G. Balakrishnan Nair (1929–2011) was an Indian

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, author and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar. He worked extensively on the philosophical works of

Narayana Guru Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual ...

Life

Nair was born on 5 February 1923 in

Peroorkada Peroorkada is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India. Amenities The locality expanded since the mid-1980s, when many Gulf-returning Malayalis bought properties or built houses in this area of Thiruvananthapuram, which led ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

to Govinda Pillai and Gourikutty Amma. He studied at

Government Sanskrit College Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (IAST: ; formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi) is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, specializing i ...

, earning a degree in Mahopadhyay. Following his studies, Nair worked at

Mahatma Gandhi College Mahatma Gandhi College is a college in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It was founded by to Mannathu Padmanabhan, the founder of the Nair Service Society. The college is affiliated to Kerala University and is managed by Nair Service Society. ...

as a

tutor, before becoming a lecturer at

University College Trivandrum University College, Thiruvananthapuram (UCT) is a constituent college of the University of Kerala, based primarily in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. The college was awarded 23rd rank by National Institutional Ran ...

in 1955. Nair later taught at Victoria College. In 1963, Nair published his Malayalam translation of the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

moral work of the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven ...

. It was a partial translation of the work.

Honours and recognitions

* For ''Jeevan Mukti Vivekam'' from the Kerala Sahitya Akademy in 1979 * From

Sivagiri Mutt Sivagiri is an area in Varkala Municipality of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala. It is a pilgrimage centre of Varkala Town where the tomb, or samadhi, of Narayana Guru, Sree Narayana Guru is situated. It is a place where Guru built t ...

Major works

References

A weblog dedicated to the works and life of Prof.G Balakrishnan Nair

Many of his books and audio disclosures are compiled here

* Sree Narayana Gurudeva Krithikal – Sampoorna Vyakyanam – Published by The State Institute of Languages, Kerala. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, G. Balakrishnan 20th-century Indian translators 1920s births Malayali people Writers from Thiruvananthapuram Narayana Guru 2011 deaths Malayalam-language writers Academic staff of Government Victoria College, Palakkad Tamil–Malayalam translators Indian Sanskrit scholars Scholars from Thiruvananthapuram Tirukkural translators