Sri Vaadiraaja punya dhina

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hari saRvOththamma, vAyu jIvOththamma

 

shrI hayagrivAya namaha

 

Sri Vaadiraaja Thirtha: (1480 to 1600)

Aradhane: (Paalguna maasa, Krishnabhapaksha thrithiya)

 

The unique feature of VAdhiraja's life is that it manifested conclusively

his greatness in manifold ways in distinct social spheres. Even a single

aspect of his life & achievements is sufficient to bring name & fame to any

human being. Shri Vadhiraaja lived for 120 years. The end to his life

was also quite miraculous; but it is accepted as a historical fact. He got

constructed through his royal diciple a VrndAvana & entered it alive. Thus

he disappeared from the mortal eyes, but he is living in it & is fulfilling

the desires of his ardent devotees which is experienced by many even today.

 

He is a prolific writer. In the field of philosophy, he wrote commentaries

& glosses on the scholarly works of his eminent predecessors in the field of

Dvaita vedAnta. Besides, he wrote independent works like the

" Yukthimallika " to expound the tenets of Dvaita vedAnta & his exposition is

both convincing to the scholars & intelligible to the common man. Polemics

is an ornament to any philosopher. And Sri Vaadiraja was the receipient of

the title of " Prasangaagbharana " (ornament of Polemics) in the court of King

Venkatapatidevaraya of Vijayanagar. He has earned a name as a great poet

also.

 

His epic poem " Sri Rukmanisha Vijaya " has poured out profusely from the

precincts of his heart his unflinching & pure devotion to Sri Krishna. The

poem has brought out his poetic merits & has made him worthy to be classed

with KAlidAsa & other great Sanskrit poets. He has composed " Thirtha

prabhandha " , a travelogue literature. He has written an elaborate

commentary on two verses of his epic poem & has brought to light the inner

meaning contained in them.

 

One of his unique contribution towards the study of the " Mahabharatha " is

that he has explained on hundred thousand words of the epic. He has also

written explanatory notes on the famous " Purushasuktha " of the Rigveda.

 

Sri Vaadiraajaru not only enricheed the Sanskrit literature but even has

made substantial contribution to Kannada literature. This includes his

philosophical poems like " Lakshmi Shobhane " & " HarisarvOththamma sAra " ;

mythological poems like " Sri KrishnabAlalile " , " Kivakavadhe " & " Gajendra

moksha " & several devotional songs called " Devaranaamas " . Some opine that

he authored " Mahabharathataatparyanirnayatike " a kannada prose.

 

Sri Vaadiraaja was not only a philosopher & writer, but was also quite

humane & had sincere concern for a well being of humanity as a whole. With

this view, he brought about several religious & social reforms of far

reaching & benevolent consequences. In the religious field, he had won the

hearts of the entire Maadhwa community. He also commanded the respect of

other seven mathas established by Sri Madhwacharya, who had laid down the

paryaaya or ratation system. Accordingly, the Pontiff of each Matha had the

opportunity of worshipping Lord Sri Krishna at Udupi for a period of 2

months. Sri Vaadiraajaru improved this system extending the period of 2

months to 2 years. This enabled all the Pontiffs to undertake long tours

for years together, to propagate the true philosophy brought to light by Sri

Madhwacharya. The fact that such a drastic reform was willingly accepted &

has been followed by all the eight Pontiffs throughout until present times.

 

He was so great that the matha, which was presided over by him had to give

up its original name (KumbhAsi Matha) to bear His name & became known as

Vaadiraja matha. Another addition to his glory was that the matha also came

tobe known as svAdi maatha or Sodhe matha & Sondaa matha after the name of

the sacred place where his Vrundaavana is situated.

 

The history has recorded how he rescued the Kings of Vijayanagar empire when

they had been plunged in the mire of financial & other calamities. It was

Vaadiraja who was approached by Kings Krishnadevaraaya & Acyutadevaraaya

with a request to save them from the financial crises. He took them to the

ancient cave of Vaalin & showed them the huge treasure lying behind a rock.

But he did not wish to have even a little part of the massive wealth,

inspite of their beseeching him to have a part of it. He was a firm devotee

of the Lord completely detached to any type of worldly wealth. So he took

for himself the idols of Lord Rama & of Lord Vittala which had been

worshipped respectively by Sugriva & Vaalin. When the kings implored him to

grant them an opportunity to serve Him, He directed them to renovate the

temple of Lord Sri Krishna at Udupi. When King Achyuthadevaraaya had an

attack of illness incurable even by royal phisicians, it was Him who cured

him by administering simple water sanctified by his mystic powers.

 

Vaadirajaru's concern to create convinent circumstances to the Asta mathas

of Udupi resulted in the construction of buildings to house their head

quarters just in the vicinity of Lord Krishna's temple.

 

During one of His pilgrimages, he came across a marriage party which was

submerged in unbearable agony due to the sudden demise, through a snake

bite, of the bridegroom. He rescued them by reviving his life, & gave them

instruction of His " Lakshmi Shobhane " poem which is repeated even today at

the marriage ceremonies.

 

The presiding deity of Tirupathi Tirumala Hills, Lord Venkateshwara,

inspired Vaadirajaru to pay a visit to his sacred shrine. But when

Vaadirajaru went to the hill bottom, the stones & rocks appeared to him as

SAALIGRAAMAS. He did not want to tread them with his feet. He climbed the

lofty hill top on his knees & presented a garland of Saaligramas to the

Lord.

 

His " Mahabharatalakshaalankaara " has also an episode behind its origin.

While he was camping at the holy Prayag, Sage Vyaasa appeared before Him &

told, " You must know that before your birth, your mother had promised she

would worship the Lord with hundred thousand ornaments. It is now your duty

to accomplish it. That will be done if you explain hundred thousand chosen

words from my Mahabharata " Therefore, it is narrated, He went to the holy

Badari & bowed down to both Sage Vyasa & Sri Madhwacharya.

 

Dharmastala happens to be an anicent sacred place attracting thousands of

devotees from far & wide. It is the deity Lord Manjunaathesvara, the

priests are Maadhwa brahmins & the management is in the hands of Jaina

Heggades. It is said that during those times, the place was known as

Kuduma. On coming to know of Vaadiraja's divine powers, the Heggade of the

temple requested Him to pay a visit to the temple. Vaadiraja pointed out

that the installation of the deity had not been done according to suitable

scriptual rituals & hence the entire installation ceremony should be

performed afresh. The Heggade agreed & got them performed under the

personal supervision of Vadiraja Himself.

 

Naavaru is another holy place in the south Kanara district of Karnataka

which had received blessings of Vaadirajaru. It is the place where there is

confluence of two rivers. Kumaradhaara & Netraavati. It has many

sivalingas. Vaadirajaru made suitable arrangement of water for their

abhisheka.

 

Once when a goldsmith was chiselling an idol of Lord Ganesha, it took the

form of Hayagriva. He received a divine direction to present it to a

mendicant visiting his place. It was Vaadiraajaru who was its recepient.

Then onwards, the whole community of goldsmiths, called Daivajnya brahmins

became his disciples.

 

Vaadirajaru is believed to be one of the Rjus named Laatavya. And it is a

fact that he had occult powers & a Bhutaraja possessing super human powers

had become His servant. The visitors to Svaadi or Sonda witness the stone

chariot standing there. It had been brought by the same Bhutaraja from the

Himalayas together with the idol of Lord Trivikrama which was installed in

the nearby temple constructed for the purpose by the local king.

 

The market of Udupi always makes available a varity of brinjals (egg plant)

called " Vaadiraajagulla " . These are the fruits of blessings of Vaadirajaru

who took pity on the poor people.

 

Vaadiraajaru had a very long & fruitful life of 120 years. Thus, he got the

rare opportunity of worshipping Sri Krishna during four Paryaayas, each of

two years. When the occasion of the fifth paryaaya neared, he granted the

occasion to his disciple Vedavedya & Himself worshipped for two years Lord

Venugopala at SvAdhi.

 

References:

 

Sri VAdhirAja thIrtha's Sri RukminIsha Vijaya (Part 2 of 2)

Editted with English translation by Sri D. R. VAsudeva Rau

SrimadAnanda ThIrtha Publication

6-17-14,East Point colony,

VisAkapatnam-530

 

shrI krishnArpanamasthu