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Sri Gnanananda Thapovanam, Its Inspiration And Role Today [Page 1]

(Speech delivered by SWAMI NITYANANDA GIRI at SATSANG III organized by ASHRAM AIKYA conference of Christian Ashrams and SNEHASADAN Institute for Study of Religion at Bangalore on 20th /21st October 1983.)


SWAMI NITYANANDA GIRI

Sadguru Gnanananda Giri Swamigal established his ashram, Sri Gnanananda Thapovanam on the northern bank of the river South Pennar in the South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu about 30 years ago. The sage himself gives an idea of the role he intended for it in his own explanation of the name of the ashram.


"Tapas" is intense heat with its derivations, zeal, fervour, austerity, asceticism. "VANA" (in Tamil 'Vanam') is a wood or forest. In olden days, there were huge jungles and forests in India, where hermits could retire far from other men, living off fruit and wild roots and spending their time contemplating the things of God. Nowadays, in this part of the land atleast, there are no longer any real forests. The trees have been felled and the countryside transformed. So, as there are no longer any forests, it is absolutely essential to set aside certain places so that those who wish to lead a quiet life of prayer and asceticism can do so. The ashram was founded for those who wish to devote even a fraction of their time to the pursuit of spiritual wisdom far from crowds and from the turmoil of the daily round. Here they can receive proper instruction and give themselves upto meditation"'.

  The Sanskrit word 'Tapas', is derived from 'Tap' meaning 'to consume by heat' or to 'mortify the body' or to 'undergo severe penance'. "Tapas" implies a concentration of the senses and the mind, a mastery of will and thought, by the habitual practice of exercising restraint over the bodily desires and affections which are linked to lower objects so that the aspirant may advance in the life of holiness"/ Bhagawan Sri Ramana says in Upadesasaram: "The realisation of That which subsists when all trace of "I" is gone is good austerity (tapas). So sings Ramana, the Self of all".

Gnana or Awareness of Self is being in one's true nature as Transcendental Bliss. Gnana is Ananda. This is the meaning of the compound word 'Gnananandam' which means Atman. It also indicates that through Self-knowledge alone, can one attain true Bliss, going beyond grief and delusion. Gnanananda is the way and its goal, the Truth. So, "Tapas" in Thapovanam is "to be steeped in the Self, Gnananandam".

Such was indeed the experience of Swami Abhishiktananda who refers to the days he spent at Thapovanam as "Days of Grace". He recalls "Vanya (Abhishiktananda) could never forget the two weeks he spent with his guru; days of utter peace and fulness; some of the rare moments of life that one longs to re-live again and again; very special times when one knows one exists in the depth of oneself where all appearances are left behind and one is on the level of the True".

It will be the experience of any one who is similarly open to the Grace of the Guru.

  Sri Gnanananda was a monument of a man, a legend in his own lifetime. His glorious spiritual ministry is believed to have been phenomenally long, lasting atleast well over a century - none knows for certain how long. That he had conquered the process of aging of the physical body was evident from the observation of many devotees over a few decades. The core of his philosophy was negation of the ego and all that is non-Self, i.e. body, mind, etc. So, he never spoke about his birth and parentage. All achievements, spiritual and temporal, belong to the realm of the ego and so Sri Gnanananda did not speak about his sadhana, spiritual attainments which were obviously extraordinary, or even about the disciples who received his guidance. He was truly established in the Transcendental Advaitic experience, a Jivanmukta, living from moment to moment, not reflecting on the past, nor looking forward to a future. Thus, Sri Gnanananda's earlier life is shrouded in mystery. He is believed to have been born in the early years of the last century in a village called Mangalapuri in Karnataka. He left his home even as a boy when he experienced a special descent of Grace - Saktinipata, and was drawn to Pandharpur, the famous centre of Maharashtra mysticism, on the banks of the river Chandrabhaga.

There he met his Guru Sri Sivaratna Giri of Jyotir Math, the northern regional mutt in India established by Adi Sankara. The pontiff took his young disciple to Srinagar in Kashmir, trained him in various spiritual disciplines and initiated him into Sannyasa, giving him the name Gnanananda Giri. After the Mahasamadhi of the Guru, Sri Gnanananda Giri renounced his title to the pontificate and betook himself to severe austerities in the higher regions of the Himalayas. After many years of intense Tapas, he later traveled on foot throughout the length and breadth of India, as well as Tibet, Burma and Sri Lanka. It was clear from his casual references that in the course of his wandering over many decades as a PARIVRAJAKA or itinerant monk throughout the sub-continent, he had come into contact with the spiritual luminaries of last century and the present one. Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi, Saint Ramalinga, Sendamangalam Avadhoota Swamigal and his Guru known as 'Judge Swamigal', Saint Vithoba of Polur, Sri Seshadri Swamigal, Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi, Sri Aurobindo and several others were amongst them.

  At the turn of the last century, Sri Gnanananda was staying in Sampathgiri hills of Polur near Tiruvannamalai. Wherever he went, all people were drawn irresistibly to him, irrespective of caste, creed or nationality, by the dignity and strength of his personality, no less than by his charm and childlike simplicity. In the course of his travels in the later years, he settled sometimes for some years at spots, which attracted him. Inevitably whenever he settled in any place in this manner, a small band of devotees congregated around him and as facilities had to be provided for them, an ashram would come into being. He would then remain for sometime teaching anyone who wished to learn. But his love of solitude, however, would impel him to disappear one fine day and retreat to a remote spot. Upto his final settling down at Thapovanam, the Swami was first and foremost a PARAMAHAMSA PARIVRAJAKA par excellence, and he would not allow himself to become the prisoner of any institution, even one of his own making. Such ashrams or places for his stay grew up around him at Kallakudi, Sreemushnam, Sulur, Attiyampatti and Siddhalingamadam.

We have reliable accounts of his stay in the last two ashrams, both of which he left, walking out of them in the same spirit of freedom in which he had originally come to these places, a true monk without belongings or obligations. He exemplified in himself that love of insecurity and anonymity which is the hallmark of a genuine Sannyasin, and it was only as a concession to the devotees and aspirants who came to him, that he allowed ashrams to grow up in the places where he stayed. He himself appears never to have planned or established any institution from his own deliberate choice or volition. This is entirely in consonance with his abdication of the pontificate of Jyotir Math and his philosophy of the PARIVRAJAKA life he adopted and his life of uncompromising non-attachment and freedom. This aspect of the founder's personality has to be understood, if the role and inspiration of Thapovanam today is to be appreciated properly.

Swami Abhishiktananda records an inmate of Thapovanam telling him, "As long as the Swami is willing to live amongst us let us make the most of it and try not to do anything that might displease him or make him go off somewhere else".

Therefore, it will be misleading to say that Sri Gnanananda founded the ashram, as if he purposefully established Thapovanam with a set pattern and an ideal in his mind to which he wanted it to conform. It would be truer to say that he settled at the place where Thapovanam stands today and that the Ashram over the years grew around his presence. It has evolved by a process of organic growth and changed into what it is now and this evolution no doubt continues. From another angle, one may say that it is the continuous unfolding of a great GYANA SIDDHA"S Grace and blessing, undeterred by the limitations of time. Thapovanam, however, is markedly different from the two ashrams at Attiyampatti and Siddhalingamadam, and it is also different from the last ashram that Sadgurudev was to establish atYercaud. It was obvious that the Swamiji realised, as Thapovanam slowly took shape around the small thatched hut which was originally his dwelling, that it was to be his last settlement and it would be his 'final resting place'. He allowed the ashram to grow to a degree of organisation and size that the others never reached and he took less pains to preserve his anonymity. Whereas previously he had shunned publicity and avoided contact with celebrities, he, in later years at Thapovanam, patiently received ever-increasing crowds of visitors and allowed himself to be known to the public. Even this was without any deliberate intention or action on his part. He simply ceased to discourage or avoid it. It was precisely when his fame began to spread, that he had left his previous ashrams. But at Thapovanam, sensing that the end of his term in the mortal body was near, he allowed seekers to flock to him, so that they might benefit in his final days from the fruits of his life-time of Tapas. He made preparations for the internment of his mortal remains and for the continued functioning of the ashram after his MAHASAMADHI.

Swami Abhishiktananda describes Sri Gnanananda's divine love for all who came to him: "Gnanananda's whole being radiated a pure and tender love; a love which was complete for each one and the same for all. This joy of feeling oneself loved by him, resulted in a high degree of detachment, for who does not dream of being loved, apart from others and with a preferential love ? Yet, at the same time each man felt as if he were enveloped in a plenitude of love. One felt that with Gnanananda, all distinction, bheda, had been overcome and had vanished. It was the true personality the Self alone, the Atman, in each person which was immediately perceived by him"

  Sri Gnanananda received devotees of all ages, of all stages in life, of all races - men, women and children. They were all exposed to the transforming influence of his grace. He constantly reminded them that human birth is rare to obtain, and that it is not to be wasted in pursuit of material wealth and sensual pleasures. He pointed out again and again, that the goal of life is to realise God and the Self. He recognised Adhikaribheda or variation in spiritual equipment and competence according to one's Samskaras or past impressions and environmental factors. He led each one of them in the way most natural to him. Swamiji emphasised that the pursuit of Swadharma, that is to say the discharge of one's duties, with total dedication to the Divine is the path to spiritual perfection. All life is yoga, according to him. The whole of life is a spiritual unity, and it cannot be compartmentalised into the secular and the spiritual. Devotees seeking relief from suffering or praying for progeny or mere material wealth came to him, as also seekers of knowledge with an intense spiritual aspiration, not to mention the realised ones. He gave the devotees what they wanted so that in course of time, drawn to him by his infinite compassion and surrendering themselves completely to him, they might themselves aspire for and seek from him what he wanted to give them - the liberating Knowledge.

In Attiyampatti and Siddhalingamadam, uneducated common folk thronged to him and he introduced them to the rendering of Tamil devotional lore, such as Thevaram and Tiruvachagam and taught them simple religious practices. Perhaps, Swamiji valued such simple religious and pure rustic love more than that of others. Instruction in Vedanta was always given only to a rare few who were qualified to receive it. But at Thapovanam, soon after it was established, a regular daily routine came to be observed - darsan of Swami any time between three and four early in the morning, followed by Vedic chants and recital of prayers which included many Sanskrit hymns composed byAdi Sankara and Tamil songs with deep Vedantic import

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