Subhas Chandra Bose

Indian Politician. Supported Gandhi and joined Swaraj Party (1923); Chief Executive Officer of Calcutta (1924); President of Bengal Congress (1927); led Bengal delegation to National Congress (1928); advocated complete independence for India; many times imprisoned; wrote The Indian Struggle (1935) and Taruner Swapna; President of the Indian National Congress (1938).

From Vivekananda I turned gradually to his master, Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Vivekananda had made speeches, written letters, and published books which were available to the layman. But Ramakrishna, who was almost an illiterate man, had done nothing of the kind. He had lived his life and had left it to others to explain it. Nevertheless, there were books or diaries published by his disciples which gave the essence of his teachings…. There was nothing new in his teaching, which is as old as Indian civilization itself, the Upanishads having taught thousands of years ago that through abandonment of worldly desires alone can immortal life be attained. The effectiveness of Ramakrishna’s appeal lay, however, in the fact that he had practised what he preached and that…he had reached the acme of spiritual progress.