The Monk As Man

The Monk As Man (The Unknown Life of Swami Vivekananda) is written by Sankar, alias Mani Sankar Mukherjee, who is the most read novelist of recent times in Bengal. He has written this book after a good deal of secondary research on the life of Swami Vivekananda. Away from the religious and institutional life  of a monk, Vivekananda had quite a painful personal life. This book mainly deals with that. After the death of his father Vivekananda's family got into a trap of litigation and ultimately poverty, from which his mother could never really come out in the true sense. Even being a monk, he had maintained a  very intimate family-like relationship with his mother, and always tried to help her come out of the trap of litigation. His benefactor Maharaja Ajit Singh of Khetri had sent monthly stipend  for a long time for the benefit of his mother and the family. Like any other family man Swamaji  had taken her mother to visit religious places, and appeared at witness in his mother's lawsuits. Sometimes, it appears that many of the fellow saints and disciples also worked tirelessly for the peace of mind of his mother. The results and mark sheet of Vivekananda is also available in the book. The pains of living in a joint family structure in the then Bengal also comes out vividly in the book. Vivekananda regarded his mother as the source of his energy and knowledge, and did so publicly in his speeches. Roles of Sister Nivedita, Sara Bull and Josephine McLeod in his life is also briefly touched upon in this book. Vivekananda were the 6th of the 10 issues that his parents had together. Six of them died before Vivekananda  and some even during infancy, and only three of them outlived him, of which one was his elder sister and two were his younger brother.  The books brings out the painful side of the saint's life in the begin, when some days they had to live without any food at all. He overcame everything with his strong will power, which he inherited from his mother. The book also deals with the addictions of Swamiji, which was mainly tea. He even lists all the ailments that Swamiji had to  suffer sequentially, migraines, tonsillitis, asthma, liver disease, typhoid, malaria, gall stones, albuminuria, bloodshot in the right eye, blood sugar, to name a few. This also displays the strength of his mind and his sense of purpose. An interesting part of the book is about Swamiji as a cook, which brings out the fullness of the life in him. Before his death one day Swamiji invited sister Nivedita, and cooked food for her. There is a very a painful chapter with vivid description on the day on which Vivekananda died. This is a very readable book,  showing the great saint in a new light.