Why Vivekananda's status will remain unaffected?
A reader wrote in comments of a website:
You have a like-minded person in me as regards the sacro-sanctness of the vedas. As for Vivekananda, despite all that is contained in that blog - by an erstwhile vivekanandaphile, the status of vivekananda will remain unaffected, I feel.
ybrems
This reference to "in that blog - by an erstwhile vivekanandaphile" refers to our blog, as a link was given to our blog there by a prevous reader.
Answer to the question: Why the status of Vivekananda will remain unaffected?
1. People want to believe "what they want to believe". They will invent 1000 explanations to support their beliefs.
2. They refuse to take into consideration the facts brought out by others, simply because they have been dug up by others. This approach, I do not say--is wrong. Only thing is the believer should take some interest in digging up the facts for himself and corroborate the new revelations.
3. Hindu militant organisations are carrying Vivekananda on their shoulders because they think that he gave a world image to Hinduism and fought Christian missionaries.
4. If Christian Missionaries are poaching into Hindu religion, the Hindus can employ numerous legally and ethically permissible methods to prevent the exodus. If missionaries are converting people by offering goodies and making false propaganda, it can be resisted. Instead, Hindu militant organisations simply believed the propaganda about Vivekananda's greatness without verifying facts and started carrying him on their shoulders and spending millions of Rupees on building memorials and added to the disproportionately blown up propaganda of Swamiji's greatness. Swamiji might have been great. But to say that he was the weight-lifter of the Nation was a hyperbole. They didn't even know that Swami Vivekananda was not enthusiastic about social reforms in Hinduism. He simply thought that people will get religiously uplifted by distributig jandhyams (sacred threads). Proof for these facts can be seen in his Complete Works.
Actually, like other world religions, Hinduism also needed/needs thorough cleansing up. People changing their religions impressed by the false promises of missionaries, do not unfortunately, know that other religions too do contain similar dirt.
Our immediate needs therefore are: a). People should try to know facts by digging up and verify for themselves. This may have to start with educated persons. Unfortunately, our educated persons have time to watch cricket matches day in and day out, but they do not have time to scrutinise the books which they consider as sacro-sanct. For example, the above gentle commentator, who considered that Vedas were sacro-sanct, does not know that AtharvaNa Veda contained several despicable procedures. For example, it has an anuvakam to send bats into enemy's homes. It has a procedure for disabling the sexual organs of adulters who entice the sacrifice performer's wife/beloved. It has procedure for squeezing the genitals of enemy whether male or female. Vedas are great, no doubt. But is there no limit to such greatness? This limit, the commentator above will know when he searches Vedas. The thing is, he must study Vedas.
b) Religious reforms cannot wait in Hinduism, simply because other religions too have dirt and are continuing them.
5. About attributing greatness to Vivekananda on the basis of speeches and books: It is easy to make speeches and write books. It is difficult to practice what is preached. This is what, I tried to prove at this blog.
6. About attributing greatness to Vivekananda on the basis of orphanages started, famine and plague work said to have been done by him: Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda have indications that he postured from cool Centres like Kashmir and Almora, as directing the famine/plague relief work, so as to impress foreign donors and collect more dollars and pounds. Actually, at a time, when plague was rampant in North, he left on his second visit abroad to consult homoeopaths and magnetotherapists for a newly discovered diabetes in his body. His letters show that he was afraid of malaria and preferred not to come back to Calcutta unless there was a dire need. He believed that his fortunes were in yankee land and came back disappointed when people questioned his habits. The entire turmoil, readers can dig up in the Complete Works. I have not created anything in my blogs. I have only given quotes from the Complete Works for easy reference of readers and drew their attention to what they were overlooking.
If the status of Vivekananda is not going to change, as pointed out by the above reader, what do I lose? By digging up the facts, I freed myself from erroneous beliefs. Some of my readers too might have benefited from my loud thinking, which is like Hamlet's loud thinking, which Shakespeare called 'asides'.
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