SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January, 1863 in Calcutta. His family name was
Narendranath Dutta. His father name is Vishwanath Dutta and his mother was a Pious lady
who influenced Naren from his childhood in the formation of his character. Naren studied in
the metropolitan institution at Calcutta; And after passing the Entrance exam, he joined the
general assembly institution founded by the Scottish general missionary board in Calcutta,
from where he passed his B.A. examination and went to study law.
He was a good singer. Once Ramakrishna Paramahamsa happened to hear Naren singing
a devotional song, he asked the young man to see him at Dakshineswar, where he was a priest
at the Kali temple. The Naren was very eager to see God face to face. To achieve the same, he
became the most important disciple of the saint. His guru taught him that God Lives in every
human being. So, by serving mankind, one can serve God.
With this teaching, Naren, in his later life, established the Ramakrishna mission which is
till this day engaged in rendering voluntary social service the poor and the distressed,
irrespective of caste, creed and religion. Naren was later named as “Swami Vivekananda”
when he became a monk. He went to America to participate in the parliament of world
religions held at Chicago in 1893.
In his long lecture, Swami Vivekananda explained to the world that God is one and that
the different religions are like different rivers to terminate in the sea. Hence there should not be
any dispute among the preachers of different religions that they worship God in separate forms
or with different beliefs. Swamiji’s view was commended with great appreciation, and a
number of American men and women became his disciples who later joined the Ramakrishna
Mission.
He was the nationalistic ideal for the people of India. He drew the attention of many
Indian leaders through his nationalistic ideas. He was admired by the Mahatma Gandhi as one
of the great Hindu reformers who promoted the Hindu religion. He was told as “the maker of
modern India” by the Subhas Chandra Bose. His effective writings had inspired many Indian
independence activists such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, etc.
He said, “Have faith that you are all, my brave lads, born to do great things.”
He passed away in 1902.
Swamiji’s call to the nation is: “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached”.
The sloka was meant as a call to his countrymen to awaken their "sleeping soul" and propagate
the message of peace and blessings given by the "ancient Mother" to the world.
Thus Swami Vivekananda spent his whole life spreading spiritual knowledge around the
world and upliftment of poor in India. His contribution to the Indian history will always be
remembered. His birthday is celebrated as “National Youth Day”