Swami Vivekananda

"Dare to be independent, dare to pursue your thoughts, and dare to do so in your life"

Narendra Nath Datta, known as Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1963– 4 July 1902), was an Indian Hindu monk, creative thinker, social reformer, great orator, and keen patriot who established the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He practiced, preached and advised others strongly for a pure and true spiritual path. His birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day in India.

Here are some stories of his life-

Once when Swami Vivekananda was in Varanasi, he was surrounded by a large number of mischievous monkeys, when he was coming out of the temple of Maa Durga. They seem to be arousing him. Swamiji did not want to capture them so he started running away but the evil monkey chasing him was seeing an old monk that he asked Swamiji to stop him and confront him! Swamiji obeyed the monk and stayed. When he turned around and faced the monkey, they fled. Years later, he said, "If you are ever afraid of anything, always go round and face it. Never think of running away."
During a long trek in the Himalayas, Swamiji found an old man very tired and fatigued. He stood on the uphill slope without any hope. The man complained to Swamiji in despair, "Oh, sir, how to cross it? I can't walk anymore; my chest will break." After patiently listening to him and he replied, "Look down your feet. The road under your feet is the road you have crossed and the road that is in front of you. It will soon be on your feet." Will be down. ”His words prompted the old man to resume his onward journey.
On September 11, 1893, instead of the customary 'Ladies and Gentlemen', in his first speech at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, he addressed a gathering of 7,000 people with 'Sisters and Brothers of America', for which he was applauded for a full 2 ​​minutes. .
While returning to India from London, one of his British friends asked him: 'How did you like your motherland now, after four years of experience of the lordly, splendid, magnificent, powerful West?' Swamiji said patiently: `` India I loved before coming away. Now much dust of India has become sacred to me, much air is now sacred to me; It is now a holy land, a shrine, a shrine! '