Pandurang Shastri Athavale was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in colonial India. In the 1940s, while he was in his early twenties, Athavale began to deliver discourses on the Bhagavad Gita in Mumbai, India. He argued that both the liberal welfare-centric approach and socialism were incapable of bridging the gap between rich and needy. He rejected charity handouts, arguing that this creates a dependent relationship, attacks human dignity, and robs the recipient's sense of self-worth. He sought another way for liberating oneself spiritually, economically, and socially. He believed that the foundation and values for such a search were in the ancient texts of Hinduism. He began preaching these principles from Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita in his community, particularly in the downtrodden segments of society he called Agri, Bagri, and Sagri. This initiative began Athavale's Swadhyaya movement in 1958. His followers call him "Dada" (elder brother).
