The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 5/Epistles - First Series/V Alasinga
V
Chicago,
2nd November, 1893.
Dear Alasinga,
I am so sorry that a moment's weakness on my part should cause you so much
trouble; I was out of pocket at that time. Since then the Lord sent me
friends. At a village near Boston I made the acquaintance of Dr. Wright,
Professor of Greek in the Harvard University. He sympathised with me very
much and urged upon me the necessity of going to the Parliament of
Religions, which he thought would give me an introduction to the nation. As
I was not acquainted with anybody, the Professor undertook to arrange
everything for me, and eventually I came back to Chicago. Here I, together
with the oriental and occidental delegates to the Parliament of Religions,
were all lodged in the house of a gentleman.
On the morning of the opening of the Parliament, we all assembled in a
building called the Art Palace, where one huge and other smaller temporary
halls were erected for the sittings of the Parliament. Men from all nations
were there. From India were Mazoomdar of the Brâhmo Samâj, and Nagarkar of
Bombay, Mr. Gandhi representing the Jains, and Mr. Chakravarti representing
Theosophy with Mrs. Annie Besant. Of these, Mazoomdar and I were, of course,
old friends, and Chakravarti knew me by name. There was a grand procession,
and we were all marshalled on to the platform. Imagine a hall below and a
huge gallery above, packed with six or seven thousand men and women
representing the best culture of the country, and on the platform learned
men of all the nations of the earth. And I, who never spoke in public in my
life, to address this august assemblage!! It was opened in great form with
music and ceremony and speeches; then the delegates were introduced one by
one, and they stepped up and spoke. Of course my heart was fluttering, and
my tongue nearly dried up; I was so nervous and could not venture to speak
in the morning. Mazoomdar made a nice speech, Chakravarti a nicer one, and
they were much applauded. They were all prepared and came with ready-made
speeches. I was a fool and had none, but bowed down to Devi Sarasvati and
stepped up, and Dr. Barrows introduced me. I made a short speech. I
addressed the assembly as "Sisters and Brothers of America", a deafening
applause of two minutes followed, and then I proceeded; and when it was
finished, I sat down, almost exhausted with emotion. The next day all the
papers announced that my speech was the hit of the day, and I became known
to the whole of America. Truly has it been said by the great commentator Shridhara—
His name be praised! From that day I became a celebrity, and the day I read my paper on Hinduism, the hall was packed as it had never been before. I quote to you from one of the papers: "Ladies, ladies, ladies packing every place — filling every corner, they patiently waited and waited while the papers that separated them from Vivekananda were read", etc. You would be astonished if I sent over to you the newspaper cuttings, but you already know that I am a hater of celebrity. Suffice it to say, that whenever I went on the platform, a deafening applause would be raised for me. Nearly all the papers paid high tributes to me, and even the most bigoted had to admit that "This man with his handsome face and magnetic presence and wonderful oratory is the most prominent figure in the Parliament", etc., etc. Sufficient for you to know that never before did an Oriental make such an impression on American society.
And how to speak of their kindness? I have no more wants now, I am well off,
and all the money that I require to visit Europe I shall get from here. . .
. A boy called Narasimhâchârya has cropped up in our midst. He has been
loafing about the city for the last three years. Loafing or no loafing, I
like him; but please write to me all about him if you know anything. He
knows you. He came in the year of the Paris Exhibition to Europe. . . .
I am now out of want. Many of the handsomest houses in this city are open to
me. All the time I am living as a guest of somebody or other. There is a
curiosity in this nation, such as you meet with nowhere else. They want to
know everything, and their women — they are the most advanced in the world.
The average American woman is far more cultivated than the average American
man. The men slave all their life for money, and the women snatch every
opportunity to improve themselves. And they are a very kind-hearted, frank
people. Everybody who has a fad to preach comes here, and I am sorry to say
that most of these are not sound. The Americans have their faults too, and
what nation has not? But this is my summing up: Asia laid the germs of
civilization, Europe developed man, and America is developing the woman and
the masses. It is the paradise of the woman and the labourer. Now contrast
the American masses and women with ours, and you get the idea at once. The
Americans are fast becoming liberal. Judge them not by the specimens of
hard-shelled Christians (it is their own phrase) that you see in India.
There are those here too, but their number is decreasing rapidly, and this
great nation is progressing fast towards that spirituality which is the
standard boast of the Hindu.
The Hindu must not give up his religion, but must keep religion within its
proper limits end give freedom to society to grow. All the reformers in
India made the serious mistake of holding religion accountable for all the
horrors of priestcraft and degeneration and went forth with to pull down the
indestructible structure, and what was the result? Failure! Beginning from
Buddha down to Ram Mohan Roy, everyone made the mistake of holding caste to
be a religious institution and tried to pull down religion and caste all
together, and failed. But in spite of all the ravings of the priests, caste
is simply a crystallised social institution, which after doing its service
is now filling the atmosphere of India with its stench, and it can only be
removed by giving back to the people their lost social individuality. Every
man born here knows that he is a man. Every man born in India knows that he
is a slave of society. Now, freedom is the only condition of growth; take
that off, the result is degeneration. With the introduction of modern
competition, see how caste is disappearing fast! No religion is now
necessary to kill it. The Brâhmana shopkeeper, shoemaker, and wine-distiller
are common in Northern India. And why? Because of competition. No man is
prohibited from doing anything he pleases for his livelihood under the
present Government, and the result is neck and neck competition, and thus
thousands are seeking and finding the highest level they were born for,
instead of vegetating at the bottom.
I must remain in this country at least through the winter, and then go to
Europe. The Lord will provide everything for me. You need not disturb
yourself about it. I cannot express my gratitude for your love.
Day by day I am feeling that the Lord is with me, and I am trying to follow
His direction. His will be done. . . . We will do great things for the
world, and that for the sake of doing good and not for name and fame.
"Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die." Be of good cheer and
believe that we are selected by the Lord to do great things, and we will do
them. Hold yourself in readiness, i.e. be pure and holy, and love for love's
sake. Love the poor, the miserable, the downtrodden, and the Lord will bless
you.
See the Raja of Ramnad and others from time to time and urge them to
sympathise with the masses of India. Tell them how they are standing on the
neck of the poor, and that they are not fit to be called men if they do not
try to raise them up. Be fearless, the Lord is with you, and He will yet
raise the starving and ignorant millions of India. A railway porter here is
better educated than many of your young men and most of your princes. Every
American woman has far better education than can be conceived of by the
majority of Hindu women. Why cannot we have the same education? We must.
Think not that you are poor; money is not power, but goodness, holiness.
Come and see how it is so all over the world.
Yours with blessings,
Vivekananda.
PS. By the bye, your uncle's paper was the most curious phenomenon I ever
saw. It was like a tradesman's catalogue, and it was not thought fit to be
read in the Parliament. So Narasimhacharya read a few extracts from it in a
side hall, and nobody understood a word of it. Do not tell him of it. It is
a great art to press the largest amount of thought into the smallest number
of words. Even Manilal Dvivedi's paper had to be cut very short. More than a
thousand papers were read, and there was no time to give to such wild
perorations. I had a good long time given to me over the ordinary half hour,
. . . because the most popular speakers were always put down last, to hold
the audience. And Lord bless them, what sympathy they have, and what
patience! They would sit from ten o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock at
night — only a recess of half an hour for a meal, and paper after paper
read, most of them very trivial, but they would wait and wait to hear their
favourites.
Dharmapâla of Ceylon was one of the favourites But unfortunately he was not
a good speaker. He had only quotations from Max Müller and Rhys Davids to
give them. He is a very sweet man, and we became very intimate during the
Parliament.
A Christian lady from Poona, Miss Sorabji, and the Jain representative, Mr.
Gandhi, are going to remain longer in the country end make lecture tours. I
hope they will succeed. Lecturing is a very profitable occupation in this
country and sometimes pays well.
Mr. Ingersoll gets five to six hundred dollars a lecture. He is the most
celebrated lecturer in this country. Do not publish this letter. After
reading, send it to the Maharaja (of Khetri). I have sent him my photograph
in America.