Swami Dayananda Saraswati is a monk of the Hindu monastic order, a renowned traditional teacher of Advaita Vedānta, and founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam.

As a foremost student of Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Dayananda studied with a number of teachers, including Swami Tapovanam Maharaj, Swami Pranavananda and other well-known Samskrtam scholars, including Professor Veeraraghavachariar at Chamrajpet’s Samskrtam College.

Pujya Swamiji, as he is known by his students, became a Hindu Monk in 1962. Several years later he traveled to Rishikesh where he undertook a study-pilgrimage and stayed in a grass hut in Purani Jhadi. He spent three years there, studying Brahmā Sūtras under Swami Tarananda Giri at Kailash Ashram.

In 1971, Swami Dayananda agreed to conduct a long-term study program at Chinmaya Mission’s Sandeepany Sadhanalaya and formulated a curriculum that would systematically unfold the vision of Vedānta. Between 1972 and 1979, Swami Dayananda conducted two three-year residential Vedānta courses in Mumbai.

In 1979, Swami Dayananda established a three-year study program at Sandeepany West, in Piercy, California. In 1982, he returned to India and continued to spread the message of the Upaniṣads through public talks and lectures.