Swami PÃÂndurangÃÂshram (Devanagari: à ¤ªà ¤¾à ¤£à ¥Âà ¤¡à ¥Âà ¤°à ¤Âà ¤Âà ¤¾à ¤¶à ¥Âà ¤°à ¤®à ¥Â, ') was the eighth guru of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin community (head of the community) for 52 years, from 1863 to 1915 (the longest on record as of 2012). He had succeeded his teacher Swami KrishnÃÂshram after the latter died in 1857.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram was a Sanskrit scholar, a Yogi and was a Jyothishi (astrologer) as well. He believed in the Dharma (the correct way to live one's life) and was trained in the Sanskrit Scriptures under Swami RaghunÃÂth ShÃÂstri and 8 other special scholars from Kashmir.
Under his administration, several infrastructural changes were brought about in Chitrapur Village in Shirali and it was made as a "model village" with aspects of town-planning. Moreover all the samÃÂdhis (shrines) of the previous MathÃÂdhipatis (or gurus) were reconstructed.
He brought about many social changes in the community. He was a firm believer in Dharma and reprimanded those who did not follow it. He imposed a ban on foreign visits and excommunicated anyone who went abroad.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram died in 1915 and was succeeded by his shishya (disciple) ÃÂnandÃÂshram. His samÃÂdhi (shrine) is located within the premises of the Chitrapur Math in Shirali.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram was born to NÃÂgar ShÃÂntapayya and his wife on the 6th day of the month of JyÃÂshta in 1847. He was named NÃÂgar KÃÂlappa. As a child he enlisted among the students of the Chitrapur Math. He was a bright, intelligent and handsome young boy. He became a favourite of the incumbent head of the community, Swami KrishnÃÂshram.
He was ordained as the shishya (disciple) of the incumbent MathÃÂdhipati (head of the community) Swami KrishnÃÂshram at the age of 10 in 1857. For 5 years he received guidance under the tutelage of his guru. He was formally crowned the MathÃÂdhipati after KrishnÃÂshram died on the 8th day of the month of MÃÂrghshërsha in 1863 (See Months of the Hindu Calendar).
He mooted the idea of organizing the Rathà Âtsav (See Rathà Âtsav) and was involved with the execution of the first Rathà Âtsav.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram collected vanitga (donations) from devotees and used it for developmental activities of the matha and the community in general. After becoming the Head of the community, he made a four-step plan of development.
Renovation of the samÃÂdhis (shrines) of the previous Swamijis of the Guru Parampara was an important part of PÃÂndurangÃÂshram's agenda of development. All the samÃÂdhis had so far been built with thatched roofs. Under the renovation drive, the thatched roofs were replaced by proper tiled roofs. The samadhi of each guru was reconstructed such that the guru was made seated in the Lotus position (PadmÃÂsana or TÃÂmarashÃÂsan).
Swamiji had wanted Chitrapur village to be a model village. Its infrastructure was improved.
The stable financial state allowed several changes to be brought about in and around the Chitrapur Math.
The mathas (monasteries) at MallÃÂpur, Gokarn and Mangalore were in a bad state. Under PÃÂndurangÃÂshram's supervision, mathas were renovated. The temples that were in a dilapidated condition, were renovated. Temple renovation was done by the people in the respective villages (in a decentralized manner) where the temple existed. Trusts were established where people contributed to and this money was used by the trust to renovate that particular temple.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram wanted all his devotees to strictly adhere to curtailing one's senses and not falling to temptations. He would reprimand those who would disobey to follow the Dharma.
The most important reform of his that caused a lot of tension within the community was a ban on foreign visits. The community members had migrated to greener pastures in Bombay and Madras during British rule that helped them gain important posts. This meant that people had to go abroad on duties. PÃÂndurangÃÂshram excommunicated anyone who travelled abroad.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram believed that foreign visits would expose a man to temptations of other cultures which would blatantly oppose Dharma. A person's life would be filled with gross materialism and a new culture of forgetting ones roots and even neglecting aged parents, would creep into society. A person would readily forget his spiritualism for the sake of financial benefits.
PÃÂndurangÃÂshram readily excommunicated anyone who went abroad. If anyone associated with a person excommunicated, then that person too would be excommunicated. This was much criticised.
There once lived a poor devotee in Mangalore whose son was dying from an illness that seemed to have no cure. Abject poverty prevented the boy from gaining access to top quality medical care. Usually when PÃÂndurangÃÂshram visited a place, devotees would light up the streets with diyas and flowers. But this family could not afford this.
When PÃÂndurangÃÂshram visited their household, he gave them sandalwood paste (GÃÂndh) which was smeared on the head of the boy. He also gave the dying child teerth (holy or blessed water) which he drank. It is said that the boy recovered immediately.
Swami PÃÂndurangÃÂshram is said to have acted as the agency of Lord BhavÃÂnishankara in helping devotees entangled in unfair legal cases to be freed from conviction by his sincere prayers. The most notable was the forgery case of KallÃÂ ManjunÃÂthaiya.
In the town on BantwÃÂl, there lived a document writer by the name of KallÃÂ ManjunÃÂthaiya who worked under the then Sub-Registrar RÃÂm Rao. One day a Brahmin came to him to create a document regarding property. ManjunÃÂthaiya created the document and got it registered by RÃÂm Rao. But without the knowledge of ManjunÃÂthaiya a forged document was placed at his table which was then registered. A case of forgery was later discovered. The two of them were called to the Sessions Court at Mangalore facing trail for forgery of important property documents. They were helpless as all the evidence pointed against them.
RÃÂm Rao pleaded to PÃÂndurangÃÂshram, who happened to be in Mangalore at that time, to pray for justice. PÃÂndurangÃÂshram went to the samÃÂdhi (shrine) of Swami VÃÂmanÃÂshram at the Mangalore matha (monastery) and prayed for justice to Lord BhavÃÂnishankara.
This case had created quite a stir in Karnataka and soon the trial was nearing an end with the sessions court judge having the opinion that the accused were guilty. It was days before judgement that the Judge was suddenly transferred. His successor heard the entire case and then pronounced KallÃÂ Manjunathaiya and RÃÂm Rao innocent.
As time passed by, the devotees got anxious about the continuation of the Guru Parampara and asked PÃÂndurangÃÂshram to accept a shishya (disciple) who would succeed him as the Head of the community, but he did not. PÃÂndurangÃÂshram was greatly perturbed by the disobedience of community members under his reign: The people who firmly abided by the Dharma and maintained the tradition of the ancestors, were few in number. The large number of excommunications that PÃÂndurangÃÂshram carried out also played its part in his silence. The devotees had pleaded him to accept a disciple Eight times and each time he had remained silent. He would always pray to Lord BhavÃÂnishankar (the community deity) to give him strength to hold firm in his decision.
But the Lord had ordained otherwise. In the month of Vaià ÂÃÂkha (around June) in 1915, Swamiji made a decision to accept a shishya. The son of a priest named HaridÃÂs RÃÂmchandra Bhat was the one anointed. His name was Shantamoorthy. He was ordained as ÃÂnandÃÂshram during the Shishya SweekÃÂr ceremony (a ceremony where the guru accepts his disciple).
Eight days after the Shishya SweekÃÂr of ÃÂnandÃÂshram, Swami PÃÂndurangÃÂshram's health deteriorated and he died, on the second day of the month of Jyeshtha). He was 68.
His of 52 years was the longest ever on record. His samÃÂdhi (shrine) is located inside the Chitrapur Math premises and to the left to the samÃÂdhi of Swami ShankarÃÂshram I.