Vivekananda: Embodiment of Highest Ideas

Narendranath Dutta, better known as Swami Vivekananda, was a disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886), a poor priest in a temple at Dakhinesvar in Kolkata. Ramakrishna believed in the truth of all religions. A graduate of the Calcutta University, Vivekananda (1863-1902) carried his master’s message throughout India.

Vivekananda was a Vedantist. In 1983 he went to the US and attended the famous “Parliament of Religions” at Chicago. His speech at that august assembly earned him fame and followers throughout the world. New York Herald wrote, “after hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation”

Sir Valentine Chirol characterizes Vivekananda as “the first Hindu whose personality won demonstrative recognition abroad for India’s ancient civilization and of her new-born claim to nationhood.”