Swami Vivekananda – Tests Made Him the Best

When I think about brahmacharya, I can’t help thinking about Swami Vivekananda. There might have been many fine men in the past, many may exist now, and lot more may come in the future who may all be categorized as role models of blemish-free brahmacharya. But the qualities that make Swami Vivekananda the best are his burning fire of renunciation and his extreme compassion, love for his fellow beings. In this blog, I will try to bring out both those aspects.

In his early 20s, Narendra (Swami Vivekananda’s pre-monastic name) lost his father who, unfortunately, had left several unsettled debts. As the eldest son of the family, all the responsibility fell on Narendra. Many times he attended classes without having eaten and was often faint with hunger and weakness. In the later years he recalled, “Various temptations came my way. A rich woman sent me an ugly proposal to end my days of penury, which I rejected with scorn. Another woman also made similar overtures to me. I said to her, ‘You have wasted your life seeking the pleasures of flesh. The dark shadows of death are before you. Have you done anything to face that? Give up all these filthy desires and remember God.’”

In 1893, Swami Vivekananda attended the World’s Parliament of Religions at Chicago and gave his famous speech. Mrs. S.K. Blodgett, an American lady who first saw him at the Parliament said later, “I was at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893 and when that young man [Swami Vivekananda] got up and said, ‘Sisters and Brothers of America,’ nearly 7000 people rose to their feet as a tribute to something, they know not what. When it was over, I saw scores of women walking over the benches to get near him, and I said to myself, ‘Well, my lad, if you can resist that onslaught, you are indeed a god.’”

He was indeed able to resist the onslaught and that’s what made him what he was and exactly that’s the reason why we are celebrating his 150th birth anniversary this year, and I am thinking and writing about him today.

Another interesting incident was recalled by Madame Calve. It happened at Cairo in 1900. One day, she was walking with Swami Vivekananda and they lost their way as they were talking too intently. Suddenly, they found themselves in a squalid, ill-smelling street, where half-clad women lolled from windows and sprawled on doorsteps. The swami [Vivekananda] noticed nothing until a particularly noisy group of women on a bench began laughing and calling to him. “Poor children!” he said. “Poor creatures! They have put their divinity in their beauty. Look at them now!” He began to weep. The women were silenced and abashed. One of them leaned forward and kissed the hem of his robe, murmuring brokenly in Spanish, “Hombre de Dios, hombre de Dios! [Man of God].”

When I read the above anecdote in the book God Lived Them by Swami Chetanananda, I wondered, “In Treta Yuga, Lakshman severed the nose of Soorpanaka for making advances to Ram which led to Sita’s abduction, her subsequent suffering, and Ram–Ravan war. But in this Kali Yuga, which is supposed to be the worst Yuga (Age), here is a man who simply shed tears of sympathy at the condition of those women and made them realize their mistake.” Sword kills but tears of compassion (remember, it is not tears of self-pity) could change minds. So, we are indeed living at a better time than Ram and Sita! 

I would like to conclude this blog with the following words of Swami Vivekananda:

“What do I care if Mohammed was a good man, or Buddha! Does that alter my own goodness or evil? Let us be good for own sake on our own responsibility!”

Won’t you agree?