He laid down the rules of bhajana pathathi
The Sadguruswamy Math at Marudhanallur.
IN THE galaxy of saintly souls like Sreedhara Ayyaval, Bhagavannama Bodhendra, Sadasiva Brahmendra and Tirtha Narayana belonged Sadguruswamy of the Cauvery delta, who expounded `Nama Siddhanta' and `Nama Sankeerthanam.' Sadguruswamy came on the scene in the concluding quarter of 18th century, after 90 years since the attainment of `jeeva samadhi' by Bodhendra, the 59th pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
Sadguruswamy's original name was Venkatrama Desikan. He was born to Venkatasubramanya Iyer, a Telugu Brahmin of Tiruvisanallur near Tiruvidaimarudhur in Thanjavur district in the concluding quarter of 18th century. He could not speak till the age of three. He regained his speech miraculously when Gopala Swamigal of Manamcheri, a devout votary of "Nama Siddhanta," chanted the `taraka mantra' (Rama) into his ears!
The change in name from Venkatraman to Sadguruswamy happened during his `upanayanam.' When the `Brahama upadesa' mantra was being whispered into his ears by his father under the cover of a cloth, Venkatraman had `darshan' of Sri Rama in his father.
When his father completed the task, the vision of Rama disappeared, and Venkatraman started weeping. He told his father what he had seen and his father exclaimed: "Hey Rama, Hey Sadguro Pahi." From that moment, Venkatraman came to be called Sadguruswamy.
After studying under his father, Sadguruswamy embarked on a spiritual voyage. The turning point came while he was listening to an emotionally-charged discourse on the Ramayana by a profound scholar. At the point in the story when Rama took leave of his mother, Kausalya, before going into exile in the forest, the speaker dwelt on Kausalya's speech to her son: "Lo! Rama! You have not experienced what misery is! You have not done any harm to any being either by word or deed! I do not know how you, a staunch believer of `dharma', and the son of King Dasaratha and me will live on `unchavritti' (eking out livelihood with the rice or any other cereal offered by house-holders)." On hearing this, Sadguruswamy cried out that he would do `unchavritti' and thus fulfil the command of the mother (Kausalya).
Janaki, Sadguruswamy's wife was by his side in his spiritual pilgrimage. They left Tiruvisanallur to settle in Ayodhya. On their way to Ayodhya, they halted at Talapakkam, in Andhra Pradesh, attracted by the exponents of Nama Sankeerthanam of the school of Annamacharya and his grandson, Chinnayaswamy. Talapakkam was also the meeting place of all `bhagavathars' enroute to Tirupathi.
He decided to stay there for some time. He acquainted himself with different systems of `Nama Sankeerthanam' prevalent in different parts of the country.
Sadguruswamy evolved an integrated system of `bhajana pathathi'. He also wrote `Sandehath vanda Bhaskaram.' He laid down six cardinal principles for a person committed to Bhagavatha dharmam to observe, and they are: smaranam (uttering of God's name), probadanam (waking up of God), unchavritti, puja, sankeerthanam, and dola (resting of God in the cradle for the night).
He also expounded the significance of three modes of attaining salvation, namely gnana, karma and bhakti. The symbolic deities for these `margs' and Shiva, Rama and Radhakrishna respectively. While at Talapakkam, Sadguruswamy became interested in Jayadevar's `Gita Govindam.'
During his stay at Talapakkam, he was directed in his dream by a sanyasin (later identified by him as Bodhendra) to go south to fulfil an urgent mission. The couple left for Tiruvisanallur, and from there for Marudhanullur near Valangaiman. He learnt to his despair that the `adhishtanam' of Bodhendra had been washed away by the floods in the rivers Cauvery and Veeracholan since it was located on the banks of Veeracholan.
He and his disciples took up the task of locating the `adhishtanam'. Without food or sleep, Sadguruswamy crawled on the beach of the river Veeracholan with his legs tied to his thighs lest his feet inadvertently touchs his Guru's `adhishtanam.'
Sri Sadguruswamy
Nine days went by and on 10th day in the Tamil month of `Pushyam' when the star was `Aayilam,' he located the `adhishtanam' and seemed to hear the mellifluous chant of `Rama Nama.' On hearing the chant, he became unconscious. Then his disciples revived him.
With the generous help of the then Maratha ruler of Thanjavur (perhaps Serfoji II), he turned the Cauvery in a northern direction, and a `brindavan' was built at the place where Bodhendra attained `jeeva samadhi'. The Bodhendra Math is now on a raised place, and every year a special puja is done to the `adhishtanam' by the Marudhanallur mutt Swamy on full moon day during Pushyam. This has been the practice since the days of Sadguruswamy.
With the passage of time, the bond of friendship between the ruler of Thanjavur and Sadguruswamy became stronger, and at the instance of the latter, the king donated an entire village near Tiruvisanallur to the `Bhagavathars' accompanying him, and it is called Bhagavathapuram.
Sadguruswamy's 14 years of `unchavritti' was drawing to a close, and his wife and mother had already died. He informed his principal disciple, Kothanda Ramaswamy of his intention to go to Thanjavur along with the rest of his disciples. When he reached Ganapathi Agraharam, he decided to stay in the Jagathrakshakar temple for the night.
After evening prayers, he told his disciples that Lord Vishnu had come in his `vimanam,' and he was experiencing something mysterious. He asked his disciples to utter `Rama Nama' at the top of their voices, and he breathed his last. He was then 41.
The Sadguruswamy Math at Marudhanallur is looked after by the descendant of Kothanda Ramaswamy. Its atmosphere is serene. The puja utensils used by Sadguruswamy, an oil painting of him, the silver idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Anjaneya presented by the ruler and the palm leaf manuscripts of Bhagawan Nama Kaumudhi are kept there for worship. The Radha Kalyana `utsavam' is conducted during Margazhi (Dec-Jan) every year.
R. KRISHNAMURTHY
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