Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamy was born as Srimannarayana Charyulu on Deepavali—an important Vedic festival signifying the triumph of light over darkness—in Arthamuru, a rural area of Mandapeta, Andhra Pradesh, India. At the nearby Gowtama Vidya Peetham, he was trained in the Vedic scriptures and the Vaishnava tradition. At the age of 23 he took the oath to become an ascetic and consequently, became a Jeeyar (or Lion). Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Chinna Srimannarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamiji, performed the last 4 of the 108 Swadhyaya Jnana Yajnams started by Peddha Jeeyar Swami. Sriman U.Ve. T.K. Gopalacharya Swami, has been the Guru to HH Sri Peddha Jeeyar Swamiji and also to Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji. Under the tutelage of Sriman T.K. Gopalacharya Swami, Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji mastered Rig Veda, Divya Prabhandam and Upanishads. His Holiness started Jeeyar Educational Trust, fulfilling the dream of Sri Peddha Jeeyar Swami, in teaching the Vedas on Gurukulam system, thereby protecting the Vedas from further extinction.

H.H. Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, considered an Abhinava of Bhagavad Ramanuja by his devotees has been ardently propagating the tenets of Vishistadvaitam through numerous programs such as the Pushkara Brahma Yajnas, Viswa Shanthi Sri Maha Vishnu Yagam at Tirupati, Sri Yagam at Tiruchanur, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum, Viraat Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Parayanams, Gita Jyothi, Acharya Seva Yathra, Sri Venkateswara Saranagati Deeksha etc., besides his powerful yet simple and easy to understand discourses be it on spiritual texts or on subjects relating to Human Values. His Holiness Chinna Jeeyar Swamy is considered as a leading light and spiritual beacon to countless Jivas(Souls).

My journey started with an Atheistic bent of mind. I come from a very spiritual family and we had a large collections of scriptures. Since I had no interest in that, my mother asked me talk to Sri Pedda Jeeyar Swamiji about what to do with the books. Pedda Jeeyar Swamiji said, “If you have books you can read them”. I of course had no interest in it. Anyway certain circumstances led me to help Swamiji with an event he was conducting when I heard by chance that he wanted to hire a Stenographer. 

I was very impressed with Swamiji since he had a nice bus and was travelling everywhere. I loved to travel and so I applied for the Stenographer position and was with Swamiji all the time.  Once to my delight we took a flight to Badrinath.  In Badrinath once Swamiji asked us to do a certain Anushtan. Since then the mind moved away from atheism towards theism and later led me to want to take on Sanyasa. Swamiji talked to my mother extensively and she was kind enough to allow me to take this on. 

When I used to question people about theistic ideas, they were not well versed in the scriptures to explain things to me. Thus I was not convinced. Once I studied it for myself and understood it deeply the doubts vanished. 

In 1979 Swamiji planned a grand Yagna. 4000 scholars were invited. But prior to its execution he attained Siddhi. So I decided to take it over and the rest is history.      

 

This is 1000th year of His presence on earth. We at the Jeer Education Trust are planning a grand memorial in His honor. We will have the Sri Ramanuja named as the Statue of Equality for that is what He stood for.  We will share the basic facets and His tenets of life.  It is a grand memorial that we plan to build in Hyderabad. We have the land already. 

Very much so.  Recently in 2012 there was no water in the Kaveri near the Srirangam temple. We did a Vedic chant and there were floods in the  Kaveri.  Prayers are powerful and can bring positive impact. 

My message is that we should always Worship our own and respect all.  In our Vedic patashalas we expose our children to other scriptures as well.

We must serve all and love all equally for service to humanity is service to God.  When your love for God increases it forces you to do more service.  We have a strong service arm.  

People in the US asked for courses to induct their children into spirituality. So we decided to create modules for that purpose.  In a very busy society one often has no time for one self, for family or for introspection. Spending 4-5 hours each Sunday for such purposes is an excellent idea.  

(A personal comment - It was  a blessing to learn about Sri Vaishnavism from Swamji. His mission to bring forth the messages of equality that was at the core of Ramnujacharya's teaching is so important. He was wonderful to speak to with a simple approach and a benign smile. To learn more about JET , please check out their website at http://www.chinnajeeyar.guru/ )