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Daily VedantaOne lamp, one day
The teachers

Fifty-one people, arranged on the steps of one stand.

Nothing on this site is invented. Every message traces back to a named teacher, and every teacher here has a full page — where they were born, where they walked, what they wrote, what they were up against, and what they actually said. They are set out below the way figures are set out on the steps at Navarātri: the oldest on the highest step, each step below it a little wider, until the lowest step holds the teachers who are still speaking this week.

A wide carved teak gopuram spanning the full stand, five tiers of niches holding Dakṣiṇāmūrti beneath the banyan, Sarasvatī with her vīṇā, Lakṣmī, Gaṇeśa and rows of seated ṛṣis, under a ridge of kalaśa finials
1

Before the eighth century

The teacher of Sri Śaṅkara's teacher, and the teacher who accepted him.

2 teachers
Sri Gauḍapādac. 6th century CE Sri Govinda Bhagavatpādac. 7th–8th century CE
2

The eighth century

Sri Śaṅkara, the four disciples he left in charge, and the opponent who became a disciple.

6 teachers
Sri Adi Shankarac. 8th century CE Sri Hastāmalaka8th–9th century CE Sri Maṇḍana Miśra8th century CE Sri Padmapādāchārya8th century CE Sri Sureśvarāchārya8th century CE Sri Toṭakāchārya8th–9th century CE
3

Ninth to eleventh centuries

The sub-commentators who made the position argue for itself.

4 teachers
Sri Vācaspati Miśrac. 9th–10th century CE Sri Prakāśātmanc. 10th century CE Sri Sarvajñātmanc. 9th–10th century CE (tradition: 4th c. BCE) Sri Vimuktātmanc. 850–1050 CE
4

Twelfth to eighteenth centuries

Consolidation: manuals, method texts, and a wandering saint who wrote nothing down.

4 teachers
Sri Vidyāraṇya14th century CE Sri Madhusūdana Sarasvatīc. 16th century CE Sri Dharmarāja Adhvarīndrac. 17th century CE Sri Sadāśiva Brahmendrac. 17th–18th century CE
5

The nineteenth century

Non-duality lived rather than argued — Dakshineswar, Arunachala, the Himalaya.

20 teachers
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa1836–1886 Sri Sarada Devi1853–1920 Swami Shivananda1854–1934 Swami Brahmananda1863–1922 Swami Ramakrishnananda1863–1911 Swami Turiyananda1863–1922 Swami Vivekananda1863–1902 Swami Akhandananda1864–1937 Swami Saradananda1865–1927 Swami Brahmānanda Saraswatī1871–1953 Swami Rama Tirtha1873–1906 Sri Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni1878–1936 Sri Ramana Maharshi1879–1950 Swami Satchidānandendra Saraswatī1880–1975 Swami Sivananda1887–1963 Swami Tapovan Maharaj1889–1957 Sri Muruganar1890–1973 Sri Chandraśekhara Bhāratī III1892–1954 Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj1897–1981 Swami Gambhirananda1899–1988
6

The twentieth century

The teaching translated, printed, and taken into classrooms and halls.

10 teachers
Sri Annamalai Swami1906–1995 Swami Ranganathananda1908–2005 Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji)1910–1997 Swami Chinmayananda1916–1993 Sri Abhinava Vidyātīrtha1917–1989 Swami Dayananda Saraswati1930–2015 Swami Abhedananda1866–1939 Sri Sadhu Omc. 1922–1985 Swami Krishnananda1922–2001 Swami Nikhilananda1895–1973
7

Teaching now

Living teachers, in Śṛṅgeri, in New York, in Chennai and wherever a class is running this week.

5 teachers
Swami Tejomayanandab. 1950 Sri Bhāratī Tīrthab. 1951 Swami SarvapriyanandaContemporary Swami Paramarthanandab. 1953 Swami Swaroopanandaliving teacher
The Sri Shankara LineageThe Sri Ramakrishna LineageThe Sri Ramana LineageThe Sri Chinmaya LineageKindred Voices
Dakṣiṇāmūrti — the teacher who teaches in silence

The Sri Shankara Lineage · 21 teachers

Advaita given its architecture — The Advaita Guru Paramparā traces itself from the Vedic seers through Sri Gauḍapāda and Sri Govinda Bhagavatpāda to Sri Adi Shankara, and from his four principal disciples into the monastic seats he established at the four corners of India. The Sringeri line continues unbroken to the present Jagadguru.

Sri Gauḍapāda c. 6th century CE Grand-guru of Sri Adi Shankara Sri Govinda Bhagavatpāda c. 7th–8th century CE Guru of Sri Adi Shankara Sri Adi Shankara c. 8th century CE The pivotal exponent of Advaita Vedanta Sri Sureśvarāchārya 8th century CE Direct disciple of Sri Adi Shankara Sri Padmapādāchārya 8th century CE Direct disciple of Sri Adi Shankara Sri Toṭakāchārya 8th–9th century CE Direct disciple of Sri Adi Shankara Sri Hastāmalaka 8th–9th century CE Direct disciple of Sri Adi Shankara Sri Vidyāraṇya 14th century CE Jagadguru of Sringeri; author Sri Sadāśiva Brahmendra c. 17th–18th century CE Avadhūta, composer and commentator Sri Chandraśekhara Bhāratī III 1892–1954 34th Jagadguru of Sringeri Sri Abhinava Vidyātīrtha 1917–1989 35th Jagadguru of Sringeri Sri Bhāratī Tīrtha b. 1951 36th Jagadguru of Sringeri Sri Maṇḍana Miśra 8th century CE Author of the Brahma-siddhi Sri Vācaspati Miśra c. 9th–10th century CE Author of the Bhāmatī commentary Sri Prakāśātman c. 10th century CE Author of the Pañcapādikā-vivaraṇa Sri Sarvajñātman traditionally 4th century BCE; scholars place him c. 9th–10th century CE Author of the Saṃkṣepaśārīraka Sri Madhusūdana Sarasvatī c. 1540–1647 (disputed) Author of the Advaita-siddhi Sri Dharmarāja Adhvarīndra c. 17th century CE Author of the Vedānta Paribhāṣā Swami Satchidānandendra Saraswatī 1880–1975 Founder of the Adhyātma Prakāśa Kāryālaya, Holenarasipura Sri Vimuktātman c. 850–1050 CE (Hiriyanna) Author of the Iṣṭa-siddhi Swami Brahmānanda Saraswatī 1871–1953 Śaṅkarācārya of the Jyotir Maṭha, Joshimath
The Divine Mother at the river temple

The Sri Ramakrishna Lineage · 14 teachers

Non-duality lived, then carried worldwide — Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa practised within several traditions and declared one goal. Sri Sarada Devi and his direct monastic disciples formed the Ramakrishna Order, which Swami Vivekananda took to the world in 1893, and which today teaches Advaita in centres across every continent.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa 1836–1886 Mystic of Dakshineswar Sri Sarada Devi 1853–1920 Holy Mother Swami Vivekananda 1863–1902 Founder of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Brahmananda 1863–1922 1st President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Shivananda 1854–1934 2nd President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Saradananda 1865–1927 Direct disciple; first General Secretary Swami Turiyananda 1863–1922 Direct disciple; teacher in California Swami Ramakrishnananda 1863–1911 Direct disciple; founder of the Madras centre Swami Akhandananda 1864–1937 Direct disciple; 3rd President Swami Ranganathananda 1908–2005 13th President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Sarvapriyananda Contemporary; a monk of the Order since 1994 Minister, Vedanta Society of New York Swami Abhedananda 1866–1939 Direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna; Vedānta teacher in London and New York Swami Gambhirananda 1899–1988 Translator of Sri Śaṅkara's commentaries; eleventh President of the Ramakrishna Order Swami Nikhilananda 1895–1973 Translator of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Aruṇācala before sunrise

The Sri Ramana Lineage · 6 teachers

One question, asked for fifty-four years — Sri Ramana Maharshi left no organisation and named no successor, teaching self-enquiry mostly in silence at Arunachala. What survives comes through those who wrote it down and those who lived it, in India and beyond.

Sri Ramana Maharshi 1879–1950 The sage of Arunachala Sri Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni 1878–1936 Scholar-poet; named Sri Ramana Sri Muruganar 1890–1973 Poet of Sri Ramana's teaching Sri Annamalai Swami 1906–1995 Disciple and ashram worker Sri H. W. L. Poonja (Papaji) 1910–1997 Disciple of Sri Ramana; the teacher of Lucknow Sri Sadhu Om c. 1922–1985 Poet and expositor of self-enquiry; editor of Sri Muruganar's verses
Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna — the conversation in the middle of the crisis

The Sri Chinmaya Lineage · 8 teachers

The scriptures brought to the streets — Swami Tapovan Maharaj taught in Himalayan seclusion at Uttarkashi; his student Swami Chinmayananda took the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads to mass audiences from 1951, founding Chinmaya Mission and its children's classes. The line continues through his successors.

Swami Sivananda 1887–1963 Founder of the Divine Life Society Swami Tapovan Maharaj 1889–1957 Guru of Swami Chinmayananda Swami Chinmayananda 1916–1993 Founder of Chinmaya Mission Swami Dayananda Saraswati 1930–2015 Teacher of teachers; Arsha Vidya Swami Tejomayananda b. 1950 Head of Chinmaya Mission, 1993–2017 Swami Swaroopananda living teacher Present head of Chinmaya Mission Swami Krishnananda 1922–2001 General Secretary of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh Swami Paramarthananda b. 1953 Teacher of Vedānta in Chennai
One lamp, one day

Kindred Voices · 2 teachers

The same enquiry, outside the four lines — Teachers of the same non-dual enquiry who stand outside these four successions, and whose plain language often opens the door fastest.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj 1897–1981 Householder sage of Bombay Swami Rama Tirtha 1873–1906 The poet-monk of the Punjab; Practical Vedanta

These are living institutions, not historical curiosities. If any of it lands, go to the source: a Śṛṅgeri discourse, a Sunday talk in New York, a Saturday morning class at a Chinmaya centre.

Now the texts they all comment on