Swami Venkatesananda has been described as a modern yogi, a Sanskrit scholar and beloved embodiment of the ancient wisdom of India, but that doesn’t fully convey who he was; for rather than “teaching” Yoga, he embodied it. And rather than conveying the ancient wisdom in a discrete body of tenets, his awakened presence was a catalyst, enlivening the wisdom sleeping within each of us.
Steeped in the lineage and presence of the renowned Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, India he emerged into the larger world of Yoga in the 1960s, traveling widely until his death in 1982. He left a sublime legacy in his wake: recorded and video-taped talks, translations of major Sanskrit scriptures, and many books of transcribed lectures.
Yet this legacy also remains alive in the awakened hearts and minds of those who encountered him. As you explore this website, contemplating his stirring words, be alert to the living energy embedded in them. It can be likened to a benevolent virus (his words) ready to be caught by those who are primed and vigilant.
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Note: We are reworking the biographical material that has previously been linked to here and plan to add an updated version on our new and forthcoming website, hopefully before the end of this year. We appreciate your patience.
Although our new version of this website has been delayed, we are happy to announce that progress is being made, and while we work on that effort, we'll continue to add some features to this current site. By way of example, we will occasionally be posting readings from Swami Venkatesananda's translation of The Yoga Vasistha in our daily readngs section. For these postings, we will be using portions of Swami Venkatesananda's 1971 two-volume edition, entitled The Supreme Yoga. Look for these occasional postings during the months of August and September of 2025.
The next three daily readings are shown below. You may also view a complete listing on our Calendar of Daily Readings.