A participant and a link in the illustrious guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student tradition) of the rishis, Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati is a traditional and contemporary teacher of Vedanta. Contrary to popular belief, Swamiji asserts that, “Vedanta is not only for sanyaasis or sadhus but very much for people who are living life to the fullest and who want more from life.” For the last 25 years, Swamiji, armed with this belief, has reached out to different groups of people– students of Vedanta, seekers, youth, corporates, professionals etc. With no compromise on traditional teaching, Swamiji does recognize that `different folks need different strokes’, and tailors his programmes accordingly to suit corporates, spiritual unfoldment classes, spiritual enhancement camps, and spiritual retreats in and around Mumbai.
Swamiji has conducted workshops and training programmes for companies like Hindalco and Grasim, Tata Infotech, Voltas, Essar Shipping, and Tata Liebert, multinationals include Siemens, Countrywide GE. In the government sector, he has run programmes for the Indian Navy, Airport Authorities of India, Indian Oil, National Association of direct taxes, insurance companies etc. He has lectured bank training colleges, schools and colleges in Mumbai, senior citizen Groups, Moral Re-armament Centre, Panchgani, Tata Institute of Social Sciences on various topics regarding personal growth, philosophy and management . Swamiji also conducts courses in Indian Ethos and Management for Bachelor of Management Studies, BMS and MBA students.
Swamiji is affiliated to various organisations; he is the founder of the Aarsha Vidya foundation, a non-profit trust to further the knowledge of Vedanta and organise activities aimed for fulfilling social responsibilities. He is a member of the Medical Ethics Committee of Jaslok Hospital, one of the premier hospitals in Mumbai. He is also a life member of the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, a reputed institution for the spread of Indian philosophy and culture, and a member of the Universal Martial Arts Research Centre, India.
Swamiji is in fact proof that spirituality is not limiting but liberating; for over 30 years, Swamiji has taken an active interest in martial arts (Karate, Shaolin tradition of martial arts and Tai Chi Chuan). He speaks as authoritatively on political conditions, the latest technological advances etc as he does on spirituality. Contrary to the popular image of grim, solemn-looking people associated with spirituality, Swamiji is a fun-loving person with an infectious zest for life.
Formerly a marine engineer, Swamiji studied the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Brahmasutras and other scriptures under H.H. Swami Dayananda Saraswatiji at the Sandeepany Sadhanalaya (Chinmaya Mission Ashram) at Powai, Mumbai. As a youth, he was inspire
various traditional teachers like Swami Tarananda Giri and Swami Hari Hara Teertha. For seven years, from 1979 onwards, he adopted the lifestyle of an austere monk in an ashram in Rishikesh, where he studied Vedic and non-Vedic schools of thought and also an analytical study of Sanskrit through Panini Sutras. He has also studied the various schools of Indian and Western philosophy including yoga and ancient Indian scriptures like the Bhagwat Gita, the Upanishads and the Brahma-Sutras.
The following, and other updates of this blog, are a transcription of Swamiji’s teachings of the Gita.