Swami Vivekananda performed the Hindu religion with greater morale and respect than Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj.
Raja Rammohan Roy was not more than apologetic for Hindu religion and he saw Indian Hindu religion in the perspective of western civilization and culture.
Swami Dayanand presented the knowledge contained in the Vedas effectively and conveyed the accusations of Christian-missionaries.
But Swami Vivekananda made the theoretical interpretation of all the Vedanta and said that Hinduism is superior to the knowledge available in Western religion. Swami Vivekananda was the greatest disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa . He was born on January 12, 1863 in a Dutt family in Calcutta. His childhood name was Narendra Dutt. He graduated from an English college & received degree of B.A. He had a great influence on Europe’s rationalism and liberalism. He studied Western philosophers such as John Stuart Mill, Hume, Herbert, Spencer, and Russian. Along with high intellectualism he had strong curiosity . Initially he was attracted towards Brahmo Samaj, but the leaders of Brahmo Samaj could not calm their spiritual curiosity. After visiting a relative, in 1881, he went to meet Ramakrishna Paramahansa in Dakshineswar.
Vivekanand’s meet with Ramakrishna Paramhansa
When he meets first time with Ramakrishna there was no similarity between their thoughts. Ramkrishna was a symbol of Hinduism, while Narendra Dutt (influenced by the West) was a believer in logic, thought and intellectualism. But the contact with Ramkrishna changed the direction of the life of Narendra. Narendra asked Ramkrishna, did you see God? Ramakrishna responded instantaneously- Yes, I see God as if I cried for my father, for a mother and for a wife, but I have not seen any person who is crying so far He could not find God. Narendra was very impressed with this statement and he has described the experience this way: Even when the eyes were open, I saw all the rooms, including walls, merged in zero. The entire universe, including my personality, can be seen as a omnipresent mysterious void. Thus, Youth Narendra got overwhelmed with Ramakrishna’s spirituality and considered him as his guru. His spiritual personality began to develop in the inspection of the master. Ramakrishna gave inspiration to Narendra in the human nature and told him that man is the form of God and his service is the highest spiritual practice. Narendra put his whole life in this sadhana. On his death, Ramakrishna entrusted the responsibility of spreading his thoughts and caring for his disciples to Narendra.
After the death of Ramakrishna, many of his disciples went to their houses. But Narendra started to live in a broken house in Bara City near Kashipur with his three or four companions. For the first time, this monastery was established in 1887, while about 12 members of the Monastery took relinquishment according to Vedic actions and changed their names. At that time Narendra was named Swami Vivekananda.
Chicago All-Religion Conference
Swami Vivekananda traveled to India after embarking on his journey and went to Kanyakumari, where he came to know that a gathering of all religions of the world is happening in the US city of Chicago. So in 1893, with great difficulty, he went to America with his own efforts. It was good for Hindutva and Bharat Varsha(India) that Swamiji could go in, where he had promoted such a high favor in favor of Hindutva, as never before, nor has he been able to till this daySwamiji participated as a representative of Hindu religion at the All-religion conference in Chicago city. In the conference, the way Swamiji introduced the knowledge, generosity and the prudence , the people there became spellbound. When he addressed the Americans with the words of the “Brothers and Sisters” in his first speech, the conference received a huge reception-sound welcome. While highlighting the generosity of Hindu religion, he said that there is no intolerance in the dictionary of Hindutva. He also explained that the foundation of Hindu religion is not exploitation, bloodshed or violence but love. Swamiji also highlighted the truth of Vedanta until the conference ended,.Swamiji had established himself and the influence of India in America. In praise of Swami ji’s speeches, the American newspaper The New York Herald wrote, “Vivekananda is the greatest person in the all-religion conference. On hearing his speech, this question arises unintentionally that how foolish it is to send a missionary to reform such a knowledgeable nation.
This conference made Swami ji the world famous. He traveled to many US cities, where he was welcomed. They went to Paris from America and in many cities of Europe they spoke on Hinduism and Vedanta philosophy. They roamed abroad for almost three years. In this short period, the prestige of Hindu religion and culture was established in Europe and America by their speeches, conversations, articles and statements. In September 1895, he went to London and also there propagated religion. He went to America again and in February 1896, he founded the Vedanta Society in New York, whose goal was to promote Vedanta. Many of his followers became followers in America. They wanted some Indian propagators to propagate the Indian philosophy in America i.e. Vedanta and their American disciples teach the importance of science and organization by visiting the India.
Establishment of Ramakrishna Mission
On returning to India, Swami founded Ramkrishna Mission in May 1897 and established the main office of this rule in Velur( वेलूर ) on 1 January 1899. In June 1899, he went to America for the second time and founded the Vedanta Society at various places, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, California. From here he went to participate in a religious conference in Paris and gave his speech on Hinduism. Swamiji made wide publicity of Hindu religion during his foreign stay. Often for more than 150 years, Christian preachers were spreading condemnation in the world by criticizing Hindutva, Swamiji alone banned them, and when the Indians heard that the whole western world is grateful to hear the saga of Hinduism from the mouth of Swamiji, Then the Hindus started experiencing the glory of their religion and culture. Shri Ramdhari Singh Dinkar has written that the storm by English language, Christian religion and European rationalism to take Hindutva back returned after colliding with a huge tree like Swami Vivekananda’s Himalaya. The religion of the Hindu race is that it should remain alive till then, remembering Vivekananda with the same reverence, with the reverence he remembers Vyasa and Valmiki.
After visiting all over Europe, Swamiji returned to India in the year 1900. Now his health began to worsen. That is why he went to Banaras(Varanasi). After coming back from Calcutta, his health worsened again and on July 4, 1902, he died of 39 years of short life, this great Vibhuti (Soul) of the world.
Reference :https://www.indiaolddays.com/
