Sri Sujayeendra Teertharu

Sujayeendratheertha in his poorvashrama was known as Venkataraghavendracharya. He was born in ‘Beegamudre’ family of Gouthama Gothra, the sacred poorvashrama family of Sri Gururaja. His father Sujnanendracharya was the younger brother of Sukrutheendratheertha and Susheelendratheertha and his mother  Lakshmibai was the sister of Survatheendratheertha.

Sri Sujayeendra Teertharu
Period :1963 -1986

Ashrama Gurugalu : Sri Suyameendra Teertharu

Ashrama Shishyaru : Sri Sushameendra Teertharu

Aradhana Tithi :  Magha Shukla Chaturthi(Jan – Feb)

Vrindavana Situated at : Mantralaya

River : Tungabhadra

ಶ್ರೀಸುಜಯೀಂದ್ರತೀರ್ಥರು

ಸುಯಮೀಂದ್ರ ಕರಾಬ್ಜೋತ್ಥಂ ಸುವಿದ್ಯಾಬೋಧಕಂ ಸದಾ |
ಸುಮೂಲರಾಮಪೂಜಾಢ್ಯಂ ಸುಜಯೀಂದ್ರಗುರುಂ ಭಜೇ ||

Sanskrit:
सुयमींद्र कराब्जोत्थं सुविद्याबोधकं सदा |
सुमूलरामपूजाढ्यं सुजयींद्रगुरुं भजे ||

Telugu:
సుయమీంద్ర కరాబ్జోత్థం సువిద్యాబోధకం సదా |
సుమూలరామపూజాఢ్యం సుజయీంద్రగురుం భజే ||

Tamil:
ஸுயமீம்த்ர கராப்ஜோத்தம் ஸுவித்யாபோதகம் ஸதா |
ஸுமூலராமபூஜாட்யம் ஸுஜயீம்த்ரகுரும் பஜே ||

suyamIMdra karAbjOtthaM suvidyAbOdhakaM sadA |
sumUlarAmapUjADhyaM sujayIMdraguruM BajE ||

Sujayeendratheertha in his poorvashrama was known as Venkataraghavendracharya. He was born in ‘Beegamudre’ family of Gouthama Gothra, the sacred poorvashrama family of Sri Gururaja. His father Sujnanendracharya was the younger brother of Sukrutheendratheertha and Susheelendratheertha and his mother  Lakshmibai was the sister of Survatheendratheertha. Venkataraghavendracharya born to such pious couple was naturallyan epitome of piety. He had his initial education in Nyaya and Vedantha under his grandfather Huli Hanumanthacharya, the most celebrated scholar of four Shastras of Nyaya, Vedantha and others and under Doddaballapuram Vasudevacharya who was a scholar in the royal court of Mysore and professor of Nyaya Vedantha at Maharaja Sanskrit college, Mysore. He also studied Tarka Shastra under the renowned scholar of Tarka Shastra, Elathur Krishnacharya.

He made a comprehensive study of Vedantha Shastra under Susheelendratheertha, Suvratheendratheertha and Suyameendra theertha and won the plaudits as a great scholar. Sri Suyameendratheertha who was heading the Mutt then, had entrusted Venkataraghavendracharya with all the responsibilities  pertaining to the administration of the Mutt. Acharya who hadacquired expertise in dealing with all official matters of the Mutt being Sarvadhikari of the Mutt and its Dharmadhikari, caretaker of Brindavana Sannidhana at Mantralaya, representative of the Mutt in respect of legal disputes at various courts, had earned swamiji’s blessing and appreciation. When Suyameendratheertha who was at Nanjangud was indisposed in 1963, he decided to name his successor. He chose Venkataraghavendracharya to be his successor, bestowed sanyasa on him and named him ‘Sujayeendratheertha’. Later with a viewto complete all the tasks he had envisaged, he sent his disciple to Mantralaya. Obeying the orders of his guru, Sujayeendratheertha went to Mantralaya and addressed himself to the task in right earnest. The unresolved issue pertaining to the administrative affairs of Mantralaya that rested between the Mutt and the Andhra Pradesh government was the first and foremost task Sujayeendratheertha undertook. The swamiji decided to take up the development works of Mantralaya entrusted by his guru after resolving the issue to the  advantage of the Mutt through discussions and correspondences with the government. Suyameendratheertha fully recovered his health. After staying at Nanjangud for three years, he went to Bangalore. His health suffered a major setback after a few months there. He reached the heavenly abode in 1967 at Mantralaya.

Sujayeendratheertha slowly recovering from the grief of estrangement from his guru, continued the developmental works of the Mutt that had been assigned by his guru. The swamiji who set apart lakhs of rupees for all round development of Sri Gurusarvabhouma Vidyapeetha at Mantralaya, appointed several scholars and saw to it that learning activities went on ceaselessly at Vidyapeetha. He provided the students studying there with free boarding and lodging facilities and thus paved way for a large number of aspirants to enter Vidyapeetha. He saw to it that the annual conference of scholars being held during Raghavendra swamiji’s  Aradhana took place biannually. The swamiji who brought out several ancient books through the Mutt also started ‘Gurusarvabhouma’, a Kannada cultural monthly magazine to bring about greater awareness of Dharma amongst the people. The magazine which has touched a new high of nine thousand copies is also being published in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, English and Sanskrit languages at the behest of Sushameendratheertha, the present swamiji. Sujayeendratheertha who renovated the Mutt’s building at Mantralaya became responsible for construction of rooms, cottages, schools, spacious dining halls, choultries, hospitals; provision of facilities for drinking water with contributions from devotees. Thus for the  instrumental role he played in multifaceted development ofMantralaya, he earned the sobriquet as the ‘Architect of Mantralaya’. The swamiji earned the special blessings of Lord Moolarama and Sri Gururaja by getting the entire Brindavan of Sri Gururaja decorated with gold relief and the gold Mantap of Lord Moolarama enlarged. Thus the swamiji came to be held in high esteem by  making Haridasa’s accolade ¸ಸುರಪನಾಲಯದಂತೆ ಮಂತ್ರಾಲಯ true. The swamiji built beautiful buildings for the Mutt, choultries at many other major cities and places besides Mantralaya, installed the Brindavans of Sri Gururaja at several places resulting in the fulfilment of wishes of the devotees. The swamiji became an exemplar of ‘Gurubhakthi’ for he always proclaimed that all his achievements were possible only because of the great blessings of Sri Gururaja and his guru Sri Suyameendratheertha. The greatest gift Sujayeendratheertha enriched the society with is Sushameendratheertha. When his health began to fall, Sujayeendratheertha bestowed sanyasa on Suprajnendracharya, the son of his poorvashrama elder brother and named him ‘Sushameendratheertha’. Being served by his disciple for about a  year, Sujayeendratheertha reached heavenly abode in 1986 at Mantralaya.

Source : Gurucharite