More than a century after his death, Swami Vivekananda remains a common heritage, albeit with contesting claimants, said an illustrious student of the order founded by the monk.
“Vivekananda remains a common heritage for us. Ram draws from that heritage; so do Shyam, Rahim, Peter, Sita and Rakeya,” said Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chairman of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, chief adviser to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, and former Bengal chief secretary.
Bandyopadhyay is an alumnus of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Narendrapur. On Friday evening, he spoke on why Vivekananda was all the more relevant in today’s world. An NGO in Haridevpur, on the southern fringes of Calcutta, had organised the programme to mark the birth anniversary week of Vivekananda.
“Vivekananda’s need is being felt in a wide range of political, economic, cultural, moral and religious quests all around us and inside us.... Some of us look at the nation from a religious perspective; some want to reconfigure the economy from the prism of competition; some others have their worldview anchored in the principle of equity in the context of the ever-rising inequality in a liberalised world shaping their moral compass,” said Bandyopadhyay, a keen student of history.
Swamiji’s words, spoken in the late 19th century, when the fissures in society were not as poignant as they are now, are still comforting a thirsty, afflicted and globalised world, perhaps more than ever before, he said, going on to give examples.
“People seeking an equitable world can turn to Swamiji’s words. ‘I am a socialist’, he had said, ‘not because it is a perfect system but half a loaf is better than no bread’,” he said.
“A micro-entrepreneur seeking to launch a start-up but struggling to find capital and investment can find self-confidence from Swamiji’s words. Swamiji had said that old religion considered a man who did not believe in scriptures as an atheist but new religion says that a man who does not believe in himself is an atheist,” said Bandyopadhyay.
“Similarly, a man who wants politics and state policies to be rooted in religion and spiritualism can also turn to Swamiji. He remains a common heritage fund from which we are all deriving our own respective resources according to our own needs, aspirations and rationale,” he added.
As heritage, Vivekananda is highly contested, even while commonly adored.
The Right-wing ecosystem has actively sought to associate itself with the legacy and ideals of Vivekananda in an attempt to co-opt him as an icon of their cultural nationalism and Hindutva ideology.
Political opponents and academics have criticised the bid, arguing that Vivekananda’s philosophy of universal brotherhood stands in contrast to the Hindutva ideology.
At the programme on Friday — the venue was a small ground in Putiary with a motley audience — Badhyopadhyay touched upon the tussle, without taking names.
“The greatest strength of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement is that it is a unique common heritage fund. But it is also a contested fund with many claimants. It has led to a fight over the ownership,” he said.
“Monism (the philosophical belief that all existence — mind, matter, spirit, individuals — stems from a single fundamental substance or source, often called God) is integral to a certain brand of politics in the world we live in. Vivekananda is relevant to people who swear allegiance to that brand of politics.
“He is also relevant to those who believe in plurality. Swamiji saw God in every man. He taught us to embrace and respect the diversity in all of us.... We have to be careful in drawing from the treasury discerningly,” he said.