Vision of Sri Madhvacharya

and

Guru Raghavendra swami

By

Tamarapu Sampath Kumaran

Contents:

1. About the Author

2. Preface

3. Introduction

4. Sri Madhvacharya - “Ananda Theertha”

5. Sri Raghavendra

6. Works of Sri Raghavendra

7. Miracles of Sri Raghvendra

8. Last speech of Sri Raghavendra

9. Haridasas and Bhakthi

10. Sri Vyasaraya

11. Sri Vadhirja Tirtha

12. Udipi

13. Manthralaya

About the Author

Tamarapu Sampath Kumaran is a freelance writer. He regularly

contributes articles on Management, Business, Ancient Temples and

Temple Architecture to many leading Dailies and Magazines.

His articles for the young is very popular in “The Young World

section” of THE HINDU.

He was associated in the production of two Documentary films on

Nava Tirupathi Temples and Tirukkurungudi Temple in the

Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu.

His earlier books, The Path of Ramanuja, Guide to 108 Divya

Desams, and 275 Siva sthalams have been well received in the

religious circles. His other books Guide to Chennai, Guide to

Kanchipuram and Hinduism in a nut shell are popular with tourists.

Preface:

There are a number of books authored on Sri Raghavendra, the great scholar, philosopher, writer and saint in the “Dvaitha” tradition.

This book on the great saint is a tribute to him, and presented in a simple form mainly focused for the younger generation to enable the reader to understand the life and the teachings of Sri Raghavendra.

Since the life and teachings of Sri Madhvacharya is interlinked while referring to Sri Raghavendra, I have also dealt in length of the great Acharya, and his teachings.

My indebtedness is due to all the authors whose works I have consulted and extensively quoted, to maintain the authenticity of the presentation. I also express my gratitude to the Acharyas and learned Scholars, Officials and Priests at Manthralaya, Office bearers of “Kannada koota” who have guided me in compiling this book. As a garland is made by gathering flowers from several plants, I have compiled this book collecting information from several texts and scholars. Since the text has been compiled from several historical and archaeological evidences some of which are debatable, I humbly state that I accept no responsibility for such references. Since several authors have translated the original texts in Sanskrit and Kannada, a certain degree of coincidence might have occurred in my presentation with regard to the choice of words, quotations

and phrases, which is not intentional.

Tamarapu Sampath Kumaran

Introduction:

Every generation of Hindu society from its Vedic beginnings has produced great souls who contributed richly through their writings and speeches, and by the example of their own lives and activities inspired millions of people to attain the path to Self Realization.  These are great souls, born with a purpose and still active in our earth even after their passing away, through their thoughts, memories and deeds, shaping the spiritual destiny of mankind. If Hinduism is alive and vibrant today, it is mainly because of the contributions made by these venerable souls, and we are greatly indebted to them. Their presence has sustained our faith in our religion from generation to generation.

Religion and culture are intertwined in Hinduism. This is evident from the time-honoured institution of sainthood in India which has always received acceptance and support from our society. Since the beginning of the Vedic civilization, for ages, Saintly orders of many hues and varieties have flourished in this country. Even in the present age of science and technology, sainthood survives in our land and the true saint continues to command respect in society.

Hinduism is the most ancient religion known to the world as Sanatana Dharma. This is the only religion in the world which is also a way of life for all to follow. Hinduism gets its guidance from the Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Epics, Granthas and Prabhandhams. Aagama Shastra is one of them. The Bhagavat Gita preached by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra suggests various paths to reach the ultimate aim, and that God is one.

The temple is the place where man learnt about himself, as well learnt various arts like music, dance, and religion. The temple reveals the various manifestations of the Supreme Being installed therein.

Hindu philosophy is essentially spiritual. "It is the intense spirituality of India that has enabled it to resist the ravages of time and the incursion into its motherland of alien philosophies. The founders of philosophy strive for a socio-spiritual reformation of the country.

An important factor almost universally accepted is that faith in a divine power shapes the destiny of mankind. Guru often traces their lineage to God. Guru helps us to achieve self-realization, to become what we really are. Spiritual liberation is the main provision that a

Guru makes to the disciples. In the Hindu Tradition, Guru in addition to its common meaning of teacher also means "heavy" in Sanskrit. The role of the guru is therefore weighty and an important factor for a disciple.

For the majority of the people who are keen to approach God and do not posses the wherewithal to go through the texts, saints have left treasures in the form of hymns. Some of them are embedded with "Mantras", which praise the qualities of the Almighty and project how He comes to their help and protection. Daily rendering of these Mantras and devotional songs will fetch relief from stress and enable everyone to understand how God has provided various graded steps to realise Him. There were instances of some of these saints performing miracles mainly to convince some among the doubting persons, than to display their own divine stature. In Hinduism, the saints are the medium through whom God reveals himself. The Avatar is born with a mission and to accomplish the goal.

Sanathana Dharma had famous Saints, like Madhvacharya and Sri Raghavendra who had expounded their own specific philosophy.

An attempt is made, in this book, to give a brief note on the life and teachings of these great saints.

Poojyaaya Raghavendraaya Satya Dharma Rathaaya Cha! Bajathaam Kalpa Vrukshaaya Namataam Kaamadhenave!!

Tamarapu Sampath Kumaran

“Madhvacharya” - Sri Ananda Tiirtha

“Abhramam bhrangarahitam ajadam vimalam sadaa |Anandatirtham atulam bhaje taapatrayapaham”

(English Translation)Salutation to the Great Teacher:

“The always undeluded, unobstructed, free of sloth, and free of filth;

that Ananda Tîirtha, the incomparable, I salute, who is the remover of all misery.”

Sri Madhvacharya, known as Ananda Tirtha, Vasudeva, and Purnaprajna, is one of the greatest Hindu theologians. He is the founder of “Dvaita philosophy”, and his doctrine asserts that this world is real and that there is an eternal and immutable difference between the individual soul and God. Madhvacharya is one of the well versed commentators on the Upanisads, Bhagavad-gita and Brahma-sutras.

Madhvacharya along with Sankara and Ramanuja, through their expositions of Upanishadic philosophy have projected India's spiritual greatness. Shankaracharya preached Advaita philosophy. (Monism) Ramanujacharya preached Visishtadvaita. (A blend of Monism and Dualism) Madhwacharya preached Dvaita philosophy (Dualism).

Narayana Pandit Achar captures Madhvacharaya's life in a beautiful poetic verse in his “Sri MadhvaVijaya” which is in 32 Sarga (chapters), an authentic work composed during his own time. For our reference the personal life of Madhavacharya is being compiled from the “Madhva-vijaya”.

Madhvacharya was born of Tulu speaking parents in a village in the Karnataka region close to Udipi. The young boy Vasudeva, Madhva’s boyhood name, expressed a desire to become an ascetic even at an early age of 8, but could not fulfill his desire as his parents objected to it. Madhva’s childhood, like most great saints in this world, is filled with much of miracles and wondrous events. It is said that Madhva, as a child, often found missing from home to be found discussing philosophy with the priests and worshipping God in the nearby temples. He was fond of wrestling and swimming and was found not concentrating much on his studies. But young Madhva always scored high marks much to the dismay of his teachers. His father discovered that anything taught to him was immediately grasped. He had to teach new things to his son everyday, without repeating anything from the previous lessons. Vasudeva also astounded the teacher in his gurukula with a flawless recital of Vedic hymns, including portions that the teacher had not covered till then. He developed a giant physical strength as well psychic powers.

He studied the philosophy of advaita in the beginning but very soon was dissatisfied with the distance it keeps one from reality. He started making his own interpretations of the scriptures. He always used to declare that he remembered these ideas from his previous birth. Though a student, his captivating powers of exposition, his originality and his untaught learning resulted in his being named as the head of the Monastery in which he was learning. His philosophy is down-to-earth realism. He interprets the passage “tat-tvam-asi” as saying essentially that everything is under the direction and control of the Almighty, from whom we, the souls, are different.

At the age of 16 Vasudeva was able to leave home and become a sanyaasi. From then on the young Vasudeva became known as “Ananda Tirtha”, the name given to him by his sanyasa guru. Ananda Tirtha later assumed the name “Madhva” by which he is most commonly known today. Actually the words Ananda Tirtha and Madhva are synonymous. Both mean ‘one who creates shastras that bring happiness’. But the name Madhvacharya is more popular than Ananda Tirtha.

In many of his writings Madhva openly identifies himself as the third incarnation of Vayudeva, the Wind-God, and having descended into this mortal world in three successive incarnations, as Hanuman, the follower of Lord Rama, as Bhimasena, one of the Pandavas, and finally in Kali-yuga in the guise of a sanyasi as Madhva. His followers readily accepted and worshiped Madhva as the incarnation of Vayudeva. Due to his display of vast learning Ananda Tirtha is also popularly known as Purnaprajna.

During the days of Madhva, Sankaracarya’s advaita-vedanta dominated Hindu education. And this produced a profound dissatisfaction in the mind of the young Madhva, which often brought him into conflict with his teachers. In fact Madhva’s objection to advaita-vedanta became the most compelling force in his life and he spent much of his adult life arguing against this view.

After studying in Udipi, Madhva travelled extensively to various places in Tamil Nadu, where he continued to meet and debate with advaita scholars. As a result, finally Madhvacarya became determined to establish his own school of Vedic thought, free of what he considered the blunder of Sankaracarya’s interpretation of the Vedas.

Madhva soon returned to Udipi, but after a short time he again found himself yearning for more travel. He desired to make a pilgrimage to visit Veda Vyasa at Badri in the northern Himalayas. In those days it was believed that Vyasa still resided on earth in a remote place in these mountains. After arriving in Badri on a particular night it is believed that Madhva mysteriously disappeared from the Ashram. Many months passed and Madhva’s followers thought that he had perished in the desolate mountains. One fine morning when Madhva finally appeared before his disciples, they were resplendent and joyful. It is told that he had ascended alone to

the mythical abode of Vyasa at Mahabadari and had received the blessings of Vyasa. Upon his return to Udipi, Madhva began to write his famous Brahma-sutra commentary.

With the emergence of this important commentary, Madhva had something positive to add to his otherwise destructive debates with his opponents. With the zeal of Hanuman he began his missionary work. Supported by this text Madhva used his physical stamina and sonorous voice to travel and preach. Madhavacharya displayed rare leadership abilities and spiritual excellence during his life time and earned a distinguished place for himself in the religious history of India. Madhva was so powerful and effective in his teachings which convinced many of his former teachers as well many other learned scholars to his new school of Vedic thought.

The Madhva-vijaya gives a graphic description of the effect Madhva had on his audience, quoted as under:

"People came in large numbers to see Madhvacharya, attracted by his gentle smile, lotus-eyes, golden complexion and words of blessing. Indeed, those who made sacred images considered him the model for their art, and attribute that he had the gait of a young lion, feet and hands like sprouts, nails like rubies; thighs like the trunk of an elephant, a broad chest and long muscular arms".

Soon Madhva started his own temple in Udipi by installing a beautiful image of Bala Krishna, the child form of God. It is believed that he obtained this image by rescuing a ship in distress near the coast of Udipi. Madhvacarya signalled the ship to shore by waving lamps and flags. Convinced that it was through the grace of Madhva that the ship was saved, the ship’s captain offered him a gift. Madhva chose the clay (gopi-candana) that was used for the ship’s ballast.

Upon washing the clay, Madhvacarya discovered a beautiful image of Sri Krishna, which he personally carried to Udipi and began to worship. This image of Krishna is still being worshipped in the central temple of Udipi, one of the most important Krishna temples in India. It is believed that the lamp burning till date beside the image of Krishna in the temple was lit by Madhvacarya himself and has never been extinguished.

The force of Madhva’s personality, the clarity of his thought and the appeal of his vast learning brought many followers. As is natural among humans, his sudden rising success also brought great resistance and even hostile attacks from his opponents. Madhvacharya had to face a lot of opposition due to his preaching which were quite opposite to established norms of worship and belief. His commentaries, on palm leaf books were stolen and destroyed. His religious and social reforms in the Udipi region, to avoid animal sacrifice and consumption of liquor during religious ceremonies, were critisised by vested interests. But Madhva was undeterred and continued his mission. There are references depicting his fearlessness in crossing flooded rivers, facing armed robbers in the forest. There is a story of his argument with a Muslim king who had no sympathy towards Hindu monks. He spoke to the sultan in Persian, convincing him that his Allah and his own Narayana are one and the same. Madhva said to the sultan” We are all citizens of His Kingdom.” This impressed the King who turned his follower.

Madhvacharya had remarkable yogic powers. He once became so light that a small boy could easily carry him and make a tour of the local temple.

Madhvacharya had an ox that used to carry his precious books and sit by his side listening to his speeches. One day he announced that the ox would write commentaries on his works, since he knew that the ox was really Lord Indra. When the ox was poisoned by some misguided people Acharya revived it by sprinkling sanctified water on it chanting the Dvaadasha stotra. The ox later reincarnated as Sri Jayatirtha and wrote commentaries on all the major works of the Acharya.

To test his powers of digestion, a Brahmin once offered Acharya 4000 banana fruits and 30 vessels full of milk. Acharya ate off the food without a trace. The super human abilities of Acharya impressed the King of that place. He tried to force Acharya to stay in his kingdom and even had him locked up in the village temple. Acharya became invisible to the king and his soldiers, and left the place with his disciples.

Using his powers Madhvacharya and his disciples appeared like stones to thieves who had come to rob them. After the thieves left, Acharya and disciples resumed their journey. The thieves looked back and saw the group walking peacefully. They were stunned by Acharya’s yogic power. They fell at his feet and asked for forgiveness.

Once when a band of robbers attacked Madhvacharya and his disciples on the difficult track to the Himalayas, Acharya made his pupil Upendra-tirtha silence them after a fierce fight.

When the Acharya was touring Kalsa in Karnataka he noticed that people were struggling to lift a huge rock boulder. He effortlessly lifted it with hand and placed it on the river. This rock, called Bhimana Bande still exists to this day. It also carries an inscription about this incident.

During his lifetime, after he mastered the 21 rival traditions, Madhvacharya wrote many important commentaries on the Upanisads, Bhagavad-gita, Brahma-sutras, Mahabharata and the Bhagavata-purana. In addition, he wrote many original works that dealt with important aspects of his new doctrine. In all, he wrote 37 works, and Madhvacharya’s powerful literary output besides helping to establish his teachings during his own lifetime, has also inspired a vast literary tradition that continues to the present day.

His “Maha-bharata-taatparya-nirnaya” (the fixing of the purport of the Maahabhaarata), a poem of 32 chapters and superb presentation of “Srimad-bhagavatam” chronologically, are some of the master pieces.

Madhvacharya’s 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. Sri Madhva has said —

Vishnu is Supreme.

He is known by the study of the Vedas.

The Material world is real.

The jivas are different from the Lord.

The jivas are by nature subservient to the Lord.

In both the conditioned and liberated condition, the jivas are situated in higher and lower statuses.

Liberation is the attainment of Lord Vishnu’s lotus-feet.

Pure devotion grants liberation.

Direct perception, logic and Vedic authority are the three sources of actual knowledge.

Madhva’s philosophy has many points in common with those of Ramanuja. Worship of Lord Krishna as taught in the Bhagavata Purana is the centre of his religion.

The phenomenal world is real and eternal. 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.

Madhva 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".

Madhvacharya said that God is the continuing cause of all activities of man. The purpose of creation by the Lord is to enable individual souls to work out their salvation. He prescribed Bhakthi as the supreme method to attain God. He pleaded to lead a life of purity to enable us to meditate on the Supreme Being and that devotion and duty is the import meaning in human life.

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

One can clearly grasp Sri Madhvacharya’s philosophy by studying his commentary on the Brahma Sutras and Anu-Vyakhyana, his commentaries on the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita, and his glosses on the Mahabharata (Bharata-tatparya-nirnaya) and on the Bhagavata Purana.

The final years of Madhva were spent in teaching and worship. He instructed his followers to reach the devotees and highlight the intricacies of his teachings. His biographers reveal that Madhvacarya disappeared one evening while reciting his favorite text, the Aitareya Upanisad. It is believed that when Gandharvas and other heavenly beings, who gathered in the sky showered flowers on Madhva, he suddenly disappeared from underneath this mass of flowers. Madhva-vijaya describes that he now resides, beyond ordinary vision, with Veda Vyasa at the high mountain hermitage of Badri.

The Acharya had many disciples, eight of whom subsequently became the Acharyas of the eight mutts of Udipi, and he gave responsibility to eight of his senior disciples to conduct the worship

and administer the affairs for his Krishna Mutt. These eight disciples gradually collected their own followers and established their own mutts that later became known as the ashta-mathas (eight mutts) of Udipi. These eight mutts are named after the surrounding villages where they originally resided. They are:

Palimar Mutt Admaru Mutt

Krisnapur Mutt Puttinge (Puttige) Mutt

Shiruru Mutt Sode Mutt   Kaniyuru Mutt Pejawara Mutt

Originally Madhwa directed them to take care of the ritual, 'pujas' and administration on a two monthly rotation basis. This was a very practical way for him to set the pattern, and methodology for the change of office and on going activities. In this way he personally trained his disciples to carry the mission over the centauries. However, over time it was proven that a longer period between offices could allow for the 'Paraya Mutt' to achieve more.

Later additional mutts were established by the followers of the Acharyas who ascended the peetam, viz.   

Uttaradi Mutt , Sosale-Srila Vyasaraya Mutt, Kundapura Srila Vyasaraya Mutt ,Raghavendra Swami Mutt, Mulubagilu Mutt, Majjigehalli Mutt, Kudli Mutt Balegaru (Banagara) Mutt, Subramanya Mutt, Bhandarkeri Mutt , Bhimanakatte Mutt , Citrapura Mutt, Gokarno-Partagali Jivottama Mutt, Kasi Mutt, Madhwa-Gaudiya Mutt as established by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja Prabhupada and very recently ISKCON., "The International Society for Krishna Consciousness", in 1977.

Though there is some controversy over his year of birth, which is debated as 1199 and 1238, Madhva is believed to have lived for 79 years.

The Writings of Madhvacharya

The writings of Madhvacharya comprise thirty-seven works, collectively called the sarva-mula. They are divided into four groups. The first group includes his commentaries on the Upanisads, Bhagavad-gita and Vedanta-sutra. In this group there are ten

Upanisad commentaries, two Gita commentaries and four Vedanta-sutra commentaries. The second group includes ten short works called the Dasa-prakaranas that outline the basic principles of Madhva’s theology and demonstrates his refutation of key aspects of advaita theology. The third group is Madhva’s commentaries on the Bhagavata-purana, the Mahabharata and the Rg-veda. The fourth group is his miscellaneous works that includes important poems, writings on rituals, image worship and rules for the ascetic order.

Madhva’s writing style is straightforward, unembellished and terse.

Works by Srimad Ananda Tirtha

Prasthaana-traya

Commentaries on the Gita (2) Gita Bhaashya Gita Taatparya

Commentaries on the Brahma Sutra (4)

Brahma Sutra Bhaashya Anu bhaashya, Anu Vyaakhyana Nyaaya Vivarana

Commentaries on the ten principal Upanishads (10)

Ishaavaasya Upanishad Bhaashya Kena or Talavakaara Upanishad Bhaashya Kathopanishad Bhaashya Mundaka Upanishad Bhaashya Satprashna Upanishad Bhaashya Maanduukya Upanishad Bhaashya Aitareya Upanishad Bhaashya Taittiriya Upanishad Bhaashya Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad Bhaashya Chaandogya Upanishad Bhashya

Dasha Prakaranas: Ten philosophical works dealing with various aspects of Tattvavaada

Pramaana Lakshana Kathaa Lakshana Upaadhi Khandana Prapancha Mithyaatva-anumaana Khandana Mayaavaada Khandana Tattva-samkhyaana Tattva-viveka Tattvoddyota Karma Nirnaya Vishnu-tattva-vinirnaya

Three commentaries on Bhaagavata Puraana, Mahaabhaarata, and

Rig Veda

Bhaagavata Taatparya Mahaabhaarata Taatparya-nirnaya Rg Veda Bhaashya

Eight miscellaneous works

Yamaka BhaarataNarasimha Nakha Stuti and its transliteration. Dvaadasha Stotra and its description Krishnaamruta Mahaa-arnava Sadaachara Smriti Tantra-saara Sangraha Yati Pranava Kalpa Krishna Jayanti Nirnaya

Madhva Navami is observed in his memory, as his birthday. The temple town of Udipi bears Madhva’s memory at every step with Eight Mutts and innumerable followers, who throng everyday throughout the year.

Sri Raghavendra

Sri Raghavendra (1595 – 1671 A.D.) has a unique place in the lineage of the Masters, because He is said to be still living in his ‘samadhi’ at Mantralayam on the banks of the Tunga-bhadra River, in South India.

He voluntarily entered this samadhi in 1671 A.D. and his disciples, on his orders built the structure of the samadhi over his seated posture from which he left the mortal frame by his own will. He has declared that he will ‘live’ in this samadhi’ for 700 years. It was God’s will it seems, that Sanku-karna a close attendant-devotee of Lord Brahma, the Creator Himself, should be born repeatedly in this earthly world and be a great spiritual leader of humanity. Mantralaya was chosen by the Master as the right spot because the great devotee Prahlada had performed several ritual sacrifices here which makes the spot very auspicious. Also it was the same spot where Lord Rama is believed to have sat down once, while wanderings through the forest.

Sri Raghavendra captured the imagination of millions through his scholarship, devotion, spirituality, the divine qualities of infinite grace and compassion through his mystical powers of perception and action. From his Samadhi he is believed to be relieving his devotees of their misery, and direct them to seek moksha from Lord Sri Rama. That is why Sri Raghavendra is thought of as the wish-yielding heavenly tree kalpa vruksha, or the divine Cow kama-dhenu, which both can bestow anything one wants, just the moment it is wished. This thought is inbuilt into the following classical prayer traditionally addressed to Sri Raghavendra.

« Pujyaaya raghavendraaya satya-dharma-rataya cha /

bhajatam kalpavrkshaya namatam kamadhenave //”

 

(I worship as the Kalpa-vriksha, and salute as the kamadhenu the esteemed Raghavendra who is always engrossed in the true dharma; He is a brilliant sun who destroys the false arguer, and a moon that casts a mellow light upon the Vishnu bhaktas; salutations to that Guru Shri Raghavendra; salutations to the one of extremely kind disposition.)

The words “satya-dharma-rataya cha” are significant here. Truth (satya) and righteousness (dharma) are the two pillars on which the entire Hindu philosophy and religion stand. And of the two, satya is more fundamental and it is the foundation for everything.

The scriptures establish Sri Raghavendra as an incarnation of Bhakta Prahlada, the great devotee of Sri Narasimha Avatara. We find that in all Raghavendra temples, the utsava murti (festival deity) is not of Raghavendra, but of Bhakta Prahlada. The main "deity" will be a replica of his samadhi (called a Brindavan) with mud taken from the original samadhi in Mantralaya. They treat the samadhi as the body

of Sri Raghavendra and bathe, dress, and apply twelve tilakams to it just as we do to our body.

Timmanna Bhatta was a Vedic scholar and a student of the pontifical head- Surendra Theertha, the learned man and a great Guru. Lord Venkatachalapathi happened to be their family deity.  In 1595 AD Timmanna Bhatta’s wife Gopikamba gave birth to a divine son, who was to become the future Guru Raghavendra. Timmanna Bhatta's joy was of no bounds. He named the boy "Venkathanatha (Venkanna)" in gratitude to Lord Venketeshwara by whose blessings; this brilliant child had been born to him.

Thimmana Bhatta along with his wife and Venkathanatha accepted the invitation of Sri Sudhendra Theertha to stay in the mutt itself for some time. Sri Sudhendra Theertha was pleased with the sincere devotion and cleverness of Venkathanatha. He said to himself that Venkanna is going to be a great scholar and a saint.

Days rolled on, Venkathanatha grew up and went to live with Guru Sudheendra theertha at Kumbakonam. Venkathanatha had finished the study of Amara Kosha. Venkathanatha daily gave himself to constant meditation of God. His behavior had also changed. He also wished to perform the worship of God with all the paraphernalia as the swami did in the mutt and he was devoted to Mula Rama

(The Moola Rama and Sita idols were believed to be the incarnation of Lakshmi and Vishnu due to meditation of Bramha. These idols were later worshipped by many sages as well by Hanuman, Bhimasena and Madhava). He came to know the story of Madhava and believed in the uncommon efficacy of the idol.

Venkathanatha was married to Saraswathi Bai. For some time, Venkathanatha was happy living in the village with his wife, but found himself in a financial strain as he was not able to earn much. Venkathanatha after his marriage had two-fold anxiety. He was to pull on and also take care of his beloved wife. He had an ambition to become an extraordinary learned man quite well versed in Vedas and was eager to popularize the teachings of Madhava. Though he was keen to meditate himself on God, he was engrossed with worries of the life of poverty. Days and months rolled on.

Saraswathi Bai was a beloved wife of Venkatanatha and was totally devoted to him and knew his likes and dislikes. She thanked God for giving her such a wonderful husband and she had all eyes to see the

needs of her husband and cater to them. Both of them were highly sensitive. During this time Saraswathi soon conceived and gave birth to a child named Lakshminarayana. The family struggled for survival, and was literally starving.

Saraswathi got an idea. She told Venkathanatha to meet his Guru and take his refuge. They went to Kumbakonam. Venkathanatha and his family were welcomed in the mutt at Kumbakonam. Venkathanatha mastered all lessons at the Mutt. Swamiji took him to the debates against Advaita School of philosophy at various King's courts. Venkathanatha began to write commentary on all the Vedas following Acharya's Rig Bhasaya, which was his ambition. But circumstances did not favour his fulfillment. Shri Sudheendra Swami set his eyes on Venkathanatha and wanted him to take over the mutt. One day, Shri Sudheendra Swami dreamt, when Shri Mula Rama ordered that Venkathanatha alone could fit to rule the Mutt. He called Venkathanatha and after preliminary discussions of worldly interest, began to reveal his intentions. Swamiji started telling Venkathanatha that God was pleased with him and he deserves a post as the head of the Mutt. Venkathanatha could not understand, and requested Swamiji to be clear of his intentions. When he explained clearly, Venkathanatha expressed his inability of renunciation, since detachment was essential. Venkathanatha explained about his wife, son and expressed his apprehensions of shouldering the responsibility and administration of the mutt. One day Venkathanatha had the blessing of Sharada Devi, the goddess of learning which led him to realize of himself. He narrated his experience of Sharada Devi to Swamiji and decided to do Upanayana to his son and accept sanyasa. When he took sanyasa his Guru named him Guru Raghavendra Theertha. Saraswathi was shocked of the sudden decision of her husband, and out of frustration fell into the well. She turned a ghost and appeared in front of Guru Raghavendra. As he sprinkled the holy water on the ghost it attained Moksha by purification.

One day, Sri Raghavendra was sitting outside under a tree, teaching Dvaita philosophy to his 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 Tulasi garland fell around Sri Raghavendra’s neck. When his disciples pressed him for an explanation, he told them “I just saw Krishna Dvaipayana going in a heavenly chariot to vaikunta. When I asked him when my turn would come, he held up his index and middle finger three times. He finally blessed me by throwing this maala on me”. The disciples were greatly intrigued by this and wanted to know the significance of this two-two-two. Sri Raghavendra 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).

Immediately his followers summoned three famous astrologers, known for their ability to predict the future with unerring accuracy, and requested them to cast the horoscope of Sri Raghavendra. They did it separately and came with 3 totally startlingly different numbers – 100, 300 and 700. Each was positive about his calculation, but could not explain the difference. When Sri Raghavendra heard about this, he laughed and said “They are predicting 3 different entities. One is predicting the lifespan of my body, the other tenure in the brindavana and the third the influence of my granthaas (literary works).”

Sri Raghavendra summoned his closest disciples and announced his choice of Manchale village as the spot for his Brindavan in Mantralaya. He explained the spiritual significance of Manchale as Prahlaada had performed his yaga at that spot. He took his followers to a remote spot and showed a black rock. He wanted his Brindaavan to be built using the rock, on which Sri Rama rested for a while, while in search of Sita and he now prefer the rock since it has been sanctified by Sri Rama’s touch.

Before entering the Brindaavana in Manchale, Sri Raghavendra decided to seek the permission 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. Sri Raghavendra 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”. Sri Raghavendra replied “I will not let this happen. Here is my promise. If my devotees visit my Brindavan 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 Brindavan in Manchale.

 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.

As usual, Sri Raghavendra 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 Shri Madvacharya’s works to his 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 Shri Madvacharya's Bhashya and Shri Jayatratha'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 Sri Rama and other idols in the mutt. After going through all the details of the puja he blessed the entire gathering with tirtha, Prasad. As the appointed time was nearing he went to the spot that was already chosen and sat in padmaasana.  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. 

Sri Raghavendra 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". He rendered his last speech and after this Sri Raghavendra began reciting the pranava mantra. In a very short time he was lost in meditation, and soon reached the highest point. His face was serene.  He was shining with a rare brilliance.

At one stage the japamala in the master's hand became still. His 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 placed a copper box containing one thousand two hundred Lakshmi Narayana 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. A grand feast was hosted to commemorate this glorious event.

Appanacharya was Sri Raghavendra’s beloved disciple. Most of the Sanskrit hymns that we chant today in honor of Sri Raghavendra – Sri Raghavendra stotra, Mangalashtaka, Dandaka – are his compositions. Appanacharya was very close to Raghavendra Swami. At the time when Raghavendra Swami entered Brindavan, he was on the other side of the river Tungabhadra. Appanacharya wanted to be with his revered guru, but the river was flooding. He jumped into the river, singing Sri Poornabhodha stotra, realizing that if Raghavendra Swami could lead him across the ocean of samsara, a mere river could not hold him back. And he did cross the river safely, only to see that Raghavendra Swami had already entered the Brindavan.

Appanacharya was in such a profound state of grief, that he could not finish the stotra he started to compose - it was missing 7 aksharas.The stotra had reached its final stanza “ kirtir divijita vibhutiratula ..” but he could not continue further. Suddenly, a voice rang out from the Brindavan "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, it is believed that anybody reciting this stotra, at the Brindavan with full faith and devotion gets all the grace of Sri Raghavendra. Not only did this show that Appanacharya's “Sri Poornabhodha” had Raghavendra Swami's approval, but it also showed that Raghavendra Swami was still with them. This was the first miracle he showed after entering Brindavan, and even today miracles happen to people who go to Mantralaya Brindavan to seek his blessings.

Works by Sri Raghavendra Tirtha

Dasha prakarana-s (6): Commentaries on six of the ten Prakarana-granthas of Sri Madhvacharya

Suutra-Prasthaana -- works on the Brahma-sutra

Nyayamuktavali (Brief exposition of the adhikaranashariras of the Brahma-Sutra)

Tantradiipikaa (A vrutti on the Sutras)

Bhaavadiipa (Exposition upon the commentary of Sri Jayatiirtha upon the Vishnu-tattva-vinirnaya)

PrakaaSha (Commentary on the taatparya chandrikaa of Vyaasa Tirtha)

Tattvamanjari (Exposition of the anubhaashya)

Nyaayasudhaa-parimala (Commentary on nyaayasudhaa of Jayatiirtha)

Rig and Upanishad prasthaana

Mantraarthamanjari (Commentary on the first three adhyaayas of the Rig Veda (the same portion as touched upon by Sri Madhvacharya)

Khandaartha-s (lucid expositions) on nine out of the ten Upanishads commented upon by Madhvacharya.

Gita prasthaana

Prameyadiipika (Commentary on Madhva's Gita Bhaashya)

Nyaayadiipika (Commentary on Madhva's Gita taatparya)

Gitaarthasangraha or Gita-VivRitti

Gitaarthamanjari

Other works

Commentary on pramaana paddhati of Jayatiirtha Bhaavadiipa (Commentary on vaadaavali of

Jayatiirtha) Nyaayadiipa (Commentary on tarkataandava of

Vyasa Tirtha) Bhaatasangraha (Commentary on the entire

miimamsa sutra-s of Jaimini) Shri Ramacaritramanjari Shr Krishnacaritramanjari Pratah sankalpa gadya Sarvasamarpanagadyam NandiitAratamyastotra Tarkatandava tippani Dhyanapadhdhhati Guddhabhavaprakashika (vyakhyana to

'anumadhvavijaya')Miscellaneous works

Detailed commentary on Rig Veda Commentary on Yajur veda Commentary on Saama Veda Short gloss on Purusha-sookta Short gloss on Aambhranii-sookta Short gloss on Gharma Short gloss on Balittha -sookta Short gloss on Hiranyagarbha-sookta

                                            

  Last sloka 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)

Miracles of Sri Raghavendra

Raghavendra Swami performed various miracles, but the most significant miracle lies in the vast literature he left behind and his contribution to the philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya. He wrote extensive commentaries on the Upanishads, Bhagavad gita, Vedas, as well as several granthas that Madhvacharya wrote.

Raghavendra Swami, while performing miracles, clearly stated that what he did was not magic or sorcery or witchcraft. It was not Patanjali's yoga, but the yoga of the Bhagavad Gita. The aim of his miracles was to remove the suffering of those who seek refuge in him and thus draw them towards God and religion.

The then ruler of Tanjavur district was depressed as there was a great drought at that time. Raghavendra Swami made the ruler perform appropriate rituals and ceremonies, which resulted in heavy downpour, and turning the land fertile. Expressing his gratitude, the King offered Raghavendra Swami a priceless necklace, which Raghavendra Swami in turn put into the Yajna as an offering to Lord Vishnu. The king took this act as an insult and grew angry. By offering prayers to Agni – the fire God - Raghavendra Swami immediately brought back the necklace from the sacrificial fire and handed over to the king. . The king realized his folly and understood that a necklace meant nothing for one who renounced the world, and he sought the forgiveness of Raghavendra Swami.

During Raghavendra Swami’s visit to Bijapur, the scorching heat was unbearable. He found a Brahmin fainting by the heat and unable to get up. When Raghavendra Swami recited a mantra, water sprung up from the scorching sands, which saved the Brahmin's life. In another instance, a child was traveling with an entourage, through a desert. The heat was so unbearable that the child started to cry. Raghavendra Swami threw his upper cloth towards the child. Flying through the air, it gave shade to the child for the rest of the journey.

At that time there was one Desai who had no faith in God or the Vedas. He would challenge scholars to make a dry twig sprout, using Vedic mantras. No one was able to do this. They called on Raghavendra Swami to prove to Desai the power of the Vedas. When Raghavendra sprinkled some water on the twig while reciting a Vedic mantra, right before Desai's eyes, the twig began to sprout. This incident instilled deep faith in the hearts of many scholars who were present. After witnessing the twig sprout with their own eyes, they believed that such miracles were possible through the grace of the Lord. Desai, himself, who used to scoff the Vedas, became a true believer in God and upheld the Vedas, with Raghavendra Swami as his guiding light.

Once when Raghavendra visited a mutt, a group of pundits who were hotty in their attitude, thought that Raghavendra has come to seek alms. They asked him to grind sandal paste before joining for lunch. Realising the attitude of the pundits, Raghavendra Swami, made the sandalwood paste chanting Agni Sukta When the Pundits applied it, they found their skin burning. Noticing their plight Raghavendra made it cool again by reciting Varuna Sukta. Realising the greatness of the swamiji they sought his apologies.

On a hot summer day, Raghavendra swami 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 area 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 died of a poisonous snakebite and has been buried in a tomb close by. After hearing this, Raghavendra swami 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, Raghavendra swami sprinkled holy water from his kamandala and prayed to his Aaradhya Murthy (favorite form of the Lord). Lo behold, the young boy woke up as though

he was getting up from sleep. The Nawab was moved of the greatness of Raghavendra swami.

(There are some very important points to be noted in this episode. Our shastras talk about the concept of "Ayushya", defined as the total amount of time that a person 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 our saints 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, Raghavendra swami used his divine powers to revive it.)

He did a similar thing in another instance. He was visiting the house of a village Chieftain. A large number 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 Chieftain’s son fell into this vessel and drowned. When the Chief 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 a gyani, Sri Raghavendra 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.

There were some evil people who were jealous of the greatness of Raghavendra swami 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 Raghavendra swami. They chose a location that was very close to Raghavendra swami’s place 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 Raghavendra swami passed by, some of them approached him and entreated him to revive this “dead” man. Raghavendra swami 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 pseudo sanyasi. 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 Raghavendra swami to revive the person, but he pleaded his helplessness since the person’s Ayushya was really over. The men who came to humble Raghavendra swami were themselves humbled and his greatness became even more enhanced.

A point to note is that Raghavendra swami 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. 

Once a few scholars came to meet Raghavendra swami. 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 illiterate. 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 Raghavendra swami then I should be able to help you”. He then gave directions in chaste sanskrit to the embarrassed 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, use a local 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 mutt, 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 Raghavendra swami had discarded. As long as he had the load on his head, he was a totally a different person. Once the load was discarded he became his normal self”. Such was the power of Raghavendra swami’s personality that even the clothes that he had discarded carried mystical powers.

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 Raghavendra swami and was eager to meet him and seek his blessings. His prayers were heard because one day the retinue of Sri Raghavendraswami passed close by. He immediately ran to the palanquin that Raghavendra swami was travelling in and prostrated before it. Raghavendra swami looked at him and inquired about his antecedents. Venkanna explained his plight and stood with outstretched palms. Raghavendra swami took pity on the boy and gave him some (mantrakshas) - 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 Raghavendra swami 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, Raghavendra swami 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 Raghavendra swami transformed Venkanna’s entire life into a bed of roses!

Once Raghavendra swami visited Adoni and accepted Venkanna’s invitation to stay with him. Venkanna conveyed about Raghavendra swami’s prowess to his Nawab and forced him to visit to pay his respects. Now the Nawab was skeptical about Raghavendra swami and did not accept any authority other than Allah and his devotees. He wanted to expose Raghavendra swami 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 mutt. Along with the offering brought by Venkanna, he also offered his covered plates as naivedya for Mula Rama. Raghavendra swami 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 Raghavendra swami, and the great sin he had committed by testing this man of god. He immediately prostrated before Raghavendra swami and with tears in his eyes begged his forgiveness. The kind and ever merciful Raghavendra swami forgave him gladly. However, the Nawab was not satisfied, he begged Raghavendra swami to accept some offering from him. Raghavendra swami 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 river Tungabhadra. The Nawab was surprised since that was a barren land, yielding no crops or revenue. He tried to talk to Raghavendra swami to accept a fertile land, but Raghavendra swami would not accept anything other than Manchale. The Nawab immediately gifted that village to Raghavendra swami.

Raghavendra swami had a devoted disciple who was studying the shstras under his tutelage. The education was over and time had come for the disciple to return home and marry. As the head of the mutt, Raghavendra swami was expected to bless this disciple and give him some money so that he could start life as a householder. In this case, it was even more imperative since the disciple came from a very poor family. However, he chose to bid farewell when Raghavendra swami was on the way to the river for his bath and did not have anything to give him. When Raghavendra swami expressed this, the disciple immediately replied “Even a handful of mud from you is even more precious than a hand full of gold”. Raghavendra swami was pleased with his devotion and accordingly scooped up a handful of mud from the ground and gave it to the disciple. The disciple received this with total reverence and tied it into a bundle. He then placed the bundle on his head and started back home.

He traveled till night and reached a village, and decided to halt there that night. He approached the chieftain and requested him to give him a place to sleep for the night. The chieftain said “You may sleep on the jugali of my house (a space just outside) but I have a problem. My wife is pregnant and is likely to deliver tonight. We have had extremely bad luck in the past because all our children have died immediately after birth. I am hoping that it is different this time”. The disciple agreed and slept immediately outside the main entrance to the house with his precious bundle as a pillow. At night, a dark and ferocious ghost approached the house. This was the one that was killing all the children immediately after birth. This time, it had to cross the disciple to enter the house, but could not do so since the bundle under his head appeared like a wall of fire to it. It tried several times in vain and finally woke up the disciple. It told him “Your bundle contains a divine fire that is impossible for me to transgress. Why don’t you throw the bundle away? I will give you heaps of money, gold and precious jewels. The disciple pretended to agree, but quickly withdrew some consecrated mud from the bundle, and threw it on the ghost. The effect of this action was spectacular. The ghost screamed loudly and was immediately burnt to ashes. The noise woke up everybody in the house came outside the house. The disciple explained everything to them; at the same

time the midwife came out of the house with the good news that the chieftain’s wife had delivered a healthy boy! The chieftain was ecstatic and hugged the disciple with joy. He attributed his good fortune to the advent of the disciple and thanked him profusely. The next day, he requested the disciple to stay back in the village and even offered his sister’s hand in marriage, along with lot of money. The disciple gladly accepted this generous offer and lived happily. Thus, a handful of mud from Raghavendra swami brought the disciple wealth a good wife, powerful connections and life-long happiness

The other miracle, which happened at Mantralayam itself, following the jeeva samadhi of the saint, involves the Collector of Bellary Thomas Monroe. As per the Endowments Act, during the British rule, the mutt at Mantralayam was to lapse to the British as the then Pontiff was stationed at Nanjangud. However, the people of Mantralaya represented to the Collector that Mantralayam was a gift given by Masood Khan to the saint and hence was inviolable. To resolve the issue, as it involved religious faith, the Collector paid a visit to the holy site.

As Thomas Monroe entered the Brindavanam, people could see him conversing in English with someone inside but could not see that person. Then the Collector is said to have asked of the people, "Is this the saint you have so extolled?" On reaching Bellary, Monroe recommended to the Governor of Madras Presidency that the status quo on the Mantralayam issue be maintained, as he was convinced that it was the legal property of the Mantralaya Peetha. Thomas Monroe was directed to assume charge as Governor as the then Governor left for England due to personal reasons. The first thing the new Governor, Thomas Monroe, did was to endorse his approval on the note made by himself on Mantralaya. The Superintendent of Madras Printing Press recorded this in the Gazette in the year 1861. The priest at the Mutt was pained to know that Sir Thomas Monroe got the divine vision of Shri Raghavendra Swami, but he could not. He could not fathom the reason for this discrepancy. That night, Shri Raghavendra Swami, appeared in his dream and explained him that he (Swamiji) and Monroe were friends during his Prahlada incarnation and it was destined that Monroe did a noble deed for the former. Therefore, this special privilege was granted to Monroe.

Extract From the then Madras Gazette:

Sri Raghavendra is considered to be magnanimous and benevolent; countless devotees of his testify to the miracles he has performed. The sacred sand of the Moola Brindavana (Moola Mrithika) has very special significance, to cure diseases and throw away evil forces.  

Last speech of Raghavendra Swami

The speech that Sri Raghavendra Swami gave prior to entering Brindavan is a concise summary of the philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya. In this materialistic world, such values and morals that Sri Raghavendra Swami, and many other great souls propagated will lead us to true happiness. We are fortunate to have such people to guide us on the path of right knowledge and keep us away from the path of incorrect knowledge.

The following is taken from "Raghavendra Darshanaa - Glimpse of Sri Raghavendra Tirtha Saint of Mantralaya", by Prof. Vyasanakere Prabhanjanacharya

When the day that Raghavendra Swami had chosen to enter Brindavan (Virodhikruth Samvatsara, Shravana Masa, krishna paksha, Dvitiya : 1671 A.D.) had come, thousands of people had congregated there. The crowd contained devotees as well as non-believers. Some people had come just to make fun of what was going on. The devotees were filled with anxiety; they didn't want their revered Guru to leave them. There were also people who were merely curious, just to see what would happen-although Sri Vadiraja Tirtha had entered the Brindavan in the same manner, alive, in the year 1600 A.D, and there were a few among the crowd who had witnessed on that occasion Those who had only heard about it were greatly curious to see such a miracle with their own eyes.

For a while he was lost inmeditation; then Sri Raghavendra started his soul-stirring speech.

"Hereafter I will disappear from your sight. The Lord who sent me to you has Himself ordered me to return to Him today. I have completed His task. Everyone has to obey His orders - coming to this world and returning when He calls us back. You need not feel sad that I am leaving you. The moola granthas, sarva moola and their commentaries will be your guiding light.

Never give up their study under a worthy master. The Lord has blessed us with this priceless life just to study them. The shastras have an answer for all our mundane problems. Follow the shastras and listen to the words of the enlightened. Put into practice as much as you can whatever you learn. The shastric way of life is the royal road to peace, prosperity and happiness.

The search for knowledge is never easy. As the Upanishads say it is like walking on the razor's edge. But for those who have strong faith and if they put in sustained effort and have the blessings of Sri Hari and Sri Madhvacharya, this is not difficult. Always keep away from people who merely perform miracles without following the shastras and yet call themselves God or guru. I have performed miracles, and so have great persons like Sri Madvacharya. These are based on yoga siddhi and the shastras. There is no fraud or trickery at all. These miracles were performed only to show the greatness of God and the wonderful powers that one can attain with His grace. Right knowledge (jnana) is greater than any miracle. Without this no real miracle can take place. Any miracle performed without this right knowledge is only witchcraft. No good will come to those who perform such miracles and also those who believe in them.

The Lord is full of auspicious qualities and absolutely faultless. There is no virtue that does not exist in Him. He is Lord Rama, Brahma and all other Devathas at all times and in all ways. His form is beyond prakrithi (nature). His body is made up of jnana and ananda. He is omnipresent and omniscient. All the jivas are subservient to Him. Mahalaksmi who is ever liberated is His consort. All jivas (souls) are not equal. There is gradation amongst them and they are of three types. Whatever state they attain finally is in keeping with their intrinsic nature. The saatvik souls attain moksha which is a state of eternal bliss. The tamasic souls attain eternal hell where there is all pervading darkness. This is a state of eternal sorrow. The rajasic souls keep rotating in samsara always, experiencing both happiness and sorrow. The shastras declare such a three fold classification and gradation of souls. It can be seen everywhere in this world. There are several schools of philosophy which go against these tenets and declare that there is no God, no dharma, this world is false; there is nothing but void; the jivas and Brahma are the same; there is no three fold classification or gradation, all the jivas are equal to Brahma, the Vedas are not true, Brahman is nirguna (attribute less), nirakara (formless). None of these philosophies are correct. The world that we see is real; this world has a master; he is neither nirguna nor nirakara. The shastras declare Him to be nirguna and nirakara because He is devoid of the three qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas (unlike us). For the suffering soul His grace is the only means to attain salvation

which is eternal bliss. Those who forsake Him will never be truly happy.

Without right living, right thinking will never come. Right living is performing one's ordained duties according to one's state in life without hankering after the fruits of the actions and on the other hand offering all of our activities to the Lord. This is real sadachara (right living). This is real karma yoga. Another facet of right living is performing right rituals and observing fasts. Fasting on Ekadashi and krishnashtami is compulsory for everyone. Both men and women belonging to all walks of life have to observe this. Those who give up this will always have the doors of the Lord's home closed. This is what the shastras declare. Observance of chaturmasya vrata is another compulsory mode of worship. Along with this, vishnupanchaka and other Vaishnava vratas can be performed according to one's capacity. The main goal of all such vratas is to earn His grace and love.

One should always be careful never to harm or hurt another. Philosophical thought is very necessary for the soul's growth. Without philosophical thought we can not arrive at the right conclusions. But let there be no personal enmity. Social work done for the good of worthy people should also be considered as the Lord's worship. In short our life itself is worship. Every action is a puja. This life is precious. Every second of our life is precious. Not even a second that has gone will come back. Listening to the right shastras and always remembering Him is the highest duty. Without this life becomes meaningless. Have devotion to the Lord. This devotion should never be blind faith. Accepting the Lord's supremacy wholeheartedly is true devotion. Blind faith is not devotion. It is only stupidity. We should have devotion, not only for the Lord, but also for all other deities and preceptors in keeping with their status. In short having devotion to those above us, goodwill amongst those who are our equals and having affection for those who are below us are the excellent values of life. Anybody who approaches you should not go heavy at heart or empty handed. Spirituality can never exist without social grace. And social life without spirituality is no life at all. Spirituality never denies any virtue. But always remember that the Lord is the home of all values. The world does not exist for our sole pleasure and enjoyment. The thought that we are here for the good of the world is real spirituality. While incorporating right thinking and right values in our life we should also make it a habit to give up wrong values and wrong thinking. If we do not fight against them it amounts to approving them. But such disapproval should never turn to cruelty. It should be within the limits of justice. The outstanding feature of this should be love for truth and not personal hatred.

This is our philosophy. This is Sri Madhvacharya's philosophy. This is the philosophy all the shastras proclaim. This is the philosophy that kings and sages like Janaka and Sanaka believed and followed. The Lord's devotees like Dhruva and Prahlada incorporated this philosophy in their lives. Those who believe and live by this philosophy will never face any harm and has the assurance of the Lord. Being God's devotees you should honour and respect His devotees. Help as much as you can those who seek your aid. But always remember your duties. Offer all your actions to the Lord and never hanker after temporal gains. All actions performed with a selfish motive are like milk turned sour. There can be no higher motive than the motive to please God and the motive of earning jnana (right knowledge). But giving up all actions and following unworthy methods is like taking poison which will destroy us completely. It was Sri Madvacharya who preached this wonderful philosophy. The same Vayu who manifested as Hanumantha to serve Lord Sri Rama and as Bhimasena to serve Lord Sri Krishna also manifested as Sri Madhvacharya and preached this philosophy. This was his service to Lord Sri Veda Vyasa. His life, like his works was philosophy itself.

Now I take leave of you. Though I will not be with you in person my presence will be in my works and in my Brindavan. You can serve me best by propagating, studying, preserving and listening to my works. My blessings to you."

The message of the master gave new light to all the people gathered there. He had revealed to them the secret of his philosophy which he believed in, the philosophy which he preached and the philosophy by which he lived all his life. But the pain of separation made them forget the happiness that his message gave them. As they were hearing his sermon, they realized that he was a true jnani, a yogi, a scholar and a radiant monk possessing a soft and compassionate heart. Fear of displeasing him was the only reason why they held back their tears. After this Sri Raghavendra 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. All the learned people who had gathered there were reminded of the sloka from the Bhagavad Gait:

“Omityekaksharam brahma vyaaharanah maamanusmaranah Yaha prayaathi tyajanah deham sa yaathi paramaam gathimah”

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 up to his head and then, as per his earlier instructions, they placed a copper box containing 1200 Lakshminarayana saligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki River. Then they placed the covering

slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the Brindavan that they had built.

SRI VADEENDRA THEERTHARU

Sri Raghavendra Swami desired a Brindavanam to be made for him, and Diwan Venkanna got one made. But the Swamiji ordered it to be reserved for a future pontiff that would come to the pontificate. He asked Diwan Venkanna to build another one aftresh using the stone at Madhwaram fields as the stone had been hallowed by a touch of Sri Rama who sat on it searching Sri Sita., This we see even to day as Moola Brindavanam at Mantralaya. Adjacent to the Moola Brindavan we see another Brindavan the Brindavanam of Sri Vadeentheertharu, a great grand son of Sri Raghavendra and the, fifth descendant after Sri Raghavendraswami in the Pontificate.

Great leaders of the Vaishnava Bhakthi movement in Karnata like Purandara dasa and Kanaka Dasa were part of the Dvaita traditions. Also saint Sri Raghavendra Swami a leading figure in the Dvaita tradition, established that Varnaasrama was related to one’s nature than his birth and caste was due to the karma in their previous birth. He believed that if one belonged to a lower caste it doesn’t mean they are not eligible for mukti – release from the bondage from birth and death cycle. Classical example is of Kanaka Dasa who was born of a low caste and is stillrevered by all Madhva followers.

Kanaka Das's spiritual master was Shri Vyasaraya. Shri Vyasaraya took birth as Shri Raghavendra Swami. Similarly, in spite of his unalloyed devotion to Shri Krishna, Kanaka Das also took birth again during the times of Shri Raghavendra swami as a shudra due to

some left over Karma. Due to his intense devotion, it was his last birth. He was born as a poor man, who was devoted to Shri Hari from the very beginning. Once when Shri Raghavendra swami was on his tour, this old man came trembling to meet him. However, the disciples did not allow him to meet Shri Swamiji. But Shri Swamiji asked the disciples to let the old man come to him. The old man offered a small pinch of mustard seeds as the only offering. The disciples got very wild with anger and wanted to throw the offering as well as the old man. At that point of time, Shri Swamiji, gave all the disciples special vision, so that they could see that the old man was none other than the famous Kanaka Das. All were stunned to see Kanaka Das in the form of a very old man. After making the offering of mustard seeds, the old man fell on the feet of Shri Swamiji and instantly attained salvation

SRI VIJAYA DASARU

Sri Vijaya Dasaru is another great devotee of Sri Hari, who appeared in our religious history much later. Born in poverty, bread in poverty, he was personified as Poverty.

SRI JAGANATHA DASARU

Jagannatha Dasaru, is another celebrated Hari Dasaru who has spread the name and fame of Sri Raghavendra swami.

Haridasas and Bhakti

Music was practiced by the Rishis, Gandharvas, and other inspired mortals and it was considered sacred, because it softened and refined the mind and elevated the devotees to the Creator of the Universe.

Haridasas were mostly followers of Acharya Madhva, the founder of the Dvaita School of philosophy. They drew their inspiration from scriptures interpreted by Acharya Madhva. Consequently, all the compositions of Haridasas were based on the Dvaita philosophy.

Innumerable Haridasas have descended upon Earth in the Madhva tradition such as Purandara dasa, Vijaya dasa, and Gopala dasa with certain basic tenets of the system like the doctrines of Hari sarvottama – the Lord Hari is the Supreme amongst all gods

The initial inspiration of the Dasas was derived from Madhva himself, who has given devotional lyrics in Sanskrit such as Dvadasa-stotra, Sumadhva Vijaya (XV 84) composed by him though we have no trace of any compositions in Kannada or Tulu by Madhva. The name of the Haridasa sect is a contraction of the compound word formed by two words Hari and Dasa meaning “servants of God or Hari.”

Dasas are many and Dasa literature is voluminous and their representative compositions are outstandingly effective in appeal and touched many aspects of life.

Though initial inspiration of the Dasas was derived from Madhva himself who has given stirring devotional lyrics in sanskrit works as dvadasa-stotra, Sri Narahari Tiirtha (1300 AD) the direct disciple of Madhvacharya may be regarded as the founder of the Haridasa movement, though very few songs are available of him in Kannada. Sri Padaraja Tiirtha is well-known as the grandfather of Haridasas (Haridasa Pitamaha). He made a bold attempt to compose songs in simple kannada, expounding the difficult and highly philosophical teachings of Madhva in simple and clear language. Sri Padaraja's disciple Sri Vyasaraja gave great impetus to the Haridasa movement and made it very popular by his disciples who are chief among Haridasas - Sri Purandaradasa and Sri Kanakadasa. The center of activity of the Haridasas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was Vijaynagar (Hampi) and near by places, and Sri Purandara Dasa and Sri Kanaka Dasa were the chief architects.

Sri Vyasaraya

Sri Vyasaraya is one of the most reputed among the propagators of the Dvaita philosophy. He was born of pious parents called Seethamma and Ramacharya. He had his early education from Sri Sripadaraya. Later he adorned the pontific seat of the Dvaita School of Philosophy, a repository of the teachings of knowledge, devotion and detachment. In appreciation of his deep devotion, Lord Krishna would converse with him and even dance before him. As his teacher, Sri Sripadaraya had seen this with his own eyes, his affection for Sri

Vyasaraya swelled all the more. Sri Vyasaraya wrote celebrated works such as "Tatparyachandrika" “Tarakatandavamu” and "Nyayamrutamu".

Once while Sri Vyasaraya was at the shrine of Tirumala, the worship of Sri Venkateswara was hampered. He was asked by King Salva Narasimha Raja to offer worship on his behalf (to Sri Venkateswara). In pursuance of this expressed desire, Sri Vyasaraya conducted worship of Sri Venkateswara for twelve years according to the traditions and rites sanctioned by the Vedas and the sastras and earned the grace of the Lord.

During the reign of Sri Krishna Deva Raya, once the ruler was afflicted with a disease named "Kuhu" and he was restless with suffering. He consulted some astrologers who examined his horoscope and suggested that he would be rid of it if he forsook his throne.

Sri Krishna Deva Raya decided to relinquish his throne and was in search of a proper person to take his place to rule. He sent out his state elephant with a garland in its trunk and offered to appoint as king whomsoever the elephant garlanded. The elephant left the city reached the forest and trumpcated before a cave where Sri Vyasaray was performing penance. When he came out of the cave the elephant garlanded Sri Vyasaraya.

The royal servants who accompanied the elephant informed Sri Vyasaraya of the king’s order. Considering the elephant's action as a divine command, Sri Vyasaraya agreed to ascend the throne. With great exultation, Sri Krishna Deva Raya offered the throne as a gift to Sri Vyasaraya Swami.

Some time after Sri Vyasaraya had commenced his reign; there were impending signs of the king being slowly recovering from the disease. Sri Vyasaraya descended from the throne and leaving his upper garment on it, stood at a distance. At once, the cloth caught fire and was soon reduced to ashes. The courtiers were astonishes. They praised the greatness of the Swami. The danger of the "Kuhu" disease was averted and Sri Krishna Deva Raya's life was saved. Sri Vyasaraya told the king that he was freed from the dangerous effects of the disease and asked him to re-ascend the throne and rule the people according to Dharma.

Sri Krishna Deva Raya obeyed the Swami's command and began to rule over his empire.

Sri Vyasaraya who had performed great penance won the grace of the Lord and has written various works of philosophy and founded many shrines of Sri Anjaneya

Devotees very well know that the Yanthroddhara Pranadeva's image was consecrated by Sri Vyasaraya at Hampi which shrine is called 'The giver of all boons to devotees'.

Sri Vyasaraya preached to the world for many years that "Lord Hari is the greatest God" and "Vayu is the greatest Jeeva" and, after

winning universal fame, being worshipped by his devotees and adorning the supreme seat of the Dvaita philosophy for ninety years, attained the Brindavan on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, near Anegondi on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in the month of phalguna of the year Hevilambi. At this place besides him eight pontific heads of the Dvaita School have entered Samadhi. So this place is called "Nava Brindavan".

Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha

Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha is the second highest saint in the Madhva hierarchy, being next only to Srimad Ananda Tirtha himself, in the taratamya. He is widely regarded as being the incarnation of Latavya, a rju-tatvika-yogi and the successor to Mukhya Praana. Therefore, even though he nominally had Sri Vyaasa Tirtha as a guru, he acknowledges only Srimad Ananda Tirtha himself, as his preceptor. He is an outstanding poet, a very pugnacious opponent, and a most ardent devotee

Pilgrims visiting the famous temple in Tirumala (Tirupati) often yearn, on some pretext or the other, whether the duration of their stay in front of the idol cannot be prolonged. They come out of the sanctum-sanctorum with a desire as to when they will get another opportunity to obtain a glimpse of the Lord, in spite of the several difficulties they have to undergo to visit this famous religious centre. It is to satisfy them that God and one of His dear and ardent servants worked out a scheme whereby the pilgrims can get a ``darshan'' again. For this, the saint arranged to carve out a replica of the Lord's idol on one of the tiers of the canopy (Vimanam), though smaller in version. When Sri Vadhiraja went to worship at the main temple the priests made him to wait, not knowing who he was. Responding to his prayers the Lord made His first ``appearance'' to Vadhiraja as``Vimana Venkatesa''. Even today pilgrims have their second darsan of the Lord on the Vimana. The saint's status as Sri Madhvacharya's subsequent representative in later years has been confirmed by the Lord enabling him to reach Badrinath (in the

Himalayas) and submit one of his monumental works. This rare audience reveals that he was the only one, other than Sri Madhwa, to receive Lord's direct grace and that he will succeed the former after a cycle. Sri Vadhiraja's ``Brindavanam'' at Sode in North Kanara is somewhat unique in its constructional features.

Two of the saint's exquisite poems, one a travel guide composed after visiting various pilgrim centers all over India, and another, an epitome of Srimad Bhagavatam, show his genius. The second is a veritable literary garden, every verse sending out an aroma of devotion. A brief advice of his can be the religion of our times. ``Remember Krishna, worship Hari, bow to Vishnu, take refuge in Achyuta, overcome greed, give up avarice, conquer lust, listen to the Lord's stories, smell the Tulasi petals placed at His feet and eat the food offered to Him.''

The disciples of Srimad Ananda Tiritha originally stayed together in Sri Krishna Mutt. They shared the daily worship amongst themselves. As time went by, the daily worship was divided up so that each of the disciples performed the worship for a period of two months. This inevitably created friction because when certain festivals, etc., came around, it could possibly be years before they each had a chance to personally conduct these ceremonies.

Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha established the system of worship for a period of two years. . He was responsible for creating the paryaya system of rotation, according to which each of the eight Udupi ashhta-Mathas has a two-year spell "in office" at the Krishna temple in Udupi, with each getting a turn sometime during a sixteen-year cycle. In this way, each of the Swamijis could perform all the festivals, etc., and the worship of Sri Krishna could have continuity for a reasonable length of time, unimpeded by the constant changes of administration which occurred under the old system.

It was around this time that the eight mutts known as "Udupi ashhta Mathas" were established in the vicinity of Krishna Mutt.

This two year system also allows each of the swamijis to conduct the important daily duties concerning the welfare of their disciples and the worship in their own Mutts. It also allows them the time necessary to accumulate the enormous amount of money needed to perform the worship in the Krishna Mutt.

Sri Hayagriva was the form of the Lord Vishnu that Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha worshipped, and the Lord Himself used to appear in the form of a white horse to please His devotee. He offered food to God during his worship. God as ``Hayagriva'' approached him only from behind and accepted it. It so happened that a goldsmith was trying to make a gold statue of Ganapati. To his surprise, the idol kept taking the shape of Lord Hayavadana. The goldsmith tried many

times, and each time the cast was taking the shape of Lord Hayavadana. The goldsmith got tired and frustrated, and started hitting the idol with a hammer. To his surprise, however hard he hit, no damage happened to the statue. Then, one day the goldsmith had a dream. In the dream, he saw the Sri Hayavadana Himself telling him to give the statue to the saint who would be approaching him the next day. Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha then went to the goldsmith, as directed by Sri Hayagriva, and asked for the promised icon. The goldsmith prostrated at the feet of Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha and offered the icon of Lord Hayavadana, which the saint then consecrated and used for worship.

On another instance, when Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha was in Pandharapura serving Lord Vitthala, there was a corn field near the temple and the owner of the corn field used to see a white horse coming to his field and graze the corn. The white horse used to eat the Dall (lentils) grown in the field, and used to get back to the mutt where Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha used to reside. The owner got angry, and approached Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha with a complaint that a horse belonging to the latter was coming to his field and eating his crop. Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha assured him that he did not own such a horse, and that in fact, there was no horse of any description in the mutt. The complainant however was not satisfied, since he was positive seeing the horse enter the Mutt; he did a full search of its premises, but could not locate the horse. Meanwhile, Sri Vadiraaja Tîrtha, knowing that the horse was the Lord Hayavadana Himself, told the landowner that he was very lucky, and asked him to see the places in his field where the horse ate. To his great surprise, the farmer saw golden corn at all the places where the Lord ate. He surrendered at the feet of Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha, and offered his land to the Mutt.

Every day, Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha would offer a sweet dish called Hayagriva (a preparation consisting of jaggery, almonds, ghee and kadale (lentil) and keep it in a tray and hold it on his head while seated and meditate Lord Hayagriva. Lord Hayavadana taking a form of a white horse, would put his feet on the shoulders of Sri Vadiraaja Tirtha, and eat the sweet, then play for some time like a horse, and disappear into the Hayavadana icon. It is said that Sri Vadiraja Tirtha would sing the 'Dashavataara-stuti', set to an 'ashvaghati' (literally, a horse's trot) beat, to please the Lord, and the latter Himself would appear and dance when His devotee sang to Him.

The great Sri Vadiraja Tiirtha the contemporary of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha and also his disciple is considered to be another pillar of Dasa movement. He is renowned as a great leader of both the Vyasakuta and Dasakuta. Sri Padaraja, Sri Vyaasaraja and Sri Vadiraja are called 'yathi trayaru' three great saints in Dasa movement. Sri Padaraja is the beginner and grandfather of Dasa's, Sri Vadiraja promoter of dasa sahitya by his scholarly contribution and Sri

Vyaasaraja has made dasa movement more popular by his esteemed disciples.

The songs try to rouse the spirit of man from a life of worldly attachment and turn it to God. They deal with all aspects of spiritual discipline taught by the scriptures and take us along the path of self-realization. Their philosophical system is just the same, as that presented by the great writers of the Dvaita Vedanta in their original works in Sanskrit.

The most luminous of the composers and originators of Karnataka style of music was Pundarika Vittala. According to some writers his period synchronizes with that of Krishna Deva Raya and he is reputed to have founded Mela Prastara Ragas.

The Haridasas were the first saints in the world to whom Bhakti through music was the only mode of attaining salvation. All these, inclusive of Sripadaraja, Vyasaraja, Purandara, Vadiraja and Kanaka and others accept the religion of Madhva and his dualistic philosophy. Purandara was a devout follower of Madhva philosophy. His system Bhajana as described in the Vedas is called Taratamyapaddati. Sri Purandara and Sri Kanaka Dasa made Dvaita philosophy to spread all over through the common language, kannada.

Sri Purandara is the founder of Karnataka Music and his songs range from the most homely to the most philosphical. In fact the learners of Karnataka music will start his compositions first.

The Dasas of Karnataka were the first to develop the cult of devotion to Vitthala and make it a living faith and a powerful instrument of mass uplift through the aid of their soul-stirring music and bhajana in the language of their province. Their example was subsequently taken up and carried further by the saints of the neighboring province of Maharashtra like Ramadasa, Tukarama and others. The Haridasas of Karnataka were preachers of devotion to God and made distinctive contribution to the religious life of Karnataka. They conveyed great and sacred truths in Kannada in a very simple and

clear style so as to be understood by common people. Haridasas moved from place to place and toured the whole towns and villages singing and dancing with single- stringed “tambura” instrument, foot bells- kalgejje - and castanets – chatike - being their only musical accompaniments. Although it is very rare to see such devoted and noble Haridasas in the present century, we still find a few of them during temple festivals

UDIPI

Udupi, about 60 Kms from Mangalore, is one of the sacred places of pilgrimages to Hindus. Thousands of pious devotees throng the Krishna temple all round the year to catch a glimpse of the Lord.

In ancient times, Udupi was known as Sivalli and Rajathapeetapuram. Legend has it that Chandra, the Moon God, did penance here in a forest, propitiating Lord Shiva to redeem Him from a curse by Daksha Prajaapati. In Sanskrit, Udu means `star’ and Pa means `leader’. Chandra being the head of the stars, the place came to be known as `Udupi’. Some others opine that it has its origin in the Sanskrit 'udupam' - a boat - in which Krishna came from Dwaraka.

It has been a tradition and the unique feature of this temple, that the Lord is worshipped only through a window with nine holes, called the Navagraha Kitiki, which is exquisitely carved and silver plated. It is also called 'Kanakana Kindi' - through which Krishna is believed to have given darshan to his ardent devotee, Kanakadasa. In front of the window there is a small 'gopuram'. The main entrance to the temple is on the southern side. As on enters, on the right side is a tank called Madhwa Pushkarani. This tank has stone steps all round and a mantapam in the center.

The advent of Lord Krishna to this divine temple is dramatic. It 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 Dwaparayuga, Devaki felt a keen desire to see once again Krishna's bala leelas. 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.

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 was nearing the shore, it was caught by severe storm and was about to sink.

Sri Madhvacharya waved his upper cloth and quieted the storm. Seeing a holy man on the sea shorewho entreated him and save him from disaster, the grateful captain offered all the riches in his boat to the Acharaya but Madhvacharya from out of the lot accepted 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 till this day in an unbroken continuity.

He is the source of happiness and salvation of all good people. Madhva installed this image of Krishna with the avowed purpose of removing all obstacles and relieving the pains, which beset His devotees on their way to salvation.

Since Sri Madhvacharya's time, these poojas are being conducted by his disciples who are all 'balasanayasis'. Till this date, as ordained by Sri Madhva, the right of touching and worshipping this idol rests with the pontiffs of eight mutts known as Ashta Mathas of Udupi.

The Lord in the Udipi temple is worshipped fourteen times in a day, beginning 4.00 a.m. in the morning. The first puja, nirmaalya visarjana puja, is performed early in the morning. And by noon, ten different pujas are conducted –

Usha kaala puja, akshya patra go puja, panchamirta abhisheka puja, udvartana puja, kalasha puja, tIrtha puja, alankara puja, avasara sanakadi puja and maha puja.

The other four pujas - chamara sevaa puja, raatri puja, mantapa puja and shayanotsava puja - are offered in the evening till night.

Nrmaalya visarjana pooja

At 4:00 A.M. the door of the shrine is opened. The Swamiji in charge of the two-year paryaaya takes his bath in the Madhva Sarovara, and after his meditation and tarpana in the room adjacent to the garbha gudi, he enters the shrine. While the priests chant the Vedas and the bells ring, the Swamiji removes the flowers, sacred tulasi leaves, sandalwood paste, etc., from the icon.

He then removes the ornaments used for dressing the icon on the previous day. The bare icon of Krishna holding a churning rod, which was originally revealed to Sri Madhva, can now be seen. This view of the unadorned Lord is known as vishvaruupa darshana.

After the nirmaalya is removed, there is a five-fold service offered to Sri Krishna. Tulasi leaves and sandalwood paste are offered and morning breakfast is offered. Arati is offered on a round plate.

The dishes offered at this service are flat rice and curd, groundnuts, ginger, jaggery, coconut, betel leaves and nuts.

Ushakaala pooja

After removing the previous day's decorations and flowers, the Swamiji pours water on the icon from two silver pots. After the icon is completely washed, the ushakaala pooja is performed. Sandalwood paste and tulasi leaves are offered, and naivedya of rice, milk, curd, tender coconut water, banana, coconut, and betel leaves and nuts is then offered. Eight aarati-s are waved around the icon after naivedya.

Akshaya paatra pooja- gopooja

Then the Swamiji performs puja to the akshaya paatra and the cows. The akshaya paatra and ladle were presented to Krishna Mutt by Sri Madhva himself, with the blessing that the annadaana, or mass feeding of devotees, would continue in this holy place forever. This is the reason behind the worship of these items to this day.

Cows have free access and freedom of movement in the precincts of Sri Krishna Mutt. This is to commemorate the sport of Krishna who, in the form of a young boy, used to graze cows while sporting with the gopa youth and maidens in Vrindavan. The cows which come out of the cow-shed in the morning move about inside the shrine. A cow specially selected for the worship stands at the doors of the sanctum sanctorum and the Swamiji worships her.

Fried rice, laddus of country sugar, banana, etc, are offered to Sri Krishna and then aarati is performed. The same lamp used for offering aarati to Krishna is then waved around the akshaya paatra and the cow. The dishes are offered to the cows.

This can be an exciting time for the devotee. There is nothing like having your reverie broken when a very pushy cow brushes past you on her way to receive the remnants of the dishes offered to Sri Krishna. These cows have the uncanny ability to stand still for what seems like forever, while having their necks and throats rubbed and scratched by the Lord's devotees.

Panchaamrtaabhisheka pooja

This ritual is to be performed by the paryaaya Swamiji himself. While the priests chant the Vedic hymns in the hall known as suurya

shaale, the sandalwood paste and flowers are removed and the icon of Sri Krishna is thoroughly washed. The Swamiji then pours coins of gold over it. Next, after worshipping the conch, the panchaamrta is poured on the icon. The abhisheka begins when a conch full of ghee is poured on the head of the icon and it flows down to the feet. Then milk, curd, honey and sugar are poured in that order. Tender coconut water is then poured on the icon for final cleaning. Water from thirty-two tender coconuts is used for the abhisheka.

After this abhisheka to Sri Krishna, sandalwood paste, flowers and tulasi leaves are offered. Rice, coconut, and betel leaves and nuts are offered as naivedya and eight aaratis are performed. The materials of abhisheka are then taken and poured on the icon of Hanuman. After this they are distributed to the devotees as sanctified water.

Udvartana pooja

Sri Krishna is then cleansed of oil and ghee, etc, and this fifth ritual is known as udvartana pooja Sri Krishna is rubbed with the powder of green gram to remove the grease, and then warm water is poured. Sandalwood paste, flowers and tulasi are offered and then hot rice, milk, butter, and tender coconut are offered. Arati is then waved on a round plate.

Kalasa pooja

The sixth poojais when Sri Krishna is bathed in pure water. Before this ritual begins, two golden pots are filled with clean water and the presiding deities of kalasa are invoked. This is known as kalasa pooja the golden pots are decorated with tulasi and sandalwood paste and the Swamiji sanctifies this water with the chanting of pranavamantra, moolamantra and the Krishna-mantra.

Pitha poojais then performed, naivedya is offered, and aarati is waved. The rice offered at this time is later offered to the icon of Garuda.

Up until the tirtha pooja one can have the vishvaruupa darshana of Krishna.

Tirtha pooja

Now the ritual of abhisheka takes place. While the priests chant the Purushha suukta, the Swamiji pours holy water on Sri Krishna from the golden pots. After collecting the poured water in the tirtha pot, the icon is gently wiped with a silken cloth.

Sandalwood paste and flowers are offered and then naivedya of pan cake, butter, jaggery, pudding, coconut, banana, and betel leaves and nuts is offered. Eight aaratis are then waved.

Alankaara pooja

The next ritual is the decoration of Sri Krishna with various kinds of ornaments, armours, and halo-like arches. Rice, pudding, laddus, flat rice, curds, kosumbari, etc., are offered and sixteen aaratis are waved. During alankaara (decoration), the navagraha window is closed to devotees.

Once the alankaara puja is completed, devotees can have darshana with Sri Krishna wearing His new ornaments and costumes. The icon of Sri Krishna is decorated differently each day to present a new image to the devotees. The only part of the icon not covered is the face. If Krishna wears a golden halo one day, He is dressed in an armor of diamonds the next, and so on. The icon is presented as the incarnation of Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), and Parasuraama or Rama on different occasions.

Every Friday the icon is decorated with female costumes, as a goddess During the Navaratri festival, the icon is decked as a different goddess on each of the nine days.

Avasara sanakaadi pooja

The alankaara pooja need not be performed by the paryaaya Swamiji himself. But the next two rituals, namely avasara sanakaadi pooja and the mahaa pooja, are to be performed by the paryaaya Swamiji only; none else is authorized to perform these two rituals. The ninth ritual, namely the avasara sanakaadi pooja is a peculiar ritual performed only to Sri Krishna in Udupi.

The reason for this ritual is that Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara are the originators of the lineage of Srimad Ananda Tiirtha. It is known as the Sanaka lineage. Starting from these four divine beings, the lineage continues through Duurvaasa, Paratiirtha, Satya Prajna, Prajnatirtha and other saints. Saint Achyuta Prajna also belongs to this tradition. Then comes Sri Madhva. The lineage continues through the eight Swamijis of the Udupi ashhTa-maTha-s and also through Padmanabha Tiirtha. Thus Sanaka and others are at the head of the Maadhva guru-paramparaa.

When Sri Madhva installed the icon of Sri Krishna which came from Dwaarakaa, the Sanaka-s also wanted to worship the icon which had been worshipped by Rukmini herself. Sri Madhva permitted the Sanaka-s to offer services to Krishna in privacy before he himself

performed the main puujaa Thus the tradition of worship by Sanaka and others has continued daily for the past seven centuries.

Before the worship begins, the navagraha window is closed. The Swamiji also comes out of the shrine and waits in the adjacent room. Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara come inside the sanctum sanctorum in solitude, and offer their services to Sri Krishna. The shrine is reserved for these invisible divine beings for some time. Then the Swamiji enters the shrine, offers naivedya and waves eight aaratis.

Maha pooja

After the saints Sanaka and others complete their services to the Lord, it is believed that Sri Madhva himself performs the main pooja through the agency of the paryaaya Swamiji. The mahaa pooja is the last service in the forenoon.

Before performing the mahaa pooja, the paryaaya Swamiji once again goes to the Madhva-sarovara to have a bath in the tank.

The drum known as nagaari is beaten to announce the commencement of the ritual. When the Swamiji begins his rituals, the priests begin to chant the Vishnu-sahasra-naama and Vedic texts.

The sound of the beating drum conveys the message to the whole town that the Swamiji is going to take a bath prior to this worship. Those who desire to witness the mahaa pooja now begin to make their way towards Sri Krishna Mutt.

At the end of the archana, different dishes are offered as naivedya. This offering consists of rice, sweet pudding, paramaanna, huggii, appa, vade chakkuli, gullorige, holige, atirasa, laddu, laddige, panchakajjaaya, milk, curds, fruits, coconut, betel leaves and nuts, etc. At the same time, rice cake and rice gruel, in remembrance of Kanaka Dasa, are offered in a silver bowl.

The Swamiji places tulasi leaves onto the dishes and then comes out of the shrine for some time. It is believed that Sri Madhva himself comes into the shrine now to offer the dishes to Krishna.

During this ritual of samarpana, musicians chant the”dvaadasha stotras.”

After this offering of naivedya, aaratis are waved by the Swamiji and the assembled devotees ring bells and play different kinds of musical instruments such as shankha and taala. This mahaa pooja is

a feast to the eyes and ears of the devotees assembled in the shrine.

The Swamiji then makes his way to the shrine of Mukhya Praana and offers worship. The naivedya which was offered to Sri Krishna is now offered to Mukhya Praana. The Swamiji performs aarati both to Hanuman and Garuda.

The Swamiji then offers pooja to the icon of Sri Madhva at the entrance to the main shrine. He stands at the steps and performs panchopachaara and waves aarati.

Proceeding to the room known as simhaasana, the Swamiji performs pooja to the deities of his Mutt which are located here throughout the time of paryaaya. He then circumambulates the shrine and prostrates himself before the icon of Sri Krishna.

From the main shrine, the Swamiji now goes to the tank and offers oblation to the preceptors and saints and worships the icon of Bhaagirathi (the river Ganga). Then the naivedya is thrown into the tank for the benefit of the fishes.

From here the Swamiji proceeds towards the Subramanya shrine located by the side of the Vasanta Mahal. After worshipping Subramanya he visits the Vrindavana and pays homage and offers holy water to his preceptors. He also goes round the pipal tree there and finally returns to the shrine of Krishna.

Back in the shrine, while sitting in the simhaasana, he distributes holy water to the devotees and greets those special visitors who have come to Udupi on pilgrimage. From the simhaasana he makes his way to the cauki and takes his food in the company of scholars and pilgrims. These are the activities of the Mahaa pooja.

After lunch the Swamiji sits for a while in his simhaasana, offers mantraakshatam to devotees and then returns to his room. He engages himself there in teaching and scholarly discussions with students and professors and also grants interviews to devotees.

At 4:00 P.M., the drum announces the commencement of the evening rituals. Around 4:30 P.M., the scholars begin their discourses in the candrashaalaa while the Swamiji listens. They continue till around 6:00 P.M. when the sacred books are worshipped. The Swamiji himself attends this pooja and offers prasaada to the assembled devotees. After this the singers assemble in the chandrashaalaa and start singing devotional songs and the Swamiji goes to the tank for another bath.

Chaamara sevaa pooja

While the Swamiji is engaged in his japa (meditation) after his bath, the utsava-muurti is brought to the mantapa. A basket filled with fried rice is placed on each side of the icon. Milk, fruit, coconuts, betel leaves and nuts, and laddus are placed in front of the icon.

On both sides of the mantapa the rows of oil lamps brighten the area. The Swamiji completes his evening meditation and arrives at the passage in between the mantapa and candrashaalaa. Two chowrii-s (hand-held fans used in worship) made of yak's tail set in golden handles are kept there. The Swamiji picks them up and waves them in front of the icon in an intricate manner. This is the first of two rituals performed in service of Krishna outside the garbha gudi. The second is the mantapa pooja which takes place after the raatri pooja.

For about five minutes the Swamiji serves the Lord by fanning Him with the chowriis. The Swamiji then hands over the chowries to his disciples who continue to wave the chowries in an artistic manner.

The Swamiji himself now performs panchopachaara pooja by offering the fried rice and jaggery kept in the baskets. Through the navagraha window he waves aarati to Sri Krishna inside the sanctum sanctorum, and then to the small icon on the mantapa. He then waves aarati to the icons of Hanuman and Garuda in the chandrashaalaa. From here the Swamiji goes to his simhaasana and worships the icons of his own Mutt.

Raatri pooja

From the simhaasana, the Swamiji enters the garbha gudi for the raatri pooja. After chanting the hundred and eight names of Vishnu, he offers naivedya consisting of tamarind rice, pancake, tender coconut, coconut, panchakajjaaya, and betel leaf and nut. He then waves aarati-s of different kinds.

Coming out of the sanctum sanctorum the Swamiji offers worship to the icon of Sri Madhva at the entrance.

Musicians known as bhaagavatas sing devotional songs along with their disciples and dance according to the rhythm. Their service to the Lord is a veritable feast for the eyes.

Rows of oil lamps are lit on both sides of the passage in between the shrines of Mukhya Praana and Garuda. The panchakajjaaya offered to Sri Krishna's icon is now spread out on the plantain leaf laid on the floor between the rows of lamps. The Swamiji offers this dish to the icon of Mukhya Prana and waves aarati. This is a special service offered to the intimate devotee of the Lord. The famous prasaada of

Udupi is this very panchakajjaaya dish that has been offered to Krishna and Hanuman.

Mantapa pooja

The festival icon of Sri Krishna is brought out in a palanquin and placed in cradle in the mantapa. The Swamiji then rocks the cradle and musicians play their instruments. The Swamiji offers fried rice and performs aarati. The mantapa pooja is a feast for the eyes as well as for the ears.

This is also known as vaalaga mantapa pooja. In 1971, Sri Vidyaamaanya Tiirtha Swamiji of Sri Palimar Mutt offered to Sri Krishna the golden cradle used in this ritual.

During the month of vaishaakha this service is held in the Vasanta Mahal. Formerly during the special festivals of the year, it was held in the open place by the side of the Shirur Mutt in front of the room in which the silver chariot is now housed.

When the Swamiji steps down from the mantapa, he goes and sits in the chandrashaalaa and listens to the eight kinds of sevaa (service) offered to Krishna. These services are in the form of Rg Veda seva, Yajur Veda seva, Saama Veda seva, Atharva Veda seva, Vedanta seva, Itihaasa seva, Puraana seva, and sangita (music) seva.

If a devotee has offered a special service that day he is given the privilege of honouring the Swamiji by offering sandalwood paste and waving aarati.

The icon of Krishna is now placed in the palanquin and taken around the garbha gudi to the melodious accompaniment of the flute.

Eaanta seva -- shayanotsava puujaa

After the palanquin has gone around the shrine, it stops at the entrance and Swamiji takes the icon of Sri Krishna into the first room, where it is placed in a golden cradle. This cradle is situated behind the entrance guarded by Sri Chenna Keshava. From now until the dawn Krishna is supposed to sleep here. Only the Swamiji and his immediate associates participate in this service and for this reason it is known as ekaanta sevaa, worship in seclusion.

While the Swamiji rocks Sri Krishna in the golden cradle, the musicians sing lullabies. The Swamiji offers milk, sandalwood paste, sandalwood oil, holy leaves, nutmeg, cloves, perfume, etc., and waves aarati.

This is the termination of the fourteen services offered each day to Lord Krishna. The Swamiji now sits on the simhaasana and distributes prasaada to devotees and pilgrims. By around 11:00 P.M. all the daily rituals in Sri Krishna Mutt have been completed and the shrine is locked for the night, to reopen at 4:00 A.M. the next morning for yet another day in the service of Krishna.

Note: Pooja timings are subject to change.

(This section is collected from a book published, by Bannanje Govindacharya, U.P. Upadhyaya, and Muralidhar Upadhyaya)

It is referred to that eight of Madhvacharya’s disciples stayed at Udupi to take up the responsibility of worshipping the idol of Lord Krishna as well as the propagation of the tenets of Madhva’s philosophy. In the beginning all these eight pontiffs used to stay together in Sri Krishna Mutt. They used to share the priestly duties according to their convenience by mutual consent. Later the tradition of each Matathipathi taking charge of the temple for two months was established. This system continued up to the period of Sri Vadiraja who changed it to a two-year term.

The eight mutts Kaniyoor Mutt, Sode Mutt, Puttige Mutt, Admar Mutt, Pejavur Mutt, Palimar Mutt Krishna Mutt, Shirur Mutt, were later constructed around the temple.

Since Shiva was worshipped by Chandra, the Lord is known as Chandramouleeshwara. This Shiva shrine is situated opposite to Sri Krishna temple. The Swayambu Linga is found to change colours thrice during the day -- black in the morning, blue at noon and white at night. The temple tank is known as Chandra Pushkarini or Madhwa Sarovar.

There is another shrine for Lord Ananteshwara. When Sage Parasurama redeemed the land from sea, he crowned his devotee Ramabhoja as the king of this land. He performed Ashwamedha Yaga on this holy soil. While ploughing the land prior to the yaga, he accidentally killed a snake. To redeem himself from Sarpa dosha (sin of killing a snake), he made a silver peetam (Rajatha Peetam) with images of snake carved on it. Hence the place acquired the name Sivalli or Siva-belli. The king installed a Linga Ananteshwara. Lord

Parasurama is worshipped in Linga swarupa in this shrine. There is a 40-foot-high Deepa sthamba outside the shrine

Udipi is connected by road and buses ply to Mysore (265 km), Bangalore via Hassan (365 km), Kollur (120 km), Sringeri (130 km), Karwar (215 km) Belur (155 km) and several other places.

There are choultries with basic facilities in Udipi, and food is served free to the pilgrims in the temple. For convenience with modern facilities one can stay in Mangalore and can drive down to Udipi.

Manthralayam

Though there are Brindavanams located in several parts of the country, the original Brindavan dedicated to Sri Raghavendra Swami is located in Mantralaya, which is in the district of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. The colloquial name for the place is Maanchale, which has been sanskritized into Mantralaya. Under the grace of Sri Raghavendra, Mantralaya has turned a pilgrimage center, where devotees flock to view a glimpse of the Brindavan of this great saint.

Many South Indian cities, - Bangalore, Tirupati, Mangalore, Madras, Hyderabad, Bellary and Mysore, - are connected to Mantralaya by road, and for the convenience of pilgrim Tourist buses ply from almost these centers. Bangalore is the closest city.

The nearest Railway station is Mantralayam Road, on Chennai – Mumbai section, and is about 12km from Mantralaya.Town. Almost all trains halt at this station. APSRTC buses or rental van/auto rikshas can be hired from the Railwy station to Mantralaya which takes 45 minutes drive. Approximate cost of travel per person is Rs.50 for private transport and Rs.4 for Public Bus.

The Mutt provides comfortable accommodation, at a nominal price. Private hotels with modern facilities are also available in the town. The Mutt also serves free meals to pilgrims within the Mutt between 11 AM to 3 PM on all days except Ekadasi day.

Generally, the temple is open between 06:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 21:00. In the evenings the Golden, Silver and wooden Chariots are taken round inside the temple.

Regular poojas and special sevas are conducted as under:

 TYPES OF SEVA

KANAKA KAVACHA SAMARPANA

SARVA SAMARPANA

RAJATHA RATHOTSAVAM

POORNA SEVA

KANKA MAHA POOJA

MAHA POOJA

SARVA SEVA

UTSAVARYA PADA POOJA

PANCHAMRUTHAM

KSHEERABHISHEKAM

ARCHANA SAHITA HASTODAKA

ARATI SAHITA HASTODAKA

HASTODAKAM

TULASI ARCHANA

PRATHYAKSHA - GAJAVAHANA

MANGALARTHI

SEVA SANKALPAM

VASANTA POOJA

KARTEEKA DEEPOTSAVAM

GRUTA NANDA DEEPAM (1 MONTH)

TAILA NANDA DEEPAM (1 MONTH)

SARVASIDHI YANTRAM

SANTANA YANTRAM

BHEETI YANTRAM

NAMAKARNAM

KARNAVEDAM

ANNA PRASANAM

JAVALA

AKSHARABHYSAM

UPANAYANAM

NAGAPRARISTA

UDYAPANAM

PARIMALA PRASADAMAN

ENDOWMENT SEVAS*

TYPES OF SEVA

KANAKA KAVACHA SAMARPANA

SARVA SAMPARNA

RAJATHA RATHOTSAVAM

POORNA SEVA

KANAKA MAHA POOJA

MAHA POOJA

SARVA SEVA

UTSAVARAYA PADA POOJA

PRATHYAKSHA GAJAVAHANA

PANCHAMRUTHAM

KSHEERABHISHEKAM

HASTODAKA ARCHANA

HASTODAKA ARATI

HASTODAKAM

TULASI ARCHANA

MANGALARTHI

GRUTA NANDA DEEPAM (1 MONTH IN A YEAR)

TAILA NANDA DEEPAM (1 MONTH IN A YEAR)

*The Above Endowment Sevas will be performed on the specific date or thithi intended by the party, out of the interest from the fixed deposit amount remitted by the pilgrims,.

For Accommodation and conducting Sevas – Contact:

The Manager, Shri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt,Mantralayam, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh - 518345.

Phone- (91)-(8512)-279429, 279459 Email-info@srsmutt.org