Goshtipuram Swamy

Sri U.Ve. Goshtipuram Sundara Sowmya Narayanarya Mahadesikan


Rohini Star, Karthigai Month, Bahudhanya Year

Sri Swamy’s Parents were Sri U.Ve. Sundara Gopalachariar and Srimati Sundaravalli Ammal
Paternal Grand Father: Sri U.Ve. Sundarachariar
Materla Grand Father: Sri U.Ve. Vedantachariar

His parents named Sri Swamy after the names of his Grand Father and Sthala Perumal, Sowmyanarayanan. Thus Sri Swamy was named as Sundara Sowmynarayana Sarman.
The naming was so appropriate that Sri Swamy had all the Gunas mentioned in his name, viz. Sundara, Sowmya and Narayana.

He was very charming, Sundara.
He was very friendly throughout his life to every one of every age, i.e. Sowmya.
And he was the real Narayana down on the earth for many of his devotees.

Sri Swamy had one Brother and three sisters.
His Brother was Sri U.Ve. Srirama Desikachariar He was an ardent disciple of his own elder Brother in the later days and learnt many Shastras under his able guidance.


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Sri Swamy's Divya Guna Charitam
As stated by his Contemporaries and Sishyas
- A Few Exceprts
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1.
Periazwar has sung the praise of Goshtipuram in many ways. He had said

"This place houses people who are Bhagavatas
who are sweet speaking,
who are very hospitable,
who never miss the Anushtaanam,
who have very good self control and do not commit any mistakes and
who always devote themselves to God's devotion"

And all these qualities really symbolise Sri Goshtipuram Swamy.
Goshtipuram Swamy took his birth at this place and lead his life of knowledge, anushtaanam, vairagyam and high reputation. In the same way as Sri Swami Desikan was, Sri Goshtipuram Swamy also was living in Grahasthasrama and was a Paarangata in all Shastras.

Sri U.Ve. Panamugai V. Narasimhachariar
Sri Karyam
Srimad Ahobila Mutt

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2.
"Sahasreshu cha Panditaha". Only one in many thousands can become a Panditha. But all Pandithas do not have the ability to deliver interesting and useful discourses, "Vakta sata sahasrameshu". There are many Great Souls who have come to Sri Goshtipuram Swamy to listen to and benefit from his discourses. Many have commented that this Swamy is the Avataar of Swamy Desikan himself.

Swami never missed Udaya Upasthaanam, Oupaasanam, Pancha Mahayagnam, Thiru Araadhanam, Kalakshepam and Discourses. And he took time to visit the Temples and to participate in the Festivals being held there.

In the Swami Thirumaligai, there would be continuous religious activity throughout the day. Many many Sishyas came to him for learning various religious scriptures and had their meals in Nitya Thadeeyaraadhanam.

Azwar explains of the kind of people then living in Thirukkottiyur. Azwar says they were Bhagavad Bhaktas and lived an error free life. And the same kind of life Sri Goshtipuram swamy lived in Thirukkottiyur centuries after. And we are the witnesses to such a rare happening.


Sri U.Ve Madhurantakam T.E. Veeraraghavachariar Swamy


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3.
Sri Goshtipuram Swamy's Discourses had been very popular because he could come down to the level of the Sishyas.

Sri U.Ve Mannar Koil Azagiya Singar expressed his desire to Sri Goshtipuram Swamy that the latter should become the next Azagiya Singar after him. Sri Goshtipuram Swamy however politely stayed back in Grahasthaasrama to continue to serve Bhagavathas of the day.

Sri U.Ve. Ayya Krishna Thathachariar Swamy

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4.
Sri Swamy not only delivered religious discourses explaining the kind of life we all should lead, he himself led such a religious life and showed by example.

Sri U.Ve. Saragur Maadapusi Srinivasa Gopala Dasan


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5.
I am a Swami Thiruvadi. Whenever I meet others, I used to introduce myself as a Swami Thiruvadi. And invariably the others used to respond to me saying that I am a very fortunate person to be a Swami Thiruvadi. And more so, they used to recall and tell me their own pleasant experiences and learnings from Sri Swamy. Many even used to tell that they never heard the kind of explanations that Sri Swamy gave in his discourses from any where else.

In many debates among Panditas, they used to analyse what Sri Swamy's opinions were on the topic of debate.

Sri Swami gave us only a five directions to follow in life. They are:

1. Never resort to Devataantara Bhajanam
2. Avoid Bhagavata Aparaadham
3. Never miss Nithya Karma Anushtana
4. Never miss Bhagavad Aaradhanam and Perumal Theertham
5. Keep learning Shastras and our Religious Philosophy

These are the only things I want you to do. Your celebrating my Thirunakshatram and doing Sambhavana do not add to my name.

Sri U.Ve. S.M. Krishna Daasan

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6.
Here adiyEn will pay my respects and tribute to Sri ThirukkOttiyUr Swamy as a part of the Kaarthigai RohiNi visEsha dinam , his Thirunakshathram .
Dr.S.M.S. Chari , whose marvellous books on ri VaishNavam that we enjoy , is one of the sishyars of hirukkOttiyUr (Goshtipuram ) Swamy.

ThirukkOttiyUr Swamy was well known for his immense scholarship
as well as his superior Aathma GuNams .These have been euologized
in a ManagaLam in Sanskrit composed by ThODAlam VidhvAn
Sri U.Ve. VeNugOpAlAchArya Swamy . Adiyen will use these
MangaLa slOkams as a base for this posting to offer our
salutations to GhOshtipuram Swamy .

** This revered AchAryA was born in the family of mahAns
belonging to VaathUla Gothram . His scholarly father's name was
Sri Sundara GopaalAcchAr . His Mother's name was Sundaravalli
AmmAL . The year of birth was BahudhAnyA ( Bahudha + anya :),
the year , which is different in many ways from the others .
The Month was Kaarthikai and the star in ascendance
was RohiNi . The name of the Lord of ThirukkOttiyUr
( Sri Sowmya NaarAyaNan )was given to the child by
the parents.

** Befitting his given name , Sundara Sowmya NaarAyanan ,
the child was beautiful to look at and as a sathkula
janithar had immense capacity to grasp as a young man
the intricate aspects of Sakala SaasthrArthams .

** When Sri Somya NaarAyaNa Swamy was quite young , he had
the blessings of pancha samskArams from HH the 35th Jeeyar
of Ahobila matam , Sri RanganAtha YathIndhra MahA Desikan .
The sambhandham with Ahobila matam will continue up to the
times of another great Sri matam Jeeyar , another Sri
RanganAtha Yathindhra mahA Desikan , (Viz)., InjimEttu
Azhagiya Singar . By the age of 16 , Swamy completed
VedhAdhyanam , mastered VyAkaraNam and Tarka Saasthram .
He continued studies with his grandfather , the great ThirukkOttiyUr
SundarAchArya Swamy , VedhAntha KaalakshEpam and Bhagavath
Vishayam and Rahasya granthams . He performed SaraNAgathi
at he feet of his revered grandfather as his AchAryan .

** At the request of his grandfather , Sri SowmyaNaarAyaNAcchAr
Swamy began KaalakshEpam for the ViashNava GhOshtis . His
AchAryan listened to them and was amazed at his grandson's
ability to explain the intricate meanings with elegance
and ease . After the ascent of his grandfather to Parama
padham , Swamy started his independent KaalakshEpams and
until his own ascent to Sri Vaikuntam ,he never slackened
on his KaalkshEpam calendar . He was easily approachable .
He shared generously with every one who approached him
his immense knowledge of Ubhaya VedhAntham .

** Dominant among Swamy's aathma GuNams were his soulabhyam
and Souseelyam . He had a ready smile and gave VidhyA dhAnam
to one and all .Samastha mangaLa GuNams had poorthi in him .
His knowledge of Srimath RaamAyaNam and Srimath BhAgavatham
were of the deepest quality and he gave lot of upanyAsams
on the SookshmArthams on them . The sampradhAyArthams ,
the VisEshArthams were covered in these upanyAsams with
great loukhic examples .The attendees at these upanyAsams felt
that they were mingling with RaamA and KrishNa during the course
of their participations. Swamy travelled widely and stayed
at many dhivya desams for extended periods of time to bless
Sri VasihNavAs with his KaalakshEpams .In the mornings , he
will conduct KaalakshEpams on Srimath Rahasya Thraya Saaram
and Bhagavath Vishayam and the afternoons after anushtAnams
were devoted to other Sri Sookthis of AchAryAs and AzhwArs.
The sampradhAya pravachanam by ThirukkOttiyUr Swamy continued
until the last breath of his life and lit up the lamps of Jn~Anam
in many Sri VaishNavA homes .He was a referee for checking about
the correctness of granthams , when some one had doubts on
the pasages of the originals .He travelled with his Aaraadhana Moorthy
with 15 to 20 sishyAls on bullock carts during his sanchArams
and used the mode of trvel by train twice in his life and
gave up on it.

** Although Swamy spent much of his time at ThirukkOttiyUr
made famous by AchArya RaamAnujA's sambhandham with
ThirukkOttiyUr Nampi , he spent the latter part of his
busy life at Dhvayam ViLaintha Thiruppathi ,MadhurAnthakam .
His devotion to Sri KothaNda Raaman ( yEri Kaattha Raaman )
was most moving to experience .

** He performed dEha nyAsam in the middle of
Sri VaishNava Vidhvath GhOshti at Karumpatti
and the Lord of Sri Vaikuntam performed Parama
Padha youvarAjya PattAbhishEkam for His dear
Bhakthan From ThirukkOttiyUr right there in
the middle of assembled BhagavathAs .

AzhwAr , AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan




Swamy at Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, days before attaining Acharyan Thiruvadi
1878 - 1943


Sri Swamy had great desires of praying Sri Krishna at Mathura and to roll on the banks of River Yamuna where Sri Krishna had his Krishna Leela.

Sri Swamy had great desires of Praying Sri Rama at Thiru Ayodhya and to accept Sri Pada Theertham at River Sarayu.

Sri Swamy had great desires of Praying at Sri Badarikashramam which is the Kshetra of Moola Mantra and to do Penance at that Holy Place with Moola Mantra

With the intention of fulfilling the above Manorathas, Sri Swamy left for his Yaatra and was camping at Sri Kuppam enroute.

Mathura and the Northern lands belonged to Sri Rama and Sri Krishna and the Bhagavaan never possibly wanted people of the North too to start worshiping Sri Swamy and therefore to save His own Leela Vibhooti, Emperuman took Sri Swamy to Sri Vaikuntam.
Sri U.Ve. Ayya Krishna Thathachariar Swamy







I, R. Raghunathan, Sri Swamy’s Great Grand Son, was born in the year 1944, little after one year after Sri Swamy had left for Parama Padam. Notwithstanding the fact that I was not even born when Sri Swami was here in this Bhooloka, I hereby share my own experience of Sri Swamy.

When I was around 20 years old, I attended the Ramayana Discourse delivered by Sri U.Ve. Thooppul Lakshmi Narasimhachariar, in Mylapore, Chennai. It was a thirty day discourse of Ramayana attended by more than 1000 persons every day. I used to enjoy Mukkur Swamy’s Discourse and I was a regular at the event.

One of those days, after the discourse was over and the crowd came out of Pandal, I was walking home. By my side One elderly person was walking. He was sharing his views with his accompanying friends about the discourse we just went through. He said, “How many years had passed to listen to such a wonderful discourse! After Goshtipuram Swamy’s Ramayana Discourse, now only I here another quality discourse”., he said. I was just thrilled to hear those comments.

“Was my Great Grand Father such a great personality to have been remembered after 22 years of his demise! I wish I was born when he was alive and I wish I had attended his Discourses”, I felt. I was just crying literally with great feelings spread all over my body.


Here is my another experience of Sri Swamy. It was in the year 1973 I visited Melkota to have the Darshan of Sampathkumaran of Thirunarayanapuram. After the Darshan, me, my wife and my daughter Sow Hema came out of the temple. At that time my daughter was about seven years old. When we came out of the temple, she mentioned she was feeling thirsty and wanted water. I just looked around in the Sannidhi Theru. There was a house at the front of which a Mami was standing. I approached that Lady and enquired whether my daughter could have some water. She was pleased to help my daughter. She took my daughter inside her house and gave her water. My daughter came running from the house to us and told us that she saw the Photograph of Sri Swamy in that house. I was surprised. The Honorable Lady who also came out with my daughter enquired my daughter as to which photograph she was talking about. The Lady was informed that the photograph she was referring to was that of my Great Grand Father, Sri Swamy. She was pleased to know that we belonged to the Great Swamy's family and she received us with great honors. She informed that Sri Swamy was her Family Acharyan.