Sri Nrisimha Bharati I

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

14.1389 - 1408Dakshinamnaya 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 Nrisimha Bharati I (1389 – 1408)

अविद्याख्यद्विपद्वैधीभावे दक्षं समाश्रये ।
नृसिंहभारतीशाख्यहरिं श्रुतिगुहाश्रयम् ॥

He has the lion-like strength and great courage to tackle the wild tusker of ignorance;
He sheds light on the secrets of the Veda, I adore the sage Nrisimha Bharati!

Sri Nrisimha Bharati had, in addition to his own intrinsic merit, the advantage of having acted as the deputy of Sri Vidyaranya. He so impressed all by his spiritual greatness and universal love that he came to be looked upon as an incarnation of God Nrisimha himself in a benign form.

King Harihara of Vijayanagar felt that the Acharya would be a great spiritual bulwark to his kingdom and invited him to the capital and arranged for his stay there for sometime. During that period, the Acharya not only initiated the king into appropriate mantras, but also gave him valuable guidance in political affairs and inspired him to carry out many works beneficial to the subjects.

After the Acharya returned to Sringeri following a second visit to Vijayanagar, Harihara founded a town in an attractive place at the junction of two rivers in the Tulu region and arranged a Dharmashala for the stay of a large number of sanyasins and other disciples. He also endowed extensive lands. Subsequently, when the Acharya visited the town, which had been named Nrisimhapura, he had a temple built for God Nrisimha and after its consecration, returned to Sringeri.

The Acharya gave spiritual initiation to Devaraya I, who ruled Vijayanagar after Virupaksha, the son of Harihara II. He stayed in Sringeri till 1406 and then at the request of Devaraya went to Hampi where he stayed for sometime. He eventually attained Siddhi at Haladi, where a shrine was erected over his Samadhi.

The official text