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Re: Sri Agnihothram Thathachariar

From the Bhakti List Archives

Skswami • November 10, 1998 


Dear Sriman Sadagopan and Sriman Parthasarathy,

Sri Agnihothram Thathachariar is our family guru. He is, as the relations
among bodies go, my periyappa of sorts (the son of my thatha's brother). He is
our acharya in our swayamaachaarya lineage. I call him "muththa'. Please allow
me to share a couple of anecdotes about him.

1. He was initiated in to the vedic rites by his thatha "Sri Pattu Swaamigal"
whom I think Sri Sadagopan would have heard of.  At the tender age, as he was
performing a yagna, a cat came and instead of crossing his path, as it is
normally wont to do, it stopped, stood and turned back. Sri Pattu Swaamigal,
muththa told me, then said that it was a sure sign that he was destined to do
many good deeds (sathkarma).

2. Once, following  the command of the Lord appearing in his dream, Muththa
went to the Saarangapaani temple at Kumbakonam and asked the priest to bring a
chisel and start chiseling the face of the Moolavar. Now, who would do such a
sacrilege? The priest was diffident, consulted the other people and was
undecided. Muththa assured them that he would take full responsibility for the
action. Because of the respect he commanded, they did as told. Lo and behold!
The mud-covering that had hitherto covered the face of the Lord broke away
revealing the charming face that we see now. ( During the onslaught from the
muslim fanatics from the north India in recent history,  bhaktas cleverly hid
the charming face of the Moolavar in a hardened mud casing to protect the
Moola vigraham ).

3. Recently, when the doctors gave him the choice of life with an amputated
leg or  no life at all, he opted for the latter saying that he was fully
contented with the way things were. But, again the Lord manifested His
Presence in a way man understands! Four different people in Mysore state got a
dream the same night with the Lord syaing to the effect that Agnihothram is
lying there in Madras;  Go, take care of him. They all came the next day to
the hospital where he was and told him that it was the Lord's command that he
should opt for the surgery. Muththa himself told me last month that He had
extended his life because He wanted more work to be done through him. Yes, he
said that he would soon be publishing a twenty volume  work titled "The
Majestic Journey of Religion during the past 40,000 years" (Yes, 40000
years!).

He is hailed as a Vedic scholar. He is a scholar in the true sense of the word
in that he practises what he has learned and assimilated. There is no
hypocricy, no show. Just a calm, energetic and enthusiastic equilibrium about
him.  As a straight arrow, he culls and goes to the essence of things, made
possible by the brilliance that only a vedic study can give. 

It is only God's Grace that we live in the midst of people like him!

dhaasaanu dhaasan
Sundararaghavan Krishnaswami