Sri Madhvacarya!

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Here is short biography of Sri Madhva.

 

 

Sri Madhvacharya

(1238 - 1317 A.D)

 

 

Sri Madhvacarya was born around 1238 A.D., in a village called Tulunada,

about eight miles south-east of the modern town of Udipi, in the Karnataka

State. He is reputed to be the incarnation of Bhima, taking birth in

Kali-yuga to destroy the daityas. Others refer to him as Vayu himself and it

was his life's mission to defeat the followers of Mayavadi philosophy.

 

He was born in the family of very elevated brahmins and from his early

childhood performed many amazing pastimes, such as the killing of a huge

serpentine demon named Maniman, simply with the big toe of his leftfoot.

Madhava was only eight years old when he received spiritual initiation and

at the age of twelve he accepted the sannyasa order and began to travel the

length and breadth of India.

 

He enjoyed a long life of robust health. He engaged in various forms of

sport and physical exercise in his youth, such as wrestling, swimming and

even mountaineering, which he kept up to the very end. He had very handsome

features with a strong muscular frame, tall and strong-limbed with graceful

carriage and dignified bearing. Endowed with a magnetic personality and

traditional thirty-two laksanas, he had a deep sonorous voice and good

musical talent, which he used to advantage in Vedic recitation and in

singing the soulful strains of his own devotional compositions and in giving

open air discources on the Bhagavata Purana, with its rolling melody of

verses.

 

His life, as described in the Madhvavijaya, is the narrative of a born

leader of men. Madhva recognized the soul of man to be potenially divine;

but man, in the ignorance of his true status, has lost his soul to his body

and its cravings, and needs to be awakened by God himself or His devotees.

He became a student under Acyutapreksa, who came in the order of

Ekanti-Vaisnavas of the Ekadandi order. Madhva entered the sannyasa order

and was given the name Purnaprajna.

 

During his study of the sastras he became convinced about the inherent

weakness in the Advaita philosophy and developed a keen desire to revive the

theistic science of Vedas with his own thorough reinterpretation of the

texts.

 

After only a short time in his studies, frequent disagreements of views

arose between himself and his teacher. Acyutaprajna could see that

Purnaprajna was destined to make history for himself and made him head of

the Math. On that memorable occasion Purn aprajna was given another name

"Anandatirtha" and later adopted the name Madhva.

 

Madhvacarya spent some time teaching and engaging outstanding scholars

belonging to Buddhist, Jain and Advaita Sampradayas, in logical and

philosophical discussions and vanquishing them in debates. He set out to

propagate his teachings and travelled exte nsively throughout South India.

He visited Kanyakumari, Ramesvaram and Sri Rangam holding discources on the

Brahmasutras and openly criticizing Sankaracarya s Bhasyas on the Sutras.

Giving his own interpretations he soundly defeated all he encountered and

naturally roused a good deal of opposition from the leaders of the old

schools of thought. At Kanyakumari he met with stiff opposition from an

Advaitic monk of great learning who challenged him to write a fresh

commentary on the Brahmasutras before he ven tured to criticize the time

honored one of Adi Sankaracarya. Madhva assured him that he would be doing

so, in good time. At Srirangam he came in contact with the followers of

Acharya Sri Ramanuja and after exchanging veiws with them, noted his own

points of ag reement and difference with them. This South Indian tour gave

him great resolve to set out on his first tour of North India.

 

Madhvacarya was anxious to go to Badarikasrama and receive personal

inspiration from a visit to the asrama of Vyasadeva. After staying

forty-eight days at Badarinath, fasting, praying, meditating and dedicating

his Gita-Bhasya to the Lord, Madhvacarya wa s inspired to go to the

hermitage of Vyasa. He went there all alone and after gaining the personal

darshan of Vyasadeva himself and learning from him, returned after some

months, glowing with divine inspiration and wrote his Bhasya on the

Brahma-Sutras.

 

Journeying through Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, Andhrapradesa, Maharashtra and

Karnataka, he returned to Udipi. On his way back from Badarikasrama,

Madhvacarya challenged many eminent scholars of the day. Prominent among

these were two outstanding scholars, Swa mi Sastrin and Sobhana Bhatta,

known as masters of the six systems of philosophy. Madhvacarya soundly

defeated these two who subsequently became his disciples known as Narahari

Tirtha and Padmanabha Tirtha respectively.

 

Madhvacarya's fame and prestige had grown considerably and his commentaries

on the Gita and Brahmasutras had made their mark and were widely recognized

and respected. In his Math in Udipi he introduced strict codes of conduct

for his followers, introduce d the system of Pistapasuyagas (offerings made

from flowers), in place of actual animal sacrifices in yajnas and imposed

the rigorous observance of fasts on Ekadasi. To foster a sense of fellowship

among his disciples he installed a beautiful deity of Lor d Krsna.

 

Once, as Madhva was travelling in the association of his disciples he

arrived in Sri Navadwipa and decided to spend some days within the forests

of Modradumadvipa.

 

One night, as Madhva lay sleeping, Lord Gauranga appeared to him in a dream.

The Lord told Madhava, "It is well known to everyone that you are My eternal

servitor. When I appear here in Navadwipa, I will accept your sampradaya.

Travel everywhere and care fully uproot all the false scriptures of the

mayavadis and reveal the glories of worshipping the personal form of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Later, when I appear, I will personally

broadcast your pure teachings." The Lord then disappeared.

 

When Madhva awoke, he was astonished and as he remembered the Lord he began

to cry in separation, saying, "Will I ever see that beautiful golden form

again?" A celestial voice from the sky replied, "Worship Me secretly and you

will come to Me." Carrying these instructions within his heart, Madhva

continued his travels more determined than ever to defeat the mayavadi

philosophers."

 

During a meeting between King Jayasimha, the Ruler of Kumbla and

Madhvacarya, a historic disputation developed with the Ruler s Court Pandit,

Trivikrama Pandit, who was the foremost authority on Advaita-vedanta.

Trivikrama engaged Madhvacarya in a vigoro us debate for fifteen days, at

the temple of Kudil and was defeated by the Acarya. He sought to become a

disciple of Madhvacarya and was readily admitted. He was then commissioned

to write a commentary on the Brahma-Sutra Bhasya, and named it Tattva-pradi

pa.

 

An interesting incident took place during his second trip to North India.

With the country under tight control of the Persian invaders, travelling

became very hazardous. With Madhvacarya s knowledge of Persian, his courage

and tact in handling difficult situations and his ability to rise to equal

occasions with dignity and complete self-possession, he was able to escape

from potentially dangerous encounters. One such episode took place with his

meeting with Sultan Jalal-uddin-Khilji. Political hostilitie s were on at

the time. Madhvacarya and his party were forced to swim across the Ganges to

the other side. They were halted on reaching the shore and were taken to the

Ruler who called upon Madhva to explain his conduct in disobeying orders and

crossing th e river when hostilities were on. Madhvacarya spoke to the Ruler

in his own language, convincing him on the importance of his mission in the

cause of Theism.

 

After completing many commentaries and original erudite works, establishing

prominant Maths and sending out well-chosen veterans to preach and propagate

his siddhanta all over the country, while seated during a shower of flowers,

Madhvacarya disappeared from vision and transferred himself to

Badarikasrama. There he still remains.

 

Sri Madhvacahara's Teachings:

 

His philosophy is Dvaita. Brahman is Hari or Visnu definable to an extent by

the Vedas. He has a transcendental form, Vyuhas, Incarnations are His parts

and Laksmi is distinct. The qualities of Brahman are it is fully

independent, the cause of all causes , supreme bliss, devoid of false

attributes but possesses all qualities. The soul is atomic, it pervades the

body by intelligence, infinite in number, Karta and Bhokta. Creation is the

actuation of what is in the womb of matter and soul by the action of

Brahman. The cause of bondage is the divine will of the Supreme and ignorace

of the soul (svarupa). The process of release is through whole hearted

devotion, study of the Vedas and detached karma. The goal is to gain release

from samsara and restoration of one's own individual form.

 

 

Your servant.

Sri Hari jana kinkara:

Hari Kirtan dasa.