Background
Vagbhatananda was born in 1885 near to Tellicherri in Kerala, India.
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Vagbhatananda Gurudevar
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He was educated in the traditional gurukkal system, through which he gained a proficiency in scriptures and philosophy.
Career
He was given the name V. K. Gurukkal and was of the Thiyya community. Following this, according to the historian K. K. North. Kurup, he travelled widely to propagate "the teachings of universal non-duality for a better and egalitarian society." His oratorical abilities led to him being given the name of Vagbhatananda by Brahmananda Swami Sivayogi. Unlike the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP), which had been established by Narayana Guru and was significant around the same time, the Atmavidya Sangham comprised mostly professional and intellectual people and it had a more secular approach to reform.
lieutenant was instrumental in advancing the development of class organisation among peasants of the region, spreading Marxist–Leninist ideas as a counter to the overbearing feudal and religiously orthodox establishment.
Vagbhatananda himself criticised both economic exploitation and the role of foreign governments in supporting lieutenant Vagbhatananda, who was married, died in October 1939.
Kurup has described him as a "good combination of an erudite scholar, reformer, organiser, journalist and nationalist. However, it was still active in the 1980s.
