|| Hari Sarvothama Vayu Jivothama ||
||Sri Raghavendra Gurubyo Namaha||
|| Sri Sumateendra Thirtha Gurubyo Namaha||
Sri Sumateendra Theertharu(1692-1725),one of the greatest Maadhva saints, whose aradhane is celebrated on 22/10/2022(Dwadashi) at Srirangam,Tamilnadu..
Sri Sumateendra Tirtha
Namaskara to all Haribhaktaas,
The arrival of the month of November every year brings glee to the hearts of the young and the old on the thought of the celebration of the festival of lights , deepaavali. The devout and the learned among the satviks however also fondly and respectfully remember one more vali i.e. the taravali. Yes. the taravali is a series of works of one of the greatest saints of Sri Raghavendra Matha namely Sri Sumateeendra teertha.
His brindavan is situated at Srirangam besides the brindaavans of Sri Raghavendra Swamy(Mrithika) and His sucessor Sri Yogindra teertharu. After Sri Yogindra , Sri Surindra teertha took up the reins of the matha to be followedby Sri Sumateendra teertha. Sri Sumateendra teertha was a scholar par excellence and happened to be the grandson of the elder brother of Sri Raghavendraswami , Sri Gururajacharya.
His Holiness was fortunate to have been educated for some time by Mantralaya Prabhu Himself and no wonder was blessed by the latter so bountifully. His contribution was so significant that the matha after Him came to to called as Sri Sumateendra matha.Besides the two taravalis (Yogindra taravali and Raama taravali) this great scholar saint has written Praanapooja paddhathi and Raama dandakaa. All the four works have been published in the devanagari by Mantralaya.
The saint also has a feast for the students of Alamkara. He has written an excellent gloss on theAlamkaramanjari of Sri Sudeendra teertha (the guru of Sri Raghavendraswami) . The scholars of alamkara who find the alamkaramanjari tough, can go through this work and clarify their doubts on the former work.
Sri Sumateendra Teerthar’s scholarship was extraordinary. His literary prowess was equally great. The swamiji prior to his sanyasa itself had written Jayaghoshana, Birudavalee, Rajastuthi, Shahuvijaya,Chakravalaprabandha and other short treatises on the king Shahaji.In addition he wrote literary books such as Ramadhandaka,Ramataravalee, Yogeendravijaya, Yogeendrataravalee,Abhinavakadambari.
He also wrote commentaries on Sudheendratheertha’s Subhadraparinaya and Alankaramanjari,Pandithacharya’s Ushaharana, a poetry, and Vyasarajavijaya of Vijayeendratheertha.The swamiji also wrote a good commentary ‘Bhavarathnakosha’on great philosophical books like Geethabhashyaprameyadeepika,Tattvaprakashika, Rigbhashyateeka and also AdhikaranaRathnamala, a guide to the real meaning of Brahmameemamsa.
Swamiji’s rectitude was exemplary.
As do the literary works ofthe scholar Jagannatha, swamiji’s works are also full of reservation for other books and poems. His style of writing is full of vim and vigour. He confidently declares that none other than him is competent to write commentaries on the literary works of Sudheendra theertha.
Charama sloka:
poorNapraj Jamataambhodhi poorNEndumakalankinam|sujanaambudhibhaasvantam sumateendragurum bhajE |
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Let us all do smarane of our great saint and be blessed by Sri Harih Vaayuh Gurugalu,
Venkatesh Rajendra
~Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu~
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