Two of the greatest saints that lived around the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th — Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Raman Maharishi — are persons who have set a benchmark of Godliness for the coming generations.
That was the crux of what noted journalist and author Arun Shourie took pains to explain to a packed audience at the Sarada Auditorium in the premises of the Ramakrishna Mission on Sunday evening.
Sharing the dias with Swami Atmapriyananada, vice-chancellor, Vivekananda University, Belur (West Bengal), and Swami Shantatmananda, secretary, Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi, the renowned writer said his entire effort was to bring to fore the fact that the modern world needed standards by which to judge and evaluate the growing number of mystics today.
Shourie said his choice of the two saints was simple. “Their word has a ring of truth because they had attained he highest levels of truth themselves,” he said, adding: “Their contribution has to be judged in light of the effect they had on the course of history of modern India. The British believed that they could enslave India through Christianity through Brahma Samaj and the likes of Keshab Chandra Sen but as it turned out Sen himself finally sought refuge at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa himself.”
Swami Atmapriyananda, while appreciating the observations in the book went on to add that the book stimulates thought and even scientific probe.
“We do not know anything about anything! And the root of all our problems lies in the question: WhyIJ If we accept that the world is not exactly what it appears to be, as the two great saints have shown through their lives, then we can be rid of a lot of doubt that people face in life.
“Both have shown that there are various versions or variants of the same truth,” Swami, himself a professor of particle physics, added quoting the famous philosopher Emerson: “It is impossible to empty the well of truth with a leaky bucket.”