[Advaita-l] Sri Satchidanandendra Saraswathi Swamiji - [was Pa~nchapAdikAchArya]

[balu davey]

Respected one/s
pranams.Let us abide by what has been presented in the last para of
the mail of Mrs.savitri Devaraj which reads as :
AS SOME ONE MENIONED EARLIER - LE US NOT PAY UNDUE IMPORTANCE  TO OUR
OPINIONS AND BIASES. LET US STAY THE COURSE OF ADVAITA ........
LET ME QUOTE BAGWAN RAMANA IN THIS CONTEXT

     Athma samsthithi: swathmadarshnam  /
     athmanirdhwyath athma nishtata            //

On 08/10/06, savithri devaraj <savithri_devaraj at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> --- Vidyasankar Sundaresan <svidyasankar at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Namaste,
>
> There has been a lot of talk on Swami
> Satchidanandendra Saraswati Swamiji and his sampradaya
> or lack there of, or what Sri D.B.GongoLLi says, etc.,
> etc.
>
> I had intended to keep quite on this thread earlier,
> but I am tempted to think this maybe good information
> for the list – many might not have read his biography,
> which is in KannaDa (Sri GurucharitAmR^ita - by his
> disciple Sri H.S.Lakshmi Narasimha mUrthy). We might
> have an English version of his biography in the near
> future.
>
> I am picking a few incidents from Sri
> Satchidanandendra Saraswati Swamiji's life from the
> above book that clearly show his respect for
> sampradAya, for his teachers, for the Sringeri
> Shankara Mutt, and for everything that stands for our
> hoary Vedic tradition.
>
> Sri Satchidanandendra Saraswathi Swamiji was initiated
> into the study of Shankara's bhAshyas by Sri
> SatchidAnanda SivAbhinava NR^isimha bhArathi Swamiji
> of the Sringeri peetha at kAlaTi in 1910.   During the
> auspicious consecration celebrations of kAlaTi,
> Swamiji (Y.SubbarAya at the time) got initiated into
> the study of Shankara bhAshya and the pancAkshari
> mahAmantra from the jagadGuru. [kAlaTi didn't exist as
> a town that it is today, until this time. It was Sri
> SacchidAnanda SivAbhinava NR^isimha bhArathi Swamiji
> of the Sringeri Peetha who was inspired to look for
> this place and establish the temple and the town as it
> is today]
>
> SubbarAya studied gita bhAshya, nyAya, Vedanta, parts
> of pancapAdika, ChAndogya and other Upanishads, parts
> of Brahma sUtra, BhAmati, etc. under Sri Hanagal
> virUpAksha shAtry - the nyAya teacher for Sri
> Chandrasekhar BhArathi swamiji and other Swamis of
> Sringeri. In fact, SubbarAya's association with Sri
> ShAstry was a very long one - until the end of Sri
> ShAstry's life (Sri ShAstry was Sri abhinava
> vAlukeshwara bhAratI swamiji - the peethAdipathi of
> KuDLi Shankara Mutt, when he passed away)
>
> SubbarAya had been interested in getting initiated
> into Vedanta and Shankara bhAshyas by Sri Hanagal
> sItarAmashAstry (Sri virupaksha shastry's Guru), and
> when that didn't happen, he yearned to get initiated
> by Sri Virupaksha shastry himself, but he was lucky
> enough to get initiated by the Sringeri JagadGuru –
> Sri Sri Sivabhinava NR^isimha bhArathi Swamiji (on Sri
> VirUpAksha ShAstry's request).
>
> Later, in an episode during the Vivarna subject
> discussions in Bangalore Shankara Mutt, Sri VirupAksha
> ShAstry told the class (in which SubbarAya was a
> pupil) – "people say that according to SubbarAya there
> is no mUlAvidya, I am not sure what he says, and what
> people understand….".  SubbarAya, out of extreme
> respect for his teacher, just sat quietly in class.
>
> Another episode that took place in Bangalore Shankara
> Mutt is worth mentioning here. SubbarAya was just
> completing his mUlAvidyAnirAsa, and Sri VirupAksha
> shAstry, who had heard of this work, stopped SubbarAya
> in the hallway and asked him if he was writing
> anything against Shankara. SubbarAya promptly replied
> that he was writing to correct those people who had
> interpreted Shankara wrongly, and Sri shAstry went
> away satisfied. It is also worth mentioning that
> SubbarAya and Sri KrishNaswAmy Iyer had discussed in
> detail with Sri VirUpAksha ShAstry, regarding pramANa,
> avidya, videha mukti, etc. These discussions could
> very well be said to be the basis of the
> mUlAvidyAnirAsa book.
> Sri KrishNaswAmy Iyer - SubbarAya's mentor, was
> himself was very traditional, Vedic scholar, who
> hosted several students in his house during their
> education, and SubbarAya was one of them.
>
> In yet another episode, when Sri virUpAksha ShAstry
> was the aasthAna vidvAn at Mysore palace, the maharaja
> of Mysore asked him to review SubbarAya's
> mUlAvidyAnirAsa for funding its publication. Sri
> ShAstry commented that the style of writing was fine,
> but the Subject matter could go against tradition.
> Such were the prevailing winds of tradition…..
>
> These incidents tell me there was a sort of subtle
> acknowledgement from Sri VirupAksha Shastry on
> SubbarAya's line of thinking, his analysis, his
> rigorous facts to substantiate his thinking, etc.
>
> It also bears mentioning that the very first Vedanta
> book Swamiji read cover to cover was the
> VivekachUDAmaNi. Once he was traveling by train from
> Bangalore to KaDUr, and he had a little bit of money
> with him. He looked at a bookstall to get a book for
> the journey, and the storeowner gave him the
> VivekachUDAmaNi. He read it from cover to cover on the
> journey, not realizing how time had fled past him, a
> journey of at least 5 hours…
>
> Thanks to Swamiji's painstaking research, he was able
> to bring to the notice of the world, that there were
> differences between the later commentators' versions
> of the bhAshyas and the original Shankara bhAshya. One
> cannot but appreciate his patience in researching the
> original Shankara bhAshyas along with the other
> commentators' versions – such vast groundbreaking
> research was never conducted before.
>
> His teevra mumukshutva led him to take sanyAsa in 1948
> from Sri bodhAnandendra Saraswathi Swamiji of MaTTur.
> He was ready to drop off his body, bringing the true
> essence of Shankara Vedanta to the people.
>
> Later, Sri abhinava vidyAteertha Swamiji, pontiff of
> Sringeri, who visited Holenarasipura, was immensely
> pleased with Swamiji's "Vedanta prakriyApratyAbhigna"
> book and the tremendous efforts that went into the
> book. He offered a contribution to get the book
> published. He visited adhyAtma prakAsha kAryAlaya and
> looked at all other activities of the organizations.
> He genuinely praised Swamiji thus – "You have
> dedicated your life to the propagation of Shankara's
> philosophy. Even in this old age, you work with such
> enthusiasm – you are Shankara's genuine devotee! In
> meeting you and discussing these topics in person,
> many of my doubts have vanished".
> What a heartfelt appreciation!
>
> I could mention a lot of other episodes, where he was
> acknowledged by the Sringeri and the kanchi
> jagadgurus, or other scholars and saints, or when he
> went to OmkAreshwar to read his "ManDUkya rahasya
> vivrutti" to dedicate it to Sri GauDapAdachArya, etc,
> etc., but it suffices to say his life's goal was to
> bring Shankara Vedanta to people. Though his life was
> full of trials and tribulations, he transcended them,
> stood his ground firmly in the face of all opposition,
> and fearlessly reached his supreme goal in spite of
> all odds, thus ultimately helping all aspirants in
> their quest for immortality.
>
> It is easy to wave one's hands and sulk - he was not
> bound by tradition, he claimed to know Shankara better
> than 1200 years of scholars, he is haughty in calling
> the later commentators blind, etc.etc., but only one
> who has studied his life history closely can see his
> sincerity in bringing the lucid essence of Shankara to
> the people and the brilliance of his systematic
> approach. Swamiji had a very sharp intellect and in
> keeping with the gIta verse  \"tadviddhi praNipatena
> pariprashnena sevaya…." inquired into the basic nature
> of things. Isn't this what the Upanishads and gIta
> tell us – examine against the touchstones of sruti,
> yukti and anubhava?
> No guru asks his disciple to blindly accept what he
> says.
>
> So what if Sri GangoLLi called Swamiji Shankara's
> avatAra, its obviously how he felt. Who defines what
> is tradition and what is outside tradition? The line
> between guru bhakti and yukti is abviously a murky
> one. It is just smart to take what appeals to your
> yukti and anubhava...
>
> As someone mentioned earlier  – let's not pay undue
> importance to our opinions and biases. Lets stay the
> course of advaita...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
baludavey