[Advaita-l] Kalady’s Rediscoverer & Rediscovery - 11

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous post)
 
 https://www.sringeri.net/2010/06/28/articles/sri-adi-shankaracharya-the-connection-between-sringeri-travancore-and-kalady.htm
 
Sringeri and Travancore
 
It is most enthralling that the Travancore Royal State including the Travancore Dasas and Maharajas have from
time immemorial revered Sri Adi Shankaracharya and the Sringeri GuruParampara. The family has had the fortune of
having the successive Mahasannidhanams of Sringeri as their Guru. A number of historical records illustrate this.
In the family, anything that happens in the house is informed to the Peetham. When a child is born, namakaranam,
anna prashanam, vidyarambham, upanayanam, vivaham, shashtiabdapoorti, shata Abhishekam and the final leaving –
all this is informed to the Peetham. Such a contact or bandham is very hard to find.
 
The experiences we have had with the Mahasannidhanams are indeed unique and personal. The first time I had an idea
of anybody in the dress, the garb of a Sannyasi was when I was about 4 years old. I have a vague remembrance of seeing
a Kashaya Vesha, A great person. It was Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamiji (who had come to Thiruvanantapuram in 1927).
Something must have happened to me. I do not know whether it was a vibration or input of some energy. But from that time
onwards, as I grew up, my involvement with ritual, faith and Puja has been something which has been unending, never changed.
 
About 60 years back, I knew in my heart that my Kula deivam, Para deivam is Sri Padmanabha. Ever since, I have been
worshipping the Lord. I have begun this particular point because it has been my fortune that the present-day’s Holiness
(Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswami) and the previous Holiness (Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswami) have both come to my prayer
room, have been kind to offer atleast one flower, and take the Puja Vigraham in their hands. And the fact that both
Their Holinesses have kept this humble person’s Puja Vigraham in their Holy Hands is something which is unforgettable.
 
Once when Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Swami came here, He asked me – Do you read the Vishnu Sahasranamam? I said –
‘Only when time permits’. He said ‘No. Read it every day’. So whether I am in Thiruvanantapuram or I travel, I have
been reading Vishnu Sahasranamam daily for the last 35 years”. Such has been the compassion, kindness and affection with
which the Parampara has been guiding us.
 
To be continued …