Swami Bhawani Dayal Sanyasi was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on September 10, 1892.

When his father returned to India in 1904, Swami ji accompanied him and for nine years lived here making a special study of Hindi.

It was while he was in India that his patriotism developed. He got involved in the

Swadeshi Movement, and was elected an honorary preacher of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Bihar at 18 years of age. In 1913, Swami ji, together with his wife Jagrani Devi, joined Mahatma Gandhi’s passive resistance movement and spent some time in jail. The annual session of the Indian National Congress at Amritsar in 1919 saw him represent the South African Indians. He also played a vital role in the revival of the Natal Indian Congress in 1921.

Swamiji’s wife worked selflessly alongside him in the course for Indians and was at one time imprisoned with their six – month – old child. After her death he took vows of a sanyasi.  Swami ji  tried  to better  the lives  of  the  Indians in Africa  by serving  as  an important  person on a number of bodies. For example, he was the President of the first Indian Overseas Conference held in 1930 and President of Natal Indian Congress.

Swami ji was held in such high esteem in South Africa that the Durban Corporation named a road in Clair-wood after him. He was also appointed Commissioner of Oaths for Durban and an honorary Indian Probation officer in Durban Court.

In addition, to fighting for the rights and better living conditions for the Indians abroad, Swami ji was a strong advocate of the propagation of Hindi, both in India and in South Africa. It was through him that in South Africa, Hindi became the official language along with English and Afrikaan. He also stressed the need to have Hindi as a common language to replace English for India’s political unity.

A tireless worker, Swami ji also gained prominence as an author and a journalist. He served as an editor of several newspapers and wrote many books in Hindi.  Swami Bhawani Dayal Sanyasi’s love for countrymen, his culture and language saw him rise above the level of an ordinary common man. He has left behind a legacy of patriotism, wisdom and tireless efforts of which we all can be proud.