[Chaturamnaya] Life and Teachings of His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahaswamigal - 6

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post)

http://svbf.org/journal/vol4no1/Mahasannidhanam.pdf

Qualities of a Sishya

In an Upanyasam (speech) delivered at Madurai in 1958, the Acharya listed the qualities of a
true disciple. He said: “The disciple must be of pure mind, a server of the holy, of proper conduct,
desirous of knowing the truth, intent on service to the Guru, free from vanity, eager to offer
prostration’s, one awaiting an opportune moment to pose queries, of restrained mind and regulated
senses, free from envy, surrendered unto the Guru, possessed of faith in the Sastras, successful in
tests and one who shows gratitude. Such a dear disciple is worthy of being imparted with knowledge.”
These qualities were abundantly present in the Acharya. Paramacharya used to regularly keep track
of the progress of the many students at Narasimhavanam. He invariably found Srinivasan head and
shoulders above the others in all subjects, be they basic texts or literature. He also created
situations which drew Srinivasan to give very appropriate replies. One such instance arose when
Parmacharya composed a verse whose simple meaning is as follows:
“Siva, in his manifestation as Dakshinamurti indicated through his silence and chinmudra that the
Atma is without a second, is of the nature of consciousness, and is all-pervading. Therefore the
book, snake, and flame (in his hands) support the truth.”
Many of the scholars from the Mutt gave the usual meaning, one of them emphasizing that the book
stood for Advaita, the serpent for knowledge, and the fire for all-pervasiveness. Although the
leaves of the book are separate, there is unity in the book. This indicates Advaita or non-duality
in the midst of the appearance of variety. The example of the snake is common and shows that
knowledge dawns when illusion disappears. Fire naturally represents all-pervasion. Just as the
whole world is pervaded by the heat of the fire, so the Atman is omnipresent.
This explanation, however, did not seem to meet with Parmacharya’s full approval. Srinvasan remarked
that the three examples indicated scripture, reasoning and experience. The Parmacharya was pleased
to note that Srinivasan was indifferent to the food served for the students, but accepted it with
reverence, as the ‘prasadam’ of the Acharaya.
One day while playing with a deer in the garden, Srinivasan fell down butted by the animal.
That night he developed fever which did not abate with Ayurvedic medicines. The Parmacharya,
when informed of this, did not show undue concern.

(To be continued)
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