Venkaiah hails Guru’s message of communal harmony

One of the greatest spiritual leaders who influenced and shaped modern India, Sree Narayana Guru spread India’s message of communal harmony, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has said.

The Vice President was speaking online after releasing ‘Not Many, But One,’ an English translation of Narayana Guru’s poems in two volumes by G.K. Sasidharan.

Guru was a multi-faceted personality who combined in himself the qualities of a great sage, an eloquent proponent of the Advaita philosophy, a poet and a spiritual personality, Mr. Naidu said.

He stressed the role played by Narayana Guru as a social reformer.

He stood at the forefront of the temple entry movement and the struggle to end the discrimination against the socially underprivileged.

By consecrating the Siva idol in Aruvippuram in the face of protests and becoming an inspirational force behind the Vaikom Satyagraha, he earned the respect and admiration of Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Naidu said.

In connection with the Sivagiri pilgrimage, Narayana Guru emphasised the importance of sanitation, education, agriculture, commerce, handicrafts and technical education, the Vice President said.