The Poet
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| Shree Bhashya Swami The saint of Mahadanapuram |
he composer of this great treasure is Shree Sacchidananda Tirtha Swamigal, more popularly known as Shree Bhashya Swami, a name selected by His Holiness Anantha Shree Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahaswamigal of Dakshinamnaya Shree Sringeri Sharada Peetham. The poem was composed in Mahadanapuram, in Tamilnadu in 1964 and was humbly submitted at the sacred feet of His Holiness Shree Abhinava Vidyathirtha Mahaswamigal, when he graced Kalady by his presence during the Sankara Jayanthi Celebrations.
Shree Vaidhyanatha Shastrigal, which was Shree Bhashya Swamigal's name in Poorvashram, was well known for his learning in Sanskrit, and his brilliant exposition of Shankara Bhashyas. A very great sanskrit scholar, Shree Bhashya Swamigal was held in high esteem by the Jagadguru Shankaracharyas of the Sringeri and Dwaraka Peethams.
Shree Vaidhyanatha Shastrigal had his early education in the Vedas, Shastras, Vyakarna and other Vedic Sciences in the Chitoor Pathashala in Kerala State. Born in Pazhyanoor, he exhibited signs of Viveka and Vairagya (total renunciation). Such inherent and innermost feeling in him led him to have the darshan of His Holiness Shree Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahaswamigal, who appreciated the young boy's Teevra Vairagya (Firm resolve of renunciation and in adopting the 4th Ashrama - "The Sanyasa Ashrama"). Shree Vaidyanatha Shastrigal had a rare previlege of studying advanced Vedanta Philosophy under the sacred feet of none other than Jivanmukta Anantha Shree Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahaswami, the 34th Pontiff of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham. He was also given the stupendous task of teaching Shree Srinivasan, the next Acharya of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham (at the time), in his poorvashram. Later on with the permission of His Holiness Shree Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahaswami, he took Sanyasa Deeksha from Shree Sivananda Tirtha Swami and led a life of detachment and renunciation scruplously observing the rules and conduct laid down for the Sanyasa Ashrama.
Having imbibed learning and culture under a magnetic personality, Jivanmukta Shree Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahaswami - an all knower, than whom it is impossible to find a greater, more learned or more intelligent scholar in the entire land, it is no wonder that Shree Bhashya Swamigal attained a very high level of proficiency in various branches of sanskrit and sahitya. A real Paramahamsa, Shree Bhashya Swamigal, impressed everyboy with his profound scholarship, piety and saintly character. His subtlety of intellect, clarity of thought, lucid exposition and dialectical skill were something remarkable.
Shree Bhashya Swamigal's poems are marked with simplicity and grandeur of diction and it is not wonder that some of his masterpeices like the "Rudropanishad-AshirvadaPadhathi", and "Jagadgurucharitamritam" published in four volumes, are considered gems in Sanskrit literature of the 20th Century. Other great works standing to the credit of Shree Bhashya Swamigal include "Paaramahamsya Dharmameemamsaa", "Gurudeva Stutimanjari (in two parts)" speak in volumes of his literary skill which have a certain graceful style and literary beauty of their own and equal to the Mahavakyas. These masterpeices form part of a huge collection contributed by Shree Bhashya Swamigal and represent only a fraction of the actual harvest of him. The many metres employed in the collection reflect Shree Swamigal's mastery over the art of versification in an easy style.
Shree Bhashya Swamigal composed the Matrupanchakam in the Shardulavikriditam metre, in which he excels. The sentiments expressed in these five versesdisplay a fine sense of Kavya-Rachana ( Way of Sculpting a Poem ), his dextrous ideas and words in an appropriate manner and metre.
Shree Bhashya Swamigal, an intellectual of a high order was invited by the devotees of Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu for delivering Lectures in Shree Adi Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy, and they had the rare fortune of listening to his brilliant exposition of Shree Shankaracharya's Vivekachudamani and Bhashya on Brihadaranyakopanishad during his his Chatrumasya stay in 1967. Whenever he gave lectures he was listened to by a large audience.
