Swami Vishnudevananda was born in 1927, in a village called Kannimangalam in Kerala, South India and named Thankaswamy. He had a scientific mind and was interested in engineering and travelling. He thought he could fulfil these interests by joining the navy. Thus, he went along to enlist, lying about his age(he was only 16) but failed the medical examination. Disheartened, while waiting for his train home, he met an older boy who persuaded him to join the army in Madras. There he was accepted and enlisted into the Engineering Corps.
During his army service, while searching for a lost piece of paper in the bin, he came across a pamphlet "Sadhana Tattwa" by Swami Sivananda.
"An ounce of practice is worth tons of theory" from Sadhana Tattwa
This pamphlet was full of simple and pragmatic wisdom which inspired him to seek out the author. He took two days off and travelled to the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh in the Himalayas.
In India, when you meet a holy person, it is traditional to prostrate, bow down. When he saw Swami Sivananda coming up the steps in his direction, Thankaswamy did not want to prostrate, so he moved out of the way.
On another occasion, he saw Master and his disciples perform arathi(waving the light) and worshipping the Ganges river. Why were they worshipping water? His sceptism was dispelled when he saw the river become a mass of divine light. He realized that everything was sacred.
In august 1947, he received an invitation to attend Swami Sivananda's 60th birthday celebrations. Though he planned to go for a few days, he had a feeling he would not be returning home.One of his duties at the ashram was to take care of the lentils put out to dry in the sun, by keeping away the monkeys. As he was doing this, Swami Sivananda passed by. He looked at Thankaswamy and said "Stay." He immediately replied "Yes Swamiji." Thus, he became the disciple of Master, who initiated him into Brahmacharya, and later in March 1948, he was ordained into Sannyas, with the name
Swami Vishnu-devananda.
The photograph is taken from "Glorious Vision: A pictorial Guide to Swami Sivananda"
by the Divine Life Society.
Traditionally, in hinduism, life is divided into four stages(ashrama).
The first stage is Brahmacharya. A child lives and acquires knowledge and right conduct from the Guru(Gurukula tradition), and practises discipline and control of all the senses as well as celibacy.
The second stage is Grihastha, the life of a householder. This involves marriage, begetting children, taking care of family and society.
The third stage is Vanaprashta, after children have grown up, gradual withdrawing from worldly duties, more time on spiritual practice and preparing for the last stage of life.
The fourth stage is Sannyasa, complete renunciation from worldly life, full commitment to spiritual practice, striving for moksha(liberation) and self-realization.
On becoming a disciple of a Guru, Brahmacharya is the first step followed by Sannyas if the Guru feels the disciple is ready for this.
In this clip from Youtube, you can hear Swamiji talking about his early life. The picture shown does not correlate with the talk! That's a picture of his students in Savasana, relaxation pose.
During his army service, while searching for a lost piece of paper in the bin, he came across a pamphlet "Sadhana Tattwa" by Swami Sivananda.
"An ounce of practice is worth tons of theory" from Sadhana Tattwa
This pamphlet was full of simple and pragmatic wisdom which inspired him to seek out the author. He took two days off and travelled to the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh in the Himalayas.
In India, when you meet a holy person, it is traditional to prostrate, bow down. When he saw Swami Sivananda coming up the steps in his direction, Thankaswamy did not want to prostrate, so he moved out of the way.
"Master saw me and headed in my direction. He asked me who I was and where I was coming from. Then he bowed down and touched my feet!! My whole body began to shake violently. With all my heart, with all my life and love, I learned to bow without any type of reservation. He touched my heart not with miracles or shows of holiness, but with his perfect egoless nature."
This was his first lesson from Swami Sivananda.On another occasion, he saw Master and his disciples perform arathi(waving the light) and worshipping the Ganges river. Why were they worshipping water? His sceptism was dispelled when he saw the river become a mass of divine light. He realized that everything was sacred.
 |
| Swami Vishnu in scorpion |
Swami Vishnu-devananda.
The photograph is taken from "Glorious Vision: A pictorial Guide to Swami Sivananda"
by the Divine Life Society.
Traditionally, in hinduism, life is divided into four stages(ashrama).
The first stage is Brahmacharya. A child lives and acquires knowledge and right conduct from the Guru(Gurukula tradition), and practises discipline and control of all the senses as well as celibacy.
The second stage is Grihastha, the life of a householder. This involves marriage, begetting children, taking care of family and society.
The third stage is Vanaprashta, after children have grown up, gradual withdrawing from worldly duties, more time on spiritual practice and preparing for the last stage of life.
The fourth stage is Sannyasa, complete renunciation from worldly life, full commitment to spiritual practice, striving for moksha(liberation) and self-realization.
On becoming a disciple of a Guru, Brahmacharya is the first step followed by Sannyas if the Guru feels the disciple is ready for this.
In this clip from Youtube, you can hear Swamiji talking about his early life. The picture shown does not correlate with the talk! That's a picture of his students in Savasana, relaxation pose.
No comments:
Post a Comment