Sri Vidyaratnakara Tirtharu

Sri Vidyaratnakara Tirtharu was ordained the 35th Pithadhipati by Shri Vidyasamudra Tirtha. He was known as Thekkaluru Ahobalacharya in Purvashrama. His ancestors hail from a village located near Avinashi on the banks of River Kaushika. Shri Vidyakanta Tirtha happened to visit this village and was greatly impressed by the knowledge and personality of his father Shri Lakshminarasimhacharya. As desired by the saint, the whole family relocated to the Srimatha premises in Sosale Kshetra. The pandit was also married to the daughter of Shri Rangappacharya – the saint’s Purvashrama brother who was ordained to the Pitha later as Shri Vidyanidhi Tirtha. After both the saints attained Haripada, Shri Vidyapurna Tirtha ordained to the Pitha and blessed Shri Lakshminarasimhacharya with Mantropadesha and directed him to perform service to Lord Nrisimha at Ahobala Kshetra for five years. The couple had a child in Hemalambi nama Samvatsara and named him Ahobalacharya as he was born by Lord’s blessings.

Ahobalacharya had all his Shastraic education under the direct supervision of Shri Vidyapurna Tirtha at Sosale and was taught its specialities – Nyaya, Kavya, Vyakarana, Alankara etc. by none other than Shri Garalapuri Shastri – advisor to the Mysuru Kings. He had his upanayana at the age of five and being a child prodigy, mastered the four Vedas along with Shadangas by the age of fourteen. He had further education in Vedanta from Shri Bhimasenacharya – who later succeeded the Pitha as Shri Vidyashridhara Tirtha – and turned out to be a scholar-par-excellence at a very young age. During the period of famine (1887 CE), he donated everything to assist the Srimatha activities and later undertook an extensive tour of Tamilnadu to impart his knowledge to disciples at Erode, Salem, Srirangam, Kumbhakonam. However, as ordained by fate, the Acharya experienced extreme personal tragedies in life. Taking all this as ordained by God, the Acharya couple performed special prayers to beseech the Lord and Lordess at Namagiri, obtained their blessings, and begot children and settled down at Coimbatore.

By this time, Shri Vidyasamudra Tirtha – presiding saint for the Srimatha – proposed that Acharya should succeed him on the Pitha. However, Acharya declined this proposal on each occasion citing different reasons as his inappropriateness, inability to continue his intellectual pursuits due to Srimatha responsibilities and the like. However, Mula Gopalakrishna Devaru appeared in Acharya’s dream and commanded that he should ascend the Pitha. Shri Vidyasamudra Tirtha then ordained the Acharya to the fourth order and placed him on the pitha as Shri Vidyaratnakara Tirtha.

The saint was a perfect example for sainthood as he possessed all the required qualities and repeatedly demonstrated them on several occasions. During his tenure, Srimatha was rich from both perspectives — spiritual and financial — and its name and fame were at their zenith. Being a luminary on all facets of Sanatana Dharma — Siddhanta, Sangita and Sahitya — the saint was honoured with several titles from different quarters as Shastra Pravachana Nidhi, Sakalakala Bhaskara etc.

We understand from tradition that the saint was a winsome personality and renowned scholars across the spectrum of life used to flock the doors of Srimatha. Besides Srimatha scholars such as Gowdagere Venkataramanacharya, Srimusnam Gopalakrishnacharya and Shyamacharya, the other familiar names are Sri Sugunendra Tirtha – Sri Raghavendra Swami Matha, Sri Hariyappacharya – Sri Sripadaraja Matha, composer Mysuru Vasudevacharya, violinist T. Chowdiah and many others.

The saint was a prolific composer in both Sanskrit and Kannada. His works come in different forms: succinct summaries of some of the most important facets of Madhva as well as the Srimatha tradition, shlokas extolling the Lord’s different forms and stalwarts of the Srimatha Guru Parampara, and several mellifluous devaranamas in either language with the ankita (pseudonym) Namagiri Narahari. These compositions are a connoisseur's treat and even a cursory review of these works is sufficient to reveal the saint’s sublimity and pedigree.

As the saint ascended the Pitha at the late age of 69 years, most of his activities were intellectually oriented with less travel. He established a sabha named Srimat Dashapramati Darshana Prakashini and organized its first vidvat sadas at Bengaluru in 1913. As the name suggests, the mission of the organization was to spread the knowledge of Acharya Madhva’s philosophy to one and all. This turned out to be a great success, was well attended by the scholars of the day, and became a pioneer for similar gatherings that followed.

The saint anointed Sri Ramacharya to the fourth order with the name Sri Vidyavaridhi Tirtha, handed over the Pitha, and attained Haripada while listening to the recitation of the last two chapters of the Brahma Sutra Bhashya. His Vrindavana is consecrated at Sosale Kshetra.