Narendranath
had varied interests and a wide range of scholarship in philosophy, religion,
history, the social sciences, arts, literature, and other subjects. He was very
interested in the Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad
Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas. He was also well versed in
classical music, both vocal and instrumental and is said to have undergone
training under two Ustads, Beni Gupta and Ahmad Khan. Since boyhood, he took an
active interest in physical exercise, sports, and other organizational
activities. Even when he was young, he questioned the validity of superstitious
customs and discrimination based on caste, and refused to accept anything
without rational proof and pragmatic test
In 1881 he passed the Fine Arts examination and in 1884 he passed the Bachelor
of Arts.
Narendranath
is said to have studied the writings of several Westerners like David Hume,
Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, John
Stuart Mill, and Charles Darwin. He became fascinated with the Evolutionism of
Herbert Spencer, and translated Spencer's book on Education into Bengali.
Simultaneously, he was thoroughly acquainted with Indian Sanskrit scriptures and
many Bengali works. According to his professors, student Narendranath was a
prodigy..
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