There is no definitive history of Narayanananda Abadhuta Swami’s identity. However his self-account in Rudra Sudhanidhi declares him as a Shavite yogi living in old Bhubaneswar, Odisha, well-versed in all Shastras, a miniature form of Lord Shiva, the darling child of Goddess Sharada and a lion in human form.

Udayanath Sahoo is the Chair Professor of Adikabi Sarala Das Chair of Odia Studies at Centre of Indian Languages, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi having 40 years of teaching and Research experience.

Basant Kumar Tripathy is a poet and translator. He has co-translated Phakirmohan’s Atmacharita and Lachhama. Some of his other translations are: Tika Gobindachandra, Mathura Mangala, Bichitra Ramayana and Chandi Purana.

Urmishree Bedamatta teaches English language and literature at Raven­shaw University, Cuttack, Odisha. For research, she engages mostly with Odia texts and manuscripts with a focus on the needs of the twenty-first century reader.