The Brindavanas that shook

It was sometime in mid 1750s. The pontiff of the Raghavendra Swamy Matha was Vadeendra Theertha. He was the great grandson of Raghavendra Swamy who had entered Brindavana in Mantralaya in 1671.

Vadeendra Theertha was the son of Purushottamacharya who in turn was the son of Lakshminarayana, the only son of Raghavendra Swamy. In his Poorvashrama, Vadeendra Theerta was called Srinivasacharya. 

Vadeendra Theertha had finished composing Guru Guna Sthavana, a beautiful work, praising his ancestor Raghavendra Swamy and also detailing his works.

Vadeendra Theertha decided to dedicate the work to Rayaru and he went to Mantralaya and stood before the Brindavana and began reciting the composition. He was the Peetadhipathi of the Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha from 1750 to 1761.

Minutes went by and the melodious voice of  Vadeendra flowed around the Brindavana attracting devotees and pilgrims who also stood respectfully in front of the Moola Brindavana of Raghavendra Swamy.

When Vadeendra Theertha completed reciting the works, the Brindavana of Raghavendra shook and nodded its approval. Even to this day, the Brindavana of Raghavendra can be seen titled to one side. This is because of this incident.

Guru Guna Sthavana is a work of 36 verses in honor of Rayaru. It gives us the dates chronologically of the compositions of Rayaru and also the circumstances under which these works came to be written.

Incidentally, Vadeendra Theertha was just two years old when Raghavendra Swamy entered Brindavana in Mantralaya. Vadeendra Theertha entered Brindavana in a structure that was originally constructed by Diwan Venkanna for Rayaru.

Rayaru wanted a much simpler Brindavana and predicated that another holy saint would be entitled to sit in the Brindavana meant for him a few decades later.  

If you look closely at the Brindavana, you can see a small crack on top.  A popular story is that a woman flung a stone in anger when Rararu did not appear in her dreams and fulfill her wishes. The same night, Rayaru came in her dreams and told her he would have appeared in her dreams that night and given her his blessings.

The Brindavana of Raghavendra Swamy is also supposed to have nodded its approval to the Harikathamrutasara composed by Jagannatha Dasa.

Another Brindavana is also supposed to have shaken itself  when a Pravachana was being conducted before it decades before the Rayaru miracle.

Satyasandha Theertha of Uttaradhi Matha had come to Sangli in Maharashtra. He visited the Brindavana of  Satyavrata Theertha (1635-1638) and began a Pravachana on Nyaya Sudha after completing the pooje to Moola Rama.

Even as scores of people, devotees and matha officials looked on, the Brindavana of  Satyavrata Theertha shook from side to side several times after the Pravachana was completed.

One of the witnesses to this incident was the king of Sangli, Balraj Urs. Both these saints entered Brindavana when alive. Another similarity between the two saints is that after Rayaru, the Sri matha came to called as Raghavendra Swamy Matha. The Uttradhi Matha name continued but all seers occupying the peeta after Satyavrata Theertha took the prefix Satya in honour of the immense contribution of  the saint to the matha and to Dwaitha Parampare.

There is another saint in the Uttaradhi Matha parampare called Satyavara Theertha. His Brindavana is at santebidanoor. His name so closely resembles to that of Satyavrata Theertha that there is confusion between the two saints.