Swami Gangeshwarananda Udasina (1881 – 1992) was a saint and scholar of Vedas. Also known as Gangeshwaranandji Udasina, he was an important propagator of Vedic teachings. His parents, Ramadatta and Sarladevi, were followers of the Swami Ramadasji Udasina, a well known saint back in those days. As a child he was named Chandrashekhara. When he was six years old, he lost his eyesight due to smallpox. This handicap, however, did not stop him from studying texts like Vedas, Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata, etc., and mastering all branches of knowledge. He was ordained into Udasina Sampradaya at the age of 22 by Guru Ramanadaji, who also gave him the monastic name of ‘Gangeshwarananda.’
Swami Gangeshwarananda has written a commentary on all the four Vedas. He brought out an edition of all Vedas in one volume called Bhagavana Veda. His Satvata-paksha, a commentary on Vedas, traces the story of Krishna as found in Vedas. His other important works are:
- Srautamuni Caritamrta
- Vedapadesha Candrika
- Sadguru Svami Gagnesvaranandji Ke Lektha aur Upadesha (two volumes)
- Bhagavana Veda
- Shukla Yajurveda Samanvaya Bhashya
- Samaveda Samanvaya Bhashya
- Rig Veda Samanvaya Bhashya
- Gita Mandakini
- He wrote the history of the Udasina Sampradaya (tradition) in India.
One of the novel ways in which he sought to propagate Vedas was by building institutions devoted exclusively to the study of Vedas. As a result, today, there are more than five hundred Vedamandiras all over the world, including one in Nepal, countries of east Asia, Europe and America. The erection of these temples was entrusted to the Sadhguru Gangeshwar International Ved Mission.
He contributed immensely to the construction of the Lakshmi Narayana Temple in the middle of the Durgyana Lake in Amritsar. The temple was completed in 1933. When the lake went dry, he raised funds to dig a canal to ensure regular supply of water to the lake. In 1943, he started constructing his first vedamandira in Ahmedabad.
He established fourteen ashramas in and outside the country in places such as Haridwar, Vrindavan, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Nasik, Jakartra, and Singapore.
Swami Gangeshwarananda did yeoman service by helping and providing advice to the Hindus of Pakistan before the partition of India in 1947.
Swami Gangeshwarananda breathed his last on February 14, 1992, at the age of 111.