Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Vol-8
VII
ELLAPA BALARAM'S HOUSE,
C/O. THAKORE OF LIMDI,
NEUTRAL LINE, POONA,
15th June, 1892.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB, (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai)
It is a long time since I heard from you. I hope I have not
offended you anyway. I came down with the Thakore Saheb of
Mahabaleshwar, and I am living here with him. I would remain here
a week or more and then proceed to Rameshwaram via Hyderabad.
Perhaps by this time every hitch has been removed from your way in
Junagad; at least I hope so. I am very anxious to learn about your
health, especially that sprain, you know.
I saw your friend the Surti tutor to the Prince of Bhavnagar. He
is a perfect gentleman. It was quite a privilege to make his
acquaintance; he is so good and noble-natured a man.
My sincerest greetings to your noble-minded brothers and to our
friends there. Kindly send to Mr. Nabhubhai my earnest good wishes
in your letter home. I hope you would gratify me by a speedy
reply.
With my sincerest respects and gratitude and prayers for you and
yours, I remain,
Yours faithfully,
VIVEKANANDA
VIII
BOMBAY,
1892
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB, (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai)
The bearer of this letter, Babu Akshaya Kumar Ghose, is a
particular friend of mine. He comes of a respectable family of
Calcutta. I found him at Khandwa where I made his acquaintance,
although I knew his family long before in Calcutta.
He is a very honest and intelligent boy and is an undergraduate of
the Calcutta University. You know how hard the struggle is in
Bengal nowadays, and the poor boy has been out in search of some
job. Knowing your native kindness of heart, I think I am not
disturbing you by asking and entreating you to do something for
this young man. I need not write more. You will find him an honest
and hard-working lad. If a single act of kindness done to a fellow
creature renders his whole life happy, I need not remind you that
this boy is a Pâtra (a person quite deserving of help), noble and
kind as you are.
I hope you are not disturbed and troubled by this request of mine.
This is the first and the last of its kind and made only under
very peculiar circumstances. Hoping and relying on your kind
nature, I remain,
Yours faithfully,
VIVEKANANDA.
IX
BOMBAY,
22nd August, 1892.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB, (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai)
I am very much gratified on receiving your letter, especially as
that is the proof that you have the same kindness towards me.
About the kindness and gentlemanliness of your friend Mr. Bederkar
of Indore and of the Dakshinis in general, the less said the
better; but of course there are Dakshinis and Dakshinis, and I
would only quote to you what Shankar Pandurang wrote me at
Mahabaleshwar on my informing him that I had found shelter with
the Limdi Thakore:
"I am so glad to learn that you have found Limdi Thakore there,
else you would have been in serious troubles, our Maratha people
not being so kind as the Gujaratis." So kind? Heaven and hell!
I am very glad that your joint has now been nearly perfectly
cured. Kindly tell your noble brother to excuse my
promise-breaking as I have got here some Sanskrit books and help,
too, to read, which I do not hope to get elsewhere, and am anxious
to finish them. Yesterday I saw your friend Mr. Manahsukharam who
has lodged a Sannyâsin friend with him. He is very kind to me and
so is his son.
After remaining here for 15 to 20 days I would proceed toward
Rameshwaram, and on my return would surely come to you.
The world really is enriched by men, high-souled, noble-minded,
and kind, like you; the rest are "only as axes which cut at the
tree of youth of their mothers ", as the Sanskrit poet puts it.
It is impossible that I should ever forget your fatherly kindness
and care of me, and what else can a poor fakir like me do in
return to a mighty minister but pray that the Giver of all gifts
may give you all that is desirable on earth and in the end - which
may He postpone to a day long, long ahead - may take you in His
shelter of bliss and happiness and purity infinite.
Yours,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. One thing that I am very sorry to notice in these parts is the
thorough want of Sanskrit and other learning. The people of this
part of the country have for their religion a certain bundle of
local superstitions about eating, drinking, and bathing, and that
is about the whole of their religion.
Poor fellows! Whatever the rascally and wily priests teach them -
all sorts of mummery and tomfoolery as the very gist of the Vedas
and Hinduism (mind you, neither these rascals of priests nor their
forefathers have so much as seen a volume of the Vedas for the
last 400 generations) - they follow and degrade themselves. Lord
help them from the Râkshasas in the shape of the Brahmins of the
Kaliyuga.
I have sent a Bengali boy to you. Hope he would be treated kindly.
X
(Translated from Bengali)
To Shri Haripada Mitra
MARGAON,
1893.
DEAR HARIPADA,
I just now received a letter from you. I reached here safe. I went
to visit Panjim and a few other villages and temples nearby. I
returned just today. I have not given up the intention of visiting
Gokarna, Mahabaleshwar, and other places. I start for Dharwar by
the morning train tomorrow. I have taken the walking-stick with
me. Doctor Yagdekar's friend was very hospitable to me. Please
give my compliments to Mr. Bhate and all others there. May the
Lord shower His blessings on you and your wife. The town of Panjim
is very neat and clean. Most of the Christians here are literate.
The Hindus are mostly uneducated.
Yours affectionately,
SACHCHIDANANDA.
(Swamiji used to call himself such in those days.)
XI
To Shri Alasinga Perumal
C/o Babu Madhusudan Chattopadhyaya
Superintending Engineer
KHARTABAD, HYDERABAD,
11th February, 1893.
DEAR ALASINGA,
Your friend, the young graduate, came to receive me at the
station, so also a Bengali gentleman. At present I am living with
the Bengali gentleman; tomorrow I go to live with your young
friend for a few days, and then I see the different sights here,
and in a few days you may expect me at Madras. For I am very sorry
to tell you that I cannot go back at present to Rajputana. It is
so very dreadfully hot here already. I do not know how hot it
would be at Rajputana, and I cannot bear heat at all. So the next
thing, I would do, would be to go back to Bangalore and then to
Ootacamund to pass the summer there. My brain boils in heat.
So all my plans have been dashed to the ground. That is why I
wanted to hurry off from Madras early. In that case I would have
months left in my hands to seek out for somebody amongst our
northern princes to send me over to America. But alas, it is now
too late. First, I cannot wander about in this heat - I would die.
Secondly, my fast friends in Rajputana would keep me bound down to
their sides if they get hold of me and would not let me go over to
Europe. So my plan was to get hold of some new person without my
friends' knowledge. But this delay at Madras has dashed all my
hopes to the ground, and with a deep sigh I give it up, and the
Lord's will be done! However, you may be almost sure that I shall
see you in a few days for a day or two in Madras and then go to
Bangalore and thence to Ootacamund to see "if" the M-Maharaja
sends me up. "If" - because you see I cannot be sure of any
promise of a Dakshini (southern) Raja. They are not Rajputs. A
Rajput would rather die than break his promise. However, man
learns as he lives, and experience is the greatest teacher in the
world.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, for Thine is the
glory and the kingdom for ever and ever." My compliments to you
all.
Yours etc.,
SACHCHIDANANDA.
(Swamiji used to call himself such in those days.)
XII
To Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai
KHETRI
28th April, 1893.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB,
On my way here, I wanted to go to your place at Nadiad and redeem
my pledge, but certain circumstances prevented me, and the
greatest of them was that you were not there; and to play Hamlet
leaving Hamlet's part out is a ridiculous affair; and as I know
for certain that you are to return in a few days to Nadiad, and as
I am shortly going back to Bombay, say in 20 days, I thought it
better to postpone my visit for that time.
Here the Khetri Rajaji was very, very anxious to see me and had
sent his Private Secretary to Madras; and so I was bound to leave
for Khetri. But the heat is quite intolerable, and so I am flying
off very soon.
By and by, I have made the acquaintances of nearly all the
Dakshini Rajas and have seen most queer sights in many places of
which I would tell you in extenso when we meet next. I know your
love for me and am sure that you would excuse my not going down to
your place. However, I am coming to you in a few days.
One thing more. Have you got lion's cubs now in Junagad? Can you
lend me one for my Raja? He can give you some Rajputana animals in
exchange, if you like.
I saw Ratilalbhai in the train. He is the same nice and kind
gentleman; and what more shall I wish for you, my dear Diwanji
Saheb, but that the Lord would be your all in all in your
well-merited, well-applauded and universally respected latter end
of a life which was ever holy, good, and devoted to the service of
so many of the sons and daughters of the great Father of Mercies.
Amen!
Yours affectionately,
VIVEKANANDA.
XIII
To Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai
KHETRI
May, 1893.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB,
Surely my letter had not reached you before you wrote to me. The
perusal of your letter gave me both pleasure and pain
simultaneously: pleasure, to see that I have the good fortune to
be loved by a man of your heart, power, and position; and pain, to
see that my motive has been misinterpreted throughout. Believe me,
that I love you and respect you like a father and that my
gratitude towards you and your family is surely unbounded. The
fact is this. You may remember that I had from before a desire to
go to Chicago. When at Madras, the people there, of their own
accord, in conjunction with H.H. of Mysore and Ramnad made every
arrangement to send me up. And you may also remember that between
H.H. of Khetri and myself there are the closest ties of love.
Well, I, as a matter of course, wrote to him that I was going to
America. Now the Raja of Khetri thought in his love that I was
bound to see him once before I departed, especially as the Lord
has given him an heir to the throne and great rejoicings were
going on here; and to make sure of my coming he sent his Private
Secretary all the way to Madras to fetch me, and of course I was
bound to come. In the meanwhile I telegraphed to your brother at
Nadiad to know whether you were there, and, unfortunately, the
answer I could not get; therefore, the Secretary who, poor fellow,
had suffered terribly for his master in going to and from Madras
and with his eye wholly on the fact that his master would be
unhappy if we could not reach Khetri within the Jalsa (festival),
bought tickets at once for Jaipur. On our way we met Mr. Ratilal
who informed me that my wire was received and duly answered and
that Mr. Viharidas was expecting me. Now it is for you to judge,
whose duty it has been so long to deal even justice. What would or
could I do in this connection? If I would have got down, I could
not have reached in time for the Khetri rejoicings; on the other
hand, my motives might be misinterpreted. But I know you and your
brother's love for me, and I knew also that I would have to go
back to Bombay in a few days on my way to Chicago. I thought that
the best solution was to postpone my visit till my return. As for
my feeling affronted at not being attended by your brothers, it is
a new discovery of yours which I never even dreamt of; or, God
knows, perhaps, you have become a thought-reader. Jokes apart, my
dear Diwanji Saheb, I am the same frolicsome, mischievous but, I
assure you, innocent boy you found me at Junagad, and my love for
your noble self is the same or increased a hundredfold, because I
have had a mental comparison between yourself and the Diwans of
nearly all the states in Dakshin, and the Lord be my witness how
my tongue was fluent in your praise (although I know that my
powers are quite inadequate to estimate your noble qualities) in
every Southern court. If this be not a sufficient explanation, I
implore you to pardon me as a father pardons a son, and let me not
be haunted with the impression that I was ever ungrateful to one
who was so good to me.
Yours,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. I depend on you to remove any misconception in the mind of
your brother about my not getting down and that, even had I been
the very devil, I could not forget their kindness and good offices
for me.
As to the other two Swamis, they were my Gurubhais, who went to
you last at Junagad; of them one is our leader. I met them after
three years, and we came together as far as Abu and then I left
them. If you wish, I can take them back to Nadiad on my way to
Bombay. May the Lord shower His blessings on you and yours.
Yours,
V.
XIV
To Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai
BOMBAY,
22nd May, 1893.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB,
Reached Bombay a few days ago and would start off in a few days.
Your friend, the Banya gentleman to whom you wrote for the house
accommodation, writes to say that his house is already full of
guests and some of them are ill and that he is very sorry he
cannot accommodate me. After all we have got a nice, airy place.
. . . The Private Secretary of H. H. of Khetri and I are now
residing together. I cannot express my gratitude to him for his
love and kindness to me. He is what they call a Tazimi Sardar in
Rajputana, i.e. one of those whom the Rajas receive by rising from
their seats. Still he is so simple, and sometimes his service for
me makes me almost ashamed.
. . . Often and often, we see that the very best of men even are
troubled and visited with tribulations in this world; it may be
inexplicable; but it is also the experience of my life that the
heart and core of everything here is good, that whatever may be
the surface waves, deep down and underlying everything, there is
an infinite basis of goodness and love; and so long as we do not
reach that basis, we are troubled; but having once reached that
zone of calmness, let winds howl and tempests rage. The house
which is built on a rock of ages cannot shake. I thoroughly
believe that a good, unselfish and holy man like you, whose whole
life has been devoted to doing good to others, has already reached
this basis of firmness which the Lord Himself has styled as "rest
upon Brahman" in the Gita.
May the blows you have received draw you closer to that Being who
is the only one to be loved here and hereafter, so that you may
realise Him in everything past, present, and future, and find
everything present or lost in Him and Him alone. Amen!
Yours affectionately,
VIVEKANANDA.
XV
To Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai
CHICAGO,
29th January, 1894.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB,
Your last letter reached me a few days ago. You had been to see my
poor mother and brothers. I am glad you did. But you have touched
the only soft place in my heart. You ought to know, Diwanji, that
I am no hard-hearted brute. If there is any being I love in the
whole world, it is my mother. Yet I believed and still believe
that without my giving up the world, the great mission which
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, my great Master came to preach would not
see the light, and where would those young men be who have stood
as bulwarks against the surging waves of materialism and luxury of
the day? These have done a great amount of good to India,
especially to Bengal, and this is only the beginning. With the
Lord's help they will do things for which the whole world will
bless them for ages. So on the one hand, my vision of the future
of Indian religion and that of the whole world, my love for the
millions of beings sinking down and down for ages with nobody to
help them, nay, nobody with even a thought for them; on the other
hand, making those who are nearest and dearest to me miserable; I
choose the former. "Lord will do the rest." He is with me, I am
sure of that if of anything. So long as I am sincere, nothing can
resist me, because He will be my help. Many and many in India
could not understand me; and how could they, poor men? Their
thoughts never strayed beyond the everyday routine business of
eating and drinking. I know only a few noble souls like yourself
appreciate me. Lord bless your noble self. But appreciation or no
appreciation, I am born to organise these young men; nay, hundreds
more in every city are ready to join me; and I want to send them
rolling like irresistible waves over India, bringing comfort,
morality, religion, education to the doors of the meanest and the
most downtrodden. And this I will do or die.
Our people have no idea, no appreciation. On the other hand, that
horrible jealousy and suspicious nature which is the natural
outcome of a thousand years of slavery make them stand as enemies
to every new idea. Still the Lord is great.
About the Ârati as well as other things you speak of, it is the
form in every one of the monasteries in all parts of India, and
the worshipping of Guru is the first duty inculcated in the Vedas.
It has its bad and good sides. But you must remember we are a
unique company, nobody amongst us has a right to force his faith
upon the others. Many of us do not believe in any form of
idolatry; but they have no right to object when others do it,
because that would break the first principle of our religion.
Again, God can only be known in and through man. Vibrations of
light are everywhere, even in the darkest corners; but it is only
in the lamp that it becomes visible to man. Similarly God, though
everywhere, we can only conceive Him as a big man. All ideas of
God such as merciful preserver, helper, protector - all these are
human ideas, anthropomorphic; and again these must cling to a man,
call him a Guru or a Prophet or an Incarnation. Man cannot go
beyond his nature, no more than you can jump out of your body.
What harm is there in some people worshipping their Guru when that
Guru was a hundred times more holy than even your historical
prophets all taken together? If there is no harm in worshipping
Christ, Krishna, or Buddha, why should there be any in worshipping
this man who never did or thought anything unholy, whose intellect
only through intuition stands head and shoulders above all the
other prophets, because they were all one-sided? It was he that
brought first to the world this idea of truth, not in but of every
religion, which is gaining ground all over the world, and that
without the help of science or philosophy or any other
acquirement.
But even this is not compulsory, none of the brethren has told you
that all must worship his Guru. No, no, no. But again none of us
has a right to object when another worships. Why? Because that
would overthrow this most unique society the world has ever seen,
ten men of ten different notions and ideas living in perfect
harmony. Wait, Diwanji, the Lord is great and merciful, you will
see more.
We do not only tolerate but accept every religion, and with the
Lord's help I am trying to preach it to the whole world.
Three things are necessary to make every man great, every nation
great:
1. Conviction of the powers of goodness.
2. Absence of jealousy and suspicion.
3. Helping all who are trying to be and do good.
Why should the Hindu nation with all its wonderful intelligence
and other things have gone to pieces? I would answer you,
jealousy. Never were there people more wretchedly jealous of one
another, more envious of one another's fame and name than this
wretched Hindu race. And if you ever come out in the West, the
absence of this is the first feeling which you will see in the
Western nations.
Three men cannot act in concert together in India for five
minutes. Each one struggles for power, and in the long run the
whole organisation comes to grief. Lord! Lord! When will we learn
not to be jealous! In such a nation, and especially in Bengal, to
create a band of men who are tied and bound together with a most
undying love in spite of difference - is it not wonderful? This
band will increase. This idea of wonderful liberality joined with
eternal energy and progress must spread over India. It must
electrify the whole nation and must enter the very pores of
society in spite of the horrible ignorance, spite, caste-feeling,
old boobyism, and jealousy which are the heritage of this nation
of slaves.
You are one of the few noble natures who stand as rocks out of
water in this sea of universal stagnation. Lord bless you for ever
and ever!
Yours ever faithfully,
VIVEKANANDA.
XVI
To the Hale Sisters
DETROIT,
12th March, 1894.
DEAR SISTERS,
I am now living with Mr. Palmer. He is a very nice gentleman. He
gave a dinner the night before last to a group of his old friends,
each more than 60 years of age, which he calls his "old boys'
club". I spoke at an opera house for two hours and a half. People
were very much pleased. I am going to Boston and New York. I will
get here sufficient to cover my expenses there. I have forgotten
the addresses of both Flagg and Prof. Wright. I am not going to
lecture in Michigan, Mr. Holden tried to persuade me this morning
to lecture in Michigan but I am quite bent upon seeing a little of
Boston and New York. To tell you the truth, the more I am getting
popularity and facility in speaking, the more I am getting fed up.
My last address was the best I ever delivered. Mr. Palmer was in
ecstasies and the audience remained almost spellbound, so much so
that it was after the lecture that I found I had spoken so long. A
speaker always feels the uneasiness or inattention of the
audience. Lord save me from such nonsense, I am fed up. I would
take rest in Boston or New York if the Lord permits. My love to
you all. May you ever be happy!
Your affectionate brother,
VIVEKANANDA.
XVII
To the Hale Sisters
DETROIT,
15th March, 1894.
DEAR BABIES,
I am pulling on well with old Palmer. He is a very jolly, good old
man. I got only 127 dollars by my last lecture. I am going to
speak again in Detroit on Monday. Your mother asked me to write to
a lady in Lynn. I have never seen her. Is it etiquette to write
without any introduction? Please post me a little letter about
this lady. Where is Lynn? The funniest thing said about me here
was in one of the papers which said, "The cyclonic Hindu has come
and is a guest with Mr. Palmer. Mr. Palmer has become a Hindu and
is going to India; only he insists that two reforms should be
carried out: firstly that the Car of Jagannath should be drawn by
Percherons raised in Mr. Palmer's Loghouse Farm, and secondly that
the Jersey cow be admitted into the pantheon of Hindu sacred
cows." Mr. Palmer is passionately fond of both Percheron horse and
Jersey cow and has a great stock of both in his Loghouse Farm.
The first lecture was not properly managed, the cost of the hall
being 150 dollars. I have given up Holden. Here is another fellow
cropped up; let me see if he does better. Mr. Palmer makes me
laugh the whole day. Tomorrow there is going to be another dinner
party. So far all is well; but I do not know - I have become very
sad in my heart since I am here - do not know why.
I am wearied of lecturing and all that nonsense. This mixing with
hundreds of varieties of the human animal has disturbed me. I will
tell you what is to my taste; I cannot write, and I cannot speak,
but I can think deeply, and when I am heated, can speak fire. It
should be, however, to a select, a very select - few. Let them, if
they will, carry and scatter my ideas broadcast - not I. This is
only a just division of labour. The same man never succeeded both
in thinking and in scattering his thoughts. A man should be free
to think, especially spiritual thoughts.
Just because this assertion of independence, this proving that man
is not a machine, is the essence of all religious thought, it is
impossible to think it in the routine mechanical way. It is this
tendency to bring everything down to the level of a machine that
has given the West its wonderful prosperity. And it is this which
has driven away all religion from its doors. Even the little that
is left, the West has reduced to a systematic drill.
I am really not "cyclonic" at all. Far from it. What I want is not
here, nor can I longer bear this "cyclonic" atmosphere. This is
the way to perfection, to strive to be perfect, and to strive to
make perfect a few men and women. My idea of doing good is this:
to evolve out a few giants, and not to strew pearls before swine,
and so lose time, health, and energy.
Just now I got a letter from Flagg. He cannot help me in
lecturing. He says, "First go to Boston." Well, I do not care for
lecturing any more. It is too disgusting, this attempt to bring me
to suit anybody's or any audience's fads. However, I shall come
back to Chicago for a day or two at least before I go out of this
country. Lord bless you all.
Ever gratefully your brother,
VIVEKANANDA.
XVIII
To Miss Mary Hale
DETROIT,
18th March, 1894.
DEAR SISTER MARY,
My heartfelt thanks for your kindly sending me the letter from
Calcutta. It was from my brethren at Calcutta, and it is written
on the occasion of a private invitation to celebrate the birthday
of my Master about whom you have heard so much from me - so I send
it over to you. The letter says that Mazoomdar has gone back to
Calcutta and is preaching that Vivekananda is committing every sin
under the sun in America. . . . This is your America's wonderful
spiritual man! It is not their fault; until one is really
spiritual, that is, until one has got a real insight into the
nature of one's own soul and has got a glimpse of the world of the
soul, one cannot distinguish chaff from seed, tall talk from
depth, and so on. I am sorry for poor Mazoomdar that he should
stoop so low! Lord bless the old boy!
The address inside the letter is in English and is my old, old
name as written by a companion of my childhood who has also taken
orders. It is a very poetic name. That written in the letter is an
abbreviation, the full name being Narendra meaning the "Chief of
men" ("nara" means "man", and "indra" stands for "ruler", "chief")
- very ludicrous, isn't it? But such are the names in our country;
we cannot help, but I am glad I have given that up.
I am all right. Hoping it is same with you.
I remain your brother,
VIVEKANANDA.
XIX
To Miss Mary Hale
DETROIT,
30th March, 1894.
DEAR SISTER,
Your and Mother Church's letters came together just now,
acknowledging the receipt of the money. I am very glad to receive
the Khetri letter, which I send back for your perusal. You would
find from it that he wants some newspaper clippings. I do not
think I have any except the Detroit one, which I will send to him.
If you can get hold of some others, kindly send some over to him
if it be possible and convenient. You know his address - H. H. the
Maharajah of Khetri, Rajputana, India. Of course, this letter is
for the perusal of the holy family alone. Mrs. Breed wrote to me a
stiff burning letter first, and then today I got a telegram from
her inviting me to be her guest for a week. Before this I got a
letter from Mrs. Smith of New York writing on her behalf and
another lady Miss Helen Gould and another Dr.__ to come over to
New York. As the Lynn Club wants me on the 17th of next month, I
am going to New York first and come in time for their meeting at
Lynn.
Next summer, if I do not go away, which Mrs. Bagley insists I
should not, I may go to Annisquam where Mrs. Bagley has engaged a
nice house. Mrs. Bagley is a very spiritual lady and Mr. Palmer a
spirituous gentleman but very good. What shall I write more? I am
all right in nice health of body and mind. May you all be blessed,
ever blessed, my dear, dear sisters. By the by, Mrs. Sherman has
presented me with a lot of things amongst which is a nail set and
letter holder and a little satchel etc., etc. Although I objected,
especially to the nail set, as very dudish with mother-of-pearl
handles, she insisted and I had to take them, although I do not
know what to do with that brushing instrument. Lord bless them
all. She gave me one advice - never to wear this Afrikee dress in
society. Now I am a society man! Lord! What comes next? Long life
brings queer experiences! My inexpressible love for you all, my
holy family.
Your brother,
VIVEKANANDA.
XX
To Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai
CHICAGO,
20th June, 1894.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB,
Your very kind note came today. I am so sorry that I could have
caused pain to such a noble heart as yours with my rash and strong
words. I bow down to your mild corrections. "Thy son am I, teach
me thus bowing" - Gita. But you well know, Diwanji Saheb, it was
my love that prompted me to say so. The backbiters, I must tell
you, have not indirectly benefited me; on the other hand, they
have injured me immensely in view of the fact that our Hindu
people did not move a finger to tell the Americans that I
represented them. Had our people sent some words thanking the
American people for their kindness to me and stating that I was
representing them! . . . have been telling the American people
that I have donned the Sannyasin's garb only in America and that I
was a cheat, bare and simple. So far as reception goes, it has no
effect on the American nation; but so far as helping me with funds
goes, it has a terrible effect in making them take off their
helping hands from me. And it is one year since I have been here,
and not one man of note from India has thought it fit to make the
Americans know that I am no cheat. There again the missionaries
are always seeking for something against me, and they are busy
picking up anything said against me by the Christian papers of
India and publishing it here. Now you must know that the people
here know very little of the distinction in India between the
Christian and the Hindu.
Primarily my coming has been to raise funds for an enterprise of
my own. Let me tell it all to you again.
The whole difference between the West and the East is in this:
They are nations, we are not, i.e., civilisation, education here
is general, it penetrates into the masses. The higher classes in
India and America are the same, but the distance is infinite
between the lower classes of the two countries. Why was it so easy
for the English to conquer India? It was because they are a
nation, we are not. When one of our great men dies, we must sit
for centuries to have another; they can produce them as fast as
they die. When our Diwanji Saheb will pass away (which the Lord
may delay long for the good of my country), the nation will see
the difficulty at once of filling his place, which is seen even
now in the fact that they cannot dispense with your services. It
is the dearth of great ones. Why so? Because they have such a
bigger field of recruiting their great ones, we have so small. A
nation of 300 millions has the smallest field of recruiting its
great ones compared with nations of thirty, forty, or sixty
millions, because the number of educated men and women in those
nations is so great. Now do not mistake me, my kind friend, this
is the great defect in our nation and must be removed.
Educate and raise the masses, and thus alone a nation is possible.
Our reformers do not see where the wound is, they want to save the
nation by marrying the widows; do you think that a nation is saved
by the number of husbands its widows get? Nor is our religion to
blame, for an idol more or less makes no difference. The whole
defect is here: The real nation who live in cottage have forgotten
their manhood, their individuality. Trodden under the foot of the
Hindu, Mussulman, or Christian, they have come to think that they
are born to be trodden under the foot of everybody who has money
enough in his pocket. They are to be given back their lost
individuality. They are to be educated. Whether idols will remain
or not, whether widows will have husbands enough or not, whether
caste is good or bad, I do not bother myself with such questions.
Everyone must work out his own salvation. Our duty is to put the
chemicals together, the crystallisation will come through God's
laws. Let us put ideas into their heads, and they will do the
rest. Now this means educating the masses. Here are these
difficulties. A pauper government cannot, will not, do anything;
so no help from that quarter.
Even supposing we are in a position to open schools in each
village free, still the poor boys would rather go to the plough to
earn their living than come to your school. Neither have we the
money, nor can we make them come to education. The problem seems
hopeless. I have found a way out. It is this. If the mountain does
not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. If the
poor cannot come to education, education must reach them at the
plough, in the factory, everywhere. How? You have seen my
brethren. Now I can get hundreds of such, all over India,
unselfish, good, and educated. Let these men go from village to
village bringing not only religion to the door of everyone but
also education. So I have a nucleus of organising the widows also
as instructors to our women.
Now suppose the villagers after their day's work have come to
their village and sitting under a tree or somewhere are smoking
and talking the time away. Suppose two of these educated
Sannyasins get hold of them there and with a camera throw
astronomical or other pictures, scenes from different nations,
histories, etc. Thus with globes, maps, etc. - and all this orally
- how much can be done that way, Diwanji? It is not that the eye
is the only door of knowledge, the ear can do all the same. So
they would have ideas and morality, and hope for better. Here our
work ends. Let them do the rest. What would make the Sannyasins do
this sacrifice, undertake such a task? - religious enthusiasm.
Every new religious wave requires a new centre. The old religion
can only be revivified by a new centre. Hang your dogmas or
doctrines, they never pay. It is a character, a life, a centre, a
God-man that must lead the way, that must be the centre round
which all other elements will gather themselves and then fall like
a tidal wave upon the society, carrying all before it, washing
away all impurities. Again, a piece of wood can only easily be cut
along the grain. So the old Hinduism can only be reformed through
Hinduism, and not through the new-fangled reform movements. At the
same time the reformers must be able to unite in themselves the
culture of both the East and the West. Now do you not think that
you have already seen the nucleus of such a great movement, that
you have heard the low rumblings of the coming tidal wave? That
centre, that God-man to lead was born in India. He was the great
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and round him this band is slowly
gathering. They will do the work. Now, Diwanji Maharaj, this
requires an organisation, money - a little at least to set the
wheel in motion. Who would have given us money in India? - So,
Diwanji Maharaj, I crossed over to America. You may remember I
begged all the money from the poor, and the offers of the rich I
would not accept because they could not understand my ideas. Now
lecturing for a year in this country, I could not succeed at all
(of course, I have no wants for myself) in my plan for raising
some funds for setting up my work. First, this year is a very bad
year in America; thousands of their poor are without work.
Secondly, the missionaries and the Brahmo Samajists try to thwart
all my views. Thirdly, a year has rolled by, and our countrymen
could not even do so much for me as to say to the American people
that I was a real Sannyasin and no cheat, and that I represented
the Hindu religion. Even this much, the expenditure of a few
words, they could not do! Bravo, my countrymen! I love them,
Diwanji Saheb. Human help I spurn with my foot. He who has been
with me through hills and dales, through deserts or forests, will
be with me, I hope; if not, some heroic soul would arise some time
or other in India, far abler than myself, and carry it out. So I
have told you all about it. Diwanji, excuse my long letter, my
noble friend, one of the few who really feel for me, have real
kindness for me. You are at liberty, my friend, to think that I am
a dreamer, a visionary; but believe at least that I am sincere to
the backbone, and my greatest fault is that I love my country only
too, too well. May you and yours be blessed ever and ever, my
noble, noble friend. May the shadow of the Almighty ever rest on
all those you love. I offer my eternal gratitude to you. My debt
to you is immense, not only because you are my friend, but also
because you have all your life served the Lord and your motherland
so well.
Ever yours in gratitude,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXI
To a Madras disciple
541 DEARBORN AVE.,
CHICAGO,
28 June, 1894.
DEAR__ ,
The other day I received a letter from G. G., Mysore. G. G.
unfortunately thinks that I am all-knowing, else he would have
written his Canarese address on the top of the letter more
legibly. Then again it is a great mistake to address me letters to
any other place but Chicago. It was my mistake of course at first,
because I ought to have thought of the fine Buddhi (intellect) of
our friends who are throwing letters at me anywhere they find an
address at the top. But tell our Madras Brihaspatis (i.e. wise
fellows) that they already knew full well that before their
letters reach, I may be 1000 miles away from that particular
place, for I am continuously travelling. In Chicago there is a
friend whose house is my headquarters.
Now as to my prospects here - it is well-nigh zero. Why, because
although I had the best purpose, it has been made null and void by
these causes. All that I get about India is from Madras letters.
Your letters say again and again how I am being praised in India.
But that is between you and me, for I never saw a single Indian
paper writing about me, except the three square inches sent to me
by Alasinga. On the other hand, everything that is said by
Christians in India is sedulously gathered by the missionaries and
regularly published, and they go from door to door to make my
friends give me up. They have succeeded only too well, for there
is not one word for me from India. Indian Hindu papers may laud me
to the skies, but not a word of that ever came to America, so that
many people in this country think me a fraud. In the face of the
missionaries and with the jealousy of the Hindus here to back
them, I have not a word to say.
I now think it was foolish of me to go to the Parliament on the
strength of the urging of the Madras boys. They are boys after
all. Of course, I am eternally obliged to them, but they are after
all enthusiastic young men without any executive abilities. I came
here without credentials. How else to show that I am not a fraud
in the face of the missionaries and the Brahmo Samaj? Now I
thought nothing so easy as to spend a few words; I thought nothing
would be so easy as to hold a meeting of some respectable persons
in Madras and Calcutta and pass a resolution thanking me and the
American people for being kind to me and sending it over
officially, i.e. through the Secretary of the function, to
America, for instance, sending one to Dr. Barrows and asking him
to publish it in the papers and so on, to different papers of
Boston, New York, and Chicago. Now after all, I found that it is
too terrible a task for India to undertake. There has not been one
voice for me in one year and every one against me, for whatever
you may say of me in your homes, who knows anything of it here?
More than two months ago I wrote to Alasinga about this. He did
not even answer my letter. I am afraid his heart has grown
lukewarm. So you must first think of that and then show this
letter to the Madras people. On the other hand, my brethren
foolishly talk nonsense about Keshab Sen; and the Madrasis,
telling the Theosophists anything I write about them, are creating
only enemies. . . . Oh! If only I had one man of some true
abilities and brains to back me in India! But His will be done. I
stand a fraud in this country. It was my foolishness to go to the
Parliament without any credentials, hoping that there would be
many for me. I have got to work it out slowly.
On the whole, the Americans are a million times nobler than the
Hindus, and I can work more good here than in the country of the
ingrate and the heartless. After all, I must work my Karma out. So
far as pecuniary circumstances go I am all right and will be all
right. The number of Theosophists in all America is only 625 by
the last census. Mixing up with them will smash me in a minute
rather than help me in any way. What nonsense does Alasinga mean
by my going to London to see Mr. Old etc. Fool! the boys there
don't know what they are talking. And this pack of Madras babies
cannot even keep a counsel in their blessed noodles! Talk nonsense
all day, and when it comes to the least business, they are
nowhere! Boobies, who cannot get up a few meetings of 50 men each
and send up a few empty words only to help me, talk big about
influencing the world. I have written to you about the phonograph.
Now there is here an electric fan costing $20 and working
beautifully. The battery works 100 hours and then can be
replenished at any electric plant. Good-bye, I have had enough of
the Hindus. Now His will be done, I obey and bow down to my Karma.
However, do not think me ungrateful. . . . The Madras people have
done for me more than I deserved and more than was in their power.
It was my foolishness - the forgetting for a moment that we Hindus
have not yet become human beings and giving up for a moment my
self-reliance and relying upon the Hindus - that I came to grief.
Every moment I expected something from India. No, it never came.
Last two months especially I was in torture at every moment. No,
not even a newspaper from India! My friends waited - waited month
after month; nothing came, not a voice. Many consequently grew
cold and at last gave me up. But it is the punishment for relying
upon man and upon brutes, for our countrymen are not men as yet.
They are ready to be praised, but when their turn comes even to
say a word, they are nowhere.
My thanks eternal to the Madras young men. May the Lord bless them
forever. America is the best field in the world to carry on my
idea; so I do not think of leaving America soon. And why? Here I
have food and drink and clothes, and everybody so kind, and all
this for a few good words! Why should I give up such a noble
nation to go to the land of brutes and ingrates and the brainless
boobies held in eternal thraldom of superstitious, merciless,
pitiless wretches? So good-bye again. You may show this letter to
the people with discretion, even Alasinga upon whom I built so
much. By the by, will you kindly send up a few copies of the
sketch of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's life written by Mazumdar to
Chicago? They have lots in Calcutta. Don't forget the address 541
Dearborn Avenue (not Street), Chicago, or c/o Thomas Cook,
Chicago. Any other address would cause much delay and confusion,
as I am continually travelling, and Chicago is my headquarters,
although even this much did not come to the brains of our Madras
friends. Kindly give G. G., Alasinga, Secretary, and all others my
eternal blessings. I am always praying for their welfare, and I am
not in the least displeased with them, but I am not pleased with
myself. I committed a terrible error - of calculating upon others'
help - once in my life - and I have paid for it. It was my
fault and not theirs. Lord bless all the Madras people. They are
at least far superior to the Bengalis, who are simply fools and
have no souls, no stamina at all. Good-bye, good-bye. I have
launched my boat in the waves, come what may. Regarding my brutal
criticisms, I have really no right to make them. You have done for
me infinitely more than I deserve. I must bear my own Karma, and
that without a murmur. Lord bless you all.
Yours truly,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. I am afraid Alasinga's college has closed, but I have no
intimation of it, and he never gave me his home address. Kidi has
dropped out, I am afraid.
V.
XXII
To Mrs. George W. Hale
C/O Dr. E. Guernsey,
FISHKILL LANDING, N.Y.,
July, 1894.
DEAR MOTHER,
I came yesterday to this place, and shall remain here a few days.
I received in New York a letter from you but did not receive any
Interior, for which I am glad, because I am not perfect yet, and
knowing the "unselfish love" the Presbyterian priests, especially
the Interior has for "me", I want to keep aloof from rousing bad
feelings towards these "sweet Christian gentlemen" in my heart.
Our religion teaches that anger is a great sin, even if it is
"righteous". Each must follow his own religion. I could not for my
soul distinguish ever the distinction between "religious anger"
and "commonplace anger", "religious killing" and "commonplace
killing", "religious slandering and irreligious", and so forth.
Nor may that "fine" ethical distinction ever enter into the ethics
of our nation! Jesting apart, Mother Church, I do not care the
least for the gambols these men play, seeing as I do through and
through the insincerity, the hypocrisy, and love of self and name
that is the only motive power in these men.
As to the photographs, the first time the Babies got a few copies,
and the second time you brought a few copies; you know they are to
give 50 copies in all. Sister Isabelle knows better than I.
With my sincerest love and respects for you and Father Pope.
I remain,
Yours,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. How are you enjoying the heat? I am bearing the heat very well
here. I had an invitation to Swampscott on the sea from a very
rich lady whose acquaintance I made last winter in New York, but I
declined with thanks. I am very careful not to take the
hospitality of anybody here, especially the rich. I had a few
other invitations from some very rich people here. I refused; I
have by this time seen the whole business through. Lord bless you
and yours, Mother Church, for your sincerity. Oh! it is so rare in
this world.
Yours affectionately,
V.
XXIII
To the Hale Sisters (about the Calcutta meeting of 5th Sept.,
1894)
NEW YORK
9th July (Sept.?), 1894.
TO MY SISTERS,
Glory unto Jagadambâ (Mother of the Universe)! I have gained
beyond expectations. The prophet has been honoured and with a
vengeance. I am weeping like a child at His mercy - He never
leaves His servant, sisters. The letter I send you will explain
all, and the printed things are coming to the American people. The
names there are the very flower of our country. The President was
the chief nobleman of Calcutta, and the other man Mahesh Chandra
Nyâyaratna is the principal of the Sanskrit College and the chief
Brahmin in all India and recognised by the Government as such. The
letter will tell you all. O sisters! What a rogue am I that in the
face of such mercies sometimes the faith totters - seeing every
moment that I am in His hands. Still the mind sometimes gets
despondent. Sister, there is a God - a Father - a Mother who never
leaves His Children, never, never, never. Put uncanny theories
aside and becoming children take refuge in Him. I cannot write
more - I am weeping like a woman.
Blessed, blessed art Thou, Lord God of my soul!
Yours affectionately,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXIV
To the Hale Sisters
SWAMPSCOTT,
26th July, 1894.
DEAR BABIES,
Now don't let my letters stray beyond the circle, please. I had a
beautiful letter from sister Mary. See how I am getting the dash,
sister Jeany teaches me all that. She can jump and run and play
and swear like a devil and talk slang at the rate of 500 a minute;
only she does not much care for religion, only a little. She is
gone today home, and I am going to Greenacre. I had been to see
Mrs. Breed. Mrs. Stone was there, with whom is residing Mrs.
Pullman and all the golden bugs, my old friends hereabouts. They
are kind as usual. On my way back from Greenacre I am going to
Annisquam to see Mrs. Bagley for a few days.
Darn it, forget everything. I had duckings in the sea like a fish.
I am enjoying every bit of it. What nonsense was the song Harriet
taught me "dans la plaine" the deuce take it. I told it to a
French scholar and he laughed and laughed till the fellow was
well-nigh burst at my wonderful translation. That is the way you
would have taught me French! You are a pack of fools and heathens,
I tell you. Now are you gasping for breath like a huge fish
stranded? I am glad that you are sizzling. Oh! how nice and cool
it is here, and it is increased a hundred-fold when I think about
the gasping, sizzling, boiling, frying four old maids, and how
cool and nice I am here. Whoooooo!
Miss Phillips has a beautiful place somewhere in N.Y. State -
mountain, lake, river, forest altogether - what more? I am going
to make a Himalayas there and start a monastery as sure as I am
living - I am not going to leave this country without throwing one
more apple of discord into this already roaring, fighting,
kicking, mad whirlpool of American religion. Well, dear old maids,
you sometimes have a glimpse of the lake and on every hot noon,
think of going down to the bottom of the lake, down, down, down,
until it is cool and nice, and then to lie down on the bottom,
with that coolness above and around, and lie there still, silent,
and just doze - not sleep, but dreamy dozing half unconscious sort
of bliss - very much like that which opium brings; that is
delicious; and drinking lots of iced water. Lord bless my soul - I
had such cramps several times as would have killed an elephant. So
I hope to keep myself away from the cold water.
May you be all happy, dear fin de siècle young ladies, is the
constant prayer of VIVEKANANDA.
XXV
To the Hale Sisters
GREENACRE,
11th August, 1894.
DEAR SISTERS,
I have been all this time in Greenacre. I enjoyed this place very
much. They have been all very kind to me. One Chicago lady, Mrs.
Pratt of Kenilworth, wanted to give me $500; she became so much
interested in me; but I refused. She has made me promise that I
would send word to her whenever I need money, which I hope the
Lord will never put me in. His help alone is sufficient for me. I
have not heard anything from you nor from Mother. Neither have I
any news from India as to the arrival of the phonograph.
If there was anything in my letter to you which was offensive, I
hope you all know that I meant everything in love. It is useless
to express my gratitude to you for your kindness. Lord bless you
and shower His choicest blessings on you and those you love. To
your family I am ever, ever beholden. You know it. You feel it. I
cannot express it. On Sunday I am going to lecture at Plymouth at
the "Sympathy of Religions" meetings of Col. Higginson. Herewith I
send a photograph Cora Stockham took of the group under the tree.
It is only a proof and will fade away under exposure, but I cannot
get anything better at present. Kindly tender my heartfelt love
and gratitude to Miss Howe. She has been so, so kind to me. I do
not need anything at present. I shall be very glad to let you know
if I need anything. I think I am going to Fishkill from Plymouth,
where I will be only a couple of days. I will write you again from
Fishkill. Hope you are all happy, or rather I know you are. Pure
and good souls can never be unhappy. I shall have a very nice time
the few weeks I am here. I will be in New York next fall. New York
is a grand and good place. The New York people have a tenacity of
purpose unknown in any other city. I had a letter from Mrs. Potter
Palmer asking me to see her in August. She is a very gracious and
kind lady, etc. I have not much to say. There is my friend Dr.
Janes of New York, President of the Ethical Culture Society, who
has begun his lectures. I must go to hear him. He and I agree so
much. May you be always happy!
Ever your well-wishing brother,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXVI
To Miss Mary Hale
C/O. MRS. BAGLEY,
ANNISQUAM,
31st August, 1894.
DEAR SISTER,
The letter from the Madras people was published in yesterday's
Boston Transcript. I hope to send you a copy. You may have seen it
in some Chicago paper. I am sure there is some mail for me at Cook
& Sons - I shall be here till Tuesday next at least, on which
day I am going to lecture here in Annisquam.
Kindly inquire at Cook's for my mail and send it over at
Annisquam.
I had no news of you for some time. I sent two pictures to Mother
Church yesterday and hope you will like them. I am very anxious
about the Indian mail. With love for all, I am your ever
affectionate brother,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. As I do not know where you are I could not send something else
which I have to send over to you.
V.
XXVII
To Mr. Leon Landsberg
HOTEL BELLEVUE,
BOSTON,
13th September, 1894.
DEAR LEON,
Forgive me, but I have the right, as your Guru, to advise you, and
I insist that you buy some clothes for yourself, as the want of
them stands in the way of your doing anything in this country.
Once you have a start, you may dress in whatever way you like.
People do not object.
You need not thank me, for this is only a duty. According to Hindu
law, if a Guru dies, his disciple is his heir, and not even his
son - supposing him to have had one before becoming a Sannyasin.
This is, you see, an actual spiritual relationship, and none of
your Yankee "tutor" business!
With all blessings and prayers for your success,
Yours,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXVIII
To Miss Mary Hale
HOTEL BELLEVUE,
BEACON ST., BOSTON,
13th September, 1894.
DEAR SISTER,
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.
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,
VIVEKANANDA.
PS. Kindly tell Mother that I do not want any coat now.
XXIX
CHICAGO,
September, 1894.
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai),
Your kind letter reached long ago, but as I had not anything to
write I was late in answering.
Your kind note to G. W. Hale has been very gratifying, as I owed
them that much. I have been travelling all over this country all
this time and seeing everything. I have come to this conclusion
that there is only one country in the world which understands
religion - it is India; that with all their faults the Hindus are
head and shoulders above all other nations in morality and
spirituality; and that with proper care and attempt and struggle
of all her disinterested sons, by combining some of the active and
heroic elements of the West with the calm virtues of the Hindus,
there will come a type of men far superior to any that have ever
been in this world.
I do not know when I come back; but I have seen enough of this
country, I think, and so soon will go over to Europe and then to
India.
With my best love, gratitude to you and all your brothers,
I remain, yours faithfully,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXX
CHICAGO(?),
September, 1894(3?),
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai),
Very kind of you to send up a man inquiring about my health and
comfort. But that's quite of a piece with your fatherly character.
I am all right here. Your kindness has left nothing more to be
desired here. I hope soon to see you in a few days. I don't
require any conveyance while going down. Descent is very bad, and
the ascent is the worst part of the job, that's the same in
everything in the world.
My heartful gratitude to you.
Yours faithfully,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXXI
To Mrs. George W. Hale
1125 ST. PAUL ST.,
BALTIMORE,
October, 1894.
DEAR MOTHER,
You see where I am now. Did you see a telegram from India in the
Chicago Tribune? Did they print the address from Calcutta? From
here I go to Washington, thence to Philadelphia and then to New
York; send me the address of Miss Mary in Philadelphia so that I
may look in on my way to New York. Hope your worry is over.
Yours affectionately,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXXII
To Miss Mary Hale
C/O MRS. E. TOTTEN,
1703, 1ST STREET,
WASHINGTON,
[November 1(?), 1894]
DEAR SISTER,
I have received two letters which you were very kind to take the
trouble to write. I am going to talk here today, tomorrow at
Baltimore, then again Monday at Baltimore, and Tuesday at
Washington again. So I will be in Philadelphia a few days after
that. I shall write to you the day I start from Washington. I
shall be in Philadelphia a few days only to see Prof. Wright, and
then I go to New York and run for a little while between New York
and Boston, and then go to Chicago via Detroit; and then "whist" .
. ., as Senator Palmer says, to England.
The word "Dharma" means religion. I am very sorry they treated
Petro very badly in Calcutta. I have been very well treated here
and am doing very well. Nothing extraordinary in the meantime
except I got vexed at getting loads of newspapers from India; so
after sending a cart-load to Mother Church and another to Mrs.
Guernsey, I had to write them to stop sending their newspapers. I
have had "boom" enough in India. Alasinga writes that every
village all over the country now has heard of me. Well, the old
peace is gone forever and no rest anywhere from heretofore. These
newspapers of India will be my death, I am sure. They will now
talk what I ate on such and such a date and how I sneezed. Lord
bless them, it was all my foolery. I really came here to raise a
little money secretly and go over but was caught in the trap and
now no more of a reserved life.
Wishing you all enjoyments,
I remain, yours affectionately,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXXIII
CHICAGO,
15th November, 1894(3?).
DEAR DIWANJI SAHEB (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai),
I here received your kind note. So very kind of you to remember me
even here, I have not seen your Narayan Hemchandra. He is not in
America, I believe. I have seen many strange sights and grand
things. I am glad that there is a good chance of your coming over
to Europe. Avail yourself of it by any means. The fact of our
isolation from all the other nations of the world is the cause of
our degeneration and its only remedy is getting back into the
current of the rest of the world. Motion is the sign of life.
America is a grand country. It is a paradise of the poor and
women. There is almost no poor in the country, and nowhere else in
the world women are so free, so educated, so cultured. They are
everything in society.
This is a great lesson. The Sannyasin has not lost a bit of his
Sannyasinship, even his mode of living. And in this most
hospitable country, every home is open to me. The Lord who guides
me in India, would He not guide me here? And He has.
You may not understand why a Sannyasin should be in America, but
it was necessary. Because the only claim you have to be recognised
by the world is your religion, and good specimens of our religious
men are required to be sent abroad to give other nations an idea
that India is not dead.
Some representative men must come out of India and go to all the
nations of the earth to show at least that you are not savages.
You may not feel the necessity of it from your Indian home, but,
believe me, much depends upon that for your nation. And a
Sannyasin who has no idea of doing good to his fellows is a brute,
not a Sannyasin.
I am neither a sightseer nor an idle traveller; but you will see,
if you live to see, and bless me all your life.
Mr. Dvivedi's papers were too big for the Parliament, and they had
to be cut short.
I spoke at the Parliament of Religions, and with what effect I may
quote to you from a few newspapers and magazines ready at hand. I
need not be self-conceited, but to you in confidence I am bound to
say, because of your love, that no Hindu made such an impression
in America, and if my coming has done nothing, it has done this
that the Americans have come to know that India even today
produces men at whose feet even the most civilised nations may
learn lessons of religion and morality. Don't you think that is
enough to say for the Hindu nation sending over here their
Sannyasin? You would hear the details from Virchand Gandhi.
These I quote from the journals: "But eloquent as were many of the
brief speeches, no one expressed as well the spirit of the
Parliament (of religions) and its limitations as the Hindu monk. I
copy his address in full, but I can only suggest its effect upon
the audience; for he is an orator by Divine right, and his strong
intelligent face in its picturesque setting of yellow and orange
was hardly less interesting than these earnest words and the rich
rhythmical utterance he gave them." (Here the speech is quoted in
extenso.) New York Critique.
"He has preached in clubs and churches until his faith has become
familiar to us. . . . His culture, his eloquence, and his
fascinating personality have given us a new idea of Hindu
civilisation . . . . His fine, intelligent face and his deep
musical voice, prepossessing one at once in his favour. . . . He
speaks without notes, presenting his facts and his conclusions
with the greatest art and the most convincing sincerity, and
rising often to rich inspiring eloquence." (ibid.)
"Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament
of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send
missionaries to this learned nation." Herald (the greatest paper
here).
I cease from quoting more lest you think me conceited; but this
was necessary to you who have become nearly frogs in the well and
would not see how the world is going on elsewhere. I do not mean
you personally, my noble friend, but our nation in general.
I am the same here as in India, only here in this highly cultural
land there is an appreciation, a sympathy which our ignorant fools
never dream of. There our people grudge us monks a crumb of bread,
here they are ready to pay one thousand rupees a lecture and
remain grateful for the instructions for ever.
I am appreciated by these strangers more than I was ever in India.
I can, if I will, live here all my life in the greatest luxury;
but I am a Sannyasin, and "India, with all thy faults I love thee
still". So I am coming back after some months, and go on sowing
the seeds of religion and progress from city to city as I was
doing so long, although amongst a people who know not what
appreciation and gratefulness are.
I am ashamed of my own nation when I compare their beggarly,
selfish, unappreciative, ignorant ungratefulness with the help,
hospitality, sympathy, and respect which the Americans have shown
to me, a representative of a foreign religion. Therefore come out
of the country, see others, and compare.
Now after these quotations, do you think it was worth while to
send a Sannyasin to America?
Please do not publish it. I hate notoriety in the same manner as I
did in India.
I am doing the Lord's work, and wherever He leads I follow. मूकं
करोति वाचालं etc.- He who makes the dumb eloquent and the lame
cross a mountain, He will help me. I do not care for human help.
He is ready to help me in India, in America, on the North Pole, if
He thinks fit. If He does not, none else can help me. Glory unto
the Lord for ever and ever.
Yours with blessings,
VIVEKANANDA.
XXXIV
541 DEARBORN AVENUE,
CHICAGO,
November(?), 1894.
DEAR DIWANJI (Shri Haridas Viharidas Desai),
Your letter pleased me extremely. I, of course, understand the
joke, but I am not the baby to be put off with a joke; now take
more.
The secret of success of the Westerners is the power of
organisation and combination. That is only possible with mutual
trust and co-operation and help. Now here is Virchand Gandhi, the
Jain, whom you well knew in Bombay. This man never takes anything
but pure vegetables even in this terribly cold climate, and tooth
and nail tries to defend his countrymen and religion. The people
of this country like him very well, but what are they doing who
sent him over? They are trying to outcast him. Jealousy is a vice
necessarily generated in slaves. Again it is jealousy that holds
them down.
Here were . . .; they were all trying to lecture and get money
thereby. They did something, but I succeeded better than they -
why, I did not put myself as a bar to their success. It was the
will of the Lord. But all these . . . except . . . have fabricated
and circulated the most horrible lies about me in this country,
and behind my back. Americans will never stoop to such meanness.
. . . If any man tries to move forward here, everybody is ready to
help him. In India you may try tomorrow by writing a single line
of praise for me in any of our papers (Hindu), and the next day
they would be all against me. Why? It is the nature of slaves.
They cannot suffer to see any one of their brethren putting his
head the least above their rank. . . . Do you mean to compare such
stuff with these children of liberty, self-help, and brotherly
love? The nearest approach to our people are the freed slaves of
the U.S.A., the Negroes. Why, in the South they are about twenty
millions and are now free. The whites are a handful, still the
whites hold them down all the same. Why, even when they have every
right by law, a bloody war between the brothers has been fought to
free these slaves? The same defect - jealousy. Not one of these
Negroes would bear to see his brother-Negro praised or pushing on.
Immediately they would join the whites to crush him down. You can
have no idea about it until you come out of India. It is all right
for those who have plenty of money and position to let the world
roll on such, but I call him a traitor who, having been educated,
nursed in luxury by the heart's blood of the downtrodden millions
of toiling poor, never even takes a thought for them. Where, in
what period of history your rich men, noblemen, your priests and
potentates took any thought for the poor - the grinding of whose
faces is the very life-blood of their power?
But the Lord is great, the vengeance came sooner or later, and
they who sucked the life-blood of the poor, whose very education
was at their expense, whose very power was built on their poverty,
were in their turn sold as slaves by hundreds and thousands, their
wives and daughters dishonoured, their property robbed for the
last 1,000 years, and do you think it was for no cause?
Why amongst the poor of India so many are Mohammedans? It is
nonsense to say, they were converted by the sword. It was to gain
their liberty from the . . . zemindars and from the . . . priest,
and as a consequence you find in Bengal there are more Mohammedans
than Hindus amongst the cultivators, because there were so many
zemindars there. Who thinks of raising these sunken downtrodden
millions? A few thousand graduates do not make a nation, a few
rich men do not make a nation. True, our opportunities are less,
but still there is enough to feed and clothe and made 300 millions
more comfortable, nay, luxurious. Ninety per cent of our people
are without education - who thinks of that? - these Babus, the
so-called patriots?
Now, let me tell you - still there is a God, no joke. He is
ordering our lives, and although I know a nation of slaves cannot
but try to bite at the hand that wants to give them medicine, yet,
pray with me, you - one of the few that have real sympathy for
everything good, for everything great, one at least whom I know to
be a man of true ring, nobility of nature, and a thorough
sincerity of head and heart - pray with me:
"Lead, kindly Light,
amid th' encircling gloom."
I do not care what they say. I love my God, my religion, my
country, and above all, myself, a poor beggar. I love the poor,
the ignorant, the downtrodden, I feel for them - the Lord knows
how much. He will show me the way. I do not care a fig for human
approbation or criticism. I think of most of them as ignorant,
noisy children - they have not penetrated into the inner nature of
sympathy, into the spirit which is all love.
I have that insight through the blessing of Ramakrishna. I am
trying to work with my little band, all of these poor beggars like
me, you have seen them. But the Lord's works have been always done
by the lowly, by the poor. You bless me that I may have faith in
my Guru, in my God, and in myself.
The only way is love and sympathy. The only worship is love.
May He help you and yours ever and ever!
With prayers and blessings,
VIVEKANANDA.