ABOUT THE GREATNESS OF SWAMI VIVEKANADA

Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Datta on jan12, 1863 in Calcutta (British India) despite of fear of English men he was a man who made his own path to succeed his Hindu religion on world stage, and his universal thinking and beliefs  are still guiding  youth and whoever having patriotic feeling and want to get real success in life with maintaining the moral ethics and values.

Today is the 153^rd birth anniversary of this great personality, I think Indian soil is fortunate which had this amazing persona. We wil share about some aspect and thought of his life.

BIRTH & FAMILY

Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his Guru, Ramakrishna Deva, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day.

EARLY PHASE OF LIFE

1. Fondly known as Narendra, he was deeply inspired by his parents who shaped much of his personality and thought process. It was since a young age that Narendra had a spiritual bent of mind.
2. He acquired his preliminary education from Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Metropolitan Institution before attaining his graduation degree in Arts from the Presidency College, Calcutta.
3. By the time Narendra completed his graduation in 1884, he had not only studied Western logic and philosophy but had even read Hindu scriptures in details, thanks to his insatiable urge to read everything.
4. Post college, he became a spiritual apprentice. His beliefs were formulated by the Brahmo concepts which admonished idolatry and prophesized the presence of formless God.

TOWARDS SPRITIUAL PHASE OF LIFE

1. Narendra met Ramakrishna in 1881 at Dakhineshwar, where the latter stayed. During this time, Narendra was undergoing a time of spiritual crisis. It was his famous question to Sri Ramakrishna, “Have you seen God?” which transformed his life forever.
2. Though Ramakrishna did not convince Narendra completely at the first go, the latter was bowled over by his selfless, unconditional love. Gradually, he became a frequent visitor of Ramakrishna.
3. Meanwhile, the tragic death of his father Vishwanath Datta led Narendra to get closer to Ramakrishna who by then had helped Narendra move out of his spiritual crisis situation so much so that he was ready to renounce everything for the sake of realising God.
4. In 1885, Ramakrishna was diagnosed with throat cancer which led him to relocate to a garden house in Cossipore. Narendra, along with fellow students, took great care of his master and nursed him with utmost devotion and love.
5. Before renouncing his body, Ramakrishna made Narendra the leader of a new monastic order, which highlighted the importance of service to men as the most effective form of worship of God.
6. Post the death of Ramakrishna, Narendra along with his young disciples began to live at Baranagar. It was in 1887 that they took the formal vows of sannyasa, thereby assuming new names. Narendra came to be known as Swami Vivekananda.

JOURNEY WHICH MAKES THE GREAT LEGEND EVER

1. In 1888, to profess the message of Ramakrishna to the world, Swami Vivekananda resolved to embark on a journey, extensively exploring India in the initial years. He walked on foot, lived on alms and led a life of a wandering monk.
2. It was during his exploration of the country that he was exposed to the abysmal poverty and backwardness present amongst the masses. He was the first religious leader to claim the neglect of the masses as the major reason for the country’s breakdown.
3. He understood that the masses required two kinds of knowledge – one which allowed them to improve their economic condition and the second which helped them to build faith and strengthen their moral sense.
4. To accomplish his goal of bettering the life of the masses, Swami Vivekananda aimed at initiating an organization which aimed at serving the poor and uplifting their standard by providing them education. He even targeted at improving the life of women in society.
5. In 1893, he travelled abroad for the first time to be a part of the World’s Parliament of Religions. He believed that the Parliament would not only provide him a bigger platform to spread the message of Ramakrishna, but also help him gain financial help for his project of uplifting the masses.
6. At the Parliament, Swami Vivekananda became known as the ‘orator of divine right’ and ‘Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western World’. For the next three years and a half, Vivekananda extensively travelled in the eastern part of US and London to spread the message of Vedanta.
7. Upon returning to India in 1897, Swami Vivekananda gave a series of lecture to different parts of the country before finally returning to Calcutta. He initiated Ramakrishna Mission, an organization which propagated the teaching of Practical Vedanta and commenced various forms of social service such as hospitals, schools, colleges, hostels, rural development centres and so on.
8. In 1898, Swami Vivekananda acquired a huge property at Belur which became a permanent abode of the monastery and monastic order. The place became known as Ramakrishna Math and was open to all men. Vivekananda adopted ancient monastic ideals to the conditions of modern life.

MAJOR WORKS

1.       He initiated Ramakrishna Mission and Ramakrishna Math, which propagated the upliftment of the masses and the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world.

2.       The best known for his speech in Chicago Parliament of Religions on

“The meaning of the Hindu religion”

in sep, 1893 which makes him internationally famous very soon and  shut the mouth of all critics, and  all criticism over The Hindu religion.

THE PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS AND AFTER

His speeches at the World’s Parliament of Religions held in September 1893 made him famous as an ‘orator by divine right’ and as a ‘Messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’. After the Parliament, Swamiji spent nearly three and a half years spreading Vedanta as lived and taught by Sri Ramakrishna, mostly in the eastern parts of USA and also in London.

AWAKENING HIS COUNTRYMEN

He returned to India in January 1897. In response to the enthusiastic welcome that he received everywhere, he delivered a series of lectures in different parts of India, which created a great stir all over the country. Through these inspiring and profoundly significant lectures Swamiji attempted to do the following:

1.     To rouse the religious consciousness of the people and create in them pride in their cultural heritage.

2.     To bring about unification of Hinduism by pointing out the common bases of its sects.

3.     To focus the attention of educated people on the plight of the downtrodden masses, and to expound his plan for their uplift by the application of the principles of Practical Vedanta.

UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT FOR INDIA & HINDU RELIGION

Unfortunately at the age of 39 on 4 July 1902 this great man got the last breath of his life which is still  irreparable.