The Guru of O.V. Vijayan, famous Novelist

Gurucharanam Saranam
The Guru of O.V. Vijayan
G.P. Krishna Kumar, Santhigiri

Late Sri O.V. Vijayan’s association with Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is well known.  The famous writer once said about the Guru:  ‘GURU is an experience beyond translation….’ A few remarks made by O.V. Vijayan on his relationship with Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru are quoted below:

Guru – an Experience beyond translation

‘the ever stable Guru is a great motion. This is my experience. I happened to meet Guru more or less in a barren situation. I had no knowledge or prejudice about Gurumargam. I do not intend to evaluate that meeting in a logical perspective. But I do not require the help of any theology to distinguish the organic evolutions that took place within my inner alertness. Like a piece of emotion surpassing time, a fear of existence or a self ecstasy, something stirred inside me. Try not to define. Only one! Only this! The dizziness from this contact changed it to a movement. I dissolved myself in the great current of Guru. If this is attempted to concise in words, perhaps problems arise. There is no translation for experience’.

Guru – a Great Movement

‘after a long silence, although the circumstances were unfavourable, I started writing. The inspiration for that humble creation was the compassion I could experience myself. I was brave enough to make my literature the medium of that compassion only because of my becoming a part of the great movement of Guru. This gift is not mine. It is of Guru. I know about that only as a small dot of the total knowledge. I have no authority to handle the figures of virtues characterized by me. But I consider that Guru has made me an instrument. The concept of God is beyond the reach of us who are immersed in the futilities of modern life. But Guru becomes the exchange of this experience. Without the help of any theology! ’

Prostrations to Guru

‘I do not ordinarily pray. If at all I pray in some extraordinary circumstances that would be for selfish motives only. My past is full of mistakes. The memory of those mistakes leads me to inertia. But Guru says these are all human. In one word “No-problem”. This one word of pardoning was terrible than any other verdict of punishment. The energy out of that rejuvenates me. Prostrations to Guru’!

Guru was catalytic to my literary works

For Vijayan, Guru was an experience. Vijayan used to come to Santhigiri to experience the infinities of soul and its everlasting beauty. His contact with the Guru, for more than a quarter century, was not accidental. It was the culmination of his prolonged enquiries. His life’s desire was to dissolve in that ocean of love and he achieved it. Without the help of any theology Vijayan recognized Karunakara Guru.  ‘What is the factor that Karunakara Guru attracted you’? Vijayan did not have to think a second time to answer the question. ‘The relation of love, the eternal love no one else can give. That noble love touched my soul and my literature…’

Perhaps we were not able to comprehend the turning point of Vijayan to spirituality as we wanted him to be in a particular plane of intellectuality as he always was… He suffered much for his visions. The words of V.K.Madhavankutty are proof for this. “I could not understand what Guru has said or what Vijayan had comprehended. But Vijayan was firm in it. Vijayan had to sustain the blame of advocating Hindutva. I can tell that he was not so. Vijayan did not complain to anybody.”

Vijayan has written about his experiences in a small book in Malayalam ‘The turtle fish misled to the sea” published by D.C.Books.  Answering the question why Vijayan comes to Santhigiri, the great Novelist said, “I come to Santhigiri to untie and keep down the bundle of my ego, of my intellect and art and to bathe in humility.” 

 O.V.Vijayan in the Preface to ‘Dharmapuranam’

‘Some problems arose between the years of serializing it and publishing it as a book. Most important of them was the character formation of “Sidharthan”. At that time, I happened to be in contact with the great Acharya Karunakara Guru of Santhigiri Ashram, situated near a small village called Pothencode. From the Gurusankalpam as the result of this contact, I could change “Sidharthan” as Guru and the revolutionary touch of Sidharthan as Guru’s gift. This change was reflected throughout the story and made several concepts remain vague in the series more distinct in the book. As there were tamasik and murderous portions in it, I asked whether I can drag the name of a Guru in its presentation. But Guru answered in the affirmative. This reply made me grateful and self confident. I firmly believe that the technicality of ‘Dharmapuranam’ will guide the good minds ……..above all it’s the obscenity’. 

‘The erotic bio-insurgences and the gentle death are the two ends. It is the interval between the two that we, who have born as humans, have to handle it carefully. We are all counting the waves in the shore of the sea called ectoplasm. Here where is room for any dualism. Light and darkness identifying their half portion… impotency again conjoins. Births and deaths unite. The Guru at the same time remains in the dissolution point of the handful of water and the sky rocking ocean enquires our welfare. That is the severe and personal of the extreme dissolution. ‘Gurusagaram’ was the witnessing of thousand fold Guruthva. Oh! My Atoms which immerses in the great bliss being self reformed particles always guiding to the multiple formations of creation, I prostrate you. Lift down our dirty baggage in this journey. Why? Reject them by opening our inner faculties, our positions, honors, education, physical fairness all and all.

Sacrifice is a great experience. Gathering them from the original textures we have made it fossils, by discarding values, externalized, made prose and verses and fractionalized the creativity as the satirical imitations. When we unload from our shoulders, make a sigh of relief, when the pure knowledge of the universe only remains, the co-traveling child laughs. Only with the knowledge and karma we can know as to how far we can laugh like that. But we can say one thing. Just outside the window panes of the aircraft Guru shall remain always as the co-traveler of this traveler’.

Pratishta Varshikam -Anniversary of Consecration of Prayer Hall

Gurucharanam Saranam
Today, 10.02.2009, is Pratishta Varshikam-The Anniversary of Consecration of Prayer Hall by Guru.

Prayer Hall of Santhigiri Ashram
The prayer hall of Santhigiri Ashram is consecrated as per the will of Brahman. The foundation stone for this prayer hall was laid by Guru on 20th October, 1986, Monday at 12’0 clock noon (Malayalam Era 1162, Tulam 3). It was constructed as per the intimations from Brahman according to the concept of cosmic wheel consisting of 27 stars 12 constellations and 9 planets. The sanctum sanctorum was erected on the morning of 30th January, 1989. The concept of Guru behind the establishment of this prayer hall is to nourish a universal culture based on truth. The consecration took place at 3 AM on 10th February, 1989 (M.E.1164 Makaram 28). Guru himself performed the consecration. Prayers and contemplations associated with it were done from 3 to 9 in the morning.

A magnificent golden lotus with the conceptual 2444 petals! This had been revealed through vision. The splendid and beautiful lotus was installed in the prayer hall above a platform having ten steps. These ten steps denote the elevated soul effulgence of Guru that exists above ten spiritual planes. Above the golden lotus is the glorious outline of Guru. Situated in its centre (heart) is the glittering Aumkar. From the Aumkar, rays of scintillating light spread in all directions.

The completion of prayers and contemplation for the consecration took place was on 23rd April, 1989 (M.E. 1164 Medom 10). The anniversary of the consecration is celebrated on Makaram 28 and the completion of consecration on Medom 10th. These days are the sacred days granted to mankind by the grace of Brahman to pray and dedicate oneself to that Supreme Will till the end of time. These days are the memorable milestones made available by the providence of God laying the path of worship and dharma in Kaliyuga for the whole humanity. Nothing should impair that sanctity and its significance, our burden of work or other rituals in life.

The consecration meant the pouring out of Guru’s own soul effulgence in the object consecrated. This caused severe repercussion in the physical body of Guru. The soul of Guru! The soul of transcendental union and bliss; the soul that ploughed the path for liberation in the Kaliyuga; the soul that has self- fulfilled through innumerous divine manifestations such as a god (deva), Rishi or a sage of self realization! From the peak of transcendental solitude and god realization, he came down to the world of mortals as per the decree of Brahman. Rising again from the ocean of perfection, re-enacted the spiritual ascensions and fulfillments, in the short span of a life. He burnt himself countless times in the fire of endurance. When he passed through this fire of torment, self fulfillment or spiritual completion took place. His soul became the universal abode of the 2444 gurus born in this Kaliyuga. He was elevated to the true meaning of ‘Guru is verily the Supreme Brahman’, proving the scriptural aphorism. He became the supreme father of the universe fulfilling godly will.

The appointed time for the graceful transfer of his soul effulgence as willed by Brahman came near. It was the peak of self sacrifice – the sacrificial consecration of one’s own soul that pulsated inseparably with the light of Brahman. The soul is installed or poured out on to something external. It is like discarding one’s soul from the body or transferring ones soul to an external object. That was the consecration Guru did. The penultimate sacrifice of forsaking one’s soul with all its earned virtue out of sacrifices made through thousands of births. Here the sacrifice of Guru and the Will of God gets fulfilled in perfect unison. The golden moment in the history of sacrifices! But it is not the end of the historical path of sacrifice. It is only its beginning, the point of emergence which will thread through the epochal valleys of time – the Manvanataras.

The first step in the process of Santhigiri’s ascension in the spiritual sky of the world had already begun with the consecration of prayer hall by Guru. The word of Brahman that Santhigiri would become a world famous pilgrimage centre was being actualized in the subsequent years. Thousands and thousands of people began to climb the steps of Santhigiri Ashram. World famous political leaders, literary giants, stalwarts in social and scientific fields, spiritual leaders from all religions and creeds, thinkers and educationists - all came to Santhigiri Ashram and saw the ray of hope and the preparation for a great renaissance emanating from Santhigiri. They experienced indescribable peace and transcendental joy in the abode of Guru.

Thousands of families from a society divided by the walls of caste, religion and class migrated to a new spiritual movement of equality, spiritual experience and guidance. They experienced godly love and fatherly protection at the feet of Guru. They submitted themselves at the feet of Guru along with all their possessions, worldly and otherwise. Thus a big community of disciples and devotees sprung up in Santhigiri Ashram. Guru created an enviable model of self sufficient community living, which has become the succor and hope of thousands of people, engaged in various professions, trade and enterprises. It was the birth of a new spiritual movement bereft of caste and religious identities and discrimination. It ploughed the path of liberation and human elevation to a depressed and diseased society, opening up the spring of a universal transformation.

Fulfilling the revelations during the days of ‘spiritual completions’ of Guru that great souls in all Guru lineages would take birth in this Guru Parampara (Guru Lineage) thousands of families were cleansed of the spiritual drawbacks at the genetic level so as to prepare the way for the birth of noble souls in the subsequent generation of these families. This spiritual cleansing was called Guru Pooja in Santhigiri Ashram, which is performed to the families of devotees with the permission from Guru.

Guru continued to live a life of extreme simplicity. He still lived under the roof a thatched hut, which he did till his last moments. The devotees of Guru wished to construct a magnificent edifice for Guru, the divine manifestation. Guru permitted the construction of this building and named it as Sahakarana Mandiram – the House of Cooperation. It was revealed about this that it would become the meeting place of world leaders in the time to come to discuss issues of mankind. The heads of nations would come to Santhigiri to seek guidance from Guru in various matters. The process of actualizing this prophesy has already begun. President of Indian Republic, top leaders of national political parties, Governors, Ambassadors, Central and State Ministers and other top officials met Sishya Poojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini in the Sahakarana Mandiram and held discussions in the subsequent years after the passage and merging of Guru in the primordial light of Brahman.

Guru had completed the purpose of his life and the mission with which Brahman had entrusted him. On Thursday, 6th May, 1999 at 9 PM, Guru left his physical body. His soul left the mortal world and submerged in the primordial radiance of Brahman – the Adi Sankalpam. He became Nava Oli and Navajyoti, the new radiance of Brahman. A revelation came from that Light after Guru’s Adi Sankalpam. ‘Do not think that I have gone from you. I am with each one of you, as the totality in your life. I will continue to guide this Guru Parampara till the end of time’.

After Guru merged with Adi Sankalpam, the primordial radiance of Brahman, as per the intimations from the Light, a disciple was elevated to the position of Sishya Poojita, i.e. the venerated among the disciples. Thus Janani Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, who was with Guru from the age of nine and who performed spiritual intercessions on behalf of Guru through the medium of transcendental visions for a long period, became the first Sishya Poojita of Guru. Guru’s presence and guidance still continue as prophesied and will ever continue for ages to come.

A golden era has begun, not only for India, but for the whole humanity. The liberating, transforming and guiding light of Guru is the threshold to that great dawn of civilizational change and uplift.

From Religiosity to Spirituality

From Religiosity to Spirituality
Rev. Prof. Valson Thampu

(The author is Member, National Integration Council and Member, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions)

“In a manner of speaking, you feel fobbed if, by the time you arrive, the great soul you’d have loved to meet, assumed the wings of eternity and disappeared beyond the veil of time. But the strange thing is that you don’t feel quite that way about Sri Karunakara Guru! At least, I don’t. Let me tell you why. There are two ways by which to encounter a person. The first and the most obvious, is to meet him in flesh and blood. You see him, listen to him and breathe in the ambience of his greatness. The second is to meet him through the impact he has had on his disciples through his work and message. But the latter option makes sense only if the person concerned is indeed an extraordinarily great person. Such a person leaves an indelible impression on the world around him. About such a person Jesus said, “even if he dies, he lives still.” Or, in the words of Bapuji, his life is his message. And to the extent that his message is still lived and lived as vibrantly as it is in Santhigiri, you don’t feel that you missed the Guru by a few years. I admit, with much embarrassment, that I came to know about Shri. Karunakara Guru only a few months ago. That ignorance is attributable only in part to my being a ‘Marunadan Malayalee’ or one among the dispersed Malayalee Diaspora. A similar predicament did not prevent Shri. K. R. Narayanan, the late President of India, or Sri. O.V. Vijayan from becoming an ardent follower of Sri Karunakara Guru.

The real problem lies elsewhere; and it is necessary to state it up front. Even though we pride ourselves in this country, on our unique and cherished tradition of religious tolerance, our tolerance a hazy and sleepy thing. As religious communities we live, mostly, in our separate religious ghettoes, taking care not to tread on each other’s tails or toes. India is yet to become a spiritual crucible, where all religious traditions enter into a free and fearless interaction, in the pursuit of truth and fullness of life. Our religious tolerance is a sort of anaesthetized religious co-existence. The time has come for us to move from tolerating each other in ignorant mutual avoidance to informed mutual engagement, celebrating a shared spirituality by exploring and enjoying each other’s traditions. True freedom is the freedom to welcome what is good and robust in the spiritual traditions we practice as timeless expressions of the human urge to be in communion with God. For this to happen at all it is imperative that we shift from mere religiosity to spirituality. It is such an emphasis that I find in the teachings of Sri Karunakara Guru and my soul resonates with this re-orientation.

A word about Santhigiri before I take note of the Guru’s revolutionary spiritual insights. Widely traveled though I am, and enriched with spiritual encounters far and near, I do not recall another place or people amidst whom I felt so instinctively at home as I did in Santhigiri, from the moment I stepped into that remarkable community of people, fiercely focused on the mission that the Guru has entrusted them. The Guru’s spirit lives on in every detail of what exists and happens there. This, in itself, is ample validation of the rare spiritual genius whose memory continues to inspire thousands to this day. A keenness to uphold in practice and propagate the Guru’s teachings in their purity is perceptible everywhere and I pray this remains so for the years to come. It has been the fate of visionaries and missionaries to have been outgrown and overreached by their followers. Going by what I have seen so far in Santhigiri, I feel inwardly comforted that an eager and joyful adherence to what the Guru stood for is the hallmark of Santhigiri.

It is presumptuous of me to try and encapsulate the deep and daring spiritual insights of the Guru in a short piece like the present one. All I propose to do is to itemize some of the insights that all people, irrespective of religious differences, can endorse readily. I feel at one with the Guru in his concern that we must worship God aright. Those who worship God, said Jesus of Nazareth, must worship him “in Spirit and in truth”. The mark of true worship, for both, is personal transformation. False worship, or worship that is not spiritually wholesome, is a danger because it induces personal degradation. The result, in the words of the Guru is: “The worshipper returns worse than before.”5 Guru’s criticism of using gods to perpetuate caste and class differences is socially radical and spiritually incisive. Superior gods for upper castes and inferior gods for the lower castes! The decisive element, the Guru emphasizes rightly, is our idea of God. Degrading and abusing gods for legitimizing caste inequalities and the oppression that goes with it is a spiritual scandal. God does not belong to any caste or class. Nor are we gods. All of us are part of the same Brahman. This is a vision that excludes social discrimination and oppression in every form.

The problem is not with God or gods. The idea that there are many gods and that gods exercise their jurisdiction along caste lines is an aberration improvised by human ego, especially group ego. As long as the human ego continues to direct and dominate the religious outlook these and a host of other distortions will remain endemic to the religious sphere. The radical solution, according to the Guru, is that we must transcend our ego. It is human ego that alienates us from the blessings of God. Here one is reminded of the words of Jesus, “If anyone wants to become my disciple he must deny himself, take up my cross and follow me.” (St. Matthew 16: 24).
I am particularly struck by the Guru’s revolutionary views on the socio-spiritual engineering required at the present time, as part of his over-all mission to evolve a wholesome spiritual culture. In this he enjoys a profound kinship with the founders of great religions. Their mission was not merely to enable a few people to attain moksha or salvation but to evolve a spiritually pro-active culture. Life before death was as important for them as birth after death would be. One is, indeed, continuous with the other. Playing one against the other is the familiar strategy of those who wish to manipulate the masses and exploit them in the name of religion. Karunakara’s guru’s emphasis on being spiritually purposive and wise in spouse selection and the foundational duty to raise children in a spiritually responsive and socially responsible manner is a challenge that no one can afford to ignore at the present time. “It is better to train your children to be karmayogis,” says the Guru, “than to leave them a big legacy.” According to him the spiritual regeneration of the family is the key to the regeneration of the society.

As a Christian priest and thinker, I feel humbled by the Guru’s forthright criticism of my community. It is at once recognition of the high spiritual ideals of the faith and the extent to which its putative followers play fast and loose with them. It is not enough, the Guru warns, to preach sacrifice. “Leading a truthful life is the essence of sacrifice. What have Christians to do with truth at the present time?” According to the Guru, “Christians have become like Hindus. They have imitated Hindu practices meant to appease God. Nothing prevents from doing improprieties in the name of God.”7 These are hard words. But they are more than welcome as they come from the unbiased concerns of a man of God whose moral indignation is aroused by the hypocrisy that he sees spread like cancer through a community of faith.

The Guru’s alarm at the degradation of education strikes a cord in my heart, having watched over the years the demise of idealism and moral passion in what has been traditionally assumed to be a sacred domain by every one of us. Who can doubt or debate Karunakara Guru’s prophetic denunciation in this regard, especially in the light of the controversy that is currently raging in Kerala? According to the Guru, “The educated are the most senseless. The illiterate have better sense. Pride invariably rules over those who are educated and prosperous.”8 The fact that it is the so-called educated class, and not the illiterate people, who have filled this punyabhoomi with corruption, venality and moral turpitude should make us sit up and wonder if what is on offer today is really education. We have to agree with Gandhiji that “education without character” is one of the seven deadly evils. Arguably, the spiritualization of education holds the key to the cultural regeneration of Kerala.

I cannot conclude this piece without recalling my hospitalization in Santhigiri. That I was overwhelmed with affection, good will and gracious hospitality is an understatement. But what I wish to appreciate here in particular is the on-going effort to integrate science and spirituality in the approach to healing in Santhigiri. To see doctors and spiritual teachers walk and work together in the hospital is a welcome thing indeed. In many other places, including in some very famous hospitals, I have heard slick presentations on the integrated approach to healing in a bid to overcome the limitations of the bio-medical model of curing. What is at work here is the sound awareness that healing is more than curing and that science and spirituality can be partners in the pursuit of human welfare; they need not be antagonists. The approach to healing in vogue in the Ashram is an open-ended one, if you like. It keeps the widows of possibilities open to trans-rational and supra-scientific possibilities. If human beings are more than bodies, surely neither the reach of, nor the remedy for, illnesses would be confined to the body alone. At Santhigiri it is assumed that we are ‘souls with bodies’ rather than ‘bodies with souls’.9 The realm of the Spirit is, in other words, primary. That being the case it is impossible to exclude the resources of the Spirit from the mysteries of the healing process, which far exceed the scope of mere curing.
Santhigiri is not just a religious movement; it is a total way of life. Even a cult can be described as a way of life. But what distinguishes a cult from a spiritual effervescence is the impetus of the latter to reach out and embrace more and more people within the radius of its goodness and generosity. A cult excludes; spirituality embraces. The former is marked by predatory, murderous covetousness; and the latter, by the joy of giving and sharing. It is this that I experienced in Santhigiri over the whole week that I spent there as a patient. And it makes me hope that this river of spiritual regeneration and social reform will flow out of Santhigiri and activate a new vibrancy through the whole of Kerala and beyond.”

(Courtesy: Santhigiri Publications, Santhigiri Ashram)

Spiritual Experience - Sri G.P. Krishna Kumar

Boundless Grace
By G.P. Krishna Kumar, Santhigiri


I would like to share some of my experiences that illustrate how an ignorant man met his extraordinary master, compassion incarnate, and failed to follow his Master’s Words. I am around 62 and am now staying in the Santhigiri Ashram premises in Thiruvananthapuram in the accommodation given to me by my Guru. My wife is with me and my children a boy and a girl - are grown up and have set up their own families. I belong to a village called Panmana in Kollam district in Kerala. My house is very close to the Samadhi of the great (late 19th and 20th century) Saint Chattampi Swamikal. From childhood I had been suffering from one illness or the other without a respite as it were. As a result I was always on one course of medicines or the other, following the regimen of one system after the other. To add to this misery I met with several accidents causing fractures and dislocations and what not, which led to long periods of bed rest, leaving behind memories of great pain and constraint. In their anxiety about me, my parents were running to doctors all the time. They also resorted to magical ceremonies, invoking many deities including snake gods. The extended family I belonged to had other problems too beside my sickly condition. Some members had consulted astrologers who attributed our misfortunes to the anger and dissatisfaction of the deities we worshipped in our family shrine. Apparently the rituals that were necessary for those deities were not being carried out properly. Our family shrine had several deities for the past many generations. We were worshipping these in addition to visiting big temples and holy places. Two positive factors balanced my suffering later. I found a government job and got a caring wife. These were my circumstances when I met my Guru. There must have been some punyam stored up in my soul from previous births. Otherwise how could I have met him!

The punyam of some ancestors also might have acted as an influence. Be that as it may the golden chance to meet Guru came in the form of an invitation from a friend, Sri Ramanujam. He was accompanying a person from Nagercoil who wanted to consult Guru about his retarded child. I joined the group and we visited Ashram for the first time on 22 January 1986.

Guru gave us a lot of time that day, talking at length on the evils of worshipping snake gods and such other deities. The retarded child whom we had brought had this defect due to such a baleful influence through worship. For improvement, the parents of the child should turn to a righteous system of worship and to virtuous deeds. Guru also narrated the story of Anasuya, wife of Athri whose Ashram was fabled to be at Sucheendram, a place fairly close to Nagercoil. The story illustrates the power an individual soul can attain through commitment to a Guru. Anasuya was totally committed to her husband taking him to be her Guru. The Trimurti - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara - acclaimed to be the mightiest gods in the Hindu pantheon, were totally disarmed by Anasuya. They had entered Athri’s Ashram with a negative intent and Anasuya could immediately read their minds. She sprinkled the Paadatheertham of her sage husband on these goods who were transformed into infants at once. This story is found engraved in the temple at Sucheendram. I could not comprehend then the message Guru was conveying through the story. Nevertheless his words stayed in my memory, after exploring within my inner space, giving out the energy of new meanings. Without my knowledge, my meeting with Guru had become a turning point in my life. For I decided to bring my family to Guru. It was a new beginning for us.

In the course of time, I became a regular visitor to the Ashram. My wife and children accompanied me fairly often. Every time I paid a visit I was charged by a Word, a Glance or a Smile from Guru. Without my having to explain anything, Guru understood everything about my family and myself. Through Guru, I got the conviction that the root cause of my painful physical condition lay in the family’s wrong worship system.

After three years of my first meeting, Guru asked me if I could bring my parents to the Ashram. My father never took my suggestions or opinions very seriously; still I could get them to come to the Ashram with me, on 26 January 1989. Guru then told me that the family could stop the rituals at the shrine now. I was happy but I did not know how to convince my father, who did not take me seriously. He was so mindlessly but deeply involved in the age old traditions and customs of pantheistic worship. Guru knew my plight well and advised me to get a reputed astrologer to the house and to divine the cause of our family problems and the remedies thereof. As a traditional family it was easy for us to resort to divinatory astrological means. So, with the consent of all I got Sri Karakulam Krishnan Potti very well known as an astrologer, to come to my house in Panmana. Guru deputed two persons from the Ashram to witness this session. Sri Potti drew the chart of planetary positions in front of a lighted lamp and started the calculations with his cowries.

All of us had gathered there, watching. After carefully studying the planetary positions he started telling us what we knew from earlier consultations with other astrologers. The deities of the family shrine are angry and dissatisfied he said. Many generations of our ancestors had worshipped at the shrine as the site of worship appeared to have had its origin around 750 years ago. The anger of these deities is having a malefic influence on us now, who have inherited the shrine and its tradition.

How can this situation be countered? What could be the measures to please these deities so that we could free ourselves? The expert astrologer went into his reading of the planetary charts again. Well, yes there are certain remedies, he concluded: The shrine had to be renovated. Needless to say, then, that the re-installation ceremony was to be conducted. A separate well had to be dug exclusively for the shrine. A compound wall also had to be erected around the shrine. Periodic poojas as conducted now are not enough. There should be daily worship in the temple and for the proper conduct of the daily worship a priest had to be appointed. Moreover special ceremonies might have to be conducted periodically as the measures suggested could be effective for only five to ten years.

At this juncture I intervened: ‘Look, I am a follower of Karunakara Guru of Santhigiri Ashram. Please see whether the deities would be satisfied if we followed Guru’s advice in this matter’. Mr. Potti started his divination again. He said he could not believe his findings. He saw him repeat his exercise, apparently with the same result. He was quite perplexed when he hesitantly told us that my suggestion offered a permanent remedy unlike the conventional measures. One of our well wishers who had come for this session just could not agree with this reading. How could a potent astral being like a brahmarakshas be removed at all, he asked unbelievingly. The astrologer stated that the planetary influences unequivocally indicate that the method suggested by Guru can remove even the brahmarakhas. He calculated several times but the readings were consistent, affirming the above position beyond doubt astrologically.

Thus by Guru’s grace I could employ traditional astrology to persuade my family. My parents, siblings and most of the other relatives showed willingness to agree to the new remedial measure and came to see Guru. On the day they arrived, Guru spoke with them for a long time. Guru drew our attention to once prosperous families who worshipped deities in their own shrines have become decadent. Guru also spoke on the Gurupooja in The Ashram. It is cleansing ordained by the Will of the Almighty and could free us from all the baleful astral influences and spirits. Nevertheless there could be some pain and suffering. It is like an operation in which the patients have to go through pain for healing to take place. Guru expressed his willingness to do Gurupooja for us and asked my father whether he was ready for it. At that crucial moment my father wavered, probably aware of the anxiety on some faces in our group.

My father’s response shattered me. He said that he wanted some more time to consult these members of the family who could not come to the Ashram with us. My father’s unfortunate answer amounted to an outright rejection of Guru’s immense Grace extending so caringly to protect us. It amounted to a rejection of the Almighty’s compassionate Will. Seeing what untold grief my family had caused me Guru allowed me to declare my position to my parents and relatives. I went to Panmana when a ceremony was being conducted in the family shrine. I told all who were present there that my wife and myself along with our children would no longer associate ourselves with either this shrine or the rituals conducted in it.

Within a short period the branch of our family who were directly involved in lighting the lamp in the shrine daily had to sell their house and property and move to a far away place. The daily lighting of lamp in the shrine stopped the priest who used to perform the pooja once in a month had a fall from his bicycle on his way to the shrine and broke his legs. Another priest was brought to take his place after some days. He opened the shrine to find an invasion of termites all over the place. Worse than that the idols had lost their firm connection from their seats. The priest left without performing the pooja, advising my parents to arrange for a reinstallation of the idols and other purificatory ceremonies.

My parents were helpless now, they themselves were facing problems like people streaking their coconuts, encroaching their property etc. With the help of some relatives they got another astrologer along with a priest to tantrically shift these deities to various temples. The idols believed to have been their abodes were thrown (immersed) in the sea. The shrine itself was demolished. The properties including the one in which the shrine once stood were all sold. That was the end of a long chapter in our lives.

Guru, in spite of how my father behaved, showered unconditional Grace on him. My father could see Guru in vision. Not once but many times. My father started chanting Akhandanaamam which is the main vehicle of prayer in the Ashram. He could find relief in chanting it. My father was a patient of rheumatic fever. At one point he had become so weak that blood transfusion had to be given to him. A thorough check up was done and the x-ray film showed a clear mass below the lungs. His case was referred to the Medical College hospital in Thiruvananthapuram when Guru was informed of this situation. He asked me to first consult doctors known to one of his close disciples, Dr. Somanathan before bringing him to Trivandrum. Accordingly I went to an eminent chest specialist with the x-ray film and other medical records.

After examining these, doctor said that he did not want to see the patient. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy were the only treatment in this case. Considering the patients age and physical condition such treatment was not advisable, the doctor asked me to take him home from the hospital without letting him know what had happened. Give him all that he liked. Medical care was to be given to him to make it easier for him. I conveyed the doctor’s advice to Guru, and without saying anything Guru gave me a small packet of bhasmam (sacred ash) for my father.

I went to Panmana and gave an account of this development to my mother and brothers. Under the pretext of going to Trivandrum Medical College, we obtained discharge from the hospital in which he was admitted. I brought my father to my house. I gave the packet of bhasmam from Guru to my father. He would apply the bhasmam on his forehead and put a pinch of it in his mouth. Days passed by and my father appeared to be quite happy and had a good appetite. I went and told Guru about this improvement. Guru smiled: ‘It is all his Grace! Do your prayers’. After two years father was admitted in the same hospital for rheumatic fever and general weakness. The doctor who treated him earlier was still there and he was utterly astonished. He never expected my father to survive that long. The X-ray film of my father’s chest surprised the doctor further. Chest was clear. When my father complained about his aches the doctor patted him on the shoulder and said, ‘You have escaped miraculously from a killer disease! May be it is the Grace of God or of your Guru! Do you think you should complain about these aches?’ Only then did my father find out the secret we kept away from him. My father lived for many more years and passed away in June 2002. Such is the boundless Grace of my Guru!

I have only that GRACE to fall upon. And I experience it now through Guru’s Sishyapoojitha! May I humbly submit my reminiscences at GURU’S lotus feet!

Spiritual Experience - Urmila G

Guru Charanam Saranam

Indelible Marks of Experience
Urmila G, Tallassery

We are witness to the gradual decay and degeneration of well known families which have family temples and family deities. Is there any relationship between the concept of God, way of worship and the ups and downs in life? I don’t know whether we have honestly studied or inquired to find this out. Several studies had been done to analyze the cause and effect of social and cultural disintegration of this country which once enjoyed unparalleled supremacy in the areas of knowledge, education and wealth. Scholars and social reformers assign caste and age-old family traditions as the reason behind the decay of socio-economic and political system and progress. They do not probe into the other dimensions of this phenomenon.

But Guru through his own experience revealed that it was the pattern of faith and the way of worship contrary to the age which played an important role in the disintegration of families social order. Guru, not only stated this untold truth but also fulfilled the Will of Brahmam by restoring Yugadharma. Nobody ever knew that the decay and disintegration of families have been caused by a wrong worship and faith inappropriate to the Dharma of the Age. Families thus degenerated are aplenty in our society. Mavanal in Thottapally is one such old family, which had from wealth, fallen to the depths of penury. It was in this house that Guru had first performed Guru Pooja outside the Ashram. Neither members of the family nor the spectators did not realize it even in imagination, as the exalted action which would become the foundation of spiritual and social renaissance of the world. Smt. Urmila G, a teacher, now residing at Talassery, is a member of this family and has been a follower of Guru since. Here, she shares her experience, with the prayer that it may become a pointer to the world at large.

Q: Teacher, It is 34 years since you have met Guru. How did you come to know about Guru?

A: At that time we were going here and there consulting astrologers to find a way out for the ills at home.

Q: What did Astrologers have to say about your family problems?

A: Ours was a big old household with boundary walls, family temple, pond and family deities which were worshipped as per tradition. It was in our generation that the family had begun to degenerate. The astrologers pointed out that there was the problem of family deities and ancestral souls, and that they should be housed in a freshly built temple. We had identified the place to build the temple. But at a time when we were struggling for livelihood, it was not practical. Similarly, necessary material had been unloaded to renovate the house. But nothing could be done. From the astrological readings, it was seen that nothing would be possible until the relocation of the deities.

Q: How did you meet Guru?

A: My mother visited a Muslim lady soothsayer, who she thought, could advise a way out from our difficulties. On her way back, she paid a visit to the house of Sri K.P. Vaidyar, our family friend. It was he who told her about Guru. When he listened to our difficulties, Vaidyar said, ‘A Swami will come here. Just tell him and see.’ He was talking about Guru.

The moment she saw Guru, she felt that this was the place where all her difficulties could be relieved. She experienced an unexplainable relief too. Guru affectionately enquired with mother about the matters at home. Mother told Guru the entire story.

Guru asked if there were people in her family who were capable to build the temple and move the deities.

Mother informed Guru that they had no faith in these things though they had no big financial difficulties as hers.

Guru said that he was not in a position to do anything at that time. Six months had to pass.

Q: What was the reason for Guru to say that?

A: It was a period connected to the completion of Guru’s spiritual phase. During that time, Guru was not to intercede spiritually. This was in line with the ‘instructions’ from the Light of Brahman. When after six months Guru came to Vaidyar’s house, mother went and saw Guru. ‘Determining a day, all people in the family should be called. Also arrange for a good astrologer’, Guru informed. Immediately we invited the famous astrologer of Central Travancore, Sri Pallana Kochu Keshavan, and informed him all matters.

Q: What was the response of the Astrologer?

A: When he heard that these deities and ancestral souls could be removed just with ‘sankalpam’ (mental resolve) without any rituals, he said, ‘We are viewing this scientifically. No individual, let him be any great saint, through his divine power and meditation, the purifying karma cannot be performed. Rituals like ‘Homa‘ etc. are essential. If the deities observed in the chart were seen relocated by ‘sankalpam’ then only it can be believed’, he added.

On the appointed day, Guru reached our house around 10’ in the morning. We had no knowledge as to how to receive Guru. There were, along with Guru, a little girl called Suma (now Satvika Janani), Moli, the sister of Prathibha Janani, Sri K.P. Vaidyar and his wife and Sri Sridharan. A big crowd had assembled there as spectators and listeners including the family members. The astrologer also arrived in time. My father was living separately as he could not bear the financial burden after the ruin of his business. Presently, knowing that Guru was coming, he also came there.

It took everybody by surprise when they saw Guru for the first time. It was not at all a figure in their imagination. An ordinary looking man clad in white dhoti and shawl. But everyone could see a divine light, a rare aura in that face.

Q: What rituals had taken place subsequently?

A: For everyone, it was totally a different experience from what was expected. Guru along with the little child Suma sat in the front hall. The astrologer sat on one side. Guru asked the astrologer to see what are all there in the house. After calculations, the astrologer said, ‘It’s a very old family. It has an age and tradition of approximately 800 years; We were aware from the disclosures of astrologers earlier that it was a Brahmin household. From the chart, it was made known that there were such and such deities, Brahma Rakshas and Serpent (Naga). It was also disclosed that the remedial measure was to make a temple and install them there.

Q. What was the response of Guru after listening to this?

A: Guru called that little girl to his side and said something. After prostrating before Guru, that girl sat for sometime in meditation. ‘Now see whether these have moved from here,’ Guru asked the astrologer. The astrologer worked out the chart. Agitation was writ on his face. Has the calculation gone wrong? The astrologer doubted. He did the chart again and again. The same results!

Guru: ‘Why, have they all moved?’

Astrologer: ‘From the calculation, it is seen that all have moved’.

Guru: ‘Isn’t the chart true?’

Astrologer: ‘Yes, it is true’.

Guru: ‘Then, what is the doubt?’

The astrologer suddenly rose and prostrated before Guru. ‘Please forgive me. I have not seen anything like this before. I am seeing a unique performance like this for the first time. It is a new experience’.

Some people present asked the astrologer. ‘It was told that all these have moved. Where did it move?’ The astrologer replied loudly across the crowd, ‘It is seen that it was to an Ashram far south’.

Q: What did Guru tell you later about this performance?

A: Guru explained this way: ‘When all these spirits were asked to move after bringing them under the light of Guru, all except one were ready to move. That one was a Sanyasi, a member of the family. As it was standing there as the family head in the ancestral zodiac, it was unwilling to move without someone taking that position. It was however desirous of salvation. The tears of this Sanyasi were causing the family to deteriorate. Only after Guru promised to take that position, the Sanyasi became ready to move. Guru told that it was a soul which had immense love towards the family.

Q: Is the performance known as ‘Pitrusuddhi’ as well?

A: The people at that time had no knowledge about the greatness of Guru. This purifying performance later came to be known as ‘Pitrusuddhi’ or ‘Guru Pooja’, constituting the foundation for the fulfillment of Guru’s mission. I understood its greatness after reading the article, ‘The difference between the Gods and Guru’ - in the ashram monthly.

Q: What is the difference between the Gurupooja in other places and the Gurupooja here?

A: We commonly believe that the luck of the children and the prosperity in every family depend to a great extent on the virtues- merits and demerits of the ancestors. Whenever some difficulties befall us, and when we see it astrologically, we come to know about ‘Pitru Dosha’ – the damaging position of the ancestral souls – and we perform remedial rituals. But a method is not seen among the Hindus to cleanse the manes- ancestral souls, releasing them fully, giving whatever position they deserve. Therefore the ‘Pitru Dosha’ always stands as the reason behind the decay and destruction of the families.

In the path of knowledge, i.e. ‘Sankalpa Matrena Parameswara’ – Self evident Godly realization - without Tantra and Mantra, through the resolve of a self realized Soul, first ever it is through Guru a method is being established for cleansing the Pitrus. In the glow of Guru’s Soul, 18 generations of ancestral souls are cleansed giving them whatever deserved. The Guru Pooja of Santhigiri is also a self-sacrificial action preparing the path for the salvation and liberation of the deities these ancestors worshipped. Through the performance of Guru Pooja, a new generation and culture is being established in the world. After doing Guru pooja for us, Guru said; ‘Do not continue the other ways of worship‘.

Q: Is it not negating the traditional ways of god belief?

A: Guru has not negated anything that exists. Guru teaches that faith and ways of worship we follow since ages are not in tune with the present Dharma of the age and the will of God. This truth is seen in the old scriptures too. In the Sanatana Dharma, which was the ancient culture of India, the Yuga Dharma has been explained. The Mahabharta and Bhagavata have also talked about Yuga Dharma. They have also explained what should be the way of god worship and concepts relating to god realization in each age. But for several ages, a life and the system of worship suitable to this age has not been followed. Therefore, our god concept did not go beyond the plane of ‘heaven’ and the Trinity.

Except for the soothing discourse and expositions on the radiance of Brahman, the planes of consciousness and monism (advaita), practically, god worship and spirituality did not go beyond the sphere of trinity. By stories, ideological discourses and logic, through intellectual prowess and theory of salvation, everything was being submitted at the altar of Trinity. Except that, the mankind could not know about the actual light of God. Without having a path to live and worship as per the wish of that Light mankind got alienated from true Dharma for ages.

Q: What did Guru say about the reason behind it?

A: It was through the path of Manus, mankind received the knowledge about Yuga Dharma and a life culture in accordance to it. The Masters (Gurus) who were the architects of Sanatana Dharma -which is established in the path of knowledge – guided the people as per the dharma of the age. But the Sanatana Dharma got deviated and in course of time, Trinity system came into existence.

Q: What is the explanation received from Guru regarding the cause of decadence of Sanatana Dharma?

A: As per the revelations from Guru, in the 3rd Chaturyuga of this 7th Manvanthara -25 chaturyugas before- an error happened to a Rishi in his vision which brought forth a curse from Brahman. As a consequence, the light of god disappeared from mankind and the path of truth was lost. The memory of Manu itself was obliterated from the mind of man. Several sages took birth after that in many parts of the world and sacrificed their life to guide mankind to virtue and truth, notwithstanding the historical truth that their efforts remain futile.

It is through Guru, the world for the first time knew about the reasons why through the worship of god the problems and desolation of man are not being resolved. The mistake happened to the Manu Lineage did not get revealed to the other sages. As they lived and worshipped without knowing this truth and therefore the mistake remained irreversible. It was in the year 1973, at the time of the fulfillment of Guru’s spiritual stature, these facts were revealed to the disciples through ‘revelation’ and ‘vision’. It was then, the birth and objective of Guru’s life was revealed. We can see an awful situation where after the fading of Manu Dharma, the search for truth languished at the level of Trinity.

Q: Can you tell us in brief the details known about the mission of Guru?

A: Due to the mistake of Manu Lineage, from the time the Yuga Dharma went awry, the sages who came in succession could not guide the spiritual and worldly actions of man in the proper way. Treading the path of truth without having right guidance, innumerable seekers of truth lost track and remained in the spiritual spheres as ‘Yoga Brashtas’ and evil spirits – this has been known from Guru. They influence the thoughts and mind of man and control life. By worshipping these powers - who give ‘visions’ and ‘experiences’ - as God, the system of worship was deviated. The sages, who came to restore the Will of God, after reaching the sphere of Trinity, remained there, unable to go beyond. The history of god realization remains at this sphere of spirituality from where a soul is unable to go further. The life mission of Guru is to restore the lost connection between man and God and thus fulfill the Will of Brahman.

Q: Wasn’t Guru establishing a new path of god worship and concept?

A: Guru has established a path of god worship and god concept suitable to this age. The spiritual paths limited in scope to the availability of ‘heaven’ and trinity stage could be saved through this, leading to God.

Q: What is that path?

A: It is the path of Guru (Guru Margam) which is established in the faith of one Absolute Truth. Behind it is the concept - Guru Sakala Dharmatma – Guru is the essence or soul of all Dharma. After knowing the essence of all Dharma, fulfilling all Karma and then merging with the Supreme Light - Parabrahmam, again taking birth by the command of Brahmam – that epochal Guru is the rightful heir of all Dharma. One can know the greatness of God only through that Guru. Only through such a Guru, the inheritor of all dharma and karma, who came here to fulfill the Will of Brahmam, we can fill our life with prosperity cutting asunder all obstacles that take us backward, spiritually and materially. This is the knowledge and experience received from Guru.

Q: What have you to tell about the experiences in life till now?

A: It is my experience that there is a relationship between the faith and way of worship we follow, and the rise and fall of our life, disintegration of families and societies and cultural degradation. It is an irony that no social reformers, religious pundits, thinkers or scientists inquire or study about this. Even while borrowing new techniques and models to remedy backwardness, we see that the individual, the family and the society is still in turmoil, suffering with contrary experiences and tragedies.

The wisdom should dawn on our scientific, social and political leadership that along with materialistic considerations, there is a determining role, relevance and importance to spirituality. It is also my conviction that the ideology of Guru can be transmitted to others only through the sacrificial life of each disciple.

(Translated from the original Malayalam by Mukundan PR)



Courtesy: Santhigiri Publications, Santhigiri Ashram

The Great Sayings of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Great Sayings of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru
(Translated from the original Malayalam)

Note: Guru has said volumes on these topics. However this is only few glimpses of what He said readily available in English.


On Spirituality

“Gurudharma is infinite and immortal. Guru is the harbinger of vision …. The difference between the Deva (deities) and the Guru is very big”.


“Why the society is generally worshipping God today? Why go to places of worship and ashrams? Just for temporary fulfillment! It ends up with breaking of coconuts and lighting of wicks. They return in a worst state than before… Till now we had been living behind the system in which there were different gods for lower castes and higher castes…. Kaliyuga requires the culmination of the faith in a single God”.


“The rules and regulations within human intelligence are not sufficient to preserve Dharma. People do not even think what the need is there for twisting and dancing in the name of devotion…. For all of us who live in this world, a ONE is required to remain together. Spread everywhere by confining to that ONE, That ONE, which spreads to everything is the Truth….”


“The revival of the nation should be achieved through the revival of the home. How can the home be revived? Can the home be revived by finding a way to get some money? If the home is to be revived, the mother, who is the first Guru, should be virtuous and knowledgeable. Nobody has improved the world at a stretch. But if at least one woman can be led to wisdom, one home will improve. The next generation will improve. If it is done as an offering to god, this seed, which is sown, will spread throughout the world”


“Kali seems to have reached a critical stage that cannot be countered even by the teachings of Jesus and Moses. If the Dharma of the Kaliyuga is to be accomplished, the women in a household should be spiritually awakened like the women of the Prophet Mohammed’s family. The Prophet was unable initially to make out what was happening. He did not realize that he had started receiving the Word from the Light. He thought that he was imagining. It was his wife who affirmed his experience and encouraged him. She was such an evolved woman. The householders should be able to bring up a girl-child who would, when she becomes a wife, assures her husband that she would strive for his welfare through her prayers. Only if this spiritual quality is attained would you earn the right to do such work as would redeem the Kali age. One cannot achieve this, no matter what high status one has, if one’s karma is defective. It is only through the grace of God the ever-orbiting planets, remaining in their stellar paths offer substance to us”.


“It is not possible for you to act from the awareness of all past lives and achieve the completion. It is not necessary for you to know it either. It is enough to learn to believe. That is why Jesus said that faith saves. Indeed you have to learn to believe. Something perennial is being offered to you to believe. Rely on it with resolve and accomplish everything one by one. You, your wife and children are caught in the same karma. What you achieve should be achieved by them too. The father of a family should have attained love through faith, karma through love, punyam (virtue or blessedness) through karma, and good fortune (luck) through punyam. The womb that carries the child has to be that of a similarly worthy mother. Have we brought up our girl-children to be such virtuous mothers?”



‘We have come to this world after many births. We have very little time in this world. What can we learn during this short span of time? The wealth of knowledge acquired through the ages is so voluminous that we are unable to understand even a fraction of it... Therefore, what we can learn is about Kali Yuga Dharma. Kali Yuga Dharma is not based on caste or religion. It is based on the innate goodness of humanity’


“It was said that the Brahma created the four Vedas…. The Brahma of the Trinity tradition was misconceived as Brahman. Brahman is all pervading. Brahma is not so. Brahma relates only to the aspect of creation. Still it was made to believe that Brahma was above everything. However, Brahma is not everything. The story of Brahma can only be told by Manu. As far as Manu is concerned, little is known….. Thus we fell into error….”


The Aim of Santhigiri Ashram


“It was laid down that we should not step into, see, touch or take… We fought one another within these edicts. As a result, the ‘varnashrama dharma’ was lost and in its place has come the caste system. All the Karmas were hit by this system. We at Santhigiri are taking back that faulty Karma, which many had tried in vain earlier. Santhigiri’s karma is directed at reverting to the caste-less society and not at developing a sanyasa cult. Nor is it aimed at tracing the root of Indian civilization with a view to retrieve it. Why should it be, after all? Because this is Kali Yuga whose Karma is not to step onto the mountain of errors covering the whole world and then revive the lot! Our karma and dharma are to finish off what has gone wrong in it....”


“The householders belonging to both the genders have got a major role to play. Each householder has to elevate himself in such a manner that through his off-springs and lineage, he acquires the intelligence to rule the world, the Karma to do good to the world and become capable of assuming of the role of the guardian of the world…. That’s the dharma of a householder. Blissfully ignorant of this, you live and perish as an opportunist…. You don’t know what god-worship is or the performance of the karma of a householder properly…. None of these karmas is now with us. Retrieving them is going to be our mission…”


“Many great spiritual leaders like Krishna, Buddha, Christ and Prophet Mohammed have come and gone but their divine teachings did not have the desired effect on mankind … Most of the scriptural discourses go astray leaving the humanity behind!... What is the way out? The only thing that we can do for their good is to pray to God”.


Guru on Politics & Government


“What does each one do in the name of politics? The karma of politics has the life of a day. It is meant to be that way. ….. Ask any leader, who has crossed the middle age, in private. And he would agree that it (his entry into politics) was a mistake. Consider this seriously and you will realize that an outrageous wrong has been done to the younger generations. We have not realized what a great wrong it is! This evil will vanish from the very face of the earth, if the householders could unite and act with a will. It is enough for you to understand the deception and it will disappear on its own. Until and unless you realize this situation for yourself you will not be able to either listen to or to believe in any counsel. This Karma (the politics of today) does not have to be eradicated by force. It is enough that you keep to your karma with proper awareness”


“The people should get this knowledge through the body that governs the land. This knowledge should be properly received by the people as well as the government. How can one realize the possibility of the interstellar destruction if we disregard these matters, immersed as we are in mirage-like rhetoric and words of consolation? We should be ever vigilant to fulfill the dharma of our incarnation …. That is the means to raise India to be the fountain-head of the Word of Truth from God. And that is how India could be the base for eradicating of poverty of the peoples of the world”


Guru to the Householders


“A father should be as God to his children. Then should he not be in a position to at least show the children the path to God? Your search should be motivated by this cause. Whatever else you find for them would not do. This is the karma. This is the virtue. Actualizing of such virtue would enable parents to bring into existence the citizens of the world. This is not the mission of the renunciate, the sanyasi. It is for the house-holders to accomplish it …. If the householders are rejecting this what is the way out? Caste, creed and race are not to influence the householders' lives. The Dharma of the age should become the light that leads. This is the age of Kali. The Dharma of Kali is the guidance given by the Guru who has come to the earth plane even after achieving liberation. He would have realized and gone beyond Vedic rituals and the traditions….”


“Today it is the educated who loot much more than the uneducated. Your children are getting the education that creates wrong tendencies in them inviting destruction. You should give your children what is suitable to their propensities. By giving something unsuitable, negative tendencies are fostered. Do not thus allow the child to take up the ownership of karmadosham (karmic error). There is a type of avadhoota (spiritual wanderer) who does not know how to dress, eat, drink or bathe. It would look like some sort of renunciation. Your children walk about as though merged in God, reminding us of this avadhoota. These children drink, defecate and vomit in an utterly messy way and move through filth of many types. They go astray and wherever they go try to fool about before the world….”



“Those of you who wish to be part of the process of ashrama dharma should keep a thought thus in mind… This is not just for removing the faults in me. This is also for removing the failings in the life and work of my forefathers. If there is release for me, well and good; otherwise let it be. But my children should not amass this ignorance; this country should not be ruined because of them. Your work should reflect at least that much of love. Apart from this you are not asked to give up and become renunciates”.



“I have done that which blocks your hereditary negativity and the resultant ignorance affecting your children. Believe this to be the karma performed by me so that you may be in possession of that karma; your dharma is to faithfully absorb it for which you have to renew yourselves. For that God has entrusted his word itself to you. I am giving you this good news with great expectation”.



‘While learning staying in the ashram, we, with our wisdom, sacrifice, sufferings and actions are compensating for the lapses in our homes and the society. This is the knowledge we gain from the Ashram. This is not Sanyasa (renunciation). Those who come to the Ashram and stay here do not adopt Sanyasa. They are coming here to learn with their lives. That was what ancient kings had done. Even Lord Krishna studied in an Ashram. Ashram is such a great institution. The basic duty of every Ashram is to give away love, respect and humility for the good of the world. This is the real education which we gain from the Ashram’.



“The house-holders of the whole world ought to be vigilant otherwise they are preparing themselves to cast their own future generation into a boundless fire-pit that is getting formed. This is a reminder to you to take great care while bringing your children into the world and parent them. Ultimately where do the children have to live? Do the parents have any alternative other than letting the children come into this very society?”


Guru on Bringing up Children


“We are nurtured in such a way that we have no contrivances to bring up our children in the specific manner. If the father leads a decent life, the children would pursue it. If the mother has no say in anything, indeed everything would be lost. It is not adequate that father alone be good. Children would emerge righteous if only they are conveyed all the facets of virtues. Even if the wife is virtuous, the drunkard husband can crucify the family. Many such families exist. Children of such family are to be resuscitated. The householders should take heed of it. No philosophy can save him. Vedanta, to him, would be hard nut to crack. Life is more important than Vedanta. What is life? We should know how to live. We play hosts to many absurdities in life. Try to remedy them. Shape it through your children. The first pre-requisite is the knowledge of the dharma to make it possible. I have diagnosed the cause of the malady and revealed to many. Still I do it. But how many pay heed to it? I am sad that though I disclosed it to thousands few care to conceive it in the right spirit. The malady prevails. They come again but time is spent. Be mindful, this is a karma done only through children. It is possible only through two or three generation that this task can be accomplished. Do you have any knowledge to impart to the posterity....? What shall we do? This is the curse of the time. This is high time that we shall try to make amends. At any cost, we must do something. Just appreciating what I say is not enough…. The housewives have to take initiative, and not remain aloof as a bystander…. What is required is the knowledge having the fragrance of life…. Woman is the integral part of a house.. Women must be virtuous, otherwise she cannot control her children. They seek their own path. What are parents if they cannot guide their children?”



Guru on Genetic Cleansing



“There’s a saying among us that husband is God. Is it applicable then to an embodiment of all vices and one who has never been fair to anything; to one who has lost all punya (virtue), humility….? ‘Gurupuja’ is the Karma which I am offering here for these ills. And through this, off-springs capable of transferring goodness all around will emerge. It’s not as if someone is sitting somewhere meditating, chanting and invoking some evil spirits, never…. What I am making you do is a unique karma. Its purpose is to make amends to the errors in all spiritual lineages (devas, deities and rishis) till date, thereby raising them to an elevated plane….The ancestors did have their share of good and bad. The task of rectifying their bad deeds was stupendous. You’ll understand it, if you reflect on the lives of the noble souls of the past”.


Guru on Spiritual Planes


“We should be prepared to declare that there is an effective method for the intented correction. For this it requires that one should come to know or experience the Supreme Soul who fills with radiating light the planetary and interplanetary spheres of the system of nine planets. There is the spiritual wisdom starting at the first sky [Akasa] and encompassing the succeeding planes of the different specifications of light. But the scriptural renderings of wisdom do not effectively bring out that spark of life illuminating the life-force... The written history, which is a mixture of Vedic, puranic and scriptural thought does not illustrate this fact….”


“Beginning from the humble grass or from the five elements involving the water content the life-force is evaluated; this leads to the five spiritual cells - pancha Kosa (Annamaya, Pranamaya, Jnanamaya, Vinjanamaya and Anandamaya). Scholars have tried to add a sixth one to the existing five cells. This concept of the sixth one is far from the truth, though it may appear reasonable, pure and scholarly….. The nine-fold light can emanate from one atom as has been proved by the possibility of atomic reaction brought about by modern scientific research…”



“There was a theory that the atom cannot be split. Now who has split the atom? The assertion of the indivisibility of the atom is similar to the theory of Advaita. Science can bring to light a number of facts. But the method or path followed by the scientist need not necessarily be the proper one. What do we understand from this? His findings may be scientifically true. The nature has arranged everything without holding back anything from our observation. The spokesman of the truth can alone clarify the objective tribulation of the life-force in accordance with the different stature of individual souls. The great men whose sustained effort in search of the source of grace for long, having acted upon every cell beginning from the annamaya kosa (food sheath) and through a long journey enabling them to reach Anandamaya kosa (blissful sheath). The objective evaluation of the possessive process of spiritual phenomena can be done only by a seeker of truth”

82nd Birthday Message of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru

Gurucharanam Saranam

82nd Birthday Message(As Revealed from Guru-Prakasham through Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini)


Let us pray in one heart and in unison for peace!
The Soul of Truth,
Lonely in the shores of the oceans,
Realizing the truth of human life,
Vigilantly safeguarding the path of penance,
Cleaving the thick cobwebs of karma,
Its certainties as well as uncertainties,
Observing the hidden far off truth,
Through the sastrugi of pain and realizations,
In those sinuous pathways of pain and truthful reflections,
Loudly proclaiming:

Hail! Hail! 'The Light of Truth, the Light of Truth'.

In that Soul of Truth, in its scintillating effulgence,
Through vigilant experience and mystical revelations,
Behold, the path of verve and renaissance,
That leads countless souls to the virtuous path.

In that corridor of wakefulness, the truth of life is known;
Like the maneuverings of the ocean, known through nature's throbs.
In its ceaseless journey, in the crucible of wisdom
In the alimental karma and dharma, that complements each other,
Behold the self-earned virtuousness,
And the eternal glimmer of life-effulgence,
The conduct of life after birth and death,
The truth of cause and effect,
Behold them all, in that Godly Will!
Untouched by the humanly wisdom,
Like the ores caught by a magnet,
In the horizon beyond the shore of thoughts,
The sinews of divine bliss, penetrating the yonder skies,
Curing thus the karmic ruptures,
With the puissance of sacrifice amassed,
Transforming as the path itself, for the liberation of all:
Thus the revelation:

'Word is Truth, Truth is Guru, and Guru is God'

The path conforming to Godly Will!
The path of blemishless and virtuous seers,
The path of awakened truth, of revelation,
And of the apocalyptic aphorism:

'Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, and Guru is God Siva'

Traversing the acclivitous truths of which,
Life becomes merged with that luciferous truth,
Of knowledge and wisdom, the seat of transcendental bliss,
Guiding life, as the eternal fulcrum of creation!

That self revealing transcendental bliss,
Hidden indeed is it in the alcoves of our heart,
Known through self-experiential knowledge,
And discriminatory wisdom,
The realization of which is the vigilant will of God.

What for and what that vigil was?
Astringed with sacrifice,
With karma brimming with righteousness,
With the loving salve of beneficence;
That seat of transcendental bliss,
Is the credendum, or the quiddity of Santhigiri.

We remember the perennial birthdays…..
In the girdles of experience,
With the osculant prayerful visions,
That throbbing of self-effulgence;

In the epochs and in its twilights … Manvantara
In its' high and low tides,
In the innards of dharma and adharma
Cognizing and respecting everything,
Abandoning that which to be abandoned,
All to imbibe that divine effulgence,
The personification of scintillating perfection!


The throbs of our prayers keep the purr of entire creation,
In the girdles of protection,
Through our life of vigilance, in the altar of self-sacrifice,
And in the kingdom of the Self,
Salvaging its wisdom and experience
Demeaning with all in right measure,
In our verve to venerate the Supreme Blessed Light,
The object of worship of all!

Praying ever and anon, for the welfare of this creation!
Embracing always that graceful Light,
Hearken to realization, with a worshipful mind!

Prayers again for the quietitude of all,
With submissions in that totality of truth,
In that eternity of perfection!

(Translated from the original Malayalam by Mukundan P.R.)