Press Reviews
ri Matru Panchakam is a short hymn of five stanzas by Paramahamsa Shree Satchidananda Tirtha Swami, popularly known as Shree Bhashya Swamigal. The swamigal was an erudite scholar in Darshanas. He had his training in Advaita Vedanta under the Late jagadguru Shree Chandrashekara Bharathi Swamigal, and was a close associate associate of the present Jagadguru Shree Mahasannidanam. The short hymn has a theme of Shree Shankara Bhagvatpada taking the 'Aapat Sanyasam' with the permission of his mother, promising her that he would be by her side whenever she remembered him. The hymn, it is said to have composed on the orders of his reveared Guru, the late Shree Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamigal, in his dream. The stanzas are composed in a long metre called 'Shardulavikriditham', which clearly show the command that the Swamiji had on the language.
The opening verse itself , very significantly refers to Shree Shankaracharya's promise to his mother to be at her Bed-side in her last moments and sings an un-equalled excellence of mother hood. The verses that follow, continue the theme by depicting the moving references to the uniqueness of the relation between the mother and child. Every line in the hymn is profoundly suggestive in meaning. Shree K. K. Sankaran's English translation with detailed explanation for every stanza, quoting aptly and profusely from other great works like the Mahabharata, Sankara vijaya etc. has added the value of the text.
Further "Shree Ganesha Pancharatanam" and "Shree Sharada Bujangaprayata Stotram", of Shree Sankara Bhagvatpada, "Aryambika Shankara Sharada Stotram", by Shree SatchidanandaSiva Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati Swamigal and "Shree Jagadguru Pancharatna Mala Stotram" and "Shree Vidyateertha Guru Panchakam" by Shree K. K. Sankaran are also included in this book for the benefit of the readers.
-- TattvalokaDecember 1980 issue
S. Ramachandra Shastri
Review # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
