Swami Chandrasekhara Bharati (born Narasimha Sastri; 1892–1954 ) was the Jagadguru Sankaracarya of Sringeri Sharada Peetham in 1912–1954. He was one of the most significant spiritual figures in Hinduism during the 20th century. He is a Jivanmukta (Sanskrit for one liberated while alive). Biography Narasimha Sastri, who became Jagadguru Shankaraachaarya Swami Chandrashekhara Bharati (Honorific style: Chandrashekhara Bharati Swaminah) was born to Gopala Sastri and Lakshmamma in Sringeri on Ashvayuja Shukla Ekadashi (the eleventh day of the bright fortnight in the month of Ashvayuja) in the Hindu lunar year Nandana (corresponding to October 16, 1892). He was the last of his parents' twelve children and the only one who survived past infancy. A notable feature of his life was that his birth, upanayanam, sannyasa and videha mukti (death), all happened on Sundays. Childhood days The childhood days of Narasimha Sastri were passed in Sringeri. An introvert, social life held little attraction for him. He was lodged in the house of Srikanta Sastri, the then administrator of the Sringeri Matha. His parents performed the Choodakarma (a rite performed as one of the sixteen saṃskāras that enables one to go to school). He was then sent to the local Anglo-vernacular school run by the government. His Brahmopadesha was performed when he was eight. He was regular in the performance of Sandhyavandanam three times a day, and Agnikarya, twice a day. Narasimha, after his twelfth year, moved to Sadvidya Sanjivini Pathasala in Sringeri by the expressed wish of Swami Sacchidananda Sivabhinava Narasimha Bharati, the Jagadguru Sankaracarya, who kept a close watch over the progress of his ward. Higher studies at Bangalore The Sankaracarya of Sringeri had established in 1910 an institution of higher Vedantic training, the Bharatiya Girvana Prouda Vidya Vardhini Shala in Bangalore. Narasimha Sastri was chosen to be a student at that institution. Narasimha Sastri moved to Bangalore in 1911 with his parents and plunged into his studies. Mahamahopadhyaya Vellore Subrahmanya Sastri and Mimamsa Shiromani Vaidyanatha Sastri taught him Purva Mimamsa by texts such as the Bhatta Dipika. Mahamahopadhyaya Virupaksha Sastri taught him Vedanta. Even in Bangalore there was no change in Narasimha's introvertness. He spent his free time in the peaceful environs of the Gavigangadhareshwara Temple in Gavipuram, Bangalore. Taking Sannyasa In 1912, Jagadguru Sankaracarya Sacchidananda Sivabhinava Nrsimha Bharati named Narasimha Sastri as his successor at Sharada Peetham. A devotee, Rama Sastri, was entrusted with the task of personally delivering the