The Lion’s Roar

Arise, Awake……! The voice that eternally blows the trumpets from the innermost depth of my heart – Swami Vivekananda’s (Swamiji as I call him) Roar, his life and teachings continue to inspire me and countless many lives seeking inner strength and the raison d’etre.  

As I set forth to retrace my school days, a vivid memory of his fascination engulfs me, know not what – his persona radiated fire, his words carried tremendous will and an indomitable spirit. Motivation came in from those who have seen him, heard him and sat at his feet with devotion, such as the below –

Which of us who heard him then can ever forget what soul memories were stirred within us when we heard the ancient message of India — “Hear ye, Children of Immortal Bliss, even ye who dwell in higher spheres. I have found the Ancient One, knowing whom alone ye shall he saved from death over again.” Or the story of the lion and the sheep. Blessed Truth! In spite of your bleating, your timidity, your fear, you are not the sheep, you are and always have been the lion, powerful, fearless, the king of beasts. It is only an illusion that is to be overcome. You are THAT now. With these words came a subtle force or influence that lifted one into a purer and rarer atmosphere.

SISTER CHRISTINE (Extracted from REMINISCENCES OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA)

I am tempted to mention few more of these compilations describing his personality –

His appearance was one whose walk expressed dignity and whose general bearing showed majesty, like one who owns everything and desires nothing

H. J. VAN HAAGEN

His brilliant eyes, his charming voice with the lilt of a slight well-bred Irish brogue. his warm smile! It’s a memory I have never forgotten. He [Swamiji] had the most extraordinary, magnetic personality.

CORNELIA CONGER

There was something about that presence – that you couldn’t take your eyes off of him, and he fascinated   you.  As he sat in his chair, his   head   was   the   most   perfect   that   I   had   ever   seen, and   it   was   perfectly   poised, and power seemed to emanate from him. I was fascinated. He looked like a living   Buddha.   He   looked   entirely   different   from   any   living personality I had ever seen. He rose to speak, and the voice was extraordinary.   It was mellow, resonant, but of great purity.  As he spoke, veils just seemed to fall from your eyes, because he gave you an entirely different impression of personality. He   gave you an entirely different impression as he was speaking of the relationship of the individual   to   the   Divinity.   I remember that as I looked at him it seemed to me there was an ocean of consciousness in back of him, and in some way, there was no limit to his personality. His awareness was in a vision within.

LILLIAN MONTGOMERY

How I wished to know more about Swamiji himself, thinking only a divine being will have the power to transform lives. So started my tryst to uncover his life. I distinctly remember an instance where he says — “I am indebted to my mother for the efflorescence of my knowledge.” In him we find Fearlessness (Abhih), Strength, Truthfulness, and Belief in his Convictions paramount even as a child.

Little did I know then that his words will become my true friend, my companion, and my guide in realizing the very purpose of life. “Thoughts of Power” was one such booklet on Swamiji ideas which I still hold close to my heart, its power to transform character – “Being and Becoming”. A sure sense of strength and vigor impregnated me as I navigated through the powerful lines of the booklet. The perspective towards life was changing for the better. As I entered my higher education, got introduced to Ramakrishna Vivekananda Literature. The most compelling food for my soul came in the form of “Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”, a power-house of wisdom unfolded before me as it were, waiting to be read, meditated upon, it was all Upanishads and Practical Vedanta pouring out from the very depths of his consciousness. My association with Ramakrishna Order was like a God-sent grace feeding me with the exact guidance, clarity of understanding on both secular and spiritual fronts. For that, I shall ever remain indebted to the revered monks and nuns (Women’s Wing) of the order. Swamiji’s ideas and words started to work its way through me shaping my thoughts and character. Reading them became an integral part of my daily routine.  Upanishads he spoke, he lived!  Swami Ranganathanandaji at one place said – “Swamiji words pierces into the very fabric of humanity like thunderbolt of million watts”.

What pride did Swamiji endured to be an Indian, a Hindu!  His faith was in the younger generation ‘out of them will come my workers’. His love towards motherland knew no bounds, in his own words –

“Feel, my children, feel; feel for the poor, the ignorant, the downtrodden; feel till the heart stops and the brain reels and you think you will go mad; then pour the soul out at the feet of the Lord, and then will come power, help and indomitable energy.” (CW: 4.3.16)

How vividly I remember my collegiate days with the above lines on Swamiji’s poster in my room! The pain he felt for the suffering humanity was surreal, only a heart who feels can have just an inkling of the LOVE he had for the suffering humanity, the “Daridranarayana” – the pariahs. In his later life, in a memorable letter (to Mary Hale, July 9th 1897) he exclaimed, “May I be born again and again and suffer thousands of miseries so that I may worship the only God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls: and, above all, my God the wicked, my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races, of all species, is the special object of my worship.” (CW: 5.1.78).

Noble and charitable thoughts surged within me as I read and contemplated more and more of Swamiji ideas!  The possessive feeling of “My Swamiji” sublimed to “Our Swamiji”, nay “Swamiji of the World”! His life and teachings were universal, rather eternal. He once said: “I have given enough to thinking humanity for 1500 years.” So true! Unfathomable was his love and surrender to his Guru Sri Ramakrishna, his love and compassion for his monastic brothers, fellow beings and suffering humanity!

Amidst the greatest of his teachings was the fun, humor and joy reading his letters to American disciples. An addiction that continues to be a treasure trove of inspiration.

His voice still reverberates like the Lion’s Roar amidst the hustle-bustle madness of the world, stirring up the Vedantic ideas and inspiring me to achieve the Goal.

Hereby, I leave the readers with few inspirational words of Swami Vivekananda to ponder, encouraging them to read, reflect and assimilate the wonderful gift – “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”

• “To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean”, says the persevering soul; “at my will mountains will crumble up”. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.” (CW: 1.3.6)
• “One of the greatest lessons I have learnt in my life is to pay as much attention to the means of work as to its end.” (CW: 2.1)
• “Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is reached. (CW: 6.4.56; Katha Upanishad 1.3.14, Yama to Nachiketa – उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत)

I prayerfully submit myself at the feet of this God (Lord Shiva – Murta Maheshwara, Our Swamiji), who walked the earth some 160 years ago.  About the motive of the actions of such personages only this can be said: “Lokavattu Lilakevalyam – Everything they do like men, simply by way of sport”. (Brahma-Sutras, II.I.33).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anupama Purohit, initiated from the Ramakrishna Order lineage, remain a devotee and a Vedanta Student. She had pursued her Engineering degree from Kota (Rajasthan) and has worked in telecom domain for more than 29 years across India, Europe and USA.

REFERENCES:

1. Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda
2. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
3. Thoughts of Power
4. Thus Have I Heard – Article by Swami Chetanananda

                                                                                                                                                                               Stay tuned here for more Vedantic thoughts “The Lion’s Roar.”