Last 5 years of Swami Vivekananda

MESSAGE TO HIS COUNTRYMEN 

Enthusiasm reached its height at Madras. The city erected for him seventeen triumphal arches, presented him with twenty-four addresses in various languages, and suspended her whole public life at his arrival. Here he gave an eloquent utterance to his message to India in a series of magnificent lectures comprising ‘My Plan of Campaign”, “The Mission of Vedanta”, and “The Future of India.” “Each nation, like each individual”, he said, “has one theme in this life, which is its centre, the principal note with which every other note mingles to form the harmony. If any nation attempts to throw off its national vitality, the direction which has become its own through the transmission of centuries, that nation dies. In India religious life forms the centre, the keynote of the whole music of national life. Social reform has to be preached in India by showing how much more spiritual a life the new system will bring, and politics has to be preached by showing how much it will improve the one thing that the nation wants. its spirituality. Therefore before flooding India with socialistic or political ideas the land should first be deluged with spiritual ideas. The first work that demands our attention is that the most wonderful truths confined in our Upanishads, in our scriptures and Puranas, must be brought out from the books, the monasteries, and the forests and scattered broadcast over the land so that these truths many run like fire all over the country, from north to south, and east to west, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, from the Indus to the Brahmaputra.” 

“Ay, let every man and woman and child without respect of caste or birth, weakness or strength, hear and learn that behind the strong and the weak, behind the high and the low, behind everyone, there is that Infinite Soul, assuring the infinite possibility and the infinite capacity of all to become great and good. Let us proclaim to every soul: Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached. Arise, awake! Awake from this hypnotism of weakness. None is really weak; the soul is infinite, omnipotent, and omniscient. Stand up, assert yourself, proclaim the God within you, do not deny Him.” “It is a man-making religion that we want. It is man-making education all round that we want. It is man-making theories that we want. And here is the test of Truth: Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison; there is no life in it, it cannot be true. Truth is strengthening. Truth is purity, truth is all knowledge.” Give up weakening mysticisms, and be strong - the greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence.” 

While delivering this inspiring message to his countrymen the Swami was not oblivious of his duty to emphasize the need of uplifting the sunken millions from the slough of torpor and degradation. He struck a sharp note of warning to his compatriots and gave vent to his own ideal of patriotism in the following stirring words: “It is we who are responsible for all our degradation. Our aristocratic ancestors went on treading the common masses of our country underfoot, till they became helpless, till under this torment the poor people nearly forgot that they were human beings. They have been compelled to be merely hewers of wood and drawers of water for centuries. Feel, therefore, my would-be reformers, my would-be patriots! Do you feel? Do you feel that millions and millions of the descendants of gods and of sages have become next door neighbours to brutes? Do you feel that millions are starving today, and millions have been starving for ages? Do you feel that ignorance has come over the land as a dark cloud? Does it make you restless? Does it make you sleepless? Have you forgotten all about your name, your fame, your wives, your children, your property, even your own bodies? Have you done that? That is the first step to become a patriot - the very first step. Instead of spending your energies in frothy talk, have you found any way out, any practical solution, some help instead of condemnation, some sweet words to soothe their miseries, to bring them out of this living death? Yet, that is no all. Have you got the will to surmount mountain-high obstructions? If the whole world stands against you, sword in hand, would you still dare to do what you think right??If you have these three things, each one of you will work miracles.” 

“For the next fifty years, let all other vain gods disappear from our minds. This is the only God that is awake, our own race: everywhere His hands, everywhere His feet, everywhere His ears, He covers everything. All other gods are sleeping. What vain gods shall we go after and yet cannot worship the God that we see all round us - the Virat. The first of all worship is the worship of the Virat - of those all around us. These are our Gods - men and animals - and the first gods we have to worship are our own countrymen.” 

Bengal did not lag behind. She also vied with other provinces in giving a fitting reception to her favourite and distinguished son. Hardly had the Swami reached Calcutta when hundreds of people came to pay their personal respects to him and to hear his exposition of Vedanta. In the day-time he made his headquarters generally in the palatial building of Gopal Lal Seal at Baranagore and at night he stayed at the Math which was then at Alambazar. The City’s Address of Welcome took place on 28 February 1897, at the magnificent residence of Raja Sir Radhakanta Dev Bahadur at Shobhabazar. The meeting was presided over by Raja Binoy Krishna Dev Bahadur, who introduced the Swami as the foremost national figure in the life of India. There were present Rajas and Maharajas, Sannyasins, a group of distinguished Europeans, many well-known Pandits, illustrious citizens, and hundreds of college students. The speech which the Swami gave in reply to the address of welcome has become famous as a masterpiece of oratory and of fervent patriotism. During the Swami’s stay in Calcutta he was constantly visiting one devotee of Sri Ramakrishna or another. Many distinguished people, persons of various professions and callings as well as hundreds of enthusiastic youths used to come daily to the Seal garden. The questioners were invariably charmed with his knowledge and interpretation of the Shastras, and even great masters of philosophy and university professors were amazed at his genius. But his heart was with the educated, unmarried youths, with whom he was never tired of speaking. He was consumed with the desire of infusing his own spirit into them and to train some of the more energetic and religious among them, so that they might devote their lives to the salvation of their own souls and to the good of the world. He deplored their physical weakness, denounced early marriage, admonished them for their lack of faith in themselves and in their national culture and ideals. But all this was done with such unmistakable love and kindness that they became his staunchest disciples and followers. 

It goes without saying that the main interest of the Swami’s stay in Calcutta centred round the Alambazar monastery. No words can describe the joy of the monks when their beloved leader was with them again. Memories of the olden days were revived, the days with the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) and the innumerable experiences of the wandering life of everyone were recalled, and the Swami entertained his Gurubhais (brother-disciples) and the devotees of the Master with hundreds of tales and episodes of his life and work in the distant West. 

Of the Swami’s numerous achievements one of the greatest was the conversion of his Gurubhais from the individualistic to the universal idea of religious life in which public spirit and service to fellow-men occupied a prominent place. Up to this time the ideal of the monks of the Math was to strive for personal Mukti (liberation) and realization of the Supreme Atman by severe penance and meditation, remaining as much as possible aloof from the world, its cares and sorrows, in consonance with the old conception of monastic life. But with the appearance of the Swami among them a new order of things was inaugurated. He railed at them for their lack of faith in themselves and in the great mission of the Master, for their failure to organize themselves into an active body, and for their neglect in preaching the gospel of liberation to others. The age demanded, he said, that they should carry the new light unto others, that they themselves should show by their example how to serve the poor, the helpless, and the diseased, seeing God in them, and that they should inspire others to do the same. The mission of his life, he declared, was to create a new order of Sannyasins in India who would dedicate their lives to help and serve others. Thus the Swami interpreted his Master .s message in a new light, showing them that their supreme duty lay in the carrying on of the Master’s mission, the bringing about of a religious rejuvenation by raising the condition of the masses through loving service, and spreading the life-giving ideas of the Master over the entire world. Even while in the West he had conveyed to his Gurubhais this message again and again through his inspiring letters. Now, his personal presence and passionate appeals as also his brilliant exposition of his Master’s mission completely bore down all opposition and he electrified their imagination with the synthetic ideal which combined in it a life of renunciation and service .a course of strict moral discipline, contemplation, and study as also of self-dedication at the altar of humanity for the attainment of the highest goal of human existence. 

Out of their profound faith in their leader, his brother-disciples bowed their heads in acquiescence, knowing his voice to be the voice of their Master; all girded up their loins to do anything and to go anywhere, for the good of their fellow-beings at the bidding of the Swami. Swami Ramakrishnananda, who had never left the precincts of the Math for twelve years, went to Madras at the behest of Swami Vivekananda to open a centre there to propagate the teachings of the Vedanta in Southern India. Swamis Saradananda and Abhedananda had already gone to the West at the call of the Swami to help him in the work there. And full of the same spirit, Swami Akhandananda went to the district of Murshidabad to start famine relief work for the people dying from starvation in the villages. The other Gurubhais of the Swami were also ready to take up, as occasion demanded, any work of religious and philanthropic utility launched by him, or to further his ideas and plans of work in India and abroad. A brilliant group of young men inspired by the Swami’s life and teachings soon joined the Order and now gallantly stood by his side to sacrifice their lives for others, to provide the ignorant and the depressed masses with the ways and means for the struggle for existence and make them stand on their own feet, to preach the highest message of the scriptures to one and all. Gradually there came into existence the various monastic centres, Homes of Service, and the relief centres in times of plague, famine, and flood, under the charge and with the co-operation of his Gurubhais and his disciples. The Swami had long thought of bringing about a co-operative effort among the monastic and the lay disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, and of organizing in a systematic way the activities, both spiritual and philanthropic, of his Gurubhais. In response to the Swami’s intimation of his desire to hold a meeting for the purpose of founding an association, a representative gathering of all the monastic and lay disciples of Sri Ramakrishna took place at the house of a devotee.Balaram Bose.in the afternoon of 1 May 1897. With the unanimous consent of the assembled devotees an organization was formed under the name of the Ramakrishna Mission Association. 

The duty of the Mission would be to conduct in the right spirit the activities of the movement inaugurated by Sri Ramakrishna for the establishment of fellowship among the followers of different religions, knowing them all to be so many forms only of one underlying Eternal Religion. Its methods of action would be (1) to train men so as to make them competent to teach such knowledge or sciences as are conducive to the material and spiritual welfare of the masses; (2) to promote and encourage arts and industries; (3) to introduce and spread among the people in general Vedantic and other religious ideas in the way in which they were elucidated in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. It was further resolved that the activities of this Mission should be directed to the establishment of Maths and Ashramas in different parts of India for the training of Sannyasins and such of the householders as may be willing to devote their lives to educate others. Its work in the foreign department should be to send trained members of the Order to countries outside India to start centres there for the preaching of Vedanta in order to bring about a close relation and better understanding between India and foreign countries. 

A practical Vedantist, Swami Vivekananda wanted one and all to translate the Upanishadic doctrines into action in everyday life. The Swami himself practised the ideal in his own life; he flung himself whole-heartedly into the whirlpool of activity and thus inspired others to follow in his footsteps and render service to the suffering humanity even under the most trying circumstances. 

From May 1897 to January 1898, he went like a whirlwind through the historic cities of Northern India, sowing the seed with his characteristic boldness and zeal. Whether at Almora, Kashmir, and the Punjab, or at Khetri, Alwar, Ajmer, and other principal states of Rajputana . in every place the Swami was the recipient of spontaneous homage of his countrymen from the highest to the lowest. He mixed and talked as freely and intimately with the Rajas and Maharajas as with other sections of the Indian people - always placing before them the vital needs of their motherland. 

He was never tired of showing to his countrymen the value and significance of the culture they had inherited from their ancestors - a culture in comparison with which any other civilization, past or present, paled into insignificance - till their hearts throbbed at the very name of India. He clearly pointed out that Indian nationalism was to be based on the greatness of the past though various new ideas also had to be assimilated in the process of growth. If we have to be true to the genius of the race, if we have to appeal to the soul of the nation, we have to drink deep of the fountain of the past and then proceed to build the future. This heritage from the past, he pointed out, was essentially a religious heritage. The fundamental problem in India, therefore, was to organize the whole country round the spiritual ideal. By religion he meant the eternal life-giving principles as taught by the Shrutis and not the mass of superstitions and local customs, which are mere accretions requiring a weeding out with a strong hand. Above all, he showed that the nation depended upon the character and qualities of its individual members. On the strength of the individuals lay the strength of the whole nation. So each individual, he urged, if he desired the good of the country as a whole, should try, whatever might be his walk of life, to build character and acquire such virtues as courage, strength, and self-respect, and practice the national ideals of renunciation and service. 

IN THE COMPANY OF WESTERN AND EASTERN DISCIPLES

Having finished his lecture tour Swami Vivekananda returned to Calcutta about the middle of January 1898. The Math was transferred in February from Alambazar to Nilambar Mukherjee.s garden-house on the western bank of the Ganga in the village of Belur. For some time the Swami devoted himself to certain important aspects of his Mission - notably the training of his own disciples, both Eastern and Western, so as to enable them to carry into practice his plans for the regeneration of his motherland. His Western disciples had come to India at his call: Miss Margaret Noble at the end of January, to found in conjunction with Miss Henrietta F. Müller model institutions for the education of Indian women; Mrs. Ole Bull and Miss Josephine MacLeod in February. In March, Margaret Noble took the vow of Brahmacharya and the name of Nivedita, the Consecrated One. Vivekananda introduced her in warm terms to the Calcutta public as a gift of England to India. The training of these Western disciples was of momentous concern to the Swami as a spiritual teacher. Among the Western disciples he particularly chose Nivedita in whom he had great hope and trust; and as such, his illuminating discourses were mainly directed to her. The Swami was anxious that his Western disciples should make an impartial study of Indian problems. They were not only to see the glories, but also to have special and clear understanding of the problems of the land and to bring the ideals and methods of Western scientific culture to bear upon the task of finding a solution. 

The Swami then set out on a journey through India with a select group of his disciples. After a stay at Almora, were the Seviers were already established, and then after a journey to Kashmir up the river Jhelum through the Vale of Srinagar, the Swami undertook, at the end of July 1898, the great pilgrimage to the cave of Amarnath in the glacial gorge of the Western Himalayas. Only Sister Nivedita was permitted to accompany him to that holy place. On August 2, the day of the annual festival, they arrived at the sacred cave where there was the famous ice-Shiva. Behind the other pilgrims, Swami Vivekananda, trembling with emotion, entered the sanctuary in an almost semiconscious condition. A great mystical experience came to him. So saturated became his personality with the Presence of the Lord that for days afterwards he could speak of nothing but Shiva. the Eternal One, the Great Monk, rapt in meditation, aloof from all worldliness. Following the pilgrimage to Amarnath the Swami’s devotion concentrated itself on the Mother, and he was soon blessed with a wonderful vision of Kali the Divine Mother. While his vision was most intense he wrote “Kali the Mother” - a poem, where he is seen at his best. After this experience he retired alone abruptly on September 30 to the Coloured Springs of Kshir Bhavani where he practised severe austerities. He was found completely transfigured when he returned to his disciples after a few days. All thought of leader, worker, or teacher was gone. He was now only the Monk - in all nakedness of pure Sannyasa. So, he feelingly said to them, “It is all “Mother” now! All my patriotism is gone. Everything is gone. Now it is only “Mother, Mother”!” The party then came back to Lahore. The Swami’s health was so much undermined that he had to be brought back to Bengal by Swami Sadananda, who had hurried down from Almora after learning of the Swami.s poor health. 

They arrived at Belur, where the new monastery was under construction, in the month of October. The Swami, in spite of his failing health, resumed his old life with the monks and performed the consecrating ceremony of the monastery on December 9. From January 2, 1899, this place, now known as Belur Math, became the permanent headquarters of the monks of the Ramakrishna Order. Gathering together his disciples, the Swami began from now to impress on them the duties and responsibilities of their monastic life. Hours were spent in religious conversation; scriptures were read and commented upon; and strict regulations and monastic discipline were instituted along with spiritual and intellectual work for certain hours of the day. Addressing the disciples, the Swami would point out, “The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the divinity within. You fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. As soon as a man loses faith in himself, death comes. Believe first in yourself, and then in God. A handful of strong men will move the world. It is the salvation of others that you must seek; and even if you have to go to hell in working for others, that is worth more than to gain heaven by seeking your own salvation.” 

In spite of illness, the Swami continued with the organization of the Ramakrishna Mission with Swami Saradananda who had been called back from America for this work. He soon built up a strong band of .the sappers and miners in the army of religion. for the reconstruction of Indian life, as also for the diffusion of Vedantic ideas throughout the length and breadth of the world. Very soon, his dream of starting a monastery in a cool, secluded region of the Himalayas, where the East and the West could meet on an equal footing of love and unity, exchange the highest ideals of each, and practise the Advaita philosophy, was also realized. Mr. and Mrs. Sevier with the help of Swami Swarupananda, founded the Advaita Ashrama in March 1899, under the guidance of Swami Vivekananda at Mayavati from where one can command a magnificent view of the charming ranges of perpetual snow. Other service institutions also sprang into existence under his directions in different parts of India, and the Swami had the satisfaction of seeing his lofty ideal rooted deep in the soil of his birth. 

SECOND VISIT TO THE WEST

The Swami announced his intention of going to the West in order to see the work he had founded as well as to give fresh impetus to them. He was urged also by his friends and physicians to do so at once as his health was very poor. This time he took with him Sister Nivedita and a brother monk, Swami Turiyananda, and boarded the steamer on June 20, 1899. In regard to taking Swami Turiyananda to America, the Swami said, “They have seen the Kshatriya power- now I want to show them the Brahmin!” He meant that in himself the West had seen the combative spirit and energy in the defence of the Eternal Religion, Sanatana Dharma; and now the time had come when the people should have before them the example of a man of meditation in his Gurubhai, born and bred in the best traditions and rigorous discipline of Brahminhood. After having broken his journey in London, he went to the United States and stayed for almost a year. There he found Abhedananda actively engaged in the Vedantic work. Turiyananda settled down at Mont Clair near New York, and he himself went to California, where he founded the Vedanta Society at San Francisco. Besides, he received the gift of a property of one hundred and sixty acres of forest land in the district of Santa Clara, where an Ashrama was established by Swami Turiyananda to train a select band of students in the monastic life. Thus the work prospered and the ideas spread. But though the Swami was full of merriment even while busy consolidating his work in America, there was always in him the undertone of serious states of mind. Throughout his Western experience this time one notices in him a deep yearning for the Absolute. In one of his letters he definitely says, “Pray for me -  that my works may stop for ever, and my whole soul be absorbed in the Mother. The battles are lost and won. I have bundled my things, and am waiting for the Great Deliverer. I am only the boy who used to listen with rapt wonderment to the wonderful words of Ramakrishna under the banyan of Dakshineswar. That is my true nature; works and activities, doing good and so forth are all superimpositions. Now, I again hear his voice; the same old voice thrilling my soul. Bonds are breaking, love dying, work becoming tasteless; the glamour is off life. Now only the voice of the Master calling. Let the dead bury the dead, follow thou Me.’  “I come, my Beloved Lord, I come” “Nirvana is before me. I feel it at times, the same infinite ocean of peace, without a ripple, a breath.” 

Towards the end of July 1900, the Swami started for Paris, where he had been invited to the Congress of the History of Religions. He stayed in Paris for about three months and left for Egypt via Vienna, Constantinople, and Athens. The meditative habit, which had revealed itself ever since his second visit to the West in intense forms, now reached a veritable climax. In Paris, oftentimes his mind had been far aloof from his environment; and here in Egypt it seemed as if he were turning the last pages in the Book of Experience. He seemed world-weary. 

Suddenly he felt a strong desire to return to India. There in the far-off Himalayan Ashrama, Mr. Sevier, his great friend and disciple, had given up his body - a martyr to his cause. The Swami had, as it were, a presentiment of this. He became restless to return to India. So without waiting a single day he took the first steamer and came back alone to his motherland at the beginning of December 1900. The joy of his brother-monks knew no bounds when they unexpectedly found their leader present in their midst. 

About his impression of this visit to the West the Swami said that during his first journey he had been caught by the power, the organization, and the apparent democracy of America and Europe. But now he had discovered the spirit of lucre, of greed, of Mammon, with its enormous combinations and ferocious struggle for supremacy. Material brilliance no longer deceived him. He saw the hidden tragedy, the weariness under the forced expenditure of energy - the deep sorrow under the frivolous mask. “Social life in the West,” he said to Nivedita, “is like a peal of laughter: but underneath it is a wail. It ends in a sob. The fun and frivolity are all on the surface; really it is full of tragic intensity. Here (in India) it is sad and gloomy on the surface, but underneath are carelessness and merriment.” 

PARTING GLIMPSES 

Before taking up the work that awaited him on his return to India, the Swami’s first object was to visit Mrs. Sevier at the Advaita Ashrama, in Mayavati. On his arrival at the Belur Math, he had the confirmation of his premonition of the passing away of his beloved disciple, Mr. Sevier, which had occurred on October 28, 1900. Without stopping to rest at Belur, he telegraphed to Mayavati that he was coming to the Ashrama. He arrived on January 3, 1901, and despite the mingled joy and emotion he felt at meeting Mrs. Sevier again, in seeing the work finished, and in contemplating the beauty of the Ashrama perched on the mountain-slope he could stay there only for a fortnight; asthma suffocated him. The Swami had to come back to the Belur Math on January 24. Apart from a last pilgrimage that he made with his mother to the holy places of Eastern Bengal and Assam, to Dacca and Shillong, which left him exhausted, he left Belur only for a short stay at Varanasi at the beginning of 1902. The great journey of his life was soon to end. 

After his return from the tour in East Bengal and Assam, which was the last public tour undertaken by the Swami, his health was much worse. The monks were greatly concerned. They now urged him to have complete rest; they begged him to give up all thought of appearing before the public until he should be perfectly well. But as was his wont, he gave frequent interviews to all who flocked to the Belur Math in these days from all parts of India to receive his blessings and instructions. 

At the monastery he lived a simple life, free from the monotony of society and its tiresome conventionalities. He was a .Sannyasin free.. He would freely walk about barefooted or with plain slippers on and sometimes with a staff in hand. full of mirth like a boy. Here he was free of the necessity to dress according to the dictates of society. With a kaupin or a piece of Gerua (ochre) cloth on, he could live in a world of his own in monastic silence and seclusion. At times he would be found taking interest in the garden or experimenting in cooking or finding delight in the company of his pet animals. “Bagha” the dog, ‘Hansi” the she-goat, “Matru” the kid, an antelope, a stork, cows, and so on. At this time who could recognize in him the world-renowned Swami Vivekananda! At other times he would instruct or help the members of the Math in their difficulties, always manifesting the greatest tenderness. Almost daily until his passing, he held Vedantic classes to teach the novices the methods of meditation, inspired the workers with a spirit of virile confidence in themselves, paid strict attention to discipline and cleanliness, drew up a weekly timetable and kept a watchful eye over the regularity of all the daily activities. No negligence escaped the vigilance of the Swami. He always maintained an atmosphere of serene peace and holiness. He was the irresistible magnet and the inmates of the Ashrama were as so many iron filings drawn towards him, often without understanding why, but always loving him. Every word of this great teacher was instinct with life and vigour and acted with telling effect on all who listened. 

Once when he saw some monks and Brahmacharins going for worship to the temple, he said to them, “Where shall you go to seek Brahman? He is immanent in all beings. Here, here is the visible Brahman! Shame on those who, neglecting the visible Brahman, set their minds on other things. Here is the Brahman before you as tangible as a fruit in one’s hand!” So forceful was his utterance that everyone felt an ineffable peace and remained for nearly a quarter of an hour rooted to the spot. The scene was unforgettable. Everyone in the monastery was struck with amazement at the wonderful power of the beloved Leader who with but one word could raise the minds of all to the heights of Supreme Insight. 

About the latter part of the year 1901, a number of Santal labourers used to work in the Math grounds. One day he served a beautiful feast for them at which he said, “You are Narayanas; today I have entertained Narayana Himself.” Then turning towards his disciples, he said to them, “See how simple-hearted these poor illiterate people are. Will you be able to relieve their miseries to some extent at least? Otherwise, of what use is our wearing the Gerua (the ochre robe of the Sannyasin)? How can we have the heart to put a morsel into our mouths when our countrymen have not enough wherewith to feed or clothe themselves? Let us throw away all pride of learning and study of the Shastras and all Sadhanas for the attainment of personal Mukti - and going from village to village devote our lives to the service of the poor, and by convincing the rich men about their duties to the masses, through the force of our character and spirituality and austere living, get money and the means wherewith to serve the poor and the distressed. Alas! Nobody in our country thinks for the low, the poor, and the miserable! Those that are the backbone of the nation, whose labour produces food, those whose one day’s strike from work raises a cry of general distress in the city - where is the man in our country who sympathizes with them, who shares in their joys and sorrows? Unless they are elevated, the great Mother (India) will never awake! What I see clear as daylight is that the same Brahman, the same Shakti is in them as in me! Only there is a difference in the degree of manifestation. that is all. In the whole history of the world have you ever seen a country rise unless there was a uniform circulation of the national blood all over its body? Know this for certain, that no great work can be done by that body, one limb of which is paralysed. After so much Tapasya (asceticism) I have known that the highest truth is this: He is present in every being! These are all the manifold forms of Him. There is no other God to seek for! He alone is worshipping God who serves all beings!” 

The days glided by in the Math as if they were hours. Whatever the mood in which the Swami might be, for his Gurubhais and disciples his presence was in itself a constant source of joy and inspiration. Whether he was impatient, whether he reprimanded, whether he was the teacher or the meditating sage, whether he was full of mirth or grave - to his Gurubhais he was always the beloved .Naren., and to his disciples the blessed and incomparable Guru. The joy of the Swami was great when meditation and austerities were in full swing in the Math. Whenever his health permitted, he joined in the morning meditation in the chapel. His presence in the meditation room invariably lent an added power and intensity to the meditations of those who sat with him. 

In spite of his physical ailment, the Swami was eager till the end to receive friends and visitors and instruct his disciples. Everything must be sacrificed, even the body itself. Sometimes hearing of the plight of earnest seekers who were refused admission to his presence by the monks, he would be so deeply moved with pity that he would say, “Look here! Did not the Master preach unto the very end? And shall I not do the same? I do not care a straw if the body goes! You cannot imagine how happy I am when I find earnest seekers after truth to talk to. In the work of waking up the Atman in my fellow-men I shall gladly die again and again!” But on some other occasions, in the midst of his talks his face would assume a dreamy far-away look and then all would leave him, knowing that he wished to be left alone with his thoughts. 

THE PASSING

The last two months which the Swami passed on earth were full of events foreshadowing the approaching end, though at times these events passed by unsuspected by those around him. As days passed the Swami felt more and more the necessity of withdrawing himself from the task of directing the affairs of the Math. “How often,” he said, “does a man ruin his disciples by remaining always with them? When men are once trained, it is essential that their leader leaves them, for without his absence they cannot develop themselves!” Work and all other bonds were dropping off; more than ever did he withdraw himself from all outer concerns. Meditation became his one great occupation. His Gurubhais and disciples were alarmed at seeing him retire into such an atmosphere of austerity and meditation. The prophecy of Sri Ramakrishna that Naren would merge in Nirvikalpa Samadhi at the end of his works constantly haunted their memory. It seemed he was looking forward to a certain day on which to throw off the bondage of the body. It was Friday, the fourth of July 1902. On that day he went to the chapel in the morning, and after closing the windows and bolting the doors, spent three hours in meditation. Then he broke forth in a touching song of the Divine Mother. The monks below were charmed to hear the sweet strains of it coming from the shrine-room. 

Descending the stairs of the shrine, he paced up and down in the courtyard of the monastery, his mind withdrawn. He was heard muttering to himself: “If there were another Vivekananda, he would have understood what Vivekananda has done! And yet, how many Vivekanandas shall be born in time!” The Gurubhai who, unnoticed, heard these words was startled, for never did the Swami speak in this manner. 

At noon he took his food along with all in the refectory - contrary to his practice during these days. After the meal he took a Sanskrit class with his disciples for about three hours. Then in the afternoon he took a walk with one of his Gurubhais and expressed his particular desire to establish a Vedic College in the Math. In the evening, as the service bell in the shrine rang, he went to his room and remained absorbed in meditation for nearly an hour. Then he laid himself down on his bed. He had his rosary still in his hand. About an hour later, he changed sides and took a deep breath. Another long deep breath like the preceding one, and then all was calm and still. The tired child slept in the lap of the Mother, whence there was no awakening to this world of Maya. 

 The Swami was thirty-nine years and a few months, thus fulfilling a prophecy which was frequently on his lips, “I shall never live to see forty.” But with the passing of days, as one observes how the number of his disciples, devotees, and admirers in the two hemispheres is rapidly increasing, how he is silently influencing thousands of lives all over the world, how his fiery message is supplying direct and indirect inspiration to hundreds of movements in his own motherland and throughout the world for the uplift of which he thought so much and worked so hard - one remembers the words he spoke long before his death: “It may be that I shall find it good to get outside my body - to cast it off like a worn-out garment. But I shall not cease to work! I shall inspire men everywhere, until the world shall know that it is one with God!”

(the article taken from http://rkgfiji.org)