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Swami
Vivekananda (whose pre-monastic name was Narendranath
Dutta ) (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902) is considered
one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders
of the Vedanta philosophy and is considered by millions
of Indians as well as non-Indians as a Messenger of God
(like Buddha, Jesus etc) . He was the chief disciple of
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and was the founder of
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He is
considered by many as an icon for his fearless courage,
his positive exhortations to the youth, his broad
outlook to social problems, and countless lectures and
discourses on Vedanta philosophy.
Birth and Early life
Narendranath Dutta was born in Shimla Pally, Kolkata,
West Bengal, India on 12 January 1863 as the son of
Viswanath Dutta and Bhuvaneswari Devi. Even as he was
young, he showed a precocious mind and keen memory. He
practiced meditation from a very early age. While at
school, he was good at studies, as well as games of
various kinds. He organised an amateur theatrical
company and a gymnasium and took lessons in fencing,
wrestling, rowing and other sports. He also studied
instrumental and vocal music. He was a leader among his
group of friends. Even when he was young, he questioned
the validity of superstitious customs and discrimination
based on caste and religion.
In 1879, Narendra entered the Presidency College,
Calcutta for higher studies. After one year, he joined
the Scottish Church College, Calcutta and studied
philosophy. During the course, he studied western logic,
western philosophy and history of European nations.
There started to arise questions about God and the
presence of God in young Narendra's mind. This made him
associate with the Brahmo Samaj, an important religious
movement of the time, led by Keshab Chandra Sen. But the
Samaj's congregational prayers and devotional songs
could not satisfy Narendra's zeal to realise God. He
would ask leaders of Brahma Samaj whether they have seen
God. He never got a satisfying answer. It was during
this time that Professor Hastie of Scottish Church
College told him about Sri Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar.
With Ramakrishna
Narendra met
Ramakrishna for the first time in November
1881. He asked Ramakrishna the same old question,
whether he had seen God. The instantaneous answer from
Ramakrishna was, "Yes, I have seen God, just as I see
you here, only in a more clear sense." Narendra was
astounded and puzzled. He could feel the man's words
were honest and uttered from depths of experience. He
started visiting Ramakrishna frequently.
Though Narendra could not accept Ramakrishna and his
visions, he could not neglect him. It had always been in
Narendra's nature to test something thoroughly before he
could accept it. He tested Ramakrishna to the maximum,
but the master was patient, forgiving, humorous and full
of love. He never asked Narendra to abandon reason, and
he faced all of Narendra's arguments and examinations
with infinite patience. In time, Narendra accepted
Ramakrishna, and while he accepted, his acceptance was
whole-hearted. While Ramakrishna predominantly taught
duality and Bhakti to his other disciples, he taught
Narendra the Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy of
non-dualism.
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.
Soon, Ramakrishna's end came in the form of throat
cancer in August 1886. After this Narendra and a core
group of Ramakrishna's disciples took vows to become
monks and renounce everything, and started living in a
supposedly haunted house in Baranagore. They took alms
to satisfy their hunger and their other needs were taken
care of by Ramakrishna's richer householder disciples. |
