Swami Satyamitranand ji Giri passes away at 87
His last rites will be performed on June 26, 2019 at 4 pm at Raghav Kutir at Bharat Mata Janahit Trust and he will be given the ‘Samadhi’ as per the Hindu sanyasin tradition.
RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohanrao Bhagwat and Sarkaryawah Suresh Joshi paid rich tributes to the departed soul. His passing away is great loss and painful for us. He was known as the strong pillar of India’s religious sector and he was guardian for the RSS swayamsevaks, they said.
Recalling his unique contribution for eradication of social discrimination both the leaders said that the responsibility to fill the void created by his departure from the mortal world has befallen on the RSS. Let his mission and work keep inspiring us, the RSS said.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the passing away of Swami Satyamitrananda ji Giri. They recalled his contribution in serving the Janjati and poor people.
“Deeply saddened to know about the demise of Swami Satyamitranand Giri Ji Maharaj who founded Bharat Mata temple in Haridwar,” Naidu tweeted. He said the spiritual leader “rendered invaluable services and established Samanvaya Seva Foundation to serve poor people from tribal and hilly areas by providing free education and medical facilities”.
“He established many learning centres & travelled across the globe to spread the message of Sanatana Dharma,” the vice president said.
Modi said Swami Satyamitranand epitomised spirituality and wisdom. “He devoted his life towards empowering the poor, marginalised and downtrodden. He was extremely proud of India’s rich history and culture. My tributes to this divine soul. Om Shanti,” the prime minister tweeted.
Swami Satyamitranandji Giri was born on September 19, 1932 in Agra to Shiv Shankar Pandey and Triveni Devi, a devout Brahmin couple. He was named as Ambika Prasad.
His spiritual qualities were visible since his childhood days and on one occasion he even had a vision of the Lord with whom he travelled on his sacred vehicle the Garuda Vimana. The Lord had blessed him and since then he became deeply engrossed with the spiritual pursuits and satsang.
The Swami had his early education in Kanpur where he studied Sanskrit languahe and literature and Hindi. He studied the Vedas and modern education to obtain the M A degree from Agra University. He also acquired a degree of Sahitya Ratna in Hindi and was influenced by late Purushottamdas Tandon. He also earned a degree of Shastri from Varanasi Vidyapeeth.
Spiritual as he was, he decided to take sanyas and sought refuge as a disciple of Swami Vedavyasananda in Rishikesh who initiated him in sanyas deeksha with a new name of Satyamitrananda.
Jagadguru Shankaracharya
Swami Satyamitrananda started editing Geeta Sandesh, a monthly periodical in 1955 which carried his name, knowledge and wisdom and scholarship all over. At the age of 27, Swamiji was anointed as Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath becoming a head of a renowned tradition set up by Adi Shankaracharya. He travelled far and wide preaching Sanatana Dharma. In 1969 he renounced his status of Jagadguru Shankaracharya and dedicated him to service of his devotees across India and overseas.
He travelled a lot to the corners of the world and visited countries like Africa, England, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia etc. It’s his gift of a deep spiritual experience and a power of the most effective oratory that has drawn thousands of loving devotees to him.
Swamiji set up the Samanvaya Kutir and Samanvaya Sewa Trust in Hardwar for the service of the society. But his unique contribution was the Bharat Mata Mandir which stands today on the banks of Holy Ganga. This 8-storey temple was inaugurated on May 15, 1983 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Each floor of the temple is devoted to a particular theme.