Matham matham okke matham Narayana Guru

Matham matham okke matham Narayana Guru

Viplavakaari Narayana Guru

GJC2016 Brotherhood Drama

ജന്തു ബലി - ശ്രീനാരായണ ഗുരു സ്വാമികൾ

(ശ്രീനാരായണ ഗുരു സ്വാമികൾ ജന്തു ബലി നടത്തി വന്നിരുന്ന ഒരു ക്ഷേത്രത്തിലെ ഭാരവാഹികളോട് സംസാരിയ്ക്കുന്നതാണ്) 

സ്വാമി: “ക്ഷേത്രത്തില്‍ ഹിംസ പാടില്ല. അതു പാപമാണ്“ 

ഭക്തന്‍: “ഹിംസ നിര്‍ത്തുന്നതില്‍ ഞങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് വിരോധമില്ല“ 

സ്വാമി: “പിന്നെ ആര്‍ക്കാണ് വിരോധം?“ 

ഭക്തന്‍: “ക്ഷേത്ര ഭാരവാഹികള്‍ക്ക്. അവര്‍ എത്ര പറഞ്ഞാലും സമ്മതിയ്ക്കുന്നില്ല“ 

സ്വാമി: “നിങ്ങള്‍ കോഴിയേയും മറ്റും കൊടുക്കാതിരുന്നാല്‍ മതിയല്ലോ? ക്ഷേത്ര“ഭാരവാഹികള്‍ക്ക്“ സമ്മതവും വിസമ്മതവും ഉണ്ടാകില്ല. അവര്‍ തൂണുകളല്ലേ“ 

ഭക്തന്‍: “കോഴിയ്ക്കു പകരം എന്ത് ബലികഴിച്ചാല്‍ കൊള്ളാമെന്നറിഞ്ഞ് കൂടാ“ 

ഒരു അന്തേവാസി: “ഉത്തമപൂജയ്ക്ക് കുമ്പളങ്ങയാണ് ഉപയോഗിയ്ക്കാറ്. അതു മതിയാവുമെന്ന് തോന്നുന്നു.“ 

സ്വാമി: “ വേണ്ടാ...കോഴിവെട്ടുന്നവന്റെ മകനെ കൊടുത്താലെന്താണ്!!!!“

Sree Narayana Guru Darshana Maala

Marunnu Maamala

ശ്രീ നാരായണ ഗുരുവിന്‍റെ സമ്പൂര്‍ണ്ണ കൃതികള്‍

ശ്രീ നാരായണ ഗുരുവിന്‍റെ എല്ലാ കൃതികളും താഴെയുള്ള ലിങ്കില്‍ ലഭ്യമാണ്.

മലയാളം വിക്കി ഗ്രന്ഥശാല : ശ്രീ നാരായണ ഗുരുവിന്‍റെ കൃതികള്‍ ഉള്ള താള്‍

നാരായണഗുരുവിന്റെ തത്ത്വവല്ലരി പൂവിട്ടു

ഗുരുവിന്‍റെ തത്ത്വങ്ങളെല്ലാം മാധുര്യമുള്ള സങ്കല്പങ്ങള്‍ മാത്രമേ ആയിരിക്കുകയുള്ളൂ എന്ന് വിചാരിക്കാനാണ് ദീര്‍ഘദൃഷ്ടി ഇല്ലാത്തവര്‍ക്ക് തോന്നിയത്. 

നടരാജ ഗുരു പറയുന്നു ~ "എന്നാല്‍ സംഭവിച്ചതങ്ങനെയല്ല. ഗുരുവിന്റെ തത്ത്വവല്ലരി പൂവിട്ടു. അതില്‍നിന്നും കാലാകാലം മാധുര്യമുള്ള പഴങ്ങളും ജനതയ്ക്ക് ലഭിക്കുവാന്‍ തുടങ്ങി. താല്‍ക്കാലികമായ പ്രയോജനം പലര്‍ക്കും ലഭിച്ചതിനു പുറമേ കാലാന്തരത്തില്‍ മാനവ ലോകത്തെ ആകമാനം ബാധിക്കുന്ന നന്മയുടെ നവമുകുളങ്ങളും അവിടുത്തെ ധ്യാനാത്മക ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ പൂന്തോപ്പില്‍ അരുണോദയം പോലെ നിശബ്ദമായും കരതലാമലകം പോലെ നിസ്തര്‍ക്കമായും ഒന്നിനെത്തുടര്‍ന്നു ഒന്നായി വിരിയുവാന്‍ തുടങ്ങി. 

ചിലര്‍ ഗുരുവിന്റെ പേരില്‍ വായനശാലകള്‍ സ്ഥാപിച്ചു. അവ പ്രായേണ ആദ്ധ്യാത്മിക കേന്ദ്രങ്ങളായി വികസിച്ചു. അതിനു ചുറ്റും പുതിയ സാമൂഹിക സാമ്പത്തിക വ്യവസ്ഥകള്‍ തനിയേ രൂപം കൊണ്ടു. ഈ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളുടെയെല്ലാം പ്രാണവായുവായി വര്‍ത്തിച്ചിരുന്നവര്‍ വെറും സാധാരണക്കാര്‍ മാത്രമാണ്. നിറഞ്ഞ ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥത ഉള്ളവര്‍, ത്യാഗമൂര്‍ത്തികള്‍. അവരുടെ നെറുകയില്‍ കൃപാലുവായ ഗുരുവിന്‍റെ ആശിസരുളുന്ന അംഗുലീസ്പര്‍ശം ഏറ്റിട്ടുണ്ട്. അതാണവരുടെ ശക്തിയും ഉത്തേജനവും. 

അവര്‍ ഗുരുവിന്റെ ചിത്രങ്ങള്‍ എഴുന്നള്ളിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് ഘോഷയാത്ര നടത്തും. മഹാന്മാരായ സ്ത്രീപുരുഷന്മാര്‍ പങ്കെടുക്കുന്ന വിപുലമായ യോഗങ്ങള്‍ വിളിച്ചുകൂട്ടും. ദീര്‍ഘവീക്ഷണമുള്ള ഗുരു ഊന്നുന്ന ലക്ഷ്യത്തിലേക്ക് പതറാത്ത കാലടികള്‍ വച്ച് മുന്നേറുവാന്‍ ശ്രമിക്കും. അതിനായ് ആത്മാര്‍പ്പണം ചെയ്തു മുന്നോട്ടുവന്നവര്‍ രാഷ്ട്രീയവും സാമൂഹികവുമായ മര്‍ദ്ദനവും അസമത്വവും അനുഭവിച്ചവരായിരുന്നു. 

അവരുടെ സംഘടന തിരുവിതാംകൂറിലും കൊച്ചിയിലും മലബാറിലും നൂറുനൂറു ശക്തികേന്ദ്രങ്ങള്‍ സ്ഥാപിച്ചു. അതിന്‍റെ സ്വാധീനം ക്രമേണ സിലോണിലേക്കും മദ്രാസ് പ്രവിശ്യയിലേക്കും ദക്ഷിണേന്ത്യയിലൊട്ടാകെയും വ്യാപിച്ചു."

Narayana Guru (1856-1928)

In the lush tropics of southwest India a century ago a beloved sage, healer, educator and social reformer splendidly lived Jesus’ ideal of being in the world, but not of it. With his motto, “One Caste, One Faith, One God for Humanity,” Narayana Guru gently campaigned along the Malabar Coast, bringing nondual truth to bear upon the unjust caste system, superstition, and other practices that oppress or diminish human beings. All the while he remained unattached, free, suffused with blissful peace. A hero in Kerala to millions, he isn’t well known outside the state. He surely deserves to be.

Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore came to meet Swami in November 1922 and later stated, “I have never seen one who is spiritually greater than Swami Narayana Guru.… I shall never forget that radiant face illumined by the self-effulgent light of divine glory and those mystic eyes fixing their gaze on a far remote point in the distant horizon.” 

Narayana was the only son of a relatively affluent, non-brahmin family, born on August 20, 1856 in Chempazhanti village.[1] This hamlet lies six miles north of Trivandram, capital of the old princely state Travancore. The area features rice paddy fields, swaying coconut palms and jungle filled with wild animals. Little Nanu, as his parents and sisters lovingly called him, was smart and acutely sensitive to others’ needs, yet he was also mischievous. He took special delight in defying caste restrictions that kept brahmins at the top of the pecking order above kshatriyas above vaisyas above sudras/nairs above the outcaste ezhavas above pulayas—the last considered totally “untouchable.” Nanu, of the Ezhava caste, would run around “polluting” upper caste persons by touching them immediately after embracing a Pulaya. 

Nanu attended a village school where he learned Malayalam, Tamil, and other subjects. His father taught him Sanskrit, Vedanta and Ayurveda medicine. The boy diligently pored over his texts and became a fine student. He cherished his friends, but most loved wandering in nature, alone or with the family’s cows. Often he sat serenely under a tree or in its branches, gazing at lush greenery or giant clouds overhead, composing beautiful hymns. He also liked to farm and garden. Two events in his teens made him even more meditative: around 1871 his beloved mother died. A few years later he spent 18 days alone in an empty Goddess temple enduring a smallpox attack. 

In 1877 Nanu, now a young man, began a tutorship under Raman Pillai Asan. This famous pandit and staunch advaitin taught over 60 students at Karunagapalli, many of them accomplished scholars. Pillai selected the brilliant, witty Nanu to be head of his class. Other students teased him for his exceptional spirituality: he regularly meditated and prayed before sunrise when others still slumbered, and he often appeared enthralled in inner ecstasy. In any case, his peers appointed Nanu arbiter of their academic debates. He mastered many texts studying with Pillai. He especially enjoyed the Bhagavatam Purana on Lord Krishna, and began to see everywhere the beautiful visage of Sri Krishna. More and more, the world seemed like a dream. Nanu grew unattached to selfish concerns. As part of his renunciation, he ate only vegetarian food, though most Keralans consume fish and meat. The experience of befriending an outcaste leper led him to deeply ponder the ideal of an applied spirituality that could heal social injustices. 

During his third year of studies, severe dysentery forced a semi-conscious Nanu to be taken home. Once recovered, he abandoned school, hungering for greater freedom. His relatives naturally wanted a more conventional life for him, so they built a school for small children and had Nanu tutor them. He visited outcastes and taught them, too, greatly upsetting village elders in the process. Beyond his humble teaching work he immersed himself in scriptural study, prayer and meditation in the local temple, wandering in the jungle and communing with nature’s Divine Source. 

In 1882, Nanu’s sisters arranged by proxy a marriage for him, but after a short time he would no longer visit the young lady, telling his kin: “Every one is born in this world for a definite purpose; you have yours and I have mine. You mind yours, let me pursue mine.” The marriage, likely never con­summated, was dissolved. It was a hard decision for Nanu not to bring the lass home. He had struggled inwardly: part of him sought freedom, another part pulled for a householder’s life of family delights and sexual intimacy. 

When Nanu’s father died in 1884, an ailing uncle made it clear that Nanu was expected to shoulder responsibility for the household. But deep yearning for God-realization and for an unattached ministry to humanity compelled him to renounce all. One day he simply set out in a southerly direction, walking on and on until he arrived in the mountains far to the south, near Cape Comorin. Sitting on a rock by a stream, he spent the night meditating. The sound of crickets and the call of jackals welcomed him to his new life of oneness with all that is. Before dawn he ambled down to a temple and stayed all day, rapt in bliss. His presence attracted locals, whom he instructed in spiritual principles. Unattachment urged him to move on. 

In his wanderings he met a former classmate from Pillai’s academy, a poet who later drew fame as saint Chattampi Swamikal. The two friends went to see Chattampi’s hatha yoga guru, Thyacaud Ayyavu, from whom Nanu learned advanced yoga skills to supplement his advaita understanding. 

Nanu proceeded to visit many south Indian villages. Come nighttime, he meditated and slept at wayside verandahs or forsaken temple yards under the changing phases of the moon. His subtle-energy kundalini-shakti vital force intensified and he began to glow with lustrous char­isma. Though he never took formal sannyas initiation, throngs revered him as a renunciate Swami and sought his help. Wherever he stayed, he welcomed people of all strata, including outcaste pulayas. They flocked to him from dawn to dusk, drawn by his ability to heal ills, remedy wrongs, and turn hearts toward God. 

Despite his high level of spirituality, Swami felt the need for deeper enlightenment. So he withdrew for a period of austere meditation in a sand-floored cave in Marut­wa­malai, a dense mountain forest east of Nag­er­coil, a dozen miles from India’s southern tip. Here, with wild animals for companions, he drank water from a nearby spring and subsisted on fruit, leaves and roots, helped by his knowledge of ayur­veda. In such total solitude, the saintly 29-year-old hermit soon merged in the realization of God as utterly formless and simultaneously embodied as the Kosmos.[2] The subtlest vestiges of ego were burnt up in the purity of the Divine flame. 

After weeks of immersion in Spirit, Swami Narayana wished to reconnect with humanity. He dwelt with fishermen at a seaside village, seeing them as manifestations of God’s beauty, helping in their work and sleeping on their nets at night to bring them bountiful catches the next day. He affiliated with the poor, not just Hindus, but Muslims and Christians as well. He saw that, while customs separate people, beneath these differences there is “a universal stratum of noble humanity,” and he relished solidarity with all.

Coming to Aruvipuram, a few miles west of Ney­yat­­tin­kara on the banks of the Neyyar River, Swami found a rocky cave by the cascading waters in the thick jungle above town. This was his base for nearly two decades. When a 16-year-old boy found Swami, became his disciple and leaked news about him, the site quickly became a pilgrimage site for folks desiring ayur­veda healing or Divine blessing pouring forth from the power of his gaze.

In 1888, Swami erected by the river a little temple covered by mango and coconut leaves. On the festival night honoring Siva, a thousand devotees gazed on, wondering how the new temple would be consecrated. Swami entered the river, took a stone, and tearfully in­stalled it as a traditional Siva lingam. The lingam symbolizes God’s creative power, the Form of the Formless. This was a radical act, offending orthodox brahmins who thought themselves alone pure enough to install temple idols. The Guru’s revolutionary move, “a landmark in the social and spiritual history of India,” signified the age-old dominance of upper castes was coming to an end. He insisted: “This is a model abode where all men shall live as brothers without caste distinctions or religious rivalries.” Tales of his extra­ordinary powers and activities to end segregation spread rapidly and drew throngs. His Aruvi­pu­ram Temple Association managed the expanding site and endeavored to reform society under his motto, “Strength through organization; freedom through education.” A larger temple sanctum and a hall arose, and property on the temple’s southern side was gained for a monastery (math) to house the educated young men dedicating themselves as Swami’s disciples.

Passionate and brilliant souls from far away visited the Guru to launch projects in his name and discuss plans for social change. The Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam organization was born in 1903 from the old Temple Association. Swami never wanted the SNDP Yogam to be limited to a specific caste or community, but it effectively became an Ezhava congress for spiritual and social upliftment and stopping atrocities wrought by higher castes upon Kerala’s downtrodden. (Passing through the area a decade earlier, Swami Vivekananda had described Kerala as a “lunatic asylum of caste bigotry.”) The SNDP Yogam published the monthly Vivekodayam and was managed by Kumaran Asan, a distinguished young poet con­verted by the powerful influence of Narayana Guru into a Vedantin yogi and a leading light of social reform within Kerala. Swami’s terse suggestions sufficed for Kumaran and colleagues to know his views on SNDP Yogam’s proper course.[3]

Now a potent social force, Narayana Guru accepted invitations from all over Kerala to promote reforms and unity among people and to propagate true spirituality. He didn’t preach from podiums, preferring to give gentle counsel in informal gatherings. With his richly mellow, tender voice, this universalist sage of few words would break his silence to lovingly speak of God, human solidarity, love for animals and respect for natural ecosystems. He spoke against untouchability, alcohol, superstition, animal sacrifices to Kali, and costly rituals and weddings for females. He often personally intervened to insure that rites be kept simple and spiritual. He promoted education, especially for girls, and encouraged learning English. He invited laborers to industrialize and manufacture finished products from their raw goods, freeing themselves from chronic exploitation by certain greedy capitalists. 

The work of Swami and his colleagues was a major factor in turning Kerala into perhaps the most advanced state in the entire Third World.[4]

At this stage in his life, Swami divided his time between solitary meditation and active ministry as a traveling catalyst for social change and Guru to his devotees, who viewed him as a Divine incarnation. Swami spoke and wrote in short tracts the Advaita truth that God is both form­less and form-full, beyond all and yet within all beings, both Transpersonal and Personal. 

In this spirit, over the years he built scores of temples to rejuvenate spir­it­uality and create community solidarity at Anjen­go, Peringottukara, Trich­ur, Cannanore, Tellichery, Calicut, Mangalore and elsewhere. All sites were picked for their natural beauty and serenity. These temples eschewed the superstition and exploitation that had occurred for centuries at too many Indian shrines; his temples were empower­ment centers for spiritual, cultural and material upliftment. In his shrines he installed images of Lord Siva or Subramania (one of Siva’s two sons in Hindu myth). Yet at Kala­van­­kodam Temple at Shertallai he resolved a clash between traditional Hindus and icon­o­clast modernists by installing a mirror in the sanctum, inscribed with the Upanishad dictum, Tat Tvam Asi, That Thou Art. At his Karamukku temple he installed a simple lamp as the central object in the sanctum. At his Muruk­kumpuzha shrine he set up a slab etched with the words Satyam (Truth), Dharmam (Virtue), Daya (Compassion), and Sneham (Love). These unconventional items underscored his wish that temples be free of idolatry.

In 1904, Swami moved his base to Siva­giri, a rugged hill near Varkala.[5] There he initiated persons into sannyas and formed a monastery for them. In time a Siva temple (1908) and a Sarada Temple (1912) to wisdom Goddess Sarasvati were built, in line with his ideal that funds not be wasted on needless extra­v­agances. His temples had a sanctum, communal hall, rest-house, garden, library, school, vocational training center, medical dispensary and shower rooms (instead of the traditional bathing tank, too hard to clean). 

Swami opened his shrines and schools to all persons—a special boon for outcaste persons long denied entrance. At a time when even low-caste Hindus believed a temple so holy they shouldn’t go near it, and brahmin laws actually specified distances that low-castes and outcastes must always observe, the Sri Narayana temples were radically progressive. Yet in many cases Swami couldn’t get pulaya outcastes accepted into his shrines. Locals refused to allow it. So he finally issued a message: “Time was when it was hoped that people could be brought together in a common place of worship disregarding caste. But experience has taught otherwise. Temples stress the distinction between castes. Hereafter efforts should be towards educating the people…. That is the only means of making them whole.”[6]

In 1913, on the banks of the Alwaye River in the forested hills overlooking Alwaye town, Swami set up his Advaita Ashram, later to include a monastery and Sanskrit school. Here Hindus of all strata could come to meditate and study along the lines of Sankara’s advaita system. As a shock to Hindu society, Swami let pulayas have the sacred duty of preparing and serving food for inmates and visitors, and made a special point to have pulaya boys frequently study and eat with him. On the walls were posters with Swami’s famous slogan, “One caste, one dharma, one God for humanity.”[7]

A raging controversy impacted all Kerala in 1917 when K. Ayyappan, one of Swami’s most dedicated youths, was excommunicated by Ezhavas and scorned by higher castes for starting his Saho­dara Sangham (Brothers’ Society) in which pulayas were invited to eat with them. In support of his courageous disciple, Swami wrote a widely distributed, no-nonsense memo: “Since all men belong to the same species whatever be their religion, dress, language, etc., there is no objection to their marriage or taking food together.” He always decried caste as a “silly phantom,” not self-evident, mere convention.[8] Mahatma Gandhi, visiting Swami in 1925, was deeply impressed with Narayana Guru’s commitment to stamping out untouchability and thereafter made it an integral part of the Indian National Congress’s political program. Swami also convinced Gandhiji of the merit of not stopping people from converting to another faith if it better suited them, in line with his saying: “Whichever the religion, it suffices if it makes a better man.”

To foster interfaith dialogue in India, Swami hosted a landmark All Religions Conference at Alwaye in 1924. In October 1926, two months after multitudes celebrated his 70th birthday, he toured Sri Lanka for three months, edifying huge crowds, just as he had done on a sojourn there eight years earlier.[9] Back at Sivagiri, Swami took long daily walks to study the problems of local people and mobilize his SNDP Yogam to remedy them. 

Swami formally inaugurated his society of monks as the Sri Nara­yana Dharma Sangha and transferred to these renunciates custody of all his ashrams, maths and temples. He appointed Swami Bodha­nanda his successor and the Sorbonne-educated Nataraja Guru (1895-1973), son of Dr. P. Palpu (founder of SNDP Yogam), as adviser to the sangha.[10] His monks were to be meditative mystics and humanitarians committed to social service. They could model themselves on Swami: “He took root in reality and brought forth a giant tree with fruits and flowers, giving shelter to numerous people and adding beauty to their lives. He exemplified to what divine heights even the humblest of men could rise by self-culture and love of humanity.”[11]

In early 1928, a blocked urethra began to undermine Narayana Guru’s health. Allopathic and ayurveda medical treatments intermittently relieved this terribly painful condition, but at last the obstruction, the fevers and the weakness exacted too great a toll. For most of the process, especially toward the end, Swamiji’s serenity and blissful cheerfulness outshone the pain.

On a rainy September 20, 1928, the sun came out in the afternoon, bath­ing the world in its glow. Swami, residing at Sivagiri, asked disciples to recite his Malayam prayer Daiva Dasakam. They came to the last verse: Let us be in Your greatness for ever and ever deep as an ocean. “As he listened in peace to this last stanza, those eyes, which were the sources of blessings and consolation for mankind throughout their lifetime, gently closed.”[12]

Teachings of Narayana Guru[13]

There is not much to learn in Vedanta. This visible world is not different from the true essence in the same way as a wave is not different from the sea. This should not be forgotten … [and] should be maintained by daily practice. (S 228)

All that comes within the ambit of experience can be divided into two. One is the ordinary (that can be perceived, calculated, analyzed and categorized). The other is the transcendent which is beyond the ken of one’s mind to grasp. Apart from these, there is nothing else, here or elsewhere. This is certain. (A 67)

Fundamental Reality does not reside in the seen object as such, but in the Seer. The Seen is the form of the Seer. He who unites these is the superior. (D 9/7)

With relentless search realize that the inner faculties, the senses, the body and all the worlds of our interest are transformations of the glorious substance of the Sun that shines in the void of the Absolute. […] There is neither any death nor birth nor any manifested form of life. There are neither men nor gods nor anything of that sort—there are only names and forms. Their substance is only that of a mirage in a desert—and that is, for sure, no substance at all. (A 2, 78)

Like a twin creeper, “Self and other” entwine the maya-tree all over and hide everything. […] What is known distinctively as separate, specific entities—that is the “other.” What shines forth as the indivisible whole—that is the “same.”… Learn the art of unifying consciousness in the all-inclusiveness of the “same.” […] Awaken to the clarity of vision in which all forms of “otherness” merge and become one with “sameness.” It is hard to win over the obduracy of “the other” without having achieved the mastery of a vivid vision which leaves nothing outside it. […] I am neither this nor that…. [I am] pure existence, all-embracing consciousness and the joy immortal. Be brave with such clear vision, discard all attachment to being and non-being, and gently, gently, merge in that Truth that fills all with enlightenment and serene joy. (A 51, 38, 36-7, 100)

The visible has three forms—gross, minute and the cause. They emanate from the Supreme and merge with it. Therefore nothing is, other than the Supreme…. Whatever is seen by the eyes is not permanent. The body too is non-permanent, like a bubble. Everything is but a dream. We are not the body but Consciousness. Consciousness … existed before the body and continues after its destruction. We cannot be affected by birth, death, poverty, diseases, fear, etc. (S 220)

The Absolute Being created everything through his own power of maya, like a magician creating an illusion. […]This world is emptiness, like some ghostly city. Thus did the Absolute Being create this whole universe—a marvel! […] Because it is an effect, this world does not have primary reality. The Absolute alone, as cause, is Real. Unclear minds mistake it as un-Real. […] The Absolute Self does not change into some other form. Therefore, the whole world exists only as an image in the Self. […]The world is seen in the Self as the blue is seen in the sky. […] It is the Self alone which acts. Although it is by nature self-luminous and detached, the Self through its power of maya assumes many varied forms, like the creative dreamer in sleep. (D 1/2, 1/8, 2/5, 3/7, 3/1, 6/1)

Body and such things cannot be rated as real or unreal. They are to be termed as indescribable. In fact, all that we encounter is real as such. The sage in his contemplation sees everything as belonging to one unitive principle. […]What is known as that person, or this person, when carefully considered, is the one undifferentiated form of the primeval Self. (A 87-8, 24)

[From his Brahma Vidya Panchakam:] “That Brahman [Divine Reality] is the Self here!” / Singing thus and so established in peace of mind; / and reborn to pure ways in life by the dawn of Brahma-wisdom, / Where could there be for thee the bondage of action / Whether of the past, present, or future? / For everything is but superimposed conditioning on thy prime Self. / Thou verily art That existing-subsisting One of pure intelligence, the Lord. (P 25)

Fear arises when we think that there are things in this world other than our Self. When we know everything is only our Self, where is the cause for fear? (S 43)

Realize that it is futile to ruminate on the past, be expectant of the present and fancy about the future. Without endlessly counting and measuring in confusion, cognize the One that always prevails, allowing of no differentiation. (A 58)

Like fire that emits from churning sticks, there arises a wisdom of great discrimination from the mind of discerning contemplatives. It burns in the sky of consciousness as a supernal sun and everything becomes fuel for it. (A 82)

Who is there to know the one unchanging Reality when all are subjected to the fre­quent rise of latent urges that compel them to wake and sleep and to eat and fondle their objects of desires? One should remain without waking oneself to distracting interests and without sleeping away from the reality of the Self. […] Aspire for the good instead of being ensnared by the pleasurable. […] Even good people engaged in virtuous action are caught in Nature's repetitive compulsions and they helplessly go round and round in obligatory action. Mere omission of action does not cure the mind of its urge to modulate. Only unitive understanding, which is bereft of desires, brings emancipation. […] One pleasure-principle (rati) expands and transforms into the ego, the senses, the mind, the body and all that is; and it is as if its proliferation has no end. It will go on operating until the cognizing Self realizes that it is not any of the pleasure-pursuits but Awareness, pure and simple. (A 6-8, 43, 70)

To become established in the Supreme Being, offer the flowers of your mind to the Great Lord … Turn your senses away from all objects of desire. Feel freed of all bondages. Be cool and do not be excited even by the wonder of the Absolute. Remember the secret of the Upanishads. The Self in its pure state is limitless and indivisible. It is bereft of divisions in time and it fills the entire consciousness without the divisions of the knower, the known and the knowledge. One does not gain this state by merely making false claims to it. (A 13-14)

What realization can come by mere negation [e.g., just thinking “I am not the body or mind”]? Nothing. Nor does realization come by merely repeating the word “Absolute.” It comes only by continuous contemplation. (A 62)

As the eye cannot see itself, the Self cannot perceive itself. The Self is not an object-of-consciousness. What the Self perceives is an object-of-consciousness.

Whatever is an object-of-consciousness is conditional. Whatever is not conditional is not an object-of-consciousness. What is conditional is un-Real. But what is utterly unconditional, that is the Real. (D 5/9, 5/10)

Wise men know that there is only Awareness, so they remain one with it and do not struggle. For them the truth to be known is here and now. Those who do not know their secret think of it as an unknown entity to be sought and discovered. Under that illusion they struggle... Only a few see the secret of the wise. (A 63)

Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and one’s cognition of both are in fact only variations of beginningless Being. By merging in that awareness of infinitude one should become undifferentiated with it. […]The only memory worth cherishing is one's primal identification with the ultimate Awareness. […] The all-filling consciousness … [and] its immeasurable magnitude… is like an ocean of silence in which everything is submerged. (A 4, 64, 97)

[From his Nirvriti panchakam:] For him alone is bliss who has been freed from thoughts of nationality, caste, profession, age and the like. / For him alone is bliss who has been freed from thoughts like “come,” “go,” “do not go,” “enter,” “where do you go?”… / For him alone is bliss for whom the arguments “I, you,” “that man—this man,” “inside—outside,” “affirmation—negation” and the like have ceased to exist. / For him alone is bliss for whom there is no difference between the known and the unknown, between self and another and for whom the differences have ceased to exist. (S 219-20)

A compassionate man without any vested interest works both day and night for the welfare of others. On the other hand, a selfish man, desirous of his own good, toils day and night and comes again and again to his frustration. (A 23)

[Anukampa Dasakam, “Scriptures of Mercy”:] A heart Love-empty spells disaster of every kind…. Grace, Love, Mercy—all three—Stand for one same reality, Life’s Star. / “He who loves is he who really lives” [“Arul ullavananu jivi”]. / Do learn these syllables nine by heart, in place of lettered charm. (P 41)

[His Municharyapanchakam, “Way of the Renunciate,” penned immediately after his whimsical visit with Sri Ramana Maharshi in 1916[14]:] The arm would do for a pillow, the ground for a bed. The earth one steps on assists movement. Of what use is other wealth for a sage free from desires? Having acquired release he enjoys the greatest of all enjoyment. / A sage may be eloquent at certain places, silent at others, a scholar or a fool, may move about or remain standing or sitting. He always abides in the supreme, nondual conscious­ness … / To sustain the body the sage eats without desire what fate offers him without his seeking. He sleeps on the road with nothing to agitate his mind. He always turns his eyes inward. He realizes the unity of his individual soul and the Supreme and attains the matchless state of saccid­ananda [Being-Awareness-Bliss]./ The sage…abides in the supreme state which is inconceivable, unknowable, minute and massive, pure, changeless, deep and the most high. / A sage may be staying in his own house or in a forest, on the sandy banks or by the roadside. His mind always dwells in Brahman. With his inner eyes he sees everything as mirages and delights in the incomparable Brahman. (S 218-9)

[Janani Nava Ratna Manjari, “Nine Stanzas to the Divine Mother”:] From that unitive mind-stuff, all encompassing, / Countless tri-basic rays (of knowledge-knower-known) come and, lo and anon, Self-consciousness gone, / There awakened love of food and such; / Fallen thus into the ocean of need and lost altogether, / Say when, O Mother, shall my inner being regain that path of hope / To be merged within the domain of pure [awareness], bereft of all tri-basic prejudice / And, within the core of the radiance outspread of [awareness] pure, / Reabsorbed in communion cool, ever remain. // This variegated display by Maya wrought— / Itself nothing—is no other than Awareness pure; / Air, stone, sea or fire, and the void too, / Are all but prime Awareness alone!… // [The sage] of good deeds is but a bee / Fallen into the lotus core, drinking there the nectar / Of the unlimited experience of bliss supreme. //…O Mother! Who within the encircling veil / Of the prime mind on high, ever dwells, / Whose free dance it is that impels here below / This clamorous medley of earth, water, air and fire / As the world manifest—when all is but name alone; / With that delicate yarn of time and so on / A fancy vesture covers your form / So none do know your true appearance… // You became the deer and the fish / The snake and the heavenly bird, / The earth and the river, woman as well as man, / Even the world on high and inferno.… As the “I” that too is even you! / O, one of word-content alone [conceptual construct], all is comedy indeed! //… The earth and other elements here, / No basis they have, semblance only, / Specific expressions in awareness merely; / Whatever reality they have in this world / Is by you conferred alone! / In that exalted region where [senses] / Have no place, is where your glory abides, / Who is there to know your greatness, O Mother? (P 33-6)

[From his poem Pinda Nandi, “Prenatal Gratitude”:] Within the womb, O Lord of Good, / Was that lump—this humble self. / With what exceeding love, / Who but Thou, kind One, nurtured it into life! / Ordered by Thee, all comes about. / Thus knowing, this Thy servant / To Thee now surrenders all. (P 8)

[From the last verse of his Anubhuti Dasakam:] When all attachment is completely cut off, / Genuine waters of happiness shall come gushing! (P 82)

[His universal prayer, Daiva Dasakam (1914), recited daily by his devotees:] From the most high, O Divine, protect us here…. / You are the navigator / Of this ocean of ephemeral becoming, / And your name a mighty steamship. // Counting all things here one after another, / When all things have thus been touched and counted, / There remains still the seeing eye [drk, “eye” or Conscious­ness] alone. / In like manner, let my inner self attain to rest in You.… // As ocean, wave, wind and depth / Let us within see the scheme of us, nescience, your glory and You. // Are You not creation, the Creator too, / As also the magic variety of created things? / Is it not You again, O God, who is the very stuff / Of which all creation is made? // Are You not the great illusion / and also the Author and / Enjoyer of that illusion? / Are You not the master / Who can remove all illusion / and grant the Supreme Union? // You are existence, knowledge and the endeared value; / You Yourself are the present, the past, and the future…. // That state which fills, inside as well as outside, / Brimfully with Your glory, / We adore That, Blessed God of Goodness, / Hail, victory to You. // Victory be to you, God of gods, / Ever intent on saving those in need. / Victory be to you, Blissful Intelligence through and through. / Hail, O Ocean of Mercy! // In the deep deep ocean of Your Glory / Immersed let us all become; / There to dwell, dwell everlastingly / In Felicity Supreme. (DD and P 37-9)

[1] My sources on Narayana Guru are S. Omana’s long essay, “Biography of Sree Narayana Guru,” adapted from his doctoral thesis at the Univ. of Kerala, and posted on the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam website: www.sndp.org/Html/Bio graphyByDrSOmana.html; M.K. Sanoo, Narayana Guru (Madhavan Ayyappath, Tr.), Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1978; the biographical essay, “Sree Narayana Guru” by G.V. Narayan Murthi, posted at various Narayana Guru organization websites, e.g., www.sreenarayanaguru.org/; Swami Dharma Theerthar’s article, “A Great Nation Builder” and the “Biographical Sketch” posted at SNDP Yogam New York Branch’s website at www.narayanaguru.org/article/; and three works published by the Narayana Gurukula / East-West University (Srinivasapuram, Varkala, Kerala, India 695145): Nataraja Guru, Life and Teachings of Narayana Guru, rev. ed., 1990; Deborah Buchanan, Gestures in Silence: Who and What Narayana Guru Is, 1979; and Nancy Yeilding, What Nara­yana Guru Is Not, 1979. 

The biographies vary in several details, starting with Swami Nara­yana’s year of birth. Nearly all the earliest biographies, including some published years before his passing, state that he was born in 1856. Nataraja Guru, one of his youngest close disciples, wrote his biography during the Swami’s life, not published until 20 years after Swami’s passing, in which it is stated that when devotees celebrated his 60th birthday in 1916, Swami said that event should have been celebrated two years earlier, hinting that 1854 was his birth year. Others dispute this. I have settled on the later birthdate. Other details hard to pin down are the exact year his mother died, the year he settled at Aruvipuram, and the year he opened Advaita Ashram at Alwaye. 

Numerous other books and articles on Narayana Guru have been written, most of them in the Malayalam language. English language materials primarily come from the Island Gurukula Aranya / East-West University, 8311 Quail Hill Rd., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110; www.geocities.com/islandgurukula. The latter is the main branch outside India and also the publication and distribution center for the worldwide Narayana Gurukula, headquartered at Varkala, India. Books published by the Narayana Gurukula (in addition to aforementioned works) include Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati, Sree Narayana Guru: A Brief Biographical Sketch; N.C. Kumaran, Narayana Guru: Relevancy Today; and Dr. S. Omana, The Philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru. See also Swami John Spiers, The Guru: Essays on Narayana Guru, published by Swami Shaktidhara, Visranti Munis­thanam, Nidangalluhalli, Karnataka, 562117, India; Swami Dharma Theerthar, Sree Narayana Guru, Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust, Shivagiri Mutt, Varkala, Kerala. Two English-language periodicals are Gurukulam, published by the Narayana Gurukula (Bainbridge Island branch), and Gurudarshanam, published by the Sree Narayana Association of North America, P.O. Box 260009, Bellerose, NY 11426-0009. 

India’s Surya TV has produced a dramatic serial in 104 episodes, “Guruprasadam,” about the life and work of Narayana Guru, sure to make him more famous. 

[2] Nataraja Guru writes about Narayana Guru’s realization: “This new experience was not in the nature of an event. It was an experience that changed for him the meaning and import of all events.” (Life and Teachings of Narayana Guru, p. 17.) 

[3] By most accounts, SNDP Yogam, especially after Swami’s death, went astray by losing his universal vision and becoming a lobbying group for Ezhava interests. 

[4] Development experts have been astounded by Kerala’s achievements for a state within a Third World nation. See Bill McKibben, “The Enigma of Kerala: One state in India is proving development experts wrong,” Double Take, Summer 1995, posted at http://guruforum.welcome.to/. Herein he sums up the anomalous findings: despite its extremely high population density and low per capita income (some 1/70th that of the U.S.), Kerala has a “physical quality of life (PQLI) index” in the 80s, higher than any country in Africa and any country in Asia after Japan (98), Taiwan (87), and South Korea (85). By 1989, Kerala’s PQLI score had risen to 88, compared to India’s overall PQLI of 60. Kerala also has a high life expectancy rate (almost on a par with the U.S.), a literacy rate of over 90%, a very low birthrate (primarily due to widespread female education, Kerala’s birthrate is some 60% lower than the rest of the Third World and 40% lower than the rest of India), a higher female birthrate (because of far fewer abortions of female fetuses), extensive and well-informed popular political activity, and an array of health services unmatched anywhere else in India or most of Asia. He also states: “Kerala is now less caste-ridden than any spot in the Hindu world; it is a transition more complete than, say, the transformation achieved by the civil rights movement in the American South.” McKibben singles out Narayana Guru as the ethical hero whose spiritual and social-justice ministry most inspired the successful progressive movement in Kerala that effected these improvements over the course of the 20th century. 

[5] Varkala is located on the coast, 33 miles north of Trivandram. 

[6] Sanoo, Narayana Guru, p. 114. The message was given in 1917. Note that it was not until 1937 that the Travancore State Government finally issued an order giving, for the first time anywhere in India, formal temple-entry rights to harijans. 

[7] The word dharma, sometimes translated as “religion,” means “spiritual way,” which Narayana Guru in some contexts summarized as Truth, Duty, Compassion, Love. Swami once remarked: “All religions should be studied without prejudice. This would reveal that there was no difference between them in basic principles. The ‘one religion’ which we advocate is the religion that emerges after such a scrutiny.” (Sanoo, p. 146.) He also wrote in his Atmopadesa Satakam (verse 49): “All beings, at all times, everywhere, are exerting themselves to attain happiness. This quest for happiness is the ‘One Religion’ in the world.” 

[8] Swami once stated in a conversation, “Caste was not created by God. It was devised by men.” Sanoo, p. 185. Swami’s famous poem Jati Mimamsa, “A Critique of Caste,” runs, in part: “One of kind, one of faith, and one in God is man. Of one womb, of one form; difference herein none. Within a species, is it not, that offspring truly breed? The community of man, thus viewed, to a single caste belongs. Of the human species is even a brahmin born, as is the pariah too. Where is difference then in caste as between man and man?” (An Anthology of the Poems of Narayana Guru [Nataraja Guru, Tr.], Narayana Gurukula, Bangalore, Karnataka 562112 India.) 

[9] Eyewitnesses report Swami’s daily visitors on his first Sri Lankan visit averaged 3,000–4,000 people. It was here that he first took to wearing ochre robes. Up to then and for most of his last years he wore only two white cotton garments. 

[10] During the ministry of Bodhananda’s successor Swami Sankar­ananda, a Kerala High Court ordered that a trust be created to operate all the monasteries, ashrams and temples managed by the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham. The Sangham’s sannyas­ins elect one among themselves as president for a 5-year term. 

For his part, Nataraja Guru in 1923 founded the worldwide Narayana Gurukula or family of contemplatives following Narayana Guru. Nataraja’s successor was Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati (1923-99), who roamed India in his youth training under numerous saints. He later prolifically authored 200 volumes in Malayalam and English, and expanded the Gurukula with his East-West University of Unitive Sciences, a “university without walls.” See prior endnote for Narayana Gurukula’s Indian address and main U.S. address. The Guru­kula has 20 branches in South India, and branches worldwide (U.S., U.K., France, Australia, Fiji, Singapore). 

[11] Swami Dharma Theerthar, “A Great Nation Builder,” op. cit. 

[12] Sanoo, Narayana Guru, p. 216. 

[13] Narayana Guru authored 60 short works in Malayalam, Sanskrit, and Tamil. For this section of his teachings, I have used these sources (the first three of which are generally considered his most important), abbreviated as follows: 

A = Narayana Guru, Atmopadesa Satakam: One Hundred Verses on Self Instruction (1903), posted at the SNDP Yogam website: www.sndp.org/Html/Atmopadesa Satakam.html. Verse numbers, not page numbers, are given in parentheses. Note: I have consistently substituted the term “Awareness” for the translator’s use of the word “Knowledge,” which in the West has discursive connotations. 

D = Narayana Guru, Darshana Mala: Visions of the Real (dictated circa 1916; translated from Sanskrit by Nataraja Guru in 1949; rendered into modern English in 1979 by Don Berry), posted at www.speakeasy.org/berry/Philosophy/ Darsana/dm-title.html. Chapter/verse numbers are given in parentheses. 

DD = Narayana Guru, Daiva Dasakam: The Universal Prayer of Narayana Guru (Nitya Chaitanya Yati, Tr. and Commentary), Narayana Gurukula (Srinivasapuram P.O., Trivandram Dt., Kerala 695145), 1981. 

S = M.K. Sanoo, Narayana Guru, op. cit. 

P = An Anthology of the Poems of Narayana Guru (Nataraja Guru, Tr.), Narayana Gurukula, 1977. 

[14] When Swami Narayana came near Mt. Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi’s seat, disciples of the two masters wanted them to meet. So Swami sat on a rock near Maharshi’s Skandashram. Maharshi came out and sat in silence on another rock some distance away. After a time, Maharshi went inside. Swami turned to Maharshi’s disciples and asked, “Do you know him?” “Yes,” they answered. Turning to his own disciples, Swami asked, “Do you know him?” They also replied affirmatively. Swami spoke from the depths of Silence: “Then only we do not know.”

THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN - THE ROLE OF SREE NARAYANA GURU - Smt. Sathya Bai Sivadas

Introduction:

The problem of women must have started with creation. A passage from The Digit of the Moon quoted by Jawaharlal Nehru in the Discovery of India gives this complex picture. When the creator felt the need to create a woman, he found that he had exhausted all materials in the creation of man. So he started gathering building material. The rotundity of the moon, curves of the creepers, clinging of tendrils, trembling of grass, the slenderness of the reed, the bloom of flowers, the lightness of leaves, the tapering of the elephant’s trunk, the glances of the deer, the clustering of rows of bees, the joyous gaiety of sunbeams, the weeping of clouds, the fickleness of winds, the timidity of the hare , the vanity of the peacock, the softness of the parrot’s bosom, the hardness of the adamant, the sweetness of honey, the cruelty of the tiger, the warm glow of fire, the coldness of snow, the chattering of the jays, the cooing of the kokila, the hypocrisy of the crane and the fidelity of the chakravaka compounding all these together he made woman and gave her to man.

As literature is the mirror of the society, this description tells, what the society thought of the woman in those days. Coming to the physical qualities of the woman, the objects used are beautiful and enchanting, no doubt. But look at the objects representing her mental qualities: it is a bundle of contradictions, joy and sorrow , timidity and vanity, sweetness and cruelty, softness and hardness, warmth and cold, hypocrisy and fidelity. There is nothing to indicate wisdom or the power of discretion to distinguish between good and evil. Her mind will be a battlefield full of contradictions. He character is unsteady. Feminine nature is disastrous like a flood. The society felt that she was foolish, ignorant, fickle minded and untruthful. The society had no confidence in her. The society was afraid that if she was given freedom to mingle with men, she might run away with someone. Then the prestige and dignity of the family would be burnt to ashes Hence the social law givers Goutama, Boudhayana, and Manu decided that the woman did not deserve freedom. She had to be under the care and protection of a man, either her father, husband or son.

The role allotted to her was that of a glorified servant, a cook, a nurse and a help to her husband in his religious rites. For this, she did not need education. The society and the law givers (The composers of the Dharma Sastras & Smrities) felt this or they were afraid that education might stimulate the intellectual faculties dormant in the woman and she might start asking awkward questions. The lawgivers were circumspect and to avoid all these complications, declared that the women of all castes were not eligible for education. As the Shudras were convinced and coerced to believe that they did not require education for the work they did, the women of all castes were convinced that they would be happy without the botheration of education and they were content to live in the bliss of ignorance.

There is a sociological explanation also. The woman is bestowed with maternity and the responsibility of baby care by nature. Being physically weaker than man, at some stage of her life, she needed physical help, support and protection of man. She chose her mate and protector. Family units were formed in this way. As protector of the family the man had to use his physical strength and restrict the woman at times. The man started to feel that the woman was his property and he had a right to own her. As families grew to become society, the woman became totally under his control. Denial of freedom and education were devices to keep her under control. Women came to be considered a possession of man.

Coming down to Kerala specifically, the restrictions and sufferings were caste based For the Sarvarnas – Nambudiri and Nair women – the problems were different from those of Avarna Women.

Among the Nambudiris, the women had a miserable fate due to the rule of “primogeniture” followed by Nambudiris. According to this rule, only the eldest son of a family inherited the property. In order to keep the property in tact, only the eldest son was allowed to marry, that too from his own caste.

Resultantly, as many men who were not the first sons could not marry, and the axe fell on the Nambudiri women (Antarjanam). Many of them had to suffer life long compulsory maidenhood or become one of the many wives of an old Nambudiri. Hence young widows and suicides became common among them. A character, created by Lalithambika Antarjanam (short story writer) prays “Even if I am to be born as a dog ten times, please do not give me the life of a Nambudiri woman”. These words express how unbearable life was to these women

The predicament of Nair women was some thing different. For the convenience of the younger sons of Nambudiri families, who could not marry, a peculiar custom called Sambandham – a morganatic marriage – with Nair or Kshatriya women was devised. According to this, the Nambudiri could cohabit with a Nair woman, and produce children. But the woman did not have the status of a wife, nor did the children have any filial rights. They were not even allowed to touch their father, lest they pollute him. The children became the responsibility of their maternal uncle as per the matrilineal system followed by the Nairs. The status of a Nair woman was decided by the number of Nambudiri husbands she had. These poor women were brainwashed to believe that it was their god – given duty to please the Nambudiri, and the seed of the Nambudiri would produce clever and smart children. The women were in a fools paradise.

THE CONDITION OF AVARNA WOMEN BEFORE NARAYANA GURU

In public all the Savarna women were allowed the dignity of covering their body. But the Avarna woman had to go around half naked. In 1829 there was a royal edict by which all Avarnas, including women, were forbidden from wearing clothes on the upper half of their bodies, and jewellery made of silver and gold. The purpose of this edict was to identify Avarnas, so that the Savarnas could maintain untouchability and unapproachability, but in the case of Avarna women it was too indecent to make her go half naked in public. If at all she had covered her bosom, she had to uncover it in the presence of an upper caste person.

Another royal proclamation of the ruler of Venmani derogates the Avarna woman outright as the object of pleasure for any man. The proclamation says if an Avama woman does not surrender herself to the passions of any man of her own caste or uppercaste, she is considered immoral and deserves the death sentence. Untouchability was only towards Avarna men, not women!.

The Avarna woman had no claim to chastity, or self respect. Look at the stanza in “Bharatha Gatha”.

Aarana narimaarenniye yarume

Keralam thanniladiyayi

Charitryam sankichu nilka venda

(In Kerala, no woman, except the Brahmin, has to be concerned about chastity).

If a poor tenant got married, he had to surrender his bride to the Feudal Lord on the first night itself. Added to all these was the infamous “breast tax” imposed on Avarna women.

By the good sense of Rani Laxmi Bai of Travancore and the British interference, these beastly uncivilized rules were revoked by royal orders, in 1851. but the women continued to be illiterate, ignorant and slavish. She had no voice, no individuality and no identity of her own. 

This is the seen that Narayana Guru saw from the pinnacle of Advaithic Vision.

What he had experienced through withdrawal and meditation is an exultation of the Self into the Absolute – The Eternal Existence or Universal Consciousness. To a person who has identified himself with the Universal Consciousness, the suffering of another person is his own suffering and a blemish on the Universal Consciousness. Narayana Guru saw around him humanity suffering from untold miseries caused by poverty, ignorance, superstitions, religious dogmas which defile human dignity, and atrocities and blunders in the name of tradition. To him all these appeared as “blemishes” on the purity of the Universal Consciousness. As a person who has identified himself with the Universal Consciousness, he took it upon himself the unlimited responsibility of removing all these blemishes. In other words, the Brahmajnani became A Jnani of Action, to uplift the downtrodden people and ease their suffering. In this great “Yagna” his contribution to the Emancipation of Women is the topic I have taken up to discuss.

In these modern days of feminism, demands for women’s empowerment, and the Women’s Reservation Bill dangling in the air, this topic is quite relevant. What the Guru has done for women’s advancement almost hundred years ago, is something radical, and fundamental, the first step for a never ending journey of progress ie., the education of women. A Chinese proverb says that even the longest journey starts with a first step.

The UN Declaration of The Elimination of Discrimination against Women came only in 1967. The 9th Section of this says, “All necessary steps are to be taken to ensure that girls and women, whether married or unmarried, have equal rights (as men) to education in all fields”.

About 55 years earlier to this declaration the Guru had given instructions to the volunteers of SNDP(Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam), about education, through Vivekodayam.

“……… Tell them (people) that hereafter there should be no Ezhava male or female without at least primary education…….”

In a letter to the Vignana Vardhini Sabha, a leading socio-cultural and literary organization of the day, the Guru had said, “……. In the society, not only men, but also women must be educated. Do not neglect them in such matters…….”

Three points emerge from these statements.

1) He did not discriminate between men and women. He considered them integral parts of the society with equal status and responsibilities.

2) The Guru had understood, much before the UN had thought about it, that the liberation of any society is complete, only if the women are emancipated. This emancipation does not mean liberation from male domination, but liberation from the different social forces that curb her freedom and stunts her individuality.

3) Education is the only means to emancipate women.

Those were the days when the women of Kerala were pushed aside to the confines of kitchen and child-bearing, nursing the sick, and serving the men. While many orthodox families thought that education for a girl was an unwanted luxury, some others felt that education would spoil her morals. Into such a society, Narayana Guru introduced the revolutionary idea of educating the girl child. It was shocking and shaking the foundations of tradition.

So, when the volunteers of SNDP went from door to door to implore the parents to send their girls to school, the elders had a sceptic look. But the Guru developed an effective technique. Well-to-do households with good social status among the Avarnas were approached first. Of course, the volunteers had to face first a firm refusal from the parents, who slowly relented to a stage of hesitation, and finally gave silent approval. When girls from such homes started going to school, the common people had no hesitation. They readily sent their girls to school.

Schools sprang up, and girls started going to school in large numbers. The trickle became a torrent. Then, higher education became a problem. At that time, colleges were established only in Trivandrum and Cochin. The Avarna girls were legally permitted admission to Government Women’s hostels. But rooms, kitchens and dining rooms in the hostels were separated on caste basis. Because of this discrimination even well-to-do Avarna families did not send their girls for higher education. The Guru understood the problem and found a solution for it. The Solution was “Sree Narayana Vidyarthini Sadanam”.

He invited his able and efficient disciple Smt. T.V. Narayani Amma, gave her a soverign with blessings, and instructed her to start a hostel for Avarna Girls at Trivandrum. Following the Guru’s instructions, Smt. Narayani Amma started SNV Sadanam, in a small rented building in Trivandrum. From that simple beginning, the SNV Sandanam has grown today to a very big establishment which houses hundreds of girl students and working women without any caste or religious discrimination.

A similar institution was started at Ernakulam also, under the leadership of Tapaswini Amma, with the help of Panavalli Krishnan Vaidyar and K.P. Karuppan Master.

When the Guru visited Madurai it seems he had instructed eminent men like George Joseph (Editor of Young India) to start a similar institution in Madurai.

SPIRITUALITY OF WOMEN:

The Second revolutionary declaration for the emancipation of women is in Stanza 260 of Sree Narayana Dharma. In this he permits. Sanyasadeeksha to women

Shantyadi Saadhanavathi

Nityanitya Vivekini

Viraktibharitha Yoshith

Pumvath Sanyasamarhathi

(A women who is desirous of peace and salvation, and has the wisdom and ability to distinguish between good and evil, and total detachment from worldly affairs is eligible to receive Sanyasadeeksha.)

The revolutionary nature of this declaration becomes evident when viewed in contrast with what the smrithis and shrutis have ordained for women. Per haps during the Vedic period the women must have enjoyed equality and equal opportunity for education as exemplified by philosophers like Maitreyi and Gargi. They had access to the highest knowledge of the Absolute or Brahman. However this liberal attitude changed in course of time. The scriptures were given new interpretations and women came to be considered inferior to men, both physically and mentally. They women were forbidden from reading and even listening to the scripture ( Vedas) and entering some places of worship (Some religions believed that a soul exists only in a man not in a women) The Guru, born as a Hindu and well versed in Hindu scriptures had perceived the degradation of women in Hinduism in this basic in equality. As a true religions reformer, he brushed it aside and granted the women fundamental equality with men through this declaration. (The story of Amba in Mahabharat, the arguments against her taking up Sanyasa in Parasuram’s Ashram, will make an interesting study – refer “Bharataparyatanam” by Kutti Krishna Marar).

A stanza from his short poem “Ashramam” shows Guru’s unified vision of integrating the spiritual and the temporal for the emancipation of women.

Yadvada thrive thadvaccha

Streenam pumsam prudhak prudhak

Vidyalaya dishi dishi

Kriyantham ashramam sadda

(For men and women, separate educational institutions and Ashramams are to be started in all places wherever possible).

Schools and Ashramas are equally important for the allround development of a human being – man or woman.

Two women who had first received Sanyasadeeksha are Swamini Juothirmayi Mata, and Swamini Amrutha Matha.

Matha Jyotirmayi had received sanyasadeeksha from Guru Nitya Chaithanya Yati and started Mangala Bharathi Ashram at Thotuva, Ernakulam Dist. in 1984. The Ashram conducts regular study classes for women on the philosophy of the Guru and study camps for children. This Ashram is under Sree Narayana Gurukulam. All the functions of the Ashram are conducted under the direction and leadership of Sri Muni Narayana Prasad Swamy.

Sree Narayana Sevika Ashram at Palyathuruth in Ernakulam District, was established by the efforts of Swamini Amrutha Matha. Swamini Amrutha Matha was one of the first women to receive Sanyasadeeksha from Sivagiri. This Sevika Ashram was started for a special purpose.

While the Guru was in Ceylon in 1918, he published a message asking for the establishment of Dharmapalana mattoms for women. The message reads,

“……… There is need for establishing an institution like a convent, where girls can live and pursue their studies. The main objectives of these Dharmapalana Muttoms are to train girls in certain compulsory requirements like good character, good behaviour, knowledge of languages, expertise in child care, house keeping, nursing the sick, and handicrafts like stitching which are useful for house keeping. They must be trained in these, so that they would become the goddesses of prosperity of homes…….”

This Ashram at Palyathuruthu is the first institution to be stated to implement these principles. A “Brahmavidyalayam” to train the women as sanyasinis, has also started functioning here. It was one of the dreams of the Guru to get committed women ascetics to spread his messages. That dream is being fulfilled through this Brahmavidyalayam.

The crowning glory of all women’s organizations, is the Sree Narayana Sevika Samajam, and its Multipurpose Welfare Centre at Sree Narayana Giri, about 5 Km away from Aluva Advaithashram. The idea of forming the Samajam was the brainchild of Sahodaran Ayyappan, and Smt. Parvathi Ayyappan took up the responsibility of starting and developing the Multipurpose Welfare Centre, for the benefit of women. The location selected to house it was “Valmikikunnu”, a hillock sanctified by the foot-steps of the Guru. While living in Advaithashram, the Guru used to go on long walks, medidate and rest for a while on a block of stone on this hillock, watching the glory of nature around it. The stone on which the Guru sat, is still preserved here, as a holy spot of pilgrimage.

Though the Welfare Centre was started as a carehome for orphaned children, under the able guidance of Smt. Parvathi Ayyappan and other devoted sevikas, it has become a center of service and relief to the helpless.

Social Reformations:

A Third factor that contributed to the emancipation of women is some important social reformation measures adapted by the Guru.

In those days, a girl child was a financial burden to the parents, as there were four expensive rituals to be performed for the girl. The scale of celebration of these functions seemed to be the criterion for assessing a person’s status in the society. Families vied with one another is spending money for these functions and had gone bankrupt. Consequently the girl child was considered a curse.

The four function to be conducted were Minnukettu Kalyanam, a mock marriage, Thirandu Kalyanam – to declare a girl’s puberty, Podavakoda Kalyanam – Wedding, and Pulikudi Kalyanam – at the time of the first pregnancy.

The Guru strictly forbade three of these functions, except the wedding which he modernized. By stopping three expensive functions, the parents of the Girl child heaved a big sigh of relief as the girl child became less of a financial burden.

The modernization of marriages was a great social debut. The Guru insisted that the proposed bride and groom must be allowed to meet and talk to each other and understand each other, They have to find out by themselves whether they suit each other. The marriage has to be performed after getting their consent, in a very simple, inexpensive way.

This modernization of marriages served two purposes. It gave a fillip to the woman’s self respect. She was given the freedom to choose and exert her will. This is the greatest gist to the women. The parents were also happy because expenses were reduced.

Parallel organization:

Following the example of SNDP, Paralled organizations like Yogakshema Sabha, N.S.S and Sadhujana Paripalana Sabha etc were formed and introduced reformatory measures. The rule of primogeniture and morganatic marriages came to be abolished

The Change in the Society:

After the Guru administered the supreme panacea of education, spirituality and social reformation measures there is a magical transformation in the women. The women developed an identity, individuality, dignity, and a voice of her own, and gained a respectable place in the society.

The change is reflected in the literature of 20th Century. From 13th to 19th C, the poets of Kerala (mostly Manipravalam) described only the physical charms of a woman. The heroines of Unniyadi Charitam, Unnu Neeli Sandesam, Unnichirutevi Charitam, Chandrotsavam etc., have only one character, a beautiful body, to give pleasure to the man. The had no mind or soul. This mind and soul which was absent in the women characters, were re-invested in them in the imaginative creations of Kumaran Asan. Asan’s heroines, Nalini, Leela, Savitri, Seetha, Chandalika and even Vasavadatta emerge as women with not body alone, but mind and soul also, who are capable of analyzing and expressing situations in life in philosophical light. They are ideal women conceived in the mind of the poet, influenced by the vision of Sree Narayana Guru.

THE IDEAL WOMAN - The Vision of Sree Narayana Guru

To conclude the paper, it becomes necessary to look at the picture of the ideal woman, as envisaged by the Guru. The statement made by the Guru from Ceylon says that girls must be trained to become goddesses of prosperity for homes. In a poem by the Guru “Bharya Dharmam” (Duties of a Wife) he gives utmost importance to the lady of the house. A woman having qualities suitable to her home, and capable of controlling the expenses to be within the income limit, will be a support to the man of the house. She is expected to be virtuous, chaste, loving and respectful to her husband. It is her duty to look after herself and preserve the name and fame of the family. Such a woman will be respected not only by the husband but also by the gods. The prosperity of the home and the well – being of the children depend on the qualities of the lady of the house.

This poem has to be viewed in the framework of the social conditions of the day. As the title of the poem indicates, this is a home oriented vision of a woman. The ideas are similar to those in Thirukkural. In those days, when the woman was confined to the house, the accepted role of a wife was that of a glorified servant. But Narayana Guru elevates the wife to a high pedestal, as the financial controller of home, the custodian of the reputation of the family, the defender of herself, and the dispensor of destinies of all the members of the family. If the man is the bread- winner, she is the home- maker and commands his respect, as her role is equally responsible and respectable. In the social set up of those days, this picture of the ideal wife must have appeared like a revolutionary outburst.

The women in general are career-conscious now, and they are willing and ready to take up any challenging career. The women of Kerala are certainly in the forefront in this. But the Avarna women of Kerala should realize that, they are what they are now, because of Narayana Guru. It was he who kindled the light of knowledge and opened the doors of the school to their grand mothers or great grand mothers. This seed of revolution – women’s education – which he had sown, had grown and borne fruit, which the modern women harvest as “Women’s Empowerment”. They should not forget their benefactor and the rich legacy which he had bestowed on them.

Smt. Sathya Bai Sivadas

Author of “Sree Narayana Guru, The Practical Philosopher” & Sree Narayana Guru, The Social Philosopher of Kerala”.

Paper presented at The Conference on Education and Organization as the part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebration of Sivagiri Theerthadanam

- By Sree Narayana Mandira Samithi, Mumbai on 16-12-07.

നിത്യചൈതന്യയതി ദര്‍ശനങ്ങളിലൂടെ നടന്ന ബഹുമുഖപ്രതിഭ രാജേഷ് കാവുംപാടം

വ്യത്യസ്ത ആശയങ്ങളിലൂടെ നടക്കുന്നവരുടെ ഒത്തുചേരലായിരുന്നു നിത്യ ചൈതന്യ യതിയുടെ സൗഹൃദങ്ങള്‍. മതങ്ങള്‍ വരച്ചിടാത്ത ആത്മീയതയിലും ശ്രീനാരായണ ദര്‍ശനത്തിലും അഗാധമായ അറിവുണ്ടായിരുന്ന ആത്മീയാചാര്യനും തത്ത്വചിന്തകനുമായിരുന്നു ഗുരു നിത്യ ചൈതന്യ യതിക്ക് ലോകത്തിന്റെ നാനാഭാഗത്തും ശിക്ഷ്യന്മാരുടെ നീണ്ട നിരയുണ്ട് എന്നത് തന്നെയാണ് അദ്ദേഹത്തെ മറ്റ് പണ്ഡിതന്മാരില്‍നിന്നും വ്യത്യസ്തനാക്കുന്നത്.

വിദ്യാര്‍ഥിയായിരുന്ന കാലത്ത് ക്ലാസില്‍വെച്ചുണ്ടായിരുന്ന അനുഭവം വായിച്ചാല്‍ മാത്രം മതി യതിയുടെ ദര്‍ശനം ലളിതമായി മനസിലാക്കാന്‍. ജയചന്ദ്രപ്പണിക്കര്‍ എന്നായിരുന്നു അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ പേരെങ്കിലും സന്യാസം സ്വീകരിച്ചതോടെ യതിയായി മാറുകയായിരുന്നു. ശ്രീനാരായണഗുരുവിന്റെ ആശയങ്ങളുടെ പ്രചാരകനും പ്രയോക്താവുമായിരുന്ന നടരാജഗുരുവിനു ശേഷം ശ്രീനാരായണ ദര്‍ശനങ്ങള്‍ പഠിപ്പിക്കാനും പ്രചരിപ്പിക്കാനും സ്ഥാപിച്ച നാരായണ ഗുരുകുലത്തിന്റെ തലവനായിരുന്നു യതി. സന്ന്യാസിയായിരുന്നെങ്കിലും വിവിധ മതപണ്ഡിതന്മാരുടെ ഇടയില്‍ യതിയുടെ പഠനങ്ങള്‍ക്കും ദര്‍ശനങ്ങള്‍ക്കും വലിയ പ്രാധാന്യമുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ‘ഭൗതികം, ആദ്ധ്യാത്മികം, സാമൂഹികം, സമ്പദ് വ്യവസ്ഥ, വിദ്യാഭ്യാസം, ആരോഗ്യശാസ്ത്രം, സാഹിത്യം, സംഗീതം, ചിത്രകല, വാസ്തുശില്പം തുടങ്ങി ഒട്ടേറെ വിഷയങ്ങളില്‍ അദ്ദേഹം പാണ്ഡിത്യം നേടുകയും പഠിപ്പിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. പ്രാചീന കാലഘട്ടം, മദ്ധ്യകാലഘട്ടം, ആധുനിക കാലഘട്ടം തുടങ്ങിയ വിവിധ കാലഘട്ടങ്ങളിലെ ദര്‍ശനങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ച് യതി പഠനം നടത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.

പത്തനംതിട്ട ജില്ലയിലെ വകയാറില്‍ 1924 നവംബര്‍ 2നാണ് ജയചന്ദ്രപ്പണിക്കര്‍ ജനിച്ചത്. ഹൈസ്‌കൂള്‍ മെട്രിക്കുലേഷനു ശേഷം വീടുവിട്ട് സാധുവിനെപ്പോലെ ‘ഭാരതത്തിലുടനീളം അലഞ്ഞു തിരിഞ്ഞു. ഇന്ത്യയിലെയും പാകിസ്താനിലെയും ബംഗ്ലാദേശിലെയും മിക്കവാറും എല്ലാ സ്ഥലങ്ങളിലും അദ്ദേഹം സഞ്ചരിച്ചു. ഈ യാത്രക്കിടെ ഗാന്ധിജിയുമായും പ്രശസ്തരായ നിരവധി വ്യക്തികളുമായും അടുത്ത് ഇടപഴകാനും അവരില്‍നിന്ന് ധാരാളം കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ പഠിക്കാനും അദ്ദേഹത്തിനു കഴിഞ്ഞു. രമണ മഹര്‍ഷിയില്‍ നിന്നാണ് നിത്യ ചൈതന്യ എന്ന പേരില്‍ സന്ന്യാസം സ്വീകരിച്ചത്.

സൂഫി ഫക്കീറുമാര്‍, ജൈന സന്ന്യാസികള്‍, ബുദ്ധമത സന്യാസിമാര്‍, രമണ മഹര്‍ഷി തുടങ്ങി വളരെപ്പേരുമായി അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്‍ അടുത്ത ബന്ധമുണ്ടായിരുന്നു.

പലസ്ഥലങ്ങളിലും സഞ്ചരിച്ചശേഷം കേരളത്തില്‍ തിരിച്ചെത്തിയ അദ്ദേഹം 1947ല്‍ ആലുവ യു സി കോളേജില്‍ തത്ത്വശാസ്ത്രം പഠനത്തിനായി ചേര്‍ന്നു.

അതിനു ശേഷം തിരുവനന്തപുരം യൂണിവേഴ്‌സിറ്റി കോളേജില്‍ തത്വശാസ്ത്രവും മനശാസ്ത്രവും പഠിച്ചു. പഠനത്തിനു ശേഷം അദ്ദേഹം കൊല്ലം ശ്രീനാരായണാ കോളേജ് , ചെന്നൈ, (മദ്രാസ്സ് )വിവേകാനന്ദാ കോളേജ് എന്നിവിടങ്ങളില്‍ അദ്ധ്യാപകനായിരുന്നു. ഈ സമയത്ത് വേദാന്തം, സാംഖ്യം, യോഗം വിദ്യ, മീമാംസ, പുരാണങ്ങള്‍, സാഹിത്യം എന്നിവ പഠിച്ചു. നടരാജ ഗുരുവിന്റെ മരണത്തിനു ശേഷം നാരായണ ഗുരുകുലത്തിന്റെ അധിപസ്ഥാനം ഏറ്റെടുക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. നാരായണ ഗുരുകുലത്തിന്റെ ദൈനം ദിന പ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങളിലും ശിഷ്യരെ സ്വന്തം കര്‍മമാര്‍ഗം തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുവാന്‍ വഴികാട്ടുന്നതിലും ഗുരു അവസാന നാളുകള്‍ വരെയും വ്യാപൃതനായിരുന്നു.

അദൈ്വത വേദാന്തത്തിന്റെയും ‘ഭാരതീയ തത്വശാസ്ത്രത്തിന്റെയും ഒരു പ്രമുഖ വക്താവായിരുന്നു നിത്യ ചൈതന്യ യതി. ശ്രീനാരായണ ഗുരുവിന്റെ ആത്മീയ ശൃംഖലയില്‍ മൂന്നാമനായ നിത്യ ചൈതന്യ യതി കവിയും ചിന്തകനും മനശാസ്ത്ര വിദഗ്ദ്ധനും എഴുത്തുകാരനുമായിരുന്നു.

ശ്രീനാരായണ ഗുരു, നടരാജ ഗുരു, നിത്യ ചൈതന്യ യതി, എന്നീ മൂന്നു ദാര്‍ശനികര്‍ ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ആത്മാവ്, ചിന്ത എന്നിവയെ സാധാരണക്കാരനു മനസ്സിലാവുന്ന ‘ഭാഷയില്‍ പ്രകാശിപ്പിച്ചു. തത്ത്വശാസ്ത്രം, മനശാസ്ത്രം, സൗന്ദര്യ ശാസ്ത്രം, സാമൂഹികാചാരങ്ങള്‍ എന്നിവയെ കുറിച്ച് മലയാളത്തില്‍ 120 പുസ്തകങ്ങളും ഇംഗ്ലീഷില്‍ 80 പുസ്തകങ്ങളും രചിച്ചു. ബ്രഹ്മ വിദ്യയുടെ ഈസ്റ്റ് വെസ്റ്റ് സര്‍വകലാശാല ചെയര്‍പേര്‍സണായും ലോക പൗരന്മാരുടെ ലോക ഗവണ്‍മെന്റ്’ എന്ന സംഘടനയുടെ മേല്‍നോട്ടക്കാരനായും പ്രവര്‍ത്തിച്ചു. 1999 മേയ് 14നു ഊട്ടിയിലെ തന്റെ ആശ്രമത്തില്‍ താമസിക്കുമ്പോഴാണ് യതി വിടപറഞ്ഞത്.

ഭഗവദ്ഗീത, മഹര്‍ഷി വ്യാസന്റെ ഒരു നിശ്ശബ്ദ പ്രാര്‍ത്ഥന, ബൃഹദാരണ്യകോപനിഷദ്, ഏകലോകാനുഭവം, പ്രേമവും അര്‍പ്പണവും, ഇതോ അതോ അല്ല ഓം, നാരായണഗുരുവിന്റെ ആത്മോപദേശശതകത്തെ ആസ്പദമാക്കിയ നൂറു ധ്യാനങ്ങള്‍, ദര്‍ശനമാലയുടെ മനശാസ്ത്രം, അതുമാത്രം, ജ്ഞാനത്തിന്റെ ഉറവിടം, ആത്മോപദേശശതകത്തിന് ഒരു അടിക്കുറിപ്പ്, പ്രേമവും അനുഗ്രഹങ്ങളും, ഭാരതീയ മനശാസ്ത്രത്തിന് ഒരു ആമുഖം, ഭാരതീയ മനശാസ്ത്രം, യതിചരിതം, ആത്മകഥ, സ്‌നേഹസംവാദം, മരണം എന്ന വാതിലിനപ്പുറം, വിശുദ്ധ ഖുര്‍ആന് ഹൃദയാഞ്ജലി, ലാവണ്യനുഭവവും സൗന്ദര്യനുഭൂതിയും എന്നിവയാണ് അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ പ്രധാന പുസ്തകങ്ങള്‍.

ദർശനമാല

ശ്രീനാരായണഗുരു രചിച്ച ഒരു ദാർശനിക കൃതിയാണ് ദർശനമാല. സംസ്കൃത ഭാഷയിൽ രചിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള ഈ കൃതിയിൽ 10 ശ്ലോകങ്ങൾ വീതമുള്ള 10 ഭാഗങ്ങളാണുള്ളത്. ഏറ്റവും ഗഹനവും കൈവല്യസിദ്ധി പ്രദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നതുമായ അദ്വൈത സിദ്ധാന്തമാണ് ഈ കൃതിയിലൂടെ ഗുരുദേവൻ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്. വിഭിന്ന മതങ്ങൾ വർണിച്ച്, അവയോരോന്നും ഒന്നൊന്നായി നിരാകരിച്ച് സ്വമതം സ്ഥാപിക്കുന്ന പാരമ്പര്യരീതിയിൽനിന്നു വ്യത്യസ്തമായി വിഭിന്ന മതങ്ങളുടെ താത്ത്വിക സമന്വയത്തിലൂടെ അദ്വൈതസിദ്ധാന്തത്തെ അരക്കിട്ടുറപ്പിക്കുന്നു ദർശനമാല.

അധ്യാരോപദർശനം, അപവാദദർശനം എന്നീ ആദ്യഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ ബ്രഹ്മമാണ് സത്യമെന്നും ജഗത്ത് മിഥ്യയാണെന്നും സമർഥിക്കുന്നു. ജഗത്തിന്റെ ഉദ്ഭവത്തെപ്പറ്റി പറയുന്നത് ഇങ്ങനെയാണ്:

“ ആസീദഗ്രേ സദേവേദം ഭുവനം സ്വപ്നവത്പുനഃ

സസർജസർവം സങ്കല്പമാത്രേണ പരമേശ്വരഃ ”

(സൃഷ്ടിക്കപ്പെടുന്നതിനുമുമ്പ് ഈ ജഗത്ത് സത്ത് മാത്രമായിരുന്നു. നാമരൂപങ്ങളില്ലാതെ സത്സ്വരൂപം മാത്രമായിരുന്നു. തുടർന്ന് ഈശ്വരൻ സ്വപ്നപദാർഥങ്ങളെപ്പോലെ എല്ലാറ്റിനെയും സൃഷ്ടിച്ചു. സ്വപ്നങ്ങൾ സങ്കല്പങ്ങൾക്കെന്നപോലെ സങ്കല്പമാണ് സ്വപ്നപ്രപഞ്ചത്തിനും കാരണം). ഇതുതന്നെ വീണ്ടും

“ പ്രാഗുത്പത്തേരിദം സ്വസ്മിൻ നിലീനമഥ വൈസ്വതഃ

ബീജാദങ്കുരവത് സ്വസ്യശക്തിരേവാസൃജത് സ്വയം ”

എന്ന ശ്ലോകത്തിലും (ഉത്പത്തിക്കുമുമ്പ് ജഗത്ത് ഈശ്വരനിൽ നിലീനമായിരുന്നു. തുടർന്ന് വിത്തിൽനിന്ന് മുളപൊട്ടുന്നതുപോലെ ഈശ്വരനിൽനിന്ന് ജഗത്സൃഷ്ടിയും നടന്നു) വർണിക്കുന്നു. അധ്യാരോപ ദർശനത്തിൽ യാതൊരുവനിൽ നിന്നാണോ ഈ പ്രപഞ്ചം ഉദ്ഭവിച്ചത് അവൻ വിഷ്ണുവാണ്, ശിവനാണ്, പരനാണ്, അവനാണ് ബ്രഹ്മം, അഥവാ എല്ലാറ്റിനും മീതേയുള്ള പരമാത്മാവ് എന്നാണ് ഉപദേശിക്കുന്നത്. ആര് പ്രപഞ്ചത്തെ ഇവിടെ ഒന്നിനോടൊന്നു വേർപെട്ടതായി പലതെന്ന മട്ടിൽ ദർശിക്കുന്നുവോ അവൻ മൃത്യുവിൽനിന്ന് മൃത്യുവിനെ പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു (സംസാരസാഗരത്തിലകപ്പെട്ട് ഉഴലുന്നു) എന്ന ശ്ലോകത്തോടെ അപവാദ ദർശനം സമാപിക്കുന്നു.

തുടർന്ന് അസത്യ ദർശനമാണ്. ജഗത്ത് അസത്യമാണെന്നും ജഗത്തായി ഭവിക്കുന്നതു മുഴുവനും മനോമയമാണെന്നും ഇതിൽ സ്ഥാപിക്കുന്നു.

“ സങ്കല്പ കല്പിതം ദൃശ്യം സങ്കല്പോയത്ര വിദ്യതേ

ദൃശ്യം തത്രച നാന്യത്ര കുത്രചിദ്രജ്ജുസർപ്പവത് ”

(സങ്കല്പത്താൽ കല്പിക്കപ്പെട്ടതാണ് ഈ ജഗത്ത്. എന്തു കൊണ്ടെന്നാൽ യാതൊരിടത്ത് രജ്ജുസർപ്പംപോലെ സങ്കല്പം ഉണ്ടോ അവിടെ മാത്രമേ ദൃശ്യവും ഉള്ളൂ. കയറു കാണുമ്പോഴേ പാമ്പാണെന്നുള്ള തോന്നൽ ഉണ്ടാകുന്നുള്ളൂ.)

അടുത്തത് മായാദർശനമാണ്. മായയുടെ തത്ത്വമാണ് ഇതിൽ നിരൂപണം ചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്നത്. 'ന വിദ്യതേ യാ സാ മായാ' എന്ന ലക്ഷണം മായയുടെ സത്തയെ നിഷേധിക്കുന്നു. ഒരു കുടത്തിന്റെ ഉത്പത്തിക്കു മുമ്പുള്ള ഭാവം മണ്ണെന്നതുപോലെ ജഗത്സൃഷ്ടിക്കുമുമ്പുള്ള ഭാവം ബ്രഹ്മമാണ്; മറ്റൊന്നില്ല. ഇല്ലാത്തത് ഇല്ലാത്തതുതന്നെ ആണെന്നും, ഉള്ളതാകട്ടെ ഉണ്മതന്നെ എന്നുമുള്ള അറിവാണ് വിദ്യ. ആത്മാവ് മാത്രമേ സത്യമായിട്ടുള്ളൂ എന്നും അനാത്മാവായ ജഗത്ത് ഇല്ലാത്തതാണെന്നുമുള്ള അറിവ് വിദ്യകൊണ്ട് സിദ്ധിക്കുന്നു.

മായയുടെ മറ്റൊരു ഭേദമായ അവിദ്യ ഭ്രമമാണ്. ആത്മാവ് ഇല്ലാത്തതാണെന്ന തോന്നൽ അവിദ്യകൊണ്ടാണ് ഉണ്ടാകുന്നത്. തമസ്സ് അഥവാ അജ്ഞാനം മായയുടെ മൂന്നാമത്തെ ഭേദമാണ്. ആത്മാവിൽ പ്രപഞ്ചം സങ്കല്പിക്കപ്പെടുന്നത് അജ്ഞാനത്താലാണ്.

ഭാനദർശനമാണ് അഞ്ചാമത്തേത്. പണ്ഡിതന്മാരാൽ വളരെയേറെ പ്രശംസിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുള്ള ഭാഗമാണിത്. 'ഭാനം' എന്നാൽ പ്രതീതി (തോന്നൽ) ആണ്. ഇത് സ്വതവേ ചാഞ്ചല്യാവസ്ഥയാണ്. ഭാനത്തിന് സാമാന്യം, വിശേഷം എന്നിങ്ങനെ രണ്ടു ഭേദങ്ങളും, സാമാന്യത്തിന് സ്ഥൂലം, സൂക്ഷ്മം, കാരണം, തുര്യം എന്ന് നാല് ഭേദങ്ങളും കല്പിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഇവ യഥാക്രമം ജാഗ്രത്ത്, സ്വപ്നം, സുഷുപ്തി, സമാധി എന്നീ അവസ്ഥകളിലാണുണ്ടാകുന്നത്. ഞാൻ ബ്രഹ്മം തന്നെയാണെന്ന അറിവ് സമാധിയിലാണ് സാക്ഷാത്കരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നത്. ഈ അവസ്ഥ തുര്യം എന്ന് അറിയപ്പെടുന്നു.

തുടർന്ന് കർമദർശനമാണ്. അരൂപിയും അസംഗനും സ്വപ്രകാശനുമാണ് ബ്രഹ്മമെങ്കിലും മായാബലത്താൽ പല രൂപത്തിൽ, പലതരം കർമങ്ങളിൽ വ്യവഹരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. ഇതിനെയാണ് ഈ ഭാഗത്തിൽ വർണിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളത്. അടുത്തതായി വരുന്ന ജ്ഞാനദർശനത്തിൽ 'സത്യംജ്ഞാനമനന്തം ബ്രഹ്മം' എന്ന തത്ത്വദർശനം ആഖ്യാനം ചെയ്യപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. ആത്മജ്ഞാനംകൊണ്ടു മാത്രമേ അനശ്വരവും നിത്യനിരാമയവുമായ കൈവല്യപ്രാപ്തി ലഭ്യമാവുകയുള്ളൂ എന്നാണ് ഗുരു അരുളിച്ചെയ്തത്.

“ ഓം തത് സദിതി നിർദിഷ്ടം ബ്രഹ്മാത്മൈക്യമുപാഗതം

കല്പനാദിവിഹീനം യത്തദ് പരമംജ്ഞാനമീര്യതേ ”

(ഓം, തത്, സത് എന്നിങ്ങനെ മൂന്ന് തരത്തിൽ ശ്രുതിയാൽ നിർദേശിക്കപ്പെട്ടതും തത്ത്വമസി മഹാവാക്യത്തിലൂടെ പ്രതിപാദിക്കപ്പെട്ടതുമായ ജീവ ബ്രഹ്മ ഐക്യരൂപത്തിലുള്ള യാതൊരു ജ്ഞാനമാണോ ഉള്ളത് അതാണ് പരമമായ ജ്ഞാനം).

ആധ്യാത്മിക ചിന്തയിൽ ഭക്തിക്കുള്ള സ്ഥാനത്തെപ്പറ്റി വിശകലനം ചെയ്യുന്ന ഭക്തിദർശനത്തിൽ ആത്മാഭിമുഖമായ ധ്യാനത്തെപ്പറ്റി വിശദീകരിക്കുന്നു. അടുത്ത യോഗദർശനത്തിൽ നാമരൂപാത്മകമായ ഈ പ്രപഞ്ചമാകെ ബ്രഹ്മം തന്നെയാണ് എന്നുള്ള ബോധം തെളിയുന്നതോടെ മനസ്സ് ബ്രഹ്മത്തിൽ വിലയം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നതിനെയാണ് വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്. 'യോഗശ്ചിത്തവൃത്തിനിരോധഃ' എന്ന പാതഞ്ജലസൂത്രം ഇവിടെ അർഥവത്താകുന്നു. മനസ്സ് വാസനാബലത്താൽ ഓരോന്നിന്റെ പുറകേ പോകാതെ ബലമായി നിരോധിച്ച് ആത്മാവിൽത്തന്നെ ഉറപ്പിക്കുകയാണ് യോഗം. യോഗസംസിദ്ധിക്കായി ഗുരുദേവൻ ഖേചരീ മുദ്രയെപ്പറ്റിയും പ്രതിപാദിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഭ്രൂമധ്യത്തിൽ ദൃഷ്ടിയെ ഉറപ്പിച്ച് നാവിന്റെ അഗ്രം വളച്ച് ഉൾനാക്കിന്റെ അറ്റത്ത് മുകളിലായി ഉറപ്പിച്ച് ധ്യാനത്തിൽ ലയിക്കുന്നതിനെയാണ് ഖേചരീമുദ്ര എന്നു വിശേഷിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്.

അവസാനത്തെ ഭാഗമായ നിർവാണദർശനത്തിൽ സംസാരദുഃഖത്തിന്റെ മറുകര കടന്നെത്തേണ്ട ആത്യന്തിക ശാന്തിയായ മോക്ഷത്തെയും അതിന്റെ ഫലമായി ലഭിക്കുന്ന സ്വരൂപാനന്ദത്തെയും പ്രതിപാദിക്കുന്നു. ബ്രഹ്മമല്ലാതെ മറ്റൊന്നുമില്ല എന്ന അദ്വൈത വേദാന്തത്തിന്റെ പരമപവിത്രമായ 'തത്ത്വമസി' മഹാവാക്യം സുലളിതമായി ആർക്കും ഗ്രഹിക്കാവുന്ന തരത്തിൽ ഉദാഹരണസഹിതം വിശദമാക്കുന്ന ദർശനമാല വേദാന്തസാഹിത്യത്തിന് ഒരു മുതൽക്കൂട്ടാണ്.

Author Unknown