Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal began his 50th year as Shankaracharya of Kanchi last week
Sixty-eight years ago, on July 18, 1935, a baby boy was born to Mahadeva Iyer and Saraswathi in Irulneeki, a small village in Tamil Nadu.
Though no one knew it then, the boy was special. Many now feel his place of birth signified the unconventional path he was to take later in life.
Irulneeki' in Tamil means the dispeller of darkness, and Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal, the 68th Shankaracharya of Kanchi, was just that for thousands of his followers.
While children of his age played, Subramanyam, as his parents named the boy, would meditate for hours. His classmates dreamt of becoming doctors and engineers. But Subramanyam wanted to be a sanyasi (ascetic).
'I knew at the age of nine or 10 itself that I was destined to be a sanyasi,' he was to say later.
Preparations for that life started when he was nine. He was sent to the mutt of Adi Sankara in Kanchi, to study the Vedas. His father didn't know it then, but one day his son would follow in the footsteps of Adi Sankara, whose ardent devotee he was.
Subramanyam was away for most part of the year. He came home only for short periods, and that too infrequently.
He learnt the Rig Veda for six years, and also the Dharma Shastras. After that, he was asked to learn the Upanishad. Perhaps the 67th Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal, saw Subramanyam would succeed him.
When Subramanyam was 18, the shankaracharya conveyed this message to Subramanyam's father through the mutt manager, asking for his consent. Mahadeva Iyer did not respond immediately. It took him nearly a year to agree to his son becoming a sanyasi.
His mother was inconsolable about it. The thought she was losing' her son forever made her weep uncontrollably for several days. It took her more than five years to get over the feeling of loss.
Before Subramanyam was initiated into asceticism, his father took him on a pilgrimage to all the holy places in India, from Kanyakumari in the south to Hardwar in the north.
Ten days before the initiation ceremony, Subramanyam was sent to Tirumala, for a darshan of Lord Venkateswara. His head was shaven, except for a few strands. The night before the initiation he stayed awake, meditating.
March 22, 1954, dawned and Subramanyam was taken to a tank at the Sarva Theertha Karai, where he stood in waist-deep water, chanting Prashocharana mantras. He then pulled off the hairs left on his head.
After that, he declared he had absolutely no desire -- no desire for land, woman or material.
Finally, he took off the yagnopaveetham or sacred thread, his last connection with worldly life.
Shankaracharya Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi formally presented the teenager with kaashaya vastram (the ochre robes of a sanyasi).
Subramanyam came out of the water in his orange robes. And when the shankaracharya gave him the deeksha (ordainment) name of Jayendra Saraswati Swami, he ceased to exist as Subramanyam.
A huge crowd had assembled to watch the ritual. Many of them wept.
His education continued for another 15 years, during which he mastered Vedanta, Vyakarana, Mimamsa and Nyaya, among other shastras.
In 1970, he began touring India. He walked all the way from Kanchi to Nepal. In 1998, when he walked to Manasarovar, he became the first shankaracharya in living memory to visit the site. After performing the Sri Vyasa Puja on Gurupoornima day, he installed two idols of Adi Sankara on Mount Kailas.
In October 2002, he launched the Jan Jagran movement, to awaken the people and unify the country through social welfare measures.
His journey continues...