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”
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”
