Swami Sivananda

Swami Sivananda

He was born in September 1887 in the Pattamadai village in South India in a family highly devoted to Lord Siva and was named Kuppuswami. In school, at Yettayapuram and in college at Tiruchirapalli he showed many signs of brilliance, compassion and Tyaga (renunciation and sacrifice) in many activities, he later studied medicine in Tanjore. He practiced in Tiruchi for sometime and started a journal ‘Ambrosia’. After his father’s death he went to Malaya and worked for about ten years at the Estate Hospital which in later years was managed by himself, he treated patients for free, especially the poor, sadhus and sanyasis and gave comfort to many. But he was highly spiritual minded and so renounced the world in 1923 and entered the holy order of Sanyasa in 1924 at Rishikesh.

He was so initiated by Swami Viswananda Saraswati and after twelve years of intense austerities, he established the Divine Life Society in 1936, and organized the All-World “Religions” Federation in1945, Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948, he wrote over three hundred books on Yoga, Health and Healing. He toured India and Ceylon/Sri Lanka in 1950 and created Spiritual awakening in many people. He established centres of his organization in some foreign countries also. He tried to reach the “Message of India” to all parts of the world. He died in Rishkesh in July 1963 leaving behind many followers to “Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate and Realize” as their main motto.

Share this article with your Network  :