Brahmasri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma (born 16 May 1967) is an Indian spiritual teacher, known for his appearances on television in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and for his commentary and

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. ...

s on Rudra Namakam, Vishnu Sahasranamam, Sivanandalahari, Soundarya Lahari, Lalitha Sahasranamam, Siva Tatvam, Ganapathi Tatwam, Sri Krishna Tatwam,

Ramayanam The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

Bhagavatam The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

, the

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

Mahabharatham The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuru ...

, Dakshinamurti Tattvam, Sutha Samhitha, Aditya Hrdayam and the

kritis ''Kriti'' (Sanskrit: कृति, ''kṛti'') is a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music. ''Kritis'' form the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format of Carnatic song. "Kriti" also means C ...

of different Vaggeyakaras.

Early life

Sri Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma was born to Sri Samavedam Rama Murthy Sarma and Smt. Ramanamma in 1967, in

Asika Asika or Aska is a town and a Notified Area Council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India. Fondly known as the Sugar city of Odisha. Asika is a major commercial and transportation hub of Ganjam district. Geography Asika is located a ...

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

. He completed his B. A. (Hons) in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from

Berhampur University Berhampur University is a Public teaching-cum-affiliating university in Brahmapur, Odisha, India inaugurated by former Governor of Odisha, Dr. A.N. Khosla. History Berhampur University was established on 2 January 1967 as an affiliating univ ...

. He joined as a

sub-editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material ( copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual o ...

for '' Swathi'' weekly magazine.

Teaching

As Sarma was brought up in a scholarly family, he learned

shastra ''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The wo ...

s and kavya vachanas from several

gurus Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverenti ...

. Dedicating his life to more

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

matters, he now tours the State giving discourses and lectures with

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

as his base. His first lecture was on 'Agni' at the Sivaramakrishna

kshetram {{Hinduism small Kshetram (Kshetra) literally means a place. In Hindu mythology, it is referred to as the physical holy location where a temple or a collection of temples, its tank and deities exist. Sacred geography There exist privileged region ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

. He has been giving religious discourses, lectures on

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

values and Itihasas, in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and other parts of India. He has toured in the US, UK and Australia, and given lectures on

Hindu scriptures Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

, and on Indian cultural heritage. Sarma regards Swami Vivekananda as one of his inspirations.

Discourses

Sarma has discoursed on a variety of topics and provided explanation to complex topics relating to Hinduism. Some of the pravachanams are listed here, along with locations, date (not in any specific order): * Adi Sankara Virichita Prasnnotara Malika, MI, 12 July 2016, 13 July 2016. * Aparoshanubhuti (Adi Sankara's works), Neredmet, Hyderabad, 27 April 2017, * Unity in Diversity in Hinduism, NTR Gardens, Hyderabad, 14 November 2018. * Sri Rama Raksha, Sivatandava Strotram, Boston, 19 May 2019, 27 May 2019. During visit to USA tour between May 2022 to August 2022- Sarma garu spoke on a variety of topics including

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

, and other aspects of Hinduism. With a view to bring knowledge of

Shastras ''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The wo ...

in a style that can be understood by many people, Sri Sarma started a monthly magazine called ''Rushipeetham''.

Sivapadam

Sarma started a lyric-writing career relatively much later than the contemporary writers. He has written more than 1000 Sivapadam songs on expressing devotion and philosophy on various topics of Hinduism. Sivapadam kirtanaas were released to the public in the form of books, programs, cassettes and CDs. Sarma started an online university in 2021, offering courses related to

, and other Hindu scriptures.

Awards and recognition

Sarma was awarded “Samanvaya Saraswathi”; “Aarsha Dharmopanyasa Kesari”; “Vaagdevi Varaputhra”. On 7 November 2021, he was awarded the title of 'Dharmika Varenyam' (loosely translates to Utmost holder of Dharma). On 15 September 2015 he received a Mallapragada Sri Ranga Rao Award for his work. 20 January 2014, Bharathi Thyagaraja Samman, in the presence of Dr V.R.Gowrishankar CEO & Administrator,Sri Sharada Peetham,Sringeri

References

External links

Official website

Rushipeetham
* https://rushipeetham.org/ * https://rushividyabhyasam.org/ * https://sivapadam.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarma, Samavedam Shanmukha Telugu people Scholars of Hinduism Living people 1967 births