Search:
Bhakti List Archives

abhinava dESika- Sri UttamUr Swamy Divya Charitham-8

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • January 9, 2002 


SrI:
Sri Padmavathi Sametha Srinivasa Parabrahmane Namaha.
Sri Perundhevi Sametha Devadhiraja Parabrahmane Namaha.
SrimathE Bhagavad Ramanujaya Namaha:
SrimathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namaha:
Srimate Rangaramanuja Maha Desikaya Namaha.
Srimate  Abhinava Desika Vatsya Satchakravarti Uttamur SRI
VIRARAGHAVARYA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAHA

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyome sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

Thanian (Invocatory verse on Sri UttamUr swamy written by
Swamy's AchAryan Sri Kozhiyalam Swamy himself)

adbhutam yasya vikrAntam vEda vIthI ViSOdhanE |
aparam nigamAntAryam prapadyE vIrarAghavam ||

Let us continue with the divya charitham of Sri UttamUr Swamy.

[Article in Tamil by SrI PayyampADi VEnkatavaradAchArya SwAmi; English write 
up (based on Tamil) by SrI R.VenkatAchAri (SohattUr- Vankipuram -Oppiliappan 
Sannidhi), a disciple of SrI UtthamUr SwAmi. Appeared in the souvenir 
released during the SatAbhishEkam (80th birth anniversary) of SrI UtthamUr 
swAmi on 10th Feb, 1977]

On the final day of the Sadhas, Brahma Sri Virupaksha Sastri, (who later 
became Sringeri Madathipati) raised a point, saying that certain portions in 
SATA DHOOSHANI were wrong and wanted Our Swami to give his explanation.
Our Swami did that without any hesitation and convinced the scholars 
present.  After the Sadhas, Sri Parakala Mutt Swami and Sri Yoga Narasimha 
Sastri, Principal of the Patasala, requested Our Swami to join them as a 
professor.  Our Swami could not refuse their kindness but told them that he 
will do so in course of time.  Coming back to Chittoor he had an offer from 
North Nellore College to join them as an instructor.  A local astrologer 
told him that according to Our SwamiÂ’s horoscope, he is destined for 
something bigger than that offer and dissuaded him from joining the North 
Nellore college.  It so happened that Chittoor Vakil, Sri Doraiswamy 
Iyengar, who is also a Sishya of Sri Tirupathi Swami, who had influence in 
Tirupathi College was arranging to induct Our Swami either as the Principal 
or at least as a Professor in Vedanta at Tirupathi. Sri Swami had two minds 
whether to accept the Mysore offer or the Tirupathi offer.  Finally he made 
up his mind in favour of the Tirupathi offer.  At Tirupathi, Our Swami felt, 
that he will have more chances to worship Lord Thiruvengadamudayan.  He also 
expressed his desire to be the Professor than the Principal, for the simple 
reason that, as a Principal, he may have to wear shirt, turban etc. whereas 
as Professor he will have more freedom to observe Achara and Anushtana and 
he will have more time for Vedanta vichara, the subject which is very dear 
to him than the fame attached to the office of a Principal.

In the college also they had a convention that only an M.A. degree holder 
will hold the post of a Principal. Still, Sri Doraiswami Iyengar insisted 
that atleast for some time he should be the Principal and at a later date if 
he feels that his intentions are different he can stay as the Professor.

Finally he was appointed as the Principal and Our Swami took it as a
challenge.  The post of a Principal is nothing new to Our Swami as he
has done, unofficially, all the duties of the post at Tiruvaiyaru
college itself.  He brought many changes and improvements in the
Academic side and all were very much impressed and admired his
capacity.  After some time, Politics came in and the authorities had
to go back to the original convention of having only an M.A.
Degree-holder as the Principal.

Our Swami considered this development as a blessing in disguise as he was 
spending most of his time in administrative matters and dancing to the 
University officials by virtue of his post as Principal.  He also felt that 
he had already wasted enough time by not concentrating on Granta Nirmana and 
doing other things to propagate our Sampradaya.  Fortunately the M.A. degree 
holder happened to be no other than Sri Krishnamachariar, who was the nephew 
of Sri Kapistalam Swami.  This new entrant knew the value of Our Swami and 
there was no difficulty as he did everything only after consulting Our 
Swami.

In the meanwhile,  Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Kuppuswamy Sastrigal gave him the 
post of an Examiner in the University itself.   As usual out of jealousy 
from many quarters, there was opposition to this proposal.  But Sri Sastri 
knew about Our SwamiÂ’s capacity and talent and stuck to his decision.  
Normally an Examiner in the University is appointed only for three years; 
but in Our SwamiÂ’s case the authorities were so much convinced about his 
capacity, they extended his tenure for a further period.  As a Professor at 
the college Our Swami introduced many new features and improvements like 
weekly Upanyasams and Pravachanams.

In addition to the regular Nyaya Mimamsa Vedanta granthas, Our Swami 
introduced lectures on Chitra Mimamsa, Dhvanyalokadi granthas etc.

Let us enjoy further in next post...
AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
aDiyEn dAsan

_________________________________________________________________
Join the worldÂ’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. 
http://www.hotmail.com



--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/