“Through practice comes Yoga, through Yoga comes Knowledge, through Knowledge comes Love and through Love comes the Bliss.” – Swami Vivekananda
Narendranath Datta, born on 12 Jan 1863, a Hindu monk came to be known as Swami Vivekananda who gave a face to the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world. Swami Vivekananda started a mission names ‘Vedanta centres in West’. His main objective of adapting Hindu religiosity was to introduce people with his “4 Yoga Models”.
Swami Vivekananda has been a chief disciple in 19th – a century of Indian mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He has been the only one who has claimed that Yoga is scientific, rational and therefore, Universal. Through his constant study, he tasted spirituality as practised in India. His great emphasis was on 4 Yogas, namely: Bhakti, Karma, Jnana and Raja Yoga. Each of these is ultimately related to a way of attaining the ultimate goal of life – Mukti or Salvation. He said that to attain salvation, meticulous and sincere practice is required, which can come through Yoga. He said that Freedom of the Soul is the goal of all the Yogas and those who desire for liberation must do it.
To make it more clear what role does every Yoga play, here it is:
1. Bhakti Yoga: The realisation of the divinity through devotion to and love of personal god.
2. Karma Yoga: The manner in which a man realises his own divinity through work and duty.
3. Jnana Yoga: The realisation of a man’s own divinity through knowledge.
4. Raja Yoga: The realisation of the divinity through the control of the mind.
Swami Vivekananda promoted Yoga not only in India but he had spread the concept in the United States as well. More than awareness, he created a sensation when he addressed World’s Parliament of Religions, Chicago in 1893. For his contribution in the field of Yoga, he was awarded as “An Orator by Divine Right” by an American press – The New York Critic. He toured the US for 4 years, spreading the wise words of his 4 Yoga to attain Salvation and became a national hero in native India.
Today, there are 13 Vedanta Chapters located in America and more than 125 around the world. Quoting Swami Vivekananda on attaining the salvation he said:
“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, worship, mental discipline or philosophy – by one or more or all of these.”
In relation to yoga, he once profoundly said:
“All this bringing of the mind into a higher state of vibration is included in one word in Yoga – Samadhi.”
Yoga is a path leading to the Eternal God and Divinity. Indeed the contribution of Swami Vivekananda has been tremendous in giving Yoga a face of its own and helping people lead a religious and spiritual life. Concentration is the essence of all knowledge. Yoga controls the senses, mind and will. The end aim of Yoga is to realise God and shine bright in the Divine Light.