Prelude

Hare Krishna Dear Friends,

shruti smriti purananaam
Alayam karunaalayam
namaami bhagavatpaadam
sankaram lokasankaram

“Salutations to the sacred feet of Sri Sankara, the repository of all the wisdom that is contained in Shruti, Smriti and Puranas, the incarnation of grace, the bestower of blessedness on the world.”

Bharatha varsha has been the abode of great Mahatmas. While all of us may not be fortunate enough to be in continual contact with such great Mahatmas, nevertheless, a remembered darshana or conversation or even a report of their lives and sayings is often enough to lift our thoughts towards the higher verities of life.

In the series of emails, an effort will be made to present some incidents from the life of Mahatmas, experiences of devotees in their divinely presence, discourses given by the Mahatmas, their life history etc. I will be merely re-typing the annals from the excellent books written by sincere devotees of the Mahatmas.

I pray to that ever merciful Lord to enable me to carry out this task and accept this as an offering, offered by one who is completely bereft of any true devotion.

Totakacharya (one of the four main disciples of Sankara Bhagavatpada) in the 6th verse of Totakashtakam sings about the Jagadguru as follows:

jagatimavitum kalitakritayo
vicharanti mahamahasachalataha
ahimamsurivatra vibhasi guro
bhavasankara desika me saraNam

“Oh Teacher! For the purpose of saving the world the Great Ones take various forms and wander in disguise. Of these great Ones, you shine like the Sun! Be Thou my refuge, Oh, Master Sankara!”

The continuity of the same illustrious values of the great master has been maintained through the ages because of the presence of Sadgurus in our midst. One such great saint was Sri Chandrashekara Bharathi Mahasvami of Sringeri. In the next email, we will see a brief life sketch of the glorious Acharyal.

Regards,
Neelakantan