Question

Swami Vivekananda a spiritual billionaire article

Answer 1

It’s bad for a preacher to be young, don’t you think so? I do, as I did all my life. People have more confidence in an old man, and it looks more venerable.”Swami Vivekananda wrote that in one of his letters, towards the closing years of his brief life. Earlier, in 1897, when he was all of 34, he wrote: “I feel my task is done – at most three or four years of life are left”. He died five years later, in 1902, aged 39. 

Today is the 150th birth anniversary of the monk. Why are we still talking about him? Have we seen anyone since him who could have the impact he had at his age? I often hear him being described as a youth icon, for a variety of reasons. For me, though, Vivekananda’s message to youth was not in what he said, but in how he lived, and the age at which he lived it.

The easy familiarity of the ‘four stages’ of life model in Indian tradition makes many of us assume that understanding issues relevant to life and death is something left for the post-retirement stage. Vivekananda knew better. Though he taught a lot through what he said and wrote, what he taught by how he lived was that where life, death and faith are concerned, it’s never too early to learn, to master, and to have enough to give back.

Answer 2

The Spiritual Genius of Swami Vivekananda



Swami Vivekananda is one of the most admired spiritual leaders of India. The world knows him as an inspiring Hindu monk, his motherland regards him as the patriot saint of modern India, and Hindus consider him as a source of spiritual power, mental energy, strength-giving, and open-mindedness.



Swami Vivekananda is one of the most admired spiritual leaders of India. The world knows him as an inspiring Hindu monk, his motherland regards him as the patriot saint of modern India, and Hindus consider him as a source of spiritual power, mental energy, strength-giving, and open-mindedness.

Early Life:

Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863, in a middle-class Bengali family of Calcutta. Narendranath Dutt, as he was called before sainthood, grew up to be a youth of great charm and intelligence. In a pre-independent India hidebound by communal disharmony and sectarianism, this blithe spirit soared above the rest to become the manifestation of freedom - the 'summum bonum' of human life.

Learnings and Travels:

An avid scholar of Western and Hindu philosophy and ever thirsty for the mystery of Creation and the law of Nature, Vivekananda found his guru in Sri Ramkrishna Paramhamsa. He toured across India to know his country and people and found his spiritual alma mater at the Kanyakumari rock in Cape Comorin at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula. The Vivekananda memorial is now a landmark for tourists and pilgrims, and a tribute to him by his countrymen.

Journey to America:

Swami Vivekananda rose to worldwide fame in 1893, when he visited America to attend the first Parliament of World Religions in Chicago. The uninvited young monk addressed this august assembly and electrified the audience. His speech made him world famous overnight: "Sisters and Brothers of America, it fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the millions and millions of Hindu people …"