Swami Anand | |
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| Born | Himmatlal Dave 1887 (1887) Shiyani nearWadhwan,British India |
| Died | 25 January 1976(1976-01-25) (aged 88–89) Bombay, India |
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Swami Anand (8 September 1887 – 25 January 1976) was a monk, aGandhian activist and aGujarati writer from India. He was the manager ofGandhi's publications such asNavajivan andYoung India and inspired Gandhi to write his autobiography,The Story of My Experiments with Truth.[1] He wrote sketches, memoir, biographies, philosophy, travelogues and translated some works.
Swami Anand was born Himmatlal on 8 September 1887 at Shiyani village nearWadhwan to Ramchandra Dave (Dwivedi) and Parvati in Audichya Brahmin family. His father was a teacher. He was among seven siblings.[2] He was brought up and educated inBombay. At the age of ten, he left home in opposition to marriage and due to an offer by a monk to show him God. He wandered for three years with several different monks. He took a vow of renunciation while still in his teens, took on the name Swami Anand and became a monk with theRamakrishna Mission. He also lived at theAdvaita Ashram where he studied.[3][4][5]
Anand's entry into theIndian independence movement was through his association with therevolutionaries of Bengal in 1905. Later, he worked in theKesari, the Marathi newspaper founded byBal Gangadhar Tilak, in 1907.[5][6] He was also involved in independence activities in rural regions. He also edited the Gujarati edition of Marathi dailyRashtramat during the same period. When it was closed down, he travelled the Himalayas in 1909. In 1912, he taught at the Hill Boys School inAlmoda which was founded byAnnie Besant.[5][2]
Mahatma Gandhi first met Anand in Bombay on 10 January 1915, the day after he had returned from South Africa.[7] Gandhi launched his weekly, theNavjeevan fromAhmedabad four years later. Its inaugural issue came out in September 1919 and soon the workload increased. It was at this juncture that Gandhi sent for Anand to become the manager of the publication. Swami Anand took over its management in late 1919. He proved to be a good editor and manager and when theYoung India was launched, he moved the publication to larger premises and with printing equipment donated byMohammed Ali Jouhar, its publication began. In 18 March 1922, he was jailed for one and a half years as a publisher for an article published inYoung India.[5][8][2]
Gandhi's autobiography was serialised in theNavjeevan from 1925 to 1928. It was written by Gandhi at Swami Anand's insistence and an English translation of these chapters appeared in installments in theYoung India as well.[9][10] Later,The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi was published based on the talks Gandhi gave at the Satyagraha Ashram in Ahmedabad in 1926.[11] Swami Anand played a role in inspiring Gandhi to write this work as well.[12]
He wasVallabhai Patel's secretary during theBardoli Satyagraha of 1928. In 1930, he was again jailed for three years for participating in Salt Satyagraha atVile Parle in Bombay. When he was released in 1933, he focused on the upliftment of the tribals and the underprivileged. He also founded theAshrams in Bordi in Gujarat in 1931 followed by in Thane,Kausani andKosbad.[5][2] He had also participated in relief work of the1934 earthquake in north India and in the 1942Quit India movement.[2] FollowingPartition in 1947, he worked amongst the refugees fromSialkot andHardwar.[6]
AfterIndependence, Swami Anand took an interest in agriculture and agrarian issues. He was concerned about agricultural productivity and livelihoods, but had deep respect for the practical wisdom of small farmers. He was inspired byGeorge Washington Carver andRobert Oppenheimer, whose biography he wrote. From 1957 to 1976, he made the Kosbad Agricultural Institute atDahanu, near Bombay, his home.[13][6] He died on 25 January 1976 at 2:15 am inBombay following heart attack.[2][5]
Swami Anand was apolyglot, proficient in Gujarati,Marathi,Sanskrit,Hindi,Urdu and English. He was acquainted with the classical and folk traditions of the Gujarati, Marathi and Sanskrit languages and was influenced by the works ofRalph Waldo Emerson,Max Muller,Walt Whitman,Sri Aurobindo andSwami Vivekananda. Besides fiction, Swami Anand also wrote on issues of science, religion and society.[3] He had written memoirs, biographies, philosophies, travelogues and translations. Many of his works were published posthumously.[5]
He has written several character sketches, biographical reflections and biographies of his friends and associates includingGandhijina Sansmarano (1963),Bhagwan Buddha (1964, co-written),Kulkathao (1966),Dharatinu Lun (1969),Motne Hamfavnara (1969),Santona Anuj (1971),Naghrol (1975),Santono Falo (1978).[5][3]Kulkathao, a series of pen portraits of people from theBhatia caste, won him theSahitya Akademi Award in 1969, but, he refused to accept the award due to his vow not to accept any monetary benefits for his writings.[14][15][5] Gujarati writer and translatorMulshankar Bhatt has collected his best of the character sketches and published asDharati Ni Arati (1977). In it, he has sketched the character of those people who had created a deep impression in his life. Some of the popular characters from it are Dhanima,Mahadev Desai, Vamandada and Dr. Mayadas.[16]
His philosophical essay collections includeIsunu Balidan (1922),Ishopnishad,Ishubhagwat (1977),Lokgeeta,Navla Darshan Ane Bija Lekho (1968),Manavtana Veri (1966),Anant Kala (1967),Atamna Mool (1967),Sarvoday Vicharana (co-written).[5] HisAnant Kala is a meditation on nature and spirituality, while his writing also covers theUpanishads and theSarvodaya Movement extensively.[3] These essays share views on religion and society based on the concept ofSarva Dharma Sama Bhava which he had embraced.[5]
He also produced travelogues based on his travels in theHimalayas which were published inPrasthan magazine between 1954 and 1960 and posthumously published inUttarapathni Yatra andBaraf Raste Badrinath (1980). His translation ofSven Hedin's travel writing asAsiana Bhraman Ane Sanshodhan in Gujarati, was also published posthumously in 1979.[3][5]
Bachpanna Bar Varsh (1982) is his incomplete autobiographical work.Juni Moodi (1980) is a collection of proverbs and idioms.[5]
Some of his other works includeAmbavadiyun andAmaratvel and a compilation of correspondence between him and Gandhi's colleagues are contained in theUgamani Dishano Ujas andDhodhamar, all edited byDinkar Joshi.[17]
A biography of Swami Anand was written byChandrakant Sheth[2] and he is the central character inSujata Bhatt's poem, "Point No Point".[18]
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