have stood such hardship. Each had two pieces of loin-cloth, and there were some
regular clothes that were worn, by turns, when anyone had to go out. They slept on
straw mats spread on the hard floor. A few pictures of saints, gods, and goddesses hung
on the walls, and some musical instruments lay here and there. The library contained
about a hundred books.
But Narendra did not want the brother disciples to be pain-hugging, cross-grained
ascetics. They should broaden their outlook by assimilating the thought-currents of the
world. He examined with them the histories of different countries and various
philosophical systems. Aristotle and Plato, Kant and Hegel, together with
Sankaracharya and Buddha, Ramanuja and Madhva, Chaitanya and Nimbarka, were
thoroughly discussed. The Hindu philosophical systems of Jnana, Bhakti, Yoga, and
Karma, each received a due share of attention, and their apparent contradictions were
reconciled in the light of Sri Ramakrishna's teachings and experiences. The dryness of
discussion was relieved by devotional music. There were many moments, too, when
the inmates indulged in light-hearted and witty talk, and Narendra's bons mots on such
occasions always convulsed them with laughter. But he would never let them forget the
goal of the monastic life: the complete control of the lower nature, and the realization
of God.
'During those days,' one of the inmates of the monastery said, 'he worked like a
madman. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he would rise from bed and
wake up the others, singing, "Awake, arise, all who would drink of the Divine Nectar!"
And long after midnight he and his brother disciples would still be sitting on the roof
of the monastery building, absorbed in religious songs. The neighbours protested, but
to no avail. Pandits came and argued. He was never for one moment idle, never dull.'
Yet the brother complained that they could not realize even a fraction of what
Ramakrishna had taught.
Some of the householder devotees of the Master, however, did not approve of the
austerities of the young men, and one of them teasingly inquired if they had realized
God by giving up the world. 'What do you mean?' Narendra said furiously. 'Suppose
we have not realized God; must we then return to the life of the senses and deprave our
higher nature?'
Soon the youth of the Baranagore monastery became restless for the life of the
wandering monk with no other possessions except staff and begging-bowl. Thus they
would learn self-surrender to God, detachment, and inner serenity. They remembered
the Hindu proverb that the monk who constantly moves on, remains pure, like water
that flows. They wanted to visit the holy places and thus give an impetus to their
spiritual life.
Narendra, too, wished to enjoy the peace of solitude. He wanted to test his own inner
strength as well as teach others not to depend upon him always. Some of the brother
disciples had already gone away from the monastery when he began his wanderings.
The first were in the nature of temporary excursions; he had to return to Baranagore in
response to the appeal of the inmates of the monastery. But finally in 1890, when he