THE MYRIAD FORMS OF GANAPATHI

Ganesha, the First God

Being considered the first god, it is our main duty to first worship Lord Ganesha before doing our daily routine work. Being the leader of the Vedas, he is also called Veda Ganesa, and since he is a master of dance, he is called as Narthana Ganapathy. Lord Ganesha is a very simple god, and that’s why we can find a lot of his temples situated under holy trees like the Vanni Tree and Arasa Tree.

Ganesha, also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon.

Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his elephant head. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck; the patron of arts and sciences; and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as a patron of letters and learning during writing sessions. Several texts relate mythological anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits.

Narthana Ganapathi

Lord Ganesha was well established by the 4th and 5th centuries CE, during the Gupta period. Hindu mythology identifies him as the son of Parvati and Shiva, and he is a pan-Hindu god found in its various traditions. In the Ganapatya tradition of Hinduism, Ganesha is the Supreme Being. The principal texts on Ganesha include the Ganesha Purana, the Mudgala Purana and the Ganapati Atharvasirsha.

While some texts say that Ganesha was born with an elephant head, he acquires the head later in most stories. The most recurrent motif in these stories is that Ganesha was created by Parvati using clay to protect her and Shiva beheaded him when Ganesha came between Shiva and Parvati. Shiva then replaced Ganesha's original head with that of an elephant.

Popular stories associate him with the concepts of Buddhi (intellect), Siddhi (spiritual power), and Riddhi (prosperity); these qualities are personified as goddesses, said to be Ganesha's wives. The Shiva Purana says that Ganesha had begotten two sons: Kşema (safety) and Lābha (profit). In northern Indian variants of this story, the sons are often said to be Śubha (auspiciousness) and Lābha. The family includes his brother, the god of war, Kartikeya, who is also called Skanda and Murugan.

Ganesha's earliest name was Ekadanta (One Tusked), referring to his single whole tusk, the other being broken. Some of the earliest images of Ganesha show him holding his broken tusk. The importance of this distinctive feature is reflected in the Mudgala Purana, which states that the name of Ganesha's second incarnation is Ekadanta.

Ganesha's protruding belly appears as a distinctive attribute in his earliest statuary, which dates to the Gupta period. This feature is so important that according to the Mudgala Purana, two different incarnations of Ganesha use names based on it: Lambodara (Pot Belly, or, literally, Hanging Belly) and Mahodara (Great Belly). The Brahmanda Purana says that Ganesha has the name Lambodara because all the universes of the past, present, and future are present in him.

The number of Ganesha's arms varies; his best-known forms have between two and sixteen arms. The serpent is a common feature in Ganesha iconography and appears in many forms. According to the Ganesha Purana, Ganesha wrapped the serpent Vasuki around his neck.

Of the eight incarnations of Ganesha described in the Mudgala Purana, Ganesha uses a mouse (shrew), as a vehicle in five of them, a lion in his incarnation as Vakratunda, a peacock in his incarnation as Vikata, and Shesha, the divine serpent, in his incarnation as Vighnaraja. Mohotkata uses a lion, Mayūreśvara uses a peacock, Dhumraketu uses a horse, and Gajanana uses a mouse, in the four incarnations of Ganesha listed in the Ganesha Purana.

The mouse symbolises those who wish to overcome desires and be less selfish. The rat is destructive and a menace to crops. The Sanskrit word mūṣaka (mouse) is derived from the root mūṣ (stealing, robbing). It was essential to subdue the rat as a destructive pest, a type of vighna (impediment) that needed to be overcome. Showing Ganesha as the master of the rat demonstrates his function as Vigneshvara (Lord of Obstacles).

The epic poem Mahabharata says that the sage Vyasa asked Ganesha to serve as his scribe to transcribe the poem as he dictated it to him. Ganesha agreed but only on the condition that Vyasa recites the poem uninterrupted, that is, without pausing. The sage agreed but found that to get any rest he needed to recite very complex passages so Ganesha would have to ask for clarifications.

According to Kundalini yoga, Ganesha resides in the first chakra, called Muladhara (mūlādhāra). Thus, Ganesha has a permanent abode in every being at the Muladhara.

Ganesha is identified with the Hindu mantra Om. The term oṃkārasvarūpa (Om is his form), when identified with Ganesha, refers to the notion that he personifies the primal sound. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa attests to this association. Swami Chinmayananda, in Glory of Ganesha, translates the relevant passage as follows:

(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trimurti) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa
You are Indra. You are fire [Agni] and air [Vāyu]

You are the sun [Sūrya] and the moon [Chandrama] 

You are Brahman

You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka [earth], Antariksha-Loka [space], and Swargaloka [heaven]

You are Om. (That is to say, You are all this).

Devotees offer Ganesha sweets such as modaka and small sweet balls called laddus. He is often shown carrying a bowl of sweets, called a modakapātra. Because of his identification with the colour red, he is often worshipped with red sandalwood paste (raktachandana) or red flowers. Dūrvā grass (Cynodon dactylon) and other materials are also used in his worship.

Females, especially married women circumambulate the holy trees, in order to give birth to a pious child. Vinayaka means the giver of happiness to us, and once we recite any one of his several names, we would become calm, and we would get good peace of mind.

Vinayaka's worship can be traced back to several millions of years, and still, his worship is going strong day by day. People consider Lord Vinayaka as one of their family members, and they affectionately offer his favourite food Modhakam to him in their homes, and also some would distribute it amongst the devotees in the Vinayaka temples. Vinayaka can also be described as a one-man army, and he is the only god, who removes the obstacles in our lives within a fraction of a second if we worship him sincerely.

The great almighty takes various forms in order to make us worship him easily. By worshipping a formless god, we would not get full confidence in our life. If we worship the god in some form, then we would get great confidence in our life, and we would get more happiness by enjoying the divine beauty of the god.

Thirty-two Forms of Ganapathi

Thirty-two forms of Ganesha are mentioned frequently in devotional literature related to the Hindu god Ganesha (Ganapati). The Ganesha-centric scripture Mudgala Purana is the first to list them.

Detailed descriptions are included in the Shivanidhi portion of the 19th-century Kannada Sritattvanidhi. There are also sculptural representations of these thirty-two forms in the temples at Nanjangud and Chāmarājanagar, both in Mysore district, Karnataka, done about the same time as the paintings were done and also at the direction of the same monarch. Each of the thirty-two illustrations is accompanied by a short Sanskrit meditation verse (dhyānaśloka), written in Kannada script. The meditation verses list the attributes of each form. The text says that these meditation forms are from the Mudgala Purana.

Nritya Ganapathi

Paul Martin-Dubost, in Gaņeśa: The Enchanter of the Three Worlds notes that while the Sritattvanidhi includes many of Ganesha's forms that were known at that time in that area, it does not describe earlier two-armed forms that existed from the 4th century, nor those with fourteen and twenty arms that appeared in Central India in the 9th and 10th centuries.

S K Ramachandra Rao, in The Compendium on Gaņeśa, says that:

"The first sixteen of the forms of Gaṇapati shown [in the Sritattvanidhi] are more popularly worshipped under the name shoḍaśa-gaṇapati. Among them, the thirteenth, viz. Mahāgaṇapati is especially widely worshipped. There is a tāntrik sect which is devoted to this form. Śakti-gaṇapati, Ucchishṭa-gaṇapati and Lakshmī-gaṇapati are also tāntrik forms, which receive worship which is cultic and esoteric. Heraṃba-gaṇapati is popular in Nepāl".

Significance of Narthana Ganapati

Nritya Ganapati is regarded as the 15th among the 32 different forms of Ganapati. The Sanskrit word ‘Nritya’ means ‘dance.’ Nritya Ganapati, as the name suggests, is a dancer or a happy dancer, and thus represents the relaxed and enjoyable form of the Lord. This Ganapati is depicted dancing under the divine, wish-fulfilling Kalpa Vriksha tree. With one foot placed on the ground and the other raised, as during a dance, he is shining in golden yellow colour and has four hands. While he holds his own broken tusk in his principal right hand, an elephant goad, a battle axe, and a noose are there in his other hands. Rings are seen in his fingers and his trunk, curled in the end, is holding his favourite snack, Modak (dumpling). In some depictions, one of his hands is shown as holding the sweet meat.

This form of Ganesha can be seen as a painting in the Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram and also as a sculpture in the Pazhavangadi Ganesha temple there. The sculptures showing this form of Ganesha can also be found in some temples in the Mysore region, where all the 32 Ganapati forms are on display. Nritya Ganapati can also be worshipped in an idol form, in the Magudeshwarar temple in Kodumudi near Karur town, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Magham Star, also known as Magha Nakshatra is said to be related to this aspect of Ganapati.

Nritya Ganapati is a happy and kind-hearted aspect of the Lord. This dancer form also shows Ganapati as a connoisseur of fine arts. Hence his worship is believed to bestow the devotees with an aptitude for learning fine arts, proficiency in them, and also success and fame in that field. Hence this Lord is widely worshipped by artists, and especially by dancers.

The mantra, which reads as under in Sanskrit, sings the praise of this ‘dancing Lord,’ describes his appearance and prays for his blessings.

Paashamkushaa Poopakutaar Dhanta-

Chanchath Karamkluptha Varaanguleeyakam

Peethaprabham Kukshihikarastha Dhantam

Bhajaaminruththop Padham Ganesham

Dancing under the boon tree, He has four arms. He is golden in colour. His hands hold the single tusk, the elephant goad, the noose, the axe (parashu) or the hatchet (kuthâra).

The dhyâna sloka specifies that one of the four hands can show a cake apûpa.

Chanting the Nritya Ganapati mantra with faith can be an effective means of propitiating the powerful Lord. Dancers and musicians, particularly in southern India, begin art performances such as the Bharatnatyam dance with a prayer to Ganesha.

© Ramachandran 

DOLLAR HEGEMONY OVER, A NEW ROAD MAP IN VIEW

 SCO Summit Decides on a New Course of Action

The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at the recent summit at Samarkand have decided to conduct bilateral trade and investment and issue bonds in local and national currencies instead of US dollars and UK Pounds or Euros.

The group - which comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan and Iran alongside four Central Asian states - in a declaration said "interested SCO member states" had agreed on a "roadmap for the gradual increase in the share of national currencies in mutual settlements", and called for an expansion of the practice.

The declaration did not say who the "interested states" were. It is significant that Iran, like Russia, subject to broad international economic and financial sanctions, has also joined the SCO and is an oil-producing country.

Both China and Moscow are the driving force behind the push toward national currencies as it tries to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar and other Western currencies for trade following the imposition of sweeping new Western sanctions in response to the Ukraine crisis.

In his speech at the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping said: "We need to ensure implementation of the roadmap for SCO member states to expand shares of local currency settlement, better develop the system for cross-border payment and settlement in local currencies, work for the establishment of an SCO development bank, and thus speed up regional economic integration".

The Chinese yuan became the most traded currency on the Moscow Exchange for the first time on October 4, 2022, with trading turnover in the yuan-ruble pair reaching 70.3 billion rubles ($1.17 billion), surpassing the 68.2 billion rubles for the dollar-ruble pair. A total of 64,900 transactions were made using the yuan-ruble pair, compared with 29,500 for the dollar-ruble pair on the same day. The yuan also overtook trading in the euro-ruble pair, which recorded a trading volume of 47.5 billion rubles.

In the first eight months of 2022, trade between China and Russia totalled $117.2 billion, up 31.4 percent year on year.

In early September, China and Russia reportedly signed an agreement to switch trade payments for gas supplies to China to the yuan and the ruble based on a 50-50 split, instead of the dollar, paving the way for a more frequent ruble-yuan usage in bilateral trade.

In the first week of September, the Russian gas producer Gazprom said China would pay for half its Russian gas supplies in rubles and half in Chinese yuan. Previous contracts have been denominated in euros or dollars, the dominant reference currency for the global oil trade.

In August, Russia's largest gold miner, PJSC Polyus, completed the issuance of 4.6 billion yuan in bonds, less than one month after Russian aluminium company Rusal issued 4 billion yuan-denominated bonds in the Russian market. The bonds were listed on the Moscow Exchange with a coupon rate of 3.8 percent. The bond underwriter was Gazprombank.

The issuance of foreign-currency bonds means China is a strong economy, has stable financial and monetary policies and a large capital market volume. 

Russian firms and banks were involved in almost 4 percent of international yuan payments by value in July. That was an increase from 1.42 percent the previous month and zero in February when the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.

Yuan-ruble trading volumes have soared 1,067% since the Ukraine crisis, though this is broadly seen as a sign of the allies strengthening ties to help weaken the influence of the US.

Most recently, the People's Bank of China announced it is developing a yuan reserve with the Bank for International Settlements and five other nations, including Singapore and Hong Kong. Each of the members will contribute about 15 billion yuan, or $2.2 billion. 

Also, China will push for the expanded use of the digital yuan from the first four trial cities -- Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei Province and Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province -- to province-wide testing, to ramp up the innovation of the digital yuan.

China's Ministry of Finance and the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government have jointly announced a plan to issue yuan-denominated treasury bonds worth 3 billion yuan in Macau on September 7, a move to strengthen financial cooperation between the Chinese mainland and the SAR. And, the Ministry of Finance issued yuan-denominated treasury bonds worth 5 billion yuan in the Hong Kong SAR on August 10.

India is planning to buy Russian oil at discounted prices and even consider the Chinese yuan as a reference currency in an India-Russia payment settlement mechanism. Saudi Arabia is in active talks with Beijing to price some of its oil sales in yuan.

According to bankers, imports from Russia can be paid in yuan via multiple mechanisms. One way is that an India-based bank exchanges US dollars for yuan from its offshore branches in China or Hong Kong.

Another way is for an India-based bank to tie up with a Chinese bank for settlements. It is also possible for an Indian company to directly take a loan in yuan from a China-based bank.

Most state-run banks send dollars to their offshore branches in Singapore, Hong Kong or China.

In June, some 30% of the payments by Indian entities for the commodity were in the Chinese yuan and 28% in the Hong Kong dollar. The euro accounted for under a quarter and the UAE dirham around a sixth.

In July, Russia became India’s third-largest coal supplier with record imports of 2.06 million tonnes.

UltraTech is importing "157,000 tons of coal from Russian producer SUEK that is loaded on the bulk carrier MV Mangas from the Russian Far East port of Vanino," an Indian customs document reviewed by Reuters shows, while the settlement currency is in yuan, with the total cargo valued at 172,652,900 yuan ($25.81 million).

The Road Map

Details and a road map against the US dollar had been finalized and signed at SCO’s Finance Ministers’ meeting in Moscow as early as March 2020, after which the plan was temporarily shelved due to COVID. Representatives from the finance ministries and central banks of China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan attended the Moscow conference. In addition, Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia were also present as observer nations.

During the meeting, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that "each SCO member decide whether they want to use the dollar for transactions, but facts are enough that this currency is unreliable".

The currency roadmap was also agreed upon at the  15 July 2022 meeting of the SCO countries’ industry ministers in Tashkent, as well.

The SCO is the largest regional organisation in the world in terms of geographical coverage and population, covering three-fifths of the Eurasian continent and nearly half of the human population. The new measure will contribute to the stability of monetary systems and the security of the financial activities of the SCO  countries.

Retaliation Against the US War

Former US President Donald Trump had deeply weaponised the dollar during COVID and trade with China was labelled a ‘war’. There have been unilateral sanctions placed on perceived threats and ‘enemy' countries. Countries like China, at the receiving end, have been preparing to hit back, and now it has become a reality.

Trump used sanctions and stopped Russian companies like Rusal Aluminium from accessing the dollar-based financial system in 2017 and then on Rosneft Oil in 2020. Since then the US has had over 30 active financial-and trade sanctions that cut access to the Federal Reserve that have severely destabilised and targeted weaker economies like Iran, Iraq and Venezuela. Trump tried to pressurise the IMF not to assist Iran with the COVID relief package.

As a consequence, all these countries established linkages with China and Russia for trade and economic sustainability. Russia is selling Venezuela’s crude oil. China diverted Iranian crude with Yuan payments and initiated the Iran-China silk route agreements. China is now Iran’s largest trade partner. Iran has diversified trade with Afghanistan and oil for gold with India.

China and Russia have several measures already as cross-border inter-bank payment systems parallel to SWIFT. Both have increased gold holdings to back their currencies and initiated national currency swap agreements in several regional and bilateral arrangements where they play a role.

The BRICS’s New Development Bank, proposed disbursements in national currencies in 2015. In the April 2020 annual board of governors meeting with BRICS finance ministers, the president of the bank K.V. Kamath said that in 2019, a quarter of the USD 15 billion of financial assistance was given in local currencies. He said that BRICS had no intention of destabilising the dollar but  “50 per cent (of projects) should be local currency financed”.

China is reducing its share in US treasury bonds and preparing for currency swap facilities as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with South-East Asian countries. Most of the ASEAN countries are ready for this.

Russia, previously a top holder of US sovereign debt, has radically decreased its holdings because of sanctions. Russia’s strategic relations with China deepened after the 2014 partnership and energy-centred agreements. In 2017, Ruble-Yuan's‘ payment versus payment’ started along the BRI. In 2019, the two countries switched to the Yuan RMB and Ruble in exchange for their USD 25 billion trade.

Russia has been pushing for currency swap agreements with various trade partners. The Eurasian Economic Union with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia comprises the ‘road’ part of the BRI. With a population of 183 million and a GDP of some US$ 5 trillion, 70%  of its trade is in Rubles and local currencies. Several Central and West Asian countries want to join this union and Vietnam already has a full trade agreement with them. This saves the exchange charges of the dollar.

Russia revived trade in national currencies that were earlier used during the Soviet period within the communist bloc and with India. This exchange ended with the disintegration of the Soviet Union. 

In 2019, India switched again to Ruble payments for Russian S-400 defence systems because of US sanctions on Moscow. India worked out local currency trade with the UAE and approved USD 75 billion currency swaps with Japan and USD 400 million currency swaps with South Asian countries. India notified non-dollar-mediated rates of exchange for Turkish and Korean currencies. Turkey is trading in national currencies with China and Russia. Russia proposed trade in Euros with the EU.

China is internationalising the Yuan RMB which is included in the IMF basket, has risen to fifth place as a global currency and represents 15% of global currency holding. Russia has 25% of Chinese RMB international reserves.

The US Debt and Shadow Banks

The problem remains that the Yuan is not presently liquid enough for financial markets. So currency will be diversified with no currency maintaining complete hegemony.

Financial markets are complex and the US dollar is still the preferred currency. But countries have followed the contradictions within US policies – like raising debt ceilings to sustain the dollar as a global currency and even concealing lending to certain foreign banks – and have decided they need to protect themselves from this militarised dollar.

The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money that the United States can borrow cumulatively by issuing bonds. If U.S. government national debt levels bump up against the ceiling, the Treasury Department must resort to other "extraordinary" measures to pay government obligations and expenditures until the ceiling is raised again.

The debt ceiling has been raised or suspended numerous times over the years to avoid the worst-case scenario, which would be a default by the U.S. government on its debt.

There has been controversy over whether the debt ceiling is constitutional. According to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, "the validity of the public debt of the US, authorized by law...shall not be questioned." The majority of democratic countries do not have a debt ceiling, making the United States one of the few exceptions. The approximate amount of the current U.S. debt ceiling is $ 31.4 trillion, as set by the Congressional vote on 15 December 2021, and signed into law by President Biden on December 16 of the same year. The sum represents a $2.5 trillion increase in the ceiling.

Hitting the debt limit and failing to pay interest payments to bondholders would have grave economic consequences. The United States government would be in default, lowering its credit rating and increasing the cost of its debt. This would throw the U.S. economy into a tailspin.

Another worry for the US is shadow banking- it symbolizes one of the many failings of the US financial system leading up to the current financial crisis.  It is referred mainly to nonbank financial institutions that engaged in what economists call maturity transformation. Commercial banks engage in maturity transformation when they use deposits, which are normally short term, to fund loans that are longer term. Shadow banks do something similar. They raise  (mostly borrow) short-term funds in the money markets and use those funds to buy assets with longer-term maturities. But because they are not subject to traditional bank regulation, they cannot—as banks can—borrow in an emergency from the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) and do not have traditional depositors whose funds are covered by insurance; they are in the “shadows.”

There are now myriad types of entities in the US, performing these intermediation functions, and they are growing all the time. During the financial crisis, investors became skittish about what those longer-term assets were worth and many withdrew their funds at once. To repay these investors, shadow banks sell assets. These “fire sales” generally reduce the value of those assets. 

But in the US, real banks were caught in the shadows, too. Some shadow banks were controlled by commercial banks and for reputational reasons were salvaged by their stronger bank parent. In other cases, the connections were at arm’s length, but because shadow banks had to withdraw from other markets—including those in which banks sold commercial paper and other short-term debt—these sources of funding to banks were also impaired. And because there was so little transparency, it often was unclear who owed (or would owe later) what to whom.

The share of the US dollar assets in the foreign exchange reserves of global central banks, a sign of the dollar's supremacy, dropped to 59 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 - a 25-year low, the IMF reported last May. The share further dropped to 58.88 percent in the first quarter of 2022, IMF data showed.

Thus, because of the US crisis, the Chinese aphorism “hide your capability and bide your time” has become popular in much of Eurasia’s national currency transitions. President Biden's absurd declaration that COVID is over, makes it clear that the economy is also sick.

© Ramachandran 

JUMBO MENACE AT KASARAGOD AND THE ASSAM MODEL

Shocking: Hanging Solar Fence to Deter Wild Elephants

Savithri Bhat, an 82-year-old farmer at Kattipalam near Kanathur, Muliyar panchayat of Kasaragod district in Kerala, had slept quietly for almost five decades, till the marauding wild elephants from the Karnataka forests came to her 10-acre farm. Out of the 1000 plantain trees she had, nothing remains. The herd of elephants also uprooted several coconut and areca nut trees. 

She is aware that there are 10-13 wild elephants, on the banks of Erinji river, just two kilometres up, waiting for the next adventure. The havoc on human habitations can happen anytime, perhaps, tonight.

Her farm along the Payaswini river is also facing frequent attacks by wild boars, porcupines and monkeys. "We barely get any coconuts from the 350 coconut trees. The trees are felled by the elephants for the leaves," she said. The elephants have a special affinity for palm trees, which they devour completely.

Wild elephants at Muliyar

The elephants also destroy the irrigation pipes. “They break the pipe and stand astride to cool themselves,” said her son Dr Sreekrishna Raj.

Around Rs 45,000 is needed to irrigate an acre. The elephants destroy them in one night.

In the wee hours of a day in April 2021, a farmer at Muliyar, Karthyayani saw eight elephants destroying her river bank plantain garden at Bathakumri. She lost around 20 ready-to-harvest plantain trees, two areca nut trees and two tender coconut trees. Her sister Sarojini's adjacent property was also damaged.

A Farmers Collective is formed

Protests from the farmers have prompted the panchayats to act, and a hanging solar power fence is being erected. Not waiting for the Karadka block panchayat's initiative, Bhat fenced her property with her own money. She spent around Rs 5 lakh to erect a horizontal solar fence. 

Farmers demanded the government in the middle of April to immediately push the 12 elephants at Muliyar back into the forest. "The threat to our lives has increased, and the farmers are on the brink of suicide," said K P Jyothi Chandran, president of the Aanakkaryam (Elephantine Matter) Farmers Collective, formed to find a solution to the man-animal conflict.

The Collective's WhatsApp group with 256 members is abuzz always with messages from distressed farmers, in the early hours.

The Karadka block panchayat formed a people’s rapid response team (RRT) and 21 youths were trained and deputed to counter the elephants,  in September 2021. They are paid Rs 900 per day.

Leela and daughter Dhanya at Belliappadi

They resorted to the age-old practice of bursting crackers to scare the jumbos. Now, when crackers were bursting, the elephants seemed to enjoy it. An elephant even slapped Raveendran Chettathodu (43), an RRT member, with its trunk. He had a narrow escape with a broken arm and had to undergo surgery.

A survey by the Collective found that 390 farmers have lost crops and properties worth Rs 42 crore since October 2019. 

The total compensation payable for loss of crops due to attack of wild animals is Rs 75000 and the payment to an individual has been restricted to four times a year.

Savithri Bhat

The application for compensation of T Gopinathan Nair of Kanathur in Muliyar, founder of the Collective, and also a co-0perative bank president, is pending since 2020. “I applied for compensation only once because the process is troublesome”, he remembered. The elephants had raided his 10 acres at least six times.

The herd of elephants have a perfect habitat on the bank of the Payaswini. Due to a shortage of food and water inside the forests, elephants stray into fields, feed on crops and attack farmers. Environmentalists urge the government to grow jumbo-friendly bamboo trees, vegetables and fruit plants instead of planting commercially valuable trees, besides ensuring drinking water inside. 

The elephant herds started trespassing the border after 2002. “Before 2018, the elephants were coming as guests from April-May to drink from the river. During the floods of 2018, in the landslides at Madikeri, Kodagu, the elephants lost their traditional corridors. So after October 2018, when they were driven out from the Kerala border, they began the habit of travelling back till Madikeri and then returning”, said Nair. 

Destruction in Kanathur

Fed up, the Farmers Collective took out a march to the Divisional Forest Office on April 21, 2022, and the Collectorate on August 23 to protest against the ineptness in securing the lives and properties of farmers.

The hanging experiment

And now, 40 kilometres above Bhat’s farm, five panchayats in the Karadka block are jointly constructing a 29 km hanging solar fence to deter wild elephants. The fence will extend from Muliiiyar in Delampadi to Choorithod in the Kuttikol panchayat.

The Rs 3. 33 crore wildlife conflict mitigation project, which the Forest Department implements, is funded by the panchayats, Delampady, Karadka, Muliyar, Bedakam and Kuttikkol. “The first stretch of eight kilometres is over. Before the monsoon, the herd of 18 elephants were on the other side of the fence. But now they are on this side. The fence will be charged after driving them out,” Karadka block panchayat President Sigi Mathew said.

This is the first instance in Kerala in which panchayats have pooled their funds for such a project.

The State Planning Board has recognized it as a model project and is giving a grant of Rs 66 lakh. But the contract has been given to the Police Housing Construction Corporation, which has no expertise in the matter. 

The field survey began in November last year and the path was laid in April this year.

Jyothi Chandran

“The entire fencing will be over by December,” Kasaragod Divisional Forest Officer C Biju said. “Three herds of jumbos are giving us trouble, but the largest one has crossed the border and gone. We will be assigning the monitoring and charging of the solar fence to persons from the elephant squad soon,” he said.

According to forest officials, the stray elephants causing trouble in the region were mostly from the Sullia range of the Mangaluru forest division and Talakaveri forests of Karnataka. The elephants have learnt to override traditional mitigation mechanisms like trenching and normal electric fences. Hanging fences could be erected at Rs 6.5 lakh/km as opposed to around Rs 1.5 crore for rail fences and boundary walls. The maintenance cost also will be much less.

The fence has 1.2 mm thick steel wires hung in a row from a 1.5 mm thick horizontal overhead wire supported by two 11 metre high iron poles at each end. The wires are connected to solar power systems. The wires are hanging down like a curtain up to four metres from the ground and this enables small wild animals to pass beneath it.

Solar hanging fence at Adhur

When dusk sets in, the power is put on. Solar power is passed on to the wires and when an elephant comes in contact with the wires, it gets mild shocks. This acts as a repellent and the animal leaves the place as soon as it recovers. It is non-lethal, so there are no chances of life loss. 

While elephants have mastered how to stamp over traditional electric fences installed on the ground, the authorities hope they will find it difficult to damage the dangling steel wires.

The project is expected to benefit over 10200 people besides safeguarding crops on 1200 acres. 

Narayanan at his farm

“The project got delayed because of the department’s insistence on not felling the acacia trees, on the pathways”, alleged Jyothi Chandran. The department has a shortage of trained wildlife personnel, agreed the DFO. 

“The farmers are sceptical about the efficacy of the fencing because it is done on a level platform, between hills, and the elephants can journey through the valley,” Jyothi Chandran warned.

A fence at Wayanad and Walayar

While the Kasaragod project dragged on, a 9.5-km hanging solar fence was erected at Walayar in Palakkad in July and a 10-km solar hanging fence was constructed on the Wayanad-Karnataka border with speed. 

The department spent Rs 54 lakhs to erect the fence in the Walayar-Kanjikode region, from Palakambat to Ayyappanmala in the Puthussery panchayat. In 2020, a pregnant wild elephant in Silent Valley died consuming a pine apple, inside which an explosive was kept.

At Wayanad, I C Balakrishnan, Sulthan Bathery MLA,  sanctioned Rs 70 lakh from his asset development fund. The fence was constructed in the  Perikkallur- Kolavalli-Madapallikunnu stretch in the Mullankolli panchayat. 

Solar fence at Walayar

“It could be completed quickly because we formed people’s committees in every ward,” Balakrishnan said. Another 40 lakhs have been sanctioned for a second phase and he has submitted a proposal for hanging fences at Chethalayam.

Across the border, in Mysuru, the farmers and villagers residing near Nugu Dam backwaters and Chikkadevammanabetta areas were severely affected by the jumbo menace. In 2019, a hanging solar fence was successfully experimented with in the fringe villages of the Sargur forest range, at a stretch of 20 kilometres. 

The contract at Mysuru and Wayanad was bagged by Mysuru-based Nature Fence.

When compared, the cost at Kasaragod and Wayanad is on the higher side. While the fencing at Kasaragod and Wayanad costs Rs 6.5 lakh/km, it is Rs.3.5 lakh.at Mysuru and 5.5 lakh at Walayar.

The Assam model

Kerala has a lesson to learn from the Assam model, in terms of people’s participation.

In Assam, about 750 people and 250 elephants died unnatural deaths in the state between 2010 and 2018 as a result of the human-elephant conflict (HEC). In 2019, approximately 75 human and 60 elephant deaths happened due to HEC.

Villagers erecting a solar fence in Assam/ courtesy: Aaranyak

When human-induced elephant deaths using illegal electric fencing were rising in the state, an NGO, Aaranyak stepped in.

In 2014, at Subankhata, on the eastern part of the Manas Tiger Reserve, Aaranyak convinced local communities to convert their illegal electric fences into solar-powered ones. With active participation from the villagers, a 14-kilometre-long fence was erected that benefitted about 1,000 households as well as 100-odd elephants that inhabit the area. The fences are still functional and no incidents of elephant or human death.

A total of 24.5 km of solar-powered electric fences were erected at two sites in Baksa district and 7.5 km in Nagaon district with support from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Centre for Large Landscape, Montana University, USA and Elephant Family India Foundation.

As a result, about 10,000 households have benefitted. The fences encompass villages, without hampering the passage of elephants, fostering coexistence between both species.

The key to the success of any project is the involvement and capacity-building of local communities. In Assam,  the villagers provided materials such as wooden/bamboo poles, devoted time to constructing the fence and took the responsibility for maintenance. 

"The fences that we installed in Assam are not hanging fences. Rather, we used GI wires and poles", explained  Dr Alolika Sinha, Conservation Biologist with Aaranyak.

"Ours is a community-based solar fence model, wherein we approach the local communities in human-elephant conflict areas, discuss the ideas and involve them. The model has worked well as the communities are involved right from the planning stage and there is a sense of belonging. So far, we have provided more than 80 km of solar fences in Assam", she said.

Aaranyak also provided a bio fence, using lemon plants to surround the actual crops. "This too has worked for us, as the elephants couldn't penetrate the lemon fence and damage the crops. All these tools are site-specific, and for ensuring coexistence between humans and elephants/wildlife, one has to be innovative", feels Dr Sinha. 

And yes, all these are temporary solutions. “A long-term solution can be securing the habitats/corridors of elephants”, said Dr Sinha. So, the ordeal of Kasaragod is not going to end soon. And, Savithri Bhat has escaped to Bengaluru, for the time being.

© Ramachandran 

കുമാരനാശാൻ ആത്മീയ കവി തന്നെ

ദുരവസ്ഥയുടെ നാനാർത്ഥങ്ങൾ 

കുമാരനാശാനെ ഒരു ലേഖനത്തിൽ ഞാൻ 'ആത്മീയ കവി' എന്ന് വിശേഷിപ്പിച്ചതിൽ ക്ഷുഭിതനായി, അവിവേകിയായ ഒരാൾ എഴുതിയ മറുപടി കണ്ടു. അത് അദ്ദേഹം പടച്ചത്, സാഹിത്യത്തിലെ ആത്മീയത എന്താണെന്ന് അറിയാത്തത് കൊണ്ടോ വേണ്ടത്ര സാഹിത്യ ശിക്ഷണം ഇല്ലാത്തതു കൊണ്ടോ ലോകസാഹിത്യവുമായി പരിചയമില്ലാത്തതു കൊണ്ടോ ആകാം. കാൽ നൂറ്റാണ്ടു മുൻപ്, കടവല്ലൂർ അന്യോന്യത്തോട് അനുബന്ധിച്ചു നടന്ന ദക്ഷിണേന്ത്യൻ സാഹിത്യ സമ്മേളനത്തിൽ 'ചെറുകഥയും ആത്മീയതയും' എന്ന വിഷയത്തിൽ ഞാൻ അവതരിപ്പിച്ച പ്രബന്ധം, മലയാളം വാരിക പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ചിരുന്നു. ആ പ്രബന്ധത്തിൽ ചർച്ച ചെയ്തത്, ഒ വി വിജയൻ, പട്ടത്തുവിള കരുണാകരൻ, സി വി ശ്രീരാമൻ എന്നിവരുടെ കഥകളിലെ ആത്മീയതയെക്കുറിച്ചാണ്. 

കുമാരനാശാൻ

ലോകസാഹിത്യത്തിൽ, ദസ്തയേവ്സ്കി, കസാൻദ്സാകിസ് എന്നിവരുടെ രചനകൾ വായനക്കാർ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നതു തന്നെ, അവയുടെ ആത്മീയ തലം മുൻ നിർത്തിയാണ്. 'കാരമസോവ് സഹോദരന്മാർ' എന്ന ദസ്തയേവ്സ്കിയുടെ നോവലിൽ, ഇവാനും അല്യോഷയും തമ്മിലുള്ള സംവാദത്തിലെ  ഗ്രാൻഡ് ഇൻക്വിസിറ്റർ വരുന്ന അധ്യായം, എഴുത്തുകാരൻറെ തന്നെ ആത്മീയ സംഘർഷം വെളിപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന ഒന്നാണ്. ഗ്രീക്ക് ദുരന്ത നാടകങ്ങളെ ഉദാത്തമായ തലത്തിലേക്ക് ഉയർത്തുന്നതും അവയിലെ ആത്മീയ ഉള്ളടക്കമാണ്. എഴുത്തച്ഛൻ, ശ്രീനാരായണ ഗുരു, കുമാരനാശാൻ എന്നിവരെ ഉയർന്ന പീഠത്തിൽ ഇരുത്തുന്നതും കവിതയിലെ ആത്മീയ ഉള്ളടക്കമാണ്.

ദസ്തയേവ്സ്കി, ഈ നോവൽ എഴുതുമ്പോഴാണ്, അദ്ദേഹത്തിൻറെ രണ്ടു വയസുള്ള മകൻ അല്യോഷ മരിക്കുന്നത്. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന് എഴുത്തു തുടരാൻ കഴിയാതായി. ദുഃഖിതനായ അദ്ദേഹം, ഒപ്റ്റിന പുസ്‌റ്റിനെ ആശ്രമത്തിലേക്ക് തീർത്ഥാടനം നടത്തി. അവിടത്തെ സന്യാസിയുമായുമൊത്ത് രണ്ടു ദിവസം ചെലവിട്ടു. ആ സന്യാസി പിന്നീട് വിശുദ്ധ അംബ്രോസ് ആയി വാഴ്ത്തപ്പെട്ടു.

തീർത്ഥാടനത്തിൽ നിന്ന് മടങ്ങിയ ദസ്തയേവ്സ്കിക്ക് മാനസാന്തരം വന്നിരുന്നു. ഈ ആത്മീയ വ്യക്തിയാണ് നോവൽ എഴുതിയത്. അംബ്രോസ് പറഞ്ഞു: "ആത്മാവിൻറെ ആഹാരമാണ് പ്രാർത്ഥന. ആത്മാവിനെ പട്ടിണിക്ക് ഇടരുത്. ശരീരം പട്ടിണിയാകുന്നതാണ് ഭേദം."

അദ്ദേഹം വിശദീകരിച്ചു: "മനുഷ്യ ജീവിതത്തിൻറെ നിഗൂഢത കിടക്കുന്നത്, ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതിൽ അല്ല. എന്തിനെങ്കിലും വേണ്ടി ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നതിലാണ്."

ഈ ധർമ്മമാണ് ദസ്തയേവ്സ്കി അല്യോഷ, സോസിമ എന്നീ കഥാപാത്രങ്ങൾ വഴി മുന്നിൽ വയ്ക്കുന്നത്. അംബ്രോസിൻറെ സ്ഥാനത്താണ്, സോസിമ. നോവലിലെ ഗ്രാൻഡ് ഇൻക്വിസിറ്റർ കമ്മ്യൂണിസം, നാസിസം, ഫാഷിസം എന്നിവയുടെ ഭീകരതകൾ പ്രവചിക്കുന്നതായി വിമർശകർ നിരീക്ഷിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.

എഴുത്തിലെ ആത്മീയത കൂടുതൽ വിശദീകരിക്കാൻ, കസാൻദ്സാകിസിനെ  ഉദാഹരിക്കാം.

സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യ പോരാട്ടത്തിൽ, നാല് ആത്മീയ ഗുരുക്കന്മാരാണ് തനിക്ക് ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നതെന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞിട്ടുണ്ട്: നീഷെ, ബെർഗ്‌സൻ, യേശു, ദസ്തയേവ്സ്കി. സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം എന്നത് രാഷ്ട്രീയ സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം ആണെന്ന് ധരിക്കരുത്. മാനസിക മോചനത്തിൻറെ ചവിട്ടു പടികളിൽ വഴികാട്ടികളായ ഗുരുക്കന്മാരാണ്, ഇവർ. അതേ സമയം, തന്നെ വേട്ടയാടിയ പല പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾക്കും ഉത്തരം നൽകിയത്, ശ്രീബുദ്ധൻ ആണെന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം ആത്മകഥയായ 'റിപ്പോർട്ട് ടു ഗ്രെക്കോ' യിൽ പറയുന്നുമുണ്ട്. കിഴക്കിൻറെ അവതാരമായ ബുദ്ധൻ കുമാരനാശാൻറെ ആത്മീയ തീർത്ഥാടന പാതയിൽ വരുന്നത് സ്വാഭാവികമാണ്. ഗ്രീസിൽ ജനിച്ച ഒരാളിൽ അസാധാരണവുമാണ്. അടിമത്തത്തെ ന്യായീകരിച്ച അരിസ്റ്റോട്ടിലിൻറെയും പ്ളേറ്റോയുടെയും നാട്ടിൽ ജനിച്ച ഒരാളിൽ, അപ്പോൾ, അങ്ങനെ സംഭവിച്ചത്, യൂറോപ്പിന് അപരിചിതമായ ആത്മീയ അന്വേഷണത്തിൽ അയാൾ ഏർപ്പെട്ടതു കൊണ്ടു മാത്രമാണ്. യൂറോപ്പിന് പ്രവാചകന്മാരില്ലെന്നും പ്രവാചകന്മാർ എല്ലാവരും ഏഷ്യൻ സമൂഹത്തിലാണെന്നും സ്വാമി വിവേകാനന്ദൻ നിരീക്ഷിച്ചത് ഓർത്തു പോകുന്നു.

ബുദ്ധമതത്തിൽ നിന്ന് കസാൻദ്സാകിസിന് പലതും കിട്ടിയെങ്കിലും, അതിനെ സ്വീകരിക്കൽ ഒട്ടും എളുപ്പമായിരുന്നില്ല. കർമ്മ പാതയിൽ ബുദ്ധമതം അദ്ദേഹത്തിന് ഒരു വിഴുപ്പായിരുന്നു. ബുദ്ധ സ്വാധീനം കുടഞ്ഞു കളയാൻ ശ്രമിച്ചിട്ടും, മോക്ഷത്തിൻ്റെയും ആത്മീയ പൂർത്തിയുടെയും പാതയിൽ ബുദ്ധൻ സദാ അദ്ദേഹത്തെ അനുയാത്ര ചെയ്തു. ബുദ്ധമതം, അദ്ദേഹത്തിൻറെ തത്വചിന്തയുടെ ഭാഗമായി. ബുദ്ധനുമായുള്ള ആത്മീയ സംഘർഷം,ബുദ്ധമത ഘടകങ്ങളുള്ള കസാൻദ്സാകിസിൻറെ പല രചനകൾക്കും കാരണമായി. "ബുദ്ധൻ" എന്ന ശീർഷകത്തിൽ തന്നെ അദ്ദേഹത്തിൻറെ ഒരു നാടകമുണ്ട്. നിർഭാഗ്യവശാൽ, അത് ആരും അത്ര ശ്രദ്ധിച്ചിട്ടില്ല. ദി സേവിയേഴ്‌സ് ഓഫ് ദി ഗോഡ്, സോർബ ദി ഗ്രീക്ക്, ദി ഒഡീസി: എ മോഡേൺ സീക്വൽ എന്നിവയും ബുദ്ധമത സ്വാധീനം ഉള്ളവയാണ്. കസാൻദ്സാകിസ് പറഞ്ഞതനുസരിച്ച്, അദ്ദേഹം, അലക്‌സാൻഡ്ര ഡേവിഡ് -നീലിൻറെ തിബത്തൻ ബുദ്ധമതം സംബന്ധിച്ച പുസ്തകം വായിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഹെർമൻ ഓൾഡൻബർഗിൻറെ Buddha: His Life, His Doctrine, His Order എന്ന പുസ്തകത്തിന് മുഖവുര എഴുതി. ആത്മകഥയിൽ കസാൻദ്സാകിസ് വിവരിക്കുന്ന അന്തർസംഘർഷവും മനനവും അത് വായിച്ചവർക്ക് മറക്കാൻ കഴിയില്ല.

അഗാധതയുള്ള ഏത് എഴുത്തുകാരനും ഇത്തരം ആത്മീയ സംഘർഷങ്ങളിലൂടെ കടന്നു പോകേണ്ടി വരും. അതാണ് എഴുത്തിനുള്ള ബലി. ഇത്തരം സംഘർഷങ്ങൾ ഒന്നും കുമാരനാശാന് ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നില്ല എന്നാണ്, അദ്ദേഹം ആത്മീയ കവിയല്ല എന്ന് പരിമിത വിഭവൻമാർ കാച്ചി വിടുമ്പോൾ തോന്നുക. (2) ആശാൻറെ ജീവിത പശ്ചാത്തലത്തിൽ, ഗുരുവിലെത്തിയ ആത്മീയ അന്വേഷണത്തിൽ, ആത്മീയ സന്ദർഭങ്ങൾ കണ്ടെത്തിയ ശിക്ഷണത്തിൽ, ഒക്കെ അത്തരം അന്തഃസംഘർഷങ്ങൾ വേണ്ടുവോളമുണ്ട്. അതാണ്, അദ്ദേഹത്തെ കവിത്രയത്തിൽ ഏറ്റവും മുകളിൽ നിർത്തുന്നത്. എന്നാൽ, കവി എന്ന നിലയിൽ ആശാനും എത്രയോ മേലെയാണ് ശ്രീനാരായണ ഗുരു. ആശാൻ തന്നെ ഗുരുവിനെ വിശേഷിപ്പിച്ചത് മോദസ്ഥിതൻ എന്നാണ്. തടശില പോലെ തരംഗലീലയിൽ നിന്നവൻ. ഇത്തരം ഗുരുക്കന്മാരുടെ സ്ഥിതപ്രതിജ്ഞ ബുദ്ധനിൽ ഇല്ല. ബുദ്ധമതത്തിലേക്കുള്ള സമുദായ മാറ്റത്തെ ഗുരുവോ ആശാനോ അനുകൂലിച്ചുമില്ല.

ഓട്ടു കമ്പനി നടത്തിയയാൾക്ക് എന്ത് ആത്മീയത എന്ന്, ഇതേ ലേഖകൻ  ചോദിക്കുന്നത്, ആശാനെ അപമാനിക്കലാണ്. (3) ഒരാൾ വ്യവസായം നടത്തുന്നത് ഉപജീവനത്തിനാണ്. ഒരാൾ കവിയാകുന്നത് അയാളുടെ സ്വകാര്യ നിമിഷങ്ങളിൽ, ഏകാന്തത്തിൽ ആണ്. അപ്പോൾ നടക്കുന്നത്, ആത്മാവുമായുള്ള സംവാദമാണ്. അപ്പോൾ ദൈവവും കവിയും മാത്രമേയുള്ളൂ.

കസാൻദ്സാകിസ്

സർഗ്ഗവൈഭവമുള്ളയാൾക്ക് ജാതിയെ മറികടക്കാൻ കഴിയും എന്നത് ചരിത്രസത്യമാണ്. ഉഡുപ്പി ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണ ക്ഷേത്രത്തിൽ പോകുമ്പോൾ ഞാൻ ഓർക്കുന്നത്, അതിന് മുന്നിൽ നിന്ന് 'കൃഷ്ണാ നീ ബേഗനെ ബാരോ' എന്നു പാടിയ കനക ദാസനെക്കുറിച്ചാണ്; അദ്ദേഹം ജനിച്ച പിന്നാക്ക കുരുബ സമുദായത്തെ അല്ല. സവർണർ ക്ഷേത്രത്തിൽ കയറ്റാത്തതു കൊണ്ട്, പുറത്തു നിന്ന് പാടിയ അദ്ദേഹത്തിനായി ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണൻ ശ്രീകോവിലിൻറെ പടിഞ്ഞാറു ഭാഗം പിളർന്നു എന്നാണ് ഐതിഹ്യം. ആ ഭാഗത്ത് 'കനകന കിണ്ടി' എന്നൊരു കിളിവാതിൽ ഇന്നുമുണ്ട്. അദ്ദേഹം എഴുതി എന്ന കാരണത്താൽ, യമുനാ കല്യാണിയിലെ ആ കീർത്തനം സവർണർ പാടാതിരിക്കുന്നില്ല.

മഹാഭാരതത്തിലെ 'വ്യാധ ഗീത' ഇറച്ചി വെട്ടുകാരൻറെതാണ്.

ദിവാൻ മാധവ റാവുവാണ് കുമാരനാശാനെ നിയമസഭയിൽ അംഗമാക്കിയത് എന്നു പറഞ്ഞ് ലേഖകൻ ഒഴിയുന്നത് ശരിയല്ല; (4) മാധവ റാവുവും സവർണ്ണൻ ആയിരുന്നു; കുമാരനാശാനെ ആ പദവിയിൽ പി രാജഗോപാലാചാരി നിലനിർത്തിയതും അയ്യങ്കാളിയെ നിയമ സഭാംഗമാക്കിക്കിയതുമാണ്, ഞാൻ ലേഖനങ്ങളിൽ പറയാറുള്ളത്. രാജഗോപാലാചാരിയുമായി കുമാരനാശാന് വലിയ സൗഹൃദമായിരുന്നു. അദ്ദേഹം തിരുവിതാംകൂറിൽ നിന്ന് മടങ്ങുമ്പോൾ ആശാൻ മംഗള കവിത എഴുതി; അദ്ദേഹത്തിന് എസ് എൻ ഡി പി സ്വീകരണം നൽകി. ആശാൻ ബഹുമാനിച്ച ഇത്തരം സവർണരെ നിന്ദിക്കുന്ന രീതി, ആ പാരമ്പര്യത്തിന് നിരക്കുന്നതല്ല. സ്വസമുദായത്തിലുള്ളവരെ മാത്രമല്ല, ആശാൻ ആദരിച്ചത്, പാണ്ഡിത്യത്തെയാണ് ആദരിച്ചു പോന്നത് എന്ന് അദ്ദേഹത്തിൻറെ നിരൂപണങ്ങൾ നോക്കിയാൽ അറിയാം.

;ഒരു കാര്യം കൂടി-കുമാരനാശാന് ഒരു വയസുള്ളപ്പോഴാണ്, ആറാട്ടുപുഴ വേലായുധപ്പണിക്കരെ തൊപ്പിയിട്ട കിട്ടനും സംഘവും കൊന്നത്. കിട്ടൻ തൊപ്പിയിട്ടത് പൊന്നാനിയിൽ പോയിട്ടാണ്. ആറാട്ടുപുഴയിൽ, പണിക്കർ മത പരിവർത്തനം തടഞ്ഞതിലുള്ള പ്രതികാരം ആയിരുന്നു ഇതെന്ന് അദ്ദേഹത്തിൻറെ കൊച്ചുമകനും മുൻ മന്ത്രിയുമായ എം കെ ഹേമചന്ദ്രൻ അരുവിപ്പുറം പ്രതിഷ്ഠ ശതാബ്‌ദി പതിപ്പിൽ എഴുതിയിരുന്നു. ഇസ്ലാമിലേക്ക് മതപരിവർത്തനം എന്ന  'ദുരവസ്ഥ' മുൻപേ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു എന്നർത്ഥം.

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1. ഡോ എസ് ഷാജി, സഹോദരൻ, സെപ്റ്റംബർ, 2022 

2. do 

3. do

4. do  

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