Monday, May 27, 2013

Nerur Shri Sadashiva Brahmendrar’s Adhishtanam

I have long been fascinated by thelife story of this avadhuta who was a phenomenon in his life time. I got an opportunity to visit his adhishtanam recently.
How to reach: The area is very close to karur  and is well known . He was a great composer.Lot of  legends abound about his simplicity  and great feats.
I quote from the wikipedia

Sadasiva Brahmendra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sadasiva Brahmendra
Born
17-18th century
Tiruvisainallur[1]
Majorshrine
Arch of Sri Sadashiva Bremendraal
Sadasiva Brahmendra was a saint, a composer of Carnatic music and an Advaita philosopher who lived near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu during the 18th century. He composed mainly in Sanskrit. Only a few of his compositions have survived but they are recognised as great compositions of Carnatic Music.[2]

Sadasiva was born to Mokshasomasundara Avadhaani and Parvati. His initial name was Sivaramakrishna. He was married at the age of 17. Sadasiva lived in Kumbakonam, near Tamil Nadu in the 17th to 18th century.

He left his home and went to Kanchipuram. He was divinely guided to go to the Upanishad bramham Mutt at Kanchipuram to Sri Paramasivendra Saraswathi
(Click to read my blog on these acharyas hMy blog on the adhishtanams of kanchi achartas)
who was presiding over the Mutt at that time. Later, after taking sannyasa, he is said to have wandered around, naked or semi-naked, and often in a trance-like state. He was reclusive and often meditated, and was described as being in a "supremely intoxicated state".[3] He is said to have performed many miracles whilst alive, some of the most prominent are provided below. His jiva samadhi site is briefly mentioned in 'Autobiography of a Yogi' by Paramahamsa Yogananda.
On the river banks of Cauvery in Mahadhanapuram, he was asked by some children to be taken to Madurai, more than 100 miles away, for an annual festival. The saint asked them to close their eyes, and a few seconds later they were reopened their eyes and found they were in Madurai.[4] He also wrote the Atma Vidya Vilasa,an advaitic work.
There is an epilogue to this story. The next day, another youth, incredulous at hearing this story, asked Sadasiva to take him also to this festival. It is said that the youth immediately found himself in the distant city. When it was time to return, Sadasiva was nowhere to be found. The youth had to make his way back on foot.[5]
Whilst relaxing near a heap of grains, he began meditating. The farmer who owned the land mistook Sadasiva for a thief, and confronted him. The farmer raised his stick to hit the saint, but became a statue. He remained in this state until the morning, when Sadasiva finished meditating and smiled at the farmer. The farmer was restored to his normal state, and asked the saint for forgiveness.[6]
At another time, while meditating on the banks of the Cauvery river, he was carried away by a sudden flood. Weeks later, when some villagers were digging near a mound of earth, their shovels struck his body. He woke up and walked away.[5]
He is said to have met the Raja Thondaiman of Pudukottai and initiated him into the Dakshinamurthy Mantra.He is said to have wrote the mantra on sand. This sand was picked up by the king and it is in the worship of the royal family till now.
Long after all these happened when almost people had forgotten the memories of his wandering in their lands, once the naked sannyasi was seen walking right through a Muslim harem of a Nawab. As a brahma-jnani who sees nothing but brahman everywhere, he would not distinguish between the different human figures which cross his path nor would he be distracted by the sights or noises that his environment may present to him. It was in this state of trance that he was walking along. He, the naked sannyasi, walked straight into the harem, entering it at one end and walking out at the other all the while walking through a maze of inmates of the Nawab’s harem. The news reached the nawab, he had his men chase him, they cut off both his hands as he was walking along, the hands fell off and … still he was walking along silently as if nothing had happened. The nawab got scared, picked up the hands that had been severed, ran to the Sage and offered them in total remorse. The sage stopped his walking, the severed hands were restored to their place, the hands became normal and the sage walked away! There was no conversation.[7]
He was responsible for installing the deity Mariamman in Punnainallur near Tanjore and guided the installation at Devadanapatti Kamakshi temple.
He is attained Jeeva Samadhi simultaneously at 3 places - Nerur(TamilNadu), about 100 km West of Thiruchirapalli, Manamadurai, about 60 Kms from Madurai and Karachi in today's Pakistan. Every year in Nerur and Manamadurai, music festivals are conducted in his honor. In Manamadurai his samadhi is located at the Somanathar temple, which was identified by the Paramacharya of Kanchi.

Books [edit]

He is the author of several Sanskrit works. Atma vidya vilasa, Brahma sutra Vrithi, Yoga Sudhakara, Kaivalya Amrutha Bindu (based on Upanishads) Siddantha kalpa valli (a poetic treatise on Appaiah Dikshitar’s work), Advaita rasa manjari, Brahma tattva prakaashikaa, Mano_niyamana. His Navamani_mala,Guru rathna malika,Dakshinamurthi Dhyana are in praise of the Guru.

Songs [edit]

He also wrote several Carnatic compositions to spread the advaita philosophy among common people. His compositions are quite popular and can be heard frequently in Carnatic concerts. Some of these are Bhaja Raghuviram (raga Mohanam), Bhajare Gopalam (Hindolam), Manasa Sancharare (Sama), Sarvam Brahmamayam(Madhuvanti), and Pibare Ramarasam (Ahir bhairav).[1]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b "Sadasiva Brahmendra (18th Century)". Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Commentaries of Sadasiva Brahmendra on Brahmasutra & Yogasutra". 29/07/2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Sri Sadashiva Brahmendra – the Avadhuta". Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  4. ^ "Sri Sadasiva Brahmendral - Part II ...Contd". 03/07/2007. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Autobiography of a Yogi by Parahamsa Yogananda". Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  6. ^ Devi R, Priya (03/07/2007). "Sri Sadasiva Brahmendral - Part II". Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  7. ^ "Sadasiva Brahmendra: Perhaps two of the greatest mystics of India belong to the Tamil region". Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  8. IMG_0193
IMG_0196 
There is a kasi viswanathar temple here behind which under a bhilva tree he attained Jeeva samadhi. The Kasi lord was brought by a pandit 4 days after he entered the samadhi and he had predicted that it would come beforehand!
A maha vilvam tree at the adhishtanam
IMG_0194

IMG_0195
He was a contemproray of the 58 th acharya of the Kanchi mutt
click here to read my blog about the 58 th acharya's adhishtanam
Shri sadashiva brahmendra was a favorite of the Sringeri Sarada mutt peetadipathy also .
For more details on this saint also see hereFrom the Kanchi mutt


















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