> The cook was Shantanand, I beleive, who was first on the list, and > became Shankarachara -- so it was a bit more interesting, with a > thicker plot -- than your account suggests. > If the cook was Shantanand and he was suspected of murder why did the Swami Svarupanand invite him to the birthday celebration reported by Kropinsky?
> ...I think that Shantanand was GD's cook is the best > established of the facts. > Guru Dev didn't have a cook - Sannyasins of the Shankaracharya order don't eat food cooked by others. > And MMY was his clerk, aka secretary. > MMY was a devotee who performed office duty, probably because he could read and write English. > And it appears from some testimony regarding the will, that GD was > not very lucid in his last days. > Plausibly the effect of sudden poisons introduced. > According to the coroners report Guru Dev died of natural causes - no mention of poisons in the Indian press at the time. Shantanand was at Allahabad at the Shankar Math at the time, not in Calcutta with Guru Dev. > But hypothetically, if a signed "list" appeared, it would give > enough nominal clearance during the chaos of GD's passing, to enable > a new shankaracharaya to be rushed into GD's quarters. Which is what > happened. > According to the Times of India Shantanand was installed as the new Shankaracharya with all due pomp and ceremony in a public coronation that lasted for days. > Then it became a game of "possession is 9/10s of the law". > Shantanand, as Guru Dev's succussor, inherited the Shankaracharya title, the Jyotirmath, the property, and all the accoutrements of the office. Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati is the current Shankaracharya at Jyotirmath. > And GD's clerk or secretary would be the person to prepare such a > list. And could have had GD sign it, at GD's request, or in the > confusion of his non-lucidity, if that occurred. > Apparently Guru Dev's last will and command was written in Hindi by Guru Dev himself. The will has never been contested, according to published reports. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
