57. बहुशिष्यसमायुक्तः Bahu-śiṣya-samāyuktaḥ

One who was intimately bonded with numerous disciples

It is said of Emperor Aja, “Every subject felt, ‘I am the favourite of the emperor.’”¹⁴⁹ All those who came to be associated with His Holiness had a similar connect with Him – He was samāyukta, intimately bonded, with bahu-śiṣya, numerous disciples. His Holiness placed no constraints on who qualified to be His disciple. He readily accepted and was equally accessible to devotees of all dispositions, irrespective of their past or religious beliefs.

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In the course of His first tour, His Holiness was camping in Chidambaram between 25^th and 29^th June, 1959. Sri R. Krishnaswamy Iyer, Advocate, Madurai, sent a letter dated 26^th June, 1959, to His Holiness, which was delivered at the camp by hand. In the letter, he updated His Holiness about various matters relating to the Maṭha, and also mentioned his desire that His Holiness’s grace should turn on him for a while in sacred Chidambaram.

Sri N. Lakshminarayana Sastry, then Private Secretary to His Holiness, in his reply dated 28^th June, 1959, wrote stating that Krishnaswamy Iyer’s letter was received and its contents submitted to His Holiness. The reply further contained the following lines (reproduced verbatim here): “His Holiness was immensely pleased with your desire that His Holiness’s thoughts should turn on you for a while in this sacred Kshetram Chidambaram. His Holiness has

158 57. Bahu-śiṣya-samāyuktaḥ directed me to inform you that He has not only thought of you in this place but you are ever in His mind.”

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Sri Shiv Kumar, an advocate from Bengaluru, was not the typical traditional type of person. In fact, he was quite the opposite – flamboyant, flashy and extroverted. Shiv Kumar’s father had a daily pūjā of his own, and Shiv Kumar used to do the worship on days that his father could not, with great sincerity and concentration. He once desired a liṅga for himself, and wrote to His Holiness’s Private Secretary, requesting for a Śiva-liṅga blessed by His Holiness for his daily worship. On the request being submitted to His Holiness, He readily acceded and instructed that Shiv Kumar be asked to come on a kārtikā-somavāra day (a Monday of the Kārtika month that was then round the corner) after prior intimation.

Shiv Kumar duly intimated the Maṭha that he would come to Sringeri on a particular Sunday and would like to receive the liṅga from His Holiness the following day. On being told of this, His Holiness had a liṅga placed in His pūjā, and offered sandalpaste and flowers to it.

When Shiv Kumar arrived at Sringeri, he wanted to talk with an official of the Maṭha before he had darśana of His Holiness. He confessed to the official that he had asked His Holiness for a liṅga, but was now wondering if it was right for him to have asked at all in the first place; he felt that he was not eligible for it, because of his flamboyant lifestyle.

The official advised Shiv Kumar to frankly place the matter before His Holiness. “Is it all right for me to ask Him this?” queried Shiv Kumar incredulously. The official replied, “Why not? And in any case, whom else will you ask?”

So Shiv Kumar made his way to the room upstairs where His Holiness was giving darśana, and was back in barely two minutes, with tear-filled eyes. He told the official, “I told His Holiness, ‘I had requested Your Holiness for a Śiva-liṅga and Your Holiness had also acquiesced.’ ‘Yes,’ His Holiness replied, ‘it is ready. I will give it to you tomorrow.’ I then hesitatingly said, ‘But I do not know if I am eligible,’ at which He dismissed me with the words, ‘That you want it is eligibility enough.’”

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During His visit to Coimbatore in the 1960s, His Holiness sent word to Sri G. D. Naidu, an industrialist, teacher and inventor referred to as the Edison of India, that He would like to visit the G. D. Naidu Industrial Exhibition. Naidu welcomed Him and, though His visit was meant to be for a few minutes, His Holiness spent, as Naidu said in a talk (on 10^th March, 1969), a few hours, observing everything in the exhibition minutely.

So impressed was Naidu with His Holiness’s interest, grasp and knowledge and, as reported by him, His Holiness’s “many constructional works”, that he named the training institute that he subsequently started, as “Sringeri Jagadguru Sankracharya (sic) Vidhyatheertha Training Institute.”

He later named after His Holiness a hall that he built, as also one of the two big bore wells that he set up to supply water to more than 1500 families. Such was the impact that His Holiness had on Naidu, an atheist. Interestingly, Naidu had the institute named after His Holiness inaugurated by ‘Periyar’ E. V. Ramasamy Naicker, the well known social reformer and diehard atheist of Tamil Nadu. His Holiness, for His part, inaugurated, on 23^rd April, 1971, the “E. V. R. Periyar Hall” constructed by Naidu.

Naidu said in a speech on 10^th March, 1969, “One may be tempted to ask as to what connection there is between Periyar and Swamiji, who are poles apart in religious matters. I am a śiṣya of Periyar and at the same time I am also a śiṣya of the Swamiji.”

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