VasudendraThirta

By Dr. B. Basker in Dvaita Praimala Magazine

Namaskara to all Haribhakthas.

This great saint adorned the peetha of Sri Raghavendraswami matha from 1750 to 1761 for a period of Eleven years and was the 13th pontiff in succession.

Diwan Venkanna had constructed a beautiful Brindavan for Sri Raghavendraswami and His Holiness had reserved it for a pontiff who was going to adorn the peetha later and the great soul was none other than the great saint Sri Vadindra Teertharu whose Brindavana we can see next to that of Sri Rayaru at Mantraalaya. This great saint had composed the Guru Guna Sthavana in praise of Sri Rayaru (with special references to His works) and recited it in front of the Brindavana. Lo Behold! The whole brindavana shook in appreciation and showered flowers on the saint in appreciation and acceptance of the work. The hero of this article was the saint who had composed a very important teeka for this work and by going through this teeka we can know what a great scholar His Holiness was and this teeka is very useful for understanding the oringinal work.

Sri Vadindra teertha's poorvaashrama elder brother Venugopalacharya had three sons and all of them had become sanyasis to adorn the peetha.

1.Purushottamacharya - first son as Sri Vasudendra Teertharu

2.Balaramacharya - Sri Varadendra Teertharu

3.Lakshminarayanacharya - Sri Bhuvanendra Teertharu respectively.

Sri Vasudendraru in his purvaashrama had constantly accompanied Sri Vaadindraru in His sanchaaraas and learnt Madhwa shastra from His Holiness and also by His unstinted service had earned His blessing.(Perhaps that is why this saint could compose such an important work on Guru Guna Sthavana of the latter). In 1746 Sri Vasudendra had taken up sanyaasa and for 4 to 5 years loyally to His Guru. He had also taken up an entourage to the South and had added enormous wealth to the matha from the various kings and Palaiyakkarars ruling that part of the country. In 1746 His Holiness under the instructions of His mother had gone and inaugurated a pond and mandapam at Ariyalur (18-12-1746).

Once, the properties of the matha was about to be confiscated and the then Nawab Sabdar Jang Bahadur was pleased with the radiance of the saint and restored the same to Srigalu. During 1756 and 1760 the manyaas at Kritigiri had gone into the hands of the Sarkar (British) and the saint spoke to the authorities and restored it to the matha.

His main works were teekas on the Guruguna Sthavana and Tantra Saara. Many other works are credited to this saint but unfortunately are lost for posterity.

In 1761 His Holiness became ill and though He had wanted to give ashrama to Jayaramaacharya the poorvaashrama son of Sri Vadindraru, because he was away on sanchara he gave ashrama to Balaramaachaarya as Sri Varadendra teertharu and asked Him to give the peetha to Sri Jayaraamacharyara who later became Sri Dheerendra teertharu. His Holiness attained Brindavan at Kanchengudda on the banks of Tungabhadra river on Asweeja Krishna paksha sapthami.

This place is a very hallowed one and is six kms from Siruguppa taluk which is accesable by bus from Adoni station. If one goes here he feels like sitting here for a day or two and perform tapas and attain spiritual bliss in the wonderful environment here. Most of the devotees fail to avail of the excellent atmosphere here as they do not know about this place.

Sri Jagannatha dasaru had composed a song on this saint

Sri Vasudendra Raayaa....gana marutha.

Dhyaana shloka:

Vasudhaathakila Vikhyaatham Vairaagyaadi Gunaarnavam |

Veda Vedaanga Chathuram Vasudhendra Gurum Baje ||

Let us all pray to this saint to give us gnaana, bhakti and vairaagya and pay a visit to this sanctified spot and be

blessed by Sri Harih Vaayuh Gurugalu.