在拉姆纳德欢迎致辞的回复
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在拉姆纳德欢迎词之回应
在拉姆纳德，拉贾向斯瓦米·辨喜（Swami Vivekananda）呈上了以下致辞：
至圣者，
室利·帕拉玛汉萨（Sri Paramahamsa）、亚提-拉贾（Yati-Raja）、迪格维贾亚-科拉哈拉（Digvijaya-Kolahala）、萨尔瓦玛塔-桑普拉蒂潘纳（Sarvamata-Sampratipanna）、帕拉玛-约基什瓦拉（Parama-Yogeeswara）、室利玛特·薄伽梵·室利·罗摩克里希纳·帕拉玛汉萨·卡拉卡玛拉·桑贾塔（Srimat Bhagavân Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Karakamala Sanjata）、拉贾迪拉贾-塞维塔（Rajâdhirâja-Sevita）、室利·辨喜·斯瓦米，敬请洪鉴，
我们，这座古老而历史悠久的塞图·班达·拉梅斯瓦拉姆（Sethu Bandha Rameswaram）领地，又称拉玛纳薄兰（Ramanathapuram）或拉姆纳德（Ramnad）的居民，恭谨而由衷地欢迎您回到我们的母邦。我们以能够在您踏上印度土地时，率先向您的圣驾致以衷心的崇敬，而且就在为那伟大的英雄、我们敬爱的主——室利·薄伽梵·罗摩旃陀拉（Sree Bhagavân Ramachandra）的脚步所圣化的海岸上，感到无上的荣幸。
我们满怀真诚的骄傲与喜悦，注视着您的一切崇高努力所获得的空前成就——您向西方精英心智阐明了我们这久经考验的高贵宗教的内在价值与卓越品格。您以无与伦比的雄辩，以明白无误的语言，向欧美诸国有文化修养的听众宣示并令其信服：印度教符合普世宗教之理想的一切条件，并能适应各民族各种族男女的气质与需求。您纯粹出于无私的冲动，受最高动机的驱使，克服了巨大的个人牺牲，横渡无边的海洋，传递真理与和平的讯息，在欧美丰厚的土壤上插起了印度精神胜利与荣耀的旗帜。您的圣驾以言教和身教双管齐下，彰显了普世博爱的可行性与重要性。尤其是，您在西方的劳作，间接地并在很大程度上，唤醒了印度那些麻木不仁的子女，令其认识到祖先信仰的伟大与荣光，并在他们心中激起对亲爱而无价的宗教之研习与遵行的真诚兴趣。
我们感到，任何言语都难以充分表达我们对您的圣驾为东西方精神复兴所付出的慈善劳作的感激与谢忱。在结束这份致辞之前，我们不得不提及您的圣驾始终以极大的恩慈对待我们的拉贾——他是您虔诚的弟子之一——而他因您圣驾慷慨首先降临其领地这一殊荣所感到的尊荣与自豪，实难言表。
最后，我们祈愿全能的上帝赐福于您的圣驾以长寿、健康与力量，使您得以继续推进这项由您如此出色地开创的善业。
谨致敬意与爱戴，
我们谨以以下身份恭订，
您的圣驾最虔诚、最服从的
弟子与仆人。
拉姆纳德，
1897年1月25日。
斯瓦米的回应全文如下：
这最漫长的黑夜，似乎终于在消逝；这最痛苦的磨难，似乎终于走向尽头；那看似已死的躯体，似乎正在苏醒，一个声音正向我们而来——那声音来自历史乃至传说都无法穿透、那往昔沉沉黑暗的遥远彼方，从那里传来，如在无限知识、爱与行动的喜马拉雅山（Himalayas）群峰之间折射回响——我们的祖国印度，一个声音正向我们而来，温和、坚定，然而在其吐露中又清晰无误，而且随着日月流逝愈来愈宏大：你们看！那沉睡者正在醒来！如同来自喜马拉雅山的一阵清风，它正将生命带入那几乎已僵死的骨肉肌肉之中，那倦怠正在消散，唯有盲者看不见，或者意志扭曲者不愿看见——我们的祖国正在从她漫长的深沉酣睡中苏醒。没有人能再阻止她；她再也不会沉眠；没有任何外力能再拦住她；因为那无限的巨人正在起身。
拉姆纳德的殿下与诸君，感谢你们以如此的热忱与厚意接待了我，请接受我衷心的谢意。我感受到你们的热忱与厚意，因为心对心的言说胜于任何口头语言；灵与灵在寂静中彼此言说，然而是以最清晰无误的语言，我在我内心深处感受到了这一点。拉姆纳德的殿下，若微臣在西方诸国为我们的宗教和祖国所做的些许工作，若有一点微薄的工作是在唤起我们自己民众的同情——引导他们注意那不知不觉间深埋于自家门前的、价值连城的珍宝——若他们不是在无明的蒙蔽下死于渴竭，或在外处饮那污浊的沟水，而是被召唤去饮那在他们自家门前永远奔流不息的永恒之泉——若有任何事情是在唤起我们民众走向行动，令他们明白在一切事物中，宗教、唯宗教才是印度的生命，若宗教消亡，纵有政治、社会改革，纵有天财（Kubera）的财富倾注于她的每一个子女头顶，印度也将死亡——若这一切都有所推进，印度以及每一个有所工作的国家，都在很大程度上应归功于您，拉姆纳德的拉贾。因为正是您最初给了我这个想法，也正是您坚持不懈地督促我走向这项工作。您如直觉般地理解了将要发生的事，牵起我的手，一路相助，从未停止鼓励我。因此，您理当成为首先为我的成功而欢庆之人，而我首先踏上您的领地回归印度，亦是恰当之事。
伟大的事业有待完成，卓越的力量有待发挥，我们须向其他民族传授许多东西，正如殿下方才所言。这是哲学、灵性与伦理的祖国，是温柔、仁慈与爱的祖国。这些至今仍然存在，而我的世界经验令我能够站在坚实的立场上，作出这大胆的断言：印度在这些方面至今仍是世界所有民族中的第一和最前沿。请看这个小小的现象。在过去四五年间，发生了巨大的政治变化。在西方世界各地，某些庞大的组织正试图颠覆各国现有的全部制度，并取得了一定程度的成功。请问我们的民众，他们是否听说过这些？他们对这些一无所知。但是，芝加哥举行了一次宗教议会（Parliament of Religions），印度向那次议会派遣了一名游方僧（Sannyasin），他在那里受到了热烈的欢迎，此后一直在西方工作——这件事，最贫穷的乞丐都知道。我曾听说，我们的民众愚钝，不想接受任何教育，也不在乎任何资讯。我自己一度也愚昧地倾向于这种看法，但我发现，经验远比任何数量的玄想、或任何数量由走马观花的旅行者和仓促的观察者所写的书籍，都更为荣耀的老师。这经验告诉我：他们并不愚钝，他们并不迟缓，他们对资讯的渴求与好奇，不亚于阳光下的任何民族；但每个民族有其自身的角色要扮演，每个民族自然地有其与生俱来的特质与个性。每个民族，如其所是，代表着这民族和声中的一个特殊音符，这就是其生命、其活力之所在。这是民族生命的脊梁、基石与根基，而在这蒙福的大地上，这基石、这脊梁、这生命中心，就是宗教，唯宗教而已。且让其他人谈论政治，谈论通过贸易带来巨额财富积累的荣耀，谈论商业主义的力量与传播，谈论物质自由的光辉之泉；然而印度的心灵不理解这些，也不想理解这些。触动他谈到灵性，谈到宗教，谈到上帝，谈到真我，谈到无限，谈到精神自由，我可以向你们保证，印度最低微的农民，在这些主题上的见识，胜过其他许多所谓的"哲学家"。我已经说过了，诸君，我们还有一些东西要传授给世界。这正是这个民族生存至今的根本原因——在数百年的迫害之中，在将近千年的外族统治与外族压迫之下，这个民族至今仍然生存。这个民族依然活着，根本原因就在于它仍然持守上帝，持守宗教与灵性的宝藏。
在这片土地上，宗教与灵性依然存在，这些泉源必将满溢，涌流入世界，为那些几乎已被政治野心与社会图谋所压垮、半死不活、被其贬损的西方及其他民族，带来新的生命与新的活力。从众多和谐与不和谐的声音之中，从充斥于印度大气之中的声音的混响之中，升腾而起一个卓越的、引人注目的、饱满的音调，那就是出离。舍弃！这是印度诸宗教的口号。这个世界是两日的幻妄。当下的人生不过五分钟。超越于此的是无限，超越这幻妄的世界；让我们去寻求那个。这片大陆照耀着英勇而伟大的心智与才智，他们甚至将这所谓的无限宇宙视为一摊泥水；他们超越再超越。即使是无限的时间，在他们看来也不过是乌有。他们超越时间再超越。对他们而言，空间什么都不是；他们要超越那之外，而这超越现象界的努力，正是宗教的灵魂。我们民族的特性就是这超越主义，这超越的奋斗，这大胆撕开自然面纱的精神，不惜任何风险、不惜任何代价，一睹那超越之境。那是我们的理想，当然，一个国家的所有民众不可能全都彻底出离。你想激励他们，那么方法在这里。你关于政治的言谈，关于社会再生的言谈，你关于赚钱与商业主义的言谈——这一切都如鸭背之水，滑过而去。这灵性，才是你所要向世界传授的。我们还有什么需要从别处学习的吗？我们或许须在物质知识、组织能力、驾驭各种力量的能力、组织的力量、从最微小的原因中产生最佳结果的能力等方面，稍有所取益。这些我们或许可以从一定程度上向西方学习。但若有人在印度鼓吹吃喝玩乐的理想，若有人想将物质世界神化为上帝，那个人是骗子；在这神圣的土地上没有他的容身之处，印度的心灵不愿听他的话。是的，尽管西方文明有其璀璨与耀眼，尽管它有其精致与那令人叹为观止的力量彰显，我站在这讲台上，当面告诉他们：这一切皆是虚空。虚空的虚空。只有上帝永活。只有真我（Atman）永活。只有灵性永活。持守这一点。
然而，也许，某种程度上经过调适以适应我们自身需要的物质主义，会是许多尚未成熟于最高真理的兄弟们的福祉。这是每个国家、每个社会所犯的错误，而在印度，原本一直得到理解的，近来却同样犯了将最高真理强加于尚未准备好之人的同样错误，这实在令人深为遗憾。我的方法不必是你的方法。游方僧（Sannyasin），众所周知，是印度教徒生命的理想，按照我们的经典（Shastras），每个人都必须放弃。每个已尝过世俗之果的印度教徒，在其晚年都必须放弃；而那不放弃的人，不是一个印度教徒，也没有权利自称印度教徒。我们知道这是理想——在见到并体验了事物的虚空之后放弃。既然发现物质世界的内心不过是空洞，其中只有灰烬，便舍弃它，归返原处。心意如其所是地朝着感官的方向旋转，而那心意必须朝反方向旋转；顺流（Pravritti）必须停止，逆流（Nivritti）必须开始。那是理想。但那理想只有在经历了一定量的经验之后，才能被实现。我们无法向孩子传授放弃的真理；孩子天生是乐观主义者；他的整个生命在于感官；他的整个生命是一片感官享受的汪洋。所以在每个社会中，都有一些孩子般的人，他们需要一定量的经验、享受，才能看穿其虚空，然后放弃会自然来临。我们的书籍中为他们作了充分的安排；但不幸的是，近来有一种将游方僧所受的同样律法强加于所有人的倾向，这是一个极大的错误。若非如此，你在印度所见到的大量贫困与苦难就不必有了。穷人的生命被宏大的精神与伦理律法所束缚，而这些律法对他毫无用处。撒手吧！让那可怜的人享受一点，然后他会自我提升，放弃会自然来临。也许在这一方面，西方人能够教导我们一些；但我们在学习这些东西时必须格外谨慎。我遗憾地说，如今所遇到的大多数已吸收西方观念之人的例子，都或多或少是失败的。
在我们印度的道路上，有两大障碍：旧正统主义这个斯库拉（Scylla），以及欧洲现代文明这个卡律布狄斯（Charybdis）。在这两者之间，我选择旧的正统主义，而非欧化的体制；因为旧的正统派人士也许无知，也许粗陋，但他是个真正的人，他有信仰，他有力量，他自立于自身的根基之上；而那欧化的人没有脊梁，他是从四面八方随意拾捡来的一堆杂乱观念的集合——这些观念未经消化，未经融合，未经调和。他无法自立，他的头脑在原地打转。他的工作的动力来自哪里？——来自英国人偶尔给予的几下赞许性的拍肩。他那些改革的方案，他那些对某些社会习俗之弊病的激烈抨击，其内在的动力不过是某种欧洲人的庇护。为什么我们的某些习俗被称为弊病？因为欧洲人说它们是。这大约就是他给出的理由。我不会屈从于此。站稳，即便在自身的力量中死去；若这世界上有什么是罪，那便是软弱；避开一切软弱，因为软弱就是罪，软弱就是死亡。这些失衡的人尚未形成鲜明的人格；我们该如何称呼他们——男人、女人，还是动物？而那些旧的正统派人士则是坚定不移的、真正的男人。至今仍有一些极好的例子，而我现在要在你们面前呈现的，就是你们的拉姆纳德拉贾。这里是一个人，在这片土地的广袤之中，没有比他更为热忱的印度教徒；这里是一位王子，在这片土地上没有哪位王子比他更为通晓东西方一切事务，从每个民族中取其有益的一切。"以全副虔心，向最低种姓的人学习良善的知识。向旃陀罗（Pariah）学习自由之道，即使这道路来自服侍他。若一个女人是宝玉，即使她出身于最低种姓的低微家庭，也要娶她为妻。"我们伟大而无与伦比的立法者、神圣的摩奴（Manu）如此规定。此言极是。自立于自身根基之上，并吸纳你所能吸纳的；向每个民族学习，取其对你有益者。但请记住，作为印度教徒，其他一切都必须从属于我们自己的民族理想。每个人都有其在生命中的使命，那是他无限过去业力（Karma）的结果。你们每个人都带着辉煌的遗产而生，那遗产就是你们光荣民族的整个无限过去的生命。千万个祖先如其所是地注视着你们的每一个行动，所以要保持警觉。印度教每个孩子所带来的使命是什么？你们没有读过摩奴关于婆罗门的那段自豪的宣言吗？他说婆罗门的诞生是"为了守护宗教的宝藏"？我应当说，那不仅是婆罗门的使命，而是在这蒙福土地上出生的每个孩子的使命——无论男孩还是女孩——"为了守护宗教的宝藏"。生命中的其他一切问题都必须从属于那一个主旋律。这也是音乐中和声的律法。也许有一个民族，其生命的主旋律是政治霸权；宗教和其他一切都必须从属于其生命中那一个伟大的主旋律。但这里有另一个民族，其伟大的生命主旋律是灵性与放弃，其唯一的口号是：这个世界不过是三日的虚空与幻妄，其他一切——无论科学还是知识、享受还是权力、财富、名望或声誉——都必须从属于那一个主旋律。真正的印度教徒的品格的秘密，在于将其对欧洲科学与学问的知识，其财富、地位与声名，从属于那一个主旋律——那与生俱来于每个印度教孩子的根本主旋律——民族的灵性与纯洁。因此，在这两者之间——那拥有民族整个生命之泉、即灵性的正统派人士，以及那双手满是西方仿制珠宝、却对给予生命的原则灵性毫无把握的另一种人——在这两者之间，我不怀疑这里的每个人都会同意：我们应选择前者，选择正统派，因为他有希望——他拥有民族的主旋律，有所持守；所以他将活下去，而另一者将死去。正如个人的情形：若生命的主要原则没有受到干扰，若那个个人生命的主要功能仍然存在，其他功能所受的任何伤害都不是严重的，都不会致命；同样，只要我们生命的这一主要功能没有受到干扰，没有任何力量能够毁灭我们的民族。但请注意，若你放弃那灵性，撇开它去追随西方的物质化文明，结果将是三代之内你们将成为一个灭绝的种族；因为民族的脊梁将折断，民族大厦所建立的基础将被挖空，结果将是四面八方的毁灭。
因此，我的朋友们，出路在于：首先且最重要的是，我们必须牢牢持守灵性——那由我们的先人传授给我们的无价之宝。你们可曾听说过一个国家，其最伟大的帝王竟试图追溯其后裔，不是追溯至君王，不是追溯至那些住在古旧城堡中、劫掠穷苦旅人的强盗男爵，而是追溯至半裸居于林中的仙人（Rishi）？你们可曾听说过这样的土地？这就是那片土地。在其他国家，伟大的神职人员试图追溯其后裔至某位帝王；但在这里，最伟大的帝王却追溯其后裔至某位古代祭司。因此，无论你相信灵性与否，为了民族生命，你都必须把握灵性并持守之。然后将另一只手伸出，从其他民族那里获取一切你所能获取的；但一切都必须从属于那一个生命的理想；由此，一个美妙的、光辉的未来的印度将会出现——我确信它正在到来——一个比历史上任何时候都更为伟大的印度。将有仙人（Rishi）涌现，比所有古代的仙人（Rishi）都更伟大；而你们的先人不仅将感到满足，而且我相信，他们将从其在其他世界的位置俯视其后裔，以无比的骄傲与自豪，看见他们如此荣耀，如此伟大。
让我们都努力工作，我的弟兄们；这不是沉睡的时候。未来的印度有赖于我们的工作而出现。她已在那里，随时等候。她只是在沉睡。醒来，起身，看见她坐于她永恒的宝座之上，焕然一新，比她历史上任何时候都更为荣耀——我们的祖国。关于上帝的观念，从未在任何地方如在我们祖国这里得到如此充分的发展，因为如此关于上帝的观念从未在其他任何地方存在过。也许你们会对我的断言感到惊讶；但请拿出任何来自其他经典的关于上帝的观念来与我们的相比；他们只有部落性的神明——犹太人的上帝，阿拉伯人的上帝，以及诸如此类的某某民族的上帝，而他们的上帝在与其他民族的神明战斗。然而那位仁慈的、最慈悲的上帝——我们的父，我们的母，我们的朋友，我们朋友的朋友，我们灵魂的灵魂——这样的观念，只在这里，也只在这里。愿那在湿婆（Shiva）信奉者那里是湿婆、在毗湿奴（Vishnu）信奉者那里是毗湿奴、在业行者（Karmis）那里是业力（Karma）、在佛教徒那里是佛陀（Buddha）、在耆那教徒那里是护法者（Jina）、在基督徒和犹太人那里是耶和华（Jehovah）、在穆斯林那里是真主（Allah）、在每一个教派的那位主、在吠檀多（Vedanta）论者那里是梵（Brahman）——那遍在者，其荣耀唯有在这片土地上才得到完全彰显——愿祂赐福我们，愿祂帮助我们，愿祂赐予我们力量，赐予我们活力，以将这理想付诸实践。愿我们所聆听过、所研习过的，成为我们的食粮，愿它成为我们内心的力量，愿它成为我们相互帮助的活力；愿我们——老师与学生——不彼此嫉妒！和平，和平，和平，以诃利（Hari）之名！
English
REPLY TO THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME AT RAMNAD
At Ramnad the following address was presented to Swami Vivekananda by the Raja:
His Most Holiness,
Sri Paramahamsa, Yati-Râja, Digvijaya-Kolâhala, Sarvamata-Sampratipanna, Parama-Yogeeswara, Srimat Bhagavân Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Karakamala Sanjâta, Râjâdhirâja-Sevita, Sree Vivekananda Swami, May It Please Your Holiness,
We, the inhabitants of this ancient and historic Samsthânam of Sethu Bandha Rameswaram, otherwise known as Râmanâthapuram or Ramnad, beg, most cordially, to welcome you to this, our motherland. We deem it a very rare privilege to be the first to pay your Holiness our heartfelt homage on your landing in India, and that, on the shores sanctified by the footsteps of that great Hero and our revered Lord — Sree Bhagavân Râmachandra.
We have watched with feelings of genuine pride and pleasure the unprecedented success which has crowned your laudable efforts in bringing home to the master-minds of the West the intrinsic merits and excellence of our time-honoured and noble religion. You have with an eloquence that is unsurpassed and in language plain and unmistakable, proclaimed to and convinced the cultured audiences in Europe and America that Hinduism fulfils all the requirements of the ideal of a universal religion and adapts itself to the temperament and needs of men and women of all races and creeds. Animated purely by a disinterested impulse, influenced by the best of motives and at considerable self-sacrifice, Your Holiness has crossed boundless seas and oceans to convey the message of truth and peace, and to plant the flag of India's spiritual triumph and glory in the rich soil of Europe and America. Your Holiness has, both by precept and practice, shown the feasibility and importance of universal brotherhood. Above all, your labours in the West have indirectly and to a great extent tended to awaken the apathetic sons and daughters of India to a sense of the greatness and glory of their ancestral faith, and to create in them a genuine interest in the study and observance of their dear and priceless religion
We feel we cannot adequately convey in words our feelings of gratitude and thankfulness to your Holiness for your philanthropic labours towards the spiritual regeneration of the East and the West. We cannot close this address without referring to the great kindness which your Holiness has always extended to our Raja, who is one of your devoted disciples, and the honour and pride he feels by this gracious act of your Holiness in landing first on his territory is indescribable.
In conclusion, we pray to the Almighty to bless your Holiness with long life, and health, and strength to enable you to carry on the good work that has been so ably inaugurated by you.
With respects and love,
We beg to subscribe ourselves,
Your Holiness' most devoted and obedient
Disciples and Servants.
Ramnad,
25th January, 1897.
The Swami's reply follows in extenso:
The longest night seems to be passing away, the sorest trouble seems to be coming to an end at last, the seeming corpse appears to be awaking and a voice is coming to us — away back where history and even tradition fails to peep into the gloom of the past, coming down from there, reflected as it were from peak to peak of the infinite Himalaya of knowledge, and of love, and of work, India, this motherland of ours — a voice is coming unto us, gentle, firm, and yet unmistakable in its utterances, and is gaining volume as days pass by, and behold, the sleeper is awakening! Like a breeze from the Himalayas, it is bringing life into the almost dead bones and muscles, the lethargy is passing away, and only the blind cannot see, or the perverted will not see, that she is awakening, this motherland of ours, from her deep long sleep. None can desist her any more; never is she going to sleep any more; no outward powers can hold her back any more; for the infinite giant is rising to her feet.
Your Highness and gentlemen of Ramnad, accept my heartfelt thanks for the cordiality and kindness with which you have received me. I feel that you are cordial and kind, for heart speaks unto heart better than any language of the mouth; spirit speaks unto spirit in silence, and yet in most unmistakable language, and I feel it in my heart of hearts. Your Highness of Ramnad, if there has been any work done by my humble self in the cause of our religion and our motherland in the Western countries, if any little work has been done in rousing the sympathies of our own people by drawing their attention to the inestimable jewels that, they know not, are lying deep buried about their own home — if, instead of dying of thirst and drinking dirty ditch water elsewhere out of the blindness of ignorance, they are being called to go and drink from the eternal fountain which is flowing perennially by their own home — if anything has been done to rouse our people towards action, to make them understand that in everything, religion and religion alone is the life of India, and when that goes India will die, in spite of politics, in spite of social reforms, in spite of Kubera's wealth poured upon the head of every one of her children — if anything has been done towards this end, India and every country where any work has been done owe much of it to you, Raja of Ramnad. For it was you who gave me the idea first, and it was you who persistently urged me on towards the work. You, as it were, intuitively understood what was going to be, and took me by the hand, helped me all along, and have never ceased to encourage me. Well is it, therefore, that you should be the first to rejoice at my success, and meet it is that I should first land in your territory on my return to India.
Great works are to be done, wonderful powers have to be worked out, we have to teach other nations many things, as has been said already by your Highness. This is the motherland of philosophy, of spirituality, and of ethics, of sweetness, gentleness, and love. These still exist, and my experience of the world leads me to stand on firm ground and make the bold statement that India is still the first and foremost of all the nations of the world in these respects. Look at this little phenomenon. There have been immense political changes within the last four or five years. Gigantic organizations undertaking to subvert the whole of existing institutions in different countries and meeting with a certain amount of success have been working all over the Western world. Ask our people if they have heard anything about them. They have heard not a word about them. But that there was a Parliament of Religions in Chicago, and that there was a Sannyasin sent over from India to that Parliament, and that he was very well received and since that time has been working in the West, the poorest beggar has known. I have heard it said that our masses are dense, that they do not want any education, and that they do not care for any information. I had at one time a foolish leaning towards that opinion myself, but I find experience is a far more glorious teacher than any amount of speculation, or any amount of books written by globe-trotters and hasty observers. This experience teaches me that they are not dense, that they are not slow, that they are as eager and thirsty for information as any race under the sun; but then each nation has its own part to play, and naturally, each nation has its own peculiarity and individuality with which it is born. Each represents, as it were, one peculiar note in this harmony of nations, and this is its very life, its vitality. In it is the backbone, the foundation, and the bed-rock of the national life, and here in this blessed land, the foundation, the backbone, the life-centre is religion and religion alone. Let others talk of politics, of the glory of acquisition of immense wealth poured in by trade, of the power and spread of commercialism, of the glorious fountain of physical liberty; but these the Hindu mind does not understand and does not want to understand. Touch him on spirituality, on religion, on God, on the soul, on the Infinite, on spiritual freedom, and I assure you, the lowest peasant in India is better informed on these subjects than many a so-called philosopher in other lands. I have said, gentlemen, that we have yet something to teach to the world. This is the very reason, the raison d'être, that this nation has lived on, in spite of hundreds of years of persecution, in spite of nearly a thousand year of foreign rule and foreign oppression. This nation still lives; the raison d'être is it still holds to God, to the treasure-house of religion and spirituality.
In this land are, still, religion and spirituality, the fountains which will have to overflow and flood the world to bring in new life and new vitality to the Western and other nations, which are now almost borne down, half-killed, and degraded by political ambitions and social scheming. From out of many voices, consonant and dissentient, from out of the medley of sounds filling the Indian atmosphere, rises up supreme, striking, and full, one note, and that is renunciation. Give up! That is the watchword of the Indian religions. This world is a delusion of two days. The present life is of five minutes. Beyond is the Infinite, beyond this world of delusion; let us seek that. This continent is illumined with brave and gigantic minds and intelligences which even think of this so called infinite universe as only a mud-puddle; beyond and still beyond they go. Time, even infinite time, is to them but non-existence. Beyond and beyond time they go. Space is nothing to them; beyond that they want to go, and this going beyond the phenomenal is the very soul of religion. The characteristic of my nation is this transcendentalism, this struggle to go beyond, this daring to tear the veil off the face of nature and have at any risk, at any price, a glimpse of the beyond. That is our ideal, but of course all the people in a country cannot give up entirely. Do you want to enthuse them, then here is the way to do so. Your talks of politics, of social regeneration, your talks of money-making and commercialism — all these will roll off like water from a duck's back. This spirituality, then, is what you have to teach the world. Have we to learn anything else, have we to learn anything from the world? We have, perhaps, to gain a little in material knowledge, in the power of organisation, in the ability to handle powers, organising powers, in bringing the best results out of the smallest of causes. This perhaps to a certain extent we may learn from the West. But if any one preaches in India the ideal of eating and drinking and making merry, if any one wants to apotheosise the material world into a God, that man is a liar; he has no place in this holy land, the Indian mind does not want to listen to him. Ay, in spite of the sparkle and glitter of Western civilisation, in spite of all its polish and its marvellous manifestation of power, standing upon this platform, I tell them to their face that it is all vain. It is vanity of vanities. God alone lives. The soul alone lives. Spirituality alone lives. Hold on to that.
Yet, perhaps, some sort of materialism, toned down to our own requirements, would be a blessing to many of our brothers who are not yet ripe for the highest truths. This is the mistake made in every country and in every society, and it is a greatly regrettable thing that in India, where it was always understood, the same mistake of forcing the highest truths on people who are not ready for them has been made of late. My method need not be yours. The Sannyasin, as you all know, is the ideal of the Hindu's life, and every one by our Shâstras is compelled to give up. Every Hindu who has tasted the fruits of this world must give up in the latter part of his life, and he who does not is not a Hindu and has no more right to call himself a Hindu. We know that this is the ideal — to give up after seeing and experiencing the vanity of things. Having found out that the heart of the material world is a mere hollow, containing only ashes, give it up and go back. The mind is circling forward, as it were, towards the senses, and that mind has to circle backwards; the Pravritti has to stop and the Nivritti has to begin. That is the ideal. But that ideal can only be realised after a certain amount of experience. We cannot teach the child the truth of renunciation; the child is a born optimist; his whole life is in his senses; his whole life is one mass of sense-enjoyment. So there are childlike men in every society who require a certain amount of experience, of enjoyment, to see through the vanity of it, and then renunciation will come to them. There has been ample provision made for them in our Books; but unfortunately, in later times, there has been a tendency to bind every one down by the same laws as those by which the Sannyasin is bound, and that is a great mistake. But for that a good deal of the poverty and the misery that you see in India need not have been. A poor man's life is hemmed in and bound down by tremendous spiritual and ethical laws for which he has no use. Hands off! Let the poor fellow enjoy himself a little, and then he will raise himself up, and renunciation will come to him of itself. Perhaps in this line, we can be taught something by the Western people; but we must be very cautious in learning these things. I am sorry to say that most of the examples one meets nowadays of men who have imbibed the Western ideas are more or less failures.
There are two great obstacles on our path in India, the Scylla of old orthodoxy and the Charybdis of modern European civilisation. Of these two, I vote for the old orthodoxy, and not for the Europeanised system; for the old orthodox man may be ignorant, he may be crude, but he is a man, he has a faith, he has strength, he stands on his own feet; while the Europeanised man has no backbone, he is a mass of heterogeneous ideas picked up at random from every source — and these ideas are unassimilated, undigested, unharmonised. He does not stand on his own feet, and his head is turning round and round. Where is the motive power of his work? — in a few patronizing pats from the English people. His schemes of reforms, his vehement vituperations against the evils of certain social customs, have, as the mainspring, some European patronage. Why are some of our customs called evils? Because the Europeans say so. That is about the reason he gives. I would not submit to that. Stand and die in your own strength, if there is any sin in the world, it is weakness; avoid all weakness, for weakness is sin, weakness is death. These unbalanced creatures are not yet formed into distinct personalities; what are we to call them - men, women, or animals? While those old orthodox people were staunch and were men. There are still some excellent examples, and the one I want to present before you now is your Raja of Ramnad. Here you have a man than whom there is no more zealous a Hindu throughout the length and breadth of this land; here you have a prince than whom there is no prince in this land better informed in all affairs, both oriental and occidental, who takes from every nation whatever he can that is good. "Learn good knowledge with all devotion from the lowest caste. Learn the way to freedom, even if it comes from a Pariah, by serving him. If a woman is a jewel, take her in marriage even if she comes from a low family of the lowest caste." Such is the law laid down by our great and peerless legislator, the divine Manu. This is true. Stand on your own feet, and assimilate what you can; learn from every nation, take what is of use to you. But remember that as Hindus everything else must be subordinated to our own national ideals. Each man has a mission in life, which is the result of all his infinite past Karma. Each of you was born with a splendid heritage, which is the whole of the infinite past life of your glorious nation. Millions of your ancestors are watching, as it were, every action of yours, so be alert. And what is the mission with which every Hindu child is born? Have you not read the proud declaration of Manu regarding the Brahmin where he says that the birth of the Brahmin is "for the protection of the treasury of religion"? I should say that that is the mission not only of the Brahmin, but of every child, whether boy or girl, who is born in this blessed land "for the protection of the treasury of religion". And every other problem in life must be subordinated to that one principal theme. That is also the law of harmony in music. There may be a nation whose theme of life is political supremacy; religion and everything else must become subordinate to that one great theme of its life. But here is another nation whose great theme of life is spirituality and renunciation, whose one watchword is that this world is all vanity and a delusion of three days, and everything else, whether science or knowledge, enjoyment or powers, wealth, name, or fame, must be subordinated to that one theme. The secret of a true Hindu's character lies in the subordination of his knowledge of European sciences and learning, of his wealth, position, and name, to that one principal theme which is inborn in every Hindu child — the spirituality and purity of the race. Therefore between these two, the case of the orthodox man who has the whole of that life-spring of the race, spirituality, and the other man whose hands are full of Western imitation jewels but has no hold on the life-giving principle, spirituality — of these, I do not doubt that every one here will agree that we should choose the first, the orthodox, because there is some hope in him — he has the national theme, something to hold to; so he will live, but the other will die. Just as in the case of individuals, if the principle of life is undisturbed, if the principal function of that individual life is present, any injuries received as regards other functions are not serious, do not kill the individual, so, as long as this principal function of our life is not disturbed, nothing can destroy our nation. But mark you, if you give up that spirituality, leaving it aside to go after the materialising civilisation of the West, the result will be that in three generations you will be an extinct race; because the backbone of the nation will be broken, the foundation upon which the national edifice has been built will be undermined, and the result will be annihilation all round.
Therefore, my friends, the way out is that first and foremost we must keep a firm hold on spirituality — that inestimable gift handed down to us by our ancient forefathers. Did you ever hear of a country where the greatest kings tried to trace their descent not to kings, not to robber-barons living in old castles who plundered poor travellers, but to semi-naked sages who lived in the forest? Did you ever hear of such a land? This is the land. In other countries great priests try to trace their descent to some king, but here the greatest kings would trace their descent to some ancient priest. Therefore, whether you believe in spirituality or not, for the sake of the national life, you have to get a hold on spirituality and keep to it. Then stretch the other hand out and gain all you can from other races, but everything must be subordinated to that one ideal of life; and out of that a wonderful, glorious, future India will come — I am sure it is coming — a greater India than ever was. Sages will spring up greater than all the ancient sages; and your ancestors will not only be satisfied, but I am sure, they will be proud from their positions in other worlds to look down upon their descendants, so glorious, and so great.
Let us all work hard, my brethren; this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the India of the future. She is there ready waiting. She is only sleeping. Arise and awake and see her seated here on her eternal throne, rejuvenated, more glorious than she ever was — this motherland of ours. The idea of God was nowhere else ever so fully developed as in this motherland of ours, for the same idea of God never existed anywhere else. Perhaps you are astonished at my assertion; but show me any idea of God from any other scripture equal to ours; they have only clan-Gods, the God of the Jews, the God of the Arabs, and of such and such a race, and their God is fighting the Gods of the other races. But the idea of that beneficent, most merciful God, our father, our mother, our friend, the friend of our friends, the soul of our souls, is here and here alone. And may He who is the Shiva of the Shaivites, the Vishnu of the Vaishnavites, the Karma of the Karmis, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jina of the Jains, the Jehovah of the Christians and the Jews, the Allah of the Mohammedans, the Lord of every sect, the Brahman of the Vedantists, He the all-pervading, whose glory has been known only in this land — may He bless us, may He help us, may He give strength unto us, energy unto us, to carry this idea into practice. May that which we have listened to and studied become food to us, may it become strength in us, may it become energy in us to help each other; may we, the teacher and the taught, not be jealous of each other! Peace, peace, peace, in the name of Hari!
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。