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THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETYSECTION - 1Sri Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj was inhis pre-sannyasa yearsDr.V.Kuppuswami of Pattamadai,Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India. Hewas serving as a medical doctor in Malaya,when he got he inspiration to seek God andserve humanity.He was initiated into Sannayasa by SwamiVishwanandaji of Hrishikesh in 1924. Afterlong spells of Tapasya and a life ofParivrajaka, came the intense teachingperiod. He taught, yoga, Vedanta andbhajans to seekers through, lectures,satsanghs, radio talks, pamphlets, books andjournals. The movement gatheredmomentum, spread countrywide. The DivineLife Movement, the sole purpose of whichwas to divinise the lives of human beings asinstructed by our ancient rishis, saints andmonks was born in 1938.Swamiji was a prolific writer. He wrote morethan 200 books on yoga, vedanta and IndianCulture between 1929 and 1963 when heshed his body. His books includedcommentaries on the Bhagawad Gita, thePrincipal Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras,Patanjali’s Yoga Sustras, and Narada’sBhakti Sutras; scores of books on thepractice of yoga and Vedanta; and manyvolumes on health and vigour. He wrotepoetry, drama, letter and essay, story andparable, aphorism and lecture-all media wereadapted by him to spread the knowledge ofDivine Life.Then he started the great taskof training disciples.Sivananda inspired his students by the forceof his own personal example. His life wasan open book, all could see him, humble,serving, praying, singing kirtan, bathing inthe Ganga, prostrating to everyone,remembering God always, cheerful all thetime, not attaching importance to worldlyhappenings and living in the spirit of theMahawakya Tat Twam Asi (Thou Art That).His students learnt many things just byobserving their Master.Swami Sivanandaji gave sannyasa liberallyto people, creating a large band of sannyasidisciples who are manning the Divine Lifesociety in hundreds of its branches all overIndia. His disciples were of great eminence.Swami Chidananda, Sri Krishnananda,Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Satyananda,Swami Purushottamananda, SwamiNirmalananda, Swami Omkarananda, SwamiVenkatesananda, Swami Sivapremananda,Swami Pranavananda, SwamiVishudevananda, Swami Gnanananda,Swami Jotirmayananda and others becamemasters in their own right and establishedashramas and spiritual centres in India,Australia, South Africa, America, Europeand other places.Today the Divine Life Society and its offspringshave become together a world wide movementbringing peace, enlightenment and happinessto millions, through lectures, personal trainingand publications. This has kept alive the eternalmessage of Sanatana Dharma, SamarthaBharata’s gift to humanity.(from Divine Life Society Publications)SAMARTHA BHARATA 22