| GURUDEV TAGORE, GANDHIJI AND SREE
NARAYANA GURU R. RAMDAS THAMPURAN |
Couretsy of http://www.voiceofsankara.com/bhavan/6a2000/gurudev.asp Tagore and Gandhiji are
recognised as the twin forces behind the resurgence of
modern Indian nationalism. Sree Narayana Guru lived
contemporaneously with these two; Narayana Guru was born
in 1854, Tagore in 1861 and Gandhiji in 1869. |
| While the activities
of Tagore and Gandhiji encompassed the whole of India and
even beyond, the work of Sree Narayana was confined
mainly to the South and particularly to kerala. |
| Gandhiji met Tagore
for the first time in the Year 1915 at Shanti Niketan and
their abiding friendship and mutual admiration endured
till the passing away of the latter in 1941. Gandhiji,
who initially thought of Tagore only as a great poet, had
to modify his opinion after coming into contact with the
philosopher in the latter, and used to address him as
Gurudev. Conversely, Tagore found that Gandhiji was not
just a political leader but a spiritual leader. |
| Pandit Nehru found it
difficult to comprehend, how there could be a link
between the two different and distinctive personalities -
one a philsopher-poet, soaring high in the rarefied
atmosphere of sublime poetry and the other, a true down-to-earth
Karmayogi, unceasingly fighting for the emancipation of
India from foreign rule. However, the aim of both these
great men was to restore the pristine glory of Mother
India and thus their unity of purpose was recognised by
Nehru. |
| The person who
attracted Gandhiji and Tagore to the South, was Sree
Narayana Guru. During the early years of the 20th
century, Sree Narayana had already established himself as
one of the foremost spiritual and social leaders of India.
His epoch-making "Siva Linga" installation on
March 11, 1888, in the concluding hours of holy
Sivaratri, had already shaken the orthodox hierarchy of
Travancore and given a tremendous boost to the self-respect
of the depressed classes in this State. Narayana Guru,
who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, completed a temple
for the Lord at Sivagiri (Varkala) near Trivandrum in
1908. Four years later, the installation of Goddess
Sarada was also performed at the same complex . Sivagiri
came to be known as "Dakshina Kasi" and it was
this holy place that attracted the attention of Gurudev
Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, in the second decade of the
present century. |
| It was on 22nd
November in 1922, that Tagore visited Sivagiri. At the
time of this visit, it is reported that Narayana Guru
showed a glimpse of his "Siddhi" by way of
precognition, to the devotees present at the ashram. The
famous poet, Kumaran Asan,was also present on the
occasion. The exact time of arrival of Tagore had been
intimated to the Swamiji. However, Sree Narayana Guru
remained behind closed doors in deep meditation and none
dared to disturb him. His disciples became restive but
soon a message arrived from the entourage of Tagore, that
their party would be late by half an hour. Exactly after
30 minutes, Tagore arrived and at that very moment,
Narayana Guru opened the door and welcomed Tagore.
Swamiji could possibly ascertain by his "divya
drishti" the exact time of arrival of Gurudev Tagore. |
| The two great men
conversed on many social and philosophic matters and
while leaving,Tagore recorded the following appreciation:
"I have been travelling all over the world meeting
many saints, siddhas and sages. However, I am yet to meet
anyone equal to Sree Narayana Guru in greatness and
saintliness. His yogic gaze towards eternity, his godly
bearing, the divine aura and many other tell-tale signs
of supernatural being, have made a deep and indelible
impression on my mind and I cherish these memories." |
| Meeting Gandhiji |
| Gandhiji’s
meeting with Narayan Guru in 1925 was more on the mundane
plane. However, its social impact was tremendous,
Gandhiji visited Travancore during the tumultuous "Vaikom
Satyagraha", which catapulted great social
revolutionaries like E.V.R. (Periyar) and Mannath
Padmanabhan into the political arena. While the former
was the guiding-light and the star attraction at the
epoch-making event, the latter was the commander-in-chief
of the entire campaign. Mahatma Gandhi lent his great
moral force in this path-breaking endeavour which was
aimed at eradicating untouchability and ensuring "temple
entry" to the depressed classes. |
| After participating in the Satyagraha, Gandhiji reached Siagiri on March11 and stayed with Narayana Guru for one day. The Place overflowed with devotees and admirers. They had extensive discussions on many wide-ranging social topics, including eradication of untouchablity, upliftment of Harijans, temple entry, removal of social barriers etc. Highly philosophical treatises were also discussed. Gandhiji was highly impressed by the rendering of ‘Daiva Dasakam’ of Sree Narayana by a few boys of what was considered to be the untouchable class. Incidentally, it has to be stated that while ‘Daiva Dasakam’ appears to be a simple and heartfelt prayer written in Malayalam, it is highly philosophic in content enshrining the highest truths of Advaita Vedanta. After learning the contents of this small "stotram", Gandhiji was amazed. He expressed the opinion that his South Indian trip found its true fulfillment only after meeting Sree Narayana Guru. Gandhiji participated in the public meeting at Sivagiri and the following day at Thiruvananthapuram and lavished praise on Sivagiri and Sree Narayana Guru. |