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Centenary of Sri Krishna Tatacharya Swami

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Mani Varadarajan • July 28, 2003 


[ This is a brief biography of Sri U.Ve. K.S. Krishna Tatacharya Swami,
  whose 100th tirunakshatram falls this year. Sri Krishna Tatacharya
  Swami was a great Ubhaya Vedantacharya of recent times who guided
  many of today's scholars through the sacred texts of Visishtadvaita
  Vedanta. For years he conducted kaalakshepa in both Sanskrit and
  Tamil works of Alvars and Acharyas in Bangalore and was known to
  astikas all over. This article was submitted by Smt. Padmini
  Ranganathan, a disciple of Sri Swami, and also contains a few words
  by Vedanta Vidvan Dr. N.S. Anantha Rangacharya, who also studied at
  the sacred feet of this Acharya.

  A photo of Sri Swami in his later days is available at
  http://ramanuja.org/img/sri-krishna-tatacharya.jpg

  Smt Padmini Ranganathan can be reached at
  padminir2000@rediffmail.com.

  -- Mani ]

Sri:
SrImathE vakuLabhUShaNa mahAdEshikAya namaha
SrImathE rAmAnujAya namaha
SrImathE nigamAntha mahAdEshikAya namaha
SrImathE varadarAmAnuja mahAdESikAya namaha
SrImathE srInivAsatAtArya mahAdESikAya namaha
SrImathE srIkrShNatAtArya mahAdESikAya namaha


Dear all,

nyastAtmIyabharam varapradagurau vairAgya bhAgyOdadhou
vEdAntAmrta sAravantamanaghAt srIsrInivAsAdgurO:
SrIshailAnvaya kaustubhasya tanayan srEyOnidhE: srInidhE:
VandE sAdhu katAkSakELinilayam srIkrShNa saddESikam

This is the taniyan of .kOTikanyAdAnam Sri
U.Ve.K.S.Krishna Tatachar swamy.

The year 2003, carries along with it a great
significance, by marking the (SatamAnOtsava:), 100th
thirunakshattiram of the great Acharyar,
kOTikanyAdAnam U.Ve Sri Krishna Tatachar swamy,
popularly known as "SWAMY". The avataram day of this
acharyar was in
mAsi masam, anUrAdhA nakshattiram, in the year 1903.
He attained paramapadam in the year 1993, Adi masam,
krShNa paksham, trayOdaSi tithi, this day, 10 years
before and this being the reason for posting the
article today.

This great acharyar was a true blend of jnAnam,
anushTAnam, vairAgyam etc etc.His gAmbhIryam was like
that of an ocean enshrined with the rarest of jewels
that were qualities of his like kAruNyam, saushIlyam,
paratvam, saulabhyam, audAryam etc. etc etc The list
never ends. Have to  stop here owing to  the limited
intellect and limited space and not because there is a
 limitation to his qualities. We can remember the
saying,"matikshayAt nivartantE na gOvinda guNakshyAt".
Same way.These qualities were best enjoyed by his
SishyAs who droned at his feet like bees. He was very
much known for his kindness and affection towards his
disciples. Any small question by anybody on any topic
would open up his treasure house of knowledge, giving
the questioner an insightful panorama of his deep
knowledge in shastra and Vedantha. Whoever be his
disciple, a scholar or a beginner, he(this krishna
megha) would bless them with all his knowledge
equally, like the rain that pours impartially and
equally on all places. The doors of his house were
ALWAYS open to his disciples.

He was the very embodiment of vairagyam, comparable to
the likes of the monastic order which made people
refer to him as  "sanyAsI  in white" and hence the
name "SWAMY".

Some of his disciples include U.Ve
Dr.N.S.Anantharangacharya Swamy, the great Tamil
scholar U. Ve Sri P.G.Srinivasan Swamy (popularly
known as PG mama), Prof. Ramaswamy Iyenger, Sri U.Ve
P.Ramanujan swamy - AsthAna vidvAn of Srimath Ahobila
Matham, Sri U. Ve. Ananthanarasimhachar swamy -
Srikaryam of Srimath Poundarikapuram Ashramam, his
father Sri U. Ve. Ananthachar swamy ,Sri .Narasimha
Tatachar(popularly known as post master mama), etc etc
etc.

It is indeed my paramabhAgyam to have been associated
with this acharyar both as his disciple and also his
grand daughter(he was my father's periappa).

This year, which marks his birth centenary, is very
significant. Let me  share with you all, the words of
a few scholars on this mahAn.


This is the brief biography of the Acharyar, written
by his disciple and my grand father U. Ve Dr. N.S
Anantharangacharya, who studied various  Sampradayic
texts under him for about 8 to 9 years.
Dr.NSA was his most favourite student.The affection of
the acharyar towards Dr.NSA continued to flow towards
his family members too and for this reason, we did
enjoy a special privelege, being very close to this
acharyar.

ACHARYAR'S BIOGRAPHY BY DR N.S.ANANTHARANGACHAR SWAMY.

"sAntA mahAntO nivasanti santa: vasantavat lOkahitam
charanta:"

This sUkti can be richly attributed to Sri U.Ve K.S
Krishna Tatacharya Swamy.  He took birth in the great
family of Kotikanyadanam Sri Srinivasa
Tatacharya Swamy, a scholar of highest order who
studied vedantic texts extensively under HH
PoundarIkapuram Andavan Sri Srinivasa Mahadesikan, in
Subhakrt samvatsaram, kumbha mAsam, krishna paksham,
aShTami day. His mother's name was Thirumathi
Krishnamma.

Sri U.Ve Krishna Tatachar swamy got his basic
education from his father.After completing his primary
education at his birthplace 'Talkad ', he got his
secondary education at Mysore and obtained  B.A degree
from the Mysore Maharaja college. Right from his
childhood, acharyar was greatly drawn towards vEdAntic
studies which enabled him to to pursue the adhyayanam
of
veda and vedanta extensively. His jeevanasutra was
based on the imperial maxim "tapascha svAdhyAya
pravachanEcha".

At the age of 24, the acharyar entered
grihasthashramam. His wife was the grand daughter of
the then JODIdAr of sOsalai.. Just like our swamy Sri
Vedanta Deshika, he too continued in his
grhasthasramam, like a dew drop on the lotusleaf,
and performed it as a yOga. As the saying "asakta:
sukham anvabhUt" goes, he had given up atyAsakti. This
vairagyam of his, naturally got him the name
"sanyasi" and people started calling him as "SWAMY".

He started his career as a teacher at "The National
High School" and served for over 34 years. He was a
model teacher who was very much known for his
affection and patience. He was adored by one and all
for his qualities Arjavam, sausheelyam, saulabhyam
etc. He was a living example of the saying,

"kshamayA dayayA prEmNA sUnrtEnArjamEna cha
vaSIkuryAt kagatsarvam vinayEna cha sEvayA"

After settling down in Bangalore, he devoted his life
to the further study of Vedanta, under the great
scholars of the day. He studied at the feet of
HH Srimath PoundarIkapuram Srimath Andavan Sri
Srinivasa Mahadesikan, staying in the aashramam at
Srirangam for over 6 years and also at the feet
of Sri U.Ve Hemmige Srinivasa Iyengar Swamy. He also
passed with flying colours, the Vidvaduttama parIkSA
in Vedanta and was honoured by NalvaDi
KrishnarAjEndra wodeyar. Thus this acharyar continued
his journey of life through continuous study of
vedantic texts.

As per the saying,

"adyAtma grantha nirmANam, anEkEsham cha bOdhanamm
archAvatAra sEvAm cha", he devoted his whole life to
these. He has authored many works in Sanskrit,
Kannada and English.

His works in Sanskrit  are,  "AndavAbhyudayam",
written on the great acharyar HH Srimath
Thriukkudanthai Andavan and "mahAvIravaibhavam".

His works in Kannada are thiruppavai rasAsvAdinI,
gOpAlavimSati bhAvapradIpikA, which is a beautiful
explanation of vEdAnta dESikar's "gOpAlavimSati:', with
beautiful meanings,translations of daSavatArastOtra,
dayASataka, garuDadanDaka,SaTHamarshaNa gOtradavara
AjAnasiddha mahimE, etc. thiruppAvai rasAsvAdinI, is a
vast work, which is highly informative with very rare
meanings.

His work "srIbhASyAmrtasAra" in Kannada, is a master
piece which narrates the meanings of all adhikaraNams
along with pUrvapakSam and siddhAntam.

His work "rahasyatrayasArArtha sangraha" on the text
rahasyatrayasAram is highly useful.

He has translated "yAdavAbhyudayam" of Swamy Desikan,
with word to word meaning and translation in English.

He work on "bhagavadgItA" called "gItArthadIpikA"  is
an asset.

There are still  many of his works that are
unpublished.

This way, the acharyar devoted his life to
jnAnaprachAram. He has spent more than 50 years of his
lifetime in giving kAlakshEpams and has performed an
"akhanDa jnAna yaJnam". He has poured the nectar of
vEdAntam on all his disciples, through his discourses
which included SrImad RamAyaNam, BhAgavatam,
MahAbharatam, divyaprabandhams of Alwars,  Desika
stotrams etc. His lectures were highly informative
which included "apUrva SastrArthangals" and
"svApadESams".

He continuously rendered kALakshEpams on
prasthAnatraya bhAsya, bhagavadvishayam, Srimad
RahasyatrayasAram, Geetha Bhashyam, esoteric works of
Swamy Deshika and others. He had a mastery in
explaining the SastrArthams in a superb manner and saw
that the tatvArthams remained in the hearts of his
disciples permanantly, for which all his disciples are
very much indebted to.

As the saying goes,

"apuna: prAthanIyasya prAthitAdhikadAyina:
arthina: prathamE tasya charamAn paryapUrayan

His kAlkshEpams were of such a high order that the
person who heard him, did not feel the need to hear
from anyone else, rather they would themselves be in a
position to teach others. They were so much in detail
covering each and everything.

He was  a swayam acarya purushar, and  has performed
"bharasamarpanam" and "pancha samskaram" to many.

His knowledge and popularity won him many titles such
as "vEdAnta vidvanmaNi", "vEdAnta sAraJna",
"viSishTAdvaitapravINa" etc. He was highly
appreciated and honoured by HH Andavan swamigal, HH
Azhagiyasingar swamigal, HH Poundarikapuram Swamigal,
HH Parakala Matam Swamigal,HH Rangapriya Swamigal and
many others. We have seen the closeness, prakrutam
Azhagiyashingar(in his pUrvASramam) shared with the
acharyar.

His other rare quality was that he never allowed any
publicity about him. "pAnDityam nirvidya bAlyEna
tishThAsEt"

But as the statement,

"yathA sampushpitasya vrkshaya dUrAt gandhO vAti", the
fragrance of this bramhanishTa's fame spread all over,
very naturally.

He had his bharasamarpaNam under "Sri Varadaramanuja
Mahadesikan swamy", whose  taniyan goes as "vairAgya
bhAva niravadyaguNaprakarsham". ( We have heard that
HH Sri Abhinava RanganAtha swamigal of ParakAlamaTHam,
HH Sri PoundarIkapuram Sri Srinivavsa MahadEsikan
swamigal, Sri Srinavasa Tatachar swamy etc etc also
had their bharasamarpaNams under this acharyar).

Our beloved achryar, after having spent his life as a
"yOgam", left for the heavenly abode just as a nisprha
leaves everything and goes, on 15-08-93, Adi
masam, Krishnapaksham, trayOdaSi thithi and as per the
saying "nArAyaNA sAyujyam abApnOti nArAyaNA sAyujyam
abApnOti, attained paramapadam decorating the goshti
of nitya sUris.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------


I would like to place before the devotees, a few words
shared by a couple of his other disciples, shortly.

I earnestly request everyone, who has known him
personally, heard and associated with this acharyar as
a disciple, relative, admirer etc, directly or thro'
family members, to share their thoughts  and let us
celebrate this SatamAnOtsavam of this acharyar by
singing his glory thro'out the year.


NOTE: HIS WORK ON("YADAVABHYUDAYAM")    IS TOTALLY OUT
OF PRINT, BUT MAY BE SOME ARE AVAILABLE IN
CHENNAI(WHERE IT WAS PUBLISHED). I REQUEST THAT
ANYBODY COMES ACROSS THIS BOOK, KINDLY CONTACT ME.


Pranamams
Ramanuja dasi
Padmini







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