Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

News: Recently, the Prime Minister of India recalled Swami Vivekananda’s iconic 1893 speech at Chicago and said its spirit has the potential to create a more just, prosperous, and inclusive planet.

Details:
• The Chicago address had dwelt at length on Hinduism and Indian culture, and his words continue to remain resonant till date.
• He became popular in the western world after his famous speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions.
• He was considered a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and bringing it to the status of major world religion in the late 19th century. His address in the World “Parliament of Religions” at Chicago in 1893 drew the world’s attention to the ancient Indian philosophy of Vedanta.

About Swami Vivekananda:
• He was a true luminary, credited with enlightening the western world about Hinduism. He was an ardent disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahansa and a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India.
• He pushed for national integration in colonial India, and his famous speech remains as the one that he gave in Chicago in 1893 (Parliament of the World Religions).In 1984 the Government of India declared that 12 January, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, will be celebrated as National Youth Day.
• He introduced the world to the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga. He preached ‘neo-Vedanta’, an interpretation of Hinduism through a Western lens, and believed in combining spirituality with material progress.He laid the greatest emphasis on education for the regeneration of our motherland. Advocated a man-making character-building education.
• He is best known for his speech at the World Parliament of Religion in Chicago in 1893.
• Spelt out the four pathways of attaining moksha from the worldly pleasure and attachment in his books - Raja-yoga, Karma-yoga, Jnana-yoga and Bhakti-yoga.
• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had called Vivekananda the “maker of modern India.”He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa and established the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897.
• Ramakrishna Mission is an organization which works in the area of value-based education, culture, health, women's empowerment, youth and tribal welfare and relief and rehabilitation.
• In 1899, he established the Belur Math, which became his permanent abode.