Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda;
IAST: Svāmī Śivānanda Sarasvatī; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963[1]) was a
yoga guru,[2] a
Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of
Vedanta. Sivananda was born in
Pattamadai, in the
Tirunelveli district of
Tamil Nadu, and was named Kuppuswami. He studied medicine and served in
British Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism.
He was the founder of the
Divine Life Society (DLS) in 1936,
Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and author of over 200 books on yoga, Vedanta, and a variety of subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, the headquarters of the DLS, on the bank of the
Ganges at
Muni Ki Reti, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from
Rishikesh, and lived most of his life there.[3][4][5]
Swami Sivananda was born as Kuppuswami to a
brahmin family[6] on 8 September 1887. His birth took place during the early hours of the morning as the Bharani star was rising in
Pattamadai village on the banks of the
Tamraparni river in
Tirunelveli district,
Tamil Nadu. His father, Sri P.S. Vengu
Iyer, worked as a revenue officer, and was a great Shiva Bhakta (
Bhakti) himself. His mother, Srimati Parvati Ammal, was religious. Kuppuswami was the third and last child of his parents.[7][8]
As a child, he was very active and promising in academics and gymnastics. He attended medical school in
Tanjore, where he excelled. He ran a medical journal called Ambrosia during this period. Upon graduation, he practiced medicine and worked as a doctor in
British Malaya for ten years, with a reputation for providing free treatment to poor patients. Over time, a sense that medicine was healing on a superficial level grew in Dr. Kuppuswami, urging him to look elsewhere to fill the void, and in 1923 he left Malaya and returned to India to pursue his spiritual quest.[7]
Initiation
Upon his return to India in 1924, he went to
Rishikesh where he met his
guru, Vishvananda Saraswati, who initiated him into the
Sannyasa order, and gave him his monastic name. The full ceremony was conducted by Vishnudevananda, the mahant (abbot) of Sri Kailas Ashram.[7] Sivananda settled in Rishikesh, and immersed himself in intense spiritual practices. Sivānanda performed austerities for many years while continuing to nurse the sick. In 1927, with some money from an insurance policy, he ran a charitable dispensary at
Lakshman Jhula.[7]
Sivananda travelled extensively on a major tour in 1950, and set up branches of the Divine Life Society throughout India. He vigorously promoted and disseminated his vision of yoga.[10] His Belgian devotee
André Van Lysebeth wrote that his critics "disapproved of both his modern methods of diffusion, and his propagation of yoga on such a grand scale to the general public", explaining that Sivananda was advocating a practice that everybody could do, combining "some asanas, a little
pranayama, a little meditation and bhakti; well, a little of everything".[10][11]
Vegetarianism
Sivananda insisted on a strict
lacto-vegetarian diet for moral and spiritual reasons, arguing that "meat-eating is highly deleterious to health".[12][13][14][15] Divine Life Society thus advocates a vegetarian diet.[15]
Sivananda's two chief acting organizational disciples were
Chidananda Saraswati and
Krishnananda Saraswati. Chidananda Saraswati was appointed president of the DLS by Sivananda in 1963 and served in this capacity until his death in 2008.
Krishnananda Saraswati was appointed General Secretary by Sivananda in 1958 and served in this capacity until his death in 2001.
Disciples who went on to grow new organisations include:
^
abcAnanthanarayan, Sri N. (1965).
I Live to Serve – A Promise and A Fulfilment(PDF). Sivanandanagar, Tehri-Garhwal, U.A. India: Divine Life Society. Intimate Glimpses into Gurudev Sivananda's Last Days Ë How the Holy Master Lived a Life of Unremitting Service to the Very End
^Morris, Brian (2006). Religion and anthropology: a critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 144.
ISBN978-0-521-85241-8.
OCLC252536951.
Sivananda and the Divine Life Society: A Paradigm of the "secularism," "puritanism" and "cultural Dissimulation" of a Neo-Hindu Religious Society, by Robert John Fornaro. Published by Syracuse University, 1969.
From Man to God-man: the inspiring life-story of Swami Sivananda, by N. Ananthanarayanan. Published by Indian Publ. Trading Corp., 1970.
Swami Sivananda and the Divine Life Society: An Illustration of Revitalization Movement, by Satish Chandra Gyan. Published by s.n, 1979.
Life and Works of Swami Sivananda, by Sivānanda, Divine Life Society (W.A.). Fremantle Branch. Published by Divine Life Society, Fremantle Branch, 1985.
ISBN0-949027-04-9