[Chaturamnaya] Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati, Shankaracharya of Sringeri Sarada Pitam (2)

[S Jayanarayanan]

(Continued from previous posting)

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati's intellectual
stature was very high; he made rapid progress
in his studies. For four years the Swami studied
with Virupaksha Sastri, by which time
he acquired thorough proficiency in Vedanta.
Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati was by nature
soft and gentle, qualities which he further
developed. He also increasingly developed
dispassion and discrimination. He was a natural
poet and his poetic outpourings during
this period were full of beauty and feeling.
Everyday he would worship the sandals of
his Guru Sri Narasimha Bharati and remember
him with gratitude. He composed verses
in praise of the Sivabhinava, in many of which
he pleads for the Guru's blessings to get rid
of desires and attachment to the body. In the
year 1916, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati
consecrated the Saradamba temple at the
Sringeri Math, renovation work for which
had been started by his Guru.

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati, throughout
the initial periods of his reign, sought the
peaceful and serene atmosphere of Narasimha
Vana, immersing himself in tapas. The math
authorities were worried over what they perceived
as the Swami's inexplicable mental
state. Shy, reticent and retiring by nature,
the Swami found contentment and peace in
the inner recesses of his heart. The outside
world, however, thought otherwise. The
math authorities drew up plans for a tour by
Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati. Left to himself,
the saint would have loved to live in seclusion
and continue his intense tapas. However,
he had to respect the traditions of the
math, an important part of which was going
on yatras, reaching out to the devotees and
the general public and organising and attending
to whatever was necessary for upholding
the Vedic dharma. In the year 1924, Sri
Chandrasekhara Bharati agreed to leave
Sringeri for the first time in twelve years after
ascension to the Pitha and go on yatra.

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati first visited
Mysore, where he was given a reverential and
enthusiastic welcome by the Mysore royal
family and the devout public. The Maharaja,
Krishnarajendra Wodeyar was himself a spiritual
person besides being a great scholar and
enlightened administrator. The Swami inaugurated
a memorial for his Guru, the
Sivabhinava, constructed on the site of the
latter's birthplace. A marble statue of the
Guru was installed and plans finalised to
conduct regular discourses on the sastras and
higher studies in Vedanta.

Later the Swami visited Nanjangud,
Satyamangalam, Coimbatore, Trichy,
Tirunelveli and Trivandrum before finally
arriving at Kaladi, the birthplace of Adi
Shankara. This hallowed land was discovered
by Sri Narasimha Bharati. The consecration
of this shrine was done in 1910. Sri
Chandrasekhara Bharati gave a fillip to religious
activities at Kaladi by inaugurating an
agrahara for Vedic pandits and establishing a
Vedanta Patasala, where scholars could debate
and conduct research on Vedanta. After
staying for a few days at Kaladi, giving darshan
to devotees and discoursing on dharma, religion
and philosophy, Sri Chandrasekhara
Bharati returned to Sringeri in December
1927. This four year tour served to bring the
Sringeri math and its ideals closer to the people.
It also gave people the opportunity to
know their Acharya and many benefited out
of his darshan.

As soon as he returned from his tour Sri
Chandrasekhara Bharati began frequenting
Narasimha Vana; he resumed his intense
tapas.

Though he went about his normal chores,
the Swami's mind was not on them. He
would begin abhisheka to the deity and do it
endlessly without thought of time; he would
hold a flower in his hand for hours together
without offering it to the deity; he would
repeat a particular mantra several times without
going to the next; sometimes he walked
away in the middle of the puja without informing
anyone and a math official would
have to finish the puja.

As months went by, Sri Chandrasekhara
Bharati grew more and more indrawn. He
stopped performing puja and did not show
any interest in the day to day administration
of the math. He also stopped teaching
students who came to him to learn the
bhashyas and Vedanta. He stopped giving
darshan to devotees. In short, he totally cut
off all contact with the outside world. The
Swami would for days on end be immersed
in antarmukha, totally oblivious to the world.
He did not know the passing of night or day.
Sometimes, while moving about in trance,
he would recite slokas from Sadasiva
Brahmendra's Atma Vidya Vilasa. Ever immersed
in the bliss of the Self, Sri
Chandrasekhara Bharati became an enigma
to the math authorities. The pontiff of
Sringeri had to interact with the multitudinous
devotees of the math who came for his
darshan, to witness puja performed by him
and receive tirtha prasad from the Swami's
own hands as well as his blessings. Pandits
and scholars expected encouragement and
directions from the Swami in their pursuit
of Vedic and Vedantic studies and researches.
He had to give instructions to math officials
on administrative matters. The math authorities
felt that Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati was
neglecting these duties. In their view the behaviour
of the Swami was not only strange
and abnormal, it bordered on madness.
Therefore they imposed several restrictions
on Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati's movements.
He was confined to his room in Narasimha
Vana. When the Swami came out of trance,
which was rare, he performed puja, gave
darshan and taught his students if he so
wished. Otherwise, the administrator of the
math, Srikanta Sastri performed puja and
carried on the general administration of
the math.

Srikanta Sastri expressed his apprehensions
as well as those of other devotees about the
Swami's 'mental health' to the Maharaja of
Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar. The Maharaja
sent his Dewan, Sir Mirza Ismail to
Sringeri to study the situation. Later, the
Chief of the Government Mental Hospital
at Bangalore (now NIMHANS), Dr M. V.
Govindaswami, was deputed to Sringeri for
the purpose of examining the Swami.

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati was in
antarmukha at Narasimha Vana, therefore the
doctor could not meet him. He questioned
the math staff and some of Sringeri's citizens
discreetly about the Swami. The doctor stayed
for seven days and had still not had the opportunity
of meeting the Swami. A day before
the doctor was due to leave for Bangalore,
Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati came out of his
antarmukha state and gave darshan to devotees.
Dr Govindaswami who was among those
gathered in the Swami's presence, got up and
asked for permission to leave the next day.
The Swami, with a sweet smile on his lips
asked, "Have you completed the work for
which you came here?" The doctor was
stunned at this question as the Swami had
no way of knowing his (doctor's) arrival or
of the nature of his mission. Dr
Govindaswami then realised that Sri
Chandrasekhara Bharati knew everything and
also that nothing was wrong with him. The
Swami continued, "Have you finished examining
me? Can my disease be cured by your
methods? This is my prarabdha and I have to
undergo it. You cannot do anything. Therefore,
please go home. God will bless you."
So saying, the Swami gave him prasad and
blessed him.

(To be continued in the next posting)