Swami Vivekananda: Hinduism and India's Road to Modernity

For

Papi Ma,

Dr Usha and Mr Raja Subramanian,

Pritha, Gaurav

and Leela Iyer…

four generations,

now family.

CONTENTS

Preface

1India’s Vivekananda

2The Guru’s Spell

3Globalizing Hinduism

4Beyond Belief

5The Double Helix

6Secular Dharma

7National Education

8Occasional Mantras

9Vivekananda’s India

Notes

Index

About the Book

About the Author

Praise for Swami Vivekananda

Copyright

PREFACE

The Unknown Vivekananda

I HAVE FELT THE PRESENCE of grace in the writing and completion of this book. Several of these chapters were drafted during Swami Vivekananda’s sesquicentennial anniversary celebrations. I participated in the commencement of the official commemoration in March 2013 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, where the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, himself did the honours, presenting a paper in the conference that followed. As it happened, I also participated in possibly the last of the official programmes a year later, in February 2014. It was held in the city of the Swami’s birth, Kolkata, at an institution established to carry forward his work and message, the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park. Through these 150th anniversary celebrations, I met and listened to many distinguished scholars and devotees of Swamiji. Together, we engaged in an endeavour to better understand the life, work and legacy of Vivekananda. No wonder, today, as I see the finished manuscript before me, I am filled with a sense of wonder and gratitude. Without all these fortunate and fortuitous convergences, how could I possibly have finished this project?

Yet, looking back over these five years, I am convinced of something quite contrary to what might be expected consequent on being so engrossed in the life and works of this extraordinary individual. After attending so many events, symposia, conferences, and listening to scores of eminent speakers, besides reading nearly every book or essay on Vivekananda, I came to a rather unexpected conclusion. We have to contend with the very real probability that we may have still not understood the Swami adequately. That is because, with our limiting habits of thought and mind, we tend to convert if not reduce Vivekananda to a dimension that is much more comprehensible, palatable or manageable to us. Vivekananda, in other words, still remains somewhat of an enigma, even as we keep rehearsing and regurgitating what we know about him already. In fact, one of the alternate titles of this book could be ‘The Unknown Vivekananda’.

In my view Vivekananda remains ‘unknown’ if familiar for three reasons. First of all, the actual store of information and knowledge about him has not significantly increased in the last few decades. The new, corrective edition of his multi-volume Complete Works, in the making for many years, is still not out. At the same time, his papers, in custody of the Ramakrishna Mission, are not yet accessible to the public. When it comes to the secondary material on Vivekananda, once again, we notice that very few new readings or interpretations have emerged. What has, barring a few exceptions such as Hindol Sengupta’s refreshingly readable The Modern Monk (Penguin, 2016), changed considerably is the massive increase in the publicization and politicization of Swamiji’s life and legacy, to be expected with the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party as India’s ruling party. For Hindutva cadres, Vivekananda is an object of reverence, if not an iconic poster persona. In addition to his traditional constituency of devotees belonging to the Ramakrishna–Vivekananda movement, many others in India now swear by him. But such zeal and adulation does not take kindly to a critical engagement with his life and work. On the other hand, purely secular, intellectual academics, too, remain quite impervious to certain aspects of Vivekananda’s mind and method. Given our already entrenched ideological prejudices and belief systems, not to mention our intellectual interests and investments, it is hard for most of us to take a fresh look at the life, world and work of this extraordinary monk.

Here, I would venture to add that like his own mentor, Sri Ramakrishna, and some of the other extraordinary figures of his times, Vivekananda was definitely a mystic, even if he is regarded almost exclusively as an activist. He deliberately set out to attain ‘higher’ states of consciousness. What is more, he committed himself to the lifelong arduous meditative and spiritual practices or ‘sadhanas’ to attain them. He also tried to lead not only his disciples, but also vast sections of humanity (whom he addressed through his speeches and writings) to similar realizations. We must acknowledge that one of the key challenges before us is how to take cognizance of those extraordinary states and planes of consciousness, even as we uphold the norms of reason and intellect in our approach to his larger-than-life personage. Our imperative is, thus, to mediate between an unthinking adulation and devotionalism, on the one hand, and an unblinking and overly reductive rejection of the spiritual dimension on the other. In addition, we must take into account the inordinate politicization of his life. These challenges bring us to the heart of Swami Vivekananda’s legacy and his relevance in the contemporary world.

That is why, in my view, the ‘known’ Vivekananda should not interest us that much. Instead, it is the ‘unknown’ Swamiji who still beckons to us from across the gulf of these 150 years. To exceed our limits of understanding, to reach the heights and depths of experiencing our true selves, to strive to attain ‘samadhi’ or super-consciousness is what he tried to communicate to us throughout his short, dazzling life. Besides, of course, the complete social, cultural, economic and political transformation of India that he strove to initiate. Moreover, since these two aspects are deeply, even inextricably, interconnected Vivekananda remains lesser known than we think. This book, dwelling on the isthmus between the two, makes a case for why we must continue to strive to come closer to Vivekananda. In doing so, we will try to value and experience what he really was trying to convey. Perhaps if we try hard enough we may also have glimpses of that higher consciousness, whose elevating and uplifting touch he was trying to establish on the common ground of colonized and colonial India. To explore afresh the possibility of engaging with him seriously, then, is also be touched by the radical and transformative power of his life and teachings.

Many are the debts that I have incurred as I come to the conclusion of this endeavour to understand and interpret Vivekananda afresh. Here, I acknowledge them happily. First of all, the infinite association of spiritual gurus and teachers represented by Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the living master that I had the good fortune of meeting. Swami Rama of Haridwar, Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai and Sri Aurobindo of Pondicherry – these I only met in the realms of the mind, but their presence and influence in my life are no less the real. The late Professor Girdhari Lal Tikku, member of my PhD dissertation committee, also belongs to this Guru Mandala. It was he who first put The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna into my hands nearly forty years ago. I bow to these great masters, without whose blessings, my intellectual growth and spiritual development would have remained stunted.

Then the various learned and spiritually elevated swamis and monks of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in whose contact, howsoever sporadic, my interest and faith in the Ramakrishna–Vivekananda tradition was strengthened. My intellectual connect and commitment to Ramakrishna–Vivekananda studies has received a lot of support from them. I gratefully acknowledge their role in bringing this book to fruition. I remember with special awe the day I spent at Belur Math on Swamiji’s birthday according to the Hindu tithi some three years back. The premises were thronging with monks and devotees, the former in such large numbers that it was like being back in the times of the Buddha. From the Vice-president of the order to humble, unknown sannyasis, they blessed me sumptuously as I fell at their feet in a spontaneous flow of respect and reverence. I had a great darshan of Sri Ramakrishna despite the thronging multitudes lining up to enter the main shrine. I knew then that I had to write this book.

Many friends and critics nurtured and befriended this book by sharpening my understanding of modern Indian intellectual traditions. Of these I wish to mention Dr Manohar Shinde and Shri Kalyan Viswanathan of Dharma Civilization Foundation, who have supported this work from its inception. Shri Hari Kiran Vadlamani, who founded Indic Academy, has provided continuing comraderie and encouragement. I feel honoured to know such dedicated and brilliant upholders of Bharatiya parampara and dharma, having learned much from them. I want to thank my faculty colleagues and the staff of the Centre for English Studies, JNU. The UGC Special Assistance Programme has provided continuing support for my research and publishing. I would like especially to appreciate the current coordinator, Professor Saugata Bhaduri. My special and sincere thanks to my friend Amish Tripathi, our most popular Indian English author. His role in rekindling my connection with my old publishers, HarperCollins India, was nothing short of providential. I am very grateful to him for this as also for his endorsement of this book. To my editor, Udayan Mitra, I owe special thanks for taking this project forward so thoughtfully and processionally. I consider him among the best in the business. I also thank Tanima Saha of India for her patience and persistence.

Among those who worked on copy-editing and preparing the manuscript, special mention must be made of Shyam Krishnakumar, who was then an intern at Vision India Foundation and a postgraduate student at Jawaharlal Nehru University. In its last stages, this book found great support and painstaking attention at the hands of Surabhi Chandan. I thank her for helping me to see it through when I was very preoccupied with my responsibilities at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. My mother, soon to be eighty-six, has been my oldest and most loyal supporter and friend. I cannot thank her enough for being there. Gayatri, my partner in life’s arduous journey, not only read the manuscript, but also encouraged me to finish it. Her support has meant the world to me.

One of the challenges in this book was to stitch the original papers, which were stand-alone exercises, into an interconnected sequence of chapters offering a coherent account of the ‘unknown’ Vivekananda.¹

The biographical portions are not organized chronologically. Rather, I start in medias res, with the Swami’s dramatic debut on the world stage, documenting his extraordinary impact, West and East in the first chapter. I then go back in time to his birth and upbringing, before recounting his transformative encounters with his guru, Sri Ramakrishna, in the second chapter. The subsequent chapters are arranged thematically, each chapter analyzing an important aspect of his life and work: reclaiming and reforming Hinduism through ‘neo-Vedanda’ (chapter three), positing a universal religion (chapter 4), forging the double helix of the inter-faith and science-spirituality dialogues (chapter five), contributing to a secular national dharma (chapter six), developing an educational philosophy (chapter seven), articulating higher consciousness through poetic incantations (chapter eight), and engendering a uniquely Indian modernity, perhaps the most important concluding ninth chapter. This structure is also elaborated towards the end of the opening chapter.

I now realize that I may have succeeded only partially, if at all, in proving equal to challenge of exploring the ‘unkown’ Vivekananda. Each book comes with its own handicaps and triumphs. It is only after it is finished that we realize how differently, even better, it might have been written. By then, of course, it is not only too late to begin afresh, but even desirable not to do so. We all set out to write the perfect book, but must settle for something less – else we might not write at all. The imperfections of this work are all my own. They come from my own limitations in understanding a subject as immensely daunting as Swami Vivekananda. The earnestness of the effort has been rewarding in itself. I hope readers will also concur.

1

INDIA’S VIVEKANANDA

Man of Destiny

Reclaiming Hinduism

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (1863–1902), THE FOREMOST disciple and successor of the mystic and seer Sri Ramakrishna, was an outstanding spiritual leader, institution builder, philosopher, scholar, orator, teacher and poet. He was undoubtedly one of the most important makers of modern India. In the last ten years of his life, the Swami, who died before he turned forty, set into motion a massive movement to reclaim Hinduism. This was possibly his greatest achievement.

While Vivekananda undertook the tremendous responsibility of restructuring Hinduism at home, he popularized one branch of it – Vedanta – overseas. However, it must be clarified that under the broader rubric of ‘Vedanta’, Vivekananda also included Bhakti, Yoga, and other branches of Hindu practice, including Tantra. In doing so, he presented Hinduism to the world as a comprehensive, rational, non-denominational, perennial philosophy, rather than a creed or dogma.¹ In the process, he not only changed the image of Hinduism in the West, but also defended it from the sustained assaults of Christian missionaries and colonizing modernizers.

In India, on the other hand, Vivekananda campaigned relentlessly against the well-known social and spiritual ills that plagued his birth community. He was particularly harsh on caste and gender inequality, which he linked to the abject poverty and lack of self-respect of his countrymen and women. He urged the collaborative and callous native elite of a colonized country to take up the burden of building a new nation by serving its most wretched and exploited masses. His lifework thus combined the rigours of religious life with social reform, together aiming for an unprecedented phase of national regeneration. As Romain Rolland summed it up, ‘The Indian nationalist movement smouldered for a long time until Vivekananda’s breath blew the ashes into flame, and erupted violently three years after his death in 1905.’²

When viewed comprehensively, Vivekananda’s reconstruction of Hinduism consisted in his advocacy of four theses: (1) non-sectarianism and anti-ritualism; (2) social, especially caste and gender, equality; (3) national service as the soul of religion; (4) Vedanta as the essence of Hinduism and the future of thinking humanity. Such radical ideas and his ceaseless propagation of them reshaped the century-long project of Hindu social and cultural reformation.³ By awakening the latent self-confidence and urge to improve their conditions, he gave hope and direction to a defeated and dejected civilization. He inspired millions, especially large sections of the educated youth, to put their energies and talents in remaking their society and nation. He thus helped restore their agency and repurpose them towards self-realization through social service. Thus, he directly intervened in accelerating India’s struggle for freedom from colonial rule.

This book is an account of how Vivekananda affected this extraordinary transformation.

Parliament of World Religions

The dramatic starting point of such an inquiry, indeed, the defining moment in Vivekananda’s life, was his spectacular debut at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago on 11 September 1893. It is the stuff legends are made of, arguably the single most important event in the story of the Indo-Western encounter in modern times.

This is how he himself described what happened. Soon after the event, in a letter to his disciple, Alasinga Perumal, in Madras, Vivekananda recounts the scene in vivid and lively colours:

There was a grand procession and we were all marshalled on to the platform. Imagine a hall below and a huge gallery above, packed with six or seven thousand men and women representing the best culture of the country and on the platform learned men of all the nations of the earth. And I, who never spoke in public in my life, to address this august assemblage!! It was opened in great form with music and ceremony and speeches; then the delegates were introduced one by one and they stepped up and spoke. Of course my heart was fluttering and my tongue nearly dried up; I was so nervous and could not venture to speak in the morning. Mazoomdar made a nice speech, Chakravarti a nicer one and they were much applauded. They were all prepared and came with ready-made speeches. I was a fool and had none, but bowed down to Devi Sarasvati and stepped up and Dr Barrows introduced me. I made a short speech. I addressed the assembly as ‘Sisters and Brothers of America’, a deafening applause of two minutes followed and then I proceeded; and when it was finished, I sat down, almost exhausted with emotion. The next day all the papers announced that my speech was the hit of the day and I became known to the whole of America. Truly has it been said by the great commentator Shridhara – ‘mukam karoti vachalam’ – ‘Who maketh the dumb a fluent speaker.’ His name be praised! From that day I became a celebrity and the day I read my paper on Hinduism, the hall was packed as it had never been before. I quote to you from one of the papers: ‘Ladies, ladies, ladies packing every place – filling every corner, they patiently waited and waited while the papers that separated them from Vivekananda were read’, etc. You would be astonished if I sent over to you the newspaper cuttings, but you already know that I am a hater of celebrity. Suffice it to say, that whenever I went on the platform, a deafening applause would be raised for me. Nearly all the papers paid high tributes to me and even the most bigoted had to admit that ‘This man with his handsome face and magnetic presence and wonderful oratory is the most prominent figure in the Parliament’, etc., etc. Sufficient for you to know that never before did an Oriental make such an impression on American society.⁴

In retrospect, what seems incontrovertible is that the Vivekananda speech represents nothing less than the irruption of a new force or energy not only in the Parliament of World Religions but in the Western world itself. As we shall see in a later chapter, it set into motion a new phase of the Indo-Western cultural and intellectual encounter, with India influencing the West rather than the West ruling and controlling India.

The Parliament, which was inaugurated on 11 September 1893, was indeed a grand event. It was part of the World’s Columbian Exposition (also called the Chicago World Fair) to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. By all accounts, it was also meant to showcase the supremacy of the United States in matters of religion even as the Exposition sought to demonstrate American material and technological superiority. The aim was to possibly highlight that America was in the process of outstripping its parent, Europe, which was already the vanguard of humanity. Yet, the Parliament was also an unprecedented opportunity for people of various faiths and cultures to meet and converse with each other.

A gathering of this sort would have been unthinkable in Europe, which still maintained its imperial possessions along with notions of superiority over the rest of humankind. At Chicago, however, there were delegates from all over the world, including the Indian subcontinent. Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Brahmos, Theosophists, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis participated in the Parliament. Vivekananda, who seemed unprepared and out of place in this imposing assembly of notables and dignitaries, ended up making what came to be recognized as the maximum impact.

Though Vivekananda had formed the intention of going to the Parliament towards the end of his extensive travels in the subcontinent, the turning point was in Kanyakumari in February 1892. That is when he realized that he was probably destined to contribute decisively to the reawakening of India. He saw a vision of him walking on water, which he interpreted as a call to cross the oceans. Soon afterwards, he also received the much-needed formal permission from Holy Mother, Sarada Ma, Ramakrishna’s consort, to go to the West with the master’s message.

On 31 May 1893, Vivekananda set sail for the United States. It would be an arduous voyage, taking him through an almost magical list of port cities across half the world. He sailed from Bombay and through Colombo, Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, to Yokohama, Japan. Thence, he crossed the Pacific Ocean, to Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Finally, he reached Chicago by an overland train at the end of July 1893. It must have been a very long journey, both physically and psychologically.

The train from Vancouver to Chicago arrived late in the evening, after traversing half a continent. Vivekananda had misplaced the addresses of the committee members in charge of the delegates. He spent the night in a freight wagon in the rail yard. The next morning, he walked towards the Lake Shore Drive, asking his way to the Parliament. Hungry, he asked for food, as an Indian sanyasi is wont to, at the doors of the wealthy mansions lining the street. A kindly lady, Mrs George W. Hale – who saw him from the window of her house – knew him to be a delegate at the Parliament and sent after him. She not only gave him succour and shelter, but also presented him to Dr J.H. Barrows, the president of the Parliament. Vivekananda, once again, had proof of providence watching over him. The Hales later became Vivekananda’s staunch devotees.

When he visited the Columbian Exposition, of which the Parliament was a part, he was both bewildered and impressed by the immense material and technological progress of the West. How far behind India was! And how much we had to catch up. How was that to happen when we were wretched, poor, distressed and broken, besides being divided by caste and bent under the weight of superstition. When Vivekananda arrived at the venue of the Parliament, he discovered that it had been postponed until September, two months after. It was then the end of July 1893. In the West for the first time, in a totally different culture, Vivekananda found himself practically penniless and friendless, without even a proper invitation to the Parliament or a letter of introduction. In his strange clothes, he was teased and stared at. Hotels in racially segregated Chicago were very expensive; even the cheaper ones often mistook him for a ‘negro’ and denied him lodgings.

Vivekananda soon ran through his meagre means. He was tired and depressed, wondering whether to beat an ignominious retreat and return to his beloved homeland without even attending the Parliament. No! How could he betray his own dream, not to mention the support and affection of hundreds back home who believed in him? When he decided to stay on, he thought it might be cheaper to live in Boston. Moreover, that was where he would also find people more knowledgeable and sympathetic to India.

As luck would have it, en route, on the train, his regal bearing and strange appearance attracted the curiosity of a wealthy lady, Miss Kate Sanborn. She invited Vivekananda to Breezy Meadows, her home in Boston. As he recounted to Alasinga Perumal:

I accidentally made her acquaintance in the railway train, and she invited me to come over and live with her. I have an advantage of living with her, in saving my expenditure of one pound per day, and she has the advantage of inviting her friends over here and showing them a curio from India! And all this must be borne. Starvation, cold, hooting in the streets on account of my quaint dress, these are what I have to fight against (5: 14).

One can’t help but notice how candidly conscious Vivekananda was of his situation in this unfamiliar world. Yet, he never lost his sense of humour or even his natural self-assurance.

As Miss Sanborn’s guest, he met many people from in and around Boston. For most of them, he was an item of novelty and wonder, the first Easterner and ‘Hindu’ they had ever met. The image of India that most Americans had at that time was rather unflattering, derived as it was mostly from Christian missionaries and British press reports of the benighted and backward subcontinent. Vivekananda realized that one of his primary responsibilities would be to show a different India to the West, one that actually had something to offer to the modern world.

In Boston, he also met Professor J.H. Wright of Harvard University, who agreed to write a letter of introduction to the Parliament so that Vivekananda could be a delegate. In his letter Wright declared, ‘Here is a man who is more learned than all our learned professors put together.’⁵ The generous professor even bought him a train ticket to Chicago.

Vivekananda’s intervention in the Parliament, as we have already seen, was nothing short of momentous. It may be considered prophetic not just in terms of India’s impact on the West but also the future dialogue between civilizations. The Hindu Swami, for the first time outside his own country, began with the unforgettable manner. After addressing his audience as ‘Sisters and Brothers of America’, and greeted with a thunderous applause, Vivekananda continued:

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world. I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance… I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations on earth.

(l: 31)

So great was the impression he made that soon after the New York Herald hailed him as ‘Undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions’, adding, ‘After hearing him, we feel foolish to send missionaries to this learned nation.’

While the other delegates tried to emphasize the strength and uniqueness of their own creed, Vivekananda struck a different chord. He highlighted the pluralism and universality of India’s spiritual traditions while decrying religious narrow-mindedness and fanaticism. He ventured to speak not only on behalf of Hinduism but all faiths of the world, possibly the only delegate to do so. Vivekananda succeeded in conveying in modern idiom the gist of the great teachings of his mentor, even to a Western audience completely unfamiliar with Sri Ramakrishna. In the same vein, in his last address he unequivocally declared:

The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor is a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve