108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru
56. पिङ्गलाब्दसमुद्भवः Piṅgalābda-samudbhavaḥ
One whose divine birth occurred in the cyclical year Piṅgala
His Holiness’s birth in the abda, cyclical year, Piṅgala (the 51st year in the list of 60) is hailed as a sam-udbhava, divine birth. He was the Lord Himself.
The child was born to Sri Rama Sastry and Smt. Venkatalakshmamma at 6:45 a.m. on 13th November, 1917, corresponding to kṛṣṇa-caturdaśī of the month of āśvayuja of the cyclical year Piṅgala, with the child’s lagna (sun-sign) being vṛścika (Scorpio), rāśi (moon-sign) being tulā (Libra) and the nakṣatra (birth-star) being svātī. Almost as if to mark a divine advent, there were widespread joyous celebrations with religious fervour; dīpāvalī was being celebrated at that time in several parts of India.
It is interesting that His Holiness’s Paramaguru, Śrī Saccidānanda Śivābhinava Nṛsiṁha Bhāratī Mahāsvāmin (1858-1912), the pīṭha’s 33rd pontiff (from 1879 to 1912), was also born in the cyclical year Piṅgala. His Holiness was very often likened to His Paramaguru in more ways than one.
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During her second pregnancy, Smt. Venkatalakshmamma stayed for some time at her sister’s house in Hosakote, near Bengaluru. While there, she bathed daily in the Pennar River and, with wet clothing, repeatedly went around an aśvattha-vṛkṣa (peepal tree), regarded as sanctified by Lord Viṣṇu’s presence. Her prayer was that she should give birth to a good son. This supplication was heard by the Lord and He graced her with an exceptional male child, who went on to become none other than His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin.
The child was born at Basavangudi in Bengaluru in a small room in Sri Rama Sastry’s sister’s house. As fate would have it, it was not given to Sri Rama Sastry to be around when the child was born. He was then an inpatient at a hospital, having been admitted there for the surgical treatment of an abdominal condition. Relatives attributed Sri Rama Sastry’s quick recovery and early discharge from the hospital to the benign influence of the child.
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