Swami Vishnu-devananda

Vishnudevananda Saraswati
Vishnudevananda teaching in Nassau, Bahamas
Born	(1927-12-31)31 December 1927 Kerala, India
Died	9 November 1993(1993-11-09) (aged 65) Uttarakhand, India

Vishnudevananda Saraswati (31 December 1927 – 9 November 1993) was a disciple of Sivananda Saraswati, and founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres and Ashrams. He established the Sivananda Yoga Teachers’ Training Course, one of the first yoga teacher training programs in the West. His books The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga (1959) and Meditation and Mantras (1978) established him as an authority on Hatha and Raja yoga. Vishnudevananda was a tireless peace activist who rode in several "peace flights" over places of conflict, including the Berlin Wall prior to German reunification.

Vishnudevananda was born in Kerala, a state in South India, on 31 December 1927. His family were members of a Nair caste.His father was a Brahmin named Panchanatham.

During his short career in the Indian Army, he happened to see a pamphlet written by Sivananda Saraswati, called Sadhana Tattwa (Spiritual Instructions). He was particularly inspired by these words: "An ounce of practice is worth tons of theory. Practice yoga, religion and philosophy in daily life and attain Self-realization." Impressed by the simplicity and directness of this message, Vishnudevananda soon took advantage of a 36-hour leave to travel to Rishikesh to meet Sivananda. The visit moved him, and he returned for a second visit.

At his second visit, he and others waited as Sivananda ascended the stairs from the bank of the Ganges to the ashram. When Vishnudevananda declined to prostrate, Sivananda surprised him by prostrating before him. This lesson in humility was the first given to Vishnudevananda by his guru.