Swami Vivekananda was born on the 12th of January 1863, in Calcutta, India. It was the holy day of makarsankranti, a day when the country’s most revered river - the holy Ganga - is offered special prayers.

His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a well-to-do-lawyer and an agnostic but had a large and generous heart. His mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, regal in appearance and conduct, lived the life of a devout and traditional Hindu wife and mother. She was a devotee of Shiva and named her son – Vireshwara, the name Shiva is known by in the holy city of Banaras. The family’s formal name for the boy was Narendra Nath but they, endearingly, called him Naren as did his brother disciples many years later.

As a child, Naren showed a religious bent of mind. He was drawn to the wandering monks who came to his parents’ home to ask for alms. He was fascinated by the stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata told to him by his mother and would bedeck images of Ram and Sita before worshipping them in his own childish way and would ‘practice’ meditating on Shiva with a friend.

Throughout his childhood, Naren saw ball of light between his eyebrows before going to sleep, indicating a great spiritual past.
Yet, even as a very young child, he would not accept social conventions which differentiated one human being from another or pseudo-religious statements without verifying its truth for himself.

So, we see him ‘smoking’ tobacco from all the hookahs kept for his father’s visitors including from one marked for Muslims. And, when reprimanded for having smoked from that one as well, he observed:
“I cannot see what difference it makes.”

At sixteen, he joined Presidency College and a year later moved to Scottish Church College. This was a period when Naren was associated with the Brahmo Samaj, an important religious movement of the time.

Eager to realize God, he felt a compulsion to learn from someone who had seen God. So, he put the following question to Devendranath Tagore – the Brahmo leader:

“Sir, have you seen God?”

The Brahmo leader evaded the question.

Naren’s search continued.

Till, one day, Professor Hastie at the Scottish Church College, said to him:

“If you really want to cultivate spirituality, then visit Ramakrishna at Dakshineshwar.”

Naren had met Sri Ramakrishna earlier in 1881, at the home of a relative. But, a momentous meeting happened in Dakshineshwar soon after Professor Hastie’s statement.

Sri Ramakrishna recognized Naren as the future messenger of his teaching, yet Naren had a question:

“Sir, have you seen God?” he asked Sri Ramakrishna.

“Yes. I have seen God. I see Him as I see you here, only more clearly,” came the unequivocal answer from Sri Ramakrishna.

Naren was astounded. He had finally found his Master in Sri Ramakrishna.

Yet for the next five years, Naren tested Sri Ramakrishna. Blind faith did not influence him; he always placed Sri Ramakrishna’s words and actions against the backdrop of reason.

As when hearing Sri Ramakrishna say that his nervous system had undergone a complete change due to his spiritual experiences and so he could not bear the touch of gold or silver, Naren decided to put Sri Ramakrishna's words to the test.

Unbeknownst to Sri Ramakrishna, Naren put a coin under the Master’s mattress. Sri Ramakrishna barely sat on the bed when he jumped in pain as if stung by a bee. On seeking the cause, the hidden coin was found!

On his part, Sri Ramakrishna never asked Naren to give up his independent thinking.