Pragmata: Journal of Human Sciences ISSN 2349-5065 Vol. 3 Issue 1 2016 PP 83-93 Swami Vivekananda on Service Vinutha S. Patil Research Scholar, Dept. of PG Studies and Research in Political Science, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga Abstract Many thinkers have claimed that Swami Vivekananda s notion of service is similar to the notion of service rooted in Western religion. However, they also identify that his idea of service seemed to be superior to the notion of service that emerged in the West. It is said that Vivekananda s idea of Seva or service was influenced by the notion of service that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa had. Could it be claimed that Vivekananda was free from the influence of the West? Despite the claim that he was influenced by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, one can see that Vivekananda s arguments on service seemed to be different than that of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. How do we make sense of such contradictions? This paper makes an attempt to understand the idea/notion/concept of service in the writings of Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda s idea of social service modelled on Western Notions According to arguments put forth by many thinkers, Vivekananda borrowed the idea of service from Western religion and that his notion of service is different from Ramakrishna Paramahamsa s. Therefore these thinkers identify and claim that Vivekananda s idea of service was modelled on the Western notion of social service. Beckerlegge, a scholar of religion in the 19 th century, describes Vivekananda s notion of service thus: 83
Pragmata In the ensuing discussion of service in relationship to other forms of philanthropy, the term charity will be employed in its wider sense to refer to all forms of religiously inspired action performed for those in need, including such practices as almsgiving and caring for the sick, and will not be used in its narrow sense to refer to Christian practices except where this is made explicit. Philanthropy will be used to refer to all forms of benevolent action undertaken on behalf of other including that inspired by factors other than religion. (Beckerlegge 1999.158, 193) He goes a step further and explains under what circumstances and in what context Vivekananda came to possess the concept of Service. the fact that the first signs of this transformed delivery of service to humanity became apparent after Vivekananda had travelled to the United States points to what lies at the heart of this controversy; namely the question of the extent to which the growing attachment to offering service to humanity was primarily a result of Swami Vivekananda s capitulation to Western influence and not a legitimate outcome of a legacy passed on by either Ramakrishna or the wider Hindu tradition. (ibid, 160) Similarly, a 19 th century Christian missionary J N Farquhar claims that Swami Vivekananda was influenced by English education and Christianity. His notion of service was the idea of philanthropy rooted in Christianity (1967, 206). A. Bharathi has observed that the parable of the Good Samaritan plays no role in Hinduism and has stated that it was Vivekananda under Western influence, and not Ramakrishna, who set a new philanthropic ideal before the movement. The fact that many authors claim that Vivekananda was influenced by Western religion and not Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or otherwise does not give a clear picture about Swami Vivekananda s notion of service. When we examine his writings on service, it appears that he is referring to something different than the notion of philanthropy, or the idea of service in Christianity. Therefore it is important to make an attempt to understand what Swami Vivekananda s idea of service is. Vivekananda and Social Service II Examining the arguments put forth by many thinkers on the notion of service that Vivekananda had, we can observe that he divides service into three kinds: Physical, Intellectual and Adhyatmic (seva) services. He identifies the differences among the three and claims that Adhyatmic service is the best service that one could seek to offer. Vivekananda asserts that the service rendered towards demands pertaining to the physical will be temporary. It is the lowest form of service as the demands would recur. These demands cannot be met or satisfied permanently. However, an individual can be permanently satisfied beyond all wants. This can happen only through Adhyatmic seva. Once the individual attains this state of permanence, he is free from all the miseries of the physical world. Therefore he claims Adhyatmic seva to be the most important of all forms of service. Then comes intellectual 84
Patil : Swami Vivekananda on Service service; giving knowledge to an individual will ensure that his ignorance is warded off. Ignorance is a hindrance to Sadhana. Therefore, intellectual services help the Adhyatmic Sadhana. Hence Vivekananda grades this service next to Adhyatmic seva. Vivekananda claims that in these three ways one can offer social service. However Adhyatmic seva is considered to be superior to all the other kinds of service. Along with this, one can find in the notion of service in the writings of Vivekananda answers to questions like what is the nature of service; what reasons can one provide to ensure that one kind of service is superior to all the other kinds and who can offer service? While describing the nature of service Vivekananda gives importance to the aspect of destroying the individual s Ahankara, the I. The I indicates the Ahankara of an individual. If we have to lose this I we have to serve others selflessly. By serving others an individual can lose this sense of self or in other words he can dissolve his personality. To be precise an individual can destroy his Ahankara. This will result in Chittashuddhi leading to the progress of an individual in the sphere of Adhyatma. Giving alms i.e. daana is also a kind of service which will help one to destroy his Ahankara. Yet we must do good; the desire to do good is the highest motive power we have, if we know all the time that it is a privilege to help others. Do not stand on a high pedestal and take five cents in your hand and say, Here, my poor man, but be grateful that the poor man is there, so that by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect. (Vivekananda 1990, Vol.1, 76) According to Vivekananda, by giving (daana) we are not serving others for their betterment, but giving is for our own betterment. By this one can get rid of Ahankara. What we give will aid in our own Atmashuddhi and is not for the benefit of the person to whom it is given. The second aspect of service is that the service we do should be absolutely selfless. It is explained thus: There are two things which guide the conduct of men: might and mercy. The exercise of might is invariably the exercise of selfishness. All men and women try to make the most of whatever power or advantage they have. Mercy is heaven itself; to be good, we have all to be merciful. Even justice and right should stand on mercy. All thought of obtaining return for the work we do hinders our spiritual progress; nay, in the end it brings misery. There is another way in which this idea of mercy and selfless charity can be put into practice; that is, by looking upon work as worship in case we believe in a Personal God. Here we give up all the fruits our work unto the Lord, and worshipping Him thus, we have no right to expect anything from mankind for the work we do. The Lord Himself works incessantly and is ever without attachment. Just as water cannot wet the lotus leaf, so work cannot bind the unselfish man by giving rise to attachment to results. The selfless and unattached man may live in the very heart of a crowded and sinful city; he will not be touched by sin. (ibid, 59-60) 85
Pragmata One should not expect any favour in return of the service done. That is because we do not have the right to expect any fruit from the Lord. If so, what is the purpose of the service done to the Lord? This becomes clear when we look into the third aspect of service. The third aspect of service is about serving the meek as god. This can be further elaborated upon by examining the following: and Look upon every man, woman, and every one as God. You cannot help anyone, you can only serve: serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord Himself, if you have the privilege. If the Lord grants that you can help any one of His children, blessed you are; do not think too much of yourselves. Blessed you are that that privilege was given to you when others had it not. Do it only as a worship. I should see God in the poor, and it is for my salvation that I go and worship them. The poor and the miserable are for our salvation, so that we may serve the Lord, coming in the shape of the diseased, coming in the shape of the lunatic, the leper, and the sinner! Bold are my words; and let me repeat that it is the greatest privilege in our life that we are allowed to serve the Lord in all these shapes. Give up the idea that by ruling over others you can do any good to them. But you can do just as much as you can in the case of the plant; you can supply the growing seed with the materials for the making up of its body, bringing to it the earth, the water, the air, that it wants. It will take all that it wants by its own nature. It will assimilate and grow by its own nature. (Vivekananda 1990, Vol. 246-247) You are God, I am God, and man is God. It is this God manifested through humanity who is doing everything in this world. Is there a different God sitting high up somewhere? To work, therefore! (Vivekananda 1990, Vol.6, 317) According to Vivekananda, God need not be searched elsewhere for he would reside in the meek. Therefore serving the meek should be done as one would do pooja (worship). Through this service one could attain Mukti. However one should not have an intention of attaining Mukti while serving the meek. This further leads us to the fourth aspect of service that one can find in Vivekananda: having an intention of Mukti Sadhana is not serving people. This can be further explicated in the following: Throw away everything, even your own salvation, and go and help others. Ay you are always talking bold words, but here is practical Vedanta before you. Give up this little life of yours. (Vivekananda 1990, Vol.3, 431) If we pay attention to Mukti and Moksha then one cannot achieve anything. Instead one has to serve through complete sacrifice. Serving, thus, is the ideal of our country according to Vivekananda, through which one has to spread Adhyatma...He had seen charity in many countries and the reason it did not succeed was that it was not done with a good spirit. Here, take this, and go away that was not charity, but the expression of the pride of the heart, to gain the applause of the world, that the world might know they were becoming charitable. (The Tribune 1990, Vol.3, 392) According to Vivekananda, the practice of charity in India is better than that of the West. In other countries charity only boosts one s Ahankara, and will not lead to its destruction. In 86
Patil : Swami Vivekananda on Service India, charity is supposedly done without any disparagement. This, according to him, is something that the West has to learn from India. While explicating on service, did Vivekananda specifically indicate who should be involved in social service? In order to do charity a person should have wealth, therefore a sanyasi will not fit into this category. The reply to this question lies in the following: If you want to be a householder, hold your life a sacrifice for the welfare of others; and if you choose the life of renunciation, do not even look at beauty and money and power. Each is great in his own place, but the duty of the one is not the duty of the other. (Vivekananda 1990 Vol.1, 51) The great duty of the householder is to earn a living, but he must take care that he does not do it by telling lies, or by cheating, or by robbing others; and he must remember that his life is for the service of God and the poor. (Vivekananda 1990 Vol.1, 43) Thus, according to Vivekananda, everybody is eligible to serve others. A householder as well as a sannyasin could extend his service. A householder should serve food to the hungry. Being hospitable to sannyasins and guests is an individual s duty according to Vivekananda. To fulfil his duties a householder should be ready to sacrifice. A sannyasin on the other hand should not pay attention to the pleasures of the world. Therefore he states that what is the householder s duty is not the same as the sannyasin s. This world was not made that you or I should come and help it. I once read a sermon in which it was said, All this beautiful world is very good, because it gives us time and opportunity to help others. Apparently, this is a very beautiful sentiment, but is it not a blasphemy to say that the world needs our help? We cannot deny that there is much misery in it; to go out and help others is, therefore, the best thing we can do, although in the long run, we shall find that helping others is only helping ourselves. (ibid, 75) To elucidate further, Vivekananda s use of the term service seems to be different than the term help. The very thought that the world expects help from us is equivalent to abusing God. For, if God appears before us in the guise of a meek person, could one offer help to God? Moreover when we say that we are helping others, it only means that we are helping ourselves because through service it is possible to gain Atma jnana. Therefore one can only serve the meek and the weak, and not help them. Considering service to be the help offered to others would be as ridiculous as saying that one is helping the omnipotent God. When we examine the notion of social service in Vivekananda s writings, one can describe the important aspects of service thus: when an individual renders service, it should be fashioned in such a way that it should enable one to destroy his Ahankara. In other words, when one is rendering service, the intention of helping others or looking down upon the weak and the meek is unacceptable. One should render service with an attitude of being blessed, as God would appear in the weak and the meek. In this manner, Vivekananda expounds that one can serve the omnipotent god and will also be able to destroy his Ahankara, leading to Atma jnana. 87
Pragmata However, some thinkers find Vivekananda to be deeply influenced by the West such that his notion of service is within the Western framework, and not inspired by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. We cannot appreciate the problem unless we make an attempt to understand a) Ramakrishna Paramahamsa s disquisition on service, b) the similarities or dissimilarities between Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda. These questions are dealt with in the next section. Similarities in the notion of service in Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa III Many thinkers have identified Ramakrishna to be a figure rooted in Indian traditions. Therefore it might be useful to attempt to understand the nature of service in the Indian context and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa s reflections would aid in comprehending the concept. One must perform action for the welfare of the mankind (world). Working for welfare of mankind doesn t mean that one is helping the mankind; it only means one is rendering service to the world. For Ramakrishna Paramahamsa the term help was something that he never accepted. Instead he used the word seva. No one can help God who resides in everyone. He is omnipresent and omnipotent who does not require any help. If one has an idea of helping others, it only shows his ego (aham bhava). Therefore one must assume that he is doing seva and perform his actions. Seva is the symbol of submission, humility. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would sympathise with those social workers who assumed to be working for the welfare of mankind with an intention of name and fame. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa preached to his students about seva tatva. Whatever we do is serving God and hence one must offer everything to him. (Kuvempu 1998, 179-180. My translation) Ramakrishna Paramahamsa explains that our actions cannot be considered as a help offered to the person in need as one must find God in everybody. We can serve people in this manner and not deign to help them. Alongside we need to ensure that we carry on with our actions. This can be further explicated in the following quotation: Everyone is performing actions (karma). Chanting of mantras is also karma. When advocates of soham, reflect on I am that, that is also considered to be karma, breathing too is karma. It is impossible to let go of karma. Just do your actions, offer the fruit of your action to god. (Paramahamsa 2015, Part 1, 48. My translation) One has to ensure that his actions are done and in return should not expect any fruit for the actions done, says Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, thus emphasising charity as a part of service. Attaining intense love for God is very rare. Chaitanya Deva attained it. When you have ecstatic love for God, you forget external objects, you forget the world. You forget even your own body which is so dear to you. (Paramahamsa 1882 Vol.1, 194) Amongst the charity done, Bhakti daana, is considered to be the superior form of charity (daana). Pleasures and miseries related to the physical are perennial in this existence and the 88
Patil : Swami Vivekananda on Service solution to overcome them is Bhakti daana. The most important need for man in this life according to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is Knowledge and Bhakti. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa goes on to explain how service should be: However, it is not possible to give up work all of a sudden. Your nature will lead you to do it, whether you want to or not. So the instruction is: work without attachment. Work done without attachment means work done without any expectation of reward. For example, you may take to worship, repeating the name of God, and religious austerities, but not for recognition or for earning merit. Working unattached in this way is called Karma Yoga. But it is very difficult. (Paramahamsa 1882, Vol.1, 227) According to Paramahamsa, the service rendered by us is not for the betterment of others. On the contrary it is done for the betterment of one s own self. Therefore service cannot be equated with help and also one should not have any expectations in return of the service done. When we examine the above aspects of service explained by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa what becomes obvious is the similarity between Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda in their arguments on social service. Particularly, both very strongly opposed the idea of equating help and favour with service. Therefore one can claim that Vivekananda was influenced by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in his writings on service. Alongside one can also find certain contradictions in the writings of Vivekananda on service. What are these contradictions and how do we make sense of them? These questions are addressed in the next section. Contradictions in Vivekananda: There are many contradictions in the statements made by Vivekananda on social service. According to Vivekananda Adhyatmic service is superior to all the other kinds of service. He explains to his students: When people are struggling for food, if you intend to serve them selflessly, you can ensure a morsel of food for them, it will ensure the wellbeing of human lives When you impart jnana or vidya to people it will attract people, however if you ensure to do annadana or give people food, it will attract a thousand times more people than what jnanadana would have ensured. Through this action you gain confidence of many people and this confidence cannot be gained through any other action. (Paramahamsa 2015, Part 1,172. My translation) Well ventilated houses need to be built for the poor and they have to be given good clothing and shelter. (ibid, 165. My translation) Vivekananda seems to be addressing the issues of basic requirements in man s life: food, clothing and shelter. However service rendered towards such physical requirements of man would only be temporary and brings about temporary happiness. Yet Vivekananda seems to be placing emphasis on the physical needs of man. Why does Vivekananda give importance to service rendered for fulfilling the physical needs of man? 89
Pragmata First comes annadaana, later comes vidya daana, and then jnanadaana. All the three should be coordinated in the Maths. By involving in annadaana, brahmacharis would inculcate selflessness which would ensure service to god and mankind. Through this one s chitta would become pure ensuring the progress of satbhava in brahmacharis. If this is ensured brahmacharis would become eligible to attain brahmavidya and gain an entry into sanyas ashrama. (Vivekananda 2015, 163. My translation) To understand this in his own words, to impart knowledge one has to give food (Anna Daana) which is indeed a prerequisite to Atma jnana according to Vivekananda. In other words, by giving food one has to attract people towards knowledge. Then one should go on to inculcate the desire for knowledge, Vidya. Therefore giving food or Annadaana should be given priority. If a sannyasin involves in such kind of service, one can no doubt move towards Chittashuddhi. If a sannyasin has to obtain sadgati, he has to render such services. However Vivekananda also makes it a point to mention that our Dharma does not give importance to physical wellbeing or life in this existence. In Western countries, as a rule, people lay more stress on the body aspect of man; in India, a man gave up his body. The one idea is that man is a body and has a soul; the other that man is a soul and has a body. More intricate problems arise out of this. It naturally follows that the ideal which holds that man is a body and has a soul lays all the stress on the body. If you ask why man lives, you will be told it is to enjoy the senses, to enjoy possessions and wealth. He cannot dream of anything beyond even if he is told of it; his idea of a future life would be a continuation of this enjoyment. He is very sorry that it cannot continue all the time here, but he has to depart; and he thinks that somehow or other he will go to some place where the same thing will be renewed. (ibid, 401) According to Vivekananda, the Western countries give more importance to the physical aspect of life, in other words they are preoccupied with the world of existence. Indians, on the other hand, do not give importance to this physical world. The civilisations that gave importance to the physical world were like mansions built on sand. We understand from the aforementioned citations that Vivekananda arranges different kinds of needs of human beings in ascending order which starts with attending to the worldly requirements and ends with attending to the adhyatmic needs. Providing for Adhyatmic needs is the most superior form of service although the worldly requirements are the inevitable stages for its attainment. Thus, his statements have to be situated in the proper context of different stages of human adhyatmic progress. There is yet another inconsistency in Vivekananda that requires special attention: he says the world does not require any help from us and, elsewhere he says that the meek need our help and so we should serve them. According to him, the world does not expect any help from us. Whoever assumes that he is born to serve others is being stupid, and the assumption that one is born to serve others only shows that man s ego is shrouded in goodness and brings about only selfishness. The world does not require any service, and if one feels so it is only his ego that is making him assume so. However, when it comes to the meek, Vivekananda goes on to say that one has to establish a sevashram. This sevashram should enable all the meek and weak to avail benefits from here. The ailing should be served. People who do not have anybody in this world should be taken 90
Patil : Swami Vivekananda on Service care of in this sevashram. There is nothing beyond serving life. If one is able to fulfil his sevadharma, then one can be liberated from this worldly life, i.e., Muktihi Karyaphalayate meaning attaining Mukti would be the fruit. Such inconsistencies in his explications on social service are glaring. He says that the West gives importance to the worldly life and Indians do not give importance to the life related to this world or body. But simultaneously, he makes it a point to delineate the measures one has to take to serve people in order to cater to the fundamental needs of the body. Why does Vivekananda make such inconsistent statements? Is it possible to explain this inconsistency and make it consistent? Can we examine whether the influence of Western religion on his notion of service has, after all, a bearing on inconsistency? In understanding Vivekananda, his emphasis on adhyatma is an important clue. He brings together the Western notion of service with the Indian notion of seva. Seva as emphasised by Ramakrishna was the path for attaining true knowledge or paramatma. Indian Bhakti traditions, from which Ramakrishna derives this concept, considered seva to be an effective means to achieve union with paramatma, precisely because it helped one in casting away his ahankara and ignorance. Seva done to one s own ishtadaiva is not a help or favour to him. If one starts thinking that he is doing a favour to anybody through his seva it inflates his ego and ignorance, therefore the very purpose of doing it will be defeated. Vivekananda tries to adopt the Western concept and modes of service to his programme and tries to interpret the term service with the help of the traditional Indian notion of seva. One s service to the worldly beings is indeed a service done to the paramatma who resides in them, and that is but a means to get rid of one s ahankara and attain him. The moment one thinks he is serving the need of the other, ahankara crops up and the purpose gets defeated. Vivekananda thinks such an orientation would remove the limitations of the Western concept of social service and elevate it from such limitations. He finds parallels to such a worldly domain of service in the Indian Karma yoga. He thought that the ultimate aim of his mission was to spread the Indian adhyatmic knowledge in the entire world, therefore adhyatma was the ultimate goal of his mission. However, he thought also that the kind of social service the Christian missionaries adopted was an equally useful means to attain that goal as a part of the institutional structure. In order to incorporate these various dimensions into his concept of service Vivekananda divides social service into three kinds, viz., physical, intellectual and Adhyatmic service. Why does it become inevitable to divide service into three kinds for Vivekananda? Ramakrishna Paramahamsa does not divide service in this manner. The reason for this is Vivekananda s explanation about services seems to stem from the notion of service that has its roots in the West. Through the notion of service as used in the West, Vivekananda goes on to explain his idea of social service. Therefore the division seem to be inevitable for 91
Pragmata Vivekananda to explain the concept of service. In other words, Vivekananda uses the Western idea of services to explain his idea of social service. Furthermore, when Vivekananda explains about service, he seems to be giving importance to the service rendered towards the fundamental needs of the physical world (body). Thinkers claim that this is a mere imitation of the act of philanthropy done in the West. This is one of the reasons why we find many thinkers criticising Vivekananda for using the Western concept of social service. Catering to the needs of human beings is the idea of social service that one can find in the West. Although Vivekananda uses the Western concept of social service, we can claim that he is not reproducing those concepts. Speaking on sevadharma, he emphasises that when one is able to fulfil his sevadharma, then can he be liberated from this worldly life: Muktihi Karyaphalayate, attaining mukti would be the fruit. Vivekananda s idea of social service is rooted in Ramakrishna Paramahamsa s understanding Indian traditions. To conclude, one can say that Vivekananda s notion of service cannot be simply reduced to the Western concept of social service as it is usually done. There was an influence from the Western concept of service but, Vivekananda distorts that concept by introducing an Indian sense to that term. Vivekananda propounds four paths to liberation (Sakshatkara of Paramatma) - Jnana Marga, Raja Marga, Bhakti Marga and Karma Marga. Service is explained under the fourth path of Karma Marga - an individual can attain Moksha through his actions. This is the predominant idea behind the social service that Vivekananda talks about. He seems to be in favour of the Western concept of social service which, according to Vivekananda, serves as a prerequisite to adhyatmic seva. When an individual takes up service to revive the physical world, it will also help him in Adhyatmic service. However, in order to realise Paramatma, he says, a notion of service rooted in Indian traditions seems to be superior. Translated from Kannada by: Yashashwini M., Assistant Professor, School of Commerce Studies, Jain University, Bangalore & Research Scholar, Aarohi, Bangalore References Ali Ihsan Yitik. 2001 Swami Vivekananda s Idea of Religious Diversity and Harmony, Journal für Religionskultur Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Beckerlegge, Gwilym. 1999. Swami Vivekananda and Seva: Talking Social Service Seriously, Oxford University, New Delhi. Bharati Agehananda. 1980. The Ochre Robe, Santa Barbara. Farquhar, J N. 1906. Gita and Gospel, London. Farquhar, J N. 1967. Modern Religious Movement in India, New Delhi. Gupta, Mahendra Nath. 1882. Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita Vol.1 and 2, Kathamrita Bhawan, 13/2 Guru Prasad Chaudhury Lane, Calcutta. 92
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