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Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, andpurified by the fire of Knowledge, many have become one with My Being.(Bhagavadgita, 4.10)

The human frame is made up of decaying matter. It is a collection of flesh, bone,marrow, blood and other unclean substances subject to putrefaction. By such con-stant analysis of the body one’s love for it vanishes. (Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, 132)

If I want to adopt the non-dualistic attitude, I will have to deny the body, mind andintellect. As soon as I say, ‘I am the Atman’, my feelings of happiness and miserymust go, and I shall experience myself as ‘partless, actionless, tranquil, blameless,unattached’. On the other hand, if I say, ‘I am the child of God, His servant’, then Iwill have to resign myself completely to Him with the conviction that whatever Hedoes for me and wherever He keeps me is absolutely for my good. Both paths areequally difficult, and both demand spiritual disciplines. But the results of both arethe same: the cessation of ignorance and the attainment of supreme Bliss. … Let onefollow the path that is suitable for one, but one must practise wholeheartedly. Oth-erwise, neither path will yield any result. (Swami Turiyananda)

Love everyone as you would your closest relatives, knowing them all to be the chil-dren of Sri Ramakrishna. Pay no heed if one praises you or another blames you. Ifyou have anything to offer, give, but expect no return. All are good, very good. I donot see anyone who is not good. You have been born for the purpose of setting ex-amples of ideal lives in the lila of Sri Ramakrishna. Always remember this. (SwamiPremananda)

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Vol. 109 MAY 2004 No. 5

PRABUDDHA

BHARATAArise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached!

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� This Month �

How desires influnece our personality,the cause, seat and root of desire—these arediscussed in An Anatomy of Desires, thismonth’s editorial.

Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago fea-tures ‘Brahman and Ishvara’, an illuminatingarticle by ‘Sruti’.

Reflections on the Bhagavadgita is SwamiAtulanandaji’s commentary on verses 19 to24 of the ninth chapter of the Gita.

In the concluding part of his travelogue AVisit to Europe, Swami Smarananandaji de-scribes his visit to England. The author isGeneral Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mathand the Ramakrishna Mission.

Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contem-porary Indian Society by Dr Jayasree Mu-kherjee is a well-researched article on Sri Ra-makrishna’s spiritual humanism; his influ-ence on Keshab Chandra Sen and other Bra-hmos and the Brahmos’ role in spreading theMaster’s message; his influence on the eliteof Calcutta; and the influence that triggeredSwami Vivekananda’s arrival at his guru’sfeet. Making a realistic appraisal of SriRamakrishna, the author rightly concludesthat the Master ‘rescued religion from thetrammels of tenet and dogma, rite and lit-urgy’. A long-standing devotee of theMaster, the author is Reader in History, Pres-idency College, Kolkata.

In the first part of his well-researched ar-ticle Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Phi-lology in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-cen-tury Europe, Swami Tathagatanandaji de-tails the contributions of European scholarslike Anquetil-Duperron, Sir William Jones

and Charles Wilkins in popularizing San-skrit, the Bhagavadgita and the Upanishads.The author is a senior monk of the Ramakri-shna Order. His latest work, Journey of theUpanishads to the West, is published by theVedanta Society of New York, of which he isthe head.

Greed is the twin brother of lust—a for-midable duo Sri Ramakrishna warns spiri-tual aspirants to be careful about. In GreedSri N Hariharan discusses the root, cause,and remedy of greed, and argues that refugein the Spirit alone can help us get rid of theevil. A postgraduate in economics, the au-thor is actively associated with RamakrishnaMath, Madurai.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Expositionis a commentary by Swami Premeshanandajion sutras 48 to 56 of the third chapter, ‘Vi-bhéti Páda’. A detailed introduction on kai-valya, freedom, begins the fourth chapter,‘Kaivalya Páda’. Sri Shoutir Kishore Chatter-jee, translator of the original Bengali notes, isa former Professor of Statistics from CalcuttaUniversity.

Kuîõika Upaniøad is the seventh instal-ment of a translation of this important San-nyasa Upanishad by Swami Atmapriyanan-daji, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Vidya-mandira, Belur. The notes are based on Upa-nishad Brahmayogin’s commentary.

The sixty-three Tamil Shaiva saints calledNayanmars were exemplars of a God-cen-tred life. They willingly paid the price such alife demanded. In this month’s Glimpses ofHoly Lives we feature some incredible inci-dents from the life of Siruttonda Nayanar. �

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An Anatomy of Desires

EDITORIAL

Vedanta says that we are not this bodyand mind, but are essentially divine.This divinity is at the root of our very

existence and is the source of infinite Knowl-edge and Bliss. Man is not conscious of his di-vinity because of ignorance (avidyá). It is thisignorance which prompts him to desire (káma)enjoyment and seek lasting happiness in theworld. And desires are not merely those di-rected towards gross objects; there are desiresfor wealth, prosperity, progeny and, to cap itall, name and fame. Vedanta has a term forthese desires: eøaîá. Desires, in turn, goad manto action (karma) towards their fulfilment. SriShankara often refers to this triangle of avidyá,káma and karma in his commentaries on theUpanishads and the Bhagavadgita.

Our search for happiness in the externalworld is through the five perceptions: hearing,touch, sight, taste and smell. And the instru-ments for these perceptions are our five senseorgans: ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose. Thesense organs are so constituted that they areever outward directed and tend to come intouch with their respective sense objects.

Unmixed or Lasting HappinessImpossible in the World

Life in the world is beset with dualities:pleasure-pain, praise-blame, heat-cold and soon. Unmixed pleasure is thus impossible inthe world. It is a package deal: you have theone and the other comes in uninvited. SaysSwami Vivekananda, ‘Happiness presents it-self before man, wearing the crown of sorrowon its head. He who welcomes it must alsowelcome sorrow.’1

That desire is the cause of all misery,Buddha discovered long back and declared itas one of the Four Noble Truths. A life of un-

bridled sense enjoyment has to necessarilyend up in misery and frustration. The Upani-shads also make it clear that lasting happinessis possible only by realizing the Infinite(Spirit); there can be no happiness in the finitethings of the world.2

We shall discuss here the effects, cause,seat and root of desire.

Man Acts Despite Himself

In the Gita, Arjuna asks Sri Krishna animportant question: ‘Under what compulsiondoes man commit sin, in spite of himself anddragged, as it were, by force?’ Replies theLord, ‘It is desire, it is anger; both spring fromrajas. These are our enemies, all-devouringand the cause of all sin.’3 A poignant versefrom the Mahabharata describes how Duryo-dhana was helpless when he was overpow-ered by desire for his cousins’ land and king-dom: ‘I know what is dharma, but I cannotpractise it; I know what is adharma, but Icannot refrain from it.’ Desire and anger aretwin brothers. And in the words of the Gita,when coupled with greed these twin brotherspave the way to hell.4

Enjoyment Cannot Quench Desires

Most people think that they will seethrough worldly enjoyments, and that Vedan-ta could wait for their retired life, if at all. Un-fortunately, things do not work out that way.A mind given to sense enjoyment and brood-ing over worldly concerns cannot just turn tohigher things concomitant with retirement.Nor does fulfilment of our desires help us getrid of them; they only increase all the more.

King Yayati’s life from the Bhagavata il-lustrates the point. In his brim of youth Yayatiwas cursed to premature old age by an in-

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censed sage. The king asked the sage’s pardonand prayed for a remedy. The sage told himthat he could have his youth back if someoneelse exchanged his youth for the king’s oldage. The king exchanged his son’s youth forhis old age and enjoyed sense pleasures forthousands of years. If desires could bequenched by satisfying them, Yayati wouldhave been a sated man by now. Instead, he dis-covered a profound truth: ‘Desire can never bequenched by enjoying sense objects. Like firefed with ghee, it only flames up all the more.’5

Desire Leads to Gradual Ruin

In sense life too, there is no such thing asfree lunch. If man gets sense pleasure on theone hand, the pleasure also simultaneouslyforges one more link in the chain that bindshim to the cycle of birth and death, and blindshim to his real, divine nature. The Gita vividlydescribes the systematic descent triggered bybrooding over sense objects:

When a man broods over sense objects he devel-ops attachment towards them. Attachmentgives rise to the desire to possess them. Desireresults in anger (towards the obstacles to senseenjoyment). From anger is born delusion, anddelusion results in loss of memory (of what onehas learnt from the scriptures and from one’sguru). With loss of memory one’s buddhi, dis-crimination, is lost. And loss of discriminationis followed by spiritual death.6

How Desire Originates

When desires can spell man’s ruin, theymerit a deeper study with a view to doingsomething about them. How do our desiressprout? From the subtle impressions in themind, called samskaras. Our every act andthought leaves a subtle impression in ourmind called samskara. There are good andbad samskaras corresponding to good andbad actions and thoughts. And it is these sam-skaras, collected over innumerable births, thatdetermine what we are every moment. And inSwami Vivekananda’s words, their sum totaldetermines our character.

Each action produces an inevitable kar-maphala, or fruit of action. This result of actionis bound to visit the doer with unerring cer-tainty. Besides this, the action also leaves itsmark on the individual’s mind. This mark orimpression is called samskara, which is of twotypes: (a) karmáùaya, the tendency or desire torepeat an action and (b) vásaná, the memory ofthe action.

Every repetition of an action or thoughtdeepens the samskara, deepening with it thetendency to repeat the action or thought.When the samkara become sufficiently deep,the action or thought become a habit andmakes us good or bad in spite of ourselves.The deeper the samskara, the greater the effortrequired to change a habit or thought pattern.The effort involved in turning a new leaf is soformidable that many give up the strugglemidway. People exclaim, ‘Who says you can’tgive up smoking? I gave given it up manytimes!’

Vásaná is memory of an action or a per-ception. This memory also stores in it theknowledge of how we perceived a thing. If weeat a rasagolla for the first time, the knowledgeabout the sweetness of the sweet—that is, howit differs from the sweetness of any othersweet—is stored in the samskara.

By itself, the memory of an action isharmless. It doesn’t bind our soul. We getbound only when our will, the dynamic aspectof buddhi, hooks itself to the tendency or de-sire produced by karmáùaya).

The Seat of Desire

Vedanta says divinity is the core of ourpersonality. When this real ‘I’, the Atman,identifies itself with the mind and the body,we feel we are individuals with distinct identi-ties. In order that any perception becomes pos-sible, the ‘I’ should get connected to buddhi;the buddhi should get linked with manas, thedeliberative faculty; the manas should come incontact with the sense organ; and the sense or-gan should get linked with the sense object.

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286 Prabuddha Bharata

Both memory and the desire to repeat anaction inhere in our mental storehouse, calledchitta. Though memory and desire are twoseparate things, they get easily connected in aperson who is not wide awake. In most of us,our ‘I’ is identified with the mind and thebody; the buddhi is not always awake or alert.When our ‘I’ gets connected to the combinedmemory and desire, it is really our will (bud-dhi) that gets linked to them. When the will(energized by the Atman behind it) gets linkedto the desire, harmless images from memorybecome animated with life, hooking withthem the manas, the sense organ and the senseobject, making us succumb to the desire. Thechain of this enjoyment need not always ter-minate at the gross level; it could stop at thesubtle sense organ and subtle sense object, re-sulting in enjoyment at the mental level itself.

Desire thus extends from our buddhithrough manas to the sense organs, making usblind to our real nature. Says Sri Krishna in theGita, ‘The sense organs, the mind and the in-tellect (buddhi) are the seat of desire. Throughthese it deludes the embodied soul by veilingits wisdom.’7

The Root of Desire

The significant point in the above discus-sion is this: it is the will (the dynamic aspect ofbuddhi) that starts the downward journey byattaching itself to the desire. This wilful at-tachment of the will to the desire is what iscalled sankalpa, resolution. Parenthetically, itmay be said that the sankalpa done before apuja has a positive connotation: it is done toconsciously connect the wayward will to theact of puja. The famous verse from the Maha-bharata underlines the importance of sankalpain triggering man’s downfall: ‘O desire, Iknow your root. You spring from will (sankal-pa). I shall not tag my will to you. You will thenbe destroyed with your roots.’8

The Brihadaranyaka Upnaishad describes

the connection between desire, will and kar-ma: ‘The Self is identified with desire alone.What it desires, it resolves; as is its resolution,so is its action. And whatever it carries out intoaction, that it reaps.’9 Sri Shankara commentson this passage: ‘Desire manifests itself aslonging for a particular object, and, if un-checked, it assumes a more definite shape andbecomes resolve.’

During the initial stages of his strugglewith his mind, a spiritual aspirant may not al-ways succeed in detaching his will from de-sire. As long as it is not a wilful action on hispart, he need not be unduly worry about hiswill getting hooked to the subtle sense organand the subtle sense object. He only needs tostrive with greater effort for purity of mind.That is perhaps what Holy Mother Sri SaradaDevi meant by saying ‘In this Kali yuga men-tal sin is no sin.’ The aspirant’s sincere strugglewith his mind fortified with prayer and japawill enable him to gradually gain upper handover his unruly mind.

��

We have discussed how desires influenceour personality, their origin, seat and root.Does Vedanta advocate desirelessness for ev-eryone? What are the possible means to ridourselves of desires? These will form the sub-ject of the next editorial. �

References

1. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9vols. (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1-8, 1989; 9,1997), 5.419.

2. Chandogya Upanishad, 7.23.1.3. Bhagavadgita, 3.36.4. Ibid., 16.21.5. Bhagavata, 9.19.14.6. Gita, 2.62-3.7. Ibid., 3.40.8. ‘Shantiparva’, Mahabharata, 177.25.9. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 4.4.5.

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An Anatomy of Desires 287

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Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago

May 1904

Brahman and Ishvara

Every object is the form of a substance. The table is a form of the substance, wood. The uni-

verse consists of objects material, mental and spiritual. We see material objects through five

senses. The mental objects are the thoughts and the spiritual, the souls. Though we do not see

them at present, we shall do so when our other faculties of perception will open. It is said that there is

one substance of which all the objects of the universe are forms, as tables are of wood. That one sub-

stance is the Brahman of the Advaita Vedanta.

Our perception of an object consists in the perception of another object as its substance with a

form. Perception of an object, table, consists in the perception of another object, wood, as its sub-

stance with the table form. Sometimes the perception of the form may be more definite than that of

the substance; at other times, the perception of the substance may be more definite than that of the

form. Again, both the perceptions may be equally definite at the same time. And there are degrees of

definiteness of the perceptions. This is a psychological fact which will be evident on a little thought.

This difference in the definiteness of the perceptions of the form and the substance, observed when

one object is looked upon as the form of another, may reasonably be supposed to occur when that

object is looked upon as the form of Brahman, the one ultimate substance of all objects. Ordinarily the

perception of the form is far more definite than that of the ultimate substance, of which the perception

is so indefinite that we can hardly formulate it to ourselves. Religious realization of the Advaita

Vedanta means an intense definiteness of the latter perception, with or without an equally intense def-

initeness of the former.

What is the difference between an object, table, and its substance, wood? Certainly, only the ta-

ble-form. Now, we can never think of the table-form as an independent something separate from the

wood. Form has therefore no real existence. Nor is it non-existence, seeing that it exists, as objects

are perceived with it. Form is, as it were, a shadow round everything and we cannot catch it; we can

neither affirm nor deny its existence. It is a mixture of non-existence and existence. The difference be-

tween table and wood, consisting as it does only in the table-form, necessarily partakes of the pecu-

liar nature of the form and therefore can neither be said to exist nor not to exist. In other words, table

is the same, yet not the same as wood. Likewise, considering Brahman as the ultimate substance of

every object, it is the same, yet not the same as Brahman. The well-known Advaita texts, ‘Tattvamasi,

That thou art’, ‘Sarvam khalvidam brahma, All this verily is Brahman’, signify that souls, thoughts and

material objects, are all one with Brahman in the same sense as table is wood.

Deprive the objects of all their form-making attributes, and the residuum, of course formless, will

be their ultimate substance. Objects exist; Brahman cannot be said to exist, for that would make it an

object. But being the substance of all existing objects, it can be said to be existence itself. Souls are

intelligent; Brahman cannot be said to be intelligent, for that would make it a soul. But, being the sub-

stance of all intelligent souls, it can be said to be intelligence itself. It is not powerful, but power itself;

not blissful, but bliss itself; not loving, but love itself.

The question why the formless takes the forms cannot be answered. The answer that they are

due to maya only drives the question a point further—why does the formless become associated with

the form-making maya? An Advaitist had better admit his inability, rather than attempt, to explain the

inexplicable.

Concepts imply correlatives. The conception of a part is impossible without that of a whole.

� Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago �

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Prabuddha Bharata—100 Years Ago 289

There can be no conception of equality without one of inequality, of finiteness without one of infinite-

ness. In the same manner, man being a being possessed of limited knowledge and power, his con-

ception of himself as such is possible only by opposition to that of a being possessed of unlimited

knowledge and power. As he can, on no account, eradicate the conception of his self as a limited be-

ing, he can, on no account, eradicate the correlative conception of an unlimited being. The latter con-

ception may be more or less indefinite, but, at all times, remains with him as a positive element of

thought. It need hardly be pointed out that every conception is caused by, and is impossible without, a

corresponding thing in the real world. True, we can have the conception of an unreal being, a centaur,

but that conception is formed only by combining the conceptions caused by real things, man and

horse. We know definitely only limited things. Certainly no manner of manipulation of the conceptions

caused by limited things can give rise to the conception of an unlimited being. We are therefore

forced to admit the existence of a being possessed of unlimited knowledge and power, causing and

making possible this conception. Only, our consciousness of him is generally indefinite. Two individu-

als can differ only by limiting each other some way; otherwise they are one. Therefore there can be

only one unlimited being, for more than one being would limit one another and therefore none of them

could be unlimited. He is the Personal God, the universal Soul, the Ishvara of Advaitism.

Besides, we observe gradations of manifestation of knowledge and power in the beings inhabit-

ing our planet. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, none can tell that the innumerable celestial

bodies, visible and invisible, are not inhabited by beings manifesting far greater knowledge and power

than ours and that the manifestation does not go on becoming greater and greater till it reaches un-

limitedness in an unlimited being. Add to this the evidence of the sages of all countries and ages, men

ideally pure, unselfish and truthful, actuated with the sole motive to do good to the world, who declare

to have perceived Him, why, even to have had relations with Him as their father, mother, master,

friend and what not; nay, even in a far more intense sense than we perceive and have relations with

our earthly relatives. We cannot at all understand how one can deny the existence of Ishvara.

Ishvara is the highest form of Brahman. An infinite variety of articles can be made out of wood.

As wood they are all one; but as formed articles and so long as the forms remain, they are different. A

wood-pencil is not the same as a wood-table, though, substantially, they are identical as wood.

Ishvara, individual souls and nature, comprising matter and mind, are all forms of the substance,

Brahman, and therefore, as substance, they are all identical; but as forms they are certainly different

and neither an individual soul nor nature is ever the same as Ishvara.

Every unit is composed of other units, yet it is a unit separate from them. A book consists of

many units, the leaves, yet it is a unit, the book, that is not the same as the leaves. Every living organ-

ism, man, animal or bird, consists, physiology tells us, of innumerable cells. The cells are themselves

each an individual. A living organism therefore is composed of many individuals, the cells, yet it is an

individual, a man, an animal or a bird as the case may be, evidently separate from them. In the same

manner, Ishvara, being the highest individual, is composed of all the individuals of the universe, yet

He is an individual separate from them. His body is the universe taken as a whole.

Ishvara is the absolute master of limitations. He is not under the conditions of existence, time,

place and causation; these are under Him. No hard and fast rules can be laid down as conditions for

gaining His grace. He is beyond rules. Prayers may move Him or not. The most earnest soul may

struggle his whole life to see Him, yet see nothing; He may reveal Himself to one who never cared to

think of Him. Such an Ishvara may seem to man a veritable madman; but, admitting the unconditional

freedom of His nature, he cannot certainly bring Him within the domain of rules and conditions. Devo-

tion to such an Ishvara is possible only in the most unselfish heart. He alone who expects nothing can

love Him from whom nothing can be expected with certainty.

—Sruti

Reflections on the Bhagavadgita

SWAMI ATULANANDA

Chapter 9 (continued)

19. I give heat; I withhold the rain and send it forth. I am immortality as well as death; Iam being and non-being, O Arjuna.

Through My mysterious power I giveheat through the sun. I also cause rain,and again through evaporation I gather

up the moisture. I am immortality and death—both come from Me. I am being and non-be-ing; that means the manifest world and theunmanifest, the effect and the cause. Non-be-ing does not mean non-existence, which is ab-surd. The Chandogya Upanishad says, ‘Howcan Existence come out of non-existence?’1

That cannot be.

Now all the faithful devotees whom SriKrishna had spoken of in verses 13 to18, whoworship God with wisdom-sacrifice in vari-ous ways, as one or as distinct from them-selves—they will all go to the Lord. They willall get mukti and they will realize Him, asBrahman or as Ishvara according to their un-derstanding. But as regards those who are ig-norant and who long for objects of desire, SriKrishna says in the next verse:

20. The Knowers of the three Vedas, having worshipped Me by sacrifice, drinking thesoma and thus being purified from sin, pray for the goal of heaven; having reached the regionof the ruler of the devas, they enjoy in heaven the celestial pleasures of the devas.

Those who have studied the Vedas andwho perform the rites and ceremoniesenjoined by them and who drink the so-

ma—they are purified from their sins. Soma isthe juice of a plant now extinct. This juice wasslightly intoxicating and was taken during orafter the sacrifice. And as they performed theirsacrifices (and that of course holds good for allreligions or moral practices) in the hope ofgaining heaven, their prayer is fulfilled, andafter death they go to Indra’s heaven, the high-

est of the celestial spheres, where they enjoycelestial pleasures. In heaven they find theirhopes and wishes fulfilled, and for long agesthey live there in great contentment. But thenafter they have received their reward theymust again come to earth, for they have not yetrealized the highest Truth. They have not fin-ished their schooling yet. They only enjoyed along and pleasant vacation. What does SriKrishna say?

21. Having enjoyed the vast celestial sphere, at the exhaustion of the merit (of their gooddeeds) they again enter into the mortal world; thus abiding by the injunctions of the three(Vedas), with the craving for objects of desire, they (constantly) come and go.

These devotees follow the karma-kanda ofthe Vedas, the ritualistic part. They donot understand the jnana-kanda, the part

of the Vedas that deals with mukti, or free-dom. They think that mukti, or nirvana, must

mean annihilation and that they do not desire.They wish to enjoy the good things of thisearth and the still better things of heaven. Andthey are willing to abide by the injunctions ofthe scriptures to get their desires fulfilled. It is

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their desires that stand in their way to free-dom. They do not believe in the efficacy of re-nunciation. But ‘Everything in this life isfraught with fear. It is renunciation alone thatmakes one fearless.’2 And again the Upani-shad declares, ‘Not by wealth, not by progeny,but by renunciation the goal is reached.’3 Truerenunciation means filling our life with God.Worldly things will then retreat as a result ofthat steady devotion to Him. We cannot re-nounce until we have something to renouncefor. Renunciation really means an exchange ofthe worldly life for spiritual life, taking Godand giving up the world, or, better still, replac-ing the material vision of life with the spiritualvision. It is very difficult to be unattached, tolove God more than the world. Still if only weknew how the Lord cares for His devotees—they are very dear to Him; He looks after themwith tender care.

There are many stories that illustrate thatlove of God for His devotees, whom He con-siders His own. These stories we find in thePuranas and other scriptures. One of the mostbeautiful of the stories is the story of a littleboy to whom God appeared in human form,because he had a very devoted mother.

There was a little boy and his mother wasa great devotee. She always worshipped Kri-shna. But she was very poor. She lived withher little son, far from the village, and shecould barely manage to make both ends meet.When the boy was old enough his mother senthim to school. Every morning the little fellowwould pick up his slate and his mat to sit on, asis Eastern fashion, and would set out forschool. But the distance was considerable andthe path led through a thick forest. The boydid not like to go through the forest all alone.He was frightened. He often heard strangenoises and in some places the forest was darkwith heavy foliage. And so he told his motherof his fear.

Now the mother could not possibly gowith him, and she did not want the boy to losehis schooling. So she told him, ‘When you en-

ter the forest call for Brother Krishna. Thenyou will not be afraid.’ When the boy went toschool the next day, he became frightenedagain seeing some animal move in the brush.He remembered what his mother had toldhim and he called out, ‘Brother Krishna,Brother Krishna, come quick, there is an ani-mal and I do not know what it is.’ And there,from behind a tree stepped out Brother Krish-na, a beautiful boy, strong and healthy and ahead taller than the frightened boy. SeeingBrother Krishna our little friend was veryhappy and felt quite sure that his big brotherwould be able to kill all the animals in the for-est, so big and strong he looked.

The boys walked through the forest to-gether, talking and playing as they wentalong. But at the end of the forest brother Kri-shna said, ‘Now I must go back, but I willcome whenever you call Me.’ Those werehappy days for the little boy. Every day goingto school and returning through the forest hewould call, ‘Brother Krishna, come and playwith me.’ And Brother Krishna would comeand they would be happy together.

Now it happened that the teacher’s birth-day was approaching and all the boys weregoing to be treated and they were going tohave a most glorious time; for the guru was agood and kind teacher and he loved to see hispupils happy. All the boys were going to bringa present that day for the teacher, some nicefruit, or a new turban, or a dhoti, each accord-ing to his means. And so, on coming home, ourlittle fellow told his mother all about it andthen asked her what present he was going totake to the teacher. The mother did not knowwhat to answer. What could she give, poorwoman that she was, with scarcely foodenough to keep her boy and herself alive? Shethought and thought, but there was nothingworth giving. At last she said, ‘Well, my son,we are very poor. You must tell the teacherthat you feel very sorry but that you are a verypoor boy and that your mother could not giveyou anything to present to the teacher.’

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Reflections on the Bhagavadgita 291

The little fellow was very sorry for heloved his teacher, and also because he thoughtwhat will the other boys say when I go emp-ty-handed? The next day when he went toschool, instead of being very happy like theother boys at the prospect of a great feast andholiday, the boy was thoroughly miserableand ashamed. And when he called BrotherKrishna there were tears in his eyes.

Now Brother Krishna knew what wastroubling the lad, so he had made provisionfor the occasion and when he appeared thatmorning he brought with him a small pitcherof milk. ‘Well, little brother,’ He said, ‘why areyou weeping? I brought you a little present foryour teacher. And you will see that he will bevery happy to have it.’ Now the boy was satis-fied. It was not much to give, but it was farbetter than nothing. He was smiling andhappy when he reached the school and of-fered his little present.

The teacher knew that the boy was verypoor, so he appreciated the little gift andthanked the boy very kindly. He took thepitcher and emptied the milk. But what washis surprise when the milk kept on running!

One basin after another was filled, but still themilk ran from the little pitcher until every potand can that could be found was filled withmilk. That was a great surprise. Deliciousdishes and sweetmeats (such as are known inIndia only) were prepared from the milk andthere was great rejoicing.

Then the teacher asked the boy where hegot the milk. And the boy told him that Broth-er Krishna had given it to him that morning.

Imagine the joy of the mother when herlittle son related to her what had happened.Krishna, the Lord, had done all this.

And these are not just stories. Many dev-otees can testify to the fact that God really andvisibly takes care of them. With our materialis-tic education and training such things seemutterly impossible and incredible. Our beliefand faith is so weak that we cannot believe andaccept as true anything that goes even slightlydifferent from our day-to-day experience. Butbhaktas feel quite satisfied that the Lord isall-powerful and that He hears the prayers ofHis devotees. Nay, even without their prayerthe Lord cares and provides for them. Whatdoes Sri Krishna say in the next verse?

22. Those who, meditating on Me as non-separate, worship Me in all beings, to theseever-steadfast devotees I secure safety and supply all their needs.

Sri Krishna speaks now of the highestbhaktas who worship God in all beings,who know Him as non-separate from

themselves. These are the devotees who indeep meditation, in samadhi, have realizedHis presence and who have identified them-selves with Him. Their hearts and minds arealways filled with God. They actually feeltheir union with Him. Constantly they live inthe presence of Him who is their real Self.These are the sannyasins, those who have re-nounced all that they might possess for God.They have realized that ‘The Lord is thewealth of those who have nothing, of thosewho have thrown away all desires of posses-sion, even that of their own soul.’ They seeHim alone, recognizing Him everywhere; forthem there is no separation anywhere, all is

Divinity, God’s manifestation. Life and Deathare same to them. The Lord alone exists. Thereis naught else besides Him.

These are the devotees of whom Sri Kri-shna said in the seventh chapter, ‘They formMy very Self and are very dear to Me.’4 ‘Andbecause they take refuge in Me alone, I watchover them and protect them. I secure theirsafety and give them what they need. They donot look after themselves; they only look up toMe. They forget about their own comfortthrough love for Me; therefore I watch overthem. I, as it were, carry them.’

Once there was a poor man, who madehis bare living by gathering wood in the forestand selling it in the market. All that he pos-sessed was an axe and a rope, to cut and carrythe wood. Now it happened that a great reli-

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gious gathering took place in the village. Pil-grims came in thousands from all parts of thecountry. Song and worship was to be carriedon all day.

The poor man was very pious. Heyearned to join in the festivities and to add hislittle mite to the offerings made to the villagegod that day. But what could he do? He had nomoney. He thought of selling his axe and rope.But that would mean that he would be de-prived of his means of livelihood. No wayseemed open. But as the noise of the merrycrowd reached his ears, his fervour to join inthe worship got the better of him and he soldhis axe and rope. And for the money hebought flowers and coconut and other articlesfor worship. He was very happy and joiningthe crowd he began to worship his belovedGod with all sincerity of heart.

Then he went to the bank of the river,which he found crowded with people. Themidday sun was beating down on the heads ofthe crowd and the heat was almost unbear-able. But the poor woodcutter did not mindthis in the least. He sat down near the edge ofthe water praying and meditating. There hesat, immovable like a statue, forgetting theheat and the people and himself in the ardourof his devotion.

But what did the people observe?Though none could find the slightest shade toprotect them from the sun’s burning rays, thisman was sitting in the shadow. But in theshadow of what? The sky was clear. The rainyseason was long past. How would he find ashady place, and that right near the holy river?They looked up at the sky. And what was theirsurprise when in the azure sky appeared onetiny cloud, just enough to throw a shadowover the poor woodcutter who was absorbedin prayer! There he sat, protected by his Lordfrom the intense heat of the sun. The peoplethen realized that this man must be a greatdevotee. They paid him all honour and laidsome money and food at his feet. And at eve-ning the woodcutter went his way, rejoicing

and praising God.But then, is the Lord partial to some of

His devotees? Does He not watch over all ofthem? Yes, He protects all, no doubt. But veryfew have their entire trust in Him. Others lookup to God, but at the same time they look aftertheir own interest. They have not abandonedthemselves entirely. But these highest bhaktasmake no effort for themselves. They live inself-surrender. They are dead to the world;they have renounced all. Why then shouldthey turn their thoughts away from God andback to the world again? They will never dothat. They are like the kitten, says Sri Ramakri-shna. The little kitten is carried about by itsmother. And it is quite contented to be carriedthus. It knows that when its mother carries it,no harm can come. But the little monkey holdson to its mother with its hands and feet. It feelssafe with its mother, but it cannot trust her en-tirely. It believes in its own effort as well. So itis with ordinary devotees. The Lord is ready tocarry all, to look after every devotee. But veryfew have that entire faith in Him.

Once Shiva, the great God, was playing agame of chess or something like that with hisconsort Parvati. In the middle of the gameShiva stopped and seemed to become verythoughtful. But after a few moments He re-sumed the game as if nothing had happened.Then Parvati became curious and she askedHim why He became so thoughtful all of asudden. Shiva said: ‘A devotee of mine wastravelling through a forest. Robbers came andattacked him, so I was about to go to his res-cue, when the man drew his sword and droveoff the robbers. As he drew his sword in self-defence, there was no need of my going to hisrescue and therefore I continued with thegame. Had he depended on Me, I would haveprotected him from harm.’

God is ready to take our entire burden,but we have no faith. We forget to ‘Considerthe lillies of the field, how they grow; they toilnot, neither do they spin. And yet I say untoyou, that even Solomon in all his glory was not

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Reflections on the Bhagavadgita 293

arrayed like one of these.’5 And Jesus told hisdisciples not to take thought for the morrow.‘But,’ he said, ‘seek ye first the kingdom ofGod and his righteousness and all things shallbe added unto you.’ That is the message of thesaviours of mankind.

Once Sri Ramakrishna was sufferingfrom throat trouble and he suffered much.Seeing his suffering, one of the pundits said,‘Sir, you have great power. If you direct yourmind towards the seat of the disease, the dis-ease will surely leave you.’ Sri Ramakrishnathought for some time and then he replied.

‘Sir, I thought you were a spiritual man, butnow I see that I was mistaken: otherwise howcould you ask me to put my mind on the dis-eased spot? My mind is entirely given to theDivine Mother. How can I then take it awayfrom Her and put it on this material body,which is but a cage in which the soul dwells?’

What is required after all is faith and sin-cerity. Then all will come right. This is ex-plained in the next verse:

23. O son of Kunti, even those devotees who worship other gods with faith, they tooworship Me, but by the wrong method.

Any worship offered in good faith, nomatter to which deity the worship is di-rected, goes to the Lord. Yet the igno-

rance in which the worship is offered prevents

devotees from attaining the highest results,which is liberation. The nature of their igno-rance is now shown.

24. For I alone am the Enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices; but they know Me not in Truthand hence they fall (into rebirth).

Their ignorance consists in not realizingthat in reality the Lord is the God towhom sacrifice is offered. It is in the

form of the devata that the Lord is the Enjoyerof the sacrifice. And He is the inner Regulatorof the universe, the Consciousness in the godsand also in the performer of the sacrifice.‘They do not take refuge in Me; they are satis-fied with what inferior gods can give themand they know not that even these inferior dei-ties would be powerless if it were not for Me.’That is why these devotees do not reach thehighest but come back to earth.

By worshipping other gods they attain,no doubt, to the sphere of their sacrifice, butafter the exhaustion of the results, they comeback from there to the mortal world. That is all

that they wish for and therefore that is all thatthey attain. The worship of inferior gods is notentirely useless, but it does not bring freedom.And again there are different grades even inthis lower form of worship and so also in theresults according to the degree of purity andunderstanding of the worshipper. Sri Krishnaexplains this in the next verse.

(To be continued)

References

1. Chandogya Upanishad, 6.2.2.2. Vairagya Shataka, 31.3. Mahanarayana Upanishad, 12.14.4. Bhagavadgita, 7.17-8.5. Matthew, 6.28-9.

PB - MAY 2004 22


Temper is a quality that at a critical moment

brings out the best in steel and the worst in people.

A Visit to Europe

SWAMI SMARANANANDA

(Continued from the previous issue)

Back to France

We reached our Gretz centre by 3 pm.In the evening, Swami Ganganandatook us for a walk in a forest which is

the property of the King of Morocco. Afterdinner at 7:30 pm, I met the few devotees pres-ent and answered some questions.

Next morning Swami Devatmanandatook Dr Suneeti and me to Notre-dame Cathe-dral. It is a historic landmark. Built in hugeproportions, this famous cathedral is im-posing in appearance. Victor Hugo’s TheHunchback of Notre-Dame has made it all themore famous. The square in front of it isalso quite big. Wide roads lined with hugeancient buildings make the place interest-ing. This place is an island surrounded byRiver Seine. It is a narrow river, but full ofwater. We returned to the ashrama by12:45 pm and had lunch. Prayer in theshrine was at 6:30 pm, followed by theusual meditation.

The next morning, again, Devatma-nanda took us to the famous Louvre Mu-seum, in the same area, the central part ofParis, where Notre-dame is also situated.This museum exhibits the works of famouspainters and sculptors. The art of Europe,with a bit of Greece and Egypt thrown in,makes this museum one of the biggest andbest in the world. Leonardo da Vinci, Mi-chael Angelo and many others’ works canbe seen here, including the famous MonaLisa painting. It is not very big. We spentnearly two hours here and returned to theashrama. It can take a connoisseur of West-ern art many more hours or days to see ev-

erything here.In the evening Swami Veetamohananda

(head of Gretz centre) returned from London,where he had gone to attend a seminar. Afterdinner, I met some devotees and answeredsome questions.

I spent the next morning quietly at theashrama. At 5 pm we two left for the airport onour onward journey to England. Devatma-

23 PB - MAY 2004

In front of Notre-dame Cathedral

nanda and Gangananda saw us off.

England

We landed at Heathrow at 7:45 pmGreenwich time. Dr Ila, wife of Dr Suneeti Ba-su, and a devotee by name Pradipta Das metus at the airport. I was to stay at Suneeti’shouse for the night and move to our ashramaat Bourne End on Sunday evening. Theirhouse is quite far away from the airport.

Both Suneeti and Ila are physicians. Theyrun a clinic called Surgery in England. Theirdaughter Uma is in the higher secondaryschool. Their large and nice house is situatedin a peaceful locality.

On Sunday morning, Suneeti took me toCambridge University. It being a Sunday, allits thirty-four colleges were closed, though insome of them Sunday services were going on,so one could go inside only after 1 pm. At Trin-ity College, the entrance fee is £ 2! I thought itpointless to spend so much to see those build-ings. After Oxford, Cambridge is the oldestuniversity in England.

In the afternoon we went to VivekanandaHuman Centre’s annual function at the YMCAhall. It is managed by Ram Chandra Saha, whohails from Faridpur in Bangladesh. He has or-

ganized this centre with the help of his friendsand holds cultural functions there. I presidedover the annual fucntion. There were nearly250 people in the audience. Swami Daya-tmananda, head of our London centre, whowas the special guest, said that the audiencewas bigger than usual. Other speakers wereDr Nandakumar, Director of the Londonbranch of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, one MP ofthe Liberal Party, Mr Simon Haynes, Mr MarkBickerman, Director, International Office,London Metropolitan University, and ProfAlan Hunter, Professor of Peace Studies inCoventry University and a specialist onChina. After the meeting, I left with Swami

Dayatmananda for ourBourne End ashrama,reaching there at 9 pm.This centre is on a 10-acre land with plenty oftrees. Apart from themain building there aretwo other buildings. Thelocality where the centreis situated is quiet andbeautiful, with plenty ofgreenery.

Next day was com-paratively a restful day. Imet a few devotees whocame to the ashrama. Inthe evening we had adinner at Dilip Mukher-jee’s house, not far away.

He and his family are close devotees. Theyhave built a nice new house, which has a beau-tiful shrine room.

On the 8th morning Mr Dilip Lakhani, agood friend of our London centre, took me tothe Swami Narayan temple, built in recenttimes. Bhogilal too accompanied us.

The temple complex is quite big, and thatsparse commodity—parking space— is alsowell provided for. Clad in Bulgarian lime-stone and designed in the Gujarati style, thetemple is impressive. The interior is decorated

PB - MAY 2004 24


At Cambridge University

with intricate artwork carved out of Italianmarble, like the Dilwara temples at MountAbu in Rajasthan.

Swami Narayan, a great saint of Gujarat,lived nearly 200 years ago. Costing £ 15 mil-lion (about Rs 100 crore), this temple was builtby the Swami Narayana sect in London. Withits headquarters in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, ithas a vast following and many branches. Thistemple also has a museum depicting India’sspiritual heritage.

I met Swami Atmaswarupa Das, head oftheir London centre, and talked with him forhalf an hour. One interesting feature is thatchildren from various schools visit the templeevery day. They are told about Hinduism.These children are mostly English and theyevince keen interest in the subject. The author-ities of the temple requested me to say a fewwords to them for some three minutes, which I

did.On the early morning of 9th, we pro-

ceeded to the airport, as I was to take the flightto Paris on my way to Mumbai. Swami Dayat-mananda, Swami Shivarupananda and Bho-gilal saw me off. The flight was slightly de-layed.

At Paris airport I had to go to another ter-minal nearly 3 km away by the airport shuttleservice. Paris airport is so vast that if you getdown at the wrong place, you can have a lot oftrouble!

The Mumbai flight reached there at 1:30am (10 July). Swami Vagishananda (head ofour Mumbai centre) and others met me at theairport. I reached the ashrama at 2:15 am andleft for Kolkata next evening.

Thus ended a hectic, but educative tourof Europe, which was till a few year ago thenerve centre of the world! �

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A Visit to Europe 297

Human Ways

I dreamt I had an interview with God.

‘So, you would like to interview me?’ God asked.

‘If you have the time,’ I said.

God smiled and said, ‘My time is eternity. So, what questions do you have in mind for me?’

‘What surprises you the most about humankind?’

God answered:

‘That they get bored with childhood, that they rush to grow up, and then long to be chil-

dren again.

‘That they lose their health to make money … and then lose their money to restore their

health.

‘That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present and end up living

neither in the present nor in the future.

‘That they live as if they would never die, and die as though they had never lived.’

—from cyberspace

Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary IndianSociety

DR JAYASREE MUKHERJEE

The nineteenth century was for India a pe-riod of great expansion of British imperi-alism vis-à-vis Indian nationalism. The

East India Company’s rule was consolidatedinto the administration of the British Raj. Sideby side, different socio-religious and culturalmovements were initiated by different per-sonalities in various parts of the country withthe search for national identity as their funda-mental aim. The inherent conflict betweenBritish interests and Indian aspirations waskept concealed for some time, but since theseventies of the nineteenth century Indian na-tionalism became self-conscious and asser-tive. Numerous factors, big and small, led tothe flowering of these self-conscious national-ist sentiments. The Ramakrishna-Vivekanan-da Movement with its seat in Bengal consti-tuted a major factor towards this develop-ment.

Stress on Spiritual Humanism

The central figure of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Movement was Sri Ramakrish-na himself, who was an original man withcomplete Self-realization. He became a sym-bol of the national soul. He was accepted asone of the prophets of the new age, not be-cause of his acceptance of the principal tenetsof traditional Hinduism (implying worship ofGod in various forms and through images)and the Hindu way of life, but because of thecomprehensiveness of his vision and thelargeness of his spirit. His ardent belief in thevalidity of all faiths and his stress on spiritualhumanism, as distinct from modern secularhumanism, fitted well with the search for

identity of the Indian self.Influence on Noted Contemporaries

Sri Ramakrishna’s inner spirituality andutter simplicity cast a magnetic spell on per-sons who came into close contact with him.Even Bhairavi Brahmani and Tota Puri, histwo gurus, were profoundly struck by Rama-krishna’s depth of realization. It was Bhairaviwho first openly declared that Sri Ramakri-shna was an incarnation of God.1 The Vaish-nava leader Vaishnavacharan and the Tantricscholar Pandit Gaurikanta Tarkabhushanheartily endorsed her view.2 Gaurikanta cameto Dakshineswar in 1870 to obtain his spiritualguidance. Pandit Narayan Shastri, an ortho-dox Vedantic scholar, took sannyasa from Ra-makrishna and spread the latter’s name in hishomeland in Rajputana. Pandit PadmalochanTarkalankar, the chief pundit at the court ofthe Maharaja of Burdwan, came to revereRamakrishna as God-incarnate. Krishna Kish-ore, an ardent devotee of Rama hailing fromAriadaha, was benefited by Ramakrishna’sspiritual guidance. Two Tantric sadhakas,Chandra and Girija, coming from East Bengal,received spiritual encouragement from thesaint. (83-4) Even Tota Puri’s vision of the ulti-mate Reality was changed to some extent un-der Ramakrishna’s influence. (88-9) Duringthis period Ramakrishna also met, among oth-ers, Dayananda Sarasvati of the Arya Samajand Bhagavandas Babaji, the great Vaishnavasaint of Kalna.3

The Influence that TriggeredSwami Vivekananda’s Arrival

Thus Ramakrishna’s fame as a man of

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Sri Ramakrishna’s Impacton Contemporary Indian Society

God spread first among the traditional schol-ars and religious preachers. In course of a fewyears he began to attract the attention of theEnglish-educated classes of Bengal, and evenof the Europeans residing in this country.Among the latter may be counted Principal WW Hastie of the General Assembly’s Institu-tion (now Scottish Church College), Calcutta.In course of explaining the word ‘trance’ con-tained in a poem by Wordsworth, Hastie toldhis students that if they wanted to know thereal meaning of it, they might go to Ramakri-shna of Dakshineswar. This prompted someof his students, including Narendranath Datta(later Swami Vivekananda), to go toDakshineswar in search of the saint.4 Hastiethus helped a lot in focusing the attention ofthe educated youths of Bengalon Ramakrishna.

Influence on the Brahmos

More important was therole of the outstanding Brahmoleader Keshab Chandra Sen. Infact, Keshab and, followinghim, other Brahmos publicizedRamakrishna before the largerpublic of Bengal through theirspeeches and writings. The dis-covery of Ramakrishna was oneof the greatest gifts of the Brahmos to the Ben-gali intelligentsia of the nineteenth century.Ironically enough, many Brahmos in subse-quent times dubbed Ramakrishna as a protag-onist of Hindu religious orthodoxy, which, infact, he was not.

Influence on Keshab Chandra Sen

At his very first meeting with Ramakrish-na on 15 March 1875, Keshab Chandra Senwas literally spellbound by the simplicity anddepth of the saint. He recorded his experienceas follows: ‘We met one (a sincere Hindu dev-otee) not long ago, and were charmed by thedepth, penetration and simplicity of his spirit.’He admitted further, ‘Hinduism must have in

it a deep sense of beauty, truth and goodnessto inspire such men as these.’5 At a time whenthe Westernized and rational Brahmos cutthemselves off from Hindu moorings, suchadmiring comments about Ramakrishna fromone of their topmost leaders proved to be aturning point in Bengal’s socio-religious life.

Keshab himself was deeply influencedby Ramakrishna. His autobiography Jivanve-da, Trailokyanath Sanyal’s biography Keshab-charit (1885) and Pratap Chandra Mozoom-dar’s Life and Teachings of Keshub Chander Sen(1887) corroborate this point. Mozoomdar, aclose associate of Keshab, wrote that Ramakri-shna had ‘a powerful effect upon Keshub’scatholic mind’.6 Through mental anguish andsufferings following the Cooch Behar mar-

riage, Keshab spontaneously accepted theMotherhood of God. Mozoomdar furtherwrote, ‘And now the sympathy, friendship,and example of Paramahamsa converted theMotherhood of God into a subject of specialculture with him. The greater part of year 1879witnessed the development.’7 It became alto-gether a new feature of the revival which Ke-shab was bringing about in the Brahmo Samaj.

Another Brahmo stalwart, VijaykrishnaGoswami, admitted that, inspired by the Para-mahamsa, Keshab started to cook his foodhimself and tried to instil the spirit of renunci-ation into the Samaj.8

Keshab was the first person to compileand publish Ramakrishna’s teachings entitledParamahamser Ukti in Bengali in 1878. Within a

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Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary Indian Society 299

The discovery of Ramakrishna was one ofthe greatest gifts of the Brahmos to theBengali intelligentsia of the nineteenthcentury. Ironically enough, many Brahmosin subsequent times dubbed Ramakrishnaas a protagonist of Hindu religiousorthodoxy, which, in fact, he was not.

few years there took place a transformation ofhis mental attitude. The rationalist leader wascaught by a devotional spirit. He built up be-fore long the Church of New Dispensation, orNavavidhan (25 January 1880), depending onthe worship of the Motherhood of God,9 unityof religions and assimilation of Hindu poly-theism into Brahmoism.

In this connection we may note a funda-mental difference between Keshab andRamakrishna, as pointed out by Brajendra-nath Seal during a session of the Calcutta Par-liament of Religions (1937): ‘While Keshab’sNavavidhan implied eclecticism or synthesis,Ramakrishna’s system was based on syncre-tism.’10

Suniti Devi, the Maharani of Cooch Be-har, acknowledged Ramakrishna’s great in-fluence on her father Keshab while talking toFrancis Younghusband, who, during the cele-brations of Ramakrishna’s birth centenary inGloucesterplace, England, on 27 March 1936,drove home this point to the audience as chair-man of the meeting.11 Even Keshab’s motherfrequently went to Dakshineswar.12

Influence on Other Brahmos

Following Keshab, other Brahmos alsostarted to admire Ramakrishna, propagate hisideals and reorient their socio-religious out-look. Mozoomdar wrote the first English biog-raphy of Ramakrishna, entitled ‘The HinduSaint’ and published in the Theistic QuarterlyReview in 1879 (later published in book formentitled Paramahamsa Ramakrishna). This biog-raphy played a vital role in introducing Rama-krishna to Westerners like the celebrated Ger-man indologist Max Muller.

Vijaykrishna Goswami’s shift towardsVaishnavism was to a large extent due to theinfluence of Ramakrishna, whom he held inthe highest regard.13 Shivanath Shastri was in-fluenced very much by Ramakrishna’s uni-versalism in religion.14 Girishchandra Senwrote two books on him entitled Paramaham-ser Ukti and Sankshipta Jivani.

Brahmos Spread Ramakrishna’s MessageHistory shows that many Brahmos not

only became Ramakrishna’s admirers, butalso proclaimed his message to the educatedpublic of Bengal through their speeches andwritings since 1875. In this connection the re-ports published in the Indian Mirror, SundayMirror, New Dispensation, Dharmatattwa, Sula-bh Samachar, Paricharike and others deservespecial mention.15 The Indian Mirror of 11 De-cember 1881 reported that Paramahamsadevawas spreading ‘Love’ and ‘Devotion’ amongthe educated classes of Calcutta.16 In its issueof 19 August 1886, the paper reported that Ra-makrishna had succeeded in reforming thecharacter of some youths whose morals hadbeen corrupt. Graduates and undergraduatesof the University of Calcutta vied with one an-other in becoming his followers, and some ofthem had already renounced the world andbecome ascetics.17 While this statement con-tains much truth, the formal acceptance ofsannyasa by Ramakrishna’s disciples tookplace not during his lifetime but after hisdeath, under the leadership of Narendranath.The Dharmatattwa of 31 August 1886 recordedthat more than one hundred people, includingsome prominent Brahmos, had participated inthe cremation ceremony of Ramakrishna atBaranagore. It also recorded that a special cer-emony had been held at the Navavidhantemple in his honour on the fourth day afterthe cremation (20 August 1886).18 Many of hisfollowers, both monastic and lay, had beenBrahmos or even atheists in their early life.Documents are numerous to prove that incourse of a few years (1875-86) Ramakrishna’simpact rapidly spread among the elite of Cal-cutta and its suburbs. The Englishman, an or-gan of the Anglo-Indian community, also ob-served in its issue of 20 August 1886, ‘The lateParamahamsa was held in the highest respectby all sections of the Hindu community. Theeducated Hindus appreciated his teachingshighly, and among his followers were manygraduates and undergraduates of the Univer-

PB - MAY 2004 28


sity.’19 Men and women of different castes,creeds and classes visited Ramakrishna andsat spellbound before him for hours together,listening to his words with rapt attention. Reli-gious talks and discussions took place and de-votional songs were sung in many householdscentring round him.20 Ramakrishna on hispart was also curious to meet prominent per-sonalities of the time21 and to see objects of in-terest personally.

Influence on the Elite of Calcutta

It is interesting to speculate why, since1875, the educated bhadralok (gentlemen) ofBengal started to cluster round Sri Ramakrish-na, who was so much different from them inhis education, culture and way of living. Ra-makrishna did not have formalWestern or even oriental educa-tion. He had a bare knowledgeof the three ‘Rs and with somedifficulty could sign his nameas ‘Ramakesto’.22 He was al-most a rustic. Second, Ramakri-shna was not a traditionalmonk. He never used saffronrobes or followed monasticrules as laid down in theshastras. In fact, he was a mar-ried man living with his wife.His lifestyle was simple, but not, strictlyspeaking, monastic. As recorded by one of hisintimate householder disciples, Ma-hendranath Gupta, popularly known as M orMaster Mahashaya, Ramakrishna wore awhite dhoti with a red border, used polishedslippers and hookahs and slept in a cot under amosquito net.23 Third, the Bengali languagehe used was neither Sanskritized nor angli-cized. It was instead very close to the languageof a Bengali peasant. In appearance and ordi-nary conversation he was a humble and unso-phisticated villager. A contemporary docu-ment describes him as ‘the commonest of thecommon. He came from the people, he smeltof the earth, and he talked like the peasant.’24

His cultural world was pastoral. Socially,however, he came from the highest caste (bra-hmin) of Bengal.

Notwithstanding these limitations (ifthey are limitations at all), Ramakrishna wasable to attract the elite of Calcutta and its sub-urbs by his magnetic spiritual personality. AsMahatma Gandhi observed, the story of Ra-makrishna’s life was ‘a story of religion inpractice’.25 His complete identification ofwords with deeds, his profoundly spiritualliving and remarkable ability of expressingthe highest philosophical thoughts in plainand simple words—all this cast a magneticspell on all who came into contact with him.He was able to attract the attention of the newgeneration that was growing up in Bengal in a

patriotic and nationalistic climate generatedin the 1870s by the writings of BankimchandraChatterjee and the orations of SurendranathBanerjee. Keshab Chandra Sen, who had beenthe idol of Bengali youth in the sixties of thenineteenth century, was outshone by Bankimand Surendranath in the seventies and eight-ies. It was an age when the spirit of national-ism was growing, and the anglicized babuwas no longer an object of veneration in theimagination of the educated people. Theyouthful generation of Bengal in and aroundCalcutta, already conscious of their dignity asa part of the Indian nation, did not find anecho of their heart in Brahmoism or Christian-ity. They turned to Ramakrishna, the protago-

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Ramakrishna was not an exponent oforthodox Hinduism, but infused into it anew element of toleration and socialservice, liberalism and dynamism. He askedhis disciples not to stand in isolation fromthe rest of the world, but to live in it andrender selfless service to sufferinghumanity in a spirit of God worship.

nist of Neo-Hinduism, as the messiah of thenew age. Ramakrishna was not an exponent oforthodox Hinduism, but infused into it a newelement of toleration and social service, liber-alism and dynamism. He asked his disciplesnot to stand in isolation from the rest of theworld, but to live in it and render selfless ser-vice to suffering humanity in a spirit of Godworship.

Even the Sophisticated Were Not Excepted

Even some elite of this age experiencedan inner conflict between their own outlookand beliefs and Ramakrishna’s life and teach-ings. Their fascination for monotheism, West-ernization and intellectualism could not beeasily adjusted with the traditional Hindu be-liefs of Ramakrishna, who had no educational,urban or social sophistication. Yet they couldnot help being enchanted by the saint of Dak-shineswar. This feeling was beautifully ex-pressed by Pratap Chandra Mozoomdar, whowrote, in 1879, in The Theistic Quarterly Review:

My mind is still floating in the luminous atmo-sphere which that wonderful man diffusesaround him whenever and wherever he goes.My mind is not yet disenchanted of the mysteri-ous and indefinable pathos which he pours intoit whenever he meets me. What is there com-mon between him and me? I, a Europeanised,civilized, self-centred, semi-sceptical so-callededucated reasoner, and he, a poor, illiterate,shrunken, unpolished, diseased, halfdressed,half-idolaltrous, friendless Hindu devotee?Why should I sit long hours to attend to him, Iwho have listened to Disraeli and Fawcett, Stan-ley and Max Mueller, and a whole host of Euro-pean scholars and divines? I who am an ardentdisciple and follower of Christ, a friend and ad-mirer of liberal-minded Christian missionariesand preachers, a devoted adherent and workerof the rationalistic Brahma-Samaj —whyshould I be spellbound to hear him? And it isnot only I, but dozens like me who do the same.He has been interviewed and examined bymany, crowds pour in to visit and talk with him.Some of our clever intellectual fools have foundnothing in him, some of the contemptuous

Christian missionaries would call him an im-postor, or a self-deluded enthusiast. I haveweighed their objections well, and what I writenow I write deliberately.26

Some Unpleasant Reactions

Contemporary reaction to Ramakrishnawas not always pleasant. Upadhyay Brahma-bandhab was originally a critic of Ramakrish-na and refused to recognize him as anavatara.27 Another contemporary scholar de-scribed Ramakrishna as

an illiterate priest, crude, raw, unmodern andthe commonest of the common. … He respectedwomen, in the only way open to Indians, bycalling them ‘mother’, and avoiding them. Hewould not perform the daily rituals. He wouldallow non-Brahmins to be initiated. … Yet, andthis is the tragedy of the situation, with all thehelp of the dynamic personality of SwamiVivekananda, Paramahamsa Deb’s influencehas not succeeded in shaking our social founda-tions. A number of people have been inspired,no doubt, but the masses have not trembled intheir sleep.28

Background of His Disciples and Admirers

An analysis of the class composition ofthe early admirers and followers of Ramakri-shna reveals that most of them came from theWestern-educated middle class of the Bengalisociety, Latu (later Swami Adbhutananda) orRasik Hadi being exceptions. Many of themhad some Christian or Brahmo leanings beforetheir meetings with Ramakrishna, and a fewwere sceptics or even atheists. Brahmo leaderslike Keshab Sen, Pratap Mozoomdar andVijay Goswami belonged to this class. Most ofhis monastic disciples29 also came from thisclass. While Vivekananda and Saradanandahad Western education, urban sophisticationand a Brahmo background, Shivananda,Premananda and Ramakrishnananda camefrom non-metropolitan areas, representing atraditional Hindu background, education andculture. Some of the monastic disciples weremore educated and affluent than others. Four

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were married, while the rest were unmarried.A striking exception was Adbhutananda, whowas an illiterate Bihari coming from thegrass-roots level.

Of the non-monastic disciples of Rama-krishna the majority belonged to the educatedmiddle class, but exceptions were also there. Awider degree of variation may be noticed intheir social background, family status, eco-nomic condition, cultural outlook and reli-gious attitude. There were writers like Girish-chandra Ghosh and Nagendranath Gupta, za-mindars like Rani Rasmani and Balaram Bose,publishers like Upendranath Mukherjee andHaramohan Mitra, scientists like RamchandraDatta, officers like Purnachandra Ghosh andteachers like Mahendranath Gupta. Therewere big zamindars like Mathu-ranath Biswas, petty clerks likePrankrishna Mukherjee, ac-tresses like Binodini and sweep-ers like Rasik Hadi. Their reli-gious mentality ranged fromscepticism (as in the case of Gi-rish Ghosh) to intense piety anddevotion (an in the case of Dur-gacharan Nag). They camefrom diverse castes such asbrahmin, vaidya, kayastha, subar-nabanik, mahisya and even theso-called untouchable castes.30

They were mostly educated, but some were il-literate. Among the women devotees therewere educated nuns like Gauri Ma, childlesswidows like Golap Ma and Gopaler- Ma, andactresses like Binodini. Captain ViswanathUpadhyay, one of Ramakrishna’s house-holder disciples, was a Nepalese and hadserved in the army.31 The Rajasthani philoso-pher Narayan Shastri took sannyasa fromRamakrishna in 1875. Lakshminarayan was awealthy Marwari devotee and Hirananda aSindhi graduate.32

True, the majority of devotees and ad-mirers of Ramakrishna came from an edu-cated Bengali middle-class background with

roots in Calcutta. But this does not mean thathis influence was confined to them. Even dur-ing his lifetime (1836-86) his ideas and influ-ence spread beyond the intelligentsia to othersections of the Bengali society including theBauls and the Kartabhajas.33 His name evencrossed the boundaries of Bengal. During hislifetime, however, there was little of a move-ment. The only tangible advance was thefoundation of the Ramakrishna Order in anembryonic form by the Master himself duringhis last illness (1885-86).34

A Realistic Appraisal of Sri Ramakrishna

Dr Sumit Sarkar’s assertion that ‘theworld of his devotees had a lower middle-class, indeed clerical, ambience’,35 that the

outer resentment of the devotees ‘had beensublimated through a religion of inner devo-tion and social passivity’, (108) and that Rama-krishna ‘helped hierarchy and oppression toendure by making them appear less unendur-able’ (114) are too superficial generalizationsto require any serious notice. Such chargescannot be substantiated. Dr Sarkar’s assertionthat tensions in gender relations within thehousehold drove men and women paradoxi-cally to Ramakrishna as an alternative is alsofalse and misleading. Neither did Ramakrish-na’s devotees show any frustration in excessof what is common with the average man, nordid Ramakrishna ever preach any social passi-vism and escapism.36 He always stressed ac-

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He represented in a sense the old India, andyet had a message for the new India thatwas emerging. His teachings of ‘Jato mat tatopath, As many faiths so many paths’ and‘Jiva is Shiva’ not only showed the validityof all faiths and spiritual humanism, butalso took cognizance of the individualityand freedom of man.

tivism, spiritual and social. He was a spiritualguide not only to monks but also to house-holders. He represented in a sense the old In-dia, and yet had a message for the new Indiathat was emerging. His teachings of ‘Jato mattato path, As many faiths so many paths’ and‘Jiva is Shiva’ not only showed the validity ofall faiths and spiritual humanism, but alsotook cognizance of the individuality and free-dom of man. He rescued religion from thetrammels of tenet and dogma, rite and liturgy.During Sri Ramakrishna’s lifetime his devo-tees came mostly from the same classes fromwhich the Brahmos also sprang. But while theBrahmo movement remained primarily an eli-tist movement, the Ramakrishna-Vivekanan-da movement overstepped bourgeois limits.The way Ramakrishna lived and the languagehe spoke were closer to the masses than to theelite. As years rolled by, his impact widenedand deepened. Apart from the writings of theBrahmos, two remarkable books were writtenby Ramakrishna’s disciples in the 1880s. Thesewere Sri Sri Ramakrishna ParamahamsadeberJiban Vrittanta by Ramchandra Datta andParamahamsa Srimad Ramakrishner Upadesh bySureshchandra Datta. Vivekananda’s Chicagosuccess (1893) and his subsequent activities,the work of his colleagues and writings ofscholars like C H Tawney (1896), Max Mueller(1896), M (1902-32), Romain Rolland (1929)and many others gave currency to Ramakrish-na’s sublime ideas within and outside India.37

As a near-contemporary eyewitness, ProfTawney wrote that ‘There can be no doubt thathe [Ramakrishna] has exercised a potent influ-ence over the minds of the young men trainedin our Bengal colleges, and his teaching mustcount for an important factor in the presentmovement, which it is the fashion to call theHindu revival.’38 In this connection, mentionshould be made of the voluminous writings ofVivekananda, Abhedananda, Saradanandaand others towards the dissemination of SriRamakrishna’s ideas. How his ideas devel-oped into a movement after his demise is an

interesting and important chapter in the cul-tural history of modern India. �

Notes and References

1. Life of Sri Ramakrishna (Calcutta: Advaita Ash-rama, 1983), 88 ff. Originally published in 1924with a Foreword by Gandhiji, this biographyis compiled from authentic sources under thedirection of some direct disciples of Ramakri-shna and Vivekananda.

2. Swami Nirvedananda, Sri Ramakrishna and

Spiritual Renaissance (Calcutta: RamakrishnaMission Institute of Culture, 1978), 55.

3. Life of Sri Ramakrishna, 121-6.4. Christopher Isherwood, Ramakrishna and His

Disciples (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1986),192-3.

5. Indian Mirror, 28 March 1875. Reprinted inNanda Mookerjee, Sri Ramakrishna in the Eyes

of Brahma and Christian Admirers (Calcutta:Firma KLM, 1976), 2. It was the first press re-port on Ramakrishna.

6. Pratap Chandra Mozoomdar, The Life and

Teachings of Keshub Chander Sen (Calcutta: Na-vavidhan Publications, 1887), 357.

7. Ibid., 359.8. Vijaykrishna Goswami, Brahmo Samajer Barta-

man Abastha ebang Amar Jibane Brahmo Samajer

Parikshita Bishay (Calcutta: Navavidhan Publi-cations), 52-3.

9. Romain Rolland, The Life of Ramakrishna (Cal-cutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1954), 170-1 ff.

10. Brajendranath Seal, ‘Presidential Address’ inThe Religions of the World, 2 vols. (Calcutta: Ra-makrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 1938),1.111-3.

11. Vedanta Kesari (Madras: Sri RamakrishnaMath), August 1936, 157.

12. ‘Keshabjanani Devi Saradasundarir Atmaka-tha’, ed. Yogendralal Khastagir, as in Samasa-

mayik Drishtite Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,ed. Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay and Saja-nikanta Das (Calcutta: General Printers &Publishers, 1375 BS), 99-100.

13. Jiban Bandyopadhyay, ‘Sri Ramakrishna oBharatiya Nabajagaran’ in Bishwachetanay Sri

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Ramakrishna, ed. Swami Prameyananda,Naliniranjan Chattopadhyay and SwamiChaitanyananda (Calcutta: Udbodhan Office,1987), 83.

14. Shivanath Sastri, ‘Atmacharit’ as in Samasama-

yik Drishtite, 101.15. Samasamayik Drishtite, passim; also Sri Rama-

krishna in the Eyes of Brahma and Christian Ad-

mirers, passim.16. Samasamayik Drishtite, 25.17. Ibid., 45-7.18. Bishvavani (Calcutta: Ramakrishna Vedanta

Math, 1379 BS), 322-3.19. The Englishman, 20 August 1886, as in Sri Ra-

makrishna in the Eyes of Brahma and Christian

Admirers, 134.20. Sulabh Samachar, 3 Paush 1288 BS, as in Sama-

samayik Drishtite, 25.21. The view that Ramakrishna met Bankimchan-

dra Chatterjee, the great Bengali novelist, onthe basis of M’s note in the Kathamrita (vol. 5,Appendix), has been questioned by Gopal-chandra Roy in his ‘Addition’ in Bankimchan-

dra: Jiban o Sahitya (Calcutta: Dey’s Publishing,1981), 38-70 and also in Sri Ramakrishna, Ban-

kimchandra o Sri ‘Ma’ (Calcutta: Pustak Bipani,1988). The latter was written as a reply to Swa-mi Hiranmayananda’s article in Udbodhan,Kartik 1394 BS.

22. Vivekananda told it to Haripada Mitra asmentioned in Bishwa-Bibek, ed. Asit KumarBandyopadhyay, Sankari Prasad Basu andSankar (Calcutta: Bak Sahitya, 1963), 47.

23. Sri ‘Ma’, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (Cal-cutta: Reflect Publications, 1983), 43-5, 60, 922.

24. A contemporary document as quoted in Dhu-rjati Prasad Mukherjee, Modern Indian Culture

(Bombay, 1948), 28. See Charles H Heimsath,Indian Nationalism and Hindu Social Reform

(New Jersey: Princeton University Press,1964), 44-5.

25. Gandhiji’s ‘Foreword’ to Life of Sri Ramakrish-

na.26. Pratap Chandra Mozoomdar, ‘The Hindu

Saint’ in The Theistic Quarterly Review, 1879,323-9, as in Samasamayik Drishtite, 197-200.

27. Sophia, October 1897, 9-11.28. Modern Indian Culture, 28.29. For detailed biographies of Ramakrishna’s

monastic and lay disciples, see Swami Gam-bhirananda, Sri Ramakrishna Bhaktamalika, 2vols. (Calcutta: Udbodhan Office, 1955); Swa-mi Chetanananda, God Lived with Them (Kol-kata: Advaita Ashrama, 2001); and SwamiChetanananda, They Lived with God (Calcutta:Advaita Ashrama, 1993).

30. In Bengal the traditional fourfold caste struc-ture—brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shud-ra—was not prominent.

31. Life of Sri Ramakrishna, 203-4.32. Ibid., 275, 452-4.33. Ramchandra Datta, Sri Sri Ramakrishna Para-

mahamsadeber Jiban Brittanta (Calcutta: Rama-krishna Yogodyan, 1357 BS), 106.

34. Life of Sri Ramakrishna, 425, 450-1.35. Sumit Sarkar, The Kathamrita as a Text: Towards

an Understanding of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

(New Delhi, 1985), 106 (in cyclostyle).36. For details see Jayasree Mukherjee, The Rama-

krishna-Vivekananda Movement: Impact on In-

dian Society and Politics (1893-1922) (Calcutta:Firma KLM, 1997), chapter 6.

37. Haridas Mukherjee, ‘Sri Ramakrishna as aWorld Figure’ in Bulletin (Calcutta: Ramakri-shna Mission Institute of Culture), February1987, 37-55. See also his article in Bishvacheta-

nay Sri Ramakrishna, 716-37.38. C H Tawney, ‘A Modern Hindu Saint’ in Sri

Ramakrishna in the Eyes of Brahma and Christian

Admirers, 37.

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Men often scoffed from a distance at this man [Sri Ramakrishna] of no learning, and yet when

they came to him, very soon they bowed their heads before this man of God and ceased to

scoff and remained to pray.

—Jawaharlal Nehru

Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Philology

SWAMI TATHAGATANANDA

The marvellous universal destiny and im-pact of the Sanskrit language throughthe long ages is twofold. Its divine inspi-

ration helps the individual to go beyond a fi-nite concept of self and to develop a divinepersonality as well as the worldly one withwhich he has solely identified. Sanskrit ac-complishes this through the medium of the In-dian sacred and classical literature. The in-struction India’s literature conveys throughSanskrit is that of ‘the eternal, the universaland the spiritual in man’, urging people to dis-cover their spiritual consciousness. The Upa-nishads and other sacred Hindu texts intro-duced to the West through eminent Sanskri-tists and Indologists are the great conveyors ofspiritual enlightenment to the world.

Sanskrit is also uniquely suited to havean eternal and boundless relationship with theworld due to its continuity in Indian traditionand culture. Evolving centuries before theGreek, the cultural continuity of Sanskrit isnoted by Will Durant in The Story of Civiliza-tion: ‘The language of the Indo-Aryans shouldbe of special interest to us, for Sanskrit is one ofthe oldest in that ‘Indo-European’ group oflanguages to which our own speech belongs.We feel for a moment a strange sense of cul-tural continuity across great stretches of timeand space when we observe the similarity—inSanskrit, Greek, Latin and English.’1

Long before the eighteenth and nine-teenth centuries, Filippo Sassetti (1540-88) wasthe first to propose a definite relationship be-tween Sanskrit and the major European lan-guages. While living in Goa, South India, be-tween 1583 and 1588, he discovered that Hin-du scholars wrote and used an ancient lan-

guage called Sanskrit, previously unknown inthe West. While translating the medical trea-tise Raja Nighantu he noticed a relationship be-tween Sanskrit and his native Italian lan-guage. In the late eighteenth century, theFrench scholar Father Cœurdoux also noticedthe affinity of languages with Sanskrit.2 Butneither scholar gave it a more profound study.It was left to Sir William Jones (1746-94) to in-dicate the richness, freshness and parental roleof Sanskrit. In 1786, at the annual celebrationof the Asiatic Society, which he founded twoyears earlier, his remarks reveal the profoundscholarship he was to apply to comparativeSanskrit studies:

The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiq-uity, is of a wonderful structure: more perfectthan the Greek, more copious than the Latin,and more exquisitely refined than either. Yetbearing to both of them a strong affinity, both inthe roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar,than could possibly have been produced by ac-cident; so strong indeed that no philologercould examine them all three without believingthem to have sprung from some commonsource, which, perhaps, no longer exists. Thereis a similar reason though not quite so forcible,for supposing that both the Gothic and the Cel-tic, though blended with a very different idiom,had the same origin with the Sanskrit; and theOld Persian might be added to the same fam-ily.3

In Jones’ Works we find a discussion ofthe deeper significance of these findings:

Of the philosophical schools, it will be sufficienthere to remark that the first Nyaya seems analo-gous to the Peripatetic; the second, sometimescalled Vaisesika, to the Ionic; the two Mimamsas,of which the second is often distinguished by

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Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Philology inEighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Europe

the name of Vedanta, to the Platonic; the firstSamkhya to the Italic; and the second of Patanjalito the Stoic philosophy; so that Gautama corre-sponds with Aristotle, Kanada with Thales, Jai-mini with Socrates, Vyasa with Plato, Kapilawith Pythagoras, and Patanjali with Zeno.4

Max Müller (1823-1900)—who regardedcomparative philology as ‘the most importantdiscovery of the nineteenth century with re-spect to the ancient history of mankind’5—corroborated Jones’ findings. About this ma-jor event David Kopf has written that Jones‘related Hindu civilization to that of Europeand reanimated the resplendent Hindu past.’6

India’s history and culture were now firmlyestablished in the West.

In this article we shall trace the broad in-fluence of some of the early Sanskrit transla-tions and Sanskrit dictionaries as well as thedisseminating work of the Asiatic Society andits inspired counterparts in Europe that laidthe foundation for Sanskrit studies in theWest. The indefatigable dedication of the firstinspired Sanskritists inspire our own honourand respect for their role in bringing the Upa-nishads to the West. The significant appear-ance of comparative Sanskrit studies and phil-ological studies in the West during the ‘Orien-tal Renaissance’ are woven into this Westwardjourney. Their formal introduction appearedin 1816 with the new field of comparative phi-lology founded by Franz Bopp, who togetherwith August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767-1845)transferred the focus of Sanskrit studies fromParis and London to Germany, with tremen-dous beneficial consequences.

By the beginning of the eighteenth cen-tury, scholars and writers were intent onbreaking the Christian monopoly on spiritualrevelations and searched for proof that similarreligious experiences existed in cultures otherthan and prior to their own. This effort wassupported by the work of several French Jesuitmissionaries to the Maduran Mission in India,who studied Sanskrit in depth. One of these,Father Pons, wrote a Latinized Sanskrit gram-

mar, translated the Amarakosha, and con-signed 168 Sanskrit manuscripts, includingprincipal grammatical and classical Upani-shadic works, from Chandernagore7 to Paris—the first such collection in a Western li-brary.8

Anquetil-Duperron’s Oupnek’hatInaugurates a New Era in Sanskrit Studies

The eminent linguist and brilliant Frenchtheologian, Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (1731-1805), inaugurated a new erain the history of human knowledge and un-derstanding. His translations of the Upani-shads created a great interest among West-erners to study the Sanskrit language.

His first great achievement was to travelto India to obtain manuscripts to complete theFrench translation of the Vendidade Sade (1759)after discovering a facsimile of four leaves atthe Bibliothèque du Roi in Paris in 1754. Thesehad been collected at Surat by George Bour-chier in 1718 and subsequently brought to Eu-rope by Richard Cobbe in 1727; they were keptat Oxford University. Determined to decipherthem, he went to India for help. A little morethan a decade later, his Avesta, Ouvrage de Zo-roastre (1771) was the first Asian religious textto be published in the West.

This monumental work of scholarshipcomplete, he decided to study the Sanskritlanguage. He collected Sanskrit manuscriptsof the Vedas and acquired three famous San-skrit dictionaries—the Amarakosha, Vyakaranaand Namamala. In 1775, his friend Émile Gen-til, a French resident of the court of Shuja-Uddaulah in Faizabad, gave Anquetil PrinceDara Shukoh’s Persian translation of fiftyUpanishads. It may be noted that they hadbeen brought to France by the traveler, Fran-çois Bernier,9 in 1671 and had been publishedin Delhi in 1756-57. In 1786, four Upanishads,which he translated, appeared in his Recher-ches sur l’Inde. Recherches was part of a seriesedited by Jean Bernoulli and published at Ber-lin between 1786 and 1791. In 1787, Anquetil

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Sanskrit Studies and Comparative Philology 307

completed a French translation of Prince DaraShukoh’s Sirr-i Akbar. Giving it a deeper con-sideration, he went back to the Persian andcompleted a more faithful transcription withgreater clarity in Latin, Oupnek’hat ou Theologiaet Philosophia, in 1796. The fifty Latin versionswere published in two volumes in Strasbourgin 1801 and 1802 under the title Oupnek’hat.The monumental work was accomplished af-ter forty years of dedicated struggle in an atticin war-torn France.

The popularity of the Oupnek’hat duringthe Romantic era was expressed by Jean-DenisLanjuinais, who wrote that it was ‘the mostuseful book one can study in a European lan-guage to gain an understanding of the ancientsystems of religion and philosophy of theBrahmans’.10 Although the Oupnek’hat waspartially translated into German in 1808, itwas Anquetil-Duperron’s Latin translationthat highly influenced Arthur Schopenhauer(1788-1860). Max Müller confirmed this in theintroduction to the first volume of his famousseries, The Sacred Books of the East:

This translation, though it attracted consider-able interest among scholars, was written in soutterly unintelligible a style that it required thelynx-like perspicacity of an intrepid philoso-pher such as Schopenhauer to discover a threadthrough such a labyrinth. Schopenhauer, how-ever, not only found and followed such athread, but he had the courage to proclaim to anincredulous age the vast treasures of thoughtthat were lying buried beneath that fearful jar-gon.11

It also influenced Müller’s successor,Paul Deussen (1845-1919), whose sixty Upani-shads rendered in 1897 were all based on theSanskrit originals; five were actually bor-rowed from Anquetil-Duperron’s Oupnek’hatbecause they had not yet been recovered. Theearlier essays by Henry Thomas Colebrooke(1765- 1837) on the Vedas in the eighth volumeof Asiatic Researches in 1805 and by Friedrichvon Schlegel (1772-1829) on the language andwisdom of the Hindus in 1808 had sealed the

discoveries of this initial period of Indology.Therefore, the authority of Anquetil’s versionprevailed. It was reissued with an elaboratediscussion of the Oupnek’hat by the Germanscholar Albrecht Weber (1825-1901) in the1850s, an event which served to highlight theimportant role Anquetil played in the further-ing of nascent Indic studies.

The wide circulation of the Oupnek’hat(and, perhaps, the lesser circulation of his ear-lier French translation in 1775) served to at-tract the minds of the greatest philosophers ofEurope. The publication of his Upanishads lita beacon of hope for mankind. Robert ErnestHume (1877-1948) has written in the introduc-tion to his Thirteen Principal Upanishads, ‘Noedition of the Upanishads in any languagepreceded his, except Sir William Jones’ Eng-lish translation of the Isa Upanishad (London,1799).’12 The interested reader may find moreabout Anquetil’s dedicated and adventurouslife in the present author’s book, Glimpses ofGreat Lives (New York, 1999).

The arrival of the Upanishads in Francewas followed by publication of numeroustranslations of the Vedas by French missionar-ies. The Ezour-Vedam (Yajur Veda) wasbrought to Voltaire (1694-1778) by Maudave, aknight returning from India, in 1760. Voltaireofficially presented it to the Bibliothèque duRoi in 1761. Ith translated it into German in1794.13 J V Nayadu writes in the Hinduism ofthe Upanishads (1950) that Voltaire saw in theYajur Veda the ‘most precious’, and perhapsthe oldest gift, ‘for which the West was ever in-debted to the East.’ In the foreword to his Essaisur les moeurs, Voltaire affirmed that the wis-dom of India had come at the right moment,allowing him to correct the constricted view ofIndia that had been propagated since the sev-enteenth-century by J B Bossuet in his Discourssur l’histoire universelle.14

Sir William Jones and the Asiatic Society

The noted philologist and linguist SirWilliam Jones was highly instrumental in the

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enlightenment of the West and the dissemina-tion of India’s immortal ancient wisdom em-bodied in the sacred literature. Arriving inCalcutta in 1783 as puisne judge of the Su-preme Court of India, Jones immediately de-voted himself to Sanskrit and the translationof ancient Sanskrit texts. In his book AmericanTranscendentalism and Asian Religions ArthurVersluis confirmed that Jones had difficultygaining access to Hindu sacred books andSanskrit, could find no brahmin willing toteach this unbelieving foreigner, and onlywith great effort was he able to find a Hinduphysician who taught him enough Sanskrit totranslate the Laws of Manu and the Hitopadesha,both of which were later influential on thetranscendentalists.15

Encouraged by Warren Hastings (1733-1818), the first governor-general of India and agreat patron of Sanskrit studies, Jones found-ed the Asiatic Society in Calcutta on 15 Janu-ary 1784. It was a centre for Eastern studiesand Sanskrit studies in particular. The AsiaticResearches published by the Society record thatJones acknowledged that India was the centreof all research the members would conductwithin the prescribed geographical limits.16

Asiatic Researches swiftly disseminated India’sSanskrit lore throughout England, Germanyand France and inspired all of Europe to studySanskrit. The first generation of Indic scholarswas vigorously interested in the research andpublications of the Asiatic Society.

The Société Asiatique was formed inParis (1822) and the Royal Asiatic Society ofGreat Britain and Ireland was founded in Lon-don in 1823. The Royal Asiatic Society spon-sored the Oriental Translation Fund in 1828and thus ensured the access of Oriental litera-ture to the West. Within the next two decades,the Asiatic Society also inspired the founda-tion of the American Oriental Society in NewHaven (1842) and the German Oriental Soci-ety (Deutsche Morganlendische Gesselschaft)in Berlin (1844). London’s Royal Asiatic Soci-ety established additional branches in Bom-

bay, Ceylon, China and Malaya.17 The spirit ofSir Jones, to quote a modern scholar, ‘is stillvery much alive over the years through the ac-tivities of his dream-child, the Asiatic Society.It has been a beacon light in Oriental learningnot only in India but also throughout the en-tire civilized world.’18

Colebrooke, who founded the Royal Asi-atic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, wroteon Hindu mathematics and placed Sanskritstudies on a scientific footing. According tothe Centenary Review, which gave a completeaccount of the Society’s work, he produced‘nothing that did not at once command thehighest attention from the public, and not-withstanding the great advance that has beenmade in Oriental researches of late years, hispapers are still looked upon as models of theirkind.’19 The titles of articles that Colebrookeand others contributed to the early volumes ofAsiatic Researches display a broad range ofstudy. This indicates their desire to under-stand India through Sanskrit and all things In-dian.20 They had a lively interest in India andoften belonged to both societies.21 Togetherwith Anquetil-Duperron’s Oupnek’hat, the re-markable works of Sir Charles Wilkins (1750-1836), Jones and Colebrooke proved to be thegreatest inspiration for the American Tran-scendentalist writers, who were consumedwith a common interest in Indian philosophy.

In 1786 Jones linked Sanskrit to classicalLatin and Greek and created the modern no-tion of an Indo-European family of languages.Thus Jones laid the groundwork for the sci-ence of comparative philology founded in1816 by Franz Bopp, who wrote his System ofConjugation in the Sanskrit Language the sameyear.

Jones’ Translation of theAbhijnana Shakuntala

Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntala was thefirst Sanskrit drama ever to be translated into aEuropean language. In 1789, Jones publishedthis landmark in the history of Indian studies

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in the West for an admiring Europe. Within adecade of the appearance of Jones’ Shakuntalaor the Fatal Ring, other translations sprang upin German, French, Danish and Italian. Sha-kuntala became one of the most circulated In-dian masterpieces—it was reprinted fivetimes in England between 1790 and 1807 and itwas re-translated and published many timesthroughout Europe.22 The German translation(from the Latin) by George Forster (1754- 94)of Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntala in 1791awakened ‘in the highest degree the enthusi-asm of men like Herder (who received it di-rectly from Forster and wrote the preface toForster’s second edition) and Goethe’.23 Goe-the’s legendary fascination with it24 probablyestablished Shakuntala’s reputation in theWest.

In the following century, Jones’ transla-tion of Abhijnana Shakuntala appeared in for-ty-six translations in twelve different lan-guages in Europe.25 During the 1830s, thetranslations of Kalidasa’s and Bhartrihari’sdramas by Peter von Bohlen (1796-1840)26

greatly assisted their popularity in Europe.Shakuntala was translated more than ten times,Vikramorvashiya five times (and produced asan opera in Munich in 1886), Mricchakatika(‘The Little Clay Cart’) four times (and stagedin Western theatres) and Dasha-kumara-charitathree times.27 Shakuntala was adapted to theGerman theatre and the Parisian ballet andproduced on the English stage in 1899, 1912and 1913. The banal taste of theatregoers ev-erywhere was elevated by the productions ofShakuntala—expressly for that reason, Alexan-der Tairov deliberately staged the play atMoscow’s Kamerny Theatre in 1914.28 In thecritical period of the 1940s, writers such asRené Guénon appealed to the masses to seektheir way out of the world’s moral crisisthrough Oriental sources of contemplation.The popular French stage inspired audienceswith presentations of Shakuntala and Mriccha-katika. The poet Rimbaud wrote that theFrench were inclined to continue returning ‘to

the Orient and to the first and eternal wis-dom’.29

Jones translated Kalidasa’s poem Ritu-samhara in 1792 and published it in Calcutta asThe Seasons, A Descriptive Poem. It was the firstsystematic edition of a text in Sanskrit charac-ters.30 His English translation of AbhijnanaShakuntala, together with his Hymns to Na-rayana, were studied with fond devotion byPercy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), Robert Sou-they (1774-1843), Thomas Moore (1779-1857),Alfred Tennyson (1850-1892) and other nine-teenth-century English poets.31

The Great Impact of Sir Charles Wilkins’Translation of the Bhagavadgita

Sir Charles Wilkins was the first em-ployee of the East India Company to learn theSanskrit language.32 He initiated the new dis-cipline of Sanskrit scholarship thanks to a re-quest from Hastings33 that he study with In-dian pundits at Benares (Varanasi), the tradi-tional seat of Sanskrit learning. Hastings hadprepared the Vipadarnava Setu (A Code of Gen-too Laws) with the help of these pundits34 andpublished it in London in 1776. Louis Matth-ieu Langlès, the curator of oriental manu-scripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale and itsprovisional specialist on India, added furtherdetails in the preface to Recherches Asiatiques:

It was in response to a direct summons fromHastings that the Brahmans versed in theShastras … came to Calcutta from all parts of In-dia. Gathering at Fort William and suppliedwith the most authentic texts, they drafted acomprehensive treatise on Indic law in theHindu language. This was subsequently trans-lated into Persian, and into English by Halhedunder the title Code of Gentoo Laws. It was alsounder Hastings’ auspices that Charles Wilkinsstudied Sanskrit and had the distinction of pub-lishing the first translation in a European lan-guage based directly on a Sanskrit text.35

Wilkins’ Bhagavadgita (Bhagavat-Geeta, orDialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon) was firsttranslated from Sanskrit into English underthe auspices of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta

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in November 1784 and later published in Lon-don in 1785. (51) It had a great impact on Eu-rope. In his study of the rediscovery of Indiaand the East in Europe, Raymond Schwabwrote in the Oriental Renaissance that ‘no textcould, by its profound metaphysics and by theprestige of its poetic casting, more irresistiblyshake the hold of the tradition of a superiorrace.’ (161) In 1795, Langlès mentioned Wil-kins in an article in the Magasin Encyclopédiqueon the literary works of the English in India:

A single man is carrying out an undertakingthat usually requires the collaboration of a largenumber of artists. His first attempts are typo-graphical masterpieces. This truly amazingman, whose name merits a distinguished placein the list of benefactors of letters, is CharlesWilkins, a scholar deeply versed in Sanskrit andknown in Europe for two works [Bhagavat-Gee-ta and Heetopades of Veeshnoo-Sharma] he hastranslated from the sacred language of theBrahmans. (55)

A short span of ten years had passedfrom the publication of Wilkins’ Bhagavat-Gee-ta to the appearance of Langlès’ article in theMagasin Encyclopédique. The brilliant transla-tions of Sanskrit books from the Asiatic Soci-ety, encouraged by Jones, were well known inrevolutionary France, despite the decrease incommunication owing to dramatic historicalevents. Langlès continued to document Indicresearch and was well aware of the impor-tance of the Society, which was dedicated toOriental research and scholarship. He in-cluded a history and bibliography of the earlypublications of the Society in the third volumeof the Magasin Encyclopédique. (55)

In 1787, Abbé Parraud retranslated Wil-kins’ English version of the Bhagavadgita intoFrench. In 1832, a French translation made di-rectly from Sanskrit by Jean-Denis Lanjuinaiswas published posthumously. Lanjuinais hadwritten what a ‘great surprise’ it was ‘to findamong these fragments of an extremely an-cient epic poem from India … a completelyspiritual pantheism … and … the vision ofall-in-God.‘36

Illness forced Wilkins to return to Eng-land in 1786 after sixteen years in India. Helater fitted Devanagari characters to a printingpress in Bath, England. From this press, heprinted his translation of the Hitopadesha in1787 and his Story of Shakuntala from the Maha-bharata in 1793. Wilkins had collected a largenumber of manuscripts from India. His stat-ure as a leading Indologist established thesemanuscripts as the core collection of the fa-mous India Office Library, which was in hischarge. After a fire consumed his press, hisGrammar of the Sanskrit Language was printedfrom London in 1808. In 1815, he publishedthe Radicals of the Sanskrit Language, containingthe verb roots of Sanskrit, in London. Studentsof Sanskrit welcomed the two grammars andvalued his memorable research papers for theAsiatic Society.37

By the late eighteenth century, Frenchwriters had acquired intimate knowledge ofIndian literature. Jean-Jacques Ampère pre-dicted that Indian thought would introduceanother Renaissance in his own time.38 Thetranslation of Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntalahad captivated many writers of significance.François René Chateaubriand (1768-1848),foremost among these, had the additionalbenefit of Jones’ translations of Sanskritworks. Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869)also wrote reliably about the original Hinduepics along with his translations of Indian po-etry and drama.

(To be continued)

References

1. Will Durant, The Story of Civilization: Our Ori-

ental Heritage (New York, 1954), 405-6.2. Raymond Schwab, The Oriental Renaissance:

Europe’s Discovery of India and the East,

1680-1880 (New York, 1984), 30.3. H G Rawlinson, Modern India and the West: A

Study of the Interaction of Their Civilizations, ed.L S S O’Malley (London, 1968), 546.

4. Works of Sir William Jones (London, 1799),1.360-1.

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5. Bhim Sen Gupta, The Glassy Essence: A Study of

E M Forster, L H Myers and Aldous Huxley in Re-

lation to Indian Thought (Kurukshetra, 1976), 4.6. David Kopf, British Orientalism and the Bengali

Renaissance (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1969),38.

7. Oriental Renaissance, 30.8. Art, Culture and Spirituality (1896-1996), (Cal-

cutta, Advaita Ashrama, 1997), 335.9. Sisirkumar Mitra, The Vision of India (New

Delhi, 1994), 201.10. Oriental Renaissance, 163.11. The Sacred Books of the East, ed. F Max Müller

(Oxford, 1879-1894), 1.lix.12. Robert E Hume, Thirteen Principal Upanishads

(Oxford, 1941).13. Oriental Renaissance, 153-4.14. Ibid., 19-20.15. Arthur Versluis, American Transcendentalism

and Asian Religions (New York, 1993), 18.16. Asiatic Researches, 3.492. Cited from Bulletin,

March 1992, 87.17. Gauranga Gopal Sengupta, Indology and Its

Eminent Western Savants (Calcutta, 1996), 15-6.18. Ibid., 28.19. Arthur E Christy, The Orient in American Tran-

scendentalism: A Study of Emerson, Thoreau and

Alcott (New York, 1963; 1932 reprint), 40.20. Legacy of India, ed. G T Garratt (London, 1937),

71.21. Ibid. 42.22. Oriental Renaissance, 51, 53.23. Glassy Essence, 3.24. Art, Culture and Spirituality, 340.25. Dorothy Matilda Figueira, Translating the Ori-

ent, The Reception of Sakuntala in Nineteenth-

century Europe (Albany, 1991), 12.26. Oriental Renaissance, 119.27. Art, Culture and Spirituality, 362.28. Translating the Orient, 186-7.29. Oriental Renaissance, 477.30. Ibid., 31.31. Marie E D Meester, Oriental Influence in the

English Literature of the Early Nineteenth Cen-

tury, 10.32. Indology, 29.33. Gopal Chandra Sarkar, Encyclopaedia of British

Indologists (Calcutta, 1997), 6.34. Indology, 32.35. Oriental Renaissance, 35.36. Ibid. 161.37. Indology, 34-5.38. Vivekananda Kendra Patrika, August 1977, 314.

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Unless You Let It In

All the water in the world

However hard it tried

Could never, never sink a ship

Unless it got inside.

All the evil in the world

The wickedness and sin

Can never sink your soul’s fair craft

Unless you let it in.

All the hardships of this world

Might wear you pretty thin

But they won’t hurt you one least bit …

Unless you let them in.

—from cyberspace

Greed

N HARIHARAN

Aguilty conscience is a mental drag, apsychic liability. But it seems to haveone great merit: it is also an infallible

teacher. It has an uncanny knack of picking upthe right message from a vague clue, anoblique hint or even a monosyllabic utterance.This is amply illustrated by an Upanishadicstory. The celestials, humans and demonsonce betake themselves to Prajapati for spiri-tual instruction. To the celestials, who go tohim first, Prajapati imparts his cryptic instruc-tion in a single syllable, da. To the humans,who approach him next, Prajapati repeats thesame monosyllable as his special teaching.The demons also get their message encapsu-lated in the mysterious syllable. All of them re-turn to their abodes immensely satisfied withthe profound instruction given to them.

One Teaching, Three Effects

What is the message that the three distilfrom the enigmatic instruction? The celestialsrevel endlessly in sense pleasures, of whichthere is no dearth in heaven. Their indulgenceis so unrestrained that they hear their prickingconscience expostulating against their ex-cesses. It makes them interpret the syllable tomean dama, or sense-control, and they con-clude that Prajapati was enjoining them tocontrol their senses. The demons are notoriousfor their extreme cruelty, bereft of even a traceof pity. Deep inside they feel their gnawingconscience reproving them for their ruthless-ness. It causes them to construe the syllable asindicative of dayá, or compassion, and theythink Prajapati was counselling a modicum ofmercy in their dealings with others. Humansare known for their greed. They love to ac-quire and amass things, rather irrationally.The ‘still, small voice within’ keeps admonish-

ing them for their ugly avarice. Naturally, theyunderstand the teaching to be dána, or charity,and they deduce that Prajapati was recom-mending to them the virtue of generosity.

An Age-old Malady

Sometimes the passion of human beingsto acquire and hoard seems really pathologi-cal. The Hindu epics describe to what extremi-ties of wickedness they can go to mulct fellowhuman beings and aggrandize themselves.This acquisitive trait of the human psycheshows an unbroken continuity through theages. History is replete with sordid episodesthat would not have sullied its pages but forman’s acquisitive passion. If any, the madnesshas only escalated with the passage of time,for today the lunacy has acquired gargantuanproportions. The acquisitive craze of the mod-ern age is all-consuming and all-pervasive.The poor work overtime and demean them-selves, yet walk into the debt-trap trying toearn a few more coins. The middle class seemsto have only one motto: ‘Accumulate by hookor by crook.’ As for the rich, nothing is wrongif it can help them line their already burstingwallets. Alas, the steamroller of acquisitionseems able to flatten anything—ethics, mor-als, values!

The Root of Greed

How to explain this stranglehold ofgreed on the human mind? A close look at theanatomy of greed (lobha) will help us unravelthe mystery. Basically, greed is of the stuff ofdesire (káma); it is only a variant of desire,which, as Sri Krishna shows in the Bhagavadgi-ta, is born of rajas (rajo-guîa-samudbhavaë).1 Ifdesire is the ravenous (maháùanaë) and sinful(mahápápmá) river, greed is its insidious and

41 PB - MAY 2004

obnoxious tributary. In Sri Ramakrishna’steachings, greed is the wicked sibling of vul-gar lust; together they form the notorious duokáminæ-káðcana.

What Causes Greed?

Now, what is the raison d’etre of greed?Four reasons make people greedy. First,wealth is amassed not for its own sake but forthe immense purchasing power it represents.The more one earns and hoards, the greater isone’s command over creature comforts. Thus,it is the lure of sense enjoyment that feeds andsustains the love of lucre. This is what makesthe treasure hunt such exciting fun. Second,money is believed to provide economic secu-rity in times of uncertainty or distress. A manis only wise in proportion to his ability in pil-ing up money, because that is his best insur-ance against future contingencies. So niggard-liness is a virtue. Third, riches are meant notonly to ensure one’s own prestige and socialstatus; they become necessary when one isconcerned for the safety and well-being ofone’s dependants (and descendants). Oftengreed is a good index of a man’s attachment tohis kinsmen. As long as he is attached to hisrelatives and friends he cannot extricate him-self from the rat race. Last, there is an odd setof people who regard money not just as ameans of procuring creature comforts but asthe be-all and end-all of life; they run after itfor its own sake. To these money-mad people,miserliness is next to godliness—only Mam-mon is their god, whom they worship in bankvaults.

Redemption from Greed

Religion is unsparing in its denunciationof greed. Avarice obstructs spiritual growth asit is an offspring of the three gunas. Redemp-tion consists in the individual self’s transcen-dence of the gunas, its eschewal of the sense ofduality, its release from the fetters of the im-pulse to acquire and preserve, its anchorage inpurity and its peaceful abidance in the Self.

This is what Sri Krishna means when he says,‘The Vedas deal with the three gunas. O Arju-na, be free from these three gunas, from thepairs of opposites. Be established in sattva; donot try to acquire what you lack or preservewhat you have. Be established in the Atman.’(2.45) The term niryogakøema in the verse, in ef-fect, signifies the antithesis of greed. It impliesthe virtues of contentment (tìpti) and non-ac-ceptance of gifts (aparigraha), which are pre-requisites to spiritual progress.

Dispassion the Remedy

How, then, do we go about the Herculeantask of banishing greed from our lives? It is awell-known axiom that to get rid of the effectwe have to eliminate the cause. We have al-ready seen that craving for sense pleasure isthe breeding-ground of cupidity. So it followsthat if we shun such base delights, then we willno longer be plagued by the malady of greed.In other words, dispassion (vairágya) is thesurest weapon to kill greed. And the best wayto develop a dispassionate attitude is to al-ways keep in mind the seamy side of sense en-joyments. Sri Krishna warns that, for all theirpromise of pleasure, the senses are highly in-constant and eventually make for pain. (5.22)He also points out how they lose their subtleand treacherous appeal as one advances onthe spiritual path and fade away completelywhen the Truth is seen. (2.59)

Sri Ramakrishna’s wise sayings on thistheme are a telling commentary on this verse:‘He who has once tasted the refined crystal ofsugar candy finds no pleasure in tasting thedirty treacle. He who has slept in a palace willnot find pleasure in lying down in a dirtyhovel. The soul that has tasted the sweetnessof divine bliss finds no happiness in the vulgarpleasures of the world.’2 So the conquest ofgreed demands of us an assiduous cultivationof dispassion, which unfolds and grows as weprogress in our spiritual pilgrimage.

As for people who save for reasons ofeconomic security, they are above reproach.

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But the problem arises from the fact that mostof them are just inveterate lovers of the yellowmetal masquerading as savers for the rainyseason. The line of demarcation between con-cern for economic security and plain love ofmoney is rather thin. What begins as a genuineconcern imperceptibly grows into an insatia-ble thirst for wealth. Such is the subtle way inwhich káðcana overpowers the unsuspecting.But rare souls who yearn for spiritual awaken-ing successfully ward off its sinister attacks astheir entire focus is on spiritual emancipation.Even while in dire straits, Swami Vivekanan-da could not ask Mother Kali for wealth; onthe other hand, he involuntarily prayed forjnana, bhakti and vairágya. The best way forordinary people to avoid the seductions ofkáðcana is to cultivate the virtue of aparigraha,non-acceptance of anything that is not abso-lutely essential, and to unreservedly surren-der to God’s loving care and infinite mercy.But this kind of complete surrender is not pos-sible without unflinching faith in God.

Those who hoard because of attachmentto their relatives are deluded victims of igno-rance. Like Arjuna, they too are infatuatedwith love for their kith and kin. Swayed by theimpulses of attachment and aversion, they toorefuse to face and fight the demon of attach-ment, desire and greed—all for their kins-men’s sake. However, their blinding attach-ment too can be rent asunder by inculcating inthem a spiritual view of life; a thorough expo-sure to chastening spiritual truths can makethem see the danger of yielding to attachmentand getting themselves caught in its snares.

The Seven Jars of Gold

But the worshippers of Mammon are anincorrigible lot: they need no reason to hoard!Like the proverbial dog in the manger, theyneither enjoy their wealth nor let others enjoyit. That greed is the greatest saboteur of mentalpeace, is beyond their understanding. Wecome across the prototype of this category inone of Sri Ramakrishna’s parables:

A barber, who was passing under a hauntedtree, heard a voice say, ‘Will you accept sevenjars full of gold?’ The barber looked around, butcould see no one. The offer of seven jars of gold,however, roused his cupidity and he criedaloud, ‘Yes, I shall accept the seven jars.’ At oncecame the reply, ‘Go home, I have carried the jarsto your house.’ The barber ran home … and sawthe jars before him. He opened them and foundthem all full of gold, except the last one, whichwas only half-full. A strong desire now arose inthe mind of the barber to fill the seventh jar also;for without it his happiness was incomplete. Hetherefore converted all his ornaments into goldcoins and put them into the jar; but the mysteri-ous vessel was as before, unfilled. This exasper-ated the barber. Starving himself and his family,he saved some more amount and tried to fill thejar; but the jar remained as before. So one day hehumbly requested the king to increase his pay… [and] the king doubled his pay. All this payhe saved and put into the jar, but the greedy jarshowed no signs of filling. At last he began tolive by begging from door to door, and his pro-fessional income and the income from beggingall went into the insatiable cavity of the mysteri-ous jar. Months passed, and the condition of themiserable and miserly barber grew worse everyday. Seeing his sad plight, the king asked himone day, ‘Hallo! When your pay was half ofwhat you now get, you were happy, cheerfuland contented; but with double that pay, I seeyou morose, care-worn and dejected. What isthe matter with you? Have you got “the sevenjars”? The barber was taken aback by this ques-tion and replied, ‘Your Majesty, who has in-formed you of this?’ The king said, ‘Don’t youknow that these are the signs of the person towhom the Yaksha consigns the seven jars? Heoffered me also the same jars, but I asked himwhether this money might be spent or wasmerely to be hoarded. No sooner had I askedthis question than the Yaksha ran away withoutany reply. Don’t you know that no one canspend that money? It only brings with it the de-sire of hoarding. Go at once and return themoney.’ The barber … went to the haunted treeand said, ‘Take back your gold, O Yaksha.’ TheYaksha replied, ‘All right.’ When the barber re-turned home, he found that the seven jars hadvanished … and with it also had vanished hislife-long savings.3

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Greed 315

The belly of greed is indeed cavernous, its ap-petite unappeasable. Well has the poet sung,‘O Greed, mountains of gold and silver havebeen thrown again and again into your stom-ach to fill it up, yet it remains flat as ever.’4

Refuge in the Spiritthe Only Weapon against Greed

The very thought of gold exhilaratesthose whose spiritual sensibilities are dulledby sense gratification, while its mere touchused to cause excruciating pain to the saint ofDakshineswar. That is because the closer oneis to the Spirit, the more one is repelled byMammon’s allurements; and the closer one isto the flesh, the more susceptible one becomesto evil influences. So the secret of slaying thedemon of greed is to eschew matter and seekexclusive sanctuary in the Spirit.

Is greed, then, man’s sole weakness? Is hea paragon of virtue otherwise? A human beingis, in fact, a curious blend of god, man anddemon; his complex personality is a strangetenement in which all three elements coexist.When man abandons himself to sense plea-sure, he exhibits the deva dimension of hispersonality; when he is cruel, sadistic and in-jurious, he projects his asura dimension; andwhen avaricious and covetous, he merely dis-plays his human aspect. So Prajapati’s pithymessage is in fact addressed to man’s three-di-mensional personality. Swami Satprakasha-nanda’s comments on this subject are quite in-structive:

The three moral ideals of self-control, charity,and compassion are intended for three differentgrades of men. The cruel should practise non-injury and strive to be compassionate; the avari-cious should overcome greediness by charity;and those who are free from other vices but stillhave sense-desires, should particularly practiseinner control. In this context Ùaïkara remarks:‘Those among men who, though lacking inself-control, are possessed of other good quali-ties are the gods; those in whom greed prevails

are men; while those who are cruel and violentare the demons (asuras, lit., the ungodly). So thesame human species, according to the threedrawbacks—lack of self-control, greediness,and cruelty, and according to the prevalence inthem of the three guîas—sattva, rajas, andtamas—are entitled gods, men, and demons.Therefore, it is men who should learn all thethree lessons.’5

��

Greed is indeed difficult to get rid of.While age blunts the keenness of man’s facul-ties, physical, mental and intellectual, it ispowerless over greed. A Sanskrit verse hu-morously points out Lady Greed’s firm loy-alty to her man even in decrepitude: ‘Teethfallen, hair grey, sight obstructed, each stepfaltering, body requiring artificial support—although I am afflicted with many infirmities,that good lady, craving, never deserts me.’6

Only with the help of divine grace can wevanquish greed. It was this divine interven-tion that transformed the miserly SrinivasaNayaka, who in one defining moment of spiri-tual awakening renounced all his riches asworthless trinkets into the great saint Puran-daradasa. Let us pray for God’s help to defeatthis demon of greed! �

References

1. Bhagavadgita, 3.37.2. Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (Madras: Sri Rama-

krishna Math, 1975), 93.3. Ibid., 335-7.4. Kanaka-kaladhauta-ùaila-prabhétirapi

hanta péraîaië køiptaië;

tìøîe bhajati samìddhió bhéyo

bhéyastavodare kárùyam.

—Venkatanatha, Saïkalpa Séryodayam, 4.49.5. Swami Satprakashananda, Methods of Knowl-

edge (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1995), 299.6. Cyutá dantáë sitáë keùáë dìøôirodhaë padepade;

Pátasajjam-imaó dehaó tìøîá sadhvæ na muðcati.

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Happiness is belonging, not belongings. —Elizabeth Harvey

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Exposition

SWAMI PREMESHANANDA

(Translated by Shoutir Kishore Chatterjee)

Chapter 3 (continued)

48. Grahaîa-svarépásmitánvayárthavattva-saóyamád-indriyajayaë.

By making saóyama on the objectivity of the organs [that is, the transformations they un-dergo in perceiving an object], on their power of illumination, on egoism, on the inherence of thegunas in them, and on their contributing to the experience of the soul, comes the conquest of theorgans.

49. Tato mano-javitvaó vikaraîa-bhávaë pradhána-jayaùca.

From that [conquest of the organs] comes to the body the power of moving as swiftly as themind, the power of [using] the organs independently of the body, and the conquest of nature.

Comment: By concentrating on the or-gans, the yogi gains complete mastery overthem. As a result, the yogi can go anywhere bymerely wishing it. He can also have the experi-ence of sense objects like sights and tasteswithout making use of the respective organs.

In short, it is as if nature in her entirety be-comes like his maid-servant and obeys hiscommands. Nature moves the way the yogimakes her move. By attaining perfection inthis practice, the yogi becomes all-powerful.

50. Sattva-puruøányathákhyáti-mátrasya sarva-bhávádhiøôhátìtvaó sarva-jðátìtvað-ca.

By making saóyama on the discrimination between the sattva [compare 3.36] and the Puru-sha, come omnipotence and omniscience.

Comment: When the yogi thus attains theabove-mentioned state, he is able to know dis-tinctly that his real Self and Prakriti, the field

of his play, are entities of two different types.He then becomes omniscient and omnipotent.

51. Tad-vairágyád-api doøa-bæja-køaye kaivalyam.

By giving up even these powers, comes the destruction of the very seed of evil, which leadsto kaivalya [isolation or freedom].

Comment: After he reaches the state ofomniscience, the yogi has to totally renouncethe desire to play with nature. Then only can

he attain kaivalya, the state of endless bliss andpeace. Then no longer can nature dominatehim.

52. Sthány-upa-nimantraîe saïgasmayákaraîaó punar-aniøôaprasaïgát.

The yogi should not feel allured or flattered [seized by saïga (attachment) or smaya (thrill)]by the overtures of celestial beings [sthánæs] for fear of evil again.1

Comment: When a yogi becomes fully eli-gible for the attainment of kaivalya, various ce-

lestial beings having ethereal bodies maytempt him with objects of enjoyment to fore-

45 PB - MAY 2004

close his way to final liberation (nirvana). Wehear that such incidents occurred in the livesof divine incarnations like Buddha, JesusChrist and Sri Ramakrishna. Under these cir-cumstances those who, like Buddha, Jesus

Christ and Sri Ramakrishna, can remainsteady in their own chosen goals, realizewithin a short time final identification withBrahman (Brahma-nirvana).

53. Køaîa-tat-kramayoë saóyamád-vivekajaó jðánam.

By making saóyama on a particle of time and its precession and succession [the time pre-ceding and following it] comes discrimination [enabling one to know the good from the evil andthus to avoid things like the devas, heavens and powers].

54. Játi-lakøaîa-deùair-anyatá’navacchedát-tulyayos-tataë pratipattië.

Those things which cannot be differentiated by species, sign, and place—even they will bediscriminated by the above saóyama. [Thus a yogi is able to see that all things, mental and physi-cal, are compounds and as such cannot be the pure and perfect Purusha, who is the only simpleentity in this universe.]

55. Tárakaó sarva-viøayaó sarvathá-viøayam-akramaðceti vivekajaó jðánam.

The saving [táraka, because it takes the yogi across the ocean of birth and death] knowledgeis that knowledge of discrimination which simultaneously covers all objects, in all their varia-tions [there being no succession in perception by this knowledge].

Comment: The way to realization of one’strue Self is discrimination between the Selfand the non-Self. One other means of attainingthat discrimination is to concentrate the mindon the minutest instant of time. Suppose athousand lotus leaves are pierced by a needlein a single stroke and the moment of piercingis divided into a thousand parts. If one canperceive such a minute part of time in deepsamadhi, one can know everything about na-

ture, transformation and so on—all objects ofthe world. As such, there remains nothing un-known about nature to such a yogi.

As the attainment of this knowledge savesone from worldly bondage, it is known as ‘sav-ing knowledge’ (táraka-jnána). When this is at-tained, the yogi does not have to exert himselfin any way to know anything in the infinite uni-verse. Just by a wish he is able to know simulta-neously all things relating to creation.

56. Sattva-puruøayoë ùuddhi-sámye kaivalyam-iti.

By [achieving] the similarity of purity between the sattva and the Purusha [that is, by mak-ing the sattva or intellect, which is ordinarily a mixture of purity and impurity, as pure as thePurusha itself] comes kaivalya.

Comment: When discrimination becomesfully manifest, there does not remain even atrace of desire in buddhi. Then buddhi be-comes so pure that no distinction can be feltbetween it and one’s real Self. At that time

there no longer remains any need of buddhiand therefore it disappears; the yogi remainsconscious of only his own real Self. This is therealization of kaivalya.

Chapter 4: The Section on Independence (Kaivalya-páda)

It is very difficult for human beings to com-prehend the idea of kaivalya, or full libera-

tion. Usually among those Hindus who lead amore or less virtuous life, a few speak of liber-

PB - MAY 2004 46


ation. But a little talk with them makes it clearthat their idea of liberation is to live in a happyplace where they can become free from thesufferings they have undergone in life. A verystrong characteristic of the human mind is thedesire for happiness. Their desire is to go to aplace where they can stay in happiness. That iswhy members of various religious sects holdin their minds strange conceptions of variouskinds about the next world or heaven. As sucha man’s ideal of life is determined by his ideaof happiness or, in other words, by his concep-tion of how much happiness he can manage toacquire for himself.

Judged in terms of their idea of the nextworld, devout people can be roughly classi-fied into three different types. At the first level,we have persons who think that performanceof good deeds as prescribed in one’s religionresults in one’s getting into heaven. Again, notwo persons can have the same concept ofheaven. This is because the diversity of peopleknows no end. The devotees at the secondlevel imagine that after death they would stayin the company of God. This kind of imagina-tion also is endless in its variety. A devotee ofRama aspires to go after death to an Ayodhyapermeated by the supreme Spirit. A devoteeof Krishna hopes to go to an eternal Vrin-daban, again so permeated. Devotees of Nara-yana imagine that like human beings theirChosen Deity leads the life of a householderwith Mother Lakshmi in an exceedinglylovely place called Vaikuntha. There are ar-rangements for cooking food there and thedevotees partake of it in the form of Naraya-na’s prasad. Sri Ramakrishna used to call acertain woman devotee as ‘the cook of Vai-kuntha’. Devotees at the third level are jnanis;they are not concerned with things that can beseen or heard. Such a devotee remains so en-grossed with one entity, his own Self, that hedoes not have the least bit of want or feel theneed for anything. This state is called nirváîa.Váîa means ‘body’. The word nirvana standsfor a state where one does not have [in one’s

consciousness] any kind of body, whethergross (sthéla), subtle (sékøma) or causal (kára-îa).

In all countries and at all times, the idea ofheaven is something which comes naturally tothe human mind. But very few people knowthat heaven is a place where one can enjoy thebliss of God. In the Bhagavadgita it is said thatrarely someone among thousands of peopleengages his mind in spiritual practice andrarely someone among thousands of suchspiritual aspirants attains full knowledge.2

The ancient sages did not deem it necessary topreach about knowledge to the general public.For unless the embodied soul (jivatman) hasfinished with experiencing the world, it doesnot in any way want to attain liberation. An as-pirant who is not yet through with the phaseof experiencing the world but has in a generalway a liking for liberation is to some extent en-dowed with sattva guna. But if he shuns allkinds of work so as to avoid exertion andfeigns as if he is absorbed in reflecting on Brah-man, even such an aspirant becomes pos-sessed by tamas. An aspirant who is endowedwith rajas performs various kinds of severeobservances with a view to earning name andfame and as a result becomes fallen. And anaspirant possessed of tamas neglects his du-ties in the name of striving for liberation anddebases himself. Even though such aspirantsdo not meet with utter downfall, since theyhave taken to the path of enjoyment, they spoilwhatever chance they would have had of at-taining knowledge.

The doctrine of nirvana was preached tohumanity for the first time by Buddha, an in-carnation of God, at a time when a critical so-cial situation was obtaining in India. Swamijihas spoken with much enthusiasm about thegreatness of Buddha at many places. At thesame time he has clearly mentioned the harmthat befell humanity on account of the preach-ing of Buddha’s religion. The fact of the matteris this: ‘All undertakings are covered by de-fect, as fire by smoke.’3

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Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—An Exposition 319

In India, after carrying out investigationsinto the nature of man for a long time, thesages came to know That, knowing whichnothing else remains to be known. They di-vided human beings into four classes accord-ing to the four aùramas (stages of life) to whichthey belong and made provisions for the at-tainment of prosperity (abhyudaya) startingfrom enjoyment, and then, the final beatitude(niëùreyasa) starting from prosperity. For thosedesirous of attaining the final beatitude, theydiscovered an infallible way for reaching per-fection by proceeding scientifically. And it iswith a view to showing that way that Mahar-shi Patanjali composed the Yoga Sutras. This isa very dependable text about spiritual prac-tice. It is not a text dealing with theoreticalmatters; in it Maharshi Patanjali shows onlythe practical aspect of spiritual discipline. Heexpounds in an excellent way how one can or-ganize the body, mind and intellect suitably totransform one’s spiritual striving into some-thing practical. The Yoga Sutras clearly des-cribes the experiences the mind goes throughas it rises from the subtle to subtler levels. In itMaharshi Patanjali authoritatively shows (1)how a person’s individual powers can go onincreasing until he comes to know all the se-crets of creation, and also (2) how an individ-ual can identify himself with all the powers ofthe universe so as to become omniscient andomnipotent. Finally he shows how immenselygreater the knower is compared to all kinds ofknowable objects and establishes that the ulti-mate limit of spiritual striving is the attain-ment of the status of this knower. Here itneeds to be understood that ‘the status ofknower’ means the knowledge of one’s realSelf.

According to Vedanta, the unqualifiedBrahman divides Itself manifold by means ofIts inscrutable power and assumes variousforms to become this creation. And every liv-ing being in this creation forgets its own Self as

it roams around and sees the universe. Amongthe infinite multitude of living beings a fewevolve to become aspirants of Self-knowl-edge. If they adopt and pursue the Yoga disci-pline, they can attain perfection and thus real-ize Brahman in all Its aspects, both with andwithout attributes.

(To be continued)

Notes and References (by Editor, Udbodhan)1. It is of utmost importance that the yogi should

remain alert until he reaches full perfection.He should not feel tempted, exhilarated orsurprised by perceiving the astounding pow-ers resulting from yoga. All such feelings areobstacles in the path to perfection, liberationor attainment of kaivalya. These lead to theyogi’s downfall. In the Puranic literature wefind many stories of great sages being tempt-ed before the attainment of perfection. Thosestories describe how the yogis fell while at thedoorstep of perfection. The main purport ofthese stories is this: at no instant should a yogi,or spiritual aspirant, regard his condition assecure or impregnable; there remains the pos-sibility of a fall even just prior to reaching per-fection. Complacency is extremely harmful inspiritual life.

2. Bhagavadgita, 7.3. Sri Krishna says this to Arju-na while explaining to him that one rarelyfinds a person who is qualified to attain theknowledge of Brahman and it is extremely dif-ficult to attain such knowledge. Swami Prem-eshanandaji here tries to clarify the idea of at-tainment of kaivalya as described in Yoga shas-tra by referring to the Gita. Through this refer-ence he also hints subtly at the close relationbetween Vedanta and Yoga.

3. Gita, 18.48. By quoting this part of a saying ofSri Krishna from the Gita, Swami Premesha-nandaji implies that when Swamiji criticizedBuddha, it was not a criticism of Buddha him-self, but of the shortcoming which remainsnaturally associated with every kind of work.

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The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word—unsaid.

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Kuîõika Upaniøad

TRANSLATED BY SWAMI ATMAPRIYANANDA

The expression of an ascetic monk’s spiritual experiences (continued)

lthtgKtu~nk lhfUtà;fUtu~nk vwhtà;fUtu~nk vwh¥Mtu~nbe‡Jh& >

yFãzctuÆttu~nbNuMmtGe rlhe‡Jhtu~nk rlhnk a rlbob& >>23>>

23. I am Náráyaîa. I am the destroyer of the [demon] Naraka. I am [Ùiva], the destroyer ofthe [three] cities [of the demon Tripura]. I am the Puruøa, the [supreme] Lord. I am the indivisi-ble Awareness (Consciousness). I am infinite, the [eternal] Witness. I am [the One-without-a-second and therefore there is] no superior ruler [to Me]. I am devoid of the sense of ‘I’ and‘mine’.1

Realization of Brahman through the practice of yoga

gtudtÇgtmul c{ÑmtGtÀfUth&

;=Çgtmul ŒtKtvtlti mkgög >

J]MKtvtlgtuboÆgu vtKe ytô:tg mk¶gu;T >

mk=ˆg NlfiUrso£tk gJbtºtrJrldo;tbT >>24>>

btMbtºtek ;:t =]r³k ¶tuºtu ô:tËg ;:t CwrJ >

¶JKu ltrmfuU dàÆttg;ÀJk l a mk¶gu;T >>25>>

24, 25. By the practice of that [yoga],2 [the ascetic monk], having controlled [the vital ener-gies, namely] práîa and apána, shall rest [quietly] placing [that is pressing] the perineum withboth the hands; gently biting the tongue stuck out [of the mouth] to the extent of a grain of bar-ley, [and] similarly directing the eyesight [open just] to the extent of a black-gram seed towardsthe ákáùa (space) of the ear [and the feet firmly resting] on the ground, he [that is, the asceticmonk] shall not [allow his] ears to resort to [sound] or his nose to resort to [smell].3 [The union ofpráîa and apána is accomplished by this process].

y: NiJk v=k gºt ;=Tc{Ñ c{Ñ ;ÀvhbT >

;=Çgtmul ÖtÇgu; vqJosàbtrso;tÀblt >>26>>

26. Thereafter, [there is merging or dissolution into that] which is the seat of Ùiva;4 that isBrahman; that [verily] is the Supreme [transcendent] Brahman.5 That should be attained by[the] practice [of yoga] acquired in previous births as [the nature of] the Self (átma-svarépa).6

Gradual liberation in the case of Knowers of Brahman with attributes

mrJNuMÒttrll& f{UbbwrÿU&

mkCq;iJtogwmk¶tÔg †=gk ;v Wåg;u >

QÆJø Œv‘;u =untrØúJt bqÆttolbÔggbT >>27>>

27. By the external and internal organs [and along with them] the effulgence [that shines

PB - MAY 2004 50


forth with the fire of the knowledge of Brahman with attributes], [entering] the heart [and there]listening to (that is, clearly perceiving) [the práîa-váyu, the vital air, as capable of piercing thebrahma-randhra, the top of the head, taking recourse to that práîa to traverse along the suøumîá]and piercing through the head beyond the body, [the ascetic monk, the yogæ] attains [verily tothat] immutable (indestructible) [Brahman].7

(To be continued)

Notes

1. This is a spontaneous outpouring of the sage who has had the experience of cosmic identity—identitywith all the gods and identity with the supreme Ruler of the universe (Parameùvara). When the indi-vidual little ego (which Swami Vivekananda calls the ‘puny ego’) vanishes, one realizes one’s cosmicdimension and gets merged in one’s infinite, indivisible nature as Being-Awareness-Bliss Absolute(akhaîõa sat-cit-ánanda-svarépa). This is the summum bonum of all spiritual realization.

2. The yogic technique mentioned here is rather sketchy, needing an elaboration. Upaniøad Brahma-yogin has done this elaboration with remarkable clarity in his commentary. He says that in case theBrahman-Knowledge described in the above-stated verses does not arise in a monk’s heart by the Ve-dantic method, he could then take recourse to the yogic technique of (i) achieving first a union of thevital airs of práîa and apána, (ii) making it six-faced, (iii) then arousing the kuîõalinæ power at the baseof the spine (méládhára), (iv) piercing through it the six centres forming the three knots (granthis), and(v) ultimately coming face to face with Brahman (brahma-sákøátkára) at the sahasrára (conceived of as athousand-petalled lotus) in the head. Thus, the main thrust of the mantras herein describing the yogic

technique is to instruct the aspirant (ascetic monk) to pierce the suøumîá canal by the kuîõalinæ

through the control of the vital airs of práîa and apána.3. By upalakøaîá (suggestive implication), the nose and the ear mean all the five senses of knowledge and

their corresponding objects. The idea is that the five senses of knowledge (jðánendriyas) should notfind their corresponding sense objects for their abode. In other words, the senses and their objectsshould get delinked; nor should the mind get coupled to any of these through will or desire. By thisprocess, the union of práîa and apána becomes possible.

4. Thereafter, the kuîõalinæ power pierces through the suøumîá canal and then entering the sahasrára cak-

ra, gets merged therein. Along with the kuîõalinæ, the vision (sight), mind, práîa as well as the (inner)fire merge (or get dissolved) into verily That wherein shines the abode of Ùiva.

5. Brahman indeed is the Substratum of such dissolution. This concept of Substratum being dependenton the idea of dissolution, when once this idea too goes away, That Itself is realized as the supreme,transcendental Brahman, attributeless and the other-less Truth (niøpratiyogika).

6. The construction here appears rather elliptical. Upaniøad Brahmayogin comments on this as follows:That which is called jðána-yoga refers to the Self attained or the nature of the Self practised in the pre-vious life. Through this practice, groups of yogis attain to the higher (para) or lower (apara) Brahmanaccording to the nature of their contemplation (bhávaná). Therein, a knower of Brahman without at-tributes (nirviùeøa-jðánæ) verily becomes Brahman simultaneously with his acquiring of Knowledge.The idea is that Knowledge does not stand in need of any further activity: Knowledge (jðána) itself isBrahman-realization.

7. The construction in the original text needs to be largely supplemented by words and wholephrases/sentences to complete the meaning. These have been supplied here, following UpaniøadBrahmayogin’s commentary.

Glimpses of Holy Lives

No Price Too High for God

Paranjyoti was the commander of the Pal-lava king’s army. His valour in van-quishing the enemies and his ability to

lead an army of elephants, and, to cap it all, hisintegrity and long years of devoted service—had all won him the king’s trust and admira-tion. The king had a special liking for him. Heasked him one day, ‘Paranjyoti, do you haveany special liking?’ ‘Yes, your highness, I havebeen thinking of spending my life in service ofLord Shiva,’ replied Paranjyoti. Though takenaback, the king reluctantly freed him of his re-sponsibilities with due honour.

Service before Self

With the wealth granted by the king, Pa-ranjyoti settled down in a spacious countryhouse with a large cultivable land and morethan a hundred heads of cattle. He thankedGod for this calmer phase of his life, after yearsof service commanding the king’s forces. Hislife was now devoted to the service of all. Butsannyasins were special objects of his adora-tion; he looked upon them as embodiments ofShiva. No day would pass without his offeringa sumptuous meal to at least one of them. Onlythen would he and his devoted wife have theirmeal. Considering Paranjyoti’s service to oth-ers, people called him ‘Perum tondar, a greatdevotee’. He would disagree, saying that hewas after all a humble servant (Siruttondar).Legend has it that, pleased with their hospital-ity, the child-saint Tirujnanasambandhar sangin his hymns, ‘Siruttondar is my friend.’

The couple’s joy knew no bounds whenthey were blessed with a son. They named himSærála, ‘the prosperous one’. The child grew inan atmosphere of devotion and was now fiveyears old.

A Strange Guest …‘Shivo’ham’. Hearing the resonant chant,

the housemaid went towards the door. Therestood a sannyasin with bright eyes, a lumi-nous smile radiating from his face and sacredash smeared all over his body. The maid fell athis feet. When she got up, the sannyasin asked,‘I have heard about Siruttondar and his hospi-tality to sannyasins. Is he in?’

‘Welcome, O holy one, the master has justgone out. He shall return presently. Please beseated.’

‘Who else is in the house?’‘I am the housemaid, and my master’s

wife is inside. Please come in; I shall call her.’‘I don’t visit a house where women are

alone,’ the sannyasin stepped back.Hearing the conversation, Siruttondar’s

wife came to the door. She offered her saluta-tion at the sannyasin’s feet and said humbly,‘Revered one, we don’t eat without firstentertaining a sannyasin. Since we didn’t findany today, my husband has gone out lookingfor one. He’ll be delighted to see you. Kindlysanctify our house by your presence. May weknow about your whereabouts?’

‘O noble woman,’ said the sannyasin, ‘Iam from North India. I have come here to seeyour husband. Without the head of the familyat home, I cannot enter this house. I shall beseated below the tree in the local Shiva temple.Please tell your husband when he is home. Shi-vo’ham.’ And he left the place.

The wife continued to wait at the door.When her husband arrived she told him ev-erything.

Siruttondar rushed to the Shiva temple,prostrated before the sannyasin and stood be-fore him with folded hands. He said, ‘I am un-fit even to stand before holy ones like you, yet

51 PB - MAY 2004

out of love people call me a ‘humble servant’.At our house we entertain a sannyasin everyday before having our meal. Unfortunately,we have not had a sannyasin guest today sofar. I had gone out looking for one. It’s mygood fortune that you visited our house. Youshould kindly have your food at our place.’

… and His Bizarre Food Habits

The sannyasin said, ‘Siruttondar, I amvery pleased to meet you. In fact, I have comehere just to meet you. Thanks for your invita-tion, but my food habits are a bit strange. Youcan’t feed me according to my specifications.’

‘By God’s grace, I have no dearth ofwealth, O holy one. Any special food can bearranged in a moment. It’s a rare good fortuneto have holy ones like you at our place. ShouldI be deprived of this rare opportunity?’

‘My dear, I eat just once in six months andthat, only non-vegetarian food. Today is sucha day. Can you arrange to feed me?’

‘That should be no problem; I have morethan a hundred farm animals. Please comewith me, revered one.’

‘No, I didn’t mean animal food. I eat hu-man flesh; not of an adult, but of a five-year-old boy. Again, he should be free from bodilydefects. And then … oh, why all that? It’s be-yond you. Why should I hurt your feelingswith more details?’

‘Nothing is impossible for me, holy one. Ican arrange your meal as you wish. Kindly tellme more.’

‘The boy should be the only son of a fam-ily. His mother should hold him and the fathershould cut him; and then a curry made out ofhim. What?’

‘Yes, holy one, most certainly it can bearranged.’

God and His before Everything

Siruttondar rushed home and briefed hiswife about the special food requirement of theguest. Calmly she asked him, ‘Where shall weget such a boy?’

‘Who will give us such a boy, my dear?And is this a commodity to be had for a price?How can we deny the request of a sannyasinwho has been without food for six months?And without feeding him how do I eat? And ifI don’t eat, how will you eat? Bring our son,my dear!’ She was silent.

Self-effacement in God

A word here before continuing the story. Si-ruttondar is adored as one of the sixty-three TamilShaiva saints called Nayanmars. The life ofNayanmars had just this one common feature:their wealth, body, mind and soul—everythingwas for their Shiva and his devotees; no calcula-tion, no selfishness, no shop-keeping in their devo-tion, no thought of the morrow. God gives, Godtakes; ours is just to give and serve—that was theirphilosophy. Such an attitude formed the sheet an-chor of their lives and dictated their actions. Al-most all of them were householders, but stood outfrom others by their self-effacement and exemplarydevotion to their Ideal. It is these traits that meritthem adoration and worship in Shiva temples of theSouth.

The Ordeal

Siruttondar’s was a devotion temperedwith knowledge. But his wife? Did she also be-come one with her husband not only in body,but also in mind and spirit? She didn’t protest.Siruttondar asked the maid to be ready withthe cooking vessel, firewood and a hatchet.She trembled at the idea, but followed the in-struction nevertheless. He carried his onlyson, who was smiling and joyously waving hishands. His wife followed him without a word.The father held the son’s head and, as herchild’s anklets jingled, the mother held hisfeet. The boy thought it was some play. Withfolded hands Siruttondar prayed to his LordShiva: ‘It was you who blessed us with thisson; now it is you who want him back. Thywill be done!’

And the unthinkable happened: the handthat had won many battles for the Pallava king

PB - MAY 2004 52


now severed the child’s head as Siruttondarbrought the hatchet down on his son’s neck!The mother turned the child’s body for herhusband to make pieces of it. Siruttondarhanded the pieces of flesh to the maid andasked her to prepare a meal soon. He gave herthe head separately, telling her that thatwouldn’t serve as food.

The maid was more than just a servant;she was a guardian of the entire household,and even looked upon her master and his wifeas her own children. She was exceptionally re-sourceful and had the capacity to divine hermaster’s thoughts and serve him accordingly.She cooked the head also separately, just incase.

Siruttondar invited the sannyasin home.The couple washed and worshipped his feet.Siruttondar told him, ‘The food is ready, holyone. Please be seated.’ His wife spread a seatand a plantain leaf on the floor and served thespecial food on it.

The sannyasin looked at Siruttondar andasked him, ‘Did you follow my specificationsscrupulously?’

‘Yes, holy one, but we have discarded thehead, thinking that that wouldn’t be useful.’

‘No, that too suits me all right.’Siruttondar looked at the maid. She took

out a vessel from the folds of her sari andlooked at her master as if to say, ‘I have cookedthat too, thinking that the guest may ask for it.’Siruttondar folded his hands before her ingratitude.

Said the sannyasin, ‘I don’t eat alone.Some devotee should eat with me. ’

Another devotee? Siruttondar rushedout, but returned shortly, lines of worry on hisface: ‘Sorry, holy one, I couldn’t find any.’

‘So what? You too are a devotee. You cansit beside me.’

Another seat and leaf were spread besidethe guest for Siruttondar. And the special foodwas served on his leaf.

The sannyasin was silent. Siruttondarthought that perhaps the guest would start

eating only if he himself began to eat. When hewas about to put a morsel of food in hismouth, the sannyasin said, ‘Are you so hun-gry, my dear? I eat just once in six months.Why should you be in such a hurry—you whoeat every day? And is it right for you to begineating before I do? Where is your son? Callhim; he too should join us.’

‘My son?’‘You have a son, don’t you?‘Yes, but …’‘But what?’‘He won’t be useful now.’‘I don’t care. If I have to eat it won’t be

without your son. Call him soon. I don’t wantto hear anything more.’

The Grace

Siruttondar could not utter a word. Hesilently went towards the door and called out,‘Særála, my dear, please come. Our honouredguest is waiting for you.’ The mother too fol-lowed him and called her son. With all eyesrivetted on the threshold, anklets jingled nearthe doorway and … in walked their beamingdarling son, as if back after school! Siruttondarand his wife were in tears and held him in theirarms: ‘Come dear, the holy one is waiting.’

When they turned back, there was no sa-nnyasin, no seats, no leaves, no curry— all hadmysteriously vanished. Sirtuttondar was puz-zled. He wondered at the cause of his guest’spossible anger and sudden disappearance,and looked all around. A divine light ap-peared before him and his wife, congealinginto the soothing, smiling form of Shiva withHis consort Uma. Said Shiva to his transfixeddevotees, ‘I am pleased with your extraordi-nary devotion, My dear. Be with Me eternal-ly!’ Father, mother and child—all of them atonce became one with their Lord.

The Lord beckoned to the housemaid tooand said, ‘You too have a place near us, mydear.’ Her devoted service and cooking thespecial meal were enough to merit her theLord’s grace. �

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Glimpses of Holy Lives 325

Reviews

For review in PRABUDDHA BHARATA

publishers need to send two copies of their latest publications.

PB - MAY 2004 54

� Reviews �

Brahman: A Comparative Theology. Mi-chael W Myers. Curzon Press, Richmond,Surrey, TW9 IBP, UK. 2001. xiii + 268 pp.Price not mentioned.

One occasionally comes across works on com-parative philosophy or comparative religion,

but works on comparative theology are rare. Brah-man: A Comparative Theology by Michael WarrenMyers, a comprehensive and competent study, istherefore especially welcome. It is a systematic the-ology from the comparative point of view. Thelearned author does not attempt to synthesize reli-gious traditions. What he actually offers us is a criti-cal study of systematic Christian theology in thelight of the insights received from Indian and othertraditions. He casts his net wide enough to includeChinese and Japanese viewpoints. There is nodoubt whatsoever about the great academic valueof the book.

Myers discusses all the important topics of the-ology, and his comparative approach freely bringsin relevant Hindu, Buddhist and other Weltans-chauungen. His method is a holistic one and he hasrecourse to a triangular world view which consid-ers the religious ideal (God), humanity and theworld. It is only natural that this holistic approachis flexible and there is ample scope for cross-cul-tural interaction.

The author is a sincere Christian but, at thesame time, he has great interest in Indian religionand Indian culture. He must have been fascinatedby the beautiful descriptions of Brahman in theUpanishads like the following one in the Chandog-ya: ‘Brahman is supreme; He is self-luminous, He isbeyond all thought. Subtler than the subtlest is He,farther than the farthest, nearer than the nearest. Heresides in the heart of every being.’ It is no wonderthat he gives the title Brahman to his book. It has itsbasis in Christian life, thought and practice (he wasbrought up in a loving, liberal Protestant home) butit also reveals the catholicity of his outlook in his ac-ceptance of religious pluralism and active seeking

of the wisdom traditions of the East.The author begins with a discussion of the theo-

logical method. Gordon Kaufman’s discussion ofthe method from his book In Face of Mystery: A Con-structive Theology is used as a foil for the position ad-vanced in Brahman. It appears to Myers that holisticenquiry is superior to one- or two-dimensionalstrategies but he also believes that holistic strategyhas to be tested. Then Myers takes up the terms ofKaufman’s method—God, world and humanity—in cross-cultural conversation between India andthe West.

Part 2 of the book begins with the topic of reve-lation. It is pointed out that a natural matter of con-tact between the West and India is the use of sacredtexts. The Hindu and Christian ‘vocabularies’ of sa-cred text are gradually introduced. His central ar-gument at this point is that devotion through a sa-cred text is a valid form of experience and a meansfor gaining knowledge of the reality behind the reli-gious ideal. It is in this sense that these texts are sa-cred. The Veda is salvation-oriented, just as the Bi-ble is salvation-centred, concludes the author. Heexamines the doctrines of God and Brahman, andcompares the two.

Myers approvingly quotes a statement made byMartin Buber in I and Thou: ‘God cannot be inferredin anything—in nature, say, as its author, or in his-tory as its master, or in the subject as the self that isthought in it.’ Myers, however, also points out thelimits of inference in theology. Next are discussedìta as cosmic truth, order and morality and the doc-trine of karma. The author argues that the world is aplace where freedom and fulfilment can emerge.Yet, he admits at the same time that evil and suffer-ing in the world are real. That is why theologyneeds theodicy, and Milton has to attempt to justifythe ways of God to men in his Paradise Lost. Theodi-cy is fruitfully discussed cross-culturally, for karmalends the topic a distinctive set of solutions. It is ar-gued that the world can be a vehicle for the trans-formation of evil into good. The ancient doctrine ofìta is revisited in order to test its utility as world

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principle in unison with the Vedic gods and god-desses. Myers is of the view that karma providesfreedom as well as reason to the contemporary In-dian Weltanschauung; it provides a general ac-count of the landscape of theodicy but lacks a par-ticular theory of evil.

The final chapter of the book is concerned with‘humanity’. It is an enquiry into religious ethics,Christology and eschatology. In the intellectualcontext, this means a critical consideration of therole of dharma in Hindu and Buddhist worldviews. Myers supports the argument that, in viewof the religious ideal, the value of a human being isa ‘given’ rather than an ‘achievement’. He arguesthat dharma must be understood in egalitarianterms.

The central part of the chapter is concernedwith comparative Christology. (There is a very in-teresting chapter titled ‘Kìøîa and Christ’.) Herethe relationship of humanity and Divinity is con-ceived respectively under the language of bodhi-sattva, avatara and Christ. Lastly, Myers examineshuman prospects in cross-cultural discussion of es-chatology. He argues that freedom conceived asmoksha (release, liberation) is a worthy and realis-tic human aspiration and thus may serve as a goalfor cross-cultural theological enquiry. In this part ofthis review we have freely used Myer’s own words,acting on the Indian idea of worshipping the Gangawith her own water. These are the concludingwords of his Introduction: ‘Mokøa becomes a fittingfinale to a comparative theology which borrows in-sights from India. Mokøa is regularly described asknowledge of Brahman in the Vedanta, and thusBrahman is both our title and our subject.’

Brahman is a very important contribution to the-ology and we must congratulate Michael WarrenMyers for writing a book which is remarkable asmuch for its scholarship as for its clarity.

Dr Visvanath ChatterjeeFormer Professor of English

Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Swami Adiswarananda, Minister and SpiritualHead of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center ofNew York, makes a timely reminder of the sacredgoal of human life through his book Meditation andIts Practices. A senior monk of the Ramakrishna Or-der serving in its New York centre for several de-cades, the swami has produced this monumental,lifetime work for the benefit of genuine spiritualseekers. Obviously the work is the result of pains-taking research of several years. The book is abso-lutely orthodox and the author pursues the themewith a conviction, vigour and authenticity thatdeeply impress the readers.

Starting with the process of meditation, the au-thor continues logically with the objective of medi-tation, centres of consciousness, methods of con-centration and struggles in the path leading to finalillumination. To support his views, the authorquotes copiously from authoritative and ancientHindu texts such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, theBhagavadgita, the Patanjala Yoga Sutras, the Tantrictexts, Srimad Bhagavata, the Mahabharata and theworks of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi andSwami Vivekananda.

The author makes a scientific and rational ap-proach to the subject and clarifies that meditation isa long-drawn process, which demands a strict ethi-cal life on the part of the aspirant before attemptingto ascend the higher steps. Even minute detailsabout the physical condition, eating habits, exer-cises, posture, techniques of breathing and self-analysis are dealt with in great detail.

A word of warning is sounded against follow-ing unorthodox ways of attempting at quick resultswhich may partly or completely shatter one’s per-sonality. Miraculous powers are also discouraged.

Exhaustive explanations are given on the mean-ing of the universal spiritual symbol Om, the Gaya-tri mantra, the four Vedic mahavakyas and the dif-

Meditation and Its Practices: A Defini-tive Guide to Techniques and Traditionsof Meditation in Yoga and Vedanta. Swa-mi Adiswarananda. SkyLight Path Publish-ing, Route 4, PO Box 237, Woodstock,Vermont 05091, USA. www.skylightpaths.com. 2003. xvii + 472 pp. $ 34.95.

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ferent japa mantras.The author contends that continuous practice of

meditation over a period of time must result in thetransformation of a person’s character, which is asure sign of spiritual progress. He also lists the ob-stacles that are likely to occur during the practiceand explains the methods to overcome them.

The author emphasizes the following four prin-ciples as underlying the purpose of meditation ac-cording to both the Yoga and the Vedanta schools:divinity of the individual soul, unity of existence,oneness of the ultimate Reality, and harmony of re-ligions. The book is thus universal in its approachand can be used as a guide by persons of any faithwith equally beneficial results.

In the present times, when there is a plethora ofliterature on yoga and meditation whose authentic-ity and sources are questionable, this book serves asan excellent reference and guide for genuine spiri-tual aspirants.

Swami AbhiramanandaBelur Math

Kailash Manasarovar. Nilesh D Nathwani.New Age Books, A-44 Narina Phase 1,New Delhi 110028. E-mail: [email protected]. xvi + 98 pp. Rs 195.

The name Kailash-Manasarovar is very much inthe news of late. In spite of the physical hard-

ships and the enormous cost of the pilgrimage, thenumber of pilgrims visiting this mystic mount andthe magnificent lake nearby is growing year byyear. Proportionately, books, guides, traveloguesand the like written about this challenging pilgrim-age are also on the increase.

This pilgrimage constitutes the darshan ofMount Kailash, Lake Manasarovar and the circum-ambulation of both. This pilgrimage is possiblefrom April to September, the best time being mid-May to the end of June. The Government of Indiaconducts this pilgrimage every year in groups. Onemust apply to the Ministry of External Affairs.However, for the past few years there have beenmany travel agents in Nepal who organize this pil-grimage. The expense is comparatively higher, butthere is an advantage: one can select the group andthe number of people and chart the programme ac-cording to one’s own convenience.

The book under review is the record of experi-ences of the author during his pilgrimage to Kai-

lash-Manasarovar. With a group of 14 people, theauthor undertook this pilgrimage in April-May2000 and chose to travel via Nepal. He jotted downhis experiences for personal contemplation. Laterfacts and figures were added to bring out this book.The book ‘is an engrossing, touching and remark-able account of a picturesque travel with nice imag-ery describing majestic mountains, turquoise lakesand virgin rivers of Tibet. Written in a brilliantstyle, it is a dramatic record that succeeds in impart-ing into the reader some of the intensely experi-enced emotions that will remain long in memory.’No doubt, this art-paper edition, elegantly broughtout with big fonts and neat printing, is a feast to thereader.

The author’s language is simple, but the narra-tion powerful. He takes us through his experiencesduring the pilgrimage, enabling us to live in the do-main of gods for the moment. Seeing the mighty Hi-malayan ranges, he exclaims, ‘The immense impactit leaves on my mind tells me that this is the proofthat a mighty power whom we call God exists.There is no need for an ontological argument toprove His existence.’ (5) Seeing the condition of Ti-bet after the invasion and oppression by the Chi-nese, he says, ‘Modernization and development areacceptable but not at the cost of an ancient heritage.’(8) Indeed, such remarks of the author add to thevalue of the book. Also, he provides the necessaryinformation about the preparation, things to be car-ried and so on in an epilogue and a few appendices,to make the book a useful guide.

The narration is made more interesting and in-formative by outlining the historical importance ofthe places visited, along with the topographicalfacts regarding the journey. At the same time, theauthor is careful to warn the reader not to be carriedaway by the brighter side of the pilgrimage. Thereis another side with equally important factors forconsideration. He decries the discomforts one hasto face inside the tents; (20) the bumpy and painfulrides in the Land Cruisers; (21-4) and the growingbrothels and discotheques on the way, (27) to men-tion a few.

There are some interesting notes of the authorwhich cannot be brushed aside as mere fancy. Hewonders if the Shivalinga of Pashupatinath andMount Kailash are not meteors. Otherwise how arethese stones different from the other stones andhave gained importance, he questions. Also, he ex-plains that the triangle of Kailash, Gurla Mandhata

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and Manasarovar brings a feeling of a mystic mag-netic field latent under the ground. However, it isfor geologists to ascertain the truth behind these as-sumptions.

The author should have taken more care inmaking certain statements. When he found that hecould not complete the circumambulation due tobad weather he dismisses the circumambulation as‘irrational religious belief’. (52) This just reminds usof Aesop’s ‘sour grapes’. Is the circumambulation amere belief for a devotee? No, much more: it is a re-warding spiritual practice for him.

‘No words can describe what the eyes behold’(17)—true! But photos can be a rich substitute.Though the author has taken a number of photos,those printed are not many. When the whole bookis printed on art paper, printing some more photosshould not have posed any difficulty. We hope thatthis suggestion will be considered for a future edi-tion.

Nevertheless, the book provides excellent read-ing. For one who intends to take up the pilgrimage,this book is a good guide and for one who has com-pleted the pilgrimage this is an excellent invitationfor contemplation.

Swami AsutoshanandaSri Ramakrishna Math

Chennai

Narada Bhakti Sutram. Swami Harshanan-da. Sanskrit trans. Dr M E Rangacharya. Ra-makrishna Math, Bangalore, Bull TempleRoad, Bangalore 560 019. E-mail: [email protected]. 2003. xxii + 146 pp. Rs 50.

Narada, the legendary saint, occupies a predom-inant position in Indian mythology and cul-

ture. Many texts are ascribed to him in differentbranches of science and arts. We have texts on law(smriti), architecture, music and phonetics, a Pura-na, an Upanishad, an Agama and so on which aresaid to be authored by this great saint. The greatepic Mahabharata (‘Shantiparva’), natya shastra and

ancient authorities like Dattila, Matanga and Abhi-navagupta refer to him as an exponent of music.Hence it cannot be denied that Narada was a histor-ical person of great reputation. But Narada is bestknown as a devotee of Lord Vishnu.

The present book is an outstanding contribu-tion to bhakti literature. Even though bhakti hasbeen emphasized in many places in the Bhagavad-gita it cannot be treated as a treatise on bhakti alone.Shandilya’s and Narada’s Bhakti Sutras are the ear-liest texts which deal exclusively with bhakti in su-tra form. Narada affirms that bhakti is its own fruit(sutra 30) and is the easiest and surest path to God.It is of the nature of supreme love and also eternal(sutras 2, 3). He goes on to explain different aspectsof true devotion in this small book of 84 sutras.

The text Narada Bhakti Sutras has already beentranslated and commented upon by many in Eng-lish, Tamil and other languages. Swami Tyagisha-nandaji’s translation published by the Chennai Ra-makrishna Math easily ranks as the best amongthem. It is surprising to note that so far no Sanskritcommentary for this text had been published. Thepresent publication aptly and admirably fills thatgap.

Originally written in Kannada by Swami Har-shanandaji, a profound scholar, this publicationhas been ably translated into Sanskrit by Prof M ERangachar. The style is so simple and lucid as to en-able even a person with only basic knowledge ofSanskrit to understand the nuances of this treatise.Swami Harshanandaji quotes profusely from theBhagavata Purana, the Upanishads, smritis and otherscriptures. Apt quotations from Sri RamakrishnaParamahamsa in the commentary for sutras en-hances the value of this book. Neatly printed andwell brought out by the Bangalore RamakrishnaMath, this book will certainly be a welcome addi-tion to the existing texts on bhakti literature.

Dr K S BalasubramanianKuppuswami Sastri Research Institute

Mylapore, Chennai

In Sister Gargi’s obituary (March 2004, 232) we mentioned that she was a member of the con-

vent of the Vedanta Society of Northern California. She was only a member of the Society, not

its convent. In ‘A Visit to Europe’ (March 2004, 209) there is a reference to Swami Vivekananda’s

visit to France in 1897. The year(s) should be 1896 and 1900. We regret the errors.

—Editor

Reports

Organized. 2 medical camps; by Ramakrish-na Math, Puri; on the occasion of Magh Sap-tami Mela; at Chandrabhaga and Olla; on 27and 31 January 2004. The camps treated 520patients.

Visited. Ramakrishna Mission, Bhubanes-war; by Sri Panchanan Kanungo, Ministerfor Finance and Parliamentary Affairs, Gov-ernment of Orissa; on 29 January. Sri Kanun-go took part in the annual function of thecentre’s middle English school.

Inaugurated. The newly renovated TowerBungalow; by Sri Kailashpati Mishra, Gover-nor of Gujarat; at Ramakrishna Mission, Li-mbdi. Srimat Swami Atmasthanandaji Ma-haraj, Vice President, Ramakrishna Mathand Ramakrishna Mission, presided over thefunction.

Organized. A medical camp and an exhibi-tion on Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Viveka-nanda; by Ramakrishna Math and Ramakri-shna Mission Sevashrama, Allahabad; on theoccasion of Magh Mela; at Triveni Sangam;from 6 January to 6 February. 10,500 patientswere treated at the medical camp and 80,000people visited the exhibition.

Inaugurated. Monks’ quarters; by SwamiSmarananandaji, General Secretary, Rama-krishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission; atRamakrishna Mission, Vijayawada; on 6 Feb-ruary.

Laid. Foundation stone for monks’ quarters;by Srimat Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj;at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Me-morial, Porbandar; on 11 February.

Laid. Foundation stone for a new building

for Vivekananda Institute of Value Educa-tion and Culture; by Smt Bhavanaben Chi-khalia, Union Minister of State for Tourismand Culture; at Ramakrishna Mission Vive-kananda Memorial, Porbandar; on 11 Febru-ary.

Inaugurated. Ramakrishna Darshan, a perma-nent exhibition on the life and teachings ofthe direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, theHoly Mother Memorial Mancha and an aca-demic-cum-cultural complex for the seniorsecondary section; by Srimat Swami Gahana-nandaji Maharaj, Vice President, Ramakri-shna Math and Ramakrishna Mission; at Ra-makrishna Mission Vidyapith, Deoghar; be-tween 13 and 17 February.

Inaugurated. Centenary celebrations of Ra-makrishna Mission Students’ Home, Chen-nai; by Sri R Venkataraman, former Presi-dent of India; on 15 February.

Attended. Sri Ramakrishna’s birthday cele-bration; by Sri Arjun Munda, Chief Ministerof Jharkhand, and Sri Inder Singh Namdhari,Speaker, Jharkhand Legislative Assembly; atRamakrishna Mission Ashrama, Morabadi,Ranchi; on 22 February.

Won. First place; jointly by two Class VIIIstudents of the school run by RamakrishnaMission, Viveknagar; at the MathematicsFair 2004 organized by Tripura Mathemati-cal Society. One of the students also stoodfirst at the state-level Eastern India ScienceFair organized jointly by NCERT and SCERT. Atthe second fair, a teacher of our Viveknagarschool won the Best Chemistry Teacheraward and the school itself was given theBest Science-teaching School award. �

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� Reports �