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AT THE PARLIAMENT OF WORLD RELIGIONS
September 11, 1893
Sisters and Brothers of America,
It
fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm
and cordial welcome, which you have given us. I thank you in the
name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in
the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name
of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.
My
thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who,
referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these
men from far-off nations may well claim the honour of bearing to
different lands the idea of toleration.
I
am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both
tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in
universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. 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.
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. I am proud to belong to
the religion, which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant
of the grand Zoroastrian nation.
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."
The
present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever
held, is in itself a, vindication, a declaration to the world of the
wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me,
through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through
paths which in the end lead to me."
Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have
long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with
violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed
civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been
for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced
than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that
the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may
be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the
sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between
persons wending their way to the same goal. |
