The Swami Who Rejected Modi as a Monk and Inspired Him to Politics
NEW DELHI: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inspired by Swami Vivekananda so much he wanted to be a monk. However it was the head monk of Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Atmasthananda who advised against it and got rejected thrice.
It was Swami Atmasthanand Maharaj that inspired the former Gujarat CM into politics saying that his destiny lies elsewhere and not as a monk.
Presently the 97-year old monk isn’t keeping well and Modi will be visiting the Swamiji in Belur Math near Kolkata.
"Modiji treats him as his guru and wants to meet him since our Maharaj has grown very old and is in hospital for a long time.
When both of them were in Rajkot, Modi used to go to him to seek guidance," Subirananda Maharaj, assistant secretary of the Math, told PTI.
During 1966, the young Modi was 16 years of age when Swami Atmasthanand advised him that he must be among people and not in seclusion. When Modi met the head monk 47 years later on 2013, he told him that "You had told me to go away that time and that is why I am the chief minister now."
Even when he was taking oath as a Prime Minister, it is a lesser known fact that he was carrying a ‘prasadi’ flower in his jacket pocket.
After being rejected to pursue his spiritual life, and under the advice of Swami Atmasthanand, Modi joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and then on ventured into politics.
The Swami was also happy to find Modi as a Prime Minister and even wrote congratulating him for his ‘thumping majority’.
The swami is presently struggling from age-related illness and has been admitted in a hospital since February 21.