11. आगमार्थपरिज्ञाता Āgamārtha-parijñātā

One who comprehensively knew the import of the Āgama-śāstra

An ancient declaration says, “Āgama is called so because it came (‘ā’gataṁ) from Śiva’s divine mouth, went (‘ga’taṁ) to Pārvatī’s divine mouth and was accepted (‘ma’taṁ) by Viṣṇu.”⁴¹

Āgama is said to comprise these seven characteristics: “Creation, dissolution, worship of deities, means to every attainment, repeated chanting of mantras, means to six types of actions and four types of meditation.”⁴² The four forms of meditation spoken of here include laya-yoga, saguṇa-dhyāna, nirguṇa-dhyāna and samādhi. The Āgama-śāstra is commonly called the Tantra-śāstra, and imparts knowledge about bījākṣara-mantras such as those on Bālā and Gaṇapati, chanting of texts such as the Durgā-saptaśatī along with the associated sacrifices, meditations involving yoga-cakras, etc. It also includes the rules of construction of temples, rituals, etc., all of which are governed by āgama-vidhis or rules.

His Holiness is described here as a pari-jñātā, comprehensive knower, of the import of the Āgama-śāstra. He constructed and consecrated several temples in the branch Maṭhas that He established or expanded in various places in the country (vide nāmas 5 and 23), and also performed kumbhābhiṣeka for numerous ancient temples, all in strict accordance with the āgama-vidhis. He presided over a number of Atrirudra-mahāyajñas and Sahasracaṇḍī-mahāyajñas, apart from Mahārudra and Śatacaṇḍī yajñas, across the length and breadth of the country, and had them performed strictly in accordance with the vidhis. He performed and taught others to perform japa and pūjā, again as per the vidhis. Further, He prescribed specific āgama-based expiations in the form of japas, pārāyaṇas and homas, to rid devotees and society of various troubles that befell them.

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A foreigner who was very interested in Devī-worship and had come to India to study it, arrived at Sringeri after visiting many Devī temples across India. He had some questions pertaining to Śākta worship (worship of the Mother Goddess), which none had been able to answer satisfactorily. At one place he had been told that the Jagadguru of Sringeri was the authority on such matters and that he could approach Him for help.

His Holiness readily gave the foreigner an audience and listened to His queries. With His Private Secretary acting as interpreter, His Holiness dealt with each of the foreigner’s questions. The man was all but ecstatic at the way His Holiness had so beautifully answered every one of his queries.

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Sri Rajagopalan, an ardent devotee and an Income Tax Officer at Erode, was falsely implicated in a significant financial fraud committed by his subordinate. He requested his friend who was going to Sringeri during the cāturmāsya of 1989, to submit to His Holiness the information regarding the ongoing investigation and seek His blessings.

On hearing of the issue, His Holiness exclaimed, “Oh! Our Rajagopalan who is an ITO at Erode! He is our devotee. He is a very good man, and not one to commit such offences.” His Holiness then went on to say, “Let him perform Caṇḍī-homa. He will have no problem thereafter. The homa can be performed either at his place or at Sringeri.” The devotee went to Sringeri and performed the homa. He was soon acquitted of all charges and retired in peace the same year.

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The following was narrated by the prolific Kannada writer, Sri T. R. Subba Rao, better known by his pen name, ‘Ta-Ra-Su’.

“Once when His Holiness camped at Mysuru, He graced my house in response to my request. Having blessed the assembled ones, He entered the pūjā room of the house. He asked my wife and me to come in and dismissed my relatives saying, ‘I want to talk to them alone’. His Holiness then instructed me to chant, regularly, a sahasranāma and a particular hymn, and to also perform a certain homa. Thereafter, having spoken to us for a few minutes, He gave mantrākṣatā and left.

“I had not asked anything, and He had, of His own accord, proffered us those instructions. We did not know for what He had asked us to perform those rites. Yet, since it was the Guru’s command, we followed His instructions.

“A few days passed, and a peculiar illness afflicted me. An erudite astrologer scrutinized my horoscope and concluded that a certain planetary position was causing my problem. He prescribed a set of rites to be performed to tide over the difficult period. I was stunned to note that the astrologer had prescribed exactly the same set of expiations that His Holiness had!”

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Sri Niranjan Kumar recalls, “I was driving His Holiness’s car and was following a conversation going on between His Holiness and a devotee who was also in the car. Efficacy of mantras was the topic of discussion and the devotee was listing a number of mantras and the diseases that each such mantra was meant to cure. When there was a slight pause in their conversation I stepped in and asked His Holiness, ‘Is it possible to know all the mantras?’ His Holiness said, ‘First of all there is no need to know all of them. The Viṣṇu-sahasranāma alone is sufficient. It is a remedy for all diseases. There is no problem that cannot be solved by it.’ Subsequently too, when I sought His blessings for my friend ailing from cardiac problems, He was quick to say, ‘Ask your friend to chant the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma.’”

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Sri Ramani, a devotee of Lord Hanuman, had a 32-feet tall statue of Hanumān sculpted for installation at a temple in Nanganallur, Chennai. In 1989, he went to Sringeri and requested His Holiness for His blessings for the proposed installation. His Holiness was very pleased with the devotee’s efforts and blessed him. He then asked, “Where do you intend to install the statue?” Ramani replied, “In front of the statue of Lord Rāma.” His Holiness said, “You say that in this idol Hanumān has His hands folded out of respect but His tail is turned upwards. Hanumān’s tail would not be curled upwards if He were to be standing in front of Rāma. Why don't you instead place Him next to Rāma?” Ramani exclaimed, “Oh, it is impossible to place Hanumān’s statue there, because there is no space in the sanctum!” His Holiness did not say anything to this. Later, the temple committee members discussed the matter and concluded, “We have even decided the kumbhābhiṣeka date, so it would be impossible to make changes to the idol now. At any rate, His Holiness did not say anything when we reported lack of space. So we can go ahead.”

When the idol of Hanumān was being brought to the temple site, a monkey suddenly jumped in front of the truck carrying the idol. The driver slammed on the brakes. In the ensuing melee, the tail of Hanuman’s idol broke. The kumbhābhiṣeka was near at hand, and so the anxious organizers asked a sculptor to modify the remaining portion of the tail. With the modification, the tail of Hanumān ended up being curled downwards, precisely as His Holiness had indicated. And this came about without derailment of the kumbhābhiṣeka.

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