Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has called for an introspection on whether Kerala, the birthplace of Sree Narayana Guru, has been able to put into practice his vision and teachings.
Mr. Muraleedharan, inaugurating a public conference held at Sivagiri Madhom in connection with the 91st Sivagiri pilgrimage, was evidently reacting to a remark made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the same venue on Saturday that the radiance of Sree Narayana Guru’s vision could have prevented bloodshed in Palestine.
“Not just in Palestine, we should examine whether we have put into practice the Guru’s vision in Kerala, the land of his birth,” he said.
Protests during Sadas
He expressed concern over what he termed a growing tendency to violence and indifference in Kerala society. “We should remember that a person was struck on the head by another with a flower pot and the act described as a ‘rescue act’ in the same land where Narayana Guru taught that even an ant should come to no harm,” he said, in an apparent reference to the incidents of violence amid the protests against the State government’s Navakerala Sadas programme.
Deliberate attempts were being made to distort and misrepresent ‘Sanatana Dharma,’ Mr. Muraleedharan said. It was being portrayed as nothing more than untouchability or casteism, he said, adding that Narayana Guru never said that saffron was a colour to be disparaged.
Guru’s philosophy
Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust president Swami Sachidananda, who presided, said the philosophy of Narayana Guru was suited even to the most modern human being. In it mingled the ‘ahimsa’ of the Buddha, the love of Christ, the brotherhood of prophet Mohammed, the knowledge of Sankaracharya and the Indian spiritual traditions, he said.
Mr. Muraleedharan also released ‘Sree Narayana Guru: Life and Times,’ the English translation of the biography of Narayana Guru written by M.K. Sanoo on the occasion. A book featuring rare photographs of Sree Narayana Guru and a book by Swami Sachidananda also were released at the event.
Adoor Prakash MP, Kadakampally Surendra MLA, Eram group managing director Siddeek Ahmed, Gokulam Group chairman Gokulam Gopalan, Muralya Group chairman K. Muraleedharan, QEL and QPCC Holdings chairman K.G. Baburaj, Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust general secretary Swami Shubhangananda, Swami Sookshamananda, Somasekhara Temple and Madhom secretary Swami Divyanandagiri, and pilgrimage committee secretary Swami Rithambarananda spoke.
Thousands of people participated in the procession, which is a major event of the annual pilgrimage at Sivagiri.
