The Hindu : Kerala News : Swami Mridananda passes away

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 05, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Swami Mridananda passes away

By Our Staff Reporter

Swami Mridananda

THRISSUR, MARCH 4. Swami Mridananda, writer and former president of the Sree Ramakrishna Ashram in Puranattukara, died here on Friday.

He was 89.

His books have largely been instrumental in making esoteric spiritual texts comprehensible to the layman. Among his best-known works are interpretations of the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. His articles on spiritual topics, published in Malayalam journals, have been hugely popular. He was honoured with the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1982.

A native of Kadambazhipurathu in Palakkad, he graduated from the Pattambi Sanskrit College in 1934. He served as teacher at the Pavaratti Sanskrit Vidyalaya (1935-37), Pavaratti District Board School (1937-44) and the Sree Ramakrishna Ashram School (1944-47). While teaching at the ashram school, he became a disciple of Swami Eswarananda and later became a monk.

He served at the Chennai branch of the ashram between 1947 and 1958. He later moved to the Kalady and Thrissur units and became editor of the journal Prabuddha Keralam. He headed the Thrissur ashram from 1988 to 1998.

`Great Vedantin'

Writer Sukumar Azhikode described Swami Mridananda as a "great Vedantin and exponent of ancient Indian wisdom.''

"The Swami's life was pure and simple. He was a shining example for spiritual aspirants. The Malayalis understood the Upanishads through his simple commentaries. His commitment to spreading the message of Sree Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda was exemplary. My book, `Tatwamasi' became popular because of the patronage of Swami Mridananda. His death is a great loss to Kerala,'' Prof. Azhikode said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala