|
Swami Ranganathananda
|
|
|
Born
|
Shankaran Kutty
15 December 1908 Thrissur, Kerala, India |
|
Died
|
25 April 2005 (aged 96)
Belur Math near Kolkata |
|
Guru
|
|
|
Philosophy
|
|
Swami
Ranganathananda (December 15, 1908 – April 25, 2005), born Shankaran Kutty, was a Hindu monk of the Ramakrishna Math order. He served as the 13th
president of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission.[1]
Contents
[hide]
Biography[edit]
Ranganathananda
was born in December 15, 1908 in a village called Trikkur near Trichur, in
Kerala.[2]
As teenager, he was attracted by the teachings of Swami
Vivekananda and Ramakrishna and joined the Mysore centre of Ramakrishna
Order as a Brahmachari in 1926.[2][3]
He served the Mysore Centre for 9 years and was under Swami Siddheswarananda
and another 3 years under him in the Bangalore centre. He was initiated as a Sannyasi
(monk) in 1933, on the 100th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's birth by Swami Shivananda,
a direct disciple of Ramakrishna. Between 1939 and 1942, he served as the
secretary and librarian at the Rangoon branch of Ramakrishna Mission.
He then served
as the president of the Karachi centre of Math from 1942 to 1948 until the partition of India, after which the mission
found it difficult to continue its activities at Karachi.[4][5]
At Karachi, L.K. Advani came in contact with the Swami and used to
listen to his discourses on the Bhagavad
Gita.[5]
Advani said that Ranganathananda was a "great influence" during his
formative years. According to Advani, at Karachi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah had once listened to
Ranganathananda's lecture on Islam and Prophet
Mohammed and remarked, "Now I know how a true Muslim should be."[4][6]
From 1949 to
1962, he served as a secretary at the Delhi centre. Then from 1962 to 1967, he
served as the Secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission Institute
of Culture, Kolkata,
director of School of Humanistic & Cultural studies, editor of mission's
monthly. The swamiji became president of the Hyderabad
branch in 1973, where he developed Vivekananda Vani School of Languages, a
temple, library and delivered spiritual discourses.[7]
He was elected to the post of vice-president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission in
1988.[2][7]
In 1998 he was elected as the president of the mission.[8]
Ranganathananda was chosen by the Indian government for Padma Vibhushan award in 2000. He declined the Padma Vibhushan as it was conferred on him in his individual capacity and not for the Mission. He accepted the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1987 and the Gandhi Peace Prize in February 1999 as both were conferred on the Ramakrishna Mission.[2][9][10]
Since his residence in Bangalore in the 1930s, Ranganathananda has been a popular teacher and lecturer on Indian spiritual culture. By the mid-1950s he was known within India as an authority on practical Vedanta.[2] Since the 1960s he made nearly annual lecture tours to Western Europe, the United States, Australia, and Singapore. He also lectured in Iran and in the Soviet union.[2] Ranganathananda is noted for this contributions that bridges Western science and Vedantic spirituality.[2][11][12]
Raganathananda lived the last days of his life in the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur in West Bengal. He died at Woodlands Medical Centre, Kolkata, at 3:51 p.m. on Monday, 25 April 2005, owing to cardiac arrest. He was 96. His mortal remains were kept for darshan at Belur Math (near Kolkata) on that day, and were consigned to flames at 12.30 p.m. on 26 April 2005. India Post released a postage stamp in the denomination of Rs 5 to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Swami Ranganathananda, during December 2008 at Kolkata.[13][14]
Ranganathananda was regarded a great scholar and teacher.[10][15][16] He has authored over 50 books. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has published around twenty-nine of these books.[10] His famous book includes Eternal Values for a Changing Society and commentaries on the messages of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads.[15][17] He was known as a good orator.[17] His weekly classes and public lectures were popular among the followers. Ganapathy, a correspondent of The Hindu writes that "In all his lectures, Swami Ranganathananda had stressed on the philosophy of eternal religion, a practical Vedanta, which teaches universal acceptance". Ranganathananda conducted moral and religious classes for the prisoners in the Bangalore and Mysore jails. In Delhi, Swami Ranganathananda organised social services at hospitals and worked for the relief of leprosy patients.[15] Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh described Swami Ranganathananda and Swami Vivekananda as "leaders with a modern mind and scientific temper."[18]
Quotations[edit]
- "Are
you growing spiritually? Can you love others? Can you feel oneness with
others? Have you peace within yourself? and do you radiate it around you?
That is called spiritual growth, which is stimulated by meditation
inwardly, and by work done in a spirit of service outwardly."
- "I am
not alone in the world. . .We belong to a world. . .The vast world is
around us. We cannot do without it. We cannot become human without a human
world around us. How much we owe to the world of other human beings around
us!"[19]
- "Efficiency
and energy comes from emotion, not from intellectual knowledge, which can
only direct that emotional energy. But the real impulse comes from
emotion. It makes you work at your best."[20]
- "So,
work hard; perform all duties; develop yourself; then come and surrender
to the highest. Do a whole day's honest work, then sit and meditate; then
resign yourself to God. Otherwise, that meditation has no meaning or
value. Meditation at the end of a lazy day has no meaning; but the same at
the end of an active day, filled with good deeds, has meaning, and is
rewarding."[21]
- "How
can we find joy in work? By working for oneself? No; it is not possible to
find that continuous joy in work through selfish motivations. Frustration
and ennui are the end of all selfish motivations. Frustrations and nervous
breakdowns are the end of a self-centred life. The first advice of modern psychiatry
to such people is to get out of this prison of self-centredness, and to
find a genuine interest in other people. Everyone has to learn the lesson
some day that, the best way to be happy is to strive to make others happy.
So wherever you find frustration, you will always discover that the person
concerned had been too self-centred, and the only hope for him is through
learning to take interest in other people, to find joy in the joy of other
people. This is the royal path that makes for health, for strength, for
efficiency. This great truth---universal and human---we should apply to
the world and to our life in it."[22]
- The great
new mantra today is "Work" and 'Hard Work'; along with Hard
Work, intelligent work co-operative team work. All great undertakings are
product of team work. We can meet the challenge of freedom only when we
have learnt this character-efficiency involved in team work, and
intelligent hard work. This is the philosophy which we have to learn
consciously, not unconsciously, somehow stumbling into it.[23]
- Work from
ego point of view is all tension. But behind ego, there is an infinite
spiritual dimension. When that is realised even a little, then extra work
won't make one feel that it is heavy. Even ordinary experiences will tell
you: Whenever there is love in the heart, the worker doesn't feel heavy.
When there is no love in the heart, even a little work makes one feel very
heavy. As soon as you have love for a particular cause, you can do
anything; do hard work, but have a spirit of detachment based on a larger
love.
- Work is no
work at all. It is a question of agency and attachment. When these two are
not there, work ceases to be work, it becomes a play, it becomes
spontaneous, and it becomes natural. When you become thoroughly detached,
then all that tension goes away. You are working, but you don't feel that
you are working. What a beautiful idea!"[24]
- Work is
drudgery; Sri Krishna will not allow that attitude. There is joy in work
also. Do not abandon work; go on doing work; but, mentally renouncing all
actions. It is a wonderful state of mind-working, and yet not working.
- Those who
work, work with a zest and with joy and in work, learn calmness and the
serenity of the human mind and heart; what a wonderful joy it is to work
in such a way!
- When
science insists on studying things from the point of view of the objects
themselves by eliminating the personal equation, it is in effect,
emphasising the sakshi-bhava or sakshi point of view
(witness attitude); for, the limited and circumscribed vision of the ego
gives place to the unlimited and universal vision of the sakshi, by
the practice of scientific or intellectual detachment.[25]
- The
endeavours and conclusions of the sense-bound intellect can not be the
last word in man’s search for truth. An intellectual approach to truth
will end only in agnosticism; and often in cynicism. But the whole being
of man seeks to experience truth, to realise it. … This rising above
rationalism to direct experience and realisation, this growth of man from
the sensate to the super-sensual dimension, is the special message of
Indian spiritual tradition.[26]
- Mysticism,
studied seriously, challenges basic tenets of Western Cultures: a) the
primacy of reason and intellect; b) the separate, individual nature of
man; c) the linear organisation of time. Great mystics, like our own great
scientists, envision the world as being larger than those tenets, as
transcending our traditional views.[27]
Notes and references[edit]
1.
Jump up ^ "Ranganathananda
birth centenary to be held today". The Hindu. 14 December 2008.
Retrieved 22 May 2009.
3.
Jump
up ^ Siddheswarananda;
William Buchanan (1998). "Letter
of Appreciation". Hindu thought and carmelite mysticism.
Motilal Banarsidass. p. 13. ISBN 978-81-208-1510-0.
4.
^ Jump
up to: a b Staff Reporter
(3 September 2007). "Advani
calls for spiritual renaissance". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
5.
^ Jump
up to: a b Venkatesan, V.
(Volume 22 - Issue 13, 18 Jun – 1 July 2005). "Image
and reality". Frontline. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
6.
Jump up ^ "Blogger
Advani defends Jinnah comment, again". Screen. 10 January 2009.
Retrieved 22 May 2009.[dead link]
7.
^ Jump
up to: a b "Swami
Ranganathananda’s birth centenary celebrated". The Hindu. 15 December
2008. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
8.
Jump up ^ "National Events
in September 1998". The Hindu. September 1998. Retrieved 22 May 2009.[dead link]
9.
Jump up ^ Venkatesan, V.
(Volume 17 - Issue 03, 5–18 Feb 2000). "Republic Day
honours". Frontline. Retrieved 27 May 2009.[dead link]
10.
^ Jump
up to: a b
c "Ranganathananda
kept alive spirit of Vivekananda's legacy". Chennai: The Hindu. 30 May
2005. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
11.
Jump up ^ Menon,
Sangeetha (2006). "Saints,
Science, and Spiritual Quest". In Philip Clayton, Zachary R. Simpson. The
Oxford handbook of religion and science. Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-19-927927-2.
12.
Jump up ^ Indian Science
Congress Association (2003). The
Shaping of Indian Science: 1948-1981. Orient Blackswan. p. 936. ISBN 978-81-7371-433-7.
13.
Jump up ^ "Seminar
& stamp to mark monk centenary". The Telegraph. 13 December 2008.
Retrieved 27 May 2009.
15.
^ Jump
up to: a b
c Ganapathy, T.
N. (3 June 2005). "He
empowered through discourses". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
16.
Jump
up ^ Special
Correspondent (27 April 2005). "Kalam,
Manmohan condole Ranganathananda's death". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May
2009.
17.
^ Jump
up to: a b Saradesāya,
Manohararāya (2000). A
history of Konkani literature. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 315–316. ISBN 978-81-7201-664-7.
18.
Jump up ^ "Liberal
view of the outside world is vital: Manmohan". The Hindu. 4 March 2007.
Retrieved 22 May 2009.
Bibliography[edit]
- Ranganathananda; Elva Linnéa
Nelson (1991). Human
being in depth: a scientific approach to religion. SUNY Press. p.
159. ISBN 978-0-7914-0679-3.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1971). Eternal
Values for a Changing Society (Vol- I to IV). Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
- Philosophy & Spirituality
- Great Spiritual teachers
- Education for Human Excellence
- Democracy for Total Human
Fulfillment
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1971). The
message of Upanishads. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. ASIN B000GSMRE8.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1974). A
pilgrim looks at the World (Vol. I & II). Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan. ISBN 978-0-85655-463-6.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1990). Swami
Vivekananda and Human Excellence. Advaita Ashrama. ASIN B000KB3U2E.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1991). Vivekananda
: his Humanism. Advaita Ashrama. ASIN B001JJGEOM.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1978). Science
and Religion. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-7025-0062-6.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (2004). The
essence of Indian Culture. Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 978-81-85301-17-4.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1997). An
introduction to the study of Gita. Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 978-81-85301-11-2.
- Ranganathananda, Swami. The
charm and power of the Upanishads.
- Ranganathananda, Swami. Bhagawan
Buddha and our heritage.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1969). The
Christ we adore. Ramakrishna Mission Inst.of Culture. ISBN 978-0-7025-0159-3.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1996). Practical
Vedanta and the Science of values. Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 978-81-7505-052-5.
- Ranganathananda, Swami. The
Indian vision of God as Mother.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (2004). Essence
of Indian Culture. Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 978-81-85301-17-4.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1998). The
approach to Truth in Vedanta. Advaita Ashrama.Unknown parameter |adin= ignored (help)
- Ranganathananda, Swami (1996). Democratic
administration in the light of Practical Vedanta. Chennai: Sri
Ramakrishna Math. p. 277. ISBN 978-81-7120-724-4.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (2000). Universal
message of Bhagavad Gita (vol I to III). Advaita Ashrama. ISBN 978-81-7505-213-0.
- Ranganathananda, Swami (2005). Message
of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Advaita Ashrama. p. 740. ISBN 978-81-7505-267-3
Swami Ranganathananda - a monk with a mission
A great monk passed away on April 25 2005. India lost a great
son. "Mother Saraswati will dance on your tongue," was the blessing
of Swami Akhandananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, to this monk.
And the blessing became true. A true disciple of Swami Shivananda of the
Ramakrishna order, Swami Ranganathananda became the head of this holy order
like his own guru and led a movement of spirituality from the forefront till
his passing away.
"They alone live who live for others. The rest are more
dead than alive," declared Swami Vivekananda. In Swami Ranganathananda
one could find an example of those who lived only for others. Here was a
complete personality. But such personalities aren't widely known. Our print
and electronic medias usually pay little attention to spiritual greatness.
Yet great men never stop serving the world. Thus we had a personality, who
was totally dedicated to working silently for the good of the humanity.
It was not so long ago. We were in Bangalore. Swami
Ranganathananda, then in his seventies, arrived at Ramakrishna Ashrama
Bangalore, to deliver a series of lectures.
With him, came a small "tiffin box", which could
contain food enough for a Kindergarten child. When he arrived in Bangalore,
it was late at night. He entered the Ashrama, and after exchanging greetings,
sat on a bench, and ate from his little box. All along his life he suffered
from digestion problems. Put in simple language, he could hardly digest
anything.
Anyone else would have broken down and remained bedridden for
long. But not Swami Ranganathananda. In spite of such a debilitating health
problem, he was always strong and steady, and ready to serve. Even in his
nineties he walked straight, with the gait of a lion.
Wherever he went, he delivered discourses on numerous topics and
inspired people. And what grand lectures they were! One day he spoke on
Srimad Bhagavata, a well-known Purana, for instance, in Bangalore Ashrama. In
about two hours of a thrilling lecture, he taught the audience the essence of
the whole of Bhagavata.
There was no place to sit in that big ashrama - thousands were
listening enraptured. Such was his erudition. Apart from scholarship, his
heart was always panting to serve the poor and the needy. After the lecture,
someone came to talk to the Swamiji. That man said he had been suffering from
severe blood pressure and other health problems because he was not receiving
his pension for the past five years. Immediately, the swami phoned some
official, discussed the problem, and the matter was settled then and there.
Between 1946 and 1972, Swami Ranganathananda travelled to over
fifty countries of the world, alone, without much help, and totally depending
on God and what chance might bring. He as the spiritual ambassador of India
to the West. He pierced through the Iron Curtain, he faced the Second World
War, he has seen communal violence at its worst, and he endured hardships by
the hundred. How many interesting anecdotes he had!
There are interesting incidents to show how even cold countries
had seekers of Vedantic knowledge, and when Swami Ranganathananda spoke,
hundreds heard him with awe and wonder. It was because of his inspiration
that several centres of the Ramakrishna order sprang up in different parts of
the world.
Since his childhood, the Swami was a great student. Though he
did not have much of secular learning, he was a miracle of God because of his
immense scholarship. He was an embodiment of learning. He had studied Sanskrit
and English, and Vedas, Gita, Indian and Western philosophy, comparative
religion and so on, very deeply. The swami could deliver lectures in several
languages and speak in many more.
A senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, who had travelled with Swami
Ranganathananda once, reported that Ranganathananda never wasted a single
moment in his life. Whether it was in train or bus or flight, he would
continue reading, making notes, thus utilising his time fruitfully. He had a
huge collection of personal books, all of them having been read thoroughly,
and highlighted with his delightful observations. He has furnished several
libraries by gifting his personal books. And being a monk of the great order
of Sri Ramakrishna, Ranganathananda was naturally enough a deep spiritual
aspirant too.
The combined force of spiritually and philosophical wisdom par
excellence made Swami Ranganathananda a fit instrument to embark upon a
mission: that of spreading the glorious message of the ancient sages of India
to the world. India's mission was his mission.
The mission of Vivekananda was his mission - that of awakening
the world to spirituality. It was thus that he became the spiritual
ambassador of India to the West, moving from country to country, meeting
people, speaking about the glories of Vedanta, solving problems by the
hundreds, and inspiring one and all to lead lives of enlightenment.
Whether it was the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavata, Ramayana,
modern scientific knowledge, social developmental ideas, or any such subject,
Swami Ranganathananda would deliver master discourses, which would touch the
hearts of the listeners and inspire them to lead wonderful lives.
As a Sanskrit couplet says, 'vidvan sarvatra pujyate'. This sage
of learning and enlightenment was indeed venerated everywhere. People in far
off countries like Brazil remember with gratitude the inspiration that they
received from this swami as long back as 1967.
It is said that during his days as Secretary of the Ramakrishna
Mission, New Delhi, stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru would squat on the lawns
of the Missions to listen to his enthralling discourses. Swami
Ranganathananda had admirers from all walks of life. It is a well-known
statement that Swami Ranganathananda knew only to make friends, and never to
lose any.
Apart from being a world-renowned speaker, the swami was also a
great writer. Among his greatest works are the message of the Upanishads, 'A
Pilgrim Looks at World' (2 vols), 'Bhagvad Gita', 'Brihadaranyaka Upanishad',
'Spiritual Life of the Householder', and so on.
His books have been translated into many languages, and millions
of copies have been sold out. These apart, the swami was also a great
administrator. He worked as secretary and librarian at the Ramakrishna
Mission Centre at Rangoon from 1939 to 1942 and thereafter as head of the
Ramakrishna Math and Mission in Karachi from 1942 to 1948, then as head of
New Delhi Center till 1962, was Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Institute of
Culture in Kolkata for several years, and headed the Hyderabad centre for 30
long years.
He was one of the members of the Board of Trustees of the
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission for over forty years. Wherever he
served, he built that ashrama into a great center of learning and
spirituality. New Delhi and Hyderabad centers, for instance, stand as living
examples of this statement.
When India became politically free, he was in Karachi, as head
of the Ramakrishna Mission centre there. Partition painfully halted the
progress of the Vedanta activities in Karachi, and the Missions had to be
closed down. The swamis there had to come back to India under stressful
conditions.
All the same, Swami Ranganathananda managed to collect a huge
quantity of rice and send it to the impoverished masses. During his lifetime,
Swami Ranganathananda helped countless individuals and organisations in every
way.
During his long tenure as Vice-President of the order and then
as the President, Swami Ranganathananda inspired thousands of spiritual
seekers to lead spiritual lives. He was a great admirer of Swami Vivekananda,
and had read his 8 volume complete works at least 75 times! His disliked
weakness and sorrowful faces. Even till the age of about 80 years he could be
seen playing volleyball. Such was his spirit. A true sannyasin that he was,
he shunned awards and accolades, though deserving much more than they wanted
to give him.
Swami Ranganathananda thus embodied the ancient and eternal
Indian spirit of a harmonious combination of physical vitality and mental
strength, deep intellectuality and spiritual dynamism, intense practicality
and profound idealism. Such persons are born not always on this earth.
India alone can produce such sons who become living
demonstrations of spiritual vitality combined with down-to-earth practicality.
Swami Ranganathananda, as everyone knows, was a gift of Kerala to the world,
in which state he was born on 15 December 1908. He lived every moment of his
96 years on earth, breathing life into everyone he met till the end.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment