| Editor | Ramakrishna Order |
|---|---|
| Categories | Spirituality, religion, culture |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Advaita Ashrama |
| First issue | July 1896 |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Website | http://www.advaitaashrama.org/prabuddha_bharata.html |
| ISSN | 0032-6178 |
Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India is an English-language monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna Order, in publication since July 1896.[1] It carries articles and translations by monks, scholars, and writers on various religious and cultural themes. It is edited from Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Uttarakhand, and published and printed in Kolkata.
Contents |
Prabuddha Bharata was founded in 1896 by P. Aiyasami, B. R. Rajam Iyer, G. G. Narasimha Charya, and B. V. Kamesvara Iyer, in Madras (now Chennai), at the behest of Swami Vivekananda, with whom the founders had been closely associated before the swami went to America in 1893. The swami suggested the magazine's name, and gave encouragement to the founders through his letters to them. The editor, B. R. Rajam Iyer, was only twenty-four years old. The magazine saw two full years of publication from Madras, from July 1896 to June 1898. The death of the editor on 13 May 1898 from Bright’s disease brought the magazine's publication to an unexpected halt. As Sister Nivedita recalled the period in her memoirs, June 22 to July 15, 1898: "The Swami (Vivekananda) had always had a special love for this paper, as the beautiful name he had given it indicated. He had always been eager too for the establishment of organs of his own. The value of the journal in the education of modern India was perfectly evident to him, and he felt that his master's message and mode of thought required to be spread by this means as well as by preaching and by work."[2]
By that time, Swami Vivekananda had returned to India and was visiting Almora. He asked Captain J. H. Sevier, one of his English disciples who was accompanying him, to take up the management of the magazine; Sevier agreed and offered to meet the preliminary costs associated with reviving it, which included purchasing and bringing up a hand-press, types, papers, ink and other materials required for the purpose from Kolkata.[3] The Prabuddha Bharata resumed publication in August 1898 from Almora. Swami Swarupananda, one of Vivekananda’s monastic disciples, became the new editor.
The following poem was written by Swami Vivekananda to Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India in August 1898, when the journal was transferred from Madras (Chennai) to Almora Himalayas.
The press was shifted to the newly founded Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, in March 1899.
Swami Swarupananda died in Nainital in 1906. Swami Virajananda, who in 1958 would become the president of the Ramakrishna Order, succeeded him as editor. Among later editors were Swamis Yatiswarananda (1922–24), Ashokananda (1927–30), Gambhirananda (1942–44), and Vandanananda (1950–54). The printing of the magazine was shifted from Mayavati to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1924.
In 2010, Advaita Ashrama released a dvd archive of the first 114 years of Prabuddha Bharata, covering the years 1896 to 2009.
TO THE AWAKENED INDIA
Once more awake!
For sleep it was, not death, to bring thee life
Anew, and rest to lotus-eyes for visions
Daring yet. The world in need awaits, O Truth!
No death for thee!
Resume thy march,
With gentle feet that would not break the
Peaceful rest even of the roadside dust
That lies so low. Yet strong and steady,
Blissful, bold, and free. Awakener, ever
Forward! Speak thy stirring words.
Thy home is gone,
Where loving hearts had brought thee up and
Watched with joy thy growth. But Fate is strong—
This is the law—all things come back to the source
They sprung, their strength to renew.
Then start afresh
From the land of thy birth, where vast cloud-belted
Snows do bless and put their strength in thee,
For working wonders new. The heavenly
River tune thy voice to her own immortal song ;
Deodar shades give thee eternal peace.
And all above,
Himala's daughter Umâ, gentle, pure,
The Mother that resides in all as Power
And Life, who works all works and
Makes of One the world, whose mercy
Opens the gate to Truth and shows
The One in All, give thee untiring
Strength, which is Infinite Love.
They bless thee all,
The seers great, whom age nor clime
Can claim their own, the fathers of the
Race, who felt the heart of Truth the same,
And bravely taught to man ill-voiced or
Well. Their servant, thou hast got
The secret—'tis but One.
Then speak, O Love!
Before thy gentle voice serene, behold how
Visions melt and fold on fold of dreams
Departs to void, till Truth and Truth alone
In all its glory shines—
And tell the world—
Awake, arise, and dream no more!
This is the land of dreams, where Karma
Weaves unthreaded garlands with our thoughts
Of flowers sweet or noxious, and none
Has root or stem, being born in naught, which
The softest breath of Truth drives back to
Primal nothingness. Be bold, and face
The Truth! Be one with it! Let visions cease,
Or, if you cannot, dream but truer dreams,
Which are Eternal Love and Service Free. [4]
The magazine has assigned different titles to its editor over the course of its history. After being shifted to the Advaita Ashrama, the first three editors were also presidents of the ashrama. Thereafter, the editor and president were different persons. From 1959, the president was also called the editor, and the actual editor called the joint editor. From September 1993, the ashrama president has been called the managing editor, and the editor has again been called the editor.
| × | Period | Editor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1896 to 1898 | B R Rajam Iyer |
| 2 | 1898 to 1906 | Swami Swarupananda |
| 3 | 1906 to 1913 | Swami Virajananda |
| 4 | 1914 to 1918 | Swami Prajnananda |
| 5 | 1918 to 1921 | Swami Raghavananda |
| 6 | 1922 to 1924 | Swami Yatiswarananda |
| 7 | 1925 to 1926 | Swami Vividishananda |
| 8 | 1927 to 1930 | Swami Ashokananda |
| 9 | 1931 to 1934 | Swami Pavitrananda |
| 10 | 1935 to 1937 | Swami Maithilyananda |
| 11 | 1938 to 1939 | Swami Tejasananda |
| 12 | 1940 to 1941 | Swami Vipulananda |
| 13 | 1942 to 1944 | Swami Gambhirananda |
| 14 | 1945 to 1947 | Swami Yogeswarananda |
| 15 | 1948 to 1949 | Swami Brahmamayananda |
| 16 | 1950 to 1954 | Swami Vandanananda |
| 17 | 1955 to 1956 | Swami Satswarupananda |
| 18 | 1957 to 1958 | Swami Nihsreyasananda |
| 19 | 1959 to 1961 | Swami Ananyananda |
| 20 | 1962 to 1963 | Swami Chidatmananda |
| 21 | 1964 to 1965 | Swami Kirtidananda |
| 22 | 1966 to July 1968 | Swami Adiswarananda |
| 23 | August to December 1968 | Swami Budhananda |
| 24 | 1969 to 1970 | Swami Rasajnananda |
| 25 | 1971 to 1976 | Swami Tadrupananda |
| 26 | 1977 to 1979 | Swami Balaramananda |
| 27 | 1979 to 1986 | Swami Bhajanananda |
| 28 | 1987 to 1989 | Swami Jitatmananda |
| 29 | 1990 to 1993 | Swami Muktirupananda |
| 30 | 1994 to 1996 | Swami Atmaramananda |
| 31 | 1996 to 1998 | Swami Satyapriyananda |
| 32 | 1999 to 2001 | Swami Sunirmalananda |
| 33 | 2002 to 2004 | Swami Yuktatmananda |
| 34 | 2005 to October 2010 | Swami Satyaswarupananda |
| 35 | November 2010 to Present | Swami Satyamayananda |