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A BIOGRAPHY
Swami Chidananda is truly one of the great spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. He is the President of the Divine Life Society which was founded by his great Master, Gurudev Sri Swami Sivananda Maharaj.

Swamiji was born on September 24, 1916, into an orthodox Brahmin family in Mangalore, South India. He was named Sridhar Rao and was the second of five children and the eldest son. His father, Srinivasa Rao, was very wealthy and owned several villages, extensive lands, and palatial buildings. His mother, Sarojini, was noted for her kindness.

As a small boy, Sridhar was greatly influenced by stories from the great epic literature of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. These stories told of the lives and exploits of Rama and Krishna. Living a noble life became an ideal which he cherished.

An uncle owned a movie theater in a nearby town. When the children in the household were too noisy, they were taken to the cinema. There they saw many famous movies made in America: Tarzan, Charlie Chaplin, King Kong. Sridhar saw so much about America on film-architecture, customs, styles of dress-that he felt quite at home there when he arrived many years later.

In school Sridhar was an excellent student. He always tried to set a good example to the other students, and his warm and cheerful personality made him many friends among students and teachers alike. In 1934 he was admitted to Loyola College, in Madras. At this Catholic college he was able to study first-hand the teachings of Jesus Christ concerning compassion and service to mankind. To him, the Bible was the living word of God, just as living and real as the teachings in the great works of Hindu culture. He was able to see the similarities between the teachings of Lord Jesus and the teachings of Lord Krishna. In 1938 he emerged with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

During this time, service to lepers became his ideal. He persuaded his father to set aside
some land as a village for the lepers. He looked after them with great kindness and helped them set up workshops for weaving and other crafts from which they could earn a living.

Drawn to the spiritual life, Sridhar applied for permission to join Swami Sivananda's
Divine Life Society Ashram. Swami Sivananda was a great and saintly teacher famous
worldwide for translating the ancient scriptures into English so that people in the western
countries could read them. The Ashram was located on the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh, in the foot-hills of India's holy Himalayas. In 1943, at the age of 27 years, he joined the Ashram. In those days, the Ashram did not have any running water or electricity. There were not even steps on which to go up and down the steep river banks. It was very cold in the winter, and the young monks had to walk bare-foot over gravel roads covered with very sharp stones because there was not enough money to buy shoes. In peak summer, it was as hot as a sauna. Like that they practiced austerities.

On arrival, he was asked to serve in the dispensary. Soon he became known as the man with the healing hand. His growing reputation attracted a rush of patients to the Sivananda Charitable Dispensary. Patients from the neighbourhood, suffering from the worst kinds of diseases, came to seek his help. It did not matter whether they were rich or poor. To him the patient was none other than the Lord Himself, and Sridhar served each patient with a tender love and compassion. Nothing would keep him from bringing comfort to the suffering no matter the urgency of other engagements. This included his continuing care for the lepers which earned him appointment to the Leper Welfare Association of the District.

When the Yoga Vedanta Forest University was established in 1948, Gurudev appointed
him Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Raja Yoga. Towards the end of 1948, Gurudev nominated him as the General Secretary of the Divine Life Society. The great responsibility of the Organization of the Society now fell on his shoulders. On Guru Purnima day, July 10, 1949, Sridhar was initiated into the holy order of Sannyasa by Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj. He was given the name "Swami Chidananda" the meaning of which connotes one "whose happiness is in Pure Consciousness".

In addition to his regular tours in India, since 1959 Swamiji has undertaken many world
tours. He has covered almost all the countries in both hemispheres visiting Divine Life Society Branches and offering spiritual advice to all the devotees and seekers within the fold of Gurudev's Mission. In August, 1963, he was elected to succeed Sri Gurudev as President of TheDivine Life Society.

His intrinsically good and loving nature has brought immense solace in the lives of
hundreds and thousands. Over the past decades Swamiji has been a tireless apostle for the idealsof spiritual life and selfless service to all kind. All those who have come in contact with him have been deeply impressed by his spiritual power, all-embracing love, and profound humility.

Our loving adorations to revered and beloved Holy Master Swami Chidananda who has
given to us the gift of these teachings. May all the readers be blessed with Peace and Joy,
Victory and Success now and for always.