Jayendra Saraswathi

Hindu pontiff

Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal (born Subrahmanyam Mahadeva Iyer; 18 July 1935 – 28 February 2018) was the 69th Shankaracharya Guru and head or pontiff (Pïțhādhipati) of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Subramanyam Mahadeva Iyer was nominated by his predecessor, Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, as his successor and was given the pontifical title Sri Jayendra Saraswathi on 22 March 1954. Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal succeeded Mahaperiyava Chandrashekara Saraswati Swamigal in 1960, a fact not many people know. He conducted all the activities of the mutt with the oversight of his Guru out of reverence. His successor was anointed by the then Senior Pontiff Mahaperiyava during his lifetime in the early 1980s.

Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal was born as Subrahmanyam to Mahadeva Iyer and Saraswathi Ammal on 18 July 1935. He completed schooling at Irulneeki primary school and at a middle school at nearby Adichapuram village. Then he shifted to a veda pathasala at Thiruvanaikoil in Trichy. He visited the village on holidays and used to play normal games such as marbles and 'killi thandu' like other children of his age. Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi selected him as his successor, when Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal was only 19 years old.

Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal was head of the mutt established by Adi Shankaracharya in 482 BCE He had His spiritual tutelage from 'Maha Periyava' and travelled the length and breadth of the country with His guru. He delivered religious discourse besides involving Himself in various spiritual and social activities as well. Under His guidance, the mutt started several schools and hospitals. The Mahaswamigal ensured that the Mutt involved itself in various social activities. Thanks to His efforts, the mutt today runs several schools, eye clinics and hospitals. He also managed to establish a direct connect with the people. Although the mutt is primarily a religious organisation, the Mahaswamigal, whose character was underpinned by a strident social consciousness, had both the conviction and courage to steer the mutt into territories into which it had not ventured before. The Mahaswamigal found strength from His own inner conviction and the need for both the mutt and the Hindu religion to reach out to the poor and downtrodden. He was still strong on religious practices and their understanding — it was one of the reasons He was handpicked as the 69th pontiff of Kanchi mutt when He was just 19 years of age. It took enormous amount of courage for Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal to renounce the world including His parents at the age of 19 in order to become true spiritual guru. He travelled with His senior initially and then, lead many more yatras across India barefoot to spread awareness on Sanatana Dharma. But He could make the two unlike poles reside comfortably within him. And that is because He was also a Jagadguru of vision, who had a grasp of His own destiny. The previous Kanchi mutt head, Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal had a profile and presence that combined religious benevolence and spiritual sensitivity but He rarely spoke in public. But Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal liked to get involved in the current affairs of India, public life and liked to meet people across castes. Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal had observed three unique qualities in His shishya (student) Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal : Jan Akarshanam, Dhan Akarshanam and Jal Akarshanam and hence chose Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal as His successor. Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal had the ability to attract people anywhere such that people used to call him to places where there was drought. He had the unique power of attracting rains anywhere. So people used to have great faith in Him. Any public project inaugurated by the Kanchi seer used to taste success. He clearly understood the changing pulse of the socio political, cultural religious fabric of the country. In the 1980s, he was able to spot the churn and realized the need for both the mutt and its head to have a different profile other than being a sentinel of religious rites and rituals. It is this belief that made him openly take on the Hindu baiter and former chief minister M Karunandihi on the language issue, by asserting that 'Sanskrit was his father tongue and Tamil his mother tongue'. It is considered a bravura explanation. Unlike His predecessors in Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal was involved in both spiritual and public life and was known for the efforts for a solution in the Ayodhya issue during the erstwhile period of Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, but it failed to fructify. Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal chose to bring warring factions into table and wrote a series of letters to All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishadh (VHP) to work out a solution. He was instrumental in the Kanchi Math expanding directly into people's service. Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal visited Manasarovar and Kailash in 1998 and became the only Shankaracharya to do so after the Adi Shankara. There he installed the idol of Adi Shankara. One of his important contributions is founding of the Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya, a deemed university in the name of his guru. Under Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal's tenure, Kanchi Math ran the deemed university and dozens of schools and hospitals — territories previously not in the reach of Mutt — besides over 50 traditional Vedic schools and temples. Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal broke the restraining rules of the Math and reached out to the downtrodden. He went to Harijan bastis and attracted thousands of new followers and devotees. He transformed a spiritual and ritualistic Math into a socially vibrant one. This brought Him high popularity and also into interaction with a multitude of social and political leaders in the country. The followers of the mutt call Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal a reformist saint and credit him with ensuring that the preachings of Adi Sankara were spread among people beyond the Brahmin community. This He did by encouraging the spiritual mutt to become more of a social service oriented one and making it all inclusive. But at the same time, he did not wish to go down in history merely as a religious figure. He had ambitions of being seen as a seer who understood politics and wanted to have a say in issues facing the nation. It is this approach that led to Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal playing a part in trying to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid dispute during the NDA rule, by engaging with stakeholders from both communities and the government. During his time as the head seer, Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal launched several charity initiatives such as the ‘Jana Kalyan, Jana Jagaran,’ a movement to "serve the people and awaken the masses". The charity programme aimed to establish temples in Dalit colonies and engage Dalits in temple rituals to expand the Hindu collective beyond the Dravidian polity's anti brahmin stance. He also appointed Dalit trustees in temples such as Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar. According to people who had been close to him during this period, Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal recognised the faultline in Hinduism that had triggered the conversions and embarked on an attempt to bring in Dalits and other socially oppressed classes into the mainstream Hindu fold. For months, he toured the state extensively, visiting villages, talking to Dalits and other communities. Departing from the usual convention of the mutt, which insisted that the pontiffs travel only by foot, Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal had got some of his devotees to donate a customised van that he used for his travel to these villages. Under his tenure, The Kanchi Mutt started many schools, eye clinics and hospitals. Child Trust Hospital, Hindu Mission Hospital, Tamil Nadu Hospital and other public welfare institutions which are religious focused were developed by him. He was seen as an avatar of Shiva Shankara and promulgated concept of Santana Dharma. He also conducted ‘Viswaroopa Yatra’ and ‘Sandarsanam’ at the Poranki Veda Pathasala. He played an important role in the establishment of the eye hospital – Sankara Nethrayala – between Vijayawada and Guntur in 2004. Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal's primary motto was to promote spirituality among people and also spread the bhakti cult. He renovated or participated in ‘kumbhabhishekam’ of more than 100 temples in the State. The seer took part in the ‘kumbhabhishekam’ at the Kanaka Durga temple atop Indrkeeladri in the 90s. He also installed Krishna's idol at the Labbipet Venkateswara Swamy temple in 2015. The Kanchi Kamakoti Charitable Trust in Tenali is among the several institutions set up by him.

In 2004, Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal was arrested in connection with the Sankararaman murder case on Diwali day. The court said that the complainant failed to support the prosecution and he was given bail. The trial went on till 2013 when he was acquitted by the court.

Tamil writer Anuradha Ramanan said she was subjected to sexual harassment by the Mahaswamigal when she met him back in 1992, when she was taken to negotiate the release of the spiritual magazine "Amma" by the muth. Anuradha Ramanan accused Saraswathi of making sexual advances. She said that during their first meeting, he spoke about the proposed journal and offered to make her its editor, Ramanan agreed to the offer. During their final meeting, she said, he began using indecent language, and when she looked up from the notebook, the woman who took her to him was in a sexually intimate position with him. She said that the Saraswathi "approached" her, and when she objected, the other woman tried to persuade her of her "good fortune". When she left the place, the Shankaracharya allegedly asserted that she keep her mouth shut. Ramanan said that she went to a woman police officer close to her to lodge a complaint, but did not do so because she feared for the future of her daughters. She reported that she was subjected to attempted murder when a truck hit her car in which she was traveling and another murder attempt was made on her life when she was admitted to the hospital.

On 27 February 2018, for doing the daily routine Pooja, Saraswathi asked Vijayendra Saraswathi to perform the routine poojas, which acted as a premonition that he wanted to hand over the reins to his successor. Jayendra even did Sandhyavandhanam that same day. The 82 year old seer was admitted to a hospital near Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram the following morning due to breathing problems. However, Jayendra was perfectly in shape and even walked whilst being inside the hospital. A few hours later, hospital and mutt sources announced that he had died and issued statement "The 69th Acharya of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Jagadguru Pujyashri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal attained Siddhi at 9.00 am today Shukla Trayodashi 28 Feb. 2018 at Sri Kanchi Kamakotii Peetam Sankara Matam, Kanchipuram." As a sanyasi, Saraswati was not cremated. He was instead interred in a Samadhi, that is referred to as a 'brundavanam' or 'adhishthanam'. A Tulasi tree was planted and a Shiva lingam was consecrated on top so that it will become a permanent shrine. The process of interment is called 'Brindavana Pravesha Karyakramam', which began on 1 March 2018 at 8am. The priests started performing chanting of mantras and his body was kept for devotees to pay respects from 10 am of 28 February 2018 to 8am of 1 March 2018. Saraswati's body was placed in the hall of the Kanchi math in a seated position, for devotees to catch a final glimpse. Devotees from various places visited the mutt from the morning of 28 February and throughout the night and paid homage to the late Acharya till 8am of 1 March 2018. Abhishekam of Shiva linga, a ritual was performed with chanting of Rudram and Chamakam on 1 March from 8am. Kanchi Mutt manager said over 5 lakh people came to the shrine to pay respects. It was decided that Jayendra Sarawasthi would be laid to rest beside his guru, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi and hence the seer's ‘brindavanam’, or final resting place, was constructed right next to the one that serves as the brindavanam for the 68th pontiff Sri Maha Periyava. Mutt officials stopped the public darshan by 8am on 1 March 2018 and initiated the installation of the brindavanam by reciting slokas. The final rites of Saraswathi began with an 'abhishekam' ( bath) with milk and honey at 10am. A huge crowd had assembled in the small auditorium to watch the proceedings of the installation of the Brindavanam. The body of Saraswathi was later carried to the adjacent ‘Brindavan Annexe,’ for his Samadhi, where the mortal remains of his predecessor Sri Chandrasekerendra Saraswathi were interred in 1993. The rituals for lowering Jayendra Saraswathi's body in the 7 x 7 ft burial pit in the Brindhavanam Annexe started after 11 am on 1 March 2018. The Mutt's Pontiff Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi performed the poojas for his guru and predecessor. The 69th pontiff of the Kanchi Sankara Mutt Sri Jayendra Saraswathi was placed in the ‘samadhi’ within the Mutt premises in Kanchipuram.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu mourned the death of Saraswathi. Notable dignitaries who offered condolences and paid homage following his demise include former Deputy Prime Minister of India LK Advani, former Union Minister and Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Anbumani Ramadoss, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader MK Stalin, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Union ministers D. V. Sadananda Gowda and Pon Radhakrishnan, Banwarilal Purohit, O. Panneerselvam, Sengottaiyan, and Ilayaraja. Muslims from Kanchipuram and nearby places also visited the Kanchi Mutt after his death, to pay their respects to him. They offered prayers (Namaz) as a token of respect for the Swami. The Nawab of Arcot is also known to be very close to the Mutt and its Acharyas.