SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: AN ASSESSMENT

NATIVE  CHARM

SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA: AN ASSESSMENT


Reading Swami Vivekananda or reading about him?

Most of us, at least of the older generation must be familiar with the name of Swami Vivekananda. The younger generation does not know about him  much. But it is doubtful how many-old or young- have read his works- mostly talks subsequently published, and letters. Our knowledge is from hearsay, or secondary sources. This is characteristic of Indians. Whether it is old scriptures like Ramayana or Mahabharata or Bhagavatam , Artha Sastra of Kautilya, Manu Smriti, or works of new authorities like Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo , Ramana Maharshi, few of us have taken the time and the trouble to read the originals. And unless we read them in the original, we cannot understand Indian thought.

This presents peculiar problems. Those who read and write about them- even translate them- do so from their own angles, for their own motives. Secondly, very often modern masters like Vivekananda or Sri Aurobindo or Ramana Maharshi cannot be translated adequately or competently in any language. The works of Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo are originally in English, and they should present no problems to English educated persons. But studying them demands exclusive attention and they cannot be read in a hurry. Without knowledge of the original sources, we are unable to check how true are the popular writers or speakers when they talk about these authorities.

Swami Vivekananda at Chicago, 1893. 
He made Indians proud!

Many-sided genius:
Vivekananda in West and East

Focusing on Vivekananda here, we find that his works are edited and published in 9 volumes, of about 400 pages each.Reading leisurely about 20 pages a day, we can complete all the volumes in about 6 months.

It is helpful to note a few characteristics before and while reading.

1. His speeches are not arranged chronologically. So while reading we can take them up chronologically. It will enable us to understand how his thoughts  evolved. 

2. His talks in the West and his talks in India differ substantially in their scope and even style. The subjects are also different

3. While in the West, he defended Hinduism. He interpreted it in modern, rational language, and presented it in modern English.It is only through him that even  English-educated and non-Sanskrit knowing Indians could learn about our religion. He presented Hinduism as mainly Vedanta, with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. He presented Vedanta as the core of a possible universal religion. Every Indian who has ever written on Hinduism since then has invariably drawn on Vivekananda, whether acknowledged or not. Modern India cannot be understood without a study of Vivekananda.

While in India, he talked of how Indians had failed to practise their lofty ideals, how we had degenerated in all spheres and how bringing Vedantic principles into practise was essential for our regeneration. 

4. While in the West, he did not talk about Sri Ramakrishna, except on a single occasion. In India, he hailed Ramakrishna as the 'Avatara Varishta'. He made Ramakrishna into a cult figure, creating an organisation for the purpose.

5. He departed from Sri Ramakrishna in a very important matter. Sri Ramakrishna never concerned himself with any social issues- like caste, women's problems, etc. His focus was only 'spiritual' awakening, and his emphasis was on Bhakti as shown by Narada as the most suitable way for Kali Yuga. He was addressing individuals all the time, or small groups of devotees, who gathered round him,in his immediate presence. He never gave public talks. His instructions were always addressed to individuals in his immediate presence.

All this changed with Vivekananda. He mostly addressed large gatherings. He was talking mostly of social issues. But he could not come to a firm conclusion, or offer satisfactory solution. Each one who writes about Vivekananda cites selected passages to support their own view of what Vivekananda is supposed to have said or meant! Apart from his idea of 'practical Vedanta', man-making education etc- which are all general ideas, Vivekananda did not offer any concrete spiritual programme for the general public, but he created a monastic order for the initiated disciples. He only emphasised social relief work through the RK Mission. In these, he adopted partly the methods of the Buddhist Sangha  and the Roman Catholic Church.  He  expected the initiated monks of the order to engage in both spiritual propaganda and social work. In the process, the RK Order has become another cult, with Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and Vivekananda himself as the holy trinity! The cult status is emphasised through the fact that once even a house holder devotee takes some 'mantra' initiation from any monk of the Order, they have to accept Sri Ramakrishna as  God!

So, when we take up Vivekananda for serious study, we have to keep track and note of what he said, when , and on which subject. On this basis, we should form our own conclusions about the final position of Vivekananda. 

Some definite ideas

6. Even so, there are some issues on which he gave some definite ideas or guidelines.

• The world was embarking on the age of the shudra or proletariat ( after the age of commerce or Vaishya) and the new movement will start in Russia 
• It is doubtful if Jesus Christ was a historical person. Christianity in origin is based on Buddhist principles and practice.
• Prophet Mohammad was not a complete or perfect prophet. He did not understand many things correctly.
• Hindus failed to practise their lofty ideals and allowed a section of their people to lapse into poverty and ignorance.
• He admired Buddha personally, but held Buddhism to be responsible for the downfall of India.
• Indians lacked practical skills, physical strength and mental vigour. They lacked leadership qualities, they could not work as a team, and their jealousy led to pulling each other down.
• He refused to discuss issues relating to women and said that they should be free to study and settle questions relating to them. ( But in America, he strongly spoke in defence of the Hindu ideal of women. He held up the example of Sita. He categorically said that the Hindu woman commanded respect as 'mother', while in the West, the woman was celebrated as the wife!)
• For the next hundred years, Indians should forget all other gods and devote themselves to the upliftment of the poor.
• Spirituality is the life-secret of India. If India gave up spirituality and took to social reform, it would fall in three generations.
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Swami Vivekananda as a wandering monk, prior to his departure to America.

Vivekananda-then and now

Immediately following his time, the first generation of our leaders struggling for Independence  were enormously influenced by the words of Vivekananda. There are many places in his speeches when he implied that we can have freedom in religion only if we had freedom in politics ie only if India was politically free.  But he did not say so openly, for the British govt was very repressive in Bengal at that time. His Order was under surveillance and they were careful to avoid giving the impression that they had any political ideas or ambitions. But many youngsters who became monks later did have revolutionary nationalist feelings! And Sister Nivedita, his direct disciple, was a staunch nationalist. The RK Order felt uncomfortable with her fiery nationalism, and she had to issue a public statement, on the urging of Swami Brahmananda, distancing herself from the RK movement!

Over the years, the RK Order has had its internal politics, as it happens in any organisation growing in money power, and bureaucracy. Vivekananda's emphasis on social relief was not accepted by many senior disciples in his own time as the authentic interpretation of the teaching of Sri Ramakrishna. They succumbed to the personal magnetism or emotional pressure of Vivekananda. In regard to  the teachings of Ramakrishna too, the Order took their own line, projecting him as the apostle of inter-religious harmony, treating all religions as true or equally valid. Any careful reader of the words of Sri Ramakrishna know that this is not wholly true,, or his main message. They completely suppress the critical remarks of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda about Christianity and Mohammad, coloured by their global ambitions. 

 I write all this because, if we want to understand what Vivekananda said, and we must, we should directly read what he said, and not rely on interpreters  from the RK Order, or outside. In the light of such a close study of his works, we should assess the overall impact of Vivekananda. 

Having been a student of Vivekananda for the last 50 years, and reflected deeply on his works, I think that his legacy is mixed. His work had immediate relevance, and it had instant impact. It greatly boosted the self-confidence of Indians and restored their national pride.It inspired our national leaders. It made educated, thoughtful people in America and England approach Indian religion and philosophy with new eyes.

Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 1893.

But over the years, his impact has waned..

Reaction against Vivekananda

1. In America, the anti-Hindu forces have regrouped and become stronger. The tribe of bogus gurus, yogis and others supposedly representing Hinduism and seeking to make a fast buck, has not helped. Today, the anti-Hindu sentiment in the US is very pronounced, especially in the Universities. Vivekananda addressed Harvard! Today, it is unthinkable. Even so called Indian liberals, actually leftist loonies, like Amartya Sen who earn their money there,and who are eager to please their pay-masters, would oppose such a move! They cannot stand our Subramanian Swamy; how can they tolerate Swami Vivekananda in Harvard!

2. The thoughtless approach of the representatives of the RK Order in projecting Vedanta as the universal religion, and indiscriminate talk of 'all religions being equally true or valid', has had the negative effect of making people there ask: if as you say all religions are true, what is so special about Vedanta and why do we need it? Many westerners speak of non-Indian Vedanta! There is now a Vedanta associated with even Freemasonry! The ISKCON has done a better and uncompromising job here!

Another view of Swami Vivekananda at Chicago, 1893, with the East India group of delegates.

3. Within India, Vivekananda has been reduced to a minor cult figure, one among so many. When he returned from America in 1897, the whole country from the Himalayas to Rameshwaram. and beyond in Ceylon exploded   in a spontaneous, tumultuous celebration of his achievement. Today, he is celebrated only by the RK Math!  The Hindus today identify him with a Math, not with the general Hindu stream. Even his centenary year in 1963 evoked some genuine national feeling and pride. But I have seen this evaporate since then.The general secular mood of the country will regard him rather as a Hindu fundamentalist! Even   those public figures who dare to take his name at all openly suppress his religious ideas and project him as a sort of secular, reformist leader.This is how distant our Hindu spiritual ideal has become from public consciousness, and how much it is denied space in public discourse in its own homeland!

4. The educational ideal given by him is not followed even by the RK Order which runs even a University now! It is only following  the conventional mill, govt imposed/approved syllabus, oriented for a job or career, not life or man-making enterprise. And to run those institutions they went to the Supreme Court and claimed that Ramakrishna was not a Hindu! Oh, shit!

5. Vivekananda's words are inspiring, and we can read his works for a theoretical understanding of our philosophy, and for a certain elevation of our mood. But philosophy is not all of religion, and he did not make a direct  or original contribution to the regeneration of Indian spiritual life in a practical way, such as Sri Ramakrishna did!  Even today, if we need spiritual guidance, it is to Sri  Ramakrishna we have to turn. And his words on our philosophy too are more practical and more powerful than those of Vivekananda.

Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Vivekananda was a great man, one of India's greatest ever children. But his greatness served a specific need at a particular time. His mission was to the West. Sri Ramakrishna, sitting in his Dakshineswar temple complex, near the capital of colonial India, without having formal schooling or knowledge of English, established the truth and greatness of our religion. He held all the educated people spell-bound with his country language and home-bred wisdom. In fact, his audience consisted of the English-educated middle class 'babus' of Bengal, whom Sri Ramakrishna sometimes called 'Englishmen'! This had a two pronged effect: his strong advocacy of Hinduism restored the faith of the educated in our ancient religion and philosophy. It reduced the attraction and the danger from Christian missionaries. At the same time, it took the steam out of Indian reform movements like the Brahmo Samaj, which were based on   blatant imitation of  Christian ways. In the process, Keshub Chandra Sen, the Brahmo leader, himself became an admirer and follower of Sri Ramakrishna, accepting many of Sri Ramakrishna's principles like devotion to Mother, and worship of images, which were against Brahmo principles. Sen in fact was instrumental in spreading the word about Sri Ramakrisna among the educated youngsters of Bengal by his writings. Most of the direct disciples, including Vivekananda had been members of the Brahmo Samaj! (But Vivekananda had first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from an Englishman, his college professor!)

  Vivekananda, armed with a university degree, mastering both western knowledge and Eastern wisdom, went to America, the emerging virtual capital of the world, and declared to the educated people there that Hinduism was the oldest religion of mankind, and the wisest.He confronted the Christian  missionaries in their very den, and made thoughtful people realise how idiotic it was for the missionaries to dump their religion on an already religious people. This was no ordinary feat, considering that India was then a British colony and the colonial power is always and everywhere considered superior. Most Indians  today cannot even imagine the situation then. Every Indian, every Hindu today owes a great debt of deep gratitude to Vivekananda, but alas, most Indians are so ignorant in the matter, ungrateful wretches.

We know that during his first visit to America, it was Sri Ramakrishna acting and speaking through him. The mere presence of Vivekananda exuded  spiritual power and grace. He stood up at last to speak,  in the Chicago parliament, and just greeted "Sisters and brothers of America" and the whole audience exploded into  spontaneous, prolonged applause! This is an unparallelled event in world history. Later,in India and during his second visit abroad,  he acted on his own, and departed from his Master. He entered the dreary desert sand of social issues, and lost his way. He upheld towards the end the historical value and validity of Hindu orthodoxy. And when he sat to worship Sri Ramakrishna, he was orthodox to the core. He also admitted that  his public work had been motivated by ego.But this is not the image that most people have of Vivekananda!

The one volume of 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' is worth more than all of the complete works of Vivekananda, a hundred times over. That is pure, unalloyed spiritual guidance. Vivekananda's works have their value, but they do not match the power of Sri Ramakrishna's simple  words!

I respect Vivekananda, but I worship Sri Ramakrishna!