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| Swami Vivekananda. .festivalsdatetime.co.in |
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| sage, guru of swami Vivekananda. Sri Ramakrishna .onelittleangel.com |
The readers of this post probably would have read about an interesting incident related to Swami Vivekananda which I briefly described here under.
Saddened by the condition of the India's poor masses, Vivekananda traveled across the country to motivate the fatigued people under the colonial rule to instill confidence and trust in them to face the hard life and challenges in the future. Once he was traveling through the United province (UP) to meet people and talk about spirituality and faith. As usual, he was traveling third class on the train. When swamji was feeling thirsty, he was quite uncomfortable as he did not carry money with him. Being a Parirajaka sanyasin, he had no money on him to buy even a glass of water to quench his thirst.
Seeing his predicament, a rich merchant who was sitting right across Swamiji said, '' You can not wet your throat and stomach without money and you need it to meet basic needs.'' Unperturbed, Swamiji did not care about his sharp and carping remarks. The train stopped at that station for a while. A few seconds later, a local trader approached Swamiji in a hurry and told him, ''I have brought food and water for you''. Startled, Swamiji said, '' you have come to the wrong person, I am not the one you are looking for.'' Local trader said, ''Swamiji, pardon me, I had a dream in which God Sri Rama himself asked me twice to come to this place to give you food and you have been hungry since last night''.
Upon which Swami Vivekananda realized it was the mystic work of hid Guru Sri Ramakrishna who gave him 'Sri Rama Upadesam''. The poor trader served Swamiji with a true heart and devotion and to say the least, his happiness knew no bounds.
The rich merchant across the seat could have provided Swamiji food and water if he had a charitable mind toward a Sadhu, an ascetic, but, on the contrary, he was full of ego and arrogance and thought money could get him anything on this earth. He had no compassion for others unlike the small trader who brought the food all the way from his home to the railway station to feed a holy man whom he never saw before. The rich merchant came out of the veil over him and realized his folly and apologized to the Swamiji. It finally dawned on him that devotion to God and care for fellow humans will give lasting peace and tranquillity and money alone can not buy them.
About Swamiji's famous trip to the US, 'The Hindu news paper' (Madurai Edition) dated January 13, 2013 carried an interesting article:
''It was during January-February of 1893 that Swami Vivekananda traversed the southern districts for the second time after his historic Chicago Address. His earlier visit was in December 1892 when he sat in meditation on the present Vivekananda Rock in Kanyakumari. His second visit began on the Pamban shore on January 26, 1893, where the steamer carrying him and European disciples from Ceylon anchored. The Raja of Ramnad, who had earlier sponsored his trip to the US to participate in the World’s Parliament of Religions, accorded a grand reception to the monk. He also drew the carriage carrying Swami Vivekananda.
From Pamban, Swami Vivekananda travelled to Rameswaram, Ramanathapuram, Paramakudi and Manamadurai before reaching Madurai on February 2. Here, he stayed as the guest of the Raja of Ramnad. He visited the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and addressed a reception accorded to him by the people of Madurai at the present Madura College Higher Secondary School.
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| A Portrait of Raja Bhaskara Sethupathi of Ramand State, a painting.fineartamerica.com |
Then in the year 2013, the Ramakrishna Mutt here headed by Kamalatmananda, recalled how Vivekananda Jayanthi had become a National Youth Day since 1985 and memories of his visit to the historical city- Madurai. The Ramakrishna Mutt here has been active here for a long time and they sponsor National Youth Day every year upholding Swamiji's virtues and his teachings that are relevant to day.
Tit-bits:
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| Vivekananda Rock Memorial in 2016, en.wikipedia.org |
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| Vivekananda Rock Memorial on a 1996 stamp of Indiaen.wikipedia.org |
The credit goes to Shri Eknath Ranade, a social activist and leader,
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| Shri Eknath Ranade, a socialist and spiritualist. twitter.com |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivekananda_Rock_Memorial
Sarada Yagnapradhan (Ulunthoorpettai town, Tamil Nadu): Dec.09, 2019; page 09.
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 and his connection with Raja of Ramnad){kind=link}