Swami Vivekananda's Decision

Three Decisions

Narendranath, the future Swami Vivekananda decided to become a Sannyasin in 1884. It may be interesting to note how even earlier as he would fall asleep two strikingly dissimilar visions of life would appear before his mind's eye: one the life of preyas, the worldly life of comfort, ease, luxury and enjoyment of the senses in the right royal style, and the other the picture of the Sannyasin, wandering resourceless with Almighty as the only resource, eating such food as chance might bring; resting at night, as he himself wrote in his masterly poem, 'The Song of the Sannyasin " under the canopy of the sky in the forest or on the mountainside. However, the further inward he would delve, the worldly ideal would fade. At length his choice was Sannyas  the renunciation of desire -- as the only way to gain the vision of God. It is a matter of common knowledge now, how this Lion among men afterwards became a prince of Sannyasins bearing the unforgettable name Swami Vivekananda and shed lustre on the very principle of Sannyas. Of course in his decision to renounce he received substantial help from Sri Ramakrishna. And his renouncing had a tremendous value in more than one way. One of which was that he brought about a reorientation of Sannyas for the uplift of the masses, which fact is known all the world over.