Pandurang Shastri Athavale

Pandurang Shastri Athavale
Born(1920-10-19)19 October 1920
Died25 October 2003(2003-10-25) (aged 83)
Other namesDadaji
Known forSwadhyaya Parivar, activist philosopher, spiritual teacher, spiritual leader
SpouseNirmala Tai Athavale
ChildrenJayshree Talwalkar (Dhanashree Shreenivas Talwalkar)
Awards

Pandurang Shastri Athavale (19 October 1920 – 25 October 2003), also known as Dada /Dadaji ("elder brother"), was an Indian activist, philosopher, spiritual leader, social revolutionary, and religion reformist, who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar (Swadhyaya family) in 1954. Swadhyaya is a self-study process based on the Bhagavad Gita which has spread across nearly 100,000 villages in India, Americas, Europe, Middle East, Oceania and other Asian countries with five million adherents. Noted for his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas and the Upanishads.