Page 1 His Holiness Sri Swami Sivanand a Saraswati Maharaj 10/18/2012 5:53:11 PM http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/saints/siva.htm His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati Maharaj HIS HOLINESS SRI SWAMI SI VANANDA SARASWATI MAHARAJBirth and Boyhood Doctor in Malaya Renunciation Sadhana The Organization Multimedia Gallery BIRTH AND BOYHOOD On Thursday, the 8th. of September, 1887, in the early hours of the morning, when the star Bharani was in the ascendant was born a boy-child in the village of Pattamadai on the bank of the river Tamraparani in South India. Sri P.S. Vengu Iyer, a revenue officer and a great Siva Bhakta (devotee of Lord Siva), and Srimati Parvati Ammal, an equally great god-fearing lady, were the fortunate parents of this child. The happy couple christened this last and third son of theirs Kuppuswamy. Boy Kuppuswamy was intelligent and mischievous. In his boyhood itself he showed signs of Tyaga (renunciation) and love for fellow-beings. He used to pity the poor, feed the hungry at the door, and make his father throw a pie into the hands of pauper passing by. He often got cakes and sweetmeats from his mother and distributed them liberally to his younger companions, dogs, cats, crows, and sparrows, himself not eating a bit. He used to bring flowers and bael leaves for his father's Siva Puja. At the Rajah's High School, Ettayapuram, where he studied, Kuppuswam always topped the class and won prizes every year. He had a sweet voice and wonderful memory. When His Excellency Lord Ampthil, the Governor of Madras, visited the Kuru Malai Hills in 1901 for hunting, Kuppuswamy sang a song of welcome on the Kumarapuram railway platform. After the completion of the Matriculation examination, he studied at the S.P.G. College, Tiruchirapalli. In the college he used to take part i debates and dramas. He played the part of He ena beautifully when Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" was staged in 1905. After the ompletion of the First Arts Examination, Kuppuswamy went to the Medical School in Tanjore to study medicine. He used to be tremendously industrious and never
Transcript
7/27/2019 His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati Maharaj.pdf
HIS HOLINESS SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA SARASWATI MAHARAJ
Bir th and Boyhood
Doct or in Ma laya
Renunciation
Sadhana
The Organization
Multimedia Gallery
B IRTH AND BOYHOOD
On Thursday, the 8th. of September, 1887, in the early hours of the
morn in g, when th e star Bha ran i was in the asc en dant was born a b oy-ch ild in th e v illag e
of P attamadai on the b ank of the riv er Tamraparani in South In dia . Sri P .S . V en gu Iyer ,
a revenue officer and a great Siva Bhakta (devotee of Lord Siva ), and Srim ati Parvati
Ammal, an equa lly g rea t g od -fea ring lady , were th e fo rtuna te paren ts of th is c hild . Thehappy couple chr ist ened this la st and third son o f th eir s Kuppuswamy.
Boy Kuppuswamy was in tellig en t and m ischiev ou s. In h is b oyhood itself h e sh owed signs
of Tyaga (renunciation ) and love for fellow -beings. H e used to pity the poor, feed the
hungry a t the d oor, and make his fa th er throw a pie in to th e hands of p aup er pa ssin g by.
H e often g ot ca kes and sw eetm eats from his moth er and distrib uted th em liberally to his
youn ger compan ion s, dogs, cats, c row s, and sp arrow s, him self n ot ea tin g a b it . H e used
to b ring flowers and bael leaves for h is fa th er 's Siv a Puja .
A t the Rajah 's H igh School, Ettayapuram , w here he studied, K uppusw amy alw ays
topped the class and won prizes every year. He had a sweet voice and wonderful
m emory . When H is Excellen cy Lord Ampthil, the G ov ern or of Madra s, v isited the Kuru
Malai Hills in 1901 for hunting, Kuppuswamy sang a song of welcome on the
Kumarapuram railway platform . After the completion of the Matriculation
exam ination, he studied at the S.P.G . College, Tiruchirapalli. In the college he used to
take part in debates and dramas. He played the part of Helena beautifully when
Shakespeare 's "Midsummer Night's Dream" was s taged in 1905.
A fter the completion of th e F irst A rts Exam ination , Kuppuswamy wen t to the Medica l
Sch ool in Tanjore to study med ic in e. H e used to b e trem endously in dustrious and n ev er
7/27/2019 His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati Maharaj.pdf
Chandrabaga river, he met a postmaster and lived with him. He acted as the
postm aster's cook , and w hen the latter arrived hom e in the evening, the doctor w as
ready to shampoo his legs in spite of his remonstrances! It was the postmaster who
suggested Rishikesh when the a sp ir ing doc to r want ed a p lace fo r so lit ary med itat ion .
D r. K uppusw am y reached Rishikesh on the 8th of M ay, 1924. On the 1st of June, 1924,
th ere came His Holin ess Sr i Swam i V isvananda Sara swa ti. The d oc tor saw a Guru in themonk and th e monk saw a Chela (d isciple) in the doctor . A fter a b rief ex ch an ge of w ords ,
D r. Kuppuswamy was initiated into the Sannyas order by Swam i V isvananda. Swam i
Vishnudevanandaji Maharaj , the Mahant of Sri Kailas Ashram , perform ed th e V iraja
H oma cerem onies. The Guru nam ed the doctor Sw am i Sivananda Sarasw ati. Sw am i
V isv ananda wrote the n ecessary in stru ction s ab out Sannyas Dharma from Benar es.
Swami S ivananda ji s tayed a t Swarga shram for Sadhana .
SADHANA
Swam i Siv ananda dressed to cloth e him self, a te to liv e, an d liv ed to serv e human ity. A
sm all dilapidated Kutir (hut), not resorted to by others and infested w ith scorpions,
p rotec ted h im fr om rain and sun. L iv ing in that Ku tir , h e d id in ten se Tapas ( au sterities),
ob serv ed silen ce, a nd fasted . O ften h e fasted for days on end. H e would keep a g ood stock
of bread in his room, and for a w eek have this, together w ith Ganges w ater. H e w ould
stand up to the hips in the ice-cold G anges in w inter m ornings and commence his Japa,
coming out only when the sun appeared. He would spend more than twelve hours in
da ily m editation . W ith a ll his in ten se Tapas, Swam iji d id n ot n eglect serv ice of th e sick .
He v isited th e huts of th e Sadhus w ith med ic in es , serv ed th em , and shampooed th eir leg s.
H e begged food on their behalf and fed them w ith his ow n hands w hen they fell sick . H e
b rought water from th e Ganges and wash ed their Kutirs. H e a tten ded upon ch olera and
small-pox cases. If n ecessa ry, he kept v igil through the n igh t b y th e side of th e b ed of th e
ailin g Sadhu. H e ca rried sic k p erson s on his b ack to th e h ospital. W ith som e mon ey from
his insurance policy that had m atured , Sw am iji started a charitable dispensary at
Lakshmanju la in 19 27. He serv ed th e p ilg rim s and saw Narayana in th em .
Swamiji p ract ic ed a ll t he var ious Yogas and stud ied the sc rip tures. A ft er years o f in ten se
and unbroken Sadhana, h e en joyed the b liss of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. He had come to the
end o f h is sp ir itua l journey .
H e used to g ath er b its of pa per and used envelop es, an d stitch th em in to little n oteb ooks.
H e en tered som e self-in struc tion s in th em . Some of the in struc tion s found in them read
thus: "Give up salt, give up sugar, give up spices , give up vegetables, give up chutnies,
give up tam arind ". In another w e read: Serve Bhangis, serve rogues, serve inferiors,rem ove faecal m atter, clean clothes of Sadhus - take delight , carry water". In another
page: "D o not revenge, resist not evil, return good for evil, bear insult and injury". On
som e neat little pages w e again read: "Forget like a child any injury done by som ebody
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immed ia te ly . Never keep it in the heart . It k indles hat red. Cult ivat e Mait ri (fr iendsh ip ),
Karuna (c ompa ssion ), Daya (mercy) , P rema (lov e), K shama (forg iv en ess) ". In anoth er
paragraph we se e: "Develop good manner s, ex treme polit eness , c ourt esy , et iquet te , g ood
dem eanour, nobility, gentleness, m ildness. N ever be rude, harsh, or cruel. There is
nothing to be hated in the w orld . Hatred is ignorance. A ll contempt for anything or
being must be removed through love and Vichara (enqu iry) ".
Swamiji traveled the whole length and breadth of India during his Parivrajaka
(wander ing monk) life. He v is it ed impor tant p laces o f p ilg rimage in the Sou th , in cluding
Rameswaram . He conducted Sankirtan and d eliv ered lectures. H e v isited Aurobin do
Ashram and met Maharishi Suddhananda Bharati. At Ramana Ashram, he had
Darshan of Sri R amana Maharishi on the Maharishi's birthday. H e sang Bhajans and
danced in ecstasy with the Bhaktas of Ramana. Swamiji went on a trip to Kailas-
Manasarovar and Badri.
THE ORGANIZATION
He returned after the pilgrim age, to Rishikesh , and in the year 1936 sow ed the seed of
The D ivine Life Society on the bank of the holy Ganga. He found an old Kutir ,
dilapidated and disused , w hich looked like an abandoned cow shed. To him it w as m ore
than a palace. It had four 'rooms'. He cleaned the K utir, and occupied it. Then, the
increasing num ber of disciples w ho sought his lotus-feet, undaunted by forbidding
conditions of living, necessitated expansion. They found more cow sheds, vacant, but
un in ha bitab ly filth y. In on e room , an old c owherd was liv in g; th e others w ere full of hay
and dung. In about a year or so, the old cowherd also vacated his 'room ', and the D ivine
L ife a rmy completed th e oc cupa tion. Thu s b egan th e ea rly life of The D iv in e L ife Soc iety .
F rom th is small b eg inning th e Soc iety g rew imperc ep tib ly and it is n ow th e h eadquarters
of a world -w ide Organization having a large number of Branches both within the
country and outside. H e got the D ivine Life Society Registered as a Trust in the year
1936, w ith the ma in objec ts o f d is sem inat ion o f sp ir itua l know ledge and selfles s servic e o f
human ity. The fr ee d istribution of sp iritual literatu re d rew a steady flow of d isc ip les ofSri Swam iji. W ith the getting of able hands, he started the various departm ents of the
Society to prov ide suitab le fields of ac tiv ity for th e p urific ation of th eir h earts and to
grow spiritually . The publication of the monthly journal, 'The Divine Life', was
commenced in Septem ber 1938, to coincide w ith the celebration of his birthday. The
w orld w as in grip of the 2nd w orld -w ar and in order to release a continuous stream of
peace-c urren t in the whole world , to help the distressed m inds of th e p eop le, he sta rted
the Akhanda Mahaman tra K irtan (n on -stop chantin g of the Mahaman tra, Hare Rama
Hare Rama; Rama Rama Hare Hare; H are K rishna Hare K rishna; K rishna K rishnaHare Hare, round -the-clock) on the 3rd of D ecem ber 1943, and also instituted the Lord
Sri V isvanath Mand ir with three -t ime regular worsh ip , daily , on the 3 1st December 1943.
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Swami Sivananda believed in synthesis in everything , in Yoga as well as in the
a llevia tion o f human su ffer ing. The Allopa th ic t reatment was in separab le from h im and
the Soc iety , ev en from th e earliest days of his life at Swargashram. He n ow felt the n eed
to serve the people w ith genuine A yurvedic preparations out of the rare H im alayan
herb s. H e therefore in stituted the Siv ananda Ayurv edic Ph armacy in 1945, which n ow
has grown to such an extent that it is even unable to cope up with the increasing
demands from people .
Swam i Siv ananda org an ized the A ll-w orld R eligion s F ederation on the 28th December
1945 and estab lished the A ll-w orld Sadhus F ed era tion on 19th Feb ruary 1947. T he yea r
1947 saw a great expansion in the activities of the Society. It was the year of the
D iamond Jubilee of the Great Soul, when a number of buildings sprang up. The Yoga-
Vedan ta Forest Academy was esta blish ed in th e y ea r 1 94 8 to g iv e a sy stematic sp iritual
t ra in ing t o the res id en t Sadhaks, and a lso to benefit t he v isit ing se eker s.
Swam i Sivananda undertook a lig htn ing A ll-India and Cey lon (Sri Lanka ) tou r in 19 50 to
deliver his divine message throughout the length and breadth of the country. He
v ir tually awakened the mora l and sp ir itua l con sc iousness in th e heart s o f t he people . The
effect w as trem endous. Since then there w as an incessant flow of seeking souls to the
Ash ram, a s a lso a g rea ter in flow of letters fr om a sp irants from th e en tire c ountry, which
demanded more in ten se d iss em ination o f know ledge. The Yoga-Vedanta Fores t Academy
Press w as established in Septem ber 1951, a pow erful m eans of w ide dissem ination of
know ledge. Sri Sw amiji convened the W orld Parliament of Religions in 1953, at the
Sivanandashram.
The sm all dispensary that w as inseparable from Sw am i Sivananda, grew slow ly and
b ecame regula r Hospita l w ith X -Ray and oth er fac ilities . T he Siv ananda Eye Hospital
was formally opened in December 1957. The Hospital has 10 beds for in-patients at
presen t and is b ein g expanded to h av e 30 b ed s.
The Publication League had published alm ost all the w ritings of the Master and a need
was felt b y h is discip les to do resea rch in h is w orks. T his g av e rise to th e estab lishm en t oft he S ivananda L it erature Research Inst it ut e in 1958, wh ich, among many things , d ec id ed
to g et th e works of th e Master tran sla ted and pub lish ed sy stematic ally in a ll th e reg ional
languages in India . Thus the S .L.D . Committees was established in 1959 which has
Reg iona l Commit tees for each language.
The Society 's Silver Jubilee w as celebrated in 1961, by w hich tim e the Master saw the
fu lfillment o f h is m ission in h is own lifet ime.
Swam i S ivananda radia ted h is d iv in e and lofty messa ge of serv ic e, med ita tion and God-
realization to all parts of the world through his books, running to more than three
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