The Muscular Monk

Swami Vivekananda’s thoughts are a complex and multidimensional interplay of India’s ancient and medieval past and his 19th century milieu. He was an ardent advocate of masculinity and sports. This article discusses the influential contributions to theories of masculinity which provide a framework within which Vivekananda’s physical activities and gendered notions can be situated. His belief that football is not insignificant reveals his concerns for the development of manliness among the so-called effeminate Bengalis. He himself practised a number of colonial sports and expressed profound interest in golf though these sports were not seen as a form of leisure. The lessons of physical culture not only strengthened his body but empowered his mind against inequality and perils. Vivekananda appeals to the Hindu sources for his construction of the body and mind of the spiritual aspirant as a site delimited and shielded.

O Thou Lord of Gauri, O Thou Mother of the Universe, vouchsafe manliness unto me!
O Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, take away my unmanliness, and make me a Man!
                                                                                                          – Swami Vivekananda [1899]¹

Swami Vivekananda was an ardent advocate of masculinity and sports. While his famous dictum that playing football was more divine an activity than reading holy books has attracted commentary, his actual playing experiences and their possible impact on his philosophy remain unexplored. We discuss the influential contributions to theories of masculinity which provide a framework within which Vivekananda’s physical activities and gender notions can be situated. Thereafter, we look at Vivekananda’s experiences with various sports as distinct from leisure and conclude by contextualising these exertions in the formulation of his critique of colonialism and local debilities.