Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago speech in 1893

GS Paper 1

Syllabus: Modern India: Reform movements

Source: ThePrint

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday remembered Swami Vivekananda’s speech at Chicago in the US on this day in 1893.

On September 11 in 1893, more than a century ago, Swami Vivekananda delivered a speech at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago and introduced the world to the human values of India.

Contributions of Swami Vivekananda:

• Swami Vivekananda is believed to have introduced the concepts and ideals of the Vedanta to the Western world. He became popular in the West after his famous speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions.
• He was also the chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
• Swami Vivekananda was considered a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and brought it to the status of major world religion in the late 19th century.
• Swami Vivekananda’s birthday on January 12 is also observed as National Youth Day in the country.
• Vivekananda is also considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the West and is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism to that of a world religion.
• Books written by him: ‘Raja Yoga’, ‘Jnana Yoga’, and ‘Karma Yoga’ are some of the books he wrote.

InstaLinks:

Swami Vivekananda

Prelims Link:

1. About 1893 Parliament of World’s Religions.
2. International modern Parliaments held so far.
3. Contributions of Swami Vivekananda to Hinduism.
4. About Ramakrishna Mission.

Mains Link:

Analyse the role of Swami Vivekananda in the Indian Freedom Struggle. 10M