Q 01/05

Swami Vivekananda was born in Calcutta on 12 January 1863 under which name?

A) Narendranath Datta

B) Gadadhar Chattopadhyay

C) Keshab Chandra Sen

D) Debendranath Tagore

Answer · why

A) Narendranath Datta

Narendranath Datta, Naren at home, was following a family precedent when he took his vows: his grandfather Durgacharan had left his own family to beco...

Q 02/05

Which word in Wordsworth's The Excursion led Professor Hastie to send Vivekananda's class to Ramakrishna?

A) Ecstasy

B) Vision

C) Trance

D) Rapture

Answer · why

C) Trance

Trance was the word Hastie was explaining in a literature class when he suggested the students meet the mystic; Vivekananda first met Ramakrishna in 1...

Q 03/05

The 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago where Vivekananda spoke was staged as part of which larger event?

A) World's Columbian Exposition

B) Centennial Exposition

C) Pan-American Exposition

D) Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Answer · why

A) World's Columbian Exposition

The World's Columbian Exposition was the world's fair Chicago held to mark 400 years since Columbus's voyage, which gave it his name; the Parliament m...

Q 04/05

Which greeting opened Vivekananda's 1893 Chicago address, reportedly drawing two minutes' applause?

A) Friends from every faith

B) Sisters and brothers of America

C) Citizens of this republic

D) People of the West

Answer · why

B) Sisters and brothers of America

Sisters and brothers of America brought thousands to their feet before he could go on; he then thanked them in the name of 'the most ancient order of ...

Q 05/05

Who suggested the name 'Vivekananda' in place of Sachidananda shortly before the monk sailed for America?

A) The Maharaja of Mysore

B) The Raja of Ramnad

C) The Gaekwad of Baroda

D) The Raja of Khetri

Answer · why

D) The Raja of Khetri

The Raja of Khetri, Ajit Singh, also swapped the monk's lower-class berth for a first-class ticket; the name he suggested joins viveka, discerning wis...