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21. Swami Vivekananda, in one of his famous lectures 'The Mission of the Vedanta' delivered on his return to India after his triumphant visit to the western countries, dwelling upon the ills of our prevalent caste system and comparing it with the caste system of those countries, beckoned us in his inimitable style :--
"......Ay, let every man and woman and child, without respect of caste or birth, weakness or strength, hear and learn that behind the strong and the weak, behind the high and the low, behind every one, there is that Infinite Soul, assuring the infinite possibility and the infinite capacity of all to become great and good..... Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached. Arise, awake. Awake from this hypnotism of weakness. None is really weak; the soul is infinite, omnipotent, and omniscient. Stand up, assert yourself, proclaim the God within you, do not deny Him Too much of inactivity, too much of weakness, too much of hypnotism has been and is upon our race. O, ye modern Hindus, dehypnotise yourselves. This cycle is turning round now, and I draw your attention to this fact. Therefore, our solution of the caste system is not degrading those who are already high up, is not running amuck through food and drink, is not jumping out of our own limits in order to have more enjoyment, but it comes by everyone of us, fulfilling the dictates of our Vedantic religion, by our attaining spirituality, and by our becoming the ideal Brahmin...... There is a law laid on each one of you in this land by your ancestors, whether you are Aryans or non-Aryans, Rishis or Brahmins or the very lowest outcaste. The command is the same to you all, that you must make progress without stopping, and that from the highest man to the lowest Pariah, every one in this country has to try and become the ideal Brahmin. This Vedantic idea is applicable not only here but over the whole world. Such is our ideal of caste as meant for raising all humanity slowly and gently towards the realisation of that great ideal of the spiritual man who is non-resisting, calm, steady, worshipful, pure and meditative. In that ideal there is God'. Remember always that there is not in the world any other country whose institutions are really better in their aims and objects than the institutions of this land. I have seen castes in almost every country in the world, but nowhere is their plan and purpose so glorious as here..... Therefore, utter no words of condemnation. Close your lips and let your hearts open. Work out the salvation of this land, and of the whole world, each of you thinking that the entire burden is on your shoulders. Carry the light and the life of the Vedanta to every door, and rouse up the divinity that is hidden within every soul."