->Subhobrata Chakravorti at 10:37, 3 January 2022

2022-01-03T10:37:52Z

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[[File:Swami Swahananda.png|border|thumb|480x480px|Swami Swahananda]]
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'''Swami Swahananda''' (29 June 1921 – 19 October 2012)<ref>{{cite news|last=BARDACH|first=A.L.|title=Swami Swahananda: 1921–2012 Head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California|url=http://www.independent.com/news/2012/nov/14/swami-swahananda-1921-2012/|accessdate=28 October 2013|newspaper=Santa Barbara Independent|date=14 November 2012}}</ref> 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, Ridgely]], and the [[Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC]]. He joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1947 and received [[sannyasa]], full [[Monasticism|monastic]] ordination, in 1956.

==Early life and education==
Swami Swahananda was born on 29 June 1921 in a village near [[Habiganj]] in [[British India]], now in [[Bangladesh]], the youngest of three boys. His father, Nirmal Chandra Goswami, died in April 1921 at the age of 32, just two months before Swahananda was born. His mother, Pramilabala, was only 19 at that time. Swahananda's grandmother named him "Bipadbhanjan".<ref name=pearls>Ashit Chandra Chakrabarty, A Few Pearls of our Family Necklace (Kolkata: Ashit Chandra Chakrabarty, 2003).</ref> Nirmal Chandra had been a disciple of [[Sarada Devi]], and had received initiation from her in 1908.
Swahananda received a B.A. from [[Murari Chand College]], [[Sylhet]], in 1943, and a double M.A. in English Literature and English Language from the [[University of Calcutta]], in 1945 and 46.<ref name=pearls/>

==Religious life==

He received [[Diksha|initiation]] in February 1937 from [[Swami Vijnanananda]], a direct disciple of [[Sri Ramakrishna]], and subsequently joined the [[Ramakrishna Order]] in 1947. He remained a lecturer at the Vidyamandir at [[Belur Math]] for two years, before being sent to the Ramakrishna Math, [[Madras]] (now Chennai). He was ordained a [[brahmacharin]] in 1952, and was called Brahmachari Durgachaitanya. In 1954, he joined the Mysore Study Circle. He received [[sannyasa]], full ordination, in 1956, from [[Swami Shankarananda (Ramakrishna Mission)|Swami Shankarananda]].<ref name=pearls/>
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ramakrishnananda.com/en/swami-ramakrishnananda/siksha-gurus/swami-swahananda/|title=Biography at Vishwa Dharma Mandalam website|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20110927085103/http://www.ramakrishnananda.com/en/swami-ramakrishnananda/siksha-gurus/swami-swahananda/|archivedate=27 September 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

At the Madras [[Matha|Math]] he served first as [[pujari]], and as editor of the ''[[Vedanta Kesari]]'' from August 1956 to April 1962. In 1961, he went on pilgrimage in the [[Himalayas]], and stayed at [[Uttarkashi]] to practice spiritual austerities for some months. In 1962, he was made the head of the [[Ramakrishna Mission Delhi|Ramakrishna Mission center]] in New Delhi, an important centre of the Ramakrishna Order. He came to the United States on 5 August 1968,<ref>{{cite book | title=A Heart Poured Out: A Story of Swami Ashokananda |author=Sister Gargi|authorlink=Sister Gargi| publisher=Kalpa Tree Press|page= 409| year=2003 | isbn=978-0-9706368-1-2}}</ref> to be the Assistant Minister of the San Francisco [[Vedanta Society]], where he served for two years; later he was appointed head of the Vedanta Society of [[Berkeley, California]], where he stayed for six years. In December 1976, after the death of spiritual leader and author [[Swami Prabhavananda]], he was transferred to Hollywood, the headquarters of the Vedanta Society of Southern California, where he remained the minister until his death.<ref>[http://vedanta.org/swami-swahananda/ Vedanta Society of Southern California website]</ref>
He also supervised the Vedanta Society of Greater Washington, DC, since 1997, and Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, since 1998.<ref>Rachel Fell McDermott, in ''Religion and American Cultures: an encyclopedia of traditions, diversity, and popular expressions'' ed. Gary Laderman, Luis D. León, p. 122</ref>
In the late 1980s, he lectured and gave spiritual guidance in Moscow.<ref>Swami Swahananda, ''Vedanta and Ramakrishna'' (Kolkata: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 2003), back flap of book jacket.</ref>
As a spiritual leader, Swahananda encouraged westerners to take leadership roles in the Vedanta movement.<ref>Nithila Peter, in ''The Sons and Daughters of Los: Culture and Community in L.A.'', ed. David James, p. 226.</ref>

Swami Swahananda ji died on 19 October 2012, at the age of 91 at 2:52 pm, PST. He suffered a brain stem stroke. After several tests and consultations with doctors, it was determined that his condition was irreversible, and life support was removed per his wishes.


==Author==
Swami Swahananda authored a number of books and translations. His translations into English include the ''[[Chandogya Upanishad]]'' and ''[[Panchadasi]] of [[Vidyaranya]]'' from [[Sanskrit]], and ''Go Forward: Letters of Swami Premeshananda'' and ''[[Swami Shivananda|Mahapurush Maharaj]] as We Knew Him'' from [[Bengali language|Bengali]]. Books include ''Hindu Symbology and Other Essays'', ''Meditation and Other Spiritual Disciplines'', ''Mother Worship: A Collection of Essays on Mother Worship in India'', ''Service and Spirituality'', ''Vedanta and Ramakrishna'', ''Vedanta and Holy Mother'', ''Vedanta and Vivekananda'', and ''Vedanta Sadhana and Shakti Puja''.

==Further reading==
* [http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/the_inspiration_that_was_Swami_Vivekananda_oct04.php The Inspiration That Was Swami Vivekananda by Swami Swahananda]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://vedanta.org/swami-swahananda/ Swami Swahananda biography] at [[Vedanta Society of Southern California]]
* [https://archive.today/20110927085103/http://www.ramakrishnananda.com/en/swami-ramakrishnananda/siksha-gurus/swami-swahananda/ Biography at Vishwa Dharma Mandalam website]
* [http://www.google.co.in/search?tbs=bks:1,bkv:a&tbo=p&q=+inauthor:%22Swami+Swahananda%22 Books by Swami Swahananda]
* {{YouTube|t5jPw1h9lZM|Swami Swahananda with Pope John Paul II}}
* [http://philpapers.org/archive/CHAROV-2.pdf Subhasis Chattopadhyay, review of Swami Swahananda, ''Vedanta Sadhana and Shakti Puja'', ''Vedanta Kesari'', 103 (6) (June 2016): 45–6]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swahananda, Swami}}
[[Category:Indian Hindu monks]]
[[Category:Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission]]
[[Category:Indian magazine editors]]
[[Category:People from Habiganj District]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]

Swami Swahananda - Revision history

->Subhobrata Chakravorti at 10:37, 3 January 2022