is lo the piinciplcs always and not to the persons. Persons arc but the cmbodi- menls, the illustrations of the principles. If the piincipies arc iheie, the persons \mII come by the thousands and millions. If the piinciple is safe, persons like Puddha will be boin by the hundreds and thousands. Put if the piinciple is lost and loi gotten and the whole of national life tiies to cling round a so-called histoiical person, woe unto that religion, danger unto that religion I Ouis is the only religion, that does not depend on a person or persons; it is based upon piincipies. At the same lime theie is lOom for millions of persons. There is ample ground for intioilucing pet sons, but each one of them must be an illustration of the jiiinciples. We must not foiget that. These piincipies of our religion arc all.safe, and it should be the life-work of every one of us to keep them.safe, and to keep them free from the accumulating diit and dust of ages. It is strange that in spite of the degiadation that seized upon the lace again and again, these piincipies of the Vedanta weie nevei tarnished. No one, howevei wicked, evei dared to throw dirt upon them. Our sciipturcs ate the best pieserved sciijitiucs m the woild. Compared to other books thcie have been no mteipolations, no texl-loituiing, no destioyiiig of the essence of the thought m them. It is iheie just as it was at first, diiecLing the human mind towatds the ideal, the goal.
You find that these texts have been commented ujion by different commentaloi s, preached by gieat teacheis, and sects founded ujion them, and you find that in these books of the Vedas there aic vaiious appaienlly contiadicloiy ideas There aie ceilain texts which ate cnliiely Dualistic, otheis aic enliiely Monistic. The Duahslic com- mcnlatoi, knowing no betlei, wishes to knock the Monistic texts on the head. Tieacheis and piiesls w.aiit to explain them in the Duahslic meaning. The Monistic commcnlatoi solves the Dualistic texts in a similar fashion. Now this is not the fault of the Vedas. It is foolish to attempt to piove that the whole of the Vedas is Dualistic. It is equally foolish lo attempt to piove that the whole of the Vedas is iion-Dualislic. They are Dualistic and non-Dualistic both. We undeisland them bettei lo-da} in the light of nevvci ideas. 'I'hesc aie but different conceptions leading lo the final conclusion that both Dualistic and i\Tonisiic conceptions aie necessary foi the evolu- tion of the mind, and therefore the Vedas jircach them. In meicy to the human lacc the Vedas show the various steps lo the higher goal. Not th.il they aie conlia- dictoiy vain vvoids used i)y the Vedas to delude childicn; they aie necessai), not only foi children but foi many a gi own-up man. So long as w'e have a body and so long as vve aie deluiled by the idea of the identity of the body, sp long as we have five senses and see the external vvoild, wc must have a Personal God. For if vve have all these ideas, wc must take, as the great Ramanuja has pioved, all the ideas about God and Natuie and the individualised soul; ^’hen you lake the, one you have lo take the whole tiiangle — we cannot avoid it. Therefoic as long as }ou see the external vvoild, to avoid a Peisonal God and a peisonal soul is aiiant lunacy. Pnit there may be times in the lives of sages when the human mind tianscends as it were its own limitations, when man goes even beyond Natuic, and even beyond where the Siuti declaics — “From whence woiJs fall back with the mind without reaching It. Theie the c}es cannot leach nor the cars, w'O cannot say that we know It, we cannot say that vve will know It.” Kven there the human soul tianscends all Innilalions, and then and then alone flashes into the human soul the concejilion of Monism- -I and the whole univeise arc one, I and Biahman aie one. And this conclu- sion you v\ ill Inul has not only been leached ihiough knowledge and jihilosophy^ THE WORK BEFORE US 99 but parts of it through the power of love. You read in the Bhagavala wlicii KiMuia disappeared and the Gopis bewailed his disappcaiance, that at last the tliouglit of Kiibhna became so prominent in tlieir minds that each one foigot hei own body and thought she was Kiislina, and began to decoiate hciself and to play as he did. We understand therefore that this identity comes even tlnough love. Theie was an ancient Peisian Sufi poet, and one ot his poems sa)^— “I came to the Beloved and beheld the door was closed; I knocked at the dooi and from inside a voice came, ‘ Who is there? ’ I leplied ‘ I.am ’ A.second lime I came and knocked.at the door and the same voice asked, ‘ Who is Iheie? ’ ‘ T am so-and-so ’ d'he (haor did not open. A third time I came and the same voice asked ‘ Who is thcie? ’ ‘I am Thyself, my Love,’ and the door opened.'’
There are theiefore many stages and we need not cpiaiiel about them, even if there have been cjuarrels among the ancient commenlaloi.s, whom all of us ought to revere, foi there is no InniUtion to knowledge, iheie is no omni- science exclusively the propeily ol any one m ancient oi modem times If there have been sages and Jvishis in the past, be sine th.il theie will be many now. If theie have been Vyasas and Valmikis and Sankaiaehaiyas m ancient times, why may not each one of }Ou become a Sankaiachaiya.? 'i'his is another ])oint of our religion that you must always remembei, that iii.all othci sciipluies inspualioia is quoted as their authoiil), but tins inspii.ttion is limiled to a voi) few poisons, and tlnough them the tiiuh came to the masses, and we luve all to obey them. Truth came to fesus of N.i/aieth ami we must all obey him. And the liiilh came to the Rishis of India the manh a-drashhls. the seeis of thoughi -and will come to all Rishis in the fuluie, not to lalkeis, not to book-swallowcis, not to sclufiais, not to philologists, but to seeis of thought. The self is not to be leached by too much talking, not even by the highest intellects, not even l>y the study ol the Scrqiliiies. The Sciipluies lliemselves say so Do you fmd in any other Sciipluies such a hold asseition as that— not even by the study of the Ved.as will )ou leacb the Atman You must open yoni heail. Religion is not going to chmch, oi putlmg maiks on the foiehcad, or dicssmg in a pecuh.ai f.ishion. you m.iy jiamt )omsel\es in all the colours of the lainbow, but if the heail has not been oiiened, it ) on have not le.ahscd God, it is all vain. If one has the colour of the heait ho does not want .any external coloui. That is the true religious re.alisation We must not foig.'t that cnlonis and alltbesc things aie good so fai as they help, so lai they aic;dl welcome, but they are apt to degenerate and instead of helping they leUrd, and a man identifies lebgiou with exleinalilics Going to the temple becomes lan.amonnt to spiritual life. Giving something to a piicst becomes tantamount to ic igious lile.
These are dangerous, and pernicious, and should be at once clieckcch Om sciiptuies declare again and again tlul even the knowledge of the external senses,s not lelKuon. That IS icligion w'luch m.ikcs us le.ilisc the uiuh.mgcihle One.ind that ,s the leligum for evei> one. He who real.sc-s transcendental liuths. hu who le dises the Atman m his own natuie, he who comes face to f.ice willi iO( w'cs a oiu.
in evenlhing, has become a R.sh. And theie is no icugious life loi )Ou uiuil }ou have hccomc‘ a Rishi. Then alone leligion begins foi voa, now is omy the tiori. Phen lehgion Lawns upon >ou, now you aic onl) uudeigomg nUclleclual gvmnasLics and [)h}sical toi lutes. i,.1 1,.i„ Wemusltterororeremcmbcillivl our ruliK^on la;, doun dNincil; ami Ur.iily, lhal eve.) one who wants salvation must i-ass through the stage ol Ivishihood, JOO LECTrmES-^FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA ■ — must become a mantt a-drasht<1, mu's! see God. d'hal is salvation, that is the law laid down by our.sciipimes. TIumi it becomes easy to look into the sciip- ture With ovn own ewes, untleisiand the menninp^ for oiuselves, to analyse just what we wain, and to uiulci stand the tiulh foi ouiselvcs. This is what has to be done. At the same lime we must pay all leverence to the aneient sages for their woik. They weie great, these ancients, but we want to be greater. They did great work in the past, but we must do greater woik than they. They had hundieds of Rishis in ancient India. We will have millions— w'e arc going to have, and the soonei every one of you believes in this, the betiei for India and the better forthewoild. Whatever you believe that you will be. If you believe youiselves to be bold, bold you will be. If }Oii believe your.sclvcs to be sages, sages yon w'ill be to-morrovv. 1 here is nothing to obstruct you. Foi if theiei.soiie eomnion doctiine that runs thiough all oui appaiently lighting and contiadictoiy sects, it is, that all glory, power and purity are withm the soul alieady, only accoitling to Ramanuja the soul contracts and expand'j at times,.rnd accuidmg to Sankaia, it comes under a delusion. Nevci mintl these difleiciiees All admit the liuth that the power is there— potential or manifest it is there— and the.sooner you believe that, the boiler for you. All power is within }ou; you can do an) thing and eveiything Believe in that, do not believe that )(m aie weak; do not believe that ) on aie half-cia/y lunatics, as most of us do nowatlay.s. But \ou can do anything and evei) thing without evem the gmdaiue of any one. All j>ow('i ib tlieic,.Stand up and e.xpiess the Divinity that is within )on.
THE i'TJTHRE OF INDIA.*' This is the anctcnl land, whoic widsotn nia{lc ils home indole it went into ether country, the i^aine Indi.i whose inllux ol spiiituahly is icpieseiiled, as it \\ci j, on' tiie maleiial plane, by lollmg iiveis like oceans, where the eternal Himalayas, ii.siM liei above tier with their snow-caps lookiuL* as it weie, into the vciy mysleiics of hcavef Ileie is the same India whose soil ha.s been tiodden by the feet of the gieatest sag*.'? that evei lived. Ileic fust sprang up inqmiies into the natiiic of man, and into the internal woild. Ileie fust aiosc the dotliines ol the nnmoilahty of the Soul, the existence of a supeiviMiig Hod, an immanent Hod in Naim e and in man, and here the highest ideals of leligion and philosophy have attained their culminating points. This is the land from whence, like the tidal waves, spiutualii) and philosophy have again and again rushed out and deluged the world, and this is the land from whence once more such tides must proceed in older to bung life and vigour into the decaying laces of mankind. It is the same India which has withstood the shocks of cenluiics, of hundreds of fQt^ijyn invasions^ of himdie.ds i>t and customs. It is the same land which stands fiimer than any lock in the woild, with its undying vigour, indestiuciible life. Its life is of the same naluie as the Soul, without beginning and without end, immoital, and we aic the childicn of such a country.
Childien of India, I am hcie to spea-lt to you to-day about some practical things, and my object in lemindmg you about the gloiics of the past is simply this Many times have 1 been told that looking into the past only degcnciato.s and leads to nothing, and that we should look to the fiUuic. That is true. But out of the past is built the future. Look back, thcicfoie, as far as you can, drink deep of the eternal fountains that aie behind, and after that, lock forwaid, match foiward and make India biightei, greater, much higher than she ever w'as. Our anccstois were great. We must first recall that. We must loam the elements of our being, the blood that courses in our veins, w'e must have faith in that blood, and what it did in the past; and out of that faith, and con.sciousncss of past greatness, we must build an India yet gieatei than what she has been. Theie have been peiiods of decay and degradation. I do not attach much importance to them; we all know that. Such peiiods have been nccc&.saiy. A mighty tiee pioduccs beautiful ripe fiiiil. That fiuit falls on the ground, it decays and rots, and out of that decay spiings the root and the futuie ticc, perhaps mightiei than the first one. This period of decay through which wc have passed was all the more necessaiy. Out of this decay is coming the India of the fuluie; it is spiouting, its fust leaves are ahead/ out, and a mighty gigantic tree, the Ur<JlrdU}muhw\ is here, ahead/ beginning to appear, and it IS about that, that I am going o ’.j>eil: to )(ri Ihe problems in India aie moie com]dicaled, moie momentous, than the problems in any olhei counn;,. Rac-' icligion, ling i ige, Go\ei nment— all these together make a nation Tlu. cl monts wli. b re-mj tl.e iiilioa? of the woild are indeed veiy few t-ihing la.v afl o nro, cnmpar?d tn tb oonni.y. Heie ha\e been the Aryan, the Di.ivuliaii, the J'aitH the 'Toik, t^'e f'b’gul the Ivaiopean, - all the nations of the world as i' were j'.oniing theo blood into ih's land (Jf languages the most wonderful cciiglomeiatiou IS here • of maniieis and customs there is more loa LECTURES— FROM COLOMBO TO ALMORA difference between two Indian races than between the European and the Eastern races.
The one common ground that we have is our sacred traditions, our religion. 7'hat is the only common ground, and upon that we shall liave to build. In Europe, political ideas form the national unity. In Asia, religious ideals foim the national unity. The unity in religion, therefore, is absolutely necessaiy as the first condition of the future of India. There must be the recognition of one religion throughout the length and bieadth of this land. What do I mean by one religion? Not in the sense of one leligion as held among the Cliiistians, oi the JMahommedans, oi the Buddhists. We know that our leligion has ceitain common giounds, common to all our sects, however varying their conclusions may be, however different their claims may be. So there aie ceitain common giounds, and within thcii limitation this religion of ours admits of a maivellous vaiiation, an infinite amount of libeity to think, and live our own lives. We all know that, at least, those of us who have thought, and what we want is to bring out these life-giving common principles of our religion, and let eveiy man, woman and child throughout the length and bieadth of this countiy, understand them, know them, and tiy to bring them out in their lives. This is the first step, and therefore it has to be taken. We see how in Asia, and especially in India, race difficullies, linguistic difficulties, social difiiculiies, national difhculties, all melt away before this unifying power of leligion. We know that to the Indian mind, theie is nothing highei than leligious ideals, that this is the key- note of Indian life, and we can only woik in the line of least resistance. It is not only true, that the ideal of leligion is the highest ideal; in the case of India it is the only possible means of work; work in any other line, without first slicngthening this, would he disastious. Therefore, the fust plank m the making of a futuie India, the first step that is to be hewn out of that lock of ages, is this unification of leligion. All ot us have to be taught that we Hindus, — Dualists, qualified Monists, oi Monisls, or any other sects, such as Shaivas, Vaishnavas, Pashiipalas,-- -all these vaiions denomi- nations, have ccitain common ideas behind them, and that the time has come when for the well-being of ourselves, for the well-being of our race, we must give up all our little quairels and dilTercnces. Be suie these quarrels arc entirely wrong; they aie condemned by our scripluies, forbidden by our foiefalhers; and those gieat men fiom whom wc claim our descent, whose blood is in our veins, look down with contempt on their childien quarrelling about minute differences.
With the giving up of quarrels all olhci improvements will come. When the life-blood is strong and piiie no disease germ can live in that body. Our life-blood is spirituality. If it flows clear, if it flows strong and pure and vigorous, eveiy- ihing IS right; political, social, any other material defcv*^s, even the poveily of the land, will all be cured if that blood is pure. For T the disease germ be ihiown out, nothing will be able to cntei into the blood. To take a simile from modem medicine, we know that theic must be two causes to pioduce a disease, some poison geim outside, and the state of the body. Until the body is in a stale to admit the germs, until the body is degiaded to a lower vitality so that the germs may entei and thiive and multi jfly, thcie is no power in any germ in the woild to pioduce a disease in the body. In fact, millions of geims are continually passing tlnough everyone’s body; but so long as it is vigoious it ncvci is conscious of them. It is only wlien the body is weak that these goims take possession of it and pioduce disease. Just SO vMth the national life. It is when the national body is weak tliat all sorts of THE FUTURE OF INDIA 103 disease prms in the polilical slate of the races or in its social stale, or in its educa- tional, intellectual slate, crowd into the system and produce disease. To remedy It, therefore, we must go to the loot of this disease and cleanse the blood of all impuiilies. The one tendency will be to strengthen the man, to make the blood pure, the body vigorous, so that it will be able to resist and thiow off all external poisons. We have seen that our vigour, our strength, nay, our national life is in our religion. I am not going to discuss now whether it is right or not, whethe; it is collect or not, whether it is beneficial or not in the long lun, to have this vitality in religion, but for good or evil it is there; you cannot get out of it, you have it now and for ever, and you have to stand by it, even if you have not the same faith, that I have, in our religion. You are bound by it, and if you give it up you are smashed to pieces. That is the life of oui race and that must be.strengthened. You have withstood the shocks of centuries simply because you took great care of it, you sacrificed eveiything else for it. Your forefathers undeiwent everything boldly, even death itself, but preserved their religion. Temple after temple was broken down by the foreign conqueror, but no sooner had the wave passed than the spiic of the temple lose up again. Some of these old temples of Southern India, and those like Somenalh of Gujerat, will teach you volumes of wisdom, will give you a keener insight into the histoiy of the lacc than any amount of books. Maik how these temples beai the maiks of a hundred attacks and a hundred regeneialions, continually destroyed and continually spiinging up out of the ruins, lejuvcnated and stiongas evei ' Tliat is the national mind, that is the national life-current. Follow It and it leads to gloiy. Give it up and you die; death will be the only Jesuit, annihilation the only effect, the moment you step beyond that life-current. 1 do not mean to say that other things are not necessary. I do not mean to say that political or social irnpiovcmcnts are not necessaiy, but what I mean is this, and I want )ou to bear it in mind, that they are sccondaiy heie, and that religion is piirnary. The Inch.m mind is first icligious, then anything else. So this is to be slicnglheiied, and how to do it? I will lay before you my ideas. They have been in my mind foi a long time, even }eais before I left the shores of Madias for Ameiica, and that I went to Ameiica and England was simply for pi opagating those ideas. 1 did not care at all for the Pailiament of Religions or anything else; it was simply an oppoitunity; for it w'as really those ideas of mine that look me all over the woild.
My idea is, first of all to biing out the gems of spiiitiiality that are stored up in oui books, and in the possession of a few only, hidden, as it weie, in monasteries and in foiests— to biing them out; to bring the knowledge out of them, not only fiom the hands where it is hidden, but fiom the still more inaccessible che'Jl, the language in which it is preset ved, the inciustation of centuiies of Sanskrit words. In one word, I want to make them popular. I want to biing out these ideas and let them be the common properly of all, of every man in India, whether he knows the Sanskrit language or not. The great difficulty in the way is the Sanskrit language, this glorious language of ours, and this difliculty cannot be removed until, if it is possible, the whole of our nation are good Sanskiit scholars. You will understand the difficulty when I tell you, that I have been studying this language all my life, and yet eveiy new book is new to me. How much more difficult would it then be for people who never had lime to study the language thoroughly I Therefore the ideas must be taught in the language of the people; at the same lime, Sanskrit education ro4 rtiiisl iro on,ilf)nq: wiili it l^ecau'^c tliu \ci} sound ol Sansknt wouls ^4t\<.‘S a picstit^e and a pnwci and.i stion!.;lh to ilio latf d lu*.ill< nipis ol tlic K'‘Mt Kamannja, and of ( liailaiiya and of Kalni to i oso llu' lowai cl (d India, sh(nv that maivcdlous icbults c\(‘i 0 altaiiif'd (lui m_i4 Ihc lil< liin^ s ot iIiosl 140 it j)io|dn.is, }ct the latei failuics have to lie cxjiI.iiikmI, md v iioc s|;,,„’ii ali\ iIk elivct ol then li‘arhinyjs suipped almost within a ceiilui) ol ihe [>a-sin_i; av.a) ol tin se;.Meat iMasteis I’he secicl IS here, d'hey laixed the lower classes, they had all the wash that these should come uj), hut they did not.ipj)l) ihmr eneiepes to the spreading of the Sanskrit language among the masses Isven the gicat Jhiddha made fine false step when he stopped the Sanskiit language fiom hemg studied hy the masses, lie wanted lapid and immedi.ile lesulis, anil tianslated and jneached in the language of the day, Pfih That was giand. he spoke in the language of the people, and the peojile undeistood him. That was gical, it spicad the ukas ijuu kl) and made them leich far and wide, hut along with lliat,.Sanskiit ought to have spicad ivnowledge came but the piestigc was not theie. cultuie was noi theie It is t iilluie that wiihstamls shocks, not a simple mass ot knowledgis You can put u mass of knowledge into the w'oild, but that will not do it much good Theie must come cullute into the blood. We all know in modem times, of nations which have masses of knowleilge, but what of them ^ 'I'licy aie like tigeis, ilu*y aio like savages, because cultuie is not there Knowledge is only skin-cKo'p, as civilisation is, and a little scralch bungs out the old savage;.such things hapjien, this i» the daiieei Teach the masses in the vei nacLilais, give them ideas, the)' w'lll gi l mloimalioii, but something moie is necessaiy; give them iiihuic Until \ou give them that, theie can be 110 ])cimanence in the raised coiuhlion of tlu' masses Theie will he.inolhci caste cieated, having the advantage of the Sanskiit language, whii h wilt (pnckly get above the nst and lule ihcun all the same 'I'he only safotv, 1 led 3011 men who belong, lo the lowci c. isles, the only way to laise 30111 comiuion is 10 sindv S msknt, ind thn fighting md willing and fiothing ae'vinst the highei easti^s is in vain, il does no good, and il cieales fight and (luaiiel, <ind this i.icig unloi innately aluadv divi leil, is eoing to he divided moie and more. I'he only way to hung about the levelling of castL is to appio- priate the cultuie, the education which is the siieiiglh of the hi.^lici castes 'J'hat done, 3 on have' vvhai 3 on want In (onneclion willi this T want to discuss one <|uc lion which has 'i paiticular bcaiing with legaul to Madias Theie is.1 tlieoi\ ihaltluiewis a 1 ice oJ mankind in Southern India called l)i a\ idians eiiluely dillei mg Mom motlici lace 111 Noilhein India called the At) lus,.Old ill. il till' Southei n Indi.i Ihahin.ius a.e the only Aivans that came fiom the Noilh, the oihei men ol S-.iitluin Indta h‘d> ng u. an cniiiel)' diffci eiU caste and 1 ace to those of Soulhcin India ihah.uaixs Now I beg 30111' ])aidon. Ml. I'hilologisl, this is eniiieiy imlonnded d'he only puad of it is, that theie IS a dilfcieiice of language l.etween the Noilh and llu* South. T do not see any olhei diffeienre \V<i aio so many Noilliei n min Inie, and I a-^k nr, Kniopeaii fi lends to pick out th(. Noi thei n and.Sonthem men horn ihis assimhl) AVheic is the diffeicnce? A little diffeience of langn.ige Ihil the Ihahman'i aie a lace that came hcie speaking the.Sanskiit hingiiage ' Well then, they look up the Diavidian langn.ige and foigol then Sanskiit AVli) sliouM not the oduci castes have dune the same? W’h)' should not all the othci c.isIls have come one aftei the othei horn NoUhi'iu India, t.ikcu up Ihe Di.nidian 1 ingii.ig<', and so foigotten tlieii own ^ That is an aigumeut vvijikm"- lioih ways Do not heliev-, in sucli s|l!\ ihmgs TIrac may THE FUTURE OF WDIA to5 have been a Dravidian people who vanished from here, and the few who remained lived in forests and other places. It is quite possible that the language may have been taken up, but all these are Aryans who came from the Noith. The whole of India is Aryan, nothing else. Then there is the other Idea that the Sudra caste are surely the aborigines. What are they? They are slaves. They say history repeats itself. The Amei leans, Knglish, Dutch, and the Portuguese got hold of the poor Afi leans, and made them work hard while they lived, and their children of mixed birth were bom in slavery and kept in that condition for a long period. From that wonderful example, the mind jumps back seveial thousand years and fancies that the same thing happened here, and our archeologist dieams of India being full of dark-eyed aboiigines, and the bright Aryan came from— the Lord knows Avhere. Accoriling to some, they came from Cential Thibet, others will have it that they came fiom Cenlial Asia. Theie are paliiotic Englishmen who think that the Aryans weie all red-haired. Olheis, according to their idea, think that they were all black-haired. If the writer happens to be a black-haiicd man, the Aryans were all black. Of late,