Sage of Kanchi -
Pranams at the lotus feet
of Sri Sri Sri Paramacharya!
Sri Paramacharya/Sri Mahaperiyava
, Sri Chandhrashekarendhra Saraswathi Swamigal who was the 68th pontiff
of revered Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peedam.
He was a Mahasidhdha Purusha, supreme preceptor/Jagathguru and illustrious
Deviupasaka of the century. Sri Paramacharya was known as Swaminatha in
his early years of life, Swaminatha was born on 20th May 1894 to Sri
Subramanyashasthrigal and Mahalakshmi Ammal, a pious couple from
Karnataka. He was born as the second son to
this couple with the birth star Anuradha, in a small village called Vilippuram,
South Arcot District, Tamilnadu. This second child Swaminatha was named after
their family deity Lord Swaminatha of Swamimalai. Swaminatha
finished his early education in the Arcot American Mission High school in
Dindivanam, where his father was a teacher.
He was a studious child who excelled in all the subjects and religious
texts. In 1905 he was initiated to Upakarma,
thus Swaminatha was introduced to Bhramacharyashram to attain Vedic
knowledge. Once the astrologer after viewing the horoscope
of Swaminatha, was overjoyed to witness the divine symbols in the horoscope, he
immediately prostrated before Swaminatha and murmured in ecstasy ‘One day the
whole world will pay obeisance before Him.” Swaminatha was introduced to Mutt in the year
1906 when the 66th Acharya was performing ‘Chathurmasya Vratham’ in
Dindivanam, later he accompanied his father whenever the family make a visit to
Mutt. During February 1907, Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt
informed Subramanyashasthri about their decision to initiate the first cousin of
Swaminatha as 67th pontiff, due to the severity of illness of
present Acharya. Swaminatha and his mother Mahalakshmi Ammal
preceded their journey to Kalavai to console the widowed mother of his first
cousin who was initiated to Sanyasa a few days back, soon he also had fallen ill.
One day Swaminatha was taking bath in
Kumarakoshtatheertham, a carriage was abruptly stopped at the steps of the
pond, the people in the cart were purchasing the requirements for the performance
of the final ceremony of previous Acharya, and one person from cart approached
Swaminatha and asked to accompany him.
The other cart was vacant in which the entire family occupied. On the way, he received a hint from the
person that he probably will not return home in his whole life; he has to
continue life in the Mutt. Swaminatha was
in utter astonishment at the sudden turn of events, all he could utter ‘Rama,
Rama’, later his mother was at the end of receiving consolation from others. The 67th pontiff continued to be
seer of the mutt for a brief period of seven days, immediately after his
demise, Swaminatha was declared as 68th pontiff of Sri Kanchi
Kamakoti Peedam. It was in the year
1907, on February 13th at the age of 13 Swaminatha was initiated to
Sanyasashrama with the holy name Sri Chandhrashekharendhra Saraswathi, an elaborate ceremony was conducted at the Kumbakonam Mutt, where ardent devotees
like Shivaji Maharaj of Tanjore and dignitaries were present. He was
divine personified on Earth symbolizes simplicity, compassion, kindness, love,
and always worked for the welfare of the people, he advised people about the
importance of protection of Veda and Vedic way of living, he emphasized the
strict observance of religious rites, vows, and Vedic practices, he guided
people to follow one’s own Dharma according to their Varnna, he highlighted the
importance of recitation of sacred scriptures and acquiring knowledge in
scriptures, he introduced good morals and disciplines, he emphasized the
importance of daily rituals of a Bhramin and most importantly Sun
worship/Sandhyavandhanam, Panchayathana Puja/worship of five deities /Surya,
Ganesha, Subramanya, Vishnu, Shiva and Shakthi, worship of Sri Chandramaulishvara
and Goddess Kamakshi. He lived in sheer
simplicity, he traveled by foot and used a simple palanquin for travels that
too whenever his attendants’ insists, all that he was owned a Dandam/stick, a small wooden vessel, and a pair of eyewear. During his visits to unknown lands, he preferred
to stay under the shade of trees, dilapidated shrines, or somewhere close to
woods. He had no requirements at all,
all that he wanted to perform his regular religious practice for several hours,
he rarely consumes any meals and that too handful. He was popularly known as ‘Mahaperiyaval’, he
had a large number of disciple and ardent devotees from all over the world,
still continues to be the same. His fame
crossed over several thousand miles, oceans, countries, languages, and people
from all over the world were yearned to have a fleeting look of this great
Sage. His splendor rose from the preceptor
to Universal preceptor, with his precise vows, strict austerities, meticulous religious
practices, dedication, wisdom, and knowledge. He was a master in all subjects; he conducted
regular assembly of wise, intellectuals, and scholars in various fields of
knowledge. He was most promising to people who belong
to the non-Bhramin community as well, he taught them how to practice simple
religious deeds. He attracted all
classes of people with his childlike innocent smile revealing beautiful line
of teeth, well smeared sacred ashes on forehead and body, garlands of
Rudraksha, sparkling eyes completely soaked in kindness, the crisp and clean saffron robe which itself too considerate on his thin limbs, simple gestures,
soft and humorous talks, he was always followed by large crowd like honey
bee.
Paramacharya conducted vast expedition throughout
the breadth and length of India visited various sacred shrines. It is imaginable about the endless hardships
and difficulty in commuting from one place to another through the woods and
hills, there were no proper roads or means of transportation in those days, our
Acharya made it through those perilous ways that too by foot. There
is a book in Tamil ‘Deivaththin Kural’ /The voice of God/Deiva Vani has it all
about the greatness of Paramacharya, all I can wish that everyone should be
fortunate enough to read it once. He
performed various religious and social services for the welfare of the world;
he installed Ardhdha Meru Srichakra in the famous temple of Mangadu Goddess Kamakshi
that was in a dilapidated state, in which Goddess Kamakashi can be seen
undergoing extreme penance. Sri Paramacharya
revived the famous Navavarana Pooja of Goddess Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram with
the assistance of Pandit Sri Chidhanandhanathan, he contributed magnificent ‘Thadangam’
ear ornaments to Goddess Akhilandeshvari of the famous temple of
Thiruvanaikka. Sri Acharya performed an abundance of contributions
to various temples and put great effort into reviving old and prescribed rite of
veneration in the temples.
The following are the golden
rules emphasized by Paramacharya for the betterment of society and its
people. He insisted everybody is
responsible to contribute their own part for the welfare of the country; rich
people should give a substantial amount of money as charity and contribution for the
promotion of Veda and Vedic way of life, building and maintenance of temples,
ponds, digging wells, gardens, etc… The
poor people should serve the society with dedication and sincerity; influential
people should make use of their power for the service of people who are in real need of it. Human are incapable to
produce even a single grain, therefore it is our responsibility to offer all
that to Almighty before consuming, otherwise we will remain thieves and selfish
in our lives, in this way Paramacharya taught us the importance of the sense of
gratitude. Paramacharya taught us to be
loving, kind and caring, he taught us the essence of charity which enhances the
happiness of giver, until and unless it was kept as top secret, he taught us to
remain humble and obedient servant of God.
Paramacharya pointed out that grieving
over the past deeds will do no good; therefore it is good to have thorough
knowledge of good and evil, and stay away from evil deeds, feeding on sensual
pleasure do nothing other than accumulate sins, following one’s own duties and
responsibilities with utmost dedication and faith, gaining knowledge of self
and God-realization will provide permanent bliss, it removes sufferings,
miseries, pain, agony, afflictions, and sorrows, finally liberate the souls from
repeated births.
Hara Hara Shankara | Jaya Jaya Shankara ||
