Life of Vivekananda along with quotes and anecdotes from his life

1. K S Madhavan
Jan. 2016
About
Swami Vivekananda
&
“EMPOWER INDIA”
Swami Vivekananda’s
Thoughts
On the subject

2. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
• Born: Kolkata 12 Jan. 1863 as
Nerendra Dutta in a well to do
family.
• Died – July 1902 at the age of
39.
• He made the world know about
Yoga, Vedas and true meaning
Hinduism.
• He founded the Ramakrishna
Mission to help poor people
and Ramakrishna Mutt to
promote true Hinduism.

3. Initial Days
• Studied in Presidency College
and Scottish Church College
in Kolkata.
• In early days he was against
Hinduism and was involved
in “Esotericism” -
rationalised Christianity
rejecting both atheism and
bad practices in Christianity and against idol
worship and polytheism but accepting some
aspects of the so-called ‘pagan’ Hindu religion.

4. Initial Days
• He was very intelligent and
his professors considered him
extraordinarily intelligent.
• Principal of Presidency College,
William Hastie, an Englishman,
wrote: “Narendra is a genius.
I have travelled far and wide,
but never come across a lad
of his talents possibilities, even
in German universities among philosophical students”
• He interacted and corresponded with great authors and
philosophers while in college.

5. Exposure to Philosophy
• Authors and great philosophers like David Hume,
Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Charles Darwin
influenced him greatly.
• He translated the book of Herbert Spencer “Education”
influenced by his work on “evolutionism” and
corresponded with him regularly. Spencer called the
young 21 years old Narendra a genius the like of whom
he has never met in all his travels around the world.
• He was introduced to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa by his
professor Hastie while explaining the poem “The
Excursion” by William Wordsworth. For understanding
meaning of “Trance” he asked students to visit
Ramakrishna in Dakshineshwar, who exhibited its true
essence.

6. Encounter with
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
• Initially he was against Ramakrishna’s
teachings and saw his trance and
vision as imagination and
hallucination.
• Opposed idol worship and
polytheism. Rejected Advaita philosophy. Ramakrishna
asked him to see truth from all angles, but he did not get
its true meaning until his father died.
• All the family wealth was lost as lenders took away all
their property as compensation for their loans. From
being very rich, he became one among the very poor.

7. Encounter with Ramakrishna
• He then questioned the existence of God. Ramakrishna
asked him to visit Kali temple and pray for family welfare
there. Slowly his constant questioning of Kali Mata about
the problems faced and its solutions transformed him.
• When Ramakrishna was dying he was
made a Sanyasi wearing ochre robes.
His understanding of Ramakrishna’s
teachings made him form the
Ramakrishna Mutt. They paid
rent for the premises by begging in the
form of “Holy begging”. He experienced
Nirvikalpa Samadhi after this.

8. Narendra becomes Vivekananda
• He became Swami Vivekananda
in 1886 after becoming a full
fledged sanyasi. He reminiscence –
“We underwent a lot of deep
devotional practices at the Mutt.
We got up at 3.00 AM and
became absorbed in Japa and
meditation.”
• He travelled all over India and
stayed with all kinds of people –
Hindus, Muslims, Christians, very poor low caste people
and of course with Diwans, Maharajas and scholars.

9. Vivekananda Visit to America
• He visited Chicago to participate in the “Parliament of
Religions” in 1894. He was afraid as this was his first
speech in front of so many great people from all over the
world.
• He prayed to Goddess Saraswati and began his speech –
“Sisters and brothers of America!” The audience was
stunned and there was a standing ovation from the 7000
participants for more than two minutes.
• He continued – “I greet the people of the youngest
nation in the world, America, on behalf of the most
ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of
sannyasins, and the Hindu religion which has taught to
the world tolerance and universal acceptance.”

10. Vivekananda in Parliament of Religions
• He quoted from Shiva Mahimna Stotram – “As different
streams of rivers having sources in different places
mingle their water in the same ocean, so Oh Lord! The
different paths that men take through different
tendencies, though various they appear, crooked or
straight, all lead to Thee! Oh Lord!”
• “Whoever comes to me, Lord Shiva says, through
whatever form, I reach him. All men struggle through
paths that in the end lead to Me.”
• At the end of the conference, the President of the
Parliament, John Henry Barrows, said “India, the Mother
of all religions, was represented by Sw. Vivekananda, the
orange monk who exercised the most wonderful
influence over the participants.”

11. Vivekananda in Parliament of Religions
• The press coverage was
phenomenal calling him “The
cyclonic monk of India”
• New York Herald wrote –
“Vivekananda is undoubtedly
the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After
hearing him, we feel how foolish it is to send
missionaries to this learned nation.”
• He was the most popular and influential man in the
parliament.
• He explained why idol worship is important for the
common man through focus on a visible image.

12. Vivekananda in Parliament of Religions
• He announced in the conference –
“I am proud to belong to a
religion that has taught to the
world both tolerance and
universal acceptance. We
accept all religions as true.”
• He established Vedanta Centres
and Yoga Centres in the West.
He introduced Raja Yoga, Karma
Yoga, Jnyana Yoga and Patanjali Sutras to the West.

13. Vivekananda in Parliament of Religions
• Some of his disciples became total devotees of Hinduism
by becoming Hindu monks –
• Irish follower Margaret Elizabeth Noble who became
Sister Nivedita
• She wrote the books “Cradle Tales of Hinduism”, “Kali the
Mother” and “The Web of Indian Life”.
• The French devotee Marie Louis who changed the name
to Swami Abhayananda
• Leon Landsberg who became Swami Kripananda.

14. Vivekananda in Parliament of Religions
• The French Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland wrote –
“If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him
everything is positive, nothing negative. His words are
music. Phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring
rhythms like the march of Handle choruses. I cannot
touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through
the pages of books, at thirty years' distance, without
receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock.
And what shocks, what transports, must have been
produced when in burning words they issued from the
lips of the hero!"

15. FOLLOWERS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
• Many of the most famous people around the world were
inspired by Sw. Vivekananda –
– Mahatma Gandhi, - Chakravarti Rajagopalachari
– Aldous Huxley - Christopher Isherwood
– Romain Rolland - Bal Gangadhar Tilak
– Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
– Jamshedji Tata, Founder of Tata Group of cos.
He inspired Indian Independence Movement. Gandhi
wrote – “You are the maker of modern India”
His influence increased the love of the country a thousand-
fold for Mahatma Gandhi.

16. FAMOUS QUOTES OF
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
• “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is
reached.”
• “All living beings are embodiment of the divine
self.”
• “Service to God can be rendered by service to
humanity.”
• “You have to grow from inside out. None can
teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is
no other teacher but your own soul.”
• “You cannot believe in God until you believe in
yourself.”

17. FAMOUS QUOTES OF
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (cont.)
• “The world is a great gymnasium where we come
to make ourselves strong.”
• “We are what our thoughts have made us. So
take care about what you think. Words are
secondary. Thoughts live, they travel far.”
• “Truth can be stated in a thousand different
ways. Yet each can be true.”
• “The more we come out and do good to others,
the more our hearts will be purified. And God
will be in them.”

18. FAMOUS QUOTES OF
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (cont.)
• “If money can help a man do good to others, it is of
some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil.
And the sooner it is got rid of, the better.”
• “The will is not free. It is a phenomenon bound by
cause and effect. But there is something behind the
will that is free.”
• “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life.
Think of it, dream of it, live that idea. Let the brain,
muscles, nerves, every part of the body be full of
that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This
is the way to success.”
• “Greatest sin is to think yourself as weak.”

20. Dear All,
Thank you for the opportunity given to me to
talk about Sw. Vivekananda. I am honoured.
K S Madhavan