Chinmaya Sankaram

Hari om,
A hundred and eight years ago, a star rose on the Ernakulam horizon in the home of Parukutty Amma and Kutta Menon. The little Balakrishna Menon would re-ignite the fire of Vedanta once again, after Sri Adi Sankara did it in 800 A.D and more recently, Swami Vivekananda in the 19th century.
Swami Chinmayananda – as He was blessed and rechristened by his Diksha Guru, Swami Sivananda – heralded a great new era for people who had become incapable of accessing our scriptures that were predominantly in Sanskrit. And Swami Chinmayananda began to teach the Upanishads and the Gita in English. This was the star that rose rapidly on the Indian horizon, enrapturing the masses with the knowledge of the scriptures at a time when confusion had once more diseased the people.
If Sri Adi Sankara, in his 32 years, gave direction to a nation that was mired in confusion over a plethora of philosophies, bringing the Shanmatha system, and thus the Oneness of all deities and the convergence into Advaita, Swami Vivekananda is credited with directing the people who practiced some form of religion, but without the logic and backing of Vedanta philosophy. And like Sankara before him, he brought Advaita to the forefront.
It was 14 years after the passing away of Swami Vivekananda, in 1916, that the Advaita star rose once again, continuing the social engineering that the two greats before Him had heralded: Swami Chinmayananda.
We hold in great reverence the anvil on which our Vedanta is anchored, and which our own Gurudev held out to us as our legacy. This legacy is what forms the hub of all Vedanta preached and practiced in the Chinmaya Mission: Sri Adi Sankara.
It is through the grace of 'Guru', the eternal incarnation of God, that Sanadhana Dharma has survived the challenges that have arisen over time. From that Guru Sishya lineage which started with Sadashiva, Pujya Swami Chinmayanandaji played a significant role in introducing this culture to the whole world in the 20th century without losing its uniqueness. Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji pioneered the development of our Traditional Spiritual knowledge by bringing Vedantic works like Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads to the common people. His 108th Jayanti is celebrated in 2024. Chinmaya Mission is organizing Gurudev's 108th Jayanti celebrations worldwide from 8 May 2023 to 8 May 2024 with year-long events.
Chinmaya Mis