Why Paramacharya?

• Let me tell you an inspiring story about Kanchi Maha Swamy demonstrating profound self-control (indriya nigraha) after realizing his tongue had developed a liking for a specific dish, and undertaking penance for it.

• ​During the early days after ascending the peetham (spiritual seat), the Maha Swamy was receiving his daily bhiksha (alms). The cook who prepared the food served him, and after eating, the cook offered his respects. The Swamy remarked, "The dal is very delicious, what dal is it?" The cook replied, "It is thotakura pappu (amaranth leaves dal)."
• ​ The Swamy said, "Oh, it's good." The next day, the cook made amaranth dal again, and the Swamy praised it once more. On the third day, the cook served the same dal again.
• ​After eating, the Swamy asked, "You are making amaranth dal every day. Where is this amaranth coming from?" The cook explained, "Since you said the amaranth dal was good, visitors and devotees coming to the peetham heard about it. Now they are bringing bundles and bundles of amaranth greens, so I keep making amaranth dal for you." The Swamy simply said, "Oh," and left it at that.
• ​The next day, when it was time for bhiksha, the Swamy waved his hand, signaling he didn't need it. Instead, at the time for bhiksha, he went to the goshala (cow shed), sipped cow urine (gomutra) as a purification ritual, took a small ball of cow dung (gomaya), placed it on his tongue, and went inside.
• ​One day passed, then two days, then three days—the head of the peetham was not taking his bhiksha. Terrified that some grave offense might have been committed, the administrative manager (Sri Karyam) rushed to him and asked, "Swami, what grave sin has occurred? You haven't taken your bhiksha for the past three days."
• ​When asked, the cook tearfully confessed, "I made amaranth dal for three days. Because it was said that he liked the amaranth dal, I told everyone and had amaranth brought in." The manager said, "That is why he has not been taking his bhiksha since then."
• ​Looking sternly at the cook, the manager asked, "Swami, is that all?" The Swamy told the manager, "Why are you looking at him like that? Tomorrow, if I go on a vijaya yatra anywhere, as I walk down the street, the townspeople won't just see Chandrashekharendra Saraswathi Mahaswamy—they may or may not know my name, but they will say 'Shankaracharya is walking by.' When I sit somewhere and give a discourse, people listen, believing every word I say is absolute truth.
• "If the very tongue that is meant to invoke Shankaracharya and teach devotion, wisdom, and detachment to the world yields to the taste of amaranth dal, what qualification do I have tomorrow to instruct the world as Shankaracharya?"
• ​"For three days, I purified the tongue that gave in to the taste of amaranth dal by sipping gomutra and cleansing it with gomaya as an atonement for my mistake. What fault is of his? It was my own mental wavering and lack of self-control that fell under its spell. Do not say anything to him."