Shri Vishnu Theertharu - Part 1

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ShrihiShri Lakshmi HayagreevAbhinaShri Lakshmi Narasimhaya namahaShri Maha Ganapathiye namahaShri vAdirAja thiirtha gurubhyo namahaShri Vijayeendra thiirtha gurubhyo namahaShri Raghavendra thiirtha gurubhyo namahaShri Vishnu thiirtha gurubhyo namahaShri Purandara dAsarAya Gurubhyo nahamaDear Shri Vishnu Bhaktas,Thursday, Feb 12th 2010, mAgha bahuLa triyOdashi is the arAdhana of mAdanuru Sri Vishnu thiirtharu and mahA shiva rAtri.With the prerane of Sri Hari, vAyu and gurugalu, we would like to post a series of postings related to the life sketch of Sri Vishnu thiirtharu. The postings will continue for couple of days from today. Full details of this great saint can be found at : http://vishnuthiirtha.blogspot.com/ My apologies if you notice any mistakes.Sri Sri Sri Vishnu ThiirtharuIntroductionShri Harihi Om NarasimhO Akhila jnAna matha dHwanta divAkarahaJayathya amitha SajnAna sukHa shaktHi payOnidhihiAchAryO pavanOsmAkum AchAryAnEcha bhArathiDEvo NarAyanaha Shrishaha dEvi mangala devathaIt was in the beginning of the 18th century and happened to be the great sUrya grahana parva kAla. At the banks of the river gOdAvari, the nadhi abhimAni who came to this earth blessing the great rushi Gautama, there were many hari bhaktas taking bath during the parva kAla to get rid of the sins. At this time, came a effaluscent brahmana who had a face filled with happiness. All the other bhoosuras looking at this newly arrived person started thinking "who could be this brahmana who looks very much satisfied and filled with bliss?" A comfortable place was offered by the other bhoosuras to the newly arrived brahmana. Argya, pAdya, achamana and madhu parka was offered by the other bhoosuras and they bowed at to the brahmana.One of the bhoosura asked the brahmana "Where are you coming from?". The brahmana's lotus face bloomed and he replied "I had the great darshana of Sri Vishnu thiirtharu (also known as Sri Jaya thiirtharu) and filled with happiness. Since I am with this bhoosura vrunda, I am lucky to have the smarana of Sri tIkAcharya and Sri Vishnu thiirtharu". The bhoosura vrunda replied "We are delighted to know about Sri Vishnu thiirtha and kindly please narrate the mahimas of that great saint" The brahmana became enthusiastic and replied "I will narrate the mahimas of Sri Vishnu thiirtha to the best of my ability". The bhoosuras posted one more question "respected brahmana, Sri Vishnu thiirtharu, is he a devataha purusha?, who was his guru, what was the reason for him to come to earth? who were his great parents? Please kindly let us know". The brahmana replied " Sri Vishnu thiirtharu is a devAmsharu(Sri Vishnu thiirtharu is believed to be Sri RudrAmsharu). By chanting or hearing about sri hari bhaktas one gets jnAna, bhakthi vairAgya which is path towards salvation. All of you are the blessed ones and you have asked a question according to your real yogyatha and I am delighted to be part of this bhoosura vrunda.". Then started the narration about Sri Vishnu thiirtha.The brahmana continues to narrate the story of Sri Vishnu thiirtha who is also known as sri aranyakAcharya.When the devas like Indra cannot narrate fully the mahimAs of this great saint, I will try to narrate to the best of my ability. What can I can about the virakthi of this great saint? In the poovAshrama days, this great saint along with his beautiful wife, sacrificed their whole wealth, left their home and performed kAsta mauna vratha. This great saint, in his heart, was always looking at the lord of Sri rama, praising the lord Sri Vishnu and blessed his devotees.The history of poorvajaru Sri Jayathiirtha.In the middle of the rivers Krishna and Tunga, there is a place in the taluk of Sirihatta that is beautiful, auspicious and serene. In this region, in the beginning of 17th century, there lived a very pious brahmana scholar named Sri Thirumala Acharya who was greatly devoted at the lotus feet of Sri Krishna and liked by all the people. One day, Sri Thirumala Acharya was looking into Srimadh BhAgavatha granta and totally immersed at the lotus feet of Sri Vishnu. Some stupid people wanted to test Sri Thirumala Acharya and they started watching him from the top of the roof. Sri Thirumala Acharya had offered his mind and body at the lotus feet of Sri Krishna and did had not noticed the people watching him. Chanting the names of Sri Vishnu, hearing about Sri Krishna, Sri Thirumala Acharya had ananda bhaspa in his eyes. The people watching Sri Thirumala Acharya were astonished at the behavior of Sri Thirumala Acharya and their doubt got cleared. All those people watching Sri Thirumala Acharya learnt that they made a big mistake and fell at the feet of Sri Thirumala Acharya, asked him to pardon them and they became good people.Sri Thirumala Acharya had lost his wife in his gruhastashrama and was like a lotus leaf in water. Always at the service of Sri Hari, Sri Thirumala Acharya was sometimes thinking about his future. Sri Thirumala Acharya had no children and was sometimes wondering how he can repay pitru runa. One fine day, Sri Thirumala Acharya who had attained old age, got up early in the morning, completed all the prescribed duties and started walking towards the palace of the king named Nrusimha. On seeing Sri Thirumala Acharya, the king was very surprised, astonished and could not believe his own eyes. The reason for his astonishment was the king had a strange dream. In the dream, the king meets a young and handsome brahmana. The brahmana tells the king that in the morning you will meet a advaitic scholar named Sri KashinAtha shastri who wants to have a debate on "ahum brahmAsmi". At the same time there you will see a old Brahmana like Sri Chavana rushi asking for your daughter to marry. The old brahmana scholar will surely win over Sri KashinAtha shastri and without any hesitation, you should give your daughter to the old brahmana. The young brahmana in the dream continues to say that the Sri Chavana rushi like brahmana is a filled with jnAna, bhakti, vairagya and is not interested in worldly affairs and is only interested in repaying pitru runa. So, king, without any doubt, do kanyAdAna to the old brahmana and you will see sanmangala in all your endeavors. If you fail to offer your daughter, you will be the target for the old brahmana's curse. This is true, true, true says the young brahmana in the dream and the king explains this dream to his minister.As per the dream, Sri Thirumala Acharya comes near the king Nrusimha and asks for his daughter to marry. On the same day, Sri KashinAtha shastri arrives and there was a big debate with Sri Thirumala Acharya. The debate was watched by many people and some people had a doubt that how can this old brahmana win over Sri KashinAtha shastri. It so happened that Sri Thirumala Acharya easily won the debate and established "Sri Hari sarvothamma and vAyu jeevothamma" tatva. As a gift, the king Nrusimha offered his daughter to that Sri Thirumala Acharya and accepted him as son in law. It has to be noted that that Sri Thirumala Acharya is none other than the amsha Sri Chavana rushi as per the dream of the king and the young hand some brahmana is none other than Sri Krishna in the disguise.Sri Thirumala Acharya says to the king that you should do not worry because I am old. Your daughter will give birth to four rushi like sons and one beautiful daughter. On hearing these pleasing words from Sri Thirumala Acharya, the king was convinced and offered his daughter to Sri Thirumala Acharya to please lord Sri Venkatesha.Sri Thirumala Acharya along with his wife arrived to his native place and lived in a nice home. Sri Thirumala Acharya was performing his grushasta dharma duties very well and was offering all the karmas at the lotus feet of Sri rAmachandra. The lord Sri rAma, being a brahmanya deva, made the words spoken by Sri Thirumala Acharya to the king Nrusimha true. Sri Thirumala Acharya was blessed with four rushi like sons and one beautiful daughter.Sri tIkAcharya the composer of the granta Sriman nyAya sudha was thinking about how this great granta can be reached to the right people. Sriman nyAya sudha being very cryptic and very difficult to understand by common people, there was a need for a person who can explain all the topics in Sriman nyAya sudha in a simple language. This person has to do the upliftment of this world and summarize Sriman nyAya sudha to common people. There was a need for such great person who is pure in pancha indriya to come down to Earth and do tasks as per the wish of Sri tIkAcharya. The great saint Sri tIkAcharya calls one of his favorite shishya and tells him that you are the person I am looking for and you go Earth and take birth in the sadhvamsha of Sri Thirumala Acharya. Sri tIkAcharya blesses his shishya tells to him that you bear the responsibility of preaching Sriman nyAya sudha in a simple language to the right people on this Earth and Sriman nyAya sudha will be the motivation for you for all the tasks you take.By the grace of Sri Hari, vAyu and Sri tIkAcharya , Sri Thirumala Acharya gets to know the good news. Sri Thirumala Acharya becomes very excited and says to himself that his grandson, the person Sri tIkAcharya was referring to would make his poorvajas pAvana and thanked Sri Hari for giving such a great gift.Smt. BhAgeerathi, one of the daughter in law of Sri Thirumala Acharya, was very devoted to the lord and elders. Sri Thirumala Acharya, called this daughter in law and blessed her that you would get a victorious son. Sri Narahari, son of Sri Thirumala Acharya and the husband of Smt. BhAgeerathi got blessed by his father. Sri Thirumala Acharya calls his son Narahari and his daughter in law and says that out of many sons you would have, this son would be the one who would have the complete blessings of Sri tIkAcharya, an ardent devotee of Sri Hari, a great scholar and victorious. This jeetEntridya son would preach the shastras of Srimadh Achrarya to the right people and would bring good name to our family. . Sri Thirumala Acharya continues and says that my predictions have never failed and just watch the signs during your pregnancy. During your pregnancy, Sri tIkAcharya would come in the form of a sarpa rAja and blesses you with this great son. of Sri Thirumala Acharya instructs his son Narahari to keep the name "Jayathiirtha" to his grand son.Smt. BhAgeerathi and Sri Narahari were very happy to hear this news and had full confidence in the words of Sri Thirumala Acharya and they bowed at the lotus feet of Sri Thirumala Acharya. Smt. BhAgeerathi, was always at the service of Sri Hari and was very respectful towards her father in law.The birth and childhood of Sri JayathiirthaWith the blessings of Sri Thirumala Acharya, the good deeds performed and anugraha of Sri tIkAcharyaru, Smt. BhAgeerathi became pregnant. During the pregnency, Smt. BhAgeerathi had interest in listening to Srimadh BhAgavatha and other suthShAstra of Srimadh Acharyaru. As per the predictions made by her father in law, Smt. BhAgeerathi had the darshana of Sri Shesha devaru near her head. The Shesha had opened its face (hede), was showering fragrance all over the face and this made Smt. BhAgeerathi to get scared. The wise people around her suggested her to offer milk to the Shesha and so did Smt BhAgeerathi. The Shesha was very pleased, it drank the milk and disappeared. Smt. BhAgeerathi was scared a little bit and a devine voice (ashareeravAni) was heard. The voice said, the words of your father in law is true, the one who is bowed by many devas and who has the aAvEsha of Sri Shesha devaru (Sri tIkAcharyaru) has entered your womb and is going to be reborn again. Name the male child whom you are going to deliver as "Jayathiirtha". On hearing these words, Smt. BhAgeerathi's fear vanished. During the pregnency period of Smt. BhAgeerathi, Sri Thirumala Acharya left this world and reached Vaikunta and this made Sri Narahari and Smt. BhAgeerathi to feel sad. The marriage of other brothers of Sri Narahari took place after the demise of Sri Thirumala Acharya. On a very auspicious day, smt. BhAgeerathi delivered a beautiful baby boy just like Sri Krishna in the samvatsara year named "Eshwara". Sri Narahari performed all the prescribed jAtha karma vedic rituals and named the baby as per the instructions of Sri tIkAcharya as "Jayathiirtha". All the baby plays of Sri Jayathiirtha during the baby years was like of Sri Krishna's mahime and the baby grew like the first half moon. The parents were extremely happy looking at the plays performed by their beloved son Jayathiirtha and years passed by and Jayathiirtha entered his childhood phase. Sri Narahari performed the vedic ritual "Choula" at the right age and when the child Jayathiirtha completed eight years, upanayana was also performed. Sri Narahari preached the great Sri gAyatri mantra to his son Jayathirtha and this made Jayathiirtha shine like a sun with brahma tEjassu. During the child hood years itself, Jayathiirtha was involved in studying SuMadhva Vijaya. Although the child Sri Jayathiirtha was a born scholar, just to follow the pattern of vedic education, Jayathiirtha went ahead in looking for a good teacher(sadh guru).Sri Jayathiirtha came to MantrAlaya and did the seva of Sri Raghavendra swAmi. Sri rAyaru was so pleased with Sri Jayathiirtha, gave a devine darshana in the dream and suggested him to go to a place called Gadhwal. Sri rAyaru said that I.G VenkataramanAcharya is the right guru for you and blessed Sri Jayathiirtha showing a good teacher or Guru. Sri Jayathiirtha became extremely happy after hearing the words of Sri rAyaru and as per the orders of Sri rAyaru, came to the town of IG and requested Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya as his guru. Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya, a great devotee of Sri Vishnu, a great scholar, having jnAna, bhakti and vairagya was very happy to get a student like Sri Jayathiirtha. Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya had 300 students and also was the Principal of the school. This itself shows that Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya was a great scholar and also was a rAja guru to the king of Gadhwal.To be continued ....In the seva of Shri Hari, vAyu and gurugaLuBala Krishna