|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Avataram
Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan was in the born in a small village called “ karukudi” (situated next to Thirukkandiyur in Tanjore district) in the banks of river Kaveri in the Parabhava year - Panguni month –with pushyam as his birth star -( 1907) to Sri. U.Ve. Padmanabhachariar and Komalavalli devi. He was named as “Srinivasaraghavan” He was fondly called by everybody as ‘Kannan”.
Kannan swami was taken to Srirangam periAsramam many a times by his father during His childhood days. He used to observe the paduka Aradhanam being performed there and when he came back to kudanthai, he will play with friends of his age posing himself as an acharya, wearing a cloth up to knee height and will have a dhandam in his hand and proclaim himself as Andavan. He will carry the water in “kottankacchi” – a dried coconut shell ( Srirangam periAsramam is also called kottankacchi Asramam) and distribute the “theertham” in the same way Srimath thErezhundur Andavan used to do ( focusing both His eyes in one direction). He will do all this with out the knowledge of his father.
Sri Padmanabhachar swami taught him the arulicheyalgals of Alwars – Nalayira divya prabhandham at a tender age and swami mastered the tamil vedham , before he completed 14 years. He also learnt sAstras in Kottaiyur , under the tutelage of Sri. Seshasayee
Sri padmanabhachAr swami sent his son to Raja patasala in Kamakshi josyar street for some time to learn more on sastras. Later swami learnt tharka,and meemamsa,vyakarana sastras under shri devanagar vilagam swami . He stood as a paragon, gaining extensive knowledge in all the sastras . He also qualified for Sanskrit Sironmani fromThiruvaiyaru Sanskrit college. Whenever Nammandavan and Engalandavan visited Thirukkudanthai in their respective times, Sri Kannan swami performed kalakshepams on adhyatma sastras under their lotus feet. One of those times, Srimath Engalandavan performed “Bhara samarpanam” to Sri Kannan swami in Amudhan sannidhi. Swami had been performing kainkaryam to divya desam perumals even much before becoming Andavan.
Life as a Gruhasta
By the age of 14, swami having mastered the
whole of Divya prabhadham became a leading member in the adhyapaka
ghosti. At the age of 16, He got
married to Sri vedavalli
ammal. She was the sixth daughter of Neduntheru
krishnaswamy Iyengar. For his livelihood,
swami started giving upanyasams at a very young
age.
Swami used to visit Tanjore ,
every Sunday to render kalakshepams on Geetha
Bhashyam.
Four sons
and two daughters were born to swami in his gruhasthasramam. After
his father’s demise, swami with the
blessings of his Acharya, went to Chennai to take care of his family
needs.
Move to Chennai
When swami went to chennai, Akkur varadachar
swami, an ardent devotee of sreemad Akkur Andavan,and
a great business magnet , requested Him to stay
in his thirumaligai and arranged
for swami’s rendering of kalakshepams in various
sabhas through out the city.
Kannan swami had His own distinct and inimitable
style of rendering upanyasam. It simply
mesmerized the listeners who were
always seeking more at the end of His upanyasams.
At that time His contemporaries in upanyasams were
stalwarts such as karppangaduvenkatachariar swami, kanchi vidwan prathivadhi
bhayankaram Annangarachariar swami. As a parent,
Swami performed his duties very well by giving good
education to his children and led his gruhastasrama
in a blessed manner
His Acharya Bhakti which was so deep rooted in his heart prompted him to visit Srirangam several times to seek the blessings of Srimath Thembarai Andavan. Srimath Thembarai Andavan,seeing his Acharya bhakthi not only ordained him to look after the administration affairs of the Asramam ( by appointing him as Sri karyam of the Asramam) but also commanded Him to stay permanently in Srirangam.
In 1963, Srimath Thembarai Andavan became very weak and emaciated due to strict Ahara niyamams and old age and wanted to nominate His successor to adorn the Acharya peetam. Sri Kannan swami who had unassuming Acharya bhakthi, rigorous observance ofanushtanams, and great administrative skills immediately came to his mind. This very thought made Srimath Andavan feel happy and His Holiness apprised Sri kannan swami about this and was optimistic that Sri Kannan swami would oblige.
Taking up sanyasam
Srimath Thembarai Andavan became weaker as the
days passed by. So His Holiness gave upadesam
on “Preksha manthram” and “Mokshasrama Ahnika
Anushtanam” to three vidwans of the
Asramam - U.Ve. Sri. Kannan swami(the
incumbent for the succession,) U.Ve. Sri. Mysore
GopalachAr swami( who later on
became Srimath Mysore Andavan in the year 1988) and Mannargudi Ganapadi vidwAn U.Ve. Sri. Narasimhacharya swami
, to be ready and take up sanyasam any
time when called.
When swami was in chennai, Srimath Andavan’s niyamanam kept on occurring to his mind and swami appeared to be reluctant in taking up sanyasam due to family circumstances.,.
Sri. Kannan swami’s son, Sri. Gopalan told his father that he had dreamt about Srimath Thembarai Andavan telling him that He had gone to viraja nadhi and come back and asked him to send his father immediately and take up sanyasam. GopAlan also told his father that he would take care of his mother (swami's dharma pathni) and asked him to proceed to Srirangam. Sri Kannan swamy finally decided to prepare himself for sanyasam and accept Srimath Thembarai Andavan’s Niyamanam.
On April 4th 1963, Srimath Andavan's condition
became worse Sree karyam
Sri. U.Ve. kannan swami was informed of Srimath Andavan’s
health and immediately kannan swamyrushed up to Srirangam. On His arrival,
arrangements were speeded up for His thureeyasrama
sweekaram.
Early morning the next day i.e. on 5th april, 1963 (Friday, sukla
dwadasi, makam star), in the presence of sishyas, His
Holiness Srimath Thembarai Andavan ordained the
ascetic order to Sri U.Ve. Kannan Swami who was named
as Srimath Vedanta Ramanuja maha
Desikan and within few hours
on the same day (April 5th 1963) Tembarai Andavan adorned Thirunadu .
This illustrious Acharya Peetam of Srimath
Andavan,developed centrally on His Holiness
Thirukkudanthai Srimath Andavan
vedantha ramanuja maha desikan.
He was a great scholar in Nyaya, Vyakarana, and
so much he was at ease in the recitals of
Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, Srimath
Ramayanam, Bhagavath Vishayam and sukthis, Having
taken to ascetic order, casting away
plentitude of wealth , this great Acharya had
assimilated in himself extreme, rigid
and rigorous life of a sanyasi, the strict austerity and highly puritan life
of his predecessors scorning all luxuries.
Sancharam
Poorvacharyas like Sri Periandavan, Sri
Nammandavan and Sri Akkoor Andavan went by padayatra
to places such as Melkote,
breadth of the country and set up various
Asramams in places very far away from
During His time, Srimath Andavan Asramam grew
leaps and bounds throughout the country. This
was truly a golden period in the annals of the
Asramam as it witnessed itself a
phenomenal growth and a meteoric rise. His
Holiness constructed many Asramams throughout the country during His period and
also conducted many Temple
samprokshanams,Yagnams, Homams and performed
mangalasasanams of various Divya desams, Vijaya
yathras from Kanniyakumari to Badrinath and held
Many Vidvath Sadas to name a few.
Srimath Andavan observed 26 chathurmasyams
spanning 26 years from 1963 to 1989 and reached
Thirunadu on Vibhava varusham –panguni madham-Krishna panjami day (10-04-1989)
leaving behind thousands of grieving disciples and
admirers, whose divine anubhavams with His Holiness
during His life time remain carved in
their memory forever.