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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00018 Apr 2002

 
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SrImathE ranga rAmAnuja mahA dEsikAya namaha
SrI ranganAtha Divya maNi pAdhukAbhyAm namaha

Dear Bhagavathas,

This is the Continuation of Posting on Life History of
Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan. This is the sixth
Volume in the series. 
*******************************************************


Taking up sanyAsam

Srimath Thembarai Andavan became weaker as the days
passed by. So His Holiness gave upadEsam on ?PrEksha
manthram? and ?MOkshAsrama Ahnika AnushtAnam? to
three vidwAns of the Asramam - U.Ve. Sri. Kannan
swAmi, U.Ve. Sri. Mysore GopAlAchAr swAmi( who later
on became Srimath Mysore Andavan in the late 80s) and
Mannargudi GanapAdi vidwAn U.Ve. Sri. NarasimhAchArya
swAmi for them to be ready and take up sanyAsam any
time when called. 

In April 1963, Srimath Andavan?s health was extremely
affected and with great difficulty His Holiness was
performing his nithya karma anushtAnam. One day, His
Holiness it seems told the sishyAs around Him that
?Yesterday I almost went to virajA Nadi but had to
come back to bhoolOkam upon emperumAn?s orders only to
nominate the successor for the AchArya peetam of this
Asramam. This Kannan hasn?t come yet?. 

A couple of days earlier, Sri. Kannan swAmi?s son,
Sri. GOpAlan told his father that he had dreamt about
Srimath Thembarai Andavan telling him that He had gone
to virajA nadi and come back and asked him to send his
father immediately and take up sanyAsam. GopAlan also
told his father that he would take care of his mother
(swAmi's dharma pathni) and asked him to proceed to
Srirangam.

On April 4th 1963, Srimath Andavan's condition became
worse and most of the sishyAs were informed. Sree
kAryam Sri. U.Ve. kannan swAmi was also informed of
Srimath Andavan?s health and immediately thereafter
rushed up to Srirangam. On His arrival, arrangements
were speeded up for His dureeyAsrama sweekAram. 

Early morning the next day i.e. on 5th april, 1963
(Friday, sukla dwAdasi, makam star), in the presence
of sishyAs, His Holiness Srimath Thembarai Andavan
ordained the ascetic order to Sri U.Ve. Kannan SwAmi
who was named as Srimath vEdAnta rAmAnuja mahA
dEsikan. His holiness appointed Him as ?Ubhaya VEdanta
grantha updEsAthi sampradAya samrakshana doorvahar?.
Srimath Thembarai Andavan felt extremely glad that he
was able to fulfill his avadhAra kAryam and within few
hours on the same day (April 5th 1963) he left for
Thirunadu leaving behind grieving sishyAs. 

This illustrious AchArya Peetam of Srimath Andavan,
thanks to the good fortunes of a host of disciples,
developed centrally on His Holiness Thirukkudanthai
Srimath Andavan vEdAntha rAmAnuja mahA dEsikan. Among
the Andavan Hierarchy, it may be safely mentioned
without fear of contradiction that the most popularly
known among all members of the Vaishnavaite fold was
Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan . 

He was a great scholar in NyAya, VyAkarana, and so
much he was at ease in the recitals of NAlAyira Divya
Prabhandham, Srimath RAmAyanam, Bhagavath Vishayam and
sukthis, that people acclaimed him as an AvathArA of
Thirumangai AlwAr himself. 

Having taken to ascetic order, not out of poverty, but
casting away plentitude of wealth of which he was his
own architect, this great AchArya had assimilated in
himself the strict austerity and highly puritan life
of his predecessors scorning all luxuries. It is a
wonderful phenomenon that it has been possible for
this AchArya to swing from one end of the pendulum
embracing all conveniences and comforts which were
more than a middle class member of the society could
normally enjoy, to the other end of it, shorn of all
luxuries and conveniences and adopting Himself,an
extreme, rigid and rigorous life of a sanyAsi. 

Used to travel in motor cars in his poorvAsramA- this
AchAryA made pAdayAthrA from place to place. Within a
month after He had embraced the ascetic order, His
Holiness started on his holy pilgrimage, going from
place to place and covering at a stretch, about 15
miles a day and even more sometimes, and spreading to
the wondering public His great knowledge of our
sampradAya granthams, the inner meanings of our
religion and our puranams and Ithihasams. His Holiness
was truly a pillar of Modern Hinduism as he combined
in himself the purity of thought and conduct of his
illustrious predecessors, acclimatizing himself to the
modern conditions of thought and life. 

His discourses were filled with humor and geniality
with penetrating perception of the sanctity of the
holy lives of our AlwArs and AvathArs. Truly this
great AchAryA attracted not merely the rich and
powerful magnets of our Vaishnavaite community, not
merely a large number of vEdic scholars and
vEdAnthins, but also a large class of devotees among
other communities as well, who were ever ready at his
bidding to take up any holy cause. 

In a way he became nearest to Srimath ThErezhundur
Andavan (NammAndavan), having a deep and abiding
interest in the propagation of popular religious
literature among His disciples and the spreading of
vEdic lore. He had a deep comprehension and vision of
the needs of reorientation of our religious order and
spreading of vaishvavaite cult, Vaishnavaite
philosophy and educating the younger ones in the
Ubhaya VEdAnthA. 


=======================================================
(To be continued....)

Srimath Andavan Thiruvadi,
dAsan,
venkat Sreenivasan


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