Gnanananda Giri

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Gnanananda (Nia-na-nan-da) was an Indian guru, referred to by followers as Swami Sri Gnanananda Giri. He was the Chief Disciple of the Sri Sivaratna Giri Swamigal and one of the leaders (Peetathipathis) of the

Sources report his birth as early 19th century in the village Mangalapuri in North Kanara District of Karnataka.^[1][3] to an orthodox Brahmin couple, Venkoba Ganapati and SriMathi Sakku Bai.^[3] He was named Subramanyan at birth, and left his home at a very early age.^{[citation needed]} His birthday is celebrated on the birth star of Kritika in January (the Tamil month of Thai).^{[citation needed]}

Sanyasa

Sivaratna Giri Swami accepted Subramanyan as his disciple and named him Pragnana Brahmachari.

Swami Gnanananda Giri taught a number of paths based on the aptitude of his disciples. Therefore, some of disciples are conversant in the "path of knowledge" (jñāna-marga) while others are the "path of works" (karma-marga) and still others follow the "path of faith" (bhakti-marga). His senior monastic disciple Vidyananda Giri was a profound scholar and linguist and brought out Tamil translations of Shankara's commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. He also made available Tamil versions of famous Advaitic texts like Sanatsujatiyam. He trained followers in Advaitic Nidhidhyasana. Another of his lineage, Satyananda was associated with Franklin Merrell-Wolff and taught his method of "introceptive knowledge". Satyananda lineage is not mentioned in the book Sadguru Gnanananda , a Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan edition written by Madras University professors. The book is well researched in terms of what is available to know about the Swami Gnanananda

He is considered as the Guru of Avudai Akkal and she mentions his name in almost all her songs.

Swami Gnanananda Giri realised that the path of

Whilst talking about HH Sri Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Varya Jagathguru Sri Gnanananda Giri Swamigal of Jyotir Mutt (Sathgurunathar), one repeatedly remembers what He said: "No one can write my life because it has not been on the surface for men to see."

"Thatha Swamigal" is the affectionate title by which many people, young and old, including well-known saints, use to refer to Sathgurunathar in reference to his "thatha" (grandfather) like nature and with respect towards the thousands of years Gurunathar has stayed on Earth. The legacy of Sathgurunathar is known by many and below is a description of the type of saint He was and continues to be, by our very own HH Jagathguru Sri Namananda Giri Swamigal:

"Sages like Sri Gnanananda Giri Swami are siddha purusha-s. They live beyond times. One could gauge the history of these great saints only from the incidents one comes across in their life and the sermons they give from time to time. Yet, they may not be the complete biography. These saints appear in places at their will and disappear from the scene once the purpose of their avatar is over. They live for long. They have no date of birth or date of demise. Even when He was living and adorning the Peetam of Tapovanam, there were 'samadhis' for Gurunathar in the far off Kadirgamam in Sri Lanka and at Rajasthan in India [just to name a few]. When we have proof of His having lived during the days of Kabirdas, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Brahmananda, we realise that He is beyond the confines of times."

References

External links

• Official site