Birth of SRI SRIPADARAJARU
Abbur, a remote village of Chennapatna taluk of Bangalore District, is a place of abundance in Nature's gift and a sacred place too. A hermitage in the midst of a dense forest close to Kanva river where devotees throng to bathe in the river and get the blessings of the saint Sri Brahmanyateertha. The brindavan stands gloriously. He was a great ascetic and a brahmarishi, who had siddhi in tapas and chastity in speech. He is a depository of manthras and had control over senses, pure in practices and earned the love of lord Krishna.
Five centuries ago Abbur a village with a picturesque surrounding was a part of a natural forest, very rich in greens, full of colours and fragrance. Pious brahmins who led a simple life lived in those small villages dotting the forest place. The river Kanva, the crown of Vanadevi, with all serenity has made this place great !
In the midst of a natural beauty there runs white waters of kanva river appearing as a bisecting mark in the lush green forest.
The Intitutive Lakshminarayana:
In this serene atmosphere, there lived a pious couple by name Sheshagiri and Giriamma, looking after their limited land. They were virtue rich devout couple. They were blessed with a boy. His name was Lakshminarayana. The boy Lakshminarayana had his early education under his father. His daily routine was to take the cattle to the nearest lush green forest for graze and to get back in the evening before sunset. He had a sharp intellect with a reflective nature. His brightness had an appreciation of the entire village.
One fine evening, in a twilight, Lakshminarayana was returning with his herds back home. He heard a noise from his back, as he turned back he could observe a palanquin approaching him. He learnt that a sanyasi by name Sri Swarnavarnathirtha belonging to Sri. Padmanabha Thirtha samsthana coming from Srirangapatna was in that palanquin. No sooner that he saw the swamiji, he prostrated and stood with all reverence. Sri Swarnavarna thirtha swamiji, anxious to know the distance of the village made an enquiry with the boy.
Lakshminarayana answered the question intelligently by saying "see me, see my herds and gaze at the sky and realize the distance" and stood calmly. Swamiji was wonderstruck at his intelligence and was pleased at his presence of mind. Once again Swamiji looked at the boy and affectionately enquired his name. Spotting the radiance on the boy's face, he endearingly told him to come with him in the mene so that he could show them the way. Lakshminarayana replied it by telling " If I sit in a mene I may also become a sanyasi as my cousin. One yathi has already given sanyasa and taken him to his mutt. "When Swamiji asked who had given sanyasa the boy replied that it was Purushothama threertha of huligudda, his words were vedavakhya to the people of this village. Swarnavarna muni appreciating the boy, put manthrakshata on the head and proceeded towards the village, the boy also walked with his cattle home.
Swarnavarna muni was the seventh in the lineage of Sri Padmanabha Theertha, the direct disciple of Madhwacharya, Shriranga was his centre. He was coming that way to see Sri Purushothamatheertha in Abbur. The meeting of two yathis were like Vasishta & Vamadeva's meeting. Seeing the radiant bala yathi Sri Brahmanyathreertha, Sri Swarnavarna muni was thrilled and he expressed his desire to have a disciple like him. Sri Purushothama theertha enquired all about Sriranga kshetra, since he was anxious and worried over the ills that had begotten due to Yavanas. "The entire Bharatha was under the control of Yavanas. They had conquered southern kingdoms too. Hindu dharma and culture in southern belt suffered a terrible onslaught by those yavanas. In that pitch dark night Vidyaranya built an empire in 1336 AD and had fought against Muslims. He was wedded to protecting cows and brahmins.
At that time Bukkaraya was the king. His first task was to get rid of yavanas from Madurai and Sriranga. The idols kept safely in Thirupathi were brought back and Sriranganatha pooja started again. His daughter-in-law Gangadevi in `Maduravijaya' described about the invasion.
Sri Swarnavarnatheertha knew all this. Sri Purushothama theertha was happy to hear about peace and dharmic stability in Sriranga, Sri Swarnavarnamuni also said that the much needed shishya for him had been sighted. He narrated about the intelligent conversation he had with the boy Lakshminarayana while coming to Abbur. Sri Purushothama yathi sent words for Seshagiri acharya and Giriamma to come with their son and see him.