KAVYAKANTHA: A COLOSSUS OF
LEARNING AND TAPAS
By K. Natesan
SRI Kavyakantha Ganapati Muni (1878-1936), who was
unique in being at once a scholar, poet, patriot, political thinker
and tapasvi, was one of the most esteemed figures of his times.
Various branches of Sanskrit learning -- the Vedas,
Upanishads [?], itihasas, puranas, mantra sastra, alankara,
ayurveda, philosophy, grammar, poetry and astrology -- were
all mastered by him quite early in life. He could speak fluently
in Sanskrit and compose poems extempore. An assembly of
pandits held in the year 1900 at Nadia were so impressed by
his poetic powers and in particular his skill in the special
literary exercise of completing a verse begun by another poet,
that they conferred on him the title of Kavyakantha (one from
whose throat poetry gushed spontaneously).
A Sanskrit poet even at the age of twelve, Kavyakantha had
also drunk deep at the fount of religious literature and was well
set for a rigorous spiritual life before he was eighteen. After his
marriage he engaged himself in serious spiritual practice,
visiting various holy centres for the purpose. He was a firm
believer in mantra japa and in its power to solve all problems,
including that of Indian Independence. Siva Panchakshari was
his favourite mantra, and he recited it a crore of times. In 1903
he came to Arunachala to perform tapas [?]. He visited Sri Ramana
Maharshi, who was then known as Brahmana Swami on the
hill twice before he accepted a teacher's job at Vellore in 1904.
With his organising ability, he gathered a group of students
whose mantra japa was to generate enough spiritual energy to
cure the ills of the nation and promote its welfare. In fact it was
his strong conviction, like Swami Vivekananda, that national
welfare should be placed above individual salvation. He soon
resigned his job at Vellore and returned to Arunachala in 1907.
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An intellectual and spiritual giant who had high achievements
to his credit and a host of followers as well, Kavyakantha still
felt that his life's purpose was not fulfilled. He remembered
Brahmana Swami whom he had met before and went to him
again. This was to give him the inward peace that he still seemed
to lack. The meeting was of profound significance not only for
Kavyakantha but for the world at large which could learn from
such a high authority about the real stature of the swami.
Kavyakantha approached the Virupaksha cave where
Brahmana Swami was staying, and prostrating himself before
him, said in a trembling voice, "All that has to be read I have
read. Even Vedanta Sastra I have fully understood. I have
performed japa to my heart's content. Yet I have not up to
this time understood what tapas [?] is. Hence have I sought refuge
at thy feet. Pray, enlighten me about the nature of tapas [?]". For
fifteen minutes Sri Ramana silently gazed at Kavyakantha.
He then spoke:
If one watches whence this notion of `I' springs, the mind
will be absorbed into that. That is tapas [?]. If a mantra is
repeated and attention is directed to the source whence the
mantra sound is produced, the mind will be absorbed in
that. That is tapas [?].
The scholar was filled with joy and announced that the
upadesa was original, and that Brahmana Swami was a
Maharshi and should be so called thereafter. He gave the full
name of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi to Brahmana Swami,
whose original name had been Venkataraman (named after the
Lord of Tirupati). Kavyakantha was now the foremost disciple
of Sri Ramana. His disciples also came to the Maharshi. They
sought and obtained clarification on many doubtful points. His
Sri Ramana Gita recording these questions and answers
(between the years 1913 and 1917) is divided into eighteen
chapters like the Bhagavad Gita and is a great source of
inspiration. His Ramana Chatvarimsat is a hymn well known
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to devotees and is recited daily at Bhagavan's shrine. Moving
to various places he finally settled down in a village near
Kharagpur and passed away in 1936. His was an eventful life
spent in writing, research, tapas [?] and in guiding his disciples.
The works of Kavyakantha numbering over a hundred fall
under numerous categories. There are hymns, sutras (aphorisms),
commentaries, researches in the Rig Veda, a model constitution
for India, and even fiction. Uma Sahasram sings in a thousand
verses the glories of the Divine Mother. A few hundred verses
towards the end were composed in the immediate presence of
Sri Ramana in an incredibly short time, Kavyakantha having
four men busy writing to his dictation. Indrani Saptasadi, Chandi
Trisati and Gita Mala are other important works, the last being
praise of deities like Indra and Agni. The most outstanding of his
sutras is that on Dasa Maha Vidya, which reconciles the Vedantic
and Tantric schools on the subject of the ten cosmic powers. The
Sahasranama strings together Indra's thousand names culled from
the Rig Veda. His Rig Vedic commentaries have brought within
the reach of readers an abstruse subject which needed clarification.
His research work on the Mahabharata deals with the question
of its Vedic basis. Satdarsanam, a rendering in Sanskrit of Sri
Ramana's Ulladu Narpadu, and a commentary on his Upadesa Saram
are very popular with the devotees of Sri Ramana.
As evidence of Kavyakantha's burning patriotism the
following may be cited from his Indrani Saptasati:
O Mother! I take refuge at thy feet so that my country may
prosper, this country long beaten, shattered and weeping.
May the enemies of dharma perish. May friends of our
land prosper. This would gladden my heart. O Divine
Mother! I take refuge at thy feet.
O beloved of Indra! Spies dog the heels of our mighty men.
We are afraid even to give vent to our sorrows. They bow
to Thee for grace. Refuge at Thy feet.
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The Magician Ramana
(Three stanzas from Muruganar's `Suttaruttal'
translated by Prof K. Swaminathan)
Awareness wherein brightly shine
These many forms of persons, places, time,
All separate-seeming though in substance One:
Into that same Awareness he transmuted
This `I' of mine. Now, nothing to be known,
My past undone, my being his,
I stand, unruffled Bliss,
Untouched by any shock.
Lord Siva-Venkatesa he who,
King of kings, came conquering
And made me his alone.
What is this `I' that rises from within?
Only a thought that, like a bubble, floats
Up to the troubled surface of Awareness.
In sleep the sea is still, no bubble rises:
Then too you are.
You're not the `I' that rises and then sets,
You are the sole Awareness in the All,
The eternal, uncreated Light of Being.
No form or feature has he of his own,
Yet form and feature to all beings gives;
Knowledge and ignorance, both to him unknown,
Each human mind from him alone derives.
He brought me into being but to think
Of him as `you', of me and mine as `yours';
And he has left me wordless, deedless, prone,
Helpless on death's brink.
Only the vast beatitude endures.
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