History News Desk !!! Satyanarayan Shastri (English: Satyanarayan Shastri, born- 1887 AD, Kashi, Uttar Pradesh; died- 23 September 1969) was a famous scholar and physician of the modern Ayurveda world. He worked all his life to keep the glorious tradition of Ayurveda alive. In 1950 AD, he was appointed as the personal physician of India’s first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Satyanarayan Shastri ji was awarded ‘Padma Bhushan’ in the year 1954 for his contribution in the field of medical science.
Satyanarayan Shastri was born in 1887 (Magh Krishna Ganesh Chaturthi of Samvat 1944) in his maternal grandmother’s house, Kashi (present Banaras) in Augustkunda locality. At the age of 8, he had acquired good knowledge of subjects like language, mathematics etc. He had acquired knowledge of literature, justice, various philosophies and other subjects from Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Gangadhar Shastri and Mahamahopadhyay Shivkumar Shastri. He had learnt astrology from Jyotivind Jayamangal astrologer, Yoga from Yogiraj Shivdayal Shastri, Vedanga and Ayurveda from Tantra poet Raj Dharamdas.[1]
In 1925, Satyanarayan Shastri was appointed professor of Ayurveda College in ‘Kashi Hindu University’. Later in 1938, he became its principal. When the Ayurveda department opened in ‘Varanasi Sanskrit University’, he was appointed as the respected head of the department and later as the principal.
In 1950, India’s first President Dr. Rajendra Prasad appointed Satyanarayan Shastri as his personal physician. Shastri remained his personal physician until his death. In this capacity also, he glorified the world of Ayurveda.
Satyanarayan Shastri was also the President of ‘All India Sarayuparin Pandit Parishad’ and ‘Kashi Shastrarth Mahasabha’, Patron of ‘Kashi Vidvat Parishad’ and ‘Vidvatpratinidhi Sabha’. He was also the permanent President of ‘Varanasey Shastrarth Mahavidyalaya’ and founder of ‘Arjun Darshananand Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya’, Varanasi. In 1938, he was elected as a member of the ‘Indian Medical Council’ as a representative of Hindu University. According to the tradition of Kashi, from the very beginning, Satyanarayan Shastri ji used to help poor and helpless students and impart education to them at home.[1]
In 1955, Satyanarayan Shastri was honoured with the ‘Padma Bhushan’ decoration. This title was given to him by the Government of India for his services towards Sanskrit and Ayurveda, but during the Hindi movement in 1967, when the Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Kashi requested the Hindi scholars to renounce the government decoration, he too renounced the decoration.
He was the best scholar of pulse knowledge and disease diagnosis. Satyanarayan Shastri’s biggest specialty was to diagnose the disease and its nature immediately just by looking at the patient’s pulse.
Satyanarayan Shastri died on Tuesday, 23 September 1969 at the age of 82 at his residence in Augustkunda. Shortly before his death, he had said, “It is now Trayodashi, a good time has come.” He tried to sit in Padmasana, but as it was not possible, he did Pranayama and breathed his last while reciting some shlokas.[1]
