Swami Narayanananda

Who was Swami Narayanananda?

Swāmi Nārāyanānanda Puri was born in a village in Coorg, Karnataka state, South India. From an early age he practised regular meditation. After finishing his studies, he renounced the world in 1929 and joined the Ramakrishna Mission. After a few years he left for the Himalayas and practised intense meditation. In 1933 he attained the supreme state called nirvikalpa samadhi. After that he remained in seclusion for many years, studying the mind-functions and writing books. Especially after the partition of India in 1947, and seeing the atrocities there, his "heart melted, as it were", and he wrote some more books.

The books were published slowly, and spread also to the Western countries. He began to accept disciples. In Denmark in particular, he had many disciples. In 1971 he went for the first time to Denmark, and continued to visit this country every year for 5–7 months until 1987. An ashrama was established in Gylling, Denmark which is the main centre today. Ashramas were also established in India, Sweden, Germany, Norway and the USA.

The books were printed and published first in Rishikesh, India, and later printed and published at Narayana Press, Gylling, Denmark. Swami Narayanānanda's works have been translated into many languages, particularly Danish and German. Some of them were translated into Tamil through his disciples Swami Nityānanda and the late Swami Sadānanda.