Jan 22, 2011

Raghunatha Bhopala

Meanwhile, the King of Thanjavur Raghunath Bhopala visits Seer Sudheendra Theertha. Apparently when RB was still a small kid, his father the then King of Thanjavur asked the then seer Vijayandra Theertha to give all knowledge to Raghunath Bhopala. VT appointed ST for tutelage. ST, together with V’s father Thimmanna Bhat, taught RB accordingly. Even as a kid RB composed a grammatically very sound poem called Parijatha Harana which ST appreciated a lot. Now a king, RB gifts SR with gifts for making him a gifted and talented person. RB uses his education to make his kingdom one of the finest and makes more citizens literates. Also RB appreciates VT’s efforts in enhancing the education system in and around Thanjavur due to which Thanjavur has now progressed. RB prays in front of VT’s brindavan at Kumbakonam for a few minutes.

Money for Vidya Peeta

They head to their home in Kaveripatnam and finally reach. People there are pessimistic about him opening up vidya peeta. As his grandfather was unsuccessful, people think he too will be unsuccessful. V meditates for VT and asks if it will be successful. VT says yes. So gururaja and V, in need of money, think about asking money from farmers who are using the Mutt’s land for their gain since so many years. All farmers turn hostile towards V and Gururaja and refuse to give land’s profits to them. Gururaja tries to make them understand but when farmers say that they themselves are poor, V convinces Gururaja to let go of farmers. With whatever money he has, V starts the vidya peeta.

However soon after all the sackfuls of grain in every farmers’ house turns into mud. All farmers are shocked. They realize that this is because they turned down the request to give money to Mutt. Repenting their action, they finally yield and give their profits to Mutt as the land belongs to Mutt. Soon Vidya peeta functions smoothly.

Venkatanaatha chanting power miracle

Meanwhile next day morning, on their way again, V and his wife are confronted by fellow clan to attend a ceremony in the nearby town. They agree after hesitation. In the pooja ceremony, V is asked to help out in churning the gandha (sandalwood) to be served for Brahmins during lunch. V sets out in his task but while doing so, he chants the Agni sloka just so to be occupied during this monotonous task.

When the gandha is served to Brahmins during lunch, they get skin irritation and ‘fire’ kind of feeling. V is immediately suspected of putting masala powder. He comes to the scene and understands what has caused this issue. He immediately chants the Rain god sloka to bring in warmth and coolness. This too happens and all sufferers are relieved from burning pain. They are all shocked about what V has achieved – that of invoking God through sloka. They all bow to him. Those who had humiliated him after suspecting his mischief also ask for forgiveness. He is then honored by the host of the pooja ceremony. However, what he gets as honor he donates right then and there for another Brahmin. All are much pleased about this. He informs that his power of sloka is not meant for earning money.

Achyutha Theertha tries to steal from Venkatanaatha

V then visits VT’s Brindavan in Kumbakonam. He can feel VT wishing him well. ST then asks him to better the Vidya Peeta in Kaveripatnam and gives him some money. This is seen by Achyutha Theertha and this makes him jealous. To degrade V, AT thinks of stealing the money from V on V’s journey back to Kaveripatnam when they halt at night. When AT sends his followers to steal money, they are unable to do so. The money bag keeps distancing itself from them. Thus, AT’s followers drop the idea and admit defeat to AT who slaps them.

The story of Rajeshwari

Meanwhile, there is a spate of robberies going on in the town where V is staying, including his own house. Usual suspects are V’s neighbors (Mangala) and her hubby as they are known to be petty thieves and loud mouths but actually they aren’t. The actual thief is Mangala’s sister who is now dead but moving around as a devil. The devil is getting into Mangala’s hubby’s body at night and stealing jewelry in and around the locality. Finally, after months of thievery, Mangala’s hubby gets caught by the townsmen. When enquired, he feigns ignorance and says he doesn’t know anything although he is dressed in a saree. Finally, when he is being taken to the King’s palace to be hung, V comes to the rescue.

He asks townsmen to give a few minutes of their time and shows how the devil has gotten into Mangala’s hubby’s body. He separates the body from the devilish soul and asks what the story is all about. Story is thus:

Long ago when the devil aka Rajeshwari aka Raji was happily married to a priest, Mangala and her hubby had visited their house. Their house had Temple jewelry that day but when Mangala left the house, the jewelry went missing. Raji knows Mangala stole it but latter denies. King finally hangs raji’s hubby but Mangala never admits the robbery. Hearing the fate of her hubby, Raji commits suicide but her soul is not satisfied because revenge is not yet taken on her sister Mangala. So in the devilish form, she has entered Mangala’s hubby’s body and committed the crime so as to get him to die too and make Mangala commit suicide. Finally V talks her out of it and alls well that ends well.

Vijayendra Theertha passes away

V and his wife enjoy the life of a newly wed. So much so that they both are not able to concentrate on God during prayers. V’s mom notices it and is happy.

Meanwhile Vijayandra Theertha realizes his time has come to an end. He informs so to Sudheendra Theertha who is shocked. People in the Mutt too are shocked. Some old-timers (who had initially given pains to Kanakachala Bhat (V’s granddad)) are also suffering from old age and want to die but VT says that the pontiff who will be appointed next only can give them the grants to die. People wonder who the next pontiff is going to be. In his last minutes, VT informs all to be good and do well and mesmerize in the Lord’s thoughts. He finally lies down to sleep and passes out of this world. He had by then authored 108 books of high significance. His contribution to the Dwaitha Philosophy is extreme.

News of VT’s death comes to V through his dream. In the dream, VT informs V that all is going as per plan but there is still lots to do and V should do so accordingly. Dwaitha Philosophy’s future depends on V, is what VT says to V in his dreams and then passes away (dies). V suddenly wakes up and thinks it was just a nightmare only to hear the actual news next day morning. He is shell shocked and feels he is orphaned. The house is filled with gloom.