Centenary of Sri Krishna Tatacharya Swami

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[ This is a brief biography of Sri U.Ve. K.S. Krishna Tatacharya Swami,

whose 100th tirunakshatram falls this year. Sri Krishna Tatacharya

Swami was a great Ubhaya Vedantacharya of recent times who guided

many of today's scholars through the sacred texts of Visishtadvaita

Vedanta. For years he conducted kaalakshepa in both Sanskrit and

Tamil works of Alvars and Acharyas in Bangalore and was known to

astikas all over. This article was submitted by Smt. Padmini

Ranganathan, a disciple of Sri Swami, and also contains a few words

by Vedanta Vidvan Dr. N.S. Anantha Rangacharya, who also studied at

the sacred feet of this Acharya.

 

A photo of Sri Swami in his later days is available at

http://ramanuja.org/img/sri-krishna-tatacharya.jpg

 

Smt Padmini Ranganathan can be reached at

padminir2000.

 

-- Mani ]

 

Sri:

SrImathE vakuLabhUShaNa mahAdEshikAya namaha

SrImathE rAmAnujAya namaha

SrImathE nigamAntha mahAdEshikAya namaha

SrImathE varadarAmAnuja mahAdESikAya namaha

SrImathE srInivAsatAtArya mahAdESikAya namaha

SrImathE srIkrShNatAtArya mahAdESikAya namaha

 

 

Dear all,

 

nyastAtmIyabharam varapradagurau vairAgya bhAgyOdadhou

vEdAntAmrta sAravantamanaghAt srIsrInivAsAdgurO:

SrIshailAnvaya kaustubhasya tanayan srEyOnidhE: srInidhE:

VandE sAdhu katAkSakELinilayam srIkrShNa saddESikam

 

This is the taniyan of .kOTikanyAdAnam Sri

U.Ve.K.S.Krishna Tatachar swamy.

 

The year 2003, carries along with it a great

significance, by marking the (SatamAnOtsava:), 100th

thirunakshattiram of the great Acharyar,

kOTikanyAdAnam U.Ve Sri Krishna Tatachar swamy,

popularly known as "SWAMY". The avataram day of this

acharyar was in

mAsi masam, anUrAdhA nakshattiram, in the year 1903.

He attained paramapadam in the year 1993, Adi masam,

krShNa paksham, trayOdaSi tithi, this day, 10 years

before and this being the reason for posting the

article today.

 

This great acharyar was a true blend of jnAnam,

anushTAnam, vairAgyam etc etc.His gAmbhIryam was like

that of an ocean enshrined with the rarest of jewels

that were qualities of his like kAruNyam, saushIlyam,

paratvam, saulabhyam, audAryam etc. etc etc The list

never ends. Have to stop here owing to the limited

intellect and limited space and not because there is a

limitation to his qualities. We can remember the

saying,"matikshayAt nivartantE na gOvinda guNakshyAt".

Same way.These qualities were best enjoyed by his

SishyAs who droned at his feet like bees. He was very

much known for his kindness and affection towards his

disciples. Any small question by anybody on any topic

would open up his treasure house of knowledge, giving

the questioner an insightful panorama of his deep

knowledge in shastra and Vedantha. Whoever be his

disciple, a scholar or a beginner, he(this krishna

megha) would bless them with all his knowledge

equally, like the rain that pours impartially and

equally on all places. The doors of his house were

ALWAYS open to his disciples.

 

He was the very embodiment of vairagyam, comparable to

the likes of the monastic order which made people

refer to him as "sanyAsI in white" and hence the

name "SWAMY".

 

Some of his disciples include U.Ve

Dr.N.S.Anantharangacharya Swamy, the great Tamil

scholar U. Ve Sri P.G.Srinivasan Swamy (popularly

known as PG mama), Prof. Ramaswamy Iyenger, Sri U.Ve

P.Ramanujan swamy - AsthAna vidvAn of Srimath Ahobila

Matham, Sri U. Ve. Ananthanarasimhachar swamy -

Srikaryam of Srimath Poundarikapuram Ashramam, his

father Sri U. Ve. Ananthachar swamy ,Sri .Narasimha

Tatachar(popularly known as post master mama), etc etc

etc.

 

It is indeed my paramabhAgyam to have been associated

with this acharyar both as his disciple and also his

grand daughter(he was my father's periappa).

 

This year, which marks his birth centenary, is very

significant. Let me share with you all, the words of

a few scholars on this mahAn.

 

 

This is the brief biography of the Acharyar, written

by his disciple and my grand father U. Ve Dr. N.S

Anantharangacharya, who studied various Sampradayic

texts under him for about 8 to 9 years.

Dr.NSA was his most favourite student.The affection of

the acharyar towards Dr.NSA continued to flow towards

his family members too and for this reason, we did

enjoy a special privelege, being very close to this

acharyar.

 

ACHARYAR'S BIOGRAPHY BY DR N.S.ANANTHARANGACHAR SWAMY.

 

"sAntA mahAntO nivasanti santa: vasantavat lOkahitam

charanta:"

 

This sUkti can be richly attributed to Sri U.Ve K.S

Krishna Tatacharya Swamy. He took birth in the great

family of Kotikanyadanam Sri Srinivasa

Tatacharya Swamy, a scholar of highest order who

studied vedantic texts extensively under HH

PoundarIkapuram Andavan Sri Srinivasa Mahadesikan, in

Subhakrt samvatsaram, kumbha mAsam, krishna paksham,

aShTami day. His mother's name was Thirumathi

Krishnamma.

 

Sri U.Ve Krishna Tatachar swamy got his basic

education from his father.After completing his primary

education at his birthplace 'Talkad ', he got his

secondary education at Mysore and obtained B.A degree

from the Mysore Maharaja college. Right from his

childhood, acharyar was greatly drawn towards vEdAntic

studies which enabled him to to pursue the adhyayanam

of

veda and vedanta extensively. His jeevanasutra was

based on the imperial maxim "tapascha svAdhyAya

pravachanEcha".

 

At the age of 24, the acharyar entered

grihasthashramam. His wife was the grand daughter of

the then JODIdAr of sOsalai.. Just like our swamy Sri

Vedanta Deshika, he too continued in his

grhasthasramam, like a dew drop on the lotusleaf,

and performed it as a yOga. As the saying "asakta:

sukham anvabhUt" goes, he had given up atyAsakti. This

vairagyam of his, naturally got him the name

"sanyasi" and people started calling him as "SWAMY".

 

He started his career as a teacher at "The National

High School" and served for over 34 years. He was a

model teacher who was very much known for his

affection and patience. He was adored by one and all

for his qualities Arjavam, sausheelyam, saulabhyam

etc. He was a living example of the saying,

 

"kshamayA dayayA prEmNA sUnrtEnArjamEna cha

vaSIkuryAt kagatsarvam vinayEna cha sEvayA"

 

After settling down in Bangalore, he devoted his life

to the further study of Vedanta, under the great

scholars of the day. He studied at the feet of

HH Srimath PoundarIkapuram Srimath Andavan Sri

Srinivasa Mahadesikan, staying in the aashramam at

Srirangam for over 6 years and also at the feet

of Sri U.Ve Hemmige Srinivasa Iyengar Swamy. He also

passed with flying colours, the Vidvaduttama parIkSA

in Vedanta and was honoured by NalvaDi

KrishnarAjEndra wodeyar. Thus this acharyar continued

his journey of life through continuous study of

vedantic texts.

 

As per the saying,

 

"adyAtma grantha nirmANam, anEkEsham cha bOdhanamm

archAvatAra sEvAm cha", he devoted his whole life to

these. He has authored many works in Sanskrit,

Kannada and English.

 

His works in Sanskrit are, "AndavAbhyudayam",

written on the great acharyar HH Srimath

Thriukkudanthai Andavan and "mahAvIravaibhavam".

 

His works in Kannada are thiruppavai rasAsvAdinI,

gOpAlavimSati bhAvapradIpikA, which is a beautiful

explanation of vEdAnta dESikar's "gOpAlavimSati:', with

beautiful meanings,translations of daSavatArastOtra,

dayASataka, garuDadanDaka,SaTHamarshaNa gOtradavara

AjAnasiddha mahimE, etc. thiruppAvai rasAsvAdinI, is a

vast work, which is highly informative with very rare

meanings.

 

His work "srIbhASyAmrtasAra" in Kannada, is a master

piece which narrates the meanings of all adhikaraNams

along with pUrvapakSam and siddhAntam.

 

His work "rahasyatrayasArArtha sangraha" on the text

rahasyatrayasAram is highly useful.

 

He has translated "yAdavAbhyudayam" of Swamy Desikan,

with word to word meaning and translation in English.

 

He work on "bhagavadgItA" called "gItArthadIpikA" is

an asset.

 

There are still many of his works that are

unpublished.

 

This way, the acharyar devoted his life to

jnAnaprachAram. He has spent more than 50 years of his

lifetime in giving kAlakshEpams and has performed an

"akhanDa jnAna yaJnam". He has poured the nectar of

vEdAntam on all his disciples, through his discourses

which included SrImad RamAyaNam, BhAgavatam,

MahAbharatam, divyaprabandhams of Alwars, Desika

stotrams etc. His lectures were highly informative

which included "apUrva SastrArthangals" and

"svApadESams".

 

He continuously rendered kALakshEpams on

prasthAnatraya bhAsya, bhagavadvishayam, Srimad

RahasyatrayasAram, Geetha Bhashyam, esoteric works of

Swamy Deshika and others. He had a mastery in

explaining the SastrArthams in a superb manner and saw

that the tatvArthams remained in the hearts of his

disciples permanantly, for which all his disciples are

very much indebted to.

 

As the saying goes,

 

"apuna: prAthanIyasya prAthitAdhikadAyina:

arthina: prathamE tasya charamAn paryapUrayan

 

His kAlkshEpams were of such a high order that the

person who heard him, did not feel the need to hear

from anyone else, rather they would themselves be in a

position to teach others. They were so much in detail

covering each and everything.

 

He was a swayam acarya purushar, and has performed

"bharasamarpanam" and "pancha samskaram" to many.

 

His knowledge and popularity won him many titles such

as "vEdAnta vidvanmaNi", "vEdAnta sAraJna",

"viSishTAdvaitapravINa" etc. He was highly

appreciated and honoured by HH Andavan swamigal, HH

Azhagiyasingar swamigal, HH Poundarikapuram Swamigal,

HH Parakala Matam Swamigal,HH Rangapriya Swamigal and

many others. We have seen the closeness, prakrutam

Azhagiyashingar(in his pUrvASramam) shared with the

acharyar.

 

His other rare quality was that he never allowed any

publicity about him. "pAnDityam nirvidya bAlyEna

tishThAsEt"

 

But as the statement,

 

"yathA sampushpitasya vrkshaya dUrAt gandhO vAti", the

fragrance of this bramhanishTa's fame spread all over,

very naturally.

 

He had his bharasamarpaNam under "Sri Varadaramanuja

Mahadesikan swamy", whose taniyan goes as "vairAgya

bhAva niravadyaguNaprakarsham". ( We have heard that

HH Sri Abhinava RanganAtha swamigal of ParakAlamaTHam,

HH Sri PoundarIkapuram Sri Srinivavsa MahadEsikan

swamigal, Sri Srinavasa Tatachar swamy etc etc also

had their bharasamarpaNams under this acharyar).

 

Our beloved achryar, after having spent his life as a

"yOgam", left for the heavenly abode just as a nisprha

leaves everything and goes, on 15-08-93, Adi

masam, Krishnapaksham, trayOdaSi thithi and as per the

saying "nArAyaNA sAyujyam abApnOti nArAyaNA sAyujyam

abApnOti, attained paramapadam decorating the goshti

of nitya sUris.

 

--

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

 

 

I would like to place before the devotees, a few words

shared by a couple of his other disciples, shortly.

 

I earnestly request everyone, who has known him

personally, heard and associated with this acharyar as

a disciple, relative, admirer etc, directly or thro'

family members, to share their thoughts and let us

celebrate this SatamAnOtsavam of this acharyar by

singing his glory thro'out the year.

 

 

NOTE: HIS WORK ON("YADAVABHYUDAYAM") IS TOTALLY OUT

OF PRINT, BUT MAY BE SOME ARE AVAILABLE IN

CHENNAI(WHERE IT WAS PUBLISHED). I REQUEST THAT

ANYBODY COMES ACROSS THIS BOOK, KINDLY CONTACT ME.

 

 

Pranamams

Ramanuja dasi

Padmini