SRI VYASATIRTHA’S ASSOCIATION WITH TIRUMALA TEMPLE – A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

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Sometime ago, on Facebook, one of my friends wrote a post expressing skepticism over the fact that Shri Vyasarajaru did puja at the Tirumalai kshetra.

He pointed out anachronism when the period of Vyasarajaru is compared with that of the ruler who is believed to have handed over the puja rights to Vyasarajaru for 12 years.

I do not have much information regarding the timeline of the ruler. However I believe that Vyasarajaru has done aradhana to Shrinivasa devaru.

Let me put forward my rationale with the relevant background.

CHANDRAGIRI & MADHVA CONNECTION

The Chandragiri connections started during the times of Parasurama Theertharu and Swarnavarna Theertharu. Both of them were at Sri Rangam when Gopanna Arya restored the utsava moorthies to Sri Rangam.

Sripatarajaru who was the patta sishya of Swarnavarnaru moved to Mulabagalu after spending His formative years in Sri Rangam. Sripatarajaru’s ankita itself is “Ranga Vittala”

Mulabagalu is the epicenter of politics during those days. Sripatarajaru would have moved to Mulabagalu on the invitation of the ruling families such as that of Chandragiri. Although Vyasarajaru was the patta sishya i.e. chosen pontiff-disciple of Brahmanya Theertharu, He completed His Vedantic studies under Sripatarajaru.

Various royal lineages would have got introduced to Vyasarajaru through Sripatarajaru. His connections with the Chandragiri rulers would have been surely through Sripatarajaru. One has to remember that it was a ruler from this dynasty who humbly offered the title “Sripadarajaru” i.e. King among Ascetics to LakshmiNarayana Theertharu.

Tradition says that it was Sripadarajaru who asked His disciple to go to Tirumala.

Let us come to the second issue.

ARCHAKAS & THEIR RIGHTS IN BYGONE CENTURIES

Usually Archakas are not punished for taking whatever that is offered to a deity.It is the hereditary right of an Archaka to posses and enjoy the materials that is offered to a diety.

However there seems to be an exception to this rule. An Archaka has absolute right to whatever offered to a deity but he cannot usurp a donation if he has entered into a fiduciary relationship with the donor. Let me explain this with an example. Let us say that “A” give hundred gold flowers to an Archaka and requests him to do an Archana with that. Once the Archana is done “A” has no rights over the gold flowers. The Archaka can do whatever he wants to do with the flowers. That is his right.

Let us see the second case.

In this case, “B” entrusts some 100 acres to an Archaka and asks him to conduct a particular Seva every year from a part of income generated to this land.”B” also permits the Archaka to take another part of income for his services. If the Archaka accepts such an arrangement he becomes a contractor. He and his descendants are entrusted with the task of carrying out this Seva perpetually. In this case he is bound by secular law to carry out the task. He cannot alienate the property. If he usurps the property he is bound to be punished.

Whatever happened in Tirumala might be similar to the second case. An Archaka might have been punished for such a breech of contract. Maximum punishment for any Brahmin irrespective of the offense would not be beyond banishment. Subsequently there might have been some sort of friction between the local Archaka community. Vyasarajaru would have entered the scene at this point as per the instructions of His guru Sripadarajaru to ensure that the nitya puja is not affected.

This is how I see the case.

MADHVA SAMPRADAYA – QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Now let us come to a few pertinent questions.

1) Can a Sanayasin do puja at sanctum sanctorum?

Answer:  mAdhwa sanyasin can do puja in certain sanctum sanctoriums. It has to be kept in mind that Madhwacharya Himself entrusted the puja of Udupi Krishna to monks belonging to His order. Further Madhwacharya has authored a Temple construction and puja manual too. Sanyasins belonging to other Sampradayas have restrictions related to puja in Temples.They do not do prathishtas.That is not the case with madhwa sanyasins.Further Tirumala moorthy is a swayam vyakta one .Swayam vyakta moorthies are equivalent to salagrama.Hence there is no prohibition to Vyasarajaru to do puja.

2)What method was used by Vyasarajaru for puja?

I have seen at least one Sanskrit text that says that Vyasarajaru did puja according to Tantrasara. There is another guess too.He might have done puja according to purusha sukta vidhana.Purusha Sukta Vidana is acceptable even to Vaikanasas to certain extend.

3) Where did Vyasarajaru do puja?

Many scholars opine that Vyasarajaru did puja in the Sanctum Sanctorium itself. However a few people argue that Vyasarajaru did puja to the Vimana and hence Vimana Srinivasa enjoys prominence.

4) In a temple where Vaikanasas are archakas, no one else is allowed to do puja. How did Vyasarajaru flout this rule?

Vyasarajaru is not bound by Vaikanasa tradition. However he was particular not to interfere in any traditions. Hence He would have done puja only due to the dire circumstances. The tradition says that he was instrumental in restoring the puja rights to Vaikanasas later.

5) Do we have any concrete evidences for this puja episode?

People who work with temple/mutt history know very well that it is extremely difficult to get concrete epigraphy evidence. In the case of Vyasaraja mutt, many plates were lost in mukoodalu.

However we have certain secondary evidences and inferences.

SECONDARY EVIDENCES & INFERENCES

a) In the case of temple service related property,if a property is confiscated as a result of breech of trust or breech of contract ,the property in question would be subsequently handed over to the person who replaces the incumbent.In this case the house plot of an archaka has been given to Vyasaraja mutt.In usual cases if such a property is confiscated from an archaka ,it will be distributed to his fellow archakas.That dictum was not followed here.This might be due to the fact that Vyasarajaru had done puja for several years.

b) Mr.Padhmanaba Rao shared an interesting information with me.He told me that there are a few madhwa families with peculiar surname which means people who resided in hills.The belief is that these families were there with Vyasarajaru during His stay at Tirumala and hence got that surname.

c) As far as I know mAdhwas are the only brahmin sect in south who posess and more importantly practice the japa vidhana of Venkatesha.

d) There are minor texts and hymns that contain reference to this episode.

5) My friend Viji Sri Rangam raised a genuine apprehension incertitude on the grounds that whether someone like Vyasarajaru who enjoyed royal clout would have done something mundane like daily puja in a temple. The answer is very simple. The pontiffs of mAdhwa mutts are of the view that being the Archaka of a deity is superior to being a part of a king’s court and such. Hence they are styled as “MoolaRaamaarchaka” , “MoolaGopalaRishnaarchaka” and such. They proclaim more pride being the Archaka of their chosen deity. Hence one can be assured that Vyasarajaru would have always preferred worshiping a deity irrespective of his political sphere of influence.

I rest my case here.