Swamy Vivekananda's.. Life..

Vivekananda, who spread the message of
India's spiritual heritage across the world,
battled several health problems all along
and no less than 31 diseases and ailments.
'The Monk as Man' by renowned Bengali
writer Shankar lists insomnia, liver and
kidney diseases, malaria, migraine, diabetes
and heart ailments as some of the 31 health
problems that the Swami faced in the course
of his life.
Shankar describes Swami Vivekananda's
health problems using a sanskrit quote
'shariram byadhimandiram' --- the body is
the temple of diseases.
Ironically, Vivekananda used to emphasise
greatly on physical strength and is known
for the shocking statement 'Better to play
football than read the Gita'.
One of the perennial problems that
Vivekananda lived with was chronic
insomnia and in a letter to Shashi Bhushan
Ghosh dated May 29, 1897, he confided "I
never in my life could sleep as soon as I got
into bed."
The previous year, Vivekananda seemed to
have written to his 'dhira mata' (Sara Bull)
from New York complaining about his lack
of sleep. "My health has nearly broken
down. I have not slept even one night
soundly in New York since I came ... I wish I
could go to the bottom of the sea and have
a good, long sleep."
It is also known that Vivekananda used to
suffer from diabetes like his father and at
that time suitable drugs were unavailable.
Shankar writes that Vivekananda had tried
different modes of treatment ranging from
allopathic, homoeopathic to ayurvedic and
had also taken advice from all kinds of
quasi-medical experts from various
countries.
He narrates that in the summer of 1887,
Vivekananda (whose real name was
Narendranath Dutta) had fallen very ill due
to overstrain and lack of food.
During this period, he also suffered from
gallstones, and acute diarrhoea. Later,
during the same summer, he came down
with typhoid and problems in the urinary
tract.
"Narendranath's abdominal pains were a
source of great anxiety," Shankar says.
Shankar wonderfully chronicles the various
medical problems Swami Vivekananda faced
during his stint as a wandering monk in the
country and across the world, and why he
cut short his journey in Cairo, Egypt, to
return to India.
It was to French operatic soprano Rosa
Emma Calvet that Vivekandanda had
declared in Egypt that he would die on July
4.
"Swami Vivekananda's eyes filled with tears.
He said he wanted to return to his country to
die, to be with his gurubhais," Shankar
wrote.
The fateful evening of July 4, 1902,
Vivekananda passed away following a third
heart attack, completing 39 years, five
months and 24 days.