Swami Vivekananda and Kali

 Narendranath Datta, who later became known as Swami Vivekananda, was the principal disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. Harding describes him as the person destined to carry the message of Vedanta to the West and to represent Hinduism at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. Although he outwardly taught non-dual Vedanta, Harding writes that in his heart he remained a son of Ma Kali. 

Narendra was a brilliant student, a free thinker and a defender of the poor and disabled. His Western education had left little room in his thinking for idols or for people who worshipped them. Nevertheless, he felt a powerful attraction to Sri Ramakrishna, whose religious life included devotion to many gods and goddesses. Narendra himself told Ramakrishna that he did not believe in his gods and goddesses, but that he came to him because he loved him. 

A decisive period in Narendra's life began after the sudden death of his father. His family became so poor that they were threatened with hunger, and Narendra desperately searched for work without success. In his distress he turned to Sri Ramakrishna and asked him to pray for the removal of his family's financial difficulties.

Sri Ramakrishna refused to make such a request himself and instead told Narendra to go to the Kali Temple and ask the Mother directly. He told him that all his suffering was connected with his neglect of Her and assured him that whatever grace he asked from Her would be granted. Sri Ramakrishna described Kali as Absolute Knowledge and the unfathomable Power of Brahman, through whose will the world had come into being. 

Narendra went to the temple that evening. As he approached the shrine, he became filled with an intense expectation of seeing the living Goddess and hearing Her words. When he looked upon the image of Kali, he experienced the Divine Mother as living and conscious, filled with divine love and beauty. He became absorbed in devotion and forgot the purpose for which he had come. Instead of asking for material help, he prayed for discrimination, renunciation, knowledge, devotion and an uninterrupted vision of the Mother. A deep peace came over him, and the world disappeared from his awareness. 

When Narendra returned, Sri Ramakrishna asked whether he had remembered to pray for the removal of his worldly difficulties. Narendra realized that he had forgotten. Ramakrishna sent him back to the temple to make the request. Yet when Narendra again stood before Kali, he once more forgot his purpose and prayed only for knowledge and devotion. 

Sri Ramakrishna sent him to the temple for a third time. Narendra entered the shrine, but now he felt ashamed of the smallness of the request he had intended to make. He thought that asking the Mother for a few worldly necessities was like asking a generous king for a few vegetables. Once again he bowed before Kali and asked for nothing except knowledge and devotion. 

When Narendra returned to Sri Ramakrishna, he pleaded with him to bless his family so that they would no longer suffer from poverty. Sri Ramakrishna finally agreed that his family would never lack simple food and clothing. 

This experience became a major turning point in Narendra's life. Harding writes that he began to accept Ma Kali completely. He kept much of his love for Her to himself and continued to teach Vedanta, but on several occasions his feelings for Kali could no longer remain hidden. From the depths of his heart he wrote the poem “Kali the Mother.” 

The poem presents Kali in a powerful and terrible form. Its imagery speaks of darkness, destruction, death and the forces that sweep everything before them. Kali appears as Time and as the Mother who comes amid destruction. 

Sister Nivedita later recorded a rare conversation in which Vivekananda spoke openly about Kali. Harding relates that he described his long resistance to accepting Her and said that he had eventually been forced to accept Her. He attributed this change to Sri Ramakrishna, who had dedicated him to the Mother. 

Vivekananda's relationship with Kali therefore remained closely connected with his relationship with Sri Ramakrishna. Harding presents the transformation of Narendra's attitude toward the Mother as an important part of his spiritual life: the young man who had rejected the worship of gods and goddesses came to accept Kali and to regard Her as the great Power working through his life. 

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.