Swami Vivekanand : Great Vedanta Scholar from India

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

Swami Vivekananda was born in an affluent family in Kolkata on 12 January 1863 and named Narendra Nath Datta. His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney with interests in a wide range of subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with deep devotion, strong character and other qualities.

From the very beginning Narendranath’s energy was diverted towards the search for God and the absolute truth. This quest brought him in contact with Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, Keshab Chandra Sen, and Shivnath Shastri of the Bramho Samaj. In 1882, he discovered Sri Ramakrishna as the man who had ‘seen’ God. He realised under his guidance the Absolute Truth in 1886. Before passing away on 16 August 1886, Sri Ramakrishna entrusted him with the responsibility of carrying on his work.

His Vision. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation, broad human sympathy, colourful personality, and handsome figure made an irresistible appeal to the many types of Americans who came in contact with him.

He preached the ideal of a strength-giving and man-making religion. Service to man as the visible manifestation of the Godhead was the special form of worship he advocated for the Indians, devoted as they were to the rituals and myths of their ancient faith. Many political leaders of India have publicly acknowledged their indebtedness to Swami Vivekananda.

The natural tendency of Vivekananda's mind, like that of his Master, Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human suffering in East and West alike. It might appear that his mind seldom found a point of rest in its oscillation between contemplation of God and service to man. Be that as it may, he chose, in obedience to a higher call, service to man as his mission on earth; and this choice has endeared him to people in the West, Americans in particular.

Swami Vivekananda undertook an all-India tour to get a first hand information of the degraded social, economic and spiritual condition of the motherland. While sitting on the Rock of India (now known as Vivekananda Rock at Kanyakumari) the idea dawned on him to enlighten not only the Indians but also the people overseas about the greatness of India, its age-old religion and civilisation. Swamiji's famous speech on universal ideas of Vedanta in the Parliament of Religions in Chicago was widely appreciated and made the people aware of India's greatness, which other movement could not do so far. He returned to India on 26 January 1897 and reached Calcutta on 20 February 1897 where he established the Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897 and Belur math on 9 December 1898. He wrote a number of books, travelled far and wide, preached and set up a powerful and efficiently run organisation to carry forward the message of Sri Ramakrishna. Swami Vivekanand passed away on 4 July 1902 at Belur math.

In India, his birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘National Youth Day’.

Want to Know More about this Great Yogi. Teachings of Swami Vivekanda are universal in nature and can prove as source of inspiration for youths from any part of the world. His complete works are available online for study by any spiritual seeker.

You can read a brief life sketch of Swami Vivekananda here http://www.belurmath.org/swamivivekananda.htm

For more information visit these sites.
http://www.ramakrishna.org/sv.htm
http://www.vivekananda.org
http://www.belurmath.org

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