Shri Vishnu Theertharu - Part 3

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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 nahamaShri Shri 1008 Shri SuvidyEndra Theertha Gurubhyo namaHDear Shri Vishnu Bhaktas,Shri Vishnu theertharu, Shri rudrAmsha sambhootharu, successfully completed all the four ashramas (brahmacharya, gruhastha, vAnaprastha and thuriyAshrama. With the anugraha of Sri Hari, vAyu and gurugalu, we shall continue knowing 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.Sri Jayathiirtha in vAnaprasthAshramaSri Jayathiirtha as per the orders of Sri tIkacharya moved from Moraba to a place known as Munivalli at the banks of river Mallaprabha. This place was a forest area and was full of flowers and fruits. Sacrificing all the worldly affairs and rejecting wealth, Sri Jayathiirtha lived in a parna kutIra(hut) meditating on Sri Vishnu. Nearby, there was a small Shiva temple which was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and the height was perfect such that it was like a cave for Sri Jayathiirtha to be alone and do meditation. Sri Jayathiirtha used to wake up before sun rise in brahmE mahurtha , take bath in the river Mallaprabha and used to sit with mahAsana on a rock that was in water. Right from childhood, Sri Jayathiirtha was reading Sriman SuMadhva Vijaya and all the 1008 verses were in his memory and the verses used to flow like waves of sacred Ganga. When Sri Jayathiirtha was about to complete the last verse in Sumadhva Vijaya (58th verse of 16th sarga) which had the beautiful explanation of showering of heavenly flowers on Srimadh Acharya, the Sun used to rise. Then, Sri Jayathiirtha used to perform Sandyavandana and was coming out of water. Mean while, Sri Jayathiirtha's son Sri Krishna Acharya and other students used to get ready for the discourse and lessons. Sri Jayathiirtha's aAgna patra was the motivation for all students and they used to see in own eyes their Guru following steps that was in the letter. Sri Jayathiirtha as mentioned in aAgna patra used to get up 6 galige before sun rise. The first 4 galige, he used to think about shastras and in the last 2 galige, Sri Jayathiirtha used to meditate and think of Sri Vishnu in 'upadisTamArga'. Sri Jayathiirtha used to take bath for 2 galige, 2 galige japa, 2 galige deva pooja and used to sit for discourse. Srimadh Acharya has mentioned in 'sadAchAra smruti' in the sloka 'yEvum sarvothamum Vishnum' that along with the deva pooja the sAdhaka has to meditate on Sri Vishnu and give discourses to his ability. Sri Jayathiirtha was performing this himself as mentioned by Srimadh Acharya. After the discourse, Sri Jayathiirtha used to do Madhukara vrutti where there were about 50 brahmana families in the village of Munivalli. Seeing the life style of Sri Jayathiirtha, many good people came forward to offer him all arrangements(like money, grains, house etc..). Sri Jayathiirtha used to simply reject the worldly things and used to say that all these things are not necessary for him and this shows how much virAge Sri Jayathiirtha was. The grains obtained by madhukara vrutti were used to prepare rice used to take it with the anusandAna of prAnAgni hOtra. After that Sri Jayathiirtha used to take rest for 2 galige and after that used to be involved in new compositions. Meanwhile, Sri Jayathiirtha's favorite students used to assemble for hearing the discourse. The five lucky students are 1. Bala VenkataramAcharya 2. AnnayAcharya annagiri 3. TonapIbAlacharya 4. Koulagi SheshAcarya 5. Morabba SheshAcharya. All these students were very dedicated towards their Guru.The news about Sri Jayathiirtha had spread in many places and the marAta peshwa Sandhe was a devotee of Sri Jayathiirtha. The peshwa king bowed at the feet of Sri Jayathiirtha and asked for his blessings. Since the king was involved in a dhArmic war, Sri Jayathiirtha blessed the peshwa king be victorious. Very easily, the Peshwa king defeated his enemies and became victories and as a gratitude offered large amount of wealth, land etc. to Sri Jayathiirtha. But, Sri Jayathiirtha rejected all of these and said that it is not necessary for him to keep the wealth, land etc. and used to live in a hut. This showed the virakthi and Sri Jayathiirtha became well known as 'Adavi Acharya' or 'AranyakAcharya' (the person who lives in forest sacrificing all worldly affairs).Sri Jayathiirtha stayed in Munivalli along wit his wife, son (KrishnAcharya), daughter in law(Sathya bai) and grand son (tIkAcharya). Sri Jayathiirtha probably was around 35 to 40 years at this time and even in this youthful years, Sri Jayathiirtha had complete control over senses. Sri Jayathiirtha also performed 'asipatra' vrata. In this vrata, both husband and wife would be on the same bed and between them was a very sharp sword. The sword was kept in between the husband and wife when they sleep and if any one loses control, the person would fall on the sword and get killed. Sri Jayathiirtha performed this vrata very successfully and showed the world that being a jEtendriya living along with wife and children is better than jEtendriya leaving the family. Sri Jayathiirtha was like a lotus leaf in water in samsAra.Sri Jayathiirtha used to teach students and give discourses under the sacred Aswattha tree. Many Sudha mangala celebrations were conducted by Sri Jayathiirtha under this tree. Unfortunately, Sri Jayathiirtha's wife passed away and Sri Jayathiirtha performed all the duties.Seven to eight years passed by after 12 Sudha mangala, Sri Jayathiirtha started moving around the country. Sri Jayathiirtha visited nava vrundAvana and other ksEtrAs. Sri Jayathiirtha came to PenugOnda and at this place there is a sangama of rivers vAmana and upEndra. At the unification of these rivers is the vrundAvana of Sri Sri 1008 vedavyAsa thiirtharu. Sri sri Sathya vara thiirtha of Uttaradi matha had arrived at the place where Sri VedavyAsa thiirtha was residing, had the blessings and movedSri Jayathiirtha enters thuriAshramaHaving spent successfully all three ashramas, Sri Jayathiirtha thought that this is right place and right time to get the sanyAsa. Sri tIkAcharya also blessed Sri Jayathiirtha to get the yahti ashrama.Sri Jayathiirtha traveled to a place called Nama gondalu where Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha was residing. Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha had his camp initially near a small pushkarani and at the people's request moved his camp into the town. The people of the town of Nama gondalu had the great opportunity of viewing Sri rAMa pooja and having the blessings of Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha. Sri Jayathiirtha bowed at the feet of Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha and it was the union of two great vaishnava stalwarts which was like milk getting mixed with honey. Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha had only heard the great ability of Sri Jayathiirtha and this event gave an opportunity for him to notice the scholastic aptitude, mastery of Sri Sudha granta and giving discourses confidently with his own eyes and was very pleased.Sri Jayathiirtha requested Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha to give him sanyAsa. Sri Sathya vara thiirtha was extremely happy to hear this news and made arrangements for the sanyAsa swEkara for Sri Jayathiirtha. Who else can get the yathi ashrama other than Sri Jayathiirtha . Sri Jayathiirtha was leading a life like a yathi and the sanyAsa had to be performed only to make it official. Sri Sri Sathya vara thiirtha told Sri Jayathiirtha that as per Sumadhva vijaya's statement, when the vairAgya reaches its peak the person would get the desire to get sanyAsa and you are doing the right thing. An auspicious day, auspicious star, auspicious yOga and auspicious karana was chosen by Sri Sathya vara thiirtha to give yathi ashrama to Sri Jayathiirtha. The one was always thinking about Sri Vishnu in himself and who had the great sannidhana of Sri Hari, seeing the same lord in everyone (sarvam Vishnu mayam jagath) that Sri Jayathiirtha who also known as Srimadh AranyakAcharya was given yathi ashrama by his guru and named Sri Sri Sri Vishnu thiirtha. The devotee crowd was filled with happiness. Sri Vishnu thiirtha performed the samsthAna pooja with his guru. Next day, after the bhiksa, Sri Vishnu thiirtha requested his guru to give him permission to goto the forest. Sri Sathya vara thiirtha was surprised at Sri Vishnu thiirtha and told him that he could be with him. But, Sri Vishnu thiirtha who is a avadhoota shikAmani said he is not for ruling the throne of dharma sAmrAjya and he was only interested to be like a bidi(stand alone) sanyAsi. Sri Vishnu thiirtha, the one who was a great viraktha bowed to his guru and entered the forest.Sri Vishnu thiirtha as per the orders of his guru was giving discourses and doing hari seva. From Nama gondalu, Sri Vishnu thiirtha, came to a place called KinnhAli. The desai (king) of KinnhAlu welcomed Sri Vishnu thiirtha with great respect. Sri Vishnu thirtha performed the daily pooja. The desai king had a strange disease. Whenever Desai sees food in a plate, he used to see a chunk of worms and so he could not eat the food. The desai was suffering from this disease and he had firm belief that Sri Vishnu thiirtha would cure this. Sri Vishnu thiirtha decided to cure the disease desai had. After the pooja, Sri Vishnu thiirtha called Desai to sit along with him to have the food. Before Sri Vishnu thiirtha started having the food, he took some portion of rice, chanted the name of Sri Vishnu and gave it as a prasAda to the desai. When desai saw the food in his plate given by Sri Vishnu thiirtha, there was a surprise. No more seeing of worms in his plate and desai became extremely happy. Desai from that day started eating well and wanted to show the gratitude to Sri Vishnu thiirtha. Desai offered his whole wealth to Sri Vishnu thiirtha. Sri Vishnu thiirtha was not interested in any wealth and modestly rejected it. The desai begged Sri Vishnu thiirtha many times to take at least some thing. Then, the kind hearted Sri Vishnu thiirtha desired to live near KinnhAli at the banks of the river Kusha and asked for a piece of land near a place called mOdeshwara. The desai was filled with joy and he made arrangements for constructing a elemane(hut) for Sri Vishnu thiirtha. This place mOdeshwara is now called as mAdanUru. There is a beautiful Shiva temple in mOdeshwara and because of the Shiva temple, the place is named after Shiva.Sri Vishnu thiirtha stayed at mOdeshwara and led life doing madhu kara vrutti. Sri Vishnu thiirtha had many students and the desai took the responsibility of taking care of students. Time passed by without any problem. May be the lord wanted to show the greatness of Sri Vishnu thiirtha and so suddenly there was a bad famine in the region. Desai had a tough time to look after the students due to famine. The desai came and expressed his sadness in front of Sri Vishnu thiirtha. The great jnAni Sri Vishnu thiirtha consoled Desai, told him not to worry and said that he would take the responsibility of taking care of the students. Sri Vishnu thiirtha started praying Sri GopAla Krishna to find a solution. Next day, Sri Vishnu thiirtha ordered a brass coin, placed it at the feet of Sri Vishnu icon and started reading (pArAyana) Sri rama stotra that was composed by him. After pArAyana and japa(meditation), Sri Vishnu thiirtha gave argya to Sri Vishnu the indweller of Sri Lakshmi devi, offered naivedya and performed mangalArati. Sri Vishnu thiirtha then took the brass coin and held it in his hand. It was as if the mother Sri Lakshmi was extremely pleased at the devotion of Sri Vishnu thiirtha and there was a big astonishment. The brass coin got turned itself into a gold coin. The gold coin was sold and with the money that was obtained, Sri Vishnu thiirtha took care of all his students. Sri Vishnu thiirtha did the seva to Sri Lakshmi for one year. After one year, the famine was gone and there was no problem for food and shelter. The desai and other devotees was stunned at the miracle shown by Sri Vishnu thiirtha and they praised him.To be continued ...In the service of Shri Hari, vAyu and gurugaLu,Bala Krishna