The Swami was a disciple of Swami Nirmalananda, who was one of the seventeen direct disciples of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Nirmalananda established many monasteries in South India and spread the message of Shri Ramakrishna there.
(1863-1902)
(1836-1886)
(1853-1920)
Sarva dharmaswaroopine
Avatara varishthaya
Ramakrishnayathe namah.
This photograph was taken by one of his disciples, Mr. Terlan of Holland in 1964. This is supposed to be the only photograph of the Swami. In the background, you can see the temple built in memory of his Gurudev
Swami Nirmalananda. (The original was a black- and-white photo. Colour was added by computer graphics. )
Swami Vishadanandaji
It is hard to imagine that in the obscure, almost inaccessible hamlet of Palappuram near Ottappalam, there lived a great seer and saint, largely unknown to the world. The monastery where he spent the major part of his life is by the side of the rail connecting Ottappalam with Palghat. In the serene surrounding by the side of the river Bharatapuzha or Nila (now dry for most part of the year) he lived a life of austerity, purity and spirituality that was admirable and set a unique example to the seekers of truth of posterity.
‘SHRI RAMAKRISHNA DIVINITY’
What was the core of his teaching? It was none other than the core of his being- Shri Ramakrishna- His divinity was the essence of his life. “You will see wondrous Sri Ramakrishna Jyothis shining if you remove the outer coat of this being as myself.” he once wrote to a disciple. His whole life was centred on the divine teachings of the late Master, Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The magnetic personality of the great Master attracted the pure mind of the Swami from his early childhood and later became his passion and sole mission. After fully establishing himself in the divine realms, he preached only this and was not keen to talk anything else.
TRUE MONK
This humble devotee of Shri Ramakrishna was a true sanyasi (monk), who lived up to the spirit of sanyasa to the last word. Monastic life was very dear to him, which was quite natural, for it was his own chosen way of life. He embraced the ideals of sanyasa when he was very young and remained wedded to the lofty ideal throughout his life. The hardships, which he faced for this, were many, but all this did not discourage him a bit. He upheld the principles of sanyasa- the urge to realize God, truth, celibacy, and constant commitment till the end. It was but a matter of course that his struggles should bear fruit. After forty long years of sadhana, which very few people would dare to undertake today, he emerged glorious and glowing with self-realization.
MYSTIC
That was the turning point in his life. Spiritual power flowed to him like water gushing out of a reservoir when dam walls collapsed. The unusual experience was perhaps too overwhelming even for him. There was the usual criticism of the skeptics and the acceptance by eager souls. The curtain of maya was suddenly removed in front of his eyes and he saw Truth in all its glory. Though the matter became a little controversial, devotees, young and old alike, flocked to him for blessings and guidance.
THE KIND GURU
The transformation, almost inevitable in the lives of all great spiritual personalities, brought many a rapid change in the Ashrama life. Souls eager to have self - realization came to the holy presence, uninvited. The Swami soon had to assume the role of a Guru to impart spiritual knowledge to the seekers. He was, however, not discriminative: He accepted all, evolved or novices alike. He blessed sanyasis as well as householders; learned as well as ignorant; men as well as women; Even the devotees who had only passing interest in such matters were blessed when they sought his solace.
Tulsi Maharaj
The Swami was an embodiment of the ideals of sanyasa. He was soft, yet firm when situations demanded so. He, like his ideal Shri Ramakrishna, always upheld Truth irrespective of the consequences. In spite of having the strong will needed to lead the ideal life of a recluse, he was kind and loving, - a rare combination indeed! Yet he denounced all weakness and advocated heroism as a pre-requisite for sanyasa life. Even for ordinary householders life, he insisted this quality. When some of his disciples, on the path of renunciation, exhibited tendencies of emotional character, he was firm and decided to correct the situation. He, like Swami Vivekananda, held that only by leading a moral and courageous life, one could hope to attain the Ideal. There is no place for petty emotions, which lead nowhere. One has to stand firm like a rock and practice what is required, if one is keen to attain anything. We can safely say that the ideals which he preached were not only for the ideal sanyasi, but also for a common devotee and these were what he practiced in his life: he was an ideal sanyasi and an ideal man, too.
BORN HINDU
Like the great masters Shri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on whose lives the Swamiji built his spiritual career, he was a born Hindu. Once he told a devotee: “I am neither a Hindu nor a Christian, nor a Muslim, but am above all these”. He meant the Truth he preached was above the commonly held religious perception. God could not be limited by religious ideas. However, on another occasion, he added: “I am a born Hindu”. This meant he stood for the eternal principles propounded by the core Hindu philosophy, which doesn’t contradict any religion: the Hinduism of the Upanishads. He liberally quoted from them. The ‘purva kanda’ forms the essence of Hindu ideology: The mythology of epics and the ‘karma kanda’ are secondary for the real seekers of Truth. The Swami was furious on many occasions to note that the religion of the masses often centred on stories, rituals and superstitions and the real religion was often conveniently forgotten. More harm than good could be produced by such attitudes, the Swami felt. It is easy to talk on lofty principles, but hard to practice what is preached. However, since the practice of principles is difficult, it is neither advisable to follow only the easier part and sacrifice the real motive of self transformation.
MODERN AND RATIONAL
“I do not accept anything which doesn’t tally with the material sciences”, the Swami remarked once. Like the Vedanta philosophy he was upholding, he was always modern and never accepted anything, which was not rational. Though religious experiences start where the senses have their limits, we could never sacrifice common sense and scientific approach for the sake of encouraging superstitions. Truth has to be experienced. Belief is only a step to achieve this. His thought and views were clear as broad daylight and superstitions had no place in the scheme of things. He urged his disciples and other devotees to try to experience Truth by constant practice of meditation, he seldom advised a lesser path.
BOLD DECLARATIONS
Born of clear and ambiguous vision of Truth, he had firm conviction of his mission, which he related to some of his devotees and disciples. Like the great Shri Ramakrishna himself, the Swami came down to elevate many an eager soul. His advent as an incarnation of a higher being for the purposes of uplifting many eager souls was disclosed to a few understanding disciples. The letters, which he wrote to some close disciples, bear this fact. It is also true that he blessed many of his disciples with visions of spiritual truth.
MESSAGE OF HOPE
The Swami brought to his disciples and devotees a message of hope. He encouraged them to follow the path of meditation and other penances and constantly reminded them the harsh truth: Life is very short, things can go wrong any moment and everything can come to a halt any time; So it is essential that we realize the truth and act accordingly. The search for truth should begin today, not tomorrow, he urged. He, however, knew it was difficult to follow the spiritual path, though equipped with an intellectual understanding. So he urged such people to allocate a reasonable amount of time for matters such as prayers and meditation. Though extremely difficult, the path to Truth is approachable, he said. With God’s grace to one’s help, whatever was considered impossible could become possible and whatever was considered unclear would become clear, he said.
TRAINER
Even in his last days, he was keen to conduct ‘meditation classes’ in the Ashrama. Training the disciples who surrounded him was a self appointed mission for him, however busy or ill he was. It is really sad that very few people understood the essence of his teachings. Like the blessings of God Himself, his love and encouragement were available abundantly; but very few were eager to take advantage of this. It was no fault of his. Most of us are content with hearing the truth, very few are willing to practice.
UNKNOWN TO THE WORLD
It seems that his mission was discreet and pure and there was very little need for publicity of any kind. The Swami shunned all publicity and declined offers of high position. This must have been due to the clarity in his mind about his mission. Being in the limelight was not what he wanted: If he could train a few chosen disciples, he was happier. He could not be fooled by materialistic cravings; unalloyed spirituality was what he preached and what he wanted to shine in others. Nothing else mattered to him.
CONCLUSION
The Swamiji’s departure from our world was unbearable to his many disciples and devotees. His message of pure spirituality and love will remain ever cherished in their hearts.
Sri Ramakrishna Asrama,
Sri Ramakrishna Nargar P.O,
(Via) Ottappalam -679 103,
(Palghat district,) Kerala State, India.
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Sri Sarada Asrama, Sri Ramakrishna Nagar P.O, (Via) Ottappalam - 679 103, Palghat District, Kerala State, India.
Present President: Swami Divyananda.
Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Puthiyidam, Kayamkulam, Kerala State, India.
Present President: Swami Kaivalyananda.
(Sarada Ashrama)
Swami Vishadananda was born in December, 1906 at Aranmula in the erstwhile Travancore state of (southern) Kerala. He was born as the third son of Shri Kanjilikkattu Govinda Pillai, who was a 'Pravarthyar' (village officer) and Shrimathykkutty Amma. Govinda Pillai embraced sanyasa in his later life. The pre-monastic name of Swamiji was Raghavan PIllai.
At the tender age of 12, he happened to see a picture of Sri Ramakrishna in a house. The picture cast a "magic spell" on him and he at once declared to himself that this was his God and everything. He didnt know even whose picture it was!
PRE-MONASTIC LIFE
After completing his school, he joined a survey school near Changanassery for a 3 –year course in civil engineering. After passing this, he got an employment as a Surveyor in government service. For the pious nature, he was nicknamed ‘Swami’. He was soon promoted as Sub Engineer. He met Mahatma Gandhi at the venue of the famous ‘Vaikom Satyagraham’ and got blessings from Shri Narayana Guru, the famous saint and social reformer of Kerala.
It was at the Haripad SRK Ashrama, the first SRK Centre in Kerala, that he came to know of Shri Ramakrishna and the movement. He also heard of his future guru and decided to take the vow of renunciation. He soon left his job and went to Ottappalam Ashrama to meet his guru. Swami Nirmalananda was then at the SRK Math, Bangalore. He was, hence sent to Bangalore. After one and a half years, in September 1928, he was initiated into sanyasa along with three others (Swami Vishalananda, Nirvrutananda and Agamananda).
SWAMI NIRMALANANDA
His Guru Swami Nirmalananda (known also as Tulsi Maharaj) traveled to the south of India and spread the message of Sri Ramakrishna there. He established many maths and centres. In Kerala, he started the maths / centres at Ottappalam, Calicut (Kozhikode),Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), Quilandy, Pudukkad, Muvattupuzha, Alleppey (Alappuzha), Haripad, Muttom, Kayamkulam, Thiruvalla, Kulathur, Palai, Aroor, Neyyar and Adoor. He attained Mahasamadhi at Ottappalm on 26 April 1938. There is a small kutir by the side of the river Nila (Bharatha puzha) at the place of cremation.
EARLY LIFE AS A SANYASI
The Swami had the opportunity to live with his Guru for ten years. His life in the Bangalore Ashrama for about ten years was a period of intense training. He was soon the poojari and the manager of the Ashrama and his guru’s personal secretary. Once he traveled the length and breadth of India as a ‘parivrajaka’ (wandering monk). In Calcutta, he met Master Mahashay (the recorder of ‘the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna’).
AS A WANDERING MONK
In 1935, Swami Nirmalananda left Bangalore Math for Trivandrum for a short while. Then he settled at Ottappalam and took up the task of training young disciples. Swami Vishadananda accompanied his guru to Ottappalam. Swami Nirmalananda attained Mahasamadhi there in 1938.
Following the tradition and to fulfill his heart’s desire to practice sadhana, he set out as a ‘parivrajaka’ again. He reached the holy place Rishikesh and started practicing vows. There he met Swami Shivananda, founder of the Divine Life Society and soon the two became friends. He continued his pilgrimage, often as “suramandirataru moola nivasa”, as described by Shri Sankara, spending his night at temples and forests. He had unique spiritual experiences while he dwelt at the Shimoga Hills of south India. He then traveled to Rajasthan desert.
RETURN TO OTTAPPALAM
He returned to Ottappalam, heeding the request of many devotees and constructed the temple in memoriam to his late Guru. The temple was consecrated by Swami Saswatanandaji, President of SRK Math, Madras (now Chennai) in 1939.
AT TRIVANDRUM
He was transferred to the Trivandrum Math, where he worked for the ‘Prabuddha Keralam’, the Malayalam magazine of the SRK Mission started by Swami Nirmalananda. He worked in the SRK Mission Hospital in the city along with Swami Tapasyananda and their combined effort helped the development of the small dispensary into the huge Hospital complex. Like a true karma yogi, he took active part in the Malaria relief work in the city and adjoining areas.
GURU’S BIOGRAPHY
Answering the call by fellow devotees, he returned to Ottappalam to write a biography of his guru. For this, in 1942, he had to travel to the Mission Head Quarters in Calcutta, where he was received well by the Swamis of the Mission. He met Shri Mahendranath Dutta and Shri Bhupendranath Dutta, younger brothers of Swami Vivekananda. He had divine experiences in the Dakshineshwar temple complex.
Swami Vishadananda took up the position of the President of the Ottappalam Ashrama, a position that he occupied for about 46 years. Swamiji started a new publication ‘Shri Ramakrishna Tulasi Sugandham’. Many articles were published on the Holy Trinity and Vedanta by him and by Ottur Subrahmanyan Nampoothiripad. Swamiji shared many of his profound spiritual experiences with the readers through the columns of this magazine.
SCHOOLS
Following a direct command from Shri Ramakrishna in a vision, he took up the task of providing education to the children of poor villagers nearby. The schools ‘Niranjan Vidyalaya’ for boys and ‘Sarada Vidyalaya’ for girls provided food also to the pupils. Upon the successful completion of school, needy students were sent to other cities for higher degrees, all expenses met by the Ashrama.
DISCIPLES
He started initiating many aspirants at this time. Some of his early sanyasin disciples were Swamis Shantananda, Anandananda, Vallabhananda, Prakashananda, Sampoornananda and Chinmayananda.
CHOLERA RELIEF WORK
The Swami actively took up the cholera relief work of 1943-4, risking even his life, with the limited facilities available at that time. The affected areas were Valluvanadu of Malabar and some districts of the then Cochin State.
SHARADA ASHRAMA
In 1947, the Swami founded the Sarada Ashrama, which was the first convent for Hindu nuns in modern times. This was before the establishment of the Shri Sarada Math of Dakshineshwar and was in response to the need of such a facility at that time. Many Nampoothiri ladies, most of them devotees of Swami Nirmalananda, wanted to lead monastic life. In 1953, he initiated 7 ladies to sanyasa: They were: Swamis Chidananda (Bhuvaneswari), Divyananda (Sarada), Sadananda (Sarojini), Bodhananda (Chandramani), Atmananda (Mani), Paavanananda (Kamalam) and Paraananda (Bhuvaneswari’s mother). Swami Chidananda became the first President of the Sarada Ashrama. Soon, six more also joined this group. They were: Swamis Bhaswarananda (mother of Sarada and Sarojini), Shuddhananda, Paramananda, Prasannananda and Ambikananda.
SPIRITUAL REALIZATION
It was in 1964 the Swami experienced the full force of spiritual powers flowing to him. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras explain the matter. He had the vision of Bhagavan Shri Ramakrishna, the Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda and Shri Krishna. His mind was sometimes in constant communion with them. The highest spiritual state, which he experienced, cannot be easily narrated. The Swami attained the unique state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi also. Swami Tapasyananda of the SRK Mission came to investigate the truth of all this and went back convinced.
WORKS
The Swami, though not endowed with any literary or poetic talent, compiled a number of literary and poetic works for the benefit of seekers. This was a special blessing to him by Bhagavan. He wrote ‘Shri Ramakrishna Bhagavatham’, a simple, easy-to-read poetical work on the life of Bhagavan Shri Ramakrishna in Malayalam. This was as requested by Sankaravelil Parameswaran Pillai, an ardent devotee.
‘Conversations on Spirit Divine’, a question and answer type exposition on spiritual matters, is another wonderful work. The ‘spirit divine’ dictated this to him. The similar work in Malayalam was titled ‘Divya Vani’. He wrote a number of bhajan songs and hymns on the Holy trinity Shri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. Upon the request from a devotee, an Ottan Thullal (a kind of dance-song of Kerala) ‘Vivekananda Vijayam’ on the life of Swami Vivekananda was composed by him for public performances.
PUBLICITY
The Swami was contented in the Self and did not desire any publicity. He didn’t even allow taking photographs. His only photograph was (in meditation) taken by an elderly couple from Holland, who became his lifelong devotees. (A few older photographs, mostly in groups, exist, though).
Some of the sanyasin disciples initiated at this time were: Swamis Nishkamananda, Pranavananda, Amruthananda and Saswatananda.
SEVENTIES
More devotees flocked at Ottappalam. During 1976 to 1985, some more were initiated to sanyasa. They were: Swamis Jyotirmayananda, Nirupamananda SRK Math, (Mattakkara), Pavithrananda (SRK Ashrama, Alappuzha), Yogeeswarananda (passed away), Chidrupananda (Sri Lanka), Nischalananda, Kaivalyananda (President, SRK Math, Kayamkulam), Anaswarananda (President, SRK Kutiram, Calicut), Dheerananda (present President at Ottappalam). He had initiated about 1000 disciples, sanyasins and householders. Shri Ramamoorthy was a devotee of Swamiji who used to visit him from Madras along with a number of friends like Shri Ramachandran, Shri Subrahmanyan, etc.
Some students of the nearby Palghat Engineering College were attracted to him and became his disciples. Palaniyappan and Prakash among them, even attempted an unsuccessful sanyasa life. Suresh, Murali, E.K Gopi, and many others came. Swamiji loved them all.
At the old age, ill health developed in Swamiji. In 1976, symptoms of trouble with the prostrate gland developed. Enlargement of the heart also occurred. After an ordeal of pain, he was treated at the SRK Mission hospital in Trivandrum. Swami Antaratmananda of the SRK Mission offered all possible help. He had to be operated without sedation because of the heart’s condition! The Swami bore all the pain.
MAHASAMADHI
Foreseeing his time to depart, he transferred the responsibilities of the Ashrama to the next generation. During the first week of January 1985, he was admitted to the Government Hospital for various complications. He entered the Mahasamadhi at 3 am on 23 January, 1985. It was the Thithi puja day of Swami Brahmananda (a disciple of Shri Ramakrishna) and he had insisted on the usual ceremonies at the Ashrama.
Swami- monk; Mahasamadhi – the passing away of a saint; Bhagavan – an Incarnation of God; Jyothis – spiritual light; Paramahamsa – a highly evolved saint who can see Spirit alone in a world of good and bad, just as the legendary bird ‘hamsa’ which, when fed with a mixture of milk and water is able to drink milk alone; Maya – illusion that the world alone is true; Ashrama – monastery; Maharaj – a respectful form of addressing a monk; Math – monastery; kutir – a small structure; Cremation – the Hindu custom of burning the dead body; Guru – Spiritual teacher; pooja – worship; Poojari – one who conducts ritualistic worship; parivrajaka - wandering monk; Sanyasi – monk; sanyasa – the vow of monk to renounce the world; sadhana – penances like meditation; Shri Sankara- the famous saint- poet who lived about 1000 years ago; Nampoothiri – a Brahmin community of Kerala; Bhajan – singing of devotional songs.
Sincerely,
Suresh.
Legend of Muruga
Vivekananda Centre, London
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