Early days
Swami Vivekananda, or Narendranath Datta (Naren), as he was called in his pre-monastic days, was born to Vishwanath Datta and Bhuvaneshwari Devi in Calcutta on Monday, 12th January 1863, the Datta family was rich, respectable, and renowned for charity, learning, and a strong spirit of independence.
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| Naren with his mom Bhuvaneshwari Devi |
Narendranath’s grandfather, Durgacharan Datta was well-versed in Persian and Sanskrit and was skilled in law. But after the birth of his son Vishwanath, he renounced the world and become a monk. He was then only 25 years of age.
Vishwanath Datta was an attorney-at-law in
the Calcutta high court. He was proficient in English and Persian, and took
great delight in reciting to his family the poems of the Persian poet Hafiz. He
also enjoyed the study of the Bible and of the Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit. Though
charitable to an extravagant degree and sympathetic towards the poor,
Vishwanath was rationalistic and progressive in outlook in matters religious
and social, owing perhaps to the influence of western culture. Bhuvaneshwari Devi
was an accomplished lady with a regal bearing. She was deeply religious. Before
the birth of Naren, though she had daughters, she yearned for a son and asked
one of her relatives at Varanasi to make religious offerings to Lord Viresvara Siva.
It is said that she dreamt later that Siva promised to be born as her son. Narendranath
was born some time afterwards.
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| Naren's meditation |
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| Naren helping poor |
Traits such as courage, sympathy for the poor, and attraction towards wandering monks appeared spontaneously in him. Even in childhood, Naren demanded convincing arguments for every proposition. With these qualities of head and hearts, he grew into a vigorous youth.
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