Skip to content
NEW Today's quiz is live — 10 questions, 5 minutes. Play now

Pandurang Shastri Athavale

पांडुरंग शास्त्री आठवले

Philosophy & thought Maharashtra Great mind of history

Pandurang Shastri Athavale, also known as Dada /Dadaji, was an Indian activist, philosopher, spiritual leader, social revolutionary, and religion reformist, who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar 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, the Middle East, Oceania and other Asian countries with five million adherents.

BORN

19 October 1920

DIED

25 October 2003

HONOUR

Padma Vibhushan

Take today's quiz

Key facts

Born
19 October 1920, Maharashtra
Died
25 October 2003, Mumbai
State of birth
Maharashtra, Maharashtra
Sector
Philosophy & thought
Profession
Indian philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer (1920–2003)
Gender
Male

Biography

Pandurang Shastri Athavale, also known as Dada /Dadaji, was an Indian activist, philosopher, spiritual leader, social revolutionary, and religion reformist, who founded the Swadhyaya Parivar 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, the Middle East, Oceania and other Asian countries with five million adherents. Noted for his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas and the Upanishads.

Summary based on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), reviewed by the RochakDuniya editorial team.

Timeline

  1. 1920Born in Maharashtra
  2. 1996Awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award
  3. 2003Dies in Mumbai
Sources & licences Last checked against Wikidata: 27 Sep 2026
Report an error