Swami Vivekananda
Date of Birth :- 12 January 1863
Place of birth :- Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Date of death :- 4 July 1902 (aged 39)
Place of death:- Belur Math near Kolkata
Guru/Teacher:- Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Quote :- Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are
sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye
ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servan
not you the servant of matter.[1]
Swami Vivekananda Shami Bibekānondo; Svāmi Vivekānanda) (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902), born Narendranath Dutta[2] is the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission.[3] He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America[3] and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during the end of the 19th century.[4] Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India.[5] He is best known for his inspiring speech beginning with “sisters and brothers of America”,[6][7] through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions at Chicago in 1893.[2]
Swami Vivekananda was born in an aristocratic Kayastha family of Calcutta in 1863. His parents influenced the Swami’s thinking – the father by his rational mind and the mother by her religious temperament. From his childhood, he showed inclination towards spirituality and God realization. While searching for a man who could directly demonstrate the reality of God, he came to Ramakrishna and became his disciple. As a guru, Ramakrishna taught him Advaita Vedanta and that all religions are true, and service to man was the most effective worship of God. After the death of his Guru, Vivekananda became a wandering monk, touring the Indian subcontinent and getting a first-hand account of India’s condition. He later sailed to Chicago and represented India as a delegate in the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. An eloquent speaker, Vivekananda was invited to several forums in United States and spoke at universities and clubs. He conducted several public and private lectures, disseminating Vedanta, Yoga and Hinduism in America, England and a few other countries in Europe. He also established Vedanta societies in America and England. He later sailed back to India and in 1897 he founded the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, a philanthropic and spiritual organization. Swami Vivekananda is regarded as one of India’s foremost nation-builders. His teachings influenced the thinking of other national leaders and philosophers, like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Aurobindo Ghosh, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Rabindranath Tagore.[2][5][8]
Biography
Birth and Childhood
Bhuvaneshwari Devi (1841-1911).
“I am indebted to my mother for the efflorescence of my knowledge.”[9]—Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda was born in Shimla Pally, Calcutta at 6:33 a.m on Monday, 12 January 1863, during the eve of Makra Sankranti festival[10] and was given the name Narendranath Datta.[11] His father Vishwanath Datta was an attorney of Calcutta High Court. He was considered generous, and had a liberal and progressive outlook in social and religious matters.[12] His mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was pious and had practiced austerities and prayed to Vireshwar Shiva of Varanasi to give her a son. She reportedly had a dream in which Shiva rose from his meditation and said that he would be born as her son.[10]
Narendranath’s thinking and personality were influenced by his parents—the father by his rational mind and the mother by her religious temperament.[13][8] From his mother he learnt the power of self-control.[13] One of the sayings of his mother Narendra quoted often in his later years was, “Remain pure all your life; guard your own honor and never transgress the honor of others. Be very tranquil, but when necessary, harden your heart.”[11] He was reportedly adept in meditation and could reportedly enter the state of samadhi.[13] He reportedly would see a light while falling asleep and he reportedly had a vision of Buddha during his meditation.[14] During his childhood, he had a great fascination for wandering ascetics and monks.[13]
Narendranath had varied interests and a wide range of scholarship in philosophy, history, the social sciences, arts, literature, and other subjects.[15] He evinced much interest in scriptural texts, Vedas, the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas. He was also well versed in classical music, both vocal and instrumental and is said to have undergone training under two Ustads, Beni Gupta and Ahamad Khan.[16] Since boyhood, he took an active interest in physical exercise, sports, and other organizational activities.[15] Even when he was young, he questioned the validity of superstitious customs and discrimination based on caste[17] and refused to accept anything without rational proof and pragmatic test. [8]
