Wednesday, February 14, 2007
GREATNESS OF THE NAME RAGAVENDRA :
The name ‘Raghavendra’ chosen by Moola rAma devaru was a very apt choice for RAyaru. It carries a wealth of meaning. It indicates Lord Rama since he is the indra of the Raghu kula. It indicates Hanumanta (‘raghAva yasya indrah sah rAghavendra’, Raghavendra is the one whose indra or lord is Raghava. This signifies Anjaneya). It also means ‘one who destroys sins and bestows desired things’ – a very appropriate name for RAyaru! In one song Sri GopAla dAsaru describes the name as such – “Ra” destroys mountains of sins, “gha” provides deep rooted devotion, “Ven” gives speedy liberation from the cycle of life and death and “dra” blesses one with vision of the Lord who is celebrated in all shrutis. In the Raghavendra stotra, Sri AppannAchArya describes him as “Sri rAghave.ndraH sakalapradAtA svapAda ka.njadvaya bhaktimadbhyaH aghAdrisa.nbhedanadR^ishhTivajraH xamAsure.ndro avatumAM sadA.ayam.h” which gives roughly the same meaning as the other statements
Complete Life History of Rayaru
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 (Guru Raghavendra). 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.
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.
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 hardhips 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 aparOxagyani, 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.
Village bumpkin becomes prime minister!
Venkanna was a brahmin boy in a small village under the sovereignty of the Nawab of Adoni. Due to family problems, he was not tutored or taught any useful skills. He was assigned to the task of tending the family’s herd of cows, and thus used to spend his entire days in the countryside watching over the cows. He had heard of the greatness of rAyaru and was eager to meet him and seek his blessings. His prayers were heard because one day the retinue of rAyaru passed close by. He immediately ran to the palanquin that rAyaru was travelling in and prostrated before it. RAyaru looked at him and inquired about his antecedents. Venkanna explained his plight and stood with outstretched palms. RAyaru took pity on the boy and gave him some (mantrAkshate) consecrated rice and told him “When you are in real distress and need my help, put this on your head and think of me”. The palanquin moved on. Venkanna tied the precious rice into a bundle and always carried it with him.
One day, Venkanna was relaxing under the shade of a tree when he saw a noble man get down from a horse and rest under the shade of another tree close by. Curious, he watched him closely and immediately realized that the noble man was none other than the Nawab himself! Even as this realization dawned on him, he saw another man on horseback approaching the Nawab. The new person got down from the horse, prostrated in front of the Nawab and handed him a written scroll. Now, both the Nawab and the rider were illiterate and needed somebody to help them. When the Nawab looked around, he saw Venkanna. He also saw Venkanna’s tuft and his sacred thread and concluded that this was a brahmin. Since brahmins are usually literate, he felt that his problem was solved. He beckoned Venkanna and handing him the scroll, commanded him to read. Poor Venkanna was in a dilemma since he was also illiterate. He could not refuse a direct order of the Nawab since that would mean immediate death, nor could he tell the truth that he was illiterate because the Nawab would not believe him and would think that Venkanna was trying fool him. Caught in this deadly trap, he suddenly remembered the kind guru who had promised to help him in his hour of need. He took the consecrated rice and put it on his head. With this mind full of devotion towards rAyaru and his lips secretly muttering “rAghavEndra, rAghavEndra”, he boldly opened the scroll. Lo behold, the characters on the scroll began to make sense and he could read! It was actually a piece of good news, informing the Nawab that his wife had delivered a baby boy, thus making him a father, something that he was passionately yearning for. When he heard the news, he was overjoyed and immediately took out a pearl necklace from his neck and gave it to Venkanna. However, rAyaru sitting in Venkanna’s mind did not allow him to be satisfied with this. He boldly prostrated before the Nawab and told him “If your Highness is really happy with me, then please give me a good job in your administration. I will serve you faithfully and honestly to the best of my ability”. The Nawab was pleased with this answer and accordingly gave him a good job. Through hard work and diligence, Venkanna worked his way up the ranks and in a short time became the Nawab’s trusted divan. Thus a chance encounter with rAyaru transformed Venkanna’s entire life into a bed of roses!
Nawab tests rAyaru and loses
Once rAyaru visited Adoni and accepted Venkanna’s invitation to stay with him. Venkanna waxed eloquent about rAyaru’s prowess to his Nawab and forced him to visit rAyaru to pay his respects. Now the Nawab was skeptical about rAyaru and did not accept any authority other than Allah and his devotees. He wanted to expose rAyaru and score a point on Venkanna. He secretly ordered for three silver plates, full of meat, but totally covered with silken cloth to be prepared. He took this with him and accompanied Venkanna to the pUja. Along with the offering brought by Venkanna, he also offered his covered plates as naivedya for mUla rAma. RAyaru saw through his guile and sprinkled water from his kamanDala on the plates. Later, he ordered the clothes to be removed. The Nawab was waiting for this moment with bated breath. He was licking his lips in anticipation of unmasking this brahmin swAmiji. When the clothes were removed, they revealed 3 plates full of fresh fruits and flowers! The Nawab was astounded and instantly realized the greatness of rAyaru, and the great sin he had committed by testing this man of god. He immediately prostrated before rAyaru and with tears in his eyes begged his forgiveness. The kind and ever merciful rAyaru forgave him gladly. However, the Nawab was not satisfied, he begged rAyaru to accept some offering from him. rAyaru initially refused saying that he was a sanyAsi who had no desire for worldly things, but the Nawab kept on begging him, so finally he had to agree. He asked for the Nawab to give him the village of manchAle on the banks of the tungabhadra. The Nawab was surprised since that was barren land, yielding no crops or revenue. He tried to talk rAyaru into accepting more fertile land, but rAyaru would not accept anything other than manchAle. The Nawab immediately gifted that village to rAyaru.
Two – two – two to enter brindAvana
RAyaru summoned his closest disciples and divan Venkanna and told them of his intention to enter a brindAvana live. The devotees were devastated but they could not change his decision since it was Divine will. They wanted to know when he would do so, but he told them that they would find out at the appropriate time.
One day, rAyaru was sitting outside under a tree, conducting a shAstra pATha for this disciples. He suddenly stood up, looked up at the sky and folded his hands in reverence. His disciples were surprised by this, but they also stood up and did exactly as he was doing. Within a moment, a fragrant tulsi garland fell around rAyaru’s neck. When they pressed him for an explanation, he told them “I just saw Krishna Dvaipayana going in a heavenly chariot to vaikunTha. I asked him when my turn would come and he held up his Index and middle finger three times. He finally blessed me by throwing this mAla on me”. The disciples were greatly intrigued by this and wanted to know the significance of this two-two-two. Rayaru smiled and told them “It means that I have 2 years, 2 months and 2 days left before entering the brindAvana!” The disciples calculated the date and concluded that it would be Virodhikruth Samvatsara, Shravana krishna paksha dwitiya (second day in the dark half of the moon, in the Hindu year Virodhikruth).
RAyaru select manchAle for his brindAvana
RAyaru summoned his closest disciples and announced his choice of manchAle as the spot for his brindAvana live in mantrAlaya. They wanted to know what was special about that spot. RAyaru explained the spiritual significance of manchAle as follows:
In one of his earlier incarnation, rAyaru as prahlAda had performed a large yagna in that spot, sanctifying it forever. When arjuna was on his victorious journey in connection with the rAjasUya yAga being conducted by dharmarAja he fought with a local king at this spot. Since the king’s chariot was positioned over that spot, he was invincible. In panic, Arjuna prayed to Krishna for guidance. Krishna appeared before him and told him to move his chariot a little backwards. The local king also foolishly moved his chariot forward and lost the battle immediately. Such was the power of the spot on which prahlAda had performed his yAga.
Venkanna had a beautiful brindAvana be built for rAyaru. But rAyaru did not want to use that and asked him to reserve it for a future personality. He then took Venkanna to a remote spot and showed a black rock. He wanted his brindAvana to be built using the rock. When venkanna wanted to know what was special about that rock, rAyaru explained “While searching for sIta, Lord rama came here. He rested on this rock for a while. Since it has been sanctified by His touch, this rock is the one I want”. The brindAvana built under Venkanna’s guidance was used for shrI vAdIndara tIrtha at a later date.
Visits manchAlAmma and obtains permission
Before entering the brindAvana in manchAle, RAyaru decided to seek the persmission of manchAlamma, the presiding deity of manchAle. Accordingly, he went to her temple and prayed to her. She immediately appeared before him in person and encouraged him to ask her for a boon. RAyaru stated his desire. The dEvi replied “Once your brindAvana is established here, millions will visit manchAle to seek your blessings. I will be totally forgotten and nobody will associate this place with me! My temple will fall destitute without anybody to care for it”. Rayaru replied “I will not let this happen. Here is my promise. If my devotees visit my brindAvana directly, without going to your temple first, then I will not help them. So, if they need my grace, they have to visit your temple first”. When manchAlamma heard this, she was pleased and immediately granted him permission to enter the brindAvAna in manchAle.
ShrAvana bahula bidige
On the day chosen (Virodhikruth Samvatsara Shravana krishna paksha dwitiya - 1671 A.D.), thousands of people had congregated in manchAle to see this rare event of a person entering a brindAvana alive. It had been done before only once – by vAdirAja tIrtha.
As usual, rAyaru got up before dawn, meditating on ShrI Hari and finished his bath during the early hours itself. After his japa and dhyana he gave a discourse on ShrIimadAchArya’s works to his fortunate disciples for the last time. His disciples were grief stricken at the thought that this was going to be their master's last discourse. The master was filled with an overwhelming desire to teach as much as possible and the disciples were anxious and eager to absorb everything. The subject matter was as usual ShrImadAchArya's Bhashya and ShrI JayatIrtha's commentary for it. That day's discourse was the culmination of his life's mission. For the thousands that had gathered there the realisation that they would not see such a treasure house of knowledge hereafter filled them with pain and agony. The discourse came to an end.
After bathing once again he started the puja of ShrI Rama and other icons of the samsthan. After going through all the details of the puja he blessed the entire gathering with tIrtha, prasad and phalamantrakshata. As the appointed time was nearing he went to the spot that was already chosen and sat in padmAsana. He had his japa mala in his right hand and in front of him were all the moola granthas, sarva moola, tikas and tippanis on the vyasa peetha. For a while he was lost in contemplation; then he started his soul-stirring speech.
RAyaru enters brindAvana
RAyaru then took up his veena and started to sing in Bhairavi raaga the famous song,"Indu Enege Govinda" where he extols the Lord as His only Saviour and that he should be pardoned for having led an irreligious life without singing his glories. He ends the song with His mudrika "Dheera Venugopaala Bhaara Kaaniso Hariye". Just as in His previous avatAra as VyAsaraja in this avatara also the blue darling of brindAvan in the form of an icon danced to the melodious of his darling who was going to enter the brindAvan.
After this rAyaru began reciting the pranava mantra. In a very short time he was lost in meditation. He reached the highest point in mediation. His face was serene. He was shining with a rare brilliance.
At one stage the japamala in the master's hand became still. Venkanna and other disciples who understood this sign started arranging the slabs around him. They arranged the slabs upto his head and then as per his earlier instructions they placed a copper box containing one thousand two hundred LakshmInArAyaNa shaligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki river. Then they placed the covering slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the brindavan that they had built. A grand feast was hosted to commemorate this glorious event.
Last shloka of RaghavendraVijayam.
Santam shrIramaNa priyam yativaram vyAsasya bhAvebrishan
DurvArAmitamAyi bhikshutimire paryasya chandram bhuvi/
Satsandasthutamishta dakshitiruham vandAruvi prAshrayam
Tam NatvA sakalo durUhasudrasham samyAti vidyAdikam//
Those people who bow to Shri Raghavendra, the beloved of the Lord of Lakshmi,
who is a venerable yati (saint), who meticulously follows the words of VEda VyAsa,
who dispels the unbearable, boundless darkness of ignorance caused by illusionist sanyasis just as the moon dispels the darkness,
who is always praised by the noble people, who is verily the wishing tree which satiates all our wishes and
who is always with devout brahmins will their material wants satisfied be endowed with spiritual wisdom, and ultimately get aparoksha JnAna. (Supreme Knowledge)
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 (Guru Raghavendra). 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.
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.
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 hardhips 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 aparOxagyani, 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.
Village bumpkin becomes prime minister!
Venkanna was a brahmin boy in a small village under the sovereignty of the Nawab of Adoni. Due to family problems, he was not tutored or taught any useful skills. He was assigned to the task of tending the family’s herd of cows, and thus used to spend his entire days in the countryside watching over the cows. He had heard of the greatness of rAyaru and was eager to meet him and seek his blessings. His prayers were heard because one day the retinue of rAyaru passed close by. He immediately ran to the palanquin that rAyaru was travelling in and prostrated before it. RAyaru looked at him and inquired about his antecedents. Venkanna explained his plight and stood with outstretched palms. RAyaru took pity on the boy and gave him some (mantrAkshate) consecrated rice and told him “When you are in real distress and need my help, put this on your head and think of me”. The palanquin moved on. Venkanna tied the precious rice into a bundle and always carried it with him.
One day, Venkanna was relaxing under the shade of a tree when he saw a noble man get down from a horse and rest under the shade of another tree close by. Curious, he watched him closely and immediately realized that the noble man was none other than the Nawab himself! Even as this realization dawned on him, he saw another man on horseback approaching the Nawab. The new person got down from the horse, prostrated in front of the Nawab and handed him a written scroll. Now, both the Nawab and the rider were illiterate and needed somebody to help them. When the Nawab looked around, he saw Venkanna. He also saw Venkanna’s tuft and his sacred thread and concluded that this was a brahmin. Since brahmins are usually literate, he felt that his problem was solved. He beckoned Venkanna and handing him the scroll, commanded him to read. Poor Venkanna was in a dilemma since he was also illiterate. He could not refuse a direct order of the Nawab since that would mean immediate death, nor could he tell the truth that he was illiterate because the Nawab would not believe him and would think that Venkanna was trying fool him. Caught in this deadly trap, he suddenly remembered the kind guru who had promised to help him in his hour of need. He took the consecrated rice and put it on his head. With this mind full of devotion towards rAyaru and his lips secretly muttering “rAghavEndra, rAghavEndra”, he boldly opened the scroll. Lo behold, the characters on the scroll began to make sense and he could read! It was actually a piece of good news, informing the Nawab that his wife had delivered a baby boy, thus making him a father, something that he was passionately yearning for. When he heard the news, he was overjoyed and immediately took out a pearl necklace from his neck and gave it to Venkanna. However, rAyaru sitting in Venkanna’s mind did not allow him to be satisfied with this. He boldly prostrated before the Nawab and told him “If your Highness is really happy with me, then please give me a good job in your administration. I will serve you faithfully and honestly to the best of my ability”. The Nawab was pleased with this answer and accordingly gave him a good job. Through hard work and diligence, Venkanna worked his way up the ranks and in a short time became the Nawab’s trusted divan. Thus a chance encounter with rAyaru transformed Venkanna’s entire life into a bed of roses!
Nawab tests rAyaru and loses
Once rAyaru visited Adoni and accepted Venkanna’s invitation to stay with him. Venkanna waxed eloquent about rAyaru’s prowess to his Nawab and forced him to visit rAyaru to pay his respects. Now the Nawab was skeptical about rAyaru and did not accept any authority other than Allah and his devotees. He wanted to expose rAyaru and score a point on Venkanna. He secretly ordered for three silver plates, full of meat, but totally covered with silken cloth to be prepared. He took this with him and accompanied Venkanna to the pUja. Along with the offering brought by Venkanna, he also offered his covered plates as naivedya for mUla rAma. RAyaru saw through his guile and sprinkled water from his kamanDala on the plates. Later, he ordered the clothes to be removed. The Nawab was waiting for this moment with bated breath. He was licking his lips in anticipation of unmasking this brahmin swAmiji. When the clothes were removed, they revealed 3 plates full of fresh fruits and flowers! The Nawab was astounded and instantly realized the greatness of rAyaru, and the great sin he had committed by testing this man of god. He immediately prostrated before rAyaru and with tears in his eyes begged his forgiveness. The kind and ever merciful rAyaru forgave him gladly. However, the Nawab was not satisfied, he begged rAyaru to accept some offering from him. rAyaru initially refused saying that he was a sanyAsi who had no desire for worldly things, but the Nawab kept on begging him, so finally he had to agree. He asked for the Nawab to give him the village of manchAle on the banks of the tungabhadra. The Nawab was surprised since that was barren land, yielding no crops or revenue. He tried to talk rAyaru into accepting more fertile land, but rAyaru would not accept anything other than manchAle. The Nawab immediately gifted that village to rAyaru.
Two – two – two to enter brindAvana
RAyaru summoned his closest disciples and divan Venkanna and told them of his intention to enter a brindAvana live. The devotees were devastated but they could not change his decision since it was Divine will. They wanted to know when he would do so, but he told them that they would find out at the appropriate time.
One day, rAyaru was sitting outside under a tree, conducting a shAstra pATha for this disciples. He suddenly stood up, looked up at the sky and folded his hands in reverence. His disciples were surprised by this, but they also stood up and did exactly as he was doing. Within a moment, a fragrant tulsi garland fell around rAyaru’s neck. When they pressed him for an explanation, he told them “I just saw Krishna Dvaipayana going in a heavenly chariot to vaikunTha. I asked him when my turn would come and he held up his Index and middle finger three times. He finally blessed me by throwing this mAla on me”. The disciples were greatly intrigued by this and wanted to know the significance of this two-two-two. Rayaru smiled and told them “It means that I have 2 years, 2 months and 2 days left before entering the brindAvana!” The disciples calculated the date and concluded that it would be Virodhikruth Samvatsara, Shravana krishna paksha dwitiya (second day in the dark half of the moon, in the Hindu year Virodhikruth).
RAyaru select manchAle for his brindAvana
RAyaru summoned his closest disciples and announced his choice of manchAle as the spot for his brindAvana live in mantrAlaya. They wanted to know what was special about that spot. RAyaru explained the spiritual significance of manchAle as follows:
In one of his earlier incarnation, rAyaru as prahlAda had performed a large yagna in that spot, sanctifying it forever. When arjuna was on his victorious journey in connection with the rAjasUya yAga being conducted by dharmarAja he fought with a local king at this spot. Since the king’s chariot was positioned over that spot, he was invincible. In panic, Arjuna prayed to Krishna for guidance. Krishna appeared before him and told him to move his chariot a little backwards. The local king also foolishly moved his chariot forward and lost the battle immediately. Such was the power of the spot on which prahlAda had performed his yAga.
Venkanna had a beautiful brindAvana be built for rAyaru. But rAyaru did not want to use that and asked him to reserve it for a future personality. He then took Venkanna to a remote spot and showed a black rock. He wanted his brindAvana to be built using the rock. When venkanna wanted to know what was special about that rock, rAyaru explained “While searching for sIta, Lord rama came here. He rested on this rock for a while. Since it has been sanctified by His touch, this rock is the one I want”. The brindAvana built under Venkanna’s guidance was used for shrI vAdIndara tIrtha at a later date.
Visits manchAlAmma and obtains permission
Before entering the brindAvana in manchAle, RAyaru decided to seek the persmission of manchAlamma, the presiding deity of manchAle. Accordingly, he went to her temple and prayed to her. She immediately appeared before him in person and encouraged him to ask her for a boon. RAyaru stated his desire. The dEvi replied “Once your brindAvana is established here, millions will visit manchAle to seek your blessings. I will be totally forgotten and nobody will associate this place with me! My temple will fall destitute without anybody to care for it”. Rayaru replied “I will not let this happen. Here is my promise. If my devotees visit my brindAvana directly, without going to your temple first, then I will not help them. So, if they need my grace, they have to visit your temple first”. When manchAlamma heard this, she was pleased and immediately granted him permission to enter the brindAvAna in manchAle.
ShrAvana bahula bidige
On the day chosen (Virodhikruth Samvatsara Shravana krishna paksha dwitiya - 1671 A.D.), thousands of people had congregated in manchAle to see this rare event of a person entering a brindAvana alive. It had been done before only once – by vAdirAja tIrtha.
As usual, rAyaru got up before dawn, meditating on ShrI Hari and finished his bath during the early hours itself. After his japa and dhyana he gave a discourse on ShrIimadAchArya’s works to his fortunate disciples for the last time. His disciples were grief stricken at the thought that this was going to be their master's last discourse. The master was filled with an overwhelming desire to teach as much as possible and the disciples were anxious and eager to absorb everything. The subject matter was as usual ShrImadAchArya's Bhashya and ShrI JayatIrtha's commentary for it. That day's discourse was the culmination of his life's mission. For the thousands that had gathered there the realisation that they would not see such a treasure house of knowledge hereafter filled them with pain and agony. The discourse came to an end.
After bathing once again he started the puja of ShrI Rama and other icons of the samsthan. After going through all the details of the puja he blessed the entire gathering with tIrtha, prasad and phalamantrakshata. As the appointed time was nearing he went to the spot that was already chosen and sat in padmAsana. He had his japa mala in his right hand and in front of him were all the moola granthas, sarva moola, tikas and tippanis on the vyasa peetha. For a while he was lost in contemplation; then he started his soul-stirring speech.
RAyaru enters brindAvana
RAyaru then took up his veena and started to sing in Bhairavi raaga the famous song,"Indu Enege Govinda" where he extols the Lord as His only Saviour and that he should be pardoned for having led an irreligious life without singing his glories. He ends the song with His mudrika "Dheera Venugopaala Bhaara Kaaniso Hariye". Just as in His previous avatAra as VyAsaraja in this avatara also the blue darling of brindAvan in the form of an icon danced to the melodious of his darling who was going to enter the brindAvan.
After this rAyaru began reciting the pranava mantra. In a very short time he was lost in meditation. He reached the highest point in mediation. His face was serene. He was shining with a rare brilliance.
At one stage the japamala in the master's hand became still. Venkanna and other disciples who understood this sign started arranging the slabs around him. They arranged the slabs upto his head and then as per his earlier instructions they placed a copper box containing one thousand two hundred LakshmInArAyaNa shaligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki river. Then they placed the covering slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the brindavan that they had built. A grand feast was hosted to commemorate this glorious event.
Last shloka of RaghavendraVijayam.
Santam shrIramaNa priyam yativaram vyAsasya bhAvebrishan
DurvArAmitamAyi bhikshutimire paryasya chandram bhuvi/
Satsandasthutamishta dakshitiruham vandAruvi prAshrayam
Tam NatvA sakalo durUhasudrasham samyAti vidyAdikam//
Those people who bow to Shri Raghavendra, the beloved of the Lord of Lakshmi,
who is a venerable yati (saint), who meticulously follows the words of VEda VyAsa,
who dispels the unbearable, boundless darkness of ignorance caused by illusionist sanyasis just as the moon dispels the darkness,
who is always praised by the noble people, who is verily the wishing tree which satiates all our wishes and
who is always with devout brahmins will their material wants satisfied be endowed with spiritual wisdom, and ultimately get aparoksha JnAna. (Supreme Knowledge)
Brief miracles done by Rayaru
Sri Raghavendra is considered to be magnanimous and benevolent; countless devotees of his testify to the miracles he has performed. If you have any miracles performed by Guru Raghavendra in your life, please email it to me and the material would be duly reviewed and published . The sacred sand of the Moola Brindavana (Moola Mrithika) has very special significance, to cure diseases and throw away evil forces. Some of the miracles are listed below.
CHOLA KING
During the life of Raghavendra Theertha , Chola Mandala(kindom) experienced political unrest. Internecine wars started and the king experienced hard times. The Kingdom experienced plunder and accession and a terrible famine followed. The king spent his money from his own coffers. But the famine did not abate. He approached Raghavendra Teeratha and prayed for his kind indulgence in the welfare of his subjects. The Swamiji readily consented and stayed at Tanjore for 12 years and came to the succur of the people and the king. The Swamiji with his miraculous powers was able to save the people. The king who was all grateful offered a jewelled nacklace to Swamiji and the same was put by Swamiji in the Fire of Sacrifice as the Swamiji was a great Viraghi person of great renunciation. The king felt insulted when he saw his presentation thrown into fire. The Swamiji knew his (King's) disturbances in mind and prayed to ParasuRama, the in-dweller of Fire God, and showed his amazing powers by getting it back. The king realized that Raghavendra Swamy was not an ordinary ascetic but the one who possessed divine powers.
MUD BECOMES MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
rAyaru had a devoted disciple who was studying the shAstras under his tutelage. The education was over and time had come for the disciple to return home and marry. As the head of the maTha, rAyaru was expected to bless this disciple and give him some money so that he could start life as a householder. In this case, it was even more imperative since the disciple came from a very poor family. However, he chose to bid farewell when rAyaru was on the way to the river for his bath and did not have anything to give him. When rAyaru expressed this, the disciple immediately replied “Even a handful of mud from you is even more precious than a gold full of gold”. RAyaru was pleased with his devotion and accordingly scooped up a handful of mud from the ground and gave it to the disciple. The disciple received this with total reverence and tied it into a bundle. He then placed the bundle on his head and started back home.
He traveled till night and reached a village, and decided to halt there that the night. He approached the chieftain and requested him to grant him a place to sleep for the night. The chieftain said “You may sleep on the jugali of my house (a space just outside) but I have a problem. My wife is pregnant and is likely to deliver tonight. We have had extremely bad luck in the past because all our children have died immediately after birth. I am hoping that it is different this time”. The disciple agreed and slept immediately outside the main entrance to the house with his precious bundle as a pillow. At night, a dark and ferocious ghoul approached the house. This was the one that was killing all the children immediately after birth. This time, it had to cross the disciple to enter the house, but could not do so since the bundle under his head appeared like a wall of fire to it. It tried several times in vain and finally woke up the disciple. It told him “Your bundle contains a divine fire that is impossible for me to transgress. Why don’t you throw the bundle away? I will give you heaps of money, gold and precious jewels. The disciple pretended to agree, but quickly withdrew some consecrated mud from the bundle, and threw it on the ghoul. The effect of this action was spectacular. The ghoul screamed loudly and was immediately burnt to ashes. The noise woke up everybody in the house and they came outside the house. The disciple explained everything to them; at the same time the midwife came out of the house with the good news that the chieftain’s wife had delivered a healthy boy! The chieftain was ecstatic and hugged the disciple with joy. He attributed his good fortune to the advent of the disciple and thanked him profusely. The next day, he requested the disciple to stay back in the village and even offered his sister’s hand in marriage, along with a lot of wealth. The disciple gladly accepted this generous offer and lived happily. Thus, a handful of mud from rAyaru brought the disciple wealth, a good wife, powerful connections and life-long happiness.
DRY WOOD SPROUTS LEAVES
Once when rAyaru was travelling, he passed through a village where an atheist headman was harassing all brahmins. This atheist did not believe in god, mantras or Vedas. Rayaru decided to bring him on the right track, and so stayed in the local temple and announced a grand pUja. The headman immediately challenged him to a confrontation and asked him to prove the efficacy of the vEda mantras. He produced a vanake (a dry and hard piece of dead wood, used to pound grain in a pestle) and asked rAyaru to make it sprout leaves. The brahmins present there protested saying that this was impossible and against the laws of nature. RAyaru calmed them down saying that mUla rama knows how to protect the laws of nature, and how to overcome them when the occasion demands. He chanted vEda mantras and sprinkled water from his kamanDala on the vanake. Within a short time, the vanake sprouted fresh green leaves, vindicating rAyaru’s words. The headman saw the error of his ways and surrendered at rAyaru’s feet.
SRI VADEENDRA THEERTHARU
Sri Raghavendra Swamy desired a Brindavanam to be made for him, and Diwan Venkanna got one made. But the Swamiji ordered it to be reserved for a future pontiff that would come to the pontificate. He asked Diwan Venkanna to use the stone at Madhwaram fields for making a Brindavanam to him as the stone had been hallowed by a touch of Sri Ramachandra who had sat on it searching Sri Sitamata, This we see even to day as Moola Brindavanam at Mantralaya. Adjacent to the Moola Brindavan we see another Brindavan the Brindavanam of Sri Vadeentheertharu, a great grand son of Sri Rayaru, fifth descendant after Sri Rayaru in the Pontificate. He belongs to 18th Century. He was a great scholar and was as ardent devotee of his great grand father Sri Rayaru, His 'Gurugunasthavana' of 36 verses composed in Sanskrit is a master piece composition and he sand it near the Brindavan. The whole Moola Brindavan nodded in appreciation of the scholastic work.Sri Rayaru had been immensely pleased. Sri Rayaru has given a special place of recognition to Sri Vadeendraru, by keeping him by his side. Devotees worship Sri Vadeendraru also as they offer Pradakshina (going in circles) simultaneously. when they go to round the Moola Brindavana, Sri Vijayadasaru great devotee of Dasapantha opines that Sri Vadeendra Theertharu as the incarnation of Devaguru Sri Brihaspathi Acharya and Sri Vadeendrat heertharu functions are as the minister, almost a P.A. to the Swamiji in the Brindavana. Blessed is Sri Vadeendraru. He was just a boy of about 2 years when Sri Rayaru entered Brindavana. But Sri Rayaru knew his capabilities and earmarked a special position of favor to him in the years to come.
SRI VIJAYA DASARU
Sri Vijaya Dasaru is another great devotee of Sri Hari, who appeared in our religious history much later. Born in poverty, bread in poverty, he was personified Poverty begging every meal. But he was sage "Bhrigumaharshi" incarnated now (Bhrigu Maharshi had established the supremacy of Lord Vishnu when he was commissioned by an assembly of rishis to report who was the greatest God of Gods.) One of the pontiffs in the lineage of descendants of Sri Rayaru, Sri Vasudhendra Theertharu was Vijaya dasas's contemporary. Dasa movement which had declined was revived by Vijaya by Vijaya dasa. He was inspired by Sri Raghavendra Swamiji to effect the revival and the Moola Brindavan at Mantralaya was his source of inspiration. He eulogized Sri Rayaru as a great Bhagavatottama and sung the glory of Sri Rayaru by a intuition which is being experienced now. Vijaya dasa disclosed the extraordinary Powers of Moola Brindavana and the greatness of Sri Rayaru ever present there in.
SRI JAGANATHA DASARU
Jagannatha Dasaru, is another celebrated Hari Dasaru who has spread the name and fame of Sri Rayaru, in 18th Century. Jagnnatha Dasaru went by the name Srinivasacharya, a profound scholar, but a vain Pandit. He offended Vijayadasa only to be blessed by him to get a further lease on his longevity. His life had come to an end and Vijaya dasa caused him a transfer of 40 years of life from the life of his disciple Gopal dasa. Sri Hari Kathamrutasara is a magnum opus, and encyclopedia of the doctrine of Sri Madhwa, all in vernacular-Kannada the common man's understandable language. It is said that he was no other than the younger brother of prince Prahaladha, who could talk to Sri Rayaru in his Brindavana. He has sung the glory of Sri Rayaru and His Grace to the multitudes.
SIR THOMAS MUNROE
The English had come to trade in Bharath (India) , and they held a sway through their East India Company. Sir Thomas Munroe was one of their officers, who was asked to resume Mantralaya an endowment village granted to maintain the Mutt and temple at Mantralaya. He came on his duty to resume. He was a noble soul. Sri Rayaru emerged from the Brindavan and convinced him about the irrevocability of the endowment and disappeared into the Brindavan giving him 'Mantrakshate' Sri Rayaru was visible to Mr. Munore only and not to others. This episode is recorded in the Madras Gazettier in the First quarter of 19th Century, copy of which can be pursued even to day in the records at the Collectorate at Anantapur. Such is the greatness of Sri Raghavendra Thirtha Swamiji and words fail to describe his greatness. A follower of another religion had the good fortune of being blessed by Sri Rayaru.
CHOLA KING
During the life of Raghavendra Theertha , Chola Mandala(kindom) experienced political unrest. Internecine wars started and the king experienced hard times. The Kingdom experienced plunder and accession and a terrible famine followed. The king spent his money from his own coffers. But the famine did not abate. He approached Raghavendra Teeratha and prayed for his kind indulgence in the welfare of his subjects. The Swamiji readily consented and stayed at Tanjore for 12 years and came to the succur of the people and the king. The Swamiji with his miraculous powers was able to save the people. The king who was all grateful offered a jewelled nacklace to Swamiji and the same was put by Swamiji in the Fire of Sacrifice as the Swamiji was a great Viraghi person of great renunciation. The king felt insulted when he saw his presentation thrown into fire. The Swamiji knew his (King's) disturbances in mind and prayed to ParasuRama, the in-dweller of Fire God, and showed his amazing powers by getting it back. The king realized that Raghavendra Swamy was not an ordinary ascetic but the one who possessed divine powers.
MUD BECOMES MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD
rAyaru had a devoted disciple who was studying the shAstras under his tutelage. The education was over and time had come for the disciple to return home and marry. As the head of the maTha, rAyaru was expected to bless this disciple and give him some money so that he could start life as a householder. In this case, it was even more imperative since the disciple came from a very poor family. However, he chose to bid farewell when rAyaru was on the way to the river for his bath and did not have anything to give him. When rAyaru expressed this, the disciple immediately replied “Even a handful of mud from you is even more precious than a gold full of gold”. RAyaru was pleased with his devotion and accordingly scooped up a handful of mud from the ground and gave it to the disciple. The disciple received this with total reverence and tied it into a bundle. He then placed the bundle on his head and started back home.
He traveled till night and reached a village, and decided to halt there that the night. He approached the chieftain and requested him to grant him a place to sleep for the night. The chieftain said “You may sleep on the jugali of my house (a space just outside) but I have a problem. My wife is pregnant and is likely to deliver tonight. We have had extremely bad luck in the past because all our children have died immediately after birth. I am hoping that it is different this time”. The disciple agreed and slept immediately outside the main entrance to the house with his precious bundle as a pillow. At night, a dark and ferocious ghoul approached the house. This was the one that was killing all the children immediately after birth. This time, it had to cross the disciple to enter the house, but could not do so since the bundle under his head appeared like a wall of fire to it. It tried several times in vain and finally woke up the disciple. It told him “Your bundle contains a divine fire that is impossible for me to transgress. Why don’t you throw the bundle away? I will give you heaps of money, gold and precious jewels. The disciple pretended to agree, but quickly withdrew some consecrated mud from the bundle, and threw it on the ghoul. The effect of this action was spectacular. The ghoul screamed loudly and was immediately burnt to ashes. The noise woke up everybody in the house and they came outside the house. The disciple explained everything to them; at the same time the midwife came out of the house with the good news that the chieftain’s wife had delivered a healthy boy! The chieftain was ecstatic and hugged the disciple with joy. He attributed his good fortune to the advent of the disciple and thanked him profusely. The next day, he requested the disciple to stay back in the village and even offered his sister’s hand in marriage, along with a lot of wealth. The disciple gladly accepted this generous offer and lived happily. Thus, a handful of mud from rAyaru brought the disciple wealth, a good wife, powerful connections and life-long happiness.
DRY WOOD SPROUTS LEAVES
Once when rAyaru was travelling, he passed through a village where an atheist headman was harassing all brahmins. This atheist did not believe in god, mantras or Vedas. Rayaru decided to bring him on the right track, and so stayed in the local temple and announced a grand pUja. The headman immediately challenged him to a confrontation and asked him to prove the efficacy of the vEda mantras. He produced a vanake (a dry and hard piece of dead wood, used to pound grain in a pestle) and asked rAyaru to make it sprout leaves. The brahmins present there protested saying that this was impossible and against the laws of nature. RAyaru calmed them down saying that mUla rama knows how to protect the laws of nature, and how to overcome them when the occasion demands. He chanted vEda mantras and sprinkled water from his kamanDala on the vanake. Within a short time, the vanake sprouted fresh green leaves, vindicating rAyaru’s words. The headman saw the error of his ways and surrendered at rAyaru’s feet.
SRI VADEENDRA THEERTHARU
Sri Raghavendra Swamy desired a Brindavanam to be made for him, and Diwan Venkanna got one made. But the Swamiji ordered it to be reserved for a future pontiff that would come to the pontificate. He asked Diwan Venkanna to use the stone at Madhwaram fields for making a Brindavanam to him as the stone had been hallowed by a touch of Sri Ramachandra who had sat on it searching Sri Sitamata, This we see even to day as Moola Brindavanam at Mantralaya. Adjacent to the Moola Brindavan we see another Brindavan the Brindavanam of Sri Vadeentheertharu, a great grand son of Sri Rayaru, fifth descendant after Sri Rayaru in the Pontificate. He belongs to 18th Century. He was a great scholar and was as ardent devotee of his great grand father Sri Rayaru, His 'Gurugunasthavana' of 36 verses composed in Sanskrit is a master piece composition and he sand it near the Brindavan. The whole Moola Brindavan nodded in appreciation of the scholastic work.Sri Rayaru had been immensely pleased. Sri Rayaru has given a special place of recognition to Sri Vadeendraru, by keeping him by his side. Devotees worship Sri Vadeendraru also as they offer Pradakshina (going in circles) simultaneously. when they go to round the Moola Brindavana, Sri Vijayadasaru great devotee of Dasapantha opines that Sri Vadeendra Theertharu as the incarnation of Devaguru Sri Brihaspathi Acharya and Sri Vadeendrat heertharu functions are as the minister, almost a P.A. to the Swamiji in the Brindavana. Blessed is Sri Vadeendraru. He was just a boy of about 2 years when Sri Rayaru entered Brindavana. But Sri Rayaru knew his capabilities and earmarked a special position of favor to him in the years to come.
SRI VIJAYA DASARU
Sri Vijaya Dasaru is another great devotee of Sri Hari, who appeared in our religious history much later. Born in poverty, bread in poverty, he was personified Poverty begging every meal. But he was sage "Bhrigumaharshi" incarnated now (Bhrigu Maharshi had established the supremacy of Lord Vishnu when he was commissioned by an assembly of rishis to report who was the greatest God of Gods.) One of the pontiffs in the lineage of descendants of Sri Rayaru, Sri Vasudhendra Theertharu was Vijaya dasas's contemporary. Dasa movement which had declined was revived by Vijaya by Vijaya dasa. He was inspired by Sri Raghavendra Swamiji to effect the revival and the Moola Brindavan at Mantralaya was his source of inspiration. He eulogized Sri Rayaru as a great Bhagavatottama and sung the glory of Sri Rayaru by a intuition which is being experienced now. Vijaya dasa disclosed the extraordinary Powers of Moola Brindavana and the greatness of Sri Rayaru ever present there in.
SRI JAGANATHA DASARU
Jagannatha Dasaru, is another celebrated Hari Dasaru who has spread the name and fame of Sri Rayaru, in 18th Century. Jagnnatha Dasaru went by the name Srinivasacharya, a profound scholar, but a vain Pandit. He offended Vijayadasa only to be blessed by him to get a further lease on his longevity. His life had come to an end and Vijaya dasa caused him a transfer of 40 years of life from the life of his disciple Gopal dasa. Sri Hari Kathamrutasara is a magnum opus, and encyclopedia of the doctrine of Sri Madhwa, all in vernacular-Kannada the common man's understandable language. It is said that he was no other than the younger brother of prince Prahaladha, who could talk to Sri Rayaru in his Brindavana. He has sung the glory of Sri Rayaru and His Grace to the multitudes.
SIR THOMAS MUNROE
The English had come to trade in Bharath (India) , and they held a sway through their East India Company. Sir Thomas Munroe was one of their officers, who was asked to resume Mantralaya an endowment village granted to maintain the Mutt and temple at Mantralaya. He came on his duty to resume. He was a noble soul. Sri Rayaru emerged from the Brindavan and convinced him about the irrevocability of the endowment and disappeared into the Brindavan giving him 'Mantrakshate' Sri Rayaru was visible to Mr. Munore only and not to others. This episode is recorded in the Madras Gazettier in the First quarter of 19th Century, copy of which can be pursued even to day in the records at the Collectorate at Anantapur. Such is the greatness of Sri Raghavendra Thirtha Swamiji and words fail to describe his greatness. A follower of another religion had the good fortune of being blessed by Sri Rayaru.
Sri Raghavendra Swamy Life History
Shanku Karna was cursed to be born, into the world as Prahlad son of demon king Hiranyakashyapu. Prahlad had extreme devotion to Sri Vishnu, who took the form of the Narasimha Avatar to Kill Hiranyakashipu. In his Next birth he was Vyasaraja, following the philosophy of Sri Madhwacharya . He was born again as Venkatanatha or Veene Vekanna Bhataru (as he was profecient and best in playing the Veena), who was named Guru Raghavendra, one of the greatest madhwa saints.
Sri Thimmanna Bhatta was the grandson of Krishnabhatta, a Veena Scholar,who had taught the Veena to KingKrishnadevaraya. Initially, this couple had two children named Gururaja and Venkatamba.By the grace of Lord Venkateswara, a third child was born in 1601 A.D.at Bhuvanagiriin Tamil Nadu to Sri Thimanna Bhatta and Smt. Gopikamba.They named Him Venkatanatha(Some also say he was called as Venkanna bhatta and Venkatacharya).
Venkatanatha proved to be a very brilliant scholar.Venkatanatha's brother Sri Gururaja Bhatta took care of His upbringing after their father's demise. The initial portion of His education was completed under His brother-in-law Lakshminarasimhacharya's guidance in Madurai.After His return from Madurai,Venkatanatha married Smt.Saraswathi.After His marriage,Venkatanatha went to Kumbakonam.There he studied the Dwaita vedantha and other grammar and literary works under His guru, Sri Sudheendra Theertha.He was very well versed in bhashyas and debated with various scholars and defeated them.He was also a skilled musician,and played the veena beautifully, which He had learnt from His father in His childhood.But He never demanded any money for His services and He had to endure a life of poverty. Many a times, He, His wife and child had to forego food many times in a week. But this never dettered the Faith He had in the Lord.
Venkatanatha was in the habit of chanting stotras and mantras always in His mind. Once while He was touring Kumbakonam, Venkatanatha was invited to attend a function, with His wife and son. The hosts did not treat Him well and wanted Him to earn His food by working.So they asked Him to make some sandalwood paste, using a grinding slab.The paste was given to all the guests, who smeared it on their bodies.Immediately,the guests complained of a burning sensation all over the body where they had rubbed the paste.Surprised by this,the hosts questioned Venkatanatha,who replied that He was chanting the Agni Suktam while grinding the sandalwood, which had resulted in the cool sandalwood create a burning sensation.Such was the power of the mantra when chanted by Venkatanatha!To relieve the guests of their agony, Venkatanatha then recited the Varuna Mantra.
His guru, Sri Sudheendra Theertha was looking for a successor to his math. Sri Sudheendra Theertha had a dream where he saw the Lord indicate that Venkatanatha was the right person to succeed him as the pontiff of the math. So Sri Sudheendra Theertha communicated his desire to Venkatanatha.Venkatanatha,was devastated by the request of the guru as he could not take up this responsibility for He had a young wife and a son to care for.
But by divine intervention and after being blessed by the Goddess of Learning herself,Venkatanatha changed His mind.The sanyasa ordination was to take place on the second day of the bright half of Phalguna Masa in 1621 at Tanjore. On the day Venkatanatha was to ascend the peetha, 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.She ran towards the matha throwing caution to the winds.Unfortunately in the desire to see her husband, she did not see an old and unused well on the way, and fell into it. She died immediately.Since 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 Venkatanatha had become a Sanyasi under the Name of Sri Raghavendra Theertha .Sri Raghavendra sensed his wife's presence immediately.He sprinkled some holy water from His Kamandalu on her, granting her moksha or liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. This was her reward for a lifetime of dedicated and selfless service to Sri Raghavendra
Before entering Brundavana in 1671, Raghavendra Swami gave a soul-stirring speech [5] to hundreds of devotees gathered to watch the event. Some quotes from that speech are below-
"Without right living, right thinking will never come. Right living is performing one's ordained duties according to one's station in life without hankering after the fruits of the actions and on the other hand offering all one's activities to the Lord. This is real sadachara (right living). This is real karma yoga"
"Social work done for the good of worthy people should also be considered as the Lord's worship. In short, our life itself is a worship.Every action is a puja. This life is precious. Every second of our life is precious. Not even a second that has gone will come back. Listening to the right shastras and always remembering Him is the highest duty"
"Always keep away from people who merely perform miracles without following the shastras and yet call themselves God or guru. I have performed miracles, and so have great persons like Srimadacharya. These are based on yoga siddhi and the shastras. There is no fraud or trickery at all. These miracles were performed only to show the greatness of God and the wonderful powers that one can attain with His grace. Right knowledge (jnana) is greater than any miracle. Without this no real miracle can take place. Any miracle performed without this right knowledge is only witchcraft. No good will come to those who perform such miracles and also those who believe in them"
"Have devotion to the Lord. This devotion should never be blind faith. Accepting the Lord's supremacy wholeheartedly is true devotion. Blind faith is not devotion. It is only stupidity. We should have devotion, not only for the Lord, but also for all other deities and preceptors in keeping with their status"
After this Sri Raghavendra began reciting the pranava mantra and slipped into deep samadhi.At one stage the japamala in His hand became still. His disciples who understood this sign started arranging the slabs around Him. They arranged the slabs up to His head and then, as per His earlier instructions, they placed a copper box containing 1200 Lakshminarayana saligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki river. Then they placed the covering slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the brindavan that they had built.
Sri Thimmanna Bhatta was the grandson of Krishnabhatta, a Veena Scholar,who had taught the Veena to KingKrishnadevaraya. Initially, this couple had two children named Gururaja and Venkatamba.By the grace of Lord Venkateswara, a third child was born in 1601 A.D.at Bhuvanagiriin Tamil Nadu to Sri Thimanna Bhatta and Smt. Gopikamba.They named Him Venkatanatha(Some also say he was called as Venkanna bhatta and Venkatacharya).
Venkatanatha proved to be a very brilliant scholar.Venkatanatha's brother Sri Gururaja Bhatta took care of His upbringing after their father's demise. The initial portion of His education was completed under His brother-in-law Lakshminarasimhacharya's guidance in Madurai.After His return from Madurai,Venkatanatha married Smt.Saraswathi.After His marriage,Venkatanatha went to Kumbakonam.There he studied the Dwaita vedantha and other grammar and literary works under His guru, Sri Sudheendra Theertha.He was very well versed in bhashyas and debated with various scholars and defeated them.He was also a skilled musician,and played the veena beautifully, which He had learnt from His father in His childhood.But He never demanded any money for His services and He had to endure a life of poverty. Many a times, He, His wife and child had to forego food many times in a week. But this never dettered the Faith He had in the Lord.
Venkatanatha was in the habit of chanting stotras and mantras always in His mind. Once while He was touring Kumbakonam, Venkatanatha was invited to attend a function, with His wife and son. The hosts did not treat Him well and wanted Him to earn His food by working.So they asked Him to make some sandalwood paste, using a grinding slab.The paste was given to all the guests, who smeared it on their bodies.Immediately,the guests complained of a burning sensation all over the body where they had rubbed the paste.Surprised by this,the hosts questioned Venkatanatha,who replied that He was chanting the Agni Suktam while grinding the sandalwood, which had resulted in the cool sandalwood create a burning sensation.Such was the power of the mantra when chanted by Venkatanatha!To relieve the guests of their agony, Venkatanatha then recited the Varuna Mantra.
His guru, Sri Sudheendra Theertha was looking for a successor to his math. Sri Sudheendra Theertha had a dream where he saw the Lord indicate that Venkatanatha was the right person to succeed him as the pontiff of the math. So Sri Sudheendra Theertha communicated his desire to Venkatanatha.Venkatanatha,was devastated by the request of the guru as he could not take up this responsibility for He had a young wife and a son to care for.
But by divine intervention and after being blessed by the Goddess of Learning herself,Venkatanatha changed His mind.The sanyasa ordination was to take place on the second day of the bright half of Phalguna Masa in 1621 at Tanjore. On the day Venkatanatha was to ascend the peetha, 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.She ran towards the matha throwing caution to the winds.Unfortunately in the desire to see her husband, she did not see an old and unused well on the way, and fell into it. She died immediately.Since 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 Venkatanatha had become a Sanyasi under the Name of Sri Raghavendra Theertha .Sri Raghavendra sensed his wife's presence immediately.He sprinkled some holy water from His Kamandalu on her, granting her moksha or liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. This was her reward for a lifetime of dedicated and selfless service to Sri Raghavendra
Before entering Brundavana in 1671, Raghavendra Swami gave a soul-stirring speech [5] to hundreds of devotees gathered to watch the event. Some quotes from that speech are below-
"Without right living, right thinking will never come. Right living is performing one's ordained duties according to one's station in life without hankering after the fruits of the actions and on the other hand offering all one's activities to the Lord. This is real sadachara (right living). This is real karma yoga"
"Social work done for the good of worthy people should also be considered as the Lord's worship. In short, our life itself is a worship.Every action is a puja. This life is precious. Every second of our life is precious. Not even a second that has gone will come back. Listening to the right shastras and always remembering Him is the highest duty"
"Always keep away from people who merely perform miracles without following the shastras and yet call themselves God or guru. I have performed miracles, and so have great persons like Srimadacharya. These are based on yoga siddhi and the shastras. There is no fraud or trickery at all. These miracles were performed only to show the greatness of God and the wonderful powers that one can attain with His grace. Right knowledge (jnana) is greater than any miracle. Without this no real miracle can take place. Any miracle performed without this right knowledge is only witchcraft. No good will come to those who perform such miracles and also those who believe in them"
"Have devotion to the Lord. This devotion should never be blind faith. Accepting the Lord's supremacy wholeheartedly is true devotion. Blind faith is not devotion. It is only stupidity. We should have devotion, not only for the Lord, but also for all other deities and preceptors in keeping with their status"
After this Sri Raghavendra began reciting the pranava mantra and slipped into deep samadhi.At one stage the japamala in His hand became still. His disciples who understood this sign started arranging the slabs around Him. They arranged the slabs up to His head and then, as per His earlier instructions, they placed a copper box containing 1200 Lakshminarayana saligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki river. Then they placed the covering slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the brindavan that they had built.
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