Seen as God's plot, the income thus generated is called "impersonal wealth" and belongs to no one but God. Thereafter each person subsequently, one day a month, works on cultivating that particular plot of land.
In this social experiment, a Swadhyayee gives a piece of land for use for a season as God's farm. Naturally, he has his share." God's part of our wealth, Athavale suggests, can be redistributed among the poor and needy.Īthavale also presented the idea of Yogeshwar Krishi (divine farming) to the farming community. "Since God is with us and within us, he is a partner in all our transactions. Devotion, he says, can be turned into a social force. Athavale has shown that individual transformation eventually can lead to wider social change. According to members, it is a "journey to work out a unity in a multiverse of cultures and world views, of harmonizing the self with a network of relationships, of creating and maintaining vital connections between self, society, and God, of knowing and enriching human action with sacredness." The understanding of an in-dwelling God imbibed into Swadhyayees (practitioners of Swadhyay) by Athavale is claimed to motivate them towards true expression of devotion (Bhakti).Īthavale introduced educational institutions, developed wealth redistribution measures and social welfare projects. For Athavale and the Parivar, Swadhyay is interpreted as the study of the self for a spiritual quest, an innovative and striking interpretation. In standard Classical Sanskrit, svādhyāyaḥ (Devanāgarī: स्वाध्याय:) means study ( adhyāya) by oneself ( sva), i.e., private study or studying alone. It claims to have between 50,000 and 100,000 centres ("kendra" locations) and between 6 and 20 million followers in India, Portugal, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. The movement refuses any support or assistance from the state or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), relying entirely on volunteer activity of its members. His followers call him as "Dada" (elder brother). This initiative began Athavale's Swadhyaya movement in 1958. He began preaching these principles from Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita in his community, particularly in the downtrodden segments of society he called Agri, Bagri, and Sagri. He believed that the foundation and values for such a search were in the ancient texts of Hinduism.
He sought another way for liberating oneself spiritually, economically and socially. He rejected charity handouts, arguing that this creates a dependent relationship, attacks human dignity and robs the recipient's sense of self-worth. He argued that both liberal welfare centric approach and socialism were incapable of bridging gap between rich and needy. In the 1940s, while he was in his early twenties, Athavale began to deliver discourses on the Bhagavad Gita in Mumbai, India. Pandurang Shastri Athavale was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in colonial India. The movement members treat all men and women in the organization as a Parivara (family). Community members participate in Bhavabhakti (emotional devotion to the divine), Krutibhakti (actional devotion by voluntary service to the divine in all of god's creation), and Bhaktipheri (devotional travel to meet, work and help the well-being of the community partners). Prayers are performed in the Smarta tradition's Panchayatana puja format, attributed to Adi Shankara.
Deity Surya is recognized in the form of sunlight. Its temples typically highlight the deities Yogeshwara Krishna, Parvati, Ganesha and Shiva in a Vriksha Mandir ("temple of trees") setting. It encourages voluntary self-study, self-knowledge, community discourses and action with a responsibility to the god in oneself and others. The movement focuses on the Upanishadic mahāvākyas (great teachings) related with Vedic belief that god is within oneself, every human being, all living beings and all of god's creation. Founded by Pandurang Shastri Athavale (1920-2003), the movement emphasizes self-study ( swadhyaya), selfless devotion ( bhakti) and application of Indian scriptures such as the Upanishads and Bhagavad gita for spiritual, social and economic liberation. The Swadhyaya Movement or Swadhyaya Parivara started in mid 20th-century in the western states of India, particularly Maharashtra and Gujarat.