Shripad Damodar Satwalekar (19 September 1867 – 31 July 1968) was a polymath with interests in painting, social health, Ayurveda, Yoga, and Vedic literature. He was also the founder of the Swadhyay Mandal - A Vedic Research Institute.

Early life and education

Shripad Damodar Satwalekar was born in the Princely state of

Sawantwadi Sawantwadi an aesthetic land of artists, is an integral part of the Konkan region which is in the mid-western coast of India. The western coast of India since 1510 A.D. has assumed great importance in Indian history and history of internationa ...

, now part of

Sindhudurg Sindhudurg Fort (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡ is a historical fort that occupies an island in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Maharashtra in Western India. The fort was built by Shivaji Maharaj.The fortress lies on the sh ...

district in the Present day Indian state of Maharashtra to Damodar Pant and Lakshmi Bai. He attended J J School of Art in Bombay and worked for six months at the same institute as a tutor.

Artistic career

Satwalekar began his career as an artist, painter, and photographer with a studio in the city of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Punjab State Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

. He mainly painted portraits of Maharajas and other prominent personalities of the day. In 1900, he opened his own painting studio in South Hyderabad. He moved to the Princely State of Aundh with a strong patronage offered by the then Maharaja of the State, Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi.

Literary works

Satwalekar was interested in both individual and social health, Ayurveda, Yoga, and Vedas (particularly in the analysis of the Vedas at the level of ''adhibhuta'') and wrote several books on these subjects, including ' *Vaidika Yajña Saṃsthā'', '' *Sparśāsparśa'', '' *Agni-devatā Mantra-saṅgraha'', '' *Indra-devatā Mantra-saṅgraha'', ''Āgama-nibandha-mālā'', '' *Yoga-sādhanā-grantha-mālā'', the '' *Vaidika vyākhyāna-mālā'' series, '' *Subodha Bhāṣya'', etc. * Marathi translation of

Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the book ...

Satyarth Prakash ''Satyarth Prakash'' ( hi, सत्यार्थ प्रकाश, ' – "The Light of Meaning of the Truth" or ''The Light of Truth'') is an 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Dayanand Saraswati (Swami Dayanand), an influential religi ...

*Rigveda Bhaashya Bhoomika by

- Marathi translation *Rigveda Samhita * Atharveda in Hindi. *Sanskrit Svayam Shikshak'' (संस्कृत स्वयं-शिक्षक) - Self-learning book for learners of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

through the medium of

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. These were also available in Hindi and English("Sanskrit Self Teacher"). *Puruṣārtha-Bodhinī-Bhāṣā-Ṭīkā - A four volume Commentary on Bhagavad Gita - S.Rama calls this the best commentary on the Gita by a 20th century author * Translation of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

- The Government of India assigned the task of translating the constituted text of the Mahabharata published by the

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) is located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was founded on 6 July 1917 and named after Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925), long regarded as the founder of Indology (Orientalism) in Ind ...

to Satwalekar. After his death, the task was taken up by Shrutisheel Sharma.

Social work

As early as in 1884, he started an institute for Sanskrit enthusiasts, ''Samskruta Vyaakhyaana Mandala''. He established the ''Vivekavardhini Vidyaalaya'', a public lecture hall, a gymnasium for young people, and so forth. For years he was associated with the Arya Samaj and the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

. At one point of time, he served as a teacher of ''Veda''s and painting at Kangadi Gurukula in Haridwar.

Promoter of yoga and ayurveda

Satwalekar was associated with several social service and outreach activities. He was a proponent of yoga and advised Gandhi on the subject. During his stay in Aundh he worked with the Raja Bhawanrao to promote

Surya Namaskar Sun Salutation, also called Surya Namaskar(a) or Salute to the Sun (), is a practice in yoga as exercise incorporating a flow sequence of some twelve gracefully linked asanas. The asana sequence was first recorded as yoga in the early 20th centu ...

Family

Satwalekar's son, Madhav Satwalekar (1915 – 2006) was also a renowned painter and artist in his own right.

Awards,honors and recognitions

Satwalekar 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 ...

in 1968. He was conferred the Mayo Award twice, once for painting and once for sculpting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Satwalekar, Shripad Damodar 1867 births Writers from Maharashtra Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Year of death unknown People from Ratnagiri district 19th-century Indian photographers 19th-century Indian writers Photographers from Maharashtra Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni