Rakesh Kumar Pandit
Some events and some people leave an everlasting impression on the face of history. General belief is that some people are destined to do extraordinary feats in their lives, but it is not easy to believe such theory. No one can understand easily, the grand theory of creation of the Creator and the purpose of His creation. In today’s scientific world it is logical to believe that man is the creator of his own destiny. The question is whether every human being can realize his/her potential or powers inherited in every human soul and therefore create his/her destiny ? The answer perhaps lies in the life histories of Great Souls and their struggle to reach the zenith of their human existence. These Great Souls moved the world and made the whole human race to bow head before them. One such human soul was Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Vevekananda needs no introduction. He is a household name in India. His decision to go to the west gave the shape to his life’s mission, that is spiritual regeneration of India and the world. His first visit to the western world lasted for about three and half years. He lectured extensively during this period and laboured hard to give the message of Vedanta, as the basic principle to all religions. His lectures form a very important event in the intellectual history of modern man. The focus of this article is his soul stirring lectures to Parliament of Religions in Chicago in the month of September, 1893.
On 11th September 1893, his first speech in response to welcome, Swami Vivekananda said, ” I thank you in the name of the mother of religions. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all the religions and all nations of the world.” He presented the idea and spirit of Hindu Religion, the Indian philosophy and the Indian way of life in just few words. Swami Vivekananda presented the true India to the world. He presented the idea of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ means the world is one family.
On 15th September, Swami ji pointed out the cause of disagreement between the people of different religions. He pointed out that this has been the difficulty all the while and is due to narrowness of view. The attempts should be made to break the barriers of this little and exclusive world of ours, so that we live in harmony with each other and with the nature.
On 19th September Swami ji presented a paper on Hinduism and throws some light on its ceremonial and spiritual aspects in brief. He pointed out that Hindus have received their religion through revelation, the Vedas. Hindus hold that Vedas are without beginning or without end because they are not books. They mean accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons (Rishis) in different times. He argued that just as the law of gravitation existed before its discovery, and would exist if all humanity forgot it, so is it with the laws that govern the spiritual world. He pointed out that whole religion of Hindus is centered in realization. Swami ji said, “Man is to become divine by realizing the divine through our every thought and action.” In his paper he also pondered over the misinformation spread all over regarding idol worship and polytheism in Hinduism and explained these in their true spirits. In short he presented a short sketch of religious ideas of Hindus which is worth to read, but cannot be elaborated here, because it is beyond the scope of this article. In fact it was a discourse on Vedantism.
On 20th September Swami ji exposed the hypocracy of the Christians of that time who were fond of sending out missionaries to India to save the soul of the people but not trying to save their bodies from starvation during the terrible famines. He said, “It is insult to starving people to offer them religion; it is an insult to a starving man to teach him metaphysics.” It is the bread that will provide solace to suffering millions.
On 26th September Swami ji explained the harmonious relation between Buddhism and Hinduism (Religion of Vedas). India worships Buddha as God incarnate on earth. Swami ji pointed out that Lord Buddha came to preach nothing new. According to Swamiji, Buddha came not to destroy but he was the fulfillment, the logical conclusion, the logical development of the religion of the Hindus. It was the glory of the Buddha that he brings out the truths of hidden Vedas and throws them broadcast all over the world. He stressed that Hinduism cannot live without Buddhism nor Buddhism without Hinduism and the separation is the cause of the downfall of India. He called upon the joining of the wonderful philosophy and intellect of Hinduism with the heart, the wonderful humanizing power of Buddha for the emancipation of the human race.
On 27th September Swami ji addresses the final session of the Parliament. In this lecture Swami ji stressed again and again the idea of validity of all religions and their harmony. He appealed every person to preserve his or her individuality and at the same time to learn and assimilate the good points, the spirit of others religions. To the delegates he said, “If anyone here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, Brother, yours is an impossible hope.
All the lectures of Swami Vivekananda to the Parliament were received beyond imagination and the effect of his mighty words moved the representatives of all religions of the world to the hilt. In his honour, The New York Herald had wrote, ” He is undoubtedly the most popular, influential and the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation.”
(The author is a teacher of Physics at GDC- Bhaderwah)
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