The 108th Thirunakshathram Discourses

Dear devotees — today is a very special day, and this is a very great year. It has been a thousand years since Bhagavad Ra:ma:nuja:cha:rya incarnated. As part of that, the Krishna Pushkaras are upon us, and during this Pushkara time the Bramha Yajna program is also taking place. And here, especially, we are celebrating the 108th Thirunakshathra Maho:thsavam of our Pedda Jeeyar Swamy.

This morning the milk abhishe:kam was performed for the A:cha:ryas. The reason for the milk ablution is that all the purity, whiteness, sweetness and coolness present in milk are infused in our Pedda Jeeyar Swamy. His heart is pure — a great feeling to embrace everyone and lead everyone on a good path.

There may be many devotees, and there may be disciples of A:cha:ryas — but Jeeyar Swamy always says: on the Guru's birthday, the one who stops everything and comes, even when there is much work, is the greatest. All of you who came today are truly great people — we were able to serve the A:cha:rya's Thirunakshathram here.

I did not serve Pedda Jeeyar Swamy myself, but I have heard of his glory. When Pedda Jeeyar Swamy was performing a great ya:ga, someone came and told him: 'Swamy, someone has been taking supplies from the store over a low wall.' What would we do? We would get angry and think of filing a complaint with the police. But the elder Swamy quickly went there himself — and as the man was crossing, he called out to him. The man froze in shock.

Pedda Jeeyar Swamy immediately said: 'Why so much trouble? If you get hurt while crossing — just tell me, and I will arrange it. If you need anything, ask me; I will give you four measures more than what you were taking.' And he arranged a rickshaw and sent all the goods along with the man. The man wept bitterly when told he need not do such things.

He could have asked and taken anything — but the Swamy had created the change in his heart that such deeds should not be done. Whatever elders do — their conduct, their feeling, the skill in their words — is what brings about the change in disciples.

When Pedda Jeeyar Swamy and Gopalacharya Swamy would pass by, there were many — college youngsters and others — who mocked them for their thiruna:mams and their tridandams. Some called them 'three sticks'; one day, seeing the three of them walk together, the youngsters jeered: '111!'

Naturally we would feel anger. Gopalacharya Swamy — who could be a little fiery — stopped him: 'Why should we bother with these youngsters?' But Pedda Jeeyar Swamy said, 'No, no — wait,' and walked quickly toward them. The young men braced themselves: this old man seems to be coming for a fight. Come, let us see.

And the elder Swamy said: 'Boys — until now we did not know. Our God has a thousand names. From today, He is also known as 111.' And saying 'Om 111a:ya namaha,' he chanted it right there. The young men lowered their heads in shame — and learned, beautifully, how one can answer well without anger.

'Swamy, what is this 111? You took a mockery as God's name?' The elder Swamy said: 'Son, the sa:sthram says one thing — sa:nke:thyam pariha:syam cha stho:bham he:lanam e:va va: — if someone utters the name of God even as a symbol, even in ridicule, their sins are absolved. If it is said with devotion, how much greater is the fruit! You mocked without meaning a word of it; I am saying it with devotion — and whatever fruit I receive, you will receive the same.' Hearing that, the young men changed: 'We will follow you.' Elders are great people who bring a good change in everyone.

Such is the presence of Pedda Jeeyar Swamy in our Nadigaddapalem, which is called a Jna:na Kshe:thram — many elders studied here; it is a great field of learned people. When our Pedda Jeeyar Swamy performed the Ra:ma:yana rituals here, the A:cha:ryas used to say that a serpent would come to the pandal every day and stay there. Everyone would cry 'snake, snake' — and the Swamy would say, 'Once the recitation is done, it will go away.' And truly, as soon as the pa:ra:yana ended, the serpent would disappear. What a strange thing.

That A:dise:sha connection is always there for Pedda Swamy — and for our Swamy as well. When the Kaveri Pushkaralu happened, Swamy went every day to perform the Nadi Pu:ja — and each day a serpent would come and stay through the pu:ja. After the pu:ja and bath, the Swamy would move this way, and the serpent would move that way. Many volunteers who saw this themselves have told me.

Even now our Swamy says: whatever snake comes to our a:sramam, we should do nothing to it — just move it gently aside and send it away, with no feeling of killing it.

We are all in the presence of the Sri Vasudasa A:sramam. This place was named Nadigaddapalem long ago because rivers flank it — the Tungabhadra and Tulja channels flow on one side and the other, and this land lies in the middle.

In the 1940s a great soul rendered the entire Sri Ra:ma:yanam — twenty-four thousand verses — into Telugu poems, using all the different metres, and wrote his own Telugu commentary, naming it Mandaramu. His name was Vavilikolanu Subba Rao; as an avadhu:tha, they called him Vasudasa Swamy. The Ontimitta Sri Ra:ma:layam in Kadapa district was his main centre. While composing the A:ranya Ka:nda he came here with his disciples, stayed in a small O:mka:ra-shaped building in the mandapam, consecrated images of Ra:machandra — and wrote. Then he returned to Ontimitta.

Around 1952, those caring for the place came to Pedda Jeeyar Swamy — then in his pu:rva:srama as Srimannarayana Acharyulu, in Vijayawada — and prayed: 'Swamy, there is an a:sramam here; it would be good if great people took it and cared for it according to its sanctity.' Swamy never liked to expand a:sramams. In Vijayawada, many had offered to establish a large place for him. 'We don't want those things — we don't want a:sramams. As long as we can, we will keep travelling and campaigning; that is enough. After that, whatever God decides.' But because Vasudasa Swamy had lived here — because this is the sacred ground where the Sri Ra:ma:yanam was written — let it be kept carefully. And so he came.

In this temple he consecrated the Perumals — Sri Ra:machandra Swamy, Ko:danda Ra:ma Swamy — and established the system of daily worship that continues. After sanya:sa, Badarika:srama was his headquarters, and later Srirangam; Nadigaddapalem was his centre in Andhra, though he rarely stayed more than a day or two. He had a small cottage here, and stayed in it whenever he came.

In 1960 the great rituals of Sri: Ra:ma were to begin — on October 12th, 1960, in the month of A:swayuja. When Swamy told the elders of his plan, they laughed. 'What is this, Swamy? What is the plan?' '108 Ra:ma Kratuvus. Each must last 27 days. The Agniho:thram lit on the first day must keep burning until the 108th Kratuvu is completed.' That is a period of nine years. 'How do you do it for nine years? In between come colds, fevers, coughs, body aches—'

And Swamiji explained: there remains a shortfall in Ra:ma's account. Viswa:mithra took Ra:machandra and Lakshmana for the protection of his ya:ga, telling Dasaratha: 'I am performing a six-night ya:ga — with the going and returning, keep him with me ten days, and I will give your child ten kinds of well-being that no one else in the world can give.' And he kept his word ten times over: the Suprabha:tham beginning Kausalya: supraja: Ra:ma; the vidyas Bala and Athibala; the protection of the ya:ga; the liberation of Ahalya; the breaking of Siva's bow; the marriage of Si:tha and Ra:ma; the humbling of Parasura:ma and the passing of the Vishnu dhanus to Ra:ma — task after task that only Viswa:mithra could accomplish.

When it was all complete and Viswa:mithra was leaving, Ra:ma thought: 'Why did you ask my father for only six days, or ten? Had you asked for ten years, I would have stayed. Command me — what more shall I do?' And he received no answer. No one ever again asked Him to stay for so many years, to accept such a program. That shortfall has remained with Ra:ma ever since — and these 108 Kratuvus, 27 days each, wandering the country for nine years with the fire never going out, are that offering.

During those 27 days, everyone should chant Sri: Ra:ma and write the name. Gather all that is written in one place, and over it raise a stupa as the symbol. 'And how much money do you have?' In the Swamy's account book at that time, the balance was fifteen rupees, twelve annas and three coins — our Venu Swamy used to say that if the book ever showed ₹15 or ₹20, it was considered very great. 'Each pillar will cost ten or twelve thousand rupees. You don't have sixteen rupees. You want to perform 108 rituals and travel the whole country — you can't even put oil in the car. And who will give us the land for the pillars?' 'Ra:ma will take care of all that. He asked us to do it — we are doing it.' And beginning here at Nadigaddapalem, the first Sri: Ra:ma Maha:kratuvu was performed; the Ra:makrathu Stupa stands before our flagstaff to this day. From 1960 until 1969, without stopping even for a single day, the Swamy wandered the whole country.

A man once came and said: 'Build the pillar here — I will give whatever it costs, the whole ten thousand.' 'No need, sir.' 'Why, Swamy? Even if one of your 108 is covered, is that not a help? I will have it built.' 'No need, sir. If this is built with your money alone, it will not be called the Ra:makrathu Sthambham — it will be called Venkayya-ga:ri Sthambham.'

Look — the Birlas built a temple in Hyderabad. Below is Venkateswara Swamy; nobody calls it the Venkateswara temple — they call it Birla Mandir. They built a Lakshmi Na:ra:yana Mandir in Delhi; everyone calls it Birla Mandir. Even at Badarina:th, when it was offered to demolish and rebuild everything beautifully and strongly, the villagers refused: 'If you build this, Badarina:th will become Birla-na:th. We will care for it with our own strength.' The name changes like that.

'If you alone pay ten thousand, your name will come on this — not God's name. But if ten thousand people write Sri: Ra:ma on a brick with devotion, and place one rupee upon it — then ten thousand people gather in devotion, and ten thousand hearts know: this Ra:ma is ours.' That is how the Swamy built.

Once, a one-rupee money order arrived from a small village — in those days one sent money that way. The accountants said: 'Oh, one rupee — and so much bookkeeping to record it,' and set it aside. Swamiji was right beside them: 'Don't do that. That person sent one rupee from some village. How sincerely he must have sent it! To send one rupee, he had to walk from his home to the post office, take the form, write it out, pay for it. A rupee sent with so much effort — does it not carry the value of thousands? That is a very valuable rupee.' It is never how much a person gives — it is with how much love.

In Nepal the Swamy raised Ra:makrathu Stupas in three places — at Janakapuri, the birthplace of Si:tha De:vi; at De:vagha:t by the Narayani river, where the gods gathered for Gaje:ndra; and in the Mukthina:th Kshe:thram. In our own country, Kashmir's Raja Karan Singh had two pillars raised; one rose at Banaras Hindu University; three stood inside the central jails of Berhampur, Rajahmundry and Madurai. We were not born then — we only listen to those events, and it feels astonishing.

There was the great Parama:cha:rya of the Kanchi Ka:mako:ti Pi:tham — Chandrasekhara Saraswati Swamy. When an occasion arose for the two to meet, his very first words on seeing the elder Swamy were: 'Wherever we go, your Ra:makrathu pillars welcome us.'

North India, South India, our own regions — conducted without any distinction between the educated and the unlettered, from villages and towns alike, with dedication alone as the qualification — the programs the Swamy did kindled devotion in everyone they touched.

After the 108 Kratuvus, to express gratitude to Ra:ma:nuja:cha:rya for the Sri Bha:shya, scholars from everywhere were invited to Sriperumbudur, his birthplace, for a grand ritual where certificates were conferred on all of them. And as soon as that program was over — on the Tirumala hill, for the first time in history, the Sahasra Ho:ma Kunda Kratuvu of Sri: Lakshmi Na:ra:yana, with a thousand kundas, was taken up.

The trust board chairman of the time — Gokaraju Rangaraju — objected. There was no water on the hill. 'Do some small ritual first and show us; then we will give permission for the big one.' It was said almost in fun. But Swamy took it as a challenge. A spotless black horse was found near Tenali and brought up. Water is sprinkled on the horse; when the offering is complete and the horse shakes the water from its body, by the time that water falls to the ground, the rain must come — that is the process called Kari:ri.

The rain that began at three in the morning poured until the next day. The land that had been ploughed and prepared for the yajna was completely drenched. Years later — in 1983, at a yajna in his own village of Allakuru — Rangaraju himself stood as chief guest and told everyone: 'This Swamy's guru came when I was the chairman in Tirupati. We were the ones who said no at first — and then said, almost in fun: perform the ritual, and if it rains and the tank fills, we will permit the great one. He performed it. It rained.'

Three Agniho:thris had conducted that Kari:rishti — among them Padmanabha Acharya of Sirukamani near Tiruchi, a Rigve:di and Nithya:gniho:thri. The next morning the three came to Gopalacharya Swamy: 'If the Swamy permits, we will perform the process to stop this rain.' 'Tell them to do it.' They sat and chanted samudram gaccha swa:ha: — return to the ocean — and the rain stopped.

Ve:dic scholars — including Sma:rtha scholars — still tell us: 'We participated at Tirumala in '72. If you asked for yogurt, they gave yogurt; if you asked for ghee, ghee; sugar, sugar; lentils, lentils. Whatever you asked, they kept giving.' Usually a store is guarded by people from whose hands nothing slips. The Swamy appointed the opposite kind — people who give quickly, wherever giving is called for. He never checked why someone carried away two kilos of ghee; just keep giving as much as each person asks.

Annangaracharya Swamy later wrote verses on this: what yajna is this? It is Dasaratha's Puthrakame:shti come again — where the instruction was that whoever comes, day or night, must be given whatever they ask, with no question of refusing. Like the house of Periya:lwa:r at Srivilliputtur, where even a stranger arriving at midnight was bathed with good water, served hot rice, fragrant rasam and papadams, with the apology: 'We are doing what little our strength allows — please adjust and be satisfied.' That is the glory of thadi:ya:ra:dhana — and on the Tirumala hill in '72, our elder Swamy provided for everyone in exactly that spirit. We are still surprised that people talk about it.

By the time the yajna was completed, eight lakh rupees remained. The Governor, who had inquired beforehand how much was in the bank, wrote checks on the spot and gave it all away — the first two lakhs as seed money for a college for deaf and mute students at Tirupati, which runs to this day. Zero balance — and wonderful programs. That is how the Swamy conducted them. The same thing happened again in Delhi in '73, at the All India Ve:dic Conference.

Then began the Swa:dhya:ya Jna:na Yajnas — 108 of them vowed, seven days each, to turn the whole country's attention to the Ve:das, with the resolve that a Ve:dic university must one day be established. The 18th was held at the Exhibition Grounds in Hyderabad: a ho:mam of 108 kundas, and a call for a thousand people to recite the Bha:gavatham. Twenty-five hundred came. A scholar named Narayana Bhatla Krishnamurthy Sastri had tried for twenty years to conduct a Bha:gavatha Saptha:ham with a thousand reciters and could not; the Swamy made him the head of the whole organization and did it on his behalf.

For the first time in Hyderabad's history, the two Marwari communities — Agarwals and Maheshwaris, who never met, who never even looked after each other — were combined by the Swamy into one committee. On the very first day they asked: 'Swamiji — a thousand reciters, feeding everyone who comes, 108 kundas, honorariums for all. How much money do you have?' 'We have a danda. We have a kamandalam.' 'Are you making us laugh? How do you think this will happen?'

Swamy said one thing: 'Look, son — doing is God's will. We are doing the program. We have seen the ground; we will place the kundas; we have asked the scholars to come, and they will come. We cannot send away those who come without feeding them, so we will feed them. If the program is conducted well and everyone is honoured and sent off, the credit will be yours — how well the Marwari people did it! And if it is not — they came trusting these monks, and I will at least get some recognition as a sanya:si.'

Do you know how the program finally went? The money one man gave for the seven days was finished in three — and when the organizers quietly arranged the prasa:dam through another donor, the first man protested: 'When I said the offering would be mine, why did you take from him? If not sixty thousand, I will give six lakhs — but the offering must be mine!' They completed the program competing with one another like this. Such was the wonderful influence of our Pedda Jeeyar Swamy. He was never a teacher of sorrow — he was a teacher of wisdom, and he never did any work by hurting anyone.

Once, during a yajna, beautiful sweet poornalu had been made for the Lord — wonderfully delicious, made with ghee. The offering had not yet been performed, so they were not to be touched. But a scholar who was reciting there quietly slipped behind the screen and ate some.

The Swamy came to know. If it were us, we would call the man and demand: 'Why did you do this?' The Swamy said nothing at all. After the Pu:rna:huthi was completed, he had a large pot filled to the brim with poornalu, covered neatly with a lid — and sent it to the room where the man stayed. The man was shaken to the core: will he ever do such a thing again?

How softly one can correct — it is very wonderful. Without hurting anyone, the Swamy did amazing works and showed us a good path.

In 1975, in Rajahmundry, I saw the Swamy for the first time. I will confess — I did not set out with detachment, or to do something noble. They had a big bus, and I thought: how wonderful it would be to travel on that bus! I knew a little typing and shorthand, and word reached my ears that a stenographer was needed for the Thi:rthagho:sha. I slowly took permission, went to them and said: 'You need a stenographer? I am a stenographer.' 'What did you study?' I told them of my typing and shorthand exams. 'If you want to come with us, first get your mother's permission.' She gave it — and I grabbed a bag and ran for the bus.

From then on, we watched the temple renovation programs at the Swamy's side. In 1974 the committee had been formed — the Akhila Bha:ratha De:va:laya Ji:rno:ddha:rana Samithi — and the renovation of temples in South India began; until then, the very concept of temple renovation did not exist. Seventy-four temples were renovated through that committee, with industrialist families as members, each temple funded one part by the committee, one part by the local endowment, one part collected by the people. Wherever we went, we recorded what each renovation would cost — roof, flooring, scaffolding — typed the statements and sent them out. We did all that office work on an old British Oliver typewriter that answered to no one's fingers but ours.

In this Nadigaddapalem kshe:thram, in the presence of Gopalacharya Swamy, we then had the good fortune to study for about two years. We would sit before Lakshmi Na:ra:yana Swamy in the pavilion; he would sit down at six and not rise till noon, cross-legged, nearly eighty years old, teaching — and our waists would stiffen while he moved not at all. Books and discourses, he showed us, are the only intoxicants one needs. This temple is the temple that gave us the birth of knowledge.

If we make a request on ordinary days, elders say, 'We will see later.' But not on birthdays — on birthdays, whatever is asked, they simply say yes. Therefore, in the presence of our Pedda Jeeyar Swamy, on the occasion of this Thirunakshathram, we pray:

Swamy — that flag of Ra:ma:nuja's fame and glory that you desired — the Statue of Equality we are raising in Hyderabad, 216 feet tall, the pancha-lo:ha form of Bhagavad Ra:ma:nuja:cha:rya with the 108 Divya De:sams discovered around it, a place where their history can be seen — bestow upon us that this service be beautifully established.

And there is no use in one person praying alone. With all of you supreme devotees of the Bha:gavatha tradition brought to the forefront — if we pray together, they will certainly listen. They will certainly fulfil it.