Centenary of Sri Krishna Tatacharya Swami
From the Bhakti List Archives
• 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 -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
- Previous message: Kalyani Krishnamachari: "nAcciyAr tirumozhi Conclusion PART I"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]