SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Exercise of swami Vivekananda
Summary
India is a land of many religions and cultures. People here take both pleasure and pain
alike, they are dedicated and duty bound.They are many well known leader one such is Swami Vivekananda.
One day a small boy jumped out of the coach and he was travelling in coach with his mother with smiling face.He pointed at the coachman and told his mother. “I want to be a coachman. How nice it is to drive a coach. And her mother could not tell anything at that time later she showed him the picture of “Geethopadesha and said if you want, you can be a coachman but you should be like coachman like Krishna who taught Arjuna.”The little boy Narendra later came to be known as Swami Vivekananda, a great spiritual leader and India’s pride.
Narendra was born on 12th January, 1863 to Vishwanatha Dutta and Bhuvaneshwari Devi in Kolkata(Calcutta). He was considered as the child the boon of God Vireshwara Shiva, and named him Vireshwara. He was sent to primary school at the age of 6 and and a private tutor.
He studied Sanskrit grammar, long passages from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. He had a strong desire to study more and he wanted to see god. He met many people
but he was not able to get a satisfactory answer.
The desire to see god grew day by day.He became successful when he could meet his guru
from whom he got the answer to his desire. He could see god.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa could help him experience god. Thus Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa became Naren’s spiritual guru.
He went on and on, walked miles, travelled all over the country to discover truth. Narendra was kind to all. He had sympathy for the poor, he was courageous too. These qualities helped him become a wandering monk travelling alone to all places to help the needy. He often expressed his ideas on education. According to him, education should develop a complete human being.
He made a speech in the Great Hall of Columbus, in the Parliament.He began his address with the words “Sisters and Brothers of America”. Immediately, there was thunderous
applause from the vast audience and it lasted for two minutes.
Further, he thanked all those who had assembled there. He referred to the Indians of all classes and sects. He said about the Hindu religion that in the true sense, it embraced
all humanity. And declared, “I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.
We believe not only in universal tolerance, but we accept all religions as true”. These words were very impressive. He observed that the divisions in society based on religion has resulted in human hatred.
Swami Vivekananda expressed his hope saying that the time for driving away these evil forces in society had come. He told them that everybody should develop a sense of brotherhood and love for each other. There was great respect and appreciation from the people of America.
After his return to India, he spent his time preaching religious tolerance and worked for the upliftment of the poor. He established Belur Math in 1898 which became
the centre of Ramakrishna Mission with the motto “Work is Worship.
Exercise
Comprehension :
I. Choose the most appropriate answer.
- Swami Vivekananda established the Belur Math to
a. make people remember his speech in the
Parliament of Religions.
b. spread the principles of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
c. develop human values.
d. promote social divisions.
Ans:b. spread the principles of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
- Swami Vivekananda acquired the knowledge of
human values
a. from his parents
b. through his spiritual experience
c. visiting countries
d. all of the above
Ans:b. through his spiritual experience
- Narendra was born on
a. September 11, 1893
b. January 12, 1863
c. September 11, 1863
d. January 12, 1893
Ans:a. September 11, 1893
- The audience in the Parliament of Religions applauded
Swami’s speech because
a. he spoke well
b. he addressed them as ‘‘Sisters and Brothers of
America’’
c. he spoke in English
d. his speech conveyed humanism
Ans:b. he addressed them as ‘‘Sisters and Brothers of
II. Say whether the following statements are true or false.
- Swami Vivekananda was a wandering monk because he wanted to spread Hinduism. (False)
- The audience in the Parliament of Religions did not accept the speech of Swami Vivekananda. ( False)
- Swami Vivekananda worked for universal brotherhood. ( True)
- The words of Narendra’s mother made him become a wandering monk. (False )
- Swami Vivekananda went to Chicago as a political leader. ( False)
- The Belur Math was established before Swami Vivekananda went to Chicago. (False )
III. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences each.
1.How is India described by the writer?
Ans:India is a land of many religions and cultures. People here take both pleasure and pain alike, they are dedicated and duty bound.They are many well known leader’s.
2.What kind of a coachman did Narendra’s mother want him to become?
Ans: Narendra’s mother wanted him to become coachman like Krishna who taught Arjuna.
3.Why did Narendra want to be a coachman?
Ans:Narendra want to be a coachman because he thought it was nice to drive a coach.
4.Why was Narendra named Vireshwara?
Ans:He was considered as the child the boon of God Vireshwara Shiva, and named him Vireshwara.
5.Why was Narendra considered a “wandering monk”?
Ans:He went on and on, walked miles, travelled all over the country to discover truth. Narendra was kind to all. He had sympathy for the poor, he was courageous too. These qualities helped him become a wandering monk.
6.What kind of education did Narendra advocate?
Ans:Narendra advocated that education should develop a complete human being.
- What made the audience in the Parliament of Religions give a thunderous applause to Narendra?
Ans:He began his address with the words “Sisters and Brothers of America”. Immediately, there was thunderous applause from the vast audience and it lasted for two minutes.
- What helped Narendra earn respect and appreciation from the people of America?
Ans:He told them that everybody should develop a sense of brotherhood and love for each other. There was great respect and appreciation from the people of America.
9.Did Narendra believe in superstitions?
Ans:No he did not believe in superstition bu he believed in stressed work is workship.
I. Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks choosing the right word given in the box :
(spiritual, superstitions, earnest, despair, preach)
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is a very well known spiritual,leader. Whenever people in despair approached him, he would say that they must be earnest, in their belief in the Divine. He also used to preach that belief in superstitions,may not take anyone forward.
II. Substitute the following with one word. You can take the help of the choices given in the box below.
- A man who drives a coach. coachman
- One who believes in the existence of God. theist
- One who does not believe in the existence of God. atheist
- One who doubts the existence of God. agnostic
- One who believes in serving mankind philanthropist
III. Use the following words in meaningful sentences
a) pride:I felt a deep sense of pride whenever I worked hard and got an A+ on my test.
b)accept:We must always accept our mistake and try to correct it.
c)experience:The senior teacher have good experience.
d)dedicate: Mahatma Gandhi have dedicated himself to India’s freedom.
e) tolerance: One should have tolerance towards others.
IV. Match the words in list “A” with their opposites in list “B”
| A | B |
| strong | hope |
| despair | evil |
| good | weak |
| love | Death |
| life | hatred |
Answer
| A | B |
| strong | Weak |
| despair | Hope |
| good | evil |
| love | hatred |
| life | Death |
