Click for Suprabhata App
 |
Nigamagama Praveena Chatusshastra Vidvan KotaVasudeva Somayaji |
Biography
Sri Kota Vasudeva Somayaji was born on 11-03-1928 at Chitrapadi near Udupi, in Karanataka, as eldest son of VedabrahmaGudde Narasimha Somayaji and Srimati Bhageerathi. He had his primary education in Samskrata at Sri Vani Vilasini Samskrata Pathashala, Saligrama and after Upanayana he studied entire Rig-Veda under his father’s guidance. Simultaneously he acquired knowledge and Prayoga of Vatula Agama from Dikshita Vedamurthy Venkatakrishna Somayaji.
For further studies, he moved to Mysuru to study at Maharaja’s Samskrata College , Mysuru , a well known center for higher studies in Samskrata. He acquired formal degrees (Vidwat Uttama) with distinction in four Shastras and was referred Chutushshastra Vidwan. (Mimamsa, Dharmashastra , Jyouthisha and Sahitya).
Ardikoppam Mahavidwan Subrahmanya Shastri, Chaturvedi Ramachandracharya, Panditaratnam Varadacharya, Asthanavidwan Sampatkrishna Jois were his Gurus.
He also studied Naveena Nyaya and Veda Bhashya at Jayachamarajendra Samskrata College , Bengaluru and Advaita Vedanta at Shankara Math, Bengaluru .
Recoginsing his mastery in several branches of Shastras, Government of Karnataka appointed him as Professor of Dharmashastra at Maharaja’s Samskrata College , Mysuru in the year 1958. The fact that he acquired degree in Jyouthisha Shastra after his appointment as Professor, shows his keen interest in acquiring knowledge in as many disciplines of Samskrata as possible, demonstrating that learning is a continuous process.
He retired from Government services in 1998 after 30 years of service and in the process introduced several scholars to the society in the field of Samskrata.
Sri Somayaji founded ‘Sri Ganesha Samskrata Jyoutisha Pathashala’ at Mysuru to impart knowledge of Samskrata among school children and general public in the year 1960. Recently it has started offering courses in Agama also.
Nearly for two decades he offered discourses on Puranas and Gita, at Dattatreya Temple , Subbarayanakere, Mysuru , thereby helping general public to get an insight into our great epics.
Sri Somayaji was Tantri (Experts in Agamas who conduct temple car festivals and other special functions at temples) for several temples in Karnataka.
He composed Suprabhata Stotram in Samskrata in praise of Lord Narasimha, the presiding deity of Saligrama Temple (near Udupi in Karnataka) in the year 1974 and this Suprabhata used to be aired on AIR(All India Radio) , Bengaluru during 1980s.
In fulfillment of his initiation to Rig-Veda, Sri Somayaji performed Shakala Ruk Samhita Yaga three times starting in 1991.
After living, fruitfully for 75 years, he attained abode of God on 13-06-2003 . During his life time he practiced what is said in Shastras in letter and spirit.
He was an authority on Agamas, Shastras and Vaidika tradition and was treasure house for those seeking answers who had doubts in these subjects.
Sri Somayaji was always in pursuit of knowledge and had following works to his credit.
No |
Year |
Name of the book |
Language |
Subject |
1 |
1963 |
Kshayamasa Mimamsa |
Samskrata |
Jyoutisha and Dharmashastra |
2 |
1974 |
Sri Guru Narasimha Suprabhata Stotram (Stotras in Samskrata) |
Kannada |
Stotra with Meanings |
3 |
1976 |
Bharatiya Dharma Darshana |
Kannada |
Dharmashastra |
4 |
1977* (4 th) |
Anushthana Paddhati |
Samskrata |
Agama |
5 |
1979* (3 rd) |
Kriyasara |
Samskrata |
Agama |
6 |
1981 |
Lakshana Samhita |
Samskrata |
Agama |
7 |
1982* (2 nd) |
Vasishtha Samhita and Vinayakodaya |
Samskrata |
Agama |
8 |
1984 |
Rugvediya Nityanushthana Paddhati |
Kannada |
Sandhyavandane |
9 |
1995 |
Panchayatana Devapuja |
Kannada |
Devapuje |
10 |
1997 |
Vishnu Samhita |
Samskrata |
Agama |
11 |
1998 |
Ashoucha Sangraha |
Kannada |
Ashoucha Vichara |
* denotes the year of first publication, number within parenthesis indicates current edition.
In recognition of Sri Somayaji’s services to Samskrata Literature, Agama and Shastras and his expertise in these fields, he was bestowed with several awards and titles by several organizations & institutions and prominent ones among them are listed below.
Date |
Institution/Organisation |
Award/Title/Honor |
28/02/1988 |
Veda Dharma Paripalana Sabha, Bengaluru |
'Veda Varidhi' |
30/08/1988 |
His Holiness Sri Sudhindra Tirtha Sripada, Mantralaya |
' Dharmashastrabhijna ' |
14/02/1990 |
Veda Shastra Poshini Sabha, Mysuru |
‘Shastra Vidyanidhi' |
28/03/1990 |
Sanatana Bhakta Mandali, Bengaluru |
'Pandita Ratnam' |
28/02/1994 |
Government of Karantaka |
State award |
12/01/1996 |
His Holiness Sri Vishvesha Tirtha Sripada, Palimar Matha |
Felicitation |
21/02/1997 |
Dept of Public Instructions (Govt. of Karnataka) |
Felicitation |
03/04/1999 |
Government of Karnataka (Agama Department) |
Felicitation |
01/11/2002 |
Maharshi Vishva Prashasanam, Holland |
‘Yajnacharya' |
12/02/2003 |
His Holiness Sri Gangadharendra Swami Sonda Swarnavalli |
'Nigamagama Kovida' |
The only four ways to preserve our Dharma and Shastras are Adhyayana(Study), Adhyapana(Teach), Acharana(Practice) and Pracharana (Propogate). Sri Somayaji excelled himself in all these.
The above biography of Sri Somyaji demonstrates that any one can excel in the chosen field if he has Shraddha (dedication, commitment, interest) and works very hard.
We hope this introduction of Sri Somayaji will inspire those who want to excel in life in whichever field they choose.
|
