Born: 12 January, 1863 Place of Birth: Kolkata, India
Childhood Name: Narendranath Dutta
Father: Vishwanath Dutta Mother: Bhuvaneshwari Devi
Education: Calcutta Metropolitan School; Presidency College, Calcutta
Religion: Hinduism Guru: Ramakrishna
Founder of: Ramakrishna Mission (1897), Ramakrishna Math, Vedanta Society of New York
Philosophy: Advaita Vedanta
Literary works: Raja Yoga (1896), Karma Yoga (1896), Bhakti Yoga (1896), Jnana Yoga, My Master (1901), Lectures from Colombo to Almora (1897)
Death: 4 July, 1902
Place of Death: Belur Math, Belur, Bengal
Memorial: Belur Math. Belur, West Bengal
Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January, 1863, Kolkata (earlier Calcutta). He was a spiritual leader and social reformer. His lectures, writings, letters, poems, ideas motivated not only the youth of India but also the whole world. He is the founder of Ramakrishna Mission and Belur Math in Calcutta, which are still working towards helping the needy. He was a man of wisdom and a very simple human being.Vivekananda childhood name was Narendranath Dutta, belonged to an affluent Bengali family in Calcutta. He was one of the eight children of Vishwanath Dutta and Bhuvneshwari Devi. On the occasion of Makar Sankranti, he was born on 12 January, 1863. His father was an attorney and an influential personality in society. Vivekananda's mother was a woman who has faith in God and has a great impact on his son.
At the age of eight in 1871, Vivekananda was enrolled at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Institution and later at the Presidency College in Calcutta. He was exposed to Western philosophy, Christianity, and science. He had an interest in music both instrumental as well as vocal. He was active in sports, gymnastics, wrestling, and bodybuilding. He was also fond of reading and till the time he had completed his graduation from the college he had acquired a vast knowledge of various subjects. Do you know on the one hand he read Hindu scriptures like Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and on the other hand western philosophies and spirituality by David Hume, Herbert Spencer etc?
In 1885, Ramakrishna developed throat cancer and was transferred to Calcutta and then later to a garden house in Cossipore. Vivekananda and other disciples of Ramakrishna took care of him. On 16 August, 1886, Shri Ramakrishna gave up his mortal body. Narendra was taught that the service to men was the most effective worship of God. After the demise of Ramakrishna, fifteen of his disciples including Narendranath began to live together at Baranagar in North Calcutta, which was named Ramakrishna Math. In 1887, all the disciples took vows of monkhood and Narendranath emerged as Vivekananda that is "the bliss of discerning wisdom." All of them performed yoga and meditation. Further, Vivekananda left the math and decided to tour the whole of India on foot which came to be known as 'Parivrajak'. He saw several social, cultural, and religious aspects of the people and also saw what common people faced in their daily life, their sufferings, etc.
When he came to know about the World Parliament that was organised in Chicago, America. He was keen to attend the meeting, to represent India and his Guru's philosophies. After various troubles, he attended the Religious meeting. On 11 September, 1893, he came upon the stage and stunned everyone while saying "My brothers and sisters of America". For this, he received a standing ovation from the audience. He described the principles of Vedanta, their spiritual significance, etc.
He stayed around two and a half years in America itself and founded the Vedanta Society of New York. He also travelled to the United Kingdom to preach the philosophies, spiritualism, and principles of Vedanta.
Around 1897, he returned to India and reached Calcutta where he founded Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May, 1897 at Belur Math. The goals of the mission were based on Karma Yoga and its main objective was to serve the poor and suffering or disturbed population of the country. Several social services are also performed under this mission like establishing schools, colleges, and hospitals. Teachings of Vedanta were also provided through conferences, seminars, and workshops, rehabilitation work across the country. Let us tell you that Vivekananda's teachings were mostly based on Ramakrishna's spiritual teachings of Divine manifestations and his personal internalisation of the Advaita Vedanta Philosophy. According to him, the ultimate goal of life is to achieve the freedom of the soul and that encompasses the entirety of one's religion.
He predicted that he will not live till the age of 40. Therefore, on 4 July, 1902, he died while doing meditation. He is said to have attained 'Mahasamadhi' and was cremated on the Banks of the river Ganga.
“Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.” Swami Vivekananda
