Thread by @sheshapatangi1

HOW NARENDRA BECAME SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

It was at Mount Abu, on 4 June 1891, that Naren first met Ajit Singh, the Raja of Khetri, with whom he was to form a lasting bond of friendship and mutual respect. In fact, it was the Raja who later conferred the name Vivekananda’ on him by

which he would be known in the West. This is the name by which he is known all over the world and in his own country today.
After the first meeting at Mount Abu & during Narendranath’s stay at Khetri between 7 June 1891 to 27 October 1891, Ajit Singh became a close friend and

disciple of Narendranath. He started considering Narendranath as his spiritual mentor. It was Ajit Singh who suggested Narendranath to wear a turban and also showed him how to wear it in the Rajasthani style.
Narendra Nath Datta, was born in an affluent family in Kolkata on

12 January 1863. His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney with interests in a wide range of subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with deep devotion.
Vivekananda was brought up having a Western education which taught him not to accept anything

without evidence. He gradually became well versed in both Eastern and Western thought.
There are a few important qualities that we see in Narendranath’s life at that time.
First, he had a tremendous passion for Truth.
Second, he overflowed with excessive energy.

Third, he was a rebel.
A precocious boy, Narendra excelled in music, gymnastics, and studies. By the time he graduated from Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially Western philosophy and history. Born with a yogic temperament,

he used to practice meditation even from his boyhood and was associated with Brahmo Movement for some time.
At the threshold of youth Narendra had to pass through a period of spiritual crisis when he was assailed by doubts about the existence of God. It was at that time he first

heard about Sri Ramakrishna from one of his English professors at college. One day in November 1881, Narendra went to meet Sri Ramakrishna who was staying at the Kali Temple in Dakshineshwar. He straightaway asked the Master a question which he had put to several others but had

received no satisfactory answer: “Sir, have you seen God?” Without a moment’s hesitation, Sri Ramakrishna replied: “Yes, I have. I see Him as clearly as I see you, only in a much intenser sense.”
Apart from removing doubts from the mind of Narendra, Sri Ramakrishna won him over

through his pure, unselfish love. Thus began a guru-shishya relationship which is quite unique in the history of spiritual masters. Narendra now became a frequent visitor to Dakshineshwar and, under the guidance of the Master, made rapid strides on the spiritual path.

At Dakshineshwar, Narendra also met several young men who were devoted to Sri Ramakrishna, and they all became close friends.
After a few years two events took place which caused Narendra considerable distress. One was the sudden death of his father in 1884. This left the family

penniless, and Narendra had to bear the burden of supporting his mother, brothers and sisters. The second event was the illness of Sri Ramakrishna which was diagnosed to be throat cancer. In September 1885 Sri Ramakrishna was moved to a house at Shyampukur, few months later to a

rented villa at Cossipore. In these two places the young disciples nursed the Master with devoted care. In spite of poverty at home and inability to find a job for himself, Narendra joined the group as its leader.
Sri Ramakrishna instilled in these young men the spirit of

renunciation & brotherly love for one another. One day he distributed Bhagwa Robes among them & sent them out to beg food. In this way he himself laid the foundation for a new monastic order. He gave specific instructions to Narendra about the formation of new monastic Order.

In the small hours of 16 August 1886 Sri Ramakrishna gave up his mortal body.

After the Master’s passing, fifteen of his young disciples (one more joined them later) began to live together in a dilapidated building at Baranagar in Kolkata. Under the leadership of Narendra, they

formed a new monastic brotherhood and in 1887 they took the formal vows of sannyasa, thereby assuming new names. Narendra now became Swami Vivekananda (although this name was actually assumed much later.)
After establishing the new monastic order, Vivekananda heard the

inner call for a greater mission in his life. While most of the followers of Sri Ramakrishna thought of him in relation to their own personal lives, Vivekananda thought of the Master in relation to India and the rest of the world. As the prophet of the present age, what was

Sri Ramakrishna’s message to the modern world & to India in particular? This question and the awareness of his own inherent powers urged Swamiji to go out alone into the wide world. So in the middle of 1890, after receiving the blessings of Sri Sarada Devi, divine consort of

Sri Ramakrishna, who was then staying in Kolkata, Swamiji left Baranagar Math and embarked on a long journey of exploration and discovery of India.
During his travels all over India, Swami Vivekananda was deeply moved to see the appalling poverty and backwardness of the masses.

He was the first religious leader in India to understand and openly declare that the real cause of India’s downfall was the neglect of the masses. The immediate need was to provide food and other bare necessities of life to the hungry millions. For this they should be taught

improved methods of agriculture, village industries, etc. It was in this context that Vivekananda grasped the crux of the problem of poverty in India (which had escaped the attention of social reformers of his days): owing to centuries of oppression, the downtrodden masses had

lost faith in their capacity to improve their lot. It was first of all necessary to infuse into their minds faith in themselves. For this they needed a life-giving, inspiring message. Swamiji found this message in the principle of the Atman, the doctrine of the potential

divinity of the soul, taught in Vedanta, the ancient system of religious philosophy of India. He saw that, in spite of poverty, the masses clung to religion, but they had never been taught the life-giving, ennobling principles of Vedanta and how to apply them in practical life.

Thus the masses needed 2 kinds of knowledge: secular knowledge to improve their economic condition & spiritual knowledge to infuse in them faith in themselves and strengthen their moral sense. The next question was, how to spread these two kinds of knowledge among the masses?

Through education – this was the answer that Swamiji found.

#SwamiVivekananda
#VANDEMATARAM