Retired English Professor transforms into a Revered Saint and the epitome of sacrifice

Virupakshayya Chennabasavayya Hiremath is basically a retired English Professor who has served at Methodist Church College of Kalaburagi. Later, after serving 12 years he was transferred to Beynon Smith Methodist Degree College of Arts, Belagavi where he retired from teaching English. He served for 21 years in Belagavi and retired in May 2013. Soon after his retirement he has taken over as a pontiff of the Mutt in his native Narasapur village of the historic Badami Taluk in Bagalkot district.

Seer later but punishing the body earlier: Maybe, VC Hiremath now fondly revered as Hiremath Swamiji or Narasapur Mutt Swamiji has become the pontiff after his formal retirement. But he has started punishing his body much earlier. Shivayogi V. Geernavar, his erstwhile colleague in the Beynon Smith Methodist Degree College of Arts recalls-“His sacrificing nature much before adoring the saffron clothes can be termed as a rare phenomenon in the saga of Veerashiva-Lingayat culture. For record sake, he embraced the sacred attire about 10 years back, but he started punishing his own body for more than 30 years…

…Not even a drop of water for 16 hours: He has developed the peculiar practice of having prasad or food only after bath and traditional linga puja rituals once, twice or thrice a day but prefers to be on fast without sipping a drop of water when devoid of bath and puja. Once we were returning from Surat by train and Swamiji didn’t even have a drop of water during the 16 hours journey”.

Swamijis and monetary gifts: Dr DS Poornananda, retired Head of the Department, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and Professor of Film Studies, Development Communication, Environment Communication and Communication Theory, Kuvempu University in a casual interaction shared this particular incident; It so happened that a well-known pontiff of an equally famous Mutt visited the United States on a fund collection drive…

…Buy a Chopper for me: The disciples in the US were overwhelmed at the arrival of the religious personality and planned to gift a few hundred crores to buy the latest types of equipment for the treatment of poor and needy patients in the hospital run by the Swamy back home in India. However, they were taken aback when their revered holy personality dismissed their offer and instead insisted on buying a chopper for him! You may wonder what the connection here is. You’re right. The reason to recollect the instance is to highlight the paradoxical difference with the run of the mill and so-called swamis’ and Hiremath Swamiji.

Not even a rupee from anyone: Shivayogi V Geeranavar turns emotional when he proudly proclaims-“Our Narasapur Mutt Swamiji doesn’t accept even a rupee or any other material from his disciples or from followers of his Mutt like other Swamiji. Even whenever he goes to perform puja rituals or things like that he never accepts anything from the devotees. On the contrary, he himself is into the habit of donating He only believes in giving, gifting and donating from his known sources of income like salary earlier and pension now. But, never ever has he taken a rupee or anything else at any point of life from anyone, forget his ardent followers”.

All earnings meant for donation: Strange it may appear but not to Shivayogi V Geeranavar. He informs-“Hiremath Swamiji has all along been donating his money for the welfare of society for long. Earlier, after retaining a meagre sum for his simple living, he used to donate a major portion and now it is from his pension. He has been a regular contributor to Kashi, Kedar, Shreeshaila, Ujjayani and Rambhapuri peethas, the five prominent Mutts of Veerashiva-Lingayat religion”.

No property in his name: He also reminds the unique qualities of the erstwhile colleague turned revered Swamiji-“He doesn’t have any property on his name and has been so kind in serving the other people that during his stint as a teacher he had inculcated the practice of offering free tuitions to students of rural background. Whenever he was presented with gift materials and gold ornaments during the college functions, he used to donate the same to the poor and needy at the same venue and never kept anything to himself. He never takes back even a single fruit offered to him in the puja rituals. That is the best quality of him which I have never come across within my lifetime”.

A committed pure heart and soul: “Hiremath Swamiji is a pure heart and soul along with being a rare personality in the present days. He was receiving Rs 29,000/- as a pension when he retired from service in 2013. Maybe now he might be getting more than Rs 50,000/- in the form of a retirement benefit. But for keeping a bare minimum amount for himself he continues to donate the remaining major portion for the betterment of his villagers, social activities and treating the pontiffs of other Mutts”, explained Shivayogi V Geeranavar.

Everyone is my relative: He also reveals-“I personally was actively involved in his purchase of lands and sites in his elder and younger brother’s names. It looks like he had made up his mind in his childhood to lead a spiritual life and that is how he has moulded it to keep going. In order to maintain celibacy or Brahmacharya dharma he has been into pious religious practices since the beginning. Although, he has three brothers from his purvashrama he believes that everyone is his relative and every woman is his mother".

A sought-after Swamiji: Thanks to his selfless nature and sacrificing attitude apart from being a well-learned role model Swamiji, he has a large following in North Karnataka including Bagalkot and Belagavi districts. He is also a sought-after Swamiji in Bengaluru.

He enters the 71st meaningful year: Hiremath Swamiji completed 70 years and has entered into the 71st year today i.e. 10 September. Although he had a bypass surgery sometime back, thanks to his healthy eating habits and lifestyle he continues to enjoy a robust life with a tight schedule moving to any number of houses and places, all on his own traveling in government buses and other forms of public transport. Wishing him a very Happy Birthday and a hope-May his tribes increase.

-Manohar Yadavatti