New chair in Indian studies to commemorate Hindu spiritual leader | UChicago News

New chair in Indian studies to commemorate Hindu spiritual leader | UChicago News

Patriotism: An introspective view for Bangladeshi

What is patriotism? I m confused. Is patriotism the last refuge of a scoundrel? My patriotism doesn’t make me a blind. My patriotism opens my eyes for the development of the mass. My patriotism teaches me to study myself first. Today, I am confused due to the activities of few bloggers. Because my wisdom ask me today, are you a patriot? Why do you not talk about the negativity of your colleague? BSF killed innocent people in Indo-Bangla border; you should protest against it and abandon Indian goods for a day. Both my brains and hearts condemned the border killing. But abandon Indian goods for a day, makes me predicament. Because my experiences tell me it is a wrong idea; my wisdom tell me to find out a way to make it for years. But the question is that how can we make it years? By not feeding our own people? By stopping industrial production? Or the total movement is just a political game? All those mess push me to write something to share with audiences.

From my professional experiences in supply chain and SME business development sector, I get to know that Bangladesh lacks enough resources. Today I will share some of my experiences. Today I will discuss only two experiences.

I would have some experiences on Textile Industry. Bangladesh can meet only 2% of its raw cotton consumption. The garments industry contributes about 80% of our GDP that totally depends on cotton bale and spinning industry. About 98% of total cotton consumptions are imported mostly from India and Uzbekistan. But most of the time, the planning department of textile sector choose to import cotton from India because of cost effectiveness and geographical proximity. Even, during the time of Caretaker government, the spinning industry could not support the garments industry, I, myself ordered  few tons of yarn bales to meet the demand of the garments at where I worked. The second experience: I worked in a project that has been focused on SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) development of Bangladesh. The project was funded by Asian Development Bank and collaborated with Ministry of Industry, Bangladesh. The story is on Clay Brick industry of Bangladesh. Due to infrastructure development of Bangladesh and accordingly huge demand on clay bricks lead the industry to become Auto-kiln which depends on coal and gas. The government is now trying to abolish coal based kiln for its impact on environment; but still more than 70% brick fields are run with coal and few still depend on biomass. The power generation industry and brick fields are largely depend on coal imports from India, China and Malaysia. But in reality, most of the coals are imported from India. When we talk about Fulbari Coal Industry, the so called environmentalist and communist (Leninist) started a campaign against any coal and gas mining. But the question is that do you want advancement of civilization or want a green environment? Obviously we want both. But in reality, we need to compromise green environment for development of civilization.

So my earnest request to all bloggers: please be positive, please write something to inspire the mass for capital developments so that the imports would be reduced. Why don’t government and non-government sectors take steps for cotton productions? Why don’t they take any steps to farm cattle? Why don’t they take steps to produce more crops and vegetables and spices? Why don’t take any initiatives to improve our cinema industry? Well, now let’s see what the bloggers have been written down. Blogger’s main topics are border killing, price hike, throw out Indian goods for a day, and so on. Why don’t I see a single blog that talk about our technology, resource, people and so on? Why don’t they talk about how to develop our infrastructure and technology? Why don’t they spend a single moment to write down something regarding how to produce more crops and teach that knowledge to farmers? Don’t you think most of the bloggers mislead you?

Actually, we are busy only with politics and judge everything with biased eye. We are reactive patriot, not constructive patriot. Our brain cells fulfilled with some bloody politics and agnosticism. At the end of the day, we, Bangladeshi are the loser, not the Indians.

[Continued: Part 2 - the light engineering sector and small cottage industry]

- Suman Chowdhury

Cognitive Exercise for better brains !

Cognitive Exercise is very important for middle age and adults, because it can alter the brain's neural circuits. It assist them to improve decision-making ability and to quicken reaction time! People can work out their brains with computers regularly. Moreover, our research on distraction of mind also proved that cognitive exercises like experience, education, quiz, computer uses and video games may improve decision making capability and hence reduce the distraction of mind. In finally, Cognitive exercise can really outrun biology !!!! Hence, it is a very emergency tool for all age group for better talents !


For more information you can read an article on New York times - autism


- Suman Kanti Chowdhury

Devdas - An eternal story of Love

Devdas is a young man from a wealthy Bengali Brahmin family in India in the early 1900s. Paro (Parvati) is a young woman from a middle class Bengali family belonging to the “merchant” caste. The two families lived in a village in Bengal, and Devdas and Paro were childhood friends. Devdas goes away for thirteen years to live and study in a boarding school in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata). When, after finishing school, he returns to his village, Paro looks forward to their childhood love blossoming into their lifelong journey together in marriage. Of course, according to the prevailing social custom, Paro's parents would have to approach Devdas' parents and propose marriage of Paro to Devdas as Paro longed for. When Paro's mother makes the proposal to Devdas' mother, the latter insults her, plainly saying that the marriage is not possible in view of her own higher caste and financial status. To demonstrate her own social status, Paro's mother then finds an even richer husband for Paro. When Paro learns of her planned marriage, she stealthily meets Devdas at night, desperately believing that Devdas will quickly accept her hand in marriage. Devdas meekly seeks his parents' permission to marry Paro, but Devdas' father agrees with his wife. In a weak-minded state, Devdas then flees to Calcutta, and from there, he writes a letter to Paro, saying that they were only friends. Within days, however, he realizes that he should have been bolder. He goes back to his village and tells Paro that he is ready to do anything needed to save their love. By now, Paro's marriage plans are in an advanced stage, and she declines going back to Devdas and chides him for his cowardice and vacillation. She makes, however, one request to Devdas that he would return to her before he dies. Devdas vows to do so. Devdas goes back to Calcutta and Paro is married off to the betrothed widower with children, who is still in love with his previous wife and is therefore not interested in an amatory relationship with Paro. 

In Calcutta, Devdas' carousing friend, Chunnilal, introduces him to a courtesan named Chandramukhi. Devdas takes to heavy drinking at Chandramukhi's place, but the courtesan falls in love with him, and looks after him. His health deteriorates because of a combination of excessive drinking and despair of life—a drawn-out form of suicide. Within him, he frequently compares Paro and Chandramukhi, remaining ambivalent as to whom he really loves. Sensing his fast-approaching death, Devdas returns to meet Paro to fulfill his vow. He dies at her doorstep on a dark, cold night. On hearing of the death of Devdas, Paro runs towards the door, but her family members prevent her from stepping out of the door.

The novella powerfully depicts the prevailing societal customs in Bengal in the early 1900s, which are largely responsible for preventing the happy ending of a genuine love story. 




Every society has such some true love stories that dies due to social injustice, racism, social discrimination and religious objection. Due to French revolution, Scientific advances, and globalization, all those social deformation, bigotry and delinquencies are subject to justification. Don't you think that this is the right time to raise your voice against those discriminations for future humanity?




- Suman Kanti Chowdhury  

My Vivekananda and Avijit Roy's Vivekananda

Reference does a matter !:

The Mukto-mona founder Dr. Avijit Roy has published a recent article on Swami vivekananda( Vivekananda)
He found a lot of errors in Swamiji's teachings and life styles. He personally challenged a writing of Professor Kabir Chowdhury's (National Professor of Bangladesh) article on Swami Vivekananda. He tried to show that Professor Kabir Chowdhury ( swami vivekananda ) has not synthesized Swami Vivekananda well. But the reality is that Mr. Avijit roy has not read a single page from 'complete works of Swami Vivekananda' and tried to analyze vivekananda. A person publicly wants to be more learned than Professor Kabir Chowdhury !! I have no objection. I am not against criticizing Vivekananda. But if anyone misquotes, fakes and propagates some misconception and fake information on Swami Vivekananda regarding 'SatiDaho (women burning), Child marriage, animal killing, his luxurious life style'; I have to say he is doing it purposefully to get some claps from people. It is easy to be famous but it is very difficult to be respected by others. I have personally requested Mr. Avijit Roy to check his writing and rewrite the document once again. I have tried my best to request him to study Swami Vivekananda's lectures and writings. But he has not listened to me. Some of my friends asked me to debate with him what he has said. I personally don't like any form of Ku-tarka/ bad debate. In addition, if one person misquotes and gives some fake information, how can I argue with him? It is also amusing that, Mukto-mona has deleted my comments under Mr. Avijit roy's writing. What was my fault? Did I scold anyone? No... I just gave the link of Swamiji's lecture and requested the readers to check. But Mukto-mona has done some unethical and cowardice behaviors with me by deleting my comments.

I choose not to cite every single line of my writings, but I have given the reference links for Complete Volumes of Swami Vivekananda's writing as references. I am not writing this article to support or propagate his message. Rather, I would like to present my thoughts on Swami vivekananda as a fan of him, who hardly understand his message and a form of reaction to Avijit Roy's writings. Though it is not possible to get all other references in webpages (As I live in USA, it is not possible for me to collect Bengali copy of all those  other books) except the complete volume of Vivekananda and as the main discussion is on swami Vivekananda, I exalt to focus on Swami Vivekananda's Complete Volume of Works.


Now let's see what was his misquotes and what his explanation :-


[1] অপার্থিব ইংরেজীতে একসময় এ প্রসংগগুলো নিয়ে একটি চমৎকার লেখা লিখেছিলেন মুক্তমনায় ‘An Irreverent Look at Some of India’s Most Revered Figures’ শিরোনামে।
[2] প্রবীর ঘোষ, অলৌকিক নয়, লৌকিক, দে’জ পাবলিশিং, একাদশ মূদ্রণ, ১৯৯৮, পৃঃ ২১৭।
[3] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[4] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[5] মহেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত, শ্রীমৎ বিবেকানন্দ স্বামীজির ঘটনাবলী, প্রথম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৯৬।
[6] ভারতীয় নারী, উদ্বোধন, পৃষ্ঠা ৯০
[7] গোলাম আহমাদ মোর্তজা, বিভিন্ন চোখে স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ, বিশ্ববঙ্গীয় প্রকাশন, পৃঃ ১৫৯
[8] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বানী ও রচনা, ২য় খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১২।
[9] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বানী ও রচনা, ৬ষ্ঠ খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১২।
[10] এস মানুষ হও, ষষ্ঠ সংস্করণ, উদ্বোধন, পৃঃ ৮।
[11] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বানী ও রচনা, নবম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১৮।
[12] ভারতীয় নারী, উদ্বোধন, পৃঃ ১৫।
[13] শঙ্করীপ্রসাদ বসু, বিবেকানন্দ ও সমকালীন ভারতবর্ষ, ৩য় খণ্ড, পৃষ্ঠা ২৬৪
[14] পত্রাবলী, উদ্বোধন, পৃঃ ১৩৫।
[15] সত্যেন্দ্রনাথ মজুমদার, বিবেকানন্দ চরিত, উদ্বোধন, পৃঃ ৩০১।
[16] শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণকথামৃত, শ্রীম কথিত, অখণ্ড সংস্করণ, ১৯৮৬-৮৭।
[17] শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণকথামৃত, শ্রীম কথিত, অখণ্ড সংস্করণ, উদ্বোধন কার্যালয় থেকে সংগৃগীত; উক্তিগুলো পাওয়া যাবে রাজেশ দত্ত সম্পাদিত ‘রামকৃষ্ণ-বিবেকানন্দ: মুক্তমনের আলোয় বইয়েও (র‍্যাডিক্যাল, ২০০২)।
[18] রাজেশ দত্ত (সম্পাদনা), রামকৃষ্ণ-বিবেকানন্দ: মুক্তমনের আলোয়, র‍্যাডিক্যাল, ২০০২।
[19] শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণকথামৃত, শ্রীম কথিত, অখণ্ড সংস্করণ, পৃঃ ১৭৮।
[20] শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণকথামৃত, শ্রীম কথিত, অখণ্ড সংস্করণ, পৃঃ ৩৬০।
[21] শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণলীলাপ্রসঙ্গ, গুরুভাব পূর্বার্ধ, প্রথম অধ্যায়, উদ্বোধন, পৃঃ ১৩।
[22] শ্রীশ্রীরামকৃষ্ণলীলাপ্রসঙ্গ, সাধক ভাব, বিংশ অধ্যায়, উদ্বোধন, পৃঃ ১৭৫।
[23] রাজেশ দত্ত (সম্পাদনা), রামকৃষ্ণ-বিবেকানন্দ: মুক্তমনের আলোয়, র‍্যাডিক্যাল, ২০০২।
[24] বিপ্লব পাল, স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ-একটি নির্মোহ বিশ্লেষণ, মুক্তমনা।
[25] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[26] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১১৪-১১৫
[27] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ১ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩০
[28] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ১০ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩৯
[29] ভগ্নী নিবেদিতা, স্বামীজিকে যেরূপ দেখিয়াছি, পৃঃ ১৮৩
[30] সুতপা বন্দোপাধ্যায়, গুরুজি ও স্বামীজি, দৈনিক আজকাল, এপ্রিল ৮, ১৯৯৪।
[31] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[32] রোমা রলাঁর মতে বিবেকবুদ্ধিসম্পন্ন ছিলেন বলেই তার নাম রাখা হয় বিবেকানন্দ।
[33] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[34] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[35] Marie Louis Burke, Swami Vivekananda’s second visit to the west, Vedanta Press ।
[36] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[37] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১৩১
[38] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৫৪
[39] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩৫৯
[40] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১৫৪
[41] পত্রাবলী, উদ্বোধন, পত্র নং -২৭২, পৃঃ ৪৪৪
[42] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৯
[43] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৪৩
[44] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৪৩
[45] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৯ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩১৪
[46] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ২৬২
[47] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৮১
[48] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৬ষ্ঠ খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১১৮
[49] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ২২
[50] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩১
[51] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩৭
[52] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[53] নিরঞ্জন ধর, বিবেকানন্দ: অন্য চোখে, উৎস মানুষ সংকলন
[54] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৪র্থ খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৮৫
[55] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৪র্থ খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৯৯
[56] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৪র্থ খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১০৯
[57] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৪র্থ খণ্ড, পৃঃ ১৪৪
[58] বিবেকানন্দ ও সমকালীন ভারতবর্ষ, ৪র্থ খণ্ড, পৃষ্ঠা ১২
[59] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৭ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ৩০৭
[60] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৬ষ্ঠ খণ্ড, পৃষ্ঠা ২৪৫
[61] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃষ্ঠা ২০৬
[62] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৯ম খণ্ড, পৃঃ ২৫৩
[63] সুকোমল সেন, ভারতে শ্রমিক আন্দোলনের ইতিহাস (১৮৩০-২০০০), এনবিএ, ষষ্ঠ মূদ্রণ, ২০০৫
[64] সুকোমল সেন, পূর্বোক্ত।
[65] খ্রিস্টোফার ইশারউড, রামকৃষ্ণ ও তার শিষ্যগণ, পৃঃ ২৭৮
[66] পত্রাবলী, উদ্বোধন, পত্র নং ৩৬৩, পৃঃ ৫৭২
[67] পত্রাবলী, উদ্বোধন, পত্র নং ৩৬৫, পৃঃ ৫৭৫
[68] পত্রাবলী, উদ্বোধন, পত্র নং ৪৭৬, পৃঃ ৯৬
[69] স্বামী বিবেকানন্দের বাণী ও রচনা, ৫ম খণ্ড, পৃষ্ঠা ১৪৬।
[70] পত্রাবলী, উদ্বোধন, পত্র নং ২৩৯, পৃঃ ৩৯১-৯২


As it is not possible to talk about each reference, in addition , as I am here to focus on Swami Vivekananda, So I would look at his lecture and teachings : Three References 8, 9, and 11 as for example. 
Challenge 1: Reference 8 : - ‘বাল্যবিবাহ হিন্দু জাতিকে পবিত্রতায় ভূষিত করিয়াছে’। ; Okay readers did you find anything like that? Answer is No. Now look at volume 2, what Swamiji has said , ' ...The
very same evil has been taken up by various races, and attempts have been made in various ways to check it, yet no nation has succeeded. If it has been minimised at one point, a mass of evil has been crowded at another point. Thus it goes. The Hindus, to keep up a high standard of chastity in the race, have sanctioned child-marriage, which in the long run has degraded the race. At the same time, I cannot deny that this child-marriage makes the race more chaste. What would you have? If you want the nation to be more chaste, you weaken men and women physically by child-marriage. On the other hand, are you in England any better off? No, because chastity is the life of a nation. Do you not find in history that the first death-sign of a nation has been unchastity? When that has entered, the end of the race is in sight. Where shall we get a solution of these miseries these miseries then? If parents select husbands and wives for their children, then this evil is minimised. The daughters of India are more practical than sentimental. But very little of poetry remains in their lives. Again, if people select their own husbands and wives, that does not seem to bring much
happiness. The Indian woman is generally very happy; there are not many cases of quarrelling between husband and wife. On the other hand in the United States, where the greatest liberty obtains, the number of unhappy homes and marriages is large. Unhappiness is here, there, and everywhere. What does it show? That, after all, not much happiness has been gained by all these ideals. We all struggle for happiness and as soon as we get a little happiness on one side, on the other side there comes unhappiness...." Now please tell me, where he had stated Avijit Roy's statement?

Challenge 2:

‘ বিধবাদের পুনর্বিবাহ দিলে কুমারী মেয়েদের ভাগ্যে স্বামী কম পড়ে যাবে’, এবং ‘বিধবাগনের স্বামী সংখ্যার উপর কোন জাতির ভবিষ্যৎ নির্ভর করে না’; এবং এও বলেছেন, ‘বিধবাবিবাহ আন্দোলনে শতকরা সত্তর জন ভারতীয় নারীর কোন স্বার্থই নাই’।
এ জায়গায় পাশ্চাত্য মেয়েদের প্রশংসা করে বাল্যবিবাহের বিরুদ্ধে বলছেন[10],

‘এ দেশের (আমেরিকা) স্ত্রীদের মত স্ত্রী কোথাও দেখিনি … এরা কেমন স্বাধীন। এদের মেয়েরা কি পবিত্র। ২৫-৩০ বছরের কমে কারুর বিয়ে হয় না। আর আমরা কি করি? আমার মেয়ের ১১ বৎসরে ‘বে’ না হলে খারাপ হয়ে যাবে! আমরা কি মানুষ?’

আবার পরক্ষণেই ভারতীয় মেয়েদের আকাশে তুলে আর পাশ্চাত্যের মেয়েদের যা-তা বিশেষণে বিশেষিত করে লিখেছেন[11],

ওদেশে (পাশ্চাত্যে) মেয়েদের দেখে আমার অনেক সময় স্ত্রীলোক বলেই বোধ হত না – ঠিক যেন পুরুষ মানুষ। গাড়ী চালাচ্ছে, স্কুলে যাচ্ছে, প্রফেসরি করছে। একমাত্র ভারতবর্ষেই মেয়েদের লজ্জা, বিনয় প্রভৃতি দেখে চক্ষু জুড়ায়।

বাল্যবিবাহ যে আসলে ‘স্বাভাবিক’ এবং ‘কত ভাল’, তা আমরা প্রত্যক্ষ করি বিবেকানন্দের নানা কুসংসারাচ্ছন্ন উক্তিতে, যেখানে তিনি বলছেন ‘প্রণয়বৃত্তি জাগ্রত হইবার পূর্বে বাল্যকালে’ বিয়ে দেয়া ভাল হবে, নইলে হবে ঘোর ‘অনর্থ’ [12] –

কখনো কখনো শিশু বয়সেই আমাদিগকে বিবাহ দেওয়া হয়, কেননা বর্ণের নির্দেশ। মতামতের অপেক্ষা না রাখিয়াই যদি বিবাহের ব্যবস্থা করিতে, তবে প্রণয়বৃত্তি জাগ্রত হওয়ার পূর্বে বাল্যকালে বিবাহ দেয়া ভাল। যদি অল্প বয়সে বিবাহ না দিয়া ছেলেমেয়েদের স্বাধীনভাবে বাড়িতে দেয়া হয়, তবে তাহার এমন কাহারো প্রতি আসক্ত হইতে পারে, যাহাদের সহিত বিবাহ বর্ণ অনুমোদন করিবেন না। সুতরাং তাহাতে অনর্থের সৃষ্টি হইতে পারে। সুতরাং বাল্যকালে বিবাহ হইলে, বালক-বালিকার ভালবাসা রূপ-গুণের উপর নির্ভর না করিয়া স্বাভাবিক হইবে।

‘প্রণয়বৃত্তি জাগ্রত হওয়ার পূর্বে বাল্যকালে’ বিয়ে দেয়ার পরামর্শটা বিবেকানন্দের কোন হাল্কাচালে করা আপ্তবাক্য ছিলো না, ছিল চিন্তাশীল বাক্যই। আসলে মানুষের স্বাভাবিক প্রেম ভালবাসা নিয়ে তিনি ছিলেন অতিমাত্রায় শুচিবায়ুগ্রস্ত। তিনি মনে করতেন ভালবাসার বন্ধনে আবদ্ধ হয়ে কেউ বিয়ে করলে তার সন্তান নাকি হবে আসুরিক বৈশিষ্ট্য-সম্পন্ন। তিনি বলেছেন[13],

“যদি কাউকে ইচ্ছেমত পতি বা পত্নীরূপে গ্রহণের স্বাধীনতা দেওয়া যায়, যদি ব্যক্তিগত সুখ এবং পাশবপ্রবৃত্তির পরিতৃপ্তির চেষ্টা সমাজে বিস্তার লাভ করে, তার ফল নিশ্চয় অশুভ হবে- দুষ্টপ্রকৃতি, অসুর ভাবের সন্তান জন্মাবে।”

কাজেই যে স্বাধীনচেতা ছেলে মেয়েরা ইচ্ছেমত প্রেম ভালবাসা আর ডেট-এর মাধ্যমে প্রণয় কিংবা বিয়ের জন্য সঙ্গি খুঁজে নিচ্ছেন, তাঁদের এখন থেকেই আসুরিক সন্তানের আশঙ্কায় অপকর্ম থেকে নিবৃত হওয়া উচিৎ, কী বলেন।
Now it is reader's duty to check all the references to validate how Avijit Roy has misquoted from few secondary references !!!!!!!!!

Please go through all the volume and search for the keywords, 'Marriage, Woman, Child Marriage, Woman Burning, Woman, animal slaughter, so on..'. What did you find, my dear reader ???  Herewith, I would suggest to use the keywords for those who just want to look at the references , but anyone wants to read his full volume , would be appreciable. For the letters of Vivekananda, use the same techniques (use corresponding English word) at volume seven (in bengali version) and nine (in English version). If you see all the volumes like that you will be astonished how he misquoted, faked and lied. The final point is that, the English version is the original version and the Bengali version is the translation of that English version. If anyone wants to check in Bengali Version, please buy a copy from your nearest Ramakrishna Mission or Vedantic Society at Bengal. Even, you will be astonished to know how Avijit misquoted and mis-justified Vivekananda's great works.


Mukto-mona and Me:


That's a free community, where everyone can speak and everyone can share their views. But Mukto Mona has deleted my comments. My comments was just simple sharing of the links of 'Complete works of Swami Vivekananda'.


I had a great respect to Mukto-Mona. A lot of people may think that I am a blind follower of Vivekananda. Answer : No. The Mukto-mona/ free thinkers have attacked me with this cheap word 'blind follower'. But my urge is to public, don't you think that those so called free thinkers who have only believed Mukto-mona and Avijit roy's writings , are the most blind follower'; Because they have not spent a single moment to check whether Avijit Roy is correct or wrong. When we write down some scientific journal paper or any scholastic paper, we would quote from original paper , not from any secondary paper. Avijit Roy has not done his homework well. Reference from secondary paper is indeed a crime. Mr. Avijit Roy has done that crime. Because, he has misquoted and gave some fake information on Swami Vivekananda in his writing. I can confidently assert that he has not studied Vivekananda but copied the writing from some fake sources. Herewith, I have given the links of Swamiji's writings and earnestly request the audience to check every single reference.

[Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (Volume 1),  (Volume 2), (Volume 3), (Volume 4), (Volume 5), (Volume 6) ,(Volume 7), (Volume 8), (Volume 9) ]

Readers can also take help from this source - http://www.vivekananda.net/
Animal Sacrifice and Vivekanand:


Now let's see what Vivekananda said,' in his greatest Bengali poem - Sokhar Proti

" Brahma hote Khit Paramanu Sarvavuthe Sei Premmamoy,
Mon-Pran-Sharir Arpan Shakhe Karo, E sobar Pai,


Bahuruphe Sammukhe tomar Chari Khotha Khujisho Iswara,
Jibe Prem Kore Jei Jon Sei Jon Shebiche Iswara" !!!

'One who have the love and care for all, not only animal  but any creature - is the correct meaning. Secondly slaughtering animal, why dont you feel when you talk how many micro animals are u killing? As you cannot see them they are non existing thing. I would suggest readers to read lectures of Swami Vivekananda's "Karma-yoga" and they can also look at volume 8 from page 42.  Everyone will get the answer as well as queries.


1) Vedanta say, ' Sarvang kalidang Brahma'.  So how can people kill animal???? !!!!!!!!!!!!

There was a misconception regarding 'loving all beings as God'... Vedanta says, ' when a person really see or realize that every life is the manifestation of God (Buddhata, Samadhi, or soul becomes manifested condition, mind reach in super conscious level), he will never harm/ cant harm any living being,  as every living being is actually himself (Oneness of God). The idea of absolute Non-dualism, the idea of Oneness of God, the idea of only existent of God and all materials become non-existent in that level. But if a person don't see God in every living being, and say that every living being is god and hence don't harm any animal - then that is hypocrisy. What about a tiger attack a person, and the person say, ' tiger is god, so i should love it and embrace it'.. That's not right. Because the person see tiger as a tiger not a manifestation of God.. Now, what Vivekananda said about , ' vegetarianism'? He would say vegetarianism is a great idea for a person who don't want to eat any flesh. But if anyone generalize it for everyone, then it is incorrect. Because society needs muscle power, a lot of people would need animal flesh to live in. How do u incorporate people live in dessert area? By vegetarianism?? !!! Whether a person would be a vegetarianism or carnivorous or omnivorous, should depend on individual level. But enforce everyone to do it, is indeed hypocrisy. When India was omnivorous, eat animal flesh like beef, buffalo and so on, India had produced a lot of great King like Nanda Empire, Maurya, Asoka, Gupta, Rama, Krishna and So on; philosopher like Vedavyasa, Manu, Valmiki, Shukdev, and so on. But later, Emperor Asoka had enforced mass people not to kill animal and made then Indian society a green field of cows. Far later, Indian society was so degraded that they had lost the heroic identity and started prayer to animal, started cruel casteism and so on !! After Gupta Empire, the contribution of Indian society was very less!


Some Indian rituals need animal slaughter, even Vedas permitted cow slaughter for few rituals; In Vedic period, if a Brahman didn't eat ritualistic beef, he/she would degraded from society. But  a lot of people don't know about these. On the other hand, ritual that needs animal slaughter was indeed low level practice of religiosity. But society needs it. To incorporate mass people, to spread the absolute idea to sacrifice one's ego to God's will; a lot of Abrahamic religion took the idea of animal slaughter to teach the mass people.


In conclusion, animal slaughtering in ritual is a low level religiosity but a mandatory ritual for general masses. "Jibe prem kore je jon.." is the highest level of idea. In addition, Gautama Buddha was also an omnivorous person, he died by eating some poisonous pork meat (according to Teraveda tradition), but he was the greatest human being in then India. How many of us understand his ,' Ahimsha Paramo Dharmo'? Does he mean to embrace tiger when a tiger attack you to kill? Answer is No.. Well, now I am coming to the original point again, Vivekananda never did animal slaughter for ritual but I think He also believed like me. The last point is that Vivekananda never spoke about animal killing.. That's Mr. Avijit Roys' version of Vivekananda.

Vivekananda and British Power:

This is Vivekananda who had taught then Indian society to move for motherland. Indeed, most of the Indian freedom fighters were indeed inspired from his lectures.  Even he protested with two English men in a train trip. But what he praised? Who are those patriotic people who had been inspired by Vivekananda? Neheru, Ghandhi, Netaji Subhas bose, and so on.. please check this video - The real hero of India . Rabindranath, Kazi Nazrul, Sufia Kamal, Leo Tolstoy, Max Muller, Romain Rolland, Christopher Isherwood, President Sukarno,  and so on western intellectual has been motivated by his writings and intellectuals. Now a days, a lot of American are also taking his idea as an universal messages. On the other hand, He praised British after visiting their land. He praised British for their confidence, character, patriotism and so on and then he asked his motherland to take all those ideas and he inspired people to build up their nation by turning all those ideas into action.He praised Japan for their hard working motive.

Satidaho and Vivekananda:

Whatever, Avijit roy wrote was completely wrong. 


Women and Vivekananda:

Indeed , it is Vivekananda who first talked about woman's freedom, education and power in India. But what was his thoughts? He indeed wanted to educate women first, then women would decide what should be the right for them.. Let's take some help from my wife - Chaitee Debi, She has written down in her comment at Avijit roy's facebook link, that - 


"নারী শক্তিকে জাগরণ করার জন্য বিবেকানন্দ সবসময় জোর দিয়েছেন।উনি ভারতীয় নারীদের পুনরোদ্ধারের জন্য তৎকালীন সময়ে নিবেদিতার মত অনেক ইংরেজ নারীকে এই দেশে নিয়ে এসেছিলেন।উনি বারবার বলেছেন নারীরা না জাগলে সভ্যতা জাগবে না।"বিধবা বিবাহ" women burning আর "বাল‌্যবিবাহ" এর মত স্পর্শকাতর বিষয়গুলোর সমালোচনাও উনি করেছিলেন।কিন্তু নারীদের সমস্যা মিটানোর জন্য পুরুষের নেতৃত্ব,পুরুষের ভাবধারাকে উনি প্রাধান্য দেননি।উনি বলেছিলেন,"নারীদের আধূনিক শিক্ষায় শিক্ষিত কর।তাহলে নারীরাই নারীদের সমস্যা ভালো বুঝবে এবং সমাধান করবে"। উনার "বাণী ও রচনা" থেকে এভাবে আংশিক এবং বিকৃত করে Quote করা ঠিক নয়।উনি আরো বলেছিলেন,"ভারতীয় নারীশক্তি আবার জাগবে"।নারীদের পবিত্রতার কথা স্মরণ করিয়ে দেয়ার জন্য বলেছিলেন,"হে ভারত ভুলিও না তোমার নারীজাতির আদর্শ সীতা, সাবিত্রী ও দয়মন্তি"। একজন নারী হিসেবে আমি জানি এ কথাগুলো কতখানি বাস্তব আজকের ও তৎকালীন সময়ের জন্য।কোন পুরুষ লেখকের তা বুঝার কথা নয়। বিবেকানন্দ বাল্যবিবাহ, বিধবাবিবাহের সুফল ও কুফল দুইটাই আলোচনা করেছিলেন।কিন্তু কুফলের তৎকালীন এবং বর্তমান প্রয়োজনীয়তা ব্যাখ্যা করে তা নিষেধ করেছিলেন।আপনি যদি কোন Traditional system এর বিপক্ষে কথা বলেন তখন নিশ্চয়ই তার সুবিধা ও অসুবিধা দুইটাই বলবেন।বিবেকানন্দও তাই করেছিলেন।সত্যিকার সমাজগঠন তখনই শুরু হ্য় যখন আচরণে দেখা যায়।বিবেকানন্দই তৎকালীন সমাজে প্রথম নারীশিক্ষার প্রচলন করেছিলেন ভগিনী নিবেদিতার সহায়তায়।এইসব নিয়ে তো কিছু বললেন না আপনার লিখায়!!

Vivekananda has asserted always on women's empowerment. Vivekananda had criticized child marriage and very articulately criticized then society regarding few sensitive issues like 'widow marriage, women burning, child marriage and women oppression'.   But He also very strongly emphasized on the chastity of a woman.

[For child marriage, see page 89, Volume 2]

Vivekananda and Luxurious Life:


Vivekananda was born in a aristocratic dutta family. His father was a judge. He was growing up in a luxurious family. He was a student of Presidency college on law program. He abandoned everything and become a beggar to find the truth. He was indeed wandering from Bangladesh-India-Pakistan for seven years to know the people. Most of the time, he was a guest to lower class poor people, sometime he was a guest of high class people. He abandoned all the materialistic lifestyles in his life for truth, for poor people, and at the age of 40, he choose to death. A person who abandoned all the materialistic luxury at young age of 25 and passed his extreme beggar life from age of 25 to 33 !, a person who initiated  monastic order of Ramakrishna Mission at 1897, collected some money to build  Belur math at 1899 and passed away at 1902 after initiating a great karmayoga ! and Some people like Prabir Ghosh , Avijit Roy call him materialistic monk !!!!!!!! Do they have any idea about Monastic life? Do they have any idea about Karmayoga?? Do they have any idea about spirituality? Answer is No..


Vivekananda and Caste-ism:

This is Vivekananda who was the first non-Brahmin monk in India (if we exclude mythological stories). This is Vivekananda who gave Upabita to 40 Sudra students at 1901 in Belur Math. this is Vivekananda who first collapsed so called caste system in India. I would suggest to read my writings on  "Caste Problem and Vivekananda". They they will understand what he told about Caste and how did he mobilize the superstitious British Indian society.



Mr. Avijit Roy and Me:

He (Mr. Avijit Roy) has used so many quotes of Swamiji without reference. I personally dont know where he has found all those quotes. He has requested me to post from Bengali version. But the reality is that the Bengali version is the translation from English Version of 'Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda'. Even I have checked Bengali Version of the book with one of my friend and we found similar findings. I requested Mr. Avijit more than ten times that, ' brother, I am proposing to you because you have misquoted; if people will know this , they will distrust your writings.' Facebook Comments in Avijit Roy's link The person who never studied Vivekananda, how can he wrote all those bullshit words?? He has an agenda, - that's criticize great people and get some audience claps - I am concluding this sentence with great sorrowfulness.



Now the question is that, ' why would I attack him personally? the answer is simple, ' A person, who propagates hate and fake information in webpage - is indeed an enemy to mankind.' We dont need such a free thinker, whos contribution to world is only 'disturb people's mind'.


At last, I would suggest the reader to read and check Swamiji's writings here and then try to realize my message. I have found some Hindu radical groups and some so called free thinkers tried to malign Swami Vivekananda. Hindu radicals dont like him because he believed in pluralistic society, and on the other hand, the business of so called rationalist are already out of market in India because of the idea of Swamiji. Because Swamiji doesn't only represent Vedic religion, he indeed represent the hero of all religion. Because this is he who said,' all religion is true, if anyone follow his religion honestly, he/she would find the truth !'. I am not a stubborn follower of Vivekananda, I am not a scholar on him. All explanations do belongs to my thoughts. If I did any mistake here , that's mine, not Vivekananda's. I once again remind the readers: I have not cited any references here because, I want to suggest the reader to read his complete volume to check  Avijit Roy's writing. 

Jayeto Mukto-Mona, Jayeto So called Mukto Mona !!!!


- Suman Chowdhury

Caste problem and Vivekananda

CASTE PROBLEM IN INDIA:  "I have a message for the world, which I will deliver without fear and care for the future. To the reformers I will point out that I am a greater reformer than any one of them. They want to reform only little bits. I want root-and-branch reform."- Swami Vivekananda CASTE IN SOCIETY AND NOT IN RELIGION Though our castes and our institutions are apparently linked with our religion, they are not so. These institutions have been necessary to protect us as a nation, and when this necessity for self-preservation will no more exist, they will die a natural death. In religion there is no caste. A man from the highest caste and a man from the lowest may become a monk in India and the two castes become equal. The caste system is opposed to the religion of Vedanta. Caste is a social custom, and all our great preachers have tried to break it down. From Buddhism downwards, every sect has preached against caste, and every time it has only riveted the chains. Beginning from Buddha to Rammohan Ray, everyone made the mistake of holding caste to be a religious institution and tried to pull down religion and caste altogether, and failed. In spite of all the ravings of the priests, caste is simply a crystallized social institution, which after doing its service is now filling the atmosphere of India with its stench, and it can only be removed by giving back to people their lost social individuality. Caste is simply the outgrowth of the political institutions of India; it is a hereditary trade guild. Trade competition with Europe has broken caste more than any teaching. THE UNDERLYING IDEA OF THE CASTE SYSTEM The older I grow, the better I seem to think of caste and such other time-honored institutions of India. There was a time when I used to think that many of them were useless and worthless, but the older I grow, the more I seem to feel a difference in cursing any one of them, for each one of them is the embodiment of the experience of centuries. A child of but yesterday, destined to die the day after tomorrow, comes to me and asks me to change all my plans and if I hear the advice of that baby and change all my surroundings according to his ideas I myself should be a fool, and no one else. Much of the advice that is coming to us from different countries is similar to this. Tell these wiseacres, "I will hear you when you have made a stable society yourselves. You cannot hold on to one idea for two days, you quarrel and fail; you are born like moths in the spring and die like them in five minutes. You come up like bubbles and burst like bubbles too. First form a stable society like ours. First make laws and institutions that remains undiminished in their power through scores of centuries. Then will be the time to talk on the subject with you, but till then, my friend, you are only a giddy child." Caste is a very good thing. Caste is the plan we want to follow. What caste really is, not one in a million understands. There is no country in the world without caste. Caste is based throughout on that principle. The plan in India is to make everybody Brahmana, the Brahmana being the ideal of humanity. If you read the history of India you will find that attempts have always been made to raise the lower classes. Many are the classes that have been raised. Many more will follow till the whole will become Brahmana. That is the plan. Our ideal is the Brahmana of spiritual culture and renunciation. By the Brahmana ideal what do I mean? I mean the ideal Brahmana-ness in which worldliness is altogether absent and true wisdom is abundantly present. That is the ideal of the Hindu race. Have you not heard how it is declared he, the Brahmana, is not amenable to law, that he has no law, that he is not governed by kings, and that his body cannot be hurt? That is perfectly true. Do not understand it in the light thrown upon it by interested and ignorant fools, but understand it in the light of the true and original Vedantic conception.. If the Brahmana is he who has killed all selfishness and who lives to acquire and propagate wisdom and the power of love - if a country is altogether inhabited by such Brahmanas, by men and women who are spiritual and moral and good, is it strange to think of that country as being above and beyond all law? What police, what Military are necessary to govern them? Why should any one govern them at all? Why should they live under a government? They are good and noble, and they are the men of God; these are our ideal Brahmanas, and we read that in the SatyaYuga there was only one caste, and that was the Brahmana. We read in the Mahabharata that the whole world was in the beginning peopled with Brahmanas, and that as they began to degenerate they became divided into different castes, and that when the cycle turns round they will all go back to that Brahmanical origin. The son of a Brahmana is not necessarily always a Brahmana; though there is every possibility of his being one, he may not become so. The Brahmana caste and the Brahmana quality are two distinct things. As there are sattva, rajas and tamas - one or other of these gunas more or less - in every man, so the qualities which make a Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya or a Shudra are inherent in every man, more or less. But at time one or other of these qualities predominates in him in varying degrees and is manifested accordingly. Take a man in his different pursuits, for example : when he is engaged in serving another for pay, he is in Shudra-hood; when he is busy transacting some some piece of business for profit, on his account, he is a Vaishya; when he fights to right wrongs then the qualities of a Kshatriya come out in him; and when he meditates on God, or passes his time in conversation about Him, then he is a Brahmana. Naturally, it is quite possible for one to be changed from one caste into another. Otherwise, how did Viswamitra become a Brahmana and Parashurama a Kshatriya? The means of European civilization is the sword; of the Aryans, the division into different varnas. This system of division into varnas is the stepping-stone to civilization, making one rise higher and higher in proportion to one's learning and culture. In Europe, it is everywhere victory to the strong and death to the weak. In the land of Bharata (India), every social rule is for the protection of the weak. Such is our ideal of caste, as meant for raising all humanity slowly and gently towards the realization of the great ideal of spiritual man, who is non-resisting, calm, steady, worshipful, pure and meditative. In that ideal there is God. We believe in Indian caste as one of the greatest social institutions that the Lord gave to man. We also believe that through the unavoidable defects, foreign persecutions, and above all, the monumental ignorance and pride of many Brahmanas who do not deserve the name, have thwarted in many ways, the legitimate fructification of this glorious Indian institution, it has already worked wonders for the land of Bharata and it destined to lead Indian humanity to its goal. Caste should not go; but should be readjusted occasionally. Within the old structure is to be life enough for the building of two hundred thousand new ones. It is sheer nonsense to desire the abolition of caste. INEQUALITY OF PRIVILEGE VITIATES THE SYSTEM It is in the nature of society to form itself into groups; and what will go will be these privileges! Caste is a natural order. I can perform one duty in social life, and you another; you can govern a country, and I can mend a pair of old shoes, but that is no reason why you are greater than I, for can you mend my shoes? Can I govern the country? I am clever in mending shoes, you are clever in reading Vedas, that is no reason why you should trample on my head; why if one commits murder should he be praised and if another steals an apple why should he be hanged? This will have to go. Caste is good. That is only natural way of solving life. Men must form themselves into groups, and you cannot get rid of that. Wherever you go there will be caste. But that does not mean that there should be these privileges. They should be knocked on the head. If you teach Vedanta to the fisherman, he will say, "I am as good a man as you, I am a fisherman, you are a philosopher, but I have the same God in me, as you have in you." And that is what we want, no privilege for anyone, equal chances for all; let everyone be taught that the Divine is within, and everyone will work out his own salvation. The days of exclusive privileges and exclusive claims are gone, gone for ever from the soil of India. UNTOUCHABILITY - A SUPERSTITIOUS ACCRETION Formerly the characteristic of the noble-minded was - (tribhuvanamupakara shrenibhih priyamanah) "to please the whole universe by one's numerous acts of service", but now it is - I am pure and the whole world is impure. "Don't touch me!" "Don't touch me!" The whole world is impure, and I alone am pure! Lucid Brahmajnana! Bravo! Great God! Nowadays, Brahman is neither in the recesses of the heart, nor in the highest heaven, nor in all beings - now He is in the cooking pot! We are orthodox Hindus, but we refuse entirely to identify ourselves with "Don't- touchism". That is not Hinduism; it is in none of our books; it is an orthodox superstition, which has interfered with national efficiency all along the line. Religion has entered in the cooking pot. The present religion of the Hindus is neither the path of Knowledge or Reason - it is "Don't-touchism". - "Don't touch me", "Don't touch me" - that exhausts its description. "Don't touchism" is a form of mental disease. Beware! All expansion is life, all contraction is death. All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. See that you do not lose your lives in this dire irreligion of "Don't- touchism". Must the teaching (Atmavat sarvabhuteshu) - "Looking upon all beings as your own self" - be confined to books alone? How will they grant salvation who cannot feed a hungry mouth with a crumb of bread? How will those, who become impure at the mere breath of others, purify others? We must cease to tyrannize. To what a ludicrous state are we brought! If a bhangi comes to anybody as a bhangi, he would be shunned as the plague; but no sooner does he get a cupful of water poured upon his head with some muttering of prayers by a padri, and get a coat to his back, no matter how threadbare, and come into the room of the most orthodox Hindu, I don't see the man who then dare refuse him a chair and a hearty shake of hands! Irony can go no farther. Just see, for want of sympathy from the Hindus, thousands of pariahs in Madras are turning Christians. Don't think that this is simply due to the pinch of hunger; it is because they do not get any sympathy from us. We are day and night calling out to them "Don't touch us! Don't touch us!" Is there any compassion or kindliness of heart in the country? Only a class of "Don't-touchists" ; kick such customs out! I sometimes feel the urge to break the barriers of "Don't-touchism", go at once and call out, "Come all who are poor, miserable, wretched and downtrodden", and to bring them all together. Unless they rise, the Mother will not awake. Each Hindu, I say, is a brother to every other, and it is we, who have degraded them by our outcry, "Don't touch", "Don't touch!" And so the whole country has been plunged to the utmost depths of meanness, cowardice and ignorance. These men have to be lifted; words of hope and faith have to be proclaimed to them. We have to tell them, "You are also men like us and you have all the rights that we have." SOLUTION OF THE CASTE PROBLEM Our solution of the caste question is not degrading those who are already high up, is not running amuck through food and drink, is not jumping out of our own limits in order to have more enjoyment, but it comes by every one of us fulfilling the dictates of our Vedantic religion, by our attaining spirituality and by our becoming ideal Brahmana. There is a law laid on each one of you in this land by your ancestors, whether you are Aryans, or non-Aryans, rishis or Brahmanas or the very lowest outcaste. The command is the same to you all, that you must make progress without stopping, and that from the highest man to the lowest pariah, every one in this country has to try and become the ideal Brahmana. This Vedantic idea is applicable not only here but over the whole world. The Brahmana-hood is the ideal of humanity in India as wonderfully put forward by Shankaracharya at the beginning of his commentary on the Gita, where he speaks about the reason for Krishna's coming as a preacher for the preservation of Brahmana- hood, of Brahmana-ness. That was the great end. This Brahmana, the man of God, he who has known Brahman, the ideal man, the perfect man, must remain, he must not go. And with all the defects of the caste now, we know that we must all be ready to give to the Brahmanas this credit, that from them have come more men with real Brahmana-ness in them than from all the other castes. We must be bold enough, must be brave enough to speak their defects, but at the same time we must give credit that is due to them. Therefore, it is no use fighting among the castes. What good will it do? It will divide us all the more, weaken us all the more, degrade us all the more. The solution is not by bringing down the higher, but by raising the lower up to the level of the higher. And that is the line of work that is found in all our books, in spite of what you may hear from some people whose knowledge of their own Scriptures and whose capacity to understand the mighty plans of the ancients are only zero. What is the plan? The ideal at the one end is the Brahmana and the ideal at the other end is the chandala, and the whole work is to raise the chandala up to the Brahmana. Slowly and slowly you will find more and more privileges granted to them. I regret that in modern times there should be so much discussion between the castes. This must stop. It is useless on both sides, especially on the side of the higher caste, the Brahmana, the day for these privileges and exclusive claims is gone. The duty of every aristocracy is to dig its own grave, and the sooner it does so, the better. The more he delays, the more it will fester and the worse death it will die. It is the duty of the Brahmana, therefore, to work for the salvation of the rest of mankind, in India. If he does that and so long as he does that, he is a Brahmana. Any one who claims to be a Brahmana, then, should prove his pretensions, first by manifesting that spirituality, and next by raising others to the same status. We earnestly entreat the Brahmanas not to forget the ideal of India - the production of a universe of Brahmanas, pure as purity, good as God Himself : this was at the beginning, says the Mahabharata and so will it be in the end. It seems that most of the Brahmanas are only nursing a false pride of birth; and any schemer, native or foreign, who can pander to this vanity and inherent laziness, by fulsome sophistry, appears to satisfy more. Beware Brahmanas, this is the sign of death! Arise and show your manhood, your Brahmana-hood, by raising the non-Brahmanas around you - not in the spirit of a master - not with the rotten canker of egoism crawling with superstitions and charlatanry of East and West - but in the spirit of a servant. To the Brahmanas I appeal, that they must work hard to raise the Indian people by teaching them what they know, by giving out the culture that they have accumulated for centuries. It is clearly the duty of the Brahmanas of India to remember what real Brahmana-hood is. As Manu says, all these privileges and honors are given to the Brahmana because, "with him is the treasury of virtue". He must open that treasury and distribute to the world. It is true that he was the earliest preacher to the Indian races, he was the first to renounce everything in order to attain to the higher realization of life, before others could reach to the idea. It was not his fault that he marched ahead of the other castes. Why did not the other castes so understand and do as they did? Why did they sit down and be lazy, and let the Brahmanas win the race? But it is one thing to gain an advantage, and another thing to preserve it for evil use. Whenever power is used for evil it becomes diabolical; it must be used for good only. So this accumulated culture of ages of which the Brahmana has been the trustee, he must now give to the people, and it was because he did not open this treasury to the people, that the Muslims invasion was possible. It was because he did not open this treasury to the people from the beginning, that for a thousand years we have been trodden under the heels of everyone who chose to come to India; it was through that we have become degraded, and the first task must be to break open the cells that hide the wonderful treasures which our common ancestors accumulated; bring them out, and give them to everybody, and the Brahmana must be the first to do it. There is an old superstition in Bengal that if the cobra that bites, sucks out his own poison from the patient, the man must survive. Well then, the Brahmana must suck out his own poison. To the non-Brahmana castes I say, wait, be not in a hurry. Do not seize every opportunity of fighting the Brahmana, because as I have shown; you are suffering from your own fault. Who told you to neglect spirituality and Sanskrit learning? What have you been doing all this time? Why have you been indifferent? Why do you now fret and fume because somebody else had more brains, more energy, more pluck and go than you? Instead of wasting your energies in vain discussions and quarrels in the newspapers, instead of fighting and quarreling in your own homes - which is sinful - use all your energies in acquiring the culture which the Brahmana has, and the thing is done. Why do you not become Sanskrit scholars? Why do you not spend millions to bring Sanskrit education to all the castes of India? That is the question. The moment you do these things, you are equal to the Brahmana! That is the secret power in India. The only safety, I tell you men who belong to the lower castes, the only way to raise your condition is to study Sanskrit, and this fighting and writing and frothing against the higher castes is in vain, it does no good, and it creates fight and quarrel, and this race, unfortunately already divided, is going to be divided more and more. The only way to bring about the leveling of castes is to appropriate the culture, the education which is the strength of the higher castes.