Sri Vishnu thiirtha
Shrihi
Shri Lakshmi HayagreevAbhina Shri Lakshmi Narasimhaya namaha
Shri Maha Ganapathiye namaha
Shri Vishnu thiirtha gurubhyo namaha
Shri Purandara dAsarAya Gurubhyo nahama
Introduction
Shri Harihi Om || NarasimhO AkhilA jnAna matha dHwanta divAkaraha
Jayathya mitha SujnAna sukHa shaktHi payOnidhihi ||
AchAryO pavanOsmAkum AchAryAnEcha bhArathi
DEvo NarAyanaha Shrishaha dEvi mangala devatha||
It 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 star
ted thinking "who could be this brahmana
who looks very much satisfied and filled wi
th 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 de
vataha purusha?, who was his guru, what
was the reason for him to come to earth? wh
o were his great parents? Please kindly let
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4
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, wa
s always at the service of Sri Hari and
was very respectful towards her father in law.
The birth and childhood of Sri Jayathiirtha
With 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 s
cared 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 "Jay
athiirtha". 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
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5
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.
Demonstration of Guru Bhakthi
Sri 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 Vitt
ala" . 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 an
d 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 thiir
tha 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 cleaned
pAda rakshas and covered with a cloth and
placed the pAda rakshas on his head. This
shows the ultimate guru bhakthi of Sri Jaya
thiirtha. 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 heatedly.
PanchAmruta flows from the face
of Sri Krishna - An Astonishing
miracle
During 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
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6
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 mang
alArati, 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 bi
g 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 Kris
hna 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 gruhastAshrama
Time 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.
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Dramatic change in
Sri Jayathiirtha's life
The 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) st
arted singing a padha of Sri Purandara dAsa.
This is the song sung ...
GOvindA namo GOvindA namo GOvindA nArAyana
GOvardhna giriya neththida GOvindA namma rakshisu.
Mancha bAradu madadi bAralu kanchu kannadi bAravu
Sanchi thArthavu mathe bAradhu munche mAdirO dharmava.
Artha vyArige putraryArige mitra bhAndavaryArige
Karthru yamanavaru yele vAga artha putraru kAivare
Ditta thanadali patta vAluva Krishna rAyana charanava
Mutti 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 incr
easing 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 ShikAman
i Sri Jayathiirtha
Sri 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
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8
welcomed him very respectfully. With all th
e senses under contro
l (jeethEndriyaru),
Sri Jayathiirtha used to offer all the punya karmas to Sri Hari and earned the wealth of
Aparoksha jnAna. Sri Jayathiirtha used to s
ee Sri Hari who is omnipresent, offer nice
worshipable items to Sri Vishnu, chant the na
mes 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 dream
After 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 ma
ny tIka compositions, preach the secrets of
our tatva to eligible souls".
Hearing these devine words, Sri Jayathiir
tha 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 tIkAch
arya 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 unders
tand 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 th
e blessings of mahAtmas. With the help of
blessings of "Guru", any lame person can ach
ieve 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 BadarikA
shrama was shown to Sri Jayathiirtha in
the dream by Sri tIkAcharya. Sri Jayathiirtha bowed to Sriman nArAyana and
Srimadh Acharya at the instruc
tions of Sri tIkAcharya. Sri Jayathiirtha was filled with
bliss and his eyes were filled with blis
sful water. Sri tIkAcharya promised Sri
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9
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 tIkAchar
ya 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 rive
r 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 disc
iples 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 shEshAacharya
At 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, Sr
i 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,
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10
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 calle
d "aAgnA patra" (Letter of order). This
letter is also called "Sri Vishnu thiirth
ara 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 Kali to his students
Once Sri Jayathiirtha was in a lecture se
ssion 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 pass
ed the city. All the students and devotees
praised the divya jnAna of Sri Jayathiirtha.
Sri Jayathiirtha shows Sri Mukhya prANa
and 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
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12
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 screami
ng "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 perfume(sugandha).
Sri Jayathiirtha in
vAnaprasthAshrama
Sri 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 (58
th
verse of 16
th
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 a
rrangements(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
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13
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. Th
e 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 ki
ng 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 hi
m 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 (tIkAcha
rya). 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 succes
sfully 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 wi
fe 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 Jayathiirth
a 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 Sath
ya vara thiirtha of Uttaradi matha had
arrived at the place where Sri VedavyAsa th
iirtha was residing, had the blessings and
moved
Sri Jayathiirtha becomes a pontiff
Having 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 th
iirtha 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 oppor
tunity 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 wa
s the union of two great vaishnava stalwarts
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14
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 th
iirtha. 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 Vis
hnu thiirtha with grea
t 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 di
sease 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 Vi
shnu 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 wi
th 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 desa
i took the responsibility of taking care
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15
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 Vis
hnu 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 studen
ts. 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.
Excellent compositions by Sri Vishnu thiirtha
The place mOdeshwara got the sannidAna of Sri VishwanAtha in kAshi, the river
Kusha was like river Ganga and there were many devas(gods) residing in many trees.
Sri Vishnu thiirtha got motivated by Modeshwara which was like kAshi and decided
to compose many granthas. Sri Vishnu thiirtha had already started composing in his
pre pontiff period and he continued to do the composing work. Following are the
compositions of Sri Vishnu thiirtha.
1.
1.
Sudha tippani
This is a commentary on Sriman nyAya Sudh
a composed by Sri tIkAcharya. In this
composition, Sri Vishnu thiirtha has praised his vidya guru Sri IG Venkataraman
Acharya.
SumanOranjani
This is a commentry on Tatva prakAshika composed by Sri tIkAcharya.
Sudha Stotra
This composition glorifies Sriman nyAya Sudha composed by Sri tIkAcharya. At the
end of each verse of this composition, Sr
i Vishnu thiirtha says "The one who is
devoted to Sriman nyAya Sudha composed by Sri tIkAcharya, will never ever come
back to sumsAra".
Aatma Sukha bhOdini
This composition explains ways (sAdhana krama) for a jeeva to enjoy intrinsic bliss
the jeeva has.
UpadEsha patra
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16
This composition was for his students(any one can get benefit) on how the day can be
time divided and rightly make use of each and every period. It also explains how the
bad Kali affects a sAdhaka and how to get rid of the Kali.
Antya kAlada smarane
This composition has eight verses. At the end of each verse Sri Vishnu thiirtha has
mentioned " Sri Krishna munmarana kAla mupAgathItu twun nAma mudh vachana
gOchara tAmupaitu". Many names of Sri Hari is mentioned in this composition at the
end, Sri Vishnu thiirtha has begged Sri
Krishna(upAsya moorthi) to give the
remembrance of Sri Hari during the time of death.
Srimadh BhAgavatha sArODhAra
This is a unique composition. How the jeeva can do sAdhana is explained in detail in
30 chapters basing on the slokas from Srimadh BhAgavatha.
ShOdashE - ChaturdashE
In this composition, Sri Vishnu thiirtha explains in the beginning how a jeeva coming
from the asrujyA(state before coming to sumsAra) to the sumsAra and gets bound to
worldly affairs. Sri Vishnu thiirtha has explained how a jeeva can get rid of this bond
by doing sAdhana and all the different kinds of sAdhana a jeeva has to perform until
the jeeva reaches moksha.
AadhyAtma rasarunjanE
Sri Vishnu thiirtha explains in this composition how a jeeva is completely dependent
on Sri Vishnu(bimbA chalise pratibimba chalisuvanu which means only if the
bimba(Sri hari) moves then the pratibimba(jeeva) can move). What ever it is good or
bad(punya kArya or pApa kArya) performed
has to be offered to Sri Hari. Sri Vishnu
thiirtha was narrated his own experience in this grantha.
Srimadh Sumadhva VijayamEya sangraha mAlika
In this composition , Sri Vishnu thiirtha has summarized the contents of Sri
Sumadhva Vijaya composed by Sri nArAyana pandita Acharya.
Sri ramA stotra
This compositio has 15 verses and in each ve
rse, Sri Vishnu thiirtha has glorified Sri
Hari and that Sri Lakshmi who is the wife of the lord Sri Vishnu reside in our hearts.
By chanting this stotra, Sri Vishnu thiirtha says, one can achieve moksha.
GIta sArOdhAra
There are twenty verses in this composition. The first one is introduction and from 2
nd
to 19
th,
Sri Vishnu thiirtha has summarized each
chapter of Bhagavath geetha(which
has 18 chapters). In the last verse Sri Vishnu thiirtha was said "MukthA mAlAnu
sundhEya para tatva parEksha kaihi" which means that the audience for this muktha
mAla are jeevas who are interested in getting moksha.