Swami Veda Bharati

Swami Veda Bharati (1933- 14 July 2015) was born into a Sanskrit speaking family and raised in the centuries-old Sanskrit tradition. From the age of four he was schooled in traditional learning by his father, beginning with the Sanskrit grammar of Panini. From the age of nine, he was a popular child preacher in Northern India and captivated audiences with the depth of his knowledge and intuitive insight into the Vedas and other texts of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Having never attended any school, he received his B.A. degree from the University of London, an M.A. from the University of London and a D.Litt. from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in consecutive years during the 1960s.
Among the greatest living Sanskritists, he was also fluent in Pali, and spoke most Northern Indian languages, many European languages and read many others. He authored many books and articles in both scholarly and popular publications.
Academic life
Between 1966 and 1973, he was Professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN in the United States where he founded the Meditation Center in collaboration with his guru, Swami Rama. In 1973, he retired from academic teaching to pursue his guru's mission of speaking, teaching and guiding students on every continent. His publications during this period appeared under his secular name, Usharbudha Arya.
Spiritual leadership in India
He was initiated into one of the highest paths of meditation and yoga by his master, Swami Rama of the Himalayas, in 1970. In 1992, Swami Rama initiated him into sannyasa, or Hindu monastic life, giving him the name Swami Veda. In 1999, he was honored by the Swamis of India who conferred upon him the title of Mahamandaleshwar of the Niranjani Akhada, placing him among the top thirty or so swamis of India. The only title taking precedence over that of Mahamandaleshwara is that of Shankaracharya.
He was the spiritual director of the Sadhana Mandir (Swami Rama's Ashram) and of Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, both in Rishikesh, and was spiritual guide of the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Swami Veda lectured on a wide variety of topics and could conduct lectures in ten languages and meditation in seventeen languages.
He was the founder and spiritual guide of the Association of the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International (AHYMSIN) .

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