Parijnanashram I

Who is Parijnanashram I?

Swami Parijnanashram I or Adi Parijnanashram was the first guru and Mathadhipati of the Chitrāpur Sāraswat Brahmins. He is supposed to have been ordained by Lord Bhavanishankara to guide the Chitrāpur Sāraswat Community in 1708.

He was a Sanyasi who was a Kashmir Sāraswat Brahmin. He was asked by Lord Bhavanishankara in a dream to come down to the banks of Kotiteerth in Gokarn to lead the Chitrāpur Sāraswat community. The community had been faced with an official decree from the King of Nagar which stated that unless the saraswats had shown him their guru, the community would have to face heavy penalties.

He was a man of great spiritual grace and was a scholar in the Sanskrit scriptures and the Vedanta. He established the first matha of the community at Gokarn. He was succeeded by his shishya or disciple Shankarashram.Swami Parijnanashram I died in 1720. His samadhi is located at Bhandikere in Gokarn, next to the Uma Maheshwar temple.