Srimath Thembirai Andavan's thirunakshatram today

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Sri:

Srimathe Rangaramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha:

Srimathe RanganAtha Mahadesikaya Namah:

Thirunakshatram: Avani Revathi

Thanian:

Srimath VEdha vathamsa lakshmana munehe praapthaaga maantha dvayam

ThEna Sri raghu punga vangri yugaLe nyasthaathma Rakshaambharam

Srimath Srinidhi yogivarya karuna labdaabhja chakraangkanam

Vande shaanthi virakhthi poornamanagham Sri ranga naatham Gurum

Today (Sep 2nd), Avani REvathi is the 118th Thirunakshatram of Srimath

Thembarai Andavan Sri RanganAtha MahA dEsikan who adorned Acharya

peetam as the 8th Andavan in the Andavan Periashramam Munithraya

Sampradayam AchArya Lineage. AdiyEn is reproducing my earlier

postings done two years ago on the life history of this AchArya mahA

purushA. Also attached is a rare photo of Srimath Thembirai Andavan

taken in 1950s along with Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan and Srimath

Mysore Andavan in their purvAsramam.

Thembarai is a beautiful serene village situated on the banks of river

pAmani. This small hamlet known for its fertile land and abundant

water resources is located 7 miles southeast of MannArgudi. One can

constantly hear the vEda and divya prabandha gOsham copiously

reverberating the ambience thus filling the village with piety.

Thembarai is a divya KshEtram where a beautiful temple for Sri

Rukmini sathyabhAmA samEta Sri Navaneetha Krishnan is in place with

Sri KALinga Nardhanan as Utsava murthy. There lived a pious Sri

vaishnavite by the name of Sri. U.Ve. Vangeepuram SeshAdriyAchAr in

Thembarai. As EmperumAn proclaims ‘vEdAnAm sAma vEdOsmi’, he belonged

to the glorious sAma sAkhA. He formally learnt and mastered the sAma

vEda along with kAvya sAstrAs. His dharma patni’s name was Srimathi

SengamalammAL. 2 sons and 2 daughters

were born to them. Eldest of them was Sow. Rukmini Ammal. In the later

parts of her life, she spent all her time performing Asrama

kainkaryams. The second child was a son who later became Srimath

Thembarai Andavan. Third child was a daughter who reached AchAryan

thiruvadi at a very young age. The fourth child was a son named

Venkata varadAchar who later on became an eminent upanyAsa

chakravarthi in bhagavath vishayam other than serving as adhyaksha in

Madurai Tamil Sangam. Sri U.Ve. SeshadriyAchAr swAmi performed

sAstroktha samskArams to his 2 sons at a very young age. He fulfilled

all his duties as a father performing marriage in a grand way for his

daughter at the right age and also gave excellent education to his

sons. The marriage of the eldest son was also performed at the right

age. In the year 1912, SeshadriyAchAr swAmi reached AchAryan

thiruvadi. More about the eldest son who later on became Srimath

Thembarai Andavan to follow.

 

Jananam and Younger Days

SwAmi was born in the year viya in the month of Avani on a Thursday.

His thirunakshtram was Revathi (19-8-1886). His parents named him as

Sri Venkata rAghavan. Since our swAmi was born on the holy

thirunakshatram day of Revathi, there is a sloka that came into being

which goes as given below:

RanganAtha avathArOyam thath poornAm shOthavA BhavEth |YadvA ranga

yathir vEthi vitharkyA yAsthu mangaLam ||

Since Revathi is the thirunakshatram of peria perumal, we are made to

think of our swAmi being an incarnation of nam perumAL Himself or

having the poornAmsham of Nam perumAL or the incarnation of Sri

KalyAnAvaha Ranganatha Maha dEsikan ( who was popularly called Sri

Periya swAmi). Whatever it may be, there is no doubt that swAmi had

full blessings and katAkshams of Nam perumAL. The Astrologers who

looked at the horoscope of swAmi predicted that he would become a

sanyAsi and a parama virakthA,unparalleled. After undergoing

samskArams at the right age, swAmi performed adhyayanam of sAma sAkhA

and became an exponent. He underwent rigorous training and mastered

sanskrit, and Kavya sAstrAs along with other vEda sAkhAs in

Thirukkudanthai Sanskrit College. The unquenching thirst to gain

sAstraic knowledge made swAmi to go on a pursuit to RajamannAr kovil

where he learnt and mastered vyAkaraNa sAstrAs under the tutelage of

Sri. U.Ve. RangachAr swAmi (This mahAn later became the 39th Jeer of

Sri Ahobila Mutt as Sri Parankusa SatakOpa yatheendra mahA dEsikan).

Later he went to viLAkkudi to learn tharka sAstrAs under the eminent

guidance of “ThArkika simham” Sri. U.Ve. SrinivAsachariAr swAmi.

Having completely learnt tharka sAstrAs, swAmi learnt and mastered

MeemAmsa sAstrAs under the guidance of MahA mahOpAdhyAyA Brahmasri

KuppuswAmi SastrigAL and Brahmasri ChinnaswAmi SastrigAL.

 

MarriageIn the year 1908, swAmi was married to SrimathiVijayavalli

Ammal who was the seemantha puthree ofsAkkai nallAn chakravarthi Sri

U.Ve. SrinivasadEsikAchariar swAmi. Immediately after the

marriage,swAmi took the VaisvadEva upadEsam from his

paternaluncle(younger brother of his father), Maha vidwAnBrahmanidhi

Sri. U.Ve. RamabhadrAchAr swAmi. Duringhis GruhasthAsramA, swAmi

observed panca kAlaanushtAnams in an

austere and rigorous way.Full responsibility of taking care of the

family fellon swAmi after the passing away of his father in 1912.Due

to insistence of his friends and well wishers,swAmi undertook

sanchAram to southern tamilnadu and

sans ms">kEralA. First he went to Ettayapuram and receivedsambhAvanA

in Raja sadas. From there, swAmi went tovAnamAmalai and was well

supported by Jeer Bhattarpiran swAmi. Later he went to

Thiruvananthapuram andwas honored by ThiruvthAngur mahArAjA . On his

way

Unicode MS'">back , swAmi also visted kochi samasthAnam andreceived

sambhAvanA from rAja sadas.SwAmi returned back to MannArgudi and

served as anexaminer in a vidwat sadas set up by Sri

satakOpamudaliar. Later, swAmi served as a religious teacher

FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">in a national high school. His duty

was to teachreligious lessons to the students from differentclasses.

His daily routine at the school would startaround 10 in the morning

when swAmi would recite aslokA from swAmi dEsikan’s sthothrAs in a

mellifloustone in front of the assembly. One of His

studentsrecollected swAmi’s favorite slokA being “sEvE dEvi”from

swAmi dEsikan’s Sri Sthuthi. During this timeswAmi served as an

examiner for sanskrit competitionsconducted Sri kanchi kAmakOti

matam. Sri SankarAchArya(paramAchAryA) had utmost respect for

swAmi’spAndithyAm.SwAmi followed Sriman nigamAntha mahA dEsikan

inobserving ‘Unccha vrutthi’. In MannArgudi, our swAmiand Navalpakkam

swAmi used to observe ‘unccha vrutthi’in carrying out their day-to-day

life. Such was thevairAghyam swAmi possessed in renouncement all

thematerialistic lifestyle and observance of severeausterity. SwAmi

used to walk very fast reciting swAmidEsikan’s sri sookthis while

going out for

uncchavrutthi. Only those who were waiting in the streets togive

bhikshA to swAmi could do so. Such was thegreatness of swAmi that

people considered themselvesto be fortunate to offer bhikshA to him.

Due to this,only a few

could give it to him. SwAmi out of hiscompassion to bhagavathAs would

however not disappointthose who could not give bhikshA to him, but

wouldtake a few grains from them to keep them happy. SwAmiperformed

unccha vrutthi even during later days whenhe was undergoing

kAlakshEpams under SrimathNammAndavan.KalakshEpamsBecause of Srimath

Andavan thiruvadi sambhandam hisparampara had for generations, swAmi

decided to go toVaduvoor

from Mannargudi to perform kainkaryams forSrimath NammAndavan. SwAmi

underwent granthachathushtya kAlakshEpams under Srimath NammAndavan.

Inthe kAlakshEpa goshti, swAmi used to listen tokAlakshEpam with rapt

attention and full

ms">concentration. SwAmi being an astute and a keenlearner would grasp

the most difficult purports andinner meanings of granthams very first

time helistened to them.Srimath NammAndavan performed panca samskAram

to swAmiin

his younger days and later performed bharasamarpanam at the lotus feet

of vaduvoor chakravarthithirumagan(Lord Sri Rama). Having observed

swAmi’ssatva gunAs, sraddhA,vairAghyam,intelligence and wideknowledge

of sAstrAs, Srimath NammAndavan ordained him

MS'">to take up sanyAsam. But our swAmi prayed to HisHoliness that he

was unfit to take up the holy asceticorder for the asramam and hence

continued with hiskAlakshEpams.Whenever swAmi had a chance to share

the extensive

MS'">sAstraic knowledge he possessed, he would do socheerfully by

participating in vidwat sadas and bytalking to individuals who had

doubts on our siddanthAor any religious matters. SwAmi’s upanyasams

werewidely accepted as pramAnAs. In the year 1922, in

FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">Mannargudi, Sri Ramanaya upanyasam of

swAmi wasarranged by Sri. U.Ve. vidwAn Rona swAmi Iyengar andSri.

U.Ve. KrishnamAchAriAr which went on for over twomonths.While swAmi

was undertaking kAlakshEpams from His

'Arial Unicode MS'">Holiness Srimath NammAndavan during Srimath

Andavan’ssanchAram and in Srirangam, Srimath Andavan adornedThirunAdu

unexpectedly in Kanchipuram. Srimath AkkurAndavan succeeded

NammAndavan to adorn the AchAryapeetam. Thembarai swAmi continued his

kAlakshEpamsunder Srimath Akkur Andavan.

 

Guna seelAFrom his younger days, swAmi was a puritan filled withall

satva gunAs without a tinge of rajas and tamOgunAs. People used to

wonder if they could find such anice person with all the nicest

qualities one

couldonly imagine. Simplicity, honesty, purity, veracity,courage,

equality, renunciation, lucid and profoundsampradayic knowledge were

hallmarks of swAmi’s gunAs.One could see simplicity all the way in

the clothes hewore, the

food he ate or the lifestyle he led. SwAmiwas such a down-to-earth

person who won the respect ofmany of his admirers. SwAmi was a very

soft-spokenperson. He would never say harsh words that would

hurtothers’ feelings. Even when there was a difference of

MS'">opinion, he would speak to others in a soft tone andwould finally

convince them into his side. He wouldnever indulge in unnecessary

company just to whileaway time, rather spending his time on

fruitfulsathvishayavichAram, kAlakshEpams.

'Arial Unicode MS'">SwAmi had no desire to save money for his family.

Theamazing virakthi swAmi possessed is attributed to hisdeep rooted

profound knowledge of our siddhAnta andtotal belief in it.Even during

the sadas whensambhavana was offered to vidwAns, swAmi would do

hisbest to avoid taking up sanmAnam.SanyAsa sweekAramSwami was doing

kainkaryam to Srimath Akkur Andavan,continuing to undertake

kAlakshEpams under HisHoliness. Srimath Andavan was immensely pleased

withour swAmi’s GnAna, vairAghyA and AnushtAnams and feltthat our

swami was the right person to be adorned as‘sampradAya pravarthakA’

of periAsramam after Histime.But swami felt that he is not a fit

person to take upthe AchArya peetam and hence told the same to

HisHoliness. Some also felt our swAmi’s extreme andrigorous vairAghyA

would impede the growth of Asramamas they thought that the one who has

the right balanceof ‘Lowkika sAmarthyam’ also, would be able to run

10pt">the day-to-day administration of Asramam efficiently.But Srimath

Andavan thought otherwise and felt thatswami was the right person to

take up the sanyAsamafter him and was very confident our swami would

carryAsramam’s growth to heights of glory. Accordingly

HHdid upadEsam on prapatti proyOgA and prEsha manthramto our swami.In

the meantime, swAmi’s dharma patni attainedAchAryan thiruvadi in the

year 1946. Srimath AkkurAndavan was also becoming weak because of

age. HH

wasmore than convinced that our swami would come to Himone day to take

up sanyAsam. Swami after long thoughtsdecided to take up sanyAsam and

hence went to SrimathAndavan and prayed to HH and sought his

blessings forthe

sanyAsam. Srimath Andavan was extremely pleased byswAmi’s decision and

ordained His sishyAs to makearrangements for the Holy ceremony.In the

year viya in the month of Aippasi on the 21stday i.e. on 6-10-1946 in

the presence of severalAndavan Thiruvadis, Srimath Akkur Andavan gave

theholy sanyAsam to Sri. U.Ve. Brahmaniddhi

ThembaraiVenkatarAghavAchAriar swami. He was given the title as‘Sri

RanganAtha mahA dEsikan’ and was fondly called asThembarai Andavan.

Srimath Akkur Andavan lived for 5

FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">more months after that and adorned

ThirunAdu on19-3-1947 on a krishna paksha dwAdasi day ( in themonth

of Panguni, viya year).

 

Because of the sanyAsa sweekAram, swami's lifestyledid not change a

bit at all as he practiced a life ofsanyAsi even before that with

rigorous anushtAnams andextreme vairAghyam having completely

renounced worldly

ms">comforts.After Srimath Akkur Andavan adorned ThirunAdu, all ofHis

Apa kAryams were well done. Besides that, specialvasthrA dAnam and

Anna dAnam were performed. ABrindAvanA was constructed in

chinnAsramam and avigraha

prathistApanA was consecrated for SrimathAkkur Andavan.The daily

chores of Asramam was maintained the sameway as it was done from

Srimath PeriAndavan's period.Srimath Thembarai Andavan would wake up

before 4 AM inthe

morning and would perform avagAha snAnamimmediately thereafter.

SandhyAvandhanam, japamswould be done after that followed by

bhagavathArAdhanam and purvAchAryAs' pAdukA ArAdhanam. This

wasfollowed by distribution of perumAl and pAdukA

sans ms">theertham. A special sambhAvanA would be performed onthe

thirunakshatrams of purvAchAryAs. Later, SribhAshya, geethA bhAshya,

bhagavath vishayakAlakshEpams would by rendered by His Holiness

afterwhich vaidheeka karmas such as samAsrayanams and

MS'">bharanyAsams would be performed for the bhAgavathAsfor the day.In

the afternoon, His Holiness would immerse Himselfinto grantha patanam

or dhyAna japams. Several peoplehave seen swami profoundly immersed

in yoga nishtai.

MS'">In the evenings, kAlakshEpams on divya sookthis suchas Srimath

RamAyanam, nyAya siddhAnjanam. AdhikaraNasArAvaLi would happen

besides other anushtAnams.Srimath Andavan would consume very little

food once aday in the mornings. Later when swami had breathing

10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">related problems, little

quantity of 'ThuthuvalAI' and'ManatthakALikkAi' were included in the

food. Duringfew nights, swami would consume porridge. After 10

PM,swami would go to sleep.SwAmi's AchArya bhakthi knew no bounds.

SwAmi wouldalways attribute the 'Apoorva vishayams', he

mentionedduring kAlakshepams to what he heard from hisAchAryAs and

that they would say that in even morenicer way.The Bhakti and

viswAsam that swami had towards pAdukAsis immeasurable. He would

always say that pAdukAs haddivine knowledge, power and 'dayA' and

whoever seekedthem wholeheartedly would be blessed with

'shrEyas'.Srimath Andavan never undertook yAthra during his timeas

AchAryA. This is attributed to swami becoming veryweak and for health

reasons stayed in Srirangamthroughout. But this did not prevent

Srimath Andavanfrom reaching out to His SishyAs and

admirersthroughout the country as bhAgavAthAs from all overIndia

hearing Srimath Andavan's greatness,

rigorousanushtAnams, extreme vairAghyam, soulabhyam andsowseelyam

thronged Srirangam to seek the blessings ofSrimath Andavan and became

Srimath Andavan thiruvadis.Srimath Andavan sparkled as a 'Srivaishnava

pradeepam'staying in

Srirangam but attracting people from allover, far and wide.Asramam

AdministrationUnder the supervision of Srimath Andavan,

theadministration of Asramam was carried out in an ableand efficient

manner.

Bhagavath and PadukA ArAdhanam,kAlakshEpams, thadheeyArAdhanam were

performed daily.PurvAchAryAs' Thirunakshatrams were celebrated in

agrand manner. Asramam temples and pushkarinis werewell maintained.

Srimath Andavan would be very

ms">particular that the revenues coming to the asramam hadto be

legitimate. With this in mind, the sambhAvanAgiven by Srimath

periAndavan thiruvadi Sri. U.VekodiyAlam sEshadri Iyengar's son Sri.

U.Ve.K.S.Narayana Iyengar, Svachnnam Sri. U.Ve.VeerarAghavAchAriAr,

Sri. U.Ve. RajagOpalAchAriAr,pudukOttai diwan Sri. U.Ve. Krishnaswamy

Iyengar'ssons, Thirukkudanthai Sri. U.Ve. T.S.R.'s family, Sri.U.Ve.

T.V.S. and family and other devout AndavansishyAs were accepted for

taking care of Asramam

'Arial Unicode MS'">thadheeyAradhana kainkaryam and other

expenses.During swAmi's time as AchAryA, Sri. U.Ve.Chakravarthi

KrishnamAchAriar swAmi, Sri. U.Ve. V.K.SrinivAsAchAriAr swami and

later Sri. U.Ve. SrinivAsarAghavAchariAr swami ( Kannan swami – later

SrimathThirukkudanthai Andavan) served as Sri Karyams ofAsramam at

different periods.

 

Sri Kannan swami at that time was very popular throughout the country

for his outstanding upanyasams. Kannanswami known for his lowkika and

administrative skillstook care of Asramam administration in an able

manneras Srikaryam and made a lot

of improvements incarrying out its administrative day-to-day

activities.Srimath Andavan was very pleased with the developmentsand

witnessed the enormous strides, the asramam wasmaking in its

growth.As per the holy order of

His Holiness, a monthlymagazine called 'Sri Ranganatha Paduka' was

started inthe year 1955 in the month of October ( ManmathaVarusham in

the month of Ippasi) to bring a connectionbetween the asramam and the

andavan sishyas. A

ms">condensed version of Sri bhashyam titled 'Adhikaranatharpanam' was

published in the year 1959. SrimathPeriAndavan's 160th thirunakshatra

mahotsavam wascelebrated in a grand manner in the year 1961

thatincluded ubhaya veda patanam and sadas. A grantham

MS'">titled 'Bhagavath Aradhana kramAnu bhandham' was alsopublished on

the occasion. In order to remove theobstacles that were to be caused

by the union of eightplanets at that time, a grand shanthi homam

wasconducted as per vedic rites.

Unicode MS'">It was Srimath Andavan's wish that the

bhagavathasbelonging to our sampradaya indulge in anushtanamsfrom

their younger days, learning divya sukthis andour siddhanta to a

large extent and hence wouldencourage His sishyas to bring up their

children that

10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">way. Srimath Andavan would

bless sishyas to recite theappropriate slokams in paduka sahasram to

ward offtheir sufferings.Adorning of ThirunaduSrimath Thembarai

Andavan became weaker as the days

FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">passed by due to rigorous

anushtanams, meagre intakeof food and also due to breathing related

healthissues. Srimath Andavan was eager to appoint the rightperson to

succeed him as AchArya of the Asramam.Srimath Andavan found Sri U.Ve.

Kannan swAmi( who was

10pt">serving as Srikaryam of the Asramam at that time)to beto be

right person he was looking for and henceinformed Sri U.Ve.Kannan

swami of the same and prayedSri padukas for Sri kannan swami to give

the consent.Sri Kannan swami did not accept to take up

sanyasambut at the same time did not say no to it. In themeantime

Srimath Andavan became more weaker as thedays passed by. So His

Holiness gave upadEsam on“PrEsha manthram” and “MOkshAsrama Ahnika

AnushtAnam”to three vidwAns of

the Asramam - U.Ve. Sri. KannanswAmi, U.Ve. Sri. Mysore GopAlAchAr

swAmi( who lateron became Srimath Mysore Andavan in the late 80s)

andMannargudi GanapAdi vidwAn U.Ve. Sri. NarasimhAchAryaswAmi for

them to be ready and take up sanyAsam anytime when called.In April

1963, Srimath Andavan’s health was extremelyaffected and with great

difficulty His Holiness wasperforming his nithya karma anushtAnam.

One day, HisHoliness it seems told the sishyAs around Him

that“Yesterday I almost went to virajA Nadi but had tocome back to

bhoolOkam upon emperumAn’s orders only tonominate the successor for

the AchArya peetam of thisAsramam. This Kannan hasn’t come yet”.A

couple of days earlier, Sri. Kannan swAmi’s son,

'Arial Unicode MS'">Sri. GOpAlan told his father that he had dreamt

aboutSrimath Thembarai Andavan telling him that He had goneto virajA

nadi and come back and asked him to send hisfather immediately and

take up sanyAsam. GopAlan alsotold his father that he would take care

of his mother

10pt">(swAmi's dharma pathni) and asked him to proceed toSrirangam.On

April 4th 1963, Srimath Andavan's condition becameworse and most of

the sishyAs were informed. SreekAryam Sri. U.Ve. kannan swAmi was

also informed of

10pt">Srimath Andavan’s health and immediately thereafterrushed up to

Srirangam. On His arrival, arrangementswere speeded up for Sri kannan

swAmi's thureeyAsramasweekAram.Early morning the next day i.e. on 5th

april, 1963

10pt">(Friday, sukla dwAdasi, makam star), in the presenceof sishyAs,

His Holiness Srimath Thembarai Andavanordained the ascetic order to

Sri U.Ve. Kannan SwAmiwho was named as Srimath vEdAnta rAmAnuja

mahAdEsikan. His holiness appointed Him as “Ubhaya

VEdantagrantha updEsAthi sampradAya samrakshana doorvahar”.Srimath

Thembarai Andavan felt extremely glad that hewas able to fulfill his

avadhAra kAryam and within fewhours on the same day (April 5th 1963)

he left forThirunadu

leaving behind grieving sishyAs.Brindavana prathishta was done for

Srimath ThembaraiAndavan in ChinnAsramam to the left of brindavanam

ofSrimath Akkur Andavan. In the year 1967 ( Parabhavavarusham in the

month of Masi on the 10th instant onan auspicious wednesday, pushya

nakshatram andthrayodasi thithi between 9 AM and 10:30 AM)

divyamangala vigraha prathishta and maha samprokshanam wascelebrated

in a grand manner. SrimathParamahamsethyathi Vinnarrangarai Andavan

of Srimath

MS'">Poundareekapuram Andavan Asramam graced the occasionwhere

hundreds of bhagavathas participated and got theblessings of Srimath

Thembarai Andavan.let us pray to the divya mangala vigraha of

SrimathAndavan and His Holiness's pAdukAs to bless us all and

FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">guide us to lead the life in the most

righteous way.AdiyEn would conclude this posting with SrimathThembarai

Andavan’s thanian and pray to SrimathAndavan's pAdukAs to get His FULL

BLESSINGS.Srimath VEdha vathamsa lakshmana munehe praapthaaga

FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Unicode MS'">maantha dvayamThEna Sri raghu punga

vangri yugaLe nyasthaathma RakshaambharamSrimath Srinidhi yogivarya

karuna labdaabhja chakraangkanamVande shaanthi virakhthi

poornamanagham Sri ranga

naatham GurumSrimath Thembarai Andavan divya charitham samAptham ||

 

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