Swami Shivananda - A Direct Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
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Arrival of Swami Shivananda in July 1897.
From India to Colombo.
In the early part of July, 1897, a middle-aged ochre-clad sannyasin from far-off Calcutta, India, landed at the Colombo Port. Many prominent Hindus of Colombo were ready at hand with flowers and garlands, expecting eagerly the arrival of the Swami.
The Swami was received, on landing, with oriental greetings and respects due to a sage, and was conducted to Thambyah Mudaliyar Chatram where he was to stay for the next seven or eight months, spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Shivananda, for that was the name of the apostle, was one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and brother-disciple of Swami Vivekananda at whose behest he had come to the Island to continue the work of propagating the Master’s Message.
Letter of Swami Vivekananda from Almora
Swami Shivananda started for Sri Lanka with Swamiji’s letter of introduction to Mr Sokanathan of Colombo and stayed there for about seven months and returned to Calcutta on February 1898.
To Mr. Sokanathan, Colombo
ALMORA
30th June 1897.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
The bearer of this note, Swami Shivananda, is [being] sent to Ceylon, as promised by me during my sojourn. He is quite fit for the work entrusted to his care, of course, with your kind help.
I hope you will introduce him to other Ceylon friends.
Yours ever in the Lord,
VIVEKANANDA
Arrival of Swami Shivananda in July 1897.
From India to Colombo.
In the early part of July, 1897, a middle-aged ochre-clad sannyasin from far-off Calcutta, India, landed at the Colombo Port. Many prominent Hindus of Colombo were ready at hand with flowers and garlands, expecting eagerly the arrival of the Swami.
The Swami was received, on landing, with oriental greetings and respects due to a sage, and was conducted to Thambyah Mudaliyar Chatram where he was to stay for the next seven or eight months, spreading the message of Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Shivananda, for that was the name of the apostle, was one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and brother-disciple of Swami Vivekananda at whose behest he had come to the Island to continue the work of propagating the Master’s Message.
The earlier visit of Swami Vivekananda had roused immense
enthusiasm in the religious-minded section of the local Hindu Community. They
were eager to have his work continued. Devotees at every place requested the
Swami to send urgently teachers of the Order to preach the Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna in the Island. Seeing their earnestness he had promised them that
he, on reaching Calcutta, would consider their request. Swamiji reached Almora
at the end of his triumphal march across India sometime in May, 1897. Soon
after, he sent Swami Shivananda to Ceylon with the above letter of
introduction, Swami Brahmananda, the first President of the Ramakrishna
Movement, in his letter to Miss Noble (later Sister Nivedita) to her London
address from the Math at Baranagore, Calcutta, on 04-08-1897, writes as follows
on the deputation of Swami Shivananda to Ceylon and his work:
“Recently Swami Shivananda has been deputed to start a
centre of work in Ceylon. He has interviewed some of the influential members of the native society of Colombo, who
have received him favourably. In a meeting called by the Hon. Coomaraswamy,
member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, it was resolved to help Swami
Shivananda in his work. The report of the progress of his work will be
communicated to you in due course.”
Swami Shivananda amply fulfilled the confidence the Leader
had reposed in him in his capacity to reveal to the people of Ceylon a great
message of crucial importance to humanity and to impress on the Hindu public in
particular the moral and spiritual grandeur of India’s hoary culture. He
greatly succeeded in keeping the flame lit by Swami Vivekananda during his
earlier visit to the Island, burning bright. He kept alive the public interest
in the work of Swamiji by renewing contact with his friends and admirers
through his classes on the scriptures, and personal interviews. Till his
departure to India he continued to teach the basic ideals and practices of the
Vedanta philosophy and religion interpreting them in the light of the life and
teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.
Later, at the Belur Math, Calcutta, reminiscing on his brief
stay in the Island some three decades earlier, he spoke thus to one of his
disciples: “Yes, I have been to Ceylon. A few months after Swamiji’s return to
India, he sent me there to preach Vedanta. I was in Colombo for seven or eight
months, living at a Charity house, where I held religious discourses and
regular classes on the Gita. Several people attended these. I was quite happy
there, and visited the local temples etc. They have a tooth temple, where it is
claimed that Buddha’s tooth is preserved. What a grand structure they have
raised there! One is struck with wonder at the magnificence of the temple.”
Ramakrishna Movement in Sri Lanka
Personality Development Programmes
The earlier visit of Swami Vivekananda had roused immense
enthusiasm in the religious-minded section of the local Hindu Community. They
were eager to have his work continued. Devotees at every place requested the
Swami to send urgently teachers of the Order to preach the Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna in the Island. Seeing their earnestness he had promised them that
he, on reaching Calcutta, would consider their request. Swamiji reached Almora
at the end of his triumphal march across India sometime in May, 1897. Soon
after, he sent Swami Shivananda to Ceylon with the above letter of
introduction, Swami Brahmananda, the first President of the Ramakrishna
Movement, in his letter to Miss Noble (later Sister Nivedita) to her London
address from the Math at Baranagore, Calcutta, on 04-08-1897, writes as follows
on the deputation of Swami Shivananda to Ceylon and his work:
“Recently Swami Shivananda has been deputed to start a
centre of work in Ceylon. He has interviewed some of the influential members of the native society of Colombo, who
have received him favourably. In a meeting called by the Hon. Coomaraswamy,
member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon, it was resolved to help Swami
Shivananda in his work. The report of the progress of his work will be
communicated to you in due course.”
Swami Shivananda amply fulfilled the confidence the Leader
had reposed in him in his capacity to reveal to the people of Ceylon a great
message of crucial importance to humanity and to impress on the Hindu public in
particular the moral and spiritual grandeur of India’s hoary culture. He
greatly succeeded in keeping the flame lit by Swami Vivekananda during his
earlier visit to the Island, burning bright. He kept alive the public interest
in the work of Swamiji by renewing contact with his friends and admirers
through his classes on the scriptures, and personal interviews. Till his
departure to India he continued to teach the basic ideals and practices of the
Vedanta philosophy and religion interpreting them in the light of the life and
teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.
Later, at the Belur Math, Calcutta, reminiscing on his brief
stay in the Island some three decades earlier, he spoke thus to one of his
disciples: “Yes, I have been to Ceylon. A few months after Swamiji’s return to
India, he sent me there to preach Vedanta. I was in Colombo for seven or eight
months, living at a Charity house, where I held religious discourses and
regular classes on the Gita. Several people attended these. I was quite happy
there, and visited the local temples etc. They have a tooth temple, where it is
claimed that Buddha’s tooth is preserved. What a grand structure they have
raised there! One is struck with wonder at the magnificence of the temple.”
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