Sivananda Saraswati

Sivananda Saraswati Biography

Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta, born in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He was a physician for several years before he turned to spirituality and Vedanta. He founded The Divine Life Society (1936) and Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and has authored over 200 books. He established Sivananda Ashram, the headquarters of The Divine Life Society near Rishikesh. Through his disciple Swami Vishnudevananda, Sivananda Yoga has been spread throughout the world through Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres run by the Divine Life Society. His disciples were Chidananda Saraswati and Krishnananda Saraswati who carried forward his mission.

He was born in Pattamadai near Tirunelveli on 8 September 1887. His real name was Kuppuswamy born as the third child to his parents. He was excellent in studies and sports at younger age. He attended medical school in Tanjore and ran a medical journal called Ambrosia during this period. After graduation, he took up his career as a physician. He worked in British Malaya for 10 years. Gradually he felt that medicine could cure only physical ailments and mental agony and it prompted him to leave the job in search of spirituality. In 1924 he returned to India and visited Varanasi, Nashik, and Rishikesh.

He met his Guru, Vishwananda Saraswati at Rishikesh who initiated him into the Sannyasa order and given a new name. Thus Sivananda Saraswati settled in Rishikesh. Using the matured insurance money he got, he started a charitable dispensary at Lakshman Jhula in 1927 where he served pilgrims, holy men and the poor. Then he travelled throughout India to meditate at holy shrines and came in contact with spiritual teachers throughout India. He founded the Divine Life Society in 1936 on the banks of the Ganges River. In 1945, he started the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy, and organized the All-world Religions Federation. He established the All-world Sadhus Federation in 1947 and Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948. He called his yoga the Yoga of Synthesis.

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Updated: February 10, 2014