Dr. ShuddhanandaBharati

VivekanandamPearls of wisdom of Vivekananda

A short play

The Story ofour Independence

(Namathu Suthanthira Kathai)

ASSAEditions

Editor’s Notes

Vivekananda is the flame of the wisdom of India; heexplained the inner power of our land to the world by hisbold speeches on philosophy in England as well as inAmerica in his 30th year. His elevating thoughts, thesparkle of his vigorous speeches, his words of wisdomand the true greatness of his renunciation are included inthis book.

Shuddhananda Bharati had written this short book inter-estingly, to inspire the readers with the sentiments ofVivekananda. Those wanting to enact it on stage can edit itto suitable length if needed. This book will be of great useto those practising emotional oratorical skills.

Hail Vivekananda!

A warm thank you to Ms. Gowri Ramaswamy for herbeautiful translation. Ms. Gowri Ramaswamy has, withher meticulous work, been able to express fully thethoughts of Kavi Yogi Shuddhananda Bharati. We haveincluded in this book a short essay, The Story of our Inde-pendence.

It is a real pleasure for me to present Vivekanandam and TheStory of our Independence to you. We have much to learnfrom this wonderful text! Thank you to Dr. Shud-dhananda Bharati for having transmitted Vivekanandamand The Story of our Independence to us. With the blessing ofAum Shuddha Shakti Aum.

Christian Piaget

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Courage!

The night is through,The chain of slaveryIt is already broken -I am full of courage!

Peace in the morning,A golden sun risesLike a lion superhumanTo accomplish my dream.

A hopeful smile,Docile as a childWho plays in the infiniteWith a fiery star.

My journey is over;I enjoy time;The universe is my nest;Of eternal spring.

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Song of Unity

Unite. Unite, Unite, Oh SoulsUnite and play your rolesUnite in mind, unite in heartUnite in whole, unite in partLike words and tunes and sense in songLet East and West unite and live longTrees are many; the grove is oneBranches are many; tree is oneShores are many; sea is oneLimbs are many; body is oneBodies are many; self is oneStars are many; sky is oneFlowers are many; honey is onePages are many; book is oneThoughts are many; thinker is oneTastes are many; taster is oneActors are many; the drama is oneNations are many; the world is oneReligions are many; Truth is oneThe wise are many; Wisdom is oneBeings are many; breath is oneClasses are many; college is oneFind out this One behind the manyThen life shall enjoy peaceful harmony.

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Peace Anthem

Peace for all, peace for allFor all the countries peaceJoy for all, joy for allFor all the nations joyA rosy morning peaceA smiling summer joy (Peace for all)

All for each and each for allThis is the golden ruleLife and Light and Love for allFor all that live our love (Peace for all)

Work and food and clothes for allEqual status for allHealth and home and school for allA happy world for all (Peace for all)

No idle rich, no more beggarsAll are equal workersNo more tears, no more fearsThe heart is full of cheers (Peace for all)

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No atom scare, no fat mammonNo room for war demonLike leaves in trees, like rays in the sunWe are one communion,One Divine communion (Peace for all)

The good in you is good for allYour life is life for allThe God in you is God for allYour love is love for all (Peace for all)

For he or she or it or restThis collective life is bestThis Universal Life is bestNorth or South, or East or West (Peace for all)

Peace for plants and birds and beastsFor hills and streams and woodsPeace in Home - land and air and seaDynamic peace we see

Peace for all, peace for all

Immortal Peace for All

Dr. Shuddhananda Bharati

Presentation of Dr. Shuddhananda Bharati11th May 1897 – 7th March 1990

The wise one to the cosmic ageAlthough more than 90 years old, in his school in thesouth of India, Kavi Yogi Maharishi (great divine visionary,wise poet), Dr.Shuddhananda Bharati worked like ayoung man of twenty. When he was asked his age, heanswered: “My age is Courage!” The Yogi wrote severalhundred works in English, French, Tamil, Hindi, Teluguand Sanskrit; five thousand songs, and fifteen hundredpoems in French. The magnum opus of the man consciousof the presence of God in him, Bharata Shakti, (in 50,000verses) described his ideal: only One Humanity living incommunion with only One God in a transformed world!Bharata Shakti is a monumental and unique work. The Yogidepicts the essence of all the religions, of all the prophetsand saints, all the approaches of yoga and all the cultureson an allegorical fabric. It is a book for any age which allspiritual researchers and all nations should read and med-itate on. His commitment is summarized in his book cele-brating his life, Pilgrim Soul. The three poems mentionedin the opening express perfectly his ideal. His mantra,Aum Shuddha Shakti Aum, nourishes our souls and guidesour steps toward the inner joy Ananda. It means: The lightof Grace and power of the pure supreme Almighty blessus of peace, happiness and prosperity! Let the beauty andgreatness of soul of Dr.Bharati Shuddhananda bloom andscent the entire Earth of its divine message and his spiri-tual and unifying benefactor!

Editions ASSA

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Characters of the play

1. Vivekananda2. Brahmananda3. Premananda4. Ramakrishnananda5. Niranjanananda6. Abhedananda7. Shivananda and other disciples8. Sarada Devi9. The halo of Paramahamsa10. Mother India11. Bhaskara Sethupati12. Divan13. Servants, guards, soldiers etc.14. Azhagiya Singha Perumal15. Singaravelu16. The guard17. Mrs. George Hale18. Dr. John Henry Barrows19. Chakravarti20. The representatives of the missionaries of all religions21. Goodwin22. Mr. Sevier23. Mrs. Sevier

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Part one

Vivekanandam

1. Severe penance of the disciples

Brahmananda (Rahal), Niranjanananda, Saradananda,Ramakrishnananda (Sashi), Advaitananda (Gopal), Shiv-ananda (Tharak) and Abhedananda (Kali Maharaj)resided, under the leadership of Vivekananda, renouncingeverything, in a small house near the tomb of Parama-hamsa in Baranagore, leading a life of strict discipline.They spent their lives eating what they got, living withoutworries, contemplating on philosophy, researching differ-ent religions, singing, worshipping, meditating, learning,listening, and teaching the greatness and wisdom ofGurudev to the visitors.

A devotee, Surendra Nath Mitra (Suresh) helped them lib-erally, according to their needs. The mission at Baranagorehas become the famous Belur Mutt now, due to his efforts.The householder’s friends like Ram, Balaram, Mahendraand Girish came quite often to the meetings and helpedthem as much as possible. The disciples wore a small pieceof saffron cloth. When going out they wore a longer saf-fron cloth at the waist and another on the shoulders. Theylived on alms; cooked rice and greens were enough forthem. They concentrated their minds on nurturing thesoul and serving the teacher. They shared the same needsas our teacher, keeping their souls as their only compan-ion and wandering around our sacred land.

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At night, they lit the camp fire. Sitting around it, they med-itated, sang and talked about the glory of their teacher.

This group of people went to Antpur at the request of themother of Premananda. They took the vow to live likeChrist, doing true service to humanity. Ramakrishanandacooked food for all like a mother. In Baranagore, there isan urn with Paramahamsa’s bones in front of his portrait.Disciples sit in front of this and sing devotional songs.

2. One who renounces completely

Pure happinessThe flame lighting on its ownPersonification of truth, Aum – true teacher!

Oh, the consort of Uma, bestower of spiritual powers toThe followers, pursuing the path ofDevotion, knowledge and action.

To rescue our mind fromGetting destroyed,Grant us the boon of holding your lotus feet!

Oh, God, let your spiritual playInduce happiness everywhereGrowing day by day in this world!

Vivekananda – Hail to the great teacher! What is our grat-itude to the kind teacher who loves us more than amother? Only these – pure renunciation, contented soul,meditation, discipline and spreading his life and gospelsin the world! The children of Paramahamsa, our teacherthough dead lives among us still! Let us use every atom of

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our body for the service of our teacher, who was born withall the glorious qualities of such great people as Buddha,Jesus Christ, Mohammed Nabi, Chaithanya and AdiShankara combined. Let us seek God enthusiastically, likeVivekanandam.

All: Respected sir, can’t we too accompany you?

Vivekananda: The soul is an independent object; I toowant to wander independently for some time in spiritualhappiness; this is the call of God. You too travel to differ-ent places as you like, resolving to beg to survive. Let uswander like Buddha, Shankara and Jesus Christ, witheverlasting joy!

All: Sir, please bless us with good counsel; let it be a fer-vent teaching about the path of renunciation!

Vivekananda: Renunciation is unique, great; oh, ascetics,give up resolves, rituals, bother of living and likes and dis-likes; find God everywhere; look into yourself realising,‘I’m the Self’; have inner strength wherever you go; drinkthe wisdom springing from pure hearts; keep your heartspure, making sure the desire for wealth and arrogance donot touch them, wandering freely in the pure, bright, cos-mic space. Remove bondages, like happiness, sadness, thedesire for wealth, power, women, good and evil, iron orgold, all are ties only; all have to be cut down; those con-trolling desires are the true warriors. One wins the worldby conquering oneself. Those who sow will reap a harvest.Do not confuse your mind with the concept of good andevil! Know thyself, oh ascetic, you are a free soul beyondthe confines of all human qualities. Proclaim loudly, ‘Aumthat is existent’. Remove the difference of outlook between

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genders; be resolute that ‘I’m a Self which is neither manor woman’! Only Self exists; it is its own companion;remove all other bondages; Self has no name or shape.Illusion is the imagination of Self; it creates names andshapes; do not imprison your Self by getting trapped inillusory vacuum! Search for the true Self by concentratinginside yourself; do not waste your time searching in booksand temples! All those ties like desire, fear, earth, heaven,the ultimate release from life, the pleasure of enjoyment,love of one’s body, lust, anger, miserliness and infatuationshould be shaken off; leave the body to act on its own!Accept praise as well as criticism with equanimity! Do notkeep anything for yourself! You do not need a home, aprison actually, for yourself; you are better to roam like aspiritual lion in the home of the world with sky as roof; letyour life be lived like the free flowing, clear waters of theRiver Ganges! Oh ascetic, do not heed to the praises or tothe censure of others! You first attain spiritual happinessand then, help others to realise it; remove the darkness ofignorance by lighting up the flame of knowledge! You leada life of such detachment as long as you are alive; ‘you areme’, ‘I’m he’, ‘I’m me’ – realise this! Oh ascetic friends, letus go now!

All: (Sing )

Oh, pure free man, our preceptor,A flame of spiritual bliss

We have lighted the flame of everlasting peace;Putting attachments with roots in the fire.

We have dismissed illusions as dreams;Donned the garb of asceticism brightly;

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Your loving friendship removed selfishness from ourhearts;Learnt the truth of ‘Aum! It is in existence’

Vivekananda: Let us take leave now.Aum! I’m Self, Brahmaivaham.

3. Meditation at Kanyakumari (1892)

(Vivekananda, after wandering all over India as a sage,holding a stick and a begging bowl in hand, arrives atKanyakumari at last. He contemplates, looking at theIndian Ocean and plans in his mind of making a journeyto western countries to spread the religion of Vedanta).

Scene of meditation

For a wandering ascetic, the land he walks is a book; he isan encyclopaedia of experiences! Now, I have reachedKanyakumari! Oh! My teacher, my ascetic resolution hasended. How many visions appear before me? How manylearned men’s friendship? How have I wandered withoutfear, holding the begging bowl, reciting, ‘Narayana Hari’and subsisting on the alms? Is it not the dream of asceti-cism kindled in me by my preceptor?

In Benaras, where Buddha and Shankara imparted knowl-edge once, I met the great sage, Thrilinga Paramahamsa;in Sarnath, I sat with determination at the place whereBuddha explained his Dharma Chakra Pravarthana Sutra.

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Part two

The Story of our Independence(Namathu Suthanthira Kathai)

1. Our India

The struggle for freedom, which started in 1847, ended in1947. (It was in the year 1847 that Nana Sahib and Ali Mul-lah Khan joined together in Brahmavartha (now the nameof the city is Bithoor in Uttar Pradesh in India) and vowedto work for Indian independence and started to amass warweapons and an army. Ali Mullah travelled to Europe andeven went to Russia to get arms). In these hundred yearsthe sacrificial flames burnt brightly. So many great peoplegave up their lives in this flame. We are reaping the bene-fits of their great sacrifices.

India is not merely a land; it means a sacred land wheregreat people live.

Great benevolence for the world flourishes in IndiaAll religions converge together in bright IndiaThose who are oppressed get refuge in pure IndiaIndia, a heaven on earth − live long!Great India!

2. Land of wisdom

India is a land of wisdom, of the upright and just. BhagavadGita, Gita and Thirukkural were born here. This country

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attained great glory among the nations of the world. Theflag of Tamil kings flew high until the time of Ashoka.

3. We lost freedom

Then the flag mast was shaken. The land became dividedagain. There were divisions, infighting and differences.Today one was king, tomorrow another. Every kingdemarcated his kingdom, became arrogant and greedy,attacked other countries and created chaos. This becamechronic during the reign of Prithviraj. His enemy Jay-achandra turned into a traitor and invited MohammedGori to help him fight against Prithviraj. On that day itselfIndia’s freedom was jeopardised, the country was looted,its honour ravished. With the help of sword and arson thealien powers subjugated India.

4. Decline of society

Along with the loss of faith in Vedas, the society too crum-bled. Society became just a skeleton; there was no soulinside; rituals increased, caste dominated and there wasnothing to bind the conflicting elements. Where only oneancient religion existed, various divisions cropped up,caste divisions increased; even normal social intercourseamong people of different castes became difficult. Hindusociety was thus completely destroyed. It was easy for theMuslims who had physical might and a disciplined reli-gious order to rule over the weakened India. All theMughal kings, Allauddin Khilji, Babur, Humayun,

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Mughal Emperor Akbar, Jehangir and Aurangazeb ruledIndia with a strong hand. Islam spread over India duringtheir reign. Among these kings only Akbar and Dara hadtolerance towards Hindu religion. They gave equalrespect to Quran and Upanishad. Hindus were reduced to alowly place in society and were subjected to pay specialtaxes too.

But Indian blood did not remain sleeping for long.Through brave persons like Rana Prathap Singh, DurgaDas, Shivaji and Guru Gobind Singh, it rebelled and thestruggle for independence started. The alien rule wasabolished soon by their bravery. These efforts left deepscars in the society. Many Hindus were converted to theMuslim religion. They now started to consider Hindus astheir enemies and wanted a separate nation for them-selves, so Pakistan was created. But in actual fact Hindusand Muslims have so much in common; they could havelived on as one people. The Muslim culture too encour-aged fine arts, and music. The Government introducedchanges; helped Hindi language to grow and become thenational language. The Muslim culture has been assimi-lated in our society.

5. Illusion

The British first started as a trading company in India;then slowly took root with religious conversions; grew upusing the divisions among the native rulers, prosperedwith trickery and ultimately hoisting their flag, the UnionJack, firmly in the Indian soil with the backing of their

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mother country. Though we had gained much from Eng-lish rule − a rich international language to communicatewith the outside world, and many modern inventions thatallow access to today’s world, our culture and natural tal-ents were completely destroyed. English rule made usslaves; a dead people walking on earth. All our treasureswere robbed and transported to alien countries by rail,ship and air. While Indians suffered from famine and star-vation and became weak and perished, the aliens becameprosperous using our wealth and enslaved us further.Railways, telegraph, ship, suits, hat, and English educa-tion, all these are superficial. Our culture and arts wereslowly eroded, eaten away by the alien culture and thecountry began to die slowly.

6. The independence struggle

The great patriot Nana Sahib came to the forefront to savethe country from this state. He brought together Hindusand Muslims, amassed huge quantities of arms by send-ing patriots secretly around the country, then started towage a unique war against the colonisers. Even soldiersfrom the south took part in this war. The war erupted likea volcano and frightened the British. But soon the eventstook the usual turn. Traitors abetted with the aliens andthe struggle of patriots was crushed. If the Sikhs andZamindars had not helped the British and stayed on theside of Nana Sahib, the English rule would have come toan end even then. Nana Sahib , Rani Laxmi Bai, TatyaTope, Kunwar Singh, Ahmed Maulvi, Mulla Sahib, Bha-hadur Shah − all these patriots of the time should be hon-

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oured in the annals of world history. They sacrificed theirlives for duty and the country.

7. Growth of evil

After this, the dream of independence became a prey torepression. Though the edict of Queen Victoria claimedthat all citizens were equal, in reality Indians were treateddifferently from the British. Indians were mere slaveswhile the British were their masters and rulers; no one wasleft with any doubt about this. Other religions started tospread rapidly. Many Indians became infatuated withwhite man’s culture. Many evils spread in the Hindu soci-ety − caste divisions, religious intolerance, widows’ suffer-ings, destruction of inner wisdom and a craze for English,neglect of mother tongue etc.

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