SWAMI SRI VEERABRAHMENDRA

A Monograph on Pothuluru Veerabrahmendra Swamy

Here the scholar throws light on the topographical details of Papaghni Peetham - the residential place of the Viswabrahmin couple, Papamamba and Veerabhoja¬yacharya. Some scholar’s that the Papaghni Peetham was in the Nandi durga (the popular Nandi Hills) of Karnataka Stats. But Kodandarama Reddi says that Nandidurga may perhaps be the same Nandi¬kontia which was inundated in the waters of the present Nagarjuna sagar of Andhra Pradesh.

According to this scholar, Veerabhojayacharya the foster father of Veerambhotlayya must have passed away when the boy was thirteen years old.

Here is a point which is worth mentioning. Veerambhotlayya seeking permission from his mother, went out and visited many holy [places. On his way he went to a place near Hubballi of karnataka State where there was a temple of Hari Haranath. It was ‘the same temple in which, the famous Telugu poet, Tikkana ceremonially worshipped the deity in whom Siva and Keshava were identical in form and concept. According to K L. Narayana a popular research scholar in history, this Harihara Pura is no other than the famous city of Kanchi which the Telugu poet Tikkana has nothing to do with. At this place, Veerabrahmam met one Ananda Bhairavayogi, a Kshatriya young man hailing from North India. Along with this youngman, Veerabrahmam went to North India and visited a number of Holy places. On his way bat k, he broke his journey vat Banagaraplli of Kurnool District where he served as a cowherd of the hospitable land lady, Garimireddi Atchamamba, the wife of Venkata Reddi.

In the remaining story of Veerambhotlayya, there are no deviations from the biographical sketch given in the previous chapter.

As for the source material, the two books namely “Brahmamgari Charitra” by Ch. Subbaiah Sreshts and “Veeratharya Charitramu” by T. V. Raghavscharya are quite useful. The former is almost similar to that of Nagabhushanadas so far as the legendary part of it is concerned. From the literary point of view, Subbaiah Sreshthi’s book is better. But what is actually wanting in this book is the historical aspect.

T.V. Raghavacharya, the author of Veeracharya Charitramu had dealt with the subject from the historical point of view. He did extensive research to arrive at the exact date of birth of Veerabrahmam, basing on the internal evidence of “Kalajnana”. This aspect will be touched upon in the next chapter. Here I would like to appreciate his deep insight in making a sincere attempt to collect authentic information about the Swami’s life.