Swami Vivekananda

This incident took place in 1895. The place was London. Swami Vivekananda was to give a public lecture and he had come to London with Swami Saradananda. When it was time to stand up and speak, Swami Vivekananda suddenly announced that Swami Saradananda would deliver the speech instead of him. Though taken by surprise, Saradananda did an excellent job that day, and thereafter too. Swami Vivekananda had realized that all Saradananda needed was a little push to bolster his self-confidence. This incident in isolation may not say much, but we need to see it from the perspective of the leadership and management style of Swami Vivekananda.

Swamiji was not only an inspirational leader, but was also a very pragmatic one. He not only believed in ‘Servant-based Leadership’ but constantly endeavored to empower all those around him. In dealing with his brother-disciples and followers, he evoked what is today popularly known in the management world as the ‘Pygmalion Effect’. Management expert J. Sterling Livingston describes it as the effect of enabling subordinates to excel in response to the leader’s expectation of them. Swami Vivekananda had a high expectation of his followers and he communicated that to them clearly, thus eliciting a high level of performance. Leaders empower their followers by believing in them, and they rise to greatness as a result. The leaders make themselves larger by enlarging others. The leader constantly aims at moving people around him from dependence to independence to the state of inter-dependence. Swami Vivekananda had chosen ’empower and facilitate’ philosophy over ‘command and control’ long before modern management realized its potential. Trust plays an important part in the process. If the leader does not trust his followers, he will use control instead of empowerment. Swami Vivekananda while exhorting his disciples to the highest levels of work had the fullest trust in them and their abilities. His urge to motivate people around him to aspire for higher levels of performance can be seen from this letter of his to his direct disciple Swami Shuddhananda in 1897. He writes, “…Lastly, you must remember i expect more from my children than from my brethren (his brother disciples). I want each one of my children to be a hundred times greater than i could ever be. Every one of you must be a giant – must, this is my word. Obedience, readiness, and love for the cause – if you have these three, nothing can hold you back.”

This also shows Swamiji’s interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate and develop people. One can even say that Swamiji’s call, “Arise, Awake and stop not till the goal is reached” was nothing but an attempt to empower people en-masse. J Carla Nortcutt had once said, “The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.” This is perhaps the best description of Swami Vivekananda, the greatest leader of our times.

Kannada version in Prajavani (17-May-12)

Running a social-service organization necessitates that one constantly indulges in fund raising. One is forced to meet all kinds of people and ask them for support and money. The responses of people are varied. Some are very supportive and open up their purses immediately. Some politely turn your request down while others make no bones about their dislike of you and your request. There have been times when people make you feel small and like a beggar and these are the times when you feel like giving up. One feels frustrated and fatigued by this and thoughts of giving up on the ideal of service begin to grow.

Swami Vivekananda too went through situations where the ideal of seeking bhiksha (for food) challenged him. He once felt that going from place to place begging for food was after all not helping him attain his goal of seeking self-realization. In this state of dejection, he had once written to one of his brother disciples, “I am going about taking food at others’ houses shamelessly and without the least compunction, like a crow.” On that occasion he decided that he would beg no more and thought “Let me beg no longer. What benefit is it to the poor to feed me? If they can save a handful of rice, they can feed their own children with it. Anyway, what is the use of sustaining this body if I cannot realize God?” Great seekers of truth are known to go through a deep sense of spiritual dissatisfaction and this happened to Swamiji too. In an ascetic mood, he decided to go into a forest and like a rishi of the olden days let his body drop from starvation and exhaustion. He entered a thick forest and walked many miles the whole day without food. By the evening, he was tired and felt like fainting. He sank to the ground under a tree and fixing his mind on the Lord, looked vacantly into the distance.

After some time he saw a tiger approaching. It came nearer and sat at some distance from him. He thought, “Ah, this is right; both of us are hungry. This life has been no good for the world. It is well and desirable that it should at least be of service to this hungry beast.” He was reclining there all the while, calm and motionless, waiting for the tiger to pounce on him at any moment; but for some reason the animal made off on its own accord. Swamiji thought it might come back and waited there, but the tiger did not return. He spent that night in the jungle communing with his own soul. As dawn approached, a sense of great power came upon him. He went through several such experiences during his wandering life. In one of his lectures later in California, he said “Many times I have been in the jaws of death, starving, footsore, and weary. For days and days I had no food, and often could walk no further. I would sink down under a tree, and life would seem to be ebbing away. I could not speak, I could scarcely think but at last the mind reverted to the idea: I have no fear nor death; never was I born, never did I die; I never hunger or thirst. I am it! I am it!…Arise and walk and stop not. And I would rise up, reinvigorated; and here I am today, living!”

Swamiji would urge his disciples to assert the reality whenever such darkness came. He maintained that it was all but a dream. He writes, “Mountain high though the difficulties appear, terrible and gloomy though all things seem, they are but Maya. Fear not, and it is banished. Crush it and it vanishes. Stamp upon it and it dies.”

Kannada version in Prajavani (24-May-12)

Swami Vivekananda always spoke about the need to serve. For him ‘Service’ was not merely an act done out of compassion but was a tool for one’s own self-realization. The need of the hour for India was to address the issues of poverty, ignorance and illiteracy. In combining the ideal of ‘Service’ and Sacrifice’, Swamiji ensured that one’s personal ideal of spiritual evolution could find meaning in working for societal progress and welfare. He knew that in the ideal of Service we could find solutions for many of our national problems. As one thinks of this, one wrestles with the question of not just the concept of service, but also whether ‘Selfless Service’ is possible and desirable. Can one truly serve others around him with no thought of himself or his own personal welfare? Can one in the context of today’s India, where the reigning philosophy is ‘every man for himself’, be truly unselfish? How does one go about it in a practical way negotiating through the complex reality of today’s materialistic existence?

In Swamiji’s message lies a very practical way of going about this. He talks about first building ourselves – not just physically, but also intellectually and emotionally. He made a case for each individual to first prepare himself for the task ahead. Though this ‘individualistic’ approach sounds contradictory to the concept of selfless service, it is only an essential first step towards looking at the larger picture. What Vivekananda wanted was to first build our own selves and strengthen our resolve so that we are prepared for the challenges that lie ahead of us. He wanted our outlook to grow and progress centrifugally – beginning first with ourselves and gradually encompassing those immediately around us. He wanted us to move outwards to look at our neighbours, people living in our village, our town, our district and so on. As we grow in our abilities and capabilities, so should our sphere of service grow. He wanted it to grow and expand till one embraced entire humanity itself. Though it may sound abstract and impossible, this is possibly an excellent road map for all those who embark on service. Each one needs to undertake activities based on one’s own ability.

As one continues to serve, so will our abilities expand. In proportion to our expanding capabilities, we need to reach out to more and more people and serve them unconditionally. In our world, in which every action is undertaken with an undercurrent of reciprocity, we need to be mindful of not expecting anything in return for any act of service that we do. This can be done only when we undertake such action with the internalization that we are not the doer and that we are only an instrument through which service is getting done. Going beyond feeling like a provider, we need to constantly tell ourselves that we serve because it is in our nature to do so. We should seek neither recognition nor affirmation for our acts. Undertaking such action in order to evolve spiritually is also being conditional and will not qualify as selfless service. One should not even expect that the good we do will have its own positive consequences. Such an attitude is indeed difficult to sustain and being mindful of ourselves and our actions is the only way of undertaking it.

Kannada version in Prajavani (31-May-12)

Swami Vivekananda once said, “I do on believe in a God or Religion that does not bring a piece of bread to the orphan’s mouth or wipe away the widow’s tears.” In another place he says, “Half a loaf of bread is better than no bread at all.” Such strong statements reflect his constant concern for the common man and his vision of a religion that is practical and provides the individual with the inspiration to know and seek God.

It also shows the socialist side of his nature. Swami Vivekananda was deeply troubled by the inequities that prevailed in Indian society. He just could not accept the fact that the gap between the rich and the poor was something that could not be bridged. India of today is not very different from what it was then. Today the top 20% of Indians generate and control 85% of India’s wealth, while the bottom 20% for whom Swamiji’s heart bled, generate and control a mere 1.5% of India’s wealth. What is it that Government or Society can do to reduce such gross inequities? Is mere charity a solution or should we look at this issue with more depth and explore more empowering options of bringing in equity? Swami Vivekananda believed in raising the poor and ignorant masses not through mere doles, but wanted them to be empowered and made capable of building their own destinies. All that he wanted the ‘haves’ in society to do was to create an enabling and facilitatory environment, wherein the poor could raise themselves up without affecting their self-esteem and dignity. He was not only sensitive to the economic disparities but was deeply pained by the social inequities that were prevailing. He considered that the great national sin was the neglect of the masses and that was one of the causes of India’s downfall. He wanted these masses to be well-educated, well fed and well cared for. He said, “If you want to regenerate India, we must work for them.”

For Swamiji, bringing in equity was not by bringing down the rich but by pushing up the poor. This is so very relevant in today’s India. We now have a country wherein more than 200 districts are affected by violence, and people are adopting the ideology of bringing in social equity from the barrel of a gun. Swamiji often remarked that social rising-up in India should happen not by ‘revolution’ but by ‘evolution’. What foresight he had! He understood that people would not sit and tolerate this inequity for too long. They would get restless and take to addressing this problem from an emotive plane rather than from a rational one. An agitated and restless group of people can be easily motivated to take to violence with disastrous consequences. At the same time, Swamiji also understood that a country could not truly grow and thrive till the benefits of economic prosperity reached out to the last man on the street. He also understood that mere charity can be very demeaning and take away human enterprise and initiative. This would also not be a sustainable and permanent way of solving this problem. He urged people to see religion as a means of serving the less fortunate without snatching away their sense of pride, dignity and self-esteem. He wanted this kind of assistance to be life-giving and enabling. He wanted to make sure that the masses would once and for all be raised and would not have to depend either on a benevolent government or on a philanthropic society. This practical and non-violent way forward would neither create insecurity in the minds of the wealthy nor any negative emotion in the people trying to climb up the economic ladder.

What India needs today are leaders and planners who can think and act like Vivekananda. Otherwise, the rapid growth that we see today will continue to rest in the hands of a chosen few. And this could only strengthen the hands of those who ideologically believe that a violent snatching away from the rich is the only way to provide for the poor.

Kannada version in Prajavani (14-Jun-12)

Great Institutions do not get built overnight. The sweat and hard work that goes into building them is usually not visible to many. Many organizations start off as the vision of one or two people. Over time, hundreds need to work together in unison to build them. The Ramakrishna Math and Mission is one such Institution. Today one can see hundreds of its centers around the world. They run schools, hospitals and other welfare and spiritual activities through these centers. It is very difficult for a lay observer today to understand the struggles and the hard work that hundreds of monks, inspired by Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, must have put in to make the Mission what it is today. It is also difficult for one to believe the hurdles and obstacles that Swami Vivekananda faced when he set up the Ramakrishna Math and Mission. After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, Swamiji wrote, “Then came the sad day when our old teacher died. We nursed him the best we could. We had no friends. Who would listen to a few boys, with their crank notions? Nobody. At least, in India, boys are nobodies. Just think of it – a dozen boys, telling people vast, big ideas, saying they are determined to work these ideas out in life. Why, everybody laughed. From laughter it became serious; it became persecution. Why, the parents of the boys came to feel like spanking every one of us. And the more we were derided, the more determined we became.”

These young unmarried disciples of the Master, who belonged to his inner circle, had attended on him day and night at the Cossipore garden house, where Sri Ramakrishna had spent the last days of his life. After his passing away, most of them returned to their families against their will. They had not yet formally renounced the world. For a short while they kept their family names. But Sri Ramakrishna had made them renounce the world mentally. He himself had initiated several of them into the monastic life, giving them the ochre cloths of sannyāsis.

But two or three of the Master’s attendants had no place to go. To them the large-hearted Surendra, who was a householder devotee of Ramakrishna said, “Brothers, where will you go? Let us rent a house. You will live there and make it our Master’s shrine; and we house-holders shall come there for consolation. How can we pass all our days and nights with our wives and children in the world? I used to spend a sum of money for the Master at Cossipore. I shall gladly give it now for your expenses.” Accordingly he rented a house for them at Baranagore, in the suburbs of Calcutta, and this place became gradually transformed into Math, or monastery. For the first few months Surendra contributed thirty rupees a month. As the other members joined the monastery one by one, he doubled his contribution, which he later increased to a hundred rupees. The monthly rent for the house was eleven rupees. The cook received six rupees a month. The rest was spent for food.

Narendra who was busy conducting a law suit pertaining to his family, used to spend the night at the monastery. He exhorted the others to join the brotherhood. Lest this devotion should become dammed up within the narrow limits of a creed or cult, the leader forced them to study the thought of the world outside. He himself instructed them in western and eastern philosophy, comparative religion, theology, history, sociology, literature, art and science. He read out to them the great books of human thought, explained to them the evolution of the universal mind, discussed with them the problems of religion and philosophy, and led them indefatigably towards the wide horizons of the boundless truth which surpassed all limits of schools and races, and embraced and unified all particulars truths. This was how the Ramakrishna Math and Mission began from a small, dilapidated rented house from very humble origins.

Kannada version in Prajavani (21-Jun-12)

Swami Vivekananda’s inspiring influence on many who fought for India’s freedom is now well-known. Whether it was Subhas Chandra Bose or Rajagopalachari or Mahatma Gandhi, Swamiji and his works had left an indelible impression on them. Swamiji’s meeting with Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is another memorable event in the lives of both these great men. Tilak was one of India’s leading freedom fighters and patriots and was a towering leader from Maharashtra. Vivekananda was traveling around India and had reached Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1892 and after a stay of two months there, wanted to visit Poona. At the railway station, when Swamiji was leaving Mumbai, he was introduced to Tilak who happened to be his fellow passenger. Reminiscing about this event, Tilak later wrote, “About the year 1892, before the famous Parliament of Religions in Chicago, I was once returning from Bombay to Poona. At the Victoria Terminus a sannyasin entered the carriage I was in. A few Gujarati gentlemen were there to see him off. They made the formal introduction and asked the sannyasin to reside at my house during his stay in Poona. We reached Poona, and the sannyasin remained with me for eight to ten days. When asked about his name he only said that he was a sannyasin. He made no public speeches here. At home he would often talk about advaita philosophy and vedanta. The Swami avoided mixing with society. There was absolutely no money with him. A deerskin, one or two cloths, and a Kamandalu were his only possessions. In his travels someone would provide a railway ticket for the desired station. I was at the time a member of the Deccan Club that used to hold weekly meetings. At one of these meetings the Swami accompanied me. That evening the late Kashinath Govind Nath made a fine speech on a philosophical subject. No one had to say anything. But the Swami rose and spoke in fluent English presenting the other aspect of the subject very lucidly. Everyone there was thus convinced of his high abilities. The Swami left Poona soon after this.”

After this incident at the Deccan Club, the Swami became much sought after and people flocked to him. He used to talk to them on the Gita and the Upanishads, but he never told them his name. When the number of people visiting him increased, Swami told Tilak that he would leave the next day. The next morning before anyone in the house had woken up, the Swami was gone. During this phase of his life, Swami Vivekananda saw himself as a parivrajaka and was seeking the solace and comfort of delving into his own self rather than constantly interacting with the world outside. He was also using the name Sacchidananda around this time.

Tilak is reported to have met Swami Vivekananda again, and this time Swamiji was well-known and had established the Ramakrishna Order. He met Vivekananda at the Belur Math, when he went to Calcutta to attend a session of the Indian National Congress in December 1901. There is very little documentation on what might have transpired when these two great people met and interacted, but one can be sure that their intellectual exchanges would have enriched and influenced each others thinking and action. One common theme that one can see in both their works is the concept of ‘Practical Vedanta’. The difference in their thinking especially when it came to the concept of the ‘Indian Nation’ is also obvious. Vivekananda nurtured an inclusive notion of the Indian nation whereas Tilak, it is generally believed, gave centrality to a ‘Hindu Nation’ that did not include other religious communities.

Kannada version in Prajavani (28-Jun-12)

Leadership has been defined in many ways. It is possibly one of the most researched subjects in the world today. It has been estimated that around 25,000 books are published on this subject in the United States alone. Though so much as been said and written, it is still difficult to describe ‘Leadership’ even today. Vivekananda has been called a monk, a prophet, a social reformer, a nationalist, a philosopher, a yogi, a prolific writer, an orator par excellence, an educationist and so on. There has been very little analysis or research done on Vivekananda as a Leader.

Swami Vivekananda was an exceptional leader whose qualities are only now beginning to be gradually understood. Many of the qualities he manifested is now being described and taught by leadership experts in business schools today. Though there are many definitions of leadership, most people agree that developing and living an enabling and empowering vision is the very essence of effective leadership. Vision statements are the inspiring words chosen by successful leaders to clearly and concisely convey the direction of the organization. By crafting a clear vision statement, one can powerfully communicate one’s intentions and motivate the team or organization to realize an attractive and inspiring common vision of the future. One can only think strategically and outline a vision after having a complete understanding of the existing reality. Max de Pree, businessman and leadership expert states unequivocally that the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. Adi Shankara in his Viveka Chudamani observes that the highest form of discrimination is to be able to distinguish the real from the unreal. While Max de Pree wrote in the context of the reality of the external world, Shankara focused on the more subtle and absolute notion of reality. Vivekananda was one of those rare persons who could straddle both worlds and created a remarkable vision which not only unified the external with the internal, but also reconciled it and gave a sense of purpose to people struggling to discover their true inner nature. He at once created a vision which kept in mind the harsh reality that India was in and gave the young of the country a sense of purpose in working towards the upliftment of the masses. And through this work, he wanted them to discover their true inner selves. An understanding of this reality and his vision based on this reality can be seen from the letter he wrote to the Maharaja of Mysore in June 1894. He said, “The one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor…The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education, to develop their lost individuality. That is the great task between our people and princes. Up to now nothing has been done in that direction. Priest-power and foreign conquest have trodden them down for centuries, and at last the poor of India have forgotten that they are human beings.”

In another place he writes, “And, oh, how my heart ached to think of what we think of the poor, the low, in India. They have no chance, no escape, and no way to climb up. The poor, the low, the sinner in India, have no friends, no help – they cannot rise, try however they may. They sink lower and lower every day, they feel the blows showered upon them by a cruel society, and they do not know whence the blow comes. They have forgotten they too are men. And the result is slavery.”

The Visionary Vivekananda had two separate visions – national and global. At the national level, his vision was to uplift the Indian masses materially, with the help of an education that was tempered with the flavour of Indian Spiritual heritage. He expressed his global vision in the World Parliament of Religions in one his speeches on Hinduism as the concept of a universal religion. He said, “It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognize divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be created in aiding humanity to realize its own true, divine nature.”

Kannada version in Prajavani (05-Jul-12)

Slowly but surely the Ramakrishna Math was taking shape at the Baranagore Math. A brotherhood of the monks was taking root and the initial group was trying to live out the ideal of Sannyasa. Narendra used to live between Baranagore and Calcutta, trying to keep the flock together. Many of the monks did leave the monastery to lead a wandering life for some time but there was always a group of them at the Math. From July 1890, for nearly seven years, Narendra was himself absent.

Wandering and pilgrimage characterize the life of a Sannyasi. Narendra was also no exception and he became restless for traveling. Despite his resolve to nurture and grow the Math and brotherhood, he felt his attachment to his brother disciples as a chain – a golden one no doubt, but still a chain – impeding his progress to the realization of God. His restlessness finally made him resolve to travel and strike out into the unknown and uncertain path of a monk’s life. Though he was concerned by the frequent wandering of some of his brother monks, he once remarked, “Let them have their own experiences. They must break free from the monastery and test their own strength. Their experiences of the new life will make men of them, absolutely fearless and invincible, and spiritually independent; thus they will become giants.”

Until the middle of 1888, Narendra did not leave the Baranagore math except for short visits to nearby places. Upto mid 1890, he would venture out but return soon for some reason or the other. However, when he left the monastery in July 1890, he came back only in February 1897 after his triumphant return from the West. This was possibly the time that he made up his mind to break free from the bondage that he had built with the monastery and his brother monks. He had resolved to test his own strength and that of the others in the math. His need to experience another way of life where he was not sure of the destination or how long he would be gone, the uncertainty of one’s daily existence and what each day would bring proved a strong calling. It is only when we completely surrender our will to that of a higher power can we experience the ‘certainty in such uncertainty’ and Narendra wanted to learn of this first hand. He not only wanted to make himself fearless but also force his brother-disciples at the Math to stand on their own feet and become self-reliant. One can understand the struggle that he must have had within himself – on one side the need and desire to lead and build a team of selfless sannyasins, and on the other, his own growth and evolution.

As a wandering monk, his appearance was very striking and regal. People have described him as person with graceful movements who carried himself with dignity and confidence. His bright eyes and imperious personality made him conspicuous wherever he went. All that he had with him was his staff, a Kamandalu (water pot) and two books – the ‘Bhagawad Gita’ and ‘The Imitation of Christ’. Wearing the ochre clothes of the sannyasi, he quietly journeyed around the country. During these travels, Narendra did not really assume any name. These seven years of his life story have several blanks. Neither did he keep a journal or a note of his wanderings and the experiences that he may have had then, nor are there any authentic records available today. He spoke vaguely and sparingly of these times in his later talks and lectures. The little that is known are the times when other monks accompanied him or when people who met and were inspired by him kept records of his stay and conversations. There are also a few letters that he wrote to his brother-disciples and others during this time. These were the days when he concealed his learning and brilliance and wandered around like an ordinary monk. No one could guess that he had a good command of English unless he spoke in that language. There were days when he begged for his food door to door and there were times when he decided to accept whatever chance might bring. He once told that the longest time he went without any food then was five days. Many times his abode was a jungle, a temple or a ruined wayside rest-house. He had vowed not to touch money during these travels and he mostly went on foot. There were also times when his devotees bought him a railway ticket and he took the train. These wanderings for Narendra were possibly not only a way of discovering his own inner self, but also of understanding India and her problems first hand.

Kannada version in Prajavani (12-Jul-12)

Swami Vivekananda met many different kinds of persons during his travels that began in 1890. There were people from different walks of life – monks, businessmen, teachers and professors, Government officials, nationalists, Christian priests and Muslim clergy. While he loved interacting with monks and religious persons, he could also engage people with different interests. He had heard of Pavhari Baba, the great mystic and saint of Ghazipur, and wanted to meet him for a long time. When he was staying at Allahabad in January 1890, he decided to go to Ghazipur to see the Baba.

Pavhari Baba was born to Brahmin parents in a village near Varanasi. He left home as a boy and went to Ghazipur, where under the tutelage of his uncle learnt Sanskrit grammar, logic and the philosophy of Ramanuja. Soon he left Ghazipur and traveled around the land, determined to attain realization of God. He is reported to have practiced intense austerity and yogic practices and soon mastered the Advaita Philosophy too. He returned to Ghazipur and built a hermitage by the riverside where he practiced intense meditation most of the time. He was rumoured to hardly eat any food and is known to have subsisted on neem leaves and a few chilies. So spare was his diet that he was called Pavhari Baba, literally meaning the ‘air-eating father’. He generally avoided meeting people and very rarely interacted with his devotees.

Swami Vivekananda got an interview with this saint after trying for many days. When he did finally meet him, he was struck by the Baba’s personality. “Through supreme good fortune, I have obtained an interview with Babaji”, Swamiji wrote to Pramadababu on February 4, 1890, “A great sage indeed! It is all very wonderful, and in this atheistic age, a towering representation of marvelous power born out of Bhakti and Yoga! I have sought refuge in his grace; and he has given me hope – a thing very few may be fortunate enough to obtain. It is Babaji’s wish that I stay on for some days here, and he would do me some good. So following this saint’s bidding I shall remain here for some time.”

Swami Vivekananda moved to a place closer to the Baba’s hermitage and started severe ascetic practices. He also fell ill during this time and suffered physically. He had come to the Baba to learn and be initiated into Raja Yoga and felt that he was not making any significant progress. The Baba hardly spoke and even when he did, was very circumspect and indirect. This went on for many days and Swamiji was getting increasingly restless. He was also having visions of his guru Sri Ramakrishna, and this left him both guilty and confused. Finally he decided that there was nothing he could gain from Pavhari Baba and decided to move on. It was then that he wrote again about the Baba to Pramadababu in a letter dated March 3, 1890, “But now I see the whole matter is inverted in its bearings! While I myself have come, a beggar at his door, he turns round and wants to learn of me! This saint perhaps is not perfected – too much of rites, vows, observances and too much of self-concealment. The ocean in its fullness cannot be contained within its shores, I am sure. So it is not good, I have decided not to disturb this sadhu for nothing, and very soon I shall ask leave of him to go.”

Swami Vivekananda was thence no longer distracted and satisfied to give himself to single-minded meditation. Though a few of his brother disciples thought that he was going away from the path prescribed by Sri Ramakrishna by indulging in the practices of the Baba, it shows his aptitude for many-sided knowledge and different perspectives. Swamiji sought only the truth and was ever willing to experiment in this pursuit of truth.

Kannada version in Prajavani (19-Jul-12)