Shri Yadavaryaru Aradhana

Shri Yadavaryaru Aradhana 

Punyadina: bhAdrapada shuddha pourNami

Period: 1580 – 1632

Birth place: maNUr on Bheema River

VidyA gurugaLu: shri vEdEsha tIrtharu (biDi sanyAsigaLu of uttarAdi maTa parampare, brindAvana at maNUr)

He is one of the great Gruhasta TippaNigArarus. His vyakyana for granthAs was termed “Yadupatya vyAkhyAna”

वेदेशमुनिसत्पादसेवा संप्राप्तवैभवान् ।

यादवार्यान्यायसुधा टीकाकारमहं भजे ।

यादवाचार्यहृद्पद्मगत श्रीमध्वहृद्गत: ।

प्रीयतामनया ग्रंथकृत्या श्रीबादरायण: ।

ವೇದೇಶಮುನಿಸತ್ಪಾದಸೇವಾ ಸಂಪ್ರಾಪ್ತವೈಭವಾನ್ |

ಯಾದವಾರ್ಯಾನ್ಯಾಯಸುಧಾ ಟೀಕಾಕಾರಮಹಂ ಭಜೇ |

ಯಾದವಾಚಾರ್ಯಹೃದ್ಪದ್ಮಗತ ಶ್ರೀಮಧ್ವಹೃದ್ಗತ: |

ಪ್ರೀಯತಾಮನಯಾ ಗ್ರಂಥಕೃತ್ಯಾ ಶ್ರೀಬಾದರಾಯಣ: |

vEdEshamunisatpaadasEvaa saMpraaptavaibhavaan |

yaadavaaryaanyaayasudhaa TIkaakaaramahaM bhajE |

yaadavaachaaryahRudpadmagata shrImadhvahRudgata: |

prIyataamanayaa graMthakRutyaa shrIbaadaraayaNa: |

Family Background:

Shri bhAgappayya: He was yAdavAryaru's elder brother. He got sanyAsAsharma and vidya from shri raghUtama tIrtharu and was named vEdEsha tIrtharu. He had declined the pITa and toured all over India for the pATa, pravachana. He specially looked after the education of yAdavAryaru.

Shri krishnappa:  He was yAdavAryaru's younger brother. He died at an early age. His son was shri bidarahaLLi srInivAsa Acharyaru who later came to known as bidarahaLLi srInivAsa tIrtharu, who was given vidya by shri yAdavAryaru.

Shri yAdappa: He is called popularly as yAdavAryaru, younger brother and shishya of shri vEdesha tIrtharu.

yAdavAryaru was doing jewelery business. Though he was involved in the jewelry business and was very rich, he never showed off. He used to travel to various places on foot for selling jewellery. Whenever he was leaving the house, he used to offer first prayer to God by reciting:

agrathO nArasimhascha

pruShTathO gOpinandhanah

ubhayO pArshyOschaiva

shasharau rAma lakshmaNau !

Meaning – Narasimha Devaru in the front, Sri Krishna to our back side, and Rama Lakshmana to our side well equipped with weapons will follow wherever we go. We must have the anusandhAna like this. They will protect us wherever we go. This shloka to be chanted by every one who goes out of his house.

Once a set of dacoits were planning to snatch the bags filled with jewellery from yAdavAryaru. These thieves happened to observe that there were always two soldiers on horse back guarding him. The thieves knew that yAdavAryaru had no horses as well as riders. They were surprised. One day they approached yAdavAryaru in disguise and asked him as to who were the riders on horseback always accompanying him. yAdavAryaru was shocked at this question and replied that he had no bodyguards. The thieves told him that that they saw two bodyguards backing him whenever they attempted to plunder jewels from him. These bodyguards used to disappear the moment he entered his house. They wanted to know the secrecy of this. He remembered that it was the effect of the sloka he used to recite before leaving the house. He felt sad that rAma,  lakshmaNa who were visible to them did not give darshaNa to him. yAdavAryaru told the dacoits that they had taken lot of trouble for his sake. They had the darshaNa of Rama Lakshna and were very fortunate as compared to him. He said to dacoits that he would voluntarily donate all the wealth to them and to take with them. These dacoits understanding the significance of “RAma, Narasimha and Krishna“ mahime, surrendered before him and took an oath that they would never do robbery in future.

He donated the whole wealth like Sri Puranadara Daasaru, and went to Kashi and became a pundit. He came back to his place where Sri Vedhesha Tirtharu was staying. He studied many aspects of Madhwa philosophy.

yAdavAryaru had many disciples in Karnataka and Maharashtra. He was a guide to many. There is yet another saying that Sri rAma gave darshan to him on the banks of the river Godavari.

Srimadbhagavatha heard from his bones:

Srimad Bhagavata was his life blood. It is said that Bhagavata Verses were heard from his mortal remains (even his bones were chanting the Bhagavatha) after his death. He devoted his entire life to fulfill the wishes of his guru Vedesha Tirtha.

Vairagya – Even though he had good quantum of wealth he had donated the entire wealth to others and went out like Purandaradasaru.

Once yAdavAryaru was very hungry and had not had food for a long time. He could not get anything for his food. The couple were so poor that they had barely enough food or clothing. The man made both ends meet by begging and whatever he got the couple offered to God before consuming it themselves.

One morning, he was reading Bhagavad Geetha. When he was going through the ninth adhyAya, shloka no 22 which reads as follows:

अनन्याश्चिंतयंतो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते ।

तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहं ।

ಅನನ್ಯಾಶ್ಚಿಂತಯಂತೋ ಮಾಂ ಯೇ ಜನಾ: ಪರ್ಯುಪಾಸತೇ |

ತೇಷಾಂ ನಿತ್ಯಾಭಿಯುಕ್ತಾನಾಂ ಯೋಗಕ್ಷೇಮಂ ವಹಾಮ್ಯಹಂ |

ananyāściṁtayaṁtō māṁ yē janā: paryupāsatē |

tēṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yōgakṣēmaṁ vahāmyahaṁ |

Meaning – Those who worship me with devotion regularly, without praying the other gods/goddess and does the chintana of Srihari only always – I will protect them in all times and it is my responsibility to look after the welfare of them and that I will give them moksha which does not bring them back to Samsaara. These are the words of Srikrishna to Arjuna in Bhagavad Geetha (Adhyaya 9, shloka 22)

After reading the stanza, he thought Krishna may not have said like that. Some one must have wrongly interpreted the word as “yogakshemam vahamyaham” and he struck these words in the book with three red lines.

As he had not got food for a long time, he was suspicious about those lines. As he set off to seek alms, his wife called out: ”There is not a morsel to eat in the house. Get something and come home quickly”.

A while later the wife heard someone at the door. She saw a handsome boy aged about 10-12 years with a huge basket over his head. She could not take her eyes off the young boy, so strikingly attractive was he. “Here, help me put down the basket, Your husband has sent these for you”, the boy said.  She gave a supporting hand and as he bent down to put the basket on the floor, she noticed three ugly red beatings on his back, and was bleeding, as if someone had just struck him with a whip. She asked the boy “Oh my God! who did this to you?” she burst out. The boy told, “it was your husband who whipped me because he doubted my willingness to deliver this basket to you”. She asked the boy to wait for some time and wanted to clean the wounds, but before which the boy disappeared.

Soon yAdavAryaru returned and was surprised to see his wife busy in the kitchen. She called him and asked him to do the naivedya, hastodaka and that the food was ready.

He was shocked. Sometime back she had said that there was nothing in the house, now how come such items for preparation of food. Then she told him that ”you had sent that huge basket full of fresh vegetables, and grains, enough to last us six months. But why did you beat the handsome young boy and inflicted three ugly red lash-wounds on his tender back?”

He was shocked as to how can send such huge items to the house with anybody, as he had not received on that day. And he told that he had not many anyone and not beaten anybody.

He rushed to the Gita he had been reading that morning and opened the page which he was reading. He observed that the three lines which he had striken were missing in the Yogaksheyamam vahamyaham verse no 9.22.

Now, he realized that it is the same srihari, whom he had doubted for some time during his hungry, who had sent the vegetables and all the grains to his wife in the form of a small boy. He prostrated before the god’s idol and sought excuse for his ignorance.

Then he turned to his wife and told her that the boy who had delivered the vegetables and grains was none other than Srihari himself.

Bidarahalli Srinivasa Tirtharu and Yadavaryaru – Bidarahalli Srinivasa Tirtharu who has written many granthas, and TIkAs is one of the Shishyaas of yAdavAryaru. Once he had gone to Mantralaya during Chaturmasya and refused to take the naivedya as they use “sasuve” for cooking. As such, special cooking without sasuve was prepared for him. After receiving the mantrakshate for him and  for Yadavaryaru, he returned home and was surprised to see that the Mantrakshate handed over to Yadavaryaru was in regular colour whereas his mantrakshate had turned black in colour.

Then Yadavaryaru came to know that Srinivasacharyaru had not taken the naivedya with Saasuve at Mantralaya and that is why the mantrakshate had turned black. So he asked him to go back to Mantralaya and take the prasadam as per Rayara maTa sampradaya which he did.

Bhagavatha & Yadavaryaru -  Once there lived a pandit by name Pandurangi Keshavacharya, who had learnt all shastras except Bhagavatha. Yadavaryaru had recommended him to study Bhagavatha, which he ignored.  Once Yadavaryaru was doing the upanyasa of Bhagavatha.  It was heard by the mother of Keshavachar.  She used to hear the pravachana in upavaasa.

Once as Yadavaryaru had to go out for some work, Keshavacharya’s mother could not hear the Bhagavatha. Her practice was to do fasting unless and until she hears Bhagavatha pravachana.  The situation compelled Keshavacharya to do the pravachana of Bhagavatha to his mother.  When he opened the shlokaas, his eyes were filled with tears and he was enjoying the Bhagavatha.  The words of Yadavaryaru were ringing like a bell to him. The practice/pravachana which he started on that day was continued till his last breath.

Yadavaryaru & Yamadootharu - Once a child was dead when it was sitting on the knees of Yadavaryaru. The yamadoothaas who came there to take away the child, could not do so as it was lying on the knees of Yadavaryaru.  They tried their best to get it out but failed.  Then Sri Vedesha Tirtharu, came near Yadavaryaru.  So to give respect to him Yadavaryaru left the child out of his knees, then the Yama Doothaas took away the child. This shows the respect which the Yamadoothas had to Yadavaryaru.

Granthas by Yadavaryaru:

Nyayasudha TippaNi

Bhagavatha Tatparya Teeka

Yamakabharatha Teeka

Tatvodyota Teeka TippaNi

Tatvasankyana Teeka

Vyasa Gadya

Daridryahara Stotra

Karavalambana Stotra

Sri Lakshmyastaka

Madhwastuti

Poornaprajna grantha malika

Vishnu Stotra

During his time there were many madhwa peetadhipathis, and pundits.  Some of them are:

Sri Raghottama Tirtharu,

Sri Vedavyasatirtharu

Sri vidyadeesha Tirtharu,

Sri Vedesha Tirtharu,

Sri Satyavrata Tirtharu,

Sri Sudheendra Tirtharu

Sri Raghavendra Tirtharu 

Sri Lakshmikantha Tirtharu

Sri Kambaluru Ramachandra Tirtharu

Sri Rotti Venkatadri Bhattaru,

Sri Pandurangi Srinivassacharya,

Sri Pandurangi Keshavacharya,

Sri Tamraparni Vittalacharya,

Sri Tarangini Ramacharya,

Sri Chalari Narayanacharya.

During his last days he had settled at chayavanamuni Ashrama at MK Hubli, which is 75Kms from Hubli.

This place had the Rudradevaru installed by chayavanamuni. yAdavAryaru installed ashwath lakshmi narasimha dEvaru, mukhya prANa dEvaru and avatAratraya prANa dEvaru here.