VASUDEVANANDA SARASWATI (Tembe Swami) was born in the Mangaon village in  Maharashtra in a Brahmin family. His parents were devotees of Lord Dattatreya; his father, Shri Ganesh Bhataji Tembe, spent many years in the temple of Lord Datta in Ganagapur, Karnataka.

Tradition holds that Lord Datta appeared in the dream of Shri Ganesh Tembe and informed him to go back home and that he would be born as his son. Vasudeo was born on the 5th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Shravan of  1854 A.D. after his father returned from Gangapur. Later he was called Vasudev Shastri or ‘Buwa’ as a sign of respect.

At a very young age, Vasudeo mastered the basics of Sanskrit literature poetry. After initiation into Vedic study and upanayana (at the age of 8), he started doing Sandhya Vandana daily twice — Parayan of the Guru Charitra and chanting of the Gayatri Mantra. He began studying Vedas under the guidance of Shri Tatya Bhataji Ukidave. He also learned astrology and Sanskrit poetry from Shri Sadhale Shastri.

MANTRA SIDDHI AT YOUNGER YEARS 

1. Due to his intense spiritual practices,  Vasudeo attained Mantra Siddhi (superhuman abilities) in his younger years.
   Once, while walking through a forest together with a priest, he suddenly saw a snake slithering in their path, and his companion asked Vasudeo if he could try a mantra on it. Instantly Vasudeo took some dust in his hand and, reciting an appropriate mantra, sprinkled it circularly around the snake. All of a sudden, the snake stopped. It wasn’t able to cross the circle and started moving round and round inside the ring itself. The two went ahead with their work in the nearby village and returned home, forgetting about the snake. The next afternoon Vasudeo recollected the incident and went back to the forest together with his friend. To his surprise, he found the snake still inside the circle, totally exhausted. Immediately he chanted the antidote mantra, taking some dust nearby, and released the creature. It immediately went back into the bushes. This had an immense impact on him so that he never used the mantra again.
2. At his sister’s place, he pacified an aggressive cow into a docile one using his Mantra Siddhi.
3. At one instance, he gave the exact description and place of a gang of robbers to the police using his yogic abilities.
4. He helped many people with their chronic ailments using his Mantra knowledge.

Later on, he was addressed as Vasudeo Shastri.

MARRIAGE WITHOUT HIS CONSENT

At the age of 21, his marriage was settled by his teachers, Ukidave and Alavani, without considering his or anybody else’s opinion. But his marriage was no bed of roses. His wife was not on good terms with his mother, and he had to face a lot of turmoil which later lead to intensifying thoughts of renunciation.

Later he went to Narsobavadi, where Datta Avatar Shri Narasimha Saraswati had spent 12 years in penance. There he came across a saint named Shri Govind Swami, who from that time on became the mentor of Vasudeva Shastri. 

SIDDHIS

With constant Yoga and austerities, he acquired Siddhis and higher spiritual knowledge, which he utilized for helping people with their worldly problems. This went on for almost one year, after which Lord Datta forbade him from doing so.

BLACK MAGIC

As people grew jealous of his growing name and fame, a few even used black magic on him, due to which he suffered from a severe form of dysentery. Even though he could nullify it, he allowed the suffering because, in the process of refusing it, the culprit himself would have been harmed; such was his compassion to others. 

HIS WIFE ATTAINED SUPREME BLISS

Lord Datta later appeared to him and ordered the consummation of his married life, which he had neglected for a long time. One day he found his wife in deep meditation. She stayed near the temple. He was able to bring her out with great effort, but she replied to him, ‘Why did you disturb me? I was in deep bliss.’

MASTER TAKES SANNYAS AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE

Finally, his master Shri Govind Swamis’ end approached. Later, His body was flown into the Krishna waters. A short while after that, Vasudeo got the divine order to proceed towards the north, and soon after, his wife passed away due to cholera (1891). Thirteen days after his wife passed away, he entered into asceticism. Later, Lord Dattatreya ordered him to travel through the entire of India and preach Sanatana Dharma.

He washed his clothes and utensils all by himself and never accepted anyone’s service. He always traveled on foot and never used sandals. There were days when one devotee inspected his feet and saw more than 20 thorns in his feet, but he never gave any indication of it as he was beyond the perception of bodily pain or pleasure. 

He strictly performed rigorous spiritual austerities and discipline of sannyasa dharma.

He used to wake up at least 3 hours before sunrise and bathe three times a day. He was a master of all Vedic texts, yoga, and Ayurveda.

THE DEPARTURE 

In the summer of 1914, his chronic dysentery got worse, and he gave signs of his oncoming departure to his devotees. He informed them about the black magic done on him in his householder days and his intention not to retaliate. He even advised them that he would be going to drop his body soon. Even on his last day, he tried to perform his nityakarma but couldn’t even hold a glass of water. 

He mentioned, ‘Once today’s Amavasya is over, this physical body has to be dropped.’

On Tuesday, Nakshatra Ardra, Ayan Uttara, he, facing west, performed Tratak (steady gaze) and, controlling his breath, left the physical body chanting OM.