Nitya Chaitanya Yati

Nitya Chaitanya Yati (2 November 1924 – 14 May 1999) was an Indian philosopher, psychologist, author and poet, best known for his commentaries on Advaita Vedanta as well as his literary criticisms. He was a disciple of Nataraja Guru, the successor to Narayana Guru. Yati published over 140 books in English and Malayalam including a commentary on Darsana Mala of Narayana Guru, titled, Psychology of Darsana Mala. Kerala Sahitya Akademi honoured him with their annual award for literary criticism in 1977.

Nitya Chaitanya Yati
Personal
Born
K. R. Jayachandra Panicker

(1924-11-02)2 November 1924
Vakayar, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India
Died14 May 1999(1999-05-14) (aged 74)
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India
ReligionHinduism
NationalityIndian
Relatives
PhilosophyVedanta
Religious career
GuruNataraja Guru
AwardsKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism
Literary works
  • That Alone, the Core of Wisdom
  • Love and Blessings
  • In the Stream of Consciousness
  • Living the Science of Harmonious Union
  • Beyond the door that is Death

Biography

Nitya Chaitanya Yati was born K. R. Jayachandra Panicker on 2 November 1924[1] at Vakayar, a village in the Pathanamthitta district of the south Indian state of Kerala to Pandalam Raghava Panicker, a poet, teacher and nephew of Muloor S. Padmanabha Panicker, and his wife, Vamakshi Amma.[2] After early education by a local teacher by name, Nanu Pillai, he studied at Kulathingal High School from where he passed the SSLC examination. Subsequently, he left home and traveled for the next eight years during which period he learnt Buddhism, Jainism and Sufism and met such people as Mahatma Gandhi and Ramana Maharshi. On his return from his wanderings, he joined Union Christian College, Aluva[3] and earned his graduate degree in philosophy before securing a master's degree in philosophy from the University College, Thiruvananthapuram in 1952.[1]

Yati was influenced by Ramana Maharshi after his meeting with the spiritual leader and he took up sanyasa in 1951.[2] After serving as a faculty at the Sree Narayana College, Kollam for a while, he moved to Mumbai to research on the physically challenged until his move to Chennai to teach at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College in 1953.[1] He stayed in Chennai till 1955 and returned to Mumbai for further research work before moving to New Delhi in 1963 to join the Institute of Psychiatric and Spiritual Research as its director. Later, he succeeded Nataraja Guru as head of the Narayana Gurukulam, a worldwide contemplative community, after a long apprenticeship.[4] In between, he was also associated with the Indian Council of Medical Research as the head of the division of Yoga and with the East West University,[5] of which he was the founder chairperson.[3]

Nitya Chaitanya Yati died on 14 May 1999, at Fernhill Gurukula of Narayana Gurukula,[6] near Ooty, at the age of 74.[3]

Legacy

Nitya Chaitanya Yati authored over 140 books of which 120 are in Malayalam and the rest in English, covering such topics as philosophy, psychology, social ethics and aesthetics[2] and was involved with the World Government of World Citizens as a committed sponsor.[3] Nalini Enna Kavyashilpam (Nalini, a poetic sculpture)), his critical study of the Kumaran Asan's poem, Nalini, fetched him the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism in 1977.[7] He wrote two more critiques on Asan's works, Chinthavistayaaya Seetha, Oru Padanam and Duravastha, Oru Padanam.[8] He published a book on Narayana Guru, with the same name,[9] and commentaries on Guru's Darsanamala[10] and Atmopadeshashathakam.[11] He also translated Brhadaranyaka Upanisad into English, which has the original text in transliteration as well as English translation[12] and published critiques on the Bhagavat Gita,[13] Saundaryalahari of Sankaracharya[14] and Marxism.[15] Wandering by Hermann Hesse was another work translated by Yati which was published under the title, Deshadanam.[16] His autobiography, Love and Blessings, is a detailed narrative of his life and includes anecdotes and his letters.[17]

Selected bibliography

Works in Malayalam
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1976). Chinthavistayaya Sita. Gurukula Publishing House.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1984). Yaticharitaṃ (in Malayalam). Nārāyaṇa Gurukulaṃ.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1988). Mar̲akkānāvāttavar. DC Books. ISBN 978-81-7130-005-1.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1986). Rōgaṃ Bādhicha Vaidyaraṅgaṃ. Nārāyaṇa Gurukuḷam.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1992). Bhagavadgītāsvāddhyāyaṃ. DC Books. ISBN 978-81-7130-225-3.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1993). Jeevithathile Vasanthaaraamam. DC Books. ISBN 978-81-7130-280-2.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (1994). Pr̲ēmavuṃ Bhaktiyuṃ: Jayadēvant̲e Gītagōvindaṃ Aspadamakkiyuḷḷa Padanaṃ. Current Books.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (2000). Oru Vimōchana Sāmūhyaśāstr̲aṃ. Nārāyaṇa Gurukuḷam.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (2000). Saundaryaṃ, Anubhavaṃ, Anubhooti. Muḷberry Publishers. ISBN 9788124008713.
  • Nityacaitanya Yati (2002). Snēhasparśhaṃ. Muḷberry Publishers. ISBN 978-81-240-1176-8.
  • Nitya Chaitanya Yati (2013). Nalini Enna Kavya Shilpam (in Malayalam). Lipi Publications. ISBN 978-8188012725.
  • Hermann Hesse; Nitya Chaitanya Yati (translator) (2014). Desadanam. Green Books.

Works in English

See also

References
  1. "Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal". Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  2. "Yati - biography" (PDF). aranya.me. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. "Guru Nitya". narayanagurukula.org. 2 April 2019.
  4. Scott Teitsworth, "Introduction to the American Edition" in "Love and Blessings: The Autobiography of Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati". (Varkala, Kerala, Bainbridge Island, Washington, Portland, Oregon: Narayana Gurukula, 2003), XXVI.
  5. "East-West University". www.narayanagurukula.org. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. Digital Malayalam (16 October 2016). "Narayana Gurukulam, Fern Hill, Ooty (Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati Samadhi)". Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  7. "Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism". Kerala Sahitya Akademi. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  8. Nalini Natarajan; Emmanuel Sampath Nelson (1996). Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 202–. ISBN 978-0-313-28778-7.
  9. Nityacaitanya Yati (2005). Narayana Guru. Indian Council of Philosophical Research. ISBN 978-81-85636-89-4.
  10. Nityacaitanya Yati, 1924-1999. (2004). The psychology of Darśana mālā. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld. ISBN 8124602549. OCLC 63517039.
  11. Nityacaitanya Yati (2003). That Alone, the Core of Wisdom: A Commentary on Ātmopadeśa Śatakam, the One Hundred Verses of Self-instruction of Narayana Guru. D.K. Printworld. ISBN 978-81-246-0240-9.
  12. Nityacaitanya Yati (1 December 2000). Brhadaranyaka Upanisad: with Original Text in Roman Transliteration, English Translation and Appendices. D.K. Printworld. ISBN 978-81-246-0008-5.
  13. Nityacaitanya Yati (1981). The Bhagavad Gita: A Sublime Hymn of Yoga Composed by the Ancient Seer Vy錫sa. Vikas. ISBN 978-0-7069-1129-9.
  14. Nityacaitanya Yati (2015). The Saundaryalaharī of Śaṅkarācārya: A Translation and Commentary on the Ānandalaharī. D.K. Printworld. ISBN 978-81-246-0810-4.
  15. Nityacaitanya Yati (1980). Marxism and Humanist Nonarchy. East-West University of Brahmavidya.
  16. Hermann Hesse; Nitya Chaitanya Yati (translator) (2014). Desadanam. Green Books.
  17. Yati, Nityacaitanya; Oppenheimer, Peter (2003). Love and Blessing the Autobiography of Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati. ISBN 097065491X.

Further reading
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