[Sri Raghottama Teertharu Part 2]

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Sri Raghottama Teertaru Part 2.

 

Namaskara to all Haribhaktaas.

The young child Ramachandra (named after the presiding diety of the Uttaraadhi

Mutt) was fed only with the teerthaprasaada of the Lord while the child himself

fed its eyes with the feast of the poojaa of Sri DigvijayaRaamaa,shaligraamaas

etc. and its ears with the pravachanaas of Nyaaya Sudhaa , Sarva moolaa, Vedic

chantings and the like. Unlike other children it had least interest in ordinary

playthings and used to watch the religious activities of the mutt with great

eclat.Once the Swamiji and His retinue were going by a bullock cart to

Mantralaya

and near Raichur the bullock cart suddenly went amock and athe samiji and the

disciples jumped down since they could not lift the two year old boy who had

beconme so heavy. Then when the boy jumped the cart fell apart to pieces. The

swamiji with his divine foresight found out the reason that some miscreants had

pulled out the axle of the wheel to kill the boy but since he was in his

previous

birth the great ghatotkacha this feat was not that difficult. The boy was

initiated into Gayatri at the proper age and was fortunate enough to have the

mantropadesha from none other than the great Raghuvarya teertharu himself. The

young lad usedto do meticulously all that was prescribed for a young vatu and

also engage itself in the study of the shaastraas and the works of

Srimadaachaaryaaru,Jayateertharu and other great saints. Raghuvarya teertharu

was getting old and felt that he must hand over the reins of the mutt to a

worthy

sucessor. He remembered the words of Srimadaachaaryaru in his dream and wanted

to instate the young lad of eight years in to sanyasa and ask Him to take charge

of the peethaa. On an auspicious day he ordained the young child into the

sainthood and named him as Sri Raghottama teerthaa. He also gave a soul

stirring

lecture to the young sanyaasi and all his disciples about the worsening of the

future to come due to the increased influence of Kali and the deterioration in

the standards of mutts and other religious activities. Hence, he insisted that

all the madhvaas should implicitly follow the injunctions laid down by

Srimadaachaaryaru and enhance the prestige of the mutt by conducting the daily

puja in an elaborate manner. He felt only then the people woould be attached to

the mutt and also the misconception that the sanyaasis were mere wandering

ascetics will be removed. He also stressed that each individual person of the

community should strive hard for the development of the mutt, since the

patronage

by the kings,emperors,diwans,etc may be withdrawn.(What a great dheergadarasi or

forseer he was to the present context itself can be well understoood from this

statement)

The golden words of His Master never vanished from the minds of the young

sanyaasi who determined to put the words of His guru in practice in future. The

saint also called a great dvaita scholar called Adya Varadacharyar to impart

dvaita doctrine to the young saint. The saint was fully aware that the Adya was

only a nimitta karanaa like Viswamitra to Lord Sri Ramachandraa.

The Lord does not allow anyone to remain on this earth once the work for which

He

had come had ended and hence the saint knew that the time for Him to enter

brindvan had come and wanted to be amidst the great saints at Navabrindavan and

the young Raghottama Sripadaru with great respect to His Guru conducted all th e

necessary rites at Navabrindavana on the tritiya during the krishna paksha of

the

jyesta maashaa the year being Pingala.

The young saint then proceeded to Mannur to learn the shaastraas from the Adya.

Adya was a special prefix given to the householders to receive the first teertha

or holy waters from the mutt and varadacharya was one such learned person. The

acharya knew that the saint was a great soul and paid great respect to Him even

while taking classes. On the other hand Sri Raghottamaa also held the achaarya

in great esteem. But as time rolled on due to the work of some mischief mongers

the acharya expected the monk to come to Him and learn. The saint unmindful of

such happenings yielded to the situation and went to the acharya to continue his

studies. On a dwadashi day the chieftain of Mannur had requested the Swaiji and

His retinue to do parane in His house and the request was accepted. Sri

Raghottamaa had finished his puja on the river banks and when he went for the

parane to his utter consternation he found that the parane was already started

without waiting for Him. The swamiji felt it as a great insult to the peethaa.

Also, there is a inner meaning for the anger of the swamiji. In all the mutts

the

swamiji out of benevolence for the devotteees first partake the prasaada to

avoid

any dosha afflicting the shishyaaas. In the case of Sayabhodaru the food was

poisoned and on consuming it the saint prevented other people from having it.

Then the saint had to take meals only in the night and when he was criticised

Satyabhodaru was able to show the sun in the night just as Sri Sudhheendra

teertharu the guruof Sri Raghavendraswami had made the sun to disapppear in the

afternoon.

Sri Raghottama went away from the place disgusted with the behaviour of the

disciples but the the wife of the chiftain begged pardon and hence aceding to

her

request he had food at the backyard and left the place. But by the wiill of the

Lord this incident had a terrible impact on the young swami who decided to fast

till a solution was found out. One day in the dream of the swamiji Raghuvarya

teertharu appeared and took Him to badarikaashrama and made him to feast on the

darshan of Sri Vedayaasaru and Anandatirtharu who blesssed him and the Lord

wrote

on the tongue t of Sri Raghottamaa and ordained that he shall be the torchbearer

of Madhvashaastraa.

There is another legend that the Lord that very night appeared in His dream and

wrote on His tongue the saaraa of the shasstraas.

The next day the swamiji ordered that a pravachana will be conducted by His

Holiness on Nyaaya Sudhaa of Sri jayateertharu. There was a big crowd to

witness

this incident. Some came to know what was going to happen,some came to crticise,

some came to see the miracle but everyone noticed that a melliflous radiance

shone around Sri Raghottama teertharu. The young saint with great reverence

after saluting Sri Hari Vaayu gurugalu started the lecture and the Sudha came

asa

cascade from the tongue of His Holiness. The audience was thunderstruck and

spellbound. This was like a bolt from the blue for Varadacarrya and even the

doubts he had was dispelled from His minds in the subsequent lectures. He

prostrated ath the feet of the swami who readily pardoned Him and ask to

continue

to train the disciples in the muttt.

 

to be continued/

Yours in the service of Sri Harih

Dr.B.Basker.