The Hindu : National : Swami Ranganathananda passes away

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Tuesday, Apr 26, 2005

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National

Swami Ranganathananda passes away

Swami Ranganathananda

KOLKATA: Renowned scholar, philosopher and president of the Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Ranganathananda, passed away on Monday following a cardiac arrest. He was 96.

He was ailing for some time. The end came at 3.50 p.m.

His mortal remains will be consigned to the flames on Tuesday at the mission headquarters at Belurmath, on the outskirts of the city.

Born in the village of Trikkur in Kerala on December 15, 1908, the Swami joined the Ramakrishna Order at its centre in Mysore in 1926 at the age of 18.

He was initiated into sanyasa in 1933. From 1939 to 1998, he served as the Head of the Order's branches in Rangoon, Karachi, Delhi, Institute of Culture (Kolkata) and Hyderabad.

He became the president of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission in September 1998.

The seniormost vice-president of the mission, Swami Gahanananda, is tipped to take over as the next president. — UNI

K. Santhosh reports from Thrissur

He was one of the greatest spiritual leaders to emerge from Kerala in recent times.

Swami Ranganathananda is remembered in his home State as "one of the foremost modern exponents of Vedanta.''

"In the post-Vivekananda era, Swami Ranganathananda took Advaita Vedanta to great heights. The Swami had no formal education, but he became the greatest scholar of our time. He was India's foremost cultural ambassador. Through his writings and lectures, the West imbibed the spirit of the ancient Indian seers. His exposition of the Upanishads has no parallel,'' says Sukumar Azhikode. "As a college student in Karachi, I used to attend his discourses,'' the Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. K. Advani, a Sindhi immigrant from Karachi, once said. Swami Rangathananda was secretary of the New Delhi branch of the Mission between 1949 and 1962. According to Mr. Advani, the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee too was a "great admirer'' of Swami Rangathananda.

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