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Swami Vivekananda Biography
Swami VivekanandaVivekananda was born Narendranath Datta in a Bengali family, in Calcutta, on 12 January 1863 during the Makar Sankranti festival1.
He belonged to a traditional family and was one of nine siblings. His father, Vishwanath Datta, was an attorney at the Calcutta High Court. Durgacharan Datta, Narendra's grandfather, was a Sanskrit and Persian scholar who left his family and became a monk at age twenty-five. His mother, Bhubaneswari Devi, was a devout housewife.
The progressive, rational attitude of Narendra's father and the religious temperament of his mother helped shape his thinking and personality.
Narendranath was interested in spirituality from a young age and used to meditate before the images of deities such as Śiva, Rama, Sita, and Mahavir Hanuman. He was fascinated by wandering ascetics and monks.
Narendra was naughty and restless as a child, and his parents often had difficulty controlling him. His mother said, "I prayed to Śiva for a son and he has sent me one of his demons".
In 1871, at the age of eight, Narendranath enrolled at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Metropolitan College, where he went to school until his family moved to Raipur in 1877.
In 1879, after his family's return to Calcutta, he was the only student to receive first-division marks in the Presidency College entrance examination. He was an avid reader in a wide range of subjects, including philosophy, religion, history, social science, art and literature.
He was also interested in Hindu scriptures, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas.
Bhubaneswari DeviNarendra was trained in Indian classical music, and regularly participated in physical exercise, sports and organized activities. He studied Western logic, Western philosophy and European history at the General Assembly's Institution (now known as the Scottish Church College).
He became fascinated with the evolutionism of Herbert Spencer and corresponded with him, translating Herbert Spencer's book Education (1861) into Bengali.
He also learned Sanskrit scriptures and Bengali literature. In 1881, he passed the Fine Arts examination, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1884.
William Hastie (principal of Christian College, Calcutta, from where Narendra graduated) 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. He is bound to make his mark in life".
Narendra was known for his prodigious memory and the ability at speed reading. Several incidents have been given as examples. Some accounts have called Narendra a shrutidhara (a person with a prodigious memory).
In 1880 Narendra joined Keshab Chandra Sen's Nava Vidhan, which was established by Sen after meeting Ramakrishna and reconverting from Christianity to Hinduism.
Narendra became a member of a Freemasonry lodge "at some point before 1884" and of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in his twenties, a breakaway faction of the Brahmo Samaj led by Keshab Chandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore. From 1881 to 1884, he was also active in Sen's Band of Hope, which tried to discourage youths from smoking and drinking.
It was in this cultic milieu that Narendra became acquainted with Western esotericism. His initial beliefs were shaped by Brahmo concepts, which included belief in a formless God and the deprecation of idolatry, and a "streamlined, rationalized, monotheistic theology strongly coloured by a selective and modernistic reading of the Upanisads and of the Vedanta.”
Not satisfied with his knowledge of philosophy, Narendra came to "the question which marked the real beginning of his intellectual quest for God." He asked several prominent Calcutta residents if they had come "face to face with God", but none of their answers satisfied him.
Surendra Nath Mitra was a householder devotee of Ramakrishna, who used to visit Mitra's house in Calcutta to deliver spiritual lectures. In November 1881 It was in Mitra's house where Ramakrishna met Narendranath for the first time during a spiritual festival.
At that festival as the appointed singer could not attend, young Narendranath, who was a talented singer, was requested to sing songs. Narendra sang few devotional songs and Ramakrishna was impressed. He invited Narendra to come to Dakshineswar and meet him.
Sri Ramakrishna ParamahamsaNarendra's next introduction to Ramakrishna occurred in a literature class in General Assembly's Institution when Professor William Hastie was lecturing on William Wordsworth's poem, The Excursion.
During the lecture, Wordsworth's use of the word "trance" was explained as to mean the experience and feeling of the poet. But Narendra and other students failed to understand its meaning. Narendra then requested Professor Hastie to elucidate. Professor Hastie explained its meaning and advised Narendra to go to Dakshineswar to meet Ramakrishna, who was a person who experienced "trance".
Following the suggestions of Ram Chandra and Professor Hastie, Narendra went to Dakshineswar to meet Ramakrishna. Later, he recalled the day when Narendra first visited Dakshineswar. He said:
“Narendra entered the room through the western door facing the Ganges. I noticed that he had no concern about his physical appearance. His hair and clothes were not tidy; like others he had no attachments for external objects. His eyes showed that a greater part of his mind was turned inward all the time. When I observed these, I wondered, is it possible that such a great aspirant could live in Calcutta, the home of the worldly-minded?”
Ramakrishna warmly welcomed Narendra and asked him to sit on a mat spread on the floor. Then Ramakrishna asked him to sing a song. Narendra gave his assent and started singing a devotional song.
When Narendra finished singing, Ramakrishna grasped Narendra's hands and took him into the northern porch of the Kali temple and shedding tears of joy said to him:
“Ah! you have come so late. How unkind of you to keep me waiting so long! My ears are almost seared listening to the cheap talk of worldly people. Oh, how I have been yearning to unburden my mind to one who will understand my thought!”
Then Narendra asked Ramakrishna if he had seen or experienced God, like he asked others before. He immediately replied: “I have,” and “I will put you on the way of seeing Him too”.
Narendra was so much impressed with this meeting that he started visiting Ramakrishna daily when he felt: "Religion could be given. One touch, one glance can change a whole life".
Narendra felt amazed as this was the first time he was meeting someone who could say that he had experienced God. He also understood those were words uttered from deep inner experiences. He left Dakshineswar and came back to Calcutta in a highly puzzled and bewildered state of mind.
During the next meeting, Narendra had another strange experience. When he was talking to Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna suddenly placed his right foot on Narendra's body and Narendra started feeling as if everything around him, the rooms, the walls, the temple garden were vanishing away.
Narendra got frightened thinking he was losing his individuality, which he thought it meant death, and unable to control himself cried out "What is it that you doing to me? I have my parents, brothers, and sisters at home."
Ramakrishna laughed and moved his foot from his body and said, "All right, everything will happen in due time." As soon as he said that Narendra’s strange experience vanished and found everything as before. Narendra became even more puzzled and felt that Ramakrishna had hypnotized him. His rationalistic mind failed to understand what happened.
Narendra would not accept Ramakrishna as his teacher before testing him in various ways and asked him many critical questions. Ramakrishna also encouraged Narendra and told him "Test me as the moneychangers test their coins. You must not believe me without testing me thoroughly.”
Narendra did not accept or worship Kali, the goddess Ramakrishna used to worship. Ramakrishna asked him— "Why do you come here, if you do not accept Kali, my Mother?" Narendra replied "Simply because I come to see you. I come to you because I love you.”
Narendra was desirous to experience Nirvikalpa Samadhi (the highest stage of meditation) and requested Ramakrishna to help him to attain that state. But Ramakrishna wanted to prepare young Narendra and devote him for the service of mankind and told him that wishing to remain absorbed in Samadhi was a small-minded desire.
Narendra's father's sudden death in 1884 left the family bankrupt; creditors began demanding the repayment of loans, and relatives threatened to evict the family from their ancestral home.
Narendra, once a son of a well-to-do family, became one of the poorest students in his college. He unsuccessfully tried to find work and questioned God's existence. He found solace in Ramakrishna and his visits to Dakshineswar increased.
One day, Narendra requested Ramakrishna to pray to goddess Kali for their family's financial welfare. Ramakrishna suggested him to go to the temple himself and pray. Following Ramakrishna's suggestion, he went to the temple thrice, but failed to pray for any kind of worldly necessities and ultimately prayed for true knowledge and devotion from the goddess. Narendra gradually grew ready to renounce everything for the sake of realizing God, and accepted Ramakrishna as his Guru.
In 1885, Ramakrishna developed throat cancer, and was transferred to Calcutta and later to a garden house in Cossipore. Narendra and Ramakrishna's other disciples took care of him during his last days.
Narendra and several other disciples received ochre robes from Ramakrishna, forming his first monastic order. He was taught that service to people was the most effective worship of God.
Ramakrishna asked him to care for the other monastic disciples, and in turn asked them to see Narendra as their leader. Ramakrishna died in the early-morning hours of 16 August 1886 in Cossipore.
After Ramakrishna's death, his devotees and admirers stopped supporting his disciples. Unpaid rent accumulated, and Narendra and the other disciples had to find a new place to live. Many returned home, adopting a Grihastha (family-oriented) way of life.
Narendra decided to convert a dilapidated house at Baranagar into a new monastery (math) for the remaining disciples. Rent for the Baranagar Math was low, raised by "holy begging" (mādhukarī).
The math became the first building of the Ramakrishna Math, the monastery of the monastic order of Ramakrishna. Narendra and other disciples used to spend many hours in practicing meditation and religious austerities every day.
Narendra later reminisced about the early days of the monastery: “We underwent a lot of religious practice at the Baranagar Math. We used to get up at 3:00 am and become absorbed in japa and meditation. What a strong spirit of detachment we had in those days! We had no thought even as to whether the world existed or not.”
On the Christmas Eve of 1886, Narendra and eight other disciples took formal monastic vows. They decided to live their lives as their master lived. Narendranath took the name "Swami Vivekananda". Vivekananda means "the bliss of discerning wisdom," from Sanskrit viveka and ānanda.
In 1888, Narendra left the monastery as a Parivrâjaka— the Hindu religious life of a wandering monk. His sole possessions were a kamandalu (water pot), staff and his two favorite books: the Bhagavad Gita and The Imitation of Christ.
Narendra travelled extensively in India for five years, visiting centers of learning and acquainting himself with diverse religious traditions and social patterns. He developed sympathy for the suffering and poverty of the people and resolved to uplift the nation.
Living primarily on alms, Narendra travelled on foot and by railway with tickets bought by admirers. During his travels he met Indians from all religions and walks of life: scholars, rajas, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, low-caste workers and government officials.
Narendra left Bombay for Chicago on 31 May 1893 to the West and visited several cities in China, Japan and Canada, reaching Chicago on 30 July 1893, where the "Parliament of Religions" took place in September 1893.
The Congress was an initiative of Charles C. Bonney, a Swedenborgian2 layman and judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, to gather all the religions of the world, and show "the substantial unity of many religions in the good deeds of the religious life."
Vivekananda wanted to join but was disappointed to learn that no one without credentials from a bona fide organization would be accepted as a delegate.
Vivekananda contacted Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University, who invited him to speak at Harvard. Vivekananda wrote of the professor, "He urged upon me the necessity of going to the Parliament of Religions, which he thought would give an introduction to the nation".
Vivekananda submitted an application, introducing himself as a monk “of the oldest order of sannyāsis ... founded by Śankara," supported by the Brahmo Samaj representative Protapchandra Mozoombar, who was also a member of the Parliament's selection committee, "classifying the Swami as a representative of the Hindu monastic order." Hearing Vivekananda speak, Harvard psychology professor William James said, "that man is simply a wonder for oratorical power. He is an honor to humanity."
The Parliament of the World's Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the Art Institute of Chicago. On that day, Vivekananda gave a brief speech representing India and Hinduism.
Parliament President John Henry Barrows said, "India, the Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the monk who exercised the most wonderful influence over his auditors".
Vivekananda attracted widespread attention in the press, which called him 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 noted, "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 spent nearly two years lecturing in the eastern and central United States, primarily in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, and New York. He founded the Vedanta Society of New York in 1894.
By spring 1895 his busy, tiring schedule had affected his health. He ended his lecture tours and began giving free, private classes in Vedanta and yoga. Beginning in June 1895, Vivekananda gave private lectures to a dozen of his disciples at Thousand Island Park, New York for two months.
During his first visit to the West he travelled to the UK twice, in 1895 and 1896, lecturing successfully there. In November 1895, he met Margaret Elizabeth Noble an Irish woman who would become Sister Nivedita.
During his second visit to the UK in May 1896 Vivekananda met Max Müller, a noted Indologist from Oxford University who wrote Ramakrishna's first biography in the West.
From the UK, Vivekananda visited other European countries. In Germany he met Paul Deussen, another Indologist. Vivekananda was offered academic positions at Harvard University and Columbia University; he declined both, since his duties would conflict with his commitment as a monk.
Vivekananda's success led to a change in mission, namely the establishment of Vedanta centers in the West. He adapted traditional Hindu ideas and religiosity to suit the needs and understandings of his western audiences, who were especially attracted by and familiar with western esoteric traditions and movements like Transcendentalism and New thought.
In 1896, his book “Raja Yoga” was published, becoming an instant success and highly influential in the western understanding of yoga.
Vivekananda attracted followers and admirers in the US and Europe, and he initiated several followers, so that they could continue the work of the mission of the Vedanta Society.
During his stay in America, Vivekananda was given land in the mountains to the southeast of San Jose, California to establish a retreat for Vedanta students. He called it "Peace retreat", or, Shanti Asrama. The largest American center is the Vedanta Society of Southern California in Hollywood, one of the twelve main centers. There is also a Vedanta Press in Hollywood which publishes books about Vedanta and English translations of Hindu scriptures and texts.
From the West, Vivekananda revived his work in India. He regularly corresponded with his followers and brother monks, offering advice and financial support. His letters from this period reflect his campaign of social service and were strongly worded. He wrote to 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".
In 1895, Vivekananda founded the periodical Brahmavadin to teach the Vedanta. Later, Vivekananda's translation of the first six chapters of The Imitation of Christ was published in Brahmavadin in 1889.
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 and Italy, and set sail for India from Naples on 30 December 1896. He was later followed to India by Sister Nivedita, who devoted the rest of her life to the education of Indian women and India's independence.
Arriving in Colombo, he gave his first public speech in the East. From there on, his journey to Calcutta was triumphant. Vivekananda travelled from Colombo to Pamban, Rameswaram, Ramnad, Madurai, Kumbakonam and Madras, delivering lectures.
Common people and rajas gave him an enthusiastic reception. During his train travels, people often sat on the rails to force the train to stop so they could hear him. From Madras (now Chennai), he continued his journey to Calcutta and Almora.
While in the West, Vivekananda spoke about India's great spiritual heritage; in India, he repeatedly addressed social issues: uplifting the people, eliminating the caste system, promoting science and industrialization, addressing widespread poverty and ending colonial rule. These lectures demonstrate his nationalistic fervor and spiritual ideology.
On 1 May 1897 in Calcutta, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission for social service. Its ideals are based on Karma Yoga. He founded two other monasteries: one in Mayavati in the Himalayas (near Almora), the Advaita Ashrama and another in Madras. Two journals were founded: Prabuddha Bharata in English and Udbhodan in Bengali.
Vivekananda earlier inspired Jamsetji Tata3 to set up a research and educational institution when they travelled together from Yokohama to Chicago on Vivekananda's first visit to the West in 1893. Tata now asked him to head his Research Institute of Science; Vivekananda declined the offer, citing a conflict with his "spiritual interests".
Despite declining health, Vivekananda left for the West for a second time in June 1899 accompanied by Sister Nivedita and Swami Turiyananda. Following a brief stay in England, he went to the United States. During this visit, Vivekananda established Vedanta Societies in San Francisco and New York.
He then went to Paris for the Congress of Religions in August 1900. His lectures in Paris concerned the worship of the lingam4 and the authenticity of the Bhagavad Gita. Vivekananda then visited Brittany, Vienna, Istanbul, Athens and Egypt. The French philosopher Jules Bois was his host for most of this period, until he returned to Calcutta on 9 December 1900.
After a brief visit to the Advaita Ashrama in Mayavati, Vivekananda settled at Belur Math, where he continued coordinating the works of Ramakrishna Mission, the math and the work in England and the US. He had many visitors, including royalty and politicians.
Although Vivekananda was unable to attend the Congress of Religions in 1901 in Japan due to deteriorating health, he made pilgrimages to Bodhgaya and Varanasi. Declining health (including asthma, diabetes and chronic insomnia) restricted his activity.
On the day of his death, 4 July 1902, Vivekananda awoke early, went to the monastery at Belur Math and meditated for three hours. He taught Shukla-Yajur-Veda, Sanskrit grammar and the philosophy of yoga to pupils, later discussing with colleagues a planned Vedic college in the Ramakrishna Math.
At 7:00 pm Vivekananda went to his room, asking not to be disturbed; he died at 9:20 p.m. while meditating. According to his disciples, Vivekananda attained mahasamādhi; the rupture of a blood vessel in his brain was reported as a possible cause of death.
His disciples believed that the rupture was due to his brahmarandhra being pierced when he attained mahasamādhi. Vivekananda fulfilled his prophecy that he would not live forty years. He was cremated on a sandalwood funeral pyre on the bank of the Ganga in Belur, opposite where Ramakrishna was cremated sixteen years earlier.
Publications
Published in his lifetime
• Sangeet Kalpataru (1887, with Vaishnav Charan Basak)
• Karma Yoga (1896)
• Raja Yoga (1896)
• Vedanta Philosophy: An address before the Graduate Philosophical Society (1896)
• Lectures from Colombo to Almora (1897)
• Bartaman Bharat (in Bengali) (March 1899), Udbodhan
• My Master (1901), The Baker and Taylor Company, New York
• Vedânta philosophy: lectures on Jnâna Yoga (1902) Vedânta Society, New York
• Jnana yoga (1899)
Published posthumously
• Addresses on Bhakti Yoga
• Bhakti Yoga
• The East and the West (1909)
• Inspired Talks (1909)
• Narada Bhakti Sutras – translation
• Para Bhakti or Supreme Devotion
• Practical Vedanta
• Speeches and writings of Swami Vivekananda; a comprehensive collection
• Complete Works: a collection of his writings, lectures and discourses in a set of nine volumes
• Seeing Beyond the Circle (2005)
Sources
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_between_Ramakrishna_and_Swami_Vivekananda
• Swami Vivekananda on Himself
• https://web.archive.org/web/20120330175816/http://www.belurmath.org/swamivivekananda.htm
Footnotes
1. Makara Sankranti or Maghi, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, dedicated to the deity Surya (sun).
2. The New Church (or Swedenborgian) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and Swedish Lutheran theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772).
3. Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (3 March 1839 – 19 May 1904) was an Indian pioneer industrialist, who founded the Tata Group, India's biggest conglomerate company. He established the city of Jamshedpur. He founded what would later become the Tata Group of companies. Jamsetji Tata is regarded as the legendary "Father of Indian Industry". He was so influential in the world of industry that Jawaharlal Nehru referred to Tata as a One-Man Planning Commission.
4. A lingam (Sanskrit: liṅga, lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu deity Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary murti or devotional image in Hindu temples dedicated to Shiva, also found in smaller shrines, or as self-manifested natural objects.
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