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--- Ram Anbil <Ramanbil@xxxx> wrote:
> Dear Bhagavatas:
> MUKKUR LAKSHMINARASIMHACHAR SWAMI
> His depth of knowledge, courage of conviction and his powerful
> manner of > delivery, which could transform esoteric concepts as to
be easily > understood > by even lay folk like me - were the hall
marks of this stalwart.
Anbil Ramaswamy


Dear Friends,

It might not be out of place to just add here to Sriman Anbil's
comments.

When you attended Sri.Mukkur Swamy's discourses you never failed to
notice the number of young faces that turned up amongst the audience
in almost equal strenth to elderly ones. Swamy had tremendous appeal
to young 'aasthika' minds because of his refreshingly contemporary
approach to ancient scriptural subjects. 

Swamy could de-mystify even the most abstruse philosophical matter to
make it intelligible to young, un-tutored but curious minds. He
avoided over-use of formidably technical (rather intimidating, too)
expressions of 'siddhAntam' (Sanskrit, Tamil or Mani-pravAlam).
Everything he presented became really an easy (almost languid)
marvellous essay in luciditity, simplicity and arresting cogency.
Swamy never allowed at any time distance to develop between himself
and his audience --- I mean the "distance of scholarship" which
lesser scholars or pundits of the world usually always like to
maintain to set them "apart from the (so-called) motley crowd".

Swamy's memory was phenomemenally prodigious. He never needed the
usual props public-speakers generally rely upon viz. handy little
notes and texts carried under the arm for quick reference in case of
memory or narrative lapses/slip-ups. Swamy could let loose torrential
passages from 'veda-ghana-pAtam-s' un-interruptedly for hours on end
without as much as pausing for breath. Effortlessly he could recall
verbatim passages from aranyakas, upanishads, brahma-sutra,
sri-bhAshya, azhwAr-arulecchayal and purvAchArya-srisookthis. While
quoting from these sources he made sure they were apt and appropriate
to the context, never exaggerating anything, never overstating
anything, never for a moment appearing to be wearing his knowledge on
his sleeve. Everything he discoursed upon had real meaning... and
more often than not one discovered, upon deeper reflection, multiple
meanings in the same discourse. 

Swamy had a sparkling but subdued sense of humour. His wit actually
was an ornament to his discourse; never a distraction from them. Most
public speakers use humour as a tool to enliven proceedings when they
sense the audience is tending to doze off or perceive a few muffled
yawns. But Mukkur swamy never had to resort to that brand of
obsequious humour. His witticisms and jokes blended so nicely and
seamlessly with the subject-matter at hand that one was always at a
loss to know which deserved more of their attention and
appreciation... the witticism itself or its underlying message. 

Swamy's discourses always universally appealed to all sections of the
'aasthika-samAjam'. In a broad sense, he was not just a pillar of
"SriVaishnava kootam" but a pillar of the much larger 'vaideeka
satsangham'. Swamy was always able to emphasize that fundamental and
underlying unity of all Vedantic traditions even amidst their age-old
and sometimes rancourous differences. He spoke a language, at once
simple and utterly convincing, which Advaitin, VisishtAdvaitin and
Dvaitin alike found easy to understand and relate to. Swamy was never
afraid of openly paying his respects and even acknowledging the
mighty contributions of Adi Sankara and MadhvAchArya to the great
stream of Vedantic thought handed down the centuries to us.

A few words now on a slighly personal note.

Adiyen was a young man of 20-21 when I first came into contact with
Mukkur Swamy thanks to my dear father who was and remains to this day
an ardent admirer of the Swamy. My schooling and background had been
one of Christian liberalism. I had very little knowledge of Vedic
tradition. I was 'secular'. With my modern education I tended to
pooh-pooh and reject all things in India's Vedic past.

Over the next 10-15 years adiyen gradually acquainted myself with
Mukkur swamy a little closely. I never missed his lectures. I used to
visit his house in Venkatesan Street in T.Nagar. My mother visited
him whenever she toured Kakinada. It was Mukkur Swamy who also graced
the occasion of my son's 'upanayanam' as late as in 1998. 

He was a generous host. Whenver adiyen visited his home he was
engrossed in performing some 'yagnyam' or other. He would insist on
my staying back until the ritual was over, receive blessings and have
lunch. ALthough he himself was an uncompromising 'anushtAna-karta' he
never judged others severely. Knowing that I was living and working
abroad, and being mindful of the secular pulls, pressures and
constraints living abroad entails, he would refrain from
pontificating to me on lapses of 'anushtAnam'. The only thing he
would insist upon, time after time, was that I should never ever fail
to do 'sandhyAvandanam'.

Swamy carried himself in public impeccably. Although a strict
'vaideekan', he never looked down upon poor 'loukeeka-s' as lesser
mortals. He treated everyone equally with the utmost civility and
kindness. After completion of every 'nrisimha-mahA-yagnyam' to which
thousands of people from all over the country contributed generously,
Swamy meticulously wrote to each one of them, reporting the
completion of the yagnyam and acknowledging their 'kainkaryam'. Swamy
must have distributed at least 100 000 or more 'nrsimha-medallions'
to bhaktA-s all over the country by way of acknowledging their
full-hearted 'sahAyam' in the performance of those great
'maha-yagnyam-s'.

Over the years adiyen suspects Swamy did great damage to his health
in the performance of these 'yagnyA-s'. He was in a perennial state
of 'deeksha'. He fasted for days on end. Constitutionally, he tended
to be obese. He took virtually no medication for ailments, petty or
serious. He spent most of his time beside the raging fires of
'yagnya-kundam-s' and worshipping his beloved 'mattapalli-nAthan"...
Adiyen knows from personal experience, how spending even an hour
beside a 'yagnya-kunda' can be arduous. Mukkur Swamy simply neglected
his health in the cause of his life-mission and his absolute
engrossment in it --- to build up Matapalli into a great
Nrismha-kshEtra through those great 'yagnyAm-s'. 

That Swamy has now reached the abode of SriVaikuntam --- of that
there is no doubt indeed. Nobody regrets it. But the untimeliness of
his departure is what makes us all continue to grieve. What was the
hurry for Mukkur Swamy to rush to 'parama-padam' leaving us all
behind like this? 

Those whom God loves, He beckons early. This is an old saying the
truth of which, alas, is confirmed again and again in our moments of
bereavement such as this painful one.

Regards,
adiyEn, mukkur dAsEna dAsAnu-dAsan, 
Sudarshan

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