Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

Niranjanananda Saraswati (born 14 February 1960) is the successor of

Satyananda Saraswati Satyananda Saraswati (25 December 1923 – 5 December 2009), was a Sanyasi, yoga teacher and yoga guru in both his native India and the West. He was a student of Sivananda Saraswati, the founder of the Divine Life Society, and founded the Bihar ...

, founder of Satyananda Yoga, who passed on the worldwide coordination of Satyananda Yoga to Niranjanananda in 1988. He is Born

Kayastha Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Ka ...

family in

Rajnandgaon Rajnandgaon is a city in Rajnandgaon District, in the state of Chhattisgarh, India. the population of the city was 163,122. Rajnandgaon district came into existence on 26January 1973, as a result of the division of Durg district. History Or ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Niranjanananda is considered by his followers to be a yogi from birth. He was named 'Niranjan' (the Untainted One) by his guru Satyananda. He began his training at

Bihar School of Yoga The Bihar School of Yoga is a modern school of yoga founded and developed by Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati in Munger, Bihar, India, in 1963. The system of yoga taught at the school is recognized worldwide as Bihar Yoga or the Satyananda Yoga ...

in India at the age of four through the use of yoga-nidra and practice of other yoga techniques. At the age of ten, he was initiated as a

sannyasi ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), '' grihastha'' (householder) and '' vanaprastha ...

and thereafter for eleven years he lived overseas. From 1971, he extensively toured Europe and North and South America. This experience gave him an understanding of the Western mind and society. In 1983 he returned to India and was appointed the Head of Bihar School of Yoga. For the next eleven years, he spearheaded the research and development activities at Ganga Darshan, Shivananda Math and the

Yoga Research Foundation Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of Asana, physical, mental, and Spirituality#Asian traditions, spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with Yoga (philosophy), its own philosophy in History of India, ancient India, aime ...

. In 1990, he was initiated in the tradition of

Paramahamsa Paramahamsa (Sanskrit: परमहंस), also spelled paramahansa or paramhansa, is a Sanskrit religio-theological title of honour applied to Hindu spiritual teachers who have become enlightened. The title literally means "supreme swan". The ...

and in 1993 he was chosen as the spiritual successor of Satyananda. In 1993, he organised a World Yoga Convention on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the sannyasa of his guru. In 1994, he established Bihar Yoga Bharati as the centre for higher studies in the field of yoga. He founded Yoga Publication Trust in 2000. In 2009, following the mandate of his Guru, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, he relinquished and renounced all administrative responsibilities and institutional posts. Swami Niranjanananda now lives as an independent sannyasin, following the lifestyle and sadhanas of a paramahansa sannyasin. From 2013, following in the tradition of his Guru, Swami Niranjanananda is performing the arduous panchagni tapasya or austerity, and other sadhanas and yajnas as elucidated in the Kathopanishad, Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya Upanishads. He was given the third-highest civilian award of the country,

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') 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 Januar ...

, in 2017 for distinguished service of high order in the category/field of prominence of Others (Yoga).

Publications

has published several books by Swami Niranjananda. These include: * ''Jnana Yoga'' * ''My Inheritance of Sannyasa'' * ''The Yoga of Sage Vasishtha'' * ''The Yoga of Sri Krishna'' * ''Yoga in Daily Life'' * ''Dharma of a Disciple'' * ''Head, Heart & Hands'' * ''Karma & Karma Yoga'' * ''Mantra & Yantra'' * ''Mind, Mind Management & Raja Yoga'' * ''Origin of Yoga & Pashupata Yoga'' * ''The Paths of Pravritti & Nivritti'' * ''Sannyasa'' * ''On the Wings of the Swan'' (four volumes) * ''Yoga Sadhana Panorama'' (five volumes) * ''Prana Pranayama'' * ''Yoga Chudamani Upanishad'' * ''Gheranda Samhita'' * ''Dharana Darshan'' * ''Sannyasa Darshan'' * ''Yoga Darshan''

References

External links

* http://www.yogapoint.com/info/swamiji2.htm * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amPz09I401Q {{DEFAULTSORT:Niranjanananda Indian yoga teachers 20th-century Hindu religious leaders 21st-century Hindu religious leaders 1960 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in other fields