Sankaracarya of the North

[F. Smith]

I meant to post this a few days ago but have not had time to look in my
notes of a trip I made to Joshimath / Jyotir Math in 1991. So what follows
is from memory.

In 1939 the well known Banaras Swami called Swami Karpatriji ("who uses
his hand - kara - for a dinner plate pAtrI), who had been initiated into
the da"snAmI order some years earlier by Brahmananda Sarasvati and given
the name Svami Hariharananda Sarasvati, held a meeting in Allahabad to
fill the vacant seat of the northern pI.th. In attendance, it is said,
were the other Sankaracaryas (Kanchi excepted). The position went to
Brahmananda Sarasvati himself, no surprise based on Karpatri's respected
position.

By the year 1953, when Brahmananda Sarasvati died, a rift developed
between him and Karpatriji, and in his will Brahmananda left a list of his
preferred successors, all of whom were his disciples, in order of
preference. The first was Akhandananda Sarasvati, who by then had a big
mission in Bombay, and turned down the position.. The next on the list was
named Abhedananda Sarasvati. I didn't learn anything about him, but he
also declined. The third was shantananda Sarasvati, who accepted. This, so
the story goes, enraged Karpatriji, who decided to hold another
convocation with other Shankaracaryas, in order to choose Brahmananda's
successor. His authority, so it is said, was a passage in some
Sankaradigvijaya which dictated this procedure. I do not know this
passage, but maybe it's there. This supposedly "sAstrIya method then came
into conflict with "tradition," namely a Sankaracarya or Mahant choosing
his own successor. Karpatri held his meeting and selected someone whose
name I only half remember" XYZ Ashram (Ashram is one of the da"snAmI"
orders). I remember his photo from the wall at Jyotir Math: thin, shaved
head, elderly. Thus began the lawsuits which I believe still are going on
today. They were at least in 1991, with no end in sight, though they had
reached the Allahabad High Court by then. XYZ Ashram died in 1972, after
which Svarupananda Sarasvati, already Shankaracarya of Dvaraka, assumed
the mantle of Jyotir Math. I believe he is still alive. Shantananda
Sarasvati resigned his post in 1979(?), I believe, and was succeeded by
Vishnudavananda Sarasvati. I believe he died a few years ago and another
successor now occupies the gaddi. I have his name written down somewhere.
Maybe someday I'll actually find it.

The lawsuit ostensibly presented an interesting case of classical
authority (the passage from an old Sanskrit text) vs. AcAra, the
prevailing practice. I thought it might be a nice idea for a piece of
research. I mentioned it to Richard Lariviere, who told me to forget it
because (and why wasn't it obvious?) the case was probably moved through
the courts by the usual mechanism: bribes. Which would have nullified
most of the value of studying it. I have heard rumors that Svarupananda's
side had won some of the legal skirmishes. Most of my information was from
a vakil in Joshimath who had worked on the case in the 1960's. He gave me
the name of a solicitor in Delhi who worked on it later, but I was not
able to find him; perhaps he had died. He also gave me the name of a
solicitor in Calcutta, but I never followed that up.

The premises at Jyotir Math were divided in half, a fence between the
lower section in the control of Svarupananda (this has a large lecture
hall and an Ayurvedic dispensary) and the upper part, under the control of
Shantananda and his successors (this has the major temples, homa ku.n.das,
and residential space).

If ever I can find my notes, I will tell all, so to speak, if anyone is
interested.

Fred Smith
University of Iowa