Swami Vivekananda shared his world-famous speech at the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago

[Jambunathan Iyer]

Today is the 11th of September. on this day in 1893 Swami Vivekananda shared his world-famous speech at the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago and given the message *We (Indians) believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true".

Swami Vivekananda is widely regarded as one of the greatest modern Indian thinkers. He was a prominent philosopher, social reformer, and the most successful proponent of Vedanta philosophy abroad. He played a crucial role in the Hindu revivalist movement and contributed significantly to the rise and development of Indian nationalism in colonial India. Celebrated as a patriotic saint, his birth anniversary is observed in India as National Youth Day which all of us aware.

His service to the Hinduism and Indians were become a a Great topic of discussion and understanding In 1893 when he travelled to the United States to participate in the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, where he delivered a landmark speech. On this day the 11th Sept., Vivekananda gave a brief speech representing India and Hinduism. He bowed to Saraswati (the Hindu goddess of learning) and began his speech with "Sisters and brothers of America!". *At these words, Vivekananda received a two-minute standing ovation from the crowd of seven thousand. When silence was restored he began his address, greeting the youngest of the nations on behalf of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance". Vivekananda quoted one illustrative passage from the "Shiva mahimna stotram" (Verse 7): *As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!* and another from the Bhagavad Gita (4.11) "*Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me*." I understood this speach as "*it was only a short speech, but it voiced the spirit of the Parliament*.

 

His powerful message introduced Hindu spiritual thought and advocated for both religious tolerance and universal acceptance. The speech made a profound impression; an *American newspaper described him as "an orator by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest figure at the Parliament"*.

Swamy Vivekanada not Just stopped there to promote Hindu Sanadhana at that point and following his success in Chicago, Vivekananda lectured widely across the United States, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe, disseminating the essential principles of Hindu philosophy. 

He established the Vedanta Society of New York and the Vedanta Society of San Francisco (now the Vedanta Society of Northern California), both of which became the foundations for later Vedanta Societies in the West. In India, he founded the Ramakrishna Math, a monastic order for spiritual training, and the Ramakrishna Mission, dedicated to social services, education, and humanitarian work.

After his work in America and United Kingdom and delivering to pupblic on sanadhana and on another occasion when been questioned about his mission he described his mission thus:

*I do not come to convert you to a new belief. I want you to keep your own belief; I want to make the Methodist a better Methodist; the Presbyterian a better Presbyterian; the Unitarian a better Unitarian. I want to teach you to live the truth, to reveal the light within your own soul.*

Further I also observed , learned and conculded of Swami Vivekanada's Mission while Promoting his belief on Hinduism, Sanadhana he never interfeared or feared the people of other religions belief.

He perfectly and powerfully expressed his view by Quoting 

1. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. 

2. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. 

3. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. 

4. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: ‘*As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee*.’ 

N Jambunathan , Chennai
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