Muni Narayana Prasad

Guru Muni Narayana Prasad (b. 1938)

Guru Muni Narayana Prasad was born on 9 December 1938 at Nagaroor, near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, India, as the son of a primary school teacher. His real name is M.N. Prasad. He had his initial schooling at the same school where his father was headmaster, and after passing the 10th standard he pursued studies at a technical institute, preparing for a one-year course in civil engineering.

He came into contact with Swami Nitya Chaitanya Yati and, from 1955, began associating with the Narayana Gurukula movement. After a short training at Thiruvananthapuram Engineering College, he entered Kerala government service as a draughtsman in 1958.

On 21 January 1970, he was conferred brahmacharya diksha by Nataraja Guru and joined the lineage of the Gurukula. When Nataraja Guru convened the World Parliament of Religions at Sasthamkotta, Kerala, in 1971, Muni Narayana Prasad served as the organizing secretary.

In 1985 he was given sannyasa diksha by Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati. Among his overseas engagements, he participated in the round-table meeting of world religious leaders in Moscow in February 1987. After the mahasamadhi of Guru Nitya on 14 May 1999, he took charge as Guru and Head of the Narayana Gurukula movement.

A prolific writer, he has authored more than 100 books in English and Malayalam, including commentaries on the entire works of Narayana Guru, on eight of the ten principal Upanishads, and on the Bhagavad Gita.