Welcome to the Swami Venkatesananda Website celebrating the life & teachings of Swami Venkatesananda

   Both a renowned Sanskrit scholar and yogi, Swami Venkatesananda - like his master, Swami Sivananda - can be regarded as a sage of practical wisdom.

   Focusing on issues that concern all branches of yoga, it is our intension to provide materials that will enrich and enliven your own practice of yoga. 

   Our thanks to our good friends for helping us digitize the Chiltern Yoga Trust's edition of The Bhagavad Gita, Song of God, as well as Enlightened Living, The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, (often referrred to simply as The Yoga Sutras). Here we have posted the final version, with the changes made by Swami Venkatesananda himself. He considered earlier editions to be in need of revision, and made the necessary revisions in a small printing that was published in South Africa in 1975.  The 1975 edition, available here, should be considered to superceed not only the previous versions, but even his text which appeared in publications after 1975, including a text which appeared in 1998.

  Special thanks go to Chiltern Trust Australia for providing recordings of public talks and casual Q&A sessions with yoga teachers and students. We expect to add them to the site over the next few weeks.  See the new additions below:



(OGG files are for instant streaming using Firefox on iMac and Mac laptops)



04-17-1980:   MP3 | OGG   On Vigilance
04-17-1980:   MP3 | OGG   On Using A Mala
04-18-1980:   MP3 | OGG   On The Notion of Evil
04-20-1980:   MP3 | OGG   Q&A Discussion
04-22-1980:   MP3 | OGG   Q&A Discussion
04-23-1980:   MP3 | OGG   Q&A Discussion
05-01-1980:   MP3 | OGG   Q&A Discussion
05-02-1980:   MP3 | OGG   Q&A Discussion
05-03-1980:   MP3 | OGG   On Integral Yoga

  During the next few months, we will be adding some recordings made in California in early 1970s.  Most of these talks were delivered to students and yoga teachers at the original Sivananda Yoga Centre in Los Angeles, or at the yoga "retreat" (an "advance" as Venkatesa preferred to call it) just north of Sacramento, California.  In the meantime, here's the first one on "Satsang" : To hear it, click here.

Speaking of California, here's a photo taken at the very first Earth Day, April 22, 1970. California, being ahead of the curve, had invited Swami Venkatesananda to speak at the event at University of California at Davis.  Happy Earth Day!