Daridra Narayana or Daridranarayana or Daridra Narayan is an axiom enunciated by the late-19th century Indian sage Swami Vivekananda, espousing that service to the poor is equivalent in importance and piety to service to God. This exposition was a result of Vivekananda's wanderings in the country for two years, when he personally experienced the privation of the lower classes in the country. Vivekananda then referred to feeding the poor as "Narayana Seva", and preached for "Daridra Narayana Seva", meaning service to the poor as service to Narayana. "Narayanam Devam adevam isam - Lord Narayana, the Supreme controller and the ultimate Soul of all existence, venerated as the Supreme Being in Vaishnavism.
Though the term was coined by Vivekananda, it was popularized by Mahatma Gandhi.
Background
Vivekananda, after he became a sage in 1892, had a deep desire to spread the message of "divine unity of existence and unity in diversity" throughout British India.
He then as a Parivrajaka Sanyasi, a "wandering" or itinerant monk, travelled all over India from its north to west. He confronted the poverty and deprivation of his countrymen, and the degree of their ignorance and exploitation. He then said that "To the hungry religion comes in the form of bread". At the end of his Parivrajaka, he said "The only God that exists, the only God in whom we believe ...my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races". He believed that the only way to help the poor was through the spirit of Niskama karma of the Gita. His vow was to "serve humanity."
Practice
In Swami Vivekananda's works
Once, during a meeting with Keshta, leader of the tribal community of Santals, Vivekananda was told by Keshta that he and his community would not eat food touched by others if salt was added to it, as he explained that such an action would render them outcasts. Then Vivekananda posed a question to Keshta, that if he served food without salt would they eat it in his presence. After getting an affirmative answer, according to Vivekananda's directive food was served without salt in the form of bread, curry, sweets and so forth, which the Santals partook in Vivekananda's presence. After eating the food Keshtta exclaimed "Whence have you got such a thing? We never tasted anything like this." Then Vivekananda explained that they were like god Narayana, and he had offered food to the manifestation of god. Thus, Vivekananda who coined the euphemism "Daridra Narayana" practiced it in front of the poor Santals whom he considered as manifestation of Narayana.
In Mahatma Gandhi's works
Though the term was coined by Swami Vivekananda, it was popularized by Mahatma Gandhi, Throughout his political career Gandhi worked for the betterment of poor and distressed people. He mainly preached about Satyagraha and Ahimsa but also pleaded for these poor people, the Daridra Naraynas. He learned about this term from Chittaranjan Das.
Others
This dictum of Daridra Narayan Seva was extended to the medical field to treat the poor when, in 1972, the Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission came to be established. The motto of this mission is what Vivekananda had said: "To reach Narayana we must serve the Daridra Narayana, the starving millions of the land. Feel for them, pray for them. Strive for the relief and uplift of the suffering and miserable brethren."
Extending the practice of this religious axiom, a new idiom has been coined "Where Daridra Narayan meets Vaidya Narayana" (Vaidya means medicine) by a leading doctor in Coimbatore, in South India who has urged "Whenever a 'daridra narayan' (poor person) knocks on the door, one must be ready to perform the duty of a 'vaidya narayan' (doctor) in the fullest capacity".