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M P Bhattathiry <mpmahesh (AT) asianetindia (DOT) com>

 

harsha (AT) cox (DOT) net

SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD

On Thursday, the 8th. of September, 1887, in the early hours of the

morning, when the star Bharani was in the ascendant was born a

boy-child in the village of Pattamadai on the bank of the river

Tamraparani in South India. Sri P.S. Vengu Iyer, a revenue officer and

a great Siva Bhakta (devotee of Lord Siva), and Srimati Parvati Ammal,

an equally great god-fearing lady, were the fortunate parents of this

child. The happy couple christened this last and third son of theirs

Kuppuswamy.

Boy Kuppuswamy was intelligent and mischievous. In his boyhood

itself he showed signs of Tyaga (renunciation) and love for

fellow-beings. He used to pity the poor, feed the hungry at the door,

and make his father throw a pie into the hands of pauper passing by. He

often got cakes and sweetmeats from his mother and distributed them

liberally to his younger companions, dogs, cats, crows, and sparrows,

himself not eating a bit. He used to bring flowers and bael leaves for

his father's Siva Puja.

At the Rajah's High School, Ettayapuram, where he studied,

Kuppuswamy always topped the class and won prizes every year. He had a

sweet voice and wonderful memory. When His Excellency Lord Ampthil, the

Governor of Madras, visited the Kuru Malai Hills in 1901 for hunting,

Kuppuswamy sang a song of welcome on the Kumarapuram railway platform.

After the completion of the Matriculation examination, he studied at

the S.P.G. College, Tiruchirapalli. In the college he used to take part

in debates and dramas. He played the part of Helena beautifully when

Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" was staged in 1905.

After the completion of the First Arts Examination, Kuppuswamy went

to the Medical School in Tanjore to study medicine. He used to be

tremendously industrious and never went home during the holidays. He

would spend the entire period in the hospital. He had free admission

into the operation theater. Kuppuswamy was first in all subjects. He

possessed more knowledge than doctors with covetable degrees, and in

the first year itself he could answer the papers which the final year

students could not.

Kuppuswamy completed the course and earned the title of M.B.,C.M. He

practiced at Tiruchi. While practicing, he started a medical journal

called "The Ambrosia". He got one hundred rupees from his mother for

the initial expenses of running the journal. Later, when his mother

wanted a hundred and fifty rupees for celebrating some festival, Dr.

Kuppuswamy had the money ready for her. Even then he used to distribute

the journal freely; he was very shy to ask people for contribution.

DOCTOR IN MALAYA (MALAYSIA)

A call came to Dr. Kuppuswamy from Malaya, soon after the death of

his father. He used to have an adventurous spirit in him. In 1913 he

left India in the "S.S. Tara". Kuppuswamy belonged to an orthodox

Brahmin family and was afraid to take non-vegetarian food in the ship.

So he carried with him a good quantity of sweets which his mother had

prepared for him. When he arrived in Singapore, he was almost half

dead!

Dr. Kuppuswamy describes his experiences in Malaya: "Immediately

after disembarking, I went to the residence of Dr. Iyengar. He gave me

a letter of introduction to his friend, Dr. Harold Parsons, a medical

practitioner in Seremban. When I arrived there, Dr. Parsons introduced

me to Mr. A.G. Robins, the manager of a nearby rubber estate which had

its own hospital. Fortunately for me, Mr. Robins was just in need of an

assistant to work in the Estate Hospital. He was a terrible man with a

violent temper, a giant figure, tall and stout. He asked me, 'Can you

manage a hospital all by yourself?' I replied 'Yes, I can manage even

three hospitals'. I was appointed at once. I had been told by a local

Indian resident that I ought not to accept, in accordance with their

policy, anything less than a hundred dollars a month. Mr. Robins agreed

to give me one hundred and fifty to start with".

The young doctor worked very hard. Unusual handicaps began to tell

upon him and he felt like resigning the job after some time, but Mr.

Robins would not allow him to go.

Dr. Kuppuswamy was very kind, sympathetic, humorous, witty, and

sweet-speaking. Hopeless cases came to him, but success was sure.

Everywhere people declared that he had a special gift from God for the

miraculous cures effected in the patients and acclaimed him as a very

kind and sympathetic doctor with a charming and majestic personality.

In serious cases, he kept vigil all night. In his private practice, Dr.

Kuppuswamy used to attend to the poor and often not charge them even

visiting or consulting fees. Instead he would give them money for

special diet or to cover their own expenses after discharge from

hospital. He gave money like water.

Once a poor man, drenched to the skin, came to the doctor at night.

His wife was in birth pangs. The doctor went there at once to her aid,

and after attending to her, stayed outside the hut in spite of the

heavy rain. Only after the save delivery of the child did the doctor

return home the next morning.

In spite of his busy life, Dr. Kuppuswamy served the Sadhus,

Sannyasins, and beggars. He attended marriage functions, parties, and

other social gatherings. Once a Sadhu gave him a book "Jiva Brahma

Aikyam" by Sri Swami Satchidananda. It ignited the dormant spirituality

in him. He began to study the books of Swami Rama Tirtha, Swami

Vivekananda, Sankara,

Imitation of Christ, the Bible, and literature of the Theosophical

Society. He was very regular in his daily worship, prayer and Yoga

Asanas. Study of sacred scriptures like the Gita, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata,

and the Ramayana

was done with great devotion. Sometimes he conducted Nandan Charitam

and sang Bhajans and Kirtans. He practiced Anahat Laya Yoga

and Swara Sadhana.

High-class dress, and collection of curious and fancy articles of

gold, silver, and sandalwood always attracted the doctor. Sometimes he

purchased various kinds of gold rings and necklaces and wore them all

at the same time. He used to wear ten rings on ten fingers! When he

entered shops, he never wasted his time in selection, haggling, and

bargaining. He gathered all that he saw. He paid the shopkeepers' bills

without scrutiny.

Nothing could tempt the doctor. His heart was as pure as the

Himalayan snow. His immense philanthropy and spirit of service and

renunciation endeared him to all. People lovingly called him the "Heart

of Love".

The rich doctor did not engage a cook permanently. He was his own

cook though he had work that gave him no leisure. Occasionally he

engaged a cook. One such cook of his one day wanted to have a

photograph of himself taken. The doctor took him with great joy to a

first class studio, made the cook put on his own suit, shoes, and hat

and had a photo taken.

RENUNCIATION

As days passed, he reflected more and more and wanted to renounce

the world. His heart was purified through loving service. At last, Dr.

Kuppuswamy, enjoying a lucrative practice, renounced the world like

Prince Siddartha, in 1923. He left Malaya for India.

At Madras he proceeded to the house of a friend and left his luggage

there. He began his pilgrimage. At Benares,

he had the Darshan (vision) of Lord Visvanath. He visited Mahatmas

(great souls) and temples. At Dhalaj, a village on the bank of the

Chandrabaga river, he met a postmaster and lived with him. He acted as

the postmaster's cook, and when the latter arrived home in the evening,

the doctor was ready to shampoo his legs in spite of his remonstrances!

It was the postmaster who suggested Rishikesh

when the aspiring doctor wanted a place for solitary meditation.

Dr. Kuppuswamy reached Rishikesh on the 8th of May, 1924. On the 1st

of June, 1924, there came His Holiness Sri Swami Visvananda Saraswati.

The doctor saw a Guru in

the monk and the monk saw a Chela (disciple) in the doctor. After a

brief exchange of words, Dr. Kuppuswamy was initiated into the Sannyas

order by Swami Visvananda. Swami Vishnudevanandaji Maharaj, the Mahant of

Sri Kailas Ashram,

performed the Viraja Homa ceremonies. The Guru named the doctor Swami

Sivananda Saraswati. Swami Visvananda wrote the necessary instructions

about Sannyas Dharma

from Benares. Swami Sivanandaji stayed at Swargashram for Sadhana.

SADHANA

Swami Sivananda dressed to clothe himself, ate to live, and lived to

serve humanity. A small dilapidated Kutir (hut), not resorted to by

others and infested with scorpions, protected him from rain and sun.

Living in that Kutir, he did intense Tapas (austerities), observed

silence, and fasted. Often he fasted for days on end. He would keep a

good stock of bread in his room, and for a week have this, together

with Ganges water. He would stand up to the hips in the ice-cold Ganges

in winter mornings and commence his Japa,

coming out only when the sun appeared. He would spend more than twelve

hours in daily meditation. With all his intense Tapas, Swamiji did not

neglect service of the sick. He visited the huts of the Sadhus with

medicines, served them, and shampooed their legs. He begged food on

their behalf and fed them with his own hands when they fell sick. He

brought water from the Ganges and washed their Kutirs. He attended upon

cholera and small-pox cases. If necessary, he kept vigil through the

night by the side of the bed of the ailing Sadhu. He carried sick

persons on his back to the hospital. With some money from his insurance

policy that had matured, Swamiji started a charitable dispensary at

Lakshmanjula in 1927. He served the pilgrims and saw Narayana in them.

Swamiji practiced all the various Yogas and studied the scriptures.

After years of intense and unbroken Sadhana, he enjoyed the bliss of Nirvikalpa

Samadhi. He had come to the end of his spiritual journey.

He used to gather bits of paper and used envelopes, and stitch them

into little notebooks. He entered some self-instructions in them. Some

of the instructions found in them read thus: "Give up salt, give up

sugar, give up spices, give up vegetables, give up chutnies, give up

tamarind". In another we read: Serve Bhangis, serve rogues,

serve inferiors, remove faecal matter, clean clothes of Sadhus - take

delight, carry water". In another page: "Do not revenge, resist

not evil, return good for evil, bear insult and injury". On some

neat little pages we again read: "Forget like a child any injury

done by somebody immediately. Never keep it in the heart. It kindles

hatred. Cultivate Maitri (friendship), Karuna (compassion), Daya

(mercy), Prema (love), Kshama (forgiveness)". In another paragraph

we see: "Develop good manners, extreme politeness, courtesy,

etiquette, good demeanour, nobility, gentleness, mildness. Never be

rude, harsh, or cruel. There is nothing to be hated in the world.

Hatred is ignorance. All contempt for anything or being must be removed

through love and Vichara (enquiry)".

Swamiji traveled the whole length and breadth of India during his

Parivrajaka (wandering monk) life. He visited important places of

pilgrimage in the South, including Rameswaram. He conducted Sankirtan

and delivered lectures. He visited Aurobindo Ashram and met Maharishi

Suddhananda Bharati. At Ramana Ashram, he had Darshan of Sri Ramana

Maharishi on the Maharishi's birthday. He sang Bhajans and danced in

ecstasy with the Bhaktas of Ramana. Swamiji went on a trip to

Kailas-Manasarovar and Badri.

THE ORGANIZATION

He returned after the pilgrimage, to Rishikesh, and in the year 1936

sowed the seed of The

Divine Life Society on the bank of the holy Ganga. He found an

old Kutir, dilapidated and disused, which looked like an abandoned

cowshed. To him it was more than a palace. It had four 'rooms'. He

cleaned the Kutir, and occupied it. Then, the increasing number of

disciples who sought his lotus-feet, undaunted by forbidding conditions

of living, necessitated expansion. They found more cowsheds, vacant,

but uninhabitably filthy. In one room, an old cowherd was living; the

others were full of hay and dung. In about a year or so, the old

cowherd also vacated his 'room', and the Divine Life army completed the

occupation. Thus began the early life of The Divine Life Society.

>From this small beginning the Society grew imperceptibly and it is

now the headquarters of a world-wide Organization having a large number

of Branches both within the country and outside. He got the Divine Life

Society Registered as a Trust in the year 1936, with the main objects

of dissemination of spiritual knowledge and selfless service of

humanity. The free distribution of spiritual literature drew a steady

flow of disciples of Sri Swamiji. With the getting of able hands, he

started the various departments of the Society to provide suitable

fields of activity for the purification of their hearts and to grow

spiritually. The publication of the monthly journal, 'The Divine Life',

was commenced in September 1938, to coincide with the celebration of

his birthday. The world was in grip of the 2nd world-war and in order

to release a continuous stream of peace-current in the whole world, to

help the distressed minds of the people, he started the Akhanda

Mahamantra Kirtan (non-stop chanting of the Mahamantra, Hare Rama

Hare Rama; Rama Rama Hare Hare; Hare Krishna Hare Krishna; Krishna

Krishna Hare Hare, round-the-clock) on the 3rd of December 1943, and

also instituted the Lord Sri Visvanath Mandir with three-time regular

worship, daily, on the 31st December 1943.

Swami Sivananda believed in synthesis in everything, in Yoga as well

as in the alleviation of human suffering. The Allopathic treatment was

inseparable from him and the Society, even from the earliest days of

his life at Swargashram. He now felt the need to serve the people with

genuine Ayurvedic preparations out of the rare Himalayan herbs. He

therefore instituted the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy in 1945, which

now has grown to such an extent that it is even unable to cope up with

the increasing demands from people.

Swami Sivananda organized the All-world Religions Federation on the

28th December 1945 and established the All-world Sadhus Federation on

19th February 1947. The year 1947 saw a great expansion in the

activities of the Society. It was the year of the Diamond Jubilee of

the Great Soul, when a number of buildings sprang up. The Yoga-Vedanta

Forest Academy was established in the year 1948 to give a systematic

spiritual training to the resident Sadhaks, and also to benefit the

visiting seekers.

Swami Sivananda undertook a lightning All-India and Ceylon (Sri

Lanka) tour in 1950 to deliver his divine message throughout the length

and breadth of the country. He virtually awakened the moral and

spiritual consciousness in the hearts of the people. The effect was

tremendous. Since then there was an incessant flow of seeking souls to

the Ashram, as also a greater inflow of letters from aspirants from the

entire country, which demanded more intense dissemination of knowledge.

The Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy Press was established in September

1951, a powerful means of wide dissemination of knowledge. Sri Swamiji

convened the World Parliament of Religions in 1953, at the

Sivanandashram.

The small dispensary that was inseparable from Swami Sivananda, grew

slowly and became regular Hospital with X-Ray and other facilities. The

Sivananda Eye Hospital was formally opened in December 1957. The

Hospital has 10 beds for in-patients at present and is being expanded

to have 30 beds.

The Publication League had published almost all the writings of the

Master and a need was felt by his disciples to do research in his

works. This gave rise to the establishment of the Sivananda Literature

Research Institute in 1958, which, among many things, decided to get

the works of the Master translated and published systematically in all

the regional languages in India. Thus the S.L.D. Committees was

established in 1959 which has Regional Committees for each language.

The Society's Silver Jubilee was celebrated in 1961, by which time

the Master saw the fulfillment of his mission in his own lifetime.

Swami Sivananda radiated his divine and lofty message of service,

meditation and God-realization to all parts of the world through his

books, running to more than three hundred, through periodicals and

letters. His devoted disciples are drawn from all religions, cults and

creeds in the world.

Swami Sivananda's Yoga, which he has significantly called the 'Yoga of

Synthesis', effects a harmonious development of the 'hand', 'head'

and 'heart' through the practice of Karma Yoga,

Jnana

Yoga and Bhakti

Yoga.

On the 14th of July 1963, the Great Soul Swami Sivananda entered

Mahasamadhi (departure of a Self-realized saint from his mortal coil)

in his Kutir on the bank of Ganga, in Shivanandanagar.