Stopped In Our Tracks: Footnotes


Stopped In Our Tracks

Stories of U.G. In India from the Notebooks of K. Chandrasekhar
Translated and Edited by J.S.R.L. Narayana Moorty
 2d/3d Series


 

Footnotes

1. The young boy in the Katha Upanishad who wanted to know the secrets of life and death from the God of Death, Yama.

2. Mention of this event is also made in the book Sringeri Revisited which Mr. Tummalapalli published in 1969.

3. The Swami's private chambers were located in a garden called Narasimhavana on the far side of the river Tunga.

4. When he started his practice in Mangalore, he used to collect a fee of four annas per family per month. No matter how many people fell ill in the same family there was no extra charge. Dr. Prabhu thus earned reputation as a 'four anna doctor' in Mangalore. Soon his practice prospered and he earned millions of rupees.

5. Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva were the three Acharyas (teachers) who founded three separate religious traditions, one after another. Each of them wrote commentaries on the three Books of Vedanta (Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Brahma Sutras) in support of their own traditions. They condemned one another's tradition. "My hats off to them for performing such an unparalleled feat," says U.G.

6. All the Brahmins who run the Udipi Restaurants are from the Madhva tradition.

7. Sri Chakra is a design for meditation with sacred syllables carved on a metal plate worshipped in the temple.

8. When this passage was read to U.G., his explanation was that his 'fainting' occurred because the plate was too heavy and he was feeling weak, and that it had nothing to do with 'energy.'

9. When this passage was read to U.G., his 'editorial comment' was: "And such things happen to me even when I am on the toilet."

10. Mahesh's taxi driver was a Tamil speaking man. When they were in the Bhut Bungalow, he apparently offered his prayers to God in this fashion.

11. First line in a song of Thyagaraja, South Indian composer who, in this song, was singing the praise of Janaki, Rama's wife.

12. Later, when asked why he suddenly decided to go public, U.G. explained that he became sick and tired of the religious buffs of all shapes, sizes and colors coming to him, and so he thought that the media men would do a better job in putting across what he wanted to convey without involving themselves. "I have a motive in going public. Somebody out there, struggling to find answers to his questions, may listen to what I am saying and stop in his tracks," said U.G.

13. Tirukshavaram—the balding of the head at a ritual hair offering to the God Venkateswara in Tirupati, the idea being that U.G. relieves people of their burden.

14. Bob Carr and Paul Arms are old friends of U.G. and were visiting U.G. in India from San Rafael, California. Bob and Paul's lives were in transition. Trying to figure out their futures, they came to Yercaud following U.G. They were thinking of opening a coffee house after returning to San Francisco. Since they had previously sold the restaurant which they were operating in Marin County, California, they now were needing to find another means of livelihood.





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