Sri Panduranga Vittala

Vithal, or Vitthal, or Vithoba, or Pandurang (a form of Krishna) is worshipped in some temples in Kerala. Vittala's original temple is at Pandharpur, Maharashtra. It is located 65 km west of Solapur, on the banks of the river Bhimarathi also known as Chandrabhaga. Phandarpur is referred as Pandaripuram by GSBs in Kerala.

The name Vithoba means Father Vitthala. Vitthala is said to have been derived from the word Vishnu in Kannada. Panduranga is a sanskritized form of Pandarga, the old name of Pandharpur.

Story of Panduranga Vittala

It is said that the devotee Pundalik founded Pandharpur. His father Janudeva and mother Satyavati lived in a thick forest called Dandirvan.

Pundalik was a devoted son but soon after his marriage he began to ill-treat his parents. To escape from this misery, the parents decided to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi. When Pundalik's wife learnt about this, she also decided to go. She and her husband joined the same group of pilgrims on horseback. While the son and his wife rode on horseback, the old couple walked. Every evening when the party camped for the night, the son forced his parents to groom the horses and do other jobs. The poor parents cursed the day they decided to go on a pilgrimage.Soon the party reached the ashrama of the great sage Kukkutswami. There they decided to spend a couple of nights. They were all tired and soon fell asleep-except Pundalik who could not sleep. Just before daybreak he saw a group of beautiful, young women, dressed in dirty clothes, enter the ashrama, clean the floor, fetch water and wash the swami's clothes. Then they entered the inner room of the ashrama, and came out in beautifully clean clothes and passing near Pundalik, they vanished.

Next night he saw the same sight again. Pundalik threw himself at their feet and begged them to tell who they were. They said they were Ganga, Yamuna and other holy rivers of India in which the Pilgrims bathed and washed off sins. Their clothes became dirty by the sins of the bathing pilgrims."And because of your ill-treatment of your parents," they said, "You are the greatest sinner."This brought about a complete change in him and he became the most devoted son. Now the parents' rode the horses while the son and his wife walked by their side. By their love and affection, the son and his wife urged the parents to give up the pilgrimage and return to Dandirvan.

One day it so happened that Lord Krishna, the King of Dwarka, while feeling lonely, was reminded of his early days in Mathura. He particularly remembered his sports with the milkmaids, the cowherd boys, and his love, Radha. Though she was dead, he longed to see her again. By his divine powers he brought her back to life and seated her by his side. Just then his queen, Rukmini, entered the room. When Radha did not rise to pay her respect, Rukmini left Dwarka in anger and hid herself in Dandirvan forest. After some days, Lord Krishna set off in search of Rukmini. He first went to Mathura, then to Gokul. He met the milkmaids and cowherd boys. They too joined in the search. They went to Mount Govardhan in her search.At last they reached the banks of the river Bhima in the Deccan. Krishna left his companions at Goplapura, and he himself entered Dandirvan forest alone in search of her. At last he found her and managed to calm her. Krishna and Rukmini came to Pundalik's ashrama.

But at that time Pundalik was busy attending to his parents. Though he knew Lord Krishna had come to see him, he refused to pay his respect to the god before his duty towards his parents was done. He, however, threw a brick outside for lord Krishna to stand upon. Impressed by Pundalik's devotion to his parents, Lord Krishna did not mind the delay. Standing on the brick he waited for Pundalik. When Pundalik came out and begged God's pardon, Lord Krishna replied that far from being displeased, he was pleased with his love for his parents. Lord Krishna then ordered him to worship Vithoba, or God who stood upon a brick.

An imposing temple was built at the place where Krishna and Pundalik had met. Inside the temple stands Krishna's image on a brick. By his side stands the image of Rukmini.This temple covering a vast area has a total of six gates.

The eastern entrance to this temple is known as the Namdev gate (after the great 13th century Vaishnava saint). The sanctum enshrines the standing image of Vithoba also known as Panduranga, Pandhari or Vitthala. Stylistically the image dates back to the 5th century. There are inscriptions in this temple dating back to the 13th century which place origin of this shrine to the 6th century.

Extracted from http://www.gsbkerala.com/panduranga.htm

Sri Vadhiraja Theertharu

Tapo Vidya Virakthyadi
Sadgunuoughakaran aham !
Vadirajagurum vande
Hayagrivapadasrayan !!

Sri Vadiraja thirtha occupies a very eminent place in Madhwa philosophy. He can be ranked next to the founder. His contribution to the Dvaita Vedanta , Kannada sahithya and Sanskrit literature is of a very rare and high order . He occupies as important a place as Sri Tikacharaya , Sri Vyasa rayaru or Sri Raghavendra in the exposition of Dvaita philosophy . All devotees believe him to be a Rijuganastha , an avatar of god Latavya and one destined for the post of Brahma in the next kalpa .

Sri Madhwar installed the idol of Sri Krishna at Udipi . He appointed eight bala sanyasies to perform the pooja by turns of two years for each mutt . Sode mutt is one such dedicated for the worship of Sri Udipi Krishna . Sri Vadiraja Thirtha was the head of the Sode mutt in the 15th and 16th Century .

Sri Vadiraja was born at Kumbhasi near Udipi in a village called Huvvina Kere . In the year Sarvari in 1480 Sri Vadiraja was born to Ramacharya and Saraswathi . It was the blessings of the then pontifical head of Sode mutt Sri Vagisha thirtha , under a contract with the swamiji that the child , If a male , should be handed over to him when desired . He was born near the parental lands outside the house and was named Varahacharya .

As a boy he exhibited his rare skill and uncommon devotion to god even in play with children of his age and at school. After some time the swamiji asked the parents to hand over the boy to the mutt. With great sorrow and reluctance, the poor parents handed over the boy. The swamiji while consoling the parents said that the services of the boy where required for the propagation of Madhwa tenets and that he would be remembered for years for the important role in the religious hierarchy of Dvaita mata .

The boy learnt veda , vedanga and sahitya and became efficient . After satisfying himself the vairagya , viveka of the boy , his intelligence etc.. , he was duly given the holy robes of sanyasi and he was renamed as SRI VADIRAJA THIRTHA , befitting to the future services he would be doing in establishing the reign of realism and Dvaita siddhantha . He was also known as Sri Gururaja and also as Rajaru by his admirers. He had the best education from his guru and after pilgrimage to holy shrines etc , he wrote THIRTHA PRABHANDA .

From Sethu to Himalachal and from East to West he toured many places and saw many religious temples. By going through the slokas in the Thirthaprabhanda, one can understand the vast knowledge and minute description of the each God as he saw. I should rather say that it is an excellent Kavya written in a simple style with variegated meters, bringing forth the mysteries of the shrines he visited and at the same time embodying in the work the principles and tenets of Dwaita philosophy. Wherever he sojourned he summoned Vidwat Sabhas wherein he conducted Vakyartha Vicharas and religious debates and established beyond doubt to the entire satisfaction of his opponents the supremacy of Madhwaism.

During his visit to Tirumala hills, he ascended the hill and covered the entire route, to and fro not by walking, lest he would desecrate the place, but on all fours with his knees and hands, The hill looked as if it was full of Saligramas. The Saligram garland worn by Srinivasa was a humble offering made by Sri Vadirajar.

He visited Vijayanagar empire reigned by Venkatapathyraya and in the Sabha he was given the title Prasangabharana Thirtha ( Jewel of a Speaker). During his stay at Poona, he wrote Rukminisha Vijaya which excelled all the compositions of Kalidasa and others.

His philosophical commentaries were Sudha Tippani, Tatwaprakshika Tippani , Bhagavadgita Tippani , Mahabharata Tatparyanirnayatika and Tantrasara Teeka.
Independent works were Guruvrata Deepika , Prameya sangraha , Yuktimallika , Sarasa Bharati Vilasa , Pashadamatha Khandana.

Other works were Ekadashi Nirnaya , Sankalpa Paddati , Geography , Upanyasa Ratnamala , and other stotras in Sanskrit.

Kannada works were, Tatparya Nirnaya ,Vaikunta Varnane, Gundakriya , Swapna Pada , Suladhigalu , Lakshmi Shobhanepada , Bhramaragita and hundreds of Krithis in Kannada. He wrote in TULU language also.

His master piece is Yuktimallika. It is philosophical treatise, critical study of Bramha sutras .divived in 5 parts in 16 chapters .

Lakshmi Hayagreeva was the Ishta devatha for Sri Vadiraja. A sculptor wanted to cast a Vinayaka idol with an alloy of 5 metals. After casting, when it was taken from the mould, the idol appeared with a horse's head with four arms, holding a conch, a rosary, a book and gnana mudra in the fourth hand. The sculptors idea to destroy and his attempt to try again and again to get the required idol went in vain and at that night he had a vision in his dream to hand over the idol to the great Yati who was at that time in that village . Accordingly the idol was presented by him and the yati had also a dream to accept and worship . After worship, he would closet himself in a room with a plate full of cooked bengal gram and Jagerry ( Hayagriva - also called muddy ) held over his head. Hayavadana would emanate from the idol , come in the form of a pure white horse, put its fore legs on his shoulders and eat the Neiveedya , leaving a small portion as prasada for the Rajaru .Some people doubted , if this was true and wanted to test the same. Poison was mixed to the food and the Yati offered it without knowing the fact. Hayagreeva gulped the whole lot that day without leaving a morsal on the plate, assumed a greenish color all over the body and stood aside in a morose mood. After discussion by yati with God Vadiraja Gulla, a type of Brinjal was cooked and offered to the Lord and the green color vanished leaving a streak of green at the neck reminding posterity of this miraculous incident.

There are so many incidents that took place about his Mahma and these columns are not sufficient to explain in detail. His association with great Sri Vysarayaru , Sri Kanakadasaru , Sri Beluru Vaikuntadasaru , Sri Purandara Dasaru , Sri Vijayeendra thirtharu , had great impact on Madhwa philosophy. He made several reforms at the Udipi mutt . He was Chatushasti Kalavida.

In the year 1600 Sarvari year Phalguna Bahula thritiya, a great Vadiraja terminated his divine mission on this mundane plane and entered the Brindavanam with life and body . He was taken in a golden car to heaven .His spirit is still in that Brindavan , and even today his mrithikas are taken from the Brindavanam and seem to have mysterious powers and miraculous healing effect of all ailments of body and mind.

Sode has become a Tapovana and thousands of devotees throng at His shine and get blessed according to their Bhakti.

Thus Sri Vadiraja occupies an elevated place in Dwaita Siddhanta. By his divine abilities of body and mind he had endeared himself to the layman and learned .
He lived for 120years and saw five Paryayas .The mortal coil of Sri Vadiraja might have vanished into the stone Brindavanam at Sode, but his Spirit is still living in our midst guiding us through our dark days by the luster scintillating from his immortal works.

compiled by

Sri.G R Raghunatha Rao
Retd Deputy Registar ( Academic ) Indian Institute of Technology , Madras , India

Sri Vyasaraja Theertharu

Arthikalpita kalpoyam prathyarthi gajakesari/
Vyasathirtha Gurubhoryarth asmad Ishtartha siddhaye//

Sri Vysaraja was the son of Ballana Sumati also called Ramacharys and Lakshmidevi, a brahmin couple of Bannur near 9 kms from Mysore city.They were great devotees. They had no issues for a long time. They were praying to God for progency. It is in this place and environment that Sri Vysaraja who is believed to be an avatar of Prahlada was born. (1447 AD) This brought a sense of fulfilment to the aged couples through the grace of saint Brahmanyathirtha of Abbur near Channapatna town. The saint took a promise, as usual in many cases that the boy should be given to the mutt. The boy was named Ethiraja and brought up by parents. After performing upanayana, he was sent to the mutt for higher education. After four years he returned home and later learnt kavya,nataka, vykarana. Then the sage Brahmanayathirtha sent for the boy ,as agreed. Though the parents were reluctant to part with the boy, they had to submit themselves to the promise and the boy was left under the custody of the saint who treated him with greater affection than the parents. The saint was impressed by the wide range of the boy’s intellect, his great eloquence, his graceful form and his commanding personality. He gave him sanyasahram with the name Sri Vyasa Thirtha.

Sri Vyasathirtha then undertook a tour of India . At Kanchi his extraordinary learning evoked profound admiration of the pandits there . There were jealous pandits also, who tried to poison him. But by divine grace was unhurt. He proceeded to Mulabagal, then a centre of learning. Sri Sripadaraj welcomed this young yati. Sri Vyasathirtha learnt all the secrets of vedantic lore. Sri Sripadaraja found in him extraordinary merit and said:

Vadi timira Marthandaneniside/Vadi Sharabha Bherunda Vysamuniraya//

He was sent to the court of Saluva Narasimha of Chandragiri. He performed pooja for lord Srinivasa at Tirumala hills,for 12 years. Later he went to the court of Vijayanagar. Sri Krishnadevaraya was the king who looked upon him as his kulaguru and was always ready to carry out his wishes. It was not the power, but he was all the time making profuse benefactions in the cause of learning and for the maintenance of Dharma. He was founding Agraharams to foster learning and Dharma.

When he was made kulaguru, it created a feeling of great jealosy. Learned men from different parts of India came and disputed the position. Sri Vyasaraj easily vanquished his opponents. His elequence was a spiritual and intellectual treat. He strengthened and adorned the Madwa school of thought and brought it in to the highest pinnacle of temporal recognition.

After the victorious battle at Raichur by Krishnadevaraya, he conducted a Durbar in which he seated Sri Vyasaraja on a seat of GOLD when men of learning and warriors prostrated themselves before Sri Vyasaraja. He performed Ratnabhisheka with all precious stones. Sri Vyasaraja did not take any of them .They were distributed to the men of learning, warriors, and even mussalman chiefs who were serving the king. Vyasa samudra was built at Kandakur near Madanapalli village Sri Vyasaraja averted the danger to Krishnadevaraya from KUHUYOGA. An inauspicious combination of planets- by himself sitting on the throne during that time and overcoming it with his Tapashakti.

He lived for a glorious life of 93 years full of extraordinary achievements. Sri Vyasaraja left this world on Saturday the 8th Mrach 1539 (Vilambi Nama samvatsara Phalguna bahula Chathurthi).

His works:

Sri Vyasaraja was born to further the work of elucidating the divine and subtle doctrines of Dwaita philosophy propounded by the great Sri Madhwacharya and commented upon by Sri Jayatheertha. In his three great works known as VYASATRAYA, viz., Nyayavali, Tatparya chandrika, and Tarka Tandava, he has besides giving his own original teachings , given his explanations and commentaries very clearly on the original texts of Sri Madhwacharya and the teekas of Sri Jayathirtha. Hence he is included among the three original thinkers. You will remember that every Madhwa , sitting before the food that is served,before taking the Aposhana, utter the slokas on Sri Madwar first, next Sri Jayathirthar and thirdly Sri Vysarajar.

He has condensed in a nutshell the important prameyas contained in the 37 works of Sri Madhwar in a single stanza. This was an answer to a question by a pandit at Kanchi asking to tell about the imporatnce of Madhwa siddhanta in a nutshell.

Sri Manmadwanate Harihi paratarah Satyam Jagattatwako/Bhinnajeevagana Hareranucharaah NichochhaBhavam gatah// Muktirnyja Sukhanubhhootiratula Bhaktischa tatsadhanam/Hyakshdritayam Pramanamakilaamnaykavedyo HARI//

Thus his works are still a living fount of thought and inspiration to all students af Dwaitha-nay of Indian Philosophy. He composed in Kannada many Keerthanas, Suladhis and Ugabhogas,. In these also, he has expounded the highest philosophical truth in easy language. His songs contain beautiful description of Sri Krishna Leela, Krishanee Begane Baro, in raga Yamanakalyani is a rare masterpiece sung in every house.

Sri Vysaraja toured all over India,and established that Dwaita Siddhanta was the right and faultless Siddhanta. Pakshadharamisra, of Kashi who accepted his defeat respectfully admiring the wide learning and loigical arguments by Sri Vyasarajar presented the Pachhe Linga which is worshipped on Mahashivartri day even now at Kundapura Vysaraya Mutt. It is in recognition of this triumphal march that Sri Purandaradasar has said.,

Esu munigalu Iddu Yenu madidaru/ Vyasamuni Madhwa matavanu Uddharisida/

Sri Vyasaraja was the chancellor of the Imperial University of the Vijayanagar Empire. He sat on the Saraswathi peeta. He was the Guru of a distingushed galaxy of shishyas, Sri Vijayendra, Sri Purandaradasa, Sri Kanakadasa and so on. These sishyas kept the light of Indian philosophical thought shining with all brightness for a long time and even after their guru had left this world.

He went on trumpeting the fundamental philosophical truth of HARISARVOTAMATWA. His unfailing conviction and fervor about this knew no bounds, so much so that he throws a challenge

Ukkuva Tuppakke kai Ikkuve/ Chakaradhara paramatmanobbanalldillavendu//

Is this not an echo of Sri Madhwar’s call in the Sri Dwadasha Stotra?

When Hindu India appeared to be crumb, bluing down, Sri Madhawacharya fought the doctrine of illusion, raised the value of the individual, and gave an impetus to the ideals of faith and hope and progress, He was followed by Sri Jayathirtharu and Sri Vyasarajaru. It was Sri Vyasaraja’s insistence of the reality of the world that gave new life, as it were, to the world. He was no mere doctrinaire. His intelligence was as high as his love and Bhakti were deep. Sri Vyasaraja was the greatest man of his age, in scholarship and renunciation and was the embodiment of Hindu Dharma. Here is the encomium by Sri Srpadarajar on Sri Vyasaraja:

Sasira Jihyegalulla Sheshane Kondadabeku Vysamunirayara sanyasadirawa.

Sri Vyasaraja’s ultimate prayer to God is:

Januma Janumadalli Kodukandya hariye/Animatta Bandhu Sri KRISHNA dayadinda yenage//

This is the boon for which everyone of us should pray.

The two outstanding personalities among Vaishnav pontiffs. Sri VADIRAJA and Sri VYASARAJA passed away , in the Phalguna Bahula, on two consecutive days, i.e. on Trtiya and Chaturthi of different samvatsara , respectively

Sri Vysaraja’s brindavanam is at Nava Vrindavan , in a small island near Bellary washed away by the Tungabhadra river, who left his mortal body on 8-3-1539.

Compiled by

Sri.G R Raghunatha Rao

Retd Deputy Registar ( Academic ) Indian Institute of Technology , Chennai, India.