In Loving Memory of Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati

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Guru Nitya was born in my neighbourhood which is hardly 17 KM from Pathanamthitta, the southern District Headquarters of Kerala where I was born. The place is called Murinjakal-Konni. Unfortunately, I came to know about Guru Nitya only in 2014 when I met Tanmaya Swamy of Narayana Gurukulam at Hyderabad, 15 years after Guru Nitya’s Mahasamadhi.

 

In 1999, I was a 37 year-old man who could not recognise or notice a giant personality called Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati in my neighbourhood. It is a big loss in my life that I could not even have a glimpse of this highly charming and very special and renowned sannyasi who was personally selected by his Guru, Nataraja Guru, to be his disciple and carry on with the teachings of Rishi Narayana Guru who was born in Kerala, known as “God’s Own Country” in 1856.

 

Dr. Natarajan—who Guru Narayana affectionately called “Thambi“—was handpicked by the great Rishi to spread his teaching to East and West. Dr. Natarajan, later called “Nataraja Guru,“ dedicated his entire life until his last breath in 1973 to spread the core philosophy of Narayana Guru: “One Caste, One Religion and One God for Human Beings.”

 

Nataraja Guru handpicked Jayachandran, later known worldwide as Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati, to spearhead the growing Narayana Gurukulam, which Nataraja Guru so painstakingly had established in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. Nitya Guru shared not only Vedanta philosophy but also many other fields such as art, culture, music, paintings, cinema, journalism, psychology and on, extending his reach to the vast wonder of the human spirit, while keeping the Vedanta philosophy in forefront. In his talks and classes he would spontaneously give the slokas of any Upanishad or Gita and explain their wider meaning squarely.

 

Once, after a long European tour, he said ”I never talked or explained about Narayana Guru to any of my audience in Europe, but I have hidden Narayana Guru in my inner mind all the time like a devoted lover would do for his fiancé.” Guru Nitya had such a strong dedication towards Narayana Guru throughout his life.

 

I would like to share a personal experience: I had read the ISCON Guru’s Bhagavad Gita translation and commentary two times but could not understand it properly. It is only when I read Guru Nitya’s Bhagavad Gita Swadhayam that I could understand Gita and its wider meanings. In it, Nitya Guru explains the meaning of Gita as interpreted by many stalwarts until his time and then gives his own explanation flawlessly like the flowing of a river.

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Before he took his last breath at Narayana Gurukula, Ooty, on 14th May 1999, he wrote a letter, which was published by “Kala Kaumudi,” a famous Malayalam newspaper in Kerala, after his mahasamadhi:

 

A long story is coming to an end. It includes many stories, novels, dramas, small and big poems, memories, recollections and travels of a seeker. This ever-beating heart has been witnessing all this with great love and calmness. Love, compassion, healthy food, nature’s beauty, medicines given with utmost care—I recollect all this with immense gratitude.

 

In my life, I never felt anything missing for me. I received the best care during my childhood. My parents and teachers guided me with great insight. My eyes guided me through the end of adolescence and beginning of adulthood to the wide world. Thereafter for twenty-four years my Advaitin Guru gave excellent teaching and guidance.

 

For about forty years, I took effort to reveal the testimony of my heart and soul. My heart melodies have been the tender emotions of a faithful poet and artist who loves humanity. When I look back, I do not have any complaint or regret. Throughout, goodness was showered on me.

 

Even now, my merciful heart compensates for the damages caused by the past seventy-five years of life lived like the great flow of the river Nile or river Ganga. I do not want to give any more trouble to my dear friend—my body—who has been my companion right from my birth. It is time to fold the wings. Everything has to come to an end. It is my responsibility also to conclude in a dignified, honorable and beautiful way. Gratitude—Mahāprabho, O Great Lord—I owe You!

 

Recently, on 18th June 2024, I met Swamy Tyagi at Varkala Gurukula. He was going to Murinjakal the very next day and invited me to join. But, due to my travelling from Trivandrum the same day in the evening, I couldn’t go with him. Swamy Tyagi told me that Nitya Guru indeed was an enlightened Guru but he never revealed it to anyone.

 

He told me of a time at Ooty when there was no rain and all the residents were facing a problem of water shortage. Guru Nitya told Tyagi Swamy to gather all the residents in the prayer hall and chant Narayana Guru’s poem, Ardhanariswarastavam. They chanted the poem with great devotion but no rain came. Then Tyagi Swamy was furious and came to Nitya Guru. Again, Nitya Guru, like a child, very humbly requested him to chant the sloka once again. With reluctance he chanted again and the rain began to fall.

 

I salute this great Guru from the bottom of my heart and offer thousands of pranams on his lotus feet.

 

AUM