HH 30th Vanamamalai Jeeyar Attains Acharyan Thiruvadi & Madhurakavi Swami Ashrama Sweekaram

Sri vaishnava paduka seva rakshana Kaingaryam is being done by His Holiness Sri Paramahamsyethyadhi srisri Vanamamalai Jeer Swamigal attained vaikunda prapthi is a great loss for all sri vaishnavaits. It is an irrepairable loss for the sri vaishavites because He has opened the real inner eyes of the person and a real guide for us.

I belong to UP and got to meet the Jeeyar more than a decade ago in Delhi. I was awed by his simplicity, profundity and warmth. Many of the assumptions I had made about acharyas et.. were broken by his sheer grace and accessibility.
I recall the bhajans / songs he used to sing and people would literally cry while listening to them. He connected to people very easily at an emotional level. He never hid his emotions and tears would swell in his eyes when he sang beautiful songs. When he blessed,it came from his heart and not “lip service”. He embodied Bhakti
I am not sure if we are going to see anyone like him again. Great scholar who connected with this disciples. Great loss.

I felt a personal loss on hearing this news.I live in the US and have heard the Tirupavai commentaries by the Jeeyar thro the audio link almost a decade ago. On my visits to India, I met him on a number of occasions. I had heard lots about him from my father / grandfather about his great scholarship and erudition.
In fact, on hearing about this sad news , my father remarked that such people are a rarity these days. His scholarship and depth was unparalleled.

Our pranams to him.We pray his teachings will reach the wider world

I have heard discourses of many living acharyas and gurus. HH Kaliyan Ramanuja Jeeyar was unique in terms of understanding the nuances of Bhakti like no one else. His erudition in Hindi and knowledge of Abang,Tulsidas, Surdas, Meera, Kabir, Purandara Das etc.. enabled him to appreciate the essence of different avatars of Bhakti. His wonderful voice and knowledge of Music helped in appreciating Bhakti thro the medium of song/music.
His feel / touch of bhakti transcended the confines of Tamil literature and touched other forms of Bhakti. Most of the acharyas / modern gurus who come on TV are more focused on Gnana / Content / Logic and there is not much of focus on emotions that form the core of Bhakti.
His Hindi was brilliant and there was an incident when Vajpayee was the PM and our Jeeyar had met him. There was a conference on FOOD SECURITY and our Jeeyar initiated the discussion for members of the parliament. Vajpayee was impressed by the Hindi of our Jeeyar and had remarked – “Swamiji, apka Hindi bahut saral aur Meeta hai. Lagta nahi hai ki aap Dakshin bharath se hai”
This interesting incident was narrated by the Swamiji himself.
His grace was absolute and I have seen him bless everyone wholeheartedly. He was very popular among all the bhatkas from all over India. Irreparable loss – not easy to fill.

Since many sishyas are sharing their experiences, I wanted to share an experience I had with Swamiji –
Around 15years ago, there was an event in Narada Gana Sabha,Chennai and Swamiji was the key note speaker / initiator of the function. The hall fully packed with many intellectuals, politicans, film stars etc. It was noisy. Swamiji sang some beautiful hindi bhajans and there was pin drop silence. The song still reverberates in my ears. At the end of the song, there was a demand from the audience for a repeat (it did not happen though). The music was soulful and heartwarming. Many in the audience who were not exposed to swamiji were very curious to know more about him.
There was another incident involving ex CM Karunanidhi. There was an occasion in Madurai (?) where there was a global meet on Thirukkural. Swamiji was the key note speaker and the audience were thrilled to see a Jeeyar with indepth knowledge of the intricacies of Thirukurral. Thirukkural is not a religious text and Swamijis need not know about this beautiful body of work. Thirukkural is like Confucius work – on morals, how to conduct life etc..
Karunanidhi came to know about him / heard him and remarked that he has not come across any swamiji so versatile in Tamil and least of all in – Thirukkural. The DMK functionary of the locality immediately visited the swamiji and paid his respects on behalf of Karunanidhi.

He was a Tamil Vidhwan / Sanskrit Scholar / Hindi Scholar / Story teller / Poet etc. A combination that is not going to be easy to replicate.

I am an old student of Swamiji (at school). I studies in KV HVF Avadi in the 1970s. I have now settled down in the US. One of my old classmates gave me the news of the sad demise of our revered teacher. I saw this thread and wanted to share whatever I remember about him.
Swamiji was our Sanskrit teacher.However, he was very versatile and took active part/leadership in all cultural / sports events. I had acted in his Sanskrit play – “Shankuntalam”. At school, he had composed songs for our soliders (post the 1971 war) – a tribute to their bravery/sacrifices. It was a beautiful song and he also composed the music for it. Many people would be surprised to know that he was a terrific athelete – short distance running. When we had the sports meet for teachers – he would always come first. He was good at volleyball / football / Tug O war.
I lost contact since then but these memories came back to me. After hearing what others have to say, I feel privileged to have been his student. I have grandchildren of my own now and teachers like Swamiji are a rare commodity these days. Very versatile, friendly, multi faceted.
May his soul rest in peace.

Swamin,

The absence of a JEEYAR with high knowledge & experience is a great loss to our Community in specific,and to others in genral. I am abimana Sisyan of the Swami. The Mutt is a well organisded one with lot of Sisyas through out. The new incumbent JEEYAR is also well experienced Swami associated with earlier Jeeyars and well acquainted with everything. I am certain that HIS tenure will be more active & useful, beside be a guiding factor. It is needless to stress that every one us should actively participate in all to further improve and adhere our Samprathayams, which is the only honour we render to HIM.

I had the bhagyam to meet this great swami when we were on a south India tour and visited Vanamaamalai. I could have spoken for about more than an hour with Swamy. I was really amazed to see how easily accessible the jeer was. We had our conversation in tamil and partly in English and we were aghast by the kind of English language that swamy had used. The conversation I had with the jeer swamy was one of the best moment that I would cherish a lot.

The loss of swamy is a great loss to the entire country and to Sri vaishnava community in particular.

Around 7 years ago, Adiyen dasan wanted Jeeyar swamiji to look at the horoscope of my daughter – for the purpose of matrimonial. I was reluctant / feeling guilty of bringing up my personal issue to Jeeyar. To my surprise, he went thro the horoscopes and gave his opinion. It was sheer grace… he need not have done it.
I was working in ISRO and came in for more surprise. Once he got to know about my ISRO background, he started talking about the cosmos / astronomy. I was pleasantly taken aback. He spoke about the retrograde motion of planets, constellations, relationship between astronomy / astrology etc. He also told me not to take the horoscope prediction too seriously and to go with my gut feeling and everything else would fall into place !
He mentioned that he was a student of astronomy during his graduation days.
Will miss him. Incidentally, my daughter got married to the same person as recommended by Jeeyar and they are a very happy couple !
Adiyen dasan will miss him and his enormous grace

Vanamamalai is a sthalam of antiquity and we have had the privilege of having so many erudite and extraordinary people as our Jeeyars. Kaliyan Ramanuj Jeeyar Swami was a great scholar and he had touched many lives across India.I have experienced it on many occasions and consider myself blessed to have interacted with him.
Our 31st Jeeyar Swami also follows in the same tradition and is fluent in Tamil, Sanskrit and Hindi. We are lucky to see the old tradition of extraordinary people don the mantle of Jeeyar – something that has been happening for over 500 years.
Acharyan grace is very important and we pray our 31st Jeeyar swami has wonderful health and a long life to serve disciples all over the world.
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

We have about 40 years of relationship with the Vanamamalai mutt right from the era of 27th jeer.But we hadn’t had such a memorable events in our life with other jeers other than our 30th swamyji.We were blessed with 3 visits of his Holiness to our graha during his vibava.Above all we had our sashtiabtha poorthy on 3rd may 2013 at the mutt under the lotus feet of our swamiji,which we never forget.I had a oppurtunity to recite few stansas on gadhyatraya before H.H when he was in hospital a few days before he adorned paramapada.Gone are the days.Ever under the feet of Vanamamalai.Adiyen,Andal Rajan Ramanujadasi.
“amanavanum nammai karattaley theendal kadan”

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan
I stay in the US and I am writing this on behalf of my grandfather who is 84.He wanted me to share his personal association with Kaliyan Ramanuj Jeeyar. My grandfather was his senior at the Rameswaram Devasthanam Patashala where the Jeeyar was doing his Vyakarana Siromani. He was called Chanakyan and his old friends know him by that name.On one occasion,the young Kaliyan Jeeyar wrote around 60 poems in sanskrit and showed it to Maha Mahimopadhyay Krishnamurti Sastri who was his teacher and the poet laureate of the Madras state.The great teacher MM Krishnamurti Sastri remarked that the young chanakyan had written better than him! My grand dad was present when this incident happened. On another occasion, the Chanakya went to meet/show the great PBA Annangacharya (Padma Vibhushan) some sanskrit writings. PBA was an authority and he seldom praised people easily. He used to point out errors / mistakes and did not tolerate mediocrity. PBA saw the works of young Chanakya and remarked that he could not find a single mistake in the grammar or content of the writings. He was highly impressed with the young student. My thatha says that very few people know the genius of Kaliyan Jeeyar and his scholarship. He was a brilliant student with a great memory. In fact, he went on to say that he is perhaps one of the foremost jeeyars in the last century who carried with him all the necessary skills required to run an institution.
He felt that Chankyan could have written more books, given his scholarship in tamil, hindi and english. He said there is hardly anyone with that kind of depth and insight these days. He wanted me to specifically share this so that people get to know him better.
There is more to write… but I need to rush to the office.

Wanted to narrate an interesting incident. Andavan Ashram Jeeyar and Kaliyan Ramanuj Jeeyar have high regards for each other and have expressed this many times in the past. On one occasion, there was a request to make an impromptu talk on Sri Bhashyam. Given the short time available, Anadavan swamy requested Kaliyan Jeeyar to give the talk. After the talk, Andavan Swamy remarked in private that he had never come across anyone in contemporary times who could give such a talk on Sri Bhashyam – extracting the essence with the scholarship/depth of Kaliyan Jeeyar.

Kaliyan Jeer will definitely be missed. His erudition apart, he was very approachable, broad minded and amiable. He enjoyed the company of intellectuals.

Over the last decade, we had established a personal rapport with him and he was very dear to our family.

Adiyen Dasan

very good helps for us, we have got great opportunity to see the function of swami maharajah parampadam.

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

About 8 years ago we went to have dharsan of divyathampathikal (Navatirupati) and Vanamamalai.
I was clad in swarupam and Saatrumurai was in progress. As I was reluctantly murmuring the Saatrumurai Pasuram, one Adiyar came unto me and asked to come inside and chant the pasurams.Later that Adiyar told me that south beyond Madurai, there was no Bhedam and both Kalaiyar can do Divyaprabhanda Parayanam.(Adiyen Sri Sannadhi Sishyan (Ahobilamatam sishyas call themselves as Sri Sannadhi Sishyas. Satrumurai was going on under the Aathyaksham of Acharya Sri Kaliyan Ramanuja swamy. We do not know as to when and how the great Acharyasri saw us with his devine and kind SriMukhavilasam.
That Adiyar, after the satrumurai was over and as we were leaving the temple came to us and stated that Acharyasri had asked us to take part in Thadeeyaradanam at Matam.
We can never forget that day.
Adiyen Dhasan.

Adiyen wanted to share an experience with Kaliyan Jeeyar which opened up my eyes and changed my outlook to life.

We come from a traditional background – my father was a sanskrit teacher, my mother a tamil teacher and we used to recite sahasranamah, tiruppavai, thiruvamozhi etc.. regular at home. My children were also exposed to this wonderful environment. When my daughter grew up and fell in love with a non-brahmin – we were very upset.We found it difficult to accept it. We were worried about our image among relatives and friends. We were lost. This was in 2006. My father asked me to visit the Jeeyar and take his blessings. I was able to meet him alone and narrated my problem. My wife and I broke down. The Jeeyar asked us what was important for us – our child’s well being or what others thought/said about us? He told us that our daughter/her friend had shown responsibility – she could have eloped if they wished to. They came to us seeking our acceptance and we were turning them away. We had a great 1 hour chat which I will never forget.

We went back with better clarity. We realized that the Jeeyarh was much more broad minded than any of us – in fact we went to him so that he would justify our stance and tell us what we were doing is correct !!

The children are happily married, my son in law is a wonderful person, they help underprivileged children irrespective of caste, religion and class. I have a sweet grandchild too. My world view has changed for the better. Our incident is a talking point among all the family members. Since then, all family members and extended family made it a point to seek acharyan blessings and visit them whenever we were in Tirunellveli. We have lost a great acharyan and it is an immense personal loss for all of us. His teachings will always remain in our hearts/action.

Jeeyar Thiruvedi Saranam. Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan.

I returned from the US recently. I was busy with work and got time to rewind/relax only now. I came to know about kaliyan jeeyar acharyan thiruvadi on my visit to chennai. I wanted to share my experiences with him and I came across this thread.

I come from a family of sanskrit scholars. My father (who is no more) had very high regards for Kaliyan jeeyar. I have heard him often say that the Vanamamamalai Jeeyar has a very deep understanding of scriptures and was very broad minded / versatile / gifted. When I wanted to do my MS in the US, I visited the mutt to seek his blessings (my father asked me to do so!). I was expecting to see a traditional, tamil speaking muttadipathi. When I met him, there were many devotees from North India and he was conversing with them in Hindi. The Hindi was beautiful and his voice was very pleasant to the ears. I could see the instant rapport he established with the devotees.

I ended up spending 40mts with him. He knew my grandfather and mentioned that his purva ashram son was an engineer and a MBA from IIM Bangalore. He also mentioned that another son was serving the Indian Navy. He spoke to me in English / Tamil and spoke to me about the relationship between religion and science / the need for the younger generation not to forget their roots / richness of the Indian culture. He blessed me and suggested that I continue to follow the path of the acharyans and combine it with the thinking of the modern times.

I visited him on 2 more occasions after my marriage. I felt very nice/at peace in his presence – unable to explain the reason ! Maybe it was his voice or full hearted blessings – I do not know but all of us will definitely miss him

I MISSSIED JEEYAR SWAMIJI, AVARUDIAYA KARUNAI ENAKU KIDAIKKAVILLAI