Swami Krishnananda Saraswati (25 April 1922 – 23 November 2001) was a disciple of
Sivananda Saraswati
Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963) was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He stu ...
and served as the General Secretary of the
Divine Life Society
The Divine Life Society (DLS) is a Hindu spiritual organisation and an ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936, at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India. Today it has branches around the world, the headquarters being situated in Rishikesh. ...
in
Rishikesh, India from 1958 until 2001. Author of more than 40 texts, and lecturing extensively, on
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
,
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
, and
metaphysics
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 ...
, Krishnananda was a prolific theologian, saint, yogi and philosopher.
Krishnananda was President of the Sivananda Literature Research Institute and the Sivananda Literature Dissemination Committee. He served as editor of the Divine Life Society’s monthly paper, ''Divine Life'', for 20 years.
Life
Swami Krishnananda (born as Subbaraya), initiated by his mentor Swami Sivananda Saraswati, was born on 25 April 1922 into an orthodox Madhva (Shivalli
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
) family in Puttur, Karnataka. He learnt Sanskrit at an early age and took to reading and memorising Sanskrit works. His understanding of Hindu scriptures predisposed him towards
Advaita philosophy. He yearned for spiritual learning and renunciation, however, his father persuaded him into accepting a government job at Hospet Government Training School in Bellary in 1943. He fell ill there and returned home. In 1944, he left his home to visit
Sivananda Ashram
Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963) was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He st ...
in Rishikesh. He worked as an editor in the ''
Ashram'' and in 1948, on Sivananda’s request, he wrote his first book ''Realisation of the Absolute''.
(note: the year 1948 in the preceding sentence is incorrect. Swami Krishnananda's Preface to The Realization of the Absolute is dated 1 August 1947. Swami Sivananda's Foreword is dated 8 September 1947).
In 1961, he became the general secretary of Divine Life Society. He spent his life in the Ashram giving lectures and writing over 40 books on philosophy, Hindu scriptures, yoga, meditation, mysticism and poetry till his death on 23 November 2001.
Philosophy
Vedanta
Swami Krishnananda valued and was a scholar of
Western philosophy
Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...
and was also an exponent of
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' ( ...
philosophy, the most influential sub-school of
Vedanta
''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...
.
Yoga
Swami Krishnananda taught and practiced Yoga of Synthesis, which combines the four main paths of the discipline -
Karma Yoga
Karma yoga ( sa, कर्म योग), also called Karma marga, is one of the four classical spiritual paths in Hinduism, one based on the "yoga of action", the others being Jnana yoga (path of knowledge), Rāja yoga (path of meditati ...
,
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti yoga ( sa, भक्ति योग), also called Bhakti marga (, literally the path of '' Bhakti''), is a spiritual path or spiritual practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion towards any personal deity.Karen Pechelis (2014) ...
,
Raja Yoga, and
Jnana Yoga.
Books
Saraswati wrote many books, published by the DLS. Among them were ''
Mundaka Upanishad'' and ''
The Tree of Life
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''.
[http://swami-krishnananda.org]
Footnotes
Further reading
* Chidananda, S.; Gunasekaran, K.J.A.; Hridayananda, S.; Keikens, Narayan; Krishnamurthy, V.; Krishnananda, S.; Madhavananda, S.; Mandali, Matru; Naik, B.R.; Nath, Dr. Bharat Chandra;
Narayanananda, S.; Prasad, Ganesh; Randev, Prof. Vasudav; Rao, Seshagiri; Sachdev, Medha; Sahai, Baldeo; Sinha, D.M.; Sivachidananda, S.; Sivananda, S.; Tushar, Chattopadhyay; Vandana, Mataji; Viveka, Mataji; Yagnavalkyananandaji, S.; (1999) ''A Messenger of Peace and Wisdom''. Rishikesh: Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy Press.
* Divine Life (2001). "Swami Krishnananda Attains Mahasamadhi" ''Divine Life''. December 2001: pp. 1–5
*
*
* Krishnananda, Swami. ''A Sacramental Life''. Rishikesh: Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy Press. 2004
* Krishnananda, Swami. ''An Introduction to the Philosophy of Yoga''. Rishikesh: Y.V.F.A. Press. 3rd ed. 2000
* Krishnananda, Swami. ''My Life''. Rishikesh: Y.V.F.A. Press. 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnananda Saraswati
1922 births
2001 deaths
20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians
20th-century Hindu religious leaders
20th-century Indian philosophers
Advaitin philosophers
Devotees of Krishna
Indian Hindu saints
Indian Hindu spiritual teachers
Indian yoga teachers
Indian magazine editors
Indian religious writers
Indian theologians
Modern yoga gurus
Writers from Karnataka
People from Rishikesh
People from Dakshina Kannada district
Tulu people