On September 5, 1893 the Daily Gazette (USA) reported that Rajah Swami Vivi Rananda of India spoke at the East church on the religion of India. It said that “a good audience assembled but it was not so large as the importance of the subject or the interesting speaker deserved. Swami Vivekananda said that the west should send missionaries to educate the people industrially and socially and not religiously. The Hindus have all the religion they want, and the Hindus religion is the most ancient in the world. This was the actual message of Vivekananda to the west, and that was the stage of History when Indian needed it. It was a sort of psychological war which the west had waged by insisting on the vainglorious message of civilizing the uncivilized as the holy burden of the white men. The various newspapers reported with such a high esteem about this learned and exotic saint from India which included Dubuque lowa, Times (December 29, 1893), Boston Evening Transcript (September 30, 1893), Wisconsin State Journel (November 21, 1893), Minneapolis Star Tribune (November 25, 1893), The Appeal-Avalanche (January 16, 1894) the list is exhaustive. All the reports regarding Vivekananda invariably had common characteristics, which was respect and praise for his spiritual States, deep reverence for his knowledge. He was not spawned free for even a moment as Americans invited him in Churches, in their houses, for dinner and discourse, as Wisconsin State Journel as mentioned earlier, stated that “The lecture as the Congregational Church of Madison last night by the celebrated Hindu Monk, Vivekananda was an extremely interesting one and confined much of sound of philosophy and religion.”
Pagan though he be Christianity may well follow many of his teachings. His Creed is as wide as the universe, taking in all religions and accepting truth whatever it may be found. Bigotry and superstition and idle ceremony he declined, have no place in the religions of India. The Detroit Tribune on February 15, 1894 published Vivekananda’s views on India as a nation based on the common ancestral language Sanskrit which connected North India and South India. The paper was fantastically reviewed and discussed by the readers due to his eye opening coverage regarding the ground tradition and culture of India. This was the historical stage when the basis of their entire civilization, mainspring of their social, economic and political life was the greatest achievement of the Indians.
I believe that like the Adiguru Shankaracharya who united Hinduism and India through organisational strength and majnverated India in the middle ages. The second greatest genius was Vivekananda of modern age. They both passed at very early age but have done Wonder for the uplift and self esteem for the whole mankind.
The writer is State president, BJP OBC Morcha, Jharkhand and the views expressed in the article are his own.