Swami Rudrananda

Swami Rudrananda Biography

Swami Rudrananda was a Hindu monk and direct disciple Swami Shivananda. He was associated with Ramakrishna Mission. Muthukrishnan was his real name, and he hailed from Thanjavur. Kalki Krishnamurthy was his childhood friend. He is also known for his efforts to merge Sangam and Ramakrishna Mission into a single organization, which resulted in wide protests. But the founder of the Sangam, Sadhu Kuppuswami, supported Rudrananda. He spent his last years in Fiji, spreading the mission and ideologies of his guru and Ramakrishna Mission.

He was born Muthukrishnan into a Hindu family in Tamil Nadu. He was born on April 11, 1901 in Manalmedu village in Thanjavur district. He was born as the eldest son of Kothandaraman and Bhagyam. Since young he got drawn towards social service and activists, and was also interested in politics. He was deeply influenced by the poems of Subramanya Bharathi and spirituality of Swami Vivekananda. When Mayavaram faced a flood in 1923, Saints from Ramakrishna Mission reached the local areas for relief measures, and he too took participation in relief activities. He worked as a local person who can communicate and interact between local people and saints from Bengal.

Very soon he decided to join Ramakrishna Order at the age of 25. His mother supported his mission. He was sent to Fiji by the Ramakrishna Mission in 1939. Swami Rudrananda was fondly called as "Sarkkari Sami" by people. He closely worked with workers in sugarcane factory. That’s how he earned this name. He also opened many schools in Fiji. He also served as an editor for Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam magazine for a brief period. He has also been associated with publications belonging to different languages.

Published: September 01, 2018

Updated: September 01, 2018