Narayana Guru: The Prophet of Renaissance

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19th century India gave birth to a galaxy of great men. These men, who hailed from every part of India, not only met the challenge of Western Civilization successfully, but also gave rise to an era of rich creativity in every field of national life. Sri Narayan Guru was one in that galaxy of great men. Born in the erstwhile state of Travancore as a member of the depressed Ezhava community, he rose to supreme spiritual heights. Within the span of his own life time, he brought about a peaceful revolution in the condition of the downtrodden people of Kerala, an accomplishment rarely equalled; much less, surpassed. It was a remarkable achievement which has won for the Guru the unreserved appreciation of men like Tagore, Swami Shraddhananda and Mahatma Gandhi.

Narayan Guru, the Prophet of Renais- sance, by P. Parmeshwaran is the story of the inspiring life of the same great soul of our times. India's greatness lies in the fact that whenever social consciousness weakens, the dismay and despair escalate, there is an emergence of an August soul on the horizon with a new ray of hope and light. Narayan Guru, the great spiritual leader, philosopher and social reformer though talked about the modernity he also stressed upon the eternal significance of Bharatiya Sanskriti and ceaselessly worked for strengthening of social and cultural values. While he accentuated and underscored the role of education and science he exceedingly glorified the virtuous traditions of our thousand years old Sanatan Dharma. Narayan Guru researched Dharma and modified it in accordance with the changing times absolving it of outdated ideas and concepts. He campaigned against the irrational and illogical traditions, dogmas and reacquainted the nation with the Realm of Truth. And those were, certainly, not ordinary times! He waged a relentless war, on the strength of logic and pragmatism, against the discrimination and bigotry practised in the name of casteism in the contemporary society. Today, inspired and energised by the vision of Narayan Guru, the nation is earnestly serving the poor, dalits and less priveleged sections of society.

A biography of Sree Narayana Guru in English is much-needed, for there are hardly a couple of such in exis-tence. It is in a way strange that such an epoch-making per-sonality lived so close to our times and yet our countrymen know so little about him. Language indeed had been a barrier, but more than language, it has the parochialism and casteism in our thinking that is responsible for this deplorable state of affairs. Sree Narayana Guru was a great caste-breaker, but as irony of fate would have it, we have delight in entombing him within the prison walls of caste. However, the light that he shed and continues to shed is so dazzling that it cannot be shut up for long within man-made walls. The relevance of his message is so profound that humanity cannot turn a deaf ear to it, so much so that despite the passage of time, his life and mission are attracting mankind's attention more and more. That explains why the need is felt for a fresh biography of the great Guru in a language which can reach people far and wide, in India and abroad. Sree Narayana Guru was a unique phenomenon in many respects, yet there was so much in him which he shared in common with the great saintly reformers of his time. He was born in a downtrodden caste. He was not only an untouchable, but also an "unapproachable". In spite of the taboos of the times, he rose to such towering heights of spiritual attainment that even the high caste Brahmins paid bomage to him. His work was confined to Kerala and some neighbouring areas, but his message has a relevance far be-yond-it embraces all humanity He was steeped in ancient Hindu lore, but his vision touched the peaks of the distant future. He worked for the upliftment of the lowly and the neglected, but did so without evoking even the slightest bit-terness among different sections of the community. This he did at a time when social reformers all over the country led movements of mutual hatred and hostility. The book has been given the title "The Prophet of Re-naissance', because Sree Narayana Guru was one among those great men who heralded an era of renaissance in the history of India towards the second half of the nineteenth century. The title is particularly happy and appropriate when we consider his role in moulding the history of Kerala. The advent of Sree Narayana marked the beginning of a new epoch in that part of India. It was the beginning of a remarkable period of all-round development and progress for the state, embracing every field of social existence. From the despicable position of being considered a lunatic asylum, Kerala rose to the eminence of being one of the most enlightened States in India. The radical transformation was in a very large measure due to the influence exerted by the Guru, who infused courage and confidence among its vast sections of downtrodden people, made them stand on their own feet, and build their destiny. The biography of such a personality is bound to be of abiding interest to all sections of our enlightened population.

While books on the life and teachings of Sri Narayana Guru in the Malayalam language of Kerala are sufficiently large in number, they are not adequate in the English language.  This would not be a matter of serious regret, had the Guru been relevant only for the state of Kerala. However, the truth is that the life and work of this great teacher and awakener, in his approach, methods and results, is of utmost relevance as much to our nation as a whole, as to Kerala. And we can understand him and appreciate him best when he is viewed against the background of India's millennia of history, culture and religion, as well as the powerful forces of spiritual humanism released by her dynamic renaissance in the modern age. Such rewarding studies have been undertaken in the case of outstanding renaissance leaders like Swami Vivekananda. Shri P. Parameswaran's book is, to my knowledge, the first of its kind with respect to Sri Narayana Guru. This is an English translation of his Malayalam book Navotthanatthinte Pravacakan-Shri Narayana Guru Swamikal. English readers all over India as also abroad, will heartily welcome this publication for the insight it gives into the life of a personality, at once dynamic and gentle, creative and revolutionary. He combined in himself the roles of a saint and reformer, philosopher and educationist, humanist and poet, all under a mantle of utmost simplicity and naturalness. Sri Narayana Guru was born in what was then an under-privileged community, low in the Hindu caste hierarchy, namely, the Ezhavas, in 1854. By the time he passed away in 1928, the constructive and silent influence he wrought, peaked as it was by the powerful positive forces of the modern Hindu Renaissance, had transformed the social scene in Kerala. It was a transformation which continued to gather steady momentum, and which today, in 1979, makes that little state of the Indian Union foremost among our states in the achievement of human equality, dignity and social democracy. All this has been achieved thanks to the Guru's Adwaitic vision and passion, without generating and sustaining hostility in the under-privileged against the privileged, but by merely strengthening the under-privileged classes spiritually, socially, educationally, and economically. In this, we can see the pre-eminence of the positive and peaceful spiritual approach to social change and its relevance to our nation today, over the action-reaction methods, and the results of the merely political and social approaches current in other states in India. Bringing out this vital difference, Sri Parameswaran says (pp. 161-62): In fact, Sri Narayana Guru belonged to the long heritage of Hindu reformers like Sankara, Ramanuja, Chaitanya, Kabir, and Nanak. His method was the same as theirs and differed sharply from that of the modern reformers. And Swami Vivekananda has brought out this important difference in his speech, My Plan of Campaign. Says he: "The difference is this. They had not the fanfaronade of the reformers of today, they had no curses on their lips as modern reformers have; their lips pronounced only blessings.

P. Parameswaran Born in Thamarasseril Illam, Muhamma village in the Alappuzha district in the year 1927, P. Parameswaran, after his schooling at his birthplace, continued his studies at St. Berchmans Collage, Changanacherry and graduated from University College, Thiruvananthapuram with distinctions in BA (Hons), with a gold medal in History. P. Parameswaran, often referred to as Parameswarji, was a Pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He dedicated himself to the service of Bharath Matha (Mother India). He was the Director of Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram. He was also the President Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari. He took initiation from Ramakrishna Mission and was a close associate and disciple of Swami Agamananda, a social reformer and founder of Advaita Ashrama at Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Shankara. Parameswaran was a powerful orator, prolific writer, a patriotic poet, a humanist to the core, and guide and philosopher to thousands of swayamsevaks of this country. He was the editor of the Kesari Weekly and Manthan, the editor of the monthly Yuva Bharati, and the quarterly Vivekananda Kendra Patrika, He was also a recipient of Padma Shri in 2004, and Padma Vibhushan in 2018.