Swami Sadashiv Brahmendra

About his life, miracles & music

Saint Sadasiva

Brahmendra1560 - 1762

Sunday, September 12, 2010

This presentation is done by Vamshidwani, an institution dedicated to promoting the Carnatic flute

In conjunction with the 3rd Annual Sadasiva Brahmendra Aradhana on May 2010

A Vamshidwani Presentation


The presentation is based on factual information from trusted internet sources & wishes to thank the following sites responsible for the creation of this presentation

http://carnatica.net

http://www.karnatik.com

http://living.oneindia.in

http://www.srikailashaashramam.org

Official site of Saint Sadasiva Brahmendra

Acknowledgements


http://www.carnatica.net

http://www.carnatica.net







Born circa. 16th century to a virgin mother Parvathi Devi, who desired for a son after marrying a celibate & austere yogi

His earthly father is an austere yogi Somanath Avadhani

Somanath initiated Parvathi Devi to Rama Japa and instructed her to repeat the mantra for crores on end until all her cells in her body is purified for the birth of a divine child

The penance was fulfilled when Lord Ranganathaswamy appeared in their dream that a sathputhra (divine child) will be born

His birth name is Sivaramakrishna since his mother & father are ardent devotees of Lord Rama & Shiva and in memory of their visit to Rameshwaram, where the dream occurred

Birth


He mastered the religious texts at an early age

He was sent to Thiruvisanallur to study under the Advaita exponent Sridhara Venkatesa Aiyerval who was awed by his divine wisdom

As per the customs of his times, he was compelled for marriage at the age of 12 to a girl 7 years younger than him

Even after tying the knot, he remained spiritually inclined with no interest in marital life

Astonished by his overwhelming interest in spirituality, HH Paramasivendra Saraswathi Swamigal (1538 - 1586), the 57th pontiff of Kanchi Kamakotti Peethem initiated him as his direct disciple with a brief introduction of his abilities from Venkatesa Aiyerval

Childhood


He was a musical prodigy & sang masterfully in praise of the Lord

He became a highly skilled debater in matters of religious discourses

As fame spread of his achievements, the Maharaja of Mysore ordained him as the asthana vidwan of his royal court

In the royal court, his unparalleled wisdom & intelligence caught the attention of debating scholars across the country, but he remained unchallenged

The renumeration of his victories were distributed to his lost competitors as compensation for their incompetency

Youth


Envied by his wit & knowledge, a reputed scholar informed the Kanchi Pontiff that the boy has become arrogant & proud & recommended that he should be admonished for his behaviour

Displeased by the comment that his disciple has committed sacrilege while in the possession of spiritual knowledge, the Pontiff called for Sivaramakrishna

With one instruction “You know how to silence others, but know not how to control your tongue.”, Sivaramakrishna changed completely

Taking his revered guru’s instruction as jnana upadesa (divine instruction), Sivaramakrishna took a vow of silence for perpetuity. At once, the Pontiff initiated him to sanyasa & re-christened his name to “Sadasiva Brahmendra”

Spiritual Transformation


Brahma Tatva Prakashika

Brahma Sutra Vriddhi

Yoga Sudhakaram

Atma Vidya Vilasam

Siva Manasa Pooja

Religious Treatises


He has composed 23 compositions & his signature was Paramahamsa

They are highly regarded for their philosophical weight, musical value & influenced the compositions of St. Thyagaraja & St. Muthuswami Dikshitar, who revered the great saint

Some of his popular compositions include; Pibare Ramarasam (Yamuna Kalyani), Bhajare Gopalam (Hindolam), Bhajare Yadhunatham (Piloo), Manasa Sancharare (Sama) & Smaravaram Vaaram (Kapi)

A complete list of his compositions & lyrics can be found in the following site http://www.karnatik.com/co1045.shtml

Musical Compositions


http://www.karnatik.com/co1045.shtml

http://www.karnatik.com/co1045.shtml

Though a devoted worshipper of Lord Shiva, many of his compositions are in praise of Rama & Krishna

He was the first contemporary composer to portray the importance of Janana, Bhakthi, Karma & Raja yogas in his compositions

He compositions are written in a narrative manner instructing the listener to follow his message

All is compositions are in Sanskrit

Musical Style


Though St. Sadasiva Brahmendra has composed little but of high literary quality & musical acumen, his compositions serve as a benchmark for religious themes, format & technical standard for later composers like:

St. Thaygaraja

St. Muthuswami Dikshitar

Meesu Krishna Iyer - an ardent devotee of the saint

His songs were tuned by Alathur Venkatesa Iyer

Mrs Sarojini Sunderesan(UK) is the sole authority on these compositions

Musical Legacy


St. Sadasiva Brahmendra lived for up to 202 years, achieving liberation from the body while still staying on earth

In his lengthy lifespan, he is said to have performed numerous miracles, but only the reported sightings archived by the witnesses are presented in these presentation

About His Miracles


Sadasiva Brahmendra travelled far & wide for a suitable place for austere yogic practice, finally settling at Nerur near the banks of the sacred Cauvery River

He once sat on a rock in the Kodumudi river bed for meditation

Meditating for months uninterrupted, a flood came by & filled the river bed. He was buried under the river bed & after 6 months, men who were digging the river bed, saw blood gushing out after striking their axe on a human head thinking it was a rock

Sadasiva Brahmendra came out of his deep trance, healed his fatal wound instantly & walked away achieving brahma mukthi (liberation)

1st Miracle


In another instance, when he fell in between two huge bundles of tied straw & not knowing that someone is trapped, farmers continued piling the bundles for a year!

When farmers removed the bundles, there were baffled to see the saint alive. The ruler of Thiruvarankulam, Puthukottai invited the saint to his palace, but the saint was unmoved & instead wrote the Dakshinamoorthy mantra on sand

The king took the sand in his robes & placed it in his palace altar. Till date, a special prayer is organized regularly for this sand in Puthukottai

2nd Miracle


In another instance of his travels, a Muslim ruler mistook the saint to be a lunatic when he saw the saint stark naked & ordered for his men to chop off the saint’s hand

Sadasiva Brahmendra unreacted & continued walking, while the Muslim ruler immediately realized that he was a saint

He asked for forgiveness & while forgiving, Sadasiva Brahmendra fixed his hand back instantly & walked away

Liberated from the confines of the mortal coil, the absence of any clothing on his body didn’t bother the saint neither did any pain or injury that occurred on his body

3rd Miracle


On a rare occasion of relaxing openly in a meditative trance near a heap of grains, a watchful farmer took a stick to strike the saint mistaking the saint to be a thief

At the instant of striking the saint, the farmer became motionless & remained until day break the following day when the saint came out of his trance

Smiling at the motionless farmer, the saint restored him to life, while the repentant farmer pleaded for forgiveness

On another instance, the saint restored life to a dead bride on a wedding platform after knowing that she was stung by a poisonous snake

4th & 5th Miracles


In one of his last few recorded miracles, when the children of Nerur pleaded with him to attend a temple fair in Manamadurai, he signalled them to close their eyes

Almost instantly when the children opened their eyes, they were in the fair, shocked & excited about the power of the saint

By this time, he realized its time to attain samadhi after two centuries of religious service & preparations were underway for his samadhi

6th Miracle


He prepared his samadhi to be in Nerur

He sat down in a yogic posture for jiva samadhi & at the same time sent instructions using his yogic powers to the rulers of Puthukottai, Thanjavur & Mysore

The instruction was to bring a banalingam from Varanasi & the planting of a bilva shoot on his samadhi

As predicted by him, the bilva shoot sprouted on its own on the 9th day of his samadhi & the banalinga arrived on the 12th day

Two of his disciples; a Brahmin & a Muslim witnessed their guru’s samadhi self-raising simultaneously in two other places; Manamadurai & Karachi on their own!

Samadhi


The Vamshidwani team expresses its gratitude & your presence in the honouring of the great saint in the annual aradhana hosted by our founder Sri. Tiruchy L. Saravanan in Singapore & look forward for your continued support & presence in all subsequent events

On behalf of our founder, Thank You Very Much.

End of Presentation


Swami Sadashiv Brahmendra

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