The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 5/Epistles - First Series/CXXIII Dhira Mata
CXXIII
The Math,
14th June, 1902.
Dear Dhirâ Mâtâ,[1]
. . . In my opinion, a race must first cultivate a great respect for
motherhood, through the sanctification and inviolability of marriage, before
it can attain to the ideal of perfect chastity. The Roman Catholics and the
Hindus, holding marriage sacred and inviolate, have produced great chaste
men and women of immense power. To the Arab, marriage is a contract or a
forceful possession, to be dissolved at will, and we do not find there the
development of the idea of the virgin or the Brahmachârin. Modern Buddhism
— having fallen among races who had not yet come up to the evolution of
marriage — has made a travesty of monasticism. So until there is developed
in Japan a great and sacred ideal about marriage (apart from mutual
attraction and love), I do not see how there can be great monks and nuns. As
you have come to see that the glory of life is chastity, so my eyes also
have been opened to the necessity of this great sanctification for the vast
majority, in order that a few lifelong chaste powers may be produced. . . .
I wanted to write many things, but the flesh is weak . . . "Whosoever
worships me, for whatsoever desire, I meet him with that." . . .
- Notes
- ↑ Mrs. Ole Bull.