Swami Vivekananda - Signed picture

After the parliament Swamiji’s luminous personality radiated his inner serenity. Those who were fortunate enough to meet him at this time said what a blessing it was to be with him. Years later Mary Hale recalled Swamiji as: . . . the great and glorious soul that came to the Parliament of Religions, so full of love of God, that his face shone with divine light, whose words were fire, whose very presence created an atmosphere of harmony and purity, thereby drawing all souls to himself. When one looks at this photograph one can easily understand what Mary meant, for as Sister Gargi says: One cannot fail to be moved by the childlike tenderness of Swamiji’s appearance, and by the wonderful peace and calm of his expression. This photo was taken by E. B. Snow in Chicago in 1894 and was copyrighted. Swamiji’s inscription reads: Ajaramaravat prajnah vidyam arthancha chintayet/ Grihitva iva kesheshu mrityuna dharmam acharet. When in search of knowledge or prosperity think that you would never have death or disease, and when worshiping God think that death’s hand is in your hair. Early prints of this photo, and of photos 21 as well as 23 to 26 (copies of which are in the present volume), were acquired originally by Swami Vishwananda. It was through the kindness of the late Swami Vishwananda, then in charge of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society in Chicago [1937-1965], that these photographs and other invaluable material regarding Swamiji came to our hands, and the story 97 98 PHOTOGRAPHS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA Photograph 29 (continued) of how this material was discovered by the swami is worth telling here, for it is an example of those coincidences that occur so frequently in matters concerning Swamiji. Swami Vishwananda told us that a young man, unconnected with Vedanta, had received from his grandmother a bundle of unpublished letters, photographs and other material, all pertaining to Swami Vivekananda. Knowing that his grandmother had cherished them, the young man had kept them, and indeed might still possess them, or perhaps by this time have discarded them, had it not been that a friend of his was a student of Swami Vishwananda. How this friend came to know of the bundle of old documents is not known, but one day she told Swami Vishwananda of its existence. The swami forthwith visited the young man and found, with what joy we can imagine, a veritable feast of hitherto unknown material! The young man gladly gave him the bundle, which had originally belonged, the swami learned, to the McKindley sisters, nieces of Mr. and Mrs. Hale. It is such unlooked-for and fortuitous discoveries which give us hope that eventually more hidden material regarding Swamiji will come to light, slowly pushing its way up through the years.20 ❊ ❊ ❊ [Letter to Swamiji’s Chennai disciples, January 24, 1894] My whole ambition in life is to set in motion a machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody, and then men or women will settle their own fate. Let them know what our forefathers and other nations have thought on the most momentous questions of life. Let them see what others are doing now specially, and then decide. We are to put the chemicals together, the crystallization would be done by nature according to her laws.