Swami Smaranananda Age, Death, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Swami Smaranananda

• Swami Smaranananda lost his mother at a very young age and was brought up by his aunt.

• After completing his school education in 1946, he went to Nasik with his father. In Nasik, he pursued a diploma in commerce.

• In 1949, he moved to Mumbai from Nasik and joined a private job.

• Swami Smaranananda was an avid reader and loved to read various English literary books by Napoleon Hill.

• He was influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. When he was young, he used to practice repetition of ‘Sri Rama’ as advised by Gandhi.

• Later, this practice became a turning point in his life. He liked to take solo walks to Worli Beach in Mumbai, where he would sit quietly on the large rocks and watch the setting sun.

• One day, while sitting there, Swami Smaranananda realized that he was just a dot on the surface of the earth when compared to the vastness of the rocks, sea, and sky. However, he also understood that there was a great presence, that resided within him, which was greater than the entire universe.

• These thoughts began striking his mind so forcefully that he felt like someone was whispering some spiritual words into his ears. At that time, he had not yet read the Gita or the Upanishads.

• In Mumbai, Swami Smaranananda stayed in a hostel for some time. One day, while talking to a friend, he learned about the Mumbai branch of the Ramakrishna Order. He asked his friend if he would take him there, to which his friend agreed.

• He then started going to the Mumbai Ashrama on weekends and began reading books on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature. He found much insight and inspiration from within after reading these books.

• The urge to find answers to the questions “What is the meaning of life?” and “What should be my ideal in life?” became intense in him. He also started repeating “Sri Rama” continuously.

• Later, while travelling on a bus, Swami Smaranananda felt a strong desire to become a monk. He also became close to Swami Aparnanandaji of Mumbai Ashrama.

• On the birthday of Sri Ramakrishna in 1952, he joined Ramakrishna Mission as a Brahmachari at the age of 22.

• At the end of 1952, Swami Smaranananda attained Mantra Diksha from Swami Shankaranandaji Maharaj, the seventh President of the Ramakrishna Order, in Mumbai Ashrama.

• In 1954, he visited Belur Math for the first time with Swami Sambuddhanandaji, the then Head of Mumbai Ashrama.
  

  Swami Smaranananda in Mumbai

• During this time, Swami Smaranananda attended the concluding celebrations of the Holy Mother’s birth centenary at Jayrambati temple.

• In 1956, he received Brahmacharya vows, and in 1960, he attained Sannyasa ordination from Swami Shankaranandaji Maharaj.
  

  An old picture of Swami Smaranananda

• Swami Smaranananda then began serving in the different departments of Mumbai Ashrama. He once participated in a drought relief camp in the Aurangabad district and conducted relief operations along with other monks.

• In 1958, he was transferred to the Kolkata branch of Advaita Ashrama.

• In 1961, Swami Smaranananda worked as an assistant editor of Prabuddha Bharata, an English-language monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, in Mayavati, Khat Khutam, Uttarakhand. Prabuddha Bharata was founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1986.

• During his time there, he began serving in the dairy, cultivation, and other departments of the Mayavati Ashrama.

• Although he mainly stayed at the Kolkata branch, he visited Mayavati on several occasions.
  

  Swami Smaranananda while delivering spiritual discourses

• Advaita Ashrama is primarily a publishing house of Ramakrishna Mission. He then worked there to improve the standard of publications and received appreciation for his efforts.

• In 1976, Swami Smaranananda began working as a Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, an educational organisation near Belur Math. He served there for 15 years. He supervised development in the educational and rural welfare work of Saradapitha.

• In 1978, he and his monastic associates organised many relief operations during the floods in West Bengal.

• In 1983, Swami Smaranananda began serving as a Trustee of Ramakrishna Math and a Member of the Governing Body of Ramakrishna Mission.

• In December 1991, he was transferred to Ramakrishna Math in Chennai as its Head. During his tenure, the construction of the Sri Ramakrishna Temple in Chennai began.
  

  Swami Smaranananda posing outside Ramakrishna Centre

• In April 1995, he joined the Headquarters as an Assistant Secretary, and in 1997, he became the General Secretary of both organizations.

• As General Secretary and Vice-President, Swami Smaranananda travelled extensively throughout India and other parts of the world. He visited branches of the Math and Mission and various unaffiliated centres to spread the message of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, and Vedanta among a vast number of people.
  

  Swami Smaranananda while on a spiritual tour

• He gave Mantra Diksha to many spiritual seekers.
  

  Swami Smaranananda while providing Mantra Diksha

• Apart from being a spiritual personality, he was also an author who contributed numerous articles to various journals of the Ramakrishna Order.

• In 2007, Swami Smaranananda was appointed as the vice-president of Ramakrishna Mission.

• After serving as Vice-President for ten years, on 17 July 2017, he was elected as the President of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. The meeting was organised by the Board of Trustees of the Math and the Governing Body of the Mission.
  

  Swami Smaranananda in 2017

• At an event at Belur Math in April 2017, Swami Smaranananda inaugurated a toy train, which picks up and takes people around the Math campus.

• In December 2017, he started a new headquarters building of the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur Math and named it after its first general secretary, Swami Saradananda.

• In 2017, Swami Smaranananda released the book Musings of a Monk. The book is a collection of 68 articles which include his spiritual writings and extracts of his travel vlogs from his trips around India and to the West.
  

  The poster of the book Musings of a Monk

• Later, Swami Smaranananda released the Bengali version of the book ‘Musings of a Monk’ and named it Smriti Smaran Anudhyan.
  

  The poster of the book Smriti Smaran Anudhyan

• In January 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him in a hospital when he was seriously ill.
  

  Narendra Modi while meeting Swami Smaranananda at a hospital