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| Editor | Ramakrishna Order |
|---|---|
| Categories | spiritual, religious, cultural |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Ramakrishna Math, Chennai |
| First issue | September 1895 |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Website | http://www.chennaimath.org/estore/magazine-subscriptions/the-vedanta-kesari |
| ISSN | 0042-2983 |
The Vedanta Kesari (The Lion of Vedanta) (formerly Brahmavadin) is an English language monthly magazine covering spiritual and cultural issues, published by the Ramakrishna Math in Chennai, India, since 1895.
Under the inspiration of Swami Vivekananda, a group of his disciples in Madras, which included G. Venkataranga Rao, M.C. Nanjunda Rao and Alasinga Perumal, started on 14 September 1895 a monthly journal bearing the title Brahmavadin.
One of Swamiji's letters to Alasinga read: "I learnt from your letters the bad financial state that Brahmavadin is in." Swamiji repeatedly said, "The Brahmavadin is a jewel-it must not perish!". It continued to be brought out regularly for 14 years, until Alasinga's demise in 1909. From 1909 to 1914, the publication of Brahmavadin became quite irregular. The last issue was brought out in 1914 (March–April).
Soon after, the Brahmavadin's legacy was continued by a new journal, The Vedanta Kesari, started by Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai, and has been in circulation ever since.
The Vedanta Kesari is one of India's oldest English language religious magazines, having been published for 106 years as of 2019. It has a monthly circulation of over 12,000 copies, of which over 2000 go to public and institutional libraries across India. The magazine has subscribers in 27 countries.[ citation needed ]
The Vedanta Kesari contains articles on Indian spiritual traditions and scriptures, focusing on the philosophy of Vedanta as expounded by Swami Vivekananda, the disciple of Ramakrishna, a nineteenth century Indian mystic. There are articles based on the teachings of Ramakrishna, as well as a section on book reviews of books on similar topics. The stated aim of the magazine is to promote a spiritual and matured outlook towards life. It advocates renunciation of selfish desires, along with the service to others in a spirit of worship-fulness.[ citation needed ]
Most articles published in the Vedanta Kesari are originally written for the magazine, though a few transcriptions of the lectures and speeches are also published.[ citation needed ]
Many scholars have contributed to Vedanta Kesari over time. Its contributors include John Woodroffe, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, C. Rajagopalachari, T.L. Vaswani, K.M. Munshi, Karan Singh, Dalai Lama and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Many monks of the Ramakrishna Order also contribute to the magazine.[ citation needed ]
Since 1978, the magazine has been regularly bringing out an annual issue centred on a particular theme. Some of its popular theme-based issues published so far are: Yoga and its Aspects, Values for the Present Age, Globalization, Religion Today, Culture and Civilization, Channeling Youth Power, Nurturing Inter - personal Relationship, Upanishads in Daily Life, among others. Many of these numbers have later been made into books and published by the Ramakrishna Math.
Some of the well-known books published from the Math were originally serialized in the Vedanta Kesari. Among such are included such popular volumes such as Upanishad Series (Sanskrit, with English translation by Swami Sharvananda), Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master (by Swami Saradananda), Bhakti Schools of Vedanta (by Swami Tapasyananda), and so on.
From May 1914 to April 1928, the magazine had no official editor. The April 1926 issue stated: "Swami Sharvananda who has been the President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in Madras since 1911 and has been editing the Vedanta Kesari from its very start is retiring from work after nineteen years of strenuous labour. He means to lead at present a life of perfect solitude and retirement.
"Swami Yatiswarananda who has been in charge of the Ramakrishna Ashrama in Bombay for nearly the last two years has come over to take charge of the Math and Mission in Madras. He has spent eight years of his monastic life in South India and has an intimate knowledge of several of its parts. He is the late editor of the Prabuddha Bharata and is well known for his scholarship and literary abilities. He was also intimately connected with the editorial work and the publication of the Vedanta Kesari for a long period. Our Journal will appear under his editorship from May next. All official correspondence must hereafter be addressed to him. We pray to the Lord to crown his work with complete success.'
1928 May onwards, The Vedanta Kesari started printing the names of the editors. It would mention both the names (president of Madras Math and the actual editor) as 'Editors'. September 1993 onwards, nomenclature was changed over to 'Managing Editor & Editor'
| × | Period | Editor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 1928 to April 1931 | Br. Jnana chaitanya (Swami Tejasananda) |
| 2 | May 1931 to April 1939 | Swami Tapasyananda |
| 3 | May 1939 to April 1941 | Swami Vimalananda |
| 4 | May 1941 to April 1942 | Prof. PN Srinivasachar |
| 5 | May 1942 to November 1948 | Swami Nityabodhananda |
| 6 | December 1948 to September 1951 | Swami Kailasananda |
| 7 | October 1951 to July 1956 | Swami Budhananda |
| 8 | August 1956 to April 1962 | Swami Swahananda |
| 9 | May 1962 to April 1967 | Swami Paratparananda |
| 10 | May 1967 to July 1971 | Swami Kailasananda |
| 11 | August 1971 to September 1979 | Shri R. Ramakrishnan |
| 12 | October 1979 to December 1986 | Shri CS Ramakrishnan |
| 13 | January 1987 to December 1997 | Swami Tyagananda |
| 14 | January 1998 to December 2000 | Swami Brahmeshananda |
| 15 | January 2001 to March 2004 | Swami Baneshananda |
| 16 | April 2004 to July 2016 | Swami Atmashraddhananda |
| 17 | August 2016 to December 2022 | Swami Mahamedhananda |
| 18 | Since January 2023 | Swami Divyakripananda |
Swami Yatiswarananda was a vice-president of Ramakrishna Order, whose headquarter is in Belur Math. He was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda, a brother disciple of Swami Vivekananda and a direct disciple and spiritual son of Ramakrishna. He served in Philadelphia propagating the message of Vedanta. He was the president of Bangalore centre of Ramakrishna Math. He founded an ashrama in Switzerland.
Swami Virajananda, born Kalikrishna Bose, was an initiated disciple of Sarada Devi and the sixth president of the Ramakrishna Order. Born as the son of Trailokyanath Bose and Nishadkalidevi, Virajananda was the first person to join the Ramakrishna Order after the direct disciples of Ramakrishna. In 1897, he was initiated into sannyasa by Vivekananda. From 1899 onward he served in Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati and became its president in 1906. He is recognised as a monastic disciple of Vivekananda.
Swami Tapasyananda (1904-1991) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was born in the Palat family of Ottapalam in Kerala, in 1904. His pre-monastic name was K. P. Balakrishnan Menon. In 1921, when he was just 17 years old, he met Swami Brahmananda- a direct disciple and spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna, in Chennai. He received Mantra-Diksha from Swami Shivananda in 1924, and joined the Order in 1926, at 22 years age after completing in post graduation. In 1932, he received Sannyasa from Swami Shivananda. He was a disciple of Swami Shivananda, one of the eminent disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The Swami was a vice-president of the Ramakrishna Order from 1985-1991, giving Mantra-Diksha to a large number of devotees. He was an erudite scholar in Indian and Western philosophy. He has to his credit many books in English, including the translations of many scriptures. His translation of Bhagavata Purana in four volumes has been highly acclaimed in intellectual and devotional circles. He was the president of Ramakrishna Math, Chennai from 1971-1991. Swamiji was well known for his austere life and intuitive intellect. His deity was Lord Khrishna and he practiced spiritual activity as told by his Guruji. He was a prolific writer. Some of the books authored by him are listed below. He translated many Hindu classics into English from original Sanskrit. He founded Ramakrishna Mission Hospital at Thiruvananthapuram.
Paramananda (1884–1940) was a swami and one of the early Indian teachers who went to the United States to spread the Vedanta philosophy and religion there. He was a mystic, a poet and an innovator in spiritual community living.
Prabuddha Bharata is an English-language monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, in publication since July 1896. It carries articles and translations by monks, scholars, and other writers on humanities and social sciences including religious, psychological, historical, and cultural themes. It has a section of book reviews where important publications from university presses from around the world are reviewed. It is edited from Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Uttarakhand, and published and printed in Kolkata. Prabuddha Bharata is India's longest running English journal.
Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, is a branch of the Ramakrishna Math, founded on 19 March 1899 at the behest of Vivekananda, by his disciples James Henry Sevier, and Charlotte Sevier. Today it publishes the original writings of Vivekananda. As an ashram dedicated to the study and practice of Advaita Vedanta, no images or idols are worshipped there, not even of Ramakrishna; and no images were kept in the premises according to the Ashram ideals set by Vivekananda.
Swami Tyagananda is a Hindu monk of the Ramakrishna Order and presently the head of the Vedanta Society in Boston. Currently, he is also the Hindu chaplain at MIT and Harvard. He has presented papers at academic conferences, and he gives lectures and classes at the Vedanta Society, MIT, Harvard, and other colleges in and around Boston.
Swarupananda was a direct monastic disciple of Vivekananda and the first president of the Advaita Ashrama, set up by Vivekananda in 1899 at Mayavati, near Champawat. The ashram is a branch of the religious monastic order, Ramakrishna Math, also set up by Vivekananda on the teachings of his guru Ramakrishna.
Alasinga Perumal was a propagator of Vedanta and an ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda. Born in an orthodox Vaishnavite family at Chikkamagalur of Mysore, he took his education in Madras. After obtaining a B.A. degree in science, he started his career as a school teacher.
Swami Swahananda was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, and the minister and spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of Southern California from 1976 to 2012. He also led the Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely, and the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, DC. He joined the Ramakrishna Order in 1947 and received sannyasa, full monastic ordination, in 1956.
Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai is a monastic organisation for those men who were taught into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886), a 19th-century saint of Bengal. The motto of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission is: "For one's own salvation, and for the welfare of the world". The math in Chennai is the first branch center of the Ramakrishna Order in Southern India. It was established in 1897 by Swami Ramakrishnananda, one of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. Besides Swami Ramakrishnananda, the Math was visited by Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Nirmalananda, Swami Shivananda, Swami Abhedananda, Swami Premananda, Swami Niranjanananda, Swami Trigunatitananda, and Swami Vijnanananda.
Swami Abhedananda, born Kaliprasad Chandra, was a direct disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of Ramakrishna Vedanta Math. Swami Vivekananda sent him to the West to head the Vedanta Society of New York in 1897, and spread the message of Vedanta, a theme on which he authored several books through his life, and subsequently founded the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, in Calcutta and Darjeeling.
Swami Ashokananda, born as Yogeshchandra Dutta, was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda of India and a monk of the Ramakrishna Math. From 1932 until his death in December 1969 at the age of 76 he was in charge of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco.
Udbodhan is the only Bengali publication of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, started by Vivekananda in January 1899, with Trigunatitananda as its founding editor Over the years, it also grew into a publishing house, and remained one of the leading publishers of literature of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.
Josephine MacLeod was an American friend and devotee of Swami Vivekananda. She had a strong attachment to India and was an active participant in the Ramakrishna Vivekananda movement. She was given the nicknames "Tantine" and "Jo Jo" by Vivekananda. She considered Swami Vivekananda to be her friend and helped him with his finances. MacLeod was not a sanyasin, unlike many others such as Sister Nivedita or Sister Christine. She was instrumental in spreading Vivekananda's message on Vedanta in the West. She made many contributions to the initial and the later phases of the development of the order of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. She was a contributor to many causes espoused by Sister Nivedita, the most famous disciple of Vivekananda, including that of contributing financially towards the development of the Indian National Movement especially in Bengal and elsewhere in India.
Swami Prakashananda (1874–1927) was a monastic disciple of Vivekananda and a monk of the Ramakrishna Order who played a major role in propagating and promoting the Vedanta philosophy and Vivekananda's message in India and America. He came to the US in 1906 to serve under Trigunatitananda, a direct disciple of Ramakrishna at the Vedanta Society of San Francisco, later renamed as Vedanta Society of Northern California, and later became its president.
Vimalananda (1872–1908) was an Indian spiritual writer who was one of the monastic disciples of Vivekananda and an early monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He was involved in the publication of Prabuddha Bharata. He was actively involved in running day-to-day operations of the Advaita Ashrama at Mayavati during the early days of the Ashrama. He also inaugurated the Ramakrishna Math at Ulsoor in Bangalore in 1906. He died in 1908 at the Mayavati Ashrama.
Balaram Mandir is a temple and a branch of Ramakrishna Mission and Ramakrishna Math located at 7, Girish Avenue, Baghbazar, Kolkata.
Swami Tathagatananda, was a Hindu monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. He was the Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York from November 1977 to June 2016, which was the first Vedanta Society in the United States, founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1895.
Swami Satprakashananda was an Indian philosopher, monk of the Ramakrishna Order, and religious teacher.