The Fifth Delight
Shri Raghavendra Gurusarvabhauma
Śrī Vijayadāsa
During the time of Vijayadāsa, Śrī Vādīndra Tīrtha (1728–1750 CE), who was the pontiff of the great Śrīmad Āchārya Mahāsaṁsthāna, followed by Śrī Vasudhendra Tīrtha (1750–1761 CE), presided over the vidyāpīṭha, and later Śrī Varadendra Tīrtha (1761–1786 CE) adorned the seat.
Śrī Vijayadāsa held a uniquely distinguished position in the Haridāsa tradition of Karnataka. Just as Śrī Jayatīrtha Guruvarya has a highly revered and special place in the Dvaita Siddhānta, so too does Vijayadāsa enjoy such honor and distinction in the Haridāsa lineage. After Śrī Purandara Dāsa, the most respected and venerable personality in the Haridāsa tradition was Śrī Vijayadāsa.
Belonging to the Paśika lineage, Dāsarāya's family preceptors were Śrī Vādīndra and Śrī Vasudhendra Tīrtha. This is made clear by Vijayadāsa’s compositions.
Śrī Vādīndra Gurus supported Dāsarāyas like Śrī Vijayadāsa and were the protectors of the Kannada Haridāsa tradition and key contributors to the growth of the Haridāsa kingdom. Vijayadāsa defeated a debater named Rāmāśāstri and, upon his request to receive Mādhva initiation, took him to Maṅṭrālaya to meet their family guru, Śrī Vādīndra Tīrtha. There, he submitted a respectful appeal to the guru, who then granted Rāmāśāstri Mādhva initiation, including mantra-mudrā dhāraṇa and upadeśa, thereby bestowing his blessings upon him. This incident is revealed in one of Dāsarāya's compositions.
It can be said that most of the significant events in Śrī Vijayadāsa’s life took place during the periods of the aforementioned Śrī Vādīndra, Vasudhendra, and Varadendra Tīrthas.
Before receiving dāsadīkṣā (initiation into the Haridāsa order), Vijayadāsa suffered greatly due to poverty. At times, he had to rely on others even for a single meal. Despite such hardship, his later life history makes it evident that he was no ordinary person. Having realized the vision of the Lord, Vijayadāsa became one of the greatest among the aparokṣajñānīs (those with direct realization), a master of all knowledge. Learned scholars have praised him as the incarnation of Maharṣi Dhṛgu - ಧೃಗು. After accepting dāsadīkṣā and becoming a Haridāsa, he became a protector and benefactor to thousands of Brahmin families.
After Śrī Purandara Dāsa, when the Karnataka Haridāsa tradition was in a near-extinct state, it was Śrī Vijayadāsa who revived and nourished it, giving it strength and momentum. This great credit and fame can be attributed to the inspiration he received from Śrī Guru Rāya (Śrī Rāghavendra Swāmī). Śrī Rāya was the very driving force behind Vijayadāsa. Purandara Dāsa, his guru in Kāśi (Varanasi), appeared to him in a dream, blessed him with his signature (aṅkita), and commanded him to continue the Haridāsa tradition. Obeying this divine command, Dāsarāya took on the responsibility of advancing the Haridāsa tradition, traveling across the land while spreading the philosophy of Lord Viṣṇu’s supremacy and other truths.
In the course of these travels, he arrived at Ādavāṇi. From there, he came to the sacred field of Maṅṭrālaya to have the darśana (vision) of Śrī Rāya, the incarnation of Śrī Prahlāda and Śrī Vyāsarāja, who were the spiritual powerhouses and chief guardians of the Vyāsa-Haridāsa lineage.
Being a jñānī (realized one), Vijayadāsa received a grand welcome there. Eager to behold the Brindāvana of Śrī Guru Rāya, Dāsarāya was overwhelmed upon seeing the grand Samādhi. He prostrated fully, rose, and, overcome with joy, stood still gazing intently at the Brindāvana.
What he beheld was not merely a stone structure! Śrī Madhvācārya himself, surrounded by ancient ācāryas like Śrī Rāma, Narahari, Vedavyāsa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Nārāyaṇa, all engaged in divine service, with expressions of compassion and blessing, and adorned with gestures of knowledge and fearlessness, all these forms became visible to his divine sight! Śrī Rāghavendra Gurusārvabhauma, in person, radiant and smiling, appeared to the vision of Dāsarāya!
While Dāsarāya was completely immersed in witnessing this wondrous and auspicious vision at the Brindāvana, a beautiful composition emerged spontaneously from his lips! Filled with devotional ecstasy, Dāsarāya praised and extolled the Guru.
ನೋಡಿದೆ ಗುರುಗಳ ನೋಡಿದೆ |
ನೋಡಿದೆನು ಗುರುರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರರ ಮಾಡಿದೆನು ಭಕುತಿಯಲಿ ವಂದನೆ |
Tāḷa – Tripuṭa
Rāga – Bhairavi
"I Saw the Guru, I Saw Him"
I saw the Guru, I saw him —
I saw Guru Rāghavendra and offered my salutations with devotion.
I asked for nothing, yet in praise I sought —
He, the Guru, grants boons without even being asked.
Long ago, Gangeyaśayya (Prahlāda) performed a great yāga (sacrifice)
on the banks of this very river.
Fulfilling it with joy, he departed —
Knowing that, with eagerness in their hearts,
his pure-hearted devotees would remain.
Among assemblies of wise people,
they would remember the dust of his divine feet.
They shine like the rising sun,
the sages who are beyond worldly illusions.
All divine aspects reside in one form —
They dwell eternally,
nurturing the virtues of Lord Hari.
Understanding and making others understand,
they guide through the path of sacred teachings.
In this Kaliyuga, they alone —
gracefully uplift fallen souls,
chanting eternally the names of Rāma, Narahari, Kṛṣṇa, and Kṛṣṇa.
With pure devotion, they worship
the lotus feet of these deities.
With a soft form yet firm against false doctrines,
they stand tall among great debaters.
On this very earth, such a Yati (saint) shines as a purifier —
Auspicious to all, every moment.
The Guru fulfills every heart’s desire —
For hundreds of years and more, never pausing,
In the beautiful Brindāvana,
A grand worship continues without interruption —
It happens again and again.
In endless compassion, Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa,
In the form of the Sudarśana Chakra,
Have sent their divine brilliance into him.
His fame grows every single day —
There is no limit to it here.
Every day, something wondrous occurs for the pious ones —
Be it food, listening to sacred stories, or devotion —
As told in the Purāṇas, all manifest here.
Within the land, this village of Mañcāle (Maṅṭrālaya) —
There is no other equal to it.
He is the savior of the fallen, the victorious Viṭṭhala —
The Guru who blesses and delights us forever.
Aha! How delightful was the vision that Dāsarāya beheld!
The noble Dāsa, a realized soul, saw with his own eyes in the Brindāvana the radiant form of Śrī Gururāja, shining like the rising sun, with a golden-hued divine body!
How immense was his fortune!
When one reflects upon this deeply meaningful verse — in which Dāsa, overwhelmed, describes the wondrous vision he saw — it becomes evident that Śrī Rāya is not visible to the ordinary person’s eye. Yet he resides in the Brindāvana in a living form, immersed in the service of the Lord, and that the extraordinary divine manifestations there become visible only to enlightened seers.
Considering that this divine vision occurred to Śrī Vijayadāsa some seventy-five to eighty years after Śrī Rāya entered Brindāvana, it clearly affirms that Śrī Rāya is a partial incarnation (devāṁśa) of the divine.
Look at how Śrī Vijayadāsa received this vision — how glorious it is!
In ancient times, on this very bank of the Tungabhadra River, at the very spot where the Brindāvana now stands, King Prahlāda had performed numerous sacrifices (yajñas). Śrī Rāya, being the incarnation of Prahlāda, realized this through his divine knowledge, and with eagerness resolved to enter the Brindāvana in this very place where he had once offered yajñas.
In the presence of the learned, he entered the Brindāvana, absorbed in the meditation of the lotus feet of Śrī Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa, seated in yogic posture, and shone forth like the rising sun!
Here, Hanuman, Bhīma, and Madhvācārya — all forms of Śrī Vāyudeva — are resplendent. Alongside them, numerous great sages dwell in their original forms, eternally stationed there, praising the virtues of Śrī Hari, receiving teachings from those greater than them, and instructing those lesser than them — all seeking to please Mādhava (the Lord).
In this Kaliyuga, dispelling the darkness of ignorance and spreading the light of knowledge — that charming and wondrous scene was witnessed with his own eyes and described by Dāsarāya.
Ah! What an enchanting vision!
Mūla Rāmacandra (Original Lord Rāma), Narasiṁha Mūrti, Vedavyāsa Deva, and Śrī Kṛṣṇa Paramātmā are all enshrined on the four sides of the Brindāvana.
Śrī Prahlāda, Bāhlika, Vyāsarāja, and Rāghavendra are deeply engrossed in the worship of the lotus feet of these four divine forms.
Against the mountains of false doctrines (pervading enemies), these saints appear resplendent like vajrāyudha (the thunderbolt weapon) crushing the summit of ignorance!
At all times of the day and night, they bestow blessings upon the assembly of devotees who worship them, granting their desired boons like a divine wish-fulfilling cow (kāmadhenū)!
Śrī Gururāja, in physical form, has been residing continuously in this beautiful Brindāvana for seven hundred years without interruption —
Realizing this, and foreseeing the future glories that would unfold here, Vijayadāsa, in astonishment, utters his divine exclamation of wonder!
"Do not mistake this for an ordinary Brindāvana!"
It is the Brindāvana adorned by the supremely glorious Guru — the Podavi Gururāja — who, having made the very steps of the Lord of Podi (Lakṣmī) his devoted service-path, has bound the Lord of the Ocean (Viṣṇu) with the cords of his devotion and enshrined Him on the throne of his heart.
For seven hundred years, special forms of worship and rituals have been taking place continuously in the sanctified presence of the Guru’s Brindāvana.
Not a single day passes without a festival!
Every week sees unique and grand celebrations.
Those who take refuge at the feet of Śrī Rāya and render service — the compassionate Lord Nārāyaṇa, beloved of Kamalā (Lakṣmī), Himself dwelling there in the form of the divine discus (chakra), removes all the sins of those devotees and grants all their desires, bringing glory and praise to Śrī Rāya!
In Maṅṭrālaya, the glory of this exalted saint knows no bounds!
Day by day, it continues to increase in miraculous ways.
Thousands of people — Brahmins and Suvāsinīs (auspicious married women) — are fed sanctified food; there are discourses on the stories of Śrī Hari, recitations from the Bhārata and Bhāgavata Purāṇas, and expounding of true scriptures.
The fame spreads that there is no sacred place in the world equal to Maṅṭrālaya!
All these future happenings were seen with his own divine eyes by Śrī Vijayadāsārya even then —
and to uplift the noble-hearted, he revealed this wondrous vision through his extraordinary poem,
engraving it indelibly on the minds of the people, in words that everyone could appreciate and remember forever.
The mahimā (divine glory) that Śrī Rāya showed to Śrī Vijayadāsa — filled with grace — surpasses all the other miracles witnessed at his Brindāvana.
Not only was Vijayadāsa blessed with a divine vision, but he also witnessed:
The five divine forms of Nārāyaṇa along with Lakṣmī,
Śrī Vāyudeva and his three incarnations,
The original teachers including Śrī Padmanābha, Śrī Jayatīrtha, and Śrī Purandara Dāsa,
And the past incarnations of Śrī Rāya as Prahlāda, Bāhlika, and Vyāsarāja.
He was also shown the astonishingly detailed scenes of the divine wonders and glories that would unfold at the Brindāvana over the next seven hundred years — as though in a vivid moving picture!
Is there a limit to the unfathomable glory of the sovereign guru, Gurusārvabhauma Śrī Rāghavendra Swāmī, who revealed all this?
This can only be understood and relished through a pure heart and direct experience — not by mere description, for no one can truly capture it in words!
The divine marvels shown to Vijayadāsa within the first century after Śrī Rāya entered the Brindāvana must certainly be declared — in ringing tones — as beyond all ordinary perception!
"Maṇṭrālaya Kṣetra is not only a center of spiritual wisdom, but is revered as the motherland of Haridāsa literature and the Bhakti movement.
It has served as a pilgrimage center for Kannada Haridāsas — flourishing in the 18th and 19th centuries and continuing to radiate its glory even today.
All the jñānīs (realized souls), yogis, sādhakas (spiritual practitioners), worshippers, and scholars of that time came to Maṇṭrālaya, worshipped Śrī Gururāja with a spirit of knowledge-offering, delighted him, and dedicated the fruit of their jñāna-yajña (sacrifice of wisdom) to the Supreme through Śrī Rāya.
Through his grace, they enhanced their wealth of jñāna (wisdom), bhakti (devotion), and vairāgya (detachment).
They walked the ānanda-mārga (path of bliss) shown by Śrīmad Ānandatīrtha (Madhvācārya) to reach the Supreme Truth and found fulfillment.
In this same manner, every year, saints and Haridāsas from various parts of India would visit this sacred kṣetra of Śrī Mantra Siddhi.
They would offer their compositions to Śrī Rāya, render his service, and — whether through direct vision or dream-guided instructions from the Guru — commit themselves to dedicate their lives in service of the spiritual, religious, cultural, social, and moral upliftment of the people. They would solemnly vow to do so in the divine presence of the Guru.
In Maṇṭrālaya, during the grand annual gatherings of sages, Haridāsas, and devotees, large numbers of paṇḍitas (scholars), Haridāsas, poets, and musicians would participate.
Spiritual giants such as Śrī Sumatīndra Tīrtha, Śrī Vādīndra Tīrtha, Śrī Vasudhendra, Varadendra, Dhīrendhra, Bhuvanendra, Vyāsatattvajña - ವ್ಯಾಸತತ್ತ್ವಜ್ಞ, and Satyabodha Tīrtha;
and realized Haridāsas like Śrī Vijayadāsa, Gopāladāsa, Jagannāthadāsa, and Prāṇeśadāsa, would lead months-long conferences and spiritual discourses.
Thousands of the faithful would participate in these assemblies, gaining fulfillment in life through their teachings, kīrtanas, and bhajans.
At the center of all this divine activity stood Śrī Gururāja himself.
No matter how much is said about such a great one, it will always fall short.