Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamiji
Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati
सदात्मध्याननिरतं विषयेभ्यः पराङ्मुखम् ।
नौमि शास्त्रेषु निष्णातं चन्द्रशेखरभारतीम् ॥
Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati MahaswamiJi as the 34th Acharya of Sringeri Sharada Peetham was both a scholar and saint of outstanding eminence. From His boyhood days, His enthusiasm for dharma and good conduct and His devotion to guru and God were boundless. When I think of His benevolent qualities, I am reminded of a sloka in Vidyaranya’s Sankara Vijaya.
द्युवनान्त इवामरद्रुमा अमरद्रुष्विव पुष्पसञुयाः ।
भ्रमरा इव पुष्प सञुयेषु अतिसंख्याः किल शङ्करे गुणः ॥
Countless are the trees in the garden of Kalpa Vrikshas and equally so are the flowers on those trees and the bumble bees on those flowers. Similarly, the good qualities of Sankara are also beyond any count.
From his early years, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati came under the influence of his guru Sri Sachchidananda Sivabhinava Narasimha Bharati, who took a personal interest in his education. He studied at the pathasalas of Sringeri and Bangalore, and attained exraordinary proficiency in Sastras.
At the age of 20, he became the head of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham and was very efficient in the conduct of its affairs. He was a great saint in the real sense, as he led a simple life without any worldly desires inspite of his exalted position at the prestigious Sringeri Samsthanam.
He had the rare power to transform, by a mere glance, even the non-believers of God into believers. He was able to explain, with great ease and humility, any subject that his sishyas brought to him. Although he was a very learned man, he did not have the least ego. In the later years he did not take much interest in the affairs of the mutt, but he had an ingenious capacity to set right even the slightest mistake that occurred.
Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati attained a high dispassion in life and wanted to provide more time for his own tapas. At the age of 40, he nominated his successor. It should be said that he incarnated in this world primarily to guide people in dharma.
His method of worshipping the Lord served for all as an example to follow. He was indeed so devoted as to extend, for example, the hours of puja on Narasimha Jayanti day from noon to dusk, which was the time Narasimha avatara actually took place.
सन्तु नमांसि सहस्रं श्रीमद्भ्यश्चन्द्रशेखरगुरुभ्यः ।
येषां हृदये वदने नामनि पूते च भारती लसति ॥
Thousand prostrations to the great saint, Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati, who not only bears the name of Bharati (Sharada), but also bears her in his heart as well as his speech.
H.H. Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal adorned the Vyakhyarta Simhasana, Throne Of Transcendental Wisdom from 1912-1954.
(Excerpts from the English translation of Jagadguru Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji)