Swami Vivekananda: The
monk as man
Translated
from an article by Dinesh Aminmattu, Prajavani, 16th Jan,
2012
Swami
Vivekananda was a “dull” student. He lost his job as a teacher
because he was 'not able to impart lessons' to students. By birth he
was diseased. And by the time of his demise not one or two, but was
suffering from 31 different ailments. Matching with his Bengali
descent, he was an obsessive junk food eater. Until the last day of
his life he was eating non-vegetarian food, and was also able to cook
non-vegetarian recipes derived from national and international
cuisines. He would smoke cigars and hukkas like an addict. Without
distinction of it being Hindus, Muslims or Christians, he would eat
at all their homes, Even while he was devoted 'Sanyasi', he would be
engaged in all the get together parties that were organised
throughout the day in the hotels, while he was in the USA....
If
these snippets be propagated, to all the people currently engrossed
in celebrating the 150th
birth anniversary of this “Revolutionary Hindu Saint”, they would
be taken aback with terror. Nonetheless, these are true facts.
Even
though from a backward class (shudra), Vivekananda took up Sanyasa
going against the Hindu
tradition. He denounced the same tradition again by crossing
the oceans. Rebelling against
the ancient traditionalists he would stay put at the 'unholy' places
of westerners. For the very same reason, High Court judge Murthy
Gurudas Mukherjee refused to head the Welcome Committee after
Vivekananda was returning from the Chicago World Religious Forum
address. After the renouncement and the 'sainthood', numerous eminent
people from the 'upper castes' would address him a friend
and not as swami. He
expressed his infuriation about the hoaxes, customs prevalent in
Hinduism and other perils like casteism, untouchability, blind
superstitions, temple rituals and these outbursts would for sure have
earned him the tag of an enemy to Hinduism
from the fanatic proponents of Hinduism.
Ideas like “Head is superior, and legs are inferior”,
which instilled disparity within one's own body and other disparity
installing mechanisms that are inherent to Hinduism had frustrated
Vivekananda, and in rebuttal he would say that people should have
“Muslim bodies, with Vedic minds”. When the Maharaja of Khitri, a
disciple, expressed his dissent about Vivekananda eating at a Muslim
home. Vivekananda retaliated by saying, “I would even eat with the
scavengers. I wouldn't be scared of people like you. You don't know
anything about God or religion.” Once, an emotional Vivekananda
went on to say, “If I were alive during the time of Jesus, not with
my tears, I would cleanse his feet with the blood oozing from my
heart”.
He would also defer the argument that Hindus were
converting to Islam because of the force of Muslim rulers. He would
attribute this migration to the inherent casteism, untouchability and
exploitation in Hinduism. When a religion does not recognise and
respect the fundamental rights of humans, then it no longer is a
religion, but “dance of the devil”, and the place becomes “hell”,
was his perception. He would also reminisce words from his teacher
Ramakrishna Paramahansa, “Mutual respect between religion is not
sufficient, there must be a cognizance of the fact that all the
religions are true”.
Hoping
that the 150th
birth anniversary celebrations of Vivekananda “Utsavamurthi”
would increase the awe and respect towards him, but when experienced
turn out to be a disappointment. Even after 110 years after the
demise of the maverick saint who lived for only 39 years, 5 months
and 24 days, after endorsing sainthood at an age of 24 years, life of
the real Vivekananda is still shrouded in obscurity. Often in recent
times, Vivekananda is being projected as the “Brand Ambassador”
of Hinduism and in this process, traits which weren't his are being
fabricated and portrayed exaggeratedly to elevate him to the place of
God!
 |
| Vivekananda in South Pasedena |
This misrepresentation is nothing new. People who have
wanted to transform the society by social reforms have all been made
'deities' and have been distanced from the common people. The notion
that, if not for an incarnation of God, no normal human being can
grow to have any substantial impact has been shrewdly planted and
perpetuated by various religious leaders with political leaders as
accomplice. Starting from Buddha to Basavanna, Vivekananda to
Narayan, all these people leaders have been escalated as
deities amidst their 'worshipers' and are today drowned in the
anointments and chants of their 'devotees'. Sinking under the
worshiping of these these devotees, the real life and ideas of these
great leaders are going oblivious in the pages of history.
Last year, Penguin Publishers published a book “The
Monk as Man” by famous Bengali writer Mani Sankar Mukherjee. This
is the English translated version of a research based Bengali book
(Sankar's novels “Seemabaddha” and “Jana Aranya” were made
into movies by Satyajit Ray). Apart from the ideas and philosophies
of Vivekananda, the little known private life is featured in this
book. Also other books about their elder brother by Vivekananda's
younger brothers and letters from Sister Nivedita throw light upon
the life and times of Vivekananda.
 |
| Another group picture in South Pasadena |
Vivekananda would in future enchant the western world
with his knowledge and mastery over the English language, in spite of
faring not academically well in his intermediate and B.A exams. He
scored 46 % and 56% respectively is worth a mention. Out of 500 marks
he scored 261 (in Sanksrit he scored 43 and in philosophy 45).
After the death of his father, Vivekananda, out of
compulsion had to work to maintain the family. He joined Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar's education institution. And because Vivekananda
was not able to teach students well, he was sacked from his job by
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar himself. If not for his mother –
Bhuvaneshwari Devi, the world would not have seen Vivekananda, maybe.
Like the thousands of Narendranaths from Kolkata, he too would have
drowned amongst the crowd.
Vivekananda was from a rich family, but with the
untimely death of his father, their ancestral property was swindled
by his relatives, leaving the entire family onto the streets.
Narendranath was the eldest of the eleven children and the
responsibilities of taking care of the family was already on his
tender shoulders. While he was unemployed, there were times when he
would wander on the streets wearing torn clothes, having no food to
eat on many occasions. The fight in a court that was going on
incessantly for seventeen years got resolved only a month before the
death of Vivekananda.
Shrugging off family responsibilities, Vivekananda
renounced the world and took up Sanyasa, passing all of his
burden onto his mother. His mother did not loathe him because he had
quit the responsibilities of the family in times of deep despair.
Instead, she would be proudly talk of her son saying, “My son took
up Sanyasa at an age of 24”. After Vivekananda's demise, she
lived for another eight years in tremendous trouble, sustaining only
on the monthly grant of a hundred rupees from the King of Khitri.
Today, the Indian population who are glorifying and celebrating him
were of no use when he was alive. He had once lamented, “ Should I
always beg to the foreigners”.
“Man of a big heart, broad shoulders, bright eyes...”,
are the usual text book descriptions of Vivekananda, projecting him
to be the He-Man of Hinduism. Little would the people claiming
these know that Vivekananda was always ill and was suffering from
numerous ailments. From severe headache to heart problems, he was
suffering from 31 health problems. Apart from kidney, liver and
throat problems, he was suffering from hypertension, diabetes,
asthma, acidity, constipation, weakened nerves, joint pain, swollen
legs and was constantly in pain. He had been an insomniac for a long
time, and during the end of his days he would sleep as little as a
couple of hours only per day. Even a touch would cause excruciating
pain in his body. He had written to his disciple Mary Hale at the age
of 34, “My hair has grown grey much before my age and my face has
wrinkled”. Disheartened by his illnesses once he sighed, “ I have
become like a limping horse unable to run the race. At least bestow
me peace by granting euthanasia (mercy killing). I can no longer bear
this pain”, records Sister Nivedita in her documents.
Even amidst all the ailments, the sharpness of his words
hadn't mellowed a bit. Being the foodie he was, he would eat lot of
junk food. “I would add chunks of meat in boiling water with some
spices and serve a dish to Thakur (Paramahamsa). Whereas,
Naren (Vivekananda) would cook varieties of non-vegetarian dishes”,
says Sharadadevi in one of her writings. Sister Nivedita has also
elaborately documented the culinary skills of Vivekananda, comprising
of national and international recipes. The day he died is when the
Hilsa fish had entered the Hoogly river; he had got it cooked,
had it for lunch and later in the day when he was resting is when he
breathed his last that night.
A dull student as per academic standards, ailing from
tens of health issues, shaken by family responsibilities, food
obsessed common people can also grow to become “Vivekananda”, was
proven by Narendranath to the world. While being entangled in these
difficulties also, he had studied all the religions and philosophies
of the world. He would travel countries and give speeches. He would
relentlessly write books and letters. He had thousands of disciples
and millions of followers. He started the Ramakrishna Mission in
service to his Guru. All of this, he had accomplished within a span
of 15 years.
Can a commoner accomplish all of this? Certainly he/she
can. One has to be a Vivekananda for that!
PS: Audio excerpt of Vivekananda's address at the Parliament of World Religions, Chicago in September, 1893
