“In all that you do, let love be the sole motive. Any need must be with reference to another. Let action be out of love. Passions such as desire and hatred, anger and malice must be totally eschewed. If love becomes the grounding principle of all deeds. then most of the ills of the world will vanish.” – Sage of Kanchi, Maha Periyava.
As being born as Human beings, people tend to do the things, take actions in allignment with their needs, insecurities, desires and various emotions such as greed, lust, anger, revenge, passion etc., Especially, in today’s day and age, where the need for speed is high and, in that regard, whatever one does keeping whatsoever emotions as underlying moto of their actions, everything looks convincingly good and socially acceptable. But did you know? your underlying emotions have the ability to deteriorate your very mind from which you think and take all actions and decisions? Would you like to know how? Then you may need to check this prerecorded workshop “Rise and Shine” available at just INR 99/- to learn more on that.
The words of sage of Kanchi Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati VIII, the 68th pontiff of Kanchi Kamakshi temple resonates that highest truth. The magical chemistry love originates as an independent emotion free from any person, anything or any others variables. It is magical since it is the only emotion which has the ability to alleviate our mind as oppose to other emotions which pulls it down. So, if you do everything in your life from the place of love for the work may be or love for the divine or just simply pure love for everyone, then that action liberates you. The mind that liberates is the best mind to have.
Many of you may not be knowing about the Sage of Kanchi much, so today, this article is dedicated to him, his lineage and his guru shishya Parampara. He is one of the gurus who voluntarily assisted me when I needed and showered his blessings that resulted in me coming back. Until then even I was not aware of him.
Birth of Sri Sri Chandrashekharendra Saraswati
The sage was born as Swaminathan Shastri to a Kannada Brahmin couple Subrahmanya Shastri and Mahalakshmi in Villupuram. He received Vedic and scriptorial education at a very young age. When he was barely 14, he attained Sanyas ashrama and took up the acharya position in Kanchi as its 68th acharya under the name Chandrashekarendra Saraswati. Though he came from orthodox brahmin family, he opened the doors for everyone. He had followers from other others religions too.
Work
Since they belong to Adi Shankaracharya’s lineage, the peetha follows the Advaita traditions and so did Chandrashekarendra Saraswati. But the speciality of him was, he kept everything simple including his teachings, the tools and practises he gave and taught to the public. Regardless of the gender and caste, he initiated the followers who sought his refuge into reciting simple mantras like chanting Rama Rama Rama and Vishnu Sahasranama. He travelled throughout, helped to renovate many temples while giving discourses to the public in natural ambience. He played a major role in reinventing the devotion to the supreme in the country which had lost faith in the god and had forgotten its roots. Even he practised and showed to others how to integrate Sri Vidya tradition without delving into tantra. A few hymns created by him include Durga Pancharathnam and Sri Kamakshi Stotram As a dedicated Shiva and Kanchi Kamashi devotee he spent his whole life which spanned for 99 years in service of them. Being a master in playing Veena he enjoyed listening to the music as well as Carnatic singing. In fact, during his time, he patronised many Carnatic and musical artists, a few of them got included as the Vidhwans in the Kanchi Peetham. He lived a simple life. Mostly he lived on fruits and ate only one meal a day.
Paramacharya was crucial in making Kanchi Kamakoti famous. The peeta is well connected with other cities like Ayodhya, Mathura etc.
Kanchi Kama Koti Peeta
In Vedic literature, the temple city Kanchi or Canjeevaram is included as the 7 cities along with Ayodhya, Mathura, Varanasi, Haridwar, Ujjain and Dwaraka which grant liberation. It is one of the oldest cities in Bharath with rich history. A place where, Adi Shankaracharya, an avatar of Shiva himself brought down the burning Parvati from the astral dimensions and consecrated her as the most compassionate wish fulfilling mother goddess Kamakshi. The place which has remained as the southern hub of Vedic learning since ancient times. A place where Sati’s navel part was believed to had fallen. The temple where king Dasharatha performed Putra Kameshti Yaga before getting blessed with Lord Shri Rama and other children. Even today, a lot of ritualistic transactions happens between Ayodhya Ram and Kanchi Kamkshi temples. Though it has rich persisting history aligned with vedic lineages, I personally believe, mokshapuri Kanchi is yet receive the deserved honour and limelight like the Varanasi and other moksha Puris have got. May be because this is the sole moksha Puri which is known for the presence of Paravati/Shakti first than the male deities Vishnu and Shiva which has made the city invisible to current patriarchy society? Which only likes to use tantric feminine energy to amass wealth by making it as their tantra devices? Strangely, the city Kanchi even after having its rich heritage and being the moksha Puri itself does not get acknowledged by other Shankaracharyas belonging to 4 cardinal mutts. Given my experience, I understand, if AdiShankaracharya would not have established Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, he would not have been succeeded in his mission of uniting Bharath using Advaita Philosophy that too after facing all those heretic and off stream hilly tribal cultures and belief systems which had kept the country and its mains stream Spirituality at bay.
In the next article, we will look into another spiritual lineage.