Letters of Swami Vivekananda

Anyone can play the master

To Swami Sadananda14 February 1890

RenunciationWritten in Bengali1 min read

Dear one,

I take it you are keeping well in body. Go on with your own japa and tapas, your sādhana and your bhajana, and give your sevā to everyone, knowing yourself to be the servant of their servants. As for the people you are with, even I am not fit to be the servant of their servants, not worthy of the dust of their feet. Know this, and give them your sevā and your bhakti. Even if they abuse you, even if they kill you, do not get angry. Do not go about in the company of any woman. Try, little by little, to become hardy, and as you grow used to it, try by degrees to keep the body going on bhikṣā. Whoever calls on the name of Ramakrishna, know that one to be your Guru. Anyone can play the master; to be a servant is very hard. In particular, listen to what Sashi tells you. Without Guru-niṣṭhā, unshakable patience and perseverance, nothing at all will come of it. Know this for certain, for certain. Strict morality is what is wanted. The least slip this way or that, and all is ruined. That is all.

Narendranath.

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