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Sri Raghavendra Swami Aradhana 2015

Sri Raghavendra Swami was born as the second son of Gopikamba and Thimanna Bhatta in the year 1595, on a Thursday that fell on the Shukla Navami of the Phalguna month. The great saint who was hailed as the incarnation of Prahalada, the great bhakta of Lord Maha Vishnu, was born in the Mrighashirsha Nakshatra at Buvanagiri which is in the present day Tamilnadu. Born as Venkatanatha and fondly called as Venkata Ramana, Sri Raghavendra Swami was the epitome of piety and bhakti.

After serving the world and the lord for a lifetime, Sri Raghavendra Swami attained Jeeva Samadhi in the year 1671. It happened on the Dwitiya of Krishna Paksha of the Shravana month. The Brindavana that houses the samadhi is in the Raghavendra Mutt in Mantralayam and is visited by hundreds and thousands of devotees each year. The day of his Samadhi is celebrated as Sri Raghavendra Swamy Aradhana.

In the year 2015, the dates are as follows:
30 August- Poorva Aradhana
31 August- Madhya Aradhana
1 September- Uttara Aradhana

Facts of Sri Raghaendra Swami's Life

Today is the final day of the celebration and to commemorate it, we have a list of facts related to Sri Raghavendra Swami. Scroll on to learn more and feel free to add anything we may have left out in the comments section.

Birth
Born as the second son of the parents, Sri Raghavendra Swami was named Venkatanatha or Venkatacharya to honour Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupathi. It is believed that Sri Raghavendra Swami was born due to the diety's blessings as a reward of his parent's devotion.

Youth
Sri Raghavendra Swami was a very diligent student from a very young age. He also was very adept at playing the Veena which he learnt from his father and grandfather.

Education
Venkatanatha was brought up under the care of Sri Gururaja Bhatta after the death of Venkatanatha's father. He went through his initial education under his brother-in-law. Lakshminarasimhacharya. Later, Sree Susheendra Teertha accepted him as his student.

Facts of Sri Raghaendra Swami's Life

Marital Life
In the year 1614, he married Smt. Saraswathi Bai and had a son Sri Lakshminarayanacharya.
Smt. Saraswati Bai was a pious woman and was very dedicated to her husband. They spent most of their lives in poverty and Saraswati Bai often did not even own a change of clothes.

It is said that when Sri Raghavendra Swami was to enter into Sanyas, Saraswathi Bai had a sudden urge to see her husband one last time. But she was denied that and overcome with sadness, she committed suicide by drowning herself. Realising that his wife was caught between the worlds, unable to attain moksha, Sri Raghavendra Swami sprinkled some water from his Kamandalu enabling Saraswathi Bai to see him and fulfill her last wish.

Miracles
It is said that once, Sri Raghavendra Swami was invited to a function but the hosts failed to treat him well. He was asked to prepare sandalwood paste for all the guests. As per his habit, Sri Raghavendra Swami chanted Mantras and Shlokas while preparing the sandalwood paste. When the guests applied it, their skin immediately started to burn. Flabbergasted, the hosts sought explanation from Sri Raghavendra Swami. He replied that he was reciting the Agni Sukta while preparing the sandalwood paste and that must have been the reason for the burning sensation.

The host understood his folly and asked for forgiveness. Sri Raghavendra Swami graciously forgave him and prepared sandalwood paste while chanting the Varun Mantra. Application of which relived the guests of the burning and they had the sensation of being drenched in cool rain.

Lifespan
It is said that Sri Raghavendra Swami would live for 76 years in his physical form on earth. He would spend 300 years in Brindavana and live through the work of his followers and another 400 years in Brindavana without a physical form. Sri Raghavendra Swami would live a total of 700 years in the Brindavana to help the society by removing darkness and miseries from it.

Facts of Sri Raghaendra Swami's Life

Sri Appanacharya
Sri Raghavendra knew that if his staunch devotee and follower, Sri Appanacharya was present, he would not be allowed to go into Jeeva Samadhi. So, he was sent away on the pretext of some work. But as soon as the plan reached the ears of Sri Appanacharya, he rushed back towards the Mutt only to see the river Tungabhadra swollen up with the floods. He immediately burst forth a 32 stanza Shloka, which is now famous as the Sri Raghavendra Stotra or Sri Poornabodha sloka.

Soon the river abated and he was able to cross the river. He was mid way through the last stanza when the last slab was placed on the Brindavan sealing the saint inside. Over come with grief, Sri Appanacharya was unable to complete the line. Suddenly, from the Brindavan came a voice saying "Sakshee Hayastotra Hee" which referred to Hayagreeva ( a form of Vishnu) and Prahalada.

Shloka dedicated to Sri Raghavendra Swami
Another important shloka of two lines is as follows:

"Poojyaaya Raaghavendraaya Satya Dharma Rathaayacha
Bhajataam Kalpa Vrukshaaya Namathaam Kaamadhenave"

Story first published: Tuesday, September 1, 2015, 16:53 [IST]
Read more about: faith mysticism spirituality