Swami Ramdev: Modern Yoga Revolutionary

Abstract

Yogarishi Swami Ramdevji Maharaj, more commonly known as Swami Ramdev or Baba Ramdev, is a central figure in contemporary Indian spirituality and politics. Launched into celebrity status through a popular cable television series, Swami Ramdev has brought the theory and practice of yoga to India and the world on an unprecedented scale. This chapter provides an overview of Swami Ramdev’s life, philosophy, and social activism. It argues that Swami Ramdev can be understood as a modern yoga revolutionary who is committed to the transformation of the Indian people, the Indian nation, and ultimately the world through yoga. In pursuing this transformation, Swami Ramdev echoes the works of many important yoga modernists and nationalists that loom large in the Indian imagination. Swami Ramdev’s efforts have brought the scale of the practice of yoga in India into parity with its iconic status as India’s premier spirituality.