Shri.NarahariTirthara Brindavan Hampi
After Shri.Achalananadadasa we are unable
to trace the names
of any famous Haridasas till 13th
Century.Shri.Vijayadasaru(18th Century) in one of his
compositions has stated that many Haridasas earlier to the era of
Shri.Purandardasa(16th Century) have praised the Lord
and has made a special reference of Shri.Achalanandadas and some
names of Adya family.However we are unable to name any Haridasas
of that period.During the 13th century
Shri.Madhwacharya the founder of Dwaita philosophy,( incarnation
of Vayudevaru) was born at Pajaka shketra near Udipi in
Karnataka.Shri.NarahariTirtha was the 3rd pontiff in
the Shri.Madhwacharya`s parampara.He was a great scholar
of Philosophy, and Sanskrit.He name prior to becoming pontiff was
Swami Shatri.He was serving in the court of King Gajapati of
Orissa.Shri.Madhwacharya on his return journey from Badari happen
to halt at the Capital of Orissa.His doctrine viz. the Dwaita
philosophy is realistic in approach and many scholars including
Shri.Swami Shatri entered into an argumentation.SriSwamy Shastri
very soon accepted his defeat, and became the disciple of
Shri.Mahdwacharya and took Sanyas many other scholars followed
suit and became followers of Shri.Madhwacharya.After becoming
pontiff Shri.Swami Shashtry was named as Shri.NarahariTirtha.
Shri.Madhwacharya knew that the original SeetaRam idols were
in the custody of King Gajapati and were held in the treasury
without worship.Shri.Madhwacharya intended to worship these
idols.He instructed Shri.NarahariTirtha to remain in Orissa.The
king Gajapati died at an early age leaving behind his pregnant
queen.There was dispute among the near relatives of the royal
family for claiming to rule Orissa.As there was no consensusness
among the royal family it was decided to select the king with the
help of an
elephant.The elephant garlanded Shri.NarahariTirtha.As he was
very well known and was attached to the royal family(was serving
the king before taking Sanyas) all citizens happily agreed
/accepted him as their King.The coronation was celebrated in
1263.(Indian Antique vol.x|iii(1914) page 264 by Venkobarao)
Luckily queen gave birth to a male child.Prince was declared
as the King of Orissa after attaining majority.The royal family
of ruler expressed their happiness and gratitude to
Shri.Narahariteertha for having ruled the kingdom for many
years.In return as a gesture of gratitute for the services
rendered by Shri.NarahariTirtha King offered many valuables,
which were politely declined by the pontiff and king presented
the idols of SitaRam to Shri.NarahariTirtha.These idols were
presented to Shri.Madhwaacharya,who in turn gave them to
Shri.PadmanabhaTirtha.
Shri.PadmanabhaTirtha handed over the entire Samstanam to
Shri.NarahariTirtha on
16-11-1324.Shri.NarahariTirtha had composed many devaranama
and keertanas out of which only few are now available.Though the
compositions belong to 13th century they closely
resemble the compositions of 16th century.In one of
the composition he says
"Dharamkke ondu kasu savira
honnu
Adharamakke koti honnu onde
kasu"
If we practice Dharma even one kasu(the smallest unit of coin
in those days) is equivalent to thousand golden coins.If we
practice Adharma one crore of golden coins are equivalent to one
kasu.This indicates the importance of treading in the path of
Dharma.
He composed many devarnama but few are only available now.The
compositions by name "Entu
Marulade na nentu
marulade" and "Hariye idu Sariye"
are popular.
Shri.NarahariTirtha revived the Bhagavat Dharma the cult
of Bhakti through keertans .His decendants could not concentrate
on this cult as they engaged in composing of prose literature.
However his works and efforts made a very deep impact on
Shri.Purnadardasa who revived the Bhagavat Dharma/Bhakti cult.
For all the efforts made by him to revive the Bhagavat
Dharma/Dasakuta he tops in the Haridas parampara.
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