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640 Words Essay on Swami Vivekanand: A Model of Inspiration for the Young
BY DIPTI ON AUGUST 13, 2011 IN ENGLISH ESSAYS

Lives of great men all-remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and departing leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time. Swami Vivekananda represents the eternal youth of India. India though possessing a hoary and ancient civilisation is not old and effete, as her detractors would hold but Swami Vivekananda believed that she was young, ripe with potentiality and strong at the beginning of the twentieth century. Swami Vivekananda belonged to the 19th century, yet his message and his life are more relevant today than in the past and perhaps, will be more relevant in future because persons like Swami Vivekananda do not cease to exist with their physical death. Their influence and their thought, the work which they initiate, go on gaining momentum as years pass by, and ultimately, reach a fulfillment which these persons envisaged. Swami Vivekanand himself had said it may be that I shall find it good to get outside my body to cast it off like a worn out garment but I shall not cease to work! I shall inspire men everywhere, until the world shall know that it is one with god.

The process of this inspiration is spreading all over the world. We are at a critical period of our history. The world is on the brink of total annihilation, and it is the message of Swami Vivekanand which can save humanity from a disastrous end. Swami Vivekananda had foreseen such a disaster, and had warned the western countries to shift their stance and take to the eternal message of spirituality, harmony and peace, as preached by him in the light of the teachings of his great master, Shri Ramakrishana Paramhansa. Swami Vivekanand is one of the greatest men who have appeared in the world. After reading his life story, one feels that he had the heart of a Buddha and the brain of a Shankaracharya. Yet he never craved for any personal name and fame. He always used to say that he was a voice without form but, In his life, we see how he felt about the downtrodden, the untouchables. The poor, the miserable and the sole aim of his life was to bring about a social order which will be based on equitable distribution of the objects of enjoyment, a society without prejudice for any one. But Swami Vivekanand had said, Could mud be washed with mud? Could blood be washed with blood? so he based his whole message on the philosophy of the existence of one reality, which is in every being. Swami Vivekananda appeared in 1893, on the platform of the parliament of religious conference held at Chicago, as an unknown person, when he was less than thirty years of age. And this I will do or die. Then again he says, My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will become my workers they will work out the whole problem. They will spread my message from centre to centre until we cover the whole of India. It will not be out of place here to give quotations from some of the most eminent thinkers of the world, both past and present, which have understood and appreciated Vivekanandas influence in the sphere of thought and action.

Rabindranath Tagore, the great poet and a Nobel laureate, says; He gave us something which brings us, if I may use the word, a certain pride in our inheritance. He did not spare us. He talked of our weaknesses and our failings too. So, what Swamiji has written and said, is of interest, and must interest us, and is likely to influence us for a long time to come. He was no politician in the ordinary sense of the word and yet he was one of great founders of the national modern movement of India.

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Essay On The Ambition In Life

MANISH RAJKOOMAR ESSAY

Ambition is a strong desire to achieve something in life. A person without any ambition is like a boat without rudder. Having an ambition needs continuous efforts towards achieving it. One cannot achieve anything if one just day dreams and does nothing. A strong will-power and determination will carry a person forward against all obstacles. Different people have different ambitions. Some aim to become teachers, soldiers, artists, politicians, doctors, engineers etc. Some try to amass wealth and some run after the name and fame. There are others who aim to serve humanity. One should have a noble aim in life and strive hard honestly, sincerely and with dedication to achieve it. A person with an ambition should not be dependent upon circumstances. He should move ahead facing all the odds and difficulties that hinder his progress. He should have the firm determination to achieve his aim. His will-power and determination will carry him forward. Obstacles in his way will not lead him astray. An ideal person always tires to achieve his goal. Aspiring for great things in life is human tendency. The youth of today wants to scale the greater heights of success. if we dream for the stars, we will at least reach the moon.

Different people have different ambitions in life. The nature of ambition varies from persons to person. It depends upon one's family background, upbringing, social status and economic condition. Swami Vivekananda said that, "Man is master of his destiny". He said that by will-power alone we an fully determine and control our actions and thereby change the course of Fate. But many people believe, with firm conviction, in the inscrutable hand of Fate. In fact, in India fatalism is very much present among all cross-section of the population. Intellectuals aim at achieving excellence in art, science or similar field. They struggle hard to fulfill their aim. They strive to achieve great heights of fame and glory. Their hard work brings them scholarships and awards. An artists aims to make his work immortal. He wants to create a name in the world of art. An artiste would want his/her songs to echo in each and every corner of the world. Some people aim for wealth. They desire to amass wealth by any means. At times, people with such an aim to into anti-social activities like smuggling and black marketing. In this way, corruption spreads. There are other people who demand huge dowries on the marriage of their sons. For a glamorous life, some people choose the film and television careers. Others choose to become fashion models. One who succeeds gets both wealth and fame. There are also people who aim to become political leaders. A statesman aims to carrying thought great schemes for his country's advancement. There are some who aim to become soldiers and serve the country. There are others boys and girls aim to become teachers. Teaching is one of the noblest of professions. A teacher removes illiteracy, ignorance and superstitions to some extend. According to Plato, education is the turning of the inner eye towards light. Teachers are the real architects of the nation. The students of today are the citizens of tomorrow. Teachers can make the younger generation responsible citizens of the country. There are others who neither want to wealth nor fame. They wish to serve humanity at large. They believe that service to mankind is service to God. Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda laid great stress on alleviating the suffering of the poor. Mother Teresa is also known as the angle of peace. She rendered a yeoman's service to the poor and destitute people who were in need of love and care. German playwright, Paul Thomas Mann said, "There are two kinds of men in this world, men of thought and men of action. Thinks like the men of thought, act like the men of action." Our actions are preceded by our thoughts. We are judged only by our deeds. Thus we must do right action and try to avoid immoral or bad action. One's motive is one's aim in life should be noble and good. One should nor try to fulfill one's ambition by foul means. In short, one should have a noble aim in life. One's action should be directed towards the nation's prosperity. One should strive hard honestly, sincerely and with dedication to achieve it.

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You are here : Home >> Essays >> Education >> Education In The Vision Of Swami Vivekananda

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Education In The Vision Of Swami Vivekananda By Dr. Sudipa dutta Roy , July 2001
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Courtesy and Copyright Prabuddha Bharata Introduction Swami Vivekananda (1863 1902), a great thinker and reformer of India, embraces education, which for him signifies man-making, as the very mission of his life. In this paper, which purports to expound and analyze Vivekanandas views on education, an endeavor has been made to focus on the basic theme of his philosophy, viz. the spiritual unity of the universe. Whether it concerns the goal or aim of education, or its method of approach or its component parts, all his thoughts, we shall observe, stem from this dormant theme of his philosophy which has its moorings in Vedanta. Vivekananda realizes that mankind is passing through a crisis. The tremendous emphasis on the scientific and mechanical ways of life is fast reducing man to the status of a machine. Moral and religious values are being undermined. The fundamental principles of civilization are being ignored. Conflicts of ideals, manners and habits are pervading the atmosphere. Disregard for everything old is the fashion of the day. Vivekananda seeks the solutions of all these social and global evils through education. With this end in view, he feels the dire need of awakening man to his spiritual self wherein, he thinks, lies the very purpose of education. The Goal or Objective of Education Vivekananda points out that the defect of the present-day education is that it has no definite goal to pursue. A sculptor has a clear idea about what he wants to shape out of the marble block; similarly, a

painter knows what he is going to paint. But a teacher, he says, has no clear idea about the goal of his teaching. Swamiji attempts to establish, through his words and deeds, that the end of all education is man making. He prepares the scheme of this man-making education in the light of his over-all philosophy of Vedanta. According to Vedanta, the essence of man lies in his soul, which he possesses in addition to his body and mind. In true with this philosophy, Swamiji defines education as the manifestation of the perfection already in man. The aim of education is to manifest in our lives the perfection, which is the very nature of our inner self. This perfection is the realization of the infinite power which resides in everything and every-where-existence, consciousness and bliss (satchidananda). After understanding the essential nature of this perfection, we should identify it with our inner self. For achieving this, one will have to eliminate ones ego, ignorance and all other false identification, which stand in the way. Meditation, fortified by moral purity and passion for truth, helps man to leave behind the body, the senses, the ego and all other non-self elements, which are perishable. He thus realizes his immortal divine self, which is of the nature of infinite existence, infinite knowledge and infinite bliss. At this stage, man becomes aware of his self as identical with all other selves of the universe, i.e. different selves as manifestations of the same self. Hence education, in Vivekanandas sense, enables one to comprehend ones self within as the self everywhere. The essential unity of the entire universe is realized through education. Accordingly, man making for Swamiji stands for rousing mans to the awareness of his true self. However, education thus signified does not point towards the development of the soul in isolation from body and mind. We have to remember that basis of Swamijis philosophy is Advaita which preaches unity in diversity. Therefor, man making for him means a harmonious development of the body, mind and soul. In his scheme of education, Swamiji lays great stress on physical health because a sound mind resides in a sound body. He often quotes the Upanishadic dictum nayamatma balahinena labhyah; i.e. the self cannot be realized by the physically weak. However, along with physical culture, he harps on the need of paying special attention to the culture of the mind. According to Swamiji, the mind of the students has to be controlled and trained through meditation, concentration and practice of ethical purity. All success in any line of work, he emphasizes, is the result of the power of concentration. By way of illustration, he mentions that the chemist in the laboratory concentrates all the powers of his mind and brings them into one focus-the elements to be analyzed-and finds out their secrets. Concentration, which necessarily implies detachment from other things, constitutes a part of Brahmacharya, which is one of the guiding mottos of his scheme of education. Brahmacharya, in a nutshell, stands for the practice of selfcontrol for securing harmony of the impulses. By his philosophy of education, Swamiji thus brings it home that education is not a mere accumulation of information but a comprehensive training for life. To quote him: Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there undigested, all your life. Education for him means that process by which character is formed,

strength of mind is increased, and intellect is sharpened, as a result of which one can stand on ones own feet. Method or Procedure Having analyzed the goal or objective of education, the next question that naturally arises is about the method of imparting education. Here again, we note the Vedantic foundation of Swamijis theory. According to him, knowledge is inherent in every mans soul. What we mean when we say that a man knows is only what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul. Consequently, he draws our attention to the fact that the task of the teacher is only to help the child to manifest its knowledge by removing the obstacles in its way. In his words: Thus Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge even in a boy it is so and it requires only an awakening and that much is the work of a teacher. To drive his point home, he refers to the growth of a plant. Just as in the case of a plant, one cannot do anything more than supplying it with water, air and manure while it grows from within its own nature, so is the case with a human child. Vivekanandas method of education resembles the heuristic method of the modern educationists. In this system, the teacher invokes the spirit of inquiry in the pupil who is supposed to find out things for himself under the bias-free guidance of the teacher. Swamiji lays a lot of emphasis on the environment at home and school for the proper growth of the child. The parents as well as the teachers should inspire the child by the way they live their lives. Swamiji recommends the old institution of gurukula (living with the preceptor) and similar systems for the purpose. In such systems, the students can have the ideal character of the teacher constantly before them, which serves as the role model to follow. Although Swamiji is of the opinion that mother tongue is the right medium for social or mass education, he prescribes the learning of English and Sanskrit also. While English is necessary for mastering Western science and technology, Sanskrit leads one into the depths of our vast store of classics. The implication is that if language does not remain the privilege of a small class of people, social unity will march forward unhampered. Fields of Study Vivekananda, in his scheme of education, meticulously includes all those studies, which are necessary for the all-around development of the body, mind and soul of the individual. These studies can be brought under the broad heads of physical culture, aesthetics, classics, language, religion, science and technology. According to Swamiji, the culture values of the country should form an integral part of the curriculum of education. The culture of India has its roots in her spiritual values. The time-tested values are to be imbibed in the thoughts and lives of the students through the study of the classics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita, Vedas and Upanishads. This will keep the perennial flow of our spiritual values into the world culture.

Education, according to Swamiji, remains incomplete without the teaching of aesthetics or fine arts. He cites Japan as an example of how the combination of art and utility can make a nation great. Swamiji reiterates that religion is the innermost core of education. However, by religion, he does not mean any particular kind of it but its essential character, which is the realization of the divinity already in man. He reminds us time and again that religion does not consist in dogmas or creeds or any set of rituals. To be religious for him means leading life in such a way that we manifest our higher nature, truth, goodness and beauty, in our thoughts, words and deeds. All impulses, thoughts and actions which lead one towards this goal are naturally ennobling and harmonizing, and are ethical and moral in the truest sense. It is in this context that Swamijis idea of religion, as the basis of education should be understood. We note that in his interpretation, religion and education share the identity of purpose. Why religion forms the very foundation of education becomes clear in his following words: In building up character, in making for everything that is good and great, in bringing peace to others, and peace to ones own self, religion is the highest motive power, and, therefore, ought to be studied from that standpoint. Swamiji believes that if education with its religious core can invigorate mans faith in his divine nature and the infinite potentialities of the human soul, it is sure to help man become strong, yet tolerant and sympathetic. It will also help man to extend his love and good will beyond the communal, national and racial barriers. It is a misinterpretation of Vivekanandas philosophy of education to think that he has overemphasized the role of spiritual development to the utter neglect of the material side. Vivekananda, in his plan for the regeneration of India, repeatedly presses the need for the eradication of poverty, unemployment and ignorance. He says, We need technical education and all else which may develop industries, so that men, instead of seeking for service, may earn enough to provide for them-selves, and save something against a rainy day. He feels it necessary that India should take from the Western nations all that is good in their civilization. However, just like a person, every nation has its individuality, which should not be destroyed. The individuality of India lies in her spiritual culture. Hence in Swamijis view, for the development of a balanced nation, we have to combine the dynamism and scientific attitude of the West with the spirituality of our country. The entire educational program should be so planned that it equips the youth to contribute to the material progress of the country as well as to maintaining the supreme worth of Indias spiritual heritage. Another important aspect of Swamijis scheme of education is womens education. He realizes that it if the women of our country get the right type of education, then they will be able to solve their own problems in their own way. The main objective of his scheme of female education is to make them strong, fear-less, and conscious of their chastity and dignity. He observes that although men and women are equally competent in academic matters, yet women have a special aptitude and competence for studies relating to

home and family. Hence he recommends the introduction of subjects like sewing, nursing, domestic science, culinary art, etc which were not part of education at his time. Conclusion The exposition and analysis of Vivekanandas scheme of education brings to light its constructive, practical and comprehensive character. He realizes that it is only through education that the uplift of masses is possible. To refer to his own words: Traveling through many cities of Europe and observing in them the comforts and education of even the poor people, there was brought to my mind the state of our own poor people and I used to shed tears. When made the difference? Education was the answer I got. He states it emphatically that if society is to be reformed, education has to reach everyone-high and low, because individuals are the very constituents of society. The sense of dignity rises in man when he becomes conscious of his inner spirit, and that is the very purpose of education. He strives to harmonize the traditional values of India with the new values brought through the progress of science and technology. It is in the transformation of man through moral and spiritual education that he finds the solution for all social evils. Founding education on the firm ground of our own philosophy and culture, he shows the best of remedies for todays social and global illness. Through his scheme of education, he tries to materialize the moral and spiritual welfare and upliftment of humanity, irrespective of caste, creed, nationality or time. However, Swami Vivekanandas scheme of education, through which he wanted to build up a strong nation that will lead the world towards peace and harmony, is still a far cry. It is high time that we give serious thought to his philosophy of education and remembers his call to every-body-Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.
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[16] Comment(s) Posted

1. Comment By - sai bhargav Date - 06 Oct 2011 Time - 10:46AM

2. if education itself brings success then why the great scientists like newton,eistein never had their education,even shakesphere who shaked sphere{earth}with his poets never done his masters in english literature
3. Comment By - rajesh kumar sharma Date - 14 Sep 2011 Time - 6:11AM

4. It is great for me to get to learn such a wised view of an epoch personality "Swami Vivekananda"
5. Comment By - HG HGFH HYTUJ Date - 03 Aug 2011 Time - 3:07AM

6. i like the teachings of swami vivekananda.

7. Comment By - Raja manikya Rao kalaga Date - 02 Aug 2011 Time - 11:03PM

8. Swamiji defines education as the manifestation of the perfection already in man`... Only wisdom of human being will give all the logical answers to inquisitive human brain. I believe Swami Vivekananda posses the virtue of being a towering wise man but representing the young generation for ever..

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Essays on Swami Vivekananda

by Swami Yogeshananda
"We must remember that this was not just monism as taught by Sankara and others. Yes, he taught many things in common with them; but if you want to interpret Swami Vivekananda's Vedanta by saying it is a repetition of the old philosophies, you will miss his most essential teachings. He taught Advaita, but did he teach that alone? What do you understand by Advaita, nondual Vedanta? You have a stereotyped idea of the paths of karma, jnana, bhakti and yoga. He taught all the paths and the Advaita that belongs to all the paths. Who, for instance, can love God more than he who is Godlike? Only when you know you are Spirit can you have true devotion for God, the Spirit. You will feel that He is close to you, He is identified with you, He is your very own. Then moments will come when you will feel that even the little remaining sense of duality disappears. That is the bhakti Swamiji taught here. He has thrown new light on the paths of devotion, action, concentration, knowledge, on human life, on the human mind".

Swami Ashokananda
Swami Vivekananda and American Independence The Vedanta of Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda: Paradoxical Prophet (Part 1) Swami Vivekananda: Paradoxical Prophet (Concluded) Swami Vivekananda's pronouncements on the Yoga of Work Swami Vivekananda and America Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions What is Religion? Swami Vivekananda and Modern Problems (Part 1) Swami Vivekananda and Modern Problems (Concluded)

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Last update08:04:05 PM GMT Back Essay 412 words essay on Swami Vivekananda

412 words essay on Swami Vivekananda

MILI ESSAY

Swami Vivekananda is the name of a world famous monk. He was born as Narendra nath Dutta in Calcutta on 12 January, 1863. His father Viswanath Dutta was a learned lawyer at the High Court of Calcutta. Narendranath obtained his education irregularly. He at first read in a Primary School with other children of suburban area. For fear of the bad influence of the rough children, he was then kept at home. Again he studied in the Metropolitan Institution, founded by Iswara Chandra Vidyasagar. He was a good scholar, a good actor, player and wrestler. He was very popular for his knowledge in Sanskrit. Above all, he was a speaker of truth. He was never known to tell a lie. In 1877 he went to Raipur with his father. In Raipur there was no school where Bengali was taught. So he was forced to stay at home. He built up the habit of argument. He had self-confidence in it. Then his father came back to Calcutta. Narendranath resumed his study. After school examination, he studied at the Presidency College, Calcutta. Then he went to the General Assembly Institution, which was a Missionary College. He studied logic and philosophy. Young Narendranath came in contact with Keshab Chandra Sen, Devendranath Tagore, the famous members of the Brahma Samaja. He was disturbed in his mind by his own question "Who can show me God?" Finally he met Sri Ramakrishna, a Priest in the temple of the goddess Kali at Dakshineswar. The spiritual influence of Sri Ramakrishna changed him. Soon after his father's death, Narendra discontinued his college-study and looked for jobs. Being disappointed to get any job, he again met Sri Ramakrishna and accepted him as his spiritual master. He was then called Swami Vivekananda. After the death of Ramakrishna, as his disciple, Swami Vivekananda started the Ramakrishna Order. He attended the Parliament of Religions in Chicago on September, 1893. Of course he had to face enormous difficulties in Chicago. Here were other persons representing different religions. Often Vivekananda spoke on Hinduism; he was greeted and sheered by all the audience there. One of the newspapers n New York said that Swami Vivekananda was the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. Swami Vivekananda was a patriot. He was worried for the poverty in India. He also tried to remove poverty from this country. He died on 4 June 1902 only at the age of thirty nine. He was the greatest spiritual figure in India.

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This article is about the chief Indian disciple. For the 1998 film, see Swami Vivekananda (film).

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda in 1893 Born 12 January 1863(1863-01-12) Monday Kolkata, Bengal, India Died 4 July 1902(1902-07-04) (aged 39) Friday Belur Math near Kolkata Birth name Founder Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna of Guru Mission Ramakrishna Paramahansa Narendranatha Dutta

Philosop Vedanta hy Literary Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga works and Jnana Yoga

Promine Swami Sadananda, Sister Nivedita nt Disciple (s) Influence on[show] Subhash Chandra Bose, Aurobindo Ghose, Bagha Jatin, Mahatma Gandhi, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, Jamshedji Tata Quotati on Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter.[1] Signatur e

Swami Vivekananda (Bengali: ,

Shami Bibeknondo (helpinfo); Hindi:

) (12 January 1863 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Dutta (Bengali: , Hindi: ),[2] was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.[3] He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the "Western" World, mainly in America and Europe[3] and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century C.E.[4] Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India.[5] He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America",[6][7] through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.[2] Swami Vivekananda was born in an aristocratic Bengali kayastha family of Calcutta on January 12, 1863. Swami's parents influenced his thinkingthe father by his rational mind and the mother by her religious temperament. From his childhood, he showed inclination towards spirituality and God realization. As a guru, Ramakrishna taught him Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) and that all religions

are true, and service to man was the most effective worship of God. After the death of his Guru, Vivekananda became a wandering monk, touring the Indian subcontinent and getting first-hand knowledge of India's condition. He later sailed to Chicago and represented India as a delegate in the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. He conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating Vedanta and Yoga in America, England and a few other countries in Europe. He also established the Vedanta societies in America and England.

Contents
[hide] 1 Early life (1863-1888) 1.1 Birth and childhood 1.2 College and Brahmo Samaj 1.3 With Ramakrishna 1.4 Founding of the Ramakrishna Math

2 As a wandering monk in India (18881893) 3 Visit to Japan (1893) 4 First visit to the West (1893-1897) 4.1 Parliament of World's Religions 4.2 Lecturing tours in America and England 5.1 Colombo to Almora 5.2 Founding of the Ramakrishna Mission 5.3 Visit to Punjab

5 Back in India (1897-1899)

6 Second visit to the West and last years (1899-1902) 6.1 Death 7 Teachings and philosophy 8 Influence 9 Works 10 See also 11 Notes 12 Bibliography

13 External links

[edit] Early life (1863-1888)

[edit] Birth and childhood

File:Bhuvaneshwari-Devi-1841to1911.jpg Bhuvaneshwari Devi (1841-1911). "I am indebted to my mother for the efflorescence of my knowledge."[8] Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda was born in 3, [9], Shimla Pally, Calcutta (presently known as Kolkata) on 12 January 1863, Monday at 6:49 A.M.,[10] during the Makara Sankrantifestival in a traditional Kayastha family,[11] and was given the name Narendranath Dutta.[12] His father Viswanath Dutta[13] was an attorney of Calcutta High Court. He was considered generous, and had a liberal and progressive outlook in social and religious matters.[14] His mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was pious and had practiced austerities and prayed to Vireshwar Shiva of Varanasi to give her a son. She reportedly had a dream in which Shiva rose from his meditation and said that he would be born as her son.[11] Narendranath's thinking and personality were influenced by his parentsthe father by his rational mind and the mother by her religious temperament.[15][16] From his mother he learnt the power of selfcontrol.[16] One of the sayings of his mother Narendranath quoted often in his later years was, "Remain pure all your life; guard your own honor and never transgress the honor of others. Be very tranquil, but when necessary, harden your heart."[12] He was reportedly adept in meditation and could reportedly enter the state of samadhi.[16] He reportedly would see a light while falling asleep and he reportedly had a vision of Buddha during his meditation.[17] During his childhood, he had a great fascination for wandering ascetics and monks.[16]

The 3, Gour Mohan Mukherjee street, Kolkata, where Narendranath was born, now it is maintained by the Ramakrishna Mission.

Narendranath had varied interests and a wide range of scholarship in philosophy, religion, history, the social sciences, arts, literature, and other subjects.[18] He evinced much interest in the Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. He was also well versed in classical music, both vocal and instrumental and is said to have undergone training under two Ustads, Beni Gupta and Ahamad Khan.[19] Since boyhood, he took an active interest in physical exercise, sports, and other organizational activities.[18] Even when he was young, he questioned the validity of superstitious customs and discrimination based on caste[20] and refused to accept anything without rational proof and pragmatic test.[15] When his father moved to Raipur in 1877 for 2 years then Narendranath along with the whole family shifted there. At that time there were no good schools in Raipur so he spent his time with his father and had discussions on spiritual topics. Narendranath learned Hindi in Raipur and for the first time the Question of existence of God came to his mind. It is believed that once he experienced an ecstasy during this period of life. The family returned to Calcutta in 1879 but it is believed that these 2 years were the turning point in his life. Raipur is sometimes termed as the "Spiritual Birthplace" of Swami Vivekananda.[citation needed]

[edit] College and Brahmo Samaj

Narendranath started his education at home then he joined the Metropolitan Institution of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in 1871[21] and in 1879 he passed the entrance examination for Presidency College, Calcutta, entering it for a brief period and subsequently shifting to General Assembly's Institution.[22] During the course, he studied western logic, western philosophy and history of European nations.[20] In 1881 he passed the Fine Arts examination and in 1884 he passed the Bachelor of Arts.[23][24] Narendranath is said to have studied the writings of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Baruch Spinoza, Georg W. F. Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, John Stuart Mill, and Charles Darwin.[25][26] Narendra became fascinated with the Evolutionism of Herbert Spencer, and translated Spencer's book on Education into Bengali for Gurudas Chattopadhyaya, his publisher. Narendra also had correspondence with Herbert Spencer for some time.[27][28] Alongside his study of Western philosophers, he was thoroughly acquainted with Indian Sanskrit scriptures and many Bengali works.[26] According to his professors, student Narendranath was a prodigy. Dr. William Hastie, the principal of Scottish Church College, where he studied during 1881-84, wrote, "Narendra is really a genius. I have travelled far and wide but I have never come across a lad of his talents and possibilities, even in German universities, among philosophical students."[25] He was regarded as a srutidharaa man with prodigious memory.[29][30] After a discussion with Narendranath, Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar reportedly said, "I could never have thought that such a young boy had read so much!"[31]

Narendranath became the member of a Freemason's lodge and the breakaway faction from the Brahmo Samaj led by Keshab Chandra Sen.[22] His initial beliefs were shaped by Brahmo concepts, which include belief in a formless God and deprecation of the worship of idols.[32] Not satisfied with his knowledge of Philosophy, he wondered if God and religion could be made a part of one's growing experiences and deeply internalized. Narendra went about asking prominent residents of contemporary Calcutta whether they had come "face to face with God".[33] but could not get answers which satisfied him.[34] His first introduction to Ramakrishna occurred in a literature class in General Assembly's Institution, when he heard Principal Reverend W. Hastie lecturing on William Wordsworth's poem The Excursion and the poet's nature-mysticism.[35] In the course of explaining the word trance in the poem, Hastie told his students that if they wanted to know the real meaning of it, they should go to Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar. This prompted some of his students, including Narendranath to visit Ramakrishna.[22][36][37]

[edit] With Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna Paramahansa
"The magic touch of the Master that day immediately brought a wonderful change over my mind. I was astounded to find that really there was nothing in the universe but God! everything I saw appeared to be Brahman. I realized that I must have had a glimpse of the Advaita state. Then it struck me that the words of the scriptures were not false. Thenceforth I could not deny the conclusions of the Advaita philosophy."[38]

Narendranath's meeting with Ramakrishna in November 1881 proved to be a turning point in his life.
[39]

About this meeting, Narendranath said, "Ramakrishna looked just like an ordinary man, with

nothing remarkable about him. He used the most simple language and I thought "Can this man be a great teacher?". I crept near to him and asked him the question which I had been asking others all my life: "Do you believe in God, Sir?" "Yes", he replied. "Can you prove it, Sir?" "Yes". "How?" "Because I see Him just as I see you here, only in a much intenser sense." That impressed me at once. [] I began to go to that man, day after day, and I actually saw that religion could be given. One touch, one glance, can change a whole life."[39][40] Even though Narendra did not accept Ramakrishna as his guru initially and revolted against his ideas, he was attracted by his personality and visited him frequently.[41] He initially looked upon Ramakrishna's ecstasies and visions as, "mere figments of imagination",[15] "mere hallucinations".[42] As a member of Brahmo samaj, he revolted against idol worship and polytheism, and Ramakrishna's worship of Kali.[43] He even rejected the Advaitist Vedantism of identity with absolute as blasphemy and madness, and often made fun of the concept[42] Though at first Narendra could not accept Ramakrishna and his visions, he could not neglect him either. It had always been in Narendra's nature to test something thoroughly before he would accept it. He tested Ramakrishna, who never asked Narendra to abandon reason, and faced all of Narendra's arguments and examinations with patience"Try to see the truth from all angles" was his reply.[41] 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 time, Narendra accepted Ramakrishna as guru, and when he accepted, his acceptance was whole-hearted and with complete surrendering as disciple.[41] In 1885 Ramakrishna suffered from throat cancer and he was shifted to Calcutta and later to Cossipore. Vivekananda and his brother disciples took care of Ramakrishna during his final days. Vivekananda's spiritual education under Ramakrishna continued there. At Cossipore, Vivekananda reportedly experienced Nirvikalpa Samadhi.[44] During the last days of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and some of the other disciples received the ochre monastic robes from Ramakrishna, which formed the first monastic order of Ramakrishna.[45] Vivekananda was taught that service to men was the most effective worship of God.[15][46] It is reported that when Vivekananda doubted Ramakrishna's claim of avatar, Ramakrishna reportedly said, "He who was Rama, He who wasKrishna, He himself is now Ramakrishna in this body."[47] During his final days, Ramakrishna asked Vivekananda to take care of other monastic disciples and in turn asked them to look upon Vivekananda as their leader. [48] Ramakrishna's condition worsened gradually and he expired in the early morning hours of August 16, 1886 at the Cossipore garden house. According to his disciples, this was Mahasamadhi.[48]

[edit] Founding of the Ramakrishna Math

After the death of their master, the monastic disciples led by Vivekananda formed a fellowship at a half-ruined house at Baranagar near the river Ganges, with the financial assistance of the

householder disciples. This became the first building of the Ramakrishna Math, or the monastery of the disciples who constituted the first monastic order of Sri Ramakrishna.[39] The dilapidated house at Baranagar was chosen because of its low rent and proximity to the Cossipore burning-ghat, where Ramakrishna was cremated. Narendra and other members of the Math often spent their time in meditation, discussing about different philosophies and teachings of spiritual teachers including Ramakrishna, Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, and Jesus Christ.[49] Narendra reminisced about the early days in the monastery as follows-[49]

In the early part of 1887, Narendra and eight other disciples took formal monastic vows. Narendra took the name of Swami Bibidishananda. Later he was coronated with the name Vivekananda by Ajit Singh, the Maharaja of Khetri.[50] In January 1899 the Baranagar Math was shifted to a newly acquired plot of land at Belur in the district of Howrah, now famous as the Belur Math.

[edit] As a wandering monk in India (1888-1893)

First known photo of Swami Vivekananda as a wandering monk at Jaipur[51]

The Wandering Monk

Later, In 1888, Vivekananda left the monastery as a Parivrjakathe Hindu religious life of a wandering monk, "without fixed abode, without ties, independent and strangers wherever they go."[52] His sole possessions were a kamandalu (water pot), staff, and his two favorite booksBhagavad Gita and The Imitation of Christ.[53] Narendranath travelled the length and breadth of India for five years, visiting important centers of learning, acquainting himself with the diverse religious traditions and different patterns of social life.[54][55] He developed a sympathy for the suffering and poverty of the masses and resolved to uplift the nation.[54][56] Living mainly on Bhiksha or alms, Narendranath traveled mostly on foot and railway tickets bought by his admirers whom he met during the travels. During these travels he gained acquaintance and stayed with scholars, Dewans, Rajas and people from all walks of lifeHindus, Muslims, Christians, Pariahs (low caste workers) and Government officials.[56] Northern India In 1888, he started his journey from Varanasi. At Varanasi, he met pandit and Bengali writer, Bhudev Mukhopadhyay and Trailanga Swami, a famous saint who lived in a Shiva temple. Here, he also met Babu Pramadadas Mitra, the noted Sanskrit scholar, to whom the Swami wrote a number of letters asking his advice on the interpretation of the Hindu scriptures.[57] After Varanasi he visited Ayodhya, Lucknow, Agra, Vrindavan, Hathras and Rishikesh. At Hathras he met Sharat Chandra Gupta, the station master who later became one of his earliest disciples as Sadananda.[58][59] Between 18881890, he visited Vaidyanath, Allahabad. From Allahabad, he visited Ghazipur where he met Pavhari Baba, a Advaita Vedanta ascetic who spent most of his time in meditation.[60] Between 1888-1890, he returned to Baranagore Math few times, because of ill health and to arrange for the financial

funds when Balaram Bose and Suresh Chandra Mitra, the disciples of Ramakrishna who supported the Math had expired.[59] The Himalayas In July 1890, accompanied by his brother monk, Swami Akhandananda, he continued his journey as a wandering monk and returned to the Math only after his visit to the West.[59][61] He visited, Nainital, Almora, Srinagar, Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar and the Himalayas. During this travel, he reportedly had a vision of macrocosm and microcosm, which seems to be reflected in the Jnana Yoga lectures he gave later in the West, "The CosmosThe Macrocosm and The Microcosm". During these travels, he met his brother monks Swami Brahmananda, Saradananda, Turiyananda, Akhandananda and Advaitananda. They stayed at Meerut for a few days where they passed their time in meditation, prayer and study of scriptures. At the end of January 1891, the Swami left his brother monks and journeyed to Delhi alone.[61][62] Rajputana At Delhi, after visiting historical places he journeyed towards Alwar, in the historic land of Rajputana. Later he journeyed to Jaipur, where he studied Panini's Ashtadhyayi with a Sanskrit scholar. He next journeyed to Ajmer, where he visited the palace of Akbar and the famous Dargah and left for Mount Abu. At Mount Abu, he met the maharaja, Ajit Singh of Khetri, who became his ardent devotee and supporter. Swami Tathagatananda, a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and the Head of Vedanta Society, New York wrote as follows : At Khetri, he delivered discourses to the Raja, became acquainted with the pandit Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Dasu, and studied Mahbhya on sutras of Panini. After two and a half months there, towards the end of October 1891, he proceeded towards Rajasthan and Maharastra.[56][63] Western India Continuing his travels, he visited Ahmedabad, Wadhwan, Limbdi. At Ahmedabad he completed his studies of Muslim and Jain culture.[56] At Limbdi, he met Thakore Sahed Jaswant Singh who had himself been to England and America. From the Thakore Saheb, the Swami first got the idea of going to the West to preach Vedanta. He later visited Junagadh, where he was the guest of Haridas Desai, the Dewan of the State, who was so charmed with his company that every evening he, with all the State officials, used to meet the Swami and converse with him until late at night. From there he also visited Girnar, Kutch, Porbander, Dwaraka, Palitana, Nadiad where he stayed at Diwan Haridas Desai's house Nadiad ni haveli and Baroda. At Porbander he stayed three quarters of a year, in spite of his vow as a wandering monk, to perfect his philosophical and Sanskrit studies with learned pandits; he worked with a court pandit who translated the Vedas.[56]

He later traveled to Mahabaleshwar and then to Pune. From Pune he visited Khandwa and Indore around June 1892. At Kathiawar he heard of the Parliament of the World's Religions and was urged by his followers there to attend it. He left Khandwa for Bombay and reached there on July 1892. In a Pune bound train he met Bal Gangadhar Tilak.[64] After staying with Tilak for few days in Poona,[65] the Swami travelled to Belgaum in October 1892. At Belgaum, he was the guest of Prof. G.S. Bhate and Sub-divisional Forest officer, Haripada Mitra. From Belgaum, he visited Panjim and Margao in Goa. He spent three days in the Rachol Seminary, the oldest convent-college of theology of Goa where rare religious literature in manuscripts and printed works in Latin are preserved. He reportedly studied important Christian theological works here.[66] From Margao the Swami went by train to Dharwar, and from there directly to Bangalore, in Mysore State.[67] Southern India At Bangalore, the Swami became acquainted with Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, the Dewan of Mysore state, and later he stayed at the palace as guest of the Maharaja of Mysore, Chamaraja Wodeyar. Regarding the Swami's learning, Sir Seshadri reportedly remarked, "a magnetic personality and a divine force which were destined to leave their mark on the history of his country." The Maharaja provided the Swami a letter of introduction to the Dewan of Cochin and got him a railway ticket.[68]

Vivekananda Temple on Vivekananda rock at Kanyakumari, India

From Bangalore, he visited Trichur, Kodungalloor, Ernakulam. At Ernakulam, he met Chattampi Swamikal, contemporary of Narayana Guru in early December 1892.[69] From Ernakulam, he journeyed to Trivandrum, Nagercoil and reached Kanyakumari on foot during the Christmas Eve of 1892.[70] At Kanyakumari, the Swami reportedly meditated on the "last bit of Indian rock", famously

known later as the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, for three days.[71] At Kanyakumari, Vivekananda had the "Vision of one India", also commonly called "The Kanyakumari resolve of 1892".[72] He wrote,

From Kanyakumari he visited Madurai, where he met the Raja of Ramnad, Bhaskara Setupati, to whom he had a letter of introduction. The Raja became the Swami's disciple and urged him to go to the Parliament of Religions at Chicago. From Madurai, he visited Rameshwaram, Pondicherry, he travelled to Madras and here he met some his most devoted disciples, who played important roles in collecting funds for Swami's voyage to America and later in establishing the Ramakrishna Mission in Madras. With the aid of funds collected by his Madras disciples and Rajas of Mysore, Ramnad, Khetri, Dewans and other followers Vivekananda left for Chicago on 31 May 1893 from Bombay assuming the name Vivekanandathe name suggested by the Maharaja of Khetri.[74][75]

[edit] Visit to Japan (1893)

On his way to Chicago, Vivekananda visited Japan in 1893. He first reached the port city of Nagasaki, and then boarded a steamer to Kobe. From here to took the land route to Yokohama, visiting along the way, the three big cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. He called the Japanese "one of the cleanest people on earth", and was impressed not only by neatness of their streets and dwellings but also by their movements, attitudes and gestures, all of which he found to be "picturesque".[76] This was a period of rapid military build-up in Japan - a prelude to the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War. These preparations did not escape the attention of Vivekananda, who wrote "The Japanese seem now to have fully awakened themselves to the necessity of the present times. They have now a thoroughly organized army equipped with guns which one of their own officers has invented and which is said to be second to none. Then, they are continually increasing their navy". About the industrial progress he observed, "The match factories are simply a sight to see, and they are bent upon making everything they want in their own country.".[76] Contrasting the rapid progress of Japan with the situation back in India, he urged his countrymen the "offspring of centuries of superstition and tyranny" - to come out of their narrow holes and have a look abroad -

[edit] First visit to the West (1893-1897)

His journey to America took him through China, Canada and he arrived at Chicago in July 1893. [77] But to his disappointment he learnt that no one without credentials from a bona fide organization would be accepted as a delegate. He came in contact with Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University.[78] After inviting him to speak at Harvard and on learning from him not having credentials to speak at the Parliament, Wright is quoted as having said, "To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens." Wright then addressed a letter to the Chairman in charge of delegates writing, "Here is a man who is more learned than all of our learned professors put together." On the Professor, Vivekananda himself writes "He urged upon me the necessity of going to the Parliament of Religions, which he thought would give an introduction to the nation."[79]

[edit] Parliament of World's Religions

Swami Vivekananda on the Platform of the Parliament of Religions

The Parliament of Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the Art Institute of Chicago. On this day Vivekananda gave his first brief address. He represented India and Hinduism.[80] Though initially nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the goddess of learning and began his speech with, "Sisters and brothers of America!".[78][81] To these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes. When silence was restored he began his address. He greeted the youngest of the nations in the name of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance."[82] And he quoted two illustrative passages in this relation, from the Bhagavad Gita "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they

appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!" and "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me."[82] Despite being a short speech, it voiced the spirit of the Parliament and its sense of universality.[82][83] Dr. Barrows, the president of the Parliament said, "India, the Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the Orange-monk who exercised the most wonderful influence over his auditors."[81] He attracted widespread attention in the press, which dubbed him as the "Cyclonic monk from India". The New York Critique wrote, "He is an orator by divine right, and his strong, intelligent face in its picturesque setting of yellow and orange was hardly less interesting than those earnest words, and the rich, rhythmical utterance he gave them." The New York Herald wrote, "Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation."[84] The American newspapers reported Swami Vivekananda as "the greatest figure in the parliament of religions" and "the most popular and influential man in the parliament".[85] He spoke several more times at the Parliament on topics related to Hinduism and Buddhism. The parliament ended on 27 September 1893. All his speeches at the Parliament had one common themeUniversalityand stressed religious tolerance.[86]

[edit] Lecturing tours in America and England

"I do not come", said Swamiji on one occasion in America, "to convert you to a new belief. I want you to keep your own belief; I want to make the Methodist a better Methodist; the Presbyterian a better Presbyterian; the Unitarian a better Unitarian. I want to teach you to live the truth, to reveal the light within your own soul."[87] After the Parliament of Religions, held in September 1893 at The Art Institute of Chicago, Vivekananda spent nearly two whole years lecturing in various parts of eastern and central United States, appearing chiefly in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, and New York. By the spring of 1895, he was weary and in poor health, because of his continuous exertion.[88] After suspending his lecture tour, the Swami started giving free and private classes on Vedanta and Yoga. In June 1895, for two months he conducted private lectures to a dozen of his disciples at the Thousand Island Park. Vivekananda considered this to be the happiest part of his first visit to America. He later founded the "Vedanta Society of New York".[88] During his first visit to America, he traveled to England twicein 1895 and 1896. His lectures were successful there.[89] Here he met Miss Margaret Noble, an Irish lady, who later became Sister Nivedita.[88] During his second visit in May 1896, while living at a house in Pimlico, the Swami met Max Mller a renowned Indologist at Oxford University who wrote Ramakrishna's first biography in the West.[83] From England, he also visited other European countries. In Germany he met Paul Deussen, another famous Indologist.[90]

He also received two academic offers, the chair of Eastern Philosophy at Harvard University[91] and a similar position at Columbia University. He declined both, saying that, as a wandering monk, he could not settle down to work of this kind.[88]

Swami Vivekananda in London

He attracted several sincere followers. Among his other followers were, Josephine MacLeod, Miss Mller, Miss Noble, E.T. Sturdy, Captain and Mrs. Sevierwho played an important role in the founding of Advaita Ashrama and J.J. Goodwinwho became his stenographer and recorded his teachings and lectures.[88][90] The Hale family became one of his warmest hosts in America.[92] His disciplesMadame Louise, a French woman, became Swami Abhayananda, and Mr. Leon Landsberg, became Swami Kripananda. He initiated several other followers into Brahmacharya.[93] Swami Vivekananda's ideas were admired by several scholars and famous thinkersWilliam James, Josiah Royce, C. C. Everett, Dean of the Harvard School of Divinity, Robert G. Ingersoll, Nikola Tesla, Lord Kelvin, and Professor Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz.[15] Other personalities who were attracted by his talks were Harriet Monroe and Ella Wheeler Wilcoxtwo famous American poets, Professor William James of Harvard University; Dr. Lewis G. Janes, president of Brooklyn Ethical Association; Sara C. Bull, wife of Ole Bull, the Norwegian violinist; Sarah Bernhardt, the French actress and Madame Emma Calv, the French opera singer.[94]

From West, he also set his Indian work in motion. Vivekananda wrote a stream of letters to India, giving advice and sending money to his followers and brother monks. His letters from the West in these days laid down the motive of his campaign for social service.[95] He constantly tried to inspire his close disciples in India to do something big. His letters to them contain some of his strongest words.[96] In one such letter, he wrote to Swami Akhandananda, "Go from door to door amongst the poor and lower classes of the town of Khetri and teach them religion. Also, let them have oral lessons on geography and such other subjects. No good will come of sitting idle and having princely dishes, and saying "Ramakrishna, O Lord!"unless you can do some good to the poor."[97][98] Eventually in 1895, the periodical called Brahmavadin was started in Madras, with the money supplied by Vivekananda, for the purpose of teaching the Vedanta.[99] Subsequenly, Vivekananda's translation of first six chapters of The Imitation of Christ was published in Brahmavadin (1889).[100] Vivekananda left for India on 16 December 1896 from England with his disciples, Captain and Mrs. Sevier, and J.J. Goodwin. On the way they visited France, Italy, seeing Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, and set sail for India from the Port of Naples on December 30, 1896.[101] Later, he was followed to India by Max Mller and Sister Nivedita. Sister Nivedita devoted the rest of her life to the education of Indian women and the cause of India's independence.[88][102]

[edit] Back in India (1897-1899)

Swami Vivekananda at Chennai 1897

[edit] Colombo to Almora

Vivekananda arrived in Colombo on January 15, 1897 and received an ecstatic welcome. Here, he gave his first public speech in East, India, the Holy Land. From there on, his journey to Calcutta was a triumphal progress. He traveled from Colombo to Pamban, Rameshwaram, Ramnad, Madurai, Kumbakonam and Madras delivering lectures. People and Rajas gave him enthusiastic reception. In the procession at Pamban, the Raja of Ramnad personally drew the Swami's carriage. On way to Madras, at several places where the train would not stop, the people squatted on the rails and

allowed the train to pass only after hearing the Swami.[103] From Madras, he continued his journey to Calcutta and continued his lectures up to Almora.While in the West he talked of India's great spiritual heritage, on return to India the refrain of his 'Lectures from Colombo to Almora' was uplift of the masses, eradication of the caste virus, promotion of the study of science, industrialization of the country, removal of poverty, the end of the colonial rule.These lectures have been published as Lectures from Colombo to Almora. These lectures are considered to be of nationalistic fervor and spiritual ideology.[104] His speeches had tremendous influence on the Indian leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Bipin Chandra Pal and Balgangadhar Tilak.[105][106]

[edit] Founding of the Ramakrishna Mission

Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, a branch of the Ramakrishna Math, founded on March 19, 1899, later published many of Swami Vivekananda's work, now publishes Prabuddha Bharata journal
On 1 May 1897 at Calcutta, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Missionthe organ for social service. The ideals of the Ramakrishna Mission are based on Karma Yoga.[107][108] Its governing body consists of the trustees of the Ramakrishna Math- the organ to carry out religious works.[109] Due to the close association between the two, both have their headquarters at Belur, near Calcutta. This was the beginning of an organized social and religious movement to help the masses through educational, cultural, medical and relief work.[83] Two other monasteries were founded by him- one at Mayavati on the Himalayas, near Almora called the Advaita Ashrama and another at Madras. Two journals were also started, Prabuddha Bharata in English and Udbhodan in Bengali.[110] The same year, the famine relief work was started by Swami Akhandananda at Murshidabad district.[83][109] Vivekananda had inspired Sir Jamshedji Tata to set up a research and educational institution when they had travelled together from Yokohama to Chicago on the Swami's first visit to the West in 1893. About this time the Swami received a letter from Tata, requesting him to head the Research Institute of Science that Tata had set up. But Vivekananda declined the offer saying that it conflicted with his spiritual interests.[111][112]

[edit] Visit to Punjab

He later visited western Punjab with the mission of establishing harmony between the Arya Samaj which stood for reinterpreted Hinduism and the Sanatanaists who stood for orthodox Hinduism. At Rawalpindi, he suggested methods for rooting out antagonism between Arya Samajists and Muslims.[113] His visit to Lahore is memorable for his famous speeches and his inspiring association with Tirtha Ram Goswami, then a brilliant professor of Mathematics, who later graced monasticism as Swami Rama Tirtha and preached Vedanta in India and America.[109] He also visited other places,

including Delhi and Khetri and returned to Calcutta in January 1896. He spent the next few months consolidating the work of the Math and training the disciples. During this period he composed the famous arati song, Khandana Bhava Bandhana during the event of consecration of Ramakrishna's temple at a devotees' house.[114]

[edit] Second visit to the West and last years (1899-1902)

Vivekananda once again left for the West in June 1899, amid his declining health.[115] He was accompanied by Sister Nivedita and Swami Turiyananda. He spent a short time in England, and went on to America. During this visit, he founded the Vedanta societies at San Francisco and New York. He also founded "Shanti Ashrama" (peace retreat) at California, with the aid of a generous 160-acre (0.65 km2) gift from an American devotee.[116] Later he attended the Congress of Religions, in Paris in 1900.[117] The Paris addresses are memorable for the scholarly penetration evinced by Vivekananda related to worship of Linga and authenticity of the Gita. From Paris he paid short visits to Brittany, Vienna, Istanbul, Athens and Egypt. For the greater part of this period, he was the guest of Jules Bois, the famous thinker.[116] He left Paris on October 24, 1900, and arrived at the Belur Math on December 9, 1900.[116]

The Swami Vivekananda temple at Belur Math, on the place where he was cremated.
Vivekananda spent few of his days at Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati and later at the Belur Math. Henceforth till the end he stayed at Belur Math, guiding the work of Ramakrishna Mission and Math and the work in England and America. Thousands of visitors came to him during these years including The Maharaja of Gwalior and in December 1901, the stalwarts of Indian National Congress including Lokamanya Tilak. In December 1901, he was invited to Japan to participate in the Congress of Religions, however his failing health made it impossible. He undertook pilgrimages to Bodhgaya and Varanasi towards his final days.[118]

[edit] Death

His tours, hectic lecturing engagements, private discussions and correspondence had taken their toll on his health. He was suffering from asthma, diabetes and other physical ailments.[119] A few days prior to his demise, he was seen intently studying the almanac. Three days before his death he pointed out the spot for this cremationthe one at which a temple in his memory stands today. He had remarked to several persons that he would not live to be forty.[119] On the day of his death, he taught Shukla-Yajur-Veda to some pupils in the morning at Belur Math.
[120]

He had a walk with Swami Premananda, a brother-disciple, and gave him instructions concerning

the future of the Ramakrishna Math. Vivekananda died at ten minutes past nine P.M. on July 4, 1902 while he was meditating. According to his disciples, this was Mahasamadhi.[121] Afterward, his disciples recorded that they had noticed "a little blood" in the Swami's nostrils, about his mouth and in his eyes.[122] The doctors remarked that it was due to the rupture of a blood-vessel in the brain, but they could not find the real cause of the death. According to his disciples, Brahmarandhra the aperture in the crown of the head must have been pierced when he attained Mahasamadhi. Vivekananda had fulfilled his own prophecy of not living to be forty years old.[120]

[edit] Teachings and philosophy

Part of a series on

Hindu philosophy

Schools Samkhya Tantra Yoga Nyaya Vaisheshika Mims Vedanta

Bheda Abheda) (Advaita Vedanta Vishishtadvaita Dvaitadvaita Dvaita Achintya

Personalities Ancient Gautama Jaimini Kanada Kapila

Markandeya Patajali Nammalvar Medieval Abhinavagupta Adi Shankara Yamunacharya Ramanuja Madhvacharya Basava Dnyaneshwar Srimanta Sankardeva Chaitanya Vedanta Desika Pillai Lokacharya Manavala Mamunigal Jayanta Bhatta Kabir Namdev Ramananda Guru Ravidas Bhagat Pipa Surdas Jayadeva Bhagat Trilochan Kumrila Bhaa Madhusudana Madhva Nimbarka Prabhakara Raghunatha Siromani Lakshmi Kumara Thathachariar Vallabha Samarth Ramdas Tukaram Tulsidas Raghavendra Swami Ramprasad Sen Kamalakanta Bhattacharya Vachaspati Mishra Modern Aurobindo Coomaraswamy Chinmayananda Dayananda Saraswati Narayana Guru Prabhupada Radhakrishnan Ramakrishna Ramana Maharshi Sivananda Vivekananda Yogananda

v d e

Swami Vivekananda believed that the essence of Hinduism was best expressed in the Vedanta philosophy, based on the interpretation of Adi Shankara. He summarized the Vedanta's teachings as follows,[123]

Each soul is potentially divine.[123] The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.[123] Do this either by work, or worship, or mental discipline, or philosophyby one, or more, or all of theseand be free.[123] This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.[123] So long as even a single dog in my country is without food my whole religion is to feed it and serve it, anything excluding that is nonreligious.

According to Vivekananda, an important teaching he received from Ramakrishna was that "Jiva is Shiva" (each individual is divinity itself).[124] 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.[citation needed] 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 Ramakrishna Math and Mission on the principle of "Atmano Mokshartham Jagat-hitaya cha" ( ) (for one's own salvation and for the welfare of the World).[125] Vivekananda advised his followers to be holy, unselfish and have shraddha (faith). He encouraged the practice of Brahmacharya (Celibacy). In one of the conversations with his childhood friend Priya Nath Sinha he attributes his physical and mental strengths, and eloquence to the practice of Brahmacharya.[126] Vivekananda did not advocate the emerging area of parapsychology and 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. Vivekananda and science In his book Raja Yoga, Vivekananda explores traditional views on the supernatural and the belief that the practice of Raja Yoga can confer psychic powers such as 'reading another's thoughts', 'controlling all the forces of nature',[127] 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 (chakras).[128] Vivekananda advocated to test thoroughly before making your decision of accepting or denying something:

He further says in the introduction of the book that one should take up the practice and verify these things for oneself, and that there should not be blind belief.

In his paper read at the World Parliament of Religions, Chicago (1893), Vivekananda also hinted about the final goal of physics:

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.[132][133]

[edit] Influence
Several leaders of 20th Century India and philosophers have acknowledged Vivekananda's influence. The first governor general of independent India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, said "Vivekananda saved Hinduism, saved India."[134] According to Subhash Chandra Bose, Vivekananda "is the maker of modern India"[135] and for Mohandas Gandhi, Vivekananda's influence increased his "love for his country a thousandfold." National Youth Day in India is held on his birthday, January 12.
[136]

Swami Vivekananda is widely considered to have inspired India's freedom struggle movement.[citation
needed]

His writings inspired a whole generation of freedom fighters including Subhash Chandra Bose,

Aurobindo Ghose and Bagha Jatin.[citation needed] Vivekananda was the brother of the revolutionary freedom fighter, Bhupendranath Dutta. Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the most prominent figures in Indian independence movement said[137]

Aurobindo Ghose considered Vivekananda as his spiritual mentor.

Swami Vivekananda Statue near Gateway of India

At the Belur Math, Mahatma Gandhi was heard to say that his whole life was an effort to bring into actions the ideas of Vivekananda.[138] Many years after Vivekananda's death, Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel Poet Laureate told Romain Rolland,[139]

The French Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland writes[140] ,

Vivekananda inspired Jamshedji Tata[141] to set up Indian Institute of Science, one of India's finest Institutions. Abroad, he had some interactions with Max Mller. Scientist Nikola Tesla was one of those influenced by the Vedic philosophy teachings of the Swami Vivekananda. On November 11, 1995, a section of Michigan Avenue, one of the most prominent streets in Chicago, was formally renamed "Swami Vivekananda Way".[142] 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 his name. One such group also exists at IIT Madras and is popularly known as Vivekananda Study Circle. Another one exists at IIT Kanpur by the name Vivekananda Samiti.

Additionally, Swami Vivekananda's ideas and teachings have carried on globally, being practiced in institutions all over the world. In 2011, during the anti-corruption Lokpal bill movement, the prominent figure and Gandhian activist Anna Hazare repeatedly mentioned that he was greatly inspired by Swami Vivekananda's thoughts.
[143]

[edit] Works
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical works (see Vivekananda's complete works). Vivekananda observed that the billions of people on the earth could be classified into four basic types- those who were in constant activity, or the worker; those who were driven by their inner urge to achieve something in life, or the lover; those who tended to analyze the working of their minds, or the mystic and those who weighed everything with reason, or the philosopher. His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas (Karma yoga for the worker, Bhakti yoga for the lover, Raja yoga for the mystic , and Jnana yoga for the philosopher) 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.[144] By the time of his death, 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.

[edit] See also

Vivekananda Kendra Sister Gargi (Marie Louise Burke) Vivekanandar Illam

[edit] Notes
1. ^ Vivekananda, Swami (19). "Paper On Hinduism". Complete Works Of Swami
Vivekananda. http://www.advaitaashrama.org/cw/volume_1/addresses_at_the_parliament/v1_c1_pa per_on_hinduism.htm. Retrieved 16 August 2011.

2. ^ a b Justice, Phyllis G. (2003), Holy People of the World, ABC-CLIO, pp. 899 3. ^ a b Georg, Feuerstein (2002), The Yoga Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 600 4. ^ Clarke, Peter Bernard (2006), New Religions in Global Perspective, Routledge,
p. 209

5. ^ Von Dense, Christian D. (1999), Philosophers and Religious Leaders, Greenwood

Publishing Group, p. 191

6. ^ Vivekananda, Swami (11th September, 1893), Response to Welcome, Parliament of

Religions, Chicago,

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_1/ Addresses_at_The_Parliament_of_Religions/Response_to_Welcome

7. ^ Harshavardhan Dutt (2005), Immortal Speeches, p. 121 8. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, p. 21 9. ^ Sahoo, Srijata. "Ancestral Home Birthplace Of Vivekananda". Datta Ancestral Home
- Birthplace of Vivekananda. Government of India. http://www.vivekananda.net/HistoricalPreservation/PressInformationBureau.html. Retrieved 3 October 2011.

10. ^ Mukhopadhyay, Manishankar (1996). Obishshashyo Vivekananda. Kalikt:

Shityama. pp. 19. http://www.nirmalsahityam.com. Retrieved 16 August 2011.

11. ^ a b Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, p. 11 12. ^ a b Swami Chetanananda, "Swami Vivekananda", God lived with them, p. 20 13. ^ Nikhilananda, Swami. Swami Vivekananda - A Biography. Ramakrishna
Vivekananda Center OF New York. pp. 3, 5, 23, 44.

14. ^ Amiya Sen 2003, p. 19 15. ^ a b c d e Nikhilananda 1964 16. ^ a b c d Amiya Sen 2003, p. 20 17. ^ Biswas, Arun Kumar (1987), Buddha and Bodhisattva, Cosmo Publications, p. 19 18. ^ a b Arrington, Robert L.; Tapan Kumar Chakrabarti (2001), "Swami Vivekananda", A
Companion to the Philosophers, Blackwell Publishing, p. 628

19. ^ Amiya Sen 2003, p. 21 20. ^ a b Early Years 21. ^ Banhatti 1995, p. 4 22. ^ a b c Amiya Sen 2006, pp. 1214 23. ^ Amiya Sen 2003, pp. 104105 24. ^ Pangborn, Cyrus R.; Bardwell L. Smith (1976), "The Ramakrishna Math and
Mission", Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions, Brill Archive, p. 106, "Narendra, son of a Calcutta attorney, student of the intellectually most demanding subjects in arts and sciences at Scottish Church College."

25. ^ a b Dhar 1976, p. 53 26. ^ a b Malagi, R.A.; M.K.Naik (2003), "Stirred Spirit: The Prose of Swami Vivekananda",
Perspectives on Indian Prose in English, Abhinav Publications, pp. 3637

27. ^ Prabhananda 2003, p. 233 28. ^ Banhatti 1995, pp. 79 "Vivekananda is said to have offered, in a letter to Herbert
Spencer, some criticism of the celebrated philosopher's speculations, which the aged stalwart is said to have appreciated."

29. ^ Swami Vivekananda By N.L. Gupta, p.2 30. ^ Dhar 1976, p. 59 31. ^ Dutta, Mahendranath, Dhirendranath Basu, ed., Sri Sri Ramakrishner Anudhyan
(6th ed.), p. 89

32. ^ Bhuyan, P. R. (2003), Swami Vivekananda, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, p. 5

33. ^ Amiya Sen 2006, pp. 1213 34. ^ Pangborn, Cyrus R.; Bardwell L. Smith (1976), "The Ramakrishna Math and
Mission", Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions, Brill Archive, p. 106

35. ^ Joseph, Jaiboy (2002-06-23). "Master visionary". The Hindu.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2002/06/23/stories/2002062300310400.ht m. Retrieved 2008-10-09.

36. ^ Mukherjee, Dr. Jayasree (May 2004), "Sri Ramakrishna's Impact on Contemporary
Indian Society", Prabuddha Bharatha, http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna %27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php, retrieved 2008-09-04

37. ^ Swami Chetanananda, God lived with them, p. 22, "Hastie said, 'I have known only
one person, who has realized that blessed state, and he is Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar. You will understand it better if you visit this saint.'"

38. ^ Mannumel, Thomas, The Advaita of Vivekananda: A Philosophical Appraisal, p. 17 39. ^ a b c Prabhananda 2003, p. 232 40. ^ Vivekananda, Swami, "My Master", The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 4,
Advaita Ashrama, pp. 178179, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_4/ Lectures_and_Discourses/My_Master

41. ^ a b c Banhatti 1995, pp. 1013 42. ^ a b Rolland, Romain (1929), "Naren the Beloved Disciple", The Life of Ramakrishna,
pp. 169193

43. ^ Arora, V. K. (1968), "Communion with Brahmo Samaj", The social and political
philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, Punthi Pustak, pp. 4

44. ^ Isherwood, Christopher (1976), Meditation and Its Methods According to Swami
Vivekananda, Vedanta Press, p. 20

45. ^ Cyrus R. Pangborn, "The Ramakrishna Math and Mission", Hinduism: New Essays in
the History of Religions, p. 98

46. ^ Isherwood, Christopher (1976), Meditation and Its Methods According to Swami
Vivekananda, Vedanta Press, p. 20, "He realized under the impact of his Master that all the living beings are the embodiments of the 'Divine Self'... Hence, service to God can be rendered only by service to man."

47. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, p. 183 48. ^ a b Rolland, Romain (1929), "The River Re-Enters the Sea", The Life of Ramakrishna,
pp. 201214

49. ^ a b God lived with them, p.38 50. ^ God lived with them, p.39 51. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, p. 277 52. ^ Rolland 2008, p. 7 53. ^ Dhar 1976, p. 243 54. ^ a b Richards, Glyn (1996), "Vivekananda", A Source-Book of Modern Hinduism,
Routledge, pp. 7778

55. ^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 12

56. ^ a b c d e Rolland 2008, pp. 1625 57. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 214216 58. ^ Rolland 2008, pp. 1112 59. ^ a b c Banhatti 1995, pp. 1922 60. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 227228 61. ^ a b Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 243261 62. ^ Rolland 2008, p. 15 63. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 262287 64. ^ Rolland 2008, p. 25 "It was so at Poona in October, 1892; Tilak, the famous savant
and Hindu political leader, took him at first for a wandering monk of no importance and began by being ironical; then, struck by his replies revealing his great mind and knowledge, he received him into his house for ten days without ever knowing his real name. It was only later, when the newspapers brought him from America the echoes of Vivekananda's triumph and a description of the conqueror, that he recognised the anonymous guest who had dwelt beneath his roof."

65. ^ Dhar 1976, p. 1434 "Tilak recorded his impressions as follows, 'When asked about
his name he only said he was a Sanyasin ....There was absolutely no money with him. A deerskin, one or two clothes and a Kamandalu were his only possessions.'

66. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 288320 67. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 321346 68. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 323325 69. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 327329 70. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 339342 71. ^ This view is supported by the evidence of two eyewitnesses. One of these was
Ramasubba Iyer. In 1919, when Swami Virajananda, a disciple of the Swamiji, went on pilgrimage to Kanyakumari, Iyer told him that he had himself seen the Swami meditating on the rock for hours together, for three days consecutively ... Another eye-witness, Sadashivam Pillai, told that the Swami had remained on the rock for three nights and had seen him swim over to the rock. Next morning Pillai went to the rock with food for the Swami. There he found him meditating; and when Pillai asked him to return to the mainland, he refused. When he offered food to the Swami, the latter asked him not to disturb him. See, Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 344346

72. ^ a b Agarwal, Satya P. (1998), The social role of the Gt: how and why, Motilal
Banarsidass, pp. 59, ISBN 9788120815247, http://books.google.com/? id=Gt0XdLly0i0C&pg=PA59

73. ^ Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, p.24 74. ^ Banhatti 1995, p. 24 75. ^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, pp. 359383 76. ^ a b c Paranjape, Makarand (2005), Penguin Swami Vivekananda Reader, Penguin
India, pp. 246248, ISBN 0143032542

77. ^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 15

78. ^ a b Minor, Robert Neil (1986), "Swami Vivekananda's use of the Bhagavad Gita",
Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad Gita, SUNY Press, p. 133

79. ^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 16 80. ^ Banhatti 1995, p. 27 "Representatives from several countries, and all religions,
were seated on the platform, including Mazoomdar of the Brahmo Samaj, Nagarkar of Prarthana Samaj, Gandhi representing the Jains, and Chakravarti and Mrs. Annie Besant representing Theosophy. None represeted Hinduism, as such, and that mantle fell on Vivekananda."

81. ^ a b P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 17 82. ^ a b c McRae 1991 83. ^ a b c d Prabhananda 2003, p. 234 84. ^ J. N. Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India, p. 202 85. ^ Sharma, Arvind, "Swami Vivekananda's Experiences", Neo-Hindu Views of
Christianity, p. 87

86. ^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 18 87. ^ "Sayings and Utterances", The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 5, pp. 419,
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_5/ Sayings_and_Utterances

88. ^ a b c d e f Adjemian, Robert; Christopher Isherwood, "On Swami Vivekananda", The

Wishing Tree, pp. 121122

89. ^ Banhatti 1995, p. 30 90. ^ a b God lived with them, pp.49-50 91. ^ How Yoga Won the West, New York Times 92. ^ Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, p.27 93. ^ Burke, Marie Louise (1958), Swami Vivekananda in America: New Discoveries,
p. 618

94. ^ God lived with them, p.47 95. ^ Kattackal, Jacob (1982), Religion and Ethics in Advaita, St. Thomas Apostolic
Seminary, p. 219

96. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra (1963), Swami Vivekananda Centenary Memorial

Volume, p. 577

97. ^ Burke, Marie Louise (1983), Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries,
p. 417

98. ^ Sharma, Benishankar (1963), Swami Vivekananda: A Forgotten Chapter of His Life,
Oxford Book & Stationary Co.,, p. 227

99. ^ Sheean, Vincent (2005), "Forerunners of Gandhi", Lead, Kindly Light: Gandhi and
the Way to Peace, Kessinger Publishing, p. 345

100.^ Sharma, Arvind, "Swami Vivekananda's Experiences", Neo-Hindu Views of

Christianity, p. 83

101.^ Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, pp.33-34 102.^ A Comprehensive Biography of Swami Vivekananda, p.852

103.^ "Return and Consolidation", Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, pp. 33
34

104.^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 20 105.^ P. R. Bhuyan, Swami Vivekananda, p. 27 106.^ Gokhale, B. G. (Jan., 1964), "Swami Vivekananda and Indian Nationalism", Journal
of Bible and Religion (Oxford University Press) 32 (1): 3542, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1460427, "Vivekananda, Tilak, and Gandhi form parts of one continuous process. Many of Gandhi's ideas on Hinduism and spirituality come close to those of Vivekananda."

107.^ Thomas, Abraham Vazhayil (1974), Christians in Secular India, p. 44,

"Vivekananda emphasized Karma Yoga, purposeful action in the world as the thing needful for the regeneration of the political, social and religious life of the Hindus."

108.^ Miller, Timothy, "The Vedanta Movement and Self-Realization fellowship",

America's Alternative Religions, p. 181, "Vivekananda was adamant that the social worker should never believe that she or he was actually improving the world, which is, after all, illusory. Service should be performed without attachment to the final results. In this manner, social service becomes karma yoga, the disciple of action, that ultimately brings spiritual benefits to the server, not to those being served."

109.^ a b c Banhatti 1995, pp. 3435 110.^ Kraemer, Hendrik, "Cultural response of Hindu India", World Cultures and World
Religions, p. 151

111.^ Prabhananda 2003, p. 235 112.^ LULLA, ANIL BUDUR (September 3, 2007). "IISc looks to Belur for seeds of birth".
The Telegraph.

113.^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006a, p. 291 114.^ Banhatti 1995, pp. 3536 115.^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006b, p. 450 116.^ a b c Banhatti 1995, pp. 4142 117.^ "The Paris Congress of the History of Religions", Complete Works of Swami
Vivekananda, 4, Advaita Ashrama, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_4/ Translation:_Prose/The_Paris_Congress_of_the_History_of_Religions

118.^ Banhatti 1995, pp. 4344 119.^ a b Banhatti 1995, pp. 4546 120.^ a b Eastern and Western disciples 2006b, pp. 645662 121.^ A.P. Sen (2006), "Editor's Introduction", The Indispensable Vivekananda, p. 27 122.^ M.V. Kamnath (2005), "p.241", Philosophy of Life and Death 123.^ a b c d e Jackson, Carl T (1994), "The Founders", Vedanta for the West, Indiana
University Press, pp. 3334

124.^ Y. Masih (1991), "Introduction to Religious Philosophy", Introduction to Religious

Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 68

125.^ Agarwal, Satya P. (1998), The social role of the Gt: how and why, Motilal
Banarsidass, p. ix

126.^ Priya Nath Sinha, "Conversations and Dialogues : VI - X Shri Priya Nath Sinha",
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 5, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_5/ Conversations_and_Dialogues_(Recorded_by_Disciples_-_Translated)/Volume_5/VI__X_Shri_Priya_Nath_Sinha

127.^ Here nature is not referred as mother nature, but as prakriti or maya as described
in Bhagavad Gita's cosmology

128.^ Vivekananda's Raja Yoga (Hinduism) 129.^ The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Raja-Yoga/Preface 130.^ The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Raja-Yoga/Introductory 131.^ s:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 1/Addresses at The
Parliament of Religions/Paper on Hinduism

132.^ Eastern and Western disciples 2006b, p. 68 133.^ Vivekananda also mentioned this to E.T.Sturdy in one of his epistles 134.^ Prabuddha Bharata: 112, 1983. 135.^ "Article on Swami Vivekananda".
http://www.ramakrishna.eu/EnglishVivekananda.html. Retrieved 13 September 2011.

136.^ "National Youth Day". National Portal of India. Government Of India. 10 January
2009. http://india.gov.in/allimpfrms/alldocs/2539.pdf. Retrieved 5 October 2011.

137.^ "Article On Swami Vivekananda". Sri Chinmoy Centre.

http://www.writespirit.net/authors/swami_vivekananda/quotes-on-swamivivekananda/index.html. Retrieved 13 September 2011.

138.^ Campbell, Joseph; Robin Larsen, Stephen Larsen, Antony Van Couvering (2002),
"Travels with the Swami", Baksheesh & Brahman, New World Library, pp. 74, ISBN 9781577312376, http://books.google.com/?id=VySPqLx1DucC&pg=PA74

139.^ "Article on Swami Vivekananda".

http://www.isical.ac.in/~econophys/swamiji.html. Retrieved 20 August 2011.

140.^ Nikhilananda (1953). "Vivekananda A Biography".

http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda_biography/01_preface.htm. Retrieved 13 September 2011.

141.^ IISC 142.^ July 13, 1998 Press Release From the Consulate General of India, Chicago 143.^ " ". Sakal. 22 August 2011.
http://www.esakal.com/esakal/20110822/5707081137403404595.htm. Retrieved 22 August 2011. wonderful master of language and a poet, Vivekananda was a complete artist."

144.^ G. S. Banhatti, The Quintessence of Vivekananda, p. 276, "A singer, a painter, a

[edit] Bibliography
Amiya Sen (2003), Swami Vivekananda (Narayani Gupta ed.), New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 109, ISBN 0195645650 Amiya Sen (2006), Indispensable Vivekananda, Orient Blackswan, pp. 242, ISBN 9788178241302, http://books.google.com/? id=usBhrZcnJ78C&printsec=frontcover

Banhatti, G.S. (1995), Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, pp. 276, ISBN 9788171562916, http://books.google.com/?id=jK5862eV7_EC&printsec=frontcover Bakshi, Rajni (1993), The Dispute Over Swami Vivekananda's Legacy Chetananda, Swami (1997), God lived with them: life stories of sixteen monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, St. Louis, Missouri: Vedanta Society of St. Louis, pp. 655, ISBN 0916356809 Prabhananda, Swami (June 2003), "Profiles of famous educators: Swami Vivekananda", Prospects (Netherlands: Springer) XXXIII (2): 231245, http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/publications/ThinkersP df/vivekane.pdf. McRae, John R. (1991), "Oriental Verities on the American Frontier: The 1893 World's Parliament of Religions and the Thought of Masao Abe", BuddhistChristian Studies (University of Hawai'i Press) 11: 736, doi:10.2307/1390252, JSTOR 1390252. Vivekananda, Swami (2001), Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 9 Volumes (Mayavati Memorial ed.), Advaita Ashrama, ISBN 978-8185301754, http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm Rolland, Romain (2008), The Life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel (24 ed.), Advaita Ashrama, pp. 328, ISBN 9788185301013, http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/scripts/FullindexDefault.htm? path1=/data_copy/upload/0078/360&first=1&last=438&barcode=60100100783 55 Nikhilananda, Swami (April 1964), "Swami Vivekananda Centenary", Philosophy East and West (University of Hawai'i Press) 14 (1): 7375, doi:10.2307/1396757, JSTOR 1396757. Nikhilananda, Swami, Vivekananda: A Biography, ISBN 0-911206-25-6, http://www.vivekananda.net/PDFBooks/BiographybyNikhilananda.pdf the swami Virajananda, ed. (1910-1918), The Life of the swami Vivekananda / by his eastern and western disciples... (The semi-centenary birthday memorial ed. in four volumes ed.), Mayavati: Advaita ashrama, http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb37011727r/PUBLIC Eastern and Western disciples (July 2006a), Life of Swami Vivekananda, 1 (Sixth ed.), Advaita Ashrama, ISBN 81-7505-043-8 older edition Eastern and Western disciples (July 2006b), Life of Swami Vivekananda, 2 (Sixth ed.), Advaita Ashrama, ISBN 81-7505-044-6 Sil, Narasingha, Swami Vivekananda: A Reassessment, ISBN 0-945636-97-0 Nivedita, Sister, The Master As I Saw Him, http://www.archive.org/details/masterasisawhimb00niveiala Nivedita, Sister, Notes of Some Wanderings With the Swami Vivekananda, http://www.archive.org/details/notesofsome00viveuoft Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries Dhar, Shailendra Nath (1976), A Comprehensive Biography of Swami Vivekananda, Vivekananda Prakashan Kendra

Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda, Advaita Ashrama, ISBN 81-85301-17-4 Vivekananda: The Great Spiritual Teacher by A Compilation, ISBN 81-7505-1477 Chaturvedi Badrinath (2006), Swami Vivekananda The Living Vedanta, Penguin, ISBN 0143062093 Swami Jyotirmayananda (August 2000), Vivekananda -- His Gospel of ManMaking (5 ed.), http://www.vivekanandagospel.org Sankariprasad Basu, (Vivekananda and contemporary India), 7 Volumes

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Last update08:04:05 PM GMT Back Essay For College Students Essay on Vivekananda: The Father of Religious and Spiritual Nationalism in India

Essay on Vivekananda: The Father of Religious and Spiritual Nationalism in India

VIKAS ESSAY FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

Essay on Vivekananda: The Father of Religious and Spiritual Nationalism in India Introduction: Swami Vivekananda appeared at a critical phase in our history when India was struggling under the thralldom of British and had almost lost her confidence in its culture and way of life. He can be considered as the first, foremost and finest spark that rekindled the flame of Indian spiritual renaissance. Development of Thought: Vivekananda had a firm faith in the unity of Godhood and the deeper unity of all religions. The real substance of all religions lies in their principles and it is there, that unity of all religions can be seen. Spiritualism refers to the steady manifestation of the divine within, out of which goodness, purity, love and service alone can manifest. Religion becomes a science only when we seek it, and not merely when we are born in it. The fullest development of man and the happiest of inter-human relations cannot be achieved by merely stressing, and overstressing, the ethnical aspect of any religion. According to Vivekananda, ethnical religion, with its do's and don'ts can remain a base but we have to build the superstructure of spirituality on it. India, as enlivened by Vivekananda, gently whispers today into the ears of everyone of us Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh or others: We may start at the ethnical dimension, but try to grow beyond it to the spiritual dimension, approach religion as a science of human growth, development, and fulfillment and as a means of happy and fruitful inter-human relation. Every religion has two dimensions; first, the ethnical, or tribal or sociopolitical, and the second, the spiritual or scientific. It is good for our people to understand the nature and scope of these two dimensions of religion.

Different results flow from each of these dimensions. When we use the words 'Hindu', 'Muslim', 'Christian', 'Buddhist', 'Jain', 'Sikh', etc., they refer to the ethnical Conclusion: Thus, he was one of the greatest architects of modern India and the most prominent among the spiritual ambassadors ever sent by India to foreign countries. According to him religion formed the 'centre', the keynote of the whole music of the national life of India and he was one of the who shook India out of her slumber and reawakened her soul. Every religion has two dimensions; first, the ethnical, or tribal or sociopolitical, and the second, the spiritual or scientific. It is good for our people to understand the nature and scope of these two dimensions of religion. Different results flow from each of these dimensions. When we use the words 'Hindu', 'Muslim', 'Christian', 'Buddhist', 'Jain', 'Sikh', etc., they refer to the ethnical dimension of religion. It is the dimension of religion in which we are born. We have nothing to say in the matter. And we can remain in that dimension virtuous or wicked, good or evil, peaceful or violent, unselfish or selfish. But when we come to the second dimension of religion, namely, the scientific, we find a slow but steady spiritual growth in man, the steady manifestation of the divine within, out of which goodness, purity, love and service alone can manifest Religion becomes a science only when we seek it, and not merely when we are born in it. This is the characteristic of the scientific temper. Nobody is born into physics or chemistry, zoology or botany. One seeks to be a scientist in any of these fields. Without that seeking, there is no science. Science does not brook any ethnical limitation. Similarly, we are born into religion of the ethnical dimension but we come to the science of religion only by seeking it and by achieving spiritual growth. There is such a thing as the spiritual growth of man. as there is such a thing as the physical and intellectual growth of man. All the great mystics of the world's religions are scientists in religion in this sense; they sought, experimented with, and experienced, religion; they achieved spiritual growth. They started their religious life, like any other person, as belonging to this or that ethnical relation; but their spirit of seeking and experiment took them beyond that ethnical dimension which is exclusive and narrow, to the spiritual dimension which is universal. Except the ones who have remained narrow, by yielding to the authoritative and coercing power of the narrow dogmas of the ethnical dimension of their religion, every mystic has manifested this universal dimension through the experience of God not a God sitting far away in the sky but the one God hidden in man and nature. Man has the organic capacity to realise, to experience, God in that sense. Such realization takes him or her beyond his or her sensory limitations to the transcendental, infinite, and immortal dimension.

This is what the scientific and spiritual dimension of religion means. Once we have a touch of that infinite immortal dimension our every word, our every act, will be suffused only with love and peace. The view of M. N. Roy is that the nationalism of Vivekananda was in the nature of spiritual imperialism. However, it is pointed out that the very idea of spiritual imperialism is a contradiction in terms. What Vivekananda pleaded for was not imperialism but nationalism based on spiritualism and hence Vivekananda can be described as the father of religious and spiritual nationalism in India. To quote Vivekananda, "Race, religion. Government, all these together make the nation. The one common ground that we have is our sacred tradition, our religion. This is the only common ground and upon that we shall have to build. In Europe, political ideas form the national unity. The unity in religion, therefore, is absolutely necessary as the first condition of the future of Indian." Vivekananda explained that by one religion he did not mean denominational religion like Christianity or Buddhism. He maintained that in Hindu religion there were certain common grounds and Hindu religion also admitted variation. What he meant by religion was that of in fundamentals which were common to all religions, should be accepted throughout India. He emphasized the importance of one religion in bringing about unity in these words. "We see how in Asia and especially in India, race difficulties, linguistic difficulties, national difficulties, social difficulties, all melt away before this unifying power of religion. In the case of India, it is the only basic means of work: work in any other line, without first strengthening this, would be disastrous. Therefore that first plank in the making of a future India, the first step that is to be hewn out of that rock of ages, is this unification of all religions." Vivekananda has rightly been called the patriot-monk of India. He asked the young men of the country to be fearless and work for the glory of their country. He asked them as to why it was that forty million of Englishmen were able to rule three hundred millions of Indians. He himself pointed out that the secret was the accumulation of will -power, coordination and bringing them all into focus. He also pointed out that the Indians lacked organization and obedience to leadership. Organization was the key to the understanding of the strength of modern societies and the people of India must he same. He called upon the Indians to give up their slavish mentality. To quite him," For the next fifty years, this alone shall be our keynote, our great Mother India. Let all other vain Gods disappear for that time from our minds. This is the only God that is awake, our own race, everywhere His Hands. Everywhere His feet, everywhere His ears. He covers everything. All other Gods are sleeping; when we have worshipped this, we shall be able to worship all the Gods." Vivekananda put great emphasis on national education as he considered the existing educational system to be a negative one.

To quote him, "The ideal, therefore, is that we must have the whole education of our country, spiritual and secular, in our own hands, and it must be on national lines, through national methods, as far as practicable." Vivekananda defines religion not as a creed or dogma, but as a manifestation of the divinity that is already in man. And so we respect the human being as a spark of divinity. Outwardly one may be a Hindu, Christian, and Muslim, male, female, black or white. These are all external. There is nothing narrow or sectarian in what Vivekananda preached. The future of India, he said, "will be greater than its past." And that India will have a tremendous impact on the world. India has existed with all its military power, but it has not conquered other nations. But it has conquered through ideas. Vivekananda said India will die if it becomes an aggressive, military nation. Vivekananda was a Vedantic; He was a believer in Advaita or Monism. He had a firm faith in the unity of Godhood and the deeper unity of all religions. Every religion had its own rituals, mythology and fundamental principles. The real substance of all religions lies in the principles and it is there, that unity of all religions can be seen. To quote Vivekananda, "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so Lord' the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee". The view of Vivekananda was that sectarianism, bigotry and fanaticism had no place in religion as all people were trying to reach the same goal. In order to gain infinite universal individuality, little prison individuality must go. To quote him, "Then alone can death cease when I am one with life, then alone can misery cease when I am one with happiness itself; then alone can errors cease when I am one with knowledge itself, and this is the necessary scientific conclusion." Again, "Even science is nothing but the confining of unity. Science has proved that physical individuality is a delusion, that my body is one little continuously changing body in an unbroken ocean of matter and Advaita is the necessary conclusion with my other counterpart, soul." Vivekananda maintained that there is an abstract humanity which is common to all. There is a universal religion which runs through all the religions of the world in the form of God. It must and does exist through eternity. Upanishads or Vedanta present religion as anubhava; experience, realization. It is not second-hand knowledge like theology or mere rituals, but first-hand experience. This wonderful vision of the ancient sages of India, exemplified in the great mystics of every religion, contains a profound message of the scientific dimension of religion which our country must try to understand and cultivate in the modern period, with a view to achieving the fullest development of man and the happiest of inter-human relations.

This cannot be done by merely stressing, and over-stressing, the ethnical aspect of any religion. In a letter written to Sister Nivedita from London on 7 June 1895, Swami Vivekananda has pointed out the evils arising from religions keeping their followers stagnant at their ethnical level and- failing to stimulate them to rise to their spiritual dimension. Why has there been, and still is, so much violence, war, and persecution in the name of religion, apart from violence from racial and political sources? All these proceed from stagnation at genetic dimension of man and at the ethnical dimension of his or her religion. Religions, especially the great world religions, are meant to lift man above his or her genetic, tribal, and socio-political limitations. And yet the world has seen plenty of these evils coming out of religion and due to it, in the modern period, there have been a revulsion against religion, especially when it was viewed against the background of modern science with its love of truth and the spirit of free inquiry. Accordingly, there has been a tremendous growth of agnosticism and atheism, all over the modem world, not because people do not want spirituality, but because they do not know what it is, and what they currently see as religion holds no spiritual appeal. Stagnant ethnical religion has always been a net negative force. If there is one country where the higher spiritual dimension of religion has not been suppressed by its ethnical dimension, but has been given the freest expression, it is our country, India. Religions that developed in India Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh -all insist that people should not stagnate at the ethnical dimension of religion, but take it only as a starting point, to rise from belief in to the experience of God to realise God. They all proclaim that aim have, or experience, is the true test of religion. This has been stressed in India throughout the ages. So India does not persecute or kill her mystics or any other mystics; never. On the other hand, our people stand firm in reverence before every mystic, not only belonging to Hinduism but to whatever other religions. This has may belong. The attitude in which our people in India have been educated by our religion and philosophy is: If you have an experience of God, have realized God, we salute you. Nowhere else in the world will we find this attitude, this dominance of the spiritual over the ethnical dimension of religion? It is a unique feature of our great country and we must cherish it and preserve it. Swami Vivekananda came in the modern period and observed the mockeries of all the ethnical religions: but he did not say that, therefore, let us banish all religion; but he asked people in every religion to try to understand the true dimension of their religion by presenting to them the scientific approach to religion. This scientific approach to religion was not available in the modern West. Seeing the dogmatic irrational manifestations of religion and experiencing persecution from it, modern physical science in the West condemned all religion as primitive superstition.

Western social thought also condemned all religion, witnessing the intolerant and fanatic aspect of religion in Europe and its exploitation of the common people by aligning itself with the iniquities of the early phase of the Industrial Revolution. Accordingly, we find Karl Marx reacting violently against religion in the famous utterance: 'Religion is the soul of soulless conditions, the heart of a heartless world, the opium bf the people.' Swami Vivekananda found this criticism applicable to much of religion functioning in India also. Our religion, in its stagnant ethnical form, had functioned as the handmaid of a feudal order to exploit and keep down millions of our common people. It had encouraged caste exclusiveness, untouchability, and other Pernicious anti-human attitudes and practices, along with the cherishing of a bundle of superstitions and weakening ideas, and the divorcing of moral attitudes and acts from religion reduced to mere noisy and showy rituals. While reacting against this distortion of religion, Swami Vivekananda-also educated our people to view religion as it is truly, as the science and technique of man's spiritual growth. Religious thought in India was also cultural thought. In the 1922 century, culture responded to western intrusions. So, Indian thinkers examined what the strengths in Indian religious thoughts were. They wanted these to help them in their cultural response to the west. This tendency got stronger towards the late 19th century. In this century, there was much thought on how cultural and spiritual ideas in this century, there was much thought on how cultural and spiritual ideas could be brought into the political movement. Tilak and Gandhi were searching for an idiom of communication which was not merely political. So they talked in terms of Shiwaji festival or Ganesh festival or Ramarajya. But their idiom was not for a religious goal. The Hindu communalists are now using the same idiom for establishing a Hindu nation. Vivekananda had a different purpose of creating confidence among Indians who under the colonial yoke had lost pride in their past Vivekananda told them that they had a past to draw from that they were superior to the west in many ways. This is what he told the west too, in his Chicago address. In that he laid stress on the great tolerance that the Hindus had in the past. He told the world that this was a country that never shed blood for religion. Today those who are shedding blood are not quoting that passage from his Chicago address. It is at this time that we realise the importance of Swami Vivekananda.

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Last update08:04:05 PM GMT Back Short Essays 562 Words Short Essay on Swami Vivekananda

562 Words Short Essay on Swami Vivekananda

SAI SHRUTHI SHORT ESSAYS

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January, 1863 in Calcutta. His family name was Narendranath Dutta. His father Vishwanath Dutta was a learned man who was well- versed in English and Persian. By profession, he was a successful Attorney-at-law in the High Court of Calcutta. His mother was a pious lady who influenced Naren since his childhood in the formation of his character. She first taught Naren English lesson, and then made him acquainted with Bengali alphabets. Naren studied in the Metropolitan Institution at Calcutta; and after passing the Entrance Examination, he joined the General Assembly's Institution founded by the Scottish General Missionary Board (later renamed as Scottish Church College) in Calcutta, from where he passed his B.A. examination, and went to study law. But since his father died, his family's financial position did not allow him to prosecute further study. Naren 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. From his childhood, Naren was eager to see God face to face. He asked many religious stalwarts about his desire in the past, but none could satisfy him. Now this God-man of Dakshineswar said to Naren that as one can see him, he can also see God in the same real form. Naren was not convinced with his words. He wanted the saint to prove it to him. And in course of time, Naren had that wonderful divine experience in his life. 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 to 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 (or routes) to terminate in the sea (the same destination). Hence there should not be any dispute among the preachers of different religions that they worship god in separate forms or with different beliefs. The realization of the eternal truth of One God can avoid hatred among the people. Swamiji's views were acclaimed with great appreciation, and a

number of American men and women became his disciples, who later joined the Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda taught us the essence of nationalism in his bold writings. He wrote : "Our sacred motherland is the land of religion and philosophy-the birthplace of spiritual giants-the land of renunciation, where and where alone, from the most ancient to the most modern times, there has been the highest ideal of life open to man." He also said, "Have faith that you are all, my brave lads, born to do great things." Swamiji's call to the nation is: "Arise, awake; wake up yourself, and awaken others. Achieve the consummation of life before you pass off. Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached." Swami Vivekananda passed away in 1902.

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Swami Vivekananda In Punjab By Sanjeev Nayyar , April 2005 [ esamskriti@suryaconsulting.net]

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Through one of the Sikh yahoo groups I got to know that Swamiji had said great things about Guru Govind Singhji. I went to the Ramakrishna Mission close to home but they did not have book references handy. During that period I got to know a Swami in Brazil who told me about an article published in the Prabuddha Bharata in the 1990s. Again I went to the Mission and searched their library but we could not find the relevant issue. I had nearly given up hope by then. However, a friend Rajib Sarkar asked me to speak with brother Tilak, a great admirer of the Guru. Tilak mailed me some links thereafter. Those links took me to Ramakrishna Math Chennai who promptly gave me the references in Swamijis Complete Works. Armed with this info went to the main Mission Library at Khar in Mumbai. The Swami there told me that only members could access the library. Having come this far there was no way I was going back empty handed. I sat opposite the Swami with this very helpless yet determined look. I guess the Swami was testing me because after half an hour he allowed me to access the library. I started with the Prabuddha Bharata issue of January 1990 and eventually found Jasbirs article in the June 97 issue. I wanted to make a copy but Mission rules prohibit non-members from taking books out of the library. The Swami agreed to photocopy the article and asked me to send my man the next day to collect it. Thanks to Ajay for typing the article. I present Swamijis views in two parts. Part one is the article by Jasbir, part 2 are excerpts from The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda.

Swami Vivekanda in Punjab Courtesy Prabuddha Bharata ByJasbir Kaur Ahuja

Swami Vivekanandas reverence for the great Guru Nanak and the other Sikh gurus who followed him, especially for Guru Gobind Singh, is generally known. Possibly this is what prompted him accept an invitation to visit the (then undivided) Punjab during his travels in North India after his first return to India from the West. The following article draws our attention to that visit, to some of the inspiring ideas that came from him during his lectures there, and to Swamijis influence on Swami Ramatirtha. The author, a senior Lecturer in English at the Government Junior Service Training Centre, Patiala, Punjab, is an occasional contributor to the PB for the past several years. Recently she has written a short biography of Swamiji in the Punjab language. Thirteen August 1897 was a red-letter day in the history of the Punjab. It was on this day that Swami Vivekananda, after broadcasting his spiritual message in the West and a whirlwind tour extending from Colombo to Almora, came to Ambala, then a part of the Punjab. He was an unknown monk when he left India for Chicago on 31 May 1893; but when he came back, the whole country rose as one man to welcome him. It was America, which discovered the cyclonic monk and gifted him to India. On his return there were multiple invitations for him from every nook and corner of India to deliver lectures. Heeding the request, the Swami started a series of lectures, which are today known as Lectures from Colombo to Almora. His first public lecture in the East was delivered on 16 Januray 1897, at Colombo where he had landed the previous day, after his memorable work in the West. In response to the invitations from the Punjab and Kashmir, the Swami traveled through those ports. He visited Ambala, Amritsar, Dharamsala, Rawalpindi, Murree, Srinagar, Jammu, Sialkot and Lahore, and delivered lectures at most of these places. He stayed in Kashmir and Jammu for over a month, and his work there was very much appreciated by the Maharaja and his brothers. He delivered three lectures at Lahore (of the undivided Punjab) in November 1897, the topic being, Problems Before Us, Bhakti, and Vedanta. S. Puran Singh, a great Punjabi poet and writer, was an eyewitness to these lectures. He writes in The Story of Swami Rama One of the causes, which led him (Swami Rama) to seek the role of a monk, in my opinion, was his meeting with Swami Vivekananda at Lahore. Swami Vivekananda at Lahore was quite an inspiration to the people of the Punjab; his divine eloquence, his burning renunciation, his strength, his power of personality, his gigantic intellect, all made a deep impression on the people. Perhaps his lecture on Vedanta at Lahore was one of the most brilliant pieces

of oratory. It was in those days that Swami Vivekananda was made the admiring witness of the Amrita ceremony of Guru Gobind Singh. In his address, Swami Vivekananda spoke of the Punjab of the lionhearted Guru Gobind Singh. The Swami was a great admirer of Guru Gobind Singh. Puran Singh further writes: The Swami was put up at Dhyan Singhs Haveli, and I distinctly remember to this moment the huge number of turbaned masses of Lahore that had assembled in the large hall to listen to the Swami. I was then a little boy reading in the college for the intermediate examination of the Punjab University. The scene has been impressed indelibly on my memory. The hall was filled and there was an overflow of people in the courtyard. People eager to see the Swami pressed each other shoulder to shoulder, to pass into the hall. The Swami seeing these earnest unmanageable crowds announced that he would lecture in the open air. The enclosure, the courtyard of the Haveli, is a large one, and there is a temple-like structure with a raised platform in the center. The Swami ascended the platform and there he stood-superb, a giant in his superb physique, robed in orange like a Rishi of old, with his large fiery eyes magnetizing the very air. He had a dopatta swung round him and he had a large orange turban in the fashion of a Punjabi. This lion of Vedanta roared and thundered for hours, keeping the Punjabis spellbound and lifting them up to the delectable heights of his mental eminence. Lahore was struck by one who owed his inspiration to no less a personage than Paramahansa Ramakrishna. One could see the flame of inspiration burning before him in this great person. I did not know Swami Rama then, but it was he who arranged all those lectures, and he was of the opinion that Swami Vivekananda was at his best while speaking on Vedanta, for that was his subject. This visit of Swami Vivekananda, no doubt, strengthened the silent ambitions of the young Swami Rama for leading the life of a monk and to go round the world, preaching Vedanta like Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda had already defined Vedanta from a practical point of view, and just as modern educated India, by the contact of the West, has discovered the greatness of Bhagavad-Gita in its gospel of duty, so did Swami Vivekananda interpret Shankaracharyas Advaita Vedanta philosophy in terms of Bhakti, Karma, and even patriotism and humanity. Swami Vivekananda was the first to apply Vedanta even to politics. And it was after meeting with Swami Vivekananda that Swami Rama made up his mind definitely. He had found an exemplar and an interpreter of the comprehensive kind of Advaita Vedanta that he was already evolving within himself. It was the example of Swami Vivekananda that gave tongue to his dumb self-realization, and then he went roaming in the Himalayas and he came down preaching the same practical Vedanta, which Swami Vivekananda preached.

Speaking on the Problems Before Us the first of his three lectures there, Swami Vivekananda, greeting the brave people of the Punjab, admiring the beauty of the spiritual land of five rivers, and paying tribute to the greatness of Guru Nanak, said: This is the land, which is held to be the holiest even in holy Aryavarta; this is the Brahmavarta of which our great Manu speaks. This is the land from whence arose that mighty aspiration after the Spirit, may, which in times to come, as history shows, is to deluge the world. This is the land where, like its mighty rivers, spiritual aspirations have arisen and joined their strength, till they traveled over the length and breadth of the world and declared themselves with a voice of thunder. This is the land, which had first to bear the brunt of all inroads and invasions into India; this heroic land had first to bare its bosom to every onslaught of the outer barbarians into Aryavarta. This is the land which, after all its suffering has not yet entirely lost its glory and its strength. Here it was that in later times the gentle Nanak preached his marvelous love for the world. Here it was that his broad heart was opened and his arms outstretched to embrace the whole world, not only of Hindus, but of Mohammedans too. Swami Vivekananda was greatly impacted by the personality and teaching Guru Gobind Singh. He recognized Gobind Singh as one of the most glory heroes of our race. Towards the end same lecture, referring to the conception of religion as realization, whose fruit is universal love and compassion and eulogizing grandeur of the tenth Guru for his universal love and broad vision, said: Mark me, then and then alone you are a Hindu when the very name sends through you a galvanic shock of strength. Then and then alone you are a Hindu when every man who bears name from any country, speaking your language or any other language, becomes at once the nearest and the dearest to you. Then and then alone you are a Hindu when the distress of anyone bearing that name comes to your heart and makes you fell as if your own son were in distress. Then and then alone you a Hindu when you will be ready to give up everything for them, like the great example of Guru Govind Singh You might see thousands of defects in your countrymen, but mark their Hindu blood. They are the first Gods you will have to worship even if they do everything to hurt you, even if everyone of them send out a curse to you, you send out to them words of love. In the second lecture on Bhakti delivered on 9 November 1897, Swamiji likened Bhakti to a triangle of which the first angle was that love knew no want and the second that love knew no fear. Love for reward & for return service of any kind was the beggars religion, the shopkeepers religion with very little religion in it. People should not behave like beggars because in the first place beggary is a sign of atheism. Foolish indeed is the man who living on the banks of the Ganga digs a little well to drink water. So is the man who begs material objects from God.

In his third lecture on Vedanta, delivered on 12 November 1897, Swamiji made an impassioned appeal for making Vedanta practical, for bringing it out of caves and forests where it so long existed as rahasya (secret) and making it applicable to the everyday life of the people. According to Tirtham Goswami, ..this lasted for full two and a half hours. The listeners were so deeply engrossed and it created such an atmosphere that all ideas of home and space were lost. At times one reached the stage of realization of absolute abheda (non-difference) between oneself and the cosmic Atman. It struck at the roots of ego and pride itself. In short, it was such a good success as you come by once in a way. No account of Swamijis visit to the Punjab will be complete without reference to a seemingly insignificant incident connected with Swami Rama. Before Swami Vivekananda left Lahore, Swami Rama presented him with a gold watch. Swamiji took it very kindly, but put it back in Swami Ramas pocket, saying, Very well friend I shall wear it here in this pocket. Swami Vivekananda inspired our countrymen to follow the example of Guru Gobind Singh, who sacrificed his all for the sake of religion. It is because of the example set by and inspiration from such saints the India is alive today. Iqbal sang: Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roam, sub mit gaye jahan se Ab tak magar hai bagi nam-o-nishan hamara Kuch baat hai ki hasti mitti nahin hamari Sadion raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara. We are still vibrant even though Greek, Egyptian and Roman culture have ceased to exist. It is not without reason that we have not been obliterated even though for centuries we had enemies around.

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8. www.inhyderabadmall.com Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) Sisters and Brothers of America, As different streams, having their sources in different places, all mingle their waters in the sea,different religions in the form of different paths lead to God - are the famous words of Swami Vivekananda delivered in his lecture in Chikago in the year1893. People from various countries were spellbound to listen to this new concept from a young Indian who represented on behalf of Hindu religion in an international religion meet there. Born in middle class family in Calcutta, he was brilliant son of an attorney. His original name was Sri Narendra Nath Dutta. His primary education was under guidance of Private Tutor. He was admitted into Metropolitan school and next moved to Presidency College, Calcutta. After gradutation, he was admitted into Law course but could not continue study as financial problem arises on account of sudden death of his father. During his academic career in college, he became member of "Bramha Society" - an elite class of Bengal. He was disciple of Ramkrishna Paramahansa Dev, a monk of international repute who has followers all over India and even abroad. After his death, Swami Vivekananda along with all followers of Ramkrishna Paramahansa Dev founded Barahanagar Ashram which very near to Calcutta. Swami Vivekananda travelled Boston, Detroit, New York, Bultimore, Washington, Brooklin of America and delivered lecture there. On hearing his lecture on Ved which is ancient form of Indian mythology, Mrs.Margaret Novel of Ireland who is later known as Sister Nivedita became his follower. She was deeply involved in many philanthropic activities in Bengal till her death. He had vast knowledge in philosophy, history, literatures, Science. He had a lot of contribution even in his short span of life. He founded Bharat Seva Ashram Sangha, Ramkrishna Ashram which has branches all over India and abroad. He tried to remove superstition of our society

and establishe our country as modern India in World map. He is worshiped as an architect of modern India. Arindam Biswas More About : Swami Vivekananda

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Last update08:04:05 PM GMT Back Essay For Class 10 Students Free essay on the universal teachings of Swami Vivekananda

Free essay on the universal teachings of Swami Vivekananda

VINEET PRAKASH ESSAY FOR CLASS 10 STUDENTS

Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863-July 4, 1902), born Narendranath Dutta is the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He is credited with raising inter-faith awareness and bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during the end of the 19th century. Best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "sisters and brothers of America", at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893, Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. In a short span of 39 years, Swami Vivekananda awakened and inspired great many souls that followed his precepts. His most famous statement was "Arise, Awake and Rest not till the goal is achieved." He gave a new direction to religion by transcending ritual concepts of religions and promoted formless and nameless meditative practices like Raja Yoga and Spirituality. He is also regarded as one of India's foremost nation-builders, whose teachings influenced the thinking of other national and international leaders and philosophers including Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Aurobindo Ghosh, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. At The Parliament of World Religions, which opened on 11 September 1893 at the Art Institute of Chicago, Vivekananda represented India and Hinduism. His short speech voiced the spirit of the Parliament and its sense of universality. He attracted widespread attention in the press, which dubbed him as the "Cyclonic monk from India". Such was the impact of the orange-monk's speech that the New York Herald wrote, "Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation." Vivekananda believed that the essence of Hinduism was best expressed in the Vedanta philosophy, based on the interpretation of Shankaracharya. According to him, each soul is potentially divine and

the goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. The whole of religion is to achieve this goal either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophyby one, or more, or all of theseand be free. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. See God in allis the gist of all worship. It means being pure and doing good to others. He who sees God in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships him, and if he sees God only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing God in him, without thinking of his cast, creed, or race, or anything, with him God is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples. God is within you. So, it is impossible to find God outside of ourselves. Our own souls contribute all of the divinity that is outside of us. We are the greatest temple. The objectification is only a faint imitation of what we see within ourselves. Persevere in your search for God. It requires tremendous perseverance, energy, hard work and will to succeed and reach the goal. Trust completely in God. Stand up for God; let the world go. Love of God is essential. Worship God, giving up all other thoughts, with the whole mindday and night. Thus being worshipped day and night, God reveals himself and makes His worshippers feel His presence. Vivekananda coined the concept of daridra narayana seva - the service of God in and through (poor) human beings. He concluded that distinctions fade into nothingness in the light of the oneness that the devotee experiences in Moksha. He 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 Jagat-hitaya cha (for one's own salvation and for the welfare of the World). Vivekananda advised his followers to be holy, unselfish and have shraddha (faith). He encouraged the practice of Brahtmcharya (Celibacy). He 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. 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. His ideas have had a great influence on the Indian youth and hence, his birthday, January 12 is commemorated in India as National Youth Day.

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On the occasion of Vivekananda Jayanthi on Jan 12, 2011, Vichar Bharati Kuwait announces an essay writing competition for school children and general public above 15 years of age. The topic of the competition is: Swami Vivekananda - Bharats Youth Icon. The entries with not more than 3,000 words can be sent to the email address vbkuwait@gmail.com. The best researched papers will be awarded. Essay can be written or typed in English, Hindi or Malayalam. You are requested to submit a copy of your civil id also for age verification. Essay should be sent before 15th February 2011. More details on this great saint who showcased Bharats great culture and heritage to the rest of the world is available at the below link. The complete works of Swami Vivekananda: http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/vol_1_frame.htm More details about the essay competition can be obtained from 99184894, 67636956 or 66317887 More information here.

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Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Pankaj Mishra's essays on Communalism in India; Vivekananda and Religious Modernizers

Through SACW, I caught a link to a long Pankaj Mishra piece on the origins of "Hinduism" in Axess, a Swedish magazine of the "liberal arts and social sciences." Mishra's piece appeared in an issue a couple of months back called India Unleashed. The same issue has an essay by Subash Agarwal, who also has a more recent piece written in the wake of the Indian elections (results that disappointed him).

Mishra has written on the subject of the misuse of "Hinduism" several times before. You can find a Feb. 2002 article from the New York Times here. And then an April 2002 a two-part piece on the same topic, this time for the Guardian. He also wrote a piece for the Boston Globe in December 2002 on the same topic (no longer online). And then a Feb 2003 piece for the New York Times Magazine (via SACW), on the anniversary of the assasination of Mohandas K. Gandhi. These various essays use some of the same material over and over again. Most have one or two immediate anecdotes and first-hand interviews, while relying heavily on accounts of the history of the RSS, V.D. Savarkar, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, Nathuram Godse, a small host of familiar suspects. Most essays also place the movement to take down the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya at the center of the current history of the Hindu right. Ayodhya casts the longest shadow for Mishra: one finds explanations of Ayodhya even in the pieces written in the wake of the February-March 2002 riots in and around Ahmedabad, Gujurat. Don't get me wrong -- this is all good work. Mishra is performing a valuable function in educating western readers about the history and current status of communalism. But it gets a little repetitive. I'd been longing to see him approach the communal question somewhat more deeply, or with a fresh perspective. The most recent piece (in Axess) partially fills this demand; it has some surprises in it even as it also rehashes. Most importantly, perhaps, Mishra writes approvingly of people like the poet Mohammad Iqbal (one of the patron saints of Pakistan), Swami Vivekananda (one of the sources of inspiration for the Indian nationalist movement), and Angarika Dharampala (a major figure in the Buddhist-Sinhala nationalist movement in Sri Lanka). All were roughly contemporaneous -- they were active in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Both Vivekananda and Dharmapala made a big splash at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. Most importantly, however, all were reformers and modernizers. In Mishra's interpretation of Vivekananda in particular, the emphasis is on the inspiration taken from the west, not on the personal connection to Hindu spirituality. Mishra posits a divergence between Vivekananda's approach to worldly sprituality and his master's (Ramakrishna's) inward-looking mysticism. For Mishra, Vivekananda's desire to indigenize western civilization was secondary.

This contradicts what some other recent critics have said about Vivekananda (most notably Meera Nanda, who is directly hostile to both Vivekananda and Gandhi). For me personally, it raises a 'half-empty/half-full' dilemma. Are religious reformers who develop a modernized theological language to be placed in the camp with the modernizers and secularizers, or are they in fact mainly motivated by strong, primoridal religious feeling, which they merely market with modern trappings? Mishra puts them in the former camp; critics like Nanda place them in the latter. But this is a manichean question, which overlooks the possibility of situating reformers in between the religious and secular viewpoints. People like Vivekananda and Dharampala are secularizers, but specifically within their respective religious communities. By ignoring this middle-ground, I think Mishra oversimplifies the history of religious reform movements in South Asia. He makes this oversimplification for a good reason -- he wants to show that the stories told by the Hindutva advocates today about the history of the concept of "Hinduism" are on very thin ice. But the oversimplification leads to a somewhat patchy history.
POSTED BY AMARDEEP AT 11:02 AM 4 COMMENTS:

M. Patil said... Pankaj Mishra's thesis in The article in Axess is to convince readers that Hinduism is an artificial construct of the British imperialists along with a few Brahmins. I am surprised you did not emphasize that, although the heading of the article makes it amply clear. Even though his Hindu and India bashing is nothing new, this time along with Hindu bashing he comes with this new Eurocentric theory. Accordingly all progress is linear and it comes from The West, including Hinduism. However this entire essay is based on half truths, omissions and plain incorrect statements.

Just a few glaring errors:

"British scholars and their Brahman interpreters came up with a canon of sorts, mostly Brahmanical literature and ideology, which they began to identify with a single Hindu religion" "Brahman interpreters" ? There is no such thing as a Brahman interpreter, Brahman is Pure Consciousness perhaps he means Brahmin, but rest of the article contains serveral instances of "Brahman collaborators", "These Brahmans" and so forth. Author seems completely ignorant, incapable of differentiating between Brahman and Brahmin. Left unsaid is what Brahmanical literature is and what is not. "He [Vivekananda] set up a monastic order devoted to social service and to reforming Hinduism which he saw as a decadent religion. ... he died young, at thirty-nine.Nothing much could come out of what was mostly well-intentioned rhetoric" Swami Vivekananda never considered Hinduism as a decadant religion. He had the highest regard for the Hindu spirituality and philosophy and remained a staunch Hindu observing Hindu traditions of fasting, worship of Goddess(Mother Kali) and so on, till he attained Samadhi. In his short life Vivekananda made Hinduism or Sanatana Dharam which was under vicious assault of the missionaries, intellectually respectable. He continued his Master Sri Ramakrishna's work of Hindu revival which influenced luminaries like Subhas Chandra Bose. His own Ramakrishna mission is still doing impeccable work. It is upto Mr Mishra to explain why nothing came out of Swami Vivekananda's endeavors. "Vivekananda borrowed from both British-constructed Hinduism and European realpolitik" Again no examples of what he borrowed from "British-constructed Hinduism and European realpolitik" which was not part of traditional Hindu philosophy, which encompasses six major philosophies(Sankhya, Nyaya, Yoga, Vaisheshika, Purva mimsa, Uttara mimansa). Just because William Jones is hailed as Justian of India by the colonizers does not make him one. Jones translated a small portion of sanskrit texts. And Vivekananda was a learned scholar of Sanskrit and Panini. He read the originals

and not the translated versions. He was an original thinker and exhorted his disciples to make original reflections and commentaries on Shastras. "but he moved very far away from his Guru's inward-looking spirituality" Instead of super imposing his own jaundiced view Mr Mishra should look at a life well lived. All through his short life Sri Ramakrishna was tirelessly working, teaching his disciples inspiring a vast array of people including luminaries of Indian Independence movement like Eshwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bakim Chandra Chatopadhaya on one end of the spectrum to members of Brahma Samaj including Keshab Chandra Sen. Among his own disciples, Gauri Ma opened a women's school , Surendranath opened a college in Calcutta. Vivekananda started Ramakrishna missions in India, U.S and Europe. Vivekananda always had the highest regard for his Master and never distanced himself from his Guru. Vivekananda claimed that he is doing his Guru work and that he is the instrument of his Guru. There is no reason why one should disregard Vivekananda's own words regarding his Guru. Judging from the results Ramakrishna engaged the secular world quite vigorously. This entire essay starts with unsubstantiated statements and then goes on to make outrageous conclusions like India is headed "for intellectually and spiritually oppressive times" as Vivekananda's prominence grows. Vivekananda was for plurality and against homogenizing of the world, full of compassion for the downtroden. So, If Indian middle class follows his ideals India would modernize at the same time maintain its spirituality, not westernize. It is Mr Mishra who is throughly confused and ignorant, Vivekananda never proposed an alliance between Indian Elite and modern west nor was he enarmored by the later. His interpretation of Vivekanada is certainly not based on facts. When Mr Mishra comes up a radical new thesis about Hinduism, onus is on him to atleast get his facts correct.The Author is incapable of differentiating Brahman and Brahmin comes up with unsubstantiated facts and with some pretzel logic concorts grandiose theories about Hinduism. Being annointed columnist of NYT does not absovle him of the need to get his facts straight. His thesis has no basis nor did he make a case for it.

3:58 PM

Mandeep said... I recently read Pankaj Mishra's book on his travels and insights "How to be Modern: Travels in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan". I found the book very interesting to read. His style of writing remids me an article by Bernard Henry Levy that appeared in The Atlsmtic Monthly. Mishra intersperses his observation of everyday life with deeper insights and puts them in a historical context. This requires a good knowledge of history and culture of his subject. He draws on his background to give us an insight into the dynamics of the caste system where he grew up and went to university, Allahabad. There is a chapter on the rise of hindu fundamentalism. He traces its roots back to the British raj. How the hindu intellectuals pressed for Western education while the muslim elite did not push for it, in some cases, even opposed it. The use of communal politics by "secular" congress politicians kind of laid the foundation for the fundamentilsts to rise. At times he does come across as a cynic, as he does not spare anyone. His expose of Indira Gandhi deconstructs the myth of Indira Gandhi as "mother India". Instead, the picture he paints is of a vain insecure daughter of Nehru, always in his shadow. How she misused her power and even let her son, Sanjay, misuse it. Her resortiong to communal politics actually gave a big boost to the the eventual rise of the sangh parivar. His cynic's gaze does not fall hard on people he percieves as oppressed. Lower caste, muslims, and even poor brahmins. In the end he correlates the hopelessness of educated youth, the lack of opportunity leading to desperate measures. This leads to them joining radical cuases. He underlines this common thread when he analyses societies in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal.

According to him, it is the insecurity and anxiety faced by the emerging middle class that leads them to support draconian measures. Hence their support for militarisation of kashmir, north east, punjab etc. How the BJP exploits this angst by propagating the image of muslims as anti national and a threat to peace and security. In his chapter on Ayodhya, he reveals that the earlier nawabs of awadh, as the area was known before the British, had a policy of non interference in religious disputes between hindus and muslims. That the actual feud had been between followers of Shiva vs those of Ram. There is a chapter about the massacre of sikhs in Chattisinghpura in kashmir. He reveals how the security forces, who enjoy almost total impunity, picked up innocent mulsims and killed them, blaming the massacre on them. No inquiry has been held on this incident, like many others. All justified under "national security". Around this incident, he traces the historical roots of the kashmir conflict. He reveals how the rulers under Ranjit Singh and Hari SIngh had been very unjust to the muslims in kashmir. It was like a mirror image of Aurangzeb's reign, something we would not find in history text books in India. And subsequent Indian regime's interference with kashmiri politics and elections led to disillusionment with India in general. His travels take him to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He connects the common thread about the disillusionment of youth with the system for resorting to radical causes. Of course there are global forces that are ready to exploit the situation to their advantage. He does make a distinction between the attitudes of muslim and hindu fundamentalists. He points out the irony that the muslim fundamentalists had inherited the anti western attitudes of the indian nationalists, while the hindu fundamentalists were happy to find a niche in the western scheme of things. I remember reading somewhere about the nature of nationalist and pseudo fascist movements

having a pyramidal hierarchy. Meaning a few people aggrandize power and wealth in the name of some ideology. Mishra observes this in Pakistan and India with Muslim and hindu fundamentalists respectively. How an ex ISI general, now discredited, lived in opulent splendour compared to the common person. In Nepal it is the maoists who are challanging the monarchists. Here again it was disillusionment with a corrupt democratic system that lead the maoists to take up arms. Althoug he does not seem to be forgiving to the maoists either. It is the last chapter on tibet where his ambivalence comes thru about what form should resistance take. He seems rather impressed by the non violent methods of the tibetans, lead by the Dalai Lama. This in the face of brutal suppression of the chinese govt. He has kind words for Dalai Lama's compromising attitude to his chinese oppressors, noting that it is better than the nihilistic approach adopted in other societies. For, if matters are resolved eventually, there is a blueprint for a better society.
5:23 PM

punit said... hi , i wud like to contact Pankaj..he is an old friend..we were in school at Lucknow together.wud like get in touch with him col p k singh, 831, KIDWAI House, UPSS
1:41 AM

tired said... Pankaj Mishra is trying to do something difficult here. The issues he is addressing are extremely complex. Eac statement of his can be interpreted in different ways. He has been critisized unjustly by many Hindus of Hindu bashing. Another example - like Pankaj Mishra, Rupa Bajwa, a young Indian writer wrote against Sikh clergy after a controversial play by Bhatti came out. She was critisized and even threatened in Sikh journals in London and in the Punjab, her home state. Just because writers choose to criticize certain things in their own religions, does not make them anti- nationalist.
9:00 PM

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Fat Ulysses (Valve) Asne Seierstad Amitav Ghosh (and me) on NPR After-Interview Analysis Masterpieces and Modernism: Marjorie Perloff (Valve) Hemingway's Gossip Composition Without Rhetoric: John Guillory Iris Murdoch (Valve) Githa Hariharan and A.S. Byatt Suketu Mehta and Samina Ali Writers with Beards Terry Eagleton, After Theory The "Post-National" Writer Lionel Trilling Kurban Said Katherine Mansfield Manju Kapur Vandana Singh South Asian Writers Behzti 2 Behzti Intertextuality A Lecture on Literature Suketu Mehta's Maximum City Byatt's The Game Intro to Said John Hollander Karen Armstrong, The Spiral Staircase Hari Kunzru, Transmission Amitav Ghosh, The Hungry Tide H.D., Hilda Doolittle Richard III James Wood's Book Against God Said, W.B. Yeats, Dylan Thomas Vijay Seshadri Orwell III: The Road to Wigan Pier Orwell II: Shadiness Orwell I: Orwell and Michael Moore Bloomsday 100 pt. 2 Bloomsday 100 pt. 1 Catherine Stimpson Bauman's Liquid Modernity Berube's English Postcolonial FAQ

Satan and Shaitan V.S. Naipaul Controversy Agha Shahid Ali, Ghazals in English Borges and India Marketing and Exoticization Amitava Kumar, South Asian Literary Criticism Partha Chatterjee's 'A Princely Imposter?' George Eliot skips Church Northrop Frye Edmund Wilson

Politics, History, Academia "India After Gandhi": Chapter 5 (Displaced Women "India After Gandhi": Chapter 4 (Kashmir) "India After Gandhi": Chapter 3 (Hyderabad) "India After Gandhi": Chapter 2 Dear President ... H-1B Workers Begin to Find a Voice U.S. India Nuclear Deal BBC Documentary: Coolies Misadventures in Government: Delhi and Nandigram Daud Sharifa and the Women's Mosque Section 377/Homosexuality in India Secular Constitutions: U.S. and India Niall Ferguson/Facts About Empire Dalrymple on 1857 'Temple Cleansing' in Malaysia Indian Evidence Act California School Textbook Controversy Are Male Feminists Necessary? Race and Hurricane Katrina: Two Questions Hanif Kureishi and British Multiculturalism Learning Hindi Bush meets Manmohan 2 Stanley Fish and SCOTUS Jo Bole So Nihal Controversy Isaac Newton and Intelligent Design Ambedkar Intro to Said C.M. Naim on AIMPLB Manmohan on Charlie Rose Karen Armstrong

Susan Jacoby II Susan Jacoby I Background on Communalism Triple Talaq Orwell: The Road to Wigan Pier Turbans and Hijabs Pankaj Mishra Abdul Kalam Debating Kashmir Affirmative Action in India Manmohan Singh Nanda and Chatterjee on elections Urvashi Butalia Hinduism Studies Part II Hinduism and Wendy Doniger controversy Meera Nanda and Postmodernism Preface, World Religions and Media Culture (2000)

Music, Film, Etc. Basement Bhangra (CD) Vanaja King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan Dub Qawwali (CD) Falu (CD) Matrubhoomi Russel Peters' Deaf Jokes The Illusionist vs. The Prestige "Don" Indian Ocean Omkara and Othello XPN is your friend Ali Farka Tour 15 Park Avenue More Recent Indie Films Souad Massi Myrna Loy Goes To India Shirly Horn Bobby Darin Gunner Palace Bobby Darin Broken Flowers: Fun with the Reviewers Bollywood Delusions

8 Things About Bollywood The Ideology of Sarkar Parineeta Vijay Iyer in Boston Globe In Defense of Coldplay Kiran Ahluwalia Ashes & Snow Jo Bole So Nihal Controversy Indo-Musicology Aparna Sen's Yugant Born into Brothels Secularism in Bollywood Kisna Raincoat Swades More DJ Notes Shoutcast;Streamripper India's National Anthem(s) State of Bengal v. Paban Das Baul Vishal Vaid, Karsh Kale DJ Notes Before Sunset Maqbool Vijay Iyer Yuva Murder and Kandukondein Fugazi's Resonance Professor/DJ Brazilian Dance Music Kaante (2003) Peck on the Cheek (2003) Spirited Away (2002) Cornershop (2002) Bombay The Hard Way (1999)

Personal and Creative (Fiction, Poetry) A Year Old The Chaat of Destiny Diwali in Philly Dear Puran Any Day Now If You're Reading This

The Sadhu and the Shor Birds Conshohocken Cloudburst The Night Lights Amrik Badnaam Goes To The Library Two Movers/Savvy Sadhu My Grandfather After The World Autumn Civilizes Us Tennis at Twilight Paris Notes On Snow New apartment The Student and the Priest

Links The Valve A & L Daily Sepia Mutiny Maitzen Reads Ultrabrown Tamasha Siddhartha Mitter Drishtipat Bollywood Fugly SAJAForum Kenyandesi Feministing Indian Writing RaceWire Greatbong Curry Lingus Nirali Magazine Shodan Scribbles Musical Mad Brown Woman Pass the Roti Tales from the City of Ravens Textual Life 3 Quarks Daily The Long Eighteenth Open Heart Farm

Raza Rumi Making Light Sharanya Manivannan Ambainny Jabberwock Global Voices Online The Other India Amitava Kumar Shashwati India Uncut Uberdesi Naeem Mohaiemem Accidental Blogger Akhond of Swat The Home and the World The Reading Experience Chapati Mystery Timothy Burke Kitabkhana Keywords Connaissances Sonia Faleiro Desipundit GNXP Reassigned Time Pharyngula Vikrum Sequeira Remains of the Desi Los Anjalis Desi Knitter Scribbler's Delight Moments of Tranquility Makeweight Errant King Abstruser Musings Modal Minority Filmiholic Apus World Tales from the City of Ravens Quod She Kamla Bhatt Sikh bloggers Naach Gaana I Hate the New Yorker

Southwest of the Border Shivam Vij: Mall Road Prashant Mullick We Who Love To Be Astonished Jonathan Goodwin Etcetera Thing, Place, Creature... Arzan Wadia Girish Japnaam Singh Chappan Marginal Notations Mais Non Terry Teachout Saheli Nina Paley Infinite Diablogue Tilotamma Kush Tandon Brimful Maitri BitchPhD Reassigned Time Culture Cat Out of the Woods Now HERstory Marginal Revolution Butterflies & Wheels Busy Idler Savage Minds Locus Solus Black Net Art Old Hag Tingle Alley Intellectual Con Fusion Listen, My Children Singularity:Criticism Spurious Chekhov's Mistress Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind 11D Niraj Language Log Progressive Teachers

Tim Williams Sunil Laxman Scott McLemee Nelson George Pseudopodium Early Modern Notes Charlie Bertsch Chuck Tryon Matt Kirschenbaum Clemens Gruenberger Okir Another Subcontinent Writing Cave Greg Perry Tyler Curtain Crooked Timber Genealogy Spice Palinode John & Belle Daniel Drezner Juan Cole Shobak Debonair Communalism Watch Clioweb Cliopatria Mumpsimus Little Professor In Favor of Thinking Lost in Media Not Really Indian Amrit Hallan Zigzackly Bookish The Acorn Kaushik Strange Isle Moorish Girl Maud Newton Mikhaela Reid Josh Marshall

Philly Links Philly Future Philadelphia Metblogs Changing Skyline Phillyblog XPN Blog Philadelphia Will Do Phillyist Philebrity Politics Philly Philadelphia Business Journal Rittenhouse Review Philadelphia Bicycle News Philly Skyline Only Partially Insane Apt. 2024 SEPTA Google Maps API Philastudies Blank Baby
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