Author Description

When I started writing Swami Swahananda: A Profile in Greatness in 2013, many sadhus as well as devotees and disciples of Maharaj showed interest in being part of that holy journey of reflecting on his life. Initially I wrote down just a few of my memories, but as I continued, the writing grew to become a book in its own right. Thus a second volume was needed to do justice to the invaluable recollections by sadhus, devotees, and other disciples who had known Swami Swahananda. It fills me with joy that the same driving force of the first book is present in the vision, love, and devotion expressed in the recollections gathered here. Each one offers his or her own view of Swami Swahananda, not unlike the lila of Lord Krishna in which each gopi saw him uniquely and regarded him as her own. Swami Swahananda allowed each person to serve and interact with him according to his or her inclination, not accepting their service personally but always turning it over to Thakur. The result is a wonderful book, differently composed than the first. It includes reminiscences by some seventy sadhus and devotees—a small percentage of the many people whose lives were touched by Swami Swahananda, yet enough to be representative of them. I am grateful to Asit Chakrabarti for permission to include his Bengali biography of Swami Swahananda, Ek Ananya Sadharan Jiban, in this book and to Swami Atmajnanananda for translating it. As President Maharaj said in his blessing message in the first book, anyone who reads the book will be brought into contact with Swami Swahananda, elevating the reader to a higher spiritual plane. I am sure that readers will benefit equally from spending time in the pages of this companion book, with the blessings of Thakur, Ma, Swamiji, and Swami Swahanandaji. – Malay Das