Swami Vivekananda was born in Calcutta on January 12th 1863. His name was Narendra originally. He was a very mischievous, inquisitive and courageous as a young boy. However he had compassion for the needy and poor. He developed great curiosity to search for the Supreme God, when he started studying in college.
Narendra became Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s disciple, after an interaction with him and some unusual incidents. A strong faith developed about the teachings and methods of his master Ramakrishna Paramhansa. After this, started Narendra’s spiritual journey however he did have to face a lot of financial constraints and personal difficulties.
Vivekananda became a monk after his master Ramakrishna Paramhansa died. He took up tasks of managing the disciples and day to day affairs of the Mutth. He began visiting different places in India in the process of realizing his mission. Later he went to America but returned back to India to resume his work. Vivekananda once attended the Conference of the World Religions in Chicago in 1893 where he delivered his most popular speech before a large gathering of people. He created new awareness amongst people, delivered lectures about Hinduism for a few months in America. He also had a brief visit to UK and finally reached India after a foreign visit of 4 years.
Swami Vivekananda was already a popular figure in India, by the time he returned. His followers were attracted to his strength of character, his discourses and speeches. He initiated the Ramakrishna Mission after arriving in India. He continued his visit to different parts of India, participated in humanitarian works, delivered speeches and again visited USA, a second time. He again attended the Conference of Religions in Paris. Swami Vivekanada passed away at the age of 39 on July 4th, 1902.
