Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863
- July 4, 1902), whose pre-monastic name
was Narendranath Dutta (Narendranath Dut-tta),
was one of the most famous and influential
spiritual leaders of the philosophies of
Vedanta and Yoga. He was the chief disciple
of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder
of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.
He is a major figure in the history of the
Hindu reform movements.
While he is widely credited with having
uplifted his own nation, India, he simultaneously
introduced Yoga and Vedanta to America and
England with his seminal lectures and private
discourses on Vedanta philosophy. Vivekananda
was the first known Hindu Sage to travel
to the West, where he introduced Eastern
thought at the World's Parliament of Religions,
in connection with the World's Fair in Chicago,
in 1893. Here, his first lecture, which
started with the opening line "Sisters
and Brothers of America," made the
audience clap for two minutes in appreciation,
for prior to this seminal speech, they were
always used to the usual address of "Ladies
and Gentlemen". It was this speech
that catapulted him to fame by his wide
audiences in Chicago and then later everywhere
else in America, including far-flung places
such as Memphis, Boston, San Francisco,
New York, Los Angeles, and St. Louis
Biography
Birth and early life
Narendranath Dutta was born in Shimla Pally,
Kolkata, India on January 12, 1863 as the
son of Viswanath Dutta and Bhuvaneswari
Devi. Even as he was young, he showed a
precocious mind and keen memory. He practiced
meditation from a very early age. While
at school, he was recognized early on as
an academic genius, and showed excellence
in games of various kinds. He had a photographic
memory, displaying the power to read entire
books in mere minutes. He organized an amateur
theatrical company and a gymnasium and took
lessons in fencing, wrestling, rowing and
other sports. He also studied instrumental
and vocal music. Even when he was young,
he questioned the validity of superstitious
customs and discrimination based on caste
and religion.
In 1879, Narendra entered the Presidency
College, Calcutta for higher studies. After
one year, he joined the Scottish Church
College, Calcutta and studied philosophy.
During the course, he studied western logic,
western philosophy and history of European
nations.
Questions started to arise in young Narendra's
mind about God and the presence of God.
This made him associate with the Brahmo
Samaj, an important religious movement of
the time, led by Keshub Chunder Sen. And
along with his classmate and friend Brajendra
Nath Seal, he regularly attended meetings
of the breakaway Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Later they would part ways with Dutta aligning
himself with Keshub Chunder Sen's Nava Vidhan
and Seal staying on as an initiated member.
During this time spent together, both Dutta
and Seal sought to understand the intricacies
of faith, progress and spiritual insight
into the works of John Stuart Mill, Auguste
Comte, Herbert Spencer and G.W.F. Hegel.
But the Samaj's congregational prayers and
devotional songs could not satisfy Narendra's
zeal to realize God. He would ask leaders
of Brahmo Samaj whether they have seen God.
Their answers did not satisfy his quest
for knowledge. It was during this time that
Reverend William Hastie, the Principal of
the Scottish Church College told him about
Sri Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar.
With Ramakrishna
Narendra met Ramakrishna for the first time
in November 1881. He asked Ramakrishna the
same question he had so often asked of others,"Mahashaya
(Venerable Sir), have you seen god?"
The instantaneous answer from Ramakrishna
was, "Yes, I see God, just as I see
you here, only in a much intenser sense.
God can be realized," he went on, "one
can see and talk to Him as I am seeing and
talking to you. But who cares? People shed
torrents of tears for their wife and children,
for wealth or property, but who does so
for the sake of God? If one weeps sincerely
for Him, he surely manifests Himself."
Narendra was astounded and puzzled. He could
feel the man's words were honest and uttered
from a deep experience. He started visiting
Ramakrishna frequently. At first he did
not believe that such a plain man could
have seen God, but gradually he started
having faith in what Ramkrishna said.
Though Narendra could not accept Ramakrishna
and his visions, he could not neglect him.
It had always been in Narendra's nature
to test something thoroughly before he could
accept it. He tested Ramakrishna to the
maximum, but the master was patient, forgiving,
humorous, and full of love. He never asked
Narendra to abandon reason, and he faced
all of Narendra's arguments and examinations
with patience. In time, Narendra accepted
Ramakrishna, and when he accepted, his acceptance
was whole-hearted. While Ramakrishna predominantly
taught duality and Bhakti to his other disciples,
he taught Narendra the Advaita Vedanta,
the philosophy of non-dualism.
During the course of five years of his training
under Ramakrishna, Narendra was transformed
from a restless, puzzled, impatient youth
to a mature man who was ready to renounce
everything for the sake of God-realization.
In August 1886, Ramakrishna's end came in
the form of throat cancer. After this Narendra
and a core group of Ramakrishna's disciples
took vows to become monks and renounce everything,
and started living in a supposedly haunted
house in Baranagore. They took alms to satisfy
their hunger and their other needs were
taken care of by Ramakrishna's richer householder
disciples.
Wanderings in India
Pencil drawing of Vivekananda
Soon, the young monk of Baranagore wanted
to live the life of a wandering monk with
rags and a begging bowl and no other possessions.
On July 1890, Vivekananda set out for a
long journey, without knowing where the
journey would take him. The journey that
followed took him to the length and breadth
of the Indian subcontinent. During these
days, Vivekananda assumed various names
like Vividishananda (in Sanskrit, Vividisha
means "the desire to know" and
Ananda means "bliss"), Satchidananda,
etc. It is said that the Maharaja of Khetri,
Ajit Singh, suggested to him the name Vivekananda
because of his discernment of things, good
and bad. Viveka or discrimination between
the eternal and the transient was highly
valued by the Swami, who, recollecting that
Keshab Chandra Sen used to call him by that
name, accepted it.
During these wandering days, Vivekananda
stayed in kings' palaces, as well as the
huts of the poor. He came in close contact
with the culture of different regions of
India and various classes of people in India.
Vivekananda observed the imbalance in society
and tyranny in the name of caste. He realized
the need for a national rejuvenation if
India was to survive at all. He reached
Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the
Indian subcontinent on 24 December 1892.
There, he swam across the sea and started
meditating on a lone rock. He thus meditated
for three days and said later that he meditated
about the past, present and future of India.
The rock went on to become the Vivekananda
memorial at Kanyakumari.
Vivekananda Temple on Vivekananda rock at
Kanyakumari, India
Vivekananda went to Madras and spoke about
his plans for India and Hinduism to the
young men of Madras. They were impressed
by the monk and urged him to go to the United
States and represent Hinduism in the World
Parliament of Religions. The Raja of Ramnad,
who was originally invited for the conference,
promoted Vivekananda as the right person
to represent the views of Hinduism in the
Parliament. Thus, helped by his friends
at Chennai, Bhaskara Sethupathi, Raja of
Ramnad and Maharajas of Mysore and Khetri,
Vivekananda set out on his journey to the
USA.
In one of his lectures in California, the
swami described about his condition during
wandering days as follows:
" Many times I have been in the jaws
of death, starving, footsore, and weary;
for days and days I had no food, and often
could walk no farther; I would sink down
under a tree, and life would seem to be
ebbing away. I could not speak, I could
scarcely think, but at last the mind reverted
to the idea: "I have no fear nor death;
never was I born, never did I die; I never
hunger or thirst. I am It! I am It! The
whole of nature cannot crush me; it is my
servant. Assert thy strength, thou Lord
of lords and God of gods! Regain thy lost
empire! Arise and walk and stop not!"
And I would rise up, reinvigorated; and
here I am today, living! Thus, whenever
darkness comes, assert the reality and everything
adverse must vanish. For after all, it is
but a dream. Mountain-high though the difficulties
appear, terrible and gloomy though all things
seem, they are but Maya. Fear not, and it
is banished. Crush it, and it vanishes.
Stamp upon it, and it dies. "
In the West
Swami Vivekananda in London, 1896
Vivekananda was encouraged by J.H. Wright,
a professor of Greek at Harvard University,
to represent Hinduism in the 1893 World
Parliament of Religions in Chicago. When
he expressed reservations saying he had
no credentials, the professor replied, "To
ask you, Swami, for your credentials is
like asking the sun about its right to shine."
He wrote about Vivekananda to the chairman
of the committee on selection of delegates,
"Here is a man more learned than all
our learned professors put together."
Vivekananda was received well at the Parliament
of Religions, where he delivered a series
of lectures. The audience arose in their
seats and applauded loudly (for two minutes)
when he started his first address with the
famous words, "Sisters and brothers
of America." When the applause subsided
the Swami began his speech by thanking the
young nation "in the name of the most
ancient monastic order in the world, the
Vedic order of sannyasins." A newspaper
account described him as "an orator
by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest
figure at the Parliament." Vivekananda's
arrival in the USA has been identified by
many to mark the beginning of western interest
in Hinduism not as merely an exotic eastern
oddity, but as a vital religious and philosophical
tradition that might actually have something
important to teach the West.
Vivekananda successfully introduced yoga
and Vedanta to the West and lectured around
America introducing the topics (1894-6).
He taught hundreds of students privately
in free classes held in his own room beginning
in New York in 1895. Later, he started Vedantic
centers in New York City and London, lectured
at major universities and generally kindled
western interest in Hinduism. His success
was not without controversy, much of it
from Christian missionaries of whom he was
fiercely critical. After four years of constant
touring, lecturing and retreats in the West,
he came back to India in the year 1897.
Memorial Plaque inside the Art Institute.
The plaque reads: "On this site between
September 11 and 27, 1893, Swami Vivekananda
(1863-1902), the first Hindu monk from India
to teach Vedanta in America, addressed the
World's Parliament of Religions, held in
conjunction with the World's Columbian Exposition.
His unprecedented success opened the way
for the dialogue between eastern and western
religions." On 11 November 1995, the
stretch of Michigan Avenue that passes in
front of the Art Institute was formally
conferred the honorary name "Swami
Vivekananda Way."
Back in India
Admirers and devotees of Vivekananda gave
him an enthusiastic reception on his return
to India. In India, he delivered a series
of lectures, and this set of lectures known
as "Lectures from Colombo to Almora"
is considered to have uplifted the morale
of the then downtrodden Indian society.
He founded one of the world's largest charitable
relief missions, the Ramakrishna Mission
and reorganized the ancient Swami order
by founding one of the most significant
and largest monastic orders in India, the
Ramakrishna Math.
However, he had to bear great criticism
from other orthodox Hindus for having traveled
in the West. In his day there was hardly
a Hindu in America and he received criticism
for crossing the ocean, at that time a cause
for "outcasting." Vivekananda
scoffed at these critiques from the orthodox
saying "I cannot be outcast - As a
monk, I am beyond caste." His contemporaries
also questioned his motives, wondering whether
the fame and glory of his Hindu evangelism
compromised his original monastic vows.
His enthusiasm for America and Britain,
and his spiritual devotion to his motherland,
caused significant tension in his last years.
He once again toured the west from January
1899 to December 1900. He inculcated a spirit
of respect and good will for exchanges between
the East and the West. He had American disciples
whom he brought to India and initiated as
Swamis and brought Indian Swamis to America
where they and their successors have been
ever since.
Death
On July 4, 1902 at Belur Math near Calcutta,
he taught Vedanta philosophy to some pupils
in the morning. He had a walk with Swami
Premananda, a brother-disciple, and gave
him instructions concerning the future of
the Ramakrishna Math. He passed away in
the evening after a session of prayer at
Belur Math. He was 39. Doctors pronounced
that the death was due to apoplexy, but
the monks were convinced that he had attained
mahasamadhi, as Sri Ramakrishna had predicted.
Vivekananda had fulfilled his own prophecy
of not living to be forty-years old.
Principles and philosophy
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This box: view o talk o editVivekananda
was a renowned thinker in his own right.
One of his most important contributions
was to demonstrate how Advaitin thinking
is not merely philosophically far-reaching,
but how it also has social, even political,
consequences. One important lesson he claimed
to receive from Ramakrishna was that "Jiva
is Shiva " (each individual is divinity
itself). This became his Mantra, and he
coined the concept of daridra narayana seva
- the service of God in and through (poor)
human beings. If there truly is the unity
of Brahman underlying all phenomena, then
on what basis do we regard ourselves as
better or worse, or even as better-off or
worse-off, than others? - This was the question
he posed to himself. Ultimately, he concluded
that these distinctions fade into nothingness
in the light of the oneness that the devotee
experiences in Moksha. What arises then
is compassion for those "individuals"
who remain unaware of this oneness and a
determination to help them.
Swami Vivekananda belonged to that branch
of Vedanta that held that no one can be
truly free until all of us are. Even the
desire for personal salvation has to be
given up, and only tireless work for the
salvation of others is the true mark of
the enlightened person. He founded the Sri
Ramakrishna Math and Mission on the principle
of Atmano Mokshartham Jagad-hitaya cha (for
one's own salvation and for the welfare
of the World).
However, Vivekananda also pleaded for a
strict separation between religion and government
("church and state") a value found
in Freemasonry which as a Freemason he had
been exposed to. Although social customs
had been formed in the past with religious
sanction, it was not now the business of
religion to interfere with matters such
as marriage, inheritance and so on. The
ideal society would be a mixture of Brahmin
knowledge, Kshatriya culture, Vaisya efficiency
and the egalitarian Shudra ethos. Domination
by any one led to different sorts of lopsided
societies. Vivekananda did not feel that
religion, nor, any force for that matter,
should be used forcefully to bring about
an ideal society, since this was something
that would evolve naturally by individualistic
change when the conditions were right.
Vivekananda made a strict demarcation between
the two classes of Hindu scriptures : the
Sruti and the Smritis. The Sruti, by which
is meant the Vedas, consist of eternally
and universally valid spiritual truths.
The Smritis on the other hand, are the dos
and donts of religions, applicable to society
and subject to revision from time to time.
Vivekananda felt that existing Hindu smritis
had to be revised for modern times. But
the Srutis of course are eternal - they
may only be re-interpreted.
Vivekananda advised his followers to be
holy, unselfish and have shraddha (faith).
He encouraged the practise of Brahmacharya
(Celibacy). In one of the conversations
with his childhood friend Sri Priya Nath
Sinha he attributes his physical and mental
strengths, eloquence to the practice of
Brahmacharya.
Vivekananda didn't advocate the emerging
area of parapsychology, astrology (one instance
can be found in his speech Man the Maker
of his Destiny, Complete-Works, Volume 8,
Notes of Class Talks and Lectures) saying
that this form of curiosity doesn't help
in spiritual progress but actually hinders
it.
Influence
Every one of the 20th century Indian leaders
of note have acknowledged his influence,
from Gandhi to Subhas Chandra Bose. The
first governor general of independent India,
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, once observed
that "Vivekananda saved Hinduism."
According to Subhas Chandra Bose, Vivekananda
"is the maker of modern India"
and for Mohandas Gandhi, Vivekananda's influence
increased his "love for his country
a thousandfold." Gandhi, who also strived
for a lot of reform in Hinduism himself,
said: Swami Vivekananda's writings need
no introduction from anybody. They make
their own irresistible appeal. Many years
after his death, Rabindranath Tagore (a
prominent member of the Brahmo Samaj) had
said: If you want to know India, study Vivekananda.
In him everything is positive and nothing
negative. National Youth Day in India is
held on his birthday, January 12, to commemorate
him. This was a most fitting gesture as
much of Swami Vivekananda's writings concerned
the Indian youth and how they should strive
to uphold their ancient values whilst fully
participating in the modern world.
Swami Vivekananda is widely considered to
have inspired India's freedom struggle movement.
His writings inspired a whole generation
of freedom fighters including Aurobindo
Ghose and Bagha Jatin. Vivekananda was the
brother of the extremist revolutionary,
Shri Bhupendranath Dutta. Subhash Chandra
Bose one of the most prominent figures in
Indian independence movement said,
I cannot write about Vivekananda without
going into raptures. Few indeed could comprehend
or fathom him even among those who had the
privilege of becoming intimate with him.
His personality was rich, profound and complex...
Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in
his activity, boundless in his love, profound
and versatile in his wisdom, exuberant in
his emotions, merciless in his attacks but
yet simple as a child, he was a rare personality
in this world of ours
Aurobindo Ghosh considered Vivekananda as
his spiritual mentor.
Vivekananda was a soul of puissance if ever
there was one, a very lion among men, but
the definitive work he has left behind is
quite incommensurate with our impression
of his creative might and energy. We perceive
his influence still working gigantically,
we know not well how, we know not well where,
in something that is not yet formed, something
leonine, grand, intuitive, upheaving that
has entered the soul of India and we say,
"Behold, Vivekananda still lives in
the soul of his Mother and in the souls
of her children. --Sri Aurobindo--1915 in
Vedic Magazine.
Vivekananda inspired Jamshedji Tata to set
up Indian Institute of Science, one of India's
finest Institutions. Abroad, he had some
interactions with Max Mueller. Nikola Tesla
was one of those influenced by the Vedic
philosophy teachings of the Swami Vivekananda.
Above all Swami Vivekananda helped restore
a sense of pride amongst the Hindus, presenting
the ancient teachings of India in its purest
form to a Western audience, free from the
propaganda spread by British colonial administrators
and Christian missionaries, of Hinduism
being a caste-ridden, misogynistic idolatrous
faith. Indeed his early foray into the West
would set the path for subsequent Indian
religious teachers to make their own marks
on the world, as well herald the entry of
Hindus and their religious traditions into
the Western world.
Swami Vivekananda's ideas have had a great
influence on the Indian youth. In many institutes,
students have come together and formed organizations
meant for promoting discussion of spiritual
ideas and the practice of such high principles.
Many of such organizations have adopted
the name Vivekananda Study Circle. One such
group also exists at IIT Madras and is popularly
known as (VSC). Additionally, Swami Vivekananda's
ideas and teachings have carried on globally,
being practiced in institutions all over
the world.
Vivekananda and science
In his book Raja Yoga, Vivekananda writes
that practice of Raja Yoga can confer psychic
powers such as 'reading another's thoughts',
'controlling all the forces of nature[12]',
become 'almost all-knowing', 'live without
breathing', 'control the bodies of others'
and levitation. He also explains traditional
eastern spiritual concepts like kundalini
and spiritual energy centres.
However, Vivekananda himself says in the
book,
" It is not the sign of a candid and
scientific mind to throw overboard anything
without proper investigation. Surface scientists,
unable to explain the various extraordinary
mental phenomena, strive to ignore their
very existence."
He further says in the introduction of the
book that one should take up the practice
and verify these things for themselves,
and that there should not be blind belief.
" What little I know I will tell you.
So far as I can reason it out I will do
so, but as to what I do not know I will
simply tell you what the books say. It is
wrong to believe blindly. You must exercise
your own reason and judgment; you must practise,
and see whether these things happen or not.
Just as you would take up any other science,
exactly in the same manner you should take
up this science for study."
Vivekananda (1895) rejected ether theory
before Einstein (1905), stating that it
cannot explain the space itself.
The great electrical engineer, Nikola Tesla,
after listening to Vivekananda's speech
on Sankhya Philosophy, was much interested
in its cosmogony and its rational theories
of the Kalpas (cycles), Prana and Akasha.
His notion based on the vedanta led him
to think that matter is a manifestation
of energy . After attending a lecture on
vedanta by Vivekananda Tesla also concluded
that, modern science can look for the solution
of cosmological problems in Sankhya philosophy,
and he could prove that mass can be reduced
to potential energy mathematically.
Works
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical
works (see Vivekananda's complete works)
which Vedic scholar Frank Parlato has called,
"the greatest comprehensive work in
philosophy ever published." His books
(compiled from lectures given around the
world) on the four Yogas (Raja Yoga, Karma
Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga) are very
influential and still seen as fundamental
texts for anyone interested in the Hindu
practice of Yoga. His letters are of great
literary and spiritual value. He was also
considered a very good singer and a poet[citation
needed]. He had composed many songs including
his favorite Kali the Mother. He used humor
for his teachings and was also an excellent
cook. His language is very free flowing.
His own Bengali writings stand testimony
to the fact that he believed that words
- spoken or written should be for making
things easier to understand rather than
show off the speaker or writer's knowledge.
Books on and by Swami Vivekananda
" The complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
ISBN 81-85301-46-8
" Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda ISBN
0-911206-21-3
" Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda ISBN
0-911206-23-X
" Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga by Swami
Vivekananda ISBN 0-911206-22-1
" Life of Vivekananda by Romain Rolland
ISBN 81-85301-01-8
" Vivekananda: A Biography by Swami
Nikhilananda ISBN 0-911206-25-6
" The life of Swami Vivekananda by
his eastern and western disciples ISBN 81-7505-044-6
" Swami Vivekananda: A Reassessment
by Narasingha P. Sil ISBN 0-945636-97-0
" The Master As I Saw Him by Sister
Nivedita
" Notes of Some Wanderings With the
Swami Vivekananda by Sister Nivedita
" Swami Vivekananda in the West: New
Discoveries by Marie Lousie Burke
" Comprehensive Biography of Swami
Vivekanandaby Shailendranath Dhar
" A Short Life of Swami Vivekananda
by Swami Tejasananda
" Vivekananda, World Teacher: His Teachings
on the Spiritual Unity of Humankind"
by Swami Adiswarananda
" Swami Vivekananda Natun Tathya Natun
Alo by Shankari Prasad Basu
" Vivekananda Charit by Satyendranath
Majumder
" Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda
ISBN 81-85301-17-4 Advaita Ashrama
" Letters of Swami Vivekananda ISBN
81-7505-062-4 Advaita Ashrama
" Vivekananda: The Great Spiritual
Teacher by A Compilation ISBN 81-7505-147-7
" Teachings of Swami Vivekananda ISBN
81-85301-87-5
" Inspired Talks by Swami Vivekananda
ISBN 0-911206-24-8
" SWAMI VIVEKANADA Hero for the INDIAN
YOUTH
" Swami Vivekananda The Living Vedanta
ISBN 143062093 by Chaturvedi Badrinath
" Vivekananda -- His Gospel of Man-Making,
with a Garland of Tributes & a Chronicle
of His Life & Times with Pictures (Fifth
revised & Enlarged Edition -- August
2000) Compiled, Edited & Published by
Swami Jyotirmayananda
" Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Literature
online
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