Further reading: K. A. Nilakanta Shastri, A History of
South India from Prehistoric Time to the Fall of Vijaja-
nagar (Madras: Oxford University Press, 1996); Burton
Stein, Vijayanagara (Cambridge/New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2005).
Vimalananda (1942– ) founder of Yoga
House Ashram
Vimalananda, founder of Yoga House Ashram
and a former member and teacher of the ANANDA
MARGA YOGA SOCIETY, currently teaches yoga
throughout northern California.
Dadaji, as he in known to his friends and
disciples, was born in 1942 to a BRAHMIN family
in Badwel in South India. He had spiritual experi-
ences as a young boy and at age six experienced
a bright light filling his room and a voice urg-
ing him to commit himself to the inner path of
enlightenment. Dadaji answered the call of the
inner life; by the time he was 16 he was adept as
a YOGA instructor.
In 1962 he developed a relationship with
Sri ANANDAMURTI, founder and creator of the
ANANDA MARGA YOGA SOCIETY. He delighted in
the services the society provided for the sick,
the poor, and the elderly. Very quickly he was
promoted to yoga teacher. In 1966 Dadaji felt
the need to spread the words and programs of
the society to help humanity. He left India as
an emissary of the society to found centers in
Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sin-
gapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. He was
honored by the United Nations for his heroic
work in the aftermath of the great earthquake
that struck Manila in 1968.
In 1969 Dadaji went to the UNITED STATES
and assisted in developing the Ananda Marga
Society there. However, in the mid-1970s he left
the society, created the Yoga House Ashram, and
developed his own following. He settled in the
San Francisco area and continued to teach that
service to humanity was as important as yoga or
MEDITATION. His life has been devoted to bridging
the rivers that separate the East and West through
traditional yoga techniques.Further reading: Dadaji Vimalananda, Yogamritam (The
Nectar of Yoga) (San Rafael, Calif.: Yoga House Ashram,
1977).Vindhya Mountains
The Vindhya Mountains, 1,000 to 3,500 feet in
elevation, are a range of hills forming a natural
barrier between northern and southern India.
They mark the northern edge of the central Indian
or Deccan plateau. From Gujarat state on the
west, they extend about 675 miles across Madhya
Pradesh state to touch on the GANGES River valley
near BENARES (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh. These
mountains are mentioned in the Indian epics and
are mythologically associated with numerous per-
sonages including AGASTYA, who is said to have
caused them to bow down permanently in his
travels to South India. DURGA is sometimes said to
have her home in the Vindhyas in the form of the
goddess VINDHYAVASINI.Further reading: John Dowson, A Classical Dictionary of
Hindu Mythology (New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint,
1973); History to Prehistory: Contribution of the Depart-
ment to the Archaeology of the Ganga Valley and the Vind-
hyas (Allahabad: Department of Ancient History, Culture,
and Archaeology, University of Allahabad, 1980).Vindhyavasini
Vindhyavasini (she who dwells in the VINDHYA
MOUNTAINS) is an example of a local indigenous
GODDESS who was incorporated in the larger tra-
dition of the great Goddess in ingenious ways.
Among the many Hindu local goddesses she is
rare in maintaining the face of a bird and not a
human, in keeping with non-Aryan tribal notions
of divinity.
Vindhyavasini is depicted with the face of a
bird and the body of a woman, having four arms.K 488 Vimalananda