| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
VIDYARANYA |
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| Uncommon
Saint When Vidyaranya breathed his last, he was probably 118 years old. He dedicated his entire life for welfare of the people. And it was his main aim. What he hated was injustice and tyranny; and what he achieved was fearlessness and willingness on the part of people to respect other religions. Those that wish to serve people must first earn the merit to serve. To achieve anything worthy it is not enough to have strength of muscle only. Along with it we must have purity and loyalty to the cause. Such people should always have before their eyes the ideal of large-heartedness. Vidyaranya meditated long. He did not ask for personal happiness or power from Bhuvaneshwari. He begged for wisdom and the power to renounce the world. He became a monk. It was not to draw away from human suffering that he became a saint, so that he might reach the highest point of enlightenment. It was to warn the people who had lost the sense of dignity and self-respect so that they might together build a mighty empire. By the time the empire of Vijayanagar was firmly established, he had already adorned the Sringeri Sharada Peetha as its head. He made over the merit of his tapas to the newly founded empire and guided the Kings in the proper administration of the empire. He made the Kings understand that they should administer the State with the sole object of the welfare of the citizens at heart. He guided the people also to give up hatred and jealousy. He gave a very good support for all the learned people. Through this work he also learnt many things. He became the true devotee of Sharada. In reality he was a saint only so far as his personal life was concerned and practiced renunciation, clean life, loyalty and fidelity to his religion. But in public life he joined hands with kings and Common men to work for the welfare of the People. People of Karnataka have shown their respect for this great saint and founder of Vijayanagar by installing his idol in the temple of Virupaksha in Pampakshetra (modern Hampe). Even today we can see this statue of Vidyaranya in the temple of Virupaksha at Hampe. |
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