SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
#1

[attachment=13251]
PREFACE
Swami Vivekananda's inspiring personality was well known both in India and in
America during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of
the twentieth. The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the
Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, at which he represented
Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his
deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation, broad human
sympathy, colourful personality, and handsome figure made an irresistible
appeal to the many types of Americans who came in contact with him. People
who saw or heard Vivekananda even once still cherish his memory after a lapse
of more than half a century.
In America Vivekananda's mission was the interpretation of India's spiritual
culture, especially in its Vedantic setting. He also tried to enrich the religious
consciousness of the Americans through the rational and humanistic teachings
of the Vedanta philosophy. In America he became India's spiritual ambassador
and pleaded eloquently for better understanding between India and the New
World in order to create a healthy synthesis of East and West, of religion and
science.
In his own motherland Vivekananda is regarded as the patriot saint of modern
India and an inspirer of her dormant national consciousness. To the Hindus he
preached the ideal of a strength-giving and man-making religion. Service to man
as the visible manifestation of the Godhead was the special form of worship he
advocated for the Indians, devoted as they were to the rituals and myths of their
ancient faith. Many political leaders of India have publicly acknowledged their
indebtedness to Swami Vivekananda.
The Swami's mission was both national and international. A lover of mankind,
he strove to promote peace and human brotherhood on the spiritual foundation
of the Vedantic Oneness of existence. A mystic of the highest order, Vivekananda
had a direct and intuitive experience of Reality. He derived his ideas from that
unfailing source of wisdom and often presented them in the soul-stirring
language of poetry.
The natural tendency of Vivekananda's mind, like that of his Master,
Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of
the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human
suffering in East and West alike. It might appear that his mind seldom found a
point of rest in its oscillation between contemplation of God and service to man.
Be that as it may, he chose, in obedience to a higher call, service to man as his
mission on earth; and this choice has endeared him to people in the West,
Americans in particular.
In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years (1863-1902), of which only ten
were devoted to public activities — and those, too, in the midst of acute physical
suffering — he left for posterity his four classics: Jnana-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga,
Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga, all of which are outstanding treatises on Hindu
philosophy. In addition, he delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired
letters in his own hand to his many friends and disciples, composed numerous
poems, and acted as spiritual guide to the many seekers who came to him for
instruction. He also organized the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the
most outstanding religious organization of modern India. It is devoted to the
propagation of the Hindu spiritual culture not only in the Swami's native land,
but also in America and in other parts of the world.
Swami Vivekananda once spoke of himself as a 'condensed India.' His life and
teachings are of inestimable value to the West for an understanding of the mind
of Asia. William James, the Harvard philosopher, called the Swami the 'paragon
of Vedantists.' Max Müller and Paul Deussen, the famous Orientalists of the
nineteenth century, held him in genuine respect and affection. 'His words,'
writes Romain Rolland, 'are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven,
stirring rhythms like the march of Handel choruses. I cannot touch these
sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books, at thirty years'
distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And
what shocks, what transports, must have been produced when in burning words
they issued from the lips of the hero!'
EARLY YEARS
Swami Vivekananda, the great soul loved and revered in East and West alike as
the rejuvenator of Hinduism in India and the preacher of its eternal truths
abroad, was born at 6:33, a few minutes before sunrise, on Monday, January 12,
1863. It was the day of the great Hindu festival Makarasamkranti, when special
worship is offered to the Ganga by millions of devotees. Thus the future
Vivekananda first drew breath when the air above the sacred river not far from
the house was reverberating with the prayers, worship, and religious music of
thousands of Hindu men and women.
Before Vivekananda was born, his mother, like many other pious Hindu
mothers, had observed religious vows, fasted, and prayed so that she might be
blessed with a son who would do honour to the family. She requested a relative
who was living in Varanasi to offer special worship to the Vireswara Siva of that
holy place and seek His blessings; for Siva, the great god of renunciation,
dominated her thought. One night she dreamt that this supreme Deity aroused
Himself from His meditation and agreed to be born as her son. When she woke
she was filled with joy.
The mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi, accepted the child as a boon from Vireswara
Siva and named him Vireswara. The family, however, gave him the name of
Narendranath Datta, calling him, for short, Narendra, or more endearingly,
Naren.
The Datta family of Calcutta, into which Narendranath had been born, was well
known for its affluence, philanthropy, scholarship, and independent spirit. The
grand father, Durgacharan, after the birth of his first son, had renounced the
world in search of God. The father, Viswanath, an attorney-at-law of the High
Court of Calcutta, was versed in English and Persian literature and often
entertained himself and his friends by reciting from the Bible and the poetry of
Hafiz, both of which, he believed, contained truths unmatched by human
thinking elsewhere. He was particularly attracted to the Islamic culture, with
which he was familiar because of his close contact with the educated Moslems of
North-western India. Moreover, he derived a large income from his law practice
and, unlike his father, thoroughly enjoyed the worldly life. An expert in cookery,
he prepared rare dishes and liked to share them with his friends. Travel was
another of his hobbies. Though agnostic in religion and a mocker of social
conventions, he possessed a large heart and often went out of his way to support
idle relatives, some of whom were given to drunkenness. Once, when Narendra
protested against his lack of judgement, his father said: 'How can you
understand the great misery of human life? When you realize the depths of
men's suffering, you will sympathize with these unfortunate creatures who try to
forget their sorrows, even though only for a short while, in the oblivion created
by intoxicants.' Naren's father, however, kept a sharp eye on his children and
would not tolerate the slightest deviation from good manners.
Bhuvaneswari Devi, the mother, was cast in a different mould. Regal in
appearance and gracious in conduct, she belonged to the old tradition of Hindu
womanhood. As mistress of a large household, she devoted her spare time to
sewing and singing, being particularly fond of the great Indian epics, the
Ramayana and the Mahabharata, large portions of which she had memorized.
She became the special refuge of the poor, and commanded universal respect
because of her calm resignation to God, her inner tranquillity, and her dignified
detachment in the midst of her many arduous duties. Two sons were born to her
besides Narendranath, and four daughters, two of whom died at an early age.
Narendra grew up to be a sweet, sunny-tempered, but very restless boy. Two
nurses were necessary to keep his exuberant energy under control, and he was a
great tease to his sisters. In order to quiet him, the mother often put his head
under the cold-water tap, repeating Siva's name, which always produced the
desired effect. Naren felt a child's love for birds and animals, and this
characteristic reappeared during the last days of his life. Among his boyhood
pets were a family cow, a monkey, a goat, a peacock, and several pigeons and
guinea-pigs. The coachman of the family, with his turban, whip, and brightcoloured
livery, was his boyhood ideal of a magnificent person, and he often
expressed the ambition to be like him when he grew up.
Narendra bore a striking resemblance to the grand-father who had renounced
the world to lead a monastic life, and many thought that the latter had been
reborn in him. The youngster developed a special fancy for wandering monks,
whose very sight would greatly excite him. One day when such a monk appeared
at the door and asked for alms, Narendra gave him his only possession, the tiny
piece of new cloth that was wrapped round his waist. Thereafter, whenever a
monk was seen in the neighbourhood, Narendra would be locked in a room. But
even then he would throw out of the window whatever he found near at hand as
an offering to the holy man. In the meantime, he was receiving his early
education from his mother, who taught him the Bengali alphabet and his first
English words, as well as stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
During his childhood Narendra, like many other Hindu children of his age,
developed a love for the Hindu deities, of whom he had learnt from his mother.
Particularly attracted by the heroic story of Rama and his faithful consort Sita,
he procured their images, bedecked them with flowers, and worshipped them in
his boyish fashion. But disillusionment came when he heard someone denounce
marriage vehemently as a terrible bondage. When he had thought this over he
discarded Rama and Sita as unworthy of worship. In their place he installed the
image of Siva, the god of renunciation, who was the ideal of the yogis.
Nevertheless he retained a fondness for the Ramayana.
At this time he daily experienced a strange vision when he was about to fall
asleep. Closing his eyes, he would see between his eyebrows a ball of light of
changing colours, which would slowly expand and at last burst, bathing his
whole body in a white radiance. Watching this light he would gradually fall
asleep. Since it was a daily occurrence, he regarded the phenomenon as common
to all people, and was surprised when a friend denied ever having seen such a
thing. Years later, however, Narendra's spiritual teacher, Sri Ramakrishna, said
to him, 'Naren, my boy, do you see a light when you go to sleep?' Ramakrishna
knew that such a vision indicated a great spiritual past and an inborn habit of
meditation. The vision of light remained with Narendra until the end of his life,
though later it lost its regularity and intensity.
While still a child Narendra practised meditation with a friend before the image
of Siva. He had heard that the holy men of ancient India would become so
absorbed in contemplation of God that their hair would grow and gradually enter
into the earth, like the roots of the banyan tree. While meditating, therefore, he
would open his eyes, now and then, to see if his own hair had entered into the
earth. Even so, during meditation, he often became unconscious of the world. On
one occasion he saw in a vision a luminous person of serene countenance who
was carrying the staff and water-bowl of a monk. The apparition was about to
say something when Naren became frightened and left the room. He thought
later that perhaps this had been a vision of Buddha.
At the age of six he was sent to a primary school. One day, however, he repeated
at home some of the vulgar words that he had learnt from his classmates,
whereupon his disgusted parents took him out of the school and appointed a
private tutor, who conducted classes for him and some other children of the
neighbourhood in the worship hall of the house. Naren soon showed a precocious
mind and developed a keen memory. Very easily he learnt by heart the whole of
a Sanskrit grammar and long passages from the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. Some of the friendships he made at this age lasted his whole
lifetime. At school he was the undisputed leader. When playing his favourite
game of 'King and the Court,' he would assume the role of the monarch and
assign to his friends the parts of the ministers, commander-in-chief, and other
state officials. He was marked from birth to be a leader of men, as his name
Narendra (lord of men) signified.
Even at that early age he questioned why one human being should be considered
superior to another. In his father's office separate tobacco pipes were provided
for clients belonging to the different castes, as orthodox Hindu custom required,
and the pipe from which the Moslems smoked was set quite apart. Narendra
once smoked tobacco from all the pipes, including the one marked for the
Moslems, and when reprimanded, remarked, 'I cannot see what difference it
makes.'
During these early years, Narendra's future personality was influenced by his
gifted father and his saintly mother, both of whom kept a chastening eye upon
him. The father had his own manner of discipline. For example, when, in the
course of an argument with his mother, the impetuous boy once uttered a few
rude words and the report came to the father, Viswanath did not directly scold
his son, but wrote with charcoal on the door of his room: 'Narendra today said to
his mother — ' and added the words that had been used. He wanted Narendra's
friends to know how rudely he had treated his mother.
Reply

Important Note..!

If you are not satisfied with above reply ,..Please

ASK HERE

So that we will collect data for you and will made reply to the request....OR try below "QUICK REPLY" box to add a reply to this page
Popular Searches: swami vivekananda jivanachi mahiti, educational philosophy of swami vivekananda malayalam ppt, karma sanosthan, slogan female feoticide by swami vivekanand, swami vivekanand gujrati essay pdf, karma sangthan com, swami vivekananda ethics ppt free download,

[-]
Quick Reply
Message
Type your reply to this message here.

Image Verification
Please enter the text contained within the image into the text box below it. This process is used to prevent automated spam bots.
Image Verification
(case insensitive)

Forum Jump: