Logo

The author was born in the Karnatak in 1880, and assumed the name of Y. Subba Rau. He taught English in Bangalore as a householder till retirement in 1935. Initiated for the study of Shankara by the jagadguru of Shringeri at about the age of 20, he devoted his life as layman and monk to the study and propagation of Shankara's interpretation of the Upanishads, in its theoretical and practical aspects. He founded the Adhyatma Prakasha Karyalaya for this purpose, and published altogether 183 works in Sanskrit, Kannada and English, besides innumerable articles. He always sought to penetrate behind the later commentators to Shankara's doctrine in its pure form, much in harmony with modern western scholarship. Ordained a monk under the name Satchidanandendra Sarasvati in 1948, he poured forth works in old age with astonishing fertility. In 1964 he published at the age of 84 his greatest Sanskrit work, the Vedanta Prakriya Pratyabhijna, here presented in English form. He lived on to produce many other works before his death in 1975.