Why and how did Sree Narayana Guru get more prominence and acceptance in Kerala than Adi Shankaracharya (Adi Shankara), who was also born in Aluva, Kerala?
Written by Likhitha (Quera Webpage)
Adi Guru Shankaracharya had not spent much time in his home state. His own community did not accept the philosophy that he had propounded and he faced considerable resistance from his own community members.
Coming to Sree Narayana Guru, there are many reasons why he gained mass acceptance but some of the prominent ones will be listed here.
Guru himself belonged to a community that was considered as Avarna back then. Hence, the communities which were cast off to the fringes of society considered Swami as one of their own. His words held immense weight for them because they believed that Swami would always act for the welfare of the downtrodden ones.
1) He was not only against Varnashrama but also deeply critical of its continued existence. He had said that in the coming era, it serves no purpose to categorize people as per their profession. Irrespective of its past utility, he firmly advocated for the eradication of caste system. He exhorted everyone to never ask, speak or think about caste. For him, there was only one caste – the caste of humanity. We have to understand how abysmal, utterly despondent those years were. The upper classes had collection of slaves which were Avarnas. These humans who had faced abhorrent levels of subjugation were sold and bought like cattle by the Savarnas, some of them sold to foreigners too. Many of them accepted their pitiful state by believing that it is due to their past karma in prior births. For people like them, when Swami arrived and subtly declared through his compassion and noble deeds that every single person deserves liberty & respect, equal rights to advancement, it was akin to a benediction.
2) Swami was a scholar and extremely proficient in Sanskrit, Malayalam and Tamil. He had authored numerous works and had read extensively. He understood that the only way to uplift the downtrodden was education. Children of the most backward communities did not have wide opportunities for education during that era. Hence, Swami himself took an initiative to set up schools where a bright future can be made possible for these kids. He believed in equal education rights for both genders (and equal inheritance rights too). His first priority was to restore the lost dignity of the oppressed ones. No spiritual upliftment is possible in its absence and he was well aware of that.
3) Swami knew the ground situation. He knew firsthand how the common people belonging to backward communities lived and the trials and tribulations faced by them. During his mendicant days (after he had severed all worldly connections and started wandering aimlessly in pursuit of the absolute Truth), he had lived with common people belonging to various religions. He ate what they were kind enough to offer him. He saw the travails of their lives. A person's religion or caste did not matter to him in the least bit. Such considerations were non-existent for him. His love for humanity was paramount. The masses responded to his genuineness with an outpouring of love.
4) I suppose we can say that Swami was discovered by society and not the other way round. I say this because after he had travelled extensively to many places during his mendicant days, he eventually found a cave atop Maruthvamala(the southernmost tip of Western Ghats) and started meditating there. He had detached from society and civilization comprehensively. He subsisted on forest fruits and leaves. During these years when he had steeped himself in strict sadhana and eventually understood the Universal Truth deep within every soul, he wanted the oppressed ones to understand that no one is condemned to a sub-human existence. Everyone was pure Sat-Chit-Ananda. Slowly, people started taking notice of the Siddha living in the forest. Everyone wanted a darshan of Swami. There are many miracles attributed to him but I am not going into those in this answer. Interested persons may read the biography of Sree Narayana Guru written by Murkkoth Kumaran.
5) Swami did not ask the upper caste-managed temples to open its doors for the lower castes. He had already faced resistance from these quarters. For the Avarnas, they did not know how the interiors of a temple looked like, they had never obtained actual darshan of any deity in their entire lives. They were not even allowed to chant the deity's name in the vicinity of the temple. Swami wanted these forgotten people to experience the temple atmosphere and have free & delightful darshan of Bhagwan. Hence, he took an initiative in constructing temples which would be open for all castes, where no one would be deprived of the mercy of the Lord. He installed idols in such temples. The famed Aruvippuram consecration of Shiva idol needs no separate mention.
6) Swami was an extremely realistic person. He understood that spiritual advancement is impossible if people cannot get rid of superstitions or wasteful rituals. This was someone who had opined that a wedding function should not have more than 10 people. In the present Covid times, his advice seems quite correct. But we must note that he never ever argued with people, never imposed his views on others. He was gentleness personified. He tried to give logical reasons whereby he convinced his followers to forego superficial customs. He was a man of few words, silent and contemplative. He spoke only rarely but whenever he spoke, his words would be cryptic and humorous. He had famously said, “whatever be the religion, it is enough if the man is virtuous.”
7) Swami's worldview had an embalming effect on the masses. Not just the backward classes but people in general. He was like a living embodiment of Advaita. Whoever came in contact with him never left him, he had such a giant gravitational pull. He did not say that you have to belong to a particular religion in order to merge with God. His stand was that religion is a path to God but once you attain that etheral union with the Supreme Consciousness/Cosmic Mould/Cosmic Principle, religion or bodily identity or caste differences will not matter. His all-encompassing worldview which even accepted atheists made him prominent.
8) Most importantly, Swami had great respect for all Acharyas. Shankaracharya and Swami were both followers of Advaita. We can say that even though Adi Guru was unable to remain in Kerala due to public resistance, Advaita reached the masses through Swami. I am sure the Adi Guru would only be pleased about it.
