SREE NARAYANA GURU: LIFE AND MISSION

Baby Sujatha, V M. “Religious Philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru,”

Thesis. Department of Philosophy, University of Calicut, 2004.
 Chapter II

SREE NARAYANA GURU: LIFE AND MISSION

Sree Narayana Guru is regarded as one of the greatest

renaissant leaders in Kerala whose sway was unique during the last

century of the second Millennium. He is one among the few who stood

as a light house in the context of the moral ethos of the age. He was a

saint, poet, philosopher and mystic who lived during the second half of

the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century. According

to some scholars the Guru Narayana is a social reformer, who caused a

social revolution unparalleled in the history of Kerala. Some are inclined

to regard him as saint in the Advaita tradition of the modem period.

Some others extracted the poetic gems in the works of Guru. He was all

these and much more.

Sree Narayana Guru is reverently adored as 'the Guru'. Sukumar

Azhikkode has quite rightly said, "Sree Narayana was Guru in the real

conventional sense of the term. The Guru simply is. He does by what he

is. He speaks or thinks by what he is. All the powers and faculties in him

are in perfect harmony in evolving a totally integrated personality.

Nothing in him is alien to his deepest essence."'

' Sukumar Azhikode, "Sree Narayana and his Mission in Kerala", Maha
Samadhi Mandir of Narayana Guru Prathima Pratishta Celebration
Souvenir- 7967. (Varkala : Gurukulam, 1967) p. 11
 Swami Dharmatheerth sums up his own calculated view in his

Menace of Hindu Imperialism, " India has produced no better teacher, no

bolder reformer, no holier saint, and above all, no greater nation builder

than Sree Narayana Gurudev of Kerala. His life, work and teachings

have a refreshing uniqueness combined with naturalness, and a sublime

simplicity tinged with mystery which render them particularly interesting

and profoundly instructive to students of Hindu Nationalism, to whom

they offer ideals and methods of realising them which none else has so

clearly and successfully demonstrated in recent ~enturies."~

"The Guru is a beacon light to the prospects of peace,

brotherhood, harmony and duty. This 'j65nin of action' hailing from

downtrodden and dispossessed segment of society, taught about the

unitive nature of Being and Becoming. The Guru's teachings are in

essence a reinterpretation, nay, a dynamic extension of the wisdom and

heritage of our ancient land."3 Narayana Guru was a great spiritual

leader and he used his spiritual attainment for the creation of a new man

and a new social and religious orde?. He was a great savant and seer, a

truly Jeevan Mukta or Karma Yogi, totally detached from desires and

ambitions and yet ever active in the task he had set before him.

Narayana Guru was born during India's darkest days of British

reign and when Indian culture was at its most decadent condition. The

K. Sreenivasan, Sree Narayana Guru. (Trivandrum: Jayasree

Publications, 1989) p. 2
ibid., p. 2
majority of the Keralites followed the Dravidian practices of worship. The

Aryan culture was introduced into Kerala by immigrant Brahmins from

the North and Brahminism reached its zenith by this time. The Brahmins

consecrated temples of Aryan Gods throughout Kerala and kept the

society completely under their control. The temples had become the live

centres of Brahminic activity, and bases for enslavement of the natives

and perpetuation of Brahminic domination. All the people except the

rulers were strictly kept away from temples. The so called divine law of

'Varca' was misused to achieve this objective and the Brahmins came to

be regarded as super-human beings even by the rulers. Thus the caste

system, which was based upon 'avarnas' and 'savar?as'-established a

social inferiority and superiority-;new customs and practices like

untouchability and unapproachability were introduced, and society

began to disintegrate fast. Thus the society of Kerala degenerated into a

'lunatic asylum' as stated by Swamy Vivekananda. It was at this time of

misery that the Guru was born as the one destined to bring hope and

consolation, a harbinger of freedom and self respect. He was a kindly

friend of mankind who saved many from the tangles of pernicious habits

and choking diehard prejudices.

2.1 LIFE HISTORY

2.1.1 Childhood and Education

Narayana Guru was born on 2oth August 1854 at Vayalvaram

House in Chempazhanthy, a village ten miles north of Trivandrum. His

 26

name was Narayanan and he was called by his parents as Nanu. His

father Madan Asan was a farmer belonging to the Ezava community. He

was also an Asan or village school master. Nanu's mother Kutty Amma

was a pious woman of gentle disposition. Nanu had two sisters. His

uncle Krishnan Vaidyar was an Ayurvedic physician of considerable

repute. The small mud-walled hut where he was born is now protected

as a historic monument.

Religion as well as devotion came naturally to him even from his

early childhood as he followed the footsteps of his elders who

worshipped regularly at the Bhagavathy temple of Manackal adjacent to

Nanu's ancestral home .He was brought up in a hard, independent,

realistic and work-oriented environment.

Nanu had his early education in Malayalam and Sanskrit under

the guidance of Chempalanti Pillai and completed this in 1872. Then he

was sent to Varanapally for further study under a distinguished Sanskrit

scholar Kummampilli Raman Pillai Asan who helped him to become an

eminent scholar in Malayalam and Sanskrit. He mastered the great

Indian Epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharatha. Because his quick

grasp of meaning, extreme ease in memorising and tenacious memory

induced his teacher to accelerate the pace of teaching and elevate him

as the monitor or chattarnpi of the school. There he got enough solitude

and also opportunities for meditation unhindered by the cares and

worries of the seething world out side. Meandering among verdurous

fields Nanu used to pluck the leaves of trees and plants, taste them,

chew them and even swallow the juice. These experiments in diet

provided him with expert knowledge about the edibility or otherwise of

forest plants. Later on this knowledge stood him in good stead when

chose to live as a mendicant in jungle. This short period was an

important interlude before the hard trials ahead. It was during this period

that he girded up his loins for the slow struggle for self- discovery and

unitive understanding, which he attained during the crucial years which

followed. His higher studies in Sanskrit was over in 1879.

2.1.2 Sadhaka Life

Like his father, Nanu took to teaching at Kadakkavoor and

Anchuthengu and thus became Nanu Asan. During this period he lead

the life of recluse and spent most of his time in the precincts of the

temple, expounding philosophy and explaining to people moral and

spiritual values. It was a period of deep meditation and musing; and he

wrote devotional poems and hymns: 6iva was his lsta Devatha

"Oh!God I am not eager to attain that beautitude

Where thou and I merge into one.

All paths, even those other than that of biva

Are all in the ultimate sense paths to Qiva.'14

Moorkoth Kunhappa, Sree Narayana Guru. (New Delhi: National Book

Trust, 1982) p. 10
 I

In this stage of his life "we see him taking refuge in Siva as the

saviour from the trammels of the f ~ e s h . " ~

"Siva, Siva, there is none equal to thee

Knowing all this,

Still am I straying

Among puzzling thoughts that

lead me, to what?"6

In 1882, Nanu Asan' S parents decided to marry him to one of his

cousins and his sister married her and brought home as that was a

familiar practice in those days. But Nanu Asan told the bride that "All are

born with some purpose in their lives. I have mine and you have yours.

Let me go to fulfil my role."' And he went out in to the world at large as

did all saints who were eager to understand the secrets of life, cutting

himself away from the bonds of worldly pleasure. Then he spent his time

in a Tamil book shop reading books like Thirukkural, Tirumantiram,

Tiruppukal, Tiruppaval, Vedanta ~%navatil Kattilai, Ozhivil Otukkam,

sivapuranarn etc. There he visited the scholarly home of Perunally

Krishnan Vaidyar, a scholar - poet from where he browsed over a rare

collection of philosophical texts in Sanskrit and Tamil. During this period

of spiritual regimentation and quest, Nanu Swamy came across Kunjan

Pillai (Shanmugha Das) known as Chattampi Swamikal and Velutheri

ibid., p. 10
ibid., p. 11
7
Nitya Chaitanya Yati, Sree Narayana Guru. (Sreenivasapuram: East West
University of Brahmavidya, 1994) p. 6
Kesavan Vaidyar. Both were conversant with Tamil Classics and Saivite

Philosophy. Chattampi Swamikal condemned the strange -hold of the

Brahmin priests on the people and attacked the caste system as their

devilish design. His book ~edsdhikaraNircpanam (Critique of the Vedic

Interpretation) is an attack on Brahminical maneuvering and sacerdotal

arrogance. He also attacked Christianity and warned against the

increasing pace of conversion to that alien faith. Chattampi Swamikal

introduced Nanu Swamy to Thaikkatt Ayyaavu, a Tamilian- a great adept

in Hata Yoga. Yoga lessons increased his thirst for realization and this

ultimately led him to Pillathadam on the crest of the mountains known as

Maruthva malai in Kanyakumari- a district of Tamil Nadu- to do intense

penance for six years. During this period he prayed to God, conceiving

the Supreme to be Siva and he believed that the God-heads like Devi,

Subrahmanya and Vinayaka were only different appellations for the

same unitive Godhood.

2.1.3 Knower Life

During these days of rigorous penance done in total seclusion,

absolutely cut off from the outside world, the Guru achieved liberation or

self knowledge. Just as Siddhartha was awakened under the Bodhi tree

of Gaya and became Gautama Buddha, Nanu Asan was alsc got

enlightened in the cave Marutva and became Sree Narayana ~ u r u !In

,

Atm6padesa ~ a t a k a mGuru speaks of his realization in poignant words:

 "If an arid desert most expansive should become over flooded

By river water all at once, such would be the rising symphony

Falling into the ears, to open then the eye; do therefore

Daily become the best of sages endowed with self c ~ n t r o l . " ~

~hagavadgtgalso explains how is one to attain to this state:

"Let the Yogin try constantly to concentrate his mind (on the

supreme self) remaining in solitude and alone, self controlled, free from

desires and (longing for) possessions."g "serene and fearless, firm in the

vow of celibacy, subdued in mind, let him sit, harmonized, his mind

turned to Me and intent on Me alone."1°

/
After his realization he became a recluse in a thick forest on the

banks of the river Neyyar in Aruvippuram. One young boy called

Parameswaran Pillai happened to see Narayana Guru in the forest and

through him the world outside came to know of the presence of a yogi at

Aruvippuram. The Guru prescribed, to the afflicted, simple Ayurvedic

remedies and incurable illness vanished. Many such effective treatments

were part of his family heritage. He had a wide knowledge of medicinal

herbs abounding in those days in the country side. The trial brought

many people to the Guru.

Nataraja Guru, Life and Teachings of Narayana Guru. (Sreenivasapuram,

India: East-West University Publication, 1990) p. 519
9
S. Radhakrishnan, ~ h a g a v a d $ ~(Bombay:
. Blackie and Son (India) Ltd.,
1970) p. 192
'O ibid., p. 197
2.i.4 Revolutionary Saint

Caste system was the greatest blot on Hinduism at that time.

There was not only untouchability and unapproachability but even

unseeability also. 'Even the public roads freely used by cattle and dogs

were prohibited to the so-called depressed caste people'. Thus a large

section of the population suffered misery and slavery. And in utter

servitude and slavish mentality, they sent their offerings to the temples

where they were not allowed to enter and where they were denied the

right to worship God.

Caste was the deciding factor in every aspect of social life.

Society at that time was segmented and stratified on the basis of caste.

Brahmins were the dominant sect and enjoyed every privilege and

respect. Only a Brahmin was entitled to perform the installation of an

idol. The Guru challenged the orthodoxy and vindicated the right of

every man to worship God in his own right. He performed the sacred act

of the installation of idol at Aruvipuram in 1888. And he continued his act

of revolution through-out his life. As he wanted to bring blessings of

peace and harmony to the suffering million and to give a practical

orientation to the truth that he had learned, he decided to become an

b
itinerant sanyasin. He began to converse with the people gathered

around him and became one of the pathmakers who blaze the trial that

other men follow, as explained by the G%,

 "Whatsoever a great man does, the same is done by others as

well. Whatever standard he sets the world follows."11

The Guru never opposed or denied anything openly. At the time

of the installation of the idol at Aruvipuram the Guru wrote a verse which

said:

'This is a model abode where all men shall

live as brothers without caste distinctions

or religious rivalries'.

After that act of great landmark, a social and religious

transformation took place in Kerala.

2.11 LIFE MISSION

Narayana Guru considered the aim of his life as the upliftment of

the downtrodden classes of Kerala. He believed that only through

religion and education they could get correct perspective about good life.

He used to visit each and every hut within his reach and explained the

necessity of cleanliness, education and co-operation among the people.

Like Socrates, he explained to them his views in simple language. He

used inductive arguments for clarifying concepts and ideas. The Guru

wanted all sections of the society to get at least elementary education.

He tried to abolish untouchability through the diffusion of knowledge and

,insisting upon the necessity of cleanliness. He rightly believed that

l'
S. Radhakrishnan, Op. Cit., p. 140
 33

education has the all important role in the progress of the society itself.

One of the inspiring exhortions of the Guru was 'Educate to be free,

Organize to be strong and Thrive through industry'. Needless to say that

this slogan had great appeal in the then existing social situation in

Kerala though this showed a rational perspective, which agree with all

time. According to the Guru the ultimate aim of education should be the

spiritual self- realization. To this end he had also said 'Education will be

meaningless if it does not make one respect the noble feet of a holy man

who has attained real knowledge'.

For creating enlightenment, he knew that the immediate thrust

was to be on religion and he reformed its practice by reorganizing and

reconstructing temples as centres of intellectual life. They were to be

arenas of genuine understanding, brotherliness and harmony. The way

in which he accomplished this goal threw light on the quality of his

vision. The kinds and forms of prathishta he undertook, reveal it. They

showed the quality of his world view and the validity of his stance as a

religious philosopher.

Narayana Guru never stood for any community. The central aim

of Guru's philosophy was just the abolition of the error that makes for

caste thinking by means of religion. The Guru's teaching was the

deliverance of map from ignorance at the spiritual level. He has

composed a number of devotional verses which are a mixture of high

metaphysical conceptions with humble prayers addressed to God.

~aivadadakamis such a typical prayer composed by the Guru for the

use of the children who used to gather in Sivagiri everyday for devotions.

2.111 SOURCES OF GURU'S PHILOSOPHY.

Philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru derives its main inspiration

from the Upanishads and Vedas. Guru's works give importance to

spiritual illumination. They reveal to us a world more of rich and varied

spiritual experience than of abstract philosophical categories. Their

truths are verified not only by logical reasons but by personal

experience. Guru's aim is practical rather than speculative. Knowledge is

a means to freedom and Brahma-Vidya is the pursuit of wisdom by a

way of life.

According to Nataraja Guru, the great disciple of the Guru, the

Guru was a direct successor of Sankara. "The best authority we have in

thinking so is the Guru's own words- 'What we have to say is what

Sankara saidv7'*or as Nataraja Guru puts it with reference to the

particular needs of the age of reason, "Narayana Guru has been able to

state the gist of ancient Indian Wisdom tradition in a manner lending

itself to be integratively understood in a unified fashion."13

Guru Narayana represents the Advaita tradition in a fully revalued

and restated form. Nataraja Guru stated that "In the Guru Narayana, the

l2
Nataraja Guru, Life and Teachings of Narayana Guru.
(Sreenivasapuram: East West University of Brahmavidya, 1990) p. 61
l3
Nitya Chaitanya Yati, The Psychology of ~ar6anarnilC(Varkala:
Gurukula Publishing House, 1987) p. 3
same Advaita ~ e d a n t ais treated with a freshness often startingly unique

and simple, taking into its scope and purview, more consciously and

wakefully, not merely subjective idealistic varieties, but also all those

secondary implications that Vedanta has, or can have, bearing on such

human topics as equality and justice."14 Among the three VedZntic

revelators, (ancient Sree Vyasa, Sree Sankara and Narayana Guru)

Narayana Guru should be considered the most important to the present

era.

In Atmopade6a gatakam the Guru uses the classical vedzntic

example- Waves on the sea are homogeneous with the ocean- to refer

to the differences between the cause and the effect in the phenomenal

world:

"These phenomenal aspects five such as the sky

Which as emergent from outside is here seen to be,

By contemplation one should bring to non-difference

As the sea is to the waves that rise in rows thereon."15

The Guru forged and amplified his vision to make it serve the

needs of life, to be felt and apprehended in its baffling complexity by the

common man. Thus he made his philosophy serve the needs of social

and religious changes.

Narayana Guru bases his teachings also on l3hagavadg7tg and

South Indian daivism which goes under many names such as daiva

l4
Nataraja Guru, Op. Cit., p. 61
l5 ibid., p. 451
Siddhanta, Tantra, Agma, Veerasaiva, h k t a etc. In ~hagavadg2a',it is

explained that "man of disciplined mind, who moves among the objects

of sense, with the senses under control and free from attachment and

aversion, he attains purity of spirit."I6 We can see that the very same

idea is explained with pungent words by the Guru in itmopadeda

~atakam-verse 8.

"Eating of the five fruits such as light and so on

Perched on a short- gun foul-smelling, ever in wily changeful

sport,

Such, the birds of five, in shreds, what can bring down,

Wielding such a lucid form, let the inner self brilliant become.""

Influence of ~aivasiddhantaon the Guru can be seen in Advaita

Deepika. In ~ a i v i s m ,after liberation the ~Ganrnuktamay act as if he

were in bondage for some more time. It takes some period to realize

what is 'real' and 'not real'. In Advaita the moment after liberation the

~banmuktais free from all these bondages.

"Though, in a state of positive understanding,

the world should be dissolved and lost,

It would still continue as given to the senses

and perceived as before,

To one who regained his space-bearing- once

confused or lost

l6
S. Radhakrishnan, Op. Cit., p. 126
"
Nataraja Guru, Op. Cit., p. 477
 The wrong directions would persist for a long

time to seem the same,

The world is not over there as a vinty,

everything, however,

In a wisdom-cancelled state, looms as before,

Even when one is conceived, without any doubt,

That there is no water in a mirage, it is

still seen as before."18

In Darshanamala the Guru makes a classification of those who

attained Nin/apa as four: Brahmavid, Brahmavidvaran,

~rahmavidvaG~an
and Brahmavidvari$h!an.This classification may be

based on the above said Saivasiddhanta principles. Tiruvalluvar and

Tirumular are two of the Guru's other important sources according to

Swamy John Spiers - one of the well-known disciples of the Guru.

According to Nataraja Guru, another important source of his

inspiration is what he derived from his own tapas (mystical discipline).

Guru's one of the important philosophical works, ~ars'anamalg,which is

also a product of both inner experience and confirmation from outer

textual sources is the best example that strengthens the above view of

Nataraja Guru.

Thus we can say that the echoes of concepts found in the ~ e d a s .

The Upanishads and the ~ ' t aare found in the poems of the Guru. But

Nataraja Guru, Op. Cit., p. 151

the Guru came across this truth in his own characteristic way. Buddhism

and other ~ a s t i k a~ a r i a n a s ,Aryan Scriptures and ancient dravidian

Culture, Christianity and Islam influenced him very much. "Along with all

these he also imbibed the rationalism of his age of science. Thus the

Guru and his thoughts were moulded by the rich legacy of spiritual and

secular speculations the species has so far evo~ved."'~

2.IV METHODOLOGY

According to Fred Hass the general rule or the principle of

Guruhood is "All absolutist Gurus tread the Middle path."*' Narayana

Guru was no exception to this general rule. One of the most difficult

things for an absolutist guru to do is to relate himself and his teaching to

the relativistic society around him- Narayana Guru had succeeded in

this.

The Guru was a teacher by the wisdom of the Absolute. Like all

the Gurus of mankind he used poetry as a means to sing the wonders of

the Absolute. The Guru was always relicent in speech. He was a

philosopher who could assert himself in the assembly of the best

scholars; one who brought original and striking ideas to interpret the

subtle conceptions of the Hindu philosophy. He had his characteristic

method of driving home to the hearer in the simplest and quickest

l9
K. Sreenivasan, Op. Cit., p. 125
20
Fred Hass, The Importance of the Guru. (Banglore: Gurukula Publishing
House, 1965) p. 690
possible manner, the high ideals of the ancients. He liked private

philosophical discussions with select scholars who were earnest in their

search for truth. But philosophy always remained in the substrata of his

life and work.

"Instead of approaching the problems of human misery and

happiness at the outside, his method was to come to grips with it from

within, through the mind to the self. According to him only central self-

knowledge and self- certainity can really solve the innumerable outer

problems, and always on a common or scientific global basis universally

true."21

Except during his years of penance in Marutvamala the Guru was

peripatetic. The Guru seldom remained in the same place for long and

wherever he went, he met the common people; and conversed with

them and taught them by examples. He conversed with all and sundry to

know and to share with a keen and subtle sense of humour. Like

Aristotle the Guru was a charming conversationalist.

But most of the time he taught through silence and the Guru-role

becomes most effective. His aim was to feel the problems of the people

and thereby note the vital solutions to those problems. The Guru put

simple straight forward questions and elicited intelligent answers so as

to make the questioner think that it is possible for him to get his own

2'
John Spiers, The Guru. (Karnataka: Visranti Munishthanam ) p. 10
 40

answers. The Guru's words, with sympathy and love, produced in the

listener the feeling of meeting truth face to face.

"The Guru philosophy is not argumentative or polemical in its

approach to its problems. It has a simplified way suited to its higher

critical as well as intuitive speculation on contemplative values. It is full

of precise definitions or definite intuitive personal experiences of the

mystic contemp~ative."~~

"Guru-philosophy is critically convincing by the mere bringing

together of the visible and the intelligible aspects. This is the secret of

the methodology of the ~ u r u . It" necessarily

~~ presupposes an absolutist

epistemology of its own which is inseparable from it. Thus there are

axiomatic and demonstrable aspects; and to these, the final regulative

requirement that any truth to be true must also have that of being of

value significance in human life, is added. These three factors required

for scientific certitude of any vision of truth is sufficiently guaranteed in

the works of Guru. His way is to take the disciple by the hand and lead

him upward step by step. The idea that the guess-work is primarily

meant to be an aid to the contemplative aspirant in self-knowledge

rather than a regular text book on subject, is rich in Guru-philosophy

proper.

22
Nataraja Guru, The Philosophy of a Guru - Values. (Bangalore: Gurukula
Publishing House, 1965) p. 693
23 ibid.,p.694
 The Guru sustained contemplation and yoga. The Guru was of

the opinion that people need yogic education in order to abolish the

troubles caused by spiritual ignorance. A life based on inner spiritual

truth or unitive principles could alone ensure universal welfare, justice

and happiness.

The Guru came across his truth in his own characteristic way and

he insisted on a wise philosophical attitude to life, which he said was

essential for success in any field. According to him " to be in the world

and work for the world, it is necessary to have the spirit of dedication,

courage and discrimination of the real from the unreal." Through

philosophy one can obtain the wisdom so essential for acquiring these

capacities. The philosophical works of the Guru- AtmGpade6a iatakam

and Darsanamalii give us a brief exposition of the Advaida philosophy

based on the essential identity of life.

The method used in AtmOpades'a ~ a t a k a mis that the two counter

parts involved in the wisdom teaching situation are brought more

unitively together instead of being in the form of a dialogue between a

teacher and a pupil. The Guru linked up the essence of the Hindu

philosophy, the laws of spiritual life as manifested in Christ, and the

principles of brotherhood as the basis of social order which we find in

Islam; and utilised for the emancipation of a large population and to

reconstruct the social and religious system. The Guru connects all these

principles into an intelligent plan which should serve as the ideal of the
future civilisation and employs the principles so conceived for the

solution of world problems as they presented themselves to him.

Nataraja Guru says "the strict academic treatment is not repeated by the

Guru in ~ t m 6 ~ a d e dgatakarn.
a In the very first verse he is content to

present his contemplative mystical experiences with either definition or

critical analysis of topics, in a manner of thinking aloud rather than in the

style required for convincing any opponent."24

Several items of methodological and epistemological importance

in Guru philosophy are common to Vedsnta in general. Nataraja Guru

was of the opinion that in common with Vedantic methodology, Guru

philosophy bypasses the usual piece-meal instruments of reasoning in

favour of overall ones of a truly philosophical order. And some of the

peculiarities of such a methodology which presupposes its own

epistemology can be studied under the heads of:-

" i. Non-being as negative something (abhava)

ii. Primacy of effect over cause ( sat-karana )

iii. Primacy of material cause over incidental or efficient cause

(upgdsna)

iv. The dialectical relation (ubhayilinga)

v. Admitting the principle of indeterminism (anin/achanTya)

vi. Treating immanent and transcendent as belonging to a

homogeneous epistemologically neutral context. (samanadhik2ranatva)

24 ibid., p. 694
 vii. Viewing reality without subject, object and meaning

disjunctly (ie. without accepting triputi) and

Viii. Including value as a final regulative reference for fact or

truth as the third with the asti ( existing ) and bahati as looming in

consciousness. This is the same as viewing the complete, the Absolute

as having existence, subsistence and value (as Sat, Chit, ~ n a n d a . ) " ~ ~

The modes operandi of the Guru's mission and ministry started at

Aruvippuram in 1888, was to attack the social taboos and superstitions

by making use of the conventional rituals and rites. He had poignant

tactics in solving problems. He was against confrontation and so frontal

attack was avoided. The point to be noted is that he never raised his

voice against the awful atrocities committed by the higher castes on the

lower castes because he realised that the abominable caste system is

due to superstition and not because of any caste or individual. "What he

chose to do was to side-track this issue with a view to exposing its gross

inequality. With his sense of humour he turned his tables on his

adversaries, without giving room for anger and bitterness. His, however,

was not a kind of Gandhian non-violence. He did not approve of

sathyagraha, as he thought it involved exploitation of sentiment and use

of moral coercion. His was a tactful exposure of a misuse or

misconception. By focussing on the 'irrationality of the issue, he helped

25 ibid., p. 696
eason to prevail. This was the method he adopted even in the case of

religious reforms."26

2.V GURU'S TEACHINGS

The Guru's philosophy is the foundation of all his activities and

messages throughout his life. Like Sankaracharya, the Guru has given

us a careful re-expression of Vedic thought with special reference to the

sayings in The G&. The Upanishads stress the path of jzsna, the G%

lays emphasis on all the four paths- Karma Yoga, Bhakthi Yoga, ~ i j a

Yoga and Jzgna Yoga. According to Sankara, Advaida (non-dualism) is

the acme of vedic philosophy. "Sree Narayana Guru repeats this

assertion and in the very process of that repetition extends it and almost

repeats it. For that matter, this technique of creative repetition has been

the chief characteristic of Hinduism from the Vedas down to the present

day."*'

The Guru shows us the vedantic way of understanding. It is the

great philosophical poem, i i t m ~ ~ a d e d

gatakam,
a repeatedly tells us that

mere knowledge is not enough. We have to experience and practice

what we are told. Through this work the Guru intended to make one

realise again and again that the comprehender of Vedanta does not

mean a man who grasps the verbal meaning of the lines, but one who

26
K. Sreenivasan, Op. Cit., p. 46-47
*' Moorkoth Kunhappa, Op. cit., p. 69
 After his enlightenment and self-realisation the Guru gave major

stress on life-ennobling action. He reduced his vision to simple

aphorisms statements and sayings in order to enthuse, strengthen and

uphold the common people in their moments of crisis and in their

struggle for survival. This was a unique attitude and approach of the

Guru. Nataraja Guru stated that "He emphasised only two platforms of

thought. One was that of every day world of facts and the other that

which belonged to the Reality beyond. He carefully avoided preaching or

lending his assent to special philosophies or standpoints to serve

temporary or temporal purposes, lest such creations should continue to

haunt the mind of the ignorant after the creed had ceased to serve an

immediate cause, and they add to the heavy load of superstitions with

which the poor people confused their honest brains."28

On his 64thbirthday the Guru had emphatically declared: "liquor is

poison, brew not, nor vend it. The taper's body stinks, cloths stink, his

home stinks and whatever he touches stinks." So the liquor business

should be wound up.

These were harmful not only to the morals but also to the

community's progress as a whole, besides bringing dishonour to it. This

declaration was a sweeping indictment, which was considered as a

brave and bold act.

28
Nataraja Guru, The Word of the Guru. (Ernakulam: Paico Publishing,
1968) p. 40
 According to Sree Narayana Guru we have to confront life in all

its aspects. "All mankind has to be responsive to true spiritual realisation

by living in amity, good fellowship and love, free from all antagonism of

race, nationality, creed or caste. This has to be done in the name of the
0 /

one Supreme Being who is Santam (calm, tranquil), Sivam (auspicious),

Advaitam (one). That is the understanding, which produces the same

result as in the case of an excited visionary who realises cosmic truths.

The two processes are one. Practice it and you will actually experience,

even when you cannot understand it through reasoning, how spirituality

penetrates all activity."29Here the Guru emphasised the view that there

are both a theory and a corresponding way of life that cannot be divided.

Guru's teachings are not to be sought primarily in the words,

spoken or written, but in his life and methods of work. "The underlying

principles of his life and methods of work are the moral and the spiritual

identity of the individuals as well as the communities life and growth

based on the oneness of all life, the identity of the laws which govern it,

and the Supreme Unity of purpose. He puts these principles in the

simple motto: One caste, One religion, One ~ o d . " ~ '

The Guru led a holy life of Vedsntin who gives importance to the

principle of unity, solidarity in practical life and to supreme synthesis,

which is the goal of philosophical idealism. His advaitic vision was being

29
Moorkoth Kunhappa, Op. Cit., p. 70
30
Swami Dharma Theerthan, A Prophet of Piece or Sree Narayana Guru of
Malabar. (Trivandrum: City Press, 1933) p. 111
translated every minute of his life into the fields that were beneficial to

his fellowmen. He combined serenity of inner life with a rare capacity to

turn out a large amount of useful work for the people with whom he

came into contact. The guru's advaitism was not confined to the

perceptual world alone. While he seemed to agree with Sankara in his

arguments in favour of the supreme intellectual monism, his divergence

with his teacher became more marked when it came to applied Vedanta.

The advaitism of the Guru did not stop with Religion. It came down to

more concrete levels of human life and relations. His teachings echoed

through the years after his samadhi.

The teachings of Sree Narayana Guru is important because of its

dynamism, its mobility, leading inevitably to harmony and heightened

consciousness. His life was a continuous quest, he refused to stagnate

not only in action but also in thought. His life was a saga of persistent

exploration and a related cycle of action. He was a J z n a Yogi, Karma

Yogi and Bakti Yogi rolled in to one.

As one aptly said, "If we follow the simple and peaceful teachings

of Sree Narayana Guru we can avert many of our problems. Complete

faith in Sree Narayana Guru will help us to bring unity amongst us,

amongst the numerous communities in India as well as amongst the

different people of the world. Guru's life and teachings will be a beacon
 48

to generations yet unborn. They are worthy of study and emulation by

those who aspire to serve the cause of human happine~s."~'

2.VI GURU'S WRITINGS

'In placing the science of the Absolute at the disposal of humanity

Narayana Guru stands completely alone in the field of wisdom and

philosophy, in our time. It is for this reason that he is worthy of honour

and ~ e n e r a t i o n ' . ~ ~

Sree Narayana Guru was a poet of extraordinary skill and his

poetry, which spanned a whole time, falls into three distinct groups:

Devotional, Ethical and Spiritual.

2.VI.1 DEVOTIONAL POEM

As a devotee living as a searcher for truth, he wrote many

devotional songs, which were in the form of prayers and hymns. They

were written in connection with the installation of particular deities. The

Guru used a 'mythological language' of his own, as it was inevitable as

part of the socio-religious necessity of the world in which the he lived. In

some poems the Guru is adoring the lshta Devata to obtain strength of

mind and steadfastness to console the desolate spirit

" Vinayakashtakam", "Guhashtakam"(Both in Sanskrit) and

"Shanmughadasakam" (in Malayalam) are some of the poems written

31
K. Sreenivasan, Op. Cit., p. 198
32
Nataraja Guru, The Philosophy of a Guru. Values. Op. Cit., p. 713
during this period. He had composed many devotional hymns in Tamil,

Malayalam and Sanskrit. Among his works in Tamil only a portion of a

hymn has been recovered.

Devotional poems can be categorised as hymns on Vinayaka or

Ganapathi, Vishnu, Siva, Devi - the mother goddess and Subrahmanya.

"Sri Vasudeva AshtakamV(in Sanskrit-eight verses), "Vishnu Ashtakam"

(in Sanskrit-eight verses), "Sri Krishnashtakam" (in Malayalam - eight

verses) and "Sri Krishnadarsanam" are some of the devotional hymns on

Vishnu.

"Ardhanareeswarasthavam:" (in Malayalam), "Cidambara-

J

shtakaml'(in Sanskrit), "Sivasatakam"(in Malayalam - one hundred

verses), " ~ i v aPrasada PanchakamV(in Malayalam - five verses) are

some of the devotional hymns on Siva.

Some of the hymns on Devi are "BhadrakZdi Ashtakam" (in

Sanskrit - eight verses), "Devi Pranama AshtakamV(in Sanskrit - eight

verses), "Devisthavam" (in Malayalam).

"Bahuleyashtakam" (in Sanskrit - eight verses), "Guhashtakam"

(in Sanskrit- eight verses), "Shanmukha Dasakam" (in Malayalarn),

"Subrahmapya Stuti (in Malayalam - Sixty verses) are some of the

poems on Subrahmanya.

2.V1.2 ETHICAL POEMS

During the period 1887 to 1914 the Guru had composed many

ethical poems against the prevailing social taboos - untouchability,

 During the period 1887 to 1914 the Guru had composed many

ethical poems against the prevailing social taboos - untouchability,

unapproachability and unseeability. Some of them are "Jgti-~akshana"

(in Malayalam), " J ~ t Nirnayam"

i (Critique of caste - five verses) and

" ~ r v akzrunya Panchakam" (in Malayalam - five verses on kindness to

life).

In his five verses "Ji'va Karunya Panchakam" the Guru states that:

'The non-killing vow is great indeed

And greater still, non-eating to observe

And in all, should we not say, 0 men of rightousness

Even to this amounts the essence of all religion'? 33

All religions stress the importance of universal brotherhood and

advocates kindness to all living being. The commandment 'Thou shall

not kill', which Christianity and Islam inherited, confirms this view. The

very same idea is explained in ~hagavadg25-VI 32

Even as he desired good to himself, he desired good to all. He

embraces all things in God, leads men to divine life and acts in the world

with the power of spirit and in that luminous consciousness. "He harms

no creature ... As he sees God in the world, he fears nothing but

embraces all in the equality of the vision of the self'34

All religious life pre-supposes kindness as the Guru explicitly

states his Kgrunya Panchakam" (Kindness of life)

33
Nataraja Guru, Life and Teachkgs of Narayana Guru. Op. Cit., p. 314
" S. Radhakrishnan, Bhagavadgita. Op. Cit., p. 205
 In such a light how can we take life,

And devoid of least pity go on to eat'?35

In this work the Guru poignantly explains that kindness is the

basis of religion, piety and kindness together constitute an important

article of faith. By doing so he is applying the axiom of the Advaitic non-

dual reality of the self.

"The self is universal and unitive and therefore cannot

countenance conflict between life and life. This is the first corollary

arising out of the pure contemplation of a priori truth. When it is accepted

that killing is wrong, the same holds good a fortiori with the question of

eating. Kindness emerges naturally as the argument of the second

degree which partakes of the logic of emotions to at least an equal

measure as it is itself based on pure reason. To the Advaitins one is as

valid as the other since the principle involved is the same."36

2.V1.3 SPIRITUAL POEMS

As a tapaswin who attains the ultimate stage of a Yogin, the Guru

wrote two of his seminal pieces - htmopadeia Satakam- in Malayalam

and ~arsbnama'la' in Sanskrit. The subject of the work entitled

J\tm6padehbtakam is contemplative self-realisation or knowing

oneself, which is the dynamic style of the Upanisads. The teachings

contained therein centre around the absolute value called Self or the

35
Nataraja Guru, Life and Teachings of Narayana Guru. Op. Cit., p. 314
36 ibid., p. 316
 52

i t m a n and not any deity. It is simple, direct and in aphoristic form but

symbolic and profound like the Upanishads. In ~ars'anamglgthe Gum

gives us an overall epistemology and a unifying scheme of correlation by

which all schools of thought can be assigned their legitimate place in the

general scheme of human understanding. The two works may be

considered as the magnum opus of the Guru.

As a grand religious intellectual who had a keen sense of the

people and of their social needs, the Guru wrote some best short poems

like Janani Navaratna Manjari (A Bouquet of nine Gems to Mother),

Brahmavidya Panchakam (Five Verses on the science of the Absolute),

Asramam and Homa-Mantras. The two poems, which stand by

themselves are Kundalini Pattu (song of kundalini snake) and

Daivadasakam (Ten verses to God).

In Kundalini Pattu the Guru explains that under suitable attitudes

and spiritual disciplines known to Yoga, the coiled up 'snake' at the base

of the vertebral column is capable of uncoiling itself and roused up. This

serpent power then reaches higher and higher levels touching

somewhere at the base of the brain. This is the centre of the thousand

petalled Lotus (Sahasrasa Padma) of the full radiance of positive

wisdom. Guru says that this is like the burrow of a snake and when the

snake reaches this home it is lost inside it and all 'becoming' is absorbed

finally in 'being'. Here the snake symbolizes the soul or self i r ~its

progress and we can see how poignantly the Guru dovetailed the lines
 53

of the poem into a context of self-knowledge. This theme of 'Kundalini'

can be seen in the poem of Mahatma Kabir Das who made mystic

poems about Raja Yoga and Hata Yoga.

Daiva ~ a i a k a mis the 'Prayer to God' in ten simple musical

verses in which all the grand concepts of Indian Philosophy are

epitomised. This prayer in Malayalam was composed at the request of

some disciple who wanted a prayer suitable for all -young or old, simple

or learned irrespective of their religion. Narayana Guru therefore treated

the concept of God in its universal numinous context as the absolute

factor.

Through his writings the Guru presented the Advaita Philosophy

for practical application in modern life as a remedy for the many ills that

modern man is heir to.