| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
NARAYANA GURU |
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| Uplifting
LiteratureNarayana Guru was a great scholar in
Samskrita. He wrote a number of books both in Samskrita and in Malayalam. 'Jati Mimamsa'
(an enquiry into caste), a poem in five stanzas is of great significance. It gives in a
nut-shell the Guru's philosophy of life. The first stanza is in Samskrita' The
rest of the stanza s are in Malayalam. The gist of the first stanza is as follows: "There is no reason for caste differences among human beings. All those who posses humanity are human beings. Just as there are different languages and different systems, though human beings seem to be different, there can be no reason for caste differences. Humanity is common to all." Thus the Guru did not recognize differences of caste. The gist of the second stanza is as follows: "One caste, one religion, one God for all the people of the world; one form and the same blood in all; I cannot find any differences." This teaches the equality of all human beings. It is another form of the teaching of the Brotherhood of Man (Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra). How this maxim should be practiced in life was explained by the Guru as follows : "Men may differ in their faiths, their languages and their modes of dressing; but there can be no evil in inter-dining and inter-marriage because all belong to the same kind o; creation." He practiced this in his own life. His aim was to build a society without caste distinctions. A message delivered by the Guru, on the occasion of the anniversary of Alwaye Ashram, is of great value in understanding the Guru's philosophy. It said: 'A man's religion is a matter of his personal belief. This naturally depends on the growth of the man's mind. It may, therefore, be said that each man has his own religion. All the religions of the world accept 'Atman'as the pith and core of religion. All the religions speak of Truth and Dharma. The aim of all is the same. Such being the truth why should people fight for their religions? This is indeed unwise. One should not lose one's peace of mind just because religions are different. Do not all people try hard to get happiness? Are there not differences in the clothes that men wear? Some like to grow beards, while others may like to have a clean-shaven face. Wise men do not quarrel over these things. Do not people speak different languages? In spite of such differences, are not all men alike? Why should men, therefore, hate one another because their religions are different? If people fight one another the only possible result is destruction. All men are of one Caste. Their Religion is one. Their God is one." |
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