Srī Chinmudrānandanātha was the embodiment of true divinity and godhood. He is rumored to have existed in a mortal frame for nearly 512 years. Now, is not 8 X 8 X 8 = 512? His lifespan of 512 years was not a mere coincidence. Nothing in the scheme of things of a perfected being like Him is mere coincidence. The great Guru had not kept his mortal coil by performing kāyākalpa, which is a branch of Rasavāda practiced both in Southern India and Tibet. That is an inferior technique. The great Guru had worshipped the sixty-four Yōginīs and Bhairavas, who together reside in 128 sthānas (108 marma-sthānas and twenty positions from adhaḥsahasrāra to Mahāṣōḍaśānta) and also the sixty-four śāmbhava mithuna (four mithunas in each of the sixteen places from adhaḥsahasrāra to ṣōdaśānta) – being a Krama Dīkṣita of the highest order. Every number has some significance in the lives of great men. Brahmaśrī Chidānandanātha, the founder of Guhānanda Maṇḍalī, was born on a caturthī and attained Kaivalya on a ṣaṣṭhī, signifying his journey from Mūlādhāra, the seat of Gaṇapati to Sahasrāra, the seat of Brahmaṇya. Bhāskararāya Mkahīndra was known to have the exact same pattern of birth and kaivalya as well.
Srī Chinmudrānandanātha was born in 1489 at an agrahāra 60 km from Kālaḍī kṣētra (this was recorded by one of his primary disciples Mahāmahōpādhyāya Vāñchēśvara śastrī). His Father’s name was Ananapadmanābha Nambūdarī who was a great scholar who had studied in Kāśī and had received special honors by the King of Benares. Srī Chinmudrānandanātha studied the Vēda, its aṅgaS, and some āgamas popular in Kerala, by the age of 15 and proceeded to learn under a Yati named Vidyāghana (who probably was from Kāñcīpura). His branch of learning was Kr̥ṣṇa Yajurveda. He was initiated into Bhuvanēśvarī mantra by a Guru he fondly remembers as Periyappa (uncle) and no other details about this Guru are known. He married at the age of 21 and had four sons. When he visited Benares, he was initiated into Kāmakalā Kālī mahāvidyā by Mahāmāhēśvara Dīpakānandanātha and later into Nīlatārā mahāvidyā at the Avimukta kSēhtra by Kulānandanātha. A shrine for his Guru Kulānandanātha is still present near the Hāṭakēśvara temple in Benares. He assumed sannyāsa in Kāśī at the age of 25 and practiced Kuṇḍalinī Yoga under the great Siddha Srī Dhēnukānandanātha, known as the Guru of the famous Trailiṅga Siddha. He was called Dhēnukānandanātha as he worshiped his upāsya dēvatā, Srī Kāmēśvarī Mahātripurasundarī seated on the Kāmadhēnu. According to his Guru’s instruction, he immersed himself in intense upāsanā for many decades in the Yōginīguhā in Nagaland. He was then directed by Goddess Vanadurgā to proceed to Vindhyācala. At Vindhyādri, at the age of 72, his Guru Svacchandabhairavānandanātha, Lord Svacchanda Bhairava in physical form, appeared to him and initiated him into Chinnamāstā mahāvidyā and imparted Krama Dīkṣā, from Pūrṇābhiṣēka to Mahāsāmrājyamēdhā, after completing Virajāgrahaṇābhiṣēka. At the age of 72, Srī Chinmudrānandanātha attained immortality, in body and spirit.
Srī Chinmudrānandanātha is known to have stayed for considerably long periods of times in Jodhpur, Mysore, Tiruvannamalai, and Benares, though Vindhyācala and Girnar were generally his chief abodes. He specially narrated to me about his meeting with Srī Saccidānanda Shivābhinava Nr̥simha Bhāratī of Sringeri and his conversations with the Jagadguru and had also received upadēśa from him. When questioned about the need for a upadēśa for a perfected being like him, here was the reply: I was blessed with the fortune of receiving Anugraha from the Nigrahasvarīpa of Paramaśiva (referring to his Guru, Lord Svacchanda Bhairava). How could I let go of the opportunity of receiving Anugraha from the Anugraha svarūpa of the Lord?
We never saw him eat or drink anything except tīrtha, which he referred to as caraṇāmr̥ta. His only written work is an extensive commentary on Kāmakalāvilāsa of Puṇyānandanātha, running to around 1000 pages, which will hopefully be published someday. He also compiled the procedures of Krama dīkṣā vidhāna, never described completely in any of the Tantras and passed on by accomplished Gurus to their disciples, into a manual called Kramadīkṣā Kalpavallarī. In 2001, he decided to shed his mortal coil and merged into his upāsya, the Supreme Queen Mahānirvāṇasundarī at Kāñcīpura, present in the gross form as Srī Kāmākṣī Mahābhaṭṭārikā.