Malayala Swamy (1885–1962) was a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

religious leader, and a social reformer. He dismissed the myth that Vedas and other scriptures are only for a particular section of the society and encouraged common man to gain spiritual knowledge. He also encouraged women education. He was the founder of Sri Vyasashrama in

Yerpedu Yerpedu (or Erpedu) is a place situated in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a part of Tirupati neighborhood and is located near Sri Kalahasti. It falls in the jurisdictional limit of Tirupati Urban Development Auth ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. He influenced

Swami Vidya Prakashananda Giri Swami Vidya Prakashananda Giri (13 April 1914 – 10 April 1998), born Ananda Mohan, was an Indian spiritual Guru from Andhra Pradesh. He was a disciple of Malayala Swamy. He was the founder of Sri Sukabrahmashram in Srikalahasti. His commentary ...

, his famous disciple who established Sri Sukabrahmashrama at

Srikalahasti Srikalahasti is a town in Tirupati district located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and the revenue division of Srikalahasti mandal and Srikalahasti revenue division. It is a part of the Tirupati Urban Development Au ...

. Malayala Swamy extensively traveled in and out of Andhra Pradesh, where there is a Telugu speaking crowd to propagate the ancient Hindu wisdom by conducting ''Sanatana Vedanta Jnana Sabha''s, ''Omkara Satra Yaga''s lasting for a week, Chaturmasya Vrathas lasting for four months, installed idols in various temples, inaugurated ashrams, laid foundations to several constructions, opened monasteries, etc. in the service of god.

Life

He was born to a traditional

Ezhava The Ezhavas, () also known as ''Thiyya'' or ''Tiyyar'' () in the Malabar region, and Chovar () in the south, are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the po ...

Hindu couple Kariappa, and Notthiyamma in Engadiyur village near Guruvayur, Kerala. His birth name is Velappa. He studied various Hindu scriptures and toured various religious places in India. He finally reached

Tirumala Tirumala is a Hindu religious temple town in Tirupati district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the neighbourhoods of the Tirupati city. The town is a part of Tirupati Urban Development Authority and located in Tirupat ...

and did penance near Gogarbham. After doing penance for 12 years he settled at a place near Yerpedu, where he started an ashram in the name of Sage

Vyasa Vyasa (; , ) or Veda Vyasa (, ), also known as Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa (, ''Vedavyāsa''), is a ''rishi'' (sage) with a prominent role in most Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the epic Mahabharata, Mah� ...

. Since he spoke Malayalam only in the initial days, devotees named him Malayala Swamy. After he formally renounced the world, he also got a name ''Asangananda Swami'', but he preferred the name ''Malayala Swamy''.

Vyasashram

He established Sri Vyasashram in 1926 near

which is located in between two famous temple towns

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

, and

. His most popular book is ''Sushka Vedanta Tamo Bhaskaram'' (The sunlight of truth, dispelling the darkness of empty metaphysics) which was published in December 1919.

Books

Though he was basically from Malayali origin, he learned to speak Telugu. His Telugu speaking disciples wrote the books when he was dictating them in Telugu. He launched a monthly spiritual magazine called '' Yadartha Bharati'' in February 1927 to propagate spiritual knowledge expounded by ancient Hindu Rishis. Here are some of his publications. * ''Sushka Vedanta Tamo Bhaskaram'' * ''Eeshwara Krupa'' * ''Omkaram'' * ''Karma Siddhantam'' * ''Gurubhakti Prabhavam'' * ''Gruhasthashrama Dharmam'' * ''Jeevanmukti'' * ''Dharmopanyasamulu'' (5 parts) * ''Dhyanamrutham'' * ''Dharma Setuvu'' * ''Nirvana Nilayam'' * ''Nirvijna Yogasiddhi'' * ''Brahmacharyam'' * ''Brahmavidya'' * ''Mayanu Mayamu Cheyuta''

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last1=Satyanarayana , first1=P , title=Sri Sadguru Malayala Swamy , date=2017 , publisher=Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams , location=Tirumala , url=https://ebooks.tirumala.org/downloads/sri_sadguru_malayalaswamy.pdf , access-date=15 August 2021

External links

Sadguru Darsanam: Life of Sri Malayala Swamy published by Sri Vyasashram
Hindu reformers 1885 births 1962 deaths