Swami Chinmayananda

Teaching

Swami Chinmayananda explained the source texts of Vedanta, such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, in English, in long series of public talks (Jnana Yajnas), for people of any age, nationality or religious background. The Chinmaya Mission he founded offers study for each stage of life, from Bala Vihar classes for children to study groups for adults. ^{1, 4}

Who it is for

For readers and study groups who want Vedanta and the Bhagavad Gita explained in English, with local centres to study in.

Where to start

• Begin with The Holy Geeta, his English commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, published by the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust. ^{3, 5}
• To hear him, his recorded talks on chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita are free on his mission's YouTube channel, beginning with two introductory talks given at Stanford University in 1977. ^{6, 7, 8}

Works

• The Holy Geeta

  Book · 1976 · Central Chinmaya Mission Trust

  His commentary in English on the Bhagavad Gita, with the Sanskrit text; the mission also publishes translations of it into Indian languages.

  Visit source page · eshop.chinmayamission.com ↗

The short summaries are ours.

More works of Swami Chinmayananda in the library

In their own words

Short passages in the words of Swami Chinmayananda, each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.

• The Self is never an object for anyone’s intellectual appreciation as knowledge.

• When the mouth is noisy, little do we understand what others say, and much less can we comprehend what our mystic masters indicate with their rare words.

• But I wanted devotees not to mistake the container for the contained: the body for the Self: the Narayan.

• …unless those thoughts and ideals are implemented in our everyday life, they cannot have any utility value. When philosophical values are brought down to the everyday life, and people live upon those ideals, then in that society, in that community, those philosophical ideals become a culture.

• But the words, the best of the words that describe him, are all only pointers. The words by themselves do not describe the truth, but they point towards truth.

• Consciousness is that light in which I recognize my own emotion. Love or anger or passion or lust, when it rises in my mind, I clearly see it.

Documented teaching relationships

• Learned personally with Swami Sivananda Saraswati (Rishikesh)

  According to the Chinmaya Mission, Balakrishna Menon met Swami Sivananda at the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh in September 1947, and Sivananda initiated him into renunciation on 25 February 1949 as Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati, then sent him to study with Swami Tapovan Maharaj.

  Stated by an institution · chinmayamission.com

• Personal teacher of Swami Dayananda Saraswati

  According to Swami Dayananda's publication trust, he became interested in Vedanta through Swami Chinmayananda's public talks in 1953, worked for the Chinmaya Mission, and received sannyasa and his name from Swami Chinmayananda in 1962.

  Stated by an institution · avrpt.com

• Personal encounter with Anandamayi Ma

  The website of Anandamayi Ma's devotees, quoting a Chinmaya Mission text, says that Swami Sivananda sent Chinmayananda, during his days as a student at Ananda Kutir, to Anandamayi Ma for help with a problem in his breathing practice, that she was a guest at the Mission's Sandeepany Sadhanalaya in Mumbai in 1975, and that he was among the swamis invited to speak at her 83rd birthday celebration in Bangalore in 1979.

  Stated by an institution · anandamayi.org

• Learned personally with Swami Tapovan Maharaj

  The Chinmaya Mission calls Swami Tapovan Maharaj the Vidya Guru of Swami Chinmayananda and says that Chinmayananda was one of a very small group of students studying with him in the early 1950s; its page on Tapovan Kuti at Uttarkashi says that Chinmayananda spent seven years studying under him.

  Stated by an institution · chinmayamission.com , chinmayamission.com (2)

Teaching relationships are documented statements. They confer no trust and do not attest realisation.

Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 18 Oct 2026.

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