Book Review | The Charisma of Narayana Guru
It was a fact that Narayana Guru was from Ezhava community, which was low in the hierarchical system dominated by the ruthless Brahmin orthodoxy of the time
Shashi Tharoor, the prolific author with a felicitous pen and a mind to tackle complex issues with rare clarity, has picked a surprise topic to focus his attention on. He has chosen to spotlight Kerala’s most famous spiritual guru who carried social reform into its caste-ridden society through the philosophical idealism of Advaita. In so doing he also shows the complex situations that Narayana Guru faced on the social and political fronts. And yet he did not shy away from the challenges of untidy reality about temple entry while abiding by his Advaita principles. Tharoor conveys the life events of the guru as well as the brilliant men of his time in Kerala like the great Malayalam poet Kumaran Asan whom he had attracted into his personal and spiritual circle.
The most beautiful lesson that Tharoor presents in a lucid manner is how Narayana Guru built temples to figures from the Hindu pantheon like Shiva and Subrahmanya and then went on to make temple icons or deities of abstract ideas, including making a mirror the deity in a temple which showed how the living principle of the universe resides in the worshipper himself or herself. It was a fact that Narayana Guru was from Ezhava community, which was low in the hierarchical system dominated by the ruthless Brahmin orthodoxy of the time. The first temple he consecrated was that of Shiva at Aruvippuram in 1888 at age 33 in the face of Brahmin refusal to consecrate the Shiva linga. And the temples he had built were kept open to people of all faiths, even while he built many of them across the state as a means of crating spiritual havens for the Ezhavas. His method of social reform was not rebellion against an unjust system but a constructive message of universalism.
He did not confine himself to building temples. He was convinced that education was the most important tool for social change and along with the temples came educational institutions. And he emphasised personal hygiene and cleanliness. He had also acquired knowledge of Ayurveda and Tamil traditions of the medicinal properties of the herbs in the surroundings.
Tharoor deftly handles the political overtones that have crept into the Ezhava community. The BJP and Hindutva advocates see Narayana Guru’s work as responsible for stopping Ezhavas and other oppressed sections of Kerala society from being converted to Christianity and Islam. But Tharoor counters this argument by pointing to the universalism implied in the guru’s spiritual message which imbued his social mission. In fact, Tharoor places Sree Narayana Guru right at the heart of the politics in Kerala. He presents the sage’s idealistic vision as one that cannot be obscured by partisan interpretations.
The Sage Who Reimagined Hinduism: The Life, Lessons and Legacy of Sree Narayana Guru
By Shashi Tharoor
Aleph
pp. 324; Rs 799