Swamiji remembers:
“After spending 15 days at Baba Nityananda’s ashram, which was the longest He had ever kept anyone with Him, He told ME to go and serve the country. In 1962, during the war with China, I was the first to contribute to the Defence Fund. The then President, Dr. Radhakrishnan called ME to meet him. I did relief work as a social worker after the Koyna earthquake and the Andhra cyclone in 1960s and participated in the wars of 1965 and 1971. I built the Vivekananda Rock Memorial at Kanyakumari, overcoming great odds.
"Between 1959 and 1969, I was studying, but not much in school. Later, on MY own, I studied the works of Vivekananda, Ramtirtha and others. I gained general knowledge from plays, etc. At one stage, I got saturated with knowledge. For a stretch of 45 days, I was only reading and listening to lectures. Without food, water, or any action, I was just lying down, but without sleep. Psychologists were engaged, but to no avail. Finally after long walks in mountains, the spell passed. "