Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of the World's Religions (1893)

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Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of the World's Religions (1893)
Swami Vivekananda-1893-09-signed.jpg
Vivekananda in Chicago in 1893
Date11–27 September 1893
Location Chicago, America
OutcomeA World Congress was organised in 2012 to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda
Website parliamentofreligions.org

Swami Vivekananda represented India and Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions (1893) . This was the first World's Parliament of Religions and it was held from 11 to 27 September 1893. Delegates from all over the world joined this Parliament. [1] In 2012 a three-day world conference was organized to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda. [2]

Swami Vivekananda Indian Hindu monk and philosopher

Swami Vivekananda, born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began with the words - "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Hinduism is an Indian religion and dharma, or way of life, widely practised in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition", or the "eternal way", beyond human history. Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This "Hindu synthesis" started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE, after the end of the Vedic period, and flourished in the medieval period, with the decline of Buddhism in India.

Contents

Background

Journey to the west

Vivekananda began his journey to America from Bombay, India on 31 May 1893,with the great ship peninsula [3] His journey to America took him to China, Japan and Canada. At Canton (Guangzhou) he saw some Buddhist monasteries. There he also found many Sanskrit and Bengali manuscripts. Then he visited Japan. First he went to Nagasaki. He saw three more big cities and then reached Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo and then he reached Yokohama. He started his journey to Canada in a ship named RMS Empress of India from Yokohama . [4]

Peninsula A piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland.

A peninsula is a landform surrounded by water on the majority of its border while being connected to a mainland from which it extends. The surrounding water is usually understood to be continuous, though not necessarily named as a single body of water. Peninsulas are not always named as such; one can also be a headland, cape, island promontory, bill, point, fork, or spit. A point is generally considered a tapering piece of land projecting into a body of water that is less prominent than a cape. A river which courses through a very tight meander is also sometimes said to form a "peninsula" within the loop of water. In English, the plural versions of peninsula are peninsulas and, less commonly, peninsulae.

Nagasaki Core city in Kyushu, Japan

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became a centre of colonial Portuguese and Dutch influence in the 16th through 19th centuries, and the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region have been recognized and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War.

Osaka Designated city in Kansai, Japan

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. It is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Japan and among the largest in the world with over 19 million inhabitants.

Vivekananda 1893 with The East Indian Group Swami Vivekananda 1893 with The East Indian Group.jpg
Vivekananda 1893 with The East Indian Group

Meeting with Jamsetji Tata

In the journey from Yokohama to Canada on the ship Empress, Vivekananda accidentally met Jamsetji Tata who was also going to Chicago. Tata, a businessman who made his initial fortune in the opium trade with China [5] and started one of the first textile mills in India, was going to Chicago to get new business ideas. In this accidental meeting on the Empress, Vivekananda inspired Tata to set up a research and educational institution in India. They also discussed a plan to start a steel factory in India. [4]

Jamsetji Tata Indian industrialist, founder of the Tata Group

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata was an Indian pioneer industrialist, who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company. He was born to a Parsi Zoroastrian family in Navsari, then part of the princely state of Baroda.

He reached Vancouver on 25 July. [4] [6] From Vancouver (of Canada) he travelled to Chicago by train and arrived there on Sunday, 30 July 1893. [7]

Vancouver City in British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2016 census recorded 631,486 people in the city, up from 603,502 in 2011. The Greater Vancouver area had a population of 2,463,431 in 2016, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Vancouver has the highest population density in Canada with over 5,400 people per square kilometre, which makes it the fifth-most densely populated city with over 250,000 residents in North America behind New York City, Guadalajara, San Francisco, and Mexico City according to the 2011 census. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada according to that census; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English. 48.9% have neither English nor French as their first language. Roughly 30% of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage.

Journey to Boston

After reaching Chicago Vivekananda learned no one could attend the Parliament as delegate without credential or bona fide. He did not have one at that moment and felt utterly disappointed. He also learned the Parliament would not open till first week of September. But Vivekananda did not give up his hope. To cut his expenditure, he decided to go to Boston, which was less costly than Chicago.

Boston State capital of Massachusetts, U.S.

Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km2) with an estimated population of 694,583 in 2018, making it also the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth most populous in the United States.

Meeting with John Henry Wright

At Boston Vivekananda met Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University. Professor Wright invited Vivekananda to give a lecture at the University. After being acquainted with Vivekananda's knowledge, wisdom and excellence, Professor Wright insisted him to represent Hinduism at the Parliament of World's Religions. [8] Vivekananda himself later wrote– "He urged upon me the necessity of going to the Parliament of Religions, which he thought would give an introduction to the nation". [3] When Wright learned that Vivekananda was not officially accredited and did not have any credential to join the Parliament, he told Vivekananda– "To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens." [3]

John Henry Wright

John Henry Wright was an American classical scholar born at Urumiah (Rezaieh), Persia. He earned his Bachelors (1873) and Masters (1876) at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. After junior appointments in 1886 he joined Johns Hopkins as a professor of classical philology. In 1887, he became a professor of Greek at Harvard, where, from 1895 to 1908, he was also Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Harvard University Private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with about 6,700 undergraduate students and about 15,250 postgraduate students. Established in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, clergyman John Harvard, Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning. Its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

At the Parliament of World's Religion

Response to Welcome (11 September 1893)

Vivekananda Welcome Speech

The World's Parliament of Religions started on 11 September 1893 at the Permanent Memorial Art Palace (also identified as the World's Congress Auxiliary Building), now the Art Institute of Chicago, as part of the World's Columbian Exposition. Vivekananda gave his first lecture on that day. Towards the afternoon his turn came, after so much of procrastination. Though initially nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, and he felt he got new energy in his body; he felt someone or something else had occupied his body– "The Soul of India, the echo of the Rishis, the voice of Ramakrishna, the mouthpiece of the resurgent Time spirit". [3] Then began his speech with salutation, "Sisters and brothers of America!". To these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes. When silence was restored he began his address. He greeted 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.!"

Why we disagree (15 September 1893)

Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions with Virchand Gandhi, Hewivitarne Dharmapala Swami Vivekananda at Parliament of Religions.jpg
Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions with Virchand Gandhi, Hewivitarne Dharmapala

In this speech Vivekananda tried to explain the reason of disagreement between each other and different sects and religions. He told a story of a frog,which is popularly known as "কুয়োর ব্যাং " (kuor bang). And in the story he told, a frog used to live in a well. It was born there and brought up there and it used to think his well was the biggest water land of the world. One day, a frog from a sea came to that well. When the frog from the sea told the frog of the well that sea is much bigger than that well, the frog of the well did not believe it and drove the frog of the sea away from his well. Vivekananda concluded– "That has been the difficulty all the while. I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole world is his well. The Muslim sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world."

Paper on Hinduism (19 September 1893)

Vivekananda gave a short introduction of Hinduism and spoke on "The meaning of the Hindu religion". He also talked about the 3 oldest religions of the world, namely Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism and their survival and the emergence of Christianity. He then went ahead and shared his knowledge of the Vedanta philosophy, the concept of god, soul and body in Hinduism. [9]

Religion not the Crying need of India (20 September 1893)

In this brief address Vivekananda made a "little criticism" and told, religion was not the most important need of Indians at that moment. He regretted for sending of Christian missionaries and trying to save the souls of Indians although poverty had been a much more important issue at that time. He then told, his aim was to join the Chicago Parliament of Religions and to seek aid for his impoverished people.

Buddhism, the Fulfillment of Hinduism (26 September 1893)

In this speech Vivekananda talked on Buddhism. He talked about origin of Buddhism, relation between Buddhism and Brahmanism, Buddhism and Vedas. He concluded "Hinduism cannot live without Buddhism, nor Buddhism without Hinduism." and showed how Buddhism is the fulfillment to Hinduism.

Address at the Final Session (27 September 1893)

This was Vivekananda's final address at the Parliament of World's religion. In his last speech he told that the Parliament had become an accomplished fact. He thanked the "noble souls" for organizing the Parliament which he felt "proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character". He finished his speech with appeal "Help and not Fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.".

Impact

The lectures of Vivekananda shook America and the whole world. [9] After the Parliament Vivekananda immediately became a hero in America.It took about 10 minutes for the crowd to stop clapping.[ citation needed ]

Parliament of the World's Religions (2012)

In 2012, a three-day world conference was organised by the Institute of World Religions (of the Washington Kali Temple), Burtonsville, Maryland, in association with the Council for A Parliament of World Religions, Chicago, Illinois to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda. [10]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Swami Vivekananda; Dave DeLuca (14 April 2006). Pathways to Joy: The Master Vivekananda on the Four Yoga Paths to God. New World Library. pp. 251–. ISBN   978-1-930722-67-5 . Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "World Congress of Religions 2012". Parliament of the World's Religions. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 P. R. Bhuyan (1 January 2003). Swami Vivekananda: Messiah of Resurgent India. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. pp. 16–. ISBN   978-81-269-0234-7 . Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Niranjan Rajadhyaksha (5 December 2006). The Rise of India: Its Transformation from Poverty to Prosperity. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 30–. ISBN   978-0-470-82201-2 . Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  5. ↑ Huggler, Justin (1 February 2007). "From Parsee priests to profits: say hello to Tata". The Independent . Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Swami Vivekananda chronology" (PDF). Vedanta.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  7. ↑ Chaturvedi Badrinath (1 June 2006). Swami Vivekananda: The Living Vedanta. Penguin Books India. pp. 158–. ISBN   978-0-14-306209-7 . Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  8. ↑ G. S Banhatti (1 January 1995). Life And Philosophy Of Swami Vivekananda. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. pp. 27–. ISBN   978-81-7156-291-6 . Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  9. 1 2 Bhawan Singh Rana; Mīnā Agravāla Meena Agrawal (2005). The Immortal Philosopher Of India Swami Vivekananda. Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. pp. 55–. ISBN   978-81-288-1001-5 . Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "World Congress of Religions 2012". Parliament of the World's Religions. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
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