Sree Narayana Guru

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During his wandering life he happened to be at Aruvippuram in 1888. In the month of March that year, at the request of local people who had no privileges to enter Hindu temples, he decided to build a place of worship. He picked up a stone from a nearby river (Neyyar) and used it as an idol for the proposed temple and consecrated it. This in itself was a revolutionary step since according to some Hindu scriptures, only brahmins may consecrate a temple. To the brahmins who questioned his right to do so, he replied that what he consecrated was not a brahmin Siva. To those who questioned the timing of the consecration saying it was not an astrologically

auspicious time, he replied: Horoscope is to be cast after the birth of a child, not before. He instructed to place a plaque containing a motto on the temple wall which read as: Devoid of dividing walls of Caste Or hatred of rival faith, We all live here In Brotherhood, Such, know this place to be! This Model Foundation! Narayana Guru's Tomb at Sivagiri Commemorative 5 rupee Coin A new

phase began in the Guru's life in 1904. He decided to give up his wandering life and settle down in a place to continue his Sadhana (spiritual practice). He chose Sivagiri, twenty miles north of Thiruvananthapuram. Goddess 'Amba' became his deity of worship. Next, he started a Sanskrit school in Varkala. Poor boys and orphans were taken under his care. They were given education regardless of caste distinctions. Temples were built at

different places - Trichur, Kannur, Anjuthengu, Tellicherry, Calicut, Mangalore. A temple was built for Sharada Devi in 1912, at Sivagiri. Worship at such temples helped reduce to a large extent superstitious beliefs and practices. In 1913, he founded the Advaita Ashram at Alwaye. This was an important event in his spiritual quest. This Ashram was dedicated to a great principle - Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra (all men are equal in the eyes of God). This became the motto of the new Ashram. When Nârâyana Guru attained the age of sixty, his birth day was observed throughout the west-coast from Mangalore to Sri Lanka. Between the years 1918 and 1923 he visited and taught in Sri Lanka. In 1921, a Conference of Universal Brotherhood was held at Alwaye. Again in 1924, a conference of all religions was held at Alwaye. The Guru stressed the need for a Brahma Vidyalaya for a comparative study of different religious faiths. Sree Nârâyana Guru had many followers and disciples. Nataraja Guru, a notable disciple of Sree Nârâyana Guru, introduced Guru's visions and ideals to the western world. He established Narayana Gurukulam in 1923 at the Nilgiris with the blessings of Nârâyana Guru. [edit] Nârâyana Guru’s philosophy Since Adi Shankara, Sree Nârâyana Guru was the greatest proponent and re-evaluator of Advaita Vedanta and hailing from the same region, i.e., present day Kerala. Nârâyana Guru’s philosophy, which is fundamentally of Advaitic and non-dual wisdom in principles, further extended Advaita concepts into practical modes of self-realisation through spiritual education, compassion and peaceful co-existence among the human race, whilst promoting social equality and universal brotherhood. His philosophy of non-violence and ahimsa strongly denounced discrimination in the name of caste or religion, and emphasised focusing on education and private enterprise for the ongoing uplift of the quality of life. The Guru’s

philosophy emphasised the consistency between true existence of the “common reality” on Earth and one Divine behind the creation and sustenance of the Universe, dismissing any concepts of illusory worlds. The Guru’s philosophy is exemplified in his mystical writings that are truly interchanging warps and wefts of ethics, logic, aesthetics and metaphysics woven into masterpieces of silken rich poetry. The Guru’s literary works are in Malayalam, Sanskrit and Tamil languages, and these works are of a conceptual and aesthetic quality at par with the Upanishads. At the time of its conception, Nârâyana Guru’s philosophy was in many respects ahead of its time and focused on a futuristic world order that could be shaped from his philosophical connotations that are underlain with transcendental aesthetics and logic embodied in knowledge and pure reason. Most of the serious scholars of Nârâyana Guru’s philosophy have been from generations beyond his lifetime; and this list keeps growing. [edit] The Guru's influence on other social thinkers Concerning the caste system, Gandhi said the following to Nârâyana Guru: "The caste-Hindus and the low caste-Hindus are both the sons of Hinduism. The caste-Hindu is the elder brother who shoulders responsibility, and he therefore exercises certain privileges. The low

caste-Hindu is his younger brother who is to be cared for. If the elder brother turns out to be somewhat rough and aggressive that should not make the younger brother a runaway from his mother Hinduism."[2] Nârâyana Guru, however, disagreed, and voiced his tolerance for those who converted to other religions, with the argument that one should follow what one truly believes in. He also questioned the logic of Gandhi's argument, arguing that caste in India was a socio-economic issue. [edit] Tolerance

of rationalism and atheism A message sent by Nârâyana Guru to Sahodarasangham during their annual conference - May 15, 1921 Although Nârâyana Guru built

a number of temples and composed many poems in praise of popular Hindu deities, he had many followers who were atheists. This shows the Guru's tolerance of personal views and his love for humanity as a whole which was irrespective of any faith based affiliations. Some of his atheist followers in fact considered him as their icon of righteousness, whilst duly acknowledging that Narayana Guru was himself an unblemished believer in God3. For instance, one of his prominent disciples Sahodaran Ayyappan was a militant atheist and one of the founders of Yukthivadi, the first rationalist/atheist magazine in

Malayalam. When Sahodaran Ayyappan modified Nârâyana Guru's famous catchphrase, Oru Jati, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam Manushyanu (One Caste, One Religion, One God for Humanbeing) and re-written it as Jati Venda, Matham Venda, Daivam Venda Manushyanu (No Caste, No Religion, No God for Humanbeing), the latter did not protest2. Casteism in the first half of 20th century was so rabid that upper caste people refused to have food along with the people belonging to lower caste and "untouchable" communities. When Sahodaran Ayyappan, inspired by Narayanaguru's message of caste-less and creed-less society, launched what is called "Panthibhojanam" or community feasts participating people belonging to various castes and

communities, the Ezhava lords called him "Pulayanaiappan" (Pulaya was used as a derogatory term for having feast with the Pulayas, an "untouchable" community in the caste-hierarchy of Hinduism) and tried to forcibly prevent the feast. It was in this context that Nârâyana Guru came out in support of Sahodaran Ayyappan and sent the message reproduced alongside. Translated into English, the message reads: "Whatever be one's religion, costume, language etc, since their caste is the same, there is nothing wrong in having inter-marriages and community feasts". It is this message of Narayanaguru, which transgresses the established canons of religion, that makes him a rationalist icon. To avoid attempts made by a section of his followers to identify him with the caste of the family he was born into, Nârâyana Guru was forced to state explicitly that he did not belong to any particular caste or religion. Through a message he sent in the year 1916, he proclaimed : It is years since I left castes and religions. Yet some people think that I belong to their caste. That is not correct. I do not belong to any particular caste or religion.

with Warm Regards

ManoRaj

 

 

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