—Swami Vivekananda, CW, 3:4
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Article
An Introduction to ‘Sadhana’
WILLIAM PAGE
What is Sadhana
The Sanskrit word for religious practices
is sadhana. Sadhana includes (but is not
limited to) activities such as worship, prayer,
japa [repeating Divine Name], meditation,
performing rituals, studying scriptures, discussing religious subjects, singing hymns and
devotional songs, participating in religious
gatherings, keeping holy company, and
going on pilgrimages. Some of these are
best practiced in solitude; others require the
participation of others.
Finally, sadhana includes the practice
that Swami Vivekananda emphasized most
strongly: serving God in others. This is an
outward-directed ideal that not only benefits
others, but prevents religious practice from
degenerating, as it sometimes does, into a selfcentered narcissism.
Sadhana is an ongoing effort to recondition the mind so that it will always be
aware of the presence of God. In the Vedantic
tradition, its preliminary aim is to attain
heightened consciousness of a personal
deity or the impersonal Absolute. That may
result in religious ecstasies and mystical
experiences. But eventually it should lead
to a transformation of character. If sadhana
doesn’t transform your character (for the
better!), it’s not doing its job. Its ultimate goal
is vijnana, seeing God in everything—and
acting accordingly.
First, ‘Kick Out the Pigs’
Before we begin, we have to make the
mind fit for God to dwell in. We wouldn’t
invite a king to visit us if we were living in
a pigsty. We’d kick out the pigs, get rid of
any evidence that they had ever lived there,
remodel the whole place, repaint it, redecorate
it, sweep and scrub the floors, open the
curtains to let in the light, and set out some
flowers to welcome our royal guest.
William Page has been associated with the
Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Massachusetts since
1960 and is a member of the Ramakrishna Vedanta
Society of Thailand. o
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In the same way, we have to make
preparations to receive God in the little cottage
of our heart. We have to clean it up—get rid
of all inappropriate, dirty, and evil thoughts;
banish unwholesome emotions, habits, and
tendencies; and fill it with purity and holiness.
This is hard. Sadhana is not for sissies.
When we’re scrubbing out the corners of
our mind, we’re often appalled to find how
much dirt has accumulated. The more dirt
we scrub away, the more we find, until
sometimes it seems that the mind is composed
of nothing but unending layers of dirt. That
can be discouraging. But God’s grace can
overcome all obstacles, and often we sense him
watching us, encouraging us and urging us
onward.
It has often been said that for every step
we take toward God, he takes a hundred steps
toward us. It would be impossible for us to
keep struggling to make ourselves worthy
of his indwelling if we didn’t believe that he
wants to dwell within us as much as we want
him to dwell there. Swami Sarvagatananda,
a disciple of Swami Akhandananda, a direct
disciple of Sri Ramakrishna—used to say, ‘Do
your best and forget the rest.’ All we can do is
try our best—and pray for God to help us. o
That Is The One Great First Step
How some people give all their energies, time, brain, body, and everything, to become
rich! They have no time for breakfast! Early in the morning they are out and at work! They
die in the attempt—ninety per cent of them—and the rest when they make money, cannot
enjoy it. That is grand! I do not say it is bad to try to be rich. It is marvellous, wonderful.
Why, what does it show? It shows that one can have the same amount of energy and
struggle for freedom as one has for money. We know we have to give up money and all
other things when we die, and yet, see the amount of energy we can put forth for them.
But we, the same human beings, should we not put forth a thousandfold more strength
and energy to acquire that which never fades, but which remains to us for ever? For this
is the one great friend, our own good deeds, our own spiritual excellence, that follows us
beyond the grave. Everything else is left behind here with the body.
That is the one great first step—the real desire for the ideal. Everything comes easy
after that. That the Indian mind found out; there, in India, men go to any length to find
truth. But here, in the West, the difficulty is that everything is made so easy. It is not
truth, but development, that is the great aim. The struggle is the great lesson. Mind you,
the great benefit in this life is struggle. It is through that we pass. If there is any road
to Heaven, it is through Hell. Through Hell to Heaven is always the way. When the soul
has wrestled with circumstance and has met death, a thousand times death on the way,
but nothing daunted has struggled forward again and again and yet again—then the soul
comes out as a giant and laughs at the ideal he has been struggling for, because he finds
how much greater is he than the ideal. I am the end, my own Self, and nothing else, for
what is there to compare to my own Self? Can a bag of gold be the ideal of my Soul?
Certainly not! My Soul is the highest ideal that I can have. Realising my own real nature
is the one goal of my life. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 5.252
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Article
The Never-say-die Spirit
A Firsthand Account of What Determination,
Hard Work and Faith Can Achieve
ARUNIMA SINHA
The following is based on the speech in Hindi delivered by Ms Arunima Sinha, a young athlete
who lost her leg under tragic and cruel circumstances but later went on to scale Mount Everest
with an artificial leg. She is the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest with an prosthetic
leg. The speech was given on 10 August 2013 in the International Youth Conference organised by
Ramakrishna Mission, Vadodara in Gujarat. The session was chaired by Swami Suhitanandaji,
General Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Mission. She was earlier felicitated by Dr. APJ Abdul
Kalam. She was recently awarded Padma Shree, the fourth highest civilian award given by the
Government of India. On receiving it, she wrote, ‘I dedicate this award to Swami Vivekananda,
Bachendri Pal Mam [the first Indian woman to scale the Mount Everest and under whom Arunima
received her training in mountaineering]. This award is for youth of India.’ Recently she co-authored
a book titled Born Again on the Mountain with Manish Chandra Pandey, on her experiences,
published by Penguin.
We are thankful to Swami Nikhileswarananda, the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission,
Vadodara, for providing us with this text which has been slightly edited and rearranged.
High Goal, Determination and Hard Work
It feels wonderful to share my thoughts
and my journey with you on the occasion of
the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebration of
Swami Vivekananda.
The first thing that youth must remember
is they must have a goal in life, a high goal.
The difficulty is not whether we succeed in
achieving the goal; the difficulty is that a large
number of youth do not have any goal at all.
Hence, first we must fix a goal. And then day
and night think about it, saturate our mind
with the thought of our goal. We must so
vigorously pursue our goal that people start
calling us mad! Let us not forget that only
those ‘dreams’ are realized which are dreamt
during waking state, not during sleep. And
T h e
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e s a r i dreams should be so overpowering that they
do not allow us to sleep, and then only they
will be realized.
Goal-setting should be followed by
proper planning or means to achieve our goal.
Besides thinking well over it, we may have to
seek help from the experts or eminent people
in the field in which we want to succeed. We
should approach the right people and plan
our path properly. Along with these, we need
perseverance. In spite of all setbacks, we must
try again and again, do not bother about criticism. For any new undertaking there is always
stiff resistance. But if we persevere, acceptance
comes but before that we must persevere.
If we want success, there is no substitute
for hard work. Practice, practice, practice—
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practice makes a man perfect. As a little girl
I remember having read that even stones get
eroded by constant friction with a rope. So, if
we work hard, success is bound to come today
or tomorrow. I do not believe in depending
on fate and doing nothing. I believe that even
destiny favours those who work hard. Said
a famous poet ‘Make yourself so great that
before shaping your destiny, even God would
feel compelled to ask what your wish is.’ Let
us not bother much about destiny or result.
We must work and the result is bound to
come today or tomorrow. My own experience
validated the age-old proverb: ‘Where there is
will, there is way.’ If we exert our will, even
what looks impossible, becomes possible.
Finally, success requires that we should
seek the blessings of God and the elders. It is
important to seek their blessing but alongside
we should bear in mind that ‘God helps those
who help themselves.’ If you go one step
towards God, He will come ten steps towards
you, but you have to take the first step.
My Story
Now let me illustrate what is said just
now through my own story. This was an event
that transformed my life forever.
I have been always interested in sports
and have been a volleyball player at national
level. On 11 April 2011, I boarded the
Padmavati Express at Lucknow at about nine
at night to go to Delhi for appearing for an
exam of CISF (Central Industrial Security
Force). It was an unreserved railway coach.
At midnight four robbers armed with guns
entered the compartment and at once started
snatching valuable items from the passengers.
When they asked me to hand over my gold
chain and bag, I refused to give. They were
so enraged that they simply dragged me and
threw me out of the running train.
As I fell on the railway track, another
train on the parallel track crushed my left leg
below the knee. I tried to move but I could
not as I was seriously injured. I was bleeding
profusely and crying bitterly but none came to
my rescue. It was pitch dark and I lay between
two tracks, without any help in sight. Several
trains passed by but no one observed me.
[Later when I checked the railways timetable,
I discovered that about 50 trains passed over
my mangled leg.] I was exposed to filthy water
from the wastepipes of the passing trains some
of which were passenger trains. I was so much
close to one of the tracks that I had to take care
so that my hand too did not get crushed by the
trains. Thus I spent the whole night.
Next morning some villagers spotted
me and immediately took me to the civil
hospital in Bareilly, a city about 30 km away
from there. The doctors examined my injuries
Aerial view of the Mount Everest
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Arunima Sinha
and observed that I had multiple injuries
on my body; the left leg below the knee was
crushed and was dangling. It had developed
serious infection. The doctors were talking
among themselves that it was not possible
to save this girl as they had no anaesthesia
in order to do an emergency operation to
amputate my infected leg and save the
remaining part. Though I was semiconscious,
with my eyes closed, I was able to listen to
their conversation. I cried out, ‘No, I want
to live, please operate without anaesthesia.’
The doctors were amazed when they heard
me and decided to do the operation without
anaesthesia. They operated for over two and
half hours and finally removed the infested
part which means my left foot and a part of my
lower leg were amputated. I had to forbear an
excruciating pain—physical and mental.
Later, the news of the train robbery and
my being thrown out of running train were
flashed and members of my family came to
know of it. After some time, I was shifted to
a hospital in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar
T h e
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e d a n t a
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e s a r i Pradesh, and then after a week, to the All India
Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Delhi.
For four months I underwent treatment there.
A Delhi-based Indian company came forward
and they provided me an artificial leg (called
prosthetic leg) free of cost.
While I was in AIIMS, I had to undergo a
lot of suffering. Pain of treatment apart, I had
to hear many uncharitable comments. Some
mean-minded people commented no such
robbery had taken place and that I had jumped
out of the train when the ticket examiner came
as I did not have ticket. Fortunately I had
preserved the ticket; I showed it to the media
persons who had gathered to report my case.
Further, such unthinkable things like I was
thrown away by my brother was put forth.
Immediately, my brother defended himself
saying that he was in Lucknow on that day
and proved it through evidence. Someone
had told the media that it was just a case of
attempted suicide and even questioned my
credential of being a national volleyball player.
Much greater than all the physical suffering
that I was going through, it was this mental
torture that broke me down.
But I reflected over the whole thing
and told myself that it was no use weeping.
I should give a fitting reply to such baseless
accusations by achieving something great. I
had learnt that some people were going on
a mission to climb Mt Everest. I decided that
I too would climb Mount Everest and prove
that I was not defeated. I refused to accept that
I had become useless. When I said this to some
people, they laughed at me. Some exclaimed,
‘The poor girl has lost her brain along with the
leg.’ But I was determined to pursue my goal
of climbing the Mount Everest. Day and night
I dreamt about it.
But fixing the goal is one thing and
achieving it is another thing. What is needed
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Some trainees came for the
camp for ten days’ course.
They came and went but I
continued to be there. And
it so happened that from
among the group I joined,
I was the first to reach to
the Island Peak. Curious
and amazed, some of them
would ask me, ‘Madam,
what do you eat?’
Before starting for the
Mount Everest, I needed
the blessings of God and of
elders, because now I was
to play the toughest game
of my life. I got them in
an unexpected way. I was
Climbing the Mount Everest—a representational picture
invited by a Mountaineering
Club for a motivational talk at Vadodara.
is planning the means to achieve our cherished
While at Vadodara, someone advised me to
goal. I contacted Bachendri Pal, the first
visit the Vivekananda Memorial (the Dilaram
Indian woman to climb the Mount Everest,
Bungalow, a place sanctified by Swami
and signed up for training under her at the
Vivekananda). The ideal appealed to me and
Uttarkashi camp organised by the Tata Steel
I went there on 23 January 2013. I went to the
Adventure Foundation (TSAF) 2012. I began
shrine and the meditation room on the first
my training and it was no easy thing. I had to
floor and sat for meditation there some time.
muster all my courage and strength to start my
I indeed felt energized and inspired. Later I
life all over and again.
met the Swamiji [Swami Nikhileswaranandaji]
After a rigorous and intensive training
there and was gifted a few books on and
for one year, I went on my first climb. I
of Swami Vivekananda and a small plastic
climbed Island Peak (6150 meters) in Nepal
folder having the pictures of the Holy Trio (Sri
as a preparation to my ascent of the Mount
Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi
Everest. It is at this juncture I realized the
and Swami Vivekananda). The monk told me
importance of hard work and perseverance
to read the books regularly and to pray to the
in success. In the beginning of my training
Holy Trio whenever I was in distress. I began
period, I was slow in climbing because of my
following these words with sincerity.
artificial leg which I had difficulty to move.
I returned from Vadodara inspired. But I
Sometimes I could reach only half the way by
had
to
solve another challenge. Before starting
the time my fellow trainees would be returning
my tedious journey of scaling the Mount
from their climb. Seeing this, I became
Everest, I was in dilemma whether I should
nervous, but I did not give in. I continued
carry an extra artificial leg or not. This was
my training without a break for a year.
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because the artificial leg I had was already
worn out due to two years of rigorous training
and I did not have enough money to purchase
a spare one. I called the Swamiji at Vadodara
and told him my problem. He advised me not
to take any risk in this matter and promptly
arranged for the required amount to procure
another prosthetic leg. This gave much fillip
to my confidence.
On 1 April, 2013, I left Kathmandu in
Nepal and reached the base camp to Mount
Everest on 17 April. For one month I stayed
there to get adjusted with the climate and high
altitude. In the tent where I stayed I made a
small make-shift shrine and placed the photo
of the Holy Trio there and worshipped it
regularly.
On 16 May I left the base camp for the
summit. The journey was getting more and
more challenging. There were many anxious
moments. As I walked, at one point my
artificial leg came out. We have to move in the
formation of a line in our climb. The people
behind me began to shout to move on but
how could I move? I took some courage and
caught hold of the artificial leg with one hand
and somehow dragged myself to a safer place
and fixed it back.
While climbing I used to shout loudly
‘Jai Swamiji’ (Victory to Swamiji). From time
to time I used to take out the photo of the Holy
Trio and have a look at it and again put it back
in the bag. The Sherpa who was accompanying
me asked me the reason for my doing like this.
I replied, ‘You will not understand; this is my
energy capsule.’
At one point I saw a number of
dead bodies (of the
mountaineers who
had died) on the
way. It was a
horrible and
Arunima Sinha worshipping the Holy Trio (see the zoomed picture)
after scaling the Mount Everest
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frightening sight. It
was difficult to go
ahead without going
over those bodies. I
mentally told the souls
of the dead people,
‘I do not know how
many of you have
fulfilled your wish of
reaching the summit
24
of Mount Everest. But if your wish has
remained unfulfilled, I promise that I will
perform that task on behalf of you all and
return, please give me your blessings.’
When I was about 700 feet away from
the summit of the Mount Everest, there
was red light in the meter attached to my
oxygen cylinder, indicating that my oxygen
was running out. I was told to come back
immediately by the Sherpa and the Nepal
mountaineering agency people because death
was certain without oxygen. I was able to see
the summit from that point and I was asked
to return! I thought, ‘I have at least enough
oxygen to reach the summit, and place the
flag of my nation and the photo of Holy Trio
there; let me move on.’ Despite all warnings,
I took the risk of my life. The Sherpa had
threatened that he will not accompany me
and become a witness to my death, but after
seeing my determination, he just followed
me.
On 21 May at 10.55 am, I reached the
summit (29,200 ft)—I was atop the highest
peak in the world. I placed the Indian national
flag along with the flag of Tata steel (the
sponsoring agency) on the summit and took a
video of about two minutes. As I was not sure
if I would able to reach back, I told the Sherpa
to send the video to India, so that the youths
of India may be motivated. In my video, I also
said, ‘Do not stop till the goal is reached even
at the cost of death, just as I am here on the top
of the world, even while facing death.’
Then I moved the snow a bit and made
an altar-like platform of snow and placed
the photo of the Holy Trio there. After doing
a small mental worship, I prayed, ‘I do not
know how to chant the mantras like the monks
of Ramakrishna Order but please accept my
worship with the devotion of my heart; please
remove the sufferings of all the people of
T h e
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e d a n t a
K
e s a r i the world, especially of those, who are more
unfortunate than me.’
As I prayed there, the Sherpa was
becoming restless because it was getting late
and the weather had become terrible. From the
viewpoint of uncertain weather, reaching the
Everest summit after 11.00 a.m. is considered
suicidal and it was already 11.00 a.m. The
wind was blowing at a speed of 230 km per
hour, the temperature was minus 40o C. Very
little oxygen was left in the cylinder. So after
the worship I kept the photo of the Holy Trio
there for good and started my decent to the
base camp.
Surprisingly, within a few minutes
I found an oxygen cylinder from a fellow
mountaineer who had a spare one and I was
thus saved. It was like this: a British man
was climbing up with two oxygen cylinders,
seeing the terrible weather on the summit; he
abandoned his plan of going there and started
his return journey. Before going down he
threw the oxygen cylinder he was using and
put on a new one as he was finding it difficult
to carry two heavy cylinders. My Sherpa saw
it from a distance and immediately rushed to
the spot and brought the cylinder and handed
it over to me. This was how I survived.
During the return journey I had to pass
through many more trials. At one point due
to extreme cold my hand got frozen. I was
finding it difficult to hold on to the rope and
move. The pain was terrible, and unable to
bear it, I began weeping. After a few moments
I wiped the tears and told myself, ‘Arunima,
it is no use weeping, if you want to survive,
you have to move on and bear the pain, no
pain, no gain,’ Then I prayed, ‘O Lord, you
are Almighty, but remember I am also your
daughter, you try your best to kill me, I will
also try my best to survive, let us see who
wins.’
~ 142 ~
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25
Finally, I returned and I am still alive and
Let me conclude my speech with a
talking to you, for which I am grateful to the
couplet:
Lord and the elders for their blessings and to
The real test is yet not over
my family members for their support.
The real flight is yet not taken
I now want to start a sports academy
I have only covered the ocean
for physically handicapped people. There are
While the whole sky remains unexplored!
many more Arunimas like me, who do not get
Goal-setting, practical plan to achieve the
a chance to pursue their goal in sports, because
goal, hard work, determination and above all
they are poor. I want to provide opportunities
faith, equipped with these we can achieve even
for them.
what seems impossible to achieve. o
vvv
BOOK REVIEW
Born Again on the Mountain by Arunima Sinha with Manish Chandra Pandey.
Published by Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd, 7th Floor, Infinity Tower C, DLF
Cyber City, Gurgaon 122 002, Haryana. 2014, paperback, pp.217, Rs.299.
In this handy volume one finds an awe-inspiring story of faith, grit and
resilience through which one can surmount challenges of life; one can emerge
victorious even in the seemingly most hopeless situations and circumstances.
Divided into several sections, though without chapter headings, the book
is a gripping narrative of the hardships that Arunima Sinha went through
in great details. It provides graphic picture of her accident, treatment and
recouping, followed by her training experience, heroic Himalayan expedition
where she was face-to-face with death on several occasions, scaling the peak in the most
precarious circumstances and being ‘born again on the mountain’, a metaphorical experience of
rediscovering her place and worth in life. Many family and social details of the author also find a
place in the book. The hurdles placed by some sections of media and bureaucratic red tape is also
mentioned. She describes the role played by her family members, Bachendri Pal and many others
who helped and made her fulfil her resolve to rediscover her meaning in life through climbing
the Mount Everest.
The book is indeed a thriller, a story that is ‘simply inspiration’. However, her connection
with the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and the inspiration that she received from it needs to
be highlighted. The book is highly recommended to all—specially the youth.
—VK Office
The Prime Minister launching Arunima’s book at New Delhi in December 2014
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Article
Worshipping God through Images
A Hindu Perspective
UMESH GULATI
An Event that Influenced the Modern Times
Let us first refer to a historical event of
th
19 century India.
Keshab Chandra Sen (1838-1884), the
celebrated Brahmo leader who succeeded
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) was an
accomplished scholar and charming orator.
He had absorbed many ideas from the Western
philosophy. He was also a great master of
English, and his eloquence equalled that of
Gladstone, one of the famous prime ministers
of England.
Keshab Sen came into contact with
Sri Ramakrishna, and over a period of time
began to love and respect Sri Ramakrishna.
But the two men were quite different. While
Keshab Sen was the master of the English
language and philosophy, and knew about
Jesus Christ and many of the Hindu saints,
Sri Ramakrishna scarcely had any formal
education, even in his native Bengali. While
Keshab Sen preached one formless, God, Sri
Ramakrishna though believing in one God,
always proclaimed that one God could have
many names—Shiva or Vishnu, Jehovah or
Allah. He also asserted that God could be
formless and also with form. Keshab Sen
considered the belief of many Hindus in the
God with form as idolatry, and one of the
objectives of his reform movement was to
cleanse Hinduism of this ‘abomination’.
However, Keshab Sen had to learn a
lesson of his lifetime from Sri Ramakrishna
about what real idolatry is. He had, along
with many ‘progressive thinkers of the day’
come to believe that God is formless and that
it is a great sin to believe that God can be
present in an image, and to pray and worship
Him in that form. But then they heard the
Master’s remarks on image worship: ‘As
formless water freezes and becomes ice, so the
formless Satchidananda is frozen, as it were,
by devotion and given form.’ Or, ‘As an
imitation custard apple reminds one of the real
fruit, so one can experience the true nature of
God by worshipping an image that represents
Him.’1
In other words, an image of Shiva or
Vishnu reminds the devotee of Shiva or
Vishnu and to concentrate on his Ideal and
realize Him. So, one is worshipping Shiva or
Vishnu through their images, not the images in
themselves. This approach had a far-reaching
influence.
Keshab Sen often spoke of glories and
powers of God, being merciful, kind, forgiving,
and so forth, in his sermons, which the Master
believed made Him distant from His children
that we are. What Sri Ramakrishna meant was
that when some value like worshiping images,
endlessly praising of God, or what Karen
Armstrong has said in her A History of God, a
 Umesh C. Gulati is a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna from North Carolina, USA.
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Western value of individualism becomes an
end in itself, it is idolatry.2
. . think that those who address God through
material images are idolaters, while those whose
images are shaped by words are not. There is
idolatry on both sides, but it has to do with the
shortsightedness of those whose vision stops at
the image. The image is a window, not an object.
The eighteen-foot image of Vishnu is no more an
idol than the cross, the ‘Our Father,’ or the bread
at Holy Communion. . . Idolatry is in the eye of
the beholder.3
Worshipping Images: A Spiritual Aid
Swami Vivekananda too argued that if
an image is worshipped as such, and not as
a ‘help to the vision’ of God, it is idolatry. So
the point that Sri Ramakrishna and Swami
Vivekananda emphasize was that the main
objective of a man of religion is to realize
God and to have his vision. If a stone image
is helpful as a means in doing so, or the image
provides a suggestion of the Ultimate Reality
that it represents, and turns our minds to
its realization, it is a perfectly valid form of
worship.
In the recent times, Harvard University
professor Diana Eck, too, concurs with the
above viewpoint about what is idolatry and
what is not. She says,
The king, the lord, the shepherd, the father,
the God with a mighty arm stretched through
history are images, too. Even so, many of us .
T h e
V
e d a n t a
K
e s a r i The cross, indeed, is the greatest symbol of
Christianity. It signifies not only the death of
Christ but also the redemption of man. For,
here the blood of Christ cleanses man of the
original sin. Islam, which is the most vehement
opponent of images, and yet Muslims use the
graves of their saints and martyrs almost in
place of images. In fact, since such worship in
both Christianity and Islam is for the objects in
themselves and not as a means of having the
vision of God, such worship is real idolatry.4
Mind you, the images of God that
Hindus use are symbols by which they
express the invisible by visible or sensuous
representations. All our contact with the world
outside is through symbols. Our language
is nothing but symbols. Our art, our poetry,
in fact every aspect of our life is based on
symbols. According to Vishishtadvaita or
qualified non-dualism, the whole universe
is but one vast symbol of Brahman (or God).
The Advaitin asks: ‘is not everything Brahman
when the name and the form have been
removed from it?’
In other words, worshipping God
through images or Pratikas, taken as substitutes
for God—not God itself—is quite an accepted
means for realizing God. The important
thing, as Sri Ramakrishna said, is sincerity
and yearning as a kitten has for the mother
cat. In fact, having been appointed as a priest
of the Kali Temple, Sri Ramakrishna wanted
~ 145 ~
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28
to know if the
Divine Mother
was real, and
not just an
image carved
by an artist.
He would
often become
restless and
yearned to see
the Mother
behind the
image of Kali.
At last the
Mother heard
his prayer; so
Sri Ramakrishna had one of his great visions
of the Divine Mother Kali. Later, he himself
described his first vision of the Mother:
I felt as if my heart were being squeezed like
a wet towel. I was overpowered with a great
restlessness and a fear that it might not be my
lot to realize Her [Divine Mother Kali] in this
life. I could not bear the separation from Her
any longer. Life seemed to be not worth living.
Suddenly my glance fell on the sword that was
kept in the Mother’s temple. I determined to
put an end to my life. When I jumped up like
a madman and seized it, suddenly the blessed
Mother revealed Herself. The building with
its different parts, the temple, and everything
else vanished from my sight, leaving no trace
whatsoever, and in their stead I saw a limitless,
infinite, effulgent Ocean of Consciousness. As
far as the eye could see, the shining billows were
madly rushing at me from all sides with a terrific
noise, to swallow me up! I was panting for
breath. I was caught in the rush and collapsed,
unconscious. What was happening in the
outside world I did not know; but within me
there was a steady flow of undiluted bliss,
altogether new, and I felt the presence of the
divine Mother.
It is not clear from Sri Ramakrishna’s
account that he actually saw the form of
Mother Kali in the midst of this vision of
shining consciousness. But it would seem that
he did; because the first words that he uttered
on coming to himself were ‘Mother, Mother!’5
This experience of Sri Ramakrishna is
a vindication of many spiritually realized
persons who have realized God by meditating
on their Ideal through Its image. The thing to
remember is that so long as we use the image
of any Deity to realize the invisible God, it
is not idolatry. How else can we concentrate
on something, which is beyond thought or
form? The visible image helps us focus on the
Invisible Reality.
(To be continued . . .)
References
1
2
Swami Chetanananda (tr.), Sri Ramakrishna and
His Divine Play (St. Louis, MO: Vedanta Society of
St. Louis, 2003), 724; originally written in Bengali
by Swami Saradananda, as Sri Sri Ramakrishna
Lilaprasanga.
Karen Armstrong, A History of God (New York:
Ballantine Books, 1993), 93.
Diana L. Eck, Encountering God—A Spiritual
Journey from Bozeman to Banaras (Boston: Beacon
Press, 1993), 78.
4 The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
(Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1991), v.3, 61-62.
5 Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play, op.cit. 212.
3
In a potter’s shop there are vessels of different shapes and forms—pots, jars, dishes,
plates, etc—but all are made of the same clay. So also God is one, but He is worshipped
in different ages and places under different names and aspects. —Sri Ramakrishna
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Compilation
Insights into Some Keywords
In Swami Vivekananda’s Words
A few definitions and descriptive passages from
the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Pravritti and Nivritti
The two beautiful Sanskrit words for
these phenomena are Pravritti and Nivritti,
‘circling forward’ and ‘circling inward’. It is
the circling forward which usually governs
our actions. Religion begins with the circling
inward. Religion begins with this ‘do not’.
Spiritual begins with this ‘do not’. When the
‘do not’ is not there, religion has not begun.
(CW, 2.109)
Here are two Sanskrit words. The one is
Pravritti, which means revolving towards, and
the other is Nivritti, which means revolving
away. The ‘revolving towards’ is what we call
the world, the ‘I and mine’; it includes all those
things which are always enriching that ‘me’
by wealth and money and power, and name
and fame, and which are of a grasping nature,
always tending to accumulate everything
in one centre, that centre being ‘myself’.
That is the Pravritti, the natural tendency
of every human being; taking everything
from everywhere and heaping it around one
centre, that centre being man’s own sweet self.
When this tendency begins to break, when it
is Nivritti or ‘going away from,’ then begin
morality and religion. Both Pravritti and
Nivritti are of the nature of work: the former
is evil work, and the latter is good work. This
Nivritti is the fundamental basis of all morality
and all religion, and the very perfection of it is
T h e
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e d a n t a
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e s a r i entire self- abnegation, readiness to sacrifice
mind and body and everything for another
being. (CW, 1.86)
Samskara
Samskara can be translated very nearly
by ‘inherent tendency’. Using the simile of a
lake for the mind, every ripple, every wave
that rises in the mind, when it subsides, does
not die out entirely, but leaves a mark and
a future possibility of that wave coming out
again. This mark, with the possibility of the
wave reappearing, is what is called Samskara.
(CW, 1:54)
The Virtuous
Vira, the Sanskrit word for ‘heroic’, is the
origin of our word ‘virtue’, because in ancient
times the best fighter was regarded as the most
virtuous man. (CW, 7:78)
Paradise
The English word ‘paradise’ comes from
the Sanskrit para-desa, which was taken over
into the Persian language and means literally
‘the land beyond’, or the other world. The old
Aryans always believed in a soul, never that man
was the body. Their heavens and hells were all
temporary, because no effect can outlast its cause
and no cause is eternal; therefore all effects must
come to an end. (CW, 7:80)
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New Find
Unpublished Letters of
Swami Saradananda1
The Math.
P.O.Belur:Howrah
The 14th Dec 1904.
To
Mr. Kanaiya Lal Da
Private Secretary to H.H.The Gaekwar
Baroda.
Dear Sir,
Your favour of Nov. 26th duly to hand. In reply I beg to inform you that the Secretary
of the Indian Recreation Club of North China, Zientain who forwarded the first Half of the Demand
Draft to us, has sent the second half of the same addressed when enclosing the first half of your
Demand Draft. We will write to Justice [Zoyeleje] later to have his suggestions in the matter.
With our best wishes & prayers
Yrs sincerely
Sd/The copy of Secretary’s letter
The Math
P.O.Belur:Howrah
The 12th Dec 1904.
Dear Sir,
Your kind favour of Oct. 16th & 17th and the enclosed second half of Zientain Demand for
Rs 856-12-10 have reached us duly. We have instructed our bankers to get it cashed in case the first
half has not been cashed already. We will try to do what we can when we shall have the money in
hand & of this you will be informed later.
In the meantime I beg to send you the copy of the reply of the Private Secretary of
H.H.Gaekwar in answer to our former letter and intimated to us the wishes of the members of the
same club in his letter to us dated Oct 16th as follows:
“I would request on behalf of the Indian Recreation Club, that should the first half not have
been cashed or should H.H. the Gaekwar be not disposed to take up the cause, you will please cash
the Draft—the second half being as good as the first—and take the needful action to perpetuate the
memory of Swami Vivekananda &c &c &c”
We are sorry to note from your letter that H.H. will not be able to take the lead in the matter.
Will you therefore kindly inform H.H. of the wishes of the members of the Club & send us the first
Half of the Demand Draft if it has not been cashed already or the money realized from the same if
it has been cashed, as soon as possible?
T h e
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Hoping to get a speedy reply this
Yours truly
Saradananda
Dec 15th 1904
Math.Belur. Howrah.
India.
Dearest Granny2
You wrote last mail to inform me that Mr.Leggett has some money in hand from the sale of
Swamiji’s books & pamphlets, which he would like to send to the real heirs. Enclosed you will find
a copy of a Will which reached us little after Swamiji’s death. I do not know whether I sent you such
a copy before this or not. I am sending another such copy to Mr.Leggett today & have shown the
original to General Patterson through Sister Nivedita. Do you think dear Granny we ought to get
the Will probated as soon as possible? If so then I will send you the original and everything that
you think necessary to get it done. If on the contrary Mr.Leggett is convinced of the moral right of
the Math to get the money though the Will has not been probated then it will not be necessary to
get it probated I think. However kindly consult with Mr.L. and advice us to do the needful.
You invited me dear Granny to come to you for a change & rest. I cannot tell you how I
long for it & how at present I have been compelled almost to stop here on account of Swami
Brahmananda’s health. His long illness has left him not even the strength of a child and everything
will be ruined if I leave the work just now.
The Women’s work both of Sister Nivedita & Christine are getting on well but I have been put
to great inconvenience to meet the expenses of the latter’s work on account of the business failures
of Hari Mohan who promised to help us with Rs 2000/-. Educational work always means expense
& can never be self-supporting. However I am trying my best to meet it & hope to succeed.
I hope you are well & so is Olea & the Thorps. Tender my kind regards to all who come to
have them & my best wishes for a merry XMas & a happy New Year.
With my cordial regards & love for my Granny always
Your affectionate boy
Saradananda
[On the envelope:]
Mrs. Sara C. Bull
168 Brattle Street
Cambridge. Mass.
U.S.America.
References
1. A direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
2. Mrs. Sara Bull, an American disciple of Swami Vivekananda
Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math
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Article
Vedanta and Scientific Temper
C. BALAJI
Characteristics of Science
What are the most cardinal attributes
of ‘science’? What has taken science to such
great heights in the progress of man and
civilization? The foremost attribute of science
is: believe in a proposition only if you are
able to prove it. So whenever we make a
statement, in the scientific sense, it should be
verifiable by the interested people. Verfiablity
or the inherent possibility of verification of a
truth is vital to scientific inquiry and spirit.
Objectivity, precision and universality are its
cardinal attributes. Any human endeavour
which passes the test of rigour as in the above
mentioned attributes is science.
On the other hand, religious dogmas are
based on unquestionable belief. In his book,
Science and Religion, Swami Ranganathananda,
the thirteenth President of the Ramakrishna
Order, articulates that religious dogmas
generally tended to be believed because of
three main reasons:
i. Our ancestors believed in them.
ii. We have proofs which have been
given to us as a legacy.
iii. It is forbidden to question their
authenticity. Often it is this illusory nature of
religious doctrines that has led to the downfall
of several religions.
Science is quite contrary to it. No theory
in science is so sacrosanct that it cannot be
replaced. This is one main reason that has
made it so appealing and evergreen. Classical
Mechanics, for instance, had to be replaced
by Relativistic Mechanics in the 20th century,
which led to remarkable improvement in our
understanding of the universe and has helped
us figure out the equivalence of mass and
energy. Hence science is progressive. Science
is exciting, presents new results everyday
and its ‘child’—technology—has gone a long
way in making human life more productive
or comfortable. The wheel, steam engine,
electricity, computer and so on, have been
watersheds in the development of technology
and there is no looking back.
Reason has become the mainstay of
scientific hypothesis. To them, everything
stops with reason. Man’s confidence has
increased enormously that some feel that they
can prove or disprove the existence of God,
through mathematical arguments. Even so, it
is a different story that none has done it so far.
Towards A Harmony of Science and Religion
Now, having said about scientific temper and its objectivity, let us also pose the
following questions: ‘Has science solved all
the problems of man? Has science made man
more happy? And finally, has science set man
free?’ Sadly though, the answer to all these
questions is no!
The non-believers and the people who
sit on the fence as to which is right—science
Prof. C Balaji teaches at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Tamilnadu. This article is based on his talk
at the function commemorating the Centenary of The Vedanta Kesari held on 30 December 2014 at Sri
Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. o
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or religion—will immediately use reason
again and aver that just because science has
not been able to convincingly answer all of the
above questions, there is no need for them to
believe in God, who is invariably at the centre
of religion.
But does it mean that God is a reflection
of our helplessness? Or if God is a concept to
handle our ignorance of many phenomena yet
to be understood? In short, is God 1 - , where
is the fraction of all that we have understood
in this universe?
Or is God the best human being yet? Is
He a student who gets 100% in all exams? Is he
a man/woman who is full of virtue, a dream
human being? Is God, only that? Is religion
only that?
Or, is religion an insurance policy for us
to be protected just in case there was a God
who will ‘take care’ of us if we worship Him
and not ‘take care’ of us if we do not worship
Him?
The answer to all these questions again is
an emphatic no!
So, despite all that science has brought
to mankind, there is a need to have a relook at
the whole issue. The two great disciplines of
science and religion can in fact be combined
harmoniously and synergistically to bring
about an all round expansion of human genius
and total fulfillment.
Hence science needs to be understood
in a broader context and Vedanta which is the
science of the inner world of man as upheld
in ancient Indian thought and brilliantly
articulated by Swami Vivekananda 100 years
ago also qualifies to be a science. Like material
sciences, Vedanta too has certain cardinal
attributes which make it a ‘science’ in its own
right. Swami Vivekananda called it ‘science of
soul’. Some of these attributes, in response to
the three issues that we raised above, are:
T h e
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e d a n t a
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e s a r i i. Vedanta does not ask us to believe in
the ultimate reality just because our ancestors
believed in them.
ii. It does not ask us to believe in the
ultimate reality blindly even though proofs
have been given by ancient sages; it wants us
to investigate ourselves.
iii. It does not forbid one to question
either its validity or authenticity. In fact,
Vedanta asks us to do the experiments
ourselves. The laboratory is life. The scientists
are you and me. The end result is also known.
It is not an enigma. However, getting the result
is not that easy. Every science has a method of
its own. So does spirituality. One may recall
a passage from Swami Vivekananda’s works
(CW, 6.15):
~ 151 ~
You will find many persons in this world who
will say, ‘I wanted to become religious, I wanted
to realise these things, but I have not been able,
so I do not believe anything’. Even among the
educated you will find these. Large numbers of
people will tell you, ‘I have tried to be religious
all my life, but there is nothing in it.’ At the same
time you will find this phenomenon: Suppose
a man is a chemist, a great scientific man. He
comes and tells
you this. If you
say to him, ‘I
do not believe
anything about
chemistry, because I have
tried all my
life to become
a chemist and do not
find anything in it’,
he will ask, ‘When
did you try?’ ‘When I
went to bed, I repeated
“O chemistry, come
to me”, and it never
came.’
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34
That is the very same thing. The chemist laughs
at you and says, ‘Oh, that is not the way. Why
did you not go to the laboratory and get all the
acids and alkalis and burn your hands from time
to time? That alone would have taught you.’
Do you take the same trouble with religion?
Every science has its own method of learning,
and religion is to be learnt the same way. It
has its own method, and here is something we
can learn, and must learn, from all the ancient
prophets of the world, every one who has found
something, who has realised religion. They will
give us the methods, the particular methods,
through which alone we shall be able to realise
the truths of religion. They struggled all their
lives, discovered particular methods of mental
culture, bringing the mind to a certain state,
the finest perception, and through that they
perceived the truths of religion. To become
religious, to perceive religion, feel it, to become
a prophet, we have to take these methods and
practice them; and then if we find nothing, we
shall have the right to say, ‘There is nothing in
religion, for I have tried and failed.’
One has to try, follow the right method in
a right way and then draw some conclusions.
The Challenge Before Us
Discovering or experiencing the Divine
within is a hard task. This begs the question
why should it be so. Why is the end result not
easy to get? On a lighter note:
1)Why cannot we make an online
booking to realize God?!
2)Why not ‘finish’ God-expereince and
put one more tick to our list of to-do things?
Today technology and ‘ticknology’ rule
the world. The latter denotes our obsession to
put a tick to whatever we want to achieve or
enjoy and declare that he has conquered it.
The answer to the two questions is that
everything has a price. If we get something
for free and without effort or purushartha,
T h e
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K
e s a r i most often, if not always, we feel that it is not
worthy. One should be truly interested and
then only serious pursuit of ‘truth’ is possible.
This may be a life long journey or beyond. But
again, why should this be? Cannot I accelerate
the process?
Vedanta lays great emphasis on the
qualities of the experimenter. We call it by
an excellent word in Tamil called arhathai
meaning eligibility or qualification. So, the
initial conditions with which people start
are diverse. Each has his or her own way of
starting and reaching the goal of realization of
the grand truth.
As one who has been studying HeatTransfer, an important aspect of Physics, to
me the whole idea of seeking the truth or the
ultimate reality can be compared to the cooling
of a hot spherical ball. The goal is to reach a
‘final temperature’. The time, however, will
vary depending upon the initial conditions as
well as the cooling process. Much in the same
way the pursuit of ultimate reality as laid
down in the Shastras will invariably proceed
with different initial conditions and the cooling
processes. While we have no control over the
initial conditions, we do have control over the
process. Vedanta says we can follow Jnana,
Bhakti, Karma or Raja Yoga or a combination
of these called the Samanvaya Yoga to take us
on this spiritual path. The final truth, though,
is one. The Rig Veda avers ‘Ekam Sat Viprah
Bahudha Vadanti’—Truth is one but the wise
call it by many names.
Among the various qualities repeatedly
stressed upon by the scriptures is purification
of character that leads us to chitta-shuddhi or
purity of thought. The latter is easier said than
done. For this to happen, we must look at
greater good, our hearts need to expand and
unselfishness has to take hold of us. Swamiji
brilliantly stated it thus ‘Unselfishness is God’.
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The statement has only three words, but is far
too profound. The motto of Ramakrishna Math
and Mission is a brilliant corroboration of the
above statement ‘Atmano Mokshartham Jagat
Hitaya Cha’—‘For one’s own realization and
the welfare of all’.
In fact the only measurable parameter
in our spiritual journey is ‘unselfishness’ and
how it grows with time.
However, our inner growth in terms of
unselfishness, is quite hard to measure since
we and our mind get intermingled. When we
study ourselves, the observer and the observed
are one and the same and the oneness is lost
when the observer is under the spell of desire
and attachment. As we generally cannot
measure the speed of a train by being inside
the train, the mind wanting to study mind, is
a formidable challenge. But man is capable of
doing this. The great Vedic Rishis who were
highly inspired and in their exalted states
studied the mind, overcame this problem and
have handed us down the priceless treasure
trove, namely Vedanta.
Vedanta is, hence, nothing but a science,
the inner science, and needs to be pursued in
ways laid down by the spiritual scientists and
discover the fact of Highest Reality ourselves.
It is this emphasis on the fact of realization
that makes Vedanta so much in tune with
scientific spirit of enquiry, experimentation
and conclusion. o
Science and Religion
What is the fight between science and religion everywhere? Religions are encumbered
with such a mass of explanations which come from outside—one angel is in charge of the
sun, another of the moon, and so on ad infinitum. Every change is caused by a spirit,
the one common point of agreement being that they are all outside the thing. Science
means that the cause of a thing is sought out by the nature of the thing itself. As step
by step science is progressing, it has taken the explanation of natural phenomena out of
the hands of spirits and angels. Because Advaitism has done likewise in spiritual matters,
it is the most scientific religion. This universe has not been created by any extra-cosmic
God, nor is it the work of any outside genius. It is self-creating, self-dissolving, selfmanifesting, One Infinite Existence, the Brahman. Tattvamasi Shvetaketo—‘That thou art,
O Shvetaketu!’
In the human body the balance between good and evil is so even that there is a
chance for man to wish to free himself from both. The free never became bound; to ask
how he did, is an illogical question. Where no bondage is, there is no cause and effect. ‘I
became a fox in a dream and a dog chased me.’ Now how can I ask why the dog chased
me? The fox was a part of the dream, and the dog followed as a matter of course; but
both belong to the dream and have no existence outside. Science and religion are both
attempts to help us out of the bondage; only religion is the more ancient, and we have
the superstition that it is the more holy. In a way it is, because it makes morality a vital
point, and science does not. —Swami Vivekananda, CW, 3.424, 7.103
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Article
Karma Yoga—the Path of Nonattachment in Action
RADHANATH BEHERA
Work without Attachment
The Bhagavad Gita, the quintessence of
Yoga philosophy, describes Karma Yoga as
action done without any selfish expectations.
Sri Krishna says, ‘You have only the right to
work but not to the fruits thereof.’1 Delivered
in the battlefield of Mahabharata War, the
Gita advises one to fight the battle of life with
courage and valour, without worrying about
the results that follow—‘to work one has right
and not to the results.’2 This is what Karma
wants us to practice: work without attachment
to its results.
Sri Krishna emphasizes that all works,
when done in a spirit of detachment, become
means to Self-realisation; then that work itself
becomes the highest form of meditation which
can transform the mind. While a Karma Yogi
works with full dedication to the work at hand,
he has to do it without any expectation for
the fruit of his labour. Expectations bind man
and seriously curtail his spiritual growth. All
attachments are a form of slavery; they take
away our spiritual and moral freedom.
Work done in a spirit of detachment to
results but with complete dedication, brings
us spiritual growth. While this is true, one
can also combine other methods of spiritual
practices also into one’s spiritual struggle.
The Hindu scriptures broadly outline the four
paths for reaching the highest goal of complete
liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
These paths are called Yoga—Karma Yoga,
Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Raja Yoga or
Dhyana Yoga. All these paths lead to spiritual
illumination. A Karma Yogi is as much
entitled to spiritual realization or attainment of
highest wisdom as the followers of other three
paths.
Renouncing the Little Self
Swami Vivekananda laid great emphasis
on the practice of Karma Yoga. He saw the
urgent need to serve others and this means a
complete philosophy of action. Service to the
poor and the disadvantaged are equally valid
means to reach the goal of spiritual liberation.
And as one performs Karma Yoga, one also
serves others. Serving others without any
selfish motive purifies the mind. Thus comes
into picture the twin ideal which Swamiji
placed before mankind—‘for one’s own
liberation and for the good of others’. This twin
ideal is the real meaning of the term Karma
Yoga.
Extolling the benefits of working without
selfish motive, Swami Vivekananda says in his
Karma Yoga:
Although a man has not studied a single
system of philosophy, although he does not
believe in any God, and never has believed,
although he has not prayed even once in his
whole life, if the simple power of good actions
has brought him to that state where he is
o Dr. Radhanath Behera, a retired Principal, is a devotee from Odisha.
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ready to give up his life and all else for others,
he has arrived at the same point to which the
religious man will come through his prayers
and the philosopher through his knowledge;
and so you may find that the philosopher, the
worker, and the devotee, all meet at one point,
that one point being self-abnegation. However
much their systems of philosophy and religion
may differ, all mankind stand in reverence and
awe before the man who is ready to sacrifice
himself for others. Here, it is not at all any
question of creed, or doctrine—even men
who are very much opposed to all religious
ideas, when they see one of these acts of
complete self-sacrifice, feel that they must revere
it.3
inevitable but we should learn the skill to
work in such a way that we become free from
its binding effects. The secret of work, Swamiji
says, lies in working like a master and not of
a servant. This means not becoming slave to
one’s desires and expectations but working
with spiritual growth in mind. Of course one
should not forget the practical side of work but
the ultimate purpose of work should be inner
purification and through that discovering our
divine nature. Swamiji says,
If you really want to judge of the character of a
man, look not at his great performances. Every
fool may become a hero at one time or another.
Watch a man do his most common actions; those
are indeed the things which will tell you the
real character of a great man. Great occasions
rouse even the lowest of human beings to some
kind of greatness, but he alone is the really great
man whose character is great always, the same
wherever he be.4
Skill in Action—Even in Smallest Actions
Karma yoga works like this: all of
us, whether we like it or not, have to do
our duty—allotted or self-chosen. Work is
Karma Yoga is not about what we do
but more about with what motive we do it.
Thus we find, work without attachment is
a profound philosophy and a practical way
of reaching the highest truth of our being.
Rightly does Sri Krishna call Karma Yoga as
‘skill in action’ (yogah karmasu kaushalam). The
skill lies in the fact while one’s body and mind
seem to be engaged in work, deep within the
practitioner of Karma Yoga is detached and
calm.
A true Karma Yogi is not affected by
the success and failure of his work. He keeps
working only for the good of others and that is
his highest reward. o
References:
1. Gita, 2.47
3. CW, 1.86
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2. Ibid
4. CW, 1:29
The Order on the March
Ramakrishna Math and Mission—News and Notes
Vivekananda Navaratri Celebrated
In commemoration of Swami Vivekananda’s historic nine-days’ stay and the stirring lectures given at
Madras (now Chennai) after his triumphal return from the West in 1897, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai,
has been celebrating Vivekananda Navaratri for the past six years. A moving account of Swamiji’s
nine-days sojourn (6 to 14 February 1897) can be had from vivid account by K Sundararama Iyer in
Glimpses of various programmes organised during the Vivekananda Navaratri, February 2015
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda (Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata. See pp. 71-97). Swamiji stayed at Ice
House which is now called Vivekanandar Illam—a sub-centre of Mylapore Ramakrishna Math. It houses
an exhibition on the life and teachings of Swamiji, besides conducting a number of cultural and spiritual
activities under auspices of Vivekananda Cultural Centre in the adjacent building which was inaugurated
last year.
As in the previous years, this year’s Vivekananda Navaratri was observed with solemnity and
enthusiasm. The nine-day programme consisted of lectures on Swamiji and his message by monks and
scholars in Tamil and cultural programmes such as dance dramas, solo and chorus devotional singing,
Harikatha and so on. The programmes were held in the evening after five, attracting school students,
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many passers-by and devotees, besides the presence of monks and Brahmacharis from various centres of
the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in and around Chennai. Prasada was distributed at the end of each
day. o
Birthday Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna at Chennai
The 180th Birthday of Sri Ramakrishna was celebrated at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai,
with a three day-programme. Vedic chanting, Bhajans, Puja, Homa, Arati, and lectures marked the event
on 20th February, the day on which Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday fell this year. On 21 February, a special
programme for the correspondents, principals and teachers of 153 educational institutions in Tamilnadu
Homa at the temple
Bhajans by students in front of the temple
Speeches at the public meeting
Classical concert by Mambalam Sisters
whose students subscribe to Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, the Tamil monthly published from Chennai
Math. In the afternoon, DVD on Swami Vivekananda Tele-movie in Tamil produced by Krishnaswamy
Associates Pvt. Ltd was launched by Swami Gautamanandaji, the Adhyaksha of Chennai Math, followed
by special Bhajans and dance drama on Dashavataram by the students of DAV school, Adambakkam,
Chennai. On 22 February, as part of the public celebrations, Bhajans by Bhaktaswara Bhajan Mandali and
talks on the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna were held. Justic V Ramasubramanian, Judge, Madras
High Court, Chennai, and Sri Sraddhalu Ranade, scientist, educator and scholar on Indian Heritage spoke
in Tamil and English respectively. Swami Gautamanandaji gave his benedictory address. The three-day
programme concluded with a vocal Carnatic Music concert by Mambalam Sisters. o
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Jagruth Bharath Organised at Mangaluru
Ramakrishna Mission at Mangaluru in Karnataka organized a four day programme from 30 January to
2 February 2015 titled Jagruth Bharath. It consisted of whole-day seminars in which about 2500 youths
took part. Many monks and eminent persons addressed the gathering.
At the instance of Belur Math, the Mangaluru Mission has also started, under Swacch Bharath Abhiyan
(Clean India Movement), a programme titled Swacch Mangaluru For a Swacch Bharath. It was flagged
off in a grand function
held at the Ashrama on
1 February. The event
included honouring
of 75 sweepers and
other employees of
the Mangaluru City
Corporation as a token
of respect for their
services in keeping the
Jagruth Bharath function
city clean.
Swacch Mangaluru For a Swacch Bharath will consist of about 4000 youth participating in a
cleanliness drive in 40 different wards of the Mangaluru city under the aegis of the Mangaluru Ashrama.
The duration of the programme is 40 weeks. This will include creating civic awareness, improving the
basic amenities and cleaning up of the localities. o
A Book on Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat Released
A copy of Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat published
by Advaita Ashrama was presented to the Prime Minister
of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on 12 December, 2014.
Earlier, on 11 January, 2014 as the Chief Minister of
Gujarat, he had launched Gujaratma Swami Vivekananda
published by Vadodara Centre of Ramakrishna Mission.
Brought out to mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of
Swami Vivekananda, the book has been well received. The
Government of Gujarat has purchased one lakh copies of
the book for distribution in libraries and various institutions
of Gujarat. o
Gold Medalists Felicitated By Vododara Centre
51 students who were awarded Gold Medals by the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda were
felicitated by Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Vadodara. They were gifted a packet of
inspiring books of Swami Vivekananda, a picture of Swami Vivekananda and a citation. The event was
marked by a lecture on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda, calling upon the students to bear
in mind Swami Vivekananda’s message that there should be character development along with career
development. Students responded well and some of them came forward to become members of Vivekananda
Centre of Positive Thinking and Youth Counselling under the Vadodara Centre. o
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Book Reviews
For review in The Vedanta Kesari,
publishers need to send us two copies of their latest publication.
Nomenclature of The
Vedas
by Swamini
Atmaprajnananda
Saraswati
Published by D.K.
Printworld (P) Ltd., Vedasri,
F-395, Sudarshan Park,
(Metro Station: Sudarshan
Nagar) New Delhi-110
015. 2012, hardbound,
PP.234+xxvi. Rs.600.
Here is a depository of
the rich Vedic knowledge, a compendium
of the holy literature. The book provides elaborate
information on the Vedas starting from the Rig
Veda to Atharva Veda, from Vysa to Sayana,
from Yaska to Mahidhara, from Vivekananda
and Dayananda to Sri Ram Sharma and from H.H
Wilson, Max Muller to A.B Keith and R.T.H Griffith.
To the world of knowledge on Vedas, the
present book Nomenclature of the Vedas by Swamini
Atmaprajnananda Saraswati is undoubtedly a
dedicated attempt to prepare a comprehensive
study on Vedic wealth in an exemplary method
of preparing the materials, beautifully editing and
presenting the whole chunk of information in a
concise book.
There are seven chapters which are indepth studies on the Vedas and related matters
supplemented by many illustrations, maps,
charts, photos, images etc. The book is dedicated
to Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswathi who gave
the learned author ‘a new lease of life in 1996 and
another lease of life in 2008’.
Swamini Atmaprajnananda Saraswathi,
the founder of Arsha Vidya Vikas Kendra and
dedicated scholar has taken meticulous care in
preparing this profound work on the Apurusheya
Vedic Literature. With regard to the oral traditions
of Vedic chanting the concept of udata, annudata—
svarita (Tri-Svara) system could have been
T h e
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K
e s a r i included. The Kerala Nambuthiries keep the
traditional way of chanting through jada and ghana
patha, etc. The Sri Sankara University recently
recorded a large portions of Rig Vedic Chanting
according to the Kerala Pattern. Tamilnadu
and some other states also might have kept this
distinctive chanting styles orally alive.
Though the Vedic culture and Yajna tradition
is slowly fading away from our spiritual life, all
later cultural flows of the nations have their root
streams in the Vedic treasure of India. The learned
author of Nomenclature of the Vedas deserves all
appreciations for her painstaking investigations,
survey, collation of materials, analysis, editions and
attractive presentation of the material.
This book may be translated into all major
Indian languages and the knowledge comprised in
this volume be reached to larger number of people.
____________________ D.S.SHARMA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Essence of Spiritual
Wisdom
Compiled by Rupali Segal
and Anirudh Vasdev
Published by New Age
Books, A-44,Naraina
Industrial Area, PhaseI,New Delhi-110 028. 2013,
paperback, pp.157+ x .
Rs.250
‘If a Pandit takes into
his head, he can render anybody’s
prattle into correct Sanskrit by force of
argument and quotation of texts and rules’, says
Swamiji. He makes fun of those who translate
‘aja’[unborn] into ‘a she-goat’. He shows here
how quotations may be misapplied to suit one’s
purpose.
No doubt, quotations spice up one’s speeches
and writings. Adi Shankara’s commentary on the
‘Brahma Sutras’ contains quotations from various
texts which betoken his vast scholarship.
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Quotes from Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde
Bernard Shaw and others cheer up the hearers. More
often than not, a good quote freezes a noble thought
in a capsule form as in Shakespeare’s ‘Ripeness is
All’.
But when a significant utterance is torn out
of its context or when the meaning of a famous
statement is misunderstood and misrepresented
much damage may be done.
The book of quotes on spiritual wisdom
under review has been done by two ‘young,
bright and articulate’ persons who have collected
1500 quotes of this kind from 134 sources—saints,
mystics, monks, scriptures, motivational writers,
philosophers and political leaders—which is a
laudable achievement as these inspiring thoughts
of the great eastern masters have an important role
in instilling calm into the stressed-out minds of the
present day and arming the distressed souls with
Sattvic weapons to conquer the vicissitudes of life
and play the game of life happily and peacefully.
There are 134 heads under which they have been
arranged.
The term ‘spiritual’ is viewed variously. To
Sri Ramakrishna nothing which is not God-centred
is spiritual. To Sri Ramana Maharshi anything that
draws the mind outward is unspiritual. On the
other hand, a motivational writer defines it thus:
‘Spirituality is not some kind of religious dogma or
Ideology but the domain of awareness where we
experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, and
compassion and also intuition, creativity and insight
and focused attention.’ Our young compilers have
taken the latter definition as their guideline.
Here are a few interesting and thought
provoking aphorisms: God is in all humans but
all humans are not in God; that is the reason they
suffer [Sri Ramakrishna]; Religion is being good
and doing good [Swami Vivekananda]; We choose
our joys and sorrows long before we experience
them [Kahlil Gibran]; Undisturbed peace of mind is
attained by the cultivation of friendliness towards
the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight
in the virtuous and indifference in the evil [Sage
Patanjali];Action will be judged according to
intentions [Mohammed]; Only that which is real
never changes [Adi Shankara]; The greatest prayer
is patience [Gautama Buddha]. The list is endless.
Out of the 1500 quotes, a disproportionate
150 are by anonymous persons. The compilers are
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e s a r i sure that they belong to the East. Peace Pilgrim,
George Santayana, George Arundale, Paul Brunton
and Shakti Gawain are Western masters. Some
surprises are there. Swami Vivekananda does not
figure under ‘Spirituality’ but under ‘War’. Swamiji
says this in his Inspired Talks: ‘Even fighting in selfdefence is wrong, though it is higher than fighting
in aggression. There is no “righteous indignation”
because indignation comes from not recognizing
sameness in all things’. What Swamiji means
here is that if one understands the basic unity of
existence, there cannot be any anger, hatred or
quarrel between two persons. He does not refer to
war between two countries.
Since many writers may be unfamiliar to the
generality of readers a brief ‘Who is Who’ may be
helpful.
The book is beautifully designed and got up.
The wrapper carries the picture of a muscular man,
possibly, a primitive, in a contemplative mode as if
he is brooding over the words of Swami Sivananda,
‘The body is an instrument or servant of the soul,
and not its prison’.
______________________ K. PANCHAPAGESAN, BANGALORE
Images of Divinity
by Ann Myren
Published by Advaita
Ashrama, 5, Dehi Entally
Road, Kolkata - 700 014,
paperback, pp.138 + xxiii,
Rs.50.
This book is a record
of the authentic account of
the way Sri Ramakrishna
acted with the feminine.
He first realized God in
the form of the Divine Mother, Kali. In
his life and attitude we find respect for women that
rested on the reality of every individual woman as
one with the Absolute. Women were recognized
as divine: as Mother Goddess, as infinite atman or
Self, and as being worthy of the highest spiritual
unfoldment. An examination of the lives of women
who knew Sri Ramakrishna and of their relationship
with him, as is done in this book, highlights the
importance of his life and teachings for the women
of the present age— when women are being looked
upon as a class of autonomous human beings and of
enormous shift in humanity’s way of life.
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Apart from the Publisher’s Note, Acknowledgement, preface and an appendix, the book has
eight chapters. The first chapter has ‘Reflections on
Childhood Associations of Sri Ramakrishna’, with
special reference to his relationship with his mother
Chandra Devi, whom he saw almost every day
for thirty four years, and from whom he learnt to
respect women. During childhood as boy Gadadhar,
he at times, disguised and acted as a woman, had
thus an internal understanding of what it means
to be a woman. Reference is also made to Dhani,
‘Gadadhar’s bhikshamata’.
The excellences of the personality of Rani
Rasmani and the events of the establishment of
the Dakshineswar temple are dealt with in the
second chapter. The author concludes by saying:
‘She was an outstanding woman. It is extremely
significant that she was not only a woman but of
low caste. We see that Sri Ramakrishna really paid
very great homage to the Rani by his acceptance
of Dakshineswar for his spiritual practice. . .’
According to the author, Rani Rasmani was the first
person he instructed.
This is followed by an account and analysis
of the sterling qualities of Bhairavi Brahmani
and Sri Ramakrishna’s relationship with her.
Due to the expert guidance of the Brahmani, Sri
Ramakrishna was able to go beyond the empirical
opposites of male and female bodies to the feminine,
rooted in the divine creative process, which is
the manifestation of divinity itself—the universal
feminine principle. In the chapter Four, entitled
‘God-man’, Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual practices,
with reference to his feminine approaches have
been described and analyzed. In the next two
chapters, Sri Ramakrishna’s interaction with women
of his family and those on whom he bestowed his
grace has been taken up, with short accounts of
events and individuals. The author makes relevant
analytical comments wherever required all through
the narrative.
Finally, she concludes the chapter thus:
‘Ramakrishna attracted a number of women
who became genuine knowers of God. They
experienced bhava, they experienced samadhi, they
became fearless, they recited the scriptures and
holy books, they sang devotional songs, they made
pilgrimages, they took sannyasa. Several of them
became disciples. . . the orthodox became liberal,
and the liberal became models for a new age.’. . .
T h e
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e d a n t a
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e s a r i ‘Time may show that Ramakrishna’s greatest work
was his work for and for women.’
In the chapter seven, Ramakrishna’s attitude
towards women is further described in a general
way with the help of certain events. These include
his telling two sisters-in-law not to fast; seeing
two prostitutes as the embodiment of Divine
Mother; having the vision of Sita and merging into
Samadhi on seeing another prostitute; bestowing
on Binodini the grace of ‘freedom from fear’;
the incidence of Bhagavati and Ramakrishna
singing songs to console her. This also includes
his relationship with Nikunja Devi, the wife of
‘M’ in some details and with Nistarini, wife of
Navagopal Ghosh, Lakshmi and others. The last
chapter is devoted to Sri Ramakrishna’s relationship
with Sarada Devi. The author has described and
analyzed, in particular, the Shodashi Puja and the
significance of the marriage of Sri Ramakrishna.
She is of the opinion that Sarada Devi had, from
1872 onwards, great spiritual power, and when
her spiritual ministry began much later, she acted
as if all powers were in her hand. She talked and
lived as if she had indeed become the Mother
of the universe, forgiving sins, and granting
liberation. In one word, like an incarnation
herself!
The Appendix is about the phrase ‘woman
and gold’, the literal translation of the Bengali
‘kamini-kanchana’ so often used by Sri Ramakrishna. The author regrets that Swami Vivekananda’s injunction to his brother disciple Shashi
to change it to kama and kanchana has not been
uniformly followed. The book concludes with a
note about the late author, who was a woman of
extraordinary concentration and determination and
who inspired others by her independence of spirit,
initiative and freedom of thought and expression.
Not only did Sri Ramakrishna revere women,
he manifested enough of feminine in his personality
—a fact that was recognized even by his male
disciples.
In Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s one of the
utterances, we get an explanation for this unique
phenomenon: ‘Sri Ramakrishna had a maternal
attitude towards all. He has left me behind to
establish this motherhood in the world.’ The idea
is that although Sri Ramakrishna had a maternal
feeling for all, this feeling could not be fully
expressed in a male body. It got full expression
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through the Holy Mother. The reviewer is of the
view that the Holy Mother was, as it were, an
extension and fulfilment of the Supreme Incarnation
Avtar Varishta, Sri Ramakrishna. This last part of
his lila does not form a part of the present book,
although this is probably the most important
act of Sri Ramakrishna for the upliftment, and
transformation of women.
This book must be read by all women, in
India and abroad. It must be translated into as many
languages as possible so that it could be accessed by
even non-English knowing women.
___________________SWAMI BRAHMESHANANDA, VARANASI
India—Mother of us All
By Chaman Lal
Published by Akshaya
Prakashan, 2/18, Ansari
Road, New Delhi-110 002,
Softcover pp.208, Rs.225,
Reprint 2013.
The editor of this
book, Bhikshu Chaman Lal
was ordained a Buddhist
monk at Sarnath in
December 1955. He travelled around the
world 51 times and wrote over 50 books preaching
the humanitarian message of Indian Culture. On
the request of Pandit Jawharlal Nehru he compiled
this book to serve as a primer of patriotism for the
younger generation. What was initially conceived
as a 560 page comprehensive compilation had to
be shortened to 160 pages due to shortage of funds.
The book opens with extracts from the works
of Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Annie Besant and Sri
Aurobindo, compiled together as ‘Forewords’ for
the book. The book consists of twenty one chapters
—articles written by eminent scholars on various
aspects of Indian Culture and Heritage.
Three chapters of the book are extracts from
the speeches of H.H. Shankaracharya of Kanchi
Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamiji,
H.H. Shankaracharya of Dwaraka and Swami
Abhedananda respectively. All the remaining
chapters are based on the speeches of Bhikshu
Chaman Lal himself.
While the intention of compiling the positive
aspects of Indian Civilization and Heritage in an
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a logical flow of ideas which could have made it
more readable.
A significant amount of print is spent
on Chaman Lal’s idea of a ‘Hindu America’
which is based on some exaggerations and
misrepresentations. Commenting on his book Hindu
America, the Folks Magazine reiterates this problem:
‘The book, though coupled with several
circumstantial evidences and supporting theories, failed to make its point owing to several
misrepresentations. But the very idea of Vedic, aka
Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro, civilization having links
with their American counterparts, namely Mayan &
Aztec, was never completely ruled out.’
Akshaya Prakashan could have done well to
revise the book’s contents and presentation in the
light of new discoveries by adding an addendum
or articles from acknowledged Indian historians
commenting on the link between ancient Indian and
other world civilizations.
______________________ M. PRAMOD KUMAR, COIMBATORE
A Journey of a thousand
miles begins with the first
step
by Dr. Sundari K.
Published by DK’s Books For
all (an imprint of Low Price
Publications) Delhi-110052.
Softcover, pp.155, Rs.150
Student life for many
children and adolescents
often turns out to be an
obstacle race. At different
stages in their academic career they find
themselves at crossroads—baffled and bewildered
by the incongruity between their inner aspiration
and the stark reality outside. Proliferation of career
avenues and cutthroat competition in recent times
have escalated the problems faced by students.
The present book narrates the story of a poor
labourer’s son, a story full of hard struggles. After
clearing his class 12 exams he was staring at a bleak
future. But there was a strong urge within him to
come up in life rather than surrendering to what
appeared to be his inevitable destiny. Making the
best use of the little help he received from a friend,
the boy struggles against innumerable odds to
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pursue his studies and finally succeeds in getting a
respectable job.
But the true worth of the book lies not in just
telling a success story but in pointing out the correct
approach and attitude that are essential for attaining
success. Having a positive self-image, setting targets
that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Realistic and Time bound), handling stress and
anxiety, time management, developing the habit
of concentrating on the work at hand, memory
improvement techniques, etc. Then there are very
useful discussions on other topics that are more
closely related to academics: effective note-taking,
right use of text books, writing an assignment,
giving an oral presentation and facing exams.
The author’s vast experience in pedagogy
and her deep knowledge of the subject are evident
in almost every page of the book. It is no wonder
if the students find this book, written as it is in an
engaging and well-structured style, to be a source
of inspiration and a mine of useful guidelines
for excelling in their careers. In fact, in picking
up this small book, they might have taken, albeit
unwittingly, the first step in their journey of
thousand miles to the pinnacle of success.
__________ BRAHMACHARI SHANTICHAITANYA, BELUR MATH
Prosperous India
by Prof.P.Kanagasabapathi
Published by Vivekananda
Kendra Prakashan Trust,
No.5, Singarachari
street, Triplicane,
Chennai 600 005.2013,
paperback,pp.160, Rs.100.
Prosperous India
brings to focus the resilience of the Indian economic scene. Many observers
have wondered about the country’s silent
but vibrant life that has survived a thousand year
long slavery and over six decades of unsteady
economic revival. Foreign nations that conquered
India worked hard to make Indians feel ashamed
of the Indian culture, religion and way of life.
But those efforts failed. Poverty was unknown in
ancient India. A study by a visiting team from the
West was surprised that in Bihar despite natural
resources and land fertility, people were kept in
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in exposing the deliberate drain of our country’s
resources to swell the coffers of the British Empire
using unethical means.
Prosperous India invites attention to the fact
that in ancient India agricultural practices and
productivity were at an advanced stage. Even the
Vedas and Puranas provide evidence in support.
Arthasastra was the trend setter in formulation of
economic policies.
It is well known that the savings habit is
part of Indian culture unlike the affluent nations.
Kanagasabapathi has provided further information
on Indian economic scene. Indian culture lays
‘strong foundations in the family, community
and their network of relationships’. The culture of
cluster-based businesses is a feature in India, such
as we find in Surat, Ludhiana, Salem district and
generally widespread in all regions. Even in the
corporate sector, the Indian systems have received
approbation from U S researchers.
The author stresses the Indian culture of
standing on one’s own feet in business enterprises
without dependence on Government. But as we
know this came under stress during the permitlicense raj. Industry had to wait till 1991 for
liberalization. The Chapters on Social Capital
and the role of women in economic growth are
informative and important.
The inherent strength of the Indian economy
as observed by Swamiji come to mind while
reading the book. What impressed him in the West
was the theory of organization which he applied
while codifying the structure of the Ramakrishna
Movement through a Trust. It is essential for every
Indian, especially the young generation, to know
these facts and take pride in India’s greatness in
every field of human activity, whether economic,
scientific, moral or spiritual. The lesson to learn is to
develop a patriotic spirit and believe in our inherent
strength as Swamiji repeatedly stressed. The book
says it all so beautifully.
_______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM., MUMBAI
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India Awake
By J P Vaswani
Published by Gita Publishing House, Sadhu
Vaswani Mission, 10, Sadhu Vaswani Path,
Pune - 411 001, 2013, Paperback pp.114,
Rs.100.
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India Awake, title
of the book, is straight
from the famous words
of Swami Vivekananda,
‘Arise, awake, stop not
till the goal is reached.’
Following the idea of his
Master Sadhu Vaswani,
the author Dada Vaswani,
who has more than eighty
books and CDs to his credit,
points out that political
Independence is not enough. What
India needs is unity and emancipation of the
poor, a transfiguration of its social, economic and
cultural life. Chapters with titles like: ‘Why India
Lives,’ ‘The State of the Nation,’ and ‘India Needs
New Builders,’ are prefaced with appropriate
quotes from Sadhu Vaswani’s writings. Then Dada
Vaswani offers an elaboration of seminal ideas of
the development of India.
According to the author, India lives as an
entity because it has the message of spirituality
to convey to the world, again an idea repeatedly
voiced by Swami Vivekananda. Unfortunately
India today has become an unequal society with
30% of its people living below poverty line, and the
great dream of an egalitarian society has become
a mirage. The young are drawn to alien shores to
pursue their fantasy to earn millions. What India
needs today is a turning away from these false gods
of money, pleasure and entertainment.
The author comes up with seven practical
suggestions for the youth: to live a life of simplicity
like the American thinker Thoreau and Mahatma
Gandhi, to seek not power but opportunity to serve
the poor and under-privileged, to avoid the cult of
imitation of an alien culture, to learn science but not
to neglect self-control, to focus on the emancipation
of the poor, to have courage to face and overcome
all odds, and to remember the great Indian ideal
that in spirituality lies true strength.
The book is a clarion-call to the youth to wake
up and serve mother India.
_____________________________ N. EAKAMBARAM, CHENNAI.
Friends Forever
By J P Vaswani
Published by Gita publishing house, Sadhu Vaswani Mission, 10, Sadhu
Vaswani path, Pune - 411
001, Paperback pp.107,
Rs.100
Friends Forever is a
tract on friendship. With
more than eighty books on
self-improvement, spiritual
advancement, meditation and philosophy
to his credit, J.P.Vaswani at the age of ninety five is
a globe-trotting modern Hindu Guru.
The first section of the book has five chapters
with titles like: ‘What is Friendship,’ ‘Who are
your Friends,’ ‘Why do we need Friends,’ ‘How
to recognize a true Friend,’ ‘Become your own
Friend.’ Each chapter has a prefatory story, then a
quote from a great thinker, followed by a discussion
of the topic. The dictionary defines friendship as
companionship, camaraderie, fellowship, amity and
such synonyms. A variety of friends are mentioned
like office friend, close friend, best friend, business
friend, casual friend, school friend, etc. In our times
we have digital friends, Facebook and Twitter
friends whom we do not see but communicate with.
But in times of one’s need, hardly anyone comes
to one’s help. Also friends influence us for good
or bad, for we learn good habits like hard work,
dedication and commitment from our friends.
In the second section of the book, J.P.Vaswani
offers ten Practical Suggestions to make good
friends and keep them. He suggests that one should
allow the friend to have his own space, yet maintain
a sympathetic and affectionate relationship. Of
course, J.P.Vaswani concludes with the exhortation:
‘make God your Best Friend.’
The book is worth reading and offers
suggestions to select good friends and keep them
forever. Who can advice us better than Dada
Vaswani!
_____________________________ N.EAKAMBARAM, CHENNAI.
As fire is cocealed by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an unborn babe by the womb, so
is knowledge concealed by ignorance. —Bhagavad Gita, 3.38
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RAMAKRISHNA MATH, NAORA
(A Branch Centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur)
Village Naora, P.O.Bodra, P.S.Bhangar, Dist. South 24 Paraganas, Pin-743 502, West Bengal
E mail: [email protected] [email protected] Website: www.rkmnaora.org
Swami Trigunatitanandaji’s
150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations (2014-2015)
An Appeal
Ramakrishna Math, Naora is a branch centre of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math,
West Bengal. Naora is a village situated at Bhangar block of South 24 Paraganas District.
It became a blessed hamlet with the birth of Swami Trigunatitanandaji Maharaj, the direct
monastic disciple of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna.
Since its very inception, the centre has been carrying on various welfare service
activities like free coaching, non-formal schools, distress, child welfare, medical services
for the upliftment of poor and backward communities. This year being the 150th birth
anniversary of Swami Trigunatitanandaji Maharaj, we would like to conduct a year long
(2014-2015) welfare service activities for the benefit of the poor and needy in and around
Bhangar block of South 24 Paraganas District.
In view of financial constraints we fervently appeal to the generous public and well
wishers to donate liberally for conducting the year long welfare activities.
All donations are exempt from income tax under section 80G. Cheque or Demand
Draft favouring Ramakrishna Math, Naora, may be sent to the above mentioned address.
Donors can send the contributions online to Indian Overseas Bank, Bodra A/C No.
113801000010949 (IFSC No : IOBA0001138) or State Bank of India, Ghatakpukur A/C. No.
31606923704 (IFSC: SBIN0010540).
Yours in the service of the Lord
Swami Muktipradananda
Adhyaksha
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SRI RAMAKRISHNA SEVASHRAM
(Regd. No. S/15296 of 1974) Vill. & P.O. B-Ramakrishnapur, PS.: Bishnupur, Dist-24
pgs. (S), West Bengal, Pin-743610 (A member Ashram of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda
Bhava Prachar Parishad, South 24 Pgs. Dist, advised by Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission Belur Math, W.B.) Ph: 9674399608, 9433350418
Website: www.srks.org Regd. Off: 6, Baroda Thakur Lane, Kolkata-700 007
AN APPEAL
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
‘Extension of Boys’ Home, betterment of the living condition of the inhabitants of the
Ashram, construction of Temple of Sri Ramakrishna and a prayer Hall.’
We are grateful to many of you who extended their assistance for the betterment of
our SEVASHRAM, which was set up in 1973 under the patronage of Swami
Ramanandaji Maharaj (former Secretary Ramakrishna Mission Saradapith, Belur)
and registered in 1974. As you know, ours is a philanthropic
organisation, involved in—
1. Upbringing of 50 orphan boys and intend to
increase to 150.
2. Helping nearly 200 destitue widows.
3. Maintenance of Old Age Home for common men
& women.
4. Renovation of a) The Primary School for Boys upto Class IV.
b) Existing Charitable
Dispensary
c) Guest House
5. Vocational Training (Para Medical Training Course)
We have already set up 18 Vivekananda Free Schools for the poor children in remote
villages in the Sundarban areas.
About 1.5 k.m. from Dakshin Durgapur Rly. Station on Diamond Harbour line, near
Kolkata, the sevashram grew up on a 40 Bigha plot of land with all activities.
Over the foundation stone, already consecrated by the most Revered Srimat Swami
Ranganathanandaji Maharaj, 13th President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, we intend
to complete the construction of a Sri Ramakrishna Temple and A Prayer Hall to accommodate
500 devotees without any distinction of caste, creed and religion. For the aforesaid activities we
need financial assistance of Rupees 1 Crore 5 lakhs. 'Service to man is service to God’ is, to our
mind, the essence of Swami Vivekananda's teaching of practical Vedanta, and is our source of
inspiration. Our religion is to serve humanity.
Arrangement for insertion of memory stone tablet at Rs. 10,000/- (15" x 15"), Rs. 20,000/(18" x 18") and for insertion on the boundary wall of the temple Rs. 30,000/- (24" x 24") is
available. Your valued assistance through A/c Payee Cheque/Demand Draft/M.O. in favour
of Sri Ramakrishna Sevashram to our above registered office will be accepted with gratitude.
Donations are exempted under 80G of IT Act and the same
Yours in the Lord,
will be gracefully acknowledged with our official receipt.
Biswanath Purkait
Secretary
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RAMAKRISHNA MISSION
Phone: (033) 2654-1144, 1180,
5391, 8494, 9581, 9681
Tele-fax: (033) 2654-6179
E-mail: [email protected]
(The Headquarters)
P.O. Belur Math, Dist. Howrah
West Bengal 711 202, India
An Appeal
Dear Friend,
On the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebration of Swami Vivekananda, we had
implemented the Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa (GAP) – a Project for the Children’s Holistic
Development, during October 2010 to September 2014 with the financial assistance of the Ministry
of Culture, Govt. of India. There were a total of 174 GAP units which benefitted more than 17,400
underprivileged children from city slums and interior villages in different parts of India. Irrespective of
their caste, creed, colour, religion, etc., the project provided an opportunity to these children for their
physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual development.
For their Physical Development, they get nutritive food supplements daily, and the items like,
school bags, uniforms, study materials, umbrellas / raincoats, footwear, toiletry items, etc. periodically,
and they participate in the sessions for games, exercises, overall health check-up-cum-treatments
and general health awareness. For their Mental Development, they have sessions for music, drama,
chanting, painting, recitation, dancing, value education through the lives and teachings of great men
and women, educative films, etc. For their Intellectual Development, they get good coaching on their
school subjects that enable them to join good institutes in later years. For their Spiritual Development,
the children get an opportunity for prayer, Bhajans and guided meditation.
The GAP programme created immense impact on these children, their parents and localities, so
much so that the inhabitants of those areas are urging us to continue the project. The loving care and
attention of our brother monks, volunteers and devotees for the GAP children during the last few years
has brought about notable changes in many areas.
Now, to continue the GAP activity, yearly we require about Rs. 8.5 crores, and as such,
immediately the fund is needed to run the GAP in 2014-15. So, we sincerely request you and other
service-minded individuals to come forward and help us generously in this noble endeavour to the
extent possible. The charitable institutions from public and private sector are also invited to join in
this service for the destitute children.
Donations for GAP in cash / cheque / DD (drawn in favour of ‘Ramakrishna Mission’ payable
at Kolkata) may please be sent to the General Secretary in the above address, mentioning its purpose.
Needless to say, these contributions are exempt from Income Tax under section 80G(5)(vi) of the I. T.
Act 1961. The donation may be in the form of Corpus Fund the interest of which will be used to run
the GAP, or as the yearly Running Expenses for the same.
Anticipating a favorable response from you,
Yours sincerely,
15 February 2015
(Swami Suhitananda)
General Secretary
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The Mystic Wisdom of Kabir
Translation of Kabir’s Popular Verses and Songs
In Indian religious history, Saint Kabir is unique. To the
Hindus, he is a Vaishnava Bhakta, to the Muslims, a Pir, to
the Sikhs, a Bhagat, to the Kabirpanthis, an Avatar, and to the
modern patriots, he is a champion of Hindu-Muslim unity.
Swami Brahmeshananda, a senior monk of the
Ramakrishna Order who is a former editor of the Vedanta Kesari
and the author of many popular books, has painstakingly done
the translation of some of the verses and songs of Kabir.
This book would help the readers to gain the secular and
spiritual wisdom ingrained in the mystical verses and songs of
Kabir.
Hardbound, Pages vi +168, Price: Rs.70/- + Postage: Rs.20/-for single copy.
No request for VPP entertained
Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004
Email : [email protected]
Teachers & Wardens Vacancies in Arunachal Pradesh
If you have a caliber to teach and zeal to serve India in Northeast,
Grab this unique opportunity:
Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalayas (VKVs) in Arunachal Pradesh are awaiting your services
33 English medium co-educational schools affiliated to CBSE, Excellent performance, Ample
scope for Personal & Professional Development of teachers.
Eligibility for Teachers: Post Graduates in English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Physics, Chemistry,
Mathematics, Biology, History, Geography, Economics, Commerce, Computer Science,
Library Science, Physical Education. B.Ed. preferred.
Eligibility for Wardens: Minimum Graduation degree in any subject; Good communication
skills in English/Hindi; Past experience in school hostel administration & former military
background preferred.
To apply, Courier/Email Resume within 10 days to:
The Secretary, VKVs Arunachal Pradesh Trust, Riverside, P.O. Box 104, Near S.P. Office,
Dibrugarh – 786001, Assam. Ph: (0373) 2324320.
Email: [email protected] (Applications by Email accepted). Download Application Form / Apply
Online, through our website http://vkvapt.org/join-us/as-a-teacher
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NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE
(FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED)
TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI–517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528 [Mob.]
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.navajeevan.org
An Appeal
35 Years of Service to Humanity 1979–2014
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 Annaksetram - Kothapeta / Rishikesh
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
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. Vidyadan—Educational 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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Vol.102-4 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) April 2015. 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 ~ A P RWebsite:
I L 2 0 1 5 www.chennaimath.org
Contact:
Ramakrishna
T h Sri
e
V e d a n t a K eMath,
s a r i ~Chennai.