Guru’s Darshan – Renunciation – Head of Kamakoti Peetam
In the year of Vishwavasu (1906), young Swaminathan’s father, Sri Subramania Sastrigal took his family with him to obtain the darshan of then Sankaracharya, Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi, and the 66th Peetadhipathi of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam. He was camping in a small town called Perumukkal, near Tindivnam. The Acharya, while performing his nithya puja, bestowed his benevolent grace upon young Swaminathan. After the conclusion of the puja, the Swamigal spoke to Sri Subramania Shastrigal and made kind enquiries about his family. Perhaps he saw in this boy, a worthy successor to himself who was fit to adorn the Kamakoti Peetam. The events that unfolded after this first meeting make us wonder whether the Swamigal had made the decision at that moment itself.
Sri Subramania Shastrigal and his family stayed on in Perumukkal for two days to get the benefit of Swamigal’s continued darshan. During this occasion, the Acharya interacted closely with young Swaminathan and asked him many questions. Pleased with the young boy’s brilliance and attractive personality, Sri Acharya was heard commenting: “He will turn out to be a Maha Purusha.” Hearing this, his father’s pleasure new no bounds. However, he had absolutely no inkling that his 13 year old son would be leaving him and his family soon to obtain sannyas. He took leave from the Acharya and returned to Tindivanam where he was stationed for work. The Acharya had, meanwhile, requested Sri Subramania Shastrigal to bring Swaminathan frequently to the mutt. As per his request, Shastrigal took his son several times to get Acharya’s darshan. During these frequent meetings, the grace of the Guru started flowing in full abundance over young Swaminathan.
One day, Swaminathan was found missing from his house in Tindivanam. His parents were very anxious and they searched everywhere including wells and ponds in the vicinity. But he was nowhere to be found. His parents were beside themselves with anxiety, unable to eat or sleep. Two days later, a messenger came from the Acharya’s camp which was five miles away. He conveyed the news that Swaminathan had come there for the Acharya’s darshan on his own, and he was safe. He added that the Acharya had sent him to convey this message to the parents. One cannot measure the relief and happiness of his parents and friends on hearing the news. Swaminathan was sent home from the mutt two days later.
Renunciation - Pontification
In the first week of February in 1907, Sri Subramania Shastrigal’s house received a telegram from the Sri Mutt camp. The telegram requested Shastrigal to come to the mutt immediately and to Swaminathan. However, Sri Subramania Shastrigal had gone to Tiruchi on official work at that time. Assuming that the Acharya must have summoned him for some important purpose, Sri Subramania Shastrigal’s friends arranged for Swaminathan to travel by steam engine to Kanchipuram. The Acharya was camped at Kalavai, which was 30 miles from Kanchipuram, the mutt officials, without divulging any information to Swaminathan’s mother, immediately took Swaminathan in a separate horse cart, and headed straight out to Kalavai.
At the time that the telegram was sent to Tindivanam, the Acharya Swamiji’s health was in decline. Believing that his time was limited, the Acharya had sent the summons to Tindivanam with the intention of installing Swaminathan as the next Acharya. However, the 66th Acharya unexpectedly attained siddhi on Maha Krishna Ashatami in the Prabhava year, well before Swaminathan’s arrival. Before attaining siddhi, he initiated an 18 year old brahmachari, Sri Lakshmikanthan, who was well versed in Rig Veda and was staying in the mutt, serving him as his sishya. It is the tradition of the Kamakoti Acharya Parampara that they are Rig Vedics who take sannyas from the brahmacharya ashram itself. The 67th Acharya adorned the Sri Kamakoti Peetam for seven days. Having served his Guru during his illness, he unexpectedly contracted the illness as well and attained siddhi after seven days. Before attaining siddhi, in accordance with his Guru’s wishes, he took a mental sankalpa, appointing young Swaminathan as the next Peetathipathi.
Swaminathan was later formally initiated into the sannyas ashram. This holy event took place on the second Wednesday of the lunar month of Maasi, in the Prabhava year (February 13, 1907 ) when he was just 13 years old. He took the name of Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi and became the 68th Shankaracharya to grace the Sri Kamakoti Peetam.
An incident happened before Swamigal took sannyas which was an unforgettable and heart warming in nature. It is not an ordinary task to take upon one self the discipline of an ascetic with restrictions on food, rigors of religious schedule, daily pujas and meditation at such an early age of 13. The mother and father could not bear to let their most lovable son take up grueling lifestyle of a sannyasi nor could they bear to part him. On the other hand, the mutt’s administrators were persuading them to give their permission saying “When you have three other sons, what is your hesitation to give up one son for the sake of goodness of this world and to bless the devotees and followers of this mutt?” They were perturbed and could not come to a conclusion immediately. At this time, Swaminathan prostrated to them and politely said “Please do not hesitate. I have the complete blessing of my Gurunathar and I will preserve this. Please give your permissions whole heartedly”. There is no doubt that his words melted his parents’ hearts and made them give their approval for the change, but never saw him again. Swaminathan who was transformed to appear like Adi Sankara with shaved head, kamandalu, saffron robes and staff, was never seen by his parents. Traditionally, relatives keep their distances from sannyasis as they are required to give up all emotional attachments. We wonder if our swamigal’s parents were proud of their son for taking up the task of eradicating the sorrows of the people of this world or if they were miserable that they cannot see their own son while the rest of the world praises and adores him. But one thing was certain. In future, whenever somebody came up to them and enquired about Swamigal, both of them maintained silence.
An excerpt of how he became the 68th pontiff was best told by Acharya himself and published in Bhavan’s Journal, Bombay
“ In the beginning of the year 1907, when I was studying in a Christian Mission School at Tindivanam, a town in South Arcot District, I heard one day that the Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam who was amidst us in our town in the previous year, attained siddhi at Kalavai, a village about 10 miles from Arcot and 25 miles from Kanchipuram. Information was received that a maternal cousin of mine who, after some study in Rig Veda, had joined the camp of the Acharya offering his services to him, was installed on the Peetam.”
“He was the only son of the widowed and destitute sister of my mother and there was not a soul in the soul in the camp to console her. At this juncture, my father who was a supervisor of schools in the Tindivanam taluk, planned to proceed with his family to Kalavai, some 60 miles from Tindivanam, in his own bullock cart. But on account of an educational conference at Tiruchirapalli, he cancelled the programme.”
“My mother with myself and other children started to Kalavai to console her sister on her son assuming sannyas ashram. We traveled by rail to Kanchipuram, and halted at Sankaracharya mutt there. I had my ablutions at the Kumara-koshta Tirtha. A carriage of the Mutt had come there from Kalavai with persons to buy articles for the Maha Pooja on the 10th day after the passing away of the late Acharya Paramaguru. But one of them, a hereditary Maistri of the mutt, asked me to accompany him. A separate cart was engaged for the rest of the family to follow me.”
“During our journey, the maistri hinted to me that I might not return home and that the rest of my life might have to be spent in the mutt itself. At first I thought that my elder cousin having become the head of the mutt, it might have been his wish that I was to live with him. I was then only 13 years of age and so I wondered as to what use I might be to him in the institution.”
“But the maistri gradually began to clarify as miles rolled on, that the Acharya, my cousin in the poorvashram had fever which developed into delirium and that was why I was being separated from the family to be quickly taken to Kalavai. He told me that he was commissioned to go to Tindivanam and fetch me, but he was able to meet me at Kanchipuram itself. I was stunned by this unexpected turn of events. I lay in a kneeling posture in the cart itself, shocked as I was, repeating Rama Rama, the only spiritual prayer I knew, during the rest of the journey.”
“My mother and the other children came some time later only to find that instead of her mission of consoling her sister, she herself was placed in the state of having to be consoled by someone else.”
“My robes of sannyas were not the result of any renunciation on my part, nor had I the advantage of living under a Guru for any length of time. I was surrounded from the very first day of sannyas by all the comforts and responsibilities of a gorgeous court.”
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara .
nice blog
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