''The Vedanta Kesari'' (The Lion of Vedanta) (formerly ''Brahmavadin'') is an English language monthly magazine covering spiritual and cultural issues, published by the

Ramakrishna Math Ramakrishna Math is the administrative legal organization of the Ramakrishna Order, considered part of the Hindu reform movements. It was set up by sanyasin disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhansa headed by Swami Vivekananda at Baranagar Math in Bar ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India, since 1895.

History

Under the inspiration of

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

, a group of his disciples in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, which included G. Venkataranga Rao, M.C. Nanjunda Rao and

Alasinga Perumal Alasinga Perumal (1865 – 11 May 1909) was a propagator of Vedanta and an ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda. Born in an orthodox Vaishnavite family at Chikkamagalur of Mysore, he took his education in Madras. After obtaining a B.A. degree ...

, started on 14 September 1895 a monthly journal bearing the title ''Brahmavadin''. One of Swamiji's letters to Alasinga read: "I learnt from your letters the bad financial state that ''Brahmavadin'' is in." Swamiji repeatedly said, "The ''Brahmavadin'' is a jewel-it must not perish!". It continued to be brought out regularly for 14 years, until Alasinga's demise in 1909. From 1909 to 1914, the publication of ''Brahmavadin'' became quite irregular. The last issue was brought out in 1914 (March–April). Soon after, the ''Brahmavadins legacy was continued by a new journal, ''The Vedanta Kesari'', started by

Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai is a monastic organisation for men brought into existence by Ramakrishna (1836–1886), a 19th-century saint of Bengal. The motto of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is: "For one's own salvation, a ...

, and has been in circulation ever since.

Circulation

''The Vedanta Kesari'' is one of India's oldest English language religious magazines, having been published for 106 years as of 2019. It has a monthly circulation of over 12,000 copies, of which over 2000 go to public and institutional libraries across India. The magazine has subscribers in 27 countries.

''The Vedanta Kesari'' contains articles on Indian spiritual traditions and scriptures, focusing on the philosophy 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 ...

as expounded by Swami Vivekananda, the disciple of

Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

, a nineteenth century Indian mystic. There are articles based on the teachings of Ramakrishna, as well as a section on book reviews of books on similar topics. The stated aim of the magazine is to promote a spiritual and matured outlook towards life. It advocates renunciation of selfish desires, along with the service to others in a spirit of worship-fulness. Most articles published in the ''Vedanta Kesari'' are originally written for the magazine, though a few transcriptions of the lectures and speeches are also published. Many scholars have contributed to ''Vedanta Kesari'' over time. Its contributors include

John Woodroffe Sir John George Woodroffe (15 December 1865 – 16 January 1936), also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon, was a British Orientalist whose extensive and complex published works on the Tantras, and other Hindu traditions, stimulated a wide-r ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

Sarojini Naidu Sarojini Naidu (''née'' Chattopadhyay; 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist, feminist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important person in Indi ...

C. Rajagopalachari Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), popularly known as Rajaji or C.R., also known as Mootharignar Rajaji (Rajaji'', the Scholar Emeritus''), was an Indian statesman, writer, lawyer, and independence activis ...

, T.L. Vaswani,

K.M. Munshi Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, ...

Karan Singh Karan Singh (born 9 March 1931) is an Indian politician and philosopher. He is the son of the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, Sir Hari Singh. He was the prince regent of Jammu and Kashmir until 1952. From 19 ...

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

and A.P.J.

Abdul Kalam Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (; 15 October 193127 July 2015) was an Indian aerospace scientist and statesman who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied phy ...

. Many monks of the

Ramakrishna Order The Ramakrishna Order (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ সংঘ) is the monastic lineage that was founded by Sri Ramakrishna, when he gave the ochre cloth of renunciation to twelve of his close disciples, in January 1886 at the Cossipore Hous ...

also contribute to the magazine. Since 1978, the magazine has been regularly bringing out an annual issue centred on a particular theme. Some of its popular theme-based issues published so far are: Yoga and its Aspects, Values for the Present Age, Globalization, Religion Today, Culture and Civilization, Channeling Youth Power, Nurturing Inter - personal Relationship,

Upanishads The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...

in Daily Life, among others. Many of these numbers have later been made into books and published by the Ramakrishna Math. Some of the well-known books published from the Math were originally serialized in the ''Vedanta Kesari''. Among such are included such popular volumes such as Upanishad Series (Sanskrit, with English translation by Swami Sharvananda), Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master (by

Swami Saradananda Saradananda (23 December 1865 – 19 August 1927), also known as Swami Saradananda, was born as Sarat Chandra Chakravarty in 1865, and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. He was the first Secretary of the Ramakrishna Ma ...

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

Schools of Vedanta (by Swami

Tapasyananda Swami Tapasyananda (1904-1991) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was born in family of Ottapalam in Kerala, in 1904. His pre-monastic name was K. P. Balakrishnan Menon. In 1921, when he was just 17 years old, he met Swami Brahman ...

), and so on.

Editors

From May 1914 to April 1928, the magazine had no official editor. The April 1926 issue stated: "Swami Sharvananda who has been the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in

since 1911 and has been editing the ''Vedanta Kesari'' from its very start is retiring from work after nineteen years of strenuous labour. He means to lead at present a life of perfect solitude and retirement. "

Swami Yatiswarananda Swami Yatiswarananda (16 January 1889 Nadanpur Village, Pabna, British India –27 January1966 Kolkata, India) was a vice-president of Ramakrishna Order, whose headquarter is in Belur Math. He was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda, a brother dis ...

who has been in charge of the Ramakrishna Ashrama in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

for nearly the last two years has come over to take charge of the Math and Mission in

. He has spent eight years of his monastic life in South India and has an intimate knowledge of several of its parts. He is the late editor of the

Prabuddha Bharata ''Prabuddha Bharata'' () is an English-language monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, in publication since July 1896. It carries articles and translations by monks, scholars, and other writers on humanities and social sciences including relig ...

and is well known for his scholarship and literary abilities. He was also intimately connected with the editorial work and the publication of the ''Vedanta Kesari'' for a long period. Our Journal will appear under his editorship from May next. All official correspondence must hereafter be addressed to him. We pray to the Lord to crown his work with complete success.' 1928 May onwards, The Vedanta Kesari started printing the names of the editors. It would mention both the names (president of Madras Math and the actual editor) as 'Editors'. September 1993 onwards, nomenclature was changed over to 'Managing Editor & Editor' {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:left" , +Editors of ''Vedanta Kesari'' , - ! × !! Period !! Editor , - ! 1 , May 1928 to April 1931 , , Br. Jnana chaitanya (Swami Tejasananda) , - ! 2 , May 1931 to April 1939 , ,

Swami Tapasyananda Swami Tapasyananda (1904-1991) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was born in family of Ottapalam in Kerala, in 1904. His pre-monastic name was K. P. Balakrishnan Menon. In 1921, when he was just 17 years old, he met Swami Brahma ...

, - ! 3 , May 1939 to April 1941 , , Swami Vimalananda , - ! 4 , May 1941 to April 1942 , , Prof. PN Srinivasachar , - ! 5 , May 1942 to November 1948 , , Swami Nityabodhananda , - ! 6 , December 1948 to September 1951 , , Swami Kailasananda , - ! 7 , October 1951 to July 1956 , , Swami Budhananda , - ! 8 , August 1956 to April 1962 , ,

Swami Swahananda Swami Swahananda (29 June 1921 – 19 October 2012) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, and the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1976 to 2012. He also led the Vivekananda Retreat, ...

, - ! 9 , May 1962 to April 1967 , , Swami Paratparananda , - ! 10 , May 1967 to July 1971 , , Swami Kailasananda , - ! 11 , August 1971 to September 1979 , , Shri R. Ramakrishnan , - ! 12 , October 1979 to December 1986 , , Shri CS Ramakrishnan , - ! 13 , January 1987 to December 1997 , ,

Swami Tyagananda Swami Tyagananda is a Hindu monk of the Ramakrishna Order and presently the head of the Vedanta Society in Boston. Currently, he is also the Hindu chaplain at MIT and Harvard. He has presented papers at academic conferences, and he gives l ...

, - ! 14 , January 1998 to December 2000 , , Swami Brahmeshananda , - ! 15 , January 2001 to March 2004 , , Swami Baneshananda , - ! 16 , April 2004 to July 2016, , Swami Atmashraddhananda , - ! 17 , Since August 2016, , Swami Mahamedhananda

External links

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai Website

The Vedanta Kesari magazine subscription page

View and Download Vedanta Kesari issues

96 Years of Vedanta Kesari Issues on DVD

Ramakrishna Mission Magazines established in 1895 Hindu magazines 1895 establishments in India Swami Vivekananda Magazines about spirituality Cultural magazines Monthly magazines published in India Mass media in Chennai English-language magazines published in India

History

Circulation

Contents

Editors

See also

External links