RISHIKESH, INDIA, August 30, 2008: One of the prominent saints of contemporary times, and the President of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, established by Swami Sivananda, Swami Chidananda Saraswati, passed away on August 28th, 2008 at the age of 92 . He was a great Yogi and was a Loyola College, Chennai alumni in his pre-monastic days. He was initiated into Sannyasa in 1949 by the great Master, Swami Sivananda himself.
Swami Chidananda stands out for his exemplary selfless service in the cause of the leper colonies in Rishikesh, and nearby places besides being an ideal preceptor to thousands across the world in his capacity as President of the Divine Life Society for forty years from August 1963 onwards .
“Service before Self” epitomized the entire life of this austere saint, who kept alive the spirit of the ancient Vedantic tradition in these confused and turbulent times much like his own Master Sivananda.
As Swami Chidananda would exhort and inspire his listeners, “To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good : to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second blessedness and a still greater good : but to persevere in the spiritual life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one’s spiritual life, is the greatest good, the crowning blessedness.”
In his death, for which he had left strict instructions for his body to be immersed in the Ganges quickly (Jal Samadhi), and no spectacle be made of in terms of mourning, as in life, Swami Chidananda remained a simple monk, despite being the President of an international organization with centers across the globe, upholding the highest values of India’s monastic traditions