If a man can realize his divine nature with the help of an image, would it be right to call that a sin? Nor, even when he has passed that stage, should he call it an error. [...] man is not traveling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. To him all the religions from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realize the Infinite, each determined by the conditions of its birth and association, and each of these marks a stage of progress; and every soul is a young eagle soaring higher and higher, gathering more and more strength till it reaches the Glorious Sun.

According to his disciples Vivekananda attained Mahasamadhi. He belonged to a traditional Bengali Kayastha (a caste of Hindus) family and was one of the nine siblings. He was the principal reason behind the enthusiastic reception of yoga transcendental meditation and other forms of Indian spiritual self-improvement in the West.

He was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. After the death of his guru Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired a first-hand knowledge of the conditions that prevailed in British India. In India Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated as the National Youth Day.