Yuva Bharati June 2005 3
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YUVA BHARATI JUNE 2005 3 INVOCATION YUVA BHARATI Vol. XXXII No.11 A Vivekananda Kendra Publication VOICE OF YOUTH Editorial - P. Parameswaran 05 Founder Editor B.Nivedita Swami Ranganathanandaji 08 MANANEEYA EKNATHJI Fire Ordeal Dr.K.Subrahmanyam 12 RANADE Editor Veeranganas of S.India N.Krishnamoorti 15 P. PARAMESWARAN Harischandra the Embodiment Prof.N.Gangadharan 19 Gita for the Youth Ch.Sathyanarayana Murthy 21 Editorial Office 5, Singarachari Street As the King, So the People 24 Triplicane Chennai - 600 005. Fate and Freewill S.Balakrishnan 29 Swami Ranganathanandaji Dr.M.Lakshmikumari 34 Ph:(044) 28440042 28442843 Akshaya Tritiya Narayanan 40 E m a i l : v k [email protected] www.vivekanandakendra.org Vivekananda Kendra Samachar - 42 Single Copy Rs. 7/- Crossword - 43 Annual Rs. 75/- For 3 yrs: Rs. 200/- Swadeshi Humour A Kendra Worker 44 Life (20 Yrs) Rs. 800/- (Plus Rs. 30/- for outstation Cheques) India wants the sacrifice of at least a thousand Swami Vivekananda of her young men - men, mind, not brutes. YUVA BHARATI JUNE 2005 5 EDITORIAL The Pope and the Sannyasin ithin a short span of less than a month had the courage to adopt a stand driving home a two great religious leaders of the world message loud and clear. Whave left us. Pope John Paul II, Head Probably no major journalist, politician or of the World Catholic Church passed away, and statesman has ever considered it worthwhile to H. H. Swami Ranganathanandaji, President of the compare or contrast the two events mentioned in Sree Ramakrishna Mutt and Mission, entered the beginning. Leave alone International media, Mahasamadhi on 25.04.2005. Hinduism is non- even the National media was reluctant and shy, if monolithic and has no sole supreme head not apologetic, in giving proper coverage to Swami comparable to Pope. Had it been otherwise, Ranganathanandaji’s Mahasamadhi and also Swami Ranganathanandaji by virtue of his projecting the great personality and priceless saintliness and scholarship would have occupied contribution which was only his legitimate due. the same position as Pope does for Christianity. Pope’s media coverage started long before his Incidentally, that points towards a crucially radical passing away and continued long after his difference between the two world religions. successor was elected. The entire world’s, Christianity, of which the Catholic church holds attention was on Vatican for weeks together. This unparalleled sway is as much a hierarchical, is in sharp contrast with the media treatment of monolithic, power-wielding institution, almost Swami Ranganathananda. similar to an autocratic state, is the world’s largest religious organization cutting across every country There is no wonder in it, and there is no need to and continent. Though Vatican is the smallest state get either excited about the one or worried about in the world, the Pope wields authority over a the other. Hinduism is a peaceful religion, poorly population of a hundred and ten crores of Catholics or not at all organized, wielding no political clout, in the world. The Pope is the head of a theocratic ruling no country or reigning over any transnational state with subjects loyal to him transnationally . empire, true to its understanding of religion and The clout is, that the Pope wields on account of spirituality. It does not rule over the minds of its his religion, a political authority which he wields followers or influences people outside its fold by in a manner which has no parallel in contemporary power or diplomatic manoeuvres. Swami history. No country in the world can afford to Vivekananda had said that the impact of Hinduism ignore the demise of a Pope or the election of his is like that of a flower blossoming at the touch of successor. This was once again brought to the the morning dew and spreading its fragrance limelight not only by the media coverage but also unseen and unheard but bringing to blossom the by the ceremony of the late Pope’s cremation fairest of flowers. This is in sharp contrast with attended by topmost dignitaries from every the Roman Catholic Church backed by the Roman country in the world, except China which is a class Empire whose military might enabled it to spread by itself. China with its huge population and in the far off corners. In Hinduism, spirituality has bludgeoning economic and political power alone a meaning and a value which is too subtle to be promoted by political and military power unlike YUVA BHARATI JUNE 2005 6 Christianity which promoted it over theological his Guru anointed him with the now familiar name empire followed by worldwide colonization. Swami Ranganathananda. Catholic Church and Hinduism are unlike each He made steady progress as a writer, as a other in certain vital respects. Hinduism has no speaker, and as an excellent communicator, tradition of officially bestowing sainthood on simultaneously digging his feet into traditional persons posthumously, nor has it a mechanism scholarship in the Hindu scriptures like the by which martyrdom is made a covetable ideal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the various other because right from Jesus Christ, the belief is that texts and also the Puranas and Ithihasas. the church is built on the strength of the martyr’s It did not take long for the country to recognize blood. These things have happened in the natural the erudite scholar, the skillful communicator and course in Hinduism.There is no dearth of saints of the ideal sannyasin- all rolled into one in the various shades of holiness and martyrs of personality of Swami Ranganathananda. unimaginable courage and commitment in the long history of Hinduism . These are not the outcome Apart from his academic contribution, he was a of any official policy; people discover, recognize great builder of institutions. At the time of the and honour such ones wherever and whenever partititon of the country, he was heading a great they are manifested. Before the heat and dust have center of the Mission at Karachi which was the settled down there is already a clamor from many focal point of spiritual seekers. quarters to bestow sainthood on the late Pope, He was also the founder of the internationally John Paul II. reputed Sree Ramakrishna Mutt in Delhi, where Vatican has inherited much of the tradition and also his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita and other the regalia of Roman empire, whereas Hindu scriptures were a perennial source of attraction spiritual movements continue to deliver their and inspiration for the intellectual elite of Delhi. message in a quite unostentatious way by personal It was Swamy Ranganathananda who set up the touch and living models. International Center, the Sree Ramakrishna Swami Ranganathanandaji embodied the very Institute of Culture at Golpark, Kolkata, which is spirit of Hinduism as exemplified by the great lives rendering enormous service to the cause of our of Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami culture and philosophy by way of lectures, Vivekananda. During the several decades of his publications, research and linguistic studies. earthly sojourn, he spent every moment of his life In Hyderabad the Swamiji built up a very in bringing out the Hindu spiritual values through prestigious center of the Ramakrishna Mutt which thought, word and deed. Born in a small village in continues to be a source for dissemination of the Kerala, not far away from Kalady, the birthplace spiritual wealth of India. of Adi Sankara, he was attracted by the Sree Swamy Ranganathananda was known as the Ramakrishna movement at a comparatively young spiritual ambassador of India all over the world. age. There is no country on which the Swamiji has not Immediately after matriculation, he came in contact left an indelible imprint of our religion and with the movement and left for the Bangalore philosophy, the culture and heritage of Bharath. centre of Sree Ramakrishna Mission. In due He had a wonderful style of delivering lectures, course, he was given initiation by Swami even on complicated philosophical themes, with Sivananda, a direct disciple of Sree Ramakrishna comfortable ease and fascinating fluency. He could Paramahamsa. engage the most sophisticated audience with the Through studious application of his sharp intellect incessant flow of his simple eloquence which and also by engaging in regular spiritual practices, astounded even great scholars and intellectuals. he gradually evolved into an all-round aspirant and YUVA BHARATI JUNE 2005 7 His tour all over the world brought him in contact His interpretation of ancient scriptures in the with great scientists like Julian Huxely and writers background of the modern development brought like Romain Rolland. him encomiums from great thinkers and scientists His correspondence with Julian Huxely will be of the West as well as the East. His intellect was remembered for all times because of the not shackled by blind orthodoxy. The freedom comparative approach to science and spirituality with which he explained ancient texts to meet which the Swamiji had effectively conveyed to the modern requirements was refreshingly original. great scientists on the basis of Vedanta Philosophy. This free and liberal intellectual approach made the Swamiji feel a little sad about the intellectual The Swamiji’s greatness and his unique bankruptcy of modern Indian elite who always contribution are a literary legacy which he has delight in borrowing western ideas . This feeling left for the posterity. He was a voluminous writer. was expressed by him on various occasions: “Pre- The four- volume publication, Eternal Values for independent India had more number of free a Changing Society, The Message of the intellectuals than Post-independent India which Upanishads, A Pilgrim Looks at the World, his lack in bold and original thinking”. He always used three volume commentary on the Bhagavad Gita to say that the nation can rise only in proportion and his insightful interpretation of the to the quality of its intelligentsia.