On Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary, recalling how he introduced Hindu philosophies to the West

Swami Vivekananda’s early life

Vivekananda was born in Kolkata on January 12, 1863, as Narendra Nath Datta. From an early age, he nurtured an interest in Western philosophy, history, and theology, and went on to meet the religious leader Ramakrishna Paramhansa, who later became his Guru. He remained devoted to Ramakrishna until the latter’s death in 1886.

In 1893, he took the name ‘Vivekananda’ after Maharaja Ajit Singh of the Khetri State requested him to do so, changing from ‘Sachidananda’ that he used before.

After Ramakrishna’s death, Vivekananda toured across India, and set after educating the masses about ways to improve their economic condition as well as imparting spiritual knowledge.

The Chicago address

Vivekananda is especially remembered around the world for his speech at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893. The speech covered topics including universal acceptance, tolerance and religion, and got him a standing ovation. Though the speech spoke of how religions present different paths to the same spiritual goals, it also argued for the superiority of Indian traditions.

Many parts of his speech have since become popular, including “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal tolerance but we accept all religions as true.”; “I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth.”; and “Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth… Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.”

He began delivering lectures at various places in the US and UK, and became popular as the ‘messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world’.

Return to India

After coming back to India, he formed the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.”

In 1899, he established the Belur Math in Howrah, West Bengalwhich became his permanent abode.

Vivekananda’s legacy

Through his speeches and lectures, Vivekananda worked to disseminate his religious thought. He preached ‘neo-Vedanta’, an interpretation of Hinduism through a Western lens, and believed in combining spirituality with material progress. He also wrote several books, including ‘Raja Yoga’, ‘Jnana Yoga’ and ‘Karma Yoga’.

The practice of yoga was also an important part of his legacy. As The Indian Express earlier reported in a research article, after the Chicago address “the Indian mystic founds ways and means to spread awareness on ancient Indian spirituality in the West and he found Yoga to be the best concept to aid him in the process.”

Before his death in 1902, Vivekananda wrote to a Western follower: “It may be that I shall find it good to get outside my body, to cast it off like a worn out garment. But I shall not cease to work. I shall inspire men everywhere until the whole world shall know that it is one with God.”

This article was first published in 2020.