was the way they understood Sri Ramakrishna's teachings. These young monks thought
that for one who had taken the monastic vows the world was maya; therefore all
activities, including the charitable and philanthropic, ultimately entangled one in
worldly life.
But Vivekananda's thought flowed through a different channel. Sri Ramakrishna had
once admonished him to commune with God with eyes open, that is to say, through the
service of the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the ignorant. During his days of
wandering the Swami had seen with his own eyes the suffering of the people and had
felt the voiceless appeal of India for his help. In America and Europe he had witnessed
the material prosperity of the people, the dynamic social life, and the general progress
made through science, technology, and organized action. Time and again he
remembered the words of Ramakrishna: 'Religion is not for empty stomachs.'
To his brother disciples, therefore, he pointed out that the idea of personal liberation
was unworthy of those who called themselves disciples of Ramakrishna, an Incarnation
of God. The very fact that they had received the grace of a Saviour should have
convinced them of their sure salvation. Their duty, he emphasized, was to serve others
as the visible manifestations of God. He said that he wanted to create a new band of
monks, who would take not only the traditional vow of personal salvation, but also a
new vow of service to humanity.
The brother disciples, who respected the superior spirituality of Vivekananda and bore
him great love as the one especially chosen by the Master to carry on his work, obeyed
him without always agreeing with him wholeheartedly. Thus at his behest Swami
Ramakrishnananda — who had been the keeper of Sri Ramakrishna's shrine for twelve
long years after the passing away of the Master, regarding his worship as the supreme
spiritual discipline, and had not been absent even for a single day from the monasteries
at Baranagore and Alambazar — left for Madras to found a centre for the propagation
of Vedanta in South India. Swami Akhandananda went to Murshidabad to carry on
relief work among the famine-stricken people there. Swamis Abhedananda and
Saradananda had already gone to America.
As for himself, Swami Vivekananda was constantly talking to people, instructing them
in the Upanishads, and enjoining them to cultivate the inner strength that comes from
the knowledge of God residing in all human hearts. The strain of work and the heat of
the plains soon told upon his health. At the advice of physicians he went for a short
change to Darjeeling, in the Himalayas, and felt somewhat refreshed. Returning to
Calcutta he again devoted himself to the work of teaching.
Several young men, inspired by the Swami's fiery words, joined the Order. Four others,
who had been practising disciplines in the monastery under the guidance of the older
Swamis while Vivekananda was abroad, were now eager to receive the monastic
initiation formally from their great leader. His brother disciples expressed hesitation
about one of them, because of some incidents of his past life.
This aroused Swami Vivekananda's emotion. 'What is this?' he said. 'If we shrink from