One of India's most prominent Hindu seers, Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati, aka “Revolutionary Sadhu”, of Dwaraka Peeth, died last week at his Shridham Jhoteshwar Ashram in MP’s Narsinghpur district. He was 99 and had been unwell for about a year.
PM Narendra Modi, MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the latter’s Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel were among those who condoled the seer’s passing. The funeral took place at his ashram, around 300 km from Bhopal.
Known for his articulate and sometimes controversial views on socio-political issues, the late Shankaracharya was born in a Brahmin family in Seoni district of MP and left home at the age of 9 to travel the country as a student of religion. He studied the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures under the tutelage of Sri Karpatri Maharaj in Kanshi. When Mahatma Gandhi gave the “Quit India” call in 1942, Swami Swaroopananand plunged headlong into it at the age of 19 to earn a sobriquet that would stick to him for life. This “revolutionary” streak led to him being jailed in Kashi for nine months and for another six in MP.
In 1950, Shankaracharya Swami Brahmanand Saraswati of Sharda Peeth gave him “dand deeksha”, following which he started to be recognised as Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati. He became the Shankaracharya of Dwaraka Peeth in 1982.
In between, the seer was appointed president of his guru Karpatri Maharaj's political party Ram Rajya Parishad. He was known to be close to several top politicians, the most prominent of them being Digvijaya Singh of Congress, who took “deeksha” from him. Mahamandaleshwar Swami Harichetananand said, “He was among the most loved and admired Hindu saints of the country. His opinions and deeds were always in keeping with the principles of sanatan dharma. ”
