Dayananda Saraswati (Arsha Vidya)
Swami Dayananda Saraswati was a renunciate monk of the Hindu Saraswati order of sannyasa. He was also known as Pujya Swamiji and was a traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta. He was the founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulams in Pennsylvania, USA; Rishikesh, Uttarakhand and Coimbatore Tamil Nadu, India. He was also the spiritual Guru of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan,, for his service to the nation in the field of spiritualism in 2016.
His Holiness Swami Dayananda Saraswati, from the private collection of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam.
Advaita Vedanta is a Hindu-tradition of textual exegesis and philosophy and a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience. In a narrow sense it refers to the scholarly tradition belonging to the orthodox Hindu Vedānta tradition, with works written in Sanskrit, as exemplified by the Vedic scholar and teacher (acharya) Adi Shankara ; in a broader sense it refers to a popular medieval and modern syncretic tradition, blending Vedānta with Yoga and other traditions and producing works in vernacular.
Adi Shankara, the most prominent exponent of Advaita Vedānta tradition.
A drop merging in the Ocean, an analogy for the Jivatman merging into Brahman
The swan is an important motif in Advaita. The white colour of swan symbolises Sattva gun & the ability to discern Satya (Real, Eternal) from Mithya (Unreal, Changing), just as the mythical swan Paramahamsa discerns milk from water.
Ramana Maharshi, the Indian sage who is widely regarded as a Jivanmukta
