Kapali V Ramkumar World Bank to Sanyasam

IIT Post Grad and World Bank Consultant takes to Sanyasam and a Devotional Life in Service to people

He has handed 1000s of Rudraksha Maalai and Devotional Books to the next gen at the Kapali Temple 

In 2018, this section had featured a story on a crorepathi IT professional from Karappankadu quitting a high paying job in a MNC in his 40s and moving to the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam transforming the madapalli there (Srirangam Madapalli). A year or so later, he quit the service in the madapalli and took to Sansayam and now lay stationed at the Ananthazhvaan Avatharam Sthalam in Kirangur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/srirangam-madapalli-fame-lakshmi.html). In March last year, this section featured a story on a long standing Kapali devotee who quit a high paying corporate job and moved into a dozen years of silence (Vilvam Anna Vasudevan).

This one is a story of a World Bank Consultant from Mannargudi with multiple academic degrees giving up corporate life, once again in his 40s and taking Sansyasam dedicating his life to Kapaleeswarar of Mylapore.

V Ramkumar (Vaidyanathan Subramanian) was outstanding in academics and was a topper in Biology at DAV Gopalapuram. He also took to Tamil all through his years at school. When his father (he retired as AGM at Parrys) was transferred to Trichy, he had a great experience with Ranganathaswamy of Srirangam. Since then, he has returned to Srirangam several times for a darshan of the Lord especially at the Era Pathu Utsavam. By the time he was into class III, he was full time into Bhajans and lighting 108 lamps at the temple. Even as a school boy in Trichy, he cleaned and swept the local temple before the priest arrived.

Every summer, he went back to his village in the 1970s and 80s and was associated in farming, accounts work, knotting flowers and every traditional activity in his native village.

His grandparents hailed from Sithambur village off the Mannargudi Tiruvarur highway. They were traditionalists of the highest order and followed aachaaram till the very end. His grandfather was a Mirasdaar in the village and it had become a traditional practice for his grandmother to feed all visitors to the village. "Feeding 100s of people was a normal occurrence at home and we took delight in serving people" says Ramkumar of his memories from the 1970s. 

He points out an example showcasing the traditional values of his grandparents “When the Government allocated money for steps to be built in a local temple tank, my grandfather refused as he believed that the cows would not be able to walk down the steps such was his respect for the sacred animal.”

His grandfather was a freedom fighter and had walked with Rajaji to Vedaranyam. Till independence, he did not get his son to join an English school!!!

Lets go 'Medicine' Dream, a M. Tech at IIT Bombay

Ramkumar wanted to take to medicine but the cost of studying medicine was exorbitant and he had to let go of his first dream to serve the society. His father suggested him to take to chemistry at Vivekananda College. It was a great experience where he also learned Sanskrit.  "The teachers at Vivekananda including Dr. Sundaram were simply outstanding. In addition to the core subjects, they also initiated us into the importance of a traditional way of life."

He went on to pursue his Masters in Chemistry at IIT Madras, M. Tech in IIT Bombay and then also did a MBA in International business at Symbiosis Pune.

A highly devoted teenager

Alongside all his academic pursuits, he was quietly following a devotional way of life that was far beyond his age. He began his Veda Adyayanam under Pattukottai Srinivasa Sastrigal. Later he was initiated into further Vedic learning by Sripatha Ganapadigal near Rajamundry. From Thiruvenkadu Muthuswamy Sastrigal, he learned Shanmada Upasanai and advanced Sanskrit. When his grandfather passed away in 1989, Ramkumar took up the Panchayathana Pooja that had been done previously for centuries. He was just in his teens and his devotional move at such a young age took everyone in the family by surprise.

Rathnagireeswarar – A big early influence

At 17, he was sitting alongside Octogenarians at the Rathnagireeswarar temple as part of the Veda Ghosti. For about five years in that phase, he attended every programme at the temple managing academics by the side. A year later at 18, he received Mantropadesam from Mayura Vaidyanathan Iyer. He was told later that when he was just 1 year old, he had received the blessing of Maha Periyava who sent him to Bhuvaneswari Swamigal. “The teachings of Bhuvaneswari Swamigal molded me.”

He clearly was assigned to be a one of a kind multi faceted personality, for he was also trained in carnatic music by Vaigal Gnana Skanda including in Tamil Kritis. The guru also taught him Sastras. He learned Bharatanatyam, the Veena, was involved in enacting in dramas and drew large Rangolis.

The early bonding with Kapali

As a teenager he had once been to Mylapore but did not visit Kapaleeswarar temple. His amma had studied at Lady Sivasamy School and was an ardent devotee of Kapali. “When I reached home and told my amma that I had been to Mylapore she gave me a message that has stayed all through my life – If you step foot in Mylapore, do not return without spending a few minutes inside the Kapali and Ambal Sannidhi.”

That moment created a special devotional bonding with the Kapali temple and he has remained a lifetime devotee of the divine couple. Academics and Temples were the only part of his life in his first 25years. He had never missed the annual utsavam in Panguni at Kapali. 

Surprisingly, he was also very close to the previous jeer of the Ahobila Mutt who he met when he was just 20 years old. “The Jeer spent 1.5 hours with me at the Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiru Ananthapuram, something that I could never have visualized to happen in my life. He looked at me as his own son.”

No Marriage, Assigned for larger devotional cause

Even as a young teenager he had decided that family life  was not for him for he was destined for larger things in life. Though his parents tried to convince him on that path, an invisible voice had impressed upon him that a devotional way of life was the way forward for him. ”From Dakshina Murthy at Marudeeswarar Koil, I received a message that I was not destined for family life and that I had been assigned for a larger devotional cause.”

Biggest Influence - Tiruppan Azhvaar's  True Devotion

He has been a voracious reader all his life with a large collection of over 50000 books.  The life of Thiruppaan Azhvaar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/03/thirupaanazhvaar.html), who sang 10 verses of praise on the Lord of Srirangam, had the biggest influence on him and taught him what real devotion was and how one should engage with God. 

Into Corporate Life in Singapore and the Middle East

For over a decade after the completion of his Masters, he pursued a full fledged corporate life with a long stint in Singapore in a MNC in shipping and logistics business. Subsequently, he moved into a US based Software group and completed his corporate work as an employee with a Dubai based real estate and property developer. Very early in his life, he learned to cook under amma’s training and has managed his own food almost all his life.

Corporate job to Management Consultancy

He had not touched 40 when he decided that he had had enough with a full time job in a corporate and became a Management Consultant just under 15years ago. His appa had passed away a few years earlier and he wanted to spend time with his amma with whom he had been very close from his childhood "She had taught me all the traditional values and initiated me into a devotional way of life."

His wide ranging experience in multiple sectors meant that consultant projects came his way. Over the many years, he has been a Consultant to the World Bank for their overseas projects in South America and South Africa. In recent years, he has given up almost everything and is currently in the final phase of his projects with World Bank. In the period of his consultancy with the World Bank, he has written feasibility reports, tender reports and been involved in tender evaluation. He has also provided advice on development of Investment Zones, Gated Community and Agri Zones. “While it was an enjoyable experience, my mind has almost completely moved away from the Corporate life into devotional service.”

Sanyasam into his 40s

With the passing away of his amma in the middle of the previous decade, he decided to take to Sansayam with the blessings of Thirumalai Tirupathi Jeer, an interesting one for an Advaita. Following his Sanyasam six years ago, he was asked to refer to himself as Brahmananda Avadhootha Swami. To this day, he follows every aacharam including Trikala Sandhyavandanam. The Tirumala Tirupathi Jeer while blessing him on his taking to Sanyasam asked him to perform Kainkaryam.

Kainkaryam at Kapali Temple

In the last decade or so, he has been a great influence on the devotees of Kapali, a service initiated into him by Seshadri Swamigal at Tiruvannamalai. He has presented over 1000 of them with Rudraksha Maalai sourced exclusively from Nepal. He did not want them to just wear the Maalai and also wanted them to chant the Shiva Nama. This led him to publishing books in praise of the Lord that he has handed to all these devotees. As part of his devotional service and creating a calming influence in the devotees, he has also handed out Shiva Lingams sourced from Narmada to devotees. In addition, he has also presented Saligramams and conches in big numbers to devotees at Kapali.

For a large part of his life, he has been blessed with a Kainkaryam during the first kaala pooja at Kasi Viswanathar temple. At the Vaitheeswaran Koil, he was instrumental in revival of some of the utsavams a couple of decades ago, at a time when they had come to a halt.A trip to Gaya during the Pandemic got him closer to God for he was all alone with the deity in that phase.

Panguni 2022 - Senkol and Thee Pantham at Kapali 

He dedicates the crystallizing of his Brahmanandam at 50 almost entirely to Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal. The last 7 years of every evening at Kapali, he says, has been the best period of his life particularly this year when in the space of a month he had the blessings to be assigned with two sacred kainkaryams “During the Panguni Utsavam, I carried the Senkol and from the fifth day of the utsavam, the Thee Pandham. During the entire 28 day Vasantha Utsavam, I carried the Thee Pandham. It was a memorable devotional experience.”

While he has been devotional right from his childhood, Ramkumar is in a completely different frame of mind. For the hundreds of devotees at the Kapaleeswarar temple, Ramkumar provides positive vibration every evening at the Artha Jaama Pooja.

Sanyasam, he says, is a state of mind “Contentment, No desires, control of the mind, no importance to external appearances, simplicity in attire, calming down of the mind, mixing with devotees, spreading positive dharmic messages and praying for the well being of all are integral part of this phase.” 

He says that God has assigned him on this “He provides the pen and the ink. I am only a tool”.