Like Rolling River Free …: The Story of Swami Saradananda in the West Along with Lives of Sara C. Bull & Sarah J. Farmer

By Vandana M. Jani

Like Rolling River Free highlights three central characters: Swami Saradananda, Sara Bull, and Sarah Farmer, who played a critical role in the growth of American spirituality.

The author examines Swami Saradananda’s life in detail, weaving together strands from America’s religious and cultural history. In the process, she reveals the importance of two women: Sara Bull, the daughter of a senator and the wife of a famous musician who became one of Swami Vivekananda’s most significant supporters and trusted disciples; and Sarah Farmer, the creator of the Greenacre Conferences.

The book details the captivating family history of both Bull and Farmer, providing readers a detailed view of nineteenth-century America. But most striking is the book’s portrayal of Saradananda, who was Sri Ramakrishna’s one of the most influential disciple. His contributions to the Ramakrishna Order provided it with essential guidance and they continue to reverberate today.

Join the author as she explores how Saradananda spread a message of religious harmony as you learn about Vedanta, one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jan 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665731614

Vandana M. Jani

Vandana M. Jani, Ph.D., who has enjoyed a career as a post-doctoral research associate and science educator, is the co-founder of Vivekananda Vidyapith, a nonprofit organization focused on character-building education for K-12 students. Based in Wayne, New Jersey, the institution has thrived under her guidance for the past forty-five years. Following the Vedanta tradition by her late guru, Swami Adiswarananda, she has devoted her life to spiritual pursuits.

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Copyright © 2023 Vandana M. Jani, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-3162-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3160-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3161-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919057

Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/06/2023

CONTENTS

Illustrations

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1: THE PREPARATORY STAGE

Chapter 1Glittering Lights of Fireflies

Chapter 2The Spirit of the Seven Mountains

Chapter 3Abode of God

Chapter 4Unfoldment at Eden House

Chapter 5King’s Daughters

Chapter 6The Greenacre Vision Dawns

Chapter 7The Greenacre Vision Manifested

Chapter 8His Master

Chapter 9All Men Are Our Kindred; the World Is Our Home

Chapter 10Clarion Call

Part 2: SOJOURN OF SWAMI SARADANANDA IN THE WEST

Chapter 11Sarat

Chapter 12London Days

Chapter 13Arrival in New York

Chapter 14Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Greenacre, Maine

Chapter 15Greenacre Conferences of 1896 Continues

Chapter 16Behind the Scenes

Chapter 17In the Lap of White Mountains

Chapter 18Home Congress and World’s Food Fair

Chapter 19Brooklyn, New York

Chapter 20Cambridge Conferences 1896 and Lectures in Boston and Vicinity

Chapter 21The Psychomath Club: Waltham, Massachusetts

Chapter 22509 Fifth Avenue: New York, New York

Chapter 23Dark Clouds and No Rain

Chapter 24The Vedanta Work Continues

Chapter 25Exploring Cambridge and Vicinity

Chapter 26Profile House: New Hampshire

Chapter 27Greenacre 1897 — I

Chapter 28Greenacre 1897 — II

Chapter 29New York, New York, and Montclair, New Jersey

Chapter 30Nashville, Tennessee, and Richmond, Virginia

Chapter 31Worcester, Cambridge, Waltham, Boston, and Vicinity

Chapter 32Like Rolling River Free: Montclair, Chicago, New York, India

Epilogue

Appendix A: Announcements, Lectures, and Discourses of Swami Saradananda

Appendix B: Swami Saradananda in the West – Timeline

About the Author

At the feet of

Holy Mother

Sri Sarada Devi

It is about your beloved Sarat, Dear Mother.

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Holy Footprints

(Design courtesy of Radha Dhar)

ILLUSTRATIONS

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Swami Saradananda

(Courtesy of Vedanta Society of Northern California)

FOREWORD

Like Rolling River Free: The Story of Swami Saradananda in the West is a remarkable book, filled with fascinating details and fueled by ardent devotion to Swami Saradananda. Only that kind of singular devotion would make such intense, detailed research possible. Very few people would have the tenacity or dedication to track down the immense amount of granular detail that is found throughout this book. Nor would they have the patience to sleuth their way across New England and elsewhere to pursue leads with the instinct of a detective and the heart of a poet.

Dr. Vandana Jani’s ambitious book weaves strands from America’s religious and cultural history and, in so doing, ties together the lives of two particularly significant women. Sarah Farmer was the creator of the famed Greenacre Conferences. And Sara Bull, daughter of a senator and wife of one of the world’s most celebrated musicians (indeed, Ole Bull’s violin is prominently displayed at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC), was herself a cultured, brilliant spiritual aspirant who became one of Swami Vivekananda’s most significant supporters and trusted disciples.

These two women were destined to become both great and historically important. They were great friends as well, with a great deal in common. Both women were foundational in the early work of Vedanta in the West and in the Greenacre Conferences and in the lives of both Swami Vivekananda and Swami Saradananda. Both Sara Bull’s and Sarah Farmer’s captivating family histories and backgrounds are carefully detailed, giving us a broader and richer knowledge of nineteenth-century American history. Of equal interest is the close look into the personal lives of these extraordinary women during extraordinary times.

The centerpiece of the book, however, is Swami Saradananda, one of Sri Ramakrishna’s foremost monastic disciples and, in many ways, one of the most influential. Swami Saradananda’s contribution to the Ramakrishna Order was multifaceted and multilayered, and his many talents guided its direction since its inception.

Swami Saradananda was the first secretary of the twin organizations, Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, a position he held until his death in 1927. When asked to become president of the order on the death of Swami Brahmananda, Saradananda refused, saying that Swami Vivekananda had asked him to be the order’s secretary, and in that post he would remain.

Swami Saradananda was also, notably, the attendant of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna. As she said herself, Only Sarat [Swami Saradananda’s pre-monastic name] can bear my burden. He also managed Holy Mother’s many quarreling, difficult relatives and her sprawling household.

While serving as Mother’s attendant in a small room on the ground floor of the Udbodhan House, Swami Saradananda wrote his great magnum opus, his biography of Sri Ramakrishna entitled Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga, known in English as Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master or, its more recent translation, Sri Ramakrishna and His Divine Play.

Less well known than these stellar contributions was Swami Saradananda’s unique contribution to Vedanta in the West. Swami Vivekananda asked him to come to the United States and continue his work in spreading Vedanta. Swami Saradananda came in 1896 and left in early 1898. As short a time as that may seem, he worked indefatigably, which is brought out in admirable detail in Like Rolling River Free. Indeed, one wonders when the swami slept or ate or meditated, so heavy was his travel and speaking schedule.

More importantly, his brief work here was deeply appreciated. Swami Saradananda’s talks at Greenacre in particular had a lasting effect on Vedanta in the West. For example, the oft-repeated quote that is nearly always attributed to Swami Vivekananda was actually Swami Saradananda’s at the Greenacre Conference: The mission of Vedanta to the West is not to make Christians Hindus, but to make the Christian a better Christian, the Hindu a better Hindu, and a Mohammedan a better Mohammedan. This lofty ideal, in turn, was repeated by New Thought leaders, and liberal clergymen, who had heard it from him directly. They then passed on the idea to their respective audiences, as the idea found resonance and spread far and wide, thus giving strength to the incipient interfaith movement.

Swami Saradananda’s fine intellect; superb English; and warm, gentle, and kindly nature drew many people to him, facts this book brings out with great clarity. Swami Aseshananda, who was for many years the head of the Vedanta Society of Portland, was Sri Sarada Devi’s disciple; he was also the private secretary of Swami Saradananda, from whom he received sannyasa vows, for many years. Once, I asked Swami Aseshananda if he would ever want to be reborn. I assumed his reply, should it be positive, would be about his guru, Sri Sarada Devi. To my surprise Swami Aseshananda replied, Only if I could serve Swami Saradananda. He was so kind, so kind.

The three central characters of this book—Swami Saradananda, Sara Bull, and Sarah Farmer, with their various strands of life and work—all come together at the Greenacre Conferences, which seeded the flowering of American spirituality, the effects of which we continue to see today.

We have to be grateful to Dr. Vandana Jani for her single-minded dedication in pulling these strands together and pursuing such intrepid research to create this book. With her poetic vision and indefatigable spirit, she has given the rest of us a treasure of spirituality and historical research.

Pravrajika Vrajaprana

Vedanta Society of Southern California

Mahalaya, 2022

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This journey, Like Rolling River Free, results from research work done over the past ten years, which could not have been possible without many fellow travelers.

At this precious moment of presenting this book in readers’ hands, I remember all those who are integral parts of this journey.

I offer my humble pranam to my revered spiritual guru, late Swami Adiswarananda of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, New York. His inspiration, confidence in me, and ceaseless blessings, as well as the vigorous training given by him for thirty-six years have always guided me. The Center, my second home, is now under the spiritual guidance of revered Swami Yuktatmananda. I am privileged to learn from him the profound doctrines of Vedanta that he makes tangible for us through his thorough studies.

To Swami Vidananda (Barry Maharaj), late Swami Anasaktananda (Martin Maharaj), and late brother Shiva-Chaitanya (Joseph Maharaj), I take this opportunity to offer my sincere loving salutations.

A profound sense of gratitude binds me with Mother Pravrajika Vrajaprana of the Vedanta Temple, Santa Barbara, California. Her deep interest in the life of revered Swami Saradananda came as a blessing, as she read through the manuscript and kindly wrote the foreword for this book. At times of natural roadblocks, she uplifted my spirit, saying, I am with you, 100 percent, to see that the book is published. Thank you, Mother, for being you.

Revered Swami Chetanananda Maharaj of Vedanta Society, St. Louis, has always encouraged this project. I am thrilled he accepted my request to write a blurb for this book. He also granted permission to use many photographs from his collection for this book. So Swamiji, please accept my humble pranam. Swami Nishpapananda, also of Vedanta Society, St. Louis, sent very carefully scanned photos for what he laughingly calls Saradananda Purana. Thank you Swami.

My loving thanks to Mother Pravrajika Dharmaprana from the Vedanta Society of Northern California, who provided me with photographs of Swami Saradananda and related letters. I have felt her sweetness continually in our correspondence.

I express my sincere reverence to Swami Tyagananda of Ramakrishna Vedanta Society of Boston for sharing ideas of publishing according to the book’s perspective.

My special thanks to Professor Leigh E. Schmidt, Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University, St. Louis, who was kind enough to write, within a short period, a blurb for this book. I came to know him only through his brilliant work on Swami Saradananda and Sympathy of Religions.

Dr. Deba Saha gets very absorbed when talking about people and places related to Sri Ramakrishna and his disciples. I am happy he has written a blurb for this book. I am thankful to him, as well as to Suddhasatta Acharyya, for translating Bengali writings to English for this book.

I offer my reverence to Mother Pravrajika Prabuddhaprana of the Sarada Math and Mission. Her books are the evidence of her deep interest and tireless research. These books and Sister Gargi’s series, New Discoveries, have strengthened the foundation of my humble efforts.

I value the research work of Gopal Stavig and Asim Chaudhuri. Their respective books, Western Admirers of Sri Ramakrishna and His Disciples and Swami Vivekananda in America: New Findings, are, to me, mines of valuable resources.

I am grateful to Rosanne M. Adams, the brilliant archivist of the Eliot Baha’i Center, Eliot, Maine, for her spirited efforts in providing everything I asked of her. I also express my gratitude to Helen Goransson from the Bondgarden Farm, Eliot, who shared the Ralph S. Bartlett slide collection.

Our dear friend Mihir Shah, Montclair town engineer at that time, helped discover the old hand-written documents, addresses, correct names, maps, and so much more related to Mrs. Wheeler that helped me to further my research.

Bill Fischer of Montclair Public Library Local History Department, helped to read through the numerous microfiche films of Montclair Times, where I found historical weekly lists of the town’s social activities. Through this, we discovered Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler’s involvement in Montclair’s social circle and their deep commitment to uplift the town’s outer makeup and the inner moral strength of its people.

All thanks to Nisha Parikh, my student, alumna, and now a teacher at Vivekananda Vidyapith, who drove me to Montclair Library on snowy days and worked with me for many days rolling that old-style microfiche machine.

Thanks to Pravrajika Dharmaprana and Amrita Salm for sharing with me an invaluable letter of Mrs. Wheeler’s, written to Miss Sarah Ellen Waldo on April 11, 1897, expressing the kindness of Swami Saradananda, in which she had written, I love Swami Saradananda for what he stands for.

I needed to explore more, and so we built up a research team—my husband, Mahendra Jani; Sangeeta and Dipak Mehta; and Neirah Bhargava. Without the help of this research team, the book would have remained a dream!

Thanks to Irene Sandler at Cambridge Historical Society and the staff at Framingham Public Library, Framingham Normal School Library, and Melrose Library for providing the information we needed.

Andrea Fitzgerald, the lead archivist and the other staff of the Lisbon Historical Society were eager to help and share the information on Swami Saradananda. I extend my heartfelt thanks to them.

Our Worcester, Massachusetts, trips were exciting, thanks to the archivist at the Archives and Special Collections of George C. Gordon Library, Worcester Historical Society, and the Worcester Public Library’s research and reference department.

To Ross Griffiths, the archivist/liaison at Worcester State University, my special thanks for giving us the picture portrait of Juliet Porter of Worcester Normal School. Swami Saradananda had stayed at Porter’s home. Juliet Porter arranged a series of lectures for him at Worcester.

We are grateful to Dana Hamlin, the archivist at Waltham Public Library; Mikella Wolf of Sharon Library; and Cathleen Miller, curator at Maine Women Writers Collection, University of New England, Portland, Maine.

When I was not traveling, the New York Historical Society became my place of solitude. Thanks to the supervisor of the special collections, Eleanor Gillers, who kept the material always ready for us, knowing I would be coming that day. Thanks to Robert Delap for so kindly permitting me to use the material for the research.

Thanks to Sunita, Sunil, and Rishi Dhar, with whom I visited many places in New York City and Brooklyn associated with Swami Vivekananda and Swami Saradananda.

I thank our Vidyapith alumni group—Radha Dhar, the fine-tuner; Chintal Shah, spreading laughter constantly; and Ronak Parikh for his admiring sincerity.

Loving thanks for Sneha Shah and Radhika Shukla’s creativity, Aastha Chaturvedi’s caring nature, and Srujanee Pradhan’s keen eye. You all went through portions of drafts and asked penetrating questions. Of course, all of this enhanced the book.

Thanks to Suman Narangrekar for sending material from the library of Oxford University, United Kingdom; Alak Mehta for newspaper photos from Nashville, Tennessee; and Yesha for providing many links to newspapers from Brooklyn Library.

I personally admire Rushil Desai and his sister Sachi, who read copies of Sara Bull’s letters from India, written on both sides of old-style thin papers.

Special thanks to my computer doctors, Hardik Desai, Nishank Mehta, and Hemang Jani, for always being there on Zoom in a short notice to help troubleshoot till the trouble was fixed.

I express my appreciation to Latha, Hanumantha Rao, and Pallavi Tatapudy. It was so much fun to drive together to Oxford, New York, and dig out information about the Thorp family.

Loving thanks to Jyoti and Himanshu Shah, Apexa and Nilesh Shukla, Manish Ajvalia, Yesha Naik, and Ammu Kirtane. No words can express our relationship. Thank you for considering me as your own.

There are plenty of Vivekananda Vidyapith friends to whom I offer my deep gratitude. You all are my buddies. I could knock at your doors anytime, even if they were Zoom doors. I met with many of you on my Zoom screen when I narrated the katha (story) of Swami Saradananda Purana in twelve sessions. I liked when you discussed the matter from all angles and gave valuable suggestions. Many of you worried for us and were always ready wherever the help was needed. The love I have seen in your eyes, I have treasured in my heart. You all have shown exceptional support.

Being a Vivekananda Vidyapith family, we share and enjoy a relationship built on a unique foundation—the pure and practical principles of Vedanta, practiced as best as we all could in our daily lives. I offer my prayers for all of us.

To Nagarkatte, Gandhi, Desai, Pandya, Parekh, Vaidya, Naik and Ajvalia families, as well as to Lata Desai of Sewa Rural, India; Bhadra Shah of the Share and Care Foundation; Niroo and Narendra Gupta and Vandana and Atul Chokshi of Krishna Heart Institute, India, I promise you will love this book.

To our dear friends Uma and Appu Ramakrishnan, you will see in the book how the lifelong love and relationship we shared have been subtly woven in every stitch and shade of this fabric.

Loving thanks to our Jani and Dave Families. Your care, support, and love are invaluable to my heart. I always tried to keep in mind what our dear mothers and fathers taught us through their lives. As you read the book, I hope you will feel the presence of their spirits, just as I have.

I offer my namaskars to our sambandhis (our son Pranav’s parents-in-law), Srimati Nagarathna and Shri V. Sreenivas Ji. It is rare to meet such pious and humble people in life. Your love and inquiries about my well-being are always comforting. The recitations of stotras and bhajans during our weekly Zoom prayers are very precious to me. I look forward to it every Sunday evening.

My granddaughters supported this book from the very beginning. Meenakshi went through the very early drafts, discussed them, and very respectfully offered valuable suggestions. Savita took a keen interest in Baa’s writing with her inquisitive mind. Thank you both for being my two eyes.

I thank our daughter-in-law, Mytheli, and son, Pranav. Both are brilliant scholars and activists who are rooted firmly in what they value. Your help and support has left an inspiring impression on my heart. Thanks for the many discussions and suggestions to strengthen the theme of the book.

Again, I would like to thank Sangeeta and Dipak Mehta, and Neirah Bhargava for being on our research team for so many years. Not a night has gone by in this past decade where we went to bed without adding or removing some material related to this book. Swami Saradananda nurtured us and strengthened our relations. A thank you will never be enough for such a tremendous task.

How could I forget the one final member of our team, my husband, Mahendra, Uncle to everyone at Vivekananda Vidyapith? We are together because Sri Ramakrishna wanted us to be together. Throughout my life, I have felt your support, strength, love, and assurance that we will reach our goal. Like two young friends, we sat every morning, at the dining table, had discussions, and argued but always found a solution and went further with Swami Saradananda. Together, we have felt Swami Saradananda’s presence in our prayers and readings and all around us. Thank you for being with me.

I suspect he proudly thinks he is my publishing agent for this book; of course, I let him think that way. Why not? Clearly, I know that he reveres the magnanimous life of Swami Saradananda deeply in his heart!

Finally, much appreciation goes to Archway Publishing from Simon and Schuster. Their various teams carefully inspected, edited, formatted, and beautified the material I gave them, and they very skillfully and artistically gave the final shape to this book.

Let us read, meditate, learn, practice, and live a blessed life, as Swami Vivekananda says in The Song of the Sannyasin, Like rolling river free.

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INTRODUCTION

In silence

Feel the stillness move

—Kabir ¹

There stood a wood cabin, serene and calm, in the lap of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, surrounded by tall trees dressed in beautiful autumn colors. The sounds of the singing streams were joined by soft wind chanting through the pines. It was as if nature was immersed in playing a symphony of tangible divinity! Yet, the blanket of darkness was slowly enveloping the forest.

It was tranquil inside the cabin. Now and then, one could hear only the sound of the wood crackling in the fireplace. The glowing fire was curling and swaying. Golden, orange, and red flames had filled the room with their mystic dance of light and shadow.

Swami Saradananda was seated in a wooden rocking chair by the fireplace, absorbed in deep thoughts, while others were floating on the wings of divine silence that transported them to timelessness.

Tenderly, he talked to them and shared with them the hidden treasure from their scriptures. Listening to Swami Saradananda, their eager and parched hearts bathed in pure sacredness.

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Twelve years later, on September 29, 1908, Sarah Farmer wrote:

It will be twelve years tomorrow night since Emma and Ina Thursby, Lizzie Bartlett and I—a party occupying that beautiful log cabin at the Forest Hills House, Franconia, N.H., sat about a blazing fire and listened to that great soul—Swami Saradananda—explain to us the inner meaning of our Scriptures.

Mrs. Schlesinger and her two daughters from Brookline, MA, had been invited in and sat spellbound. They never forgot that night. They speak of it often. The longing is in my heart to repeat that experience, and the opportunity is almost within my grasp!

—And yet—serene, I fold my hands and wait! ²

On the other side of the page, she wrote to Emma Thursby, her friend:

The Dovecote

Sept. 29, 1908

Dear Child of Light,

The extract on the other side shows what I longed to have—a quiet fireside with you and Mrs. Bull where I could lay before you the great vision with which my soul is filled, as it was in 1888 when the midsummer Fete was unfolded before me; in 1892, when the Green Acre conferences took form; in 1894 when the details of the Monsalvat School (announced 1892) were laid out before me. That wonderful creative energy is upon me, but this time, it takes all eagerness from me, makes me wise to understand and bravely gladly to wait. (Evangel) ³

She again wrote the next day:

How good you are to telegraph me such joyful news, beloved Child of Light!

I will let you know as quickly as I can …

How long do you want to be in the White Mountains? ⁴

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And now, in the present time, when more than a century has passed since these letters were written, the White Mountains still laid their reflections on the surface of Echo Lake. We, a group of friends searching for the places associated with Swami Saradananda, stood there, on holy ground. It was the same place where the beautiful and elegant Forest Hills House Hotel and the log cabins existed. They were like a jewel hidden in the lap of the Franconia Mountains in New Hampshire. The faraway pines were still whispering stories they’d once heard coming from the cabin, creating a soothing song—a song that spread far beyond the Franconia.

On our way, we stopped at a wayside old log cabin. A little brook sang at the back of the cabin, and the birds dove in refreshing waters. We entered one of the cabins. In the evening light, it was as if we were in the same setting described in the letters. There was a wooden rocking chair, along with a few other chairs, a table, and a sofa. The fireplace was alive. The flames filled the room with their orange and red hues as if they, too, were searching for the serene face of Swami Saradananda.

Was he seated on the rocking chair? In hushed silence, we sat around the chair, visualizing the mystic moments frozen in the lap of eternal time through the mind’s eye.

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Living room with fireplace inside a rustic cabin

(Courtesy of Dipak Mehta)

Looking at the story of Swami Saradananda through this lens allows us to see how Sara Bull and Sarah Farmer played an important part in introducing the Vedanta to the West, Vedanta, is a Hindu philosophy based on the realization of the Divinity of the soul, seeing Harmony in all religions, and serving all as God.

Sara Bull was one of Sarah Farmer’s closest friends and supporters, and she was a fellow visionary. Amelia Thorp, Sara Bull’s mother, had introduced the two. Amelia Thorp and Hannah Tobey Farmer, Sarah Farmer’s mother, had also become close friends. In my view, these dynamic sets of mothers and daughters represented the spirit of women of the nineteenth century. The mothers must have imparted, silently, through their lives the sacredness of the souls in all human relations to their daughters. This made them important women who could bravely carry the vigor of Vedantic thought!

The divine was invited to the doorsteps of Sara Bull and Sarah Farmer in the form of Swami Vivekananda and, later, Swami Saradananda. This aligned their goals and gave a purpose to their talents and activities.

At the Greenacre and Cambridge Conferences, Swami Saradananda stayed for most of the time, met people from all over the United States, and made a lasting impression by giving inspiring lectures and practical lessons unifying the ideas of Vedanta.

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Like rolling river free

I am glad to place this book—Like Rolling River Free: The Story of Swami Saradananda in the West, Along with the lives of Sarah C. Bull and Sarah J. Farmer—in the readers’ hands.

The poetic line used as title is from Swami Vivekananda’s poem, The Song of the Sannyasin:

Have thou no home. What home can hold thee, friend?

The sky thy roof, the grass thy bed; and food

What chance may bring, well cooked or ill, judge not.

No food or drink can taint that noble Self

Which knows itself.

Like rolling river free

Thou ever be, Sannyasin bold! Say—

Om Tat Sat, Om.

The life of Swami Saradananda is a personification of this Thou ever be command—remaining unattached, flowing toward the goal, ever serving as a river, and demanding nothing.

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Like rolling river free

In America and London, Swami Vivekananda saw the necessity of having one or two brother disciples come to the West and help him. However, no one was ready to come. Finally, Swami Saradananda heard the urgency in his call. After celebrating Sri Ramakrishna’s sixtieth birth anniversary and obtaining Sri Sarada Devi’s blessings, he left the shores of India and arrived in London on April 1, 1896. Later, in the middle of April, Swami Vivekananda, too, came to London from America and trained his brother disciple in Western etiquette, culture, history, and giving lectures.

A letter came from Sara Bull to J. J. Goodwin, Swami Vivekananda’s admirer and stenographer, requesting that Swami Saradananda participate in the Greenacre Conferences in the United States. Swami Vivekananda liked the idea because he had participated in these conferences in 1894, and so he sent Swami Saradananda, along with Goodwin, to America.

Thus, the sojourn of Swami Saradananda in the United States started on June 27, 1896, and ended on January 12, 1898.

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Like rolling river free

Like Rolling River Free is a work of creative nonfiction. When a true story based on pure facts is told using a literary craft, it is a creative nonfiction. In this book, there are no imaginary people, places, or incidences. Instead, dialogues are built on the revealed personality traits; descriptions are direct, as we have visited all the sites described here with our research team and have read what the writers and observers of that time have written about them.

The book is an outcome of a scientific research project. At every step, a question is asked, and a satisfactory answer is sought. Each answer opened a new door for us. Thus, new places and people entered the scene. Based on such an outcome, the book is divided into two major parts, along with a final section containing additional material presented as two appendices.

Part I, chapters 1 through 10, depict the preparatory stage, telling the story of Amelia Chapman Thorp and Hannah T. Farmer, along with sharing the upbringing of their two daughters, Sara Bull and Sarah Farmer. Sara Bull was raised to become a cultured society lady, and Sarah Farmer was raised as a servant of God. How did they come together and how did their lives become ready to welcome Vedanta through the unifying thoughts of Swami Vivekananda? What was in Vedanta that was so appealing?

Perhaps they were inspired by the message of unity in Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the Parliament of Religions, delivered on September 27, 1893.

Swami Vivekananda roared like a lion:

The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his law of growth.

Holiness, purity, and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world. If anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart.

Swami Vivekananda, Swami Saradananda, and all other disciples imbibed Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings of religious harmony, Joto mot, toto poth (as many faiths, that many paths).

In Part I, we imagine how two women bravely took charge of doing something to bring about this unity for humanity. What a tremendous task, this practical application of the lofty ideas of Vedanta—and they were ready to perform it. For Sarah Farmer, the Greenacre Conferences during the summer months became her all in all. As we’ll see, she gave up her life’s possessions and life itself, while Sara Bull gave up her relatives and status in society. Her interfaith Cambridge Conferences, from November to April, became a second home for interested professors and students on selected days.

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Like rolling river free

Part II, chapters 11 through 32 are the central portion of the book, takes us to Swami Saradananda. We explore how he became a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and his life in the West.

In the first sentence of his book ‘Ramakrishna and His Disciples,’ Christopher Isherwood says, This is the Story of a Phenomenon … A phenomenon is always a fact, an object of experience. ⁵

Swami Saradananda wholeheartedly accepted Sri Ramakrishna as a phenomenon and gave up all to serve him and spread his message.

The twin ideals of realization and service shine through the lives of all the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The aim is the same; the methods may be different. Swami Vivekananda came to the West and went around like a whirlwind, like a fully blazing sun, waking up all the creatures.

Swami Saradananda was inward, calm, and loving. He was like the light of the moon; wherever he went, he showered all around him with peace and tranquility. He went through many struggles, calmly assessed the situations he faced, and studied the nature of people. And even when things were getting odd around him, he remained indifferent. Swami Vivekananda once remarked, Sarat’s blood is as cold as that of a fish; nothing can inflame it.

Swami Saradananda was an ideal Karma yogi. He worked with a clear goal, a perfect plan, and a precise method. In the Bhagavad Gita, chapter two, Sri Krishna defines Yoga as the art of working skillfully.

Together with Swami Saradananda, we will also meet many Eastern and Western personalities here and become aware of their countless struggles, silent sacrifices, and constant adjustments, as well as the amazing adventures they encountered at every stage of their lives.

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Like rolling river free

The final part of Like Rolling River Free consists of two appendices, containing resources guiding readers to lectures given by Swami Saradananda in the West and newspaper reports about him. Here, readers will also find a daily timeline of his activities, as well as simultaneous activities at the Greenacre and Cambridge Conferences.

Come, let’s unfold these stories; let us treasure those rhythms deep in our hearts!

As Rabindranath Tagore sings:

In the silence, which pervaded the darkness,

I stood alone

And heard the voice of the singer

Of eternal melodies ⁶

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Notes

1 Kabir, Beloved May I Enter, in Kabir Dohas and Other Poems, trans. Sushil Rao, (Hrdai Press, 1996), 45.

2 Sarah Farmer to Emma Thursby, September 29, 1902, preserved in Emma Thursby Manuscript Collection (New York: New York Historical Society Museum and Library), MS 2530.

3 Farmer to Thursby, September 29, 1902. This letter is written on the back of the letter cited in the previous note.

4 Sarah Farmer to Thursby, September 30, 1902, preserved in Emma Thursby Manuscript Collection (New York: New York Historical Society Museum and Library), MS 2530, http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/nyhs/thursby/.

5 Christopher Isherwood, Ramakrishna and His Disciples (Vedanta Press and Bookshop, 1965).

6 Rabindranath Tagore, The Realization of Beauty, in Sadhana: The Realization of Life (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1915), 144.

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PART - I

THE PREPARATORY STAGE

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The Master Chooses His Own Men and Women. We are mere instruments in His hands. It is a privilege to work under His banner. In America He already prepared the ground for me; I was not alone. He brought to me Men and Women of Exalted Character who helped me in our work and bore great love for our Master.

—Swami Saradananda

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Sara Chapman Bull

(Courtesy of Vedanta Society of Northern California)

1

GLITTERING LIGHTS OF FIREFLIES

Memory like Melody

Is pink eternally

—Emily Dickinson

It was almost past midnight on September 22, 1870. ¹ The celebration of the wedding of Sara Chapman Thorp and Ole Bull had just ended. Guests had started to leave. The joy and amazement they had at the party was overflowing into their departing conversations.

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Amelia Thorp’s Madison house, Wisconsin

(Courtesy of Mytheli Sreenivas)

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Amelia Thorp’s Madison house yard, Wisconsin

(Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society)

They continued to talk about the magnificently decorated mansion; Sara and Amelia’s exclusive, elegant white and purple gowns; the exquisite jewelry; the pleasant, subtle perfumes; the well-planned house tour; the exhibition room displaying Ole Bull’s achievements and awards; the extravagant dinner; and the magical music and dance.

Ole was born in 1810, and Sara, in 1850. It appeared the guests didn’t mind the forty-year age difference between the twenty-year-old Sara and the sixty-year-old Ole Bull. When Ole’s magic bow had played the soul-touching tunes on his violin and Sara’s fingers had danced on the keys of her piano, people had witnessed nothing but a perfect match.

Sara’s parents, Senator Joseph Thorp and his wife, Amelia, were thrilled with the celebration. With Sara and Ole by their side, they stood at the door to say goodbye to their guests. Guards with lanterns in their hands guided the guests down the hill. The horse carriages clattered down hilly Gilman Street. The crunching of yellow-brown autumn leaves, the clip clopping of horses’ hooves, and the rattling of carriage wheels echoed through the thick darkness. Gradually, all became quiet. First, Mr. Thorp went back into the house; Sara and Ole Bull followed him. Amelia stood there for some time, slowly sipping the pleasure and pride the event had brought to her.

Are you not coming in? asked Mrs. Shapleigh, Amelia’s young companion, who was a part of the family.

Give me some time, would you? said Amelia.

Of course, dear Meme, said Mrs. Shapleigh, and she left Amelia alone.

The intoxicating scent of towering pine and elk trees captured the night air. Fireflies silently started their dance, fluttering and revealing the denser darkness around their twinkling, mystic lights.

To think where we were then, Amelia reflected. And look where we are we now.

Her childhood memories sparkled around her like glittering lights of fireflies.

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Little Amelia Chapman loved to chase fireflies. She grew up with her father (William Chapman), her mother (Sarah Wilcox Chapman), and her two other elder siblings in Durham, New York. ² William Chapman had suddenly died in 1822 when Amelia was only seven. ³ Among all the relatives who came to the funeral, little Amelia only felt comfortable with Uncle Benjamin (one of the younger brothers of her Papa). Uncle Benjamin was from Norwich, New York. After her father’s death, Amelia asked Uncle Benjamin many questions. When things settled down, Benjamin said to Sarah Wilcox, Your Amelia is a very bright girl. She should get proper education. We have a good school in Norwich. Why don’t I take her with me? This way you’ll get some relief, as you have a lot to take care of.

Sarah Wilcox agreed. She thought she should let Amelia go because the chance of education would surely bring a bright future to her little Amelia.

Mother let Amelia go with Uncle Benjamin. She stood on the top of the hill as long as she could see Amelia. She blessed Amelia with her mother’s heart. Go, my darling! Today, as a child, you are hopping down the hill. I am sure that, one day, you will take a big leap toward the future by being the voice of nineteenth-century American women and awakening their spirit.

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The beautiful village of Norwich was nestled between two rolling ridges, within a valley carved by the Chenango River.

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A postcard, Chenango Valley, Norwich, New York, early 1900s

(personal postcard collection)

On the western border of the village flowed Canasawacta Creek, which united with the Chenango at the south bounds of the village. The Unadilla River formed the eastern boundary. Hills, valleys, waterfalls, farmlands, and small houses dotted the land. The village was bustling with marketplaces, churches, and schools.

Benjamin had first come to Norwich in 1810 as a clerk for businessman Zeno Allen and then for Ira Wilcox (Amelia’s maternal uncle), who had a dry goods store in Oxford, New York, and its branch store in Norwich. ⁴ In 1815, Benjamin commenced his own business in the same building. And by 1822, when Amelia came to Norwich with him, Benjamin had already been well established.

After arriving in Norwich, Amelia started attending the school. She was a brilliant girl. In her free time, she would curiously observe customers going in and out of her uncle’s store and would run around the farms to do minor chores. How many fascinating true stories about the village Amelia learned from her school projects, Sunday school teachers, and other elders! Sometimes she would go with Uncle Benjamin on a pony ride on the hills or a canoe ride on the river. She also enjoyed interpreting the past into existence and would often conjure thoughts of herself in a family of pioneers in the region during those early times.

She would visualize herself in the company of her ancestors, who might have moved to Norwich in a bullock cart from the other side of that high hill. Amelia would have had only a little bundle of her clothes on her lap and her dearest straw doll on her shoulder. Then they would have had to find a good acre of land to build a log cabin. She would visualize her mama dressed in old-time clothing and