Guru Raghavendra Maha Gnanendra

Guru Raghavendra was the best Gnanendra because he was full of wisdom, courage and great spiritual powers.

Guru Raghavendra has power and knowledge equal to Asura Guru Sukracharya and Deva Guru Pragaspati Bhagavan. When Brahma cursed his divine assistant Sangukarna to take some births on earth, Sangukarna became very worried and asked his guru Brahma to reconsider his decision.

But Brahma replied with a smiling face. “Sangukarna”, don't worry about my curse, because it is Vishnu's wish and I have deliberately given it to you. By taking noble births, you are going to incarnate on this earth as “Guru Raghavendra Ka”. You will be considered equal to Devaloka Deva Guru, Pragaspati and Asura Guru Sukracharya, therefore, you need not worry about taking birth on earth”.

According to the curse given to Sangukarna, after taking some noble births on earth, now, in this Kaliyuga, he has incarnated as a great Madhva saint, “Guru Raghavendra”. Blessed by both the divine gurus Pragaspati and Shukran during his Pragalat incarnation, Guru Raghavendra is capable of bestowing boons on his devotees and also solves their problems instantly.

In the Guru Raghavendra Stotra, he is hailed as highly wise and has aspects of Lord Brahma. As Mother Saraswati resides permanently in his soul, our Guru has knowledge equal to that of his Guru, Brahma Deva. During Vyasaraja's incarnation, he willingly drank the poison offered to Lord Rama, and the poison also did no harm to his body. He was able to do this because he suffered a lot during the Pralakada incarnation itself. So, he was able to successfully come out of all those severe trials.

If we have true faith and devotion to Gururaja, even if we drink poison without knowing it, it will not harm us. Some people use evil intentions of deities on others but that is not the case with our respected Guru Raghavendra because our beloved Guru will not harm us in any way as the main purpose of his incarnation is to do good to others only.

At Mantralaya, Guru Raghavendra's holy abode, where tens of thousands of devotees are given alms daily, we can bestow the wonderful title of 'Anna Baba' on our wonderful Guru Raghavendra. In addition to lunch, daily dinners, mostly of the Tiban variety, are served to the devotees. As a result, most of the devotees who come to the Mantralaya usually finish their lunch and dinner only in the Annadana Mandapam in the Mantralaya.

Like Mother Annapoorani who provides food in Kashi and Horanath, Guru Raghavendra also provides food to visiting pilgrims because he does not want his poor devotees to starve without food and water. We can also describe Guru Raghavendra as “Annaswarupar”, “Annaraja”, “Annararayar”.

Before Madhva became a monk, he was living a family life and suffered from severe poverty as a householder. Most of the days, Tulsi had only water for food. Even if he receives some food grains from the neighbors, he gives them to those who ask him for alms. That is why food is provided daily in Mantralaya, even during natural calamities like famine, storm, flood and earthquake. But on solar lunar eclipse and Ekadasi days, no food is served in the mantralaya.

In a popular Kannada hymn, Guru Raghavendra Swamy is described as “Annapurneswara”, meaning the provider of wholesome food to all who ask for food.

Guru Raghavendra is a gentle ascetic and one need not be afraid of him. Some devotees even worry that someone will do witchcraft to our holy Guru. But our guru has immense powers than the almighty! Our Guru is protected and surrounded by innumerable deities and therefore, no one can harm him. According to our Guru's advice, according to our economic condition, we will give alms to poor people and other living beings daily.

Raghavendra Swami is a great guru and can also be considered as a deity as he is an incarnation of Lord Sangukarna, the divine assistant of Lord Brahma. But some of the devotees call him "God" and "Bhagawan" due to their extreme devotion towards him. According to Madhva philosophy, Raghavendra Swami should be considered only as a Guru, but, based on the importance of his previous incarnations, we can consider him as a very important deity, like the Prajapatis, Lord Daksha and Lord Manu.

As Guru Raghavendra performed many miracles in his life, most of his devotees believe him to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Hence he can be described as a deity beloved by his devotees and a popular Madhva saint. After completing his term in Mantralayam Vrindavan, Guru Raghavendra would return to Satya Loka, the holy abode of Lord Brahma, and then, he would transform into his original form Sri Sangu Karna Deva and begin his divine service under his Guru, Lord Brahma.

At the time of our death, it is very good to listen to Guru Raghavendra's mantras. Guru Raghavendra acts as a mediator between us and God, so that we may have a fearless and peaceful death. There is no use in worrying about the next birth, such worries should be left under Guru Raghavendra's Thiruvadis.

In a popular Kannada devotional song, Guru Raghavendra is described as the treasurer of goodness, because one who sincerely worships him and does good deeds can get some good karma from the treasurer Guru Raghavendra. Our Guru would recommend the divine accountant Sri Chitra Gupta to write off some of the bad karmas we do without our knowledge.

Guru Raghavendra Swami is an unforgettable saint because he resides in the souls of his devotees and pours out his immense grace like a vast ocean. Like the holy river Ganga, He creates rain in the arid desert region to wash away our sins, provide food and quench our thirst. He is the saintly Devata Sri Sangu Karna, the brave, valuable, Sri Pragalatha Bhagavata, the great emperor Sri Bahlika Raja and the saintly Madhva monk Sri Vyasaraja.

Just as we decorate Ayyappan with precious gold ornaments from the ornament box, also known as the Thiruvaparana Petti, Mantralayam priests can decorate the Sri Pragaladhan idol, the ceremonial idol of Guru Raghavendra, during the annual Aradhana festival days to show our love and respect to the Guru. There are various ways to please our beloved Guru Raghavendra and one of them is to adorn him with beautiful clothes on auspicious festival days.

While donating ornaments to the mantralayam temple, one can also donate an ornament box to bring happiness to Sri Prakalathalwar. When Pragladhan in the form of Guru Raghavendra creates happiness in the lives of his devotees, it is our duty to show our gratitude by adorning him magnificently with garlands and precious gold ornaments. Like buying ornaments for children, you can buy some nice gold ornaments and donate them to Mantralayam Guru Raghavendra Swamy temple.

Like the baby Krishna, Sri Pragalathan is considered a divine child and like Krishna, he also performed many miracles and divine dramas during his childhood. So it is our most important duty to extend our support to Sri Pragalathan as well, just like adorning Ayyappan on the day of Makarajyothi festival, the priests and servants of the Mandiralaya should carry the ornament box (Thiruparana Petti) on their heads and they should crawl in and out of the temple premises. In order for the devotees to see this magnificent ornament box, it should be decorated to Sri Pragalathan in the presence of a large number of devotees during the annual worship festival days.

When Narasimha was giving a boon to Pragaladana, he said, “O my dear Pragaladana, by my grace you will rule your kingdom prosperously, and after ruling your kingdom for a long time, in the Raghavendra incarnation, you will be adorned with precious ornaments and be heartily worshiped by your devotees. And they will keep those jewels in an ornament box and carry them on their heads on your Jeevasamadhi day”. So keep the above boon in mind and make proper arrangements to do such good things to please the ever-loving friend Child Pragladan.

So we look forward to this auspicious day to see our beautiful Pragaladan adorned with precious ornaments and treated with great reverence and respect.