Akshit Baru
September 11, this date in itself is of great importance in world history. This date gives us a reason to remember two ideologies, one which believes in the well being of every living organism on this planet and the other one which believes in killing innocents, doing destruction and an ideology which is the biggest threat to the humanity.
Sept. 11, 1893, exactly 128 years from today, a monk from India showed to the world the great culture of his country at the World Parliament of Religion which was held in Chicago. “Concept of Universal Brotherhood” and “A culture which believes in well being of all” these two things were the main attraction in Swami Vivekananda’s famous introductory speech. To know about the second ideology and the other significance of this date ” September 11 we need to go back to the year 2001. September 11 attack or more popularly referred as 9/11 terrorist attack took place on the same date some 108 years after Swami ji delivered his first speech in the same country. America was shocked by these terror attacks which was led by Al- Qaeda which killed around 3000 innocent Americans. That’s why in the beginning I mentioned about the two ideologies.
From 11 Sept to 27 Sept 1893 Swami Vivekananda delivered around 6 speech based on the concept of “Hinduism” and “Universal Brotherhood” which was indeed the Idea of Bharat. But the most popular among all speeches was of the 11th September. In these times when a terror organization is taking over the control of one of our neighboring countries Afghanistan which will be posing threat to the security, peace and humanity, there is a strong need and I would rather say this is our duty to celebrate and spread Swami Vivekananda’s message of universal brotherhood in order to save the humanity from catastrophe.
In his introductory Speech at Chicago, the very first line that he said was “My brothers and Sisters of America” and such an extraordinary approach to the crowd received a long appreciation from the dignitaries who were present there. The impact of his speech was such that even in 21st century the very hall at Chicago “The Art Institute Of Chicago” where Swami Vivekananda delivered his speech has become a center of attraction for the tourists from across the world. Some of his quotes are even engraved on the stairs that led to the hall way. Many intellectuals and researchers have visited that place in recent years. We all can understand the relevance of his speech in current era by this. He’s often regarded as the India’s Messenger of Peace. Due to this very speech of him, he is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the West and is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism to that of a world religion in the contemporary times.
Swami Vivekananda emphasized on an argument in the favour of religious tolerance, showing to the world that all religions are to be equally respected. He emphasized the religious pluralism embedded in Hinduism. Contrary to commonplace perception, he did not try to advocate the idea of a Universal religion, not even of a unity of religious thought or practice but the idea of a common goal or destiny (human salvation) for every religious community. Some lines from his speech were: “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth.”
Swami Vivekananda through his speech showed to the world why Hinduism is regarded as the “Mother of all Religions” and why Indian Culture and moral values are to be accepted across the globe. Even in his speech he identifies Hinduism as “mother of all religions” in the world. The concept of Santana was appreciated throughout the parliament. Swami Vivekananda also spoke about the importance of abolishing fanaticism in all forms. Also he spoke about the close relationship between Buddhism and Hinduism, that how Buddhism was motivated by Brahmanism and Vedas.
In these hard times when humanity is facing a threat and when the life of a human is least valued, it’our moral duty to remember and to follow the teachings of Swami Vivekananda. There is a strong need for popularizing his ideas, so that in the near future, we don’t see much of the second ideology which I mentioned in the beginning of the article. I can surely say this with full confidence that the Journey from “Narendranath Dutta” to “Swami Vivekananda” it shows the glimpse of rich culture and heritage of Bharat. For sure he showed us the path as how to make this world a better and peaceful place to live.
(The writer is a student of Delhi University)
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