Karunakaran Swamy President Award

The First ‘Traditional Vaishnavite’ with an Engineering Degree in TN has fulfilled the promise made to his father way back in his school days to keep his tuft intact though he had to endure torturous ragging during his Madurai College days in the 1960s

Named for the President’s Award – The third in his family to receive this award for contribution to the protection and development of Sanskrit – His father and elder brother too were recipients of the award 

This Sunday (Sept 15) morning, several hundreds of disciples gathered at the Gowrivakkam home of Mechanical Engineer and renowned Upansayakar and Sanskrit Scholar VS Karunakaran Swamy to celebrate his 72^nd birthday. Just 12 hours prior, he was honoured at the Vedantha Desikar Temple in Mylapore (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/11/srihari-parthasarathy-prabhandham.html) in recognition of him being named for the President’s award for his contribution to Sanskrit. Earlier, in a high profile event last Friday, he was felicitated by his disciples from across the country in the presence of Velukkudi Krishnan and MA Venkatakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/05/ma-venkatakrishnan-thiruvallikeni-divya_16.html).

Leaves Hereditary Location 

As seen in many of the earlier stories (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html), the second half of the previous century witnessed mass exodus of traditionalists from their hereditary location. Karunakara Swamy, who belongs to Villur near Madurai, was one of the earliest among them. After having his early education at Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar’s Oriental School in Kumbakonam, where his father, Srinivasaraghava Mahadesika Swamy, a Sanskrit Scholar lived a life promoting Sanskrit including at the Raja Patshala, Karunakaran Swamy moved to Madras where he studied at RKM North School, T. Nagar.

Very early into his schooling days, he was initiated into Sanskrit and Divya Prabhandham by his father, a President’s award recipient for his contribution to the development of Sanskrit.

Facing the ‘Tuft’ Ragging

In the early 1960s, he was the only traditional Vaishnavite in the Thyagaraja Engineering College in Madurai, one of the only six Engineering Colleges in the state at that time. Soon after his entry, his tuft became a topic of ridicule at the college. Throughout his college life, he had to endure this torture. There were also threats from the early anti Brahmnical movement to perform a ‘Scissor Cut’ on his tuft.

Credit to him and his faith in God that he came through severe ragging with his tuft intact at the end of four years. 60 years on, he still remembers his father’s message “Under any circumstance, you should not remove your tuft in life.” And he hasn’t.

At a time, when even the traditionalists are embarrassed to sport traditional attire, Karunakaran Swamy has shown that one need not be ashamed to be our own self.

Handles Sri Bashyam ‘Beamers and Bouncers’ from Revered Mukoor Azhagiya Singar

During the four years of his college, he continued to learn Vedantam, Ramanuja Bashyam and Bhagavath Vishayam from his father. Into his third year of his Engineering, his father directed the young Karunakaran to present a paper on Sri Bashyam at a traditional conference organised by Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar from whom he had to face ‘beamers and bouncers’ during the Sadas. It was his first ever encounter in a large public gathering. So delighted was Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar with the confident way the young teenager fielded his tough questions that Karunakaran Swamy was part of almost every Sadas for the next 25 years. 

22 year old Honoured by Sringeri Mutt in 1969

Sringeri Mutt had a great system to recognize Sanskrit Scholars in those days. During the visits of the Acharya, he would honour one great Sanskrit scholar in the city before he left the place. In 1969, the Acharya honoured 22 year old Karunakaran Swamy in Madurai, a great early recognition of the potential that he held.

After his graduation in Mechanical Engineering, he joined Dalmia Cements in Kallakudi Palanganatham (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/10/dalmia-puram-kallakudi-palanganatham.html). During that phase, he spent every weekend in Srirangam, where he learnt Nyaya Sidhantham from Madurantakam Swamy.

Top Govt Posting

Soon, he wrote the Combined Service Examination and came through that successfully. And thus began a long and successful journey in the Public Sector that lasted almost four decades. He joined the Ministry of Steel with a posting in Hyderabad in the early 1970s. For the next three decades, he went all around the country moving to a top position as a Director in the final phase of his professional career. Throughout the period of his Government job, he continued to present Upanyasams and propagate Sanskrit in Calcutta, Delhi, Madras and all other locations where he served professionally.

Gold Medal in Sanskritl @ 60+

Interestingly, it was after his retirement just over a decade ago, that he decided to pursue a formal degree in Sanskrit.  And past 60, he received a Gold Medal from the Bharathidasan University standing first in his Masters Degree. He received a Doctorate a couple of years ago for a thesis on the life and works of his father.

Propagating Vaishnavism

Over the last decade or so, he has been very actively involved in propagating the spirituality. Explaining with simple anecdotes each name referred in the Vishnu Sahasranamam has been one of his favourite works. He has also translated many of the Sanskrit works into Tamil for the new gen to absorb. To celebrate the centenary of his father, he published a collection of his poems, lyrics, prose works and Maha Kaavyam. To propagate the Vaishnavite philosophy, he teaches Sri Bashyam every weekend.

Sri Bashyam in Thiruvananthapuram

One of the highlights of his life has been the organizing for 20 years of a State level Sadas on Ramanuja’s Sri Bashyam in Thiruvananthapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/11/anantha-padmanabhaswamy-temple-in.html), a location from where the great Vaishnavite Saint had been driven out. 

Reviving a Popular Sadas at Thiru Kudanthai

For a Century, there had been a Vishishtadvaita Sadas organised at the Sarangapani Temple in Thiru Kudanthai to celebrate the Vedanta Desikar Utsavam in Puratasi. This was one of the most popular conferences in the state with all the leading senior scholars gathering to discuss and debate ancient scriptures. This had come to a halt in the later part of the 20^th Century. 

In the recent past, Karunakaran Swamy has revived this Sadas and is now organised at the Rajagopalaswamy Temple every year in Puratasi.

Temple Association

A few years ago, he played an active role in the construction of the Raja Gopuram at the Rajagopalaswamy temple in Kumbakonam as part of the renovation initiatives there and installed an integrated idol of Nadathur Ammal and Vedantha Desikar. During the annual Brahmotsavam in Maasi, Nadathur Ammal and Desikar go on a street procession with Lord Raja Gopalan. To ensure that the procession takes place in a traditional way, he funded the Sri Patham personnel through the Nadathur Ammal Trust.

At the Nachiyar Koil Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/12/nachiyar-koil-divya-desam.html), he is currently in the process of constructing a Yatri Nivas at a cost of almost Rs. 1crore. He has also installed the idol of Nadathur Ammal in many locations such as Kollankondan, Keezhathur, Sirungattur and Pallagacheri. 

 President’s Award

Every now and then, thoughts cross him on how different life would have been had he pursued Sanskrit full time instead of undertaking the Engineering Degree, one that was forced on him by his elder brother. But he believes that the Engineering degree gave him the presentation skills and helped him in the art of perfection. And he has more than made for lost time with an active life over the last decade promoting Sanskrit across the country. He has been swarmed by the devotees and disciples with demand for his Upanyasams shooting through the roof. The historical tradition of a father passing on his Vedic knowledge to the son still continues in his family. He says that it was the traditional initiation that he received from his father that laid a strong foundation and gave him the confidence to face life and its challenges and not academics.

It was with that belief that he went about propagating and promoting Sanskrit. For his life time service to the protection and development of Sanskrit, Karunakaran Swamy has just been named for the President’s Award, the third one from his family to receive this award after his father and elder brother, quite a unique achievement ( He will formally receive the award early next year). 

A lot more is in the offing, in terms of promotion of Sanskrit, given his passion for the language. In the first half of the 20th Century, his grandfather, Venkatasesharya Mahadesika Swamy, had spent a number of years working on translating NamAzhvaar’s Tiruvoimozhi into Sanskrit. Karunakaran Swamy is currently in the process of giving the finishing touches to it and this Magnum Opus in Sanskrit is likely to hit the stands soon.