Hari Sarvothama Vaayu Jeevothama

Sri Thirupathi Venkataramana

2008-02-13T17:27:00.000-08:00

I got this picture of Sri Venkataramana in one of my mails. Thought, I can share it with everyone. Click on the picture to view it enlarged.

Udupi - Karnataka

2007-04-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

Below is a summary of the Origin of the Punyakhetra Udupi as Extracted from Karnataka Tourism Website.

History

About 60 Kms from Mangalore is a fairly large and upcoming town that was sanctum of Madhvacharya, the great Sanskrit Philosopher. The famous temple here, has a fascinating idol of Lord Krishna that is richly adorned with jewels. Sri Krishna Mutt, Udupi. The main attraction of this temple is the 'Kanakana Kindi' -a small window through which Krishna is believed to have given darshan to his ardent devotee, Kanakadasa. Lord Narayana, in his incarnation as Parasurama, after making twenty one assaults on the Kshatriyas and destroying them, performed a great yajna. In this yajna, he gave away all the land as gift to Brahmins. Finding that he was not left with any land for himself and reluctant to stay in the land already given away as gift, he reclaimed from the Arabian sea a strip of land from Gokarna to cape Comorin. This coastal strip of land, obtained by Parasurama from Varuna the Sea God, is known as Parasurama Kshetra or Parasurama's land. Ramaboja, a great devotee of Parasurama, was proclaimed king of this land. Intending to perform Ashwamedha yajna or horse sacrifice, Ramabhoja got the site for sacrificial fire ploughed up. While ploughing, a serpent got killed by the ploughshare. Although this serpent was nothing but a demon in disguise, Ramabhoja was greatly worried as it was a sin to kill a serpent. To atone this sin, he was directed by lord Parasurama to build a big silver pedestal with the image of a serpent at each of its four corners and to worship him who would be seated in spirit on the pedestal and also to distribute gold equal to his own weight to deserving persons. Ramabhoja did likewise and performed the Aswamedha yajna successfully. At its conclusion, Lord Parasurama appeared and declared that he was pleased with the yajna and that henceforth the sacrificial land 'Roopya Peetha' (silver pedestal) would become a famous pilgrimage. This land is also known as 'Thoulava' land and because Ramabhoja performed 'Tulabhara'. This in brief is the ancient history or the legend, of this land. This Roopya Peetha land is now known as Udupi. The name has been derived from the Moon. The moon was once cursed by Daksha Prajapati. To ward off his curse, the moon performed penance in propitiation of God Iswara in this forest land. Iswara was pleased, appeared before the moon and removed the evil effects of the curse. This place has since been known as Chandramuleeswar and there is an ancient temple of this name in this place. The actual spot where the moon performed penance is known as Abjaranya. There is a sacred tank Chandra-Pushkarani by its side. In Sanskrit, 'Udu' means stars; 'pa' means lord of. Hence 'Udupa' means lord of the stars, that is, moon. The place where the moon performed penance and obtained grace is known as Udupi.

UDUPI SRI KRISHNAIt is believed that the idol of Sri Krishna, installed in Udupi by Sri Madhvacharya, was got made by Sri Krishna himself by Viswakarma out of Saligrama stone. Towards the end of Dwapara yuga, Devaki felt a keen desire to see once again Krishna's balaleelas. These leelas which were enacted by Krishna for the benefit of his mother were also witnessed incognito by his wife Rukmini, who falling in love with this balaroopa requested him to get her a similar image for her daily worship. Thereupon Sri Krishna asked Viswakarma to make such an idol of Balakrishna with a churn in its right hand and a cord in the other.

This idol was daily worshipped by Rukmini. After Sri Krishna's disappearance from this world, the idol fell into the hands of Arjuna, who hid it in Rukmini's garden. By lapse of time the idol got completely covered by gopichandanam. A sailor from Dwaraka loaded this heavy lump in his boat as ballast, in one of his trips along the west coast. Lord Sri Krishna, Udupi.

Sri Madhvacharya, sensing this by his 'Aparoksha' or divine gnana, awaited the arrival of this precious ballast at Vadabhandeswar, a seashore spot near Udupi. When the boat approached that place it was caught by severe storm and was about to sink.

The captain of the boat, seeing a holy man on the sea shore entreated him to save him from disaster. Sri Madhvacharya waved his upper cloth and quieted the storm. The grateful captain offered all the riches in his boat to the Acharaya but he accepted from out of the lot only the lump of 'gopichandana' which was used as ballast. On breaking this, Sri Acharya found the beautiful and perfect idol of Sri Krishna. He carried the idol to Udupi, a distance of four miles, singing the praise of Lord Narayana in ecstasy. These hymns under twelve chapters are called " Dwadasa Stotra". He washed the idol of Sri Krishna in Madhwa Sarovara and installed it in the temple nearby and started worshipping it. These poojas have been going on since then even to this day in unbroken continuity. Since Sri Madhwacharya's time, these poojas are being conducted by his disciples who are all 'balasanayasis'. The right of touching and worshipping this idol rests with the pontiff of these eight mutts only who are the spiritual descendants of Sri Madhvacharya. No one else is permitted to touch the idol.

SRI KRISHNA MUTT

Udupi is famous for its Sri Krishna Mutt which though small is quite beautiful. There is no front door for this mutt. Instead there is a small window through which one could always get the darshana of the idol from outside the mutt. In front of the window there is a small 'gopuram'. The main entrance to the mutt is on the southern side. As one enters, on the right side is a tank called Madhwa Pushkarani. This tank has stone steps all round and a mantapam in the center.

Photo by Mythreyee.

Sri Rama Navami

2007-03-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Adapted from http://www.surfindia.com/

Rama Navami

"Sri Raama Raama Raameti Rame Raame Manorame.

Sahasranaama Tattulyam Raamanaama Varaanane."

The seventh reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, Lord Rama was born on the ninth day of the Hindu month Chaitra and that is why this day is called Ram Navami. Ram Navami is one of the most important festivals of the Vaishnav sect of Hindus and in some parts of India, it is a nine-day festival known as Vasanta Navratri. Temples are decorated and the image of Lord Rama is richly adorned. The holy Ramayana is read in the temples.

At Ayodhya, the birthplace of Sri Rama, a big fair is held on this day. In South India the Sri Ramnavami Utsavam is celebrated for nine days with great fervour and devotion. His Divine LifeRama, the perfect avatar of the Supreme Protector Vishnu, is an all-time favorite among Hindu deities. The most popular symbol of chivalry and virtue, Rama the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband and above all, the ideal king. The heroic deeds of Rama and his exciting adventures have inspired generations of people. Importance Of Fasting On Ram NavamiA Ram devotee keep a strict fast on Ram Navami, because the Ram Navami vrata is considered to be one of the five most important vratas in the ancient times.

According to the ancient religious texts, it is imperative for every devotee to observe the Ram Navami vrat, as it is the only easy mean of gaining happiness in the material world and achieving salvation at the same time. Celebrations It is said that Rama fulfills the wishes of all those who pray to him on this day. On this day, temples are decorated and the image of Lord Ram is richly adorned. Traditional worship begins with chanting Vedic mantras dedicated to Vishnu, and offering flowers and fruit to the god. Satsangs and public gatherings are organized to commemorate the birth of Lord Ram. Excerpts from the "Ramacharitamanas", praising Lord Ram, are recited. Lord Ram's devotees, fast for nine days with fruit and milk, whilst some fast on the ninth day only.

Recipe for Panaka and Majiga Neeru which is offered as Prasad to Sri Rama.

For Sri Rama Navami greetings cards Click here.

Sri Kanaka Dasaru

2007-03-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most remarkable saints of the period of Purandara was Kanaka Dasa (1508-1606) of Kaginele. He was a great disciple of Vyasarja, though a shephard by birth and great critic of caste hierarchy. Kanaka was born to Biregowda and Beechamma, at Bada and grew as a saiva in the beginning, and later on became a close follower of Vaishnavism, and a devoted Bhakta of Tirupati Venkateshwara whom he visited often, in spite of the hazardous nature of the journey up the hills. By reason of his devotion to Venkatesha and contacts with the archakas of the temple, there is a belief that Kanaka was a Vaishnavaite of the Ramanuja School, and never accepted a Vaishnavite of the Ramanuja school, and never accepted a Taratamya aspect of Madhva philosophy, as is borne out in the opening of his work "Mohana Tarangini': "Sattvikollasa Sri Ramanuja Muni Saranu!!!".

But Kanaka Dasa spent youth and his later years most in the company with Sri Vyasaraja, who spoke in admiration of him as he did of Purandara. Kanaka was of the warrior community, perhaps his defeat in the field of battle, directed him to the path of devotion. He was already an author of Narasimha stora, Ramadhyana Mantra, Mohanatarangini before he became a follower of Sri Vyasaraja and followed most of the tenets of Madhva religion.

He never became a Madhva though he accepted the Taratamya Tattva in the hierarchy of God like Brahma, Vayu, Girisha and others. Perhaps, he was already very much influenced by Sri Vyasaraja and his tenets before he gave to the world Nala Charitre and Haribhakti Sara. He was essentially, a Madhva mystic seeing the manifestation of Keshava in the meanest creation as well as in the highest, coloured by all the attributes of God and partaking of divine powers. There is a popular story that Kanaka being rejected entrace at the temple at Udipi, went round the Prakaram and burst in tears of song, appealing to the Lord to give darshan when the idol turned round, made a slit in the wall where Kanaka sat and give darshan to him. He composed hymns in moments of exaltation and when he sang them, he felt himself enveloped with melody and ecstatic lyric poetry.

Most of the compositions of Kanaka have the Mudrika Kagineleyadi Keshava There is a class of compositions called Kanaka Mundige full of abstract imagery, subtlety of metaphysics and inscrtable implications, challenging the finest in the Bhakta.

Kanaka in many of his Padas, reveals the unity and universality of spiritual experience, and flouts the iniquity of caste distinction and prejudices, born out of race, creed and class divisions. He is perhaps, the only great non-brahmimical saint who by his Aparoksha Jnana and glimpses of the Absolute, neutralised the dissidences of Caste and groups and attempted at the solidarity of all castes by abrogating references to Jati, Kula and other distinctions. Vaidika and Avaidika distinctions are invalid and only Bhakti is valid against the Absolute. Moksha Sadhana Samagram Bhaktireva Gariyasi!. There is no separate regions in the empire of Bhakti, no distinctions of caste, class, creed, sex and servitude; Dharma tapas and Acara, are not correlates of the absolute. Bhakti is the only means by which emancipation from Samsara can be realised. Every one born in this world has the fundamental right to attain the Absolute by Bhakti. The Bhakta transcends the limitations of Varna and Asrama Dharma. Sri Vyasaraja who had this intuition, treated Kanaka though the lower order, on the same footing of equality with the rest. Very often the Guru had to suffer embarrassment and veiled criticsm of his followers for the preferences he showed to Kanaka and Purandara, while delighted the bhaktas by their heavenly compositions.

Kanaka was totally absorbed in Hari Keshava! and he saw the vision of the Lord in the mountains, in moonlight, in sun-set, in living plants, in the flowing stream, in the lovely face of the child and the wrinkles of the old. He was possessed of Hari's invisible transcendental Beauty. Kanaka disdained servility and service at others feet or wandering for the satisfaction of the belly like a street dog without any sense of self-respect. Like Purandara, Kanaka suffered poverty, privation, degradation, distress, acute misery without a wife or any soul to comfort him. He was humbled and motified in the flesh by the visitations of misfortune. But undaunted, he struggled hard in this Dark night to find a sheet anchor at the feet of the Guru and through his ministrations to gain the glimpse of the divine. He pleads for protection against sensuous temptations, sins of the spirit and aberrations of intellect and will. Vyasaraja nursed this intuitive presentiments in Kanaka and enabled him to blossom out into mystical ecstasies in the same manner he had done for Purandara.

Kanaka made supreme effort in reforming the lower castes, weaning them away from ignorance, superstition and barbaric practices, in order to favour the growth of Bhakthi and devotion in them. His love of his own people compelled him to disregard his own life and to shed the blood of martyr for the sake of their transformation into a life of Ahimsa. God does not ask for blood, what he wants of you is only Bhakthi.

The body is sacred; the sense of the sacred is an ultimate category of the human soul. It is of infinite worth and therefore imposes an absolute obligation. Kanaka says "This body is Yours; life within it is yours, the power in the ear, the vision in the eye, the pleasure of fellowship, and participating in the fragrance and ebullition of life and the enjoyment of the senses are all Yours. As the body is to be in tune with the holy spirit, Kanaka prepares himself for the journey to meet his Lord. Oh! Hari, never do I desire the company of the wicked who are unrighteous quarrelsome, arimonious, enamoured of the plesure of Samsara and of women and wine and who do not know the importance of the Vedas. Oh! Kaginele Adikeshava, remove these affilctions, arising from the association of the wicked'.

Kanaka is conscious that the senses are inexpungable elements of life and their eradication involves considerable penance and self-denial. It was no easy task to keep away from temptation and exempted from their irrestible charm. "What can I do? Just like the mouth fascinated by the luminosity of the flame jumps into it, so too, my eyes dart at beautiful and elegantly ornamented women. I fall down to the ground like the bee that has sucked the fragrance of the Champaka, at the fragrance of the flowers worn by women whose steps resemble the 'mandagamana' of an elephant. I die like the fish that has swallowed the worm at the tip of the angler's stick. When I think of the nectar on the lips of young women, Oh! Adikeshava, Thou art my guide, help me to fix my mind on Your Lotus feet".

Kanaka is deeply conscious of the painful aspects of Samsara and worldly life. The body is like a bubble on the surface of water and all the actions of the body are an illusion, which has no power, no beloning or possessions. It is the intoxication of pride that persuades him to imagine himself to be what he is not in reality, to believe that he is the crown of creation, quite oblivious of the transmigration of his soul through several births, conceived in sin, born in sin, living in sin and ending his life in sin. Man is so engrossed in earning food for his belly, that he steals the property of others, tells falsehoods, seeks ostentation and display, and does a hundred things which rely his fundamental nature.

In the context of allurements of the Senses, he talks of caste, of several distinctions which are man made and not God made. The world talks of caste but what is the caste of righteous? Is not a lotus which grows in the bottom of the pool in mud brought and used in worshipping God? God's bodies are pasted with the musk, obtained from the musk cat. To what caste does Narayana, Lord of the World and Iswara Lord of Parvati belong? What is the caste of the Soul, of Siva and of the principal organs of knowledge? When Adikeshavaraya, the indweller is pleased where does the question of caste remain?

When Kanaka was questioned by the Mahant of the Tirupati temple he replied What is the caste to me who is intoxicated with the love of Adikeshava? In another place, Kanaka condemns hypocracy in the name of sanctity and such other deceits, sins and wickedness practised by the people. What is the use of practising meditation and penance without realising the true meaning of the Vedas and the nature of the Primeval Being?

Kanaka pins his faith in the Lord, in all His unity and Absoluteness with the result he repudiates Taratamya and worship of Yellamma, Mari Durga, Chowdi and other goddesses. 'Oh! Parama Hamsa! Thou art the ocean of mercy. I am a microscopic creature imbued with hunger and thirst and other miseries envelope me and make me helpless, while Thou art a Being, Omniscient and Omnipresent in all the known and unknown worlds'.

Kanaka appeals to the mind to struggle and to forbear for he knows that God will protect without delay. "Who waters the trees that grow on the mountain tops? Who has painted the peacock with variegated colours? Who has painted the parrot green? Who has created food for the frog and for the all sentiment creation? When God has created you and has undertaken that responsibility, he will assuredly protect you, why should there be any doubt about this? Oh! Adikeshava Thou art the bestower of my life, You will protect me, and it is not possible for me to forsake Thy feet". Kanaka was a great mystic and like Purandara, was convinced that every thing moved and had their being at the initiation of Sri Hari; all the animate and inanimate objects of the Universe moved according to His law and fulfilled themselves according to His purpose. God is omnipresent and all-mighty and omniscient. Kanaka asks the question 'Oh God art Thou in maya or is it within thee? IS the eye within the mind or mind within the eye, or both within Thee. Is the flower within the fragrance or the fragrance within the flower or are both these in the nose?

Kanaka was an Aparoksha Jnani with the direct cognition of Sri Adikeshava who was his supreme Preceptor and he was convinced that Adikeshava saved him from the field of battle and picked him up like a pearl dissociated from water to show the way to join His feet. Kanaka was unrivalled for depth and originality of feeling and for piety and sense of the purest attachment of Sri Hari. For rhythmic flow of verse and gracefulness of style he was as great as Purandara. "Adikeshava is my refuge and there is no need for any other ceremonial or meditation". Like a parrot nourished within the cage and taught sweet speech, You teach me true wisdom, and make me recite your name incessantly. So long You are not meditated upon, the mind wanters forth in search of the necket which is over its own neck. There are the oil, the lamp, the wick and the fire, but not till the lamp is lighted is there light, nor is darkness destroyed!

Kanaka in many of his keertanas, sings the nature of Paravastu the distinction between Paramayogin and Aviveki and Agnani, and like Purandara recognised the supreme manifestation of Hari and repudicated all distinctions of Kula, caste and creed as the inevitable corollary of worship of the divine. He lived in Belur for a long time and sang the praises of the Lord Keshava in the temples along with Vaikuntadasa, Haribhakti sara in Bhamini Shatpadi was written in Belur and Kanaka who travelled widely all over Karnataka alone unattended and without conveyances, spread the light of Vaishnavism and love of Sri Hari and Paramabhakti for Adikeshava among the millions who came in contact with him on his pregrinations.

Kanaka was strongly denunciatory of caste and class distinctions and all his compositions, his message was one of hope and love towards fellow human beings, and sentiment creation. Aesthetic art, compassion, sensitiveness to the beauty in nature and in the actions of men, marked his outlook on life, as one of the corollaries of a life of divine blessedness.

Overview of his Literature

Sri Kanaka Dasas compositions reveal a perfect mastery of Sanskrit and Kannada literature and show that he was well-versed in contemporary literature. He styles himself "Kanakadasottama" in his Mohana-Tarangini. Kanaka Dasa revels his compositions in a strong, fighting style that delivers the message directly. Unlike Purandara Dasa he was a "free-thinker" or "liberal thinker". Caste and creed in his opinion were no barriers to moksha. Bhakthi alone counted. He was prosecuted for his extreme views by the orthodox followers of Vyasaraja. This fact is alluded to in one of the songs of Purandaradasa which says that the disciples of Sri Vyasaraja found fault with him for the favour shown to Kanakadasa. But Vyasaraja is said 'to' have stood firm his disciple and revealed the true worth and greatness of Kanaka to his other followers.

Besides many devotional songs including "Mundiges"(allgories) he wrote the Mohanatarangini, Haribhakthasara, Ramadhyana Carite and Nalacarite. His portrayal of feelings is vivid and penetrating. He can be most homely and sublime as occasions demand and rises to inimitable perfection of art.

For a list of Sri Kanakadasaru's Conpositions Please Visit http://www.carnaticmusic.esmartmusic.com/srikanakadasa/kanakacomp.htm

Content Extracted from http://www.carnaticmusic.esmartmusic.com/srikanakadasa/kanakadasae.htm

Sri Madhwacharyaru and the Haridasas

2007-03-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

Influence of Sri Madhvacharya on Haridasas

haridAsas were mostly followers of AchArya Madhva, the founder of the dvaita school of philosophy. They drew their inspiration from scriptures as (correctly) interpreted by AchArya Madhva. Consequently, dvaita provided the philosophical underpinning for all the compositions of haridAsas.

There is however, no reasoned exposition of the philosophy of Madhva. The drift of the songs is lyrical and didactic rather than logical and definitive. Hence, we cannot expect any reasoned exposition of philosophical doctrines here. Nevertheless, certain basic tenets of the system like the doctrines of Hari sarvOttama (Lord Hari is the Supreme amongst all gods), 'tAratamya' (gradation), 'panchaBhEda', the nature of souls, the attributes of God, and the nature of 'mOksha (liberation) are elaborately dealt with.

dvaita or tattvavAda is the one of the leading schools of hinDu philosophy. It was propounded by AchArya Madhwa (aka MadhwAchArya, Ananda tIrtha) The tattvavAda more popularly known as Dvaita Philosophy of Sriman Madhwacharya, whose cordinal precepts are the supremacy of Sri Hari and surrender to Him and service to humanity as the sole means of liberation. The Philosophy of Sriman Madhvacharya is pragmatic with relevance to everyday life. It aims at building a sound individual and an orderly society which together provide the Sadhana Marga. Its emphasis Duty and Devotion at every stage of life serving eminently the twin objectives of creating an efficient individual and an orderly society. Sri Acharya Madhwa propagated the true spirit of modesty and sublimity bo commanding that every individual shall consider always himself as a servant at the feet of the Supreme Lord, who is the embodiment of all perfection.

Basic tenets of Sri Madhva philosophy

Vishnusarvottamativa - Supremacy of Lord Vishnu
Vayujeevottamatva - Supremacy of Vayu among Jeevas
The World is REAL (satya) and not illusory
Panchabheda - Five fold distinction
Bhakti (Devotion to God) is the sure route to God

The God has to be approached in number of simple easily-do-able ways. Followers of the great preceptor, Madhva, continued this tradition in their commentaries and compositions. The early efforts were in sanskrit and were mostly the commentaries of the Guru Madva's compositions. The heads of Institutions carried forward the teachings by the religious worship individual and group preachings and explaining the compositions of Madvacharya. All these compositions were in Sanskrit, the language of the educated (mostly scholars) and reached but a few. The common man saw the 'pooja' follower whatever was preached in his understandable language and just did what he saw or was told. Mass appeal or mass communication did not materialise or perhaps, was not intented to, the early stages. People perhaps believed that devotion to God was the prerogative of the scholars and beyond the ken of the uneducated (non-Sanskrit) mass.

The initial inspiration of the Dasas was derived from Madhva himself. who has given devotional lyrics in Sanskrit such as Dvadasa-stotra etc. Sumadhva Vijaya (XV 84) alludes to the many gathas, subhasitas etc. composed by him though we have no trace of any compositions in Kannada or Tulu by Madhva.

The situation being grave and self-destructive needed urgent solution. During the period of Vysatirtha (around 1447 to 1539) and a few years earlier in the period Sri Padaraya, Vysatiratha's preceptor songs in praise of the Lord were proudly sung during worship and these were the songs in the local language, Kannada - language of the common people. This was carried by his great disciples like Sri Purandara Dasa, Sri Kanaka Dasa and later dasa's.

The expositions of Dasas are centred around Dvaita system in a popular and attractive form in the language of the people. Such an attempt is in itself a proof of the fact that the Madhva thought was a living force in the country and had a permanent message much a cold philosophical doctrine as a dynamic way of life. The central theme of Dasa Philosophy is the existence of independent transcedent principle called Sri Hari. Behind the veil of Maya, he is the redeemer of human souls struggling from time immemorial to free themselves from the meshes of Prakruti. The grace of God is the means of such redemption from the flesh and the cycle of births and deaths. This is obtained by bhakthi (devotion) which flows from love of God to the exclusion of everything else, with a deep sense of dependence of souls on him. The songs draw frequently upon the teachings and legends of the epics and Puranas to inculcate the spirit of devotion. There is however, no reasoned exposition of the philosophy of Madhva, which is the basic philosophy of the Dasas. The drift of the songs is lyrical and didactic rather than logical and definitve. Hence we cannot expect any reasoned exposition of philosophical doctrines here. Nevertheless, certain tenets of the system like the doctrines of 'taratamya' (gradation of souls), 'panchabehda' (reality of fivefold difference in the universe), the nature of souls, the attributes of God, and the nature of 'moksha (liberation) are elaborately dealt with. The songs try to rouse the spirit of man from a life of worldly attachment and turn it Godward. They deal with all aspects of spiritual discipline taught by the scriptures and take us along the path of self-realization. Their philosophy system is just the same as that presented by the great writers of the Dvaita Vedanta in their original works in sanskrit.

Extracted from Dvaita.org

Sri Purandhara Dasaru

2007-03-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

About:

Shri Purandara Dasaru (1484-1564) ("the follower (dasa) of Lord Shri Purandara Vittala, Lord Vishnu in one of his many avatars.") is known as the father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music. The dasas, among them Sripadaraya, Kanaka Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, and Kamalesha Vittala and others, propounded bhakti to the Lord through music over several years.

Kannada language, the state language of Karnataka.

Life History:

Purandara Dasa was born to a pawnbroker named Varadappa Nayaka. Varadappa Nayaka and his wife Lakshmi Bai had been childless for several years, and finally, after praying to Lord Srinivasa of Tirupati, they became proud parents of a child whom they called Srinivasa. The family are supposed to have hailed from Pandarapur in modern day Maharashtra but Purandara Dasa lived in Hampi during the latter part of his life.

Srinivasa Nayaka grew up and entered his father's business. However, unlike his father, he was a miser, so much so that it is said that he even baulked at spending money on treatment for his father's illness. His wife Saraswathi bai was the opposite: always wishing to contribute to charity much to the displeasure of her husband.

One day, Lord Vishnu in the guise of a poor priest visited Srinivasa Nayaka's shop who wanted some alms to perform the thread ceremony for his son. Srinivasa Nayaka, being a miser, asked him to return the following day, and kept the Brahmin coming for another six months. Finally, fed up with the Brahmin's persistence, he gave him one fake coin that he played with as a child. Vishnu as the priest then told Srinivasa's wife Saraswathi the pitiful story of how a miserly pawnbroker made him come to his shop every day for six months only to give him a fake coin in the end. Saraswathi's heart melted and she gave the Brahmin her nose ring as alms (a gift from her parents and thus not something that she got from her husband). The Brahmin promptly took the nose ring back to Srinivasa Nayaka's shop, where he wanted to pawn it for money. The pawnbroker recognized it, however, so he locked it up in his safe and hurried home. He demanded that Saraswathi produce her nose ring immediately. Struck with fear, Saraswathi locked herself in the kitchen and tried to swallow poison. Miraculously, the nose ring dropped from the heavens into her cup of poison and she was able to produce it for her husband. Upon returning to his shop, he opened the safe, only to find that the nose ring in the safe had vanished. This put his mind into a turmoil. After deep thought, he came to the conclusion that the brahmin was none other than Lord Shri Purandara Vitthala Himself. He recalled all the incidents that had transpired in the previous six months. Wonderstruck, he was ashamed of his miserliness, Srinivasa Nayaka decided to renounce all material belongings and become a dasa (servant)of god. Thus, Srinivasa Nayaka came to be Purandara Dasa. In gratitude for this event, he would later compose a song dedicated to his wife, for having shown him the path to God. From that day onwards he became a devotee of Shri Hari. The once Navkoti Narayana became a Narayana bhakta, the hands which sported gold and diamond rings now played the tamboora, the neck which used to be resplendent with golden chains now housed the tulasi mAla. The man who had turned away countless people away, now himself went around collecting alms and living the life of a mendicant. The Nayaka who would have lived and died an inconsequential life became the Great Purandaradasa, loved and revered even centuries after his death.

Above content is an extract from Wikipedia.

Works:

SOME FACTS about Purandara Dasa's songs are not so well known. The Dasa passed away in 1564 A.D. and the next year the Vijayanagar Empire collapsed at the battle of Talikota. In the chaos that followed the saint's sons moved from Hampi to their native Purandaragad near Poona taking with them whatever material they had like the text of the saint's songs as noted down by them.

These were in Marathi script, were brought to Mysore 200 years later and transliterated into Kannada script. Then followed printing of these songs in any number of books, paying little attention to the correctness of the texts. Many faults were there naturally. Many good editions have also been brought out, like the one by the Karnataka State Government , edited by S. K. Ramachandra Rao.

But the literary side is less than half the work needed. To Purandara Dasa's reforms on the music side we owe the present Carnatic system. Carnatic music, after separating from Hindustani music, had started showing signs of breaking up into a number of local variations. It was the Dasa who arrested this trend with his farsighted reforms.

Among others he restricted the number of ragas to around 35-called Batteesa ragas. All his compositions were in these ragas. It is therefore surprising that in this book the ragas mentioned for many songs were not there in the saint's time. Some of these ragas are "Peelu," "Hindusthani Kapi," "Behag," "Kharaharapriya," "Kambodhi" "Mohana"(?), and "Dahanasri". The tunes of these songs are obviously by half-baked pseudo composers. Care should have been taken to point out these oddities. It is somewhat easy to differentiate an original Purandara Dasa composition from others. He had brought about a complete fusion of the three ingredients of a song — raga, sahitya and tala. It is to be noted that the only other composer to have achieved perfection in this respect is Thyagaraja himself.

The mood or rasa of a raga matches well with the sahitya in these compositions and the sahitya has been composed in such a way that the number of syllables matches perfectly the beat of the tala.

The content in 'Works' is an extract from The Hindu, written by G.D.

His Songs:

Purandara Dasa always concluded his songs with a salute to Lord Purandara Vittala. He is believed to have composed around 475,000 songs, although only a thousand or so of them are known today. All his musical compositions are in Kannada language, the state language of Karnataka (India). The songs composed by Purandara Dasa had its appeal to illiterate common people.Through his songs Purandara Dasa praised the Lord Vishnu and also penetrated a huge amount of bakthi among the singers and listeners. Purandara Dasa's songs are filled with rhyme and meaning. All of Purandaradasa's works are in simple metrical songs, which can be sung on all occasions, and convey devotion in the Bhagavata philosophy.

Purandaradasa was the originator of the musical scale by which all the rules of Carnatic school are formed. His classification of swaravali, jantivarase, alamkara, and lakshana factors are accepted and practiced throughout.

The content in 'His Songs' are extracted from http://www.karnaticclassicalmusic.com/

Few Compositions of Sri Purandhara Dasaru can be found in http://www.karnatik.com/co1004.shtml

Sri Bootharaja

2007-03-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

Here is the brief about Sri Bootharaja

and

Here's a dedicated page about Sri Vadhiraja Theertharu and Sode.

Sri Jaya Theertharu / Tikaachaaryaru

2007-02-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Sri Jayatîrtha is one of stalwarts of Tattvavâda, and is a very senior scholar of the Mâdhva hierarchy, being next only to Srimad Ananda Tîrtha, Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, and Sri Padmanâbha Tîrtha. He is responsible for several commentaries upon Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's works, which are all written in a remarkable style that is unfailingly precise, appropos, and eloquent. Not for him the off-topic digressions, dogmatic and malappropos assertions, axe-grinding, and superfluous literary ornamentation, that are so favored by many lesser talents. Unlike them, he never strays from the straight-and-narrow path of logical presentation -- he never uses two words where one would suffice, nor does he use a word when another might be better suited; he is a model of humility, and does not have any agenda except the service of his master. Perhaps as important to his overall worth, he never introduces spurious new material that does not inhere in the works that he exposits. His definitions of complicated Sanskrit terms are a truly outstanding feature of his scholarship -- one is not only instantly made aware of the correct meaning of the term being used and its relationship to the matter being discussed, but one is also given an angelic whiff of the intellectual ambrosia of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's works. The definitions are rare delicacies, to be savored at great length, and to be valued as literary gems that are known only to a favored few. It is very hard indeed for one who has had a proper exposure to Sri Jayatîrtha's erudition, to settle for, or even to tolerate, the drivel of anyone less.

His clear expositions of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's masterpieces, coming as they do through his very scholarly writing, contributed in no small measure to giving Tattvavâda its place in modern Vedanta. Through his works, he has firmly established himself as one of the all-time front-runners of philosophical Sanskrit literature, and as a most important disciple of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha. As Dr. B.N.K. Sharma puts it, "He is to Madhva even more than what Vacaspati Misra is to Sankara."

It is said that in a previous birth, Sri Jayatîrtha was a bull that served as a pack-animal, and traveled with Srimad Ananda Tîrtha and his devotees, whose library it carried. When Srimad Ananda Tîrtha would give a lecture, the bull would stand at a distance and listen silently. Once, when some disciples approached Srimad Ananda Tîrtha and asked him which of them would be the one to write commentaries on his works, he told those importunates that it would be the bull that would do so, rather than one of them. At this, some jealous disciples laid a curse on the bull, that it would be bitten to death by a snake, but Srimad Ananda Tîrtha changed the wording of the curse slightly, so that the snake bit the bull and itself died immediately, leaving its victim unharmed.

Sri Jayatîrtha's biographies include Anu-Jayatîrtha-Vijaya and Brhad-Jayatîrtha-Vijaya. He spent much of his physical life in Mangalvedhe, which is about 12 miles south-east of Pandharpur (in modern Maharashtra, and home of Lord Vitthala). He was born in the family of a Brahmin king, and was heir to the throne. He was very handsome, healthy, intelligent, endowed with physical vigor, and given to outdoor activity. Once, while the young Dhond Pant Raghunath (his name during pûrva-âshrama) was horse-riding, he bent down and quenched his thirst from a river without dismounting or even stopping his horse. He was seen doing so by Sri Akshobhya Tîrtha, one of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's direct disciples, who asked him: "kim pashuH pûrva-dehe?" ("Were you an animal in a previous life?"; literally: "Did you have an animal's body previously?").

At this, the memory of his past life in service of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha flashed in an instant in the mind of the young Dhond Pant, and he was immediately seized of the irresistible urge to give up material living in favor of the higher realm of service to Sriman-NârâyaNa. He was given sanyâsa-dîkshâ by Sri Akshobhya Tîrtha very shortly thereafter, and gave up his kingdom and all its promises of material joys, over the objections of his parents.

Among the works of Sri Jayatîrtha, the best-known is the Nyâya-Sudhâ, which is a commentary on the Anu Vyâkhyâna of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha (which is itself a commentary on Veda Vyâsa's Brahma Sutra)

In it, Sri Jayatîrtha refutes various schools' criticisms of the Anu Vyâkhyâna's precepts, clearly defines terms that Srimad Ananda Tîrtha uses, and, in his inimitably exquisite style of usage, shows the logical progression of ideas inherent in the Anu Vyâkhyâna's presentation. His ability, as seen in the 'Sudhâ and elsewhere, to anticipate all of one's objections, and to state them much better than one could oneself, before laying them to rest, is a mark of his proficiency in scripture and eloquence in Sanskrit. It is impossible to think up an objection to Srimad Ananda Tîrtha that he has not thought of before, and one can look forward to a most pleasing sensation of satisfaction at receiving the answer, which is always given with no side-stepping or condescension. A saying that tries to capture the delectable treat that the Nyâya-Sudhâ is, goes as: "sudhâ vâ paThanîyâ, vasudhâ vâ pâlanîyâ," which conveys the meaning that the joy of studying the Nyâya-Sudhâ can only be compared to the joy of ruling a kingdom.

Sri Jayatîrtha's VâdâvaLî, which is an original work, refutes the theory of illusion, and counts as the earliest major Mâdhva polemical text after those authored by Srimad Ananda Tîrtha himself; it also is a precursor to the Nyâyamrta and Tarka-tânDava of Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha, and other later works.

Sri Jayatîrtha's Brndâvana is at Malkheda, in the north of modern Karnataka state, from where he continues to bless devotees who, in spite of their own lack of any significant ability, wish to understand Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's writings correctly.

Some people hold that one of the brndâvana-s in the Nava-vrndâvana complex in Hampi is that of Sri Jayatîrtha; this is disputed by the Uttaradi MaTha, the institution tracing itself to Sri Jayatîrtha. The Jayatîrtha-vijaya, his biography, also speaks of his brndâvana as being in Malkheda, on the bank of the river Kagini.

Extracted from http://www.dvaita.org/scholars/jayatirtha/

Sri Panduranga Vittala

2007-02-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-22T12:46:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

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.

Sundara Kaanda

2007-02-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

This is a very very short version of the Sundara Kaanda. This was recited by my Great Grand Mother, and is treasured till date. The Author of this beautiful short Sundara Kaanda is unknown. The Sloka is in Kannada.

S u n d h a r a K a a n d a

Ee yelane adhyaayadhalli

Shri Vaayu Puthraraadha Hanumandhevaru
Shri Raama Dhevaranna Namaskaara Maadi
Samudhravannu Dhaatabeku Embo Ichha Ullavaraagi
Mahendhra Parvadhindha Haari
Mainaakanna Aalingana Maadi Kondu
Surasa Dheviya Mukavanna Pravesa Maadi,
Simhikeyanna Samhaara Maadi
Lankaa Pattanakke Prakaaravaadha
Thrikoota Parvadhavannu Yeidhi
Ashoka Vanadhalli Simsubha gidadha kalage iruva
Seethaa deviya pratheekrutheeyalli
Raama Deveranna Ungaravannu Kottu
Soodaamaniya Thekkondu
Simsubha Vrikshavannu Hothu
Ashoka vanadhannu Naasha Maadi
Kinkaragalanu, Yelu Manthri Makkalu,
Aidhu Senaakrakaamgalu,
Munthaadha Raakshasargalanu,
Akshakumaarannu Naashamaadi
Indrajithanna Brahmaastharadhindha Bandhana Maadi
Paadhega Hogi, Raavanakke Preethi Uthra Heli
Thanna Baalaka Agni indha
Lanka Pattanavannu Suttu
Punaha Samudhravannu Dhaati
Kapeeklindha Madhu Vanadha Palagalannu Bhakshana Maadi
Soodamaniyanna, Shri Raamara Paadhadhalli Samarpisi
Saashtaanga Namaskaara Maadi
Shri Raama Dhevarindha Aalangana Maadisikollappattaru.
Ithi Sri Sundhara Gaandam Sampoornam

Please pardon me for any mistake. Pls post a comment if you think anything has to be changed.

Here's the translation of the above composed by me.

In the Seventh Adhyaaya,
Shri Hanuman, who is Shri Vaayu's Son,
Prays Shri Rama,
Wishes to Cross the Ocean,
Flies from Mount Mahendra,
Steps in Mynaaka,
Slaps Surasa Devi,
Kills Simhika,
Goes to Lanka's most beautiful
Thrikoota Mountains,
Goes to the Ashoka Vana where, under the Tree
Sees Sita Devi, hands over
Shri Raama's Ring, then
Takes Sita Devi's Soodamani
Worship's Sita by going round the Tree
Destroys Ashoka Vana, and
Kinkaras, 7 sons of the Ministers,
5 Warriors,
All Raakshasaas,
Kills Akshakumaara, then,
Falls unconcious for Indrajith's Brahmaastra,
Tries to Peace talk with Ravana,
With the fire in his Tail,
Fire's Lanka,
Again crosses the ocean,
Enjoys the fruits in the orchard, then,
Hands over the Soodamani to Shri Rama, and
Bows before him, then
He is hugged by Shri Rama.
This is the end of Sundar Kaandam.

Sri Raghavendra Raayaru - Brief life history

2007-02-15T21:37:00.000-08:00

pUjyAya rAghavendrAya satyadharmaratAya cha

bhajatAM kalpavRikshAya namatAM kAmadhenave

Introduction Antecedents:

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

ShrI vijaEndra tIrtha and sudhIndra tIrtha:

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

Birth and childhood

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

Education

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

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

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.

Ascension as pIThAdhipati (throne of Asecitic)

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

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

Pilgrimages

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

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

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

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

Power to revive the dead

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

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

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

Those who came to humiliate end up being humiliated

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

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

Three forecasts for the one who took three avatAras

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

Personality that influences even inanimate objects

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

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

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.

2? 2? 2? 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.

SAkshI haya syOtra hi

AppanAchArya was rAyaru�s beloved disciple. Most of the sanskrit hymns that we chant today in honor of rAyaru � rAghavEndra stOtra, mangaLAshTaka, danDaka etc � are his compositions. On the day rAyaru was entering the brindAvana, he was on the other side of the tungabhadra river since he had forgotten about the event. When he was reminded of it, he was aghast at his mistake and ran towards manchAle. As he was running, he was composing the famous rAghavEndra stotra (�shrI pUrNabOdha guru tIrtha payobdhi pAra ��). When he reached the river it was in full spate but he did not care and rushed headlong. The power of his devotion was so great that the river parted for him and he reached manchAle quickly. But even this was too late. Just as he came in front of the brindAvana, the last slab had been laid and his beloved guru had vanished from his sight forever. Tears started to gush from his eyes and his voice choked. The stotra had reached its final stanza � kirtir divijita vibhutiratula ..� but he could not continue further. Suddenly, a voice rang out from the brindAvana "sAkshi haya syOtra hI" (meaning that Lord hayagrIva is the witness to the statements made by appanAchArya in his stOtra, and that He would make them all come true). Even today, anybody reciting this stotra with full faith and devotion gets all the grace of rAyaru.

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)

RAyaru�s literary works

There is a hidden side to the moon that most humans never see or know about. We have a similar side to rAyaru. Most of us know him only as the kind, merciful guru who is always forthcoming in our times of need. There are very, very few people who have not benefitted from his benevolence. One haridAsa says �dhareyoLu gurugaLa more iDalAgada narEre pApigaLella! (those who cannot or do not seek refuge in guru are truly sinners)�. This is the side that is well known. However, there is another side known only to scholars � the writer par excellence who gave us literary gems that would dazzle with their scholastic brilliance. Like the legendary bhagIrtatha maharAja who brought the holy ganga down to earth, rAyaru has made it possible, with his commentaries and notes, for ordinary people to partake of the ambrosia called madhva shAstra. That is why knowledgeable people call him as the �madhva matAmbOdhi chandra� (Moon of the ocean called madhva shAstra).

Over 40 works have been attributed to rAyaru. Most of these are commentaries on the works of shrI MadhvAchArya, jayatIrtha and vyAsatIrtha. The rest include a couple of original works and direct commentaries on the Upanisads and other works. Most of the works are available today, but some are not, and we know of them only through oral tradition i.e., some work or some stOtra mentions a work by rAyaru that is otherwise unknown.

ShrI Rayaru s works are characterized by remarkable clarity of thought, simplicity of expression and compactness. He has brought even very abstruse works of dvaita within the understanding of an average student of the shAstras. This is where the greatness of his success and fame and the universal popularity of his works lies.

The volume of his output is greater. And he brings to bear on the exposition of these texts a profound learning in different shAstras, a clear and simple style and a very lucid way of presenting even the most technical points. It may be no exaggeration to consider him as the foremost among the major nonpolemical writers of the Post vyAsa tIrtha period.

Extraction from gururaghavendra1.org's brief history of Sri Raghavendra.

Srimad Bhagavad Gita - Online

2007-02-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

There is a totally dedicated website for Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/

Apart from all the Chapters in Srimad Bhagavad Gita in many different languages, lots of other Information is also available in this site, like the

Lord's six-fold Incarnations

The Disciplic Succession of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya

and many more facts.

yamanelli kaaNenendhu

2007-02-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Composer: Purandaradasar
Ragam: sivaranjani

yamanelli kaaNenendhu hELa bEdaa
yamanE sri raamanu sandheha bEdaa

nambidha vibeeshanage raamanaatha
nambadhitha raavaNage yamanaadha

nambidha arjunagE mithranaatha
nambadhitha dhuryOdhanagE sathruvaadha

nambidha prahlaadhanigE hariyaadha
nambadhitha hiraNyakE ariyaadha (kuriyaadha)

nambidha ukrasenakE brudhyanaadha
nambadhitha kamsanikE sathruvaadha

nambik koLLi bEga sri krishNa dhEvana
kambu chakradhaari sri purandhara vittala

The Three Meanings for the Name RAMA and the Meaning of NARAYANA

2007-02-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

The word Rama has three meanings:

One meaning is "the only entity from which yogis attain bliss". Spiritual aspirants do not get happiness from finite, worldly objects. They want something infinite. Bliss cannot be obtained from finite objects.

The infinite object which supplies them with infinite happiness is nothing but Rama. The Ananda Sutram says infinite happiness is anandam not sukham.
Another meaning of Rama is: Rama is the most glittering entity of the entire universe. It is the first syllable of rati, that is, 'ra' or glittering.

The first letter of the word Mahidhara, is ma, meaning, the world. Hence Rama. All glittering entities get their glitter from Him, no entity posses-ses glitter of its own.

The moon gets its glitter from the earth; the earth in turn derives its glitter from the sun. The sun gets energy from the cosmological nucleus. There are countless solar systems in the cosmos and the hub of all is Parama Purusha. He is the nucleus of all energy.

Scriptures say: "Before that effulgent Supreme Entity, neither the sun shines, nor the moon nor stars nor the lightning flash, what to speak of fire. In Parama Purusha's light all other entities shine. His effulgence illuminates all entities".

The third meaning of Rama is 'Ravanasya maranam'. The first syllable of Ravanasya and the first syllable of maranam make up "Rama". Ravana means a mind that moves away from the nucleus drifting away by the centrifugal force, dissipating mental energies in all 10 directions.

He is depicted as a 10-faced demon. Ravana can be defeated or destroyed, only when one takes shelter in Rama. So one under whom Ravana automatically dies is "Rama".

The meaning of Rama and Narayana is the same. Hanuman was asked why he insisted on taking the name of Rama and not of Narayana. He replied: "I know that philosophically there is no difference between Narayana and Rama, yet I will channelise my mind towards One Entity with all my sincerity and devotion and not many.

For me there is no Narayana, there is only Rama". In spiritual parlance such a word is called Ishta mantra and the spiritual aspirants treasure their Ishta mantra.

Narayana and Rama are the same Entity; only their names differ. The word Narayan comes from nara, that has three meanings: Parama, Prakrti and devotion or bhakti.

Nara + da = Narada, the distributor of bhakti. Nara means devotion. And 'ayana' means ashraya. Narayana means Parama Purusha - the Cosmic Consciousness, the shelter of Parama Prakrti.

Is the name more powerful or the nami (named). Who is more powerful, Parama Purusha or His name? The bhava, or ideation, for an object goes together with its name. One cannot name oneself. You need somebody else to name you.
Before leaping across the ocean, Hanuman consulted Rama. Rama replied, "Go ahead, Hanuman. You can jump across the ocean. But I cannot". And Rama asked him, "How will you cross it?

"Hanuman replied, "With your power" Rama asked, "How will you get My power?" And Hanuman replied, "I will take your Name and jump". Hence the nama is more powerful than the nami. The named, before being named, remains nameless. When there were no devotees, God had no name He was nameless.

Compiled from http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1768814.cms

The Three Incarnations of Sri Vaayudeva

2007-01-11T15:34:00.000-08:00

Prathamo Hanuman Nama Dwitheeyo Bheema Eva cha
Poornapragna Treetiya thu Bhagavat Karya- saadah

The first Avatar of Sri Vayu is Hanuman son of Anjana Devi in Tretayuga. His wonderful feats and service to Rama Devaru are described in RAMAYANA.

The second Avatar is Bheema, in Dwapara Yuga, Sri Vayu Deva appeared as Bhimasena and played the most important part in the destruction of the enemies of God. In the whole of Mahabharata, Bhimasena is the most important person who never slipped from the path of righteousness and served Sri Krishna.

The Third Avatar is Sri Madhwacharya in kaliyuga. He was born near Udipi on Vijayadasamiday in the year 1238 A.D. He took to Sanyasa in his 16 th year and became known as 'Ananda Teertha'. Sri Acharya disappeared, while teaching Aitereya Upanishad Bashya to his disciples, in Ananteswara Temple at Udipi in the year 1317 A.D., He is still alive in the Badrikashram on the Himalayas with his Guru Sri Vedavyasa Devaru. The full Biographical details of Sri Madhvacharya are told in "Sri Madhva Vijaya". he chose to serve the Lord and Propounded a Philosophy known as Dwaita Vedanta.

Sri Hanuman

2007-01-11T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hanuman was born the son of Kesari and Anjani. His mother Anjani was previously an Apsara (celestial lady) named Punjikasthala who took birth in the monkey race as a result of a curse. Despite this her beauty was unrivalled and once attracted Vayu, the powerful god of the winds. Hanuman was born as a result of the union of Anjani and Vayu-deva, but as Vayu-deva revealed that this was not a sinful activity since the appearance of Hanuman was ordained by the great Lord Vishnu Himself.

Ramayana is an epic portraying exemplary characters. Rama is the ideal king, Sita the perfect wife and Hanuman the perfect devotee. The character of Hanuman exemplifies how devotional service is practiced in its perfection, how a pure devotee relates with his worshippable Lord and how the Lord reciprocates.

The relationship between Rama and Hanuman demonstrates the perfection of devotion in the mood of service (dasya-rasa). In an almost classical manner Hanuman demonstrated the symptoms of pure devotional service. Everything that he did was only for the pleasure of Lord Rama, whether it was building bridges, fighting rakshasas or flying across the country to fetch life saving herbs, his constant meditation was how to best serve Rama. When he sought out Sita in Ravana's Lanka, he was not merely satisfied at delivering to her the message of Lord Rama. He also destroyed the forest, killed many rakshasas and burnt down half of Lanka. That is the mood of a pure devotee. To consciously cultivate everything that is positive to the service of the Lord and reject everything that is not. Even though Lord Rama reciprocated very sweetly with gratitude, praise or benedictions for Hanuman, he never had any expectation for them. Hanumanoften presented himself as a simple ignorant monkey in front of Rama.

When Hanuman returned from Lanka with news of Sita, an overjoyed Rama embraced him tightly. However a clearly uncomfortable Hanuman stated that his position could only be at the feet of his Lord. The highest reward for him was to serve Lord Rama. Service to Rama was the most exalted destination for Hanuman, and he constantly endeavored to perfect himself in this respect.Glories to HanumanAfter ruling for eleven thousand years when the time came for Lord Rama to return to His eternal abode, most of His close associates, including Sugriva, accompanied Him. However Lord Rama ordered Hanuman to stay back, to protect and inspire His future devotees. Lord Rama gave Hanuman the benediction that he would live for as long as His glories would be sung in any corner of the world. Even though Hanuman appeared in the Treta-yuga, millions of years later he made an appearance again in the Dwapara-yuga to help his younger brother Bhima. In order to serve Krishna, in the battle of Mahabharata, Hanuman personally resided in the flag on the chariot of Arjuna. During the battle, the fierce cries of Hanuman struck terror in the hearts of the opposition and greatly encouraged the Pandava warriors.

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Sri Bheemasena

2007-01-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

In Dwaparaayuga Vaayudeva ( God of Wind ) , took the form as Bheema, Second of the Pandavas (Pandavas – Sons of King Paandu as told in the Great Indian Epic Mahabharatha)
In Mahabharatha, Bheemasena served Lord Krishna.

He was a man of vast size, and had great strength. He was wrathful in temper, and given to abuse, a brave warrior, but a fierce and cruel foe, coarse in taste and manners, and a great feeder, so that he was called Vrikodara, `wolf's belly.' Half of the food of the family was allotted to him, and the other half sufficed for his four brothers and their mother. The weapons he generally used were a club, which suited his gigantic strength, and he had been trained in the use of it by Drona and Balarama.

His great strength excited the envy of his cousin Duryodhana, who poisoned him and threw his body into the Ganges; but it sank to the realm of the serpents, where it was restored to health and vigour, and Bhima returned to Hastinapura.

In the great battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas, Bhima took a very prominent part. On the first day he fought against Bhishma; on the second he slew the two sons of the Raja of Magadha, and after them their father, killing him and his elephant at a single blow. In the night between the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the battle, Bhima fought with Drona until the rising of the sun; but that redoubted warrior fell by the hand of Dhrishtadyumna, who continued the combat till noonday.

On the seventeenth day he killed Duhsasana, and drank his blood, as he had long before vowed to do, in retaliation of the insults Duhsusana had offered to Draupadi.

On the eighteenth and last day of the battle Duryodhana fled and hid himself in a lake. When he was discovered, he would not come out until he had received a promise that he should not have to fight with more than one man at a time. Even than he delayed until he was irritated by the abuse and the taunts of the Pandavas. Bhima and Duryodhana fought as usual with clubs. The battle was long and furious; the parties were equally matched, and Bhima was getting the worst of it, when he struck an unfair blow which smashed Duryodhana's thigh, and brought him to the ground. Thus he fulfilled his vow and avenged Draupadi. In his fury Bhima kicked his prostrate foe on the head, and acted so brutally that his brother Yudhishthira struck him in the face with his fist, and directed Arjuna to take him away. Balarama was greatly incensed at the foul play to which Bhima had resorted, and would have attacked the Pandavas had he not been mollified by Krishna. He declared that Bhima should thenceforward be called Jihmayodhin, `the unfair fighter.'

After the conclusion of the war, the old king, Dhritarashtra, asked that Bhima might be brought to him. Krishna, who knew the blind old man's sorrow for his son, whom Bhima had killed, and suspecting his intention, placed before him an iron statue, which Dhritarashtra crushed in his embrace. Dhritarashtra never forgave Bhima, and he returned the ill feeling with insults, which ended in the old king's retiring into the forest.

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Sri Madhwacharya

2007-01-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Sri Madhwacharya regarded as an incarnation of Vayu, the Wind-God was born in the year 1238 A.D. He was born of Madhya Geha a Tulu Barhmin and Vedavati at Paajaka near Udipi in South Kanara district of Karnataka. The father gave him the name Vasudeva.

Madhwa distinguished himself in physical exercises and field games. He had a wonderful physique. He could wrestle, run, jump and swim. So people gave him the nickname Bhima. Madhwa took to the study of the Vedas and the Vedandas and became well versed in them. He was performed upanayanam in the age of five. He took Sannyasa in his eleventh year. Sri Madhwa was born or became a Sanyasi (in his 11th year) on Vijaya Dasami day of the Indian year, Vilambi. Mostly this day comes in October. Even today, Maadhwas celebrate Vijaya Dasami as Madhwa Jayanti also. Achyutapashacharya initiated him. Madhwa was now known by the name Purna Prajna.

Achyutapashacharya put Madhwa as head of the Mutt in his place. Madhwa received the name of Ananda Tirtha now. He went on an extensive tour in Southern and Northern India to preach his gospel of Bhakti. He had written thirty-seven gradhas like Geetha Bhasyam, Suthra Bhasyam, Anuubhasyam. Anuvyakyam. It is believed in pronouncing the names of those thirty-seven grandas itself one gets sanctified.

Sri Madhwacharya had performed many miracles. Then Sri Madhwacharya was camping in Srimushnam a place twenty-six Km from Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, observing the Chathur masa vritha. To squelch the thirst of a pregnant lady he produced water with his Danda. The Danda Teertha in Srimushnam is a notable holy spot for Maadhwas. On an occasion he stilled the waves of the ocean when he went to take bath. On an another occasion he was on the beach of Malpe composing a hymn. He sighted a ship that was caught in the storm and by waving his hand, saved it from being capsized. The captain of the ship had offered him a lump of Sandal paste as a gift, which the Sri Madhwacharya took. When the Sandal paste was broke and disclosed the presence of the idol of Lord Krishna. Sri Madhwacharya had a pre-sentiment that this idol of Lord Krishna is the one, which was worshiped in Dwaraka by Shri Rukmani. He installed the same, at Udipi. He had established the eight mutts in Udipi to spread the Dvaita philososhy and to worship of the Lord Krishna in Udipi.

Sri Madhwacharya is the great exponent of the Dvaita School of philosophy. Dvaita is employed to indicate this difference between God's infinite perfection and the finiteness of everything else. His Vaishnavism is called Sad-Vaishnavism in order to distinguish it from the Sri-Vaishnavism of Ramanujacharya. According to his philosophy, the Supreme Being is Vishnu or Narayana. This universe is real and is not Mithya or an illusion. The finite beings comprising the universe are subject to a system of gradation, beginning with the Goddess Laxmi, followed by other minor gods, seers, human beings and undivine beings. The rank of any soul in this scheme of gradation depends on the degree of its devotion to God. God is an embodiment of all virtues and excellences and ever remains untouched by any kind of blemish (Dosha). He has countless Roopas and forms.

Every follower of the Madhwa School should have a firm belief in the Pancha-bheda—five real and eternal distinctions. The distinction between one Jiva and another Jiva (jeeva-jeeva), between the Jiva and matter (jeeva-jata), between one piece of matter and another (jata-jata), between matter and spirit (Jata-Deva), between the Supreme Being and the individual soul (Deva-Jeeva).

The worship of Vishnu consists in (i) Ankana, marking the body with His symbols, (ii) Namakarana, giving the names of the Lord to children and (iii) Bhajana, singing His glories. Sri Madhwacharya laid much stress on constant practice of the remembrance of God (Smarana). He says, "Form a strong habit of remembering God. Then only it will be easy for you to remember Him at the moment of death".

Renunciation, devotion and direct cognition of the Lord through meditation lead to the attainment of salvation. The aspirant should equip himself with the study of the Vedas, control of the senses, dispassion and perfect self-surrender, if he wants to have the vision of the Lord. These are some of the important teachings of Madhwacharya, the renowned exponent of the dualistic school of philosophy.

Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya, contemporary of Sri Acharya Madhwa had a unique sight of seeing Sri Madhwacharya worshiping Lord Krishna, and he was wonder struck to see the divine sight – Hanuman performing puja to Sri Rama, Bhima to Sri Krishna and Madhwacharya to Sri Vaashsta Krishna (Sri Veda Vyasa). . It seems that Sri Madhwacharya had reveled to Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya that he is the third avathara of Vayu, the Wind God.

It is believed that even now Sri Madhwa is ever residing in Bhadrinath and learning from Sri Veda Vyasa.

Works of Madhwacharya

During his lifetime, Madhva wrote 37 works in Sanskrit, mostly commentaries on Hindu sacred writings and treatises on his own theological system and philosophy. He insisted that knowledge is relative, not absolute.

suggesting that Madhva may have written works in other languages that are not mentioned here. These merely show that the person who wrote the piece on Madhva was as careless about his/her usage as about his/her research. Madhva's works include commentaries on the prasthaana-traya (the triad of Vedanta, consisting of the apowrusheya texts, the Brahma-suutra of Baadaraayana aka Veda Vyaasa, and the Bhagavad Gita). In fact, Madhva wrote two commentaries on the Brahma-suutra; one of them is called the Anu-vyaakhyaana, and is the one most often read and cited. The other, a mere four or so pages long, is called the An_u bhaashya (I use n_ in place of n to indicate that the 'na' sound as in 'Gan_apati' is appropriate). Madhva's commentary on the Mahaabhaarata is called the Mahaabhaarata-taatparya-nirn_aya.

Independent works by Madhva include the Vishnu-tatva-vinirn_aya, a text that starts from the very fundamentals, and goes on to establish Vishnu's supremacy in no uncertain terms. This text is referred to in the Sumadhva Vijaya as being akin to Arjuna, who was himself more than a match for a whole army that included several renowned warriors, during the battle to
save Viraata's cows. Another work of great importance is the Pramaan_a lakshan_a, which deals with the concept of pramaan_a, and which is a wonderful exposition of epistemology. Other works by Madhva include the Upaadhi-khandana, the Kathaa-lakshan_a, the Mithyaatva-anumaana-khandana, etc.

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Vaikunta Ekadasi

2006-12-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

Picture: Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam on the day of Vaikuntha Ekadasi with ruby and emerald studded armour

I came across a link about 'Vaikunta Ekadasi', a wonderful essay about it's origin and Significance. This informative essay is written by Sangeeta Venkatesh (svenky9 [at] rediffmail [dot] com, Address for communication: #45, Phase II, Palm Meadows, Ramagondanahalli, Airport-Whitefield Road,Bangalore-66).

She writes:

Today is Vaikunta Ekadasi. Ekadasi means 'the eleventh' in Sanskrit and refers to the eleventh day of a fortnight belonging to a lunar month. Falling in the moon's waxing phase in the month of Dhanurmasa (December-January), Ekadasi is synonymous with fasting and abstinence. The Dhanurmasa sukla paksha ekadasi is called Vaikunta Ekadasi.

However, the austerity is associated with much deeper aspects. This is explained in the Padma Puranam (the second amongst the eighteen puranas), which tells us about the beginnings of Ekadasi with this legend. During the Krita Yuga, also termed the golden age, an asura called Muran harassed both devas and mortals. Unable to bear his tyranny, the devas sought refuge in Shiva. He directed them to approach Vishnu. Vishnu agreed to help the devas and went out to battle with Muran. During the long battle, which lasted one thousand celestial years, Vishnu needed to rest for a while. He entered a beautiful cave called Himavati in Badarikashrama to sleep. Muran wanted to strike Vishnu while he was sleeping. However, Shakti - Vishnu's female energy - emerged out of his body and assumed the form of a beautiful damsel who fought Muran and vanquished him. When Vishnu awoke he was very pleased and named this maiden as Ekadasi and granted her a boon. The maiden said, "O Lord, if You are pleased with me and wish to give me a boon, then give me the power to deliver people from the greatest sins if they fast of this day". Vishnu granted her the boon and declared that people worshipping her would reach Vaikunta. Thus, it is said, was born the first ekadasi, which was a Dhanurmasa sukla paksha ekadasi. Sages and devout people have been since, observing the ekadasi vrata regularly. Here, the demon Muran represents the tamasic and rajasic qualities in us. The import of the ekadasi vrata is that one can conquer rajasic and tamasic tendencies in us through fasting. This helps us reach our ultimate destination, Vaikuntha, which is the place or stage of no 'kuntitha' or dullness, stupidity and misery.

It is also said that on this day the ksheerasagara manthana (churning of the ocean) took place and the nectar of immortality (amritha) was distributed to the gods. This divine event is interpreted in the following manner. The ocean of milk is the human heart filled with satvic tendencies (kindness, purity and goodness). However, in all of us there exist both types of inclinations, good (devas) and bad (asuras). Only Sadhana or the churning process will throw out the poison in us and we can procure the sweet nectar, which will liberate us from the cycle of birth and death. Shaivaites call this day as Nanjunda Ekadasi, as it was on this day Shiva consumed nanju, the poison that emanated from the churning of the ocean.

Some schools of thought believe that Sri Krishna gave the Gitopadesam to Arjuna on the day of Vaikunta Ekadasi. For the Vaishnavas, it is a very holy day and should be ideally spent in fasting, prayer and meditation. Devotees look upon this austerity as a means to succeed in their spiritual endeavours. To them it is an activity which will increase their sankalpa (that which is beneficial to them), so as to avoid activities which are not beneficial to them (vikalpa). Such austerities make a student of spirituality enthusiastic, positive, serene and determined. They finally lead to the understanding that all activities must be only performed for the pleasure of the Lord. Austerity is indeed one of the four legs supporting religion, the other three being purity, mercy and truthfulness.

In his Gitopadesam to Arjuna, Sri Krishna describes the threefold path of austerity and says "deva -dvija-guru-praajna-pujanam-shauchanam-arvajanam-brahmacharyam-ahimsaa-cha-shariram-tapuchyate", which means one must worship the Supreme Lord, the Brahmans, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother. Cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence are also austerities of the body (Bhagvada Geeta 17.14). Truthful speech, which is not offensive to others and the regular recitation of scriptures, is austerity of speech (17.15). Serenity of thought, compassion, gravity, self-control, purity of purpose, are all austerity of the mind (17.16). This threefold path of austerity, practiced by men whose aim is not to benefit materially but to please the Supreme, leads to a nature of goodness. Sri Krishna finally says that penances and austerities which are performed foolishly, by means of obstinate self-torture, or by destroying or injuring others, are the approach of the ignorant.

It is also recommended that one must not perform austerities beyond his capabilities, lest the austerities become mechanical or offensive.

The Padma Purana says: "ekadasi vrata samam vrata nasti jagattraye
anicchaya'pi yat krtva gatir evam vidha'vayoh
ekadasi vratam ye tu bhakti bhavena kurvate
na jane kim bhavet tesam vasudeva anukampaya" ,

which translates as: In the three worlds, there is no kind of fasting which is even comparable to the Ekadasi fast. Even if one performs this fast without a proper attitude, he achieves the Supreme Abode. If one fasts on Ekadasi day, with full devotion, what happens to him by the mercy of the Supreme Lord, I cannot say (the merit he achieves cannot be described).

While Vaikunta Ekadasi is observed in all Vaishnava temples, the day is very special at the Sri Ranganatha temple at Srirangam in Tamil Nadu. On this auspicious day, Lord Ranganatha in all His glory and resplendence enters the Parama Padha Vaasal (the gateway to salvation) at the sacred precincts of the temple at Srirangam, and showers His blessings and grace on mankind.

Hari Sarvothama Vaayu Jeevothama

2006-12-28T23:32:00.000-08:00