Saint
Sadasiva
Brahmendra
1560 - 1762
About his life, miracles & music
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Vamshidwani Presentation
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Acknowledgements
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Birth
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Childhood
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Youth
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Spiritual Transformation
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”
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Religious Treatises
Brahma Tatva Prakashika
Brahma Sutra Vriddhi
Yoga Sudhakaram
Atma Vidya Vilasam
Siva Manasa Pooja
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Musical Compositions
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Musical Style
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Musical Legacy
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
About His Miracles
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
1st Miracle
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)
Sunday, September 12, 2010
2nd 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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
3rd 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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
4th & 5th Miracles
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
6th Miracle
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
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Samadhi
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!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
End of Presentation
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.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
