Brahmaśrī Chidānandanātha, the founder of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī, hails from a family of Agnihotris from Sapta Gōdāvarī region of āndhradēśa, belonging to Kauṇḍinyasa gōtra. His family name was Nediminti. This family migrated to Tamil Nadu and settled in a village named Sēppiṭṭānkuḷam located sixteen kilometers west of Venkundram (now Dhavalagiri), about thirty-nine kilometers south of Kāñcīpuram. His father Srī Narasayya was the son of Srī Vēnkaṭarāyalayya and Smt. Kanakamma. He was greatly devoted to Lord Subrahmaṇya stationed at Thiruttani. His bhakti was severely tested by śaḍānana in the form of a severe stomach ache. Unable to bear the pain, Narasayya decided to end his life and proceeded towards Nedungundram. There, he was blessed with the grand vision of his beloved deity Lord śaṇmukha who blessed him with herbs to cure the ailments of the stomach and śaḍakṣarī mahāmantra to cure the disease of samsāra. After this point, Narasayya dedicated his life to the upāsanā of Subrahmaṇya. He was married to Smt. Ammayi Amma, who was short-lived. After the demise of his wife, Narasayya married Smt. Kamakshi Ammal, the third daughter of Srī Kuppayya.
The couple was blessed with a boy on Nov 14, 1882, on a Tuesday. The child Subrahmaṇya was born in Vr̥ṣabha lagna, Mūlā nakṣatra, on Kārtika ṣukla caturthī of the year Chitrabhānu. Subrahmaṇya was the eldest son and the second child of his parents. He underwent vēdādhyayana as well as English education. The boy attained mastery over English and Sanskrit languages within a very short duration. He married Smt. Vishalakshi Ammal, daughter of Srī Seshayya of Pazhavanthangal at the age of sixteen. He started his married life in Kāñcīpuram. His brothers Srī Venkatraman and Srī Kuppuswamy also began to live with him in Kāñcīpuram. Father Narasayya attained vidēha mukti in 1901. Subrahmaṇya took over the responsibility of his family and joined the Teacher’s Training School. He soon began to teach at the Chennai corporation school. He also learned to paint from Rev. Fr. Matthew, headmaster of the Teacher’s Training school. His painting skills were put to wonderful use later when he painted a portrait of his Guru, Paramahamsa Guhānandanātha. In 1913, he became the headmaster of Vallabha Agraharam Corporation School (Model School), located at Triplicane, Madras. He retired in 1937 after 35 years of service as the headmaster of the school. Due to his long service in the teaching field, he was known as ‘Sir’ by his disciples. Sāṅgatya of Venbapuli T S Velusami Pillai helped him acquire mastery over the Tamil language.
In 1911, Sir undertook a pilgrimage to Prayāga along with his mother. His wife, Smt. Vishalakshi Ammal, could not accompany him due to her pregnancy. He reached Allahabad on Puṣya bahuḷa ēkādaśī in the year Sādhāraṇa. He had the darśana of numerous great yogis at the Kumbha Mela. He stayed in Allahabad with Srī Bhairava śāstrī (known for his legendary Dīpa navāvaraṇa pūjā), a great upāsaka of Srīvidyā and Kālikā, at Tarakanj Shiva Maṭha. While taking a bath at trivēṇī saṅgama, he spotted a great Yogi who appeared like Shiva in human form. Divinely inspired, Sir fell at the feet of the great avadhūta and requested to be rescued from the great ocean of samsAra. The great master, whose vision could pierce past, present, and future effortlessly, remained silent for a few moments and instructed Sir to come back to him after two days, during the auspicious Mahōdaya puṇyakāla. Paramahamsa Ativarṇāśramī Sarvatantra-svatantra Avdhūtavarēṇya Srī Guhānandanātha initiated Sir on āmāvāsyā during the Mahōdaya puṇyakāla at sunrise, when the star was śravaṇa. He bestowed on Sir Pādukānta śrīvidyā dīkṣā, Hamsa, Mahāvākya and Mahāmahāpādukā mantras. He also blessed Sir with the dīkṣā paṭṭa, Chidānandanātha. Sir returned to the residence of Bhairava śāstrī and recounted the divine events of the day to his mother. The same evening, the pūjā at the residence of Bhairava śāstrī was graced by the presence of Srī Guhānandanātha. Sir stayed at his Guru’s feet for a period of twenty-seven days and learned the secrets of śrīvidyā upāsanā, and Subrahmaṇya tattva. He also performed bhikṣā sēvā to his Guru and served him with limitless devotion in every possible way. After twenty-seven days, the great Avadhūta decided to depart to Badarikāśrama on the day of Mahāśivarātri. He instructed Sir to return to Southern India and continue upāsanā with absolute secrecy for a period of twelve years. He further instructed Sir to perform the pārāyaṇa of Sūtasamhitā and Mahāvākya Ratnāvaḷī and bestowed his paripūrṇa anugraha to the śiṣyaratna. He blessed Sir thus: All will go well! You shall attain ātmasākśātkāra. When Sir was overcome with immense grief at the thought of separating from his Guru, Srī Guhānandanātha indicated that his sthūlarūpa would be visible in the śrīvigraha of Subrahmaṇya at Thiruttani on a specific day during the vibhūti abhiṣēka. To allow all disciples to have darśana of his Guru, Sir started the Thiruttani Vaibhava Mahotsavam in 1946 at the shrine of Subrahmaṇya. To this day, this holy practice continues, and hundreds of sincere śrīvidyā upāsakas witness the appearance of the physical form of the great Guru in the idol of Subrahmaṇya. My own mother, initially a non-believer, can bear testimony to this fact!
Sir practiced his upāsanā for a period of twelve years till he received an instruction from Srī Saccidānanda Shivābhinava Nr̥simha Bhāratī to teach Sīvidyā to eligible disciples. Once when Sir visited Sringeri, he was blessed with the fortune of discussing the secrets of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati Upāsanā with the Jagadguru. A scholar who was present there recited a certain Sahasranāma of this secretive form of Gaṇapati. Having heard this Sahasranāma, which neither conveyed the greatness of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati even partly nor the associated secrets of Srīvidyā upāsanā, Sir immediately expressed his disapproval. Before he could speak further about the actual Sahasranāma, H H raised his right hand, commanding Sir to remain silent. After the scholar left, H H had the following conversation with Srī Chidānandanātha. It was at this moment that the period of twelve years approached completion.
H H: Do you know about the Sahasranāma of Srī Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati? Can you recite the same?
Sir (hesitantly): Unable to control my enthusiasm, I blurted out about the Sahasranāma earlier. However, I cannot speak untruth before your Holiness. My Guru ordered me to protect this Sahasranāma and the related mantras with utmost secrecy. I am unsure if this Sahasranāma can be recited under the present circumstance. By reciting the Sahasranāma now, I will incur the sin of disobeying my Guru. I have never been in such a fix in my entire life. There can be no one better than your Holiness who can advise me about the right course of action.
H H: If your own Guru appeared right here and asked you to recite the Sahasranāma, would you still hesitate?
Sir: When Guru himself orders, how can there be any room for hesitation?
H H: Is your Guru Srī Guhānandanātha restricted to a physical form and present only in Badarikāśrama? Is he not present here now and everywhere?
(Srī Chidānandanātha was immensely surprised to hear his Guru’s name and place of residence from H H as he had not revealed these details before anyone till then. He was filled with tears of joy; his body trembled and he immediately fell at the lotus feet of the Jagadguru).
Sir: I will act according to your orders. Please forgive my earlier ignorance.
H H: Your Guru Guhānandanātha, I or Kodaganallur Sundara Svāmī may appear different physically but are the same in essence. Understand this truth well. Have you read ācārya’s work – Manīśā Pañcakam?
Sir: I have read the work but have not realized its inner purport yet.
H H: Very soon, you will realize its inner purport. After that, you will reach the same state as the three of us. So, confidently recite the Sahasranāma now.
(Srī Chidānandanātha now began to recite the pūrvapīṭhikā of the Sahasranāma, which is a conversation between Srī Dakṣiṇāmūrti and Sanaka. It is significant to note that the Pādukā of Ucchiṣṭa Mahāgaṇapati, traditionally called Mahāmahāpādukā, is actually referred to as Dakṣiṇāmūrti Mahāpādukā.)
H H: There is no need to recite these verses now. Recite the Sahasranāma starting with abc (the first name in the Sahasranāma).
Sir was surprised beyond measure once again. He now understood that the Jagadguru knew the Sahasranāma well and began to recite the names in the Sahasranāma. At a certain place in the Sahasranāma (called Mātr̥kāmālā traditionally), Sir forgot some of the names. Immediately H H prompted him with the right set of names. He then concluded the Sahasranāma with the two final and glorious names of Gaṇapati. H H then discoursed on the inner significance of these two names to Srī Chidānandanātha for more than 30 minutes.
Sir: I would be blessed to hear the Sahasranāma from thy Holiness which will help me to get clarifications regarding some of the names.
H H: I will recite the Sahasranāma at leisure on another occasion. The potent Sahasranāma of Ucchiṣṭa Mahāgaṇapati is indeed the one recited by you. Your pātha is almost close to the correct one. But there are some mistakes in some of the names recited by you.
Having said so, H H corrected those names and explained the correct pātha to Srī Chidānandanātha. Sir wrote down those corrections on a piece of paper and left Sringeri. Later, that piece of paper was lost. He then desired to meet the Jagadguru again and get guidance from him in privacy. Before his plan could materialize, the Jagadguru attained mahāsamādhi. However, all the doubts were clarified one day, as though H H himself appeared before Srī Chidānandanātha and uttered the correct paṭha. The correct pātha of the Sahasranāma was also obtained from Pitambaram Ayyadurai Iyer, whose family had worshipped the copy of Sahasranāma for centuries and Sir attained Siddhi in his upāsanā. The correct pātha however was never shared with anyone except two of his direct disciples. The few available handwritten copies carry incorrect pāthas as the correct pātha has never been publicized according to the instructions of the Jagadguru.
Sir also studied Vēdānta from Kallidaikuruchi Rājāṅga Svāmigal. He also learned to recite Thiruppugazh under the auspices of Vallimalai Swamigal’s Sri Kumara Thulumavar Thiruppugazh Sangham. The Sangham compiled Sir’s writings in Tamil and published them in the form of a book, Thiruttanigai Prabandha Tirattu. In 1925, the Sangham published his book Skanda Purāṇa Sangraham, which contains a gem named Nirguṇa aṣṭōttaraśatanāmāvaḷi of Brahmaṇya, revealed by his Paramaguru Srī ātmānandanātha. It is a practice in our Maṇḍalī to worship the Lord without fail with this nāmāvaḷī during the Subrahmaṇya chakra pūjā on pañca-parvas, as instructed by our Guru, Lōpāmudrā Smt. Prakāśāmbā. In 1933, the Sangham honored Sir with the title Arulkavi at Thirupattiswaram.
Sir proceeded to Thiruvannamalai to see Seshadri Swamigal at the Kambathi Nayanar temple on May 20, 1920. Sri Seshadri Swamigal instructed Sir to come back to him the next day at 3 am. Sir remained awake the entire night immersed in meditation, waiting for the darshan of Seshadri Swamigal. Sharp at 3 am, Swamigal appeared before Sir engulfed in aruṇa varṇa. Lost in the emanating āruṇya, Sir lost himself in Brahmānanda, when the Swamigal said, “See well! Do you recognize what you see? What you see is the same as what you have and nothing different. Safeguard what you have”. Sir also met Chinna Sheshadri Swamigal (Srī Ramaṇa Maharśi) and spent many days discussing Vēdānta with him. It may be noted that Srī Svāmī Shastrigal (Anantānandanātha), a senior disciple of Sir and the foremost of Gaṇapati upāsakas in recent times, was specifically chosen by Bhagavān Ramaṇa to perform the kumbhābhiśēkam of Mātr̥bhūtēśvara temple and the consecration of the śrīcakra on the adhiṣṭhānam of Smt. Azhagammal.
During the paurṇami following śarannavarātri of 1924, Sir performed the Navāvaraṇa pūjā at the śrīcakra in the shrine of Kāmākśī Parābhaṭṭārikā at Kāñcīpuram for the first time. Due to unknown reasons, this worship had been stopped at the shrine for several decades. Sir continued to perform the pūjā regularly for the next twenty years as per the instructions of H H Paramācārya of Kāñcīpuram. To this day, this worship is performed by the śiṣya paramparā of Sir. Due to several baneful practices, śrīvidyā had acquired a bad reputation in Southern India during those times. Sir pointed out the immense importance and special greatness of śrīvidyā while providing evidence for its validity from śruti, smr̥ti, āgama, purāṇa and tantra. The credit for restoring śrīvidyā upāsanā to its pristine purity and bringing it to the common man in the current century belongs undoubtedly to Sir. However, there was not an iota of dilution or svakalpita ūhāpōha in any of his teachings. He based his teachings solely on śāstra pramāṇa, Gurūpadēśa, and svānubhava.
Sir initiated hundreds of disciples into mantras based on their adhikāra. He bestowed hundreds of disciples with pīṭhādhikāra and ordered them to perform Navāvaraṇa pūja regularly. The list of his senior disciples includes, apart from several maṭhādhipatis, Smt. Prakāśāmbā (Smt. Lōpāmudrā Rajalakshmi Suryanarayanan), Sri Bālānandanātha (Srī Kāmakōṭi śāStrī), Srī Pūrṇānandanātha (Srī Venkata Narasayya), Srī Amr̥tānanda Yogin and others. Because of his position as the headmaster, people mostly addressed him as Sir. This was adopted by his disciples as well and the title Sir continues to be used to this day when addressing him. Sir was also a pioneer in initiating suvāsinis into śrīvidyā and granting them pīṭhādhikāra. In those days, during the Tithi Nityā pūja, only men participated as Nityā dēvatās. Sir changed this practice to allow only suvāsinis with mantrōpadēśa to enter the Nityāmaṇḍala to accept pūjā, a practice that is followed to this day by most. Sir also provided clear instructions regarding Sāmayika pūjā and Bindu-tarpaṇa based on varṇa and adhikāra. He devised the Laghupūjā paddhati for those unable to perform the elaborate Navāvaraṇa.
Sir started the Brahmavidyāvimarśinī Sabhā to facilitate research in śrīvidyā. The Sabhā met every week and discussed various topics and works related to śrīvidyā and Vēdānta. Many great scholars from all over the country participated in these discussions. Several books were published as a result of these discussions. When submitting his magnum opus Subrahmaṇya Tattva to the lotus feet of his Guru, Sir renamed the Sabhā as Srī Guhānanda Brahmavidyāvimarśinī Maṇḍalī, which is known today as Guhānanda Maṇḍalī. Fame or money was never his goal or of the Maṇḍalī, whose sole aim was to bring the knowledge of śrīvidyā to the deserving.
Sir’s Tamil commentary on Puṇyānandanātha’s Kāmakalāvilāsa was released during the ṣaṣṭapūrti celebration of Sir. During this auspicious occasion, H H Paramācārya of Kāñcīpuram bestowed the title, Abhinava Bhāskara on Sir. Somadeva Sharma who wrote the foreword to this work wonders if Srī Shankara Bhagavatpāda and Srī Bhāskararāya have jointly taken birth in the form of Sṟī Chidānandanātha. He was also given the title, Navabhāskara by the Jagadguru of Sringeri. Though a gr̥hastha, Sir led a life filled with vairāgya befitting a Paramahamsa. The following words are used by those who know him well to describe him: ājānubāhu, śāntamūrti, karuṇāmūrti, face and eyes shining with tremendous tejas, exemplary simplicity in every aspect, strict in guiding disciples in upāsanā, always interested in the welfare of disciples, desireless, straightforward, unflinching devotion to śrīvidyā and completely dedicated to Mahātripurasundarī. During the śarannavarātri of 1957, on śaṣṭhī tithi (Mahāvajrēśvarī Nityā), Sir attained Lalitā sāyujyam during the auspicious hours of the evening. That day, Kāñcī Paramācārya Srī Chandraśēkharēndra Sarasvatī took a brief pause during his daily pūjā at the Sanskrit College at Chennai. He later explained that he had seen a great soul being welcomed at the door of Chintāmaṇi Gr̥harāja, the abode of Parāmbā Rājarājēśvarī. It was actually Srī Chidānandanātha that he was referring to, which he clarified explicitly to his disciples. It is now known that even the famed Karapatri Swamiji (ṣōḍaśānandanātha) was initiated by one Umānandanātha, who in turn was a disciple of Anantānandanātha, a direct disciple of Srī Chidānandanātha. This also becomes evident by observing Srīvidyā Ratnākara of Karapatri Swamiji, which nearly replicates the Saparyā Paddhati of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī.
The following is the list of some important works authored by Sir:
1. Srīvidyā Saparyā Paddhati: This is being used almost universally by śrīvidyā upAsakas across the country. Great men including Karapātri Svāmin, Datiyā Maharaj, etc. adopted this saparyā paddhati. Chukambha publication has republished this monumental work last year. I have personally seen this paddhati being followed by upāsakas in Gujrat, Srinagar, Kolkata, Benaras, etc. and this is hardly a measure of its immense popularity.
2. Srīvidyā Saparyā Vāsanā: ādhyātmika tattva of Navāvaraṇa wōrśip is beautifully described in this highly philosophical work.
3. Gurutattva Vimarśanam: An exposition on the greatness and esoteric significance of Gurupādukā mahāmantra.
4. Srīnagara Vimarśanam: Tamil commentary on Lalitā Stavaratna of Bhagavān Durvāsas.
5. Shakti Mahimna stotram: Tamil commentary.
6. Varivasyā Rahasya: A Tamil commentary on this work by Bhāskararāya, indispensible to śrīvidyā upāsakas.
7. Srīvidyā Nityāhnīkam: A daily ritual manual that includes Tāntrika sandhyā vidhi, āmnāya mantra nirdēśa, ṣaṭ pārāyaṇa vidhi, etc.
8. Lalitōpākhyāna Vimarśanam
9. Ajapā Kalpa
10. Manīṣā Pañcakam: Tamil commentary on the pentad of hymns by Shankara Bhagavatpāda.
11. Lalitā Triśatī Bhāṣyam: Tamil translation of the commentary by Shankara Bhagavatpāda.
12. Subrahmaṇya Tattvam: A journal of secret learning during the period of GurukulavAsa at the lotus feet of Paramahamsa Guhānandanātha.
13. Srīvidyā Gītā: Tamil translation of the Jñāna khaṇḍa of Tripurā Rahasya.
14. Jñānaprakāśa: A Vedantic drama.
15. Kamalāmbikā māhātmyam: ādhyātmika tattva in Durgā Saptaśatī and kr̥tis of the musical trinity.
16. Kamalālaya Kṣētra Tattvam: An exposition on the tattva of Lord Tyāgarāja, the presiding deity of Thiruvarur, based on the secretive Muchukunda Sahasranāma.
17. Pañcanada Kṣētra Tattvam
18. Chidambara Rahasyam and Naṭarāja Tattvam
19. āryā śatakam
20. Saubhāgyabhāskara: A scholarly translation in Tamil.
21. Forewords to numerous works such as those by Somadeva Sharma, Kumbhakonam Ganesha Iyer, etc.
22. Several poems and ślōkas in Tamil and Sanskrit.
For some unknown reason, Sir has blessed us profusely and showered on us limitless love, directly and through his three advanced disciples. Words fail to describe his greatness or to thank him for the priceless blessings. Seeing no distinction between Parāmbā, asmadācārya and Srī Chidānandanātha, we believe that offering sāṣṭānga praṇati at his lotus feet is the most we are able to do to express our heartfelt devotion.
Subrahmaṇya oṃ