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Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu monk and disciple of Ramakrishna who is known for representing Hinduism at the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. His addresses at the Parliament made him famous and established him as a leading figure of Hinduism. After his master's death, Vivekananda traveled extensively through India and was shocked by the conditions he saw - rural poverty, ignorance, superstition and caste oppression. He appealed for action to improve conditions but few listened except some rulers and young people. Vivekananda emphasized mobilizing mass support to solve India's problems rather than relying only on educated elites.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
553 views18 pages

History Project

Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu monk and disciple of Ramakrishna who is known for representing Hinduism at the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. His addresses at the Parliament made him famous and established him as a leading figure of Hinduism. After his master's death, Vivekananda traveled extensively through India and was shocked by the conditions he saw - rural poverty, ignorance, superstition and caste oppression. He appealed for action to improve conditions but few listened except some rulers and young people. Vivekananda emphasized mobilizing mass support to solve India's problems rather than relying only on educated elites.

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aayush choudhary
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© © All Rights Reserved
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NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE

UNIVERSITY,
BHOPAL

Project on

“Life of Swami Vivekananda”


(History II)

Submitted By :

Aayush Choudhary
2017BALLB106

1
INDEX

S.NO PAGE
TOPIC

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA 4

2. ADDRESSES AT THE PARLIAMENT OF RELIGION, CHICAGO 7

3. LIFE AFTER CHICAGO ADDRESS 8

4. PHILOSOPHY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA 12

5. CONCLUSION 15

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 18

2
“Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three
essentials to success, and above all, love.”

- SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

3
INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Swami Vivekananda was “the apostle of the superiority and self-sufficiency of Hindu culture” of
whom it has been said, “the call to reform, restore and revive India. To help India in every possible
way for human efforts, was essentially Vivekananda’s call, and of all the makers of Modern India,
he was the most classless and purely patriotic voice.1He was born Narendranath Dutta, son of a
well-known lawyer in Calcutta, Biswanath Dutta, and a very intelligent and pious lady,
Bhuvaneswari Devi, in the year 1863. Biswanath often had scholarly discussions with his clients
and friends on politics, religion and society. He would invite Narendranath to join in these
discussions. Narendra, not in the embarrassed, would say whatever he thought was right, advancing
also arguments, in support of his stand. Some of Biswanath's friends resented Naren's presence
among them, more so because he had the audacity to talk about matters concerning adults.
Biswanath, however, encouraged him. Naren would say: Point out where I'm wrong, but why
should you object to my independent thinking?

Naren learnt the Epics and Puranas from his mother, who was a good story-teller. He also inherited
her memory among other qualities. He, in fact, owed much to her as he used to say later. Naren was
all-round. He could sing, was good at sports, had a ready wit, his range of knowledge was
extensive, had a rational frame of mind and he loved to help people . He was a natural leader. He
was much sought after by the people because of his various accomplishments.

Naren passed Entrance Examination from the Metropolitan Institute and F.A. and B.A.
Examinations from the General Assembly's Institution (now Scottish Church College). Hastie,
Principal of the College, was highly impressed by Naren's philosophical insight. It was from Hastie
that he first heard of Sri Ramakrishna. He was unconventional in his manners, but becoming
interested in spiritual problems, he turned to Sri Ramakrishna in n1886 and became his trusted
disciple. The guru transmitted all his spiritual powers to Vivekananda.

As a student of Philosophy, the question of God was very much in his mind. Was there a God ? If
there was a God, what was He like ? What were man's relations with Him ? Did He create this

1
Vincent Sheean: Lead,Kindly Light. p. 534.

4
world which was so full of anomalies ? He discussed these questions with many, but no one could
give him satisfactory answers. He looked to persons who could say they had seen God, but found
none. Meanwhile, Keshab Sen had become the head of the Brahmo Movement. He was a great
orator and many young people, attracted by his oratory, enrolled as members of the Brahmo Samaj.
Naren also did the same. For some time he was satisfied with what the Brahmo Samaj taught him,
but soon he began to feel it did not quite touch the core of the matter, so far as religion was
concerned. A relation of his used to advise him to visit Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar, who, he said,
would be able to remove all his doubts about religion. He happened to meet Ramakrishna at the
house of a neighbour, but there is nothing on record about the impression that he created on Naren's
mind. He, however, invited Naren to visit him at Dakshineswar some day. As the days passed,
Naren began to grow restless about the various riddles that religion presented to him. He
particularly wanted to meet a person who could talk about God with the authority of personal
experience. Finally, he went to Ramakrishna one day and asked him straightaway if he had seen
God. He said he had, and if Naren so wished, he could even show God to him. This naturally took
Naren by surprise. But he did not know what to make of it, for though his simplicity and love of
God impressed Naren, his idiosyncrasies made him suspect if Ramakrishna was not a 'monomaniac'.
He began to watch him from close quarters and after a long time he was left in no doubt that
Ramakrishna was an extraordinary man. He was the only man he had so far met who had
completely mastered himself. Then, he was also the best illustration of every religious truth he
preached. Naren loved and admired Ramakrishna but never surrendered his independence of
judgment. Interestingly, Ramakrishna himself did not demand it of him, or of any other of his
disciples. Nevertheless, Naren gradually came to accept Ramakrishna as his master.Ramakrishna
suffered from cancer and passed away in 1886. During his illness, a group of select young men had
gathered round him and began to nurse him while receiving spiritual guidance from him. Naren was
the leader of this group. Ramakrishna had wanted that they take to monastic life and had
symbolically given them Gerua cloth. They accordingly founded a monastery at Baranagar and
began to live together, depending upon they got by begging. Sometimes they would also wander
about like other monks. Naren also would sometimes go travelling. It was while he was thus
travelling that he assumed the name of Swami Vivekananda. He carried out various pilgrimages
over North, West and South India and was struck with the prevalent poverty in India. He found the

5
glorious India of yore fallen and prostrate, the only hope being that she still held on to the one
source of her life- her religion. 2

2
Quoted in R.C. Majumdar (Ed.) op.cit,p. 126

6
ADDRESSES AT THE PARLIAMENT OF RELIGION, CHICAGO

The parliament of religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the art institute of Chicago. On this
day Vivekananda gave his first brief address. He represented India and Hinduism. Though initially
nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the goddess of learning and began his speech with, "sisters and
brothers of America!” to these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand,
which lasted for two minutes. when silence was restored he began his address. he greeted the
youngest of the nations in the name of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic
order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance."
and he quoted two illustrative passages in this relation, from the Bhagavad-Gita—"as the different
streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, o lord, the
different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked
or straight, all lead to thee!" and "whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form, i reach him;
all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to me." despite being a short speech, it
voiced the spirit of the parliament and its sense of universality.
Dr. Barrows, the president of the parliament said, "india, the mother of religions was represented by
swami Vivekananda, the orange-monk who exercised the most wonderful influence over his
auditors." he attracted widespread attention in the press, which dubbed him as the "cyclonic monk
from india". The New York Critique wrote, "He is an orator by divine right, and his strong,
intelligent face in its picturesque setting of yellow and orange was hardly less interesting than those
earnest words, and the rich, rhythmical utterance he gave them." The New York Herald wrote,
"Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the parliament of religions. After hearing him
we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation.” Swami Vivekananda was
regarded as, "undoubtedly the greatest figure in the parliament of religions", "beyond question, the
most popular and influential man in the parliament."

He spoke several more times at the parliament on topics related to Hinduism and Buddhism. The
parliament ended on 27 September 1893. All his speeches at the parliament had one common
theme—universality and stressed religious tolerance.

7
LIFE AFTER CHICAGO ADDRESS

After his master’s death, Vivekananda traveled extensively through India, sometimes on foot. He
was shocked to see the conditions of rural India-people ignorant, superstitious, half-starved, and
victims of caste-tyranny. If this shocked him, the callousness of the so-called educated upper classes
shocked him still more. In the course of his travels he met many princes who invited him to stay
with them as their guest. He met also city-based members of the intelligentsia-lawyers, teachers,
journalists and government officials. He appealed to all to do something for the masses. No one
seemed to pay any heed to him-except the Maharaja of Mysore, the Maharaja of Khetri and a few
young men of Madras. Swami Vivekananda impressed on everybody the need to mobilize the
masses. A few educated men and women could not solve the problem of the country; the mass
power had to be harnessed to the task. He wanted the masses educated. The ruler of Mysore was
among the first to make primary education free within his State. This, however, was not enough in
Swamiji's view. A peasant could not afford to send his children to school, for he needed help in his
field. He wanted education taken to the peasant's door-step, so that the peasant's children could
work and learn at the same time. It was a kind of 'non-formal' education which perhaps he
visualized.
Other princes, or the intelligentsia as a whole, were impressed by Swamiji's personality, but were
much too engrossed with their own affairs to pay any heed to his appeals. Some of the young men
of Madras, Perumal specially, dedicated himself to the ideas Swamiji propounded and his
contributions to the success of his mission were significant. Swamiji could guess the reason why the
so-called leaders of the society ignored him. Who was he ? A mere wandering monk. There were
hundreds of such monks all over the country. Why should they pay any special attention to him ?
By and large, they followed only Western thinkers and those Indians who followed the West and
had had some recognition in the West by so doing. It was slave mentality, but that was what
characterized the attitude of the educated Indians over most matters.
After the Parliament of Religions, held in Sept. 1893 at The Art Institute of Chicago, Vivekananda
spent nearly two whole years lecturing in various parts of eastern and central United States,
appearing chiefly in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, and New York. By the spring of 1895, he was weary
and in poor health, because of his continuous exertion. After suspending his lecture tour, the Swami

8
started giving free and private classes on Vedanta and Yoga. In June 1895, for two months he
conducted private lectures to a dozen of his disciples at the Thousand Island Park. Vivekananda
considered this to the happiest part of his first visit to America. He later founded the "Vedanta
Society of New York".

During his first visit to America, he traveled to England twice—in 1895 and 1896. His lectures were
successful there. Here he met Miss Margaret Noble an Irish lady, who later became Sister Nivedita.
During his second visit in May 1896, the Swami met Max Müller a renowned Indologist at Oxford
University who wrote Ramakrishna's first biography in the West. From England, he also visited
other European countries. In Germany he met Paul Deussen, another famous Indologist.

He also received two academic offers, the chair of Eastern Philosophy at Harvard University and a
similar position at Columbia University. He declined both, saying that, as a wandering monk, he
could not settle down to work of this kind.

He attracted several sincere followers. Among his other followers were, Josephine MacLeod, Miss
Muller, Miss Noble, E.T. Sturdy, Captain and Mrs. Sevier—who played an important role in the
founding of Advaita Ashrama and J.J.Goodwin—who became his stenographer and recorded his
teachings and lectures. The Hale family became one of his warmest hosts in America.His
disciples—Madame Louise, a French woman, became Swami Abhayananda, and Mr. Leon
Landsberg, became Swami Kripananda. He initiated several other followers into Brahmacharya.

Swami Vivekananda's ideas were admired by several scholars and famous thinkers—William
James, Josiah Royce, C. C. Everett, Dean of the Harvard School of Divinity, Robert G. Ingersoll,
Nikola Tesla, Lord Kelvin, and Professor Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz. Other
personalities who were attracted by his talks were Harriet Monroe and Ella Wheeler Wilcox—two
famous American poets, Professor William James of Harvard University; Dr. Lewis G. Janes,
president of Brooklyn Ethical Association; Sara C. Bull wife of Ole Bull, the Norwegian violinist;
Sarah Bernhardt, the French actress and Madame Emma Calvé, the French opera singer.

9
From West, he also set his Indian work in motion. Vivekananda wrote a stream of letters to India,
giving advice and sending money to his followers and brother monks. His letters from the West in
these days laid down the motive of his campaign for social service. He constantly tried to inspire his
close disciples in India to do something big. His letters to them contain some of his strongest words.
In one such letter, he wrote to Swami Akhandananda, "Go from door to door amongst the poor and
lower classes of the town of Khetri and teach them religion. Also, let them have oral lessons on
geography and such other subjects. No good will come of sitting idle and having princely dishes,
and saying "Ramakrishna, O Lord!"—unless you can do some good to the poor." Eventually in
1895, the periodical called Brahmavadin was started in Madras, with the money supplied by
Vivekananda, for the purpose of teaching the Vedanta. Subsequenly, Vivekananda's translation of
first six chapters of The Imitation of Christ was published in Brahmavadin (1889).

Vivekananda left for India on 16 December 1896 from England with disciples, Capitan and Mrs.
Sevier, and J.J.Goodwin. On the way they visited France, Italy, seeing Leonardo Da Vinci's The
Last Supper, and set sail for India from the Port of Naples on December 30, 1896. Later, he was
followed to India by Miss Muller and Sister Nivedita. Sister Nivedita devoted the rest of her life to
the education of Indian women and the cause of India's independence.
Vivekananda arrived in Colombo on January 15, 1897 and received a grand welcome. Here, he gave
his first public speech in East, India, the Holy Land. From there on, his journey to Calcutta was a
triumphal progress. He traveled from Colombo to Pamban, Rameshwaram, Ramnad, Madurai,
Kumbakonam and Madras delivering lectures. People and Rajas gave him enthusiastic reception. In
the procession at Pamban, the Raja of Ramnad personally drew the Swami's carriage. On way to
Madras, at several places where the train would not stop, the people squatted on the rails and
allowed the train to pass only after hearing the Swami.From Madras, he continued his journey to
Calcutta and continued his lectures up to Almora. These lectures have been published as Lectures
from Colombo to Almora. These lectures are considered to be of nationalistic fervor and spiritual
ideology. His speeches had tremendous influence on the Indian leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi,
Bipin Chandra Pal and Balgangadhar Tilak.

On 1 May 1897 at Calcutta, Vivekananda founded the "Ramakrishna Math"—the organ for
propagating religion and "Ramakrishna Mission"—the organ for social service. This was the

10
beginning of an organized socio-religious movement to help the masses through educational,
cultural, medical and relief work. The ideals of the Ramakrishna Mission are based on Karma Yoga.
Two monasteries were founded by him, one at Belur, near Calcutta, which became the Headquarters
of Ramakrishna Math and Mission and the other at Mayavati on the Himalayas, near Almora called
the Advaita Ashrama and later a third monastery was established at Madras. Two journals were
started, Prabuddha Bharata in English and Udbhodan in Bengali. The same year, the famine relief
work was started by Swami Akhandananda at Murshidabad district.

Vivekananda had inspired Sir Jamshetji Tata to set up a research and educational institution when
they had travelled together from Yokohama to Chicago on the Swami’s first visit to the West in
1893. About this time the Swami received a letter from Tata, requesting him to head the Research
Institute of Science that Tata had set up. But Vivekananda declined the offer saying that it
conflicted with his spiritual interests.

He later visited Punjab, in Pakistan with the mission of establishing harmony between the Arya
Samaj which stood for reinterpreted Hinduism and the Sanatanaists who stood for orthodox
Hinduism. At Rawalpindi, he suggested methods for rooting out antagonism between Arya
Samajists and Muslims. His visit to Lahore is memorable for his famous speeches and his inspiring
association with Tirtha Ram Goswami, then a brilliant professor of Mathematics, who later graced
monasticism as Swami Rama Tirtha and preached Vedanta in India and America. He also visited
other places, including Delhi and Khetri and returned to Calcutta in January 1896. He spent the next
few months consolidating the work of the Math and training the disciples. During this period he
composed the famous arati song, Khandana Bhava Bandhana during the event of consecration of
Ramakrishna's temple at a devotees' house.

11
PHILOSOPHY OF SWAMI VIVEKANADA AND INDIAN
RENAISSCANCE

The common perception of Swami Vivekananda as the religious leader who preached Hinduism to
the West and established the Ramakrishna Mission in India is a very limited definition of the impact
he had on the collective psyche of the common Indian. Besides his direct impact in adding steam to
the Indian Renaissance, a large part of his thoughts and writings also affected the other stalwarts of
the movement. While fathoming the entirety of his impact on the Indian Renaissance would be
impossible, we will briefly explore some aspects of his influence in the following pages.
Once Swami Vivekananda asked a certain General Strong as to why India was defeated during the
sepoy mutiny. General Strong replied that their leaders, instead of advancing forward, only kept
shouting from a safe position in the rear, “Fight on, brave lads,” and so forth. They did not fight
from the forefront. So Swamiji adds: ‘It is the same in every branch. “A captain must sacrifice his
head,” they say. If you can lay down your life for a cause, then only you can be a leader.’ Such
leaders are needed now.
Vivekananda was a renowned thinker in his own right. One of his most important contributions was
to demonstrate how Advait in thinking is not merely philosophically far-reaching, but how it also
has social, even political, consequences. According to Vivekananda, a important lesson he received
from Ramakrishna was that "Jiva is Shiva" (each individual is divinity itself). This became his
Mantra, and he coined the concept of daridra narayana seva - the service of God in and through
(poor) human beings. If there truly is the unity of Brahman underlying all phenomena, then on what
basis do we regard ourselves as better or worse, or even as better-off or worse-off, than others? -
This was the question he posed to himself. Ultimately, he concluded that these distinctions fade into
nothingness in the light of the oneness that the devotee experiences in Moksha. What arises then is
compassion for those "individuals" who remain unaware of this oneness and a determination to help
them.
Swami Vivekananda belonged to that branch of Vedanta that held that no one can be truly free until
all of us are. Even the desire for personal salvation has to be given up, and only tireless work for the

12
salvation of others is the true mark of the enlightened person. He founded the Sri Ramakrishna
Math and Mission on the principle of Atmano Mokshartham Jagat-hitaya cha (आआआआआआ
आआआआआआआआआआआ आआआआआआआआआ आ) (for one's own salvation and for the welfare of the
World).
However, Vivekananda also pleaded for a strict separation between religion and government
("church and state") a value found in Freemasonry which as a Freemason he had been exposed to.
Although social customs had been formed in the past with religious sanction, it was not now the
business of religion to interfere with matters such as marriage, inheritance and so on. The ideal
society would be a mixture of Brahmin knowledge, Kshatriya culture, Vaisya efficiency and the
egalitarian Shudra ethos. Domination by any one led to different sorts of lopsided societies.
Vivekananda did not feel that religion, nor, any force for that matter, should be used forcefully to
bring about an ideal society, since this was something that would evolve naturally by individualistic
change when the conditions were right.
Vivekananda made a strict demarcation between the two classes of Hindu scriptures : the Sruti and
the Smritis. The Sruti, by which is meant the Vedas, consist of eternally and universally valid
spiritual truths. The Smritis on the other hand, are the dos and donts of religions, applicable to
society and subject to revision from time to time. Vivekananda felt that existing Hindu smritis had
to be revised for modern times. But the Srutis of course are eternal - they may only be re-
interpreted.
Vivekananda advised his followers to be holy, unselfish and have shraddha (faith). He encouraged
the practice of Brahmacharya (Celibacy). In one of the conversations with his childhood friend
Priya Nath Sinha he attributes his physical and mental strengths, eloquence to the practice of
Brahmacharya.
Vivekananda didn't advocate the emerging area of parapsychology, astrology (one instance can be
found in his speech Man the Maker of his Destiny, Complete-Works, Volume 8, Notes of Class
Talks and Lectures) saying that this form of curiosity doesn't help in spiritual progress but actually
hinders it.
Swamiji’s root-and-branch reform consisted in considering the nation as a whole. Vivekananda’s
approach to life was not piecemeal; he considered all the three: the body, mind and Self. More
essentially, he considered the Atman or Self, because he knew that once the Atman is awakened, all
power, all glory and all success were sure to come. This Atman, again, was the key to oneness and

13
unity. Human oneness and equality can never be achieved at the bodily level or the mental level. It
is only at the level of the Self or Atman that oneness can be achieved.
After Vivekananda came, we began to broaden, and the result is that within a century we are
progressing fast. Vivekananda pointed out that we are suffering because we closed our doors. ‘Give
and take is the law,’ he declared. It is only by working for others that we can uplift ourselves. ‘This
is the great ideal before us, and every one must be ready for it—the conquest of the whole world by
India—nothing less than that, and we must all get ready for it, strain every nerve for it. Let
foreigners come and flood the land with their armies, never mind. Up, India , and conquer the world
with your spirituality!’ (Complete Works, Vol. 3, p. 284)

14
CONCLUSION

Our nation has tremendous potential within. Nations, like people, are trichotomous too. They too
have the body, the mind, and the Self. Indian mind is the religious mind. Indian Spirit is the
religious Spirit. So India has tremendous potential. Its constituents, we the people, too have
tremendous potential within, waiting to be brought forth. For a thousand years we were told we
were nothing. We were humiliated and tortured. So we had forgotten that we had innate potential.
Swami Vivekananda reminded us of that potential. Once we got freedom, we began to manifest that
potential. And today, India is about to sit at the top of the world. A century ago, Swami
Vivekananda had prophesied that ‘ India will be raised, not with the power of the flesh, but with the
power of the spirit….’ And that is happening now. When everyone criticized religion, Vivekananda
said: ‘Here in India , it is religion that forms the very core of the national heart. It is the backbone,
the bed-rock, the foundation upon which the national edifice has been built. Politics, power, and
even intellect form a secondary consideration here. Religion, therefore, is the one consideration in
India .’ (Complete Works, Vol. 3, p. 208).

Several leaders of 20th Century India and philosophers have acknowledged Vivekananda's
influence. The first governor general of independent India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, once
observed that "Vivekananda saved Hinduism, saved India."According to Subhas Chandra Bose,
Vivekananda "is the maker of modern India" and for Mohandas Gandhi, Vivekananda's influence
increased his "love for his country a thousandfold." National Youth Day in India is held on his
birthday, January 12, to commemorate him. This was a most fitting gesture as much of Swami
Vivekananda's writings concerned the Indian youth and how they should strive to uphold their
ancient values whilst fully participating in the modern world.

Swami Vivekananda is widely considered to have inspired India's freedom struggle movement. His
writings inspired a whole generation of freedom fighters including Aurobindo Ghose and Bagha
Jatin. Vivekananda was the brother of the extremist revolutionary, Bhupendranath Dutta. Subhash
Chandra Bose one of the most prominent figures in Indian independence movement said, “I cannot
write about Vivekananda without going into raptures. Few indeed could comprehend or fathom him
even among those who had the privilege of becoming intimate with him. His personality was rich,
profound and complex... Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in his activity, boundless in his love,

15
profound and versatile in his wisdom, exuberant in his emotions, merciless in his attacks but yet
simple as a child, he was a rare personality in this world of ours.”

Aurobindo Ghosh considered Vivekananda as his spiritual mentor. “Vivekananda was a soul of
puissance if ever there was one, a very lion among men, but the definitive work he has left behind is
quite incommensurate with our impression of his creative might and energy. We perceive his
influence still working gigantically, we know not well how, we know not well where, in something
that is not yet formed, something leonine, grand, intuitive, upheaving that has entered the soul of
India and we say, "Behold, Vivekananda still lives in the soul of his Mother and in the souls of her
children.” —Sri Aurobindo in Vedic Magazine(1915)

The French Nobel Laureate, Romain Rolland writes, "His words 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!

Vivekananda inspired Jamshedji Tata[114] to set up Indian Institute of Science, one of India's finest
Institutions. Abroad, he had some interactions with Max Mueller. Nikola Tesla was one of those
influenced by the Vedic philosophy teachings of the Swami Vivekananda.

Above all Swami Vivekananda helped restore a sense of pride amongst the Hindus, presenting
the ancient teachings of India in its purest form to a Western audience, free from the propaganda
spread by British colonial administrators and Christian missionaries, of Hinduism being a caste-
ridden, misogynistic idolatrous faith. Indeed his early foray into the West would set the path for
subsequent Indian religious teachers to make their own marks on the world, as well herald the entry
of Hindus and their religious traditions into the Western world.

Swami Vivekananda's ideas have had a great influence on the Indian youth. In many institutes,
students have come together and formed organizations meant for promoting discussion of spiritual
ideas and the practice of such high principles. Many of such organizations have adopted the name
Vivekananda Study Circle. One such group also exists at IIT Madras and is popularly known as

16
(VSC). Additionally, Swami Vivekananda's ideas and teachings have carried on globally, being
practiced in institutions all over the world.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "Swami Vivekananda's writings need no introduction from anybody. They
make their own irresistible appeal." Many years after Vivekananda's death, Rabindranath Tagore a
Nobel Poet Laureate had said, "If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him
everything is positive and nothing negative."

Finally, what is Vivekananda’s India ? Vivekananda’s India is one, which is eternal India —the
India of sacrifices and renunciation. We must give up our little ambitions and petty selfishness for
the good of the nation. When Swami Vivekananda was asked what service he liked most, he had
said: ‘Love India .’ That is the lesson for all of us.

Thus, Vivekananda, hailed by the West as the ‘cyclonic monk of India’, and by his own countrymen
as the ‘patriot saint of India’, the ‘Lion of Vedanta’, has left a deep impression on the social history
of modern India. The mission he founded in the name of his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna Mission, has
been doing tremendous work in uplifting the weaker sections of the society.

17
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books
1. Vivekananda, Swami. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. 9 Volumes. Vedanta Press.
ISBN 978-8185301754.
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm.
2. Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda ISBN 0-911206-21-3
3. Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda ISBN 0-911206-23-X
4. Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga by Swami Vivekananda ISBN 0-911206-22-1
5. Life of Vivekananda by Romain Rolland ISBN 81-85301-01-8
6. A Short Life of Swami Vivekananda by Swami Tejasananda
7. Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 1933, Advaita Ashrama, Almora ISBN 81-7505-181-7
8. Letters of Swami Vivekananda, 1960, Advaita Ashrama, Almora, ISBN 81-7505-062-4
9. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Indian Freedom Struggle/edited by Ratna Ghosh. New
Delhi, Deep and Deep, 2006, 2 Vols., xxvi, 574 p., (set). ISBN 81-7629-843-3.
10. Gandhi, Mohandas. An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth. ISBN 0-
8070-5909-9.
11. Seal, Anil (1968). Emergence of Indian Nationalism: Competition and Collaboration in the
Later Nineteenth Century. ISBN 0-521-06274-8.

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