I am sad to report the death of
Swami Veda Bharati, formerly known as Usharbudha Arya, after a long illness. Swami Veda was a serious scholar of indology, especially yogaśāstra, and an outstandingly fluent Sanskritist. He was also an inspiring and dynamic leader of the ashram in Rishikesh that was devolved upon him when his own guru,
Swami Rama, passed away in 1996. He was particularly devoted to spreading the practice of meditation.
I met him in London, many years ago, when in a single afternoon's work on the Sanskrit manuscripts at the Wellcome Library, he left me many pages of invaluable notes and suggestions about the manuscripts he had examined. I exchanged emails with him only a few weeks ago, when he kindly shared a number of publications with me over the internet. He will be much missed.