1894 - 1994 · Kanchipuram
The sage of Kanchi
Installed as head of the Kanchi matha at thirteen, he carried that seat for eight decades — and emptied it of every comfort. He renounced the use of vehicles and walked the length of India on foot, lived on almost nothing, and became for millions simply Mahaperiyava, the great elder, sought by everyone from villagers to presidents while regarding himself as the servant of dharma.
His thousands of recorded talks, compiled in Tamil as Deivathin Kural — the Voice of God — cover the whole breadth of the tradition with a simplicity that hid vast learning. He never claimed a title; the reverence of a century conferred every title on him unasked.
The way he urged on ordinary people was the daily, unglamorous keeping of dharma: truthfulness, compassion, simplicity of wants, the disciplines of one's own tradition faithfully kept, and a portion of every day given to the divine name. Greatness, his life argues, is depth of fidelity, not height of claim.
