Prakrutham Srimath Andavan was born in Srimushnam , a
swamyam vyakta KshetrA, in South Arcot district to Sri
U.Ve. SrinivAsAchAriAr and Sri Kumudavalli belonging
to the illustrious lineage of swayamAchArya purushas.
He was born on a vaikasi Arudra day in yuva varsham
(3.6.1935).
His parents named him as Varaahan.
Upanayathi samskarams were performed at the right age
to him.
Varahan swami became well qualified in Veda and divya
prabhandha adhyayanams at a young age.
His periappa, Sri. U.Ve. Srimushnam puranam Narayanachariar taught him kaavy and nataka alankara granthas.
Swami went to Kakumaani charity Patasala (affiliated to Madras University) in Chennai for his initial education in
Sastras.
In a quest to learn more about samanya sastras, swami
came to Sri perumbudur and learnt fully the nyaya and
tharka Sastras and got duly qualified in Sironmani
from Sri Perumbudur Sanskrit College.
Seeing swami's remarkable knowledge and extreme brilliance, learned wise men who had interacted with swami at that time
predicted that swami would become a maha vidwan and a
sampradaya pravarthaka.
For some time swami went to Andhra pradesh and taught
Sanskrit in Sanskrit colleges located in Jeetikal and
Alwal , close to Hyderabad.
Swami came back to Sri Perumbudur and passed meritoriously in Tamil Vidwan exam.
It could be said that there are no literature left out in Tamil that swami is unaware of.
Its Swami's special quality to quote Thiruvalluvan,Kamban,
Ilango and Barathi in His anugraha bhashanams as and
when required.
Swami underwent grantha chathushtya Kalakshepams under His Holiness Srimath Thirukkudanthai Andavan.
Upon Srimad Thirukkudanthai Andavan 's holy command,
Sri varachar swami accepted to take up sanyasa and
took ascetic order on 1-6-1989 ( sukla varsham
vaikasi 19th) as Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan
Srimushnam Srimath Andavan is an versatile exponent in
various many other sastras such as sculpture,
sangeetham, alankara sastra, Astrology(Jyothisham), construction, Ayurveda to name a few.
Swami's anirasadharana pandhithyam in
keervana bhasha ,Vedantha and vyakarana sastra is
well known.
It is also very well known that His Holiness Srimath Andavan talks with sleha (slesha) in appropriate moments with amazing timing and precision.
Swami once beautifully sculpted a salagrama perumal
(which was a little broken ) to Lakshmi Hayagreeva
Perumal.
So many have wondered about His Holiness's amazing knowledge in a wide variety of subjects, be in science or other specific specialty areas.
Srimath Andavan is well versed in Telugu and Kannada
also and gives anugraha bhashanams in telugu itself to
sishyas and abhimanis whenever an opportunity arises.
Srimath Andavan has undertaken many key projects some
of which are very briefly mentioned here such as,
1. Establishment of Srimath Andavan Arts and Science
College in 1996 and managed by Sri Ranganatha Paduka
Vidyalaya trust.
2. Construction of Sakshath swami Mani Mandapam at
Vaduvur and a Veda patasala which was inaugurated in
2001. Now it has about 30 vidhyarthis (including 3 who
going on ganam ? salakshana Ganapatis)
3. A building (abt 3600 sq.feet) construction in Thiruvaheendrapuram to facilitate
conducting classes in prabhandhams and vedas.
4. Construction of Sri Balaji Mandir(at about 27000
sq. feet), located in Dombivili, the samprokshanam of
which was performed in August 2001. The project cost
around Rs. 1.35 crores and ran for over 3 years.
5. Vajra kavacham for perumal at Sripuram Temple in
Bangalore at the cost of Rs. 7. 50 lakhs.
6. A silver lined wooden simhasanam costing
approximately Rs. 3.50 lakhs was offered by His
Holiness to Thuppul Desikan during purattasi
thiruvonam in 2001.
7. Construction of Sanidhi for Gopalarya Mahadiskan
(1700-1783 -Munithraya Sidhantha Sthapakacharyan) on
his 301st Birthday at his birth place Royampettai at a
cost of 5 lakhs in sep 2000.
8. Construction Of Kalyana Mandapam at Asramam
premises in Kanchipuram for the convenience of
devotees.
9. Installation of new utsava murthis costing about
Rs. 1 lakh at our Sri Vaikuntanathji Mandir in New
Delhi.
10. Starting of a corpus fund for the maintenance of
Asramam establishment that includes emoluments for the
kainkaryaparas, life insurances for them and their
family etc.
11. Starting of a fund for offering thatheeyAradhanam
to the devotees visiting the Andavan Asramam at
Kanchipuram during Brahmotsavam.
And so on.
The philosophy of visishtadvaita is very ancient one
having come down to us through ages as an unbroken
tradition.
It has the authority of eternal Vedas, Upanishads in
Sanskrit and Divya Prabandhams in Tamil, as well as of
the Lord's own words the "PAncharatra".
It is the true Philosophy of religion unassailable, dear to Divya
Dhampathis, dear to sages and seers, dear to Alwars
and Acharyas who have verified it in their spiritual
experiences.
In Geetha 7-17, Lord says, "Four type of devotees of
noble deeds worship me, the seeker after worldly
possession, the afflicted, the seeker of knowledge and
man of wisdom. O, best of bharatha"
"Of these the best is man of wisdom(Jnani) ever
established in identity with me and possesssed
exclusive devotion for I'm extremely dear to wise man
and he is extremely dear to me."
AchAryAs are JnAnis who are dearer to God. Acharyas
dispel the darkness of mind and enlighten with
knowledge for which even God cannot find substitute as
repayment, as quoted by Desikaa "Yetri manatthu" in
Adhikara sangraham.
Praising Acharya's glory, Retaining Acharya's
teachings in mind and spreading AchArya's greatness
etc., are only very very small when compared to what
an Acharya has done to the sishyas.
It is our purva janma punyam that we have our Acharyas
to guide us in the righteous path and spread the
fragrance of Arulicheyal and Divya sukthi of Alwars
and Purvacharyas and the philosophy of Vishistadvaita,
traveling far and wide throughout the country.
