Swāmī Agehānanda Bhāratī (अगेहानन्द भारती) (
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, April 20, 1923 –
New York, May 14, 1991) was the
monastic
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...
name of Leopold Fischer, professor of anthropology at
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
for over 30 years. He was an academic
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
ist, a writer on religious subjects, and a
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
in the
Dasanami Sannyasi order.
Early life
Fischer was born in Vienna,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, on April 20, 1923, to Hans and Margarete Fischer. Growing up, he joined the Indian Club and began to study
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
and classical
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, which led to his decision to become an
Indologist
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies.
The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...
. Later, Fischer became a member of Germany's "
Free India Legion
, image = Flag of the Indian Legion.svg
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, caption = Flag of the Indian Legion
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" and converted to Hinduism, taking on the name Ramachandra.
Career
Although he attended the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
, Bharati kept up his studies as a monk and took up teaching as well. Agehananda Bharati's travels were as extensive as his teachings were impressive. He was a professional expert in cultural anthropology, South Asian studies, linguistics, and comparative philosophy. Most of these subjects he taught in
Delhi University
Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...
,
Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...
, and Nalanda Institute in India. He also taught in a Buddhist academy in Bangkok, Thailand, where he first began his teachings on comparative religion. Bharati became a visiting professor on Indian philosophy in the
University of Tokyo
, abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...
and Kyoto.
In 1956 Bharati came to the U.S. as a research associate for
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
. A year later he transferred to Syracuse and joined the anthropology faculty. He settled down in Syracuse and became Ford-Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies. It wasn't long before he became the chairman of his department. He was granted
U.S. citizenship
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
in 1968. Although he lived in Syracuse that didn't mean that he stopped traveling. He managed to go to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, Britain,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, Germany, and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
for research and as a visiting professor.
Bharati had become a member of numerous organizations including:
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.
The AAUP's stated mission is ...
,
American Anthropological Association
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, ...
(fellow),
Association for Applied Anthropology
The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) is a worldwide organization for the Applied Social Sciences, established "to promote the integration of anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems throughout the world; to advocate ...
(fellow),
American Linguistic Society
The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...
, International Association for General Semantics,
Mensa International
Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally compr ...
,
Mind Association
The Mind Association is a philosophical society whose purpose is to promote the study of philosophy. The association publishes the journal '' Mind'' quarterly.
It was established in 1900 on the death of Henry Sidgwick
Henry Sidgwick (; 31 ...
,
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
,
Royal Philosophical Society
The Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow is a learned society established in 1802 "''for the improvement of the Arts and Sciences''" in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It runs a programme of lectures, starting its 220th Series in October 2021. ...
,
Royal Siam Society, International Academy of Human Rights, and
New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...
. (''
Contemporary Authors
''Contemporary Authors'' is a reference work which has been published by Gale since 1962. It provides short biographies and bibliographies of contemporary and near-contemporary writers. ''Contemporary Authors'' does not have selective inclusion cr ...
'', 2003) Agehananda Bharati died on May 14, 1991, of cancer at the age of 68, in a friend's house in
Pittsford, New York
Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census.
The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. The ...
.
By the time of his death Bharati had over 500 published works, including an autobiography called ''The Ochre Robe''.
Works
*''The Tantric Tradition.'' London: Rider, 1966. Revised Edition:
Red Wheel Weiser, 1975.
''The Light at the Center: Context and Pretext of Modern Mysticism'' Santa Barbara, CA: Ross-Erikson. 1976.
*''The Ochre Robe: An Autobiography.'' Second Revised Edition, with New Epilog. Santa Barbara, CA: Ross-Erikson, 1980.
References
External links
An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives, with biography and bibliography
Biography
Brief academic biographyat the homepage of th
*
Bibliography and book review
at the homepage of the
Maxwell School
Maxwell School ( ms, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Maxwell) is an all-boys secondary school, located north of Kuala Lumpur. The school is believed to be the oldest school in north of Kuala Lumpur as well as one of the oldest in Kuala Lumpur an ...
of
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
Review of ''The Light at the Center''by
Brad Darrach Brad Darrach (real name Henry Bradford Darrach Jr.; 1921–1997) was a journalist and film critic. A 1942 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he joined Time Inc. in 1945 after working for ''The Baltimore Sun'' and the ''Providence Journal''. ...
, ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. September 13, 1976.
Articles available online
''Fictitious Tibet: The Origin and Persistence of Rampaism'' an article published in the ''Tibet Society Bulletin'' (Bloomington, Ind.), Vol. 7, 1974
on LSD and zero-experiences
by Agehananda Bharati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bharati, Agehananda
Writers from Vienna
Anthropologists of religion
American Hindus
1923 births
1991 deaths
Austrian Indologists
Linguists from Austria
Sanskrit scholars
Bharati, Agehanananda
Syracuse University faculty
Austrian emigrants to the United States
American Sanskrit scholars
Austrian expatriates in India
Austrian expatriates in Japan
Washington University in St. Louis people
University of Vienna alumni