Bahá’í World/Volume 8/Bahá’í Message to the Universities of Northern India
5.
BAHÁ’Í MESSAGE TO THE
UNIVERSITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA
BY MARTHA L. ROOT
LAHORE.—I began the tour of the Universities of Northern India, on October 5th, 1938 at Lahore, where I delivered my first lecture in the Dyal Singh College, to an audience of 1,000 students and the staff. Arrangements were made by the Professor of English Literature for a lecture to his English classes. Students were enthusiastic and demanded booklets. Another lecture, arranged by the Professor of Comparative Religions, was delivered to an audience of 200 students who asked me to speak on "Inner Teaching of the Bahá’í Faith.”
The following day I lectured in the S. D. College on The Bahá’í Faith and World Peace. A journalist, a correspondent of a daily paper, was eager to procure the Dawn Breakers and THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD for his library. On October 7th, I delivered my first of the inaugurated series of public lectures in the New Sikh National College; this was attended by 200 students, members of the staff, and representatives of two standard dailies of India. Articles appeared in English as well as vernacular dailies, and I was visited by the representative of The Statesman, who displayed immense interest and said that he heard of the Bahá’í Faith first from an American woman journalist who had stayed in Lahore for a year. This young man got an article printed in the Sunday edition of the Statesman, which has a circulation of 55,000.
AMRITSAR.—-I spoke at noon, October 10th, in Khalsa College to 700 students. The Principal of the College presided. Later he showed us their prayer hall and explained the religious training the students were receiving. At two o’clock in the afternoon 600 students were present when I spoke in Hindu Sabha College. Principal K. L. Bhatia was the chairman. He said in his closing remarks that their college is not orthodox, but is open to students of all faiths and he recommended that the students study well these teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. I am happy to say that fifty college girl students were present in the audience. That was the greatest number of girls that I had in any coeducational university lecture in Northern India.
JULLUNDUR.—On October 11th I delivered a lecture in the Dyanand Anglo-Vedic College to a combined audience of students and lecturers numbering 850. As in every college and university during the tour there was a rush for booklets and of course we put several books in their library. After tea, the Principal took us to the Women’s Affiliated College, where I had the joy of addressing them. Then we took again two tongas (a kind of jaunting cart where the driver faces forward and the passenger faces backwards) and came to the railway station.
LUDHIANA.—On the morning of October 12th I lectured in the Ludhiana Government College to 425 men and 25 girl students. The Principal, Dr. A. C. C. Harvey, presided, and in his remarks encouraged the students to study the New Faith. From one of the professors we got a card of introduction to the Registrar of the Delhi University.
PATIALA.—Reaching Patiala on October 13th we met the Director of Public Instruction, who arranged for a lecture in the “Scouts Camp” that same day, the subject being Scouts and Peace. More than 100 boys were present, all received booklets. An article was sent out to the press of India.
On October 14th I spoke in the Mohendra College, Patiala, on What Is Culture? to an audience of 350 students. The next day I had an audience with the young Maharaja of Patiala, who said he had heard about the Bahá’í Faith but had not studied it. The Maharaja, who is a Sikh, asked many
The tenth annual convention of the Bahá’ís of India and Burma held in Karachi, 1938. Miss Martha Root is seated in the center.
[Page 811]
questions about the Cause,
and wanted to know
if in becoming a Bahá’í, one has to give up
one’s own religion. We met several of the
officials of his government. We gave books
to the Maharajah and his officials and to the
college.
DELHI.—Delhi is the capital of India at the present time and it has been the capital of this great country from time immemorial. We were welcomed at the Delhi station by the local Bahá’ís. It was the Feast Day (October 16th) and we gave a feast in the afternoon to the Bahá’ís of Delhi.
On the morning of the 18th of October I spoke in the Hindu College Auditorium before 950 students and members of the staff on What Is Culture? giving, of course, the Bahá’í teachings for culture. (Every lecture in India has been a Bahá’í lecture whatever the subject, the theme is always one—The teachings of the Bahá’í Faith.) This University is a federated university of five colleges. Hindu College and the other colleges where I spoke were all parts of the University, so that really it was three university lectures which I gave on October 18th. The Principal spoke of the great poets and culture of Írán where in the 19th century Bahá’u’lláh came. "His teachings also are very poetic and this movement is well worth studying,” were his concluding remarks.
At 2:15 P.M. on the same day I lectured in the Indraprasta Girls College to 180 girl students. The Professor of English said that she had read many books on the Faith. After resting for an hour in the Principal’s room, I went to the Delhi University buildings, where the Registrar had arranged for a meeting of professors of philosophy, Íránian and English. The professors at the tea asked many questions. We gave booklets to the gathered professors and books to the University library. This gathering opened the doors to other lectures and I could have given a number of other lectures in the colleges and schools of Delhi if I could have remained longer.
That evening, October 18th, at 10 P.M. I broadcast over the All-India Radio, which goes to every part of India and Ceylon and nearly all nearby countries. I gave two copies of the book Ṭáhirih to the officials. The next day I lectured at Ramjas College to the staff and students; 350 students were present. A résumé of my lecture was sent to the United Press Association by the Principal. The same evening, October 19th, I gave an address in the Anglo Arabic College to the four classes in philosophy. This is a Muslim institution and has 275 boy students.
Immediately after this lecture, I went to great Arya Samaj Hall, one of the largest halls in Delhi, where I gave a public lecture on a Peace Message to a Warring World. A member of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma spoke on the history of the Bahá’í Faith in the Urdu language. Literature was given to 300 people.
The next day, October 20th, being the Birthday of the Báb, at 9 A.M. the Bahá’ís of Delhi gave a beautiful Bahá’í feast in the home of one of the believers. The same afternoon I spoke in the Ramjas Intermediate College to a gathering of 110 pupils. The Principal asked me to speak directly on the subject What Is the Bahá’í Faith? The same evening we left for Aligarh.
ALIGARH.—We reached Aligarh late that
night, October 20th. Aligarh interested us
so much because our beloved Guardian,
Shoghi Effendi, has said that the Banner of
Bahá’u’lláh will be raised in
India from Aligarh. One of the
Bahá’ís of Aligarh had arranged
three lectures for us, one before the
Bar Association, which includes
all the leading lawyers of Aligarh—some
fifty members; another in the Muslim
Girls’ College, which
is a part of Aligarh University,
and a public lecture in the Lyall
library hall on Monday, October
24th. We called upon one of
the great professors of the University who
had been most friendly to other Bahá’í
speakers. We had come to Aligarh at a most
inauspicious time. The University was
closed, there was some communal
disturbance in the city and it
was the beginning of
the Moḥammadan Fast. Consequently no
public lectures could be arranged in the
University. However, we visited
the University and met the Pro-Vice-Chancellor
and spoke of the Teachings and visited the
University library to see what Bahá’í books
they have. We called upon the Professor of
Íránian, whom I had met before. Then on
[Page 812]
the afternoon of
the same day I began with
lectures. I spoke at four o’clock before the
lawyers of Aligarh, in the library of the
courthouse. Books were placed in the Law
Library.
The next afternoon, October 23rd, I spoke in the home of the University Professor of history and economics, who is known all over India as a scholar, and one who has the deepest insight into the knowledge of Súfíism. The Professor had visited Írán and been the guest of Bahá’ís.
Next day, October 24th, although it was a great Hindu festival and holiday, all schools being closed for three days, I spoke in the morning in the Lyall Library to more than 100 people, including three Principals of schools and members of their staff. A number of students from the Aligarh University were present. That very evening I spoke in the Lyall library hall to an audience of 800 people. A number returned disappointed because of the lack of room. I spoke on How we may work for Universal Peace, giving the principles of Bahá’u’lláh, and a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of India spoke on the history of the Faith. Booklets were given out generously, and three or four Bahá’í books were placed in each library.
AGRA.—October 26: Our first visit to the Taj Mahal, the building which I had been waiting all my life to see. I think the Bahá’í Temple in Chicago and the Taj Mahal are the two most beautiful buildings I have ever looked upon; but our Bahá’í Temple is the more beautiful of the two. The Bahá’í Temple is filled with the Holy Spirit, one can feel the living pressure of the infinite unknowable God in that majestic House of Worship. On the other hand, the Taj Mahal, named after the queen wife—Mumtaz Mahal—is her tomb, the most lovely resting place any woman on this earth ever had; and on either side are great and imposing buildings—one a mosque in which people may worship God and the other a rest house in which the travellers may rest. The whole plan is spiritual and appealing, but the Bahá’í Temple in Chicago with its new unsurpassed and unparalleled architecture is the "Dawning Place of Prayer” for religionists of the whole world and the whole Heavenly House is reared to the Glory of God.
I had time to go only once to this lovely Taj Mahal, for I had come to search out and meet the university people of Agra. That evening we met people and arranged the program of events.
On October 27th my first lecture in the Dyal Bagh Colony was in the Men’s College of the Radhaswami Educational Institute, to several hundred students. The Principal of the College presided. He said in his introduction that their late leader, Sir Sahibji Maharaj, had met several Bahá’ís and was very friendly to the Movement. He also said that other Bahá’í lecturers had spoken in this Colony. I gave a lecture that same afternoon in the Girls’ College in the Colony, where 35O students are enrolled. The Principal, Miss Gladys R. Clive, presided. She urged the pupils to study the Bahá’í books that I had presented to the library and she herself came to call upon me and we had a long talk in the evening. Also that same afternoon Prof. Shyama Charan of Agra College called and brought his friend, Prof. P. M. Bhambhani, professor of philosophy. These two men arranged my lecture in Agra College for the following evening under the auspices of the Philosophical Society. Preceding that lecture Prof. Shayama Charan who is the president of the Theosophical Society of Agra, gave a tea in his home for us to meet his family and several professors and theosophists. Then we all went to the lecture together where an audience of 200 students awaited us.
Prof. Shayama Charan who was asked to preside said at the close of the lecture:“You are the quietest audience I have yet seen in our college and it shows that the lecturer spoke straight to your hearts.” He further said, “Our women hold us back because they are very conservative and orthodox. We want freedom and we do not get it; our women wish freedom and we do not give it to them. We cannot be free until our women are free.” Prof. Bhambhani also spoke to the students at the close of the lecture: “The words of this Bahá’í message are so precious, let their teachings sink deep into your heart.”
[Page 813]
The next morning a
few students came
to ask questions. One young student who
had never before heard about the Cause had
a long series of questions written down and
he asked each one of them. He was
so earnest and went away with happiness
in his heart. Another student came
to see us—an Íránian but born in India.
He will come
to the United States in April to study in
Columbia University. We gave a tea that
afternoon to a few of these professors who
at tea said that they were very eager to get
books and study the Bahá’í teachings.
LUCKNOW.—We reached Lucknow, a city of 300,000 souls, on October 31st. We went first to the professor of sociology in Lucknow University, a very important university in the United Provinces of India. This professor was Dr. R. Mukerjee who last summer had given a course of eight lectures in the University of Chicago. He arranged for me to speak on Culture and World Peace to 300 students and some members of the staff. Dr. Mukerjee presided. In his summing up he said that it was refreshing to remember that once again an Asiatic mystic, Bahá’u’lláh, as Buddha and Christ of old, gave to the distracted modern economic world the idea of peace and brotherhood. It was not the economic interdependence of nations, as Norman Angell and Keynes thought, nor the mere fury of destruction of modern weapons of war that would lead the world to peace.
“Economic blocks between dictator-ridden and democratic countries foster racial antagonisms today. Dictators, though they know that victors and vanquished will equally perish, still hanker after aggression to maintain their authority at home. True world peace can come only through re-education, the appraisal of the spiritual treasures of different peoples and nations which are embedded in their art and literature. This will promote international understanding and, perhaps, Esperanto as an international auxiliary language will be helpful.
“However, the more significant re-education will come through the spiritual discipline of the individual. It is the cultivation of the cosmic consciousness that personality, though focused in individuality, transcends the barriers of country and culture and is one with universal humanity, deified as God, which may engender the right peace attitude in the youths of all nations. Nothing more and nothing less than the cultivation of this mystic sense can develop that sense of the oneness of humanity, which is the best guarantee of the brotherhood of nations.”
This Lucknow University has one of the best university libraries I have seen in India. They have one copy of volume five of the BAHÁ’Í WORLD. The magazine World Order is in their library; professors and students praise it very much.
Prof. Mukerjee came to tea with me in the hotel and gave me an excellent interview which I think I can use in the next BAHÁ’Í WORLD. He gave me a letter of introduction to Miss Shannon, Principal of the Isabella Thoburn College for Girls, which is also a part of Lucknow University. This college has the distinction of having the only international relations club in all India. I spoke in this college at the chapel hour on November 3rd to 250 girls. I have spoken of Ṭáhirih, too, as well as the Bahá’í principles and placed the book Ṭáhirih, the Pure, Írán’s Greatest Woman in every library in men’s colleges and in girls’ colleges. We had a wonderful supply of Bahá’í literature in Hindi, Urdu and English and sometimes in universities 500 or 600 booklets are given out at one lecture. There is such a rush to capture a booklet that we had to say that the booklets on the speakers’ table would be sent to the library and any student interested could get a copy.
CAWNPORE.—We arrived in Cawnpore on November 3rd and on November 4th we arranged to speak in two colleges. At the S. D. College of Commerce I spoke to 700 students on the New Solution of the Economic Problem. The Principal, L. C. Tandon, who presided, said in his concluding remarks that this Bahá’í solution of the economic problem was very practical. The idea of the central store house, to which a part of society’s wealth would come through graduated taxation, or through voluntary contributions, was a very fine idea. If such a central store house could be established in every village, he was sure that 90 per cent of the educational problem would be solved.
At the Balika Vidyala Intermediate
[Page 814]
College for Girls I
spoke to 250 girls on "The Higher
Values in Culture.”
ALLAHABAD.—-We reached Allahabad on November 5th. The university here has more than 2,000 students. Allahabad is also a great centre of the Theosophists and on November 6th I spoke before the Theosophical Society in Besant Hall. The audience was composed entirely of professors and students from the University. Dr. M. Hafiz Syed, Professor of Oriental languages in the University, a friend whom I had met at the Indore Religious Conference, presided. They had already arranged a public lecture for me in their large Theosophical Hall for the following evening, November 7th, on the subject The Bahá’í Faith—Its International Fellowship. At this lecture the former Vice-Chancellor, Pandit Iqbal Narain Gurtu, a great scholar and a leading Theosophist in India, presided. In summing up he deplored the hatred let loose in the world through divisions based on religion, nationality, race and class. “When differences of religion appear remember that any faith that works for unity in religion is on the right path.” In talking of religion he meant the higher spirit underlying true religion and not the outer form.
November 7th and 8th were holidays for the University. However, some students from the Muslim Hostel of the University, where 75 young men reside, invited Prof. Pritam Singh, Mr. S. H. Koreishi and myself to come to their hostel and speak to them on The Bahá’í Faith. They also put notices into the newspaper inviting the public. Prof. Pritam Singh spoke on history of the Cause, Mr. Koreishi on the Bahá’í principles, particularly in their relation to Islám, and I spoke on the progress of the Faith in the five continents. Our Chairman, Mr. M. Naimur Rahman, lecturer in Arabic and Persian in Allahabad University, in his closing remarks, to our astonishment said that he was about as old as we are (spiritually) because the first time he heard of the Bahá’í Faith was in June, 1910, in Lahore! Again by coincidence and a very happy one, he had heard a Bahá’í, Miss Stoddard, give a Bahá’í lecture. He said, “I was shy; I wondered if I would even be admitted to such a lecture, but instead of being afraid, I was truly thrilled because I had heard something new. I had already studied much about Islám and other religions. Here was a new universal religion. My interest has not flagged in all these years! Two years later, I had the privilege of hearing an Íránian Bahá’í, the late Prof. M. R. Shírázi of Karachi, and just in those months I had been reading a great deal about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s travels in the United States. After that I heard one Bahá’í lecture in Madras and one in Benares. Two years later Prof. Pritam Singh came to Allahabad and I arranged for his Bahá’í lecture in the Oriental department of this university.”
“Írán is certainly like a rubber ball. It has been attacked so many times but it always rebounds and today it is going strong. During the middle of the nineteenth century when every king in Írán was at his lowest, that country did indeed require somebody to help it and the Báb appeared as a John the Baptist of Írán. His Message, passed down from prophet to prophet, is only one in the long chain. I advise you to read the very interesting book, “The Dawn Breakers,” which fortunately our library possesses. I urge you to read it as students and as Muslims. Whether or not we believe in any prophet after Muḥammad, let us hear and learn all we can, and then come to our conclusions.”
Then on November 9th at 6 P.M. I had
the big lecture open to all the students of
the University. The event took place in the
law College Hall and the Dean of the Law
Department of the University, Prof. A. P.
Dube, presided. Four hundred students filled
the hall and in the front seats were the girl
students. It was a wonderful audience and
they listened with deep interest. The
Chairman in his closing remarks said
to the students that these spiritual
ideals of the Bahá’í
Faith had fired all our thoughts, and that
he as a professor of international law, where
all subjects now center in war, had listened
today to a great presentation of peace. He
said the question is how we may live up to
these ideals; it is a question of character,
how we can act up to these higher impulses;
but if we really live them, we shall become
so broad that after a few years we shall
accept truth from whatsoever quarter it
[Page 815]
comes.” He urged them
to think about
what they had heard and make up their
minds as to what they wish to do in the
future. Books were placed in the library.
The rush for the pamphlets was such
a stampede that the booklets had to be thrown to
them from the platform.
The representative of The Leader of Allahabad, a paper with a circulation of 15,000 and the most important in the whole United Provinces, was present and wrote an excellent article which appeared November 12th.
BENARES.—We reached Benares in the morning of November 10th. It is a city of 150,000 and its university is one of the largest; it has 3,400 students. Our program here was as follows:
On the afternoon of November 11th I spoke at the Women’s College of the University of Benares, the event being under the auspices of the Literary and Debating Union of this college. The President of this union, a young woman professor from Karachi, Miss T. L. Wadhwani, who had heard me in her home city during the summer vacation, arranged this lecture. Members of the staff and 150 students were present.
The next day, Bahá’u’lláh’s Birthday, November 12th, was a most happy day. I lectured at 11 A.M. in Queen’s Government Technical Intermediate College for Boys. Principal B. Sonjiv Dad presided. The entire teaching staff and 600 students were present.
Immediately after that lecture we went to the home of Dr. Bhagwan Das, one of the great scholars of comparative religions in Benares and a well-known author. He said to us among other things in an interview: “I have great admiration for the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They are teachings of the very highest order. I believe these two great teachers belong to that spiritual race which is perpetually trying to keep the forces of darkness from engulfing mankind. All who are well-wishers of their fellow men must cooperate with the Bahá’í Faith to the best of their ability. My only suggestion is that the followers of this Bahá’í Movement work out a scheme of social organization which will make it possible for this high ethical teaching to be regarded as practical and practicable.” Dr. Bhagwan Das is a Theosophist.
From his house I went on to speak before the students of the great Hindu University. Principal S. C. De presided. Five hundred students were present. There was a tremendous rush for the literature
The next day, Sunday, November 13th, I lectured in the Theosophical Society Hall of Benares. Immediately after that lecture we called upon Principal Rewa Rao, a Theosophist, who had travelled all around the world with the Krishnamurti, and he asked me to speak to the young men of the Theosophical National Boys’ College the next morning at 9.45. This I did and in his closing speech Principal Rao said: “Now we can never blush with shame that we have never heard of this great Bahá’í Movement which has come out of the East. We have had a very clear exposition of it, leaving us richer. Let us ponder well and derive what benefit we can.”
PATNA.—We came to Patna, a city of 160,000 people in Bihar Province, on November 14th and I spoke the next morning in the Patna University to more than 350 students. This institution has 600 students including 40 girls. Prof. Gyan Chand presided and in summing up one of his statements was the following:
“In these times without cheer, this lecture on World Order and World Peace comes as an inspiring message. The more we have of the Bahá’í Faith the better. These principles are truths of fundamental importance; the students of economics are not used to having things put in the way they have been today. This is a new strain in economics, but its bearing on economic problems is profound and far-reaching. If we could put these principles into practice—namely that there should be work for all and all should work and there should be a living wage for all—we should have a different and a better world to live in.”
Afterwards at a tea which this professor
and his wife gave to enable a few friends
to meet us, Professor Chand said that H. G.
Wells also had predicted a world chaos
before a world order. He added, "The Bahá’í
Faith is a great movement working
for international peace and goodwill. Its
[Page 816]
achievements are
creditable and it holds out a great
promise for the future. I wish it all
success.”
On the evening of November 15th I lectured in the Brahmo Samaj Hall. Every seat was taken. Dr. Sen presided. He had been the representative of the Brahmo Samaj at the All-Faiths’ Conference in Cambridge in 1938. In summing up Dr. Sen said: “In these lectures and in parliaments of religions people try to get in touch with each other, try to understand each other and this is of inestimable value. The form of a spiritual culture may take on a national form, but its international fundamentals are the same.” The audience was composed of many university students and several professors. Prof. D. N. Sen arose and said that the Gospel of Bahá’u’lláh had been presented to them eight years ago in Bihar National College where he was principal, when Miss Root consecrated the new College Hall. Her inaugural speech in that hall formally opened on that day had been on the Bahá’í principles. He added, “The second meeting in Patna makes me very glad. These promises of Bahá’u’lláh are truly a great message of brotherhood.”
That same afternoon I spoke before 600 students and professors in Bihar National College—in the same hall where I had given the Bahá’í lecture on its formal opening day eight years before. Prof. B. M. K. Sinha, professor of English literature, presided. Prof. D. H. Sen sat on the platform and spoke at the close of the lecture, saying that he had met people interested in this great Bahá’í Movement and that he is always happy to meet them. He also stated: “The vanguards everywhere are pressing forward to a universal religion.” His nephew, a young professor in the same college, in his speech of thanks said: “We in India are struggling for the equality of our women in the near future. We are trying to do away with prejudice and develop along spiritual lines as Bahá’u’lláh wished us to do.”
CALCUTTA.—We reached Calcutta on the morning of November 17th and in the afternoon I spoke on The Bahá’í Faith and Theosophy in the Theosophical Hall. Having spent November 18th in arranging lectures, on the 19th of November I spoke before 500 people at the Brahmo Samaj Centenary celebrations. There is a very warm friendship between Brahmo Samaj and Bahá’í brothers and sisters. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that Brahmo Samaj is doing a great work in India, and Shoghi Effendi has told us to work with Brahmo Samaj. (The students from Brahmo Samaj come to the United States often to study in Unitarian theological schools.)
Sunday, November 20th, we had a beautiful meeting in Bahá’í Hall, which was crowded. I spoke on the tour to the Northern universities and colleges of India and what the professors and students said about these new teachings. I should say also that each day in Calcutta friends came and inquirers called to ask about the Bahá’í Teachings. November 21st was spent in arranging lectures. On Tuesday, November 22nd, I gave a public lecture under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, when Prof. Tulsi Das Khar, Honorary Secretary of the Bengal Federation of the Theosophical Societies, presided. He stressed that the next step the world must take is towards internationalism and unity of all humanity. He added: "I do not say that the Bahá’í Movement is the only movement that will bring it. The Theosophical Society and the Rama Krishna Mission will also help. The religion of the world must be a universal religion, and if we do not establish internationalism we shall be wiped out by international war and other people will achieve it. The Theosophical Movement is a part of the Bahá’í Movement; they must advance together to the same goal, and can be helpful one to the other.” I remember so well ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words. He said that the Theosophists are our friends, and truly in every part of the world I have found them true friends.
On November 23rd, a Feast Day, we had a large and lovely meeting and dinner in Bahá’í Hall. On November 24th friends called upon us most of the day and in the evening at Bahá’í Hall. I spoke to the teaching committee on the subject Teaching the Bahá’í Faith.
On November 25th I spoke at the ladies’
conference of the Brahmo Samaj Centenary
to 300 women. Mrs. Hemlata Tagore, niece
of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, presided
and was also the interpreter of my lecture.
They asked me to include in my lecture how
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I first heard of the
Bahá’í Faith and what
Bahá’í women throughout the world are doing.
Mrs. Tagore also spoke fervently of the
Bahá’í Faith and said that she had sometimes
translated the words of Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and printed them in her
Bengali magazine Banglakhi. I gave her the
Ṭáhirih book and Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era
in Bengali. She is a great English
scholar too. Her address is 60/B Mirzapur
Street, Calcutta. That same afternoon Her
Highness Maharani Sucharu Devi spoke very
beautifully and two nieces of Dr. Tagore
gave short addresses. A loud speaker made
it possible for several hundred men outside
in the garden to hear these speeches.
Saturday, November 26th, I delivered a lecture in the Indian Research Institute Hall to a mixed audience of professors, members of the Institute, an ulama, a number of students and some of the Bahá’í youth. The Chairman, Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, professor of Indian history in Calcutta University, in his closing remarks said that the silence had been supreme, the audience had been spellbound, and that the audience though not large was composed of many thoughtful scholars who had listened to every word. He said he was glad to find that America was changing and it was time for Bahá’ís and a Temple of Peace. He also said: “America is noted for such gigantic things and now it is a great attainment that the United States has a Temple of Peace in Chicago where all the Bibles of the world are read. I hope the day is not far distant in India when we shall do as the Americans have done.” He added that what had appealed to him most in these Bahá’í principles was work for all and all must work, and that work in the spirit of service is as worship in the sight of God. Religion must be made practical.”
Dr. Satish Chandra Seal (Hon. General Secretary of the Institute) also spoke, saying that he hoped Bahá’ís from the United States and all other countries will come to Calcutta in mid-December, 1939, and take part, when under the auspices of this Indian Research Institute the third Cultural Conference and the Second Convention of Religions will take place. He added, too, the words, "I hope and pray there will be many new adherents of the Bahá’í Faith all around the world and here also.” He wishes to have an exchange between their magazine and World Order, the Bahá’í Magazine.
On November 27th in the evening a great meeting was held in Arya Samaj Mandir, where more than 500 people were present. The Chairman, Rev. Pandit Ayodhya Prashad, Vedic missionary of the Arya Samaj, I had met before in 1930. Since then, in 1933, he has made a trip to the United States representing the Arya Samaj of India in the Chicago Fellowship of Faiths. He told me that he had spoken in the Bahá’í Temple at Wilmette on The Message of Lord Bahá and had met many of my Bahá’í friends in Chicago and in New York.
I spoke on the Principles and Progress of the Bahá’í Faith. Prof. Pritam Singh interpreted in the Hindustani language and gave an address on the History of the Bahá’í Faith. Then the Rev. Prashad, a most eloquent speaker whose lips were touched with the fire of truth, spoke for one hour and told them what he had seen of the Bahá’í religion at first hand in the United States.
December 1st I had the great privilege of lecturing in the University of Calcutta. This is the oldest and largest university in India, fifty colleges being affiliated with it. Fifteen hundred students are studying for their M.A. degree here and I spoke to them. The Darbhanga Hall was filled. Sir S. Radhakrishnan, perhaps the greatest professor in India, who teaches one-half the year in Calcutta University and one-half the year in Oxford University, arranged this lecture. I knew him. He wrote to the Registrar: “I urge you to have this lecture, Culture and World Peace, it will be very beneficial to students.” Sir Radhakrishnan said he would preside but he was called to Madras by telegram. Dr. K. D. Nag, a very eloquent and distinguished lecturer of the university who had just returned that week from a lecturing tour around the world, was chosen as chairman.
Dr. Nag introduced me as a Bahá’í and
told them I would speak on the cultural
principles of this universal religion, and he
spoke very beautifully of the Cause. There
was deep, serious interest and in his closing
remarks Dr. Nag said that here in India souls
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are prepared for this
great Bahá’í Message;
that when in this humble city, Calcutta, in
1880 a small pamphlet was published about
the reconciliation of religions, it was the
first trace of the study of comparative
religions. The Brahmo Samaj (The Community
of God) sounded a note of synthesis . . . it
stood for more than understanding, for real
reverence for all religions, and was a great
champion of womanhood. Raja Ram Mohun
Roya (1772-1833) here in the Middle East
linked the Near and Far East, he built a
synthesis. All during the nineteenth century
India has been preparing her soul for
reconciliation. India will always stand by this
great Bahá’í Faith. And India has
been doing pioneering work for all Asia.”
On December 2nd I lectured in City College (affiliated with the University) to 800 boys and 14 girls. After the speech was over the principal said to Mr. Sistani, the Bahá’í who survived the terrific rush for booklets: “I congratulate you on having come out of the hall with your arms and legs still intact.” All were so eager for literature that one boy asked the Bahá’í, "Please to send more booklets to be given to the boys who could not get any.” Three hundred more were sent to them.
I started for Bombay on December 14th. A program of lectures will be arranged there by the loved Bombay believers. The cherished devoted brothers and sisters of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma are coming to Bombay December 26th to hold a meeting, and specially, too, to bid me farewell and go with the Bombay friends to see me off on the steamship Straithard, which will sail from Bombay December 29th for Australia.
