Introduction
Narayanalakshmi (pen-name), (A.R. Subbalakshmi – maiden name), also known as ‘Maa Tejaswini’ in
her ascetic life, lived in the solitude of the Himalayan Mountains for a long period, alone in a
cottage, helped by a few young followers, engaged in the study and contemplation of Upanishads
and many other valuable texts. She renounced her family and friends when she was in her
thirties. Actually, her aim was to find the truth about the existence of a god; but her penance
in the White hills, bestowed upon her the knowledge which was beyond the god-level also. Since
Knowledge was her only aim in life, she returned to the civilized world and mastered the
concepts of Science (Physics) also as a part of her knowledge-penance.
Stabilized in her knowledge, she resides now at Bangalore, India, maintaining her vow of
solitude, supported by her biological children Naren and Vivek.
Early life
Lakshmi's spiritual quest started at the tender age of eleven, as an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. By the age of sixteen, she had completed the studies of all the spiritual books connected to Maharshi Ramana, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Shankara, as well as the Upanishads. With an un-satiated hunger for knowledge, she went through all the spiritual books written in Tamil and Kannada as well. There was nothing left unstudied. All the spiritual data was present in her mind as a realization of both Dvaita and Advaita. Later, forced to marry and bear children, she went through a life of darkness waiting for the dawn of freedom. She finished her Master’s degree in Philosophy as well as Sanskrit, even when she was bound by continuous family duties. Her internal stress of living through a family life as against her desire for a Sannyasin’s life pushed her into a severe asthmatic condition. Undaunted by the fatal disease that was consuming her life slowly, she engaged herself in improving her knowledge-level, and trained her children also to study Upanishads and YogaVaasishtam. More books were consumed and more data was added to her brain.
Nothing was left to study anymore.
Some duties concerning the welfare of her children made her keep the body alive. She was stabilized as a witness-state of whatever the life presented her with, waiting for the freedom that the death of the body would offer some day, though she had crossed over the ‘death and birth states’ by her quest of knowledge. Then the call came from her beloved flute player, her life-essence, the ‘Singer of Geetaa’; and she was told to go off to the Himalayas, to lead a life of Sannyaasin. And soon, a vision of Durga, the form of enlightenment, as Mother Tejaa reaffirmed her decision to take Sannyas, and seek the shelter of the White Mountains, the Shiva-Dhaama. Her body was instantly cured of all diseases and infirmities. She renounced the family and friends, and with her own young children, who offered support of all kinds mentally and physically, left for the White Mountains without even the idea of where to go. Guided by the Great Mother, she entered the sacred ground of Himalayas, after crossing by foot, many mountains and forest-regions. Randomly in some Aashram-outskirt, some one offered a saffron saree, and a divine voice whispered in her mind – ‘you are Tejaswini, from now on, the daughter of Tejaa’. After an arduous journey of two to three weeks through the unknown mountainous terrain, they reached the valley on the banks of River Taamasi (River Tons) situated under the mountain of Kalaap. With the support offered from the unknown unseen Mother Tejaa, she started her life in the Himalayas along with her disciple-children, lived alone, absorbing only Knowledge as her food, and gradually ascended the ladder of Aatma-Saakshaatkaara. The mountain had a cave in its upper reaches, where the last of solar and lunar dynasty kings had performed penance for the birth of ‘Kalki’ (tenth incarnation of divinity, the ‘Goddess of judgement’). Tejaswini lived in a small cottage made of stones at the river bank, and named it as ‘Kalki Ashram’.
She and her disciple-children, lived a simple life of Rishis on the river bank for many years, cut off from civilization, before returning to the city life. Now wording her knowledge-essence into books, Lakshmi has translated many ancient Sanskrit works, and is still continuing the work.
Work
Her main works are Brhad YogaVaasishta of Vaalmiki (the second Raamaayana), some works of Shankara, AshtaaVakraGeeta, PanchaTatntram, BhartrhariShatakas, ‘Bhagavadgeeta simplified to modern thinking’, Shiva Puraanam (a combined presentation of Vishnu Puraana, Shiva Puraana and DeviBhagavatam), Stories of Vikramaaditya and Vetaala, Kaadambaree of Baana Bhatta and Pulinda Bhatta, Tirukkural of TiruValluvar, Bharati Upanishad (selected Vedantic works of MahaaKavi Bhaaratiyaar), the Vachanas of AkkaMahaadevi of Karnataka, the coded meanings of selected Upanishad texts, MantraPushpam and Gaayatri Mantram, many rare books like BhagavadGita of Vaalmiki, ShivaGeeta, and also Ramana’s Upadeshasaaram. Many more books like KathaaSarita Saagara and other rare books will be translated in the future also, for the benefit of the seekers of truth.
At Present
My primary work currently consists of translating the BrhadYogaVaasihtam (Second half of Vaalmiki Ramayanam) and bring it to the public view. Since the Sanskrit-Grantha is a very huge one (some 32,000 verses), anyone who completes the study of the giant text BrhadYogaVaasishta, will need nothing more to know from any other scripture. I have also presented the same ideas of Vaasishtam in a blog-site (Narayanalakshmi.blogspot.com), for a quick grasp of the abstract truths of the Rishi-wisdom.
If you have any questions, or want to discuss some serious topics as mentioned in these scriptures, you are welcome to contact me through e-mail here with your questions; I will try to answer them immediately.
All the documents here are free for all, to download as E-books. Please use these books for gaining knowledge only and not for any commercial benefit.
Regards to all the readers.
Shiva's guidance to all.