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Vagbhatananda
Vaghbhadananda | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vayaleri Kunhikkannan Gurukkal 1885 |
| Died | October 1939 |
Template:Reformation in Kerala Vagbhatananda (1885 – October 1939) was a social reformer in British India. He was the founder of the Atmavidya Sangham, which was fundamentally a group of professionals and intellectuals who sought change, and also the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society.[1]
Life
Vagbhatananda was born in 1885 near to Thalassery in Kerala, India. He was given the name V. K. Gurukkal,he was educated in the traditional gurukkal system, through which he gained proficiency in scriptures and philosophy. Following this, according to the historian K. K. N. Kurup, he travelled widely to propagate "the teachings of universal non-duality for a better and egalitarian society." His oratorical abilities led to him being given the name of Vagbhatananda by another sage and social reformer Brahmananda Sivayogi.[2]
Some time after 1898, Vagbhatananda founded a school to teach Sanskrit in Calicut, and also took interest in the work of the Brahma Samaj that had been founded there that year by Ayyathan Gopalan.[2]
In 1920, Vagbhatananda founded the Atmavidya Sangham, whose principles he outlined in an Advaita treatise titled Atmavidya.[2] Unlike the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP), which had been established by Narayana Guru, which was significant around the same time, the Atmavidya Sangham consisted mostly of professionals and intellectuals and had a secular approach towards reform.[3] It was instrumental in advancing the development of class organisations among peasants of the region, spreading Marxist–Leninist ideas as a counter to the overbearing feudal and religiously orthodox establishment. Vagbhatananda himself criticised both economic exploitation and the role of foreign governments in supporting it.[4]
Vagbhatananda, who was married, died in October 1939. Kurup has described him as a "good combination of an erudite scholar, reformer, organiser, journalist and nationalist. ... His authority was the ancient wisdom of Hinduism, not the dogmatism of theology." [5] The significance of the Atmavidya Sangham declined after his death, being superseded by other secular-oriented reform groups such as the Karshaka Sangham that adopted its agenda. However, it was still active in the 1980s.[3]
Vagbhatananda inspired the formation of Uralungal Labor Contract Co-operative Society IN 1925.[6]
See also
References
Citations
- ↑ "Execution Team". Shepherds' Chalet. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kurup (1988), p. 94
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kurup (1988), pp. 98-99
- ↑ Kurup (1988), p. 97
- ↑ Kurup (1988), pp. 94, 97
- ↑ Isaac & Williams 2017, p. [page needed].
Bibliography
- Isaac, T. M. Thomas; Williams, Michelle (2017). Building alternatives : the story of India's oldest construction workers' cooperative. New Delhi, India: LeftWord. ISBN 978-93-80118-46-8. OCLC 1018245138.
- Kurup, K. K. N. (1988), Modern Kerala: Studies in Social and Agrarian Relations, Mittal Publications, ISBN 9788170990949
Further reading
- Kurup, K. K. N. (September 1988). "Peasantry and the Anti-Imperialist Struggles in Kerala". Social Scientist. 16 (9): 35–45. JSTOR 3517171.
External links
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