Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863, at Simna, Calcutta. His childhood name was Narendra Nath. His father was Bishwanath Dutta and his mother was Bhubaneswari Devi.
His father was a lawyer and a musician. His mother Bhubaneswari was also very compassionate. He found peace by giving alms to the poor. He was also very spiritually devoted.
Narendra Nath possessed the qualities of his parents. He was an independent minded man and also interested in sports. He loved music. As a child, Narendra had a sense of worship when he saw saints and monks. He was interested in reading various books since childhood.
Narendra Nath passed the entrance examination from the Metropolitan School in 1879 with first division and then entered Presidency College. After graduating from this college, Narendra Nath’s mind began to turn towards religion. and joined the Brahmin society. He began to think spiritually about religion, God and the Spirit.
In 1881, Narendra Nath met Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. It was time for him to take his MA examination. He met Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa at Dakshineswar for the second time and Narendra Nath asked him, “Have you ever seen the Lord?” Then Ramakrishna replied,
“I see him more clearly than I see you.”
After receiving that answer, Narendra Nath’s life changed further. He changed from Narendra Nath to Swami Vivekananda. He traveled throughout India as Vivekananda to attend the 1893 World Religions Conference in Chicago, USA. He represented Hinduism in India at the meeting.
In 1895, Vivekananda created a stir by spreading the message of Vedanta in Europe around London. He became the object of everyone’s praise. When he spoke, everyone in the audience listened in awe. A learned Irish woman named Bhagini Nivedita accepted Vivekananda as her guru and came to India to collaborate with him.
He preached the message of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s Vedanta and harmony of all religions in the United States and Europe.
When Swami Vivekananda established Belurmath on the banks of the Ganges, his American disciples helped him with many donations.
The sevashrams of the Ramakrishna Mission in Kashi, Haridwar etc. enjoyed spreading the message of Swami Vivekananda’s ideals of human service. He established a girls’ school in the name of his beloved daughter Nivedita in Baghbazar and entrusted her with the entire responsibility.
He first achieved great fame by starting the Belurmath and Ramakrishna Missions. Vivekananda was busy and was able to find enthusiasm and joy. He gave significant advice to the disciples for the improvement of the monastery. He introduced Durga Puja and Kali Puja with great pomp.
Vivekananda emphasized the physical strength of everyone and the formation of character on moral integrity and self-confidence.
He was always eager to identify the causes of the backward attitudes of the Indian people and reform Indian society.
He gathered everyone together and gave lectures on the subject and encouraged them to move forward.
The meaning of Swami Vivekananda’s words was to encourage the enterprise of the mind and build self-confidence to move forward in the workplace. An attitude of strengthening oneself and providing physical strength through the pursuit of strength. He also taught that people can become stronger by having exclusive faith in God. The mantra of great self-confidence is to move forward on the path of truth.
He warned that national unity and spiritual forces must be mobilized to develop India by instilling courage and truth in the minds with the status of ‘Bir Bhogya Vasundhara’ He warned everyone that we must build a beautiful and great future by building harmony among us regardless of caste and religion. On 4 July 1902, this great soul passed away forever.