The Origin of Trimurthi Tradition

Gurucharanam Saranam


The Origin of Trimurthi Tradition
(The sacred words of Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru)
Translated from the original Malayalam



An annunciation was received soon after I started an Ashram: ‘You need to think about your life’. At that time I could not figure out what it meant. I asked for a clarification from my Guru, Pattani Swami. He said: ‘I have received two indications only. You will get the rest’. The first idea was that it was not enough to seek only the spiritual. The second was that it would become necessary to reform the practice of Sanyasa.

Prayer and worshipful observances were done as directed thirty four times in the name of ‘completion’. On the seventh day after the prayer began, on the thirty fourth time, an annunciation was received that a ‘kumbham’ (earthen pot) should be prepared and kept (ceremonially). For four years we were not able to do it properly. In the fifth year we performed this in a humble manner.

We have been shown this for the sake of humanity which is the characteristic of an actualization from the five elements (panchabhuta) through the five senses (panchendriya) and five sheaths (panchakosha). This observance is being done here by effecting a change in the system of such rites performed so far. Not everyone gets such a right.

This is a path in which working of miracles (siddhi) is not allowed. Siddhi is not Jnana (knowledge). Those who were with me had also insisted that it was in order to perform some miracles. Permission was also sought from Brahman and it was given. Later it was indicated that it is not good. Therefore it was not pursued. That is the history of this place. The details of preparing Kumbham were given to us some years ago. Direction was given to do it with the strength of will that our Parampara should have the abundant power to carry this.

The tradition of Trimurthi worship is strongly alive among the Hindus. At one time, it remained so powerful that no one could avoid it. When it was veiled in Varnasrama Dharma, it became rootless in the soil of Kerala. It is with the British rule that Varnasrama broke down and started wearing out. This blight has not gone fully. The theoreticians have kept this away from public knowledge. Though independence was gained through the theoreticians of nation-state who followed it, so far good things could not be touched, using that benefit. This can only be achieved through children who have such a vasana (propensity). This should be realized with the family as a base and it should be imparted to the society and the young children. For this, a great deal of effort has to be made, because the foulness of each region is latent in its people.

It has been shown here (through revelation) about all the worship traditions that have come up in the world and also all the past preceptors and their glorifications. From the beginning of Kali Yuga preceptors (Gurus), have been made to take birth for this purpose. It was revealed later that we were made to perform the aforesaid acts of Poortheekaranam (completions) for the sake of bringing a new generation of progeny from whom the negativity from a certain phase of Kali has been removed. Even I was not let into the mystery of this. If I were to know it directly, pride could arise. Therefore the Will of the Brahman got it carried out without letting me know.

Nothing goes on without the gross (sthoolam), the subtle (sookshmam), the causal (karanam) and the effect consequential (karyam). It is the householders (grihasthashramis) who have to come up as the most qualified. They have got deteriorated the world over. But through the householders who believe here the essence of Truth is being proved. There are householders here who have perceived it in totality. Some of them had rich experience of even receiving the Word from the Supreme. But because of a lack of vasana (propensity), they are not able to put in their efforts with steadfastness. Steadfastness can come only to celibates (Brahmacharis).

It was mentioned earlier that we could not prepare the Kumbham in accordance with the directions received; at that point the circumstances were not favourable. Kumbham can be carried as a vow to eliminate incurable diseases. Those who have undergone a mental breakdown can take the vow. To remove bad habits also this vow can be taken. Besides, it can be done also for the fulfilment of a wish. It has been revealed that the Kumbham vow will yield the desired results if it is taken with true devotion.

It is a rare happening in aeons (Yugantaras). If there is a lapse in following the Will of Brahman, you can get an opportunity for correction through this. That is what has been revealed. This will lend infinite punyam as well as an earning which can never be exhausted. Whatever has to come let it come and whatever has to go let it go – thinking thus, you should boldly carry this forward. Whatever is done here has been done out of conviction, resulting from direct experience. All this is yours. The responsibility to bring up this as an organisation and to sustain it is yours.

Q: What is the reason for the cyclic nature of the four yugas?

Guru: This question itself is the result of the incalculable antiquity of the Hindu tradition. The Sanatana religion means the culture of great souls who came from time to time. We find in history that cultures based on the worship of Sakti, Shiva and Vishnu have tried to improve the quality of life. In between some preceptors have come up, following a religious parampara, but those who have emerged that way do not belong to the tradition of the primal Manu. In the present Manvantara, in the tradition of Vaivaswata Manu, at the end of the third chaturyuga to be exact, a preceptor called Satyatrana faltered in Selfhood due to certain shortcomings following which life deviated from the Cosmic Law given by the Almighty. Satyatrana’s concept was like a transformational ideology (parivarthanavadam). Thereafter the Trimurthi (Trinity) tradition was brought in the seventh chaturyuga to actualize the Will of God.

Q: So there was no Trimurthi tradition before this?

Guru: No. It is the line of Manus who control, each for a given time span, the dynamics of the evolution or dissolution of the world in accordance with the Will of the Brahman. The origin, creation, sustenance, and dissolution come through fourteen such epochs called Manvantaras. The spiritual character in accordance with the Will of Brahman has evolved in this manner.

Q: Why is it that most of the people do not know about the existence of a Manu tradition?

Guru: it was mentioned earlier. The feeling of ‘I’ (Aham Brahmasmi) developed in the line of Manus. In the higher planes of knowing it was seen that all the wisdom and knowledge attained so far have come through it (the Manu tradition). This ‘I’ ness can be seen in any of the books of Vedanta. You talk to any common people - this bloated notion of a free ‘I’ (ego) can be seen. When this comes up in the circle of ascetics (brahmacharis), then such notions come forth through the master-disciple lineage. In the tradition of deity- worship (devaparampara), the ‘deva’ (god) I am devoted to or the ‘devi’ (goddess) I am devoted to is the greatest and most glorious. Because of such possessiveness in individuals, all kinds of deities, chamundi, yakshi, pey, maruta, matan, mantramurthi (dark, evil spirits such as succubi, ghosts, ghouls etc.) became the ‘Lords’. This has happened because of people’s selfishness and egoism.

Q: Why has it happened so?

Guru: It was mentioned already that when the Brahmic Will could not be conducted because of certain failings in the Manu lineage, the Trimurthi tradition came into being from the Will of that Brahmic power. Vedanta (jnana) was lost to this trinity tradition. Ritual worship, prayers and ‘manifestations’ became all its character. When that character worsened to become the ‘exhibition of power’, induced by spirit possessions, the human kind could not perceive fully the greatness of God nor carefully know or learn its extent or its sources of knowledge.

Q: If Guru says so, wouldn’t it come to mean that all that has come so far is wrong?

Guru: Yes, whatever I said so far is that – that they are not correct.

Q: But Guru said that the Trimurthi system came into being for carrying out the Will of Brahman consequent to a mistake that happened in the Manu lineage.

Guru: (Due to the) emergence of Varnasrama, castes and castes upon castes, those who worshiped according to the Trimurthi tradition could not function in accordance with the goodness of the Age. Earlier to this tales were created using the mediacy of srutis and smritis and they were presented as authentic. Before that, as there appeared the creed of ‘materializations’ some sanyasis themselves handled the traditions of siddhi. As it all came up to this, the tradition of Manu faded away even from memory. This degradation of the times is due to the refusal to modify the customs that required a change according to the age and the falsification of the ideology that the abode of Brahman should all the time be with the celestials (deva) and Brahmins.