First of all Swami Vivekananda decided to visit prominent pilgrim centres to meet the religious heads, priests, the pilgrims and the people to gauge the depth of the religion at work at that grassroot level. At that point of time Swami Vivekananda was 27 years of age and in the pink of health. He had a muscular body and his face glowed. His dreamy eyes had hypnotic charm. In saffron robes and turban Vivekananda stood out in a crowd.
He visited pilgrim centres of Bihar and U.P. where he met religious scholars, priests, theologists, holy men and devotees. He talked to them about the primary concerns of common people, poverty, hunger and their exploitation by vested interests. He pleaded for the liberation of the masses from their suffering. To his shock swami Vivekananda found that the religion people were not at all bothered by the problems of the masses. For most of them it was not their business to worry their heads off for the wretched people.
In Kashi Swami Vivekananda stayed at the ashram of guru Dwarkadas who was a thinking man. There, he met brother Akhadanandaji who was a loved disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhansa who had made Kashi his home. He acted as a guide for Swami Vivekananda and showed him the places of interest. Swami found guru Dwarkadas’ own views very educative and enlightening. Otherwise the scene of Kashi was very depressing. Here religion was at its ugliest. The poor masses were being treated as fodder of the cannons of the upper class vested interests with the people of religion acting as their hatchetmen.
Disillusioned with Kashi, Swami Vivekananda went to Ayodhya, the birth place of Lord Rama. There also he interacted with the people of religion. They oversee orthodox but not as bigotic as the priests of Kashi and were not hyper-reactive to the reformist outlook of Vivekananda. Some were even mildly agreeable to Vivekananda.
In Vrindavana he met an enthusiastic character named Kala Babu who was mightily impressed with the knowledge of young Swami. Vivekananda visited all the places connected with events of Lord Krishna’s life.
His next stop was Hathras. The journey tired him and lay sprawled on a bench at the railway station. He had not arranged any place to stay or meet anyone in that town. Thus, he was in a fix. The station master noticed a saffron robed monk spread out on a bench reclining. He became curious and began conversation with the monk. In a few minutes the station master realised that he was not talking to an ordinary ascetic. He was so impressed that he invited the monk to be his guest. For the railway employee, Sharachandra it was going to be the watershed of his life.
Swami Vivekananda’s passionate appeal for spiritual revival of Indian society so deeply influenced Sharachandra that he resigned from his post and became the disciple of Vivekananda for life. In the real sense he was the first person to join his spiritual revival crusade. Sharachandra was duly renamed Brother Sadananda. Vivekananda took him to Varah monastery and introduced him into monkshood through proper rites. Sadananda served the Ramakrishna Paramhansa mission till his last breath and remained a trusted disciple of Vivekananda. His dedication was exemplary.
Vivekananda stayed in the monastery for a year. During this period he revised all the scriptures and other books available in the monastery. He analysed his experiences of the various pilgrim centres and did introspection.
Before leaving he streamlined the working of the monastery. He again went back to the real world to find the way to bring about the spiritual revival. First of all Swami Vivekananda paid a visit to Sharda Maa, the wife of late Ramakrishna Paramhansa who was still alive and lived in a village situated on the bank of Bhagirathi river. He wished to seek her blessings in his spiritual endeavour.
The very sight of her evoked a great feeling of reverence in Vivekananda. She was a saintly figure, the feminine dimension of Paramhansa. Vivekananda introduced himself and revealed his mission of spreading the spiritual message of Paramhansa. Sharda Maa was very happy at meeting her husband’s chosen disciple. She offered her good wishes and blessed Vivekananda.
Dullness of plains was not providing any inspiration to him. So, he decided to go to hills where there were some pilgrim centres besides the inspiring mountains, forests, snow and natural beauty.
Since ancient times hills and forests have nursed Hindu thoughts and philosophy and seasoned them. Countless theologists, writers, saints, sages and thinkers took shelter in the hill forests to clear their minds, polish and cut their thoughts and ideas into precious gems of wisdom.
Swami Vivekananda too wanted the hills to provide spiritual guidance to enable him to chart out his path with a clear vision focussed on the aim to realise the dream of Paramhansa. He visited the snow storm washed pilgrim spots of Kedarnath and Badrinath. Then, he descended on a small and quiet hill town of Almora. With the forests around and the views of snow capped peaks were soothing to the eye and peace giving to the mind. A religious merchant named Badri Sahai hosted his stay.
Taking walks on the serpentine hill paths walled up by greenery and snow peaks peeping yonder enchanted him. The salubrious climate served as a dessert in the nature’s menu. Swami Vivekananda felt perfectly contented in meditation in that lovely backdrop. But there was a drawback. He was becoming self-centred and introvert.
One day, he realised this folly. A man with a mission had no business in losing himself in spiritual self-indulgence. He retrieved himself from the contentment stupor. Escaping from the dreadful realities in the safety of the peace of the remote hills was a sin for a spiritual crusader.
He walked down through the hills. At Karna Prayag situated on the bank of Alaknanda, he met a famous disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, named Swami Turyananda. Many other followers were also there. Over the years Paramhansa had created a large number of followers who were living at various places. They all came to meet Vivekananda who all revered him being the successor of Paramhansa. Vivekananda held discussions with them on the subject of spiritualism, religion, their guru’s legacy and their duties. Vivekananda was still in a confused state. A clear plan of action was yet to crystalise in his mind. Those discussions were proving helpful. All of them stayed together and toured holding mobile seminar on spiritualism in the background of physical and social realities. Gradually a line of action was emerging in the mind of Swami Vivekananda. He decided to meet all the people of power, kings, Rajas, Nawabs and landlords to discuss with them the condition of the society and the country and try to arouse their conscience. The rulers controlled the minds of the people. For the same reason the crafty British had befriended them to extend their empire over the masses.
Having decided upon his line of action Vivekananda left the hills and reached Alwar railway station in the year 1891. His arrival was a known fact and in certain circles he was becoming a familiar name. There he was met by a gentleman named Lashkar who had come with a Muslim cleric. Mr. Lashkar wanted him to stay at his place. Vivekananda accepted the invitation. One Mr. Shambhunath happened to hear the talk of Swami Vivekananda there during his stay. He was so impressed that he persuaded Swamiji to stay with him for some days and hold proper discourses for the benefit of the people.
His boldly fresh interpretations of the scriptures and wise thoughts made a great impact. Swamiji’s outlook was pleasantly secular. Hindus and Muslims flocked to his discourses alike. In his view all the humans were brothers, the children of the same God. He opposed dividing humans in sections based on caste, creed or religion. Every native was the daughter or the son of the Indian soil, he said. The natural calamities poverty and hunger made no distinction between Hindus and Muslims. Hence, the people must join forces to fight the common enemies. Swami Vivekananda advised the people not to play in the hands of religious bigots.
His brave new thoughts became the talk of the town.
The King of Alwar, Raja Mangal Singh also heard about the unusual Swami in the town. He sent his Diwan to Vivekananda with an invitation for a meeting. When Swamiji arrived at the palace he was courteously welcomed.
The king talked to him for sometime to get the feel of the Swamiji’s thoughts and beliefs. Then, Raja remarked, “Swamiji, you are very learned and a man of wisdom. You are not like an orthodox priest or a Brahmin yet your believe in idol worship. That makes no sense. I have no faith in idols. I don’t hide this fact. For this shall I be condemned?’’
Vivekananda smiled, “No Raja Saheb. You have the right to have your beliefs. To tell you the truth, I too personally don’t believe in idol worship. But I believe in human faith and its trust in idols.”
Raja and the people present could not get it clearly. They wanted it explained comprehensively. Some of the people had heard the stories of Vivekananda dancing before the goddess idols in Dakshineshwara following in the footsteps of Ramakrishna Paramhansa. But here he was denying his faith in idols. Was Vivekananda also a double talking and double faced person like other preachers, some wondered?
Vivekananda looked at the Diwan and asked, “Would you please take that portrait of Raja Mangal Singh off the wall and bring it to me?”
The puzzled Diwan looked at Raja in confusion. His master nodded in approval. Diwan took down the portrait and took it to Vivekananda with great respect. Swamiji put the portrait down on the floor with face up. Then, he said to, “Diwanji! Spit on the portrait.”
The Diwan appeared shocked. So were others. Raja had his eye brows arched. There was pin drop silence in the court.
At last, the Diwan protested, “No, I won’t do that.”
Swami Vivekananda addressed the others, “Now, Diwanji won’t do it. Will anyone of you come forward and spit on the portrait?”
The silence prevailed in the court. No one moved or spoke. Someone said, “How can anyone do such a thing? No one would even dream of it.”
Swami Vivekananda said, “That proves my point. We all know that in reality this portrait is nothing but canvass paper having some painting colours brushed on it to appear like Raja Mangal Singh’s face. It is no living person. No one wants to spit on it because it represents Raja saheb. Doing so would mean showing disrespect to him. In the same way an idol made of stone or metal becomes representative of God and worshippable when one puts faith in it. Otherwise it is just stone or a lump of metal. The faith is what matters. That’s why I said that I did not believe in idols. But I do believe in the faith invested in it.”
Everyone was amazed at the brilliant explanation given by Swami with illustrative example. Now no one was in doubt that in Vivekananda there was a scholarly Swami of great wisdom. Raja Mangal Singh was overwhelmed.
He said, “Swamiji, you are no ordinary person. I can see that. You have cleared my doubts in a very comprehensive manner. I apologize for questioning your faith and sincerity. I will be grateful if you extend your stay at Alwar and be may guest. We are eager to have the benefit of your thoughts, and wisdom.”
Vivekananda obliged. Now he was having a continuous stream of visitors. And his plan of action was rolling.
The most positive thing was that the youth were getting attracted to him. He wanted to win over the youth to awaken them to their duty to the society and the nation. In his spiritual crusade the youth could prove the propelling power. Vivekananda was able to recruit many youth in his spiritual force as his followers to begin with. Many of them wanted to accompany Vivekananda when he moved on. He asked them to stay back to work in their own area.
Vivekananda went on to Jaipur and Ajmer where he stayed at the house of a Muslim gentleman. The secretary of the Raja of Khetri, one day paid a visit. He was a narrow-minded communal person. He brashly poked a question, “Swami, you are a Hindu monk. Why are you staying at Muslim’s?”
Vivekananda said, “Because I believe in God and his omnipresence. A monk is trained to see Him in all human beings. I am staying with my brother who is another child of God. We are human beings first and other things after that.”
The secretary was shut up. He invited Vivekananda to Raja’s palace. The Raja wanted to meet Swamiji as he had heard a lot about him. Vivekananda was not keen. Raja personally came to see Swamiji.
He asked point blank, “Swamiji, can you tell me what is life?”
Swamiji replied, “Life is the inner power of a person that is relentlessly trying to manifest itself. Outer forces keep it pressing inwards to keep it trapped. This on going struggle is the life.”
No one had defined life in such terms to him. He had to admit that there was something very different and original about Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Vivekananda moved on. After visiting several places in Rajasthan and Gujarat he reached Porbandar where he stayed with Pandit Panduranga. Swamiji’s fame had preceded him. He was invited to speak at the palace of the king of Limbri.
Swami Vivekananda delivered a brilliant speech which was heard in great owe. His understanding of the Hindu philosophy was astonishing. Shankaracharya also heard about his speech and wished to meet him. Swamiji apprised him of his mission and sought his blessings.
One day, Pandit Pandurang said to Swamiji, “Viveka! I am convinced that you have the ability to bring about the spiritual revolution. The message of your heart deserves to be given to the mankind, the world. Our people are deaf and dumb to wise thoughts. You must spell your message to the west. They are broad and open minded people. If you make impression on them then our people also open their eyes and ears to you. You must go to the west in some way.”
Swami Vivekananda nodded his head. He had been thinking on the same lines. The mindset of Indian people was such that they followed the white people sheepishly. Anyone making mark in the west was obediently accepted in India.
In Baroda, he stayed with Diwan Mani Bhai for about 20 days during which he gave discourses and met several Rajas princes of Gujarat, Kathiawar and Bombay areas. He explained to them the plight of the masses, society and the country. Swamiji thought that their cooperation would be greatly helpful in making his mission a success.
Swamiji met Bal Gangadhar Tilak while going to Poona from Bombay by train. Their conversation brought them closer as their aim was one. Tilak was doing same thing on political level while Swamiji was working on spiritual level.
Swamiji stayed at Tilak Bhawan in Poona for several days and their confabulations continued. Upon resuming his journey, he reached Belgaum via Mahabaleshwar. He met Haripad Mishra who was a government employee working in the department of forests. He and his wife became Swamiji’s disciples. Swamiji also became very fond of them. One day Haripad brought the news that a World Conference on Religions was being organised in the Chicago city of USA.
Swami Vivekananda thought, “Perhaps this was the chance I was waiting for. I must not miss it.” He shared his thought with Haripad who became excited at the prospect.
How he was going to manage it was the question? Swamiji went to Mysore thinking and wondering about it. The king of Mysore gave enthusiastic welcome to Swamiji.
A meeting was arranged when Swamiji was to speak. His fame as new exponent of Hindu philosophy and scriptures had spread around. Everyone wanted to hear him because the thinking people had become sick of Hindu religion being touted by priests as divine formula of untouchability, caste systems, terrorising women, dowry and countless blind faiths. Swami Vivekananda’s sublime interpretation was like a breath of fresh air. The meeting was attended by pundits, scholars and theologists. His talk on Vedanta was deeply appreciated by all. He proved beyond any shadow of doubt that Hinduism was no exercise in narrow mindedness and that, infact, it was the religion of religions. After that speech even his detractors and critics became his admirers.
At night, the king went into the chamber where Swamiji was put up. He said, “Swamiji, your wisdom overwhelms me. I want to know if there is some way I could be useful to your mission.”
Vivekananda said, “Raja saheb, my mission is not for my own well being or achievement. My heart bleeds for the plight of the countrymen. Wherever I go stark poverty and hungry faces look at me. Our culture and thought is being reduced to a joke to the amusement of the aliens. The biggest tragedy is that we are ourselves doing it with bigotry and the narrow mindedness. We have reduced ourselves to being called by others as cowards, lazes, idiots and snake charmers. How can we redeem ourselves?”
The king quietly listened to the lament of Swamiji and remarked, “Swamiji, I will do whatever you say. Your mission is my mission now. Myself and all my wealth is at your disposal. Just order what you wish me to do?”
Swami Vivekananda smiled, “Raja Saheb, you are my dearest and sincere most friend. I know that you will give me anything I ask. But your sacrifice will not be enough to bring the material and mental change to the society. What is required is concerted effort, a systematic campaign.”
The king asked him about the exact plan he had in mind but Swamiji did not elaborate. He said, “The idea is still at embryonic stage. I will let you knew when it takes shape.”
The king assured Swamiji that he would finance his campaign and meet all his expenses of any endeavour he would take up. Swamiji thanked the king for his generosity but didn’t burden him with any immediate demand. He only asked for a ticket to Cochin.
Armed with an introduction letter from the king of Mysore, Swamiji reached Cochin and stayed at Trichur as the state guest. From there he reached Madurai visiting Malabar district and Trivandrum enroute.
At Madurai, he came in contact with Raja Bhaskar Setupati of Ramnad. Impressed with the knowledge and the wisdom of Vivekananda, he became an ardent follower of Swamiji. Swami Vivekananda had the chance to meet other rulers and the big wigs of the south India. He apprised them of his spiritual mission. The majority of them pledged their whole hearted support to him. Swami Vivekananda was fast growing in stature as the beacon of spiritual wisdom and leaving ever lasting impression on the people he came in contact with. He went to other places and won more admirers and made legions of followers.
At the sunset time of 1892, Swami Vivekananda walked on foot from Rameshwaram to Kanya Kumari, the southern tip of India.
Swamiji felt spiritually lifted at the sight of the sea. The setting sun rays were painting the rippling waves in golden and amber red colour presenting a fascinating picture. Impulsively, Swami Vivekananda climbed on a huge rock that extended into the sea and sat down to meditate. His eyes were closed but his inner vision had awoken that saw his country, India, free as a bird flying high singing merrily returning to its spiritual nest built on the tree of lofty thoughts rising from the rich soil of prosperity. Upon a cloud he could see his guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa dancing smiling down at him. His meditation was invaded by that dream and the dream was disturbed by roaring sea waves that beat against the rock sending up jets of water and clouds of vapours. Swami Vivekananda was drenched. Perhaps, the sea was waking him up to make up to the realities.
The dream he saw was yet a long way off. A lot needed to be done. He must cross the seas if the dream was to be realised. He made up his mind to go west to attend the Religions Conference to start his campaign. And for that he must take concrete steps without wasting time.
He returned to Ramnad and departed for Pondichery, a French colony in India. He contacted youth and gave them his message. The articulate Swami won the young folk and made followers.
Swami Vivekananda reached Madras, with a definite plan in his mind. There, he was met by his ardent disciple, Manmathnath Gupt. Madras was a city of educated people. His disciple introduced Swamiji to the intelligentsia, students, teachers, professors and scholars. Vivekananda presented to them his interpretation of Vedanta, Indian spiritual heritage and philosophy. It instantly earned him the admiration and love of the educated people. They fawned over him. He had emerged as a guru in true sense who could show others the new path and lead.
Professor Mudaliar of Christian College didn’t like it a bit. Educated people fawning over a silly saffron robed monk was something he could not digest. He never believed in orthodox nonsense and the spiritual blah-blah. For him all monks, sadhus and priests were plain frauds. So, he decided to expose Vivekananda by challenging him to a debate. Swami Vivekananda accepted.
The debate, to the surprise of Mr. Mudaliar revealed that Vivekananda was no ignorant monk. Infact, he was very intelligent, educated, modern erudite and creative mind. Vivekananda’s powerful arguments knocked the bottom out of Mr. Mudaliar’s points. After the debate Mr. Mudaliar himself became a follower of Swamiji. The incident put a stamp of authority on Swami Vivekananda’s new thoughts and interpretations. The entire educated class of Madras was now at the feet of Swami Vivekananda. He was indeed a modern sage of sublime India.
Swamiji confided to his admirers his wish to go to Chicago to attend the World Religions Conference. The idea was greatly liked by all because Vivekananda could show the world the sublime face of Indian philosophy. His followers at once got busy to make arrangements for his travel.
Swamiji paid a short visit to Hyderabad where a crowd of prominent persons and members of the Nizam family greeted him. His fame had spread like a wild fire. Young Swamiji was overwhelmed at the royal reception being accorded to him. He was a bit embarrassed and stood speechless as the crowd hailed him with slogans. A prominent figure moved forward and greeted Swamiji and introduced him with the distinguished personalities of Hyderabad. He was heavily garlanded and led in a procession to the bungalow of one Mr. Babu Madhusudan where the arrangements had been made to put him up. Later, he spoke at a meeting.
His address was liberally laced with quotes from Geeta, Koran and Bible which revealed that his wisdom was the essence of the good aspects of all religions. He also expressed his wish to attend the World Religions Conference of Chicago.
The Nizam of Hyderabad, Sir Khurshid Jang Bahadur praised the secular philosophy of Swamiji. He declared that no one deserved more than Vivekananda to attend the World Religions Conference as the true representative of India. He promised all possible help to Swamiji in his mission.
Swami Vivekananda gave ‘My message to the Western World’ lecture in Mehbob College of Hyderabad. It was admired and greatly praised by all for its sublime content and depth. He returned to Madras on 17th February, 1893. While he was in Hyderabad his admirers and followers had been busy doing ground work for his sea voyage. Swamiji received a letter from Raja Mangal Singh saying that he would bear the expenses of the travel of Swamiji. It was fantastic news. Raja’s meeting with Swami Vivekananda had proved lucky as he was blessed with a son.
As Swamiji took leave of his friends of Madras he was presented a purse of money that they had collected for his travel. It was a tidy sum. Swamiji thanked his well wishers.
At Khetri, Swamiji was royally received. The palace was in great festive mood celebrating the arrival of the prince. Raja was very happy to see Swamiji. The festivities continued. The date of Swamiji’s departure was also drawing near. Raja wanted a royal send off for Swami Vivekananda. But Swami had no use for pomp and show. So, he thanked the king for his kindness and asked for only bare essentials. The king forced silk robe and a turban on him which he must wear at the conference. Swamiji couldn’t refuse it. He reached Bombay accompanied by his admirer Jagmohan Lal at whose place he was to stay till boarding the ship and the remaining formalities were completed for the voyage.
On an America bound ship, a first class cabin was reserved for Swami Vivekananda. The ship was to sail on 31st May, 1893.
