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Swami Ramchandra Das and His Vision: Transforming Lives through Education and Spirituality

Welcome to the Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir website, where we share the extraordinary journey of Ramchandra Das (also called Guruji) and his vision to uplift the lives of underprivileged children in Nepal.

A Journey of Quest and Knowledge

Aged twelve, driven by the desire to support his family, Swami Ramchandra Das embarked on a remarkable journey, leaving his homeland Nepal for India. Like many Nepalese youths, he took any work he could get, anywhere, working for next to nothing. And amidst all the challenges he faced, not only did he survive, but his thirst for knowledge grew.

Seeing Indian children going to school every day, Guruji yearned for education. Alone and determined, he sought wisdom in Ashrams along the way, under the guidance of Gurus.

His years in various Ashrams across different cities in India, led him to study the Vedanta, which was originally written in Sanskrit. So, he learned Sanskrit, and eventually became a professor of Sanskrit literature in Delhi. The turning point in his spiritual journey, however, came when he discovered the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. After which he travelled directly to Puducherry in the southeast of India, where he stayed at the Sri Aurobindo ashram and became a disciple of Champaklal, the principal disciple of Sri Aurobindo.

From Ashrams to Nepal: A Vision Unveiled

Many years later, sitting on a flat rock on a mountain in the Himalayas, in Nepal, Guruji had a vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, slowly descending and then disappearing into the mountain range before him. He sat for a long time afterwards on the rock, lost in meditation. He knew that in the vision there was a message, and it was walking back down the mountain in the late evening light, that it came to him: He had to help, nourish, feed, educate and look after impoverished children in Nepal.

So, leaving the comfort of the Ashram he loved so much in Puducherry, he returned to Nepal where he established an ashram – the Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir, in Kathmandu – dedicated to spiritual life, and the welfare of children.

Starting with a small, rented apartment and a handful of family members’ children, he faced the challenge of convincing others to trust him, and his vision. Which was no easy task in Nepal for a man who, by now, had an Indian accent. Local, parochial communities invariably turned their backs on him. But – rooted in the principles of Karma Yoga and devoted to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother – Guruji persevered, and succeeded.

Exactly ten years later, and ten years after that, two more ashrams were added.

Centers

What is Swami Ramchandra Das’s vision for the children at Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir?

His vision materialized, firstly – over many years – as the Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir, in Kathmandu. Since then, it has grown into three centres that educate over 500 children annually, free of charge. A fusion of modern education, with Vedic teachings, tradition and culture.

The ashrams not only educate, but nurture the children, many of whom come from troubled, or impoverished homes. So they are given a safe place to stay and sleep, and eat (an array of healthy organic, home-grown, vegetarian food), and where all of their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs are catered for. An environment in which they can grow into caring, well adjusted, responsible adults, able to make their way not only in Nepal, but throughout the world. In short, the ashram is their home from home.

Children

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Teachers

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