My periyappa -the great Viswanatha Vadhyar of Mumbai
By
P.R.Ramachander
Sri Viswanatha vadhyar was my mother’s elder sister’s huband .His native place was Payilur ,He was by profession a priest. In the 40’s it was not a paying profession , that too in a small agraharam , near Palakkad
Some time in 1952, he left his village and helped one of his brother in laws near Hyderabad in running a hotel.He then thought he would go to Mumbai to help another Brother in law who was running a hotel in Bhandup , Mumbai
He found that again doing his profession of piest was better .Slowly he established him self .He had three sons and five daughters .All his sons got job in Mumbai and with some effort he could give all his daughter’s in marriage
When my father wanted to give in marriage my sister(1961) , since his monetary position was very poor , My periyappa lent him 10000 rs loan( You can understand how big it is by knowing rice was selling at 30 paise per kg)
After I got a job in 1963 and after working few years , I returned the loan .He refused any interest for that.
I had a wonderful relation with him and all his children. Today one of his daughter in laws has published a great article about him by one sri L,M,Sarma .It really jolted me as it made me understand how great was my periyappa..My humble namaskarams to that great individual, Who mostly lived for others
Brahmasri Pyallore Viswanatha Vadhyar, epitome of true acharya dharma, messiah
of the poor
No, he did not head any famous institution, lead a revolutionary movement, or had his photographs and interviews splashed across the front pages of newspapers or (in his earlier years) even have a decent accommodation in Mumbai, yet he became a legend who continues living in the hearts of his numerous grihastas and their descendents. He was Brahamasri Pyyalore Viswanatha Vadhyar who made Mumbai his home in the latter years of the mid fifties of the last century, and in his own way rendered invaluable service to the Tambram community in his own in inimitable humble wa
As I visualize his benign features through the mists of time, there appears before me a calm, wise face radiating brahma tejas of the highest order reminiscent of the ancient vedic times, eyes (a slight squint in one eye, if I remember right)) twinkling with wisdom and humour, a chandana kuri on his forehead and streaks of sandal paste on his arms, and a tall wiry yogic body with not a milligram of flab. Compare this with today’s hippo sized barrels of lard looking like asuras, weighed down with rrudraksha malas embedded in gold and bejeweled rings in every available finger, moving around in Marutis babbling incessantly into their Blackberrys.
For Viswanatha Vadhyar, upadhyayam was a dharma in the true sense of the term, a bounden duty as part of his Brahminic lineage. And he was not just any ordinary upadhyaya. He was an acharya, a true teacher and also an highly erudite mantravadi who used his mantravadam skills top counsel and cure his grihastas of the numerous phobias, tensions and problems besetting them. Psychiatrists were unheard of those days and it was the likes of Vishwanatha vadhyar who were true counselors who catered to the mental health of their grihastas. With his great skills he could have minted millions had he wanted to do. But he didn’t stray from the path of dharma and succumb to the temptations of filthy lucre. He limited himself to making an honest rupee to maintain himself and his family.
His acts of charity are the stuff that legends are made of. One doesn’t not known even if his family ware of it Charity is something that even the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand gives. But his charity was not giving out monetary doles. He couldn’t afford it. His charity lay in his help to the needy. I can recall one stance when a well to do grihasta of his fell on bad days. The girhasta got a paralytic stroke, was rendered jobless and over a period of time became penniless. At this stage the grihasta lost his father and did not have the means to even cremate him, leave alone performing the hugely expensive post funeral rites. Vishw3anatha vadhyar came to know of this grihasta’s plight and came rushing to his house in the dead of night. Those days only taxis were available. So Vishwanatha vadhyar, took a taxi in the dead of night from Ghatkopar where he lived, to the grihasta’s house in far off Andheri and handled the funeral and the thirteen days ceremony, without expecting a copper. Local people had collected the fire wood but all other expenses were personally borne by Vishwanatha Vadhyar. Not only that, this noble vadhyar met all the expenses with the thirteen days ceremony including the dakshinas, the danams and the feeding. Was Viswanatha vadhyar rolling in riches at that time? Barely. He was making a modest living jaust making ends meet. Can one expect such grace from today’s carrion eating vultures who style themselves as vadhyars and feast off the dead ?
I have known Viswanatha vadhyar perform yagyapavitam ceremonies for poor Brahmin boys. Spending out of his own pocket. I also recall his services in exorcising a brahmarakshas in one of the oldest pattar ghettoesd, Shri Ram nagar in Andheri. There is a drive way leading upto the gates of Shri Ram Nagar. As you enter the gate, you will see a huge banyan tree with a miniscule temple in which a lamp can be seen burning. I don’t recall which year it was, probably, the latter half of the fifties that a Brahmarakshas had taken the colony in its grip and had inflicted a lot of casualties in the form of deaths of young Brahmins. After a prasnam, Viswanatha vadhyar was given the task of exorcising Mr. Brahmarakshas. He did it effectively and the colony saw happy days again. Now, any other vadhyar with the expertise, accomplishments of Viswanatha Vadhyr would have taken advantage of the paranoia gripping the residents and extracted more than his pound of flesh. But, believe it or not, Viswanataha Vadhyar took a token amount of just Re.1, as dakshina.
That was Vishwanatha Vadhyar. He would rush to the help of his grahastas. Unlike a certain vadhyar in a north eastern suburb who rushed to his guru’s deathbed only to snatch the latter’s diary containing contact details of the grahastas. Viswanatha vadhyar to had a family to support. And he did support them very well. Unlike the present day mercenaries who have succumbed to greed and are extracting the last drop of blood from the grahastas. Even from those who don’t have the means. And they have supporters in galore in this forum and other for a who justify the greed of these poonool wearing, pot bellied tubs of lard styling themselves as vadhyars.
These lard filled hippos will be forgotten and their diaries will be stolen by their potbellied sishyas,. But benign souls like Vishwanatha Vadhyar will continue to reign with reverence in the hearts of the numerous grihastas (bhaktas, in fact), whose lives they have touched in numerous ways, through acts, too numerous to name, of kindness, charity and love.
--
L.M. Sarma, Eccentriic, Iconoclast, Rabblerouser
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