INTRODUCTION
SriRaghavendra Swamigalu is Guru, not God. He is the guru who shows us the right way to reach Srihari. The word ‘Guru’ is made of two words : Gu which means darkness and Ru means the one who removes this darkness. SriRaghavendra Swamigalu is not just a yati in our Madhva sampradaya, but is guru to all those people who come in His refuge. We cannot reach God directly without a guru. With the blessings of guru only we can reach God. Such a guru is SriRaghavendra Swamigalu. He was Prahlada in Krutayuga, Bahlika maharaja in Dwaparayuga, Vyasatirtha in Kaliyuga and in the same Kaliyuga, He came as SriRaghavendra Swamigalu. This is not just a claim. It is even mentioned in the Narasimha Purana.
शङ्कुकर्णाख्यदेवस्तु ब्रह्मशापाच्च भूतले ।
प्रह्लाद इति विख्यातो भूभारक्षपणे रतः ॥
स एव राघवेन्द्राख्यः कलौ मन्त्रालयेऽभवत् ॥
[Narasimha Purana]
SHANKUKARNA - MOOLAROOPA
In moolaroopa or original form, SriRaghavendra Swamigalu is Shankukarna named devata. This Shankukarna is the son of Lord Brahma and Sarasvati devi and is deeply devoted to Srihari. He used to bring flowers for Moolarama’s pooja which Lord Brahma used to do. SriMoolaramadevaru who is worshipped today in Mantralaya was actually worshipped by Lord Brahma earlier in Satyaloka. Lord Brahma used to worship Lord Moolarama with great devotion. Shankukarna used to bring tulasi and flowers for the pooja of Lord Moolaramachandra. Once, when Shankukarna was bringing the tulasi and flowers, he got late because he got mesmerized by the Veena played by Goddess Sarasvati. So, Lord Brahma cursed Shankukarna to be born in rakshasakula or in the lineage of demons.
PRAHLADA AVATARA
So, in his first birth, Shankukarna was born as Prahlada Maharaja. Prahlada Maharaja being a great devotee of Srihari was always devoted to Srihari. Hiranyakashyapu used many ways to kill Prahlada but everytime Lord Srihari protected him. At the end, Lord Srihari came as Narasimha and killed Hiranyakashyapu.
[Prahladarajaru with SriNarasimhadeva]
BAHLIKA MAHARAJA AVATARA
Lord Narasimha pleased by Prahlada’s devotion said, ‘I am very pleased by your devotion. Come with me. I will give you moksha.’ But Prahlada said, ‘O Lord! I don’t want moksha now. I have to bring all the deserving devotees to you. So, I will come to moksha along with them.’ Lord Narasimha smiled and said, “So be it child!” and hence this same Prahlada was born as Bahlika Maharaja during the period of Mahabharata and was the eldest person in the Mahabharata. Though Bahlika Maharaja fought by the side of Kauravas, he had great devotion in Krishna. He had prayed to Bheemasena that he should attain mrityu by him only. So, in the Mahabharata yuddha, Bheemasena killed Bahlika Maharaja with a blow of mace. Actually, Bheemasena didn’t harm any Vaishnava or Vishnu bhakta since he was resolute on his Bhagavata Dharma (शुद्धे भागवते धर्मे निरतो यद् वृकोदरः ।), but since Bahlika Maharaja had prayed to Bheemasena, hence he had to do so.
[SriBahlika Maharaja]
SRIVYASARAJA AVATARA
This Bahlika Maharaja himself came as SriVyasatirtha who is also known as SriVyasarajaru. In this incarnation, he was born in Abbur in Karnataka. He was brought up by his guru Brahmanya Tirtharu (SriBrahmanya Tirtharu was the incarnation of Suryadeva himself). He was named as Yatiraja and underwent his upanayana samskara. At the age of 8, SriBrahmanya tirtharu gave sanyasa deeksha to Yatiraja and named him as SriVyasatirtha. SriVyasatirtha was a great scholar and at the same time a great devotee of Srihari. After SriBrahmanya tirtharu did Vrundana pravesha (samadhi), SriVyasarajaru continued his further studies with Sripadarajaru (An incarnation of Dhruva Maharaja). SriVyasarajaru performed many miracles, plus was the rajaguru of SriKrishnadevaraya in Vijayanagara empire. He removed the kuhu yoga of Krishnadevaraya by taking the whole kingdom in daana for a day. This Kuhu yoga (Kuhu Yoga is an unfavorable astrological combination formed when the lord of the 4th house is afflicted or placed in a challenging house (the 6th, 8th, or 12th), resulting in a loss of domestic peace, properties, and maternal happiness.) came in the form of a black snake. SriVyasarajaru kept his kaavi (kashaya shira vastra) on the simhasana of Krishnadevaraya. The kuhu sarpa was burnt into ashes as it touched the simhasana and Krishnadevaraya’s kuhu yoga was gone.
[SriVyasarajaru along with SriKrishnadevaraya]
When Salva Narasimha nayaka had incured Brahmahatya dosha by killing the archakas in Tirupati, he came to Sripadarajaru and seeked refuge in him. Sripadarajaru sprinkled the shankhodaka on him and the king got freed from the Brahmahatya dosha. Now, for 1 year there was no one to do pooja at Tirupati. So, Sripadarajaru instructed SriVyasarajaru to go and do seva of SriVenkateshwara Swamy in Tirupati. SriVyasarajaru did pooja of Srinivasa for 12 years and then appointed a SriVaishnava priest as the successor. When SriVyasarajaru bowed to Srinivasa before leaving Tirupati, a vastra from Srinivasa’s Srivigraha fell on him as if Srinivasa was giving His divine prasada to SriVyasarajaru. SriVyasarajaru did the pratishthapana of 732 Mukhyaprana idols (Hanuman idols) across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh etc. (mostly in Karnataka). He was the one who was to guru to great Haridasas like SriPurandara dasaru and SriKanaka Dasaru. He wrote great granthas like Tatparya Chandrika, Nyayamrita, Tarka Tandava and was also known as Chandrikacharya.
[SriVijayeendra Tirtharu]
SriVyasarajaru had a disciple named Vitthalacharya. This Vitthalacharya was very devoted to his guru and had the fortune to study Nyaya sudha grantha from SriVyasarajaru 9 times. For the people who don’t know, let me tell you Nyaya Sudha is a grantha written by SriJayatirtharu (An incarnation of Indradeva), in Madhva sampradaya who came before SriVyasarajaru in the 13th century. So, SriVyasarajaru gave sanyasa to Vitthalacharya and named him as SriVishnu Tirtha. Once, SriSurendra tirtharu (From the Vibudhendra Tirtha matha, one of the Srimatha in SriMadhva sampradaya) came to meet SriVyasatirtharu. SriVyasatirtharu was doing the pooja of SriRukmini Satyabhama sameta SriMoolagopalakrishna devaru and SriPattabhiramadevaru (these are the main deities worshipped in SriVyasaraja matha even today).
SriSurendra Tirtharu came to the matha and saw the Tulasi vana in the matha. Overjoyed by this SriSurendra Tirtharu said, ‘SriKrishnarpanamastu!’ and thus offered the whole tulasi to SriKrishna. SriVyasarajaru got to know this. He came out and welcomed SriSurendra Tirtharu, after the pooja. SriSurendra Tirtharu was impressed by the prowness , knowledge and bhakti of SriVishnu Tirtha. So, he asked SriVyasarajaru to give SriVishnu Tirtharu to him at which SriVyasarajaru agreed. SriSurendra Tirtharu took SriVishnu tirtha to His matha and renamed him as SriVijayeendra tirtharu. SriVijayeendra Tirtharu continued the peethadhipatya in SriVibhudhendra tirtha matha (also known as Kumbhakona matha in Kumbhakonam). He was expert in all 64 kalaas. SriVijayeendra Tirtharu accepted SriSudheendra Tirtharu as His disciple.
SRIRAGHAVENDRA TIRTHARU!!
SriVyasarajaru entered Vrundavana in Anegondi Hampi in 1539. The same SriVyasarajaru incarnated as SriRaghavendra Swamigalu as the disciple of SriSudheendra Tirtharu. SriRaghavendra Tirtharu was born to SriThimanna Bhatta and Gopikamba. Thimanna bhattaru and Gopikamba already had two children namely Venkatamba and Gururaja. Venkatamba was married to Lakshminarasimhacharya named great vidvan. Thimanna Bhattaru and Gopikamba lived in Bhuvanagiri (now in Tamil Nadu). They went to Tirupati and did seva to Lord Venkateshwara. In their dream Lord Venkateshwara and Padmavati devi appeared and said, ‘Bhakta Prahlada himself will be born as your son. Already as Vyasatirtha he has completed his third birth, now this is his final birth’ and then disappeared. In a good muhurta Gopikamba did garbhadharana and gave birth to a male child. He was named as Venkatanatha.
[SriVenkatanatha along with SriThimmanna Bhatta and SriGopikamba]
Venkatanatha did his vidya abhyasa under SriVijayeendra Tirtharu and SriSudheendra Tirtharu. Venkatanatha grew up and married Sarasvati named lady who was very devoted and pious. She was a pativrata and was very devoted to Her husband. But then, Venkatanatha and Sarasvatibai had to face alot of difficulties. For 4 years they had to suffer from poverty. Just one deepa, one lota for drinking water and that too baseless and one vastra which was torn. In that period also Venkatanatha performed a lot of miracles. They had a son named Lakshminarayana.
SriMadhvacharya and SriMoola rama devaru came in SriSudheendra Tirtha’s dream and instructed Him to appoint Venkatanatha to peetha or sarvagya peetha and give Venkatanatha Sanyasa deeksha. SriSudheendra Tirtharu instructed Venkatanatha to take the Sanyasa deeksha but He refused initially. But the next day in Brahmamuhurta kaala, Goddess Sarasvati herself appeared in Venkatanatha’s dream and instructed Him to take Sanyasa Ashrama. Following the instructions of Goddess Sarasvati, Venkatanatha did the upanayana to His son Lakshminarayana and went to Kumbhakonam matha and took sanyasa deeksha from SriSudheendra Tirtharu. SriMoolarama devaru had instructed SriSudheendra Tirtharu to keep the sanyasa name of Venkatanatha as SriRaghavendra Tirtha.
So, as per Moolarama’s orders SriSudheendra Tirtha gave sanyasa ashrama to Venkatanatha and named Him as SriRaghavendra Tirtha. Sarasvatibai, Venkatanatha’s wife on knowing this, not able to bear the separation from Her beloved husband jumped into a well and did praana-tyaaga. Sarasvati’s soul came and saw SriRaghavendra Tirtha. SriRaghavendra Tirtharu sprinkled the sacred water from Kamandalu and Sarasvati got moksha. SriRaghavendra Tirtharu was a great devotee of SriMoolarama devaru. SriRaghavendra Tirtha wrote many commentaries on the granthas of SriMadhvacharya and even wrote a commentary on the Madhva Vijaya grantha. All His granthas were known as Parimala Granthas. Thus, He was also known as Parimalacharya.
Once when SriRaghavendra Swamigalu went for accepting Bhiksha at Desai family’s house, there the son of the Desai couple fell in a vessel of hot boiling kheer and died on the spot. The couple realizing it, were deeply saddened. SriRaghavendra Swamigalu asked them to bring the dead body and sprinkled the tirtha of SriMoolaramadevaru and the boy woke up as if he woke up from sleep.
SriRaghavendra Swamigalu had a devoted disciple named Venkanna. He didn’t know how to read and write. Once, the navab of Adoni (Adhvani) came and asked him to read the letter. But he wasn’t able to. The navab threatened him at which Venkanna remembered SriRaghavendra Swamigalu. As he remembered SriRaghavendra Swamigalu, Venkanna started reading the letter like an expert. It was a good news for the navab in the letter. Pleased by the message, the nawab appointed Venkanna as his diwan.
Once, Venkanna asked the nawab to meet SriRaghavendra Swamigalu. He came there to test SriRaghavendra Swamigalu by bringing non-vegeterian items which were covered in a cloth. He kept it in front of SriRaghavendra Swamigalu and uncovered it. SriRaghavendra Swamigalu sprinkled the tirtha of SriMoolaramadevaru and the maamsa got converted into flowers and fruits. The nawab asked for forgiveness and praised SriRaghavendra Swamigalu.
SriRaghavendra swamigalu is also known as Rayaru. Raya means king. He was the king of sanyasis, He was known as Rayaru or Guru Rayaru. The power of SriRaghavendra Swamigalu was that much, He granted moksha to Venkanna. SriRayaru prayed to Lord Moolaraama to give moksha to Venkanna and a divine vimaana came down. Venkanna went to moksha or Vishnudhaama which is Vaikuntha in that vimaana. Such is the power of SriGuru Rayaru. Lord Moolarama listens to everything which SriRayaru prays. He had an avesha of SriMukhyaprana Vayudeva himself.
[SriMoolaramadevaru worshipped by Lord Brahmadeva]
VRUNDAVANA PRAVESHA OF SRIRAYARU
SriRaghavendra Swamigalu entered Vrundavana in Mantralaya in 1671. He had a very devout disciple named Appannacharya. He composed a stotra on SriRaghavendra Swamigalu which is known as SriRaghavendra Stotram. He entered sajeeva samadhi. SriRaghavendra Swamigalu’s poorvashrama son Lakshminarayana wrote a grantha on SriRaghavendra Swamiji’s life history by the name ‘SriRaghavendra Vijaya’. SriGuru Rayaru’s life span on this earth is 700 years. So, now also SriGuru Rayaru is present in the Vrundavana at Mantralaya. As per the well-known tradition, the witness of SriGuru Rayaru’s presence in Mantralaya is Thomas Munro himself. The famous account appears in the Bellary volume of the Madras District Gazetteers compiled by W. Francis (1916), where the story of Sir Thomas Munro meeting Rayaru at Mantralaya is narrated.
[SriRaghavendra Swamy Moola Vrundavana]
[Thomas Munro’s 5th Generation visiting Mantralaya SriRaghavendra Swamy matha for the darshana of SriRaghavendra Swamy Moola Vrundavana]
‘Manchale (Mantralaya):
—A Shrotriem village with a population of 1,212 on the bank of the Tungabhadra in the extreme north of the taluk. The village is widely known as containing the tomb of the Madhwa saint Sri Raghavendra Swami, the annual festival in August connected with which is attended by large numbers of pilgrims...
A quaint story of Sir Thomas Munro is told about the place. The endowment being threatened with resumption, Munro, it is said, came to make enquiries. After removing his boots and taking off his hat he approached the grave. The saint thereupon emerged from his tomb and met him. They conversed together for some time regarding the resumption, but though the saint was visible and audible to Munro—who was himself the people’s devotee, semi-divine, none of the others with him could either see him or hear what he said. The discussion ended, Munro returned to his tent and quashed the proposal to resume the endowment. Being offered some consecrated grains, he accepted it and ordered it to be used in cooked food for his lunch.
(Madras Review Vol VI)
[Exact words from the Bellary volume of the Madras District Gazetteers where Sir Thomas Munro met SriRaghavendra Swamigalu.]
There are a lot of devotees who do seva in Mantralaya of SriRaghavendra Swamigalu and get their wishes fulfilled. Why SriRaghavendra Swamigalu is living here for 700 years after Vrundavana pravesha? (1596–1671 before Vrundavana Pravesha and after Vrundavana pravesha 700 years life).One reason is that for uplifting the people who come in His refuge. Another reason is, for moksha there must be 0 papa, 0 punya. He doesn’t possess any paapa karma. But His punya is very high from the first birth as Prahlada Maharaja itself. So, He is praying to Moolarama to fulfill His devotees wishes and pleased by His prayer SriMoolaramadevaru fulfills their wishes. In this way, He is distributing His punya to everyone who comes in His refuge by helping them. He is fulfilling the promise He made to Lord SriNarasimhadeva in His Prahlada avatara in Kruta Yuga.
There is another devotee of SriRaghavendra Swamigalu by the name Krishna avadhoota pandita. He wrote a great grantha on SriRaghavendra Swamigalu by the name SriRaghavendra Tantra wherein there are certain stotras like ‘Pratikoola swaanukoolikarana stotram’, ‘SriRaghavendra Kavacham’ etc. plus, how to worship SriRaghavendra Swamigalu in a proper way, how to make SriRaghavendra Yantra and all. After SriRaghavendra Swamigalu, the Kumbhakonam matha was also known as SriRaghavendra Swamy Matha, Mantralaya. After SriRaghavendra Swamigalu, SriYogindra Tirtharu became His successor.
SriAppannacharya says in SriRaghavendra Stotra that SriRayaru has the shakti to destroy our sins which are no more than a large mountain with just His one glance which are like Vajrayudha. With the grace of Srihari/SriMoolaramadevaru, SriRayaru can grant anything to anyone. He is known as the Kaliyuga Kalpavriksha Kaamadhenu. He is expert in all sorts of Vidyas, 64 kalaas. He was an aparoksha gyaani. So, like this SriRayaru even today blesses the devotees with all their wishes.
CONCLUSION
In a conclusion I would say, SriRaghavendra Swamigalu was not only a guru, but Gururaaja (king of Gurus) who is the Kaliyuga Kalpavriksha Kaamadhenu and still is blessing His devotees sitting inside the Vrundavana.
SriRaghavendragurave namo atyanta dayaalave!!
Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriKrishnarpanamastu!