Sripada Sri Vallabha () is an Indian guru who is an incarnation of

Dattatreya Dattatreya (, ), Dattā or Dattaguru, is a paradigmatic Sannyasi (monk) and one of the lords of yoga, venerated as an avatar of Lord Vishnu. Three Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, who are also collectively known as the Trimurti, incarna ...

. He is considered as one of the first complete

avatars Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

(incarnations) of the deity Dattatreya in

Kali Yuga ''Kali Yuga'' (Devanagari: कलियुग), in Hinduism, is the fourth, shortest, and worst of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga cycle'', preceded by '' Dvapara Yuga'' and followed by the next cycle's '' Krita (Satya) Yuga''. I ...

Narasimha Saraswati Shree Narasimha Saraswati Swami or Shree Nrusimha Saraswati Swami (श्रीनृसिंह सरस्वती, 1378−1459) was an Indian guru of Dattatreya tradition(sampradaya). According to the Shri GuruCharitra, he is the second ...

Manik Prabhu Manik Prabhu Maharaj was an Indian Hindu saints, Hindu saint, freedom fighter, philosopher, poet and guru. He is also regarded as an incarnation of Dattatreya by the people of Datta Sampraday. Prabhu's philosophy, the Sakala mata Siddhanta rests ...

, and

Swami Samarth Shri Swami Samarth Maharaj (Marathi: श्री स्वामी समर्थ) also known as Swami of Akkalkot was an Indian Hindu spiritual master of the Dattatreya Tradition. He lived during the nineteenth century and is a known s ...

believed to be other incarnations of Dattatreya that followed Sripada Sri Vallabha. Sripada Sri Vallabha was born and lived in

Pithapuram Pithapuram (also spelled as Pitapuram) is a Town and municipality in the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh, India. With a history spanning over 1,500 years, it is one of the oldest towns in the state. Pitapuram served as the capital for vario ...

, formerly known as Pitikapuram, a town in present-day

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

in India. The grandparents of Sripada Srivallabha belonged to the Malayadri village of

Palnadu Palnadu is a region located in Palnadu district and covering a portion of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is spread over the revenue divisions of Gurazala and Narasaraopeta in Palnadu district and Markapur in Prakasam district. ...

District of Andhra Pradesh state in India. Malladi Bapanna Avadhanulu of Harithasa

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

is the maternal grandfather of Sripada. His wife Rajamamba also belonged to a scholar's family. Her brother was Malladi Sridhara Avadhanlu. It is said that once the two scholars went to Ainavilli, a remote area in the Godavari district, and conducted a

yajna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...

during which they actually made

Ganapati Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hi ...

appear. The god declared that as a result he would be reborn as Sripada Sri Vallabha on

Ganesh Chaturthi Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi () or Vinayaka Chavithi () or Vinayagar Chaturthi (), is a Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Hindu deity Ganesh. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's ''m ...

. Later, both went to Pithapuram village and settled there. SriPada3

Sripada Sri Vallabha took ''

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (), sometimes spelled ''sanyasa'', is the fourth stage within the Hinduism, Hindu system of four life stages known as ''ashrama (stage), ashramas'', the first three being ''brahmacharya'' (celibate student), ''Gṛhastha, grihast ...

'' the age of 16 years and took jalasamadhi at the age of 30. Some of the noted holy places that Sripada Sri Vallabha visited during his lifetime include Kashi (

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

), Badarikashram,

Gokarna Gokarna may refer to: Places * Gokarna, Karnataka, a town in Karnataka, India * Gokarna, West Bengal, a village in West Bengal, India * Gokarnamatam, a village in Andhra Pradesh, India * Trincomalee, a city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka also k ...

Srisailam Srisailam is a census town in Nandyal district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Srisailam mandal in Atmakur revenue division, Nandyal district, Atmakur revenue division. It is located about from the distri ...

and Kuravapura. Sripada Sri Vallabha stayed in Kurupuram much of his life. The religious significance of Kurupuram is mentioned in the book ''

Shri Guru Charitra The ''Shri Guru Charitra'' is a book based on the life of Shri Nrusimha Saraswati (a.k.a. Narasimha Saraswati), written by the 15th-16th century poet Shri Saraswati Gangadhar. The book is based on the life of Shri Narshimha Saraswati, his p ...

'' and other holy books associated with Dattatreya. It is believed that Sripada Sri Vallabha is ''chiranjeevi'' (immortal) and that he took '' jalsamadhi'' in Kuravapura or Kurugaddi, a river island on river Krishna near Raichur, Karnataka, where he resides in "''tejorup''" (pure energy form). On the opposite bank of the river is Vallabhapuram in Telangana, which is also sacred. It is believed that Sripada Sri Vallabha use to come from Kuruvapuram to Vallabhapuram by walking on the river.

Legend of Vallabhesh and Hedgewar family

Sometime after Sripada Srivallabha disappeared, a Brahmin named Vallabhesh vowed to go to Kuravapur and feed 1,000 Brahmins if he earned more than his usual profit. Near Kuravapur, Vallabhesh encountered

bandits Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, e ...

in disguise who robbed and beheaded him. Sripada Srivallabha suddenly appeared from nowhere and killed the bandits with his

Trishula The ''trishula'' () is a trident, a divine symbol, commonly used as one of the principal symbols in Hinduism. It is most commonly associated with the deity Shiva and widely employed in his iconography. Etymology The name ''trishula'' ultimate ...

; one, who appealed to the saint as

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, was spared. Being told, the person spared reattached Vallabhesh's severed head to his body to be brought back to life by the grace of Sripada Srivallabha. Vallabhesh Brahmin is considered the ''mula-purush'' (founder) of the Hedgewar family. K. B. Hedgewar, founder of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS), was a ninth-generation descendant of Vallabhesh.

References

Sources

* ''Shri Dattatreya Dnyankosh'' by P. N. Joshi (Shri Dattateya Dnyankosh Prakashan, Pune, 2000). * ''Datta-Sampradyacha Itihas'' (''History of Datta Sampradaya'') by R. C. Dhere (Padmagnadha Prakashan, Pune). * ''Sri Pada Charitra- Shankar Bhatt'' (Telugu version by Sri Malladi Diskhitulu) *
Sankshipta Sripada Srivallabha Charitramrutam Parayana grantham
' (abridged by Smt Prasanna Kumari—Telugu version) * ''SriPada Sri Vallabha'' website - www.sripadavallabha.org * ''SriPada Sri Vallabha charitamrutam'' websit
Sripada Srivallabha Charitamrutam wtt
* ''SriPada Vallabha Miracles'' - www.sripadavallabhamiracles.com * '' SriPada Sri Vallabha Sansthan'' Pithapuram, E.G.District, A.P, India SriPada2

External links

Website on SriPada SriVallabha

SriPada SriVallabha Youtube

Sripada Sri Vallabha
{{Authority control Medieval Hindu religious leaders 1320 births