On the Edge of Education: Vivekananda's Chicago Lectures Inspired by Gujarat

Dr. Ashok Patel Mr. Vivekananda. Original name Narendranath Dutt. Age 39 years, five months and twenty-three days. Swami Vivekananda gained world fame on September 11, 1893, due to a lecture he delivered at the Dharma Sabha at the Art Institute in Chicago. This lecture had two special features. The first address he gave was 'Brothers and Sisters of America.' This address touched the thousands of people present so much that they stood and applauded for two minutes. Vivekananda was given only two minutes to address. This two minutes of applause! Another feature of the Indian Ideological Address on Religion presented by Vivekananda. Key points of his short speech:- On behalf of the world's oldest saintly tradition and the mother of all religions, I thank you. I express my gratitude on behalf of crores of Hindus of all castes and creeds. I am proud to belong to a religion that has taught the world the lesson of tolerance and universal acceptance. We accept all religions as true. I am proud that I belong to a country that has sheltered persecuted people of all religions and nations. I am proud that we have preserved in our hearts those sacred memories of Israel when their religious places were destroyed by the Roman invaders and then they took refuge in South India. I am proud that I belong to a religion that has sheltered Zoroastrians. When Vivekananda came to Gujarat in September 1891, Thakor Saheb Jaswant Singh of Limbadi first inspired him to go to the Dharma Sabha in America. He went to Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Palitana, Veraval, Somnath, Junagadh, Porbandar, Dwarka, Bhuj, Mandvi, Nadiad and Vadodara in Gujarat. Swamiji realized the sanctity of marriage in Hindu scriptures during his visit to the Ranakdevi temple in Vadwan. They left Vadodara on 26th April, 1892. With the help of funds raised by Khetri kings, Diwans and other followers, Vivekananda left Mumbai on May 31, 1893 for Chicago, assuming the name Vivekananda suggested by the Khetri Maharaja. When Vivekananda was going from Yokohama to Chicago, Jamshedji Tata was also on the same ship. Vivekananda inspired Jamshedji Tata to set up a research and educational institution. Tata wrote a letter requesting Vivekananda to head his Research Institute of Science. He reached Chicago in July 1893 via China, Japan, Canada. He was invited to speak at Harvard. When Professor Wright learned that he did not have official credentials to speak in Parliament, Wright wrote to the Speaker in charge of the delegates saying, 'Here is a man who is more learned than all our learned professors put together.' American newspapers noted of Swami Vivekananda that 'he was the greatest man in the Parliament of Religion' and 'the most influential and most popular man in the Parliament.' The mass media called him the 'Zanjavati Sadhu of India'. The New York Herald wrote, 'Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest personality in the Parliament of Religions. After listening to them we feel that it is our folly to send missionaries to their civilized country. He propagated Vedanta, Yoga and Hinduism in America, England and some European countries. During his visit to England, he met the Irish woman Ms. met Margaret Noble, who later became Sister Nivedita. Vivekananda arrived in Colombo on 15 January. Traveled and lectured from Colombo to Pamban, Rameswaram, Ramnad, Madurai, Kumbakonam and Madras. The people and the kings gave a rousing welcome. In that ceremony at Pamban, the king of Ramnad himself carried the belongings of Swami. It happened at many places on the way to Madras that at places where the train was not standing, people would come onto the railway track and let the train go only after listening to Swami. In the year 1897, he established the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, a social service and spiritual institution. Ashoka : 11-9 Swami Vivekananda and 9-11 Osama Bin Laden. Not only the date, but also the differences between the two cultures.

Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).