Bookstawa – Modern History

Life of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda’s Early Life

Background

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January, 1863. The Government of India later
declared his birthday as the National Youth Day in the year 1984 in his honour. Since then, Swami
Vivekananda’s birthday is celebrated as the National Youth Day. Every year, the National Youth
Day is celebrated with a theme. This year’s (2022) theme is - Inter-generational solidarity:
creating a world for all ages. Swami Vivekananda’s real name was Narendranath Dutta and he
was born in a wealthy family. His father’s name was Vishwanath Dutta, who was a huge Barrister
in Bengal and was also a philanthropist and a novelist.

Narendranath’s Interests

From a young age Narendranath had been interested in spirituality and used to sit and
meditate in front of idols of Lord Shiva, Rama, Sita and Hanuma. He had such a strong memory
power that he could remember everything he saw. His reading speed was also very fast and thus
he could finish 2-3 books in a single day. Narendranath was interested in a wide range of subjects,
whether it was Religion, Philosophy, History, Social Science, Art or Literature. He was especially
interested in the Hindu scriptures and had started reading Vedas, Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita,
Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas from a very young age. However, Narendranath was not
just interested in studies.
He was also trained in the Indian Classical music. Along with this, he also took part in
physical exercise and participated in various sports as well.

[William Hastie was the Principal of the Christian College in Calcutta, the place from where
Narendranath had graduated. He had said that in his whole lifetime, he had not seen any genius
like Narendranath.]

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Spiritual Journey

Joining Nava Vidhan

At the age of 18, Narendranath joined an organization called Nava Vidhan which was
established by Keshab Chandra Sen. Keshab Chandra Sen had earlier been associated with the
Brahmo Samaj. It had influenced the beliefs of Narendranath as well. In line with the principles of
Brahmo Samaj, he had also become against Idol-worship and meaningless rites and rituals.

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Meeting Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Yet, even after reading scriptures from all over the world and joining Nava Vidhan,
Narendranath was still not satisfied with his knowledge. He asked the same question to everyone
he met – Have you seen God? He could not find anyone who could give him an answer until he
met Ramakrishna Paramahansa in the year 1881. When he met Ramakrishna for the first time, he
asked the same question as he used to ask to everyone else. To this, Ramakrishna answered that he
saw God and talked to Him just like he saw and conversed with Narendranath himself.

Narendranath had not heard such an answer earlier and this was a turning point in his life.
Ramakrishna Paramahansa at the time was staying at Dakshineshwar, which is why
Narendranath also started visiting Dakshineshwar frequently in order to meet Ramakrishna.

Narendranath and Ramakrishna would have long discussions but, initially Narendranath
had many disagreements with the beliefs of Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna used to worship Idols of
God whereas Narendranath was against Idol-worship because he had been influenced by the
Brahmo Samaj. Regardless, Narendranath’s spiritual journey had already begun.

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Narendranath to Swami Vivekananda

Narendranath’s father, Vishwanath Dutta, died in the year 1884. This affected their financial
status and numerous creditors demanded their money. Narendranath’s family had become
bankrupt. Upset with his situation, Narendranath once asked Ramakrishna to pray to Goddess
Kali for their financial well-being. To this, Ramakrishna insisted that he should pray for it himself.
However, when Narendranath went to pray to Ma Kali, he could not ask for materialistic things
and instead prayed for devotion and knowledge.
After this, Narendranath esteemed Ramakrishna as his Guru and became Swami Vivekananda.
He learned from Ramakrishna that helping people is the same as worshipping God. Later, this
became Swami Vivekananda’s motto of life.

Establishing Ramakrishna Math

Ramakrishna Paramahansa died of throat cancer in August 1886. Ramakrishna’s devotees

and admirers used to support him and look after his needs, but after his death they started living
with Swami Vivekananda in Dakshineshwar according to Ramakrishna’s wishes. However, the
devotees and admirers of Ramakrishna were no longer interested in supporting his disciples. The
unpaid rent of the Math started accumulating and hence, he moved to Baranagar with the other
disciples in search of a place with lower rent. He established Ramakrishna Math there in the year
1886.
Two years after Swami Vivekanand had established the Ramakrishna Math, he became a
wandering monk and started travelling the world in the year 1888. He mostly travelled on foot
and extensively wandered the countryside within 5 years.

Teachings and Philosophy

• In his teachings, Swami Vivekanand included Ramakrishna’s spiritual experiences, teachings

from the Upanishads and the Bhagwatgita, while at the same time giving examples of Jesus
and Buddha where necessary.

• He wanted to bring together the concepts of Paramarth (service) and Vyavahar (behaviour).
Ramakrishna also used to believe that service to people is the same as worshipping.

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Vivekananda wanted to take this concept one step further and inculcate the attitude of
service in our behaviour itself.

• Swami Vivekananda also taught how common people can bring spirituality to their day-to-
day life. He said that spirituality did not require people to leave their houses and live in
mountains or caves.
• Swami Vivekananda said that we have to bring the two great systems of Hinduism and
Islam together for our motherland. This is because he firmly believed that there was only
one God and different religions were just the different ways to reach that same God.
• He said that spiritual knowledge is necessary for someone to strengthen their faith & become
morally strong. But if this spiritual knowledge is given to someone who is hungry and
starving, then this knowledge would be of no use to them. Hence, Swami Vivekananda
spoke about two kinds of knowledge for the masses – Spiritual Knowledge and Secular
Knowledge that could economically uplift the poor. People have to be economically stable so
that they can understand the importance of spiritual knowledge.

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Parliament of Religions

After spreading spiritual awareness to different parts of India for 5 years, Swami
Vivekananda started his journey to visit foreign countries. He started this journey on 31 May,
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1893 and went to Japan first, he then travelled to China, then Canada and finally went to America.
He reached Chicago, America on 30 July, 1893. Parliament of Religions was going to take place
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in Chicago and Swami Vivekananda was there to attend it.

Parliament of Religions was an initiative to bring all the religions of the world to one
platform so that they could come together and promote good deeds and religious life. This type of
gathering for Parliament of Religions has only taken place 7 times till now. The Parliament of
Religions that Swami Vivekananda attended in 1893 was the first initiative of this kind.

Swami Vivekananda started his speech at this gathering with the words, “My sisters and
brothers of America”. The words he used showcases the connection he felt with everyone. After
listening to his speech, the entire gathering of 7000 people had given him a 2 minute standing
ovation. In his speech he spoke about creating a healthy balance between spiritualism and
materialism and bringing them together. He said that if the spiritualism of the East and the
materialism of the West are combined then it would result in the greatest happiness of mankind.
The President of the Parliament of Religions, John Henry Barrows, commented that after listening
to Swami Vivekananda there was not even a single person who was not influenced by him.

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Motive of Vivekananda’s Lectures

After Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the Parliament of Religions, his name had become
popular everywhere. He gave more lectures in America and London and then finally returned to
India in the year 1897.

He gave a series of lectures in India as well, where he tried -

• To familiarize the youth of India with their country’s greatness to awaken a sense of pride in
them. This was very important at the time because during the Colonial rule Indians were
feeling a sense of inferiority.

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• To bring the different sects of the Hinduism together.

• To train educated people in such a way that they help the poor through the principles stated
in the Vedas.

Establishing Ramakrishna Mission

Swami Vivekananda established Ramakrishna Mission in the year 1897. The Mission was
set up to provide humanitarian relief and for social work. This was in line with the teachings of
Ramakrishna - service to people is the same as worshipping God. Aligning with the principles of
the Ramakrishna Mission, he opened many schools, hospitals and dispensaries in the country.
Ramakrishna Mission also comes forward to help people in times of natural calamities such as
earthquakes, famines, floods, etc. It is currently a worldwide organization.

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Belur Math

In the year 1898 Swami Vivekananda shifted Ramakrishna Math that used to be in
Baranagar, to a new place. This new place was Belur, which is now in West Bengal.

Attaining Maha Samadhi

Swami Vivekananda died on 4 July, 1902. He woke up earlier than usual that day and
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meditated in the Belur Math for 3 hours. He then taught Shukla Yajurveda to his disciples and
went back to his room at 7 p.m. in the evening, asking not to be disturbed. He passed away at 9:30
at night while meditating. Swami Vivekananda’s disciples believe that he attained Maha Samadhi.
The reason for his death was told to be a rupture in the brain vessels. His disciples say that the
rupture in the brain cell shows opening in the crown of his head, because of which he has attained
Maha Samadhi.

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