Vivekananda, Swami: - Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 - 4 July 1902), born Narendra Nath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk and chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna.
In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day..
Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe.
He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions.
After Ramakrishna\'s death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India.
He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind.
Born into an aristocratic Bengali family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality.
He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, Sisters and brothers of America ..., in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World\'s Religions in Chicago in 1893.
Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India.
He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.
Vivekananda, Swami: - Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 - 4 July 1902), born Narendra Nath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk and chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna
