Dhruva's meeting with Narada Maharshi

"OM NAMO BHAGAVATHE VASUDEVAYA"..
Dhruva walks barefoot towards the forest. He crosses the city limits, enters the forest. He does not see any people around, humming of a bird and bees is all that he can hear.. occasionally, hears roar of a lion prowling nearby... Narada has been watching all these incidents with his usual sense of curiosity. He decends to earth, stands before Dhruva and chants " Narayana, Narayana! "..
Dhruva looks up and sees Narada standing in front of him.
He bows to Narada and says, "Oh holy one! Please tell me who you are and why you have come here? "

Narada says, "I am Narada, a devotee of Lord Narayana.. I came to see what a small boy like you is doing in a big forest. "

Dhruva exclaims, "A devotee of Lord Narayana! Then you can help me to achieve my goal. "

Narada asks Dhruva, " Please tell me what help you need from me? "

Dhruva narrates the incident that drove him to the forest.

He concludes by saying, " I 've come here to perform austerities. I want to meet Lord Narayana and ask Him for justice. I want Him to make me the future king of the kingdom. "

Narada smiles when he hears such words from the mouth of a five-year old... and says, "Oh Prince! Please return to your palace. Many great sages who have been performing penances for hundreds of years have not been able to get a glimpse of the Supreme Lord. What is the guarantee that you will get to see Him? This forest is full of wild beasts. They may attack you. It is not a safe place to be in, unarmed. "

Dhruva replies. " Oh sage! I have full faith in my Lord Narayana. He will protect me. "

Narada realises that this five year old boy is no ordinary boy. He will not leave the forest till he meets Lord Narayana. He advices Dhruva, " Please, continuously chant ' Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya. ' Lord Narayana will be pleased. He will come and bless you. " Narada blesses him and departs.

SRI PURANDARA DAASARU

Sri Purandaradaasa is an outstanding daasa among all Haridaasas. He was born with Narada amsha which has jnana, bhakthi and vairaagya. He composed 4,75,000 Keerthanas in easy Kannada. Each composition is the quintessence of our scriptures and hence Sri Vyasaraja called his compositions as " Purandaropanishad ". Either listening or singing of his keerthanas will purify our devotion towards the Lord and thereby strengthen our resolve for the acquisition of jnana, bhakthi, and vairaagya. It is said that ' Kali prabhava' will be mitigated by listening or chanting of them, like the roar of a lion which drives away the lesser animals in a forest. He sang on Hanuma, Bheema and Madhwa. In one of his songs he had explained how Jagathguru Sri Madhwa is Jeevothama. In other song he says, " Do not leave the noble Madhwa shastra and be a recluse, but follow it and be enlightened". This message of his, is conveyed to all sathvik souls. Sri Madhwa's two cardinal principles viz. Hari Sarvothama and Vayu Jeevothama have been brought out very convincingly and clearly in his Keerthanas.
Like clouds absorbing moisture from the oceans and pouring it down as torrential rains for the benefit of the humainty, Sri Purandaradaasa has absorbed the Vedas, Puranas and presented us their essence most powerfully and effectively in simple Kannada which all can understand.
May Sri Vittala the indweller of Sri Purandaradaasa bless us all
Posted by udnagaraja@gmail.com at 11:20 AM
Labels: DWAITHA
0 comments:

Post a Comment
Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
SRI DIGVIJAYA RAAMA POOJA
SRI DIGVIJAYA RAAMA POOJA
Sree Satyaatma Theertha Swamigalu, Performing Pooja

HINDU RELIGION - ORIGIN

The ancient scriptures of India claim the religion is originally established by God Himself (dharman tu sakshad bhagavat pranitam).

From the scriptural viewpoint, this religion or dharma, manifests after every creation by the will of the Lord. After the present cyclical creation, the Supreme Lord Narayana instructed the first living entity within the universe, Brahma, in the matters of religion. Brahma in turn instructed this same science to his son, Narada, who in turn passed this knowledge on to his disciple Vyasa Mahamuni. In this way the ancient religion has been passed down in a chain of disciplic succession directly from God for countless millions of years.

This Vedic religion is therefore known as sanatana dharma, or the "eternal religion", for it predates all man-made conceptions of time and space. We should not confuse this sanatana dharma with any sectarian religious faith, for the true sanatana dharma is the very function of the soul, as inseparable as liquidity from water.

The modern word "Hinduism" is a term developed approximately 700 years ago by the Muslim invaders of India. There was a river by the name Sindhu, which was mispronounced by the invaders as Hindu. All people living beyond that river, regardless of their religious beliefs, were called as Hindus. Thus some may mistakenly conclude that it is possible to trace out the historical origins of the ancient religion of India based on the historical use of this word.

We should know that in the ancient "Hindu" scriptures we will not find the word Hindu mentioned even a single time, but instead we will find the words sanatana-dharma (eternal religion), vaidika-dharma (religion of the Vedas), bhagavata-dharma (religion of God), etc. This dharma is ever fresh and eternal. It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that whenever this message of dharma is lost, God Himself will incarnate to reestablish it:

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srijamy aham

"Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion - at that time I descend Myself to reestablish it." (Bhagavad Gita 4.7)

One such incarnation of the Supreme was that of Lord Krishna, who appeared 5,000 years ago to reestablish dharma by speaking the Bhagavad Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

In the Vedic history, there are countless saints who have come and propagated the ancient teachings found in the Vedic literatures, but none can be called as the founder. Each one was a disciple of another guru, and each one was passing on the same knowledge as had been taught to him by his guru. This is the Vedic system - there is no founder, because everyone is first and foremost a disciple. Dharma cannot be man-made, for it is defined as the direct instructions of God - dharman tu sakshad bhagavat pranitam.

SRI JAGANNATHA DASARU

Sri Guru Jagananatha Dasaru (1837-1918)

Sri Guru Jagannathadasa was born in the village of Kesigi in Kurnool district in 1836 A.D.

He was blessed with the Ankita of Guru Jagannatha Vittala by Gopala dasa in the dream.

He wrote nearly 30 books on philosophy like 'brahma sUtra BhAshya ADhyAtmikartha', 'Para Para tattva dIpika etc', along with 40 stotras in sanskrit and a number of songs in kannaDa. He also wrote commentaries on Harikathamruthasara in kannaDa and Sanskrit.

He laid down his mortal body in Kavutala of Adoni taluk in the year 1918 A.D."

KNOW MORE ABOUT SRI JAGANNATHA DASARU
http://www.dvaita.org/haridasa/dasas/gurjagan.html

Upakarma/Raksha Bhandan - August 16th 2008

August 14, 2008 at 5:24 am (Hinduism, Hobbies)

Upakarma is one of the ancient Vedic rituals practiced to date by every Brahmin. It is done once a year, during Shravana Masa- which is usually in August or September. The main activity performed in an Upakarma is the changing of the Janivara or Holy Thread.

Did you know that Upakarma means “Beginning” in Sanskrit. This year the Rigveda and YajurVeda, both are on the same day. However, in some countries since there is Lunar Eclipse happening, you should definitely check with you elders to find out when it is for you. There is no Eclipse being seen in the United States, and so for those who are residing here, it is on August 16th 2008.

Whether you are doing the Rigveda or the Yajurveda upakarma, below are two links which have the vidhi or procedure to perform the Upakarma. These are available as HTML as well as pdf files which you can download and print for later use.

1. RigVeda Upakarma

2. Yajurveda Upakarma

Now that we have all the details for the Upakarma, how about Raksha Bhandan? Raksha” means protection, “bandhan” means bound or binding. During this festival brothers and sisters show that they care for each other; include your cousins also. A sister will tie the rakhi, which is made of thread around her brother’s right wrist, usually with flowers attached to it. In return, her brother will give sweets, or money to show that they will love and protect them.

As with any other festival, there are many legends for this festival as well.

1. In ancient times a woman tied a ‘rakshaa’ on her husband’s wrist to protect him from evil. Later, she tied a ‘rakshaa’ on her brother’s right wrist, to protect him from evil influence and those factors which may taint his character, and to strengthen the bond of sibling love between them.

2. Vishnu helped the wife of Indra, to aid her husband in his battle against the demon Bali. Bali had driven Indra out of heaven. Vishnu gave Indra’s wife a silk thread to put on Indra’s wrist as a lucky charm. It enabled him to defeat Bali and regain his kingdom.

3. During the battle of Mahabharat,Queen Kunti tied a raksha on her grandson Abhimanyu to protect him in battle.

SURYA MANTRA

Sri Raghavendraswamy had Power to revive the dead

Sri Raghavendraswamy had Power to revive the dead

On a hot summer day, rAyaru was on his way home from a pilgrimage. He decided to rest in the shade of a tree at Krishnapuram (near Hubli). While there, he saw the Nawab (Muslim king) of the are walking towards him, with a sad demeanor. The Nawab had heard of his miracles and had come to him as a last resort. He stated that his young son had died from a poisonous snakebite and been buried in a tomb close by. After hearing this, rAyaru contemplated silently for a few moments and then asked the king to take the body out of the tomb. When the puzzled Nawab did as he was asked, rAyaru sprinkled holy water from his kamanDala and prayed to his ArAdhya mUrthy (favorite form of the Lord). Lo behold, the young boy woke up as though he was getting up from sleep. The Nawab was beside himself with joy.

(Editor�s note: There are some very important points to note in this episode. Our shAstras talk about the concept of "Ayushya", defined as the total amount of time that a being is allowed to live on earth, in a particular body. Any death that happens before this time is untimely and is called "apamRutyu". Our shAstras say that once "Ayushya" is over death cannot be prevented, since that is Divine Will. However, "apamRutyu" is a different aspect altogether. Life-histories of oursaints and other great souls are replete with instances where they warded off untimely death in deserving cases. In this case, since the child had suffered apamRutyu, rAyaru used his divine powers to revive it.)

He did a similar thing in another instance. He was visiting the house of a village chieftain (called Desai). Hundreds of people had assembled for the occasion. As part of the food served to the guests, seekaraNe (a thick form of mango juice) was being prepared in a huge vessel. Unfortunately, when nobody was watching him, the Desai�s son fell into this vessel and drowned. When the Desai and his wife came to know about it, they were totally devastated. However, they wanted to hide the news because they did not want to inconvenience everybody who had assembled there. Being an aparOxa gyani, RAyaru sensed the tragedy and asked the grief stricken couple to bring the dead boy before him. When this was done, he sprinkled water from his kamanDala and revived the boy. The joy of the ecstatic parents knew no bounds.

Those who came to humiliate end up being humiliated

There were some evil people who were jealous of the greatness of rAyaru and were always looking for opportunities to humiliate him. When some of them heard of the above incidents, they conspired to come up with a plan to humble rAyaru. They chose a location that was very close to rAyaru�s location that day and asked a person to pretend to be dead. They covered his face and sat by his side wailing as if he was really dead. When rAyaru passed by, some of them approached him and entreated him to revive this �dead� man. RAyaru looked at the body and said �I cannot revive him since his Ayushya is over�. This was what the evil persons wanted to hear. They immediately started condemning him and trumpeted to the world at large �Look at this charltan. He does not know the difference between a living and a dead person. Our friend is pretending to be dead. He is now going to get up and denounce this fraud�. Nothing happened. Then they tried to wake him up, thinking that he was asleep. None of their efforts were successful as the person was truly dead! They realized their mistake and begged rAyaru to revive the person, but he pleaded his helplessness since the person�s Ayushya was really over. The men who came to humble rAyaru were themselves humbled and his greatness became even more enhanced.

A point to note is that rAyaru did not curse the man to die or punish the evildoers. It was again Divine will that the conspirators chose a person whose Ayushya was really over and the timing was perfect to humiliate them. The Lord well and truly protects His beloved devotees.

Three forecasts for the one who took three avatAras

Three famous astrologers, known for their ability to predict the future with unerring accuracy, once came to cast the horoscope of rAyaru. They did it separately and came with 3 totally startingly different numbers � 100, 300 and 700! Each was positive about his calculation, but could not explain the difference. When rAyaru heard about this, he laughed and said �They are predicting 3 different entities. One is predicting the lifespan of my body, another my tenure in the brindAvana and the third the influence of my granthAs (literary works).

Personality that influences even inanimate objects

Once some famous scholars came to meet with rAyaru. One the way they got lost and wanted to ask for directions. They noticed a washerman walking with his load on his head, but before asking him a question, they debated amongst themselves in Sanskrit if it was worthwhile asking somebody who looked like an ignoramus. Imagine their surprise, when the washerman interrupted their discussion by saying in chaste sanskrit �If all that you want to know is directions to meet rAyaru then I should be able to help you�. He then gave directions in chaste sanskrit to the embrassed scholars, and proceeded on his way. The scholars rested for a while and then proceeded to the river for their afternoon sandhya. They saw the washerman sitting on the bank. They politely asked him in sanskrit if it was okay to perform sandhyAvandana there. He gave them a blank look and told them rather crudely in the local language �Look, if you want to speak with me, then use a language I can understand�. Even from his tone and grammar it was obvious that he was an illiterate with little or no command over any language. The scholars were surprised since he had spoken to them in Sanskrit a few moments ago! They dismissed him as a madman and proceeded with their task. The washerman left with his load and started walking back slowly. After a while, the scholars passed him again on the road. This time, he politely asked them in chaste sanskrit if they had had any difficulty in locating the road and if they needed any help. The scholars were totally baffled and practically ran away from there.

When they reached the maTha, they spoke to a knowledgeable person and explained the curious phenomenon they had observed. The person laughed and said �Did the washerman have his load on his head when he spoke to you?� When the scholars nodded in reply, he continued �It was not the washerman talking to you. It was the clothes. He was carrying the clothes that our rAyaru had discarded. As long as he had the load on his head, he was a totally different person. Once the load was discarded he became his normal self�. Such was the power of rAyaru�s personality that even the clothes that he had discarded carried mystical powers.

श्री मूला सीताराम पूजा - श्री सत्यात्मा तीर्थ स्वामी

श्री सत्यात्मा तीर्थ स्वामीजी - मूलाराम पूजा

SRI STYAATMA THEERTHA SWAMIGALU PERFORMING SRI DIGVIJAYA RAAMA / SRI MOOLA SEETAARAMA POOJA.

श्री सत्यात्मा तीर्थ स्वामीजी - मूलाराम पूजा

श्री राघवेंद्रस्वमी - Sanyasa ordination

Wife becomes ghost, obtains liberation:

The Sanyasa ordination was arranged to take place on the second day of the bright half of PAlguNa mAsa in the year durmati corresponding to the year 1621. The spot chosen was Tanjore, in order to avoid hurting the feelings of VenkaTanAtha�s young wife Saraswati. Finally, the grand day when VenkaTanAtha would relinquish his life as a householder and become a sanyAsi arrived. Saraswathi was required to stay home. However, at the last minute she was seized by a desire to see her husband�s face for the last time before he became totally inaccessible to her. With this feeling, she ran towards the maTha throwing caution to the winds. Unfortunately, she did not see an old and unused well on the way, and fell into it. She died instantly, but because her death was an untimely one, she became a ghost. Even as a ghost, her only desire was to see her husband and so she went to the maTha. By the time she arrived, the function was over and venkaTanAtha had become a sanyAsi with the AshramanAma of rAghavEndra tIrtha, the only solace for the downtrodden, the last resort for those without hope, the only court where every petitioner is guaranteed to get a patient and understanding hearing, the ocean of mercy that will never deny a deserving plea for help.

With his divine perception, rAyaru sensed saraswati�s presence, even though she was a ghost not visible to human eyes. His heart full of mercy, he sprinkled water from his kamanDala on her. The power of his penance was such that she was immediately granted moksha or liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. This was her reward for a lifetime of dedicated and selfless service to a noble soul.

Ascension as pIThAdhipati (throne of Asecitic)
Around 1623 sudhIndra tIrtha shed his mortal coils at AnEgondi. His brindavan was consecrated there and rAyaru became the Head of the maTha. Yadavendra, a senior disciple of sudhIndra tIrtha disputed this, but his claims were set aside by the Ruler of Tanjore, in favor of rAyaru.

RAyaru started his services by teaching all the works of shrImadAchArya to his disciples. He propagated right knowledge and vanquished several opponents. Apart from imparting knowledge and guiding his disciples,he composed works for the benefit of future generations

Pilgrimages
Soon after becoming the pIThAdipati, he began a series of piligrimages that took him to several places. Throughout his life, he kept visiting different centers of learning and religion inspite of the difficulties involved. Consider some of the odds he faced � lack of roads, lack of transportation means (other than palanquins), political problems (since there were so many different kings, some of the muslims, inimical to hinduism), hot weather, lack of maps etc. Inspite of all these difficulties, he covered a vast area geographically. Some of the places he visited are Rameshvaram, Madurai, Srirangam, Vishnumangala (where Trivikrama PanditAchArya had debated MadhvAchArya for fifteen days), Subramanya, Udupi, Bidarahalli, Pandarapur, Kohlapur, Bijapur, Malkhed, Tirupati, Srisailam, Kumbakonam, and Kanchi.
Wherever he went, his agenda was simple � spreading the message of shrImadAchArya, defeating scholars of opposing doctrines, converting deserving people to dvaita, continuing to write commentaries and notes, teaching shAstras to enthusiastic students, and encouraging local scholars. Examples of such events are provided.

He visited Rameshvaram and Madurai. Madurai was the seat of learning in those days, and one of the experts there was Neelakanta Dikshit. After seeing the lucid yet powerful style with which rAyaru debated, he was convinced that rAyaru�s master was really pUrNaprajna. When Neelakanta tried testing him on various sutras, rAyaru showed him the work he had just finished-Bhatta Sangraha. Neelakanta was so thrilled by the depth of this work and how well it propounded shrImadAchArya's philosophy, that he had it placed on an elephant and taken on a ceremonial procession.

At Bidarahalli he met ShrInivasAchArya who was a unique householder. The glosses that he had written were already well known. RAyaru examined his works and was filled with admiration for ShrInivasAchArya, who, though being a householder, dedicated himself completely to the spreading of knowledge and learning. RAyaru bestowed upon him the name shrInivAsa tIrtha, as a mark of his high learning.

He took a vow to write Tippanis for all the Tikas of shrI jayatIrtha. When he had completed tippanis for 17 of the 18 Tikas of ShrI JayatIrtha, his disciple LakshmInArAyaNAchArya showed him his work on Rig Bhashya. The great saint felt that his disciple's teaching should be shown to the rest of the world, so instead of writing a Tippani, he wrote a Rigartha Manjari, a vivritti, which gives the meaning of the first 40 suktas Even though he undertook extensive tours, he did not stop teaching his devotees or stop writing books.

Sanyasa Sweekara my Sri Raghavendra Swamy

पूज्याय राघवेंद्राया सत्यधर्म रतायाचा!

भजतां कल्पवृक्षाय नमताम कामधेनवे!!

Return to sudhIndra tIrtha�s care
To add insult to injury, thieves raided VenkaTanAtha�s house one day and looted whatever little he had in terms of vessels, clothes. After this, he decided to seek refuge in shrI sudhIndra tIrtha as there was absolutely no way of maintaining his family.

Entry into asceticism

shrI sudhIndra tIrtha was on the lookout for a suitable successor to carry on the glorious tradition of his maTha. The more he saw of VenkaTanAtha, the greater was his conviction that he was the right successor. One day, he received an indication in his dream that VenkaTanAtha would be the most ideal successor he could get. He was overjoyed and immediately acted upon this suggestion. He communicated his desire to VenkaTanAtha. VenkaTanAtha was on the horns of a dilemma since he was torn between 2 powerful forces � his respect for sudhIndra tIrtha�s words and his responsibilities as a householder. Finally, after great deliberation, he told sudhIndra tIrtha that he could not take up this responsibility as he had a young wife and a son who was yet to undergo upanayanam. sudhIndra tIrtha was disappointed but not disheartened as he knew ultimately Divine will would prevail and VenkaTanAtha would accede to his request.

Becomes sanyAsi after vidyA lakshmi requests him

That night VenkaTanAtha had a very strange dream. Vidya Lakshmi Herself appeared before him and told him, �After feasting on the intellectual treats provided by ShrI MadhvAchArya, jaya tIrtha, vyAsa tIrtha, vAdirAja and others, I am once again starving. The light of tattvavAda created by your beloved shrImadAchArya will be extinguished by the darkness of other philosophies. To prevent this from happening, noble souls like you should shed their material bondage and dedicate themselves to the cause of hari and vAyu. This is both your duty and your destiny. You are a great soul, destined to provide solace and succor to millions of needy people. Accept sudhIndra tIrtha�s request and take up sanyAsa. You are shrI hari�s beloved devotee and this is what He expects from you�. VenkaTanAtha woke up with a start. His dilemmas were resolved and he was sure where his responsibilities lay.

He convinced his wife and communicated his assent to sudhIndra tIrtha. Within a short time, his son LakshmInArAyaNa�s upanayana was performed and everything was set for his entry into asceticism.

Collected by: U.D. Nagaraja

married Life of Sri Venkata Bhatta (Sri Raghavendra Swamy)

पूज्याय राघवेंद्राया सत्यधर्म राथायाचा!
भजतां कल्पवृक्षाय नमताम कामधेनवे !!

Married Life along with continued education
Upon returning from Madurai, VenkaTanAtha was married to Saraswati, who was from a noble family. The Shastras say that for one who has control of his senses, wedded life does not hamper learning. For VenkaTanAtha, most of his learning occurred after marrying Saraswati, through the blessings of Goddess Saraswati. So VenkaTanAtha went to Kumbhakonam, the seat of learning at the time. There he studied dvaita vEdanta, advanced works on grammer and other sastras under sudhIndra tIrtha. He used to stay awake past midnight to write his own comments and notes on the lessons that had been done. He engaged in debate and defeated several scholars of opposing doctrines; one of them was Venkatesvara dIkshita, a famous scholar of the Tanjore court in 1620. Though his victory was not unexpected sudhIndra tIrtha was surprised at his scholarship in grammar, profound knowledge and rare debating skill, and called him "MahAbhAshya VenkaTanAthAchArya". Similarly he explained the significance of taptamudra dhAraNa quoting several smR^iti-s that the opponents had to accept his arguments were irrefutable.

Married Life - utter, dire poverty haunts venkaTanAtha
VenkaTanAtha�s brother arranged for his marriage with saraswathi, a lady from a good family. Saraswathi proved to be an ideal wife to VenkaTanAtha, and the couple had a son whom they named lakshmInArAyaNa.

VenkaTanAtha was a skilled musician and a great scholar, but he never demanded any money for his services and accepted whatever was offered to him. Since this happened very rarely, he had little or no means to support his family and had to endure a life of utter, dire poverty. A description of the hardships faced by him will melt anybody�s heart. If other families observed EkAdashi twice a month, VenkaTanAtha�s family did that several times in a week. His poverty was so stark that he could not afford a drop of oil to take an oil-bath on a festival day like dIpAvali. His family did not see new clothes for years. Inspite of all this, he never lost his equanimity or wavered in his faith towards the Lord. He continued his self-study, and free teachings, determined to live by whatever came to him unsought and unasked.

Playing with fire - disrespecting a true hari bhakta
VenkaTanAtha once attended a wedding. Since he was poor and not well dressed, the hosts did not treat him well. They thought that he had come for the free food and wanted him to earn his meal. To this end, they asked him to grind sandalwood and generate the paste, to which he readily agreed. Out of habit, he started reciting vedic sUktas while grinding. Soon, the task was done and the paste was handed over to the Brahmins attending the function. When they applied the paste to their bodies, they experienced a strong burning sensation. On further enquiry it was found that unknowingly VenkaTanAtha had recited agni sUkta while grinding the paste. The Brahmins immediately understood that the VenkaTanAtha was a divine personality and his recitation of agni sUkta had invoked the presence of agni in the paste. The host begged VenkaTanAtha for forgiveness and asked him to generate some paste while reciting varuna sUkta. When this paste was applied, the burning subsided. Such was the potency of mantras recited by VenkaTanAtha.

The point to note is that he did not deliberately do this out of anger or sorrow at the host�s disgusting behavior. He took everything with equanimity and did what came naturally to him � pray to the Lord through vedic hymns. It was Divine will that the world at large should learn about the greatness of VenkaTanAtha, and that�s why he ended up reciting agni sUkta.

Collected by: U.D. Nagaraja

II. ShrI vijaEndra tIrtha and sudhIndra tIrtha:

पूज्याय राघवेंद्राया सत्याधार्मारातायाचा !भजतां कल्पवृक्षाय नमताम कामधेनवे!!

ShrI vijaEndra tIrtha and sudhIndra tIrtha:
shrI vyAsa tIrtha had many illustrious disciples, but shri vijayIndra tIrtha was his favorite. VyAsarAyaru was grooming him to be his successor, but destiny willed otherwise. vijayIndraru was handed over to shrI surEndra tIrtharu of vibhudEndra maTha (as it was known then).

Birth and childhood
The fall of the vijayanagar kingdom had an adverse effect on many scholars who depended on royal patronage. Most of them moved south with their families, finding refuge with southern kings and chieftains. One such scholar was Thimmanna Bhatta, grandson of Krishnabhatta, who had tutored King Krishnadevaraya in the veena. Thimmanna belonged to the gautama gOtra and was married to GopikAmba. Initially, this couple had 2 children � GururAja and VenkaTAmba. Later in 1595, by the grace of Lord Venkateshwara, a third son was born to this couple. They named him VenkaTanAtha (some books refer to him as Venkanna bhatta).

Education
VenkaTanAtha proved to be a very brilliant scholar. This greatness was visible even he was a child. For example, he is supposed to have questioned his father as to how a small object like �Om� could capture the infinite greatness of god. However, his father did not live long enough to see the greatness of his son, he passed away when VenkaTanAtha was still at a very young age.

VenkaTanAtha�s brother took care of his upbringing. The initial portion of his education was under his brother-in-law LakshmInarasimhAchArya of Madurai.

Collected by: U.D. Nagaraja

II

• ShrI vijaEndra tIrtha and sudhIndra tIrtha:

shrI vyAsa tIrtha had many illustrious disciples, but shri vijayIndra tIrtha was his favorite. VyAsarAyaru was grooming him to be his successor, but destiny willed otherwise. vijayIndraru was handed over to shrI surEndra tIrtharu of vibhudEndra maTha (as it was known then).

Birth and childhood
The fall of the vijayanagar kingdom had an adverse effect on many scholars who depended on royal patronage. Most of them moved south with their families, finding refuge with southern kings and chieftains. One such scholar was Thimmanna Bhatta, grandson of Krishnabhatta, who had tutored King Krishnadevaraya in the veena. Thimmanna belonged to the gautama gOtra and was married to GopikAmba. Initially, this couple had 2 children � GururAja and VenkATamba. Later in 1595, by the grace of Lord Venkateshwara, a third son was born to this couple. They named him VenkaTanAtha (some books refer to him as Venkanna bhatta).

Education
VenkaTanAtha proved to be a very brilliant scholar. This greatness was visible even he was a child. For example, he is supposed to have questioned his father as to how a small object like �Om� could capture the infinite greatness of god. However, his father did not live long enough to see the greatness of his son, he passed away when VenkaTanAtha was still at a very young age.

VenkaTanAtha�s brother took care of his upbringing. The initial portion of his education was under his brother-in-law LakshmInarasimhAchArya of Madurai.

Collected by: U.D. Nagaraja

SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMIGALU

I.

pUjyAya rAghavendrAya satyadharma ratAya cha

bhajatAM kalpavRikshAya namatAM kAmadhenave

Introduction Antecedents:

It is popular belief, based on testimonials from aparOxa gyAnis, that the incarnations of rAyaru are as follows –
Sankukarna � PrahlAda � bAhlIka � vyAsa tIrtha�Guru rAyaru (Shri Raghavendra wamy).

Let us take a closer look at each person in the lineage.

Sankukarna was a karmaja dEvata assisting chaturmukha brahma in the pUja of the Lord. One day, he was a little late in bringing flowers for the pooja and brahma cursed him to be born on the earth. Obviously this was a pretense since brahma is beyond flaws like anger, greed etc. The real intention of brahma was to pave the way for the incarnation of narasimha and also to show the world the greatness of sankukarna.

The story of prahlAda is very well known and needs no further elaboration. BAhlIka was a very pious king in dvApara yuga. He was a great devotee of Lord Krishna, but due to circumstances beyond his control he ended up fighting against the pAnDavas. He wanted to die at the hands of bhIma and so challanged him to a fight, but bhIma was reluctant to hurt a devotee of the Lord. BAhLika begged him to kill him so that he could take future births and serve him (bhIma or madhvAchArya) with devotion. BhIma agreed to do that provided bAhlika hit the first blow. When bAhlika did as directed, bhIma hit him gently with his formidable mace. Thus bAhlIka got the death he wanted, a heart full of devotion towards Krishna, and the divine sight of Krishna and bhIma at the time of his death.

BAhlIka was reborn as vyAsa tIrtha, one of the most revered mAdhva saints. He was an excellent writer with several great works to his credit, the chief ones being tAtparya chandrika, tarka tAnDava and nyAyamruta. He was the revered rAjaguru who helped king krishnadEvarAya through several major crisis in his life. He was the jeweler who gave us precious gems like purandara dAsaru and kanakadAsaru, and did invaluable service to the cause of haridAsa sAhitya. Above all, he was a very great devotee of hari and vAyu, who established over 732 hanumanta icons including the famous yantrodhdhAraka temple in hampi, personally worshipped Lord Venkateshwara in tirupati for over 12 years and composed hundreds of devotional songs.

vyAsa tIrtha was reborn as venkaTanAtha (who later became rAyaru), with the special grace of hari and vAyu dEvaru. This belief is based on the testimonial of aparOxa gyAnis and has never been questioned.

.......to be continued.

HINDUISM

INDIA - HINDUISM - DWAITHA PHILOSOPHY - JAGADGURU SRIMAN MADHWACHARYA

(BHARATA DESHA) has been the birth place for many religions & philosophies for ages viz., Jainism, Budhisim, Sikhism, Veeraashaivam etc. More importantly it is not only the birth place but also center for "SANATANA HINDU DHARMA" from which sprouted these new & recent religions. The three major Hindu philosophies are Advaita Siddhanta as propagated by Shankaracharya, Vishista Adavita as propagated by Ramanujacharya and the Dvaita Philosophy as propagated by Shri Madhwacharya. The Uttaradi Matha propagating Dwaita Sidhanta has been in existence from the time immemorial. The seat of Uttaradi Matha starting from "HANSANAMAKA PARAMATMA" has been passed on to the four faced BRAHMA then to DURVASARU etc, in disciplic succession. Uttaradi Matha is also the abode of glorious idols of "Moola Rama Devaru, Digvijaya Rama Devaru & Moola Sita Devaru etc" .

After these idols were worshipped by 'Devatas', in due course they were handed over to the great emperors of SURYA VANSHA who worshipped them till they finally reached the hands of Madhwacharya. After Madhvacharya, great saints like Padmanabha Tirtha, Jaya Teertharu, Raghunatha Teertharu, Raghottama Teertharu, Satya bodha Teertharu, Satya Gnana Teertharu, Satyadhyana Teertharu etc adroned this premier peetha of Vedic Samrajya. Jagadguru Shri 1008 Shri Satya Pramoda Teertharu (from 1948-1997) adorned this glorious peetha and did pooja for the last 50 years without a single day's interruption. Inspite of his fragile frame even at the age of 80 his agility, enthusiasm and memory power put to shame even young men in their twenties. His qualities and desire to reach all the disciples (bhaktas) beyond one's physical limits often surprised one and all. Such "Yuga Purushas" are born once in a century. Words do not convey in real terms his greatness in true perspective. Lacking any better medium, we take recourse to the words to the best of our capacity.

Shri Satya Pramoda Teertharu was born to Rangacharya Guttal (One of the celebrated and famous families of sanskrit pundits) hailing from the village Guttal in Dharwad district of Karnataka in the year 1918. Rangacharya Guttal was famous for his scholarship in Vedic philosophy and also for his hospitality, bhakti and vairagya. Our jagadguru was named as 'GURU RAJA'. It was truly an appropriate name as he was to become 'Guru' to all the Madhwas. From childhood he learnt sanskrit, Vedic scriptures, Madhva Shastra etc., under his great father and later in the famous sanskrit institutions in Mysore and Madras (Chennai). His briliance & scholarship was appreciated by the great scholars of those days. His profound knowledge in 'Tarka Shastra' earned him the title of "Tarka Shiromani" in the examination conducted in 1940 in Chennai (Madras). He entered "Grahasta Ashrama" in the year 1941. He was blessed with a daughter and a son.

It was during this period that the great Shri 1008 Shri Satyabhigna Teertharu of Uttaradi Math after his south Indian Digvijaya (Visiting the holy places & blessing the disciples) arrived in Ranebennur (in Karnataka). In view of his failing health it was in the year 1948 (Sarvajithanama Samvatsara Pushya Vadya Ashtami) he crowned Guru Rajacharya as head of Uttaradi Matha and called him as Satya Pramoda Tirtha. He took sanyasa at a very young age, hardly seven years after he entered Grihastha Ashram (married life).

After ascending the throne of Uttaradi Mutt at this young age, he dedicated himself entirely in the propagation of Madhva Sidhanta by touring the length & breadth of the country. He is the first pontiff who visited Orissa after Narahari Teertharu.

Inspite of his scholarship and brilliance as usual initially there were some pundits of those days who were less responsive and tried to create difficulties for the new Guru. But the Peetha 'Sannidhana' and 'Mahatmya' the greatness and sanctity of the Peetha & the 'anugraha' of the great gurus (blessings of his gurus) was so overwhelming that all of them failed in their pursuit to embarrass him and in due course they prostrated themselves before him begging his pardon and accepted him as Jagadguru unequivocally.

He is the 41st pontiff in Uttaradi Matha after Madhwacharya. Further, besides him there are only four other Gurus who had the rare privilege of doing Pooja of Rama Devaru for more than 50 years. In his illustrious reign of fifty years there is hardly any place worth the name (where Madhwa community lived) he missed visiting and blessing them by way of patha, pravachana, pooja, Ramadevara darshana, Tirtha, Prasad etc. It can be mentioned that any 'Bhakta' who had his darshan once never missed realising his magnetic attraction, his brilliance, compassion and scholarship etc. Time and space does not permit to list and describe all his achievements. Suffice to make a mention of the few.

In the 'vidwat sabha' held at pune (One of the premiere centers of Madhwa Community) 19 institutions and hundreds of pundits honoured him for the brilliant manner and style of his analysis of the 'Sudha' and other great 'Madhva Shastra Granthas'. In Benaras (which is the home for vedic scholars from time immemorial to the present day) such great Advaita scholars like Hare Rama Shukla, Vamcharan Bhattacharya and (later even great Anant Krishna Shastry etc) after hearing his exposition of Madhva Sidhanta for more than one month were so impressed by his scholarship that they honoured him by taking out his procession on elephant and declared that he is truly the "Abhinava Satyadhyana Teertharu".

Similarly at other places also his processions on elephant and/or car was taken out and was also honoured by submitting 'Sanmana Patras' . These 'Sanmanapatras' alone will run in to volumes. Like Satyadhyana Teertharu many great 'yatigalu' (sanyasis), Peethadhi Patis came to learn shastras under his guidance. Notable among them are Kudali Mutt Ram Dhyan Teertharu, Raghu Pramati Teertharu and Raghu Priya Teertharu. They are many who took 'Sanyasa Ashram' through his benevolence and pay their obeisances to this day.

In the year 1985 Shri 1008 Shri Satya Pramoda Teertharu sat for Chaturmasya at Sode (Karnataka). During this occasion, he delivered discource on the 'Yukti Mallika' (an important work written by the great Vadiraja Teertharu whose 'Vrindavan' is at sode).

Sri swamiji has celebrated 'Sudha Mangala' at least 30 times and many of them at the Vrindavans of great previous 'Gurus' like 'Jayateertharu' etc. Many great scholarly works were also written by him, notable among them are 'Nyaya Sudha Mandana' ,'Yukti Mallika Vyakhyan' and 'Eshanya Stuti Khandana' etc. besides various articles. These truly light the path to 'Gnana Marga' for the seekers of the essence of Madhva Shastra.

It is no exaggeration to say that to maintain high traditions of Uttaradi Matha like 'madi'(sanctity), vairagya, vrata, niyamas and the sampradayas etc. it needs great spiritual power, unlimited patience, physical endurance. In his 50 years of Vedic reign besides every day Japa, Tapa, Sudha patha, Pravachana, he did 'VISHNU PANCHAKA VRATA' five times, and did 'KASHTA MOUNA VRATA' at Mahishi & Yaragola. Under his grest guidance hundreds of scholars (Pundits) who could teach 'Sudha' (Sudha Patha) were trained by him. They in turn are running 'GURU KULAS' (Sanskrit schools of Vedic Philosophy) propagating the Madhva Shastra & imparting basic knowledge of sanskrit to young ones & Shastra Shravana to the disciples (Grahastas) and 'Stree Dharma' to ladies etc.

During his reign many great infrastructure projects were under taken. Many math buildings which were in dilapidated condition were remodeled, expanded and renovated. Important institutions which were renovated are the Uttaradi Matha at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Tirukoilur, Hospet, Malakhed, etc. He did pratisthapana of several new math buildings and mrittika brindavanams of earlier 'Gurus' and other great saints at various places. Most important among them are at Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Warangal etc.

It was during his period that great many exquisite gold, silver, & diamond ornaments and vessels for pooja were made and offered to Rama devaru, which can be seen during daily pooja and on special pooja days like 'Rama Navami', Bali Pratipada, etc.

Every year 'Vidwat Sabhas' at the time of 'Maha Samaradhana' and ' Chaturmasya', were organised and conducted under his guidance. Besides, he also chaired many important 'Gnana Satras' and 'Sabhas'. During his period lakhs & lakhs of followers of Uttaradi Math had darshana, Tapta Mudradharana,Tirtha Prasada, etc.

In the later part of his reign his divine spiritual powers attained such great heights that many shishyas who had problems of health, who desired wealth, who desired grooms/brides for their children, issueless couples desirous of children, people possessed with spirits, people seeking promotions, etc. prostrateed at his feet seeking his guidance and grace. Many miracles did happen. These incidents will run into volumes. Hopefully in due course a compendium will be brought out bringing out these and such other miracles by his disciples. He could speak eloquently and address large gathering in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, kannada & Marathi, though he did not have formal education in these languages.

His compassion for the poor and lowly ones was such that even though he was very tired he would hardly refuse to visit them inspite of his failing health. His mind boggling memory would excel any of the super computers of the modern day. Even after decades he could recall the names if the shishyas he met once. He could remember hundreds of telephone numbers of his disciples. There were any number of occasions when he could guide correctly the driver & others along the route to reach the destination not frequently visited . It was one of the great quality of our Guru that pundits, laymen, young & old, learned and not so learned all were dear to him. No pundits ever went empty handed. Each was honoured according to his status. Every shishya felt that Swamiji had special affection for him. This feeling of all the Shishyas can be compared to the feelings of each Gopika who felt that Lord Krishna loved her most.

In great & large society like ours there are a few misled & misguided souls who have always a twisted perception of the actions of even great 'Gurus' It can only be mentioned that it is their fate and destiny and they get what they deserve. We can only pray for their deliverance from their ignorance and misconception. Such ones existed at all times. Many who would have a doubt of a particular action taken at a particular time would later realize the greatness of his heart and correctness of his action and felt humbled and ashamed at the doubts he entertained earlier.

Thus after an illustrious reign of 50 years the great and the noble Jagadguru Shri 1008 Shri Satya Pramoda Tirthaaru attained 'Hari Pada Sannidhi' (Left for heavenly abode) at Tirikoilur (Tamilnadu) on 3-11-1997 besides the Vrindavan Of Shri Raghottam Teertharu (one of the greatest gurus of Our Math). As if he knew all the future events he ordained Sanyas Ashram to Sarvagnachar and named him as 'Satyatma Tirtha' on 24-4-1996 at Tirukoilur (Tamil Nadu) where the Vrindavan of Shri Raghottama Teertharu exists. It is very pertinent to mention here that among the 41 Gurus of Uttaradi Mutt, Raghottama Teertharu is the only Guru (exception Shri Aanand Tirtha Shripada) who took sanyas as brahmachari & rest of the Gurus were 'Grahastashramis' as per the traditions of the Mutt. After him Shri Satyatma Teertharu is the next Guru, who had adorned the peetha of Uttaraddi Mutt after taking Sanyas as a brahmachari and thus his reign started from 3-11-1997. He is the 42nd Guru in the Uttaradi Mutt starting from Shri Ananda Tirtha Shri pada.

This is but a very brief portrayal of the achievements in chronological order of our Guru who was a 'Yuga Purusha' in real sense. Even on the last day of his 'Avatara' on this planet he did patha and pooja. Truly such Yuga Purushas are born once in a century. Fortunate are the souls who had the opportunity to have his darshana and blessings. These are the souls who know deep in their hearts what they achieved through his grace. We are very fortunate indeed to have him as our Guru.

Work by Shri Satyapramoda Teertharu : 1) Shriman Nyayasudhamandanam. 2) Yuktimallika Vyakhyana. 3) Vaishnava Sidhantarjavam. 4) Shri Vijayendra Vijaya Vaibhavam. 5) Bhagavataha Nirdoshattva Lakshanaha. 6) Vayustuti Mandanam.

Manampoondi (Tirukoilur)

Manamppondi is 36 KM away from Tiruvannamalai and 2 KM before Tirukoilur, on Tiruvannamalai - Tirukoilur highway. Tirukoilur is 237 KM away from Bangalore. Shri Shri 1008 Shri Raghuttama Teertharu & Shri Shri 1008 Shri Satyapramoda Teertharu Brindavans are situated in Manmpoondi. Sufficient bus facilities (KSRTC & TNSRTC) are available to Manmpoondi from Bangalore. Bangalore - Villupuram busses stop at Manampoondi on request.

Contact Information:
Sri Pt. Ananda Tirthachar Chimmalgi
Sri Sri Raghuthamma Swamy Moola Brindavana,
Manmpoondi (Tirukoailure) - 605759,
Dist : Villupuram, Publish Post

Posted by U.D.NAGARAJA at 3:04 PM