In 1888,Swami Vivekananda left the monastery[clarification needed] as aParivrâjaka— the Hindu religious life of a wandering monk, "without fixed abode, without ties, independent and strangers wherever they go".[1] His sole possessions were akamandalu (water pot), staff and his two favourite books: theBhagavad Gita andThe Imitation of Christ.[2] Narendra travelled extensively in India for five years, visiting centres of learning and acquainting himself with diverse religious traditions and social patterns.[3][4] He developed sympathy for the suffering and poverty of the people, and resolved to uplift the nation.[3][5] Living primarily onbhiksha (alms), Swami Vivekananda travelled on foot and by railway (with tickets bought by admirers). During his travels he met, and stayed with Indians from all religions and walks of life: scholars,dewans,rajas, Hindus, Muslims, Christians,paraiyars and government officials.[5]
In August 1888 Swami Vivekananda's first destination wasVaranasi, where he visited the places whereGautama Buddha andAdi Shankara preached[6][7] and met Bengali writerBhudev Mukhopadhyay and Hindu saintTrailanga Swami.[8] After meeting Vivekananda, Mukhopadhyay said, "Such vast experience and insight at such an early age! I am sure he will be a great man".[6] Narendra also met Sanskrit and Vedic scholar Babu Pramadadas Mitra,[9] with whom he corresponded on the interpretation of Hindu scriptures.[9][8] After leaving Varanasi, he visitedAyodhya,Lucknow,Agra,Vrindavan,Hathras, andRishikesh.[7] When he was staying in Vrindavan, one day, he saw a man smoking ahookah. He asked the man to give him a tobacco bowl, but the man refused to do so, explaining he was a man of lower caste. Narendra initially accepted his point and started walking, but within a few minutes, he started feeling ashamed, as he had been practising "non-duality of the soul" for a long time. He returned to the man, and once again requested him to give him a tobacco bowl and despite the man's reluctance, he took thehookah from him and started smoking.[10]
While on the way to Haridwar, in September 1888,[12] Narendra stayed at Hathras. There in the railway waiting room Narendra met Sharat Chandra Gupta, a railway station master.[13] Gupta went to Narendra and asked if he was hungry, to which he got a reply in positive. He took Narendra to his home. When Narendra asked him what food he was going to offer, Gupta quoted a Persian poem in reply: "Oh beloved, I shall prepare the most delicious dish with the flesh of my heart".[14] Narendra told Gupta that he had a great mission in life — he wanted to serve his motherland where starvation and poverty stalk millions of people. He narrated his dream of seeing India regaining her old glory. During the conversations, Gupta asked Narendra if he could help him anyhow. Narendra immediately replied— "Yes, take up thekamandalu and go begging". Gupta understood that he was being asked to renounce his personal interestfor the welfare of many. He decided to renounce the world and became a disciple of Narendranath.[15] Narendra and Gupta left Hathras together.[15]
After leaving Hathras Narendra and Gupta first went to Haridwar, and from there travelled to Rishikesh, on foot. Here Narendra initiated Gupta intoSannyasa and was namedSwami Sadananda.[16][17] Gupta was the directly initiated monastic disciple of Vivekananda.[16] Vivekananda called him "the child of my spirit".[10]
Between 1888 and 1890, Swami Vivekananda visitedVaidyanath inAllahabad. On 18 January 1890 he went from Allahabad toGhazipur and metPavhari Baba,[4][18] anAdvaita Vedanta ascetic who spent much of his time in meditation.[19] At the time he suffered fromlumbago,[18] and it was becoming impossible for him to move or sit in meditation.[20] After meeting Baba, Swami Vivekananda wanted to become his disciple and Baba asked him to stay a few more days at Ghazipur. However, the night before his initiation, Swami Vivekananda had a dream in which Ramakrishna looked at him with a melancholy face. This dream convinced Swami Vivekananda that no one other than Ramakrishna could be his teacher, and he abandoned the idea of becoming Baba's disciple.[21]
During the first half of 1890, after the deaths of fellow Ramakrishna disciples Balaram Bose and Suresh Chandra Mitra, Narendra returned to Baranagar Math because of ill health and to arrange for the math's financial support.[22] After finishing his work in July, he left the math[13] (accompanied by fellow monkSwami Akhandananda) for theHimalayas.
This constituted the first phase of a journey which would bring Swami Vivekananda to the West.[13][23] He visited the sacred sites ofNainital,Almora,Srinagar,Dehradun,Rishikesh andHaridwar. During these travels, he met Swami Brahmananda,Saradananda,Turiyananda andAdvaitananda. They stayed atMeerut for several days, engaged in meditation, prayer and study of the scriptures. At the end of January 1891, Swami Vivekananda left his colleagues and travelled toDelhi.[23][24]
After visiting historical sites at Delhi, Swami Vivekananda started his travel towardsRajputana. In these days, he drew inspiration from the words of the Gautama Buddha—[25][26][27]
Go forward without a path,
Fearing nothing, caring for nothing!
Wandering alone, like the rhinoceros!
Even as a lion, not trembling at noises,
Even as the wind, not caught in the net,
Even as the lotus leaf, untainted by water,
Do thou wander alone, like the rhinoceros!
In February 1891, he first went toAlwar, where he was warmly welcomed by the Hindus and the Muslims.[27] There he told a Muslim religion scholar that one significant feature of theQuran is, though it was written a thousand years ago, the book was free from "interpolation" and retained its original purity.[28] When Swami Vivekananda met theMangal Singh, King of Alwar, whose outlook was Westernised, Singh challenged Swami Vivekananda and ridiculed Hindu idol worship. Swami Vivekananda attempted to explain to him that Hindu worship is symbolic worship, but failed to make the king understand. Then Swami Vivekananda saw a painting hanging on the wall, it was the a painting of the Singh's deceased father and asked him to spit on it. Singh became angry and retorted how he could spit on his father. Swami Vivekananda explained, though it was just a painting, not the king himself, it reminds everybody about the king, similarly an idol worshipped by a Hindu is actually a symbolic worship of the Almighty.[29][28]
From Alwar, Swami Vivekananda went toJaipur, where he studiedPanini'sAshtadhyayi with a Sanskrit scholar. Swami Vivekananda then went toAjmer, where he visited the palace ofAkbar and theDargah Sharif. AtMount Abu he met RajaAjit Singh of Khetri, who became an ardent devotee and supporter.[30]Swami Tathagatananda, a senior monk in the Ramakrishna Order, wrote of their relationship:
... Vivekananda's friendship with Maharaja Ajit Singh of Khetri was enacted against the backdrop of Khetri, a sanctified town in Northern Rajasthan, characterized by its long heroic history and independent spirit. Destiny brought Swamiji and Ajit Singh together on 4 June 1891 at Mount Abu, where their friendship gradually developed through their mutual interest in significant spiritual and secular topics. The friendship intensified when they travelled to Khetri and it became clear that theirs was the most sacred friendship, that of a Guru and his disciple.[31]
AtKhetri Swami Vivekananda delivered discourses to the Raja, became acquainted withpanditAjjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu and studied theMahābhāṣya on the sutras of Panini. After2+1⁄2 months there, in October 1891 he left forBombay Presidency.[5][32]
Swami Vivekananda visitedAhmedabad,Wadhwan andLimbdi; at the former, he completed his studies of Islamic andJain cultures.[5] At Limbdi he met Thakur Saheb Jaswant Singh, who had been to England and America. From him, Narendra first got the idea of going to the West to preachVedanta. He visited Junagadh and was the guest ofHaridas Viharidas Desai,diwan of the state, who was so charmed by his company that every evening he and all the state officials conversed with Swami Vivekananda until late at night. Swami Vivekananda also visitedGirnar,Kutch,Porbander,Dwaraka,Palitana,Nadiad andBaroda. He remained for nine months at Porbander, furthering his philosophical and Sanskrit studies with learnedpandits.[5]
Swami Vivekananda's next destinations includedMahabaleshwar,Pune,Khandwa andIndore. AtKathiawar he heard of the 1893Parliament of the World's Religions, and was urged by his followers to attend it. After a brief stay in Bombay in July 1892, he metBal Gangadhar Tilak during a train journey.[33] After staying with Tilak for a few days in Pune,[34] Swami Vivekananda travelled toBelgaum in October 1892 where he metPanth Maharaj, and toPanaji andMargao in Goa, spending three days atRachol Seminary (the oldest convent in Goa, with rare religious manuscripts and printed works in Latin) studying Christian theological works.[35]
Swami Vivekananda later travelled toBangalore, where he became acquainted withK. Seshadri Iyer (diwan of theMysore state). Iyer described Narendra as "a magnetic personality and a divine force which were destined to leave their mark on the history of his country". Iyer introduced him to the Maharaja (king) of MysoreChamaraja Wodeyar. Wodeyar invited Swami Vivekananda to stay in his palace as a guest.[36][37] The maharaja gave Swami Vivekananda aletter of introduction to the diwan ofCochin and a railway ticket.[38]
From Bangalore, Swami Vivekananda visitedTrissur,Kodungalloor andErnakulam. At Ernakulam he metChattampi Swamikal, a contemporary ofNarayana Guru, in early December 1892.[39] From Ernakulam, Swami Vivekananda travelled toTrivandrum,Nagercoil and reachedKanyakumari on foot on Christmas Eve 1892.[40] At Kanyakumari, Swami Vivekananda meditated on the "last bit of Indian rock" (later known as theVivekananda Rock Memorial). At Kanyakumari, Narendra had a "vision of one India" (the "Kanyakumari resolve of 1892").[41] He later wrote:
"At Cape Camorin sitting in Mother Kumari's temple, sitting on the last bit of Indian rock—I hit upon a plan: We are so manysanyasis wandering about, and teaching the people metaphysics—it is all madness. Did not ourGurudeva use to say, 'An empty stomach is no good for religion?' We as a nation have lost our individuality and that is the cause of all mischief in India. We have to raise the masses."[41][42]
To realize this, he needed collaborators and funds. The people were easily to find, but the funds were hard to acquire, and therefore Narendra decided to travel to America, "to earn money myself, and then return to my country and devote the rest of my days to the realisation of this one aim of my life."[43]
From Kanyakumari, Swami Vivekananda visitedMadurai and had meetings with the Raja ofRamnadBhaskara Sethupathi. During his meetings, he had extensive discussions on Hindu philosophy with eminent scholars likeMahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar. The raja became his disciple, urging him to attend the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. From Madurai, Swami Vivekananda visitedRameswaram,Pondicherry andMadras; there, he met some of his disciples, speciallyAlasinga Perumal.[a] Perumal went door to door in hopes of getting money for Swami Vivekananda's travel.[45] With funds collected by his Madras disciples, the kings of Mysore, Ramnad, Khetri, diwans and other followers, Swami Vivekananda left Bombay for Chicago on 31 May 1893 with the name "Vivekananda", as suggested by Ajit Singh of Khetri,[42] which means "the bliss of discerning wisdom".[46]
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