Swami Vivekananda (The Master Builder of Our Nation)

[Guest guest]

TESTING BEFORE ACCEPTING

Aware of Naren's nature of testing before accepting, Sri Ramakrishna decided to give him the taste of some wonders spiritual experiences. The incident narrated above was one such, which left a lasting impression on Narendra. As days went by, Naren felt himself engulfed in an inexplicable feeling of love and intimate comradeship emanating from Sri Ramakrishna. The depth of intimacy that developed between the Master and the disciple was truly par excellence and profound beyond description. It did not appear all of a sudden but it grew slowly and steadily. It was one the holiest of human relationships. The intellect in Naren would not submit easily to the simple religious spiritual administration of Sri Ramakrishna. In the early days of his discipleship he suffered very much, pierced by doubts and disbelief. On the other hand, Sri Ramakrishna, like a patient mother, dealing with a restive child, put up with the testing, suspicions and denials of Narendra, till at last he was made to experience. 'Reality' in its full scope and glory. Naren's parents were eager to get him married. But his young mind was already set upon a monastic life of renunciation and service away from earthly pursuits for wealth and power. At one time he even became indifferent to his studies at college. This made his relatives advise him not to meet this strange saint of Dakshineswar.

 

FATHER'S DEATH AND THE TESTING DAYS AHEAD

In 1884 Naren's father passed away suddenly. Though he had an excellent practice as a leading lawyer and was earning a lot of money, he was also in the habit of spending it generously on friends, relatives and dependents. As he was the only earning member of the family, on his passing away, the family suddenly fell from its heights of affluence into the depths of privation. Even before the period of mourning was over Naren found himself wandering about in the streets of Calcutta in search of a job. Bare-footed, starving, ill-clad, he wandered from office to office, under the scorching sun, day after day, seeking a job, but without success.

 

On the one hand Sri Ramakrishna was training him to climb the heights of spirituality, and on the other hand life's adversities were teaching him how to face life and withstand suffering. The experience of these eventful years stood him in good stead in his monastic life and added to his indomitable will and courage.

 

Many were the days on which Naren would be striving, yet, unable to bear the pitiable condition of his people at home, he would tell his mother that he had already eaten elsewhere so that the little food available at home might be shared by others. These months of acute physical hunger and suffering contributed much to the building up of a special strength in Naren's personality. In later years, as a champion of the cause of the poor when he spoke, he did so from the depths of his heart, out of his own first hand experience of hunger, thirst, neglect and indifference at the hands of society. His heart forever strongly and touchingly throbbed in unison with the poor and the underprivileged.

 

To keep the wolf away from the door he worked as a teacher for a month. For sometime he was a translator. Though he kept himself ethically intact, he declared war on God and indulged in expression of atheism. The gloom and darkness of life often made him talk like an unbeliever. One day, hard pressed by the object poverty at home, he decided to approach his Master and through him appeal to Mother Kali for relief.

 

IN MOTHER KALI'S LAP

Sri Ramakrishna on his part, asked his beloved Naren to approach the Mother directly and seek her help. He was sent to the Kali temple to appeal to her for redressing his suffering, to relieve him of his worldly problems. But, once inside the temple, he forgot all about his worldly needs and found himself overwhelmed with the divine presence. No desire arose in his mind. No request for worldly benefits would come out of his mouth. Thrice he went to the temple to appeal to Mother, but on all the three occasions he returned unable to utter before her anything other than a prayer for Jnana, Bhakti and Discrimination. The realisation dawned on him that his life was meant to be different. Slowly, knowledge of the great mission of his life began to crystallise in his mind.

 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA'S HUMANISM

This teacher-disciple relationship lasted only for five years. In respect of time, they were just years, but in fact, in respect of their significance, they were truly eras. They were the years when young Naren was getting trained and transformed to carry on the great work that he was to do in his later years. Slowly and steadily, Sri Ramakrishna took him through all the steps in spiritual unfoldment, in addition to teaching him all the important lessons which formed part of his unique message the most significant of which was, that no one should show mere condescension to another human being. The right attitude was to worship and adore the human as part of the Divine and not feel any pride in condescending kindness. This unique humanism combined with his own modern, highly scientific approach to the Vedanta philosophy has since then become the most noteworthy feature of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement.

 

MASTER'S MAHASAMADHI

Sri Ramakrishna's days were drawing to a close. His suffering due to a sore throat became more and more acute and serious, and he was shifted to Calcutta for treatment. Naren and his brother disciples nursed and served him with utmost care and devotion. The Master's illness provided an opportunity for all the disciples to come together in spiritual kinship and informally bind themselves into an Organisation. On 16th August, 1886, Sri Ramakrishna left his mortal coils and entered into Mahasamadhi. But before that event, he had anointed Naren as his successor to lead the group and had transferred his entire spiritual power to him, thus endowing him with an immense spiritual strength.

 

PENURY FOLLOWS MASTER'S PASSING AWAY

Dire poverty awaited the disciples after Sri Ramakrishna's passing away. They had to subsist on the coarsest food available and clothe themselves scantily. In fact, all of them together had just one good piece of cloth as their common possession and anyone who had to go out into city would wear it as the occasion demanded.

 

Cont.