Saraswathi was born as Lakshmikanthan to Narasimha Sastri and Lakshmi in 1889.
He was succeeded by his first cousin, Swaminathan, a boy of thirteen, who became the sixty-eighth Shankaracharya with the title Chandrashekarendra Saraswati VIII.
He was in the service of his guru Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati VII who was the pontiff of the mutt from 1891.
When he was offered the position of next Acharya after Chandrashekharendra Saraswati VII, Lakshmikanthan who incidentally was a native of Thiruvisainallur, refused to become the Acharya, but preferred to be in the service of his guru wherever he goes.
Coincidentally, the moment Swaminathan entered Kalavai, Lakshmikanthan, now known as Mahadevendra Saraswathi V, attained siddhi and died of delirium, only 1 week after ascending the position as the Shankaracharya.