Guru Muni Narayana Prasad, Padma Shri Recipient, Dies at 87

Exam-focused facts from the 29 April 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Guru Muni Narayana Prasad, the head of Narayana Gurukula in Varkala and a renowned philosopher, passed away at the age of 87 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
He was conferred with the Padma Shri in 2024 for his significant contributions to the fields of education and literature.
He authored over 100 books in Malayalam and English, including interpretations of Upanishads such as Aitareya, Isavasya, Kena, Prasna, Mandukya, and Chandogya.
He won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award twice, receiving it in 2015 for his translation of Soundarya Lahari and in 2018 for his autobiography titled Atmayanam.
He served as the head of the Narayana Gurukula movement since 1999 and was a direct disciple of Nataraja Guru and Nitya Chaitanya Yati.
Known as M N Prasad in his purvashramam, he worked as a junior civil engineer with the state Public Works Department (PWD) before joining the Gurukula full-time in 1968.
He served as the editor of the Malayalam magazine Gurukulam from 1973 to 1989 and previously led the Gita Ashram in Fiji.