CHASING THE MIRAGE IN THE DESERT-DREAM OF LIFE
Friday, 25 February 2022
Thursday, 24 February 2022
THE WHOLE TRUTH NONE DARES TO SAY, NONE HAS DARED TO SAY TILL DATE
THE WHOLE TRUTH NONE DARES TO SAY, NONE HAS DARED TO SAY TILL DATE
Rare comes a man who is wholly truthful. Perhaps, the world is yet to see one who speaks the truth without dilution or compromise with prevalent dominant untruths. Such a one is yet to arrive. If he surfaces, he will be persecuted or left alone to wither away. But, who knows, may be his words will outlive his time on earth to germinate at a more opportune moment in history to lend him posthumous glory? Till date, though, compromising and toning down truth to suit the political exigencies of the times has been the way even sages and saints, prophets and divine incarnations have resorted to. Perhaps, much of it has to do with ignorance of the workings of nefarious ideologies. But much of it could also be due to making the attempt to override differences between opposed religious views and draw people in under a unified banner by being accommodating diammetrically opposed, diverse views, exclusive and intolerant unto murderous intent. But why resort to philosophical untruths in doing so? Why must truth be sacrificed at the scaffold of politics or even attempted human welfare along lying lines that must for sure fail?
Written by Sugata Bose
Wednesday, 23 February 2022
READ, REFLECT, REALISE VIVEKANANDA -- THEN SPREAD THE WORD
READ, REFLECT, REALISE VIVEKANANDA -- THEN SPREAD THE WORD
Mere surface-spread of Vivekananda literature will not do; depth-penetration is necessary. The mind of the masses must be stirred up with his soul-stirring messages, the orientation of mass-thinking given a lift, a positive turn, a drift in the divine direction. Vivekananda must enter into the bloodstream of humanity. But first our motherland must be imbued with his thoughts, the character of the polity built, intense human sympathy must throb in our veins and an inspiration to rebuild India along the golden line of the greats must grip us as a people. May Vivekananda become our heart's highest treasure for kindling love for fellow beings! May Swamiji become our arsenal to reshape our nation's divine destiny! May his message thereof inundate the farthest reaches of the earth!
Written by Sugata Bose
DEAR PARNIKA
Dear Parnika,
In a few years' time you will be free enough to do work and earn enough to amass a fortune which you can then spend in building welfare works in India. True. But where will the money come from? Can you mint it? manufacture it? Can you magically produce it? No. You will have to beg it of the people of India and, perhaps, of the world. They will be induced by you to buy your services or products at a premium which will furnish you a share of their wealth in the form of profit which you will proceed to call your own. But whose wealth is it after all? The Lord's in temporary trust with His children, to be continuously circulated among them to help advance their earthly evolution. Remember this very well. Grasp the idea for good. Commit it to your memory in a manner that it strikes roots in your consciousness and kindles genuine love for your earthly siblings, your Mother's offsprings who grovel in the dark, bereft of education, of bare means of earthly survival, of health, habitation and hope. Arise! Awake! Strike off all vain personal desire and live for India.
Yours in high hope and benediction, Gurudev.
Sunday, 20 February 2022
CYCLONIC MONK
CYCLONIC MONK ... 1
Millions of Hindu devotees were taking a dip in the holy waters of the Ganga on the occasion of Makar Sankranti sending their prayers to the highest heavens when the babe who was to alter the course of history was born to Bhuvaneshwari Devi and Vishwanath Datta of Simla in North Calcutta. It was 6:33 a.m., 12 January, 1863.
The Dattas were an affluent family with their line being traced back to Rammohan Datta who had made a fortune in the practice of law and settled down in 3, Gourmohan Mukherjee Lane in Simla, North Calcutta. Even today this ancestral house of the Dattas stands as a shining monument to the glory that was Vivekananda.
Rammohan had two sons,Durgaprasad and Kaliprasad. The former renounced home and hearth in 1835 after the birth of his son,Vishwanath. He was thereafter once sighted by his wife Shyamasundari in Varanasi and once more by his family when he paid a return visit to his home 12 years after renouncing. On both occasions the contact was fleeting and the monk,true to his vows, overcame attachment and retired to his life of solitude with God. In later years Vishwanath visited Varanasi but could not trace his father.
Written by Sugata Bose
CYCLONIC MONK ... 2
When Vishwanath was ten,his mother passed away. The boy grew up amidst difficult circumstances but overcame great odds to rise to eminence in life.He became an attorney and practised law at the Calcutta High Court. His practice flourished and his fame spread all over Northern India.
A liberal at heart,Vishwanath absorbed Hindu, Islamic and Western influences to evolve into a person of rare catholicity.He earned handsomely and spent lavishly in family-maintenance, hosting feasts and in charity that knew no bounds. His philosophy was simple -- if he could provide nutritious diet, a sound education and the taste of a good standard of living, then they would in time grow up to automatically succeed in life for the very habit of the good life would force them to work hard for its maintenance. However, the basis of it all,according to Vishwanath,was the formation of character, the springboard of all life's actions.
Bhuvaneshwari was highly pious,of regal bearing, the lone child of Nandalal Basu of the esteemed Basu family of Simla,Calcutta. She was exceptionally intelligent and a worthy life-partner of her husband. She had great dignity and amidst the difficulties that so often beset a joint-family, maintained it with expertly. She was a delightful blend of tradition and modernity, perhaps, the proto-type of the ideal Indian woman Swamiji had envisaged. Her days were spent in prayers and vigils before the conception of her prophet son. She was well-versed in reading and writing and read the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Endowed with a prodigious memory, a sure reflection on her innate purity, she could memorise passages of the epics after a single reading, a foreshadowing of her illustrious son's phenomenal memory in later years.
Written by Sugata Bose
TIME FOR SPIRITUALITY TO ADDRESS MASSIVE ISSUES ON A MASS SCALE AND NOT RSSTRICT ITSELF TO PIOUS TABLE TALK
TIME FOR SPIRITUALITY TO ADDRESS MASSIVE ISSUES ON A MASS SCALE AND NOT RSSTRICT ITSELF TO PIOUS TABLE TALK
Spirituality must not be mere table talk. It must be translated into deed. The world is vast and variegated. The evolutionary level everywhere is not uniform. Huge cultural differences abide which hinder the smooth manifestation of the Spirit in man. The quantum of work needed to be done is not to be achieved fancifully or with tall talk. It has to be worked out through education of the right type. The ethical side of man must be built up, moral values well nurtured and man must be en masse made spiritually alive. Only then the human scene the world over may change. But proselytising religions, conflicting creeds, dogmatic and perverse with a view to dominating humanity the world over, political ideologies with a like intent, are almost insurmountable obstacles in the way of such social development. Human greed, the thirst for power, sectarian agenda, all these terribly stand in the way of progress. These are intractable, huge issues which neither smooth pseudo-spiritual talk nor earnest but shallow spiritual lecture can address. Hence, the primitive instincts still hold sway over a technologically modern world, and all the more so because they are aided in their destructive ability by the power unleashed by science. Spirituality must translate into tangible deeds, not just in individual or even organisational acts of philanthropy and charity, welfare on a small scale that is immensely incommensurate with the vast proposition of peoples' problems the world over, but must have a transformative effect on the world if they are to be deemed any good in general terms. Here thought must be focussed rather than on wishful thinking and on like lovely talk and pious acts of charity that go to please individual and organisational ego. Swami Vivekananda must be revisited in this regard and his programmes en masse executed. Let charity begin on a far vaster scale in every sense of the term. Let no spiritual complacency mar this mission.
Written by Sugata Bose
SPIRITUALITY DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SUPERIORITY COMPLEX AND NEGLECT IN ACCORDING DUE RESPECT TO THE SO-CALLED COMMONER NEITHER DOES IT PERMIT PANDERING TO THE VANITIES OF THE PRIVILEGED AND THE POWERFUL
SPIRITUALITY DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SUPERIORITY COMPLEX AND NEGLECT IN ACCORDING DUE RESPECT TO THE SO-CALLED COMMONER NEITHER DOES IT PERMIT PANDERING TO THE VANITIES OF THE PRIVILEGED AND THE POWERFUL
Genuine humility precludes the idea of samesightedness. There can be no privilege in offering or receiving respect, reverence et al, if this samesightedness is to be there. Witnessing the Brahman within all, there must more or less be equality in the treatment one metes out to any, irrespective of his station in life, so long as one does not thereby patronise wickedness. Preferential treatment, according overmuch of respect to one on the basis of his position in society or organisation and neglecting to show due respect to one of feeble positional background does not betoken genuine spirituality. This unfortunately is the lot of even those who are donning the spiritual attire as they go on the overdrive to being nice and cordial to people of power, prosperity and privilege, and fall woefully short of according like respect to the ones of a humbler station in life. This must not be. The test of spirituality is samesightedness which comes from perception of the One Divine within all. This must not be just articulated from the podium routinely but must be practised with care and eternal vigilance lest there be the slightest slip by way of a show of superiority complex when it comes to dealing with the perceived commoner.
Written by Sugata Bose
Saturday, 19 February 2022
YOUR SWAMIJI
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 1
Have you heard of Swami Vivekananda? Yes? But have you heard of Narendranath Datta? I am sure most of you have not but some of you may have. Well, this little boy is the subject of our story which I shall begin narrating to you, children, from today.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 2
The Dattas were an affluent family who lived in North Kolkata at a place called Simla or Simulia. Rammohan Datta was the grand patriarch who had thrived in the legal profession and amassed a fortune. His sons, Durgaprasad and Kaliprasad, grandson, Vishwanath, were the immediate ancestors of Narendranath who grew up to become the world renowned monk, Swami Vivekananda. Durgaprasad excelled like his father at law but renounced life to become a monk at age between 20 and 22 after fathering a son. So, Kaliprasad became the head of the Datta family and as he was not upto earning a living, the Dattas' fortunes started declining steadily.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 3
Durgaprasad renounced between age 20 and 22. Shyamasundari, his wife of valorous virtue, took up to rearing baby Vishwanath amidst great difficulties as Kaliprasad was not sympathetic to their lot. When Vishwanath was three years old, Shyamasundari went on pilgrimage to Varanasi by boat. En route the playful baby fell into the Ganga. Instantly the mother, forgetting the fact that she knew not how to swim, dived into the surging waters and gripped the baby, so hard that it bore the mark for several years. A fellow pilgrim and a resident of the Datta household, indigenous physician Umapada Gupta, diving suit, rescued them and hauled them overboard. The pilgrimage carried on and holy Varanasi was reached in the fullness of time.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 4
Varanasi. The Ganga flowing by since time immemorial, sanctifying this city of Shiva. Thousands of temples of all kinds of deities thronging to get the worship of devotees who flock by the millions. The most ancient city of the world, dating 5000 years, now welcomed Shyamasundari and her little boy, Vishwanath.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 5
Shyamasundari went on her daily rounds of the temples in Varanasi. One day on her way to the seat of Lord Vishwanath, she slipped on the way and fell unconscious. A monk passing by picked her up, laid her on the temple steps and brought her back to her senses. When she came to her own she was astonished to behold her own husband as her rescuer. Overwhelmed by sudden emotion, the couple, now renounced to the world, went their way.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 6
Durgaprasad visited his hometown Kolkata once, probably en route to the Gangasagar, and put up with a friend. He requested confidentiality but the message leaked and he was accosted home by his family members where he was confined to a room with food and refreshments for three days. The monk, locked up thus, touched neither food nor drink for the said period and his relatives, fearing the worst, unlocked the door. The monk quietly slipped away thereafter and was never seen again. Later it was rumoured that he had become the head of a monastery in Varanasi but nothing could be ascertained with any degree of certitude. Vishwanath in his youth visited Varanasi in search of his father but failed to trace him. Thus disappeared the monk of sterling spiritual strength from the horizons of the Datta household till his gene reappeared in his redoubtable grandson, Narendranath, whose monastic future bore unmistakable marks of his predecessor, Durgaprasad.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 7
Vishwanath, deprived of paternal care and patrimony, grew up under the loving care of his mother, though amidst straightened circumstances. But a worse fate was awaiting him. At the age of ten he lost his mother. Now, orphaned and ill-treated by uncle Kaliprasad, Vishwanath took to the hard way of labouring through to life's success. He became proficient in several languages - Bengali, English, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and Hindi, and also learnt a smattering of Sanskrit in a classical Sanskrit Tol. He studied history in-depth, astrology enough to be able to cast the horoscopes of his children, and studied music under an Ustad. After completing secondary education he attempted business, failed and apprenticed himself under Mr. Temple, a British attorney. In 1866 he qualified as an attorney and set up shop with one Ashutosh Dhar under the name 'Dhar and Datta'. Soon his legal proficiency earned him independent status as attorney-at-law in the Calcutta High Court where his practice took off.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 8
Vishwanath's fame as a legal practitioner spread far and wide and he had to travel extensively all over India to meet up with his clients' cases. His income soared and so did his expenditure as he lived lavishly and gave liberally to seekers in need. His charity earned him the sobriquet 'Daataa Vishwanath' or 'Philanthropist Vishwanath'. He refused none and gave to all who were in need and even to some indolent relatives who abused his magnanimity by indulging in intoxicants with his money. Vishwanath lived for the day and saved nothing for the morrow, steered by the conviction that his sons, if well fed and well educated, would be able to make their way in life but that the hapless ones he helped were too weak to help themselves and, hence, needed help. The large heart of Vishwanath bled for all, perhaps so conditioned by his own stressful childhood in financial and psychological distress under an unsympathetic uncle. Anyhow, this was how he was and this liberal largeheartedness he bequeathed to his beloved sons, Naren in particular who even imbibed sterling virtues of head and heart from his mother Bhuvaneshwari.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 9
Well-versed in the Holy Bible and the Dewan-i-Hafiz and well acquainted with Hindu, Islamic and European culture and customs, Vishwanath had a universal outlook on life and living. Progressive in thinking but guarded in giving into new-fangled socioreligious movements of the day, Vishwanath was a precursor in some sense to the modern Hindu man as yet germinating in the womb of time. His illustratious son would set the seal on the mould that was thus being cast on the dawn of this new awakening of the ancient spirit whose crest bore the personality of Ramakrishna. But we are fast-forwarding the narrative thus which we must desist from. As of now we must remember that here was Vishwanath, caught in the cross-current of the three aforementioned cultures out of which he was fashioning his own perspective, his world-view, and setting them to print in the form of three books which he authored, namely, 'Shishtaachaar Paddhati' ('Canons of Good Conduct') in two volumes and a novel in his vernacular Bengali, titled 'Sulochanaa'. Vishwanath supported Vidyasagar's crusade for the remarriage of widows but refrained from participating directly in such social movements, busy as he was with his intensive legal practice. One more pointer about Vishwanath - he was an agnostic of sorts, irreverent of superstitious religious practices that kept people down but was never irreverent towards sublime principles of spiritual and moral thought which he tried to put into practice in his own life by way of alleviating the misery of the hapless ones he came across in his life's thoroughfare. This was then the father of the future Vivekananda.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 10
Hardly anybody recalls the name of Swami Vivekananda's maternal grandfather or the maiden surname of Swamiji's mother. That she was Basu and bore in her bloodstream the kshatriya valour of this clan from erstwhile Kannakubja (Kanauj) is forgotten in the name Narendranath Datta. But the great prophet bore in his arteries that strong blood which made him revolutionise India into rebellion against the British and break the citadel of global colonialism. Narendranath's grandfather on his mother's side was Nandalal Basu of Simla, North Kolkata, and his only daughter Bhuvaneshwari Basu, married to Vishwanath Datta, was his mother. Bhuvaneshwari, born to wealth and high culture, was aristocratic in temperament devoid of its vices and it was from her that the boy Bileh absorbed in his mother's milk that nobility of character that set him out as unique in the world of men, so much so that in later years in Paris he was mistaken to be a prince by a hotel boy who could not be convinced otherwise. Well, Bhuvaneshwari, wedded to Vishwanath at ten, mothered Narendranath as her seventh child and her first surviving son. But more of that later for here we are in the midst of the maturing of a modern Madonna for who else could hold in her womb the one whose eagle eye holds countless universes in harmonic play ? Let us dwell on this girl, Bhuvaneshwari.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 11
Bhuvaneshwari was wedded to conjugal life at the early age of 10 as was the custom in those days prior to the passing of the Age of Consent Bill. She bore fruit several times of which three died in infancy and she remained without a son yet. The pious girl prayed and fasted and exhorted an aunt living in Varanasi to offer prayers at the seat of Vireshwar Shiva in Kashi. Accordingly, every Monday special offerings were made there and they were reinforced by Bhuvaneshwari keeping her vigils and fasts here in Kolkata. The channel was thus being set up for the golden road that was to connect the ancient city and this modern metropolis, and when the pathway had been fully laid, Bhuvaneshwari dreamt of the meditative Shiva awaking from his seat of concentration and announcing His resolve to be born as her son. In ecstatic joy Bhuvaneshwari awoke from her divine slumber and fell prostrate at her chosen deity's feet, the adorable Umanath, who she had so ardently worshipped all these years. Bathed in tears of bliss Bhuvaneshwari felt saturated with the Lord's grace. Soon she felt that she had conceived.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 12
12 January, 1863. Makar San°kraanti Day. Millions of pilgrims were assembled at the estuary of the Bay of Bengal to offer oblation to the Highest when heaven itself descended to earth in the form of the infant who was to steer humanity onto a new course, setting the stamp of his divine personality on the unfolding age of light that was now waiting in the wings to emerge in full flight. The forest of this world was ready for this fresh efflorescence and the bud blossomed from the womb of Bhuvaneshwari six minutes before sunrise to send a thrill of joy through the Datta household. A son had been born, Bhuvaneshwari's long-cherished dream, the parched earth's long longing, humanity's hope of redemption from its decadent state. Vishwanath grew so blissfully excited that his charity broke all bounds this hour as he started giving away to whosoever came his way anything he could lay his hands on. Finally, he had given away the very clothes he was wearing, a la Emperor Harshavardhana of old, and had to borrow his wife's saree to cover himself. The boy was named by the mother Vireshwar after the deity who had fulfilled His promise to be born as the pious supplicant's son. Soon lingustic aberration changed it to Bileh and so was how the future Vivekananda used to be called by his loving mother even in his twilight years in Belur Math when the old lady proudly strutted about the precincts of the monastery in search of her son, calling loudly, "Bileh ! Bileh !" and the son would emerge from his room and descend the stairs to fall prostrate at his beloved mother's feet. But we have much advanced in our narrative in our flight of fancy and must revert to its fresh beginnings, for we have a full lifetime to cover. Right now the baby cries in its mother's arms. Or, does it blink in wonder at the strange world around ?
YOUR SWAMIJI ...13
The boy was Bileh at home, to the world Narendranath, a name that was, as if by divine sanction, to set its stamp upon the very world. An exceeding force seemed to well up within him making him irrepressibly naughty, playful, self-willed and at times given to fits of violent temper when he would even rampage his way through whatever he could lay his hands on, furniture et al. Mother Bhuvaneshwari, driven to her wit's end, would then in exasperation exclaim, "Alas ! I had prayed to Shiva for a son but He has sent me one of His demons instead." No amount of censure, threat or even inducement would work with the turbulent child and he had to be manned by two nurses constantly to keep him in a semblance of check. Finally, Bhuvaneshwari discovered a unique way of tackling the situation. When Bileh was in one of those moods, she would pour water over his head profusely while chanting the name 'Shiva'. She would further induce fear in him saying, "If you are naughty thus, Shiva will refuse you entry into His abode, Kailash, again." Like magic this would work and calm the boy and he would be his bonny self again.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 14
Now two very important features of the baby Bileh's personality were (a) his easy acceptance of all and sundry as his own and his consequent easing into anyone's arms who extended them to hold him, and (b) his submission to gentleness shown to him by any and equal revulsion of harshness by any in interaction with him. These traits manifest in the baby are worth meditating on as we attempt to unravel not only the secrets of the child-mind universally but also as we seek to plumb the divine depths of the future Swami Vivekananda, now, though, right in bud.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 15
Grandfather Durgaprasad's gene was very much manifest in Narendranath from early boyhood. He had a liking for mendicant monks and would give away alms freely to them. But he was just a small boy. What did he have that he could give? Well, he gave away his first piece of dhoti from round his waist to a sadhu. Likewise he gave away whatever he could lay his hands on to these pilgrims of the Spirit so much so that when any such appeared at their door he had to be kept confined in an upper storey room to keep him in bounds. But such ploys failed when Naren flung through the open window whatever was available to him in his cell to monks passing by on the road below. Such affinity for the renunciates was early signal of things brewing up in the heart of the Divine Mother orchestrating things from behind that was to fashion Narendranath's fate. A vast force was accumulating in the child that was to inundate the world in the days to come. And in this prophetic mission of his he was to bear not only the blessings of his divine Master but those of each and every monk who he gave and who in their turn blessed him silently from the depths of their hearts.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 16
Ebullient as he was, Naren was given to pranks galore. One of these was to tease his sisters and, when chased, to seek refuge in the open drain and makes faces and remarks such as 'Catch new! Catch me !' from there, knowing full well that they would not dare follow suit into the dirt where he lay. The future Vivekananda was worshipped in Kashi Kedarnath Temple as Shiva, was reverenced by a passing monk in the Himalayas as Shiva and venerated by many including his brother disciples like Swami Brahmananda as the same Lord Ascetic. In that sense he was Pashupati, the Lord of all animals, and to this effect he showed early signs by way of his affinity towards his pet animals. Lifelong this relation remained, even in his advanced years in Belur Math where he had quite a number of pets. The boy Bileh had a monkey, a goat, a peacock, pigeons, guinea-pigs, the family cow and his father's horse to keep him company. He with his sisters would bedeck the cow with garlands, mark her forehead with vermillion and reverence her on festive occasions. This easy relation with the dumb animals must have been a formative influence in the making of his future deep sympathy with the muted millions of his benighted motherland.
YOUR SWAMIJI ... 17
Naren's bosom buddy was his father's coachman. He spent hours in the company of the syce at the stable and nursed ambitions of one day becoming a syce himself. His intimacy with the syce drew the twain into close communication and imperceptibly lay open Naren's mind to whatever the former had to say to him. At noon every day the little boy was privy to the women folk's rendition of the Ramayana reading and with rapt attention he absorbed the epic tales which gradually endeared him to Sita and Rama. Soon he had bought from the market idols of the divine couple and with the help of a friend installed them in the attic and with floral offerings worshipped them to his child heart's content. This went on till the syce, himself victim to an unhappy marital life, criticised the very institution of marriage vehemently before Naren, thereby making the boy brood on its futility. He could no more now accept the fact that his divine ideals, Sita and Rama, were also one such married couple and in tears confided his predicament to his mother. Bhuvaneshwari instantly assuaged his grief by asking him from then on to worship the ascetic of ascetics, Shiva, instead. Naren was pacified but could not reconcile himself anymore to being in the proximity of Sita and Rama. Accordingly, he rushed to the attic, picked up his beloved idols and in the dark enveloping evening walked to the edge of the terrace railing and hurled down the images onto the road below. His ideal had been shattered, now he smashed the idols representing them. Next day he bought from the market a clay image of Shiva and began afresh his meditation on the Lord. However, Sita-Rama remained forever etched in his memory as his boyhood's first divine love and became a significant formative influence in his life and a perennial presence in his monastic life as well. Many years later he called every Indian the child of Seeta, that holy woman who unmurmering bore all her suffering in her all-encompassing love for her beloved husband, the divine Rama.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA
THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 1
In 1836 was born the Avatar of the Age in Kamarpukur, Bengal, to humble parents Kshudiram and Chandramani. The boy grew up to be the sage of Dakshineswar, a spiritual phenomenon unparalleled in history. There, on the outskirts of Kolkata, he lived an extraordinary life of the Spirit, realising the truths of all the major religions of the world and pronouncing the epic statement : "As many faiths, so many paths." Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, in a lifespan of 50 years changed the contours of the spiritual history of the world whose fruition we are now witnessing in mute wonder and awe.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 2
Gadadhar or the boy Ramakrishna, was a bonny child given to much playfulness and pranks. He was contemplative by nature, was a beautiful singer, a good sculptor, a perfect mimic and a brilliant actor. He had an artistic temperament and was quite averse to formal academic training. Instead, he preferred the free and buoyant company of his friends in the enactment of a play in the orchard of the village landlord. He also had a pronounced dislike for mathematics. He had a great affinity for the mendicant monks that halted at Kamarpukur en route to Sri Jagannathkshetra, Puri. He served them in all possible ways and once even donned the sannyasin's garb much to his mother's consternation.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 3
Gadadhar was given to spiritual moods as was evidenced on at least three occasions in his boyhood days. Once while crossing a paddy-field he witnessed a flight of white cranes against the backdrop of a darkening norwester sky. Instantly, the artist in him was overwhelmed by the beauteous contrast of colours and he fell unconscious on the field. The puffed rice tucked in a corner of his dhoti scattered all over as the spirit of the boy soared, a skylark in the limpid spaces of the Infinite. When he came to his outer consciousness he seemed to manifest no physical debility or psychological aberration. After initial apprehensions thus, his parents were comforted by his manifestly good health.
On another occasion a play on Bhagavan Shiva was to be enacted when the person playing the role of Shiva fell ill. Gadai being a good actor, he was summoned to act as substitute to avoid the scenario of the play falling through. However, when he took to the stage in Shiva's attire, and had to deliver the dialogues, he became so absorbed in the thought of Shiva that he stood transfixed as a statue in a profusion of tears, oblivious of his surroundings. When all efforts to recall him to a state of normalcy failed, the play was called off. The night passed in the state of ecstasy but Gadai was the same bonny child as before the following morning. This time also his parents were alarmed but on seeing him sunny again as before their fears were gradually assuaged.
A third ecstasy the boy Gadadhar experienced en route to Anur, a neighbouring village famous for the shrine of Vishalakshi Devi. Gadai accompanied the village maidens who doted on him, the daughters of Dharmadas Laha, the village landlord. But before the party could reach Anur, Gadai was possessed by the spirit of Vishalakshi Devi, so to say, and his companions in awe, considering their pilgrimage fulfilled perhaps, reverently retraced their steps back to Kamarpukur.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 4
At the age of seven Gadai lost his father. Kshudiram, the venerable brahman, passed away suddenly at a relative's place in neighbouring Salampore where he had gone to attend the annual Durga Puja festival. When his final moment came he was set up in the sitting posture and chanting 'Raghubir, Raghubir, Raghubir' thrice, he lay in the lap of his beloved God for his final sleep.
The Chattopadhyas were devastated. The patriarch was gone and Ramkumar was called upon to discharge the responsibilities of the family. Chandramani Devi was a shadow of her former buoyant self and remained increasingly immersed in daily devotions of the family deity Raghubir. Even the bonny boy, Gadai, was profoundly affected by this visitation of death, a phenomenon that cast a deep impression on his sensitive mind and perhaps transformed him for life. He now became more indrawn and reflective but keenly sensitive to giving added company to his bereaved mother. Gadai helped her in her household chores and in her daily worship of Raghubir. He became less demanding as a child and did whatever he could in his own boyish way to assuage her grief. But the passage of Kshudiram changed the contours of the Chattopadhyay family for good. Who knows how he would have related to his father through his blossoming boyhood were he spared the company of his sage-like sire? But that was not to be and Gadai grew up in the affectionate care of his elder brothers Ramkumar and Rameshwar and his doting mother Chandramani.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE NETAJI DISAPPEARANCE MYSTERY ... 1
THE NETAJI DISAPPEARANCE MYSTERY ... 1
Rev. Mochizuki, former head priest of the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo where Netaji's ashes are purportedly preserved. This presupposes the aircrash of Netaji at Taihoku on 18 August, 1945 as reported by the Domei News Agency of Japan on 23 August, 1945. But the Mukherjee Commission found the aircrash theory untenable and rejected it. The Government of India in turn rejected the Mukherjee Commission Report and upheld the earlier conclusions of the Shah Nawaz Committee and the Khosla Commission of death by aircrash. The Taiwan Government affirmed that no such crash had taken place in Taihoku on or near the said date. The nearest crematorium had no record of Netaji's death and subsequent cremation. So, whose ashes were interred in the casket that was taken to Tokyo from Taihoku? A Japanese soldier by the name Ichiro Okura had died of heart attack on 19 August, 1945 and it is alleged by detractors of the aircrash theory that it was his ashes that were taken to and preserved in the Tokyo Renkoji Temple. A DNA test of the ashes would perhaps solve the riddle. Meanwhile, it has been claimed in certain quarters that the Renkoji Temple had been gutted by a devastating fire in 1988 and been totally reduced to ashes. It was subsequently rebuilt. I cannot testify to the veracity of the statement. But if so, then whose ashes and remains of bones are there in the casket at Renkoji which was photographed by the Mukherjee Commission? Meanwhike, the Netaji disappearance mystery continues.
Written by Sugata Bose
Friday, 18 February 2022
REMEMBERING RAMMOHAN
REMEMBERING RAMMOHAN
We are in the 250th year of Raja Rammohan Roy. On the 22nd of May this year he will complete the 250th year of his advent. Born on this day in 1772 at Radhanagar in the Bengal Presidency, Rammohan, a polymath, grew up to be India's first modern man who in alliance with the English East India Company brought about the end to the practice of Sati in 19th century Bengal. In 1829 Lord William Bentinck passed the Anti-Sati Bill to ban Sati. This saved hundreds of would-be victims from this nefarious practice. Rammohan's own sister-in-law had perished to the flames when he was sixteen and the horrifying shrieks of the unwilling young widow rent his soul. The trauma of the tragedy left an indelible mark on him and he vowed to seek its redress which he did after a lifelong struggle against orthodoxy.
Rammohan was educated in Patna in Persian and Arabic, and in Varanasi in Sanskrit. He grew up to learn English at the age of twenty-four, and thereafter Latin, Greek and Hebrew as well. Besides these languages he knew of course his mother tongue Bengali. Thus, equipped with an armoury of multiple indigenous and foreign languages he launched himself into the study of the scriptures of the world's major religions, namely, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. He studied the Holy Bible in Hebrew, the Holy Qur'an in Arabic and the Vedanta and the Tantras in Sanskrit. This facilitated his understanding of the essence of these religions and inspired him to formulate a novel monotheism which later was modified somewhat and codified into the Brahmo Dharma by his successor Maharshi Devendranath Tagore. Earlier in 1815 Rammohan had set up the Atmiya Sabha, a congregation of monotheistic followers of the creed that he preached. In 1828 he founded the Brahmo Samaj at Chitpur Road in Kolkata. Thereafter, following the 1829 Anti-Sati legislation he sailed for England in November, 1830 to represent the case of Indians at the discussion of the East India Company's prospective charter, to plead on behalf of the Mughal Emperor Akbar II before the authorities in England regarding encroachment of regal rights by the Company and to ensure that the Anti-Sati Legislation was not overturned and annulled by the Privy Council following an appeal made by orthodox Indians to that effect. The Mughal Emperor bestowed on him the title 'Raja' prior to his departure as the former's emissary. In England he met eminent intellectuals like Bentham and was generally well received. However, he contracted brain fever there and died in Stapleton village near Bristol in 1833. He was buried there. Later in 1843 he was reburied at Arnos Vale Cemetery in Brislington, East Bristol which has ever since remained a pilgrimage for all followers and admirers of Rammohan.
In life Rammohan faced much torment. When at the age of sixteen he declared that he did not subscribe to idol worship, he became estranged from his father and left home for Tibet to study Buddhism. There he gradually incurred the wrath of the Lama's followers for protesting against their raising the Lama to the level of the Lord incarnate. Fortunately, he met with protection from the Tibetan women folk and could return home after four years, unharmed in body, when his father recalled him to his favour. However, soon grave religious differences arose between father (Ramkanta Roy) and son, and Rammohan left home again to chalk out his own career amidst straightened circumstances and newfound association with the Europeans. He acquainted himself fairly with their law and form of government and gave up previously held prejudice and unconcealed aversion against these alien settlers, finding them moderate in conduct, amenable to reason and generally progressive in their views. Rammohan now progressively rose in life by sheer dint of merit and application. He became a 'bania' (moneylender) and prospered. He served as 'pandit' (Hindu scholar) in the English courts of law. Then he took up service with the English East India Company, first as 'Munshi' (private clerk) to Thomas Woodroffe who was the Registrar at the Appellate Court at Murshidabad and then as employee to John Digby, a Collector of the East India Company. He amassed a fortune through diligence and befriended the British to advance India's socioeconomic and religious causes.
Rammohan was a prolific writer. He published in Persian his monotheistic treatise 'Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin' (A Gift to Monotheists) in 1804. Subsequently he wrote 'The Precepts of Jesus' in English which encouraged Christian missionaries to believe that he would convert to Christianity and would be of great help in converting the heathens of India to the Christian fold. But they were belied in their expectations. Rammohan's affinity was towards the Unitarian Church rather than the Trinitarian Church. Rammohan was the father of Bengali prose. He translated into Bengali the Upanishads. He wrote text books in different subjects for students. He composed songs and poems and wrote prose in Bengali to set up the future literary course for his mother tongue.
Rammohan's commitment to Indian education was also deep. In 1817 he donated a sum of one lac rupees towards the building of the Hindu College (now Presidency University) anonymously, fearing that his philanthropy was liable to be rejected by the orthodox section of Hindu society on account of his repudiation of idolatry. In 1830 he helped Rev. Alexander Duff establish the General Assembly's Institution (now Scottish Church College). In 1822 he founded the Anglo-Hindu school followed by the Vedanta College in 1826. He was a pioneer of the Press and a vociferous advocate of its freedom. He started the 'Sambad Kaumudi' journal which pressed on with contentious issues of the day such as freedom of the Press, induction of Indians into the higher ranks of the civil service and of separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary.
Rammohan was instrumental largely in the introduction of English education in India in place of continuance of the age-old indigenous system of Sanskrit education. He was a visionary and understood the far-reaching modernising impact that western science and other academic disciplines conducted in English would have on the nation's destiny. In this he shaped India's future history for sure but saw to it that indigenous education flourished as well through his founding of the Vedanta College, the Brahmo Samaj and the copious literature that he authored. But his fundamental idea was that unless emerging India caught up with the West in science and technology through mastery of the universal language that English was, she could never make her way in the comity of nations. Rammohan was way ahead of his times and wished that Indians should benefit from both indigenous and western education.
ADDED INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS:
Rammohan arrived on the scene at a time when India was going under colonial occupation at its early onset. The English East India Company was establishing its hegemony over Indian affairs beginning with the East. The Bengal Presidency had come under its sway and it was just a matter of decades before the whole of India would buckle. As was in vogue in nineteenth century Bengal, the colonisers had a carefully crafted plan in carrying out their economic, cultural and political conquest. This was succinctly summed up in the adage: ''First send the merchants. Next send the missionaries. Last send the army." The merchants would first gain an economic foothold in the prospective colony. With economic power bolstered the Christian missionaries would launch their slow religiocultural conquest. Once the foundation had thus been laid and the country's socioeconomic system had been subverted and the country internally weakened, the army would be sent in masses to deal the coup de grace.
India, for all her fabled wealth, was the focus of the depredating European powers. Portugal had colonised her first. Then came the English, the French and the Dutch. They all vied with each other for the control of India and her resources and had the common objective of draining her wealth and altering her culturally through imposition of Christianity and allied European culture so as to be better equipped to colonise her for good. Out of this feud the English emerged triumphant majorly while the French, the Dutch and the Portuguese held onto small portions of the vast subcontinent. Never in her history had India seen such drainage of national wealth, although Islamic invasions preceding it had subverted her culturally for long and hindered the growth and flow of the Hindu culture. Thus, Rammohan arrived at a time when India was at her lowest ebb with culture threatened and commerce passing onto the hands of the avaricious British. The world had already entered into the Industrial Age in Europe and it was an hour of reckoning for India as to how she would adjust to the altering affairs of the emerging modern world. Rammohan stood out at this critical juncture of national life as the harbinger of hope, the messiah of modernity and the voice of a subjugated and suppressed race in every phase of its life. He had to battle against horrendous iniquities and lay the foundation for the future emergence of India as a modern nation state.
Rammohan came as the precursor to Ramakrishna-Vivekananda. He saved Hinduism from destruction at the hands of proselytising Christianity. Though he befriended the Europeans and was on cordial terms with the Unitarian Christians, he never ever contemplated converting to Christianity nor did he ever wholly subscribe to the tenets of the Abrahamic religions. His philosophical monotheistic standpoint was based on the Upanishads, although it may be argued that he had been influenced into it by his early exposure to Islamic studies in Patna. But the monotheism Rammohan practised was very different from that of the Islamic creed and derived its substance and sustenance from the Vedanta. Hence, his monotheistic revival of the Vedanta came as a saviour of the Sanatan Dharma as it attracted the intelligentsia of the Bengal Presidency and in consequence that of different parts of India to its fold. This is turn prevented mass conversion of the Hindus to the fold of Christianity as the masses invariably follow the ways of the leaders of society. It was but a step away now from where Ramakrishna-Vivekananda took over the reins of the revival movement and the Sanatan Dharma was in its flight once more as it penetrated the heart of America and England with the arrival of Vivekananda in the West.
Written by Sugata Bose
THE PATRIARCH, THE PATRIOT AND THE PRIME MINISTER
THE PATRIARCH, THE PATRIOT AND THE PRIME MINISTER
The young eagles of the Congress prior to the grand rift which led to Bose's expulsion from Congress, his escape from British India and his re-emergence as Netaji. These two leaders with leftist leanings were the modernisers of the freedom movement and the architects of New India. The patriarch Gandhi oversaw proceedings with alarm and wooed Nehru to his side but failed to harness Bose's unbridled energy, his uncontrollable enterprise for freedom at any cost. The rest is history.
Haripura, 1938, saw Bose's emergence as President (Rashtrapati) of Congress, his prophetic speech from the Presidential podium, his chalking out a national policy for the organization of the rank and file of the Congress, his vision of freedom and governance, his economic policy in general with the formation of the National Planning Committee which he invited Nehru to chair, which in independent India evolved to becoming the National Planning Commission, and his call for exclusion of all sectarian elements from the Congress, that is, those affiliated to the Hindu Mahasabha and to the Muslim League. Bose called for the formation of a disciplined army of cadres for the Congress which alarmed Gandhi who scented anarchy imminent in the Congress thus far controlled by him and directed along lines of non-violent passive resistance. The recent developments in Soviet Russia, Italy, Germany and Japan of totalitarian communist and fascist regimes dictating terms to a submitting population made Gandhi apprehensive even as they inspired Bose to call for a full-scale launch of the struggle for complete independence. Gandhi's view of the polity, its cultural position and requirements thereof was in sharp contradistinction to Bose's and this led to their head-on conflict. Bose was elected President in Tripuri, 1939, in opposition to Gandhi's nominated candidate, was sidelined by the Working Committee thereafter, banned from running office of Congress for three years and finally forced to resign membership of Congress whereupon he launched his own party, the All India Forward Bloc, was interned in December, 1940, and escaped from house arrest in January, 1941. Through arduous terrain across Afghanistan he reached Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo, Singapore and Rangoon before he arrived in Port Blair and last in Imphal to liberate 300 sq. miles of Indian terrain. But fate deemed otherwise. Heavy monsoon and failing fortunes in the war for the Axis powers forced the Indian National Army to retreat. Japan was nuked on 6 and 9 August, 1945. On 15 August Japan surrendered. The war came to an end for the INA as well. Bose went missing after 17 August, 1945 where he was last photographed in Saigon.
The INA soldiers were tried at the Red Fort in 1945-46, the Royal Indian Navy revolted in 1946, the Muslim League conducted genocide of Hindus in Bengal and India was partitioned on 14 August, 1947. The Transfer of Power was deceptive and dubious, the transfer of population ghastly. A million died and tens of millions were rendered refugees. Nehru became Prime Minister of the Dominion of India and inherited non-violently the harvest of the armed assault of Netaji and his INA. The Prime Minister thereafter got a new narrative scripted of India's winning independence through Gandhian non-violence. The Mahatma was assassinated on 30 January, 1948 by Nathuram Godse. Patel integrated India by getting 550 principalities to join the Indian Union. Kashmir was attacked by Pakistan in 1947 as Maharaj Hari Singh dillydallied in his allegiance to India. Pakistan illegally occupied parts of Kashmir. The rest came to India. Patel died in 1950. Nehru reigned on, the patriarch of the Non-aligned Movement.
Written by Sugata Bose
Thursday, 17 February 2022
ক'এ কৃষ্ণ, খ'এ ব্রহ্ম
ক'এ কৃষ্ণ, খ'এ ব্রহ্ম
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ক'এ কৃষ্ণ, খ'এ ব্রহ্ম,
ইহ লক্ষ্য, বাকি স্বপ্ন |
মায়াপ্রান্তর, মরুমরীচিকা,
হৃদিপদ্মে চিৎরত্ন |
ভবসাগরে ভাসে জীব সব,
ডোবে, ওঠে বারে বারে |
নিজসত্তা চিনিবারে
নিরবধি কী প্রযত্ন !
দিণমনি দিনরাতে
জ্বলে পূর্ণ অফুরন্ত |
তবু রজনী নেমে আসে
ছায়াসম, নাহি অন্ত |
মেঘমন্দ্র স্বরে মন্ত্র
করে ছিন্ন মায়ারাশি |
গ'এ গান্ধার, ন'এ নির্গুণ
পরকাশে পরব্রহ্ম |
রচয়িতা : সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)
Wednesday, 16 February 2022
EI PAWTH JODI NA SHESH HOY
EI PAWTH JODI NA SHESH HOY
The doyen of Bengali film music who enthralled hearts during the golden era of Uttam-Suchitra films and thereafter, who was the 'gandaa-bandhaa-hua shaagird' of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib, the mesmerizing voice that floated in harmony with the surrounding atmosphere as if in consonance with the elements of Nature, passes away nine days after the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, passed away. Shandhya Mukhopadhyay is no more but she throbs in the hearts of millions with her rhapsodic melodies.
Written by Sugata Bose
Tuesday, 15 February 2022
EDUCATE ALONG NATIONALISTIC LINES BUT BEWARE OF PAROCHIALISM
EDUCATE ALONG NATIONALISTIC LINES BUT BEWARE OF PAROCHIALISM
The entire education system has to be overhauled. This sort of unpatriotic negation of Indian culture that is consequent on imported western education lacking in indigenous anchor is making our younger generations rootless. What we need is an enlightened awakening to our cultural roots and that is entirely embedded in the spiritual soil of the Sanatan Dharma. To bring about its sprouting, to quicken consciousness of our spiritual heritage, to enliven the polity with its civilisational awareness we need to make Sanskrit compulsory in the school curricula and widely propagate the message of Swami Vivekananda, one of the foremost makes of modern India in all her comprehensive and catholic greatness. Only then will the youth of India be enthused to serve the country with a genuine patriotic pride. Then alone will real nationalism emerge from the shadows of the present perfidies that have apparently eclipsed it. Thus, we need rewriting of our history books along nationalistic lines without bias or specific slant as such but in a manner that will emphasize our glorious past achievements as a race, the torments we have suffered at the hands of invaders and colonisers, and the torments we have inflicted on our own people for ages, reducing them to subhuman status. All of it must come out in clear light.
When nationalism goes purely political and in a democracy garners votes through propaganda, there lurks ever the danger of subverting the academic curricula to suit political ends. This in effect reduces education to becoming a tool in the hands of the political masters and reduces the students to becoming robotic pawns in their hands through a carefully crafted doctrinaire academic programme that is subtly injected into the system. Here truth is covered under a freshly spread pseudonationalistic sheet.
Travesty of truth is not due historical narrative and does a nation no good as it obscures perspective and reduces intellectual discourse to one-sided falsification of events as they were. Here lies the fine line of demarcation as to limits in nationalising education, especially history. Truth must be adhered to at all costs and falsehood never projected in the name of nationalistic fervour. Truth ever triumphs and if it is suppressed by false narratives, the people who are subjected to them are perverted in the long run leading to decline of the race. Truth is invigorating and must ever be the gold standard for any academic programme or project that may be undertaken.
Written by Sugata Bose
POESY: SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S POEM 'SAKHAAR PRATI' -- LAST FEW LINES
POESY: SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S POEM 'SAKHAAR PRATI' -- LAST FEW LINES
From Brahman to the yonder worm
Even unto the atom,
All around is the same Lord,
The ever-loving substratum.
Offer, friend, at these hallowed feet
Thy adoring form, mind, soul.
Leaving these where seekest thou
Thy Lord in this cosmic whole?
Who loves every sentient being,
Worshippest best his God.
Last few lines freely translated by Sugata Bose from Swami Vivekananda's Bengali poem, 'সখার প্রতি' (Sakhaar prati)
Monday, 14 February 2022
RAISE THE DEMAND FOR BHARAT RATNA FOR SUNIL GAVASKAR
RAISE THE DEMAND FOR BHARAT RATNA FOR SUNIL GAVASKAR
It is high time to award SUNIL GAVASKAR the BHARAT RATNA. His epic achievements with the bat, as author, sports journalist, cricket administrator, television commentator, upright character, philanthropy and unbounded patriotism indubitably qualify him for this highest accolade that the nation can confer. Gavaskar truly restored the pride of a fledgling India post independence with his redoubtable performances on the field and exemplary representation of India's honour off it.
It is sad to see men not getting their due honours during their lifetime and being honoured posthumously with the nation's highest award. This should not be. A national jewel must be honoured in due time. So must this gem of an Indian who has carried India's fortunes on the cricket field in a manner that transformed the game in this country and inspired a generation to excel at it. Tendulkar, David, Laxman and a host of others were thus inspired to take up the baton from him and carry India's hopes into the next millenium. Let us unitedly raise the demand for Bharat Ratna for Sunil Gavaskar. Jai Hind!
Written by Sugata Bose
THE ETHIC OF ECONOMICS
THE ETHIC OF ECONOMICS
You must earn money but never burn money.
Written by Sugata Bose
P.S. Swamiji said that it is the householder's duty to earn in abundance along ethical lines and to be ever economical in the discharge of such wealth accumulated because the wealth so earned is for the upkeep of society and not merely for personal pleasurable disposal. Swamiji told America's first millionaire John D. Rockefeller that he was the trustee of God's wealth which it was his duty to spend judiciously for the welfare of the world. Rockefeller stormed out of Swamiji's audience but returned a fortnight later with detailed plans of his first public philanthropy amounting to an enormous sum of money. In general also Swamiji advised people to be economical in their disposal of money and never to be wasteful. So did Sri Ramakrishna. Hence, earning handsomely Swamiji enjoined as the householder's duty as mentioned in the Mahanirvan Tantra but burning money in fruitless ways he never espoused. Thrift when well-directed is a virtue par excellence.
COMMENTS GALORE ... 6
COMMENTS GALORE ... 6
Sugata Bose @Debashish Paul : Swamiji said that it is the householder's duty to earn in abundance along ethical lines and to be ever economical in the discharge of such wealth accumulated because the wealth so earned is for the upkeep of society and not merely for personal pleasurable disposal. Swamiji told America's first millionaire John D. Rockefeller that he was the trustee of God's wealth which it was his duty to spend judiciously for the welfare of the world. Rockefeller stormed out of Swamiji's audience but returned a fortnight later with detailed plans of his first public philanthropy amounting to an enormous sum of money. In general also Swamiji advised people to be economical in their disposal of money and never to be wasteful. So did Sri Ramakrishna. Hence, earning handsomely Swamiji enjoined as the householder's duty as mentioned in the Mahanirvan Tantra but burning money in fruitless ways he never espoused. Thrift when well-directed is a virtue par excellence. So you see why Swamiji's photograph has been appended to the post. I hope I have sufficiently answered your casual query and in a like manner expect an acknowledgement of the same with due deference.
Sugata Bose @Anal Hajra : May I save this picture, Anal, for future use? The photographs you append your posts with are simply nonpareil.
