Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai (RJP)

Mumbai, Jan 17: Sri Sudhindrateertha Swamiji of Kashi Math, considered the supreme religious leader of Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (GSB), passed away at Haridwar on Saturday, January 16. Swamiji who was taking treatment at Seven Hills hospital in Andheri East here had been taken to Haridwar by air ambulance as per his wish.

Swamiji’s junior Samyama Theertha Swamiji and Satish Rama Nayak and other prominent people from GSB community were with him in his last moments.

"The demise of Swamiji is not only a great loss to the GSB community but a loss to the entire nation. No one can fill the void left by him," said Satish Rama Nayak Matunga the convenor of Sion Ganeshotsava Samithi.

GSB Seva Mandal Sion president Raghavendra G Bhat, vice president Ramanatha Kini, honoroury secretary Ramesh Bhandarkar, treasurer Suresh Bhat, joint secretary Prashanth Puranik, joint treasurer Prashanth Mallya, Ganeshotsava Samithi convenor Dr Bhujanga Pai, joint convenor G D Rao, priest Krishna Bhat, Kashi Math management committee president Mohandas Mallya, secretary Madhusudhan Pai, GSB Sabha Dahisar president K R Mallya, vice president Mohini Shyanubhog, honourary general secretary M U Padiyar, joint secretaries Sanur Manohar V Kamath and R V Shenoy and others have offered their condolences on the demise of Swamiji.

Shrimad Sudhindrateertha Swamiji was the twentieth head of the Kashi Math Samsthan. In the purvashrama (before being initiated into sanyasa by the previous Swamiji), he was known as Sadashiva Shenoy, son of Ramadasa Shenoy, a trustee of Shri Venkataramana temple in Ernakulam. Born at Ernakulam on March 31, 1926, he completed his pre-university education at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam. From an early age he had shown inclination towards religious life. The noble traits of his character, his devotion to God, his desire to serve mankind, his honesty, integrity and his love for Hindu Dharma were remarkable.

When Shrimad Sukriteendrateertha Swamiji was camping at Ernakulam, this young boy attracted his attention and he later selected him as his successor to head the Kashi Math Samsthan. The father’s consent was obtained for the transformation of the college student into a sanyasi, eventually to lead a sizeable portion of Vaishnava Goud Sarasvata Brahmana community in the righteous path of Vaishnava Dharma. The Guru-Swami took him to Mulky and on May 24, 1944 initiated him into sanyasa in the divine presence of Lord Venkataramana, Lord Narasimha and Lord Bindu Madhava in Mulky and renamed him as Shrimad Sudhindrateertha, who then severed the family connections and took to his new duties earnestly and enthusiastically and led an austere life. He felt the need of equipping himself with all the knowledge of the Dharma Shastras and mastered Sanskrit at Bhuvanendra Sanskrit College, Karkala. He was camping in Srinivas Ashram in the College premises. In those days he was very fond of animals. There were many pets including a deer and a tiger cub in Srinivas Ashram.

Endowed with excellent grasping power, wonderful memory and extraordinary intelligence and plenty of God’s grace and Guru’s blessings, he completed his study in a short time. He studied the Brahma Sutra, The Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads (Prasthana Traya) and other works in great detail and became a great scholar in Dwaita philosophy, as propounded by Sri Madhvacharya. He learnt the methods of worshipping God according to Agama Shastra and also the traditions of the Kashi Math from his Guru.

After the Guru-Swami passed away in Kochi in 1949, he bore the loss with courage and took the reigns of the spiritual chariot of the followers of the Kashi Math Samsthan in his able hands. He traveled widely from Kanyakumari to Badrinath, meeting his disciples, exhorting them to lead a life of morality and religion, conducting the pujas to Shri Vyasa-Raghupati with unbound devotion and praying at all times for the welfare of the community. Kindness, compassion, generosity and breadth of vision are the strong traits of his way of work. He visited many places of pilgrimage including Nasik, Ujjain, Kurukshetra, Mathura, Ayodhya, Prayag, Kashi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badri, Tirupati, Srirangam, Madurai, Palani, Kumbhakonam, Rameshwaram and Kanya Kumari.

Shrimad Sudhindrateertha Swamiji, like his predecessor Swamijis, performed many installation or reinstallation ceremonies in various temples. Thus he performed the third renovation/ reinstallation ceremony of Shree Venkataramana Temple, Kundapur, the reinstallation ceremony at Shree Lakshmi Venkatesha Temple at Hosdurg, the installation of idol of Sri Venkataramana in Balaji Mandir, Kurla, Mumbai, and many more. On another memorable occasion, the Swamiji was responsible for conducting an Utsava in which the Lord of Tirupati was seated on a golden Garuda. Also, Shrimad Sudhindrateertha Swamiji performed the Sahasra Kumbhabhisheka in Shree Venkataramana Temple, Karkala, in March 1969 and in Shree Lakshmi Venkatesh Temple, Udupi in May 1971.

The Swamiji founded two Math Bhavans, one at Bhagamandala on the banks of the river Cauvery (in 1960) and another at Bandora in Goa (in 1972). Shree Bhuvanendra Balakashrama, Basrur, founded in 1965 under the auspices of the Kashi Math, is another important institution.

One of the major achievements of the Swamiji is the founding of Shree Kashi Math Welfare Fund in Udupi. This concept was thought of in 1956, when the Swamiji was camping in Shree Lakshmi Venkatesha Temple, Udupi, for observing the Chaturmasya Vrita. With the noble idea of founding an organization, which would try to banish the social and economic ills afflicting the community, a meeting of the leaders of the community residing in South Kanara was convened in the temple on August 26, 1956. Three years later a draft constitution was approved by the community members, blessed by the Swamiji and the institution was registered on June 6, 1959.

The Swamiji was also responsible for the setting up of a publishing house, Bharatiya Samskritika Prakatanalaya in Mumbai with a suitable constitution with the aims and objects of publishing books and leaflets on the Vedic and Bharatiya culture and other allied activities.

With Inputs from Agencies