[Advaita-l] Fwd: Trust for veda patashala (The Story of Mahesh Vadhyar)

[V Subrahmanian]

Close on the heels of hearing about Sri Hariram Atreya I came across another
similar case.  Here is a short write up about Sri Mahesh VaadhyAr provided
by Sri Mohan Sundararajan (smnm1010 at yahoo.co.in) of Bangalore who has known
him for quite some years:


The Story of Mahesh Vadhyar



We came to settle in Bangalore in early 1992. My wife and younger daughter
were at Bangalore and I continued in Mumbai till I retired in 1994. During
this period we had several sacred ceremonies to perform at Bangalore. We
were referred to one Dikshitar Vadhyar of Malleswaram and he came to help us
out in all the functions.


Dikshitar Vadhyar was an elderly person of considerable knowledge on Vedic
matters. He was invariably accompanied by some youngsters and that included
a smart young man called Mahesh who said he was a trained software engineer.


My last assignment at the company before I retired was in the Human
Resources Division of our corporate office and I was naturally curious about
most young men and that was how I got into conversation with Mahesh.

He told me all about his software work and also that as the nephew of
Dikshitar Vadhyar whom he accompanied  sometimes to help out.
Some years later there was a need for help when my father passed away.
I contacted Dikshitar Vadhyar and was astonished when Mahesh appeared on the
scene with a tuft on his shaven head and wearing a traditional dhothi and
all sacred marks on his forehead. I gathered he had given up his job and had
opted to become a Purohit.

It appears that his elder brother had decided to take up serious Vedic
studies at a place called Kulithalai in Tamil Nadu where the (Kanchi)
Paramacharya had instituted a school of Vedic studies. Their father was of
humble means and as a sister was in line for marriage, Mahesh felt impelled
to give up a lucrative offer to serve a contract with his company in Boston,
Massachusetts, USA, and take up the Vedic form of life to help support his
family, not wanting to put an undue burden on his elder brother. In fact,
the argument was in favor of his continuing in employment so that he could
bring in substantial funds for the family. However that meant his taking up
the overseas assignment and leaving his brother to take care of his sister’s
marriage etc.


In some confusion he seems to have gone to Kanchi and sought the guidance of
the Paramacharya. The result was that he firmly resolved to go ahead and
take up the Vedic role under the direct guidance of his elder uncle.

He continues to help out with software projects in his spare time. He has
focused on the funerary rituals (apara karma)  as there is considerable need
and few people who are available for the function.


He has attained considerable mastery over the fundamental rituals and has
become, to my unlearned and untrained mind, an authority on many aspects.
His guidance for a person like me was invaluable and he could relate easily
to my unlearned approach and gently help me.


Mahesh is married now and has a bonny boy who is already his first student.
He hopes to start a Vedic Patashala at his residence with his brother’s
newly born baby boy in due course.


Mahesh has purchased twin plots in North Bangalore and has a Go-shala and
has started cultivating herbs and plants needed for the rituals. We had the
opportunity to perform Go-puja there recently. It was a unique experience
for my daughters.


Mahesh has a plan to institutionalize his work in some form and interest
young Brahmanas in learning Vedic rituals and assist him from time to time.
He is working on a strategic plan which he hopes to discuss with Sri
Vijayendra Swamigal of Kanchipuram in due course.


In the  midst of the hurry and flurry of today’s life which increasingly
smacks of commercialism and opportunism, Mahesh comes through as a
refreshing new voice that calls one to one’s roots.

I have become his first serious student and hope to learn Vedic Karma Kanda
at the hands of his brother soon.

Mahesh’s full and formal name is Parameswaran Venkataraman.

Love God Bless

Mohan.


*From:* Venkataraman Parmeshwaran <maheshvadyar at gmail.com>
*To:* sundararajan mohan <smnm1010 at yahoo.co.in>
*Sent:* Thu, 20 January, 2011 8:35:53 PM
**
Namaskarams!!
 I feel every thing is ok with the write up.but i feel i am not doing any
thing great; just doing what a brahmin must do to this world. If it is going
to inspire somebody nothing wrong in sharing this information.
  your's ritually
 mahesh vadhyar!!





 Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 4:12 AM, Ravisankar Mayavaram
<abhayambika at gmail.com>wrote:

>  Hariram Atreya is my friend and he did his MS from Texas A&M
> University. He then returned back to India learned veda-s formally
> and now has become a teacher at this paaThashaala (you can see his
> picture at   http://parampara.in/inauguration/dsc05661.jpg).
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: R Hariram Aatreya <rhariram at gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 5:29 AM
> Subject: Fwd: [Advaita-l] Trust for veda patashala
> To: Ravisankar Mayavaram <abhayambika at gmail.com>, Jaldhar Vyas
> <jaldhar at braincells.com>
> Cc: advaita jyotiraditya shrowti <samaganam at gmail.com>
>
>
> hi Ravi / Jaldhar,
>
> The mail below was forwarded to me. I saw [advaita-l] tagged to it.
> Hence the mail to you. Been thinking of mailing you for long to talk
> about my recent activities.
> This forwarded mail has turned out to be the trigger.
> Would appreciate it, if you could forward this to the mailing list too.
>
> (about parampara.in)
> I am part of parampara.in mentioned in the mail.
> Shri Jyotiraditya Shrowti (mentioned as "Acharya"  in the mail)
> has been running the Veda Paathashaalaa for the past three
> years. I joined him, and we recently moved the paathashaalaa
> to a place near Kumbhakonam on the banks of Kaaveri.
> In addition to having paathashaalaas, we are looking
> to build communities around it, and to network among
> paathashaalaas. In the short term, looking to organize
> a paathashaalaa census.
>