SwamyVivekananda's Chicago Speech

SwamyVivekananda's Chicago Speech

SwamyVivekananda's Chicago Speech

Parliament of the World's Religions
Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the Parliament of Religions September 1893. On the platform (left to right) Virchand Gandhi, Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda

Parliament of the World's Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the Art Institute of Chicago as part of the World's Columbian Exposition. On this day Vivekananda gave his first brief address. He represented India and Hinduism. Though initially nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning and began his speech with, "Sisters and brothers of America!". To these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes. When silence was restored he began his address. He greeted the youngest of the nations in the name of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance." And he quoted two illustrative passages in this relation, from the Bhagavad Gita—"As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!" and "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me." Despite being a short speech, it voiced the spirit of the Parliament and its sense of universality.

Arthamulla Indhumatham

ABOUT PRESENTER

Kannadasan (Tamil: கண்ணதாசன்) (24 June 1927 – 17 October 1981) was a famous Tamil poet and lyricist, who lived in Tamil Nadu, India. He is frequently called kavi arasu Kannadasan (kavi arasu means 'king of poets' in Tamil language). He was born in small village by name Sirukudalpatti near karaikudi. He wrote thousands of popular songs for Tamil cinema. He won the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize for his novel Cheraman Kadali in the year 1980.

His given name at birth was Muthiah. However, when he passed away at the age of 54, on October 16, 1981, millions of Tamils remembered him only by the name Kannadasan. For Tamils all over the world, he epitomised their poetry style. Even those who couldn't read the poetry of Kamban or the maxims of Valluvan, could hum the compositions of poet Kannadasan.

A number count of his publications shows a tally of 109 volumes, which include 21 novels and 10 slim volumes of essays on Hinduism, captioned Arthamulla Indu Matham (Meaningful Hinduism). In addition, he produced about 4000 poems and approximately 5000 movie lyrics, between 1944 and 1981, all with an eighth grade education at the formal level. He was also an excellent example of this century's Tamil goliard.
There is no doubt that he had a penetrating eye and keen observational powers. He also did not live a cocoon-type of life. He dipped into everything that Tamil Nadu could offer - wine, women, drugs, politics, polemics, atheism and religious sanctuary. After enjoying everything, what he did was remarkable - he composed verses about all his experiences, with reflective self-deprecating humour, irony, and biting sarcasm. These verses touched the sympathetic chords of Tamils from all walks of life - school boys, undergrads, housewives, farmers, manual labourers, plantation workers, middle class representatives and even upper class elites.

Thanks To : wikipedia.org

Arthamulla Indhumatham Part I
Arthamulla Indhumatham Part II
Arthamulla Indhumatham Part III
Arthamulla Indhumatham Part IV
Arthamulla Indhumatham Part V
Arthamulla Indhumatham Part VI