Ordained by Mahaperiyava :-
Octogenarian author Swaminatha Athreya of Manikodi Era has completed his book on Samartha Ramadas. And thereby hangs a tale and a moving one at that.
Octogenarian author Swaminatha Athreya of Manikodi Era has completed his book on Samartha Ramadas. And thereby hangs a tale and a moving one at that.
About thirty years ago, Ekanatha Iyer, fondly called Ek Sir, served at
the Sri Bhagavan Naama Bhodendra Saraswati Swami’s Adhishtanam in
Govindapuram — the village in Thanjavur had not gained fame then — after
his retirement as a teacher. A few devotees went round the village for
unchavriti for the day’s puja. Nama Sankeertanam on Ekasasi was a
routine and a special aradhana was held in the month of Purattasi.
Daily rituals
To conduct the morning rituals, puja in the morning and the Dolotsavam in the night, a Bhagavatar stayed there. A cow was sheltered there for milk towards neivedyam. Ek Sir would clean the sannidhi, wash the cow and recite Rama naama throughout the day. In the evenings, he would conduct free classes for the slum children.
Ek Sir happened to lay his hands on a copy of “Mahabhakta Vijayam,” translated into Tamizh from Marathi, written by saint Maheepathi. It contained the story of Samartha Ramadas, among others, written in twenty-five chapters. Since the text was in a style rather unfamiliar, Eknath rewrote it in his own handwriting. He submitted the manuscript at the feet of the Kanchi Seer, who was camping at Mayuram.
The sage asked Ekanatha Iyer to stay with him for some days and read out the manuscript whenever he found the time. And he was moved when Ek Sir read passages choked with emotion. “Could you leave this with me?” asked Paramacharya in the end. Ek Sir was only too happy to oblige.
When Ra. Ganapathi, Tamil author met the seer in connection with publishing the first volume of “Deivathin Kural,” Paramacharya handed over the script to him and said, “This contains the story of Samartha Ramadas, a saint who was blessed by Lord Anjaneya. He was the one who spread the Rama Naama throughout Maharashtra. He performed many miracles and brought succour to several of his devotees. However, a vital piece of information that he was responsible for Sivaji establishing the Maharashtra empire has not been recorded. You must gather the historical details from authentic sources and complete the book.”
A big task
Ganapathi accepted it, but felt it was too big a task for him to accomplish. Although he could gather over a span of thirty years written material that could fill thousands of pages, he was diffident to meet Paramacharya as it lacked the significant portions on Sivaji. He, therefore, kept the script aside, deterred by failing vision and deteriorating health.
Ganapathi confided in the members of the Mahaperiyaval Trust.
“There may be many scholars who are adept at presenting history. But there is only one, who can combine the spiritual greatness of Samartha Ramadas and the story of the warrior Sivaji — Swaminatha Athreya. He is also close to Paramacharya. I am afraid he is not doing well at present. You may, however, approach him.”
Thus the work landed in the hands of Swaminatha Athreya. Athreya was chanting Rama naama at Bhodendral’s shrine when the message was conveyed to him over phone. For reference, he wanted “Daasabotham” by Samartha Ramadas.
The authorities tried their best but could not get it. Surprisingly, an old acquaintance Nagaraja Rao Goswami had, not only this book, with its English translation by W.G. Dhambwekar, but also other titles, such as “Karunashtakam,” “Atmaram” and “Manache Sloka,” all by Samartha Ramadas and “Samartha Pratapam” by Giridhar Swami.
Reference books
Athreya’s good friend Hymavati Prasad Malgoankar sent 22 rare books that included “The Golden Age of India” by Elphinstone, “Maharashtra Saints” by Rajwade, “Musalmani Riyasat” by Sardesai, “Sri Samartha Charita” by S.K. Allekar. Besides, he found in the Kumbakonam College library three important books in English by Yadhunath Sircar and C.V. Vaidya Majumdar, on the life of Sivaji.
There were others who helped him with material. Singing the hymns composed by the saints of Maharashtra was believed to be the only way to attain salvation irrespective of caste divisions. This was the time when Samartha Ramadas appeared on the scene. Gnandev, Thukkaram, Eknath, Namdev and others followed only this principle in their daily lives and encouraged group singing of Naama Sankirtan and Abhang, without any bias of caste and creed.
“Mahaperiyaval felt that the underlying theme of the book must be the fact that Samartha Ramadas’ strength of gnana and the power of his wisdom as well as his blessings enabled Sivaji to establish the huge empire,” says Athreya.
“Every week the members of the Mahaperiyaval Trust would telephone me and inquire about the status of the book. But my fingers were not co-operative. My friend Mr. Srinivasan helped me in copying them legibly,” says Athreya.
“It is only the grace of the Kanchi Seer that gave me the strength to complete the work.”
When I met Swaminatha Athreya a couple of months ago in his Baloba Lane residence in Thanjavur, he did talk about the mammoth work he had undertaken, but could not specify the date when it would see the light of the day.
It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise for me to receive a copy of the book, “Sri Samartha Ramadas Charitham” by the octogenarian author through a special messenger, Mr. Srinivasan. Published by the Mahaperiyaval Trust, Bangalore, the preface tells us how the book took shape after tireless research for almost a year.
When I thanked the elder writer for sending me the book specially through a messenger, I told him that the 700-page book must be his magnum opus. “No” said Athreya.
“I am working on ‘Jai Hanuman’ whom Samartha Ramadas worshipped and this would be around a thousand pages. I am also working on the life of Ramabhadra Dikshitar, disciple of Neelakanta Dikshitar, who lived in the 17th century and composed numerous verses on Lord Rama, in Sanskrit.”
“Samartha Ramadas Charitam” contains Bala Kaandam, Yatra Kaandam, Maruthi Kaandam, Sahji Kaandam, Shivaji Kaandam, Dasabotha Kaandam and finally Manache Sloka Kaandam.
Those interested may download the scanned copy of the book from the website
srimahaperiyaval trust.com
The website for downloading the scanned copy is :http://www.srimahaperiavaltrust.com/…/samartha_ramadasa_sar…
or contact
Bhagavnnama Publications (Ph. 044-2489 3736) Chennai.
Daily rituals
To conduct the morning rituals, puja in the morning and the Dolotsavam in the night, a Bhagavatar stayed there. A cow was sheltered there for milk towards neivedyam. Ek Sir would clean the sannidhi, wash the cow and recite Rama naama throughout the day. In the evenings, he would conduct free classes for the slum children.
Ek Sir happened to lay his hands on a copy of “Mahabhakta Vijayam,” translated into Tamizh from Marathi, written by saint Maheepathi. It contained the story of Samartha Ramadas, among others, written in twenty-five chapters. Since the text was in a style rather unfamiliar, Eknath rewrote it in his own handwriting. He submitted the manuscript at the feet of the Kanchi Seer, who was camping at Mayuram.
The sage asked Ekanatha Iyer to stay with him for some days and read out the manuscript whenever he found the time. And he was moved when Ek Sir read passages choked with emotion. “Could you leave this with me?” asked Paramacharya in the end. Ek Sir was only too happy to oblige.
When Ra. Ganapathi, Tamil author met the seer in connection with publishing the first volume of “Deivathin Kural,” Paramacharya handed over the script to him and said, “This contains the story of Samartha Ramadas, a saint who was blessed by Lord Anjaneya. He was the one who spread the Rama Naama throughout Maharashtra. He performed many miracles and brought succour to several of his devotees. However, a vital piece of information that he was responsible for Sivaji establishing the Maharashtra empire has not been recorded. You must gather the historical details from authentic sources and complete the book.”
A big task
Ganapathi accepted it, but felt it was too big a task for him to accomplish. Although he could gather over a span of thirty years written material that could fill thousands of pages, he was diffident to meet Paramacharya as it lacked the significant portions on Sivaji. He, therefore, kept the script aside, deterred by failing vision and deteriorating health.
Ganapathi confided in the members of the Mahaperiyaval Trust.
“There may be many scholars who are adept at presenting history. But there is only one, who can combine the spiritual greatness of Samartha Ramadas and the story of the warrior Sivaji — Swaminatha Athreya. He is also close to Paramacharya. I am afraid he is not doing well at present. You may, however, approach him.”
Thus the work landed in the hands of Swaminatha Athreya. Athreya was chanting Rama naama at Bhodendral’s shrine when the message was conveyed to him over phone. For reference, he wanted “Daasabotham” by Samartha Ramadas.
The authorities tried their best but could not get it. Surprisingly, an old acquaintance Nagaraja Rao Goswami had, not only this book, with its English translation by W.G. Dhambwekar, but also other titles, such as “Karunashtakam,” “Atmaram” and “Manache Sloka,” all by Samartha Ramadas and “Samartha Pratapam” by Giridhar Swami.
Reference books
Athreya’s good friend Hymavati Prasad Malgoankar sent 22 rare books that included “The Golden Age of India” by Elphinstone, “Maharashtra Saints” by Rajwade, “Musalmani Riyasat” by Sardesai, “Sri Samartha Charita” by S.K. Allekar. Besides, he found in the Kumbakonam College library three important books in English by Yadhunath Sircar and C.V. Vaidya Majumdar, on the life of Sivaji.
There were others who helped him with material. Singing the hymns composed by the saints of Maharashtra was believed to be the only way to attain salvation irrespective of caste divisions. This was the time when Samartha Ramadas appeared on the scene. Gnandev, Thukkaram, Eknath, Namdev and others followed only this principle in their daily lives and encouraged group singing of Naama Sankirtan and Abhang, without any bias of caste and creed.
“Mahaperiyaval felt that the underlying theme of the book must be the fact that Samartha Ramadas’ strength of gnana and the power of his wisdom as well as his blessings enabled Sivaji to establish the huge empire,” says Athreya.
“Every week the members of the Mahaperiyaval Trust would telephone me and inquire about the status of the book. But my fingers were not co-operative. My friend Mr. Srinivasan helped me in copying them legibly,” says Athreya.
“It is only the grace of the Kanchi Seer that gave me the strength to complete the work.”
When I met Swaminatha Athreya a couple of months ago in his Baloba Lane residence in Thanjavur, he did talk about the mammoth work he had undertaken, but could not specify the date when it would see the light of the day.
It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise for me to receive a copy of the book, “Sri Samartha Ramadas Charitham” by the octogenarian author through a special messenger, Mr. Srinivasan. Published by the Mahaperiyaval Trust, Bangalore, the preface tells us how the book took shape after tireless research for almost a year.
When I thanked the elder writer for sending me the book specially through a messenger, I told him that the 700-page book must be his magnum opus. “No” said Athreya.
“I am working on ‘Jai Hanuman’ whom Samartha Ramadas worshipped and this would be around a thousand pages. I am also working on the life of Ramabhadra Dikshitar, disciple of Neelakanta Dikshitar, who lived in the 17th century and composed numerous verses on Lord Rama, in Sanskrit.”
“Samartha Ramadas Charitam” contains Bala Kaandam, Yatra Kaandam, Maruthi Kaandam, Sahji Kaandam, Shivaji Kaandam, Dasabotha Kaandam and finally Manache Sloka Kaandam.
Those interested may download the scanned copy of the book from the website
srimahaperiyaval trust.com
The website for downloading the scanned copy is :http://www.srimahaperiavaltrust.com/…/samartha_ramadasa_sar…
or contact
Bhagavnnama Publications (Ph. 044-2489 3736) Chennai.
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