Nischayananda

Swami Nischayananda
Nischayananda, the direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda
Native name	Suraj Rao
Born	Suraj Rao May 11, 1865 Maharashtra
Died	(1934-10-22)22 October 1934 Haridwar
Cause of death	Illness
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Suraj Rao, Raoji
Citizenship	India
Occupation	Monk
Known for	Spiritual work
Home town	Belur Math, India

Nischayananda (May 11, 1865-October 22, 1934) was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda. He, together with Kalyanananda was responsible for setting up and running the Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama Kankhal. He was inspired by Vivekananda's philosophy of serving man as God and dedicated his life to serve poor and downtrodden in the remote areas where no healthcare facility existed. He worked in military service before joining the Ramakrishna Order as a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda. He met Vivekananda in Madras and decided to become his disciple. After Vivekananda's death, he went for pilgrimage and by chance came to Haridwar where he met his brother disciple Kalyanananda and joined him in carrying out the works of Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama Kankhal.

Nischayananda was born in 1865 in a small village near Janjira in Maharashtra. His pre monastic name was Suraj Rao. He was known as Raoji. He studied for a few years in an English school but could not complete his study owing to family poverty. He knew several South Indian languages and in later life could also speak fluently in Bengali. After leaving school and not finding any suitable vocation he joined military service in South Karnataka regiment. As part of his job he traveled to many places, esp. pilgrimage spots in India. He also traveled abroad to Burma, Siam (Thailand), Gibraltar, Malta etc. He went to Andaman and studied the life of the tribals residing there and collected many information about their way of life. He was a first class shot and secured high rank in shooting competition in the military. He was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. Once while he was in Raipur, he met Niranjananda, a direct disciple of Ramakrishna. Niranjananda introduced him to spiritual life and instilled in him a desire to meet Vivekananda, who was in West at that time. Suraj Rao went through all news and information that appeared about Vivekananda. In January 1897 when Vivekananda returned to India and was traveling through South India. Suraj Rao was one of the large crowd of villagers who had stopped the train carrying Vivekananda to Madras, to have a glimpse of him. He traveled by foot to Madras and met Vivekananda in Castle Kernan. Because he wanted to renounce the world and follow the footsteps of Vivekananda, which was hindered by his service commitment, Suraj Rao feigned insanity and was discharged from the military service. Immediately upon discharge he traveled to Calcutta and met Vivekananda in 1901. He was subsequently initiated by Vivekananda into monastic life who gave him the name Nischayananda (Nischaya - determination).