Swami Vivekananda and the Dancing girl

 "O! Lord look not upon my evil qualities!
 You are known for same-sightedness 
 One piece of iron makes image in the temple
 Another is the knife in the hand of the butcher;
 But when they touch the philosopher"s stone
 Both turn into gold"

© K.L.Kamat

Swami Vivekananda

These lines reached clearly Swamiji's ears who was residing in the nearby tent. He was immediately reminded of the Vedantic doctrine that Divinity dwells in all and knows no distinction of caste, creed, color or sex. Immediately he got up and joined the party.

Later in life, referring to this incident, Swamiji said, " that incident removed the scales from my eyes. All are indeed the manifestations of the One. I could no longer condemn anybody".

Bengali biography of Swami Vivekananda further adds. He said to himself that even he, an ascetic thought that he was a Sannyasin, a superior one and the singer, a depraved woman. "I have not yet got rid of such feeling of distinction "(bheda-jnana)". He went to the woman and said, "Mother! I am guilty. Earlier I hated you. . . . . . your song opened my eyes".