Man Who Recited 640 Million Names!

Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 970; Dated 10th April 201
!ind"s always thin# abo"t bi$ n"mbers. %Aim !i$h& was their motto. Loo#in$ at the
tallest pea# in the world' they tho"$ht only lo(ty thin$s. )rom the *i$ +eda' the oldest
s,ript"re in the world' we read hymns with bi$ de,imal n"mbers. -heir ."$a ,al,"lation
and the li(e span o( one /an" or one 0rahma $i1e "s mind bo$$lin$ n"mbers. -his
shows that they were not primiti1e nomads' b"t $reat mathemati,ians. Later s,ript"res
s"pport this 1iew. !ere is one more ama2in$ (i$"re o( 30 million 43 5rore6 women in
another hymn77
0has#ara *aya 41390 8 179:6 was a $reat de1otee o( /other ;oddess. 0orn <n
/aharashtra and ed",ated at =asi 4+aranasi6' he attained (ame in -amil Nad" by writin$
a ,ommentary to the Lalita Sahasranamam. <t is a mon"mental wor#. !e wrote and
e>plained the meanin$ o( all the 1009 names o( $oddess with $reat insi$ht and
s,holarship. Normally a person ,annot write s",h a wor# "nless there is di1ine $ra,e. !is
li(e shows he was a blessed one.
0has#ara&s (ather ;ambira *ayar was a s,holar and he ta"$ht him a /antra on Saras1ati
whi,h helped him to $et the $i(t o( the $ab. !e mastered many s"b?e,ts in his early a$e
"nder Narasimhananda nath in +aranasi. 0"t ;an$adhara +a?payee is the one who
ta"$ht him ;a"da sastras. !e learnt Athar1an +eda and started $i1in$ dis,o"rses abo"t
De1i /ahatmiya. <t is one o( the @pa P"ranas that des,ribes the $reatness o( ;oddess
4De1i in Sans#rit6.
!e married Anandhi and later Par1ati. !e initiated his (irst wi(e into the worship o( the
$oddess. She also mastered the s"b?e,t and was instr"mental in b"ildin$ a temple (or her
h"sband a(ter his death.
0has#araraya' be(ore mi$ratin$ to -amil Nad" at the in1itation o( /arathi =in$ o(
-han?a1"r' went to ;"?arat and other pla,es and won many awards. !e de(eated many
s,holars in debates. /arathi #in$ o( -ha?a1"r 4-amil Nad"6 $i(ted him a 1illa$e near
-hir"1alan#ad" and he died at the ripe old a$e in -hir"1idaimar"d"r. -he 1illa$e that
was $i1en to him is ,alled 0has#ararayap"ram.
/aha 5hath"shashti =oti ;ana Se1itha 4worshipped by 30 million6
A (ew mira,les are also attrib"ted to him. When he was li1in$ in the holy ,ity o( =asi'
some s,holars who were ?ealo"s or who don&t li#e his way o( -antri# worship' ,hallen$ed
him in the p"bli,. -hey wanted to tarnish his ima$e. 0has#araraya wanted to settle the
s,ore on,e and (or all and so in1ited them (or a .a$a he per(ormed. !is opponents who
were waitin$ (or an opport"nity attended the (ire ,eremony 4.a$a6. -hey tried to trap
him by as#in$ some "nanswerable A"estions. Bne o( the names in the list o( 1009 names'
des,ribes the ;oddess s"rro"nded 30 million .o$inis 4de1oted women assistants6. -he
s,holars as#ed him to e>plain the term .!e e>plained it immediately. -hen they as#ed
him to re,ite the names o( all the 30 million .o$inis and e>plain their appearan,e'
ori$in and history. With the help o( his int"ition he $ot ready and as#ed them to ,opy
whate1er he says. -he ,hallen$ers were ready with pen and paper 4in those days it was
palm lea1es and in# or styl"s6. !e #ept on $i1in$ names one a(ter another with min"te
des,riptions. -hey realised his $reatness be(ore lon$ and (ell at his (eet. Another
enli$htened so"l in the ,rowd' ="n#"mananda Swami' warned all the ,hallen$ers not to
test him. -he reason was that he ,o"ld see the $oddess hersel( sittin$ on his sho"lder
re,itin$ the 30 million names.
-he Lalita Sahasranamam ,ommentary #nown as CSowba$ya Sa$aramD is an a"thority
on ;oddess Worship. <n addition to his mon"mental ,ommentary on the 1009 names o(
the $oddess' he wrote some Sans#rit boo#s. <t is said that he was inspired by $oddess
hersel( to write the ,ommentary. -he ,ommentary is di1ided into twel1e parts named
a(ter 12 aspe,ts o( the s"n. !e said in his introd",tion that this ,ommentary will be
appre,iated by all (rom ;andhara 4A($hanistan6 in the West to =amar"pa 4Assam6 in the
East and =edar 4!imalayas6 in the North to *am Set" in the So"th. !e #new all the
se,rets and deep mysteries o( /antra sastras.
Another mira,le attrib"ted to him was b"rnin$ a Danda 4holy sti,# o( another saint6 o(
an as,eti,. -he sa((ron ,lad as,eti, "sed to $o to Shi1a temple thro"$h the street where
0has#araraya was li1in$. E1eryone in the street (ell at the (eet o( that as,eti, e>,ept
0has#ara. Bne day in the presen,e o( as,eti, someone A"estioned his beha1io"r. -hen he
as#ed the as,eti, to pla,e his Danda and his sa((ron ,loth on the $ro"nd. !oly men
sho"ld ,arry the holy sti,# whene1er they $o o"t. As soon as 0has#ara prostrated be(ore
the ,loth and sti,# to pay his respe,ts' they were in (lames. -hen he told the ,rowd that
this was the reason he did not prostrate be(ore the as,eti,. <t was 1ery ,lear that he was
more power("l than the as,eti,.
!is ,ommentary stands as a proo( (or his immense s,holarship. )rom North to So"th it
is the +eda (or all the De1i @pasa#as 4Worshippers o( /other ;oddess6.
5onta,t swamiF9Gyahoo.,om