Sivalinga Swami
Sivalinga
Swami was one of the first and prominent disciples of Narayana Guru. He
was born in 1859 in an orthodox Nair family in Aruvippuram. Before he
became a Sanyasin he was known as Ayappan Pillai. Swami met Guru for the
first time when Guru was staying in a cave near Neyyar River . He
listened to Guru's words very carefully and sometimes he accompanied
Guru in his journeys. Guru taught him some Sanskrit and later send him
to Perunelli Krishnan Vaidyar for further study. He learned Sanskrit
grammar under famous Sanskrit scholar Shri. Venkateswara Sasthri. He
became acquainted with Kumaram, who later became the poet mahakavi
KumaranAsan, at Aruvippuram and they became close friends. In 1905
Ayappan Pillai accepted the ascetic way of life from Guru and became
SivalingadasaSwami. When Guru moved to Varkala he took Sivalingadasa
Swami with him. Sivalingadasa Swami helped to build a hermitage for Guru
at Sivagiri. He served in many Ashrams and temples according to Guru's
suggestions. Later he stayed at Trichur Peringottukara Ashram; he
started a Sanskrit school there. Later in his life he left the Ashram
and started to live in Viswanatha Temple in Chavakkad. In 1919 Sivalinga
Swami attained Samadhi. Kumaranasan wrote the poem ‘Parannu poya
hamsam' (The flown away Swan) in remembrance of the Swami. The Swamikal
wrote many spiritual compositions, ‘Vedanthasaravali',
‘Sharadhashtakam', and ‘Sree Narayana Guruvarya Panchakam' are a few his
famous works.
Bodhananda Swami
Bodhananda
Swami was already a Sanyasin before he became Sree Narayana Guru's
disciple. He was born in a middle class family in Chirakkal village in
Trichur district. His parents named him Velayudhan. He had an
extraordinary physique and piercing eyes. Besides Malayalam, he also had
some knowledge of Sanskrit. He was well versed in Ayurvedic treatment.
From an early age he argued against inequality in the society. Due to
the compulsion from his family he got married, but that relationship
lasted only two years. He traveled to many places in North India and he
accepted the Sanyasin life at Jyothir Mutt in Kasi. Jyothir Mutt, which
followed the traditio
n of Sree Sankaracharya.
Later he went to Bombay and stayed in an Ashram for a short time. He
came back to Kerala and started agitations against untouchability and
caste-lunacy. He opposed idol worship. When he heard of Guru's program
about the idol installation at Jagannatha Temple , he went there. He
talked to many youngsters there about the meaninglessness of idol
worship and asked them stay away from the function. They requested
Bodhananda Swami to meet and talk to Narayana Guru. He went to the
hermitage where Guru was staying, but did not get a chance to talk with
the Guru. He went there again to meet with the Guru; he prostrated in
front of the Guru. Bodhananda Swami expressed his opinion to Guru, but
Guru's explanation about the necessity of Temples and Idols made
Bodhananda Swami stay there until the function was over. Guru introduced
him to Sivalinga Swami and Chaitanya Swami who were staying there.
Sivalinga Swami invited him to Peringottukara Mutt. After this he became
a frequent visitor to Aruvippuram and Peringottukara. He became a
member and Treasurer of Sharada idol installation committee. In 1912, on
the third day of Sharada idol installation, Guru accepted Bodhanda as
his Sanyasi disciple. Guru sent him as his representative in many
meetings and committees. Bodhananda Swami who opposed idol worship
served as a member of the Sree Narayana Guru statue committee at
Jagannatha Temple , Tellicherry. This will show the depth of his
devotion towards Sree Narayana Guru. He helped Nataraja Guru to set up
the Narayana Gurukulam in Neelagiri. He spent a major portion of his
life up-lifting the status of down-trodden people in his native state.
He established the Cochin National Bank that helped the economic
progress of the backward people in general. He codified Guru's precept
on “Caste, Religion, Morality, Celibacy, Household duties etc, and
published a book by name, “Sree Narayana Dharmam”. The Guru registered
his will in Bodhananda Swami's name and made him his successor. But
unfortunately Bodhananda Swami attained Samadhi two days after Guru's
Samadhi, in 1928.
Chaitanya Swami
Chaithanya
Swami was born in Varkala in 1877 as Narayana Pillai. He did not have
any formal education, but learned to read and write Malayalam. He had
some knowledge about the art of building, constructing and sculpture. It
was Chattambi Swamikal who sent him to Sree Narayana Guru.When Guru saw
Narayana Pillai for the first time, Guru said: “Caste and religion are
not an obstacle for human relationship, moreover we have the same name.
It is good! Others will get confused, so a name change is necessary;
from now onwards you are ‘Narayana Chaitanyan'.Later he became a
Sanyasin and accepted ‘Chaitanya' as his ascetic name. He faced a lot of
opposition from his family members for associating with Sree Narayana
Guru. He was the second person to ordain as a Sanyasin by the Guru. He
had a superb administrative capacity and a high talent to adapt with
others. He was instructed by Guru to look after Guru's institutions.
Chaitanya Swami supervised the construction of Thalaserry Jagannatha
Temple , Kozhikkode Sree Khanadeswara Temple , Kannur Sundreswara Temple
and many other monasteries. He was one of the three witnesses who
signed in the application to form Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham. N.
Kumaru and P. Narayana Pillai were the other witnesses. He served as the
secretary of Alwaye Adwaita Ashram and as the administrator of the
Sanskrit school there. Guru's famous composition ‘Atma Bodham' was
copied down by him and kept safely. ‘Atma Bodham' was later renamed as
‘Atmopadesa Satakam'. Chaithanya Swami established Sree Narayana Ashram
at West Hill in Kozhikkode. He continued his humanitarian activities and
spread the gospel of Sree Narayana Guru till his Samadhi in 1953. He
has written a book dealing with Guru's views on reformation of marriage,
post – death rites etc.
Dharma Theerthar Swami
He was
Prameswara Menon before he became the disciple of Sree Narayana Guru.
He received his B.A. degree from Madras Presidency College . He worked
in the Cochin government service for a brief period before he joined
Bombay University for LLB. After receiving his law degree he started his
law practice in the Trichur area. Soon he became a famous lawyer in
that area. His activities against untouchability and other unorthodox
practices made him popular. He worked as the editor of ‘Snehithan'
magazine that was published from Trichur. At this time he became
acquainted with Bodhananda and got attracted to his activities. He was a
very good orator, so he became a regular speaker at the meetings
arranged by Bodhananda Swami. He visited Aruvippuram and Sivagiri many
times with Bodhananda Swami. These visits gave him the chance to learn
about Sree Narayana Guru and his works. Parameswara Menon stopped his
practice and moved to Sivagiri. After 2 years Guru accepted him as his
disciple and re-named him as Dharma Theerthar. He was Guru's first
Sanyasin disciple with a college degree. He traveled many places with
Guru and served as an interpreter. Guru sought his legal advice before
registering the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham. He served as the Secretary
of the Dharma Sangam for a long time. He started the systematic way of
keeping accounts and records at Sivagiri Mutt. Swami Dharma Theerthar
was the first person who took the initiative to collect Guru's literary
works and publish them. He wrote, ‘the Prophet of Peace', first English
book about Guru. He wrote and published many books in Malayalam and
English. In 1941 he wrote and published a book, ‘Menance to Hindu
Imperialism', about secularism in India . This book was later
republished with a new title - ‘History of Hindu Imperialism'. In this
book Dharma Theerthar says these words about his Guru: “The greatest
saint, reformer, teacher and nation builder Travancore has produced,
since the days of the first Sree Sankaracharya, was undoubtedly the late
Sree Narayana Guru Swami. In any other country he would have been
universally acclaimed as a savior and Prophet. But in the Hindu state,
caste envelops in dark clouds even such great souls and prevents their
light from penetrating in the open world when Rishi like him could not
overcome the caste prejudices of a Hindu state”. Even though he was
associated with Sivagiri for than 30 years, the politics that occurred
after Guru's samadhi made him leave that place. He traveled in North
India . Later he embraced Christianity and became John Dharma Theerthar,
but till the end of his life, he spread Guru's philosophy.
Satyavrida Swami
Satyavrida
Swami, known as Ayappan Pillai in his early life, came from a middle
class Nair family near Changanacherry. He was a teacher. Ayappan Pillai
did not have much respect for Sree Narayana Guru before he met the Guru.
He only knew about Guru through the exaggerated stories by Ezhavas in
his neighborhood. When he went to participate in the Sivarathri festival
at Alwaye Guru was staying at Adwaita Ashram. His curiosity made him to
go to the Ashram and see the ‘Ezhava Guru'. He could see Guru only from
a distance because of the huge crowd. “I saw compassion, love and
confidence on his face”, later Satyavrida Swami said. The next day he
went to Guru and discussed many matters with him. After coming back home
he became restless and he wanted to go and stay with Guru. His income
was a great help to his family, so he was faced with a dilemma. But with
his mother's blessings he left his house in 1916 and joined as an
inmate at the Adwaita Ashram. Sree Narayana Guru appointed him as the
Malayalam teacher at the Sanskrit school there and made arrangements for
him to learn Sanskrit. Guru accepted Ayappan Pillai as his Sanyasin
disciple. Because of his straight forwardness and honesty, Guru named
him ‘Satyavridan'. He was a scholar and a forceful orator. He had the
talent of speaking to the common people in simple language. He became a
regular speaker at many public meetings and his speeches attracted more
people to the meetings. He accompanied Guru to Ceylon 1918. Guru asked
Satyavrida Swami to stay in Ceylon for a while; he spent three years
there. Guru wanted him to start evening schools there. Within those 3
years he started 30 evening schools and many Sree Narayana organizations
there. When he came back he started to work as the editor of
‘Navajeevan' magazine. In 1921 he went back to Ceylon for 3 months. He
became the Secretary of Adwaita Ashram in 1922 and Guru asked him to
mange all the properties belonged to the Ashram. He was one of the few
true proponents of Guru's principles. Not many people in Kerala worked
like Satyavrida Swami against the caste system. Guru once said,
“Satyavridan has no caste feelings at all; even I have such feelings
sometimes. He even excels Buddha in forgetting caste”. He was one of the
three people Guru appointed to coordinate the ‘All Religious Conference
at Alwaye'. The others were Sahodharan Ayappan and C.V. Kunhuraman. His
hard work was one of the reasons for the huge success of the
conference. Satyavrida Swami was one of the few disciples who lived a
life of Guru's ideology. Unfortunately his life was cut short in 1926 at
the age of 32. Upon hearing of his death the Guru was overwhelmed with
sorrow.
Govindananda Swami
He
served as a police officer before he became Sree Narayana Guru's
sanayasin disciple. He was born in Mulankadu near Ernakulam and many of
his relatives still live in Palluruthy area. He came to know about Guru
and his activities through Bodhananda Swami, whom he was a follower of.
He resigned his job and joined the Sivagiri Ashram. There, he studied
Vedanta and philosophy. After Bodhananda Swami's samadhi, Govindananda
Swami became the head of Sivagiri Mutt. He had a piece of property in
Kancheepuram that was donated by one of Guru's followers; he founded a
Sree Narayana Seva Ashram there. Later a sanatorium was started adjoined
to this Ashram. He traveled to Japan , Malaya and Burma to propagate
Guru's words. Govindananda activities helped a lot to propagate the
gospel of the Guru in Tamil Nadu. Govindananda Swami felt ill while he
was visiting this Ashram and attained Samadhi at the age of 105.
Atmananda Swami
His name was
Rama Panicker before he became the disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. Born
in a Kanisa community on July27, 1870, in Villyapally village in
Bhadagara Taluk. Astrology was his family's traditional job. Rama
Panicker was a scholar in many subjects like Sanskrit, astrology,
philosophy, ayurveda etc. He worked as a Sanskrit teacher in 'Vidhyarthi
Chinthamani' Sanskrit school in Tellicherry. He met Sree Narayana Guru
when Guru was visiting Tellicherry. Guru was very much impressed in Rama
Panicker's knowledge in Sanskrit. Guru invited him to be a teacher at
Adwaitha Ashram Sanskrit school. Later he joined as the Head Master of
Adwaitha Ashram Sanskrit School. His staying at the Ashram gave him to
know more about the Guru. Later he was initiated as a Snyasin by Guru
and gave him a new name - ‘Atmananda' and stayed at Sivagiri.
Govitananda Swami invited him to Kancheepuram Ashram. He visited the
Ashram many times and helped Govindananda to improve the Sree Narayana
Seva Ashram. His hard work brought lots of financial assets to the
Ashram. Later he stayed there permanently. He was famous in that area as
an Ayurvedic medical practitioner and people called him ‘Valiya
Gurukkal' or ‘Great Teacher'. He wrote many poems about Guru. One of his
published work ‘Sree Narayana Dharma', is one of the best books to
understand Guru's thoughts. On November 12, 1969 Atmananda Swami
attained Samadhi at the age of 100.
Sankarananda Swami
he
fourth and the last head of Sivagiri Mutt. His name was Sankaran. He
was born into a financially well to do family in Puthullad, Trichur
district. . He did not show much interest in formal education. From his
early life he showed interest in Spirituality. Due to the pressure from
his family members he started a family life, but that did not last long.
He left the house and traveled to different holy places in South India .
After staying at Ramana Maharshi's Thiruvanna malai for a brief period
he came to Palghat and stayed at Brahmananda Shiva Yogi's ashram. After
some time he went back to his native place and started to live there. He
was heard about Guru and his social activities. When Guru was staying
at Peringottukara ashram, he went to see Guru and told him about his
mental dilemma. Guru told Sankaran that, “if his path is right he will
reach his aim”. He went back home and told his relatives about his wish
to join Guru as a Sanyasin. Next day, accompanied by his uncle, he went
to Adwaitha ashram and met Guru. With Guru's blessings he became an
inmate at the ashram. Later Guru gave him a new name, ‘Sankarananda',
and accepted him as Guru's sanysin disciple. . He served as the
administrator of the Await Ashram for a long time. After Achuthananda
Swami's samadhi, Sankarananda became the head of Sivagiri Mutt. Guru's
hundredth birth anniversary was celebrated while he was the head of the
Mutt. He was not an orator or writer, but he showed much interest in
collecting and publishing Guru's works. Two periodicals, ‘Navajeevan'
and ‘Sivagiri' were published during his time. The commencement of
Sivagiri pilgrimage, the celebration of Guru's hundredth birth
anniversary and the construction of Maha Samadhi Mandir were occurred
while he was the head of the Mutt.
Mambalam Vidyananda Swami
his
Sanyasin disciple of Sree Narayana Guru was born into a joint family in
Kavalam, Kuttanadu. Many of his family members were Ayurvedic medical
practitioners. His name was Ramankutty. He studied at Sanadhana Dharma
High School , Alleppey and he passed High School with high marks. He
could not continue his education because of the sudden death of his
three uncles. These tragedies exhausted him mentally; he left his home
and visited many religious places. He came to the Adwaita Ashram while
Guru was staying there. After hearing Ramankutty's story Guru asked him
to stay there. He arranged Ramankutty a job at the Sanskrit School . His
staying at the Ashram helped him to improve his skills in the Sanskrit
language. He also spoke English, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. Later he was
initiated as a monk by Guru and received the name, ‘Vidyananda'. After
Guru's Samadhi Vidyananda Swami moved to Kancheepuram Sree Narayana Seva
Ashram, later to Mambalam. A rich person donated some land near
Mambalam and the Swami founded Sree Narayana Mission there. Later he
started an infirmary adjunct to the Mission . This free sanatorium was a
big help for the poor people in that area. Vidyananda Swami wrote an
interpretation for Sree Narayana Guru's ‘Darsanamala'. Guru titled this
book as ‘Dheedhidi', which means ray.This book became an important means
of reference to many scholars. He wrote many articles, mostly related
to Guru's philosophy, and published in periodicals. In 1959 Swami became
ill and partially paralyzed. He spent the end of his life in
Changanacherry and attained Samadhi in 1964. Sadly his body was buried
in a public cemetery. The Sree Narayana Mission was not affiliated to
Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham, so the Sangham showed no interest in
preparing a ‘Samadhi Peedham' (proper way of burying a Sanyasin's body)
for him at Sivagiri.
Swami AananthaTheerthar
Swami
AananthaTheerthar was the last disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. He was a
fabulous personality in the fight against social injustices in Kerala.
Anantha Shenoy was born in a rich Gowdasaraswath Brahmin family of
Thalassery. He took Bsc (Hon) degree in Physics from Madras University .
At that time it was very easy for him to get a high paying job anywhere
in India , but he was interested in public service. Anantha Shenoy
heard about Sree Narayana Guru. When he was studying at Tellicherry
Brannen College Guru visited Jagannatha Temple there, but Anantha Shenoy
did not show any interest in meeting the Guru. He thought Guru was just
a religious leader of Ezhavas. But he started to admire Sree Narayana
Guru when he read Guru's conversation with Mahatma Gandhi and learning
more about his work against social injustices. He got attracted to
National movement and wanted to live at Mahatma's Sabarmathi Ashram. He
sought Rajaji's help for this, but Rajaji advised him to go and stay at
Sabari Ashram in Palghat. Sabari Ashram was started for the upliftment
of the downtrodden. In 1926 Anantha Shenoy became a member of that
Ashram. He met Guru for the first time at a house in Coimbatore ; Guru
talked to him in great interest when he heard Shenoy was working for
Sabari Ashram. In August 1928 he accepted the ascetic way of life and
became the disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. Guru gave him the name
Anantha Theerthar. He spent all his life for the uplift the life of
Harijans. He faced a lot of opposition from the upper caste people and
sometimes even suffered physical harassment. He selected Payannur as his
work area and started Sree Narayana School and hostel there for Harijan
children. This institution is widely known as Ashram. He changed the
venue of this school three times due to the strong hostility of the
people there. He was one of the few disciples who continued Guru's deed
of the fight against social evils.
Swami Earnest Clark
Earnest
Clark was the only foreigner who was a direct Sanyasin disciple of the
Guru. He admired many spiritual leaders in India . He came to India and
joined Annie Basant's Theosophical Society. While working there he
traveled to many sacred places in India and happened to visit Sivagiri.
Earnest Clark met Guru there and told Guru about his intention to stay
there and Guru arranged the facilities for him. Swami Dharma Theerthar
and Shri. K.M. John were Guru's interpreters. Shri. K.M. john, who was a
teacher by profession, was staying at Sivagiri and teaching Bible. At
that time Guru was thinking about how to use the assets of Sivagiri for
the benefit of the people in a useful way. He consulted many people
about it and appointed a committee to prepare a project. Earnest Clark
was the convener of that committee and he played a major role in
preparing and presenting the, ‘Sivagiri Free Industrial and Agricultural
Gurukulam', project to Guru. It was a project to connect Agriculture
and Industry to Education. Even Mahatama Gandhi never thought about
vocational education at that period. Shri. P. Natarajan (later become
Nataraja Guru) was responsible for the educational matters. Later
Earnest Clark became a Sanyasin, but Guru never asked him to change his
name. In 1927 the ‘Sivagiri Free Industrial and Agricultural Gurukulam'
project started to function, but Guru's Samadhi affected it and the
project was abandoned. After Guru's Samadhi Swami Earnest Clark left
Sivagiri due to the court case and politics. He moved to Coimbatore and
founded Sree Narayana Ashram there. From there he started a publication,
‘Life', which gave importance to Guru's philosophy. Swami Dharma
Theerthar wrote the ‘Prophet of Peace' owing to Swami Earnest Clark's
request. In 1942 he was removed from the Dharma Sangham by the
authorities of the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham. It did not stop Swami
Earnest Clark propagating Guru's words
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