Sivananda Saraswati

Sivananda Saraswati
Personal
Born
Kuppuswami

(1887-09-08)8 September 1887
Pattamadai, Madras Presidency, British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India)
Died14 July 1963(1963-07-14) (aged 75)[1]
Muni Ki Reti, Uttar Pradesh, India (now in Uttarakhand, India)
ReligionHinduism
NationalityIndian
Founder ofDivine Life Society
PhilosophyYoga of Synthesis
Religious career
GuruVishwānanda Saraswati
Disciples
Quotation

Be Good, do Good, be kind, be compassionate.

Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; IAST: Svāmī Śivānanda Sarasvatī; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963[1]) was a yoga guru,[2] a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of 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.

Biography

Early life

Swami Sivananda was born as Kuppuswami to a brahmin family[6] on 8 September 1887. His birth took place during the early hours of the morning as the Bharani star was rising in Pattamadai village on the banks of the Tamraparni river in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. His father, Sri P.S. Vengu Iyer, worked as a revenue officer, and was a great Shiva Bhakta (Bhakti) himself. His mother, Srimati Parvati Ammal, was religious. Kuppuswami was the third and last child of his parents.[7][8]

As a child, he was very active and promising in academics and gymnastics. He attended medical school in Tanjore, where he excelled. He ran a medical journal called Ambrosia during this period. Upon graduation, he practiced medicine and worked as a doctor in British Malaya for ten years, with a reputation for providing free treatment to poor patients. Over time, a sense that medicine was healing on a superficial level grew in Dr. Kuppuswami, urging him to look elsewhere to fill the void, and in 1923 he left Malaya and returned to India to pursue his spiritual quest.[7]

Initiation

Upon his return to India in 1924, he went to Rishikesh where he met his guru, Vishvananda Saraswati, who initiated him into the Sannyasa order, and gave him his monastic name. The full ceremony was conducted by Vishnudevananda, the mahant (abbot) of Sri Kailas Ashram.[7] Sivananda settled in Rishikesh, and immersed himself in intense spiritual practices. Sivānanda performed austerities for many years while continuing to nurse the sick. In 1927, with some money from an insurance policy, he ran a charitable dispensary at Lakshman Jhula.[7]


Founding the Divine Life Society

Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society in 1936 on the banks of the Ganges River, distributing spiritual literature for free.[7] Early disciples included Satyananda Saraswati, founder of Satyananda Yoga.

In 1945, he created the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy, and organised the All-world Religions Federation.[7] He established the All-world Sadhus Federation in 1947 and the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948.[7] He called his yoga the Yoga of Synthesis, combining the Four Yogas of Hinduism (Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Rāja Yoga), for action, devotion, knowledge, and meditation respectively.[9]

Sivananda travelled extensively on a major tour in 1950, and set up branches of the Divine Life Society throughout India. He vigorously promoted and disseminated his vision of yoga.[10] His Belgian devotee André Van Lysebeth wrote that his critics "disapproved of both his modern methods of diffusion, and his propagation of yoga on such a grand scale to the general public", explaining that Sivananda was advocating a practice that everybody could do, combining "some asanas, a little pranayama, a little meditation and bhakti; well, a little of everything".[10][11]

Vegetarianism

Sivananda insisted on a strict lacto-vegetarian diet for moral and spiritual reasons, arguing that "meat-eating is highly deleterious to health".[12][13][14][15] Divine Life Society thus advocates a vegetarian diet.[15]

Mahasamadhi

Swami Sivananda died, described as entering Mahasamadhi, on 14 July 1963 beside the River Ganges at his Sivananda Ashram near Muni Ki Reti.[1]

Disciples

Sivananda's two chief acting organizational disciples were Chidananda Saraswati and Krishnananda Saraswati. Chidananda Saraswati was appointed president of the DLS by Sivananda in 1963 and served in this capacity until his death in 2008. Krishnananda Saraswati was appointed General Secretary by Sivananda in 1958 and served in this capacity until his death in 2001.

Disciples who went on to grow new organisations include:

References

  1. ^ a b c Ananthanarayan, Sri N. (1965). I Live to Serve – A Promise and A Fulfilment (PDF). Sivanandanagar, Tehri-Garhwal, U.A. India: Divine Life Society. Intimate Glimpses into Gurudev Sivananda's Last Days Ë How the Holy Master Lived a Life of Unremitting Service to the Very End
  2. ^ Chetan, Mahesh (5 March 2017). "10 Most Inspiring Yoga Gurus of India". Indian Yoga Association. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  3. ^ Divine Life Society Britannica.com
  4. ^ McKean, Lise (1996). Divine enterprise: gurus and the Hindu Nationalist Movement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 164–165. ISBN 978-0-226-56009-0. OCLC 32859823.
  5. ^ Morris, Brian (2006). Religion and anthropology: a critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-521-85241-8. OCLC 252536951.
  6. ^ "His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati Maharaj". Divine Life Society. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "H. H. Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati". Divine Life Society. 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Swami Sivananda". Yoga Magazine (issue 18). Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  9. ^ Sivananda (29 May 2017). "Yoga of Synthesis".
  10. ^ a b Goldberg, Elliott (2016). The Path of Modern Yoga: the history of an embodied spiritual practice. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions. pp. 326–335. ISBN 978-1-62055-567-5. OCLC 926062252.
  11. ^ Van Lysebeth, André (1981). "The Yogic Dynamo". Yoga (September 1981).
  12. ^ Rosen, Steven. (2011). Food for the Soul: Vegetarianism and Yoga Traditions. Praeger. p. 22. ISBN 978-0313397035
  13. ^ McGonigle, Andrew; Huy, Matthew. (2022). The Physiology of Yoga. Human Kinetics. p. 169. ISBN 978-1492599838
  14. ^ "Meat-Eating". sivanandaonline.org. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Vegetarianism". dlshq.org. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  16. ^ Martin, Douglas (21 August 2002). "Swami Satchidananda, Woodstock's Guru, Dies at 87". The New York Times.
  17. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2010). "International Yoga Fellowship Movement". In Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (eds.). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). ABC-Clio. p. 1483. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3.
  18. ^ Krishna, Gopala (1995). The Yogi: Portraits of Swami Vishnu-devananda. Yes International Publishers. pp. 15–17. ISBN 978-0-936663-12-8.

Bibliography

  • (1944) Yogic Home Exercises. Easy Course of Physical Culture for Men & Women, Bombay, Taraporevala Sons & Co.
  • Siva-Gita: an epistolary autobiography. The Sivananda Publication League. 1946.
  • Principal Upanishads: with text, meaning notes and commentary. Yoga Vedanta Forest University, Divine Life Society. 1950.
  • Raja Yoga: theory and practice. Yoga Vedanta Forest University, Divine Life Society. 1950.
  • Inspiring songs and kirtans. Yoga-Vedanta Forest University. 1953.
  • Music as yoga. The Yoga-Vedanta Forest University for the Sivananda Mahasamsthanam. 1956.
  • Yoga of synthesis. Yoga-Vedanta Forest University. 1956.
  • Story of my tour. Yoga-Vedanta Forest University. 1957.
  • Sivananda-Kumudini Devi (1960). Sivananda's letters ro Sivananda-Kumudini Devi. Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy.
  • India (1962). Lord Siva and his worship. Yoga-Vedanta forest academy, Divine life Society.
  • Yoga practice, for developing and increasing physical, mental and spiritual powers. D.B. Taraporevala Sons. 1966.
  • Fourteen lessons in raja yoga. Divine Life Society. 1970.
  • Inspiring songs and sayings. The Divine Life Society. 1970.
  • Yoga Vedanta dictionary. Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy. 1970.
  • Kundalini yoga. Divine Life Society. 1971.
  • The science of pranayama. Divine Life Society. 1971.
  • Ten upanishads: with notes and commentary 8th ed. Divine Life Society. 1973.
  • Sivananda vani: the cream of Sri Swami Sivananda's immortal, practical instructions on the yoga of synthesis in his own handwriting. Divine Life Society. 1978.
  • Practice of yoga. The Divine Life Society. 1979.
  • Autobiography of Swami Sivananda. Divine Life Society. 1980.
  • Japa Yoga: a comprehensive treatise on mantra-sastra. Divine Life Society. 1981.
  • Science of Yoga: Raja yoga; Jnana yoga; Concentration and meditation. Divine Life Society. 1981. ISBN 9781465479358.
  • Moksha gita. Divine Life Society. 1982.
  • Samadhi yoga. The Divine Life Society. 1983.
  • Yoga samhita. Divine Life Society. 1984.
  • The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Sanskrit text, English translation, and commentary. Divine Life Society. 1985.
  • Karma yoga. Divine Life Society. 1985. ISBN 978-0-949027-05-4.
  • Bhakti yoga. Divine Life Society, Fremantle Branch. 1 January 1987. ISBN 978-0-949027-08-5.
  • Lord Shanmukha and his worship. Divine Life Society. 1996. ISBN 978-81-7052-115-0.
  • Raja Yoga. Kessinger Publishing. December 2005. ISBN 978-1-4253-5982-9.
  • Sivananda and the Divine Life Society: A Paradigm of the "secularism," "puritanism" and "cultural Dissimulation" of a Neo-Hindu Religious Society, by Robert John Fornaro. Published by Syracuse University, 1969.
  • From Man to God-man: the inspiring life-story of Swami Sivananda, by N. Ananthanarayanan. Published by Indian Publ. Trading Corp., 1970.
  • Swami Sivananda and the Divine Life Society: An Illustration of Revitalization Movement, by Satish Chandra Gyan. Published by s.n, 1979.
  • Life and Works of Swami Sivananda, by Sivānanda, Divine Life Society (W.A.). Fremantle Branch. Published by Divine Life Society, Fremantle Branch, 1985. ISBN 0-949027-04-9
  • Sivananda: Biography of a Modern Sage, by Swami Venkatesānanda. Published by Divine Life Society, 1985. ISBN 0-949027-01-4

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sivananda Saraswati.
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Wikiversity has learning resources about Buddha oracle#33 Plan of the Day (Swami Sivananda)
  • Swami Sivananda at Curlie
  • Works by or about Sivananda Saraswati at Internet Archive
  • Biography and spiritual instructions
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