Octogenarian author Swaminatha Athreya of Manikodi Era has completed
his book on Samartha Ramadas. And thereby hangs a tale and a mo
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.