SHISHYA SWEEKARA

Ohm Sri Guru bhyo Namah:

Let us start from the following Sloka quoted from the Sanyasa Suktam which belongs to the Kaivalya Upanishad. This  Sloka is also found mentioned in the Maha Narayana Upanishad, forming part of Taittiriya Upanishad in Yajur Veda.

न कर्मणा न प्रजया धनेन त्यागेनैके अमृतत्वमानशुः

Na Karmana Na Prajaya Dhane Na Tyage Naike Amrtatvamanasuh

Neither by actions (Karma), nor through progeny (Prajaya) and wealth (Dhan), but  only through renunciation (Tyaag) can immortality (Amrita the nectar) be attained.  The term anasuhu (अनशु:) indicates that the renunciation should be selfless and not motivated by any selfish desires. 

Continuing further, the Suktam says

संन्यास योगा‌ध यतय शुद्धसत्त्वा

which means because of a life of sannyasa, they, from the time of the renunciation, practice the Sanyasa yoga and their mind is pure and unwavering.

On the auspicious occasion of Shishya Sweekara of the new Acharya of the Kanchi Mutt Sri Sri Satya Chandrasekharendra Saraswati let us go down the memory lane and re-live the occasions of few previous Shishya Sweekara Mahotsavam of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam.

In the past 118 years, between 1907 and 2025, we have had five Shishya Sweekara Mahotsavam occuring at a gap of 7 days, 47 years, 29 years and now, 42 years.

(1)30th April 2025

On the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya, the Kanchi Mutt got its 71st Acharya, Pujyasri Satya Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. Interestingly, it's only the second instance when we have a Jagadguru of Kanchi Mutt whose name starts with the word Satya. The earlier one was the 4th Acharya of the Mutt, Sri Satya Bodhenra Saraswati who was the Peetadhipathi for a record 100 years (367 BCE to 268 BCE).

The poorvashrama name of the new pontiff is Sri Duddu Satya Venkata Surya Subrahmanya Ganesha Sharma Dravid and he hails from Annavaram in Andhra Pradesh. He was born into a Telugu Brahmin family and an acclaimed Rig Vedic Scholar. His Janma Nakshatra is Moola.

(2) 29th May 1983

It was on this day, Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal was inducted into the Sanyasa Ashrama at a grand gathering of three Jagadgurus in an elaborate ceremony at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. Traditionally the Diksha at the Shishya Sweekara is given by his immediate predecessor but in an unusual way, the Diksha to Sri Vijayendra Saraswati was given to him by Mahaperiyava, in his capacity as the head of the Mutt.

Born into a Telugu speaking Brahmin family in 1969, his original name is Shankara Narayanan and he was only 14 years old when he received Sanyasa diksha. His birth star is Uthra Asada.

(3)22nd March 1954

Mahaperiyava chose to appoint his successor to the Kanchi Mutt and on 22nd March, 1954 conducted the Shishya Sweekara Ceremony and made Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal, the 69th Pontiff of the Mutt.

Mahaperiyava has mentioned that he found three qualities in his Shishya to decide about his candidature (1) Jana Akarshana  - to attract people to listen to his speeches (2) Jala Akarshana - to invite rain to places of draught when he visited and (3) Dhana Akarshana - Any public project inaugurated by the Kanchi seer used to taste success.

Jayendrar was born into a Tamil Brahmin family in 1935 and was only 19 years of age to get Sanyasa Diksha. He belonged to Yajur veda and his birth star - Anusham.

(4) 13th February 1907 / 9th May 1907

There is an interesting story behind initiation of Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal (Mahaperiyava) into Sanyasa Ashrama.

Two Sanskrit words Pratishtha प्रतिष्ठा and Upasampada उपसंपदा are to be used - the two events happening on two different dates. Pratishtha means to honour (கொரவிப்பது) and Upasampada refers to becoming a full fledged monk (துறவறத்திற்குள் நுழையும் சடங்கு).

The reason being Mahaperiyava was appointed as the head of the Mutt on an emergency basis on 13th February 1907 (upon the untimely death of his predecessor - who also happened to be his first cousin) but became a full fledged Sanyasin and obtained Diksha only on 9th May 1907.

Mahaperiyava was born into a Kannada speaking Brahmin family belonging to Rig Veda. His Janma Nakshatra was Anusham. Born in 1894, he became a Sanyasi when he was only 13 years age.

(5) 6th February 1907

The 67th Peetadhipathi of Sree Madam was the head for only a brief period of seven days. Initiated into Sanyasa Diksha on 6th February 1907 by his predecessor who was on his deathbed, Mahadevendra Saraswati himself attained Samadhi on 13th February 1907 and before his death, appointed his first cousin Swaminathan as Peetadhipathi.

Lakshmi Narayanan was the poorvashrama name of the pontiff who also hailed from a Kannada speaking Rig Vedic Scholar family. The janma nakshatra of Vyasachala Mahadevendra Saraswati is not explicitly mentioned.

Jaya Jaya Shankara

Hara Hara Shankara