International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Swami Vivekananda’s Vision of Education: A Holistic Approach

Abstract: Swami Vivekananda was one of the greatest luminaries of Bengal under colonial rule. In the nineteenth century, a large number of young, educated, rational, and progressive people took the initiative of reforming society, and hence they dealt with issues like illiteracy, the caste system, poverty, the subjugation of women, and so on. It was noteworthy that almost all these reformers considered education as the panacea for almost all social ailments. However, there were differences between the anglophile and those who believed in the indigenous and traditional mode of education. Vivekananda, a patriot-prophet, the most prominent disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Dev, an illuminated-self and a centre of attraction to many Bengali erudite, delving into the ocean of spirituality, discovered that education might lead to the attainment of emancipation by incorporating knowledge of understanding the real-self and by removing divergent challenges of the mundane world. This article will highlight Vivekananda’s notion of education. It will also illustrate the role of concentration, bramhacharya, and self-confidence as the inextricable elements of education. In this article, Vivekananda’s views on female education and mass-education have been delineated. The article will project Vivekananda’s recapitulation of Gurukul system as an alternative model of the existing institutional structure. The article will try to demonstrate how Vivekananda conceptualized the philosophy of man-making through his vision of education. Key Words: Vivekananda, Education, concentration-bramacharya, man-making, female education, mass-education