History

The ancient spiritual tradition of the Natha Sampradaya, which began with Shri Adinath, has been passed down from Shri Matsyendranath, Shri Gorakshanath, Shri Gahininath and Shri Nivrittinath to Shri Jnaneshvara Maharaja, the great poet-saint of the thirteenth century. In recent times, it has been handed down to Swami Swarupananda of Pawas (Ratnagiri, Maharashtra) and subsequently to the late Swami Madhavnath of Pune. Swami Makarandanath (Shri Makarand Vaze) are carrying forward this torch of spirituality at present. The life, philosophy and mission of all these saints is based upon the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.

Swami Madhavnath had begun to initiate disciples in 1975 and he gave special attention to the youth who came to him. He wanted them to undertake spiritual practice without renouncing their worldly duties. By following this path, he wanted them to attain Self-realization and carry forward his message by setting a living example before others. A Youth Centre was started which was later established as the Swami Madhavnath Bodh Prasarak Mandal.

In following days, sadhaks from Katraj and Dhanakavadi areas of Pune came together to form ‘Shri Dnyaneshwari Prasarak Mandal’. In order to organize the activity a trust was formed and the Shri Dnyaneshwari Prasarak Prasarak Mandal was registered as a Public Religious Charitable Trust. The Trust set up two halls in Pune for discourses and meditation sessions viz., Ganesh Puram (Sadasiv Peth) and Sagar Heights (Dhanakavadi)

In 1992, four years before Swami Madhavnath laid aside his mortal body, he appointed Swami Makarandanath as his spiritual successors, to carry forward the spiritual tradition of the Natha Sampradaya. Swami Makarandanath guides the functioning of the Shri Dnyaneshwari Prasarak Prasarak Mandal.