Author: V Sundaram
Publication: News Today
Date: October 30, 2006
URL: http://www.newstodaynet.com/2006sud/06oct/3010ss1.htm
Eknath Ranade was a man of tremendous vision
and right from day one he had planned to achieve two inseparable objectives.
The first major objective was to complete the work of installation of Vivekananda
Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari. This work was started in 1964 and completed
on September 2nd 1970 when the memorial was dedicated to the nation by V V
Giri, the President of India. The second major objective of Eknath Ranade
was to establish VIVEKANANDA KENDRA the Living Memorial alongside the stone-structure
of the rock memorial. After going through a carefully planned process of groundwork
for nearly nine years, Vivekananda Kendra was officially founded by Eknath
Ranade on 7 January, 1972 which marked the 108th birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda by the Hindu calendar. On that day, as the sun rose, a saffron
flag with Om inscribed on it was unfurled in the serene atmosphere on the
Vivekananda Rock Memorial so as to herald the founding of Vivekananda Kendra
a spiritually oriented service mission of non-monastic order.This second phase
of the Memorial for Swami Vivekananda was not just an afterthought which arose
in Eknath Ranade's mind. The establishment of Vivekananda Kendra was conceived
by him as early as in 1964. To quote the exact words of Eknath Ranade in this
context: 'As a whole timer of RSS from 1938 to 1962 , for about 24 years,
I had a fund of experience. I had come across many people who were not full-timers
as they were leading family life. But all the same, there was a great dedication
in their lives. Sometimes it occurred to me, 'This person is having a family
is having children is in service is doing business. Still, with what a great
dedication he is leading a householder's life? Suppose he was free of all
domestic worries, what great amount of work he would have put in? We can have
a particular order of workers in whose case marriage need not be barred and
who can marry if they want. If we can provide for all their basic needs, we
may get a fine class of workers out of such dedicated people we see all around'.
But what that work could be? I started discussing this proposal with Swami
Ranganathananda, Secretary of the Institute of Culture. He welcomed the establishment
of a LAY ORDER of life-time workers to work for the cause of Sanatana Dharma
as expounded by Swami Vivekananda by his life and example. Likewise I had
discussions with Dr.Radhakrishnan, the President of India, Shri Jayaprakash
Narayan, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri and several other national leaders and all
of them applauded and approved of the idea. The then President of the Ramakrishna
Mission gave his concurrence to my proposal for the establishment of VIVEKANANDA
KENDRA'.
Great faith is not like an exact mathematical
formula which can be agreed to if the weight of evidence favours it. Vigorous
questioning can always propel a restoration and deepening of conviction. Paradoxically,
it is the very questioning that causes the rubbing that polishes the pearl.
This is what exactly happened with Eknath Ranade whose faith in his mission
was invincible. He passionately shared Einstein's affirmation that anyone
who is not lost on the rapturous awe at the power and glory of the mind and
the spirit behind the universe 'is as good as burnt out candle'.
During his last meeting with me in June 1982
when he was fighting against the machinations of some Christian clerics in
Kanyakumari, he told me with calm determination: 'It is your own assent to
yourself, and the constant voice of your own reason, and not of others, that
should make you believe. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also. Faith has to be kept alive in us so that it gathers
strength, more from practice than from speculations. Faith is not a series
of gilt-edged propositions that you sit down to figure out, and if you follow
all the logic and accept all the conclusions, then you have it. On the contrary,
it is crumpling and throwing away everything, proposition by proposition,
until nothing is left, and then writing a new proposition, your very own,
to throw in the teeth of despair'. As it was for his master Shri Guruji Golwalkar
and in turn his master Dr Hedgewar, faith was the antiseptic of Eknath Ranade's
soul. Vivekananda Kendra was an outgrowth of such a kind of faith.
Thanks to the faith and vision of Eknath Ranade,
the glorious tradition of penance established by Swami Vivekananda on the
mid-sea rock in December 1982 has been continued by young men and women coming
as Karyakartas of Vivekananda Kendra to spread the immortal message of Swami
Vivekananda: 'A hundred thousand men and women, fired with the zeal of holiness,
fortified with eternal faith in the Lord, and nerved to lion's courage by
their sympathy for the poor and the fallen and the downtrodden, will go over
the length and breadth of the land, preaching the gospel of salvation, the
gospel of help, the gospel of social raising up, the gospel of equality'.
Everyday, at sunrise the saffron flag with Om is hoisted on the Rock Memorial
and lowered at sunset.
The twin objectives of Vivekananda Kendra
are man-making and nation-building. With great foresight, Shri Eknath Ranade
decided that Vivekananda Kendra should be a cadre-based organisation. Young
men and women whose hearts long to serve the nation should be provided the
opportunity and the right platform to serve God in man. As envisaged by him,
carefully chosen lifetime workers called Jeevanvratis are properly trained
and posted to different parts of the country. They work without any salary.
However, their upkeep and wellbeing Yogakshema are taken care of by Vivekananda
Kendra. The mission statement of Vivekananda Kendra was given by Eknath Ranade
in these words: 'The remedy for the ills of our country, therefore, lies in
launching a mighty movement of right thought sweeping the entire country.
It has to be a two-pronged move. On the one hand, it is to be aimed (I) transforming
our people's inherent God-wardness into right spiritual urge rising out of
the teachings of the Upanishads , namely, (a) each soul is potentially divine
and (b) faith in God, in turn means faith in one's self, ie. In one's potentiality
to rise to divine heights. On the other hand, it is (II) to convert the spiritual
fervour thus released into works of national reconstruction'.During the last
34 years Vivekananda Kendra has grown from strength to strength covering different
parts of India like Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Madya Pradesh, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Developmental
and Welfare activities in the field of pre-education, primary education, secondary
education, public health and various other aspects of rural development have
been undertaken to initiate a new process of development in the remote and
backward areas in order to open out to the poor people in those areas opportunities
for a richer and fuller life.
There are two mid-sea rocks off the shore
of Kanyakumari. One of the rocks is the Vivekananda Rock, on which a memorial
has been constructed and nearly 12 lakh of people visit this memorial annually.
There is another smaller rock, not very far from the Vivekananda rock, and
many of the Christian missionaries laid their claim for constructing a small
church or a statue of Jesus Christ on this rock in 1979. Eknath Ranade showed
his clairvoyant vision by persuading Dr MGR, the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu,
agree to the installation of Thiruvalluvar statue on this rock. The foundation
stone for the Thiruvalluvar statue was laid by Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister
of India on 15 April, 1979. Eknath Ranade was a great statesman and he used
the good offices of Prabhudas Patwari, the then Governor of Tamilnadu to make
Dr MGR agree to this proposal. Like Mahakavi Bharathi, Eknath Ranade was a
true nationalist and a true Tamilian rolled into one. Prabhudas Patwari was
persuaded by the inspiring words of Eknath Ranade. 'Let us have faith that
right makes might; and in that faith let us dare to do our duty as we understand
it'. Eknath Ranade dared and succeeded.
After leading a glorious life of unexampled
service and selflessness as a Karmayogi, Eknath Ranade passed into immortality
at Madras on Vinayak Chaturthi day on 22 August, 1982. The main theme of Eknath
Ranade's life was to take the message of Sanatana Dharma to every home and
pave the way for launching in a big way the man-making programmes preached
and envisaged by great seers like Swami Vivekananda. By establishing the Vivekananda
Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari and by creating Vivekananda Kendra, Eknath Ranade
has indeed made the following words of Swami Vivekananda come true in letter
and spirit: 'We want thousands of men and women, who will spread like wild
fire from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, from North Pole to South Pole all
over the world. Let those who have come for child's play be off now, while
there is time, or they will surely come to grief. We want an organisation.
Off with Lazyness ! Spread ! Run like fire to all place. Who will give the
world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for
ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves
for the good for man, for the welfare of all'.
(Concluded)
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)
e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com
