Chaturmasya jnAnArjane saraNi - Madhwa Vijaya (a Gist in English) by Eminent scholars - Sarga 13

October 8, 2009

|| Sri Rama Krishna VedavyAsAya namaha ||

|| Sri Hanuma Bheema Madhwa MunibhyO namaha ||

namaste all,

We are in the last month of Chaturmasya with the dwidhaLa vratha alredy started.

Please find a brief on sarga #13 today.

You can refer to previous sarga at:

Sarga 12 - MadhwaYuvaParishat/message/11691

Here comes the Thirteenth installment in this series.

|| Sri Hari vAyu gurubhyO namaH ||

Madhwa Vijaya (a Gist in English) by sixteen Eminent scholars

Sarga 13, by Sri C. B. Hanumantha Rao, Dharapuram

Book edited by Srimushnam V Nagaraja Rao

SRI MADHVA AND TRIVIKRAMA MEET

The thirteenth sarga mainly deals with Sri Madhvaâ€™s grand processional march to Vishnu Mangalam & the early days of Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya upto the time he met Sri Madhva. The substance of this sarga is condensed in the following verse: -

viShNuma~Ngala yAtrA cha trivikrama samAgamaH |

asmin.h trayodashe sarge varNitau kavinA~njasA ||

After completing ChaaturmAsya sankalpa in the village Praagya vAta (kodipAdi), Sri Madhva at the request of his shishyas proceeded to a small town near Sahyadri. It was during this period that Sri Madhvaâ€™s personal library was stolen & subsequently recovered through the good offices of King Jayasimha who came to know of the greatness of Sri Madhva & his arrival nearby. He sent his personal envoy, offering his salutations & requested the Acharya to bless him with His holy visit to his native town. (verse 1, 2).

Accepting the royal invitation, Sri Madhva started for Vishnumangala. He was surrounded by young sanyasins, Gruhasthas & Brahmacharins in a grand procession. The whole congregation wended its way to Madaneswara Temple in Stambhapura enroute & they spent the night there. Next morning, after finishing their morning poojas etcâ€¦ when they were about to start, they heard a pleasant & auspicious sound of the ringing of the temple bell. (Uru GhaNTA Ghana nAda vyapadeshataH pareNa) verse 16, Sri Madhva took it as a Divine consent coming from the Lord Madaneswara & started immediately.

Some Sishyas chanted the Vedas, some read puranas, some commented on important topics, some sang Bhajan songs while some carried the Danda & other things. One Shishya carried a white umbrella, another books, yet another, the pooja box. And it was really a sight for angels to see (amaraiH amarAnugaiH munIndrai aparexAviShayaishcha sevyamAnaH (verse 7). People all along the route thronged & joined in large numbers & many came from far & near to get a glimpse of Sri Acharya. (vividhaiH jAnapadaiH janairajastram.h | puruShaiH dUrabhavaishcha gamyamAnaH- verse 6). He in turn gave dharshan to all with his sweet smile & beaming face- so impressive & charming as divine. His handsome & lovely personality was still more beautified by his wearing

the Dwadasha nAma with Mudra & a long green Tulasi Garland (verse 12).

avadhArya visheShakAri sha~Nkha prakaTA~NkAn.h sudhiyA gatArdrabhAvAn.h |

lasitA tulasIsragasya kaNThe harinirmAlyatayochitA nyadhAyi || 12 ||

King Jayasimha saw the procession from a distance & he immediately got down from the vehicle. He left aside his retinue at a distance, came forward by walk, prostrated himself at the feet of Sri Acharya & prayed for blessings (trijagat.h pUjya padAntike nanAma verse 22). It was indeed a rare sight to see a crowned King prostrating before an uncrowned King not because of any forced circumstances but because of the natural impulse that the Ruler of men felt in the presence of the Ruler of hearts.

The processional march was resumed after the Acharya blessed & greeted the King. King Jayasimha joined the procession & practically led it by walking in front of it. Amidst great festivity, the procession reached the temple at Vishnu Mangalam & camped there (verse 23). After rest, they all congregated in the central hall of the temple to hear the discourse of Sri Acharya. One Sishya, Hrishikesha Theertha by name, was entrusted with the work of reading out Srimad Bhagavatha & Sri Acharya explained in his masterly manner to the admiration & satisfaction of the huge audience before Him (verse 40). The audience were sitting with rapt attention & were simply thrilled to hear Sri Madhvaâ€™s inimitable exposition, the like of which they had never heard

before. (verse 41).

GREATNESS OF TRIVIKRAMA

It was during this period that there lived a Tuluva Brahmin by name Sri Subrahmanya Panditacharya who was well versed in all the Shastras (verse 43). To him, by the grace of Sri Hari & Hara, a son was born (à¤ªà¤°à¤®à¥‡à¤¶à¥à¤µà¤°à¤¯à¥‹à¤ƒ à¤ªà¥à¤°à¤¸à¤¾à¤¦à¤¯à¥‹à¤—à¤¾à¤¤à¥â€Œ à¤¸à¥à¤¤à¤°à¤¤à¥à¤¨à¤‚ à¤¤à¤¦à¤¸à¥‚à¤¤ à¤¸à¥‚à¤°à¤¿ à¤ªà¤¤à¥à¤¨à¥€ - parameshvarayoH prasAdayogAt.h sutaratnaM tadasUta sUri patnI) (verse 4). And that boy was the future Trivikrama Panditacharya, the great & renowned scholar. Even in his early age, Trivikrama shwoed ample evidence of his future greatness. It is said that he wrote the famous â€œUsha Haranaâ€ in his teens. It is a masterpiece among Kavyas. He had also imbided the intricacies of Vyakarana, Nyaya & Meemamsa under the superior guidance of his illustrious father & soon became very well versed in all the finer aspects of Advaita (verse 47-

50).

It is said that he knew by heart, all the lakh & twenty five thousand granthas of the Advaitic lore. He had also made special study of the Vedas & his debating capacity had gone up very high (verse 51). Finally, one day his father told him in the course of a discussion of Moksha, that its attainment would be possible only by the upasana of SaGuna Brahma â€“ The God with all auspicious attributes â€“ and not by the upasana of the Nirguna Brahma. The father gave his considered counsel to his beloved son to meditate upon unlimited glories of Lord Vasudeva â€“ a personification of Gnyana & Ananda & said that this method alone would liberate him from the clutches of Samsara (guNADhyaM smara devaM suta vAsudevameva) verse 52). The father also revealed that it was his

cherished secret. Days passed & Trivikrama began to analyse, examine & deeply think over the parental advice given by his revered father (verse 53, 54).

iti tAtavacho nishamya kiMchit.h taralAtmApi vichArya shAstrasAram.h || 53 ||

TRIVIKRAMA ANALYSES

In seven beautiful verses (from 55 to 61), Sri Narayana Panditacharya describes the manner in which Trivikrama thought within himself thus: -

With regard to the nature of the Brahman, Sri Vedavyasa has written the Brahma Sootras & these are the real & true interpretations of all the Vedas. There have been as many as 21 Bhasyas (commentaries) on these Sootras none of which seems to me to give the correct commentary on the Sootras. There is no point in clinging to a particular Bhashya simply because of the traditional regard & without any conviction. With the present thinking, the real import of the Upanishads is not clear to my mind & day by day doubts are increasing. We should therefore, give up the beaten track which would not lead us to Moksha & we should seek other methods as enjoined in the Bharata, pancharAtra & the Sootras which would be the sure & definite methods for

salvation. The only way which seems correct to me is to pray to Sri Hari Who is Omnipresent, Omnipotent & Omniscient with unlimited glories & auspicious attributes. This is also the truth found out from the Shastras by great Tatva gnAnis. In the face of these unchallengeable facts, how could it be said or believed that Brahman is One devoid of all attributes & devoid of form & light? By the Upasana of such a formless & lightless Brahma, how can one hope to get salvation? And even if there be a Moksha, it would be only darkness & nothing else. Let me, therefore, meditate upon & pray to Sri Mukunda as described in the Vedas, Puranas, Bharata etc..â€

atha veda purANa bhAratAdi svayamAlochya yathAva bodhamatra |

guNavanta mupAsmahe mukundaM smR^iti dharmAn.h bhR^ishaM AcharaMta eva || 60 ||

With this in mind, Trivikrama began to read & examine carefully the Vedas & Puranas. He also came to know of Sri Madhvamuni who had been giving expositions in a new & interesting way with all evidences based on the shastras. Many came & told Trivikrama of the convincing arguments of Sri Acharya. Trivikrama began to entertain a wish to see Sri Madhva & hear his discourses. In the meanwhile, many jealous scholars who ould not tolerate Sri Madhvaâ€™s greatness & his ability in polemics, rused to Trivikrama & extolled him with all his high merits in Shastras. They begged of him to go to Sri Madhva for a challenge, defeat him & thereby substantiate the tenability of their stand. (verse 62-64).

In spite of heavy pressure from a large number of people, Trivikrama had his own misgivings in his ability for a debate with Sri Madhvamuni. ManasA saMdhashamApa saMshayachChit.h (verse 65) & finally he had somehow made up his mind to meet him. Trivikramaâ€™s brother, one Shakara who had already become a Shishya of Sri Madhva was in charge of Sri Acharyaâ€™s library & with his help, Trivikrama got the books of Sri Acharya & read them with much inquisitiveness during nights. The more he read, the more he was convinced that all his doubts had been fully cleared.

Trivikrama realized that the Madhva Shastras stood more on the foundations of valid Pramanas than he ever thought of before (verse 67) but being a very shrewd & astute scholar, Trivikrama did not yield immediately but desired to see the Acharya. With this frame of mind, he came to Vishnumangalam, entered the temple where Sri Acharya was camping & quietly sat at a distance listening to the Bhaghavata discourse of Sri Madhva. With all his profound scholarship & erudition, Trivikrama the intellectual luminary, could not find a single fault in the discourse of Sri Madhva. On the other hand, the discourse was so thrilling & illuminating that it cleared many doubts that were lurking in the inner most recess of his mind. He had nothing but a scholarâ€™s admiration for

the exposition, the like of which he had not listened to before, Trivikrama, at the end of the discourse, went straight to Sri Madhva prostrated before him & pray for his blessings.

taM viShNuma~NgalaM gataM bahulaprabodhaM prApyAbhyavandata tadA.ayuga vikramAryaH |

Even though Trivikrama highly admired the stand that Sri Madhva held, he still desired an open & thorough debate over the entire issue). Thus ends the story of the 13th Sarga & the further incidents (including the full details of the debate between Sri Madhva & Trivikrama) are narrated in the coming Sargas.

RARE POETIC BEAUTIES

This Sarga is composed mostly on Chandrika Vrutta which is an example of the poetsâ€™ diction & his ability to handle any type of Vrutta with ease. Sri Madhva has been compared to the holy Ganga & the beautiful description of both is worthy of making special reference (verse 4 to 8). These five shlokas in Slesha, make a fine set of Antya Kulaka & its verb may be found in the last (8th) verse.

The grand procession in which Sri Acharya is surrounded by all people including the Royal devotee has been sominutely detailed (in 25 verses from 16 to 40). That the reader is thrilled to imagine the picture. Here again, twelve slokas from 24 to 35 are west in Adi Kulaka & its verb is located in the first (24th) shloka: aixanta

ACHARYA ROOPA VARNANA

The poet in ten shlokas (from 28 to 37) gives us a fine pen picture of the captivating personality of Sri Acharya, describing his beautiful feet, charming ankles, well shaped knees & hip, broad chest, round shoulders, his lovely neck & forehead, his captivating look, sweet smile & sparkling teeth. Sri Acharyaâ€™s figure was so charming & enchanting that sculptors admired the figure as a perfect model by observing which they could make out statues with 32 marks of beauties says sloka 36 pratimA laxaNa darshanAya laxyam.h |

The Darshana of this great saint seems to have elevated the heartâ€™s rejoicing of the thousands of people who followed him & they are said to be sitting with rapt attention during the Bhagavatha discourse. This shows that the discourse had been understood not only by the scholars but also by the lay people who formed part of the procession (verse 16-40).

In five verses (43 to 48), Sri Narayana Panditacharya narrates the circumstances under which Trivikrama was brought up & his revelation of the genius in him even in his childhood. It must be remembered in this conection that the author of Madhva Vijaya was no other than the son & contemporary of Trivikrama.

Sri Subramanya Panditaâ€™s parental advice to Trivikrama to give up nirgunopasana & to practice Saguna upasana seems to have a taken deep root in the mind of the son & thus Trivikrama poresover the literature to find out the real method of worship (verse 52- 60).

The news of the convincing discourse of Sri Madhva creates an urge to read his works in solitude. The more he reads, the more Trivikrama admires Sri Madhva & no wonder he attends the Bhagavata discourses & enjoys every aspect of it. Infact, he feels a thrill when he looks at & hears Sri Acharya. His discourse intended even for laymen made Trivikrama feel all the more that he should meet Sri Acharya not for a challenge but for elucidation of doubts. And finally he does meet him with all reverence (verse 61- 69).

One can imagine the greatness of Trivikrama Panditacharya by reading his famous â€œHari vAyu stutiâ€. Many & varied are the benefits derived by the chanting of this superb compostion & a powerful mantra. Sri Vadiraja Theertharu has given a method by which this stuti may be chanted for deriving different objects & individual desires in life.

trayodashasya sargasya hUNa bhAShAnuvAdanam.h |

kR^itam hanumatA bhUyAt.h prItyai mAdhava madhvayoH ||

Aru mooreradondu sAvira mooreraru shatha shwAsa japagaLa mooru vidha jeevaroLagabjaja kalpa paryantha

thA rachisi sAthwarige sukha saMsAra mishrarigadhama janarigapAra dukhagaLIva guru pavamAna salahemma ||

bhAratIramaNa mukhyaprANAntargata shrI kR^iShNArpanamastu

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