His Holiness Padmabhushan Former Jagadguru Shankaracharya Param Gurudev Mahamandaleshwar Swami Satyamitranand Giri Ji Maharaj, 87, who was admitted to a Dehradun hospital last week due to some lungs complications and put on ventilator, was shifted back to his Kutir in Haridwar, after his condition showed no signs of improvement.
Talking to Garavi Gujarat, a close aide of Swamiji said, it was his wish that he spent his last days at his Kutir on the banks of holy river Ganga. ‘Accordingly, we decided to shift him back to the Kutir where all latest medical facilities were erected and the same team of the doctors attending on him in the hospital are now monitoring his health.
Swamiji, who was born on the 19th September 1932, on the day of Ashweeja Krishna Chaturthi, in the city of Agra as Ambika Prasad Pande in a Brahmin family, study in a Sanskrit school in Kanpur, where he studied the language and its literature leading him to a Gurukul which taught him both Hindi and Sanskrit. He studied the Vedas and modern education and passed the M A degree examination at Agra University.
Then he decided to take the path of Sanyasa. In Rishikesh he came into contact with the revered Swami Vedavyasananda, who accepted him as a disciple, conferred Sanyas and named him Satyamitranand.
At the young age of 27 Swamiji accepted the Upapeeth at Jyotirmath and was coronated Jagatguru Shankaracharya, thus becoming the head of a renowned monastery, whereupon his many sided personality came into being in the spiritual and social service of humanity. He travelled far and wide preaching the sacred ideals of Sanatan Dharma. Swamiji in 1969 to free himself from the post of Shankaracharya by immersion in the Ganges punishment Parivrojka Saints and now only as the country – abroad, promotion of Indian culture and spirituality – are engaging in proliferation.
As a Sanyasi, Swamiji continued to serve humanity and lead them to the path of spiritual enlightenment and peace, thus continuing the mission started by Swami Vivekananda.
Travelling to all corners of the world including Africa, England, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Malayasia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Fiji, Mauritius and the Phillipines, where various centres of learning and worship have been established. It’s his gift of a deep spiritual experience and a power of the most effective oratory that has drawn thousands of loving devotees to him.
Samanvaya Kutir at Haridwar and the Samanvaya Sewa Trust have been established by Swamiji. Samanvaya Kutir has many amenities, including a Satsang Bhavan, mobile dispensary, library and residential accomodation with modern facilities. Visitors to the Kutir may study, meditate, learn Yoga and participate in spiritual discourses during their stay. Beside the Samanvaya Kutir, on the banks of the pious Ganges, stands the unique eight storey Bharat Mata Mandir.
