2. H.H. Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi Mahaswamigal

[The following account about Paramacharyal wholly comprises selections from Acharyal’s discourses, śrīmukhas and compositions.]

srīcandraśekharabhāratīti-prathita-prātassmaraṇīyanāmadheyā asmadācāryapādāḥ kṛtatapaścaryāḥ sarvatantra-svatantrāḥ śāstropadiṣṭārthānuṣṭhāna-niṣṭhāgariṣṭhā aparokṣīkṛtātmatattvā jīvanmuktā abhūvan ।¹ (Acharyal’s preface to Vivekacūḍāmaṇi with the commentary of Paramacharyal)

(Our revered Acharyal, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi, whose name ought to be respectfully recalled at the start of every day, had accomplished penance, was beyond the confines of all schools of thought, was an adept at the performance of what is prescribed in the scriptures, had directly realised the Reality that is the Ātman and was a jīvanmukta (one liberated even while living).)

asmad-ācāryapādāḥ brahmaniṣṭhā brahmaparā jīvanmuktāḥ samastānām-āstikānām-ādarśacaritā abhūvan ।² (Śrīmukha to Śrī-Jagadgurucaritāmṛta by Bhashya Swamigal)

(Our revered Acharyal was ever focused on Brahman, held Brahman as the ultimate and was a jīvanmukta (person who is liberated even while living); His life was an ideal for all āstikas.)

as also within. To the multitude of drooping lilies that are the hearts of scholars, he is the moon. To those trapped in the forest of sense objects and without a friend in the path to the Supreme, he is the flaming torch that lights the way. Victorious is the luminous Guru who confers joy on all.)

My Guru was a knower of Brahman and was not dependent on any effect or cause. In the case of My Guru, His introversion did not stem subsequent to His taking saṁnyāsa, studying the śāstras and practising spiritual disciplines. It manifested right from His birth. Detachment is said to be extreme, middling and mild. What is mild detachment? When some problem crops up, one feels, “What is the need for this world?” Extreme detachment is that in which, owing to the company of a sage, one feels, “The world must be renounced this very instant.” If a person has fire on his head, he would rush to put it out. My Guru’s detachment was of this kind. His detachment was so intense that though He dwelt as a pontiff in such a big Math, He did not even have the idea that He lived there.

(He receives food as alms in his palms and lives at the bases of trees.)

It was with this mental attitude that He abided in the Math. However, when it came to religious activities and activities relating to the welfare of the devotees, He acted in accordance with the following words of the Bhagavad-gītā :

(O Pārtha, there is nothing in the three worlds that I must do; nor is there anything to be attained that has not been attained. Yet, I engage in actions.)

(O Pārtha, if I do not, without laziness, ever engage in action, men would, in all matters, follow My path. These worlds would be ruined if I did not perform action.)

Keeping others in mind, He opined, “You have all labelled Me a big pontiff. Regardless of whether or not I should perform worship and obtain the fruit thereof, what would you say if I were to abstain from worship? ‘Even Swamigal does not perform any worship. Why should we engage in what He Himself is not interested in carrying out?’ Therefore, I must perform worship. You people will then act likewise, thinking, ‘The great one Himself engages in worship. It may or may not be necessary for Him but we need it. So, we must carry it out.’ ” That My Guru was a Mahātman (great soul) has been known by experience by those who were His contemporaries and beheld Him.

He was greatly devoted to Sacchidananda Sivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi Mahaswamigal, My Paramaguru. His longing (when He was a boy) was, “How wonderful it would be if I could somehow have the Guru’s pādukās in My house and worship them!” If God is merciful and we have faith and devotion, then what we wish automatically becomes fulfilled. Likewise, by virtue of His faith, My Guru obtained the pādukās. He thought, “I was so desirous of the pādukās and they themselves came to Me.” Thereafter, He kept up the practice of worshipping them. My Guru’s characteristic was that He used to keep in memory, with great faith, whatever words came from the lips of His Guru.

(As a brahmacārin) My Guru got the opportunity to learn Sanskrit as a student of the Math pāṭhaśālā. He made it a point to secure a double promotion every year. If anything was taught to Him once, it was sufficient; He grasped it. After reaching the fourth class of the Math’s pāṭhaśālā, apart from studying, He began to teach students of the lower classes. His teacher used to tell Him, “You must take classes. You teach well.” Prior to sending Him to Bangalore (for studies while He was a brahmacārin), My Paramaguru initiated Him into a mahāmantra. He then told Him, “For You and for those whom You will teach, this shall constitute the means of earning God’s grace.”

Before My Guru departed, My Paramaguru advised Him, “You are studying but it must not be for the sake of money. What for then? For the sake of acquiring knowledge. The prime knowledge is the realisation of the Ātman. That should accrue to You. That is why I am sending You for the advanced study of the śāstras. To acquire the realisation of the Ātman, hearing the Truth from a Guru, reflecting on what is taught and absorption of the mind on the Truth are very essential. However, for the hearing and reflection to bear fruit, the mind must be pure. For the mind to become pure, it is necessary to carry out the scripturally-ordained practices properly. The Pūrva-mīmāṁsā-śāstra is highly helpful in enabling one to understand the scripturally-ordained actions. Therefore, first study the Pūrva-mīmāṁsā-śāstra well as a student at Bangalore.”

Accordingly, My Guru spent long hours studying the Mīmāṁsā books, such as the Bhāṭṭa-dīpikā. He was taught by Vaidyanatha Sastry, a Mīmāṁsaka-śiromaṇi (crest-jewel amongst those versed in Mīmāṁsā). He subsequently (after becoming a saṁnyāsin) arranged for the foremost of Nyāya scholars, Virupaksha Sastry, to take lessons for Him. He learnt Advaita-Vedānta in the mornings and the Nyāya-śāstra in the afternoons. In three years itself, He completed His studies of both the śāstras. In the line of pontiffs of the Sringeri Math, there flowed a torrent of knowledge and austerity and He added to it.

When the (Vedānta) śāstra is taught, one way is to explain a text line by line. Another is to expound the lines along with one’s experience. It was worth seeing this in His teaching; it gave great joy. Even though My Guru was a consummate scholar, He did not have the slightest egoism. However, when someone made a rebuttal imperative, He demonstrated His ability to respond appropriately. On the occasion of the enquiry into the import of śāstraic passages during the annual vidvat-sadas (assembly of scholars), if anyone spoke something new, He used to be immensely pleased. Even if He saw an iota of knowledge in another, He experienced supreme happiness.

My Guru was destined to become a saṁnyāsin. One day, Markandeya Brahmachari, Sivananda and My Guru (who was then a brahmacārin) went for reverentially beholding their Guru. He asked them to accompany Him to the Kālabhairava temple. When seated in the temple, He looked at My Guru’s face and chanted three verses.

(O child! If you have the desire to cross the ocean of transmigratory existence then listen to My utterance, which is in consonance with the Upaniṣads and is beneficial. Having shaven your head, together with the tuft, and, having broken the sacred thread donned for performing sacrifices, take up paramahaṁsa-saṁnyāsa. Very firmly endowed with the four spiritual means, faith and devotion, enquire for long about the Truth by recourse to the nectar-like utterances of the Upaniṣads flowing from the lotus-mouth of the Sadguru.)

While My Paramaguru did not tell My Guru about His wanting to give Him saṁnyāsa or of His wanting to choose Him as His successor, He chanted the verses containing valuable advice while looking at My Guru’s face. He thereby brought about ripeness in My Guru’s mind. When My Paramaguru felt that His body had served its purpose, He sent word for My Guru (who was at Bangalore for studies). He made the resolve, “I shall give saṁnyāsa to Him.” My Guru asked no questions. “My Guru has commanded Me to come to Sringeri. Hence, I must go” - this was all that He felt. “What about My parents?”, “What will be My future?” - no such thoughts arose in His mind.

When My Paramaguru was alive, numerous disciples were greatly devoted to Him. Seeing His learning, austerity and compassion, they wondered, “Will such a person ever be seen again? Will the glory of the Peetham remain?” Many had such doubts. However, on observing My Guru, their doubts were set at rest and they felt, “What a scholar! What a person established in the Truth! What a master of His senses! What an inward-turned one!”

Kālidāsa has said:

(Just as a lamp lighted from another does not differ from the latter.)

If one lamp were to light another lamp, what would be the difference between the two lamps? Only the one who lit the second lamp would know, “I lit it.” To an observer, both would only appear to be lamps, with no distinction discernible. Similar was the case of My Paramaguru and My Guru. When people heard the discourses that My Guru gave while He toured, saw His worship of God and so on, they remembered the words of the Mādhavīya-Śaṁkaravijaya:

(The figure of Śiva, Dakṣiṇāmūrti, moves about in the world in the form of Śaṁkarācārya.)

(Ignorance is destroyed and great tranquillity results. Even a single conversation yields fruits here and in the world attained after death. Close association bestows some form of greatness. The words of the pure ones give rise to limitless fruit.)

I have seen in My Guru’s case all that has been mentioned in the above verse. On several occasions, even without the devotees saying anything about their problems, My Guru used to provide the answers concerned. One day, after He had given clarifications and permitted the devotees to leave, I asked Him, “How is it, O Mahaswami, that when people come to You to seek clarifications, You provide the answers even before they present their requests?” He replied, “There is nothing to it. God is the one who impels Me and I respond in accordance with His wishes. Such being the case, whatever is in His mind automatically comes to My mouth. I need to make no effort.” He was a Mahātman who had attained such perfection.

He eradicated the suffering of the distressed, imparted knowledge to the seeker of knowledge, graced the seeker of wealth with affluence and when it came to a knower of the Truth, He considered him as His own. There was no distinction at all between the knower of the Truth and Himself as far as He was concerned. His knowledge, qualities, such as mind control, establishment in the Ātman and compassion to beings serve as ideals. He led His life in such a way that there accrued the welfare of the world.

(I extol Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi who is ever immersed in the contemplation of the Ātman, is withdrawn from sense objects and is well-versed in the śāstras.)

(I pay obeisance to the cloud-like Guru who abides in (the sky that is) the Supreme Brahman, pours forth the nectar of Vedānta and terminates the sufferings of people.)

(I daily prostrate with devotion before the pre-eminent Guru’s feet, which are merciful to devotees and an infinitesimal exposure to whose lustre always destroys the entire darkness (of ignorance) of the mind.) 