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धमार्धारा आचायर् कृतयः क्षेत्रमाहात्म्यम् / KSHETRAMAHATMYAM WRITINGS

Mah
Mahāmahop
mahopādhyaya
dhyaya Brahma
Brahmaśrrī.Harihara
.Harihara
strigal
śāstrigal
MAY 8, 2020 LEAVE A REPLY

Mahāmahopādhyaya Brahmaśrī.Harihara śāstrigal was born in Tirukkoshtiyur village in Ramanathapuram District,

Tirupathur Taluk in the Raudri year.(1860). He father was Brahmaśrī Ramaswami Ayyar. He lost his father when he
was very young and was raised by his maternal grandfather. His upanayanam was performed in due course.

It is said that when a few friends of his who came to see his upanayanam, asked him if he wished to pursue English
education or Samskṛtam. He replied without hesitation that he wished to be Veda-śāstra-paṇḍita. Upon hearing this,
his friends made fun of him and laughed. Hearing their laughter, his eyes were filled with tears. At that moment, his
maternal grandfather intervened and said he was very satisfied with his grandson’s response and shushed the
friends. From his early years, he evinced a great interest towards Samskṛtam and śāstram and continued his studies in
the manner prescribed in the śāstras.

Training:

In the year 1875, he began learning from the Śrīvaiṣṇava vidvān scholar Mahāvidvān Śrī.U.Ve.Thāthā
Vedāntācāryasvāmī in Tirukkoshtiyur. In about five years, he mastered kāvya, nāṭaka, alankāra and padāntabhāga of
tarkaśāstra. He then studied from pondupuṇṇi Brahmaśrī Shankara śāstri and went on to Tiruvidaimarudhur/
Madhyārjunam Chatuśśāstra Paṇḍita Brahmaśrī Aṇṇa Vajapeyee to completed his vyākaraṇa studies studying upto
Mahābhāṣya. He desired to learn advaita vedānta śāstra after this.

In order to study pūrva and uttaramimāmsa, he went to Mannargudi, the abode of the great mahāmahopādhyaya
Brahmaśrī Tyāgaraja Makhīndra popularly known as Mannārgudi Periyava / Mannārgudi Rāju śāstrigal. Initially he
was worried whether Mannargudi Raju śāstrigal would accept him as a disciple. The reason being that another
person from his village had approached the great man very recently to become a disciple and had run away from
there! However his steadfast in his desire to study, Harihara śāstrigal stayed for two months serving Brahmaśrī Raju
śāstrigal. Pleased with his śraddha and sattvaguṇa, Mannargudi Periyava accepted him as a student. He spent eight
years there and continued his discipleship under śāstrigal learning pūrvamīmāmsa and Uttaramīmāmsa and serving
his teacher with great delight.

He also studied the other texts in tarka, vyākaraṇa and studied vedāntagranthas. He also attained mastery over
vādagranthas such as brahmānandīya. Mahāmahopādhyāya Brahmaśrī Krishna śāstrigal likened Brahmaśrī Harihara
śāstrigal’s learning from Brahmaśrī Raju śāstrigal to Sanaka and other ṟṣis learning from Dakṣiṇāmūrti, Agastya from
Hayagrīva and Jaimini from Bhagavān Veda Vyāsa. Harihara śāstrigal was not financially very well-off during the days
of his discipleship but set his sight on attaining mastery in śāstra. Later, many people came forward to help him. He
also participated in the vidvatsabhā conducted during the tulābhāra mahotsava of the Tiruvananthapuram Raja
where he displayed his prowess and scholarship and won accolades.

Assistance in editing Advaitmañjarī series of texts:

Konerirajapuram Śrī. V.Sambashiva Ayyar approached Brahmaśrī Raju śāstrigal and said that he wished to publish
through his Kumbaghoṇam Śrīvidya press a series of advaita granthas under the title “advaitamañjarī” at an
expenditure of one lakh rupees. For this purpose, he requested Brahmaśrī Raju śāstrigal to send a qualified student
who had good mastery to help him with this venture. Hel chose Harihara śāstrigal as the right candidate for this
purpose and sent him to Kumbhaghoṇam. With the blessings of his teacher, he went to Kumbhagoṇam and edited
many books, and facilitated their publication.

These include:

Advaitasiddhi

In December, 1893 he began the task of publishing and the first title he edited and published was advaitasiddhi. This
is a khaṇḍana grantha that was written by Śrī Madhusūdana sarasvatī against Śrī Vyāsatīrtha’s nyāyāmṛtam.
Brahmaśrī Harihara śāstrigal helped in publishing an edited version of this text and this was the first book in this
series..

Laghuchandrika / Brahmānandīyam

Śrī Rāmatīrtha wrote Tarangiṇī, a vyākhyā grantha of nyāyāmṛtam. This work was written to counter advaitasiddhi.
Laghuchandrikā and guruchandrikā were written as a vyākhyāna for advaitasiddhi by Śrī Gauḍa brahmānanda
sarasvati to counter the views of Taraṅgiṇī. It has been said that the study of Advaita Vedānta is incomplete without a
study of Brahmānandīyam. This was the second work edited and published by Brahmaśrī Harihara śāstrigal.

Siddhāntabindu vyākhyāna

Siddhāntabindu is the vyākhyāna of Śrī Madhusūdana sarasvati for Śrī Śaṅkarāchārya’s daśaślokī. This is one of the
prakaraṇa granthas of advaita vedānta. Harihara shastrigal released this based on nyāyaratnāvalī, a vyākhyāna
written by Śrī brahmānanda sarasvatī.

Brahmasūtra Vrtti

In 1894, he published the brahmasūtra vṛtti. This is a commentary on brahmasūtra written by a śiṣya of Śrī
Śankarāchārya.

Brahmavidyābharanam

This was a sūtra-bhaṣya-vyākhyāna written by Śrī Advaitānanda yati, a student of Śrī Rāmānandatīrtha and Śrī
Bhūmānandatīrtha. Its significant feature is that it summarises all the other vyākhyās as well.

Siddhāntaleśasaṅgraha

In the same year, Śrī Appayya dīkṣita’s siddhāntaleśasaṅgraha was also published with a vyākhyā, Krṣṇālankāram of
Śrī krṣṇānanda. This is also a prakaraṇa grantha on advaita. This work summarises many paths of various ācharyas all
leading towards the common goal of advaita.

Śikhariṇimāla

In May 1895, Śikhariṇimāla a commentary to Śrī Appayya dīkṣitendra’s śivatattvaviveka written by Mannargudi
Periyava was published. Many extracts were shown with pramāṇa from veda, upaniṣad and purāṇa highlighting the
glory of śiva.

Nyāyendushekharam

Nyāyenduśekharam is a khaṇḍanagrantha of nyāyabhāskara written by Śrī Anantāzhvan. Nyāyenduśekharam was

written by Harihara shastrigal’s acharya Brahmaśrī Raju śāstrigal wrote as an advaita samarthana grantha to counter
this. In 1915 this book was brought this out with the help of Duruvada Śrī Raghavayyar who conducted the advaita
sabha at Śrī Kalahasti and released it at a vidvat sabha chaired by Shri P.S.Sivaswami Iyer. He also made his students
conduct a vakyartha on this work and was felicitated.

Books written by Harihara Shastrigal

Among the many books he published, the second part of nyāyenduśekharam published by advaitasabha is important.
Since Brahmaśrī Raju śāstrigal had not completed this grantha, the uttarabhāga was completed by Brahmaśrī
Harihara śāstrigal. This book remains unpublished.

Vedāntasaṅgraha

He also wrote the Vedāntasarasaṅgraha, a book to easily understand the precepts of advaita vedānta. It is said that
this book remains unpublished with his śiṣya parampara.

Advaita Sabha was established during the period of the 66th Acharya Śrī Chandrashekharendra Sarasvati. During the
period he stayed at Kumbhagoṇam, śāstrigal served as a researcher at the advaitasabha and played a great role in its
development. He was the main parikshaka (examiner) for the advaita sabha exams that took place in Chidambaram
and Kalahasti. He was also one of the main vidvāns of the advaitasabha and also gave upanyāsa and pravachanam
on various vaidika subjects.

Going to Chidambaram:

While, he was working on editing texts in Kumbhagoṇam, Nepathur Ranganatha Ayyar from Mayavaram wished to
conduct a vidvatsabha as part of his son’s wedding and conducted a vākyārtha Sabha. He approached Mannargudi
BrahmaŚrī Rajuśāstrigal who agreed to send some of his śiṣyas there. Travancore Dhanādhikari Terazhundur
BrahmaŚrī Ramachandra ghanapatigal, BrahmaŚrī Tiruviyalur Mahalinga śāstrigal,BrahmaŚrī Mimamsa Nilakantha
śāstrigal, BrahmaŚrī Yajnasvāmi śāstrigal, the grandson of Śrī Raju śāstrigal were gathered. In this sadas, Śrī Harihara
śāstrigal conducted vākyārtha on Brahmānandīyam with Tiruvisanallur Ramachandra śāstrigal and won accolades
from everyone.

At that time Dandapaniswami Dikshitar who, was present there for vyākarana vākyārtha, approached Harihara
śāstrigal and requested him to take up the pradhānādhyapaka position in the Chidambaram Samskrta Vidyāśālā and
produce more students. Harihara śāstrigal responded that he wished to remain close to Śrī Raju śāstrigal and that he
would come to Chidambaram only if he commanded him to. Subsequently Sabhapati Chettiyar the person behind this
pathashala sent his agent to Mannargudi. Raju śāstrigal then advised him to accept the post and told him thus,
“Appayya Dikshita who is the guiding light of our family, attained mukti at Chidambaram. That kshetra is a great
vidyāsthānam.Because of your presence there, I will also be able to come and stay there for a while. This will also be
an opportunity to propagate advaita vedānta śāstra in those areas”. Heeding his teacher’s advice, he accepted the
position and many students benefited from his erudition. In those days the pay scale at universities was poor and
paltry. Yet, he conducted lessons for a minimum of eight hours a day and made time for anyone who approached him
to clear doubts.

Once when Mahāmahopādhyaya Raju śāstrigal came there as part of uttaradeśa yātra, he asked his students to do
vākyartha on Brahmānandīyam in his guru’s presence. He produced several panditas who were learned in four
śāstras. Many panditas from Andhra and other deśas hearing his fame approached him and learn advaitasiddhi and
brahmānandīyam from him.

Awards and Honors:

He was honoured by the Jagadgurus of Kamakoti and Śrīngeri Pitha. Śrī Uttiradi Matha also honored him. In the
Vidvat Sabha conducted by Late Śrīman K.V.Rangaswami

Ayyangar, he along with his shishyas went and expounded on Advaita Vedanta both in the form of Vakyartha and in
the form of upanyasa. Ramanathapuram Raja Śrī Bhaskara Sethupathi honored him with shawls and a toda,

In 1914, he received the title Mahāmahopādhyaya from the Government of India. He was greatly devoted to Śrī Raju
śāstrigal and mourned and observed āshoucham when the latter passed away. Mahāmahopādhyaya Śrī Yajnaswami
śāstrigal in the charitam of his pitamaha wrote the following about Harihara śāstrigal

गुरुवरानुग्रह भागधेयभाजनं

गुरुचरण-दीिक्षतचरण-गौरीरमण-चरण-निलन-भिक्त-िनभर्रान्तरङ्गः

तकर्-व्याकृित-वेदान्त-प्रवचन-िनस्तन्द्रः

िशष्टः प्रश्रयभूषणः

श्रीमदद्वै तसभाव्यवहार-िवस्तरीकृतासामान्य-शास्त्रनैपुण्यः

In 1915, Mahāmahopādhyaya Harihara śāstrigal was appointed the advaita vedanta professor in Mysore Samskrta
College. Despite being very weak, he accepted the post. He also took with him Tethiyur BrahmaŚrī Subrahmanya
śāstrigal. He was also the adhyaksha at the Maharaja’s Vidvat Sabha. He was awarded the honors of Mahavidvan,
Asthana Dharmadhikari etc. In a short while he also went to the Śrī Sharada Kumbhabhisheka mahotsava and was
honored with a pair of todas and shawls. The Acharya of Śrīngeri gave him the title śruti śirobhushanam.

In the next year, Kaśibharatadharmamandali gave him the title of vedāntavāridhi. In the Samskrta college established
at that time, Hariharaśāstrigal was also given the position of those who framed the syllabus.

In 1916 December, Mahāmahopādhyaya Harihara śāstrigal fell ill in Mysore. He realised that he would not live long.
He decided that he had to go to the Chidambaram Advaita Sabha as ordained by his teacher and left to
Chidambaram in a hurry. Enroute, he took a dip in Akhanda Kaveri despite having a high fever. The next day
December 23rd Mahāmahopādhyaya Harihara śāstrigal like Śrī Appayya Dikshitar left his mortal coil in the footsteps
of Śrī nataraja kunjita charana. He was only 56 at that time.

All his life he observed the anushthāna niyamas and satkarmas such as aupasanam devatārchanam, vaiśvadevam,
and made all his students do the same. The pāthaśāla he established namely the Śrīharihara Vedānta pathashala in
Chidambaram continued for a long time.

śishya parampara:

His students include BrahmaŚrī Chidambaram Dandapāni Swami Dikshitar who taught Samskrtam in the Annamalai
University and the principal of Mylapore Samskrtam College BrahmaŚrī Karungulam Krishna śāstri. Calcutta
University Samskrta teacher BrahmaŚrī Noorani Anantakrishna śāstri, Presidency College Rao Bahadur Panditaraja SK
Padmanabha śāstrigal.

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