Swamiji was initiated into monastic life at the age of seven by H.H. Shri Swami Vishwamanya Tirtha and was educated in the Madhva philosophy of Dvaita Vedanta, the Hindu philosophy of dualism. Swamiji succeeded his Guru in 1940 as the 33rd monk in the Pejavar line. Soon he was delivering discourses throughout India. In 1953, Swamiji founded Akhila Bharatha Madhva Mahamandala in Udupi in order to propagate the Madhva philosophy, and in 1956 he established Shri Poornaprajna Vidyapeetha, a gurukula-style college in Bangalore. A believer that service to humanity is the surest means to divine grace, Swamiji has initiated several educational institutions and free medical clinics in Karnataka.