SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

 

said, would be able to remove all his doubts about religion. He happenedto meet Ramakrishna at the house of a neighbour, but there is nothing onrecord about the impression that he created on Naren's mind. He,however, invited Naren to visit him at Dakshineswar some day. As the dayspassed, Naren began to grow restless about the various riddles thatreligion presented to him. He particularly wanted to meet a person whocould talk about God with the authority of personal experience. Finally, hewent to Ramakrishna one day and asked him straightaway if he had seenGod. He said he had, and if Naren so wished, he could even show God tohim. This naturally took Naren by surprise. But he did not know what tomake of it, for though his simplicity and love of God impressed Naren, hisidiosyncrasies made him suspect if Ramakrishna was not a 'monomaniac'.He began to watch him from close quarters and after a long time he wasleft in no doubt that Ramakrishna was an extraordinary man. He was theonly man he had so far met who had completely mastered himself. Then,he was also the best illustration of every religious truth he preached. Narenloved and admired Ramakrishna but never surrendered hisindependence of judgment. Interestingly, Ramakrishna himself did notdemand it of him, or of any other of his disciples. Nevertheless, Narengradually came to accept Ramakrishna as his master.Ramakrishna suffered from cancer and passed away in 1886. During hisillness, a group of select young men had gathered round him and beganto nurse him while receiving spiritual guidance from him. Naren was theleader of this group. Ramakrishna had wanted that they take to monasticlife and had symbolically given them Gerua cloth. They accordinglyfounded a monastery at Baranagar and began to live together,depending upon they got by begging. Sometimes they would alsowander about like other monks. Naren also would sometimes gotravelling. It was while he was thus travelling that he assumed the name ofSwami Vivekananda.Vivekananda travelled extensively through India, sometimes on foot. Hewas shocked to see the conditions of rural India-people ignorant,superstitious, half-starved, and victims of caste-tyranny. If this shocked him,the callousness of the so-called educated upper classes shocked him stillmore. In the course of his travels he met many princes who invited him tostay with them as their guest. He met also city-based members of theintelligentsia-lawyers, teachers, journalists and government officials. Heappealed to all to do something for the masses. No one seemed to payany heed to him-except the Maharaja of Mysore, the Maharaja of Khetriand a few young men of Madras. Swami Vivekananda impressed oneverybody the need to mobilize the masses. A few educated men andwomen could not solve the problem of the country; the mass power had

 

to be harnessed to the task. He wanted the masses educated. The ruler ofMysore was among the first to make primary education free within hisState. This, however, was not enough in Swamiji's view. A peasant couldnot afford to send his children to school, for he needed help in his field. Hewanted education taken to the peasant's door-step, so that the peasant'schildren could work and learn at the same time. It was a kind of 'non-formal' education which perhaps he visualized. His letters to the Maharajaof Mysore on the subject show how much he had given to the subjectand how original he was.Other princes, or the intelligentsia as a whole, were impressed by Swamiji'spersonality, but were much too engrossed with their own affairs to payany heed to his appeals. Some of the young men of Madras, Perumalspecially, dedicated himself to the ideas Swamiji propounded and hiscontributions to the success of his mission were significant. Swamiji couldguess the reason why the so-called leaders of the society ignored him.Who was he ? A mere wandering monk. There were hundreds of suchmonks all over the country. Why should they pay any special attention tohim ? By and large, they followed only Western thinkers and those Indianswho followed the West and had had some recognition in the West by sodoing. It was slave mentality, but that was what characterized theattitude of the educated Indians over most matters. It pained Swamiji tosee Indians strutting about in Western clothes and imitating Western waysand manners, as if that made them really Western. Later he would call outthe nation and say, 'Feel proud that you are Indians even if you're wearinga loin-cloth'. He was not opposed to learning from the West, for he knewthe Western people had some great qualities and it was because of thosequalities that they had become so rich and powerful. He wanted India tolearn science and technology from the West and its power to organizeand its practical sense, but, at the same time, retain its high moral andspiritual idealism. But the selfishness of the so-called educated peoplepained him more. They were happy if they could care for themselves andthey gave a damn to what happened to the people. Swamiji wanted todraw their attention to the miserable condition of the masses-illiterate,always on the verge of starvation, superstitious and victims of oppressionby the upper castes and the rich landlords.As Swamiji arrived in Madras, young people gathered round him drawn byhis bright and inspiring talks. They begged him to go to the USA to attendthe forthcoming Parliament of Religions in Chicago to represent Hinduism.They even started raising funds for the purpose. Swamiji was first reluctantbut later felt some good might come of his visit to the West, for if he couldmake some impression there, his people back at home, who always judged a thing good or bad according as the Western critics thought of it,

 

would then give him a respectful hearing. That is exactly what happened :Swamiji made a tremendous impression, first in the USA and then also inEngland. The press paid him the highest tributes as an exponent of India'sage-old values; overnight he became a great national hero in India.Suddenly it was brought home to them that there must be something inIndian thought that Western intelligentsia feel compelled to admire. Theybegan to suspect that perhaps they were not as backward as they oncethought, and in areas like religion and philosophy, in art and literature,they were perhaps more advanced than the Western people. They hadalways felt sorry about themselves, but, now for the first time, they awoketo the richness of their heritage. This was the starting point of the Indianrenaissance one hears about. A long successful of national leadersstarting from Tilak have drawn inspiration from Swami Vivekananda. They'discovered' India-her strong and weak points-through him. 'If you want toknow India, study Vivekananda', was Tagore's advice to Romain Rolland.This holds true even today, indeed no one has studied India's body andmind so thoroughly as Swamiji did.It was Swamiji's hope that India would create a new social order and anew civilization by combining her best spiritual traditions with the latestadvancements in science and technology. She would be rich bothmaterially and spiritually. He knew affluence was not enough, man had tobe human, too. He wanted India to set an example in this