Sri Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati

Acharyas who adorned the Peetham between 1560 and 1706 · Guru Parampara

24.1600 - 1623Dakshinamnaya 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 Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati (1600 – 1623)

A mural depicting Sri Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati Swamigal giving the Shivagita Bhashyam to the then monarch of Mysore.
A mural depicting Sri Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati Swamigal giving the Shivagita Bhashyam to the then monarch of Mysore.

तं सर्वभूताभयदं विभवैरन्वितं परम् ।
नारसिंहं गुरुं चापि नवं ज्ञानार्णवं भजे ॥

He removes fear from all the human minds, He is majestic and magnanimous.
An ocean of spiritual knowledge Hail Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati!

An expert in mantrasastra, Sri Abhinava Nrisimha Bharati was an adept of a high order. A commentary on the Shiva Gita, that he wrote, is an outstanding work. He installed a linga named Rameshwara in 1602 at Rudrapada. He also founded an agrahara on the Paschimavahini and named it Narasimhapura after his Guru. When the Acharya visited the Malahanikeshwara temple and noticed the absence of any Ganesha image there, he painted with a piece of turmeric a figure of the God on one of the front pillars and worshipped it. Ever since, the outline of Ganesha on the pillar has been bulging out presenting a bas-relief, and has come to be known as Stambha Ganapati. The granite stone behind the idol now sounds hollow inside, while it is quite solid over the rest of the pillar.

The Shivaganga Math

The Acharya founded a Math in Shivaganga and placed one of his disciples, Sri Shankara Bharati in charge of it. Sri Shankara Bharati presided over the new Math till 1656 and the Math has since had an uninterrupted succession of Gurus.

The official text