Mahagnani Vidwan Sri Lakshmithathacharya

Sri M.A.Lakshmithathacharya was our revered brother loved by one and all in our family. I am proud to identify myself as his sister. Usually people ask us, “Are you the sister of M.A. Lakshmithathacharya?” We say immediately “Yes, yes” and earn respect from them.

The reason is, he was a person who achieved so much and secured a high position in so many fields. He worked hard for this by sacrificing his body, mind and soul.

For example, when I was in Chennai, in 1960s, he came there to pursue his post graduation in Sanskrit. He joined the prestigious Vivekananda College in Mylapore. His day used to start at 4 AM early in the morning. After taking bath etc., being an Acharya, he used to cook his own food and attend the Nalayira Divya Prabandam discourse classes of U.Ve.Vidwan Sri Karpangadu Venkatachar Swamy at 6 AM in Mylapore. There were no auto rickshaws in those days. He used to travel by bus only. After finishing the class at 8 AM, he would come back to have food and would go to his college. After college hours, at 5 PM, he would go to Karpangadu Swamy's class again up to 8 PM. After coming back home and having dinner, he would start the studies of his college lessons. By working hard like this, he came out as a successful person. He secured gold medal in MA and became an expert in Nalayira Divya Prabandam discourses. He used to learn Carnatic music from Sri Sandhyavandhanam Srinivasa Rao on Sundays.

If you observe him in one angle, he was full of fatherly affection, and filled the void of losing our parents. But if you look at him in a different angle, he was a great achiever in many fields of knowledge. He had a gigantic personality, charming smile and simple looks. His bio-data speaks of his Himalayan achievements like founding institutions like Samskritha Samshodhana Samsath(Academy of Sanskrit Research), Samskrithi Foundation and so on. He served as President, Visiting Professor and Secretary in other institutions.

He lived as an “Aparigrahi Athma”; that is, he did not acquire worldly materials for himself, but acquired unique knowledge in various fields ranging from Veda Agama Shastras to modern computers, agriculture and farming to modern horticulture and irrigation, Vedic musical hymns from Sriman Nathamuni to present day Carnatic music, cow breeding etc. This was possible due to his curiosity and thirst for knowledge. He was always ready to lend his helping hand to anyone who approached him for knowledge in these fields.

He was a staunch follower of Vishishtadwaitha principles of Sri Bhagavad Ramanujacharya. He even acted as Sri Ramanuja in a movie with pure devotion towards his Guru.

Hence, he was an ocean of knowledge, and one who explores this ocean deeply will get the rare precious gems of this knowledge. Knowing about him to this extent, I have presented this article like picking a drop of water from the sea sitting on the sea shore.