Sri Raghottama teertharu Part 3

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Sri Raghottama Teertharu part 3.

 

Namaskaraa to all Haribhaktaas.

The chieftain who had insulted the swamini during the dwadashi parane repented

for his heinous action and sought refuge at the feet of the yati and craved

pardon. He also offered all His wealth and property to His Holiness. Soft

natured as the swami

was readily pardoned the chieftain and a great vairagya purusha like Him needed

no material benifits but for the cause of the mutt and for satisfying the

chieftain he accepted a fragment of the wealth offered by the chieftain and did

arpane to Sri

Digvijayarama. Sri Raghottama teertaru thought that this was the first step in

the ladder to the opulence and the grandeur of the mutt as instructed by his

preceptor. He wanted to carry out the orders of His Guru by enhancing the

prestige of the mutt

both materially and also in the field of Vedanta. He brought about a new

regalia to the mutt. The Lord was decorated with various gold ornaments and

precious stones. The ornaments got a new glean by becoming a part of the Lords

attire. The mutt was

reinforced with silver vessels galore and the daily puja was celbrated with

grand pomp and pagaentry. Elephants,horses,sevakaas donning the best attire and

all sorts of grandeur were added to the mutt. The mutt's financial condition

was made sound by

munificient grants from all corners since the advance of the Kali had deprived

the mutt of royal patronage. He also revamped the whole administration so as to

enable the smooth functioning of the mutt. Though he had reorganised the mutt

he himself

lived a very simple and austere life. In the afternoon after the puja was over

he used to partake with some roti and buttermilk and that was all for the day.

The swamiji also had two other missions to be accomplished. One was to write

commentaries on the dvaita siddhanta and another to train scholars to continue

the good work done by Him. In this driection He had started an institution in

Mannur for the

propagation of dvaita siddhanta and also encouraged and helped His shishyaas and

other madhvaas to start such institutions. Disciples thronged from far and wide

to study at the feet of such a great preceptor. The first and foremost disciple

was Sri

Raghupati teertha ( a pre-sanyasi relative of the swamiji) who was vociferously

spreading madhva siddhanta after being initiated into sanyasa by the swami and

brought laurels to the mutt and siddhanta. But the joy was shortlived as he

attained

brindavan after a very short interval. The choicest disceple of the swamiji was

Anantavyaasaacharyaa who was initiated as Vedavyaasateertha (brindavana at

Penugonda) who preached the tenets of Madhva philosophuy to the nook and corners

of the

country.Another disciple named bhagappaiya a rich gold merchant because of the

bereavement of his younger brother lost interest in the worldly life and took

sanyaasa from the swamiji who ordained him as Vedeshatiirthaa and both these

swamijis ardently

served their masters with great reverence. The swamiji was immensely satisfied

with the achievements and decided that his work in Mannur was drawing to a close

and he should shift from there to make a Karnataka digvijaya and bless the

devotees

throughout South India. The whole of Mannur village plunged into grief on

hearing this and gave the swamiji a tearful but fitting farewell. The swamiji

also honoured all the pundits and blessed the people and continued His yatra.

His travel continued

to village to village and the people were exhilerated to see the swamiji and

earn His grace. He visited Srirangam and installed a Hanumaan statue and paid

obeissance to Sri Ranganatha. When He visited the Vijayanagar kingdom he was

shocked at the sight

of the ravaged empire. Palaces,temples,mutts and places of worship were reduced

to rubbles beyond description. The swamiji consecrated some temples,repaired

the navabrindavan where the tomb of His Guru stood and paid reverential

obeisances to all the

saints. he also visited the Yantroddaaraka Hanuman of Vyaasaraaja and went into

raptures on seeing the wonderful form of Vaayu devaru .

After the digvijaya the swamiji desired to retire to His final resting place on

the banks of Pinakini at a place addressed to as Tirukkoilur.

Like Mantralaya Mahaprabhugalu Sri Raghottama teertharu also was aware of the

sanctity of this place where the marriage of Sati and Rudradevaru had taken

place here and hence the name Manampoondi had been allotted to this village.

Till today even if we

go by bus we should ask for Manampoondi. There is a big temple of Sri

Trivikramaswami installed by Brahma devaru at Tirukkoilur. The swami as usual

gave discourses and lectures to all the students. His life was very rigorous

and he used to get up at

around 3am and finish the ablutions and pujha and then start his lectures.

After the morning session he used to take a bath in the pinakini river and take

a simnple lucnh of roti(jowar chappatis or bread) and buttermilk and in the

evening he would

bless all those who come to Him and cure them of their ailments and doubts.

Then after the thottil seva or putting the Lord and His consort to sleep in the

cradle he used to retire for writing commentaries in the late night. We are

reminded of the

shloka of the Bhagavat gita (Chapter 2 ,shloka 69)

Yaa nishaa sarvabhootaanaam tasyaa jaagartya samyami/

yasyaan jaagarthi bhootaani sa nisha pashyato mune//

and this aptly applies to the great rishi who had written the bhaavabhoda on the

Gitabhaashyaa of Srimadaachaaryaa.

One day as the master was interpreting the difficult aspects of the Nyaaya

Sudha his cook Venkanna who used to do the cooking for the guru with great

devotion and madi was impressed by the discourse but could not understand the

context of the

discourse. He considered himself to be unlucky for having born as a ignorant

soul and wished to know about the Sudha. Some of the disciples jeered at Him

saying that the Sudha was beyond your realms Roti Venkanna.. This added fuel to

fire. After Sri

Raghottama had finished the lunch Venkanna sobbed and expressed his futility in

living further without having any knowledge. The compassionate saint was moved

and said that the next day he would also give a discourse on the " Sudha " . The

next morning

witnessed two seats put on the dias and the swamiji asked Venkanna to sit on the

dias and when His Holiness placed His hand on him Venkanna gave a flowery

lecture on the Sudha baffling the audience. The students who criticised Him

could not even

understand what Venkanna was saying . Really an excellent esample of untainted

and unflinching gurubhakti. (We are reminded of the Venkanna blessed by Sri

Mantraalaya Prabhugalu and also of Sri Vijaya daasaa blessing the water carrier

in a similar way

to render Sudha ) . Then the recipient of the grace of the great Guru went to

write many commentaries and these had been referred to none less than Sri

Raghavendraswami Himself.

Also, Yadavarya had brought the boy Srinivasa of Bidarahalli with Him to see the

Guru and as a Guru par excellence Sri Raghottama recognised the value of

Srinivasa and blessed him with special mantrakshate. This Bidarahalli Srinivasa

was later honoured

as Srinivasa Teertha by Mantralaya Mahaprabhu on seeing His wonderful works. The

seeds were sowed here.

(to be continued)

Sri Seetha sameta Digvijayaraama preetyartam.

Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu.

Yours in the service of Sri Harih,

Dr. B. Basker.