1. Parentage and Early Life

More than a century ago, there was a pious and orthodox Telugu Brahmin, named Yajnanarayana Shastri, who lived in a village called Yedatore on the banks of the Cauvery. He was of Kashyapa-gotra, his sutra was Apastamba and he belonged to the mulaka-nadu sect.

It has been enjoined in the Manusmriti:

(Having learnt the Vedas as prescribed (in the Shastras), begotten progeny in a Dharmic (righteous) manner, offered oblations to one’s capacity by means of Yajnas (sacrifices), should one engage one’s mind in the pursuit of Moksha (liberation).)

In accordance with the dictates of scriptural passages such as this, Yajnanarayana Shastri first studied the Krishna-Yajurveda, his own Vedic-shakha, according to the rules of discipline prescribed for Brahmacharya; married in due time and settled as a householder, observing the rules of hospitality and worshipping the Gods in sacrifice; begot children for the perpetration of his family, as in duty bound; and when he turned sixty, he set his heart on the means of liberation from the trammels of Samsara (the cycle of births and deaths). Desirous of striving for liberation, he first went to a Sandhyamantapa close to Argyapushkarani on the banks of the Cauvery, a few miles away from his native village and spent some time alone there – away from his wife and children – to test for himself, how far he could resist the temptations of home surroundings and, when he found that the ties of family and property had no hold over him, he betook himself to a place far removed from his village – Cheranmadevi, in Tirunelveli District which was then a small and beautiful colony of Brahmins performing Agnihotra (daily fire sacrifice). He spent some time there, again testing the strength of his determination, and then he assumed Sannyasa. No one in his house knew of his stay at Cheranmadevi or sannyasa during his life-time.

It was only after his death that they came to know of the circumstances in which he assumed sannyasa from a letter written by some of the inhabitants of Cheranmadevi, as per his wish at the time of his leaving his mortal coil. The relatives then performed the ceremonies in Yedatore in the manner prescribed in the scriptures.

In the line of this mula-purusha (ancestor) was born Narasimha Shastri, who was the first to leave the village, Yedatore, and seek his fortune in the Court of the Maharaja of Mysore. He settled with his family in the old Agrahara (a locality) of Mysore town. He had two sons and, according to the custom of the family, the elder son was named as Narasimha Shastri; the younger one was named Rama Shastri. While Narasimha Shastri studied the Vedas as also the Kavyas and Alankara, Rama Shastri took to the study of the Vedas, the Kavyas and went on to study Nyaya, Indian dialectics, under his father. After his father's death, he continued his Nyaya studies under Tirupati Srinivasacharya, then a pundit renowned for his skill in Tarka-Shastra. He then went through a course of Sri Shankaracharya's Bhashyas (commentaries) and became a laureate among the court-pundits. He became widely known as Kunigal Rama Shastri. His name and fame for scholarship spread throughout South India and hundreds of students from the farthest corners of South India flocked to him for instruction, especially in the Nyaya-Shastra. The students who returned to their homes after finishing their course of studies under him became profound scholars. He wrote a very erudite work on Nyaya-Shastra, named Shatakoti, which has been held in high esteem by the renowned pundits in Nyaya.

His great erudition was only equalled by his piety. His belief in the Vedas and the Shastras was extraordinary. His faith and worship of Shiva was innate. The purity of the great pundit’s life was unquestionable. This great scholar was patronized by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III and, like his father, had earned a permanent place in the heart of His Highness and was one of the most distinguished among the learned men of his court.

Rama Shastri’s wife, the virtuous Lakshmamma, was devoted to the service of her husband. He and his wife, a model of chastity, love and obedience, observed fasts and vigils, worshipping Lord Sri Medha-Dakshinamurti, a form of Paramashiva and praying for long-living children; and in the thirty fourth year of his age, on the thirteenth day of Vaishakha in the year Sarvari (1840-41 C.E.), a son was born to him. It was a festive day in honour of God Narasimha — Narasimha-Jayanti. Both for this reason and following the family precedent of naming the first son after their tutelary deity Narasimha, the newborn infant was named Lakshminarasimha. Rama Shastri and his wife were then living in Nanjangud on the banks of the Kapila, performing daily worship to God Srikantheshwara. Another son was born to the couple in the month Vaishakha of the year Paraabhava when they were living in Kanchi (Kanchipuram) in Southern India. This child was named Yagnanarayana Shastri after a very early ancestor of his family referred to in the beginning of this chapter. Sometime after this, Rama Shastri became the father of a daughter.

In her fiftieth year, Lakshmamma, wife of Kunigal Rama Shastri, was again in the family way. This time, the Shastri devoutly wished and prayed for a son; he performed the Pumsavana rite, a ceremony which is usually performed only during the first pregnancy of a woman. 'Pumsavana' means a rite for the birth of a male child. Traditionally Hindus wish for a male child as their firstborn, for he alone could continue their line; the ceremonies to be performed by him in honour of his ancestors, have power to rescue them from the unblessed abodes, which their sinful deeds, while on earth, might have been assigned to them after death. A Brahmin, the scriptures say, is born with three debts to discharge:

The debt to the Rishis, the seers of the Vedic Mantras, is to be discharged by Brahmacharya – through study of the Veda under a qualified teacher, observing the rules of discipline prescribed for a student; that due to the Gods is to be discharged by due worship of the Gods and that to the Pitrus or ancestors is cleared by marrying after completion of studentship and begetting (male) children. Sage Apastamba says that the rite called Pumsavana ensures the birth of a male child.¹

Kunigal Rama Shastri had a number of students under him and among them the most devoted, hence the most favoured, was one Subrahmanya Shastri, who had come to him from the chola-desha². During the time of his wife’s pregnancy, Rama Shastri had set out with one or two of his pupils to pay a visit to Lord Srikantheshwara in Nanjangud.

On his way, a thought came to him about the name he should choose for his son about to be born. He thought within himself, “My two boys already born have not been given the name of Dakshinamurthy, even though they were the fruit of His grace. I must certainly give to the son about to be born one of the names of Paramashiva”. Rama Shastri then asked Subrahmanya: "What name shall I give to the child about to be born? I should prefer one of the names of Paramashiva, whom I am daily worshipping.” The pupil kept quiet.

The teacher pressed him for a reply; Subrahmanya said respectfully: “Sire, the child is yet to be born; whether it is going to be a male or a female child, God alone knows. Do you not think that it is a little premature, just now, to cast about for a name for a child still in the womb?” The teacher grew impatient at his reply and said, "Fie on your faith in the Veda. Don't you know that I have performed the Pumsavana rite for the child in the womb as a special case this time, and that the Shastras say that the rite, if performed with faith and in the prescribed form, is sure to result in the birth of a male child?" The rebuke went home; the student felt how far below he was to his teacher in implicit, unquestioned faith in the Shastras. He humbly replied: “Master, it is quite possible that Paramashiva, the object of your worship may himself be born in answer to your prayers. It would therefore be highly appropriate to name the child `Shivaswami’ (a name in vogue in the Chola-desha)”. The teacher was satisfied with the choice of name and resolved to give that name to the child on the nama-karana (naming ceremony) day, generally, the eleventh day after birth.

A son was born, in justification of his faith, in the year, Pingala S.S 1781 (Shalivahana Shaka) (11th March 1858 C.E), Thursday, Phalguna, Krishna-paksha, Ekadashi. It was just 9.00 P.M. and the hour-gun boomed at his birth, which was considered a very happy augury. Kunigal Rama Shastri, elated with joy, went to the big lake in the city for the necessary ablutions, plunged into the water, jumping from a great height, so that huge sprays of water rose up high and fell down all-round. As per the Shastras this way of splashing the water is good for the salvation of one’s departed ancestors.

Shivaswami, so the baby was named, grew up a winsome child. He delighted his parents by his childish sports, which consisted in smearing his fair limbs with the ashes of his father's Aupasana (a daily ritual for householders) hearth, clapping his hands and dancing and lisping words of divine praise, in imitation of his father when he performed his daily Shiva-Puja. However, Rama Shastri did not live long to enjoy the company of his illustrious son. Destiny was such that before Shivaswami completed two years, on the fourth day of the bright half of Magha in Siddharthi, he lost his father.

Lakshminarasimha Shastri, the eldest son of Kunigal Rama Shastri, was then nineteen years old. He took upon himself the management of his family after his father’s death and protected his mother and brothers and conducted himself in a manner worthy of the dignity and status of his distinguished father. He had studied Sanskrit, Kavya, Nataka and Alankara as well as Tarka under his father.

As Lakshminarasimha Shastri in his childhood was frequently afflicted with ill health, his father was not anxious to press forward his studies. Being aware of his delicate health, Rama Shastri never set him severe tasks in lessons as he did with the rest of his pupils. But due to Ishwara’s grace and as a result of his training in past births, his intelligence was exceptional. He was often instructing his father’s pupils and his own classmates as well as others independently by himself; and though his own studies were somewhat limited, his proficiency in Tarka was of a high order partly on account of his habit of instructing his classmates and partly by his natural force of intellect. Once when Lakshminarasimha Shastri was sixteen years of age, his father happened to be away from Mysore, travelling in South India. Some learned men from Southern India came to Mysore to take part in learned disputations at the royal court and win rewards. Lakshminarasimha Shastri heard that His Highness, the Maharaja, was anxious as to who in Mysore could hold disputations with the foreign pundits and so, attended the court.

As he was so young, he was not noticed either by the Maharaja or by the assembly of Vidwans. When the disputations began, the young Shastri pressed forward and began to take part in the discussions. When the discussions were concluded, both the foreign Vidwans who found it hard to meet the arguments of Lakshminarasimha Shastri and the court Vidwans were astonished at the young Shastri’s erudition and superb articulation. The joy of the Maharaja knew no bounds and the prestige of the court had been upheld so unexpectedly. The ability of the young Shastri was highly commended and he was presented with two gold bangles, a necklace of pearls and other honours even before the foreign pundits were given their rewards.

After his father’s death, Lakshminarasimha Shastri perfected himself in all the Shastras that he had learnt and set out on a travel. He seems to have visited Travancore; it is said that many famous Vidwans of that place were struck with astonishment at his ability in the disputations. Like his father, he taught Tarka to a great many students. He was one of the foremost among the learned men of the Mysore court during the later part of the reign of Krishna Raja Wodeyar III and for a few years during the reign of His Highness Chamarajendra Wodeyar.

As Lakshminarasimha Shastri grew older, his fame as a scholar spread even wider. His father’s celebrated work on Logic, Shatakoti, was criticized by some scholars who aspired to become renowned by attacking so famous a work. Having heard that Shatakoti had been criticized adversely by some pundits, he obtained a copy of the criticism and wrote a powerful defence of that work under the name Shatakoti-mandana. He also wrote a very learned gloss, ‘Nyayenduashekhara’ on the Brahmanandiya, a famous text of Advaita-Vedanta in which he met the criticisms launched by Vishistadwaitins, though unfortunately he did not live to complete it.

A commentary on Samanya-nirukti, a logical work, found its way from Bengal and became known to Mysore Vidwans. The manuscript abounded with errors and none but a master could find out the correct reading. Naturally, the scholars found it difficult to comprehend the commentary. Lakshminarasimha Shastri sent for the work, carefully examined it from end to end, corrected all its mistakes and made the work known to the outside world by teaching it independently to his pupils. This story was narrated by Gopichettipalayam Ramaswami Shastri who was a pupil of Lakshminarasimha Shastri and who held recently for a time¹, the place of Pundit in Advaita Vedanta Shastra in the Sanskrit College, Mysore. From these facts, we come to know that Lakshminarasimha Shastri was a scholar of a powerful and versatile intellect.

The subject of this biography, Shivaswami, who later became Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Narasimha Bharati Mahaswamiji, after he ascended the throne of transcendental wisdom, the Peetham of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, acquired his proficiency in Tarka and Vedanta at the hands of Lakshmi Narasimha Shastri. Shivaswami lost his mother in his fifth year. Thereafter he came under the sole guardianship of his elder brother.