Swami Vivekanand is great hindu monk who spread the message of vedants in western world. He leave this mortal world in the age of 39 years only but his world will give light to the world forver to the humanity.
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Swami Vivekananda - The Foremost Saint of Modern India
1. Swami Vivekananda
Foremost Saint of Modern India
The Man and His Message
Dr. Kamal Singh Rathore
BN Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Udaipur-
INDIA
kamalsrathore@gmail.com
+91 9828325713(m)
5. Early life…
Born: January 12, 1863 in 3, Gor Mukharjee Street,
Calcutta on Makara Sankaranti Day at 06:33:33
Morning. His name at birth was Narendranath
(Naren, Durgadas, Vile, Bile, Vireshwar).
Father: Sri Visvanath Datta (s/o Durgaprasad), a
very successful and distinguished lawyer.
Mother: Bhuvaneshwari, a very pious lady. Prayer of
the Lord was a way of life.
Siblings: Mahendra Nath, Bhupendra Nath and
Swarnmayi
6. Childhood and Early Youth…
Narendranath was highly inquisitive and bright in his studies and
play. He was well read and had a remarkable power of
understanding and retention. He completed Bachelor Arts degree
from Scottish Church College, Calcutta in 1884.
He was a great thinker and often challenged existing customs
and rituals. He often wondered about this world and its Creator.
He extensively studied different religious and philosophical
systems of East and West.
However, no one could satisfy his curiosity and he developed a
feeling that the whole talk of God was a myth.
7. Transformation…
Encounters with Sri Ramakrishna…
Silver Coin Test
Vision of the Lord
Asking Boons from God
Narendranath spent about 5 years as a disciple of Sri
Ramakrishna and learnt everything concerning Spirituality
based on Advaita philosophy.
Sri Ramakrishna passed on all his spiritual power to
Narendranath before going into samadhi.
Narendranath takes charge of Ramakrishna mission at the age
of 23, comes to be known as Swami Vivekananda.
8. Later Life…
Swami Vivekananda travelled across the country from
Himalayas to Kanyakumari, studying and understanding the
motherland and her problems.
Episode with Maharaja of Alwar about idol worship
Meditated deeply at Kanyakumari on the last bit of Indian
rock for 3 days and had the “Vision of one India”. He also
contemplated about going West. India had to be awakened,
and that could be done only by making India’s message
appreciated in the West.
9. Visit to the West…
In 1893 Swami Vivekananda sailed to America to attend the Parliament of
Religions at Chicago.
Episodes from his initial struggle in US…
His “Sisters and Brothers of America..” speech in the religious assembly.
Swami Vivekananda stayed for couple of years in the US and in England,
delivering an extensive series of lectures on Vedanta philosophy preaching
universality and brotherhood in various Universities and congregations.
Sets up Vedanta Society in New York and England.
10. Return to Homeland…
In 1897 Swamiji returns to India and is
hailed as the new Sankaracharya.
Establishes Ramakrishna Mission on May 1, 1897, which
is dedicated to the task of teaching self realization and
service to humanity.
Establishes Belur Math in early 1898 to be a permanent
abode for the monastery and monastic order.
Revisits the West in 1899-90 and establishes Vedanta
society in San Francisco.
11. Teachings…
Swami Vivekananda firmly believed in the equality of mankind and
preached extensively to remove biases and exploitation based on
caste, creed, race and gender.
Swamiji sought to bring back the spiritual awakening of the nation
by instilling faith and pride for India’s culture and heritage.
Swamiji is widely regarded as the India’s foremost nation builders.
Many other subsequent national leaders including Gandhiji, Nehru,
Aurobindo were influenced by his teachings on spirituality and
service to the fellow beings.
12. Swamiji’s contributions
Contribution to World Culture:
New Understanding of Religion
Bridge between the East and the West
New Principle of Morality and Ethics
New View of Man
Contribution to Hinduism:
Identity
Unification
Defense
Meeting the Challenges
New Ideal for Monasticism
Refurbishing of Religious Doctrines
13. Maha samadhi…
Swami Vivekananda attained maha samadhi on July 4,
1902 at his Belur Math during meditation. He had a
premonition about this. Three days before his death he
pointed out the spot for this cremation—the one at
which a temple in his memory stands today. In the
morning of July 4, he gave instructions concerning the
future of Ramakrishna mission to one of his disciples.
He had remarked to several persons that he would not
live to be forty.
His teachings and mission continues to inspire us even
after 110 years…
14. Belur Math
Belur Math is the headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission and Math. Situated over
40 acres on the banks of river Hooghly (Ganga) in Howrah, about an hour drive
from Kolkata.
Campus includes:
Temples dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda.
It also houses the main monastry of the Ramakrishna Order.
Administrative offices for the mission.
Resident Training Center for Vedic education.
Charitable Dispensary to serve the sick and needy.
“Service to man is the service to the Lord” is the founding principle of Ramakrishna
Mission. Today there are mission centers in almost all states of India and several
other countries.
40. Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the Parliament of Religions September
1893. On the platform (left to right) Virchand Gandhi, Dharmapala, Swami
52. Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, a branch of
the Ramakrishna Math, founded on 19
March 1899, later published many of
Swami Vivekananda's work, now publishes
53.
54.
55. Swami Vivekanand Way..
The Chicago Art Institute was the venue of the famous Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda
addressed the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893. On September 11, 1995, the
Art Institute put up a bronze plaque to commemorate Swami Vivekananda's historic
address. The plaque reads:
"On November 11, 1995, the stretch of Michigan Avenue that passes in front
56. plaque of Swami Vivekananda at the
prestigious Art Institute of Chicago
57. Monks from Belur Math…
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72. Pearls of Wisdom
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73. " This is the one central
idea in the Gita: work
incessantly, but be not
attached to it "
" That wonderful poem,
without one note in it, of
weakness or
unmanliness "
74. Pearls of Wisdom
Ma r
Any ch o
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75.
76. Pearls of Wisdom
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77.
78. Pearls of Wisdom
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.
82. Pearls of Wisdom
Let us work without desire for
name or fame or rule over
others. Let us be free from the
triple bonds of lust, greed of
gain, and anger.
83.
84. Pearls of Wisdom
Take up one idea. Make that one idea
your life. Think of it, dream of it. Live
on that idea.
Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every
part of your body be full of that idea
and just leave every other idea alone.
This is the way to “SUCCESS”
85.
86. Pearls of Wisdom
A few whole hearted,
sincere, energetic men and
women can do more in a
year than a mob in a
century.
87.
88.
89. Click to edit Master text styles
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90. If you want
to know
India read
Swami
Vivekananda
Nobel laurette
Rabindra Nath
91. When I read
Swami ji, I
become
highly
motivated,
he is anchor
Netaji Subhash Chandra Boseof my life.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99. ‘Our people have lost faith in themselves,’ said Swamiji sadly ‘I will bring
back that faith to them. Now I go; but when I return, I shall awaken the
sleeping millions of my people.’
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105. ‘Whatever you are doing,’ he said, ‘put your
whole mind on it. If you are shooting, your
mind should be only on the target. Then
you will never miss. If you are learning your
lessons, think only of the lesson. In my
country boys are taught to do this.’
- Swami Vivekananda
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
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118.
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120.
121.
122.
123.
124. "My whole ambition in life
is to set in motion
machinery which will bring
noble ideas to the door of
everybody, and then let
men and women settle
their own fate.Let them
know what our forefathers
as well as other nations
have thought on the most
momentous questions of
life. We are to put the
chemicals together; the
crystallization will be done
by nature according to her
laws. Keep the motto
before you "ELEVATION
OF THE MASSES
WITHOUT INJURING
THEIR RELIGION” -
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
125.
126.
127. But, mind you, this is life's experience; if you really want the good of others, the
whole universe may stand against you and cannot hurt you. It must crumble
before your power of the Lord Himself in you if you are sincere and really
unselfish.
128.
129.
130. "Religion is the realization of Spirit as Spirit. Not spirit as matter."
Notas del editor
Dr. Kamal Singh Rathore BN Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Udaipur-INDIA [email_address] +91 9828325713(m)
Episode with Maharaja of Alwar One day at the court of Alwar the young westernized Maharaja who was skeptic asked Vivekananda: Maharaja: Swamiji, you talk of God. Do you believe in the stone gods in the temples?” Swamiji: Yes Maharaja: But How can God be a thing made of stone? Swamiji turned to the prime minister and asked him to take down the picture of the Maharaja and give it to him. When the minister did so, Swamiji asked him to spit on it. The minister was scared and perplexed. He could not do it. Swamiji then explained: “Do you see my point now? The Stone God is like your potrait – a symbol. It helps the common people understand God”.
Contribution to World Culture 1. New Understanding of Religion : One of the most significant contributions of Swami Vivekananda to the modern world is his interpretation of religion as a universal experience of transcendent Reality, common to all humanity. Swamiji met the challenge of modern science by showing that religion is as scientific as science itself; religion is the ‘science of consciousness’. As such, religion and science are not contradictory to each other but are complementary. This universal conception frees religion from the hold of superstitions, dogmatism, priestcraft and intolerance, and makes religion the highest and noblest pursuit – the pursuit of supreme Freedom, supreme Knowledge, supreme Happiness. 2. New View of Man : Vivekananda’s concept of ‘potential divinity of the soul’ gives a new, ennobling concept of man. The present age is the age of humanism which holds that man should be the chief concern and centre of all activities and thinking. Through science and technology man has attained great prosperity and power, and modern methods of communication and travel have converted human society into a ‘global village’. But the degradation of man has also been going on apace, as witnessed by the enormous increase in broken homes, immorality, violence, crime, etc. in modern society. Vivekananda’s concept of potential divinity of the soul prevents this degradation, divinizes human relationships, and makes life meaningful and worth living. Swamiji has laid the foundation for ‘spiritual humanism’, which is manifesting itself through several neo-humanistic movements and the current interest in meditation, Zen etc all over the world. 3. New Principle of Morality and Ethics : The prevalent morality, in both individual life and social life, is mostly based on fear – fear of the police, fear of public ridicule, fear of God’s punishment, fear of Karma, and so on. The current theories of ethics also do not explain why a person should be moral and be good to others. Vivekananda has given a new theory of ethics and new principle of morality based on the intrinsic purity and oneness of the Atman. We should be pure because purity is our real nature, our true divine Self or Atman. Similarly, we should love and serve our neighbours because we are all one in the Supreme Spirit known as Paramatman or Brahman. 4. Bridge between the East and the West : Another great contribution of Swami Vivekananda was to build a bridge between Indian culture and Western culture. He did it by interpreting Hindu scriptures and philosophy and the Hindu way of life and institutions to the Western people in an idiom which they could understand. He made the Western people realize that they had to learn much from Indian spirituality for their own well-being. He showed that, in spite of her poverty and backwardness, India had a great contribution to make to world culture. In this way he was instrumental in ending India’s cultural isolation from the rest of the world. He was India’s first great cultural ambassador to the West. Contribution to Hinduism 1. Identity : It was Swami Vivekananda who gave to Hinduism as a whole a clear-cut identity, a distinct profile. Before Swamiji came Hinduism was a loose confederation of many different sects. Swamiji was the first religious leader to speak about the common bases of Hinduism and the common ground of all sects. He was the first person, as guided by his Master Sri Ramakrishna, to accept all Hindu doctrines and the views of all Hindu philosophers and sects as different aspects of one total view of Reality and way of life known as Hinduism. Speaking about Swamiji’s role in giving Hinduism its distinct identity, Sister Nivedita wrote: “… it may be said that when he began to speak it was of ‘the religious ideas of the Hindus’, but when he ended, Hinduism had been created.” 2. Unification : Before Swamiji came, there was a lot of quarrel and competition among the various sects of Hinduism. Similarly, the protagonists of different systems and schools of philosophy were claiming their views to be the only true and valid ones. By applying Sri Ramakrishna’s doctrine of Harmony ( Samanvaya ) Swamiji brought about an overall unification of Hinduism on the basis of the principle of unity in diversity. Speaking about Swamiji’s role in this field K M Pannikar , the eminent historian and diplomat, wrote: “This new Shankaracharya may well be claimed to be a unifier of Hindu ideology.” 3. Defence : Another important service rendered by Swamiji was to raise his voice in defence of Hinduism. In fact, this was one of the main types of work he did in the West. Christian missionary propaganda had given a wrong understanding of Hinduism and India in Western minds. Swamiji had to face a lot of opposition in his attempts to defend Hinduism. 4. Meeting the Challenges : At the end of the 19th century, India in general, and Hinduism in particular, faced grave challenges from Western materialistic life, the ideas of Western free society, and the proselytizing activities of Christians. Vivekananda met these challenges by integrating the best elements of Western culture in Hindu culture. 5. New Ideal of Monasticism : A major contribution of Vivekananda to Hinduism is the rejuvenation and modernization of monasticism. In this new monastic ideal, followed in the Ramakrishna Order, the ancient principles of renunciation and God realization are combined with service to God in man ( Shiva jnane jiva seva ). Vivekananda elevated social service to the status of divine service. 6. Refurbishing of Hindu Philosophy and Religious Doctrines : Vivekananda did not merely interpret ancient Hindu scriptures and philosophical ideas in terms of modern thought. He also added several illuminating original concepts based on his own transcendental experiences and vision of the future. This, however, needs a detailed study of Hindu philosophy which cannot be attempted here.