Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati was born  in 1887. After serving as a medical doctor in Malaya, he renounced his practice to search for his Guru in the foothills of the Himalayas. He settled in the sacred valley of Rishikesh and was initiated into the Dashnami Sannyasa tradition in 1924 by Swami Vishwananda Saraswati.

Sri Swami Sivananda wrote hundreds of books and articles on yoga and spirituality to maintain and introduce yogic values to the general public. His emphasis was on bringing the spiritual and yogic teachings to all without distinction, for health, peace of mind or spiritual upliftment.

Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati’s teachings inspired people across the globe to practice yoga and lead a divine life. He founded the Divine Life Society at Rishikesh in 1936, the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy in 1945, the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy in 1948 and the Sivananda Eye Hospital in 1957 and attained Maha Samadhi on 14th July 1963.

 

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati was born in 1923 at Almora, Uttaranchal. At the age of six, Sri Swamiji began to have spiritual experiences. During his early childhood many saints and sadhus blessed him, including Anandamayi Ma, and foretold that he would have a very developed awareness. Sri Swamiji also met a tantric bhairavi, SukhmanGiri, who taught him tantric practices and directed him to find a guru in order to stabilize his spiritual experiences.

In 1943, at the age of 20, he renounced his home and went in search of a guru.  This search ultimately led him to Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati at Rishikesh, who initiated him into the Dashnam Order of Sannyasa on 12th September 1947 and was given the name of Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

Through his total communion and surrender to the guru, Sri Swami Satyananda gained an enlightened understanding of the secrets of spiritual life and became an authority on yoga, tantra, Vedanta, Samkhya and kundalini yoga. In 1956, Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati taught him kriya yoga and gave him the mandate and mission to “spread yoga from door to door and shore to shore”.

From 1963 to 1982, Sri Swamiji took yoga to each and every corner of the world, to people of every caste, creed, religion and nationality. He inspired millions of seekers in different countries.

Sri Swami Satyananda was a pioneer of yoga as he presented techniques of pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, asana, pranayama, mudra and bandha in such a methodical and simple manner that it became possible for everyone to experience their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development.

He authored many books on yoga, which are accepted as textbooks in schools and universities throughout the world. At the peak of his accomplishment, Sri Swami Satyananda appointed Swami Niranjanananda as his successor and gave him the mandate to continue the work. Sri Swami Satyananda then gradually withdrew from all activities and in 1988, he left the Bihar School of Yoga, Munger to begin a new phase of his life as a sannyasin.

Sri Swami Satyananda arrived at Rikhia on 23rd September 1989, at mid-day, the day of vernal equinox, when nature is in perfect balance as the day and night are equal. Here he began a life of intensive spiritual practice, entering the lifestyle of paramahamsa. In 1991, Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati was guided by a new inspiration: service to and improvement of the living conditions of the tribal people in the thousands of villages surrounding Rikhiadham.

In 2007, Sri Swamiji announced the formation of Rikhiapeeth as an ashram where the three cardinal teachings of Sri Swami Sivananda – serve, love and give – were to be practiced and lived. In 2009, after participating in and giving darshan during Sat Chandi Mahayajna and Yoga Poornima where Sri Swamiji inspired everyone to lead the righteous life, he entered into Mahasamadhi on the midnight of 5th December and merged into Shiva consciousness.

 

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati was born in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh in 1960. Guided by his guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, from birth, at the age of four he came to live with him at the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger where he received training in yogic and spiritual sciences through yoga nidra.

In 1971 he was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa. For eleven years he lived overseas, mastering skills in varied areas, acquiring an understanding of different cultures and helping propagate yoga in Europe, Australia, North and South America.

At the behest of his guru, he returned to India in 1983 to guide the activities of Bihar School of Yoga, Sivananda Math and the Yoga Research Foundation at Ganga Darshan. In 1990 he was initiated as a paramahamsa sannyasin and in 1995 anointed spiritual preceptor in succession to Swami Satyananda Saraswati. He established Bihar Yoga Bharati, the first university of yoga, in 1994 and the Yoga Publications Trust in 2000 in Munger. He also initiated a children’s yoga movement, Bal Yoga Mitra Mandal, in 1995. In addition to inspiring the activities at Munger, he traveled extensively to guide seekers around the world.

In 2008 he relinquished the presidency of the Bihar School of Yoga and all institutional responsibilities were handed to the next generation of yoga sevaks. Before his Mahasamadhi in 2009, Sri Swami Satyananda gave Swami Niranjanananda the mandate to explore the sannyasa lifestyle and to revive and expound the classical yoga vidya. Author of many classic books on yoga, tantra and the upanishads, Swami Niranjan is a magnetic source of wisdom on all aspects of yogic philosophy, practice and lifestyle. He ably combines tradition with modernity as he continues to nurture and spread his guru’s mission from his base in Munger town.

In 2017, he was awarded the third highest civilian award of India, the Padma Bhushan, by the President of the Republic of India for meritorious work in yoga.

 

Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati, popularly known as Swami Satsangi, was born in 1953, in the town of Chandernagore, West Bengal, India. After a series of inner awakenings at an early age she began seeking a life of renunciation and sannyasa, which led her to her guru, Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati. She was initiated into the Dashnami tradition of sannyasa on July 6, 1982 at Ganga Darshan, Munger.

<p>Swami Satsangi traveled extensively and ceaselessly with Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati on his tours in India and abroad, which gave her immense exposure and deep insight into the yogic and tantric traditions as well as modern sciences and philosophies. A truly inspirational teacher and gifted writer, Swami Satsangi is the author of major texts on yoga and tantra, such as Sri Vijnana Bhairava Tantra: The Ascent, Karma Sannyasa, Light on the Guru and Disciple Relationship and her latest, The Descent, a commentary on Adi Guru Shankaracharya’s famous poem of divine ecstasy, Sri Saundarya Lahari. One of her most acclaimed books, Tattwa Shuddhi: The Tantric Science of Inner Purification, outlines an essential practice for inner experience which she herself developed and presented. Her ability to articulate ancient teachings from yogic, tantric and vedic texts and bring these into a modern context makes Swami Satsangi an ideal teacher to transmit the wisdom of her guru’s teachings.

On January 1st 2007, she was appointed as the Peethadhishwari of Rikhiapeeth by Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Presently she resides at Rikhia, and is dedicated to implementing Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati’s three precepts of serve, love and give, working tirelessly for the material and spiritual upliftment of the local community, who are the neighbors of her guru. She travels nationally and internationally carrying the light of Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati’s and Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s teachings to all.