Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji
Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswami – The presiding Jagadguru Shankaracharya of
Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham at Sringeri
भारती करुणापात्रं भारती पदभूषणम् ।
भारती पदमारूढं भारती तीर्थमाश्रये ॥
Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji, the presiding Pontiff and the 36th in the line of Jagadgurus of the celebrated Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham is a saint par excellence and a sage beyond compare.
With His incarnation in 1951 into a family of Vedic scholars as a result of great penance of His parents, Sri Seetharama Anjaneyalu (the purvashrama or pre-sanyasa name of name of His Holiness) was renowned for His strict dharmic ways of life, deep devotion to God and uncompromising desire for scriptural learning, even as a young boy.
Great souls born with a mission do not stick to a conditioning circle of bondage. True to this adage, in 1966, the illustrious brahmachari left home once and for all, reached Ujjain, where His Guru Sri Abhinava Vidyatheertha Mahaswamiji, the 35th Pontiff of Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham was then camping, and surrendered unto the great Guru. He served the sacred feet of His Guru for about eight years. Renouncing the world in 1974 and embracing Sanyasa, He was blessed with the opportunity to continue to be under the divine care and guidance of His holy Guru for about 15 years. With His ascension to the throne of Transcendental Wisdom in 1989 as the 36th Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamiji has been the guiding spirit behind innumerable spiritual aspirants since then.
His glories are boundless; yet His Holiness is very simple, humble and completely free from egotism. Thousands visit His abode every day to have His darshana and return as the recipients of immense grace. A compassionate glance from His most merciful eyes rends asunder even the greatest impediment to a joyful life. An erudite scholar, His Holiness has composed many a divine verse in praise of His Guru, the previous Gurus and various forms of God. His Holiness is also a versatile linguist. His discourses in chaste Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi and have pulled people from far and near towards treading a virtuous life. An able administrator, His Holiness sees to it that the Math fulfills in letter and spirit the sacred purpose of sustenance and propagation of Sanatana Dharma, as set by its divine founder, Jagadguru Sri Adi Sankaracharya.
It is, of course, a great blessing that this compassionate sage of highest spiritual order lives right amidst us as a spring of gushing grace where all can slake their disquiet and distress.