Brahmananda Saraswati

Rajaram was born into a Mishra community in the village of Surhurpur District Ambedkarnagar, near Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, India. He was called Rajaram in his younger days and was also known as Maha Yogiraj. On returning home, he asked his parents for permission to leave home and begin the life of a recluse. His parents wanted him to marry and live the life of a householder and asked their family guru to convince Rajaram to forget his dream of a reclusive life. The family guru, however, was so impressed with Rajaram's advanced state of wisdom and spiritual evolution that he gave up any attempt to change the boy's mind. The parents then also acquiesced and gave their permission for Rajaram to leave. Two days later, Rajaram formally renounced his family life and left his boyhood home in search of solitude in the Himalayas. ==Adult life==

At the age of twenty five, (the later) Svāmī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī emerged from his cave and permanently rejoined his Master at his ashram. At that time, he was ordained into the ascetic order and given the formal name Svāmī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī, that is, Svāmī Brahmānanda of the Sarasvatī branch of the medieval Dashanami Sampradaya monastic order. In 1941, at the age of 70, after repeated requests over a period of twenty years, The appointment of Swami Brahmānanda on 1 April 1941 with the endorsement of Svāmī Bhāratī Kṛṣṇa Tīrtha, the Śaṅkarācārya of Purī and Svāmī Candraśekhara Bhāratī the Śaṅkarācārya of Śṛṅgeri. Śaṅkarācārya Svāmi Brahmānanda Sarasvati was charged with reconstructing the temple and institution at Jyotir Math. Saraswati's leadership was instrumental in re-establishing the Jyotir Math as "an important centre of traditional advaita teaching in northern India". In 1950, President Radhakrishnan is reported to have addressed His Holiness as "Vedanta Incarnate, the embodiment of truth". Five months before his death in 1953, Brahmananda Saraswati made a will naming his disciple Swami Shantānand Saraswati as his successor as Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math monastery. ==Legacy==

The swami is said to have been one of those "rare siddhas (accomplished ones) who had the knowledge of Sri Vidya," Within a decade of becoming Shankaracharya, he accumulated many thousands of disciples and reinforced the concept of the Jyotir Math monastery as an important centre for Advaita philosophy. However, it is the teaching of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that "Individual is cosmic. Individual potential of life is cosmic potential. Individual is divine deep inside. Transcendental experience awakens that divinity in man...It's a human right to live divinity." In 2008, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created a trust fund to support 30,000 Indian Vedic Pandits and named it after Brahmananda Saraswati. Gurudeva developed a modified practice of meditation, suitable to the householder engaged in the affairs of everyday life. This method was spread globally by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Gurudeva is referenced in the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" in the words " Jai Guru Deva", after the group spent some time in Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh. Though they only stayed there a number of weeks and afterwards expressed misgivings about their teacher, he appears to have made a lasting impression on them, especially on George Harrison. The song was later written by John Lennon and shows influences of the use of hallucinogens. Honorifics • His Holiness • Gurudev (meaning "divine teacher") • Maharaj ==References==