Professor M.A. Lakshmitathachar - The Epitome of Knowledge

At the outset, let me confess that whatever information and experience I have with me about Professor M.A. Lakshmithathachar Swamy is extraordinarily little. To explain his values and virtues is like holding a candle against the Sun. Nevertheless, I wish to present whatever little facts I have.

I remember a story. Four blind people come across an elephant. One person touches its leg and says it is elephant, while the second touches its tail and calls it an elephant and it goes on like that. Why I remembered this story is that the Swamin being an epitome of knowledge, I am nowhere near him.

I have known Acharya for fifty years now, both as an outsider as well as insider. His younger sister is my wife. But age being a factor-he is older to me by seventeen years, there was respectable distance between us. As years passed on, between 2013 and 2021, my association with him came much closer when he had entrusted to me several works. I was very much interested in listening to his experiences on various facets of life.

From what I have observed during my association with him, the utmost is his commitment to the subject. He was very fond of dairy farming. He had a scientific bend of mind in whatever he did. Being a master in Sanskrit language, he was very much interested in bringing that language into everybody's life.

In 1973, the Academy of Sanskrit Research was started at Melkote, which was the brainchild of the Swamin. With the resistance from local people, Swamin took it as a challenge and nurtured the Academy. Many years later, the Academy has withstood all the storm and it showed the conviction and courage of the Swamin.

He was very fond of nature. At the Academy and elsewhere he planted several types of herbs and flowers which were especially useful in daily life. Whatever harvested in the field, flowers, fruits and vegetables, Swamin used to take and distribute not more than 25% and leave the rest to the birds. His principle was "one takes what one needs and lets the rest feed the birds and animals or drop to the ground to rot."

Swamin became adept at computer science, a language alien to him. He used to tell "I simply exposed myself to it and realized its potential." He was adept in using computer languages for achieving his goals.

The Swamin believed that not enough is being done in the country to explore the Sanskrit language as it should have been. He believed many fields like agriculture; computer sciences and metallurgy can gain if new forays are made into Sanskrit. That is why he gave importance to Sanskrit during his days at the Academy of Sanskrit Research at Melkote.

When I was working in one of the rural branches of Canara Bank in Karnataka, he was invited to speak on nature's influence on humankind. His speech on that day was appreciated by everyone. After completing the program, he wanted to visit Malladihalli Raghavendra Mutt, a place nearby, to get first hand information about the goshala being run by the Mutt, which was incredibly famous during that period. Such was the interest swamin had in animals and nature.

He was a family person. Born and brought up in a joint family, he supported and encouraged all around in the family to prosper. In the family and society at large, he commanded respect and dignity for his knowledge and experience.

While there is a plethora of subjects to talk about this great personality called Professor M. A. Lakshmithathachar, due to paucity of space, I wish to conclude here with a pranam to this great person.