The Hindu newspaper carried a wonderful interview with Swami Velukkudi Krishnan. Here are some excertps

“My grandfather wanted at least one of his five sons to be brought up the traditional way, acquiring knowledge in Vedanta and Sastra and spreading Dharma…”

Swami begins the interview with the above words. When asked about quitting a well paid job in an MNC to be more involved in Upanyasams, Swami said

“Please don’t call Upanyasam my profession. It is just sharing my own experience. It is neither a trade nor a job. Experiencing the Brahman is bliss and I only want to share it with everyone. Spiritualism does not need special skill or intelligence. Nor can you achieve salvation by memorising the 4,000 verses. The Lord only expects unconditional love. Throughout his life, my father was only trying to make people understand this. If you read the works of the Acharyas, Azhwars and Nayanmars you will see that love was the underlying factor of all their immortal works.”

Swami says the following words when asked about his 2 sons,

“My duty is to make them enlightened bhaktas and not trained orators.”

Through the above words, Swami subtly tells how a Sri Vaishnaav should live. As a Sri Vaishnava it’s one’s duty to teach his children the way of Bakthi and the irrelevance of this materialistic world. But deciding on what finally they should become is in hands of Sriman Narayana. We should just do our duty of teaching to our children and leave the rest to Sriman Narayana. Swami finishes the interview with the following words

“Many feel that Bhakti is for the old. On the contrary, one should attain Atma Gnanam at a very young age like Prahalada. The Bhagavad Gita is one text that should be read by everyone. Assimilating the content may be a difficult task initially, but constant reading will lead to eternal bliss. Tiruppavai too helps in fostering Gnanam.”

The complete interview can be read in The Hindu Website – www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/article554281.ece