Swami Vivekananda The Star Attraction at the Parliament of Religions

Brij Mohan Sharma Apart from guiding man to the door of God, the main purpose of coming into being of different religions in different ages was to equip man with such physical and mental attributes which could enable him to refine his crude and raw energies into beautiful character products like love, dedication, service and peace, as also to lift him up above his genetic, tribal and socio-political limitations. Regrettably, man has failed to benefit from this Godgiven wisdom, and has allowed his energies to function in their crude form. As a result, there have been heated controversies, long warfares and much bloodshed in the name of religion; and humanity continued to hanker for peace and harmony. It was for this very reason that in September 1893, representatives of all the great religions of the world, for the first time in history, got together at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, USA, to discuss ways and means for the consummation of badly needed religious harmony so as to put an end to the universal unrest. As expected, the Parliament was a great concourse of some of the most distinguished personages of the world; and great mass of humanity, varying from seven to ten thousand in number, attended its sessions; it included many great philosophers of the world. Swami Vivekananda was one of the delegates from India. Even though he faced stiff fanatic opposition from the Theologists and Christian missionaries, this son of the soil came out with flying colours, and by virtue of his magnatic personality, brilliant oratory and supreme command over Vedantic philosophy of India as also his wellinformed knowledge of other religions, he became the ‘Star attraction at the Parliament. All American and other foreign papers unanimously declared him to be the foremost delegate in the Religious Congress, and that none surpassed him in philosophical depth and clearness of thought. They were also one in their opinion that the spirit and prospect of a universal religion, binding all nations as brothers and as sons of the same God was never made so vivid as was done by Swami Vivekananda, who showed himself to be eminently true and loyal to his refined Indian instincts. It was for the first time in the annals of history, they said, that the true and genuine spirit of Indian philosophy was so powerfully expounded in a foreign land. In his very first address, Vivekananda introduced Hinduism as the ‘Mother of Religions’, which, in his view, has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. He also clarified that Hindus not only believed in universal tolerance, but also accept all religions as true. He, however, felt sad to observe that ”sectarianism, bigotry and its horrible descendent fanaticism have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilizations and sent whole nations to despair.” Nonetheless, he was hopeful that the Parliament would be able to find a workable methodology which can put an end to ”all fanaticism, all persecution and all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same Goal”. It was a brief but intense speech. The spirit of universality, earnestness, and breadth of outlook completely captivated the whole assembly. The Parliament gave him a tremendous ovation on that day, more especially when he addressed the audience as “Sisters and Brothers of America”. The whole Parliament was caught up in a great wave of enthusiasm and hundreds rose to their feet with shouts of applause. There was cheering, cheering , cheering for full two minutes. Vivekananda was fearless and was never afraid of telling the truth. In one of his speeches, he said ”….. We have been told that we ought to accept Christianity because Christian nations are the most prosperous. We look about us and we see England the most prosperous nation in the world, with her foot on the neck of 250,000,000 Asiatics. Christianity wins its prosperity by cutting the throat of its fellowmen..”. The basic idea to say all this was to impress upon the audience that religion has nothing to do with the material prosperity of Western nations like England. His paper on Hinduism at the Parliament was a masterly summary of the philosophy, psychology and general ideas and statements of Hinduism in its allinclusive aspects. The whole object of Hinduism, he said, is by constant struggle to become perfect, to become divine, to reach God and see God. This reaching God, seeing God, becoming perfect even as the Father in Heaven is perfect, constitutes the religion of Hindus; then alone death can cease when we are one with life, then alone can misery can cease when we are one with happiness itself, then alone can all errors cease when we are one with knowledge itself…., he said. According to him, the Hindu religion does not consist in struggling and attempts to believe a certain doctrine or dogma, but in realising- not in believing but in being and becoming. He also dwelt briefly with the Hindu philosophy about “body and soul”, ”the law of Karma” and the law of reincarnation. He also informed the audience that Hindus have received their religion through revelation, the Vedas. Vedas mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons in different times. The discoverers of the laws are called Rishis, and we honour them as perfected beings. Defining his view on ‘universal religion’, he said : “If there is ever to be a universal religion, it must be one which will have no location in place or time; which will be infinite, like the God it will preach, and whose sun will shine upon the followers of Krishna and of Christ, on saints and sinners alike, which will not be Brahminic or Buddhistic, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum total of all… It will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or intolerance in its polity, which will recognise divinity in every man and woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force, will be centered in aiding humanity to realise its own true divine nature. Offer such a religion and all the nations will follow you.” In his final address, the Swami made a grand appeal for the harmony of religious faiths. To achieve this, he said: “The Christian is not to become a Hindu or Buddhist, nor is a Buddhist or a Hindu to become Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth. The Parliament has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any Church in the world…. If anybody dreams of the exclusively survival of his religion and destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart…..”. His speech was widely appreciated by the Americans and their Press. The New York Herald in its issue of September 27, 1893 editorially commented “He is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to his learned nation.” In nutshell, the holding of Parliament of Religions was one of the greatest events in the history of the world, an important milestone in the history of inter-religious relationships. It helped to unify the religious vision of humanity, to broaden the outlook of religions and to initiate an era of dialogue among them, which had till then largely functioned in isolation or at cross purposes. And it did something more; it made the West conscious of the rich spiritual heritage of the East, particularly of India. (The author is former Additional Secretary to Govt.) feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com