The present meanigless controversy on Social Studies textbook for Std X prepared by SCERT, Government of Kerala, is on one of the sentences in the book which states ‘ It was Sri Narayana Guru who gave a practical form to the ideas of Chattampi Swami; Vaikunda Swami’s ideas also had great influence on Guru’.
Statements of Swami and Guru and all the statements and writing of the contemporaries of these great personalities clearly reveals that the statement in the textbook is based on facts. History is not to be erased are suppressed or modified again and again according the changing needs and narrow interests of persons or groups which use feelings of religion and caste for ulterior motives.
The book ‘Chattampi Swami: an Intellectual Biography’ published by Centre for South Indian Studies (2010) in its Chapter 10 which deals with the facts about this controversy clearly reveals citing about 51 documents and more than 10 statements by the contemporaries of Sree Narayana Guru and Chattampi Swami published during their life time that it was Sri Narayana Guru who gave a practical form to the ideas of Chattampi Swami. Thiycat Ayyavu Swami has a great respect and admiration for the teachings of Vaikunda Swami and in Kerala many of Vaikunda Swami’s methods like ‘panthi bhojanam’, etc were brought into practise first by Ayyavu Swami. Chattampi Swami and Narayana Guru were highly influenced by Ayyavu Swami and through him and during their wanderings in Southern Tamil Nadu which brought both of them into close contact with Vaikunda Swami’s disciples they have become thorough with Vaikunda Swami’s methods. Both have practised Vaikunda Swami’s methods and have taught them to their friends and disciples and applied this in Kerala society also.
The present controversy is also about who has been whose Guru. The seeds of this conflict lie in the ignorant, ugly retrogressive caste prejudices and complexes. But this was completely disapproved by the life and teachings of both these great saints. Two sections of the society, each seeing themselves as being a caste, sought to expand their own sense of self-worth by identifying with and adopting a teacher who had incidentally been born of a family of their community. The vying of these groups for social supremacy over each other led to arguments on which guru was greater and who was guru to whom. Such arguments only reveal the utter stupidity and ignorance of both sides in the light of the unitive wisdom coming from both these saintly reformers.
Both Chattampi Swami and Narayana Guru lived a life beyond all artificial divisions of the society. They devoted their life to helping others to shed all such prejudices. Both never cared to establish supremacy over the other or over any being. They shared deep reverence for and spiritual union with all forms of life, seeing the Supreme Spirit in all. And each regarded the other with highest esteem and deepest affection.
The influence of Chattampi Swami on Narayana Guru was clearly stated by Narayana Guru himself in numerous occasions. The most important statement by Guru is at the occasion of the Samadhi of Chattampi Swami on 5th May 1924. In two significant verses composed by him and recorded by those who were very close to him, which is known as Samidisloka, he makes a thorough evaluation of Chattampi Swami’s life and work and clearly expresses his influence in him. They are very popular slokas. The reaction of one great saint to the news of discarding the body by another great saint is not a formal obituary note. His words are not the obituary words of an ordinary man on an ordinary man's death. This is the Pranava Manthra, the words of a Jivanmuktha who has attained knowledge of Brahman who is living in Brahman. The twin slokas dictate with doubtless authority who Swami was, and what future generations should understand about him.
These words were not written as per the directions of any king, or written to heed to the request of any specific person, a panel appointed by the Government, a panel of experts, or a committee, or after considering the views of the vying caste leaders. From the mind affected by the sadness of his friend and master leaving the body the words naturally sprouts up itself and flows like a strong current of articulate utterance and is serene and majestic like the pranava mantra. Like Bhagirathi it can wash away our sins. These words have not fathomed who Chattampi Swami was but they vindicate what he was. Individual and society get filthy, merging in blinding darkness and relate great saints to their complexes and pollute them also. But the words of Sree Narayana Guru are tough warnings against those 'who massage with oil forgetting their head'. The best commentary to the word of a sage like Sree Narayana Guru is silence. Each of the words in the above slokas are his opinion, his experience and will require an essay running into pages and an expert panel or a committee will require years of discussion if they have to reach somewhere near the meaning and content what Sree Narayana Guru has sated.
In many other works also Narayana Guru mentions Chattampi Swami. Of them, Navamanjari one of his earlier works can be considered as important. In 1885 two years after Guru was initiated into Sanyasa he has composed Navamanjari. In the first stanza of this he has stated that he composed the work according to the directions of his Guru named Sisu. Kunjan in colloquial language meant Sisu or child.
Statements by many biographers of Narayana Guru who were accepted scholars and devotees of Guru also agree to the influence of Chattampi Swami on Narayana Guru in the books published while Guru was alive. All the newspapers that existed at the time of Chattampi Swami’s Samadhi, that reported the incident like Malayali, Pouran, Samadarsi, Sreevazhumkodu, Sahodaran etc stated that Guru was the first and most important disciple of Swami.
History should remain, as it is still it can be proved that facts are different. We have never cared to listen to the words of the Guru. If we have adhered to least 1% what Guru has taught Kerala society would have progressed another century ahead of what is happening here. Things are bouncing back from were Guru has took us. Before we search from what has influenced Guru let us try to understand what Guru has taught. That is more important to understand we are marching fast to the doomsday. Suppressing or changing the words of the great men of the past, who have spent there life, for the life we are enjoying now, according to the meaningless utterances of people who can not understand them is a crime against society, and humanity.
