Advaitananda

Bliss is inherent in human beings; therefore they cannot bear pain, for it is foreign to their true nature. The darkness of the crisis in life often acts like the twilight before dawn leading to the effulgence of the sun. Gopal Chandra Ghosh of Sinthi, Calcutta, lost his wife and was heartbroken; to seek relief from the overwhelming burden of his grief led him to Shri Ramakrishna. The contact thus established through a crisis ultimately led to glorious spiritual heights.

He was endearingly called Gopalda or Gopal the elder brother by the Master’s disciples. He was older than even the Master by eight years. Nevertheless, the attitude of reverence and devotion he cherished towards Shri Ramakrishna, his Guru, was unflinching.

Ultimately he renounced the world and devoted himself heart and soul to the service of the Master in his last illness. His service to the Holy Mother was equally whole-hearted. Shri Ramakrishna praised Gopalda’s managerial capacity in household affairs and his sweet behaviour with people. One way to know a person’s internal nature is to watch his external actions. If he is organized outside that indicates he is organized inside also. Gopalda was neat and clean, and by temperament methodical, economical and orderly. These traits in him received great appreciation from the Master.

Shri Ramakrishna made his own life a model for his disciples to follow. Gopalda, though older than the other disciples, tried very hard to follow the ideal the Master set for them. Even his brother disciples praised his sincerity, love and steadfast dedication to the Master. It was his good fortune that made him instrumental in the birth of the future Shri Ramakrishna Order of monks by gifting a few pieces of ochre coloured cloths and rosaries to Shri Ramakrishna who personally touched them and sanctified them with a mantram, then distributed them among Narendra (Swami Vivekananda), Rakhal (Swami Brahmananda), Niranjan (Swami Niranjananda), Baburam (Swami Premananda), Shashi (Swami Ramakrishnananda), Sharat (Swami Saradananda), Kali (Swami Abhedananda), Jogin (Swami Yogananda), Latu (Swami Adbhutananda), Tarak (Swami Shivananda), and Gopalda (Swami Advaitananda) himself. The twelfth cloth and rosary, according to the Master’s instruction, were set-aside for Girish Ghosh. In this sense it may be said that Shri Ramakrishna himself founded the Ramakrishna Order, although it did not come into official existence until after his death.

After the departure of the Master from his mortal frame, Gopalda along with Tarak started the Baranagore monastery. He embraced monasticism along with his brother disciples and became Swami Advaitananda. After spending a few years at the monastery, he shifted to Varanasi, where he practiced austerities and spiritual practices for five years. When Swamiji returned to India and organized the Ramakrishna Brotherhood, Swami Advaitananda returned to the newly established Math at Alambazar, and later at Belur. Although Swami Vivekananda was thirty-five years younger than Swami Advaitananda, Swami Advaitananda had tremendous love and respect for Swamiji. On the other hand, Swamiji also had affectionate regard for Swami Advaitananda. Swamiji made Swami Advaitananda one of the trustees of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission; later he became the vice-president.

His advanced age prevented him from being engaged in the public activities – philanthropic or missionary - of the new organisation. He was entrusted to look after the management of various affairs of the monastery, specially levelling of the newly purchased land, repair of the old structures and later he supervised the garden work as also, on his own will, looked after the comforts of the monks. He started a vegetable garden and a dairy farm. Swami Adbhutananda recalled about the early days: “Without Gopalda the monks of Belur Math would not have had vegetables along with their rice. He worked so hard to produce various kinds of vegetables in the monastery garden.” Although he was the oldest of the group, in carrying out responsibilities he was second to none. Pioneering work is always difficult and Swami Advaitananda did all his work as an act of worship with utmost sincerity and devotion. All work he undertook or supervised was done very systematically and with scrupulous care. The bearers of the banner of Shri Ramakrishna, his disciples, shaped their lives according to the spiritual ideals of the Master; they also helped others to put these ideals into practice for their physical, mental, and spiritual advancement. There is a saying, “An organization succeeds not because it is big or because it is long established, but because there are people in it who live it, sleep it, dream it, and build a future for it.”

Even in his old age Swami Advaitananda was self-supporting. He would not like anybody to take the trouble of attending to his personal needs. His attitude was that a monk should be self-reliant, depending only on God and no one else. Being the oldest in age, he was looked upon with affectionate regard by all his brother-disciples. But they also enjoyed creating a jovial atmosphere around them. Once Swamiji composed a comical verse to tease Swami Advaitananda, but that really indicated in what great esteem the old swami was held by all. In those days of hardships and intense hard work, the monks knew how to lighten the burden through humour. Humour breaks the barrier of age and eradicates monotony, sadness and gloom from life. For instance, a sad countenance was an offence against the rules of the Franciscan Order: The brothers were expected to turn a smiling face to God and to humanity. They were to make the Lord glad by their gaiety and not weary him with whining and lamentation. The monks of Shri Ramakrishna also did not care for religion that was obsessed with fear or brought gloom to life. They learned from the Master that humour has its place in religion, and the bliss that they experienced was expressed in their lives. Swami Advaitananda, too, had a wonderful sense of humour and loved to tease the brother disciples.  

He had a great love for truth. He heard the Master say that one should not twist truth even to make fun. He obeyed this instruction in letter and spirit till the last day and encouraged others to do the same. He made strenuous efforts to mould his life according to the life and example of the Master, and would sometimes express disappointment that he fell so short of the ideal. But this feeling of disappointment was actually an indication towards his real spiritual height. So long as he was in the physical body he proved to be a source of inspiration to many. His uniform persistence in practicing spiritual disciplines till the last days of his life elicited admiration and reverence even from his brother-disciples. Swami Turiyananda once said: “We are much indebted to Gopalda, because we learned the secret of work from him. He was organized and concentrated in everything he did. And he was very methodical in his habits. Until his last day he regularly practised meditation.”

Swami Advaitananda started his spiritual journey late, but his sincerity and steadfast devotion to the Master brought fulfillment at the end of his life. Shri Ramakrishna made him a role model for elderly seekers of God. The Ramakrishna Order will forever remember him for his cheerful manner and methodical ways, his self-reliance, his untiring zeal in every work he undertook, and his implicit devotion to the Master and his cause.