A brief Biography of Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Swami Sivananda Saraswati was one of the greatest spiritual beacons of twentieth-century India. Born on September 8, 1887, he exhibited from the first a total dedication to the welfare of all those around him. Eventually this manifested in the form of a medical degree and a practice devoted utterly to the alleviation of physical suffering with no thought of profit or personal comfort.

This dedication to others expanded into a spiritual fervor that stimulated him to take up the monastic life for the enlightenment and spiritual welfare of the world. After wandering around India in the traditional manner of a sannyasi, he settled in the holy city of Rishikesh in the Himalayan foothills in 1924. Quickly the young sadhu became the focus of unreserved admiration from his fellow sadhus, many of whom he nursed through illness and infirmity, gathering food daily from many sources in order to feed those too feeble to seek out their own food.

In 1932 he started Sivanandashram, and in 1936 the Divine Life Society that was destined to be come a worldwide source of spiritual uplift to mulititudes of all lands. Swami Sivananda wrote over three hundred books and printed many periodicals--all on spiritual life and aimed at all classes of people whatever their level of development might be.