KendraUnfolds

I am instructing Madras office to send you, for your perusal,
a complimentary copy of the inaugural issue of ‘Yuva Bharati’
by air.

When are you coming to India? If you are likely to come in the
near future, we shall have an occasion to meet in person. There
are many matters which I would like to discuss with you. From
all your letters it is evident that you have completely identified
yourself with the cause of the Vivekananda Kendra. I would,
therefore like to compare notes.

Please convey my Pranams to all elders in the family.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

09-09-1973
Kanyakumari

Dear Shri B.K. Ray,

Received your letter dated 30-8-1973 and noted the contents.

The third anniversary of the opening of the Rock Memorial
as well as the inauguration of the training class for life-workers
of the Vivekananda Kendra was duly celebrated here on 30th
August 1973. Shri Chhedi Lal, Lt. Governor of Pondicherry and
Swami Atmasthananda, President of the Rajkot branch of the
Ramakrishna Mutt and Mission, graced the occasion by their
presence and delivered inspiring addresses. I am enclosing, for
your detailed information, a copy of the report that had been
released to the press after the function.

I did not know about your B.Ed. plan and other commitments.
It is but proper that you should fulfil them before you join the
Vivekananda Kendra movement.

You have mentioned in your letter about your proposal to
take Sannyasa Diksha. It was a revelation to me. If you have
decided once for all to dedicate yourself to the cause of service

201

to mankind and propose to work through Vivekananda Kendra,
I may inform you that taking to Gerua Cloth will not in any way
help your purpose. On the contrary, you will, thereby, reduce
your manoeuverability and put yourself to a serious handicap
in serving the society, both as a preacher and a public worker.
I, therefore, feel that you should have second thoughts on the
matter.

Regarding your longing to make Kanyakumari your
permanent field of work, I feel that it would not be in the interest
of the cause you are out to serve, that you should develop special
attachment for any particular place. In fact you should love to
go to any place where you are considered more useful by the
organization.

In short, before coming here, you should free yourself not only from
your financial and other commitments, but also from mental fixations
of any kind.

I intend to stay here with the trainees till at least the December
end, but for short interludes when I may be required to go out to
attend to urgent works of the Committee.

I hope you will be keeping me in touch with the progress you
make in your winding-up programme.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

[TRANSLATED LETTER] 18.09.73

Vivekanandapuram
Kanyakumari (Tamilnadu)

Respected Panditji

More than two months have passed after I met you in the
month of July. No doubt, you must be very eager to know the
details of the works carried out here.

202

As per (our) earlier plan, the Shiksha Varg of Jeevanvratis of
Vivekananda Kendra has started from 30th August. Shri Chedilal,
Governor, Pondichery presided over the inaugural programme
and Swami Atmasthanand, President of Ramakrishna Mission,
Rajkot was present specially to give the blessings. Both the
speeches of these great persons were very inspiring. The Shiksha
Varg was inaugurated on the third anniversary of inauguration
of Vivekananda Rock Memorial. On this occasion, once again
I stressed the objectives of Vivekananda Kendra. The booklet
printed on that occasion is attached.

As per the discussion we had when we met in Nagpur, you
will be giving one month time for this Varga. All the Shiksharthis
also are aware of this good news. This reference has come in
printed form of my report of speeches too. You were to inform
later, about the days that you will be giving. This letter is mainly
for that. After deciding your period of time here, we would be
able to give dates to others.

This Varg is for the six months period i.e. it will last till the
end of February (1974). But last two months (January - February)
I will be on tour. Hence if you are able to give time in the month
of December then I too can stay here during your stay. I am eager
to know your convenience.

Likewise we also want to know what type of books and
material to be procured earlier, which will be needed for you.
We are waiting for the detailed information regarding this matter
from you.

Of those Shiksharthis who have come here, only one person
is there who has very little knowledge of Hindi language. All
the rest know the language fairly. Other than this, to improve
their Hindi language further, a special class is conducted daily.
Besides, Shri Athawale from Bombay has come here to teach
Sanskrit and therefore systematic Sanskrit study is going on.
Hence you can use Hindi language comfortably. No one will find
it difficult.

203

Hope your health must be fine and all the members of the
family must be healthy and happy. My Sasneh Namaskar to all
the Swayamsevak brothers. If you happen to meet Pujya Swami
Amitabh Maharaj, please convey my respectful Pranams to him.

Yours Sincerely

[Eknath]
28-10-1973
Mumbai

Dear Dr. P.B. Sadasivan and Dr. Ramamurthi,

Let me first sincerely apologise to you both, for having
flouted your positive advice against taking any journey either
by plane or by train, and to have complete rest for three weeks.
Not that I was not aware of the risks I was taking or the dangers
I was inviting in doing so but some other considerations, which
weighed heavily on my mind then, had the upper hand and
I made up my mind to keep my travel schedule and went by
plane to Hyderabad the same evening. Staying there only for a
couple of days, I flew to Bombay on 26th night, curtailing my
programme at Hyderabad by a day.

The day next, I presented myself before my physician Dr. B.K.
Goyal who, on examing me, told me that the advice given by the
doctors at Madras should have been meticulously observed and
that, now at least, I should immediately cancel all my further
programmes and take to bed-rest. As I had already prepared
myself mentally for the inevitable, I, as per his advice, admitted
myself today for rest in the Medical Research Centre of Bombay
Hospital, Marine Lines, Bombay, which Dr. B.K. Goyal visits
every day.

With the kind wishes of your good selves and the blessings
of all, I could reach Bombay safely and am now following the
course you had originally advised for me. Feeling that I must
convey to you and Dr. Ramamurthi this good news about the
return of your prodigal patient (who gave you lot of anxiety

204

and, perhaps, even some irritation) to medical discipline, I am
hastening to scribble these lines.

I am sure when after the completion of the prescribed period
of my rest, I shall present myself before you in perfect condition
of my health, all your anxiety and even anger, if any, for me will
melt away. Before I close, I again request you to forgive me for
my queer behaviour which, in fact, could be regarded as nothing
but a special psychological malady innate in a particular type
of social worker like me, and should, therefore, be treated in
the manner every other ailment is treated by doctors, and not
be considered as an affront to authorities like you in medicine. I
shall be again reporting to you after a fortnight about my health.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

[TRANSLATED LETTER]

02-11-1973
Mumbai.

Shraddheya Sri Appaji,

From Eknath Sashtang Namaskar Vinanti Vishesh

I am writing this letter sitting in a quiet room on the 12th floor
of the newly built Medical Research Center of Bombay Hospital.
I have come here from 28th October for taking rest. You must
be remembering that I was admitted in Bombay Hospital by the
end of 1970 for the treatment of blood pressure. At that time the
eminent Dr. B.K. Goyal did my treatment. Since then he is doing
regular check up for me. This time, after the check up he advised
that it is necessary to stop tour etc. and should take rest for at
least three weeks.

During my stay at Madras, before the recent Baithak at
Hyderabad, that night I suffered a little from a kind of asthma.
It might have been because of the gasses due to bit of overeating

205

here and there on that particular day. But the doctor who did
my check-up the next day advised me to stop all the tours and
take rest immediately. But I decided to get the proper check up
done by my regular doctor of Bombay and then to decide about
what is to be done. On the evening as planned I left for Baithak,
for Hyderabad by flight. Of course I told everything to Pujaniya
Sarsanghachalak Sri Balasaheb Deoras. As per his advice as soon
as the Baithak was over I came to Bombay and under went a
thorough check up by Dr. Goyal. He also gave the same opinion
after check up and so I got admitted in this center. You should
not get tensed on hearing some incomplete or exaggerated news
from various quarters and so I thought it wise to write a letter to
you and convey everything.

This letter is only to tell you that there is nothing to worry as
such regarding my health and I am here only for taking rest.

Your visit to Kanyakumari is not yet materialised. I am at

Kanyakumari for the whole of December. The weather also is

good in the South at that time. That period is also good for travel.

You may think over it. Sashtang Namaskar to all the elders.

Sadar Namaskar to all the Adhikaris and Swayamsevak brothers.

Saprem Namaskar to dear Sri Gopalrao Deshpande, Sri Shravane

Master and Sri Babanrao Pandit.

Yours,

Eknath.

13-11-1973
Mumbai

Dear trainee-lifeworkers,

When we had our usual sitting for periodical stock-taking and
informal chit-chat on the eve of my departure from Kanyakumari
it was expressed in that meeting, probably by Shri M. Ramachari,
that you would be expecting communication from me every week
from my itinerary camp. At that time, however, neither you nor

206

I had the slightest fear that while roving over the country for the
Kendra work, I would be inadvertently or unexpectedly drawn
into the orbit or the magnetic field of a hospital and that I would
have to remain stuck up under its influence for a length of time.
But this element of uncertainty is really what makes life charming. But
for this, life would be humdrum.

You must have, by now, all come to know that for complete
rest and medical check up, I have been lodged here in the newly
constructed wing of the famous Bombay Hospital, Marine Lines.
It is a twelve-floor skyscraper building. Though it is named
Medical Research Centre, it is, at present, no more than an
extension of the old hospital with an additional two-hundred
bed capacity. It is said that a provision has been made in this
building for regular medical research when it will be undertaken
in future.

Today, I have completed a full fortnight of physical rest in the
hospital. Almost all necessary medical tests that I am to undergo
are also over and the doctor has expressed satisfaction over
the results. I am, therefore, expected to be discharged from the
hospital, I shall have to continue my stay in Bombay for about a
week before I shall be finally permitted to return to Kanyakumari.

By the way, how are your morning Yogasana classes and the
evening physical training classes going on? I hope, every one is
progressing satisfactorily in the art of doing Yogasanas as well
as in imparting instructions, both in theory and practice, in the
science of Yoga. I also trust that everyone of you may have grasped
the Sanskrit words of commands and that everyone is capable of
taking a physical training class with ease and confidence. None
should forget that while our striving to be proficient in various subjects,
ranging from anthropology to sociology or history as well as from
community development to Gita and the Upanishads, comprising our
training course, is important, it is mostly through physical culture and
Yoga that we can hope to build up all over the country an organisational
machinery and an army of young workers needed for inundating the
entire land with our ideas.

207

By the time this letter reaches you, Shrimat Swami
Chitbhavananda of Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tiruparaitturai,
will be amongst you. Close on his heels, Shrimat Swami
Chidananda, President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, is
scheduled to reach Kanyakumari. I am sure, you will try your
utmost to learn and receive at their holy feet during their brief
stay there.

I feel confident that I shall be able to reach there by the 1st of
December, latest.

With affection,

Brotherly yours,

30-12-1973

Dear Shri Shrikant,

Received your letter dated nil. At Bombay, in the month
of August I had informed you that I was not convinced about
the advisability of admitting you in the life-workers’ cadre of
Vivekananda Kendra.

Educational qualifications and various other abilities are not
the only factors that are taken into consideration while making
the preliminary selection of life-workers. In addition to these, a
proper frame of mind of the aspirant is considered absolutely
necessary before selecting him for that sort of life. Even now,
I honestly feel that you lack that mental make-up and that it
would not be in your interest also to pursue that course. I hope
you will appreciate my point and will not misunderstand me for
not agreeing to select you. On the contrary, I trust you will look
within and choose a plan of life more suitable to your nature and
temperament.

With affection,

Brotherly yours,



208

07-01-1974
Kanyakumari

Dear Shri E. Raji Reddy,

Received your letter dated 31-12-1973 and was glad to learn
that your interest in the study of philosophy - especially Indian
philosophy - was growing.

I feel that you should also possess a good knowledge of
Sanskrit and that you should make a conscious effort towards
acquiring that knowledge if you have not started doing so
already. Because, as long as you are required to depend upon
only translation of Upanishads, Gita and other such works of
high philosophy and do not have direct access to them, you may
fail to grasp the deeper meaning and may not be able to enjoy
their study fully.

The incident you narrated in your letter was a news to me and
I had not seen it reported in any of the English papers. I did not
even know that the so called naxalite-movement still existed in
that area.

I am keeping well and I shall soon leave Kanyakumari on my
tour.

With affection,

Brotherly yours,

Every evolution here is the evolution of something which
existed previously.

The true secret of evolution is the manifestation of the per-
fection which is already in every being.

Experience is the only source of knowledge.
-Swami Vivekananda

209

10-1-1974
Kanyakumari

Dear Shri Madan Gopal,

I was in due receipt of your letter dated 30-10-1973. It was
redirected to me at Bombay where I was camping then. But I
could not attend to it as I was there in a hospital, taking rest
and undergoing various medical tests, on the advice of doctors.
It was only on 5th December that all the medical tests were
over and the doctors found me quite fit to resume my normal
activities. You might have come to know about all this through
Shri Narayandasji.

The numerous letters that got accumulated during the period
of my inactivity, I have been gradually attending to since I
returned to Kanyakumari on 8th December. I, therefore, hope
that you would not mind this inordinate delay on my part to
write a reply.

Your letter informed me that some of the friends at Simla were
seriously thinking of forming a society with a view to founding
a college and that the society was to be named as Vivekananda
Society. In your letter you had also sought my views on the
matter. In fact, there cannot be two views on the subject if it is
only a question of starting a college or of working for the spread
of higher education as is presently understood in our country. To
set up a college, therefore, is undoubtedly a welcome proposal.
But if the purpose behind the whole endeavour is to have a
college which will be quite different in character and quality
from any of the private or Government colleges in the area and
which will, at least to some extent, reflect the teachings of Swami
Vivekananda, I am afraid, the present political set-up as also the
existing educational frame-work within which it will have to
function, are not at all conducive to its fulfilment. In other words,
if the sponsors of the move are aware of the limitations under
which they will have to work and are willing to remain satisfied
with merely having a college under their physical control, the
proposition is quite feasible. But, in that case, there is no special

210

significance in associating the name of Swami Vivekananda
with the institution. I hope, by now, the Society may have been
registered and the efforts might have already taken some shape.

I am here upto the end of the current month. Thereafter, I
am scheduled to tour the eastern zone. I am likely to visit the
northern parts only in the month of April.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to all friends. Also
convey my Sadar Pranams to your father.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

07-02-1974
Dear Shri P.R. Menon, Mumbai

I am sure, you have received my earlier letter sent with dear
Kumari Gnanambika who was permitted to go home, as desired
by her, to regain her normal health, following her intermittent
sickness during the preceding month. A few hours after she left
Kanyakumari on the morning of 31st January, I also left the place
for Madras. I trust, she did not experience any trouble on the
way and that she had a comfortable journey.

I came to Bombay on the evening of 5th. I wanted to write
to you from Madras. But I could not do so for want of time. I
am writing this with a special purpose to apprise you of dear
Ambika’s health and other allied matters.

On the advice of my doctors at Bombay, who wanted me
to take complete rest for some time, I spent the preceding two
months, at a stretch, at Kanyakumari. This long Kanyakumari-
stay gave me an opportunity to come in close contact with all
the trainees, individually and know them intimately. During
this period, I had many occasions to meet and talk to Ambika
also. On the basis of these talks and from my study of her nature,

211

I have come to certain firm conclusions about her and it is to
convey the same to you that I am writing these lines.

In the first place, I am convinced that Ambika is too delicate
in health and constitution, both physical and mental, to take to
hard life of a missionary or a dedicated social worker. Secondly, I
honestly feel that all her qualities of mind and heart can fully and
fruitfully develop only in an atmosphere of parental affection or
in the company of an affectionate life-partner in marriage, as
and when you succeed in finding such a life-companion for her.
Though she is emotionally an idealist girl, unfortunately, she is
not fully aware of her limitations mentioned above. In many of
my discussions with her, I have tried to persuade her to return
home and give a serious thought to marriage. These days, she
does seem to have started doing some introspection, may be, due
to my exhortations. But, I do not yet know to what extent her
attitude has been softened in favour of marriage. But, I am sure,
the rest can be easily managed by you and her mother.

When Ambika first approached me with a request to allow
her to go home for rest, I had no mind to agree to her proposal
as I did not see anything so seriously wrong in her health as to
warrant her going home for rest. But, on second thought, I gave
her permission. This I did for the simple reason that would give
me an opportunity to convey to you my views about her while
she was staying at home, and also to entrust you the delicate task
of persuading her to give up the hard path she was desiring to
pursue. As far as our organization is concerned, I wish to frankly

Experience is the one teacher, the one eye-opener.

Faith is not belief, it is the grasp on the Ultimate, an illumi-
nation.

He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.
-Swami Vivekananda

212

express that we shall consider it cruel and highly improper on
our part to send her for long three years, either in a backward
or a developed area, for her practical training in social service,
as per requirements of the training course of the special cadre of
life-workers we are trying to build up.

I shall be returning to Kanyakumari on 13th March. I request
you to acknowledge the receipt of this letter at my Calcutta
address given below. I am reaching there on 14th February.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

14-02-1974
Calcutta

Dear Shri R. Vaidyanathan,

I am in receipt of your long letter dated 9-2-1974. It reached
my hands today after my arrival here this noon.

I went through your letter very closely. I do confess that I
do not, at present, consider you a proper authority to preach
Vedanta to others. Not only such a preaching would be fruitless,
but it would be improper also because it would do great dis-
service to Vedanta itself. Preaching of Vedanta is not like teaching
of mathematics or geography. Vedanta-preaching is to be
accompanied by some degree of Vedantic-living by the preacher
himself, to make a real impact upon the hearers. Unfortunately,
you are still far away from it. But, I do hope that the wonderful
intellectual understanding that you possess about Vedanta will,
one day, help you to get yourself well established in it. I am
eagerly and anxiously waiting for that transformation.

In the meantime, if you have a feeling that you are wasting
precious moments of your life at Kanyakumari, you are certainly
free to leave the place and accept some other place where you
think you will feel at home and also a sense of fulfilment.

213

But, I have a strong feeling that you are destined to be with
Vivekananda Kendra only.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

17-02-1974
Shillong

Dear Niranjan Rath,

I have before me the daily routine chart of the trainees from
31st January to 9th February. I find from the chart that you were
absent from Pratasmaran classes for four days and from Yogasana
classes for five days, apart from being late for a number of days
in some periods.

The only inference one can draw from your irregularity is that
you may be physically unsound and unfit for any rigorous work.
However, I shall expect a reply from you at my Calcutta address
given below. 76/2, Bidhan Sarani, Flat X-12, Calcutta –6.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

15-05-1974

Dear Dr. R.R. Wadhwani,

When I reached Bombay on 11th May night, as per schedule,
I saw your letter lying on my table awaiting my arrival. I eagerly
went through it to know the contents.

Even while I sent a wire to you to come to Bombay, I was
fearing that it would not be, perhaps, feasible for you to take a
trip to Bombay in the midst of impending disrupted traffic.

The thoughts and sentiments expressed by you in your letter
very rightly express the present mood of the young and the

214

thinking people. One little thought I would like to add. It is this
that the days of party-politics are now over and any impending
upheaval, bloody or otherwise, that may be envisaged as capable
of delivering the goods, will have to necessarily emanate from
the national (or global) upsurge of higher human values.

You seem to be scared by the idea of being required to swim against
the current. Those who do not want to go down with the current, have,
in fact, no alternative but to swim against it. Swimming against the
current is, indeed, difficult. But difficulties no longer remain to be so
for one who masters the art as well as the science of swimming across.
Of course, both involve Tapas which one must be prepared to undergo
before aspiring to be anything different from one in the crowd.

I am to visit Ahmedabad in the month of July or August. I
hope to be able to see you at that time.

The sixteen life-workers (including two ladies) that have
been trained in the first batch are now being deployed in
various needy areas to enable them to equip themselves with
practical training in social service for a further period of three
years. While a majority of them have been already deployed in
Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Chotanagpur (Bihar)
and Nellore (Andhra Pradesh), the remaining are being posted in
Andamans and the state of Jammu & Kashmir. With that end in
view, I am soon to visit Kashmir and, subsequently, Andamans.

A fresh batch of lifeworker-trainees will be selected soon for
the next session which is scheduled to commence at Kanyakumari
on 11th September, 1974.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


So long as you have faith in your Guru, nothing will be
able to obstruct your way.

-Swami Vivekananda

215

24-5-1974
Dear Shri V. Rangarajan, Calcutta

Received your letter dated 21-5-1974 along with your draft-
editorial.

Your editorial is well balanced and can go as it is, but for
some minor changes that may be necessary here and there.

Recently India has successfully experimented nuclear
explosion in Rajasthan desert. This event is a great land mark
in our technological advance. I have a mind to make use of this
event for our feature ‘Vivekananda Kendra Calling’. Though I
am actually racing with time and it is doubtful whether I shall
get respite enough to pen the article, I have made up my mind to
try it during the next few days. I may send it to you by the end
of this month or, latest, during my stay at Nagpur from 1st to
3rd June.

But you also keep your editorial ready in case I am unable
to send my feature by 3rd June. Though in your editorial you
are referring to Shri Naval H. Tata, you need not give his photo.
As a rule you should show your editorial to Prof. K. Seshadri.
You may not carry out his suggestions, if you yourself are not
convinced about the propriety of the same. But do not hesitate
to show it to him and seek his help. Two heads are always better
than one.

If I am unable to send my article by June 3, I shall send back
your editorial to you with a few changes for your consideration.

One more thing before I close this letter. What is the exact
nature of work assigned to Smt. Satya nowadays?

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

216

15-06-1974
Delhi

Dear Govind,

Received your two-line letter, more ambiguous than it was
short.

What I understood was that you could not like the place and
the people among whom you have been called upon to work and
that you want immediate change in your place of assignment.

In fact, I was surprised to see your letter written from North
Lakhimpur, perhaps, on your way to Doimukh. I remember
that on 28th May, Changlang Educational Authorities were
informed telegraphically by Shri Shyamlal Soni, Director of
Education, Shillong, to retain you at Changlang as, he, on second
thought, had taken a decision to make your fresh appointment
at Changlang and not post you at Doimukh where you were
earlier appointed. I also had welcomed the revised decision.
Accordingly, I had given you the following wire from Calcutta
on 25-5-74 at your Changlang address.

MYSELF VISITED SHILLONG SECRETARIAT 27TH STOP
LEARNT ABOUT YOUR NEW POSTING TO CHANGLANG
STOP THIS CHANGE IS MORE USEFUL

– EKNATH RANADE

May be, you had left Changlang when the revised order
reached the place. I hope, by now, you may have received the
said order at Doimukh redirected from Changlang.

My advice to you is that you should welcome your new
appointment and stick to Changlang or any other place assigned
to you by the Director of Education. Your desire to get yourself
shifted to some (as expressed by you in your letter) is highly
improper. I shall be the last man to yield to this request at least
for a year. However, if this newly accepted life of service in a tribal
area is unbearable to you, the only alternative left to you is to properly
resign your present educational service and return home and live
happily with parents.

217

But I know that whatever may be your other defects, you are
certainly not a coward. I am sure, therefore, that you will never
descend down to that course.

My further programme is as under:

17th & 18th June - Delhi

19th & 20th - Bombay

21th to 23rd - Kanyakumari

24th & 25th - Madras

26th to 29th - Bangalore

30th June to 3rd July - Madras

4th - Nellore

6th to 8th - Nagpur

10th July - Calcutta

If you feel like writing to me you may do so at my Madras
address.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


Note: Regarding your money requirements, you are to write to
Shillong and not to any other place. I have given a wire to Shri A.
Balakrishnan to personally meet you to see what catastrophe has
compelled you to demand Rs. 300/- from Madras especially when
you were given Rs. 700/- by me only last month, apart from what
you got from the education department for the month of May.
It is always better to write a detailed letter rather than creating
unnecessary scare by issuing telegraphic communications
demanding money.

Never forget that a man is made great and perfect as much
by his faults as by his virtues.

-Swami Vivekananda

218

29-06-1974
Dear Shri B.M. Birla, Bangalore

Your communication from Calcutta was duly received. It was
redirected to me at my camp address. I could not write a reply
earlier because of my being continuously on tour.

Totally agreeing with you that ‘a mere sixteen life-workers
are not going to make any impact’ upon the country and that ‘it
is like a drop in the ocean’, I venture to say that, God willing and
unreserved support to the cause continuing to come forth from
stalwarts like you, I assure you unprecedented results which
will defy all arithmetical and geometrical progressions, within
the next five years. My words may sound like a tall claim. But it
is only an humble expression of my firm faith in the destiny of
our country.

I shall eagerly await your visit to Kanyakumari during the
coming winter.

With respects,

Affectionately yours,

14-7-1974
Calcutta

Dear Prof. Sailendra Nath Dhar,

Please refer to your letter dated May 6, 1974 addressed to me
regarding the publication of your work titled “A Comprehensive
Biography of Swami Vivekananda.”

As promised to you earlier, your letter was placed before
the members of the Managing Body of the Vivekananda Rock
Memorial Committee for their consideration when they met
recently on 1st July, 1974. You will be pleased to know that your
letter had the desired effect and the Committee unanimously

219

passed a resolution in favour of gratefully accepting your unique
and valuable gift.

This offering of yours is, indeed, unique in the sense that it
is the first objective biography of its kind and a result of years
of your hard and sustained labour. Your commendable offer
to forgo any claim as an author, to royalty or anything of the
nature of a monetary return for your labour in the production
of this 1600-page biography has, in fact, induced the Committee
to undertake the onerous task of its publication. The Committee,
on its part, has resolved to make available to you 50 copies of
the book for being presented as complimentary copies to your
friends when it is published.

From the preliminary enquiries made by us from renowned
presses capable of doing the job, it seems that our printing the
book at Thomson Press, Delhi, will be convenient. Similarly, the
book will have to be published in two parts of 800-pages each.
The matter may get finalised during my ensuing visit to Delhi. I
propose to take the press-copy with me for being shown to the
press. I am to proceed to Delhi on 20th. You will, therefore, kindly
arrange to send the entire typed manuscript by 19th morning
at my residence. Shri Sunil Patil, the bearer of this letter, may
again come to your place on 19th morning to collect it. At Delhi,
I shall also try to procure the paper needed by us. I shall write
to you again after the venue of printing and other allied matters
get finalised.

With respects,

Yours sincerely,

Fear is a sign of weakness.

The only religion that ought to be taught is the religion of
fearlessness.

-Swami Vivekananda

220

15-07-1974

Dear Shri Govind Malode,

I could, recently, snatch some time from my present tour for
my short trip to Shillong. I was with Shri A. Balakrishnan for a
day and a half on 12th and 13th of this month. My only purpose
in visiting Shillong was to get a first hand report from Shri A.
Balakrishnan about all of you working in Arunachal Pradesh
and Nagaland.

On the eve of my departure from Shillong, I happened to
receive your recent letter addressed to Shri A. Balakrishnan. I
went through that letter very closely.

I earnestly want you to recall all that had been told to our life-
workers at Kanyakumari and Shillong regarding the utmost care
that they have to take while spending the public money. Though
there seems to be some healthy change in you in other aspects,
your spending habits appear to remain totally unchanged. This
would stand in the way of your development.

Are you sending your monthly accounts to Kanyakumari? I
am writing to Kanyakumari to redirect those accounts to me for
my perusal. I shall write to you again after studying the nature
of your spendings.

If you sincerely aspire to be a successful social worker, you
should, as a first step, bring down your monthly recurring
expenditure to Rs. 200/- maximum, under any circumstance.
I shall soon expect a communication from you conveying to
me that you have succeeded in slashing down your monthly
expenditure to the indicated level.

While at Nagpur, I happened to meet your father. While he
expressed his total satisfaction on the change he noticed in you
at Dombivli, he made anxious enquiries about your future. I
requested him to wait and watch.

I hope that you are now slowly settling down at your place
of work and will soon be able to start Yoga classes. When you

221

formally start such a center for imparting training in Yoga, you
should name it as ‘Vivekananda Yoga Kendra’.

Another important thing that I wish to convey to you newly is
that though accounts are to be sent to Kanyakumari, they are to be
necessarily routed through Shillong. As Shri A. Balakrishnan has
been asked to look to the needs of our life-workers in Arunachal
and Nagaland, and as, for that purpose, he must have a prior look
at the accounts submitted by them to Kanyakumari, the above
mentioned arrangement is considered very much necessary. You
are, therefore, requested to send your monthly accounts to Shri
A. Balakrishnan who will forward those papers to Kanyakumari
after their perusal by him.

I am, at present, on my state to state tour to select suitable
trainees for the next batch from among applicants aspiring to
join the Vivekananda Kendra as life-workers.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to Shri Malkhan Singh

Tyagi, Shri K.V. Rajagopalachari and others.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

Note: The most important thing you are to give top priority to is
to master the language of the tribal community residing in that
area.

06-08-1974
Dear Shri Govind Malode, Patna

I am in receipt of your letter dated 29-07-1974. It was
redirected to me at my Patna camp by our Madras Office. I got
the redirected letter today noon. The following are some of my
suggestions to you.

1. While writing letters, try to use a simple language. If you
are tempted to use bombastic words, you will not only appear

222

artificial, but you will, as a result, spoil your language too. If,
with the help of a dictionary, you decipher the letters you have
written to me and to others, it will be revealed to you that they
are no more than a jumble of meaningless words.

2. Your account-sheet makes a shocking reading. If, according
to you, what you have given are only a few of the items, what
terrifying picture your total items would present? I am asking
our Kanyakumari Office to send your monthly account-sheets to
me for my perusal. If I find that you persist in the present pattern
of expenditure, I shall have no alternative but to withdraw
you from the field, with all its implications. But, I shall await
full report about your accounts from Shri A. Balakrishnan and
Kanyakumari. I hope, you are aware that you have to route your
accounts to Kanyakumari via Shillong.

3. Your concept about a social worker must undergo a sea-

change to qualify yourself to become a true life-worker of the

Vivekananda Kendra. I hope, you will look within and bring

about the desired change before long.

With affection,

Brotherly yours,

19-09-1974

Dear Shri B.P. Khaitan,

Please refer to your letter dated 5-6-1974. I could not write a
reply earlier as I was continuously on the move. It was only on
September 6 that I returned to Kanyakumari to enable myself
to participate in the inauguration of the training course for the
second batch of life-workers which commenced here on 11th
September, as earlier scheduled. In this batch the number of
trainees is twenty, including three ladies.

I utilise this opportunity to sincerely thank you for the
donation of Rs. 500/- made to us on behalf of M/s Raghumal
Charity Trust.

223

Regarding your suggestion to start some rural welfare work
in Singhbhum District, together with your kind offer to extend
your help in that endeavour if we take it up, I wish to state that
your suggestion will certainly be considered at the time of the
deployment of the second batch of life-workers in April, 1975.
Moreover, as I am proposing to visit Calcutta in the month of
November, I shall have an opportunity then to personally discuss
the matter with you in depth.

More when we meet. With regards,

Brotherly yours,

24-09-1974

Dear Shri Vireshwarananda Giri,

Received your letter dated 20th August and noted the contents.

The training course for the second batch of life-workers
duly commenced here on 11th September, as per schedule. The
number of trainees in this batch is also sixteen, three of them
being ladies. All of them come from eight states, namely, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka.

In your letter you have given information about your starting

Gita and Ramayana classes as also about this endeavour being

affiliated to lr JrVmam_m`U narjm g{_{V, öfrHo$e You have also
written that you have arranged to conduct àdo{eH$m examination

on behalf of the Samiti in coming November. At the outset, I wish

to draw your attention to the correct English spellings of some of

the Sanskrit terms that you have used in your letter.

Ramayana am_m`U

Pariksha, narjm

Kalyana, H$ë`mU

Vivekananda, {ddoH$mZÝX

Hrishikesh. öfrHo$e

224

As you have started Gita and Ramayana classes, people
will expect from you some knowledge of Sanskrit. I, therefore,
request you to keep on learning Sanskrit and especially correct
pronunciation of Sanskrit terms.

Similarly, you should also take care to improve your English.
One of the ways is to refer to dictionary whenever you are in
doubt. Had you been in the habit of doing so, you would
not have spelt batch as badge, center as centar, continue as
continew, programme as program, weekly as weakly, literature
as litrature, demand as demond, etc. (I have mentioned only a
few), in your letter.

Regarding your query as to whether you should stop the
programmes that you have already undertaken or continue with
them, I wish to say that the best time to seek guidance is only before
undertaking any thing other than those expressly told. Now that you
have already started certain activities, you may continue to conduct
them but you have to keep in mind that you should not hereafter start
any new activity without the express instructions to that effect from the
headquarters.

Regarding your proposal to us to send to you Rs. 2,000/-

for being invested in a sort of nwñVH$ ^§S>ma for the benefit of the

local people there, I have to say that we are at present short of
funds and the proposal can be considered later. However, if it is
feasible, you may prompt a local bookseller of requisite means
to place order for such useful books pertaining to Ramakrishna-
Vivekananda as you consider to be in great demand there. If
the book-seller can afford to invest and is convinced that the
proposition is commercially sound, he will certainly do the
needful in the matter. But I do not think that you should collect
money from local persons and involve yourself in monetary
affairs.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


225

02-11-1974

Dear Shri Manohar,

I am immensely happy to receive your letter dated October
20.

From your letter I learn that you have now established yourself
comfortably there and set about your studies in right earnest. It
is also a good news that Sow. Aruna is soon to become a mother.
It is good that your mother is soon to reach there to help her.
Please convey my affection and blessings to Sow. Aruna.

Your earlier letter addressed to our Madras office was duly
received by me. I had forwarded it to the department concerned
for necessary action. I am writing to Madras to send to you by
sea mail ‘Yuva Bharati’ and ‘Vivekananda Kendra Patrika’, if
they have not dispatched the same already. Most probably they
may have already done the needful in the matter.

Regarding myself, I am keeping perfectly fit. My present stay
at Kanyakumari would be the longest stay at one place. I am
leaving Kanyakumari on November 5 on my Northern tour. I
intend to return to Kanyakumari on December 12.

You have suggested to me to take a trip abroad. In this
connection, I wish to state that I shall certainly consider the
proposition when the Kendra work reaches a stage necessitating
extention of activities abroad. But the work as it stands today is
in a preliminary stage only.

You may be aware that the second batch of life-workers started
its training course on 11th September, 1974. I am enclosing a
copy of the report presented to the audience on the occasion of
its inauguration.

With regards,

Yours affectionately,

226

09-03-1975

Dear Prof. K. Seshadri,

I returned here from Sikkim yesterday. Your letter dated 26-
2-1975 was awaiting my arrival. I immediately sent a telegram
which read as under:

RECEIVED YOUR LETTER OF TWENTYSIX FEBRUARY ON
ARRIVAL HERE TODAY STOP REACHING TWENTYEIGHTH
MARCH FOR PERSONAL TALK

-EKNATH RANADE

I am distressed to find that you are awfully hurt over the
irregular procedure followed by the office, and especially myself,
in conveying you my mind regarding editorial. If anybody is
to be blamed in the episode, it is none else but myself. But, I
was put in a worst dilemma when I received our editorial while
I was leaving for the airport for my journey in the interior of
Arunachal Pradesh. In the circumstances there was no scope
either for amending the editorial myself or for addressing a
detailed letter to you. As we are primarily wedded to a Cause and
only secondarily to prescribed formalities, I chose to resort to an
unusual procedure rather than allow the cause to suffer. When
I meet you on 28th March, I shall certainly seek your counsel,
for my future guidance, in respect of the proper procedure that
should and could have been adopted by me in the circumstances
I was caught.

Your request to me for being relieved of your responsibility
only shows the degree of your resentment. But, are we really
free to ask for relief? Had there been any such scope, I would
have myself applied for relief long back. Ours is a life-long
commitment, with or without stresses and strains.

Our next number is ‘Indian Womanhood Through the Ages’.
The theme requires uninterrupted attention to it from the very
beginning. I hope to be able to discuss the broad outlines of the
subject when I meet you on the 28th.

227

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to dear Jaya, Shri
Gopalakrishnan, Shri R.N. Venkataraman, Shri V. Rangarajan
and other co-workers.

With respects, Yours brotherly,


09-03-1975

Dear Shri Manikya Raj Jain,

I reached here yesterday from my long tour of north-eastern
region including Sikkim. A heap of letters was awaiting my
arrival. In that bundle, I found your letters of 19th and 21st
February addressed to me as well as copies of letters, dated
21st and 24th addressed to Shri Basudev. I was also in receipt of
your extra-ordinary letter dated 25th February, a copy of which
you had preferred to endorse to one of the Inspectors of police,
Bangalore. While the first four letters seemed to have been written
more or less in your normal mood, the last seemed to have been penned
when you were not, perhaps, your normal self. As, by this time, I have
come to know you very intimately, I viewed that letter as nothing but
one of your occasional but momentary outbursts of bad temper. I am
sure, you must have felt very bad about it, later.

From your letters I quite see that you hold, curiously enough,
a very bad opinion about the team of workers with which I have
been privileged to work at Kanyakumari. Though you have
not, in your letters, opined as bitterly against me, personally,
as against my colleagues, I know, from some of your own
utterances to me that you do not consider me a person of sound
judgement regarding men and matters. For example, according
to you, I have been found singularly wanting in rightly assessing
your great qualities of head and heart. I have, therefore, come
to the conclusion that the set-up of the senior workers of the
Vivekananda Kendra may not be congenial to your temperament
and progress. Against this background, I honestly feel that you

228

should, in your own interest, give up the idea of joining the
Vivekananda Kendra as a life-worker.

Regarding Shri Narasimha Murthy, I shall have an opportunity
to meet him at Bangalore during my ensuing country-wide tour.
You kindly communicate his address to our Kanyakumari office,
so that the dates of my Bangalore-stay could be intimated to him
on the finalisation of my tour programme.

I shall try to seek a meeting with you when I visit Bangalore
if you happen to be in station and have not, by that time, gone
abroad.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to Shri Narasimha
Murthy.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


03-04-1975

Dear Shri S.B. Varnekar,

A Free Dispensary on behalf of the Vivekananda Kendra was
ceremoniously opened here in the Vivekanandapuram Campus
on 30th of March, as earlier scheduled. I had reached here a day
earlier.

On 12th of April, the Varsha Pritipada Day, the training
class for the second batch of life-workers is scheduled to be
terminated and almost all the trainees will, on the same day,
leave Kanyakumari for their respective homes to meet their
parents prior to their proceeding to their places of assignment.

Regarding the Yoga Training Camp at Pasighat, I wish to
inform you that we shall be flying from Calcutta to Lilabari (North
Lakhimpur) on 22-4-1975 at 06-00 hours. You are, therefore,
requested to reach Calcutta by 21-4-1975, latest. This morning a
wire has been given to you to convey this information. The wire
has been worded as under:

229

PLEASE REACH CALCUTTA BY TWENTYFIRST APRIL
FOR OUR JOURNEY ON TWENTYSECOND TO PASIGHAT
DETAILED LETTER FOLLOWS

– EKNATH

You may seek the help of Shri Krishnarao Moharil to get your
reservation done in the Bombay-Howrah Mail leaving Nagpur
on 20th April. The railway-fare will be duly reimbursed to him
from Madras.

I shall expect your letter at my Kanyakumari or Bombay
address apprising me of the date and train of your arrival in
Calcutta. On my part, I have already instructed our Calcutta
Office to reserve plane tickets for our journey on 22-4-1975 by
flight No. IC-211. We shall go to North Lakhimpur by plane as
the train-route for that place is too circuitous and takes nearly
two days.

A copy of my tour programme from 13th April onwards is
enclosed for your information.

At Pasighat, it would be desirable to introduce a morning
prayer or Pratasmarana in Sanskrit. It should be different from our
present Pratasmarana which is too long and contains too many
names. I am thinking, instead, of a short poem of not more than
twelve lines in praise of and fervent prayer to our Motherland.
She must be described as rooted in Dharma and standing as the
beacon-light of spirituality to the whole world. The poem as a
whole should be a model Stotra, expressing the idea of worship
offered to Bharat on the lines of ‘Vande Mataram’. I am sure, you
would be able to compose such a poem.

In addition, it would also be useful to introduce a separate

prayer addressed to the sun as the people there are worshippers

of the sun and moon.We shall certainly get some time in Calcutta

to discuss.

Brotherly yours,

230

05-05-1975
Calcutta

Dear Madhusudan Bapat,

Long back I had received your letter. I think, by now, you
have started your work in the new field assigned to you in Bihar.

I do not exactly remember whether you had come to Nagpur
in the last week of March when other Parishad workers had come
there. I was also there at that time. If you did come, I am sorry
that we did not meet.

I have recently returned from Arunachal Pradesh. At present,
Kendra workers are conducting a Yoga Training Camp at Pasighat
region. It is held for the benefit of tribal students. The camp
started on April 25. The total number of trainees participating in
the camp is fiftynine. Among them, nine are college students and
the rest are from schools. They have come from thirteen places
and represent all the districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The Chief
Commissioner of Arunachal Pradesh inaugurated the camp.

In your letter you had asked me to give my suggestions that
help you in doing work among tribals. Regarding that, I must
confess that I am not an expert in that line. Such workers who
actually live and work among tribals are alone competent to
tender advice in the matter. However, for a mature worker
like you, I can say this much that unless one completely identifies
himself with the people whom he is called upon to serve, he will not
be able to deliver the goods effectively. There is a general rule that the
right insight into any work dawns upon only those who love that work
wholeheartedly. With this equipment, you yourself may be, one day,
accepted by all as an expert in the ‘organisation of tribal welfare-work’
in Chotanagpur.

We, we, and none else, are responsible for what we suffer.

To become pure is the shortest path to freedom.
-Swami Vivekananda

231

I am scheduled to be in these parts till the end of this month.
Thereafter, I shall undertake a country-wide tour.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to all the friends there.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


12-05-1975

Dear Shri M.K. Bijani,

Received your letter dated 16-4-1975 which I read with
interest.

Your letter says that on both the occasions when you were
preparing yourself to join the Vivekananda Kendra, some
unhappy incidents (which you are inclined to interpret as
hints from some invisible agency against your pursuing the
contemplated course), namely, (1) a bad dream and (2) the
loss of your money bag, took place. You seem to be puzzled
and somewhat frightened by these coincidences and seek my
guidance in the matter.

I feel that in such matters one should be guided solely by
one’s own convictions or mental make-up. If you honestly feel
that the incidents are not mere coincidences to be brushed aside
lightly, but that they are significant phenomena worthy of being
interpreted as meaningful directions from some benevolent
power presiding over your destiny, you should abandon the
course you have under your contemplation. On the other hand,
if your hard rationalism and strong idealism unmistakably prompt you
to pursue the path you have chalked out for yourself, you should do
so unfalteringly without taking cognizance of happenings that may
frighten an ordinary man or dampen his enthusiasm. In fact, these
phenomena may as well be viewed as preliminary tests that every good
resolve has to pass through.

232

I, therefore, request you to take a close look within and see for
yourself what convictions constitute your mind. Accordingly,
you may finally decide to go ahead or withdraw.

I had recently been in the Arunachal Pradesh. You will
pleased to know that the Vivekananda Kendra has organized a
Yoga Training Camp at Pasighat, a place in the Siang District of
Arunachal Pradesh. The camp was started on 25th of April and is
for a duration of one month. The total number of trainees in the
camp is sixty-two. Among them, nine are college students and
the rest are from schools. They have come from fourteen places
representing all the five districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The
inauguration of the camp was done by the Chief Commissioner
of Arunachal Pradesh. The closing function is scheduled to take
place on the 25th of May.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


13-05-1975

Dear Shri V. Rangarajan,

Day before yesterday, I reached Calcutta from my Shillong
trip. The Yuva Bharati issue of May was awaiting my arrival.
I went through the whole of it before going to bed. Since last
month, I am following this practice.

Yuva Bharati will soon complete the second year of its career.
How much have we progressed? To get an answer, we have to see
our performance in relation to what we expect of Yuva Bharati.

1. We expect that Yuva Bharati reflects our thought and thus
see the purpose for which it has been started.

2. We desire to highlight every thing that is good in our
tradition. However, we want to re-enunciate it in a modern form
or Idiom, so it attracts the modern youth for whose sake this
journal has come into being.

233

3. We also desire to cater in a language easily understood by
an average matriculate.

4. Similarly, ours being a strictly cultural magazine, we desire
to steer clear of party politics and all that is associated with it.

I honestly feel that there is a scope for enough progress in
respect of each of the points mentioned above.

After going through the May issue, I felt like taking a trip to
Madras to discuss with you all the matters regarding the selection
of articles as well as the texture of your own articles including
editorials. But I realised that there were other important works
to be attended to here in this region and that I was helpless.
However if by chance, I get a little respite from the works here, I
shall be with you at least for a day.

In the meantime, I make a few suggestions to you for your
consideration.

1. Historical narrations like those on Pulakesin and Narasimha
Pallavan (that you are giving under ‘Saga of Adventure’) should
be avoided. A mere chronicle of battles and other events, though
of some academical value, fails to have any desired impact upon
the reader. Instead, you should, under that title, pinpoint some
inspiring incident in the lives of great men of idealism and
adventure.

2. We had taken a policy decision that every article should
be short and, at the same time, complete in itself. You should,
therefore avoid such articles as are to be continued in subsequent
issues.

I have also to discuss a lot with you regarding “Short Stories”
and “Translations” as well as other articles (such as those
contributed by Skandanarayanan) that appear in Yuva Bharati.

You should not forget that every article that appears in Yuva
Bharati and every little comment, statement or reference you
make in your editorials, contribute towards formation of our
Kendra’s image in the minds of our readers. The image thus

234

formed, you will agree, should be hundred percent true to
Kendra’s objectives and professions. You have, therefore, to be
very careful.

Similarly, you should remember that inclusion of a sub-

standard or an undesirable article creates a precedent and it

imperceptibly gives encouragement to their authors and even

others to frame their subsequent articles on identical lines.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

17-07-1975

Dear Hemant Joshi,

Received your letter dated July 4, 1975 and noted the contents.

I was glad to learn that Shri Suresh Chandra and yourself
have obtained a suitable accommodation.

Regarding the request you have made in your letter, I wish
to state that I am totally unable to comply with your request.
The three-year practical training which you have just started
undergoing includes all the hardships that you have mentioned
in your letter. You should consider these hardships, including heavy
rains and a feeling of loneliness, as only glimpses of what is in store
for you in future and you should be in readiness to face still harsher
hardships. I hope you will take courage in both hands and rise equal to
the hard, harder and hardest situations as and when they arise.

We are scheduled to meet in October when we shall have
further opportunity to exchange thoughts on the subject.

Please convey my Sasneha Namaskars to Shri Suresh Chandra.

With regards,

Affectionately yours,

235

27-07-1975

Dear K.R. Raghottama Rao,

Received your letter dated 23-7-1975 breaking me the sad
news of the demise of your mother. In fact, the condition of your
mother, as had been described by you, was so distressful that
the God of death only rescued her from her physical and mental
agonies, though the members of the family, out of love for her,
would have liked to have her in their midst still longer.

I personally know what it is to be motherless. I quite see the
vacuum that has been created in your life by this calamity. But,
I am sure, you possess the necessary courage and fortitude to
drink this cup of sorrow.

One day or the other every one of us has to leave this world.
We should, therefore, pray to God that let her soul, by His grace,
march forward on its onward path towards the final goal of
Mukti.

Convey my heartfelt condolences to all.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


25-08-1975
Chennai
Dear Shri Radhakrishna Murthy,

Please refer to your communication dated 15-8-1975,
addressed to Shri J. Basudev in reply to his letter dated 5-8-1975.
Today I happened to peruse a copy of your letter (referred to
above) received from Kanyakumari office as per usual routine. I
felt like immediately conveying to you my reaction to your reply.
Therefore this communication.

Sending a monthly report and a monthly statement of accounts to
Kanyakumari is a ‘must’ for every life-worker. This time, you may not
have been given an independent field to be solely looked after by you

236

but you have certainly been asked specifically to assist Shri Sunil Patil
and do whatever work that may be allotted to you by him from time to
time. Do you not consider this a specific work and can you not prepare
a monthly report of your performance in this respect at Calcutta?

I reached here yesterday as previously scheduled. I am leaving
for Kanyakumari tomorrow evening.

With affection, Brotherly yours,


14-09-1975

Dear Shri M.R.Ramachary,

Received your letter dated 20-8-1975 in reply to my
communication dated 12-8-1975.

Shri Basudev has already written to you about your library
affair. You were never permitted to build up a library at Kohima
out of the funds received from Calcutta.

The difficulty with you is that you are in the habit of doing
things without reference to the headquarters. A number of
examples may be cited to prove the truth of the above statement.
You do not understand what harm you may do to the organisation
if you do not get rid of this habit. For example, your placing
order with a Gauhati press to print donation folders of different
denominations would have invited serious audit objections. It
was by sheer luck that I came to know about it in time and all the
printed matter had to be destroyed.

I do want that you should use your initiative. But you must
necessarily put your proposals before the headquarters and
obtain their approval before proceeding to implement your plans.
It may involve some delay but that cannot be helped. Unless the
headquarters study your proposals and satisfy themselves that
your proposals fit in the overall plan and programme as well as
the constitutional frame-work of our organization, they cannot
give clearance to you.

237

I am sure you have the intelligence to understand the importance
and significance of the above rule of conduct. But, perhaps, thinking
that seeking prior permission from the headquarters may involve delay,
you totally ignore the headquarters and do as you like. This fault in
your method of working will spell disaster. I, therefore, caution you that
in future nothing should be done by you without express permission
from the headquarters.

Taking into consideration the above-mentioned irregularities
that have come to our notice at Kohima center, I am afraid, there
may still be a few others which you, in your ignorance, may not
be considering them to be so. I am, therefore, requesting Shri A.
Balakrishnan to visit your place to examine the whole set-up of
your work and your manner of working at Kohima to help you
in rectifying the mistakes, if any.

The programme on 11th went on well. I am enclosing a copy
of the report of the function for your perusal.

You are to attend the life-workers and teachers classes
scheduled to be held at Shillong in October. I learn that the class
is to commence on 6th and continue upto 13th. You may write to
Shri A. Balakrishnan for details.

Regarding the songs, I shall bring the cyclostyled copies of the
same when I come for the classes at Shillong.

I have requested Dr. H.R. Nagendra to prepare a Yoga-booklet
for the use of our life-workers. I hope it will be ready soon.

Regarding my writing in Yuva Bharati, I hope, I shall be able
to resume soon.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


God is a circle whose circumference is nowhere and whose
centre is everywhere.

-Swami Vivekananda

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23-12-1975
Kanyakumari

Dear Balakrishnan and Sunil,

Received yesterday, by the same day, your letters of almost
identical contents. I, therefore, hope that you will not mind my
writing a single reply for both.

Immediately after receiving your letters, I gave you a telegram
as under.

RECEIVED TODAY LETTERS DATED EIGHTEENTH
DECEMBER FROM YOURSELF AND BALAKRISHNAN
DISPATCHING REPLY TODAY.

As mentioned in the telegram, I wanted to write a reply
immediately but as we had our Managing Committee Meeting
yesterday evening, I could not find time to do so.

Let me at the outset inform you that I have not, so far,
received any communication from Swami Dayanandaji. The said
communication may be on the way. I expect to receive it within
the next few days.

If, of late, you were feeling an intense urge to obtain
proficiency in scriptural knowledge, you could have frankly
discussed that subject with me and the Kendra would have
thought of making adequate arrangements to enable you to
fulfil that urge. Perhaps, from such a discussion, joining the
Sandipani Sadhanalaya Training Class might have also emerged
as one of the alternatives advisable for you. I may inform you
if you are not already aware that there is already a mutual
understanding between the Kendra and almost all other existing
service organisations such as Ramakrishna Mission, Chinmaya
Mission, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Aurobindo Ashram, Tapovan
Ashram of Trichi, Divine Life Society, Vishwa Hindu Parishad,
Sarvodaya, Kaivalyadham and Bharat Sevashram, dedicated to
social, cultural and spiritual rejuvenation of the country. As per
that understanding, the Kendra is striving to work hand in hand
with them. It is not, therefore, difficult for the Kendra to obtain

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co-operation from any of these organisations in particular fields
specialized by them.

Even now, the things can be set right if you choose such a
path as may satisfy your urge and which at the same time will
be in keeping with the dignity of the post you are holding in the
Kendra.

To discuss with you the whole subject in depth, I am reaching
Calcutta on 29th evening from Madras. Accordingly, a telegram
is being given to you today as under.

REPLY DESPATCHED REACHING TWENTYNINTH

DECEMBER FROM MADRAS EVENING FLIGHT – EKNATH

RANADE

More when we meet,

Brotherly yours,

13-01-1976
Chennai

Dear Dr. Manohar,

Your letter of 22nd December, 1975 was delivered here on
January 6. I hope this letter would not take such a long time to
reach your hands. Virtually, you have set a question paper to be
answered by me. I am accordingly giving below my views on
various points raised by you in your letter.

1. Because of my various commitments here, I cannot leave
this country earlier than 15th of September, 1976.

2. I shall be able to devote a total period of two months and a
half for my tour abroad. In this tour, I do not propose to include
Eastern countries.

3. The name of V.H.P. suggested by you as the main sponsor
and organiser of my tour is not advisable.

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4. I would like to visit Trinidad to meet Shri Ram Kripalani.
A few months back, when Shri Ram Kripalani was here, I had
casually told him that I might visit the West. He welcomed
the idea and told me to write to him after the programme gets
finalised. Accordingly, I have written to him recently. I am
enclosing a copy of that letter for your information. He may also
be useful in sponsoring my tour to different places. You may
write to him to seek his guidance in respect of the same.

5. I am undertaking this tour abroad with the below-mentioned
four-fold objective.

a. To have a glimpse of the conditions in the West and to
enrich my knowledge;

b. to study the conditions of Indians residing there;

c. to meet friends and acquaintances; and

d. to apprise them of the Vivekananda Kendra movement.

6. From what I have stated above, it is amply clear that (i)
interviews with radios and on TV channels (ii) meetings with
senators, congressmen or government officials, etc., do not at all
fit in my plan. You should, therefore, give up thinking on those
lines.

7. Similarly, I am not particularly interested in visiting sight-
worthy places though I would not grudge spending time for that
purpose, if they happen to fall on the way.

8. I would be certainly interested in visiting places of special
educative value, and philanthropic organisations to study their
working.

9. I would like you to include in my itinerary particularly such
places as would provide an opportunity to meet friends and
acquaintances in groups.

10. I shall not mind participating in, or even addressing
meetings or functions of various institutions working for the
social or cultural welfare of Indians.

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11. I shall also like to visit Centres of Shri Ramakrishna Mission
and meet monks, some of whom I know personally.

12. Regarding my health, I wish to inform you that I am in
my normal health and you need not exercise your mind over it.
While I was in Calcutta last week, I had a medical check-up and
I have been given a clean chit by my doctors. I am following the
instructions of my doctors and regularly taking the medicines
prescribed by them. A repetition of my medical check-up there
would, therefore, be superfluous.

13. I shall be, in due course, sending to you the names and
addresses of my friends and Kendra well-wishers now residing
in the States.

14. Before I close, I reiterate that my proposed tour is neither
for rest nor for sight-seeing. My purpose will be fulfilled if
I am able to meet a sizable number of our friends, acquaint
them with the Vivekananda Kendra movement and have an
exchange of ideas with them.

I am leaving for Kanyakumari this evening. I shall be there till
the 26th January. After that I shall resume my tour.

Convey my Sasneha Namaskars to Sow. Aruna. Also convey
my Sasneha Namaskars to other friends.

With regards, Brotherly yours,


Pure Existence-Knowledge-and-Love is the goal; and Love
is God.
The greatness of a teacher consists in the simplicity of his
language.
The Guru only knows what will lead towards perfection.

-Swami Vivekananda

242

04-05-1976
Chennai

Dear Shri Nagendra Bhat,

I am in due receipt of your letter dated 1-5-1976. I have noted
your decision to leave for Ottapalam on the 10th of May so as to
reach there well in time for the solemnization of your Sannyasa
Diksha on 13th of May, the Buddha Poornima Day.

Though the Vivekananda Kendra’s emphasis is on the
building up of a Lay Order of life-worker-missionaries, it does
not mean that a life-worker of Vivekananda Kendra is forbidden
to take to Sannyasa Ashram. If any life-worker aspires, later, to
be initiated into Sannyasa and is considered worthy of and equal
to that exalted life, the Vivekananda Kendra would itself arrange
for the proper initiation of such a life-worker into Sannyasa and
he would still continue to be its life-worker. But, unfortunately,
in your case, we do not consider yourself to be mature enough
to be permitted to take to monkhood. As we know you from very
close quarters, we honestly feel that in this half-baked or immature
state of your inner being, the ochre clothes may, instead of ensuring
your spiritual growth, arrest it and may, in addition, aggravate various
angularities and complexes that are very much present in you. But it
is of no use reminding about it to you now, as you have already taken
a firm decision in the matter. I quite see that donning of ochre garb has
now become almost an obsession and an infatuation with you and you
can hardly be helped by anybody to rid you of that malady and restore
you back to normalcy.

In the circumstances, I see no other alternative but to relieve
you, with immediate effect, of your responsibility as a life-
worker-trainee of the Vivekananda Kendra.

After your due initiation into Sannyasa and after you are free
from subsequent programmes and engagements that may have
been under your contemplation, if you feel like taking up any
modest work that may be assigned to you at any of our centers,
you may write to me. I shall try to fix you somewhere so that you

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are given an opportunity to properly channelise your energies
and continue to learn to work along with others in a disciplined
manner.

Within the next few days, you may hand over the charge

of your work and submit your accounts to date to Shri R.N.

Venkataraman. I am instructing him to give you necessary

amount for your journey to Ottapalam to enable you to reach

there.

With affection and blessings,

Brotherly yours,



12/5/1976

Dear Shri P.C. Sethi,

I have not been able to meet you since long. During my recent
visit to the capital in the month of March, I tried to seek a meeting
with you. But your secretary could not give me time as you were
reported very busy with the budget session.

You will be pleased to learn that the third batch of thirteen
life-worker-trainees (including three ladies) completed their
preliminary 6-month training course at Kanyakumari and are
now being deployed mostly in the north-eastern region, including
Nagaland, Meghalaya, Chota Nagpur and the Andamans for
their 3-year practical training in social service. I hope, you are
aware that two earlier batches of 16 each had also been similarly
deployed in the north-eastern region.

I am soon to start my all India tour to interview and select
aspirant life-worker-trainees for the fourth batch scheduled
to start their preliminary six-month course from 11th
September, 1976. We have already invited applications, through
advertisements in prominent newspapers. I am enclosing, for
your perusal, a clipping of the advertisement that has recently
appeared in ‘The Hindu’ of Madras.

244

I am to reach Delhi on 14th night with a plan to stay there
till 20th May. I hope you will be in station during these days
and will be able to spare some time for me. After reaching the
capital, I shall contact your secretary on phone to ascertain your
convenience.

With respects,

Yours Sincerely,

Sd/-
Eknath Ranade.

Encl: 1.
Shri Prakash Chand Sethi, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers,
Shastri Bhavan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, NEW DELHI – 1.

08-06-1976
Calcutta

Dear Surekha,

I am sure you must have settled down in your work by
this time. I hope you have been able to sort out your problems
regarding regularization of your medical leave etc. When you
have difficulties you may approach Shri Prem Sagar for guidance.

I do not know whether dear Rekha will be retained in her
present school or will be transferred to G.T.C. school. She should
try to remain in the Gandhi Ashram School or in any of the other
primary schools in the town. I shall be anxious to know the final
result about her posting.

This year you should do your utmost to start a Yoga class for
girls. Both of you should chalk out your plans in this regard.

I shall expect your letter every month. Write to me about how
your school has started functioning after the vacations.

Both of you should always take proper care of your
health. Similarly, you should not miss your daily Asanas and
Swadhayaya.

245

You should always remember that people will know about
Vivekananda Kendra by observing the lives of the Kendra workers.
However, I do want that our workers should work in freedom with
initiative. If you commit mistakes, treat them as only opportunity sent
to you for your training. Learn from your mistakes but do not brood
over them.

I am leaving for Delhi on June 9th. I shall be at Delhi and its
vicinity till about the 20th.

More after I receive your communication.

With regards, Affectionately,


20-06-1976
Dear Shri Basudev, Delhi

Please refer to your letter No. 10831/N-4, dated 13-6-1976,
seeking advice from me on the question of sending interview
dates to certain candidates.

In this connection I wish to inform you that we have with us
only the bio-data forms, together with letters received from some
of those, whose names were given as references by candidates.
Shri P. Thangaswami is not carrying with him all the connected
correspondence as it is very bulky. As all the correspondence
connected with candidates is available at Kanyakumari, you
yourself should judge each candidate and take your own decision
whether to send or not to send him interview dates.

For your guidance, however, I give below a few of the
important points to be kept in mind before sending interview
dates to candidates.

1. One whose family circumstance clearly indicate that he will
have to shoulder the family responsibilities today or tomorrow,
should be positively discouraged from joining the life-workers’
cadre.

246

2. If, from the contents of the bio-data of a candidate, it is
evident that the candidate’s knowledge of English is very poor
or the candidate is mentally abnormal, or substandard in other
respects, his or her name may be safely eliminated in the very
first sifting.

3. If, from the letters and the bio-data received from a
candidate, it is abundantly clear that the candidate is of a very
calculating or of bargaining nature and admittedly without any
genuine urge for service to society, he may not be selected even
for being called for interview.

4. A candidate who wants to join the training class without
intimating his elders at home and has no gutts to face them, is
not fit for joining this order. Regarding lady-candidates, it is
absolutely necessary on their part to obtain permission from their
parents or elders before presenting themselves for interview.

5. Those who are sickly, or physically or mentally abnormal,
should be discouraged at the very outset. The question of sending
them interview letters does not, therefore, arise.

6. While sending interview letters to those who are found
addicted to tobacco, smoking or other such habits should be
given clear understanding that they will have to give up those
habits for good, if they wanted to join the Order.

7. At a proper stage it should be made clear to candidates that
they will have to reach the place of interview, or Kanyakumari,
if selected, on their own, and that they will not be, ordinarily,
permitted to go home once they join the training. They will be
sent to their places of assignment directly from Kanyakumari.

8. The middle aged persons, offering themselves for dedicated
service could be considered for admission into the Order only if
they are completely free from all family ties and are committed
to remain so for the rest of their life, and are qualified and eligible
in other respects.

I have given above only the guide-lines. You will have to use
your discretion in special cases. But whenever you are in doubt,

247

you may take a decision to send him interview dates.

Similarly those who have genuine doubts in their mind and
want to discuss the same with me, should not be denied the
opportunity to do so.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

24-06-1976
Delhi

Dear Sunil,

Your letters dated 18-6-1976 reached my hands on my return
to Delhi from Kulu on 23rd June.

From your letters I came to know that you were planning to
take a trip to Shillong for a week towards the end of this month,
for a change. It was, in a way, an amusing piece of news. Have
you started believing that by becoming instrumental, along
with other co-workers in conducting a 21-day Yoga Camp, you
have accomplished an extra-ordinarily uphill task and that you
now need rest or a change, at least for a week, and that too at a
hill-resort about 900 kilometres away? It is fortunate for you that
the circumstances so conspired that you had to give up that idea.
Otherwise, you would have made a laughing stock of yourself in
the eyes of your co-workers at Calcutta, Shillong and elsewhere.
Personally, I take a serious view of the working of your mind
reflected in this small incident. That your mind, instead of
addressing itself immediately to the task of reaping benefits
from the good atmosphere created by the Yoga Camp held there,
should choose to wander beyond Calcutta city, the field of work
assigned to you, in pursuit of laxity, is not at all a healthy sign. I
feel that your conceptions of a Lay missionary or a Non-Sannyasi
life-worker as also of a life-discipline expected of him, should
undergo a vast change, so that you may successfully strive to
really become one yourself. With the rectification in your way of

248

thinking, there will automatically be a desirable change in your
manner of living and spending also.

Regarding the accounts of the Yoga Camp, I wish to reiterate
that I am more interested in knowing (1) the total expenditure
incurred on the 21-day Yoga Camp (of about 40 participants),
and (2) the excess of expenditure over the total amount of camp
fees received from the participants (i.e. deficit). Along with these
details, I shall also expect from you information regarding (1)
the total amount of donation (in kind and cash) received for the
purpose of the Yoga Camp, and (2) amount spent on meeting the
deficit of the Camp.

My further programme is yet to be finalized. I shall be able to
convey to you the precise dates of my Calcutta visit shortly.

Convey my affection and Sasneha Namaskars to all including
Shri Amarendra.

With regards,

Brotherly yours,

Note: At Kulu I spent two days with Kumari Shaila. She is
managing the school work very well. Besides, she is taking
regular Yoga classes and literacy classes for those girls and boys
who do not find time to go to schools. In that area she has built
up a good reputation as a dedicated life-worker of Vivekananda
Kendra.

The only remedy for bad habits is counter habits.

There is no happiness higher than what a man obtains by
this attitude of non-offensiveness, to all creation.

Real happiness is not in the senses but above senses

-Swami Vivekananda

249

23-07-1976

Dear Shri Shantaram,

I received your letter dated 5-7-1976 this noon on my return
from Assam tour. Even if I had received it in time, it would not
have been possible to adjust my visit to Datia on July 21-22, as
my tour programme for July was fixed last month.

All these years you must have experienced that I, as a member
of the Ranade family, exist only superficially. Seldom could I
attend family rituals, whether connected with events of joy or
sorrow. I am simply helpless.

When I come to Gwalior-side next, I shall make it a point to
visit Datia to meet you all.

My affection and blessings to dear Asha and her children.
Convey my Sasneha Namaskars and good wishes to my friends
and acquaintances there.

With regards, Yours affectionately,


05/09/1976

Dear Shri P.C. Sethi,

Since my recent visit to Bhopal on 18/8/1976 where we
happened to meet, I have been continuously on the move. I am
writing this only after reaching my headquarters yesterday.

Dear Sethiji, you were, all these years, very cordial to me
and to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee which I
represent. We also remember with gratitude the valuable help
extended by you to our work and the keen interest evinced by
you in its progress in the past.

Though we have not been able to meet very often, I have been
keeping you apprised, from time to time, of the various activities
and programmes that have been conducted under the auspices
of the Committee, both before and after the inauguration of

250