Narendranath Datta asked Sri Ramakrishna “Sir, have you seen God?”
Shri Ramkrishna Paramhansa replied immediately, “Yes, I have. I see Him as clearly as I see you, only in a much intenser sense.”
It is said that Sri Ramkrishna got Narendranath to get a glimpse of the almighty and a totally floored Narendra accepted him as his guru.
Things changed dramatically for Narendranath from 1884 to 1886. His father expired in 1884 while his guru Sri Ramkrishna expired in 1886 because of throat cancer.
After the passing of Sri Ramkrishna, fifteen of his disciples under the leadership of Narendranath formed a new monastic brotherhood and in 1887 they took formal vows of Sanyasa and assumed new names. Narendranath Datta now became Vivekananda. Later on, he came to be known as Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Vivekananda took the vow to spread the message of his guru and ethos of ‘Sanatan dharma' across the world and he spent his entire life doing the same. Swami Vivekananda passed away on July 4, 1902 at a young age of 39.