Brahmaśrī C V Kāmakōṭi Shāstrī
श्रीकारणपरचिद्रूपायै नमः
Brahmaśrī C V Kāmakōṭi Shāstrī, the Sthanigam of Srī Kāmākṣī Temple at Kāñcīpuram was one of the foremost śrīvidyā upāsakas to grace the earth in recent times. A great scholar and an encyclopedia of śrīvidyā, Srī Shastrī was one of the primary disciples of Brahmaśrī Chidānandanātha (Srī Nediminti Subrahmaṇya Iyer) of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī. He was also the pradhāna arcaka of Srī Kāmākṣī Parābhaṭṭārikā at Kāmakōti Pīṭham. Initiated into the traditional worship of Srī Kāmākṣī at the young age of 12, Srī Shastrī dedicated his entire life, till his final breath, to the worship of Srī Kāmākṣī.
The illustrious family of Kāmakōṭi is known to have been chosen by Bhagavān Adi Shankaracharya to spread śrīvidyā in Southern India and specifically for the worship of Srī Kāmākṣī Mahābhaṭṭārikā at Kāñcī. Jīvanmukta Srī Sśēśādi Svāmigal was a member of this illustrious family. Srī Kāmakōṭi Shastrī was born to Brahmaśrī Vēdamūrti Shastrī, a distinguished scholar belonging to the illustrious Kāmakōṭi family. He came in contact with Paramācārya Srī Chandraśēkharēndra Sarasvatī of Kumbhakōṇam matha at a very young age and received his divine guidance at every step in his life and sādhanā. He was very close to Paramācārya Srī Chandraśēkharēndra Sarasvatī and remained his trusted confidant. He was chosen by Paramācārya for several critical tasks, which included daunting episodes such as the visit to Talakaveri when the matha was in a difficult position. He undertook śrīvidyā upāsanā under the guidance of Brahmaśrī Chidānandanātha of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī and received Pūrṇābhiṣēka from the great Guru. An ardent upāsaka of Bhagavatī Bālā Tripurasundarī, his Guru gave Srī Shastrī the apt dīkṣānāma, Bālānandanātha. After all, Srī Kāmākṣī is known as ādikumārī!
Shāntānandanātha
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Vimalānandanātha
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Prakāśānandanātha
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ātmānandanātha
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Guhānandanātha
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Chidānandanātha
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Bālānandanātha
Srī Shastrī, apart from being a scholar par excellence, was a great Mantra Siddha who helped hundreds with his Mantra Siddhi. An incident from his life illustrates the grace of Jagadambā and Sadguru on Srī Shastrī and his family.
Srī Svayamprakāśa Brahmēndra Sarasvatī
During the time when Srī Vēdamūrti Shāstrī was in charge of the worship of Srī Kāmākṣī, a great Avadhūta named Srī Svayamprakāśa Sarasvatī (a disciple of Avadhūta Srī Sadāśiva Brahmēndra Sarasvatī also known as Judge Svāmigal) arrived in Kāñcīpuram. He was a great Siddha and in every kṣētra he visited, the main deity of the kṣētra would appear in front of him to welcome and bless him. However, when he arrived in Kāñcī, no such thing happened. Forget Mahārājñī, not even an aṅga, upāṅga or pratyaṅga dēvatā appeared before him. Disappointed, the Avadhūta sat in deep meditation for 48 days, but in vain. In spite of fervent and severe upāsanā, Srī Kāmākṣī did not appear before him. On the forty-ninth day, he decided to take a drastic measure, climbed atop the majestic dhvajastambha, stood inverted on his head, and began to recite the sacred Mahāṣōḍaśākṣarī mahāmantra. By mid-noon, the summer sun began to burn, and on account of the yōgāgni emanating from his frail frame, a thin flame appeared from his right toe and began to spread upwards. At this stage, filled with compassion towards her burning child, Srī Kāmākṣī appeared before him in his glorious saguṇa svarūpa, seated on Pañcabrahmāsana, with Ramā and Vāṇī on either side holding cāmara. After blessing him and instructing him in certain matters related to his upāsanā, Parāmbā instructed him to accept bhikṣā from the house of Srī Vēdamūrti Shāstrī. Svāmigal followed the instruction, accepted bhikṣā from Srī Vēdamūrti Shāstrī, and blessed him profusely.
After several years, Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī of Pudukkottai (Srī Bhuvanēśvarī Adhiṣṭhānam) became the disciple of Srī Svayamprakāśa Sarasvatī. According to his Guru’s instruction, he came to Kāñcīpuram, the most suited place for śrīvidyā puraścaraṇa. His Guru recalled instructions from Parāmbā and reminded him to accept bhikṣā only at the house of Srī Kamakaōṭi Shāstrī (Srī Vēdamūrti Shāstrī had by then attained the lotus feet of Srī Lalitā). Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī, after arriving in Kāñcīpuram, began to spend his entire day in the Sannidhi of Srī Kāmākṣī, immersed in the Japa of Mahāṣōḍaśākṣarī mahāmantra, without remembering to eat or drink. Srī Kamakaōṭi Shāstrī noticed the rare brilliance in his naked Avadhūta, waited till he returned momentarily to physical consciousness, and requested him to accept bhikṣā. Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī, who had not eaten anything for a week by then, enquired who he was. On hearing his name, Kāmakōṭi, he immediately agreed to accept bhikṣā at his residence. He would eat one ball of rice from the hands of Srī Shastrī, would not even waste time washing his hands, but would instead wipe his hands on his long matted locks and return to his Japa. After about a month, one day during the Brahmamuhūrta, Srī Shastrī heard the sound of numerous bells (ghaṇṭānāda) from the shrine of Srī Kāmākṣī. When he rushed to the temple, he found Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī in the premises, in a state of samādhi, holding the karṇābharaṇa (earring) of Bhagavatī in his hands. Srī Shastrī immediately realized that Svāmigal had attained mantra-siddhi and the paripūrṇa kr̥pā of Bhagavatī. Svāmigal, according to the direct command of Srī Kāmākṣī, established a beautiful temple dedicated to Srī Bhuvanēśvarī in Pudukkottai.
Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī
When Srī Shastrī recounted this blessed incident to me decades later, he was filled with tears of joy and was lost in deep contemplation for nearly an hour. He stated that he had not mentioned this incident to anyone as it was dēvarahasya and siddharahasya but he was now telling me of it to illustrate the māhātmya of not only śrīvidyā mantra, but of the merits of sincere upāsanā even in Kaliyuga. With the divine grace of Parāmbā, my ignorant self was blessed by Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī by initiating me into the mantras of Siddha Bhuvanēśvarī and Skanda. Srī Svāmigal instructed me to perform three puraścaraṇas of the Skanda mantra, as Brahmanya is my Kuladēvatā. Having had the fortune of meeting many accomplished upāsakas, no one represented the vātsalya bhāva of Parāmbā like Srī Svāmigal. It was impossible for anyone who met him to not feel overwhelming vātsalya emanating from him.
Srī Shāntānanda Sarasvatī
Whenever Srī Svāmigal visited Kāñcī, he blessed Srī Shastrī and his family by accepting bhikṣā from them. During one such visit, he narrated an incident to Srī Shastrī:
‘Listen, Kāmakōṭi! Using my yōgaśakti and upāsanā bala, I was trying to see if there really was a self-realized Master in the physical form currently. I was then guided to visit Srī Chandraśēkhara Bharatī in Sringērī by Srī Bhuvanēśvarī. To personally test his level of realization, I went to Sringeri and sat outside the temple of Srī Shāradā Paramēśvarī. I lay there for three days, but no one took notice of this naked Avadhūta. On the third day, I bowed down to Shāradāmbā and decided to leave. As I got up, an attendant of Mahāsannidhānam came running towards me and informed me that the Jagadguru wanted to see me. Surprised, I followed him and reached a dark room in Nr̥simhavana. It was a small and empty room and in its middle was seated a frail Yati, whose brilliance seemed superior to that of the Sun. He stared at me and his sight induced śaktipāta in me. Within seconds, I was in a state of samādhi. I realized that he was the foremost of Jnānivarga in our time. He is a true Jīvanmukta. I know that he will shed his mortal frame in the next few months. You should have his darśana before that!’
Srī Kamakaōṭi Shāstrī at once decided to visit Sringeri, which was not very common in those days for families affiliated with the Kumbhakōṇa maṭha. The income he received from the temple was next to nothing. In fact, the temple was in such a bad state that Srī Shastrī had a big problem in even offering trikāla naivēdyam to Srī Kāmākṣī. He would offer whatever he had in his house, while he and his family spent days without food. His wife, Smt. Saroja, supported him in every possible way, making sure that the worldly problems did not affect his upāsanā. She prepared naivedya with whatever they had, not once complaining. Smt. Saroja Mami once recollected to me: ‘Once we (as in the Temple – for their entire family to this day, the word ‘we’ always represents the Temple) were in a bad financial state and someone gave Mama some dakṣiṇā for performing a pratiṣṭhā or kumbhābhiṣēka. He immediately brought some grains, made prasādam, offered it to Ambā, and distributed it to devotees at the temple. Family, children, society, everything was secondary to Srī Kāmākṣī. She was his mother, Guru, friend, and child. He always took care of her like his own Child and she in turn always took care of him. Another time, he got a few thousand rupees as dakṣiṇā, and he immediately made a gold pendant for Parāmbā and adorned her with it’.
In spite of a difficult financial situation, he managed to reach Sringeri with great difficulty. His own Guru, Srī Chidānandanātha had described to him the guidance he was given by Srī Saccīdānanda Shivābhinava Nr̥simha Bhāratī of Sringeri, who was the Guru to Srī Chandraśēkhara Bharatī. But Mahāsannidhānam was in the state of antarmukhāvasthā and it was not easy to get his darśana. Srī Shastrī had the darśana of Srī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha, the then junior ācārya, and pleaded with him to create an opportunity to have the darśana of Mahāsannidhānam. The next day, when Srī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha went to pay his daily customary respects to his Guru, Mahāsannidhānam at once opened his eyes and said: ‘Kāmākṣī’s child has come to see me. Bring him in’. Srī Shastrī was at once summoned to the holy presence of Srī Chandraśēkhara Bharatī, where he offered dīrghadaṇḍa praṇāma to the Jīvanmukta Jagadguru and hesitantly offered him tīrtha prasāda of Srī Kāmākṣī as well as a picture (paṭa) of Srī Kāmākṣī Mahābhaṭṭārikā. The Jagadguru accepted the prasāda with utmost devotion, grabbed the photo, and held it close to his heart, and tears of joy began to flow from his eyes. After a while, he said: ‘You have brought me great joy. The only lack I have had in this life is that of not seeing Srī Kāmākṣī with this carmacakṣu. There is nothing dearer to me than āryāśatakam. Ambā has finally blessed me with this photograph at last and fulfilled my wish. You have given me a photo of my Dēvatā, and I will give you one of your upāsya. Sharadā is none but Bālā’. Mahāsannidhānam blessed him with a rare photograph of Srī Shāradā Paramēśvarī with a hooded serpent on her crown. Srī Shastrī mentioned to me that he was told by Mahāsannidhānam several secret aspects of the Nāgābharaṇa of Srī Shāradāmbā (representing fully awakened Kuṇḍalinī), which at some point was removed from the original idol due to immense energy radiating from the Vigraha, which was not tolerable by all lay devotees. This photograph adorns the Pūjāmandaira of Srī Shastrī to this day. Some artists have now recreated this photograph and popularized it once again.
Srī Shastrī, though revered by thousands, was very humble by nature. He took the śāstravākya sarvadarśanānindā to his heart and never had a harsh word for anyone. However, people were intimidated by his presence due to his intense tejas inspiring both Bhaya and Bhakti. It would be pertinent to mention Smt. Prakāśāmbā (Smt. Rajalakshmi Suryanarayanan of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī who blessed me with initiation into the secret worship of Ucchiṣṭa Mahāgaṇapati). She was the one who instructed me to learn from Srī Shastrī. Srī Shastrī, on the other hand, held Smt. Prakāśāmbā in high regard, as she was one of the foremost disciples of Brahmaśrī Chidānandanātha. She is also one of only a few who have had the privilege of performing Navāvaraṇa to the śrīcakra within the shrine of Kāmākṣī Parābhaṭṭārikā as instructed by Paramācārya Srī Chandraśēkharēndra Sarasvatī. Paramācārya was once observing Chāturmāsya in Madras near the Sanskrit College in Mylapore and was performing kuṅkumārcana with Lalitā Sahasranāma. A small child who was seated there, was continuously pestering her mother with an innocent question: ‘Mother, what does the Goddess look like?’ At one point, Paramācārya, having completed his pūjā, smiled at her and said, ‘Look there, that is exactly how Ambā looks’. Hundreds of heads turned to look in the direction he pointed, and seated in a corner was Smt. Prakāśāmbā, eyes closed and lips moving slightly due to upāmśu japa. The child, Smt. Veda Satyam, now grown up and a mother herself, is settled in Mumbai and is an ardent worshiper of Lalita. Smt. Prakāśāmbā, initiated at a young age by ‘Abhinava Bhāskara’ Chidānandanātha, had attained Dēvībhāva due to intense upāsanā and unmatched devotion to her Guru. Along with Srī Shastrī, she was responsible for overseeing the annual Mahōtsava where Mahāsiddha Srī Guhānandanātha appears in the Bimba of Subrahmaṇya at Tiruttani. Having witnessed it personally, such incidents reinforce one’s faith in Dēvatā, upāsanā, and Sadguru even in the current age. Smt. Prakāśāmbā was awarded the title Lōpāmudrā by Srī Abhinava Vdyātīrtha of Sringeri, who blessed her with a golden śrīcakra.
Smt. Prakāśāmbā told me of another incident that she witnessed personally. Srī Shastrī, in his younger days, approached his Guru and appealed to him to bless him with Siddhi and Jñāna at a fast pace. The Guru smiled and told him, ‘Okay, when performing Navāvaraṇa, perform the fifth āvaraṇa twice every day’ and continued with his pūjā. With unquestioned faith in his Guru, Srī Shastrī followed his counsel and very soon attained his goal. Several years later, he instructed me to do the same and explained to me that the fifth āvaraṇa is representative of Gurūpasadana, the single most important activity without which there can be no Siddhi or Dēvatākr̥pa. Though it is forbidden to reveal such aspects other than to svaśiṣyas, I write this here for the benefit of sincere upāsakas who do not have access to direct counsel from Svaguru.
Srī Shāstrī never left Kāñcīpuram during navarātra till the paurṇamī pūjā was completed. One year, we got a call from Kāñcīpuram during navarātrōtsava right after navamī and Srī Shāstrī said: ‘I am repeatedly getting instructions from Kāmākṣī to perform śrīvidyā and āmnāya homa at your residence right away. I never leave Kāñcīpuram during navarātra, but this time, I will obey Her orders”. He came to our house for just one evening, performed Homa, and returned to Kāñcīpuram. He also blessed me with a sphaṭikamālā that had belonged to his Guru Brahmaśrī Chidānandanātha. Incidentally, I had completed the sixth puraścaraṇa of Mahāṣōḍaśī that very navamī and I had not mentioned this to anyone. Srī Kāmākṣī Herself had arrived at our house in his form and completed my puraścaraṇa. In his presence, such incidents were very common.
Though Srī Shastrī has now attained Maṇidvīpa, the flame of śrīvidyā upāsanā he lit within innumerable disciples continues to burn bright. His son Sri Suresh Shastri, a replica of his illustrious father, continues to dedicate himself to the pādasēvā of Srī Kāmākṣī Mahābhaṭṭārikā. Sri Suresh Shastri has received dīkṣā and instruction in śrīvidyā from Brahmalīna Srī Goda Vēnkatēśvara Shāstrī, one of the foremost scholars of Advaita Vēdānta in recent times. Srī Goda Vēnkatēśvara Shāstrī received his pūrṇadīkṣā from Bramaśrī Injikkollai Jagadīśvara Shāstrī (Jñānānandanātha) of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī. Srī Goda Vēnkatēśvara Shāstrī has also visited our Maṇḍalī several times to personally officiate Homa, Pūjā, Dēvīmāna parivr̥tti mahōtsava, Triśatī samārādhana, Bhaumāśvinī pūjā etc.).
Srī Goda Vēnkatēśvara Shāstrī worshiping Marakata Bhuvanēśvarī
पातेन लोचनरुचेस्तव कामकोटि
पोतेन पातकपयोधिभयातुराणाम् ।
पूतेन तेन नवकाञ्चन कुण्डलांशु-
वीतेन शीतलय भूधरकन्यके माम् ॥