In 1903, an exceptionally brilliant boy, Munuswamy, in the residential mission school of Dindivanam in Tamil Nadu, was given a choice by the school authorities— ‘either convert to Christianity or pay for the free meals we are providing you. If you do not do either of the two, then you will be expelled.’



However, he was adamant. He said ‘No’ to the choice given by the school management: Munuswamy left the school instead of converting to Christianity. He was from a scheduled community and ended up becoming an indentured labourer to a local landlord. It so happened that one day a famous seer ‘Neelamega Swami’ came to this village.



Somehow attracted by this boy’s appearance the seer asked him ‘boy who are you?’ And pat came the reply , ‘I am Parabrahman’. The seer was taken aback. He wanted to discuss spiritual matters with the boy but the villagers objected. The seer could talk to the boy outside the village that too after sunset.

Soon, through the guidance of Neelamega Swami, the boy met one Dakshina Swami at Kanchipuram who directed him to Karapatra Siva Prakasha Swami who initiated the boy into the sage order. Thus Swami Sahajananda was born.

Swami Sahajananda toiled for the education of the girl child and fought for the political and cultural rights denied to the SCs by the dominant anglicized sections of Indian society. An Advaitic sage and also a Member of Legislative Assembly, he established a monastery for the descendants of Nanthanar in the spiritual capital of Shaivism—Chidambaram. Swami Sahajananda promoted indigenous education systems too.



Yet, in the history of Tamil Nadu he is forgotten. Instead, the history of Dravidian racism is passed on as the history of social justice.

Even spiritual monasteries were not free from caste prejudices, Swami Sahajananda discovered. So real spirituality for him was to free the society from this disease of the mind—casteism. Swami became a practical Vedantin and plunged himself into politics.



He founded a temple and an educational trust. Both boys and girls studied in his trust school. His education was both secular and cultural. Apart from regular education he also taught Thirukural, Ramayana, Shaivaite hymns, sayings of Swami Vivekananda etc. At one time he brought the revered Vaishnavaite scholar Prathivathi Bayangaram Iyengar to give Ramayana lectures in Sanskrit at Nandhanar Trust.



Swamiji strongly opposed the racist propaganda made by Dravidian movement like the public smashing of Ganesa idol by EVR and the dramas ridiculing Ramayana through racist narratives. He urged the government to take strong action against such hate propaganda against Hindus.

From 1936 to 1959, he was the member of Madras Legislative Assembly. One of the greatest social reformers of all times, his speeches in the Legislative Assembly provide a great insight into the problem of indigenous educationIdeal education for him took into consideration the native knowledge systems.

He advocated that a separate hour should be set aside for students everyday to learn the local medical system and herbs. This he envisioned would simultaneously bring down medical costs for the society, improve the health conditions and would also provide improved livelihood for the ailing traditional physicians in the villages. He even stated that this would free the society from the tyranny of pharmaceutical industries.

Swami further cautioned that in scheduled community schools Christian teachers should not be appointed. He said care should be taken to appoint teachers from Hindu scheduled community in the schools where majority of the students are from scheduled communities. This was because the Christian teachers indulged in conversion. He further stated that even in appointing Hindu teachers care should be taken that those who were appointed should not subscribe to Dravidian racist ideology (called euphemistically referred to as the ‘self-respect’ movement).



He pointed out the paradox of giving concessions and monetary support to Christian boarding schools in the name of ‘Harijan welfare’. He pointed out that government money was being used for conversions. He wanted the government to concentrate its efforts to provide better sanitary conditions in the economically marginalized urban areas.

He was one of the earliest visionaries to advocate cost-effective toilets along with a complete multi-media campaign for sanitation. He was all for the democratization of sacred spaces in Hindu religion. In his legislative speech on temple entry bill which was brought by Rajaji, he rightly pointed out the Sri Vaishnava tradition in which the premier was brought up and quoted the works of Sri Ramanuja and Bhagavad Gita to prove that there is no bar for any Hindu to enter the temple.

Each of the above leaders had contributed immensely and significantly to social justice in Tamil Nadu. The common chord that connects them all is that they were all rooted in Hindu ethos and were systematically removed from the public conscience by Dravidian propaganda.

These forgotten leaders fought against social stagnation without spreading hatred. Their models have repeatedly succeeded and they have been able to create a perceptible change in the mindset of people who were wedded to casteism. Today, a new generation is coming up that has begun to remember their work. Social workers in Tamil Nadu such as Ma. Venkatesan belong to this tradition of Indic reform. Hopefully this tribe will grow!