Swami Vivekananda: January 12,1863
– July 4, 1902
The wandering monk in Swamiji was
very fond of Varanasi.
Though he didn’t spend a long stretch of his life in Varanasi,
the mysticism of Varanasi found a great admirer
in the great visionary, the ascetic miracle of India,
and of humanity, and the experiences, the teachings, the learning, that he had
in Varanasi, always
echoed in his teaching throughout his life.
He was pulled by Varanasi’s spiritual heritage and its
hermitic tradition. When he began on his itinerary, on his pilgrimage, to know
and experience more, after his Guru, his Master, Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
attainted Maha-Nirvana, Varanasi
was always a priority.
He visited Varanasi
in 1890, during his itinerant time before the Parliament of the World Religions
in Chicago in1893
and in 1902, the year he took Mahasamadhi.
Volume 1 of the book ‘The Life
of Swami Vivekananda: By His Eastern and Western Disciples’ published by
the Advaita Ashrama’ expresses it beautifully.
“Coming now to such details as
we have of his extended pilgrimages, the first of these was Varanasi, the home of monks, the centre of
learning and the Seat of Shiva. He set out from the Baranagore Math,
accompanies by Premananda and Fakirbabu, a lay devotee of the Master. The
sacred Ganga, the praying votaries, the numerous temples, especially those of
Vishwanath, Annapurna and Durga, the atmosphere of holiness, the thought that
it was here that the Buddha and Shri Sankara had preached – all these made a
vivid impression on him.”
He was expressive about his yearning
for the city. In his works, he writes emphatically about Varanasi,
the holy city of Hinduism,
the spiritual Capital of India and the eternal city of the Indian civilization.
The book writes: “Often he
would resolve to go to Varanasi and spend time
in the sacred city of Vishwanath.
He wrote in a letter - my idea is to remain there (Varanasi)
for some time and to watch how Vishwanath and Annapurna
deal it out to my lot. And my resolve is something like ‘either to lay down my
life or realize my ideal’ – so help me, Lord of Kashi.”
While on pilgrimage with his
brother-monks, he left Delhi alone in 1889 to
explore the Northern India and Varanasi
was an important part of it. While in Varanasi,
going with the name Swami Vividishananda, the ascetic in him found good company
during his stay at the Dwarkadas Ashrama, and in Pandit and writer Bhudev
Mukhopadhyay and Saint Trailanga Swami, to discuss and meditate over the
questions, the spiritual themes and the answers on the existential realms.
After 1890, he again came back to
the city in 1902, after his second visit to the West. By this time, from an
unknown monk he had become a globally known great spiritual soul, a pride of India. During
this visit to the city, he became the force behind the evolution of an
organization ‘the Home of Service—Sevashrama’ from its earlier avatar ‘Poor
Men’s Relief Association’, established by some youngsters who were inspired by
Swamiji.
By changing the symbolism of the
nomenclature of the organization, he led the foundation stone of a committed
organization, ‘Ramkrishna Mission Home of Service’, by making people realise
the value of ‘service of others and manifestation of God’ and the irrelevance
of ‘helping out others with the concept of compassion in mind’.
These Varanasi visits are according to the books
published by the Advaita Ashrama. But other works put as early as1887 as the
year of Swamji’s first Varanasi
visit quoting Gambhirananda. Some other works put 1888 as well.
Whatever be the years of his
visit or the time spent, Swamiji’s teachings tell us of his deep, transcendental
attachment with Varanasi.