Explanatory notes (E.N.) 1890

E.N.90.4 (Text page: 20 July)

1) EWD1 p.241: Swamiji set out in the third week of July
1890. In a letter to Swami Saradananda on 6 July 1890 he
wrote, “… I intend shortly, as soon as I can get my fare, to
go up to Almora and thence …” (CW 6 pp.264-65). In
another letter to Swami Saradananda on 15 July 1890 he
wrote, “… I will leave this place before this letter reaches
you; …” (CW 9 pp.21-22).
2) According to other biographers — PNB1 p.156: month of
July, YN1 p.221 and SND1 p.374: mid-July, VRK1 p.329:
Swamiji left Calcutta at the end of July.
3) MDG1 p.143 & BswP p.174: As per reminiscences of
Mahendranath Dutta, Swamiji left Baranagore Math along
with Swami Akhandananda on a Sunday by a morning
train. Hara Mohan Mitra and Upendranath
Mukhopadhyaya of Basumati went to the station to see
them off. The date of departure from Baranagore Math
maybe Sunday 20 July, or Sunday 27 July, or Sunday 3
August 1890.

4) AKH pp.68-69: Before their departure, Swamiji with
Swami Akhandananda went to Ghusuree to have the
blessings of Holy Mother. While returning from Ghusuree,
Swamiji said to Swami Akhandananda, “Look, Ganges, we
shall not get down anywhere. We go straight to the
North-West Province”. So, they set out from Baranagore
Math and next day the two monks reached Bhagalpur.
According to this book, it seems, they might have started
on Sunday 3 August 1890 by train and reached Bhagalpur
on 4 August. As per reminiscences of Manmathanath
Chowdhury of Bhagalpur the monks arrived one morning
in August 1890.
5) AKC pp.22-23: From Swami Akhandananda’s memoir,
Swamiji had a great desire to see the tunnel, so we made
a roundabout route using the loop line via Bhagalpur and
came to Lakshmi Sarai.
6) SND1 p.374, YN1 p.222: If Swamiji had started from
Baranagore Math in mid-July, and if he had taken a
fortnight to reach Bhagalpur, their first halt (365 miles
from Calcutta), it seems that they came on foot and
possibly visited Nadia, Shantipur and other places on the
way.

Present researcher’s Impression:
Swamiji probably started on 20 July 1890 by a morning train.
Swamiji had plan to travel on foot along the Ganga, to beg his
food as an ordinary monk, to have a spiritual exercise and
also adventure. From Swami Akhandananda’s memoir, we
know that Swamiji had a great desire to see a tunnel. They
might have got down from train somewhere near Bhagalpur.
Swamiji visited the tunnel at ‘Kuppa Ghat’ (E.N.90.5) and
from there they reached Bhagalpur on foot. When they
reached the bank of the Ganga at Bhagalpur, they were
looking tired and shabby in old dirty ochre garments.

They attracted the attention of Kumar Nityananda Singh. The
next morning they went to Manmathanath Chowdhury’s
house. It was the month of August 1890 as per reminiscences
of Manmathanath Chowdhury.
Most probably Swamiji with Swami Akhandananda set out
on 20 July 1890 from Baranagore Math.