led him as a youth to the BRAHMO SAMAJ, a reform
movement founded by Rammohun ROY, but he
was not satisfied with the spirituality of the
movement.
In November 1881, while studying at Cal-
cutta University, he visited Sri RAMAKRISHNA, the
famous mystic and priest at the KALI temple of
Dakshineswar near Calcutta. Narendra was fas-
cinated by Ramakrisha’s claim that he saw God
clearly, and he wanted to know more. Although
responsible for the care of his poverty-stricken
family upon the death of his father, Narendra
continued his work at the university and his
study with Ramakrishna. He spent five years in
training with Ramakrishna, during which he
became committed to renouncing all of life in
quest of God-realization. Ramakrishna died of
throat cancer in August 1886. Then Narendra
and a small group of Ramakrishna’s disciples took
vows to become monks and renounce the world.
In 1887 he took the vow of SANNYAS and became
Swami Vivekananda (bliss of discernment).
With some other young monks, Vivekananda
wandered all over the subcontinent, begging for
food and lodging. In his travels he learned first-
hand of the imbalances in Indian society and the
inhumanity of the CASTE system. He began to see
the need for social service for millions of poor
Indians, not traditionally an interest of spiritual
seekers in India.
In 1893 Vivekananda attended the WORLD
PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS in Chicago, with the
intent of representing the message of Hinduism
to the West. He was the most popular speaker
at the parliament, giving classical, erudite dis-
positions on the nature and value of Hinduism,
which excited many. From this success he began
a tour of the United States, lecturing in the
Midwest and New York City, where in 1895 he
founded the Vedanta Society of New York, the
first Hindu organization founded in the United
States.
Upon his return to India in 1897, he found
that his success in the West had increased his
renown. He gathered his brother monks and
founded the Ramakrishna Math and Mission,
whose very name emphasized Ramakrishna’s uni-
fication of the monastic life with social service.
He found a site for the monastery at Belur and
began relief work in nearby Calcutta. He worked
with SARADA DEVI, Sri Ramakrishna’s widow, to
serve the poor. The Ramakrishna Math and Mis-
sion is today one of the largest monastic orders
in Hinduism.
His teaching centered around advaita Vedanta
and he constantly pointed to the identity of each
person with the highest BRAHMAN. He believed
that no one could be free until all are free. Even
the desire for personal salvation should be relin-
quished in favor of tireless work for the salvation
of others.
Vivekananda wanted to raise the inferior sta-
tus of women in Hinduism by including them in
spiritual life. He worked with many women in
India, including Sarada Devi and Sister NIVEDITA,
and with many Western disciples in promot-
ing the education of and service to women. He
insisted that the women of India must be able to
meet the modern age with adequate education; it
was the topic of one of his many books.
Vivekananda made a second visit to the West
in 1899–1900, during which he founded other
Vedanta Centers.
He was only 39 when he died on July 4, 1902,
at Belur Math near Calcutta.Further reading: Marie Louise Burke, Swami Vive-
kananda in America: New Discoveries (Calcutta: advaita
Ashrama, 1958); Sailendra Nath Dhar, A Comprehen-
sive Biography of Swami Vivekananda, 2 vols. (Madras:
Vivekananda Prakashan Kendra, 1975); Reminiscences
of Swami Vivekananda by His Eastern and Western
Admirers (Calcutta: advaita Ashrama, 1961); Romain
Rolland, The Life of Vivekananda and the Universal
Gospel (Mayavati, Almora: advaita Ashrama, 1944);
Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami
Vivekananda, 12 vols. (Calcutta: advaita Ashrama,
1965).Vivekananda, Swami 495 J