from the two basic vows of the monastic life, namely, chastity and poverty, and that as
regards other things, he was trying to adjust himself to the customs of the people
among whom he lived.
To the accusation from some orthodox Hindus that the Swami was eating forbidden
food at the table of infidels, he retorted:
Do you mean to say I am born to live and die as one of those caste-ridden,
superstitious, merciless, hypocritical, atheistic cowards that you only find among the
educated Hindus? I hate cowardice. I will have nothing to do with cowards. I belong to
the world as much as to India, no humbug about that. What country has a special claim
on me? Am I a nation's slave? ...I see a greater power than man or God or Devil at my
back. I require nobody's help. I have been all my life helping others.
To another Indian devotee he wrote in similar vein:
I am surprised that you take the missionaries' nonsense so seriously....If the people of
India want me to keep strictly to my Hindu diet, please tell them to send me a cook and
money enough to keep him....On the other hand, if the missionaries tell you that I have
ever broken the two great vows of the sannyasin — chastity and poverty — tell them
that they are big liars. As for me, mind you, I stand at nobody's dictation, and no
chauvinism about me....I hate cowardice; I will have nothing to do with cowards or
political nonsense. I do not believe in any politics. God and truth are the only politics
in the world; everything else is trash.
Swami Vivekananda remained unperturbed by opposition. His lectures, intensely
religious and philosophical, were attended everywhere by eminent people. Many came
to him for private instruction. His aim was to preach the eternal truths of religion and
to help sincere people in moulding their spiritual life. Very soon his dauntless spirit,
innate purity, lofty idealism, spiritual personality, and spotless character attracted to
him a band of sincere and loyal American disciples, whom he began to train as future
Vedanta workers in America.
It must be said to the credit of America that she was not altogether unprepared to
receive the message of Vivekananda. Certain spiritual ideas, which were congenial for
the reception of the Vedantic ideals presented by the Swami, had already begun to
ferment underneath the robust, picturesque, gay, and dynamic surface of American life.
Freedom, equality, and justice had always been the cherished treasures of American
hearts. To these principles, which the Americans applied in politics and society for the
material and ethical welfare of men, Swami Vivekananda gave a spiritual basis and
interpretation.
Religion had played an important part from the very beginning of American Colonial