Swami Vivekananda,born Narendranath datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, Philosopher, author, religious teacher and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) is best known in the United States for his groundbreaking speech to the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in which he introduced Hinduism to America and called for religious tolerance and an end to fanaticism.