When Mahatma Gandhi met Sree Narayana Guru

100 years have passed since the meeting between pioneers of the renaissance Sree Narayana Gurudeva and Mahatma Gandhi. Their conversation that day, which got into the annals of history, still values relevance. Will our society change to the point where all human beings are seen and treated as one, as envisaged by those great souls? We are not sure. That's how entrenched man-made myths are.

An introspection should be implemented to gauge the effectiveness of Guru's exhortation that a human being should act regardless of religion and Gandhiji's philosophy that the heart of every Indian should be guided by non-violence.

The meeting between the two took place on March 12, 1925. Almost a quarter of a century later, India got its independence. Gandhi was a Karmic who never deterred from a work not withholding the meek results. This ideology cleared all roads for India’s trudge towards independence. Gandhi knew that his work would not be in vain, but lacked clarity on the matter. This made him raise a query on whether it was worldly possessions and freedom that an individual should crave for?

Gandhi, the visionary, knew that Gurudeva was the ideal man to answer this query.

‘You are the Present and the Past, And the future is none else but you.’ This was the worldly wisdom offered to Gandhi by Gurudeva which reignited passion within the legend to accentuate works for the country’s freedom. But in addition to that, the next sentence said by the Guru becomes very relevant even today. The Guru replied that if we remember the roots of worldly freedom, we can say that Gandhiji will have to reincarnate again to enjoy its full effect! Gurudeva's spontaneous humor also permeates this text. It made Gandhiji laugh. What the Guru said is so true. Has the majority of the people of India even today attained the full effect of secular freedom?

Guru and Gandhi's lives were different. Gandhi, who used to wear a three-piece suit, gave it up and switched to Khadi, bereft of any western influence. Meanwhile, Guru never mentioned a word of blame at the foreign occupiers. Most of the legendary literatures of that era were written in Sanskrit. The etymology of those who understand and assimilate it will never match that of someone who only knows English language. When once asked by an Englishman whether he knew English. Guru’s repartee was “Do you know Sanskrit?”

Sanskrit became alienated in India because the lower castes were denied the opportunity to learn it. Education and finance are needed to overcome the disadvantages of the lower classes. When that happens, others are bound to accept them. To perfect this mission, Children of low castes were given lessons on Sanskrit in the Sivagiri mutt.

Gandhiji’s famous speech in Thiruvananthapuram: 'Sivagiri mutt is majestic and beautiful. There I heard some children from lower castes reciting Sanskrit. Only a few Sanskrit scholars could have recited it so beautifully."