Thread by @MadhvaHistory

1. This tweet from @bendakaaluru made me to pull out an idea about Navabrindavana that I always kept in my mind only.

I believe that Navabrindavana, though has an association with Hanuma but has got a greater connection with Prahlada.

How?

Let me narrate.

https://twitter.com/bendakaaluru/status/947847686530637824

@bendakaaluru 2. Though the navabRundAvana gaDDi houses the 1st ever bRundAvana of mAdhva lore i.e. of Sri Padmanabha Tirtha, the center-of-attraction is none other than Sri Vyasatirtha., the patron-saint of Saluva & Tulu dynasties of Vijayanagara Empire.

@bendakaaluru 3. Hence, it would be ideal to understand the significance of Navabrindavana from Vyasatirtha's standpoint. There are certain crucial pointers left by this great guru that compel us to see the spiritual luminescence of this tiny islet through the incarnations of Vyasatirtha.

@bendakaaluru 4. Here are the 3 crucial pointers that can help us to connect with the significance of Navabrindavana vis-a-vis Vyasatirtha.

1. God Narasimha
2. River Tungabhadra
3. The association of Prahlada-Vyasaraya-Raghavendra with the above.

@bendakaaluru 5. Let us begin our journey from kRutayuga to kaliyuga.

In kRutayuga, there were two asura brothers, Hiranyaksha & Hiranyakashipu committing atrocities against dEvA-s & mAnavA-s. Once Hiranyaksha confiscated Mother Earth & hidden it under a ocean in a far away milky-way.

@bendakaaluru 6. Mahavishnu took the avatAra of varAha, killed the demon Hiranyaksha & lifted the Earth from the bottom of the ocean. He placed bhUdEvi on His snout. Legend says that when vArAha swAmi was at Sahyadri hills, two rivers got originated from the canine teeth of Him.

@bendakaaluru 7. The one that came out of the left tusk got a name 'bhadra' & the one from the right took the name of 'tunga.' These two rivers traveled separately for some distance and at a place called Koodali got joined together and became one confluent river called 'tungabhadrA.'

@bendakaaluru 8. After the death of Hiranyaksha, his brother Hiranyakashipu continued to rule the asura clan. He begot Prahlada as son. As the cruelty of Hiranyakashipu went unabated & as per His word given to dEvA-s, Srihari took the form of nRusimha & killed Hiranyakashipu.

@bendakaaluru 9. Though Prahlada was well aware of the reasons for his father's death, he had a melancholic feeling that he too became a reason for father's death. As this feeling grew bigger & tearing his heart deeper, Prahlada prayed to Narasimha to seek solace.

@bendakaaluru 10. Narasimha appeared before Prahlada, gave a sAlagrAma & advised Prahlada to go on a pilgrimage. He told His devotee 'to worship the given sAlagrAma in all kShEtrA-s that he visits. By doing so, at a right time and place his sorrow will be removed."

@bendakaaluru 11. Prahlada went for a pilgrimage & reached the confluence of Tunga-Bhadra rivers. Here he worshiped sAlagrAma & got relieved from agony. Prahlada consecrated a pratima of Narasimha made out of the very sAlagrAma given by Narasimha which can be seen even today at Koodli.

@bendakaaluru 12. This is how Prahlada got connected with River Tungabhadra. Subsequently in Kaliyuga, the association of Prahlada with Tungabhadra continued as the brindavanA-s of Vyasaraya & Raghavendra Tirtha which are his incarnations got consecrated on the banks of Tungabhadra only.

@bendakaaluru 13. In line with Chintamani Narasimha at Koodli, in Hampi too there is a huge, monolithic Ugra Narasimha, overlooking the entire Hampi city. It is said in mAdhva tradition that Krishnaraya consecrated this Narasimha on the advise of Vyasatirtha.

@bendakaaluru 14. At Mantralayam, though there is no prominent Narasimha temple, there is a shODaSa bAhu (16 armed) narasimha pratima in Raghavendra Swamy Matha which was a divine gift obtained by Vijayeendra Tirtha, parama guru of Raghavendra Tirtha.

@bendakaaluru 15. Likewise, one can see an unbroken connection of River Tungabhadra & God Narasimha in the all the traditionally perceived 'avatAratraya' [3 incarnations] of Prahlada-Vyasatirtha-Raghavendra Tirtha.

@bendakaaluru 16. Bhagavata says that God Narasimha gave a boon to Prahlada that "त्वां च मां च स्मरन्नित्य कर्मबंधात विमुच्यते" - in Kaliyuga whoever worships me (Narasimha) through you (Prahlada-Vyasaraya-Raghavendra) they shall attain salvation.

@bendakaaluru 17. Knowing this boon given to Prahlada, those 8 great saints entered brindavana-s at the tiny islet of Navabrindavana before & after Vyasatirtha have placed themselves around Sri Vyasatirtha like planets revolving around the Sun.

//End//