108 Facets of the Inimitable Guru: An Exposition of the 108 Namas of his Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahasvamin

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His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahasvamin, the 35th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham, was a sage who had attained, by the age of eighteen, the state of jivanmukti (liberation while living), hailed by the scriptures as the greatest of all achievements, for it leaves nothing to be achieved thereafter, vouchsafing, as it does, freedom from the cycle of births and deaths. His Holiness was a consummate yogin, and an authority on scriptural matters, being a scholar par excellence especially in Tarka and Vedanta.

Apart from His Holiness's spiritual stature and scriptural expertise, His devotion to His Guru and God, infinite compassion for all living beings, His razor-sharp intellect, His deep insight into and understanding of modern science, His capacity and openness to learn and adapt to new things, His administrative acumen, His wide- ranging knowledge, His acceptance of and ready rapport with all manners of people irrespective of caste, creed, religion, nationality, belief or even lack of belief, His straightforwardness and His egolessness, made Him a Guru who guided not only by precept but also by practice. He untiringly toured India several times to inculcate dharmika and spiritual values in the multitudes. who flocked to Him. He was looked up to by thousands across India as well as other parts of the world, for His infallible grace and guidance.

After His Holiness shed His mortal form in 1989, His disciple and present Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasvamin, composed an astottara- Sata-namavali (series of 108 namas) on His Guru, which describes 108 facets of His Holiness and provides a wealth of information on His life and teachings. This book offers an explanation for cach of these 108 namas, supported by various episodes from His Holiness's life and relevant extracts from His teachings, all of which are not only fascinating but compellingly edifying.

His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahasvamin, an exceptional sage who had renounced the world by the age of thirteen and attained jivanmukti (liberation while living) at the tender age of eighteen, a yogin nonpareil, a scholar par excellence in the Sastras, an intellectual genius, One with a thorough grasp of science as well as the minds of people, a brilliant visionary and administrator, the epitome of devotion to God and the Guru, the embodiment of simplicity and the personification of compassion, was the 35th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham between 1954 and 1989. Coming in the sacred line of preceptors starting with Sri Adi-sankara- bhagavatpada, He exemplified all that Bhagavatpada, the incarnation of Lord Siva, stood for. In His lifetime, His Holiness touched and transformed, in multifarious ways, the lives of thousands of people from the most diverse of backgrounds. He continues to do so to this day.

His Holiness's foremost disciple and successor to the Peetham, Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasvamin, composed the asfottara-sata-namavali (series of 108 namas) on His Holiness, after the latter's Muhasamadhi in 1989. The Centre for Brahmavidya had published, in January 2020, an explanation of these namas in a book in Tamil, Arulmigu Guruvin Porulmigu Naamangal', and is now publishing this exposition in English. This has been written with an acute awareness of the inadequacy of any exposition on His Holiness's glories. Also, the scholarliness of Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasvamin, who has composed these namas, is legendary. Yet an attempt is made to interpret the namas, only with the intent of having a glimpse of His Holiness's magnificence.

The aspects of His Holiness brought out in this book as relevant to each nama, are in the form of episodes from His life as reminisced by devotees or by Him, accounts of His spiritual practices, His writings and His teachings in the form of expositions or public discourses. These have been extensively taken from books on His Holiness published earlier, namely "The Multifaceted Jivanmukta', 'Yoga, Enlightenment and Perfection', 'Didactic Treatises' and our recent publication, "From Sorrows to Bliss", It is out of deep devotion for His Holiness that Sri Suresh Krishnamoorthy has come forward to sponsor this publication. Our sincere gratitude to him. Our thanks to Sri K. Parthasarathy for preparing the cover page. Our heartfelt thanks to Sri N. Subramanian of Sudarshan Graphics for the high-quality printing.

It is our sincere belief that this book will make interesting and useful reading. not only since it contains possible explanations of the namas that describe His Holiness, but also because it has His ambrosial teachings and gripping anecdotes from His life, which are sure to appeal to both the intellect and the heart.