A life in dates, from the Narmada to the Arabian Sea

Pothiram Upadhyay, later Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, is born on 2 September 1924 in Dighori, Seoni district, Madhya Pradesh. As a young renunciant he is jailed twice during the Quit India movement. He becomes Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath in 1973 and of Dwarka in 1982. Every later turn in Sadanand's life runs through this teacher.

He comes to Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati's Paramhansi Ganga Ashram at Jhoteshwar and begins studying Sanskrit. Patrika's detailed profile puts this in 1970, when he was about twelve. Other reports say he came to the guru at eighteen. At some point in these years he receives brahmachari diksha and the name Brahmachari Sadanand. The year of that initiation has not been published.

According to Patrika, he stays at Jhoteshwar through the years when the ashram's Tripura Sundari temple is being built. He then studies the shastras in Varanasi for about eight years.

Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati becomes Shankaracharya of the Dwarka Sharada Peetham while also holding Jyotirmath. That joins the disciple's future to the western seat.

He is appointed the Shankaracharya's representative (pratinidhi) at the Dwarka Sharada Peetham. Several reports confirm the role. The year 1995 comes from Patrika. With his guru spread across two seats and an ashram in Madhya Pradesh, this makes him the person who looks after the western Math day to day.

A report republished from Dainik Bhaskar says that on 28 September 2022, at the Sharadamba temple in Sringeri, the Sringeri Shankaracharya Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswami consecrated both new acharyas and gave each a silver kamandalu (water vessel).

Gujarat Samachar reported on 14 October 2022 that he had been seated on the gaddi of the Sharada Math at Dwarka with Vedic abhishek. The paper called it the first such ceremony there in forty years. Those present included Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati of Sringeri and Swami Avimukteshwaranand.

Text on the Peetham-linked website gives his chaturmas (monsoon retreat) as 3 July to 29 September 2023 at Sharada Peeth, Dwarka, with discourses on the Bhagavad Gita. On 29 November 2023, ETV Bharat Gujarati reports, he addresses a Dharma Sabha in Patan, Gujarat.

Before the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya on 22 January 2024 he tells India TV that he will not attend because of the arrangements and crowds, and that the Shankaracharyas are not angry. He also says he will go for darshan later. ANI, reporting from Ahmedabad on 20 January, has him welcoming the moment as one that came after centuries.

On 19 August 2024, speaking to Republic, he urges the governments of India and Bangladesh to discuss the situation of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Speaking at Piparia in Narmadapuram district, Madhya Pradesh, he says that all four Shankaracharyas are united on protecting the cow. He criticises the absence of Sanatana Dharma from education. And he draws a sharp line between religious teachers and those aligned with political power (ETV Bharat, 13 February 2026). See Teachings for his words.