Chandrasekharendra saraswati swami biography of donald

[By Ms. Swathika]

Jai Guru Datta Swami!

Padhanamaskaram Swamiji

With blessings of our beloved Swamiji, I would like to share an important experience given to me by Swamiji.

Since my school days, I was attracted to Kanchi Maha Periyava (Jagadguru Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati) by listening to His Mahimas (Miracles) daily in TV. I considered Him as my best friend and I used to share everything with Him in my mind. I felt the presence of Periyava whenever I felt lonely or depressed. Every difficult situation got me closer to Periyava. With time and experience, my attraction to Periyava increased exponentially although he was past incarnation of God.

At college, I came in contact with AMMA (Mata Amritanandamayi) who is considered to be one of our contemporary human incarnations. She personally helped me by giving me a special scholarship and it was by Her grace that I got a very good job through campus placement. I have had darshans of AMMA and expressed my gratitude. Still, I was more attached to Periyava only.

After my graduation, Shri Datta Swami chose to come into my life through Ms. Thrylokya and Dr. Nikhil Sir. Although Nikhil Sir always stressed on Swamiji's divine knowledge, my mind was still attracted to the mahimas of Periyava. Swamiji's knowledge was very new and it was hard to digest initially. Slowly, I started to do more satsangs and got attracted to His divine knowledge. Once Nikhil Sir asked me if I have read the teachings of Periyava. I felt embarrassed to say that I don't know anything about His work. I was always attracted to listen to His divine experiences than His Knowledge. I thought that Had I liked Periyava so much, I should have known about His teachings. That was when I started reading Swamiji's knowledge more sincerely. While reading Swamiji's knowledge, I was attracted to Periyava more and more. I knew theoretically that only contemporary Human Incarnation is relevant. I knew that Shri Datta Swami is co

At this point of time, (October 25, 1992) when we are preparing for the centenary celebration of Sri Kanchi Maha Svamigal, though He would be completing 100 years only in May 1994, we deem ourselves doubly blessed by paying homage to another great saint who has actually completed 100 years three days back. It is a strange coincidence that the monastic name of that sage is also Chandrasekhara.

He is none other than Chandrasekhara Bharati Svamigal of the Sringeri Sankara Math, who held the holy office of Sankaracharya for 42 years during the same period when Sri Chandrasekhara Indira-Sarasvathi was presiding over the Kanchi Sankara Math.

Instead of repeating the conventional term that the two personages were like 'the sun and the moon', we should say that they were like two sun-cum-moons! They were like the sun in full blaze radiating Jnana, and the rigorous Sastric Dharma in a most unique fashion, from 1912 to 1954. Upadesa (teaching) in their case was not merely by words but it was by showing the living examples of what they preached. Hence their words carried the power of the mantras. Both were exalted as great sages, verily as divine personalities.

But their very name has the moon in it. The name 'Chandrasekhara' is very appropriate for these two sages, who carried on their heads the burden of showing the correct path to the world, which was increasingly following sinful ways, in as much as the name originally denotes Siva who is His infinite mercy, pardoned the sinning Moon, reduced to a crescent and stationed him on His matted locks.

It is of note that among the many names adopted by the two lines of the heads of these two Maths the name 'Chandrasekhara' alone is found in both. The Kanchi Maha Periyaval is the seventh among Gurus of the of the Math bearing the name Chandrasekhara; the Sringeri Acharya was the fourth in that Math to bear that name

Sri Swaminathan (born at Villupuram on 20th May 1894 -Anuradha Star) was taken to Kalavai in his 13th year, when he was studying at Tindivanam, to be initiated into ascetic order and ordained as the 68th Acharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Math. He was given the Sanyasa name Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. He was affectionately called "Mahaswamigal" and "Walking God". He adorned the Peetam from February 13, 1907. True to the tradition of the Peetam set by Adi Sankara, Mahaswamigal travelled throughout the country by foot or by the traditional palanquin. He also stood by the national sentiments in discarding "foreign cloth" (He immersed them in water instead of setting fire) and started wearing Khadi. He set the trend to create Trusts for achieving the objectives of the Peetham. His foremost concern was preservation of the Vedas, tradition and dharma. He advocated simplicity, shunned pomp, ostentation and extravagance. His exposition of Vedanta, sastras and the dharmic duties attracted scholars and laymen alike, from far and wide, for it has always been rich in values and simple in understanding. Great humorist he had the keen acumen to relate root words of all the languages to Sanskrit highlighting its greatness. He attained moksha at Kancheepuram on 8th January 1994 (Dhanur, Krishna Dwadasi) in his Centenary year.

Maha Periyavaal spent several years in the study of the scriptures and dharma shastras and acquainted himself with his role as the Head of the Math. He soon gained the reverence and respect of the devotees and people around him. To millions of devotees he was simply "Periyavar"—the revered one or Maha-Periyavar or Periya-Periyavar. "Periyavar" in Tamil means a great person, and conveys endearment, reverence, and devotion. "Mahaswami" and "Paramacharya" are his other well-known appellations.

Maha Periyavaal was the head of the Mutt for eighty-seven years. During

AN EMBODIMENT of simplicity, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, 68th pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, adorned the Peetam for 87 years from February 1907, when he was just 13. He travelled across the country mostly on foot, in keeping with the Math’s tradition, meeting people and showering his blessings. His erudition and compassion endeared him to everyone, irrespective of class, creed and nationality. His foremost vision was the preservation of the Vedas, tradition and dharma.

Taking one meal a day and sleeping in makeshift rooms, cowsheds and withered palanquins, he advocated simplicity and shunned extravagance. His exposition of the Vedanta, our sastras, agamas, puranas and epics appealed to scholars and laymen alike. They were very simple in language but rich in appeal and content. He was a great humanitarian, deep in his heart. He attained mahasamadhi in January 1994 at Kanchipuram.

The Acharya’s “Pidi Arisi Thittam” (handful of rice scheme) was conceived with the poorest in mind. Every household was requested to keep aside a handful of rice and a humble coin before starting the day’s cooking. Both the rice and the money were collected by a volunteer agency. While the rice was to be cooked in temple premises, offered as prasad to the deities first and then to the needy, the money would serve a socio-religious cause.

The Paramacharya also listed 10 simple commandments (Dasopadesam) and urged his followers to lead a purposeful and wholesome life. This included going about doing one’s duty with a sense of social responsibility and god-consciousness, offering the best of everything to God, unconditional love for everyone, practising philanthropy, cultivating the ability to discriminate between good and evil and looking upon assimilating wisdom not wealth as the goal of life. Passion is the cause of birth and time is the cause of death. What is created by passion is destroyed by time. If passion is strong,