Source: The Indian Express
Swami Vivekananda ( 1863-1902) represented Hinduism at the world religion conference in Chicago, America, and gave India universal recognition, at that time he was 30 years old. Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore once said, " If you want to know India then read Vivekananda, you will find everything positive in it, nothing negative." He always encouraged the youth, so his birth date 12 January is celebrated as "National Youth Day", since 1985.
Swami Vivekananda's fame spread after his speech at the "world council of religion on 11 September 1893," and he stayed in America for three years and was named "Cyclonic Hindu Swami Vivekananda." When towards the afternoon his welcome speech started with " Sisters and Brothers of America " he got a two-minute standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand for these words.
The speech given by Vivekananda still fills Indians with pride. People believed that he was a true representative and authority to speak over religion and God, because of his knowledge. Between 11 to 27 September 1893, Swamiji delivered six speeches at the Chicago religious conference. Some important things about the speech:
Welcome Address
On 11-9-1893, In his welcome address to the world's parliament of Religions Vivekananda said, "I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world the lesson of peace and universal acceptance we not only believe in universal tolerance, but we accept all religions of the world as true."
Why Do We Disagree?
On 15 September 1893, to explain why we disagree with other religions, Swami Vivekananda told a story about "a well's frog", and told how people of every religion only consider their religion to be the best. Vivekananda thanks America for inviting people of all religions to this meeting and breaking down the barriers of their religious little world.
Paper on Hinduism
On 19 September 1893, Vivekananda represented the religious faith of India in the world parliament of Religions on that day by this speech. He spoke of the Indian philosophy and greatness of Hinduism. He could make it clear that Indian philosophy and Hinduism are no less than any other religion in the world. He raised the dignity of India.
Swamiji said Hinduism came from the Vedas. Which is a collection of spiritual laws discovered at different times by different persons. Vedas have no beginnings or ends. Vivekananda compares it to the " universal law of gravitation" as it existed before its discovery and it will always exist.
He highlighted that Hinduism is the only religion that focuses on God during meditation, and the mind is the thing that you can control. Swamiji said death is only the transmigration of the soul from one body to another, and the soul is immortal.
Early Life of Vivekananda
He was born in the Kayastha family on 12 January 1963 in Kolkata. His childhood name was Veereshwar, but his formal name was Narendra Nath Datt. His Grandfather Durgacharan Dutt was a Sanskrit and Persian scholar.
His father Vishwanath Datt was a Calcutta High Court lawyer, and his mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was a strong, God-believing woman, who influenced Narendra. His childhood environment, his mother's religion, and his father's progressive views helped shape his personality.
His childhood upbringing always inspired his desire to know and understand God. At the age of 25, he left the home and became a monk.
How Narendra Became a Swami Vivekananda?
Since childhood, his interest in music has been both instrumental and vocal. He used to participate in sports, wrestling, and bodybuilding. After passing school he entered the presidency college in 1879 and he passed the Fine Art Examination in 1881. He completed his BA in 1884.
In one class his English Professor, William Hastie, was teaching the poem " The Excursion " and the professor tried to explain the meaning of one of its words, "trance". But when they could not understand. Then he said go and see Ramkrishna, then you will know the meaning of the word. Ramkrishna came to a place in Kolkata to deliver a spiritual lecture. Narendra with his friend also went there to meet Ramkrishna.
The Bhajan singer could not reach there, so Narendra started singing there. Ramkrishna liked his song and said, " will you come to Dakshineswar, I am very lonely there". When Narendra went to Dakshineswar and sang the hymn again at the behest of Ramkrishna. After hearing his song, Ramkrishna told Narendra " Lord! I know you are the ancient saga Nara the incarnation of Narayan- born on earth to remove the miseries of mankind."
Narendra asked him, " Have you ever seen God?" To this Ramkrishna replied "yes, I have, because I see Him just as I see you here, only in a much intense sense." Then Narendra used to meet him often and later he accepted Ramkrishna as his spiritual teacher.
In 1884, when he completed his BA. At that time his father had died, and several loans needed to be repaid. But, his relatives filed a court case regarding the possession of the property. After some time, for the first time in his life, he experienced poverty. Although he had empathy for poor people earlier, now he was feeling this pain.
Now, sympathy for the poor people in his mind increases even more. Remembering this time he said later " I was dying of starvation. Barefooted, I went from office to office and refused everywhere. I learned by experience what compassion is. This was my first contact with the realities of life, and I discovered it had no room for the weak, the poor and the deserted."
At such times, he started questioning the existence of God by being sad. During this time Ramkrishna helped him a lot to recover. Narendra always used to meditate. But with the help of Ramkrishna, his meditation improved even more.
Then, Narendra asked him to teach "Nirvikalpa samadhi", but Ramkrishna answered " shame on you, I thought you would grow like a huge banyan tree, sheltering thousands from the scorching miseries of the world. But now I see, you seek your own liberation."
Narendra left "Math" (monastery) in 1888 and traveled across India. He had a walking stick, a water bottle, and two of his books ( Bhagavad Gita and Imitation of Christ.) In this way, he goes to many areas of India. When he meets kings, rich and poor people, sometimes he begs for alms or donates to the people.
The Living Vedanta
He was influenced by "Brahmo Samaj'', for some time. The Brahmo Samaj recognized one God unlike the idol-worshiping and superstitions of Hinduism. Swamiji talked about the Vedanta philosophy and his ideology and way of thinking. He was the founder of the Ramkrishna mission in 1897.
Swamiji also founded the Vedanta society of New York and Ramakrishna Math. Some motivational words are:
"In conflict between heart and Brain, follow your heart."
" Learn everything that is good but bring it in, and in your own way absorbed it, do not become others."
" Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything unquestioningly."
Written by Jyoti Malik
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