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Tiruvaimozhi Acharya Purusha, Professor V T Tirunarayana
Iyengar (1903-1995).
Photograph taken at his residence on
the occasion of his 93rd and last birthday during Februray
1995, (two
months prior to attaining the feet of his Acharya)
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Ramanujaguroh
putram
vatsalyadi
gunarnavam |
Narayana
gurum vande
dravidamnaya desikam ||
The son of Ramanuja Guru,
ocean
of affection and other qualities,
I bow before my preceptor Narayana, a foremost scholar
in the Dravida Vedas.
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Homage to
Prof. V.T.Tirunarayana Iyengar
..... by his son V.T.
Sampath Kumaran
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V. T. Tirunarayana Iyengar (1903-1995), was a Professor of
Sanskrit at
the University of Mysore, a renowned scholar in Visishtadvaita - the
Srivaishnava school of thought, and an acclaimed expert in Indian
philosophy. He was popularly known as VTT among his colleagues and
students in the academic world, to whom he was synonymous with
knowledge and learning. Much of his life was spent in sharing his vast
knowledge with the many eager students of all ages, sects, religions
and nationalities, who sought him out. All those who came in contact
with him remember him with fondness and reverence. He was easily
accessible to everyone till he breathed his last. He was an embodiment
of humility and culture. He lived practicing the philosophy he taught.
VTT was a rare combination of tradition and modernity. He lived the
austere life required of the Tiruvaimozhi Acharya parampara to which he
belonged, imbibing from his scholarly father the essence of the Vedas,
the Nalayira Divya Prabandham (also known as the Tamil Vedam), and the
Visishtadvaita philosophy of Bhagavad Ramanujacharya - the
philosopher-saint who lived a hundred and twenty years (1017-1137). At
the same time, VTT excelled in University education, going on to win
four gold medals in B.A (1925), M A Sanskrit and M A Philosophy from
the Mysore University (1927 & 1928).
VTT was born on February 9th, 1903 (Makara masa), under Ardra
nakshatra - the same heavenly star under which Sri Ramanujacharya, the
preceptor of Visishtadvaita was also born centuries ago. He was born at
Belatur village, his maternal home near Mysore, in the family of
‘Tiruvaimozhi Acharya Purushas’ of Melkote in the Mandya district of
Karnataka, as the eldest son of Tiruvengada Ramanujachar and Yadugiri
Ammal. Tiru-Narayanan was named after Narayana, the presiding deity of
Melkote who is inseparable from his consort Sri (Tiru), that is,
Lakshmi.
Tiruvengada Ramanujachar, keen on making his son a Ubhaya Vedantin (a
scholar in both the Sanskrit and Tamil Vedas), set him a strict
schedule, with classes beginning at 4 am. By the time he was eight, VTT
had mastered, in their original form, the Nalayira Divya Prabandham,
Valmiki Ramayanam, Mahabharata, Bhagvad Gita, Sri Bhashyam and Bhagavad
Vishayam. After performing VTT’s Upanayanam in his ninth year,
Ramanujachar set him to study the Vedas, Vedangas, the Upanishads and
other Sastric works and commentaries in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and
Kannada.
This training in traditional knowledge took place side by side with
modern education and the study of English. VTT did his schooling up to
matriculation at RBNAM School in Bangalore. Thereafter, when his father
migrated to Mysore, he joined the FA class at the famous Maharaja’s
college, Mysore. As mentioned earlier, VTT distinguished himself both
in B.A and M.A. He was a favourite student of the legendary scholar
Prof. M.Hiriyanna, under whom he learnt Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy
and of Prof. A.R.Wadia, who taught him Western philosophy. He also
studied Tarka (Indian Logic System) under Mahamahopadhyaya Lakshmipuram
Srinivasacharya.
VTT joined Central College, Bangalore in 1928 as a lecturer in the
Sanskrit department, immediately after completing his double M.A. He
continued to teach there till 1945 when he was posted to Maharaja’s
college, Mysore, his alma mater, as Asst. Professor of Sanskrit. During
this time he also learnt German in order to be able to read the works
of German oriental scholars in their original. He was a very popular
teacher, who was admired for his erudition, his oratory in English,
Sanskrit, and other South Indian languages and was liked for his
affection towards his students. Everyone called him ‘the silver tongued
orator from Maharaja’s college’, at a time when the college was a
famous seat of learning, and was proud of its eminent professors, who
were all great scholars.
VTT had a pleasing personality; he was fair and handsome, of medium
built and possessed a resonant voice. He believed in detached
attachment and while he did his duty as a family man most
conscientiously, and with utmost love and care, he never allowed family
considerations to intervene in other matters. His recital of Sanskrit
and Tamil hymns either individually, or in a Goshti (group / assembly)
were not only pleasing to the ears for their musical quality, but also
very soothing to the mind. He went about barefoot through out his life,
holding his own in traditional attire, amidst even the most modern
gathering.
After his retirement in 1958, he served at the National College
Bangalore, as Professor of Sanskrit, till 1961. He was one of the first
recipients of the Government of India’s ‘University Grants Commission
Scholar’ recognition and worked on writing an English commentary at the
University of Mysore, on Sudarshana Bhatta’s Srutaprakasika, itself a
celebrated commentary on Sri Ramanuja’s ‘Sri Bhashya’.
While at college and particularly after his revered father passed away,
VTT performed, with élan, the additional responsibility of
carrying on his family tradition of being a Tiruvaimozhi Acharya
Purusha - of propagating Tiruvaimozhi, the sacred verses which form a
fourth of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, composed by Saint Nammazhwar,
who is regarded as the kulapati of Srivaishnavism.
VT Swami, as Professor V.T.Tirunarayana Iyengar was called by his
disciples, attained the feet of his Acharya on April 22, 1995 (during
Chaitra masa), after living a full and purposeful life of 92 years.
Significantly, the thirteenth day of his demise, considered as per
tradition the day when the departed Atman (Soul) attains Vaikunta, the
abode of Narayana, coincided with Ramanuja Jayanti, the birth day of
Sri Ramanuja, whose ardent devotee Tirunarayanan was all his life.
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