DECLARATION

I, Amal C. Rajan, Research Scholar Department of Sanskrit

Vedanta, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, do hereby
declare that the present thesis entitled “RECONSTRUCTION OF
VEDĀNTA IN VEDĀNTA SŪTRAS OF SREE NARAYANA GURU”,
submitted for the award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Sanskrit Vedanta, is a record of bonafide research carried out by me. It is
also declared that this has not been previously formed, in part or full, or is
the basis for the award of any Degree, Diploma or fellowship or any other
similar title.

Kalady AMAL C. RAJAN

06-05-2019
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Research on Sree Narayana Guru's Vedānta sūtras as part of

my Ph.D has come to an end. The thesis would not have happened

without the help and support of many. My guide, Dr. B. Chandrika stood

steadfast by my side from the first day of my research and strengthened

my thesis with all the necessary support, care, and academic freedom. I

am immensely indebted to Dr. B. Chandrika for her guidance. My

gratitude to Dr. Shishupala Panicker and Dr. Shyamala Devi, the

members of the research committee for their advice and support, and also

to Dr.Muthulakshmi, the current Head of the Department of Vedanta for

her the help and support.

The name of Dr. S. Sheeba of Department of Vedanta and her

family need special mentioning, to whom I am academically and

emotionally indebted the most in the university, for the un-altering

support she gave both as a teacher and mentor. I can only say that my

gratitude to them will always be aflame in my heart. I take this

opportunity to thank other teachers in my department for their help.

I thank the staff of Sree Sankaracharya University Library who

helped me with reference related to research. The contributions of the

Mangala Barati Aasram under the Narayana Gurukulam, the Sukumar

Azheekode Memorial Library at Thottuva and the private collection of

book on Sree Narayana Guru maintained by Mr.Lal Salam, the owner of

Maitri Books are immense. Special thanks to Swamini Jyotirmayi of

Mangala Barathi and to Lal Salam of Maitri Books. I am thankful to

Dr.Mithun K.S who extensively helped me with my doubts in Research

Methodology, and to Mr.Tharun Kurian Alex, who helped me in matters

related to translation.

I am thankful for the support and encouragement were given by

Swami Avyayananda (Senior monk at Sivagiri Matt, writer and Chief

Editor of the Sivagiri Magazine), Dr. Geeta Suraj (writer and public

speaker, who has done research on Sree Narayana Guru), Dr. K V Thara

(Former HOD of Department of Sanskrit, S.N College, Kollam) Prof.

K.P Babu Das (Rtd. Professor of Sanskrit Vedanta, Sree Sankara College,

Kalady).

I am greatly indebted to Dr. A. M Shinoj, Muhammad Sadique, and

Somalal T.M, my M.Phil batch mates, whose constant inspiration brought

me back to the track of Research from the many other works that I had

taken up to support myself and family. I can't forget friends like

Priyadharsan I., Soumith Sahadevan and Sumesh who were actively

involved in the functioning of the Research forum. I thank all the research

scholars and friends at the department at the time for whatever help they

have extended towards my research.

I remember with gratitude and affection the friends who were part

of organisational and non-organisational activities, research and co-

research, such as Aneesh V.K , Vishnuraj B, Sreedevi P.S, Geethu Das,

Sarita K.S, Brijeshkumar C.M and Rajesh C.V. The Budhasangamam at

Kalady requires special mention for all the space they had given for me to

talk on my topic at the meetings. Special thanks for Sony Binu (Star DTP,

Kalady) and Santhosh Vailoppilly, Kodaly for DTP works and moral

support.

The writing of this thesis started while I faced painstaking

turbulence in my personal life. The confidence to not crumble down at

the face of personal problems and the motivation to get back into the

academic sea was immensely provided by my colleague and comrade,

K.S Indulekha, who stood like a rock by my side, reading all that I write

everyday with comments, criticism and correction. The completion of this

thesis is as much a product of her selfless care as my hard work.

Yadukrishnan N.R has been with me for seven or eight years, with

unending support, care and love. I can't thank him enough of his care.

My father C.G. Rajan lead me to the world of books. I have no

memory of him buying me any toy in my childhood or later. All that he

gifted me were books. My family, including my mother Valsala P.V and

my brother Sreemon and my Sreekutty stood with me in every step I took,

with undulating strength and support, care and motivation. My love for

you all will never end.

Amal C. Rajan
 CONTENTS

Page No
CERTIFICATE
DECLARATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
SCHEME OF TRANSLITRATION

PREFACE i- xiii

CHAPTER - I 01-56

A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF LIFE AND SOCIAL

REFORMS OF SREE NARAYANA GURU

 Social Background
 Slavery and ūḻiyam vela
 Caste System and Untouchability
 Ezhavas
 Birth and Education of Sree Narayana Guru
 Social Reformer and Organizer
 Aruvippuram Consecration and Other Consecrations
 Against Amorality
 Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and Dharma
Sangham
 Caste-Religious Views of Sree Narayana Guru
 The Philosophical Platform of Social Reformation
 Caste and cāturvarṇyaṃ
CHAPTER-II 57-115

PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE WORKS OF

SREE NARAYANA GURU

 Devotion and Poetry

 Guru and Vaiṣṇava Devotion
 The Jananī Concept in Narayana Guru
 Guru as a Devotee of Lord Subrahmaṇya
 Prayers for Physical Abstinence
 Guru and Śaiva Tradition
 Philosophy of Narayana Guru: The Formation of Sree
Narayana Darśana
 The Philosophy of Advaita in works which portray the Sree
Narayana Darśana

CHAPTER-III 116-154

THE VEDĀNTA SŪTRA: A CRITICAL STUDY BASED

ON ITS INTERPRETATIONS

 Vedānta Sūtras: Chapters and Differences

 G Balakrishnan Nair
 M. H. Sastri
 T Baskaran
 Muni Narayana Prasad
 Vedānta Sūtras: Analysis of Differences in Studies
 Different Perspectives in the Semantic Approach towards
Sūtras
 The term Idam and its different meaning:
 The difference in Sūtras with questions and answers
  The Problem of Division in ‘sad’ – ‘asad’ terms
 The Concept of Cakṣurādi and Ekam
 Problem of ‘Rudratva’
 Brahmaivāham/ Iti Brahmaiva
 Atītāgāmi and Parimāṇaṁ
 Similarities in the Sūtra Explanations

CHAPTER-IV 155-242

VEDĀNTA SUTRAS: IN THE LIGHT OF SREE

NARAYANA GURU’S OTHER WORKS

 Atha yadātmanojijñāsuḥ

 Tadidaṃ Brahmaiva
 Ahaṃ
 Kiṃtasya lakṣaṇaṃ?
 Asya ca
 Kati gaṇanayeti?
 Tajyotiḥ
 Tenedaṃ prajvalitaṃ
 Tadidaṃ sadasaditi
 Bhūyo asatassadasaditi
 Sacchabdādayo sadabhāvaśceti
 Pūrvaṃ sadidaṃ

 Anusṛtya cakṣurādayaścaikaṃ ca
 Itijñātṛjñānayoḥ anyonyaviṣaya viṣayitvātmithunatvamiti
 Evaṃ jñānajñeya vibhāgaḥ ekaikaṃ
 Rudratvamāsīt
 Iti brahmaiva
  Ahaṃ tat
 Idaṃ Brahmaiva
 Ahamasmi
 Atītāgāminorasatvaṃ yataḥ
 Yadetadanvicchata
 Parimāṇaṃ tataḥ
 Sadasatoranyonyakāryakāraṇatvāt
 Ahaṃ mameti vijñātaḥ
 Mattonānyaḥ
 Tadvat tasmāt
 Dṛgdṛśyayoḥ samānakālīnatvāt
 Sukhaikatvāt
 Vyāpakatayādiśāmastitvāt
 Aṇumahadavayava tāratamyasyābhāvāt
 Asatoƒvyāpakatvāt
 Atmānyat kiñcitnāsti
 Tasmāttasyasattvācca

CHAPTER-V 243-263
CONCLUSION
VEDĀNTA SŪTRAS: THE VEDĀNTA OF
RENAISSANCE

WORK CITED 264-291

APPENDIX 292-294
1. Sūtra Table
 SCHEME OF TRANSLITERATION

Vowels

Malyalam letters Transliteration

അ a

ആ ā

ഇ i

ഈ ī

ഉ u

ഊ ū

ഋ ṛ

ൠ ṝ

ഏ e

ഐ ai
഑ o
ഒ ō
ഓ au

(അ)ം ṃ

(അ)ം ḥ
Consonants

ക് ഖ് ഗ് ഘ് ങ്
K kh g gh ṅ

ച് ഛ് ജ് ഝ് ഞ്
c ch j jh ñ

ട് റ്റ് ഠ് ഡ് ഢ് ണ്
ṭ ṟṟ ṭh ḍ ḍh ṇ

ത് ഥ് ദ് ധ് ന്
t th d dh n

പ് ഫ് ബ് ഭ് മ്
p ph/f b bh m

Semi-vowels
യ് ര് റ് ല് വ്
y r ṟ l v

Sibilants
ശ് ഷ് സ് ഹ് ള് ഴ്
ś ṣ s h ḷ zh

À Â Ä
þ -þ þ
 i

PREFACE

Sree Narayana Guru was a philosopher and social reformer who

influenced Kerala the most in the previous century. The socio-cultural

arenas of contemporary Kerala still find influences of Guru’s ideologies

and philosophies in it. In subjects such as caste, religion, God and

fraternity, the relevance of Guru’s perceptions are at an increase. Both

Guru and his contributions were made topics of many studies and

researches in the previous decades. Along with being hailed as a leader of

Renaissance and social reformer, Guru’s philosophical contributions also

needs to be subjected to more study and research. Guru’s philosophical

doctrines follow the philosophy of Advaita. Sree Narayana Guru led

Advaita Vedānta through new a perspective and development. His

intellectual interferences into the Advaita Vedānta are example for his

role in relieving the philosophy off the knots of caste system, to transform

it into one of common acceptance and democracy. It was the intellectual

intelligence one witnesses in Guru on realising how he used a philosophy,

which was once used to fix caste discrimination, to eradicate caste

system. Guru reshaped the philosophy of Advaita through his

 ii

philosophical texts such as Ātmopadeśaśatakaṃ, Darśanamāla,

Advaitadīpika and Brahmavidyāpañcakaṃ.

Guru clubbed, his fundamental philosophies on caste portrayed in his

works such as Jātinirṇṇayaṃ and Jātilakṣaṇaṃ and the humanitarian

values he proposed of kindness, affection and so on through his educative

works such as Anukampādaśakaṃ and Jīvakāruṇyapañcakaṃ, with the

philosophy of Advaita. The influence of ancient Śaiva and Śaiva

traditions in his works is also one of the specialities of Guru’s darśana.

His sphere of thoughts is in line with the Tamil tradition and the

Upaniṣad tradition simultaneously.

Sree Narayana Guru is that philosopher who rendered through his

works and speeches, and fructified through his practices the philosophies

he amalgamated from diverse streams of knowledge. His philosophy does

not limit to intellectual activity, rather it interfered into and influenced the

daily life of common class of people. Sree Narayana Guru had not tried to

write interpretations or versions for Vedānta or any other stream of

philosophy, instead rendered own philosophy in the sūtra form like the

philosophers Bādarāyaṇana, Jaimini, and Kapila. The only available text

on Vedānta in sūtra form other than Brahmasūtra by Bādarāyaṇana is

Sree Narayana Guru’s Vedānta sūtras, and Guru is the only philosopher
 iii

of Vedānta other than Bādarāyaṇana entitled to be referred to as an

aphorists or ‘sūtrakāra’.

Title of Thesis

The thesis has been written under the title Reconstruction of

vedānta in vedānta sūtras of Sree Narayana Guru”. The thesis analyses

the darśanas of Sree Narayana Guru in light of his work Vedānta sūtras

The analysis of the primary text on the basis of Guru’s other works drives

research to the core of Guru’s darśana The thesis states how Guru used

and reshaped the philosophy of Advaita Vedānta in his own terms. The

thesis presents Sree Narayana Guru’s philosophy of Advaita as a

universal philosophy; one without religious and caste discriminations,

and one that is based on spiritual brotherhood as well as humanitarian

values such a kindness and affection.

Area of Research

The area of Research is the philosophical world of Sree Narayana

Guru. The Sree Narayana Darśana is here subjected to a thorough study

of praise poems, chants, philosophical texts, instructive and inspirational

texts, and translations written by Guru. Along with preparation and

comparison of the list of division of sūtra s and critical approach towards

 iv

various interpretations the text had, the study also attempts interpretation

of Vedānta sūtras s on the basis of other works penned by Guru.

Scope and Importance

Sree Narayana Guru, who had lived in nineteenth century and was

hailed as a social reformer had chosen the philosophy of Advaita as his

ideological domain of action. The inquiry into the method of usage of an

ancient stream of philosophy to connect it to modern humanitarian values

by a person who lived during the colonial period and referred to as the

proponent of renaissance values that culturally formulated the

postcolonial Kerala holds academic importance. The thesis attempts to

study Vedānta sūtras to learn more on the method Guru employed to

reshape Advaita. The thesis attempts to analyse each sūtra s of the text

against other works written by Guru. The relevance of this study is that it

produces an interpretation that shows justice to the fundamental interests

of Guru’s darśanas.

The thesis aimed at the study of Vedānta sūtras by Sree Narayana

Guru in the light of Guru’s other works. The previously made studies or

interpretations of the text by eminent scholars focus on describing the

meaning of the text in terms of Vedānta. Its shortcoming is that it

becomes a repetition of traditional Vedānta and looses the fundamental

 v

concepts which Guru had proposed. The transfusion, practiced in the

thesis, of Guru’s other works into the semantic structure of Vedānta

sūtras and vice-versa are attempts to reclaim the meaning as postulated

by its author within the conceptual premises of its conception. In this

way, Vedānta sūtras can be defined as the representation of Narayana

Guru’s darśanas in sūtra form.

The historical importance of Sree Narayana Guru was the result of

social scenario of the time. Any study into Guru’s works shall therefore

take into consideration the historical premises as well, which is why this

study attempts to view the historical angle also of the social reformation

and philosophies of Sree Narayana Guru. It shows that the involvement of

philosophy of Vedānta in the Renaissance in Kerala was different from its

former engagement in history.

Previous Study

A stream of literature related to Sree Narayana Guru has been

formed within last hundred years, which might be termed as Sree

Narayana literature, which can be further divided into two sub-streams.

The first stream includes theoretical and philosophical studies based on

the works, philosophies and politics of Sree Narayana Guru. The sixty -

four texts discovered as been penned by Guru, speeches he had made on

 vi

various occasions, interpretations of Guru’s works, studies, research

papers on social and philosophical contributions made by Guru, articles

and so on come under this sub-stream of Sree Narayana literature.

The second stream includes studies of literature which were written

with Guru as its central character. The biographies of Sree Narayana

Guru, Memoirs of those who personally have had met Guru, epic poems,

stories, poems, novels, movies, documentaries and dramas which has

Guru as its central character fall under the second category. The thesis

looks upon the works mentioned in the first stream of Sree Narayana

literature for research, and accepts Vedānta sūtras by Sree Narayana

Guru as well as the interpretations on the text as its primary source.

Vedānta sūtras by Sree Narayana Guru, a prose work, was

discovered from the notebook of Manakkadu Govindanasan, who was

Guru’s disciple. After confirming the discovered text to be of Guru’s

authorship, the Sivagiri Madam published it in the form of a book in

1987. The source text, without sūtra division or interpretation, was

included in the work published by T. Baskaran in 1985, and in the edition

published by Sivagiri in January, 1987, before its publication in the

form of a book. In August, 1987, G. Balakrishnan Nair completed the

interpretation of the text titled Śivāravindaṃ Vyākhyānaṃ which included

the interpretation of twenty-five of Guru’s works. It is in this text that the

 vii

interpretation of Vedānta sūtras appears first, where he divided Vedānta

sūtras into thirty-four sūtras and explained them on the basis of Advaita

Vedānta. In 1989, M.H. Sastri wrote an interpretation for Vedānta sūtras

and published it under the title Guruprasādaṃ, where the sūtra s were

divided into twenty one and Sastri based his interpretation on the Vedānta

of Sree Sankara. In 1995, T. Baskaran included his interpretation of

Vedānta sūtras in the second edition of his Vidyotinī Vyākhyānaṃ. He

followed the sūtra division of M.H. Sastri. Although T. Baskaran was

known for his analysis of the philosophy of Guru against the backdrop of

Śaiva philosophy, he does not seem to have done so in the case of

Vedānta sutras. The interpretation of Muni Narayana Prasad, longest

among all interpretations of the text till date, titled Vedānta sūtras

Vyākhyānaṃ was published in English in 1997 and in Malayalam in 1998

with the sūtra s divided into twenty four. Though he cites many of Guru’s

other works in his interpretation, the frame of his study also falls the

philosophy of Sree Sankara.

Two decades after the publication of the prose work Vedānta

sūtras written in Sanskrit, four interpretations of the text were published

in Malayalam and English, out of which, three interpretations differ in

terms of division of sūtra s and in interpreting its meaning. Yet, all

interpretations seem to follow the framework of traditional Vedānta. It

 viii

therefore instils doubt of justice the interpretations have shown towards

the source text. The attempt to analyse Vedānta sūtras on the basis of

other works of Guru and their conceptual premises becomes important in

this context. The works of Sree Narayana Guru needs to be studied on the

basis of the philosophy proposed by Guru. Vedānta sūtras needs to be

considered as a summary of all of Guru’s philosophies, and therefore, the

text may be considered as the sūtra form of concepts portrayed in the

other works of Sree Narayana Guru. The prominent interpretations of

Vedānta sūtras have not approached the text in this format. The thesis

attempts to find concepts lined in other works of Guru which are similar

to the sūtra s to interpret the totality and philosophy of the text.

The thesis has also taken into consideration every interpretation on

Vedānta sūtras published till date. The difference in the sūtra division of

G. Balakrishnan Nair, M.H. Sastri and Muni Narayana Prasad are listed

and the similarities and differences are compared in the thesis as well.

G. Balakrishnan Nair’s division is found to be more logical compared to

the other two, and his interpretation has been adopted to analyse the sūtra

s with other works of Sree Narayana Guru.

 ix

Methodology

An ideology used in many ways in a previous period in history

might be used differently in a later historic period even when the ideology

remains same in every period, its application and result would differ. The

term ‘Reconstruction’ refers to the intellectual activity of reconstructing

an action of previous periods to impact antonymous effect in a later stage.

The Advaita Vedānta which proposes unity between God, Universe and

Individual’s soul was also the philosophy which showcased caste

differences among human beings. This ideology which was used to install

caste system was later utilized by Guru to destroy caste system and to

prove that there are no castes, Brahmins or others. The historical process

of spiritual destruction of inverse values induced through spirituality has

always been on roll in the world. Both history and philosophy has to be

simultaneously analysed to study this, whereas the study of any one

element, either historical or philosophical, will not bear full fruit. The

thesis has incorporated the methodology of history, criticism and

comparison in analysing Vedānta sūtras and its interpretations. Sree

Narayana Guru had wrote his ideas in Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit

langauges. In this thesis, Ślokas as a quotation from Malayalam, Tamil

and Sanskrit works of Guru were used transliteration form. And also

English translation of each Ślokas are included as per the Muni Narayana
 x

Prasad’s English translation in End Note. Methodology of language and

linguistics has also been used in the syntactic division of sūtra s.

Thesis Structure

The thesis is divided into five chapters.The first chapter, titled A

Historical Background of Life and Social Reforms of Sree Narayana

Guru inquires into the life style and social set up rooted in caste system

and slavery before the birth of Sree Narayana Guru, and describes the

social system in which the Ezhavas fared at the time in Kerala. It gives a

fair description of lifetime of Guru and his activities as a social reformer

such as the various temple / idol consecrations he made, the ideologies

behind each consecration, Guru’s vision of temple, his stand against the

amoralities such as Keṭṭukalyāṇaṃ (Mock marriage ceremony),

Tiraṇṭukalyāṇaṃ (Announcement and celebration of puberty),

consumption of alcohol, and how he stood support of mixed marriage and

mixed feast. The philosophical base of reformations brought by Sree

Narayana Guru, as well as his view on caste cāturvarṇṇya system is

discussed here. The first chapter ends with a thorough analysis of Guru’s

perception on caste, religion and the philosophical traditions which

formulated the same.

 xi

The second chapter titled Philosophical Transformation in the

Works of Sree Narayana Guru analyses his poems to explain the

transformations that took place in Guru’s thoughts. The chapter adopts

the method of individual analysis of his poems and the history of his life

to look upon the transformation education and social relations make in a

person who showed utmost devotion from childhood. Guru, who was

born into a family of Devi devotees, was a devotee of Devi and was

against sacrifices which included violence. During his period of education

at the Varanappilly House, Guru is introduced to Purāṇas and literature in

Malayalam and Sanskrit, the influence of which was evident in the poets

of the time. His poems portray the chronology of his transformation from

being a devotee of Lord Subrahmaṇya during his days as a wanderer, to

the Tamil Śaiva tradition and eventually halting at the fundamental

philosophy of Advaita Vedānta. The second chapter ends with explaining

the premise of development of Sree Narayana Darśana and its relation

with the philosophy of Advaita.

The third chapter, titled The Vedānta sūtras: A Critical Study

Based on Its Interpretations conducts an in-depth analysis of the

interpretations of Vedānta sūtras, the text which provided Guru with the

title of an aphorist or sūtrakāra. Here, the similarities and differences in

 xii

the interpretations of G. Balakrshnan Nair, M.H. Sastri, Muni Narayana

Prasad and T. Baskaran are unearthed and studied. The difference in the

divison of sūtras except in the interpretation of T. Baskaran is

meticulously analysed to find that the four interpretations of Vedānta

sūtras have three different sūtra forms in terms of syntactic and semantic

structure which were also subjected to study. It was found out in this

chapter that the interpretation of G. Balakrishnan Nair and his Sūtra

division show more justice to the authorial intention than other three

interpreters, and hence his interpretation was relied upon for further

analysis. A table is given as an appendix in which are the Sūtra division

of each scholrs are givern in separate coloums.

The fourth chapter titled Vedānta sutras: In the Light of Sree

Narayana Guru’s Other Works attempts to interpret each of his sūtra s in

the light of his other works and their philosophical premises. Vedānta

sūtras, which is an aphorism of Guru’s own philosophies is analysed with

respect to the works Guru wrote on various time periods as well as

Guru’s thoughts. The peculiarities of Sree Narayana Guru’s philosophy of

Advaita are explained through this approach. This approach also helps

eliminate the deviation in meaning which otherwise would happen had

the sūtra in Sanskrit is independently analysed without taking into

consideration the philosophy of Sree Narayana Guru. This chapter

 xiii

concludes with the findings from texts that portray concepts similar to the

ones stated in the sūtras.

The fifth chapter titled Vedānta sūtras: The Vedānta of

Renaissance is arranged as the conclusion. It lists the research findings of

previous chapters and also explains Vedānta sūtras as the gospel of self-

curiosity on the basis of the interpretation in the fourth chapter. The

conclusion repeatedly affirms that it is possible to explain Sree Narayana

guru’s philosophies on the basis of Vedānta sutras. It also portrays the

internal struggles within the sree Narayana Darma Sangham, the internal

and external challenges it faces, and explains Guru’s concept on one

religion on the basis of the philosophy of Advaita. It makes a brief

portrayal of the structure of Vedānta sūtras to state that the sūtra s

reconstruct the philosophy of Advaita to shape it into Vedānta of

renaissance. The chapter and thesis ends by stating the relevance,

limitation and scope for further studies on the area and subject.