Shri Vishnu Theertharu - Part 2

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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,Hope you are enjoying the series on avadhootha shikhAmaNi Shri Vishnu theertharu. With the anugraha of Sri Hari, vAyu and gurugalu, we shall continue knowing of the life sketch of Sri Vishnu thiirtharu. Full details of this great saint can be found at : http://vishnuthiirtha.blogspot.com/ My apologies if you notice any mistakes.Demonstration of Guru BhakthiSri IG VenkataramanAcharya along with his family and students came to a place called Beechapalli wherein he offered 12 long years of seva to Sri PrAnadeva. Sri PrAnadeva temple in Beechapalli was installed by Sri vyAsaraja thiirtha. During this Sri PrAnadEva seva period , Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya with the blessings of Sri Hari and vAyu got the ankita "Sri vAsudEva Vittala" . Later, Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya became Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha , obtaining sanyAsa from Sri Bhuvanendra thiirtha of Sri rAyara matha. It was under the guidance of Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha who was a aparoksha jnAni, Sri Jayathiitha studied and learnt all the shastras. Sri Jayathiirtha was very sharp and even before his guru was about to ask the question, Sri Jayathiirtha had answers. Sri Jayathiirtha became the pet and favorite student to Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha. The brother of Sri gOpAla dAsa, Sri guru gOpAla dAsa was classmet to Sri Jayathiirtha and both were very close friends.Once, Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha had to go to IG town to bless one of his devotees. Riding on a horse, Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha started to move to IG town. Sri Jayathiirtha was not leaving his guru even for a second and started following his guru walking and thinking about Sri Krishna. Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha saw his student walking bare footed and offered his pAda rakshas to Sri Jayathiirtha to wear. Sri Jayathiirtha was delighted to get the pAda rakshas and with great devotion cleanedpAda rakshas and covered with a cloth and placed the pAda rakshas on his head. This shows the ultimate guru bhakthi of Sri Jayathiirtha. Sri Jayathiirtha walked bare footed without bothering the heat of the Sun. When the town IG was reached, Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha saw his student keeping his pAda rakshas on his head and walking bare footed. Sri vyAsa tathvagna thiirtha was very pleased at the guru bhakthi of Sri Jayathiirtha and blessed him whole heartedly.PanchAmruta flows from the face of Sri KrishnaAn Astonishing miracleDuring the school days of Sri Jayathiirtha, Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya came to know that his son "Sri gOpAla Krishna Acharya" had become victim to a unnatural death.(apamruthyu). Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya asked 3 - 4 students to do certain japas. One of them was the remover of apamruthyu and a ugra mantra , "Sri Narasimha mantra japa". No body came forward to do Sri Narasimha mantra japa while Sri Jayathiirtha being a great tapasvi and a scholar came forward to chant the mantra. Sri Jayathiirtha was given permission by his guru to chant the mantra and the vrata was started. For seven days without any food , Sri Jayathiirtha did the severe penance of chanting the mantra. On the seventh day, Sri Jayathiirtha completed the mantra japa and started coming towards his guru. Sri Jayathiirtha had become very weak due to the fast he had observed and on the top of this, the summer heat had made him even more weak. Sri Jayathiirtha came to the door of Sri GopAla Krishna temple and he panchAmruta items in front of the lord. Sri Jayathiirtha could not control his hunger and he offered all the items to the lord Sri Krishna through mAnasa pooja and drank all the panchAmruta. This way, Sri Jayathiirtha did the bimba moorthi pooja to Sri Krishna who was residing in his heart, did Sri Krishna Arpana and slept.Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya being a jnAni, who knew past, present and future, told his students that panchAmruta abhisheka to Sri Krishna has been done successfully and instructed his students to do shudhAbhisheka, naiEdya and mangalArati. The priest and other students had doubt in their mind that panchAmruta abhisheka had not been performed, they were not bold o question their guru and they simply kept quiet. On hearing the sound of bells during mangalArati, Sri Jayathiirtha woke up and repented heavily thinking that he made a big mistake. Sri Jayathiirtha came and stood in front of Sri Krishna and there was a big surprise waiting. The panchAmruta started coming out of the lotus face of Sri Krishna by itself, everyone were astonished to see this great incident and they became sort of dumb. After the mantra pushpa, Sri Jayathiirtha, his guru and other students took panchAmruta. This demonstrated one more mahime of Sri Jayathiirtha and he showed the world the secret which resides in Srimadh bhAgavatha that the lord Sri Krishna will be totally pleased doing pooja to chala pratime. At the same time, the son of Sri Jayathiirtha's guru Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya became healthy and the unnatural death was reverted. This was a great guru dakshina to his guru by Sri Jayathiirtha. This way, Sri Jayathiirtha studied all the shastras and granthas under the guidance of his guru Sri IG VenkataramanAcharya and became a great scholar and gnAni.Sri Jayathiirtha enters gruhastAshramaTime passed by and Sri Jayathiirtha was instructed by his guru to get married. Sri Jayathiirtha married a beautiful girl from sathkula and the couple moved back to their home town. Sri Jayathiirtha's wife was very devoted to Sri Hari, vAyu and her husband and became a 'saha dharmini'. Even during married life Sri Jayathiirtha, was involved in studying shastras, teaching a few students, doing hari nAma keerthana. This way Sri Jayathiirtha did not involved in the worldly pleasures. All the guru dakshine offered by the students were given back to poor people as charity. By seeing the generosity of Sri Jayathiirtha , the lord Sri Krishna gave him surplus wealth. All the wealth was made use in a right way and the couple lived happily. The lord Sri Krishna also gave Sri Jayathiirtha a noble son and he was named 'Krishna'. The plays of baby Krishna just like the lord Sri Krishna and was making the couple very happy. At right time, jAta karma, choula and upanayana was performed to Krishna by his father. Sri Jayathiirtha himself became a teacher to Krishna and taught him all the shastras. This way, the married life of Sri Jayathiirtha was very successful because of suthputhra Krishna and pathi vrata wife.Dramatic change in Sri Jayathiirtha's lifeThe married life of Sri Jayathiirtha was going on very nicely and a very strange incident occurred. Once Sri Jayathiirtha became sick and was resting while his wife was offering seva to him. Sri Jayathiirtha was resting on a decorated bed and during this romantic time, a hermit (dAsIyya) started singing a padha of Sri Purandara dAsa. Here is the song ...gOvindA namo GOvindA namo GOvindA nArAyanagOvardhna giriya neththida GOvindA namma rakshisu.mancha bAradu madadi bAralu kanchu kannadi bAravusanchi thArthavu mathe bAradhu munche mAdirO dharmava.artha vyArige putraryArige mitra bhAndavaryArigeKarthru yamanavaru yele vAga artha putraru kAivareditta thanadali patta vAluva Krishna rAyana charanavaMutti bhagisirO siri Purandara VittalEshana pAdava.Sri Jayathiirtha was mind struck on hearing this beautiful song composed by Sri Purandara dAsa. Sri Jayathiirtha heard this with full devotion and ananda bhaspa started flowing out of his eyes. It was a feast to the ears of Sri Jayathiirtha and each word in this song inspired vairAgya in the heart of Sri Jayathiirtha. This changed the life direction of Sri Jayathiirtha and he suddenly got out of the bed. Sri Jayathiirtha meditated on the lord closing his eyes for some time and the vairAgya reached to its height. Sri Jayathiirtha started thinking about tatva shastra which says that this world is not permanent it is only the lord who can give permanent happiness. Sri Jayathiirtha called went out of his home, and requested the hermit to come to his home and sing the above song many times. Each time the song was sung, the vairAgya in Sri Jayathiirtha started increasing and reached its peak. Sri Jayathiirtha honored the hermit with lots of wealth. Sri Jayathiirtha decided to give away all the wealth to charity and get out of home. Sri Jayathiirtha discarded the dEha abhimAna ( "myself" and "mine" ) and gave all the wealth to right brahmanas. Sri Jayathiirtha along with his wife and son got out of the house and started moving all around the country.Avadhoota ShikAmani Sri JayathiirthaSri Jayathiirtha, while moving from one to another like a avadhoota was teaching and giving discourses on great shastras like nyAya Sudha to right eligible people. From SiddApura, Sri Jayathiirtha went towards sAvanoor and had the blessings of Sri Sathya bhOda thiirtharu. From there, he moved towards BankApura and had the darshana of Sri Narasimha devaru. It was during this time, many people fell at the feet of Sri Jayathiirtha and became his devotees. Sri Jayathiirtha used to remove all the misery of his devotees and bring happiness to the crowd. The journey of Sri Jayathiirtha proceeded towards Koppala and Kinnara pattana. The residents of Kinnara pattana had already known the greatness of Sri Jayathiirtha and they welcomed him very respectfully. With all the senses under control (jeethEndriyaru), Sri Jayathiirtha used to offer all the punya karmas to Sri Hari and earned the wealth of Aparoksha jnAna. Sri Jayathiirtha used to see Sri Hari who is omnipresent, offer nice worshipable items to Sri Vishnu, chant the names of Sri Krishna all the times and this made him achieve bliss. Later Sri Jayathiirtha gave good upadesha to his devotees. Due to many good deeds performed in the past, one has got the brahmana body. This may not happen in the next future janmas. So, make use of this brahmana janma, believe in lord Sri Krishna, study sarva moola, veda, purAna granthas and attain jnAna, bhakti and vairAgya to enter moksha. This was the kind of upadesha given by Sri Jayathiirtha elevated the devotees to a higher level in jnAna and who else can be lucky than the students of Sri Jayathiirtha.Sri Jayathiirtha sees Sri tIkAcharya in the dreamAfter a brief period, Sri Jayathiirtha wanted to visit Sri BadarikAshrama and he with his students moved towards the banks of river Krishna. The place was so beautiful and Sri Jayathiirtha used to meditate on the lord sitting at a serene location. Sri tIkAcharya in the form of Shesha appeared in the dream and said "Jayathiirtha, my son, the prescribed task assigned by the lord has to be completed successfully and it does not matter if that person does a huge task that is not related to the prescribed one. You were sent to Earth with the intention of preaching Srimadh Acharya's shastra to the eligible souls. With the help of my many tIka compositions, preach the secrets of our tatva to eligible souls".Hearing these devine words, Sri Jayathiirtha woke up and started thinking why Sri tIkAcharya is stopping him to take the yAtra of Sri BadarikAshrama which is the ultimate kshetra on this Earth. , Sri Jayathiirtha wanted to know the exact opinion of Sri tIkAcharya. After some time, Sri tIkAcharya again appeared in the dream in the form of a saint and said that by performing the task of giving discourses on Sriman nyAya Sudha to the eligible souls, you will be lifting your devotees from the ocean of samsAra and placing them at the feet of Sri Krishna. Sri tIkAcharya continues to say that at this time only scholars can understand my Sudha granta. You write a simple commentary on Sriman nyAya Sudha and preach it to the eligible souls. There is no other thing that dear to me than this task of preaching Sriman nyAya Sudha. , Sri Jayathiirtha after listening to the words of Sri tIkAcharya started thinking again how he can preach Sriman nyAya Sudha. When it is not possible by great scholars to understand this granta, how can a person like me take up this huge task?For the third time, Sri tIkAcharya again appeared in the form of Shesha and said that to achieve this big task one should have the blessings of mahAtmas. With the help of blessings of "Guru", any lame person can achieve in completing a huge task and attain san mangala. You have the blessings of mine (Sri tIkAcharya). Do not take these words lightly and if you do not listen to my words, you are simply wasting your time. Suddenly, Sri Jayathiirtha in his dream saw the Sri BadarikAshrama. At one place there was a sight of Sriman nArAyana and Srimadh Acharyaru and at other place was Srimadh Acharya witnSri nara nArAyana. There were many sages and devotees serving the lord and the whole Sri BadarikAshrama was shown to Sri Jayathiirtha in the dream by Sri tIkAcharya. Sri Jayathiirtha bowed to Sriman nArAyana and Srimadh Acharya at the instructions of Sri tIkAcharya. Sri Jayathiirtha was filled with bliss and his eyes were filled with blissful water. Sri tIkAcharya promised Sri Jayathiirtha that he would be always with you and all my words are nothing but truth. At this time, all the doubts were cleared and Sri Jayathiirtha as per the instructions of Sri tIkAcharya decided to write a commentary on Sriman nyAya Sudha. Sri tIkAcharya appeared again in two different forms. In one form Sri tIkAcharya had a King appearance (Arjuna ) and in the other form had a saint appearance (Sri tIkAcharya). Sri tIkAcharya said that both the these forms are the avatAra forms of my moola rUpa Sri Indra devaru. Sri tIkAcharya continued to say that in my previous birth I was born as Arjuna and got gItOpadesha from Sri Krishna. In this Kali time, I have come to Earth as an Yathi(Saint) and I am going to preach you in this yathi form. Sri tIkAcharya said to Sri Jayathiirtha that you can ask a boon. Sri Jayathiirtha fell at the feet of Sri tIkAcharya and requested that he should get the ability to understand and preach Sri Sudha to eligible souls. Sri tIkAcharya viewed Sri Jayathiirtha with blessing eyes, said "tha thAsthu" and disappeared.Sriman nyAya Sudha is a crown for Srimadh Acharya's compositions. Sri Jayathiirtha selected a nice place at the banks of river Krishna and started giving discourses on Sri Sudha granta. Sri Jayathirtha always used to remember the sweet words of Sri tIkAcharya, the miracles of Sri Hari and great aptitude of Srimadh Acharya. Some times, Sri Jayathiirtha used to have blissful water in his eyes while giving Sri Sudha discourses. Sri Jayathiirtha learnt that by preaching and giving discourses on Sri Sudha to eligible souls, is a excellent fee (guru kAnike) paid to Sri tIkAcharya which is thiirtha yAtra. Many people became disciples to Sri Jayathiirtha and many got upadEsha. From the banks of river Krishna, Sri Jayathiirtha moved to many places like HunagUnda, Alavatti, NaragUnda and Dharwad. At this time, Sri Jayathiirtha's son Krishna married a pious lady named "Sathya".Anugraha to Sri shEshAacharyaAt the banks of river Krishna in a place called ShoorpAli or Moraba there lived a pious Brahmana called Sri SheshAcharya who had performed many times laksha tulasi archana, laksha deepa arAdhana, laksha Ghandha to the lord of Sri BhArateesha. After offering pooja to achala(non moving) prathime, Sri SheshAcharya used to do see the lord in all people and do the worship. With out right knowledge, there can't be mukthi. Right knowledge can be obtained only from sadh guru and Sri SheshAcharya was looking for such guru. Sri SheshAcharya moved from Moraba to a place called Gurlu Hosur and there is a beautiful temple of Sri Mukhya prAna. Sri SheshAcharya with great devotion offered seva to Sri Mukhya prANa for many days. Seeing the dedication of Sri SheshAcharya, Sri mAruti appeared in the dream and said that Sri Hari is pleased with seva, you will have the darshana of your guru in this place itself and you do not have to move out of this place. Sri SheshAcharya woke up and was filled with joy and started waiting for the arrival of his guru. Sri Jayathiirtha on the same day morning left Dharwar and started towards Gurlu Hosur and came to the temple of Sri Mukhya prAna where Sri SheshAcharya was living. Sri Jayathiirtha was shining with brilliance and where Sri SheshAcharya fell at the feet of Sri Jayathiirtha. A person in the temple got the avEsha of Sri Maruti. Sri Mukhya prANa spoke from that person to Sri SheshAcharya telling that Sri Jayathiirtha is the right guru for you, take your guru to your native town and offer seva. Sri SheshAcharya as per the orders of Sri Mukhya prAna took Sri Jayathiirtha to Moraba. Sri Jayathiirtha stayed at Sri SheshAcharya's place, gave lot of discourses to his students and devotees. Sri Jayathiirtha used to explain the hard portions in the shastras in a simple, easy way and the students had no difficulty in grasping the knowledge. For those students and devotees who could not always stay physically, Sri Jayathiirtha for the benefit of his devotees wrote a letter called "aAgnA patra" (Letter of order). This letter is also called "Sri Vishnu thiirthara upadEsha patra". Although this letter references Sri AnantAdri BhImacharya, all the sAdhakas can get benefited from this letter. "aAgnA patra" can be viewed by clicking this url ...Sri Jayathiirtha shows evil Kali to his studentsOnce Sri Jayathiirtha was in a lecture session and he mentioned about Kali. Sri Jayathiirtha said that Kali accompanied with two dogs would pass this town three days from now and his appearance will have a blackish blue complexion. All the students were curious to see this event and after three days a person matching the appearance told by Sri Jayathiirtha passed the city. All the students and devotees praised the divya jnAna of Sri Jayathiirtha.Sri Jayathiirtha shows Sri Mukhya prANaand Sri Rudra devaru to his elite students.Sri Jayathiirtha used to teach and lecture many shastras to his students. For some students who were excellent in their sAdhana, Sri Jayathiirtha used to tell the secrets of many shastras. One day when Sri Jayathiirtha was with his elite students, the front door of his house was closed and there were nobody coming in or out of the house. At that time, suddenly a person having bhasma and RudrAksi garland in the neck started asking for bhiksha. The generous Sri Jayathiirtha himself gotup and offered aralu (puffed rice) as bhiksha to the person. The students who were seated asked Sri Jayathiirtha who that person was having bhasma smeared on his body, how could you touch that person and will not other people laugh at this? To answer the question asked by his students, Sri Jayathiirtha went near that person and pulled the cloth that was on his shoulders. The person who had come was none other than the great vaishnava Sri Rudra devaru having all vaishnava signs on his body and at the next moment, Sri pArvati, Ganapathi, Skanda and Nandi appeared in front of the students. All the students were wonder struck with happiness, they got up and bowed at Sri Rudra devaru. It was a blessing to all the students to have the darshana of Sri Rudra devaru and they praised Sri Jayathiirtha. Modestly Sri Jayathiirtha said that you will also have the darshana of "Chaturdasha Bhuvana pathi" (Sri Mukhya prAna).Next day, all the students were eagerly waiting for the great moment and Sri Jayathiirtha was in a lecture session. Suddenly, a handsome brahmachAri(vatu) appeared at the front door of the house. Sri Jayathiirtha saw the vatu and kept quiet as if he didn't see the vatu. The vatu called "Jayathiirthare Jayathiirthare Jayathiirthare" three times and immediately, Sri Jayathiirtha got up and went near the vatu. The vatu without any talking held Sri Jayathiirtha's hand and walked direction north towards the temple of Sri Mukhya prAna in Gurlu Hosur. All the students watching this event suddenly realized the words said by Sri Jayathiirtha about the darshana of Chaturdasha Bhuvana pathi. After a lot of thinking, the students came to conclusion that the vatu is none other than Sri Mukhya prAna and they became extremely happy to see Sri mAruti in vatu form. They thought to themselves that how the original form would be of Sri mAruti. The students did not realize how far they walked and they reached the temple of Sri mAruti in Gurlu Hosur. The vatu left the hand of Sri Jayathiirtha and went straight into the temple and Sri Jayathiirtha followed the vatu behind. Surprise!! The students saw the vatu going into the temple of Sri mAruti but when they went inside the temple, the vatu had disappeared and this proved the students that the vatu was none other than Sri Mukhya prAna devaru. Sri Jayathiirtha bowed at the feet of Sri mAruti, Sri SheshAcharya along with other students stayed in the temple for three days, offered seva and all of them went back to Moraba. Isn't wonderful to be part of those lucky student group who had the incredible darshana of Sri Mukhya prAna and Sri Rudra devaru.Smt. Sathya bai, daughter in law of Sri Jayathiirtha was serving her father law with great devotion. Smt. Sathya bai requested Sri Jayathiirtha to bless her so have a suthputhra (incredible son). Sri Jayathiirtha said to her daughter in law that you light lamps at the place where we conduct discourses and your wish will be granted. So did Smt. Sathya bai and she was blessed with a great son and they named him as 'tIkAcharya"In Moraba, there was a wealthy brahmin and wife who used to come to listen to the discourses of Sri Jayathiirtha. The brahmin's wife begged Sri Jayathiirtha to bless her to have a son. Sri Jayathiirtha said to her that you water the Tulasi plants during summer and with the blessings of Sri tIkAcharya your wish would be granted. As per the instructions of Sri Jayathiirtha, the brahmin's wife performed the seva and the brahmin couple had a beautiful baby.Sri SheshAcharya's daughter in law used to come to Sri Jayathiirtha 's home to assist Smt. Sathya bai during the evening hours. After learning that Smt. Sathya bai had a son by the blessings of Sri Jayathiirtha, Sri SheshAcharya's daughter in law also begged of Sri Jayathiirtha to have a son. Sri Jayathiirtha answered to her 'Mother', with the blessings of Sri Hari you will have a good son. Once Sri Jayathiirtha along with his students came to a place called Narendra gada. While passing through a forest, Sri Jayathiirtha saw a tree full of fruit and he himself plucked a fruit and gave it to Sri Ramacharya the son of Sri SheshAcharya. Sri Jayathiirtha told Sri Ramacharya to give this fruit to his wife and your wish would be granted. So did Sri Ramacharya and there was a celebration of baby being born in the house of Sri Ramacharya.Without any stop, for many times, the Sudha mangala celebration was successfully performed by Sri Jayathiirtha. One fine morning, Sri Jayathiirtha said to his students not to cook that day and did not give any reason. All the students were worried about this act and at the end of the day, five elite students asked Sri Jayathiirtha the reason for fasting. Sri Jayathiirtha replied that one person in your group would be the target for unnatural death. To get out of this, all of you perform fast for three days and please do not ask me to whom this bad event would happen. Sri Jayathiirtha said that after three days you will see by yourself. As per the orders of their guru, the students did the fast by chanting the names of Sri Hari, doing sandhya three times, performing pooja and listening to the discourses. All the students were eagerly waiting what would happen. While performing this sAdhana, all the five students did the sankalpa that let the good deeds performed by them destroy the unnatural death that is going to happen to one of them. Three days passed and on the fourth day morning Sri Jayathiirtha was meditating on Sri Hari. Suddenly, Sri KrishnAcharya came and fell at the feet of Sri Jayathiirtha started crying. Sri Jayathiirtha asked his son what happened. Sri KrishnAcharya replied that the previous night he witnessed a dream. In the dream Sri KrishnAcharya saw the servants of Yama approaching him. I was terrified and started screaming "leave me , leave me". At that moment, I saw you (Sri Jayathiirtha) and I fell at your feet screaming "I am dead". You(Sri Jayathiirtha) lifted me and saved my life. Sri KrishnAcharya said he woke up and had felt that he had a second birth. All the students praised Sri Jayathiirtha who had the devine knowledge and bowed to him.While Sri Jayathiirtha was giving discourses, Sri TikAcharya used to be seated in the Shesha form and watch the lecture session. When , Sri TikAcharya was present, the whole atmosphere used to get filled with a great perfume(sugandha).To be continued ...In the service of Shri Hari, vAyu and GurugaLu,Bala Krishna