The seer who was a Rudra Amsha

Before he took Deekshe, he was a Shanubhog and he was called  Ananthappa. It was Vibudhendra Theertha who saw him at  Agnihalu village near the confluence of the Krishna and the Bheema.

Vibudhendra Theertha taught Sandhyavandana to Ananthappa.

He gave a Narasimha Saligrama to Ananthappa and advised him to perform Sandhyavandhana and Saligrama pooje regularly.

Ananthappa began his routine in accordance with the instructions of Vibhudhendra Theertha. He performed Sandhyavandhana and then offered Naivedya to the Saligrama.

When the Saligrama did not take the offering, Ananthappa got angry and offered to die if  the Narasimha saligrama did not take the offering.

The Saligrama opened and Ananthappa fed it with the Naivedya. Soon, this became a regular routine. In 1490, Vibhudhendra Theertha again came to the village and he met Ananthappa who by then had transformed into a pious and holy man, immersed in religion and prayer.  

The seer had been granted the village of Angihalu by the Vijayanagar Emperor. He was wonderstruck when he saw the saligrama partaking the Naivedya. He decided to nominate Ananthappa as the successor of the matha that he headed.

He conferred sanyasa on Ananthappa and entrusted the Samsthana of the Sri matha to him. Vibudhendra then proceeded towards Tamrapani, in Tamil Nadu, where he entered Brindavana.

It was after sanyasa that Ananthappa came to be called Jitamitra. He was the 12^th seer to sit on the Sri matha after Madhwacharya.

Jitamitra Theertha taught his students under a gum tree on a mound between the Krishna and the Bheema rivers as he considered this spot to be as sacred as Prayag. Every day, the students and onlookers saw a Jangama attending his classes. The students always wondered who this Jangama was.

Once, when the Krishna was in spate, Jitamitra Theertha was meditating under the gum tree. The Krishna submerged the entire mound and it did not recede for seven days. Later the flood receded and the students were amazed to see Jitamitra Theertha sitting in meditation. The students saw that not a drop of water had touched the seer.

This incident occurred a second time and this time around the seer had disappeared. When his devotees and students began searching for him, they heard the voice of Jitamitra Theertha saying  that he had disappeared and that there was no need for a Brindavana for him. The voice of the seer said the gum tree under which he sat and taught them should be worshipped. Accordingly, the gum tree came to be worshipped. Even today, the gum tree exists and it is being worshipped everyday.

Legend has it that Jitamitra was a Rudramsha. When Susheelendra Theertha of Mantralaya Raghavendra Swamy Matha went there, he saw Jitamitra in the form of a Bairagi at the nearby Sangameshwara temple. The Bairagi disappeared into the sanctum sanctorum which has an idol of  Shiva.

Before disappearing from view, Jitamitra Theertha had visited Bichale and planted a gum tree there. It was on this gum tree that Appanacharya used to hang raw rice kept in a cloth and start teaching his students. When he finished his classes, the rice would have boiled.

Sripadaraja also visited Bichale and he consecrated an idol of Narasimha near the gum tree. He also wrote a beautiful poem in praise of  Jitamitra Theertha.

The poem in Sanskrit and Kannada is as follows:

वंदने माडिरै यतिकुलचंद्रन पाडिरै ॥प॥
बंद दुरितगळ हिंदे आनंद पडुवे विबुधॆंद्र करॊद्भवर ॥अ.प॥

रघुकुलवर पुत्र रामन चरण करुणापात्र।
निगमॊक्तिय सूत्र पाठ पठिसुव सुगुण जितामित्र॥
नगधर श्री पन्नगशयनन गुण ।
पोगळुव अपार अगणित महिमर ॥१॥

वरमहात्मे तिळिसि मोदलिंदीपरियंददि चरिसि।
निरुत मनव निलिसि श्रीहरि करि वरदन ओलिसि ॥
धरे जनरिगे अरियदे मरेयागुत ।
हरुषदि गॊनद तरुवल्लिरुवर ॥२॥

मुददि कृष्णा तटिय मध्यदि सदनद ई परिय ।
सतदामल यतिवर्य तपमौनदलि इद्दु (द्रुत) करिय(कार्य) ॥
ओदगि नदियु सूसुत बरलॆळु दिन-।
कुदयादवर सुपद कमलंगळ ॥३॥

मास मार्गशीर्षाराधनेगशॆषदिन अमावास्य ।
दासरु प्रतिवरुष माळ्परु लॆसेनलु श्रितिगॊष ॥
काशिय क्षॆत्र ई स्थळ मिगिलै
दासरिगे ई भूसरि पदंगळ ॥४॥

मध्व शास्त्र ग्रंथसारद पद्धति तिळिदंथ ।
अद्वैत पंथ मुरिदु मत उद्धरिसिदंथ ॥
रुद्रवंद्य मूरुति रंगविठलन पद ।
पद्माराधक प्रसिद्ध मुनींद्रर ॥५॥

The poem in Kannada is:

ವಂದನೆ ಮಾಡಿರೈ ಯತಿಕುಲಚಂದ್ರನ ಪಾಡಿರೈ ||ಪ||
ಬಂದ ದುರಿತಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಆನಂದ ಪಡುವೆ ವಿಬುಧೇಂದ್ರ ಕರೋದ್ಭವರ ||ಅ.ಪ||

ರಘುಕುಲವರ ಪುತ್ರ ರಾಮನ ಚರಣ ಕರುಣಾಪಾತ್ರ|
ನಿಗಮೋಕ್ತಿಯ ಸೂತ್ರ ಪಾಠ ಪಠಿಸುವ ಸುಗುಣ ಜಿತಾಮಿತ್ರ||
ನಗಧರ ಶ್ರೀ ಪನ್ನಗಶಯನನ ಗುಣ |
ಪೊಗಳುವ ಅಪಾರ ಅಗಣಿತ ಮಹಿಮರ ||೧||

ವರಮಹಾತ್ಮೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿ ಮೊದಲಿಂದೀಪರಿಯಂದದಿ ಚರಿಸಿ|
ನಿರುತ ಮನವ ನಿಲಿಸಿ ಶ್ರೀಹರಿ ಕರಿ ವರದನ ಒಲಿಸಿ ||
ಧರೆ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಅರಿಯದೆ ಮರೆಯಾಗುತ |
ಹರುಷದಿ ಗೋನದ ತರುವಲ್ಲಿರುವರ ||೨||

ಮುದದಿ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾ ತಟಿಯ ಮಧ್ಯದಿ ಸದನದ ಈ ಪರಿಯ |
ಸತದಾಮಲ ಯತಿವರ್ಯ ತಪಮೌನದಲಿ ಇದ್ದು (ದ್ರುತ) ಕರಿಯ(ಕಾರ್ಯ) ||
ಒದಗಿ ನದಿಯು ಸೂಸುತ ಬರಲೇಳು ದಿನ-|
ಕುದಯಾದವರ ಸುಪದ ಕಮಲಂಗಳ ||೩||

ಮಾಸ ಮಾರ್ಗಶೀರ್ಷಾರಾಧನೆಗಶೇಷದಿನ ಅಮಾವಾಸ್ಯ |
ದಾಸರು ಪ್ರತಿವರುಷ ಮಾಳ್ಪರು ಲೇಸೆನಲು ಶ್ರಿತಿಗೋಷ ||
ಕಾಶಿಯ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ ಈ ಸ್ಥಳ ಮಿಗಿಲೈ
ದಾಸರಿಗೆ ಈ ಭೂಸರಿ ಪದಂಗಳ ||೪||

ಮಧ್ವ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ ಗ್ರಂಥಸಾರದ ಪದ್ಧತಿ ತಿಳಿದಂಥ |
ಅದ್ವೈತ ಪಂಥ ಮುರಿದು ಮತ ಉದ್ಧರಿಸಿದಂಥ ||
ರುದ್ರವಂದ್ಯ ಮೂರುತಿ ರಂಗವಿಠಲನ ಪದ |
ಪದ್ಮಾರಾಧಕ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಮುನೀಂದ್ರರ ||೫||

The aradhane of this great saint of Mantralaya Raghavendra Swamy Matha is being celebrated for three days from December 31 at Jitamitra Gadde, Shivpur, in Yadgir. The senior and jujior pontiff of the Mantralaya Matha will grace the occasion.