Nityananda, Jiddu
(1898-1925). Brother of J. Krishnamurti and was made a ward of Annie Besant. Nityananda was born on May 30, 1898. The early years of his life ran parallel to Krishnamurti’s: unhappy years at the government school near Adyar village at Madras were followed by a Western lifestyle in the care of Balfour Clarke and individual schooling on the Adyar Theosophical Society (TS) compound; travel to England in the care of Besant; and the subject of a protracted legal battle for custody between Besant and the boys’ father Narianiah. Charles W. Leadbeater claimed that Nityananda’s aura was almost as good as Krishnamurti’s.
In March 1915, Nityananda joined the Red Cross in France and began duty as a dispatch rider, but returned to England in June to resume study for entrance into a university. He sat for the matriculation examination in 1918 and passed with honors. In 1920, Nityananda passed his examination in Criminal Law, but not long afterward showed symptoms of tuberculosis. Persistent ill health prevented him from taking an active part in the events that surrounded Krishnamurti and he died on the 13th of November, 1925. There is no doubt that his brother’s death was a turning point in Krishnamurti’s life.
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