On the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the Malayala Manorama held a contest for 100 “great men of yesterday”, guided by a committee of three of “today’s great men”. Announcing the results of the contest, its centenary edition (1988) presented Sri Narayana Guru under the banner “Eternal Light of Human Greatness”. After the portrayal of the Guru, the Manorama presented 99 other great men, the so- called runners-up in its contest, arranged not in order of greatness but in alphabetical order. Better counsel seems to have prevailed. How could anybody run a contest in greatness?
Be that as it may, the Manorama contest awoke memories of an interview with the winner conducted long ago by a runner-up – Narayana Guru – by C.V. Kunjuraman. A report on the interview was carried in the Kerala Kaumudiin 1926. Abridged excerpts from that interview, based on a translation by Dr. K. Sreenivasan in his book on Narayana Guru (1989), are given below.
Guru: Religion has the role of creating in human souls the inspiration to rise. With that inspiration they themselves seek and find the ultimate Truth. Religions are the only guides to help one seek rightly. To those who have attained the Supreme, religion is not all authority; they themselves are authority to religion. Did Lord Buddha preach the path to Nirvana after studying Budhism? He sought and found the way to Salvation and then preached. It subsequently became Budhism. Did Budhism do any good to Lord Buddha? Christ too did not gain anything from Christianity. The same could be said of other religions also. However, Budhists gained through Budhism and Christians too by Christianity. Likewise, all religions are of use to those who follow them.
CVK: But Hindus swear by the Vedas. According to them, Vedas are suprahuman creations. They emanated from the lips of Brahma. Hence there could be no authority superior to the Vedas. Likewise, Christians think that their Ten Commandments emanated from God.
At this, Guru asked whether Jehova knew only Hebrew, and Brahma only Vedic Sanskrit. He said that we would not know who wrote the Vedic hymns, and whether the concepts emerging out of them were beyond human inventiveness. CVK said Buddha had denied the authority of the Vedas. Munda ko panishad also pointed out that the philosophy in the Vedas was inferior.
Guru: Don’t take any of them (Vedas) as sole authority. All of them may be made handy tools in the search for Truth. This advice, however, is valid only for those with an inquiring mind, with thirst for knowledge. To the common people, the text which is basic to the religion they believe in, should remain authority. Teachers of religion should take care that mistaken advice in the text are not followed. Swami Dayanand Saraswati accepts the authority of the Vedas. Does he not, however, discard as spurious those portions which are absurd? That is what all teachers of religion ought to do.
Conversion as solution: CVK drew Guru’s attention to a burning topic of the day: conversion. Some said Budhism was good. Others preferred Christianity. Yet others said that Arya Samaj was the right thing.
Guru: Religion has two faces: internal and external. Which of these is sought to be changed? If enthusiasm is for the external, it is not change of religion, only change in the outward manifestations of it. Change in the internal sense manifests itself slowly among those who think. If one who is identified as follower of a religion known by the specific nomenclature of Hinduism or Christianity realises that he has lost faith in his religion, then he should give it up. To carry on with a religion you have no faith in is cowardice as well as hypocrisy. Change of religion will do him good; it will also be good for the religion he has lost faith in. Increase in the number of non-believers is not in the interests of a religion.
CVK: Those who choose to continue as Hindus also say that Hinduism, as it exists today, is not good. Guru: In that case what they say is that not only Hindus need change but also Hinduism. There is no such religion as Hinduism. Foreigners referred to the inhabitants of Hindustan as Hindus. If the assumption is that the religion of those who live in Hindustan is Hinduism, then the religion of Christians and Muslims living in Hindustan is also Hinduism. None says so nor agrees with it. Hinduism is the general name for those religions, except Christianity and Islam of foreign origin, which took shape in Hindustan itself. That is why some claim that Budhism and Jainism etc are also part of Hinduism. It would appear that it is not illogical to call so many distinctly different religions like the Vedic, Dvaita, Advaita, Saiva, Vaishnava etc by the common generic name of Hinduism. If that is so, then, why attribute lack of logic in designating all the religions of the world, by the appellation “One Religion” with a single, unambiguous goal?
CVK: Disputes engendered by wrong understanding arise not only among Hindus but also among non- Hindus. Bringing under the umbrella of Christianity the teachings of Moses and Solomon who lived before Christ and those of St. Paul who came after him, is what Christians also have done. Guru: Adherents of all religions have done more or less the same thing. If the religious speculations of many thinkers are put under a particular teacher’s name and be called a religion, why not blend so many religions sponsored by different teachers and designate by the general nomenclature of a single religion or One Religion or Human Religion or Dharma of Humanity?
Gandhi’s visit : Guru continued on the subject of One Religion, with the force of his conviction. He referred to his discussions with M.K. Gandhi who had visited him in Sivagiri, a few months earlier in 1925. Gandhi was 56 then, and Guru 69. Gandhi had referred to the differences among human beings pointing out to the leaves and branches of a tree in the Ashram yard, but Guru was quick to draw attention that the juice in all the leaves and branches was the same. Guru believed that the creeds of all religions had common elements. Listen to his thoughts again, as expressed to C.V. Kunjuraman.
Guru: No religion can survive unless it has a hard core of certain eternal truths, Dharma. Islam gives primacy to Brotherhood and Christianity to Love. But ignorant of the fact that Brotherhood is rooted in Love and Love is built on Brotherhood, claims are made that Brotherhood is superior or Love is all in all. Is it not a ridiculous dispute? Eternal values are of equal significance. Owing to factors of time and place, it becomes necessary to give priority to one or the other. In a time and place where violence is rampant, world teachers bestow primacy to non- violence over other dharmas. During Lord Budha’s times, killing was widespread. Consequently he allotted priority to the principle of non-killing. May be in Arabia during Muhammad Nabi’s times, it was incumbent to give pride of place to brotherhood. Hence in his religion the preeminence of brotherhood. What is India’s need today? Deliverance from the conflicts between castes and religions. Let us all study and understand all religions with open minds and equal attention and try to lovingly give each other the wisdom so gained. Thus would we realise that conflict was due not to religion but to pride. Then the enthusiasm for conversion also will disappear.
Narayana Guru died two years after the above interview. The unanimous decision of the Manorama contest committee and the centenary edition’s conclusions were as expected. Would there be an equal or even a second, in a greatness contest conducted in Kerala or elsewhere?
Listen to what poet Rabindranath Tagore had to say:
“Never have I met a great man equal to Narayana Guru. I can never forget his eyes looking into infinity or his face glowing with divinity.”
