Karunakaran Swamy President Award

Bags the President’s award – The third in his family to receive this award for his contribution to the protection and development of Sanskrit – His father and elder brother too were recipients of the award 

This Sunday (Sept 15) morning, several hundreds of disciples gathered at the Gowrivakkam home of Mechanical Engineer and renowned Upansayakar and Sanskrit Scholar VS Karunakaran Swamy to celebrate his 72^ndbirthday and to seek his blessings. Just 12 hours prior, he was honoured at the Vedantha Desikar Temple in Mylapore in recognition of him receiving the President’s award for his contribution to Sanskrit. In a high profile event last Friday, he was felicitated by his disciples from across the country in the presence of Velukkudi Krishnan and MA Venkatakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/05/ma-venkatakrishnan-thiruvallikeni-divya_16.html).

As seen in many of the earlier stories (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html), the second half of the previous century witnessed mass exodus of traditionalists from their hereditary location to the cities. Karunakara Swamy, who belongs to Villur near Madurai, was one of the earliest among them. After having his early education at Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar’s Oriental School in Kumbakonam, where his father,Srinivasaraghava Mahadesika Swamy, a Sanskrit Scholar lived a life promoting Sanskrit including at the Raja Patshala, Karunakaran Swamy moved to Madras where he studied at RKM North School, T. Nagar.

Very early into his schooling days, he was initiated into Sanskrit and Divya Prabhandham by his father, a President’s award recipient for his contribution to the development of Sanskrit.

In the early 1960s, he was the only traditional Vaishnavite in the Thyagaraja Engineering College in Madurai, one of the only six Engineering Colleges in the state at that time. Soon after his entry, his tuft became a topic of ridicule at the college. Throughout his college life, he had to endure this torture. There were also threats from the early anti Brahmnical movement to perform a ‘Scissor Cut’ on his tuft.

During the four years of his college, he continued to learn Vedantam, Ramanuja Bashyam and Bhagavath Vishayam from his father. Into his third year of his Engineering, his father directed the young Karunakaran to present a paper on Sri Bashyam at a traditional conference organised by Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar from whom he had to face ‘beamers and bouncers’ during the Sadas. It was his first ever encounter in a large public gathering and he answered every question that came his way in a confident way. So delighted was Mukkoor Azhagiya Singar with the confident way the young teenager fielded his questions, that he ensured that Karunakaran Swamy was part of almost every Sadas for the next 25 years. 

Sringeri Mutt had a great system to recognize Sanskrit Scholars in those days. During the visits of the Acharya, he would honour one great Sanskrit scholar in the city before he left the place. In 1969, the Acharya honoured 22 year old Karunakaran Swamy in Madurai, a great early recognition of the potential that he held.

After his graduation in Mechanical Engineering, he joined Dalmia Cements in Kallakudi Palanganatham (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/10/dalmia-puram-kallakudi-palanganatham.html). During that phase, he spent every weekend in Srirangam, where he learnt Nyaya Sidhantham from Madurantakam Swamy.

Soon, he wrote the Combined Service Examination and came through that successfully. He joined the Ministry of Steel with a posting in Hyderabad in the early 1970s. For the next three decades, he went all around the country moving to a top position as a Director in the final phase of his professional career. Throughout the period of his Government job, he continued to present Upanyasams in Calcutta, Delhi, Madras and all other locations where he served professionally.

Interestingly, it was after his retirement just over a decade ago, that he decided to pursue a formal degree in Sanskrit.  And past 60, he received a Gold Medal from the Bharathidasan University standing first in his Masters Degree. He received a Doctorate a couple of years ago for a thesis on the life and works of his father.

Over the last decade or so, he has been very actively involved in propagating the spirituality. Explaining with simple anecdotes each name referred in the Vishnu Sahasranamam has been one of his favourite works. He has also translated many of the Sanskrit works into Tamil for the new gen to absorb. To celebrate the centenary of his father, he published a collection of his poems, lyrics, prose works and Maha Kaavyam. To propagate the Vaishnavite philosophy, he teaches Sri Bashyam every weekend.

One of the highlights of his life has been the organizing for 20 years of a Sadas on Ramanuja’s Sri Bashyam in Thiruvananthapuram(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/11/anantha-padmanabhaswamy-temple-in.html), a location from where he was driven out. 

For a Century, there had been a Vishishtadvaita Sadas organised at the Sarangapani Temple in Thiru Kudanthai to celebrate the Vedanta Desikar Utsavam in Puratasi. This was one of the most popular conferences in the state with all the leading senior scholars gathering to discuss and debate ancient scriptures. This had come to a halt in the later part of the 20^thCentury. 

In the recent past, Karunakaran Swamy has revived this Sadas and is now organised at the Rajagopalaswamy Temple every year in Puratasi.

A few years ago, he played an active role in the construction of the Raja Gopuram at the Rajagopalaswamy temple in Kumbakonam and had installed an integrated idol of Nadathur Ammal and Vedantha Desikar. During the annual Brahmotsavam in Maasi, Nadathur Ammal and Desikar go on a street procession with Lord Raja Gopalan. To ensure that Nadathur Ammal is carried by Sri Patham, he created a trust and funded the Sri Patham. In Nachiyar Koil Divya Desam, he is just completing the construction of a Yatri Nivas at a cost of almost Rs. 1crore. He has also installed the idol of Nadathur Ammal in many locations such as Kottampatti, Keezhathur, Siruvathur, Srirangam and Padakacheri. 

Every now and then, thoughts cross him that he could have pursued Sanskrit full time instead of undertaking the Engineering Degree, one that was forced on him by his elder brother. But he believes that the Engineering degree gave him the presentation skills and helped him in the art of perfection. And he has more than made for lost time with an active life over the last decade promoting Sanskrit across the country. He has been swarmed by the devotees and disciples with demand for his Upanyasams shooting through the roof. The historical tradition of a father passing on his Vedic knowledge to the son still continues in his family. He says that it was the initiation from his father that gave him a strong base and the confidence to face life and its challenges and not academics.