Swami Abhedananda (2 October 1866 – 8 September 1939), born Kaliprasad Chandra, was a direct disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of Ramakrishna Vedanta Math.

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...

sent him to the West to head the Vedanta Society of New York in 1897, and spread the message of

Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; , ), also known as ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six orthodox (Āstika and nāstika, ''āstika'') traditions of Hindu philosophy and textual exegesis. The word ''Vedanta'' means 'conclusion of the Vedas', and encompa ...

, a theme on which he authored several books through his life, and subsequently founded the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

(now

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

) and

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

Early life and education

He was born in north

on 2 October 1866 and was named Kaliprasad Chandra.Biography
''

Belur Math Belur Math () is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is located in Belur, West Bengal, India on the west bank of Hooghly River. Bel ...

'' Official website. His father was Rasiklal Chandra and his mother was Nayantara Devi. In 1884, at the age of 18, while studying for the school final examination under the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, he went to

Dakshineswar Dakshineswar is a neighbourhood in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Autho ...

and met

Sri Ramakrishna Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...

. Thereafter, in April 1885, he left home to be with him, during his final illness, first at Shyampukur and then at Cossipur Garden-house near Calcutta.

Monastic life

After his Master's death in 1886, he plunged into intense sadhana (meditations), by shutting himself up in a room at the

Baranagar Baranagar (Bengali language, Bengali: বরানগর) is a city and a municipality in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area ...

matha A ''matha'' (; , ), also written as ''math'', ''muth'', ''mutth'', ''mutt'', or ''mut'', is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism.

, this gave him the name "Kali Tapaswi" amongst his fellow disciples. After the death of Ramakrishna, he formally became a Sanyasi along with Vivekananda and others, and came to be known as "Swami Abhedananda Puri". For the next ten years, of his life as a monk, he travelled extensively throughout India, depending entirely on alms. During this time he met several famous sages like

Pavhari Baba Pavhari Baba (1798–1898) was a Hindu ascetic and saint. He was born in Premapur, Jaunpur in a Brahmin family. In his childhood he went to Ghazipur to study under the tutelage of his uncle who was a follower of Ramanuja or Shri sect . After ...

Trailanga Swami Trailinga Swami (also Tailang Swami, Telang Swami was a Hindu yogi and mystic who lived in Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditio ...

and Swami Bhaskaranand. He went to the sources of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

and the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

, and meditated in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

. He was a forceful orator, prolific writer,

yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...

and intellectual with devotional fervour. In 1896, Vivekananda was in London, when he asked Abhedananda to join him, and propagate the message of

in the West, which he did with great success. He went to the US in 1897, when Vivekananda asked him to take charge of the

Vedanta Society Vedanta Societies refer to organizations, groups, or societies formed for the study, practice, and propagation of Vedanta, the culmination of Vedas. More specifically, they "comprise the American arm of the Indian Ramakrishna movement" and refe ...

in New York, here he preached messages of Vedanta and teachings of his

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

for about 25 years, travelling far and wide to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Hong Kong. Finally, he returned to India in 1921, after attending the Pan-Pacific Education Conference at

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. Abhedananda was a strict

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

who lectured on the subject. In 1898, he gave a speech on "Why a Hindu is a Vegetarian" to the Vegetarian Society of New York.Stavig, Gopal. (2010). ''Western Admirers of Ramakrishna and His Disciples''. Advaita Ashrama. p. 705. Swami Abbhedananda in his old age

In 1922, he crossed the Himalayas on foot and reached

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, where he studied

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy is the ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system that developed within the religio-philosophical tradition of Buddhism. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and Buddhist logico-episte ...

and

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

. In Hemis Monastery, he claimed to have discovered a manuscript on the lost years of Jesus, which has been incorporated in the book ''Swami Abhedananda's Journey into Kashmir & Tibet'' published by the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math. Years earlier, writer

Nicolas Notovitch Shulim or Nikolai Aleksandrovich Notovich (; August 13, 1858 – after 1934), known in the West as Nicolas Notovitch, was a Crimean Jewish adventurer who claimed to be a Russian aristocrat, spy and journalist. Notovitch is known for his 1894 boo ...

claimed to have found the same manuscript in the same place; however, when philologist

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...

wrote to the monastery to ask for further details, the lama confirmed that no Westerner had visited the monastery in the fifteen years prior, and that no such manuscript existed. Müller concluded that the story was a hoax; other historians agree.Simon J. Joseph, "Jesus in India?" ''

Journal of the American Academy of Religion The ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', formerly the ''Journal of Bible and Religion'', is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The ''JAAR'' was es ...

'' Volume 80, Issue 1 pp. 161-199: "Max Müller suggested that either the Hemis monks had deceived Notovitch or that Notovitch himself was the author of these passages" Friedrich M. Mueller, ''Last Essays'', 1901. (republished 1973). . Page 181: "it is pleasanter to believe that Buddhist monks can at times be wags, than that M. Notovitch is a rogue."Bradley Malkovsky, "Some Recent Developments in Hindu Understandings of Jesus" in the '' Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies'' (2010) Vol. 23, Article 5.:"Müller then wrote to the chief lama st Hemis and received the reply that no Westerner had visited there in the past fifteen years nor was the monastery in possession of any documents having to do with the story Notovitch had made public in his famous book" ... " J. Archibald Douglas took it upon himself to make the journey to the Hemis monistry to conduct a personal interview with the same head monk. What Douglas learned there concurred with what Mueller had learned: Notovitch had never been there."McGetchin, Douglas T., ''Indology, Indomania, and Orientalism'', Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2009, . p. 133: "Faced with this cross-examination, Notovich allegedly confessed to fabricating his evidence." He formed the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society in

in 1923, which is now known as Ramakrishna Vedanta Math. In 1924, he established Ramakrishna Vedanta Math in

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(now

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

). In 1927, he started publishing ''Visvavani'', the monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, which he edited from 1927 to 1938, and which is still published today. In 1936, he presided over the Parliament of Religions at the Town Hall, Calcutta, as a part the birth centenary celebrations of Ramakrishna. He died on 8 September 1939 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving direct disciple of Ramakrishna.Swami Abhedananda Biography
''The

Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a spiritual and philanthropic organisation headquartered in Belur Math, West Bengal. The mission is named after the Indian Hindu spiritual guru and mystic Ramakrishna. The mission was founde ...

Institute of Culture''

Works

* ''Gospel of Ramakrishna'', by Swami Abhedananda. Published by The Vedanta Society, 1907
Online version
* ''Vedanta Philosophy; Three Lectures on Spiritual Unfoldment: Three Lectures on Spiritual Unfoldment'', by Swami Abhedananda. Published by The Vedanta Society, 1901
Online version

''Why a Hindu is a Vegetarian''
by Swami Abhedananda. Published by The Vedanta Society, 1900. * ''How to be a Yogi'', by Swami Abhedananda. Forgotten Books, 1902.

* ''The Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna'', by Ramakrishna, Abhedananda. Published by The Vedanta society, 1903.
''India and Her People''
by Swami Abhedananda. Published by Satish Chandra Mukherjee, 1906. * ''Ideal of Education'', by Swami Abhedananda. Published by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1945
Online version
* ''An Introduction of Philosophy of Panchadasi'', by Swami Abhedananda. Published by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1948
Online version
* ''Abhedananda in India in 1906'', by Abhedananda. Published by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1968. * ''Vedanta Philosophy: Five Lectures on Reincarnation'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, 1907.

* ''Reincarnation'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, 2003. . * ''The Great Saviours of the World'', by Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1957. * ''True Psychology'', by Swami Abhedananda, Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1965. * ''Yoga Psychology'', by Swami Abhedananda, Prajnanananda. Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1967. * ''Complete Works of Swami Abhedananda'', by Abhedananda. Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1970. * ''Doctrine of Karma: A Study in Philosophy and Practice of Work'', by Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Vedanta Pr, 1975.
Online version
* ''Spiritual Teachings of Swami Abhedananda'', by Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1962. * ''Life Beyond Death: A Critical Study of Spiritualism'', by Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Vedanta Pr, 1986. . * ''Science of Psychic Phenomena'', by Swami Abhayananda, Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1987. . * ''Hymn offerings to Sri Ramakrsna & the Holy Mother'', by Swami Abhedananda, Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, Ramakrishna Math. Pub. by Sri Ramakrsna Math, 1988. * ''Journey into Kashmir and Tibet'', by Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Vedanta Pr, 1988. . * ''Path of Realization'', by Swami Abhedananda. Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1994. * ''The Mystery of Death: A Study in the Philosophy and Religion of the Katha Upanishad'', by Swami Abhedananda. Pub. by Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 1996. * ''Vedanta Philosophy: Self-Knowledge Atma-Jnana'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, 1998.
Online version
* ''Ramakrishna Kathamrita and Ramakrishna: Memoirs of Ramakrishna'', by Swami Abhedananda. Vedanta Pr. 1988. . * ''Yogi Thoughts on Reincarnation'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005. . * ''Prana and the Self'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005. . * ''The Complete Book of Vedanta Philosophy'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005. . * ''The Woman's Place In Hindu Religion'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005. . * ''Philosophy of Work: Three Lectures'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
Online version
* ''Divine Heritage of Man: Vedanta philosophy'', by Swami Abhedananda. Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
PDF version
* ''Attitude of Vedanta Towards Religion'', by Swami Abhedananda. READ BOOKS, 2007.
Online version
* ''Amar Jivan-katha'' (Autobiography) (in Bengali), by Swami Abhedananda.

References

External links

* * *
''How To Be A Yogi''
by Swâmi Abhedânanda * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abhedananda, Swami 1866 births 1939 deaths 19th-century Hindu religious leaders 19th-century Indian scholars 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 20th-century Indian scholars Advaitin philosophers Bengali Hindus 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians 20th-century Indian philosophers Indian Hindu monks Indian Hindus Indian memoirists Indian Hindu missionaries Indian vegetarianism activists Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission Neo-Advaita teachers Neo-Vedanta Indian spiritual writers Oriental Seminary alumni Scholars from Kolkata University of Calcutta alumni

Early life and education

Monastic life

Works

Further reading

References

External links