Swami Vivekanand

Swami Vivekanand

Swami Vivekanand is the most influential philosopher and authority on Hinduism from modern times. His original name was Narendra Datta. He was born on January 12, 1863 in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata). He belonged to an educated family. His father Vishwanath Datta used to practice law in Calcutta High Court. He was an attorney. Swami Vivekanand’s grandfather knew Sanskrit and Persian languages and had become monk.

Since the childhood young Narendra was inclined towards the spirituality and ascetics. He studied from Presidency College in Calcutta. He was a genius and possessed great intellect and photographic memory. He was a fast reader and could remember the contents of the book read by him to details. His contemporaries had accepted the fact that he was an extraordinary person.

He was interested in variety of subjects like history, philosophy, religion, art, etc. He was very much interested in studying the Hindu scriptures in depth.

Swami Vivekanand accepted Ramkrishna Paramahansa as his Guru. Ramkrishna Paramahansa was born on February 18, 1836 in Kamarpukur, Bengal in a Brahmin family. He was a mystic. It means that he used to go in trance while meditating and literally experience the God. He was a priest at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Calcutta. He believed in and followed different traditions in Hinduism such as Advaita Vedanta, Shaktism, etc. He also believed that all religions are different parts going towards the same goal. Young Narendra Datta met Ramkrishna Paramahansa in 1881 and subsequently became his disciple.

Swami Vivekanand decided to follow the Brahmacharya Dharma throughout his life and became a monk. He extensively travelled throughout India. He was a well-known authority on Hinduism. Swami Vivekanand is considered as the one who introduced essence of Hinduism to the Western World during the Parliament of World’s Religions held in the city of Chicago, United States of America in 1893. He addressed the gathering as his Brothers and Sisters. By doing so he gave the Hindu message of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ meaning the whole world is my family. He became immensely popular religious figure in United States after his speech and invited at many places in America and Europe for giving the lectures. Thus, Swami Vivekanand brought Hinduism to the world stage in real sense of the term.

Swami Vivekanand also can be considered as the one who brought Hindu principles belonging to different schools and traditions together. But, one has to accept that he was profoundly influenced by Advaita Vedanta and teachings of Ramkrishna Paramahansa. He is also considered as the one who promoted Neo-Vedanta or Hindu Modernism. He  practiced the Yoga and meditated ardently. He was the one who immensely popularised the southern most tip of Indian peninsula i.e. Kanyakumari by meditating on the Rock situated at the confluence of Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. This Rock is famous as Swami Vivekanand Rock.

In 1897 the Ramakrishna Mission was established in the memory of Ramkrishna Paramahansa. The Headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission are located at Belur Math located in Belur on western bank of river Hooghly in Howrah district of Bengal.

Apart from spreading the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta the Ramkrishna Mission also believes in the social work. Since its inception this organisation is committed to the social work related to education, heath services, helping the rural population, promoting the welfare of the tribal people and promoting spiritual teachings, especially among the youth of India. Hence, the Ramkrishna Mission has established many hospitals, schools and Colleges since the beginning. The volunteers of Ramakrishna Mission used to help the people affected by natural calamities like floods, epidemics, earthquakes, etc.

Swami Vivekanand was against caste system and believed in the upliftment of women. He was the firm believer in the concept of service to people is service to God.

This great Hindu Monk and messenger of universal human values died on July 4, 1802 at the age of thirty nine. He died while he was meditating. It shows that he was totally devoted towards the pure way of life and meditation.