Vijayan also pointed out that Guru’s life and work is very relevant today as violence is being orchestrated by instigating religious sentiments. Guru was not merely a religious leader, he was a great humanist. His critics are also criticizing Vijayan that during his tenure as Chief Minister Hindus are being troubled. They give the example of Sabrimala where the ruling party decided to support the Supreme Court ruling of entry of even menstrual age women to the sacred temple. BJP spokespersons are up against Vijayan for insulting Sanatan Dharma in this instance also.

The debate around Sanatan seems to have come to the fore for the second time. First it came up when Dayanidhi Stalin spoke against Sanatan. BJP-RSS is stating that Santan can’t just be reduced to caste and Chaturvarnya. Incidentally in 2022, Kerala had submitted a float for republic day parade. It displayed Narayan Guru. The jury from the Defence ministry stated that the Kerala float should display Shankarachaya from Kaladi rather than Guru. This was a major reason for rejecting the float.

As such Sanantan stands for eternal and has been used for Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Hindu is a religion, which has no single prophet or no single holy book. Word Hindu does not find mention in its holy scriptures. It has two major streams, Brahmanism and Shramanism. Brahmanism is based on graded inequality and patriarchal values. Ambedkar renounced this Hinduism as he felt that Hinduism is dominated by Brahmanical values. The Shramanic traditions include Nath, Ajivikas, Tantra, Bhakti traditions which are away from the values of inequality.

Today in popular parlance Sanatan Dharma and Hindu dharma are interchangeable. Some of the ideologues claim that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life based on Dharma. As per them Dharma is not the same as religion. As such Sanatan Dharma stands for primarily Varna system, caste inequality and sticking to these traditions. Dharma is best understood as religiously ordained duties. What is being opposed by social reformers is rejection of a religion which is based on inequality.

If we take the example of Ambedkar himself, he regarded Buddha, Kabir and Jotirao Phule as his Gurus. What matters to him is rejection of inequality of caste and gender. In medieval India the saints Kabir, Tukaram, Namdeo, Narsi Mehta and their likes harped on opposition to the caste system and some of them had to face attacks from upper caste rulers. As such Narayan Guru comes in as a great social reformer against the caste system and transcends religious divides. No wonder the present ruling Government, guided by Brahminical Hinduism, can’t accept the float from Kerala which shows Narayan Guru.

Narayan Guru was a deeply humane person. During the course of his growing up he went into a deeper engagement with spiritualism and the practice of Yoga. During the course of his philosophical journey in 1888, he visited Aruvippuram where he went in meditation. It is during his stay there, that he took a rock from the river, consecrated it and called it as an idol of Shiva. This place since then has been known as Aruvippuram Shiva Temple. This act later came to be known as Aruvipuram Pratishta. It created a lot of social commotion and opposition especially from amongst the upper caste Brahmins.

They did not accept Guru’s right to consecrate the idol. He replied to them “This is not a Brahmin Shiva but an Ezhava Shiva”. This quote of his later became very famous and has been used against casteism. To fight against casteism he committed his life. His steps were a big practical means in challenging the deep set caste system. The revolutionary understanding of Guru was ‘one caste, one religion, one God’.

He goes much beyond the caste and religious divides to proclaim, single humanity. Later on he went on to open the school, which was open even to low castes, quite on the line of what Joti rao Phule did in Maharashtra. Like the principles of Ambedkar’s Kalaram Temple movement he went on to build temples which were open to all the castes.

The recent suggestion of Swami Satchitanand supported by Pinarayi Vijyan also argues that a bare torso may be medically bad as it may transmit diseases. There are many practices which need to change with time. One recalls that women did not have the right to cover their breasts. There was a breast tax if women covered the top. It was Tipu Sultan, when he annexed Kerala, when he abolished breast tax and women gained their dignity as they were permitted to cover their breasts.

Temples are a part of our community life. Such changes in dress code have to accompany the changes in social patterns. The opposition to this is like putting the clock back. The politics in the name of religion at most of the places is against the social changes and change in political values. Kerala also shows many contrasts in diverse fields. It was here that on one hand the Acharya from Kaladi Shankar countered the Buddhists in debate. The Buddhists argued on materialist ground to focus on the issues of this world, while roughly speaking Shankar tried to argue the World is an illusion supporting the idealist philosophy.

At present times in India, Kerala included, we need to follow the path of Saints like Narayan Guru and Kabir, whose humane values gave a direction of amity to the society. The conservative ‘status quo’ in most matters retards social progress.

The author is the president of the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism. The views are personal.

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Every republic day we have the gala program where on one hand the military parade with its highlights is displayed and on the other floats from different states are displayed. The central Government chooses these floats. This year (2022) they rejected the displays from West Bengal, Tamilnadu and Kerala in particular, on the ground that only 12 such displays are to be exhibited. In the case of Kerala display, there was another aspect which came to surface. The jury (Defense ministry) in charge of the selection of floats advised the Kerala Government that instead of Narayan Guru float which they had submitted, they can prepare the tableaux of Shankaracharya, who also hails from Kerala. The jury opined that Shankaracharya united India and should be put on the float. This is the third time since 2017 that the Kerala float is being rejected.

What is interesting is that this suggestion of replacing Narayan Guru with Shankracharya, given by the ministry displays the deeper agenda of the central Government, which is working towards Hindu Rashtra in particular. These two tall figures from Kerala have very different and very opposite social ideologies. Narayan Guru stood for ‘One caste, One Religion and One God’ and Shankaracharya for the Brahmanical values of inequality.

Shankaracharya belonged to the earlier period between 8-10^th century when teachings of Buddha were promoting caste equality, and for regarding ‘this world as real’ and to strive to wipe out the miseries of the people. Shankar argued that ‘World is an illusion’ and Brahma is the only reality. He had strongly challenged the Buddhist ideologues, shaming them. He was one of the ideological proponents due to which Buddhism got wiped out from India.

He went on to establish Mutts in Dwarka, Badrinath, Jagganath Puri and Shrigeri. These were to emulate the pattern of Buddhist mutts, while philosophically standing on the opposing side, Buddhism as materialist and Shakarachaya as an idealist. Buddhism for equality and Shankaracharya for the Vedic Brahmanical values of birth based hierarchies of caste and gender.

Narayan Guru was a deeply humane person. During the course of his growing up he went into the deeper engagement with spiritualism and the practice of Yoga. During the course of his philosophical journey in 1888, he visited where Aruvippuram he went in meditation. It is during his stay there, that he took a rock from the river, consecrated it and called it as an idol of Shiva. This place since then has been known as Aruvippuram Shiva Temple. This act later came to be known as Aruvipuram Pratishta. It created a lot of social commotion and opposition especially from amongst the upper caste/Brahmins.

They did not accept Guru’s right to consecrate the idol. He replied to them “This is not a Brahmin Shiva but an Ezhava Shiva“. This quote of his later became very famous and has been used against casteism. To fight against castiesm he committed his life. His steps were a big practical means in challenging the deep set caste system.

In due course Narayan Guru shifted his base to Sivagiri, near Varkala in 1904. Here he opened a school for children from the lower strata of the society to offer and provide free education to them. In the backdrop of the caste system this was a revolutionary step, on par with Jotirao Phule in Maharashtra, who had started schools for dalits. Modern education has been a big liberating force in the struggle against the caste system. People of all castes were welcome in his school contrary to the existing practice where only the upper caste had the privilege for education. After seven years Narayan Guru also built a temple there and the Mutt was built in 1912, this was open to people of all castes. He also undertook to built temples in other places such as Thrissur, Kannur, Anchuthengu, Thalassery, Kozhikode, and Mangalore. This reminds one of the later efforts of Ambedkar in Kalaram Temple entry movement, which was strongly opposed by upper caste.

Narayan Guru’s efforts challenged the Brahmanical system and he tried to break the barriers of caste. This was the major movement against the prevailing caste system. The present regime, ruling at the center, glorifies the past where caste hierarchies prevailed and Brahmanism was the major religion. It is also referred to as Vedic religion or Sanatan Dharma (Eternal, timeless). Shankarachaya is the major figure being projected as the one representing the major spiritual tradition of India.

Ambedkar points out that the history of India is a history of constant antagonism between the values of equality put forward by Buddha and values of hierarchy as presented by Vedic Brahmanism or what they label as Sanatan dharma. Currently with the rise of the right wing many efforts are being made to give the exalted position to Shankar, while the others belonging to the materialist tradition like Buddha, Charvak are being undermined. Interestingly at political level BJP does recognize Narayan Guru, but that is purely for electoral purpose and at symbolic level. As the real recognition is concerned it has been ignoring him, and the present rejection of the float showing him, proves the same.  

In a way the rejection of the float of Kerala with Narayan Guru represents the politics of inequality for which the right wing stands. The Narayan Guru Math and Kerala Government is seeing the Central Government’s decision as politically motivated, which seems to be true. Other political parties like Congress have also criticized the decision of the Central Government. The jury claims that they have to select the best so this decision had to be taken. For it the likes of Kabir, Narayan Guru are an anathema. Gandhi who struggled for removal of untouchability and caste inequalities did take off from Saint tradition of India. It is time that we recognize the yeomen services of the likes of Narayan Guru and give them their due place in our National culture.

The present regime’s rejection of the floats proposed by West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in particular also shows the attempt to undermine the federal concepts in favor of a more centralized power structure.   

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