Narayana Guru

Nārāyana Guru (1856–1928), also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint,  and social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society. Gurudevan, as he was fondly known to his followers, led Reform movement in Kerala, revolted against casteism and worked on propagating new values of freedom in spirituility and of social equality, thereby transforming the Kerala society and as such he is adored as a prophet
Nārāyana Guru is revered for his Vedic knowledge, poetic proficiency, openness to the views of others, non-violent philosophy and his resolve to set aright social wrongs. Nārāyana Guru was instrumental in setting the spiritual foundations for social reform in today's Kerala and was one of the most successful social reformers who tackled caste issues in India. He demonstrated a path to social emancipation without invoking the dualism of the oppressed and the oppressor.
Guru stressed the need for the spiritual and social upliftment of the downtrodden by their own efforts through the establishment of temples and educational institutions. In the process he brushed aside the superstitions that clouded the fundamental Hindu religious convention of Chaturvarna

Family and early life

 Narayana Guru was born on August 20, 1856, in the village of Chempazhanthy near Thiruvananthapuram, the son of Madan Asan, a farmer, and Kutti Amma. The boy was dotingly called Nanu. Madan was also a teacher ("Asan")[citation needed] who was learned in Sanskrit and proficient in Astrology and Ayurveda.[citation needed]He had three sisters. As a boy, Nānu would listen to his father with keen interest when he narrated stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to the simple folks of his village.[citation needed] Nānu was initiated into the traditional formal education Ezhuthinirithal by Chempazhanthy Pillai, a local schoolmaster and a village officer. Besides schooling, young Nānu continued to be educated at home, under the guidance of both his father and uncle Krishnan Vaidyan who was a reputed Ayurvedic physician and a Sanskrit scholar, where he was taught the basics of the Tamil and Sanskrit languages and traditional subjects such as Siddharupam, Bālaprobhodhanam and Amarakosam.

As a child, Nanu was very reticent and was intensely drawn to worship at the local temple. He would criticise his own relatives for social discrimination and the apartheid-like practice of segregating children from, supposedly, lower castes. He preferred solitude and would be found immersed in meditation for hours on end. He showed strong affinity for poetics and reasoning, composing hymns and singing them in praise of God. He lost his mother when he was 15. Nānu spent the most part of his early youth assisting his father in tutoring, and his uncle in the practice of Ayurveda, while devoting the rest of his time for devotional practices at the temples nearby.

Works

In Malayalam

1. Swanubavageethi
2. Atmopadesa Śatakam
3. Advaitha Deepika
4. Arivu
5. Daiva Dasakam
6. Jeevakarunya Panchakam
7. Anukamba Dasakam
8. Jathi Nirnayam
9. Jathi Lakshanam
10. Chijjada Chinthanam
11. Daiva vichinthanam - 1 & 2
12. Athma Vilasam
13. Shiva Shathakam
14. Kolatheereshastavam
15. Bhadrakaalyashtakam

In Sanskrit

1. Darsana Mala
2. Brahmavidya Panchakam
3. Nirvruthi Panchakam
4. Slokathrayi
5. Vedantha Suthram
6. Homa Manthram
7. Municharya Panchakam
8. Asramam
9. Dharmam
10. Charama Slokangal
11. Homa Mantram
12. Chidambarashtakam
13. Guhashtakam
14. Bhadrakaliashtakam
15. Vinayaka Ashtakam
16. Sree Vasudeva Ashtakam
17. Genani Navaratna Manjari "

In Tamil

1. Thevarappathinkangal

Translations

1. Thirukural
2. Isavasyo Upanishad
3. Ozhivil Odukkam

 

References

wikipedia