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SRI VASUDEVANANDA SARASWATHI(TEMBE SWAMY)

Ganesh Bhat and Ramabai, pious devotees of Datta belonged to theTembe family of Maanegaon village in Maharashtra. Ganesh Bhat recitedthe name of Datta always and he frequently visited Srikshetra Ganagapurto worship Sri Narasimhasaraswathi. He spent twelve years at Ganagapurin Narasimhasarswathi Swamy's service. One day Sri NarasimhasarswathiSwamy, in a dream said to Bhat, "You need not come to Ganagapur for mysake from now. As you are a householder go back to your house. Your desirewill be fulfilled. I will come to meet you". Lord Datta pleased with the piousand religious nature of Ganesh Bhat and his wife was born to them as theirson proving the significance of his name, giving himself to his devotees.That auspicious day was 13th of August in the year 1854 (year Ananda,5th day of Sravana before full moon), Sunday. The divine child was namedas Vasudeva Sastry. He strictly followed all the observances concomitant to'upanayana', like sandhyavandana, Sri Gurucharitra parayana, study ofVedas, to cook his own food, the daily offering to God etc. right from the dayhe bore the sacred thread. The life of Vasudeva is the best example how anindividual can attain the divine splendour through regular and strictobservance of those religious practices. He also learnt astrology and Sanskritfrom his Gurus. He was married at the age of twentyone to Annapurnabai.As he studied Vedas devoutedly he attained 'mantra siddhi' (a mysticalpower of syllables) with the help of which he relieved many people frommisery and hardship.

As he regularly did the parayana of Sri Guru Charitra, he constantlyexperienced the grace of Datta. Once he was crossing a jungle and cameacross a tiger. Vasudeva climbed a tree with fright. Lord Datta, then cameas Atmaram Jadiye, a brave man and saved him. Vasudeva longed to go toNarasobavadi but his mother did not permit him. One night Datta appeared

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in the guise of a Brahmin boy in his dream and said, "Your mother willpermit. You will get the money and company required for the journey. Goto Narasobavadi." By the time of daybreak everything was arranged and heset out for Narasobavadi. He rested at 'Borugaon' on the way. In his dreamthat night Vasudeva felt that somebody told him to have darshan of GovindaSwamy, a yogi at Narasobavadi. As they reached Narasobavadi the nextday, they were welcomed by Govinda Swamy who called them by theirnames and enquired about their wellbeing. As the clothes worn by Vasudevawere dirty, the priests did not allow him inside the temple to worship thesandals of Datta. Lord Datta said to Govinda Swamy who lived in theadjoining Math, "Go and see what's happening in the Mandapa. The priestsare not allowing the poor Brahmin who came from such a long distance,inside". On the word of Govinda Swamy the priests allowed Vasudevainside. He worshipped the sandals regularly for a month. One day LordDatta in a dream said to Vasudeva, "Get Guru Charitra from Sankara Bhattfrom Miraj and do parayana". Sankar Bhatt normally never gave his GuruCharitra to anybody. Hence Lord Datta instructed him too to give GuruCharitra to Vasudeva. Later Vasudeva did parayana for a week (Saptaha)without taking food. After some time Govinda Swamy told Vasudeva toworship Datta (Datta upasana). Vasudeva questioned, "Why this upasanain addition to the worship of sun and fire which we already have?'" Thatnight Lord Datta himself gave him the mantra in a dream. Govinda Swamyrose from his bed and said, "My dear Sastry! He has given the mantra. Iwill teach you how to practice it." Having understood that Govinda Swamywas linked to Datta inseparably Vasudeva accepted him as his Guru anddid the practice.

One day Lord Datta ordered Vasudeva to live in Maanegaon for sevenyears. He set off to the village but halted at 'Kagal' in order to buy an idol ofDatta. But unexpectedly a stone carver gave him an idol of Datta saying

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that Lord Datta had ordered him the previous night in a dream to do so. Ashe reached Maanegaon a widow came to him and gave him some land sayingthat she was told to do so by her husband in a dream. Vasudeva built atemple in that land and the idol of Lord Datta was consecrated. Lord Dattain this idol was always in a cheerful mood to Vasudeva and he used to talkwith him.

On a birth anniversary of Datta (Datta Jayanthi) a relative of Vasudevadied, but it was not revealed as it would hinder the celebrations. WhenVasudeva went to the temple in the morning "Siva! Siva!", do not touchme, you are polluted" said the all knowing Datta. Similarly, on other occasionduring a lunar eclipse, the scholars advised the priests of all temples tofollow the normal routine of poojas etc., as the eclipse would not be seen inthe area. But in the night before the day of eclipse, Lord Datta appeared in adream and said to Vasudeva, "Tomorrow the eclipse will be seen, hence donot offer alms". Next day it was proved true. On another occasion, Vasudevaalong with his mother was staying at a choultry (inn) in Narasobavadi.That night Datta appeared in a dream to both of them and said, "Thischoultry is completely ruined. Go to another place." The next morningwhen they came out from the choultry it collapsed.

Vasudeva translated the Guru Charitra from Marathi to Sanskrit asinstructed by Datta. Datta asked him to name the book as 'Dwi Sahasri' (abook of two thousands slokas). Vasudeva was doubting the significance ofthe title as the book contained less than two thousand slokas. But Dattaclarified that as per the standards of Devi Saptasati (in which half slokas,commentary, mantras were also included), it would become 'Dwi Sahasri'.

Once Vasudeva was on a pilgrimage of Datta Kshetras along with hiswife and he reached Gangakheda. One night in a dream Lord Datta said toVasudeva, "On the fourth day from today I would take both of you intome". However, Vasudeva was a staunch follower of Varnashramadharma

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and wanted to take sanyas. He requested Lord Datta to take only his wife.She was infected with cholera and died soon. The night when all theceremonies were concluded, Lord Datta appeared in a dream in the guise ofhis Guru, Govinda Swamy and chanted 'Om' in Vasudeva's right ear,asking him to recite it always and to live only on alms. Next day Vasudevawent to the banks of Godavari and before the assembly of so many Brahminshe did all the expiatory acts. He wished that a competent person wouldcome and initiate him into sanyasa. Suddenly as if called by some body, asanyasi came from the other bank of Godavari, conducted the requisiteformalities and initiated him into sanyas and disappeared. After Vasudevacompleted the other formalities of being initiated into sanyasa, he searchedfor the person who had initiated him into sanyas to offer alms but he was notseen. Every body understood that he was none other than Lord Datta. LaterVasudeva was instructed by the Lord to attain the sacred staff from SrimadParamahamsa Sri Narayananandasaraswathi Swamy of Ujjain. This Swamybelonged to the family of Swamy Narasimhasaraswathi of Karanja. Samardhawas their tradition. Since then Vasudeva was renowned as SrimadParahamasa Parivrajakacharya Sri Sri Sri Vasudevananda SaraswathiMaharaj. As he belonged to the family of Tembe, he was also known TembeSwamy. He toured north to south on foot and conducted twentyfourchaaturmasas (religious observances for four months). The glory thatemanated from Maharaj in those periods and his writings and teachingsconfirm that he was an incarnation of Lord Datta.

Once Maharaj was on foot to Kashi when he lost his way, amidst athick forest and hillocks. There was no sign of any village nearby. ThenLord Datta in the guise of a tribal boy said, "Are you going to Kashi? Letme show you the way, come with me." Maharaj followed him. They cameacross a small hillock and after crossing over it reached a village. The boytold Maharaj that he could take rest there and easily go to Kashi from thatvillage and disappeared. The people of the village told that normally it would

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take three days to reach the village but when Maharaj reached there withinan hour and half they rejoiced it as the miracle of Datta. During the periodof Chaaturmasa at Brahmavartha Maharaj wrote Datta Purana on the linesof Rigveda, in three thousand and five hundred slokas in Sanskrit. At anothertime he was on the way to Badari in Himalayas. A huge mass of ice obstructedtheir way. Two persons coming over the ice told them to retreat, as there wasno way on the other side and it was dangerous to cross the ice. Maharajreplied that he would never go back without having darshan of Narayana.They disappeared. Maharaj wondered who they were, when Nara andNarayana appeared at a distance for a few seconds.

Maharaj conducted a chaaturmasa at 'Pethlad' a village near Indore inMadhya Pradesh during which he wrote 'Datta Leelamrutha Sindhuvu' inthousand 'ovis' - a meter of poetry of Marathi language. During the stay atPethlad, a night before Naraka Chaturdasi (of Deepavali) Lord Datta appearedin dream and said, "Tomorrow I want an anointed bath". Maharaj replied,"I am a sanyasi. Where shall I bring hot water and scented oil from? As analternative to anointing bath I will anyhow smear your body with ashes aspart of regular practice." Next day, he smeared the idol with ashes, kept iton the pedestal and went for alms. Lord had become angry and wanted tohide in the river Narmada. Maharaj returned after taking alms and wentinto pooja room to give Datta an offering, when a voice was heard, "Todayis the festival of Deepavali but you have not given me the auspicious bathand now you have come to feed me. 1 am not dying for your offering. HereI go... in to the river." The idol was not there. Maharaj immediately ran tothe banks of the river searching for the idol, when he heard the crying of ababy from underneath the water. He looked towards the river, where he sawthe idol floating on the water glowing with divine light. Maharaj carriedthe idol as if he was carrying a little child. In the meanwhile the villagersarranged hot water, scented oils and other things, required for the anointment

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and performed the anointment ceremony. The villagers questioned aboutthe idol worship of Maharaj even though he was a sanyasi. Maharaj replied,"Everyman must do the worship of a form (Saguna). All the shastrascommand man to do Sagunopasana. They should be followed as one wouldfollow the royal order. A king should live like a king in a palace. If he liveslike a common man he is not honoured. Similarly Lord Datta who is a kingof kings should be worshipped with all the honour. In what other way canwe show our veneration to his greatness? Without this - the sagunopasana,one cannot climb to nirgunopasana or attain Supreme knowledge." Maharajexplained the importance of sagunopasana.

After the darshan of the sandals of Datta on Girnar Mountain, Maharajcame to Prabhasa Teerdha. Here Maharaj, as ordained by Lord Datta wrotethe commentary for nine chapters on 'Dwisahasri' Gurucharitra, thoughthe original written by him at Maanegaon was not with him at that time.Later the commentary of remaining fourteen chapters was completed atDwaraka. Maharaj later described that it was not in his capacity to write thecommentary in the absence of the original but Lord Datta had writtenthrough him. During the chaturmasa observance at Mahatapura he compiledall the stories of Datta Purana in to a book entitled 'Datta Mahatmyam' in aregional dialect. During the same period he also wrote a Sanskrit book 'TrisatiGurucharitra' in three hundred slokas.

During the stay of Maharaj at Brahmavartha, a scholar by name ofSastry from Gwalior questioned him, "Which sastra permits a sanyasi to doidol worship?" "It was not mentioned in shastras but that idol of Datta isnot leaving me", answered Maharaj. The scholar said in disbelief, "youleave that idol, that's enough". Maharaj agreed to the proposal. Next dayafter his bath Maharaj left the idol of Datta in the river Ganges and returnedto the bank. Lo! The little idol of Lord Datta, which should have disappearedin the water, came and stood before Maharaj. The incident was witnessed by

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the scholar from Gwalior, the pride he took in nirgunopasana was gone andhe understood the efficacy of sagunopasana which had been accepted andencouraged by Lord Datta himself.

Maharaj foretold Appa nigideekar, a Brahmin from Karnataka that hewould soon die from plague. Soon the symptoms of plague and signs ofapproaching death appeared in him. As he had a strong desire to take sanyashe informed Maharaj. The merciful Maharaj gave him 'instant sanyas'.Seated in a lotus posture and while he was being initiated with the chantingof 'Omkara', he left his body. It was possible only to a competent Sathgurulike Tembey Swamy to grace such a superior way of leaving the body, whichwas natural only to mahayogis. Later Maharaj was also infected with plaguebut at that time Lord Datta ordered him to write 'Sama Sloki Guru Charitra'in Sanskrit comprising six thousand seven hundred and fifty slokas. Propelledwith the divine power of Datta, Maharaj completed the sacred book inspiteof his severe illness.

Maharaj left Vadi and traveled to the North. While he was heading toGanagapur on the way he halted at Kamalapur. In his dream, that night hesaw a huge man, his arms touching the knees, telling him, "You are touringthe country, writing poetry, but you do not care about me." To know whomhe had seen in his dream, Maharaj prayed to Lord Datta. "Do not you knowhim? He is the Swamy of Akkalkot. It seems that he desires you to come tohim and wants you to wirte his story". Maharaj replied, "My palate isdedicated to the sacred feet of Lord Datta, if you reveal me his greatness OLord! and order me, I can write this book". Maharaj thought of going toPandari first and then to Ganagapur from Kamalapur. But the Lord ordered,"You go to Ganagapur via Akkalkot. After the darshan of sandals atGanagapur, stay there for three days. At Ganagapur a devotee - Tukaram iswaiting for my darshan in a human form for the last three years, living onlyon fruits. I want to give him my darshan through you. Hence leave for

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Ganagapur at once." Maharaj on the way was affected with dysentery, buthe continued his journey. He visited Akkalkot and had the direct vision ofSwamy Samardha. Later he also saw sant Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon. Itwas also described in the history of Gajanan Maharaj. Maharaj reachedGangapur, had the darshan of nirguna padukas at math but Lord Dattawould not appear. Maharaj went to Papavinasa Teertha, stayed there threedays with a firm resolve to have the darshan of Lord Datta. Then he heard."You will see me at Sangam". Maharaj had darsan at Sangam. He asked,"You have promised hither to that you would always stay at math inGanagapur, then why did not you give your darshan at math." Lord Dattareplied, "Math is polluted now a days, so as I could not stay there I cameover to Sangamam". As ordained by Lord Datta, Maharaj gave darshan toTukaram, wrote an "ashtaka" which prevents all miseries, and gave it tohim. On his way to Ganagapur river Krishna took the form of a lady andsought Maharaj to compose a eulogy about her. By the grace of Lord Datta,Maharaj composed extempore, a eulogy of fiftyone slokas named as 'KrishnaLahari'. While he was reciting the slokas she stood before him and listened tohis compositions with contentment and then disappeared.

He observed the fourteenth chaaturmasa at Narsi village. The place ofdiscourse would get so crowded with devotees that it was difficult for themto have darshan of Maharaj. For the benefit of the devotees, Maharaj boretwo bodies and he gave darshan one inside the premises and with anotherbody he sat outside under a pipal tree. The people who had darshan inside,were astonished to see him outside also. At another time in the same villagea woman has seen Maharaj with a baby of six months in his lap who wassucking it's left thumb and chuckling with joy. He told the woman, "Youare very fortunate and virtuous as you have seen Datta with your eyes".Once, in Narasobavadi the palanquin festival was under way and there wasa stampede. Suddenly the idol of Datta fell on the ground from the hand of apriest. Treating it as a bad omen and afraid of an impending disaster the

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priest went to Narsi to see Maharaj and prayed to suggest a remedy. ThenMaharaj asked Lord Datta, "Why did you fall from the palanquin?" Theangry Lord said, "The priests are not following the principles laid by you,more over they are so ungrateful and blaming you. They are throwingforbidden things on my sandals, I am unable to bear them. A good system isto be evolved for such things not to happen again. Whenever there is adisturbance to the righteous order, difficulties would surely arise. You haveto punish them". Maharaj then told .the priests of Wadi to have good conduct,to attend all the religious duties diligently and to recite the 'DattaKarunashtaka' with a sense of remorse for their wrong doings.

Kuruvapuram is a small island in river Krishna. It was a holy placewhere Sripada Srivallabha lived. Maharaj also lived there for some time. Asthe priests were not following the religious observances of Brahmins, hewanted to leave Kuruvapuram in disgust. Then, Sripada Srivallabha in theguise of a bachelor came to Maharaj and said, "This land was donated to meby a washerman. The revenue from the land is being used for the lamps andofferings. Hence the source of the food and the way with which it is preparedis pure. That is why; I am taking the alms, why do not you? Do not mindthe practices of the people, accept alms." From then he took alms from thehouses of the priests. A cave in a hillock at Kuruvapuram was suitable formeditation. But a snake resided there. Maharaja requested the snake to leavethe cave and go to some other place. The snake was so gentle that it tookshelter near a peepal tree. When Maharaj was in meditation the snake regularlycame for the darshan of Maharaj.

At Baroda, Maharaj lived in Garudeswar near the banks of riverNarmada. Some Muslim devotees came to Maharaj and told him about theirsufferings. Maharaj gave them a few medicines and told them to recite fewstanzas from the Khuran regularly. The Muslim devotees were bewilderedas the Maharaj uttered those stanzas from the Khuran which were not known

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even to them who read khuran everyday. At Gurudeswar prasad wasdistributed every night after bhajan. One day devotees attended in largenumber. Sabnis, the organizer of the temple doubted that the quantity ofprasad would not be sufficient for all. After the prasad was distributed tohalf of the people Maharaj told them to put the vessels before him. When heremoved the lids of the vessels the prasad was full in all the vessels. Themoney offered to Maharaj was kept in a box and Sabnis used it for expensesof the Ashram. Everyday more than two hundred devotees visits the ashram.One day Sabnis was worried about the next day's expenditure as there wereonly three rupees left in the box. Maharaj said, "Do not worry! Every thingwill happen according to the 'will' of God". Next day the shopkeeper whosupplied provisions from the city came and asked for payment. Maharajlooked at Sabnis and told to give 'that' money. When Sabnis opened the box- it was full of gold coins.

Once at the river Godavari near a village called 'Ganga masale' Maharajcautioned every body not to get into water and he went to take his bath. Butsome men not heeding his caution, got into the river. One of them waswashed away in the flow of water. Others searching for him dragged him tothe banks. But by then he died. Maharaj said, "Why do not you listen towhat I say and invite problems for me?" He prayed to Lord Datta andsprinkled water over the corpse. He was brought back to life. The amazedpeople celebrated the occasion.

Once during his journey on foot Maharaj had the darshan of SriNrusimhasarswathi Swamy - the Sankaracharya of Sringeri, who felicitatedhim and said to his disciples, "This mendicant is Dattatreya manifest inhuman form." When Maharaj was touring the country he visited Tirupathi,Srikalahasthi, Venkatgiri, Nellore and Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh. Heobserved Chaaturmasa in 1908 at 'Mutyala', after which he came down toHamsaladeevi. At the confluence of the sea he took bath. He also visited

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Saptagodavari traveling through Machilipatnam. Then he came toRajahmundry in 1910 and consecrated an idol of Datta at the branch ofSringeri Sankara Math and named him as 'Bhaktavatsala'. During his stayat Rajahmundry a devotee by name Pundareeka Rao from Nanded came toMaharaj along with his friends. When Rao was returning to his place Maharajgave him a coconut and said, "Submit this to my brother Saibaba at Shirdiwith my due salutation. Ask him not to forget me and look after me alwayswith love. As mendicants we do not pay obeisance to any body but he isdifferent". Later Pundareeka Rao and his friends forgot and ate the coconuton the way. When they reached Shirdi, without any introduction Saibabaasked, "Where is the coconut given by my brother". They described whathad happened and told Baba that they would give him another coconut.But Saibaba said, "Nothing is equivalent to the coconut given by mybrother." It is curious to note that an orthodox and pious VasudevanandaSaraswathi and a Muslim fakir like Saibaba refer to themselves as brothers.Later Maharaj had the ritual bath at Kakinada sea and came to Pithapuram.The people of Pithapuram forgot long back that their's was the birth place ofSripada Srivallabha. Maharaj after his arrival reminded the people of it.With his visit Pithapuram again became popular as a holy place of Datta.The tour of Sri Vasudevananda Saraswati was the primary cause for thespread of Datta tradition in Andhra Pradesh.

Sri Vasudevananda Saraswati toured the entire country and proclaimedthe superiority of Datta Marga. He removed the miseries of people arisingout of sickness, evil spirits, snakes and calamities caused by other externalforces by giving them various mantras and stotras of Datta. He popularizedDatta Puranam and Sri Guru Charitra. Sri Guru Charitra was availableonly in Marathi for nearly four hundred years since Narashima Sarswathi.Maharaj translated this great book into Sanskrit in the year 1903 after whichit was made available in other Indian languages including Telugu. The

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transformation of devotion towards a favourite God into the devotion towardsa Guru, which was a historical and revolutionary change was effected bySri Guru Charitra. It was a spiritual triumph in which the role ofVasudevananda Saraswathi was formidable. Here is a very important pointfor careful scrutiny for all the seekers and favourites of Dhyana tradition,who canvass that idol worship is very immature and meditation is the bestway of spiritual practice. Many so called spiritual organizations fierclycampaign the same. A gigantic personality in spiritual arena like SriVasudevananda Sarswathi who was revered as the manifestation of Datta,never gave up idol worship and the Lord himself did not want him to do so.

Sri Tembe Swamy once summarised his teaching -

"Born as human beings our formost duty is to strive for liberation. Toachieve this, the mind should be made stable. To make mind steady, theindividual has to perform all the duties associated with the ashrama(Brahmacharya, Grihistha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa to which he or shebelongs, as envisaged by sastras. Listening to holy books, remembrance andcontemplation of truths should be practiced regularly. One should especiallyconcentrate on listening (sravana). It removes the harmful and irrelevantinterests from the mind. Moderate, healthy and sacred intake of food givesrise to gentleness in behaviour (Satva). The degree of gentleness in ourconduct can be gauged through the presence or absence of certain qualities.In man - diligence in one's own duties, the punctual performance of dailyrituals, honouring the guests, reverence to cows, participating in the activitiesassociated with God like singing bhajans, speaking softly, not harming others,serving the parents etc. the more the above qualities the more gentle we are.In woman - to live in in-law's house happily and affectionately, servingthem with obedience and diligence makes her gentle. Whatever professionone may undertake to earn his bread - business, agriculture or employmentone should not deviate from the duties as ordained by Vedas and one should

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never fail to follow the orders of Guru. If one does his duties perfectly theinnerself becomes pure, then the upasana or practice matures into steadiness.In return it gives peace of mind. Such an unperturbed mind one day, knowsitself vividly and reaches the inner reality, thereby leading to the finalliberation. Thus the seven steps towards wisdom have been explained ineasy and effective manner.

Sri Tembe Swamy as already indicated earlier, left the body sittingbefore Lord Datta on a Padyami day of Ashadha in the year 1914 andreached the Supreme Being. His body, as per the rules of sanyasa order, wasleft in the deep waters of the river Narmada. A samadhi mandir wasconstructed at the place where he breathed his last. It is near Garudeswar,fifty miles away from Baroda. It is today a popular holy place of Dattatradition.

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Route to Garudeswar

Garudeswar the place of Siddhi of Sri Vasudevanandasarswathi, issituated at a distance of fifty Kms. from Baroda in the state of Gujarat.

Avadhootha Chinthana Sree Gurudeva Datta.