०१ Jagadguru Shankaracharya · Paschimamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Dwarka
Swami Sadanand Saraswati
स्वामी सदानन्द सरस्वती
Since September 2022 he has been head of the Dwarka Sharada Peetham, the western seat of the four monasteries that tradition credits to Adi Shankaracharya. He was a disciple of Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati for more than five decades.
०२ In brief
Fifty years with one teacher, then his seat at Dwarka
He was born Ramesh Awasthi in a village in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh. As a boy he went to his guru's ashram at Jhoteshwar, where he studied Sanskrit. Over the next five decades he moved from brahmachari to dandi sannyasi to the Shankaracharya's representative at Dwarka.
When Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati died in September 2022, Sadanand was named his successor at the Dwarka Sharada Peetham. This site sets out what the public record documents about that life. It marks clearly what is tradition and what is interpretation.
- Name at birth
- Ramesh AwasthiAs reported in regional press, 2022
- Born
- 1958, Bargi village, Narsinghpur district, Madhya PradeshYear as reported by Patrika; no exact date has been published
- Guru
- Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati (1924–2022)Shankaracharya of Dwarka and of Jyotirmath
- Initiations
- Brahmachari diksha as “Brahmachari Sadanand”; later dandi sannyas in VaranasiThe sannyas is reported to date from 2003
- Named successor
- 12 September 2022, Paramhansi Ganga Ashram, Jhoteshwar
- Seat
- Dwarka Sharada Peetham, Gujarat, the Paschimamnaya (western) seat
०३ The seat he holds
The western monastery of the Advaita tradition
According to the monastic tradition, Adi Shankaracharya set up four amnaya seats at the four corners of India. Each is linked to one Veda and one of its “great sayings” (mahavakya). Dwarka's are as follows.
- Direction
- Westपश्चिमाम्नाय
- Veda
- Sama Vedaसामवेद
- Mahavakya
- Tat Tvam Asiतत्त्वमसि
- Also known as
- Kalika Mathकालिका मठ
०४ The office
What a Shankaracharya does
The title Shankaracharya is not an honorific that anyone can take. It belongs to the heads of the monasteries in Adi Shankara's line. Each head is expected to guard a particular Vedic school, teach Advaita Vedanta and guide the renunciants and householders who look to that seat.
In practice, the office shows in discourses on scripture, in the four-month monsoon retreat (chaturmasya), at the great gatherings such as the Kumbh Mela, and in statements on questions of dharma. Swami Sadanand Saraswati has done all of these since 2022. On other pages we document each of them with sources.
०५ The great saying of the western seat
Tat Tvam Asi
तत्त्वमसि
tat tvam asi: “That thou art”
This line comes from the Chandogya Upanishad (6.8.7) of the Sama Veda. There, the sage Uddalaka teaches his son Shvetaketu that the innermost Self is not different from the ground of all being. The Dwarka seat has kept this sentence for centuries as the one it is charged to teach.
०६ Continue reading
The rest of the site
- ०१
About
Who he is, where he comes from, and the teacher who shaped him.
- ०२
Life & Journey
A dated chronology from Bargi village in 1958 to the Maha Kumbh of 2025.
- ०३
Teachings & Philosophy
Advaita, Tat Tvam Asi and the positions he has taken in public, each marked as documented or traditional.
- ०४
Spiritual Journey
From student to renunciant to acharya: the stages of a monastic life.
- ०५
Legacy
The lineage he continues, the institution he leads, and what is on the record so far.
- ०६
Gallery
Photographs from discourses, ceremonies and processions.
Sources for this page
- Patrika, “Jyotish and the new Shankaracharya of Dwarka Sharda Peeth…”, 18 Sep 2022. patrika.com
- PTI via ThePrint, “Dwarka and Jyotish peeths get new Shankaracharyas…”, 12 Sep 2022. theprint.in
- Devbhumi Dwarka District Administration, “Shardapith Temple”. devbhumidwarka.nic.in
- Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7 (Sama Veda).