Shri Satyasantustha Teertharu

सत्यसंकल्पवार्ध्यूत्थः सत्यसंतुष्टचंद्रमाः ।

प्रार्थिताशेषदाता च भक्तवृंदस्य नित्यदा ॥

satyasaMkalpavArdhyutthaH satyasaMtuShTachaMdramAH।

prArthitAsheShadAtA cha bhaktavRRiMdasya nityadA ॥

Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha was the Peethadipathi of Sri Uttaradi Math for a period of just 8 months. Sri Sathyasankalpa Theertha initiated His Holiness into Sanyasa. During the period of His Holiness, Sri Uttaradi Math was facing financial crisis and is Holiness was supposed to have improved the financial state to a large extent.

Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha before becoming the Peethadipathi of Sri Uttaradi Math was known by the name of Sri Balacharya. Sri Balacharya was the ashthana pandita in the Kingdom of Mysore. Sri Balacharya learnt Shastras under the tutelage of Sri AshthaPatri Vedavyasacharya who himself was a known exponent of Shastras, Vyakarana, Dvaita Siddantha as well as other philosophies. At that time all the well-known pandits were being nurtured and held in high esteem by the Maharaja of Mysore. The Maharaja of Mysore himself was again a great knowledgeable person and His Highness had always treated other pandits with due respect and provided them all the necessary benefits so that the flow of true knowledge would go on un-interrupted / unhindered.

In those days, there used to be a assembly of Pandits from various fields known as VidhwatSabhas under the sponsorship of the Maharajas. Each Pandit would put forth His views and there used to be debates associated with various topics. At the end of the sabha the pandits would be felicitated and honored appropriately. In one of those Sabhas held under the sponsorship of the Maharaja of Mysore, a very well known pandit Chandramouli Avadhani came over and with all false pride challenged the Ashthana Vidwans (Sri Balacharya was also one of them) into debate. All the vidwans were frightened and afraid to face Chandramouli Avadhani since they all knew the capabilities of him. Sri Balacharya took up the challenge thrown in by Chardramouli Avadhani and after a couple of days of arguments and counter arguments involving Tarka, Shastra and other philosophical points Sri Balacharya emerged victorious. The way Sri Balacharya debated with Chardramouli Avadhani looked like a WILD BULL putting forth its Brute force. After the defeat of the pride ridden Chandramouli, the Maharaja of Mysore felt extremely happy and gave Sri Balacharya the title of "SHASTRA GHOOLI" and felicitated him appropriately.

One of the points that is worth mentioning is that Sri Balacharya belonged to the Navarathna lineage who are very well known for their knowledge on Sahstras, Dvaita Siddantha and other aspects of Tarka, Nyaya etc. The title called as "NAVARATHNA" was given to Sri Madgalacharya who along with his seven children and son-in-law had defeated many other pandits in the early days of when a similar Vidwat Sabha had taken place under the leadership of another Sri Uttaradi Math Peethadipathi "Sri Sathyavrata Theertha".  Sri Sathyasanthushtha Theertha was the contemporary of Sri Vidhyanidhi Theertha of Sri Vyasaraja Matha and Sri Sugynanendra Theertha of Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha. Sri Vysaraja Math’s Peethadipathi Sri Raghunatha Theertha (also famously known as Sri Seshachandrikacharya) had presented the idol of Sri Mukhyaprana (which His Holiness has performed pooja for many years) to Sri Balacharya’s ancestors as a honor to their knowledge and panditya.

Even to this day the lineage is maintaining the same as a mark of respect to the ancestors as well as Sri Balacharya (Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha). Sri Balacharya’s later generations have also been well known for their knowledge and innumerable number of books they had published.

Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha also had a unique honor of leading a Vidwat Sabha under the sponsorship of the Maharaja of Mysore. His Holiness had on that occasion invited many scholars from all over India. He felicitated His student of pre-sanyasa days Sri Anandacharya. His Holiness also honored lots of other pandits with many gifts and the Maharaja of Mysore also followed suit in honoring the pandits appropriately. As said earlier, the time period of Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha was just 8 months and the sanchara of His Holiness is known to be very less. Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha initiated the Sri Gururajacharya (Grandson of Sri Sathyasandha Theertha) as the next successor for the Peethadipathi of Sri Uttaradi Math and named Him Sri Sathyaparayana Theertha who was a scholar par excellence. 

Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha entered Brindavana in Mysore and His brindavana is located next to the Brindavana of His Guru Sri Sathyasankalpa Theertha. His Holiness also had instructed Sri Sathyaparayana Theertha to do the pratishthana of Sri Mukhya Prana just opposite to their Brindavana and it is believed that even to this day Sri Sathyasanthustha Theertha learns the intricacies of Madhva Shastra under His Guru Sri Sathyasankalpa Theertha.

 || Shri Krishnarpanamastu ||

Source - uttaradimath.org