Famous Personalities : Swami Vivekananda

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Swami Vivekananda was a great Hindu saint and religious leader. He founded the Ramakrishna Mission and Ramakrishna Math.

Birth and Early Life: He was born in Kolkata on January 12, 1863. His original name was Narendranath Datta. His parents were Vishwanath Datta and Bhuvaneswari Devi.

He was an extraordinary child. He had deep interest in spiritual thoughts. He cleared the entrance exam from Metropolitan School. He completed Bachelor of Arts from Scotish Church College in Kolkata.

At a young age, he got the opportunity to meet Ramakrishna. This was an important event of his life. He started visiting Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. Later on, he became a disciple of Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna was a priest of Kali Temple at Dakshineswar.

Vedanta Movement: The famous Vedanta movement was led by Swami Vivekananda. He introduced the Indian philosophy of Hinduism in the western countries.

Chicago Speech: On 11th September, 1893, he represented India and gave a brief speech at the Parliament of the World’s Religion held in Chicago. His brief speech is considered one of the greatest speeches of all time. It earned fame not only to him but to the entire nation.

Contribution: In a short span of time, he established Hinduism as an important world religion. He had in-depth knowledge of Hindu scriptures such as the four Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and Bhagawata Gita, etc. He defended Hinduism before the world audience and successfully revived the ancient wisdom these scriptures. The major works of Vivekananda includes Karma Yoga, Raj Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga.

Teachings: He asked young men and women to come forward and help the society. He asked them to selflessly discharge their duties.

He taught people to become fearless. He told that there are unlimited powers within every human-being.

People still recalls his famous quote,”Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached”. His thoughts inspired the youth

Conclusion: His message influenced many of India’s leaders in the national awakening in the 20th century. He asked his countrymen to cultivate faith in themselves. He died on July 4, 1902, at the age of 39

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