Swami Vivekānanda

Narendranath Datta was born into an affluent Bengali family on 12 January 1863 in Kolkata. His father Vishwanath Datta was an attorney and his mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was noted for her devotion and character. As a youth, Narendranath was intellectually gifted, studied Western philosophy and science, and was drawn to spirituality and wandering monks before finally becoming a disciple of the mystic Ramakrishna in the early 1880s. After Ramakrishna’s death, Narendranath led a group of young disciples who first lived together at Baranagar and later formally took sannyāsa vows; he became known as Swami Vivekānanda and took a leading role in organizing the monastic brotherhood that would crystallize into institutions. Vivekānanda attained international fame after his addresses at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, where his opening words and his presentation of the universality of religion drew wide attention. Returning to India, Vivekānanda founded the Ramakrishna Mission to combine spiritual life with humanitarian and social service, and he worked to inspire Indian youth, reform education, and foster interreligious understanding until his premature death on 4 July 1902.