The man who did not want to become a Peetadhipathi

 This is an excellent but short composition on Sri Krishna by Vasudeva Vittala, a friend of Gopala Dasa and his contemporary.

Vasudeva Vittala was a disciple of Bhuvenendra Theertha and he had taken Sanyasa at the instance of Gopala Dasa. He was to occupy the peetha of  the Sri Raghavendra swamy Matha of Mantralaya but since he was devoted to Haridasa Sampradaya, he decided to give up the idea of becoming a Sanyasi. However, he continued as a Bidi or independent Swamy and came to be known as IG or Aijee Swamy.

He got the name Aijee Swamilgalu as he was born at Aiji as Venkataramancharya. His father, Venkata Narasimhacharya, was a well-known Sudha pandit.

The Brindavana of Aijee Swamigalu is in Venisomapura and this is a small village about 70 kolometres from Mantralaya and it is in Andhra Pradesh. The Brindavana, the temple of Gopala Krishna and another temple were flooded when the Tungabhadra overflowed the banks in 2009. This was the time Mantralaya too was flooded.

Aijee Swamigalu is also known as Vyasa Tatwajna Theertha and he consecrated an idol of  Gopala Krishna in Venisomapura.

Vyasa Tatwajna Theertha has written a number of compositions on Krishna. A disciple of Bhuvenandra Theertha (1785-1799) of Raghavendra Swamy Matha, he decided against taking up position as Peetadhipathi after Bhuvanendra Theertha.

He was a close associate and friend of Goapala Dasa and it was this Haridasa who inspired  Vyasa Vittala Dasa to take Sanyasa. Infact, it was Gopala Dasa who gave him this ankita nama. One of the most prominent disciples of Vyasa Tatwajna Theertha is Madanoor Vishnu Theertha.

He has written several songs on Rayaru. When he first visited Tirumala,, he found the entire hill covered with Saligrama. Unable to bring himself to place his feet on the hill, he climbed the hill on his knees and then had a darshana of Srinivasa.

This is one of his small but beautiful composition on Krishna.

bandakriShNa Chandadinda banda nODe I

gOpavRundadinda nandisuta banda nODe ll

GOvamEvaneeva banda nODe I

dEvatAvAdyagaLinda banda nODe ll

pApapOpagOparUpa banda nODe I

tApalOpalEpalOpa banda nODe ll

BhUsurasuKasUsuta banda nODe I

vAsudEva viTtalatA banda nODe ll