Vedic Tradition Niyama Adyayana Gurukulam

Vedic Tradition passed on through the generations

The father initiated the son into the Vedas for 14years in Tirupathi and now the son, Krishna Ganapadigal, has taken to passing the Vedic Knowledge on to his two sons by educating them at home in a Gurukulam style in Mylapore

Hyderabad's KVR Sastha

It is 9.30am on Friday (Oct 1) morning. All the big temples in the city are closed to devotees as part of the lockdown restrictions. 40year old G  Krishna Ganapadigal directs his Vedic Sishya the 14 year old KVR Sastha from Hyderabad to the small and quiet Venkatesa Perumal Temple on Mari Chetty Street. There in the Prakaram the young boy recites the Krishna Yajur Vedam sitting all alone for an hour. It is now a couple of years since Sastha made the trip from Hyderabad to Mylapore. 

Shortly after 1pm, he is back at the terrace (with an overhead old styled Thatched roof) of the Gurukulam on Kesava Perumal (Sannidhi) East street. He is already an inspiration to younger kids aged below 10 and they repeat the verses thrice after him. There is joy in the face of Sastha. At this young age, he seems to have taken to the Vedas quite well. Not for him the TV Channels or going around the Mada Streets on a shopping spree. He is not ashamed to sport the devotional tuft and seems to be headed in the traditional way of the Vedas. Also, food is not on the top of his mind. There are days when he eats a sumptuous full meal but on others he just has Rasam without vegetables. With no smart phone in hand, he is largely unspoilt with his mind deeply engaged in understanding the messages fromt the Vedas. 

Sastha's interest in these two years has been all around the Vedas and he has been learning the Patham along with Krishna Ganapadigal’s younger son Pranavanathan at the Sri Vidya Saraswathi Maha Periya Niyama Adyayana Gurukulam, a few hundred yards away from the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal Temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html).            

Vedic Tradition passed through generations

An interesting feature here is that the Vedic Tradition is being passed on from one generation to another. For 14years, Krishan Ganapadigal had learned the Vedas from his father Gopala Ganapadigal in Tirupathi, where the latter presented Veda Parayanam. 

And over the last 7years, Krishna Ganapadigal has been initiating Krishna Yajur Vedam to his elder son Vishwanathan. Currently, the father is playing the role of Vedic Acharya to his second son who has just started out on Vedic Education in the last couple of years along with Sastha. 

Just in the way he learnt the Vedas from his father, Krishna Ganapadigal now sees as his duty the passing on of the Vedic knowledge to his two sons. While the original plan was to initiate his two sons into the Vedas, a few other students too have joined this way of life staying at the Gurukulam to learn the Vedas.

His wife has been a pillar of strength and plays the role of the care taker of the students also doubling up as the cook. Currently there are six students at the Gurukulam in addition to his two sons.

There are no Committees and Trusts behind this Gurukulam. It is run with the informal support from devotee donors. Krishna Ganapadigal participates in Veda Parayanam at temple utsavams. Last week, he was at the seven day Pavitrotsavam at the Vedantha Desikar Temple in Mylapore. 

His focus is on carrying forward the Vedic Tradition into the Next Gen both through his two sons as well as his students who are now increasing in number.