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Brahmananda Saraswati
About

Brahmananda Saraswati, also known as Guru Dev, was a spiritual teacher and the Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math monastery in India. He was born into a Brahmin family in Surhurpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1871. At the age of nine, he left home in search of a spiritual master and became a disciple of Svāmī Krsnānanda Sarasvatī at the age of fourteen. He was initiated into the order of Sannyas at the age of 34 and became the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math in 1941 at the age of 70. His disciples included Swami Shantanand Saraswati, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Svāmī Swarūpānanda Sarasvatī, and Swami Karpatri. Brahmānanda made a will naming Shantānand as his successor five months before his death in 1953.

Work Done

Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math monastery, was a rare accomplished sage with extensive knowledge of Sri Vidya and was known for his Advaita philosophy. Within a short span of time, he garnered a vast following and reinforced the importance of Jyotir Math as a center for Advaita philosophy.

In 1979, during the Malnak v. Yogi case, it was found that TM teachers offered obeisances to a "deified Guru Dev" during the puja ceremony before imparting mantras to students. However, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi emphasized the concept that every individual is divine and that transcendental experience can awaken that divinity within oneself. He believed that it was the right of every human being to experience that divinity.

Gurudeva developed a modified practice of meditation that was suitable for householders engaged in daily affairs, and this method was propagated globally by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 2008, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi established a trust fund in the name of Brahmananda Saraswati to support 30,000 Indian Vedic Pandits.

 

 

 

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