Sri Prasanna Venkata dasaru's aradhana-12th Sept

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Hare Srinivasa

 

sri gurubyoh namaH

sri paramagurubyoh namaH

srI puraMdara dAsa gurubyoh namaH

srI vijayadAsa gurbyoh namaH

srI jagannatha dAsa gurubyoh namaH

srI prasanna veMkata dAsa gurubyoh namaH

 

Today , bhadrapada masa, shukla paksha,dwAdashi, shravana is the aaradhana of Sri Prasanna Venkata dasaru whose period is 1680 to 1752. His life is a proof of the saying , 'mukuMda bhaktyai guru bhakthi jayai".An intense devotion to the guru(whose upadesha) leads to the incessant love ot the Lord Mukunda. He was born in 1680 in Bagalkot town on the banks of the river Ghataprabha in Bijapur district of Karnataka. He was named Venkanna. His parents passed away when he was very young and he had to live with his elder brother and sister-in-law who ill-treated him. Under the stern orders of his sister-in-law he used to carry out extensively taxing domestic chores but always maintained a cheerful attitude. This came to him naturally as he was devoted to the Lord and did everything as a seva to Him. But one day, the stress became unbearable and

he left home . He felt urged from a voice inside him asking him to go to Tirupathi.He decided to go and seek Lord Srinivasa's grace at Tirupathi and obtain some direction to his life.

 

But the play of the Lord is strange. On the way, he went to Mantralaya- the abode of Guru Raghavendraru. He had decided to stay there for 3 days initially and then move on to Tirupathi. But the divine presence of Rayaru and his devotees inspired Venkanna to stay on for 3 years. One night around this time, he had a dream in which Sri Raghavendra guru appeared before him and told him ,"Venkanna, Srinivasa is waiting for you. Go there, my boy."

Venkanna was overjoyed by this instruction from his guru and immediately set out to Tirupathi with a group of piligrims. Even as he was travelling through the hills, on one of the hills he was blessed to discern among the rocks and trees an image of Srinivasa as if carved out of the hill, with a smiling face and bedecked with ornaments. He visited the main temple and had the darshan of the Lord and there inside the main temple, he collapsed , as if in a swoon so overjoyed was he to see the Lord. He was revived by the temple priests and later joined the congregation of devotees in singing and prasing the Lord.

 

He used to live right there and accepts whatever prasadam was offered by the priests and sing and prasie the Lord everyday. This continued for 4 years. Then one day, he had another dream where again he had the darshan of Guru Raghavendraru. He was told that the long wait for the darshan of the Lord was about to come to an end. As predicted the next day , when he went for the darshan, instead of Srinivasa's image, he saw Purandara Dasaru and in his heart lotus-Srinivasa and another big image of the Lord behind. He felt a glorious feeling as a light from the hand of the Lord came right into his heart . He was elated and there are no words to describe this.

It is said that Srinivasa came and wrote Prasanna venkata on his tongue at that time and from them on he became a haridasa. He began singing , right there, composing new songs everyday to pour out his devotion to the Lord. His songs are powerful messages to mankind . Both advice on how to do sadhana, importance of doing Shravana manana, importance of sat sangha etc has been brought out very well by him. The pallavis or begginning stanzas of a few of them are listed below.

 

hari kathA shravana sAdhanave mukuthi idake

idake saridharma villa pElvavu shruthitati

 

"There is no dharma equivalent to "Listening to the Lord's glories described in the various scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatham, Ramayana, Mahabharata... and all other literary texts/poems composed by the yathis and dasas of Sri Madhvacharya's lineage." This is the sadhana that can take one to mukthi. He says that this what is told in the Sruthis/ the Vedas.

 

He has described the leelas of Lord Krishna in many devaranamas.

aladiru summaniraiyya nee

aladirO bhavva baMdAvamma krishnaiyya

 

He imagines that Yeshoda is telling Krishna not to cry and that there will be ghost coming around if he doesn't stop crying. We recall Purandara Dasaru's song 'gummana kareyadiru amma...."

 

sulidAnyArai Iga sulidAnyArai

keladE ennupparigeya muMde

 

In this devaranma Dasaru imagines how a gopi spies Krishna running on the roof after stealing butter from her ktichen. He says the Lord was looking as brilliant as lightening on a dark cloud.

 

He has sung about the importance of seeking the company of devotees of the Lord and explains why as well as describes how to identify such devotees.

saMgahvAgali sAdhusaMgavAgali

saMghadiMda liMgadEha bhaMgavAgali

 

"Please grant the association of devotees as only this association can destroy the linga dEha which is closely wrapped covering on the jiva and will be with the jiva till the time of mukthi."

 

He praises the nama of the Lord.

mahattige mahattu sri hariya nAma

 

hiMdodagida agharAshi beyisi bisutuva nAma

muMde bAhaduritakaddAda nAma..............

 

"Among the greatest of the greatest , is the Lord's nama. It means the greatest acheivement / the greatest bliss can be obtained from chanting the Lord's nama . It removes the hordes of accumulated sins and keeps the devotee from having to suffer even in future."

 

 

He gives a warning about the temproary nature of life.

stiravalla I kAya stiravalla

 

He describes the entire leelas of how creation unfolds, in a beautiful devaranama.

raMga kolalanUdalAgi raMgaiyya kolalanUdalu

 

His ardent prayer to the Lord.

nee karuNiso viTTala nammanu kAyo viTTala

dOshigalolage hiryanu nAnu nirdOshigala arase viTTala

sAsiveyashTu bhakutiyu nAnariye sheshashAyi nee viTTala

 

"Please show Your mercy on us, O Vittala and protect us.I am the wrost among the sinners and You are the king of the pious , You are flawless. My devotion is not even the size of a small mustard seed , but I entreat You O Lord who has the Shesha as His bed."

 

And so he has composed many many songs ,all the time meditating upon the beautiful forms of the Lord and His auspicious attributes and efficacious names. He went back to Bagalkot after his brother who having heard about the miracles that happened to him, came to Tirupathi and took him back , begging his forgiveness for what happened.

"Samastanama manigana satcarana" is one of his longer compositions, which is almost like Sri Vishnusahasranama. "Naradaru KorvaMjiVesha talda charitre" is full of humour, telling how Narada Maharshi put on the role of a soot-sayer (gipsy woman) and assured Rukmini Devi that Sri Krishna would be her husband. His ankita as we already have seen is "Prasanna Venkata".

Here is an ardent prayer to the Lord which includes most of the things that a devotee should seek from the Lord. It focuses completely on the special expereinces required to reach one's eternal destination .

pAlisO mAdhavA I teradali

ninnane hADisi ninnava kUDisi

ninna sAhasakIrtIyanne kelisuvaMte

 

nIcharAdina mADi nAchisabEDa sa

dAchAra vrittiyallAcharipaMtenna

 

nI maresadiru srInAma jihvege

swAmi prasanna veMkaTa ,manOhara krishnA

O Madhva, please shower You grace on me such that......

I hanker after chanting Your name, I seek Your deovtee's company

I keep wanting to listen the glories of Your deeds, Your valour, Your leelas.

Don't make me ashamed by making me subordinate to lowly people

Make me lead a virtuous life following dharma

Don't make my tongue forget to chant Your divine name

You are prasanna veMkaTa , You are manOhara krishnA , who attracts my mind.

 

 

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srI krihsNArpana mastu

 

I am not the doer, Lord Hari is the doer

Whatever He makes me do is His worship by His grace

 

R.Parimala

 

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