The Celibacy inspiration at Udupi
Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Vraj Vihari das in Monk's Diary
For inspiration and break, many brahmachari monks visit Udupi, a holy town in the state of Karnataka, the Southern part of India, where for over seven centuries celibate monks have dedicated themselves to the worship of Lord Krishna. The Krishna temple here was founded by Sri Madhvacharya who initiated eight disciples into sannyasa, renounced order, and they carried the legacy of worship of Krishna. Each of these eight sannyasis have headed a disciplic line of succession and since the thirteenth century each of these lines have had over thirty lifelong celibate sannyasis serving selflessly.
Inside the Krishna temple complex at Udupi is a small memorial ‘Vrindavan’ where seventy to eighty of these sannyasis’ bodies were placed after their demise. This is one of the holiest places that many celibates visit for prayers and blessings; it’s most inspiring to know that such pure souls served here for decades without desiring anything material. Most of these sannyasis renounced home and material comforts before they were even teenagers and then lived as a renunciate till the age of eighty to ninety. Standing inside the complex fills the heart with a tremendous surge of inspiration; a desire to serve selflessly and not wanting any name and fame or material recognition fills the heart. None of the memorial built has a name on it; most of these sannyasis are silent servers who quietly served the Lord, rejecting the ephemeral glamour and fleeting promises of this material world.
One tomb particularly catches my attention; it has a tiger’s face engraved atop the tomb. This is the tomb of Raghupravira Tirtha swamiji, the twenty third in the line of Palimar Mutt, (one of the original eight founded by Madhvacharya), who lived in the late 18th century. He lovingly served Lord Krishna in the temple and one day was disappointed to find a cow missing from the cow shed. This cow was the swamiji’s favourite and he offered the milk of this cow for bathing the deity of Lord Krishna. On searching it was finally discovered that the cow had been devoured by a tiger in the forest. Disappointed that the cow’s milk wouldn’t be now offered for his dear Lord, the swamiji repented and sat outside the temple fasting as atonement for the disservice to Lord. The news spread far and wide. As people gathered to see the intense penance of Raghupravira tirtha Swami, the townspeople were for a big shock; in the middle of this town, as if from nowhere, a tiger appeared. As people ran in fear and later saw the spectacle from the sides, the tiger walked up straight to the swamiji in front of the temple. This was the same tiger that had eaten the cow a few days ago. The tiger too was affected by the penance and repentance of the swamiji and had felt sorry for having eaten Lord Krishna’s favourite cow. As an act of atonement, the tiger approached swamiji and while offering prostrated obeisance, laid down its life. Everyone was stunned to see a tiger give up its life in atonement. The swamiji came back from his meditation and fasting and resumed his services to the Lord. To commemorate this special event, the tomb of this swamiji has a tiger’s face carved.
Like this there have been over two hundred seventy swamis during the last seven hundred years who have served in the sacred town of Udupi. These souls have performed selfless service and performed many miracles too. But their primary focus has been on remaining in the background and humbly serving.
deepak bagla
Mar 20th, 2012
amazing article, what a power of renounciation
Sumit Sharma
Mar 20th, 2012
Wonderful article.
NGK Murthy
Mar 20th, 2012
Thanks for sharing such an inspiring article.
amit mundhada
Mar 20th, 2012
great sincerity to serve LORD. REALLY INSPIRING.
shyama radhika devi dasi
Mar 20th, 2012
amazing. thanx for sharing
Amar Solanki
Mar 20th, 2012
great story.
satyam
Mar 20th, 2012
very inspring to hear about the sacrifice of such great saints
Rajeev
Mar 20th, 2012
Amazed to see the purity and selfless service .. inspirational.Thank you very very much for sharing.
Had been to Sri Sri Radha gopinath temple on 18th and was deeply feeling grateful to vraja vihari pr and team wrting on this website and enligtening us regularly. Thank you very very much.
Kuldeep Soni
Mar 20th, 2012
So inspiring.
madhura
Mar 20th, 2012
very inspiring.Thank you for sharing.
navin poojary
Mar 20th, 2012
Very inspiring
vandanam
Mar 20th, 2012
great spiritual power…
Damodar
Mar 21st, 2012
Wonderful story of tiger laying his life as a repentance.Thanks for sharing.
Paramesvara Dasa
Mar 21st, 2012
Service means to please without expecting nothing in return. The selfless monks are real inspiration for others to become selfless. All glories to all selfless monks.
pradeep lalwani
Mar 21st, 2012
very inspiring .
govind
Mar 21st, 2012
thank you very much for sharing wonderful article.
Babalu
Mar 21st, 2012
Stunning story.
Kalpana Kulkarni
Mar 21st, 2012
Thank you for the wonderful history about Udipi and the very inspiring story about the monk and the tiger.
Hemant Solanki
Mar 21st, 2012
Hare Krishna Thank You for sharing for this article.
Amar Solanki
Mar 21st, 2012
thanx for sharing
Rashmi Solanki
Mar 21st, 2012
A nice article.
umesh
Mar 21st, 2012
thanks for sharing.
Hemant Solanki
Mar 21st, 2012
THank You for sharing a wonderful story
Prajakta Timbe
Mar 21st, 2012
Thanks for sharing wonderful divine story of Udapi Shri Krishna!Very nice place to visit.
Abhinav Mutreja
Mar 21st, 2012
Amazing. Very Nice ! Jai!
nandkishordas
Mar 21st, 2012
So wonderful prabhuji-i desire someday i shall also like-These souls have performed selfless service and performed many miracles too. But their primary focus has been on remaining in the background and humbly serving.
Shephali
Mar 21st, 2012
Haribol..very inspriring
Shephali
Mar 21st, 2012
Haribol..very inspiring
Vidya Patham
Mar 21st, 2012
Thank you so much for sharing this inspiring story. Even by hearing about Udupi and this sacred spot gives tremendous hope and inspiration to continue to fight obstacles on our spiritual path.
madhura
Mar 21st, 2012
Thank you for sharing.
madhura
Mar 21st, 2012
Amazing!
N. Swaminathan
Mar 21st, 2012
It is extremely touching that these Swamis have great powers but they always try to serve and remain in the background whereas in modern society people try to show off even if they have no real stuff.
Deepak
Mar 22nd, 2012
Beautiful. I never heard about it & never visited such an auspicious place.
nandkishor das
Mar 22nd, 2012
very inspiring
bhaskar
Mar 23rd, 2012
very inspring to hear about such great souls
veena
Mar 23rd, 2012
Haribol!! Really inspiring !!
Anand
Mar 25th, 2012
Selfless service is so important in devotional life, I am trying to aspire to follow in the footsteps of these great devotees of the Lors & imbibe their beautiful qualities.
Piyush Singh
Mar 27th, 2012
Thank you for sharing this wonderful incident. Simply amazing.
tushar
Mar 28th, 2012
Thank you very much Pr, for sharing this story & sharing about so many dedicated souls!
Amazing!
vaishali kamat
Mar 29th, 2012
Even ferrocious animals gets transformed by the purity of such wonderful souls.
rahul
Apr 3rd, 2012
Very inspiring
Jagannath Dham Das
Apr 4th, 2012
A very inspiring article on the glories of Sri Udupi Dham !
Hare Krishna !
Sandesh
Apr 4th, 2012
Great article! Its amazing to see that the concept of celibate monks isn’t unique to the Hare Krishna movement, as many people might believe.
shailesh
Apr 5th, 2012
Very Wonderful information .
Sandesh
Apr 5th, 2012
Nice Article!
mahesh
Apr 11th, 2012
thank u for sharing a pastime about Raghupravira Tirtha swamiji, this shows any one who come in contact with a pure devotee, his heart gets transform.
“lava matra sadhu sangh sarva sidddhi hoy”
Shyam Mahtani
Apr 11th, 2012
The tiger makes me feel so useless, what to speak of the monks. This is definitely a place to visit for inspiration. Thank you for this beautiful article.
Sudhir Shrivastava
Apr 13th, 2012
Very nice post from a disciple of Radhanath Swami!!!
Saurabh
Apr 16th, 2012
Very inspiring thank you
Kalpana Kulkarni
Apr 18th, 2012
People must visit Udipi to recharge their spiritual batteries.
Ganesh
Apr 18th, 2012
Amazing article.Jai.Haribol!
Ankush
Apr 19th, 2012
amazing pastime….
Anagha Warade
Apr 19th, 2012
very inspiring article!
Thank you for sharing…
Amit Dusane
Apr 19th, 2012
Very inspiring article. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Arjun K Ramachandra
May 6th, 2012
That is really celibacy inspiration. What a holy place udupi must be where 270 exalted sannyasis have served the lord since the last 8 centuries!
satyam
Oct 24th, 2012
A perfect example of the blend of determination and devotion to Krishna. Thank you for sharing
Milind M Churi
Dec 26th, 2012
An inspiring story.The purity of the service to The Lord Sri Krishna by Raghupravira Tirtha Swami is of so intense that Lord arranged this Lila to take place in front of people present in Udipi temple.Best place for us to offer prayers and seek blessings to Serve our eternal Father Sri Krishna.