Swami V’s journey is best described by two poems he has sung.

First Poem

Let us go back once more,

O mind, to our proper home!

Here in this foreign land of earth Why should we wander aimlessly in stranger’s guise?

These living beings round about,

And the five elements,

Are strangers to you, all of them; none are your own.

Why do you so forget yourself,

In love with strangers, foolish mind?

Why do you so forget your own?

Second Poem

Siva, Oh Siva, carry my boat to the other shore.

After all, I am only the boy

who used to listen with rapt wonderment

to the wonderful words of Ramakrishna,

under the banyan tree in Dakshineshwar.

That is my true nature -

works and activities, doing good and so forth,

are all super impositions.

Now I hear his voice again,

the same old voice thrilling my soul.

Bonds are breaking, love dying, work becoming

tasteless.

The glamour of life is gone.

Now only the voice of the master is calling,

‘Let the dead bury the dead. Follow thou me.’

I come, my beloved Lord, I come.

Swami’s V’s life is simply the story of a life that passed between these poems. He sang the first poem as a young boy who had just met his master. They both knew that they did not belong on this plane. Sri Ramakrishna knew it immediately. Swami V’s immortal soul knew it, which is why he chose this poem, but it took some time for him to get there experientially. He sang the second song just as he was about to give up his body. His mission was complete. A young boy who just wanted to meditate in the Himalayas had conquered the western world and united his own country. He had broken tradition and battled crippling poverty to reach the World Congress. His success there bred jealousy and envy, and even his fellow citizens did not support him. Finally, he had overcome herculean obstacles to take his master’s message to the world and set up the Ramakrishna mission. After doing all that in his final moments, he chose to define his identity as a boy who used to listen with rapt wonderment to the wonderful words of Ramakrishna, under the banyan tree in Dakshineshwar. That shows the innocence and strength of character of this liberated soul who chose to take on a herculean task because it was his destiny.

Here are some of my favorite moments of Swami V’s life. You will notice one common thread running through them. None of them are about his extraordinary accomplishments. They are all about the times he spent alone where he committed to an impossible goal and said he would achieve his teacher’s wish or die trying.

The Moment He Saw His Future

Swami V would often dream about two paths being open to him. One where he was amazingly wealthy and successful. The other where is a monk wandering the world. The divine places such choices before all her beloved children, and they all choose the path that gives them immense pain but is beneficial for humanity.

The Moment He Lost His Guru

Swami V said that Sri Ramakrishna was the only one who never gave up hope on him. His family had stopped believing in him, yet his Guru always stood by him. This student-disciple relationship is one of spiritual history’s most unique and celebrated relationships. When his master died, they were a dozen penniless unknown boys, but together they conceived this ideal of their master had to spread. They wished to take the spirituality of the Hindus, the mercifulness of the Buddhists, the activity of the Christians, and the brotherhood of the Mohammedans. They were a dozen mad boys, and everybody was laughing at them. They begged from door to door for food. Swami V finally decided he had to walk around India to gather support for his cause.

The Moment He Ate Food Offered by a Cobbler

He was often asked why he met so many kings and people of high stature. He said he could not visit every door in this country. However, if he could influence their ideas, it could lead to social change. A cobbler in the kingdom of Khetri asked about his health. Swami confessed he had not eaten for days. The cobbler was afraid if he gave him food since he would be punished to death for feeding a Brahmin. Yet he bought him food out of compassion even when he was worried about his life. Swami V wondered how we call these people low castes and untouchables. He realized that people in India would not understand him when their minds could not think beyond the everyday business of eating and drinking. He depended on no one in India. When the divine told him to attend the World Congress, the people of Madras, his highness of Mysore, Ramand, and Khetri, made every arrangement to send him to America.

The Moment Before His Speech

He was the first monk to come to western countries. It’s the first time in the history of the world that a Hindu monk has crossed the ocean. He had broken one of the most ancient and fiercely guarded traditions of Indian saints.

At the world congress, he was so nervous that he could not speak in the morning. He had never spoken to such a large audience. Everyone came prepared with ready-made speeches, while he had none. He bowed down to Devi Sarvasti and stepped up. He spoke without notes and presented his points artistically and with the most convincing sincerity, often raising to rich, inspiring eloquence.

Dealing with Jealousy

The disease of jealousy that permeates the human soul is such that the same people who welcomed him started slandering him. They called him a cheat, a nobody, a debauched character and spread the same news in India. He spread so much goodness about Hinduism, yet the Hindu people never lifted a finger to say that he represented them. This betrayal stung him grievously. His greatest fault was that he still loved his country. He was not worried about his reputation, but it broke his heart to think about his mother. She had sacrificed her favorite son for this country and the Guru, and it would destroy her to hear such rumors.

Pushing his Students toward Seva

He focused their energy on service, and the Ramakrishna Misson became one of the world’s most spiritual and service-oriented organizations. The power of the divine and his sacrifice meant that that dozen mad boys had changed the course of Hinduism and India forever.

The life of avatars and enlightened souls is immensely inspiring and painful. The sacrifice they make allows them to act as a change agent in this world. We often assume that when one gets liberated, they instantly know the exact thing to do at every moment in life. A close examination of the life of saints tells a very different story. They also find their way gradually, and the journey is often harrowing for them and those around them. That’s the lesson I learned from this movie.

We are enormously blessed to live in one such time when our Guru launched a movement to revive Sanatana Dharma. There is no greater purpose than the one assigned by your Guru. There is no greater joy than what you get by contributing to it.

Here is a small song dedicated to my Swami V, my guru Om Swami, and all the souls who compassionately choose to come back again and again to help this nation and the world. It's written by the peerless Saint Kabir. Thanks to my wife, Rashmi, for sharing this with me.