Sri Narayanan, the guru who laughed

No other spiritual personality has equalled the Guru as a progressive thinker and charismatic moderniser. But what many do not remember is his earthy, liberating humour 
amit bandre
amit bandre

The honorific Guru, when used without a specific subject, refers to just one person in Kerala: Sri Narayanan or Narayana Guru. The reason is that he stands foremost as a spiritual guru and reformer among the sons of the soil who pioneered a modern society in Kerala. No other spiritual personality, woman or man, has equalled him as a humane, progressive thinker and radical, charismatic moderniser.

When he was born in 1856, the process of social change in Kerala had already been triggered through colonial influences Portuguese, Dutch and British that exposed sections of society to science and contemporary knowledge. Guru’s call for change, made from this fertile ground, was rooted in Kerala’s soil, empowered by a spiritual message that is as radical today—in fact, especially today—as it was then and accompanied by bold interventions against decadent belief systems, social and spiritual. Ayyankali, the legendary leader who led the untouchables of Kerala on a revolutionary quest for equality and dignity, was his contemporary. At the turn of the 20th century, they created a seismic change in feudal, obscurantist Kerala in their separate ways that set off a process of social transformation and decisively changed Kerala’s social character.  

The road to progress and modernisation that Guru opened up for the Ezhavas, the backward community he belonged to that is also the largest segment of Kerala’s Hindu population, had a powerful ripple effect on coexisting communities and faiths. His rational, secular, spiritual message reached out not just to Ezhavas but to all people: One caste, one religion, one God for Man; Whatever his religion, it’s enough if Man is good. Thus, it is no accident, for example, that upon the entrance of the Indian Institute of Christian Studies at Edamattom, Kerala—founded in 1994 by the late Joseph Pulikunnel, Church reformer, thinker and activist—is inscribed the motto, “(A space) Not to argue and win but to learn and inform.” The same motto had welcomed visitors upon the gateway of the inter-religious conference the Guru held in Alwaye, Kerala, in 1924. 

A Vedantist to the core with a firm footing in his native geography and deeply compassionate, Guru had a great sense of humour, his brilliant wit flashing when confronted with absurdities both spiritual and material. It was even biting when people tested his patience but never judgemental. Sadly, not much of it has been preserved and not many remember him for his earthy, liberating humour. Perhaps, as happens to spiritual gurus in general, worshipful bhaktas do not wish to associate them with simple human qualities like a good laugh, Osho being perhaps the singular escapee. Of course, wearing a sweet smile is not the same as possessing a sense of humour. The late Dr T Bhaskaran, who put together memories of Guru-speak in his engaging book Sri Narayanaguru Vaikhari, says that once when disciples were shown a painting of a smiling Guru, one of them asked in utter surprise, “Did Guru smile?” Guru had been reduced to the familiar cement statue with a blank face, cloned a thousand times.

His wit sprang from a brilliant mind that saw through hypocrisies and human failings but dealt with them with amusement. His humour was underpinned by compassion. He was delightfully caustic about the Establishment and its ways. Once he was travelling through a forested area and happened to see a building. Someone said it was a government school. Pat came his reply: “The government reaches here too?” On another occasion a wealthy man sent a car (a rarity in Kerala’s 1920s) to fetch Guru for a reception in his home. Guru asked a disciple: “Why are we going?” He said: “The car has come.” Guru asked: “Are we to go because of the car?” Another day, he was visiting the house of an Ezhava chief and found a colony of pigeons on the upper floor where he was resting. He commented: “Channar (the owner) thinks this mansion is his. But the pigeons think it is theirs.”

Guru’s answer to the judge who asked him whether burning or burying was the right way to dispose of dead bodies is famous in Kerala. He said: “Crush them in an oil-press; they’ll make good manure.” The judge wailed. Guru asked: “Why? Will it hurt?” An orthodox gentleman complained to the Guru that young men were demeaning tradition by shaving their faces themselves. Guru replied: “Don’t they wash themselves after defecation? They don’t ask another to do it for them. Is shaving more demeaning than washing your bottom?”

During the Vaikom Satyagraha (the agitation for temple entry for the lower castes in Kerala) Gandhiji had said that satyagrahis shouldn’t run away if attacked by opponents but suffer it. (He was reacting to an incident of their running away.) When told about this, Guru commented: “Then I need a good stick. Because attackers may come here also as I support the satyagraha.” A listener said, “You don’t need a stick,” meaning no one will harm him. Guru replied, “It’s not for me. It’s for those who may come to attack. They shouldn’t have trouble finding a good stick.” 

Once someone commented that if all the people of India were to spit together, that will be enough to make the white man drown. Guru: “If you spit, yes. But when you see the white man the spit dries up.” When somebody told Guru the offering-box at Sivagiri ashram had been stolen, he smiled and said, “How tough it would’ve been for the fellow if all that money had stayed with those who made the offerings. Now that it’s in one place it’s become so easy for him!” A man stole a jackfruit from the Aruvikkara ashram. He was caught and produced before Guru. He asked the thief: “You must’ve taken a lot of trouble to steal this?” The thief was silent. Guru continued: “Last night it was raining and pitch dark. And with all the stones and thorns and the snakes it must’ve been very tough to come and get this jackfruit. Never go stealing at night.” And he returned the fruit to the thief. 

Finally, here’s a comment that sums up the man. Bhaktas, in their fervour, had made in Italy a panchaloha statue of Guru that had been unloaded at Colombo port. He was visiting Sri Lanka at that time and happened to see it. Guru’s comment: “Oh! It doesn’t need food! It will live!” 

Paul Zacharia (paulzacharia3@gmail.com) 
Award-winning fiction writer

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