Swami Vivekananda
Date of Birth: January12, 1863
Place of Birth: Calcutta, Bengal Presidency (Now Kolkata in West Bengal)
Parents: Vishwanath Dutta (Father) and Bhuvaneshwari Devi (Mother)
Education: Calcutta Metropolitan School; Presidency College, Calcutta
Institutions: Ramakrishna Math; Ramakrishna Mission; Vedanta Society
of New York
Religious Views: Hinduism
Philosophy: Advaita Vedanta
Publications: Karma Yoga (1896); Raja Yoga (1896); Lectures from
Colombo to Almora (1897); My Master (1901)
Death: July 4, 1902
Place of Death: Belur Math, Belur, Bengal
Memorial: Belur Math, Belur, West BengalSwami Vivekananda was a
Hindu monk and one of the most celebrated spiritual leaders of India.
He was more than just a spiritual mind; he was a prolific thinker, great
orator and passionate patriot. He carried on the free-thinking
philosophy of his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhansa forward into a new
paradigm. He worked tirelessly towards betterment of the society, in
servitude of the poor and needy, dedicating his all for his country. He
was responsible for the revival of Hindu spiritualism and established
Hinduism as a revered religion on world stage. His message of universal
brotherhood and self-awakening remains relevant especially in the
current backdrop of widespread political turmoil around the world. The
young monk and his teachings have been an inspiration to many, and
his words have become goals of self-improvement especially for the
youth of the country. For this very reason, his birthday, January 12, is
celebrated as the National Youth Day in India.
Contribution of Vivekananda in
India The most famous disciple of Ramakrishna
was Nerendranath Dutta. Who became renowned as Swami
Vivekananda. After the death of Ramakrishna in 1866 Vivekananda
came forward to fulfil his mission. Vivekananda was born in Calcutta in
1863 in a Kayasta family. He was well educated in school and college.
First he was attracted towards Brahmo Samaj and then drank deeply
into the philosophy of John Stuart Mill, Hume and Herbert Spencer.
Then he was persuaded to visit Ramakrishna.
His interview with Ramakrishna and his subsequent frequent visits to
him attracted Vivekananda to be the dearest disciple of Ramakrishna.
He possessed a charming personality, unbounded energy and deep
spiritual vision. He became a symbol of new spirit for India in the 19th
Century. Vivekananda travelled over the length and breadth of India to
preach the people, the greatness of their spiritual culture. He roused a
new spirit among all individuals to search for their own divinity. He also
asked the people to re-discover the soul of mother India.He attended
the Parliament of Religions first at Chicago in 1893. His most significant
address on Hinduism propounded the real meaning of world’s most
ancient religion. The West came to understand the value of Indian
liberalism, universality, cosmopolitanism and spirituality. His mission
proved a great success. For his eloquent speech and talented exposition
the American papers described him as “an orator by divine right”. He
became the central figure of the Parliament of Religions.
Vivekananda realized the value of Western materialism. The scientific
achievements and the material happiness of the West impressed him
deeply. He desired for the combination of Indian spiritualism and
Western materialism for a happier life of a man. He then made it a
mission of his life to awaken the Indians from the slumber to a new life.
He believed that man had divinity and the spark of spirituality in him.
Every individual therefore should give up fear and rise from
degradation and be a noble man. By preaching about spiritual unity he
advocated for a sense of national unity which attracted millions of
Indians to his side. To organize social service and to infuse a sense of
unity among men he founded an order to the Sanyasis or monks called
Rammakrishna Mission in 1897.
Vivekananda condemned blind beliefs. He wanted to see every Indian
as a modern man with a modern and rational outlook. He therefore
said that I would rather see every one of your rank atheists than
superstitious fool, for atheist is alive and you can make something of
him. But if superstition enters, the brain is gone, the brain is softening,
and degradation has seized upon the life.
Vivekananda told his countrymen to be tolerant towards each other.
“We reject none, neither theist, nor pantheist, monist, polytheist,
agnostic, nor atheist, the only condition of being a disciple is
modelling a character at once the broadest and the most intense”, he
said. He further said, “I shall enter to the mosque of the
Mohammedan; I shall enter the Christian’s church and kneel before
the crucifix; I shall enter the Buddhist temple where I shall take refuse
in Buddha and his law, I shall go into the forest land sit down in
meditation with the Hindu who is trying to see the light which
enlightens the heart of everyone. Not only shall I do these but I shall
keep my heart open for all that may come in the future.”
Through these words he could impress upon every Indian a sense of
brotherhood that resulted in strengthening the unity of Indians.
Vivekananda condemned the Indian orthodox in harsh terms “Our
religion is in the kitchen, our God is in the cooking-pot, our religion is:
do not touch me, I am holy”. He narrated that superstitions had
destroyed much of Hindu spirituality. By reminding those of their
spiritual value Vivekananda generated the spark of self-confidence
among the Indians which indirectly infused a sense of democratic
consciousness as democracy rested on self-respect and individuality of
every man.
Vivekananda drew the attention of Indians towards the values of
Western ways of life. He opened the link between Indian minds and
external things. The West appeared to him as the land of material
civilization. The spirit of that civilization to him was essential for
Indian progress. Therefore he declared “From the great dynamo of
Europe, the electric flow of that tremendous power vivifying the whole
world, we want that energy, that love of independence, that spirit of
self-reliance, that immovable fortitude, that dexterity in action, that
bond of unity of purpose that thirst for improvement”.
His vision thus inaugurated an European society with Indian religion.
Vivekananda therefore appeared on the Indian scene as a messiah of a
new age, a symbol of a new spirit and source of strength for the future.
At the age of 39 in 1902, the great man Swami Vivekananda passed
away but his life and action inspired millions of Indians. His name
remained as a source of national inspiration. The Ramakrishan
Mission the brain child of Swami Vivekananda has been doing
splendid and monumental humanitarian and social service by opening
schools and colleges, libraries and orphanages all over the country.
Swami Vivekananda and
his contribution to Indian
Education System
According to Swami Vivekananda education should cover all aspects of life –
material, physical, moral, intellectual, spiritual and emotional, as education is a
constant process. For him, education defines as ‘the manifestation of perfection
that is already in man.’
He suggested that education should aim at reforming the human mind; it should
not be for filling some facts into the brain. Education should be the preparation of
life. He once said that “Education is not the amount of information that is put into
your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building,
man-making, character-making, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five
ideas and made them your life and character, you have more education than any
man who has got by heart a whole library. If education were identical with
information, the libraries would be the greatest sages in the world and
encyclopedias the rishis.”
Vivekananda propagated that the essence of Hinduism was best expressed
in Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta philosophy. And thus, for modern education
system Swami Vivekananda wanted to implement maximum emphasis on
meditation and concentration in the teaching-learning process.
In the practice of general education, as it is in the practice of yoga, five
fundamentals have necessarily involved- the aim, the method, the subject, the
taught and the teacher. He convinced of the fact that by practicing meditation and
concentration, all knowledge in the human mind can also be practised.
By giving re-orientation to education, politics, economics and sociology, Swami
Vivekananda wanted to remove the evils of the society. For this change, he laid
stress on education as a powerful weapon.
In the practice of general education, as it is in the practice of yoga, five
fundamentals have necessarily involved- the aim, the method, the subject, the
taught and the teacher. He convinced of the fact that by practicing meditation and
concentration, all knowledge in the human mind can also be practised.
By giving re-orientation to education, politics, economics and sociology, Swami
Vivekananda wanted to remove the evils of the society. For this change, he laid
stress on education as a powerful weapon.
10 Golden teachings of
Swami Vivekananda
1
Teaching 1
Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow
have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with
ignorance comes misery.
2
Teaching 2
Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if
you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.
3
Teaching 3
Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above all,
love.
4
Teaching 4
It is love and love alone that I preach, and I base my teaching on the great Vedantic
truth of the sameness and omnipresence of the Soul of the Universe.
5
Teaching 5
We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the
intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet.
6
Teaching 6
This is the gist of all worship – to be pure and to do good to others.
7
Teaching 7
My ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is: to preach unto mankind their
divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.
8
Teaching 8
If you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological gods,
… and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in
yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.
9
Teaching 9
So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who,
having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.
10
Teaching 10
Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.
NAME –Komal Vashist
ROLL NO.-170BLLCBL040
COURSE-B.A.L.L.B
SEMESTER-2 ND
SUBJECT- Sociology
FACUTY-Miss Ruchika
