Swami Bhakti Abhay Narayan
(1954-1993)

Bhakti Abhay Narayan Swami was born in Baja in 1954. He completed his studies in Sweden where his family emigrated when he was a child. He studied Indology and Sanskrit at the university level but his outstanding knowledge about Hindu philosophy and religion was gained from his Indian spiritual masters A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami and B.R. Srídhar Swami. He devoted his life to passing on these teachings. He was never married; helping others and teaching were his main concerns. He worked tirelessly to introduce Hindu philosophy and Vaishnava thoughts to Hungary. He taught Hindu philosophy and Sanskrit at the University of Pécs. He translated a great number of books into Hungarian and his friendship made a great impact on many people.

Our Guru B.A. Narayan Maharaj and our spiritual teacher B.A. Paramadvati Maharaj were godbrothers and friends. They served together in Sweden for years not long after the Vaishnava mission was established there. When their spiritual master, Sríla Prabhupad, recognised that Narajan Maharaj was Hungarian, he inspired him to preach behind the Iron Curtain. It was a difficult and risky mission during the time of the communist regime. Practising or spreading faith, especially newly-discovered Eastern philosophy was considered to be a capital offence which was extremely dangerous. Nevertheless Narajan Maharaj took the risks, and he became a legend among the Vaishnavas.

From the very beginning, he was preparing for his mission. He started to translate spiritual books from English to Hungarian and planned his preaching. At the beginning he did not get a passport so he could not travel to Hungary. Therefore he sent his friend, Paramadvaiti Maharaj to Hungary. Right from the start, the first events were encouraging; there were a great number of interested people. It was not possible to organise these meetings freely, nevertheless many people heard about them as the news traveled mouth to mouth.

Later Narayan Maharaj, as a Swedish citizen, had the possibility to travel to Hungary, so he began to fulfill his Master’s request. In the meantime his godbrother, Paramadvaiti Maharaj was sent to South America by their spiritual master, Srila Prabhupad, where great interest was shown for the ancient teachings of bhakti yoga. His mission was successful, and many spiritual centres were established under his inspiration and guidance.

After Srila Prabhupad left this world, they both turned to Srídhar Maharaj, their master’s godbrother and friend, for help and guidance. During the communist regime Narayan Maharaj operated the Hungarian mission from Vienna. After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, he returned to Hungary.

Until 1993 when he departed this world, the Vaishnava community worked under his spiritual guidance. Gurudev had a historical role because his task was to introduce a new view of life on that part of the world where idealistic philosophy was not welcomed. In spite of great obstacles, the results were outstanding. Spiritual centres were established in many towns where interested souls have the possibility to meet and practice Vaishnava philosophy and faith. Devotees give lectures all over the country.

Gurudev translated into Hungarian and published Bhagavad Gíta as well as the books of Srila Prabhupad, Srila Sridhar Maharaj and Srila Rupa Goswami. He also launched the publication of a Vaishnava periodical, Ganges, which is published bi-monthly.

While he was still living in Vienna in 1985, he decided to publish a cultural periodical in Hungarian aiming to present the Vedic view of life. His goal was to publish articles from all over the world, transmitting advanced ideas, inspiring and starting inner revolution in the readers. He wished to provide moral, spiritual life without violence, a natural way of life and a pure, healthy environment to everyone. This was his message. He gave the name Kagylókürt (Conch Horn) to this periodical.

This name has a symbolic meaning: victory of spirit over matter. It was true for him as well to consider life and the whole world from a higher spiritual perspective Kagylókürt became a well-known periodical throughout the Hungarian speaking area. It has been published regularly in Hungary since 1989, and it launched a silent spiritual movement. At present it is not easy to estimate its spiritual effect properly, nevertheless we all feel that something revolutionary has been going on. His fair and clear concept, combined with the high-level content and form that he always insisted on, made this periodical attractive.

He inspired everyone to search for harmony, not dwelling on the surface, but going deeper into spiritual life. He kept emphasizing that first we must look for the source of our problems, and then find solutions to them; i.e. we need to change our actions and view of life. Instead of selfishness, pure devotion; instead of exploitation, devotional service to all living beings and ultimately to The Supreme Godhead. He considered the views behind our deeds to be more important than what we could see on the surface.

He left this world in 1993 in a car accident. By setting an example throughout his life of pure devotion to God and service to all living beings, Abhay Narayan has been and will remain an inspiration to all seekers of the Truth.

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