A dear friend Sri Subramanian Obula asked a question about the patron saint of our Sourashtra community, Sri Nayaki Swami... The question is why he converted from "Saivism" to Vaishnavism and wanted us to discuss about it... This is a puzzling question perhaps most of the community members have in their back of their mind...
Before we start discussing, few ground realities about this venture...
A) An ordinary person, with an average sphere (or realm) of consciousness, cannot fully comprehend another person, such as Saint Nayaki, with a larger sphere of consciousness, just from his outward actions. Without full understanding oneself about another, persuading others for consensus or to have a meaningful discussion about the saints will also be futile.
B) It is quite possible to analyze objectively those which are at lower level in consciousness and come to consensus. Science is successful in dealing with the observable universe (except human minds!) because of this factor.
C) One way to comprehend such great souls, when they are no longer in the body, is meditate on their life and their works to understand the actions of this kind. Even in this method, if somebody gets an understanding, it will be quite hard to have an objective discussion, in the forum like this, since not everybody will be at the level to agree... As far as human behavior, it is relatively easier to come to consensus on bad behaviour than on a good behaviour, since most of the common bad behaviours are at the lower level of consciousness. :-(
D) The best that could be done is to state one's perception about the great soul and cannot expect to "objectify" or give any "proof" that are verifiable by senses. Likewise, anybody who is sincere about understanding will go through a similar journey to learn about the great soul or verify with other opinions that was stated before. This is how spiritual laws and actions are understood and practised.
Having said these, let's come to the life of Sri Nayaki Swami...
1. He started initially practicing Ashtanga Yoga under a master who is from the lineage of Siddhars (South Indian Yogis or Mystics). Although they have more affinity to Lord Shiva, who is worshipped as the King of Yogis, they are not considered as the followers of the Saivites (Devotees that worship Lord Shiva as the supreme form of God) of Medieval era (e.g., Nayanmaars). They are just Yogis and do not attach to one form of God or exclude or subordinate other forms, like Saivites or Vaishnavites do. For the Yogis, formless God is also acceptable!
2. "Saivism" in the opening question is not quite accurate... However, it is a fact that after years of Yoga practice and mastery, he did take up Vaishnavism (A devotional path that worship Lord Vishnu as the supreme form of God). Now the question is "did he abandon Yoga practice"? Not really! In his songs, which he started composing in after long years of practice in Vaishnavism, he describes the Yoga practice and energy flows in spine, Naadis quite freely (See below for a reference). This shows he continued his Yoga practice side-by-side with Vaishnavism without abandoning it. However, for the masses, he taught Vaishnavism devotional path as the primary mode.
3. Then, what factors might have made him to take up Vaishnavism, instead of just continuing as a Yogi and teaching it?
Love for his immigrant community would have likely influenced his decision:
i) An immigrant community (came down from Western part to Southern India few Hundred years ago) typically are adaptive and flexible to the local opportunities. With livelihood at stake, this adaptive nature typically dilutes the strength needed to practice core principles. In Vaishnavism, there is a strong focus on faith to God and Guru, than in Yoga or other religious paths. Since the majority were poor, there was not much time left for quiet, secluded Yoga practise, whereas devotional worship with Bhajans/Songs were effective form of mass upliftment.
ii) The community consists of skilled workers implies the rational temperament with macho characteristics. Teaching Yoga practice to this community, without necessary devotion, would have made the balance further tilt in the wrong direction. In choosing Vaishnavism, he put the emphasis on devotion over rationality for the community regain the balance. Also, he chose to practice the refined form of Bridal love (Nayaki bhaavam) to be a towering example of devotion.
iii) Language being the sole uniting force of the community, he enriched the language by composing hundreds of highly devotional songs in chaste Sourashtra which has continued mainly being a spoken language without much in written form. The Vaishnavism with colorfully, rich devotional literature made it more appealing to the uneducated mass. Highly spiritual Yoga science in Sourashtra which only few educated might have benefitted and would not have had much impact in the language development. His immense contribution to the language as the "original content" still is unsurpassed.
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#PHD
