Sri Madhvacarya-Appearece day-2-10-06

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Sri Madhvacarya

 

"Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth at Udupi, which is

situated in the South Kanarada district of South India, just west of

Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanarada province and is

near

the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Udupi. In the

city

of Udupi is a place called Pajaka-ksetra, where Madhvacarya took his

birth

in a Sivalli-brahmana dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhatta, in the

year

1040 Sakabda (A.D. 1119). According to some, he was born in the year

1160

Sakabda (A.D. 1239).

 

In his childhood Madhvacarya was known as Vasudeva, and

there

are some wonderful stories surrounding him. It is said that once when

his

father had piled up many debts, Madhvacarya 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 Maniman lived near his abode in the form

of a

snake, and at the age of five Madhvacarya 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 sannyasa at the age of

twelve. Upon receiving sannyasa from Acyuta Preksa, he received the

name

Purnaprajna Tirtha. After traveling all over India, he finally

discussed

scriptures with Vidyasankara, the exalted leader of Srngeri-matha.

Vidyasankara was actually diminished in the presence of Madhvacarya.

Accompanied by Satya Tirtha, Madhvacarya went to Badarikasrama. It was

there

that he met Vyasadeva and explained his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita

before him. Thus he became a great scholar by studying before

Vyasadeva.

 

By the time he came to the Ananda-matha from

Badarikasrama,Madhvacarya had

finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. His companion Satya

Tirtha

wrote down the entire commentary. When Madhvacarya returned from

Badarikasrama, he went to Ganjama, which is on the bank of the river

Godavari. There he met with two learned scholars named Sobhana Bhatta

and

Svami Sastri.Later these scholars became known in the disciplic

succession

of Madhvacarya as Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha.

 

When he returned to Udupi, 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 Sri Krsna, he saw that

a

large boat containing goods for Dvaraka 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 Madhvacarya agreed

to

take some gopi-candana. He received a big lump of gopi-candana, and as

it

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

Lord

Krsna. The Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the

other. As

soon as Madhvacarya received the Deity of Krsna in this way, he

composed a

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

it.

Madhvacarya personally brought this Deity to Udupi. Madhvacarya had

eight

disciples, all of whom took sannyasa from him and became directors of

his

eight monasteries.

 

Worship of the Lord Krsna Deity is still going on at Udupi according to

the

plans Madhvacarya established.

 

Madhvacarya then for the second time visited Badarikasrama. While he

was

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

the

public benefit. As Madhvacarya passed through that area with his

disciples,

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

Madhvacarya visited the king, he engaged the king in that work and

departed

with his disciples.

 

Often in the province of Ganga-pradesa 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 Madhvacarya 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

Madhvacarya 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 Tirtha was attacked by a tiger, Madhvacarya separated them by

virtue

of his great strength. When he met Vyasadeva, he received from him the

salagrama-sila known as Astamurti. After this, he summarized the

Mahabharata.

 

Madhvacarya's devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship

became known throughout India. Consequently the owners of the

Srngeri-matha,

established by Sankaracarya, became a little perturbed. At that time

the

followers of Sankaracarya were afraid of Madhvacarya's rising power,

and

they began to tease Madhvacarya's disciples in many ways. There was

even an

attempt to prove that the disciplic succession of Madhvacarya was not

in

line with Vedic principles. A person named Pundarika Puri, a follower

of the

Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, came before Madhvacarya to discuss

the

sastras. It is said that all of Madhvacarya's books were taken away,

but

later they were found with the help of King Jayasimha, ruler of Kumla.

In

discussion, Pundarika Puri was defeated by Madhvacarya. A great

personality

named Trivikramacarya, who was a resident of Visnumangala, became

Madhvacarya's disciple, and his son later became Narayanacarya, the

composer

of Sri Madhva-vijaya. After the death of Trivikramacarya, the younger

brother of Narayanacarya took sannyasa and later became known as Visnu

Tirtha.

 

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

Purnaprajna, Madhvacarya. There was a person named Kadanjari who was

famed

for possessing the strength of thirty men. Madhvacarya 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. Srila

Madhvacarya passed from this material world at the age of eighty while

writing a commentary on the Aitareya Upanisad. For further information

about

Madhvacarya, one should read Madhva-vijaya, by Narayanacarya.

 

The acaryas of the Madhva-sampradaya established Udupi as the chief

center, and the monastery there was known as Uttararadhi-matha. A list

of

the different centers of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya can be found at

Udupi,

and their matha commanders are (1) Visnu Tirtha (Soda-matha), (2)

Janardana

Tirtha (Krsnapura-matha), (3) Vamana Tirtha (Kanura-matha), (4)

Narasimha

Tirtha (Adamara-matha), (5) Upendra Tirtha (Puttugi-matha), (6) Rama

Tirtha

(Sirura-matha), (7) Hrsikesa Tirtha (Palimara-matha), and (8) Aksobhya

Tirtha (Pejavara-matha). The disciplic succession of the

Madhvacarya-sampradaya is as follows (the dates are those of birth):

(1)

Hamsa Paramatma; (2) Caturmukha Brahma; (3) Sanakadi; (4) Durvasa; (5)

Jnananidhi; (6) Garuda-vahana; (7) Kaivalya Tirtha; (8) Jnanesa Tirtha;

(9)

Para Tirtha; (10) Satyaprajna Tirtha; (11) Prajna Tirtha; (12) Acyuta

Preksacarya Tirtha; (13) Sri Madhvacarya, 1040 Saka; (14) Padmanabha,

1120;

Narahari, 1127; Madhava, 1136; and Aksobhya 1159; (15) Jaya Tirtha,

1167;

(16) Vidyadhiraja, 1190; (17) Kavindra, 1255; (18)Vagisa, 1261; (19)

Ramacandra, 1269; (20) Vidyanidhi, 1298; (21) SriRaghunatha, 1366; (22)

Rayuvarya (who spoke with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu),1424; (23)

Raghuttama,

1471; (24) Vedavyasa, 1517; (25) Vidyadhisa, 1541; (26)Vedanidhi, 1553;

(27)

Satyavrata, 1557; (28) Satyanidhi, 1560; (29) Satyanatha,1582; (30)

Satyabhinava, 1595; (31) Satyapurna, 1628; (32) Satyavijaya, 1648;

(33) Satyapriya, 1659; (34) Satyabodha, 1666; (35) Satyasandha, 1705;

(36)

Satyavara, 1716; (37) Satyadharma, 1719; (38) Satyasankalpa, 1752; (39)

Satyasantusta, 1763; (40) Satyaparayana, 1763; (41) Satyakama, 1785;

(42)

Satyesta, 1793; (43) Satyaparakrama, 1794; (44) Satyadhira, 1801; (45)

Satyadhira Tirtha, 1808. (For approximate Christian era dates, add

seventy-nine years.)

 

After the sixteenth acarya (Vidyadhiraja Tirtha), there

was

another disciplic succession, including Rajendra Tirtha, 1254;

Vijayadhvaja;

Purusottama; Subrahmanya; and Vyasa Raya, 1470-1520. The nineteenth

acarya,

Ramacandra Tirtha, had another disciplic succession, including

Vibudhendra,

1218; Jitamitra, 1348; Raghunandana; Surendra; Vijendra; Sudhindra; and

Raghavendra Tirtha, 1545.

 

To date, in the Udupi monastery there are another

fourteen

Madhva-tirtha sannyasis. As stated, Udupi is situated beside the sea in

South Kanarada, about thirty-six miles north of Mangalore.

 

Most of the information in this purport is available from

the

South Kanada Manual and the Bombay Gazette."

 

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madyam lila 9:245-278

 

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila

Prabhupada.

 

 

CHANT HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE AND BE HAPPY

Your humble servant

radhabhava gaur das

 

 

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