Sripada Srivallabha (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

: శ్రీపాద శ్రీవల్లభ,

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: ஸ்ரீபாத ஸ்ரீவல்லபர்,

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: श्रीपाद श्रीवल्लभ,

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: ಶ್ರೀಪಾದ ಶ್ರೀವಲ್ಲಭ,

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: श्रीपाद श्रीवल्लभ,

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

: ശ്രീപാദ ശ്രീവല്ലഭ) is an Indian guru of the Dattatreya Sampradaya (Lineage) who is regarded as an incarnation of Lord Dattatreya. He is considered as one of the first complete

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

(incarnations) of the deity Dattatreya in Kali Yuga. Of note,

Narasimha Saraswati Shree Narasimha Saraswati Swami Or Shree Nrusimha Saraswati Swami (1378−1459) was an Indian guru of Dattatreya tradition(sampradaya). According to the Shri GuruCharitra, he is the second avatar of Dattatreya in '' Kali Yuga'' after Sripa ...

Manik Prabhu Manik Prabhu Maharaj was an Indian Hindu saint, 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 on the principles of Advaita Ve ...

, Swami Samarth,

Shirdi Sai Baba Sai Baba of Shirdi (c. 1838? - died 15 October 1918), also known as Shirdi Sai Baba, was an Indian spiritual master and fakir, considered to be a saint, revered by both Hindu and Muslim devotees during and after his lifetime. According to a ...

, are believed to be other incarnations of Lord Dattatreya that followed Sripada Srivallabha. Sripada Srivallabha was born and lived in

Pithapuram Pithapuram, historically known as Pittapore, is a town and a municipality in the Kakinada district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town also forms a part of Godavari Urban Development Authority. The town is home to one of the eighteen ...

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

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

in India. The grandparents of Sripada Srivallabha belonged to the Malayadri village of Guntur District in the Palnadu area of Andhra Pradesh state in India. Malladi Bapanna Avadhanulu of Harithasa gothra is the maternal grandfather of Sripada. His wife Rajamamba also belonged to a scholar's family. Her brother was Malladi Sridhara avadhanlu belonged to the same place. Once the two scholars went to 'Ainavilli' a remote area in Godavari mandal, and there they conducted a yagna where they actually made Lord Ganapati appear during the time of Poornahuti, which was witnessed by all the people who attended the 'yagna'. Lord Ganapati had received the Poornahuti with his trunk and to the astonishment of all the people, disclosed that he will take birth as Sripada Srivallabha on Ganesh Chaturdhi. Later both the scholars went to Pithapuram village and settled there. SriPada3

Sripada Srivallabha took sanyas at the age of 16 years, and lived in his physical form only until the age of 30. Some of the noted holy places that Sripada Srivallabha visited during his lifetime are -

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(Kashi), Badarikashram,

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

Shri Guru Charitra The Shri Guru Charitra is a book based on the life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati, written by the 15th-16th century poet Shri Saraswati Gangadhar. The book is based on the life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati, his philosophy and related stories. The ...

'' and other holy books associated with Shri Dattatreya. Shripad Vallabha did many leelas here. It is believed that the Avatar Sripada Srivallabha is 'Chiranjeevi' (immortal) and that he took 'Jalsamadhi' in Kuravapura or Kurugaddi, a river island on river Krishna near Raichur, Karnataka. He disappeared since then as a human but still exists in 'Tejorup' (in Pure energy form). On the opposite bank of the River is

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belonging to Telangana state which is also sacred. It is also believed that Sripada Srivallabha use to come from Kuruvapuram to

by walking on the river to grace the devotees at Vallabhapuram and Panchadevpahad.

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

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; one, who appealed to the saint as

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, 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 ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...

(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

Website

SripadaSrivallabha Mahasamstanam Pithapuram
{{Authority control Medieval Hindu religious leaders 1320 births