यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जन: |

स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते ||

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Shloka 21

What a great man does is followed by others. People follow the example he sets.

We don’t know or haven’t heard of many great women and men of Bharat. It is a travesty of history that we have whitewashed the deeds of many great women and men in the zeal to promote a few chosen ones. Now is the time to learn about such great people and follow their examples. Salem Chakravarti Vijayaraghavachariar is one such forgotten hero.

“Sri Vijiaraghavachariar had become almost an institution. He was a great patriot and a great fighter for India’s freedom. It was under his Presidentship the Congress adopted non-violent non-cooperation as its creed. Sri Vijiaraghavachariar had great belief in the doctrine of non-violence and he applied it to the affairs of the world. I know that he had a soft corner for me in his heart." – Mahatma Gandhi’s tribute1 to Salem Vijayaraghavachariar (Achariar)

“Vijiaraghavachariar was the pride and glory of South India for the past sixty years. He was one to whose undaunted courage and parliamentary skill India owes a very great deal. Nurtured in the traditions of civil liberty as expounded by the political philosophers of the 19th century, he was its greatest exponent and defender among all Indian politicians throughout his life. I remember with what persistence he pressed for the incorporation of Fundamental Rights in the Congress declaration which finally was incorporated at Karachi." – C Rajagopalachari2 (Rajaji), November 1950

Sri Sadagopachariar was a Sanskrit scholar of repute in a village called Ponvilainda Kalathur (Translates to – Where gold bloomed on fields/Simile for a very fertile place/ village) near Maduranthakam in Chengalpet district. He and his wife, Smt Kanakavalli had twelve children. Chakravarti Vijayaraghavachariar was born the second son of this couple. Achariar was a very intelligent, high-energy kid with fantastic leadership qualities. He and his band of friends created a ruckus in the village, hunting mangoes and coconuts from the groves that dotted his village. Achariar had a fantastic memory even as a kid, which helped him excel in his Patashala while doing Vedhadhyayana (learning Vedas). He mastered his lessons well by the time he was twelve and wanted to venture into learning and mastering English. Sadagopachariar wanted his son to become an even greater Tamil and Sanskrit scholar than he was and disliked the idea of his pursuing English.

Achariar’s thirst was so acute that he won a tough battle convincing his father to stay with his uncle, a Tahsildar in Madurantakam, to join a local English school. The school saw the spark in him and offered admission with a scholarship. The fact that he started his education late didn’t matter as the spark in him propelled him to secure distinction in everything he took up, and he was given double promotions to catch up with time. In 1870, he matriculated from Pachiappa’s High School, Madras, ranked second in the Madras Presidency. Later, he would quip that he lost first place because it was very difficult to score high in Tamil and Sanskrit, unlike his peer, who scored high in Latin to claim first place. He was a great debater even during his school days. At Pachiappa’s, he got a special prize for being the best debater and the Jayaram Chetty Gold Medal.

He joined the Presidency College, Madras, in 1871, won many laurels, and graduated in 1875. He then worked as an acting master at his alma mater before leaving for Mangalore to become a lecturer at the Government College there. A European administered the Government College, Mangalore as Principal. He believed in corporal punishment to discipline the students and was very unpopular among the........

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