<p>Swami Vivekananda is often remembered as a defining figure of modern Indian thought. His Chicago address, his universalist reading of religion, and his humanistically oriented presentation of Vedānta have together shaped his global reputation and secured his place in popular culture memory. These features have also led many to regard him as a philosophical representative of Indian culture and nationalism. This paper revisits this narrative through the critical lens of Acharya P. K. Mukhopadhyay. It asks whether Vivekananda’s philosophy reflects a sustained civilizational embeddedness or whether it was largely fashioned for a modern, international audience, thereby situating him closer to an internationalist than a nationalist in Mukhopadhyay’s sense. By contrasting Vivekananda with figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and K. C. Bhattacharya, the study further examines how intellectual and cultural figures ought to be assessed—through their writings and public influence alone, or through their deeper cultural and philosophical location as well. Altogether, we also critically assess Mukhopadhyay’s standpoint, which raises the preceding questions.</p>