I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books at thirty years' distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock – this galvanising impact of swami Vivekananda's words on Romain Rolland at thirty years' distance' (since Swamiji's appearance in Chicago Parliament of Religions') holds equally true today as we find ourselves at a distance of 150 years since the birth of Swami Vivekananda. Indeed irrespective of clime and age, man cannot but be thrilled and inspired by the soul stirring words of Swamiji for in all he did and said, Swamij's pre-eminent concern was MAN and his problems. Diverse as these problems were social economic moral, Intellectual and spiritual, Swamiji's luminous mind probed each to its depth and the solutions that issued from his Buddha heart unquestionably remain the panacea of the pressing human issues.

At humanity's crossroads today, there cannot be a healthier exercise than to reflect on the profound message of this great Prophet of Humanity. During this significant year of 150th birth anniversary of Swamiji this motivates us to bring out this current edition of articles on the various facets of Swamiji's life under the title Swami Vivekananda: New Perspectives. The vast being that Swamiji is – a complete appreciation of him is understandably beyond human grasp. Yet any attempt to reflect on Swamiji is a matter of supreme joy one who undertakes it. Our grateful thanks to the learned contributors for having dealt with the various aspects of the multifaceted personality of Swamiji.

Our special thanks to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for having financed this noble endeavour on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. We would also like to thank Swami Sunirmalananda and Prof. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya for extending their helpful guidance during this project. We are grateful to the Advaita Asarama, Belur Math Archive and Webteam, Belur Math for providing us with suitable photographs.

Finally we are hopeful, before the readers' mind, out of these articles will emerge Vivekananda – the Prophet of Infinitude.