to 'Castle Kernan,' the palatial home of Billigiri Iyengar, where arrangements had been
made for his stay in the city.
On the third day after his arrival Swami Vivekananda was honoured in a public
meeting on behalf of the people of Madras. As Victoria Hall, chosen for the purpose,
was too small to hold the large crowd, the people cried for an open-air gathering. The
Swami came out and addressed them from the top of a coach; it was, as it were, Sri
Krishna, standing in the chariot, exhorting Arjuna to give up his unmanliness and
measure up to his Aryan heritage. In a brief speech he told the people how India,
through her love of God, had expanded the limited love of the family into love of
country and of humanity. He urged them to maintain their enthusiasm and to give him
all the help he required to do great things for India.
During his short stay in Madras, Swami Vivekananda gave four public lectures, his
subjects being, 'My Plan of Campaign,' 'The Sages of India,' 'Vedanta in Its
Application to Indian Life,' and 'The Future of India.' In these lectures he reminded the
Indians of both their greatness and their weakness, and urged them to be proud of their
past and hopeful for their future.
While speaking on 'My Plan of Campaign,' the Swami exposed the meanness of some
of the Theosophists, who had tried their utmost to injure his work in America but later
claimed that they had paved the way for his success in the New World. He told the
audience that when, in desperation, he had cabled to India for money, the Theosophists
had come to know about it and one of them had written to a member of the Society in
India: 'Now the devil is going to die. God bless us all!' But it must be said that there
were many among the Theosophists, especially in India, who were his genuine well-
wishers.
Swami Vivekananda had hardly a moment's respite during his nine days in Madras.
When asked by a disciple how he found the strength for such incessant activity, he
answered, 'Spiritual work never tires one in India.' But he would lose patience if asked
about matters that had no bearing on practical life. One day a pandit asked him to state
clearly whether he was a dualist or a non-dualist. The Swami said: 'As long as I have
this body I am a dualist, but not otherwise. This incarnation of mine is to help put an
end to useless and mischievous quarrels, which only distract the mind and make men
weary of life, and even turn them into sceptics and atheists.'
Meanwhile heart-warming letters had been arriving from America informing the
Swami of the progress of the Vedanta work in the New World under the leadership of
Swami Saradananda, and also in appreciation of his own achievements. One letter was
signed by Lewis G. Janes, President of the Brooklyn Ethical Association; C. C.
Everett, Dean of the Harvard Divinity School; William James and Josiah Royce, both
professors of philosophy at Harvard University; Mrs. Sara C. Bull of Boston, and
others. It said: 'We believe that such expositions as have been given by yourself mere
speculative interest and utility — that they are of great ethical value in cementing the
ties of friendship and brotherhood between distant peoples, and in helping us to realize
that solidarity of human relationship and interests which has been affirmed by all the