Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Hanagal Virupaksha Shastri

Dr. D V Gundappa (DVG) was a well-known writer and a Vedāntin from Karnataka who won
several awards such as the Padmabhushan and Sahitya Academy awards. He was a student of our
Paramaguru Sri Vidyābhinava Vālukeśvara Bhāratī Mahāsvāmigal (Mahāmahopādhyāya
Hānagal Virūpākṣa Shāstrigal) and he has dedicated a chapter to the great Guru in his award-
winning work Jñāpaka Chitraśāle. Here is an English translation of a selection from this book
where he describes his interaction with our Paramaguru.

In those days, for the sake of those householders who wanted to study Vedānta for spiritual progress,
lectures were regularly conducted in Bangalore Shankara Mutt. During these sessions, the discussions
did not delve deep into complex topics but mostly centered around simpler concepts of Vedānta. B V
Lakshman Rao was one gentleman who regularly attended these lectures. He was a devout student of
Vedānta. He highly encouraged my meeting with Sri Shastrigal. With his help, Bhāṣya śānti from
Shastrigal was arranged. On the scheduled day, I took bath, carried articles of worship (pūjādravya)
and went to Sri Shastrigal’s residence which was located within the premises of the Shankara Mutt. At
that time, Sri Shastrigal was immersed in his daily worship. I prostrated full length before his lotus
feet and placed before him the tray filled with articles I had brought with me. Sri Shastrigal accepted
the fruits and flowers and offered it to the deity. And he asked, ‘What is this? I see some money
(dakṣinā) in the tray?’ I replied, ‘Just a humble offering’. He immediately replied, ‘Accepting money is
not in our sampradāya, please take it back’. I responded, ‘It is also not the right sampradāya to take it
back after having offered it to you’. Sri Shastrigal gave a hearty laugh, called a disciple and said:
‘Convert this to small change and distribute it among the Brāhmaṇas of our pāṭhaśālā.’ Needless to
say, his instructions were followed.

At Sri Shastrigal’s residence, there were at least three of his disciples at any point in time. Be it during
bath or lunch, he would continue to teach Vedānta to sincere students. During his bath, he would
continue teaching Vyākaraṇa and during lunch, he would discuss complex texts of Tarka such as
Jāgadītī and Gādādharī. In the mornings, from eight to eleven, he taught Upaniṣadbhāṣya and from
three to six in the evening, he taught Sūtrabhāṣya. Sri Shastrigal did not rely on printed texts, he
insisted on learning texts by heart. Once when he saw me holding a book, he commented, ‘Even you
have started holding a printed book these days?’

One day, when he was having lunch, he was discussing the work Advaitasiddhi. I held a printed
version of the book in my hand to follow the discussion and that particular edition had several
printing mistakes. Shastrial, who knew the entire work by heart, immediately pointed out with a
smile, ‘See, that’s why I say you should not rely on some printed book!’

Though he dissuaded students from relying on printed books, he had immense respect for books.
Once, when he was teaching, I got tired and placed the book in my hand on the floor. Immediately his
voice came to a halt and he assumed stark silence. I did not understand the reason for his abrupt
silence and looked at him. He said, ‘Either you please hold the book in your hand, or place it on the
vyāsapīṭha. Till then, the lesson will not continue.’

One day, I managed to obtain a rare work from a friend. It was a work named Tattvakaustubha
authored by Bhattoji Dīkṣita. It was a handwritten manuscript. Sri Shastrigal expressed interest in
examining this manuscript. When I took the book to him, he said, ‘Oh, the book seems to be covered
in cloth? Keep it with you, I will look at it after I am done with my rituals and out of maḍi. After his
daily rituals, he changed his clothes and only then studied the book in entirety.

Sri Shastrigal had to travel to Sringeri and Kalati frequently. He would inform me a week before his
journey. I would submit a request to K Srinivasan, the then head of Indian Railways. He would in turn
inform the station master of Arasikere railway station. The train from Bangalore would reach
Arasikere around 6 pm. Sri Shastrigal would get down there and go to a well nearby. An assistant
would keep a brass pot, a rope, some tamarind and some mṛttikā ready. Sri Shastrigal would first
clean and purify the brass vessel, draw water from the well, take a quick bath and perform his
sandhyopāsana. He would then immediately rush back to the train and continue his journey. And he
would express his heartfelt gratitude to me for having made the arrangements. This way, he never ever
missed sandhyopāsana.

Sri Shastrigal was known as the foremost scholar of Tarka in the country at that time. During his
Vedānta lessons, he would also discuss concepts of Sāmkhya, Vaiśeṣika and other schools. He would
present the arguments of various schools and then say, ‘According to our school’ – he would quickly
add, ‘And by that I don’t mean Tarka, I mean Vedānta’. Sri Shastrigal was greatly associated with
Tarka and held the title, ‘Tarka Pañcānana’. It was due to close association with H H Sri Saccidānanda
Shivābhinava Nṛsimha Bhāratī Mahāsvāmigal that his primary interest turned towards Vedānta.

Sri Shastrigal was very honest and pure both in words and action. He never exhibited pride or anger.
However, he never hesitated to speak his mind. He strictly followed a vow to speak truth at all times.
He bowed before none. His compassion towards others knew no bounds. In his own life, he had
experienced poverty, death, disease and various difficulties which had made him very compassionate.

Before starting daily lessons, he would ask, ‘Did you perform Guruvandanā?’ I would say, ‘Yes, I did’.
But he would not be satisfied. He would insist on doing it again and himself would join as well. In his
book, Guruvandanā mean twelve full length prostrations before the picture of his Guru H H Sri
Saccidānanda Shivābhinava Nṛsimha Bhāratī Mahāsvāmigal. While I struggled to complete
prostrations, Sri Shastrigal would perform them effortlessly. There would be another round of
Guruvandanā at the end of the day’s lessons. Before Anadhyayana, there would be maṅgalapāṭha and
special and extensive Guruvandanā which would leave me completely exhausted!

Every day, before starting lessons, his first question was, ‘Have you completed sandhyāvandanam?’
And then he would inquire about Guruvandanā. Then he would confirm that we head learned the
previous days lessons by heart. Only then he would proceed with that day’s teaching.

How can one describe Sri Shastrigal’s teaching style? There is only one ārṣokti I can remember in this
context:
sphūrjadgaṅgāpravāhānukaraṇamamalo bhāratītīrtha eṣaḥ |

He would explain verses in Sanskrit, English and Kannada, quoting examples from day to day life.
While describing the nature of Māyā, he once said quoting Champū Bhārata: ‘Whether or not
Draupadī had a waist can only be inferred through anumāna. Both her upper body and lower body
were part of the same body and by anvaya-vyatireka tarka, it can be inferred that there must be a waist
joining her upper and lower bodies together. Similar is the case with Māyā. Is it there? No. Is it not
there? It’s there.’

Sri Shastrigal had studied all Kāvyas and Purānas. He was also a Ghanapāṭhi and the purity of his
intonation of udātta, anudātta etc. was beyond comparison.

He frequently talked about Vairāgya: ‘People experience debts, misery, frustration etc. in life and
decide they have had enough of saṃsāra. They approach a Guru, shave their heads, wear kāśāya vastra
and take sannyāsa. But their minds begin to think about the wife and children and vairāgya
disappears. Such vairāgya which comes when you face troubles and goes when you see a good piece of
garment, cannot be trusted. It is for this precise reason that my Guru (Sringeri Mahāsannidhānam)
does not give sannyāsa to anyone. If anyone approached him for sannyāsa, he would say – “just stay
here like a sannyāsin, what is there to give here? Stay and have food in the Mutt, perform service to
Shāradāmbā, listen to scriptures and remain peacefully. What more is required?” If someone pressed
further, he would advise, “Vairāgya that appears instantly should not be trusted”.

The government awarded Sri Shastrigal the title of Mahāmahopādhyāya. The Maharaja of Mysore also
awarded him the title Vidyānidhi. The disciples of Sri Shastrigal were extremely happy and formed a
committee to honor him on this occasion. A Sunday evening was fixed to honor Sri Shastrigal. When
Sri Shastrigal was informed of this, he immediately refused. After fervent appeal by his students, he
reluctantly said, ‘Let’s see’. On the fixed day, when Sri Shastrigal was nowhere to be found, a search
party set out to look for him. They finally found him near the western part of Shankar Mutt, right by
the shrine of Sri Shankaracharya. When he saw the search party, he replied, ‘I am waiting for my
Guru’. And within the next ten minutes, he disappeared again! He was soon found walking briskly in
Chamarajpet. We asked him again where he was headed. He replied, ‘To see my Guru, Sri Nuggehalli
Tirumalācārya’. We picked up both the gentlemen in our car and brought them to Shankar Mutt. We
had prepared a small pīṭha to seat Sri Shastrigal, but he refused to sit on it. He made Sri Nuggehalli
Tirumalācārya sit on it and began his elaborate Guruvandanā which we have already described earlier!
He finally sat down by the feet of his Guru. Finally the ceremony commenced.

In 1926, Dr. Madan Mohan Malaviya visited Mysore and addressed a gathering in Parakala Mutt with
Sri Shastrigal as the honorary guest. The topic he addressed was related to reforms in Hindu society.
He was slightly worried if Malaviya’s discourse was disrespectful of traditional sampradāya. He
immediately composed a verse which not only praised Malaviya, but also wished that he would stay on
the path of varṇāśrama dharma.

mālavyo mahitānvayo madanajidvarṇāśramācārayoḥ

bhetteti prathitirnavā.astu bhuvane śrīdeśikānugrahāt |

yadyapyatra kalau balīyasi vṛthā dharmāccyavante janāḥ

tānapyadhvani sadbhirādṛtatame sañcālayatyanvaham ||

It seems that Sri Shastrigal never showed interest in authoring any books. As far as I know, he only
composed two verses, one of which is quoted above. The other is a Guruvandanā śloka included with
his introduction to Pūrvamīmāṃsā bhāṣya. Anandashrama Trust published the commentary of
Shabara Swami on Jaimini’s sutras, under Mīmāmsā kaṇṭhīrava Vaidyanātha Shāstrigal. Upon his
request, Sri Shastrigal authored an introduction to this book. One can get a taste of his invincible
writing style by reading this piece.

During his student days, Sri Shastrigal was extremely poor and could not even afford to light a lamp to
study. During nights, he would sit outside a Brahmin’s house with a small earthen lamp containing
scarce quantity of oil. He would light the lamp from the nandādīpa lit before the deity within the
Brahmin’s house and study a leaf from the tālapatra grantha. He would read the contents of the leaf
thoroughly once and extinguish the lamp. He would then utter the contents loudly several times and
contemplate on its content. Once he had mastered the teaching, he would light the lamp again from
the nandādīpa and read the next leaf. This was how he mastered some of the most difficult works of
Tarka, Nyāya, Vyākaraṇa and Vedānta.

Though an established Jnāni, Sri Shastrigal firmly followed sadācāra. He performed pūjā thrice in a
day, ekādaśa rudrābhiṣeka every Monday and performed Sūryanamaskāra on Sundays. He performed
one Vrata or another most days and hence ate only once. One such day, while lecturing on the verse
avidyāvadviṣayāni śāstrāṇi, he explained the nature of Paratattva in great detail. The next day when I
went to meet him, I was told that he had gone to another place to perform a Yajña. When I later
questioned him about the seeming contradiction between his words and action, he replied: “What I
said the other day was applicable to Jnanis such as Sadāśiva Brahmendra. We are all still within the
precincts of Karma. Till we attain that state, we cannot abandon prescribed karma.”

One day, a western educated gentleman approached Sri Shastrigal and engaged him in a conversation.

Gentleman: I want to understand the meaning of a phrase from you.

Sri Shastrigal: Sure, what is that?

Gentleman: The Veda says samṛḍīkā Sarasvati, what does that mean?

Sri Shastrigal: So are you on your way to work?

Gentleman: What is the meaning of…

Sri Shastrigal: The weather is very hot

Gentleman: The meaning of the word is?

Sri Shastrigal (having lost his patience by then): When you are wearing shoes etc., how can you recite
the Veda?

Gentleman: But have not the English and Germans studied Veda and even translated it?

Sri Shastrigal: True, and have not people like you studied their Bible? You may understand it but do
you get a feeling of sanctity towards it? Similarly, though some of those Westerners may be deluded
that they have mastered the Veda, do they have the attitude of sanctity and respect towards the Veda?
Even for worldly activities like going to office, there is a prescribed attire and code of conduct. Don’t
we need to show respect to something as lofty as the Veda which is Brahma pratipādaka?