Acharya parampara of Srimath Andavan Ashramam continues in this posting with Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan - Sri Vedantha Ramanuja Mahadesikan
Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan: Thirunakshatram: Panguni - Pushyam
Thanian:
Srimath
vedhantha ramanuja munikarunalabdha vedhantha
yugmam
Srimath
Srivasa yogeeswara gurupadhayorarpithaswathma
bharam
Srimath
Sri ranganathahvaya munikrupaya praptha
mokshasramam
tham
Srimath
Vedhantha ramanuja munimaparam samsraye
desikendram
Srimath
Thirukkudanthai Andavan was in the born in a
small
village called “ karukudi”
(situated next to
Thirukkandiyur
in Tanjore district) in the banks of
river
Kaveri in the Parabhava year -
Panguni month –with pushyam as
his birth star -( 1907) to Sri.
U.Ve. Padmanabhachariar
and Komalavalli devi. He was named as “Srinivasaraghavan” He was fondly
called by everybody as ‘Kannan”.
Kannan
swami was taken to Srirangam periAsramam many a
times by
his father during His childhood days. He used
to
observe the paduka Aradhanam being performed there
and when
he came back to kudanthai, he will play with friends
of his age posing himself as an acharya, wearing a cloth up to knee height and
will have a
dhandam
in his hand and proclaim himself as Andavan.
He will
carry the water in “kottankacchi” – a dried
coconut
shell ( Srirangam periAsramam is also called
kottankacchi
Asramam) and distribute the “theertham” in the same way Srimath thErezhundur
Andavan used to
do (
focusing both His eyes in one direction). He will
do all
this with out the knowledge of his father.
Sri
Padmanabhachar swami taught him the
arulicheyalgals
of Alwars – Nalayira divya prabhandham
at a
tender age and swami mastered the
tamil vedham , before he completed 14 years. He also
learnt
sAstras in Kottaiyur , under the tutelage of Sri. Seshasayee
Sri
padmanabhachAr swami sent his son to Raja patasala
in
Kamakshi josyar street for some time to learn more
on
sastras. Later swami learnt tharka,and meemamsa,vyakarana
sastras under shri devanagar vilagam swami . He
stood as
a paragon, gaining extensive knowledge in all
the
sastras .
He also qualified for
Sanskrit
Sironmani fromThiruvaiyaru Sanskrit college.
Whenever
Nammandavan and Engalandavan visited
Thirukkudanthai
in their respective times, Sri Kannan
swami
performed kalakshepams on adhyatma sastras under their lotus feet. One of those
times, Srimath
Engalandavan
performed “Bhara samarpanam” to Sri
Kannan
swami in Amudhan sannidhi.
Swami had
been performing kainkaryam to divya desam
perumals
even much before becoming Andavan.
Life
as a Gruhasta
By
the age of 14, swami having mastered the whole of Divya prabhadham became a
leading member in the
adhyapaka
ghosti. At the age of 16, He got
married
to Sri vedavalli ammal. She was the sixth
daughter
of Neduntheru krishnaswamy Iyengar. For his
livelihood,
swami started giving upanyasams at a very
young
age.
Swami
used to visit Tanjore , every
Sunday to
render kalakshepams on Geetha Bhashyam.
Four
sons and two daughters were born to swami in his gruhasthasramam.
After his
father’s demise,
swami
with the blessings of his Acharya, went to
Chennai to take care of his family needs.
Move
to Chennai
When
swami went to chennai, Akkur varadachar swami,
an ardent devotee of sreemad Akkur Andavan,and a great business magnet , requested
Him to stay in his thirumaligai and arranged
for
swami’s rendering of kalakshepams in various
sabhas
through out the city.
Kannan
swami had His own distinct and inimitable style
of
rendering upanyasam. It simply mesmerized the
listeners
who were always seeking more at the end of
His
upanyasams. At that time His contemporaries in
upanyasams
were stalwarts such as karppangadu
venkatachariar
swami, kanchi vidwan prathivadhi
bhayankaram
Annangarachariar swami.
As a
parent, Swami performed his duties very well by
giving
good education to his children and led his
gruhastasrama
in a blessed manner
His
Acharya Bhakti which was so deep rooted in his
heart
prompted him to visit Srirangam several times to
seek the
blessings of Srimath Thembarai Andavan. Srimath Thembarai Andavan,seeing his
Acharya bhakthi
not only
ordained him to look after the administration
affairs
of the Asramam ( by appointing him as Sri
karyam of
the Asramam) but also commanded Him to stay
permanently
in Srirangam.
In
1963, Srimath Thembarai Andavan became very weak
and
emaciated due to strict Ahara niyamams and old age
and
wanted to nominate His successor to adorn the
Acharya
peetam. Sri Kannan swami who had
unassuming
Acharya bhakthi, rigorous
observance ofanushtanams, and
great
administrative skills immediately came to his
mind.
This very thought made Srimath Andavan feel
happy and
His Holiness apprised Sri kannan swami about this and was optimistic that Sri
Kannan swami
would oblige.
Taking
up sanyasam
Srimath
Thembarai Andavan became weaker as the days
passed
by. So His Holiness gave upadesam on “Preksha
manthram”
and “Mokshasrama Ahnika Anushtanam” to
three
vidwans of the Asramam - U.Ve. Sri. Kannan
swami(the
incumbent for the succession,) U.Ve. Sri. Mysore GopalachAr swami( who later
on became
Srimath Mysore Andavan in the year 1988) and
Mannargudi Ganapadi vidwAn U.Ve. Sri. Narasimhacharya
swami ,
to be ready and take up sanyasam any
time when
called.
When
swami was in chennai, Srimath Andavan’s niyamanam kept
on occurring to his mind and swami appeared
to be reluctant in taking up
sanyasam due to
family
circumstances.,.
Sri.
Kannan swami’s son, Sri. Gopalan
told his father that he had dreamt about Srimath Thembarai Andavan telling
him that He had gone to viraja nadhi and come back and asked him to send
his father immediately and take up sanyasam. GopAlan also told his
father that he would take care of his mother (swami's dharma pathni) and
asked him to proceed to Srirangam. Sri Kannan swamy
finally
decided to prepare
himself for sanyasam and accept Srimath
Thembarai
Andavan’s Niyamanam.
On
April 4th 1963, Srimath Andavan's condition became
worse
Sree
karyam
Sri. U.Ve. kannan swami was informed of
Srimath
Andavan’s health and immediately kannan swamy
rushed
up to Srirangam. On His arrival, arrangements
were
speeded up for His thureeyasrama sweekaram.
Early
morning the next day i.e. on 5th april, 1963
(Friday,
sukla dwadasi, makam star), in the presence
of
sishyas, His Holiness Srimath Thembarai Andavan
ordained
the ascetic order to Sri U.Ve. Kannan Swami
who
was named as Srimath Vedanta Ramanuja maha
Desikan
and within few
hours
on the same day (April 5th 1963) Tembarai Andavan adorned Thirunadu
.
This
illustrious Acharya Peetam of Srimath Andavan,developed centrally on His
Holiness Thirukkudanthai
Srimath
Andavan vedantha ramanuja maha desikan.
He
was a great scholar in Nyaya, Vyakarana, and so
much
he was at ease in the recitals of Nalayira Divya
Prabhandham,
Srimath Ramayanam, Bhagavath Vishayam and
sukthis,
Having taken to ascetic order, casting
away plentitude of wealth , this great Acharya had assimilated in
himself
extreme, rigid and rigorous life of a sanyasi, the strict austerity and highly
puritan life
of
his predecessors scorning all luxuries.
Sancharam
Poorvacharyas
like Sri Periandavan, Sri Nammandavan
and
Sri Akkoor Andavan went by padayatra to places
such
as Melkote,
breadth
of the country and set up various Asramams in
places
very far away from
During
His time, Srimath Andavan Asramam grew leaps
and
bounds throughout the country. This was truly a
golden
period in the annals of the Asramam as it
witnessed
itself a phenomenal growth and a meteoric
rise.
His Holiness constructed many Asramams
throughout
the country during His period and also
conducted
many Temple samprokshanams,Yagnams, Homams
and
performed mangalasasanams of various Divya desams,
Vijaya
yathras from Kanniyakumari to Badrinath and
held
Many Vidvath Sadas to name a few.
Srimath
Andavan observed 26 chathurmasyams spanning 26
years
from 1963 to 1989 and reached Thirunadu on Vibhava varusham –panguni madham-Krishna
panjami day (10-04-1989) leaving behind thousands of grieving disciples
and
admirers, whose divine anubhavams with His
Holiness
during His life time remain carved in
their
memory
forever.
In the next posting adiyen will
continue with the history of acharyas beginning with Srimath Mysore
Andavan.
Perungadambanur Parthasarathy Sreenivasan
(of Besant Nagar,Chennai)