Religious Life
Sister Gargi was born as Marie Louise Burke in 1912 in the United States. In 1948, she was introduced to the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement by Swami Ashokananda. In 1957, Advaita Ashrama published her biography of Swami Vivekananda, Swami Vivekananda in the West: New Discoveries in two volumes, well known in the Vedanta circles, and the book was later published in six volumes in 1983—87. She also wrote articles in Vendanta journals.
In 1974 in India, Burke took her vows of Brahmacharya from the Ramakrishna Mission. At that time she was given the monastic name "Gargi" (this name was inspired by Vedic scholar Gargi). In 1983, Burke was awarded the first Vivekananda Award by the Ramakrishna Mission for her research works on Swami Vivekananda. Later she took her final vows of Sannyasa, and was given the name Pravrajika Prajnaprana.
Burke continued writing even in her 90s and continued staying at Vedanta Society of Northern California in San Francisco. She died on January 20, 2004 after suffering from cancer, at the convent of the Vendanta Society in San Francisco.
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