Samiji Returns to India

   

It was on the 20th of February 1897, just 111 years ago, that Swamiji returned to Calcutta. How proud the people were! So many years before, the little boy Biley had played in the streets of this city. Now, he was returning as the world-famous hero, Swami Vivekananda.

     There were thousands and thousands of people waiting to welcome him. The city was decorated with arches. Banners were flying, and conchs (a kind of snail shell) were being blown. The crowds shouted: “Hail to Swami Vivekananda! Hail to Sri Ramakrishna!” Just as it happened in Madras, some young men took the horses away from Swamiji’s carriage and pulled it through the streets themselves. To be Swamiji’s “horses” was a great honor. The people crowded around his carriage, and there was a sea of people all around. People, people, everywhere! Dressed in an orange robe, Swamiji looked like a royal hero, a great warrior returning after a victorious battle.

     And, indeed, that is just what he was. He was a warrior who had conquered the world. But he did not have any soldiers or guns. He conquered the world by his great love and by his wonderful message. Swamiji taught people everywhere how they could live in peace and happiness, without fighting.

     In Calcutta, day and night, people flocked to see Swamiji. At a big meeting, the city of Calcutta gave him a public address. There were about five thousand at that meeting – rajas, maharajas, sannyasins, pundits, and all the important people of Calcutta. A group of European ladies and gentlemen were there, too. Hundreds of schoolboys and college students also attended.

     In his reply to the address, Swamiji spoke freely and frankly to the Calcutta people, calling them his own brothers. He told them about his work in America and England, and he told them about Sri Ramakrishna. He explained how the great power of Sri Ramakrishna could help India and the world.

     He called upon the people of Bengal to be fearless and sacrifice themselves for their country with energy, enthusiasm and faith. The great work before them was to make known to the whole world the eternal spiritual truths taught by their forefathers. This would raise India once more to her proper spiritual place. Wherever he went, Swamiji would explain his ideas to the people. The speeches he gave are all carefully preserved for us. When we read them today, we feel that he is speaking directly to us, telling us how we can serve our Motherland and humanity.

     His call to India, his call to the whole world, was “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.”

From The Story of Vivekananda
by Irene R. Ray & Mallika Clare Gupta.
Illustration by Ramananda Banerjee.
Pub: Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata