Period: 1774-1865
Parampare: sOde maTa, #33
GurugaLu: shri vishvEsha tIrtharu
Shishyaru: shri vishvAdIsha tIrtharu
VidyA shishyaru: shri raghupravIra tIrtharu (bhImanakaTTe maTa)
BrindAvana: uDupi krishNa maTa
Aradhane: AshADa bahuLa amAvAsya
Mrithika brindAvana: sOde
Shri vrindAvanAchArya has a special place in the parampare of sOde vAdirAja maTa.
Before being born and becoming a sanyAsi in sOde maTa, he was previously born as a deaf and dumb person, also in sOde, and was a great devotee of bhAvi samIra shri vAdirAjaru.
One day bhAvisamIra shri vAdirAjaru appeared in his dream and said he would dictate a grantha to him in his dreams and he would recite the same the next morning in front of shri vAdirAjaru's vrindAvana in public. He would get the ability to speak only for the duration of the recitation and he would become dumb again post that.
The person was overwhelmed with the dream. And this recitation continued for 12 years. This is the grantha called "swapna vrindAvana AkhyAna". It describes rujutva of shri vAdirAjaru and that he would ascend vAyu padavi in the next kalpa. So, we refer to shri vAdirAjari as bhAvi samIra shri vAdirAjaru with reverence.
The same person took rebirth in sOde and became a sanyAsi in the same maTa as shri vishwapriya tIrtharu.
He was a living example of true sanyasi who had the best culmination of Jnana, bhakthi and vairagya.
Shri Vishwapriya tIrtharu taught mAdhwa siddantha for the mAdhwa sajjanAs. He also consecrated the idol of Shri Mukhyaprana dEvaru along with the Mrittika Vrundavana of bhAvi samIra Sri Vadirajaru in many places including Coimbatore.
Following are the some of the highlights of his life history.
* Ordained to Sanyasa at the very young age of 10 and had shAstra pATa from his Guru and parama Guru.
* Observed Upavasa Vratha (consuming only handful of Aralu) for 12 years in sOde with great devotion towards Shri Vadirajaru and had attained further shastric jnAnasAdhana in front of Pancha Vrandavana of Shri Vadirajaru.
* He did 4 paryAyAs.
* Later when he prostrated in front of the Pancha Vrandavana seeking the permission and blessing of Shri Rajaru for tIrtha Yatra, he obtained manthrakshatha directly from the Vrundavana and hence got the name Shri Vrundavanacharya. He was so near and dear to Shri Vadirajaru and got direct upadesha from Shri Rajaru.
* He used to wear only coupIna (loin cloth) even during the Paryaya Darbhar, an indication of the height of his vairagya. And thus got the title “coupIna vara bhushana”.
* Also he used to decorate Shri Krishna only with Tulasi and no ornaments. A related incident goes like this. Once King and Queen of Mysore visited Udupi during the paryaya of Shri Vrundavanachaaryaru. The queen was little unhappy seeing Lord Krishna without any ornaments and immediately arranged for few jewelleries and offered to the maTa. Next day, Queen came to see the decorated Lord but was disappointed to see only Tulasi malas. Queen wanted to meet swamiji personally and find out the reason for not using the ornaments. The mata officials were little concerned about swamiji wearing only coupiina even for the meeting with the royal family members. Swamiji said that a sanyasi need not wear any clothes other than coupiina. Swamiji also replied to the queen that her ornaments were safe in the BhanDAra of the mata, would be useful for the next paryaya and he would be more happy to decorate the Lord with the Tulasi.
* As per the direction of Shri Vadirajaru, as indicated in Swapna Vrundaavanaakhyaana, Shri Vrundavanacharyaru brought the Vyasamusti from Madhyavata mata to Udupi and started worshiping along with Lord Krishna. Later Shri Vyasa Saligrama got into the samsthana dieties of Shri Sode mata.
* Some people wanted to create problem and stopped the supply of flower pots, crackers etc to the mata which were used during Rathotsava. Shri Vrundavanacharyaru made a new change, brought bagful of camphor, burnt them and completed the rathotsava. The same practice is being continued today also.
* In another incident, during car festival, the big chariot got fire and started burning while Shri Vrundavanacharyaru was inside offereing arathi to Lord. Everyone thought that swamiji would get burnt alive. But Shri swamiji, holding the utsava murthy in the hand prayed Lord and jumped from that height and landed smoothly without any sign damage to him or to the idol. There are many such incidents which proved him to be a divine personality.
* Once a yati of another matha visited him and suddenly his danDa disappeared. Vishwapriya teertharu meditated on Bhootarajaru and requested him to return the danDa of the yati who has visited their matha, as he is atithi and he should be taken care of well. He requested as if we convince kids when they try to be mischiveous. Bhootarajaru returned the danda in his invisible form and the yati was surprised at the tapashakti of Vishwapriya teertharu , who could converse and see even Gods. Bhootarajaru did this as he belongs to Bhoota gana. Stealing is the very nature of bhootas. He did this to show the greatness of Vishwapriya tIrtharu to the world.
* Vishwapriya Teertharu will be Indra in Next Kalpa.
* During Trivikrama Rathotsava, when the utsava ratha was being pulled it caught fire suddenly from nowhere and all ran away. Vishwapriya teertharu stayed still and raised his arms and prayed to Vaadirajaru and Lord Hayagreeva. To everyone’s surprise suddenly it began to rain heavily and the chariot was still moving without anyone pulling it. Later Vishwapriya teertharu told everyone that Bhootarajaru pulls the ratha in his invisible form during utsava.
*As per the request of King of Cochi, Shri swamiji went there and accepted his offerings of Pallakki Utsava as per Lord's direction though swamiji was personally unattached to all such luxuries.
* The Diwan of the Court, Shri Cochi Rangappa Acharya who was very much impressed with the knowledge, devotion and vairagya, became swamiji's disciple and wrote his biography known as "Shri Viswapriya Vilasa" in which many mahimas of Shri Swamiji and other details are explained in detail.
* During his tour, lot of devotees became his disciples and even now we can find many families worshipping him in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
* Shri swamiji was the same devotee who had listened to Shri Swapna Vrundavana Akhyana from Shri Rajaru in dreams in the earlier birth and with the blessings of Shri Rajaru, he could recollect all precious incidents. Shri Swamiji had the ultimate faith and conviction in Rujutva of Shri Vadirajaru and preached the same to every one. With the help of his disciples, he prepared detailed vyakhyana and pramANa for Akhyana and published the same for the benefit of devotees. That was the great seva to Shri Rajaru and without these supporting granthas and blessings of Shri Vrundavanacharyru, it is not possbile to study or understand Shri Akhyana.
There are many more things to learn about Shri Vrundavanaacharyaru and let us all pray Shri Vrandavanacharyaru to bless us jnana, bhakthi to study Akhyana and follow the same.
| Category | Aradhana |
| month | Aashada |
| paksha | Krishna |
| tithi | Amaavasya |
| Nakshatra | |
| yogha |
