Shrinwantu vishwe amritasya putra/arya dhamani divyani tashtu/vedamayetam
purusham mahantam/aditya varanam tamasa parastath/tvameva vidithvati, mrityu
methi/nanyah pantha vidyathe ayanaya
“Sisters and brothers of America!” – this opening invocation of Swami
Vivekananda was followed by thunderous applause. It was 9/11, 1893. Chicago Art
Institute was the venue for World Parliament of Religions, celebrating 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the New World. The young Vedantic went on
to greet the youngest nation in the world on behalf of the most ancient order
of monks in the world. At a stage, where every speaker was bent upon claiming
superior status for his own religion or sect, Vivekananda humbly submitted that
no religion was superior and all the streams would meet eventually in the
ocean. He struggled very hard to cross half the world and reach Chicago
uninvited. But finally when his moment came, Swami Vivekananda became the
cynosure of all eyes. This epoch-making speech would soon open the door for
Indian philosophy and religion in the West and help to pave the way for
revitalization of Hinduism back home.
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| Swami Vivekananda at World Parliament of Religions |
For the next two years Vivekananda gave public lectures and private classes
in the USA on Hinduism, Indian philosophy and Yoga. This was West’s first
direct introduction to Indian spirituality. Before him only a handful of
academicians in the West were acquainted with these subjects. Through
Vivekananda, common people for the first time came to realize India’s great spiritual
wealth. Till then India was regarded as a backward colony, where – they thought
– the only way of salvation was to send more missionaries to spread the message
of Christ. On the other hand, a new generation aware of the strains caused by
materiality of industrialization and mass urbanization found solace in
Vivekananda’s teachings. As Romain Rolland – the great French writer and
biographer of both Ramakrishna and Vivekananda – was to write later, the impact
of Vivekananda’s lectures was simply electrifying. From the USA, he travelled
twice to England in 1895 and 1896. He met some of the great thinkers of his age
in London and also attracted a large number of followers. When he travelled
back to India, a number of them came along with him – one of them was Margaret
Elizabeth Noble, Sister Nivedita, who would stay back to promote women’s
education in India.
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| Belur Math |
On May 1, 1897, when Ramakrishna Mission was formally inaugurated at Belur,
it had three units – Belur, Ramakrishna Mission of Madras and Vedanta Society
New York, which Swamiji founded back in 1894. Very few people know that almost
the entire Belur Math was built through the donation of Swamiji’s select
western pupils. Even today Ramakrishna Mission, which has its branches in 20
countries outside India, has maximum number of centres outside India in the
USA. Unlike in India, where Ramakrishna Mission centres typically combine
education and social service with promotion of Vedantic philosophy and
classical culture; centres in the US solely focus on philosophy and culture.
Today transcendental meditation, Yoga, Indian philosophy, Hindu and Buddhist
religions are some of the strongest points in enhancing India’s soft power
quotient in the West. Many Indian religious teachers and organizations have
since followed the same path to their Western audiences but it was the
pioneering mission of Swami Vivekananda to introduce spiritual India in the
West.
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| A part of Chicago's busy Michigan Avenue is named after Swami Vivekananda |
It was his reception in the West, which brought the spotlight on him back
home. He sailed abroad at a time, when others were busy in deciding the
punishment for kalapani for a monk. When he came back triumphant, a
subjugated nation found her confidence in his success. In Sri Aurobindo’s
language, Vivekananda awakened India spiritually. This awakening came in the context
of emerging nationalism and helped young people of India to find their
inspiration in their civilization. Like all great Indians of his generations –
Rabindranath, Jamshedji Tata – Vivekananda was greatly inspired by the success
of Japan. In Japanese success they saw India’s future. On one side, Vivekananda
acknowledged India’s past greatness but on the other hand he was equally pained
to see ignorance and poverty all around. He was unwavering in his belief that
the only way to rescue this country was through education and science and
technology – nanyah pantha vidyathe ayanaya. Impressed by this young
sadhu, when his co-passenger Jamshedji Tata offered him a large amount for his math,
Swamiji asked him to build a scientific institution with that money – this led
to the foundation of Indian Institute of Science, IISc Bangalore.
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