INDIA’S MESSAGE OF UNIVERSAL

TOLERANCE AND ACCEPTANCE

“As the different streams having their sources in different paths

which men take through different tendencies, various though
they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee.”

These words as spoken by Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament

of the World's Religions in 1893 held in Chicago rendered the
spirit of ‘Fraternity’ among the “Sisters and Brothers of
America.”
We are known as the land of Unity in Diversity, the place where
myriad cultures and religions co-exist peacefully. We have
celebrated 75 successful years of oneness and brotherhood.
From the time of living under the ‘divide and rule’ policy of the
Britishers in Colonial India, we have come a long way to a
nation where we accept and celebrate all the differences. This
message is also preached on the universal level. But it would not
have been possible if we didn’t have philosophers and ideals
such as Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Vivekananda was an embodiment of Hindu Culture. His
ideas remain unmatched till date. A rich repository of attitudes,
values, and behaviors has been handed down to us by him. We
seek a spiritual compass and a sheet anchor in a world
undergoing an extraordinary upheaval. He provides the globe
with those. In a bitter world, India, according to Vivekananda,
could supply honey of wisdom gathered from various blossoms
by various bees.
Swami Vivekananda was a patriot, yogi, and saint combined in
one. He was one of the most prominent spiritual leaders of all
time. He had a yogic and spiritual mind since his childhood. He
had gained extensive knowledge of various subjects in his early
years. Born Narendra Nath Dutta on January 12, 1863, to
Bhuvaneswari Devi and Vishwanath Datta, treaded this holy
land for only 39 years. However, his life and his ideas continue
to influence generations. His birth anniversary is aptly
celebrated as National Youth Day every year. He was a monk
and chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa. He introduced
Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world
and is attributed to raising interfaith awareness, bringing
Hinduism to the world stage during the late 19th century. He
was invited to represent Sanatan Dharma at the World
Parliament of Religions in Chicago.
The World Parliament of Religions was a gathering of religious
leaders from around the world. The purpose of the gathering was
to promote understanding and tolerance among different
religions. Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the parliament was a
reflection of the Indian culture and its values.
Swami Vivekananda discussed the necessity for a religion that is
inclusive of all people regardless of caste, creed, or country of
origin in his address. He underlined the need to appreciate the
similarity of all religions and the significance of respecting one
another's rituals and beliefs. Today, more than ever, we are
engulfed with the same challenges of prejudices that Swamiji
spoke about. In the current atmosphere of hostility and hatred,
Swami Vivekananda advocated for the notion of equality of all
mankind and the oneness of all religions, and undoubtedly, his
message should be considered the "Magna Carta" for the way
forward.

Although the magnificent vision of ancient India is complete,

integrative, and universal, it captures a message that is timeless
and always relevant. The Indian voice delivers to the globe the
calming, inclusive viewpoints that have penetrated its cultural
environment for more than two millennia whenever it is
threatened by disintegration, disagreements, enmity, and
misguided preconceptions.
Even The Vedic sages recognized that there are multiple
perspectives on many issues. There was therefore no dogma and
a singular path. The Rig Veda succinctly states, “Ekam sat,
viprah bahudha vadanti” (The truth is one, the wise men
describe it in different ways). As Swami Vivekananda says,
“From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of
which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the
low ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the
agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the Jains, each
and all have a place in Hindu’s religion.” Saints and religious
reformers including Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Buddha, Mahavir,
Basava, Dhyaneswar, and Tukaram, as well as Guru Nanak,
Dayanand Saraswati, and Guru Nanak, have continuously made
Hinduism a dynamic religion with the capacity to reform, purify,
and reinvent its rituals.
Swami Ji stated,
“We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all
religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has
sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all
nations.”
To accept all religions as true is not just a moral obligation, a
matter of injunction, but an ethical obligation, a matter of
sensibility. Toleration as a universal value is not enough to
bridge the gap between people of different faiths. One accepts
the legitimacy of another’s faith as much as one’s own. It is
spiritual egalitarianism, where the ethical exceeds the
epistemological. We had precedent to show the world of
numerous faiths coming to this place and prospering without
persecution, so when he said that Hinduism not only believed in
"universal toleration" but also acknowledged "all religions as
true," we were able to make a statement. Religions like
Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and others not only existed but
coexisted happily in a society with a majority of Hindus.
He made numerous prophecies regarding the unity of God
during his life. He typically used the phrase "Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam" when giving lectures, that the entire world serves
as a single family, with The Almighty portrayed as the only
father.
Quite simply, religion is a question of perspective. The
philosophies and perspectives of various religions and the
adherents of those religions vary. And instead of attempting to
establish the superiority of our own religion over others, it is our
responsibility to appreciate each of them.
His directives, "Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is
reached" was a call for both political and spiritual autonomy at
once. In addition to advancing the notion that all religions are
one, Swami Ji also ardently propagated the principle that all
people are equal. In a world that is increasingly divided along
religious, ethnic, and national lines, his call for universal
tolerance and acceptance is a beacon of hope.
Swami Vivekananda’s nationalism is deeply rooted in
spiritualism, humanism, and universalism. He instilled the
feeling of fraternity and urged people to get rid of individualistic
bondages thus ending the resultant miseries. A new wave of
nationalism was swept across the country, inculcating courage
and determination in the masses, agitating their minds as well as,
enkindling their love for the motherland. He believed that the
future glory of India would surpass even the past glory. We must
work to create a society where people are appreciated for who
they are and their ideas and traditions. The fact that we are all
members of the same human family and that our diversity is
what makes us special and unique must be emphasized.
Religions and Cultures existing are not opposed to the existence
of one another. Swami Ji corroborates, “I believe that they are
not contradictory; they are supplementary. Each religion, as it
were, takes up one part of the great universal truth, and spends
its whole force in embodying and typifying that part of the great
truth.” Rather than seeing the various religions as mutually
exclusive, Swami Ji expresses a vision of each religion as
adding something to humanity’s total vision of the truth.
The need for a universal religion was felt by Swami
Vivekananda as he affirmed, “Sun shines upon the followers of
Krishna or Christ, saints or sinners, alike; which will not be the
Brahman or Buddhist, Christian or Mohammedan, but the sum
total of all these, and still have infinite space for development; It
will be a religion which will have no place for persecution or
intolerance in its polity, which will recognize a divinity in every
man or woman, and whose whole scope, whose whole force,
will be centered in aiding humanity to realize its divine nature.”
He tried to establish the inner truth of every religion and showed
that though there are conflicts among different religious schools
regarding the religious opinion of their own, the inner
spirituality is the same. Therefore, if a man wants peace
sincerely, he must believe in a Universal religion that will
combine every religion and every man in this world
simultaneously.
The preservation of this unmatched treasure is true nationalism.
To provide the world with the most realistic perspective, we
ought to uphold the ideals we preach and offer the ideas in the
proper context. This will stop some misconceptions and false
impressions from spreading. In actuality, this is what Swami Ji
had hoped to accomplish with his lectures in Chicago and other
cities throughout the globe. We must also be on the lookout for
divergences that have a tendency to infiltrate our society.
The attitude that stems from this perspective is not one of mere
tolerance, according to Swami Vivekananda. Tolerance is
certainly better than intolerance. But even tolerance falls far
short of the highest ideal. Swamiji asks,
“Why should I tolerate? Toleration means that I think that you
are wrong and I am just allowing you to live. Is it not blasphemy
to think that you and I are allowing others to live? I accept all
religions that were in the past, and worship with them all.”
“Our watchword, then, will be acceptance, and not exclusion.
Not only toleration, for so-called toleration is often blasphemy,
and I do not believe in it. I believe in acceptance.”
--- Parul Thakur, Department of Laws, Panjab University,
Chandigarh.