Sripad Madhvacarya

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Dear devotees

 

dandavat pranams

 

we are sending the life story of Sripad Madhavacarya, as attached file with

this text sicne there are problem with the balarm fonts,

 

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According to the Sri Kurma inscriptions of Narahari Tirtha, his direct

disciple, Sripad Madhvacarya was born between 1238 and lived for 79 years,

until 1317 A.D. This is confirmed in the Anu-Madhva-Carita. According to the

authorized biographies compiled by his disciples shortly after his passing

away, Sripad Madhva was born in the village of Tulunada, which is located

about 8 miles to the southeast of the city of Udipi in Karnataka. He came

from a family of sivalli-brahmanas and was the son of Madhyageha Bhatta and

Mother Vedavati devi.

 

In his Caitanya Caritamrta commentary (CC Madhya 9.245), Sripad

Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada Comments as follows: "Crép?da Madhv?c?rya

took his birth near U?upé, which is situated in the South Kanara district of

South India, just west of Sahy?dri. This is the chief city of the South

Kanara province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the

south of U?upé. Near the city of U?upé is a place called P?jak?-k?etra,

where Madhv?c?rya took his birth in a Civ?llé-br?hmaëa dynasty as the son of

Madhyageha Bha??a, in the year 1040 Cak?bda (A.D. 1118). According to some,

he was born in the year 1160 Cak?bda (A.D. 1238).

In his childhood Madhv?c?rya was known as V?sudeva, and there are some

wonderful stories surrounding him. It is said that once when his father had

piled up many debts, Madhv?c?rya converted tamarind seeds into actual coins

to pay them off. When he was five years old, he was offered the sacred

thread. A demon named Maëim?n lived near his abode in the form of a snake,

and at the age of five Madhv?c?rya killed that snake with the toe of his

left foot. When his mother was very much disturbed, he would appear before

her in one jump. He was a great scholar even in childhood, and although his

father did not agree, he accepted sanny?sa at the age of twelve. Upon

receiving sanny?sa from Acyuta Prek?a, he received the name Pürëaprajïa

Tértha. After traveling all over India, he finally discussed scriptures with

Vidy?ça?kara, the exalted leader of C??geri-ma?ha. Vidy?ça?kara was actually

diminished in the presence of Madhv?c?rya. Accompanied by Satya Tértha,

Madhv?c?rya went to Badarik?çrama. It was there that he met Vy?sadeva and

explained his commentary on the Bhagavad-gét? before him. Thus he became a

great scholar by studying before Vy?sadeva.

By the time he came to the ?nanda-ma?ha from Badarik?çrama, Madhv?c?rya had

finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gét?. His companion Satya Tértha

wrote down the entire commentary. When Madhv?c?rya returned from

Badarik?çrama, he went to Gaïj?ma, which is on the bank of the river

God?varé. There he met with two learned scholars named Cobhana Bha??a and

Sv?mé C?stré. Later these scholars became known in the disciplic succession

of Madhv?c?rya as Padman?bha Tértha and Narahari Tértha. When he returned to

U?upé, he would sometimes bathe in the ocean. On such an occasion he

composed a prayer in five chapters. Once, while sitting beside the sea

engrossed in meditation upon Lord Cré K??ëa, he saw that a large boat

containing goods for Dv?rak? was in danger. He gave some signs by which the

boat could approach the shore, and it was saved. The owners of the boat

wanted to give him a present, and at the time Madhv?c?rya agreed to take

some gopé-candana. He received a big lump of gopé-candana, and as it was

being brought to him, it broke apart and revealed a large Deity of Lord

K??ëa. The Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As

soon as Madhv?c?rya received the Deity of K??ëa in this way, he composed a

prayer. The Deity was so heavy that not even thirty people could lift it.

Yet Madhv?c?rya personally brought this Deity to U?upé. Eight of

Madhv?c?rya’s sanny?sa disciples became directors of his eight monasteries.

Worship of the Lord K??ëa Deity is still going on at U?upé according to the

plans Madhv?c?rya established.

Madhv?c?rya then for the second time visited Badarik?çrama. While he was

passing through Maharashtra, the local king was digging a big lake for the

public benefit. As Madhv?c?rya passed through that area with his disciples,

he was also obliged to help in the excavation. After some time, when

Madhv?c?rya visited the king, he engaged the king in that work and departed

with his disciples.

Often in the province of G??ga-pradeça there were fights between Hindus and

Muslims. The Hindus were on one bank of the river, and the Muslims on the

other. Due to the community tension, no boat was available for crossing the

river. The Muslim soldiers were always stopping passengers on the other

side, but Madhv?c?rya did not care for these soldiers. He crossed the river

anyway, and when he met the soldiers on the other side, he was brought

before the king. The Muslim king was so pleased with him that he wanted to

give him a kingdom and some money, but Madhv?c?rya refused. While walking on

the road, he was attacked by some dacoits, but by his bodily strength he

killed them all. When his companion Satya Tértha was attacked by a tiger,

Madhv?c?rya separated them by virtue of his great strength. When he met

Vy?sadeva, he received from him the ç?lagr?ma-çil? known as A??amürti. After

this, he summarized the Mah?bh?rata.

Madhv?c?rya’s devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship became known

throughout India. Consequently the owners of the C??geri-ma?ha, established

by Ca?kar?c?rya, became a little perturbed. At that time the followers of

Ca?kar?c?rya were afraid of Madhv?c?rya’s rising power, and they began to

tease Madhv?c?rya’s disciples in many ways. There was even an attempt to

prove that the disciplic succession of Madhv?c?rya was not in line with

Vedic principles. A person named Puë?aréka Puré, a follower of the M?y?v?da

philosophy of Ca?kar?c?rya, came before Madhv?c?rya to discuss the ç?stras.

It is said that all of Madhv?c?rya’s books were taken away, but later they

were found with the help of King Jayasiàha, ruler of Kumla. In discussion,

Puë?aréka Puré was defeated by Madhv?c?rya. A great personality named

Trivikram?c?rya, who was a resident of Vi?ëuma?gala, became Madhv?c?rya’s

disciple, and his son later became N?r?yaë?c?rya, the composer of Cré

Madhva-vijaya. After the death of Trivikram?c?rya, the younger brother of

N?r?yaë?c?rya took sanny?sa and later became known as Vi?ëu Tértha.

It was reputed that there was no limit to the bodily strength of

Pürëaprajïa, Madhv?c?rya. There was a person named Ka?aïjari who was famed

for possessing the strength of thirty men. Madhv?c?rya placed the big toe of

his foot upon the ground and asked the man to separate it from the ground,

but the great strong man could not do so even after great effort. Créla

Madhv?c?rya passed from this material world at the age of eighty while

writing a commentary on the Aitareya Upani?ad. For further information about

Madhv?c?rya, one should read Madhva-vijaya, by N?r?yaë?c?rya.

The ?c?ryas of the Madhva-samprad?ya established U?upé as the chief center,

and the monastery there was known as Uttarar??hé-ma?ha. A list of the

different centers of the Madhv?c?rya-samprad?ya can be found at U?upé, and

their ma?ha commanders are (1) Vi?ëu Tértha (Coda-ma?ha), (2) Jan?rdana

Tértha (K??ëapura-ma?ha), (3) V?mana Tértha (Kanura-ma?ha), (4) Narasiàha

Tértha (Adamara-ma?ha), (5) Upendra Tértha (Puttugé-ma?ha), (6) R?ma Tértha

(Cirura-ma?ha), (7) H??ékeça Tértha (Palimara-ma?ha), and (8) Ak?obhya

Tértha (Pej?vara-ma?ha). The disciplic succession of the

Madhv?c?rya-samprad?ya is as follows (the dates are those of birth in the

Cak?bda Era; for Christian era dates, add seventy-eight years.): (1) Haàsa

Param?tm?; (2) Caturmukha Brahm?; (3) Sanak?di; (4) Durv?s?; (5) Jï?nanidhi;

(6) Garu?a-v?hana; (7) Kaivalya Tértha; (8) Jï?neça Tértha; (9) Para Tértha;

(10) Satyaprajïa Tértha; (11) Pr?jïa Tértha; (12) Acyuta Prek??c?rya Tértha;

(13) Cré Madhv?c?rya, 1040 Caka; (14) Padman?bha, 1120; Narahari, 1127;

M?dhava, 1136; and Ak?obhya 1159; (15) Jaya Tértha, 1167; (16) Vidy?dhir?ja,

1190; (17) Kavéndra, 1255; (18) V?géça, 1261; (19) R?macandra, 1269; (20)

Vidy?nidhi, 1298; (21) Cré Raghun?tha, 1366; (22) Rayuvarya (who spoke with

Cré Caitanya Mah?prabhu), 1424; (23) Raghüttama, 1471; (24) Vedavy?sa, 1517;

(25) Vidy?dhéça, 1541; (26) Vedanidhi, 1553; (27) Satyavrata, 1557; (28)

Satyanidhi, 1560; (29) Satyan?tha, 1582; (30) Saty?bhinava, 1595; (31)

Satyapürëa, 1628; (32) Satyavijaya, 1648; (33) Satyapriya, 1659; (34)

Satyabodha, 1666; (35) Satyasandha, 1705; (36) Satyavara, 1716; (37)

Satyadharma, 1719; (38) Satyasa?kalpa, 1752; (39) Satyasantu??a, 1763; (40)

Satyapar?yaëa, 1763; (41) Satyak?ma, 1785; (42) Satye??a, 1793; (43)

Satyapar?krama, 1794; (44) Satyadhéra, 1801; (45) Satyadhéra Tértha, 1808.

After the sixteenth ?c?rya (Vidy?dhir?ja Tértha), there was another

disciplic succession, including R?jendra Tértha, 1254; Vijayadhvaja;

Puru?ottama; Subrahmaëya; and Vy?sa R?ya, 1470–1520. The nineteenth ?c?rya,

R?macandra Tértha, had another disciplic succession, including Vibudhendra,

1218; Jit?mitra, 1348; Raghunandana; Surendra; Vijendra; Sudhéndra; and

R?ghavendra Tértha, 1545.

To date, in the U?upé monastery there are another fourteen Madhva-tértha

sanny?sés. As stated, U?upé is situated beside the sea in South Kanara,

about thirty-six miles north of Mangalore.

Most of the information in this purport is available from the South K?n???

Manual and the Bombay Gazette."

>From Bhaktivedanta Vedabase

 

There are literally hundreds of incidences, stories, to be relished, but

here we have just placed a few to give a taste of the nectar to be had in

“The Life and Legacy of Sripad Ananda Tirtha – Madhwacarya” by Jaya Tirtha

Charan dasa – that is waiting to be published.

 

Lamenting, and in separation from such detailed pastimes, let us continue

on……

When he was only 12 years old, Madhvacarya left home but his mother insisted

that she would leave her body if their only son left. So Madhva then blessed

them to have another son, he was born and then after taking his parents

permission went off to the ashram of Acyutapreksa, his sannyasa-guru.

Madhva's sannyasa name was Purnaprajna Tirtha. His deep study of the

scriptures was unparalleled, and had convinced him of the uselessness of the

Advaita interpretation of Vedanta. He was inspired to revive the original

and pure interpretation of Vedanta which promotes personal theism. He was to

do this on the basis of a profound and innovative interpretation of the

scriptures, for which he was to become famous. This interpretation is known

as Dvaita-dvaita-vada, or pure dualism.

 

After his initiation, Purnaprajna spent some time in the asrama of

Acyutapreksa where he carefully studied the Vedanta commentaries of

different acaryas, beginning with the Istasiddhi of Vimuktatman. But soon,

Purnaprajna's expertise in scriptural argument and his determination to

establish personal theism as the conclusion of Vedanta grew to the point

there he could defeat Acyutapreksa in argument. Recognizing Purnaprajna's

superior scholarship, Acyutapreksa made him the head of his asrama.

Purnaprajna was also awarded the title Ananda Tirtha, by which he is often

referred to in various scriptural literatures.

 

After he became the temple authority in the asrama of Acyutapreksa,

Purnaprajna began training disciples, preaching his interpretation of

Vedanta and defeating many scholars from different schools of philosophy,

including Buddhists, Jains, Advaitins, and various impersonalists,

agnostics, logicians, and the practitioners of materialistic religion. His

success in defeating all opposing scholars inspired him to tour South India

in an attempt to preach the philosophy of personal theism and devotion to

Visnu far and wide. At this time, he had completely formulated all the

details of his philosophical system, but had not yet committed his system to

writing.

 

His tour of South India was quite extensive: it took him from Udipi to the

southernmost tip of India, (Kanyakumari) and from there to Ramesvaram, Sri

Rangam, and many other important holy places of pilgrimage. Wherever he went

he debated the prominent scholars of the impersonal school, smashing their

interpretations of Vedanta with his brilliant advocacy of dualistic theism.

His scathing criticisms of Sankaracarya's impersonal Vedanta met with stiff

opposition, but no one could overcome him in scriptural argument or logical

debate. It is said that when Madhva was at Kanyakumari he was challenged by

a great impersonalist scholar of the Sankara school to write his own

commentary on Vedanta if he disagreed with the teachings of the master. At

that time, it is said that Madhva promised to write his own Vedanta

commentary, fully elaborating the proper conclusions of personal theism. At

Sri Rangam he also expressed a certain degree of dissatisfaction with the

conclusions of Ramanuja's visistadvaita-vada, in that he felt it did not go

far enough to refute the dangerous speculative philosophy of Sankaracarya.

This further added to the young Madhva's firm determination to someday

compose his own commentary incorporating his own unique interpretation.

 

After completing his South Indian tour, Madhva decided to tour North India

as well. With his resolve to complete his own Vedanta commentary growing day

by day, he was eager to begin the work. But Madhva wanted to have the

blessings of the author of Vedanta, Vedavyasa himself, before beginning such

an ambitious project. He set out for North India and the Himalayas, then, in

order to achieve the benedictions of Vedavyasa, for it was said the Vyasa,

being immortal, still resided in his asrama at Badarainatha, although he

never made himself visible to mortal eyes.

 

After a long journey by foot, Sripad Madhva finally arrived at the

Anantamatha at Badarinatha. There he remained for seven weeks, absorbed in

fasting, prayer, and devotional meditation. Inspired from within, he hiked

further up into the, to Badarikasrama, in upper Badari, where Vyasadeva has

his hermitage. There he met Vedavyasa and explained his commentary on

Bhagavad-gita to Vyasa himself, who approved. When he met Vyasa, he was

given eight Shalagrama-silas which are known as Astamurti. After discussing

the scriptures with Vyasadeva, Sripad Madhvacarya's understanding of their

inner meaning became even more profound. He remained at Badarikasrama for

some months until he finished composing his commentary of Bhagavad-gita,

whereupon he returned to the Anantamatha. At that time Madhva's companion

Satya Tirtha wrote down the entire commentary. At this time, Madhva also

wrote his commentary on Vedanta.

 

Bidding farewell to Badarinatha, Madhva began the long journey home. On the

way, he again met with and defeated many scholars of various philosophical

schools. He traveled through Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, and Andhradesa.

Bhavishya Purana and Navadwip Dham mahatmya depict how he went to Navadwip

and mystically met and discussed with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who residing

in His eternal abode was due to appear some 250 years later to preach a

similar message to Madhva, and so he, the Supreme Lord discussed with Madhva

to prepare for His own divine appearance in due course.

 

The Madhva-vijaya describes how when Madhva reached Ganjama, on the banks of

the river Godavari, he met two prominent scholars, who were well-versed in

all the important scriptures: Sobhana Bhatta, and Swami Sastri. After

converting them to his school, these scholars became renowned as important

followers of Sripad Madhva. They became famous at Padmanabha Tirtha and

Narahari Tirtha and are regarded as the principle acaryas of the Madhva

school after Madhva himself. Narahari Tirtha is famous for his commentaries

on Madhva's Gita-bhasya and Karma-nirnaya. He was the Prime Minister of

Kalinga between 1271 and 1293. Padmanabha Tirtha wrote commentaries on many

of Madhva's works, including Madhva'sBrahma-sutra-bhasya, his Anuvyakhyana,

and his Dasa-prakaranas. He was the first commentator on many of the major

works of Madhvacarya.

 

After converting Sobhana Bhatta and Swami Sastri, Sripad Madhvacarya

journeyed through Andhrapradesa, Maharastra and Karnataka arrived at last in

Udipi. Upon his return to Udipi from North India, Madhva confronted

Acyutapreksa, who had refused to accept his ideas previously. Note the roles

were reversed guru became disciple and disciple became guru. Some say that

Madhva converted Acyutapreksa from Sankara's Vedanta to the cause of

Vaisnavism and accepted him as a follower, but they do not know the full

picture behind the gurus who remained in hiding in which Acyutapreksha came

in the line of for fear of attacks by the mayavadis. There were over four

hundred years of gurus and disciples who couldn’t dress as Vaishnavas, but

instead had to go undercover as impersonalists. (full documentation is in

Jaya Tirtha Charan dasa’s “The Life and Legacy of Sripad Ananda Tirtha –

Madhwacarya”)

 

As a result of Madhva's success in defeating opposing scholars and gurus,

his reputation spread, and enthusiasm grew for his new system of Vedanta

philosophy. As his commentaries on Bhagavad-gita and Vedanta gained wider

and wider acceptance, followers and new converts began to join his camp from

all over India, attracted by his charismatic personality, invincible logic

and scriptural knowledge, and his inspired faith.

 

While he stayed in Udipi, it was Madhva's regular habit to bathe in the

ocean. One day, he was sitting on the beach absorbed in contemplation upon

Sri Krsna. At that time, he spotted a ship, bound for Dvaraka, that was

about to founder on a sand bar. He signaled the ship to safety, and it was

able to safely approach the shore. The captain of the ship wanted to bestow

some present upon Sri Madhvacarya , and he accepted a large chunk of

gopi-candana-tilaka. As it was being presented to the acarya, the large

chunk of Tilak broke in half, revealing a huge deity of Balaram. This deity

was installed in the temple on the beach at Malpe, and Madhva carried the

rest to the temple tank and submerged it there where it was revealed that

there was also a beautiful deity of Lord Krsna. (these deities were

originally carved by Vishvakarma and given to Rukmini Devi Krishna’s consort

in Dwaraka to worship prior to His leaving this world) Everyone was

astonished to find a Krsna deity within the block of Tilak, but Madhvacarya

was not unaccustomed to miracles and accepted it as the Lord's grace. At

that time he composed some beautiful prayers glorifying Sri Krsna, and soon

after that the Deity was installed at the temple in Udipi where it remains

today. The Deity weighed so much that even thirty men had difficulty moving

it. Madhva, however, was superhumanly powerful--it is said that he was an

incarnation of Vayu, and managed to personally carry the Deity to Udipi.

 

After installing the Deity of Krsna in Udipi, he revised the system of Deity

worship, establishing a strict regimen of ceremonial ritual and proper

conduct among his followers, imposing among other things the rigorous

observance of fasting on Ekadasis.

 

Having achieved such great success at home, it was time for Madhva to one

more travel afar. He began a second pilgrimage to North India, where he once

again visited Badarikasrama. The Madhva-vijaya, written by the son of one of

Madhva's disciples describes how Madhva used his sharp wits, his knowledge

of many languages such as Turkish and Persian, and his courage to overcome

great obstacles in his preaching. While on his North Indian tour, Madhva and

his disciples arrived at a place in the province of Ganga Pradesh where

political tensions between Hindus and Muslims prevented them from crossing

the river. The Hindus were on one side of the river and the Muslims on the

other side. No one dared cross, and no boat was available. Madhva and his

followers, without regard for the Muslim soldiers who guarded the crossing,

swam across the river. The entire camp was placed under arrest. Madhva

himself was taken before the Muslim King, Sultan Jalal-uddin-Khilji, who

demanded an explanation. When Madhva was finally allowed to speak on his own

behalf, he spoke in high class “chaste Persian”, addressing the king at

length on devotional theism. Seeing the intensity and saintly purity of

Sripad Madhvacarya, the Sultan's heart was softened. So impressed was he

with Madhva that he wanted to offer him land and money, but Madhva set the

example of renunciation by humbly declining the Sultan's offer.

 

Where wit would not help, Madhva would sometimes use his superhuman strength

to save a situation. Once his traveling companion and sannyasi disciple

Satya Tirtha was attacked by a fierce Bengal tiger. Fearless, Madhava went

to the rescue. After wrestling the tiger away from Satya Tirtha, he sent it

away with its tail between its legs. Another time, while walking on

pilgrimage through a dangerous part of India, we was attacked by murderous

dacoits, but he easily held them off.

 

Madhva was a multi-faceted personality who lived a long and healthy life. He

was a natural leader who believed in physical culture as well as

intellectual, moral, and spiritual culture. He took part in many athletic

activities, such as wrestling, swimming, and mountain-climbing, which served

him well in the Himalayas. As he came from a family of brahmanas that had

descended from the warrior brahmana and incarnation of Godhead, Parasurama,

he was tall, strong, and robust. It was reputed that there was no limit to

his bodily strength. The Madhva-vijaya records how a strongman named

Kadanjari who was said to have the strength of thirty men once challenged

Madhvacarya to a contest of strength. Madhvacarya placed the big toe of his

foot firmly upon the ground and asked Kadanjari, the famous strongman, to

see if he could lift it. Straining with all his brawn again and again, the

mighty Kadanjari was unable to move even the big toe of Madhvacarya.

According to Trivikrama Pandita, Madhvacarya was endowed with all the

thirty-two bodily symptoms of a great personality. He had a deep, sonorous,

and melodic voice and was an expert singer. His recitation of the verses of

Srimad-Bhagavatam was regarded as being especially sweet.

 

In this way, Madhva traveled extensively throughout the whole of India. He

returned to South India after having visited Badarinatha, Delhi, Kuruksetra,

Benares, and Goa. After this, his travels were mostly limited to those

provinces of South India near Udipi. After Sankaracarya, who had also

traveled extensively, He was the second important Vedanta acarya to travel

throughout India, and his broad preaching campaign had a lasting effect.

Gradually, his following grew, as great personalities from all parts of

India accepted him as guru. The Madhva-vijaya mentions that he had disciples

from many lands, and his present day followers still include the speakers of

eight different languages-Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, Maratha, Telugu, Southern

Saurastri, Bengali, and Hindi.

 

After returning to Udipi, Madhva once again immersed himself in prolific

literary activity. He wrote commentaries on the ten major Upanisads. He

wrote ten major philosophical treatises, the Dasa-Prakaranas, as well as

what many consider his most important work, the Anu-Vyakhyana. He wrote a

summary of Mahabharata called the Moksa-dharma, and he also commented on

Srimad-Bhagavatam.

 

Madhvacarya's dedication to the Lord and his deep scholarship made him a

feared and hated enemy of the followers of Sankaracarya, who had a vested

interest in maintaining their position as the only bona fide Vedantists. It

has been said, "Of all the plagues with which mankind is cursed,

ecclesiastical tyranny's the worst." The tyranny of the acaryas of the

Srngeri-matha founded by Sankaracarya led them to attack Sripad Madhva with

every means at their disposal. They employed various means to harass the

followers of Madhva. They tried to prove that Madhva did not come from any

authorized disciplic succession. Finally they challenged Madhva to a debate.

 

The Sankarites chose as their champion pandita a highly learned scholar

named Pundarika Puri, who was famed for his erudition and expertise in

argument. In the debate with Madhva he was humiliated. In arguing with

Madhva Pundarika was like a schoolboy facing a professor. Aching for

vengeance, the defeated pandita arranged for one of his cohorts, a sannyasi

named Padma Tirtha, to steal a priceless collection of ancient Sanskrit

scriptures from the library of Sripad Madhvacarya. The books were later

recovered with the help of King Jayasimha of Kumla.

 

After Jayasimha Raja recovered the books of Madhvacarya, an audience was

arranged between the Jayasimha and Madhva. The pandita, Trivikrama Pandita,

a resident of Visnumangala, was the foremost authority on impersonal Vedanta

in the land of Kumla and an expert poet. They met in the temple of Kudil. At

the end of the day's discourse, Trivikrama Pandita had failed to defeat

Madhva, but he refused to surrender. The debate was continued on the

following day. The next day, Trivikrama Pandita used all of his learning,

his wit, and his power of argument in an attempt to embarrass Madhva, but

after exhausting himself was again unable to defeat him. This went on for

fifteen days, when Trivikrama Pandita, his intellect spent, his doubts

destroyed, recognized Sri Madhva as his guru. He surrendered to the lotus

feet of Sripad Madhvacarya and was accepted by him as a disciple. Madhva

ordered him to write a commentary on Vedanta. Trivikrama Pandita's

commentary is called the Tattva-pradipa. His conversion was a turning point

in Madhva's preaching mission. After his conversion, Trivikrama Pandita's

own brother and seven other important scholars took sannyasa from Madhva and

became the first directors of the eight Madvhaite monasteries in Udipi.

Trivikrama Pandita's son, Narayanacarya who later wrote the Madhva-vijaya.

 

In the final years of Madhva's life, he wrote further commentaries on the

scriptures, including the Nyaya-vivarana, the Karma-nirnaya, the

Krsnamrta-Maharnava, and others. By this time, Madhvacarya was growing old.

He had completed what he set out to do. He had preached his message far and

wide, elaborated his philosophical system in numerous commentaries, and had

many trained missionaries who could carry on his work with great energy. He

had written original works of such a profound character that they would

continue to influence devotional theism well into the 20th century. He had

established the worship of Krsna in Udipi and had given sannyasa to expert

scholars and veteran preachers such as Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha,

Madhava Tirtha, and Aksobhya Tirtha, who would succeed him in promoting the

philosophical ideals of pure dualistic theism. As he finished his commentary

on the Aitereya Upanisad, on the verge of his eightieth birthday, Sripad

Madhvacarya passed away from this world and entered the eternal Vaikuntha

realm with Srila Vyasadeva at Uttara Bhadri on the ninth day of the full

moon in the month of Magh (corresponding to January-February) in the year

1317.

 

The essential principles of Sri Madhvacarya's teachings-where they run

parallel to the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu-have been summarized by

Baladeva Vidyabhusana in his Prameya-Ratnavali. These points are as follows:

 

shri madvhah praha vishnum paratamam akhilamnaya vedyam ca

cisvam satyam bhedam ca jivam hari carana jusas tartamyam ca

tesham moksham vishnv-anghri-labham tad-amala-bhajanam

tasya hetum pramanam pratyaksadi trayam cety upadisati hari

krsna-caitanya chandra

 

Shri Madvacaharya taught that:

 

1.Krishna, who is known as Hari is the Supreme Lord,

the Absolute.

2.That Supreme Lord may be known through the

Vedas.

3.The material world is real.

4.The jivas, or souls, are different from the Supreme

Lord.

5.The jivas are by nature servants of the Supreme

Lord.

6.There are two categories of jivas: liberated and

illusioned.

7.Liberation means attaining the lotus feet of

Krishna, that is, entering into an eternal

relationship of service to the Supreme Lord.

8.Pure devotional service is the cause of this

relationship.

9.The truth may be known through direct

perception, inference, and Vedic authority.

 

In his Caitanya Caritamrta commentary, Srila A.C. Bhakdivedanta Swami

Prabhupada comments, "For further information about Madhvacarya, one should

read Madhva-vijaya by Narayana Acarya."

 

We obviously do not have time or space to include all of Madhwa's wonderful

pastimes on this page, what to speak of go into each pastime in detail as I

have in my manuscript. Then that would only be a part of Madhwa's pastimes,

as he appeared as the Triple incanation of Vayudev called Mukhyapran; first

as Hanuman; then as Bhima; then as Madhwa.