HarperCollins announces A Cry in the Wilderness, The Works of Nārāyaṇa Guru Translated by Vinaya Chaitanya

jaseya.fazili@harpercollins.co.in | 16 August 2022

***
What is your name, from where,
of which caste, what job, how old?
One who is free from such questions,
his alone is beatitude.
***
In the verdant countryside of south-west India, at the turn of the last century, lived
the great poet-seer Nārāyaṇa Guru. His message was very simple: ‘Man is of one
caste, one religion and one God / Of one same womb, one same form, with no
difference at all.’
Grounded in the mystical depths of life, he wandered across the landscape, gently
proclaiming justice and equality for all, interacting with the multitudes who came to
meet him, electrifying them to be at their best, and galvanizing a peaceful movement
to eliminate oppression in all its forms. Stalwarts like Rabindranāth Tagore and
Mahātmā Gāndhī sought his counsel. He inspired social reformers such as
Sahodaran Ayyappan, Mahātmā Ayyankāli, Pandit Karuppan, V.T. Bhattathiripad,
among others.
Along the way, he composed a compact body of writing in prose and verse of
exceptional potency. These are stimulating, deep and original explorations,
entryways into a profound appreciation of the human condition.
A Cry in the Wilderness: The Works of Nārāyaṇa Guru collects his oeuvre in one
volume, in a lucid translation from the Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit by Vinaya
Chaitanya.
***
Translator, Vinaya Chaitanya, says: ‘A salt-doll trying to fathom the ocean’s depths,’ to
paraphrase Sri Ramakrishna, has been my experience with this study of the works of
Nārāyaṇa Guru. His wisdom is mind-expanding. And once you start, you will not stop, that is
how one’s life changes. He gently leads you into the depth of his wisdom, and it takes you
over to your own depths and leaves you feeling ‘how simple, how wonderful’ it is. And as you
continue, ever more beauty fills your life, the beauty of a purposeful life. It was my Guru,
Naṭarāja Guru (disciple–successor of Nārāyaṇa Guru) who first suggested that I translate
Nārāyaṇa Guru into English. My background of studies in that language and my attempts at
poetry must have prompted my Guru to ask this of me. Thus started a study which has been
ongoing for nearly fifty years. Of course, this has not just been academic, but a source of
great consolation in many a difficult time. The works of Nārāyaṇa Guru in English translation
have been a labour of love…’
***
About the Author:
Nārāyaṇa Guru (1854–1928), born in Chempazhanti (Kerala), was a mystic, philosopher,
visionary, poet and social reformer, who envisioned mankind’s solidarity based on the
irrefutable unity of the Self. Writing in Malayalam, Sanskrit and Tamil, his works gave a new
orientation to literature. Rabindranāth Tagore found in him a continuator of the most ancient
of ṛṣis (seers) reliving the message of advaita (unitive wisdom).
About the Translator:
Vinaya Chaitanya was born in Muvattupuzha – the place of the three rivers – in the foothills
of the Western Ghats, before the invasion of rubber plantations, in 1952. He was accepted
as a disciple by Naṭarāja Guru, disciple and successor of Nārāyaṇa Guru, the philosopherpoet of Kerala. Vinaya has published books in Malayalam, Kannada and English, including a
translation of Akka Mahadevi’s vacanas, Songs for Siva.
***
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