His Holiness Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Swamigal was the 35th Jagadguru of  Sringeri Sri Saradha Peetam.

Born on November 13, 1917 the young Srinivasa was an illustrious student.  At the age of 14, he was ordained into Sanyasa Asrama by the  then Peetadhipati and Jivan Mukta Sri Chandrasekara Bharati.

An great tapasvi and and yogi, Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Swamigal was an able administrator too. He traveled across the country spreading the ideals of Sanathana Dharma and Sri Adi Sankara. 

A beautiful compilation of the Acharya's discourses has been published in a book called 'karuNai kaDal thandha kanivAna muthukkaL'.  The following is a short excerpt from this book.

'The Greatness of Mahamantra'

The Divine Name of the Lord rescues even the wickedest of the wicked. Fire when touched, either knowingly or unknowingly, burns the hand. Likewise, it is the nature of the Divine Name of the Lord to destroy the sins of the one who utters it. Therefore, regardless of the time and work we are involved in, we should always keep chanting the Divine Name of the Lord mentally.

All are desirous of doing Mantra japa. There is a Mantra for this. This Mantra can be chanted in any manner. It has been said that this Mantra can be chanted by all – whether one is of pure mind or not, whether one follows religious discipline or not.

Well! What is that Mantra? It is verily

“HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE!
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE!”

All can chant this Mantra. Regular chanting of this Mantra would earn the blessings of the Lord, purify us and we would attain the purpose of life. Nevertheless, commonly, what do people do? They eat, sleep, loiter around and finally die. Animals lead this kind of life. Is there any difference between the animals and us if our lives were also spent in the same way? Therefore, we should always be chanting the Divine Name of the Lord.

-Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Swamigal
Courtesy: 'karuNai kaDal thandha kanivAna muthukkaL'
(a composition of the Swamigal's discourses)