Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati (2 September 1924 – 11 September 2022) was an Indian religious leader. In 1982, he became the
Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , "Adi Shankara, Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi ...
of
Dwarka Sharada Peetham
Pascimāmnāya Śrī Śāradā Pītham or Dwarka Sharada Math, is one amongst the four cardinal peethams established by the saint Adi Shankara to preserve and propagate Sanatana Dharma and Advaita Vedanta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in ...
in
Dwaraka Dvaraka, Dwaraka, Dwarka may refer to:
Places India
* Dvārakā, ancient city in Gujarat, the capital of the Yadus in the Mahabharata
:* Dvārakā–Kamboja route, an ancient trade-route and a branch of the Silk Road
* Dwarka, Gujarat, also k ...
,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
and also caretaker of the
Jyotir Math
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or Jyotir Math is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the 820 CE philosopher-saint Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Sanātana Dharma and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of ...
in
Badrinath
Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage, pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgr ...
.
Life
Swaroopanand Saraswati was born Pothiram Upadhyay on 2 September, 1924 at Dighori village of
Seoni district,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
. A direct disciple of Shankaracharya
Brahmananda Saraswati of
Jyotir Math
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or Jyotir Math is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the 820 CE philosopher-saint Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Sanātana Dharma and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of ...
(1941–1953) and of Shankaracharya (disputed) Krishnabodha Ashrama of Jyotir Math (1953–1973), in 1950 his Guru Brahmananda made him a Dandi
Sannyasi
''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...
. Swami Swaroopanand became president of the
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad
Akhil Bharatiya Ram Rajya Parishad (RRP, "All India Council of Ram's Kingdom") was an Indian Hindu nationalist political party founded by Swami Karpatri in 1948. The RRP won three Lok Sabha seats in the 1952 elections to the national Parliament ...
, established by
Swami Karpatri. On Swami Krishnabodha Ashrama's demise in 1973 the title of
Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , "Adi Shankara, Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi ...
(disputed) of
Jyotir Math
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or Jyotir Math is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the 820 CE philosopher-saint Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Sanātana Dharma and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of ...
,
Badrinath
Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage, pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgr ...
passed to Swami Swaroopanand. Later he also became the
Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya ( sa, शङ्कराचार्य, , "Adi Shankara, Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi ...
of
Dwarka peeth in 1982. To date (2021) Swami Swaroopanand's claim to title of Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math remains disputed.
He was at the forefront of the anti-
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
movement in 1950s. He served as the president of Ram Rajya Parishad. He was jailed three times between 1954 and 1970 in relation to the movement to ban cow slaughter.
He ran
ashram
An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...
s in various parts of India. His ashram in
Singhbhum district
Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern l ...
of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
engaged in re-conversion of Christians to Hinduism.
Regarding his relationship with
(who was Brahmanand Saraswati's personal assistant for more than a decade), Swaroopananda Ji once commented: "It would be nice if the
Maharishi
Maharishi is a Sanskrit word, written as "महर्षि" in Devanagari (formed from the prefix mahā- meaning "great" and r̥ṣi - sage, poet or a singer of sacred hymns), indicating members of the highest order of ancient Indian sages, po ...
once flies from America to India without any airplane. Then perhaps what he says can be accepted".
Saraswati died in
Narsinghpur
Narsinghpur is a city in Madhya Pradesh in central India. It comes under Jabalpur division.
Narsinghpur has a large temple dedicated to Lord Narsingh
As of 2001, Narsinghpur is the most literate district of the state.
History
Prehistory ...
on 11 September 2022, at the age of 98. Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
, Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (''née'' Gandhi; born 12 January 1972) is an Indian politician and the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in charge of Uttar Pradesh. She is the daughter of former Prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi ...
, Chattisgarh Chief Minister
Bhupesh Baghel
Bhupesh Baghel (born 23 August 1960) is an Indian politician serving as the third and current Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. He was president of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress. He has been member of State ...
, and others expressed their condolences.Around 300000 people attended Shankaraachaarya ji's last rite held in Jhoteshwar(MP)
Freedom struggle
At 19 years old he became a freedom fighter in the
Quit India movement
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...
in 1942, and was known as "Revolutionary Sadhu". He was jailed for this, serving a prison sentence of nine months and another of six months.
Opinions
On River Ganga pollution
Swami Swaroopanand in June 2012 told Uttarakhand CM
Vijay Bahuguna
Vijay Bahuguna (born 28 February 1947) is an Indian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He is the eldest son of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, an independence activist and politician, and also a former Chief Minister of Ut ...
of his stance against having hydro projects, dams, and barrages on the River Ganga. He also organised a protest at Jantar Mantar against such projects. Hydro projects at Panch Prayag, Deo Prayag, Rudra Prayag, Karan Prayag, Nand Prayag, and Vishnu Prayag, were affecting local ecology and sanctity of the Ganga; since it was being dammed at numerous sites and being confined into cemented tunnels, natural, mineral quality ingredients and anti-bacterial elements in the waters of the Ganga were being lost.
Swami Swaroopanand in January 2016 noted the pitiable condition of the River Ganga and stated that the proposed dams in Uttarakhand should not be constructed to ensure the free flow of the pure water from the sources of the River. Only the free flow is required for a clean Ganga, he said.
On Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370
On 30 June 2014, Swami Swaroopanand said that
Article 370
Article 370 of the Indian constitution
gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a region located in the northern part of Indian subcontinent and part of the larger region of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pak ...
should be removed from
Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). He said that the abrogation of the Article would be beneficial for the people in the valley, and that a demographic balance is necessary to end recurring strife in J&K. "Tension does not erupt in places where there is a demographic balance of communities. Take Punjab for instance. Hindus and Sikhs are in equal number there. They need each other and so there is no room for a clash between them. The growing morale of anti-national elements in Kashmir is a result of the country's weak laws. The Union government should revoke article 370 in Kashmir which will permit influx of people from outside the state into the state's population and end its strife-torn atmosphere. The return of Kashmiri Pandits to their home state alone can counter the growing morale of anti-national elements in the state."
[Abrogate Art 370 for demographic balance in J-K: Swaroopanand](_blank)
/ref>
Uniform civil code
He also advocated a uniform civil law for Hindus and Muslims in India, to maintain a balance in their population.
Cow, bull, and bullock protection and export of beef
Swami Swaroopanand in May 2015 welcomed the decision of the Maharashtra government to extend ban on cow slaughter to bulls and bullocks in the state and opined that it would increase the production of milk which will in turn help feed children in the country. He stated that more than twelve crore
A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
(120 million) cows were being slaughtered in the entire country every year, which needed to be stopped. "This Act should be implemented throughout the country. India is a Hindu majority country still we produce a huge quantity of beef. India is the biggest exporter of beef which is shameful for us. The government should ban export of beef and we must protect cows by all means. Some political leaders opposed the law banning cow slaughter just to appease Muslims and other minority groups. Providing beef in the name of cheap source of protein to minority and depriving the majority from milk is against both the democratic and Indian values. Milk is a rich source of protein, and to ensure availability of milk it is essential to put a blanket ban on cow slaughter across the country."[Govt should ban beef export: Shankaracharya](_blank)
/ref>
He said in February 2016 that the RSS claimed to be working for Hinduism but thousands of RSS workers in Arunachal Pradesh ate beef.[ISKCON front for money laundering: Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati](_blank)
/ref>
On women worshipping Shani
When feminists tried to enter the sanctum of Shani Shingnapur temple, Ahmednagar
Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
, in January 2016, Swami Swaroopanand stated, "Shani is a kroor (cruel) graha, hence women should beware of worshipping the deity. Since the effect of Shani is harmful for women, they should be away from the deity". Swami Swaroopanand added that due to teaching through intense suffering, the entry of women into Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to more assaults on women and incidents of rapes.
On Shirdi Sai Baba
Swami Swaroopanand in July 2014 caused controversy due to his remarks against Shirdi Sai Baba
Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838? - died 15 October 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master and fakir, considered to be a saint, revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime.
According to a ...
and his followers. After government minister Uma Bharti publicly claimed devotion to Shirdi Sai Baba, Swaroopanand demanded an apology from her and wrote, "There is no mention of Sai Baba in the 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 ...
and the Vedas
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 ...
", so he "should not be worshiped with Hindu gods. He was not god, he was just a Muslim Fakir" (referring to Shirdi Sai Baba's Muslim origins). He also said that Shirdi Sai Baba was one "who used to eat meat and worship Allah, a man like that can never be a Hindu god", that he "used to refrain from taking a dip in the river Ganga and asked people to keep him away from Ganga", that "worshiping Sai Baba was part of a conspiracy hatched by people to divide Hindus as the saint was not a God but a human being", that "followers of Sai Baba should not worship Lord Rama", and that "Sai Baba used to say Sabka Malik Ek (god is one for all). If so, why do the Buddhists and Jains worship separate gods?" while acknowledging Shirdi Sai Baba as a great man. He also mobilised the Naga sadhus
Naga or NAGA may refer to:
Mythology
* Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions
* Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata''
* Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Ri ...
in enforcing his order that Sai devotees should not be allowed to worship Rama or bathe in the Ganga. In 2016 he said that worship of Sai Baba is responsible for the drought that affected Maharashtra
After these remarks, several formal FIR and PIL complaints were filed against Swami Swaroopanand. In September 2015, he gave in writing to the court that his statements were not intended to hurt the religious sentiments of people, and was apologetic if his statements had hurt the sentiments of the people.
On ISKCON
Swami Swaroopanand in February 2016 questioned the claim of ISKCON
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktive ...
to be a part of Sanatana Dharma and accused it of being a front for money-laundering, it being used to send money from India to USA and other foreign countries. Money donated by Indians were being shunted to the USA. He questioned the growing number of their temples in India and said that if they were sincere they should have built them in Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...
which had fewer temples. Their aim was not religion or spirituality but something else, he claimed.
On RSS, BJP, Congress and Narendra Modi
Swami Swaroopanand in May 2015 said, "Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion to curb corruption, bribe taking is rampant in the country. This is because of degradation of moral values and ethics in society."
Swami Swaroopanand in March 2016 said on the RSS
RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...
, "RSS takes the name of the Hindus, but they have no commitment towards Hindutva. They are trying to deceive people by telling that they have come to protect the Hindus. This is more deadly. BJP rules this country now. Before this, it was Congress. But under both the governments, cow slaughter has been continuously happening. Then what is the difference between BJP and Congress?"[Pork, Intolerance, RSS & JNU – Opening up with The Dwaraka Shankaracharya](_blank)
/ref>
Swami Swaroopanand in May 2017 asked Congress leaders involved in a beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...
party in Kerala to be jailed under NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
act. He also asked Congress party to clear their stance over cow slaughter.
On intolerance debate and JNU agitations of 2016
In the context of the 2015 Dadri mob lynching
The 2015 Dadri lynching refers to case of lynching in which a mob of villagers attacked the home of 52-year-old Mohammed Akhlaq, killing him, for suspicion of slaughtering a cow. The attack took place at night, on 28 September 2015 in Bisahda ...
alleging cow slaughter and consumption of beef, Swami Swaroopanand in March 2016 said, people should be permitted to eat and serve pork to test tolerance of other communities before putting a blame on certain group of Hindus for being intolerant.
In the context of the 2016 JNU sedition controversy
On 9 February 2016, some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) held a protest on their campus against the capital punishment meted out to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, and Kashmiri separatist Maqbool Bhat. The o ...
he said, "College students these days are disjoint from spirituality. This lack of spiritual & cultural knowledge leads them into becoming anti-national."
On youth and spirituality
Swami Swaroopanand in March 2016 said, "There is an increasing feeling of 'detachment from faith' among the Hindu youths as compared to those of other religions. There is a need to include Hindu scriptures in the curriculum of schools and colleges to prevent the long-term mental degeneration of Hindus due to influence from anti-Hindu propaganda that has its clutches deep into almost every socio-cultural sphere of India. While 'they' have their religious schools to spread fundamentalism, terrorism and hate preaching, we don't have a medium to reach out the Hindu youth about the richness and greatness of our scriptures and cultural values. It's the central government's responsibility to ensure the traditions of this nation are preserved."
Against Movie 'PK'
Swami Swaroopanand in January 2015 raised questions with the Censor Board
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...
about the film ' PK', demanding that the CBI investigate how the film received its certification from the Censor Board despite several members of the Board requesting that the film be reviewed again.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saraswati, Swaroopanand
1924 births
2022 deaths
Indian Hindu spiritual teachers
People from Madhya Pradesh
Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh
Prisoners and detainees of British India
Shankaracharyas
20th-century Hindu religious leaders
21st-century Hindu religious leaders
20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians
21st-century Hindu philosophers and theologians
People from Seoni district