His Holiness Sri Swami Krishnananda
Saraswati Maharaj
Divine Life
Society Publication: -H.H. Sri Swami Krishnananda
(Birth
Anniversary on April 25)
Born as the eldest son of a
family of six children, on the 25th of April, 1922, he was named as Subbaraya.
He was born in a highly religious and orthodox Brahmin family, well-versed in
the Sanskrit language, the influence of which was very profound on the young
boy. He had his High School education at Puttur (South Kanara Dist., Karnataka
State) and stood first in the class in all the subjects. Not being satisfied
with what was taught in the classroom, he took to earnest self-study of
Sanskrit with the aid of Amara-Kosa and other scriptural texts. He studied and
got by heart the entire Bhagavad Gita when he was still a boy, and he had a
simple way of doing it, that of not taking his morning breakfast or even lunch
unless he memorized a prescribed number of verses, every day. Thus within
months he memorized the whole of the Gita and recited it, in full, everyday.
Such was his eagerness to study scripture. Reading from the Srimad Bhagavata
that Lord Narayana lives in the sacred Badrinath Dham, the young boy literally
believed it and entertained a secret pious wish to go to the Himalayas where
Badrinath is and see the Lord there.
By the study of Sanskrit works
like the Gita, the Upanishads, etc, he was rooted more and more in the Advaita
philosophy of Sankaracharya, though he belonged to the traditional Madhva-sect
which follows the dualistic philosophy. His inner longing for Advaitic
experience and renunciation was growing strong everyday. In 1943, Subbaraya
took up Government service at Hospet in Bellary District, which however did not
last long. Before the end of the same year, he left for Varanasi and there he
studied the Vedas and other scriptures. But the longing for seclusion and the
unknown call from the Master pulled him to Rishikesh, where he arrived in the
summer of 1944. When he met Swami
Sivananda and fell prostrate before him, the saint said: "Stay here
till death; I will make kings and ministers fall at your feet." The young
man who wondered within himself how could this ever happen at all, now realizes
the prophecy of the saint's statement. Swami Sivananda initiated this young Subbaraya
into the holy order of Sannyasa on the sacred day of Makara-Sankranti, the 14th
of January, 1946, and he was named as Swami Krishnananda.
Sri Gurudev found that he was
suitable in his eyes to do works of correspondence, letter writing, writing
messages and even doing some assistance work in compiling books, editing them,
etc. Later on he was given the work of putting into type-written form the
hand-written manuscripts of Sri Gurudev which he used to bring to him everyday.
For instance, the entire two volumes of the Brahma Sutras of Sri Gurudev, which
he wrote in his hand-writing was type-written by Swami Krishnananda. He
confined himself mostly to the literary side and never used to have any kind of
relation with visitors so that people who came from outside never knew he
existed in the Ashram. It was in the year 1948 that Gurudev asked him to do
more work, along the lines of writing books in Philosophy and religion which he
took up with earnestness. It could be safely said that from that year onwards,
he was more absorbed in writing and conducting classes, holding lectures, etc.,
as per instruction of Sri Gurudev. The first book he wrote, 'The Realisation of the
Absolute' in a matter of mere 14 days, is still the best of his, at
once terse, direct and stimulating.
When it became necessary for
the Ashram to co-opt assistance from other members in the work of management,
Swami Krishnananda was asked to collaborate with the Working Committee which
was formed in the year 1957 and at that time it was that he received a position
of Secretary, especially concerned with the management of finance which work he
continued till about the year 1961, when , due to the absence for a protracted
period of Swami Chidananda,
Gurudev nominated him as General Secretary of the Divine Life Society which
position he is associated with till today. It can very safely be recorded that
in the history of the Divine Life Society none ever held, nor is likely to
hold, that responsible and taxing position of General Secretary for more than a
quarter of a Century.
It may be recorded to his
credit, without the fear of the least exaggeration, that it is Swami
Krishnananda, the genius and master of scriptures, who alone has expounded
practically all the major scriptures of Vedanta in the Yoga-Vedanta Forest
Academy of the Society, in the early morning sessions, afternoon classes and
the regular three-month courses, most of which have been brought out in
book-form - authentic commentaries covering the philosophy, psychology and
practice of the various disciplines of Yoga. He is thus the author of nearly
twenty works, each one a master-piece in itself. This, a genius of his caliber
only could do, in the midst of his enormous day-to-day volume of work as the
General Secretary of a vast Institution. He is a rare blend of Karma and Jnana
Yogas, a living example of the Gita-teaching.
Such was his literary skill
and understanding of the entire gamut of the works of Sivananda numbering about
three hundred that he was made the President of the Sivananda Literature
Research Institute, by Sri Gurudev himself, when the Institute was formed on
8th September, 1958. Again it was Swami Krishnananda who was appointed as the
President of the Sivananda Literature Dissemination Committee, which was formed
to bring out translations of Sri Gurudev's works in the major Indian languages,
simultaneously. When Swami Shivapremananda was deputed to the States, Swami Krishnananda
was made the Editor of the Society's official monthly organ, 'The Divine Life'
from September 1961, which he did efficiently for nearly two decades.
He is a master of practically
every system of Indian thought and Western philosophy. "Many Sankaras are rolled into one
Krishnananda," said Sri Gurudev, in a cryptic statement, which he himself
has amplified in his article 'I Marvel at Krishnanandaji'.
Excerpts from:
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