The real Guru
Who’s a Guru? S/he who can lead you from darkness to light is one. That
is, the Guru lifts you up to a steady-state level of pure happiness. Only the
real Guru can achieve this goal. However, a level lower than this must not be
shunned, as it still buoys you up. Teaching special kind of meditation
techniques, plugging into music and dance as a never-ending source of energy,
partaking in religious festivities without malice to anyone, counselling the
masses with simple lessons in wisdom for a stress-free living etc. are
certainly not bad but those methods cannot take you to the end-point, the
steady-state happiness. The Guru gives deeksha
to the disciple when s/he is ready which is essentially a special
purpose mantra. One has to contemplate on it day and night
till one gets completely purified. Then, Knowledge happens like the switching on
the electric bulb making one a liberated person. Since the world has changed a
lot, the modern-day Guru cannot give you a Sanskrit couplet for full time
review as both s/he and her/his disciples don several roles simultaneously. They
could be office-goers running the nine-to-five grind, professionals or even
manual-labourers. What you primarily need is an effortless path which could
guide you in times of need. The teaching can even be an ideology, the
practicing of which makes you increasingly pure. In fact, this is not a new
finding. The wisdom of the ancient sacred books says that the core of Dharma does not change. The
applicability does. We have to find new modus
operandi for those cardinal principles of righteousness in the changing (read
turbulent) times.
The protagonist of this write-up, Kunhikkannan connected spirituality to
resistance, i.e., for fighting against injustice. He lived a short life from 1885
to 1939 and travelled the length and breadth of Kerala almost all alone, mostly
to inaccessible places. He started schools in the most backward areas where
there was no drinking water, electricity or public roads. He didn’t have the
backing of the rich and the powerful. No community took him to their fold nor
did the Kings extend a helping hand. He was essentially a loner. Though he was
a firm believer, he was against all kinds of religious rigidities. He didn’t
see God in temples. Instead he saw Him in all creation. It was advaita in its purest form. It holds
good only if the practitioner maintains advaita
in all spheres of life. One cannot apply it in parts. (One cannot ask a chandala to get lost for clearing one’s
way. Advaita is seeing oneself in the
approaching chandala). In other words,
advaita should show through your
deeds. Its a subjective experience, no
doubt, the veracity of which can be cross-checked through your track-record!
Kunhikkannan never went to school. He had his basic education in
Sanskrit from his father and had a fairly good grasp of Hindu philosophy even by
his mid-teens. He left home at 15 and reached at Karapparamba, Kozhikode in
1906. Kunhikkannan, now famous as V.K. Gurukkal, started a school there which
admitted students irrespective of caste and social status. Simultaneously he began to fight against the bad
customs and superstitions of the Hindu religion. Caste system was his betenoir. He undertook lecture tours on
the strength of his riveting oratory and in-depth knowledge. He was becoming well-known
and was popularly known as Vagbhatananda. The soldier of Vagdevta (Saraswati), that is.
In plebian terms, it can be translated as one who employs the word as
his sword.
In 1914, he started a monthly magazine, Sivayogivilasam from Kozhikode.
That was just a precursor of many a periodical in the years to come.
Unfortunately all his publications ran into financial troubles and had to wind
up sooner or later. In Kerala, he was the first public figure to practice
journalism for the propagation of new-age Dharma.
In the midst of a hectic and strenuous
life, he managed all these. Perhaps he was the only non-resident
publisher-editor to work from distant hutments or by the side of a
thoroughfare. He was defining spirituality in his own unique way. Cultivation
of Love and practice of Selflessness were the only things mattered.
In 1917, he started Atmavidya
Sangham, comprised mostly of professionals and intellectuals. It was
instrumental in advancing the development of class organisation among peasants
of the region. He even started a labour co-operative named Uralungal in Malabar which happens to be the first of its kind in
India. (Still active, the 2000 member-strong worker-owned construction
cooperative builds large infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and
building complexes).
In 1921, he started a weekly publication named Abhinava Keralam in which he prescribed the panacea for all evils
of his times. The following couplet represents the core of his teachings.
ഉണരുവിൻ , അഖിലേശനെ സ്മരിപ്പിൻ
ക്ഷണമെഴുന്നേൽപ്പിൻ , അനീതിയോടെതിർപ്പിൻ.
Unaruvin, Akhilesane Smarippin
Kshanamezhunnelppin,
Aneethiyodethirppin
Wake up, Think of the Creator
Get ready fast, to fight against injustice.
Actually, this is the sum-total of both Upanishads and Bhagwat Gita.
Take karma for purifying
yourself. Karmayoga is just that. Behold
the underlying unity of things. Harbor no hatred. Go ahead and fight for
others. Against injustice.
The teaching is relevant even today. Looking around, we also see numerous
groups engaged in various forms of resistance often end up as miserable failures. The reason is not difficult to fathom. They
fail to see the underlying unity of things. Poor souls, they are blinded by
hate. All the hard work and commitment
go wasted.
How do you define violence at this juncture?
Though Vagbhatanda does not
elaborate on this point, we should be able to extrapolate from his philosophy. The
physical act of inflicting a wound which results in bloodshed need not always
be a part of violence. Take for example, the surgeon and the robber employing
knife for different end-results. If the knife is wielded with an intention to
hurt, it becomes an act of violence. The very same act turns noble if it aids a
person in mitigating his/her suffering.
A person who always desisted from causing physical pain to others need
not be a practitioner of non-violence. The element of hate is the deciding
factor. If a willful act, direct or indirect, causes physical or mental pain to
others, its violence exemplified. In the absence of hate, even if the act
involves pain and bloodshed, cannot be categorised as violence. To elaborate
this point, let us take the context of the war-field where Arjuna is locked in a fight against his first-cousins and gurus. As
a warrior, his duty is to fight making use of all the skills he acquired in the
most efficient way. There is no space for vulnerability. Arjuna has to spring up on his feet, sum up his guts and battle it
out like a true fighter. The horridness of war and fratricide get justified
where the interests of major stakeholders – the kingdom and the subjects here –
are taken into account. The positive
outcome of the war far outweighs its negative aftereffects. If Arjuna kills for protecting the unity of
life and remains equanimous (while doing it), even the act of killing purifies
him.
In a nutshell, Vagbhatananda
has answered the question -what is godliness? It does not depend on religious
customs and rituals. Madhavaseva
is Manava seva and vice versa. All your actions are to
be initiated with Him in mind, upholding Love. Everything is to be dedicated at
His Lotus-feet.
Vagbhatananda was a house holder. His wife used
to manage the running of schools. He was a Swami,
nevertheless. Vagbhadananda attained Samadhi
on 29th October 1939 at the age of 54.
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