Swami Vivekananda

Indian monk who introduced Vedanta and Yoga to the West.

Swami Vivekananda (born Narendranath Datta) was an Indian Hindu monk and the chief disciple of Ramakrishna who introduced Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world in the late 19th century.^[1] He delivered a landmark speech at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, beginning with "Sisters and brothers of America"^[2] India's government designated Swami Vivekananda's date of birth, January 12, as National Youth Day.^[3]

Quick Facts

Born

12 January 1863

Birthplace

Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)

Birth name

Narendranath Datta

Died

4 July 1902

Place of death

Belur Math, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day West Bengal, India)

Education

University of Calcutta (BA)

Teacher

Ramakrishna

Disciples

Ashokananda
Virajananda
Paramananda
Alasinga Perumal
Abhayananda
Sister Nivedita
Swami Sadananda

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863 in an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family in Calcutta.^[4] He travelled extensively across India as a wandering monk, gaining first-hand knowledge of the harsh living conditions of the Indian masses.^[2] When he was eight years old, in 1871, Narendranath began his education at the Metropolitan Institution run by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.^[5] In 1881, Narendra first encountered Ramakrishna, subsequently becoming his dedicated follower and eventually taking monastic vows.^[2][6]

He journeyed to the United States in 1893 for the purpose of taking part in the Parliament of the World's Religions held in Chicago.^[2]

What the cited sources add

A 2022 news article states that the Government of India declared Swami Vivekananda's birthday as National Youth Day in 1984.^[3] The same article notes that Vivekananda could memorize a book of hundreds of pages after reading it once.^[3] An India Today article reports that Vivekananda scored 47% at the university entrance level examination and 46% in the Intermediate Arts.^[7] That article also states that Vivekananda had prophesied he would not live for more than 40 years.^[7]

The "Life History & Teachings of Swami Vivekanand" account states that funds for his Chicago journey were gathered by his followers in Madras and by Ajit Singh, the Raja of Khetri.^[8]

References

Wikipedia, "Swami Vivekananda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Swami Vivekananda: A short biography", OneIndia; "Life History & Teachings of Swami Vivekanand"; "International Yoga Day: How Swami Vivekananda helped popularise the ancient Indian regimen in the West", The Indian Express, 21 June 2017; Feuerstein 2002, p. 600; Syman, "The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America", Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2010, p. 59; Clarke 2006, p. 209 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Swami Vivekananda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barrows, "The World's Parliament of Religions", The Parliament of Religions Publishing Company, 1893, p. 101; Dutt 2005, p. 121; "Sisters and brothers of America — full text of Swami Vivekananda's iconic Chicago speech", ThePrint, 4 July 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
"Know About Swami Vivekananda on National Youth Day 2022", SA News Channel, 11 January 2022. facts only, no text reused. news.jagatgururampalji.org
Wikipedia, "Swami Vivekananda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Paul 2003, p. 5; Banhatti 1995, p. 1; Steven Kemper, "Rescued from the Nation: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Buddhist World", University of Chicago Press, 2015, p. 236; "Devdutt Pattanaik: Dayanand & Vivekanand", 15 January 2017; Badrinath 2006, p. 2; Mukherji 2011, p. 5; Banhatti 1995, p. 1; Badrinath 2006, p. 2; Bhuyan 2003, p. 4; Banhatti 1995, p. 1; Bhuyan 2003, p. 4; Nikhilananda 1964; Sen 2003, p. 20; Bhuyan 2003, p. 4; Sen 2003, p. 20 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Swami Vivekananda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Banhatti 1995, p. 1; Arrington Chakrabarti 2001, p. 628–631 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Swami Vivekananda" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: De Michelis 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Swami Vivekananda's 114th death anniversary: Lesser known facts about the spiritual leader. India Today. 4 July 2016.. facts only, no text reused. indiatoday.in
"Life History & Teachings of Swami Vivekanand". facts only, no text reused. culturalindia.net

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Swami Vivekananda (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.