Dear Ajit,
In this edition I would like to deal with the history of our Ancestors. We are fortunate that some of the exponents of Astrology, Meemamsa Sastras (Literature about performing rituals), Philosophy, literature etc. were born among ancestors. However, I know our family tree only from Shri Vishwanatha Jyotsyar downwards.
Shri Vishwanatha Jyotsyar
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Shri Anantanarayana Jyotsyar
Smt. Subbamba
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Shri Krishna Vadhyar
Smt. Thailamba
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Shri Sangameswara Vadhyar
Smt. Annapoorani
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Krishna Iyer, Ganapathy Sastrigal, Ramachandra Ghanapatigal, Rajalakshmy, Thailamba
During his period no panchangams / Religious Calendar (almanacs) were sold in Kerala. Vadhyars from all parts of Kerala used to come to him once in a year (March- April). He used to prepare the Religious Calendar for the entire year, write them down make copies and hand them over to the people approaching him. They in turn, used them to guide the householders under them. However, after some period of time, the job became unwieldy for him and inconvenient for the people coming to him from far off places. H ence they requested him to suggest a way out of this predicament. Shri Anantanarayana Jyotsyar, then made a detailed study of all Panchangams then available in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and finally came to a conclusion that the Shrirangam Panchangam was the most reliable among them. He advised all the Vadhyars of Kerala and the householders under them to conduct all rituals on the basis of this almanac. This episode was told to me by my uncle Shri Ganapathy Sastrigal.
Probably he was the brother of Shri Anantanarayana Jyotsyar. He was the first person in Palghat District to conduct SOMAYAGAM.
He excelled in Meemamsa Sastra and was an expert in performing the rituals. He was very innovative and extremely dedicated to his profession. There are written books on how to perform Maharudra and Adirudram. However, there is no written manual for performing Rudra Ekadasi, which is widely conducted nowadays. According to my uncle, Shri Ramachandra Ghanapatigal, the method of performing Rudra Ekadasi, as it is conducted today, was originally evolved by Shri Krishna Vadhyar.
Like most people belonging to Moudgalya Gotram he was also extremely dedicated to his job of performing rituals for the benefit of the householders under his priesthood. He was a perfectionist and also saw to it that the householder was fully satisfied.
Once a householder had invited four Vadhyars to perform a certain auspicious function in his house. He had made elaborate arrangements for food with many varieties in a tasteful manner in order to satisfy the priests which is the ultimate aim of performing the function. However, due to incessant rains and other problems, no one except Sri Krishna Vadhyar turned up our ancestor. He performed the function single handedly in its perfect form. The householder was fully pleased as far the mantra, trantra part of the function was concerned. Still he was lamenting that a huge quantum of food, which he has prepared with great care and efforts, will be going waste in the absence of the other 3 Vadhyars. Sri Krishna Vadhyar told him if your only cause of dejection is the wastage of food, then I will solve it, as I am interested in seeing the full satisfaction of the Grihasta (householder) as well. You can place all the food prepared for all 4 guests on my leaf and I shall part take it on their behalf. Not only did he say so, but he really kept his word, without wasting or vomiting. The above anecdote is not to taken as a joke, but to emphasise the efforts he made to please the householder. Such was the grit and dedication of Sri Krishna Vadhyar.
He is your grandfathers grandfather. He was also a Household Priest of repute. He was a staunch Shaivaite (Follower of Shiva), and also an authority on Ganapathy worship. This earned him the name Ganapathya Sangameswara Vadhyar. The proof reading of many books published by Sri R. S. Vadhyar & Sons was done by him and subsequently by his second son, Sri K. S. Ganapathy Sastrigal. Some of the older editions of these books contain their name. Copyright, royalties etc. were not prevalent during those days.
He was a pious and cool gentleman and more spiritually inclined, leaving all mundane matters to be handled by his wife and children. There was an Agni Kunda in our ancestral house at Kalpatty and he performed Ganapthy Homam. The longevity of the people of our family are attributed to his performing such punya karmas like Ganapthy Homam.
Occasionally he used to perform certain religious functions for the benefit of the cliental householders. One such householder was fighting a court case in Madras (now Chennai), regarding a land dispute. The opposite party was represented by a then famous lawyer, named Mr. Norton. Sri Sangameswara Vadhyar was requested by his householder to perform some Poojas to propitiate the gods for getting a favourable decision in the court case. My grandfather was totally engaged in the austerity measures for conduc ting the Puja vidanams most sincerely and seriously for the next two months (while the case was in court). The villagers used to ridicule him for being up against the powerful Norton Dorai. Undeterred he stuck to his job un -relentlessly and without minding the ridicule. To the utmost surprise of everyone in the village, his client won the case.
His fast for 3 days to fight for the Neivedyam for the Manthakkara Ganapathy has already been mentioned in the III Edition.
He once lamented that most of his children and grandchildren were named after him, his wife, his father and mother, but there was no child named after his grandfather, Sri Anantanarayana Jyotsyar. My mother, who was within the earshot, decided to name me as per his wish, as I was immediately born after the death of Sri Sangameswara Vadhyar.
Such was the greatness of our ancestors. Let us take a leaf out of their lives and try to live an honest and dedicated life. (to be continued).