Swami Tejomayananda Saraswati (born 30 June 1950), also known as Guruji and born Sudhakar Kaitwade, is an Indian spiritual leader. He was head of

Chinmaya Mission The Chinmaya Mission is a Hindu religious and spiritual organization engaged in the dissemination of Vedanta, the science of the self as expounded in the Vedas, particularly the Upanishads, and other Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad G ...

from 1994 to 2017, until he was succeeded by Swami Swaroopananda in 2017.

Initiation and disciplehood

After attending couple of talks of

Swami Chinmayananda Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati (born Balakrishna Menon; 8 May 1916 – 3 August 1993) was a Hindu spiritual leader and a teacher. In 1951, he founded Chinmaya Mission, a worldwide nonprofit organisation, in order to spread the knowledge of Advaita ...

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' ( ...

, Sudhakar Kaitwade was inspired to join Chinmaya Mission's residential Vedanta course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai. Upon completing the course in 1975, he was initiated as Brahmachari Vivek Chaitanya and also studied under Swami

Dayananda Saraswati (Arsha Vidya) Swami Dayananda Saraswati (15 August 1930 – 23 September 2015) was a renunciate of the Hindu order of sannyasa, a renowned traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta, and founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam and AIM For Seva. Biography Earl ...

who was conducting the long-term resident course. On 21 October 1983, Swami Chinmayananda initiated him into

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

, bestowing upon him the name Swami Tejomayananda.

The missionary

As the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, Swami Tejomayananda – known in the Mission as Pujya Guruji – has been involved in several projects, including the

Chinmaya International Residential School Chinmaya International Residential School (abbreviated CIRS) is a private school located near Coimbatore in Siruvani, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and d ...

in Coimbatore, the Chinmaya Centre of World Understanding in New Delhi, the

Chinmaya International Foundation Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati (born Balakrishna Menon; 8 May 1916 – 3 August 1993) was a Hindu spiritual leader and a teacher. In 1951, he founded Chinmaya Mission, a worldwide nonprofit organisation, in order to spread the knowledge of Advaita ...

near Cochin, the Chinmaya Heritage Centre in Chennai, the expansion of the Chinmaya Mission Hospital in Bangalore and the Chinmaya Vibhooti Vision Centre near Pune. He has travelled internationally extensively. Throughout his travels, he conducts jnana yajnas (3-7 day Vedanta lecture series) in different cities and various countries every week.

Roles

Swami Tejomayananda has served several roles in Chinmaya Mission, including * Acharya of the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya ashram in

Mumbai, India Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

* Acharya of Chinmaya Mission's center at

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, USA * Head of Chinmaya Mission worldwide

Awards

* Swami Tejomayananda was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, in 2016.

Works

Swami Tejomayananda has published more than 100 books on Vedanta.

References

External links

Swami Tejomayananda's Itinerary

Chinmaya International Foundation Trustees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tejomayananda 1950 births Living people Indian Hindu monks Vedanta Advaitin philosophers 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Marathi people Indian spiritual writers Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in other fields