Gurudev Sivananda (Holy Centenary Commemorative Pictorial)

To mark the holy Centenary of Worshipful Gurudev Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj, the Divine Life Society has embarked upon different project of spiritual, educational, cultural and social welfare service. The personality projects of Swami Sivananda was of a super-social stature which held social value together in its comprehensive envisaging of the meaning of life. The needs of humanity attracted the attention of this great sage, to which he devoted his entire life, by example as well as precept. Material necessities, known as creature comforts, generally take the lead among human demands – food, clothing and shelter – and to serve this primary need of people, the great master in his Ashram provided for an Annakshetra, that is, a common kitchen, which denied food to none, Physical ailment is another source of trouble – sickness of every kind. A Charitable Hospital was established to attend to the medical aid requirement of everyone without distinction, a centre of medical treatment which rendered service entirely free of charge to everyone who came for such assistance. But the higher needs of human nature consist of educational values, cultural training and spiritual enlightenment. The enormous writings of this sage no doubt laid open through their pages recipes for almost every kind of inner awakening, touching practically every aspect of study and knowledge. Students who went to schools and colleges have been a wide range of humanitarian work, for which an avenue was opened by the Master's Ashram through its social welfare wing, which took particular care to redress people of their sorrows engendered by poverty, calamity or distress of any kind. But, above all things, there was the towering necessity of spiritual education and discipline for which the entire programme of the Ashram was streamlined in an integrated manner – to achieve God-realisation as the final goal of life.