Essay on Swami Vivekananda Inspiration for youth

Essay on Swami Vivekananda Inspiration for youth. It is not necessary to have a long life to reach glory. Vivekananda is an illustration to show this point. His childhood name was Narendranath Datta. He was born on 12 January, 1863 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He studied in the Scottish Church College in Calcutta; there he studied western philosophy which became the basis of his interpretation of Indian concepts on religion. He became a disciple of Ramkrishna Paramhansa. After his guru’s death, he became a monk to spread his teachings and denounced priestly domination and rituals; rather he emphasised on renunciation, bhakti and meditation. Having taken the vow of Sanyasa, he travelled all over the country. He adopted the new name of Vivekananda on the suggestion of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Khetri, by which we recognise him even today.

Essay on Swami Vivekananda Inspiration for youth

It is not necessary to have a long life to reach glory. Vivekananda is an illustration to show this point. His childhood name was Narendranath Datta. He was born on 12 January, 1863 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He studied in the Scottish Church College in Calcutta; there he studied western philosophy which became the basis of his interpretation of Indian concepts on religion. He became a disciple of Ramkrishna Paramhansa. After his guru’s death, he became a monk to spread his teachings and denounced priestly domination and rituals; rather he emphasised on renunciation, bhakti and meditation. Having taken the vow of Sanyasa, he travelled all over the country. He adopted the new name of Vivekananda on the suggestion of Maharaja Ajit Singh of Khetri, by which we recognise him even today.

It would be erroneous to consider Vivekananda only a saint or a spiritual leader. He was a social reformer to the core of his heart. He was a staunch opponent of child marriage and discrimination on the basis of caste. He tried to uplift the poor status of women and supported education for them. He also emphasised the need of health care for the needy and the poor. In 1897, he founded the Ramakrishna Mission to work for charity and spiritual welfare of the people. The Mission chiefly worked to improve the status of women, overhaul the education system and fight against caste injustices and belief in superstitions.

Once while meditating on a rock at Kanyakumari, which now is the proud place to have the Vivekananda Memorial, he decided that he should strive to spread India culture in the west and exhort the Westerners to lend a helping hand to the needs of the poor Indians suffering under the foreign rule.

He sailed for America to attend the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago as a representative of Hinduism. He utilized his charisma in the portrayal of Hinduism as a religion of tolerance and universal acceptance. He revealed the essential spirit of Hinduism and its relevance in modern times to the western world as a result of which, he won many westerners as his followers.

He was a man of letters too. Besides his speech at the World Parliament of Religions, he wrote the Song of the Sannyasin. He helped set up the journal Parbuddha Bharat. He was the inspiration behind setting up of the Advaita Ashram at Pithoragarh, the Shanti Ashram in Callifornia and the Vedanta Centre in San Francisco, and a math (monastery) in Bellur.

For him, the Bhagwat Gita was the supreme goal of mankind. He worked for spreading the message of universal brotherhood unity in diversity and unattached karma of the Sanatan Dharma. He professed Advaita Vedanta which considers all kinds of phenomena as incomplete representations of the one reality. He showed that it was the scientific and rational principle.

He breathed his last when he was only 39 years of age. One can hardly believe that this inspiring soul lift us at such an early age, yet he contributed so much to our country and society.