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.

 

 

 

Marriage

 

In the year 1908, swAmi was married to Srimathi

Vijayavalli Ammal who was the seemantha puthree of

sAkkai nallAn chakravarthi Sri U.Ve. Srinivasa

dEsikAchariar swAmi. Immediately after the marriage,

swAmi took the VaisvadEva upadEsam from his paternal

uncle(younger brother of his father), Maha vidwAn

Brahmanidhi Sri. U.Ve. RamabhadrAchAr swAmi. During

his GruhasthAsramA, swAmi observed panca kAla

anushtAnams in an austere and rigorous way.

 

Full responsibility of taking care of the family fell

on 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

kEralA. First he went to Ettayapuram and received

sambhAvanA in Raja sadas. From there, swAmi went to

vAnamAmalai and was well supported by Jeer Bhattar

piran swAmi. Later he went to Thiruvananthapuram and

was honored by ThiruvthAngur mahArAjA . On his way

back , swAmi also visted kochi samasthAnam and

received sambhAvanA from rAja sadas.

 

SwAmi returned back to MannArgudi and served as an

examiner in a vidwat sadas set up by Sri satakOpa

mudaliar. Later, swAmi served as a religious teacher

in a national high school. His duty was to teach

religious lessons to the students from different

classes. His daily routine at the school would start

around 10 in the morning when swAmi would recite a

slokA from swAmi dEsikan’s sthothrAs in a melliflous

tone in front of the assembly. One of His students

recollected swAmi’s favorite slokA being “sEvE dEvi”

from swAmi dEsikan’s Sri Sthuthi. During this time

swAmi served as an examiner for sanskrit competitions

conducted Sri kanchi kAmakOti matam. Sri SankarAchArya

(paramAchAryA) had utmost respect for swAmi’s

pAndithyAm.

 

SwAmi followed Sriman nigamAntha mahA dEsikan in

observing ‘Unccha vrutthi’. In MannArgudi, our swAmi

and Navalpakkam swAmi used to observe ‘unccha vrutthi’

in carrying out their day-to-day life. Such was the

vairAghyam swAmi possessed in renouncement all the

materialistic lifestyle and observance of severe

austerity. SwAmi used to walk very fast reciting swAmi

dEsikan’s sri sookthis while going out for unccha

vrutthi. Only those who were waiting in the streets to

give bhikshA to swAmi could do so. Such was the

greatness of swAmi that people considered themselves

to be fortunate to offer bhikshA to him. Due to this,

only a few could give it to him. SwAmi out of his

compassion to bhagavathAs would however not disappoint

those who could not give bhikshA to him, but would

take a few grains from them to keep them happy. SwAmi

performed unccha vrutthi even during later days when

he was undergoing kAlakshEpams under Srimath

NammAndavan.

 

KalakshEpams

 

Because of Srimath Andavan thiruvadi sambhandam his

parampara had for generations, swAmi decided to go to

Vaduvoor from Mannargudi to perform kainkaryams for

Srimath NammAndavan. SwAmi underwent grantha

chathushtya kAlakshEpams under Srimath NammAndavan. In

the kAlakshEpa goshti, swAmi used to listen to

kAlakshEpam with rapt attention and full

concentration. SwAmi being an astute and a keen

learner would grasp the most difficult purports and

inner meanings of granthams very first time he

listened to them.

 

Srimath NammAndavan performed panca samskAram to swAmi

in his younger days and later performed bhara

samarpanam at the lotus feet of vaduvoor chakravarthi

thirumagan(Lord Sri Rama). Having observed swAmi’s

satva gunAs, sraddhA,vairAghyam,intelligence and wide

knowledge of sAstrAs, Srimath NammAndavan ordained him

to take up sanyAsam. But our swAmi prayed to His

Holiness that he was unfit to take up the holy ascetic

order for the asramam and hence continued with his

kAlakshEpams.

 

Whenever swAmi had a chance to share the extensive

sAstraic knowledge he possessed, he would do so

cheerfully by participating in vidwat sadas and by

talking to individuals who had doubts on our siddanthA

or any religious matters. SwAmi’s upanyasams were

widely accepted as pramAnAs. In the year 1922, in

Mannargudi, Sri Ramanaya upanyasam of swAmi was

arranged by Sri. U.Ve. vidwAn Rona swAmi Iyengar and

Sri. U.Ve. KrishnamAchAriAr which went on for over two

months.

 

While swAmi was undertaking kAlakshEpams from His

Holiness Srimath NammAndavan during Srimath Andavan’s

sanchAram and in Srirangam, Srimath Andavan adorned

ThirunAdu unexpectedly in Kanchipuram. Srimath Akkur

Andavan succeeded NammAndavan to adorn the AchArya

peetam. Thembarai swAmi continued his kAlakshEpams

under Srimath Akkur Andavan.

 

 

 

Guna seelA

 

>From his younger days, swAmi was a puritan filled with

all satva gunAs without a tinge of rajas and tamO

gunAs. People used to wonder if they could find such a

nice person with all the nicest qualities one could

only imagine. Simplicity, honesty, purity, veracity,

courage, equality, renunciation, lucid and profound

sampradayic knowledge were hallmarks of swAmi’s gunAs.

One could see simplicity all the way in the clothes he

wore, the food he ate or the lifestyle he led. SwAmi

was such a down-to-earth person who won the respect of

many of his admirers. SwAmi was a very soft-spoken

person. He would never say harsh words that would hurt

others’ feelings. Even when there was a difference of

opinion, he would speak to others in a soft tone and

would finally convince them into his side. He would

never indulge in unnecessary company just to while

away time, rather spending his time on fruitful

sathvishayavichAram, kAlakshEpams.

 

SwAmi had no desire to save money for his family. The

amazing virakthi swAmi possessed is attributed to his

deep rooted profound knowledge of our siddhAnta and

total belief in it.Even during the sadas when

sambhavana was offered to vidwAns, swAmi would do his

best to avoid taking up sanmAnam.

 

SanyAsa sweekAram

 

Swami was doing kainkaryam to Srimath Akkur Andavan,

continuing to undertake kAlakshEpams under His

Holiness. Srimath Andavan was immensely pleased with

our swAmi’s GnAna, vairAghyA and AnushtAnams and felt

that our swami was the right person to be adorned as

‘sampradAya pravarthakA’ of periAsramam after His

time.

 

 

But swami felt that he is not a fit person to take up

the AchArya peetam and hence told the same to His

Holiness. Some also felt our swAmi’s extreme and

rigorous vairAghyA would impede the growth of Asramam

as they thought that the one who has the right balance

of ‘Lowkika sAmarthyam’ also, would be able to run

the day-to-day administration of Asramam efficiently.

 

But Srimath Andavan thought otherwise and felt that

swami was the right person to take up the sanyAsam

after him and was very confident our swami would carry

Asramam’s growth to heights of glory. Accordingly HH

did upadEsam on prapatti proyOgA and prEsha manthram

to our swami.

 

In the meantime, swAmi’s dharma patni attained

AchAryan thiruvadi in the year 1946. Srimath Akkur

Andavan was also becoming weak because of age. HH was

more than convinced that our swami would come to Him

one day to take up sanyAsam. Swami after long thoughts

decided to take up sanyAsam and hence went to Srimath

Andavan and prayed to HH and sought his blessings for

the sanyAsam. Srimath Andavan was extremely pleased by

swAmi’s decision and ordained His sishyAs to make

arrangements for the Holy ceremony.

 

In the year viya in the month of Aippasi on the 21st

day i.e. on 6-10-1946 in the presence of several

Andavan Thiruvadis, Srimath Akkur Andavan gave the

holy sanyAsam to Sri. U.Ve. Brahmaniddhi Thembarai

VenkatarAghavAchAriar swami. He was given the title as

‘Sri RanganAtha mahA dEsikan’ and was fondly called as

Thembarai Andavan. Srimath Akkur Andavan lived for 5

more months after that and adorned ThirunAdu on

19-3-1947 on a krishna paksha dwAdasi day ( in the

month of Panguni, viya year).

 

 

 

Because of the sanyAsa sweekAram, swami's lifestyle

did not change a bit at all as he practiced a life of

sanyAsi even before that with rigorous anushtAnams and

extreme vairAghyam having completely renounced worldly

comforts.

 

After Srimath Akkur Andavan adorned ThirunAdu, all of

His Apa kAryams were well done. Besides that, special

vasthrA dAnam and Anna dAnam were performed. A

BrindAvanA was constructed in chinnAsramam and a

vigraha prathistApanA was consecrated for Srimath

Akkur Andavan.

 

The daily chores of Asramam was maintained the same

way as it was done from Srimath PeriAndavan's period.

Srimath Thembarai Andavan would wake up before 4 AM in

the morning and would perform avagAha snAnam

immediately thereafter. SandhyAvandhanam, japams

would be done after that followed by bhagavath

ArAdhanam and purvAchAryAs' pAdukA ArAdhanam. This was

followed by distribution of perumAl and pAdukA

theertham. A special sambhAvanA would be performed on

the thirunakshatrams of purvAchAryAs. Later, Sri

bhAshya, geethA bhAshya, bhagavath vishaya

kAlakshEpams would by rendered by His Holiness after

which vaidheeka karmas such as samAsrayanams and

bharanyAsams would be performed for the bhAgavathAs

for the day.

 

In the afternoon, His Holiness would immerse Himself

into grantha patanam or dhyAna japams. Several people

have seen swami profoundly immersed in yoga nishtai.

In the evenings, kAlakshEpams on divya sookthis such

as Srimath RamAyanam, nyAya siddhAnjanam. AdhikaraNa

sArAvaLi would happen besides other anushtAnams.

 

Srimath Andavan would consume very little food once a

day in the mornings. Later when swami had breathing

related problems, little quantity of 'ThuthuvalAI' and

'ManatthakALikkAi' were included in the food. During

few nights, swami would consume porridge. After 10 PM,

swami would go to sleep.

 

SwAmi's AchArya bhakthi knew no bounds. SwAmi would

always attribute the 'Apoorva vishayams', he mentioned

during kAlakshepams to what he heard from his

AchAryAs and that they would say that in even more

nicer way.

 

The Bhakti and viswAsam that swami had towards pAdukAs

is immeasurable. He would always say that pAdukAs had

divine knowledge, power and 'dayA' and whoever seeked

them wholeheartedly would be blessed with 'shrEyas'.

 

Srimath Andavan never undertook yAthra during his time

as AchAryA. This is attributed to swami becoming very

weak and for health reasons stayed in Srirangam

throughout. But this did not prevent Srimath Andavan

from reaching out to His SishyAs and admirers

throughout the country as bhAgavAthAs from all over

India hearing Srimath Andavan's greatness, rigorous

anushtAnams, extreme vairAghyam, soulabhyam and

sowseelyam thronged Srirangam to seek the blessings of

Srimath Andavan and became Srimath Andavan thiruvadis.

Srimath Andavan sparkled as a 'Srivaishnava pradeepam'

staying in Srirangam but attracting people from all

over, far and wide.

 

Asramam Administration

 

Under the supervision of Srimath Andavan, the

administration of Asramam was carried out in an able

and efficient manner. Bhagavath and PadukA ArAdhanam,

kAlakshEpams, thadheeyArAdhanam were performed daily.

PurvAchAryAs' Thirunakshatrams were celebrated in a

grand manner. Asramam temples and pushkarinis were

well maintained. Srimath Andavan would be very

particular that the revenues coming to the asramam had

to be legitimate. With this in mind, the sambhAvanA

given by Srimath periAndavan thiruvadi Sri. U.Ve

kodiyAlam 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's

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

U.Ve. T.V.S. and family and other devout Andavan

sishyAs were accepted for taking care of Asramam

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. SrinivAsa

rAghavAchariAr swami ( Kannan swami – later Srimath

Thirukkudanthai Andavan) served as Sri Karyams of

Asramam at different periods.

 

 

 

Sri Kannan swami at that time was very popular through

out the country for his outstanding upanyasams. Kannan

swami known for his lowkika and administrative skills

took care of Asramam administration in an able manner

as Srikaryam and made a lot of improvements in

carrying out its administrative day-to-day activities.

Srimath Andavan was very pleased with the developments

and witnessed the enormous strides, the asramam was

making in its growth.

 

As per the holy order of His Holiness, a monthly

magazine called 'Sri Ranganatha Paduka' was started in

the year 1955 in the month of October ( Manmatha

Varusham in the month of Ippasi) to bring a connection

between the asramam and the andavan sishyas. A

condensed version of Sri bhashyam titled 'Adhikarana

tharpanam' was published in the year 1959. Srimath

PeriAndavan's 160th thirunakshatra mahotsavam was

celebrated in a grand manner in the year 1961 that

included ubhaya veda patanam and sadas. A grantham

titled 'Bhagavath Aradhana kramAnu bhandham' was also

published on the occasion. In order to remove the

obstacles that were to be caused by the union of eight

planets at that time, a grand shanthi homam was

conducted as per vedic rites.

 

It was Srimath Andavan's wish that the bhagavathas

belonging to our sampradaya indulge in anushtanams

from their younger days, learning divya sukthis and

our siddhanta to a large extent and hence would

encourage His sishyas to bring up their children that

way. Srimath Andavan would bless sishyas to recite the

appropriate slokams in paduka sahasram to ward off

their sufferings.

 

Adorning of Thirunadu

 

Srimath Thembarai Andavan became weaker as the days

passed by due to rigorous anushtanams, meagre intake

of food and also due to breathing related health

issues. Srimath Andavan was eager to appoint the right

person to succeed him as AchArya of the Asramam.

Srimath Andavan found Sri U.Ve. Kannan swAmi( who was

serving as Srikaryam of the Asramam at that time)to be

to be right person he was looking for and hence

informed Sri U.Ve.Kannan swami of the same and prayed

Sri padukas for Sri kannan swami to give the consent.

Sri Kannan swami did not accept to take up sanyasam

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

meantime Srimath Andavan became more weaker as the

days passed by. So His Holiness gave upadEsam on

“PrEsha 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 Sri kannan swAmi's thureeyAsrama

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.

 

Brindavana prathishta was done for Srimath Thembarai

Andavan in ChinnAsramam to the left of brindavanam of

Srimath Akkur Andavan. In the year 1967 ( Parabhava

varusham in the month of Masi on the 10th instant on

an auspicious wednesday, pushya nakshatram and

thrayodasi thithi between 9 AM and 10:30 AM) divya

mangala vigraha prathishta and maha samprokshanam was

celebrated in a grand manner. Srimath

Paramahamsethyathi Vinnarrangarai Andavan of Srimath

Poundareekapuram Andavan Asramam graced the occasion

where hundreds of bhagavathas participated and got the

blessings of Srimath Thembarai Andavan.

 

let us pray to the divya mangala vigraha of Srimath

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

guide us to lead the life in the most righteous way.

 

AdiyEn would conclude this posting with Srimath

Thembarai Andavan’s thanian and pray to Srimath

Andavan's pAdukAs to get His FULL BLESSINGS.

 

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

 

 

 

Srimath Thembarai Andavan divya charitham samAptham ||

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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