Narayanaprasaddaji Swami was a renowned swami of the Swaminarayana Sampradaya and was also known as Tapomurti Sadguru Shastri.
Profile
Swami Shri Narayanprasaddasji was born on January 14th 1921 in Gujarat and was named Girdhar. His father was Premjibhai and mother was Juthiben, had three siblings and he was the youngest of four children. They were not very rich and he was unable to finish his primary schooling. However he had spiritual inclinations and he was a good singer. He would visit the nearest Swaminarayan Temple and sing. The saints of the temple noticed the boy and wanted to take him into their fold and promised to educate him. But the family was reluctant to let their child go. But Girdhar was attracted by the sadhu’s life and left home at the age of 12 to join the Swaminarayana Sampraday. Once into the fold he was educated by the organisation and he finished his masters in Sanskrit. Alongside he mastered the scriptures. He gave many talks but he was known for his for his tapas and he was known as ‘Tapomurti’. For nearly 55 years his food was milk alone and sometimes it was replaced with coconut water. Towards the end of his life he began to suffer from prostatitis and in spite of the surgery he passed away on January 30th 2018 at the age of 87.
Philosophy Propounded
Since Swami Shri Narayanprasaddasji belonged to the Swaminarayana Sampradaya, Akshar Brahma was the philosophy he propounded. Bhakthi and Tapas was his way of life.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Swami Shri Narayanprasaddasji had conducted more than 100 Kathas in Hindi, Gujarati and Sanskrit. These Kathas (talks) were mostly on Bhagavad Purana, Vachanamrut and Bhaktachintamani written by Nishkulanand Swami. He enthralled the devotees with his bhajans. Shastri Swami Shri Narayanprasaddasji had received an award for his education and knowledge of Sanskrit language from the Second President of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He was best known for his Tapas, which can be translated as practice of austerities and meditation, and he was known as Tapomurti Sadguru Shastri Swami Shri Narayanprasaddasji.
