Publisher's Note

Twenty-nine years have passed since the mahasamadhi of revered Vireswaranandaji Maharaj. One is amazed to see that even now there is a profound inquisitiveness and enthusiasm of devotees and admirers to know more about him.

The then Secretary of Rajkot Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Dhruveshanandaji Maharaj, introduced Drs. Anil and Lata Desai of Jhagadhiya, Gujarat and me to Swami Chaitanyanandaji Maharaj. After many rounds of discussions, an All-India 'Swami Vireswarananda Smriti Committee' was formed. It was decided by the Committee that the life of Swami Vireswaranandaji, a worthy successor of the spiritual legacy of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ma Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda, should be brought before the society in a book form for inspiration to countless people. We sincerely believe that it is possible even today to mould one's life according to the ideal of the Holy Trio and by doing so, human life is fulfilled. Therefore, it is necessary, in this present decadent age, to mould one's life according to the ideal of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sri Ma, and Swamiji. This was the motive behind the decision of the Smriti Committee to bring out the present book for keeping Swami Vireswaranandaji's life before the society as an inspiration.

In order to discuss this subject, our first meeting was held on the 5th February 2010 at the office of the Secretary of Saradapith, Swami Divyanandaji Maharaj. It was decided there that the book would be published in three languages: Bengali, Hindi, and English. The subject-matter would be a comprehensive biography of revered Maharaj, his letters, articles, photographs and a section of 'collection of sayings' and 'questions and answers' from various writings, letters, and conversations of revered Maharaj. Apart from this, it would include reminiscences of the senior and the junior sannyasins and sannyasinis, the devotees and the admirers from India and abroad. The second meeting was held on the 1st November 2010 at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, with Swami Sarvabhutanandaji, its Secretary, extending the hospitality. And on the 22nd and the 23rd October 2011, the third meeting was held at the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, Kamarpukur, West Bengal, with arrangements made by Swami Vishwanathanandaji, the Secretary. The fourth meeting took place on the 4th November 2012 again at Saradapith hosted by Swami Divyanandaji Maharaj. All the committee members convey their sincere gratitude for their hospitality and offer their respectful pranams to them.

After the first meeting, the Committee members went to Belur Math to receive the blessings of revered Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj, Vice President of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, now deceased. He inspired and encouraged us all so that the book is published in a fitting manner. He himself wrote to some select devotees in India and outside India to send their reminiscences with photographs and letters of revered Vireswaranandaji in their possession, if any, to the 'Swami Vireswarananda Smriti Committee'. With his enthusiasm and encouragement, the work on the book commenced. On the 20th October 2011, his sudden mahasamadhi shocked all the Committee members. A few days before he gave up his mortal body, revered Swami Prameyananadaji had, however, written the Introduction to this book. The Committee members took a little time to overcome the shock of this bereavement and started the work on the book again after sometime.

Revered Swami Vimalatmanandaji Maharaj, Secretary to the present President Maharaj of the Sangha, revered Swami Atmasthanandaji Maharaj, had, like Rev Swami Prameyanandaji Maharaj, also extended all possible help so that this book is published in a befitting way. He helped in collecting the reminiscences, finance etc. Above all, he himself, with the help of a special auditor, kept track of the money matters and the accounts. He was helped in this work by Revered Swami Anaghanandaji and Swami Atmeshwaranandaji. We offer them our respectful pranams.

The Committee is grateful to M/s. M Saha and Co. for their apt counsel regarding the transparency of the accounts. We also offer them our due namaskars.

The Smriti Committee gave the main editing responsibility for bringing the book out in three languages to Revered Swami Chaitanyanandaji, Adhyaksha, Ramakrishna Math, Cooch Behar, W.B., now the Editor of 'Udbodhan'. Under his supervision, Revered Swami Satyamayanandaji, Editor of 'Prabuddha Bharata', presently Adhyaksha, Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Kanpur, U.P., has done the editing in English. Revered Swami Videhatmanandaji, Editor of 'Vivek-Jyoti', has edited the book in Hindi and revered Swami Chaitanyanandaji himself has edited the publication in Bengali. The Bengali version was published first. The Hindi version was published next. The English version is now being brought out. We, from the 'Swami Vireswarananda Smriti Committee', offer them our gratitude and respectful pranams.

Good many a person willingly gave photographs and their reminiscences of revered Swami Vireswaranandaji for this book. We, from the Committee, convey our gratitude and thanks to all of them. It was not possible to publish all the photographs, letters, and reminiscences in this book. This does not mean that they are not worth publishing. Even though there was a desire to publish them all, the fear of enormous volume has restrained us to do so. We have a plan, however, to publish them in future in a separate volume.

The book in Bengali is financed by Sri Sunil Kanti Roy, the President of the Committee and the Managing Director of the Peerless Investment and Finance Company. Apart from this, he graciously bore all the expenses of publishing the advertisements on the book in various newspapers and magazines in India. The book in English is financed by Sri M Arumugam of Singapore and Sri Sinathambi of Australia. Needless to say, that they are true connoisseurs of the message of the Holy Trio. Sri Satyavrata Mukhopadhyay, an ardent admirer of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, has financed the book published in Hindi. Besides, the members of the Committee and many other devotees and admirers have also liberally contributed towards publication of this book. We offer our gratitude and warm wishes to all of them.

My associate Sri Prasad Mungekar, contacted scores of people and kept liaison with them through e-mail at different places all over the world. He smilingly took the responsibility of correspondence in this connection. Since inception, Dr. Mrinal Kanti Mukhopadhyay has helped in a remarkable way to bring the book out. My wife Sheila and son Sanjit have tirelessly assisted in collecting the reminiscences and the photographs. Many other persons have helped in various ways in publishing this book. To all of them, we convey our sincere thanks and gratitude.

Contents