Sri Narayana Guru, the revered Dharamacharya who is a spiritual guidance for crores of Hindus led a life of an austere ascetic who mastered the philosophy of ‘Advaita ‘ and expounded its principles in a simplistic manner easily understood by a common seeker of the ultimate spiritual truth. He propagated the theory of Oneness of the Self with the Divine Parmatma as a means of social transformation.

A Journey in Pursuit Of One’s Own Self

Sri Narayana Guru was born on 20 August 1856 to Madan Asan and Kuttiyamma in the village of Chempazhanthy near Thiruvananthapuram. Guru’s Birth was in a Ezhava community. Yet it did not deter Guru from pursuing scholarship in Sanskrit, mastering the Upanishads, Vedas and Vedanta under the tutelage of Chempazhanthi Mootha Pillai and Sanskrit scholar Raman Pillai Asan.

Vedic studies and scholarship of Sanskrit was available to all those who devotedly sought true knowledge and wisdom through the Gurukul system, irrespective of the Varna or Jati of their birth. From a very young age Sri Narayana Guru travelled very widely, spent time in solitude and meditation. Though Guru married, he very soon left his married life and took Sanyasa embarking on a journey to discover his own self.

Sri Narayana Guru the Social Reformer

Sri Narayana Guru consecrated the Aruvippuram Siva Temple much to the chagrin of established religious leaders emphasizing that divinity is in all.

•Guru staunchly followed Adi Shankara ji’s “Advaita” philosophy – “Tat Tvam Asi” which means there is no difference between Atma and Parmatma.

•Guru was instrumental in “Paryatam Movement” which opened Temple doors to all believers irrespective of their Jati by birth.

•Guru blessed the Sivagiri Pilgrimage (which commenced in 1932 after he left his earthly life) as a journey of cleanliness, education, devotion to God and social awakening.

•Sri Narayana Guru denounced religious conversions to Islam and Christianity as being divisive in nature and emphasized the transformation of individual in search of divinity.

Sri Narayana Guru and his disciples were also at the forefront of the Vaikom Satyagraha.

Sri Narayana Guru The Philosopher

Sri Narayana Guru published 45 works in Malayalam, Sanskrit and Tamil languages

Atmopadesa Satakam is a hundred verse spiritual text which are instructions to people in their journey to self discovery. This is considered as an outstanding work of Sri Narayana Guru and reiterates the “Advaita” philosophy as an individual purifies oneself towards in their journey to self realization.

Deiva Desakam is a universal prayer in ten verses. Here Guruji seeks Divine guidance, metaphorically referring to God as a Captain of a Ship in an ocean and the individual as a traveller who manoeuvres through the changes of life .

Guru also translated three major texts, Thirukural of Valluvar, Ishavasya Upanishad and Ozhivil Odukkam of Kannudaiya Vallalaar.

The spiritual path led by Sri Narayana Guru is an inspiration for all future generations to discover themselves and perceive everything in the world as a manifestation of the Para Brahman.

With inputs from RSS Prachar Vibhag Head Krishna Kumar.

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