Sri Anandacharya’s Songs on Raghavendra Swamy.. Sri Anandacharya (19th century AD) was a famous Madhwa scholar, and he was a staunch devotee of Guru Raghavendra. He considered Guru Raghavendra as his second Kula Deva, since his first Kula Deva was Sri Venkateswara of Tirumala. He strongly believed that Guru Raghavendra was a true saint, and he considered the great Guru as an avatar of Lord Vishnu itself. Due to his staunch devotion, Guru Raghavendra has himself appeared before him for a few times, and gave his heartily blessings. Sri Anandacharya is also believed to be the re-birth of Venkanna, one of the staunch devotees of Guru Raghavendra. Due to his great bhakti on Guru Raghavendra, he has composed few songs in praise of him in Kannada, and also he sung it beautifully.
Some of the wonderful songs composed by Sri Anandacharya are as follows:-
Oh my Dear Rayaru,you are like the bee, and similar to that, you fetch (bhakti) honey from the (God) flower.
Oh my Great Guru Raghavendra, you are like the busy ant, and similar to that, you taste the sweetness (sugar) from the sweet (God).
Oh my Kind Guru, even if you appear in the form of a terrible ghost, I would never get afraid of you, since you have been fully filled up on my entire soul.
Oh my worshipful Guru, even if you appear in front of me in the form of fire flames, I am ready to embrace it, since I knew very well, that you would never burn me.
Oh my Deva Guru, even if you push me in a dark well, I would stay there itself, and in my imagination, I would build a wonderful temple for you in my mind itself.
Oh my Kula Guru, even if you appear in the form of wild animals like lion and tiger, I would watch you with a smile, since, I clearly know that you are the one who protects even the tiny ants from dangers.
Oh my Universal Guru, even if you push me into the hell, I would be able to bear the difficulties easily in that place by chanting your Mantras.
Oh my Universal Guru, I don’t want to live even in the divine places such as Brahma Loka, Shiva Loka or Vishnu Loka, since I want to live only at your lotus feet, at least by taking the form of a small dust particle.
Oh my Respectful Guru, even if you cut me into pieces, I would bear the pain easily by keeping your thoughts on my mind.
Oh My Knowledgeable Guru, I am very afraid to live in this difficult world. Please help me to cross the ocean of life, and give salvation to me.
Oh My beautiful Guru, I am getting more and more cheerfulness and pleasantness by reciting your holy names, and I consider your Namavali as equivalent to the great Vishnu Sahasranamavali.
Oh my wonderful Guru, even if you turn into my enemy, I would always consider you as my friend, and even if you kill me, I would happily leave my soul on your lotus feet only.
Oh my precious Guru, I consider you as everything in my life, as my father and mother, friend and Guru, Guide and God.
Oh my marvellous Guru, I would never get any sort of fear, since I have been always protected by you, and even during the time of my sleep, I wants to remember you, you and you only.
Oh my Guru Raja,you are the true follower of the principles of Guru Madhwa, and apart from religion, you are lending your helping hands on everybody in this earth. You are like a full moon amongst the stars, and you contain brightness equivalent to thousands and thousands of suns.
Oh My Madhwa Guru, you showers great mercy on those,who seek protection under your lotus feet, and you fulfils all the reasonable needs and wishes of your devotees, since you have been described as the Holy Cow Kamadhenu and the divine wish fulfilling tree Kalpavruksha.
Oh my Lovely Guru, my mind must think only about you, and nothing else. Even during the time of sleep, I want to dream only about you, and even in my imagination, I should think only about you.
Oh my Noble Guru, similar to you, I also want to do non-stop meditation.Similar to you, I want to think about Lord Hari continuously, similar to you, I want to think only about spiritual matters, similar to you, I want to lead a peaceful and satisfactory life, similar to you, I want to control my senses.
Oh my pretty Guru, you looks very nice, you are the great Prahalada, the great Bahlika Raja, and the great Guru Vyasaraja.
Oh my Divine Guru,you are the sincere devotee of Lord Narasimha and the perfect assistant to Lord Brahma Deva, you are the Spiritual son of Ma Saraswati, and you are equivalent to Guru Brihaspati. Those who worship you sincerely would get good knowledge in all the subjects, and their life would become bright.
Oh my Sweet Guru, you are situated in Mantralayam, nearby the banks of the holy River Tungabhadra. You have been praised even by the Sapta Rishis and by Lord Indra, Chandra and Surya. Your name and fame would never diminish, and you would be alive even during the time of deluge.
Oh my god, Sri RaghavendraI also want to worship your foot wear, similar to the holy Bharata who has once performed puja to the foot wear of Lord Rama for about 14 years.
Oh my life Guru Raghavendra, I want to do some service at your holy place Mantralayam, and for that I need your recommendation. Even by the way of offering flowers to your daily puja, I would be greatly satisfied.
Oh my saviour Guru Raghavendra, I feel jealous with your things like Tulasi Mala, Kamandala and saffron dhoti, since it has got the golden opportunity to decorate your body permanently.
“OM SRI GURU RAGHAVENDRAYA NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR