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Showing posts from July 13, 2016


Story Of Hiranyakashipu - The Invincible Boon And His Brother

Hiranyakashipu was the demon who was killed by the Narasimha Avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu. The story of Hiranyakashipu begins with Sage Sanaka cursing the doorkeepers of Vishnu, Jaya and Vijaya. The doorkeepers once did not give entry to Sage Sanaka to Vaikunta, the abode of Vishnu. Jaya was born as demon Hiranyaksha and Vijaya was born as demon Hiranyakashipu as a result of the curse. Vishnu appeared as Varaha to annihilate Hiranyaksha. To avenge the death of his brother, Hiranyakashipu undertook severe penance and secured several boons from Lord Brahma. The most important boon was that he could not be killed by man or beast, or by a weapon, during day or night, on the earth or in the sky, inside a house or outside. After receiving the boon, he conquered the three worlds and prevented all forms of Vishnu worship including utterance of the name of Vishnu. But his youngest son Prahlada had heard about the story of Vishnu when he was in the womb of Kayadhu. Hiranyakashipu

Padmanabha Tirtha – A Direct Disciple of Madhvacharya

Padmanabha Tirtha who lived during the 14th century was a direct disciple of Madhvacharya. Before he became an ascetic, he was known as Sobhana Bhatta. He met Madhvacharya when the great saint was returning from Badari to Udupi. Here Sobhana Bhatta entered into a debate with acharya but he was defeated. Image of Madhvacharya Sobhana Bhatta was convinced by the validity of Madhvacharya’s philosophy and he became an ardent disciple of Madhvacharya and took Sannyasa. Padmanabha Tirtha was a great scholar and was well-versed in Vedas, epics and Puranas. He wrote commentaries on Madhvacharya’s works. A total of 15 works are credited to him this includes commentary on Madhavacharya’s ten prakarnas, Brahmasutra Bhasya, Gita Bhashya etc. His independent work Sannyayaratnavali is very famous. As he was the foremost disciple of Madhvacharya, he was made his first successor. He was head of Madhva Matha for seven years. His Samadhi is located at Navabrindavan near Hampi in Kar