A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

That"546 THE TRUE METHOD OF SOCIAL REFORM.of Jewish blood happened to condemn it, that is, hehappened to condemn everybody else s idols except his dvvn.If God is represented in any beautiful form, 6b any symbolicform, said the Jew, it was awfully bad it;was sin. Butif He was represented in the form of a chest, with twoangels sitting on each stile, and a cloud hanging over it, itwas the Holy of Holies. If God conies in the fornvof adove, it is the Holy of Holies, but if He comes in the formof a cow it is heathen superstition condemn; it. Tha6 ishow the world goes. That iswhy the poet says, Whatfools we mortals are !" iswhyit is difficult to lookthrough each other s eyes, and that is the bane of humanity. That is the basis of hatred and jealousy, of quarreland of fight.-lBoys, moustached babies, who never went out ofMadras, standing up and wanting to dictate laws to threehundred millions of people with thousands of traditions attheir back ! Are you not ashamed ? Stand back fromsuch blasphemy and learn first your lessons ! Irreverentboys, simply Because you can scrawl a few lines upon apaper and get some fool to publish it for you, you thinkyou are the educators of the world, you think you are thepublic opinion of India Is ! it so ? Therefore, this I haveto tell to the social reformers of Madras, that I have thegreatest respect and love for them. I love them for theirgreathearts and their love for their country, for the poor,for the oppressed. But what I would tell them with abrother s love is that theip method is not right. It hasbeen tried these hundred years and has failed. Let us trysome new method, and that is all. Did India wantreformers ever ? Do you read the historyWho was Ramanuja;Nanak ? Who was Chitanyaof India ?? Who was Sankara ? Who was? Who was Kabir ? Who