[Chaturamnaya] Life and Teachings of His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahaswamigal - 7

[S Jayanarayanan]

 (Continued from previous post)

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

Touch of Guru’s Hand

Next day, when no one was around where the boy was resting, he entered the hut. Srinivasan abruptly
got up and prostrated in a manner that he came in contact with the Parmacharaya’s sacred feet.
The Parmacharya lifted up the lad and placed his hand on the head. He then softly queried,
“Have you still got fever? Do not worry.” He continued, “Go and lie down.”

The touch of the guru’s hand instantly freed Srinivasan from sickness and thereafter he was quite
normal. The incident introduced a major change in Srinivasan. He became more serious and seldom
indulged in idle conversation.

The Parmacharaya used to instill very often the importance of dispassion by initiating the chanting
of Antakshari Slokas. One such verse was:
Who indeed knows when the death will overtake any person? Life is transient. Even when young,
one should practice righteousness. In childhood, one does not have discriminative insight.
While a youth, one is engrossed in sensual pleasures. Later, on the manifestation of old age,
if discrimination were to dawn what can one achieve?

In the same vein the Parmacharaya had often stated the importance of Brahmacharaya and sannyasa.
He said that marriage is compulsory only for a person who wants to enjoy sensual pleasures.
It is not obligatory on one who has strong dispassion towards leading a householder’s life.
Further, there is no Vedic injunction that a dispassionate one should get married.

A man can become an ascetic regardless of whether he is a celibate or a householder or a forest
dweller. These points were driven home on many occasions and Parmacharaya was able to gauge from
Srinivasan’s face that the advice was having the desired effect. Undoubtedly, these words would
have been like nectar to him whose longing for asceticism was intense and innate.

Choice of Successor

The Parmacharaya did not explicitly reveal his intention to choose Srinivasan as his successor
to the Peetham. However, his intention became apparent when, at the end of his daily puja to
Sri Chandramoulisvara, he began to pray, “O beloved of Siva, quickly make Srinivasan omniscient
and a disciple to me.”

Subsequently, the Parmacharaya resolved that Srinivasan should be his successor. That night he
dreamt that his Guru also gave total consent to his choice. The Parmacharaya felt intensely happy.
The next day he informed the Mutt agent, Srikanta Sastry. At Banaglore, Venkatalaksmi Ammal readily
consented to her son taking up sannyasa.

The sacred initiation ceremony was to be held on May 22, 1931. Rama Sastry and his family had
arrived from Banagalore to witness the function. Srinivasan was convinced that the Peetham
conferred upon one the great grace of Goddess Sharada but it was upto one to utilize that grace
to strive and gradually attain the highest. Else it was wasted on the recipient.
 
Since as a renouncee, Srinivasan cannot prostrate to his parents, he did so prior to his initiation
and obtained their blessings.

Dream Augury

Srinivasan had earlier had a dream which augured well for his future greatness. He dreamt that he
had gone to the temple to have darsan of Sri Sharada Devi. Waiting amongst a crowd of thousands
of devotees, his Guru beckoned him to enter the sanctum sanctorum. The door then closed.

The Goddess took him on her lap and said, “Your good times are ahead. Kings will pay obeisance
to you. Do not become proud. Continue to worship me and do not be separated from your Guru even
for a moment. Wear this crystal necklace in my remembrance.”

So saying she placed the necklace on his neck. Thereafter as the diparadhana was taking place,
the necklace disappeared. “Why have I lost it,” wondered Srinivasan. The dream ended there.
Perhaps for a person of Srinivasan’s stature there was absolutely no need for an external
remembrancer.

The Acharaya narrated another incident relating to his sannyasa. While he was walking in the
Narasimhavanam a cobra crossed his path and remained with its hood upraised directly above the
Acharaya’s feet. He stood motionless admiring the snake and not in the least fearful of it.
The snake, for its part, remained without moving for a while and the lowered its hood and moved on.

As far as the Acharaya was concerned the significance of the incident was as follows: He said,
“It was not as though the snake did not fear me because I believed in Ahimsa. All I can say is
that I derived great joy because I regarded it as a good omen.”

(To be continued)
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