today is national youth day celebrated on the behalf of the birth anniversary of swami vivekananda here is a piece of information about him Birth and childhood[edit] A Bengali woman , sitting Vivekananda as a wandering monk (left) Bhuvaneswari Devi (1841–1911); I am indebted to my mother for the efflorescence of my knowledge.[6] – Vivekananda (right) 3, Gourmohan Mukherjee Street, birthplace of Vivekananda, now converted into a museum and cultural centre Vivekananda was born Narendranath Datta (shortened to Narendra or Naren)[7] at his ancestral home at 3 Gourmohan Mukherjee Street in Calcutta, the capital of British India, on 12 January 1863 during the Makar Sankranti festival.[8] He belonged to a traditional Bengali Kayastha family and was one of nine siblings.[9] His father, Vishwanath Datta, was an attorney at the Calcutta High Court.[10][11] Durgacharan Datta, Narendras grandfather, was a Sanskrit and Persian scholar[12] who left his family and became a monk at age twenty-five.[13] His mother, Bhuvaneswari Devi, was a devout housewife.[12] The progressive, rational attitude of Narendras father and the religious temperament of his mother helped shape his thinking and personality.[14][15] Narendra was interested spiritually from a young age, and used to meditate before the images of deities such as Shiva, Rama, and Sita.[16] He was fascinated by wandering ascetics and monks.[15] Narendra was naughty and restless as a child, and his parents often had difficulty controlling him. His mother said, I prayed to Shiva for a son and he has sent me one of his demons.[13] Education[edit] In 1871 Narendra enrolled at Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagars Metropolitan Institution, where he studied until his family moved to Raipur in 1877.[17] In 1879, after his familys return to Calcutta, he was the only student to receive first-division marks in the Presidency College entrance examination. [17] He was an avid reader[18] in a wide range of subjects, including philosophy, religion, history, social science, art and literature.[19] He was also interested in Hindu scriptures, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Narendra was trained in Indian classical music,[20] and regularly participated in physical exercise, sports and organised activities.[19] Narendra studied Western logic, Western philosophy and European history at the General Assemblys Institution (now known as the Scottish Church College).[21] In 1881 he passed the Fine Arts examination, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1884.[22][23] Narendra studied the works of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Baruch Spinoza, Georg W. F. Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Auguste Comte, John Stuart Mill and Charles Darwin.[24][25] He became fascinated with the evolutionism of Herbert Spencer and corresponded with him,[26][27] translating Spencers book Education (1861) into Bengali.[28] While studying Western philosophers, he also learned Sanskrit scriptures and Bengali literature.[25] William Hastie (principal of General Assemblys Institution) wrote, Narendra is really a genius. I have travelled far and wide but I have never come across a lad of his talents and possibilities, even in German universities, among philosophical students.[24] Some accounts have called Narendra a shrutidhara (a person with a prodigious memory).[29][30][31] Spiritual apprenticeship[edit] See also: Swami Vivekananda and meditation Narendra became a member of a Freemasonry lodge and a breakaway faction of the Brahmo Samaj led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore.[21][32][33] His initial beliefs were shaped by Brahmo concepts, which included belief in a formless God and the deprecation of idolatry.[16][34] At this time, Narendra met Debendranath Tagore (the leader of Brahmo Samaj) and asked if he had seen God. Instead of answering his question, Tagore said My boy, you have the Yogi s eyes.[32][28] Not satisfied with his knowledge of philosophy, Narendra wondered if God and religion could be made a part of ones growing experiences and deeply internalised. He asked several prominent Calcutta residents if they had come face to face with God, but none of their answers satisfied him.[35][23] With Ramakrishna[edit] Main article: Relationship between Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda See also: Swami Vivekanandas prayer to Kali at Dakshineswar Narendras first introduction to Ramakrishna occurred in a literature class at General Assemblys Institution when he heard Professor William Hastie lecturing on William Wordsworths poem, The Excursion.[34] While explaining the word trance in the poem, Hastie suggested that his students visit Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar to understand the true meaning of trance. This prompted some of his students (including Narendra) to visit Ramakrishna.[36][37][38] Image of Ramakrishna, sitting. Image of Vivekananda, sitting in meditative posture, eyes opened (left) Ramakrishna, guru of Vivekananda (right) Vivekananda in Cossipore 1886 In November 1881,.[a] when Narendra was preparing for his upcoming F. A. examination, Ram Chandra Datta accompanied him to Surendra Nath Mitras, house where Ramakrishna was invited to deliver a lecture.[40] At this meeting, Ramakrishna asked young Narendra to sing. Impressed by his singing talent, he asked Narendra to come to Dakshineshwar.[41] Narendra did not consider this their first meeting, and neither man mentioned this meeting later.[36] In late 1881 or early 1882, Narendra went to Dakshineswar with two friends and met Ramakrishna.[36] This meeting proved to be a turning point in his life.[42] Although he did not initially accept Ramakrishna as his teacher and rebelled against his ideas, he was attracted by his personality and began to frequently visit him at Dakshineswar.[43] He initially saw Ramakrishnas ecstasies and visions as mere figments of imagination[14] and hallucinations.[44] As a member of Brahmo Samaj, he opposed idol worship, polytheism and Ramakrishnas worship of Kali.[45] He even rejected the Advaita Vedanta of identity with the absolute as blasphemy and madness, and often ridiculed the idea.[44] Narendra tested Ramakrishna, who faced his arguments patiently: Try to see the truth from all angles, he replied.[43] Narendras fathers sudden death in 1884 left the family bankrupt; creditors began demanding the repayment of loans, and relatives threatened to evict the family from their ancestral home. Narendra, once a son of a well-to-do family, became one of the poorest students in his college.[46] He unsuccessfully tried to find work and questioned Gods existence,[47] but found solace in Ramakrishna and his visits to Dakshineswar increased.[48] One day Narendra requested Ramakrishna to pray to goddess Kali for their familys financial welfare. Ramakrishna suggested him to go to the temple himself and pray. Following Ramakrishnas suggestion, he went to the temple thrice, but failed to pray for any kind of worldly necessities and ultimately prayed for true knowledge and devotion from the goddess.[49][50][51] Narendra gradually grew ready to renounce everything for the sake of realising God, and accepted Ramakrishna as his Guru.[43] In 1885, Ramakrishna developed throat cancer, and was transferred to Calcutta and (later) to a garden house in Cossipore. Narendra and Ramakrishnas other disciples took care of him during his last days, and Narendras spiritual education continued. At Cossipore, he experienced Nirvikalpa samadhi.[52] Narendra and several other disciples received ochre robes from Ramakrishna, forming his first monastic order.[53] He was taught that service to men was the most effective worship of God.[14][52] Ramakrishna asked him to care for the other monastic disciples, and in turn asked them to see Narendra as their leader.[54] Ramakrishna died in the early-morning hours of 16 August 1886 in Cossipore
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 01:16:48 +0000
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