##27 (Vivekananda) Visits To Holy Places Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

With some of his brother disciples,
Narendra visited many holy places.
For food, they lived on alms,
Then meditated, studied scriptures.

In this way, their time passed.
By then, the sad news he heard
That one of his sisters died
By committing suicide.

In the society dominated by men,
The plight of the Hindu women,
When none fought for their cause,
Did create such social injustice

With this thought in mind,
A solution he wanted to find.
He didn’t like to be a criminal
And remain, as a spectator, idle.

To Hrishikesh, he then went.
With monks, hours he spent.
There he seriously fell ill.
But he stayed there still.

When he became fit,
He was taken to Meerut.
There, they enjoyed the stay
And did meditation everyday.

They studied scriptures,
Sang devotional songs,
A small monastery it became
And earned its popular name.

After a stay of five months,
Narendra became restless.
In his future course of action,
He wanted to do it alone.

The Divine Spirit in him
Powerfully forced him
To take up the causes
Of the Indian masses.

In January 1891, alone he left
And towards Delhi he went,
As Swami Vividishananda,
Hiding his name, Narendra.

He wished to travel like this
Everywhere, in disguise,
And visited many places,
Like mosques, tombs, palaces.

When some of his brothers
Saw their beloved leader,
He told them, “Brothers,
I go wherever the spirit leads.”

“Do not follow me,
Or try to trace me.
You strive to realize
That goal set as yours.”

With these few words,
He snapped all the ties
To face any situation
By himself, in future, alone.