Non-cooperation movement

The Non-Cooperation Movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule. This movement lasted from September 1920 to February 1922. It was led byMahatma Gandhi and was supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist British occupation in India through non-violent means. Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, picket liquor shops, and try to uphold the Indian values of honour and integrity. The Gandhian ideals of Ahimsa or non-violence, and his ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were first seen on a large scale in this movement.

Among the significant causes of this movement were colonial oppression, exemplified by the Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh massacre, economic hardships to the common man due to a large chunk of Indian wealth being exported to Britain, ruin of Indian artisans due to British factory-made goods replacing handmade goods, and popular resentment with the British over Indian soldiers dying in World War I while fighting as part of the British Army– , in battles that otherwise had nothing to do with India.

The calls of early political leaders like Mohammad Ali Jinnah (who later became communal and hardened his stand), Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Congress Extremists) for home rulewere accompanied only by petitions and major public meetings. They never resulted in disorder or obstruction of government services. Partly due to that, the British did not take them very seriously. The non-cooperation movement aimed to ensure that the colonial economic and power structure would be seriously challenged, and British authorities would be forced to take notice of the people's demands.Here we should know that many revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad were supporters of this very movement but were really dissatisfied by the dismissing of movement by Gandhiji.

Gandhiji had shown a similar movement in South Africa and in 1917-18 in Champaran, Bihar and Kheda, Gujarat that the only way to earn the respect and attention of British officials was to actively resist government activities through civil disobedience.

Now in Champaran and Kheda in 1918 he led impoverished farmers, mired in social evils like unhygienic conditions, domestic violence, discrimination, oppression of women and untouchability. On top of their miseries, these people were forced to grow cash crops like indigo, tobacco and cotton instead of food, and for this they were virtually not compensated. In addition, they had to pay taxes despite a famine.

The Governments of the affected regions signed agreements suspending taxation in face of the famine, allowing the farmers to grow their own crops, releasing all political prisoners and returning all property and lands seized. It was the biggest victory against the British Empire since the American Revolution.

Gandhiji were assisted by a new generation of Indian revolutionaries like Rajendra Prasad and Jawaharlal Nehru. In Kheda, the entire revolt had been led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was to become Gandhi's right hand man.

A meeting of unarmed civilians was being held at Jallianwala Bagh near the Golden temple in Amritsar. The people were fired upon by soldiers under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer. He also ordered the only exit to be blocked. The massacre resulted in the deaths of some 370 protestors while over 1000 were injured in the shooting. The outcry in Punjab led to thousands of unrests, protests and more deaths at the hands of the police. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre became the most infamous event of British rule in India. Gandhi ji was horrified. He lost all faith in the goodness of the British government and declared that it would be a "sin" to cooperate with the "satanic" government.

Satyagraha

Gandhiji's call was for a nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Act. All offices and factories would be closed. Indians would be encouraged to withdraw from Raj-sponsored schools, police services, the military and the civil service, and lawyers were asked to leave the Raj's courts. Public transportation and English-manufactured goods, especially clothing, was boycotted.

 

Veterans like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant opposed the idea outright. The All India Muslim League also criticized the idea. But the younger generation of Indian nationalists were thrilled, and backed Gandhiji. The Congress Party adopted his plans, and he received extensive support from Muslim leaders like Maulana Azad, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Abbas Tyabji, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali.

Success and suspension

The success of the revolt was a total shock to British authorities and a massive encouragement to millions of Indians. Then on February 5, 1922, in the Chauri Chaura, after violent clashes between the local police and the protesters in which three protesters were killed by police firing, the police chowki (pron.-chau key) (station) was set on fire by the mob, killing 22 of the police occupants.

Gandhi felt that the revolt was veering off-course, and was disappointed that the revolt had lost its non-violent nature. He did not want the movement to degenerate into a contest of violence, with police and angry mobs attacking each other back and forth, victimizing civilians in between. Gandhi appealed to the Indian public for all resistance to end, went on a fast lasting 3 weeks, and called off the mass non-cooperation movement.

Aftermath

The Non-Co-operation Movement was withdrawn because of the Chauri-Chaura incident. Although he had stopped the national revolt single-handedly, on March 10, 1922, Gandhiji was arrested. On March 18, 1922, he was imprisoned for six years for publishing seditious materials.

Although most Congress leaders remained firmly behind Gandhiji, the disillusioned broke away. The Ali brothers would soon become fierce critics. Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das formed theSwaraj Party, rejecting Gandhiji's leadership. Many nationalists had felt that the Non-Cooperation Movement should not have been stopped due to isolated incidents of violence, and most nationalists, while retaining confidence in Gandhiji, were discouraged.

Contemporary historians and critics suggest that the movement was successful enough to break the back of British rule, and possibly even result in the independence most Indians strove for until 1947.

But many historians and Indian leaders of the time also defended Gandhiji's judgment. If he had not stopped the revolts, India could have descended into a chaotic rebellion which would have alienated common Indians and impress only violent revolutionaries, although a similar type of movement was introduced in 1930 i.e. civil disobedience movement. The main difference was the introduction of a policy of violating the law.

Redemption

Gandhiji's commitment to non-violence was redeemed when, between 1930 and 1934, India committed itself to full independence and tens of millions again revolted in the Salt Satyagraha which made India's cause famous worldwide for its unerring adherence to non-violence. The Satyagraha ended in glorious success: the demands of Indians were met, and the Congress Party was recognized as the real representative of the Indian people. The Government of India Act 1935 also gave India its first taste in democratic self-governance.

Quit India Movement

The Quit India Movement or the August Movement (August Kranti) was a civil disobedience movement launched in India in August 1942 in response to Mohandas Gandhi's call for immediate independence. The All-India Congress Committee proclaimed a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called "an orderly British withdrawal" from India. The call for determined, but passive resistance appears in his call to Do or Die, issued on 8 August at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai on year 1942.

The British were prepared to act. Almost the entire [INC] leadership, and not just at the national level, was imprisoned without trial within hours after Gandhi's speech—at least 60,000 people. Most spent the rest of the war in prison and out of contact with the masses. The British had the support of the Viceroy's Council (which had a majority of Indians), of the Muslims, the Communist Party, the princely states, the Imperial and state police, the Indian Army, and the Indian Civil Service. Many Indian businessmen were profiting from heavy wartime spending and did not support Quit India. Many militant students paid more attention to Subhas Chandra Bose, who was in exile and supporting the Axis. The only outside support came from the Americans, as PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt pressured Prime Minister Winston Churchill to give in to Indian demands. The Quit India campaign was effectively crushed. 

The British refused to grant immediate independence, saying it could happen only after the war ended.

Sporadic small-scale violence took place around the country but the British arrested tens of thousands of leaders, keeping them imprisoned until 1945, and suppressed civil rights, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. In terms of immediate objectives Quit India failed because of heavy-handed suppression, weak coordination and the lack of a clear-cut programme of action. However, the British government realized that India was ungovernable in the long run, and the question for postwar became how to exit gracefully while protecting Britain's allies, the Muslims and the princes.

World War II and Indian involvement

In 1939 Indian nationalists were angry that the British Governor-General of India, Lord Linlithgow, had without consultation with them brought India into the war. The Muslim League supported the war, but Congress was divided.

At the outbreak of war, the Congress Party had passed a resolution during the Wardha meeting of the working-committee in September 1939, conditionally supporting the fight against fascism, but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in return. Gandhi had not supported this initiative, as he could not reconcile an endorsement for war (he was a committed believer in non-violent resistance to tyranny, used in the Indian Independence Movement and proposed even against Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Hideki Tojo). However, at the height of the Battle of Britain, Gandhi had stated his support for the fight against racism and of the British war effort, stating he did not seek to raise a free India from the ashes of Britain. However, opinions remained divided.

After the onset of the war, only a group led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose took any decisive action. Bose organized the Indian National Army with the help of the Japanese, and, soliciting help from the Axis Powers, conducted a guerrilla war against the British authorities.

Cripps' Mission

In March 1942, faced with an increasingly dissatisfied sub-continent only reluctantly participating in the war and deterioration in the war situation inEurope and South East Asia and with growing dissatisfaction among Indian troops -especially in Europe- and among the civilian population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to India under Stafford Cripps, in what came to be known as the Cripps' Mission. The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the Indian National Congress a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in return of progressive devolution and distribution of power from the crown and the Viceroy to elected Indian legislature. The talks failed, having failed to address the key demand of a timetable of self-government and of definition of the powers to be relinquished, essentially portraying an offer of limited dominion-status that was wholly unacceptable to the Indian movement. 

Resolution for immediate independence

The Congress Working Committee meeting at Wardha (14 July 1942) passed a resolution demanding complete independence from the British government. The draft proposed massive civil disobedience if the British did not accede to the demands.

However, it proved to be controversial within the party. A prominent Congress national leader Chakravarti Rajgopalachari quit the Congress over this decision, and so did some local and regional level organizers. Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad were apprehensive and critical of the call, but backed it and stuck with Gandhi's leadership till the end. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr.Rajendra Prasad and Dr Anugrah Narayan Sinha openly and enthusiastically supported such a disobedience movement, as did many veteran Gandhians and socialists like Asoka Mehta andJayaprakash Narayan.

Allama Mashriqi (head of the Khaksar Tehrik) was called to join the Quit India Movement. Mashriqi was apprehensive of its outcome and did not agree with the Congress Working Committee's resolution. On July 28, 1942, Allama Mashriqi sent the following telegram to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya. He also sent a copy to Bulusu Sambamurti (former Speaker of the Madras Assembly). The telegram was published in the press, and it stated:

“I am in receipt of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's letter of July 8th. My honest opinion is that Civil Disobedience Movement is a little pre-mature. The Congress should first concede openheartedly and with handshake to Muslim League the theoretical Pakistan, and thereafter all parties unitedly make demand of Quit India. If the British refuse, start total disobedience...” 

On August 8, 1942 the Quit India Resolution was passed at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). In his Quit India speech that day at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, Gandhi told Indians to follow non-violent civil disobedience. He told the masses to act as an independent nation. His call found support among a large amount of Indians.

Opposition to Quit India

The Congress had little success in rallying other political forces under a single flag and program. Smaller parties like the Hindu Mahasabha opposed the call. The Communist Party of Indiastrongly opposed the Quit India movement and supported the war effort because of the need to assist the Soviet Union, despite support for Quit India by many industrial workers. In response the British lifted the ban on the party. The movement had less support in the princely states, as the princes were strongly opposed and funded the opposition. 

Muslim leaders opposed Quit India. Muhammad Ali Jinnah's opposition to the call led to large numbers of Muslims cooperating with the British, and enlisting in the army.  The Muslim Leaguegained large numbers of new members. Congress members resigned from provincial legislatures, enabling the League to take control in Sindh, Bengal and Northwest Frontier. 

The nationalists had very little international support. They knew that the United States strongly supported Indian independence, in principle, and believed the U.S. was an ally. However, after Churchill threatened to resign if pushed too hard, the U.S. quietly supported him while bombarding Indians with propaganda designed to strengthen public support of the war effort. The poorly run American operation annoyed both the British and the Indians. 

Local activism

Although at the national level the ability to galvanize rebellion was limited, the movement is notable for regional success especially at Satara, Talcher, and Midnapore.  In Tamluk and Contaisubdivisions of Midnapore, the local populace were successful in establishing parallel governments, which continued to function, until Gandhi personally requested the leaders to disband in 1944. A minor uprising took place in Ballia, now the easternmost district of Uttar Pradesh. People overthrew the district administration, broke open the jail, released the arrested Congress leaders and established their own independent rule. It took weeks before the British could reestablish their writ in the district. Of special importance in Saurashtra (in western Gujarat) was the role of the region's 'baharvatiya' tradition (i.e. going outside the law) which abetted the sabotage activities of the movement there. In rural west Bengal, the Quit India Movement was fueled by peasants' resentment against the new war taxes and the forced rice exports. There was open resistance to the point of rebellion in 1942 until the great famine of 1943 suspended the movement. 

In a hindi feature film named Kismat realesed in 1943, was a song " dour hato ey duniyawalon hindustan hamara hai. The lyrics written by Pradeep, were to provoke indian masses to join the movement. The film censor board was basicaly established by the british with an intention to filter any such provocative patriotic content. The producers of the film and the lyricist were suspecting a gag on the song, so to fool the British words like "German (Germans) ho ya japani (Japanese)" (be they Germans or Japanese) were used. Germany & Japan, both were fighting against the british at the time of release in World War 2 and Japan had advanced upto Burma.

Suppression of the movement

One of the achievements of the movement was to keep the Congress party united through all the trials and tribulations that followed. The British, already alarmed by the advance of the Japanese army to the India-Burma border, responded by imprisoning Gandhi. All the members of the Party's Working Committee (national leadership) were imprisoned as well. Due to the arrest of major leaders, a young and till then relatively unknown Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the AICC session on August 9 and hoisted the flag; later the Congress party was banned. These actions only created sympathy for the cause among the population. Despite lack of direct leadership, large protests and demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent en masse and strikes were called. Not all demonstrations were peaceful, at some places bombs exploded, government buildings were set on fire, electricity was cut and transport and communication lines were severed.
The British swiftly responded with mass detentions. Over 100,000 arrests were made, mass fines were levied and demonstrators were subjected to public flogging.  Hundreds of resisters and innocent people were killed in police and army shootings. Many national leaders went underground and continued their struggle by broadcasting messages over clandestine radio stations, distributing pamphlets and establishing parallel governments. The British sense of crisis was strong enough that a battleship was specifically set aside to take Gandhi and the Congress leaders out of India, possibly toSouth Africa or Yemen but ultimately did not take that step out of fear of intensifying the revolt. 

The Congress leadership was cut off from the rest of the world for over three years. Gandhi's wife Kasturbai Gandhi and his personal secretary Mahadev Desai died in months and Gandhi's health was failing, despite this Gandhi went on a 21-day fast and maintained his resolve to continuous resistance. Although the British released Gandhi on account of his health in 1944, Gandhi kept up the resistance, demanding the release of the Congress leadership.

By early 1944, India was mostly peaceful again, while the Congress leadership was still incarcerated. A sense that the movement had failed depressed many nationalists, while Jinnah and the Muslim League, as well as Congress opponents like the Communists sought to gain political mileage, criticizing Gandhi and the Congress Party..

Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement

Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) is a development organization based in Saragur near Mysore in Karnataka state in India. The organization is engaged in building a new civil society in India through its grassroots to policy-level action in Health, Education and Community Development sectors. Acting as a key promoter-facilitator in the community's efforts towards self-reliance and empowerment, SVYM is developing local, innovative and cost-effective solutions to sustain community-driven progress. SVYM is also rooted to its values of Satya, Ahimsa, Seva and Tyaga, which is reflected in its program design and delivery, transactions with its stakeholders, resource utilization, disclosures and openness to public scrutiny. Buying in support from the community, working in healthy partnership with the Government and corporate sectors and sharing its experiences with like-minded organizations have been the hallmark of SVYM's evolution over the past 27 years.

History

The year was 1984. A group of young medical students led by R.Balasubramaniam at the Mysore Medical College (in Karnataka State, India) were starting to feel that the career in medicine they dreamt of pursuing was very different from the practice of medicine around them. They believed that they had in them to make a difference and make a positive impact on the lives of the poor and the marginalized. And so, they started the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM, for short), with initial assets of high ideals and all the positive benefits of inexperience.

Their initial intention was to provide rational, ethical and cost-effective medical care to the needy. They started small – collecting physician samples of medicines and distributing them to poor patients, organizing blood donation camps and weekly rural outreach clinics around Mysore. In 1987, destiny took them to Heggadadevanakote Taluk, the home of the displaced and dispossessed forest-based tribes. These indigenous people, belonging to five different clans – Jenukuruba, Kadukuruba, Yerava, Paniya and Bunde Soliga – had been displaced twice from their natural habitat by development projects of the Government, namely ‘Project Tiger’ and ‘Kabini Reservoir’, and were forced to live in penury on the fringes of the Bandipur National Park.

The medicos set up a clinic at a tribal hamlet named Brahmagiri, at a distance of about 80 km from Mysore city, with a little help from the Mysore District Administration. Realizing early that medicare by itself is not enough and hoping education to be a panacea to the gen-next, they opened an informal school for the tribal kids in a cow-shed in Brahmagiri. They were able to sail through the initial days of extreme uncertainty and struggle (and even ridicule!) by pluck, some luck and with help from unexpected quarters. As days passed, more people joined hands and the work took a definite shape. Socio economic empowerment activities were added to health and education, and the rural poor were also brought under the ambit - as the organization moved from the role of a ‘provider’ to a ‘facilitator’. A 10-bed hospital was started at Kenchanahalli, along with a host of community-based programs in Health and Education. As the medicos returned in batches after completing their post graduation, the multi-specialty Vivekananda Memorial Hospital took shape at Saragur, with generous help from donors, friends and well-wishers. The organization continued to grow and expand in the 90s, with a definite vision and strategic direction.

Activities

SVYM's principal area of operation is Mysore District of Karnataka, India. Here they have various institution-based and community-based Health and Education projects running and also undertake several Community Development Initiatives, catering to a populace of about 400,000 comprising both tribals and rural poor.

SVYM has a state-of-the-art training cum resource center called Vivekananda Institute for Leadership Development at Mysore, which also serves as a base for urban-based interventions and also houses their registered office. They work in the most backward regions of North Karnataka, particularly in the districts of Bijapur and Dharwad. Here, in addition to direct intervention in Health and Education sectors, they also train and build capacities of like-minded budding NGOs. They also have a full-fledged education project running in Bangalore. Their Training, Research, Advocacy and Consultancy (TRAC) activities give them a pan-India footprint.

SVYM’s chapters in Hassan, Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts are run by members of SVYM, and they carry out locally and contextually relevant projects, with guidance from the administrative office.

Healthcare

The institution-based services under health are provided through the Vivekananda Memorial Hospitals (VMH) at Saragur and Kenchanahalli. VMH–Saragur is a 90-bed facility offering multi-specialty secondary care at an affordable cost to the rural and tribal populace. It is affiliated to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Bangalore and offers the India’s first post-graduate fellowship course in HIV medicine for medical and dental professionals. VMH – Kenchanahalli is a 10-bed facility offering primary care, along with options for ayurveda chikitsa. SVYM hospitals are recognized training centers for capacity building of entire gamut of health professionals – from specialists to grassroot workers.

Community based services are provided in the key focus areas listed above, through the outreach program and a network of grassroot level health workers called health facilitators. Their HIV control program, that offers comprehensive, inclusive and end-to-end care, is rated as one of the best in the country and has been hailed as a best-practice model by UNAIDS.

Sister Gargi

Sister Gargi   (1911–2004) born Marie Louise Burke  was an eminent researcher on Swami Vivekananda. Burke is known for her six volume work, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries. 

Burke was initiated into the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement in 1948 by Swami Ashokananda, the then abbot of the Vedanta Society of Northern California in San Francisco.  Burke took her first vows in India from the Ramakrishna Order in 1974 and was given the monastic name "Gargi" after the Vedic scholar in recognition of her brilliant accomplishments as researcher and writer. In 1983, the first Vivekananda Award was given by theRamakrishna Mission for her research on Vivekananda.  Later on, she took her final vows of sannyasa and was given the name Pravrajika Prajnaprana.

Marie Louise Burke became Sister Gargi in 1974 when she took her first vows in India from the Ramakrishna Order. She was honored with the monastic name of Gargi after the renowned Vedic scholar in recognition of her brilliant accomplishments as a researcher and a writer-and later, in 1983, with the first Vivekananda Award given by the Ramakrishna Mission.

She is the well-known author of the monumental six-volume classic Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries, as well as other works. The New Discoveries books have been highly acclaimed in India and in Vedanta circles worldwide, and the knowledge they have given of Swami Vivekananda's personality has changed the lives of many readers. "You have become immortal, Gargi, for your colossal and pioneering work on Swamiji," wrote Bharat Maharaj, a revered senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order.

Ms. Burke met Swami Ashokananda in 1948 when he was in charge of the Vedanta Society of Northern California in San Francisco-with which she became closely associated and where she still lives. He encouraged her to write about Swami Vivekananda, and told her that she could write about Swami Ashokananda himself only when all her other work was finished. Now, at the age of ninety, Sister Gargi has at long last rewarded her many readers with this powerful and wise biography of her own spiritual teacher.

Disciples of Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had sixteen disciples (other than Swami Vivekananda) who became monks of the Ramakrishna Order; they are often considered his apostles. In the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement, the apostles have played an important role. Apart from Swami Vivekananda the direct disciples or apostles of Ramakrishna were as follows.

Monastic disciples

Swami Brahmananda

Swami Brahmananda (1863–1922), whose original name was Rakhal Chandra Ghosh, was son of a zemindar in the Basirhat area. He was born on 21 January 1863 at Sikra Kulingram, 36 miles to the N.W. of Kolkata. Rakhal was devoted to God and used to practice meditation even in boyhood. At the age of 12 he was brought to Kolkata for his studies. There while studying at the Metropolitan Institution at Kolkata, he met Narendranath Dutta (later known as Swami Vivekananda) in a gymnasium. He was influenced by Narendranath to join the Brahmo Samaj. According to the practice common in those days, he was married at the age of 18 to Vishweshwari. Soon after marriage, his brother-in-law, Manmohan Mitra, who was a close devotee of Sri Ramakrishna, took Rakhal to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

Prior to that the Master had had a vision in which he saw the Divine Mother showing him a child who would be his son. As soon as Rakhal came toDakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna recognized him to be that child, and treated him like a son. After a few visits Rakhal came to Dakshineswar to live permanently with Sri Ramakrishna. Under the Master’s guidance, he practiced intense spiritual disciplines, and attained high levels of spiritual illumination. After the Master’s death in 1886 when the new Monastic brotherhood was formed at Baranagar, Rakhal joined it. He underwent sannyasa ordination and assumed the name Brahmananda. Two years later he left Baranagar Math and was a wandering monk for some time, living an intensely contemplative life at Varanasi, Omkarnath, Vrindaban, Hardwar and other places. During this period he scaled the highest peak of non-dualistic experience and used to remain absorbed in Samadhi for days together. In 1890 he returned to the Math. When Swami Vivekananda, after his return to India in 1897, wanted to give a new turn to monastic life, Swami Brahmananda whole-heartedly supported him. There was deep love between these two monastic brothers.

When Ramakrishna Mission was formed as an Association on 1 May 1897, at Baghbazar in Calcutta (now Kolkata) Swami Vivekananda was elected its General President and Swami Brahmananda was elected the first and only ever Calcutta President. After establishing Belur Math monastery when Swami Vivekananda got Ramakrishna Math registered as a Trust, Swami Brahmananda became its President. He held this post till the end of his life.

During his tenure as President, the Ramakrishna Order underwent great expansion, and several new branch centres were opened in India and abroad. The Ramakrishna Mission, which had been founded by Swami Vivekananda as an Association, was revived and registered during his time. His stress on contemplative life served to counterbalance the activities undertaken by the monks. During those difficult formative years he gave great stability to the Sangha. For his kingly qualities of administration, Swami Vivekananda gave him the appellation ‘Raja’, and since then he was respectfully referred to as ‘Raja Maharaj’ by all. He was one of the six disciples of Sri Ramakrishna whom the Master regarded as ishvarakotis.

He spent a good portion of his lifetime at Puri and Bhubaneswar. He was main instrument responsible for setting up of Ramakrishna Ashramas at Puri and Bhubaneswar.

He gave up his body, after a brief illness, on 10 April 1922. At the place where his body was cremated in Belur Math, a temple now stands in his memory.

Source : The Eternal Companion: Teachings of Swami Brahmananda by Swami Yatiswarananda and Swami Prabhavananda God Lived with Them by Swami Chetanananda

Swami Premananda

Swami Premananda (1861–1918), whose original name was Baburam Ghosh, was born at Antpur in Hughli district. His sister was married to Balaram Bose, one of the persons in close touch with Ramkrishna Paramahamsadev. He studied under Mahendranath Gupta at the Metropolitan Institution, Kolkata. Mahendranath Gupta, was closely associated with Ramkrishna Paramahamsadev and later became famous for his Ramakrishna Kathamrita. Rakhal Chandra Ghosh (later Swami Brahmananda) took him to Paramahamsadev in 1882. Swami Vivekananda and eight other disciples met in the house where he was born and took of serving the cause of their master as sannyasis. He virtually presided over the Ramkrishna Math (monastery) at Belur from 1902 to 1916. He devotedly looked after the young monks and novices in his charge.

Swami Yogananda

Swami Yogananda (1861–1899), whose original name was Jogindranath Chowdhury, belonged to an aristocratic family that had declined. His father was a devout Brahmin and he was devoted to religious affairs from a young age. Popular as Jogin, he came in touch with Paramahamsadev when still at school but his family did not approve of his touch with Paramahamsadev and forced him into marriage. He joined Paramahamsadev subsequently. He had a critical mind and often criticised Swami Vivekananda’s actions. He remained with Saradama till his death.

Swami Niranjanananda (The Senior)

Swami Niranjanananda (died 1904), whose original name was Nitya Niranjan Ghosh, had clairvoyant powers. When he came in touch with Paramahamsadev at the age of eighteen, he told him, “If you let your mind dwell on ghosts, you'll become a ghost yourself. If you fix your mind on God your life will be filled with God.” That brought about a change in his thinking and he joined Paramahamsadev. He was devoted to both Paramahamsadev and Saradama. He died of cholera.

Swami Saradananda

Swami Saradananda (1865–1927), whose original name was Sarat Chandra Chakravarty, first came in touch with Paramahamsadev, with his cousin Sashi Bhusan and others when he was 18 years old. He had joined Calcutta Medical College to study medicine but gave it up to serve Paramahamsadev when he was ill. When Swami Vivekananda advised him to take up work in the West, he met him in London in 1896 and then sailed for New York. There he remained head of the Vedanta Society until his return to India in 1898. Back in the country, he was engaged in different types of work and later became the first Secretary of Ramkrishna Math and Mission. He directed the magazine named Udbodhan (Awakening) founded by Swami Vivekananda. He decided to build a house at Bagbazar that would serve both as an office for Udbodhan and a residence for Saradama. He was author of Sri Sri Ramakrishnalila Prasanga.

Swami Shivananda

Swami Shivananda (1854–1934) whose original name was Tarak Nath Ghosal was born in an orthodox Brahmin family. His father, Ramkanai Ghosal, had been a legal adviser of Rani Rasmoni and had met Paramahamsadev a number of times. He was a member of the Brahmo Samaj, and met Paramahamsadev in 1880. After Paramahamsadev’s death, he became a wandering monk. He spent some time preaching Vedanta in Sri Lanka. In 1902, he opened a monastery at Varanasi and initiated work for monastery at Almora. Second president of the Ramkrishna Mission from 1922 to 1934, he was also known as Mahapurush Maharaj.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Swami Ramakrishnananda (1863–1911), whose original name was Sashi Bhusan Chakravarty was born in an orthodox Brahmin family. He was initiated early in life into a devotional life. He had joined the Brahmo Samaj and served for sometime as private tutor of Keshub Chunder Sen’s children. He met Paramahamsadev in 1883 and was immediately attracted towards him. Considered a great devotee of Paramahamsadev, he collected his relics after his death and made a shrine of them. Sent by Swami Vivekananda, he founded the Ramkrishna Mission at Chennai (then known as Madras) in 1897 and remained in charge of it till his death.

Swami Turiyananda

Swami Turiyananda (1863–1922), whose original name was Harinath Chattopadhyay, was born on 3 January 1863 at North Calcutta (Now Kolkata) in a well known family. Hari lost his parents in boyhood and grew up under the care of his eldest brother. After passing the school final examination he did not go to college. Instead, he devoted his time to meditation and the study of Sankara’s Advaita Vedanta.When he was about 17 years old he visited Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar for the first time in the ancestral home of Kalinath Bose in Baghbazar, and after that he started going to the Master frequently. The Master regarded him as a yogi. Hari was a member of the team of youngsters who served Sri Ramakrishna during his last illness at Cossipore. After the Master’s death, Hari joined Baranagar Math and underwent sannyasa ordination assuming the name Turiyananda. After three years he left the monastery and spent his time doing tapasya at different places, sometimes alone, sometimes in the company of his brother monks. When Swami Vivekananda went to the West for the second time, he took Swami Turiyananda with him. When Swamiji went back to India, Turiyananda continued his work first in New York and Boston and later in California. However, his health deteriorated and he left America in June 1902. On his arrival in India, he was shocked to hear of the death of Swami Vivekananda. Turiyananda spent the next several years practicing intense contemplation in Vrindavan, in different places in the Himalayas, in Dehra Dun, Kankhal, Almora, etc. He finally settled down in Varanasi in February 1919. During the last few years he suffered much from diabetes. He died on 21 July 1922 at Varanasi. Moments before dying he repeated the Upanishadic mantra 'Satyam, Jnanam Anantham Brahma' meaning 'God is Truth, Wisdom and Infinity' along with his brother disciple Swami Akhandananda after which he was heard muttering in Bengali 'Brahma Satyam Jagad Satyam. Sab Satya. Satye Pran Pratishtitha' which means `God is Truth, the World is also Truth, Everything is Truth. Life is based on Truth'. This was radically different from the orthodox 'Brahma Satyam Jagad Mithya' meaning God is Truth and the World is false. These unorthodox last words, which were spoken impromptu has generally been taken as the vision seen by an illumined sage who sees God everywhere. 

Swami Abhedananda

Swami Abhedananda (1866–1939), whose original name was Kali Prasad Chandra, was a scholar in Sanskrit and had studied western philosophy. He was initially attracted towards Christianity but turned towards Hinduism after listening to the lectures of Brahmo leaders. Having become fascinated by the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, he was eager to find someone who could teach him to follow the methods of meditation they prescribe. On the advice of a friend, he went toDakshineswar and learnt the practice of yoga from Paramahamsadev. In 1896, Swami Vivekananda wanted him in England. He went and from there on to New York after a year and took charge of the Vedanta Society there. He stayed in America until 1921 teaching and lecturing. On return to Kolkata, he founded his own Sri Ramakrishna Vedanta Society in 1923 and Sri Ramakrishna Vedanta Ashram at Darjeeling in 1924. He was author of several books: Gospel of Ramakrishna,Reincarnation, How to be a Yogi, India and her People, Atmabikash, Vedantabani, Hindu Dharme Narir Sthan. He edited a monthly magazine Viswabani for nine years.

Swami Adbhutananda

Swami Adbhutananda (died 1920) was a very simple person and was absolutely devoted to his master. His earlier name Rakhturam was shortened to Latu. He was born of humble parents in a village in the district of Chhapra in Bihar. “Latu is the greatest miracle of Sri Ramakrishna,” Swamiji once said, “Having absolutely no education, he has attained to the highest wisdom simply at the touch of the Master.” He was the first among the disciples to come to Paramahamsadev.

Swami Advaitananda

Swami Advaitananda (1828–1909) was oldest of the Ramakrishna's disciples. His original name was Gopal Chandra Ghosh. He came to Ramakrishna at the age of 55 sometime in March or April 1884, for solace when his wife died. At this first meeting there seemed no connection between Ramakrishna and Gopal Ghosh. It was only after some persuasion by a friend that he paid a second visit. It was on this visit that Ramakrishna spoke to him about detachment. On the third visit Gopal recalled "The Master possessed me. I would think of him day and night. The pang of separation from the Master gave me chest pain. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't forget his face." 

Ramakrishna accepted Gopal as his disciple and addressed him as "the elder Gopal" or "Overseer" because he was eight years older than Ramakrishna. The other disciples called him "Gopal-da" (da denotes elder brother). He soon became a close attendant of Ramakrishna and assistant of Holy Mother. Ramakrishna praised his management of household matters and his sweet behavior with people. Several years later it was Gopal that gave Ramakrishna the ochre cloth which Ramakrishna used to initiate several of his disciples (including Gopal) into monastic life.^[4] In September 1885, when Ramakrishna moved to Shyampukur in Calcutta for treatment of his cancer and then in December to Cossipore, Gopal moved with him to attend him, giving him the medicine, washing the cancerous sores and assisting Holy Mother.

After the death of Ramakrishna in 1886 Gopal took sannyasa vows and became Swami Advaitananda. He had no place to go and, due to the kindness of a devotee, Surendra, a place was rented for him and the other monks to stay or visit at Baranagore, in the Calcutta suburbs. He was the first to take up residence in what became the first math.^[5] He then lived with the other monks at the Bangalore Monastery but left in 1887 and went first to Varanasi then Kedarnath, Badrinath and Vrindaban. In 1890 he accompanied Holy Mother as she performed holy rites for ancestors at Gaya, and then he met up with Swami Vivekananda and six other monastic disciples in Meerut, staying together for a few weeks.

In 1887 Swami Advaitananda moved to Alambazar and then Nilambar Babu's garden house joining Swami Vivekananda and other monastic disciples in building and developing the newly purchased site at Belur on the banks of the Ganges. He took responsibility for closely supervising the workers in leveling and clearing the former dock site. He also started a vegetable garden and dairy farm, despite the fact that he was the eldest of the monks.

Swami Turiyananda once said,

"We are much indebted to Gopal-da, because we learned the secret of work from him. He was organized and concentrated on everything he did. And he was very methodical in his habits. Until his last day he regularly practiced meditation."

In 1901 he was made one of the trustees of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, later becoming the vice president. Even in his old age he declined any personal assistance, believing that monks should be self-reliant. He chanted the Gita daily and accompanied the other monks on tabla when they sang.

Swami Advaitananda died on 28 December 1909 at the age of 81, chanting the name of Shri Ramakrishna.

Swami Trigunatitananda

Swami Trigunatitananda (1865–1914), was born on 30 January 1865 at Naora, a village in 24-Parganas in West Bengal, India. His name prior to taking to monastic life (pre-monastic name) was Sarada Prasanna Mitra, He belonged to a rich land-owning family and studied under Mahendranath Gupta (popularly known as M.) at the Metropolitan Institution, Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). After Sarada passed the school final examination, M. one day took him to Sri Ramakrishna. Owing to his parents’ opposition Sarada could not visit the Master frequently. When the Baranagar Math was established, Sarada joined it and took his monastic vows assuming the name, Swami Trigunatitananda. He spent a few years visiting the holy places and doing tapasya. He was physically strong and possessed raw courage. In 1896, at the command of Swami Vivekananda, he bought a press and started the monthly journal Udbodhan in a rented room. This is the first journal of the Ramakrishna Order and is the oldest surviving religious journal of its kind in India. After Swami Yogananda’s dying, he served the Holy Mother for three years. At the behest of Swami Vivekananda he went to America in 1902 in place of Swami Turiyananda who was returning to India, and took charge of the San Francisco centre. His saintly life, selfless love and unmistakable signs of spirituality attracted a good number of students many of whom became his disciples. He was noted as a strict disciplinarian. One of his major successes in San Francisco was the construction of a new building for the centre. Incorporating certain unique architectural features, this building, known as ‘The first Hindu temple in the West’ was built under his supervision at San Francisco in 1906, still stands as a monument to the timeless truths of Vedanta and the immortal spirit of human being. One day when he was conducting a spiritual discourse, a former student of his who had become mentally unbalanced, threw a crude bomb at him, killing himself and seriously wounding Swami Trigunatitananda. The Swami remained calm and enquired about the student. He finally succumbed to the injuries on 10 January 1915.

For further reading : Swami Trigunatitananda by Marie Louis Burke

Swami Akhandananda

Swami Akhandananda (1864–1937), whose original name was Gangadhar Ghatak, had met Paramahamsadev at Bosepara when he was just 13 years old. Later he introduced him to Swami Vivekananda. As a boy he performed strict spiritual disciplines, bathing four times a day in the Ganges, he cooked his own vegetarian food and practiced so much pranayama (breathing excerices) that his body perspired and shook. He also practiced kumbhaka (retaining the breath) by diving in the Ganges and holding a stone. When he was eight he had an abscess between his eyebrows, but ordered the doctor to cut it without anesthetic. His intelligence allowed him to memorize the English alphabet in one day, but he was not much interested in formal education. Later he memorized the Gita and Upanishads. Even as a child he was compassionate by nature and he gave his shirt to a school friend when his got ripped and frequently gave food to beggars secretively so his parents would not know.

At the age of twelve he was given the sacred thread and afterwards repeated the Gayatri Mantra three times per day, and often made a clay image of Lord Shiva and worship him. Gangadhar and his friend Harinath met Sri Ramakrishna at Dinanath Basu's house in Baghbazar in 1877. Ramakrishna was in Samadhi and this intensified his spiritual longing. It was at the same age he disappeared with a monk without telling his parents and only returned home to his anxious parents when the monk suggested he was too young.

He met Ramakrishna for the second time at age nineteen in May 1883 at Dakshineswar, staying overnight and returning and staying overnight a few days later again. After that he regularly visited, usually during the week to avoid crowds. Later he observed that Ramakrishna had said most of his habits - eating only food cooked by himself, vegetarianism, practicing austerities - were for old people. Why, he thought, shouldn't he give them up? But later Ramakrishna explained to some visitors that it was due to his habits in previous lives that he acted so, after which Gangadhar maintained his practices.

On one occasion a beggar asked Ramakrishna for money. Ramakrishna called Gangadhar and told to him to give the beggar some coins, but to wash his hands in Ganges water afterwards. Afterwards he viewed money as dirty, and later wandered as a mendicant for fourteen years around India without touching money.

Once Ramakrishna moved to Cossipore for treatment of his throat cancer Gangadhar would spend as much time as possible helping there, otherwise meditating on the banks of the Ganges with his friend Harinath. His father accepted his son was not going to complete his education and so arranged for him to work in an office. Gangadhar gave this up after a few days and fully engaged himself in serving Ramakrishna.

After Ramakrishna gave up his body Gangadhar went, on Christmas Eve 1886 to Antpur, and took vows of renunciation, just a few weeks later, in February 1887, he took the ochre cloth that the Master had previously given him and left the Math without telling the other monks and traveled around the Himalayas and into Tibet several times only returning after three years to the Baranagore Monastery in June 1890. The following month Swami Vivekananda persuaded him to take the final monastic vows before Ramakrishna's picture and became Swami Akhandananda. Soon after Swami Vivekananda took him back to the Himalayas as his guide so he could fulfill his own longing to travel and practice there. At one point both Vivekananda and Akandananda became sick and traveled to join Turiyananda at Dehradun to recover. Later they met again in Meerut and were joined by Brahmananda and Advaitananda, so that Meerut became a second Baranagore Monastery.

He continued his travels, ending up in Rajpur as a guest of a wealthy disciple of Vivekananda's. He was distressed to see how poor so many of the inhabitants of Rajasthan were, while a few rulers and landowners were very wealthy. He wrote to Vivekananda who replied,

"No good will come of sitting idle and having princely dishes and saying 'Ramakrishna, O Lord!' unless you can do some good for the poor...It is preferable to live on grass for the sake of doing good for others. The ochre robe is not for enjoyment. It is the banner for heroic work...The poor, the illiterate, the ignorant, the afflicted - let these be your God. Know that service to these alone is the highest religion."

In 1894 he began his campaign. He realized the main cause of the problem was lack of education so he went door to door in Khetri encouraging people to get their children educated. As a result the enrollment at the local school soared from only 80 to 257. He also established five primary schools in the surrounding villages. He then went on to Jaipur, Chittor, Udaipur and many Rajpur villages asking local rulers to establish schools, distribute food and support local cottage industries. This was not always well received and some threatened his life, but he continued regardless.

On 15 May 1897 Akhandanada begab famine relief work in Mahula - it was the first organized relief work of the Mission that Vivekananda had started only two weeks before in Calcutta. He opened an orphanage and started schools as well. In Sargachi his work for the poor created unhappiness amongst some wealthy villagers who wrote letters of complaint to Vivekananda against him. In response Vivekananda told him to continue his work adding, "Criticisms are like ornaments to a pioneer." Other friends form his previous years told him a monk should travel, meditate and study scriptures. Akhandananda replied those days were gone. He raised money and built an ashram and orphanage instead, often discarding his ochre monk robes and wearing the clothes of a poor farmer to till the land and grow food for the orphans. He taught the children during the day and the adults in the evening. Gradually, over many years, the ashram and orphanage grew, and he bought more land and increased the scope, adding an industrial school which taught many skills and crafts. It also had a library, dispensary and later a temple.

On the death of Brahmananda in 1922 Shivananda became President and Akhandanada vice-president, and on the death of Shivananda, was President of the Ramkrishna Mission from 1934 to 1937 when he died on 7 February aged 72.

Swami Subodhananda

Swami Subodhananda (1867–1932), whose original name was Subodh Chandra Ghosh, was also known as Khoka Maharaj. He belonged to the family of Shankar Ghosh, who owned the famous Kali Temple at Thanthania, in Kolkata and had tremendous power of meditation even in his younger days and that improved since he met Paramahamsadev in 1884.

Swami Nirmalananda

Swami Nirmalananda (1863-1938), whose original name was Tulsi Charan Dutta, was born in an affluent family of Baghbazar of North Kolkata in 1863. Because of the premature death of his mother, he had to shift to Varanasi with his family. In the primary school, Swami Vijnanananda (Hari Prasanna) was his classmate.

Tulsi was a brilliant student. He later completed his graduation from the Calcutta University and received a gold medal in recognition of his talent. He came into contact with Sri Ramakrishna many times and in his own words, he was privileged to receive 'Spiritual guidance or Initiation' from Sri Ramakrishna.

Swami Nirmalananda after two year preaching work in U.S.A. was made the President of Ramakrishna Math in Bangalore. The Administrators of the Headquarters at Belur Math presided over by Swami Brahmananda the President appointed him.

Swami Nirmalananda is acknowledged to have played a great role in the spread of the Ramakrishna Movement in South India, specially in Karnataka and Kerala. He also did a lot of preaching work in Burma, Bombay and North India. He founded eighteen monasteries, most of them in Kerala. He had at least thirty four monastic disciples as well many other initiated disciples.

Later there were differences in the approach to Mission's Work between Swami Nirmalananda and some of the younger administrators in Belur Math which resulted in a law suit being filed by Belur Math in Bangalore court asking the court to state that the Ramakrishna Math in Bangalore is indeed a branch centre of the Belur Math. After five years the court ruled that Ramakrishna Math, Bangalore is indeed a branch of Belur Math but it also gave the option to Swami Nirmalananda to continue as President of the Bangalore monastery. Swami Nirmalananda however left the place and went to Trivandrum and later retired to the monastery at Ottapalam in Kerala and passed away there in 1938, remaining a member of the Ramakrshna Order till his death. His obituary appears in the official General Report of the Ramakrsihna Mission published in 1939.

The authentic books on Sri Ramakrishna, namely, The Life of Sri Ramakrishna with a Foreword by Mahatma Gandhi, published by Advaita Ashrama, Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master published by Ramakrishna Math, Madras and Life of Sri Ramakrishna by Romain Rolland, all mention and give details of his discipleship under Sri Ramakrishna. Some monks of the Ramakrishna Mission, from 1985 onwards, in some of their printed books have started removing his name from the list of disciples of Sri Ramakrishna (mainly Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna by 'M', Mahendranath Gupta, Translated into English by Swami Nikhilananda) though another source book 'Life of Sri Ramakrishna with a Foreword by Mahatma Gandhi, as mentioned above, continue to mention his name as a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Another book not considered to be a source book on Sri Ramakrishna and his disciples, The History of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission by Swami Gambhirananda, states without adducing any proof that Swami Nirmalananda was not a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna but of Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Vijnanananda

Swami Vijnanananda (1869–1938), whose original name was Hari Prasanna Chaterjee, was an engineer and had met Paramahamsadev early in life but family commitments kept him away. His discipleship under Sri Ramakrishna was mostly known only to his friend Swami Nirmalananda who apprised other disciples of the facts. Under the encouragement of his friend Swami Nirmalananda, who met him three times when he was serving as Engineer, and finally convinced by a spiritual vision of Sri Ramakrishna, he became a monk in 1896 in the Alambazar Monastery.(These facts were mentioned by Swami Vijnanananda himself in Nettayam in Trivandrum, as seen in Life of Swami Nirmalananda by Swami Vishadananda). Swami Vivekananda, after his return from America, entrusted him with the task of building the Math campus as also preparing suitable plans for a memorial temple for Paramahamsadev. He prepared it in consultation with a noted European architect of Kolkata and Swamiji approved of the same. However, due to the sudden demise of Swamiji and lack of funds, the project had to wait for a long time to be taken up. It was completed and dedicated by Swami Vijnananda himself on the 14th of January 1938. He was President of the Ramkrishna Mission in 1937-38. He established Ramakrishna Sevasram at Allahabad.