Tentative Itinerary of Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat (1891 – 1892) : Swami Nikhileswarananda

It is very difficult to prepare itinerary of Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat because of lack of documentary evidences and contrary comments about the duration of stay of Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat given in the first edition of the Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western Disciples published in 1915 and that given in the edition of 1979. It is also difficult to reconcile the conflicting details of Swami Vivekananda’s travels in Gujarat given in various books and additional information gathered from various sources and from the descendants of the persons who came in contact with Swami Vivekananda in Gujarat.

The task becomes more difficult because Swami Vivekananda wanted to travel incognito and had warned his brother-disciples not to follow him and refrained from keeping any contact with them. Therefore he used to change his name frequently.

Another reason is that the British Intelligence Department became suspicious of him because of his mixing with the Princes. It was in Kathiawad (Gujarat) that he first came in the eyes of the Intelligence Department in 1892 (Amrit Bazar Patrika, 15.08.1971). While in Gujarat, Swamiji seems to have used two names – Vivekananda (Bibekananda) and Sachchidananda. Swami Abhedananda writes in ‘My Life Story’ (Pg. 758) – “I heard from Mr. Sankar Pandurang that sometimes earlier a Bengali sannyasin, well versed in English, named ‘Sachchidananda’ had come to Porbandar. I could not recognize the sannyasin from the name Sachchidananda. I came to know later that it was Narendranath who was travelling through Gujarat and Kutch assuming the pseudonym of ‘Sachchidananda’.”

Another question arises whether the records discovered mentioning the name ‘Sachchidananda’ mean Swamiji or not. At that time Gaga Oza, the former Diwan of Bhavnagar had adopted the name ‘Sachchidananda’ after sannyasa. But according to Prof. P. G. Korat of Bhavnagar who got his Ph.D. on Gaga Oza, there is no possibility of his having visited Porbandar on 12 October, 1891 as he passed away on 01 December, 1891 and was not well during his last few days. Even if he would have gone on 12 October, he could have not stayed for three months and a quarter as is written in the registers.

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai, Diwan of Junagadh on 26 April, 1892 from Baroda (Vadodara) that he was leaving on the same day for Bombay. Therefore we can safely conclude that Swamiji’s stay in Gujarat ended on 26 April, 1892.

But there is no clarity about Swamiji’s entry in Gujarat. According to 1st edition of The Life of Swami Vivekananda by his Eastern and Western Disciples (Vol. II, Pg. 155), “After having remained some few days at Ahmedabad, he journeyed on towards the end of September to Wadhwan in Kathiawad.” But according to 1979 edition of the same book, he entered Gujarat in the month of November, 1891.

The latest findings point out that the 1^st edition was correct, based on following facts –

1. On 2 November, 1891, Swami Vivekananda went to Gopallal Haveli (temple of Shri Krishna) situated near Porbandar Old Palace and took Prasad of Annakut (as it was Gujarati New Year Day). The bench on which Swamiji sat had been preserved in the temple, now it has been gifted by them to Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Porbandar. [As per information obtained from old priests of the temple]
2. On 13 November, 1891, Swami Vivekananda participated in ‘Tulsi Vivah’ worship in the house of Shankar Pandurang Pandit (Bhojeshwar Bungalow). This information was given by Shri Revashankar Anupam Dave (who had seen Swamiji when he was 17 years of age) on 7 December, 1975 to Marie Louise Burke at Porbandar in the presence of Ms Kusumben Parmar of Rajkot. Shri Revashankar Dave was gifted a photograph of Swami Vivekananda, he was happy to receive the photo and confirmed that he met him in Porbandar.
3. In the old register (Pg. 181) maintained in Lankeshwar temple of Porbandar, it is mentioned (in Gujarati) that Swamiji (Sachchidananda) was the guest of Maharaja of Porbandar Shri Vikamatji, he stayed there for three and a quarter months, he had participated in the procession of Dussehra, he had philosophical discussion with the State Priest Shri Kanadgiri, Mahant of Lankeshwar temple.
4. In 1985, there was fire in the State Archives of Porbandar; most of the records got burnt. A few burnt pages of the State Register of 120 pages have been retrieved. The entry on 12th and 13th October, 1891 mentions that Swamiji (Sachchidananda) sat with Maharaja Vikamatji in the horse carriage during the procession of Dussehra. The entry on 18th October mentions that Maharaja Vikamataji felicitated Swamiji (Sachchidananda) by putting on a turban and gifted him a staff. The entry on 20th October mentions that Swamiji (Sachchidananda) went to Lankeshwar temple and had a philosophical discussion with Shri Kanadgiri, the State Priest.
5. There is a note about Swamiji’s (Sachchidananda’s) visit to Porbandar during Dussehra in the official record of Mamalatdar of Porbandar.
6. Shri Savadas Viram Modhavadia has written a diary based on the talks he had with his father Shri Viram Lundhabhai Modhavadia, who was the coachman of Victoria type horse carriage of Porbandar State, in which Swamiji (Sachchidananda) had gone to various places in and around Porbandar. In this diary, a lot of interesting information is given, it is also mentioned that Swamiji (Sachchidananda) was very happy to see the procession of Dussehra. He was well-built and had a shining forehead and spoke in Hindi and sometimes in English and sometimes in some other language.

Now the question arises, why the date of entry of Swamiji in Gujarat was changed in 1979 edition. There seems to be two reasons – firstly the Waqyat Register of Khetri State and secondly; the reminiscences of Shri Har Bilas Sarda.

According to Waqyat Register, Swamiji was in Khetri till 27 October, 1891. But if we carefully read the notings, we find that the description of Swamiji till 1st September tallies with Swami Vivekananda and then there is no entry till 13th September. The entries after 13th September seem to refer to Swami Abhedananda who went during that period to Khetri according to his autobiography. The entry on 13th September mentions – Swamiji had arguments with Jagmohanlal and a Punjabi Sadhu. Jagmohanlal, Diwan of Khetri used to respect Swamiji very much and could not have entered into arguments with him. It must have been Swami Abhedananda, who could argue well. The other entries also till 27th October seem to refer to Swami Abhedananda rather than Swami Vivekananda. The entry on 29th September mentions that Maharaja slept on the bed and talked to Swamiji while reading a book. Maharaja had great respect for Swami Vivekananda and it seems improbable that he would talk to him in a sleeping posture.

The explanation is available in the book ‘Swami Vivekananda – A Forgotten Chapter of his Life’ by Shri Beni Shankar Sharma (Pg. 52) in which he says, “On enquiries we learnt from the State historians that the usual practice with the Waqyat Navises was to jot down the day-to-day happenings in the sheets of loose papers. These used to be fair-copied subsequently after an interval of one or two years and were, at the time, duly approved by the Raja. In fact, originally the Swami was mentioned in the draft copy of the Register only as a Sannyasin and this was, at a later date, changed into ‘Swami Vivekananda’.” Thus all the endries with the name ‘Sannyasin’ became Swami Vivekananda right from the first day of the meeting between him and Maharaja Ajitsingh of Khetdi even though the later had requested Swamiji to adopt this name instead of the name Vividishananda. In the same way the name ‘Swami Vivekananda’ replaced the word ‘Sannyasin’ throughout the waqyat register till 27 October even though it might have been Swami Abhedananda from 13 September to 27 October.

Now coming to the memoirs of Shri Har Bilas Sarda, we have to remember that he was quite old when he wrote the memoirs, he mixed up dates and names as will be evident from the following statement – “The next time I met him (the Swami) was at Ajmer…. He was my guest so far as I remember, for two or three days or fewer: I remember asking him what his name was before he became a sannyasin. He gave it to me.” [Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern & Western Disciples, Vol. I, Page Nos. 286 – 287]

The memoirs of Shri Har Bilas Sarda were published in Prabuddha Bharata (Feb. 1946, p.82) also in which he says – “I met Swami Vivekananda at Mount Abu. It was sometimes in the year 1889 or 1890; in the month of May or June (I do not recollect which…)”.

Actually it was 1891, neither 1889 nor 1890. Thus we find that Shri Har Bilas Sarda; because of his old age, mixed up names, dates, months and years. Thus memoirs of Shri Har Bilas Sarda are not reliable.

We have tried to prepare the itinerary of Swamiji in Gujarat based on the contents given in the ‘Life of Swami Vivekananda – By His Eastern & Western Disciples’, ‘For Seekers of God’, ‘Holy Wanderings’ by Swami Akhandananda, ‘My Life Story’ by Swami Abhedananda and other documents.

The itinerary has been prepared based on following consideration:

1. During his parivrajaka days, Swami Vivekananda used to avoid touching money. He used to travel by walk. But if any one offered him money, he would ask him to buy railway ticket for him. Fortunately various states of Kathiawad had already been connected with railway line because of the progressive Rulers of the States by the time Swamiji visited this part of Gujarat in 1891, hence Swamiji could travel so much within a span of about eight months.
2. Swami Vivekananda saw the mirage while travelling through the desert of Kutch. It is mentioned in the book ‘Jnana Yoga’ that he saw the mirage for about a month. But it is difficult to believe that Swamiji could not realize that it was a mirage while walking for about a month. It could be one week. We have prepared itinerary based on this assumption. But if the period is really one month, then Swamiji could have crossed the whole of Little Rann (desert) of Kutch while travelling from Kharaghoda to Bhuj. In any case, Swamiji visited Bhuj twice—once he went by walk through the desert and second time at the invitation of Maharaja of Kutch by steamer from Bet Dwarka to Mandvi and Bhuj as described by Swami Akhandananda in his book ‘From Holy Wanderings to Service of God in Man’.
3. According to the first edition of Life of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern & Western Disciples (1912), Swamiji stayed in Porbandar for 11 months. Swami Gambhiranandaji remarks in his Bengali book ‘Juganayaka Vivekananda’ that it should be 11 weeks. This seems more probable because the total period of Swamiji’s visit to Gujarat is only eight months. But this total period is made up of three visits to Porbandar—first when he stayed in the palace with Maharaja of Porbandar (during Dassera and Deepavali), second when he stayed with Shankar Pandurang Pandit alone (during winter) and third when he stayed with Swami Akhandananda as the guest of Shankar Pandurang (in March).