Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati I

Acharyas who adorned the Peetham between 1380 and 1560 · Guru Parampara

13.1386 - 1389Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri

With reverence and gratitude to the Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, which has kept the lives of its Jagadgurus through the centuries and shares them with the world. What follows is the Peetham's own account, exactly as it gives it.

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati I (1386 – 1389)

अविद्यारण्यसक्लेशकृशानुभृशतापितः ।
संश्रये सततं भूत्यै चन्द्रशेखरचन्द्रिकाम् ॥

Led astray and caught in the forest fire of ignorance, I suffered dismal wounds;
The moon that soothed me with divine rays, I hail that great Chandrasekhara!

When Sri Vidyaranya was far advanced in age, he nominated Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati I as his successor. Some time after the nomination, with the permission of his Guru, the disciple went on a pilgrimage to several sacred places. In the meantime, King Harihara of Vijayanagar visited Sringeri and pressingly invited Sri Vidyaranya to his capital. As the Mutt required constant attention, the Acharya entrusted the management to a later disciple, Sri Nrisimha Bharati and then left for Vijayanagar. He stayed there for sometime as the honoured guest of the king, and passed away at a ripe old age.

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati heard of Sri Vidyaranya’s videha mukti, and hastened to Vijayanagar. The king took him to Sringeri and had him installed on the seat. Sri Nrisimha Bharati, who was temporarily in charge of the Mutt with the permission of his senior, went to live at a village called Haladi. He consecrated a Sri Chakra there and spent his time in worshipping the Divine Mother and did tapasya. When in course of time Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati passed away, Sri Nrisimha Bharati was called from Haladi and installed as the next Acharya.

The Acharya received Harihara II at Sringeri where the emperor erected a temple in memory of Sri Vidyaranya and founded the agrahara of Vidyaranyapura, which is the home of many Sringeri priests even today.

The official text