The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 5/Conversations and Dialogues/VI - X Shri Priya Nath Sinha
VI
Reminiscences—The Problem of Famines in India and Self-Sacrificing Workers—East and West—Is it Sattva or Tamas—A Nation of Mendicants—The "Give and Take" Policy—Tell a Man his Defects Directly but Praise his Virtues Before Others—Vivekananda Everyone may Become—Unbroken Brahmacharya is the Secret of Power—Samadhi and Work
[Shri Priya Nath Sinha]
Our house was very close to Swamiji's, and since we were boys of the same section of the town, I often used to play with him. From my boyhood I had a special attraction for him, and I had a sincere belief that he would become a great man. When he became a Sannyasin we thought that the promise of a brilliant career for such a man was all in vain.
Afterwards, when he went to America, I read in newspapers reports of his
lectures at the Chicago Parliament of Religions and others delivered in
various place, of America, and I thought that fire can never remain hidden
under a cloth; the fire that was within Swamiji had now burst into a flame;
the bud after so many years had blossomed.
After a time I came to know that he had returned to India, and had been
delivering fiery lectures at Madras. I read them and wondered that such
sublime truths existed in the Hindu religion and that they could be
explained so lucidly. What an extraordinary power he had! Was he a man or a
god?
A great enthusiasm prevailed when Swamiji came to Calcutta, and we followed
him to the Sil's garden-house, on the Ganga, at Cossipore. A few days later,
at the residence of Raja Radhakanta Dev, the "Calcutta boy" delivered an
inspiring lecture to a huge concourse of people in reply to an address of
welcome, and Calcutta heard him for the first time and was lost in
admiration. But these are facts known to all.
After his coming to Calcutta, I was very anxious to see him once alone and
be able to talk freely with him as in our boyhood. But there was always a
gathering of eager inquirers about him, and conversations were going on
without a break; so I did not get an opportunity for some time, until one
day when we went out for a walk in the garden on the Ganga side. He at once
began to talk, as of old, to me, the playmate of his boyhood. No sooner had
a few words passed between us than repeated calls came, informing him that
many gentlemen had come to see him. He became a little impatient at last and
told the messenger, "Give me a little respite, my son; let me speak a few
words with this companion of my boyhood; let me stay in the open air for a
while. Go and give a welcome to those who have come, ask them to sit down,
offer them tobacco, and request them to wait a little."
When we were alone again, I asked him, "Well, Swamiji, you are a Sâdhu (holy
man). Money was raised by subscription for your reception here, and I
thought, in view of the famine in this country, that you would wire, before
arriving in Calcutta, saying, 'Don't spend a single pice on my reception,
rather contribute the whole sum to the famine relief fund'; but I found that
you did nothing of the kind. How was that?"
Swamiji: Why, I wished rather that a great enthusiasm should be stirred up.
Don't you see, without some such thing how would the people be drawn towards
Shri Ramakrishna and be fired in his name? Was this ovation done for me
personally, or was not his name glorified by this? See how much thirst has
been created in the minds of men to know about him! Now they will come to
know of him gradually, and will not that be conducive to the good of the
country? If the people do not know him who came for the welfare of the
country, how can good befall them? When they know what he really was, then
men—real men—will be made; and when will be such men, how long will it
take to drive away famines etc. from the land? So I say that I rather
desired that there should be some bustle and stir in Calcutta, so that the
public might be inclined to believe in the mission of Shri Ramakrishna;
otherwise what was the use of making so much fuss for my sake? What do I
care for it? Have I become any greater now than when I used to play with you
at your house? I am the same now as I was before. Tell me, do you find any
change in me?
Though I said, "No, I do not find much change to speak of", yet in my mind I
thought, "You have now, indeed, become a god."
Swamiji continued: "Famine has come to be a constant quantity in our
country, and now it is, as it were, a sort of blight upon us. Do you find in
any other country such frequent ravages of famine? No, because there are men
in other countries, while in ours, men have become akin to dead matter,
quite inert. Let the people first learn to renounce their selfish nature by
studying Shri Ramakrishna, by knowing him as he really was, and then will
proceed from them real efforts trying to stop the frequently recurring
famines. By and by I shall make efforts in that direction too; you will
see."
Myself: That will be good. Then you are going to deliver many lectures here,
I presume; otherwise, how will his name be preached?
Swamiji: What nonsense! Nothing of the kind!
Has anything left undone by which his name can be known? Enough has been
done in that line. Lectures won't do any good in this country. Our educated
countrymen would hear them and, at best, would cheer and clap their hands,
saying, "Well done"; that is all. Then they would go home and digest, as we
say, everything they had heard, with their meal! What good will hammering do
on a piece of rusty old iron? It will only crumble into pieces. First, it
should be made red-hot, and then it can be moulded into any shape by
hammering. Nothing will avail in our country without setting a glowing and
living example before the people. What we want are some young men who will
renounce everything and sacrifice their lives for their country's sake. We
should first form their lives and then some real work can be expected.
Myself: Well, Swamiji, it has always puzzled me that, while men of our
country, unable to understand their own religion, were embracing alien
religions, such as Christianity, Mohammedanism, etc., you, instead of doing
anything for them, went over to England and America to preach Hinduism.
Swamiji: Don't you see that circumstances have changed now? Have the men of
our country the power left in them to take up and practice true religion?
What they have is only pride in themselves that they are very Sâttvika. Time
was when they were Sattvika, no doubt, but now they have fallen very low.
The fall from Sattva brings one down headlong into Tamas! That is what has
happened to them. Do you think that a man who does not exert himself at all,
who only takes the name of Hari, shutting himself up in a room, who remains
quiet and indifferent even when seeing a huge amount of wrong and violence
done to others before his very eyes, possesses the quality of Sattva?
Nothing of the kind, he is only enshrouded in dark Tamas. How can the people
of a country practice religion who do not get even sufficient food to
appease their hunger? How can renunciation come to the people of a country
in whose minds the desires for Bhoga (enjoyment) have not been in the least
satisfied? For this reason, find out, first of all, the ways and means by
which men may get enough to eat and have enough luxuries to enable them to
enjoy life a little; and then gradually, true Vairâgya (dispassion) will
come, and they will be fit and ready to realise religion in life. The people
of England and America, how full of Rajas they are! They have become
satiated with all sorts of worldly enjoyment. Moreover, Christianity, being
a religion of faith and superstition, occupies the same rank as our religion
of the Purânas. With the spread of education and culture, the people of the
West can no more find peace in that. Their present condition is such that,
giving them one lift will make them reach the Sattva. Then again, in these
days, would you accept the words of a Sannyasin clad in rags, in the same
degree as you would the words of a white-face (Westerner) who might come and
speak to you on your own religion?
Myself: Just so, Swamiji! Mr. N. N. Ghosh[1] also speaks exactly to the same
effect.
Swamiji: Yes, when my Western disciples after acquiring proper training and
illumination will come in numbers here and ask you, "What are you all doing?
Why are you of so little faith? How are your rites and religion, manners,
customs, and morals in any way inferior? We even regard your religion to be
the highest!"—then you will see that lots of our big and influential folk
will hear them. Thus they will be able to do immense good to this country.
Do not think for a moment that they will come to take up the position of
teachers of religion to you. They will, no doubt, be your Guru regarding
practical sciences etc., for the improvement of material conditions, and the
people of our country will be their Guru in everything pertaining to
religion. This relation of Guru and disciple in the domain of religion will
for ever exist between India and the rest of the world.
Myself: How can that be, Swamiji? Considering the feeling of hatred with
which they look upon us, it does not seem probable that they will ever do
good to us, purely from an unselfish motive.
Swamiji: They find many reasons to hate us, and so they may justify
themselves in doing so. In the first place, we are a conquered race, and
moreover there is nowhere in the world such a nation of mendicants as we
are! The masses who comprise the lowest castes, through ages of constant
tyranny of the higher castes and by being treated by them with blows and
kicks at every step they took, have totally lost their manliness and become
like professional beggars; and those who are removed one stage higher than
these, having read a few pages of English, hang about the thresholds of
public offices with petitions in their hands. In the case of a post of
twenty or thirty rupees falling vacant, five hundred B.A.s and M.A.s will
apply for it! And, dear me! how curiously worded these petitions are! "I
have nothing to eat at home, sir, my wife and children are starving; I most
humbly implore you, sir, to give me some means to provide for myself and my
family, or we shall die of starvation! " Even when they enter into service,
they cast all self-respect to the winds, and servitude in its worst form is
what they practice. Such is the condition, then, of the masses. The
highly-educated, prominent men among you form themselves into societies and
clamour at the top of their voices: "Alas, India is going to ruin, day by
day! O English rulers, admit our country men to the higher offices of the
State, relieve us from famines" and so on, thus rending the air, day and
night, with the eternal cry of "Give" and "Give"! The burden of all their
speech is, "Give to us, give more to us, O Englishmen! " Dear me! what more
will they give to you? They have given railways, telegraphs, well-ordered
administration to the country—have almost entirely suppressed robbers,
have given education in science—what more will they give? What does anyone
give to others with perfect unselfishness? Well, they have given you so
much; let me ask, what have you given to them in return?
Myself: What have we to give, Swamiji? We pay taxes.
Swamiji: Do you, really? Do you give taxes to them of your own will, or do
they exact them by compulsion because they keep peace in the country? Tell
me plainly, what do you give them in return for all that they have done for
you? You also have something to give them that they have not. You go to
England, but that is also in the garb of a beggar—praying for education.
Some go, and what they do there at the most is, perchance, to applaud the
Westerner's religion in some speeches and then come back. What an
achievement, indeed! Why, have you nothing to give them? An inestimable
treasure you have, which you can give—give them your religion, give them
your philosophy! Study the history of the whole world, and you will see that
every high ideal you meet with anywhere had its origin in India. From time
immemorial India has been the mine of precious ideas to human society;
giving birth to high ideas herself, she has freely distributed them
broadcast over the whole world. The English are in India today, to gather
those higher ideals, to acquire a knowledge of the Vedanta, to penetrate
into the deep mysteries of that eternal religion which is yours. Give those
invaluable gems in exchange for what you receive from them. The Lord took me
to their country to remove this opprobrium of the beggar that is attributed
by them to us. It is not right to go to England for the purpose of begging
only. Why should they always give us alms? Does anyone do so for ever? It is
not the law of nature to be always taking gifts with outstretched hands like
beggars. To give and take is the law of nature. Any individual or class or
nation that does not obey this law never prospers in life. We also must
follow that law That is why I went to America. So great is now the thirst
for religion in the people there that there is room enough even if thousands
of men like me go. They have been for a long time giving you of what wealth
they possess, and now is the time for you to share your priceless treasure
with them. And you will see how their feelings of hatred will be quickly
replaced by those of faith, devotion, and reverence towards you, and how
they will do good to your country even unasked. They are a nation of heroes
—never do they forget any good done to them.
Myself: Well, Swamiji, in your lectures in the West you have frequently and
eloquently dwelt on our characteristic talents and virtues, and many
convincing proofs you have put forward to show our whole-souled love of
religion; but now you say that we have become full of Tamas; and at the same
time you are accrediting us as the teachers of the eternal religion of the
Rishis to the world! How is that?
Swamiji: Do you mean to say that I should go about from country to country,
expatiating on your failings before the public? Should I not rather hold up
before them the characteristic virtues that mark you as a nation? It is
always good to tell a man his defects in a direct way and in a friendly
spirit to make him convinced of them, so that he may correct himself—but
you should trumpet forth his virtues before others. Shri Ramakrishna used to
say that if you repeatedly tell a bad man that he is good, he turns in time
to be good; similarly, a good man becomes bad if he is incessantly called
so. There, in the West, I have said enough to the people of their
shortcomings. Mind, up to my time, all who went over to the West from our
country have sung paeans to them in praise of their virtues and have
trumpeted out only our blemishes to their ears. Consequently, it is no
wonder that they have learnt to hate us. For this reason I have laid before
them your virtues, and pointed out to them their vices, just as I am now
telling you of your weaknesses and their good points. However full of Tamas
you may have become, something of the nature of the ancient Rishis, however
little it may be, is undoubtedly in you still—at least the framework of
it. But that does not show that one should be in a hurry to take up at once
the role of a teacher of religion and go over to the West to preach it.
First of all, one must completely mould one's religious life in solitude,
must be perfect in renunciation and must preserve Brahmacharya without a
break. The Tamas has entered into you—what of that? Cannot the Tamas be
destroyed? It can be done in less than no time! It was for the destruction
of this Tamas that Bhagavân Shri Ramakrishna came to us.
Myself: But who can aspire to be like you, Swamiji ?
Swamiji: Do you think that there will be no more Vivekanandas after I die!
That batch of young men who came and played music before me a little while
ago, whom you all despise for being addicted to intoxicating drugs and look
upon as worthless fellows, if the Lord wishes, each and everyone of them may
become a Vivekananda! There will be no lack of Vivekanandas, if the world
needs them—thousands and millions of Vivekanandas will appear—from
where, who knows! Know for certain that the work done by me is not the work
of Vivekananda, it is His work—the Lord's own work! If one
governor-general retires, another is sure to be sent in his place by the
Emperor. Enveloped in Tamas however much you may be, know all that will
clear away if you take refuge in Him by being sincere to the core of your
heart. The time is opportune now, as the physician of the world-disease has
come. Taking His name, if you set yourself to work, He will accomplish
everything Himself through you. Tamas itself will be transformed into the
highest Sattva!
Myself: Whatever you may say, I cannot bring myself to believe in these
words. Who can come by that oratorical power of expounding philosophy which
you have?
Swamiji: You don't know! That power may come to all. That power comes to him
who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years, with the
sole object of realising God I have practiced that kind of Brahmacharya
myself, and so a screen has been removed, as it were, from my brain. For
that reason, I need not any more think over or prepare myself for any
lectures on such a subtle subject as philosophy. Suppose I have to lecture
tomorrow; all that I shall speak about will pass tonight before my eyes like
so many pictures; and the next day I put into words during my lecture all
those things that I saw. So you will understand now that it is not any power
which is exclusively my own. Whoever will practice unbroken Brahmacharya for
twelve years will surely have it. If you do so, you too will get it. Our
Shâstras do not say that only such and such a person will get it and not
others!
Myself: Do you remember, Swamiji, one day, before you took Sannyâsa, we were
sitting in the house of—, and you were trying to explain the mystery of
Samâdhi to us. And when I called in question the truth of your words, saying
that Samadhi was not possible in this Kali Yuga, you emphatically demanded:
"Do you want to see Samadhi or to have it yourself? I get Samadhi myself,
and I can make you have it! " No sooner had you finished saying so than a
stranger came up and we did not pursue that subject any further.
Swamiji: Yes, I remember the occasion.
Later, on my pressing him to make me get Samadhi, he said, "You see, having
continually lectured and worked hard for several years, the quality of Rajas
has become too predominant in me. Hence that power is lying covered, as it
were, in me now. If I leave all work and go to the Himalayas and meditate in
solitude for some time, then that power will again come out in me."
VII
Reminiscences—Pranayama—Thought-Reading—Knowledge of Previous Births
A day or two later, as I was coming out of my house intending to pay a visit
to Swamiji, I met two of my friends who expressed a wish to accompany me,
for they wanted to ask Swamiji something about Prânâyâma. I had heard that
one should not visit a temple or a Sannyâsin without taking something as an
offering; so we took some fruits and sweets with us and placed them before
him. Swamiji took them in his hands, raised them to his head, and bowed to
us before even we made our obeisance to him. One of the two friends with me
had been a fellow-student of his. Swamiji recognised him at once and asked
about his health and welfare Then he made us sit down by him. There were
many others there who had come to see and hear him. After replying to a few
questions put by some of the gentlemen, Swamiji, in the course of his
conversation, began to speak about Pranayama. First of all, he explained
through modern science the origin of matter from the mind, and then went on
to show what Pranayama is. All three of us had carefully read beforehand his
book called Râja-Yoga.
But from what we heard from him that day about Pranayama, it seemed to
me that very little of the knowledge that was in him
had been recorded in that book. I understand also that what he said was not
mere book-learning, for who could explain so lucidly and elaborately all the
intricate problems of religion, even with the help of science, without
himself realising the Truth?
His conversation on Pranayama went on from half past three o'clock till half
past seven in the evening. When the meeting dissolved and we came away, my
companions asked me how Swamiji could have known the questions that were in
their hearts, and whether I had communicated to him their desire for asking
those questions.
A few days after this occasion, I saw Swamiji in the house of the late Priya
Nath Mukherjee at Baghbazar. There were present Swami Brahmananda, Swami
Yogananda, Mr. G. C. Ghosh, Atul Babu, and one or two other friends. I said,
"Well, Swamiji, the two gentlemen who went to see you the other day wanted
to ask you some questions about Pranayama, which had been raised in their
minds by reading your book on Raja-Yoga some time before you returned to
this country, and they had then told me of them. But that day, before they
asked you anything, you yourself raised those doubts that had occurred to
them and solved them! They were very much surprised and inquired of me if I
had let you know their doubts beforehand." Swamiji replied: "Similar
occurrences having come to pass many times in the West, people often used to
ask me, 'How could you know the questions that were agitating our minds?'
This knowledge does not happen to me so often, but with Shri Ramakrishna it
was almost always there."
In this connection Atul Babu asked him: "You have said in Raja-Yoga that one
can come to know all about one's previous births. Do you know them
yourself?"
Swamiji: Yes, I do.
Atul Babu: What do you know? Have you any objection to tell?
Swamiji: I can know them—I do know them—but I prefer not to say anything
in detail.
VIII
The Art and Science of Music, Eastern and Western
It was an evening in July 1898, at the Math, in Nilambar Mukerjee's
garden-house, Belur. Swamiji with all his disciples had been meditating, and
at the close of the meditation came out and sat in one of the rooms. As it
was raining hard and a cold wind was blowing, he shut the door and began to
sing to the accompaniment of Tânpurâ. The singing being over, a long
conversation on music followed. Swami Shivananda asked him, "What is Western
music like?"
Swamiji: Oh, it is very good; there is in it a perfection of harmony, which
we have not attained. Only, to our untrained ears, it does not sound well,
hence we do not like it, and think that the singers howl like jackals. I
also had the same sort of impression, but when I began to listen to the
music with attention and study it minutely, I came more and more to
understand it, and I was lost in admiration. Such is the case with every
art. In glancing at a highly finished painting we cannot understand where
its beauty lies. Moreover, unless the eye is, to a certain extent, trained,
one cannot appreciate the subtle touches and blendings, the inner genius of
a work of art. What real music we have lies in Kirtana and Dhrupada; the
rest has been spoiled by being modulated according to the Islamic methods.
Do you think that singing the short and light airs of Tappâ songs in a nasal
voice and flitting like lightning from one note to another by fits and
starts are the best things in the world of music? Not so. Unless each note
is given full play in every scale, all the science of music is marred. In
painting, by keeping in touch with nature, you can make it as artistic as
you like; there is no harm in doing that, and the result will be nothing but
good. Similarly, in music, you can display any amount of skill by keeping to
science, and it will be pleasing to the ear. The Mohammedans took up the
different Râgas and Râginis after coming into India. But they put such a
stamp of their own colouring on the art of Tappa songs that all the science
in music was destroyed.
Q. Why, Mahârâj (sir)? Who has not a liking for music in Tappa?
Swamiji: The chirping of crickets sounds very good to some. The Santâls
think their music also to be the best of all. You do not seem to understand
that when one note comes upon another in such quick succession, it not only
robs music of all grace, but, on the other hand, creates discordance rather.
Do not the permutation and combination of the seven keynotes form one or
other of the different melodies of music, known as Ragas and Raginis? Now,
in Tappa, if one slurs over a whole melody (Raga) and creates a new tune,
and over and above that, if the voice is raised to the highest pitch by
tremulous modulation, say, how can the Raga be kept intact? Again, the
poetry of music is completely destroyed if there be in it such profuse use
of light and short strains just for effect. To sing by keeping to the idea,
meant to be conveyed by a song, totally disappeared from our country when
Tappas came into vogue. Nowadays, it seems, the true art is reviving a
little with the improvement in theatres; but, on the other hand, all regard
for Ragas and Raginis is being more and more flung to the winds.
Accordingly, to those who are past masters in the art of singing Dhrupada,
it is painful to hear Tappas. But in our music the cadence, or a duly
regulated rise and fall of voice or sound, is very good. The French detected
and appreciated this trait first, and tried to adapt and introduce it in
their music. After their doing this, the whole of Europe has now thoroughly
mastered it.
Q. Maharaj, their music seems to be pre-eminently martial, whereas that
element appears to be altogether absent in ours.
Swamiji: Oh, no, we have it also. In martial music, harmony is greatly
needed. We sadly lack harmony, hence it does not show itself so much. Our
music had been improving steadily. But when the Mohammedans came, they took
possession of it in such a way that the tree of music could grow no further.
The music of the Westerners is much advanced. They have the sentiment of
pathos as well as of heroism in their music, which is as it should be. But
our antique musical instrument made from the gourd has been improved no
further.
Q. Which of the Ragas and Raginis are martial in tune?
Swamiji: Every Raga may be made martial if it is set in harmony and the
instruments are tuned accordingly. Some of the Raginis can also become
martial.
The conversation was then closed, as it was time for supper. After supper,
Swamiji enquired as to the sleeping arrangements for the guests who had come
from Calcutta to the Math to pass the night, and he then retired to his
bedroom.
IX
The Old Institution of Living with the Guru—The Present University System—Lack of Shraddha—We have a National History—Western Science Coupled with Vedanta—The So-called Higher Education—The Need of Technical Education and Education on National Lines—The Story of Satyakama—Mere Book-Learning and Education under Tyagis—Shri Ramakrishna and the Pandits—Establishment of Maths with Sadhus in Charge of Colleges—Text-Books for Boys to be Compiled—Stop Early Marriage!—Plan of Sending Unmarried Graduates to Japan—The Secret of Japan's Greatness—Art, Asian and European—Art and Utility—Styles of Dress—The Food Question and Poverty.
It was about two years after the new Math had been constructed and while all
the Swamis were living there that I came one morning to pay a visit to my
Guru. Seeing me, Swamiji smiled and after inquiring of my welfare etc.,
said, "You are going to stay today, are you not?"
"Certainly", I said, and after various inquiries I asked, "Well, Mahârâj,
what is your idea of educating our boys?"
Swamiji: Guru-griha-vâsa—living with the Guru.
Q. How?
Swamiji: In the same way as of old. But with this education has to be
combined modern Western science. Both these are necessary.
Q. Why, what is the defect in the present university system?
Swamiji: It is almost wholly one of defects. Why, it is nothing but a
perfect machine for turning out clerks. I would even thank my stars if that
were all. But no! See how men are becoming destitute of Shraddhâ and faith.
They assert that the Gita is only an interpolation, and that the Vedas are
but rustic songs! They like to master every detail concerning things and
nations outside of India, but if you ask them, they do not know even the
names of their own forefathers up to the seventh generation, not to speak of
the fourteenth!
Q. But what does that matter? What if they do not know the names of their
forefathers?
Swamiji: Don't think so. A nation that has no history of its own has nothing
in this world. Do you believe that one who has such faith and pride as to
feel, "I come of noble descent", can ever turn out to be bad? How could that
be? That faith in himself would curb his actions and feelings, so much so
that he would rather die than commit wrong. So a national history keeps a
nation well-restrained and does not allow it to sink so low. Oh, I know you
will say, "But we have not such a history!" No, there is not any, according
to those who think like you. Neither is there any, according to your big
university scholars; and so also think those who, having travelled through
the West in one great rush, come back dressed in European style and assert,
"We have nothing, we are barbarians." Of course, we have no history exactly
like that of other countries. Suppose we take rice, and the Englishmen do
not. Would you for that reason imagine that they all die of starvation, and
are going to be exterminated? They live quite well on what they can easily
procure or produce in their own country and what is suited to them.
Similarly, we have our own history exactly as it ought to have been for us.
Will that history be made extinct by shutting your eyes and crying, "Alas!
we have no history!" Those who have eyes to see, find a luminous history
there, and on the strength of that they know the nation is still alive. But
that history has to be rewritten. It should be restated and suited to the
understanding and ways of thinking which our men have acquired in the
present age through Western education.
Q. How has that to be done?
Swamiji: That is too big a subject for a talk now. However, to bring that
about, the old institution of "living with the Guru" and similar systems of
imparting education are needed. What we want are Western science coupled
with Vedanta, Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and also Shraddhâ and faith
in one's own self. Another thing that we want is the abolition of that
system which aims at educating our boys in the same manner as that of the
man who battered his ass, being advised that it could thereby be turned into
a horse.
Q. What do you mean by that?
Swamiji: You see, no one can teach anybody. The teacher spoils everything by
thinking that he is teaching. Thus Vedanta says that within man is all
knowledge—even in a boy it is so—and it requires only an awakening, and
that much is the work of a teacher. We have to do only so much for the boys
that they may learn to apply their own intellect to the proper use of their
hands, legs, ears, eyes, etc., and finally everything will become easy. But
the root is religion. Religion is as the rice, and everything else, like the
curries. Taking only curries causes indigestion, and so is the case with
taking rice alone. Our pedagogues are making parrots of our boys and ruining
their brains by cramming a lot of subjects into them. Looking from one
standpoint, you should rather be grateful to the Viceroy[2] for his
proposal of reforming the university system, which means practically
abolishing higher education; the country will, at least, feel some relief by
having breathing time. Goodness gracious! What a fuss and fury about
graduating, and after a few days all cools down! And after all that, what is
it they learn but that what religion and customs we have are all bad, and
what the Westerners have are all good! At last, they cannot keep the wolf
from the door! What does it matter if this higher education remains or goes?
It would be better if the people got a little technical education, so that
they might find work and earn their bread, instead of dawdling about and
crying for service.
Q. Yes, the Marwaris are wiser, since they do not accept service and most of
them engage themselves in some trade.
Swamiji: Nonsense! They are on the way to bringing ruin on the country. They
have little understanding of their own interests. You are much better,
because you have more of an eye towards manufactures. If the money that they
lay out in their business and with which they make only a small percentage
of profit were utilised in conducting a few factories and workshops, instead
of filling the pockets of Europeans by letting them reap the benefit of most
of the transactions, then it would not only conduce to the well-being of the
country but bring by far the greater amount of profit to them, as well. It
is only the Kabulis who do not care for service—the spirit of independence
is in their very bone and marrow. Propose to anyone of them to take service,
and you will see what follows!
Q. Well, Maharaj, in case higher education is abolished, will not the men
become as stupid as cows, as they were before?
Swamiji: What nonsense! Can ever a lion become a jackal? What do you mean?
Is it ever possible for the sons of the land that has nourished the whole
world with knowledge from time immemorial to turn as stupid as cows, because
of the abolition of higher education by Lord Curzon?
Q. But think what our people were before the advent of the English, and what
they are now.
Swamiji: Does higher education mean mere study of material sciences and
turning out things of everyday use by machinery? The use of higher education
is to find out how to solve the problems of life, and this is what is
engaging the profound thought of the modern civilised world, but it was
solved in our country thousands of years ago.
Q. But your Vedanta also was about to disappear?
Swamiji: It might be so. In the efflux of time the light of Vedanta now and
then seems as if about to be extinguished, and when that happens, the Lord
has to incarnate Himself in the human body; He then infuses such life and
strength into religion that it goes on again for some time with irresistible
vigour. That life and strength has come into it again.
Q. What proof is there, Maharaj, that India has freely contributed her
knowledge to the rest of the world?
Swamiji: History itself bears testimony to the fact. All the soul-elevating
ideas and the different branches of knowledge that exist in the world are
found on proper investigation to have their roots in India.
Aglow with enthusiasm, Swamiji dwelt at length on this topic. His health was
very bad at the time, and moreover owing to the intense heat of summer, he
was feeling thirsty and drinking water too often. At last he said "Dear
Singhi, get a glass of iced water for me please, I shall explain everything
to you clearly." After drinking the iced water he began afresh.
Swamiji: What we need, you know, is to study, independent of foreign
control, different branches of the knowledge that is our own, and with it
the English language and Western science; we need technical education and
all else that may develop industries So that men, instead of seeking for
service, may earn enough to provide for themselves, and save something
against a rainy day.
Q. What were you going to say the other day about the tol (Sanskrit boarding
school) system?
Swamiji: Haven't you read the stories from the Upanishads? I will tell you
one. Satyakâma went to live the life of a Brahmachârin with his Guru. The
Guru gave into his charge some cows and sent him away to the forest with
them. Many months passed by, and when Satyakama saw that the number of cows
was doubled he thought of returning to his Guru. On his way back, one of the
bulls, the fire, and some other animals gave him instructions about the
Highest Brahman. When the disciple came back, the Guru at once saw by a mere
glance at his face that the disciple had learnt the knowledge of the Supreme
Brahman.[3] Now, the moral this story is meant to
teach is that true education is gained by constant living in communion with
nature.
Knowledge should be acquired in that way, otherwise by educating yourself in
the tol of a Pandit you will be only a human ape all your life. One should
live from his very boyhood with one whose character is like a blazing fire
and should have before him a living example of the highest teaching. Mere
reading that it is a sin to tell a lie will be of no use. Every boy should
be trained to practice absolute Brahmacharya, and then, and then only, faith
—Shraddha—will come. Otherwise, why will not one who has no Shraddha
speak an untruth? In our country, the imparting of knowledge has always been
through men of renunciation. Later, the Pandits, by monopolising all
knowledge and restricting it to the tols, have only brought the country to
the brink of ruin. India had all good prospects so long as Tyâgis (men of
renunciation) used to impart knowledge.
Q. What do you mean, Maharaj ? There are no Sannyâsins in other countries,
but see how by dint of their knowledge India is laid prostrate at their
feet!
Swamiji: Don't talk nonsense, my dear, hear what I say. India will have to
carry others' shoes for ever on her head if the charge of imparting
knowledge to her sons does not again fall upon the shoulders Of Tyagis.
Don't you know how an illiterate boy, possessed of renunciation, turned the
heads of your great old Pandits? Once at the Dakshineswar Temple the
Brâhmana who was in charge of the worship of Vishnu broke a leg of the
image. Pandits were brought together at a meeting to give their opinions,
and they, after consulting old books and manuscripts, declared that the
worship of this broken image could not be sanctioned according to the
Shâstras and a new image would have to be consecrated. There was,
consequently, a great stir. Shri Ramakrishna was called at last. He heard
and asked, "Does a wife forsake her husband in case he becomes lame?" What
followed? The Pandits were struck dumb, all their Shâstric commentaries and
erudition could not withstand the force of this simple statement. If what
you say was true, why should Shri Ramakrishna come down to this earth, and
why should he discourage mere book-learning so much? That new life-force
which he brought with him has to be instilled into learning and education,
and then the real work will be done.
Q. But that is easier said than done.
Swamiji: Had it been easy, it would not have been necessary for him to come.
What you have to do now is to establish a Math in every town and in every
village. Can you do that? Do something at least. Start a big Math in the
heart of Calcutta. A well-educated Sâdhu should be at the head of that
centre and under him there should be departments for teaching practical
science and arts, with a specialist Sannyasin in charge of each of these
departments.
Q. Where will you get such Sadhus?
Swamiji: We shall have to manufacture them. Therefore, I always say that
some young men with burning patriotism and renunciation are needed. None can
master a thing perfectly in so short a time as the Tyagis will.
After a short silence Swamiji said, "Singhi, there are so many things left
to be done for our country that thousands like you and me are needed. What
will mere talk do? See to what a miserable condition the country is reduced;
now do something! We haven't even got a single book well suited for the
little boys."
Q. Why, there are so many books of Ishwar Chandra Vidyâsâgar for the boys!
No sooner had I said this than he laughed out and said: Yes, there you read
"Ishvar Nirakar Chaitanya Svarup"—(God is without form and of the essence
of pure knowledge); "Subal ati subodh bâlak"—(Subal is a very good boy),
and so on. That won't do. We must compose some books in Bengali as also in
English with short stories from the Râmâyana, the Mahâbhârata, the
Upanishads, etc., in very easy and simple language, and these are to be
given to our little boys to read.
It was about eleven o'clock by this time. The sky became suddenly overcast,
and a cool breeze began to blow. Swamiji was greatly delighted at the
prospect of rain. He got up and said, "Let us, Singhi, have a stroll by the
side of the Ganga." We did so, and he recited many stanzas from the
Meghaduta of Kâlidâsa, but the one undercurrent of thought that was all the
time running through his mind was the good of India. He exclaimed, "Look
here, Singhi, can you do one thing? Can you put a stop to the marriage of
our boys for some time?"
I said, "Well, Maharaj, how can we think of that when the Babus are trying,
on the other hand, all sorts of means to make marriage cheaper?"
Swamiji : Don't trouble your head on that score; who can stem the tide of
time! All such agitations will end in empty sound, that is all. The dearer
the marriages become, the better for the country. What a hurry-scurry of
passing examinations and marrying right off! It seems as if no one was to be
left a bachelor, but it is just the same thing again, next year!
After a short silence, Swamiji again said, "if I can get some unmarried
graduates, I may try to send them over to Japan and make arrangements for
their technical education there, so that when they come back, they may turn
their knowledge to the best account for India. What a good thing that would
be!"
Q. Why, Maharaj, is it better for us to go to Japan than to England?
Swamiji: Certainly! In my opinion, if all our rich and educated men once go
and see Japan, their eyes will be opened.
Q. How?
Swamiji: There, in Japan, you find a fine assimilation of knowledge, and not
its indigestion, as we have here. They have taken everything from the
Europeans, but they remain Japanese all the same, and have not turned
European; while in our country, the terrible mania of becoming Westernised
has seized upon us like a plague.
I said: "Maharaj, I have seen some Japanese paintings; one cannot but marvel
at their art. Its inspiration seems to be something which is their own and
beyond imitation."
Swamiji: Quite so. They are great as a nation because of their art. Don't
you see they are Asians, as we are? And though we have lost almost
everything, yet what we still have is wonderful. The very soul of the Asian
is interwoven with art. The Asian never uses a thing unless there be art in
it. Don't you knew that art is, with us, a part of religion? How greatly is
a lady admired, among us, who can nicely paint the floors and walls, on
auspicious occasions, with the paste of rice powder? How great an artist was
Shri Ramakrishna himself!
Q. The English art is also good, is it not?
Swamiji: What a stupid fool you are! But what is the use of blaming you when
that seems to be the prevailing way of thinking! Alas, to such a state is
our country reduced! The people will look upon their own gold as brass,
while the brass of the foreigner it gold to them! This is, indeed, the magic
wrought by modern education! Know that since the time the Europeans have
come into contact with Asia, they are trying to infuse art into their own
life.
Myself: If others hear you talk like this, Maharaj they will think that you
take a pessimistic view of things.
Swamiji: Naturally! What else can they think who move in a rut! How I wish I
could show you everything through my eyes! Look at their buildings—how
commonplace, how meaningless, they are! Look at those big government
buildings; can you, just by seeing their outside, make out any meaning for
which each of them stands? No, because they are all so unsymbolical. Take
again the dress of Westerners: their stiff coats and straight pants fitting
almost tightly to the body, are, in our estimation hardly decent. Is it not
so? And, oh, what beauty indeed, in that! Now, go all over our motherland
and see if you cannot read aright, from their very appearance, the meaning
for which our buildings stand, and hew much art there is in them! The glass
is their drinking vessel, and ours is the metal Ghati (pitcher-shaped);
which of the two is artistic? Have you seen the farmers' homes in our
villages?
Myself: Yes, I have, of course.
Swamiji: What have you seen of them?
I did not know what to say. However, I replied, "Maharaj, they are
faultlessly neat and clean, the yards and floors being daily well plastered
over".
Swamiji: Have you seen their granaries for keeping paddy? What an art is
there in them! What a variety of paintings even on their mud walls! And
then, if you go and see how the lower classes live in the West, you would at
once mark the difference. Their ideal is utility, ours art. The Westerner
looks for utility in everything, whereas with us art is everywhere. With the
Western education, those beautiful Ghatis of ours have been discarded, and
enamel glasses have usurped their place in our homes! Thus the ideal of
utility has been imbibed by us to such an extent as to make it look little
short of the ridiculous. Now what we need is the combination of art and
utility. Japan has done that very quickly, and so she has advanced by giant
strides. Now, in their turn, the Japanese are going to teach the Westerners.
Q. Maharaj, which nation in the world dresses best?
Swamiji: The Aryans do; even the Europeans admit that. How picturesquely
their dresses hang in folds! The royal costumes of most nations are, to some
extent, a sort of imitation of the Aryans,'—the same attempt is made there
to keep them in folds, and those costumes bear a marked difference to their
national style.
By the by, Singhi, leave off that wretched habit of wearing those European
shirts.
Q. Why, Maharaj?
Swamiji: For the reason that they are used by the Westerners only as
underwear. They never like to see them worn outside. How mistaken of the
Bengalis to do so! As if one should wear anything and everything, as if
there was no unwritten law about dress, as if there was no ancestral style
to follow! Our people are out-casted by taking the food touched by the lower
classes it would have been very well if the same law applied to their
wearing any irregular style of dress. Why can't you adapt your dress in some
way to our own style? What sense is there in your adopting European shirts
and coats?
It began to rain now, and the dinner-bell also rang. So we went in to
partake of the Prasâda (consecrated food) with others. During the meal,
Swamiji said, addressing me: "Concentrated food should be taken. To fill the
stomach with a large quantity of rice is the root of laziness." A little
while after he said again, "Look at the Japanese, they take rice with the
soup of split peas, twice or thrice a day. But even the strongly built take
a little at a time, though the number of meals may be more. Those who are
well-to-do among them take meat daily. While we stuff ourselves twice a day
up to the throat, as it were, and the whole of our energy is exhausted in
digesting such a quantity of rice!"
Q. Is it feasible for us Bengalis, poor as we are, to take meat?
Swamiji: Why not? You can afford to have it in small quantities. Half a
pound a day is quite enough. The real evil is idleness, which is the
principal cause of our poverty. Suppose the head of a firm gets displeased
with someone and decreases his pay; or out of three or four bread-winning
sons in a family one suddenly dies; what do they do? Why, they at once
curtail the quantity of milk for the children, or live on one meal a day,
having a little popped rice or so at night!
Q. But what else can they do under the circumstances?
Swamiji: Why can't they exert themselves and earn more to keep up their
standard of food? But no! They must go to their local Âddâs (rendezvous) and
idle hours away! Oh, if they only knew how they wasted their time!
X
The Discrimination of the Four Castes According to Jati and Guna—Brahmanas and Kshatriyas in the West—The Kula-Guru System in Bengal
Once I went to see Swamiji while he was staying in Calcutta at the house of
the late Balaram Basu. After a long conversation about Japan and America, I
asked him, "Well, Swamiji, how many disciples have you in the West?"
Swamiji: A good many.
Q. Two or three thousands?
Swamiji: Maybe more than that.
Q. Are they all initiated by you with Mantras?
Swamiji: Yes.
Q. Did you give them permission to utter Pranava (Om) ?
Swamiji: Yes.
Q. How did you, Mahârâj? They say that the Shudras have no right to Pranava,
and none has except the Brâhmins. Moreover, the Westerners are Mlechchhas,
not even Shudras.
Swamiji: How do you know that those whom I have initiated are not Brahmins?
Myself: Where could you get Brahmins outside India, in the lands of the
Yavanas and Mlechchhas?
Swamiji: My disciples are all Brahmins! I quite admit the truth of the words
that none except the Brahmins has the right to Pranava. But the son of a
Brahmin is not necessarily always a Brahmin; though there is every
possibility of his being one, he may not become so. Did you not hear that
the nephew of Aghore Chakravarti of Baghbazar became a sweeper and actually
used to do all the menial services of his adopted caste? Was he not the son
of a Brahmin?
The Brahmin caste and the Brâhmanya qualities are two distinct things. In
India, one is held to be a Brahmin by one's caste, but in the West, one
should be known as such by one's Brahmanya qualities. As there are three
Gunas—Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas—so there are Gunas which show a man to be
a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya or Shudra. The qualities of being a Brahmin or
a Kshatriya are dying out from the country; but in the West they have now
attained to Kshatriyahood, from which the next step is Brahminhood; and many
there are who have qualified themselves for that.
Q. Then you call those Brahmins who are Sâttvika by nature.
Swamiji: Quite so. As there are Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas—one or other of
these Gunas more or less—in every man, so the qualities which make a
Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, or Shudra are inherent in every man, more or
less. But at times one or other of these qualities predominates in him in
varying degrees, and it is manifested accordingly. Take a man in his
different pursuits, for example: when he is engaged in serving another for
pay, he is in Shudrahood; when he is busy transacting some piece of business
for profit, on his own account, he is a Vaishya; when he fights to right
wrongs, then the qualities of a Kshatriya come out in him; and when he
meditates on God or passes his time in conversation about Him, then he is a
Brahmin. Naturally, it is quite possible for one to be changed from one
caste into another. Otherwise, how did Vishvâmitra become a Brahmin and
Parashurâma a Kshatriya?
Q. What you say seems to be quite right, but why then do not our Pandits and
family-Gurus teach us the same thing?
Swamiji: That is one of the great evils of our country. But let the matter
rest now.
Swamiji here spoke highly of the Westerners' spirit of practicality, and
how, when they take up religion also, that spirit shows itself.
Myself: True, Maharaj, I have heard that their spiritual and psychic powers
are very quickly developed when they practice religion. The other day Swami
Saradananda showed me a letter written by one of his Western disciples,
describing the spiritual powers highly developed in the writer through the
Sâdhanâs practiced for only four months.
Swamiji: So you see! Now you understand whether there are Brahmins in the
West or not. You have Brahmins here also, but they are bringing the country
down to the verge of ruin by their awful tyranny, and consequently what they
have naturally is vanishing away by degrees. The Guru initiates his disciple
with a Mantra, but that has come to be a trade with him. And then, how
wonderful is the relation nowadays between a Guru and his disciple!
Perchance, the Guru has nothing to eat at home, and his wife brings the
matter to his notice and says, "Pray, go once again to your disciples, dear.
Will your playing at dice all day long save us from hunger?" The Brahmin in
reply says, "Very well, remind me of it tomorrow morning. I have come to
hear that my disciple so-and-so is having a run of luck, and, moreover, I
have not been to him for a long time." This is what your Kula-Guru system
has come to in Bengal! Priestcraft in the West is not so degenerated, as
yet; it is on the whole better than your kind!
——