Sri Nambudari Appa

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The following is a word-to-word reproduction of a recordingmade when Sri Harsha spoke about his great master on a VasanthaNavaratri. Some additional information is from a Tanthri in Guruvayoorwho was initiated by Sri Nambudari Appa."Nambudari Appa was a man of true divinity and godhood. He was knownto `few' ordinary mortals which included a limited circle of hisdisciples. He existed in a mortal frame for 512 years. Now, is not 8 X8 X 8 = 512? His lifespan of 512 years is not mere coincidence.Nothing in the scheme of things of a perfected being like appa is merecoincidence. Appa had not kept his mortal coil merely by performingkAyAkalpa like Vishuddhananda and others. Kayakalpa, a branch ofrasavAda practiced both in dakShiNa desha and mahAchIna, is really aninferior technique – at least the popular usage is. Appa hadworshipped the sixty-four Yoginis, sixty-four Bhairavas, who togetherreside in 128 sthanas (108 marma sthanas and twenty positions fromadhaH sahasrAra to mahA shoDashAnta) and also the sixty-four shAmbhavamithunas (Four mithunas in each of the sixteen places from adhaHsahasrara to Shodashanta) – being a Krama Dikshita of the highestorder. Every number has some significance in the lives of great men.`Sir' Chidanandanatha was born on a Chaturthi and attained Kaivalya ona Shashthi! Muladhara to Sahasrara – Saguna to Nirguna is indicatedhere. Now, was not Bhaskaracharya born on Chaturthi and attainedKaivalya on Shashti? If you ask me how I know this, `Sir' mentionedit. Who better can know about his own birth date then the personhimself? Coming back, Appa was born in 1489 (Appa mentioned his Guru'sMahasamadhi Tithi once and that he was physically 29 years old then;from that I could decipher that he was born in 1489. When a disciple'sgrandchild once asked him when his `happy birthday' was, he joviallyreplied, `First day of Navaratri, every one celebrates it! Year startswith it') at an agraharam 60 kms from Kaladi (an elderly disciple ofappa – the well-known mahAmahopAdhyAya Brahmasri Vancheshwara Shastrimentioned of this place, which appa mentioned to him, to anotherdisciple, which was later forgotten. You know how complex theseMalayali names are! Real tongue-twisters). His Father's name wasAnanta Padamanabha Nambudari. His father was a great scholar who hadstudied in Kashi and had received special honors by the Maharaja ofBenaris. Appa (It was Appa's wish that his actual name or Diksha nAmabe never revealed outside a certain group) studied Veda, Angas,shAnkara Bhashya and some Agama by the age of 15 and proceeded tolearn under a Yati named Vidya Ghana (someone I spoke to said that aYati by this name resided in Kanchipuram. But a well known Yati bythis name resided much earlier to Appa's time in Kanchi. Moreover,Appa once mentioned that after completing his Gurukulavasa, he walkedfor several days, doing Tirtha Yatra and enroute visited Kanchi. Soour Yati must have resided somewhere in the north. I assume it to beGujrat as Appa spoke more of Gujrati among the several languages hewas conversant in). His branch of learning was Krshna Yajurveda. Hewas initiated into Bhuvaneshwari Mantra by a Guru he fondly remembersas `Periyappa' and no other details about this Guru are known. Hemarried at the age of 21 and had four sons. Being a great scholar ofAdvaita Shastra, he traveled far and wise and defeated many scholarsof Gaudiya and Madhva dualistic sects in debate. When he visitedBenares, he was initiated into Kali Mahavidya by MahamaheshwaraDeepaka Siddha (Kamakala Kali to be precise) and later into Nila TaraMahavidya at the Avimukta Kshetra by Kulanandanatha – who are greatSiddhas reputed to be the disciples of the now famousKadambaryanandanatha, or Babaji as we and Rajnikanth's fans know him.He mentioned that a shrine for his Guru Kulanandanatha is stillpresent near Hatakeshwar temple in Benares. He assumed Sannyasa inBenares at the age of 25 and practiced Kundalini Yoga under the greatYoga Siddha Sri Sri Sri Dhenuka Babaji (the master was called so as heworshipped his chief upAsyA – Sri Kameshwari – in Gomata) – the Guruof Sri Trailinga Swamiji Maharaj. According to his Guru's orders, hemeditated for many decades in the Yogini Gupha in Nagaland. He wasthen directed by Vanadurga Devi to proceed to Vindhyachal. AtVindhyachal, at the age of 72, his Guru Swacchanda Bhairavanandantha –Lord Swacchanda Bhairava in physical form appeared to him andinitiated him into Chinnamasta Mahavidya and imparted Krama Diksha –from Purnabhisheka to Maha Samrajya Medha. At the age of 72, Appaattained immortality.Appa has supposedly stayed for considerably long periods of times inJodhpur, Mysore, Tiruvannamalai and Benaras though Vindhya and Girnarare generally his chief abodes. He specially mentioned about hismeeting of H H Sri Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrsimha BharatiMahaswamigal of Sringeri and receiving mantropadesha from him. Whenquestioned about the need of an Upadesha for a perfected being likehim, here was the reply: I was blessed with the fortune of receivingAnugraha from the Nigraha Rupa of Paramashiva (referring to his GuruSwacchanda Bhairava). How could I let go the opportunity of receivingAnugraha from the Anugraha Swarupa of the lord? This again confirmsthat Mahaswamigal was indeed Mahadeva himself! He recounted severalwonderful experiences with the Jagadguru, considered to be theincarnation of Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada. A senior official of theSringeri Mutt, whose father was a close associate of H H SriChandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal confirmed that he had noticed amysterious person who visited the two Acharyas regularly. Appa stayedwith Sri C Ramaswamy Iyer's family. ardent devotees of Sri Kamakshi,several times during the last decade in Chennai.No one ever saw him eat or drink anything except Teertham – which hereferred to as Charanamrtam. His only written work is an extensivecommentary of Kamakalavilasa – running to around 1000 pages, whichwill be published someday, when the master wills. He also compiled theprocedures of Krama Diksha Vidhana – never described completely in anyof the Tantras and passed by Siddha Gurus to their disciples – into awork called Krama Diksha Kalpavallari. In 2001, he decided to shed hismortal coil and merged into his upAsyA – mahA nirvana sundari – atKanchipuram, present physically as Sri Kamakshi Mahabhattarika. Noteanother interesting thing here. Durvasa is one of the chief preceptorsof Krama Siddha Sampradaya and he is the guardian and Guru atKanchipuram. If someone says Adi Acharya established Kamakshi andSrichakra at Kanchi, they know nothing. No one established our ladythere. She is present from ever. Sri Durvasa established Srichakra andthus was established a Peetha called Sri Kamakoti Peetha. If there isany Peetha or Srichakra there, it is Durvasa Pratishtha and hasnothing to do with Adi Shankara. Adi Shankara probably worshipped theSrichakra and streamlined the Puja procedures. To this day, SriDurvasa is present in the shrine at Kanchipuram. Watch closely and ifyou are devoted enough to Amba, Guru and Srividya, you will surely gethis Darshan. In early 1930s, a certain scholar from Kashmir wasblessed by Sri Durvasa who guided him in writing a commentary on SriLalita Stavaratna, also known as Arya Dwishati. Sri Durvasa is thusthe first among the Gurus we need to worship – as we are SrividyaUpasakas who worship Kamakshi and more so as we belong to KramaSampradaya. It is generally unnecessary to discuss the extraordinarylives of such great Upasakas – especially in front of those who areawed by immortality, Siddhi and miracles, which automatically resultin the chief goal of upAsana being sidelined. However, there is also abunch that derives inspiration from the lives of the great for theirown Sadhana and it is for their sake that such discussions – like theone we have had today – are undertaken. mahAdevamekam smarAmi smarAmi"