The Guru Abhinava Shankara (Life of Sri Sachchidananda Shivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi)

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Huragalavadi Lakshmi Narasimha Shastry was born in Sringeri in 1929, on the auspicious day of Shankara Jayanti. After completing his schooling and higher education in Mandya and Mysore, he joined the Department of Posts. Like many others, he too was imbued by revolutionary zeal in his youth. A transfer to Koppa, a small town near Sringeri in order to temper the fire within made him get back in touch with his roots and brought him into contact with His Holiness Sri Abhinava Vidyathirtha, and proved to be an important milestone in his literary journey. A recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award, Sri H.L.N. Shastry has written more than a hundred books, particularly about Sringeri, Adi Shankaracharya and the Guru-Parampara. His work also includes the life-stories of other revered Indian saints as well as two collections of poems based on the Puranas and the Indian epics.

Shastry is known for his pleasant demeanor and eagerness to partake in anything related to Sringeri. He lives in Mysore.

My grandfather, Sri Huragalavadi Lakshmi Narasimha Shastry, was approached to write a biography of Sri Sacchidananda ShivabhinavaNrisimha Bharati in English to commemorate the centenary of the Mysuru Shankara Math, AbhinavaShankaralaya. Since he is of advanced years I stepped in to assist him.

My grandfather made it his life's work to learn about everything related to Sringeri and the gurus of Sringeri. The books that he has written and the veneration with which he is held by the devotees of Sringeri are a testament to his diligence. He was never an academic. He does not hold any degrees or doctorates. Yet he was just as meticulous, if not more, as any historian to come out of any of our universities. He is a cut above them, I will say, because he was fueled by faith and by love in his labors. Everything that he did, he did without any expectation of reward or recognition. I consider it a privilege to be able to further his legacy and present the life-sketches of the gurus of Sringeri in a manner that is palatable to the present and future generations.

Most of this book has been adapted from a Kannada biography of the Swamiji that my grandfather wrote many years ago. Some of the terms like Sringeri Math, Sharada Peetha denote the same thing and are interchangeable, as are the names of cities: Bangalore- Bengaluru, Mysore-Mysuru, Madras-Chennai and so on.