smarisi badukiro divya charaNakeragiro

durita toredu poreva vijaya gurugalembarA

Sri Vyasa Vittala dasaru who was transformed from an arrogant Sanskrit scholar to a humble Haridasa by Sri Vijayadasaru is glorified by this Dasaru. He says ," Those who want to live, they should remember and bring to their minds the thoughts of the magnificient pAda of Sri Vijayadasaru."  Here the word 'baduku' is very significant. It implies that which gives a benefit of living is called as baduku.  What does he do for a living?  is a question we encounter often and it gives the meaning of baduku as some form of earning which lets us live meaningfully. Here the baduku is apt because spiritual upliftment can be earned by serving Sri Vijayadasaru and that is implied by Sri Vyasavittala dasau here.  How does this upliftment occur?

The  padadUli of HaridArus are a passport to bhakthi and mukthi. Sri Krishna himself declares that He favours those who rever His great devotees.

In fact there is an incident in the Narada Purana where Sri Krishna enacts a drama to show how important it is.  The story goes like this, "Once, Narada maharishi seeking the darshan of Lord Krishan comes to His house. There Mahalakshmi is just outside the door to a room where Krishna is supposed to be busy  . Naradais allowed to go in and he finds Krishna all ready to offer worship to a golden box. Narada enquires of Him, O Lord ,You are the Lord of Brahma and others, and all are Your servants ready to Your bidding, what is this great drama all about?" Sri Krishna wordlessly opens the golden box, inside there is another intricately carved golden box, inside that there is a box studded with pearls , insdie with a box studded with diamonds and finally he opens this box and shows it to Narada. "There was the dust off the feet of the Haridasas."

Such is the greatness of the dust off the feet of Haridasas, so how much more is the greatness of the feet of Haridasarus and much much more thier words and deeds and their entire personality. It is no wonder that the mind gets purified when one listens to the charitra of such great saints.

Sri Narayana Pandithacharyas says this in Sumadhva Vijaya ,

kiMtu uttama shloka shikAmANiNAm manovishuddaye charitAnuvAdam

dAsarAyana dayava sUsi paDedanA

dOSharahitanA santOShabharitanA (1)

" He had the grace of Sri Purandara Dasaru who appeared before him when he was sitting at a ghat on the banks of the river ganga, in Kasi. He was taken to Vyasakashi and by his guru and was blessed with the darshan of Sri Vedavyasa devaru and was given the ankitha of Vijayavittala. He was gifted a tamburi by Sri Purandara Dasaru."  He  does not have any defects and is full of happiness. This signifies that he is a realised soul and has the contentment of one who accepts what one is given with complete gratitude and has overcome all the usual defects found in ordinary people.

~jAnAvantana balu nidhAni shAntana

mAnyavantana bahuvadAnyadAtana(2)

adAMyadAMta - who is  invicible like a powerful elephant

If one asks "How did this happen?"

To that Dasaru answers that he is full of jnAna and has patience and tolerance which make him peaceful at all times. It is this peace which is the result of knowledge of the Lord' overall control  which leads to contentment that is one is surely getting what one deserves .

Sri Vijayadasaru is the one who should be respected as it is extremely difficult to find one of such a high stature.

When Subbana Acharya critized and made fun of VijayaDasaru he was not perturbed in the least and was calm and tolerant of all the insults that were hurled at him. The test of tolerance was endured with a smiling face and a kind of indulgence as a mother would at a young toddler screaming at her for something trivial. Sri Vyasavittala Dasaru has witnessed this and has expereinced this personally .

Sri Vadirajaru says , tAluvike giMta tapavu illa

So if follows that Sri Vijayadasaru has undertaken many great tapasyas of which the tapasya of patience and tolerance are at very high level.

hariya bhajisuva narahariya yajisuva

durita tyajisuva janake haruSha surisuva (3)

" He sings the praise of the Lord Hari and performs yagna of Narahari. Performing Yagyna means to offer everything that is done through all organs at the feet of the Lord. He has the special grace of "Narahari" and due to this and had a sanjeevani mantra by which he had helped Jamadgni rishi to be revived from almost sure death at the hands of Karteveerya Arjuna. He has a history of being the remover of terrible misfortunes, after all death is the biggest misfortune for a sadhaka.

In this brith as Vijaya Dasaru, he has showered his grace on Mohana Dasaru twice and brought him back from the doors of death. "chiraMjeeviyAgelo chinna neenu "

He had given a ughabogha to avert the dangers that can befall a person travelling through unknown and dangerous territory. This was composed just before Sri Gopala Dasaru went to Udupi ,"oMdu kaiyalli kadga oMdu kaiyalli halage". Sri Gopaladasaru was in great happiness at being saved by his guru from dacoits who used to kill and loot travellers in a particular forest .

mOdabharitana paMchabhEdavaritana

sAdhucharitana manOviShAda maretana (4)

" He knows the pacha bhedas - jiva-jiva bheda, jiva-jada bheda, jada-jada bheda, jiva-paramatma bheda, jada-paramatma bheda and this is the cause of him being endlessly in bliss. "

One may ask why should such a conviction in these bhedas give bliss. After all they are just facts and will be so whether one accepts it or not! The answer to this can be analysed as follows:

1. jiva-jiva bheda- It removes the feeling of jealousy. One who is superior in yogyatha or eligiblity automatically enjoys superior knowledge, superior bliss. So a person of lower level of yogytha will feel a feeling of reverence to a person of higher yogyatha rather than feeling ,"Why is that person getting better things, why is he better at that and not me ..." These questions rise in the mind and give rise to a feeling of discontentment. Vijayadasaru acknowledged his superiors by singing in prasie of them with devotion and he showed compassion on his juniors.

2. jiva-jada bhedha - An insentient thing does not have the same capability as a sentient entity. Recognising the motion of insentient things, we understand there is an underlying sentient power called as tatvabhimani devatas who propel jada things to move.

3.jada-jada bhedha-Different sentient things have different properties and they have been endowed with these by the Lord. Recollecting the glory of the Lord in each of these gives happiness.

4.jiva-paramAtma- The Lord is the inner controller of the jiva and whatever is His wish that only happens. Surrendering to the wish of the Lord causes extreme bliss to the jiva as the desire for anything ceases and peaceful acceptance sets in.

5. jada-paramAtma-Understanding this helps in recoginising the fact that ,"The idol is itself not God but God is inside the idol." Sri MAdhvacharya has stressed the importance of recognising the presence of the Supreme Lord in the idol and offering puja to Him through the idol.

ivara nambida janakE bhavavidembudu

havanavAgadO nammavara matavidu (5)

"Those who beleive in this Dasaru, they are sure to be released from the samsaara sagara. Their suffering will cease eventually as the process of acquiring knowledge has begun with surrrender at the feet of this great Haridasa."

Sri Mohana Dasaru says ,"VijayarAyara pAda nijavAgi nambalu ajana pita tAne olivA"

pApakOTiya rAshi lEpavAgadu

tApa kalEvanu balu dayApayOnidhi (6)

" All the papas that we have done are a like heap or a mountain and to those who seek the grace of Vijayadasaru this heap will not touch them. He removes the papas by propelling us towards devotion to the Lord and urging us from inside to do the right things. As a result the devotee is soon rid of all the tApas which arise from the pApas. Such is the benevolence of SriVijaya Dasaru."

kavanarUpadi hariya stavana mADida

bhuvana bEDida mAdhavana nODida (7)

" He has sung the prasies of the Lord in padyas, padas ,suladhis and ughabogas . He has installed the idol of Sri Gopalakrishna devuru in Chippagiri." Another pATa says 'pavanarUpadi' indicating that he had consecrated an idol of Hanuman in Cheekalaparavi near the Ashwatha vriksha."

ra~gganEndana bhavavu hi~ggitEndana

ma~ggalA~ggana antara~ggavaritana (8)

"He proclaimed loudly and clearly that to one who says rangA, the bondage of samsaara will be removed. He is the one who knows about the Lord who resides in the inner recesseces of his heart. His wishes are in tune with the wishes ot the Lord."

kAshinagaradallidda vyAsadEvana

dayava sUsi paDEdana ullAsatanadali (9)

He was taken by Sri Purandara DAsaru to offer obeseiances to Sri Vedavyasa devuru at vyasakashi. At that he was blessed by SriVedavyasaru with the ankitha 'vijayavittala'.

chintEbEDirO nishchintarAgirO

shAntagurugala pAdondu nambirO (10)

Dasaru tells us not to have any worries. Just trusting in the feet of this guru who is the personification of peace will removes anxiety and foster an abiding devotions which assures one that he is there to protect .

khEdavAgadO nimage modavAhudo

Adidevana suprasAdavAhudO (11)

Nothing bad can happen to one who trusts this Dasaru, only bliss is in store for a person who is the dasa of this Dasru . The Lord himself will shower His grace on such a person.

tApa taDevanu banda pApa kaDivanu

shrIpatIya padasamIpaviDuvanu (12)

He will stop the problems and tribulations from hitting his devotees and he will cut off the papas that bind us to the world and make us eligible enough to see the feet of the great Lord  Shripathy.

veda Odalu baride vAda mADalu

hAdi doreyadu budhara pAda nanbade (13)

Just studying the Vedas and aruging one's case through logic cannot lead one to mukthi. Only complete trust in the feet of a great devotee can help one to reach the path to mukthi. The path to mukthi becomes visible when one serves a great Haridasa and is graced by the dasa. This is the personal experience of Sri Subbana Acharya.

ga~gge mindare malavu hiMgitallade

raMganoliyanu bhaktara saMga dorakade (14)

"One cannot get the grace of the Lord Ranganatha by taking bath in the river ganga. Ofcourse taking bath cleanses the body and to a little extent the mind but until and unless one gets the association of true devotees , Lord Ranga will not shower His grace.

lekkavilladA deshatukki bandarU

duHkhavallade lesha bhakti dorekadu (15)

If one does a lot of yAtra and goes from place to place offering worship with the ahankara that one has accomplised..etc then it causes just an endurance test to the body and would never be the cause fo bhakthi. Bhakthi is not something which can be got if teertha yatras are completed .

dAna mADalu divyagAna pADalu

~jAna doreyado ivaradhInavAgade (16)

"Giving dAna , or singing in praise of the Lord will not bestow the knowledge that is required for God's grace but obtaining the compassion of this great Dasaru can do wonders."

niShThe yAtake kaMDa kaShThavyAtake

diTTa gurugala pAda muTTI bhajisiro (17)

"In Kali yuga it has always been difficult to adhere to the rules of achara and the anushtanas prescribed seem very far fetched in today's world. The benefits of all these and more can be had by singing in praise of this Guru-Vijaya gurugalu.

pUje mADalu kaNDa goju bIlalu

bIja mAtina phla sahaja dorakadu (18)

"If one goes on performing puja, one falls at the feet of many many dieties then one may not get any benefit even a little benefit may not obtained by this." Benefits may be in the form of release from painful situations, release from poverty etc.  In some cases ,none of these can be had even to a little extent but surrendering at the feet of Vijaya gurugalu can bring instant releif to those ."

suraru ellaru ivara karava piDivaro

taralaraMdadi hinde tirugutipparo (19)

"All the knowledgable people who are called as suras, devas they hold his hand meaning they support him in all the endeavours . They who are below him in taratamya  follow him as small kids follows their leader. Utmost reverence is expressed in this stanza."

grahagalellavU ivarge sahAya mADuta

ahorAtrili sukhava koDuvavu (20)

"The controllers of all the grahas are the suras and the suras support him, so if he asks then they are ready to do his bidding. In times of great distress also peaceful sleep is possible for those who are the dasas of this revered Haridasa."

vyAdhi bArado dEhabAdhe taTTado

Adidevana suprasAdavAhudo (21)

"The body becomes healthy and diseases do not touch a devotee of this dasa, if at all it strikes then the body does not allow the mind to succumb to such a travail and the sadhaka continues to do sadhana even in that state. The primordial Lord who was there at the beginning of creation, will bestow his grace on devotees of Sri Vijayadasaru by giving them new lease of life to do the sadhana."

This was expereinced by Sri Mohana Dasaru twice. First when he was a baby he had an incurable skin disease which was cured upon the touch of Sri DAsaru's hands. Later during his youth he had an encounter with death and was placed on a stone ridge in front of Dasaru's house. After Dasaru prayed to the Lord for the granting of life to Mohana Dasaru, he came back alive.

patitapAmara mandamatiyu nA balu

tutisalApane ivara atishayaMgala (22)

"  I who am a dimwit have told whatever little I know about the unimaginable glory of this Dasaru. I will never be able to fully comprehend and sing his praises , so great is his glory."

karuNadindaliymma porevanallade

duritakoTiya bega tariva dayadali (23)

"It is because of his benevolence that he has uplifted me, not because I am worthy of such treatment. He removed the crores and crores of obstacles and showered his affection on me because he has this guNa of 'daya"

mandamatigalu ivara chandavariyade

nindisuvaro bhavada bhanda tappado (24)

Ignorant people who do not know of his magnificience may hurl insults at him . As a result they will have to be entwined in a deeper web of samsaara. It goes to show that 'sOthama niMda' is varjya. Insulting superiors is a very papa and should not be done even if complete knowledge of the superiority is not proven.

indirApati ivara munde kuNivano

anda vachanava nijake tandu torpanu (25)

"This Dasaru is so great that the Lord of Indira devi dances in front of him. Whatever Dasaru says, that becomes the truth because the Lord acknowledges his words being present right there.

udayakAladi I padava paThisalu

madaDanAdaru ~jAna udayavAhudo (26)

Even a complete dullard can obtain knowledge by chanting this stotra on Vijayagurugalu. The best time for chanting is early in the morning.

saTeyidellavo vYAsaviThala ballano

paThisabahididu keli kuTilarahitaru (27)

"What I have just said above is not any that is made up. It is completely true and the witness for this is none other than 'Vyasavittala' the bimba murthi of Sri Vyasavittala Dasaru. Those who are free from pretences and accept themselves as they are and have oneness in thought,word and deed are eligible to recite this stotra and receive the benefits accruing from it."