Why was the late Shivakumara Swami revered across caste and creed when he was associated with a mutt of one denomination?
An article written by the late Kannada poet G.S. Shivarudrappa, who was the ‘Rashtra Kavi’ of Karnataka and a student of one of the Siddaganga institutions for three years in the 1940s, provides some answers.
Recalling his association with the mutt, he wrote: “It is only because of the free food and education provided by the mutt that I and many like me, who were born into poverty and illiteracy, can today stand with our heads held high.” He wrote the article in a volume brought out to mark the seer’s 104th birthday.
This kind of service, he said, was important at a time when institutions that provided education to all castes were few. He also recalled that in a radical step at the time, Uddhana Swamy, the predecessor of the Shivakumara Swamy, had started a school that taught Sanskrit to students irrespective of their caste.
Shivaradruppa wrote that in the 1940s, his classmates came from all castes. “There was no discrimination in the kind of accommodation or food provided. We were all united in the belief all humans are equal.”