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TheVedanta KesariTHE LION OF VEDANTAA Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914
103rd
YEAROFPUBLICATION
June2016
Price:` 10
Ramakrishna MaTamluk, West Ben
1
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Editor: SWAMIATMASHRADDHANANDAManaging Editor: SWAMIGAUTAMANANDAPrinted and published by Swami Vimurtananda on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust
from No.31, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai - 4 and Printed atSri Ramakrishna Printing Press, No.31 Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore,
Chennai - 4. Ph: 044 - 24621110
The outer layers of cakes are made of
rice flour, but inside they are stuffed with
different ingredients. The cake is good or bad
according to the quality of its stuffing. So are
all human bodies made of one and the same
material, yet men are different in quality
according to the purity of their hearts.
Sri Ramakrishna
Shrine of
Ramakrishna Math,
Tamluk, West Bengal
2
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JUNE2016
A CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL MONTHLY OF THE RAMAKRISHNA ORDER
Started at the instance of Swami Vivekananda in 1895 as Brahmavdin,
it assumed the name The Vedanta Kesariin 1914.
For free edition on the Web, please visit: www.chennaimath.org
VOL.103, No.6ISSN 0042-2983
Cover Story: Page 6
CONTENTS
The Vedanta Kesari 103rd
YEAROFPUBLICATION
3
Gita Verse for Reflection 205
Editorial
Bhagavad Gita: A Source of Eternal Wisdom and Values 206
Articles
In Search of TruthSome Reflections on Brahmasutras 216
Swami Golokananda
Musings on Indias Unity 219
Michel DaninoYouth and their Problems: Lessons in Coping with Life from Swami Vivekananda 226
Swami Satyapriyananda
Holistic Development through Religious Harmony
The Vision and Mission of Swami Vivekananda 234
T V Muralivallabhan
Reminiscences
Reminiscences of Sargachhi 211
Swami Suhitananda
New Find
Unpublished Letters of Swami Saradananda 232
The Order on the March 237
Book Reviews 240
Feature
Simhvalokanam (The Ethical aspect of the Vedanta) 210
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5T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i J U N E 2 0 1 6
Do you feel that Indias timeless heritageof spirituality, values and culture need to
reach a wider section of youth?
Do you wish to join in spreading themessage of Vedanta and of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda to larger number of people?
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
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SL.NO. NAMES OF SPONSORS AWARDEE INSTITUTIONS
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The Vedanta Kesari Library Scheme
(continued on page 47)
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Cover StoryN N
Ramakrishna Temple, Tamluk Ashrama, West Bengal
The town of Tamluk is the district headquarters of Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal.
An ancient place, present day Tamluk is believed to be the site of the ancient city variouslyknown as Tamralipta or Tamralipti and is located on the banks of theRupnarayan River close to the Bay of Bengal. A centre of RamakrishnaMath was started at Tamluk in 1914 and taken over by Belur Mathin 1924 and the Mission centre was also started in 1914 and wastaken over in 1929. Activities of the Math centre include religiousdiscourses in and outside the Ashrama premises, daily worshipand bhajans, celebration of the birthdays of Sri Ramakrishna, HolyMother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda and other prophets,and also Kali Puja. The activities of the Mission centre include anindustrial school which conducts a three-year course in carpentry, a
primary school with 300 boys and 150 girls, a free students home,a library and a reading room and two charitable homoeopathicdispensaries, and welfare work by way of distribution of milk, clothing, pecuniary help, etc.,to the needy. The shrine of the temple, featured on the cover, is adorned with a marble imageof Sri Ramakrishna. The spacious prayer hall of the temple has the seating capacity of morethan 150.
724. Dr. M.B. Aswath Narayan, Chennai
725. Mr. H. Chetan, Bangalore
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EACH SOUL IS POTENTIALLY DIVINE. THE GOAL IS TO MANIFEST THE DIVINITY WITHIN.
The Vedanta KesariVOL. 103, No. 6,JUNE 2016 ISSN 0042-2983
Gita Verse for ReflectionTr. by Swami Tapasyananda
7
Whence comes all this bondage of
action? Because we chain the soul with
action. According to our Indian system,
there are two existences: nature on
the one side and the Self, the Atman,
on the other. By the word nature is
meant not only all this external world,
but also our bodies, the mind, the will,
even down to what says I. Beyond all
that is the innite life and light of the
soulthe Self, the Atman. . .
Swami Vivekananda,
CW, 1:470
Bhagavad Gita, 15. 2
Nourished by the Gunas and covered with the buddingfoliage of sense objects, its branches spread into regions highand low. Stretching forth on the ground below in the world ofmen, are its secondary roots, entangling man in the bondageof action.
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Editorial
The Bhagavad Gita is a treasure-house
of wisdom and divine qualities. It contains
valuable insights into how to live life and is
one of the most widely read spiritual classics
of the world. The teachings of Gita have
become part of lives of countless men and
women everywhere. Scholars and thinkersof India and other countries alike, as also
saints, leaders, scientists, spiritual seekers or
simple commonersGita has been a source
of inspiration and strength to one and all. It is
indeed the Scripture of India.
While this is true and needs hardly any
emphasis, not everyone in India, especially the
young, know much of Gita. To many, Gita is
a kind of riddle. They have heard of its name.And some also know that it is part of the epic
Mahabharata. But many commoners, which
includes the educated class, do not know
whether Gita contains anything practically
relevant for them. Often it is also felt that Gita
deals with issues which are rather too high
for modern people. Of course they revere
Gita but think that it is just too difficult to
understand (and give up reading it altogether)
or postpone it to more suitable time, later in
lifesomewhere in future which, of course,
never comes!Living in todays demanding world of
diverse challenges and pressures, they ask,
What can Gita teach us?
Modern day education does not pay
much attention to cultivating interest in this
matter. In these times of cell phones, SMSs,
Internet browsing, emails, digital cameras,
iPods, television and reckless use of other
electronic gadgets, the modern people live
under great inner and outer challenges.
The outer challenges, in case of students
for instance, come to them in the form of
learning to keep their focus on their studiesand examinations in the midst of constant
distractions and pulls of various kinds. The
inner challenge comes to them through
lack of a lasting goal, concentration of mind,
resisting peer pressure and temptations to live
a consumerist and selfish way of life. In the
process, higher values such as truthfulness,
honesty, unselfishness, gratitude, self-control,
self-sacrifice and self-discipline, which formthe basis of a healthy and strong personality,
are pushed aside. No wonder parents, teachers
and the wise ones among the students
themselves, feel unhappy and disappointed
with the students conduct and general
direction in life.
Bhagavad Gita has much to offer to all
types of minds in all conditions. Contrary to
popular perception, Gita contains much to
guide and help all, specially the youth, now,
right when they are students and preparing for
their adult years. Gita is not merely a book ofdeep philosophical thoughts; it is also a book
of practical wisdom. However, in order to give
an overview of Gita, here is an attempt to list
out what the Gita contains and teaches:
1. The Bhagavad Gitais popularly known
as the Gita. The Sanskrit wordgita means a
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Bhagavad Gita: A Source of EternalWisdom and Values
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song. Since this song is sung by Sri Krishna,
the God Incarnate (Bhagavan), it is called
Bhagavad Gita or the Song of God. Though
there are many other Gita-s (such as Hamsa
Gita, Avadhuta Gita,Ashtavakra Gitaand manyothers), in the popular usage, by the word
Gita, Bhagavad Gitaalone is meant.
2. The Gita has 700 verses which are
divided into 18 chapters. It forms a part of the
epic Mahabharata (in Bhishma Parva, Chapters
25 to 42).
3. Every chapter of the Gita is regarded
as a Yoga [i.e. a way to Self-perfection] and hasa separate name such as Jnana Yoga, Karma
Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and so on. These names are
mentioned at the end of each chapter.
4. The book is in the form of a dialogue
between Arjuna [who is variously addressed
as Partha, Pandava, Bharata, Mahabaho,
Kaunteya and so on] and Sri Krishna. Arjuna
was one of the five Pandava brothers who
had been deprived of their right to rule the
kingdom and were much persecuted by the
rival Kaurava cousins. After all negotiations
and alternatives failed, the Pandavas were
forced to wage a war against Kauravas.5. As Sri Krishna, the God Incarnate,
counsels Arjuna, he uses the personal pronoun
Me throughout the dialogue. I or Me in the
Gita refers to God or Ultimate Reality.
6. The Gita begins with Dhritarashtra,
the blind king and the father of Kauravas,
asking Sanjaya, his companion who had been
gifted with divine sight to see and describe
the War, to tell him what happened on
the battlefield. Sanjaya starts the narrativeby telling how Duryodhana, the eldest of
Kauravas, approaches the royal teacher,
Dronacharya, and describes the various
warriors on both the sides. Then both the sides
sound the conchs announcing the beginning of
the war.
7. At Arjunas request, Sri Krishna, acting
as Arjunas charioteer, brings his chariot and
stations it in-between the two armies. Arjuna
sees Bhishma and Drona, his grandsire and
the teacher, and sinks in horror and sorrowat the thought of having to fight them. He
becomes nervous and tells Sri Krishna that it
is meaningless to fight such a war because it
would lead to various evil consequences such
as the collapse of the society and kingdom. He
sits down on the chariot, depressed and highly
tense and asks Krishnas advice as to what
will lead to the highest good. In the ensuingdialogue, Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna, which
Sanjaya narrates, and is presented to us as
Gita, in the epic Mahabharata by Veda-Vyasa,
the great rishi.
8. Sri Krishna reminds Arjuna about
his duty as a warrior and the righteous-
ness of the war. He advises him to give up all
his nervousness and confusion and be ready
to fight. This whole episode of Arjuna first
wanting to fight and then becoming nervous is
often compared to human mind which wants
to fight the battle of life but loses all courage
and enthusiasm when faced with the problemsof life. Sri Krishna corrects Arjuna by gently
scolding him and slowly clarifying his doubts
and confusions.
9. Sri Krishna draws Arjunas attention
to his inherent strength and wisdom that
originates from his Divine Core within called
Atman.
10. The War is supposed have been
fought in Kurukshetra, a small town in the
State of Haryana, some 120 km from themodern day cosmopolitan city of New Delhi.
There are a number of places connected with
the incidents in Mahabharata War in the
Kurukshetra area.
11. Kurukshetra, however, can also
be symbolically understood as the battle-
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field of life, with Pandavas representing forces
of good and the Kauravas as the evil forces of
wickedness born of an impure, un-disciplined
and indiscriminate mind.
12. The Gita deals with various issuessuch as the results of selfish and unselfish
works, the process of meditation, devotion to
God, methods to control ones passions and
temper, and how to be spiritually and morally
free and strong.
An earnest study of the Gita can make
one a more effective and better human being.
The Gita contains many suggestions and
guidelines for self-improvement in all its
varied aspectssuch as real nature of man,developing concentration of mind, overcoming
negative thoughts, overcoming anger, evolvinga healthy outlook towards life and oneself,
building a strong and pure personality and so
on. Let us look what some of the great people
have said of the Gita:
Swami Vivekananda: The teachings of
Krishna as taught by the Gita are the grandest
the world has ever known. He who wrote
that wonderful poem was one of those rare
souls whose lives sent a wave of regenerationthrough the world. The human race will never
again see such a brain as his who wrote the
Gita.
Mahatma Gandhi: The Gita is the uni-
versal mother. She turns away nobody. Her
door is wide open to anyone who knocks. A
true votary of the Gita does not know what
disappointment is. He ever dwells in perennial
joy and peace that passeth understanding. But
that peace and joy come not to the sceptic or tohim who is proud of his intellect or learning.
It is reserved only for the humble in spirit who
brings to her worship a fullness of faith and
an undivided singleness of mind. There neverwas a man who worshipped her in that spirit
and went back disappointed. . .
Sri Aurobindo: The Gita is the greatest
gospel of spiritual works ever yet given to the
race. . . . our chief national heritage, our hope
for the future.
Madan Mohan Malaviya: To my know-ledge, there is no book in the whole range
of the worlds literature so high above all as
the Bhagavad Gita, which is a treasure-house
of Dharma not only for Hindus but for all
mankind.
Albert Einstein: When I read the
Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God
created this universe everything else seems so
superfluous. . . .
Henry David Thoreau:One sentence of theGita is worth the State of Massachusetts [in
USA] many times over.Lord Warren Hastings: I hesitate not
to pronounce the Gita a performance of
great originality, of sublimity of conception,
reasoning and diction almost unequalled; and
a single exception, amongst all the known
religions of mankind.
Robert Oppenheimer: [Gita is] the most
beautiful philosophical song existing in any
known tongue.
Some Sterling Verses
The wisdom contained in the Gita is ever
relevant and applicable to our lives. However
modern and novel may be the circumstances,
the Gita provides us enough to solve the
complex situations we may find ourselves into.
While the whole book is filled with precious
wisdom, let us sample a few for our immediate
benefit.Anger is one issue that plagues us all.
How is anger born and how does it work? Says
Sri Krishna (Gita 2.62-63):Thinking of objects, attachment to them is
formed in a man. From attachment longing,
and from longing anger grows. From anger
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comes delusion, and from delusion loss of
memory. From loss of memory comes the ruin of
discernment, and from the ruin of discernment,
he perishes (or meets a moral death).
These two verses give a graphic des-cription of the complete picture of the origin,
functions and result of anger. Anger starts
with thinking of the objects of enjoyment,
resulting in longing to possess them which
when obstructed gets changed into anger. Angerclouds thinking and makes us to do things which
lead to personal and collective harm. What a
simple and clear way of understanding this
mighty enemy of lifeanger!
Or let us take another sample (Gita 5:23-24):
He who can withstand in this world, before the
liberation from the body, the impulse arising
from lust and anger, he is steadfast in Yoga, he
is a happy man.
Whose happiness is within, whose realization is
within, whose light is within, that Yogi, alone,
becoming Brahman, gains absolute freedom.
The first verse quoted above speaks
of attaining the highest bliss by self-controlright in this life. Sri Ramakrishna used to say
that here is knowledge, there is ignorance.
In other words, knowledge of the Self is
attainable right in this life and it should be the
aim of life.
The second verse underlines the
importance of seeking inner joy. Generally
man seeks joy from outside, from the objects ofsenses and getting associated with its various
aspects. The Gita tells us to seek the real source
of joythe Atman within, which is possible
only through purifying the mind and proper
discernment.
The Gita teaches us how to live our
lifework, be busy, but be not attached to theresults. Do not be idle and lazy nor be restless
but be healthily busy and do not get bogged
down by results, good and bad. Retain your
freedom!
At the end, Sri Krishna, the Godhead,
gives the final message to Arjuna: give up all
dharma and take refuge in Me. I will take care
of all your worries and burdens. A timeless,
eternal reassurance!
The Gita distils some of the highest
and best ideas mankind has thought of, how
it can enrich and strengthen ones personal
and collective lives. While a quick reading of
this sacred work will reveal the beauty of thewisdom the Gita contains, a calm, repeated
thinking over them will reveal a deeper and
new meaning.
11
He who has given up all attachment, all fear,
and all anger, he whose whole soul has gone
unto the Lord, he who has taken refuge in the
Lord, whose heart has become puried, withwhatsoever desire he comes to the Lord, He
will grant that to him. Therefore worship Him
through knowledge, love, or renunciation.
Swami Vivekananda
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From the Archives of THEVEDANTAKESARI
S i m h v a l o k a n a m
(June, 1916-17, p. 39)
The Ethical aspect of the Vedanta
PROFESSOR K. SUNDARARAMA IYER, M.A.
The question naturally here arises,if our Karmic activities
leave Vasanas, impressions and tendencies, behind, and these
Vasanas in turn determine the nature of our activities, then we shall ever be caught in this
recurring circle, and no room is left for the will of man as an agency of improvement. This
question has already been answered, but we propose to consider the question here from a
standpoint suitable to the present topic.
The Vasanas are merely potentialities determinative of activity,Saktis, as they are
called; and potentialities may either be results of activities impressed on the mind in the
form of tendencies and impressions or may be so impressed as a result of the recurrent
initiation; by the force of the will, of various kinds of Bhavanas (mental activities)
confirmatory of, or contrary to the tendencies now acting on the mind and determining its
direction. The latter are as much Saktis (potentialities) as the former, and both are due to the
postulating or the assumption (kalpana) of a relation between the Atman and the material
universe or object which in reality does not, and cannot, exist. All the minds potentialities
or Saktis are thusKalpita, i.e., superimposed falsely on the Atman,whether they are of
the kind which are impressed on the mind from without, or those which originate in the
mind itself and are impressed on it by its own initiative. Hence the mind is not only subject
to the law of necessity, but also capable of freedom in determining its own forward and
progressive march to the goalit is not only compulsorily enchained to the cyclic law of
Karma producing Vasanas and Vasanas producing Karma in their turn, but also capable of
voluntarily initiating reform and determining its own purity and progress towards perfection.
For the relation of the Atman to the matter superimposed on it is assumed (kalpita) and not
real, and the potentialities of the mind resulting from such assumption and superposition
may partake of either of the kinds above pointed out. And so, the Vedantin is not forced
to chooseone onlyof the alternatives of freedom and necessity (postulated for the will) so
long hotly contested among philosophical partisans, but isboth a necessarian and a free-
willist,necessarian in regard to one set of Vasanas and free-willist in regard to another.
12
B B
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||6||
13.3.1959
Attendant: This same world is seenby the Yogi as consistin g of Br ahman
(Brahmamaya), to the discriminating as full
of misery, and to one who wants to enjoy it
as an object of enjoyment. Why is there such
difference?
Maharaj: Look. Whatever we see, we
do not see the thing; we see the process. We
think that the process itself is the thing. For this
reason, what is true in the eyes of someone,
is false to another. At Rishikesh, I saw that a
workman was breaking stone. He was hitting
it with a big iron hammer. Nothing happened
after the first five blows. Sixth time a crack
appeared. That is, although nothing couldbe perceived from outside earlier, action was
going onsixth time the outcome appeared.
Seventh time the stone broke. Like that, in
Reminiscences of SargachhiSWAMI 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, General Secretary of
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math. He was a personal attendant of SwamiPremeshananda 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 Udbodhaninstalments.
course of receiving blows in the world, when
we are no longer able to endure blows and
break down by the impact of blows, our mindwould turn towards God. Hence we should
not despise any living being in the world. One
who cannot grasp God today, is not despicable
for that reason. Perhaps action is going on that
being slowly; sometime it would break down.
A village doctor used to visit the
Ashrama now and then. He used to send
occasionally date-palm juice, gur, potol (gourd),
etc., to the Ashrama. Somebody was speaking
ill of him. Maharaj said: See. This is his stage
of good intentions. Gradually, through this
very stage would come love of God. We see the
drawbacks of people, but this is not right. We
would have to take the Statement of fact. Tosee the drawbacks of a person does not mean
demeaning him. It means that I would have to
take lessons and be careful myself.
Reminiscences
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An old man once asked Maharaj: If
everything could be got through chanting
the name of Hari, then what is the need of
controlling the senses? Maharaj used to make
jest about this remark for many days. Todaythat old man had come. Immediately after
seeing him, Maharaj called him and asking
him to sit nearby, enquired about his various
tidings.
Attendant: God is no person; surely He
doesnt have any wish. Then how is it that He
is distressed to see the misery of living beings
and descends to earth?
Maharaj: God really doesnt descend;it seems as if He descends. As long as ones
unripe self persists, one has to recognize such
things as the descent of the greater self. This
is a statement of fact. As soon as I enter this
body, I forget my true nature and then it
seemsGod descends. As long as the sense of
ones body remains, descent of God too is true.
Attendant: How is it that Sri Rama-krishna is God?
Maharaj: Well, every living being is
God. But yet Sri Ramakrishna is worshipped
because he had understood himself more.
Whoever is able to understand oneself to as
great an extent, would attain to Godhood
to that great an extent. Sri Ramakrishna
understood himself in entirety.
Attendant: Did Gopaler Ma (Aghormani
Devi, a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna) haveJnana
Yoga[knowledge of absolute truth]?
Maharaj: Certainly. Gopals mother had
this knowledge that everything in this worldis rejectable, only Gopal is acceptable. This
experienceexperiencing as Consciousness
by ones inmost Consciousness (bodhe bodh
in Bengali)is what is called knowledge.
The meaning of knowledge is not only
understanding what Gopal is. But admittedly
we are not spiritually as highly endowed as
Gopals mother. Therefore we would have to
know what God is. Then only we would be
able to love Him, feel a wish to work for Hispleasure, and be connected with Him always.
Where else is Ramakrishnaloka? Where there
is a running discourse on Ramakrishna always
is verily Ramakrishnaloka.
Attendant: Vyasa-deva had real know-
ledge that he was witness of body, mind and
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Swami Premeshananda
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intellect. If the intellect was felt to be separate
from his I, then how could he eat without
taking the help of the intellect?
Maharaj: At that time I am the observer.
This happens through the prarabdha. i.e.,past momentum of I. We cannot explain
what it is through words. It is possible to do
work even though I is present only as
an observer. As the body perishes, the most
tenuous of connections (what seems to be a
connection) goes away.
During that period everybody in Sarga-
chhi Ashrama used to get up at 3 a.m. andafter finishing ablutions used to be present at
the shrine by 3.30 a.m. From 5 a.m. onwards
all used to join their hands together and finish
all the work of the shrinecleaning, picking
flowers, making sandal-paste, arranging the
offering, etc.and come downstairs within 6
a.m. The milk of the Ashrama cows used to be
offered to Thakur in a pot. A part of that milk
was used for making tea and a cup of milk was
given to Premesh Maharaj.
At breakfast time Maharaj normally
would take muri (puffed rice) made from aush
rice (at that time muri made from aman ricewas not available in the Ashrama). That muri
used to be fried in the Ashrama itself. Bhaskar
Maharaj would store that in a can once in
two in three days. He was an old monk and
a disciple of Mahapurush Maharaj. He used
to do bits of service for Premesh Maharaj
and sleep on a cot in the latters room itself.
At breakfast Maharaj usually took the muri,
mixed with a spoonful of ghee, putting a few
black peppers in it. When cucumbers grewin the Ashrama fields, he would take a few
pieces of cucumber too. Later on little bits of
ripe papaya or mango were also served to
him.
Banku-da was our cook. In the morning,
after serving the food, as soon as he found
some time, he would bring a cup of milk to
Premesh Maharaj. By that time his breakfast
would have been over and he would be seated
at work writing something or replying to
letters. An attendant saw that Banku-da wasbeing late every day and started bringing
Maharajs milk himself. After he had brought
the milk for about three days, Maharaj said:
See, Banku comes to see me once every day on
the pretext of bringing the milkthat is not
happening any longer. Let him bring the milk
himself. A little delay does not cause me any
trouble.
14.3.1959
Maharaj: The other day a Brahmacharin
came. He said that he had got Complete Works
by heart, because later on that would come in
handy for giving lectures. I kept silent. That is
better than nothing. Instead of doing nothing,
he is at least thinking about Swamiji. But he
who earns his livelihood by hewing wood,
remains satisfied if he gets daily the work of
hewing wood; he never thinks whether it is
possible to pursue any other easier and nicer
means of livelihood. Like that those monkswho remain engrossed in lectures, etc., think
that things are going on all right! They never
ponder for once whether there are any other
means.
20.3.1959
Attendant: What relation should a monk
maintain with his pre-monastic life?
Maharaj: Even after one becomes a
monk, the I of his previous home life doesnot go. Hence one has to discriminate day and
nightI am not the body, nor the mind, nor
the intellect; my real identity isI am Thakurs
child. Leave alone other things, a monk cannot
get beyond his Bengali identityhe hates
others. There are some who go home after
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becoming a monk to show off how one has
dressed oneself. Be normal. As I have become
a monk, I would not look at the faces of my
parentssuch an attitude is not good. If there
is need, keep yourself posted about their news.But you have to remain careful, otherwise you
would gradually become embroiled. Many
householders are very complex-minded.
One day a fellow threw away a pin.
Maharaj: You threw that awayif
someone hurts himself in his sole?
That person replied, Nothing would
happen.Maharaj: Would nothing happen? We
are old peoplewe are scared of everything.
Nothing happens in hundred years, then one
day it will happen. I saw that in the treasury
they used to guard with gun on their shoulders
year after year, nothing happened. It seems
that they are guarding for nothing. But all on a
sudden there was an attack in 1942. So many
days preparation was for this 1942.
22.3.1959
Swami Sukhadananda Maharaj was
Holy Mothers disciple. He was the abbot ofthe Ashrama. He used to cherish great respect
for Maharaj and tried his utmost for Maharajs
service and care. Today he would have to
undergo a surgical operation. Dr Chaudhuri
would perform the operation. Sukhadananda
Maharaj had become very nervous. He came
to make obeisance to Premesh Maharaj before
the operation. Maharaj said: I also get afraid.
I become too nervous. It seemed that hearing
this Sukhadananda Maharaj felt reassured.A youth named Toto used to come.
He showed little interest towards Japa and
meditation. Maharaj talked to him in such a
way as if he was doing the right thing. Then
he told him: However, now onwards you may
rather practise.
25.3.1959
Narayan Babu and Dr. Chaudhuri had
come from Berhampur. Dr. Chaudhuri paid
obeisance to Maharaj by touching his feet.
Maharaj: I have lost my brain altogether.I cannot remember what was talked about half
an hour ago.
Narayan Babu: You dont want to keep
it in mindthat is why you dont remember.
Maharaj: Its true that now I dont
have any liking for these things. It would be
enough if only what is of crucial concern to me
remains intact till the end.
Maharaj (to Dr. Chaudhuri): You were
there; so such a major operation of Sukhada-
nanda went off without any hitch.
Dr. Chaudhuri: Who am I? Thakur did it.
Maharaj: Yes, He writes. But the pen also
must be good. Now goodbye, we will meet
again if I remain.
Dr. Chaudhuri: What does if I remain
mean?
Maharaj: When we die, we wont become
naughtwe would become vast.
Dr. Chaudhuri: You will diethrowing
us to the winds?Maharaj: You seewe are monks, we
have to think of death all the time. A girl usedto come. At that time she was young. As I used
to talk of death every day, she used to lose her
temperWhy do you always talk of death
to me? Nowadays she smiles. Hearing again
and again, she has grasped the matter. She is a
college professor now.
At night Maharaj told the attendant:
Whenever you get time, sit down to do japa.This has to be practised. At night before lying
down, think for at least 10 minutesthink that
the feet of Thakur, Mother and Swamiji are on
the pillow and you are lying with your head
on it.
Attendant: How much true is this world?
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Maharaj: As much as is being revealed
to me. If I have no eyes, I have nothing to see
in the world. When I see something in dream,
does it seem false? In the waking state this
perceived world is as true as that is at that timenot more than that.
When Mothers feet touched Rasbihari
Maharaj accidentally, she saluted him and
said, My child, you are a precious treasure
that gods covet. Really, you are a treasure
coveted by gods. You have come renouncing
your parents and relatives all at such a tender
age, without being inclined towards the worldeven a bit. As for myself, I came at old age. I
see you as gods. Nowadays many boys who
are like gods are coming.
I should have remained inactive after
receiving what I got from the direct disciples of
Thakur. But driven by my precocity, I thought
egoistically that I would propagate, I would
attain God through meditation. That is why I
have so much bodily suffering. I have become
a victim of melancholia. The nerves are verysensitive; I become restive if I hear a cats call
or a birds call or if I see the misery of people.
Our condition is lamentable. We could not go
beyond the body-mind complex, nor could we
die entrapped in it! We know everythingwe
know that life is full of sorrow; as we see the
future of people we shudder. One day I saw a
father, he had come with his beautiful son. Iwas startledif the boy would fall suddenly
and die. I knew many such boys. One was
Abuhad no lust from a young age, not a
trace of greedwas a god altogether.(To be Continued. . .)
17
Man is merely an instrument, and the Lord is the operator.
Blessed is he through whom the Lord gets his work done.
Everyone has to work in this world, no one can escape from
it. But he who works for his own selsh endshis work,
instead of liberating him from the trap of maya, binds him.On the other hand, the wise man, working for the Lord, cuts
the fetters of work. Not I, but the Lord is the doerthis
knowledge severs the bonds. This is a gospel truth. The
notion that I am the doer is merely a delusion, because it
is difcult to trace who this I is. If one carefully analyzes
this I, the real I dissolves in God. Our identication with
the body, mind, intellect, and so on, is simply a delusion
created by ignorance. Do they last long? Discrimination
puts an end to them all. They all vanish, and there only
remains the One Realityfrom whom everything evolves,
in whom all rest, and wherein they merge at the end.
That Reality is the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, or
Brahman, the witness of the ego-consciousness; and again
It is the Omnipresent Lord, who is creating, preserving, and
dissolving the universe, and is yet untouched by it all.
Swami Turiyananda, Spiritual Treasures, P.62
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In Search of Truth
Some Reflections on BrahmasutrasSWAMI GOLOKANANDA
The author is a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order.
The Shad Darshanas
Brahma-sutras or aphorisms on Ulti-
mate Reality (Brahman) is one of the most
authentic texts of Vedanta. The Shad Dar-
shanas or six systems of Indian philosophy
which uphold the authorities of Vedasare Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankya, Yoga,
Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa.
The other set of systems of Indian
Philosophy which do not hold the
supremacy of Vedas include Jain
and Buddhist schools of thought.
Of these Shad Darshanas
are Brahma Sutras, also known
as Badarayana Sutras, Uttara
Mimamsa or Bhikshu Sutras.
Each of these systems of Philo-
sophy has its own world-view,trying to find out answers to
the fundamental questions of
philosophy viz:where this world has
come from, how has it come, how it is
functioning, etc. Each system gives its own
answers to these basic questions.
Brahmasutras is the last one among the
Shad darshanas which essentially expounds
the Upanishadic philosophy. It examines
other philosophical stands in many aspects,but basically stands on the Upanishadicphilosophy, rejecting the conclusions of all
others.
According to Sri Adi Shankara, the
revered commentator of Vedanta, the Brahma-
sutras is like a garland made out of the
flowers of Upanishadic passages (Vedanta
Vakya Kusuma Granthanarthathwad Sutranam).
According to the commentary of Shankara
the first four sutras give the whole of its
philosophy in a gist.
We must recall here that Sri Shan-
kara strengthened the Sanatana Dharma,
the Religion Eternal, by propounding
the glory of Vedanta through his
commentaries on Prasthana-
thrayathree pillars of Sanatana
Dharma, the Gita, the Upa-
nishads and the Brahmasutras.By thus writing these
authentic expositions, he brought
about a spiritual revolution in
India. After his commentarieson prasthanathraya , other great
Acharyas in the succeeding centuries
also wrote separate commentaries on
these Vedantic traditionsmostly with their
own interpretations as well. Thus came about a
revival of Vedantic ideals in the country which
proclaim the glory of human being and that
work is still going on.
Presently, more importance is given to
Vedanta than to rituals enjoined by PurvaMimamsa which was very powerful during
the days of the Buddha and Sri Shankara.
From the 19th century onwards, the Vedanta
traditions have attained great impetus in
the world through the realizations of Sri
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Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Owing
to Swamijis efforts in proclaiming the glory of
the Upanishads in America, England and in
India itself, the light of the Upanishads, with
its increasing lustre, eclipsed to a great extentthe erstwhile influence of Purva-mimamsa in
India. It is interesting to note that Kerala was
the home of the Purva-mimamsa where it was
a very powerful way of thinking. But today it
is practised only by a few.
Studying The First Sutra
Now, let us turn to the first Sutra of theBrahmasutras. From the first one itself we
get detailed deliberation of the subject. The
famous sutra, the very first one, runs as
Athato Brahma JijnasaNow, then, the enquiry
into the real nature of the Brahman.
Here in the Sutra Atha means, some-
thing has to precede the commencement of
the studies. So, what is that precedence? In
the case of study of Purva Mimamsa, it is a
prerequisite to study the Vedas. So, can the
same be the precedence here also? No. The
study of the Vedas is certainly appreciable,
but one can go straight to the study of theBrahmasutras even without the study of
the Vedas. So then, what is its precedence?
Yes, there is something prescribed as the
prerequisite for the study of this Vedanta. And
what is it? It is, by all means, the attainment
of character excellencei.e., cultivating the
four fold spiritual disciplines described in our
scriptures which are:
1) Discrimination between eternal and
ephemeral,2) Renunciation of the idea of enjoy-
ment of the fruits of actionshere, in this lifeand hereafter, in heaven.
3) Attainment of the six treasures ofvirtuesSama, Dama, Uparathi, Titiksha,Shraddha and Samadhanam.
4) Intense longing for liberation(mumukshatva).
Without these four fold disciplines no
one can attain the realization of highest Truth
and Splendour. They are also the prerequisitesfor the study of Brahmasutras. In the modern
times, we can see all these qualities in all its
glory in the life of Swami Vivekananda who,
as a youngster, as a student, was pining for
this realization. His vast studies including the
philosophical systems of both the East and the
West made him an exceptional student. He
was intellectually convinced of the existence
of God and also the necessity to realize Him.
Hence he was going about restlessly in searchof someone who would help him realise God.
If God existed, I must realize Him, otherwise
life has no meaning, that was his reasoning.
Swamiji stands before us as an ideal role
model; he stands out as a blazing example
of a person possessing this fourfold spiritual
discipline.
On reflection we find that the attainment
of prosperity that man gets in this life is
short-lived. It does not give him the joy of
spiritual fulfillment. Scriptures speak aboutthe meritorious deeds (punyakarmas) that
would enable him to gain greater joy in the
other worldin heavenafter death. But the
scriptures proclaim the great truthBrahma-
vidapnotiparam, one who realizes Brahman
gains the highest which is the highest gain
of human life. Thats how the word Athah is
explained in the Shankara Bhashyarealise
Reality here and now, in this very life. In
modern time Sri Ramakrishna kept up thisideal of realisation of the Highest Truth in this
very life and insisted on all his disciples to
struggle for it.
The second and third words in the sutra
Brahma Jijnasa means the enquiry into the
real nature of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality.
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We have to be clear in our mind as to what the
meaning of the word Brahman is which is
very important. Brahman is a unique entity.
Everything that is great, everything that is
good, everything that is beautiful is Brahman.Brahman is all-pervading, all-knowing and
all-powerful. Brahman is the very essence
of purity and excellence the characteristics
of which are Nitya, Shuddha, Buddha and
MuktaHe is eternity itself, eternally pure,
the ever-awakened reality, eternally free and
the self of all beings. This is how the term
Brahman, according to the Vyakarnam(Sanskrit grammar), is to be understood
Brhi, Vriddhou, to expand and go on
expanding. The Vast One, the Ever-present is
what is meant by Brahman.
Brahma Jijnasa means the desire to
know Brahman. Desiring to know Brahman
is not an intellectual assent of the idea but
a wholehearted acceptance of the truth, the
realization of Truth.
But the point is that the highest reality is
understood differently by the different systems
of philosophy.
There are different notions about the selfand the ultimate reality such as the following:
The materialists of the Lokayata school
recognize the body alone to be the self. Others
hold that the mind is the self. One school of
Buddhism says that it is merely momentary
consciousness. Another school of Buddhism
itself says that it is a void. The Naiyayika as
well as the Vaisheshika schools hold that the
soul transmigrates and is the agent (of work)
and the experiencer (of results). Sankhya says
that the soul is a mere experiencer and not
any agent. Yoga philosophy says that there is
a God who is different from this soul and is
all-knowing and all-powerful. Thus there are
different views about the soul. Hence we haveto exercise our discrimination and arrive at
the truth about the soul so that we gain the joy
and bliss of the Lord and become free from the
miseries of life.
The Brahmasutras analyse the whole
issue and give us the convincing under-
standing of Who we are and of What Nature
is. It tells us that essentially we are Brahmanitself. In other words self is Brahman itself. We
are divine in essence, which is all-knowing,
pure and perfect. This knowledge of ourselves
is to be discovered and not created. The ideal
that the Brahmasutras place before us is that
we should discover this grand truth in our
lives, here and now.
Swami Vivekanandas words throw a
clear light on the subject under our discussion.
He says,
The idea that the goal is far off, far beyond
nature, attracting us all towards ithas to bebrought nearer and nearer without degrading or
degenerating it. The God of heaven becomes the
God in Nature, and the God in Nature becomes
the God who is Nature and the God who is
nature becomes the God within this temple of the
body and the God dwelling in the temple of the
body at last becomes the temple itself, becomes
the soul and man and there it reaches the last
words it can teach. He whom the sages have
been seeking in all these places is in our own
hearts. (CW, 2.128).
vvv
20
These conceptions of the Vedanta must come out, must remain not only in the forest,
not only in the cave, but they must come out to work at the bar and the bench, in the
pulpit, and in the cottage of the poor man, with the shermen that are catching sh, and
with the students that are studying. . . Swami Vivekananda
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Musings on Indias UnityMICHEL DANINO
Michel Danino has researched many aspects of Indian civilization and history, authoring books in English
and French, as well as many papers published in journals of archaeology, history and culture; he lives near
Coimbatore. He delivered the Vedanta Vachaspati Radhanath Phukan Memorial Lecture at Vivekananda
Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati, on 7 September 2008, on the theme of this paper which was published
later in Quest magazine. Our thanks to the author for his consent to republish this.
Till a few decades ago, the concept ofIndias cultural unity was so self-evident that
few scholars or statesmen would have thought
of questioning it. Let us consider the following
observation:
The most essentially fundamental Indian unity
rests upon the fact that the diverse peoples
of India have developed a peculiar type of
culture or civilization utterly different from any
other type in the world. That civilization may
be summed up by the term Hinduism. India
primarily is a Hindu country. . . .1
This straightforward statement, which
few of our intellectuals would dare to make
today, is found in the introduction to Vincent
Smiths classic Oxford History of India.2Rarely
do we find such an agreement between the
colonial view of India and that of leading
Indian figures of the day. Let us hear one ofthem:
In America and Australia, Europe has simplified
her problem by almost exterminating the original
population. Even in the present age this spirit
of extermination is making itself manifest. . .
India has all along been trying experiments
in evolving a social unity within which all the
different peoples could be held together, while
fully enjoying the freedom of maintaining their
own differences. . . This has produced somethinglike a United States of a social federation, whose
common name is Hinduism.3
The author of these thoughts is none
but Rabindranath Tagore. Or let us read Sri
Aurobindos view of the matter:
In India at a very early time the spiritual and
cultural unity was made complete and became
the very stuff of the life of all this great surge of
humanity between the Himalayas and the two
seas. . . Invasion and foreign rule, the Greek, the
Parthian and the Hun, the robust vigour of Islam,
the levelling steam-roller heaviness of the British
occupation and the British system, the enormous
pressure of the Occident have not been able to
drive or crush the ancient soul out of the body
her Vedic Rishis made for her.4
Today, such a language is disparaged. A
steady stream of Marxist and postmodernist
literature has sought to establish the now
politically correct view that there exists no
such underlying unity of body for India; andsince we are told that the Hindu identity is an
imagined one, there can be no United States
of a social federation, whose common name is
Hinduism. Tagores plain statement would
make our postmodernist scholars cringe. Their
scholarly deconstruction goes farther: not
only does it deny a Hindu identity, it bringsnew myths into play: the myth of Thomas
the Apostles evangelizing mission to India,
so as to retroactively create an antiquity fora Christian identity in this country, and
therefore an equal claim to its cultural sphere;
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the myth of a liberalizing Islam, which freed
Indias oppressed castes; the myth of a colonial
rule bringing modern education to India and
preparing the country for modernity.
But we are not concerned here with suchnarratives (and any narrative seems acceptable
as long as it portrays Hindu society and
culture as divisive, oppressive and retrograde).
Rather, we must face the central question: Was
there or not in ancient India a sense of cultural
unity throughout this geographical expanse?
And was there a political unityand if so,
when and to what extent?
Cultural Unity: a Sacred Geography
Indias geographical unity, at least, is not
questionable. The Vishnu Puranas definition is
unambiguous:
The country that lies north of the ocean, and
south of the snowy mountains, is called Bharata.
(II.3.1)
But this Bharata is not an abstract
expanse; it is a sacred geography given shape
to by dense networks of holy places, tirthas
that skilfully crisscross the Indian landmass.Among the many lists of such pilgrimage sites,
let us mention: 51 (or 52) Shakti peethas covering the whole of
India, with some of them in Nepal, Bangladesh,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka: in this tradition, the very
land becomes the body of the Mother;
twelve Jyotirlingas, from Gujarat and Maha-
rashtra in the west to Kedarnath in the north,
Vaidyanath (Deogarh) in the east, and Rames-
waram in the south;
four Char Dhampilgrimage sites of the Himalayas(Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath & Kedarnath);
four locations for the Kumbhamela (Allahabad,
Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik);
five sacred confluences (among many more):
Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag,
Rudraprayag, Devprayag;
108 Divyadesamsor Vaishnavite shrines, most of
them in the South;
five important temples of Shiva in the South,
each associated with one of the panchabhutas;
pilgrimage routes established by Indiasspiritual figures, from Shankaracharya to
Swami Vivekananda, also tended to frame as
much of the land as possible, from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari.
Such a web created on the map theconcept of punyabhumi: one holy land present
and living in everyones mind. It was
constantly recalled to ones memory through
a variety of devices, for instance the many
mantras and prayers listing Indias sacred
rivers in various orders (generally starting
with Ganga). And of course the impact of
the two Epics, which not only mention most
regions of India (the Mahabharataespecially),
but were warmly adopted by every region, to
such a point that it is hard to find a place in
India through which the Pandavas or Rama
did not pass at some time or the other! The
unparalleled cultural integration effected by
the Epics was so powerful that it extended
to much of South East Asia, a fact readilyacknowledged by nations such as Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia or Vietnam.
As far as India is concerned, the result
was the creation of one integrated cultural
entity: early Greek, Chinese and Arab
travellers recognized it as such and referred
to India as one country, not several. Islamicinvaders too (or their chroniclers, such as Al-
Beruni) had no doubt in their mind thatAlhind
was one country, not many separate ones.Tribal communities were not left out
in the process; not only was their worldview
always close to, or at least compatible with,
that of Hinduism, but also the organic
interaction between the two was constant,
peaceful and far-reaching. A startling
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illustration can be found in a recent study
that found among a few tribal communities of
Western India the survival of a most ancient
cult to the Vedic god Indra (called Babo Ind),
while mainstream, Brahminical Hinduismrarely if ever worships Indra anymore.5
Similarly, rural and tribal communities
throughout the country, including the North-
East, have preserved and continue to enact
their own versions of the two Epics through
tales, songs, new myths and customs.6
In effect, we could empirically define
Hinduism as the result of a centuries-oldpeaceful, organic and decentralized interplay
between Vedic and local cultures at all levels
of Indian society, including the tribal one.
Indeed, a recent study by Sandhya Jain on
tribal contributions to Hinduism establishes
that Tribal society constitutes the keynote and
the bedrock of Hindu civilization.7
Political Unity
The dominant colonial view of India
was that whether or not this cultural unity
was conceded, the subcontinent was home
to a loose congeries of disparate and oftenunrelated ethnic groups, regional powers,
languages and local cultures, none of which
constituted a nation in the European sense
of the term; it was the British Raj that created
the Indian nation, not the Indians. Without
going here into the considerable difference
between the Indian and European concept
of nationhood,8we must point out that if the
colonial rule did end up in creating a nation in
the accepted sense, India had often achievedpolitical unity in the distant past.
Attempts at political integration may
be said to begin as early as in the third
millennium BCE, with the Indus-Sarasvati
civilization (2600-1900 BCE) spreading its
remarkable administration and high standards
over nearly one million square kilometres,
almost a third of modern India. Whatevertheir protohistoric dates may be, the Vedic
samhitas have a rich vocabulary of terms for
rulers (raja, adhiraja, samraj, rajadhirajaor king
of kings), sovereignty (rajya, samrajya, bhaujya,
svarajya, vairajya, paramashthya, maharajya,
adhipatya ...), and assemblies (sabha, samiti).9
We see this translated on the ground in the
early republics of the Ganges Valley at the
start of its urbanization, and on a grander
scale with the repeated attempts to unify the
whole subcontinent: the Mauryan Empire
encompassed most of it (except the far South)
and much of Afghanistan. Later empires(especially the Gupta) did not quite match the
Mauryan reach, but ended up strengthening
Indias cultural unity.
However, the term empire evokes
an absolute monarch heading an oligarchy
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and thus distracts us from a more important
phenomenon: absolute monarchy was
unknown in India, as everywhere elaborate
systems of assemblies gave a considerable
measure of control to communities at variouslevels. Exploring the growth of a democratic
mind in India, historian Steve Muhlberger
concluded:
The experience of Ancient India with
republicanism, if better known, would by
itself make democracy seem less of a freakish
development, and help dispel the common
idea that the very concept of democracy is
specifically Western. . . . It is especially
remarkable that, during the near-millennium
between 500 B.C. and 400 A.D., we find republics
almost anywhere in India that our sources
allow us to examine society in any detail. . . .
The republics of India were very likely more
extensive and populous than the poleis of the
Greeks. The existence of Indian republicanism
is a discovery of the twentieth century. The
implications of this phenomenon have yet to
be fully digested. . . Historians may find, in the
Indian past as elsewhere, plenty of raw material
for a new history of the development of humangovernment.10
The phrase almost anywhere in India
points, again, to a political unity, if not in terms
of a precise entity, at least of Indias political
mind.
The Case of the North-East
The above sketchy musings find an
illustration in the case of the North-East, so
long the object of separatist propagandas.
One of their favourite lines of attack is that the
North-East was never a part of India, either
culturally or politically. Thankfully we have
much impeccable evidence to demonstrate thefallacy of the argument. The briefest highlights
will do for our present purpose:
At Bhishmaknagar (Arunachal) excavations
revealed a fort of classic type (according to the
Arthashastras specifications) covering some ten
square kilometres; Hindu deities of the 8th-10th
centuries were found at the spot.
At the important site of Vadagokugiri (or
Bhaitbari, in the West Garo hills of Meghalaya),
partly excavated in 1992 by A. K. Sharma,11 a
fortified ancient capital town came to light, with
many temples, huge tanks, well-laid metal roads
and junctions. The brick temples (some of them
in Orissa style, facing east) displayed Ganesha
figures,Sivalingaswithyonis, terracotta plaques
of Brahma (or Shiva), Sarasvati, Kali, ascetics,
gandharvas, dancing girls, etc. A Buddhist stupa
was also unearthed, the first in Meghalaya, aswell as a remarkable octagonal Siva temple, the
first of its kind found in North-East India. The
pottery of the lowest layers showed an early
occupation of the site, on a smaller scale, right
from 2ndcentury BCE.
In 1980, a gold mask was recovered from a
hillock in Imphal (Manipur), along with bronze
and stone statues of Buddha from Kakching,
Chandel and Leuthabal.
Turning to the literature, the Ramayanarefers to
Pragjyotisha as a city built with gold on a seasidemountain (known as Varaha with golden peaks),
ruled by Naraka. This king is in fact mentioned
in pre-Ahom inscriptions as the founder of the
Bhauma-Naraka or Varman dynasty.12 He is
referred to as the father of the first historical ruler,
Pushyavarman (4thcentury CE).13
The Mahabharata mentions Pragjyotisha as
a great citadel ruled by the valorous Naraka,
who stole Aditis earrings (they were recovered
by Krishna). Narakas son, Bhagadatta (also
mentioned in inscriptions, such as the Nalanda
seal of Bhaskaravarman), was a friend of Pandu
and fought against Arjuna with an army of
Chinas, Kiratas and elephants in the course of
Arjunas northern expedition.14
Panini shows his awareness of the region in
Ashtadhyayi: Suramasa is one of the prachya-
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janapadas(others include Kosala, Kasi, Magadha,
Kalinga) and was probably the Surma valley of
Assam, according to Ajay Mitra Shastri.
Buddhist literature calls the region Lohichcha
(= Lauhitya, another name of the Brahmaputra)and connects it to Vedic culture.
The Arthashastra mentions Kamarupa as the
source of various products (including gems and
incense)and the Lauhitya.
Kalidasas Raghuvamsa also mentions the
Lauhitya.
In Ajay Mitra Shastris opinion, Graeco-Roman
writers (e.g. Ptolemy) refer to Assam as part of
their accounts of India, calling it Seres.
Kamarupa is mentioned in the Allahabad pillar
inscription of Samudragupta (4thcentury CE) asa frontier kingdom whose king paid obedience to
Samudragupta. In Nayanjot Lahiris words, That
Assam was within the mainstream of events in
the Gangetic valley is amply clear from the epic
references.15
We have about 32 pre-Ahom inscriptions of
Assam (5th to 13th century), all in Sanskrit
and in a Brahmi script initially identical to
the Kausambi style of the 4th century CE. The
inscriptions are in an ornate language, with some
expressions almost identical to Kalidasas and
Dandins compositions. They comprise three
major dynasties tracing their descent to Naraka,
described as the son of the holder of the wheel
[i.e. Vishnu] who, in order to lift the earth from
under the ocean, assumed the distinguished
form of a boar.16 Vishnu eventually becomes
dominant, but in the 8th century he was often
worshipped together with Shiva: the Sankara-
Narayana and the Hari-Hara inscriptions
celebrate both. Indeed, there are also many
references to Shiva (also named Rudra, Sambhu
and Sankara), for instance as the great dancer.
The inscriptions show a very deep understanding
of the myths which have revolved around the
person of Lord Shiva,17observes Nayanjot Lahiri.
But they also reveal contacts beyond North India,
with Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka.
By the 9th century, the spread of the Bhakti
cult promoted the integration of tribals within
Hinduism over several centuries: villages
adopted Sanskritic names, while Sanskrit terms
were prakritized, with the addition of Khasi,
Bodo and other tribal words.
None of these factsthere are manymoreare compatible with a North-East
culturally or politically cut off from the
rest of India; immigrations from the Thai-
Burmese belt did occur, but did not alter the
regions integration with the rest of India.
Ajay Mitra Shastri concludes his study of
the archaeological, epigraphic and literary
evidence with these words:
Ancient Pragjyotisha or the North-East
had very intimate relations with the rest of
India, of which it was an integral component,
geographically and culturally, despite its
own distinctive culture and physical elements...18
Indias Talent
Distinctiveness is not separateness. If
we turn to South India in ancient times, we
can certainly point to distinctive features and
contributions, yet, despite claims of a separateDravidian culture, the most ancient Tamil
culture as revealed by archaeology, epigraphy,
numismatics and literature reveals a long-standing integration with the rest of India
and a happy acceptance of gods, concepts,
myths and rituals borrowed from the Vedic
stream.19
In a stimulating historical study of the
concept of Indias unity, Dileep Karanth
recently defined Indias cultural oneness inthese terms:
We thus see that the concept of Bharata-
varsha, even if considered cosmological to
begin with, became firmly geographical, and
that in classical times. The words Jambudvipe
Bharatavarshe chanted by the Brahmin in
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countless ceremonies could only have
strengthened this geographical concept over the
centuries.
The idea of a culturally united Indiacall it a
nation, or a civilizationclearly did not dependupon the Arabs/Muslims. Nor was the idea born
out of the labours of the Western Orientalist or
the British colonial administrator.
Indiathe name which launched a thousand
ships, and which has fired the imagination of
explorers for ages, predates the emergence of
Islam and Western Indology, by centuries, if not
millennia.20
Yet with the spread of divisive ideologies
and agendas, it is easier in India today to
nurture what divides and fragments rather
than what unitedand still has the potential
to unite. In a seminal essay entitled The History
of Bharatavarsha, Tagore, again, gave a beautiful
description of Indias talent in the field:
Providence has pulled in diverse people onto
the lap of Bharatavarsha. Since antiquity
Bharatavarsha has been provided with the
opportunity to put into practice the special
talent her people were endowed with. Bharata-
varsha has forever been engaged in cons-tructing with varied material the foundation of a
unifying civilization. And a unified civilization
is the highest goal of all human civilizations.
She has not driven away anybody as alien, she
has not expelled anybody as inferior, she has
not scorned anything as odd. Bharatavarsha has
adopted all, accepted everybody. And when
so much is accepted, it becomes necessary to
establish ones own code and fix regulation
over the assorted collections. It is not possible
to leave them unrestrained like animals fighting
each other. They have to be appropriately
distributed into separate autonomous divisions
while keeping them bound on a fundamental
principle of unity. The component might have
come from outside but the arrangement and the
fundamental idea behind it were Bharatavarshas
own. . .It needs talent to make outsiders ones
own. The ability to enter others beings and
the magic power of making the stranger
completely ones own, these are the qualities
native to genius. That genius we find in
Bharatavarsha.21
Making the Other ones ownprovided
he lends himself to the processis not
composite culture, which, at best, would
result in a formless hodgepodge. It is Indiasway, and one day it will have to be the worlds
way.
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1. The Oxford History of Indiaby Vincent A.
Smith, edited by Percival Spear (Delhi: Oxford
University Press, 4th ed., p. 7. The last sentence
goes on: ... the land of the Brahmans, whosucceeded by means of peaceful penetration, not
by the sword, in carrying their ideas into every
corner of India. But that is a simplistic view of
the complex process of cultural integration India
underwent; other layers of the society (other
castes) promoted it quite actively, sometimes as
much as the Brahmins.
2. I have not consulted the first editions of the book
and do not know whether this observation is
made by Smith himself or one of the subsequent
contributors.
3. Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism in India
(republished New Delhi: Macmillan, 1999), p. 69.
4. Sri Aurobindo, The Foundations of IndianCulture
(Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1972),
pp.365-367.
5. Jyotindra Jain, Propitiation of Babo Ind: Survival
of the Ancient Cult of India, in Living Traditions:
Studies in the Ethnoarchaeology of South Asia, ed.
Bridget Allchin (New Delhi: Oxford & IBH, 1994),
pp.13 ff.
6. A number of illustrations of this can be found
in Mahabharata in the Tribal and Folk Traditionsof India,ed. K. S. Singh (Shimla: Indian Institute
of Advanced Study, 1993) and Rama-Katha in
Tribal and Folk Traditions of India, eds. K. S. Singh
& Birendranath Datta (Calcutta: Seagull Books,
1993). See also Painted Words: an Anthology of
Tribal Literature,ed. G. N. Devy (New Delhi:
Penguin Books, 2002), under chapter Myth.
7. Sandhya Jain,Adi Deo Arya Devata: a Panoramic
View of Tribal-Hindu Cultural Interface(Delhi:
Rupa, 2004). See also B.B. Kumar, Caste-Tribe
Continuum in Indian Society, Quest vol. 1,January 2008, pp. 211-240.
8. Sankrant Sanu conducts a fine discussion of the
Western and Indian concepts of nationhood in his
article Why India Is a Nation, online at www.
ifih.org/whyindiaisanation.htm.
9. See Radha Kumud Mukherji, Fundamental Unityof
India(1914, republished Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, 1954-1991), pp. 63-65.10. Steve Muhlberger, Democracy in Ancient India:
www.unipissing.ca./department/history/
histdem/.
11. A. K. Sharmas important archaeological
discoveries are summarized in Emergence of Early
Culture in North-East India (New Delhi: Aryan
Books International, 1993),Manipur: The Glorious
Past (New Delhi: Aryan Books International,
1994), Early Man inEastern Himalayas(New Delhi:
Aryan Books International, 1996).
12. Nayanjot Lahiri, Pre-Ahom Assam(New Delhi:
Munshiram Manoharlal, 1991), p. 10-11.
13. Ajay Mitra Shastri,Ancient North-EastIndia:
Pragjyotisha(New Delhi: Aryan Books
International, 2002), pp. 20-21 & 44-45. Some
of the literary and historical references to the
North-East quoted here are borrowed from this
important study.
14. Nayanjot Lahiri, Pre-Ahom Assam,p. 10-11.
15. Ibid., p. 14.
16. Ibid., p. 126.
17. Ibid., p. 125.
18. Ajay Mitra Shastri,Ancient North-East India:Pragjyotisha,p. 102.
19. Michel Danino, Vedic Roots of Early Tamil
Culture, available online at www.bharatvani.
org/michel_danino/tamil_cult01.html.
20. Dileep Karanth, India: One Nation or Many
Nationalities? Ancient Sources and Modern
Analysis, History Today,No. 7, 2006-07, pp. 1-11
(a slightly revised version is available online at
www.ifih.org/TheUnityOfIndia.htm).
21. Rabindranath Tagore, The History of Bharatavarsha,
Bhadra 1309 Bengal Era (August 1903), translatedfrom the Bengali by Sumita Bhattacharya &
Sibesh Bhattacharya; available online at www.
ifih.org/TheHistoryofBharatavarsha.htm.
References
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Youth and their ProblemsLessons in Coping with Life from Swami VivekanandaSWAMI SATYAPRIYANANDA
A former editor of Prabuddha Bharata, the author is a resident of Ramakrishna Math, Belur Math.
There is a growing
concern about the
many challenges of
youth because right
now and possibly in
a few years hereafter,
India wil l be thecountry with the
largest percentage
of youth. It is
w e l l k n o w n
that around
the age ofadolescence,
y o u n g
m e n a n d
women facepsychological
problems. In
addition, there is the growing responsibility
placed on their young shoulders by the
passing away of the elders in the family. There
is the career development urge to acquire
financial stability, a partner in life, and a
respectable status in society. They look for
guidance and a role model.
Problems are like the hurdles in anobstacle race. The obstacle race would not
be the least interesting but for these hurdles.
If you remove the hurdles, what justifies the
name obstacle race? And yet the hurdles are
present not for the competitor to stumble and
get injured. These obstacles are there for one
to overcome.
Just imagine the super-cyclone of Orissa
which ransacked the area in a matter of a
few hours. Trees were uprooted, but not all
of the trees. Those trees, whose roots were
deeply spread in the ground below, stood theforce of the cyclone. So too, if we are deeply
rooted in the divine consciousness we may be
tossed about but never uprooted. We use the
term divine consciousness because human
perception in this matter is varied.
We shall recall the life of a young man,Narendranath Datta, whose entire life was one
of unending problems and solving them with
wisdom, patience and strength. While reading
this narration, we invite the reader to pause, reflectand answer whether he/she had ever to face such
mountainous problems!
Meeting Sri Ramakrishna
Born on 12 th January 1863, Swami
Vivekananda was like any lad of his age,
running about in the streets of Calcutta, mixing
with friends, and smearing his body and
clothes with the dust on the streets. He was a
member of the Brahmo Samaj when he cameto Dakshineswar to see the Paramahamsa
who had experienced ecstasy. Endowed with
a resonant voice and a deep knowledge in
music, Narendranath charmed Ramakrishna
by singing a few songs as a proxy singer at
Article
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the house of Sri Surendranath Mitra. As usual
Ramakrishna wanted Narendranath also
to visit him at Dakshineswar. The first few
meetings between this future leader of the
band of monastic disciples and Ramakrishnaat Dakshineswar show that Narendranath
had been chosen for a specific missionthe
removal of the miseries of humanity, not
merely of India but of the whole world.
Resolving An Ideological Conflict
Being a member of the Brahmo Samaj,
Narendranath [or Naren, for short] haddeclared that he would not worship gods and
goddesses in images or salute their images.
Therefore, he could not accept the image of
Bhavatarini at the temple of Dakshineswar.
Ramakrishna, who had visualised the image
of Bhavatarini as an image of consciousness
and not as a mere image of stone, was now
up against bringing home this realisation
to his favourite disciple. Several family
problems faced by Naren forced him to ask
Ramakrishna to speak to his Divine Mother
on his behalf so that his family could have
at least coarse clothing and simple food.Ramakrishna suggested Naren to pray to
the Divine Mother directly and not through
any intermediary. Thrice did Naren stand
before the image in the temple, and thrice
being in front of the living presence of
the Divine Mother, he could only ask for
jnana, bhakti, viveka and vairagya. That
direct experience, again, is the story of
Narens acceptance of the Divine Mother as
a living presence in the image. Naren sangall night, ma tvam hi tara. Writing on this
transformation, Swami Vivekananda said,
And then I, too, had to accept Her! No, the thing
that made me do it is a secret that will die with
me. I had great misfortunes at the time. . . . It
was an opportunity. She made a slave of me.
Those were the very words: a slave of you. And
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa made me over to
Her.1
Narens Family CircumstancesSri Durgacharan Datta, the grand-father
of Naren, had left the household to take to
a life of renunciation. His son Vishwanath
Datta was raised by his mother, enduring the
constant enmity, hostility, and selfishness
of her husbands family. She too died when
Vishwanath Datta was about 12 years old
and Vishwanath had to stand on his own
feet. Now an orphan, he grew up in the
family of his uncle Kaliprasad, who usurpedmuch of Vishwanaths rightful property.
Vishwanath earned money being a famous
attorney. To earn money, live amply, and
make others happy by practising charity as far
as possible these were the characteristics of
Vishwanath.
Relatives turned into enemies. They evendeprived the family of their ancestral house.
On some far-fetched basis a case was made
out against them, and the matter taken to
court. The case was finally decided in favourof Narendranaths family, and they secured
their legal share in the property. However,
for several years it was a struggle for them to
obtain the coarsest food and clothing. Disputes
had started while Vishwanath was living, and
his family had been staying in a rented house
since then. Vishwanath suddenly died when
Naren was just 21 years old. The stark truth
of debts galore, due to the spending spree of
his father, dawned on Naren when debtors allaround started urging Naren to clear up the
dues.
Narendra, the eldest of the sons of
Vishwanath Datta, had to bear the burden
of maintaining a family; he was fairly well
educated but could not get a job. His friends,
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who once would be happy to spend their time
with him, now deserted him. There were some
who made the ugly proposal of a marriage
alliance so that Naren could be financially
better off. The very suggestion was highlydisgusting to Naren.
Naren was pained at heart till the last
days of his mortal existence: I have sadly
neglected my mother. Now my last desire
is to serve my mother, for some years at least. I
want to live with my mother. Sometime later,
Swamiji took a loan of five thousand rupees
and purchased a house from his aunt, whocheated him outright by refusing to hand over
the legal title deed!
Swamiji left America on 26 July 1900,
and eventually returned to India in shattered
health due to diabetes, dropsy and asthma,
the sight in his right eye almost gone. In spite
of that, he never abandoned any duty which
he considered sacred. He continued to visit
his mother and tried to alleviate her economic
troubles and solve her family affairs as best he
could.
Swamiji continued to strain his utmost
to settle the court case over a property disputethat had begun when he was just fourteen
years old! He went to his mothers residence
on 19 June l902, gave an additional thousand
rupees to the opposing party, and settled it.
On 2 July, two days before his demise, Swamiji
gave an additional four hundred rupees to
settle the case. His mother was sixty-one years
old when Swamiji left his body.
It was his mothers dearest wish to go on
a long pilgrimage with Swamiji, and, in
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