The monk who rejected a Ferrari

Arindam Sarkar

 

Four years after its publication, the book is still going strong. In 2011, when the nation celebrated the 150^th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, Bengali author Shankar (Mani Shankar Mukherjee) released his book Obishwaswo Vivekananda. It is the second part of his trilogy that traces some very unknown facets of the life and times of Swami Vivekananda.

The first book of the trilogy is called Achena Ojana Vivekananda. "Both the books took more than five years of research and I am dumbfounded to discover so many hidden facts about this personality,” said the renowned author Shankar.

The monk whose Chicago speech created waves in Atlantic died unheard in Belur. Very few people had gathered that night when Swami Vivekananda breathed his last on July 4, 1902. There was no mention of death next day in newspapers and was carried the day after. Belur Municipality was not keen to the idea of Vivekananda being cremated in the temple premises and after hours of negotiations with the monks, they agreed.

"In fact, Vivekananda went to court against Belur Municipality for not declaring the land as Place of Worship. Instead they called it the Pleasure House of Narendranath Datta. Vivekananda won the case," said Shankar.

That he left his home at 23 and died at 39 as one of the world's most famous and erudite monks is a known fact. That he founded the Ramakrishna Mission is not unknown to anyone but very few know that the monk who did not own a Ferrari in his lifetime and rejected a Limousine to ride had left behind a worldwide charitable empire that is still working for the uplift of mankind with the same dedication that Swami Vivekananda had inculcated among his peers and successors.

In fact, Vivekananda's directives are still followed by the Ramakrishna Mission in running the organisation. Vivekananda strictly laid down that the money earmarked for a particular cause should be spent for that head alone. Everyone contributing in any form to the mission should get a receipt for it. Well-known auditors should audit the accounts of the mission and finally the monks should strictly beg and not force anyone to give them alms or clothes.

"Swami Vivekananda's life and times remain very popular among the people. There is immense curiosity. His complete works and other books published by Advaita Ashram are hugely sold. He is one of the best-selling authors of the country," Swami Bodhasarananda said after the book was published. The magazine started by Swami Vivekananda from Mayawati called Prabuddha Bharat is the oldest in the country and is being published uninterrupted.

Vivekananda was a voracious reader with a prodigious memory. He read various kinds of books and his favourite were the Upanishads, Gita and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis. He loved to eat and cook as well. It is said he was very fond of Illish and his favourite dish was Illish macher matha with pui shakh. It is said Vivekananda was first to propagate Bengali cuisine in USA and also attempted to start home delivery of Indian spices in New York.

A man of strong principle, Vivekananda rarely sort financial help for himself. His disciples came forward to fulfil his master Sri Ramakrishna's dream and helped Vivekananda to begin the famous charitable organisation Ramakrishna Mission. "Interestingly, no Bengali sponsored him. It was the Raja of Khetri who gave him all financial help for his travels abroad. He also begged money for his mother from him," said Shankar.

It is learnt that a Bengali doctor charged Vivekananda Rs 40 in 1898 for consultation after his return from USA. This amount today comes to nearly Rs 16,000. "Vivekananda was of poor health. He suffered from diabetes; he had a dilated heart and cardiac asthma. Few years before his death, he became very irritated. But he relentlessly worked till the last day," said Shankar.

However there are also sad sides in Vivekananda's life. His staunch disciples like Ms Henritta Mueller, who donated the Belur land to the swami, and Swami Abhayananda, the first monk disciple in USA, fell out with Vivekananda. But the real reason for this is still not known. Again, there were disciples like Swami Kalyanananda, who spent his whole life on Konkhol in Hardwar, serving the sick in a hospital as Vivekananda had desired.

It is discovered that the American doctors couldn't diagnose Swami Vivekananda’s illness. When Vivekananda was changing his ship at Colombo, a Sri Lankan doctor diagnosed him of suffering from diabetes. But it was too late.