Swami Vivekananda’s Odyssey

Spreading Vedantic Light from East to West

The journey of the Vedas to the West, initiated by Swami Vivekananda in the late nineteenth century, is still unfolding, creating new horizons in the understanding of spirituality. In May 2017, the Ramakrishna Mission observed its 120th anniversary, a testament to Swami’s enduring impact. After a successful journey to the West, he continued his efforts to raise awareness among the citizens of India, a nation grappling with British rule and the influence of Catholic missionaries advocating Christianity.

In an era overshadowed by British oppression, Swami Vivekananda’s speeches, particularly at the Parliament of Religions, left an indelible mark, immortalized in the streets of Chicago as “Swami Vivekananda Street.” Renowned as India’s best-known orator monk, Swami forged the path to develop the milestone mission of Ramakrishna Paramhansa in the Himalayas.

Born in an age with minimal technology, Swami traversed India more than twice, driven by a continuous thirst for knowledge. In the late nineteenth century, just after the twenty years of the first war of independence and following the loss of his father at an early age, Thakur (Paramhansa) guided Narendra Nath Dutt to the eternal Kali of Dakshineshwar. The continuous thirst for knowledge led Swami to volunteer all three wishes to Kali for the welfare of the world.

Nearly 130 years since Swami Vivekananda met Thakur and 115 years after his passing, his soul and ambition resonate in the adamant youth of India. Although Thakur showed him a way, Swami’s inability to decode it for a decade left him unrestful. A plunge in Kanyakumari and regular journeys to the Himalayas finally made his mission of “Shri Ramkrishna Paramhansa” possible.

The entirety of Swami’s work in the Indian subcontinent to spread the message of Advait and Vedantism cannot be reincarnated. While many are familiar with his memorable speech in Rammanad, the speeches in Graaskhanda and Kedarkhanda in the Outer Himalayas of Uttarakhand trace the evolution of Swami’s perception.

Himalayas always attracted Vivekananda to such an extent that he expected to spend the last years of his life in Almora. Unfortunately, his immediate death by a heart attack made it an unaccomplished task. Today, Lala Bazar of Almora successfully preserves the reminiscence of the place where Swami stayed and revealed his plan to start Ramkrishna Mission.

He was addressed on behalf of Kumaon in the following statement: “We have heard with great pleasure that you intend establishing a Math (monastery) here, and we sincerely pray that your efforts in this direction may be crowned with success. Kumaonese will derive special spiritual advantages, and we shall not see the ancient religion gradually disappearing from our midst.” Swami not only influenced the people of Almora and Kathgodam but also, his visit to Dehra was a game-changer for the future. Swami Karunananda started Ramkrishna Mission Ashram in the early twentieth century as an orphanage in Rajpur, now an exotic destination for spiritual seekers in Dehra.

In an era where many are in a dilemma of stereotyping “Hinduism” to a particular sect, Swami described Hindutva in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, as the sect of Hindus, Mohammedi’s, Christians, Jains, and other people who lived in Aryan civilization. Vivekananda elaborated on this concept in every lecture from Colombo to Almora, coining the term “Vedikas” for citizens belonging to India as a whole.

Among Swamiji’s group, Charlotte Sevier visited Shyamatal, Almora, and Champawat in search of a calm environment to start her spiritual journey. Advait Ashram in Mayavati of Champawat district is a robust example of the influence of the Himalayas on Vedanta and its philosophy. With thousands of publications to date, Advait Ashrama is focused on providing cheap and high-quality books all over India.

Swami Vivekananda never got distracted from his objective of starting Ramkrishna Ashram. His struggles were mostly affected by the death of his brothers and sisters, either due to disease or psychological instability. Many letters from Swami Vivekananda to Swami Brahmananda describe that after being in depression due to the continuous deaths of siblings, Swami was adamant to advance in accomplishing Ramkrishna Mission. Travelling all over India on foot with limited transportation facilities was a mighty decision that influenced the Vedanta society of India too. Swami’s stand on ending dogmas and bigotry, as quoted in one of his lectures in the Parliament of Religion at Chicago, remained strong as far as Hindu rituals were concerned.

In Kakrighat of Almora, when Swami realized the micro and macrocosm, his ideas expanded. The same message of “believe in relevancy” is a part of the mission till today. This primal realization of the cosmos under a tree in Kakrighat temple