The Fifth Delight
Shri Raghavendra Gurusarvabhauma
100. Shri Gururaja’s Second Pilgrimage
After Shri Raghavendra Gurusarvabhauma ascended the throne of the Vedanta Empire, during the forty years of his pontificate, the great purposes for which Sudheendratirtha installed him on the all-knowing throne and performed the coronation—Shri Gururaja, as the Supreme Paramahamsa, fulfilled all those great tasks with extraordinary success, in such a way that they would be inscribed in golden letters on every page of history for all times, and he became revered even by the illiterate and the commoners.
Shri Raghavendra became the pillar of the Dvaita Siddhanta by composing unparalleled commentaries that brought out the heart of the original commentators. He uplifted the traditional, uninterrupted lineage of Dvaita-shastra recitation and lectures, and composed world-renowned annotations (ṭippaṇis), through which the philosophy of Tattvavāda remained established permanently and without obstruction. With the help of his commentaries, he rendered Madhva shastra discourses easy and widespread, greatly benefiting the community. He composed unique Vedabhashyas that revealed the true inner meanings of the Vedas, which had been corrupted by foreign interpretations, thus fulfilling the primary objective of his incarnation. By writing universally acclaimed commentaries for the complete Madhva bhashya and tikas, he earned the unprecedented fame and reverence in the scholarly world as the “Ṭippaṇyāchārya Chakravarti.” In this manner, he successfully completed the principal task of the Jnana Peetha of Shri Hamsanāmaka Paramatma with great dedication.
At this time, hundreds of scholars and students had studied all shastras, especially Vedanta, under Shri Gururaja and gained recognition as eminent scholars. Shri Gururaja himself was deeply engaged in teaching and giving lectures to hundreds of students. Hence, the primary aim of the Mahasamsthana—teaching and propagating the Vaishnava philosophy—continued in a well-organized and systematic manner. Shri Gururaja, through his unparalleled character, good conduct, and strict adherence to duties, served as an ideal and a guide to all the devout people. Thus, in one way, he had already fulfilled the primary responsibilities of the Mahasamsthana. Consequently, Shri Gururaja felt a sense of satisfaction, contentment, and joy, as he had fulfilled the responsibility entrusted to him by his Guru.
Now, Shri Gururaja turned his attention to another duty. He felt it was essential to undertake a Digvijaya tour this time, with the goal of embedding the teachings of Indian Sanatana Dharma, the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other shastras into the hearts of people across the world. He aimed to instill belief in metaphysical realities, in God and Dharma; to awaken moral behavior, righteous actions, ethics, goodwill, mutual friendship, and harmony in people; and to guide Indian society to live as righteous and dharma-abiding citizens. Through this mission, he intended to undertake noble upliftment of the good (sajjanoddhara), welfare of the world (lokakalyana), and display unprecedented miracles to awaken awareness of God’s existence and the distinction of sin and virtue in humanity.
Shri Gururaja entrusted the responsibility of managing the Vidyapeetha at Kumbhakonam to the senior scholars Ramachandra Acharya and Anna Gururajacharya. He instructed the officials to make all arrangements for the journey to begin with great enthusiasm, accompanied by Narayanacharya, Venkatanarayanacharya, Lakshminarayanacharya, Krishnacharya, Govindacharya, and Venkanna, Vasudeva, Muddu Venkata Krishna, Vijayindra, Purushottamacharya, along with other scholars, students, and family members, totaling hundreds of people, with full honorific titles, decorative paraphernalia, and musical grandeur.
Shri Gurusarvabhauma, on the auspicious day of Kartika Shukla Trayodashi of the Shubhakrutu Samvatsara of Shalivahana Shaka 1582 (i.e., 1660 CE), commenced his digvijaya (spiritual conquest) yatra for the welfare of the world, starting from Kumbhakonam. During the course of the pilgrimage, he visited villages and towns, received the services of the people, disciples, and devotees there, and bestowed prosperity by promoting social, religious, and spiritual development. He uplifted the downtrodden and afflicted, cured many who were suffering from diseases and calamities through the power of his penance and grace, fulfilled the desires of people merely by his compassionate glance, and eventually graciously arrived at Vijayanagara (Anegondi) on Phalguna Shukla Dashami.
The local Vedic and worldly communities there welcomed Shri Gururaja with devotion and reverence.
From Phalguna Krishna Pratipada to Panchami, he carried out with great grandeur the mahāsamārādhana (annual ceremonial worship) of Shri Sudheendrateertha, as well as the aaradhana (worship ceremonies) of Shri Vadiraja Guru and Shri Chandrikacharya. During this same period, he also conducted a grand scholarly conference. On the day of Pratipada, early in the morning, he graciously visited the Navabrindavana hill, and had a blissful darshana of the Brindavanas (sacred tombs) of the founding Gurus of the Mahasamsthana—Shri Padmanabha Tirtha, Shri Jayatirtha, Shri Kavindra, Vageesha Tirtha, Shri Vyasaraja, and Shri Sudheendra Guru.
Under his leadership, grand rituals like panchamrit abhisheka (five-nectar libation), worship of Shri Moola Rama, adornment of the Brahmins, feasts, distribution of tirtha and prasada, and offerings were all carried out in an extraordinary manner. Shri Gururaja offered all the scriptures he had composed—such as the Veda bhashyas and others—at the feet of the Gurus from Shri Padmanabha to Shri Sudheendra, and offered his full prostrations.
He then graciously visited the shrine of Shri Narahari Tirtha, who was a direct disciple of Shri Sarvajna (Shri Madhvacharya). In accordance with the instructions of Shri Madhvacharya, Shri Narahari Tirtha had brought Shri Moola Ramachandra Deva from the treasury of the Gajapati kings and handed him over to the Acharya. At the Brindavana of Shri Narahari Tirtha, Shri Gururaja installed Shri Moola Rama, Digvijaya Rama, and Jaya Rama deities, performed a golden abhisheka (ritual bathing with gold coins), offered sanctified water (hastodaka), received the sacred akshata (consecrated grains), and felt fulfilled.
On Phalguna Krishna Saptami, Shri Gururaja performed the Mahasamsthana puja in the presence of the Brindavana of Shri Raghunandana Tirtha Guru, offered sanctified water (hastodaka) to Shri Raghunandana, installed Shri Moola Rama Deva on the Brindavana, performed a golden abhisheka, and offered a grand arati.
In the grand history of Shri Madhvacharya’s Mahasamsthana, Shri Narahari Tirtha and the exalted Guru Shri Raghunandana hold supremely significant and distinctive positions, and the wise ones praise them as such. Shri Narahari Tirtha, who brought the deity Shri Moola Rama—worshipped by Brahma himself and the personification of the Chaturyuga—from the treasury of the Gajapati kings and handed him over to Shri Madhvacharya, thereby establishing that this deity would shine forth as the presiding worshipped deity of Sarvajna’s Mahasamsthana. After Shri Padmanabha Tirtha, Shri Narahari Tirtha himself was fortunate to have worshipped this deity for a long time.
Shri Raghunandana Tirtha, who was the sovereign of Shri Sarvajna’s Vedanta Empire, was uniquely blessed by Shri Moola Ramachandra, who became deeply fond of him and bestowed upon him extraordinary divine grace, and from that time on, this deity has been worshipped in the Mahasamsthana continuously through the lineage.
Thus, Shri Gururaja's act of placing Shri Moola Rama upon the Brindavanas (sacred tombs) of these two glorious universal monarchs among saints and performing the golden abhisheka (ritual bathing with gold coins) is profoundly meaningful.
At this juncture, it becomes absolutely necessary to narrate the glorious history of Shri Moola Rama, who is worshipped daily in Shri Madhvacharya’s Mahasamsthana by the universal sovereign Shri Raghavendra Gururaja. Since Shri Raghavendra—who incarnated as Shri Prahlada, Bahlika, and Vyasaraja—descended to perform the worship of this very Chaturyuga embodiment, Shri Moola Rama, it is only proper and fitting that the divine and supremely glorious history of such a great deity be understood.