Swami Vivekananda

Introduction

Swami Vivekananda was the most eminent and memorable leader who leads the Indian youth spiritually. He was affected by the culture of both India and Western. The belief in his mind about the worship of God and religion often conflicted. He always remained a free thinker and his thinking get matured after he met with the great guru of the spiritual world Ramakrishna. After that, he realised the real meaning of life and become a spiritual Hindu monk.

Who was Swami Vivekananda?

Swami Vivekananda was called Narendranath Dutta in his early life. He was spiritually interested and mediated at any work till his early life. After his early life when he met with Ramakrishna in his youth life, he become more meditative and spiritual and became a great spiritual leader. He showed the path of spiritual life to the youth of India.

He always devoted his life serving the poor and the needy people. Swami Vivekananda was responsible for the revival that came to Hindu spiritualism. He established the majesty of the Hindu religion to the stage of the world. He was the messenger of the brotherhood that he spread through his speech to the whole world. This spiritual leader was never forgotten by the people of India as well as the world.

Image 1 − Swami Vivekananda, September, 1893, Chicago. On the left Vivekananda wrote in his own handwriting: "One infinite pure and holy – beyond thought beyond qualities I bow down to thee."

Early life and Education of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was born in Calcutta in a prosperous Bengali family. His parents’ names were Vishwanath Dutta and Bhuvaneswari Devi.

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th January 1863. His father was an attorney, who got immense fame with his career and also was an honourable person in society. Narendranath was an intellectual student in his study life and got interested in various musical instruments.

He was first admitted to the Metropolitan institution and after that, he got admission to the Presidency college of Calcutta. He was very good at his studies and extracurricular activities like music, sports, bodybuilding and wrestling. Furthermore, he studied both the Indian Scriptures like Bhagavad Gita, and the western philosophy of various authors.

Swami Vivekananda: Spiritual awakening

Image 2: Contribution of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda’s mother was a devout person, so in his early life, he got touched a spiritual life, but then he was in a conflict with the belief of the worship of god. He always questioned God’s existence but could not ignore the presence of his mind.

This conflict of his mind increased continuously, so he started to go to various spiritual leaders and asked about the existence of God to them. Finally, one day he went to Ramakrishna and asked the same question about God. Ramakrishna was a great spiritual leader who lived at Dakshinewar Kali Temple of Calcutta.

He answered that not only he felt the existence of God but he also saw God. The answer of Ramakrishna surprised Swami Vivekananda and he became devoted to Ramakrishna. After that, he came to Ramakrishna several times and began to feel the existence of God. Whenever he went in front of God he only asked for Vivek and Vairagya and day by day he found a new way of life, the ascetic way.

Swami Vivekananda: Life of a monk

Swami Vivekananda made a group of followers of Ramakrishna in 1885. After the death of Ramakrishna, his disciples started to stay at Baranagar, Calcutta and established Ramakrishna Math there.

After that Swami Vivekananda started to tour throughout India by his foot and preaches the morals of Ramakrishna and the moral of brotherhood. He came very close to the people of India through his patience and love and took an oath to commit his life to the worship of the people.

Lecture at World Parliament of Religions

The World Parliament of Religions held an assembly in Chicago, America in 1893. Swami Vivekananda was very much interested to attend this assembly as he wants to represent his country, the Hindu religion and its morals in front of the world.

He started his speech with the line My Brothers and Sisters of America, and got huge applause from the crowd. He spoke about the Vedanta’s principles and the significance of spirituality and took Hinduism to its peak.

Swami Vivekananda: Teachings and Ramakrishna Mission

• After his tour throughout the whole world and establishing the morals of the Hindu religion, he returned to India in 1897. He got a huge amount of admiration and reception from the people of India.

• He was invited from all over India to represent his spiritual speech and after that, he returned to Calcutta and established Belur Math on 1st May 1897. There he started to serve the poor and backward people of India and also began to teach about spiritual satisfaction to the youth of India.

Conclusion

Swami Vivekananda was a great spiritual leader who inspired the youth generation of India. His belief in the worship of God was in conflict in his childhood, but his concept about the worship of God and its existence totally changed after he met with Ramakrishna. After that, he started to tour the whole world and spread the morals of the Hindu religion and showed a new path to the youth. He established Belur Math in Calcutta and taught about the spiritual life to the worshippers of God.

FAQs

Q1.When did Swami Vivekananda die?

Ans.Ans. The great spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda passed away on July 4th, 1902 at the age of 39.

Q2.Where did the World Parliament of Religions hold?

Ans.The World Parliament of Religions was held in Chicago, America in 1893. The ethics of Hinduism was spoken about by Swami Vivekananda there.

Q3.Who was Bhagini Nibedita?

Ans.Bhagini Nibedita was one of the followers of Swami Vivekananda. She spent her whole life serving the poor people and help to the backward people.