Brazilian Vedanta teacher Jonas Masetti awarded Padma Shri

Meet Jonas Masetti—a mechanical engineer, former army officer, and now a global voice for Vedanta.

Transcript

00:00This man from Brazil was awarded the Padma Shri.

00:02Meet Jonas Massetti.

00:04I was in the stock market. I'm a mechanical engineer.

00:07And I've been working with the biggest companies in Brazil

00:10and I felt very empathy, looking for a meaning for my life.

00:14That's when the idea of practicing yoga struck Jonas in 2004.

00:18As luck would have it, Jonas' yoga teacher also taught Vedanta,

00:21a school of Indian philosophy focused on self-realization.

00:24This is when he got intrigued and eventually started studying Vedanta in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

00:29Eager to introduce more people to the teachings of Vedanta,

00:32Jonas established the Vishwa Vidyalaya organization in Rio de Janeiro.

00:36In the institute, he offered courses on Vedanta, Sanskrit, Bhagavad Gita, meditation and mantras.

00:41On May 27, 2025, President Draupadi Murmo presented the Padma Shri to Acharya MST

00:46recognizing his pivotal role in making Vedanta, the Bhagavad Gita, Sanskrit and Vedic teachings

00:51accessible to a global audience.