Valedictory Address: Pursuit of Knowledge as Means for Moksha

Swamiji was born in 1962 in Gujarat state. His spiritual pursuit started at a young age which finally led him to Vedanta. After completing his education in engineering, he joined a three year course at Baroda in 1986 under Swami Brahmatmananda, a student of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He got his brahmacarya-diksha in 1989 and later continued his studies with Swami Visharadanandaji at Swami Dayananda Ashram at Rishikesh. During this period, he was privileged to study under Pujya Swamiji. He was initiated into sannyasa in 1997 by Pujya Swami and given the name Swami Sadatmananda. Swamiji was the acarya at Arsha Vidya Kendra, Bangalore from 1994 to April 2014. The center was later registered as Arsha Vidya Kendra Trust with Pujya Swamiji as the paramount trustee and Swamiji as the chairman. He conducted classes at the Kendra on Upanishads, Brahmasutra, BhagavadgIta, Puranas, Sanskrit and other vedantic texts. He also conducted weekly classes for children and young adults. He initiated and motivated various social activities by the Kendra. The Kendra grew considerably during his tenure of 20 years and a lot of people were benefited from his teaching. His love for studying the sastra and understanding it in-depth, is a quality that all his students value and strive to imbibe. During 2011 to 2013, under invitation from the Mahamandaleswar of Kailash Ashram, Rishikesh, he annually visited Rishikesh and taught Upanishad and other vedantic texts there, in Hindi with Bhashyam and Tika. In 2013, Pujya Swamiji suggested that he conduct the next course at Coimbatore. Accordingly, in May 2014, under the guidance of Pujya Swamiji, a three month and a three year residential course in Vedanta and Sanskrit was started at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Anaikatti, Coimbatore with Swamiji as the Chief Acarya. Swamiji conducted daily classes in Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and other Vedantic texts during the course which was concluded in September 2017. In 2020, Swamiji commenced a two year Residential Vedanta Course which was preceded by a preliminary course for 108 days. The long term course was successfully completed in Mar 2022, despite challenges posed by the pandemic. Since then, Swamiji has been conducting short term residential retreats, and also daily classes on Vedanta texts at the Gurukulam. In addition, Swamiji is presently conducting an informal course in the traditional gurukulam-style, involving an in-depth study of Vedanta and related texts, for a few brahmacharis selected from the previous course. Swamiji has been teaching for over 3 decades. He is a very versatile teacher who can reach out to a wide variety of audience both young and old. He is well-versed in Sanskrit and applies it in the study of Bhashyam. He is committed to convey the message of the sastra to his students with depth and clarity and also has the ability to summarize the main ideas, never letting his students lose sight of the connections. His teaching style is simple and clear, with a lot of examples. He can teach with ease in English, Sanskrit, Hindi or his native Gujarati. He is a caring teacher, always ready to help. His discipline, commitment to the teaching and spirit of sannyasa is a great inspiration to his students. After the Mahasamadhi of Pujya Swamiji in 2015, Swamiji (fondly known as Acaryaji) was appointed the Paramount Trustee of Sruti Seva Trust, Anaikatti. He has continued the sampradaya and kept the Gurukulam vibrant with the teaching of Vedanta while overseeing its daily administration.