Swami Anand was a monk, a Gandhian activist and a Gujarati writer from India.
24 Facts About Swami Anand
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Swami Anand was the manager of Gandhi's publications such as Navajivan and Young India and inspired Gandhi to write his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth.
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Swami Anand wrote sketches, memoir, biographies, philosophy, travelogues and translated some works.
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Swami Anand was born Himmatlal on 8 September 1887 at Shiyani village near Wadhwan to Ramchandra Dave and Parvati in Audichya Brahmin family.
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Swami Anand wandered for three years with several different monks.
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Swami Anand took a vow of renunciation while still in his teens, took on the name Swami Anand and became a monk with the Ramakrishna Mission.
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Swami Anand lived at the Advaita Ashram where he studied.
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Swami Anand was involved in independence activities in rural regions.
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Swami Anand edited the Gujarati edition of Marathi daily Rashtramat during the same period.
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Swami Anand proved to be a good editor and manager and when the Young India was launched, he moved the publication to larger premises and with printing equipment donated by Mohammed Ali Jouhar, its publication began.
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Swami Anand played a role in inspiring Gandhi to write this work as well.
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Swami Anand was Vallabhai Patel's secretary during the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928.
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Swami Anand founded the Ashrams in Bordi in Gujarat in 1931 followed by in Thane, Kausani and Kosbad.
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Swami Anand had participated in relief work of the 1934 earthquake in north India and in the 1942 Quit India movement.
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Swami Anand was concerned about agricultural productivity and livelihoods, but had deep respect for the practical wisdom of small farmers.
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Swami Anand was inspired by George Washington Carver and Robert Oppenheimer, whose biography he wrote.
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Swami Anand died on 25 January 1976 at 2:15 am in Bombay following heart attack.
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Swami Anand was a polyglot, proficient in Gujarati, Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu and English.
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Swami Anand was acquainted with the classical and folk traditions of the Gujarati, Marathi and Sanskrit languages and was influenced by the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Max Muller, Walt Whitman, Sri Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda.
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Besides fiction, Swami Anand wrote on issues of science, religion and society.
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Swami Anand had written memoirs, biographies, philosophies, travelogues and translations.
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Swami Anand has written several character sketches, biographical reflections and biographies of his friends and associates including Gandhijina Sansmarano, Bhagwan Buddha, Kulkathao, Dharatinu Lun, Motne Hamfavnara, Santona Anuj, Naghrol, Santono Falo.
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Swami Anand's Anant Kala is a meditation on nature and spirituality, while his writing covers the Upanishads and the Sarvodaya Movement extensively.
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Swami Anand produced travelogues based on his travels in the Himalayas which were published in Prasthan magazine between 1954 and 1960 and posthumously published in Uttarapathni Yatra and Baraf Raste Badrinath.