Mahakavi K V Simon: Martin Luther of Kerala

(1883-1944)
Poetry is a language in which man explores his own amazement according to Christopher Fry. In agreement to this the writer has penned this biography of one who experienced the amazement of being saved and redeemed by the Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ. This became an inspiration for poetry in the life of this child of God.

“Asathoma Sath Gamaya; Thamasoma Jyothir Gamaya; Mruthyoma Amrutham Gamaya”

For many years, this has been a very familiar prayer for people in Aranmula and Edayaranmula, two neighbouring places in Kerala. Every day, they wake up hearing this prayer song coming from the temples. It is a prayer asking God to take us from Untruth to Truth, Darkness (Ignorance) to Light (Wisdom) and from Death to Immortality. This was a prayer that was chanted by thousands and thousands of religious people in India. Even though they prayed such a prayer, they did not know the real Truth, Light and Life, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. It was during such a dark time that K V Simon was born to shine as a light in the darkness by reflecting the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Kunnumpurathu Varghese, Simon's father, was a farmer from a small village called Edayaranmula, in Kerala. This village was famous for its legacies, especially in connection with Hindu mythology and for its exquisite bronze mirrors. Now, Varghese was a keen observer of the Bible as well as the Vedas of Hinduism. He used to wake up early in the morning, work in the fields and return home by 10 AM. After a bath and breakfast, he used to read and meditate on the Puranas and the Bible till 3 PM.

Since he was well-versed in both, people used to come to him to understand the meaning of Bible verses as well as Puranas. After 3 PM, he went back to the fields and, after returning at 6:30 PM, he used to regularly have personal and family prayers. He had discipline and punctuality in all aspects of his life, especially in the spiritual area. Varghese's wife, Kandamma (Simon's mother), was a very pious (religious) woman and was also a great poet and writer. Their children were all intellectuals who excelled in their areas of interest.

Kunnumpurathu Varghese Simon, later known as K V Simon, was born on 7th February 1883. He was the 10th child in his family. His elder sisters used to teach him through various games, and he learnt the alphabets before he was four years old! He was greatly eager to read books and newspapers.

Amateur Poet
Simon was taught by his oldest brother, who was well-versed in Sanskrit, English, Malayalam, and Tamil. He was also a writer of prose and poems. This rubbed off on Simon as well, who grew up with exceptional skills in poetry; and from the age of 7, could memorize lengthy poems and based his style of writing on that of well-known poets. He wrote his first complete poem at the age of 8 and as he grew older, his talents won him a lot of attention and appreciation, in spite of which he remained a humble and grounded individual.

Even in school, Simon used to give more importance to poetry than for his studies and used to participate in several poetry and literature competitions. Though he was punished by his teachers for missing classes and neglecting his studies, he still came first in all subjects but math. Apart from his studies and poetry, Simon also had a great desire to help others


Salvation
Having been brought up in a family where religious tolerance, charity and spirituality was advocated, K. V. Simon grew up praying five times a day to a God whom he did know personally then, and God was slowly moulding this young man for His purposes.

Then, in January 1894, when Simon was almost 11 years old, his father, Kunnumpurathu Varghese, who was only 57 years old, became ill with smallpox and died. His older brother, K V Cherian, who was very close to his father, was heartbroken by this unexpected tragedy. However, God did give him special grace to stand strong in those troubled times.

Later in that same year, in December 1894, there was a convention (series of public meetings) conducted by the Marthoma Church and the special guests were Tamil David from Colombo and Wordsworth from Jaffna, both places in Sri Lanka. This convention was being held in a place called Puthencavu, which is not too far from Simon's home. Simon along with his brother K V Cherian and one of his friends, Thomas went to listen to them speak and preach in English. Moreover, since Tamil David was a well-known preacher and a good singer, Simon was excited and eager to hear the songs.

Tamil David sang several songs in Tamil: “Change your heart and be saved”, “In the blood of Jesus we have the victory”, “Jesus died for me” and so on. He sung beautifully and Simon was greatly impressed. After the songs, Tamil David went on to share a message about salvation and repentance.

Some of the verses he quoted were Isaiah 1: 18 which says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” and Ezekiel 36: 26 which says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you”. These well-chosen words on the effects of sin and eternal hell, had a profound effect on young Simon and his brother. They surrendered their lives and accepted Jesus into their hearts.

He later narrated his experiences to his elder brother K V Thomas, who too was saved into God's family before he passed away at the young age of 19 due to debilitating stomach pains he had been having from childhood.


Blessings
The death of his elder brother was a big shock in K. V. Simon's life, especially as it was the second death in his house within a year. It became a turning point for him and brought him closer to God and made him more eager for the Lord's work.

During that time, Tamil David's message and songs were inspiring many to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. K. V. Simon was inspired by some of these songs and he wrote three Tamil songs when he was only 13 years old, which later became popular songs.

It was the year 1896, K V Simon was to write his matriculation exams (10th grade public exams),a very important milestone in those days, since these exams determined one's future potential and career like a degree today. The exams were to start on Monday and most students were by spending the Sunday preparing for it. Simon decided against forsaking worship and spent the day in meditation and prayer. And the Lord helped. As the days passed, the exams became easier including math which was not one of his strong-suits.

Even before the results were published, he went to take a selection exam for teachers in Trivandrum. He faced some difficulties convincing the authorities to let him take the exam but God made a way in the form of P V Varghese, a school inspector and acquaintance who convinced the Head Inspector to let him take the exam.

It was evident that God's blessings were on the young man, as Simon scored a stunning 99% marks on the paper and was allowed to teach in his own village. He became one of the youngest teachers there at the age of 13, and proved to be a blessing to all the people he taught. Later, when the matriculation results were declared, he found that he had passed with first class. By the grace of God, after working as a teacher in several places, he even went on to work as a headmaster. Earlier, he was continuously facing failures but a continuous string of successes followed him now, because he trusted and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.


Influences
Our Christian lives are an amalgamation of the people whose stories touch us and these later shape the person we become. This stayed true in the life of Simon as well.

Mr. P K Paul and Mr. Philipose were two of the major influencers in young his life. The former with his spiritual knowledge and beliefs in separation, and the latter with his wonderful witness on how a man completely conformed to the world, an addict to alcohol and drugs could give all of it up to follow the Lord.


Musician
Around that same time, in 1898-99, KV Simon contacted D James in order to develop his musical talents. James was not only a well-educated person, a talented musician and a composer; he was also a follower and child of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was especially skilled in playing the mridangam and fiddle.

With the help of James, Simon was able to complete his study of classical, carnatic and western music in a short period of two years. The Lord was equipping him to spread the gospel through music. People used to come from far off places to listen to him and he became a wonderful instrument in the hand of God Almighty to share the good news of salvation by presenting it and the various Bible psalms with melody and rhythm. Many of those who listened to him were led to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives.


Marriage
In June 1900, K V Simon was married to Rachelamma (later known as Ayooramma) at the young age of 17. Proverbs says that an excellent wife is the crown of her husband. Such was the case of Rachelamma in the life of Simon.

Their married life was excellent proof that living a steadfast Christian life was not difficult to practice. They were also well known for their hospitality and their house was always open for others for nourishment and rest. They lived in such a way that all that they had was the Lord's.

Simon and Rachelamma had to wait for 25 years for a baby, to be born. However, due to the lack of proper medical facilities at that time, the baby girl did not live long. But after two more years, in May 1927, the Lord blessed them with another baby girl, who was named Chinnamma.

Before Simon's marriage, in January 1900, K V Cherian was working as a headmaster and Simon was working as assistant headmaster in the same school. But suddenly, on 16th July 1900, K V Cherian developed some complication in his intestines and passed away. This was another big shock in the life of young Simon. Though it was a painful experience for him and his relatives, God was moulding and strengthening them to stand strong for the Lord.

The year 1900 was a very challenging year in the life of Simon. As far as being spiritual went, he was an active part of every church meeting, he preached the gospel whenever possible and would even set aside time to read and meditate from the Word. It still did not feel enough, and he felt like he had reached a spiritual impasse. It was at this time that his brother, K V Cherian, passed away.


Rededication
One day, as he was sitting in the corridor of his house with a few friends with a great burden for the gospel, the Lord guided him to rededicate or resubmit his life in the hands of His Master and put away all things that affected his spiritual growth. Incidents in his life influenced his songs and every lyric he wrote was imbued with meaning as he wrote from experience and penned down emotions as he felt them. Every trial and every blessing gave him cause to rejoice and be thankful to the Lord.

Thus After rededicating his life to the Lord in 1900, though he was still working, he travelled to many places to spread the gospel. He went to the southern part of Kerala where there were many who had not heard about Jesus with the help of several other believers.

They faced many difficulties – lack of proper transportation, walking bare-footed, long distances that took several days for them to reach, difficulties of weather, food & shelter and so on. Still, they went boldly to these places and preached the word of God in public and got opportunities to share the gospel individually with many people.

Now, Simon had taken a decision to stand against the evils and wrong practices of the society. In 1902, he submitted a memorandum against it, which turned out to be very similar to the one submitted by Martin Luther on 31st October 1517. Both these memos highlighted the injustice, ignorance and censuring prevalent then.

It was at the end of this year (1902), in December, that Simon obeyed the Lord's commandment and was baptized. However, when he returned home that day, his mother who knew what he had done scolded him. Though it made him sad, he only said “Praise God” for he knew that it was more important for him to obey the commandments of his Master.

News of his baptism spread throughout the community like wild fire. At that time, he was the headmaster of the school in his native place. But when the school management heard about his baptism, they suspended him and gave his job to another teacher who was earlier one of his students in an attempt to make Simon give up his new faith. On hearing this, his mother became even more upset as he was the only earning member of their household, who was now without a job or an income.

But Simon decided that staying steadfast to the Lord would suffice and the Lord did not let him down. After just three days, the teacher who was given charge told the authorities that he was not able to fulfill Simon's responsibilities. Then, many students stopped coming to the school and the school even had to close down for a few weeks. Then, the authorities asked him to take charge again. Even though he refused initially, he accepted their request on the condition that no one would force him to do anything against his beliefs. He then continued working there till 1918. Thereafter, he resigned his job and became a full time gospel worker.


Apologist
K V Simon was also a famous Christian apologist – one who defended the Christian faith and the Bible. In 1926, Hindu apologists like Swami Agamanda, Rishiram and R C Das wrote and spoke against the Christian faith in order to prevent people from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. They claimed that Jesus had not died on the cross because the thieves with him had not died. They also claimed that Jesus was buried in a spacious room.

K V Simon answered them with Biblical evidences as well as by quoting from the Hindu scriptures. He pointed out that it was clearly mentioned in the Bible that Jesus Christ had died, which is why they did not break His legs as per the tradition. It was wrong to assume logically that He had not died because the thieves hung with Him had not died. He also replied that Jesus Christ was buried in a tomb, which was initially made for Joseph of Arimathea. So, it was not a spacious room.

Mahakavi K V Simon apart from being a well-known Malayalam Christian poet, wrote several famous books and almost 300 devotional songs that are wellknown even today. He was given the title 'Mahakavi' (great poet or dean of poets) by the Sahitya Parishad (Academy of Literature) for his book titled Veda Viharam based on the book of Genesis.


Culmination
In the beginning of 1940, Simon was affected by rheumatoid arthritis. This visibly affected the right side of his body. He underwent treatment for two months and as soon as he got some relief, he carried on his ministries and continued to travel but he became weaker day by day and came to a stage where he was half-paralyzed. On 8th March 1942, he spoke his last message at a convention in Arattupuzha and encouraged the children of God to continue steadfastly in their faith.

He continued with different kinds of treatments till 10th February 1944, when he became unconscious while sitting in the verandah of his house. He did not regain consciousness and passed away after 10 days, on 20th February 1944.

The life of Mahakavi K V Simon was a live embodiment of the bible verse that goes “If God be for us, who can be against us”. It reassures us that trials that may seem insurmountable to us are trivial inanities in the sight of God and that sometimes, all that is needed is a pinch of faith.



This article first appeared in the Harvest Times magazine in the November-December 2014 edition.