Dhanashree Talwalkar (née Jayshree Athwale) also known as ''Didiji'', which literally translates as elder sister in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, is an Indian philosopher, spiritual leader,

social reform Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...

er. She has represented Swadhyay and

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...

at different conferences. Dhanashree Talwalkar is the daughter and spiritual heir of

Pandurang Shastri Athavale Pandurang Shastri Athavale (19 October 1920 – 25 October 2003), also known as Dada /Dadaji ("elder brother"), was an Indian activist, philosopher, spiritual leader, social revolutionary, and religion reformist, who founded the Swadhyaya Pariv ...

(Dadaji), a philosopher, social scientist, and founder of the Swadhyay (pronounced ‘swaadhyaay’) Parivar (meaning family). She is the leader of “Silent but Singing” Swadhyay movement. At the age of 20, she conducted the first “Geetatrayah” – a three-day overview of Bhagvad Geeta - reciting, translating and explaining applied philosophy of "Bhagvad Geeta - Divine Song of the Lord Krishna". Since then, she has conducted numerous Geetatrayah. She was awarded the Lokshikshak Award by Apte Guruji Smarak Trust. In 2002, she spoke at a symposium organized by the New York-based World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), and was the only invitee to represent Hinduism to speak at the World Conference on Peace, organized by Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.

Personal life

She was married to Shrinivas Talwalkar (Raosaheb) (died 18 January 2021).

References

Living people 20th-century Indian philosophers Indian women philosophers Indian Hindu spiritual teachers Indian social reformers 1957 births 20th-century Indian women {{philosopher-stub