Speech competition (From the speeches of Swami Vivekananda)


Encourage children to read and may be even memorize some of the short speeches or excerpts from his speeches. Here are some samples. You may refer to the books and web sites given below for more such speeches.

Tell the children a week or two in advance about this event. Provide them with the collection of speeches and the web sites for reference.

After the event, give every one small books of Swami Vivekananda, like "Thoughts of Power", "Chicago Address", etc. Contact HSS for these books.




Response to Welcome At The World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 11th September 1893

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. 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 of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to the southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings:


"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."

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world, of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita:

"Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him;

All men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to Me."

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time has come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal


Why We Disagree At The World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 15th September 1893

I will tell you a little story. You have heard the eloquent speaker who has just finished say, "Let us cease from abusing each other," and he was very sorry that there should be always so much variance.

But I think I should tell you a story which would illustrate the cause of this variance. A frog lived in a well. It had lived there for a long time. It was born there and brought up there, and yet was a little, small frog. Of course, the evolutionists were not there then to tell us whether the frog lost its eyes or not, but, for our story's sake, we must take it for granted that it had its eyes, and that it every day cleansed the water of all the worms and bacilli that lived in it with an energy that would do credit to our modern bacteriologists. In this way it went on and became a little sleek and fat. Well, one day another flog that lived in the sea came and fell into the well.

"Where are you from?"

"I am from the sea."

"The sea! How big is that? Is it as big as my well?" and he took a leap from one side of the well to the other.

"My friend," said the frog of the sea, "how do you compare the sea with your little well?"

Then the frog took another leap and asked, "Is your sea so big?"

"What nonsense you speak, to compare the sea with your well!"

"Well, then," said the frog of the well, "nothing can be bigger than my well; there can be nothing bigger than this; this fellow is a liar, so turn him out."

That has been the difficulty all the while.

I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that is the whole world. I have to thank you of America for the great attempt you are making to break down the barriers of this little world of ours, and hope that, in the future, the

Lord will help you to accomplish your purpose.




On Education and Society

Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs rot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has memorized a whole library.

Every one wants to command, and no one wants to obey; and this owing to the absence of that wonderful brahmacharya system of yore. First, learn to obey. The command will come by itself. Always first learn to be a servant, and then you will be fit to be a master.

Give up the awful disease that is creeping into our national blood, that idea of ridiculing everything, that loss of SERIOUSNESS. Give that up. Be STRONG and have this SRADDHA, and everything else is bound to follow.

We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet.


Faith and Strength

The history of the world is the history of a few men who had FAITH IN THEMSELVES. That FAITH calls out the DIVINITY within. You can do anything. You fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. As soon as man or a nation loses faith, death comes.

Whatever you THINK,that you WILL BE. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.

Be FREE ; hope for nothing from any one. I am sure if you look back upon your lives, you will find that you were always vainly trying to get help from others which never came. All the help that has come was from within YOURSELVES.

Never say NO, Never say, "I cannot", for you are INFINITE. Even time and space are nothing as compared with your nature. You can do anything and everything, you are ALMIGHTY.

The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the STRENGTH that is already WITHIN them.

Hindu Values:

Hindu Values

While different sects in Hindu society have their own mode of worship and their own name of God, Hindus have some common values to live by. This is a brief description of some of the values.

Respect for mother and mother earth

"This earth is my mother and I am the son of this earth" - Atharve Veda, 12-1-12

Hindus have raised the status of mother to the level of Goddess. The first value that a child learns from his or her family is respect for the mother. In Hindu families it is a common custom to bow down to touch the feet of elders and parents. This traditional custom emphasizes the value of elders. The concept of Mother worship is deeply ingrained in the Hindu way of life and the mother is considered as the first Guru of the child.

This concept of respect for mother is extended to other natural phenomena which provide sustenance for life. For example rivers are worshipped as mother. The cow, provider of milk, is worshipped as mother. Similarly the earth is treated as mother and is respected.

In Hindu tradition, everything good, blissful, protective and evil-destroying is associated with a mother-image.


Respect for father and ancestors

In Hindu families, respect for parents and elders is emphasized. Hindus believe that bringing up children is a religious act-the Dharma of every parent. For children, the parents are therefore divine. Hindus consider the service of one's parents to be a pious and divine duty and preventing any one from carrying that duty is considered to be a sinful act. The story of Shravan Kumar, who was dedicated to serve his parents is often recited.




The Story of Shravankumar

Thousands of years ago there was a tick forest on the banks of river Sarayu which flowed close to the city of Ayodhya. One night, king of Ayodhya, Dasharath, came to the forest to hunt. Dasharath could shoot in the dark by merely following the direction of the sound made by animals.

Dasharat waited under a tree. He heard a gurgling sound. Thinking that an animal had come to drink water from the river he shot an arrow in the direction of the sound. A moment later there came the cry of a human being. The anxious king ran to the place and found a youth crying in pain on the bank of the river. The arrow was stuck in his heart.

The young man's name was Shravan Kumar. He was a caring person and was dedicated to serving hi parents, who were old and blind. It was their wish to visit holy places in their last days. Shravan carried them from shrine to shrine in two baskets which hung from a sling. While on their pilgrimage the three had come to the banks of Sarayu for a short rest. Shravans parents felt thirsty and asked him to fetch some water.

With difficulty Shravan told the King Dasharath about his parents who were waiting for him not far from the river. He requested the king to take the pot of water to them and then he died. Dasharath carried the pot of water to Shravan's parents. They said, "Son, why are you so late? Where did you go?" Dasharath did not reply. Then the mother asked, "Why don't you speak? What is wrong?" With tears in his eyes Dasharath told them about their son's death. He was willing to take them to his palace and look after them. But the old people were not interested in his offer. They only cried for their son. The mother dashed the pot of water to the ground and cursed the king, "One day you too shall die when your sons are not around."

Many years later, Dasharath's son Rama and Lakshman had to go in exile for fourteen years. The pain of separation from his son was so great that it lead to Dasharatha's death. His only fault was that he had unintentionally prevented a son from serving his parents.

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Respect for Teachers

There is a great Guru-Shishya tradition in Bharat. The Hindu scriptures say that, like parents, the Guru is also worthy of worship. A guru is not simply a teacher. A guru not only gives education, but also gives inspiration and passes on experience and knowledge. For a Hindu, a Guru can be a person, a symbol or a book. For example, in the Sikh tradition, the holy book "Guru Granth Sahib" is treated as the Guru. In Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, we treat 'Bhagwa Dhwaj' (Saffron flag) as the Guru.


Truth

Hindu scriptures declare: 'Satyameva Jayate' (Truth alone triumphs). This saying also appear in the national emblem of Bharat. Story of Harishchandra illustrate the value of following the truth irrespective of any obstacles and difficulties.


Righteous living

The word 'Dharma' is many a times translated as righteousness. It is an essential part of Hindu values and way of life. Our schripture says: 'if you protect righteousness, the righteousness shall protect you.'


Forgiveness and Fearlessness

There are numerous stories in Hindu scriptures which convey the message that development of qualities like non-violence and forgiveness require fearlessness and strength, as shown by Swami Dayananthan


The story of bold Swami Dayananda

Swami Dayananda was a sanyasi who dressed in orange robes. He was a great reformer and the foudner of Arya Samaj. He was also an intellectual and spiritual giant and he possessed an athletic body. He was fearless and he felt for the poor. In hid discourses he propounded the his views about education of women, abolition of child marriage, eradication of untouchability and similar prevalent dogmas that weakened Hindu society.

Some seemed to understand him, but many were angered by it. They threatened to harm him, but Swami was afraid of no one.

Once, during one of his discourses, a misguided man called Karansingh was present in the crowd and he approached Swami in anger. The man said, "we do not accept your interpretation of Vedas." The Swami replied, "You might go ahead with your ill-conceived notions, but I have to perform my social and spiritual duty."

Swamiji's words annoyed the man and he drew a sword from his waist and rushed to Swami. Swami Dayananda quickly grabbed his arm and wrenched the sword from it. He broke it by pressing its point to the ground. The man felt ashamed and hurriedly left the place. Swami Dayananda's friends asked him to charge the man. But Swamiji said, "Eventhough the man forgot the duty of a warrior, how can I forget the uty of a Swami? A Swami does not harm anybody. Besides God, he fears none." Swami Dayananda was a fearless man.


Honesty

Here is a short story from Upanishads that illustrate the value of honesty. In the past, students used to live with their master to gain education. Such places were called Gurukuls. In one gurukul, the master wanted to test his students, so he gathered them around and said, "I need some money urgently. Can you go and bring some from your families? But please be careful. I do not want any one to know about this, so only bring the money when no one is looking."

All the students went home and came back with some money, except for one student who came empty-handed. "Why have you come empty-handed? Couldn't you pickup some money when no one was looking?" enquired the master. The boy replied that in spite of many attempts he kept of failing. 'Why?' questioned the master. 'I did come across many chances when no one else was looking, but I always felt myself looking at my own wrong deeds.' The master declared that he was the only student who has gained any real education because he knew the value of honesty.


Service to humankind

Hindus consider that the service to other is a virtue; giving pain to other is a sin. Giving and sharing is one of the values preached relentlessly in Hindu scriptures.


Non-violence

Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore they practice non-violence. One has to be fearless in order to be non-violent.