Editing Swami Prabhavananda

{{Short description|Indian Philosopher}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name          = Swami Prabhavananda
|image         = Swami_Prabhavananda.jpg
|caption       = At the Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_date    = {{Birth date|df=yes|1893|12|26}}
|birth_place   = Surmanagar Village, [[Bankura district]],
[[Bengal Presidency]], [[British Raj]]
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1976|07|04|1893|12|26}}
|death_place   = Vedanta Temple, Vedanta Place, [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]
|death_cause   =
|founder          = [[Vedanta Society Of Southern California, Ramakrishna Monastery|Vedanta Society of Southern California]] 
|resting_place =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|nationality   = American
|disciples     = [[Aldous Huxley]] and [[Christopher Isherwood]] 
|known_for     = Translator of the [[Bhagavad Gita]] (with [[Christopher Isherwood]]) and the [[Upanishads]] (with Fredrick Manchester), author of the [[Spiritual Heritage of India]]
|occupation    = Monk, writer, and teacher
|guru          = [[Swami Brahmananda]]
}}

'''Swami Prabhavananda''' (December 26, 1893 – July 4, 1976) was an Indian [[philosopher]], [[monk]] of the [[Ramakrishna Order]], and religious teacher. He moved to America in 1923 to take up the role of assistant minister in the San Francisco Vedanta Society. In 1928 he was the minister of a small group in Portland, OR, but in 1930 he founded the [[Vedanta Society#Vedanta_Society_of_Southern_California|Vedanta Society of Southern California]]. The Swami spent the rest of his life there, writing and collaborating with some of the most distinguished authors and intellectuals of the time, including [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Christopher Isherwood]], and [[Gerald Heard]].<Ref>{{cite book |last= Jackson |first= Carl |date= 1994|title= Vedanta for the West |publisher= Indiana University Press|page= 116|isbn= 0-253-33098-X}}</Ref>

==Biography==

Born in [[India]], he joined the Ramakrishna Order after graduating from [[Calcutta]] university in 1914. He was initiated by 
[[Disciples_of_Ramakrishna#Swami Brahmananda|Swami Brahmananda]], the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna, and the first president of the [[Ramakrishna Order]], headquartered in Belur, West Bengal.<ref name="About Prabhavananda">[http://www.vedanta.org/vssc/prabhavananda.html About Prabhavananda] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214045641/http://www.vedanta.org/vssc/prabhavananda.html |date=2011-12-14}}</ref><Ref>{{cite book |last= Sawyer |first= Dana |date= 2002|title= Aldous Huxley: A Biography |publisher= Crossroads Publishing Company |page= 112|isbn= 0-8245-1987-6}}</Ref>

In 1923, he was sent to the United States of America. Initially, he worked as an assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of San Francisco. After two years, he established the Vedanta Society of Portland. In December 1929, he moved to Los Angeles, where he founded the [[Vedanta Society#Vedanta_Society_of_Southern_California|Vedanta Society of Southern California]] in 1930.<Ref>{{cite book |last= Jackson |first= Carl |date= 1994|title= Vedanta for the West |publisher= Indiana University Press|page= 116|isbn= 0-253-33098-X}}</Ref>

Under his administration, the Vedanta Society of Southern California grew over the years to become the largest Vedanta Society in the West,<Ref>{{cite book |last= Sawyer |first= Dana |date= 2002|title= Aldous Huxley: A Biography |publisher= Crossroads Publishing Company |page= 112|isbn= 0-8245-1987-6}}</Ref> with monasteries in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] and [[Trabuco Canyon]] and convents in Hollywood and [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]].<ref>[http://www.vedanta.org/vssc/centers/hwd.html List of VSSC centers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212001426/http://www.vedanta.org/vssc/centers/hwd.html |date=2011-12-12}}</ref><Ref>{{cite book |last= Sawyer |first= Dana |date= 2002|title= Aldous Huxley: A Biography |publisher= Crossroads Publishing Company |page= 112|isbn= 0-8245-1987-6}}</Ref>

Prabhavananda was a scholar who wrote a number of books on Vedanta and Indian religious scriptures and commentary. He was assisted on several of the projects by [[Christopher Isherwood]] and Frederick Manchester. His comprehensive knowledge of philosophy and religion attracted such disciples as [[Aldous Huxley]] and [[Gerald Heard]].<Ref>{{cite book |last= Jackson |first= Carl |date= 1994|title= Vedanta for the West |publisher= Indiana University Press|page= 116|isbn= 0-253-33098-X}}</Ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Syman | first=Stefanie | title=The Subtle Body : the Story of Yoga in America | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-374-53284-0 | oclc=456171421 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/subtlebodystoryo0000syma/page/160 160–168] | url=https://archive.org/details/subtlebodystoryo0000syma/page/160}}</ref>

Prabhavananda died on the bicentennial of America's independence, July 4, 1976, and on the 74th anniversary of the death, or mahasamadhi, of [[Swami Vivekananda]], the founder of the [[Ramakrishna Order]] in India and many of the Vedanta centers in America and Europe.<ref name="About Prabhavananda"/>

==Influence==

Prabhavananda's book ''[[Spiritual Heritage of India (book)|The Spiritual Heritage of India]]'' was reviewed in the academic journal ''[[Philosophy (journal)|Philosophy]]''. The review stated that "Swami Prabhavananda has written a charming and authoritative book on the spiritual heritage of India, by which he means that heritage in consonance with the Vedic tradition and its culmination in Vedanta" (p.&nbsp;376).<ref name=riepe63>Dale Riepe (1963). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3748609 [Untitled - review of Prabhavananda's The Spiritual Heritage of India&#93;]. ''[[Philosophy (journal)|Philosophy]]'', v38 n146, pp376-377. {{ISSN|0031-8191}} DOI [https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0031819100058411 S0031819100058411]</ref> The reviewer stated that "throughout the book breathes an air of relaxed simplicity and conviction.... I was particularly refreshed by the absence of attacks on science, materialism, naturalism, and other such means to spiritual fulfilment" (pp.&nbsp;376–377).<ref name=riepe63/>

Prabhavananda and Isherwood's translation of the [[Bhagavad_Gita_-_Song_of_God|’’Bhagavad Gita – The Song of God’’]] was reviewed by ''[[Time Magazine]]'' in 1945.<ref name=timemag45>{{cite magazine |author=Anonymous |title=Books: Universal cult [review of Prabhavananda and Isherwood's Bhagavad Gita translation] |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |volume=45 |issue=7 |date=February 12, 1945 |pages= 94, 96, 98, 100}}</ref> ''[[Time Magazine|Time]]'' described the translation as "a distinguished literary work" that was "simpler and freer than other English translations (three of which have been published in the past year).... It may help U.S. readers to understand not only the ''Gita'' itself, but also its influence on American letters through one of its greatest U.S. admirers, [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]" (pp.&nbsp;98, 100<ref name=timemag45/>).

==Written works==

===Original works===
* Dynamic Religion (1927) 
* Wisdom of God (Srimad Bhagavatam) (1943) 
*''[[Spiritual Heritage of India (book)|The Spiritual Heritage of India]]'' (1963).
**Editions: Doubleday, 1962 (original); Anchor, 1964; Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1977, {{ISBN|81-7120-145-8}}; [[Vedanta Press]], 1979, {{ISBN|0-87481-035-3}}; [[Vedanta Press]], 1980; Cosmos, 2003, {{ISBN|81-7755-746-7}}
*''[[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic Religion]] and Philosophy''
*''The Eternal Companion'' (Life and teachings of [[Disciples_of_Ramakrishna#Swami Brahmananda|Swami Brahmananda]])
*''The [[Sermon on the Mount]] according to [[Vedanta]]''
*''Religion in Practice''
*''[[Yoga]] and [[Mysticism]]''

===Translations===
*''The Wisdom of God'' ([[Bhagavata Purana|Srimat Bhagavatam]]), {{ISBN|81-7823-315-0}}
*''Shankara's Crest-jewel of discrimination'' ([[Viveka Choodamani]]) - with [[Christopher Isherwood]], {{ISBN|0-87481-038-8}}
*''The Upanishads'' - with Frederick Manchester, {{ISBN|0-451-52848-4}}
*[[Bhagavad_Gita_-_Song_of_God|''Bhagavad Gita – The Song of God'']] - with [[Christopher Isherwood]], {{ISBN|0-451-52844-1}}
*''How to know God, the Yoga aphorisms of [[Patanjali]]'' ([[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Patanjala Yogasutra]]) - with [[Christopher Isherwood]], {{ISBN|0-87481-041-8}}
*''Memories of a Loving Soul: [[Prem Kumar (Premananda)|Swami Premananda]], Teachings and Reminiscences''
*''Narada's Way of Divine Love (Narada Bhakti Sutras)''

==Audio and video works==
*''What is Religion?'' - CD<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/what-is-religion-r1788349 Review on Allmusic.com]</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Released through mondayMEDIA on the GemsTone Label</ref>
*''Eight Limbs of Yoga'' - DVD <ref name="ReferenceA"/>
*''Blessed Are the Pure In Heart'' and ''Be Still'' - DVD<ref>Two lectures released through mondayMEDIA on the GemsTone Label</ref>

==See also==
* [http://www.vedantavideo.com/SwPrabhava.htm Collection of videos of Prabhavananda lectures]
* [[Vedanta Society]]
* [[Bhagavad_Gita_-_Song_of_God|''Bhagavad Gita – The Song of God'']]
* [[Yoga in America]]
* [[Vedanta Society Of Southern California, Ramakrishna Monastery]]
* [[Ramakrishna Order]]
* [[Santa Barbara Vedanta Temple]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.rkmath.org/englishaudios Audio recording of talk by Swami Prabhavananda, "Talks on Silence" (26 June 1966)]
*[http://www.vedanta.org/ Vedanta Society of Southern California]

{{Swami Vivekananda}}
{{Modern Hindu writers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhavananda}}
[[Category:20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians]]
[[Category:Monks of the Ramakrishna Mission]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:People from Bankura district]]
[[Category:Neo-Vedanta]]