History of Shri Guru Raghavendra Swamy
Birth
Shri Raghavendra Swami was born as Shri Venkata Natha (Venkata Ramana), the second son of Shri Thimanna Bhatta and Smt. Gopikamba on Thursday, Sukla Navami of Phalguna month in 1595, when the moon was in Mrigashirsha Nakshatra, at Bhuvanagiri, near present-day Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. Shri Thimmanna Bhatta was the son of Shri Kanakachala Bhatta and the grandson of Shri Krishna Bhatta, a Veena scholar in the court of King Krishnadevaraya. Shri Thimanna Bhatta and his wife Smt. Gopikamba had a son, Gururajacharya and a daughter, Venkatamba.
Shri Venkanna Bhatta was also called Venkatanatha or Venkatacharya in honor of Shri Venkateshwara at Tirupati, with whose blessings he was considered to have been born to his parents for their devotion and diligence towards the deity.
Early life
Shri Venkatanatha proved to be a very brilliant scholar from a very young age who learnt to play the Veena very proficiently thanks to his father and grandfather.
After his father’s demise, Venkatanatha was brought up by his brother Shri Gururaja Bhatta and completed the initial portion of his education under his brother-in-law Lakshminarasimhacharya’s guidance in Madurai.
Marriage
After his return from Madurai in 1614, Shri Venkatanatha married Smt. Saraswathi Bai in the same year and had a son Shri Lakshminarayanacharya. After his marriage, Shri Venkatanatha and his family went to Kumbakonam where he studied the Dvaita Vedanta, grammar and literary works under his Guru, Shri Sudheendra Theertha.
Shri Venkatanatha was already very well versed in bhashyas and consistently prevailed over renowned and reputed scholars, irrespective of the complexity of the debates. He was an ardent devotee of Shri Moola Rama and Shri Panchamukha Mukhyaprana Devaru (the five-faced form of Hanuman – Pancha meaning five, mukha meaning faces). He spent a large part of his Poorvashrama life teaching Sanskrit and the ancient Vedic texts to children.
He never demanded any money for his services and endured a life of poverty along with his wife and son. They went without food several times a week. On one occasion, his wife did not have change of clothes. This forced her daily change of wear to be dependent on when the clothes dried. She would wear 1/2 the saree and wait for the other 1/2 to dry and wrap it around her. But he was so devoted in his quest for a higher spiritual place that these obstacles never deterred his faith in the Lord.
Poorvashrama Miracles
Once while he was touring Kumbakonam along with his wife Shri Venkatanatha and his family, they were invited to attend a function. Unfortunately, the hosts did not treat him well and wanted him to earn his food by running a chore. So they asked him to make some sandalwood paste for all the invitees. Shri Venkatanatha per his habit was chanting stotras and mantras while preparing sandalwood for Tilaka. When the guests applied this paste, it induced a burning sensation all over their bodies. Surprised by this, the hosts sought a clarification from Venkatanatha. He replied that the burning sensation was due to the Agni Suktam (hymn for the worship as defined in the Esoteric Vedas) that he was chanting while preparing sandalwood and thus eternal power of Vedic Mantras revealed itself. This happens only when chanted with absolute dedication and devotion. The power is enhanced since it was chanted by someone as virtuous and devoted to Bhagwaan Hari as himself. Upon realizing his devotion and power, the host apologized profusely to Shri Venkatanatha and sought his forgiveness.
Shri Venkatanatha then prepared the paste again but chanted the Vedic Mantra to Varuna (Vedic rain gods) this time. It has been recorded that when the guests applied this paste, they were awash with a sense of being drenched in rainwater, reaffirming Shri Venkatanatha’s power of devotion.
Ordination into Sanyasa as Guru Raghavendra
Thus while his life was spent in the worship of God and service of humanity, his spiritual Guru, Shri Sudheendra Theertha, was looking for a successor to his Mutt. He had a dream where the Lord indicated that Shri Venkatanatha would be the right person to succeed him as the pontiff. Shri Venkatanatha initially refused due to his responsibility towards his young wife and son, but was soon blessed by the Goddess of Learning, whereby, she in a dream indicated that he was to seek salvation as a Sanyasi. Shri Venkatanatha treated this as an omen and changed his mind. The Sanyasa ordination took place in 1621 on the Phalguni Sukla Dwitiya at Tanjore.
Moksha of Smt. Saraswathi
On the day of Shri Venkatanatha’s ascension into Sanyasashrama, his wife, Smt. Saraswathi was seized by a sudden desire to see her husband’s face for the last time. She ran towards the Mutt throwing caution to the winds and was turned back. Since she couldn’t see her husband any longer, she committed suicide by drowning in an old and unused well on the way.
Per the tenets of Hinduism, she became a ghost trapped mid-way between Heaven and Earth due to her untimely death. Since her last wish of seeing her husband was not fulfilled, her ghost went to the Mutt to witness the ordaining function. However, by the time she arrived, her husband had become a Sanyasi Shri Raghavendra Theertha. However, Shri Guru Raghavendra could immediately sense his wife’s presence with his spiritual powers. He sprinkled some holy water from His Kamandalu on her as a means of granting her last wish. This action granted her moksha or liberation from the cycle of births and deaths and was considered her reward for a lifetime of dedicated and selfless service to Shri Raghavendra Swami.
Shri Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji
On handing over the Peeta to Shri Raghavendra Swami, his Guru, Shri Sudheendra Teertha Swamiji left for his heavenly abode. His Brindavana was constructed at Anegundi near Hampi under the personal supervision of Shri Raghavendra Swami. Shri Sudheendra Teertha Swami’s Brindavana is the ninth Brindavana at that location, earning the region the popular moniker of “Nava Brindavana”. It is an extremely holy pilgrimage centre for Madhvas.
Shri Yadavendra Tirtha and Shri Raghavendra Swami
Much before Shri Raghavendra Swami ascended as Peethaathipathi of the Mutt, Shri Yadavendra Tirtha had been given Sanyasa by Shri Sudheendra Teertha Swamiji. When he came back to Tanjore from his Teertha Yatra across Southern India, Shri Raghavendra Swami offered to make him the Peethaathipathi of the Mutt and offered him the idols of Shri Moola Rama. However, Shri Yadavendra Teertha, on seeing the devotion and spiritual prowess with which Shri Raghavendra Swami was pontificating the Mutt, declined the offer and continued on his pilgrimage. Thus Shri Raghavendra Swami then continued to enrich Dvaita Vedanta from Kumbakonam where numerous Shishyas joined the Mutt.
Kumbakonam drought
During Shri Raghavendra Swami’s time at Kumbakonam, the Tanjore district as a whole was reeling under the effects of a severe 12 year long drought. The Thanjavur ruler Sevvappa Nayak approached Swamiji for spiritual solace and was advised to perform some Yagnas. No sooner were these rites performed, the region was flush with rain and prosperity. As a mark of gratitude, the Maharaja gifted the Mutt with a necklace embellished with precious stones.
Swamiji offered the necklace as a contribution to a yagna that he was performing then. The Maharaja took affront at this action. When Swamiji realized this, he immediately put his hand into the homa kunda and retrieved the necklace in a condition identical to which it was given to him by the King. Neither the necklace nor Swamiji’s hand showed any indication of having been in a raging fire. This incident only served to reaffirm the greatness of Swamiji and converted the Maharaja of Tanjore into an ardent Bhakta.
Tour of South India
Shri Raghavendra Swami embarked on a tour of South India, spreading the Dvaita Philosophy and visiting famous pilgrimage centers such as those at Rameshwaram and Srirangam. At Rameshwaram, he clarified the origins of the Siva Linga as the one that was installed by Lord Rama himself before his journey to Lanka to fight Ravana. In this context, he also clarified that Ravana was a Rakshasa since he was born to a Rakshasi mother and Brahmin father. He rebuffed the claim made by some scholars that Lord Rama, as the Supreme One, is not bound by Brahma Hatya Dosha (or any other doshas) for eliminating Ravana.
He also traveled to Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram and Madurai where he met his Poorvashrama brother-in-law with whom he had spent a large part of his childhood. As part of his Yatras, he traveled to Vishnu Mangala, Kukke Subramanya and Udupi in Karnataka, amongst other such spiritual centers and impressed one and all with his mastery of Dvaita philosophy, won many admirers, gained many devotees and published stellar works of literature and philosophy some of which were carried around in processions of elephants as a mark of respect for its brilliance.
Diwaan of Adoni
On one of his numerous travels, Shri Raghavendra Swamy came across a young and poor sheep rancher who prostrated before him in respect. Swamiji blessed him and told the young rancher to think of him or pray to him in times of adversity.
A few days later, the Nawaab Siddi Masud Khan (King) of Adoni who is a Persian and did not know how to read and write the local language Telugu or Kannada was riding on a horse near to the place where the sheep rancher’s herd was grazing. At that time an ambassador brought a letter written in local language, and gave it to Nawaab. The Nawaab, who did not read the local language, looked around to seek someone’s help to read and explain the contents of the letter. He saw the rancher and asked him to read and explain the contents of the letter. The sheep rancher too was illiterate and could not help the Nawaab in deciphering the contents of the letter. This angered the Nawaab because the Nawaab misunderstood the sheep rancher’s inability to translate the contents of the letter as not obeying his order and threatened the man with dire consequences for failing to obey his order. The sheep rancher, who was in desperation by then, remembered the benevolent Swamiji who had passed by the same route a few days earlier. He prayed hard to him and tried reading the letter. Miraculously, the rancher was able to read and explain the contents of the letter to the Nawaab. Since the information was favorable to the Nawaab, he was impressed and the rancher became the Diwaan of Adoni (administrator of the local region Adoni). Many years later, the Nawaab learnt about Shri Raghavendra Swami from this man.
Nawaab of Adoni and Mantralayam
Much after the above incident had occurred; Shri Raghavendra Swami got an opportunity to meet the Nawaab of Adoni face-to-face. The Nawaab, instead of being respectful to him, decided to test his spiritual skills and placed before the Swamiji, a plate of non vegetarian delicacies completely covered with a piece of cloth, in the guise of offering alms.
Per Hindu customs, alms are customarily offered to a visiting saint to seek his blessings. Swamiji took some water from his Kamandala, meditated and sprinkled it on the covered plate, as part of his regular practice of purifying any food before consumption. He then opened the plate. It contained fresh fruits. The Nawaab immediately became remorseful and became an ardent devotee of Swamiji then on. As an apology, he offered to give the Swamiji any amount of land and wealth. While Swamiji refused any such gift for his personal gains, he asked that the land around Manchale (present day Mantralayam), which was part of the Nawab’s kingdom be handed over to his Mutt.
Though the Nawaab of Adoni offered to give him a more fertile region, Shri Raghavendra Swami insisted on the dry and barren region around Mantralayam, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River.
Many years later, he told a devotee that it was the region where King Prahalada had performed his yagnas to Lord Rama during the Dwapara Yuga and was hence an extremely holy land. Thus the Mutt was moved to Mantralayam wherein Shri Raghavendra Swamy continued his spiritual journey. At Mantralayam, Shri Guru Raghavendra encouraged Annadhanam (donation of food) to all devotees. It is a practice that is followed by the Mutt to this date and is heavily subsidized by donations.
Panchamuki
Shri Guru Raghavendra performed penance at a place called Panchamukhi, near Mantralayam, in present day Andhra Pradesh where He received Darshan of Hanuman in the form of Shri Panchamukha MukhyaPrana. Shri Guru Raghavendra is considered by his devotees to be a reincarnation of Prahalada, the devotee who was saved by Vishnu in his Avatar as Narasimha (see Vaishnava Theology). Prahalada in turn is believed to be a reincarnation of Shankukarna, a Devatha, in the Dwapara Yuga. Hence, Shri Raghavendra Swamy chose Mantralayam as the location of his Brindavana.
Jeeva Samadhi
On Dwitiya Day of Sravana Krishna Paksha in 1671, Shri Raghavendra Swami gave a soul-stirring speech to hundreds of devotees who had gathered to watch the event. Some relevant quotes from that speech are as follows –
“Without the right living, right thinking will never come. Right living is performing one’s ordained duties according to one’s station in life without yearning for the after fruits of the actions and on the other hand offering all one’s activities to the Lord. This is real sadachara (right living). This is real karma yoga.”
“Social work done for the good of worthy people should also be considered as the Lord’s worship. In short, our life itself is worship. Every action is a puja. This life is precious. Every second of our life is precious. Not even a second that has passed by will come back. Listening to the right shastras and always remembering Him is the highest duty.”
“Always keep away from people who merely perform miracles without following the shastras and yet call themselves God or Guru. I have performed miracles, and so have great persons like Srimadvacharya. These are based on yoga siddhi and the shastras. There is no fraud or trickery at all. These miracles were performed only to show the greatness of God and the wonderful powers that one can attain with His grace. ”
“Right knowledge (Jnana) is greater than any miracle. Without this no real miracle can take place. Any miracle performed without this right knowledge is only sorcery. No good will comes to those who perform such miracles and also those who believe in them.”
“Have devotion to the Lord. This devotion should never be blind faith. Accepting the Lord’s supremacy wholeheartedly is true devotion. Blind faith is not devotion. It is only stupidity. We should have devotion, not only for the Lord, but also for all other deities and preceptors in keeping with their status.”
After this speech, Shri Raghavendra entered the Brindavana specially constructed for him with stone brought from Madavara village, near Manchale. Per his advice these stones were sanctified by Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana’s footsteps when they visited the village during Treta Yuga.
He had advised his disciples to start arranging slabs around him once the japamala rolling by fingers in his hand become still.
He began reciting the pranava mantra and slipped into deep Samadhi. Once his japamala became still, his disciples arranged the slabs up to his head and then, as per his earlier instructions, they placed a copper box containing 1200 Lakshmi narayana saligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki River in Nepal. Then they placed the covering slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the Brindavana that they had built.
Thus Shri Raghavendra Swami attained Jeeva Samadhi on Dwitiya Day of Sravana Krishna Paksha in 1671. This date is celebrated each year as Shri Raghavendra Swamy Aradhana at Brindavana all over the world. The Raghavendra Mutt in Mantralayam housing his Brindavana is visited by thousands of devotees every year.
It is believed he would live for…
76 years physically on the Earth.
300 years in the Brindavana, through his literary work among the people.
400 years in the Brindavana without a physical form.
Totally 700 years in the Brindavana helping the society and the mankind to come-out from troubles and miseries.
Raghavendra and Sir Thomas Munro
An incident concerning Raghavendra Swami and Sir Thomas Munro has been recorded in the Madras Districts Gazetteer. In 1801, while serving as the Collector of Bellary, Sir Thomas Munro, who later served as the Governor of Madras is believed to have come across an apparition of Shri Raghavendra Swami. Sir Thomas Munro recorded as having spoken with Raghavendra Swami in English over an endowment proposal which he ultimately quashed as per the Swami’s advice.
Shri Appanacharya and Shri Raghavendra Stotra
Shri Appanacharya was one of Shri Raghavendra Swami’s foremost disciples at Mantralayam. Knowing his unstinting devotion and that he would try and thwart his Jeeva Samadhi, Shri Raghavendra Swami sent Shri Appanacharya to a town in Karnataka on the opposite bank of the Tungabhadra River before entering the Brindavana to attain Jeeva Samadhi.
Upon hearing of his beloved Swamiji’s decision to enter Brindavana, Shri Appanacharya came rushing back to Mantralayam only to find the Tungabhadra in full spate (sudden flood) due to the rain. Unable to cross the river, he burst into a 32-stanza hymn, now popularly known as Shri Raghavendra stotra as a prayer to his beloved Swamiji. It is said that on hearing the hymn, the Tungabhadra abated and allowed him to walk on her.
As Shri Appanacharya rushed into the Mutt, he was mid-way through singing the last stanza of his hymn. At the same time, the last slab was placed on Shri Raghavendra Swamy in the Brindavana. On seeing this, Shri Appanacharya was overcome with emotion and was unable to sing any further to complete the stanza. Suddenly, a voice from inside the Brindavana said “Sakshee Hayastotra Hee”, completing the Stotra and implying Shri Hayagreeva (an avatara of Lord Vishnu with the Horse head and Human body) and Prahalada and hence Shri Guru Raghavendra himself was witness to Shri Appanacharya’s hymn.
This 32 stanza Sloka has acquired fame as Shri Raghavendra Stotra or Shri Poornabodha Sloka, since the first stanza starts with the words “Shri Poornabodha”.
Another famous 2-stanza Sloka praising Shri Raghavendra goes thus:
“Poojyaaya Raaghavendraaya Satya Dharma Rathaayacha
Bhajataam Kalpa Vrukshaaya Namathaam Kaamadhenave”
