Everything about Swami Sivananda totally explained
Swami Sivananda Saraswati (
Sep 8,
1887—
Jul 14,
1963) was a
Hindu spiritual teacher and a well known proponent of
Yoga and
Vedanta. Sivananda was born
Kuppuswami in
Pattamadai which is in the
Tirunelveli district of
Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in
Malaya as a
physician for several years before taking up monasticism. He lived most of the later part of his life in
Rishikesh. He is the founder of The
Divine Life Society and author of over 200 books on yoga, vedanta and a variety of other subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, the location of the headquarters of The Divine Life Society (DLS), on the bank of the Ganges at Shivanandanagar, at a distance of 3 kilometres from Rishikesh Town, (Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, U.P., India).
Early life
Sivananda was born Kuppuswamy in
Pattamadai near
Tirunelveli in
Tamil Nadu,
India as the third son to his parents on
8 September 1887. Kuppuswami the boy 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
Malaya for ten years, with a reputation for waiving his fee for poor patients needing treatment. He sang
bhajans and danced in ecstasy with Maharshi's
bhaktas. He also went on pilgrimages to various places in northern India including
Kedarnath and
Badrinath. He visited
Kailash-
Manasarovar in 1931.
Foundations
During Sivananda's stay in Rishikesh and his travels around India, many came to him for guidance in the spiritual path. He permitted some of them to live near him and instructed them. Sivananda asked his students take copies of his short articles and send them for publication. Slowly, large number of people started coming to him and his circle started growing.
Sivananda founded the
Divine Life Society in
1936 on the banks of the holy
Ganges River. The free distribution of spiritual literature drew a steady flow of disciples to the Swami, including the young
U.G. Krishnamurti, who studied with him for seven summers, and
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, founder of
Satyananda Yoga.
In
1945, Swami Sivananda created the Sivananda
Ayurvedic Pharmacy, and organized the All-world Religions Federation. He established the All-world Sadhus Federation in 1947 and Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948. He called his yoga the
Yoga of Synthesis.
Swami Sivananda's disciple
Swami Chidananda is the current President of the Divine Life Society in India and was appointed by Swami Sivananda.
Swami Jyotirmayananda, Swami Sivananda's disciple, is currently the President of the Yoga Research Foundation in Miami, U.S.A.
Another prominent disciple was Sri Swami Sahajananda (South Africa), who was directed by Sri Swami Sivananda to establish the Divine Life Society of South Africa. The formation, growth and present status of Divine Life Society of South Africa is due entirely to the Grace of Sri Swami Sivananda.
Other prominent disciples were
Swami Vishnu-devananda,
Swami Krishnananda,
Swami Venkatesananda (South Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, Australia),
Swami Satchidananda (U.S.A.),
Swami Pranavananda (Malaysia),
Swami Shantananda (Malaysia & Singapore), Swami
Chinmayananda and
Swami Sivananda Radha (Canada).
Authorship
A prolific author, Swami Sivananda wrote exactly 296 books on a variety of subjects:
metaphysics,
Yoga,
religion,
western philosophy,
psychology,
eschatology,
fine arts,
ethics,
education,
health,
sayings,
poems,
epistles,
autobiography,
biography,
stories,
dramas,
messages,
lectures,
dialogues,
essays and
anthology. Yet his books emphasized the practical application of yoga philosophy over mere theoretical knowledge. He was known to have said "An ounce of practice is better than tons of theory. Practice Yoga, Religion and Philosophy in daily life and attain Self-realization."
Death
Swami Sivananda died on
14 July 1963 in his Kutir on the bank of Ganges, in Shivanandanagar.
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