[Chaturamnaya] His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Sacchidananda Sivabhinava Nrisimha Bharati - 24

[S Jayanarayanan]

 http://svbf.org/journal/vol8no1/2006_10_swamigal.pdf
 
 
Bhakti-sudha-tarangini
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His Holiness Sri Sacchidananda Sivabhinava
Nrisimha Bharati was not only a realised soul and
a highly venerated saint, but also a profound
scholar who took a keen interest in scholastic
debates, philosophic exposition and devotional
writing. Thanks to Sri T. K. Balasubrah-manyam,
a sufficient number of his devotional compositions
were compiled and published in 1913 under the
title Bhakti-sudha-tarangini.
 
There are, on the whole, 126 hymns. Of
these 89 are on 11 deities, 19 on Sri Sankaracharya
and the other gurus, and the remaining 18 are
benedictory and other hymns. Sri Sharada has 23
hymns, Siva 19 and Parvati-.Paramesvara and Devi
11 each.
 
The poems are composed in a variety of
metres and pulsate with deep devotion. They are
characterised by felicity of expression, lucidity of
thought and mellifluity of diction, strongly
reminiscent of the compositions of Sri
Sankaracharya. The Bhujangaprayata hymns on
Vinayaka and Subrahmanya, and the
Panyavalambana and Padvalambana hymns on
Sharada and Sankaracharya recall to mind, in
metres and phrase, similar works of Sri Sankara
and do not suffer by comparision.
 
Simple words and short compounds are
chosen and the syntax is rarely involved. Long
compounds, resounding words and ornamental
flourishes are avoided. The effect is achieved by
the sincerity of feeling and the logic of the
composition. They do not give the impression of
being customary exercises in conventional genre
but the natural expression of authentic experiences.
They tell us as much about the devotee as about
the deity.
 
The mode of presentation also shows variety.
Description, narration, address, argument, prayer,
complaint, confession—all are resorted to. Which
is not considered to be out of tune with reverence;
even a quiz can contribute. There are beautiful
word-pictures which are concrete in detail and
evocative in diction and imagery. Delightful flights
of fancy are not infrequent.
 
Of all the hymns, the greatest and the most
moving are those written on Goddess Sharada,
Acharya Sankara and his guru, Sri Nrisimha
Bharati. In these, His Holiness appears to be not
writing on material objects or absent entities but
addressing living persons.
 
The hymns on Sri Sankaracharya, Sri
Vidyatirtha, Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra and Sri
Nrisimha Bharati depict the character of the ideal
guru, who is a man of God and a guide to man.
 
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