Shri Vignananidhi Teertharu is the 36th saint from Shri Sripadaraja Math. His guru was Shri Vijayanidhi Teertharu, and his disciple is Shri Keshavanidhi Teertharu. He served as the pontiff from 1987 to 2010. In his poorvashrama, he was known as Shri Bhimasenacharya, the son of Shri Satyanidhi Teertharu and brother-in-law of Shri Vijayanidhi Teertharu. His Brindavana is located at Narasimha Tirtha, near Mulabagilu. His aradhana is observed on Bhadrapada Bahula Trayodashi.
He was closely associated with the Shri Sripadaraja Math long before becoming the Mathadhipathi. In poorvashrama, his father was Shri Satyanidhi Teertharu and his brother-in-law was Shri Vijayanidhi Teertharu, both in their poorvashrama. He succeeded Shri Vijayanidhi Teertharu.
He holds a very special place in the Sripadaraja Math parampare. He was instrumental in making major improvements at the math headquarters at Narasimha Tirtha, which houses the mruttika brindavana of Shri Padmanabha Teertharu, the moola brindavana of Shri Sripadaraja, 11 other yatis of the parampare, one from the Pejavara Math parampare, and two bidi sanyasis.
He started the "Veda Vignana" institution to promote the study of science in the Vedas.
Both of these achievements are aptly described in his charama shloka:
pūrṇapragna suhṛta padma rāja mandira vardakam |
vignānanidhim vande veda vignāna darśakam ||
In his poorvashrama, he served as the municipality president of Mulabagilu town. He implemented many civic improvements and earned public affection through his service.
He also led the cleaning of Narasimha Tirtha during his poorvashrama days. After the tirtha was completely emptied and was about to be filled the next day, Ganga Devi appeared at a corner of the pond, and the water started filling it up on its own — a divine miracle.
He was a strong promoter of Haridasa Sahitya. He started the Rangavittala magazine to spread the glory of various Haridasas and Devaranamas.
On one occasion, while performing samsthana pooje at Vijaya Rayara Katte in Chippagiri, Shri Vijayadasaru appeared before him. This miraculous event was witnessed by others present, including Aralumallige Parthasarathy. The site is now cordoned off and marked with Vishnu Pada, located near the entrance to Prana Devara Sannidhana.
Shri Aralumallige Parthasarathy later took Haridasa Deekshe from him and became known as Parthasarathy Vittala Dasaru.
Shri Vignananidhi Teertharu celebrated the 500th Aradhane of Shri Sripadaraja every single day for one full year.
He was an expert in shastras and numerology. There are many documented instances where he foresaw obstacles in the lives of ordinary devotees and helped avert them, including preventing the death of a child. We too have personally received his divine blessings on many occasions.
He constantly engaged in shastra chintana and would often invite scholars to elaborate on scriptural topics.
He also courageously defended the placement of brindavanas for bidi sanyasis such as Shri Devendra Teertharu at Narasimha Tirtha, even against opposition. He reasoned that if Shri Padmanabha Teertharu had given space to bidi sanyasis like Shri Govinda Wodeyaru at Nava Brindavana, then the same could be done at Narasimha Tirtha. Later, he also provided space for the brindavana of Shri Vedavyasa Teertharu, another bidi sanyasi. Both of these yatis are honored with hastodaka daily by the math.
| Category | Aradhana |
| month | Bhadrapada |
| paksha | Krishna |
| tithi | Trayodashi |
| Nakshatra | |
| yogha |
