नारायणगुरो: लघुकृतय:- Narayanaguroh LaghuKritya: On the Life of Narayana Guru (Sanskrit Only)

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Foreword Narayana Guru was a great philosopher-poet who lived in the latter half of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, in the State of Kerala in India. Though a continuator of the line of gurus to which the well-known Sankara belongs, he, in his thought, was unique. He gave expression to his philosophical views and mystical visions, blended with highly sublime poetical imageries, in three languages - Sanskrit, Malayalam, Tamil - with equal ease. If at all comparable, he, in philosophical clarity and non-dualistic vision, is equal to the Upanisadic rsis; in logical acumen he is comparable to Sankara; in respect of ease with language and sublime poetical imageries, he is comparable to Kalidasa; in scientific precision he had imbibed the spirit of the Age of Modern Science, of which he was a product; in mystical ecstasy and effusion he resembled the classical Saivite saints of Tamilnadu.

His available works in all the three languages together number sixty, including some of his translations from the original Tamil and Sanskrit texts. Of these Sanskrit works, Darsanamala and Brahmavidya Pancakam respectively are his elaboration and summarization of Advaita Vedanta. His Vedanta Sutras is the first Sutra text on Advaita Vedanta Written ever since the time of Badarayana, the author of Brahma Sutras.

An indepth study of these works will what kind of spiritual master Narayana Guru was. The impact of his thought did not confine to academic circles as with other philosophers and sages. People approached him for guidance in personal as well as social matters, and he readily compiled to their full satisfaction . His words and deeds were a great inspiring force for many socially minded reform-workers, the reason why the Guru himself is sometimes dubbed a social reformer. In fact, some of his hymns were composed by the Guru immediately before or after installing the image of the deity concerned in some newly built or renovated temple, as part of his social involvement. In his own vision he always remained fully absorbed in the Self (atman) or Brahman, seeing all that happens in and around him as the spontaneous self-unfoldment or manifestation of the one ultimate Reality or the Self.

We are publishing the present commentary with the expectation that it will help Sanskrit scholars in India and abroad to gain a clear understanding of who Narayana Guru really was, on who each of them really is, and on how original the Guru was.

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