{{Short description|Indian Hindu Monk}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox Hindu leader | name = Swami Pranavananda | image = Swami Pranavananda.jpg | alt = Swami Pranavananda | caption = Swami Pranavananda | religion = Hinduism | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1896|1|29 }} | birth_place = Bajitpur, Faridpur District, Bengal Presidency, British India;<br/>(present-day in Bajitpur, Faridpur District, Bangladesh) | birth_name = Binode Bhuiya | death_date = {{Death date and age|1941|1|8|1896|2|24|df=yes}} | death_place = Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India;<br/>(present-day in Kolkata, West Bengal, India) | nationality = Indian <!-- |guru = Yogiraj Baba Gambhirnathji Maharaj -->| disciple = <!-- Prominent disciple(s) only --> | philosophy = <!-- Preferably one that has a wikipedia page --> | honors = | founder = Bharat Sevashram Sangha | sect = <!-- Sects/Traditions associated with the Hindu leader--> | order = | literary_works = <!-- Preferably having pages on wikipedia and wikisource--> | influenced = <!-- People the Hindu leader influenced (as mentioned in main article) --> | signature = <!--Preferably uploaded on wikipedia commons--> | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}
'''Swami Pranavananda''' ({{langx|bn|স্বামী প্রণবানন্দ}}; {{langx|sa|स्वामी प्रणवानन्द}}; IAST: Svāmī Praṇavānanda) also known as Yugācāryya Śrīmat Svāmī Praṇavānanda Jī Mahārāja (Bengali: যুগাচার্য্য শ্রীমৎ স্বামী প্রণবানন্দ জী মহারাজ; Hindi: युगाचार्य्य श्रीमत् स्वामी प्रणवानन्द जी महाराज), (24 February 1896 – 8 January 1941)<ref name="Delhi1981">{{cite book|author=Library of Congress Office, New Delhi|title=Accessions List, South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HslVAAAAYAAJ|access-date=14 December 2012|year=1981|publisher=E.G. Smith|page=90}}</ref> was a Hindu yogi and saint who founded a not-for-profit spiritual organization known as the Bharat Sevashram Sangha.<ref name="Kapoor2002">{{cite book|author=Subodh Kapoor|title=The Indian Encyclopaedia: Biographical, Historical, Religious, Administrative, Ethnological, Commercial and Scientific. Indo-Pak War-Kamla Karri|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Ukyp-gbtHcC&pg=PA6887|access-date=14 December 2012|date=1 July 2002|publisher=Cosmo Publication|isbn=978-81-7755-257-7|page=6887}}</ref>
He is remembered for his efforts to bring the modern Hindu society into the new age without compromising the essential values of ancient traditions of Hindu spirituality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dasgupta |first1=Koushiki |title=Hinduising the Hindus and Politicizing the 'Consciousness': A Focus on the "Bharat Sevashram Sangha" in Late Colonial Bengal |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2012 |volume=73 |pages=697–706 |jstor=44156265 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156265 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref> Swamiji was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of modern India. He is still revered his message of universal love, compassion for humanity and social reform without giving up the zeal and love of mother land.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chatterji |first1=Joya |title=Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932-1947 |date=6 June 2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52328-8 |page=234 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bengal_Divided/iDNAQcoVqoMC |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|1996}}
== Early life == He was born on 29 January 1896, the day of Maghi Purnima (16th Magha, 1302), in a Bengali Kayastha family of Bajitpur, a village in Faridpur District in undivided India (presently in Bangladesh). His parents Vishnu Charan Bhuiya and Saradadevi were pious and blessed by Lord Shiva to have a son for the mitigation of human suffering and universal emancipation. He was named Jaynath by his father at birth and later in his boyhood he was called Binod. Binod showed uncommon philosophical inclinations and had divine visions since childhood and often could be seen in contemplation at the village school. He was known with the children of the locality because of his helpful nature.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hindu Regeneration, Volume 8 |date=1978 |publisher=Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Hyderabad Branch and University of California |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAYnAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shantananda |first1=Swami |title=Acharya Pranavananda in the Eyes of the Learned |date=1975 |publisher=Bharat Sevashram Sangha |page=117 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Acharya_Pranavananda_in_the_Eyes_of_the/mdYXAAAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Mukhopadhyay|1996}}
Pranavananda's greatest legacy is the founding of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, whose organisational network resembled the structure of the more famous Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, founded almost a decade after the Bharat Sevashram Sangha.<ref>Andersen W. K., & Damle S. D. ''[https://ia802808.us.archive.org/24/items/TheBrotherhoodInSaffronWalterK.AndersenShridharD.Damle/The%20Brotherhood%20in%20Saffron-Walter%20K.%20Andersen%2C%20Shridhar%20D.%20Damle.pdf The brotherhood in saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu revivalism]''. Westview Press, 1987</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hindutva and idea that ‘Hindus are in danger’ were born in Bengal |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/hindutva-and-idea-that-hindus-in-danger-born-in-bengal/513174/ |access-date=2026-04-14 |website=www.theprint.in |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite journal |last1=Pranavananda |first1=Swami |title=The Sources of the Brahmaputra, Indus, Sutlej, and Karnali: With Notes on Manasarowar and Rakas Tal |journal=The Geographical Journal |date=1939 |volume=93 |issue=2 |pages=126–135 |doi=10.2307/1787863 |jstor=1787863|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1787863 |issn=0016-7398|url-access=subscription }} * {{cite book |last1=Shantananda |first1=Swami |title=Acharya Pranavananda in the Eyes of the Learned |date=1975 |publisher=Bharat Sevashram Sangha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C1QqAAAAYAAJ |language=en}} * {{cite book |last1=Mukhopadhyay |first1=Prasanta |title=Swami Pranavananda: The World-teacher and Saint-saviour; (an Oblation on the Eve of Birth Centenary of Swami Pranavananda) |date=1996 |publisher=Bharat Sevshram Sangha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBEAYAAACAAJ |language=en}} * {{cite book |last1=Smart |first1=Ninian |last2=Purnananda |first2=Swami |title=Prophet of a New Hindu Age: The Life and Times of Acharya Pranavananda |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-80105-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niOtDQAAQBAJ |language=en}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Swami Pranavananda}} * [https://www.bharatsevashramsangha.org/swami-pranavananda/ Yugacharya Swami Pranavananda] at Bharat Sevashram Sangha
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pranavananda, Swami}} Category:1896 births Category:1941 deaths Category:20th-century Hindu religious leaders Category:Indian Hindu spiritual teachers Category:Hindu revivalists Category:Indian Hindu monks Category:Indian Hindu saints Category:Indian yogis Category:People from Faridpur District Category:Shaivite religious leaders Category:Bengali Hindu saints Category:Scholars from Kolkata