SWAMI SIVANANDA SARASWATI
SWAMI TAPOVAN MAHARAJ
Swami Sivananda Saraswati (IAST: Svāmī Śivānanda Sarasvatī; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963[1]), also called Swami Sivananda, was a yoga guru,[2] a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of modern Tamil Nadu, and was named Kuppuswami. He studied medicine and served in British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism.
He was the founder of the Divine Life Society (DLS) in 1936, Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and author of over 200 books on yoga, Vedanta, and a variety of subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, the headquarters of the DLS, on the bank of the Ganges at Muni Ki Reti, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Rishikesh, and lived most of his life there.[3][4][5]
Sivananda Yoga, the yoga form propagated by his disciple Vishnudevananda, is now spread in many parts of the world through Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. These centres are not affiliated with Sivananda’s ashrams, which are run by the Divine Life Society.
Swami Tapovan Maharaj is one of the most renowned saints of the 20th century. He was a contemporary of Swami Sivananda Maharaj who was the Guru of Swami Chinmayananda Maharaj.
Swami Tapovan Maharaj was born in 1889 on the Suklapaksha Ekadashi day of Mārgasirsa month.[1]: v His mother, Kunjamma, belonged to an ancient aristocratic Nair Hindu family at Mudappallur in Palghat Taluk of Kerala.[1]: v His father, Achutan, belonged to Kotuvayur in Kerala.[1]: v
Based on his date of birth, the infant’s horoscope, cast in accordance with family tradition, revealed “unusually contrary indications of huge prosperity and abject poverty”.[2]: 2
Born with purvashrama name Subrahmanyan,[1]: v [3] he authored two books on his travels through the Himalayas: “Wanderings in the Himalayas” (Himagiri Viharam)[4] and “Kailasa Yatra.” Tapovan Maharaj exhibited a deep love for nature and his accounts of his travels demonstrate such.[citation needed] His autobiography, written in Sanskrit is titled “Ishvara Darshana”. He died in the early hours of 16 January 1957, which was the day of Pausha Purnima according to Hindu calendar.
SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA
SWAMI RAGHUVEERANANDA
Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati, also known as Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. Born Balakrishna Menon; 8 May 1916 – 3 August 1993, was a Hindu spiritual master, leader and a teacher. In 1951, he founded Chinmaya Mission, a worldwide nonprofit organisation, in order to spread the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and other ancient Hindu scriptures. Through the Mission, Chinmayananda spearheaded a global Hindu spiritual and cultural renaissance that popularised these spiritual texts and values, teaching them in English all across India and abroad.
Chinmayananda was originally a journalist and participated in the Indian independence movement. Under the tutelage of Swami Sivananda and later Tapovan Maharaj, he began studying Vedanta and took the vow of sannyasa. He gave his first jñāna yajña, or lecture series about Hindu spirituality, in 1951, starting the work of the Mission. Today, Chinmaya Mission encompasses more than 350 centres in India and internationally and conducts educational, spiritual, and charitable activities.[3]
Chinmayananda’s approach was characterized by an appeal to the English-educated Indian middle class and Indian diaspora; he gave lectures and published books in English. Chinmayananda also helped found the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), to stand for Unity and Protection of India’s native Culture, Heritage and Civilisation. In 1964, he convened delegates to create the VHP at Sandeepany ashram in Mumbai and served as the organisation’s first president.[4] He aimed to “awake(n) the Hindus and to make them conscious of their proud place in the comity of nations,” saying that, “Let us convert Hindus to Hindu Dharma, then everything will be all right.“[5]
Chinmayananda authored 95 publications, including commentaries on the major Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. He was a visiting professor of Indian philosophy at several American and Asian universities, and he conducted university lecture tours in many countries.
