2 min readThiruvananthapuramApr 25, 2026 01:15 PM IST
Indian philosopher and prolific author Guru Muni Narayana Prasad, 87, died here Saturday. A direct disciple of Nataraja Guru and Nitya Chaitanya Yati, he had headed the Narayana Gurukula in Varkala since 1999.
A native of Nagaroor in Thiruvananthapuram district and a Padma Shri recepient, he was known as M N Prasad in his purvashramam. As an engineering student, he met Swami Nitya Chaitanya Yati, then head of the Narayana Gurukula movement. He later worked as a junior civil engineer with the state PWD, but quit in 1968 to join the Gurukula full-time after ‘brahmacharya diksha’ — initiation — from Nataraja Guru, founder of the movement. He thereafter came to be known as Muni Narayana Prasad and emerged as a prominent sanyasin in the spiritual lineage of Sri Narayana Guru.
In his early years at the Gurukula, he worked closely with Nataraja Guru in organising the World Parliament of Religions in Kollam in 1971 and an international conference for world peace at Ezhimala, Kannur. From 1973 to 1989, he served as editor of Gurukulam, a Malayalam magazine.
He formally embraced monastic life in 1985 after taking sanyasa diksha from Yati, then head of the Gurukula. Before becoming head of the ashram in 1999 following Yati’s demise, he led the Gita Ashram in Fiji and travelled widely, interpreting and spreading the philosophy of Sri Narayana Guru. He became the latest guru in the lineage of Narayana Guru, Nataraja Guru and Nitya Chaitanya Yati.
A prolific writer on Indian philosophy, the Upanishads, the Gita and comparative religion, he authored over 100 books in Malayalam and English. His works include interpretations of Upanishads such as Aitareya, Isavasya, Kena, Prasna, Mandukya and Chandogya.
He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2024 for his contributions to education and literature. He also won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award twice — for his translation of Soundarya Lahari in 2015 and for his autobiography Atmayanam in 2018.
