“Arise! And Awake! Stop not till the goal is achieved.”
-- Vivekananda
-- Vivekananda
It was Swami Vivekananda who revived the greatness of Hinduism and the Motherland. He was an infinite dynamic reformer, a great orator and a natural spiritual leader. He worshipped energy and vitality. In the words of Nehru,” Rooted in the past and full of pride in India’s heritage, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to the problems and was a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present.”
Swami Vivekananda was Narendra Nath Dutta in his early days. He was born in the famous and affluent Dutta family in Calcutta on Monday, 12th January 1863. His father, Vishwanath Dutta was a well-known lawyer and took delight in the study of the Bible and the poems of the Persian poet, Hafiz. Narendra’s mother, Bhuvanaswari Devi was a very intelligent and pious lady with exceptionally intelligence and possessing royal dignity. The influence of the mother in the formation of the character and development of personality is always very great. Narendra learnt the Epics and Purans from his mother.
Whenever a sadhu came to his door; he would be delighted and would give him anything he found. He was the soul of social circles, a brilliant conversationalist, a sweet singer, a man with philosophical insights and leader in all creative activities. Purity of character was always with him. He had a monastic instinct underneath the surface of the gay life he seemed to live. So whenever his father urged him to marry, he rebelled and the idea was abandoned. He was restless in search of the ultimate Reality or God. For that he met a good number of spiritual thinkers and scholars and wanted to know if they had seen God and found the ultimate Reality. At last, the principal of the General Assembly’s Institution (now Scottish Church College), Hastie suggested him to meet with Sri Ramakrishna. Naren visited Ramakrishna and asked straightway if he had seen God. He replied in affirmative and said that he could even show God to him. This naturally took Naren by surprise. Later he started to receive spiritual guidance from him. When Ramakrishna passed away in 16th August 1886 because of cancer, he began to live together with other disciples of Ramakrishna. He founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. This mission has probably alleviated human sufferings and spread education to a great extent. He traveled extensively throughout India. He was appalled to see the conditions of the rural people- superstitious, half-starved and victims of caste-tyranny. He attended the Parliament of Religions at Chicago in September 1893 to represent Hinduism. He made a tremendous impression. The press paid him the highest tributes as an exponent of India‘s age old value. It was the highest pride and the climax of international acclaim that he brought for his country. All the national leaders became aware of the strong and weak aspects of India. Rabindranath Tagore once told Romain Rolland ‘If you want to know India, study Vivekananda.’
The message that he preached was remarkable and scientific. He believed in a root and branch reform. He wanted the masses educated. What made him great was that he sought man before seeking God. He had great affection for Indian women. He stated that an Indian woman was living embodiment of universal motherhood. He gave a human interpretation to Vedanta. In short, he was a remarkable humble man. He left this world on July 4, 1902 but his ideals will ever lead the world to reach the Ultimate Reality.
