Editor – This article  was published in the January 2014 issue of Prabuddha Bharata.

Excerpts from article
There  is a Sanskrit term, varchas.  Like ‘dharma’, varchas is  a word that defies translation, though the dictionary would give  several terms like ‘vigour’, ‘energy’, ‘light’, and  ‘shape’. It is, however, always used as a positive way of praise.  If we say someone is endowed with varchas,  we could understand it to mean one who has an irresistible  attractiveness, one whose mere presence is enough for people to draw  nearer. That even Swami Vivekananda’s photo has that varchas was  brought home to me by Swami Srirangananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

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Also read
1. Address to Parliament of Religions 1893
2. Vivekananda’s Vision for Women
3. Travel to Mayavati Ashram Uttaranchal where Swamiji stayed and meditated