SWAMI SHIVANANDA

Taraknath Ghosal as known in his premonastic life Swami Shivananda was born on Thursday, 16 November 1854, at Barasat, a small town east of Kolkata.
Tarak had to marry against his wishes. He explained to his wife, Nityakali, his hunger for God, and also gave her spiritual advice and guided her in leading a spiritual life.

On May or June 1880 Tarak met Sri Ramakrishna at the Kolkata home of Ramachandra Datta.
Tarak recalled his wonderful experiences during his early encounters with the Master:
When I first started visiting the Master, I often felt inclined to cry. One night I was crying uncontrollably by the riverside near the bakul tree. The master was in his room, and he inquired where I had gone. When I returned he asked me to sit down and said: “The Lord is greatly pleased if one cries to Him. Tears of love wash away the mental impurities accumulated through the ages. It is very good to cry to God.”

Tarak was first amongst the disciples to renounce worldly attachments. He lived mostly with Ramakrishna during the last three years of the master’s Life.
“For over a decade the swami travelled in different parts of India, sometimes in the Himalayas, sometimes on the plains, and sometimes in deserts or forests, and always he lived a life worthy of a man of God…Mahapurush (Swami Shivananda) had experienced Samadhi three times as a young man during the lifetime of the Master. The austerities and meditations of his itinerant period established him in that blessed state, enriching his life and giving him the necessary depth and strength to shoulder the responsibilities of the great task ahead of him. On the anvil of those years and the ones in which he began doing works of service were forged the character and personality later adored as Mahapurush, the head of the Order, who constantly lived in God and overflowed with love and blessings to all.” - Swami Vividishananda in A Man of God.

Swami Shivananda’s lifestyle was very simple. He regularly wrote letters to the monks and devotees himself. In the afternoons he would meet with devotees and answer their spiritual questions or talk about his days with the master and Swamiji.

From 1902 to 1909 Maharaj concentrated on establishing a permanent centre in Varanasi, with Swami Brahamananda’s help. He named the centre Sri Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, with the idea that one can be established in Advaita (nonduality) by moulding oneself on the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna. He decided to preach Vedanta by practicing it in daily life rather than by lecturing about it from the pulpit. He practiced severe austerities in Varanasi and set an example for others.

On 1 April 1921 Maharaj left for Madras to open the students’ Home in Madras.

On 13 February 1922 Maharaj visited Dhaka with Swami Abhedananda and some other monks.

In 1910 Maharaj became vice- president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, after passing away of Swami Brahamananda in 1922, Swami Shivananda was elected president of the Ramakrishna Order.

In January 1923 he went to Varanasi to dedicate a building in the Ramakrishna Advaita Ashrama, in the memory of Swami Adbhutananda, who had died in 1920.

After dedicating the Vivekananda Temple on 28 January 1924 and the Brahmananda Temple on 7 February 1924 in Belur Math, Swami Shivananda left for South India.

On 7 January 1925 Maharaj left Madras for Bombay, on the way he stopped for a few days at Cuddapah, a small town where some Hindu and Muslim devotees had established the “Ramakrishna Samaj”

Maharaj arrived in Bombay on 12 January, the Ramakrishna Ashrama was then in a rented house at Khar, on 6 February the swami laid foundation stone of the new Ashrama.

In January 1926 Maharaj visited the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, at Deoghar, Bihar. On 28 January he opened the new school building at Vidyapith and installed the picture of Sri Ramakrishna.

On 24 September 1926 Maharaj inaugurated the building of the new Ashrama in Ootacamund.

On 15 January 1928 Jawaharlal Nehru came to visit the Ramakrishna Home of Service in Varanasi, and he was delighted to meet Swami Shivananda. A few days later, his wife, Kamala Neharu, came to Shivananda for a blessing and spiritual instruction. She became a devotee and visited the swami in Belur Math many times.

Swami Shivananda was keen to spread the message of the master throughout the world. During his presidency many swamis of the Ramakrishna Order were sent to North America, South America, and Europe. These swamis and others worked hard to carry out the mission of Vedanta inaugurated by Swami Vivekananda. It was a golden era for the Order.

He passed away on Tuesday 20 February 1934. One day he humbly said to a monk: “Look, I am my Master’s dog. As a dog protects the precious wealth of it's master from robbers, so I am protecting the valuable spiritual treasures [discrimination, renunciation, knowledge, devotion] of the Master in this monastery. He who stays like a faithful dog will attain the greatest good.”

Sayings of Swami Shivanandaji

“Don’t think of this picture of the Master as an ordinary picture. He himself dwells in it and listens to the prayers of the devotees.”

“In this age the name of Sri Ramakrishna is the mantram for liberation. Rama and Krishna - the combination of these two incarnations is simultaneously manifested in Ramakrishna. If you chant the name of Ramakrishna, you will get the result of japam of the Rama mantram as well ass Krishna mantram. He was born to liberate sinners and suffers, and showed a simple and beautiful path for God-realization.”

“Truth can never suffer, for it is transcendental, not physical. We see the body suffer, not the real person. Persecution, instead of hurting the truth, always brings out it's pristine glory all the more.”

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