Swami Swarupananda
Swami Swarupananda (July 8, 1871 – 1906) was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda and the first president of the Advaita Ashrama, set up by Vivekananda in 1899 at Mayavati, near Almora. The ashram was a branch of the religious monastic order, Ramakrishna Math, also set up by Vivekananda on the teachings of his guru Ramakrishna.
Swarupananda remained as editor of Prabuddha Bharata, an English-language monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, when it shifted base from Chennai in 1898 and remained so till 1906.[1]
Advaita Ashrama and Prabuddha Bharata
Swarupananda was married early in his youth but continued to live as a Brahamchari at his parents' home in Calcutta. After three or four visits to the Belur Math, he decided to leave home and become a full-time disciple of Vivekananda, and within a few days of his stay at the Math, he was initiated into the monastic order, (sanyas),[2] by Vivekananda on 29 March 1898.[3]
Meanwhile, John Henry Sevier who had earlier come in contact with Vivekananda during his visit to London and become his disciple, travelled to India with Vivekananda, along with his wife Charlotte. Sevier, with the help of Swarupananda, found an old tea estate suitable for the Ashram, at Mayavati, near Almora in July 1898. Soon the land was purchased and construction commenced.[4] The Advaita Ashrama had its formal opening on 19 March 1899, which happened to be the birth anniversary of Ramakrishna (Hindu calendar), that year, with Swarupananda its first head upon.[5][6]
Sister Nivedita had become a monastic disciple of Vivekananda when she took sanyas four days prior to Swarupananda at Belur, in March–April 1898. Swarupananda taught her Bengali and Hindu religious literature every day. Later at Almora under his guidance she started reading the Bhagavad Gita.[3]
The publication of Prabuddha Bharata, the Official Journal of the Ramakrishna Order was halted abruptly due to the death of its editor B. R. Rajam Iyer, who was only twenty-four years old, on 13 May 1898 in Chennai. Vivekananda, who was then resting at Almora, asked Servier and his wife to revive the magazine. The next issue of the magazine was published from Thompson house in Almora town in August 1898 with Swarupananda as its editor, then in 1899 it shifted base with the opening of the ashram there.[7]
The location however didn't suit Swarupananda well, as the constant uphill and downhill of Mayavati terrain, took a toll on his heart. In November 1901 he was recuperating in Calcutta with Vivekananda;[8] while he continued to edit the magazine and run the ashram for another six years until his 1906 death in Nainital.
Literary works
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita. Advaita Ashrama. 1909. ISBN 81-7505-096-9.
Further reading
- The life of the Swami Vivekananda, by his eastern and western disciples, the Advaita Ashrama, Himalayas. Swami Virajananda. 1947.
- Margaret Elizabeth Noble (1975). Sister Nivedita's lectures and writings: hitherto unpublished collection of lectures and writings of Sister Nivedita on education, Hindu life, thought and so on. Ramakrishna Sarada Mission. p. 256. OCLC 561170378.
Notes
- ↑ Swarupananda, Swami. "Preface to first edition". Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita. Advaita Ashrama. p. 1.
- ↑ Sailendra Nath Dhar (1976). A Comprehensive Biography of Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda Prakashan Kendra. p. 1057.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Advaita Ashrama (1947). The Life of the Swami Vivekananda, by His Eastern and Western Disciples, the Advaita Ashrama, Himalayas. Advaita Ashrama. pp. 220–221. "Under the influence of the Swami Swarupananda I began seriously the attempt at meditation. And if it had not been for this help of his, one of the greatest hours of my life would have passed me by."
- ↑ Mayawati Route – Visitors Booklet of Advaita Ashrama Advaita Ashrama.
- ↑ Raghaveshananda (1979). "Swami Swarupananda". The Vedanta Kesari. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math. p. 212.
- ↑ Banhatti, G.S. "The torch ablaze". Life and Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. p. 43.
- ↑ Prabuddha Bharata Advaita Ashrama website.
- ↑ Letter to Sister Nivedita The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 9, Letters - Fifth Series/CCVII Margo, November 12, 1901.
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