He Swami’s real name was Narendranath Dutta, and he was born on January 12, 1863 in Calcutta. His father was a learned man and his mother pious and god fearing.
His father was well versed in both English and Hindi. From his early childhood his mother with her pious nature had a great influence on the child Narendranath. His mother used to teach him personally, and she taught him the languages of English and Bengali.
He studied in colleges in Calcutta, and graduated from the Scottish Church College. After he completed his graduation, he went to study law. He was not able to pursue this to the end as, his father died when he was still in the process of studying and his financial position made him leave the studies.
Narendranath was also a good singer and once, Ramakrishna Paramhansa happened to hear him singing some devotional songs and then Narendra was invited to the Kali temple at Dakshineshwar.
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Ever since Narendra was a small child, he had nursed the desire to see God but no saint could enlighten the child on the subject. However, now with Paramhansa he was told by him that, just as one can see any human being, he can also see God. This sipiple explanation did not satisfy the young Narendra and he wanted to get a proof from the saint.
However, at that time there was talk on the subject but, with the passage of time. Narendra had a wonderful experience in his life and henceforth became a disciple of the saint. What he was taught by his Guru was that, God lives in all human beings so, by serving mankind, an individual serves God.
This taught Narendra a lesson of a lifetime and, as he grew, he established the Ramakrishna Mission which is even today engaged in social service to the poor and the disabled.
This same young man Narendra later came to be known as Swami Vivekanand, when he became a religious preacher or a monk. In 1893 he went to Chicago in America to participate in the Parliament of World Religions.
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At that Parliament Vivekanand expressed that God is one, and that, all religions point to that same one God. With this concept, he went on to explain how there should be no reason for any disputes of any kind among followers of different religions. It is this realisation of one God that can eliminate feelings of hatred among followers of different religions.
This impressed the people at the Parliament and many American men and women followed him and joined his institution, the Ramakrishna Mission.
Besides Godliness, Swami Vivekanand taught us the essences of nationalism. He wrote “Our sacred motherland is the land of religions and philosophy, the birthplace of spiritual giants.” Swamiji’s call to the nation was – “Arise awake, wake up you and awaken others. Achieve consummation of life before you pass off. Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.” He passed away in 1902.