Sri Rajendra Tirtharu

Sri Rajendra Tirtharu was ordained the 8th Pithadhipati by Sri Vidyadhiraja Tirtha. Sri Rajendra Tirtha and his successor Sri Jayadhvaja Tirtha, who go by the names Rajadeva and Jayadeva respectively, are nephews of Tikakritpadaru, who initiated their Shastraic education. Subsequently, they continued their education under Bhimacharyaru, an eminent pandit in the Matha, his beloved Shishya, later ordained into the fourth order and anointed to the Pitha with the name Sri Vidyadhiraja Tirtha.

Tikakritpadaru had wished before his Vrindavana Pravesha that efforts should be taken for propagation of Dvaita Siddhanta. To fulfill his orders, Sri Vidyadhirajaru ordained Rajadeva into the fourth order (Sanyasashrama) at an appropriate time, with the appellation Sri Rajendra Tirtha, mentioning that he and his successors would indeed have the Almighty’s blessings to be served by the emperors of this land.

Sri Vyasarajaru indicates in Shastika Mangalashtaka that Sri Vidyadhirajaru grouped 60 families belonging to 14 lineages (Gotra) under the stewardship of Sri Rajendra Tirtha. As desired by his Guru and Paramaguru, he started a propagation mission toward the eastern part of the country — Gauda Desa (present-day Bengal), Kalinga Desa (current Odisha and North Andhra) — and converted many into the Madhva fold. The well-known ISKCON school of today claims their descendancy from his time.

Sri Rajendra Tirtha had three well-known Shishyas: his successor Sri Jayadhvaja Tirtha, Sri Vibhudendra Tirtha (the Mulapurusharu of Sri Raghavendra Swami Matha), and a Grihastha by name Sri Vishnudasacharya. As is known from his Carama Shloka, the saint is said to have performed Nyayasudha Mangala nine times for his Shishya Varga:

Further, Sri Vishnudasacharya, credited with a few scholarly dialectical works of high standard (for example, Vadaratnavali), has quoted the following about the saint:

Akhanda Veda Marga Pravartakacharya Srimadvaishnava Siddhanta Pratishthapanacharya Nikhila Tarkika Chudamani Paravadi Mahagaja Panchana Sarvatantra Svatantra Srimadrajendra Tirtha Sri Charanakamala Cancharika.

The adjectives used here about the saint are extremely strong; this shloka shows the deep respect his scholarly student had for his Guru.

Tradition records that the saint composed a Vivritti on Bhagavad Gita and a Tika on Sri Vishnu Sahasranama.

The saint anointed his Purvashrama brother Jayadeva to the Pitha with the name Jayadhvaja Tirtha and seems to have returned to Karnataka. Traditional understanding is that the saint’s Vrindavana is in Yaragola, as he is said to have entered Vrindavana beside his Guru Sri Vidyadhiraja on the Purnima Tithi of Vaishaka Masa.