Brazilian spiritual teacher Jonas Masetti has received India’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri award for spreading Vedic knowledge and Vedanta philosophy worldwide. Masetti used to work as a mechanical engineer in Brazil’s stock market before turning to spirituality. He said winning India’s fourth-highest civilian award was a big surprise and a proud moment for him and his family. The award was given by President Droupadi Murmu during a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday. Jonas Masetti is now gaining a lot of attention online.

About Jonas Masetti

Jonas Masetti, popularly known as Acharya Vishwanath, is a spiritual teacher from Brazil who has dedicated his life to spreading Vedic knowledge and Vedanta philosophy. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he started his professional journey as a mechanical engineer and worked in top stock market firms. Despite having a successful life by modern standards, he felt unfulfilled and began searching for deeper meaning.

His spiritual journey led him to India, where he studied Vedanta under Swami Dayananda Saraswati at an ashram in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Deeply influenced by his teachings, Masetti adopted the spiritual name Vishwanath and became an Acharya (teacher).

He returned to Brazil and founded the Vishva Vidya Gurukulam, a centre located in the hills of Petropolis, near Rio de Janeiro. This institute offers free online courses, combining ancient Indian wisdom with modern education methods. Over the years, he has reached more than 1.5 lakh students globally.

In 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned him in the Mann Ki Baat radio programme, describing him as a cultural ambassador of India. Jonas Masetti has also authored books on Yoga and Vedanta in both Portuguese and English, making Indian spiritual knowledge accessible to people around the world.