https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Madhava_AshishMadhava Ashish - Revision history2026-07-31T13:39:16ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Madhava_Ashish&diff=406475&oldid=prevCleanupBot II at 18:24, 13 August 20232023-08-13T18:24:54Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Scottish-Indian spiritualist, mystic, agriculturist}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Madhava Ashish<br />
| image = <br />
| imagesize = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_date = 20 February 1920<br />
| birth_place = [[Edinburgh]], Scotland<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|04|13|1920|02|20}}<br />
| death_place = [[Mirtola]], Uttarakhand, India<br />
| restingplace = <br />
| restingplacecoordinates = <br />
| othername = Alexander Phipps<br />
| nationality = Scottish-Indian<br />
| occupation = [[Agriculturist]]<br />[[Spiritualist]]<br />[[Mysticism|Mystic]]<br>writer<br />
| yearsactive = <br />
| known for = Spiritualism<br />Agriculture<br />
| spouse = <br />
| domesticpartner = <br />
| children = <br />
| parents = <br />
| website = <br />
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Sri Madhava Ashish''' (1920–1997) was a Scottish born naturalised Indian [[spiritualist]], [[Mysticism|mystic]], writer and [[agriculturist]], known for his services to Indian agriculture.<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish">{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sri-madhava-ashish-1260028.html | title=Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish | publisher=Independent | date=6 May 1997 | access-date=21 October 2015}}</ref> He was the head of the [[Mirtola|Mirtola Ashram]] located in the village of same name, near [[Almora district|Almora]], in the Indian state of [[Uttarakhand]].<ref name="In Search of the Unitive Vision: Letters Of Sri Madhava Ashish To An American Businessman, 1978-1997">{{cite book | url=http://www.gurdjieff-internet.com/book_details.php?authID=2&BID=5&lang=English | title=In Search of the Unitive Vision: Letters Of Sri Madhava Ashish To An American Businessman, 1978–1997 | publisher=New Paradigm Books | author=Seymour B. Ginsburg | year=2001 | isbn=1892138050}}</ref> He published several articles on the topics of agriculture and ecology of India.<ref name="Sri Madhava Ashish">{{cite web | url=http://www.epw.in/authors/sri-madhava-ashish | title=Sri Madhava Ashish | publisher=Economic and Political Weekly |year=2015 | access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> He was also the author of four books, ''What is Man?'',<ref name="What is Man?">{{cite book | url=http://penguinqa.srijan-sites.com/en/content/what-man-0 | title=What is Man? | publisher=Penguin India | author=Madhava Ashish | year=2010 | pages=320 | isbn=9780143065746}}</ref> ''Man, The Measure of All Things'',<ref name="Man The Measure of All Things">{{cite book | title=Man The Measure of All Things | publisher=Quest Books | author=Sri Krishna Prem, Sri Madhava Ashish | year=1969 | pages=360 | isbn=978-0835600064}}</ref> ''Man, Son of Man''<ref name="Man, Son of Man">{{cite book | title=Man, Son of Man | publisher=Quest Books | author=Sri Madhava Ashish | year=1970 | pages=352 | isbn=978-0835601139}}</ref> and ''An Open Window''.<ref name="An Open Window">{{cite book | url=http://penguinqa.srijan-sites.com/en/content/open-window | title=An Open Window | publisher=Penguin India | author=Madhava Ashish | year=2007 | pages=134 | isbn=9780143100232}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 1992 for his contributions to the agriculture sector in India.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |year=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref><br />
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== Biography ==<br />
Sri Madhava Ashish was born Alexander Phipps, on 20 February 1920 at Edinburgh to a Colonel working in the [[British Indian Army]] and his early schooling was at [[Hove]] and [[Sherborne]].<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish" /> Later, he studied aeronautical engineering at [[Chelsea Polytechnic]] and joined [[Royal Air Force]] to be based at [[Doncaster]] and at [[Brooklands]], Surrey. When [[World War II]] started in 1939, Phipps was deputed to India, at a glider manufacturing unit near [[Dum Dum airport]], Kolkata where he is reported to have been engaged in the repairs of [[Supermarine Spitfire]] engines.<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish" /><br />
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The turning point in his life reportedly came when, on a vacation in 1944, he had the opportunity to visit [[Sri Ramana Ashram]] of [[Ramana Maharshi]], at [[Tiruvannamalai]] and known to have come under the influence of the renowned Indian [[sanyasin]].<ref name="Penguin India profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/sri-madhava-ashish | title=Penguin India profile | publisher=Penguin India |year=2015 | access-date=21 October 2015}}</ref> When the war ended the same year, he stayed on in India to continue his spiritual searches. Assisted by Esther Merston, the author of ''Village Life By the Ganges'',<ref name="Village Life By the Ganges">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Village-Ganges-1939-1946-Esther-Merston/dp/B0000CP875 | title=Village Life By the Ganges | publisher=Diocesan Press | author=Esther Merston | year=1950 | pages=166 | asin=B0000CP875}}</ref> he moved to [[Mirtola|Mirtola Ashram]], a spiritual base at the foothills of the [[Himalayas]], near [[Almora district]], in the [[Kumaon division|Kumaon valley]].<ref name="Penguin India profile" /> Since then, the [[ashram]], founded in 1929 by Sri Yashoda Mai (full monastic name: Sri Krishna Sevika Sri Sri Yashoda Mai Vairagini) (married name: Monica Devi Chakravarti) (née Monica Roy) (1882-1944) and Sri [[Krishna Prem]] (1898-1965),<ref name="Testament of faith">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2003/05/04/stories/2003050400200200.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030718053817/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2003/05/04/stories/2003050400200200.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 July 2003 | title=Testament of faith | date=6 December 2005 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> remained his home till his death in 1997.<ref name="In Search of the Unitive Vision: Letters Of Sri Madhava Ashish To An American Businessman, 1978-1997" /><br />
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At the ashram, Phipps submitted to the way of life there, turned into a vegetarian [[Vaishnav]] sanyasin, and practised meditation.<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish" /> He also took up the name of Madhava Ashish. When, Sri Krishna Prem, then head of the ashram, died in 1965, he became the head and oversaw the management of the institution till his death.<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish" /> He also involved himself with ecological and environmental issues and started experimenting with agricultural techniques which he passed on to the local farmers. Under his stewardship, the ashram became self-sufficient with own agricultural, dairy and poultry farming.<ref name="Penguin India profile" /> His work is also known to have influenced the government to introduce agriculture as a subject of instruction in the schools in the region. He wrote several articles on agriculture<ref name="Agricultural Economy of Kumaon Hills">{{cite journal | url=http://www.epw.in/special-articles/agricultural-economy-kumaon-hills.html-0 | title=Agricultural Economy of Kumaon Hills | author=Madhava Ashish | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | year=1980 | volume= XV | issue=19}}</ref><br />
<ref name="Decentralised Management of Natural Resources in the UP Hills">{{cite journal | url=http://www.epw.in/commentary/decentralised-management-natural-resources-hills.html | title=Decentralised Management of Natural Resources in the UP Hills | author=Madhava Ashish | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | year=1993 | volume=XXVIII | issue=35}}</ref> and preservation of ecology.<ref name="Agricultural Economy of Kumaon Hills-Threat of Ecological Disaster">{{cite journal | url=http://www.epw.in/special-articles/agricultural-economy-kumaon-hills-threat-ecological-disaster.html | title=Agricultural Economy of Kumaon Hills-Threat of Ecological Disaster | author=Madhava Ashish | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | year=1979 | volume=XIV | issue=25}}</ref> He also wrote three books, ''What is Man?'',<ref name="What is Man?" /> ''Man, Son of Man''<ref name="Man, Son of Man" /> and ''An Open Window''<ref name="An Open Window" /> and co-authored ''Man, the Measure of All Things'', along with Sri Krishna Prem,<ref name="Man The Measure of All Things" /> the [[sanyasin]] he succeeded as the head of [[Mirtola|Mirtola Ashram]].<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish" /> The book was started by Sri Krishna Prem but Ashish completed it and the book narrates the life and times of [[Helena Blavatsky]], the co-founder of the [[Theosophical Society of India]].<ref name="Man the Measure of All Things, Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhava Ashish Read More by Katinka Hesselink: http://www.allconsidering.com/2009/man-measure-all-things/">{{cite web | url=http://www.allconsidering.com/2009/man-measure-all-things/ | title=Man the Measure of All Things, Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhava Ashish Read More by Katinka Hesselink: http://www.allconsidering.com/2009/man-measure-all-things/ | publisher=Allconsidering.com | date=7 October 2009 | access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref><br />
[[File:Memorials of Yashoda Ma, Krishna Prem and Madhav Ashish at Mirtola Ashram DSCN7931 1.jpg|right|thumb|Memorials of Yashoda Ma, Krishna Prem and Madhav Ashish at Mirtola Ashram]]<br />
His involvement with agriculture and ecology earned him memberships in many committees of the [[Planning Commission of India]].<ref name="Penguin India profile" /> The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 1992. Five years later, Ashish died on 13 April 1997, succumbing to cancer, which had been troubling him for some time. He left behind an unfinished book, the biography of his mentor, Sri Krishna Prem.<ref name="Obituary: Sri Madhava Ashish" /> His life has been the subject of many writings and ''Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff''<ref name="Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVtbBgAAQBAJ&q=Madhava+Ashish&pg=PR9 | title=Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff | publisher=Quest Books | author=Seymour B Ginsburg | year=2014 | pages=320 | isbn=9780835631112}}</ref> recounts the experiences of Seymour Buddy Ginsburg (b. 27 August 1934), an American businessman and the founder president of [[Toys R Us]], US based children's goods retailer, had with Ashish, during his visit to Mirtola.<ref name="Sy Ginsburg, USA">{{cite web | url=http://www.katinkahesselink.net/sufi/ginterviewl.html | title=Sy Ginsburg, USA | publisher=Katinkahesselink |year=2015 | access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref> ''Guru by Your Bedside: The Teachings of a Modern Seer''<ref name="Guru by Your Bedside: The Teachings of a Modern Seer">{{cite book | title=Guru by Your Bedside: The Teachings of a Modern Seer | publisher=Penguin Books India | author=S. D. Pandey | year=2003 | pages=276 | isbn=978-0143029540}}</ref> is a [[Penguin India]] publication by Satish Datt Pandey (b. 1930), a biographical account of Ashish which includes details about Mirtola and its spirituality.<ref name="House of spirit">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2003/05/04/stories/2003050400200200.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030718053817/http://thehindu.com/thehindu/lr/2003/05/04/stories/2003050400200200.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=18 July 2003 | title=House of spirit | date=4 May 2003 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date=22 October 2015}}</ref><br />
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== Bibliography ==<br />
* {{cite book | title=Man The Measure of All Things | publisher=Quest Books | author=Sri Krishna Prem, Sri Madhava Ashish | year=1969 | pages=360 | isbn=978-0835600064}}<br />
* {{cite book | title=Man, Son of Man | publisher=Quest Books | author=Sri Madhava Ashish | year=1970 | pages=352 | isbn=978-0835601139}}<br />
* {{cite book | title=An Open Window | publisher=Penguin India | author=Madhava Ashish | year=2007 | pages=134 | isbn=9780143100232}}<br />
* {{cite book | title=What is Man? | publisher=Penguin India | author=Madhava Ashish | year=2010 | pages=320 | isbn=9780143065746}}<br />
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== See also ==<br />
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}<br />
* [[Mirtola]]<br />
* [[Ramana Maharshi]]<br />
* [[George Gurdjieff]]<br />
* [[Helena Blavatsky]]<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}<br />
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== Further reading ==<br />
* {{cite journal | url=https://www.theosophical.org/files/resources/articles/ValueofUncertainty.pdf | title=The Value of Uncertainty | author=Sri Madhava Ashish | journal=The American Theosophist | date=January 1979}}<br />
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{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Science & Engineering}}<br />
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[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering]]<br />
[[Category:1920 births]]<br />
[[Category:1997 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People from Edinburgh]]<br />
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to India]]<br />
[[Category:Mystics]]<br />
[[Category:Indian spiritual teachers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian spiritual writers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian social sciences writers]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts]]<br />
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]</div>CleanupBot II