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SrI:
SrImathE Gopladesika mahadesikaya namah:
SrImathE Srinivasadesika Mahadesikaya namah:
SrImathE Ranganathadesika Mahadesikaya namah:
SrImathE Srinivasadesika Mahadesikaya namah:
SrImathE Gopalarya Mahadesikaya Namah:

Sri Narayana Yogindra Varadaarya Kripaasrayam /
Rangesa Paada Vinatham Srinivaasa Munim Bhaje //

(meaning)
I  hail  Srinivasa  Muni who obtained the full grace of Sri Narayana
Yogindra Varadaarya, who always bowed at the feet of Lord Ranganatha.

About this Great mahaan, there are two slokas composed by Sri RV 
Krishnamachariar: 

I am giving only the translation (Please forgive my translation as well):

For those who take to sanyaas (renunciation), there could be many reasons. 
Poverty, disinterest in samsaaric afflictions, mental worries, non-cooperation 
from spouse etc. For this Swamy (Sri Poundarikapuram Andavan Swamy), lot of 
wealth (inherited), extremely cooperative Pathivratha dEvigaL (spouse),; a 
great vidwAn of the first kind. Simply due to his vairAgyam alone, he took to 
sanyaasaasramam. 

What a kind of vidvathvam he has! 
He is PaNinI in vyAkaraNam.
GaNAdhar in mImAmsA.
Vedantha Desikan in Vedantha!

Those vidwAns and scholars who acknowledge the above whole heartedly also do 
not speak in front of Him (with respect and fear- bhayam kalandha mariyAdhai)

May He reside (as alwayts) forever in the hearts of such Great scholars and 
vidwAns! (in order to bless them as he does always!)

This day about one hundred and sixty two years ago, our land witnessed the holy 
birth of a mahaan in Poundarikapuram; truly it was an avtaar of Sriman 
Narayanan  Himself,  who out of His benevolence, and sincere determination, 
Dhrida vratha, to save all human beings comes into this world. And the Lord 
also chooses the time, the place and the parents to take birth from ? it is all 
preordained by Him.

It  was  the  day  of  days-  Adi  PoorAdam-  Sowmya  year,  August 1847, a 
child-prodigy  was  born   in Poundarikapuram village. This village with its 
sylvan  surroundings  is  very  near  to  the famous Oppiliappan Koil Divya 
Desam,  whose praise has been sung by Peyazhwar, Nammazhwar and Thirumangai 
Azhwar.  Enjoying,  so  to  say, the Divya kataaksha of the Lord, this cozy 
village  has  been  the birth of many great personages. Among them were the 
couple-  Sri  Singaperumal  Ayyangar,  an  effulgent  scholar  and a man of 
unswerving  principles  of personal practice and conduct and Smt Senkamalam 
Ammal,  his  wife.  No wonder that Sriman Narayanan chose to take His birth 
from  this  noble  couple  as  their  seventh  son and was named after Lord 
Srinivasan. 

How so true this about Srimad Andavan Poundarikapuram Srinivasa Mahadesikan  
needs  no  elucidation  to  the Srivaishnava world, more so to those  
unnumbered  beneficiaries. This multifaceted genius was a repository of  
erudite  scholarship  endowed with an uncommon acumen, which helped not only of 
 acquisition of knowledge of Kaavyarthas, Saasthras, Vedanthaarthas, 
Granthachathushtayam, besides the Vedas and the Divya prabandhas but also in 
the exposition of these to an never ending chain of disciples who flocked to 
him all the year around and down the years. 

A quick review of his biographical details will inform us how great personages 
(in our Acharya parampara) are born great and tower far above the commonality! 

Young Srinivasan was given in adoption to his fatherâs younger brother. After 
his upanayanam at 7, he promptly sought to learn Sanskrit from illustrious Sri 
Rangachariar Swami, father of reputed Tharka scholar Sri Narasimhachariar. Soon 
followed his higher education from mahavidwans like Ghattam Varadachariar 
Swamy, Sogathur Vijayaraghavachariar Swami, Perumal koil Thirupputkuzhi Swami, 
Kuricchi Rangachariar Swami at Mannargudi, and in matter of time, he became an 
accomplished scholar, a mahaa vidwaan himself., having mastered Alankaara 
saasthra, Tharkaam, vyAkaraNam, and mImAmsa besides the Vedas and Prabandhams. 

He had his Pancha samskaaram from Sri Ghattam Varadachariar Swami and Vedantha 
Grantha kaalakshepam and BharasamapraNam at the feet of Srimad Andavan 
VeliyanallUr Narayana Mahadesikan Swamy, an act indicating possibly things to 
come, as later he succeeded Sri Narayana Desika Mahadesikan Swamy. He undertook 
pilgrimages to all divya desas from Tirupathi to Thiruvananthapuram. In due 
time, he married Smt Komalavilli Ammal hailing from Vagarai, a nearby village 
and led his grihasthAsramam at Poundarikapuram in a manner that was remarkable 
for its simplicity and austerity in spite of belonging to a family as affluent 
materially as erudite in scholarship. 

When his (adopted) mother Srirangammal passed away, he migrated to Srirangam 
and settled down there. He led his life strictly as ordained by the elders, 
performing Pancha kaala kriyas, the observance of which  gives no room for 
accepting any material gift whatsoever it be nor aspire of ill-gotten wealth. 
His scholarship and mastery in Sahithya, Alankara, Tharkka, mImAmsA, Sri 
Bhsahya and vyAkaraNa was legendary and little wonder that those who aspired to 
gain knowledge of these sought after him and learnt at his Feet. 

In good time, he heard the call, the divine call for taking up sanyaasa 
Ashramam and to become a âlight house:, guiding the parched souls tossed 
about the samsaara saagara. It was a definite call and he went and prostrated 
repeatedly at the feet of Srimad Andavan Veliyanalloor Narayana Mahadesikan who 
after thorough scrutiny of his discipleâs genuineness, offered him upadesa of 
Preksha mantra and Prapatti Prayoga and admitted him to Sanyaasa Asramam, more 
fittingly called ThurIya Asramam (the fourth stage). Thereafter he went to live 
in the Srimad Andavan Asramam at Srirangam hallowed by the footprints of Srimad 
PeriyANdavan and spent years there offering Samasrayanam, BharaNyAsam, and 
daily kaalskhepa Goshtis to the innumerable disciples thirsting spiritually. 

But as there were hindrances to the peaceful functioning of Asramam, he decided 
to move out of Srirangam itself so as to more effectively carry on with his 
spiritual mission. When the disciples  came  to  know  of this, they prevailed 
upon him to continue his stay  at  Srirangam.  Through their efforts, a 
separate Asrama was set up and it came to be known as the  "Sri Poundarikapuram 
Andavan Asramamâ, in the same line of Srimad Periyandavan Guruparampara, 
verily because Sriman Narayana willed it so there shall be another illustrious 
seat of munithraya Sampradayam, to cater to the spiritual needs of the ever 
growing Sishyavarga, ever seeking new nuances and creeping in to the crevices 
of the Sampradaya. And so from this center this great Acharya traveled on foot 
across South India at the request of countless disciples who considered that 
their places became sanctified by the very touch of the Acharyaâs feet. 
Eventually he stayed at Srirangam itself
 following the footsteps of Emeprumaanaar Sri Ramanujacharya. 

Thus started a great era, a Saga of monumental service to the Lord. Not a day 
passed without a Kaalakshepa Goshti in the Asramam. It became the confluence of 
great minds seeking more and more scholarship in Sribhashyam, Bhagavath 
vishayam, and all else with a thirst and enthusiasm as witnessed never before. 

Sri   Poundarikapuram   Swami  had  a  large  stock  of  affluence  in  his 
grahasthAsramam.   He left off all in his supreme self-denial and became an 
ascetic  by  almost compelling his preceptor to grant him the saffron robe. He  
swayed,  as spiritual king, the Srirangam town for almost five decades. He  was 
 no ordinary scholar, nor an ordinary ascetic, nor even an ordinary pontiff  at 
 that.   He taught many; taught Sri Bhashya every day; believed that  it was 
his chief goal and inaugurated the present headquarters of the Asramam  on  the 
 banks  of  the  Coleroon  river,  a few yards west of Sri Dasavatharam  
Sannidhi (of Sri Ahobila Mutt).  

A  special  kind  of  link between the Ahobila Mutt and Sri Poundarikapuram 
Andavan Asramam deserves mention in this connection. Down from 1750 to this day 
the Acharya hierarchy is unbroken, uniquely continuous in this Asramam. The  
Acharyas  are  also  native  to  the  school; inbred and brought up by 
Kalakshapam  /  invitation  by  earlier  Pontiffs at some time.  Once a gap 
occurred  in  the  Ahobila  Mutt;  for  some  five  years (1900-1905).  The 
Poundarikapuram  Andavan  of  this Asramam had proudly helped in securing a 
deserving  candidate  and giving him Sannyasa order and installing him as the 
Pontiff (the 38th).  This happened in 1905.

Thus, from Srirangam, he continued his mission. The Asramam under Sri
Srinivasa Maha Desikan was a center of  religious  activities  and  
philosophical discussions.  The Acharya was an erudite scholar in Vedaanta 
Sastras; he possessed an extraordinary power of mind by  which he could 
accurately recall any passage, sloka or Sutra with ease.

Many learned  scholars  came to study Adhyatma Sastras under his feet.
Apart from the saamaanya sishyas and countless extraordinary sishyas, mention 
must be made of a few outstanding sishyas who distinguished themselves by their 
startling mastery of the sampradaya granthas in all their facets and left an 
indelible mark in the form of permanent contributions to the growth and spread 
of the Munithraya sampradayam. And thus the three Acahrays who succeeded him 
after, Srimad Ranganatha Mahadesikan, Srimad ViNNaRRankarai Srinivasa 
Mahadesikan and Sri Gopaladesika Mahadesikan are manifestations of the Great 
AchArya Himself as they follow his footprints in the sands of time, offering 
spiritual succour to the ever growing disciples. In their succession lies the 
clue to great Acharyaâs prophetic gift, the Visionary that he was. 

In 1934, in the month of Vaikasi on Pornami day, the AchArya's look finally 
fell kindly on the great scholar disciple from Mannaargudi as he had decided 
that he should succeed him and carry forward the intellectual and spiritual 
service that he had so deftly given a new dimension to. Thus Sri Mannargudi 
Anadavan, (followed then by sri ViNNaaRRankarai Andavan) succeeded Sri 
Srinivasa Mahadesikan (Poundarikapuram Anadavan). And Prakritham Andavan is 
Srimad Andavan ParavaakkOttai Gopaladesika Mahadesikan, whose 81st 
Thirunakshathram is being celebrated.

While this was the Great Acharyaâs work to keep the line of succession 
continuous, he did not rest content there; he knew the coming days would demand 
more than this. While this was the Great Acharya Srimad Poundarikapuram Andavan 
Sri Srinivasadesika mahadesikan's work to keep the line of succession 
continuous, he did not rest content there; he knew the coming days would demand 
more than this, that the future upkeep of our sampradaya would need not merely 
"ships" and "light houses", but also, pillars and foundation Structures. Among 
the many hundreds of Ashthikas/Sishyas, mention should be made of Sri A.V 
Gopalacharyar of Anbil, of Sri Krishna thathachariar Swamy of Bangalore, and of 
Sri C.M Vijayaraghavachariar Swamy also of Bangalore, not because others were 
less equal, but because these scholar disciples carved for themselves a unique 
position.

Sri A.V Gopalacharyar was at the feet of this great Acharya for 42 years of his 
life, practically everyday learning the nuances of our sampradayam. A man of 
shrewd intellect, a lawyer matchless in his profession at Tiruchi and affluent, 
learned in Poorvapaksham forms of Advaita found full enlightenment from 
Acharya's responses and answers to his full load of doubts and questions. 
Srimad Andavan well versed in the intricacies of Advaita completely and fully 
satisfied the disciple's lurking doubts so well that Sri Anbil Gopalcharyar 
Swami was enabled to author many books in elucidation of Advaitha philosophy, - 
a contribution of very crucial importance for the very understanding of 
Greatness of unparalleled and unambiguous Visishtadvaita; he also brought out a 
few other granthas. He perpetuated the memory of this great mahan thus, in the 
form of granthas and idealized it by instituting the "Srinivasa Mahadesikan 
Vidhwath Sadhas", munificently endowing for
 its conduct. It is an annual feature since then, in this ashramam that brings 
in congregation scholars of repute for intellectual and philosophical 
discussion, disputation and authoritative assertion of our sampradaya Gnana.

What Sri AV Gopalchariar had done â the Granthas he brought out and the 
vidwath sadhas he instituted standing âconcretizedâ in the form of an 
elegant front mandapa named after the great Savant, reverberating with the 
sonorous voices of the great scholars who congregate there- will for ages speak 
of the glory of his master â Srimad Andavan Poundarikapuram Swamy. 

So was the great scholar from Bangalore, Sri Krishna Thathachariar who sat at 
the feet of the great Acharya for several years and in turn in multiplication 
of those years, imbibed with a sense of purpose and mission, he 
enthusiastically undertook the propagation of our Munithraya Sampradaya by 
teaching many disciples in and around Bangalore- a contrbution of great value 
requiring Bhashanthara Gnana to cater to the Spiritual well being of the 
Kannasa Desa sishyavarga so dear to Srimath Bhashyakarar and Swamy Desikan. 

Equally great was the life of Sri CM Vijayaraghavachariar of Bangalore. Itw as 
all a divine dispensation; how else could a retired police circle inspector who 
had casually gone to prostrate at the feet of this Acharya, get transformed, 
metamorphosed, so to say into an erudite scholar with such depth, thorughness 
and accuracy of knowledge as to be able to write and publish many of our 
sampradaya granthas in Kannada language for the invaluable benefit of the 
disciples in kannada desa. 

And you will be wonderstruck when known how did it happen. This Swami, after 
ten interesting and enlightening years of Gurukulavasam, at Srirangam 
Poundarikapuram Ashramam and gratified at the Acharyaâs commitment with which 
he taught him all these years right from Sanskrit alphabet to Vedanthas and 
Saathras in great depths, offered even in those days, an enticing Rs 10,000 as 
Guru dhakshiNa. Srimad Andavan looked up and asked him, âIs this what you 
have learnt and understood me?â. The disciple persisited in offering it as a 
token of his gratitude. 

The Acharya consolingly told him, âIf I accepted this from you, great harm 
will follow- in future, our disciples may stop coming to mearn from me unable 
to make a GurudhakshiNa; also this may incite me an expectation of the same 
tooâ. The disciple knew that the Acharya was sincere but still he persisted. 
Now the Acharya spoke- âThink what one in my state can do with this money; 
with you perhaps, it may find immense use in making our Sampradayam Granthas so 
much needed for the futureâ. This was the divine spark that impregnated in 
the mind of Sri CM Vijayaraghavachariar the passion and the spirit for writing 
many books in kannada language which are available even today as source books 
for reference and research in Karnataka â something which Bhagawan Ramanuja 
would have approved of. Words do not suffice to extol the importance of this 
service to Srivaishnava community. Srimad Andavan was noted for his vairAgya 
â inassailable spirit of total
 renunciation of worldly, material things. It was Bhagawath Sankalpa, that in 
this manner a whole range of our Samparadya Granthas should be born in Kannada 
language. 

It is pertinent to mention here of just two sweet anecdotes illustrating Srimad 
Andavan Poundarikapuram Swamyâs depth of knowledge and a wealth of 
interpretations whether it be Swamy Desikanâs Srisukthis or Bhagavath 
Bhashyakararâs Sri Bhashya or Gita Bhashya or any grantha whatsoever. The 
article will remain incomplete without recalling these incidents. One relates 
to Sri CM Vijayaraghachariarâs personal experience. Late one night at 
Srirangam, East Utthara Veedhi Sri Vijayaraghavachariar â while bringing back 
to his mind the explanation of Acharya Srimad Andavan on the Abheethi sthava 
sloka 7:

ramaa dhayitha rangabhUramaNaâ na thasya yamavasyathaa narakapaatha bhIthi 
krutha:   

It proclaims Swamy desikanâs declaration of Lord Ranganathaâs certain 
protection to Prapannas from falling into the clutches of Yamakinkaras if they 
chant this sloka. 
Sri CMV Swamy could not digest it. He found it difficult to understdnmand as to 
how one sloka could be so specific to Sri Ranganatha;s protection! Perhaps, 
swamy would have said this due to Bhagavath Abhimaanam and abhimaanam towards 
Swamy Desikanâs abhIthis sthavam.â â thus, he was pondering and was 
having a sleepless night. 

Srirangam Divya Dampathi appeared in Acharya Srimad Andavanâs dream and said, 
âYour sishya has got a doubt on SrI Vedantha Desikanâs sthuthi on Us. Go 
and explain the greatness and speciality of this sloka. Within an hour, Srimad 
Andavan knocked at the dorr of Sri CM Vijayaraghavachariar and right there at 
the door step, explained the meaning of sloka and greatness of the compassion 
of Divya Dampathi with tears rolling down his cheeks. This is a proof of his 
depth and clarity and explains how Lord Himself was prathyaksham (visible to 
his eyes) to him. Swamy desikan has packed into this sloka all the 
Beejaaksharaas contained in the Praanaprathishta Manthra and Saannidhyaachana 
manthra â installation of energizing mantras pertaining to Lord Ranganathan. 

Another famous anecdote: Srimad Andavan had tremendous Sri Hayagriva 
Mantrasiddhi. One there was a young Boy of five years walking in front of Swamy 
when the parents of the boy came to the Ashramam for offering their obeisance 
and dhaNdavath praNamams to swamy. The boy walked towards where Swamy was 
delivering his kaalakshepam. Swamy looked at the child, pausing the 
kaalakshepam and aksed him, âun peyar enna?â (what is your name?) The boy 
did not utter a word. The Father of the boy told Swamy that he is born dumb 
(mute). Immediately Srimad Andavan asked the boy to come near and asked him to 
sit in front of him. He taught him âaksharaabhyaasam,â and recited, 

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

(May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the 
lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.) and

jnAnanda mayamdEvam nirmalaspaTikAkruthim |
AdhAram sarva viganAnAm hayagrIvam upAsmahE ||

The five year old boy repeated both slokas. The one who did not speak a single 
word in his past five years spoke due to swamyâs merciful kataaksham. Today 
that boy has grown to His Holiness Sri Rangapriya Mahadesikan Swamy of  
Bangalore. (Read Sri Srinath Chakravarthyâs excellent posts on this Swamy). 

The Great Sri Kozhiyaalam  Raghavachariar Swami came to Srirangam and sought 
Sannyaasa Sweekaranam  at  the  feet  of  Srimad Poundarikapuram Andavan who 
initiated him into  the  Sannyaasa  Asrama in 1920 in the year Roudri- Aani- 
Pournami day. The Aasthaana  Vidwan  of Tirumalai Tirupati Devasthanam, 
Kapisthalam Desikaachaarya submitted  to Swami for approval his Grantha 
"Adhikarana Ratna Maalai". The Swami accorded his approval.

When  the  affluent  devotees of Poundarikapuram village nevertheless not his  
disciples had arranged for renovation and consecration,  It was H H Sri  
Poundarikapuram  Andavan  who  was invited to lend the 'holy hand' for 
karasparsam  (by  a  great man).  With what results!  All can see today how the 
small shrine of Oppiliappn has grown as Southern Thiruppathi, with gala and  
festivity, fund-flow and pomp and fame and attraction, all after 1928! The   
event   has  a  precedent  in  Thirukkudanthai  Desikan  lending  his 
'kara-sparsam' to Araavamuthan some 200 years back! 

This was Srimad Andavan Poundarikapuram Srinivasa Mahadesikan, a creative 
genius, a perennial spring who made himself an institution and a legend with 
his many sided qualities. He was a great servant, a teacher unsurpassed, an 
organizer with an eye for protection, a missionary with a vision and a 
visionary with a mission. No wonder that he was known as Gnana Vairagya 
Anusntana Sampanna. A little known truth about this unassuming practitioner 
mentioned by Sri Navalpaakaam NS Devanathachar who got it authoritatively from 
Srimad Andavan ViNNARRankarai Swami.  This mahaan made it a daily practice to 
chant praNavam even during brief leisure hours following the precepts of 
Upanishads, thereby experiencing the thrill of the union of JivAthmA with the 
ParamAthmA. That he was practicing this was not known to anybody. It was not 
necessary to inform anyone, it being the individual communion of Jivan with 
Sriman Narayanan. How did then others come to know of? It was
 the custom to invite four Srivaishnavas and feed them in the Ashramam on the 
completion of every one crore (ten millions) of PraNava japam. Such was his 
accuracy in keeping count of a small GREAT mantra. Sri VennaaRRankarai Andavan 
Swami chanced to notice this and humbly enquired and got to know the truth.

Does this not testify to the unassuming nature and greatness of the AchArya, 
his gnAna, anushtAnam and VairAgyam?

Whenever there were doubts on sri Bhashyam Grantham and its interpretations, 
Srimad Andavan was always the Judge to pass his final
judgement as to who is right. - " was the statement of Srimad Azhagiyasingar 
(41st Pattam).

What a wonder ? He attained the everlasting Bliss of AchAryan Thiruvadi on 20th 
October 1934, a day after completion of one of the many Sri Bhashya Grantha 
saaRRumuRais, signifying Sri Bhashya Bhakti. 

Let us pay our obeisance to this Great Acharyan His Holiness Srimad Andavan Sri 
Poundarikapuram Swamy on His 162nd Thirunakshathram, today. 

Acknowledgement:

1.      Biography of Srimad Andavan Poundarikapuram Srinivasa Mahadesikan- by 
Prof. P.R. Srinivasan, Perugavazhndhan, Bangalore. 
2.      Sri Anbil Ramaswamyâs write up 'Acharya vamsa vriksham
3.      Dr. Sri VN Vedantha Desikan Swaminâs article 
4.      Sri Delhi Hari Nagar Rajagopachariar Swamyâs article 

AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards
namo Narayana
aDiyEn Narayana Dasan Madhavakkannan



      

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