Saradakosh

Boston (Sep. 1894)

Total Records Found: 27

Friends, Fellow-Countrymen and Co-Religionists of Madras,_x000d_ It is most gratifying to me to find that my insignificant service to the cause of our religion has been acceptable to you, not because it is as a personal appreciation of me and my work in a foreign and distant land, but as a sure sign that, though whirlwind after whirlwind of foreign invasion has passed over the devoted head of India, though centuries of neglect on our part and contempt on the part of our conquerors have visibly dimmed the glories of ancient Aryavarta, though many a stately column on which it rested, many a beautiful arch, and many a marvellous corner have been washed away by the inundations that deluged the land for centuries--the centre is all sound, the keystone is unimpaired. The spiritual foundation upon which the marvellous monument of glory to God and charity to all beings has been reared stands unshaken, strong as ever. Your generous appreciation of Him whose message to India and to the whole world, I, the most unworthy of His servant, had the privilege to bear shows your innate spiritual instinct which saw in Him and His message the first murmurs of that tidal wave of spirituality which is destined at no distant future to break upon India in all its irresistible powers, carrying away in its omnipotent flood all that is weak and defective, and raising the Hindu race to the platform it is destined to occupy in the providence of God, crowned with more glory than it ever had even in the past, the reward of centuries of silent suffering, and fulfilling its mission amongst the races of the world--the evolution of spiritual humanity._x000d_ The people of Northern India are especially grateful to you of the South, as the great source to which most of the impulses that are working in India today can be traced. The great Bhashyakaras, epoch-making Acharyas, Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva were born in Southern India. Great Shankara to whom every Advaitavadin in the world owes allegiance; great Ramanuja whose heavenly touch converted the downtrodden pariahs into Alwars; great Madhva whose leadership was recognised even by the followers of the only Northern Prophet whose power has been felt all over the length and breadth of India--Shri Krishna Chaitanya. Even at the present day it is the South that carries the palm in the glories of Varanasi--your renunciation controls the sacred shrines on the farthest peaks of the Himalayas, and what wonder that with the blood of Prophets running in your veins, with your lives blessed by such Acharyas, you are the first and foremost to appreciate and hold on to the message of Bhagavan Shri Ramakrishna._x000d_ The South had been the repository of Vedic learning, and you will understand me when I state that, in spite of the reiterated assertions of aggressive ignorance, it is the Shruti still that is the backbone of all the different divisions of the Hindu religion._x000d_ However great may be the merits of the Samhita and the Brahmana portions of the Vedas to the ethnologists or the philologists, however desirable may be the results that the {Sanskrit} or {Sanskrit} or {Sanskrit} in conjunction with the different Vedis (altars) and sacrifices and libations produce--it was all in the way of Bhoga; and no one ever contended that it could produce Moksha. As such, the Jnana-Kanda, the Aranyakas, the Shrutis par excellence which teach the way to spirituality, the Moksha-Marga, have always ruled and will always rule in India._x000d_ Lost in the mazes and divisions of the "Religion Eternal", by prepossession and prejudice unable to grasp the meaning of the only religion whose universal adaptation is the exact shadow of the {Sanskrit}. God it preaches, groping in the dark with a standard of spiritual truth borrowed second-hand from nations who never knew anything but rank materialism, the modern young Hindu struggles in vain to understand the religion of his forefathers, and gives up the quest altogether, and becomes a hopeless wreck of an agnostic, or else, unable to vegetate on account of the promptings of his innate religious nature, drinks carelessly of some of those different decoctions of Western materialism with an Eastern flavour, and thus fulfils the prophecy of the Shruti:_x000d_ {Sanskrit}_x000d_ --"Fools go staggering to and fro, like blind men led by the blind." They alone escape whose spiritual nature has been touched and vivified by the life-giving touch of the "Sad-Guru". _x000d_ Well has it been said by Bhagavan Bhashyakara:_x000d_ {Sanskrit}_x000d_ --"These three are difficult to obtain in this world, and depend on the mercy of the gods--the human birth, the desire for salvation, and the company of the great-souled ones." Either in the sharp analysis of the Vaisheshikas, resulting in the wonderful theories about the Paramanus, Dvyanus, and Trasarenus, or the still more wonderful analysis displayed in the discussions of the Jati, Dravya, Guna, Samavaya, and to the various categories of the Naiyayikas, rising to the solemn march of the thought of the Sankhyas, the fathers of the theories of evolution, ending with the ripe fruit, the result of all these researches, the Sutras of Vyasa--the one background to all these different analyses and syntheses of the human mind is still the Shrutis. Even in the philosophical writings of the Buddhists or Jains, the help of Shrutis is never rejected, and at least in some of the Buddhistic schools and in the majority of the Jain writings, the authority of the Shrutis is fully admitted, excepting what they call the Himsaka Shrutis, which they hold to be interpolations of the Brahmins. In recent times, such a view has been held by the late great Swami Dayananda Saraswati._x000d_ If one be asked to point out the system of thought towards which as a centre all the ancient and modern Indian thoughts have converged, if one wants to see the real backbone of Hinduism in all its various manifestations, the Sutras of Vyasa will unquestionably be pointed out as constituting all that._x000d_ Either one hears the Advaita-Keshari roaring in peals of thunder--the Asti, Bhati, and Priya --amidst the heart-stopping solemnities of the Himalayan forests, mixing with the solemn cadence of the river of heaven, or listens to the cooing of the Piya, Pitam in the beautiful bowers of the grove of Vrinda: whether one mingles with the sedate meditations of the monasteries of Varanasi or the ecstatic dances of the followers of the Prophet of Nadia; whether one sits at the feet of the teacher of the Vishishtadvaita system with its Vadakale, Tenkale, and all the other sub-divisions, or listens with reverence to the Acharyas of the Madhva school; whether one hears the martial "Wa Guruki Fateh" of the secular Sikhs or the sermons on the Grantha Sahib of the Udasis and Nirmalas; whether he salutes the Sannyasin disciples of Kabir with "Sat Sahib" and listens with joy to the Sakhis (Bhajans); whether he pores upon the wonderful lore of that reformer of Rajputana, Dadu, or the works of his royal disciple, Sundaradasa, down to the great Nishchaladasa, the celebrated author of Vichara sagara, which book has more influence in India than any that has been written in any language within the last three centuries; if even one asks the Bhangi Mehtar of Northern India to sit down and give an account of the teachings of his Lalguru--one will find that all these various teachers and schools have as their basis that system whose authority is the Shruti, Gita its divine commentary, the Shariraka-Sutras its organised system, and all the different sects in India, from the Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharyas to the poor despised Mehtar disciples of Lalguru, are different manifestations._x000d_ The three Prasthanas, then, in their different explanations as Dvaita, Vishistadvaita, or Advaita, with a few minor recensions, form the "authorities" of the Hindu religion. The Puranas, the modern representations of the ancient Narasamsi (anecdote portion of the Vedas), supply the mythology, and the Tantras, the modern representations of the Brahmanas (ritual and explanatory portion of the Vedas), supply the ritual. Thus the three Prasthanas, as authorities, are common to all the sects; but as to the Puranas and Tantras, each sect has its own._x000d_ The Tantras, as we have said, represent the Vedic rituals in a modified form; and before any one jumps into the most absurd conclusions about them, I will advise him to read the Tantras in conjunction with the Brahmanas, especially the Adhvaryu portion. And most of the Mantras, used in the Tantras, will be found taken verbatim from their Brahmanas. As to their influence, apart from the Shrauta and Smarta rituals, all the forms of the rituals in vogue from the Himalayas to the Comorin have been taken from the Tantras, and they direct the worship of the Shakta, or Shaiva, or Vaishnava, and all the others alike._x000d_ Of course, I do not pretend that all the Hindus are thoroughly acquainted with these sources of their religion. Many, especially in lower Bengal, have not heard of the names of these sects and these great systems; but consciously or unconsciously, it is the plan laid down in the three Prasthanas that they are all working out.,_x000d_ Wherever, on the other hand, the Hindi language is spoken, even the lowest classes have more knowledge of the Vedantic religion than many of the highest in lower Bengal._x000d_ And why so?_x000d_ Transported from the soil of Mithila to Navadvipa, nurtured and developed by the fostering genius of Shiromani, Gadadhara, Jagadisha, and a host of other great names, an analysis of the laws of reasoning, in some points superior to every other system in the whole world, expressed in a wonderful and precise mosaic of language, stands the Nyaya of Bengal, respected and studied throughout the length and breadth of Hindusthan. But, alas, the Vedic study was sadly neglected, and until within the last few years, scarcely anyone could be found in Bengal to teach the Mahabhashya of Patanjali. Once only a mighty genius rose above the never-ending Avachchhinnas and Avachchhedakas --Bhagavan Shri Krishna Chaitanya. For once the religious lethargy of Bengal was shaken, and for a time it entered into a communion with the religious life of other parts of India._x000d_ It is curious to note that though Shri Chaitanya obtained his Sannyasa from a Bharati, and as such was a Bharati himself, it was through Madhavendra Puri that his religious genius was first awakened._x000d_ The Puris seem to have a peculiar mission in rousing the spirituality of Bengal. Bhagavan Shri Ramakrishna got his Sannyasahrama from Tota Puri._x000d_ The commentary that Shri Chaitanya wrote on the Vyasa-Sutras has either been lost or not found yet. His disciples joined themselves to the Madhvas of the South, and gradually the mantles of such giants as Rupa and Sanatana and Jiva Goswami fell on the shoulders of Babajis, and the great movement of Shri Chaitanya was decaying fast, till of late years there is a sign of revival. Hope that it will regain its lost splendour._x000d_ The influence of Shri Chaitanya is all over India. Wherever the Bhakti-Marga is known, there he is appreciated, studied, and worshipped. I have every reason to believe that the whole of the Vallabhacharya recension is only a branch of the sect founded by Shri Chaitanya. But most of his so-called disciples in Bengal do not know how his power is still working all over India; and how can they? The disciples have become Gadians (Heads of monasteries), while he was preaching barefooted from door to door in India, begging Achandalas (all down to the lowest) to love God._x000d_ The curious and unorthodox custom of hereditary Gurus that prevails in Bengal, and for the most part in Bengal alone, is another cause of its being cut off from the religious life of the rest of India._x000d_ The greatest cause of all is that the life of Bengal never received an influx from that of the great brotherhood of Sannyasins who are the representatives and repositories of the highest Indian spiritual culture even at the present day._x000d_ Tyaga (renunciation) is never liked by the higher classes of Bengal. Their tendency is for Bhoga (enjoyment). How can they get a deep insight into spiritual things? {Sanskrit}--"By renunciation alone immortality was reached." How can it be otherwise?_x000d_ On the other hand, throughout the Hindi-speaking world, a succession of brilliant Tyagi teachers of far-reaching influence has brought the doctrines of the Vedanta to every door. Especially the impetus given to Tyaga during the reign of Ranjit Singh of the Punjab has made the highest teachings of the Vedantic philosophy available for the very lowest of the low. With true pride, the Punjabi peasant girl says that even her spinning wheel repeats: "Soham", "Soham". And I have seen Mehtar Tyagis in the forest of Hrishikesh wearing the garb of the Sannyasin, studying the Vedanta. And many a proud high-class man would be glad to sit at their feet and learn. And why not? {Sanskrit}--"Supreme knowledge (can be learnt) even from the man of low birth."_x000d_ Thus it is that the North-West and the Punjab have a religious education which is far ahead of that of Bengal, Bombay, or Madras. The ever-travelling Tyagis of the various orders, Dasanamis or Vairagis or Panthis bring religion to everybody's door, and the cost is only a bit of bread. And how noble and disinterested most of them are! There is one Sannyasin belonging to the Kachu Panthis or independents (who do not identify themselves with any sect), who has been instrumental in the establishing of hundreds of schools and charitable asylums all over Rajputana. He has opened hospitals in forests, and thrown iron bridges over the gorges in the Himalayas, and this man never touches a coin with his hands, has no earthly possession except a blanket, which has given him the nickname of the "Blanket Swami", and begs his bread from door to door. I have never known him taking a whole dinner from one house, lest it should be a tax on the householder. And he is only one amongst many. Do you think that so long as these Gods on earth live in India and protect the "Religion Eternal" with the impenetrable rampart of such godly characters, the old religion will die?_x000d_ In this country, the clergymen sometimes receive as high salaries as rupees thirty thousand, forty thousand, fifty thousand, even ninety thousand a year, for preaching two hours on Sunday only, and that only six months in a year. Look at the millions upon millions they spend for the support of their religion, and Young Bengal has been taught that these Godlike, absolutely unselfish men like Kambli-Swami are idle vagabonds. {Sanskrit}--"Those who are devoted to My worshippers are regarded as the best of devotees."_x000d_ Take even an extreme case, that of an extremely ignorant Vairagi. Even he, when he goes into a village tries his best to impart to the villagers whatever he knows, from Tulasidasa, or Chaitanya-Charitamrita or the Alwars in Southern India. Is that not doing some good? And all this for only a bit of bread and a rag of cloth. Before unmercifully criticising them, think how much you do, my brother, for your poor fellow-countrymen, at whose expense you have got your education, and by grinding whose face you maintain your position and pay your teachers for teaching you that the Babajis are only vagabonds. _x000d_ A few of your fellow-countrymen in Bengal have criticised what they call a new development of Hinduism. And well they may. For Hinduism is only just now penetrating into Bengal, where so long the whole idea of religion was a bundle of Deshacharas (local customs) as to eating and drinking and marriage._x000d_ This short paper has not space for the discussion of such a big subject as to whether the view of Hinduism, which the disciples of Ramakrishna have been preaching all over India, was according to the "Sad-Shastras" or not. But I will give a few hints to our critics, which may help them in understanding our position better._x000d_ In the first place, I never contended that a correct idea of Hinduism can be gathered from the writings of Kashidasa or Krittivasa, though their words are "Amrita Samana" (like nectar), and those that hear them are "Punyavans" (virtuous). But we must go to Vedic and Darshanika authorities, and to the great Acharyas and their disciples all over India._x000d_ If, brethren, you begin with the Sutras of Gautama, and read his theories about the Aptas (inspired) in the light of the commentaries of Vatsyayana, and go up to the Mimamsakas with Shabara and other commentators, and find out what they say about the {Sanskrit} (super-sensuous realisation), and who are Aptas, and whether every being can become an Apta or not, and that the proof of the Vedas is in their being the words of such Aptas if you have time to look into the introduction of Mahidhara to the Yajur-Veda, you will find a still more lucid discussion as to the Vedas being laws of the inner life of man, and as such they are eternal._x000d_ As to the eternity of creation--this doctrine is the corner-stone not only of the Hindu religion, but of the Buddhists and Jains also._x000d_ Now all the sects in India can be grouped roughly as following the Jnana-Marga or the Bhakti-Marga. If you will kindly look into the introduction to the Shariraka-Bhashya of Shri Shankaracharya, you will find there the Nirapekshata (transcendence) of Jnana is thoroughly discussed, and the conclusion is that realisation of Brahman or the attainment of Moksha do not depend upon ceremonial, creed, caste, colour, or doctrine. It will come to any being who has the four Sadhanas, which are the most perfect moral culture._x000d_ As to the Bhaktas, even Bengali critics know very well that some of their authorities even declared that caste or nationality or sex, or, as to that, even the human birth, was never necessary to Moksha. Bhakti is the one and only thing necessary._x000d_ Both Jnana and Bhakti are everywhere preached to be unconditioned, and as such there is not one authority who lays down the conditions of caste or creed or nationality in attaining Moksha. See the discussion on the Sutra of Vyasa--{Sanskrit} by Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva._x000d_ Go through all the Upanishads, and even in the Samhitas, nowhere you will find the limited ideas of Moksha which every other religion has. As to toleration, it is everywhere, even in the Samhita of the Adhvarya Veda, in the third or fourth verse of the fortieth chapter, if my memory does not fail; it begins with {Sanskrit}. This is running through everywhere. Was anybody persecuted in India for choosing his Ishta Devata, or becoming an atheist or agnostic even, so long as he obeyed the social regulations? Society may punish anybody by its disapprobation for breaking any of its regulations, but no man, the lowest Patita (fallen), is ever shut out from Moksha. You must not mix up the two together. As to that, in Malabar a Chandala is not allowed to pass through the same street as a high-caste man, but let him become a Mohammedan or Christian, he will be immediately allowed to go anywhere; and this rule has prevailed in the dominion of a Hindu sovereign for centuries. It may be queer, but it shows the idea of toleration for other religions even in the most untoward circumstances._x000d_ The one idea the Hindu religions differ in from every other in the world, the one idea to express which the sages almost exhaust the vocabulary of the Sanskrit language, is that man must realise God even in this life. And the Advaita texts very logically add, "To know God is to become God."_x000d_ And here comes as a necessary consequence the broadest and most glorious idea of inspiration--not only as asserted and declared by the Rishis of the Vedas, not only by Vidura and Dharmavyadha and a number of others, but even the other day Nischaladasa, a Tyagi of the Dadu panthi sect, boldly declared in his Vichara-Sagara: "He who has known Brahman has become Brahman. His words are Vedas, and they will dispel the darkness of ignorance, either expressed in Sanskrit or any popular dialect."_x000d_ Thus to realise God, the Brahman, as the Dvaitins say, or to become Brahman, as the Advaitins say--is the aim and end of the whole teaching of the Vedas; and every other teaching, therein contained, represents a stage in the course of our progress thereto. And the great glory of Bhagavan Bhashyakara Shankaracharya is that it was his genius that gave the most wonderful expression to the ideas of Vyasa._x000d_ As absolute, Brahman alone is true; as relative truth, all the different sects, standing upon different manifestations of the same Brahman, either in India or elsewhere, are true. Only some are higher than others. Suppose a man starts straight towards the sun. At every step of his journey he will see newer and newer visions of the sun--the size, the view, and light will every moment be new, until he reaches the real sun. He saw the sun at first like a big ball, and then it began to increase in size. The sun was never small like the ball he saw; nor was it ever like all the succession of suns he saw in his journey. Still is it not true that our traveller always saw the sun, and nothing but the sun? Similarly, all these various sects are true--some nearer, some farther off from the real sun which is our {Sanskrit}--"One without a second"._x000d_ And as the Vedas are the only scriptures which teach this real absolute God, of which all other ideas of God are but minimised and limited visions; as the {Sanskrit} Shruti takes the devotee gently by the hand, and leads him from one stage to another, through all the stages that are necessary for him to travel to reach the Absolute; and as all other religions represent one or other of these stages in an unprogressive and crystallised form, all the other religions of the world are included in the nameless, limitless, eternal Vedic religion._x000d_ Work hundreds of lives out, search every corner of your mind for ages--and still you will not find one noble religious idea that is not already imbedded in that infinite mine of spirituality._x000d_ As to the so-called Hindu idolatry--first go and learn the forms they are going through, and where it is that the worshippers are really worshipping, whether in the temple, in the image, or in the temple of their own bodies. First know for certain what they are doing--which more than ninety per cent of the revilers are thoroughly ignorant of--and then it will explain itself in the light of the Vedantic philosophy._x000d_ Still these Karmas are not compulsory. On the other hand, open your Manu and see where it orders every old man to embrace the fourth Ashrama, and whether he embraces it or not, he must give up all Karma. It is reiterated everywhere that all these Karmas {Sanskrit}--"finally end in Jnana"._x000d_ As to the matter of that, a Hindu peasant has more religious education than many a gentleman in other countries. A friend criticised the use of European terms of philosophy and religion in my addresses. I would have been very glad to use Sanskrit terms; it would have been much more easy, as being the only perfect vehicle of religious thought. But the friend forgot that I was addressing an audience of Western people; and although a certain Indian missionary declared that the Hindus had forgotten the meaning of their Sanskrit books, and that it was the missionaries who unearthed the meaning, I could not find one in that large concourse of missionaries who could understand a line in Sanskrit--and yet some of them read learned papers criticising the Vedas, and all the sacred sources of the Hindu religion!_x000d_ It is not true that I am against any religion. It is equally untrue that I am hostile to the Christian missionaries in India. But I protest against certain of their methods of raising money in America. What is meant by those pictures in the school-books for children where the Hindu mother is painted as throwing her children to the crocodiles in the Ganga? The mother is black, but the baby is painted white, to arouse more sympathy and get more money. What is meant by those pictures which paint a man burning his wife at a stake with his own hands, so that she may become a ghost and torment the husband's enemy? What is meant by the pictures of huge cars crushing over human beings? The other day a book was published for children in this country, where one of these gentlemen tells a narrative of his visit to Calcutta. He says he saw a car running over fanatics in the streets of Calcutta. I have heard one of these gentlemen preach in Memphis that in every village of India there is a pond full of the bones of little babies._x000d_ What have the Hindus done to these disciples of Christ that every Christian child is taught to call the Hindus "vile", and "wretches", and the most horrible devils on earth? Part of the Sunday School education for children here consists in teaching them to hate everybody who is not a Christian, and the Hindus especially, so that, from their very childhood they may subscribe their pennies to the missions. If not for truth's sake, for the sake of the morality of their own children, the Christian missionaries ought not to allow such things going on. Is it any wonder that such children grow up to be ruthless and cruel men and women? The greater a preacher can paint the tortures of eternal hell--the fire that is burning there, the brimstone--the higher is his position among the orthodox. A servant-girl in the employ of a friend of mine had to be sent to a lunatic asylum as a result of her attending what they call here the revivalist-preaching. The dose of hell-fire and brimstone was too much for her. Look again at the books published in Madras against the Hindu religion. If a Hindu writes one such line against the Christian religion, the missionaries will cry fire and vengeance._x000d_ My countrymen, I have been more than a year in this country. I have seen almost every corner of the society, and, after comparing notes, let me tell you that neither are we devils, as the missionaries tell the world we are, nor are they angels, as they claim to be. The less the missionaries talk of immorality, infanticide, and the evils of the Hindu marriage system, the better for them. There may be actual pictures of some countries before which all the imaginary missionary pictures of the Hindu society will fade away into light. But my mission in life is not to be a paid reviler. I will be the last man to claim perfection for the Hindu society. No man is more conscious of the defects that are therein, or the evils that have grown up under centuries of misfortunes. If, foreign friends, you come with genuine sympathy to help and not to destroy, Godspeed to you. But if by abuses, incessantly hurled against the head of a prostrate race in season and out of season, you mean only the triumphant assertion of the moral superiority of your own nation, let me tell you plainly, if such a comparison be instituted with any amount of justice, the Hindu will be found head and shoulders above all other nations in the world as a moral race._x000d_ In India religion was never shackled. No man was ever challenged in the selection of his Ishta Devata, or his sect, or his preceptor, and religion grew, as it grew nowhere else. On the other hand, a fixed point was necessary to allow this infinite variation to religion, and society was chosen as that point in India. As a result, society became rigid and almost immovable. For liberty is the only condition of growth._x000d_ On the other hand, in the West, the field of variation was society, and the constant point was religion. Conformity was the watchword, and even now is the watchword of European religion, and each new departure had to gain the least advantage only by wading through a river of blood. The result is a splendid social organisation, with a religion that never rose beyond the grossest materialistic conceptions._x000d_ Today the West is awakening to its wants; and the "true self of man and spirit" is the watchword of the advanced school of Western theologians. The student of Sanskrit philosophy knows where the wind is blowing from, but it matters not whence the power comes so long as it brings new life._x000d_ In India, new circumstances at the same time are persistently demanding a new adjustment of social organisations. For the last three-quarters of a century, India has been bubbling over with reform societies and reformers. But, alas, every one of them has proved a failure. They did not know the secret. They had not learnt the great lesson to be learnt. In their haste, they laid all the evils in our society at the door of religion; and like the man in the story, wanting to kill the mosquito that sat on a friend's forehead, they were trying to deal such heavy blows as would have killed man and mosquito together. But in this case, fortunately, they only dashed themselves against immovable rocks and were crushed out of existence in the shock of recoil. Glory unto those noble and unselfish souls who have struggled and failed in their misdirected attempts. Those galvanic shocks of reformatory zeal were necessary to rouse the sleeping leviathan. But they were entirely destructive, and not constructive, and as such they were mortal, and therefore died._x000d_ Let us bless them and profit by their experience. They had not learnt the lesson that all is a growth from inside out, that all evolution is only a manifestation of a preceding involution. They did not know that the seed can only assimilate the surrounding elements, but grows a tree in its own nature. Until all the Hindu race becomes extinct, and a new race takes possession of the land, such a thing can never be--try East or West, India can never be Europe until she dies._x000d_ And will she die--this old Mother of all that is noble or moral or spiritual, the land which the sages trod, the land in which Godlike men still live and breathe? I will borrow the lantern of the Athenian sage and follow you, my brother, through the cities and villages, plains and forests, of this broad world--show me such men in other lands if you can. Truly have they said, the tree is known by its fruits. Go under every mango tree in India; pick up bushels of the worm-eaten, unripe, fallen ones from the ground, and write hundreds of the most learned volumes on each one of them--still you have not described a single mango. Pluck a luscious, full-grown, juicy one from the tree, and now you have known all that the mango is._x000d_ Similarly, these Man-Gods show what the Hindu religion is. They show the character, the power, and the possibilities of that racial tree which counts culture by centuries, and has borne the buffets of a thousand years of hurricane, and still stands with the unimpaired vigour of eternal youth._x000d_ Shall India die? Then from the world all spirituality will be extinct, all moral perfection will be extinct, all sweet-souled sympathy for religion will be extinct, all ideality will be extinct; and in its place will reign the duality of lust and luxury as the male and female deities, with money as its priest, fraud, force, and competition its ceremonies, and the human soul its sacrifice. Such a thing can never be. The power of suffering is infinitely greater than the power of doing; the power of love is infinitely of greater potency than the power of hatred. Those that think that the present revival of Hinduism is only a manifestation of patriotic impulse are deluded._x000d_ First, let us study the quaint phenomenon._x000d_ Is it not curious that, whilst under the terrific onset of modern scientific research, all the old forts of Western dogmatic religions are crumbling into dust; whilst the sledge-hammer blows of modern science are pulverising the porcelain mass of systems whose foundation is either in faith or in belief or in the majority of votes of church synods; whilst Western theology is at its wit's end to accommodate itself to the ever-rising tide of aggressive modern thought; whilst in all other sacred books the texts have been stretched to their utmost tension under the ever-increasing pressure of modern thought, and the majority of them are broken and have been stored away in lumber rooms; whilst the vast majority of thoughtful Western humanity have broken asunder all their ties with the church and are drifting about in a sea of unrest, the religions which have drunk the water of life at that fountain of light, the Vedas--Hinduism and Buddhism--alone are reviving?_x000d_ The restless Western atheist or agnostic finds in the Gita or in the Dhammapada the only place where his soul can anchor._x000d_ The tables have been turned, and the Hindu, who saw through tears of despair his ancient homestead covered with incendiary fire, ignited by unfriendly hands, now sees, when the searchlight of modern thought has dispersed the smoke, that his home is the on

His Reply was in part a scholarly dissertation on the origin. of the various forms of Hinduism, on its organic unity, theoretical and practical, and on its all-embracing grandeur; in part a decrial of the propaganda of the mission¬aries-"the abuses incessantly hurled against the head of a prostrate race in season and out of season";and in part a rousing call to India's slumbering spiritual genius, which he know to be both the source of her strength and her priceless gift to the world. "Let us take our stand," he wrote, "on the one central truth in our religion-the common heritage of the Hindus, the Buddhists and Jains alike-the spirit of man -the Atman of man-the immortal, birthless, all-pervading, eternal soul of man whose glories the Vedas cannot themselves express, before whose majesty the universe with its galaxy upon galaxy of suns and stars and nebulae is as a drop. . . . First, let us be Gods, and then help others to be Gods. `Be and make.' Let this be our motto. . . . Manifest the divinity within you, and everything will be harmoniously arranged around it. . . . I do not see into the future; nor do I care to sec. But one vision I see clear as life before me is that the ancient Mother has awakened once more, sitting on Her throne-rejuvenated, more glorious than ever. Proclaim Her to all the world with the voice of peace and benediction: '12 It was a clarion call that he was to sound again and again in the years to come throughout the length and breadth of his country.

Hotel Bellevue_x000d_ Beacon St., Boston_x000d_ 13th September, 1894_x000d_ Dear Sister {Mary Hale},_x000d_ Your kind note reached me this morning. I have been in this hotel for about a week. I will remain in Boston some time yet. I have plenty of gowns already, in fact, more than I can carry with ease. When I had that drenching in Annisquam, I had on that beautiful black suit you appreciate so much, and I do not think it can be damaged any way; it also has been penetrated with my deep meditations on the Absolute. I am very glad that you enjoyed the summer so well. As for me, I am vagabondising. I was very much amused the other day at reading Abe Hue's description of the vagabond lamas of Tibet--a true picture of our fraternity. He says they are queer people. They come when they will, sit at everybody's table, invitation or no invitation, live where they will, and go where they will. There is not a mountain they have not climbed, not a river they have not crossed, not a nation they do not know, not a language they do not talk. He thinks that God must have put into them a part of that energy which makes the planets go round and round eternally. Today this vagabond lama was seized with a desire of going right along scribbling, and so I walked down and entering a store bought all sorts of writing material and a beautiful portfolio which shuts with a clasp and has even a little wooden inkstand. So far it promises well. Hope it will continue. Last month I had mail enough from India and am greatly delighted with my countrymen at their generous appreciation of my work. Good enough for them. I cannot find anything more to write. Prof. Wright, his wife, and children were as good as ever. Words cannot express my gratitude to them._x000d_ Everything so far is not going bad with me except that I had a bad cold. Now I think the fellow is gone. This time I tried Christian Science for insomnia and really found it worked very well. Wishing you all happiness, I remain, ever your affectionate brother,_x000d_ Vivekananda_x000d_ PS. Kindly tell Mother that I do not want any coat now.

The following day he wrote to her, and also to Mary Hale, at greater length. From his letter to Mary we learn that he had been at the Bellevue Hotel "for about a week" and that he would "remain in Boston some time yet "

And in his letter written on the same day to Mary Hale one finds a passage endearingly characteristic of those beset with an urge to write: first the entrancing, if not altogether essential, paraphernalia must be purchased. "Today this vagabond lama was seized with a desire of going right along scribbling, and so I walked down and entering a store bought all sorts of writing material and a beautiful portfolio which shuts with a clasp and has even a little wooden ink-stand. So far it promises well. Hope it will continue."

To Mrs. G. W. Hale_x000d_ Hotel Bellevue_x000d_ Beacon Street, Boston_x000d_ 13 September 1894_x000d_ Dear Mother,_x000d_ Your very kind note came just now. I was suffering for the last few days from cold and fever. I am all right now. I am glad all the papers reached you safe. The newspaper clippings are with Mrs. Bagley; only a copy has been sent over to you. By the by, Mrs. Bagley becomes jealous if I send away everything to you. That is between you and me. The Indian Mirror is with Prof. Wright, and he will send it over to you. There is yet no news of the phonograph. Wait one week more and then we will enquire. If you see a letter with the Khetri stamp, then surely the news is coming. I do not smoke one third as much as I used to when Father Pope's eternal box was ready and open day and night. Haridasbhai is to be addressed as Shri only. On the enve¬lope, Dewan Bahadoor ought to be written, as that is a title. Perhaps the note from the Maharaja of Mysore has reached you by this time. _x000d_ I will remain a few days yet in Boston and the vicinity. The bank book is in the bank. We did not take it out, but the cheque book is with me. I am going to write out my thoughts on reli¬gion; in that, no missionaries have any place. I am going to lecture in New York in autumn, but I like teaching small circles better, and there will be enough of that in Boston._x000d_ The rugs I wanted to be sent from India; and they will come from Punjab, where the best rugs are made._x000d_ I had a beautiful letter from Sister Mary. _x000d_ Narasimha must have got money or passage by this time, and his people have taken care to send him Thomas Cook's passage from place to place. I think he is gone now._x000d_ I do not think the Lord will allow his servant to be inflated with vanity at the appreciation of his countrymen. I am glad that they appreciate me__not for my sake, but that I am firmly persuaded that a man is never improved by abuse but by praise, and so with nations. Think how much of abuse has been quite unnecessarily hurled at the head of my devoted, poor country, and for what? They never injured the Christians or their religion or their preachers. They have always been friendly to all. So you see, Mother, every good word a foreign nation says to them has such an amount of power for good in India. The American appreciation of my humble work here has really done a good deal of benefit to them. Send a good word, a good thought__at least to the down trodden, vilified, poor millions of India in¬stead of abusing them day and night. That is what I beg of every nation. Help them if you can; if you cannot, at least cease from abusing them._x000d_ I did not see any impropriety in the bathing places at the seashore, but only vanity in some: in those that went into water with their corsets on, that was all._x000d_ I have not got any copy of the Inter Ocean yet. _x000d_ With my love to Father Pope, babies, and to you, I remain_x000d_ Your obedient son,_x000d_ Vivekananda

"The newspaper clippings are with Mrs. Bagley," he wrote in his letter of September 13 to Mrs. Hale; "only a [typed] copy has been sent over to you. By the by Mrs. Bagley becomes jealous if I send away everything to you. That is between you & me. The Indian Mirror is with Prof. Wright-and he will send it over to you."

"I was suffering for the last few days from cold and fever," he wrote in this same letter. "I am all right now"-information that must have concerned "Mother Church." A few days later he was assuring her that he had sufficient clothing. "I do not require any clothes here; there is plenty of it. I am taking good care of my cuffs and collars &c. I have more clothes than is necessary; very soon I will have to disburse myself of half of it at least."

But he had found little time for writing during the summer months of 1894, and in September the need to set down his thoughts was unsatisfied. "I am going to write out my thoughts on religion [and] in that no missionaries have any places,"8 he wrote to Mrs. Hale on September 13.*_x000d_ * *In a letter to Alasinga, dated August 31, 1894, Swamiji is quoted in the Complete Works (5:41) as having written “I am now going to write my mems in a book.: In the original letter, which has been recently examined at Belur Math, Swamiji’s underscored word seems to be “ideas” rather than “mems.” And indeed at this period it was always his “thoughts on religion” that he wanted to write, never his memoirs.

His desire, however, persisted. "I am going to lecture in New York in Autumn " he had written to Mrs. Hale from Boston on September 13, "but I like teaching small circles better, and there will be enough of that in Boston."

I do not think the Lord will allow his servant to be inflated with vanity at the appreciation of his countrymen. I am glad that they appreciate me not for my sake but that I am firmly persuaded that a man is never improved by abuse but by praise and so with nations. Think how much of abuse has been quite unnecessarily hurled at the head of my devoted poor country and for what? They never injured the Christians or their religion or their preachers. They have always been friendly to all. So you see, Mother, every good word a foreign nation says to them has such an amount of power for good in India. The American appreciation of my humble work here, has really done a good deal of benefit to them. Send a good word, a good thought at least to the down-trodden vilified poor millions of India instead of abusing them day and night. This is what I beg of every nation. Help them if you can, if you cannot at least cease from abusing them.

As for Swamiji himself, he remained the same. "I do not think the Lord will allow his servant to be inflated with vanity at the appreciation of his countrymen," he had written on September 13 to Mrs. Hale, who had ,perhaps expressed motherly concern over the acclaim, both public and private, he was receiving._x000d_ I am glad that they appreciate me [he continued], not for my sake but that I am firmly persuaded that a man is never improved by abuse but by praise and so with nations. Think how much of abuse has been quite unnecessarily hurled at the head of my devoted poor country, and for what? They never injured the Christians or their religion or their preachers. So you see Mother, every good word a foreign nation says to them has such an amount of power for good in India. The American appreciation of my humble work here has really done a good deal of benefit to them. Send a good word, a good thought at least to the downtrodden villified poor millions of India instead of abusing them day and night. That is what I beg of every nation. Help them if you can, if you cannot at least cease from abusing them.

SWAMI VIVEKANAND_x000d_ A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE HINDU _x000d_ COMMUNITY AT THE TOWN HALL_x000d_ _x000d_ A very crowded and enthusiastic meeting of the inhabitants of Calcutta and its Suburbs was held at the Town Hall on Wednesday, the 5th instant, at 5-30 P.M. The object of the meeting was to consider how best to express the gratitude of the Hindus to Swami Vivekananda for the great services, rendered by him to the cause of Hinduism in America. The meeting was thoroughly representative in character. Every section of the Hindu community was represented. The meeting was announced to commence at 5-30 P.M. but it was scarcely 5 P.M. when the hall was literally packed. The speakers, as they entered the hall, were most enthusiastically cheered. The most interesting feature of the meeting was that a large number of orthodox Pandits were present to show their sympathy with the object of the meeting. It was estimated that nearly four thousand people were assembled on the occasion.

[There followed a list of prominent Hindus, the address of the Chairman, Raja Peary Mohun Mukerji, and the long preambles to and texts of the Resolutions, of which there were three. These were:]

1. That this meeting desires to record its grateful ap¬preciation of the great services rendered to the cause of Hinduism by Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions at Chicago, and of his subsequent work in America._x000d_ 2. That this meeting tenders its best thanks to Dr. J. H. Barrows, the Chairman, and Mr. Merwin Marie Snell, the Secretary of the Scientific Section of the Parliament of Religions at Chicago, and to the American people generally, for the cordial and sympathetic reception they have accorded to Swami Vivekananda._x000d_ 3. That this meeting requests the Chairman to forward to Swami Vivekananda, and Dr. Barrows, copies of the foregoing Resolutions together with the following letter, addressed to Swami Vivekananda. [The letter addressed to Swami Vivekananda was given in full in the Indian Minor, and we shall quote from it later on.]

Hotel Belle Vue_x000d_ Beacon Street, Boston_x000d_ 19th September, '94_x000d_ Dear Mother Sara {Mrs. Ole Bull},_x000d_ I did not forget you at all. You do not think I will be ever as ungrateful as that! You did not give me your address, still I have been getting news about you from Landsberg through Miss Phillips. Perhaps you have seen the memorial and address sent to me from Madras. I sent some to be sent to you at Landsberg's._x000d_ A Hindu son never lends to his mother, but the mother has every right over the son and so the son in the mother. I am very much offended at your offering to repay me the nasty few dollars. I can never repay my debts to you._x000d_ I am at present lecturing in several places in Boston. What I want is to get a place where I can sit down and write down my thoughts. I have had enough of speaking; now I want to write. I think I will have to go to New York for it. Mrs. Guernsey was so kind to me, and she is ever willing to help me. I think I will go to her and sit down and write my book._x000d_ Yours ever affectionately,_x000d_ Vivekananda_x000d_ PS. Kindly write me whether the Guernseys have returned to town or are still in Fishkill--V.

But the Address and the letters that Swamiji dashed off in the white heat of inspiration were not what he meant by "writing." "What I want is to get a place where I can sit down and write down my thoughts," he wrote on September 19 to a friend in New York. "I had enough of speaking; now I want to mite. I think I will have to go to New York for it. Mrs. Guernsey was so kind to me and she is ever willing to help me. I think I will go to her and sit down and write my book. . . . Kindly write me whether the Guernseys have returned to town or are still in Fishkill.

Mrs. Arthur Smith, to whom this letter was almost certainly addressed,* very likely relayed its message to Mrs. Ole Bull, who, in turn, invited Swamiji to Cambridge._x000d_ * This letter, dated September 19, 1894, is addressed in the Complete Works (6:268) to “Dear Mother Sara” and is said to have been written to Mrs. Ole Bull. It is probable, however, that “Mother Sara” is a mis-reading of “Mother Smith,” which is the way Swamiji addressed Mrs.Arthur Smith of New York. The contents of the letter apply far more readily to Mrs. Smith than to Mrs. Bull; nor is it likely that Swamiji would have addressed Mrs.Bull at this early date (if ever) as “Mother Sara.” (The original letter is not at present available.)

U.S.A._x000d_ 21st September, 1894_x000d_ Dear Alasinga,_x000d_ . . . I have been continuously travelling from place to place and working incessantly, giving lectures, holding classes, etc. _x000d_ I have not been able to write a line yet for my proposed book. Perhaps I may be able to take it in hand later on. I have made some nice friends here amongst the liberal people, and a few amongst the orthodox. I hope to return soon to India--I have had enough of this country, and especially as too much work is making me nervous. The giving of too many public lectures and constant hurry have brought on this nervousness. I do not care for this busy, meaningless, money-making life. So you see, I will soon return. Of course, there is a growing section with whom I am very popular, and who will like to have me here all the time. But I think I have had enough of newspaper blazoning and humbugging of a public life. I do not care the least for it. . . ._x000d_ There is no hope for money for our project here. It is useless to hope. No large number of men in any country do good out of mere sympathy. The few who really give money in the Christian lands often do so through priestcraft and fear of hell. So it is as in our Bengali proverb, "Kill a cow and make a pair of shoes out of the leather and give them in charity to a Brahmana". So it is here, and so everywhere; and then, the Westerners are miserly in comparison to our race. I sincerely believe that the Asians are the most charitable race in the world, only they are very poor._x000d_ I am going to live for a few months in New York. That city is the head, hand, and purse of the country. Of course, Boston is called the Brahmanical city, and here in America there are hundreds of thousands that sympathise with me. . . . The New York people are very open. I will see what can be done there, as I have some very influential friends. After all, I am getting disgusted with this lecturing business. It will take a long time for the Westerners to understand the higher spirituality. Everything is £.s.d. to them. If a religion brings them money or health or beauty or long life, they will all flock to it, otherwise not. . . ._x000d_ Give to Balaji, G. G., and all of our friends my best love._x000d_ Yours with everlasting love,_x000d_ Vivekananda

But in Boston also Swamiji knew little of the quiet necessary to writing a book. "I have not been able to write a line yet . . : ' he wrote to Alasinga on September 21. "Perhaps I may be able to take [the proposed book] in hand later on: '

"I hope soon to return to India," he had written on September 21 to Alasinga. "I have had enough of this country, and especially as too much work is making me nervous. The giving of too many public lectures and constant hurry have brought on this nervousness. . . . So you see, I will soon return."

New York_x000d_ 25th September, 1894_x000d_ {original in Bengali}_x000d_ My Dear--, {meant for his brother-disciples}_x000d_ Glad to receive some letters from you. It gives me great pleasure to learn that Shashi and others are making a stir. We must create a stir, nothing short of this will do. You will be throwing the whole world into convulsion. Victory to the Guru! You know, "{Sanskrit}--Great undertakings are always fraught with many obstacles." It is these obstacles which knock and shape great characters. . . . Is it in the power of missionaries and people of that sort to withstand this shock? . . . Should a fool succeed where scholars have failed? It is no go, my boy, set your mind at ease about that. In every attempt there will be one set of men who will applaud, and another who will pick holes. Go on doing your own work, what need have you to reply to any party? "{Sanskrit}--Truth alone triumphs, not falsehood. Through Truth lies Devayana, the path of gods" (Mundaka, III.i.6). Everything will come about by degrees._x000d_ Here in summer they go to the seaside: I also did the same. They have got almost a mania for boating and yachting. The yacht is a kind of light vessel which everyone, young and old, who has the means, possesses. They set sail in them every day to the sea, and return home, to eat and drink and dance--while music continues day and night. Pianos render it a botheration to stay indoors!_x000d_ I shall now tell you something of the Hales to whose address you direct my letters. He and his wife are an old couple, having two daughters, two nieces, and a son. The son lives abroad where he earns a living. The daughters live at home. In this country, relationship is through the girls. The son marries and no longer belongs to the family, but the daughter's husband pays frequent visits to his father-in-law's house. They say,_x000d_ "Son is son till he gets a wife;_x000d_ The daughter is daughter all her life."_x000d_ All the four are young and not yet married. Marriage is a very troublesome business here. In the first place, one must have a husband after one's heart. Secondly, he must be a moneyed man. . . . They will probably live unmarried; besides, they are now full of renunciation through my contact and are busy with thoughts of Brahman!_x000d_ The two daughters are blondes, that is, have golden hair, while the two nieces are brunettes, that is, of dark hair. They know all sorts of occupations. The nieces are not so rich, they conduct a kindergarten school; but the daughters do not earn. Many girls of this country earn their living. Nobody depends upon others. Even millionaires' sons earn their living; but they marry and have separate establishments of their own. The daughters call me brother; and I address their mother as mother. All my things are at their place; and they look after them, wherever I may go. Here the boys go in search of a living while quite young; and the girls are educated in the universities. So you will find that in a meeting there will be ninety-nine per cent of girls. The boys are nowhere in comparison with them._x000d_ There are a good many spiritualists in this country. The medium is one who induces the spirit. He goes behind a screen; and out of this come ghosts of all sizes and all colours. I have witnessed some cases; but they seemed to be a hoax. I shall test some more before I come to a final conclusion. Many of the spiritualists respect me._x000d_ Next comes Christian Science. They form the most influential party, nowadays, figuring everywhere. They are spreading by leaps and bounds, and causing heart-burn to the orthodox. They are Vedantins; I mean, they have picked up a few doctrines of the Advaita and grafted them upon the Bible. And they cure diseases by proclaiming "So'ham So'ham"--"I am He! I am He!"--through strength of mind. They all admire me highly._x000d_ Nowadays the orthodox section of this country are crying for help. "Devil worship" is but a thing of the past. They are mortally afraid of me and exclaim, "What a pest? Thousands of men and women follow him! He is going to root out orthodoxy!" Well, the torch has been applied and the conflagration that has set in through the grace of the Guru will not be put out. In course of time the bigots will have their breath knocked out of them. . . . _x000d_ The Theosophists have not much power. But they, too, are dead set against the orthodox section. _x000d_ The Christian Science is exactly like our Kartabhaja sect: Say, "I have no disease", and you are whole; and say, "I am He"--"So'ham"--and you are quits--be at large. This is a thoroughly materialistic country. The people of this Christian land will recognise religion if only you can cure diseases, work miracles, and open up avenues to money; and they understand little of anything else. But there are honourable exceptions. . . . _x000d_ People here have found a new type of man in me. Even the orthodox are at their wit's end. And people are now looking up to me with an eye of reverence. Is there a greater strength than that of Brahmacharya--purity, my boy?_x000d_ I am now busy writing a reply to the Madras Address, which was published in all the newspapers here and created a sensation. If it be cheap, I shall send it in print, but if dear, I shall send a type-written copy. To you also I shall send a copy; have it published in the Indian Mirror. The unmarried girls of this country are very good and have a good deal of self-respect. . . . These (the people) are come of Virochana's race. To them ministering to the body is a great thing: they would trim and polish and give their whole attention to that. A thousand instruments for paring nails, ten thousand for hair-cutting, and who can count the varieties of dress and toilet and perfumery? . . . They are good-natured, kind, and truthful. All is right with them, but that enjoyment is their God. It is a country where money flows like a river, with beauty as its ripple and learning its waves, and which rolls in luxury._x000d_ {Sanskrit}_x000d_ --"Longing for success in action, in this world, (men) worship the deities. For success is quickly attained through action in this world of man" (Gita, IV.12)._x000d_ Here you have a wonderful manifestation of grit and power--what strength, what practicality, and what manhood! Horses huge as elephants are drawing carriages that are as big as houses. You may take this as a specimen of the gigantic proportions in other things also. Here is a manifestation of tremendous energy. . . . They look with veneration upon women, who play a most prominent part in their lives. Here this form of worship has attained its perfection--that is the long and the short of it. But to come to the point. Well, I am almost at my wit's end to see the women of this country! They take me to the shops and everywhere, as if I were a child. They do all sorts of work--I cannot do even a sixteenth part of what they do. They are like Lakshmi (the Goddess of Fortune), in beauty, and like Sarasvati (the Goddess of Learning) in virtues--they are the Divine Mother incarnate and worshipping them, one verily attains perfection in everything. Great God! Are we to be counted among men? If I can raise a thousand such Madonnas, Incarnations of the Divine Mother, in our country before I die, I shall die in peace. Then only will your countrymen become worthy of their name. . . . _x000d_ I am really struck with wonder to see the women here. How gracious the Divine Mother is on them! Most wonderful women, these! They are about to corner the men, who have been nearly worsted in the competition. It is all through Thy grace, O Mother! . . . I shall not rest till I root out this distinction of sex. Is there any sex-distinction in the Atman (Self)? Out with the differentiation between man and woman--all is Atman! Give up the identification with the body, and stand up! Say, "Asti, Asti"--"Everything is!"--cherish positive thoughts. By dwelling too much upon "Nasti, Nasti"--"It is not! It is not!" (negativism), the whole country is going to ruin! "So'ham, So'ham, Shivo'ham"--"I am He! I am He! I am Shiva!" What a botheration! In every soul is infinite strength; and should you turn yourselves into cats and dogs by harbouring negative thoughts? Who dares to preach negativism? Whom do you call weak and powerless? "Shivo'ham, Shivo'ham"--"I am Shiva! I am Shiva!" I feel as if a thunderbolt strikes me on the head when I hear people dwell on negative thoughts. That sort of self-depreciating attitude is another name for disease--do you call that humility? It is vanity in disguise! "{Sanskrit}--The external badge does not confer spirituality. It is same-sightedness to all beings which is the test of a liberated soul." "{Sanskrit} (It is, It is)," "{Sanskrit}," "{Sanskrit}"--"I am He!", "I am Shiva, of the essence of Knowledge and Bliss!" "{Sanskrit}--He frees himself from the meshes of this world as a lion from its cage!" "{Sanskrit}--This Atman is not accessible to the weak". . . . Hurl yourselves on the world like an avalanche--let the world crack in twain under your weight! Hara! Hara! Mahadeva! {Sanskrit}--One must save the self by one's own self"--by personal prowess._x000d_ . . . Will such a day come when this life will go for the sake of other's good? The world is not a child's play--and great men are those who build highways for others with their heart's blood. This has been taking place through eternity, that one builds a bridge by laying down his own body, and thousands of others cross the river through its help. "{Sanskrit}--Be it so! Be it so! I am Shiva! I am Shiva!"_x000d_ It is welcome news that Madras is in a stir._x000d_ Were you not going to start a paper or something of that sort, what about that? We must mix with all, and alienate none. All the powers of good against all the powers of evil--this is what we want. Do not insist upon everybody's believing in our Guru. . . . You shall have to edit a magazine, half Bengali and half Hindi--and if possible, another in English. . . . It won't do to be roaming aimlessly. Wherever you go, you must start a permanent preaching centre. Then only will people begin to change. I am writing a book. As soon as it is finished, I run for home! . . . Always remember that Shri Ramakrishna came for the good of the world--not for name or fame. Spread only what he came to teach. Never mind his name--it will spread of itself. Directly you insist on everybody's accepting your Guru, you will be creating a sect, and everything will fall to the ground--so beware! Have a kind word for all--it spoils work to show temper. Let people say whatever they like, stick to your own convictions, and rest assured, the world will be at your feet. They say, "Have faith in this fellow or that fellow", but I say, "Have faith in yourself first", that's the way. Have faith in yourself--all power is in you--be conscious and bring it out. Say, "I can do everything." "Even the poison of a snake is powerless if you can firmly deny it." Beware! No saying "nay", no negative thoughts! Say, "Yea, Yea," "So'ham, So'ham"--"I am He! I am He!"_x000d_ {Sanskrit}_x000d_ --"What makes you weep, my friend? In you is all power. Summon up your all-powerful nature, O mighty one, and this whole universe will lie at your feet. It is the Self alone that predominates, and not matter."_x000d_ To work, with undaunted energy! What fear! Who is powerful enough to thwart you! "{Sanskrit}--We shall crush the stars to atoms, and unhinge the universe. Don't you know who we are? We are the servants of Shri Ramakrishna." Fear?_x000d_ Whom to fear, forsooth?_x000d_ {Sanskrit}_x000d_ --"It is those foolish people who identify themselves with their bodies, that piteously cry, 'We are weak, we are low.' All this is atheism. Now that we have attained the state beyond fear, we shall have no more fear and become heroes. This indeed is theism which we, the servants of Shri Ramakrishna, will choose._x000d_ "Giving up the attachment for the world and drinking constantly the supreme nectar of immortality, for ever discarding that self-seeking spirit which is the mother of all dissension, and ever meditating on the blessed feet of our Guru which are the embodiment of all well-being, with repeated salutations we invite the whole world to participate in drinking the nectar._x000d_ "That nectar which has been obtained by churning the infinite ocean of the Vedas, into which Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the other gods have poured their strength, which is charged with the life-essence of the Avataras--Gods Incarnate on earth--Shri Ramakrishna holds that nectar in his person, in its fullest measure!"_x000d_ We must work among the English educated young men. "{Sanskrit}--Through renunciation alone some (rare ones) attained immortality." Renunciation!--Renunciation!--you must preach this above everything else. There will be no spiritual strength unless one renounces the world. . . . _x000d_ Why are Baburam and Yogen suffering so much? It is owing to their negative, their self-abasing spirit. Tell them to brush aside their illness by mental strength, and in an hour it will disappear! I the Atman smitten with disease! Off with it! Tell them to meditate for an hour at a stretch, "I am the Atman, how can I be affected by disease!"--and everything will vanish. Think all of you that you are the infinitely powerful Atman, and see what strength comes out. . . . Self-depreciation! What is it for? I am the child of the Infinite, the all-powerful Divine Mother. What means disease, or fear, or want to me? Stamp out the negative spirit as if it were a pestilence, and it will conduce to your welfare in every way. No negative, all positive, affirmative. I am , God is , everything is in me. I will manifest health, purity, knowledge, whatever I want. Well, these foreign people could grasp my teachings, and you are suffering from illness owing to your negative spirit! Who says you are ill--what is disease to you? Brush it aside! "{Sanskrit} {Sanskrit}--Thou art Energy, impart energy unto me. Thou art Strength, impart strength unto me. Thou art Spirituality, impart spirituality unto me. Thou art Fortitude, impart fortitude unto me!" The ceremony of steadying the seat (Asana-Pratishtha) that you perform every day when you sit down to worship the Lord--"{Sanskrit}--One must think of oneself as strong and invulnerable," and so forth--what does it all mean? Say, "Everything is in me, and I can manifest it at will." Repeat to yourself that such and such are Atman, that they are infinite, and how can they have any disease? Repeat this an hour or so, on a few successive days, and all disease and trouble will vanish into nought._x000d_ Yours ever,_x000d_ Vivekananda

Swamiji also found time in Boston to write other, more personal letters to India. To his brother disciples, they who were to form the very heart of his work there, he wrote in a passion of exhortation, pouring his own fire into that center of spiritual energy. "The world is not a child's play," he wrote on September 25, "and great men are those who build highways for others with their heart's blood. This has been taking place through eternity, that one builds a bridge by laying down his own body, and thousands of others cross the river through its help. . . , To work, with undaunted energy! What fear! Who is powerful enough to thwart you! `We shall crush the stars to atoms, and unhinge the universe. Don't you know who we are? We are the servants of Shri Ramakrishna.' Fear? Whom to fear, forsooth? . . . `It is those foolish people who identify themselves with their bodies that piteously cry, "We are weak; we are low." All this is atheism. Now that we have attained the state beyond fear, we shall have no more fear and become heroes. This indeed is [true] theism, which we, the servants of Shri Ramakrishna, will choose.'

U.S.A._x000d_ 29th September, 1894_x000d_ Dear Alasinga,_x000d_ You all have done well, my brave unselfish children. I am so proud of you. . . . Hope and do not despair. After such a start, if you despair you are a fool. . . ._x000d_ Our field is India, and the value of foreign appreciation is in rousing India up. That is all. . . . We must have a strong base from which to spread. . . . Do not for a moment quail. Everything will come all right. It is will that moves the world._x000d_ You need not be sorry, my son, on account of the young men becoming Christians. What else can they be under the existing social bondages, especially in Madras? Liberty is the first condition of growth. Your ancestors gave every liberty to the soul, and religion grew. They put the body under every bondage, and society did not grow. The opposite is the case in the West--every liberty to society, none to religion. Now are falling off the shackles from the feet of Eastern society as from those of Western religion._x000d_ Each again will have its type; the religious or introspective in India, the scientific or out-seeing in the West. The West wants every bit of spirituality through social improvement. The East wants every bit of social power through spirituality. Thus it was that the modern reformers saw no way to reform but by first crushing out the religion of India. They tried, and they failed. Why? Because few of them ever studied their own religion, and not one ever underwent the training necessary to understand the Mother of all religions. I claim that no destruction of religion is necessary to improve the Hindu society, and that this state of society exists not on account of religion, but because religion has not been applied to society as it should have been. This I am ready to prove from our old books, every word of it. This is what I teach, and this is what we must struggle all our lives to carry out. But it will take time, a long time to study. Have patience and work. {Sanskrit}--Save yourself by yourself._x000d_ Yours etc.,_x000d_ Vivekananda_x000d_ PS. The present Hindu society is organised only for spiritual men, and hopelessly crushes out everybody else. Why? Where shall they go who want to enjoy the world a little with its frivolities? Just as our religion takes in all, so should our society. This is to be worked out by first understanding the true principles of our religion and then applying them to society. This is the slow but sure work to be done._x000d_ V.