Preface

His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Bhāratī-tīrtha Mahāsvāmin composed two devotional, philosophical, captivating, and inspiring stotras on His Guru, His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātirtha Mahāsvāmin, during His Guru’s lifetime. The Śrīmad-Abhinava-Vidyātīrtha-Akṣaramālā-Stotram, the first of these, occurred to Him spontaneously while He was performing His morning āhnika in Sringeri in May 1978. It comprises eight stirring verses in the anuṣṭubh metre, each verse beginning, in succession, with the syllables a, bhi, na, va, vi, dyā, tī and rtha, thus forming His most revered Guru’s holy name –‘Abhinava Vidyātīrtha’. At the close of each verse, He devotedly submits that He seeks refuge in Him. In this stotra, He venerates His Guru as the Supreme Brahman, as Īśvara, and also as a jīvanmukta-guru par excellence.

The Gurudhyānam spontaneously occurred to Him in March 1982, when He was in Maharashtra, accompanying His Guru on an All-India vijaya-yātra. This has five verses in the anuṣṭubh metre, followed by a distinct sixteen-syllable, prayerful statement. In the five verses, He describes His Guru as abiding effortlessly in nirvikalpa-samādhi on the Supreme Brahman of the nature of absolute existence, pure consciousness and infinite bliss – and as the Supreme Brahman and Īśvara. After adoring His Guru thus in five verses, He states that He meditates on the (aforesaid) crest jewel of Gurus (His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava) Vidyātīrtha for becoming liberated from saṁsāra – vidyātīrthagurūttaṁsaṁ dhyāyami bhavamuktaye.

His Holiness called me shortly after composing the first stotra, and blessed me with it – compassionately fulfilling the prayer that I had made to Him a few days earlier for a stotra by Him on His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin. He graced me with the second stotra when I had His darśana during His cāturmasya at Delhi in 1982 – again kindly fulfilling my prayer to Him, made earlier that year, for a stotra on His Holiness Jagadguru Śrī Abhinava Vidyātīrtha Mahāsvāmin as seated motionless, absorbed in nirvikalpa-samādhi on the Supreme Brahman.

I recently translated both the stotras and wrote a commentary on them, which I submitted to His Holiness. He graciously perused the material and fully approved it. In response to my question, He said that my interpretation of the verses accorded with His own view. He blessed that the material be published. In response to my request, He subsequently vouchsafed the stotras in His own handwriting and permitted me to include them in the book. My heartfelt gratitude and namaskāras to Him.