GUEST COLUMN
By Roshen Dalal
Intellectual history includes the study of ideas. In an MA course on the intellectual history of India in the last two hundred years, we find names we are familiar with: Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Aurobindo, BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, among others. But there are so many thinkers of the past who remain relatively unknown. Among them is Shuddhananda Bharati, a noted scholar and writer, the author of the Tamil epic Bharata Shakti Mahakavyam, as well as of several other books, songs and poems. Born on 11 May 1897 in Shivaganga, Tamil Nadu, he was known as Kavi Yogi Maharishi Bharati, because of his prolific and saintly writings. During his life he came in close contact with Ramana Maharshi, Sai Baba, Sri Aurobindo, Swami Sivananda, Avatar Meher Baba and several other saints and siddhas. He edited Tamil magazines, participated in the freedom movement, and worked to end untouchability, to prevent the use of alcohol, and to stop animal sacrifices. In addition, he translated the Bhagavad Gita, some Upanishads, Vedas, the Bible, Quran, as well as texts of other religions, works of Shakespeare, French authors and several more into Tamil, and wrote other works in English, French, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Sanskrit. He composed a vast number of books including those on Yoga, Shaivism, the Alvars and various saints, as well as verses in praise of deities, poems in French, and Tamil songs that are still sung today. Though he is best remembered for his songs, his greatest work is perhaps his epic written during a twenty-five year period of silent meditation. Many of these years were spent in Aurobindo Ashram.
First published in 1948, and later revised and enlarged, the work, named Bharata Shakti Mahakavyam has 15,000 verse stanzas in five cantos, comprising 50,000 lines. The epic is quite diverse, but its main aim is to explain Sama Yoga, a philosophy for equality and ‘spiritual socialism’, formulated by Shuddhananda. The hero of the epic is Shuddha, a pure soul. Shuddha marries Gauri, foster daughter of the rishi Shanta, and becomes the king of Siddhinagar. Later he renounces the throne and searches for a way to bring peace to the world. In the course of his travels he meets and studies with leaders of different sects, and the epic describes the true nature of Shakti worship, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, the Vedas, Yoga, the Siddhas, Ramana, Sri Aurobindo and various other rishis and teachers. Shuddha sees the truth of all religions, and establishes Sama Yoga, teaching this yoga to others. This form of yoga is one which brings equality, oneness and peace. Evil, allegorically depicted as the Asuras, is defeated, and one of the Asura kingdoms too joins Shuddha. His yogis then spread through the world, propagating psychic and spiritual love, dharma, and right conduct, and after some initial difficulties, create a perfect world. Mahatma Gandhi called the work ‘a new Mahabharata’, and Sri Aurobindo praised it as representing the ideals of India.
Among his numerous other works is Veda Sadhanam, a bible of universal Hinduism, which has essential extracts from ancient texts, and focuses on the One behind the many. He said that a true understanding of Hinduism would lead to universal harmony. Another book, The Gospel of Perfect life, provides the graded twelve stage sadhana of Sama Yoga, or spiritual socialism. He explains how through following this path, everyone in the world would be equal and would have whatever they need. This is attained by developing inner spiritual qualities, and helping others to attain this by right guidance and education. He refers to fake gurus and states that the true ones seek no publicity. Truth is One, exists everywhere and lives in the heart of all. On the other hand, a true guru is to be valued. ‘The good done by a wise master is grand,/Like sky, like sea, like hill, like fertile land.’
Like Jiddu Krishnamurti, he believed that the world could be transformed only through the transformation of each individual. But unlike Krishnamurti, and despite his vision of a universal life of peace, the methods offered, including his educational methods, are steeped in Indian traditions and ideals.
After travelling to several different places and spreading his ideas, in his last years he settled at Sholapuram near Shivaganga, where he had founded a school, and also a Sama Yoga centre. Though he died on 7 March 1990, Sama Yoga centres still exist in India and other parts of the world, seeking a way for the whole world to live in unity and peace. Sama Yoga uses certain Yoga techniques, along with other practices, and emphasises the inner light.
His fervent desire for world peace is reflected in his Peace Anthem of which a few lines are given here. It begins:
‘ Peace for all, peace for all, For all the countries peace.
Joy for all, joy for all, For all the nations joy.’
The last lines are:
‘Peace for plants and birds and beasts, For hills and streams and woods,
Peace in home, land, air and sea, Dynamic peace we see.’
(A PhD in ancient Indian History, the writer lives in Dehradun and has authored more than ten books)
Monday, 14 December 2020 | Roshen Dalal
