Kanchi Shankaracharya breathed fresh life into the study of religious literature, resurrected temples, and improved living standards of priests & workers.
He was born in a village called Irulneeki – Tamil for ‘dispeller of darkness’. The name of the village is not a mere coincidence if we evaluate the spiritual legacy of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
Jayendra Saraswathi Swami, as he was called, was a teenager when he was discovered as a worthy successor to ascend the peetham that was established about 2,500 years ago by Adi Sankaracharya. Another estimate offered by the Western researchers says they are about 1,200 years old.
His mentor and tutor, the 68th Shankaracharya, known popularly as the ‘Walking God’, was a towering, magnetic personality possessing erudition of scriptures, mastery of languages as well as modern science, and limitless empathy for the downtrodden.
Jayendra Saraswathi was quick to absorb all these qualities, spending about a decade and a half under his tutelage. After this he toured the country for long, studying the prevailing social conditions.
During the next half century, he led the Peetham to new heights of spirituality and social service. People started hailing him as ‘Kriya Shakti’, the active force of his guru, who was earlier called ‘Ichcha Shakti’.
He also breathed fresh life into the institutions supporting the study of Vedas, Agamas and religious literature, resurrected dilapidated temples, and improved living standards of priests and workers. He was the only Shankaracharya to visit Kailash-Mansarovar and Dhaka. He installed Adi Sankara’s idol in Mansarovar and the twelve Jyotirlinga kshetras and many other holy places.
His keen interest in researching ancient sources of knowledge led to some path-breaking discoveries, ranging from stone inscriptions in Cambodian temples to Kashmiri religious books. Under his guidance, Kashmiri scholars located two ancient books ‘Lougakshi Grihya Sutra’ and ‘Vaidika Mantra Kalpalata’, which were republished six years ago.
He had a phenomenal memory and would remember the visitor’s name and personal details for long. Once, when a devotee expressed her concern on deteriorating social values, he instantly asked her to chant the 24th verse of Soundaryalahari 16 times daily.
He composed many songs in Sanskrit and Tamil about his Guru and the Gods. He enjoyed Carnatic music, and often hummed his own favourite song ‘Bhaja Re Gurunatham, Manasa’. During his discourses, he often referred to the phrase ‘Jantunam Narajanma Durlabham’ (‘human birth is rare indeed’).
His most significant contribution is perceived as his changing the image of his institution from a Brahminical hub to an institution dedicated to the development of all sections of Hindu society, while being kind to followers of other religions and encouraging them to be true to their faiths. He started movements like Jan Kalyan in order to spread the right knowledge of Hindu religious principles among the common public as well as to integrate the backward communities and caste groups with the mainstream Hindus. The Jan Kalyan movement also imparts vocational skill development and self-employment support to communities. He visited Dalit neighborhoods as part of this outreach.
He founded many learning institutions, including one at the Chandrasekharendra University near Kanchipuram, which houses a special library of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts and digitised texts. Apart from many Sankara colleges, he also established many hospitals and medical centres. Sankara Eye Hospital, Chennai, Sankara Deva Netralaya, Guwahati, the recently opened Sankara Eye Hospital at Berhampur in Odisha, Child’s Trust hospital and Sankara Hospital in Chennai and Hindu Mission hospitals are a few examples.
He would visit jails to comfort convicts. He visited Latur in Maharashtra and Bhuj in Gujarat after the devastating earthquakes and the flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand to supervise relief and rehabilitation work.
He once said: “If God (Iswara) appears in front of me I shall not ask for wealth, fame or immortality. I shall ask for the ability to get into other people’s hearts and remove their sorrow and tears.”
When a suggestion was made to shift the local masjid away from the Sankara Math at Kanchi to avoid disturbance, he promptly rejected it and said, ‘There is no trouble at all. Mandir and masjid should coexist.’
In Paithan, Maharashtra in 1984, the proposal that he supported to erect a statue of Sri Adi Sankara in the local Sant Eknath Samadhi Mandir was opposed by a doctor. As he left Paithan, the doctor said to him: “Maharaj, I have troubled you much. Please don’t curse me.” The seer smiled and said: “Doctor, I did not experience any trouble. The talk of curse is completely wrong. Even if you cut this body into several pieces, each piece will only bless you. I have worn this saffron cloth not for cursing anybody, but for seeing Narayana in everybody.”
The offshoot of this expression of compassion was that the same doctor changed his mind, got the statue installed in the same place later and invited the seer to inaugurate it.
He also worked toward resolving the Ayodhya Ram Mandir dispute and engaged with religious and political leaders. Tamil Nadu has had a long history of powerful anti-Brahmin forces. He was keen on stopping conversion of the backward Hindus into the Christian faith, which witnessed a phenomenal growth. He personally visited sensitive places and counselled communities. This earned the vicious enmity of vested interests, which got him arrested on trumped up charges of murder in November 2004. The case was finally closed in 2013 after a long legal battle. But the matter took its toll on his physical health as well as on the devotion of a section of his followers. However, the Kanchi Peeth grew to new heights after the controversy subsided.
P.R.Kannan is a retired civil engineer and the author of several books on Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, and has translated many religious works.
Great Article. Shri. JAYENDRA saraswathi swamigal was a great saint who did a lot to Hinduism. ….he had great vision and helped poor people….he is sakshat lord Murugan..
Very simple and lucid article written by Sri. Kannan. Kudos to Sri. Kannan for bringing out such an article.
HH Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal walked all the way to Kashi by foot and to many other places in India by walk, in an era when Air & Land travel is very common. People will realise and appreciate Sri. Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal’s work to the mankind, to India and to the whole world in the days, months and years to come.
Sri Jayendra Saraswathi swamigal
Is ambal kamakshi in manushya roopam