Swami

From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.

Swami playing the Harmonium

Swami is a primarily Hindu honorific, loosely akin to the "master". It is derived from the Sanskrit and means "owner of oneself", denoting complete mastery over instinctive and lower urges. It is a title prefixed to a name that connotes learning and, of course, mastery of a specific field of knowledge, most often religious and/or spiritual. Many great yogis and gurus (teachers) of the Hindu tradition have the title Swami appended to their name, two notable of whom are Swami Vivekananda and Swami Sivananda.