Chinmaya Mission’s Vedanta institutes for spiritual studies were named by founder Swami Chinmayananda as ‘Sandeepany’-s (pronounced saan-dee-panee). He said, ‘Sandeepany symbolizes the perfect kindling and the kindling of Perfection in the hearts of men.’ In ancient times, the great sage, Maharishi Sandeepani, headed a gurukula, where spiritual knowledge, scriptural teachings, martial arts, and all aspects of learning were imparted to resident disciples. Gurukulas were much more than today’s boarding school and the students stayed under the tutelage, protection, and nurturing of their guru for approximately ten years. Students and their guru resided together as a family. Maharishi Sandeepani’s most famed disciple was none other than Lord Krishna. Swami Chinmayananda thus chose ‘Sandeepany’ as Chinmaya Mission’s first Vedantic learning and spiritual training academy in Mumbai, India. This title later came to be used generically for all of the Mission’s Vedantic institutes, which sprouted in various parts of India and offer two-year residential training in the respective regional languages.
Chinmaya Mission
