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The Vedanta Kesari

THE LION OF VEDANTA
A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914

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Ramakrishna Mission, Fiji

F ebruary 2016
 2

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 3

The Vedanta Kesari 103

Year of
rd

Publication

VOL. 103, No. 2 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
FEBRUARY 2016

Gita Verse for Reflection 45

Editorial
 ‘A Rare Wise Man of Inward Gaze’ 46
Articles
 Holy Mother—The Divine Consort of Sri Ramakrishna 52
Sudesh
 Vedanta and Swami Vivekananda 64
Swami Tathagatananda
 Baba Premananda Bharati and the Vedanta Society 72
Gopal Stavig
 Theory and Practice of Eco-Yoga: Thoughts on How Yoga Can
Help Remedy Environmental Issues 75
K.V.Raghupathi
Reminiscences
 Reminiscences of Sargachhi 56
Swami Suhitananda
New Find
 Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda 70
Annual Report
 Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission
Synopsis of the Governing Body Report for 2014-15 61
The Order on the March 80
Book Reviews 82
Feature
 Simhâvalokanam (The Birthday Celebration of Swami Vivekananda) 50
Cover Story: Page 6
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

The Vedanta Kesari

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 T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  5 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

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‘Doing is very good, but that comes from thinking. . . .

Fill the brain, therefore, with high thoughts, highest ideals,
place them day and night before you, and out of that will
come great work.’ —Swami Vivekananda
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

N Cover Story N
Ramakrishna Mission, Fiji
The Republic of Fiji is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New
Zealand. Fiji is an archipelago of more than 332 islands, spread over the total land area
of about 18,300 square kilometres and has one of
the most developed economies in the Pacific due to
abundance of forest, mineral, and marine resources.
A centre of Ramakrishna Mission was started in Fiji
(which has a sizable population of Indian origin) in
1937 and was affiliated to the Belur Math in 1952. The
centre runs a high school named Swami Vivekananda
College, a vocational training centre, a primary school,
a medical centre besides conducting a number of welfare, cultural and spiritual activities. The
Universal Meditation Centre (featured on the cover page) at the Fiji Ashrama was consecrated
on 26 November 2014 by Swami Suhitanandaji, General Secretary, Ramakrishna Math and
Ramakrishna Mission. Built with the idea ‘to equip the youth with a disciplined, focused
mind and a strong will-power with high moral and ethical values’, the Universal Meditation
Centre, situated on a hill side, is used for conducting a number of programmes including
classes on moral and spiritual values. For more details visit: www.rkmfiji.org o

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PATRONS DONOR
720. Sri S. Sivagnanam, Chennai Sri N. Krishnamurthy, Chennai Rs. 1000
721. Sri Nitish Chandra Mitra, Nagpur

The  Vedanta  Kesari  Library  Scheme

SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS

5906. Prof. Gopal Chandra Bhar, W.B. Govt. Degree College, Sitapur, U.P. - 262 203
5907. -do- Govt. Degree College, Maunath Banjan, U.P. - 275 101
5908. -do- Govt. Degree College, Obra, U.P. - 231 219
5909. -do- Govt. Degree College, Unchahar, U.P. - 229 001
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5911. -do- Govt. Degree College, Khatima, Uttaranchal - 262 308
5912. -do- Govt. Degree College, Purola, Uttaranchal - 249 185
To be continued . . .
 The Vedanta Kesari
VOL. 103, No. 2, FEBRUARY 2016 ISSN 0042-2983

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

7

Gita Verse for Reflection

Tr. by Swami Tapasyananda

—Bhagavad Gita, 12-17

He who is free from elation, anger, sorrow, and craving,
who neither seeks the pleasant nor shuns the unpleasant—
dear to Me is the man who is thus devoted.

God is the one goal of all our passions and emotions. If you
want to be angry, be angry with Him. Chide your Beloved,
chide your Friend. Whom else can you safely chide? Mortal
man will not patiently put up with your anger; there will be
a reaction. If you are angry with me I am sure quickly to
react, because I cannot patiently put up with your anger. Say
unto the Beloved, ‘Why do You not come to me; why do You
leave me thus alone?’ Where is there any enjoyment but in
Him? What enjoyment can there be in little clods of earth?
It is the crystallised essence of infinite enjoyment that we
have to seek, and that is in God. Let all our passions and
emotions go up unto Him. They are meant for Him, for if they
miss their mark and go lower, they become vile; and when
they go straight to the mark, to the Lord, even the lowest of
them becomes transfigured. All of the energies of the human
body and mind, howsoever they may express themselves,
have the Lord as their one goal, as their Ekayana. All loves
and all passions of the human heart must go to God. He is
the Beloved. Whom else can this heart love? He is the most
beautiful, the most sublime, He is beauty itself, sublimity itself.
Who in this universe is more beautiful than He? Who in this
universe is more fit to become the husband than He? Who in
this universe is fitter to be loved than He? So let Him be the
husband, let Him be the Beloved.
—Swami Vivekananda, CW,3.97
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 45 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 8
Editorial
‘A Rare Wise Man of Inward Gaze’
The Window Seat
‘Window seat—I want window seat!’
cried young Sunil as he climbed the tourist
cab. Not only Sunil, most of us, with some
exceptions, wish to have the window seat
while we travel. Seeing through the window
the passing landscape of nature and man-made
constructions, men and women working or
walking, animals, moving vehicles and all that
comes in the range of our vision—we wish to
see the world around us, enjoy its beauty, feel
free to partake of the air, light and warmth that
a window seat offers.
Not only in a bus or car or flight, we wish
the same with the way we look at life. We look
or perceive the world around us through our
senses, the Indriyas. They are the windows
or gateways through which we look at the
world. We wish to ‘enjoy’ life through the
senses, through the experience they provide
us. While this is natural to human experience,
what is forgotten is that sitting on the window
seats of our senses, we get only a limited view
and understanding of life. We observe the
ever-changing scene, the world that is in flux.
Jagat, as the world is called means ‘that which
is ever moving’ (gata). But how can there be a
change without the changeless! The observed
without the observer! Alongside the ever-
changing world exists the unchanging reality
called in Sanskrit as Brahman (in the sense of
individuals Brahman is called Atman) which
we rarely acknowledge or pay attention to!
Added to it, we get terribly attached
to and depend on pleasant and unpleasant
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 46 ~
experiences that senses bring. We then think
that nothing lies beyond them. And thus
we suffer, feel frustrated and dejected, not
knowing that there is an experience higher,
more satisfying.
The Inside View
Brahman! Where to find ‘It’? The seers
of Vedic traditions as well as the mystics
of all religions point that Brahman, though
omnipresent and all-pervasive, can be
perceived only when we turn within. Turning
within may sound anti-senses but strangely
the view of truth that senses present us is
so elusive and incomplete that it is sheer
deception to depend on them in our quest to
know the Ultimate Source of peace and joy—
Brahman. Always turning without, we only
clasp the virtual and miss the actual. Swamiji
points out,
From our childhood upwards we have been
taught only to pay attention to things external,
but never to things internal; hence most of us
have nearly lost the faculty of observing the
internal mechanism. To turn the mind, as it were,
inside, stop it from going outside, and then to
concentrate all its powers, and throw them upon
the mind itself, in order that it may know its
own nature, analyse itself, is very hard work. Yet
that is the only way to anything which will be a
scientific approach to the subject.1
This tendency to observe the outside as
well to observe the inside gets manifested and
crystallized through the two racial types—the
Greek and the Oriental or Indian. After all it
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 9

is the individuals that make a society or race. That man’s senses and mind are outgoing in
Individuals are the units that make the whole their disposition. The result is, they can know
called society. Points out Swamiji: the truth only of what is outside and not of
what is within. This is a natural state of the
Two nations of yore, namely the Greek and the
human system. Will it ever remain so? Can we
Aryan, placed in different environments and
defy nature and start an inward movement of
circumstances—the former, surrounded by
the psychic energy? One courageous pioneer,
all that was beautiful, sweet, and tempting in
not satisfied with this situation, took up this
nature, with an invigorating climate, and the
challenge. See the language used there—kaschit
latter, surrounded on every side by all that was
dhirah, a certain courageous, intelligent person.
sublime, and born and nurtured in a climate
‘Why should I be merely a plaything of nature?
which did not allow of much physical exercise—
Nature says, “Do this” and I do. I am now going
developed two peculiar and different ideals of
to defy this nature itself.’ Swami Vivekananda
civilisation. The study of the Greeks was the
put this truth in a wonderful language. He said
outer infinite, while that of the Aryans was the
that the whole of human civilization has been
inner infinite; one studied the macrocosm, and
achieved by defying nature. Nature says, ‘do
the other the microcosm. Each had its distinct
this.’ Man says ‘No, I will be free, I will take my
part to play in the civilisation of the world. Not
life into my hands away from you, I will develop
that one was required to borrow from the other,
it myself, shape it myself, and you must never
but if they compared notes both would be the
do so.’4
gainers.2
Why do most of us look outwards and
A Rare, Wise Man
not inwards? The Katha Upanishad says that
A rare, wise man is an awakened person.
we are, in our present state of ignorance, made
He has risen from the sleep of senses, making
like that. We suffer from a manufacturing
him see a higher reality, different from what
defect! Of course, we can rectify it and discover
the senses bring before us. He is not satisfied
the truth within but that requires training,
with what makes others happy, who are
hard training For the time being, we are, in the
asleep in the world of senses. Being awake,
language of Upanishads, glued to our outgoing
he sees life differently. Points out Swami
senses and miss the ever present Ultimate
Ranganathananda further,
Reality. Says the Katha Upanishad (II.i.I, trans.
by Swamiji), Dhirah is a great word in Sanskrit. It contains
two elements. Dhi means Buddhi or reason
The Self-existent One projected the senses
and dhirah means also heroic, intelligent and
outwards and, therefore, a man looks outward,
courageous. We don’t know who he was—kaschit
not within himself. A rare wise one, desiring
dhirah. They are the pioneers; nobody can be a
immortality, with inverted senses, perceived the
pioneer in a field by mere heroism. There must
Self within.3
be understanding, there must be intelligence.
Explaining this verse, Swami Ranga- Mere intelligence is not enough because many
nathananda, the thirteenth President of intelligent people are very cowardly also.
Ramakrishna Math and Mission, said, Unless these two combine, no great thing can
The verse says that nature or nature as God be done. The word dhirah applies to all the
constructed this human system with many great discoveries that have transformed human
powers, but an initial defect. What is the defect? civilization. . .

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 47 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 10
Everywhere you need this quality, but the field
where this quality is needed utmost is in dealing
with oneself. ‘Can I turn the energies of my mind
and senses inward to penetrate into the depth
of my spirit?’ This sage took up this challenge
and said, ‘I shall do it. I shall discover what is
hidden behind the senses.’ This is what we call
in today’s language—in several books you find
these words—searching for the hinterland of
our consciousness. What is there? There is some
truth hiding there. We have not tried turning the
senses inwards as yet.
Like in animals, the senses go out; we eat and
drink and handle the world, and we think
ourselves also as part of that world: that we are
an object. But now someone, kaschit dhirah, has
taken up this challenge. He realized the infinite,
the immortal dimension of man. He discovered
man the unknown. How did he do it? He quietly
gave a right-about-turn to his psychic energies.5
A wise man of this type is rare indeed.
The Bhagavad Gita6:
One, perchance, in thousands of men, strives for
perfection, and one perchance among the blessed
ones, striving thus, knows the Highest Truth in
reality.
It is rare because, according to Hindu
sages, one has to undergo much experience
to realize the futility of sensory enjoyments;
that only can make one disillusioned and seek
something beyond. The Katha Upanishad7
calls people who are busy with the world of
senses as ‘children’:
The unintelligent people follow the external
desire. They get entangled in the snares of the
wide-spread death. Therefore, the discriminating
people having known what true immortality is in
the midst of impermanent things do not pray for
anything here.
Such people are free of all fear and
anxiety. Swami Vivekananda says,
There is death, you know, inevitable death, in
water, in air, in the palace, in the prison—death
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 48 ~
everywhere. What makes you fearless? When
you have realised what you are—that infinite
spirit, deathless, birthless. Him no fire can burn,
no instrument kill, no poison hurt.8
Men bereft of the knowledge of the Self
are caught in the ever-going cycle of birth and
death—like riding a roller coaster, up-down,
down-up and so on.
Discovering the Truth Within
What happens when we turn our vision
within? Of course, physically speaking that
cannot be done. Eye cannot look within; they
are designed to see objects and that involves
the image of an object falling on the retina and
getting recognized. The inward gaze therefore
is a reference to understand or comprehend
whatever is happening in our mind, in our
thoughts and feelings and our intentions.
It is a study of ourselves, not of objects
that senses perceive. This looking within is
further elucidated thus by Swami Ranga-
nathananda:
This is expressed in one single Sanskrit phrase—
avritta-chakshu. Chakshu means eye. It is symbolic
of all sense organs. My skin gives me knowledge
of tangible things, my nose gives knowledge of
smell, my ear gives me knowledge of sound.
All the five sense organs give us sensory
information about the world. This wonderful
scientist-researcher-experimenter, the dhirah, is
courageous and intelligent. He made a right-
about-turn to all these energies and to his great
joy he discovered his true dimension: I am
not this tiny little body, not a speck of dust in
this world; I am infinite, I am immortal, I am
divine. This is the experience and the joy that
came: I am free, I am free, I am free. Nothing
in the world is free, everything is conditioned
by time, space and causality. Everything in this
world, even my body and mind is conditioned.
According to Vedanta, mind also is only a
subtle form of matter. Beyond all this, the sage
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 11
discovered his true dimension—the infinite
Atman. Pratyagatmanam aikshat. . . .
Pratyak in Sanskrit means inward; the opposite
is parak (outward). Every object is referred to
as parak. Our sages have studied these words
very thoroughly. Whenever you point your
finger out and say ‘this, this, this’, that is called
parak—outgoing understanding of things. Is this
all the reality? No. Reality has parak and pratyak
dimensions. We study objects that are near,
and we use instruments like telescopes or radio
telescopes to study objects that are far away, and
microscope to study smaller things. But all they
study is parak—only objects. If you want to study
the subject, you have to change the direction; the
finger must point to oneself. This finger turning
inward is called pratyak. To turn to the pratyak
direction is to discover an infinite consciousness
hidden in the human being.
There is a Sanskrit word, pratyak-chaitanya.
Chaitanya means pure consciousness. This
refers to our true nature. We do not understand
this truth at first, and take ourselves to be
an object among objects. We begin like that,
but if we investigate, this knowledge of pure
consciousness will dawn upon us. . . . Think of
a river flowing from west to east. Technology
comes and makes it flow from east to west.
Plenty of these things happen these days.
Similarly, here is a technology of inner life,
leading to tremendous consequences for man
and human civilization—that of turning the
energies from outward to inward. This is a
wonderful idea and we express this in our
day-to-day life. When you close your eyes and
sit for meditation, what are you trying to do?
Exactly what the pioneer of inner quest (the
dhirah of the Upanishad) achieved in his time.
He [Adi Shankara] had tremendous courage,
References
1. CW 1.129 2. CW, 3.184 3. CW, 2.175 4. Man The Known And Man The Unknown, Swami
Ranganathananda. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, p. 14—(hereafter Man) 5. Man, p.16 6. The Bhagavad
Gita, 7.3 7. The Katha Upanishad, II.i.I 8. CW, 4.245 9. Man, p. 17-19
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 49 ~
tremendous energy, and tremendous purity of
the inner life. Hence, he could achieve it without
much difficulty. This pioneering spirit laid the
road on which many have travelled. He blazed
a trail through which many have achieved these
great things.
A thousand years before came Buddha. He did
the same thing: just turned the energy inward. He
discovered the immortal man behind the mortal
man, the infinite man behind the finite man. After
he attained enlightenment, Buddha said that
he experienced this immortal dimension. What
tremendous energy came out of that experience!
The whole of Asia felt the touch of that experience.
Buddha got it silently at midnight, on a full moon
night, and yet, the repercussions of that experience
were tremendous. How much of peace and
well-being came to millions of people thereby!
Today Sri Ramakrishna, sitting in the temple of
Dakshineswar, far away from human contact,
did this very thing, as a scientist. He just went
in an inward direction and made tremendous
discoveries.9
Conclusion
While as human beings, we depend
on our senses for all experiences, we cannot
remain satisfied with only the experience and
information that our senses bring. However rare
it might happen, we must dig deeper into our
mind and personality to know who we really
are—seek what lies beyond the senses. We need
to move forward, go higher, dive deeper to
come face to face with the truth of our being—
the Brahman or Atman or Divinity within. It
is, as Sri Ramakrishna would say, ‘aiming a
lighted torch not on others but one’s own divine
essence.’ o
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 Simhâvalokanam
From the Archives of The Vedanta Kesari
(February, 1915-16, p. 316-318)

The Birthday Celebration of

Swami Vivekananda
At Madras
The 54th Birthday of Sri Swami Vivekananda was celebrated
with usual devotion and enthusiasm by his numerous disciples, friends and admirers, ever
growing in number, on Sunday, the 30th ultimo, in a spacious pandal specially erected for
the occasion at the Ramakrishna Home premises, Brodies Road, Mylapore.
The functions of the day commenced in the morning with Bhajana in which people of
all sects, castes and creeds, took part with intense devotion and which lasted till 12 o’clock
in the noon. Then about 2,000 poor people were sumptuously fed through the aid and
kind co-operation of the generous local public and of the mofussil. In the afternoon, Mr. M.
K. Tatacharyar, B.A., of the Public Works Secretariat, entertained his big audience with a
Harikatha Kalakshepam on Kuchalopakhyanam of absorbing interest. At 5-30 p.m., a public
meeting was held in the pandal with the Hon’ble Rai Bahadur B. N. Sarma, B.A., B.L., in
the chair, when Dr. T. S. S. Rajan, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., of Srirangam, delivered a stirring and
edifying lecture on the ‘Place of Religion in our National Development as interpreted by
Swami Vivekananda,’ the full text of which we publish elsewhere. The Hon’ble Mr. Sarma
in winding up the proceedings of the day expressed his emphatic belief that without religion
as its basis the complete regeneration of India could never be properly accomplished.
Indian mind gave always ready responses to calls that were religious. He was not one of
those, he said, who believed that the present state of the Hindu Society was due to Hindu
Religion, but rather it was due to the wrong conception of the Religion of Vedanta prevalent
in the popular mind, which was mainly responsible for so much unpractical dreaminess
or self-centred coldness found in the society. Hence the preaching of the true Vedanta of
which Swami Vivekananda was the modern prophet, should be disseminated widely. Even
the consciousness that we were spiritually great would sustain the nation to a very great
extent. ‘Faith in the Atman will make us believe that we are equal in every respect, at least
potentially, to any people however great, on the face of the earth, and we have the power
too to manifest that greatness, and we must manifest it.’
Lastly, he said that money or wealth was necessary for the growth of national life and it
should not be shunned. It symbolised power. The defect lay not in the acquisition of wealth,
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 50 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 13

but in its misuse. So he exhorted not to despise wealth but to acquire it to be utilised only
for the good of the nation.
The function of the day was concluded with Aratrikam and distribution of Prasadam.

At Bangalore
On Thursday, the 27th of January, after the Tithi Puja in the presence of a large
gathering, Prasadam was distributed to all who were fortunate enough to be present on the
auspicious occasion. On the following Sunday, the public celebration was a grand success.
From the early hours of the morning, many loving hands were busy in doing the
various little offices, necessary to make the function a success. At about eleven, Sankirtan
parties began to arrive and the air resounded with the name of the Lord Almighty, who has
us all in his merciful keeping. One such party came from Ellegowdanpalayam, a suburb
of Bangalore, with a photograph of Swamiji placed on a Ratham beautifully and tastefully
decorated. These parties were welcomed cordially at the entrance to the Ashrama by Swami
Nirmalanandaji, the President of the local branch of the Sri Ramakrishna Mission. This
photograph was then placed in a prominent position inside the spacious pandal, and the
decorated photographs brought by two other parties supported it on the right and on the
left. At about twelve in the noon the feeding of the poor began with great enthusiasm in the
premises of the ‘Chatram’ adjoining the Anjaneya Temple, Basavangudi, and lasted on till
about half-past three.
Over a thousand ‘Poor Narayanas’ were fed by young men animated by the spirit of
true social service. Surely Swamiji must have been present in spirit throughout the whole
day. In the afternoon, Sriman Belur Kesava Murti Doss entertained the audience with his
Harikatha. Gradually, people numbering nearly two thousand began to pour in from all
sides, till the spacious pandal was almost full, a prominent feature of the gathering being
the presence of about two hundred ladies. At about half-past five, when the pandal was
full of eager listeners, Sriman Chenna Kesava Iyengar began his lecture in Kannada. He
spoke for about an hour on the import of Swamiji’s work for Aryavartha. Then Brahmasri
Pandit D. Narayan Sastri, a prominent representative of the orthodox community, spoke on
the reshaping of the entire contents of the Sanatana Dharma by Swamiji to suit the needs
of Modern India. Mr. N. N. Murthi followed him with a very interesting paper on ‘Swami
Vivekananda and Modern India.’ A brief report of the celebration of the anniversaries during
the year 1915 was, afterwards, read by Mr. Kunhi Raman.
Finally Mr. M. A. Narayana Iyengar, a staunch friend of the Mission, rose up and read
a letter from His Highness the Yuvaraja who therein regretted his inability to be present on
the occasion. As usual, His Highness had sent in his subscription of a hundred rupees. After
Arati and the distribution of Prasadam the huge crowd dispersed. o

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 51 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 14

Article

Holy Mother—The Divine Consort

of Sri Ramakrishna
SUDESH

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)

The Eternal Spouse worshipped become one. . . a spiritual state

The night of 15 th August 1886—the known as tadatmya-bhava, being at one with
disciples of Sri Ramakrishna found him God . . . the Mother too forgot her own separate
immersed in Eternal Silence. When the Mother, existence and acted just like the Master.17
crying bitterly, was about to take off her gold The passionate anguish of separation
bracelets, the signs of a married woman, gradually turned into the bliss of union. A
Thakur [Sri Ramakrishna] appeared before her sense of joy and peace filled her whole being.
and forbade her to do so. He had only passed Thus convinced of Thakur’s living presence
from one room to another. Though
she had the vision of Thakur’s
imperishable divine body, yet the
emptiness and physical separation
from him was unbearable to her.
The disciples, therefore, sent her to
places of pilgrimages, so that she
might recover somewhat from her
mental anguish.
Like the gopis who were
overpowered with grief when
Krishna disappeared and longing
for him all the more, and were
so much absorbed in thought of
Him that they came to identify
themselves with Krishna, a similar
self-absorption was seen in body
and mind of Holy Mother. Swami
Yogananda said: even after he cast off his mortal coil, she
One day her lady companions found her did not discard fully the signs of a married
absorbed in Samadhi. . . We have heard that woman. She did not get her head shaved
in deep meditation the worshipper and the clean like Lakshmi Devi at Allahabad—the

o A devotee from Ambala, Sudesh regularly contributes inspiring articles to The Vedanta Kesari.

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 52 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 15
sacred confluence of the Ganges and the
Yamuna, according to custom of the place.
After returning from her pilgrimage Sarada
Ma went to stay at Kamarpukur as per
Thakur’s wish. At the sight of a young widow
wearing bracelets and a thin red-boarded
cloth there was a lot of vociferous criticism
and antagonism. She now decided to silence
her critics by removing her bracelets but was
prevented by a vision of Thakur. Thakur
told her that Gauri-Ma would explain to her.
Gauri-Ma did come and explained to her with
the help of Vaishnava scriptures how there
could be no widowhood for Mother, since her
husband’s body was not material but spiritual.
Prasannamayi, the aged sister of the Lahas,
silenced the scurrilous women by declaring
that Gadai and his wife were no ordinary
beings but divine, and Gadai’s wife was a
veritable goddess. Mother herself declared
that she was deathless when once at Banaras
the mad aunt had cursed her the whole night,
saying, ‘Let. . . my sister-in-law die.’18
Thakur and Ma were no ordinary mortals
born on earth to reap the fruits of their karma
or to attain personal salvation. Those who hold
the key to others’ liberation do not pass out of
the cosmic sphere with physical death. They
continue to shower their divine mercy on all
who take shelter in them.
Even after Thakur’s demise, a keen sense
of his presence as living palpitating reality
continued to be the firm ground of Mother’s
consciousness. She visualized his physical
presence even in his picture. At the time
of worship it seemed as if she were sitting
in his living presence and was in intimate
communion with him. In November 1914, a
woman devotee entering the chapel heard the
Mother addressing the Master like a bashful
newly married maiden, ‘Come, come for
food.’19
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 53 ~
As Thakur had not visited the temple
of Jagannath at Puri in his lifetime she took
his photograph to the temple and showed it
to the image during her pilgrimage to Puri
in November 1888. When a devotee told her
that he could not concentrate his mind in
meditation, Mother advised him to look at
the picture of Thakur with his mind fixed on
him. To another who asked if the Master was
present in the picture, ‘Why should he not
be?’ Mother replied. ‘Is he present in all the
pictures?’ ‘Yes, his presence can be felt after
repeated prayer.’20
To some intimate disciples Mother
revealed that she was Thakur’s Shakti and
came with him through all his previous
incarnations, that they were eternally united
and wedded to each other. Nalini Sarkar of
Midnapur asked her once, ‘Mother, did you
come with all the incarnations?’ ‘Yes, my son’,
replied the Mother. 21
Helpmate in Thakur’s Mission
Our scriptures say that for the sake of
Bhaktas, the formless, attributeless Brahman
assumes forms and descends in the world,
accompanied by his Shakti, as his consort.
Thus Sati and Sita as the consorts of Shiva and
Rama showed unparalleled devotion to their
husbands and Radha illustrated the madhur
bhava. In the life of Holy Mother alone we
see where the consort of an Avatara became
actively associated with the act of bringing
about a new spiritual renaissance in the world.
She played a vital role in his noble mission of
calling humanity back to an awareness of its
inborn divine nature. Before his departure
from this playfield of world’s theatre, Thakur
had told her that the people of Calcutta were
wallowing in darkness. Looking after the
spiritual destiny of jivas was not his burden
alone, it was her responsibility too.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 16
Her Spiritual Ministry
For thirty four years of her earthly
existence, after Thakur’s maha-samadhi, it
was Mother who continued his spiritual
ministry. The tremendous power of her love
drew aspirants from all parts of the globe,
seeking guidance in spiritual life, initiation
and succour from worldly afflictions. In her
they found a unique mother, Guru and Ishta
who had the power to soothe the afflicted
and awaken the slumbering souls. She gave
the mantra which welled up spontaneously
from her heart and was always proved right
according to mental make-up of the aspirant.
In many cases the candidates felt as though an
electric current darted through their body and
filled them with peace and joy. She could with
her supernal insight divine a person’s spiritual
malady and guide accordingly.
Swami Virajananda once resolved to
plunge one-pointedly into a life of intensive
contemplation. For fifteen hours each day he
would engage in Japa and meditation. Finally
a day came when his brain seemed wholly
dull. Utter fatigue settled over his body and
mind. Immensely concerned for Virajananda’s
welfare, Swami Brahmananda secured the
services of a famous Ayurvedic physician.
Under his care three or four months passed.
Still Virajananda’s numbness of brain and
bodily languor persisted. As the month of
March 1904 came, Virajananda conceived
an intense desire to journey to Jayrambati.
Holy Mother instantly realized merely by
glancing at him, that his malady was not of
his body. Immediately She asked, ‘Where
do you concentrate—in the heart or in the
head?’ ‘In the head, at the Sahasrara, Mother,’
replied Virajananda. ‘What have you done, my
son? That is the final stage—the stage of the
Paramahamsa. Is it possible to raise the mind
to such a height all of a sudden? At first, after
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 54 ~
concentrating the mind in the head, the mind
should be brought down to the heart and there
the Ishta must be meditated upon.’
What many treatments, regulations and
diets could not achieve, this simple advice of
the Holy Mother had made possible! Within
a few days Virajananda revised his process of
meditation and felt marvellously benefited.22
Knowing that the spiritual Guru has
to take the responsibility of his disciples
through eternity and has to suffer the adverse
effects of the bad karmas of his disciples, she
still did not refuse anyone who implored
her for initiation. Consequently she suffered
vicariously from various physical diseases
and terrible burning sensation in her feet.
Perhaps that is why the monastic disciples
of Thakur were very discriminative about
giving initiation. But Mother in her infinite
mercy, willingly swallowed the poison by
giving refuge to everyone. Through her tireless
spiritual ministry innumerable devotees got
a new awakening. A true Sahadharmini, of
the Yugavatara, she became the channel of
Thakur’s universal benevolence and trans-
muting compassion. She was, as it were, the
light and warmth of Thakur, the visible Flame
of Ma Kali, from which spiritual light and
redeeming love flowed into the world.
As Sangh Janani
After Thakur’s final beatitude, his young
disciples felt like orphans. Forlorn and lonely
they were roaming about hither and thither.
In this moment of their indefinable grief they
found solace in the Mother who now became
to them the Master cum Mother—an orbit of
protection, a source of inspiration, guidance
and encouragement. In every emergency or
resolution of a doubt they resorted to her
and she invariably gave them the conclusive
solution. To spiritual giants like Swami
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 17

Vivekananda and Swami Brahmananda
her words were law and inviolable. Swami
Vivekananda embarked on his momentous
mission of going to the Parliament of Religions
only when she nodded approval and assured
him of Thakur’s will and protection.
Swami Vivekananda had got together all
the young disciples of Thakur and prevailed
upon them to become Sannyasins. Yet, their
tendency was to roam about as wandering
Sannyasins in search of peace and Self-
realization. This had not given them the sense
of a monastic community holding together for
a definite purpose. It was Holy Mother who
realized the need of propagating Thakur’s
unique message. She prayed to Thakur to
consolidate his disciples into an Order of
monks:
My prayer is that those who leave the world
in your name may never be in need of bare
subsistence. They will all live together holding
to your ideas and ideals and the people afflicted
by the worries of the world will resort to them
and be solaced by hearing about you. That’s
why you came. My heart is pained to see them
wandering.23
It was the result of her motherly solici-
tude and her heart-felt prayer that the
Ramakrishna Movement and the Organization
have sprung up. It will be no exaggeration to
say that she is the real power, the bed-rock on
which the edifice built by Sri Ramakrishna
rests.
Though not actively involved with the
management of the Order, she became its
unseen axis and gave it the unerring direction.
She did her utmost to see the Order well
established as an integrated brotherhood with
love as its life-force. She is rightly revered as
the Sangh Janani—the Mother of the Sangha.
Thus we see the divine consort that
Sri Sarada Devi was and the divine role she
played in the celestial play of Ramakrishna-
Vivekananda tradition. Her extraordinary
life, nestled in the utterly simple and ordinary
settings, is a source of inspiration and strength
to millions of her devotee-children the world
over. (Concluded.)

vvv

References
17. Sri Sarada Devi the Great Wonder, 27-28.
18. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 436.
19. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 455.
20. In the Company of the Holy Mother, 77.
21. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 460.
22. Swami Shraddhananda, The Story of an Epoch
(Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1982), 100-102.
23. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, 332.

If We were Really Unattached

We think that we have helped some man and expect him to thank us, and because he
does not, unhappiness comes to us. Why should we expect anything in return for what
we do? Be grateful to the man you help, think of him as God. Is it not a great privilege to
be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men? If we were really unattached, we
should escape all this pain of vain expectation, and could cheerfully do good work in the
world. Never will unhappiness or misery come through work done without attachment.
The world will go on with its happiness and misery through eternity.
—Swami Vivekananda

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 18

Reminiscences

Reminiscences of Sargachhi
SWAMI SUHITANANDA

(Continued from the previous issue. . .)

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

||2|| (The enigmatic apparent meaning of

A Brahmacharin asked: We hear about
the society of that time that there were many
wise and virtuous people then; nowadays
perhaps all are rather superficial-minded.
Swami Premeshananda: If I get chance
I will tell you one day about the society of
that time. If you hear, you would put your
hands on your ears and run away. There were
scholars no doubt, but they passed their time
on flippant trivialities. Had it not been like
that, why would Thakur [Sri Ramakrishna]
come? I will recite to you two verses. Can you
make any meaning out of them? The scholars
would remain engrossed in these. Who cares
for God! Who cares for renunciation! [The
verses are:]
Keshavam patitam drishtva drona harshamupagatam |
Rudanti pandavah sarve ha keshava ha keshava ||
this verse is: Seeing that Keshava has fallen,
Drona became delighted; all the Pandavas
cried shouting, ‘Oh Keshava! Oh Keshava!’)
But actually here there is a pun on the words:
ka—water, shava—dead body, pandava—jackal,
drone—crow. Thus the hidden meaning is:
Seeing the dead body in the water, the crow
is delighted, but the jackals lament that the
dead body is in water (and therefore we will
be unable to feed on it).
Attendant: Maharaj, you didn’t tell the
other verse.
Maharaj: I see you remember what I said.
Hanumatahatarama Sita harshamupagata |
Rudanti rakshasah sarve harama harama ||
(This verse apparently means: Rama
having been killed by Hanuman, Sita is
delighted; the Rakshasas are all crying,

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 56 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 19
Oh Rama! Oh Rama! But actually here, the
meaning of Arama is garden; therefore what
is meant is: The garden Ashokavana having
been destroyed by Hanuman, Sita becomes
delighted; the Rakshasas are all lamenting, ‘Oh
garden! Oh garden!’)
11.10. 1958
Maharaj: I go on talking about gross
body, subtle body and causal body. Do you
follow anything? Do you know what a monk
said the other day?—‘Premesh Maharaj would
tire the ears of the boy by constantly talking
about Brahman and at the end he would run
away.’ That is why I ask, ‘Do you follow? Are
you feeling bad?’
Attendant: Had I felt bad, would I stay on?
Maharaj: Let me see how far you have
followed.
Attendant: The bodies are three—gross
body, subtle body and causal body. When
one assumes the subtle body [without the
gross body], one becomes a ghost or spirit, or
in most cases roam about in an unconscious
state. When one is in the causal body one
understands, ‘I am not the body, nor the vital
force, nor the mind, nor the intellect. I am of
the nature of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss. It has
neither death nor birth.’
Question: When a person dies, we think
the person is no more. Then where do such
persons or entities stay?
Maharaj: The chit (consciousness) in
the body manifests itself in various degrees
in various bodies; thus a man has more
sensibility, a dog has less. Don’t you see that
a person with a large sword in hand can cut
more than one with a billhook? The body
of a man and the bodies of animals, etc., are
like that. Chit (consciousness) and chetana
(sensibility) are two different things. Chetana
is only the manifestation of chit.
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 57 ~
11.10.1958
Maharaj: If you can understand the
difference between chit and chetana then I can
die in peace. Tell me a little what are chit and
chetana.
Attendant: When chit expresses itself
through the fivefold sheath (pancha-kosha), it
becomes chetana. That is the sensibility present
in this body of mine, or in other words, what
does say ‘I,’ ‘I’ is chetana. As soon as someone
touches my body, I feel that my body has been
touched. That is chetana. But this chetana can
exist only because there is chit inside. Chetana
is just a little bit of expression of chit.
Maharaj: Well said. Rice is boiling in a
pot. From above we see the rice is hot. This
is because fire has heating power. Here the
heating power of fire is chit and the hotness of
the rice is chetana. This chit verily is Existence-
Knowledge-Bliss. Each soul (jivatman) verily is
Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.
That undivided chit decided—‘I will
become many.’ Then he became many. As if
the water in the sea has frozen and turned
into ice. Ice is just another manifestation of
water. The ice knows that it is only another
manifestation of water. After this the jivatman
in the form of ice covers itself with a veil of
Maya. Then it enters inside the body, the vital
force, the mind and the intellect and forgets
that it is the jivatman. It looks upon itself as
man. As it experiences various shocks, it thinks
there is no way out. It is then that renunciation
begins. And then comes the thought of God.
Attendant: Will you please say a little
about veiling (avarana) and projecting (vikshepa)
[powers of Maya]?
Maharaj: Suppose two boys are playing
by the bank of the river. Suddenly one boy
goes to the brink. One step more and he would
be carried away by the deep and swift current.
I look at the scene from my seat at a safe
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 20
distance. As soon as I see the boy at that point I
feel a great anxiety in my heart and I shout out.
This means I have forgotten my own ‘identity’
and have mixed up myself with the ‘identity’
of the boy. In other words, ‘for the time being’
I have veiled the knowledge that I am at a safe
place and identified myself with the boy. This
is called veiling and projection.
You have a beautiful torch; somebody
has given you that a few days ago. Suddenly
one evening you see a torch as beautiful as
that in the hands of someone else; immediately
you would think—how is it that my torch
has gone to his hands? What a play of veiling
and projection in the incident! Firstly, getting
possession of that torch of yours, and having
had it with yourself for two days, you identify
yourself with it and forget that you did not
have such a torch earlier. Secondly, you also
forget that there may exist other torches of the
same type. Exactly like that, we consider this
body as mine own. Yet how many times had I
assumed bodies of how many different types
in earlier births! Each time I had forgotten my
real identity and felt happiness or misery when
the body had been happy or miserable.
Premesh Maharaj had a good sense
of humour. He used to make fun in course
of discussing scriptures. I remember an
incident. Some people have the bad habit of
eavesdropping others’ words. A gentleman
had given Premesh Maharaj a Sitalpati (a kind
of mat that cools the body when one lies on
it). As Maharaj had already had one, he gave
it to a Brahmacharin. Now a fellow would
occasionally go to the latter’s room to meet
Srinath who also lived in the same room and
used to work in the field and the farmhouse.
Once the same man went to that room and
saw the Sitalpati spread on the bed of the
Brahmacharin. As he examined the Sitalpati
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 58 ~
with his hands, Srinath said that Maharaj
had given that thing to the Brahmacharin.
The gentleman exclaimed, ‘Oh, so that’s it!
Otherwise, I have been wondering how a
Brahmacharin could use such a [luxurious]
thing.’ Srinath Maharaj reported it to Premesh
Maharaj. After that whenever we went to
Premesh Maharaj he would say, ‘Oh, that’s
it! Otherwise, I have been wondering how a
Brahmacharin could use such a thing.’ We
would also burst into laughter.
One day Maharaj was telling us some
incidents of his life. He said, ‘In Sylhet all
of us—Gopesh, Soumyananda, Debesh and
myself—used to make merry in the name of
Thakur. One day a gentleman grave-facedly
told Soumyananda, “Laugh not, you laugh
not. You are Brahmacharins; so do not laugh”
(he said this in the peculiar dialect current in
Sylhet). We too would make merry among
ourselves and say in jest, ‘Laugh not, you
laugh not.’ (mimicking the same Sylhetese
intonation).*
One day we were discussing scriptures
with Maharaj—I do not remember the date.
Maharaj: I have explained the three states
and the witness to you over a long time. Tell
me a little what you have understood about
these.
Attendant: Ordinary people have three
types of state: (1) waking state, (2) dreaming
state, (3) state of deep sleep. In the waking
state we are active. Then our physical and
vital sheaths remain conscious. The physical
and vital sheaths act through the organs of
work and perception. In the dreaming state the
mind and the intellect are active. The mental
and intellectual sheaths remain conscious, but
the awareness of the physical world remains
* Sylheti is the Bengali spoken in Sylhet Division
of Bangladesh and the Barak Valley region of
southern Assam.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 21

veiled. In the state of deep sleep nothing

other than the vital principle is active. As if ‘I’
become totally non-existent. The mind merges
in the intellect, intellect merges in nescience
(ajnana). I experience the original I-ness (mula).
Maharaj: So you see the same ‘I’ is
undergoing the three states one after another.
I am not stable in any of these. So I am the
witness of the three states. In that case the
question arises—who am I?
Attendant: Why can I not recognize my
own true nature?
Maharaj: Whatever I think, the same
thought arises in my intellect and directs the
mind in that direction. For great many aeons
we have directed our intellect towards eating,
sleeping, etc. So it has become habituated to go
that way. If for several years we turn it again
towards what is good, it would run towards
that. It is itself insentient. It would go as it is Swami Premeshananda
directed.
One can dominate over body and mind as it is touched. Or to take another example
if one wills so. If Aurobindo wants to save the papaya tree rises upwards in search of
himself from the Britishers, he has to take light.
asylum in Pondicherry [which was a French Maharaj: Yes. See that the upper branches
territory]. Like that if the mind has to be saved and twigs spread themselves to respire.
from lust and anger, then one must take refuge Similarly small roots at the bottom spread
in God. themselves like tongues to take nourishment
Attendant: Why? from the earth.
Maharaj: One has to know how a person Attendant: So it is consciousness which
who has conquered lust, anger and greed has works through the ‘medium’ of the vital
done that and follow such a person. This also principle (prana). That means in the absence
results in thinking about and meditating on of consciousness there is no work for the vital
God. principle too.
Maharaj: You sow a seed in the ground;
17.10.1958 you would see how two roots come out
Maharaj: There are two [kinds of] of it. From the ant to man, all have that
entities—one is insentient, the other is sentient. Consciousness in them. That indivisible chit
Tell me what you have understood. desired that it would experience the life of an
Attendant: The tree is ‘apparently’ ant. So it entered the body of the ant. But after
insentient. But it has consciousness in it, thus entering that, it forgets that it is the indivisible
the lajjavati (mimosa) plant shrinks as soon chit. It thinks that it is an ant. In this way

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 59 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 22
after assuming 84 hundred thousand births it
becomes a man. Then for 100 human births,
after being knocked about and finding no
happiness in the world, it searches other things
and tries to understand itself. Had Thakur not
come we would have been compelled to wait
for another 100 births.
Attendant: How does Yoga-kshema-
vahamyaham (‘I [the Lord] carry what they lack
and preserve what they already have’, Gita
9/22) happen?
Maharaj: The answer is simple. Suppose
a monk has become tired and hunger-stricken.
There is no hope of a meal. Suddenly a party
of picnickers comes. They feed the monk to his
satisfaction.
22.10.1958
Maharaj saw a labourer in a beautiful
dress, passing by the Ashrama and said:
The country has awakened. But there is
dearth of money and a lot of suffering in the
country. Yet there will be progress and the
country will rise. It is not easy to repair an old
dilapidated house. There is need of new ‘idea’.
If one talks about continence, they say — that
would be violation of the dictates of God. One
will have to inject Swamiji’s ‘idea’ into this
stale, rotten society. Our priests had kept the
non-Brahmins as untouchables. There can be
Brahminhood in anybody. Duties in the shrine
should be assigned to persons who have the
India’s Timeless Wisdom
Kabir says, do not flaunt yourself and laugh at the poor, for, your boat is still afloat on
the ocean (of life). Who knows what would happen next!
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 60 ~
samskara of a Brahmin—not to those who have
only been born in a Brahmin family. Once
Swami Shivananda said to a Brahmacharin,
‘Go and offer the bhoga [food offerings].’ He
said, ‘I do not have a Brahmin body.’ Then
Maharaj (Swami Shivananda) said, ‘What did
you say? Why can one not be a Brahmin if one
is not born in a Brahmin family?’
To take the responsibility of an Ashrama
is not an easy proposition. To do that one
has to take the responsibility of the ‘spiritual
life’ of all. It will not do if one can deliver a
nice lecture or write a few lines of excellent
English. One will have to apply one’s mind to
the situation of the Ashrama one is in. There
has not been as yet any arrangement for giving
‘training’ on these.
An ideological movement centred at
Sylhet had begun in that region. There should
not be too much mixing of householders
with monks. If one aims at getting honour in
society, one should not take to monkhood.
Where can religion be found? Religion
rests in one’s hair. See that the Mohammedans,
Christians, the saints and sages among the
Hindus, all use hair in one form or other.
Again the monks here discard their hair. Do
you understand the situation? All had been
busying themselves with the outer shell
leaving out inner life. That is why Thakur
came and set up a new ideal.
(To be continued . . . .)
—Sant Kabir
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 23

Annual Report

Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission

Synopsis of the Governing Body Report for 2014-15
The 106th Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was held at Belur Math
on Sunday, the 27th December 2015 at 3.30 p.m. Following is the synopsis of the annual report
presented at the meeting which was attended by monastic and lay members. The meeting also
included presentation of the Report on the Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda.
UNESCO has established an official A new branch centre of Ramakrishna
relationship with the Ramakrishna Mission Mission was started at Shimla, Himachal
in the areas of inter-cultural dialogue, social Pradesh. ‘Sevavrata’ a new sub-centre of
cohesion and a culture of peace and non- Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Sargachhi,
violence for a period of six years. was started at Bairgachhi village, Dist
Foundation stone for the proposed Murshidabad, West Bengal. Outside India,
Centre for Human Excellence and Social Sciences, a new sub-centre of Jessore (Bangladesh)
‘Viveka Tirtha’, at Rajarhat, New Town, Mission centre was started at Narail,
Kolkata, was laid by the Chief Minister of Bangladesh.
West Bengal. International Diabetes Federation In educational field, the following
(IDF), Brussels, Belgium, awarded recognition new developments deserve special mention:
to the Certified Diabetes Educator-India (i) Smart Class facilities (computer-aided
(CDEI) programme at Vrindaban centre teaching tools) were introduced in our
for excellence in providing diabetes schools at Aalo (Arunachal Pradesh),
education to healthcare professionals. Chennai Mission Ashrama (Tamil
Shillong centre was conferred Nadu) and Deoghar (Jharkhand)
Youth and Education Award 2014, by centres; (ii) Karimganj (Assam)
‘Christ School International’ and ‘Don centre started a computer centre;
Bosco Centre for Indigenous Cultures’ in (iii) Delhi centre trained 1700 teachers
recognition of the centre’s excellent service in of 700 CBSE schools in Delhi NCR, Bhopal,
Northeast India. Cleanliness, a hallmark of our Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata in imparting
tradition, got an impromptu recognition under values education to students; (iv) Guwahati
the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of the Government centre launched a quarterly journal in
of India and the centres enthusiastically Assamese language, entitled Vivek Bltaskar.
undertook cleanliness drives in their localities. In medical field, the following new
The four-year-long service programme developments deserve special mention: (i)
was run in different parts of the country from two modular operation theatres with advanced
2010 to 2014. A sum of Rs. 93 crore was spent facilities and a new acupuncture clinic, etc., in
on these central-government-aided service Lucknow hospital; (ii) a cardiac care centre
projects. which includes a high dependency unit, cath.

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 61 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 24
lab and cardio-thoracic vascular surgery
unit etc at Seva Pratishthan, Kolkata; (iii)
Vrindaban centre opened a new emergency
block; (iv) Delhi centre upgraded the Fundus
Fluorescein Angiography (FFA) equipment at
its TB clinic.
In rural development field, the following
new projects deserve special mention: (i)
Ranchi (Morabadi) centre constructed 228
percolation tanks under the IWMP (Integrated
Watershed Management Programme), con-
structed gravity irrigation systems, which do
not need any power, at Piprabera, Simrabera,
Rupru and Jharna Pani villages of Angara
Block; (ii) A water treatment plant with a
capacity of 2000 litres per hour was installed
by Rajahmundry centre at Rampachodavaram
in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh for
the local tribal people; (iii) Narainpur centre
started various projects to develop 105 hectares
of land in 6 villages and 20 Anganwadis
helping 600 children.
Under the Math, following new projects
deserve special mention: (i) Ma Sarada Voca-
tional Training Centre was started at Baghbazar
(West Bengal) centre; (ii) A newly constructed
homeopathy dispensary was inaugurated
at Palai (Kerala) Ashrama; (iii) Ponnampet
(Karnataka) centre started a Vocational
Training Centre for providing training in
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 62 ~
tailoring, handloom, motor vehicle driving,
naturopathy assistant; (iv) The renovated
Dilaram Bungalow (sanctified by Swamiji’s
stay in 1892) at Vadodara (Gujarat) centre was
inaugurated.
Outside India, the following new
developments deserve special mention: (i)
Colombo centre, unveiled a bronze statue
of Swamiji at Sri Ponnambala Vaneshwarar
temple in Colombo which was visited by
Swamiji in 1897; (ii) Sacramento centre
celebrated its golden jubilee; (iii) A newly
built Universal Meditation Centre at Swami
Vivekananda College of Fiji centre was
inaugurated.
During the year, the Mission undertook
Welfare work by way of providing scholar-
ships to poor students, pecuniary help to old,
sick and destitute people, etc (about 8.22 lakh
beneficiaries); expenditure incurred Rs. 14.74
crore.
Medical service was rendered to more
than 81.62 lakh people through 10 hospitals,
74 dispensaries, 44 mobile medical units and
963 medical camps; expenditure incurred Rs.
167.08 crore.
Nearly 3.18 lakh students were study-
ing in our educational institutions from
kindergarten to university level, non-formal
education centres, night schools, coaching
classes, etc. A sum of Rs.267 crore was spent
on educational work.
A number of rural and tribal develop-
ment projects were undertaken with a total
expenditure of Rs. 11.74 crore benefiting about
16.96 lakh rural people.
The Mission and Math undertook
several relief and rehabilitation
programmes in different parts of the
country involving an expenditure of Rs. 6.34
crore, benefiting 2.98 lakh people of 1.18
lakh families.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 25
Commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda
A final report of the Central-Govern-
ment-grant-aided service projects from
08.10.2010 to 31.10.2014
1. Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa
(Integrated Child Development): Implemented
through 174 units in 23 states. About 18,300
children were benefited. A sum of Rs. 25.95
crore was spent.
2. Vivekananda Swasthya Parisheva
Prakalpa (Health Services Project for Mothers
& Children): About 13,700 mothers and
children were benefited through 126 units in
22 states. A sum of Rs. 17.98 crore was spent.
3. Sarada Palli Vikas Prakalpa (Women
Self-Empowerment): Implemented at 11
villages in 8 states. In all, 3194 women were
benefited. A sum of Rs. 2.04 crore was spent.
4. Swami Akhandananda Seva Pra-
kalpa (Poverty Alleviation): Project was
implemented through 12 units in 7 states.
Altogether 3109 people were benefited. A sum
of Rs. 2.01 crore was spent.
5. Special Service Activities (For
Professionals and Parents): Altogether 50,863
parents and professionals were benefited in 13
states. A sum of Rs. 99.32 lakh was spent.
6. Print Media Project : In all, 49.55 lakh
copies of books were printed, which included
short life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda
in 24 Indian & 3 Foreign (German, Japanese
& Zulu) languages, 75,000 copies on National
Leaders of India, The Cultural Heritage of
India—1100 sets (8 volumes), The Complete
Works of Swami Vivekananda - 1200 sets (9
volumes), etc. A sum of Rs. 6.16 crore was
spent.
We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to our members and friends for their
kind cooperation and help.
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 63 ~
7. Special Programmes for the Youth:
Youth Counseling Cells in 12 cities - counseled
48,714 youths; Organized 3 National Level,
6 Regional Level and 18 State Level Youth
Conventions / Camps—total participants:
88,600; Held competitions in essay-writing,
quiz, etc.,: 1 National Level, 4 Regional Level
and 13 State Level (total 4,57,304 participants);
Conducted Sustained Graded Value Education
Programmes through (a) 397 units (Non-formal
type) in 14 states with 17,904 students of 246
institutions; and (b) 2,692 units (Classroom-
based) in 18 states with 1,23,165 students of 774
schools. A sum of Rs. 28.74 crore was spent.
8. Electronic Media Project: Two docu-
mentaries—‘Women of India’ & ‘A Poet, a Man,
a Monk’, an e-book on Personality Development,
a multimedia presentation on Education, all
based on the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.
A documentary Rising India on the activities
for the disadvantaged; 26-episode Vivekananda
Answers, an interactive programme for the
youth, aired on Doordarshan. A sum of Rs. 2.87
crores was spent.
9. Cultural Programmes Project: Organi-
zed 2 International, 1 National, 3 Regi-
onal-Level, 10 State-Level Seminars & 5 Regi-
onal-Level Conferences on ‘Relevance of
Swami Vivekananda in meeting the challenges
in the 21st century’, ‘Religious Harmony’ and
‘Unity in Diversity’, etc. 19 Classical Music
programmes. A sum of Rs. 5.34 crores was
spent.
In all, a sum of Rs. 93 crore was spent on
the above projects.
Swami Suhitananda
General Secretary
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 26

Article

Vedanta and Swami Vivekananda

SWAMI TATHAGATANANDA

‘The Great Mine of Strength’ forces of nature and a slave to irresistible

In his lecture, ‘Vedanta and Indian Life’, passions. The consciousness of bondage, of
Swami Vivekananda remarked: weakness and of impurity is present in us,
The Upanishads are the great mine of strength.
Therein lies strength enough to invigorate the
whole world; the whole world can be vivified,
made strong, energized through them. They
will call with trumpet voice to the weak, the
miserable and the downtrodden of all races, all
creeds and all sects, to stand on their feet and be
free. Freedom, physical freedom, mental freedom
and spiritual freedom are the watchwords of the
Upanishads.1
And in his lecture, ‘The Mission of the
Vedanta’, he said:
Teach yourselves, teach everyone his real
nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how
it awakes. Power will come, glory will come,
goodness will come, and everything that is
excellent will come when this sleeping soul is
roused to self-conscious activity.2
Swamiji looked upon Vedanta as a great
source of inspiration. The Vedantic doctrines
of Atman points out that the human spirit is
in reality identical with the Supreme Being.
Atman is one and universal. The primary
message of Vedanta, according to Swamiji, is Swami Vivekananda
the proclamation of man’s true nature as the because we have forgotten our identity, and
birthless, deathless Spirit, ever free, perfect and the moment we assert our divinity again, the
ever pure. The human being is not really the inalienable nature of ours, which no amount of
weak and groveling creature that he seems to self-hypnosis can really change, it will manifest
be—a creature who is at the mercy of hundred itself. The world of matter which appears so

The author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and the Head of Vedanta Society, New York. His
books include The Journey of the Upanishads to the West, and Light from the Orient, among others. o

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 64 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 27
vast and so overpowering is only a misreading
of the nature of the Supreme Atman.
The next important teachings of Vedanta
that caught the imagination of Swamiji were
those about abhaya (fearlessness), shraddha
(faith and reverence) and tyaga (renunciation).
Vedanta View of Life
Vedanta does not preach a static view
of life. It is a perennial source of strength
and creativity. Its theme is the freedom of
the human spirit. It underlines the infinite
dimensions of the human personality. It
explains every great movement, social,
political or religious—nay, the entire gamut
of life itself as an expression of the urge for
freedom that is inherent in man. The Atman is
the basis of our consciousness, our happiness,
even of our very existence. One man differs
from another in body, colour, race or mental
attitudes, but not in this essential truth of his
being, his self. This is the real point behind
universal religion and the brotherhood of
man. The discovery of this truth is indeed of
momentous importance.
Sister Nivedita has aptly described
Swamiji as ‘the worker at foundations’.
He is the only man who has utilized the
life-giving message of Vedanta for the
regeneration of India and for the establishment
of Universal Religion. The base of his
mission is a spiritual non-dualism and any
eclectic, exotic, superficial, pseudo-universal
religious propaganda indulged in by modern
intellectuals have no insight into the spiritual
unity of man. Vivekananda saw to it that
Vedanta no longer remained confined to the
forest and given over to scholastic speculation,
but was made the property of the masses for
lifting them up in the spiritual scale, as well
as for sustaining them in the struggle of life.
The concept of Atman has not been applied
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 65 ~
previously for the elevation of the collective
life of the people and for providing a solid
basis for all-round prosperity.
In the light of the gospel of Neo-Vedanta,
there is ‘no distinction henceforth between
sacred and secular. To labour is to pray. To
conquer is to renounce. Life is itself religion.
To have and to hold is as stern a trust as to
quit and avoid.’3 Taking his stand on this set
principle, the great Swami deduced a series of
consequences bearing vitally on the entirety of
life, thought and activity.
The situation that faced Swamiji in his
time was a very complex and baffling one.
India was groaning under the heels of the
foreign conqueror. It was no longer isolated
and was exposed to the influence of the
Christian missions, English education, Western
culture, and materialism augmented by science
and technology. Hence the Indian renaissance
that began with the advent of Rammohan
Roy was not confined to religion. People were
interested in many things—politics, social
reform, science and materialism. Religion itself
was caste-ridden; rituals and superstition were
choking it. Atheism was rampant; poverty,
stagnation and exploitation were the order
of the day. What was needed was all-round
reconstruction at a rapid pace.
The modern age was different from
the age of religious revolution of the
Upanishadic era and the times of expansion
and consolidation of the message of Gita.
In Swamiji’s view, man had too long been
obsessed with the idea of sin and weakness.
It was high time for man to wake up to the
consciousness of his own divine nature
which was his birthright. This alone was
rightly considered to be a panacea for all
maladies of stagnant and moribund life. Self-
knowledge alone could foster love and mutual
understanding between man and man.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 28
It alone would summon men and
women everywhere to the mighty adventure
of freedom and fearlessness, sympathy
and service, and to the spiritual realization
of inner unity, and thus help the solving
of the formidable problems of life. An
overemphasis of the jnana attitude was a
historical necessity—for counteracting the
pernicious and debasing effects of the feeling
of unworthiness of man, which feeling was
engendered by slavery. The Swami said,
‘Strength is the medicine of the world’s
disease.’4 To him, spirituality was strength
and strength was the test of true realization.
Vedanta in his hands became a gospel of
intense activity and connoted the widest
expansion of the spirit. It became a great
force for the moral regeneration of an India
that was haunted by the spectre of fatalism,
defeat and decay. Again and again the Swami
reminded his countrymen of their glorious
spiritual heritage and stressed the special role
his generation had to play in the evolution of
modern renascent India. The reconstruction of
India had to be based, he said, on the bedrock
of her spiritual resources, on the Upanishads,
which were an inexhaustible mine of infinite
strength. He taught that without faith in
the Atman—ever free, pure, immortal, self-
luminous, as the Upanishads describe it, men
could not be strong and invincible.
That period in India’s history in which
Swamiji lived and worked was characterized,
in part, by the search of ideologies. Swamiji
presented Vedanta as a fearless philosophy
of life which helped man to frame ideas for
himself ‘with the intensity of the fanatic and
the extensity of the materialist’. In Swamiji,
Hinduism got a fresh lease on life and
vigour. He infused Hinduism with the ideal
of complete self-dedication to the service
of humanity. He encouraged the study of
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 66 ~
new knowledge for the improvement of
the secular life of people. He also made
Hinduism dynamic by enkindling in it the
zeal for dissemination of the gospel of
universal truths for the welfare of the
humanity at large.
Swamiji emphasized a twofold appli-
cation of Vedanta in practical life:
(1) arousing man’s faith in himself, and
(2) serving brother-men in the spirit of
serving God.
A distinctive character of Swamiji’s
message was its comprehensiveness. His
message was meant for all grades of life.
In conformity with the Vedic teachings, he
recognized a twofold way—the pravritti marga
and the nivritti marga. He declared,
Our duty is to encourage everyone in his struggle
to live up to his own highest ideal, and strive
at the same time to make the ideal as near as
possible to the truth.
An outstanding discovery of the
Swami has to be mentioned here. His histo-
rical knowledge and insight unveiled to
him the supreme fact that spirituality was
the very lifeblood of India and that her
regeneration had to be worked up on a
spiritual basis. Underlying all diversities of
sects, castes, doctrines, rites, customs, etc.,
there was a spiritual unity in Indian life
which his extraordinary genius clearly saw.
No extraneous forces could, he knew, help
the growth of a nation as much as the slow-
moving yet formative forces of its own national
life could. The life force of India, he saw, was
religion and religion alone. He said,
In India, religious life forms the centre, the
keynote of the whole music of national life, and
if any nation attempts to throw off its national
vitality, the direction which has become its own
through the transmission of centuries—that
nation dies, if it succeeds in the attempt.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 29
Swamiji not only preached this ideal,
but he went a step further and warned the
country that India’s special gift to the world
throughout the ages had been the profound
truths of spiritual life and that on her
regeneration depended the regeneration of
the world.
Spirit of Tyaga—the Basis of Vedanta
The spirit of Vedanta, asserted Swamiji,
was through and through permeated by the
idea of renunciation. The alpha and omega
in India was renunciation. Give up, says the
Veda, give up. Na karmana, na prajaya dhanena,
tyagenaike amritattvam anasuh (‘neither through
karma, nor through progeny, nor through
wealth, but only through renunciation have
some attained immortality’). So he emphasized
the twin ideals of our culture—renunciation
and service.
It was Swamiji’s philosophy of mobility
and vitality based on the message of the
Aitareya Brahmana—charaiveti—‘move on’,
which gave a tremendous inspiration to the
new forces operating in modern India. Said
he, ‘My hope is to see again the strong points
of India, reinforced by the strong points of
this age, only in a natural way. The new state
of things must be a growth from within.’
Swamiji’s all-encompassing vision took in its
ken those who aspired after temporal values
as well as those who sought spiritual bliss. He
said,
With us the prominent idea is mukti—there was
a time in India when dharma was compatible
with mukti. There were worshippers of dharma
such as Yudhishtira, Arjuna, Bhisma and Karna,
side by side with the aspirants of mukti such as
Vyasa, Suka, Janaka. On the advent of Buddhism,
dharma was entirely neglected and the path of
moksha alone became predominant. The central
fact is that the fall of our country, of which we
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 67 ~
hear so much spoken, is due to the utter want
of this dharma. Without enjoyment, renunciation
can never come.
A New Order of Monasticism
Hence, Swamiji deviated from the
traditional way, by not imparting the
cardinal Vedic teaching of the divinity
of the soul exclusively to the seekers of
spiritual knowledge. He democratized it
and proclaimed its message to one and all,
to the spiritual seekers as well as to the
materialists. He recommended its application
not only for spiritual development but also
for material and intellectual development.
He said, ‘This infinite power of the spirit
brought to bear upon matter evolves material
development; made to act upon thoughts,
evolves intellectually and made to act upon
itself, makes man a God. Manifest the divinity
within and everything will be harmoniously
arranged around it.’
He also enjoined on the monks of
Ramakrishna Order a twofold duty: While
striving for his own liberation the seeker
should work for the good of the world as
well. And here lay the originality of the
Swamiji. He, with his Guru, Shri Ramakrishna,
for the first time in the history of Indian
philosophy, combined the monistic Vedanta
theory of the oneness of Brahman with the
monotheistic Vedanta
practice of universal
love and service. Vedic
seers, Jains, Buddhists,
Monotheistic Vedantists
and many others
preached and practiced
the ideal of service to
humanity. But none
before had preached
the ideal of service to
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 30
man as God Himself. In fact, in the whole
history of mankind, as has been well stated,
none has proclaimed the glory and grandeur of
man—his absolute divinity, infinite greatness,
and immeasurable dignity in such a vehement
manner as Swamiji.
He elevated and sublimated the em-
pirical to the transcendental, instead of
denying the former.
The Vedanta does not in reality denounce the
world—it really means deification of the world—
giving up the world as we think of it, as we know
it, as it appears to us and to know what it really
is. . . You can have your wife but you are to see
God in the wife. In life and in death, in happiness
and in misery, the Lord is equally present. The
whole world is full of the Lord. Open your eyes
and see Him. This is what Vedanta teaches.5
And, this may be taken as one of the
best commentaries on the Vedanta. He
emphasized equally the twin aspects of
Supreme Godhead—the transcendental and
the immanent. Swamiji pointed out that the
Vedanta, in all its forms, is intensely practical.
Two celebrated mantras—sarvam khaluvidam
Brahma (The world is Brahman)6, and ayamatma
Brahma (The soul is Brahman)7, give the most
comprehensive view of the state of things
in the universe. Swamiji had to deal with
the active, busy, complex life of intellectual
triumph and material achievement—a life
which demanded the spiritualizing principle
of karma. Idleness in the garb of contemplation
was no longer to be tolerated. He had to rouse
all to action. In fact, he presented karma yoga
to people, with a broad and elevated outlook,
without denying the bliss and glory of the real
meditative life.
The Ideal of Service
In his view, all domestic, social, and
humanitarian deeds could be performed in
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 68 ~
the spirit of service to God. His message was
the logical conclusion of the teachings of the
Vedanta, the Gita and the Bhagavatam. Truly
speaking, it was not at all a new message. But
its practical application in every department
of life had not been tried before. Such a course
had been recommended by Shri Ramakrishna
himself. ‘No, not kindness to living beings, but
service to God dwelling in them’, said he. He
further said, ‘If God can be worshiped through
a clay image, then why not through a man?’
It was to the singular credit and eternal glory
of Swamiji that he exhorted us to practise this
teaching in the modern age for the welfare of
the suffering humanity. He blended the ethical
and spiritual ideals beautifully. His message
was for men of realization, too. Serving man
even after attaining the Supreme Bliss had to
be regarded as a very high state—a state of
super-knowledge and super-devotion.
Shri Ramakrishna and his disciples have
emphasized the ideal of living in the world as
a free soul for the well-being of the humanity.
This is the vijnani stage of evolution. Swamiji
linked Vedanta and Buddhism. His view
was that one was incomplete without the
other. Swamiji felt the need of all the three
systems of philosophy—Dvaita, Advaita and
Vishishthadvaita. He brought out their inner
glory, inherent beauty, and infinite wealth
through his message and synthesized in a
simple, straightforward and charming manner.
In his view, the oneness of Advaita had to be
reached through Dvaita and Vishishthadvaita,
as the three were not contradictory, but
complementary.
This synthesis of Dualism, Qualified
Monism and Monism was the work of the
mastermind of Swamiji. It was indeed a
marvelous ‘discovery’. The Advaita, as
propounded and practiced by Swamiji,
was therefore marked by a wonderful
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 31
spirit of acceptance of diversity. Thus the
originality of Swamiji lies in that, though a
staunch Advaitin, he recognized the supreme
importance and absolute necessity of feelings
in one’s spiritual life. ‘It is feeling that is life,
the strength, the vitality, without which no
amount of intellectual activity can reach God.’
This feeling or love is the logical and living
outcome of his realization of the basic and
infinite unity of creation. Love and knowledge
are by no means opposed, but are rather
complementary—like the hard stem and the
soft petal of a flower.
The hiatus between the ideal and the
practical has been beautifully bridged by his
emphasis on the practice of Vedanta in life.
Swamiji has thus carved a place for himself as
modern apostle of Advaita, of cosmic unity.
His words have become the modern hymn of
Advaita: ‘I see God in all that exists. I see him
as completely in the least fragment as in the
whole cosmos. . . .’
Head and Heart Combination
Swamiji indeed had ‘the head of
Shankara and the heart of Chaitanya, the eyes
of a Monist and the hands of a Monotheist,
References
1. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita
Ashrama, Calcutta, Vol. III, p. 238
2. Ibid., Vol. III, p. 193
3. Ibid., Vol. I, p. xv
Why weepest thou, brother? There is neither death nor disease for thee.
Why weepest thou, brother? There is neither misery nor misfortune for thee.
Why weepest thou, brother? Neither change nor death was predicated of thee.
Thou art Existence Absolute.... Be your own Self.
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 69 ~
the tenacity of a scholar and the tenderness
of a lover, the devotion of a Theist and the
spirit of service of a Humanist.’ We may call
his interpretation of the Vedanta doctrine by a
new name, manava advaitavada or ‘Humanistic
Monism’. For whoever sang manava-mahatmya,
or the glory of man, in sweeter tunes than he?
Swamiji said,
No books, no scriptures, no science can ever
imagine the glory of the self that appears as
man, the most glorious God that ever was, the
only God that ever existed, exists or ever will
exist. Bold, brave beyond the conception of the
present day stand the giant minds of the sages
of the Upanishads, declaring the noblest truths
that have ever been preached to humanity,
without any compromise, without any fear.
This, my countrymen, I want to lay before you.
. . . go back to your Upanishads, the shining,
the strengthening, the bright philosophy, and
part from all these mysterious things, all these
weakening things. Take up this philosophy;
the greatest truths are the simplest things in the
world, simple as your existence. The truths of
the Upanishads are before you. Take them up,
live up to them, and the salvation of India will
be at hand.8
Such were the ringing words of Swamiji. o
4. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 201
5. Ibid., Vol. II, p. 146
6. Chandogya Upanishad, 3.14.1
7. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 4.4.5
8. The Complete Works, Vol. III, p. 225
—Swami Vivekananda
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 32

New Find

Unpublished Letters of
Swami Saradananda1
Math. Belur. Howrah.
India. April 30, 08.
My dear Granny2–
I am sure you will be sorry to get my last letter but those are my
present feelings.
Kindly tell Nivedita that I will try to answer her questions next
mail as I will have to consult some books for them. I hope she is well.
When do you think she will come back to us? How is her mother? I hear
that she was ill.
How is Dr.Bose? We are indeed sorry & anxious to hear that he was ill. I hope he is quite
himself again.
Will you not come to India with Nivedita & Dr.Bose? It will be so good if you can. I hope
you have fully recovered from the effects of Influenza.
How are the lectures of Abhedada received in London. May I trouble you to send the
enclosed letter to Swami Abhedananda, as I do not know his London address or the address of
the Society?
Sister Christine has gone to Mayabati for the summer. We have not had any of those
beautiful April showers & thunderstorms as yet & it is hot.
Famine is almost all over Northern India! Our Relief works have been opened this year in
April by the side of the Chilka Lake.
So many known to us have died this year of plague & Cholera & other diseases. Cholera &
Typhoid are still raging in Calcutta.
Poor India! I do not know how she will be saved from these fell diseases & especially from
famine which has now become a regular annual occurrence!
With my love to you dear Granny in which Jogin Maa has desired to join hers and prayers
to Sri RK as ever
Yours affecly
Saradananda

Math. Belur. Howrah.

India. Oct.7.09.
My dear Grannie,
I have not had the pleasure of hearing from you, since your return from Norway. I hope
this does not mean illness.
I have mailed you about ten days ago 3 photographic pictures of the Math and the grounds.
I hope these will reach you in good condition. Kindly give one to Santi and one to Agnes, with

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 70 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 33

my best wishes and blessings. I am sorry I have been as negligent in my correspondence with
them as ever and I believe I am too old now to correct this bad habit with such increasing amount
of work every year on me. And if my friends in America do not realize for this, that I cherish the
same warm feelings towards them as ever, I am sure I will be much misunderstood—but there is
no help. I will send you more photos of the Math if you write me for them.
I am well—only my eyes are getting weaker daily though I do not work at night, since the
doctors told me so.
Nivedita is well and in Calcutta. She intends going to Darjeeling for a few weeks soon. We
are publishing her book on “The Master as I saw him.” The book will be out by December next.
Sister Christine is in Darjeeling with the Boses. I do not know when she will be returning.
You know perhaps she is in charge of a daughter of the late Mrs. Asu Bose, who is suffering from
Pthisis seriously. The school is being conducted by the Hindu Ladies, whom the sisters have
trained by this time.
The Holy Mother is in Calcutta now and putting up in the little house, which we have built
at Baghbazar recently and of which I spoke to you in one of my former letters. The house is a tidy
one but has too little accommodation, considering Her large family of children.
Sister Nivedita & myself have found out by talking to Her that She (the Holy Mother) would
like to see a convent erected in the fashion of the Math, Belur for the women. Miss Glenn who
was here to visit the Holy Mother, and who paused here in the name of Sister Devamata (most
possibly offered to her by Swami Ramakrishnananda), had also a talk with the Holy Mother about
it and is very sanguine about the work. She has promised to help raising funds as far as she can.
She is now on her way to New York.
Now if such a women’s convent is ever to be it must have a house or wing for western ladies
and a house or wing for Indian ladies of various provinces, besides a room or two for the Holy
Mother Herself and outhouses, cowsheds & grounds etc. Then alone will it be such as Swamiji
had planned for bringing the East & West together. I write you all this so that you might lay it
on your head & see how far it might be made practicable regarding funds. I must consult Swami
Brahmananda as soon as he comes from Puri, before settling definitely on some such plan.
I am giving Sister Christine her monthly allowance of Rs 25/-. The amount that you sent will
last till December next. So kindly send another cheque by that time if it does not inconvenience
you in any way.
I hope Olea is well & the adopted girl prospering. Remember me kindly to her & to all who
care for me yet.
We are all so sorry to hear of Mr.Leggett’s death.
With my love & blessings to my grannie
The affectionate boy
Saradananda

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

Courtesy: Ramakrishna Museum, Belur Math

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 71 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 34

Article

Baba Premananda Bharati and the

Vedanta Society
GOPAL STAVIG

From A Journalist to a Vaishanava Monk evidence comes forth. According to The Gospel
Surendranath Mukherjee (or Mukherji) of Sri Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna attended the
the man later known as Baba Premananda Chaitanya Lila at the Star Theatre on Sunday,
Bharati(1858-1914) was born into an September 21, 1884. ‘He was accompanied by
orthodox family in Dhaka in January 1858.
After attending the University of Calcutta,
Surendranath became a journalist, writer and
editorial staff member of the Lahore Tribune
and the Punjab Times. He then traveled to
Calcutta and founded his own newspaper,
the Gup and Gossip. The following statement
by Professor Gerald T. Carney the leading
authority on Baba Bharati in the West describes
his personality aptly. Carney received this
information from a Bengali source:
In Calcutta Mukherjee [or Mukherji]
formed part of the cadre of young Bengali
intellectuals who gathered around Rama-
krishna, a group that included the playwright
Girish Chandra Ghosh, Narendra Datta (later,
Swami Vivekananda), and Amritlal Roy. In Baba Premananda Bharati
this company he attended a performance of the M. Baburam, Mahendra [Mukherji], and two
Chaitanya Lila, staged by Girish Chandra Ghosh or three others.’2
at Calcutta’s Star Theater from August 1884. This What has been verified is Bharati’s
experience brought about the religious conversion wonderful conversion experience discovered
of the young journalist. No exact date is given for by professor Carney in an old newspaper. It
this conversion experience.1 is to the credit of Girish Ghosh that this life
It must be cautioned that this statement transforming event occurred when Bharati was
must be considered to be tentative until further viewing one of his powerful devotional plays.

For over 50 years the author has been a member of Vedanta Society of Southern California, USA. He is the
author of the book Western Admirers of Ramakrishna and His Disciples, edited and published by Advaita
Ashrama Kolkata, and has contributed thoughtful articles to various religious and philosophical journals
including The Vedanta Kesari. o

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 72 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 35
In Bharati’s own words from the New York
Herald of November 23, 1902:
But just at this time my religious instinct started
to assert itself, and very soon it overcame
my passion for journalism. I was witnessing
a performance of ‘Chaitanya Lila’ at the Star
Theatre. Chaitanya was an incarnation of
Krishna, the Form Manifestation of the Hindoo’s
absolute deity . . . This indescribable, wondrous
scene made a profound impression upon me. I
had at last found my religion of love so hazily
understood in boyhood, and resolved to give
my life to it. With this awakening all attraction
for things material left me, and in the depth of
my heart flowed a stream of nectar which every
moment thrilled through my being. ‘Krishna,
my beloved!’ I exclaimed to myself, ‘I am
thine forever. Thou art the mystery of love, the
universe is its expression, and Chaitanya their
most merciful explanation. Merciful, O Lord,
because thou art thy Chaitanya thyself, thou
comest again as thy own devotee to teach us the
way to thee.’3
As a result of this experience, Baba
Bharati became a Vaishnava sannyasin in
1890, being a disciple of Srimad Brahmananda
Bharati and a devotee of a young Prabhu
Jagadbandhu (1871-1921). He tells us,
I then proceeded to the holy land of Brindaban,
about a thousand miles from there, on foot. It
took me about two months . . . After preaching
and singing the praises of Krishna and Chaitanya
for ten years I retired to live for good in
Radhakund in the forests of Brindaban . . . They
were the holiest men I have ever seen.
Towards America
His brother wrote that Baba Bharati
‘got a command from Sree Chaitanya in a
dream to proceed to America to help Swami
Abhayananda in her mission to spread
Vaishnavism in the world.’ Abhayananda was
the former Marie Louise, a devotee of Swami
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 73 ~
Vivekananda who was then preaching in
Chicago.4
After traveling to Suez, Paris and
London, on October 15, 1902, Bharati arrived
in New York City and soon became a popular
spokesman for Indian religion in the West.
Bharati greatly benefited from Vivekananda’s
success in the West and he was aided in his
mission by a number of devotees of Swamiji.
His biographer Carney wrote, ‘There are
reports that Baba Bharati had met with Swami
Vivekananda in India, and may have received
the names of some contacts [in the West] from
him.’
The New York Herald of November
23, 1902 described him this way. ‘As Baba
[Bharati] speaks and writes English with
skill and frequency, he has great advantages
over many Hindoos visiting this country.
His personality is pleasing, fascinating and
picturesque. He is a handsome man, tall,
statuesque, dignified, with dark, sparkling
eyes.’ The following day an article from
the New York Times mentioned that Swami
Abhedananda and Baba Bharati were among
200 hundred guests who attended the recep-
tion of Countess Zampini Salazar in New York
City.
A six-column feature article followed
in the New York Herald of February 23, 1903
subtitled ‘Growing Interest Among New York
Christians in the Philosophy Taught by Two
Indian Priests.’ It deals entirely with Baba
Bharati and Swami Abhedananda with their
photographs included, but does not mention
if they made contact with one another. Bharati
is pictured with his most important disciple
Rose Reinhardt Anthon (d. 1951). Eight years
previously, on the last day of February 1895,
Miss Anthon sang a song at a gathering held
at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Amzi Barber. On
that occasion Swami Vivekananda lectured
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 36
on ‘The Vedanta Philosophy: Soul.’ Three
of Bharati’s sponsors were the Episcopal
Reverend R. Heber Newton (1840-1914) a
great admirer of Swami Abhedananda; Charles
Lanman (1850-1941) of Harvard University
who aided in producing Vivekananda’s
book The Vedanta Philosophy, and as a friend
of Abhedananda was an honorary member
of his Vedanta Society in New York; and
Dr. Felix Adler (1851-1933) founder of the
Ethical Cultural Society previously visited
years earlier by Swami Saradananda who
was scheduled to speak there. Adler and
Vivekananda were two of three guest speakers
at the Convention of the Free Religious Society
held on August 13, 1894.5 Ella Wheeler Wilcox
the famous poet and a great admirer of Swami
Vivekananda attended the classes of Baba
Bharati in New York City. Concerning his
book on Sree Krishna (1904) she wrote, ‘It is
most interesting. I find it most clearly and
simply told... It broadens and interests, and
so I enjoy your most exhaustive work on
Creation.’ In 1910 or 1911 she published a short
article in Bharati’s journal praising Swami
Vivekananda.6
References
1. Bharati, Baba, Sri Krishna: The Lord of Love, ed. Neal
Delmonico (Kirksville, MO: Blazing Sapphire,
2007), pp. xxviii, p. 332. The biography is this
book was written by Professor of Religion,
Gerald T. Carney of Hampden-Sydney College
in Virginia. Gerald Carney, ‘Baba Premananda
Bharati (1857-1914), an Early Twentieth-Century
Encounter of Vaishnava Devotion with American
Culture,’ Journal of Vaishnava Studies (Spring
1998), pp. 161-88.
2. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, pp. 550-51.
3. New York Herald (Nov. 23, 1902) found in Bharati
(2007), pp. xxix, 332-33.
4. Bharati (2007), pp. xxx-xxxii, 334-36; New York
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 74 ~
At Greenacre Summer Conferences
At Greenacre owned by Sarah Farmer
(1847-1916), Bharati shared the stage with
Swami Rama Tirtha (1873-1906) during July
and August 1904. Miss Farmer had invited
Vivekananda whom she greatly admired to
the Greenacre Summer Conferences ten years
previously. Swami Rama Tirtha, a former
University professor at Lahore, in 1897 was
motivated by Swami Vivekananda to renounce
the world and become a monastic. The director
of the Monsalvat School for the Comparative
Study of Religion at Greenacre who selected
the speakers at that time was Myron Phelps
(1856-1916). He had invited Vivekananda
to his home in New York City on more than
one occasion conversing on the subject of
education in India. These conversations
brought about a radical change in Mr. Phelps
who renounced his successful career as a
lawyer and devoted his life to the betterment
of India where he passed away in 1916.
From October 1904 until June 1905, Bharati
engaged in a series of lectures in the city of
Boston.7
(To be Continued . . . )
Herald (Nov. 23, 1902).
5. Bharati (2007), pp. xxxiv-xlii, 330-31, 339; New
York Times (March 1, 1895), p. 8; (Nov. 24, 1902);
Gopal Stavig, Western Admirers of Ramakrishna
and His Disciples, ed. Swami Shuddhidananda
(Advaita Ashrama, 2010), pp. 397, 432, 456-57,
679, 817; Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda
in the West (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1987), II,
pp. 161-62.
6. Bharati (2007), pp. lxxv; Los Angeles Times (May
13, 1906), p. VI18; Prabuddha Bharata (Feb-March
1911), p. 58.
7. Bharati (2007), pp. xlii-vii; Stavig (2010), pp. 333,
361.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 37
Article
Theory and Practice of Eco-Yoga
Thoughts on How Yoga Can Help Remedy Environmental Issues
K.V.RAGHUPATHI
The Contemporary Scene
Over the past few decades since the
Second World War, there has been a deep
concern over the environment destruction.
For every creature to live happily and co-exist,
not merely human beings, balance has to be
maintained between nature and us. There
has been no problem with the animals and
birds as they do not know what destruction
is. They live perfectly in tune with nature. It is
instinctive and inherent. The problem is with
man. He is the prime cause for disturbing
the balance in nature caused by his own
selfish motives. As a result there has been an
incredible change in climate as well as in the
survival of several creatures.
In the beginning, until the advent of
Industrial Revolution in Europe man was
maintaining balance with nature. Man was in
harmony with nature. Only after the advent of
technology, man has increasingly become self-
centered, selfish and greedy. Natural resources
have been systematically exploited to meet
and satisfy man’s greed and ambition. With
the result, he has lost balance with nature.
Therefore the need of the hour is restoring this
balance between man and nature.
Ecology, to put it simple, is a study of
nexus between man and nature. It emphasizes
that all life is interconnected. How we live,
how and what we eat, how and where we
Dr. K.V. Raghupathi is Senior Assistant Professor in English, Central University of Tamil Nadu. Thiruvarur,
Tamil Nadu. He has a number of articles and books to his credit. o
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 75 ~
work, how we talk and behave, how we
maintain relationship and even how we study
and interact are interrelated activities. Our
earth is a beautiful planet where we have to
live with all creatures in a harmonious way
without taking away the life by reckless killing
and indiscriminate destruction. This earth does
not belong to any particular human being/s
or creature/s. It belongs to all. Everyone
including tiny ants have a place in it. As Walter
Rojas Perez, a Latin American advocate-critic
of environment, says, ‘our home planet is our
“Spaceship Earth”, a place where none are
conquerors but all crew members’ (Bressler,
231).
Unfortunately, this most beautiful
planet is being exploited indiscriminately
by killing and eliminating flora and fauna.
Before the advent of human civilization,
man was a hunter. He was surviving only on
killing animals and birds. As the civilization
began expanding more and more, as man
became increasingly conscious of himself,
he has increasingly become greedy. With
the advent of Industrial Revolution coupled
with numerous scientific discoveries and
inventions, man instead of making himself
more sensible and sensitive to the environment
became the potential cause for damaging
ecological balance. He became more ruthless,
greedy, lustful and self-centered. As these evil
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 38
thoughts, feelings and emotions enveloped
him leading to destruction all around and
further plunged the earth into a deep crisis
by emptying the resources and dwindling the
rare species, there arose a desperate cry and
need for preserving the balance on this planet
as well as life.
These environmental concerns and
studies have not been confined only to Life
Sciences but have become chief concerns
of several social science disciplines such as
Sociology, Anthropology, Economics and
Political Science. In Literary world these
environmental studies have been dubbed
with a variety of names: green studies, green
cultural studies, green criticism, Eco poetics,
literary ecology, environmental literary
criticism, and perhaps, the most popular name,
eco-criticism.
Nature Writings and Eco-criticism
What is Eco-criticism? Eco-criticism is
the latest emerging field in literary studies
that directly relates who we are as human
beings to the environment. This has been
developed in the west in late 1980s. The
practitioners of eco-criticism emphasize place,
nature and the physical world attesting to
the interconnectedness between humans,
their culture and nature. Perhaps the most
succinct and best definition of Eco-criticism
has been found in the book The Eco-criticism
Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology (1995)
jointly edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold
Fromm:
Simply put, Eco-criticism is the study of the
relationship between literature and the physical
environment. Just as Feminist Criticism examines
language and literature from a gender conscious
perspective and Marxist criticism brings an
awareness of modes of production and economic
class to its reading of texts, Eco-criticism takes
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 76 ~
an earth centered approach to literary studies.
(Bressler, 231-2).
Eco-criticism has now become a legiti-
mate field of study in literary criticism with its
canonical status dating from 1993. The term
‘Eco-criticism’ was first coined by William H.
Ruckert in his article, ‘Literature and Ecology:
An Experiment in Eco-criticism’ (1978).
Writing about nature is not a recent
phenomenon. It is found in all continental
literatures in all traditions and cultures.
These writings called ‘nature literature’ are
as old as world literature itself. When we
talk about such writings we are immediately
struck by writers such as Ralph Waldo
Emerson whose essay on ‘Nature’ has been
considered a treatise on nature, Henry David
Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott
who are popularly known as ‘American
Transcendentalists’ and the English Romantic
poets such as William Wordsworth, John
Keats, P.B. Shelley, S.T. Coleridge, Robert
Southey and William Blake. These writers,
most of them were poets, have celebrated
beauty in nature; and some like Emerson and
Wordsworth have said that one can derive
immense spiritual and moral discipline from
her, and recognized the Supreme Principle
/ Power in her. Long before these writers,
the Greeks and Romans authored texts that
contained pastoral scenes that highlight setting
and the natural world.
Lawrence Buell in The Future of Environ-
mental Criticism: Environmental Crisis and
Literary Imagination (2005) identified two
waves in the field of eco-criticism. The first
wave (from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s),
according to him, is the somewhat older
environmental criticism of the twentieth
century that reread and examined ‘nature
writing’ of the nineteenth century. This divides
itself on geographical grounds: American
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 39
and British. The American authors of mid-
nineteenth century such as Margaret Fuller
(1810-1850), editor of the literary mouth
piece for the American Transcendentalists,
The Dial, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry
David Thoreau set the standard for nature
writing. They have highlighted their chief
concerns on place, setting, nature, earth and
the elemental forces embodied in nature
itself. Simultaneously in Great Britain the
first wave scholars focused their attention
on the Romantic poets such as Wordsworth,
Keats, Shelley, Blake, Coleridge and Southey
who centered their writings on nature by
celebrating her beauty.
Second wave of criticism, on the
other hand, examines more current works
such a Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962),
which focuses directly more on current
environmental concerns. These critics, chiefly
Richard Kerridge, have been active in the
environmental justice movement. Proponents
of this movement have highlighted questions
of gender, class, race and colonialism,
challenging the first wave eco critics who
seem more interested in preserving ‘wild’
and untamed nature than protecting the
environment.
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 77 ~
The emergence of this second wave can
be dated from the mid-1980s in America and
the early 1990s in Great Britain. A pivotal
year for Eco-criticism is 1992. It was in this
year the Association of Literature and the
Environment (ASLC) was formed along with
its official academic journal Interdisciplinary
Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)
first published in 1993. Since then the leading
eco critics have contributed significantly to eco
critical theory and practice.
These critics have focused on a set of
questions to be raised by the readers while
reading such a text where nature has been
depicted: What do we mean by ‘nature’ both
in a given text and in our world? How nature
is portrayed in a text? How are the characters
in a text portrayed in relationship with nature?
How do the characters interact with nature?
How does nature interact with the characters?
How does the text demonstrate how the
microcosm (humanity) affects the macrocosm
(nature) and how the macrocosm affects the
microcosm? How does the actual physical
setting of the text affect the texts’ plot? How
are race, class and gender illustrated in the
text, and how are they related to nature or
the land? What particular historical period
is depicted in the text? How is this historical
period related to issues of nature or the
land? Is the text challenging its readers to
environmental action and promoting changes
in how we treat nature? Other classes? Races?
Gender?
Integral to the second wave of Eco-
criticism was the ‘Deep Ecology Movement’.
In 1973, Norwegian philosopher Arne Naes
published the summary of a lecture at the
third World Future Research Conference
(Bucharest, September 1972). In it he
articulated the distinction between hallow
and deep approaches to environmentalism.
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 40
He characterized the latter by seven principles
(Naes, 3-6):
(1) Rejection of the human-in-environment
image in favour of the relational, total field
image.
(2) Bio spherical egalitarianism—Ecological
egalitarianism implies the equal right to live
and blossom. Its restriction to human is an
anthropocentrism which is detrimental to
human themselves.
(3) Principles of diversity and symbiosis.
Diversity enhances the potentialities of
survival. It implies respect for all creatures.
‘Live and let live’ is a more powerful ecological
principle than ‘Either you or me’.
(4) Anti-class posture. This principle
favours classless society. It is against the
exploiter class. Both the exploiter and the
exploited get adversely affected.
(5) Fight against pollution and resource
depletion.
(6) Complexity, not complication. This
principle favours division of labour, not
fragmentation of labour. It favours integrated
actions in which the whole person is active, not
mere reactions.
(7) Local autonomy and decentralization.
This principle lends support to strengthen
local self-government, material and mental
self-sufficiency.
Inadequacy of This Approach
Interestingly, the eco-criticism, ecological
studies or environmental studies or green
studies have been developed in the west in
academic institutions. In other words these
are purely intellectual in character. Over
forty to fifty years numerous conferences
and seminars have been organized all over
the world and numerous articles have been
published in hundreds of academic journals.
Numerous theories have been formulated and
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 78 ~
terms have been coined. All this knowledge is
exploding with no boundaries. But all these
have served the academicians’ interest to
score a point in academic promotions. Only
a fraction of this profusion of knowledge
finds its way into our brains, and only a small
proportion of that fraction is truly assimilated
by us. Indeed this knowledge explosion is
one of the problems we are facing. Like any
explosion it leaves us with fragments. Even
specialists are no longer able to keep abreast of
the developments in their own discipline. They
know less and less about more and more. The
lay public is even less able to keep up with,
or make sense of, academic knowledge. The
alarming truth is that we have no firm grasp
on all the information produced by academic
institutions. Our so called Information
Age is rich in data but sadly lacking in
understanding.
These numerous academic publications
and conferences have neither stopped
systematic destruction of environment nor
brought any significant transformation in
human consciousness. On the other hand,
university libraries are stuffed with such
academic writings. The same proponents have
recklessly indulged in wasteful expenditure,
negligence and superfluous wastage,
indifference to environmental destruction
and pollution. For instance, in such seminars,
workshops and conferences so much food
is wasted, when millions in the world are
starving, water bottles are left half empty and
unused water is thrown, when we in India
are fighting among ourselves over sharing of
water, reckless use of water and so on. The
less said about the social functions the better.
The ecological imbalance triggered by our
unwise way of life affects not only one region
or continent but every living organism on
earth. A global ecological catastrophe could
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 41
bring modern civilization perilously close to
extinction.
One thing clear from the above dis-
cussion is that our academic knowledge
about ecology has failed to create awareness
among the public. Clearly we moderns are
in quandary. Many of us feel utterly lost and
confused. The western knowledge whose
tentacles reach around the globe is transitional.
The transition is radical and decisive. We are
in the throes of deep crisis. We need something
drastic to bring in deep transformation in
human psyche. When we go to the root of the
problem it is the crisis of consciousness. How
does India help in preserving our planet?
India has given two powerful ideas
which are integral to the Indian civilization
to the west and the whole world: one is the
idea of living in harmony with nature and the
other is that the reality has a scientific basis.
In the recent couple of centuries, these and
other derived notions have inspired many
great scholars, scientists and literary figures:
Hegel, Fichte, Schlegel, Goethe, Nietzche,
Schopenhauer, Tennyson, Keats, Wordsworth,
Carlyle, Thoreau, Emerson, A. E.Russel,
Edwin Arnold, E.M. Forster, Romain Rolland,
Paul Brunton, Georg Feurestein, Maxmuller,
Alduous Huxley, Christopher Isherwood,
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 79 ~
C.F.von Weizsacker, Robert Oppenheimer,
David Bohn and others.
The Role of Yoga
It is here that Yoga has much to teach
us. How does Yoga help here to maintain and
achieve this balance between man and nature?
Let us examine the role of Yoga—how Yoga
can create an awareness, how Yoga can restore
the lost balance with nature, how Yoga can
create and establish peace and happiness for
all, how Yoga can conserve environment, how
Yoga can stop the destruction, how Yoga can
teach and preach principles that can be put
into practice, and if done so, how it can restore
peace and harmony.
Yoga has several meanings. ‘Union’,
‘Equanimity’ and ‘balance’ are the inherent
meanings of Yoga. Indeed, Yoga is defined as
balance. The Sanskrit word for it is ‘samata’. In
the Bhagvadgita Yoga is defined as ‘samatvam’
(II.48). ‘Samatvam’ need not be understood
only in metaphysical sense. In fact, to achieve
‘samatvam’ at metaphysical level, one has to
make it at the individual level. If one achieves
an inward balance, automatically he will have
balance and harmony with nature. Once this
happens, he will have perfect union with the
entire creation/cosmos. In Yoga ‘balance’ has
to be first achieved at individual level. Once
this is established this in turn automatically
leads to balance in nature.
Who has to achieve this ‘balance’? It
is not dog or any animal or bird. It is man
who has to do this. This task of maintaining
balance is for man in order to lead a happy life.
It is man who has to maintain and preserve
this balance because the problem is with the
man as he is the sole destroyer of nature/
environment. If man doesn’t do this, this
planet shall perish.
(To be continued. . .)
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 42 42

The Order
on the March
News and Notes from Ramakrishna Math and Mission
Tamil Nadu Flood Relief Work: A Brief Report as on 1 January 2016
Torrential rains in many parts of Tamil Nadu in November and December caused severe inundation
in several areas of the state, affecting lakhs of families. Nine of our centres in Chennai conducted the
following relief services.
(a) Chennai Math served cooked food to 22,100 affected people and tea to 1250 people. Besides, the
centre distributed 37,185 kg rice, 2200 kg rava (semolina), 765 loaves of bread, 5647 kg dal (lentils),
6000 kg vegetables, 4022 litres of edible oil, 675 kg sambar powder, 397 kg turmeric powder, 440 kg
chilli powder, 2436 kg salt, 196 kg pickles, 13,725 packets of biscuits, 300 litres of milk, 4872 kg sugar,
27 kg tea powder, 710 packets of mosquito-repellent coils, 7862 mats, 8612 bed-sheets, 7653 saris, 3992
nightgowns, 7683 lungis, 30 shirts, 7232 towels, 200 assorted garments, 800 buckets, 200 mugs, 1006
plates, 1006 tumblers, etc among 31,703 people in various parts of Chennai city from 24 November to
25 December. Further, in Cuddalore district, the centre distributed 42,285 kg rice, 1300 kg rava, 25
kg flour, 525 loaves of bread, 6000 kg dal, 4100 kg edible oil, 120 kg sambar powder, 310 kg turmeric

Relief work by Chennai Math

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 80 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 43

powder, 330 kg chilli powder, 100 kg cumin seeds, 100 kg mustard seeds, 100 kg tamarind, 3100 kg salt,
7500 packets of pickles, 500 packets of rusk, 2575 packets of biscuits, 505 kg Horlicks, 3600 kg sugar,
2100 packets of mosquito-repellent coils, 25,200 matchboxes, 4313 bed-sheets, 2288 mats, 3143 saris,
224 dhotis, 2017 lungis, 2240 towels, 4500 assorted garments, 150 cooking vessels, 25 pots, 369 plates,
512 buckets and 512 mugs among 5686 people from 9 to 20 December.
(b) Chennai Students’ Home distributed 1125 kg rava, 1125 kg semiya (vermicelli), 1500 kg dal,
375 kg soybeans, 750 kg edible oil, 375 kg tamarind, 75 kg mustard seeds, 75 kg turmeric powder, 37

Relief work by Chennai Students’ Home

kg cumin seeds, 75 kg chilli powder, 750 kg salt, 75 kg pickles and 750 kg sugar among 751 families
in West Tambaram area of Kanchipuram district, and 505 kg assorted vegetables among 185 families in
Mylapore area of Chennai from 27 to 29 November. The centre also distributed 9561 packets of cooked
food (each packet containing rice, pickles and a water sachet) and 20,359 loaves of bread among 29,920
people in 16 areas of Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chennai districts from 1 to 5 December.
(c) Chennai Mission Ashrama distributed 7630 packets of cooked food, 4457 kg rice, 2627 loaves of
bread, 692 kg dal, 35,349 packets of biscuits, 1880 kg of milk powder, 20,477 litres of drinking water,
1090 utensil-sets (each set containing pots, plates, kadahi, tumblers, etc), 2100 buckets, 2100 mugs, 2100
plates, 2100 bed-sheets, 1814 blankets, 4047 mats, 2100 saris, 1155 dhotis, 2100 lungis, 3054 mosquito-
repellent coils, etc among 5038 families in and around T Nagar area of Chennai from 3 to 29 December. o

Relief work by T.Nagar Ashrama

T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 81 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 44
Book Reviews
publishers need to send us two copies of their latest publication.
The Life-Story of Sri
Ramakrishna
Original Bengali by
Ramachandra Datta,
English Rendering based
on the translation by
Swami Sarvadevananda
Advaita Ashrama, 5, Dehi
Entally Road, Kolkata –
700006. Email: mail@
advaitaashrama.org 2014,
hardbound, pp.184, Rs.75.
This is the eye-witness account of the
extraordinary life of Sri Ramakrishna written by his
disciple Ramachandra Dutta when Sri Ramakrishna
was alive. The book, originally written in Bengali
entitled ‘Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsadever
Jeevanbrittanta’ was published in 1890 C.E. It is
noteworthy that Ramchandra was the first person
to publish a biography of Sri Ramakrishna, to build
a first temple of Sri Ramakrishna at Kakurgachhi,
Kolkata and to announce and preach publicly
that Sri Ramakrishna was an Incarnation of
God.
During the years from Sri Ramakrishna’s
passing away in 1886 until his own death in 1899,
while most of Sri Ramakrishna’s young monastic
disciples were leading the lives of wandering
monks and practicing spiritual disciplines in
various places of pilgrimage, coinciding with Swami
Vivekananda’s stay in the West, Ramachandra
took it upon himself to spreading the teachings
of the Master, lecturing, writing books and
articles, maintaining Sri Ramakrishna’s temple,
organizing the festivals of the Master’ birth
anniversary and giving initiations to the disciples
in and around Kolkata. The uniqueness of
the book lies in the fact that it is written by a
disciple who was transformed by his Master,
who was an eye-witness to his Master’s life, who
knew Sri Ramakrishna personally, moved with
him, talked with him and was blessed by him.
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 82 ~
For review in The Vedanta Kesari,
That is why the book throbs with life, passion
and inspiration, and educates and teaches the
reader.
The book has twenty two chapters depicting
Sri Ramakrishna’s life in detail from his birth and
early life, childhood, his coming to Kolkata and
accepting the post of priest at the Kali temple of
Dakshineswar, his relationship with Rani Rasmani
who built the temple; and Mathurbabu, Rani’s son-
in-law, his vision of Kali, his various sadhanas, his
marriage, his practicing Christianity and Islam, his
pilgrimage, his meeting with the great people of
India, the coming of his devotees, the training of his
disciples, and his passing away. 
The reader is convinced from reading this
book that someone who lived so fully, burnt with
divine love so ardently, and taught so profoundly
walked on the earth is very rare indeed, but it is all
the more unusual to have a detailed contemporary
account of such a life. This book not only
communicates a real sense of Sri Ramakrishna, his
life and times, but is interpretative also in terms of
Sri Ramakrishna’s actions and words as also his
spiritual disciplines and experiences. The author’s
passionate involvement and his ardent devotion
and reverence for his Master who was proclaimed
by him as the Incarnation of God is felt by readers
very evidently. Not only that, Sri Ramakrishna’s
transparently pure and well-documented life
remains a guide and inspiration to millions on their
spiritual path.
The translation is faithful and clear; how-
ever, the narrative would have been more com-
prehensible, coherent and lucid, if the frequent
use of Bengali words in the text would have been
avoided.
We are indebted to Swami Sarvadevanandaji,
Minister-in-charge of Vedanta Society of
Southern California, and Mr. Pulak Ghosh, whose
labour of love has enabled us to read the first
hand account of Sri Ramakrishna’s God-centered
life.
________________________CHETANA MANDAVIA, JUNAGADH
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 45
Pages from the Past –
Part 1
By Rameshwar Tantia
Published by General Sec-
retary, Ramakrishna Sarada
Mission, Daksineswar,
Kolkata - 700 076.
rkaashramavns@yahoo.
com; srismath@gmail.com;
2014, paperback, pp.104,
Rs.5.
Many stories expose
how the rich and mighty are shamed
by the standards of morality set by people who
shun luxury. From personal experience Swami
Vivekananda observes that the poor are more
willing to help and serve than the affluent.
Eleven stories by the author included in this
book extol virtues of idealism. The eleventh is a
heart rending tale of two sisters who sang Megh
Malhar for Emperor Akbar and ended their lives
in surging rain water to protect their chastity. This
is also a poignant tale of Emperor Akbar’s agony
after a series of battles leaving countless women
widowed, children orphaned and his relief after
Mian Tansen sings Deepak to brighten up the
atmosphere.
Unrestrained enjoyment of wealth and power
finally results in disaster. There is joy in giving,
renunciation being the highest virtue. Alexander’s
encounter with the sage in India leading to a
paradigm shift in his attitude is the focus in one of
the stories.
‘The Unfortunate’ looks at the harsh realities
of life that haunt honest people. ‘Balji Burji’ is
an interesting story. It reminds us of how Sri
Ramakrishna conveyed subtle spiritual lessons
through parables with telling effect.
Like case studies, stories provide a fine
medium to inculcate virtues. In recent years
graphic novels are becoming popular and enjoyed
by readers, a technique found in the Panchatantra
series.
The author of ‘Pages from the Past – Part 1’
has offered a useful set of stories. With financial
support from the Ministry of Culture the book has
been nominally priced.
While there are some spelling/typographical
errors for attention, the book is a welcome
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 83 ~
addition to the literature that informs, inspires and
transforms.
_______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM, MUMBAI
The Hindu Mind
By Bansi Pandit
Published by New Age
Books, A -44, Naraina
Industrial Area Phase-I,
New Delhi-110 028. nab@
newagebooksindia.com;
2014, paperback, pp.448,
Rs.500.
After India was
forced out of her self-
imposed cultural isolation by
European powers, there grew a novel interest
in her religion and culture. Over the years this
interest grew into a discipline in many universities
and among the elite in the West. With Swami
Vivekananda’s travels to the West this interest
was fanned, and the study of Hinduism was
taken by many common people, which in the
past few decades, has grown astonishingly. With
New Age movements, with their smattering of
Eastern spirituality and the influence of Buddhism,
India and Hinduism has taken centre stage in
today’s discourse on religion and spirituality
worldwide.
All this interest, either for good or bad
purposes, has spawned a vast literature on
Hinduism. And this interest is not only among the
people of the world but Hindus are also studying
and trying to understand this grand ancient
religion. Hinduism in all its dimensions—historical,
philosophical, spiritual, social, ethical, monasticism,
ritualistic, and so on—is a staggering sight. No one
person can be said to understand every aspect of
Hinduism. That is because, as Swami Vivekananda
says, it includes ideas ‘from the lowest fetishism
to the highest Absolutism’. It is evolutionary and
composite. Today, many Hindu concepts, such as
maya, Ishvara, karma, reincarnation, samskars,
Brahman, and so on, have already crept into
mainstream world thought.
This book gives the fundamentals of
Hinduism in a brief manner. The problem with
many books on Hinduism is that some authors
rely more on available literature and information
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
 46
and put it in a book form rather than depend on
traditional knowledge. Tradition in Hinduism is
a rigorous discipline and takes years. Of course
there are many traditions in Hinduism and so
authors cannot always go through these various
disciples and so such books are superficial. This
book, however, has one advantage: it covers a lot
of ground in presenting Hinduism’s concepts and
practices. This apart, Buddhism and Jainism is also
briefly discussed in order to show Hindu concepts
through comparison and agreement.
Hinduism has survived the test of history and
also of modernity, in which many other religions
have failed. It is the duty of everyone to know
what made it survive and thrive. Hinduism is
fascinating and its study is edifying. This book can
be recommended for all those who wish to know
Hinduism in brief.
_____________________ SWAMI SATYAMAYANANDA, KANPUR
A Hindu Primer : Yaksha
Prashna
by Dr. A.V. Srinivasan
Published by Periplus
Line LLC, E. Glastonbury,
Connecticut, 06025, USA.
avsheenu@gmail.com;
2014, paperback, pp.86,
price :not mentioned.
Mahabharata, the
Indian epic, has received
universal acclaim for its
poetic finesse, wealth of wisdom, abundance
of ethical and moral values that transcend time
in their relevance. Bhagavad Gita, forming part
of this epic, is not a mere religious discourse; ‘not
meant merely to give peace of mind…’ as Swami
Ranganathananda said.
The question/answer mode is often the
means for imparting knowledge, secular or
spiritual, in scriptures/epics including the Gita.
Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot
there, undigested, all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-
making assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life
and character, you have more education than any man who has got by heart a whole
library. —Swami Vivekananda
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 84 ~
Yaksha Prashna found in Mahabharata is a typical
example. Yudhishtira demonstrates patience
and forbearance in answering numerous tough
questions by his spiritual father disguised as a
yaksha while his brothers dismissed the yaksha’s
warnings and suffered. The questions posed to
Yudhistira number over a hundred (listed in the
Appendix) some of which sound like aphorisms.
Therefore brevity of the questions as also the
answers requires interpretation. A. V. Srinivasan
has explained in detail. Apart from rendering the
Sanskrit text, transliteration and translation the
commentary by the author will help readers to
follow the dialogue.
The querist seeks responses on spiritual,
ethical, moral values, etc. from Yudhistira. One
of them is the oft quoted wisdom of the king that
people fail to realize the certainty of their death
even when they are exposed to this inevitability.
‘What is the right time for a shraaddha?’ The
answer: ‘A learned brahmin’s time’. Rather than
the day (tithi), the availability of a qualified purohit
is decisive! Dharma is a complex concept that the
author elaborates in one of the questions (page 57).
Again, the meaning of ‘egoism’ as ‘Total
ignorance’ is a riddle (page 60). Atheist, says
Yudhistira, ‘is said to be a fool’. Swamiji, it may
be recalled, defined it as one who does not believe
in himself. And so perhaps, a fool! A thought
provoking answer of Yudhistira is that one’s
mother is ‘weightier than the earth’—a truth to be
remembered by all.
Even in choosing boons offered by the Lord of
Dharma disguised as yaksha, Yudhistira reveals his
fairness uninfluenced by emotions or attachments.
The ‘Epilogue’ in the book gives details of the post
question/answer session.
Having lived abroad Srinivasan observes that
the next generation should be exposed to ancient
Indian wisdom. This small book should help in this
endeavour.
_______________________________ P. S. SUNDARAM, MUMBAI
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  47 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madurai

New Natham Road, Reserve Line, Madurai – 625 014, Tamil Nadu
Ph:0452-2680224, email:madurairkm@gmail.com
Project Swacch Vidyalaya – Inviting your participation
This project will ensure that our school has a set of well maintained toilets, so essential
for a healthy school and learning environment.
The Math runs Sarada Vidyalaya Nursery & Primary School which over the years has
swelled in strength. Presently there are more than 550 students, mostly from poorer sections.
The Math also Provides Free After School Hours Tuition, daily to about 350 students (Class 4
to 10), with parents accompanying girl students.
The number of toilets at present is insufficient to meet the usage needs of growing number
of students. Further these toilets built many years ago needs extensive restoration that it is
economically prudent to demolish some of the sections and rebuild them.
So also in the Math premises toilets built in the early 1980’s (just 3 latrines & 2 bathrooms
each for gents and ladies) is inadequate given the growing number of devotees to the math
daily, from Madurai as also neighbouring districts of Tamilnadu. They are dilapidated that it is
necessary to demolish them and build new set of toilets.
The Math also provides breakfast (Annadanam) daily to 150 school children from nearby
slums who invariably use the toilets. The number of patients coming daily for treatment in our
charitable dispensary is also on the increase, accompanied by family member.
There are regular visitors to our Vivekananda Public Library. Besides, students groups from
Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala who come on educational tour to Madurai stay at our Math.
All these combined, puts additional pressure on the meagre toilets arrangements at present.
To mitigate these circumstances we have embarked on a project that will augment the
existing capacity in the Sarada Vidyalaya Nursery & Primary School wherein the existing toilets
will be restored wherever feasible and the capacity will be increased from the existing 20 to 30
toilets besides increasing the urinals from the existing 5 to 12, in an area of 406 Sq. Ft.
Similarly in the Math premises it is proposed to demolish existing toilets and build anew
10 toilets & 10 bathrooms in an area of 744 Sq. Ft. Total area of the proposed toilets, urinals
and bathrooms would be 1150 Sq. Ft and the estimated cost of construction is Rs. 22.5 lakhs.
We appeal to the generous public to liberally support us, either financially or by arranging
material supplies, to help us complete the construction. Contribution towards this project will
be thankfully acknowledged. Marble plaques with the names of those who donate rupees one
lakh and above will be fixed at a prominent place, if the donor so desires.
Donations are exempted from Income tax vide section 80-G. Please send your donations
by cheque or DD favouring Ramakrishna Math, Madurai with a note that it is for the swacch
Vidyalaya Project to:
Sri Ramakrishna Math, Reserve Line, New Natham Road, Madurai – 625014
In the service of the Lord,
Swami Kamalatmananda
President
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  48 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama

(A branch centre of Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Belur Math. Howrah, W.B. – 711 202)
Swami Vivekananda Path, P.O. Bela, Muzaffarpur–843 116, Ph.: 0621-2272127, 2272963
E-mail: rkm.muzaffarpur@gmail.com Website: www.rkmmuzaffarpur.org

Appeal for Vivekananda Netralaya

(Eye, ENT, Dental Clinic cum Diagnostic Centre)

Present Oldest Eye Infirmary in North Bihar established in 1947,

Infrastructure: General dispensary, Dental, Homeopathy, X-Ray, Pathology;
Service Total OPD – 74,632, Cataract Operation : Full Free – 2,470, Part Free – 1,400,
Rendered Patho Test – 2,684, Preventive Health Care for 5,000 School Students, Computer
(2014-15) : Awareness & Tailoring Training, Value Added Competition for 5,000 Students,
Disaster Management, Non-Formal Education and Coaching to 450 Children
Our Vision: A new Medical Building with Specialty Eye, ENT and Dental care, Various OPD
Sections, Well equipped Clinical Lab., R & D, Modern Diagnostic Unit, Para
medical Training.
Funds Rs.35 Lakh for remaining work of Recovery Unit,
Required: Rs.65 Lakh for remaining work of Gr Fl. and1st Fl. of Vivekananda
Netralaya
Rs.85 Lakh for construction of Doctors / Staff Qtrs.,
Rs.75 Lakh for Equipments:,
Rs.15 Lakh for Maintenance,
Rs.15 Lakh for Educational Programmes, Puja and Celebration
Rs.1 Crore for Permanent Fund (corpus)
Dear Devotees and Friends,
We appeal to you to contribute towards up-coming Vivekananda Netralaya Project (Eye, E
N T, Dental Clinic cum Diagnostic Centre) which we took up in 2011 and has made remarkable
progress with your help. Muzaffarpur in north Bihar where health infrastructure is very poor, our
Sevashrama needs to have a better set up for continuing its medical services. Your contribution
will be a real worship to Swami Vivekananda, Ma Sarada and Sri Ramakrishna who lived their
life for and whose lives embodied concern for the welfare of the poor needy, nearer to the ideals
of Atmano Moksartham Jagat Hitaya Cha (For liberation of the self and good of the world). It will
also serve the purpose of perpetuating memories and sentiments of your loved ones.
Kindly send your contribution by Cheque/DD or by NEFT/ RTGS to A/c No. 10877071752
IFS Code: SBIN0006016 (Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Muzaffarpur)
Donations to Sevashrama are exempted from Income Tax u/s 80G of IT Act 1961. Details of
the Project may be had from our office.
With Prayers to Holy Trinity for you and all yours,

Swami Bhavatmananda
Secretary
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  49 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama

Triveni, Indore Road, Ujjain MP - 456 006. India
Mobile: 07869705095, 09425195871
E-mail: rkashramaujjain@yahoo.co.in

POORNA KUMBHA (SIMHASTH) MELA CAMP - 2016

AT JYOTIRLING MAHAKAL

An Appeal
Dear Friend,
The famous Kumbha (Simhastha) Mela of Ujjain is the biggest religious
festival of the world. This time Poorna Kumbha (Simhastha) Mela is going
to be held here from 22nd April to 21st May 2016. More than a hundred fifty
lakh pilgrims and Sadhus are expected from all parts of the country and even
abroad to participate in this great event.
The Ashrama proposes, as in the previous year, to open a camp on the
Mela ground with charitable Allopathic and Homeopathic clinics and a first-
aid centre for giving free medical treatment to the assembled pilgrims and
Sadhus. Board and lodging arrangements will also be made for one thousand
pilgrims and two hundred Sadhus and volunteers. Mandir and Satsang
pandal for regular religious programmes in the camp.
The approximate expenditure of the whole camp will be almost Rs. 100
Lakhs. Ashrama therefore earnestly appeals to the generous public for help in
the noble venture as they have spontaneously done in the past. Contribution
in cash will also be thankfully received and acknowledged.
Cheques and drafts should be crossed ‘A/C Payee only’ and drawn in
favour of SRI RAMAKRISHNA ASHRAMA, UJJAIN and send preferably by
Registered/Speed Post.
Donation to the Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama are exempted from Income-
Tax under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act,1961.
Our Bank A/Cs:
State Bank of India, Ujjain - 10574419581: IFSC-SBIN003028.
I.D.B.I. - 08810400001430: IFSC - IBKL0000088.
Thanking You,
Yours in the service of lord
Swami Bhaskarananda
President
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  50 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

Understanding Pratika—Symbols in the Indian Tradition

A Vedanta Kesari Presentation

‘The images, crosses, and crescents are,’ says

Swami Vivekananda, ‘so many symbols—so many
pegs to hang the spiritual ideas on.’ These symbols
are scattered everywhere in our mundane as well as
spiritual lives. This new book examines 53 of such
symbols, with 2 appendices from Swami Vivekananda’s
powerful writings on ‘The Need of symbols’ and ‘The
Chief Symbols’. Two introductory chapters describe
the role and significance of symbols. The book is richly
illustrated with pictures.
Soft-bound, Pages xi + 180 Price: Rs. 55/- Postage: Rs.22/-for single copy.
No request for VPP entertained
Published by Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004
Email : mail@chennaimath.org

With Best Compliments

Innovation Root
Softech Pvt. Ltd
43, Van Marg, Raidas Ward
Near Govt Rest House
Banapura (Seoni Malwa) - 461 221
Dist. Hoshangabad (M.P.)
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  51 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

150

1200
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  52 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  53 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6

NAVAJEEVAN BLIND RELIEF CENTRE

(FREE HOME FOR THE BLIND, ORPHAN AND AGED)
TIRUCHANOOR, TIRUPATI–517503. Ph : 0877-2239992, 9908537528 [Mob.]
E-mail: sreenavajeevan@gmail.com Website: www.navajeevan.org
An Appeal
37 Years of Service to Humanity 1979–2015
1. Navajeevan School & Hostel for Blind – Tirupati, Parlekhimundi, Golamunda
Children
2. Navajeevan Free Eye Hospital – Tirupati
3. Navajeevan Free Home for Aged – Tirupati, Rishikesh, Parlekhimundi and Chennai
4. Navajeevan Dumb & Deaf Home - Patapatnam
5. Navajeevan Sharanagati Vridhashram – Tirupati
6. Navajeevan Rural Medical Centres - Berhampur [Orissa]
7. Navajeevan Eye Care Centres - Serango & Kalahandi [Orissa]
8. Navajeevan Orphanage Children Homes – Tirupati, Parlehkimundi, Saluru, Golamunda,
Berhampur, Pandukal, Vizag & Araku, Dundelmal
9. Navajeevan Atharvana Veda Pathasala - Tirupati

A Humble Request for Donation

1. Sponsor one day Annadan to Blind Children and aged – Rs. 5000/-
2. Sponsor 5 IOL Cataract Eye Operations – Rs. 7000/-
3. Sponsor one blind child or Orphan child for one year – Rs. 6000/-
4. Sponsor one poor aged person for one year – Rs. 5000/-
5. Sponsor one free eye camp at Rural/Tribal area – Rs. 50000/-
6. Vidyadan—Educational aid for one Child – Rs. 2000/-
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
T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  54 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
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T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i  ~ 55 ~ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6
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Vol.103-2 The Vedanta Kesari (English Monthly) February 2016. Regd. with
the Registrar of Newspapers for India under No.1084 / 1957. POSTAL
REGISTRATION NUMBER:TN / CH (C) / 190 / 15-17. LICENSED TO POST
WITHOUT PREPAYMENT TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-259 / 2015-2017.
Date of Publication: 24th of every month

Teach yourselves, teach everyone his/her real nature,

call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakes.
Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come,
purity will come, and everything that is excellent will
come, when this sleeping soul is roused to self-con-
scious activity.
—Swami Vivekananda

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56 ~ F E BWebsite:
R U A R Y www.chennaimath.org
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