| Swami Vivekananda's Clarion Call |
| Talk by Swami Gokulanandaji on "Swami Vivekananda's Clarion Call" Delivered at the Ramakrishna Mission AC Auditorium, New Delhi, On 22nd January, 2006 at 5.30 p.m. My cordial welcome to you all. Briefly we are going to have the special talk on the Clarion Call of the great Swami Vivekananda. I think we will do well if we begin with the song in praise of our beloved Swami Vivekananda. I request Champak Chatterjee to present a song. (After the presentation of the Song by Shri Champak Chatterjee) Once again my most cordial welcome to you all. At the invitation of Swami Jitatmanandaji I went to Kolkata and stayed with him two nights in the Monks' quarters adjacent to Swami Vivekananda's ancestral house. He invited me to preside over the Youth Convention that was organized there on the 13th January. There were two sessions in the morning - 9.30 to 11.00. Then there was a break for Tea. Again we re-assembled from 11.30 to 1.00 p.m. As I had to preside, naturally I listened to all the speeches made. There were the former Mayor, the present Mayor and other important persons, Swamijis, Vidya Mandir Principal and others. And then I was specially requested to tell something about the message of the great Swami Vivekananda. Yesterday also at 9.30 in the Rajdhani channel in AIR, one of the questions that was put to me - the last question - was: "Swamiji, have you got any message for the youth of the country?" So, what I propose to do this evening is this. Of course in Kolkata I had to speak in Bengali. But here I am going to speak in English. Much more than what I said there I would tell you here, plus since the subject is "The Clarion Call of Swami Vivekananda", what was the exact clarion call that I will come towards the end of my talk. Before that, I would like to tell about the call of Swami Vivekananda. It is said that great personalities in any walk of life really never die, they live their life and they will leave a call, and this is not true only in the field of religion and philosophy, but in every field. In this way new ideals, new power reach human society, and we can call these great personalities as great messengers of truth. We can go even a step further and call them prophets, as Vivekananda was indeed a prophet. And such prophets never die, nor can humanity ever forget them. When I speak to you about Swami Vivekananda's call, I would request you to look at the gait and the inspiring photo of the great Swami Vivekananda, and his call, we can say an undying call, an eternal call, is in three directions. I am going to divide my talk based upon these three directions of the great call of Swami Vivekananda. The first is, I would say, Vivekananda's call to the West, the second will be his call to the East and then of course, his universal call - a call which is equally applicable to the East as well as to the West. And then towards the end I will conclude with the clarion call of the great Swami Vivekananda. I will consider my paying tribute to Swamiji in this way about his three calls in three directions, and finally about his clarion call. After listening to what I will say at the end, if there are any young boys and girls, who feel drawn to the call, they will do well to meet me in my office upstairs. With these few words of introduction and the warmest welcome to you all, I begin with Swami Vivekananda's call to the West. Why I take up first his call to the West and not call to the East is because you all know it is a matter of history. Swamiji as an unknown Hindu monk then while as a parivrajaka after the passing away of his great master Sri Ramakrishna - Sri Ramakrishna passed away on 16th August 1886 -- and then Swamiji was so inspired by the life of the great Master, even though he started the Baranagore monastery, he did not like to be there in the forewalls of the Monastery. He just left the monastery and as the wandering monk he went to different parts of India and in the end he came to madras (Tamil Nadu) and then to Cape-Camorin where we now have the Vivekananda Temple, Rock Memorial in the name of Swamiji. And there sitting at the last corner of the soil of our beloved Motherland he had a vision where he was meditating, he saw Sri Ramakrishna his Master, walking over the waves summoning him. By that time the young boys of Madras were inspired saying, "Swamiji, you will be here, there is going to be Parliament of Religions in Chicago, you go, there cannot be a better person than you." But Swamiji said, "I am a monk, I have no money." "No, we will collect money", they said. So, money was collected. As a true Sannyasin that he was, his heart would always feel for the poor, the downtrodden and he distributed that money to the needy people. But the young persons of Madras were not discouraged or disappointed. They again collected money and said, "No, you have to go" and Swamiji did go. You all know, the Raja of Khetri also helped and thus he sailed for Chicago. But he had no letter of introduction. So, when he reached there, he found that it was a mistake because unless he could produce his credentials, he would not be allowed for getting to the Parliament of Religions. Anyway I am not going into details, but it will be enough for us to know that he got a letter of introduction and he went there without any formal invitation. The organizers rather reluctantly gave him only 5 minutes time. Thus the great Parliament of Religions opened on 11th September 1893. In our Permanent Exhibition on Swami Vivekananda you will find photographs of Hale family. I had the good fortune of spending a few silent moments in prayer and meditation in front of that house. Unfortunately that house no longer exists, it has been demolished. A hotel has come up. I went there. With me one of our bhaktas was also there that day and told the receptionist --he does not know anything about it - that I wanted to spend some time at least in the Reception Room, I was allowed. And in front of that Hale family's house there was a Church, it is still there. Swamiji, exhausted and tired, sat there just opposite Hale family's house and Mrs. Hale, when she opened the window, found a strangely dressed man with gerua cloth and all that sitting on the pavement. It was all Sri Ramakrishna's grace. Like a mother - mothers are always very-very affectionate - she came down and went near Swamiji and said to him: "Are you a delegate to the Parliament of Religions" or something like that and it is on record. I take this opportunity to tell all who are present here to go through carefully the letters of Swami Vivekananda. And in one of the letters Swamiji wrote, "Whoever will go through this letter will catch my spirit, my strength", like that. It is in the "Letters of Swami Vivekananda". And Swamiji in one letter wrote that 'at night I went hungry and cold, I might have died; Sri Ramakrishna is always with me, through His grace Mother Hale came and took me to her house and Mr. Hale held further help and hope for me" like that; and they well looked after Swamiji and after that, Swamiji had no problems. The Hale family was very hospitable. And then, with her help when he could reach the Parliament of Religions he got five minutes' time to address. In the morning session he could not speak. He never addressed such a big gathering ? 7000 men and women. So, the President announced that he will have to speak, but he said, "now now, not now". So, when there was a Lunch break and when they re-assembled, without asking Vivekananda or giving a chance to him to say 'No', the President just announced: "Now, Swami Vivekananda, the Hindu Monk of India, will address the gathering." Swamiji had no other alternative. All that created history and Swamiji went to the speaking table and looking at the vast audience with the turban (pointing to his photo with the turban) like that, unlike the previous speakers in the stereotyped, orthodox style saying, 'Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen', whatever came spontaneously through his lips, he just poured out. And he had written in one letter, "Bowing down to the Goddess of Learning, Saraswati, I addressed the gathering" I had the good fortune also of going inside the Conference Hall, thanks to the present Mayor, Richard Daley, who came here to our Ashram and who has donated a bus for the use of the activities of this centre. I could go there, but that hall is not in that way; it has been renovated, but the auditorium is there, the platform is there. Anyway, Swamiji just said these words, "Sisters and brothers of America", and that created history. What I am saying is absolutely true: 6000 men and women stood on their feet went on clapping and Swamiji thought, 'What had happened' Did I make a mistake?' No, the whole America wondered, 'who is this Messenger of Truth?' In these words - "Sisters and brothers of America" they found "Here is a person who unlike the previous speakers with written speeches and unlike the previous speakers who spoke about their own religion or religions, Vivekananda spoke about the universal religion, the religion of man, the religion of peace, the religion of brotherhood and harmony". The next day his speech was declared to be the best speech of all the speeches made on the opening day and from an unknown, obscure Hindu Monk Vivekananda became overnight a celebrity. So, naturally I justify why I begin my talk on Vivekananda's clarion call. Now, those people who were in the audience felt in these few words of Vivekananda such power and such love that they at once felt drawn to Swami Vivekananda and in that audience - it was recorded by Marie Louis Burke - there was an elderly lady who was noticing that when everything was over, some American ladies just came to Swamiji and they wanted to kiss the garments of Swamiji and that lady sitting in a corner thought to herself, 'Swamiji was quite young, he was just very young, 29 years or so and he hits the pot' and she said, 'Well, my lad, if you can digest this honor, rather an onslaught, then I will take you to be god.' God he was, he was an incarnation of Bireswara Shiva. If you visit Swami Vivekananda's ancestral house in Kolkata, you will find that in one corner of the room -- I was told that when Swamiji's mother was there ? they used to do Shiva Puja and now it has been done nicely; the whole thing is renovated. Our Partho Maharaj worked very hard for the renovation work and every day our Swamis go there, I also stayed there two nights, did a little Puja to Shivalingam and all that. In those days Swamiji's mother did not have a son and so she prayed to Bireshwar Shiva through a relative in Varanasi. I also make it a point that whenever I go to Varanasi I not only go to Baba Vishwanath and Annapurna, but also go to Bireshwar Shiva because from Bireshwar Shiva's grace we got our great Swami Vivekananda. Anyway, in America they felt drawn because by addressing all as "Sisters and brothers" Swamiji saw all human beings, men and women, as one in spirit. Now this oneness which I want to highlight is the essential teaching of the ancient philosophy of Vedanta and Swami Vivekananda saw the great philosophy personified, illustrated in his great master Sri Ramakrishna, who was the very embodiment of all religions. Swami Vivekananda always maintained this outlook of unity, the outlook of love, sympathy, peace and harmony. In this connection we must remember that there is a basic unity of mankind on a spiritual level. For example, we are so many here in this Auditorium. What is the truth? The truth is that we are all one. But unfortunately we are not of this fundamental truth; we make so many distinctions. You say 'I am a monk, he is a brahmachari, you are householder, young and old, Tamilians, Bengalis, Punjabis and what not, Christian, Hindu, Muslim - so many differences. But we are not conscious of the underlined unity in the midst of all these differences. When one is awakened to truth, when one becomes a realized soul; he does not see differences, he does not see multiplicity or plurality; he sees unity of existence as has been said in the Bhagwad Gita. But this does not come to all. Such persons, who are always aware of the basic fundamental unity at the back of all irrespective of our so-called differences of various kinds, such persons are rare; you can count them on fingers. That is why it has been said in Bhagwad Gita: Bahunam janmanam ante Jnanavan mam prapadyate Vasudevah sarvam iti Sa mahatma Sudurlabhah. 'Bahunam janmanam ante' - after innumerable births; a jnani, a wise person, gets this knowledge of unity. "Vasudevah sarvam iti -- my Vasudeva, my Krishna, my God, is in one and all." So, that Swamiji's message by addressing, "Sisters and brothers" touched the American audience. So, when all people in all countries, in all phases of life, can remember this basic unity, great progress will be made to attain the peace we are seeking, but without conflicts, war and rivalry. So, this ancient call of unity must ring in our hearts - "Sisters and brothers of America". This call of the basic unity of mankind, I should say, was Swamiji?s first call and it was a call of the heart and this call he gave to the West. Another thing is, Swamiji was never tired of speaking of the divinity of man. I am reminded in this connection one sentence from a letter of Vivekananda to Sister Nivedita. When Swamiji was in England he wrote a letter to Sister Nivedita - then not Nivedita, but Margaret Noble. She wanted to know from her guru - what was his message to mankind. Today we know that we have 9 volumes of Complete Works of Vivekananda. Suppose we are asked to point out any one sentence saying, "Swamiji, I have not much time, I cannot go through Jnana yoga, karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Raja yoga and so many works of Vivekananda. Can you tell me of such sentence?' I can just refer you to what Vivekananda himself wrote to Nivedita. Swamiji wrote to Nivedita: "My dear Margaret, my ideal indeed can be put in a few words - to preach unto mankind their divinity and how to help it manifest in every movement of life." I repeat, "to preach unto mankind their divinity and how to help it manifest in every movement of life. Go and tell everybody that you are divine". That is why Swamiji said to the American audience: "It is sin to call a man a sinner. We are children of immortal bliss." This is another important thing that he told there in the Parliament of Religions. Vivekananda felt that this concept of divinity of man must be put into practice and our relations with the fellowmen must be re-taught in terms of that divinity. Man, irrespective of colour or creed or country or religion, is basically the spirit. We all love in the same manner. But such is the influence of cosmic illusion, Mahamaya, we forget it, we quarrel, we fight and all that. As I said "Vasudeva sarvamithi samhatma sudhrlabham". We should only pray, 'Swamiji, through your grace let us also attain this knowledge of divinity of existence and make our rare human life successful." Man is basically divine. So his message in the Parliament of Religions in a nutshell was that all people are brothers and sisters because they are all divine; they are all carrying the flame of the infinite Spirit, the Atman, the Soul. This is the second call. But he did not stop there. Suppose Swamiji wrote to Sister Nivedita, "My ideal indeed can be put in a few words - to preach unto mankind their divinity and how to help it manifest in every movement of life." We may ask, "Swamiji, we understand what you have said that we are all divine. But tell us something practical so that we can practise this divinity in our day-to-day life." Swamiji accepted this challenge, he rose to the occasion and said; 'Yes, this divinity can be practiced through practice of "japasadhana". What is this practice of Japasadhana? Swamiji said, "karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga and jnana yoga. Simply telling you all that you are divine will not do." It is because the next moment we forget and we will think in terms of body-mind-complex and so on. We lose it (the idea). How do we come up to a high divine plane? And as I always said, we all pass through a tug of war between our biological heritage and divine heritage, between lower self and higher self. Now we are talking not of biological heritage, we are talking of the higher self, the higher dimension of life. Naturally, to reach that higher dimension of life we have to practise Samanvaya yoga, the four yogas - karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga and jnana yoga. We are so many here, let us ask ourselves, temperamentally we may differ from one another, though basically we are divine; we are 'sachhidananda swarup chidanandarupam Shivoham; some of us, those who are present in the Auditorium, may be active by nature. They say, 'we cannot meditate, mind is restless. Swamiji, give me some work, I will gladly do it in a spirit of detachment. If I sit for meditation, mind goes here and there. That means, I cannot practise raja yoga. Neither I have devotion - I cannot indulge in the ritualistic practices; I cannot do bhakti yoga, but I can try to do some selfless work. You ask me to come on Sundays, give voluntary service either in your computer centre or in Alok Maharaj's office or sales counter, I will do it. But if you ask me to go and meditate in the Temple, I will fail. So, temperamentally we do work. But there are people who are silent, introspective, satvic type, emotional type like that. So, they differ. So, man has an emotional nature, active nature, raional nature and a psychic nature. Those who have an emotional bent of mind need a god to worship, a god to love, a god to pray to. Sometimes some devotees tell me, "No, no, Maharaj, I have to go to the Temple that is why I cannot come here. So, fulfillment of this temperament, that means, those who are emotional, they need bhakti yoga. About those who have an active disposition, I have given an example, they follow karma yoga Jnana Yoga is a part of analysis. That means, they always do vichar saying 'neither can I be a karma yogi or a bhakti yogi or a raja yogi. But I can take recourse to rigorous analysis, introspection between good and bad. Whatever I do, I do with the help of the sword of knowledge. Those who have got psychic temperament, a little pranayam and japam, they practise raja yoga. So, through the practice of these four yogas we can build a society of peace and harmony. In the Ramakrishna Mission monogram - here we have a small monogram - you find a coiled serpent, you find watery saves, you find a rising sun and you find a swan and all that. The coiled serpent stands for Raja Yoga, the path of psychic control; all power is within, but it is in a dormant state, we have to manifest it. And 'sun' is Jnana Yoga, the path of discrimination, the path of analysis. Those who are endowed with keen interest are competent enough to practise Jnana Yoga. And you find 'Lotus' which stands for Bhakti Yoga. Whatever they do, they do with great devotion and love. Bhakti Yoga does not mean you pluck flowers and you decorate the Temple, the vigraha, with garland, but whatever we do, we do it with great love and devotion. Even if you give a glass of water to somebody, you give with devotion that is all. And about activity - karma, with a spirit of detachment. "I don't want 'ma phaleshu kadachana'; whatever I do, I surrender the fruits to the Lord". So, it is said that as Swamiji said, this divinity has to be manifested in every movement of life through a synthesis of four Yogas - Samanvaya yoga. If you ask, "Can we, householders, practise?" 'Yes, you can practise. I give examples. Before you begin the day's work, get up early in the morning, whether you are a housewife or an administrator or professor or teacher, doctor or student, you do a little silent meditation. 'Swamiji told that we are all divine. But how can I know I am divine. Oh Lord, I am praying to you, I am just withdrawing my mind from the outside world, I try to turn my mind into the innermost recesses of my heart and I try to visualize your presence." That is, you are practicing some kind of Raja Yoga. And when you come out with your battery fully charged, whether you are an advocate of the Supreme Court or anywhere you have to attend to so many cases, you are fully charged with the spirit of detachment saying, 'I must do full justice to everything', it is called karma yoga. And there may be occasions when you may be provoked. Remain calm. As Swamiji says, "The calmer we are, the less disturbed our nerves and the better our work will be." You have to practise this while you are in the midst of karma yoga, and whatever you are doing in Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga, vichar, and Raja Yoga. And when you go to bed, you think of how you spent the whole day, were you able to practise the synthesis of all the yogas. You may fail and say, 'No, sometimes I got irritated, became a big victim of anger, impatience. I failed, Oh Lord, give me strength so that each day I become better and better till I reach the goal.' So, this is all about the call to the West. We cannot build a society of peace and harmony with the marvels of science of the western world unless we bring these yogas into our life according to our temperament and inclination. So, Swamiji's call to the West was a call for the unity and divinity of existence. Now, I come to Swamiji?s call to the East. Swamiji was born in 1803 and in 1902 he entered into Mahasamadhi. We attained Independence only in 1947 August. So, during Vivekananda?s lifetime India was a slave nation. But Swamiji infused the spirit of freedom - The spirit of self-dependence. He would again and again refer to Kathopanishad and would say, "Uthistah, jagratah, prapya varan nibodhita - Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached." Swamiji's ideas gave India's freedom fighters great inspiration. These are all matters of history. Almost all the revolutionaries, they had either a copy of Bhagvad Gita or some books of Vivekananda. And Swamiji is also adored and worshiped as the Patriot Monk of Modern India. Look at the great heart, and I quote here from Swami Vivekananda. What did he say? He said: "May I be born again and again and suffer thousands of miseries so that I may worship the only God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls and above all, my God the wicked, my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races, of all species, is the special object of my worship." In this connection I would like to refer to what happened in our Mayavati Ashram. As you know, with the inspiration of great Swami Vivekananda, Swamiji's western couple, Mr. and Mrs. Xavier started the Ashram in Mayavati. But unfortunately Mr. Xavier died there and Swamiji felt that 'on my request they left the western comforts and came; and I told them that in future some western disciples would come to India, but they will not be able to stand the extreme heat of the place. So you find out a place in the Himalayas at an altitude of 7000 feet or so and they, Mr. And Mrs. Xavier, did find out and started that Ashram there'. But Mr. Xavier died there and gave his life for the cause of Swamiji. This news reached Swamiji when he was in Belur Math and it was in December, very cold, Mayavati snows in December, but Swamiji felt, "I must go to Mayavati to console Mother Xavier" and he went. Then the President of the Mayavati Ashram was Swami Swarupanandaji; the second President was Swami Virajanandaji. One day Swamiji called a meeting of the monastic disciples of Swamiji. He said, "Virajananda, you have come to help. Swarupananda alone cannot run the institution". For example, many ask me, "Swamiji, how do you manage this Delhi centre?" I reply, "Oh, with all cooperation of lay disciples, householder disciples and monastic disciples. My work is overall supervision; each is doing his great job. Our Manager Swami, Alok Maharaj, Yogarupananda in the Show Room, our Rajan Maharaj in the TB Clinic, and Prafulla Maharaj and Bhandari Maharaj, all do their work. I work as a spectator like a sakshi. So, Swamiji called a meeting of 3-4 disciples of his, and Swarupananda said; "Maharaj, you are my gurudev, it is your adesh that I have to build up this Ashram. I am ready to do it provided my Gurubhais stand by me. All agreed except one. Who was he? Virajanandaji - who later became the second President. He said, "Maharaj, I am ready to help Swarupanandaji, I have love for him." And in an orthodox way, traditional way, he argued with Swamiji, "Let me realize God; Atmano moksharthan jagat ditaya cha - I have not been able to work out my own salvation, how can I work of jagat ditaya? Let me first realize God" like that. Then Swamiji first told him, "try to make him understand that he should help Swarupanandaji", but when he did not agree, of course when Swamiji went to the other room, he said, 'what Virajananda (Kalikrishna) was saying is correct. I remember my wandering days when I spent my days in deep sadhana forgetting this world. He is right'. But when kalikrishna (Virajanandaji) again came back, he fired him because it has relevance of what I am talking. What did Swamiji say? He said, "May I be born again and again and suffer thousands of miseries; may I worship the only God that exists? You are talking of personal salvation and mukti. How can you talk of liberation of others? Unless all are liberated, you cannot be liberated. Like that Swamiji scolded, 'I assure you that if you do meditation and japam for others, you will be given liberation right now at this moment. But if you do not follow that, you go to hell', like this. Then he (Kalikrishna) said, "Oh, Vivekananda inspired me. All right, I will do it." In another place Vivekananda said: "If one millionth part of men and women" - I like this inspiring utterance of Swami Vivekananda: "If one millionth part of men and women who live in this world simply sit down and for a few minutes say, 'You are all God, oh ye men, animals and living beings, you are all manifestation of the living divinity, the whole world will be changed in half-an-hour." Excellent - We forget the basic truth as I told you. We are all coming down to a lower plane, animal men, and that is why Swamiji also said in America while giving a talk on his great Master Sri Ramakrishna in New York. He said: "There are days and occasions when we feel, 'we are divinely inspired, we feel we are elevated, we are going to enter into the world of life, of effulgence'. And then Swamiji added very correctly, "Down we go - animal men and women, once more eating and drinking and dying". This is our ordinary life. So, Swamiji said: "As against this, if only a few of us can say 'you are God; animals and living beings, all manifestations of one living reality', the whole world can be changed in half-an-hour." And then, the last sentence is equally important "Instead of throwing tremendous bombshells of hatred into every corner, instead of projecting currents of jealousy and evil thoughts in every country, let people feel that it is all He, then the whole world will change in half-an-hour." So, Swamiji believed in living an intensely practical life and his great idea was not only to see the divine in all beings, but to make one's whole life spiritual through the practice of the four yogas just explained to you. No, Swamiji was very very pragmatic and broad-minded and he said: "Don't go away with the impression that only those who have left home, they can realize the truth." 'We are householders, thousands of obligations. Maharaj, we live in a different environment, it is not possible for us to realize the divinity in me and divinity in others', one may say. But Swamiji gave this whole thing, particularly when he went to San Francisco during his second visit when his mind was always in a very high pitch. He will say, this miracle is going to happen in the present-day world. What miracle? "All will become Jeevanmuktas." It is not a wishful thinking. Swamiji was a rishi. Since Swamiji said this, it is possible. That is why Swamiji said: "A time must come when every man will be as intensely practical as in the scientific world, as in he spiritual world. When that harmony of oneness will pervade, the whole world, the whole of mankind, will become jeevanamuktas, free while living. What a greatly joy it is!" My dear devotees and young boys and girls, feel like this. What is there in life? One day we will all die, and there is no real peace or happiness. Go round the world, do your vichar, find out who is the real happy person. The real happy person is one who lives in his own self. And there is a song our mothers always sing - 'Anandam, anandam, always'. When I go for a discourse, I tell them, 'Let us go with these vibrations - anandam, anandam everywhere. We see the presence of the Divine Mother, the presence of my beloved Ishtadevata. What does 'Jeevanamukta' mean? While in this body I know I am free; I know I am not this body, I am not this mind. I am 'Chidanandarupam Shivoham'. This can be practiced, this can be realized. Time must come when every man will be having intensely practical life in the scientific world and spiritual word. When that harmony of oneness will pervade the world, the whole of mankind will become Jeevanamuktas - free. See what a broadness of outlook. He never said, 'Only we, Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission'. No, the whole mankind will become Jeevanamuktas. So, Swamiji was a very very dynamic person. His motto was, even though there are failures, Swamiji once said: "Never mind failures. Even if you fail a thousand times, make an attempt once more." He never depressed (or disappointed) anybody. He cherished the hope that there would come a time when men will discover that basic spiritual unity and then alone real peace and harmony could come. I have told about Vivekananda's call to the West and call to the East. Now I come to Vivekananda's universal call and lastly the clarion call, particularly to the youths of India. Swamiji's other call, the third call, was a universal call or a call for the harmony of different religions. Swamiji did not believe that all our religions are minor religions and only one religion was supreme. The unification of mankind through one religion, according to Swami Vivekananda, was an ideal dream. He learned that at the feet of his great master. It was for the first time in the history of mankind that the ancient Vedic dictum 'Ekam sat viprah bahuda vadanti' was eloquently explained. Through this one call alone, he realised it in his own life. Who did that? The great saint Sri Ramakrishna. First he made experiment with Mother Kali at Dakshineswar Kali Temple. As a temple priest he would weep and pray to Mother kali and the day he decided to put an end to his life saying, "Oh Mother, I am worshiping you day and night, but you did not speak to me. Are you just a black stone or living reality? If you are a black stone, why should I worship you? If you are a Living Reality, you must speak to me." And the day when his intense longing was increased, he decided to put an end to his life with the help of a dagger that was hung up in one of the corners of the sanctum sanctorum of the Dakshineswar Bhavatarini Kali Mandir. We are told that the Mother revealed herself to Sri Ramakrishna and then he became famous. Then he wanted to know whether there was any truth in other facets of Hindu dharma, Vaishnav dharma, like this. Then tantra sadhana, nirvikalpa, Totapuri came to meet him, initiation in his Advaita sadhana - and he reached the same goal. He wanted to know whether there is any truth in Islam. He took Allah mantra from a Sufi saint. He wanted to know whether there is any truth in Christianity. And he had a vision of Prophet Mohammed and Lord Jesus. On the authority of his personal experiences, he demonstrated to the world that Truth is one, but sages call it by various names. A Hindu can be a better Hindu, a Christian should try to be a better Christian, a Muslim a better Muslim, like that. Stick to your own faith, but don?t say the other faiths are wrong. Be broadminded. Everybody says that 'my wrist watch is giving the correct time'. Respect other faiths and stick to your own faith. Why? When I was in Cherapunjee centre, the then President of the Order, Swami Vireswaranandaji came. I learnt the local language khasi, brought out books in Khasi language. So, in a few khasi words I would invite Maharaj. Maharaj came and gave initiation and some said, 'Why were you getting them initiated?' Swami Vireswaranandaji said strongly, "My initiation does not interfere with their basic, indigenous khasi faith - Tibru, Tibli - to know man, to know God. I give something positive to hold on to. So we never convert. That is the difference. Unlike others like Christian Missionaries, we never convert." So, we always say, 'Stick to your own indigenous faith, but have regard for other faiths. Don't say that the other person is doing wrong or he is following a wrong path. That is why Swami Vivekananda, as he began to address on 11th September, "Sisters and brothers of America", what were his concluding words? His concluding words are equally important. First, I tell you in a nutshell and I will quote the exact words because the main motive of those who organized that Parliament of Religions was to prove the superiority of Christian religion. They thought other religions are not superior; they are some paths, but not like Christian religion. You will be surprised to know or you will be astonished to know - I want to share this with you. When I was in Cherapunjee Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, there are Catholic converts. One day I got a call from Sister in charge of the Catholic Convent saying, "Our Mother Superior has come from a foreign country. She would like to pay a visit to your centre". I said, 'Welcome'. We are always hospitable true to the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna; you know the way we celebrate the Christmas Eve here. Even the Archbishop of Delhi with other Fathers came; he presided over the Meeting on 24th December, Sisters came; we are in very good relations with them. That is what is needed. So, Sister Superior came while I was in Cherapunjee; I offered her coffee and snacks in my Secretary's office at Cherapunjee. Suddenly Sister Superior told me, "We came to know that this Swami (Pointing to Swami Gokulanandaji) has a missionary zeal, he has learnt the local language. If we can convert the Swami?" like that while taking coffee she had the guts to say ?we pray that you become a Catholic Father.' But as I was giving a talk, I did not become a victim of anger or reaction. I kept quiet. I simply said, "Sister, you should not talk like that since I have no religion. The founder of the Ramakrishna Mission has no religion. It means Buddha and all the other great prophets will all go to hell, you will go to heaven. Don't talk like that. I will never ask you to become a Hindu nun. So, respect my religion". And I doled out a little threat. Suppose I go to the press with what you have said to me, what would happen? But I won't do it. " That is what happened. I am just telling what has happened. Swamiji said, "Holiness' - it is from the concluding words delivered by Vivekananda in the Parliament of Religions - "Holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any Church in the world. Every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. As he began with "Sisters and Brothers" paying tribute to all who spoke on the platform, he said "In the face of this evidence if any one dreams the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion it will be written, in spite of resistance, 'Help, not fight', 'assimilation, not destruction', harmony, peace and no dissension." So, naturally this was the concluding day and these words are the concluding words of the great Swami Vivekananda. After that Swami would receive Invitations from one part of America to another of America; lecturing and lecturing, he got tired. Then he told his close devotees that 'I want rest' and then Swamiji went to Thousand Island Park. It is another story. Now I come to the last call, Clarion Call, to the youth of India. If there are young boys and girls, they should pay attention to what I am telling now. This, I told in Kolkata at Swamiji's house on 13th January. One of the young disciples of Vivekananda came to his guru in Belur Math in the last week of June 1902. Swamiji passed away on 4th July. 5-6 days before Vivekananda's Mahasamadhi, a young person who took diksha from the great Swami Vivekananda, came with a restless frame of mind. His question was, 'I have taken diksha from Vivekananda, no ordinary guru, he is guru of gurus. But why is it that when I sit for meditation I cannot concentrate my mind? Today I will go and get this problem solved once for all'. Then he came to Belur Math, but he found Swami Vivekananda taking his evening walk with others on the lawns of Belur Math overlooking the river Ganga. Swamiji was antaryamin. He could know immediately why the disciple had come and he said to him; "I know you have problem. When I am alone in my bed room after the evening prayer, please do come." Prayer over, the disciple climbed up the steps to Vivekananda's room. Incidentally, you will find the photo of Vivekananda's bedroom in our Exhibition. And what did he find? He found his guru absorbed in deep meditation. He had the good commonsense not to draw the attention of his guru when he got absorbed in meditation. He sat silently in one corner of the room and when Vivekananda opened his eyes and found his beloved sishya - his name was Sarat Chandra Chakravarthy - seated in one corner, Swamiji said this - he was that day extra compassionate; guru is always karunaghana; he wanted to give a little chance to him to do seva. He said, "Can you fetch me a glass of drinking water?" He was very pleased. Immediately he brought drinking water; Swamiji drank it and said, "Today I had deep meditation." And in fact that was his question. He immediately said, "As you had deep meditation today, please do something; bless me in a special way so that whenever I sit for meditation, I will become successful." Swamiji first assured, pacified him saying, "You are my beloved disciple. Certainly you will get all that you want." But as the young people are always impatient, the disciple did not want to wait for an indefinite future. Swamiji said, 'In course of time you will have everything." But he was not prepared for that reply. He said, 'Not indefinite future. Why then I have accepted you as my guru? Whatever you have to do, do it right now; place me today itself so that whenever I sit for meditation I become successful.? So, when this disciple got excited, Vivekananda of course was not excited, but he warmed up and said, "I assure you, my son, that even the tiny little warms crawling on the floor will be liberated, and you are my beloved disciple, will you not be liberated, what to speak of becoming successful in meditation and contemplation? But, my son, remember these four things.." And that is the message of Swami Vivekananda or the clarion call of Vivekananda particularly to the youths of the country. What did Swamiji say? He said in Hindi, "Shraddhavan ban, veeryavan ban, Atmagyan prapt kar, parahit ke liye jeevan de de. Yahi mera Ichha. Ashirvad." These are very very important words. But you must qualify this fundamental dictum. Remember these four points: Shraddhavan - you must have tremendous self-confidence in yourself that 'all power, all strength, is within me unmanifested.' As it has been said: "Shraddhavan labhate jnanam". This shraddha also means - our rishis taught us - 'Pitri devobhava, matridevobhava' and they go by your 'Acharya devobhava' you must have great regard for teachers. You must also have great regard for and faith in our 'Sanatanadharma', our cultural heritage. 'I may go to the West for higher education, but I should never look down upon our great culture.' I cite only one example. Swamiji went to America in 1893. After having lived there for more than 3 years, he was returning via England to India. One Englishman tried to test Vivekananda's love for Motherland. And he put a critical question. Before Vivekananda left for America he would say, 'Bharat is punya bhumi'. Now after having lived in the West, he was coming back to India and he may say, 'India is poor, not fabulously rich like the western countries.' So, he just wanted to know whether Swamiji has changed his attitude towards his Motherland. Swamiji gave the reply, "India I liked before I came. But after having lived in the powerful, glamorous west for more than 3 years, I can now make no bones to say 'Not only India is holy, now I can say, every particle of dust is holy.' "What an amount of great faith he had in the cultural heritage of India! Think of that. So, our boys sometimes are so enamoured of western civilization; they go there, they look down upon India; they should never do that. They must have that kind of faith because Swami Vivekananda had a lot of faith in our great cultural heritage and he had tremendous self-confidence; he could become victorious even when he went there. We should never forget that we are a slave nation. But now, suppose we have this faith or shraddha. Will that do? Swamiji told us three things more. 'Shraddhavan ban, veeryavan ban' - we need strength. Anything that makes us weak physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually, we have to reject as poison. Our rishis taught 'Ojo asi ojo mayi Dehi, veeryam asi veeryam mayi Dev'. So, we must have tremendous strength. As Swamiji said, ?All power is within you, you can do anything saying, ?I have everything?? I quote here Vivekananda?s words: ?What makes you weep, my friend? In you is all power. You are all of powerful nature. Oh mighty one, the whole universe will lie at your feet. Strength is life, weakness is death". And as I told you a little while ago, here is the test of truth in the language of Vivekananda, "Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison; there is no life in it; it cannot be true; it is only in our scriptures that this objective is given to the Lord, 'oh, we have to become fearless and our task is to be done.' Suppose we are equipped with shraddha, equipped with faith, will I fulfill the expectation of the great Vivekananda? No, we have to go a step further - Atmanam vrithiya - we have to attain to the knowledge of the self. As Swamiji said, "tell everybody that you are Divine". We have to be conscious all the time of the higher dimension of life. Man is not just composed of flesh and bones; his Spirit is eternal, free, birth less and deathless. So, Swamiji said very inspiring words; Swamiji exhorted; "Teach every one his real nature and call upon the sleeping soul and see how it reacts." Swamiji said, "If we are all conscious of the higher dimension of our life, of the inner divinity that is in us, what happens?" To quote Vivekananda, "Power will come, purity will come, goodness will come, all that is excellent will come once we are roused to our divine nature." So, suppose we have Atmagyan, shraddha and strength, will that fulfil the expectation of Swamiji? No, we have to go a step further. Suppose I am equipped with faith, equipped with intellectual, moral and spiritual strength, I become a realised soul. I go and spend my life in a solitary cave in the Himalayas, but at the cost of the suffering humanity. Once a great moment of weakness came in the life of Swami Vivekananda. One day when he was studying in the Scottish Church College in Kolkata, he came to Dakshineswar, sat at the feet of his Master and prayed for a special boon saying, "I understand that you are blessing many, but I want one boon". "What boon?" "I want you to bless me so that I can always lose myself in the bliss of samadhi." Sri Ramakrishna had great love and special affection for Narendra Nath, who later became Vivekananda. Narendra Nath was mistaken; he thought that this prayer also would be immediately granted. Far from it. On the contrary, that day Narendra Nath, the favourite disciple, was taken to task, scolded. And Ramakrishna said, "I thought that you would be a big banyan tree under whose shelter many would come and take rest, and you are so selfish that you want your personal liberation or bliss or samadhi. Is it not a fact that you sing that song meaning that 'all that you see is Brahman, nothing other than That - Jo kuch hai so tu hi hai'? Do you think that there is God if you close your eyes and there is no God if you open your eyes? Try to worship Brahman with eyes open. Know this supreme truth: the poor, the illiterate, the downtrodden, let these be your gods and goddesses, know that service to them is the highest." So, if we really love Swamiji with all our heart, we have to be equipped with shraddha and with self-knowledge but we should not stop there. We should be prepared to dedicate our lives to the suffering humanity. "Bahujana hitaya, bahujana sukhaya". Now I wind up my discussion with two incidents. One is, one young, educated youth studying in Kolkata University for Master's degree in Philosophy, came to know from someone that Swami Achalanandaji (Kedar Baba), Vice-President of Belur Math, has come from Varanasi and is now staying at Belur Math. So. He felt his inner urge to go to Belur Math. Swami Achalanandaji (Kedar Baba) was then staying at Legget House in Belur Math. In front of Kedar Baba or Achalanandaji, the young, educated person asked; 'Maharaj, I have come for darshan of Kedar Baba. Where is Kedar Baba?' not knowing that he was Kedar Baba himself. Kedar Baba emaciated with rosary simply said; "Come inside". Then pointing out to himself he said: "This is kedar Baba." - Humility par excellent. Then he started saying this. Excuse me for telling g this in Bengali, but I am going to give you first in English. He simply said, "What are you doing now" The youth said, 'I am studying for Master's degree in Philosophy in the Calcutta University.' He just listened to it and suddenly he said: "Swamiji wanted youths like you. He had great faith in the youths of the country. How many lives have gone in vain? Can you not give this life for the cause of Swamiji?" The youth was not prepared for this. Whether he would respond to his call or not, he said to himself, "With what sincerity, with what love he has told me - 'can you not give this life - 'Parbe na bhai ekta jeevan dite?" Then, before that young, educated youth took leave of him after pranaming, once again he said something, and I am quoting his exact words. First the young man went up to him and asked about whereabouts of Swami Achalananda. He did not get a straight answer. Looking affectionately into the intelligent eyes of that young man, he asked in an affectionate tone; "Why do you leave, brother? Why have you come here?? The he examined the young man. He liked that boy and suddenly clasping both his hands, Kedar Baba who was a realized soul, said: "You have spent countless lives in countless ways". Sankaracharya has also said about how we live our life: Punarapi maranam punarapi jananam Punarapi janani jathare shayanam ye samsare kaludustare Kripaya ?paye, pahi murare ? like that. Many - many lives again - a cycle of birth and death. Our human lives are spent, as Sankaracharya said: Balastavat krirasakta Tarunastavat tarunirakta Vridhastavat chintamagno Parame brahmani kupinvagano I go out for work and I tell: "Look here, the children are playing" and all that. There are many mothers now; they play with dolls and all that. And there are grandmothers like that. Gone. In our Paharganj area we feel sometimes bad and all that. That means, 'balastavat krirasakta' -now they have to marry and for honeymoon they go elsewhere. But one couple came to me in Delhi and I asked them, "Where did you go for honeymoon?" They said, "Swamiji, we did not go for honeymoon, we went in for holy-moon." I saluted that couple. After that I have forgotten that couple. They said: "We went to Kamarpukur and Jayarambati". Blessed, anyway. So, the point I want to tell you is that so many lives have gone. So, Kedar Baba told that young man, "You have spent millions of lives in countless ways. Can you not give this life for Swamiji? Swamiji entertained great hope to the youth of the country and he wanted them to dedicate their lives to the great ideals. Can you not do this, brother?" Now this young man thought, "What do I stand to gain if I dedicate myself to Swamiji?s cause?" Then again, Kedar Baba continued to plead, "Can't you offer one life to Swamiji? Come, brother, come.? As he said this, the eyes of the monk seemed to become effulgent. Could such an earnest entity go in vain? This ignorant young person could not ignore the call of the Swamiji. Who is he now? The Vice-President of our Order who is coming here shortly - The Most Revered Swami Atmasthanandaji. He could not complete his education. He told me, "Gokulananda, I left home and came". Revered Atmasthanandaji will be coming here shortly. Publicly I mentioned his name in Kolkata. Look here, another incident and I conclude this talk. Another young man, who took diksha from Virajanandaji on Swamiji's birthday, came from home to Belur Math before his joining. There was Puja in the Temple and in Swamiji's bedroom he found brahmacharins - as our brahmacharins sitting here do - offering breakfast to Swamiji in his bedroom. But this young man who was also doing Master's degree in philosophy in Kolkata University, felt jealous, envious. He thought, "Had I responded to the call of the great Swami Vivekananda, who could have denied me the privilege of going inside Vivekananda's room and serve his breakfast? But I am an ordinary person." That young man was watching all this from outside, from the verandah. He could see everything, and at that moment when this call of Swamiji came one gentleman was singing a song in Bengali and the last lines were like this: "Oh Vivekananda, you are a commander. Responding to your clarion call many left homes. Will you not be kind enough to give sufficient inspiration? I know that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. But if only you give me sufficient strength, inject sufficient strength in me, then with your strength I will be able to respond to your call." And the import of the song was, "Be gracious unto me on this day when I have come to pranam you; bless me so that I can give my life - 'Kripakari karo yashashi dham'. Out of your infinite grace, bless me so that I can dedicate my life in response to your call. I am unworthy, but accept me." So, when that young man was seated in the midst of other devotees, that song was going on and he was looking at the brahmacharins and he was jealous and envious all the time thinking that 'I could not enter in that room, I have no entry; 'Oh Swamiji, please bless me". Kripakari karo yashashi dam Tabo kazi jeno jeevana jaaye Yashode yasho karunanidam Lago azi tanu mano pran "Oh compassionate Vivekananda, be gracious, specially bless me so that in your strength I can also respond to your clarion call". And that young man also could not resist the call of Swamiji, and that is your humble Gokulanandaji!. (Ends) |
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