Swami #Vivekananda Bengali: , Shāmi Bibekānondo; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born #Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of# Vedanta and #Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising #interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the #Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893. Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his Guru, Ramakrishna Deva, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later traveled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day.

1. Complete-Works
Volume 1
Addresses at The Parliament of Religions.
PAPER ON HINDUISM.
Read at the Parliament on 19th September, 1893.

2. I will tell you a little story. You
have heard the eloquent speaker
who has just finished say, "Let us
cease from abusing each other,"
and he was very sorry that there
should be always so much
variance.

3. But I think I should tell you a
story which would illustrate the
cause of this variance. A frog
lived in a well.

4. It had lived there for a long time.
It was born
there and brought up there, and
yet was a little, small frog.

5. Of course the evolutionists were
not there then to tell us whether
the frog lost its eyes or not, but,
for our story's sake,

6. we must take it for granted that
it had its eyes, and that it every
day cleansed the water of all the
worms and bacilli that lived in it
with an energy that would do
credit to our modern
bacteriologists.

7. In this way it went on and
became a little sleek and fat.
Well, one day another frog that
lived in the sea came and fell
into the well.

8. "Where are you from?“
"I am from the sea."

9. "The sea! How big is that? Is it as
big as my well?" and he took a
leap from one side of the well to
the other.

10. "My friend," said the frog of the
sea, "how do you compare the
sea with your little well?”

11. Then the frog took another leap
and asked, "Is your sea so big?“

12. "What nonsense you speak, to
compare the sea with your
well!“

13. "Well, then," said the frog of the
well,

14. "nothing can be bigger than my
well; there can be nothing bigger
than this; this fellow is a liar, so
turn him out.“

15. That has been the difficulty all
the while.

16. I am a Hindu. I am sitting in my
own little well and thinking that
the whole world is my little well.

17. The Christian sits in his little well
and thinks the whole world is his
well.

18. The Mohammedan sits in his
little well and thinks that is the
whole world.

19. I have to thank you of America
for the great attempt you are
making to break down the
barriers of this little world of
ours,

20. and hope that, in the future, the
Lord will help you to accomplish
your purpose.