Dayananda Saraswati (Chinmaya Mission)

Swami Dayananda Saraswati (दयानन्‍द सरस्‍वती) (born August 15, 1930) is a monk of the Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

monastic order and a renowned traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...

Early life

Swami Dayananda Saraswati (Natarajan) was born as Natarajan in Manjakudi - Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

on August 15, 1930 to Shri. Gopal Iyer and Smt. Balambal. He was the eldest of four sons. His early schooling was done in the Thiruvarur District Board School and he finished High school at Kodavasal. His father's passing away when he was eight, meant Natarajan had to shoulder a significant portion of family responsibility along with his education. After completion of education, Natarajan came to Chennai (erstwhile Madras)

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

for livelihood. Natarajan worked as a journalist for the weekly magazine Dharmika Hindu (run by T. K. Jagannathacharya) and also for erstwhile Volkart Brothers (now Voltas Limited

Voltas

Voltas Limited is an engineering, air conditioning and refrigeration company based in Mumbai, India. It makes stuff for industries in areas such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, refrigeration, construction equipment, materials handling, water management, building management systems,...

) for some time. He also decided to be a fighter pilot at one point and joined the Indian Air
Force, but left after six months as he felt suffocated by the regimentation there.

Beginnings

He became interested in Vedanta

Vedanta

Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...

after listening to the public talks of Swami Chinmayananda in the year 1952-53. He became actively involved with the then newly formed Chinmaya Mission

Chinmaya Mission

Chinmaya Mission was founded in 1953 by the devotees of Swami Chinmayananda to 'give organizational structure and cohesiveness to the work and activities initiated by Swami Chinmayananda' . It is administered from Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, Mumbai...

in various roles and was made its Secretary within the first year of its inception. He learnt Sanskrit lessons from P.S. Subramania Iyer, a retired Professor of English. It was Iyer who introduced the mode of chanting the Gita verses (or for that matter, Sanskrit verses that follow the same metre as the Gita verses) that is still followed by Chinmaya Mission, Arsha Vidya Centres and others as well. Swami Chinmayananda instructed Natarajan to set up Chinmaya Mission's Madurai branch which Natarajan was able to fulfill. Natarajan also assisted Swami Chinmayananda in editing and bringing out a Bhagavad Gita manuscript for publication. He had an opportunity to meet Swami Tapovanam

Tapovan Maharaj

Swami Tapovan Maharaj was a Hindu Sannyasi and Vedanta scholar who taught both Swami Chinmayananda, the founder of the Chinmaya Mission Movement and Swami Sundaranand....

, Chinmayananda's Guru during this time (1954–55). Tapovanam advised to Natarajan, You have a duty to yourself which is also important. Stay here. Do japa, meditate and study. But Natarajan could not take up that offer at that point in time. During this time, Natarajan also studied Sanskrit and the bhashya of the Upanishads with Professor Vijayaraghavachariar. Natarajan also took up the mantle of the editor of Tyagi, Chinmaya Mission's new fortnightly magazine and shifted to Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

in March 1956 for this purpose.

Swami Chinmayananda sent Natarajan to study under Sw. Pranavananda in Gudivada

Gudivada

Gudivada is a census town in Krishna district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a mandal headquarters with more than 100,000 inhabitants, lying as junction of Vijayawada-Machilipatnam-Bhimavaram-Nuzvid-Eluru in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh of...

(near Vijayawada

Vijayawada

Vijayawada is the third largest city in Andhra Pradesh, India, located on the banks of the Krishna River and bounded by the Indrakiladri Hills on the West and the Budameru River on the North. The city is located in the Krishna District, about from the state capital Hyderabad.Vijayawada literally...

) to clarify many of his doubts on Vedanta

Vedanta

and self-enquiry

Self-enquiry

Self-enquiry is a practice designed to rapidly bring about Self-realization, Self awareness, spiritual liberation or enlightenment, and is most commonly associated with its most famous modern advocate, Sri Ramana Maharshi...

. It was here during his studies with Pranavananda that Natarajan crystallised the following notion: Vedanta is a pramana (means of knowledge). I saw the Swami giving direct knowledge to the people he was teaching. This resolved all my conflicts. My problems with Vedanta had been my mistaken notion that it was a system.

Sanyasa

He was given sanyasa deeksha by Swami Chinmayananda on the auspicious Sivarathri day, in 1962 and was given the deeksha name Swami Dayananda Saraswathi. He became involved with Sandheepany sadhanalay right from its inception in 1963. He moved to Mumbai, (erstwhile Bombay)

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

and edited the Tapovan Prasad, the new monthly magazine of the mission.
Subsequently in 1965, he undertook a study pilgrimage to Rishikesh and stayed in a grass hut near Purani Jhaadi. He spent three years here, studying vedic texts such as the Brahma Sutras

Brahma Sutras

The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...

under Swami Tarananda Giri.

On his return to Bombay

Mumbai

from Rishikesh in 1968, Sw. Dayananda was asked to start the new Brahmachari/ni

Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is one of the four stages of life in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism. It refers to an educational period of 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences are...

training programme in Sandheepany. The first course, as designed by Sw. Dayananda started in 1972. In a later interview, Sw. Dayananda summed up the new courses' design as follows: What would take a sadhu in the Himalayas nine years to learn, the brahmacharis at Sandeepany learned in two
and a half years..

Teaching

Swami Dayananda has been teaching Vedanta in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

for more than four decades, and around the world since 1976. His depth of understanding and nuanced appreciation of Western culture makes him a rare teacher who can communicate the vision of non-duality to modern listeners.

Swami Dayananda designed and taught six resident in-depth Vedanta courses, each spanning 30 to 36 months. Four were conducted in India, and two in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Each course graduated about 60 qualified acharyas, teachers, who are now teaching around the world. More than one hundred are now swamis and are highly respected as scholars and teachers throughout India and abroad.

Institutions

Under Swami Dayananda’s guidance, numerous centers for Vedic teaching have been founded around the world. The two main centers in India are the Arsha Vidya Ashram in Rishikesh and the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Coimbatore (est. 1990). In the U.S., the main center is the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam at Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania (est. 1985). At present there are at least sixty centers in India and abroad that carry on the same tradition of Vedantic teaching.

In 1986, Swami Dayananda Saraswati founded the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, a Gurukula that has branches in India and the United States. Arsha Vidya Gurukulam is an institute for the traditional study of Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta

, Yoga

Yoga

Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...

, Ayurveda

Ayurveda

Ayurveda or ayurvedic medicine is a system of traditional medicine native to India and a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, words , meaning "longevity", and , meaning "knowledge" or "science". The earliest literature on Indian medical practice appeared during the Vedic period in India,...

, Jyotish, Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

and other classical Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

studies. The word Arsha means that which is from the Rishis - the great seers of ancient India. The word Vidya means knowledge. Thus, Arsha Vidya means the knowledge flowing from the Rishis. The word Gurukulam, means "family of the teacher", referring to a residential center for learning with the Teacher. Arsha Vidya Gurukulam offers Indians and non-Indians, Hindu

Hindu

s and non-Hindus alike an opportunity to study the profound spiritual knowledge of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita

The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...

, Brahma sutras

Brahma Sutras

, and other classical Vedanta

Vedanta

texts.
Other Organizations=
In addition to teaching, Swami Dayananda has initiated and supported various philanthropic efforts. The All India Movement (AIM) for Seva, inaugurated in November, 2000, brings medical, educational, nutritional and infrastructure assistance to villagers in the remote areas of India. This movement enjoys the blessing of all traditional Hindu spiritual leaders who have united as a single body, the Acarya Sabha, through the coordinating efforts of Swami Dayananda. In November 2001, Swami Dayananda convened the first World Congress for the Preservation of Religious Diversity in Delhi, inaugurated by the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

and the then Prime Minister Mr.A.B.Vajpayee. An important outcome of the Congress is the formation of a Global Commission for the Preservation of Religious Diversity, spearheaded by Swami Dayananda. The Commission had its inaugural meeting in Bangkok in June, 2002. Swami Dayananda was active in forming and participating in the Women’s Global Peace Initiative, which convened at the United Nations in Geneva in October 2002. He has also participated in the Millennium Peace Summit organized by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

.
Swamiji also started the Dharma Rakshana Samithi for prserving the Dharma and the culture of Bharath.Swamiji is the President of this organisation.

Books

Many of Swami Dayananda Saraswati's lectures, talks and discourses have been published in the form of books. These books deal with Vedantic teachings and its applicability to various situations in life. A non-exhaustive list of his books include:

The Teaching of the Bhagavad Gita
Introduction to Vedanta
Dialogues with Swami Dayananda
Vivekacudamani (Talks on 108 Selected Verses)
Visnusahasranama with translation & commentary
Talks on Sri Rudram
Taittiriya Upanishad As Taught by Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Mundaka Upanishad; Bhashya and Tika unfolded
Value of Values
Kena Upanishad
Prayer Guide
Satyam and Mithya

To get the books from Chennai contact:

Arsha Vidya Research and Publication Trust

32/4 Srinidhi Apts

Desika Road, Mylpaore, Chennai 600 004

Tel: 044-2499 7131/ 2499 7023

To get the books from Coimbatore contact:

Address: Arsha Vidya Gurukulam,

Anaikatti Post,

Coimbatore - 641 108

Ph: 0422 265 7001

Mobile: 94422 42600

External links (List of Swami's ashrams and some of his disciples)

http://www.arshavidyatirtha.org (Swamini Sadvidyananda - South Gujarat)
http://www.arshavidya.org/
http://www.pramana.org
http://www.aimforseva.org
http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j14/dayananda.asp Interview of Swamiji
http://www.arshavidya.org (US ashram website)
http://www.arshavidya.in (Coimbatore-anaikatti ashram website)
http://www.arshavidya-nagpur.org (Swi. Brahmaprakasananda - Nagpur)
http://www.sastraprakasika.org ( For audio cassettes & CD's of vedanta)
http://www.vedantavidyarthisangha.org (Sw. Paramarthananda -– Chennai)
http://www.poornalayam.org (Sw. Guruparananda –- also based in Chennai)
http://www.selfknowledge.in (Sw. Suddhananda—Chennai and Tiruvannamalai)
http://www.vedaneri.com (Sw. Omkarananda—Theni, Tamil Nadu.)
http://www.vedaneri.org (Swami Chidbavananda Ashram, Theni, Tamil Nadu.)
http://www.sreepeetham.org (Sw. Paripoornaananda Saraswathi—Kakinada, AP)
http://www.tattvatirtha.org (Sw. Viditatmananda—Ahmedabad)
http://www.arshabodha.org (Sw. Tadatmananda in New Jersey)
http://www.avgsatsang.org (Friends of AVG Saylorsburg)
http://www.discovervedanta.com (Neema Majmudar and Surya Tahora - Bangkok)
http://www.arshavidyacenter.org (Vijay Kapoor – San Francisco bay area)
http://www.vidyamandir.org.br (Gloria Arieira – Brazil)
http://www.vishvaarshavidya.org (South-America + Spanish-speaking World Website)
http://www.arshavidya.org.uk (Swamini Atmaprakasananda, Arsha Vidya UK)
http://www.arshavidya.net (Swamini Atmaprajnananda Saraswati, AVVK, Bhubaneswar)

Yoga

http://www.bksiyengar.com (Iyengar yoga's official website)
http://www.yogirama.com (Sri. Ramanand Patel's website)
http://www.yogamalika.org (A.M. Dorai – Chennai)

Sanskrit

http://www.sanskritweb.net (Sanskrit Web: Sanskrit Fonts / Sanskrit Texts)
http://www.samskrita-bharati.org (Samskrita Bharati's Home Page)
http://www.sanskritdocuments.org (Sanskrit Documents List)

AIM for Seva

http://www.aimforseva.org

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