SrI UttamUr SwAmi - An article on his Life and Works

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SrI:

SrI PadmAvati SamEta SrInivAsa Para BrahmaNE namaha

 

SrImad abhinava dESika UttamUr VAtsya VeerarAghavArya -

mahAdESIkAya namaha

 

SrI Lakshminrusimha divya pAdukA sEvaka SrIvaN SatakOpa SrI -

nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESIkAya namaha

 

 

Dear devotees,

namO nArAyaNa.

 

The following is an article by SrI V.T. VEdAnta RAmAnujAchAria,

a disciple of SrI UttamUr swAmi. This was published in the

souvenir released in commemoration of the SatAbhishEkam (80th

thirunakshatram / birthday) of SrI UttamUr swAmi on 10th Feb

1977.

 

This article gives more information on the Life and Works

of SrImad "abhinava dESika" UttamUr VeerarAghavAchArya swAmi.

 

 

OUR ACHARYA

*************

 

SrI U.Ve. abhinava dESika Uttamoor VeerarAghavAchyArya

MahAdESika swAmi, our revered AchArya is completing his

80th year of age on 10-2(Feb)-1977, he having born in

the month of Thai in 1896-1897 in an orthodox AchArya

Purusha family, of NallAn Chakravarthis, in Utthamoor

village, near MadhurAntakam in Chingleput District. His

birth star is SwAti, the same as that of SrI PeriAzhwAr,

besides having been chosen for His avatAra by BhagavAn

SrI Lakshmi Nrisimha. His parents worshipped SrI VeerarAghava

swAmi deity at Trivellore (thiru-yevvuLUr) before his birth

and their prayer was granted by the birth of our AchArya

and hence they named him SrI VeerarAghava and our AchArya

has also referred to it respectfully in his monumental

work "SrI ParamArtha BhUshanam".

 

 

Even as a boy, our AchArya evinced a keen desire to

master Sanskrit and studied under his revered father

upto kAvya (Poetry) and nAtaka (Drama) and continued

them under His Holiness SrI Paramahamsa ParivrAjaka -

AchArya SrI SrInivAsa MahAdESikan (SrI Garudapuram

swAmi) in his poorva Ashramam (ie.gruhasta) at

MadhurAntakam, and after mastering the same, studied

"Tarka SAstra" (Philosophy of NyAya) under the famous

SrI U.Ve. Swacchandam SrInivAsAchArya swAmi at

MadhurAntakam and attained proficiency in Tarka SAstra.

Thence, with the blessings of that guru, who had been

appointed as Professor in the Sanskrit College at

TiruvaiyAr, he continued his studies in the above said

Sanskrit college under the same guru in NyAya and at the

same time mImAmsa SAstra also under another great

professor and came out first in the Presidency in the

SirOmani Examination during the year 1919.

 

 

In view of his proficiency, he was taken as a

research scholar in that college and with the help of

the English language learnt in his boyhood under his

father while learning Sanskrit, he chose his subject as

"Comparison of the Philosophy of East and West" and

passed the B.O.L. Examination under credit.

 

 

It was about that time our AchArya had the oppurtunity

of receiving instruction on SrI BhAshya and other

essential granthas and Rahasyas in the traditional

kAlakshEpam way from the late Paramahamsa ParivrAjaka -

AchArya SrI RangarAmAnuja MahAdESikan (SrI KOzhiyAlam

swAmi), his AchArya, in the poorvAshramam and also

subsequent to his assuming the sannyAsa Ashramam. Our

AchArya's regard and esteem for his AchArya is

unlimited. Similar is the grace of the said AchArya to

his sishya ie. our AchArya, and it is reflected in the

Tanian (salutation / laudatory verse) for our AchArya

having been given by his guru himself - a rare thing

indeed.

 

 

He had by that time ie. even in the early age given

us three works respectively relating to the three systems

named "VaisEshika DarSana Vimarsa" (on NyAya-VaiSEshika),

"MImAmsa SudhAswAdha" (on pUrva mImAmsa) and "VEdAnta

DarSana Vimarsa" each one of which was applauded by

learned pandits as of a very high order.

 

( note : SrI UttamUr SwAmi wrote an outstanding commentry

to a very difficult work by UdayanAchArya called NyAya

KusumAnjai, while he was a student learning it. More on

it in the later postings )

 

Thus our AchArya, like SrI VEdAnta DESika, mastered

the SAstras even before he was 22 years old. In view of

the high attainments of our AchArya, he was chosen as

the Examiner for Sanskrit in the University Examinations

of Mysore, Madras, Andhra and Benaras Hindu Universities.

 

 

After our AchArya was at TiruvaiyAr for some years,

the late SrI U.Ve. Kapisthalam DESikAchArya swAmi of

great fame, desired to draw our AchArya to SrI VenkatESwara

Oriental College, Tirupati. It happened sometime thereafter

that the authorities of that college, having regard to his

high attainments, requested our AchArya to join that college

at Tirupati as the Head of the Department of NyAya and he

accepted the same. He was held in great esteem there and

started the MImAmsa SirOmani class also and continued as

the Head of both the departments, till he retired about

25 years ago. Panditas more than 100 in number received

instruction under him there and have reaped the benifit

thereof holding high posts (in teaching SAstras) and they

all owe their present position to our swAmi.

 

 

After retirement, he was requested to settle at

Madras by the late 'Sir' S.VaradAchAria, retired judge

of the Federal Court, Delhi and by the late SrI V.V. SrInivAsa

IyengAr, sometime judge of the High Court of Judicature at

Madras and a leading advocate, and by the late Rao Bahadur -

G.RangaswAmi IyengAr, retired Commissioner of Police and by

SrI V.T. RangaswAmi IyengAr, the then Public Prosecutor of

the High Court, Madras and a leading advocate and the

President of this SatAbhishEkam Committee, and accordingly

he settled down at Madras (ie. Mambalam) and began KAlakshEpam

classes, which continue up-to date, where he expounds

to the Sishyasin his inimitable way the several VEdAnta

works to be studied by all SrI Vaishnavites. In

particular, the late SrI K.BhAshyam IyengAr, ex-Law

Minister with the Government of Madras was an ardent

pupil who studied intensively under our AchArya during

his lefetime. Thus, our AchArya is doing yeomen service

to the Vaishnava Community upto date by expounding to

them the principles of SrI VaishNava sampradAya and by

himself following in word and spirit, the said principles.

 

 

From his early age, he was able to expound clearly

what he studied. We find him to have written a commentry

on "NyAya KusumAnjali" (*) which was of such a high order

that it won the approbation of the late SrI U.Ve. Asoori -

RAmAnujAchjAria swAmi of SrIperumpUdUr, a learned pandit

of the Thenkalai Sect and also principal of the Sanskrit

college there, who on pursuing the commentry, praised it

stating that there is a spark of divinity (daivIka amSam)

in the young author. He produced another commentry of a

very high order at that early age itself on "Siddhi Trayam"

(of SrI YAmunAchArya), which he submitted to his AchArya

SrI KOzhiyAlam swAmi as his (UttamUr swAmi's) samarpanam

on his (KOzhiyAlam swAmi's) 61st birthday as a mark of

respect (and gratitude).

 

(*) : NyAya KusumAnjali is a masterpiece by one of the

all time greats of NyAya SAstra named "UdayanAchArya".

In this work, he wonderfully argues in various ways to

establish the presence of God, with great logical acumen

and systematically refutes various schools of thought like

ChAravAka etc who uphold the absence of God. In SrImad

Rahasya Traya SAram, SwAmi DESikan refers to SrI KidAmbi

AcchAn as "Udayana of VEdAnta" ie. SrI KidAmbi AcchAn's

proficiency in VEdAnta (including logical skills etc) is

like what Udayana's proficiency in NyAya.

 

 

All these indicated the future great works to be

published, more than one hundred in number, by our

AchArya in due course. To refer to a few of them only,

we may take his "BhAshyArtha Darpana", a commentry on

SrI BhAshyam, which enables even the average student to

understand SrI BhAshya and the basic principle enshrined

therein. Similar is the lucid commentry on SrI VEdAnta DESika's

"TAtparya Chandrika",a commentry on SrI Bhagavad RAmAnuja's

GIta BhAshya. So also is the "GeethArtham" a commentry in

Tamil of SrImad Bhagavad GIta, which besides giving a word

for word translation of the slokas of Gita gives the purport

thereof as per "GIta BhAshya" and "TAtparya Chandrika".

 

 

His tippani for the BhAshya of SrImad Upanishad

BhAshyakAra swAmi (SrI RangarAmAnuja Muni) to the Ten

(principal) Upanishads and connected small Upanishads is

very lucid and illuminating, and the comparitive study

therein of the interpretations of other (philosophical)

systems is inimitable. A simple tamil summary of the

Upanishads is also given.

 

 

He has also given us in Tamil a book "Upanishad

SAram" where we find summary of some more Upanishads. His

work "ISAvAsyOpanishad AchArya BhAshya TAtparya" and his

commentry on Stotra Ratna BhAshya of SrI VEdAnta DESika

are of equally high order and have been greatly

appreciated by the late His Holiness SrI InjimEttu

Azhagiyasingar swAmi (42nd HH Jeeyar of SrI Ahobila Muth)

and by SrI "MahAmahOpAdyAya" Kapisthalam (DESikAchArya)

swAmi and others.

 

 

Similar are the various commentries of the SrI SooktIs

of PoorvAchAryas. All his tippanis have an introduction

which is a treatise by itself and contains crisply as to

what the work deals with, and is well worth considering

whether these themselves can be had all in one volume,

and that one book will be suffice to indicate the glory

of our ViSishtAdvaita philosophy. His work "ParamArtha -

BhUshanam" is a magnificent and monumental one

establishing the greatness of our ViSishtAdvaita

Philosophy, answering all criticisms against it and is a

permanent authority for our sampradAyam, silencing all

attacks against the authority of SrI VEdAnta DESika's

"Sata Dooshani".

 

 

Our AchArya is equally proficient in Tamil, a rare

quality among persons learned in Sanskrit. He has given

us lucid commentries under the caption "Prabandha Raksha"

on the "NAlAyira Divya Prabandhams" of AzhwArs. The same

contains the meaning in Tamil word for word of each

pAsuram and also the purport. The commentry is superb and

all pandits who give discourses on TiruppAvai in the month

of mArgazhi derive inspiration therefrom. It is also

learnt that SrI N.KrishnaswAmi Reddiar, retired Judge of

the High Court of Judicature at Madras relied mostly on

the same while explaining the purport of each pAsuram of

tiruppAvai through the All India Radio every morning last

mArgazhi month.

 

 

The commentry on TiruvAimozhi is equally superb as it

seeks to bring out the essentials contained in the

commentries of Thiruk-kurugai PirAn PiLLAn in SrI Tiru 6000

padi and of SrI VEdAnta DESika in his TAtparya RatnAvaLi, as

also how SrI NampiLLai has dealt with it in his "Yeedu". The

commentry takes into account also all existing commentries on

TiruvAimozhi and explains the same fully. The introduction to

the commentry on TiruvAimozhi is by itself a literature, of a

very high order and greatly instructive.

 

 

Our AchArya has great faith in the "PanchakAla Prakriya"

which has to be followed by all aastikas and he always follows

it strictly from 4:30 AM to night time daily ie. Abhigamana,

UpAdAna, Ijya, SwaadhyAya, and YOga. After "abhigamana

aarAdhana", he spends the "UpAdAna kAla" in imparting knowledge

in the traditional kAlakshEpam way, in his classes to his

Sishyas. This was commenced 25 years ago at Mambalam where he

settled after retirement as stated above and the classes still

continue despite his physical condition. The exposition then

is so unique that he would make even the ignorant Sishya

understand the essence of the subject. His Soulabhyam is so

great that he would take in any Sishya to his classes provided

he is sincere and eager to study, a peculiar characteristic

unlike others. Thus our AchArya has imparted instructions to

most of his Sishyas in the traditional kAlakshEpam way on

"Grantha Chatushtaya" ie. SrI BhAshya, SrI GIta BhAshya,

SrImad Rahasya Traya SAram and SrI Bhagavad Vishayam, each

having been repeated several times, and also "Upanishads",

"Chillarai Rahasyas" etc.

 

 

He spends the spare time to produce VEdAntic works,

and one would be surprised to find him always busy, even

correcting proofs by himself.

 

 

Our AchArya is thus leading the life of an ideal

AchArya, by himself following the AchArya in word and

spirit, and by producing VEdAntic works for the benifit

of the people and by expounding the doctrines enshrined

therein to others. Our AchArya continues the guruparampara.

All sishyas receive "Pancha SamskAram" from him, ie.

"SamASrayanam" and our AchArya instructs them on the

"Three Rahasyas" which naturally creates in them a desire

to perform SaraNAgati to SrI Bhagavan, and our AchArya does

the same for them and redeems their souls - "SaraNAgati"

being the only means now possible for all. Such Sishyas are

ever flowing and our AchArya helps them unflinchingly in

redeeming their souls.

 

 

He thus resembles in all respects SrI VEdAnta DESika

and hence the title of "abhinava dESika" was conferred on him

up elders. The same is confirmed in the Tanian of our AchArya

which as indicated above was given by his AchArya himself - a

rare and unique honour.

 

 

Our National Government has also recognized his

merit. The earliest and first award of the President of

India was conferred on him in person at Delhi in the

year 1959 by the president "Dr.Rajendra Prasad", who was

himself a Sanskrit scholar. Our AchArya offered worship

at Badrinath at that time and has already offered worship

in other North Indian shrines as at Pushkaram previously.

 

 

Our AChArya's mastery of parallel systems of

philosophy and his exposition thereof has won the

appreciation of the followers of those faiths also.

 

 

We pray to God Almighty to give our AchArya the

full span of life of 121 years, sound health and

strength so that he can continue to be useful to our

community and complete the remaining works of SwAmi VEdAnta

DESika he has in mind, and secure for us all the benifits of

"SaraNAgati".

 

We cannot adequately express our gratitude to him

for the available help he has rendered to the community

at large and to his Sishyas and disciples in particular

and it is only in the fitness of things that the entire

community through the SatAbhishEkam Committee avail

themselves of this oppurtunity of expressing their deep

debt of gratitude and grateful thanks to him in a proper

and befitting manner on this important occasion.

----------------

 

Hope that you enjoyed reading about the legendry UttamUr

SwAmi. Its adiyEn's humble request to you all, to kindly

go through these postings till you get a good amount of

memory retension atleast on key points. It will then be

very useful and will make the future articles very

interesting while reading. Thanks.

 

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

anantapadmanAbhan.

krishNArpaNam.