Sri Agnihothram Thathachariar

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sudarsan Parthasarathy :

What a coincidence ! Sri AgnihOthram

RaamAnuja Tatachar is very much alive .

I offered my praNamams to him on October 16

at his home in West Mambalam .

He is the Acharyan for my sister and knows our family for

number of decades.

He is one of the rarest AchAryas , who has

strived all hislife for Vedams and their

intrepretation .He just released a book

on Hindu Marriage ceremony(Vedic part)

and gave the first copy to my sister to pass it on to me.

He has so many manuscripts that need

publishing on Yajnams and our Vedic lore .

He can not see very well anymore to write.

There is the lady , possibly the one referred to

who comes every day and takes dictation

to capture the enormous wisdom and record

them for future . He is no longer able

to travel due to surgery from diabetes.

He is one of the very rare scholars ,

whom you would cherish knowing and

calling him your AchArya and support

some of his service to Sri ViashNavism

and Hinduism and its Vedic roots .

You have to hurry up though , if you

wish to have sambhandham with thsi AchArya .

As you know, Agnihothram Swami belongs to

the Thirukkudanthai TatachArs , who

originally came from Kanchi ( Koti KannikAdhAnam

TatachAr Vamsam ). They are great performers of

Yajnam .

 

My sister lives in the street next to him

and can help as needed to introduce you .

Best wishes ,

V.Sadagopan

>"Mohan Sagar" <msagar

>Sri Agnihothram Thathachariar

>Mon, 9 Nov 1998 21:42:38 -0700

>BestServHost: lists.best.com

>Sender: bhakti-errors

>Errors-bhakti-errors

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>

>

>----------

>> Sudarsan Parthasarathy.S <sudarsan

>> Mohan Sagar <msagar

>> Re: About Seetha Mata

>> Monday, November 02, 1998 3:04 AM

>>

>>

>> ...In the middle you had made a mention about Sri.Agnihotram Ramaanuja

>> Thaathachariar. This Maha Purushar happens to be my Dad's Acharya and I

>> have little or no knowledge about him. I would like to know about this

>> Acharya, in case you know something about him.

>>

>> The reason being, I have not yet had my Samasrayanam and am looking for

>> an 'Acharya' whom I would surrender completely. In this regard my

>> search is open and am not limited to default lineages well established

>> in the form of 'Sri Andavan Asramam(Periya/Poundarikapuram)', Sri

>> Ahobila Madam , Sri Parakaala Madam etc.

>>

>> Thanks a million.

>>

>> Adiyen,

>>

>> Sudarsan

>

>--------------

>

>Dear Sri Sudarshan,

>

>I am bringing your request for information on the noted AchAryan, Sri

>Agnihothram Ramanuja ThathachArya, to the attention of our fellow Bhakti

>members, as I am sure that the more erudite in our group will be better

>able to direct you properly in this matter.

>

>This morning, I spoke with Dr. Robert Lester, Professor Emeritus of

>Religious Studies at the University of Colorado, who, as I mentioned in the

>above mentioned posting, is a sishyan of Sri Agnihothram. I regret to

>inform you that this noted AchAryan passed away last year, and as far as

>Dr. Lester knows, could not appoint a successor among his family to take on

>the responsibility of his AchArya-sishya paramparai. Among his three sons,

>only two are still living, and neither is interested in spiritual pursuits.

> However, it may be possible that Sri Agnihothram may have a sishyan who

>may have taken on this important role, but Dr. Lester is not certain about

>this.

>

>He suggests that you contact one Dr. Janaki at the Kuppuswamy Sastri

>Research Institute in Chennai. She is not a SriVaishnava but was very much

>connected to Sri Agnihothram and his sishyas. If there is a new AchAryan

>in this paramparai, she may be able to help you contact him.

>

>Can someone in this forum assist us further??

>

>adiyEn,

>

>Mohan

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Sriman Sadagopan and Sriman Parthasarathy,

 

Sri Agnihothram Thathachariar is our family guru. He is, as the relations

among bodies go, my periyappa of sorts (the son of my thatha's brother). He is

our acharya in our swayamaachaarya lineage. I call him "muththa'. Please allow

me to share a couple of anecdotes about him.

 

1. He was initiated in to the vedic rites by his thatha "Sri Pattu Swaamigal"

whom I think Sri Sadagopan would have heard of. At the tender age, as he was

performing a yagna, a cat came and instead of crossing his path, as it is

normally wont to do, it stopped, stood and turned back. Sri Pattu Swaamigal,

muththa told me, then said that it was a sure sign that he was destined to do

many good deeds (sathkarma).

 

2. Once, following the command of the Lord appearing in his dream, Muththa

went to the Saarangapaani temple at Kumbakonam and asked the priest to bring a

chisel and start chiseling the face of the Moolavar. Now, who would do such a

sacrilege? The priest was diffident, consulted the other people and was

undecided. Muththa assured them that he would take full responsibility for the

action. Because of the respect he commanded, they did as told. Lo and behold!

The mud-covering that had hitherto covered the face of the Lord broke away

revealing the charming face that we see now. ( During the onslaught from the

muslim fanatics from the north India in recent history, bhaktas cleverly hid

the charming face of the Moolavar in a hardened mud casing to protect the

Moola vigraham ).

 

3. Recently, when the doctors gave him the choice of life with an amputated

leg or no life at all, he opted for the latter saying that he was fully

contented with the way things were. But, again the Lord manifested His

Presence in a way man understands! Four different people in Mysore state got a

dream the same night with the Lord syaing to the effect that Agnihothram is

lying there in Madras; Go, take care of him. They all came the next day to

the hospital where he was and told him that it was the Lord's command that he

should opt for the surgery. Muththa himself told me last month that He had

extended his life because He wanted more work to be done through him. Yes, he

said that he would soon be publishing a twenty volume work titled "The

Majestic Journey of Religion during the past 40,000 years" (Yes, 40000

years!).

 

He is hailed as a Vedic scholar. He is a scholar in the true sense of the word

in that he practises what he has learned and assimilated. There is no

hypocricy, no show. Just a calm, energetic and enthusiastic equilibrium about

him. As a straight arrow, he culls and goes to the essence of things, made

possible by the brilliance that only a vedic study can give.

 

It is only God's Grace that we live in the midst of people like him!

 

dhaasaanu dhaasan

Sundararaghavan Krishnaswami

[Guest guest]

I am very happy to hear that I was misinformed!

 

Unfortunately, because of age and illness, Dr. Lester has been forced to

disconnect himself somewhat from the Community. So, he probably recieved

the wrong news from second or third-hand information. I am sure that he

will be happy to hear that his friend and teacher is still living and

continuing in his service to SriVaishnavam.

 

dAsan

 

Mohan Raghavan

[Guest guest]

Dear Mr Mohan Raghavan

I jut happened to stmble upon this site & read your posting. I am fortunate to be ARTs grand son (my mother is his first daughter). He is in Chennai & good health. Recentlly we celebrated his entry into the 100th year at our ancestral home in Kumbakonam. I have been spending time with him to document his life's journey,books & articles pubished, blood line, family tree etc.

 

It will be my pleasure to get in touch & share with anyone any kind of info to create an archive

 

humbly

Raman S K

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Raman,

 

Happy to hear that Sri Agnihotram Swamin has marked his 100th year. Please forward necessary details regarding his life and works, and I will be happy to post these in other lists. My e-mail address is: mohan0128@gmail.com.