印度的女性
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中文
印度的女性
（《新发现》，第二卷，第411—426页。）
以下演讲于1894年12月17日在剑桥发表，由弗朗西丝·威拉德小姐的速记员记录。
辨喜（Vivekananda）在美国曾因印度文化的若干议题而遭遇偏见——其中之一便是印度女性问题。他自然力图纠正西方的误解。然而，当他在本国讲学时，再没有比他更热切地倡导改善印度女性生活的人了。
女士们、先生们，在谈及印度的女性时，我感到自己是在向另一个民族的女性讲述我在印度的母亲与姐妹们。然而，尽管近来不幸地只有咒骂我国女性的声音，我却发现也有人为她们祝福。我在这个民族中发现了如此高尚的灵魂——布尔夫人、萨拉·法默小姐、弗朗西丝·威拉德小姐，以及那位世界最高贵族的杰出代表，她的生命令我想起印度那位在基督诞生前六百年放弃王位、与人民融为一体的圣者。亨利·萨默塞特夫人对我而言是一种启示。当我发现如此高尚的灵魂——她们不诅咒，她们的口中满是对我、对我的国家、对我们的男男女女的祝福，她们的双手与心灵随时准备为人类服务——我便变得勇敢起来。
我首先打算回顾印度历史的往昔，我们将在那里发现某种独特之处。诸位或许都知道，你们美国人、我们印度教徒，以及这位来自冰岛的女士，都是同一祖先的后裔，即雅利安人（Aryans）。尤其值得注意的是，无论雅利安人走到哪里，我们都能发现三种理念：村社制度、女性权利，以及充满喜悦的宗教。
第一种理念是村社制度——正如我们刚刚从布尔夫人那里听到的关于北方的情况。每个人都是自己的主人，拥有土地。我们今日所见的所有政治制度，都是从那些村社制度发展而来的。随着雅利安人迁移至不同的国度并定居下来，某些环境促成了这一制度的某种形式，另一些环境则促成了另一种形式。
雅利安人的第二种理念是女性的自由。唯有在雅利安文献中，我们才能发现古代女性与男性拥有同等地位——在世界其他任何文献中皆无此记载。
追溯至我们的吠陀（Vedas）——这是世界上现存最古老的文献，由你我共同的祖先所著（它们并非写于印度——或许是在波罗的海沿岸，或许是在中亚——我们尚不清楚）。
吠陀最古老的部分由赞美诗组成，这些赞美诗是献给雅利安人所崇拜的诸神的。请原谅我使用"神灵"这个词；其字面意义是"光明者"。这些赞美诗献给火神、太阳神、伐楼拿（Varuna）及其他神祇。标题通常写道："某某圣者作此诗，献给某某神祇"。
第十章中有一首奇特的赞美诗——因为这位圣者是一位女性——它献给诸神背后的那位唯一的神。之前所有的赞美诗都以第三人称书写，仿佛有人在向神祇祈祷。但这首赞美诗别开生面：神（以女神之名）亲自发声。所用的代词是"我"。"我是宇宙的女皇，是一切祈祷的成就者。"（参见《女神赞歌》，《梨俱吠陀》第十章第一百二十五节）
这是女性在吠陀中留下身影的第一瞥。随着阅读深入，我们发现她们承担着更重要的角色——甚至担任祭司。在吠陀浩瀚的文献中，没有任何一处可以直接或间接解读为女性不得担任祭司之意。事实上，女性担任祭司的例子不胜枚举。
其次，我们来到这些吠陀的最后部分——这才是印度真正的宗教所在——其中凝聚的智慧，即便在当今世纪也未曾被超越。在那里，我们同样发现女性卓然超群。这些典籍中有很大一部分，正是出自女性之口。这一切均有记载——连同她们的名字与教义。
有一则关于伟大圣者耶若婆佉（Yajnavalkya）的美丽故事，他曾造访伟大国王遮那迦（Janaka）的王国。在那学者云集的殿堂中，人们纷纷前来向他请教。一人问道："我应如何举行此祭祀？"另一人问道："我应如何举行彼祭祀？"他一一作答之后，一位女性站了起来，说道："这些都是幼稚的问题。现在，你要小心了：我张开这两支箭——我的两个问题。若你能够回答，我们才称你为圣者。第一个问题是：灵魂是什么？第二个问题是：神是什么？"（《广林奥义书》，第三章第八节第一至十二段）
由此，印度关于灵魂与神的伟大追问应运而生，而这些追问正是从一位女性口中发出的。这位圣者不得不接受她的考验，而他顺利通过了。
进入下一层文献——我们的史诗——我们发现教育并未退化。尤其是在王侯之族，这一理想得到了最为卓越的守护。
在吠陀中，我们发现婚姻的观念是这样的——女孩自主选择伴侣，男孩亦然。在下一层文献中，婚姻由父母安排，但有一个种姓例外。
即便在这里，我也请求诸位从另一个角度加以审视。无论对印度教徒有何评价，他们都是这个世界上曾经出现过的最具学识的民族之一。印度教徒是形而上学家，他们以理智审视万物，一切事物都必须经由星象推算来加以确定。
他们的观念是：星辰主宰着每个男人和女人的命运。即便在今天，孩子出生时，也要绘制星盘，以此确定孩子的性格。某个孩子生而具有神圣的本性，另一个生而具有人的本性，其他一些则具有较低的性格。
困难在于：若一个性格如魔的孩子与一个性格如神的孩子结合，他们岂不会有相互堕落的倾向？
另一个困难是：我们的法律不允许同族通婚。不仅不得与自己的家族成员——甚至不得与堂兄弟姐妹——通婚，而且也不得与父系或母系的族人通婚。
第三个困难是：若新娘或新郎六代之内有麻风病、肺痨或任何此类不治之症，则不得缔结婚姻。
婆罗门综合考虑这三重困难，说道："若我将婚姻的选择权留给男孩或女孩，他们必然会被美丽的容貌所迷惑。如此一来，这些情况很可能给家族带来毁灭。"这便是主导我们婚姻法律的根本理念，诸位将会发现。无论是对是错，其背后自有这一哲学在支撑。预防胜于治疗。
世间之所以存在苦难，是因为我们繁衍了苦难的生命。因此，整个问题归结为如何防止可怜的孩子降生于世。社会权利对个人应延伸至何种程度，是一个悬而未决的问题。但印度教徒认为，婚姻的选择不应交由男孩或女孩自行决定。
我并非说这是最佳之道。我也不认为将选择权交由当事人是一个完美的解决方案。我自己尚未在心中找到答案，也没有看到任何国家给出了解决之道。
我们接下来看另一幅图景。我曾提到还有另一种婚姻形式（通常盛行于王室），其中女孩的父亲邀请各地王公贵族，举行一场集会。年轻的女子——国王的女儿——坐在一顶轿子上，依次被抬到每位王子面前。传令官依次宣报："这是某某王子，以下是他的品格与才能。"年轻的女孩或静静等待，或说"请继续"。到了下一位王子面前，传令官同样宣报其简历，女孩说"请继续"。（这一切事先早有安排；她心中已有属意之人。）最终，她会请一位侍从将花环抛向某人的颈上，以此表示接受。（这类婚姻中最后举行的一次，成为伊斯兰教征服印度的导火索。）这类婚姻专属于王侯种姓。
现存最古老的梵文（Sanskrit）诗篇《罗摩衍那》（Ramayana），以悉多（Sita）的形象体现了印度女性的最高理想。我们没有时间细述她无限忍耐与善良的一生。我们将她视作神的化身而顶礼膜拜，而且她的名字列在丈夫罗摩（Rama）之前。我们不说"某某先生与夫人"，而说"某某夫人与先生"——所有神祇之名，无不将女性置于首位。
印度教徒还有一种独特的观念。曾与我一同研习的人都知道，印度哲学的核心概念是梵（Brahman）——这是宇宙的背景与根基。这一无法对其作任何断言的绝对存在，其力量被称为"她"——也就是说，印度真正的人格化神是她。梵的这一力量——夏克提（Shakti）——始终以女性词性表达。
罗摩被视为绝对存在的象征，而悉多则是力量的象征。我们没有时间历数悉多一生的全部，但我将引述她生平中的一段话，对这个国家的女性们而言，这段话极为贴切。
画面展开时，她正与丈夫流亡林中，他们双双遭到流放。有一位女圣者，他们同去拜谒。长期的斋戒与修行已使这位圣者的身躯消瘦。
悉多走近这位圣者，俯首礼拜。圣者将手置于悉多头上，说道："拥有美丽的身体是莫大的福分，而你有之。拥有高贵的丈夫是更大的福分，而你有之。对这样的丈夫做到完全顺从是最大的福分，而你亦有之。你必定是幸福的。"
悉多答道："母亲，我感恩神赐予我美丽的身体，也感恩我拥有如此虔诚的丈夫。但至于第三重福分，我并不知道究竟是我顺从他，还是他顺从我。我只记得一件事：当他在圣火前牵起我的手——无论那是火焰的映照，还是神自己使其显现——我发现我属于他，他属于我。从那时起，我便明白，我是他生命的补全，他亦是我的。"
这首诗的部分篇章已被译为英文。悉多是印度女性的理想，被奉为神的化身加以礼拜。
现在我们来谈伟大的立法者摩奴（Manu）。在他的著作中，有一段关于儿童教育方式的详尽阐述。我们必须铭记，在雅利安人中，无论属于哪个种姓，儿童接受教育都是强制性的。在描述了儿童应如何受教育之后，摩奴补充道："同样，女儿们也应受到教育——与男孩完全一致。"
我常听说还有其他段落对女性加以谴责。我承认，在我们的圣典中，确有许多段落将女性描述为诱惑的根源，这一点诸位可以自行查阅。但同样也有段落颂扬女性为神的力量。还有段落写道：凡有女性一滴眼泪落下之所，神灵永不欢欣，家道必走衰败。饮酒、杀害女性、杀害婆罗门，是印度教中最大的罪孽。我承认某些典籍中确有谴责性的言辞，但我在此声明这些印度典籍的优越之处——因为其他民族的典籍中，只有对女性的谴责，而无一句赞美之辞。
其次，我将谈到我们古老的戏剧。无论典籍如何记载，戏剧才是对当时社会现实的完整再现。在那些从基督降生前四百年起陆续写成的戏剧中，我们甚至发现大学里男女同堂。今日的印度女性已与高等教育隔绝，在戏剧中已难觅其踪；但彼时，她们与这个国家的女性大致相同——走出家门，到花园与公园中散步游憩。
还有一点，我要提请诸位注意，在此点上，印度女性至今仍优于世界上所有其他地方的女性——这便是她们的权利。在印度，女性拥有财产的权利与男性同样绝对——而且已持续了数千年之久。
若诸位有律师朋友，可以查阅印度法律的注释，自行验证。一位女孩或许带着百万美元嫁入夫家，但那每一分钱都属于她。任何人都无权动用其中一分。若丈夫无子而终，即便其父母尚在人世，丈夫的全部财产亦归她所有。这一法律从古至今一脉相承。这是印度女性所拥有的、其他国家女性所不具备的某种权利。
较为古老的典籍——乃至较新的典籍——都不禁止印度寡妇再嫁，认为如此则是一种误解。典籍赋予她们自主选择的权利，这一权利男女皆有。我们宗教中的观念是：婚姻是为软弱者设立的，而我今日并不认为这一观念有何需要放弃之处。那些感到自身圆满的人——再婚又有何益？那些选择婚姻的人——则被给予一次机会。一旦那次机会已过，无论男女，若再嫁娶，均会遭到非议，但这并非明令禁止。典籍中从未言明寡妇不得再嫁。不再婚的寡妇与鳏夫，被认为具有更高的灵性。
当然，男人们会冲破这一法律，再度娶妻；而女性们——由于她们具有更高的灵性本质——则恪守法律。举例而言，我们的典籍说食肉是不善之举，有失德行，但你仍可以食用某些肉类——例如羊肉。我见过成千上万食用羊肉的男性，却从未见过一位高种姓的女性食用任何肉类。这表明她们的本性是恪守法则的——更趋近于宗教。但请不要对印度男性评判过苛，诸位也应尝试从我的立场来看待印度的法律，因为我本人就是一位印度教男性。
寡妇不再婚的习俗逐渐凝固为惯例。在印度，一旦某种惯例变得根深蒂固，便几乎无从突破——正如在你们的国家，你们会发现打破一个已流行五天的时尚习俗是何等艰难。在下层种姓中，除两个种姓之外，寡妇均可再嫁。
我国后世法典中有一段记载，明令女性不得诵读吠陀。然而，即便是体质羸弱的婆罗门男子，亦同受此禁。若一位婆罗门少年意志不够坚定，此律亦同样适用于他。然而，这并不说明教育对女性是被禁止的，因为吠陀并非印度教徒所有典籍的全部。其余一切书籍，女性皆可研读。浩瀚的梵语典籍——科学、戏剧、诗歌——那整片文学的汪洋，全然向她们敞开。她们可自由涉猎，唯有（吠陀）经典除外。
后世的观念认为，女性并非注定要担任祭司，故研习吠陀对她们并无实际用处。在这一点上，印度教徒并不比其他民族落后多少。当女性放弃世俗、加入我们的教团时，她们便不再被视为男性或女性，性别之别已然消泯。种姓高低、男女之分，一切皆烟消云散。
凡我所知晓的宗教，皆得自吾师的教导，而他所学，亦传授自一位女性。
回溯到拉其普特女性的话题，我将尝试从我们的古典书籍中为你们讲述一个故事——穆罕默德征服时期，正是一位女性，间接成为了印度被征服的导因。
卡瑙吉城——一座极为古老的城市——有一位拉其普特王子，他有一个女儿，名叫桑朱塔。她早已听闻普里特维·拉吉（阿杰梅尔与德里之王）的赫赫战功与无上荣光，心中对他生发了深深的爱慕。
彼时，她的父亲欲举行拉贾苏耶大祭，遂遍邀国内各路诸王。在此祭典中，众王皆须向他执役效劳，因其地位凌驾于众人之上；借此祭典，他宣布将由女儿亲自择婿。
然而女儿早已心属普里特维·拉吉。此人威名赫赫，不甘向其父称臣效忠，遂拒绝了邀请。于是国王命人铸造了一尊普里特维·拉吉的金像，置于门旁，并宣称这便是他为其所设之职——守门之役。
然而事情的结局是：普里特维·拉吉如同真正的骑士，亲身前来，将那位女子横抱于马背之上，二人一同飞奔而去。
消息传至其父耳中，父亲率军追击，一场大战随即爆发，两军绝大多数将士皆战死沙场。由此，（拉其普特各方势力大为削弱，）穆罕默德人的印度帝国就此奠基。
穆罕默德帝国在北印度建立之际，奇托尔的王后（拉尼·帕德米尼）以美貌闻名四方。其美名传至苏丹耳中，苏丹遂修书一封，索要王后入宫。由此引发了奇托尔国王与苏丹之间一场惨烈的战争。穆罕默德人大举进犯奇托尔。当拉其普特人自知再难抵挡之时，男人们手执刀剑，奋勇杀敌，直至以身殉国；女人们则葬身于熊熊烈焰之中。
男人们全部战死之后，征服者踏入城中。街道上，一团可怖的火焰腾空而起。他看见一圈圈女子绕火而行，为首的正是王后本人。他上前靠近，恳求王后切莫投身火海。王后答道："这便是拉其普特女子对待你的方式。"言毕，纵身跃入烈火之中。
据传，那一天共有七万四千五百名女子葬身火海，以保全自身名节，使之不落入穆罕默德人之手。时至今日，我们书写信件，封缄之后仍会在上面写下"七十四又二分之一"，意指若有人胆敢拆阅此信，杀死七万四千五百名女子的罪孽便将加诸其身。
我再为你们讲述另一位美丽拉其普特女子的故事。我国有一种独特的习俗，称为"庇护"。女性可将丝线编织的小手镯赠予男性。若一位女子将此物赠予某男子，该男子便成为她的兄长。
末代莫卧儿皇帝统治期间——正是那个亲手摧毁了印度那段辉煌帝国的暴君——他同样听闻了一位拉其普特首领之女的美貌。随即降旨，命人将其纳入莫卧儿后宫。
皇帝遣使者携其画像前往。使者将画像呈示于她。她以轻蔑之态，用脚踩踏其上，说道："这便是拉其普特女子对待你们莫卧儿皇帝的方式。"由此，皇家军队大举挺进拉其普塔纳。
绝望之中，这位首领之女想出一计。她取来若干手镯，遣人送至各拉其普特王公处，附信道："速来援助我们。"众拉其普特王公闻讯集结，皇家军队遂不得不铩羽而归。
我还要为你们讲述拉其普塔纳一句奇特的谚语。印度有一个阶层，称为商人阶层，专事贸易。其中不乏聪慧之人，但印度教徒认为他们精于算计、过于圆滑。然而有一个奇特的现象：这一阶层的女性远不如男性聪颖。反之，拉其普特男性的智慧却远逊于拉其普特女性。
拉其普塔纳流传着一句谚语："聪慧的女子生出愚钝的儿子，愚钝的女子生出精明的儿子。"事实上，凡拉其普塔纳各邦或各国由女性执政者，无不治理得井井有条、令人叹服。
我们再来谈谈另一类女性。这个温和的印度教民族，不时涌现出巾帼女杰。在座或许有人听说过，在1857年印度民族起义中，有一位女性（章西女王拉克什米·芭伊）奋起抗击英国军队，独力坚守阵地达两年之久——她统帅近代化军队，指挥炮兵阵地，每每亲率大军冲锋陷阵。这位女王出身婆罗门家族。
我所认识的一位男子，在那场战争中痛失三子。谈及儿子们时，他神情平静；然而一提及这位女性，他的声音便激动起来。他常说，她是一位女神，绝非凡人。这位老战士深信，他此生从未见过如此卓越的军事统帅之才。
昌德·比比（又称昌德·苏丹纳，1546—1599年）的故事在印度广为人知。她是戈尔康达的女王，那里坐拥著名的钻石矿。她坚守数月，誓死抵抗。终于，城墙被攻破一道缺口。当皇家军队试图蜂拥而入之际，她身披铁甲，挺身而出，硬是将敌军逼退。
再到更晚近的时代——或许令你们惊讶的是，一位伟大的英国将军曾不得不与一位年仅十六岁的印度教少女正面交锋。
在治国理政、管理领地、治理邦国乃至亲身征战诸方面，女性早已证明了自己与男性不分伯仲——甚至有所超越。在印度，我对此深信不疑。凡她们获得机会之处，无不证明其才干与男性并驾齐驱，且更有一大优势——她们鲜少沦落堕落。她们秉持道德标准，此乃其天性之本然。故而作为邦国的统治者与君主，她们——至少在印度——往往远胜于男性。约翰·斯图亚特·密尔亦曾指出这一事实。
即便在当今，我们仍可见到印度女性以卓越才干打理广袤的庄园。在我出生之地，有两位女性，乃大片庄园的主人，同时也是文学与艺术的慷慨赞助人，她们亲力亲为，运筹帷幄，事无巨细，皆亲自过问。
每个民族在共同的人性之外，皆会发展出某种特有的性格气质——无论在宗教上、政治上、体格上、思维习惯上，亦或男女性情与品格上，莫不如此。一个民族孕育出某种特质，另一个民族则形成另一种特质。近年来，世界已开始认识到这一点。
印度教女性所发展并奉为其生命理想的，乃是母亲这一独特的特质。若你踏入一个印度教家庭，会发现妻子并非如你们这里那样，与丈夫平起平坐、相携相伴。然而当你见到母亲时，她便是整个印度教家庭的顶梁柱。妻子须待成为母亲，方能成就一切。
若一人出家为僧，其父须先向他行礼，因为他已成为修行者，地位高于父亲。然而对于母亲，他——无论是否出家——都必须屈膝跪地，五体投地，匍匐于她面前。随后，他将在她的脚前置一小碗清水，她将脚趾浸入其中，他须饮下此水。每一位印度教儿子对此甘之如饴，纵行千遍亦无悔！
吠陀在宣讲道德之时，首言即为："以母为神"（《泰提利亚奥义书》一·一一）——而母亲确实如神。我们谈及印度的女性时，心目中的女性便是母亲。女性的价值，在于她们是人类的母亲。这便是印度教徒的观念。
我曾亲见吾师握住小女孩的双手，请她们坐于椅上，虔诚礼拜——将鲜花置于她们足前，在这些幼小的孩童面前俯首叩拜——因为她们象征着母性神圣。
母亲是我们家庭中的神明。其理念在于：世间所见最真实的爱，最无私的爱，唯在母亲身上——她恒常受苦，恒常付出爱。又有何种爱，能比我们在母亲身上所见之爱，更能代表神的大爱？如此，母亲便是神明降临人间的化身，对于印度教徒而言，概莫能外。
"唯有那被母亲首先教导的孩子，方能真正领悟神明。"我曾听闻外界关于我国女性文盲问题的种种离奇说法。直到我十岁之前，一直由母亲亲自教导。我见证了祖母在世的岁月，也见证了曾祖母在世的时光。我可以告诉你们，在我的家族传承中，从来没有一位女性先祖是不识字的，或须在文件上以"画押"代替签名的。若有一位女性不识字，我的出生便根本不可能。族规使之成为必然。
因此，我有时听闻的那些说法——诸如"中世纪时，读写能力被剥夺于印度教女性"——不过是离奇的传言。我请诸位参阅威廉·亨特爵士所著《英国人民史》，书中援引了能够计算日蚀的印度女性作为例证。
有人曾告诉我，对母亲过度崇拜会使母亲变得自私，或子女对母亲过度之爱会使子女变得自私。然而我不以为然。母亲给予我的爱，造就了今日的我，我对她所负的恩情，今生无以为报。
为何印度教的母亲应当受到崇拜？我们的哲学家探求其原因，最终归结为如下的定义：我们自称雅利安人种。何谓雅利安人？乃是一个通过宗教而诞生的人。这或许是此地不寻常的话题，但其要义在于：一个人须经由宗教、经由祈祷而诞生。若你翻阅我们的法典，将会发现专章论及母亲在产前对孩子的影响。
我深知，在我出生之前，母亲持斋祈祷，行诸百般修持，即便要我效仿五分钟，亦难以做到。她如此坚持了整整两年。我相信，凡我所具备的宗教教化，皆源于此。母亲有意识地将我带到这个世界，使我成为今日之我。我所具有的一切善良冲动，皆由母亲给予——且是有意识地给予，而非无意识的。
"肉身所生之子，尚非雅利安人；经由灵性而生之子，方为雅利安人。"正因如此——因为她须将自身净化至如此纯洁神圣，方能孕育纯洁的子女——她对印度教子女有着独特的恩情与权利。其余（她所具有的特质）与其他各民族的母亲并无二致：她是如此无私奉献。然而在我们的家庭中，受苦最深者，莫过于母亲。
母亲须等到最后方能进食。在你们这个国家，曾有许多人问我，为何（印度教）丈夫不与妻子同桌共食——或许在他们看来，原因是丈夫认为妻子地位低下。这种解释实属大谬。你们知道，猪鬃被认为极为不洁。印度教徒不能用以猪鬃制成的刷子刷牙，故而使用植物纤维。曾有一位旅人见到一位印度教徒用这种东西刷牙，便写道："一位印度教徒清晨早起，折取一株植物，咀嚼后将其吞下！"同样地，有些人见到丈夫与妻子不同桌共食，便自行作出种种解释。这世上解释者何其多，真正的观察者却何其少——仿佛世界正嗷嗷待哺，专等他们来解释！这也是我有时觉得，印刷术的发明未必是纯粹的福祉的原因。真实的情况是：正如在你们这里，有许多事女性不宜在男性面前做，在我们那里，在男性面前大口咀嚼进食，被视为极为不雅之举。若一位女性正在进食，她可在兄弟面前用餐。但若丈夫进来，她立即停止，丈夫也随即转身退出。我们并无桌椅可坐，每当男人饥饿，便进来取食，吃完便离去。切莫以为印度教丈夫不允许妻子与他同桌而食——他根本就没有桌子。
食物准备好后，第一份属于客人与穷人，第二份给予低等动物，第三份给予孩子们，第四份给予丈夫，最后轮到母亲。我曾无数次看见母亲要等到下午两点才能吃到第一顿饭。我们十点用餐，她到两点方能进食，因为她有太多事情要料理。（比如）有人扣响房门喊道："有客人！"而家中已无余粮，只剩母亲那份。她便心甘情愿地将那份食物给了客人，然后继续等候自己的那份。这便是她的生活，而她乐在其中。这也是我们将母亲奉若神明的原因。
我希望你们不要只满足于被人宠爱和怜惜，而更应渴望被人崇拜！（你们，）人类的一员！——贫穷的印度教徒不理解（你们的那种倾向）。但当你们说"我们是母亲，我们发出号令"时，他便肃然低首。这便是印度教徒所发展的那一面。
回溯我们的理论——大约一百年前，西方人才开始认识到，他们必须对其他宗教抱持容忍。然而我们现在明白，仅仅容忍另一种宗教是远远不够的；我们必须接纳它。因此，这不是一道减法，而是一道加法。真理乃是所有这些不同侧面相加的结果。所有这些宗教，每一种皆代表一个侧面，而圆满则是所有这些侧面相加的总和。在一切科学领域，加法同样是最根本的法则。
印度教徒已将这一面加以发展。然而仅此一面是否足够？让作为母亲的印度女性同时也成为称职的妻子，但切勿试图消灭母亲的本质。这是你所能做到的最好之事。如此，你对宇宙便获得了更深广的认识，而不必走遍天下，奔走于各个民族之间，对他们横加批评，口出"这些可憎的恶徒——全该永世烤炙受罚！"之类的言论。
若我们立于这样一个立场之上——即每个民族在主的旨意之下，各自发展着人类本性的某一面向——则没有任何民族是失败的。迄今为止，他们已做得甚好，如今他们必须做得更好！【掌声】
与其称印度教徒为"异教徒"、"恶棍"、"奴隶"，不如前往印度，对他们说："你们迄今的成就实属卓著，但这还不是全部。你们尚有许多事情要做。感谢上天，你们已将女性作为母亲的这一面向加以发展。如今，请扶助另一面向——即作为男性妻子的那一面。"
同样，我认为（我以最诚挚的心意说出此言），你们最好在本民族的性格之中，多添一些印度教本质中母性的那一面！我在人生中所学到的第一首诗句，正是我入学第一天被授予的那句话："能视一切女性如其母亲者，能视他人财物如尘埃者，能视一切众生如自我者，此人方是真正的智者。"
另有一种观念，是女性与男性并肩共事。并非印度教徒没有这样的理想，只是他们未能将其发展完善。
唯有在梵语之中，我们才能找到四个词，专门指称夫妻二人合一的概念。唯有在我们的婚礼之中，夫妻双方共同许诺："我心之所系，今愿归于你。"正是在那里，我们看到丈夫被引领仰视北极星，握着妻子的手说道："正如北极星固定于天穹之上，愿我对你的情意亦如此坚定不移。"妻子亦以同样的誓言相答。
即便是沦落街头的堕落女子，也可以向丈夫提起诉讼，要求其承担赡养之责。我们在整个民族的所有典籍之中，都能找到这些理念的萌芽，只是我们未能将这一面向的品格加以充分发展。
当我们想要做出判断时，必须超越情感的层面。我们知道，治理世界的并非单纯的情感，情感背后另有依凭。经济因素、周遭环境以及其他种种考量，都参与塑造了各民族的发展进程。（探讨促进女性作为妻子这一面向发展的原因，并不在我此次的计划之内。）
如此，在这个世界上，每个民族各处其独特的境遇，各自发展着自身的类型，而将所有这些不同类型融合在一起的时日已然临近——届时，那种卑劣的狭隘爱国主义，即"劫掠一切、据为己有"之道，将会消亡。届时，世界上将不再有片面的发展，各个民族都将看到，他们的所作所为是正确的。
现在，让我们着手将各民族融合在一起，让新的文明由此诞生。
请允许我告诉你们我的深信之见。今日世界所包含的诸多文明，大多源自人类那一独特的族群——雅利安人。
雅利安文明有三种类型：罗马型、希腊型、印度型。罗马型以组织、征服与坚韧为特质——然而缺乏情感本性、对美的鉴赏以及更高层次的情感。其缺陷在于残酷。希腊型本质上充满对美的热情，然而轻浮，且有趋于道德堕落的倾向。印度型本质上形而上学而富于宗教性，然而在组织与行动的各种要素上均有所欠缺。
罗马型如今由盎格鲁-撒克逊人所代表；希腊型在各民族之中，以法兰西人的体现最为充分；而古印度教徒的精神并未消亡！在这片充满希望的新土地上，每种类型各有其优势。这里有罗马人的组织力、希腊人对美的非凡热爱之力量，以及印度教徒作为宗教与对神之爱的精神脊梁。将这一切融合在一起，带来新的文明。
请让我说，这件事应当由女性来完成。我们的某些典籍中记载，下一次亦即最后一次化身（我们信奉十次化身之说），将以女性的形态降临。
我们看到世界上尚存丰厚的资源，原因在于世界上的一切力量尚未得到充分运用。长久以来，手在劳作，而身体的其他部分则沉寂无声。让身体的其他部分觉醒，或许在和谐的协作之中，一切苦难皆可得以疗愈。或许，在这片新土地上，凭借你们血脉中这股新鲜的力量，你们能够带来那种新文明——或许，正是借由美国女性之手。
至于那片曾赐予我此身的永受祝福之地，我满怀崇高的敬意回首往望，并赞颂那慈悲的存在，允许我得以降生于地球上那最神圣的一隅。当全世界的人们都试图将自己的祖先追溯至那些以武功或财富著称之人时，唯有印度教徒以能将先祖追溯至圣贤为荣。
那艘奇妙的船只，多少世代以来承载着男男女女驶过生命的汪洋，或许在这里那里已然渗出些许漏缝。对于这一点，唯有主才知晓，究竟有多少是他们自身造成的，又有多少是那些以轻蔑目光俯视印度教徒之人所造成的。
然而，若当真有此漏缝，我——她最卑微的子女——认为阻止她沉没乃是我的职责，纵使为此我要以生命相搏。若我发现自己一切的努力皆属徒劳，我仍将以主为见证，带着我最诚挚的祝福对他们言道："我的兄弟们，你们做得甚好——不，比任何其他种族在同样的境遇下所能做到的都要好。你们将我之所有皆赐予了我。请赋予我陪伴你们直至最后的荣幸，让我们一同沉没。"
English
THE WOMEN OF INDIA
(New Discoveries, Vol. 2, pp. 411-26.)
The following lecture was delivered at Cambridge, December 17, 1894, and recorded by Miss Frances Willard’s stenographer.
Swami Vivekananda faced bigotry in America on several issues of Indian culture — one was the Indian woman. Naturally he sought to correct Western misconceptions. When he lectured in his own country, however, there was no greater advocate for improving the life of Indian women than the Swami.
In speaking about the women of India, ladies and gentlemen, I feel that I am going to talk about my mothers and sisters in India to the women of another race, many of whom have been like mothers and sisters to me. But though, unfortunately, within very recent times there have been mouths only to curse the women of our country, I have found that there are some who bless them too. I have found such noble souls in this nation as Mrs. [Ole] Bull and Miss [Sarah] Farmer and Miss [Frances] Willard, and that wonderful representative of the highest aristocracy of the world, whose life reminds me of that man of India, six hundred years before the birth of Christ, who gave up his throne to mix with the people. Lady Henry Somerset has been a revelation to me. I become bold when I find such noble souls who will not curse, whose mouths are full of blessing for me, my country, our men and women, and whose hands and hearts are ever ready to do service to humanity.
I first intend to take a glimpse into times past of Indian history, and we will find something unique. All of you are aware, perhaps, that you Americans and we Hindus and this lady from Iceland [Mrs. Sigrid Magnusson] are the descendants of one common ancestry known as Aryans. Above all, we find three ideas wherever the Aryans go: the village community, the rights of women and a joyful religion.
The first [idea] is the system of village communities — as we have just heard from Mrs. Bull concerning the North. Each man was his own [lord?] and owned the land. All these political institutions of the world we now see, are the developments of those village systems. As the Aryans went over to different countries and settled, certain circumstances developed this institution, others that.
The next idea of the Aryans is the freedom of women. It is in the Aryan literature that we find women in ancient times taking the same share as men, and in no other literature of the world.
Going back to our Vedas — they are the oldest literature the world possesses and are composed by your and my common ancestors (they were not written in India — perhaps on the coast of the Baltic, perhaps in Central Asia — we do not know).
Their oldest portion is composed of hymns, and these hymns are to the gods whom the Aryans worshipped. I may be pardoned for using the word gods; the literal translation is "the bright ones". These hymns are dedicated to Fire, to the Sun, to Varuna and other deities. The titles run: "such-and-such a sage composed this verse, dedicated to such-and-such a deity".
In the tenth chapter comes a peculiar hymn — for the sage is a woman — and it is dedicated to the one God who is at the background of all these gods. All the previous hymns are spoken in the third person, as if someone were addressing the deities. But this hymn takes a departure: God [as the Devi] is speaking for herself. The pronoun used is "I". "I am the Empress of the Universe, the Fulfiller of all prayers." (Vide “Devi Sukta”, Rig-Veda 10.125)
This is the first glimpse of women's work in the Vedas. As we go on, we find them taking a greater share — even officiating as priests. There is not one passage throughout the whole mass of literature of the Vedas which can be construed even indirectly as signifying that woman could never be a priest. In fact, there are many examples of women officiating as priests.
Then we come to the last portion of these Vedas — which is really the religion of India — the concentrated wisdom of which has not been surpassed even in this century. There, too, we find women preeminent. A large portion of these books are words which have proceeded from the mouths of women. It is there — recorded with their names and teachings.
There is that beautiful story of the great sage Yâjnavalkya, the one who visited the kingdom of the great king Janaka. And there in that assembly of the learned, people came to ask him questions. One man asked him, "How am I to perform this sacrifice?" Another asked him, "How am I to perform the other sacrifice?" And after he had answered them, there arose a woman who said, "These are childish questions. Now, have a care: I take these two arrows, my two questions. Answer them if you can, and we will then call you a sage. The first is: What is the soul? The second is: What is God?" ( Brihadâranyaka Upanishad 3.8.1.-12.)
Thus arose in India the great questions about the soul and God, and these came from the mouth of a woman. The sage had to pass an examination before her, and he passed well.
Coming to the next stratum of literature, our epics, we find that education has not degenerated. Especially in the caste of princes this ideal was most wonderfully held.
In the Vedas we find this idea of marrying — the girls chose for themselves; so the boys. In the next stratum they are married by their parents, except in one caste.
Even here I would ask you to look at another side. Whatever may be said of the Hindus, they are one of the most learned races the world has ever produced. The Hindu is the metaphysician; he applies everything to his intellect. Everything has to be settled by astrological calculation.
The idea was that the stars govern the fate of every man and woman. Even today when a child is born, a horoscope is cast. That determines the character of the child. One child is born of a divine nature, another of a human, others of lower character.
The difficulty was: If a child who was of a monster-character was united with a child of a god-character, would they not have a tendency to degenerate each other?
The next difficulty was: Our laws did not allow marriage within the same clans. Not only may one not marry within his own family — or even one of his cousins — but one must not marry into the clan of his father or even of his mother.
A third difficulty was: If there had been leprosy or phthisis or any such incurable disease within six generations of either bride or bridegroom, then there must not be a marriage.
Now taking [into account] these three difficulties, the Brahmin says: "If I leave it to the choice of the boy or girl to marry, the boy or girl will be fascinated with a beautiful face. And then very likely all these circumstances will bring ruin to the family". This is the primary idea that governs our marriage laws, as you will find. Whether right or wrong, there is this philosophy at the background. Prevention is better than cure.
That misery exists in this world is because we give birth to misery. So the whole question is how to prevent the birth of miserable children. How far the rights of a society should extend over the individual is an open question. But the Hindus say that the choice of marriage should not be left in the hands of the boy or girl.
I do not mean to say that this is the best thing to do. Nor do I see that leaving it in their hands is at all a perfect solution. I have not found a solution yet in my own mind; nor do I see that any country has one.
We come next to another picture. I told you that there was another peculiar form of marriage (generally among the royalty) where the father of the girl invited different princes and noblemen and they had an assembly. The young lady, the daughter of the king, was borne on a sort of chair before each one of the princes in turn. And the herald would repeat: "This is Prince So-and-so, and these are his qualifications". The young girl would either wait or say, "Move on". And before the next prince, the crier would also give a description, and the girl would say, "Move on". (All this would be arranged beforehand; she already had the liking for somebody before this.) Then at last she would ask one of the servants to throw the garland over the head of the man, and it would be thrown to show he was accepted. (The last of these marriages was the cause of the Mohammedan invasion of India.) (Vide prince, who became the Queen of Delhi.) These marriages were specially reserved for the prince caste.
The oldest Sanskrit poem in existence, the Râmâyana, has embodied the loftiest Hindu ideal of a woman in the character of Sitâ. We have not time to go through her life of infinite patience and goodness. We worship her as God incarnate, and she is named before her husband, Râma. We say not "Mr. and Mrs.", but "Mrs. and Mr." and so on, with all the gods and goddesses, naming the woman first.
There is another peculiar conception of the Hindu. Those who have been studying with me are aware that the central conception of Hindu philosophy is of the Absolute; that is the background of the universe. This Absolute Being, of whom we can predicate nothing, has Its powers spoken of as She — that is, the real personal God in India is She. This Shakti of the Brahman is always in the feminine gender.
Rama is considered the type of the Absolute, and Sita that of Power. We have no time to go over all the life of Sita, but I will quote a passage from her life that is very much suited to the ladies of this country.
The picture opens when she was in the forest with her husband, whither they were banished. There was a female sage whom they both went to see. Her fasts and devotions had emaciated her body.
Sita approached this sage and bowed down before her. The sage placed her hand on the head of Sita and said: "It is a great blessing to possess a beautiful body; you have that. It is a greater blessing to have a noble husband; you have that. It is the greatest blessing to be perfectly obedient to such a husband; you are that. You must be happy".
Sita replied, "Mother, I am glad that God has given me a beautiful body and that I have so devoted a husband. But as to the third blessing, I do not know whether I obey him or he obeys me. One thing alone I remember, that when he took me by the hand before the sacrificial fire — whether it was a reflection of the fire or whether God himself made it appear to me — I found that I was his and he was mine. And since then, I have found that I am the complement of his life, and he of mine".
Portions of this poem have been translated into the English language. Sita is the ideal of a woman in India and worshipped as God incarnate.
We come now to Manu the great lawgiver. Now, in this book there is an elaborate description of how a child should be educated. We must remember that it was compulsory with the Aryans that a child be educated, whatever his caste. After describing how a child should be educated, Manu adds: "Along the same lines, the daughters are to be educated — exactly as the boys".
I have often heard that there are other passages where women are condemned. I admit that in our sacred books there are many passages which condemn women as offering temptation; you can see that for yourselves. But there are also passages that glorify women as the power of God. And there are other passages which state that in that house where one drop of a woman's tear falls, the gods are never pleased and the house goes to ruin. Drinking wine, killing a woman and killing a Brahmin are the highest crimes in the Hindu religion. I admit there are condemnatory sentences [in some of our books]; but here I claim the superiority of these Hindu books, for in the books of other races there is only condemnation and no good word for a woman.
Next, I will come to our old dramas. Whatever the books say, the dramas are the perfect representation of society as it then existed. In these, which were written from four hundred years before Christ onward, we find even universities full of both boys and girls. We would not [now] find Hindu women, as they have since become cut off from higher education. But [at that time], they were everywhere pretty much the same as they are in this country — going out to the gardens and parks to take promenades.
There is another point which I bring before you and where the Hindu woman is still superior to all other women in the world —her rights. The right to possess property is as absolute for women in India as for men — and has been for thousands and thousands of years.
If you have any lawyer friend and can take up commentaries on the Hindu law, you will find it all for yourselves. A girl may bring a million dollars to her husband, but every dollar of that is hers. Nobody has any right to touch one dollar of that. If the husband dies without issue, the whole property of the husband goes to her, even if his father or mother is living. And that has been the law from the past to the present time. That is something which the Hindu woman has had beyond that of the women of other countries.
The older books — or even newer books — do not prohibit the Hindu widows from being married; it is a mistake to think so. They give them their choice, and that is given to both men and women. The idea in our religion is that marriage is for the weak, and I don't see any reason to give up that idea today. They who find themselves complete — what is the use of their marrying? And those that marry — they are given one chance. When that chance is over, both men and women are looked down upon if they marry again; but it is not that they are prohibited. It is nowhere said that a widow is not to marry. The widow and widower who do not marry are considered more spiritual.
Men, of course, break through this law and go and marry; whereas women — they being of a higher spiritual nature — keep to the law. For instance, our books say that eating meat is bad and sinful, but you may still eat such-and-such a meat —mutton, for instance. I have seen thousands of men who eat mutton, and never in my life have I seen a woman of higher caste who eats meat of any kind. This shows that their nature is to keep the law — keeping more towards religion. But do not judge too harshly of Hindu men. You must try to look at the Hindu law from my position too, for I am a Hindu man.
This non-marriage of widows gradually grew into a custom. And whenever in India a custom becomes rigid, it is almost impossible to break through it — just as in your country, you will find how hard it is to break through a five-day custom of fashion. In the lower castes, except two, the widows remarry.
There is a passage in our later law books [which states] that a woman shall not read the Vedas. But they are prohibited to even a weak Brahmin. If a Brahmin boy is not strong-minded, the law is applied to him also. But that does not show that education is prohibited to them, for the Vedas are not all that the Hindus have. Every other book women can read. All the mass of Sanskrit literature, that whole ocean of literature — science, drama, poetry — is all for them. They can go there and read everything, except the [Vedic] scriptures.
In later days the idea was that woman was not intended to be a priest; so what is the use of her studying the Vedas? In that, the Hindus are not so far behind other nations. When women give up the world and join our Order, they are no longer considered either men or women. They have no sex. The whole question of high or low caste, man or woman, dies out entirely.
Whatever I know of religion I learned from my master, and he learned it of a woman.
Coming back to the Rajput woman, I will try to bring to you a story from some of our old books — how during the Mohammedan conquest, one of these women was the cause of what led to the conquest of India.
A Rajput prince of Kanauj — a very ancient city — had a daughter [Samjukta]. She had heard of the military fame of Prithvi Raj [King of Ajmere and Delhi] and all his glory, and she was in love with him.
Now her father wanted to hold a Râjasuya sacrifice, so he invited all the kings in the country. And in that sacrifice, they all had to render menial service to him because he was superior over all; and with that sacrifice he declared there would be a choice by his daughter.
But the daughter was already in love with Prithvi Raj. He was very mighty and was not going to acknowledge loyalty to the king, her father, so he refused the invitation. Then the king made a golden statue of Prithvi Raj and put it near the door. He said that that was the duty he had given him to perform — that of a porter.
The upshot of the whole affair was that Prithvi Raj, like a true knight, came and took the lady behind him on his horse, and they both fled.
When the news came to her father, he gave chase with his army, and there was a great battle in which the majority of both armies was killed. And [thus the Rajputs were so weakened that] the Mohammedan empire in India began.
When the Mohammedan empire was being established in northern India, the Queen of Chitore [Râni Padmini] was famed for her beauty. And the report of her beauty reached the sultan, and he wrote a letter for the queen to be sent to his harem. The result was a terrible war between the King of Chitore and the sultan. The Mohammedans invaded Chitore. And when the Rajputs found they could not defend themselves any more, the men all took sword in hand and killed and were killed, and the women perished in the flames.
After the men had all perished, the conqueror entered the city. There in the street was rising a horrible flame. He saw circles of women going around it, led by the queen herself. When he approached near and asked the queen to refrain from jumping into the flames, she said, "This is how the Rajput woman treats you", and threw herself into the fire.
It is said that 74,500 women perished in the flames that day to save their honour from the hands of the Mohammedans. Even today when we write a letter, after sealing it we write "74½" upon it, meaning that if one dares to open this letter, that sin of killing 74,500 women will be upon his head.
I will tell you the story of another beautiful Rajput girl. There is a peculiar custom in our country called "protection". Women can send small bracelets of silken thread to men. And if a girl sends one of these to a man, that man becomes her brother.
During the reign of the last of the Mogul emperors — the cruel man who destroyed that most brilliant empire of India — he similarly heard of the beauty of a Rajput chieftain's daughter. Orders were sent that she should be brought to the Mogul harem.
Then a messenger came from the emperor to her with his picture, and he showed it to her. In derision she stamped upon it with her feet and said, "Thus the Rajput girl treats your Mogul emperor". As a result, the imperial army was marched into Rajputana.
In despair the chieftain's daughter thought of a device. She took a number of these bracelets and sent them to the Rajput princes with a message: "Come and help us". All the Rajputs assembled, and so the imperial forces had to go back again.
I will tell you a peculiar proverb in Rajputana. There is a caste in India called the shop class, the traders. They are very intelligent — some of them — but the Hindus think they are rather sharp. But it is a peculiar fact that the women of that caste are not as intelligent as the men. On the other hand, the Rajput man is not half as intelligent as the Rajput woman.
The common proverb in Rajputana is: "The intelligent woman begets the dull son, and the dull woman begets the sharp son". The fact is, whenever any state or kingdom in Rajputana has been managed by a woman, it has been managed wonderfully well.
We come to another class of women. This mild Hindu race produces fighting women from time to time. Some of you may have heard of the woman [Lakshmi Bai, Queen of Jhansi] who, during the Mutiny of 1857, fought against the English soldiers and held her own ground for two years — leading modern armies, managing batteries and always charging at the head of her army. This queen was a Brahmin girl.
A man whom I know lost three of his sons in that war. When he talks of them he is calm, but when he talks of this woman his voice becomes animated. He used to say that she was a goddess — she was not a human being. This old veteran thinks he never saw better generalship.
The story of Chand Bibi, or Chand Sultana [1546 - 1599], is well known in India. She was the Queen of Golconda, where the diamond mines were. For months she defended herself. At last, a breach was made in the walls. When the imperial army tried to rush in there, she was in full armour, and she forced the troops to go back.
In still later times, perhaps you will be astonished to know that a great English general had once to face a Hindu girl of sixteen.
Women in statesmanship, managing territories, governing countries, even making war, have proved themselves equal to men — if not superior. In India I have no doubt of that. Whenever they have had the opportunity, they have proved that they have as much ability as men, with this advantage — that they seldom degenerate. They keep to the moral standard, which is innate in their nature. And thus as governors and rulers of their state, they prove — at least in India — far superior to men. John Stuart Mill mentions this fact.
Even at the present day, we see women in India managing vast estates with great ability. There were two ladies where I was born who were the proprietors of large estates and patronesses of learning and art and who managed these estates with their own brains and looked to every detail of the business.
Each nation,beyond a general humanity, develops a certain peculiarity of character — so in religion, so in politics, so in the physical body, so in mental habitude, so in men and women, so in character. One nation develops one peculiarity of character, another takes another peculiarity. Within the last few years the world has begun to recognize this.
The very peculiarity of Hindu women, which they have developed and which is the idea of their life, is that of the mother. If you enter a Hindu's home, you will not find the wife to be the same equal companion of the husband as you find her here. But when you find the mother, she is the very pillar of the Hindu home. The wife must wait to become the mother, and then she will be everything.
If one becomes a monk, his father will have to salute him first because he has become a monk and is therefore superior to him. But to his mother he — monk or no monk — will have to go down on his knees and prostrate himself before her. He will then put a little cup of water before her feet, she will dip her toe in it, and he will have to drink of it. A Hindu son gladly does this a thousand times over again!
Where the Vedas teach morality, the first words are, “Let the mother be your God" (Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.) — and that she is. When we talk of woman in India, our idea of woman is mother. The value of women consists in their being mothers of the human race. That is the idea of the Hindu.
I have seen my old master taking little girls by the hands, placing them in a chair and actually worshipping them — placing flowers at their feet and prostrating himself before these little children — because they represented the mother God.
The mother is the God in our family. The idea is that the only real love that we see in the world, the most unselfish love, is in the mother — always suffering, always loving. And what love can represent the love of God more than the love which we see in the mother? Thus the mother is the incarnation of God on earth to the Hindu.
"That boy alone can understand God who has been first taught by his mother." I have heard wild stories about the illiteracy of our women. Till I was a boy of ten, I was taught by my mother. I saw my grandmother living and my great-grandmother living, and I assure you that there never was in my line a female ancestor who could not read or write, or who had to put "her mark" on a paper. If there was a woman who could not read or write, my birth would have been impossible. Caste laws make it imperative.
So these are wild stories which I sometimes hear — such as the statement that in the Middle Ages reading and writing were taken away from Hindu women. I refer you to Sir William Hunter's History of the English People, where he cited Indian women who could calculate a solar eclipse.
I have been told that either too much worship of the mother makes the mother selfish or too much love of the children for the mother makes them selfish. But I do not believe that. The love which my mother gave to me has made me what I am, and I owe a debt to her that I can never repay.
Why should the Hindu mother be worshipped? Our philosophers try to find a reason and they come to this definition: We call ourselves the Aryan race. What is an Aryan? He is a man whose birth is through religion. This is a peculiar subject, perhaps, in this country; but the idea is that a man must be born through religion, through prayers. If you take up our law books you will find chapters devoted to this — the prenatal influence of a mother on the child.
I know that before I was born, my mother would fast and pray and do hundreds of things which I could not even do for five minutes. She did that for two years. I believe that whatever religious culture I have, I owe to that. It was consciously that my mother brought me into the world to be what I am. Whatever good impulse I have was given to me by my mother — and consciously, not unconsciously.
"A child materially born is not an Aryan; the child born in spirituality is an Aryan." For all this trouble — because she has to make herself so pure and holy in order to have pure children — she has a peculiar claim on the Hindu child. And the rest [of her traits] is the same with all other nations: she is so unselfish. But the mother has to suffer most in our families.
The mother has to eat last. I have been asked many times in your country why the [Hindu] husband does not sit with his wife to eat — if the idea is, perhaps, that the husband thinks she is too low a being. This explanation is not at all right. You know, a hog's hair is thought to be very unclean. A Hindu cannot brush his teeth with the brushes made of it, so he uses the fibre of plants. Some traveller saw one Hindu brushing his teeth with that and then wrote that "a Hindu gets up early in the morning and gets a plant and chews it and swallows it!" Similarly, some have seen the husband and wife not eating together and have made their own explanation. There are so many explainers in this world, and so few observers — as if the world is dying for their explanations! That is why I sometimes think the invention of printing was not an unmixed blessing. The real fact is: just as in your country many things must not be done by ladies before men, so in our country the fact is that it is very indecorous to munch and munch before men. If a lady is eating, she may eat before her brothers. But if the husband comes in, she stops immediately and the husband walks out quickly. We have no tables to sit at, and whenever a man is hungry he comes in and takes his meal and goes out. Do not believe that a Hindu husband does not allow his wife to sit at the table with him. He has no table at all.
The first part of the food — when it is ready — belongs to the guests and the poor, the second to the lower animals, the third to the children, the fourth to the husband, and last comes the mother. How many times I have seen my mother going to take her first meal when it was two o'clock. We took ours at ten and she at two because she had so many things to attend to. [For example], someone knocks at the door and says, "Guest", and there is no food except what was for my mother. She would give that to him willingly and then wait for her own. That was her life and she liked it. And that is why we worship mothers as gods.
I wish you would like less to be merely petted and patronized and more to be worshipped! [You], a member of the human race! — the poor Hindu does not understand that [inclination of yours]. But when you say, "We are mothers and we command", he bows down. This is the side then that the Hindus have developed.
Going back to our theories — people in the West came about one hundred years ago to the point that they must tolerate other religions. But we know now that toleration is not sufficient toward another religion; we must accept it. Thus it is not a question of subtraction, it is a question of addition. The truth is the result of all these different sides added together. Each of all these religions represents one side, the fullness being the addition of all these. And so in every science, it is addition that is the law.
Now the Hindu has developed this side. But will this side be enough? Let the Hindu woman who is the mother become the worthy wife also, but do not try to destroy the mother. That is the best thing you can do. Thus you get a better view of the universe instead of going about all over the world, rushing into different nations and criticizing them and saying, "The horrid wretches — all fit to be barbecued for eternity!"
If we take our stand on this position — that each nation under the Lord's will is developing one part of human nature — no nation is a failure. So far they have done well, now they must do better! [Applause]
Instead of calling the Hindus "heathens", "wretches", "slaves", go to India and say, "So far your work is wonderful, but that is not all. You have much more to do. God bless you that you have developed this side of woman as a mother. Now help the other side — the wife of men".
And similarly, I think (I tell it with the best spirit) that you had better add to your national character a little more of the mother side of the Hindu nature! This was the first verse that I was taught in my life, the first day I went to school: "He indeed is a learned man who looks upon all women as his mother, who looks upon every man's property as so much dust, and looks upon every being as his own soul".
There is the other idea of the woman working with the man. It is not that the Hindus had not those ideals, but they could not develop them.
It is alone in the Sanskrit language that we find four words meaning husband and wife together. It is only in our marriage that they [both] promise, "What has been my heart now may be thine". It is there that we see that the husband is made to look at the Pole-star, touching the hand of his wife and saying, "As the Pole-star is fixed in the heavens, so may I be fixed in my affection to thee". And the wife does the same.
Even a woman who is vile enough to go into the streets can sue her husband and have a maintenance. We find the germs of these ideas in all our books throughout our nation, but we were not able to develop that side of the character.
We must go far beyond sentiment when we want to judge. We know it is not emotion alone that governs the world, but there is something behind emotion. Economic causes, surrounding circumstances and other considerations enter into the development of nations. (It is not in my present plan to go into the causes that develop woman as wife.)
So in this world, as each nation is placed under peculiar circumstances and is developing its own type, the day is coming when all these different types will be mixed up — when that vile sort of patriotism which means "rob everybody and give to me" will vanish. Then there will be no more one-sided development in the whole world, and each one of these [nations] will see that they had done right.
Let us now go to work and mix the nations up together and let the new nation come.
Will you let me tell you my conviction? Much of the civilization that comprises the world today has come from that one peculiar race of mankind — the Aryans.
[Aryan] civilization has been of three types: the Roman, the Greek, the Hindu. The Roman type is the type of organization, conquest, steadiness — but lacking in emotional nature, appreciation of beauty and the higher emotions. Its defect is cruelty. The Greek is essentially enthusiastic for the beautiful, but frivolous and has a tendency to become immoral. The Hindu type is essentially metaphysical and religious, but lacking in all the elements of organization and work.
The Roman type is now represented by the Anglo-Saxon; the Greek type more by the French than by any other nation; and the old Hindus do not die! Each type has its advantage in this new land of promise. They have the Roman's organization, the power of the Greek's wonderful love for the beautiful, and the Hindu's backbone of religion and love of God. Mix these up together and bring in the new civilization.
And let me tell you, this should be done by women. There are some of our books which say that the next incarnation, and the last (we believe in ten), is to come in the form of a woman.
We see resources in the world yet remaining because all the forces that are in the world have not come into use. The hand was acting all this time while other parts of the body were remaining silent. Let the other parts of the body be awakened and perhaps in harmonious action all the misery will be cured. Perhaps, in this new land, with this new blood in your veins, you may bring in that new civilization — and, perhaps, through American women.
As to that ever blessed land which gave me this body, I look back with great veneration and bless the merciful being who permitted me to take birth in that holiest spot on earth. When the whole world is trying to trace its ancestry from men distinguished in arms or wealth, the Hindus alone are proud to trace their descent from saints.
That wonderful vessel which has been carrying for ages men and women across this ocean of life may have sprung small leaks here and there. And of that, too, the Lord alone knows how much is owing to themselves and how much to those who look down with contempt upon the Hindus.
But if such leaks there are, I, the meanest of her children, think it my duty to stop her from sinking even if I have to do it with my life. And if I find that all my struggles are in vain, still, as the Lord is my witness, I will tell them with my heartfelt benediction: "My brethren, you have done well — nay, better than any other race could have done under the same circumstances. You have given me all that I have. Grant me the privilege of being at your side to the last and let us all sink together".
## Footnotes
文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。