Beauty of knowledge

With the passing away of Dr. Vellayani Arjunan, we have lost a great genius who passed on the knowledge of the Malayalam language to the generations. He was a great scholar who guided the country in preparing the encyclopedia. The peculiarity of that special personality was that he used the linguistic knowledge he acquired for the benefit of the entire society. He was born and brought up in an ordinary family in Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram, and climbed the ladder of knowledge by fighting against life's circumstances. An example of this, for his autobiography 'Ozhukkinethire' (Against the Current), he gave the subheading "Ozhukkinethire Neenthi Lakshyathilethiya Parishramashaliyude Jeevitha Kadha' (life story of a striver who swam against the current and reached his goal).

Even though he had to face challenges in the positions that he had reached through his studies, he continued his activities without being deterred by any of them. It was a well-deserved recognition that the country honoured Arjunan with the Padma Shri. Vellayani Arjunan, who has made many contributions to Malayalam literature and research, is the first South Indian to hold three D.Litt. degrees. He obtained postgraduate diplomas in Malayalam and Hindi languages and obtained his doctorate from Aligarh University in 1964. He started his career as Lexicon Assistant in Kerala Lexicon Department. Later he became a Malayalam teacher at Kollam Sree Narayana College. He decorated prominent titles at Aligarh University like Head of Department of South Indian Languages, Director of MG University Institute of Communication and Information Services, Director of State Encyclopaedia, Director of Kerala Language Institute and Director of Literacy Mission. There were no areas in literature that he did not touch, such as stories, poetry, children's literature, criticism, linguistics, studies and biographies. Vellayani Arjunan's poems are Udayakanthi, Thalapoli, Panchavarnakilikal. Guruvinte Thirumunpil, Malayalathinte Jaithrayatra, Aasan Navaugashilpi, Narayanaguruvinte Viplavam in Malayalam Poetry, Vallatholinte Kaalam and Lokam are his other important works. Many of the writings have become textbooks. He received many accolades including the Centre's Award for Best Encyclopedia.

He had deep knowledge in Sri Narayana Guru's darshan (visions). He also took the initiative to spread Gurudarshans. He played a major role in the preparation of Vishwavignakosam Nigandu and Malayalam Mahanigandu. He has also received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in recognition of his comprehensive contributions to Malayalam language and literature. Sri Vivekananda Memorial Public School, Tagore Educational Trust and Tolstoy Memorial Public School, which he started 35 years ago with the aim of bringing English education to common people, are reflections of his educational activities.

He has not been overjoyed by the roses he has received in his journey of life, nor has he been discouraged by criticism. He upheld the great message of doing karma because he had good faith in his actions. Vellayani Arjunan had been closely associated with Kerala Kaumudi since his days as a newspaper editor. He always said that editor K Sukumaran was his guide. We also share in the sorrow of his family members, friends and disciples. Condolences.