Dayananda Saraswati

Why you should listen

Swami Dayananda Saraswati has been teaching the traditional wisdom of Vedanta for more than four decades, in India and around the world. His success as a teacher is evident in the successes of his students -- over 100 are now swamis themselves, and highly respected as scholars and teachers. Within the Hindu community, he has worked to create harmony, founding the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, where heads of different sects can come together learn from each other. In the larger religious community, he has also made huge strides towards cooperation, convening the first World Congress for the Preservation of Religious Diversity.

However, Swami Saraswati’s work is not limited to the religious community. He is the founder and an active executive member of the All India Movement (AIM) for Seva. Since 2000, AIM has been bringing medical assistance, education, food and infrastructure to people living in the most remote areas of India. Growing up in a small, rural village himself, the Swami understood the particular challenges to accessing aid faced by those outside of the cities. Today, AIM for Seva estimates that they have been able to help over two million people in need.