goud saeaewata brahmin community

Upload: talpady-ramachandra-kamath

Post on 06-Apr-2018

215 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • 8/3/2019 Goud Saeaewata Brahmin Community

    1/3

    GOUD SAEAEWATA

    BRAHMIN COMMUNITY

    Members of the Goud Sarasvata Brahmin community inhabitpredominantly the west coast of India, extending from Bombayin the north to Kerala in the south, through Goa and Kanaradistricts (North and South), though a sizeable number of themembers reside in other cities like Bangalore, Mysore,Coimbatore, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Baroda, New Delhi, etc. The

    community had a glorious past with a distinct culture of its own.This is particularly manifest in the existence of the institution ofMathas, one of which has a history of over one thousand years.The members of the community owe allegiance to one of thefollowing Mathas:

    (1) Shri Kashi Matha Samsthan(2) Shri Gokarna Parthagali Jeevottama Matha Samsthan, and(3) Shri Kaivalya Matha Samsthan.

    Each of these Mathas is headed by a Swamiji, who normally hadbeen initiated into sanyasa by the previous Swamiji and hadbecome the head of the Matha after the passing away of theprevious preceptor (Guru). This practice has been followed in allthe three Mathas from the time of their inception.

    The religious heads of the three Mathas worship different Deitiesas the principal Deities(Aaradhya Daiva). Lord Bhavani Shankaris worshipped in the Kaivalya Matha Samsthan, Lord Rama

    Veera Vitthala in the Gokarna Parthagali Jeevottama MathaSamsthan and Lord Vyasa Raghupati in the Kashi MathaSamsthan. As the names of the Lords worshipped by theSwamijis indicate, the disciples to the Kaivalya Matha areSmarthas and those of the other two Mathas areVaishnavas(worshippers of Lord Vishnu). Smarthas consider allthe five deities - Shiva, Vishnu, Ganapati, Surya, and

  • 8/3/2019 Goud Saeaewata Brahmin Community

    2/3

    Devi(Shakti) - equally prominent. Incidentally, it may bementioned that the disciples of the respective Mathas considerLord Shiva or Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Deity. Thus GoudSarasvata Brahmins are either Vaishnavas or Smarthas.However, the disciples of the three Mathas have not maintainedtheir separate identity, since there was (and is) no restriction oninter-marriage between the disciples belonging to the differentMathas. The father's allegiance to a particular Matha isperpetuated by his progeny.

    This content is mainly concerned with the origin and thedevelopment of the Kashi Matha Samsthan and is an attemptmade to acquaint the readers with a comprehensive history ofthe Guru Parampara of the Samsthan.

    The original headquarters of the Kashi Matha Samsthan aresituated in Banaras, also called Varanasi, or more popularly,Kashi, from which the Matha received its name. The premises ofthe Matha extend between the Brahma Ghat and the Durga Ghaton the banks of the sacred river Ganga, where the original Mathabuildings were constructed. Among the important temples of theMatha situated in Kashi are:

    Shri Gopalakrishna Temple, instituted by Shrimad UpendraTirtha Swamiji, the third head of the Kashi Matha Samsthan,

    Shri Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, founded by ShrimadRaghavendra Tirtha Swamiji, the fifth Guru of the Samsthan, and

    Shri Bindu Madhava Temple, consecrated by ShrimadMadhavendra Tirtha Swamiji, the seventh Guru of the Samsthan.

    Shrimad Sudhindra Tirtha Swamiji, the present guru of theSamsthan, is the twentieth Swamiji in the Guru Parampara of theKashi Matha Samsthan. He had been initiated into sanyasa by

    Shrimad Sukriteendra Tirtha Swamiji, the previous head of theMatha, on Wednesday, 24th May 1944 (Karka Lagna, JeshtaShuddha Dviteeya of Tarana Samvatsara, Shalivahana Shaka1866) in the Divine presence of Lord Venkateshwara at Mulki,South Kanara. At the completion of twenty-five years of theinitiation ceremony, Silver Jubilee functions were celebrated atvarious centers, notably in Mulki and in Bombay in 1969.

  • 8/3/2019 Goud Saeaewata Brahmin Community

    3/3

    His Holiness had taken charge of the Samsthan in 1949 after thepassing away of the previous head of the Samsthan in Kochi.The present Swamiji is a Sanskrit scholar and has a vastknowledge of Dvaita Siddhanta as propounded by ShriMadhvacharya. After taking the vow of celibacy in 1944 andpreserving it since then, the Swamiji strives day in and day outfor the welfare and uplift of the community as a whole. HisHoliness had instituted Kashi Matha Samsthan Welfare Fundunder the leadership of Shri T. Madhava Pai of Manipal in 1956with the noble objectives of helping poor students of thecommunity in pursuing their studies, of renovating old templesbelonging to the community in various parts of the country, andof working for the general welfare of the community. Even

    though the fund is called Kashi Matha Samsthan Welfare Fund,the benefits are open to any member of the community,irrespective of his belonging to any of the three MathaSamsthans mentioned above.