Ayyala Somayajulu Ganapathi Sastry, also known as Ganapati Muni (1878–1936), was a disciple of Ramana Maharshi.
Biography
Ganapati Muni was born in
Logisa Agraharam near
Gajapathinagaram in Andhra Pradesh on 17 November 1878. His parents, Narasimha Sastri and Narasamamba had three sons, Muni being the second. Ganapati, when 18 years old, set out and wandered from one place to another, residing in places like
Bhuvaneshwar, where he performed his tapas. When Ganapati was staying in
Varanasi he learned of an assembly of
Sanskrit scholars in the city of
Nabadwip in Bengal. He participated in it and on passing the tests in extempore Sanskrit prose and poetry, was conferred the title 'Kavyakantha'. He was then 22 years old. He returned home at the age of 25. From
Kanchipuram he came to
Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) in 1903 to perform tapas. At that time he visited Ramana Maharshi, who was then known as Brahmanaswami, before he accepted a teaching post in
Vellore in 1904. He wrote his devotional epic hymn "Uma Sahasram," One Thousand Verses on Uma (goddess Parvathi), after accepting Ramana Maharshi as his
Guru on 18 November 1907. He also met
Sri Aurobindo on 15 August 1928. Ganapati Muni died at
Kharagpur on 25 July 1936.
Influence
Ganapati Muni's teachings are laid out in his magnum opus, 'Uma Sahasram' and other works like 'Mahavidyadi Sutras'. They helped to reduce popular prejudice about the teachings of
Tantra.
His students include T.V. Kapali Sastry.
Literary works
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Umasahasram
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An anthology of the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, along with English translations.
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Books
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Gunturu, Lakshmi Kantam. (1958). NAYANA: Kavyakantha Vasishtha Ganapati Muni : Biography in Telugu. J.V.S.Lakshmi, Chennai. (Latest reprint : 2013).
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Krishna, G. (1978). Nayana: Kavyakantha Vasishtha Ganapati Muni : biography. Madras: Kavyakantha Vasishtha Ganapati Muni Trust.
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Gaṇapatimuni, Vāsiṣṭha Honoree (1978), Jayanti: Kavyakanta Ganapati Muni centenary commemoration volume. Kavyakantha Centenary Committee.
External links
