A Fighter for Religious Tolerance

2014, November 14

By A. L. Bardach

Re “Modi’s idea of India” (Opinion, Oct. 25) by Pankaj Mishra: It is certainly true that Indian politicians of every stripe have appropriated Swami Vivekananda since the 1890s — from the maharajas, Gandhi and Nehru to Narendra Modi. But one would be hard-pressed to find someone who eschewed “apocalyptic Hindu terms” (V.S. Naipaul’s description) as decisively as Vivekananda. In fact, he railed against religious intolerance beginning with his famous 1893 speech at Chicago’s Parliament of Religions and throughout his life. Moreover, he renounced caste in word and in deed, living and dining with members of all castes as well as with Muslims and Christians. He spent much of his time in New York City living with a Jewish roommate.

Vivekananda would seem to be an unlikely source for summoning “the ethic of the kshatriya (the warrior caste),” while Krishna and Arjuna would be the more apt (and obvious) inspiration for India’s nationalists and extremists. Far from being a 19th-century religious revivalist, Vivekananda spoke of the commonality of all faiths. Indeed, he was an internationalist with a particular soft spot for Americans, wowed by their can-do, will-do spirit. He was especially taken by Western women, who inspired his commitment to establishing schools for girls in India. “These Yanks can do anything!” he wrote to a fellow monk.

One can hardly blame Vivekananda for the deeds of those who have appropriated him a century after his passing — no more than one might assail José Martí, another patriot saint who died young and the poster boy for all the warring factions in the incendiary Cuba debate.

Ann Louise Bardach Carpinteria, Calif.

The writer is working on a biography of Swami Vivekananda.