Swami Smaranananda (25 December 1929 – 26 March 2024) was an Indian senior Hindu monk of the

Ramakrishna Math Ramakrishna Math is the administrative legal organization of the Ramakrishna Order, of Daśanāmi Sampradaya. It was set up by sanyasin disciples of Ramakrishna Paramhansa headed by Swami Vivekananda at Baranagar Math in Baranagar, a place ne ...

and

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 ...

, and its 16th president. He joined the organization in 1952, and was elected president on 17 July 2017.

Early life and education

Smaranananda was born in 1929 in the village of Andami, in the

Tanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

district of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India, to a

Tamil Hindu Tamil Hindus () are the Tamil-speaking people who follow Hinduism. Hinduism was the first religion to reach the ancient Tamil kingdoms. Tamil Nadu is home to one of the largest functioning Hindu temples in the world. Tamil influence was o ...

family with joint identity. He was raised by his aunt, and finished secondary school in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

in 1946.

Religious career

Smaranananda received

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...

from Swami Shankarananda in 1952, and joined the Ramakrishna Order that same year at its Mumbai centre. He was granted vows of

Brahmacharya ''Brahmacharya'' (; Sanskrit: Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य) is the concept within Indian religions that literally means "conduct consistent with Brahman" or "on the path of Brahman". Brahmacharya, a discipline of controlling ...

in 1956 and

Sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

in 1960, both by Swami Shankarananda. In 1958, he was posted to

Advaita Ashrama Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, is a branch of the Ramakrishna Math, founded on 19 March 1899 at the behest of Vivekananda,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 served there for 18 years in various capacities, including some years as assistant editor of

Prabuddha Bharata ''Prabuddha Bharata Or Awakened India'' is an English-language monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, in publication since July 1896. It carries articles and translations by monks, scholars, and other writers on humanities and social science ...

, the English-language journal founded by

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 ...

. In 1976, he became the secretary of the Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, a large educational institution located next to

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 ...

, where he served for nearly 15 years. In 1991, he became the head of

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai is a Monastry, monastic organisation. The motto of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is "For one's own salvation and for the welfare of the world". The math in Chennai is the first branch center of th ...

. In 1983, he was appointed a trustee of the Ramakrishna Math and a member of the governing body of the Ramakrishna Mission. In 1997, he became the general secretary of the organization, and was made a vice-president in 2007. The 15th president, Swami Atmasthananda, took samadhi on 18 June 2017. Swami Smaranananda, who had been the most senior vice president, was elected to the post of president on 17 July 2017. Being the president, he played the role of the spiritual head of the organization and relating to that, he granted spiritual initiation to those who sought spiritual association.

Later life and death

In April 2017, Swami Smaranananda inaugurated a toy train at an event at Belur Math. The toy train will pick up and take people around the Math campus. However, the service was discontinued. As of 2024, the service has not resumed, and there have been no official announcements regarding its revival. In December 2017, he opened the newly renamed headquarters building of the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur Math, now named for its first general secretary,

Swami Saradananda Saradananda (23 December 1865 – 19 August 1927), also known as Swami Saradananda, was born as Sarat Chandra Chakravarty in 1865, and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. He was the first Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math ...

. Srimat Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj attained Mahasamadhi (died) on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, at 8:14 pm at the Ramakrishna Mission Sevapratishthan, Kolkata at the age of 94.

Works

* ''Musings of a Monk'' (): This book is a collection of 68 articles on a variety of subjects, from spiritual writings to a travelog of his many trips around India and to the west. ** ''Smriti Smaran Anudhyan'' (): Bengali version of the book ''Musings of a Monk''.

References

External links

Belurmath.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smaranananda, Swami 1929 births 2024 deaths Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order Indian Hindu monks Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission People from Thanjavur district