ahameva param brahma vaasudevaakhyamavyayam.

(I am indeed the Supreme Brahman, the One free from decay and known as Vasudeva (He who resides in and shines in all))

He strongly held on to the idea conveyed and immediately He felt Himself expanding and becoming pervasive like space. A great wave of joy arose and submerged Him. That days meditative experience ended there. The experience repeated on subsequent days also. "It is true that I am experiencing great bliss in that state and I am perceiving no form and not hearing sound. But, still the feeling I am experiencing has not vanished. I must do something to transcend it", thought Acharyal. The next day, the moment He reached the state wherein He felt Himself pervasive and had a great experience of bliss, He forcefully restrained Himself and introduced the thought, "I am not the one experiencing bliss but am bliss itself". In a trice, a sharp change occurred. Awareness of the distinction of the concentrator, concentration and the object of concentration completely disappeared. No more was there any sense of individuality or of space, time and objects. Only Brahman, of the nature of absolute existence, pure consciousness and ultimate bliss, shone bereft of the superimposition of even a trace of duality. After a lapse of time His mind descended slightly from that state to the Savikalpa Samadhi level. Gradually His mind came down further. He opened His eyes and He saw nothing whatsoever as existing apart from Him. Everything was like bubbles in the ocean that was Himself. His body felt light like cotton-wool and as He walked downhill it seemed as if He were on a moving canoe. After about an hour the experience slowly faded. He began to repeatedly attain this state and soon the realization that He was Brahman, the substratum of all, became steady and unchanging. He had attained perfection and had become a Jivan Mukta, one liberated while alive. Strange as it may seem, Acharyals formal Vedanta lessons started much later than His attaining the Highest. The Vedanta study merely served to confirm what He had already known by direct experience.

Even after attaining perfection in Yoga, Acharyal tried out various experiments with meditative techniques just for the fun of it. For example, He found that Nada Anusandhanam (contemplation on internal sound) is an effective way of attaining Samadhi. He tried out and developed various short-cuts for Himself to plunge into Samadhi with minimum effort and in the shortest possible time. His experiments, though served Him no particular purpose, made Him an ideal Guru who could speak authoritatively on any aspect of meditation and comprehend the experiences of His devotees within the framework of His research.

Acharyals realisation of the Supreme Truth was so firm that even when given an injection of morphine during a cardiac illness, with a semi-conscious mind, He continued to lisp words indicative of absolute realisation.

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In 1954, Paramacharyal began to give hints that He no longer wished to retain His body since He felt that His work had been completed. On the 26th September early morning, Paramacharyal entered the waters of the Tunga and voluntarily cast off the body. Acharyal, in spite of being a Yogi, could not keep down His emotions. He immediately collected Himself and set about to execute the final rites according to the Math tradition.

Acharyals formal coronation as the 35th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Sharada Peetam took place on Aswina Panchami under the star Rohini. This corresponds to October 16, 1954. A large and distinguished gathering witnessed the installation ceremony and invoked the blessings of the new Jagadguru. The formal completion of the functions took place on October 17. After His coronation, Acharyal rendered a brief speech wherein He said that He was highly in need of Paramacharyals grace to carry out His duties as a Peetadhipathi. He then said that He would pray for such blessings from His Guru.

The tasks that awaited the new Jagadguru were enormous. The Math administration, which lay in government hands, was far from satisfactory and the financial status precarious. Facilities for the stay of devotees at Sringeri were very poor and extensive renovations were absolutely necessary. Further, devotees from all over the country were eagerly looking forward to Acharyals gracing their cities since Paramacharyal had not toured much. Acharyal set about solving these and many other problems in His characteristic and inimitable style.

He assigned the first priority to the call of His devotees and so in 1956, set forth on His first South India tour. Village by village, He visited and graced devotees by the thousands. Relentlessly He drove Himself to the verge of exhaustion to inculcate dharmic ideals and spiritual values in the hearts of millions. He was not only a venerable teacher but also a perfect student too. He analysed and absorbed what was relevant to the Math. For example, He talked to serveral farm-owning disciples and learnt many agricultural techniques. Production units and technical centers captivated Him. Much of Acharyals knowledge stemmed from His interest and observations. He had said, "Even from My young age I was inclined to open up and reassemble a gadget in order to understand its working".

In 1959, the government handed over the Math administration to Him. He immediately formulated plans for the betterment of the Math. Acharyal initiated the construction of a new guest house. Renovation of Ambal and Ganapathy shrines at the Malahanikareshwara temple, a new vimanam for the Adishankara Bhagavatpadal shrine and a gopuram for the Ambal temple were His other schemes.

With the agricultural knowledge acquired during His tours, Acharyal converted a bamboo forest adjoining Narasimhavanam (the place where Acharyal stays) into cultivable land. Many thought that this was impossible and He proved them wrong. To enhance accessibility, Acharyal chalked out the positions and paths for laying roads in Narasimhavanam.

While planning a building, Acharyal would give importance to user-convenience, non-wastage of space, fulfillment of multiple objectives, provision of expansion and cost-minimization. His modifications to Chandramouleeswara thotti and His construction of several guest houses bear testimony to the above principles. He had said, "I have no formal engineering education but am ever ready to learn by questions, observations and practice".

Interested in Vedic education, He renovated the patashala at Sringeri and made numerous conveniences for the teachers and students. He established various branch Maths at various places and consecrated many a temple. He also encouraged secular education. With His blessings, a girls school was started at Sringeri. He was also the patron of the Shankara college at Kalady. He also planned and directed the construction of the Sri Sharada Dhanvantari Hospital at Sringeri.

Acharyal was a very able administrator. His taking over the reins of administration of the Math from the government bears concrete testimony to this. But, when the administration returned, the Math was stripped of all the jahagirs and this was a big blow to the income of the Math. When the news was sorrowfully told to Acharyal, He replied, "The jahagirs were non-existent in Bhagavatpadals time. The Math had been functioning quite well even before the lands were granted. Likewise, it shall carry on now without them. There is nothing to worry about". His stand had been more than vindicated due to the patronage of the devotees. Acharyal firmly believed, "Ishwara is there. He knows how to take care of things. Whatever He resolves is indeed the best".

Acharyals immaculate intuition and razor-sharp intellect contributed a great deal in evaluating and dealing with situations. Accepting and implementing good suggestions, skill based work allocation and freedom of action at various levels were the highlights of His ingenious methods.

He was extremely just in all His dealings allowing neither partiality nor favouritism. He applied this rule to everyone without exception. His normal recourse was soft words and impeccable logic which appealed not only to the intellectual but also to the emotional and moral aspects of individuals. During His 1979-80 tour of Kerala, due to misrepresentation of Acharyals words in the press, a belligerent crowd armed with sticks collected outside a temple where Acharyal was visiting. The news was conveyed but Acharyal seemed thoroughly unperturbed. He emerged from the temple and the crowd became even more boisterous. Unexpectedly, Acharyal summoned one of the members. Taken by surprise, the man mutely stepped forward and Acharyal handed him a tray full of dry fruits. Acharyal spoke softly but with force, "You are the leader. Distribute the prasadams to people". The man obeyed and the crowd mellowed as they saw some conversation going on between Acharyal and one of their people. The distribution was thoroughly unexpected and the crowd, as though mesmerised, stopped the shouting. Acharyal said, "Repeat after Me". He began to chant "Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare". Initially, only a handful followed but soon it became an impressive chorus. Acharyal assuaged the people with comfortable words and minutes later, drove off in His car.

Simple living and high thinking characterise Mahatmas. Acharyal insisted on doing His personal works Himself. He would take His attendants assistance for a task only if such help was essential or if it was related to His pontifical duties.

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People with various needs approached Him - spiritual aspirants who wanted to step into the next higher level and He guided each and everyone as if He had been with them throughout their spiritual evolution; scholars well versed in Sastras who were eager to analyze the intricacies of Tarka and Vedanta and He won their hearts by His in-depth knowledge; people who wanted material gains, relief from afflictions and ailments and He listened to them patiently, offered them kind words and, of course, benevolently blessed them.

Acharyal was always accessible to devotees and He made no distinction of caste, creed etc., as far as sincere aspirants were concerned. He accorded very high priority to spiritual aspirants. When arrangements were being made for Sishya Sweekaram in November 1974, an Italian came to get clarifications regarding Gaudapadacharyals Karikas on the Mandukya Upanishad. Even though Acharyal was extremely busy directing the arrangements of the function, He most readily consented to spare time when the request was made known to Him. On a certain day Acharyal was not doing well and darshanam was highly restricted. A spiritual aspirant in his twenties had travelled a long distance to see Acharyal and was to leave the next day. When this was made known to Him, He called for the person, heard him patiently and gave valuable advice.

Acharyal had an inimitable method of imparting spiritual advice but what instruction He would give to an aspirant could not be predicted. A man once complained of breathlessness during meditation. Acharyal diagnosed the problem immediately and replied, "You are making an involuntary effort to still the breath to gain better meditation. Your dhyanam is, however, not deep enough to warrant almost no breathing. Do not try to alter the breathing pattern. Just pay attention to fixing the mind on the object of meditation".

Another aspirant found the swallowing of saliva every few minutes disturbed his good meditation and approached Acharyal for guidance. Acharyal pondered for a few moments and said, "In your case, folding the tongue such that the tip is turned towards the gullet and rests lightly on the upper palate will be helpful. Secondly, do not consciously or semi-consciously anticipate the necessity to swallow". On the first day, the aspirant found the folding of the tongue somewhat inconvenient but got used to this soon. The need to repeatedly swallow started decreasing and in less than a week, the distracting feature ceased to cause difficulties.

Another aspirant mentioned of sharp bodily jerks during meditation and asked Acharyal for remedy. Acharyal clarified, "You are not strong. Eat well and do some exercise. The jerks shall not bother you".

There are so many such examples and when asked about His mode of answering questions, Acharyal replied, "Quite often, I give a solution based on personal experiences. As I have tried out numerous methods when I was young, I often easily comprehend the aspirants conditions. Sometimes, after getting further clarifications I try out what the aspirant practices. I use My experience to shape the reply. On some other occasions, I just feel like prescribing a particular course of action. It is Ishwaras grace which makes the answers helpful to the seekers".

Acharyals compassion was something that can only be wondered at and not explained. An Ayurvedic physician gave a small amount of a rare lotion to Acharyal and said that the lotion would heal any wound. The physician kept the composition of the lotion as a secret. One day, Acharyal was moved when He saw a badly wounded dog. The dog was hurt with a knife and the wound was deep. He ordered that the lotion be applied on the dog and the dog was cured in a remarkably short time.

Even when travelling He would notice persons or situations needing help. Once, when travelling through a city, Acharyal saw a man lying on the ground and having an attack of fits. He ordered His driver to stop the car. Even when told that those scenes were common and more often than not were mere pretenses to get alms, Acharyal refused to budge. Accordingly, the driver stopped the car. Acharyal realised that the man stopped having fits and was feeling thirsty. So, without a moments thought He picked up His own vessel and ordered for the water to be taken to that man. In the meantime, another car had stopped and its driver gave water to the sick man. When Acharyal resumed the journey, He remarked, "How fortunate the other car driver was to be able to render help! I was not lucky enough to avail the opportunity to help the suffering one".

A poor devotee was very keen on performing Pada Puja but did not have adequate funds for the purpose. When Acharyal went to a house for Pada Puja, He noticed this poor devotee standing in a corner and gazing longingly at Him. He beckoned him and found the reason for his grief. Acharyal cheered him up and told him to go to his house and be prepared. After the completion of the Pada Puja, Acharyal informed the Math staff about His intention to go to the poor mans house for Pada Puja. The Pada Puja proceeded smoothly. At the end, Acharyal asked His secretary to hand over Rs. 250 to the poor man.

Acharyal never believed in keeping to Himself what He had learnt. Hence, He had trained many in the Tarka Sastra. He was even keener on expounding Vedantic texts. He would welcome doubts and would not hesitate to refer numerous other texts. Once a sabha was called at Bangalore to discuss whether Bhagavatpadal recognised moola avidya (primary nescience). Traditional scholars are of this view while some other pundits held the contrary view. Acharyal witnessed the proceedings with avid interest. A person asked Him why He could not pass His verdict as a Jagadguru. Acharyals poignant reply was, "I am not here as a Jagadguru. On the contrary, I am seated as one who was taught the sastras and I want to confirm what I have learnt." This shows how impartial Acharyal could be in spite of His being recognised by scholars as an unparalleled exponent of Tarka and Vedanta. He would permit interested people to attend His classes for He held that even mere hearing of sastras was beneficial.

Quite often His expositions and upanyasams clearly bore the stamp of realisation particularly those which relate to dhyanam and the state of a Jivanmukta. While it is true that Acharyal believed in individual attention, He gave upanyasams by the thousands covering a variety of topics and each one is a gem that serves as guidelines to lead ones life properly. Acharyal regarded only a genuine practitioner as one competent to preach and so He was meticulous in His anushtanam. Acharyal never forgot any good done to Him even if the favour was meager. Having a crystal-like pure heart, Acharyal also, like Yudhistra, was only able to see the good in others.

Acharyals life itself serves as an ideal for disciples to emulate to the extent their limited capacities permit. Thus, it was not only when Acharyal was speaking or discoursing that He advised them. Even His simple day-to-day schedule and His exemplary precepts serve as beacon lights to guide persons struggling in the trammels of transmigratory existence.

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In 1966, when Acharyal was observing Chaturmasya Vrata at Ujjain, a young brahmachari from Andhra Pradesh named Sri Sitarama Anjaneyalu - sharp in intellect, fierce in dispassion and extremely keen in learning the Sastras - came for Acharyals darshan. When Acharyal asked Sri Anjaneyalu about the purpose of his visit, pat came the obedient reply, "I want to learn the Sastras at the lotus feet of Your Holiness". The next day, Acharyal intimated Sri Anjaneyalu that He would teach Tarka Sangraha and the lessons started the same day. From that day onwards, Sri Anjaneyalu stayed with Acharyal and continued with the studies of the Sastras. As the days passed, Sri Anjaneyalu became a master of Vedas and the Sastras, totally indifferent to sense objects and extremely devoted to Acharyal. Sri Anjaneyalus surrender to Acharyal was complete and total. No wonder Acharyal chose Sri Anjaneyalu as His successor-designate. This sent a wave of joy amongst the devotees. The sacred initiation ceremony took place on 11th November 1974 and Acharyal named Sri Anjaneyalu as "Bharathi Theertha". Acharyal had mentioned in His speech that the tradition of the Sringeri Sharada Peetam is transferred from Guru to Shisya just as a lamp lights another lamp. He thus indicated that the lighted lamp becomes as bright as the one that lit it.

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From 1954, Acharyal had set a very hectic pace for Himself as the Jagadguru. During this time He packed His life with achievements of no mean order. Within Sringeri, the list of accomplishments was staggering. One of the projects that He initiated in the 1980s was the construction of a bridge across the Tunga. For this project, he had collected photographs of world famous bridges over the years. While planning for this bridge, He utilized all these statistics. This shows how perfectly thorough He was.

With the passage of time, His Holiness began to hint that His work in a mortal frame was nearing completion. This thought reflected in His conversations and discourses. He also indicated this to His successor-designate.

From the second week of September 1989, Acharyal was not well. During this time, He asked His secretary to read to Him texts like Mohamudgara, Shiva Manasa Puja Stotram and Brahmanuchintanam. He said, "Instead of moaning and wailing when one is sick, one can read holy works such as these. This is what My Guru taught me. But now I am not able to read and so you read them out to Me."

In the early hours of the morning of 21st September, he experienced chest pain and uttered "Narayana". His assistant came running. Acharyals first reaction was, "Have I spoken so loudly that I woke you up?" The characteristic of extreme compassion never deserted Him even then. During the latter half of the morning, Acharyal shed His mortal coil.

Acharyal did not live to see the bridge across the Tunga completed. Small matter, for is He not, Himself, the ultimate bridge enabling His disciples cross the ocean of transmigratory existence. He lives even today in the hearts of many of His devotees and continues to bless and guide as ever before.