Chaturvedi Badrinath has written a welcome account of one of the greatest sons of India. In his Swami Vivekananda: The Living Vedanta (2006), Chaturvedi Badrinath writes with feeling and devotion about the Swami who popularized the Vedanta in the West.
As the author says in the Introduction: “Neither strictly a biography of Swami Vivekananda nor a study of his philosophy, this book is written in the hope that through it the reader will meet Vivekananda; and in meeting him, meet also his or her own self (italics in original).”
Having read other books on Vivekananda (including Romain Rolland’s Life) what I learnt from this book was about Vivekananda’s deep feelings for both Jesus and the Buddha. Elsewhere, I had read that Vivekananda described Buddhism as being different from Hinduism because the Buddha apparently denied the existence of the soul (though he believed in reincarnation). I had thought this to mean that Vivekananda also rejected the Buddha but this is not so. Vivekananda had spoken with great reverence for both Jesus and the Buddha and indeed gave them the status of great prophets along with Krishna and Sankara.
The author says: “I maintain that not until Swami Vivekananda is felt contemporaneously will he ever be understood in the fullness of his being. You don’t simply read a man like Vivekananda. In reading him, you meet him. And if you don’t meet him and feel him contemporaneously, you can understand little of the meaning of what he is saying. Indeed, this is true about any great thinker who keeps thinking about life and not just keeps talking metaphysics (italics in original).” After such lines it is pitiable that the author did not give more than a few examples of Vivekananda’s oratory on Vedanta.
The description of the young life of Narendranath Dutta is filled with new insights and the account of his pilgrimage throughout India after the death of his guru and his lifelong vows of poverty and chastity were deeply moving. It was interesting to learn that young Narendranath briefly dabbled with atheism after the death of his father. But he quickly shook himself out of it and became a devout Vedantist.
The latter part of the book, after Swami Vivekananda became famous in America, is retold mainly through Vivekananda’s correspondence with his friends and well-wishers. Again, if the author had given a few glimpses of Vivekananda’s extempore speeches, it would have made the book more valuable.
As the author says in the Introduction: “Neither strictly a biography of Swami Vivekananda nor a study of his philosophy, this book is written in the hope that through it the reader will meet Vivekananda; and in meeting him, meet also his or her own self (italics in original).”
Having read other books on Vivekananda (including Romain Rolland’s Life) what I learnt from this book was about Vivekananda’s deep feelings for both Jesus and the Buddha. Elsewhere, I had read that Vivekananda described Buddhism as being different from Hinduism because the Buddha apparently denied the existence of the soul (though he believed in reincarnation). I had thought this to mean that Vivekananda also rejected the Buddha but this is not so. Vivekananda had spoken with great reverence for both Jesus and the Buddha and indeed gave them the status of great prophets along with Krishna and Sankara.
The author says: “I maintain that not until Swami Vivekananda is felt contemporaneously will he ever be understood in the fullness of his being. You don’t simply read a man like Vivekananda. In reading him, you meet him. And if you don’t meet him and feel him contemporaneously, you can understand little of the meaning of what he is saying. Indeed, this is true about any great thinker who keeps thinking about life and not just keeps talking metaphysics (italics in original).” After such lines it is pitiable that the author did not give more than a few examples of Vivekananda’s oratory on Vedanta.
The description of the young life of Narendranath Dutta is filled with new insights and the account of his pilgrimage throughout India after the death of his guru and his lifelong vows of poverty and chastity were deeply moving. It was interesting to learn that young Narendranath briefly dabbled with atheism after the death of his father. But he quickly shook himself out of it and became a devout Vedantist.
The latter part of the book, after Swami Vivekananda became famous in America, is retold mainly through Vivekananda’s correspondence with his friends and well-wishers. Again, if the author had given a few glimpses of Vivekananda’s extempore speeches, it would have made the book more valuable.
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