1 TheVedanta Kesari October 2019 1 The Vedanta Kesari The Vedanta (Cover story p. 11) 1 A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly `15 October of the Ramakrishna Order since 1914 2019 2 Durga Puja at Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai Swami Vijnanananda and the Ramakrishna Order Swami Balabhadrananda An Important Educational Centre of the Chola Times Dr. Chithra Madhavan Regd. Off. & Fact. : Plot No.88 & 89, Phase - II, Sipcot Industrial Complex, Ranipet - 632 403, Tamil Nadu. Editor: SWAMI MAHAMEDHANANDA PRIVATE LIMITED Phone : 04172 - 244820, 651507, Published by SWAMI VIMURTANANDA, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai - 600 004 and (Manufacturers of Active Pharmaceutical Tele Fax : 04172 - 244820 Printed by B. Rajkumar, Chennai - 600 014 on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust, Chennai - 600 004 and Ingredients and Intermediates) E-mail : [email protected] Printed at M/s. Rasi Graphics Pvt. Limited, No.40, Peters Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 600014. Web Site : www.svisslabss.net Website: www.chennaimath.org E-mail: [email protected] 3 106th THE VEDANTA KESARI YEAR OF PUBLICATION A Cultural and Spiritual Monthly of The Ramakrishna Order OCTOBER Vol. 106, No. 10 2019 CONTENTS ISSN 0042-2983 ory St er ov C 11 Singing to the Divine: The Sopana Sangeetham of Kerala 36 Sulini V. Nair 17 Swami Vijnanananda and FEATURES Reminiscences of Sargachhi the Ramakrishna Order 7 Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra Swami Suhitananda Swami Balabhadrananda 8 Yugavani 9 Editorial An Important Educational 27 Vivekananda Way The Visual Portrayal of Centre of the Chola Times 40 Book Reviews Swami Vivekananda in Dr. Chithra Madhavan 47 Pariprasna American Media 49 What is Religion? Diane Marshall s ive 51 Topical Musings at rr a 52 The Order on the March N d e l l e 34 s 19 i h C Poorva: Magic, Miracles Hanuman, and the Mystical Twelve I’m Waiting for You Lakshmi Devnath Gitanjali Murari Po ck et T a le 31 25 s Editor: SWAMI MAHAMEDHANANDA Published by SWAMI VIMURTANANDA, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai - 600 004 and Printed by B. Rajkumar, Chennai - 600 014 on behalf of Sri Ramakrishna Math Trust, Chennai - 600 004 and Printed at M/s. Rasi Graphics Pvt. Limited, No.40, Peters Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 600014. Website: www.chennaimath.org E-mail: [email protected] TheVedanta Kesari Dear Readers, The Vedanta Kesari is one of the oldest cultural and spiritual magazines in the of the magazine, then called Brahmavadin, came out on 14 Sept 1895. Brahmavadin was runcountry. by one Started of Swamiji’s under the ardent guidance followers and supportSri Alasinga of Swami Perumal. Vivekananda, After his deaththe first in 1909issue the magazine publication became irregular, and stopped in 1914 whereupon the Ramakrishna Order revived it as The Vedanta Kesari. Swami Vivekananda’s concern for the magazine is seen in his letters to Alasinga Perumal where he writes: ‘Now I am bent upon starting the journal.’ ‘Herewith I send a hundred dollars…. Hope this will go just a little in starting your paper.’ ‘I am determined to see the paper succeed.’ ‘The October 2019 Song of the Sannyasin is my first contribution for your journal.’ ‘I 4 learnt from your letter the bad financial state that Brahmavadin is in.’ ‘It must be supported by the Hindus if they have any sense of virtue or gratitude left in them.’ ‘I pledge myself to maintain the paper anyhow.’ ‘The Brahmavadin is a jewel—it must not perish. Of course, such a paper has to be kept up by private help always, and we will do it.’ For the last 105 years, without missing a single issue, The Vedanta Kesari The Vedanta the magazine has been carrying the invigorating message of Vedanta with articles on spirituality, culture, philosophy, youth, personality development, science, holistic living, family and corporate values. Over the years, production and publication costs have gone up manifold. A non-commercial magazine like this can continue its good work only assistance of well-wishers. with the generous financial support and active Hence, we appeal to our readers and admirers of Swamiji to support us by donating to the following schemes: PATRONS Patrons Pragati Offset, Hyderabad ` 25,000 Dr. Subramaniyabharathiyar R., ` 10,000 Become a Patron of The Vedanta Kesari Kancheepuram & help us to meet the running cost by contributing every month ` 5,000/- & above PERMANENT FUND DONORS Girish Rao, Mumbai ` 10000 Permanent Fund Kana Chatterjee, Kolkata ` 5000 To establish the magazine on firm financial A Devotee of ` 2000 footing please contribute ` 1,000/- & above Sri Ramakrishna, Mumbai ` to the Permanent Fund. Chatterjee A K, Navi Mumbai 1000 Chandrachoodan Kathiresan, ` 1000 Madurai Murugaboopathy P, ` 1000 Sponsor a Page Tiruchirappalli Once a year, please sponsor one or more Ravi, Mysore ` 1000 pages of the magazine. We need around 600 Debdutto Mukherjee, Kolkata ` 1000 sponsors annually. Sponsorship for one page October 2019 in one issue: ` 1000/- OUTREACH DONORS 5 NAMES OF SPONSORS No. Outreach Gift R. Viswanathan, Chennai 4 To spread the message of Ramakrishna- reaching 2136 libraries.... Vivekananda-Vedanta, please gift The Vedanta Kesari to academic/public libraries & Contact details for Contributors: [email protected] influential personalities of your choice or Kesari The Vedanta Mob. 6374213070 those selected by us. Subscribers: [email protected] 4 Gift Subscriptions for 1 year: Rs 600/- Phone No. (044) 24621110 ECO-FRIENDLY Trees are the life-breath of VK for Students our world. To support environment To encourage noble conduct, we are offering conservation The Vedanta Kesari is printed a complimentary copy of VK to students (class on paper prepared mainly from sugarcane 10-12) when they manifest honesty, selfless- bagasse. ness, etc., in their daily school life. Teachers will every month choose a boy & a girl from their class to receive this Character Recognition gift. Please sponsor these gifts. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS For Physical copy subscription Rates Inclusive of Postage & a Special Issue & Free Digital copy visit Annual 3 yrs 5 yrs https://rkmath.in/thevedantakesari Download the Vedanta Kesari App India ` 175 ` 500 ` 900 free on your Android/Apple device Bangladesh Nepal ` 1200 ` 3500 * Sri Lanka Other Countries ` 2700 ` 8000 * * 5 yrs subscription only in India. PAYMENT DETAILS 1. You can send subscription payment/donations either by Cheque/DD/MO or Bank Transfer or Online Payment. 2. Cheque / DD / MO (through Speed Post) in favour of: ‘Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai’ Postal Address: Sri Ramakrishna Math, # 31, Ramakrishna Math Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004. 3. Bank Transfer in India: October 2019 Name of the Bank : United Bank of India Name of the Branch : R.K. Math Road, Chennai - 4 6 Name of the Account : Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai S/B. Account Number : 1511010100001 Bank Code No. : 600027009 IFSC : UTBI0SRM842 {here ‘0’ is zero} Swift Code : UTBIINBBMBS of UBI 4. Donate Online: https://donations.chennaimath.org 5. After any donation please e-mail transaction details to : [email protected] The Vedanta Kesari The Vedanta a) In the e-mail / covering letter please mention purpose of payment: VK Subscription / VK Patron / VK Permanent Fund / VK Sponsor a Page / VK Outreach Gift / VK for Students. b) Kindly mention your postal address and contact number. c) Please give your PAN Number for donations `10,000 and above. d) All donations are exempt from Income Tax under section 80G of the [Indian] I.T.Act, 1961. You can subscribe to The Vedanta Kesari from any month. On your address slip, the number on the left of the first line is your subscription number. Always mention this in your correspondence. If you do not receive your copy by the 15th of a month, please intimate us. Complaints reaching us before this or after one month (two months for overseas subscriptions) of posting of the journal are not entertained. Only one complaint copy will be sent in a year. Subscribers facing irregular postal delivery can choose Registered Parcel by paying additional `36/- per issue or opt for digital copy (pdf). Dakäiëàmùrti Stotra Sri Shankaracharya Verse 10 सर्픾त㔮तरम㔮मि स्굁टीकृिम㔮दं यस㔮्द㔮ुष्㔮ंसिरे िेन्सय श्ररण्त्तदर픾㔮नन्द् धय्न्च्च स敍ीि픾न्ि् । सर्픾त㔮तर㔮ह्मरभूमिसमहिं सय्दीश्वरतरं सरिः मसद्धेत्तत्ुनरष्टध् ्ररणिं चैश्वय픾㔮वय्हि㔮् ॥ १० ॥ 10. Since the principle of Universal 1 has been revealed in this hymn, therefore, by listening2 3 on its meaningSelfhood as also by meditating4 on it and singing5 it, the attainment to it and of reflecting identity with , together with the great power6 of being the Universal Self, comes about automatically.7 Also,Īśvara the unobstructed power8 that manifests October 2019 itself in eight (different) ways,9 is obtained. Notes: 7 1. That all the j vatm s are really Param tm , the one Supreme Self. ī ā 2. By ā ā teacher, not only the text but also its meaning and purport.śravaṇa; listening from a competent PAGE SPONSOR : KUM. V. DHARSHANI HARI, CHENNAI HARI, DHARSHANI V. KUM. : SPONSOR PAGE The Vedanta Kesari The Vedanta 4. By nididhy sana or making the mental waves take the form of the Universal Self. 3. By manana; by intense logical thinking. 5. Even a mere verbal repetition will have an effect. One commentator interprets the ā word ‘saṅkīrtanāt’ as ‘samyak parebhyaḥ kathanāt’—‘by expounding it to others’. 6. Compared to the other yogic powers, this is ‘great’ power. In fact, this is the greatest power since all other powers automatically follow as indicated in the last line. 7. No special effort to get it is needed. The Self is already there, and always. When the obstacles are removed it is automatically manifested. 8. The siddhis of an ordinary yogi, who has not yet attained the knowledge of , may get exhausted or disappear or even harm him. But the siddhis of the man possessing tma-jñ na are inexhaustible and infallible. Ātman Ā ā 9.