Chandrashekarendra Saraswati was the 68th Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. He was born on 20 May 1894 in Villupuram, South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu. His father was Subrahmanya Sastri and his mother was Mahalakshmi. Swaminathan was the second child of his parents. He was brought up in a Kannada speaking Smarta Brahmin family that had migrated to Tamil Nadu generations earlier. His upanayanam was performed in Tindivanam in 1905, and in the year 1907, he ascended the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham on Paraabhava Tamil Year Maasi Tamil Month Moolam Star as the 68th Acharya with the Sannyasa name Chandrasekharendra Saraswati. He was trained well in the Vedas, Puranas, various Hindu texts, and ancient Indian literature. Chandrashekarendra Saraswati was interested in subjects such as photography, mathematics, and astronomy.

Mahaperiyava was a prominent spiritual leader in India who dedicated his life to the Advaita philosophy of his guru, Adi Shankaracharya. He travelled across India on a palanquin, giving discourses on diverse aspects of dharma, ancient culture, and a variety of subjects. His discourses were compiled and published in English and Tamil as "Deivathin Kural" (The Voice of God) and have been translated to other Indian languages. Mahaperiyava also renovated multiple temples across India and helped Vedic priests on their pronunciation of the holy Sanskrit texts. He made radical social changes by allowing devotees inside the temple premises and had a significant influence on the Indian Freedom Movement, re-converting Indian National Congress leader F. G. Natesa Iyer from Christianity to Hinduism. Iyer played a significant role in arranging a grand reception for Mahaperiyava in Tiruchirappalli, which was attended by people from all walks of life, irrespective of their religion, caste or creed.