Deivathin Kural - Seven Volumes

Introduction

    
Deivathin Kural is a set of seven publications featuring the discourses, discussions, anecdotes and more of Maha Periyava, compiled by author Ra. Ganapathy. Maha Periyava, the 68th pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, Sri. Chandra Sekharendra Saraswathy by name, had lived like a true Sanyasi, having imbibed the spirit of Adi Shankara's efforts to unite the country and follow Dharmic principles. He was a true Acharya who lived a life conforming to the definition of the word "Acharya" .

The seven volumes together constitute the most authoritative source of information relating to Sanathana Dharma. Sanathana Dharma does not represent a religion but stands for how scriptures specify collective behaviour in a society to usher in harmony without sacrificing the freedom one desires to folllow one's own principles of achieving a balance between spiritual and materialistic ways.

Background

    
The genesis of Deivathin Kural involves six names, two belonging to the Peethatipati's of Kanchi Math: Maha Periyava and Pudu Periyava. The other four are Kalki Sadasivam, Thirunavukkarasu of Vanathi Pathippakam, Aarvi (R.Venkatraman) editor of "Kannan" children's magazine from Kalaimagal publications and of course Ra. Ganapthy.

Thirunavukkarasu had taken part in Social Service work along with Aarvi in visiting hospitals in Madras and distributing Prasadams from Kanchi Math to the patients under treatment. Aarvi was close to the Math and it goes without saying that Thirunavukkarasu had developed deep interest in the "Words of Grace" which were gems collected from the speeches of Maha Periyava and published every week in Kalki (1955~) under the title "Arul Vakku".

Thrunavukkarasu would eagerly await the issues of Kalki and was intrigued by the scholarly writing by the author of those essays and he (Thirunavukkarasu) very much wanted to meet him. The reason, it would be a great contribution to the public, if the articles were to be compiled together and published as a single volume. Thirunaavukkarasu did meet Ra. Ganapathy only to be told that it could not be done without consent from the Math.

Viewers are urged to read the rest of what happened from the linked page at Tamil Brahmins web site.

https://www.tamilbrahmins.com/showthread.php?t=5384&page=4

The above link includes several other moving experiences of devotees as well as anecdotes from Maha Periyava's interactions with common people

Ra. Ganapthy's experiences

    
Ra. Ganapathy's long association with Maha Periyava had an unbelievable beginning when just ten minutes changed the young and defiant Ganapathy into a person with humility, who gained the ability express clearly what the Acharya would say in his speeches and discourses. More on this in the page on Maha Periyava and Ra. Ganapathy.

Blessed with journalistic skills and the ability to comprehend the scriptures, Ra. Ganapathy set himself the task of bringing out the first volume of Deivathin Kural in 1975 after compiling data from Maha Periyava's speeches and discourses over forty years from 1930s.

That was no easy task as Ra. Ganapathy recalls the tough task of gathering the speeches and discussions with devotees, provide connecting links to related texts and give the writing a sense of continuity. Here is a quote from an article which appeared in the Hindu on Feb. 23, 2012, a few days after Ganapthy's demise.

But for Ra. Ganapathi, Kanchi Mahaswami’s speeches would not have reached the masses. He noted down Periyava’s talks and made cross-references, spoke to the people who knew the subject and got the required clarifications. Periyava would speak about one subject in one place and would leave it at that. Then again he would pick up the thread and speak in detail about it in some other venue. The challenge was to maintain the link. Ganapathi had a sharp memory and was alert in his observation. He would give final shape to the article and there would be no ambiguity in it!”

Ra. Ganapathy's association with Maha Periyava was a rarity. In his prefaces to each of the seven volumes Ra. Ganapathy has written about the extraordinary interactions he had had with Maha Periyava which resulted in alterations to the conceived contents for each volume, as the volumes were being written.

Ra. Ganapathy has provided an immortal link to Maha Periyava. Humanity will ever be grateful to him for his compilations which came as a result of his extreme devotion to the Acharya whom he refers to as "Sricharanar" in the books.

About this site

The following link provides additional details relating to each volume. Details include publication information, Publisher's introduction, Author's preface and the list of titles.

More on the Seven Volumes

Viewing Tamil text

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About the photographs displayed

We have seen hundreds of photographs featuring Maha Periyava posted under various blog sites. Many are rare but often details about the photos do not get included. It is our desire to include as much information as possible about a photo that is displayed here, for such information may provide hitherto unkown details of Maha Periyava's travels or meetings with people.

Viewers may come forward and provide feedback on the details provided in each photo, indicating errors or adding details about the context. We shall be grateful for such help.