CHAPTER-IV

VIVEKANANDA APPROACH TO VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY

"When a man has reached the U~tiversal bmtherhnod ihnl

man alone is a Vednntist".

Vedanta is the common philosophic basis of'thc vasioos rt:ligious

denominations in India, Hinduism is being a harmoniously inlegrated

federation of several sub-religions. Just as it forizythe basis of these difTescrll

denominations, it can also form the common basis of all religions in the world,

for Vedanta it is not a religion or religious philosophy, i l is invc.stigizti~~~ into Ihc

total existential reality and the real nature of man's being. I1 is spiritual science,

encompassing all science. It is metaphysics, philosophy, axiology, epistemology,

cosmology, religion, ethics, science and psychology - all in one.

Vedanta'means the thought - system based on the last part of the Vedas

(the Hindu scriptural texts), known as the Upzmisl~ads, The earlier portion of

the Vedas deals mostly with religious quest from the ritualisllc and thuological

standpoint, but this latter part is philosophical enquiry into the nature of the

ultimate reality and truth (Brahma-Jijnasal. The word 'Vedanta' is derived

from 'Veda', (knowledge) anta (end)"'.

Vedanta philosopl~y, according to Vivekananda is not as a creed or a

dogmatic form to which everyone must know, but rather as basic religion, by

accepting the principles of which a follower of any or no creed could continue

along his own path and at the same time be able to identify himself with every

other creed and aspect of religion.

Vedanta, according to Swami Vivekananda thought was the culmination

of Vedic knowledge. It included Sankhya philosophy. This Vedanta could be

1. Mukhyananda, Swami : Vedanta Modem Science, Vivekanande Commemoration Volume, p. 19,

~ractised in every walk of life yet could also incct inan's highcsl spil-ituitl nccds.

I t included every faith and noble effort of man and it reconcilcd such modenl

conflicts as those between science and religion, faith and reason, spirituality iind

material advancement, work and contemplation, service to Inan and absorption

in God.

Vedanta Philosophy

The present day, generally, Vedanta philosoplly is really colnpriscs all the

various sects which is now exist in India. Tllus, there have heen various

interpretations, according to Vivekananda, they have been progressive,

beginning with the dualistic or Dvaita and ending with the non-dualistic or

Advaita. The word Vedanta literally means the end of the Vedas. The Vedas

being the scriptures of the Hindus.

Practically the forms of Vedanta is the scriptures of the Hindu and all

systems of philosophy that are orthodox and have to take it as their foundation.

Even the Buddhists and Jains when it suits their purpose will quote a passage

from the Vedanta as authority. Though, all schools of Indian philosophy clairn

to have been based upon the Vedas, but took different names for their systems.

The ,last one, the system of Vyasa took its stand upon the doctrine of Vedas

more than the previous systems did and more an attempt to har~nonise tlzc

proceeding philosophies, such as the Sankhya and Nyaya, with the doctrine of

Vedanta. So it is especially called the Vedanta philosophy. In modern India,

the Sutras or aphorisms of Vyasa have been based upon Vedanta philosophy.

Again, these Sutras of Vyasa have been variously explained by different

commentators. Now in India, there are three sorts of commentators in general

from their interpretation have been araise three systems of philosophy and

sects. One is dualistic or Dvaita, second one is the qualified non-dualistic or

Visistadvaita and the third is the non-dualistic or Advaittl. The dualistic and

the qualified non-dualistic includes the largest number of Indian people. The

non-dualists are comparatively few in number. Swami Vivelrurlcl~ldsl ohserved

that 'these different Vedanta systems have one common psychology arlcl that is,

the psychology of the Sankhya. Sankl~ya psychology is very much like thc

psychologies of Nyaya and Vaiscshika system, diflbring only ~n minoi.

particulars.

The Spirit and Influence of Vedanta

We are aware of the fact that the Vedanta philosophy is very ancient

one. I t is the outcome of that mass of ancient Aryan literature known by the

name of Vedas. According to Vivekananda, this Vedanta philosopl~y has

certain peculiarities. In the first place, it is perfectly impersonal. It does not

owe its origin to any person or prophet. It does not build itself around one man

as a center, but which do build themselves around certain persons, In later days

in India other philosophies and systems arose, built around certain persons

such as Buddhism, or many of our present sects. But the Vedanta philosophy

stands at the background of all these various sects and there is no fight and no

antagonism between Vedanta and any othir system in the worlcl.

Vedanta, Vivekananda emphasized that man is divine, that, all this which

we see around us is the outcome of that consciousness of t l ~ e divine, He says

that everything is strong, good and powerful in human nature is the outcome of

the divinity. He argues that there is no difference between man and man

essentially, all being alike divine. And each one of us is trying his best to

manifest that infinite outslde. So, potentially, each one of us has infinltc ocean

of existence, knowledge and Bliss as our birthright, our real nature and thc

difference between us is caused by the greater or lesser power to nlanif'esl the

divinity. Therefore Vedanta lays down that each man sl~ould be treated, not as

what he manifests, but as what he stands for. Each human heing sta~lcis for the

divine and therefore every teacher should he l ~ e l p f ~ ~ l , nut by condemning man,

but helping him to call forth the divinity that is within him.

Vedanta is to be found in all religions, whether in India or outside of it.

Only in some of them are expressed through myll~ology and in others, through

symbology. Vedanta, Vivekananda felt that there has not been one religious

inspiration, one-manifestation of the divine man, however great, but it has been

the expression of that infinite oneness in human nature. He says that we call

ethics and morality and doing to others is also manifestation of this oneness.

This expression of oneness is what we call love and sympathy, which is the basis

of all our ethics and morality.

Another peculiar idea of Vedanta is that we must allow this infinite

variation in religious thought and not try to bring everybody t o the same

opinion, because the goal is the same. As the Vedantist, Vivekanancla says in his

poetical language, "As so many rivers, having thcir sources in different

mountains, roll down, crooked or straight and at last comc into the occan so,

all these various creeds and religions taking their start from differen1

standpoints and running through crooked or strail courses, at last come unto

thee".'

1. Shiva Mahimnah Stotram, 7.

Vivekananda argued that if one man is slower than another, we need not

be impatient. We need not curse-him or revile him. He says that when our eyes

are opened and the unfolding of'the same divinity in every human hc~l r t , will

become manifest and then alone We shall be in a position to clai~n lo the

brotherhood of man. When a man has reached the highest, when hc sees neither

man nor woman, neither sect nor creed nor colour, nor birth nor any of these

differentiations, but goes beyond and finds that divinity which is the real n ~ a n

behind every human being - then alone has he reached the universal

brotherhood and that man alone is a vedantist.'

Principles of Vedanta

According to Vivekananda, the Vedanta system may begin with some

pessimism and ends with real optimism. He argues that we deny the optimism

of the senses, but assert the real optimism of the supersensuous. So, the real

happiness 1s not in the senses but above senses and it is in every man.

Abnegation has the greatest importance in our philosophy. Negation

implies affirmation of the real self. In view of' Vivekananda, Vedanta is

pessimistic which is its negates the world of the senses, but it is optimistic in its

assertion of the real world. He says that Vedanta recognises the reasoning

power of man a good deal, although it says there is something higher than

intellect, But the road lies through intellect.

Vedanta teaches Nimana which can attain here and now, that one need

not wait for death. Nirvana, in view of Vivekananda is the realization of the!

1. Chetananda, Swami : Swami Vivekananda Vedanta : Voice of Freedom, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, p. 60.

self, it is a true nature which is unchanging. He says that Atman is really never

existed but we were the Atman and nothing else.

The two phases of the distinction in human life are first, that the mall

who knows the real self will not be effected by anything, secondly, that man

alone can do good to the world. That man alone will have seen the real motivc

of doing to others because there is only one. Vivelrananda argued that it cannot

be called egoistic, because that would be differentiation. It is the only

selflessness. He stated that it is the perception of the universal, not of the

individual. Every case of love and sympathy is an assertion of this universal.

Vivekananda emphasized, the real Vedantist alone will sacrifice his life

for a fellow man without any selfish because he aware that he will not die, So

he goes on doing good to others and is never hindered by the modern ideas

caring for the body. To him, when a man reaches this point of abnegation, he

goes beyond the moral struggle, beyond everything. He alone is the happy

man. And the man who has acquired that sameness has, even in this life,

conquered all existence. God is pure, therefore such a man is said to he living

in God. Jesus says that "Before Abraham was, I am".' That means the Jesus

and others like him are free spirit.

Vivekananda's Interpretation of Vedanta

By Vedanta is here meant that particular branch of it known as Advaita

Vedanta. Swami Vivekananda's spiritual teacher was Sri Ramakrishnu

Parmahamsa. Though he was essentially a devotee, he certainly had his

philosophical leanings and Advaitic intuitions. Such intuitions occur of their

own accord in minds cleansed of all impurities. Sri Sankara fears testimony to

this phenomena. Commenting on Taitriya Upanishad he writes, "Vision of

the seers relating to the self etc., occur to him, who feel free froin desire and

aspiring to known as a Brahman, is devoutly engaged in the obligatory works

enjoined in Smti and Smrti"'. In his commentary on the Gita he writes, "The

mind refined by the subjugation of the passions and the body and equipped with

the teachings of the scriptures and the teacher firms the sense by which the self'

may be seen".2 There is also the Svetasvatara text :' to the eff'cct t l lnt wlierc

Dharma and ritual are practised, theis inspiration is hos11. The same

Upanishad says that the sage Svetasvatara is able to perceive Brahman

owing to his contemplation and God's grace. It is needless to add that Sri

Rarnakrishna fully satisfied these conditions. He had. perfect control over his

physical body and his senses. Passioils were dead in him. He had a thirst for

the realization of Brahman.

Ramakrishna had adopted Advaita Vedanta as his philosophy of life.

There were also other solid reasons for Swami Vivekananda accepting it as his

way of life, It was not only most faithful to the Upinishads for also the most

completely reasoned out system. It was satisfactory from the purely intellectual

point of view and also from the purely religious point of view. It comes not to

destroy others faiths but to fulfill thein. In his view, Advaila Vedanta was that

summation of all faiths, the crown and consurnmatiorl of all other half-backed

systems.

1. The complete works of Sri Sankara, Vani Vilas press Edition, V01.1, p.10.

2. Ibid, Vo1,XI. p.37.

3. Ibid, Vol, 11, p.6.

Further, Swami Vivekananda had great admiration fbr Sri Sankara's

~rofound scholarship in the sacred life of India, his sharp intellect, his skill in

dialectical reasoning and his incisive way of expressing his views. He says that

"By Buddha the moral side of the philosophy was laid stress upon and by

Sankaracharya, the intellectual side. He worked out, rationalised and placed

before men the wonderful system of Advaita".' To Sri Sankacharya who given

a shape to Advaita Vedanta as a system of philosophy, Swami Vivekananda had

therefore the highest respect.

Advaita Vedanta has a practical side even as it has an ethical and

intellectual aspect. Lord Buddha emphasized the ethical aspect and Sri

Sankara's intellectual aspect. Swami Vivekananda felt that it was left to him to

work out its practical aspect. He felt himself' to the work ol' applying its great

truths to the solution of the social problems of lzis day, This was his distinctive

way of interpreting Vedanta.

He was deeply pained to see men professing lofty Vedanta and yet

remaining callous to the suffering of the poor. He says, "No religion on earth

preaches the dignity of humanity in such a lofty strain as Hinduism and no

religion on earth treads upon the necks of the poor and the low in such a fashion

as Hindui~m",~ His emotion at the thought of the poor and distressed was

roused.

The philosophical basis for the Swami Vivekanandu concept of social

service is to be found utterances of the Upanishads. I3e says illat "All this is

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol, 11, p.139.

2, I bid, Vol, V, p. 15.

~rahman".' "All this is Atman".2 "This self is Brahman".:' The main theme

of all Upanishads is that man is essentially divlne. All inen are childrens of'

immortality.

The Vedanta, according to Vivekananda was not merely a creed based on

intellectual conviction. It was a way of life to him. He applied its great

principles to every department of life i.e., private and public and showed how

one who lived by it could transform this world into the very paradise 011 earth.

Swami Vivekananda ideas are not altogether new. They are to be found

in the Veda, the Upanishads, the Gita and writings of Sri Sanlrara. Swamiji's

distinctive contribution is the new emphasis that he placed on thein and Lhe

forceful manner in which he gave expression to him. Romain Rolland wrote of

Swami's words, "His words are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven,

stirring rhythms like the march of handel choruses. I cannot touch these

sayings of his, without receiving a thrill tl~rougli my body like on electric

Vivekananda - Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta or non-dualistic monism, according to Vivelrananda is

a great system of Indian philosophy and also a great spiritual subject of the

Vedas. He wanted to say and do by propounding Advaita Vedanta not only in

1. Mundaka Upanishad, I1 ii. 11,

2. Chandagya Upanishad VII. XXV.2.

3. Brhadadaranyaka Upanisad, 11. V. 19,

4. Rolland, Romain : Life of Vivekananda, p. 162.

India bui also in the West. Advaita Vedanta, he studied himself lo make his own

philosophical thinking and also to fulfill the object of his life as Sannyasin

The main theme of Advaita Vedanta, in Viveliananda the man is potentially

perfect and divine - the perfection and divinity not being manifest only due to

ignorance. He strongly believed, in this divinity of man and also had the

conviction that Advaita Vedanta is most invigorating, most rational and totally

in conformity with modern science.

The word 'Advaita' is interpreted by Indian philosophers as the ultimate

reality which is devoid of all dualism. But, when combined wlth the word

'Vedanta', it means that final portion of Vedas which speaks of the non-dual

reality. Vivekananda himself write in his letter, "I want to give them dry, hard

reason, softened in the sweetest syrup of love and made splcy with intense work

and cooked in the kitchen of yoga, so that even a baby can easily digest it".' Of

course, such a synthetic method of presentmg the Vedanta is found i11 the

synthesis of yogas, which is an original contribution of the Bhagavad - Gita

said to be the Smriti - prasthana of the Vedanta, Vivekananda has llimself

pointed out this fact in his 'Thoughts on the Gita'.

But Vivekananda has not followed this method rather he has followed the

traditional method of the Sastras in explaining Advaita Vedanta. He stated

that "They (the dualistic Vedantists) say there are three exisience in this

universe - God, soul and nature. Nature and soul are, as it were, the body of

God and in this sense it may be said that God and the whole universe are one.

But this nature and all these various souls remain different from each other

through all eternity. Only at the beginning of a cycle do they become manifest

The complete works of ~wamh~ivekananda, Vol. V, P.104.

and when the cycle ends, they become fine and remain in a fine state. The

Advaita Vedantists the non-dualists-rejects this theory of the soul and having

nearly the whole range of the Upanishads in their favour, build their

philosophy entirely up011 them.'

According to Advaitists, the whole universe is olle, that it is one being

manifesting itself in all these various forms They admit what the Sankhya calls

nature exist, but say that nature is God. It is this being, the sat, which has

become converted into all this-the universe, man, soul and everything that

exists. Mind and Mahat are the manifestations of that one sat. But the

difficulty arises that this would be pantheism. The theory of Advaitists is called

Vivarta Vada or apparent manifestion. In view of dualists and Sankhyas, the

whole of this universe is the evolution of primal nature. According to some of

the Advaitists and some of the dualists, the whole of this universe is evolved

from ,God. And according to the Advaitists proper, the followers of

Sankaracharya, the whole universe is the apparent evolution of God. God is the

material cause of this universe, but not really, only apparently.

In view of Vivekananda, "What does the Advaitist declare? I-Ie says, if

there is a God, that God must be both the material and the efficient cause of the

universe. Not only is he the creates, but He is also the created. He EIiillself is

this &niverseu2 Vivekananda has followed the Upanishad or the Brahma-

sutras. Sometimes he have been mingled for the sake of brevity, to suit limited.

1. Aspects of Vedanta, the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Calcutta, p.306,

2. Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, V01.11, p.248.

The God is both the efficient and material cause of the universe. He

thought, 'let me be born as many', The thought of creation is possible only for

an efficient cause. To be born as many is possible only for the material cause.

The B r a h m a - Sutra, Prakrtisca Dratijna - Drstantanuparodhat also

declares that God is not only the Master of creation, but also the material cause.

Vivekananda says, "How can that be ? God, the pure, the spirit, has become the

universe? Yes, apparently so. That which all ignorant people sce as the universe

does not really exist".'

The truth, in view of Vivekananda is a higher one than that God is both

the efficient and material cause of the universe. According to him, this universe

or creation is only an appearance of Vivarta of the pure self or Brahman. He

described, this is as apparent manifestation. This world may be said to be

manifestion or transformation (parinama) of maya or even of Ishvara with

predominance of maya, but of pure Brahman which is only appearance or

apparent transformation. The reason is that pure consciousness, which is the

essence of Brahman, does not admit of any change of transformation.

According to Vivekananda, each soul is Brahman, Infinite, undistorted

Brahman. He quoted," The essence of Vedanta is that there is but one being

and that every soul is that being in full, not part of that being. All thc sun is

reflected in each dew-dropN."

Vivekananda made it clear that Vedanta is a most reasonable, scientific,

open truth and it should therefore be made known to all. In view of him, the

1. Ibid, Vol. 11, 248.

2. Ibid, VIII, p.6.

à reaching of Advaita Vedanta was a sure means of lessening man's weakness,

sin and misery. With the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta the world would thus

get rid of fear and superstitution and go a head. He stated that " I do not

believe at all that monistic ideas preached to the world would produce

immorality and weakness. On the contrary, I have reason to believe that is the

only remedy there is"'.

Vivekananda emphasized that Advaitisin always tries to help pcople to

get higher and higher not destroying their faith, but by giving thein strength.

I-Ie says, "Another peculiarity of the Advaita system is that from it very start

is non-destructive. This is another gloiy, the boldness to preach, 'Do not disturb

the faith of any, even of those who through ignorance have attached lheinselves

to lower forms of worship'. That is what it says, do not disturb, but help every

one to get higher and higher, include all humanity".' "The Vedantists gives no

other attributes to God except these-three that He is infinite Existence, Infinite

knowledge, infinite Bliss and he regards these three as one. Exisience without

knowledge and love cannot be knowledge without love and love without

knowledge cannot be".3 He asserts again, "Some dualists conceive of the goal as

the highest heaven, where souls will live with God forever".' According to le

Advaita, the freedom is not tonattained, it is already ours. We only forget it and

deny it. Perfection is not to be attained, it is already within us.

1. Ibid, Vol.11, p.199,

2, Ibid, Vol.11, p.141.

3. Ibid, Vol.11, p.143.

4. Ibed, Vol.11, p.349

Vivekananda Interpretation of Vedanta in Western way

Vivekananda was persistent in his attempt to preach Vedanta in the

language of Western science. The West looked upon the slumbering India,

quietly suffering under foreign domination for hundred of years, as a heathen

land where religion and philosophy were synonymous with snak-charming,

widow-burning, arrant superstitions and unimaginable idolatry. Moreover, the

largest majority or so called Western intellectuals were not even acquainted with

the bare principles of Indian thought like Atman, Maya, Jiva, Karma,

Dharma etc., The establishment of experimental truths of Vedanta in such

a totally different society and culture demand the back-breaking labours of a

spiritual hercules endowed with superhuman powers of the intellect and will.

Vivekananda's mission was both Buddha's and Sankara's. Both Buddha

and Vivekananda were motivated by one pivotal reason -alleviation of human

suffering. He always reaffirmed that Buddha preached nothing but Vedanta in

his ethical way which even Upali, the barber, or chandas, the chandala,

could grasp and practise. Vivekananda was absolutely clear about his mission.

He says that "My ideal indeed can be put into few words and that is to preach

unto mankind their divinity and how to make it manifest in every movement

of life",'

The language and reason of modern science and physics, Vivekananda 1x1s

been used for preaching Vedanta was just an instrument. His real mission was

not merely the intellectual awakening, but also the spiritual elcvation of

mankind, especially in the materialistic West. The profound simplicity of his

1. Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol.VI1, p. 501.

exposition sounds sometimes too simple to hear of orthodox scholars, But it is

the same ancient philosophy restated in modern language.

A prophet is born primarily for the salvation of suffering humanity, nor

for teaching or entertaining scholars. h i d he does not rest until that philosophy

becomes living, practices and dynamic In all spheres of life. Vivekananda came

not just lo preach a theoretical Vedanta, but also to dernonstr~ate how to nlake

it practical and solve the problem of life. His intellectual expositiorl of' Advaita

Vedanta is just phenomenal. He was preaching Vedanta like Abcarya Sankara,

but he was not preaching it to Hindu pundits or Buddhist scholars who were

thoroughly sogked in the tradition of Sanskrit learning and the upanishadic

teaching. His job was to bring Vedanta from the ivory tower of pundits lo the

doors of hard-core materialist and the laboratories of modern physicist and

h a l l y to the erna of every day living for common people.

Vivekananda approach has been combined both Buddha's passionate

feeling for human suffering and Sankaras's brilliant exposition of the nature of

the ultimate reality, which is a more humanistic and practical approach. In his

mission of life to make the mystical and intellectual Vedanta practical. By

practical' he meant attainable by all people in till walks of life. It is this practical

Vedanta that we find in Vivekananda's final summarization of Vedanta in five

sentences :

"Each soul is potentially divine.

The goal is manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external

and internal.

Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy-by

one, or more, or all these and be free.

This is the whole of religion. Doctrine, or dogmas, or rituals, or boolrs,

or temples, or forms, are but secondary details"'.

The 'modern way' of Vivekananda related to ordinary life to spiritual

Sadhana, science to religion, action to contemplation, matter to mind,

imminence to transcendence, the world to God, and man to Brahman, the

supreme reality. The far-reaching consequences of Vivekananda's in terpretatiou

of Vedanta are yet to be fully understood and realized in the clif'ferenl levels of'

world culture today.

The World View

The world of myriad diversity is the dynamic manifestation of Brahman

in time and space. In every recurring cycles, such manifestation is followed by

non-manifestation. Vedanta describes this process as the out breathing and in

breathing of Brahman. The diversity of the universe exists only in name and

form. In the case of a mirage in a desert, the ignorant see water and trees, but

the enlightened see the desert, similarly, what appears as the diverse universe

to the ignorant is perceived by the illumined as nothing but Brahman.

The world, in view of Vivekananda, appearance of Brahman is caused

by its own power, known as Maya. Maya blocks the view of Brahman and in

its place projects a world of diversity, therefore it is said that the wodd exist

only in the mind of the individual. Good and evil, pain and pleasure, heaven

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol.1, P.124.

and hell are all in the individual mind Nothing in this world is absolutely good

or absolutely evil. In a psychological sense, the earth rotates not so much

around the sun as around the individual mind.

According to Vivekananda, Maya is not a peculiar coilcept of Vedanta.

The Buddhistic tradition calls it Mara, the Taois.1 tradition says it is being 'out

of harmony with too'., the Judeo-Christian as a tradition personifics it as Satan,

the Islamic as iblis, and the Zoroastrian as Ahriman, the platonisls refer to it

simply as delusion. Beings and things in realm of Maya are nonexistent,

although they arqllusory and ephemeral. They appear real because they reflect

the light of the absolute.

The Problem of Suffering

Accordii~g to Vivekananda, the suffering3of life are not due to the

retribution of God, to luck, chance, hostile stars or planets, or to any other

external agency. Vedanta attributes suffering to five causes, ignorance that

brings loss of contact with the real that is the centre of our being, the Atmaii,

ego, attachment, aversion and clinging to life. Loss of contact with the real

forces the individual into the world of ego-a fanciful world the real forces the

individual into the world of ego-fanciful world of polarization, imagination and

dream. Birth and death, pain and pleasure, here and hereafter, the law of

karma and reincarnation, all apply to ego and its world. The decisive way to

the end of suffering i s to re-establish contact with the real through self-

knowledge.

The Quest for Immortality

Self-knowledge alone - can conquer death. The doctrine of t l ~ c total

annihilation of the soul at the point of death is inconsistent with the desire for

immortality innate in every person and is against the moral orcler of the

universe. The doctrine of soul, according to Vivekailailda is created at the time

of birth and then lives forever lack a rational basis, if does not satisfactorily

explain the fact of inequality between one person and another in physical,

mental, moral and spiritual spheres. The doctrine of eternal happiness in

heaven after death goes against logical thinking. Everlasting life in terms of

time is irrational.

According to Vedanta, the individual soul is n o other than the supreme

soul, the common soul of all beings and is immortal, Despite its immortal soul

nature, the individual soul experience birth and death because of its

identification with the body and mind due to ignorance. The experience of pain

and suffering through life after life force the soul to ponder over the so-called

happiness on earth and in heaven and spurs the soul on to practise desirableness

and realize its immortal nature. Self knowledge is the inescapable destiny of

every soul. Through repeated birth and death, each soul, consciously or

unconsciously is moving toward self-knowledge. Conscious spiritual quest

hastens this process.

The Meaning of Liberation

For Vivekananda, self - knowledge is the liberation af the soul from the

bondage of body and mind. It is true awakening, a return to diviniiy of one's

real self. Vedanta maintains that there is no liberation without the realization

that the individual soul and supreme soul are identical in essence and this

liberation, in order to be true must be attained before death. According to him,

any other form of liberation after death is a matter of fAth and speculation. He

who has seen diversity in life will go from death to death. The knower of self

is called free soul. Such a person is no longer deluded by appearances. Having

realized the oneness of existence, he regards the pleasure and pain of others as

l l i ~ own plor~surc~ i111rl p t l i11 . I lo Iov(~,s 1 \ 1 1 I ) ( ~ ~ I I \ : s ~ I I N I I ~ ( ~ v ( ~ I * ~ ) ( Y Y ) I I I ( ~ N 1 1 ('itll,?(' of'

fear to anyone. Such a kee soul demonstrales the reality of' God and gives

valiclity to thc words ol' bhc sc~.iplu~*c.s, 'l'l~o c t ) t l l i ~ \ \ ~ i \ ~ ~ r ~ ol'111(. hotly i~l'li.~. Ohc

attainment of self-knowledge is not incomparable with liberation.

The Four Values

In view ofvivekananda, Vedanta speaks about fbur values of life, such as

rigliteous conduct, acquisition of wealth, enjoyment of legitimate pleasure and

self-knowledge. Righteous conduct is the performance of duties of life in

according with the law of morality and ethics which is the foundation of self-

development and self-fulfilment. According to him, acquisition of wealth is

necessary for the preservation of life and promotion of the welfare of others.

The first three values must find their fulfilment in the fourth, self-knowledge.

Moral perfection, in Vivekananda is not attained for the sake of self-

howledge which creates enlightened egoism. Wealth and prosperity when not

used for the sake of self-knowledge free delusion and attachment. Art and

aesthetics when they do not reflect the light of' the self degenerate into

~ r ~ m i s c u i t y - k ~ ~ ~ l ~ d g ~ of science and technology when not directed to be a

weapon of self-destruction, Self-knowledge is neither intellectual convi~tion

nor emotional thrill. It is a burning realization that silences all doubt and

transform a person forever. Self -knowledge is neither miraculous nor is it

achieved vicariously. It results from the total response of the whole mind

gathered through the practices of self-control and desirableness.

The four cardinal principles of Vedanta are non-duality of the God head,

divinity of the soul, oneness of existence and harmony of religions. These are

not dogmas, but four universal principles in keeping with reason and everyday

personal experience. There is one ultimate reality and it is described by

various names. Furthermore, all religions proclaim that the individual soul is

divine. This divinity is innate, not acquired or given, practice of spiritual

disciplines endows us with faith in own divinity. Oneness of existence is the

foundation for ethics and morality, life is interdependent not i~~zdependent.

Harmony of religions, according to Vivekananda is the natural corollary

to the first three cardinal principles. Different religions are only different

pathways to the same common goal to God. When we move towards this goal

voluntarily and consciously, we call it as spiritual quest, when this move is

involuntary and forced by nature, we call it an evolutionary process. Vedanta

repudiates the idea of proselytism, which seeks t o wipe out the social memory

of a person - a psychologically disruptive of morally reprehensible act. For him,

harmony of religions is not uniformity, It is unity in diversily. This harmony

is not to be attained by mere intellectual understanding and interfaith

deliberations, nor can it be enacted by law. It is to be discovered realized by

depending our individual God-consclousne~~.

The Vedanta in all its phases

The Vedanta, in view of Vivekananda has penetrated all the sects in

India. With its immense, almost infinite ramifications, Hinduism has been

throughout interpenetrated by the influence of the Vedanta. An every Hindu,

according to him, think the Vedanta, live in the Vedanta, breathe the Vedanta,

and die in the Vedanta.

For Vivekananda, the sects have to be classified in general intc two great

class of dualist and monists. The little differences which some of these sects

insist upon and upon the authority of which wants to take new names as pure

Advaitists or qualified Advaitist, so forth, do not matter much. As a

classification, either they are dualists or monists and of the sects existing at the

present time, some of them are very new and others seems to be reproduction

of every ancient sects. According to him, one class present by the life and

philosophy of Ramanuja and the other by Sankaracharya.

Now both Sankara and Raman~~ja have been laid aside all claim to

originality. Ramanuja is only following that great commentary of Bodhayana,

He says that on Shri-Bhasya. "Ancient teachers abridged that extensive

commentary on the Brahma - Sutras which was composed by the Bhagavan

Bodhayana, in accordance with their opinion, the words of the sutra are

explained".' Ramanuja was very plain on the point and he tells us that he is

taking the ideas and sometimes the very passages out of Bodhayana, and

condensing them into the presenl Ramanuja Bhashya, it seems that

Sankarachaya was also doing the same.

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol. 111, P. 326,

Swami Vivelrnnenda argued all the secls ol' India now hold these Vyasa - sutras to be the great autliority and every new sect in India starts with a fresh

commentary on the Vyasa - sutras according to its light. The difference

between some of these commentators is sometimes very great, sometimes the

tex-torturing is quite disgusting. The Vyasa - sutras have got the place of

authority and no one can expect to find a sect in India until he can write a fresh

commentary on the Vyasa - sutras'.

Next in authority, in view of Vivekananda is the celebrated Gita. The

great glory of Sankaracharya was his preaching of the Gita. It is one of the

greatest works that this great man have done among the many noble works of

his noble life like preaching of the Gita and writing the most beautiful

commentary upon it. And he has been followed by all founders of the orthodox

sects in India, each of whom has written a commentary on the Gita.

Teachings of the Upanishads, according to Vivekananda are vur'ious to

texts. Some are perfectly dualistic, while others are monistic. But there are

certain doctrines which are agreed to by all the different sects of India.

According to him, first, there is the doctrine of Samsara or reincarnation of the

MU^. Secondly, they all agree in their psychology He argued that first there is

the body, behind that what they call the sukshma sharira, the mind and

behind that even is the Jiva. That is the great difference between Western and

Indian psychology, in Westem psychology the mind is the soul, here it is not the

Antahkarana, the internal instrument, as the mind is called is only an

instrument in the hands of' that Jiva, through which the Jiva works on the

body or on the external world. Here they all agree and they all also agree that

this Jiva or Atman., Jivatman as it is called by various sects, is eternal,

without beginning and that it is going from birth to birth, until it gets a final

release. They all agree in this and they also all agree in one other most vital

point, which alone marks chara(:teristically. Most prominently, most vitally, the

difference between the Indian and the Western mind and it is thls, that

everything is in the soul. There is no inspiration, but properly speaking

expiration. All powers and all purity and all g~eats, everything is in the soul.

According to the dualistic sects of India, the indivldual souls remain as

individual throughout and God treats the universe out oipre-existing material

only as the efficient cause. On the other hand, according to the Advaitists, God

is both the material and the efficient cause of the universe. He is not only the

creator of the universe, but he creates it out of himself. There are crude

dualistic sects who believe that this world has been created by God out of

Himself, and at the same time - God is eternally separate from the universe and

everything is eternally subordinate to the ruler of the universe. There are sects

too who also believe that out of himself God has evolved this universe and

individuals in the long run attain to Nirvana to give up the finite and become

the infinite. But these sects have disappeared, we find that the one set of

Advaitists in modern India is composed of the followers of Sankara, According

to Sankara, God is both the material and the efficient cause througl~ Maya, but

not in reality. God has not become this universe, but the universe is not, and

God is, This is one of the highest points to understand of Advaita Vedalta, the

idea of Maya.

According to Advaitist, individuality is a delusion, they say that there

never has been an individuality, you have been changing every moment of your

life. You were a child and thought in one way, now you are a man and think on

other way, again you will be an old man and think differently. Every body is

changing. Hence, there is no personal identity. Certainly not in the body, or

in the mind, or in thought. And beyond that is your Atman, and says the

Advaitist, this Atrnan is the Brahman itself. There cannot be two infinities.

There is only one individual and it is infinite.

Even great commentators like Sanlraracharya making meaning of text

which do not seem to be justified. Sometimes, he says that Ramanuja dealing

with text in a way which is also not clear. The idea has been even among our

pundits that only one of these sects can be true and the rest must be false,

although they have the idea in the Shrutis, the most wonderful idea that India

has yet to give to the world. Vivekananda observed that which exists is one and

sages call it by various names. You will find a regular fight going on about these

various sects and things.

The Conception of Maya

The origion of the doctrine of Maya can be traced in the earliest Vedic

literature. In the Rig Veda we find that Maya has been used in various senses.

It is used in the sense of magic, which is praised as a world -sustaining power,

and it is also used in a supernatural sense. It is stated that Varuna and Indra

had assumed various forms through this Maya. To Maya has been attributed

to power of transformation. The Brahmmas and the Upanishads also deals

with the concept of Maya, but attribute different meanings to it.

The prasna upanishad agrees with the general Hindu view of Maya in

holding it to be an illusion. In the Svetasvatara upanishad, the power of

Maya has been invested with notion of a personal God, i.e. God has the power

of Maya. So, we find that Maya has been used in different ways by different

hands.

Vivekananda, however, has used the word Maya to refer to the

inexplicable nature of the events of the world. The world is an enigma which

cannot be solved by rational explanation and enigmatic nature of the world has

been described by the concept of Maya. The world we live in is full of

contradictions. Contradiction is inherent in the very structure of the world.

The word Maya simply refers to this contradictory nature of the world. Since

contradiction constitute the very back of this world, we are incapable of giving

any satisfactory and rational explanation of it. The world is there, it is visible

to us, i t is charming and inspiring, but at the same time it is also a valley of

tears and abode of death and dejection.

Worldly life, according to Vivekananda it is a mixture of truth and

falsity, existence and non-existence. Even intellectual knowledge is trapped in

the net of contradiction. Man has the craving to know everything, but he cannot

know every thing, because he is unable to go beyond his intellect. Intellects

creats in him an urge for knowing everything, but when he makes sincere efforts

to know all the secrets of life and of the universe, the intellect does not allow

him to go beyond its own sphere, Thus, the intellect both inspire and obstructs

and thereby creates a confusing state of affairs which has been described

cryptically as Maya.

Maya, therefore, as Vivekananda points out, is a statement of fact about

how the enigmatic world is going on, we find that animals are living upon

plants, men upon animals and the stronger upon the weaker section and still we

are unable to find a solution for the evils in life. We are told that all will be good

in the long mn, but we are all suffering and leading a miserable life all the t h e .

There is no remedy to the misery of life. This is all because of Maya - the basic

mystery.

Man can never have a happy living of his life throughout the whole period

of his earthly existence. His life on earth is found lo swing between happiness

and misery, between smiles and tears. Pleasure and pain are relative. One

implies the existence of the other one cannot bc thought of apart from the

other. If there is an increase of happiness there is also increase of pain, As

Swami Vivekananda points out if we increase our power to become happy in life

in arthimetical progression, then our power to become miserable also increases

in geometrical progression. Nobody can explain why this happens in such a

manner and this limitation of human knowledge is described by the term Maya.

Vivekananda, therefore, is clearly of the opinion that Maya is an

insoluble riddle of the universe. It has engulfed the entire living world, one

cannot go beyond it and one cannot survive without it. It pervades the whole

world. He sums up the entire picture of Maya beautifully in the following lines;

"Maya is not a theory for the explanation of the world, it is simply a statement

of facts as they exist, that the very basis of our being is contradiction, that every

where we have to move through this tremendous contradiction, that wherever

there is good, there must also be evil and wherever there is life, death must

follow as its shadow and every one who smiles will have to weep and vice -

Versa".'

The enigmatic nature of the world is due to the fact that it is a mixture

of truth and untruth, of knowledge and ignorance, of light and darkness. We

1. Selections from Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavathi, P,132.

know the world, yet we cannot claim that our knowledge of the world is true,

that the world is not a dream The ignorant person accept the world as an

existent fact whereas the wise one feels that the world as an abode of colours

and sounds, smells and tastes does not exist. The why and what of the events

of the world is beyond the cornprehension of ordinary man. This is Maya.

Human beings are living in this world in a half - sleepy condition. When a man

enjoys happiness he feels as if this happiness is something everlasting, he feels

the world to be real and feels life to be a pleasant game. W11en the same man

has to go through the fires of life due to misfortune, he begins to feel that the

world is perhaps unreal. Life is no longer seems to him to be a bed of flowers,

on other hand he becomes suspicious about the reality of pleasures and pains.

Vivekananda opined, "This eternal play of light and darkness, indiscriminate,

indistinguishable, inseparable; is always there. A fact, yet at the same time, not

a fact; awake, and at the same times asleep. This is a statement of facts and

this is what is called Maya. We are born in this Maya, we live in it, we think

in it, we dream in at".'

The contradiction of pleasure and pain is fact of the world and this

contradiction can never be dissolved so long as the world stands before man as

a world of changing events. The whole world is full of contradiction and

opposition and this i s what one has to understand by the word Maya,

I n fact, according to Vivekananda, the world is nothing but an

accumulation of sensation, perception, thoughts, feelings and emotions of the

living beings. Man has got five external sense orgms and the mind. In

empirical level of existence, he feels that he is receiving sensations of sound,

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol.1I. P.112.

colour, taste etc., from externally existent world of names and forms, whereas

in reality there is nothing but Nirguna Brahman asti, Bhakti, Priya The

human world, emerges depending on the sense organs and minds of all human

beings. I t has no independent existence of its own as it is nothng itself apart

from the phantasmic folarns and colours accorded to it by the hun~an minds.

Vivekananda says, "This world has no existence, what is meant by that ? It

means that it has no absolute existence. If exists only in relation to m y mind of

everyone else, we see this world with the five senses, but if we had another

sense, we would see in it something more. If we had yet another sense, it would

appear as something still difrerent"'.

The world is, therefore, dependent on our sense organs and minds and in

this sense it cannot claim to have a mind-independent objective existence. Even

then Vivekananda has not preached subjective idealism of the type drsti srsti

vada. He has not held that every individual creates his own objects of

experience by his own illusion and ignorance and so there are multiple private

words which are only similar to each other. It is this similarity that (according

to drsti srsti vada) creates the notion of a colnrnon world. Rather it would be

appear that in Vivekananda's opinion, the world is a common world formed of

the sum total of all sense experience, feelings and emotions of all the beings of

the world. All minds are working in accordance with the categories of' space,

time and causality in the way. If we can make an analysis of a single man then

we can easily analyse the entire world because all are found by the law. In fael,

the world is constituted of everything that falls within the spl~ere of space, time

and causation, Maya i s the sum total of space-time-cau8atio~ Space. time,

1. Ibid., p.91

causation are Mayika, because these have no independent existent of their own,

Time changes with every change of every human mind. The subjective nature

of time becomes evident when in the midst of intense happiness, an hour seems

like being just a rninutc. Again, if' a man is in extreme distress, a minute

appears to him like an hour, if one remains absorbed in meditation, time sense

vanishes from his mind. Time is related to events. To have an idea of' time, one

must consider two events in the relation o r before and after. Pure time is beyond

human comprehension. Similar is Ihe case with space and causation. Just as

time depends on two Ihings. Causation again depends on space and time. Thus,

they have no independent existence. We cannot, however, regard them as

nothing or non-existent because the world is getting manifested to us at every

moment. Changeable forms or figures of the worldly objects owe their origin to

space, time and causality and therefore, to Maya.

. Maya is blindness or illusion under the spell of which we get involved in

the multiple waves of pleasures and pains of the world, losing sight of the

supreme unity which is its truths and light. Maya in fact, works in our minds.

It makes our consciousness hazy and dim and as a result of this we cannot

perceive the infinite illumination that; is sparkling through every item of the

world. The world appears to us as enigmatic existence, a closed abode in which

we are struggling in vain to make ourselves happy and peaceful. If we can

destroy the spell of Maya and can know that the world is no other than the

infinite Brahman, the image of the world will change immediately. The world

will not appear to us as irrational, unkind. On the other hand we shall realize

that Brahman is manifested in the form of the world and that there is nothing

in the world which is not an expression of Sat, Cit and Ananda. The isa

Upanishad has declared, He who knows the truth of the infinite and that of

the finite both united together, across death by the help of avidya and by the

help of vidya reaches immortality.

According to Vivekananda, Maya, instead of being a horrible, hopeless

dream, as it is now, will become beautiful, and this earth, instead of being a

prison house, will become our playground and even dangers and difficulties,

even all sufferings, will become deified and show us their real nature, will show

us that behind everything, as the substance of everything, He is standing and

that He is the one real self1.

The Vedantic Heritage of Vivekananda

As the very term, 'Vedanta' is connected with the Vedas, the Vedic

literature necessarily forms an important aspect of the Vedantic heritage of

Vivekananda, As we aware, the four Vedas are the foundations of the Indian

culture. The Rigveda is known as the earliest existing text of the human race.

The Vedic seers speculated about the creation, the creator, and creatures. They

tried to visualize the purpose of all these thought of a way out of the cycles of

birth, death and rebirth.

The Upanishadic seers had realized that the Absolute and individual are

one2. Since there is no reality other than the Brahman3. Swamiji clearly

realized this and extended the idea lo the identificatio~l of the poor with God

(daridra-narayana).

1. Ibid,, p.129.

2. Brahadaranyaka Upanishad, 11,5 19 +

3. Chhandogya Upanishad, 111,14,1.

Consciousness, developed as self-awareness at the advanced human level,

is regarded as the sure path to distinguish between the real and unreal, lasting

and transient. According lo Vivekananda, it is the consciousness, everlasting

and all-pervasive and not the matter, that assumes the supreme position. Hence

the phenomenal layers of the real are not so important, they are outer covers of

the inner core - the conscient being, as explained by the principle of five

sheaths,'

The monistic philosophy of'vivekananda is not sheer continuation of the

tradition. His rationalism was amalgam of the monism of Sankara, the

Hegelism dialectic and the Gospel of French revolution. The revolutionary

nationalism of Seal had great appeal to Narendra, although he did xlol confine

himself to national limits. Within him the soul was in quest for the citizen of

the world.

Logical consistency, according to Vivekananda was utmost importance.

He was happy with the Vedantic position wherein it is admitted that a statement

made by a child, if logically consistent, must be accepted, rather than an

inconsistent one made even by great men or even by Sukadeva himself. But

he was also aware although at a later stage, that one should know the limits of

reason. He approves of the Taittiriya upanishad position which talks of the

reality, where form our speech along with mind retxrns being unable to grasp

the real. The Katha upanishad also confirms the same position when it says

that 'thist cannot be obtained reason-raise tarkena matirapaneya. And

Sankma al80, while commenting on the Brahma-Sutras has established that

reason cannot be treated to be infallible.

1. Taittriya upanishads, I l l , 2-6,

Swami Vivekananda was more inclined to the Vedantic tradition although

he had sufficient awareness of other religious philosophical schools of the

country, namely, Jainism, Buddhism, Carvaka, etc., He treated Buddhism as

the fulfilment of Hinduism. He maintained that the Dharma professed by

Sakyamuni was subsequently degraded till Acharya Sankara showed that the

essence of Buddhism and Vedanta are not different. He also held that the

Sankhya theory of evolution, coupled with ontology of the Advaita Vedanta,

makes for a satisfactory understanding of the cosmos.

Swami Vivekananda had profound knowledge of the Western schools of

philosophy. He studied the h~story of Western thought with serious mind. He

was greatly influenced by David Hurne's scepticism when he was in college. The

logical accuracy and the rational analysis of Western thought had lasting impact

on him. But he was more influenced by the philosophy of Advaita, beginning

with. the upanishads and culminating in Sankara's interpretation. He was

greatly inspired by the Katha upanishad when it enjoins to 'Arise, awake',

having attained the boons, understand them,

The aphorism of Badarayana present to Vivekananda the basic text of

the Vedanta philosophy interpreted variously by the Acharyas. He had very

clearly understood the philosophies of Sankara and Ramanuja, based on the

Brahma Sutras. The combination of the two major currents, namely,

Advaitism and qualified monism, Grids expression in the Neo-Vedantism.

According to Vivekananda, Neo-Vedanta of reality o f the world has been

retained along with the metaphysical absolute of Sankara. For him these two

realism are not different, but they are the two dimensions or one and the same

reality, namely, Brahman.

The concept of essential unity of every thing owes its origin to the Advaita

philosophy. The d~stm(:tion between the empirical standpo~nt and the

transcendental point of view is deeply influenced by Vyavaharika and the

paramarthika categories of the Advaita system The creation of the world,

although due to Maya is not illusoiy. The world i s an irnportani slep leading to

the ultimate goal. Ramanuja's concept of Bhakti or devotion has also

influenced Vivelrananda. He finds Para-Blxakti as the means the salvation.

In his own life he used to sing devotional songs on various occasions.

Vivekananda was the greatest exponent of the Advaitic monism to the

West. He was convinced that only Advaita Vedanta could be the future faith of

the enlightened humanity. Vedanta, for him, was not only spiritual, but also

rational and harmony with the scientific outlook. The latest dis~overies of

science to him seemed like echoes of spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy.

The Mission of Vedanta

According to Vivebananda, Vedanta as a great source of inspiration. The

Vedantic doctrine of Atman points out that the human spirit is in reality

identical with the supreme being. Atman is one and universal. His prilnag

message of Vedanta is the proclamation of man's true nature as the birthless,

deathless spirit, ever free, perfect and ever pure. The human heillg is not really

the weak and grovelling creature that he seems to be a creature who is at the

mercy of a hundred foree of nature and a slave to irresistible passions.

The consciousness of bondage of weakness and of impudty is pwsent in

us, because we have forgotten our identity and the moment we assert our

divinity again that inalienable nature of ours which no amount of' self-

hypnotism can really change will inanikst itself Vivekananda opined the

~ o r l d of matter which appears so vasl and so aver powering is only a misreading

of nature of the supreme Atman.

Vedanta does not preach a statlc view of life. It is a perennial source of

strength and creativity. Its theme is the fkeedom of the human spirit. It

underlines the infinite din~ensions o f the human personality, It explains every

great moment, social, political and religious as an expression or the urge for

freedom that is inlzc~cnt in man. Tlze Atman is the basis of our consciousness,

our happiness even of' our very cxisLcncc One nun differs from another in

body, colour, race, and mental attitudes, hut not in this essential truth of his

being, his self. This is the real point behind universal religion and brotherhood.

of man.

The discovel-y of this l r u t l ~ is indeed of momentous importance. Sister

Nivedita has aptly described Swami Vivekananda 'the worker at foundations'.

1-Ie is the only man who has utilised the life-giving message o f Vedanta for the

regeneration of India and for the establishment of universal religion. The base

of his mission is a spiritual non-dualism and not any eclectic, exotic, superficial,

anaemic, pseudo-universal, religious propaganda indulged in by modern

intellectuals having no insight into the spiritual unity of man. Vivekananda saw

to it that Vedanta no longer remained conbed to the forest and given over to

scholastic speculation, but was made the property of masses for lifting them UP

in the spiritual scale, as well as for susl,ailling them in the stJ.'uggle of life.

The modern age was different from the age of religious revolution of the

era of the Upanishads and the times of the expansion and consolidation of tke

Gita message. In view of Swami Vivekananda, man had too 10% been obsessed

~ i t h the Idea of sin and weakness. It was high time for man to wake up to the

consciousness of his own divine naturc which was his birth right, alone

was rightly considered l o he a panacea for all maladies of slag~~alaiii alld

moribund life.

Self-knowledge alone could foster love and mutual understanding

between man and man. It alone-would summon men and women everywhere

to the mighty adventure of freedom and fearlessness, sympathy and service, to

the spiritual realization of inner unity, and thus help the solving of the

formidable problem of life. AXI over-emphasis on the jnana attitude was a

historical necessity for counteracting the permiclous and debasing effects of the

feeling of the unworthiness of man, which feeling was engendered by slavery,

Swamiji said, 'strength is the medicine for the world's disease'.

Vedanta, Vivekananda has been made gospel of intense activity ancl

connoted the widest expansion of the spirit. It becomes a geat force for the

moral regeneration of India that was haunted by the spectre of fatalism, defeat

and decay. Again and again Swamiji remained his countrymen of their glorious

spiritual heritage and stressed the special role of his generation had to play in

the evolution of modern renascent India. I-Ie said that the reconstruction of

India had to be based on the bed-rock of her spiritual resources.

Swami Vivekanan,da presented Vedanta as a fearless philosophy of life

which helped man to frame ideas for himself 'with the intensity of the fanatic

and the extensity of the makeriahst'. In him Hinduism got a fresh lease of life

and vigour. He impregnated Hinduism with the ideal of complete self-

dedication to the service of humanity. He encouraged the study of new

knowledge for the improvement of the secular life of the people. He also made

Hinduism as a dynamic by enkindling in it and zeal for dissemination of the

gospel of universal truth for the welfare of humanity at large.

The Goal of Vedanta

We have seen that {.he oldest idea in the Samhita portion, the Vedas was

only about heaven, where people had bright bodies and lived wit11 the fathers.

Gradually other ideas came, hut they were not satisfying. Tliere was st111 need

for something higher. Livmg i n l~eaven would not be very different from life in

this world. It would only bc ii very l~ealtlly rich-man's life, with plcnky of'

sensory enjoylnents and a sound body whicli knows no disease It would be this

material world, only a little more refined, the external, material world call never

solve the problem, So also no heaven can solve it. If this world cannot solve the

problem, no multiplication of this world can do so, because we must always

remember, matter is only an infinite-simal part of the phenomena of nature.

Actually we see the vast part of phenomena is not matter. For instance,

in every moment of our lives, what a great part is played by thought and feeling,

compared with the material phenomena outside. The sense phelzomella are very

small compared with it. The heaven solution commit this mistake. It insists

that the whole of phenomena is only in touch, taste, sight, etc. So this idea of

heaven did not give full satisfaction to all

According to philosophy, there is a joy which is a Absolute, which never

changes. That joy cannot be the joys and pleasures we have in this life and yet

Vedanta shows that everything that is the only joy there is. Every moment,

really, we are enjoying the Absolute bliss, though it is covered up,

misunderstood and caricatured.

The Experience of Cosmic consciousness

The highest principle, according to Vivekananda cannot be a person The

jiva is an individual and the sum of all jivas is Ishvara. In the jiva, Avidya,

or neiscienoe, is predominant, but Ishvara controls Maya, composed of

Avidya and Vidya t knowledge I. and illdepe~lde~llly projects this wolild of

movable and iinmovable lhings out of' himself: But Brahman transcends both

the individual and collective aspects, the jiva iund Ishvara. In Brahman theye

is no part. It is Ibr lhe solie of' easy comprel~ension that parts have been

imagined in it that part of Brahman i11 which there is the super~inposiiion of'

creation, maintenance and dissolution of thc universe has been spoken of as

Ishvara in the scriptures, while the other unchangeable pol*tion, with reference

to which there is no thought of duality is indicated as Brahman.

According to qualified monists, Brahman has been transformed itself

into the jivas and the universe. The Advaitists, on the contrary, maintain that

the jivas and the universe have been merely superimposed on Brahman. But

in reality there has been no modification in Brahman. In view of Advaitist, the

universe consists only of name and form. It endures only so long as there are

name and form. The real nature of the jiva is Brahman. When the veil of

name and form vanishes through the meditation, etc. that idea is simply

realized. This is the substance of pure Advaita The vedas, the Vedanta, and

all other scriptures only explain this idea ixz different ways.

h h . ~ , in Vivekananda in so for as he is qualified by the limiting adjunct

of mind. Through the mind he has to understand and grasp everything, and

therefore whatever he thinks nlust be limited by the mind Hence, it is the

natural tendency of man to imagine the personality of Ishvara (God) based on

his own personality Man can Lhi111c of' liis ideal as a human being At tile

outset, man does not find that whcn discrimination and dispassion arise in the

course of meditation and spiritual practices, he comes to know it. In whatever

way he may progress on the path uf spirituality, he is ui~consciously awakening

Brahman within l~imself',

The Atman, accordi~lg to Vivelrananda is knowledge, the Atman is the

only Satchidananda. I t is through the inscrutable power of maya, which

cannot be indicated as either existent or non-existent, that the relative

consciousness has come upon the jiva, who is none other than Brahman. This

is generally known as the consciaus state. In which state, this duality of relative

existence becomes one in the pure Brahman is called in the scriptures the super

conscious state and described in such words as it is like an ocean perfectly at

rest and without a name3.

According to Vivekananda, all philosoplly and scriptures have come from

the plane of relative knowledge of subject and object. 13ut no thougl~t or

language of human mind can fully express the reality, wliich lies beyoncl the

plane of relative knowledge, So, science, philosophy, etc. are only partial truths.

So they can never be adequate channels of expression for the transcendent

reality. The reality, he viewed from the transcendent standpoint, everything

appears to be unreal - religious creeds and works, and the universe - everything

is unreal. But only it is perceived.

The knowledge of Brahman, in Vivekananda is the ultimatat. goal which

is the highest destiny of man. But, man cannot remain absorbed in Brahman

1. Shankara, Vivekachudammi, p. 410

ail the time. When he comes out of it, he must have something to engage

himself, At that time he should do such work as will contribute to the real well-

being of people. Therefow, according to hiril, the service of jivas is in a spirit

of oneness Therefore, work has to be done without any deslre Tor. results. This

is the teaching of the Gita. But knowledge of Brahman is not touch of any

relation to worlr. At the most, good works will be made purify the mind.

Therefore, Sankara so sharply criticized the doctrine of the combination of

jnana and karma. Some attain to the knowledge of Brahman by means of

unselfish work. This is also means, but end is the realization of Brahman

Know this thoroughly that the goal of the path of discrimination and of all other

modes of practice is the realizatioil of Brahman.

The Mystery of Birth and Death

M The Atman nevey comes nor goes, is sever 1 nor dies. It is nature that

A moves before the Atman and the reflection of this motion is on Ihe Atman and

the Atman ignoratently thinks it is moving and not nature. When the Atmar?

thinks that, it is in bondage, but when it comes to find it never moves, that it is

omnipresent, then freedom comes. The Atman in bondage is called jiva.

Thus you see that when it is said that the Atman comes and goes, it is said only

for facility of understanding, just as for convenience in studying astrnnollly you

are asked to suppose that the sun moves round the earth, though such is nut the

case. So the jiva, the soul, comes to higher or lower states. This is the well-

known law of reincarnation and this law binds all creation.

Reincarnation : The Journey toward the Goal

According to Vivekananda, human being is composed first of this external

covering, the body, secondly, of the fine (subtle) body, consisting of mind,

intellect and ego. Behind them is the real soul of man, we have seen that all the

powers of the gross body are borrowed from the mind and the mind, the fine

body, borrows its powers and luminosity from the soul stailding behmd. A

great many questions now arise about the nature of the soul. If Che existence

of the soul is admitted on the basis of the argument that it is self-lummous, that

knowledge, existence and blessedness are ~ t s essence, it naturally follows that

this soul cannot have heen created f ~ o m notlzing. A self-luml~lous existence,

could never have 110x1-existence for its cause. We have seen that even the

physical universe canilol have come from nothing not to speak of the soul, It

always existed.

From the study of the macrocosm, we discovered that each evolution

presupposes an involution and each involution an evolution. How is instinel

explained in the light of this knowledge what we call instinct is the result of

voluntary action. Instinct in men or animals must therefore have been created

by their previous voluntary actions. When we speak of voluntary actions, we

admit previous experience. This previous experience thus creates instinct. The

little chickents fear of death, the duckling's taking Lo the water and all the

involuntary actions in the human being, which are the result of past experience,

have now become instinctive.

Reincarnation, in Vivekananda is the theory that advances the freedom

of the human soul. It is the one, theory that does not lay the blame of dl our

weakness upon some body else, which is a common human failing. We do not

look at our own faults. The PYCS do not see themselves, the.y see the eyes of

every body else. Wc huina~l beings are vely slow to recognise our own weakness,

our own faults, as long as we call lay the blame upon some body else. Men in

general lay all the blame on their fellowmen, or failing that, on God, or they

conjure up a ghost called fate.

The Future of Vedanta

All existent religions that are spl-eading are trel~lendously fanatic. The

more a sect hates other sects, the greater is its success and the more people it

draws inti0 its fold. In vicw of Vivekananda, travelling over good part of the

world and living with many races and in view of things is going to continue,

inspite of much talk of ulliversal brothe].hood.

According to Vivekananda, Vedanta does not believe in any of these

teachings. I t does not believe in a book which is the difficulty to start with. It

denies the authority of any book over any other book. And also, it denies

emphatically that any one book can contain all truths about God, soul, the

ultimate reality. In the upanishads stated that 'Not by the reading of books

can we realise the self.

Vedanta, in view of Vivekananda is always meant the upanishads which

is the only religion that does not cling to any person. No one could men or

women has never become the object of worship among the Vedantist. A man is

no more worthy of worship than any bird, any worm. We are all brothers. The

difference is only in degree. He gays that no book, no man to worship, nothing.

Vivekananda emphasized that Vedanta formulates universal oneness.

According to him, "1 am the same as any other man, as any animal - good, bad

anything. I t is one body, one mind, one soul throughout the spirit never dies.

There is no death anywhere, not even for the body Not even the mind dies.

The universe is my body. See how il continues. All minds are mme, with all

feet I walk through all mouths 1 speak in every body I reside"'.

Vivekananda made it clear that unity is knowledge and diversity is

ignorance. This lrnowledge is your birth right There never were different

religions in the world. We are all destined lo have salvation, whether we like it

or not. You have to attain it in the long run and become free, because it is your.

nature to be free. We are already free, only we do not know it, and we do not

know what we have been doing. Throughout all religious systems and ideals is

the same morality.

Vedanta's contribution to World thought

* VivekanandaVedantats contribution to world religion thpught in the form

of spiritual democracy, spiritual humanism and an enduring bond of world

unity. Vedanta advocates spiritual democracy, While other religions preseni

only one ideal and one path, Vedanta offers an infinite variety of ideals and

paths to choose from, in order to reach the same ultimate goal. Lacking this

freedom of spiritual democracy, religion becomes authoritarian and oppressive,

insisting upon blind obedience to rigid traditions and dogmas and unq~~estioning

belief in ceremonials and creeds. Spiritual freedom ensures spiritual welfare,

development and fulfilment by promoting spiritual individuality, critical inquiry,

honest doubt, choice of the path and vcriflcation truth through .Personal

1. Chetananda, Swami (Ed): Swami Vivekananda Vedanta : Voice of Freedom, Advita Ashrama, Calcutta, p. 295.

experience. The ideas of 'exclusive salvation', a jealous God, a chosen people',

and 'the only way' are alien to Vedanta.

Spiritual humanism, in Vivekananda is opposed to secular humanism.

According to him, spiritual human~sm is not so much doing good to others as it

is rendering living service to the divine, seeing its presence in all. Spiritual

humanism embraces the whole of humanity, regardless of race, culture, country,

religion or social relationship,

The third major contribution orVedanta is its ideal for an enduring bond

of world unity. World unity is based on political considerations, economic

interest, cultural ties, or humanitarian principle is not enduring. The bonds of

such unity are too fragile to withstand the stresses and strains of social

diversities, Social diversities without spiritual unity become explosive and

dangerous to society. Unity of the world body, in order to be real, must be

organic and this requires a world soul tliat embraces countless diversities of

culture, creed, religion, human experience and aspirations. Such a world soul

must be the soul of all beings. Vedanta designates that world soul as the all-

pervading self, which is the common self of both the macrocosm and the

microcosm. The unity of this self includes not only humans, but also animals,

plants and every form of life.