In 1879 the family returned to Calcutta, and Narendra within a short time graduated
from high school in the first division. In the meantime he had read a great many
standard books of English and Bengali literature. History was his favourite subject. He
also acquired at this time an unusual method of reading a book and acquiring the
knowledge of its subject-matter. To quote his own words: 'I could understand an author
without reading every line of his book. I would read the first and last lines of a
paragraph and grasp its meaning. Later I found that I could understand the subject-
matter by reading only the first and last lines of a page. Afterwards I could follow the
whole trend of a writer's argument by merely reading a few lines, though the author
himself tried to explain the subject in five or more pages.'
Soon the excitement of his boyhood days was over, and in 1879 Narendranath entered
the Presidency College of Calcutta for higher studies. After a year he joined the
General Assembly's Institution, founded by the Scottish General Missionary Board and
later known as the Scottish Church College. It was from Hastie, the principal of the
college and the professor of English literature, that he first heard the name Sri
Ramakrishna.
In college Narendra, now a handsome youth, muscular and agile, though slightly
inclined to stoutness, enjoyed serious studies. During the first two years he studied
Western logic. Thereafter he specialized in Western philosophy and the ancient and
modern history of the different European nations. His memory was prodigious. It took
him only three days to assimilate Green's History of the English People. Often, on the
eve of an examination, he would read the whole night, keeping awake by drinking
strong tea or coffee.
About this time he came in contact with Sri Ramakrishna; this event, as we shall
presently see, was to become the major turning-point of his life. As a result of his
association with Sri Ramakrishna, his innate spiritual yearning was stirred up, and he
began to feel the transitoriness of the world and the futility of academic education. The
day before his B.A. examination, he suddenly felt an all-consuming love for God and,
standing before the room of a college-mate, was heard to sing with great feeling:
Sing ye, O mountains, O clouds, O great winds!
Sing ye, sing ye, sing His glory!
Sing with joy, all ye suns and moons and stars!
Sing ye, sing ye, His glory!
The friends, surprised, reminded him of the next day's examination, but Narendra was
unconcerned; the shadow of the approaching monastic life was fast falling on him. He
appeared for the examination, however, and easily passed.
About Narendra's scholarship, Professor Hastie once remarked: 'Narendra is a real
genius. I have travelled far and wide, but have not yet come across a lad of his talents