##42 (Vivekananda) The Public Opinion Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

The young Vivekananda,
The unknown monk of India,
Suddenly became a popular
Religious man the World over.

In the Chicago streets,
His life-size portraits,
Attracted many passers-by
Who stopped close-by.

With all due reverence,
They bowed their heads
In front of the portrait,
And paid their respect.

What he meant by Vedas,
Was those spiritual laws
Discovered by many seers
During various periods

Even before they found,
Those laws really existed;
Seers discovered them
From time to time.

“The law of gravitation,
Was it a new invention?
No, it did exist before
And will exist thereafter.”

This example he quoted,
For the spiritual world,
That had its own laws,
Those found later by seers.

The Chairman of Parliament
Dr J.H. Barrows, in his statement
Appreciated Swamiji’s influence
O’er the entire audience.

One Newspaper flashed,
“After hearing him, to send
Missionaries to this learned nation
Will be a foolish action.”

In the Parliament of Religion,
He was a center of attraction.
To make the audience sit,
His speech was kept last.

They all waited for hours
There to hear his words
Eagerly, as a special case,
Just for fifteen minutes

The son of the Indian Nation
Earned such a glorification,
The whole country felt proud
When, the news, Indians heard.