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