Jaggi Vasudev

Jaggi Vasudev (Born September 3, 1957) is an Indian yogi, mystic, author, poet, speaker, and humanitarian, publicly known as Sadhguru. He leads religious gatherings (Satsang) and pilgrimages (yatras) across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, India. 

Vasudev is a recipient of the second-highest civilian award from the Government of India, the Padma Vibhushan. He is the founder of Isha Foundation and holds consultative status in the UN Economic and Social Council. He is also an accredited observer of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. His books were enlisted in The New York Times Best Sellers. He initiated Rally for Rivers, Cauvery Calling, Project Green Hands.

His Isha Foundation encompasses an ashram and a yoga centre. He founded the organization with a mission to offer the science of inner wellbeing to every human being. He laid the foundations of Isha Vidhya, an education initiative and Rural Rejuvenation program dedicated to empowering vulnerable communities and underprivileged people. He also led the Swachh Bharat Mission. He has appeared as a speaker at global platforms, including the United Nations World Headquarters and the World Economic Forum, and educational institutions, including Oxford, London Business School, IMD, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton, and MIT. 

Early life

Jaggi Vasudev was born in 1957 on September 3rd. He belonged to a Telugu family and lived in Mysore, Karnataka, India. He was the youngest of two sisters and two brothers. His mother was a house maker, and his father was an ophthalmologist in the Indian Railways. 

Vasudev was greatly inspired by nature and spent most of his time trekking in the forest. As a child, he was inclined towards flying and built his own hang glider out of parachute silk and bamboo. He was also interested in geography and exploration, and he explored nearby areas on his cycle and bike. 

Education

He completed his early education at Demonstration School, located in Mysore, India. He went to Mahajana Pre-University College for his pre-university studies.  He spent plenty of time during a sabbatical year after school, reading various subjects at the library, including Greek classics, Kalidasa's poetry, literature by Kafka and Dante, Popular Mechanics. He then enrolled in the University of Mysore to obtain a bachelor's degree in English Literature.

Family 

Vasudev’s family lineage is linked to Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara Empire. This linkage is due to his mother’s side. He is greatly impacted by his great-grandmother on his father’s side. The great-grandmother was called ‘Kuntamma’ or the one who limps. She built a temple but was considered unorthodox by society’s standards. The reason behind this was her lack of respect for social and religious conventions. Vasudev fondly recalls how her bedtime stories kept him engaged and how her cheerful style of worship intrigued him.

The Yogi’s grandfather was a wealthy man and owned a large ancestral home. He met his Yoga instructor Malladihalli Raghavendra at this house.

Vasudev met Vijayakumari (Vijji), in 1984 after a yoga class in Mysuru. Vijayakumari was a divorcee who had previously been through a difficult marriage. After a brief romance, they got married on Maha Shivaratri, an auspicious Hindu festival. Vijayakumari and Vasudev’s mother developed a close relationship. His wife’s parents respected Vasudev because his yoga classes benefitted his father after suffering a paralytic stroke.

Vasudev lost his mother in 1989 due to renal failure. In 1990, Vijayakumari gave birth to a daughter named Radhe. On January 22nd, 1997, Vijayakumari passed away. Vasudev was accused of her death, and a complaint had been filed against him. The case was closed after a full investigation was conducted as the police and judiciary found no truth to the accusation.

One out of two sisters of Vasudev is a monk at the Ramakrishna Mission. His daughter, Radhe, is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and is married to Chennai-based Carnatic vocalist Sandeep Narayan. Vasudev’s father passed away on November 8th 2019, in Mysore, due to an age-related illness.

Business and Travels 

Vasudev's first business was a two-and-a-half-acre poultry farm, which was located in a remote part of Mysore. He chose poultry because it was a popular business at that time. He set up his farm with borrowed money, and due to financial constraints, he constructed the farm buildings himself. In constructing his farm, he also took to brickmaking and converted it into a second business.

His family did not support his choice of business, but the farm soon turned profitable. Operating his businesses occupied four hours of his time every day. The rest of his time was spent writing poetry, reading, swimming and relaxing. It was during his time at the poultry farm that he began to meditate in an established way.

His third business was Buildaids, a construction company. He started the company in partnership with a friend who was a qualified civil engineer. Vasudev used the experience gained from building his poultry farm in his new company. Within five years, the company grew to become one of the largest private contractor firms in Mysore. 

Vasudev says that his main motive in getting into business was to fund his urge to travel and explore. One of his favorite places was Chamundi Hill, where he often rode at night. He also formulated a plan with his motorcycling friends to build a commune in a hundred acres of land to live freely. Although the idea never came became true, Vasudev admits that it was for the best that he never executed the plan. He rode in and around Mysore; he also rode across India. His first bike was a Yezdi Roadking on which he says he rode 60,000 kilometres every year for five years. Vasudev's travels adventures include treks to Mount Kailash, a 5700-mile journey across India as part of the Rally for Rivers campaign. He also rode on a 3500-kilometre motorcycle journey along the Cauvery as part of the Cauvery Calling initiative. 

In 2020, Vasudev rode over 9400 miles on a bike across North America to explore Native American spirituality and meet various Native American nations' leaders. He covered 19 states and visited Indigenous Nations that were open during the COVID pandemic, and met well-known Native American individuals such as musician Taboo of the 'Black Eyed Peas.' During the trip, Vasudev said that the country's indigenous cultures could play an important role in shifting society's perspective of ecology from being an abstract science to something that lives in people's hearts. He also noted the country's terrain's diverse nature and said that Mato Tipila, Bryce National Park and Grand Canyon particularly stood out for him.