Jagadgurus grace Tirthamuthur Math
Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasannidhanam and His successor-designate, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati Sannidhanam graced the Tirthamuthur Math near Tirthahalli on 18th March 2015. After being received with reverence and devotion by the devotees, Sri Sri Mahasannidhanam performed Puja and Punah Prathishta of Lord Yoga Narasimha and Lord Hanuman.
In the public function organized thereafter, Sri Sri Mahasannidhanam graced the devotees with an Anugraha Bhashanam. In His Anugraha Bhashanam, the Jagadguru said that Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada has composed beautiful hymns in praise of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha. The Grace of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha on Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada was immense. We come across this in two instances in the life of Sri Bhagavatpada. Once when the Acharya was in Srisailam, a Kapalika had come asking for the head of the omniscient Acharya. He wished to please Lord Bhairava by sacrificing the head of the Acharya. The Acharya who had no sense of mine-ness or any worldly desires immediately agreed and asked the Kapalika to come the following afternoon when his disciples would have gone for their mid-day Anushtanam to the river. The following afternoon, just as the evil-minded Kapalika was about to strike the Acharya, Lord Lakshmi Narasimha graced the body of the Acharyal’s disciple, Padmapada and killed the Kapalika just as Hiranyakashipu had been killed. On another occasion, when Sri Bhagavatpada had defeated Mandana Mishra in a debate, the latter’s wife Ubhaya Bharati challenged the Acharya saying she too had to be defeated for the debate to end. The Acharya accepted; as the debate went on, Ubhaya Bharati found the Acharya to be proficient in all topics. However when questions related to the science of love were posed, the Acharya asked for time and entered the body of a king named Amaruka and resided in it for a month. Impressed by the administration of the kingdom, the ministers of the kingdom soon sensed that some Mahatma had inhabited the body of the king. They decided to search for all bodies preserved or hidden in the region and burn them so the Mahatma would not leave the body of the king. Just as the soldiers of the kingdom found the body of the Acharya and set it on fire, the Acharya left the king’s body and re-inhabited his own. As the body was burning, the Acharya invoked the grace of Lord Narasimha. Immediately, by the Lord’s Grace, the body became unscathed. Such was the devotion of the Acharya towards Lord Narasimha and such was the grace that the Lord showered. To indicate the grace of Lord Narasimha on Sri Bhagavatpada, one of the names in the Ashtottara Shatanamavali (108 names) of Sri Adi Shankaracharya is नृसिंहभक्तः – Nrisimha BhaktaH.
The Jagadguru said that by offering worship to Lord Narasimha, we secure our welfare. Our ancestors have offered such worship and attained Shreyas. Many are the Narasimha Kshetras in our country where the Lord Narasimha’s divine presence can be felt. The principal deity of worship in the “Sri Tirthamukthapuri Samsthanam, Sri Math, Tirthamuthur” is also Lord Narasimha. The past Mathadhipatis of the Math have worshipped the Lord, obtained His Grace and guided devotees. The Jagadguru remembered the services of Sri Jnanendra Bharati Swamiji who had been the Mathadhipati until 1985 and had been blessing the devotees during his time. He had a cordial relationship with the Sringeri Jagadguru Mahasamsthanam. The Jagadguru also remembered that the Swamiji was a recipient of the Blessings of His Paramaguru, Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamiji. When the Mahaswamiji had completed his Dakshina Bharata Vijaya Yatra and was returning to Sringeri in 1928, the Swamiji extended invitation. When the great Jivanmukta condescended to stay for a day at the Math, the Swamiji had received and served the Mahaswamiji and secured the latter’s blessings.
The Jagadguru expressed joy at worshipping the beautiful new Vigraha of Lord Yoga Narasimha. The Jagadguru also expressed happiness that a shrine for Lord Hanuman had been consecrated. The Jagadguru praised the devotees of the Tirthamutthooru Math for their service, and ended the Anugraha Bhashanam saying that by the Grace of Lord Narasimha, a suitable candidate be found for renewing the Guru Parampara at the Math.