Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

1-His original name was Narendranath Dutta and was burn at Calcutta in 1863. 2-He was a disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

3-He attended the Parliament of Religions held at Chicago in 1893 and published two papers— Prabhudha Bharata in English and Udbodhana in Bengali.

His  Social ideas

1-He stressed on social action & proclaimed the essential oneness of all religions and condemned any narrowness in religious matters.

2-He believed that only in uplifting the- masses lay the vitality of the nation.

3-He urged people to imbibe spirit of liberty, equality & freethinking

4-Wanted new social order based on freedom & equality.

5-He was champion of emancipation of women & was of the view that “no social progress is possible without improving condition of women, who were most important instrument of social change”.

6-He said, “So long as 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.”

His Religious ideas

1-Felt Hinduism needs reinterpretation

2-He subscribed to Vedanta, which he declared to be a fully rational system & reinterpreted the vedant which led to Neo-Vedantism

3-Condemned the caste system and the Hindu emphasis on rituals and superstitions

4-Preached humanistic religion and was of the view that best form of worship was service to humanity.

Nationalism

1-Contributed to the rise of nationalism. His nationalism was based on 4 pillars of

a-Awakening  of   masses

 b-Development of physical and moral strength

c-Unity based on common spiritual ideas

d-Pride in ancient Indian glory

2-Wanted modernization of India through Science & Technology

3-In 1807, he founded the Ramakrishna Mission to carry on humanitarian relief and social work.

4-Belur became the head quarters of his mission and Matha.

5- An Irish woman Margaret Noble

popularized the teachings of the Mission.

6-Vivekananda died in 1902.