The Four Incarnations of sri Guru Swami Raghavendra Tirthangalu:

The spiritual energy in the land of Bharat is palpable, as saints reside throughout the length and width of the county. The spiritual power acquired by their austerities is utilized for the benefit of mankind.

Shankukarna of Brahma Lok, was born as Prahlad in Krita Yuga. Prahlad was devotion personified. Towards the end of Dwapara Yuga, Prahald was born as Bhalhika Raja, a king. In Kali yuga, he was reborn as saint Vyasarajja.

About four centuries ago, he incarnated himself as Sri Raghavendra - the benevolent Saint of Mantralaya, and entered into the Brindavan alive there. Thus, the Brindavan at Mantralaya is the Moola Brindavan of Sri Raghavendra. Mantralaya is situated on the banks of river Tungabhadra in Andhra Pradesh.

Please refer to the links provided , as this could help you to get an understanding of the time frames and the Yugas http://indiaheritage.org/rendez/article1.htm"
http://indiaheritage.org/rendez/article1.htm/

Shankhukarna

Brahma was assisted in his daily worship of Sri Maha Vishnu by Shankhukarna. Once Shankhukarna was late in getting flowers for worship. An enraged Brahma Cursed him to take birth in bhuloka amidst demons.

Shankhukarna prayed to Vayu Deva, who appeared before him, consoled and blessed him. Vayu Deva said that by divine will, Shankhukarna would take various incarnations in different yugas, to establish morality and righteousness. Shankhhukarna was reassured.

Prahlad

Hiranayakashipu was a powerful demon king in krita yuga. He wanted complete control over the universe. He would not accept the supremacy of Maha Vishnu. He did intense tapasya[penance]to Brahma in order to gain powers and immortality.

The devas were perplexed and requested Brahma to hasten his intervention. Brahma appeared before Hirannyakashipu and asked him to seek a boon. When Hiranyakashipu asked for immortality it was declared impossible by Brahma. Then Hiranyakashipu desired that he be killed neither by man nor by animal, neither weapon nor missile, neither inside nor outside, neither during daytime nor at night, neither by a terrestrial creature nor aquatic creature, neither by devata nnor by gandharva, neither on land nor in the air. The boon was granted. Upon securing this peculiar boon form Brahma, Hiranyakashipu began committing atrocities, and created havoc in the universe.

The devatas appealed to Lord Vishnu for protection form Hiranyakashipu. The Lord desired that Shankhukarna be born as the son of Hiranyakashipu. Thus the great devotee Prahlad was born to Kayadu and Hiranyakashipu.

Answering the prayers of Prahlad, Lord Vishnu appeared as Sri Narasimha from one of the pillars in the court hall of Hiranyakashipu, to protect first Prahalad & his devotees from evil forces.

Lord Narsimha - half man half lion - leapt out of a pillar straight at Hiranyakashipu and killed him, thus ending the evil deeds by the latter. If we surrender to the Lord with total faith and devotion, no force can harm us. This is the lesson learnt from the life and Prahlad.

Bhalhika Raja

Prahlad, in Dwapara Yuga, was reborn as Bhalhika Raja, in the Kuru Dyansty, and the elder bother of Shantnau - the father of Bhishma. Bhalhika had acquired extraordinary strength by the grace of Vayu Deva, and his personality was unique. Due to the cumulative merits acquired in his previous incarnation as Prahlad, Bhalhika lived a luxurious life.

Although Bhalhika was devout and pious, he was compelled to fight on the side of the Kauravas in the Mahabharata war, due to his birth as Shantanu's elder brother.

Bhalhika was aware that victory was reserved for the Pandavas, as Dharma and Sri Krishna were on their side. The purpose of his present incarnation was neither to acquire power, nor to fight for it, He was content to take darshhan of Sri Krishna. Bhalhika yearned to reach the Lotus Feet of the Lord in heaven. He was desirous of ending his life at the hands of Bhimsen, an amsha[incarnation]of Vayu, in the Mahabharata War. His wish was fulfilled, as he died at the hands of Bhima.

Sri Vyasaraja

Prahalad was born in Kali Yuga as Vyasa Theertha, to uphold the Vaishnava Dharma, which he reached to its zenith.

Vyasaraja was the raja guru of King Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar Empire. He prevented the onslaught of enemies over the empire. With his spiritual power, the saint warded off the danger of the evil Kuhu Yoga which afflicted the king, and prevented disaster.

The saint worshipped Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupathi with devotion for 12 years and attained His grace.

Vyasaraja established the Vidya Peeth at Vijayanagar, and was its head for 71 years. Contemporary saints Sri Vadiraja and Sri Vijayeendra and enlightened men Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa sought Sri Vyasaraja's blessings. They benefited form his knowledge of many rare subjects. He encouraged Dasa Sahitya in Karnataka, himself a great poet.

Sri Vyasaraja has authored three important treatises in Dwaita Philosophy entitled "Tharka Thandava", "Nyayamrita", and "Chandrika", besides several others. He installed the idols of Anjaneya at 732 places during his lifetime.
At the age of seven Sri Vyasaraja became a Sanyasi and remained so for 85 years. He attained Mukthi at the age of 92 at Navabrindavan near Hampi, on the 8th March, 1529.

Sri Raghavendra Swami

Prahlad incarnated as the son of Thimanna Bhatta and Gopikamba and was born at Bhuvangiri in Chidambaram Disteict, Tammilnadu. The child was born by the grace of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati and thus was named Venkatanatha.

Thimanna Bhhatta suddenly died, leaving Little Venkatanatha in the care of his elder son Gururaj. Venkatnatha's initial education was under the tutelage of his brother-in-law Sri Lakshminarasimhachar, at Madhurai. The young lad was a student par excellence. He was blessed by the Pontiffs Sri Vijayeendra Theertha and Sri Sudhindra Theertha at Kumbhakonam. The boy later became the student of Sri Sudheendra Thirtha.

Venkatanatha was later married to Saraswathi. They suffered due to poverty but Venkatanatha accepted life as God's will. In due course, the couple moved to Sri Sudindra Theertha's Math at Kumbhakonam, where Venkatanatha persued higher studies under his Guru's tutelage.

Due to old age, Sri Sudheendra Thirtha was weary of shouldering the responsibilities connected with the Peetha. Venkatanatha was brilliant and capable, therefore the appropriate person to take charge of the Peetha, the seer felt. Sri Sudheendra Theertha decided to initiate Venkatanatha into Sanyasa at Tanjore and approached the king Raghunatha Bhupal, who offered his palace for the function.

The "Ratnabhiskeka" of Venkatanatha was performed in the royal mantap amidst the chanting of Veda Mantras. Sri Sudheendra Theertha handed the saffron robes to Venkatanathha and consecrated him a monk. After the "Mantropadesha", Venakatanatha was given the monastic name "Sri Raghavendra Theertha". The ancient idols of Moola Rama, Digvijaya Rama and Jayarama with the Vyasamushti, were handed over, coupled with the administration of the Math to Sri Raghavendra Theertha.

Venkatanatha and Saraswathi were living a happy married life. Unable to bear the separation form her husband, Saraswathi committed suicide by jumping into a well. She was liberated form the cycle of births and deaths by Sri Raghavendra Theertha.

Sri Raghavendra Swami was constantly on the move form one place to another, propagating Bhakthi (devotion) and Harisarvothamatwa (Supremacy of the Lord) He stayed in Udupi for more than a year in the Math established by Sri Vijayendra Theertha. While at Udupi, Sri Guru Raghavendra Swami wrote the treatises "Chandrika Prakashika", "Tantra Deepika", "Nyayamukthavali" and "Sudha Parimala", which He dedicated to Udupi Sri Krishna.

Sri Swami during one of his travels came across an illiterate Brahmin boy - Venkanna, grazing cattle. The lad was an orphan suffering at the hands of his maternal uncle. Upon seeing Sri Swamiji, Venkanna ran to him and unburdened his woes to the saint. The compassionate Swami told the lad to think of him while in trouble.

Once Venkanna was forced to read to a message from the Sultan of Bijapur by the officer Siddi Masood Khan. The illiterate Venkanna prayed to Sri Raghavendra Swami. A miracle! The boy began to read! The letter was the promotion order for Siddi Masood Khan as Nawab. Elated the Nawab instantly appointed Venkanna as theh Diwan of Adoni Samsthan.

Nawab Siddi Masood Khan in due course, met Sri Raghavendra Swami at the instance of Diwan Venkanna. The Nawab offered to gift Sri Guru Raghvaendra Swami a few villages. Swamiji declined and asked only for Manchala, a village on the banks of Rivers Tungabhadra. Accordingly, the Nawab officially gifted the village to Sri Raghavendra Swami.

The saint would visit Ganadalam, a place approximately 5 miles in the north of Manchala, on the other side of River Tungabhadra. The place is scattered with rocks and has a natural cave formation. Swamiji would meditate in this cave for days together. His visits to this place before entering the Brindavan became frequent. A natural formation of Panchamukhi Anjaneya has occurred in this cave, on a rock adjacent to Sri Swami's place of meditation. Panchamukhi Anjaneya appeared before Raghavendra Swami and blessed him.

Sri Raghavendra Swami occupied Manchala on an auspicious day. The saint instructed Diwan Venkanna to arrange for a particular spot to be dug. Upon digging, a Bali Peetha was found. Raghavendra Swami asserted that as Prahlad in Krita Yuga, he had performed Yaga at this spot. The characteristic of that particular spot was such that success was certain. Desires would be fulfilled and peace would prevail. The Swami was desirous of having his Brindavan constructed on that holy spot.

The ruling diety of Manchalam Goddess Manchalamma, invited Guru Swami Shri Raghavendraya to establish his ashram and vrindavan at Manchalam.
In his reply Shri Guru Swami Raghavendraya is said to have accepted and expressed his being honoured in being asked to do so.
Then Manchalamma teased him by saying that one he establishes his ashram and his vrindavam , people would forget her and stop worshipping her.
To this Guru Swami Shri Raghavendraya assured her that if anyone visited his vrindavan without first visiting her and offering their prayers to her , he would ignore them. On hearing this, Goddess Manachalmma, was satisfied and blessed him.

Raghavendra Swami propitiated Manchalamma the presiding diety of the village, and invoked her blessings for contructing his Brindavan. According to her wish, the saint got a replica of goat's head erected before his Brinndavan. Sri Swami instructed divan Venkanna to get his Brindavan constructed only out of a particular block of stone.

According to instructions, Venkanna procured the stone block from Madhawaram village. Raghavendra identified this stone block as the one on which Sri Ram had sat for a while and relaxed. Employing expert sculptors, Venkanna got the Brindavan constructed.

At dawn, after worshipping Sri Moola Rama, Manchalamma,Sri Venkateshwara and after blessing all the devotees gathered, Sri Raghavendra entered the Brindavan on Sali Vahana Shaka (1593) 1671 A.D. Virodhi Krita in Shravana Masa during Drishna Paksha on Dwitiya, a Thursday. Shri Guru Raghavendra Swami declared that he would be alive for 700 years in the Brindavan, from the year 1671, which is the day of his taking his seat in the vrindavan, blessing one and all. 340 years have elapsed since Sri Guru Swamy Raghavendra Tirthangalu entered the Brindavan alive.

Miracles continue to occur with devotees at Mantralaya and in their houses in far-off lands.

All he seeks is Total Devotion , Surrender and mediatation of Sri Krishna.

Have Devotion to the Lord, however be free of Blind Faith.

Let Your Devotion be full of Bhakthi and Shraddha.

Manchala once a foresaken village, is today Mantralaya - a self contained town - forever bustling with activity.

HARE SREENIVASA
HARI SARVOTHAMA!!
VAYOO JEVOTHAMA!!
MOOLA RAMO VIJAYATHE!!
GURURAJO VIJAYATHE!!
OM SRI RAGHAVENDRAYA NAMAHA!

Sri Sri Sri Krishna ArpanaMasthu.