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Re: Author of VenkatEswara suprabhAtam

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • September 16, 1998 


Sri Narasimhan wrote:
> Dear members:  The name of the great bhakta who composed the very popular and 
> widely recited suprabhAtam is Prativadi Bhayankaram Sri AnnangarAchArya Swami
> of Kancheepuram in early 1800 A.D.  He was a well known Sanskrit and Tamil 
> scholar.

Sri Narasmihan:

I believe you are thinking about SrI kAncIpuram p.b. aNNangarAcAryar svAmi
of recent memory, who passed away to paramapadam in the early 1980s.
The author of the suprabhAtam was the ancestor of this svAmi, and
was the first to bear the title "prativAdi bhayankaram".

Sri T.S. Sundararajan of Srirangam, an erstwhile member of this
forum, had written last year about this noble lineage. Here is
an excerpt of his note

[http://thondar.busi.utc.edu/bhakti/archives/jul97/0059.html]
>
> On July 15 occurs the mithuna Sukla-EkAdasI which is the
> tiru-adhyayana-tithi of SrI kAnchi prativAdi-bhayankaram
> aNNangarAchArya svAmi (1891-1983) of blessed memory.   He was born on
> mIna-viSAkham of year vikrti, in SrIvatsa gOtram, of the noble
> muDumbai descent, same as SrI piLLai-lOkAchArya and his brother SrI
> azhagia-maNavALa-perumAL nAyanAr.   The title prativAdi-bhayankaram
> was given to his ancestor SrI-hastigiri-aNNA, by no less than Srivarada
> nAyanAcharya, the son of svAmi vEdAntadESikan.    This PB mUla-purusha
> became one of the chosen ashTa-dig-gaja disciples of SrI-maNavALa
> mAmunigaL.    Thus, the PB lineage represents the confluence of two
> eminent AchArya, viz., svAmi-dESikan and SrI mAmunigaL.   Hence the PB
> tanian:

>   vEdAnta-dESika-kaTAksha-vivrddha-bOdham
>          kAntOpayantr-yaminah karuNaika-pAtram
>  vatsAnvavAyam anavadya-guNai: upEtam
>         bhaktyA bhajAmi paravAdi-bhayankarAryam.	 

Since the kUTasthar (originator) of prativAdi bhankaram
line, SrI hastigiri aNNan, was a contemporary of both
SrI maNavALa mAmunigaL and SrI nAyanAcArya.  This places
the author of the suprabhAtam in the 15th century.

Mani