Our honourable Guru Raghavendra Swamy must be considered as a great Maharishi, since he has contained vast ocean like knowledge in Shastras, Vedas, Ithikasas and Puranas. Once if we read his spiritual works, we would be of the opinion that our Madhwa Guru Raghavendra shines like a great Brahma Rishi! If we keenly observe him from one side, he looks like his Guru Madhwa, and if we observe him in another angle, he looks like the divine Guru Brihaspati, and if we still closely follow him, he looks like the great Vyasa Maharishi itself!
In the famous text, “SRI RAGHAVENDRA VIJAYAM”, which contains the life history of Guru Raghavendra, he was mentioned as “RISHI RAGHAVENDRA”, “GURU RAGHAVENDRA” and as “PARAMA ACHARYA GURUKALU”. In some famous Kannadi Bhakti songs, Guru Raghavendra was mentioned as RishiMahanu Bavaru, a Rishi which contains the qualities of a saint. Some scholars are of the opinion that Guru Raghavendra is an aspect of Rishi Kapila, since Kapila Muni has once told that I would send one of my aspects to serve the sufferers in the KaliYuga. In one of the Kannada Texts, Guru Raghavendra was compared with Rishi Kapila with regard to his vast knowledge in all subjects. He is also praised as the divine tree Kalpavriksha, divine cow Kamadhenu and as the Holy Rishi Kapila by the famous Madhwa Scholar Sri Anandacharya. Even the education goddess Ma Saraswati has once appeared before Venkatanatha, and told “you are like a Holy Rishi, hence, Hey, Venkatanatha, you have to compulsorily take the sainthood, and hence forth you would be known as Sri Raghavendra Teertha”, and this title is equivalent to the position of a great Rishi!
Similar to the holy Rishis, Guru Raghavendra still keeps the holy pot (Kamandala) and Thandam, a type of a holy stick like thing! Similar to Rishi, he used to spray water from the Kamandala before his devotees, in order to cleanse their sins and diseases! He used to involve in deep meditation for universal goodness similar to the Rishis, and still now he is doing like that in his Mantralayam Shrine, for the welfare of the entire universe.
Once, while Guru Raghavendra was debating with some scholars, a Shaivite scholar has asked, “you are arguing by considering yourself as a holy sage, are you a saint or a sage, just tell me immediately”. Guru Raghavendra had smiled and replied, “Okay, consider me as a Madhwa Saint. My Guru Sri Madhwacharya still serves Rishi Veda Vyasa in the Holy Bhadrigashrama, and since he is doing that holy act, Guru Madhwa must also be treated as a Rishi, and likewise, being the follower of Guru Madhwa, you can consider me also as a Rishi. I have been taken birth in this earth in order to protect the supressed and the depressed and to make them to smile peacefully in their lives”.
Being the incarnation of the great Vishnu Bhagavata, Sri Prahalada, who was also known as Sri Prahalada MahaRishi, we could finally come to a conclusion that our holy Guru Raghavendra is a Navaratna Maharishi (A Prestigious GEM among the Rishis). Hence let us worship the great Maharishi Guru Raghavendrarishigalu and let us be blessed.
“OM SRI RISHIGURURAYARU NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR
