Newsletter of Vedanta Centres of Australia 2 Stewart Street, Ermington, NSW 2115, Australia, P.O. Box 3101, Monash Park, NSW 2111. Website: www.vedantasydney.org; e-mail: [email protected]; Phones: (02) 8197 7351, -52; Fax: (02) 9858 4767. Humility “The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.” “Be as devoid of vanity as the cast away leaf carried by the high wind.” --- Sri Ramakrishna. Great sayings: Words of Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda; The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture; Kolkata; page 18. Love “Love is our forte. It is through love that the Master’s family has taken shape.” “If you love a human being, you will have to suffer for it. He is blessed, indeed, who can love God alone. There is no suffering in lov- ing God.” Motto: Atmano mokshartham jagad hitaya cha, “For one’s own liberation and for the welfare of the world.” Welcome We welcome you all to the Ramakrishna - Vedanta Movement and invite you to attend our functions and actively participate in the propagation of the Universal message of Vedanta as epitomized in the lives of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda. Page 1 September 2010 Function Centre Date CALENDAR ALENDAR ALENDAR OF OF OF EVENTS VENTS VENTS FROM FROM FROM SEPTEMBER EPTEMBER EPTEMBER TO TO TO DECEMBER ECEMBER ECEMBER 2010 2010 2010 Durga Puja Birthday of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi Sydney Friday, 15 October 2010 Melbourne Saturday, 1 January 2011 Perth Saturday, 1 January 2011 Sydney Monday, 27 December 2010 Brisbane Saturday, 1 January 2011 Salutation be to You, O Narayani! O consort of Shiva! O Auspiciousness of all auspiciousness! O bestower of all requisites! O giver of refuge! O Three eyed one! O Fair complexioned, Gauri ! May the Divine Mother Shower blessings on us all. Reach Issue No. 17 Sayings and Teachings Sayings and Teachings Sayings and Teachings Reach and not millions of sheep can do so. Secondly, men should not be taught to imitate a personal ideal, however great.” --- Swami Vivekananda. Ibid, page 58. --- Sri Sarada Devi. Ibid, page 31 and 27. Strength “...Men should be taught to be practical and physically strong. A dozen of such lions will conquer the world, Sri Sarada Devi Temple at Ramakrishna Math, Jayrambati, Bankura , W.B. India, the birth place of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. (Inset : Her marble image in the shrine and the thatched house where Holy Mother lived in her later part of life)
Transcript
Newsletter of Vedanta Centres of Australia2 Stewart Street, Ermington, NSW 2115, Australia, P.O. Box 3101, Monash Park, NSW 2111.
“The tree laden with fruits alwaysbends low. If you wish to be great,be lowly and meek.”“Be as devoid of vanity as the castaway leaf carried by the high wind.”
--- Sri Ramakrishna.
Great sayings: Words of SriRamakrishna, Sarada Devi and
Swami Vivekananda; TheRamakrishna Mission Institute of
Culture; Kolkata; page 18.
Love
“Love is our forte. It is throughlove that the Master’s family hastaken shape.”“If you love a human being, youwill have to suffer for it. He isblessed, indeed, who can love Godalone. There is no suffering in lov-ing God.”
Motto:
Atmano moksharthamjagad hitaya cha,
“For one’s ownliberation and for thewelfare of the world.”
WelcomeWe welcome you al l to the Ramakrishna - Vedanta Movement and invite youto attend our functions and actively participate in the propagation of the Universal
message of Vedanta as epitomized in the lives of Sri Ramakrishna, HolyMother Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda.
Salutation be to You, ONarayani! O consort of Shiva! O
Auspiciousness of allauspiciousness! O bestower ofall requisites! O giver of refuge!
O Three eyed one! O Faircomplexioned, Gauri !
May the Divine MotherShower blessings on us all.
Reach Issue No. 17
Sayings and TeachingsSayings and TeachingsSayings and Teachings
Reach
and not millions of sheep can doso. Secondly, men should not betaught to imitate a personal ideal,however great.”
--- Swami Vivekananda.Ibid, page 58.
--- Sri Sarada Devi.Ibid, page 31 and 27.
Strength
“...Men should be taught to be practicaland physically strong. A dozen ofsuch lions will conquer the world,
Sri Sarada Devi Temple at Ramakrishna Math, Jayrambati, Bankura , W.B. India, thebirth place of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. (Inset : Her marble image in the shrine
and the thatched house where Holy Mother lived in her later part of life)
ADELAIDE CENTREMonthly activities:a) Swami Sridharananda continued histhree-days-a-month visit to Adelaideand delivered discourses on the BhagavadGita and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Thetalks are held at Dulwich CommunityCentre, 14 Union Street, Dulwich SA5065. The lectures are being recorded.For details of the ongoing monthlyprogrammes please contact Mr. RamanSharma, Secretary, on 08- 8431 9775 orMrs. Pathma Iswaran on 08-8379 5336.b) A "Reading of The Gospel of SriRamakrishna" was held every monthon a Sunday from 2:30 p.m. at 33Woodhouse Crescent, Wattle Park, SA 5066.c) A bookstall on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-Vedanta literature wasorganised by the Centre at the AnnualMela (Fair) organised by the IndianAustralian Association of South Australiaheld at Elder Park, Adelaide on 27th ofMarch 2010.
BRISBANE CENTREDaily activities:Morning worship, evening arati, bhajans,and reading from The Gospel of SriRamakrishna are the regular activitiesat the Centre at 181 Burbong Street,Chapel Hill, QLD 4073, (Phone no.07-3720 0228). A resident volunteerlooks after the day-to-day activitiesat the Centre.Monthly and Annual activities:Swami Atmeshananda visited Brisbaneonce a month and delivered talks onthe Bhagavad-Gita as well as on otherspiritual topics. Swami Sridharanandavisited the Centre from 10th to 11th ofAugust 2010.
News from and activities of the Vedanta Centres of Australia and New ZealandFor the period from June 2010 to August 2010
CANBERRA CENTRESwami Sridharananda conductedclasses on the Bhagavad-Gita twice amonth at the Majura Community Centrein Canberra. He also gave parlourtalks based on the Yoga Sutras ofPatanjali once a month. Contacts: Mr. J.Venkataraman, Secretary - 02-6258 7612and Dr. Ian Doherty, Treasurer - 02-6247 8519.
MELBOURNE CENTREDaily Activities:Vesper service is held daily at the Centreat 7 Judy Court, Vermont, Vic 3133from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. It includes sethymns, scriptural readings and meditationand occasional devotional singing.The bookstall made available literatureon Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, Vedantaphilosophy, and other spiritual topics inprint, audio, and visual media throughoutthe period. For further informationplease contact Mr. Suresh Ravinutala,Secretary, on 03-9803 6154 and Mr.Mohana Krishnan on 03-9801 6174.
Weekly/Monthly Activities:a) Swami Sridharananda continued todeliver monthly discourses on the Bhagavad-Gita from Thursday to Saturday ofa prescheduled week at Monash UniversityClayton Campus of Law, WellingtonRoad (L. Theatre L1). The Thursday andFriday sessions were from 7:45 p.m. to8:45 p.m. and the sessions on Saturdayswere from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. Therecordings of these discourses areavailable in Audio, Video and MP3formats.b) On the first Sunday of every month,meetings were conducted from 5 p.m. to7:30 p.m. These regular meetings includedprayer, recitation of sacred mantras,singing of kirtan and bhajans, followedby selected readings from the scriptures anddiscussions on them by the participants.The meetings concluded with anarati and the distribution of prasad.c) Group study of the Bhagavad-Gitacontinued every alternate Sunday from9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Group study
Our Bookstall in the IAASA Mela 2010 and a section of the spectators. The Premier Mike Rann, his wife, MulticulturalMinister Grace Portelesi, opposition leader Isabel Redman, Lord Mayor Michael Harbison are seen in the photo above.
Guru Purnima at the Melbourne Centre
through viewing of the ‘MundakaUpanishad’ lecture series on Videoheld every Sunday from 4 p.m. to 5p.m. and through the ‘Patanjali’s YogaSutras’ lecture series every Friday from10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.d) The Children’s programme intwo age groups comprising one groupof 4 to 6 year olds and another from7 to 12 year olds is being held onWednesdays and Fridays respectively.The sessions are from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.This includes prayer, recitations andsinging etc.
Celebrations:
A special prayer meeting was heldon the auspicious occasion of GuruPurnima on Sunday, the 25th of July2010 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Other Activities:A committee meeting chaired bySwami Sridharananda was held onthe 15th of May at Monash University.The agenda included future plansand activities for the Centre. An-other committee meeting chaired bythe Secretary, Mr Suresh Ravinutala washeld on the 4th of July at the Centre.The agenda entailed a review of thefinancial statement for the periodJuly 2001 to June 2010. This meetingwas followed by the centre’s monthlysatsang.The Annual General Meeting washeld on the 10th of July at the MonashUniversity and was presided over bySwami Sridharananda. The agendaincluded a review of the past annualactivities held by the Centre, futureplans and activities and the financialstatements for the period 2009-10.
books were conducted on the firstSunday of every month from 11:00a.m.On the occasion of the Australian Fed-eral Election on the 21st of August2010 a bookstall and a food-stall wereorganized on the campus.Special information: Due to heavyhailstorm on 22nd of March 2010 theadjoining hall of the church wasdamaged extensively. It is beingcurrently renovated.
PERTH CENTREDaily Activities:The Centre located at 51 Golf ViewStreet, Yokine W.A. 6060 holds vesperservice daily at 7 p.m. with arati, a read-ing from The Gospel of Sri Rama-krishna, and meditation. The Centremaintains a small bookstall and a li-brary. Contacts: Mr. Unni Krishnan -Assistant Secretary, 0430 391 369, Mr.K.P. Basu Mallick Secretary, - 0422370 066.Monthly Activities:Swami Sridharananda visited the Centreevery month from Thursday to Saturdayon prescheduled weeks and conducteddiscourses on the Bhagavad Gitā.About 50 devotees attend the dis-courses. Monthly satsangs which in-cludes the singing of Bhajans andreading from The Gospel of SriRamakrishna and other inspiring Size of Hailstorm in Perth
Bookstall and Food-stall at the Perth Centre.
Guru Purnima celebration at the Sydney Centre.
SYDNEY CENTRE
Daily Activities:At 2 Stewart Street, Ermington chanting,daily worship and meditation are heldevery morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., andthe vesper service in the evening startingat 7 p.m. includes devotional singingand a reading from The Gospel of SriRamakrishna. Counselling, interviewsand discussions with devotees arealso conducted on a daily basis. Thelibrary is available to devotees for referenceand research. The Centre maintains abookstall which has a range of bookson the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda,Vedanta, Yoga, and other spiritualliterature. Devotional songs, discourseson Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras ofPatanjali, Mundaka Upanisad, andother topics are also available in variousmedia.Weekly/ Monthly Activities:The Centre conducted the followingactivities in Sydney:a) Swami Sridharananda conductedclasses on the Bhagavad-Gitā everySunday morning from 9:45 a.m. to10:45 a.m. at the South StrathfieldBowling Club, Augusta Street, Strathfield.The talk on 8th of August was held at theErmington Centre. Swami Damodaranandagave talks on spiritual subjects duringSwami Sridharananda’s travels.b) Classes on the Bhagavad Gitāwere also conducted by SwamiSridharananda at 1 Edwin Street,Fairlight, Manly Beach on Tuesdaysfrom 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.c) Many devotees have availedthemselves of spiritual counsellingand guidance. The Swamis also visitedthe homes of devotees when required.d) Meditation sessions were held at theErmington Centre on Sundays from 5p.m. to 6 p.m.e) Yogasana Classes for adults has
Zealand from the 2nd to 7th of June2010 and delivered talks on spiritualsubjects in Auckland. He also visitedMalaysia from 27th to 31st of July2010 on invitation from the LincolnCollege, Kuala Lumpur.Visiting Monk:Swami Tadananda visited the SydneyCentre from 16th to 19th July 2010.
AUCKLAND CENTRE, NZ
Daily activities:A vesper service is held daily at theCentre at 27 Arawa Street, New Lynn,Auckland from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.It includes singing of hymns, readingsfrom text God Lived with Them andmeditation.
Monthly and annual activities:a) On the second Sunday of everymonth Satsang programmes, whichincludes singing of Bhajans, discourseon the Ramayana, reading and discussionabout direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishnaand meditation, were conducted from 11a.m. to 1 p.m.b) On the last Sunday of every monthreading and discussion on Srimad-Bhagavad Gita, the Gospel of SriRamakrishna, the life and teachings ofHoly Mother and Swami Vivekanandawere conducted in addition to theabove. Music and chanting classes werealso held on these days.c) Swami Sridharananda visited Aucklandfrom the 2nd to the 7th of June 2010and delivered talks on the Bhagavad-Gita.d) The Annual General Meeting, presidedover by Swami Sridharananda, wasconducted on 6th of June 2010.The activities of the Centre duringthe year 2009-10 were reviewedand plans for the year 2010-11were discussed. The new officebearers were elected during the AGM.
resumed from the 29th of May 2010. Itis held every Saturday at the Centrefrom 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.f) Classes on moral and spiritual lessonsare conducted for children everySaturday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.at 2 Stewart Street, Ermington. Inaddition, drama and movement classesare also held.g) A three day Children’s Retreat wasorganised from the 6th to 8th of July2010. About 32 children took part init. Mantra recitation, Yoga, claymodeling, craft and other activitieswere organized to stimulate thechildren’s creativity.h) Classes on moral and spirituallessons were also conducted for childrenat Eastwood Public School onWednesdays from 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.i) A bookstall was organized on15th of August 2010 at the IndiaAustralia friendship Fair 2010,Homebush Olympic ground.
Celebrations:Guru Purnima was celebrated at theCentre on 26th of July 2010.
Raffle and Cultural Programme :A cultural programme, Arpanam,along with a Raffle draw was held bythe Centre on 14th of August 2010 atBahai Centre Auditorium to raisefunds for the Building Fund of VedantaCentre. The first prize was a pair ofdiamond ear-rings donated by adevotee.After an invocation for the blessings ofthe Divine by Swami Damodarananda,the students of various dance schoolspresented both classical and folkdances of India. The raffle was drawnat the end and the contributions by theparticipants were acknowledged bySwami Atmeshananda.
Overseas Visit:Swami Sridharananda visited New
A glimpse of the cultural programme. Swamis Damodarananda and Atmeshananda.Enjoying Prasad on Guru Purnima.
Mr. Prakash Chand.Secretary: Mrs. Vandana Sarathy.Treasurer: Mr. A. Premachandran.Members: Swami Chandrashekharananda,
Mr. Saba Arunanthy,Mr. Shivprasad Bhatt,Mr. Rajkumar Dutta,
Mr. Dilip Mohanty,Mr. Debu Mukerji,
Mr. Chandan Roy Chowdhury,Mr Amitava Sen,
Dr. Subramaniam Sinnathamby,Dr. Jenny Spencer,
Mr. Chandrahas Thakkar,Mr. Jaishankar Venkataraman,
Mr Srinivas Avvari,Mrs. Modhumita Chaudhuri,
Dr. Tadipatri Prasad.
ADELAIDEPatrons: Dr. Janan Iswaran,
Mrs. Pathma Iswaran.President: Swami Sridharananda.Vice President: Dr Nitin Bhise,
Dr. Kandiah Parasivam.Secretary: Mr. Raman Sharma.Jt. Secretary: Mr.L.V. Krishnamoorthy,Treasurer: Mr. N Rajaramanan.Members: Mrs. Nirmala Puvan,
Mrs. Pathmini Parasivam,Mrs S. Gowri Rajaramanan,
Mrs. Shivani Sharma,Mrs. Anjan Bhise,
Mrs. Margaret Holdsworth,Mrs. Madhu Saraf.
BRISBANEPresident : Mr Maha Sinnathamby.Deputy Presiden: Dr. Ashim Majumdar.Vice Presidents: Swami Atmeshananda,
Prof. Prasad Yarlagadda,Dr. Unnikrishnan Pilla.
Secretary: Mr. Shyam Das.Asst. Secretaries: Mr. Atul Deshpandey,
Mr. K. Navaratnam.Treasurer: Mr. Rajah Kunarajah.Asst. Treasurer: Mr. Mahalingam Perumal.Members: Dr. Bram Singh,
Dr. Gopal Krishna Bose,Mr. Muthiah Surendra,
Dr. Naidu Bodapati,Mr. Biswadeep Basu,
Mrs. Saras Narsey,Mrs. Parames Navaneethan,
Mrs. Vicky Mogana Sundram,Mr. Indra Raja Selvaduray,
Mrs. Krishnavanee Newman,Dr. Tapan Saha,Mr. Preeti Suraj,Mr. Hari Raniga,
Ms. Jayashree Kapadia.CANBERRA
President: Swami Sridharananda.Secretary: Mr. Jaishankar Venkataramanan.Treasurer & P.O. : Dr. Ian Doherty.Members: Mr. Venkat Krishna,
Mr. Murugesan PuthurMELBOURNE
Patrons: Mr. Santosh Kumar Paul,Mrs. Aruna Paul.
President: Swami Sridharananda.Vice President:Mrs. Nandita Bhattacharjee.Secretary: Mr. Suresh Ravinutala.Tresurer: Mr. Govindan Aiyar.Members: Mr. Mohana Krishnan,
Auckland Centre—shrine; devotees attending Gita discourse and audience during the talk of Prof. J.L.Shaw.
e) Dr. Jayashankar Lal Shaw, a seniorProfessor of the Victoria University ofWellington and also a Trustee of theCentre delivered two talks on “NeoAdvaita Vedanta” on 18th and 21st ofAugust 2010 during his visit to thisCentre. He highlighted the essentialaspects of the concept of Neo Advaita
Vedanta and also dwelt on thecontribution of Sri Ramakrishna andSwami Vivekananda in evolving thisin the modern age and its relevance inour day to day lives.f) Swami Tadananda of RamakrishnaMission, Nadi, Fiji, visited Aucklandduring the last week of July 2010.
Celebrations:The Centre celebrated Guru Purnimaon 26th July 2010. The programmestarted at 8:00 p.m. after the arati andcontinued up to 9 p.m. followed byprasad distribution. There werebhajans/Kirtans and talks on thesignificance of Guru.
Sri Sarada Devi at Dakshineswar
Shambu Mallick had been servingthe Master and the Mother withwholehearted devotion. His wife,too, adored the Master as God him-self; and whenever the HolyMother happened to be at Dakshi-neswar, the lady took her to herhouse every Tuesday to make offer-ings at her holy feet as she wouldhave made at a deity’s.It did not take long for a warm andgenerous-hearted man like ShambuBabu to realise that for the HolyMother who was used to the easeand freedom of the village, living ina small place like the Nahabat,which was very small, would bevery uncomfortable. He purchaseda small plot of rent-free land nearthe temple premises, on which heplanned to build a thatched housefor her. Captain VishwanathUpadhyaya, who was a staunchdevotee of the Master, offered tosupply the timber for this purpose.The house was thus completed, andthe Mother took residence there.
The Mother cooked the Master’sfood there according to his tasteand needs and carried it to hisroom, where she sat till he had fin-ished. For looking after the com-forts of the Mother the Master, too,often visited the cottage during thedaytime and spent some time withher. One day it rained so heavilyjust after his arrival there, that un-able to return, he had to finish hismeal there and then lie down forthe night. From the bed he said tothe Mother laughing, “This is asthough I have come home like anypriest of the Kali temple goinghome at night.”Tending to the Master
The Mother could not live in this
thatched home for long. She had toreturn to the Nahabat for attendingto the Master who had a bad attackof dysentery. As the Master becametoo weak to walk away from theroom, the Mother used to comefrom the new home to help him.Eventually she shifted to the Naha-bat to engage herself in the Mas-ter’s service more completely.Holy Mother’s subsequent visitsto Dakshineswar
It was perhaps in the month ofMarch 1881 that Holy Mother re-turned to Dakshineswar. However,Hridaya, the Master’s nephew whostayed with the Master at Dakshi-neswar, for reasons best known tohim, questioned the Mother for thepurpose of her visit to Dakshines-war. For fear of Hridaya, the Mas-ter kept mum all through. With thedeepest disappointment the Motherleft – she could not stay at Dakshi-neswar even for a day. Apart fromthis solitary grievance, the unas-suming selfless wife had no com-
plaint against the Master at all, orany ill-feeling towards her nephew.But all her sorrows and complaintswere laid at the feet of the Al-mighty whose Will rules every-where. And so at the time of depar-ture, she told Mother Kali, whodwelt within her mind, ‘Mother, Ishall revisit this place only if youwill have me here again.’Hridaya transgressed the limits ofcourtesy. This was not the first in-stance of his rudeness to the HolyMother. On another occasion, SriRamakrishna who noticed suchmisbehaviour, reprimanded himsaying, “My dear Hride! you maybe talking to this (pointing to hisown body) slightingly, but don’tyou do so to her. If the one that isin this (body) raises its hood, youmay still be saved; but if the onethat is in her raises its hood evenBrahma, Vishnu and Maheshwaracannot save you.’ In due course,through the force of circumstances,Hridaya had to leave the templeprecincts for good to clear the wayfor the Mother’s return. Then theMaster’s nephew Ramlal succeededHridaya as the priest of Kali. Ongetting this promotion he waselated with the thought of becom-ing the priest of Mother Kali andbecame unmindful of his duty to-wards Sri Ramakrishna. There wasnone besides Ramlal who couldreally serve the Master with devo-tion. So, the Master suffered, andhe sent word to the Mother throughpeople who happened to go thoseparts of Bengal, to rejoin him atDakshineswar. The earnest callmade the Mother at last come toDakshineswar around February-March, 1882. This was her fifthvisit after staying away for about ayear.
Feature Article:Holy Mother’s journeys to Dakshineshwar and Jayrambati
The period of thirteen years that the Holy Mother served the great Master Sri Ramakrishna was inwardly characterised byher absorption in the Master’s ideal and fusion of her life with the Master, and outwardly by her periodic migrationfrom Dakshineswar to Jayrambati and back. During this period she went seven times to Jayrambati and back to Calcutta,a journey of about sixty miles, which she often had to make on foot. These visits were generally occasioned by her ill
health or for rendering assistance to her mother during the Jagaddhatri Puja. But as her services were very muchneeded by the Master, her stay at Jayrambati was perforce not very long.
The next time she went to Jayram-bati, she spent about seven to eightmonths there, before returning toDakshineswar in January-February,1884. It was at this time that theMaster tumbled down when in astate of ecstasy and, as a result, hada bone in the left hand dislocated.As soon as the Mother entered theMaster’s room and placing the bun-dle of clothes on the floor salutedhim, he inquired, “When did youstart?” Ascertaining from her replythat she had started in the afternoonof a Thursday, which is regarded asextremely inauspicious, he said, “Igot my hand injured because youstarted on Thursday afternoon. Goback and make a fresh start.”Thevery next day the Mother left forher village home to recommenceher journey on a more auspiciousday. The next she was at Kamarpu-kur at Ramalal’s marriage in 1884and returned to Dakshineswar inthe beginning of the next year.From this time on, there are no re-cords of Mother visiting Jayrambatiagain during the Master’s lifetime.The Mother and the Bagdi couple
The Mother usually covered thedistance from Jayrambati orKamarpukur to Dakshineswar byfoot. Once when some villagewomen started for Calcutta for adip in the Ganges on some sacredday, the Mother, too, accompaniedthem together with her nephewSivaram and her niece LakshmiDevi. Her idea was to stay on atDakshineswar after the holy bath. Itwas settled that their first haltshould be at Arambagh which waseight miles from Kamarpukur; forin front lay the uninhabited, notori-ous stretches of fields called Telo-bhelo which were infested withrobbers. People would not crossthem alone even in daylight. As areminder of those fearful days thereis still the terrible image of the god-dess Kali at the centre of the Telo-bhelo which the robbers used toinvoke before engaging in their ne-farious activities. The image is stillcalled the robbers’ Kali.The party from Kamarpukur de-
cided after reaching Arambagh, thatthere was plenty of time left for amoderate walk to reach Tarakeswarbefore it became too dark and thatit was not wise to waste a day forrest which was not really wanted.The Mother was well known, evenfrom her early age for her unobtru-siveness; if need arose she wouldendure discomfort to make it easierfor others. In the present instancetoo, she restarted with them, thoughshe knew well enough that her tiredlegs could not bear such prolongedstrain. Soon she began to lag be-hind others. Her companions haltedthree to four times to allow her tocatch up with them. But when atlast they were convinced that shecould not keep pace with them andthat such slow movement wouldexpose all to inevitable danger oreven death, and on top of all this,the Mother asked them not to worryabout her but to go forward, theyquickened their steps. They weresoon lost to sight, while the Mothertrudged on all alone.
When the sun set and the darknessof the night began fast envelopingeverything around, the Mother wasstill plodding on across the solitaryfields of Telo-bhelo, full of anxiety,but finding no way out. Just thenshe noticed a tall figure emergingout of the darkness and approach-ing her. When the figure had drawnsufficiently near, the Mother sawthat it was a man of deep dark col-our and thick long hair who had astout staff on his shoulder and sil-ver bangles round his wrists. Sheknew that he was a robber, and ter-ror-stricken, she halted at once. Theman had no difficulty in under-standing her mind, and with a viewto terrifying her all the more he saidin a harsh voice, “Hullo! Who isthat standing there at this time?Where would you go?” “Eastward,”said the Mother. “This is not theway there; you have to go thatway”, said the man. The Motherstill made no movement, and theman came very close. But as helooked at the Mother’s face, therecame a sudden change in his de-meanour, and the cruel man-hunter
said softly, “Don’t be afraid; I havea woman with me who has fallenback. At this the Mother’s eyeswere taken off the immediate dan-ger and extended further off where,sure enough, a woman was movingup. Then she got encouraged andsaid, “Father, my companions haveleft me behind, besides, methinks, Ihave lost my way. Will you kindlytake me to them? Your son-in-lawlives in the Kali temple of RaniRasmani in Dakshineswar. I am onmy way to him. If you take me tothat place he will treat you verycordially.” The woman came upbefore the Mother had finished andthe latter took hold of the woman’shand with full confidence and af-fection and said, “Mother, I amyour daughter Sarada; I was in aterrible plight having been left be-hind by my companions. Fortu-nately you and father appeared;otherwise I can’t say what I wouldhave done.”Holy Mother conquers the heartsof the robber couple
This simple behaviour, extremeconfidence and sweet dispositionconquered the hearts of the robbercouple who belonged to the lowlyBagdi caste. As a result they forgotthe gulf of social difference thatseparated them from a Brahminwoman and consoling her as thoughshe was truly a daughter of theirs,they did not allow her to proceedfurther because she was tired. Theytook her to a little shop nearby,where the woman improvised a bedfor her with her clothes and otherthings and the man brought somefried-rice for her to eat. Then shewas laid to rest with extreme affec-tion, and the man keep guard at thedoor with his staff.
At dawn, when they were on theirway to Tarakeswar, the Bagdimother picked up green peas fromthe field for the Holy Mother. Thelatter accepted the affectionate giftlike a little girl and put them in hermouth. They reached Tarakeswarabout an hour and a half after sun-rise. Here the Bagdi woman said toher husband, “My daughter had
nothing to eat at night; finish theworship of the Lord Tarakeswar(Shiva) soon, and bring some goodthings from the market; she has tobe fed today.” When the man wasout, the companions of the HolyMother who had been out in searchof her came to that place and weredelighted to find her safe. Then theMother introduced them to theBagdi mother who had given hershelter on the previous night andsaid, “If they had not appeared andsaved me, I don’t know what Iwould have done last night.”It is no longer possible to ascertainhow this event was viewed by thepilgrims from Kamarpukur whowere steeped in class prejudices.Nor can we gauge how far they re-alised the full impact of that ex-traordinary drama of affection thatwas enacted on the solitary field atnightfall, and the intimate relation-ship that was established betweenthe robber couple who belonged in avery low caste and the Brahmin girlwho was picked up at that odd hourfrom a very odd place. Nor do weget any inkling of any light havingflashed across the minds of thoseignorant villagers with regard to thevictory of that sacred, though as yetunfolded motherhood over the cru-elty of the robber, or the supremacyof light over darkness when the twocame into conflict. Instead, the HolyMother, the robber couple, and theKamarpukur pilgrims co-operatedin a common endeavour for theirnoon-day meal. And after finishingit in a very cordial manner, startedfor Baidyabati on the way to Cal-cutta.
The Mother and the Bagdi couplehad drawn so close to one anotherduring that single night that all threebegan to shed profuse tears at thethought of separation. As the pil-grims moved onward, the Bagdicouple accompanied them for somedistance, and the woman picked upsome peas with eager hands fromthe fields and tying them to the hemof the Mother’s garment said in achoked voice, “Dear daughterSarada, when you chew your friedrice at night, add these to it.” At last
the Holy Mother got a promisefrom the couple that they wouldvisit Dakshineswar and then man-aged to take leave of them. Thecouple kept their promise visitingDakshineswar more than oncewith various gifts for the Mother.
Sri Ramakrishna, coming toknow the whole incident, be-haved with them like a true son-in-law. The Mother, however,when relating the incident to thedevotees ended it with this sig-nificant remark, “Though my rob-ber parents were so simple andwell-behaved, still it strikes methat they did commit robbery offand on in their earlier days.” Inother words, she never lookedupon that thrilling incident onthat lonesome plain of Telo-bheloas an ordinary event.
Conclusion
It is beyond our capacity to imag-ine an adequate reason for thesudden change of mind of therobbers. It might have been thatthe common guilelessness of theMother and her immaculate holi-ness exerted an irresistible influ-ence on their minds or it mighthave been some supernormal fac-tor was at work.
The Mother once asked her Bagdiparents, “Why, my dears, are youso attached to me?” They replied,“You are not, in fact, an ordinarymortal, for we saw you as Kali.”“How you speak my dears! Howcould you have seen me so?” re-monstrated the Mother. Un-abashed they said in an aggrievedvoice, “No, Mother, there was nomistake about what we saw. Youwant to hide this from us sincewe are sinners.” To this theMother said indifferently, “Whoknows? I am not in the leastaware of it.”Some reminiscences of the HolyMother by ‘devotee-children’The Holy Mother as ‘Mother’At first I used to hesitate to ad-dress the Holy Mother as’Mother.’ My own mother haddied during my childhood. One
morning the Holy Mother sent me toa certain person on an errand. As Iwas about to leave, she asked me,“What will you say to him?” I said,“Why? I shall say to him, ‘Sheasked me to tell you, etc.’ “No, mychild,” said the Holy Mother, “Tellhim, ‘The Mother asked me to tellyou.’ She emphasised the word‘Mother.’At Udbodhan Prayer-Hall
It was morning and we were talkingwith the Holy Mother.
Mother: After Sri Ramakrishnapassed away, while staying alone atKamarpukur, I thought within my-self, “I have no children. There is noone in this world whom I can callmy own. What will happen to me?”Then the Master appeared to me andsaid, “Well, you want a son. I havegiven you so many jewels of sons.And in course of time you will hearmany, many more people addressingyou as Mother.
Mother’s loveIt was the time of worship. TheMother made herself ready to go tothe shrine room. I came downstairs.After the worship was over, I wentupstairs again to bring the prasadafor the devotees. As I took theleaves containing the sweets andfruits, suddenly my elbow touchedthe Holy Mother’s feet. “Ah!” saidthe Mother, and saluted me withfolded hands. “That’s nothing,” saidI. But she was not satisfied withmerely bowing down before me andsaid, “Come, my child, let me kissyou.” She touched my chin with herhand and kissed the hand and sobecame pacified. Thus she used torespect her disciples as the manifes-tations of God, and at the same timeshow her affection to them as amother does to her children.
Sources:
Holy Mother: Sri Sarada Devi by SwamiGambhirananda; Sri RamakrishnaMath, Chennai, pages 63-73.
The Gospel of the Holy Mother recordedby her devotee-children, Sri Rama-krishna Math, Madras, pages xxi-99
The scriptures say, “Tormented bythree kinds of suffering – physicaland mental, terrestrial, and super-natural – people inquire about re-ligion as an antidote to sufferings.”Bliss is inherent in human beings;therefore they cannot bear pain, forit is foreign to their true nature.However, sometimes grief plays animportant role in human life: Itmakes people understand the im-permanency of the world. Nothingmakes life so empty as the loss of amother in one’s infancy, the deathof a father in boyhood, or the lossof a spouse in old age.
First meeting with Sri Ramakrishna
Gopal Chandra Ghosh of Sinthi,Calcutta, lost his wife when he wasfifty-five years of age. Broken-hearted and unable to bear his over-whelming grief, Gopal went to afriend, Dr Mahendra Pal, for consolation.Mahendra was a devotee of SriRamakrishna, so he suggested thatGopal see the Master at Dakshineswar,thinking that holy company mightassuage his grief. Sometime inMarch or April of 1884, Mahendraaccompanied Gopal on a visit there.Mahendra told the Master about hisfriend’s condition. GenerallyRamakrishna felt an affinity withhis disciples at first sight, but hetreated Gopal like a stranger. Gopalalso did not see anything extraordinaryabout the Master. After returninghome, still deeply depressed, Gopaldecided not to visit Ramakrishnaagain. Mahendra told Gopal,“Look, holy people sometimes donot like to be caught easily. Theytest our sincerity through indifference.Please visit the Master frequently.”The second time Gopal went toDakshineswar, Ramakrishna, like agood physician, gave him an infallibleantidote for his grief. Speaking of God,he lifted Gopal’s mind, uprooting hisworldly ties and attachments. Gopallearned from the Master that theworld is unreal, like water in a mirage,
and that dispassion is the onlymedicine which will counteractgrief and delusion. The Master’swords on the impermanency of theworld appealed to Gopal and madea lasting impression on his mind.He returned home and seriouslybegan to think of renouncing theworld to search for God. He wasattracted to the Master, and soonreturned to Dakshineswar. Gopallater narrated what happened after histhird visit, “The Master possessedme. I would think of him day andnight. The pang of separation fromthe Master gave me chest pain. Nomatter how hard I tried, I couldn’tforget his face.”Early life
Gopal Chandra Gosh was born in1828 at Rajpur, twenty-five milesnorth of Calcutta. Very little isknown about his family except thathis father’s name was GovardhanGhosh. Gopal moved to Sinthi, anorthern suburb of Calcutta, in orderto work for Beni Madhav Pal. Hewas a Brahmo devotee and used toinvite Sri Ramakrishna to his beautifulgarden house during the spring and
fall festivals of the Brahmo Samaj.According to M, the recorder ofThe Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,Gopal first met the Master some-time in the latter part of the 1870s.M. (Mahendranath Gupta) recordedthree visits of the Master to BeniPal’s garden house in great detail:28th October 1882; 22nd April 1883;19th October 1884. Gopal probablysaw Sri Ramakrishna in the crowdduring festival time, but this did notleave any deep impression on hismind. Moreover, Gopal was a self-effacing person and did not try toput himself in the limelight.
In the company of Sri Ramakrishna
As he had no family ties after thedeath of his wife, Gopal movedfrom Sinthi to Dakshineswar toserve the Master. Ramakrishnaaccepted Gopal as his disciple andwould address him as ‘the elderGopal’ or ‘Overseer.’ The otherdisciples called him ‘Gopal-da’ (Gopal,the elder brother), since he waseight years older than Ramakrishna.The Master introduced him to HolyMother, who needed a person whocould shop and run errands for her.Ramakrishna praised Gopal’smanagerial capacity in householdaffairs and his sweet behaviourwith people.
Tending to the Master
In September 1885 Ramakrishnamoved to Shyampukur in Calcuttafor cancer treatment and Gopalaccompanied him. He served theMaster like a nurse, giving himmedicine and a proper diet. UsuallyHoly Mother prepared the Master’sfood and carried it to his room.Gopal acted as Holy Mother’smessenger; he was free with her,and she did not cover her face witha veil in front of him. When thedoctor prescribed any special dietfor the Master, Gopal would notedown the details and convey themto Holy Mother. When the foodwas ready, she would send Latu or
Divine Light Personified: Swami Advaitananda, one of the monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna
According to the Vishuddha Siddhanta Almanac Swami Advaitananda’s birthday celebration will be observedon Tuesday, the 7h of September, 2010.
Swami Advaitananda(One who enjoys being in the
bliss of Non-duality)(1828—1909)
Gopal to inform the Master. Thedevotees and disciples wouldimmediately leave the room andHoly Mother would bring the food.The Master took his meal twicedaily: a little before midday andshortly after sunset. Holy Motherwould wait in his room until he hadfinished his meal, then she wouldtake back the cups and plates.Gopal was also responsible foradministering medicines to theMaster. One day the Master noticedthat the time for taking medicinehad passed, so he asked anotherdisciple, “Where is that old man?”When the Master learned thatGopal was sleeping, he said joyfully,“Oh, how many sleepless nights hehas passed! Let him sleep. Pleasedon’t call him. You had better giveme the medicine today.”Gopal used to wash the Master’scancerous sore daily with a specialsolution made from margosa leavesboiled in water, which is consideredto be antiseptic. One day whenGopal touched the sore, the Mastercried out in pain. Gopal said sadly,“Sir, what can I do? If I wash youwill get pain, so let me not do it.”“No, no, you go on washing. Look,I have no more pain,” the Masterreplied as he withdrew his mindfrom that spot. Gopal was then ableto wash the area carefully, and theMaster remained silent and cheerfulas if Gopal were washing someoneelse’s wound.Another day at Cossipore, Gopalinadvertently breathed on the Master’sfood plate. As a result, the Mastercould not offer the food thus defiledto the Devine Mother – and henever ate any food without offeringit first to Her. The Master had to beserved again with fresh food. Afterthat Gopal was extremely carefulwhile nursing the Master.Once, Holy Mother recalled asignificant incident that took placewhen the Master lay ill at Cossipore.A number of his disciples, includingGopal, were taking turns attendingto his needs. But one day, insteadof serving the Master, Gopal wentoff somewhere to meditate. Hemeditated for a long time. When
Girish Babu heard about this, heremarked, “The one upon whomGopal is meditating with closedeyes is suffering on a sickbed, andfancy, he is meditating upon him!”Gopal was sent for. When he arrivedthe Master asked him to stroke hislegs. Then he said to Gopal, “Doyou think I am asking you to strokemy legs because they are aching?Oh, no! In your previous births youdid many virtuous acts; therefore Iam accepting your service.”Sri Ramakrishna made his life amodel for his disciples to follow.Gopal, though older than the otherdisciples, tried very hard to followthe ideal the Master set for him.Even his brother disciples praisedhis sincerity, love, and steadfastdedication to the Master. One dayhe heard the Master say, “Never tella lie – even jokingly or casually.”Gopal followed this teaching to theletter and encouraged others to dothe same. Once a doctor prescribedthe juice of three lemons for theMaster’s upset stomach, and Gopalwas entrusted to collect them. Insteadof three he brought several additionallemons, but the Master acceptedonly three and asked him to returnthe extras. Gopal realised that theMaster was an embodiment of truthand his speech and action werealways congruous.Every year during ‘makar -sankranti’ (an auspicious day inmid-January) monks and pilgrimsfrom all over India go to Gangasagar,the confluence of the Ganges andthe Bay of Bengal, for a holy bath.Many pilgrims go by boat from theJagannath Ghat of Calcutta. Gopalhad a little money and wanted toacquire virtue by offering clothes toholy people on that auspicious day;so he bought twelve pieces of clothand twelve rosaries of rudrakshabeads to distribute among themonks. He dyed the cloths in ochrecolour himself. When the Masterheard about it, he said to Gopal,“You will attain a thousand timesmore virtue if you present thoseochre cloths and rosaries to mychildren rather than giving them tothe monks of Jagannath ghat.
Where else will you find such all-renouncing monks? Each of them isequal to a thousand monks.” Thischanged Gopal’s mind.On Tuesday, 12th January 1886,Gopal gave the ochre cloths androsaries to the Master who touchedthem and sanctified them with amantram. He himself then distributedthem among his young disciples. Theyput on the ochre cloths and salutedthe Master. Sri Ramakrishna waspleased to see them in monasticcloth and blessed them. The discipleswho received the ochre cloth were:Narendra, Rakhal, Niranjan, Baburam,Shashi, Sharat, Kali, Jogin, Latu,Tarak and Gopal. The twelfth ochrecloth and rosary, according to theMaster’s instruction, were set asidefor Girish Chandra. Later Girishtouched them to his head and feltthe Master’s special blessing. Inthis sense it may be said that theRamakrishna Order was founded bySri Ramakrishna himself, althoughit did not come into official existenceuntil after his death.
Sri Ramakrishna’s passing awaySri Ramakrishna passed away at1.02 a.m. on 16th August 1886. Atfirst the disciples could not ascertainwhether the Master had died orgone into Samadhi. ImmediatelyNarendra sent Gopal and Latu toDakshineswar to bring Ramlal, theMaster’s nephew, thinking that hecould determine the Master’scondition. When Ramlal arrived, hefound that the crown of the Master’shead was still warm. Several doctorswere informed, and at last DrMahendralal Sarkar declared thatRamakrishna had passed away.After the cremation that afternoon,all the disciples left for home exceptGopal, Latu and Tarak, for they hadno place to go. Within a few weeksthe Baranagore Monastery wasestablished with the help of SurendraNath Mittra, a well-do-do devoteeof the Master. Gopal joined theother disciples, took the final vowsof sannyasa and became SwamiAdvaitananda.
Austerity and PilgrimageAdvaitananda lived for a while at
the Baranagore Monastery. Hehelped his brother monks withhousehold work, and played tablawhen Vivekananda sang. Some-times the young monks would teasehim or make him the subject ofpractical jokes. Most of the disciplesslept in one room as they did not havemany rooms. One day Akhandanandareplaced his pillow with a brick andwhen Advaitananda returned, hediscovered his brick-pillow. Hesmiled and said to Akhandananda,“Ganga, I know you have done thismischief. Brother, I shall use yourprecious gift tonight as my pillow.”Akhandananda was very touched.Immediately he threw away thebrick and brought back the pillow.With an apology, Akhandanandasaid, “Brother, you are a real monk,free from anger and ego.”While living at the BaranagoreMonastery, Advaitananda visitedmany holy places in India. He leftthe monastery towards the end of1887 and went to Varanasi, wherehe stayed in a cottage of BanshiDatta’s garden house and lived onalms. He devoted most of his timeto spiritual disciplines and madeconsiderable progress. Sometime inthe middle of 1888 he went toKedarnath and Badrinath, two holypilgrimage sites in the remote Himalayas.Then he met Akhandananda, whomhe had not seen in a long time, andburst into tears of joy. After that hestayed for some time in Vrindabanand practised austerities. On 25th
March 1890 he went to Gaya withHoly Mother, who performed ritesfor the departed ancestors of herfamily. In the same year Advaitanandamet Vivekananda and six otherbrother disciples in Meerut. Thebrother monks remained togetherfor a few weeks then began totravel again in different directions.Advaitananda left to attend theKumbha Festival at Hardwar withAkhandananda.
At last Advaitananda returned tothe old cottage of Banshi Datta’sgarden house in Varanasi. Hedecided to spend the remaining partof his life in this abode of LordShiva. Advaitananda passed five
years in Varanasi practising austeritiesand forgetting the mundane word.He took care of whoever came toVaranasi and would show the personthe temples of the City of Light. Inspite of his old age he was healthy.However, once while walkingthrough the street barefoot, a thornpricked his foot, which gave him agreat deal of pain. Advaitanandatravelled extensively all over India. In1897 he visited Raipur, Central India,with Nabai Chaitanya of Konnagar.Then he went to Kanyakumari,Rameswaram and other holy placesof South India. In 1899 he visitedKamakhya and Darjeeling; and in1900 he went to Dwaraka and otherholy places of Western India.
At Belur Math
In 1897 Vivekananda returned from theWest and established the RamakrishnaMission. He wanted to do somephilanthropic work for the regenerationof India’s poor. For that reason he
recalled those brother disciples whowere practising austerities in variousparts of India. Advaitananda respondedto Swamiji’s call. He left Varanasiand went to Alambazar, where themonastery had been moved in1892. In the early part of 1898, aplot of land was purchased at Beluron the bank of the Ganges for thepermanent home of the Order andAdvaitananda was entrusted tomake the land ready for construction.On 13th February the RamakrishnaOrder was moved from Alambazarto Nilambar Babu’s garden house,just south of the new property.
Although he was the oldest in thegroup, in carrying out responsibilitieshe was second to none. Early in themorning after breakfast he wouldgo to the new plot and engage theSantal tribal labourers who hadbeen hired to level the ground. Hescolded them if he found anydereliction of duty. SometimesVivekananda would visit thegrounds and talk to the poor labourers.He loved to hear the stories of theirlives and hardships and sometimeswould arrange a feast for them.
Pioneering work is always difficult.Advaitananda worked until noon;then he took his bath in the Gangesand sitting under a tree he ate hislunch, which had been sent fromthe Monastery. Apart from levellingthe ground and other constructionwork, Advaitananda started a vegetablegarden and a dairy farm. SwamiAdbhutananda recalled about theearly days: “Without Gopal-da themonks of Belur Math would nothave had vegetables along withtheir rice. He worked so hard toproduce various kinds of vegetablesin the monastery garden.”Although Vivekananda was thirtyfive years younger than Advaitananda,Advaitananda had tremendous loveand respect for Swamiji because theMaster had made him the leader ofthe disciples. On the other hand,Swamiji also had affectionate regardfor Advaitananda. Swamiji used totease this old waggish monk, “Youare like an old bull; breaking offyour horns, you have joined the
Swami Advaitananda
young calves.” One day Swamijisaid, “Gopal-da, you are getting oldday by day. Be careful. Now youmust start taking milk and fruits,which will give you new life andthe bones will not be rusted. Afterall, you are the oldest among us sotomorrow we shall wash youceremoniously with milk.” The nextday Swamiji and other monks pouredten seers of milk on Advaitananda’shead and then washed him withGanges water. Afterwards a newcloth was offered to him and he wasgiven various kinds of nutritiousfood. Swamiji joyfully told him,“Brother, from today you are theabbot and the responsibility of themonastery is yours.” It was all donein fun. When one of Swamiji’s petducks suffered for a week and thendied from shortness of breath,Advaitananda said to him, “Sir, it isno use living in this ‘Kaliyuga’ [thedark age] when ducks catch coldfrom rain and damp and frogssneeze.”A trustee of the RamakrishnaMath and Ramakrishna Mission
In 1901 Swamiji made Advaitanandaone of the trustees of the RamakrishnaMath and Ramakrishna Mission;later he became the vice-president.When Vivekananda died on the 4th
of July 1902, Advaitananda firstchecked his pulse and then said toSwami Nirbhayananda, “Alas!What are you looking at? Hurry toDr Mahendranath Mazumdar andbring him here as soon as you can.”After Vivekananda passed away,the banner of Sri Ramakrishna wascarried by his other disciples. Theyshaped their lives according to thespiritual ideals of the Master; theyalso helped others to put these idealsinto practice for their physical,mental and spiritual advancement.Advaitananda made strenuousefforts to mould his life accordingto the example of the Master andwould sometimes express disappointmentthat he fell so short of his ideal. Butthis feeling of inadequacy indicatedhis real spiritual height. He hadkeen powers of observation like SriRamakrishna.
Swami Advaitananda started hisspiritual journey late, but his sincerityand steadfast devotion to the Masterbrought fulfilment at the end of hislife. Sri Ramakrishna made him arole model for elderly seekers ofGod. He will be remembered by theRamakrishna Order for his cheerfulmanner and methodical ways, hisself-reliance, his untiring zeal inevery work he undertook, and hisimplicit devotion to the Master andhis cause.
Sources:
God Lived With Them: Life Stories ofsixteen monastic disciples by SwamiChetanananda; Advaita Ashrama,Kolkata,1998, pages 513-527.
Ramakrishna and his Disciples by Chris-topher Isherwood; Advaita Ashrama,Kolkata, 1998, page 218.
He forbade the monks to bang doorsor tear a new cloth with a shrillnoise, as the Master could not bear it.
He kept himself busy in the serviceof Sri Ramakrishna and couldn’tbear lazy people. Because of his ageand temperament he did not engagein public activities such as reliefwork and preaching; his monasticlife was therefore uneventful. Inspite of that, he definitely set anexample for all and he was a sourceof inspiration to many.
Advaitananda loved to do his ownwork. If anyone offered any personalservice, he would decline to acceptthe offer. His attitude was thata monk should be self-reliant,depending only on God and no oneelse. He was fond of music andwould play tabla when the brotherssang devotional songs. Sometimeswhen he had a little leisure, he wouldcopy the scriptures in his beautifulwriting. He used to chant the Gitaevery day. For his daily chanting hecopied five different Gitas.
Towards the end
In late 1909, Advaitananda, an all-renouncing sannyasin of the Master,made himself ready to depart fromthe world. He had suffered fromstomach trouble and, towards theend he had fever. Dr. MatilalMukhopadhyay of Ghusuri ,Howrah, was his physician and allthe monks served their old brotherwith loving care. One day the swamistood in front of Sri Ramakrishna’spicture and prayed, “Master, pleaserelease me from this pain.” TheMaster soon afterwards answeredthe prayer of his old disciple.Swami Premananda later said,“Before his death Gopal-da saw theMaster carrying a mace on hisshoulder. He then asked, ‘Master,why are you carrying the mace onyour shoulder?’ The Master replied,“I am Gadadhar, ‘Upholder of themace’, an epithet of Lord Vishnu.Gadadhar was also Sri Ramakrishna’schildhood name.
Advaitananda passed away at 4.15p.m. on Tuesday, 28th December1909. Until the end he was fully
“The highest men cannot work,for in them there is no attachment. Thosewhose whole soul is gone into the Self,those whose desires are confined in theSelf, who have become ever associatedwith the Self, for them there is no work.Such are indeed the highest of mankind;but apart from them every one else has towork. In so working we should neverthink that we can help on even the leastthing in this universe. We cannot. Weonly help ourselves in this gymnasium ofthe world. This is the proper attitude ofwork. If we work in this way, if we al-ways remember that our present opportu-nity to work thus is a privilege which hasbeen given to us, we shall never be at-tached to anything.
Millions like you and me thinkthat we are great people in the world; butwe all die, and in five minutes the worldforgets us. But the life of God is infinite."Who can live a moment, breathe amoment, if this all-powerful One doesnot will it?" He is the ever active Provi-dence. All power is His and within Hiscommand. Through His command thewinds blow, the sun shines, the earthlives, and death stalks upon the earth. Heis the all in all; He is all and in all. Wecan only worship Him. Give up all fruitsof work; do good for its own sake; thenalone will come perfect non-attachment.The bonds of the heart will thus break, andwe shall reap perfect freedom. This freedomis indeed the goal of Karma-Yoga.”
The Complete works of SwamiVivekananda, Vol 1 page 106-7.
