Enclyopedia of "Defeat of Advaitham"

[gokulkr]

Advaitham is proved false.

 

Till to this day, many debates have occured between "Advaitham" & "Vaishnava Mathams". In all the debates "Advaitham" got defeated.

 

This thread will ellaborate how "advaitham" got crushed by Eminent Vaishnava Scholars & Holy Purushas.

 

Lets Start with Lord Vedanta Desika

 

 

Para matha pangam:

 

During Swamy desika’s long stay at Thiruvahendra puram vidhwans of other schools/sampradayams came for a debate with our swami. Swami desika has defeated them easily by exposing the inconsistancies in their theories and proving that they are not in accordance with Vedas.

 

In order to enable even a commoner to appreciate the glories of our Vaideka matham and to understand the inconsistancies and defects of our rival schools or para mathas Swami desika blessed us with a rahasya grantha titled para matha pangam. The tamil pasurams presented in the beginning and conclusion of this rahasya grantha are compiled as a tamil prabandham and the same title was given to this prabandham.This prabandham beautifully summarises the concepts handled in each of the chapter of the granta.

 

Swami desika first seek the blessings of Sri Sudarshana to condemn the para mathams and then he fondly remembers the upakara rendered by our acharyas. He goes on to explain the tatva traya of our sidhdhantam and explains the reason for condemning the other mathams. He exposes the inconsistancies of Sarvaka matham, four branches of Buddism (mathyamika, yogachara, sauthraanthika and vaibhashika) Advaitam, Jainism, Bhaskara- Yadava matam, Vaiyaakarana matham, KaNa matham, Yoga matham and Pasupadha matam. Swami desika then glorifies the Pancharatra sastra and saranagathi sastra of our siddhantam.He firmly concludes that the sampradayam taught by Vaishnava acharyas is the only correct and the best siddhantam and thanking Sri Sudarshana for blessing him to undertake this work and praises the valour of the 16 hands of Sri sudarshana.

 

------

 

Lets Praise Lord Vedanta Desika for showing us the light.

Om Namo Narayana

[gokulkr]

 

"The Mayavadis say that the world created by maya is false, and that actually there is no living entity but only one spiritual effulgence. They further say that God is imaginary, that people think of God only because of ignorance, and that when the Supreme Absolute Truth is befooled by the external energy, maya, He becomes a jiva, or living entity. Upon hearing all these nonsensical ideas from the nondevotee, a devotee is greatly afflicted, as if his heart and soul were broken."

Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya lila 2:99

"....Vedanta refers to the essence of Vedic knowledge, and it is not a fact that there is nothing more than Sankaracarya's Sariraka-bhasya. There are other Vedanta commentaries, written by Vaisnava acaryas, none of whom follow Sri Sankaracarya or accept the imaginative commentary of his school. Their commentaries are based on the philosophy of duality. Monist philosophers like Sankaracarya and his followers want to establish that God and the living entity are one, and instead of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead they present themselves as God. They want to be worshiped as God by others. Such persons do not accept the philosophies of the Vaisnava acaryas, which are known as suddhadvaita (purified monism), suddha-dvaita (purified dualism), visistadvaita (specific monism), dvaitadvaita (monism and dualism) and acintya-bhedabheda (inconceivable oneness and difference). Mayavadis do not discuss these philosophies, for they are firmly convinced of their own philosophy of kevaladvaita, exclusive monism. Accepting this system of philosophy as the pure understanding of the Vedanta-sutra, they believe that Krsna has a body made of material elements and that the activities of loving service to Krsna are sentimentality. They are known as Mayavadis because according to their opinion Krsna has a body made of maya, and the loving service of the Lord executed by devotees is also maya. They consider such devotional service to be an aspect of fruitive activities (karma-kanda). According to their view, bhakti consists of mental speculation or sometimes meditation. This is the difference between the Mayavadi and Vaisnava philosophies."

Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi lila 7:101

"One class of transcendentalists is called impersonalistic, Mayavadi. They are generally known as Vedantists, led by Sankaracarya. And there is another class of transcendentalists, called Vaisnavas, like Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnu-svami. Both the Sankara-sampradaya and the Vaisnava-sampradaya have accepted Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sankaracarya is supposed to be an impersonalist who preached impersonalism, impersonal Brahman, but it is a fact that he is a covered personalist. In his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita he wrote, "Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond this cosmic manifestation." And then again he confirmed, "That Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, is Krsna. He has come as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva." He particularly mentioned the names of His father and mother. So Krsna is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all transcendentalists. There is no doubt about it."

Sri Isopanisad, Introduction

"When Sri Visnusvami, one of the four acaryas of the Vaisnava cult, presented his thesis on the subject matter of suddhadvaita-vada, immediately the Mayavadis took advantage of this philosophy and tried to establish their advaita-vada or kevaladvaita-vada. To defeat this kevaladvaita-vada, Sri Ramanujacarya presented his philosophy as visistadvaita-vada, and Sri Madhvacarya presented his philosophy of tattva-vada, both of which are stumbling blocks to the Mayavadis because they defeat their philosophy in scrupulous detail. Students of Vedic philosophy know very well how strongly Sri Ramanujacarya's visistadvaita-vada and Sri Madhvacarya's tattva-vada contest the impersonal Mayavada philosophy. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, accepted the direct meaning of the Vedanta philosophy and thus defeated the Mayavada philosophy immediately. He opined in this connection that anyone who follows the principles of the Sariraka-bhasya is doomed. This is confirmed in the Padma Purana....

"My dear wife, hear my explanations of how I have spread ignorance through Mayavada philosophy. Simply by hearing it, even an advanced scholar will fall down. In this philosophy, which is certainly very inauspicious for people in general, I have misrepresented the real meaning of the Vedas and recommended that one give up all activities in order to achieve freedom from karma. In this Mayavada philosophy I have described the jivatma and Paramatma to be one and the same." How the Mayavada philosophy was condemned by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers is described in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Second Chapter, verses 94 through 99, where Svarupa-damodara Gosvami says that anyone who is eager to understand the Mayavada philosophy must be considered insane. This especially applies to a Vaisnava who reads the Sariraka-bhasya and considers himself to be one with God. The Mayavadi philosophers have presented their arguments in such attractive, flowery language that hearing Mayavada philosophy may sometimes change the mind of even a maha-bhagavata, or very advanced devotee. An actual Vaisnava cannot tolerate any philosophy that claims God and the living being to be one and the same."

Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi lila 7:110

"Sankara's commentary on Vedanta-sutra, known as Sariraka-bhasya, is very much adored by the impersonalist scholars, but commentaries written on the Vedanta written from the materialistic point of view are completely adverse to the transcendental service of the Lord. Consequently Lord Caitanya said that direct commentaries on the Upanisads and Vedanta-sutra are glorious, but that anyone who follows the indirect path of Sankaracarya's Sariraka-bhasya is certainly doomed. Lord Caitanya admitted that Sankaracarya was an incarnation of Lord Siva, and it is known that Lord Siva is one of the greatest devotees (a mahajana) of the Bhagavata school. There are twelve great authorities on devotional service, and Lord Siva is one of them. Why, then, did he adopt the process of Mayavadi philosophy? The answer is given in Padma Purana, where Lord Siva states:

mayavadam asac-chastram

pracchannam bauddham ucyate

mayaiva kalpitam devi

kalau brahmana-rupina

"The Mayavadi philosophy is veiled Buddhism." In other words, the voidist philosophy of Buddha is more or less repeated in the Mayavadi philosophy of impersonalism, although the Mayavadi philosophy claims to be directed by the Vedic conclusions. Lord Siva, however, admits that this philosophy is manufactured by him in the age of Kali in order to mislead the atheists. "Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead has His transcendental body," Lord Siva states. "But I describe the Supreme as impersonal. I also explain the Vedanta-sutra according to the same principles of Mayavadi philosophy."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 19

".... Sankaracarya's belief is personal. Actually he is a covered personalist. He became impersonalist just to drive away Buddhism. All of India was Buddhist voidism. So, although a personalist, he had to keep pace with voidism by expounding impersonalism. There is very little difference between impersonalism and voidism, but because he had to bring Buddhists back to the Vedic cultural form, he adopted impersonalism. From the Padma Purana, it is learned that Sankaracarya is Lord Siva, and who can be a greater devotee than Lord Siva? Lord Siva is considered to be the foremost Vaisnava."

Srila Prabhupada Letter to Damodar, 11-12-70

"According to the Vedic teachings, anyone who does not accept the Vedic way of life, he is called atheist. Therefore, according to Vedantists, Buddhists are called atheist. Actually Buddha philosophy does not accept God, neither soul. They simply philosophize on the material elements, and they want to finish the material exis..., dismantle the material elements. Nirvana. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu has remarked that the Buddhists are honest. They frankly say that "We don't accept your Vedas." But the Shankarites, they are cheaters, because they are accepting Vedas, but on the basis of Buddha philosophy. That is cheating."

Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 09-17-72, Los Angeles

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

[Guest guest]

I do not see the names of Madhvacharya, Jayathirtha, Sripadaraja thirtha, Vyasaraja thirtha, Sri Raghavendra Thirtha etc along with Sriman Vedanta Desika and Sri Chaintanya mahaprabhu

[gokulkr]

Prabhuji this thread will discuss one by one, since this thread is started to grow as a enclyopedia.

 

Hare Krishna.

[gokulkr]

Srimad Ananda Tîrtha (Sri Madhvacharya)

 

 

Srimad Ananda Tîrtha, also known as Sukha Tîrtha, Pûrnabodha, and Pûrnapragnya, is the founder of the doctrine of Tattvavâda. He is the last of the great Achâryas of Vedanta, and is also the 22nd commentator on the ûBrahma-Stra <brahma_suutra.html> of Veda Vyâsa. His doctrine asserts, as has already been noted âelsewhere <../shstra/prameya.html>, that the differences are eternally real, and that hence there is more than one absolute real, and that Hari (Vishnu) is the only entity praised in the Shrutis and their adjuncts. Thus, he always identifies the Brahman of the Upanishads <../shaastra/upanishad.html> with Vishnu, and forcefully argues against the dichotomy of Shrutis (tattvâvedaka / atattvâvedaka) as claimed by ââSri Shankarchrya <http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/sankara-life.html>, saying that such arbitration of apaurusheya scripture is unacceptable both logically and spiritually. He also emphasizes that it is important to understand and specifically reject other schools' precepts, and hence devotes much time to nitpicking analyses and denunciations of other doctrines.

Srimad Ananda Tîrtha is commonly identified with Madhva, the third avatâra of Mukhya PrâNa, the god of life, as given in the âûBaLitth Skta <AnandaT_2.html> of the Rg Veda. The first two avatâra-s are as Hanumân and Bhîmasena, and the third is Madhva, who came down to Earth as a sanyâsî, in order to avoid decimating the forces of evil (as he had done on the previous two occasions, and as he would have done again -- upsetting the flow of Kali Yuga in the process -- if he were not a sannyâsî). Srimad Ananda Tîrtha himself makes the claim to being Madhva in several instances, one of which is in the Vishnu-tattva-vinirnaya verse given on the cover page of this section. It was recognized in his own time, and it has been documented, that he had all two-and-thirty shubha-lakshaNa-s that define a rju-tâttvika-yogî, including the prescribed height of six-and-ninety inches ("shaNNavati angulo.apetam") quoted in the âââMahbhrata-Ttparya-Nirnaya <../sources/mbtn>.

However, he is firmly set against the notion of accepting doctrines because they come from prophets or claimed gods -- he refuses to accept that it is possible to derive a meaningful spiritual system based on any but the apowrusheya texts (the Vedas/Upanishads/Shrutis) and their adjuncts (the Iti-hâsas, PurâNas, etc.). He also dismisses claims that only part of the Vedas are useful, and claims that even the so-called karma-kâNDa portions of them are only meant to worship Hari.

The earliest and most authentic biography of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha is the Sumadhva-Vijaya, a.k.a. Madhva Vijaya, by NârâyaNa Pandita, the son of his close disciple Trivikrama Pandita. There are other English biographies by C. M. Padmanabhachar, C. N. Krishnasvami Ayyar, S. Subbarao, and C. R. Krishnarao, among others, but these are not truly independent efforts, since they draw very deeply upon NârâyaNa Pandita's work.

Madhva was known as Vâsudeva, as a child, and was born in response to a prayer by some brâhmana-s of the Bhâgavata sampradâya, as a result of which Vishnu, who Himself does not incarnate during Kali Yuga, ordered His chief aide Mukhya PrâNa a.k.a. Vâyu to go to Earth, and rescue the mumukshu-s from the unrelenting deluge of the illusionist schools. Therefore, Vâyu was born in Pâjaka-kshetra, near Udupi <udupi.html> (in modern Karnataka state), to Madhya-geha Bhatta. Even as a child, he was extraordinary in every respect, and repeatedly astounded his teachers, and performed several miracles, a notable one being when he freed his father from the clutches of a loan shark, by giving him a handful of tamarind seeds which satisfied the latter completely. He also killed the demon MaNimanta, who attacked him in the form of a snake, by crushing the snake's head under his toe.

At the age of eight or thereabouts, he announced to his parents his intention to take up sanyâsa, and on noting their distress at this pronouncement, promised to wait until another son was born to them. Finally, at the age of eleven, upon the birth of a younger brother (who many years later joined his order as Vishnu Tîrtha) he was ordained into sanyâsa, whence he was given the name Ananda Tîrtha by his guru Achyutapreksha Tîrtha, a.k.a. Achyuta-pragnya Tîrtha. Soon afterward, when his guru attempted to educate him, he astounded the former by his knowledge. It is said that when his guru tried to teach him the noted Advaita text IshhTa-Siddhi, he pointed out, to Achyutapreksha Tîrtha's amazement, that there were 30 errors in the very first line of that work, where its author Vimuktâtman pays obeisance to himself by saying something like: "The only truth is the soul's empirical knowledge. In the presence of this truth the world appears to be an illusory play. The essential soul manifests itself as I, you and everything..."

It was this profound knowledge of all subjects that earned him the title of "PûrNa-pragnya," for "the one of complete wisdom." The initially discomfited but finally greatly pleased Achyutapreksha Tîrtha soon gave up trying to educate the master, and himself made a full conversion to Tattvavâda, under the name Purushottama Tîrtha.

Srimad Ananda Tîrtha is known for his skill at debate and repartee, which were amply evident when he roundly trounced all opponents who dared take him on. One early convert to his school was Shobhana Bhatta; after losing to Madhva in debate, he accepted the latter as his Guru, and was given sanyâsa under the name âîPadmanbha Trtha <../scholars/PadmanabhaT.html>. Two other noted opponents whom PûrNapragnya defeated in debate and converted to ardent devotees, were Trivikrama Pandita, and Shyâma Shâstri -- the latter accepted sanyâsa as îNarahari Trtha <../scholars/NarahariT.html>.

Madhva made two trips to Badarikâshrama, the abode of BâdarâyaNa a.k.a. Veda Vyâsa, and on the first, obtained the imprimatur of BâdarâyaNa Himself for his Bhâshya on the Bhagavad Gita, when the latter made the correction "vakshyâmi leshataH" ("I state infinitesimally"), in place of "vakshyâmi shaktitaH" ("I state as best as I can"). He also founded the Krishna temple <udupi/krishna_mutt.html> at Udupi <udupi>, when he rescued by his spiritual power a ship in distress on the high seas, and got from its captain the apparently useless gift of a large mound of gopi-chandana mud that had been used as the ship's ballast, and which broke open to reveal the long-concealed icons of Krishna, Durga, and Balarâma. This is believed to be the occasion when he composed the âDvdasha Stotra <dvaadasha.html>, a set of twelve stotra-s in praise of Vishnu that is collectively counted as one of his seven-and-thirty works.

There are many notable incidents on record involving Srimad Ananda Tîrtha, and it is futile to hope that a short piece like this one can capture even the essence of his mission correctly. However, in brief, two of them are the ones where he lifted and displaced a boulder weighing tons that was obstructing some construction; an inscription ("Anandatîrthena eka-hastena sthâpitâ shilâ") made on the boulder at the time attests to the event to this day. On another occasion, he led some disciples to a spot where he showed them the long-buried weapons of the PâNDavas, including the great mace he had wielded to telling effect as the mighty Bhîmasena. (Look here <b_support.html> for some more notable events.)

Visual evidence, if one may call it that, of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha being Madhva, the avatâra of Vâyu, was obtained by Trivikrama Pandita when the latter had the great fortune to observe the three forms of Vâyu worship simultaneously -- Hanumân worshipping Râma, Bhîmasena worshipping Krishna, and Ananda Tîrtha worshipping Vyâsa. On that occasion, Trivikrama Pandita composed the âHari-Vyu Stuti <http://www.dvaita.net/pdf/vAyu_stuti_new.pdf>, also called just Vâyu Stuti ("shrimadvishhNvaN^ghrinishhThâ atiguNa gurutama shrimadânandatîrtha ..."). Madhva himself validated the Vâyu Stuti by adding the mangalâcharaNa shloka-s, called Narasimha- nakha stuti <../stotra/nakha_stuti.html> ("pântvasmân.h puruhûta vairi balavan.h ..."), to be chanted in the beginning and at the end of the Vâyu Stuti. This very short work of just two shloka-s is counted as one of his thirty-seven grantha-s.

Srimad Ananda Tîrtha disappeared from amidst an audience, after giving a lecture on the Aitareya Upanishad, on the ninth day of the shukla paksha in the month of Magha in 1317, and now is permanently in Badarikâshrama, where he serves his master Bâdarâyana in person.

[gokulkr]

Ramanuja's Vedarthasangraha

 

 

Summary of the Meaning of the Vedas

 

by Swami Adidevananda [+]

1956

 

Sri Ramanuja wrote nine works [1] in Sanskrit on the philosophy of Visishtadvaita. Of these, the Vedartha-sangraha occupies a unique place inasmuch as this work takes the place of a commentary on the Upanishads, though not in a conventional sense or form. The work mirrors a total vision of the Upanishads, discussing all the controversial texts in a relevent, coherent manner. It is in fact an independent exposition of the philosophy of the Upanishads. Prof. M. Hiriyanna describes it as "an independent treatise explaining in a masterly way his philosophic position, and pointing out the basis for it in the Upanishads" [2]. Sudarsana Suri, the celebrated commentator on the Sri-bhashya and the Vedartha-sangraha, says that the work was expounded in the form of a lecture before Lord Srinivasa at Tirumalai [3]. Thus it is his testament at the feet of the Lord whom he served throughout his life. Sri Ramanuja refers to this work more than once in his Sri-bhashya.

 

The Vedartha-sangraha is written in a lucid, vigorous prose without the usual divisions of chapters, but the structure of the thesis is developed in a scientific manner. Sri Ramanuja refers in this work to ancient teachers of theistic tradition, Bodhayana, Tanka, Dramida, Guhadeva, Kapardin and Bharuci, besides his own teacher, Sri Yamunacharya [4]. Tanka and Dramida are quoted profusely to support his interpretation. He takes abundant help from the Brahma-Sutras, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana, the Manu Smrti and other genuine smrtis in the exposition of his philosophy.

 

At the outset Sri Ramanuja states that the Upanishads, which lay down the welfare of the whole world, move around three fundamental notions:

 

A seeker must acquire a true knowledge of the individual self and the Supreme;

he must devote himself to meditation, worship and the adoration of the Supreme;

this knowledge with discipline leads him to the realization of the Supreme.

To put it briefly, the first affirms the tattva or the nature of the Reality, the second declares the hita or the means, and the third states the purushartha or the ideal of human endeavour.

A chief difficulty in understanding the meaning of the Upanishads arises in determining the relation of Brahman to the individual self on the one hand, and to the non-sentient world on the other. There are some texts which declare that the world is only an appearance in the ultimate analysis. There are other texts which affirm that the world is not an appearance, but real and distinct.

 

Bhartrprapanca, who was anterior to Sri Sankara, held that the self and the universe are identical with and different from Brahman, the triad constituting a unity in variety. That is to say that the reality is at once one as Brahman and many as the self and the world. For example, an ocean consists of water, foam, waves, etc. As the water is real, so also are the foam, waves, etc. The world, which is a part and parcel of Brahman, is necessarily real. The import of all this is that according to this view the Upanishads teach the eternal difference and identity between Brahman on the one hand, and the self and the world on the other [5].

 

Sri Sankara rejects the view of Bhatrprapanca, because mutually contradictory attributes cannot be predicated of one and the same thing. According to Sri Sankara the passages which affirm manifoldness and reality of the world do not embody the essential teaching of the Upanishads. It is a concession made to the empirical view that demands a real world having causal connection with time-space. Since variety is but an appearance having no foundation in the ultimate Reality, the true essential doctrine of the Upanishads, according to him, is only pure unity. The individual self is nothing but Brahman itself appearing as finite due to limiting adjuncts which are superimposed on it.

 

Sri Ramanuja also attempts to systamatize the philosophy of the Upanishads, taking the cue from the ancient theistic philosophers. He recognises three lines of thought in the Upanishads concerning the relation between Brahman, the self and the world:

 

Passages which declare difference of nature between the world, the self and Brahman. Here the world is the non-sentient matter (acit) which is the object of experience, the self is the experiencing conscious subject (cit), and Brahman, the absolute ruling principle [6]. These may be named analytical texts.

Passages which teach that Brahman is the inner self of all entities which constitute his body. For instance, "He who dwells in the earth and within the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body the earth is, and who rules the earth within, he is thy Self, the ruler within, the immortal" etc. (Br. III, vii, 3-23). These are called ghataka-srutis or mediating texts.

Passages which proclaim the unity of Brahman with the world in its causal as well as effected aspect. The famous text, 'That thou art, O Svetaketu' (Cha. VI 2-8) comes under this category. These may be termed as synthetic passages. Sri Ramanuja lays down that the interpretation of the various passages must be such that they are not made to contradict each other, and not a single passage should be so interpreted as to be divested of its primary significance [7].

The first group of texts distinguishes Brahman from the world and the individual selves. In a way it emphasizes the transcendent character of Brahman. The second group of texts declares Brahman to be the inner self of all entities. Neither the individual self nor the world can exist by itself. They are inseparably connected with Brahman as his body, and thus are controlled by him. These texts teach duality in so far as distinction is made between body and self, and unity in so far as the self, the substantive element, predominates over and controls the body, its attribute. The last group of texts aim at proclaiming the non-dual character of Brahman who alone constitutes the ultimate Reality. The self and the world, though distinct from each other and real, have a different value. They only exist as a mode or attribute of Brahman. They are comprehended in the reality of Brahman. They exist because Brahman exists.

 

On this principle of interpretation, Sri Ramanuja recognizes that the passages declaring distinction between Brahman, the world and the self, and those affirming Brahman to be the same in the causal as well as effected aspects, do not in any way contradict the mediating passages which declare that the individual selves and the world form the body of Brahman, and they in their causal state do not admit the distinction of names and forms while in the effected state they possess distinct character.

 

The notion of unity may be illustrated by the example, "A purple robe." Here purpleness is quite different from robe. The latter is a substance while the former is an attribute. This integral and essential relation is not found in the case of a man wearing a wrist-watch. If the former relation is inseparable (aprthaksiddhi), the latter is separable and external. A word signifying attribute does not stop after denoting the usual meaning, but extends till it reaches the substantive. This is the true significance of an attribute. The individual selves and the world constitute the body of Brahman who is their inner self. Brahman is the integral principle without whom neither the self nor the world can exist. Hence all names finally denote him.

 

The way in which Sri Ramanuja interprets the famous text, 'That thou art' (tat tvam asi) is unique. This is done by means of co-ordinate predication (samanadhikaranya). In a co-ordinate predication the identity of the substantive should not be established through the rejection of the natural significance of co-ordinate terms. The identical import of terms taken in their natural signification should be brought out. The Mahabhashya of Patanjali defines co-ordinate predication thus: "The signification of an identical entity by several terms which are applied to that entity on different grounds is co-ordinate predication. [8]" In such a proposition the attributes not only should be distinct from each other but also different from the substance, though inseparable from it. In the illustration of a "purple robe", the basic substance is one and the same, though "purpleness" and "robeness" are different from it as well as from each other. That is how the unity of a "purple robe" is established. In the co-ordinate predication asserting identity between "that" and "thou", Brahman himself with the self as his mode, having the self as his body, is pointed out.

 

The term "thou" which usually stands for the self here stands for Brahman ("that") who is the indweller of the self and of whom the self is the mode as a constituent of his body. The term "thou" does not mean the physical body or the individual self. Since Brahman has interpenetrated all matter and self, "thou" signifies Brahman in the ultimate analysis. The term "that" signifies Brahman himself as the ground of the universe and the soul of all individual selves. Hence in the identity of "that" and "thou" there is no rejection of the specific connotation of the co-ordinate terms. The upshot of the dictum is that the individual selves and the world, which are distinct and real attributes, are comprehended in Brahman. Brahman as the inner self of the jiva and Brahman as the ground of the universe are one. The central principle is that whatever exists as an attribute of a substance, that being inseparable from the substance is one with that substance.

 

Thus Sri Ramanuja upholds all the three streams of thoughts in the Upanishads, namely, unity, plurality and both. He himself clinches the argument:

 

We uphold unity because Brahman alone exists with all other entities as his modes. We uphold both unity and plurality, as the one Brahman himself has all the physical and spiritual entities as his modes and thus exists qualified by a plurality. We uphold plurality as the three entities -- the individual selves, the world and the supreme Lord -- are mutually distinct in their substantive nature and attributes and there is no mutual transposition of their characteristics [9].

II

The summum bonum is the vision of the supreme Person, known as Brahman or Sriman-Narayana. The chief obstacle in the path towards perfection is the accumulation of evil tendencies. These can be destroyed only by the cultivation of good tendencies. This is followed by self-surrender which generates an inclination towards life divine. Then one has to acquire the knowledge of the Reality from the scriptures aided by the holy teachers. Then the practice of virtues like the control of mind and sense, austerity, purity, non-violence, compassion, etc., becomes easy. Nitya and naimittika duties are to be performed, and prohibited actions are to be avoided, the whole conduct being conceived as the worship of God. God, the embodiment of love and compassion, showers his grace on the aspirant, which puts an end to all his obstacles. Finally bhakti rises which is an enjoyment of bliss in itself. Bhakti is but meditation which has assumed the character of the most vivid and direct perception of the Supreme.

 

Yamunacharya, declares that bhakti succeeds the twofold training of the mind by karma and jnana [10]. Karma-yoga is performance of duties of one's station in life [*] with no thought of reaping any personal benefit in the spirit of the Gita's teachings. Karma that is performed in this manner cleanses the heart. Jnana-yoga, which immediately follows the previous discipline, is meditation upon the individual self as distinct from matter like body, mind, etc., with which it is associated. It helps the aspirant to determine the true nature of one's self in relation to the Supreme. He realizes that he is absolutely subservient to God.

 

The discipline does not stop with the knowledge of one's self alone. It is incomplete without the knowledge of God.

 

Here the word bhakti does not connote the popular sense in which it is understood. Bhakti-yoga is loving meditation upon God. When the meditation attains the form of "firm remembrance" (dhruva-anusmrtih) characterised by intense love, the vision of the Supreme is attained. It must be mentioned here that the final release is attained after the dissolution of the body. One endowed with such bhakti and self-surrender attains the fitness to earn the grace of the Lord. This bhakti itself is upasana or vidya mentioned in the Upanishads. It is same as knowledge spoken of in the srutis: "One who knows Brahman attains the Supreme," (Tai. II.1), "He who knows him becomes immortal here," (Pu. 20), and "He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman," (Mu. 3.2.9). As the vision of the Supreme is not possible through ordinary means of perception, he can be seen only through bhakti, which is a unique form of knowledge. This is in consonance with the Gita declaration, "I am attainable only through undivided bhakti" (9.54).

 

III

It was already mentioned that the ideal to be realized is the vision of the Supreme. It is an experience of absolute peace, perfection, bliss and freedom, untouched by the cosmic limitations of space and time. Sri Ramanuja is accused of having given a "picturesque description" of the ideal realm. But a little insight into the spirit of his writings reveals that the ideal is not such a fairyland as it is made out to be. The domain, he points out, is of the nature of pure immutable sattva. It is transcendent without the taints of the material gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas. Similarly the individual self also, in the state of moksa, gives up its material body and assumes a transcendent form. The substance of suddha sattva is common to God, the self and the realm of the ideal known as nitya-vibhuti. The first chapter of the Kausitaki Upanishad gives a figurative account of the pilgrim's progress till he reaches the feet of God.

 

The individual self is the essence of knowledge. This knowledge in its attributive aspect (dharma-bhuta-jnana) gets more or less contracted in samsara, but it expands infinitely in the state of moksa. It becomes all-knowing and enjoys perfect bliss and love in divine communion. In short it is an ineffable enjoyment. In this natural state it yields its spirit to the will, glory and adoration of God. Ramanuja characterises this state as 'ananya-prayojana', having no other end except itself. In this ideal place there is no break in the enjoyment of divine communion.

 

Sri Ramanuja is not unaware of the criticism that there is subservience to and dependence upon God in his conception of moksa, The critics say that subordination in any form cannot conduce to the joy of self. The divine fetters are not less strong to bind. Further Manu says that servitude is a dog's life. Sri Ramanuja effectively meets this criticism in his characteristic way. He enunciates a principle "that what an individual pursues as a desirable end depends upon what he conceives himself to be [11]." Different people pursue different and mutually conflicting values. Hence the notion that independence is happiness proceeds from the misconception that one is identical with the body, mind, etc. This attachment to the body is a sort of dependence itself. Instead of dependence on God, it is dependence on matter. The metaphysical fact is that he is not the body, and consequently there must be something else with which his self is related. There cannot be relation of the principal entity and the subsidiary (sesin and sesa) between any finite objects. The only object with which such a relation can exist is God. Hence dependence on anything other than God is painful andsubservience to God is joy and freedom. Similarly bondage is indeed a dog's life when one serves those who are unworthy of service. The only entity which is worthy of love, adoration and service is God. Sri Ramanuja clinches the issue by quoting a text, "He is to be served by all [12]." The emancipation consists in service of God, and true bondage is independence of God and service of body.

 

SWAMI ADIDEVANANDA

 

Footnotes

 

 

--

 

[+] From Vedartha-sangraha of Sri Ramanujacarya,, English translation by S.S. Raghavachar, Foreword by Swami Adidevananda, Mysore: Ramakrishna Ashrama, 1978.

 

 

 

 

[gokulkr]

Mahaprabhuji Vallabhacharya

[image]http://www.pushtikul.com/pic_show.asp?picid=13[/image]

Date of Birth:

Eleventh day of the dark half of Chaitramonth of V.S. 1535

Place of Birth:

in the forest named Champaranya in India.

Left the World:

At the age of 52 on the day of Rathayatra in V.S. 1587 he entered into the river Ganga and one bright bundle of light merged into the Sun and disappeared from the world.

Family:

His father's name was Lakshman Bhatta and mother's name was Sri Illammagaru. Born in Vellanateeya community of Brahmana which is regarded as yet a pious and well educated community of India, his gotra was Bharadvaja and Sutra Apastamba. His ancestors were in study of the Taittireeya Shakha of the Krshna Yajurved. He had two sons. The elder one named Shri Gopinathji and the younger named Shri Vitthalnathji (popularly known as Shri Gusaiji).

 

Different aspects of personalities:

As a father:

He trained his two sons Sri Gopinathji and Sri Vitthalnathji so as to become able acharaya of Pushti Bhakti Sampradaya in all aspects. He established his own mahatmya (greatness)in all respects in his two sons.

As a son:

He learnt from his father. He showed his extraordinary genius by completing study of all religious scriptures like Veda, Purana, Smriti,Tantra etc. at the age of only 11 years. In his childhood itself he used to participate in so many debates and defeat all opponents. He maintained that scholarly approach making his parents feel always proud of him.

As a Guru:

The Ideal Guru:

An expert jeweller buys a jewel by putting it to a touchstone. Similarly, a Guru does not make anybody his disciple, without taking test. Bhagavan had ordained Sri Vallabhacharya to reveal the path of Pushti-Bhakti for the upliftment of only Pushti-Beings. Hence, the devotional path of Pushti is meant only for the Pushti-Beings, it is not the religion for the people of the whole universe. Sri Vallabhacharya would grant initiation only after taking test of the candidate so that a non-Pushti being may not enter into this Path. After granting initiation Sri Vallabhacharya did not leave any of his disciples on his fortune. He would stay at his home and teach him everything until he has proper knowledge of the doctrines and the course of path of Pushti-devotion. If any person came to his place for receiving initiation he would welcome him at his place and teach him everything about the doctrines and method of worship etc.

Some disciples stayed with Sri Vallabhacharya for lifetime. He would keep a watch on them so that they might not blaspheme others or might not enter into discussion unrelated to Bhagavan. For that purpose he would go to see his disciples regularly twice or thrice at night. His character lets us know that a Guru should be as cautious for his disciples as parents are worried every moment for the well-being of their little innocent children.

Balya Avastha:

The birth and death of ordinary human beings take place to avail the fruits of sinful and virtuous actions committed in their earlier births. But the birth and death of great men do not occur because of such ordinary reasons. Just as a king may go out from his royal palace on some special purpose and comes to his palace by his own will. Similarly, the birth and death of great persons take place by their own will on special commandment of Bhagavan. They incarnate on the earth to perform some special deeds and when their work is over they go back to their own abode.

Manifestation at the behest of Bhagavan:

In the age of Kali, all the scriptural paths of self-upliftment had been corrupted because of hypocritical beliefs. Divine Pushti beings were experiencing affliction and agitation as they did not know any path to be closer to the Supreme Being Sri Krshna. Bhagavan Sri Krshna discerned this and so He ordained Sri Vallabhacharya to incarnate on the earth for uplifting divine beings. Bhagavan entrusted three works to Sri Vallabhacharya:

To uplift the divine Pushti beings by propounding the devotional path of Pushti,

To explain the meaning of Sri Bhagavat which is the base of the devotional path of Pushti, (Sri Vallabhacharya himself has mentioned the very purpose of his incarnation in the introductory verse-5 of his 'Subodhini' commentary on Bhagavat Purana) and

To proclaim the true purport of the scriptural paths of Action and Knowledge that lead to liberation.

On receiving Bhagavan's commandment Sri Vallabhacharya incarnated.

Sri Vallabhacharya was born in the forest named: 'Champaranya' in India on the eleventh day of the dark half of Chaitra month of V.S. 1535 (A.D. 1478) during the travel of his parents from Kashi to their native place Kankarvar in Andhra state of modern India. His father's name was Lakshmana Bhatta and mother's name was Sri Illammagaru. Born in Vellanateeya community of Brahmana which is regarded as yet a pious and well-educated community of India, his Gotra was Bharadvaja and Sutra Apastamba. His ancestors were in study of the Taittireeya Shakha of the Krshna Yajurved

His father Sri Lakshmana Bhattaji sent him to learned Pundits for education. Besides his father he learnt from the scholars like Sri Vishnuchit, Gurunarayana Dikshit, Sri Madhavendra Yati etc. He showed his extraordinary genius by completing study of all religious scriptures like Veda, Purana, Smrti, Tantra etc. and various philosophies like Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Jaina, Bauddha etc. at the age of only 11 years!

EPISODES

At the age of 11-12, when he went for the Darshan of Sri Jagannatharayaji, he was informed about the prevailing debate on philosophical scriptures in the court of the king. He also came to know that the opponents have dominated the Vaishnava scholars. He immediately rushed to the court, took the charge of the debate, and defeated all the opponents.

In this very assembly the king placed four questions to be answered by the Pundits and Acharyas. The questions were:

Which Scripture is the best of all scriptures?

Which deity is the best of all deities?

Which Mantra is the best of all Mantras?

Which duty is the best of all duties?

Many learned Pundits and Acharyas gave different answers to these four questions but the assembly could not reach on any common conclusion. At last, at the hint of Sri Vallabhacharya, all four questions were unanimously placed before Lord Sri Jagannatha (Sri Krshna). Alongwith this, a blank paper, an inkpot and a pen were placed in front of Lord Jagannatha. The doors of the temple were closed. When the doors were opened, the piece of paper with a verse answering all the four questions written on it was found. The verse was:

Ekam shashtram devaki putra gitam

Eko devo devakiputra eva;

Mantropyekas tasya namani yani,

Karmopyekam tasya devasy seva.

Meaning: Gita sung by Sri Krshna, son of Devaki, is the best scripture.

Sri Krshna, son of Devaki, is the best deity.

Names of Sri Krshna are the best Mantra.

Service of Sri Krshna is the best duty.

Sri Gopinathaji, elder son of Sri Vallabhacharya has described this incidence in an authorizing letter dated 30 of Vaishakha month of V.S.1595 in Sanskrit to his Tirtha Purohit (An authorized Brahmin that performs ritual at sacred places of pilgrimages on arrival of concerned pilgrims) of Sri Jagannathapuri.

Formula of initiation:

It was the night of the bright half of the sacred month of Shravana and Shri Vallabhacharya was lying restless on the bank of the River Jamuna worrying for and pitying the lot of men and women in this Kali age. The sacred scriptures had prescribed a number of paths leading to Spiritual Bliss. But, at present, practically all of them were blocked. He worried and worried, but found no way out. It was mid-night.

Suddenly there appeared in person the Lord, the Almighty. He said to Shri Vallabhacharya: "Please don't worry. Let such persons approach Me after your initiation with this mantra which I will give in an humble spirit and dedicate everything including their very selves to me. As for the rest, they need not worry. I myself will personally mind it". With this assurance Lord Shri Krshna granted sacred formula of initiation which is well known by the names as 'Brahmasambandha-Mantra', 'Gadya-Mantra', 'Samarpana-Gadya', 'Atmanivedana-Mantra' etc.

The meaning of the Mantra is as follows: ''For thousands of years have I been separated from my beloved Lord Krshna and that has robbed me not only of the pangs of separation, which a healthy soul, as a rule, ought to feel but also of the infinite joy that I had in his company. Here I lay down at his Lotus-Feet my body, sense organs, vital breath and my mind, together with their various functions. I also lay down my beloved, my house my progeny, my relatives and my wealth, together with my worldly as well as other-worldly belongings-not only these but even my very self. Henceforth, Oh Lord Krshna! I, your humble servant, am absolutely Yours".

On the one hand, there was the sweetest form of the Lord and on the other there were the sweetest words on His lips. The joy of Shri Vallabhacharya knew no bounds. He placed the sacred garland round the Lord's neck and offered Him sugar-candy. And then followed forth from Shri Vallabhacharya's lips the sweetest Lyric 'Madhurashtakam', which has the narrates "Of the Lord of all sweetness everything is sweet".

The above account is based primarily on the autobiographical reference by Shri Vallabhacharya himself in one of his works called 'Siddhanta-Rahasyam'. The reference concerned is:

"Shravanasyamale pakshe ekadashyam mahanishi

Sakshad bhagavata proktam tadaksharasha ucchyate"

(Siddhantarasyam-1 by Shri Vallabhacharya)

Meaning: ''I reproduce here verbatim which the Lord Himself told me at midnight of the eleventh day of the bright half of the month of Shravana".

This personal visit of the Lord and His message form the very basis of Pushti-Bhakti-Marga. And even today the initiation ceremony is, more or less, the repetition of the above dedication formula. At present the Lord is represented by the properly installed Idol; a novice is made to recite the very words, in Sanskrit of course, with which Shri Vallabhacharya dedicated himself, but instead of garlanding and offering sugar-candy, Tulasi-leaves are placed at the feet of the Idol. The dedication of Shri Vallabhacharya was direct, whereas at present it is through the intercession of a Guru who is invariably a direct descendant of Shri Vallabhacharya.

After marriage Shri Vallabhacharyaji settled down in Adel where people used to come for debate on Shastras and disturbed him in his seva. He then composed Patravalamban Granth and pasted on the wall of Kashi Vishweshwar with a view that the pundits should first read this and if they have to discuss anything further then only they should come to Adel.

Post Balya Avastha:

Bharat wise tour:

In the assembly-hall of king, Bhagavan Himself supported the doctrines propounded by Sri Vallabhacharya by the abovementioned verse. Considering it as the ordainment of Bhagavan, Sri Vallabhacharya went on Bharat wise tour to publicize those doctrines. Three times barefooted Sri Vallabhacharya went on tour throughout Bharat. During it he had debated with the great learned Pundits and Acharyas on the true meaning of scriptures and competently established the theory of Shuddhadvaita- Brahmavada and the devotional path of Pushti. He led towards Sanatana-Hindu-Dharma the people who were flung far from it and got converted by the terrorism of cruel converter Mogul intruders from the north-west of Bharat.

The Renouncement:

In old time kings took it as their fortune in doing honour to the learned. Hence, they arranged for scriptural-debate inviting the learned to solve difficult problems. The learned man who was able to prove the worth of his doctrine was honoured with ceremonies like Kanakabhisheka, Rajatabhisheka etc. Sri Vallabhacharya, too, would participate in such scriptural-debates and establish his doctrine. As a result of this, kings would honour him with Kanakabhisheka, Rajatabhisheka etc. and dedicate to him with gold-coins, elephants, horses, gold and silver utensils etc. as gifts. But accumulation of money spoils the mind and one is not able to apply it into Bhagavan. Again, it is said in the scriptures that the wealth received from a king is somewhat more harmful. With this thought in mind, Sri Vallabhacharya would give away all such wealth in donation to Brahmans! For this reason he has been praised in Sarvottama-Stotra as "Mahodara-charitravan". This means: One having extremely generous charac ter.

Simplicity:

The life of Sri Vallabhacharya was extremely simple even though many of his disciples were kings and prosperous persons. He used to wear only 'Dhoti' and 'Uparana', travel on foot and prepare offerings by himself. During tour he would stay in a lonely place at the outskirts of a village. He would give instruction to his disciples not to let anybody in the village know about his arrival as he had firm faith that those who were divine beings would come to him on their own accord.

Attracted by his spiritual power and great knowledge many faithful people would come to him and bring for him valuable presents and gifts. But he would accept presents and gifts from none but his own disciples.

Love for Solitude:

According to the devotional course of Pushti-Bhakti-Sect the worship of Bhagavan must be performed in solitude at one's own home. Hence, after the tours were over, he constructed a small hut and settled down in a small village of Adel near Prayag permanently along with the members of his family and some people of his caste. He lived his life with whatever he received, without asking, from his disciples.

Last Message of Shri Vallabhacharya:

When he was on the point of leaving this world, he gave a message to his sons and followers, which should be written in letters of Gold.

"My dear followers, you should always serve the Lord to the best of your ability. You should not look upon Lord Krshna as an ordinary worldly master. Once you become his, he will take care of you. But if somehow or other, you forget the Lord and think of worldly matters, you will fall. So, you must not turn away from the Lord in any circumstances and try to be free from all evil influences. You should devote yourselves and make a complete surrender to him, because the Lord never accepts the service of a person who has not completely surrendered himself and is devoted to him".

Back to Abode:

One of purposes of Sri Vallabhacharya's incarnation was to enlighten the true meaning of Sri Bhagavat-Purana. However, to write a commentary on Sri Bhagavat, extended into 18000 verses, and that too during constant travel was a very difficult task. Hence, the work of writing commentary was going on in a slow process. During this period Sri Vallabhacharya received ordainment from Bhagavan to return to his abode. Even though the mission was not fully accomplished Sri Vallabhacharya left the work of writing commentary on Sri Bhagavat thinking that whatever work has been done was enough for the beings of the age of Kali. He renounced the life of a householder and accepted the stage of Sannyasa. He dwelt on the bank of the Ganga in Kashi without taking water and food. At the age of 52 on the day of Rathayatra in V.S. 1587 he entered in to the river Ganga and disappeared from this world.

Seva:

After marriage Shri Vallabhacharyaji settled down in Adel where people used to come for debate on Shastras and disturbed him in his seva. He then composed Patravalamban Granth and pasted on the wall of Kashi Vishweshwar with a view that the pundits should first read this and if they have to discuss anything further then only they should come to Adel.

Granthas:

Bhagavan incarnated on the earth and uplifted the divine beings and after that Sri Vedavyas (incarnation of the knowledge of Bhagavan) composed Sri Bhagavat so that the divine beings might be uplifted when the Bhagavan's incarnation is not present on earth. Similarly, Sri Vallabhacharya composed various works so as to show Pushti-Beings the path of devotion and to enable them to follow the devotional path of Pushti without any difficulty in his absence. The chief works of Sri Vallabhacharya are:

Anubhashya on 6 Brhamasutra (Incomplete) It is available only up to III 2-33, the remaining portion was completed by his second son, Sri Vitthalanathaji)

Bhashya on 7 Mimamsa Sutra (Incomplete) It is a commentary on the Jaimini-Sutras. The only available part of the commentary is on I Adhyaya 4th Pada 1-13 Sutra and II Adhyaya I Pada.

Purvamimamsa-Bhashya-Karika (incomplete) Forty-two verses, which summarizes the discussion of the Bhashya on the first sutra.

Bhashya on Gayatri. Shri Vallabhacharya has extensively described the Mantra of Gayatri in the Subodhini commentary on the very first stanza of Bhagavat Puran.

'Subodhini' a commentary on Bhagavat Purana (Incomplete)

It is the commentary on Bhagavata. This is a masterly work. Unfortunately this commentary is not fully available. It is available on the first three Skandhas (books), a part of the fourth Skandha (Viz. Six chapters and a portion-13 verses only of the seventh chapter), the tenth Skandha, and a part of the eleventh Skandha (first four chapters and only one verse of the fifth chapter). It is worthy to be noted that Shri Vallabhacharya has described the meaning of Bhagavat Purana from seven different angles. These seven angles are:

Shastra (Scripture Viz. Bhagavata as a whole)

Skandha

Prakarana

Adhyaya

Vakya

Padas and

Aksharas.

It may be noted that the meaning of the first four parts is given in the Bhagavatartha, third chapter of the Tatvartha-Dipa-Nibandha, while that of the last three parts is given in 'Subodhini' commentary.

Sukhsmatika, A short commentary on Bhagavat Purana (Incomplete)

Bhagavat Dashamaskandha Anukramanika This treatise is an index of the character of Shri Krshna described in the 10th (Skandha) chapter of Bhagavat Puran.

Patravalambanam Shri Vallabhacharya has established the principle of Brahmavad in this work and discarded the view that the meaning of the first part of Veda (Karma Kand or Purva Mimamsa) and the second part of Veda (Vedanta, Upanishad or Uttar Mimamsa) is different.

Tatvartha-dipa-nibandha It contains three chapters.

Shastrartha-prakaranam

Sarvanirnaya-prakaranam

Bhagavatartha-prakaranam.

The first chapter is called 'Shastrartha' which is an essay on the Gita. Its a fine exposition of Bhagavad-Gita. The second chapter is called 'Sarva-nirnaya'. It contains the opinions of the Shri Vallabhacharya on all the principal schools of philosophy and religion. This chapter forms a most admirable treatise on comparative philosophy and religion. The third is named 'Bhagavatartha'. It lucidly explains the scope and meaning of Bhagavata Purana. For further elucidation the Acharya himself wrote a commentary 'Prakasha' on this book. The Prakasha is complete so far as the first two parts are concerned; but of the third part it is available only up to the thirty-third verse of the fourth section. Shri Vitthalanathaji tried to fill up the gap by supplying the gloss on the sections following, but unfortunately even his commentary is available only up to the 135th verse of the fifth section.

Shodasha-grantha

Shri Yamunashtakam

Balabodha

Siddhantamuktavali

Pushti-pravah-maryada-bheda (Incomplete)

Siddhanta-rahasya

Navaratnam

Antahkarana-prabodha

Viveka-dhairy-ashraya

Krshnashraya

Chatuhshloki

Bhaktivardhini

Jalabheda

Panchapadyani

Sannyasa-nirnaya

Nirodhalakshanam

Sevaphalam

Pushti Bhakti Prachar:

To publicize the doctrines of Bhagawan, Shri Vallabhacharya went on a Bharat wise tour where he debated with the great learned Pundits and Acharyas on the true meaning of scriptures and competently established the theory of Shuddhadwaita- Bramhavada and the devotional path of Pushti. He led towards Sanatana-Hindu-Dharma the people who were flung far from it and got converted by the terrorism of cruel converter Moghal intruders from the north -west of Bharat. He was granted the sacred formula of initiation (Brahma Sambandha). Shri Vallabhacharya composed various works so as to show Pushti beings the path of devotion and to enable them to follow the devotional path of Pushti without any difficulty in his absence.

Stotra:

Madhurashtakam

This symphony is a spontaneous outcome of Shri Vallabhacharya corresponding to the look of Shri Krshna. Shri Vallabhacharya has expressed every aspect of Shri Krshna as pleasing and charming.

Shri Parivradhashtakam

An ecstatic character and marvelous conduct of the master of the goddess Lakshmi, Shri Krshna has been described in this work. This work also express natural urge of the devotee for having intense love for his loving Lord Shri Krshna).

Shri Krsnashtakam

This work expresses natural urge of a devotee for complete surrender in the feet of his Master Shri Krshna.

Shri Giriraja-dharya-ashtakam

This work expresses deep respect for Shri Krshna, dearest of Gopis of the Vraj province.

Shri Purushottama-nama-sahasrm

One thousand names of Shri Krshna, traced from Bhagavat Purana.

Trividha-lila-namavali

Three types of names of Shri Krshna corresponding to the three phases i.e. childhood, adulthood and Royal phase of Dwarika, of His divine life.

Shiksha-shlokah

The last message of Shri Vallabhacharya that he imparted to his sons and followers at the time of leaving this world.

Panchashloki

Premamritam

[gokulkr]

Sri Vallabhacharya

 

[gokulkr]

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha -- a short sketch

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha is the second highest saint in the Mâdhva hierarchy, being next only to Srimad Ananda Tîrtha himself, in the târatamya. He is widely regarded as being the incarnation of Lâtavya, a rju-tâtvika-yogi and the successor to Mukhya PrâNa. Therefore, even though he nominally had Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha as a guru, he acknowledges only Srimad Ananda Tîrtha himself, as his preceptor. He is an outstanding poet, a very pugnacious opponent, and a most ardent devotee. He is also responsible for creating the paryâya system of rotation, according to which each of the eight Udupi ashhTa-MaTha-s <../madhva/car_street.html> has a two-year spell "in office" at the Krishna temple in Udupi <../madhva/krishna_mutt.html>, with each getting a turn sometime during a sixteen-year cycle. By instituting this system, Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha changed the previous one of each MaTha getting a two-month term of administration, which had been started by Srimad Ananda Tîrtha himself, and that had started to degenerate. It is without a doubt that of all the saints in the Mâdhva hierarchy, only Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha had the stature to explicitly recast a system that had been formulated by Srimad Ananda Tîrtha himself.

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's criticisms of countervailing philosophies and schools are carried out with a poet's flair, and always have a raw appeal even to the unschooled, because of their commonsense disguise -- he often uses very simple worldly concepts and experiences to make profound points, which is in sharp contrast to the usual style of presentation that generally tends to make all metaphysics look rather otherworldly and disjointed from everyday experience and understanding. While his poetry and prose writings in Sanskrit mark him to be an extraordinarily luminescent intellect, even in a paramparâ that boasts of many brilliant scholars, he does not make a highbrow rejection of the needs of the less scholarly, and has made significant contributions to the Hari-dâsa tradition, the vehicle to take Tattvavâda to the non-Sanskrit-literate masses, and has translated Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's Mahâbhârata-tâtparya-nirNaya into Kannada. Dr. B.N.K. Sharma writes: "In this respect, his work marks a new and necessary phase in the history of Dvaita Literature and breathes the spirit of a new age which produced other popular exponents of Madhva-Siddhânta, both in Sanskrit and in Kannada" (Emphasis as given by author). Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha is also well-known as the creator of many stotras, quite a few of them distinctly hortatory, that explain sophisticated concepts in relatively easy terms, and encourage the seeker to give up the bondage of material desire and seek the shelter of Vishnu.

It is said that in a previous birth, Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha served Krishna in a very special way, by acting as RukmiNî's messenger to Him, just before she eloped with Him as per her own request.

Biographies on Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha include the Vâdirâja-guruvara-charitâmrta, and the autobiographical work Svapna-vrndâvana-âkhyâna. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha lived a long life of 120 years, all but eight or so of them as a sanyâsî. He is said to have, in his early days, been a native of the village of Huuvinakere, Kundâpur Taluk, in modern Karnataka state, but as in the cases of many other saints, a detailed account of his childhood seems to be unavailable, perhaps because it is considered of secondary importance as compared to his achievements as a grown-up.

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha wrote many works, not all of which have survived, unfortunately; and of those that have, not all are in print. Among the ones that are in print, the best known and most often read and cited is the Yukti-Mallikâ, which is a humongous treatise that conducts a threadbare logical analysis of different philosophical systems, with the author professing to proceed on the basis of strict rationality, with no fond or hateful preconceptions, and finding, at the end, that Madhva's view is the right one.

 

Notice the definitive usage "ante siddhastu siddhânto," and the use of 'Tattvavâda,' rather than anything else, to name the doctrine which he finds right. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha uses his unique blend of wit, sarcasm, and poetic aptitude, to underscore many of the points made by Srimad Ananda Tîrtha and other scholars before him; he communicates with his audience very effectively, by using pithy language peppered with down-to-Earth metaphors. In the Yukti-Mallikâ, we find detailed expositions of Mâdhva positions, as enshrined in the Vishnu-tatva-vinirNaya and other works, on the futility of atheism, the bheda interpretation of the so-called Mahâ-vâkyas, etc. He also refutes the Brahma-Suutra-bhâshya of Shankara, and gives quotes and interpretations not previously employed by Mâdhva scholars.

 

Other works by Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha include the Mahâbhârata-Prasthâna, an independent detailed commentary on the Mahâbhârata of Veda Vyâsa. This, in fact, is the only authoritative detailed commentary on the Mahâbhârata by a Mâdhva scholar, as Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's âââMahbhrata-ttparya-Nirnaya <../../sources/mbtn> does not offer a line-by-line commentary on the epic. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha also wrote a commentary on the Mahâbhârata-tâtparya-Nirnaya, and a translation of that work into Kannada (which has already been alluded to).

Among the other extant works of Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, two stand out: the RukmiNîsha-Vijaya and the Svapna-Vrndâvanâkhyâna. The former is considered to be the greatest work of poetry ever written, and was written in response to a work called "Shishupâla-vadha," which described the encounter between Krishna and Shishupâla, and its background. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha objected for several reasons, among them the one that the work, whose title literally means "Shishupâla's killing," is inauspiciously named and does nothing to signify Krishna's greatness. He then promised that he would obtain a new grantha within nineteen days, one that would cover the same subject the way it ought to be. He then authored the RukmiNîsha-Vijaya within that period.

 

The Svapna-Vrndâvanâkhyâna was authored in a very special way. There was a deaf-mute and illiterate brâhmaNa, who served Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha in menial ways. Years after Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's Brndâvana-pravesha, he appeared in the deaf-mute man's dreams over a period of several weeks, and gave him the Svapna-Vrndâvanâkhyâna. Every next day, the deaf-mute man would go to the pontiff of the Matha, and recite whatever he had heard in his dream encounter with Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha the previous night. All that was written down, but could not be made sense of. Finally, many years later, the same man was reborn, and became a sanyâsi in Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's own line and came to head his Matha, and he then himself wrote an exposition on the Svapna-Vrndâvanâkhyâna that he had received previously. A fragment of the Svapna-Vrndâvanâkhyâna called the âââAnu-Vrndvankhyna <http://www.dvaita.net/pdf/aNu-v.pdf> is regularly recited by devotees of Srî Vâdirâja.

 

In addition, Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha composed many devotional songs in Kannada; unfortunately, few of these have survived to the present. We are luckier with respect to his stotras: manuscripts of a few dozen of those have made it to our day, the better known of them being the Dashâvatâra-stuti, the Shrî-Krishna stuti, the Hayagrîva-sampadâ-stotra, the Haryashtakam, the Nava-graha stotra, etc. (see the complete list <VaadiraajaT_5.html>).

 

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's MaTha is one of the eight Udupi MaTha-s, and is headquartered at Sode <VaadiraajaT_3.html>, on the banks of the Shâlmali, and very near the Trivikrama temple <VaadiraajaT_3.html> that Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha himself installed in the year 1582. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's Brndâvana is there also, and he will stay there for the rest of Kali Yuga, protecting devotees who would otherwise be annihilated by evil.

 

More about Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha

The disciples of Srimad Ananda Tiritha originally stayed together in Sri Krishna Mutt <../madhva/krishna_mutt.html>. They shared the daily worship amongst themselves. As time went by, the daily worship was divided up so that each of the disciples performed the worship for a period of two months. This inevitably created friction because when certain festivals, etc., came around, it could possibly be years before they each had a chance to personally conduct these ceremonies.

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha established the system of worship for a period of two years. In this way, each of the Swamijis could perform all the festivals, etc., and the worship of Sri Krishna could have continuity for a reasonable length of time, unimpeded by the constant changes of administration which occurred under the old system.

It was around this time that the eight MaThas known as "Udupi ashhTa MaTha-s" were established in the vicinity of Krishna Mutt. (More information about these matters can be obtained here <../madhva/car_street.html>.)

This two year system also allows each of the swamijis to conduct the important daily duties concerning the welfare of their disciples and the worship in their own Mutts. It also allows them the time necessary to accumulate the enormous amount of money needed to perform the worship in the Krishna Mutt.

Sri Hayavadana a.k.a Sri Hayagrîva was the form of the Lord Vishnu that Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha worshipped, and the Lord Himself used to appear in the form of a white horse to please His devotee. It so happened that a goldsmith was trying to make a gold statue of Ganapati. To his surprise, the idol kept taking the shape of Lord Hayavadana. The goldsmith many times, and each time, the cast was took the shape of Lord Hayavadana. The goldsmith got tired and frustrated, and started hitting the idol with a hammer. To his surprise, however hard he hit, no damage was happening to the statue. Then, one day the goldsmith had a dream. In the dream, he saw the Sri Hayavadana Himself telling him to give the statue to the saint who would be approaching him the next day. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha then went to the goldsmith, as directed by Sri Hayagrîva, and asked for the promised icon. The goldsmith prostrated at the feet of Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha and offered the icon of Lord Hayavadana, which the saint then consecrated and used for worship.

 

On another instance, when Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha was in Pandharapura serving Lord Vitthala, there was a corn field near the temple and the owner of the corn field used to see a white horse coming to his field and graze the corn. The white horse used to eat the dal (lentils) growing in the field, and used to get into the MaTha where Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha used to reside. The owner got angry, and approached Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha with a complaint that a horse belonging to the latter was coming to his field and eating his crop. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha assured him that he did not own such a horse, and that in fact, there was no horse of any description in the MaTha. The complainant however was not satisfied, since he was positive seeing the horse enter the MaTha; he did a full search of its premises, but could not locate the horse he expected to see.

 

Meanwhile, Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, knowing that the horse was the Lord Hayavadana Himself, told the landowner that he was very lucky, and asked him to see the places in his field where the "horse" ate. To his great surprise, the latter saw golden corn at all the places where the Lord ate. He surrendered at the feet of Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, and offered his land to the MaTha.

Every day, Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha would offer a sweet dish called Hayagrîva (a preparation consisting of jaggery, almonds, ghee and kaDale (lentil) by keeping it in a tray and holding it on his head while seated (as shown in the image on the cover page). The Sri Hayavadana used to take a form of a white horse, as indicated, and would put his feet at the shoulders of Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, eat the sweet, play for some time like a horse, and disappear into the Hayavadana icon. It is said that Sri Vâdiraja Tîrtha would sing the 'Dashâvatâra-stuti', set to an 'ashvaghâTi' (literally, a horse's trot) beat, to please the Lord, and the latter Himself would appear and dance when His devotee sang to Him.

mAtA rAja matpitA vAdirAjo bhrAtA rAjA matsakhA vAdirAjaH |

sarvasvaM me vAdirAjo dayALuH nA.anyad.hdaivaM naiva jAne na jAne ||

Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha is my mother, father, brother and friend; he, the compassionate, is everything to me, I know no other deity but he! The translation of "nA.anyad.h daivam naiva jAne na jAne" is a little crude -- what is actually meant is that "anya" deities -- any entities of worship other than that in the târatamya of which Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha is a part, are not taken notice of. Thus, this is a pledge we make -- that we swear by Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's (and his lineage's) iconicity in representing the Lord, and reject other deities as not worthy of respect.

 

Some information about Sode, and assorted sub-topics

Sode, the mini-Udupi:

When Sri Vâdirâja changed the Krishna Mutt's administration from 2 months to 2 years, some critics belived that he was engaged in some conspiracy. At that time Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha said Lord Krishna is everywhere, and had a mini-Udupi constructed in Sode with the following:

DhavaLa Gangâ (to replicate the Madhva Sarovara of Udupi)

Gopâlakrishna temple (to replicate the Krishna temple)

DhavaLa Gangâdhara (to replicate Chandramoulîshwara)

Sri MukhayaprâNa temple (to replicate the respective temple)

He did not go back to Udupi paryâya later, preferring instead to let a disciple of his worship Krishna. The disciple had been sad because he was getting old, and would not get the chance to worship by the time the next turn came for their MaTha in sixteen years!

Sode is also called Sonda (by local community) and as Swadi. There is a "Tapovana" where Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha used to meditate, about 5 kilometers from the MaTha. It is a beautiful place with a thick forest, river and mountains. It is known for the notorious leeches it harbors during the rainy seasons.

In Sode, along with Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's brndâvana, there are four others forming a square, with Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's, the largest of the five, at its geometric center. The five brndâvana-s are described by Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha himself in the Svapna-vrndâvana-âkhyâna thus:

ahaM brahmA cha vAyushcha vishhNo rudrashcha pa.nchamaH |

I (Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha), chatur-mukha-Brahma, Vâyu, Vishnu, and Shiva; these reside there, as in Shweta-dvîpa. So, the latter four are the ones who inhabit the other four brndâvana-s.

However, somewhere else in the Svapna-vrndâvana-âkhyâna, it is also said that all 33,000 Crore (3.3 * 10^11) devatâs have been ordered by Lord Hayagrîva to reside in Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's own brndâvana; that is one more reason why one who worships him does not need worship anyone else (nA.anyad.hdaivam naiva jAne na jAne -- refer previous page, "More on Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha").

There is a big jackfruit tree in Sode, under which Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha used to teach his disciples. Once, a severe bolt of lightning struck this tree. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, the Bhâvi Samîra, gave life to this tree. This tree is still alive in Swadi; the MaTha uses its fruit for Sri Hayagrîva naivedya.

On the way to Sode from Sirsi there is a small village called Huleka, which has a brindâvana of Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha. This is the only place where one can find Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha's brndâvana other than the original one in Nava Vrindâvana.

Arasappa Nâyaka:

He was a bhakta of Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha and belonged to a lower caste community. He donated acres of lands to Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha's Sode MaTha. Arasappa had one intersting request to his Guru. He wanted the Sode Mutt to use his community's ganTe (bell -- used during mangaLârati) during the pooja of Lord Hayagrîva. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, who had shown the path to Arasappa Nâyaka's community, accepted his offer. Therefore, even today the ganTe used in Sode Mutt has a Basava (bull) icon on the top of its stem instead of Sri Hanuman, as commonly found in all other ganTe-s used in Mâdhva temples, houses and MaThas.

 

Bhûta-râja

In the first chapter of the Kannada work "Hari-kathA-amR^ita-sAra," Sri Jagannatha Dâsa says:

kR^itti-vAsane hinde nI nAlvattu kalpa samIranali

shishhyattva vahisi akhiLAgamArthagaLOdi jaladhiyoLu |

hattu kalpadi tapava gaidAdityaroLaguttamanenisi

purushhOttamana pariya.nka padavaidideyO mahAdEva || 8 ||

 

Rudra, you served Vâyu as his shishhya for forty Brahma-kalpas in the past, and learned a great number of meanings of âgama-s; then, having performed penance for ten kalpa-s, you became the foremost of the Aditya-s (deva-s) and earned the title of `Purushhottama', O Mahadeva!

 

When Vâyu "graduates" to become Brahma, Rudra similarly graduates to become Adi-shesha.

Sri Bhûta-râja is the "bhâvî" Rudra, or the future Rudra, just as Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha is the "bhâvî" Samîra. He is a deity called `Ugra-tapa', for "the one of ferocious austerities." He, Bhûta-râja a.k.a Ugra-tapa, is worshipped in a manner similar to Shiva, but is not considered Shiva himself.

Sri Bhûta-râja is said to serve Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha as a watchman, among other things; he guards a corner of the DhavaLa-Ganga tank at Sode. This corner is known as "Bhûtarâjara-koNe" or "Bhûta-râja's corner" and one is not to venture into it. Doing so is punishable by death, as many have discovered to their cost over hundreds of years. While the water is seemingly calm, anyone who swims there is pulled down by Bhûta-râja and drowns. However, only a purposeful miscreant can get there in the first place, since the steps lead from the opposite side, and one can get to that side only by diving from a height or swimming from the opposite side.

Dharmasthala:

Once, when Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha was travelling, he happened to stay in a forest on the banks of the river Netrâvati, at a place which is now called Dharmasthala in Karnataka. The people who lived in that area of the forest were always troubled by some devils, demons, etc. These people requested Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha to help them; the latter performed the pratishhThâpana of Sri Manjunâtha (Shiva) and appointed some Mâdhva brahmins to perform the pooja regularly. Today, Dharmasthala is one of the important piligrimage places in South India. It seems it is the only temple in the world where Shiva is worshipped by the Mâdhva community. However, the temple is maintained by the Hegde family, who are influential in that part of the country.

Sri Trivikrama Temple:

The garbhagudi of this temple is actually a chariot made of stone. Sri Bhûta Raja carried this temple for Sri Vâdiraja Tîrtha from Badarikâshrama, the abode of Veda Vyâsa. When he was flying south with the temple in his hand, he had to fight some demons. He used one of the wheels on the chariot to kill a demon. That's why the Sri Trivikrama temple's garbhagudi still has only 3 wheels with a fourth missing.

His robe and pâduka-s:

After the covering stones of Sri Vâdirâja's Brindavana were placed, some of his disciples started crying for being unable to physically see their Guru. Sri Vâdirâja Tîrtha, who had entered the brndâvana wearing his robe and pâduka-s (wooden sandals), threw off the same from "Pushpaka Vimâna" (flying vehicle) for his sad desciples. Even today, on the Âradhana day Sri Vâdirâja's robe and pâduka-s are displayed for devotees.

[gokulkr]

"Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha constitute this second quadruple. They are purely transcendental."

 

 

"Purport: Sripada Sankaracarya has misleadingly explained the quadruple form (catur-vyuha) in his interpretation of the forty-second aphorism of Chapter Two of the second khanda of the Vedanta-sutra (utpatty-asambhavat). In verses 41 through 47 of this chapter of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami answers Sripada Sankaracarya's misleading objections to the personal feature of the Absolute Truth.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth, is not like a material object that can be known by experimental knowledge or sense perception. In the Narada-pancaratra this fact has been explained by Narayana Himself to Lord Siva. But Sankaracarya, the incarnation of Siva, under the order of Narayana, his master, had to mislead the monists, who favor ultimate extinction. In the conditioned stage of existence, all living entities have four basic defects, of which one is the cheating propensity. Sankaracarya has carried this cheating propensity to the extreme to mislead the monists.

Actually, the quadruple forms explained in the Vedic literature cannot be understood by the speculation of a conditioned soul. The quadruple forms should therefore be accepted just as They are described. The authority of the Vedas is such that even if one does not understand something by his limited perception, he should accept the Vedic injunction and not create interpretations to suit his imperfect understanding. In his Sariraka-bhasya, however, Sankaracarya has increased the misunderstanding of the monists.

The quadruple forms have a spiritual existence that can be realized in vasudeva-sattva (suddha-sattva), or unqualified goodness, which accompanies complete absorption in the understanding of Vasudeva. The quadruple forms, who are full of the six opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are the enjoyers of the internal potency. Thinking the absolute Personality of Godhead to be poverty-stricken or to have no potency--or, in other words, to be impotent--is simply rascaldom. This rascaldom is the profession of the conditioned soul, and it increases his bewilderment. One who cannot understand the distinctions between the spiritual world and the material world has no qualification to examine or know the situation of the transcendental quadruple forms. In his commentary on Vedanta-sutra 2.2.42-45, His Holiness Sripada Sankaracarya has made a futile attempt to nullify the existence of these quadruple forms in the spiritual world.

Sankaracarya says (sutra 42) that devotees think the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vasudeva, Sri Krsna, to be one, to be free from material qualities and to have a transcendental body full of bliss and eternal existence. He is the ultimate goal of the devotees, who believe that the Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself into four other eternal transcendental forms--Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. From Vasudeva, who is the primary expansion, come Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha in that order. Another name of Vasudeva is Paramatma, another name of Sankarsana is jiva (the living entity), another name of Pradyumna is mind, and another name of Aniruddha is ahankara (false ego). Among these expansions, Vasudeva is considered the origin of material nature. Therefore Sankaracarya says that Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha must be creations of that original cause.

Great souls assert that Narayana, who is known as Paramatma, the Supersoul, is beyond material nature, and this is in accordance with the statements of the Vedic literature. Mayavadis also agree that Narayana can expand Himself in various forms. Sankara says that he does not attempt to argue that portion of the devotees' understanding, but he must protest the idea that Sankarsana is produced from Vasudeva, Pradyumna is produced from Sankarsana, and Aniruddha is produced from Pradyumna, for if Sankarsana is understood to represent the living entities created from the body of Vasudeva, the living entities would have to be noneternal. The living entities are supposed to be freed from material contamination by engaging in prolonged temple worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, reading Vedic literature and performing yoga and pious activities to attain the Supreme Lord. But if the living entities had been created from material nature at a certain point, they would be noneternal and would have no chance to be liberated and associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When a cause is nullified, its results are nullified. In the second chapter of the Vedanta-sutra's second khanda, Acarya Vedavyasa has also refuted the conception that the living beings were ever born (natma sruter nityatvac ca tabhyah). Because there is no creation for the living entities, they must be eternal.

Sankaracarya says (sutra 43) that devotees think that Pradyumna, who is considered to represent the senses, has sprung from Sankarsana, who is considered to represent the living entities. But we cannot actually experience that a person can produce senses. Devotees also say that from Pradyumna has sprung Aniruddha, who is considered to represent the ego. But Sankaracarya says that unless the devotees can show how ego and the means of knowledge can generate from a person, such an explanation of the Vedanta-sutra cannot be accepted, for no other philosophers accept the sutras in that way.

Sankaracarya also says (sutra 44) that he cannot accept the devotees' idea that Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are equally as powerful as the absolute Personality of Godhead, full in the six opulences of knowledge, wealth, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation, and free from the flaw of generation at a certain point. Even if They are full expansions, the flaw of generation remains. Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, being distinct individual persons, cannot be one. Therefore if They are accepted as absolute, full and equal, there would have to be many Personalities of Godhead. But there is no need to accept that there are many Personalities of Godhead, because acceptance of one omnipotent God is sufficient for all purposes. The acceptance of more than one God is contradictory to the conclusion that Lord Vasudeva, the absolute Personality of Godhead, is one without a second. Even if we agree to accept that the quadruple forms of Godhead are all identical, we cannot avoid the incongruous flaw of noneternity. Unless we accept that there are some differences among the personalities, there is no meaning to the idea that Sankarsana is an expansion of Vasudeva, Pradyumna is an expansion of Sankarsana, and Aniruddha is an expansion of Pradyumna. There must be a distinction between cause and effect. For example, a pot is distinct from the earth from which it is made, and therefore we can ascertain that the earth is the cause and the pot is the effect. Without such distinctions, there is no meaning to cause and effect. Furthermore, the followers of the Pancaratric principles do not accept any differences in knowledge and qualities between Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The devotees accept all these expansions to be one, but why should they restrict oneness to these quadruple expansions? Certainly we should not do so, for all living entities, from Brahma to the insignificant ant, are expansions of Vasudeva, as accepted in all the srutis and smrtis.

Sankaracarya also says (sutra 45) that the devotees who follow the Pancaratra state that God's qualities and God Himself, as the owner of the qualities, are the same. But how can the Bhagavata school state that the six opulences--wisdom, wealth, strength, fame, beauty and renunciation--are identical with Lord Vasudeva? This is impossible.

In his Laghu-bhagavatamrta (Purva 5.165-193), Srila Rupa Gosvami has refuted the charges directed against the devotees by Sripada Sankaracarya regarding their explanation of the quadruple forms Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. He says that these four expansions of Narayana are present in the spiritual sky, where They are famous as Mahavastha. Among Them, Vasudeva is worshiped within the heart by meditation because He is the predominating Deity of the heart, as explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.3.23).

Sankarsana, the second expansion, is Vasudeva's personal expansion for pastimes, and since He is the reservoir of all living entities, He is sometimes called jiva. The beauty of Sankarsana is more than that of innumerable full moons radiating light beams. He is worshipable as the principle of ego. He has invested Anantadeva with all the potencies of sustenance. For the dissolution of the creation, He also exhibits Himself as the Supersoul in Rudra, irreligiosity, sarpa (the snake), antaka (death) and the demons.

Pradyumna, the third manifestation, appears from Sankarsana. Those who are especially intelligent worship this Pradyumna expansion of Sankarsana as the principle of the intelligence. The goddess of fortune always chants the glories of Pradyumna in the place known as Ilavrta-varsa, and she always serves Him with great devotion. His complexion appears sometimes golden and sometimes bluish like new monsoon clouds in the sky. He is the origin of the creation of the material world, and He has invested His creative principle in Cupid. It is by His direction only that all men and demigods and other living entities function with energy for regeneration.

Aniruddha, the fourth of the quadruple expansions, is worshiped by great sages and psychologists as the principle of the mind. His complexion is similar to the bluish hue of a blue cloud. He engages in the maintenance of the cosmic manifestation and is the Supersoul of Dharma (the deity of religiosity), the Manus (the progenitors of mankind) and the devatas (demigods). The Moksa-dharma Vedic scripture indicates that Pradyumna is the Deity of the total mind, whereas Aniruddha is the Deity of the total ego, but previous statements regarding the quadruple forms are confirmed in the Pancaratra tantras in all respects.

......How the Mayavadis have misrepresented the pancaratrika-vidhi will be shown below.

(1) In commenting on Vedanta-sutra 2.2.42, Sripada Sankaracarya has claimed that Sankarsana is a jiva, an ordinary living entity, but there is no evidence in any Vedic scripture that devotees of the Lord have ever said that Sankarsana is an ordinary living entity. He is an infallible plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Visnu category, and He is beyond the creation of material nature. He is the original source of the living entities. The Upanisads declare, nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam: "He is the supreme living entity among all the living entities." Therefore He is vibhu-caitanya, the greatest. He is directly the cause of the cosmic manifestation and the infinitesimal living beings. He is the infinite living entity, and ordinary living entities are infinitesimal. Therefore He is never to be considered an ordinary living being, for that would be against the conclusion of the authorized scriptures. The living entities are also beyond the limitations of birth and death. This is the version of the Vedas, and it is accepted by those who follow scriptural injunctions and who have actually descended in the disciplic succession.

(2) In answer to Sankaracarya's commentary on Vedanta-sutra 2.2.43, it must be said that the original Visnu of all the Visnu categories, which are distributed in several ways, is Mula-sankarsana. Mula means "the original." Sankarsana is also Visnu, but from Him all other Visnus expand. This is confirmed in the Brahma-samhita, wherein it is said that just as a flame transferred from another flame acts like the original, so the Visnus who emanate from Mulasankarsana are as good as the original Visnu. One should worship that Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who thus expands Himself.

(3) In reply to the commentary of Sankaracarya on the forty-fourth aphorism, it may be said that no pure devotees strictly following the principles of Pancaratra will ever accept the statement that all the expansions of Visnu are different identities, for this idea is completely false. Even Sripada Sankaracarya, in his commentary on the forty-second aphorism, has accepted that the Personality of Godhead can automatically expand Himself variously. Therefore his commentary on the forty-second aphorism and his commentary on the forty-fourth aphorism are contradictory. It is a defect of Mayavada commentaries that they make one statement in one place and a contradictory statement in another place as a tactic to refute the Bhagavata school. Thus Mayavadi commentators do not even follow regulative principles. It should be noted that the Bhagavata school accepts the quadruple forms of Narayana, but that does not mean that it accepts many Gods. Devotees know perfectly well that the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is one without a second. They are never pantheists, worshipers of many Gods, for this is against the injunction of the Vedas. Devotees completely believe, with strong faith, that Narayana is transcendental and has inconceivable proprietorship of various transcendental potencies. We therefore recommend that scholars consult the Laghu-bhagavatamrta of Srila Rupa Gosvami, where these ideas are explicitly stated. Sripada Sankaracarya has tried to prove that Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand through cause and effect. He has compared Them with earth and earthen pots. That is completely ignorant, however, for there is no such thing as cause and effect in Their expansions (nanyad yat sad-asat-param). The Kurma Purana also confirms, deha-dehi-vibhedo 'yam nesvare vidyate kvacit: "There is no difference between body and soul in the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Cause and effect are material. For example, it is seen that a father's body is the cause of a son's body, but the soul is neither cause nor effect. On the spiritual platform there are none of the differences we find in cause and effect. Since all the forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are spiritually supreme, They are equally controllers of material nature. Standing on the fourth dimension, They are predominating figures on the transcendental platform. There is no trace of material contamination in Their expansions because material laws cannot influence Them. There is no such rule as cause and effect outside of the material world. Therefore the understanding of cause and effect cannot approach the full, transcendental, complete expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedic literature proves this:

om purnam adah purnam idam

purnat purnam udacyate

purnasya purnam adaya

purnam evavasisyate

"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete by itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance." (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 5.1) It is most apparent that nondevotees violate the rules and regulations of devotional service to equate the whole cosmic manifestation, which is the external feature of Visnu, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of maya, or with His quadruple expansions. The equalization of maya and spirit, or maya and the Lord, is a sign of atheism. The cosmic creation, which manifests life in forms from Brahma to the ant, is the external feature of the Supreme Lord. It comprises one fourth of the Lord's energy, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (ekamsena sthito jagat). The cosmic manifestation of the illusory energy is material nature, and everything within material nature is made of matter. Therefore, one should not try to compare the expansions of material nature to the catur-vyuha, the quadruple expansions of the Personality of Godhead, but unfortunately the Mayavadi school unreasonably attempts to do this.

(4) To answer Sankaracarya's commentary on Vedanta-sutra 2.2.45, the substance of the transcendental qualities and their spiritual nature is described in the Laghu-bhagavatamrta (Purva 5.208-214) as follows: "Some say that transcendence must be void of all qualities because qualities are manifested only in matter. According to them, all qualities are like temporary, flickering mirages. But this is not acceptable. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is absolute, His qualities are nondifferent from Him. His form, name, qualities and everything else pertaining to Him are as spiritual as He is. Every qualitative expansion of the absolute Personality of Godhead is identical with Him. Since the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is the reservoir of all pleasure, all the transcendental qualities that expand from Him are also reservoirs of pleasure. This is confirmed in the scripture known as Brahma-tarka, which states that the Supreme Lord Hari is qualified by Himself, and therefore Visnu and His pure devotees and their transcendental qualities cannot be different from their persons. In the Visnu Purana Lord Visnu is worshiped in the following words: 'Let the Supreme Personality of Godhead be merciful toward us. His existence is never infected by material qualities.' In the same Visnu Purana it is also said that all the qualities attributed to the Supreme Lord, such as knowledge, opulence, beauty, strength and influence, are known to be nondifferent from Him. This is also confirmed in the Padma Purana, which explains that whenever the Supreme Lord is described as having no qualities, this should be understood to indicate that He is devoid of material qualities. In the First Chapter of Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.16.29) it is said: 'O Dharma, protector of religious principles, all noble and sublime qualities are eternally manifested in the person of Krsna, and devotees and transcendentalists who aspire to become faithful also desire to possess such transcendental qualities.' " It is therefore to be understood that Lord Sri Krsna, the transcendental form of absolute bliss, is the fountainhead of all pleasurable transcendental qualities and inconceivable potencies. In this connection we may recommend references to Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Canto, Chapter Twenty-Six, verses 21, 25, 27 and 28.

Sripada Ramanujacarya has also refuted the arguments of Sankara in his own commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, which is known as the Sri-bhasya: "Sripada Sankaracarya has tried to equate the Pancaratras with the philosophy of the atheist Kapila, and thus he has tried to prove that the Pancaratras contradict the Vedic injunctions. The Pancaratras state that the personality of jiva called Sankarsana has emerged from Vasudeva, the supreme cause of all causes, that Pradyumna, the mind, has come from Sankarsana, and that Aniruddha, the ego, has come from Pradyumna. But one cannot say that the living entity (jiva) takes birth or is created, for such a statement is against the injunction of the Vedas. As stated in the Katha Upanisad (2.18), living entities, as individual spiritual souls, can have neither birth nor death. All Vedic literature declares that the living entities are eternal. Therefore when it is said that Sankarsana is jiva, this indicates that He is the predominating Deity of the living entities. Similarly, Pradyumna is the predominating Deity of the mind, and Aniruddha is the predominating Deity of the ego.

"It has been said that Pradyumna, the mind, was produced from Sankarsana. But if Sankarsana were a living entity, this could not be accepted, because a living entity cannot be the cause of the mind. The Vedic injunctions state that everything--including life, mind and the senses--comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is impossible for the mind to be produced by a living entity, for the Vedas state that everything comes from the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord.

"Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha have all the potent features of the absolute Personality of Godhead, according to the revealed scriptures, which contain undeniable facts that no one can refute. Therefore these quadruple forms are never to be considered ordinary living beings. Each of Them is a plenary expansion of the Absolute Godhead, and thus each is identical with the Supreme Lord in knowledge, opulence, energy, influence, prowess and potencies. The evidence of Pancaratra cannot be neglected. Only untrained persons who have not genuinely studied the Pancaratras think that the Pancaratras contradict the srutis regarding the birth or beginning of the living entity. In this connection, we must accept the verdict of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which says: 'The absolute Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vasudeva and who is very affectionate toward His surrendered devotees, expands Himself in quadruple forms who are subordinate to Him and at the same time identical with Him in all respects.' The Pauskara-samhita states: 'The scriptures that recommend that brahmanas worship the quadruple forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called agamas [authorized works of Vedic literature].' In all Vaisnava literature it is said that worshiping these quadruple forms is as good as worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vasudeva, who in His different expansions, complete in six opulences, can accept offerings from His devotees of the results of their prescribed duties. Worshiping the expansions for pastimes, such as Nrsimha, Rama, Sesa and Kurma, promotes one to the worship of the Sankarsana quadruple. From that position one is raised to the platform of worshiping Vasudeva, the Supreme Brahman. In the Pauskara-samhita it is said: 'If one fully worships according to the regulative principles, one can attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva.' It is to be accepted that Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are as good as Lord Vasudeva, for They all have inconceivable power and can accept transcendental forms like Vasudeva. Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are never born, but They can manifest Themselves in various incarnations before the eyes of pure devotees. This is the conclusion of all Vedic literature. That the Lord can manifest Himself before His devotees by His inconceivable power is not against the teaching of the Pancaratra. Since Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are actually the predominating Deities of all living entities, the total mind and the total ego, the descriptions of Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha as jiva, mind and ego are never contradictory to the statements of the scriptures. These names identify these Deities, just as the terms 'sky' and 'light' sometimes identify the Absolute Brahman.

"The scriptures completely deny the birth or production of the living entity. In the Parama-samhita it is described that material nature, which is used for others' purposes, is factually inert and always subject to transformation. The field of material nature is the arena of the activities of fruitive actors, and since the material field is externally related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is also eternal. In every samhita, the jiva (living entity) has been accepted as eternal, and in the Pancaratra the birth of the jiva is completely denied. Anything that is produced must also be annihilated. Therefore if we accept the birth of the living entity, we also have to accept his annihilation. But since the Vedic literature says that the living entity is eternal, one should not think the living being to be produced at a certain time. In the beginning of the Parama-samhita it is definitely stated that the face of material nature is constantly changeable. Therefore 'beginning,' 'annihilation' and all such terms are applicable only in the material nature.

"Considering all these points, one should understand that Sankaracarya's statement that Sankarsana is born as a jiva is completely against the Vedic statements. His assertions are completely refuted by the above arguments. In this connection the commentary of Sridhara Svami on Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.1.34) is very helpful."

For a detailed refutation of Sankaracarya's arguments to prove Sankarsana an ordinary living being, one may refer to Srimat Sudarsanacarya's commentary on Sri-bhasya, which is known as the Sruta-prakasika."

[gokulkr]

Sri Tattva-muktavali or Mayavada-sata-dusani

The Pearl Necklace of Truths or 100 Refutations of the

Mayavada Fallacy

by Srila Madhvacarya (translation Kusakratha prabhu)

 

 

The Life of Srila Madhvacarya

Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth at Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanada district of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanada 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 of sakabda (A.D. 1118). According to some, he was born in the year 1160

sakabda (A.D. 1238). In his childhood Madhvacarya was known as Vasudeva, and there are some wonderful stories surrounding him. It is also said that his father piled

up many debts, and Madhvacarya converted tamarind seeds

into actual coins to pay them off. When he was five

years old, he was offered the sacred thread. One 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 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. After receiving sannyasa from

Acuyta Preksa, he received the name Purnaprajqa 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

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 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. He met there 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 one

prayer in five chapters. Once, while sitting beside the

sea engrossed in meditation upon Lord Krsna, he saw

that a large boat containing goods from Dvaraka was in

danger. He showed 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 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 raise 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 Maharastra,

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 Pradesh there were

fights between the Hindus and the Mohammedans. The

Hindus were on one bank of the river and the

Mohammedans were on the other. Due to the community

tension, no boat was available for crossing the river.

The Mohammedan 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 Mohammedan 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 Asta-murti. After this he summarized the

Mahabharata.

Madhvacaryas devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship are known throughout India. Because of

this, the owners of the Srngeri Matha established by

Sankaracarya became a little perturbed. At that time

the followers of Sankaracarya were afraid of

Madhvacaryas rising power and they began to tease

Madhvacaryas disciples in many ways. There was even an

attempt to prove that the disciplic succession of

Madhvacarya was not in line with the Vedic principles.

One persona named Pundarika Puri, a follower of the

Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, came before

Madhvacarya to discuss the sastras. It is said that all

of Madhvacaryas 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 Madhvacaryas disciple and his son later became

Narayanacarya, the composer of Sri Madhvavijaya. After

the death of Trivikramacarya, the younger brother of

Narayanacarya took sannyasa and later became known as

Visnu Tirtha.

At that time it was reputed that there was no

limit to the bodily strength of Purnaprajqa, Madhvacarya. There was a person named Kadaqjari 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.

 

--His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada

 

Text 1

All glories to Lord Krsna, who is simultaneously the

protector of the faithful devotees and the devastating

eternal time factor destroying the cruel demon kings.

Krsna, the son of Maharaja Nanda, is as splendid as a

young tamala tree. He is the source of the limitless

Brahman effulgence. He is the master of all potencies.

He is decorated with a vaijayanti flower garland, and

His forehead is splendidly decorated with tilaka.

Text 2

A devotee has full faith in the words of the Puranas.

Every morning he faithfully and happily studies the

Puranas, and in this way his mind penetrates the actual

meaning of the scriptures.

Text 3

A certain imaginative Vedanta commentator has presented

a false theory that the individual spirit soul and the

Supreme Personality of Godhead are one in all respects.

A devotee scholar, learned in the Puranas, rejects this

fallacy and, with expert logic, establishes the eternal

distinction between the individual spirit soul and the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Quoting abundant

evidence from the sruti and smrti, the devotee scholar

presents many arguments to conclusively prove the

difference between the individual spirit soul and the

Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Text 4

The individual spirit soul is always limited. The

Supreme is always unlimited. The difference is clearly

established in the descriptions of Vedic literature.

Because the natures of the Supreme and the individual

spirit soul are so different, it must be concluded that

they are eternally different entities. They cannot be

the same.

Text 5

The Mayavadis may object: "The individual spirit souls

are not different from the Supreme, just as the air in

a pot and the air in the

sky are not different. Indeed, simply by citing this

analogy, I have proved that the individual spirit souls

are identical with the Supreme."

To this statement I reply: "This is not a very good

argument. The Supreme is unlimited and cannot be

compared to any limited material manifestation, such as

the material sky. He is not at all like the material

sky and, therefore, your analogy is not very good

evidence to support your views."

Text 6

The Mayavadi commentator on the Vedanta claimed that

the words tat tvam asi are the maha-vakya, the most

important statement in the Vedas. According to this

explanation, tat means "the Supreme," tvam means "you,"

and asi means "are." He interpreted the phrase to mean

"you are the Supreme" and he claimed that there is no

difference between the Supreme and the individual

spirit souls.

The Vaisnava commentator on Vedanta interpreted these

words in a different way, saying that tat-tvam is a

possessive compound word (sasthi-tatpurusa-samasa).

According to his explanation, tat means "of the

Supreme," and the entire phrase means "you are the

servant of the Supreme." In this way the proper meaning

of the scriptural statement is clearly shown.

Text 7

O friend, the Supreme is all-knowing and He sees

everything. From Him, this entire astonishing and

variegated material cosmos has emanated. He creates,

maintains, and destroys the entire universe by slightly

moving His eyebrow. O friend, you are not like Him. You

are ignorant of so many things and your vision is

limited, although you wish to see everything. The

Supreme is full of all opulences, and He is the

ultimate witness who observes everyone. O friend, the

individual living entities are numerous, but the

Supreme is one only. You are stunted and impure by

material contact, but He remains always pure and free

from the touch of matter. O friend, your nature is

completely different from His in these ways.

Text 8

The objection may be raised: "The Vedas say brahmaham

asmi (I am Brahman). The word brahman is certainly in

the nominative case (prathama vibhakti). You cannot say

it is possessive (sasthi) and thus change the meaning.

How is it that you have foolishly interpreted tat tvam

asi as a possessive compound (sasthi-tatpurusa-samasa)?

How can you avoid interpreting the quote api ca so yam

devadattah (O Devadatta, you are that) in the

nominative (prathama) and try to make it genitive

(sasthi)?"

To this I reply: "When the scriptures explain that the

individual spirit soul is Brahman, the proper

understanding is that the individual souls are like

tiny sparks that have emanated from the great fire of

the Supreme Brahman. As far as the possessive compound

(sasthi-tatpurusa) interpretation of tat tvam asi: you

may not like it, but it is certainly grammatically

sound. Why do you not accept it?"

Text 9

Accustomed to speak in metaphors, poets say: "This

youthful brahmana is a blazing fire,This beautiful

face is the disc of the full moon,These breasts are

Mount Meru," or "These hands are blossoming twigs." The

charm of these metaphors lies in considering two

things, which are actually different, to be completely

equal because they have one common feature. The poetic

author of the Vedas has used this device in the phrase

brahmaham asmi. The spiritual living entities have

emanated from the Supreme Brahman, but they are not

equal to Him in all respects.

Text 10

Innumerable waves splash within the great ocean and, in

the same way, countless spirit souls exist within the

Supreme Brahman. A single wave can never become the

ocean. O individual spirit soul, how do you think you

will become the Supreme Brahman?

Text 11

Everywhere in the Vedic scriptures pairs of opposites

are described. Spiritual enlightenment and spiritual

darkness, religion and irreligion, knowledge and

ignorance are all described as different. The Vedic

scriptures also describe the Supreme Brahman and the

individual spirit soul as different in the same way. O

saintly audience, how can anyone, with an honest heart,

claim that the individual spirit soul and the Supreme

Brahman are identical in all respects?

Text 12

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the foundation

upon which everything rests. He is the supreme monarch

and the independent controller of the illusory potency

(maya). O individual spirit soul, you are simply a

reflection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Only

one moon shines in the sky, although innumerable

reflections of that moon may appear in the water or

other places. O individual spirit soul, the Supreme

Personality of Godhead is like that single original

moon, and the individual spirit souls are like

innumerable reflections of Him. Just as the reflections

remain always distinct from the moon itself, in the

same way the individual spirit souls remain eternally

different from their original source, the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. O individual spirit soul, this

is the eternal distinction between you and the Supreme.

Text 13

The Vedic scriptures say that the Supreme Brahman is

immeasurable, inconceivable, and without any material

activities or duty. O individual spirit soul, you are

very easily perceivable by the material mind and

describable by material words. How is it possible,

then, that you are the same as the inconceivable

Supreme Brahman?

Text 14

O individual spirit soul, your intelligence has been

stolen by the darkness of the Mayavada theory, and for

this reason you continually mutter brahmaham asmi ("I

am the Supreme Brahman") as if you have become mad. I

say to you, "If you are the Supreme Brahman, where is

you unparalleled opulence? Where is you supreme

dominion over all? If you are the Supreme Brahman,

where is you all-pervasiveness and all-knowledge? Your

equality with the Supreme Brahman is like the equality

of a mustard seed with Mount Meru!"

Text 15

O individual spirit soul, you are by nature very

limited, but the Supreme Lord is unlimited. You can

only be at one place at one time, but the Supreme is

eternally everywhere. At one moment you enjoy, and at

another moment you suffer. In this way, your happiness

and suffering is all temporary, but the Supreme Lord

experiences the perfection of transcendental bliss at

every moment. O individual spirit soul, why are you not

embarrassed to speak these words so ham ("I am the

Supreme")?

Text 16

Glass is glass. A jewel is a jewel. An oyster is an

oyster. Silver is silver. They will never lose their

nature and become each other. If one thinks that glass

is a jewel, or an oyster is silver, he is mistaken.

Impelled by the same kind of illusion, the individual

spirit soul imagines he is the same as the Supreme

Brahman. Illusioned in this way, the spirit soul

propounds the Mayavada interpretation of tat tvam asi

and other statements of the Vedas.

Text 17

The Vedic statement tat tvam asi should be interpreted

in the following way: tat means "the Supreme Brahman

who is like a nectar ocean of perfect transcendental

bliss." Tvam means "the distressed individual spirit

soul, whose mind is anguished by the fears produced by

continued residence in the material world." Because the

natures of the individual spirit soul and the Supreme

Brahman are different in this way, they cannot be

equated. In reality the Supreme Brahman is the supreme

object of worship for innumerable universes, and the

individual spirit soul is His servant. This is the

actual meaning of tat-tvam asi.

Text 18

The Mayavadis claim that when the Supreme Person is

described in the Vedic literatures, one should reject

the literal meanings of such descriptions, and instead

accept them allegorically, or not in the sense conveyed

by the primary meaning of the words.

 

Text 19

O Mayavadis, if you insist on interpreting the Vedic

description of the Supreme in an allegorical, or

indirect, sense, then please tell us why you abandon

the direct literal meaning in favor of this indirect

interpretation?

Text 20

There are three reasons for rejecting a words primary

meaning and accepting a secondary meaning instead. They

are: 1. If the primary meaning makes no sense; 2. If

tradition or common usage supplants the primary meaning

with a generally accep

ted secondary meaning; 3. If an authorized commentary

explains that a secondary meaning should be understood.

In these circumstances one may reject the primary

meaning and accept the secondary meaning of a word.

Text 21

If the primary meaning is senseless, one must find a

secondary meaning that makes sense.

Text 22

One should not accept the primary meaning if it makes

no sense. For example, the primary meaning of grama is

"village," but if the grama is described as unlimited,

one must reject the primary meaning and accept a

secondary one ("multitude"). In the same way, the

primary meaning of putra is "son," but if the putra is

described as appearing without a father, the primary

meaning should be rejected and a secondary one ("that

which rescues from hell") should be accepted.

Text 23

The sentence kumbha-khadga-dhanur-banah pravisanti is

an example of the use of secondary meaning. Pravisanti

means "enter" and kumbha, khadga, dhanuh, and bana mean

"pitchers, swords, bows and arrows" respectively. The

primary meaning of the sentence is "pitchers, swords,

bows, and arrows enter." This interpretation clearly

makes no sense. In these circumstances, the secondary

meaning should be accepted. If the first two words are

accepted as bahuvrihi-samasas, then the secondary

interpretation "men carrying pitchers, swords, bows,

and arrows enter" may be accepted to replace the

rejected primary meaning.

Text 24

The sentence gangayam ghosah is another example of the

use of secondary meaning. The primary meaning here is

"the River Ganges spoke." This primary meaning should

be rejected because a body of water cannot speak. Here

the secondary interpretation "he spoke the word Ganges"

is more appropriate.

Text 25

The sentence ayur ghrtam is another example of the use

of secondary meaning. Taken literally, the sentence

means, "Clarified butter is identical with long life."

In this sentence clarified butter and long life are

equated although they are not at all the same thing. In

this sentence, the secondary interpretation "Eating

foods prepared with clarified butter prolongs ones

life" must be accepted if the sentence is to make

sense.

Text 26

A text may be interpreted in three ways: 1. The literal

(primary) meaning may be accepted; 2. One may reject

the literal meaning and accept a secondary, not so

commonly used, meaning of the words, or 3. One may

accept the statements as metaphorical or allegorical.

In order to establish their theory, the Mayavadis have

diligently rejected the literal interpretation of the

Vedic statements and have put forward an interpretation

based on accepting the secondary meanings of the words.

Text 27

Taken literally, the Vedic statements do not at all

support the theory that the individual spirit soul is

the same as the Supreme Brahman. For this reason, the

Mayavadis have rejected the literal meaning of the

texts and concocted a figurative interpretation based

on accepting obscure definitions of words and rejecting

the commonly used meanings of words. How do the

Mayavadis expect to understand the truth about Brahman

if they adopt this devious policy?

Text 28

The Vedas directly state that the Supreme Brahman is

the original creator of the universe (jagat-karta).

>From this statement it is only logical to infer that

the one Supreme is the cause of the many living

entities. The many living entities thus have the

Supreme as their creator. This is the direct meaning of

the Vedic statement.

Text 29

The sruti and smrti give abundant evidence to support

this interpretation: that the one Supreme Brahman is

the creator of the many living entities. That the Vedas

describe the distinct individuality of the one Supreme

Brahman and the many individual spirit souls is

confirmed by Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita, where He said

(15.15): vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyah ("by all the

Vedas I am to be known").

Text 30

The Mayavadis claim that the Vedas say that the

material world is unreal. O Mayavadis, even if this is

so, how can you infer from it that the Supreme Brahman,

who is full of all opulences and the origin of all

moving and unmoving entities is also unreal?

Text 31

The Mayavadis may say that the Vedic scriptures clearly

state that the Supreme cannot be understood by the mind

or described in words.

To this I respond: "O Mayavadis, please hear my reply.

This statement means that the Supreme cannot be

understood by the mental gymnastics of foolish

speculators. The Supreme can only be understood when

one hears about Him from the right source and with the

proper devotional spirit. Furthermore, because the

Supreme Brahman possesses infinite and unfathomable

transcendental qualities, no one is able to completely

know or describe Him."

Text 32

The Mayavadis claim that the Vedic statement avan-

manasa-gocaram ("the Supreme cannot be understood by

the mind or described in words") proves that the

Supreme cannot be described or understood.

To this I reply: "This description may apply to

ordinary words or thoughts, but not to the words of the

Vedas. The Vedas elaborately describe the Supreme

Brahman. Please do not think that the statements of the

Vedas are like a limping cripple who cannot describe

the Supreme."

Text 33

O proud Mayavadis, you think yourselves to be great

scholars although you actually have no place in the

company of the learned. The Vedas say, sabda-brahmani

nisnatah para-brahmadhigacchati ("expert in

understanding the Supreme, they who are actually

learned attain the spiritual realm"). There is no error

in these words of the Vedic sages. Please do not say

that no one can understand or describe the Supreme.

Text 34

The word ghata has a specific meaning, and the word

pata also has a specific meaning. Various words

indicate specific objects. In the Vedas the words sat

("eternity"), cit ("knowledge"), and ananda ("bliss")

are used to directly indicate the Supreme Brahman.

Text 35

Words have both primary and secondary meanings. If the

meaning of a word is ambiguous, then in the course of

the conversation the proper meaning will become clear

by the context. If one enters a conversation when

someone asks a boy, "please bring the saindhava," the

meaning of the mans statement may be unclear, for the

word saindhava may mean either "salt" or "horse."

However, when the boy returns with the saindhava the

persons intention will be at once understood. In the

same way, the proper meaning of ambiguous words in the

Vedas become clear when the serious student studies the

entire body of Vedic literature and sees the ambiguous

statement in the proper perspective.

Text 36

By repeatedly hearing the words of the spiritual master

and by thoroughly studying the Vedic literature, the

sincere student will be able to understand the proper

meaning of brahman and the other words in the Vedic

vocabulary.

Text 37

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is also the supreme

controller and the supreme performer of activities and,

therefore, His form is perfect and eternal. A performer

of activities always has a form. No one has ever seen a

formless performer of activities.

Text 38

If the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is also the

supreme controller, has a form and is not formless,

then we may easily conclude that He has a human-like

form similar to the forms that we ourselves bear. This

may be concluded because al performers of activity have

forms that are quite similar. We do not see why the

Supreme Personality of Godhead should be an exception

in this regard.

Text 39

There is a difference between the one all-powerful

Supreme Personality of Godhead and the many living

entities. The living entities are continually beset by

the six waves (beginning with hunger and thirst) of

material existence. In order to accomplish something,

the living entities have to work very hard, holding

shovels, plows, and scythes in their hands. In this

way, very fatigued by working hard, the living entities

become morose at heart. The Supreme Personality of

Godhead is not at all like the individual living

entities in this matter. Simply by moving an eyebrow

the Supreme Personality of Godhead can attain whatever

He wishes.

Text 40

The Supreme Personality

of Godhead is able to effortlessly do anything, change

anything, or destroy anything. This is a very great

difference between the Supreme and the tiny jivas

(individual spirit souls).

Text 41

Someone may say: "If the living entities in the

material world sometimes suffer and sometimes enjoy

because of their bodies, then, if the Supreme has a

body, He must also suffer and enjoy in the same way."

To this I reply: "The conditioned living entities

possess material forms subject to six changes (growth,

decay, death, etc.). The spiritual body of the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, because He is the master of all

opulences, is not at all like these material forms. The

Lords spiritual body is never subjected to old-age,

decay, and death, and His happiness never diminishes."

Text 42

Someone may object: "Every living entity attains a

certain body because of his past karma and, therefore,

when the Supreme manifests a body, He has also attained

that body as a karmic reaction."

To this I reply: "The Supreme is the ultimate

controller, and it is He who awards the karmic results

to us living entities. As the ultimate administrator of

the laws of karma, He is not under their jurisdiction.

That is the relationship between Him and us."

Text 43

Someone may object: "All bodies are temporary.

Therefore, the body of the Supreme must also be a

temporary manifestation."

To this I reply: "No! The body of the Supreme is

eternal. Just as earth assumes various temporary

shapes, although the atoms that are the source of the

earth element remain eternal, in the same way, the

eternal living entity accepts different material bodies

because of his karma. The original spiritual forms of

both the Supreme and the subordinate living entities

remain eternal, although the conditioned soul may

accept different material coverings because of his

karma."

Text 44

The Vedic literatures explain that under ordinary

circumstances the conditioned living entity cannot

negate the results of his past karma. In order to

maintain the truth of this statement, the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, who holds the Sudarsana cakra

in His hand, pretends to be bound by the reactions of

past pious and impious deeds when He appears in this

world disguised as an ordinary person.

Text 45

I have heard in the Puranas that this entire universe

came into existence from the lotus flower sprouted from

the navel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Are we

then to conclude that the Supreme has only a

disembodied navel and not a complete body? If the

Supreme Lord has a navel, then He must have a body

complete with all limbs and senses also.

Text 46

The transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead is elaborately described in all the Vedas. That

celebrated form is very handsome, and it completely

delights the senses of all the devotees. That

transcendental form is endowed with the six opulences

of all beauty, strength, fame, knowledge, wealth, and

renunciation. The sacred Ganges river is the water that

has washed the Lords lotus feet.

Text 47

Whenever, by the force of time, irreligion increases

and religion declines, the Supreme Personality of

Godhead protects the saintly devotees and destroys the

demons.

Text 48

The Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself in

two features: 1. In His original form as the source of

all incarnations; 2. In His many visnu-tattva

incarnations. The many living entities may also be

divided into two groups: 1. The devotees (who are free

from the influence of the illusory energy); 2. The

nondevotees (who are bound by the illusions of maya).

Text 49

Some theorists claim that the individual spirit souls

are actually the Supreme, just as reflections on water

are the same as the reflected object. By simply

fabricating this analogy, these foolish persons do not

at all establish the identity of the individual spirit

soul and the Supreme.

Text 50

How is it possible that the individual spirit souls are

reflections of the Supreme and equal to Him in all

respects? The individual spirit souls are not equal to

the Supreme. If they are equal, then why is the Supreme

described as unlimited, all-pervading, and free from

material contamination? Why are the individual living

entities described as being conditioned, subject to

material illusion, engaged in the pious and impious

deeds described in the Vedas, and thus experiencing the

..religion.vaisnava

[gokulkr]

Hare krishna

 

The State Government of karantaka has rejected to include the name of "Sri Sri Madhvacharya" in state anthem song "nada geethe" just because they misundersood "Sri Madhvacharya's" teachings as secretarial & intoleranic. Stinking isnt it ?

 

when staunch vaishnavas opposed to it, our benovelent smarthas came with bunch of critizisms telling that "Sri Madhvacharya" is like a "Taliban approach". Ohh this is a horror story for vaishnavas. Moreover, these secreatarial intolerant samrats crictized Sri Madhvacharya in such a way that no vaishnvas can digest it.

 

This proves these smarats (saivatees) are so secreatarial & intolerant to vaishnavas & their philosophies. But they comepletely try to hid it & blame us (vaishnavas) as being secretarial.

 

Its time for vaishnavas to unite & spread the glory of vaishnavam & glory of acharyas like "Sri Madhvacharya".

 

am i right ?

 

http://www.thatskannada.com/sahitya/debate/120104debate3.html

http://www.thatskannada.com/sahitya/debate/210104debate5.html

 

people intrested in reading the criticism launched by smarata can visit the above links.

 

those who want to condemn these secreatarial acts of smarats can mail to : feedback@thatskannada.com

 

/images/graemlins/smile.gif JAI SHRI MADWACHARYA

 

 

[gokulkr]

Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha (1460-1539) -- a short sketch

Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha is probably the scholar of Tattvavaada held in highest esteem next to Sri Jayatiirtha. His work has been to write detailed commentaries on the works of Srimad Ananda Tiirtha and Sri Jayatiirtha, and to show Tattvavaada as being placed on a firm logical footing; his work is considered to be of the highest significance, particularly because it is accepted even by his opponents that his understanding of their schools is second to none. Thus, there is no possibility of claiming Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha's critiques to be invalid on account of his having misstated the positions he wishes to criticize. Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha also keeps a tempo that is hard for the less skilled to even conceive of, let alone match. His logic is exceptionally hard to beat, because of his uncanny knack of knowing exactly what the opponent is going to say, and using this information to lead the opponent on to traps of logic that are dozens of steps deep, and impossible to work through or around. One feels that while one gropes in the dark and tries to guess where one is and struggles to find one's way, Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha not only knows one's present position to a nicety, he also knows all the possible ways one might proceed, in advance of oneself, and has a proper plan of action already planned out for any further move one might make. Thus, holding one's own in a debate with Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha is very similar to making one's way across a field laid with mines; one does not know where to put one's foot next, and very often, even a secure retreat to a former safe position is impossible, after one has taken a few steps down in hopes of making progress. In summation, it is hardly a stretch to say that Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha is the very personification of mastery of skill in dialogue and debate, that every logician and philosopher wishes to be.

In addition to his pellucid and luminescent writings, Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha is also known for the influence he had on the Vijayanagara empire, especially for the fact that it was under his tutelage that it had its heyday, and produced its greatest ruler. Perhaps even more importantly, it is noted that he was responsible for providing a healthy atmosphere in which the Hari-daasa tradition could sprout and flourish; he disregarded all highbrow disapprobation of the lower castes, as he showed by his acceptance of the low-caste Kanaka Daasa as a shishya, on par with his other students, and by his even arranging to prove to them that Kanaka Daasa was a greater devotee than any of them.

An inauthentic biography of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha can be found in the work Vyaasayogicharita, by the Smaarta poet Somanatha (Bangalore, 1926). This is a champu kaavya ("A kind of elaborate and highly artificial composition in which the same subject is continued through alterations in prose and verse" -- from Apte's dictionary) which two was first presented by the poet in Krishnadevaraaya's court using two reciters. The work however makes significant digressions from Tattvavaada, for instance when at the very outset, it names Balaraama as one of the avatars of Vishnu. However, the fact that such a work was even written by an adherent of another doctrine is an indicator of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha's popularity even among his opponents. An authentic biography of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha is the one by his immediate disciple Sri Srinivasa Tiirtha.

Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha was born around 1460 in Bannur which is in the Mysore district in the modern Karnataka state. He and his brother and sister were born as a result of the blessings of Brahmanya Tiirtha, and the young Yatiraaja (the future Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha) was presented to Brahmanya Tiirtha after he had completed the a comprehensive study of subjects like kaavya, naaTaka, alankaara, and vyaakaraNa. Having been impressed with the young Yatiraaja's quick mind and great aptitude for learning, Brahmanya Tiirtha secretly meditated to ordain him into the sanyaasa order. Yatiraaja, though respectful of his Guru, had his doubts about receiving such diiksha, and finally consented after receiving a vision in which Vishnu Himself instructed him not to try to avert his destiny.

Shortly after Yatiraaja's ordination as Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha, Sri Brahmanya Tiirtha passed on. Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha left for Kanchi after his succession to the piiTha and spent many years there studying the six systems of philosophy, and thus gave the finishing touches to his mastery of subjects like Advaita, Vishishtadvaita, and Navya-Nyaaya, in addition to Tattvavaada. After Kanchi, he continued his studies at Mulbagal which was the seat of Sripadaraja and a hub for learning like Kanchi. There he studied Vedanta for about five to six years.

Around this time, he distinguished himself at the court of Saluva Narasimha at Chandragiri by winning several debates against renowned opponents. During this time he was entrusted the worship of Lord Srinivasa at Tirupati, a task that he performed for twelve years, from 1486-1498. Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha left for Vijayanagara after persistent invitations by its royalty and ministers, and stayed there for the major part of the rest of his life. Among the several debates he had at Vijayanagara, a notable one is that with Basava Bhatta of Kalinga which lasted for thirty days, before Basava Bhatta lost comprehensively. However the 'golden period' of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha's life started after Krishnadevaraya ascended the throne of Vijayanagara, for what were the one-and-twenty greatest years of the kingdom's history. Krishnadevaraya had a lot of regard for Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha, as is evident from the historical evidence that shows Krishnadevaraya regarded Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha as his Kuladevata, as well as from several honorific references in the writings of Krishnadevaraya.

Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha is responsible for the continuation of the high regard and recognition earned by the system started by Srimad Ananda Tiirtha. He has been respected by many scholars from other schools, including the likes of Appaya Dikshita, Pakshadhara Mishra, Madhusuudana Sarasvati, and Basava Bhatta. He is known for his warm-heartedness and sympathy even toward proponents of other systems of philosophy, while being a staunch Maadhva himself. In fact, his elucidation of the principles of Advaita and Vishishtaadvaita were so outstanding that he even had pupils of these doctrines, who learned those from him in preference to learning it from a guru in their own tradition.

Among his nine major works, his most important ones are Nyaayaamrta, TarkataaNDava, and Chandrika, collectively known as Vyaasa-Traya. In his magnum opus Nyaayaamrta, he justifies the philosophy of Tattvavaada and shows that Monism is untenable on every ground, and that the reality of the world cannot be rejected, compromised, or diluted for any reason -- physical, rational, or spiritual. The TarkataaNDava is a refutation of the principles of Nyaaya-Vaisheshika. Taatparya-Chandrika, or Chandrika as it is known for short, is a commentary on Sri Jayatiirtha's Tattvaprakaashikaa and deals with the Suutra-Prasthaana of Tattvavaada. It is, in fact, a significant contribution to the literature on the analysis of the Brahma-Suutra, because it makes an in-depth comparative study of the Bhaashyas of Shankara, Raamaanuja, and Ananda Tiirtha.

He has composed beautiful devotional songs in Kannada, thus contributing significantly to the Daasa-saahitya. He was also the Guru of Purandara Daasa and Kanaka Daasa, two outstanding luminaries of the Hari-Daasa tradition, the former also the founder of modern Karnataka music, and is probably the greatest singer-saint in history.

He cast off his mortal body on the 8th of March, 1539. His Brndaavana is at Nava-Vrndavana, which is located on an island in the Tungabhadra river, near Anegondi, very close to Hampi. Here, in the company of eight other eminent Maadhva ascetics, he continues to meditate, and to bless devotees with true knowledge.

[gokulkr]

Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha -- a short sketch

Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was a `sarva-tantra-swatantra', a master of the sixty-four arts, a winsome and magnetic personality, and the author of over a hundred works (104 are attributed to him). In the eyes of his contemporaries, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was verily an incarnation of Srimad Acharya come to reinforce his own siddhanta against contemporary opposition. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha established his headquarters in Kumbakonam which belonged to the Nayak dynasty. Tanjavur and Kumbakonam were the replica of the Vijayanagara kingdom, in the cultivation of the art of dance, music, literature, Vedic studies and Darshana-s (philosophical doctrines). It was the age of Venkatamukhi, the authority on Karnatic Music, of Govinda Dikshita, the accomplished minister of the Nayakas, of Appayya Dikshita, the uncrowned monorch of Shaiva Advaita, and of Tatacharya the sun of VisishhTâdvaita. It was in this climate of culture and plenitude that Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha found congenial soil for his labour of love in the cause of Srimad Ananda Tîrtha's Sadvaishnava siddhanta. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha saved Madhva siddhanta from a very real and serious threat of extinction in south India, in 16th century. The followers of Madhva siddhanta have every reason to remain grateful to the memory of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha's illustrious personality, for all times. When the redoubtable Appayya Dikshita and Tatacharya drew Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha into philosophical controversies by their adverse criticisms of Srimad Acharya's works, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha took them on single-handedly and successfully dispelled their criticisms.

Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was not a bigoted sectarian. He was the very essence and embodiment of catholicity of outlook. This is shown by his generous patronage to scholars of different persuasions, and the uniformly friendly relations he maintained throughout his life with his greatest adversary in thought. Kumbakonam is the city of temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva in equal strength and prestige. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha, was, by common consent in charge of all the religious institutions there.

Birth of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha

Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was born by the great blessings of Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha. It so happened that Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha had come to a small village where Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha's parents resided. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha's parents were very old at the time when Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha came to their village and they served Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha with devotion. Pleased by the devotion and servings, Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha blessed the old couple that a charming son would be born to them. The old couple had no children and they lamented, how can we have children at this old age? We are very unlucky and we do not have the puNya (good deeds) to have kids in this lifetime. Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha said, Lord Sri Muula Gopala Krishna has made me to utter these words and it is His sole responsibility to make it come true." Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha also told them that they were going to have two children and they should give one of them to him. The old couple were very happy and promised Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha that they would act accordingly by donating one of their sons to the service of the Lord.

A couple of years passed and Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha arrived at the same village where Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha's parents lived. Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha was given a grand reception by the old couple and they took the saint to their home. The old couple was blessed with two kids having names 'VittalaCharya' and 'Guru Prasada" and they told Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha that his words came true and they are ready to donate the kids to the saint. Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha picked the elder kid 'VittalaCharya' and told his parents not to worry about him and that Lord Krishna was very pleased by this donation. From that day, 'VittalaCharya' becomes a loving kid to Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha. Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha performed 'Choula' and 'Upanayana' to VittalaCharya starts teaching him the Vedanta shâstra-s, tarka, mîmâmsa, etc. After seeing the latter's devotion and vairagya (being totally uninterested in worldly things and totally getting involved in serving the Lord), Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha offered the sacred sanyâsâshrama to VittalaCharya at a very young age and named him as Sri Vishnu Tîrtha. Sri Vishnu Tîrtha under the guidence of Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha became the master of the four-and-sixty traditional arts, and a great scholar.

Sri Vishnu Tîrtha becomes Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha

Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was the most loved deciple of Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha. On one ekâdashî day, Sri Surendra Tîrtha along with his students came to visit Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha. Sri Surendra Tîrtha is a saint from the famous Sri Vibhudhendra Matha and the main Deity (paTTa devaru) of that institution is Sri Moola Râma. On the next day, dvâdashî, both saints, Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha and Sri Surendra Tîrtha, performed worship of Sri Moola Gopala Krishna and Sri Moola Râma. The main purpose of Sri Surendra Tîrtha's visit was to get Sri Vishnu Tîrtha and make him his successor. Sri Surendra Tîrtha asked Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha to give Sri Vishnu Tîrtha as a gift. Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha agreed to the request of Sri Surendra Tîrtha. Sri Surendra Tîrtha was extremely happy to get Sri Vishnu Tîrtha as his disciple and made him sit on the throne of Srimad Acharya succeeded previously by Sri Vibudhendra Tîrtha. Sri Surendra Tîrtha renamed Sri Vishnu Tîrtha as Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and made him the emperor of the Vedanta empire. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha received the keys for the box which had the idol of Sri Moola Râma, Sri Vyâsa peetha that was worshipped by Srimad Achârya from Sri Surendra Tîrtha, various compositions that were composed by Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha and respectful gifts from the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya. It is said that Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha is an incarnation of Sri Vibhudendra Tîrtha who was the `vidyA-guru' of Sri Sripâda Raja. This is explained in Sri Vijayîndra vijaya (Glory of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha) as shown below.

vibudhendra yatirdhImAna dhyajAto punarbhuvi |

sevArthaM rAmachandrasya sa mayA paripAlitaH ||

keshAdhishu hamseshhu yo vishhNuriti vishrutaH |

sa eva vibudhendrashcha sa mayA yatirUpadR^ik.h ||

Soon after the swearing in ceremony celebrations, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha had to win against a great pundit named Sri Krishna Sharma. Sri Krishna Sharma was a undisputed pundit and had in his mind the notion that no one could defeat him. After seeing the glory of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha, Sri Krishna Sharma challenged Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha to argue with him. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha got permission from his `vidyâ-guru' Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha to take on the challenger, and explained how the Shruti 'tattvamasi' always supports the `bheda' (difference) between the Lord Vishnu and all the `jîva'-s using the proof shown in the shâstra-s. After a very long arguement, Sri Krishna Sharma became speechless and came to know that Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was a great scholar. Sri Krishna Sharma accepted defeat, bowed to Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and said that he had won against many pundits before and had a desire to win against Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha and became unsuccessful in reaching this target. Sri Krishna Sharma continued to say that when it is impossible to win against the disciple (Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha) of Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha, he could not even dream a win against Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha. Although, Sri Krishna Sharma lost against Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha, Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha praised the latter's talent, gave him many gifts and compliments. This shows the generosity and love towards the pundit's knowledge expressed by Sri Vyâsa Tîrtha.

Victory in Kanchi

As we know from history, Kanchi was a center for learning at the time. Hundreds of great pundits were living in Kanchi. The famous pundit Sri Appayya Dîkshita had his residence in Kanchi. When Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha came to Kanchi, Sri Appayya Dîkshita was not in town but, the other pundits were introducing themselves to protect the respect and fame of the city. Many Advaita and VishishhTaadvaita pundits were defeated by Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha in the space of four to five months. After that, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha had to argue against two great `mîmaamsa' pundits and it appeared as though the debate was reaching a deadlocked state. After a couple of days passed, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha translated the pundits' 'puurvapaksha' and started criticizing them one by one by giving proofs. The pundits were astonished by Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha's knowledge, spiritual powers, and the way he was tackling the issues. The words coming out from Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was like the sacred mother river Ganges. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha concluded his talk by establishing the `siddhaanta' of Srimad Achaarya. The judges were extremely impressed and gave ajudgement declaring Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha the winner. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha's guru Sri Surendra Tîrtha became extremely happy seeing the victory.

Victory in Karnataka

After the victory in Kanchi, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha came to Karnataka while Sri Surendra Tîrtha went on tour to Sri Rameshwara. For many days, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha settled in Karnataka worshipping Sri Moola Raama, giving spiritual advice to the devotees, conquoring many pundits and thereby established the Veda-mata siddhaanta of Srimad Achaarya. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was in Kolar, Karnataka for about a month and easily conquered pundits like Sri Sudarshana Charya, Sri Krishna Batta and Araadhya. For the rememberance of this victory, Sri Vijayîndra theeertha built a temple of Sri Vijaya Maaruti which can be seen even now in Kolar. From Kolar, Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha moved to Tumkur, Karnataka. From Tumkur, Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha and Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha arrived in Udupi to have the darshan of Lord Sri Krishna. While they were in Udupi, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha came to know that his Guru Sri Surendra Tîrtha was not in good health. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha got permission from Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha to go to Kanchi in order to take care of his Guru. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha looked after his guru so well that Sri Surendra Tîrtha became healthy and fit.

Sri Surendra Tîrtha had two main responsibalites. The first one was was to find a successor to rule the Vedanta empire of Srimad Achaarya. This was accomplished by getting Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha from Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha. The second one was to visit all sacred places and temples in India. Sri Surendra Tîrtha decided to undertake the second assignment and one auspicious day he started his tour. After a couple of days, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha got a message that Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha was very keen in seeing him. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha immediately started journey to Vijayanagara to see his vidyaa-guru. Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha was very happy to see his shishhya (student) and gave Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha many `upadesha'-s and duties to be performed in order to establish the `siddhaanta' of Srimad Achaarya. In the month of phalguna, Krishna paksha(second half), Chouthi (Fourth day), Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha left this world. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha left Vijayanagara and moved towards Madurai. During this travel, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha visited Vyaasa Samudra, NanjanGud and Sri Ranga. From Sri Ranga, he moved to Madurai at the request of the king Vishvanatha Nayaka. At the same time, Sri Surendra Tîrtha completed his India tour and came to Madurai. It took nearly four years for Sri Surendra Tîrtha to complete the tour and Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was happy to see his Guru back. Both the saints decided to move to Tanjore in order to establish the Veda mata-siddanta there. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha composed many works during the time he traveled between Vijayanagara and Madurai.

The argument between Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and Lingaraja.

The citizens of Kumbakonam were delighted to learn about the presence of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha in Madurai. There were strong reasons to get delighted. For the past fifteen to twenty years, there had lived a Shaiva scholar named Lingaraja in Kumbakonam who not only captured the management of all the temples in the city but also was converting all the Brahmins into Saivites. The Saiva saint was very skilled and was also the possessor of occult powers. The Brahmin pundits were unable to compete with Lingaraja and were extremely dissappointed for not able to stand in front of this Saiva saint. The Bramhin community became extremely happy at the arrival of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha to Madurai and they requested Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha to come to Kumbakonam and establish the Veda-mata-siddhânta in their city. Sri Surendra Tîrtha after hearing the incidents from the citizens of Kumbakonam, gave permission to Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha to reside in Kumbakonam and stop the disaster of forceful Saiva conversion by Lingaraja. Sri Surendra Tîrtha blessed Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha with best wishes and said that Sri Moola Raama would be pleased by the establishment of Srimad Acharya's siddanta in Kumbakonam.

Then one day, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was in deep meditation. Suddenly, he saw Lord Vishnu and Srimad Acharya in his heart. At the same time, Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha appeared in front of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and blessed him. Moments later, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha saw the divine mother sitting on a lion, having many weapons in her hand and having a pleasing face. It was the divine mother Sri Mangalambike in front of Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha came to bless him. The divine mother blessed the saint, prophesizing that he would be victorious in the debate with Lingaraja. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha came to Kumbakonam and Sri Lingaraja came to know about it. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and Lingaraja agree that the arguement be in the temple of Sri Kumbeswara. It was decided that if Lingaraja is defeated he has to stop forceful conversion of people into saivism and surrender all the property and management of the temples to Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha. If Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha is defeated, he would convert into a saivite and become a follower of Lingaraja. Lingaraja started the arguement by stateing that the Vedas have weakness and vedas were human composed . Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha very easily criticised Lingaraja by giving many proofs which showed that Vedas are true and that vedas are not composed by any one(ApouruSheyaa). Vedas are known by three words namely 'Veda', 'Shruthi' and 'Drushthi'. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha explained the meaning of these words as follows: Veda meaning 'Vedyatha ithe vedaha' which means Vedas are the ones that are understood, Shruthi meaning 'Shrooyatha ithe Shruthihi' which means that Vedas are the ones that are being heard and Drushthi meaning 'Drushyatha ithe Drushtihi' which means that vedas are the ones that are seen. So, Vedas are the ones that are understood, heard and seen and it is not composed by any one. This way, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha proved his point that Vedas are 'ApouruSheyaa'.

Then came the topic who is supreme. Lingaraja with the help of Kourma, Lainga puranas started to state that Lord Shiva is the supreme and challenged Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha how he can prove that Sri Naaraayana is supreme. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha said although it is mentioned that Lord Shiva is supreme in puranas like Lainga, Kourma etc., this point is against the Shrutis and Saathvika puranas and so it is not true. Also, puranas like Lainga,Shaiva etc., are thamasik. Lingaraja became furious and demanded how Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha can prove that Lainga, Kourma puranas are Thamasik. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha gave proof by stateing that this division (Saathvik, Raajasik and Thaamasik) is done by Sri Veda Vyaasa himself who is the authority said as follows.

Vaishnavam Naaradeeyam Cha thatha Bhagavatham Shubham Garudam Cha thatha Paadmam Varaaham Shubha Darshane ShaDeThani Puranaani Saathvikaani Mathaani why Bramhaandam BrahmaVaivartham Maarkaandaiyam thathaiva cha BhavidhshyadhVaamanam Braamham Raajasaani Nibhodhamae Maathsyam Kourmam thatha Laingam Shaivam Skaandam Thathaiva cha AagnaeYam cha ShaDethani Thaamasa NirayaPradaha

which means that there are six puranas that are Saathvik. These puranas are Vishnu, Naarada, Bhaagavatha, Garuda, Padma and Varaaha. The Raajasik puranas are Bramhaanda, BramhaVaivartha, Maarkaandaeya, Bhavishyothara, Vaamana and Bramha. The six thamasik puranas are Maathsya, Kourma, Lainga, Skaanda, Shaiva and Aagnaeya.

Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha also mentioned that the Smruthi Shaastras are of three kinds Saathvika, Raajasa and Thamasa. The judges got convinced about the proof given by Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and told Lingaraja that the proof has been given. The judges continued to state that since the debate was based on Shastras and only texts that can be believed are the Saatvika ones, so, as per the Shrutis and Saatvika Puranas, Sri Naaraayana is the Supreme (Sri Hari Sarvothamma) and Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha is correct in this arguement.

Lingaraja now turned the point towards Lord Narasimha. He started telling that Lord Narasimha was defeated by Sri Veera Bhadra. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha criticized this by stateing that the information about Lord Narasimha being defeated by Lord Veera Bhadra is in Skaanda Puraana. Skaanda puraana is Thamasik and hence cannot be taken as a proof. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha very cleverly solved this point by quoteing that in Shaiva puraana, it is mentioned that Lord Rudra in the form of Sharabha defeats Lord Narasimha. But, in Skaanda puraana, it is mentioned that Lord Veera Bhadra defeats Lord Narasimha. So, who defeated Lord Narasimha? Is it Lord Rudra or Lord Veera Bhadra? If you say it is Lord Rudra then, it is against Shaiva puraana. If you say it is Lord Rudra then it is against Skaanda Puraana. Lingaraja's argument was based on the Thamasa puranas and Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha created a suspision in Lingaraja's argument. Lingaraja became so confused and all the people who were watching the argument were amazed at the way Sri Vijayîndra Tiirtha disproved Lingaraja's point by creating this suspision. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha continued further and said that the authentic information is only in Saatvika puranas and since Lingaraja's point is based on Thamasik puranaas which is against various Shrutis, Smrutis and Saatvika puranas, it is a bluder to tell that Lord Narasimha was defeated by Lord Rudra or Lord Veera Bhadra. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha described Lord Narasimha as 'Narasimhasya KaeValam Jyothireka ManaaDyantam' which means that Lord Narasimha is Infinite and who has no destruction. For the one who is infinite and who is undestructable, how can it have an end? So, as mentioned in the Saatvika puranas, Lord Narasimha destroyed Sharabha. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha gave one more proof from a Shruthi as 'Harim Harantha Manuyanthi VishVasyeeShaanam VrushaBham Matheenaam' which means that Lord Rudra who is praised by 'Eeshaana' word was destroyed by Lord Hari(i.e. Lord Narasimha). Also, the Smruthi states that

BramhaanaMindram RudramCha Yamam Varunamaevacha| Nihasya Harathe YasmaaThasMyaaDharereHoochayathe||

Which means that Lord Bramha, Lord Indra, Lord Rudra, Lord Yama, Lord Varuna get destroyed by Lord Hari (i.e. Lord Narasimha) during the Pralaya period. This means that Lord Hari is the supreme(Sarvothamma), Lord Hari is the creator, Protector and destroyer of these worlds, Lord Hari is the ParaBramha as mentioned in the Vedas, Shrutis, Smrutis and Puraanas.

This way the argument went for many days, and everyday, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha turned out to be the winner and all the points that Lingaraja upheld were very easily turn down by Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha. At last, Lingaraja became speechless and accepted the defeat by bowing his head.

Needless to say, the judges concluded that Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was won the argument. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha praised Lingaraja that he was a great scholar and could not establish the Shaiva matha because all your arguments were based on thamasik puranas which are not correct. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha commended Lingaraja that it was a great pleasure to argue with a scholar like him, wished him best wishes and gave lot of gifts to him. Lingaraja then came forward, bowed at Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha and surrendered the keys of all the temples and the Shaiva mutt. Lingaraja then decided to leave the town of Kumbakonam.

Establishment of Sanskrit University(Vidyaa peetha)

Kumbakonam was chosen by Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha to establish a Sanskrit University. Establishing a Sanskrit University was one of the dream of Sri Vyaasa Tîrtha. The university was the center for learning Vedas, Chandassu, Vyaakarana, Astrology, Tarka, poetic arts, Puraanas, Dharma shastra etc. The university provided excellent boarding and lodging facilities. The king of Vijayanagara Sri Chavappa Nayaka offered lot of land and money for the developent of the university. The university had the atmosphere of the old guru kula style. Sri Surendra Tîrtha became the chansellor of the university. The sanskrit university became one of the best centres for learning in India.

The king of Vijayanagara empire requested Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha to come and settle in Vijayanagara for some time. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha with the permission from Sri Surendra Tîrtha accepts the offer and moves to Vijayanagar. The king of Vijayanagar expresses his desire to perform RathnaaBhisheka( Honor of sitting on the Vijayanaga throne) to Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha. Although, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha did not like it very much, he had to accept the request made by the king. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha sat on the throne of Vijayanaga empire, the pundits praise Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha as 'Sri MadVaidika Sadvaishnava Siddantha SamsthapanaAcharya Sri JagadGuru Sriman MadvaAcharya Mukya Samsthaana Poorvaadhi Mateya Vidyaa SimhaasanaaDheeshwara Srimad Raghunandana Tîrtha SriPaada karakamala Sanjaatha, Srimath Surendra Tîrtha Sripaada Varakumaaraka Srimad Vijayîndra Tîrtha Yathi SaarvaBhouma Jaya Jaya'. The king of Vijayanagara offered many land, Gold, and many other precious metals to Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha. Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha contributed everyhing that he received from the king to the pundits and to the sanskrit university. The people of Vijayanagara were amazed at the generosity of the saint donated all the wealth for a good cause.

Wizard surrenders to Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha

One afternoon, Sri Vijayîndra Tîrtha was reading some works and a disciple came running and told the saint that a wizard from Kerala has come to see you. The appearance of the wizard was so dreadful and he started talking to the saint with a attitude 'Are you Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha? You defeated Lingaraja and said that any one can challenge you in 64 different arts. If are bold enough, can you challenge my wizard craft?'. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha very seriously tells the wizard that by Lord Sri Hari's grace he can easily win against the wizard craft. The wizard then drew seven concentric lines and placed a lemon in the centre. The wizard started mermurring some words and said that this wizard craft is very dangerous and you have to cross all the seven lines and get that lemon fruit. The wizard continued to tell that at each line crossing there is fire, weapons and snakes to kill you. The wizard said 'Are you sure you want to take this task?'. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha with a smile said to the wizard that your wizard craft based on devil worship should be criticized and people like you are bad elements in the soceity and it is not a big deal to defeat you, one of my student will take the challenge. Sri Vijayeebdra Tiirtha called one of his student named BheemaSena and told him get the lemon crossing the lines. BheemaSena, bowed to Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and started to cross the lines one by one. When BheemaSena crossed the forth line he saw a a big ball of fire and the fire was turned into milk and sprinkled on him. At the fifth line, a snake approached him and to the surprise a Garuda bird came and carried away the snake. At the sixth line, a sharp weapon came to destroy BheemaSena. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha meditated on Lord Moola Raama and the weapon was transformed into a flower garland and BheemaSena had it in his neck. The wizard bacame very afraid at the action of BheemaSena and did not know what to do. BheemaSena easily crossed the seventh line, lifted the lemon and laid it at the feet of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. Thus, it was a victory to Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and the wizard accepted his defeat. The wizard bowed at Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and said that none so far had guts to defeat him but, I got defeated by a student of yours. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha advised the wizard not to practise the wizard craft and move in a good path. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha chanted on Lord Narasimha, composed a song on the lord called 'Narasimha Stotra' to commemarate the victory and surrendered the victory certificate at the feet of Lord Narasimha. This icon of Lord Narasimha can be seen even now in Sri Raghavendra swamy mutt as 'Shodasha Baahu(16 handed) Sri Narasimha Murthy'.

Many other miracles shown by Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha

Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha has shown many many miracles which have proved that the saint is undispuetably victorious. Some of the miracles shown by this great saint are as follows.

Victory over a famous Gymnast

A very famous gymnast contested against Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. The gymnast displayed various plays like walking on a rope, climbing a tall bamboo log and displaying his talent on it. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha appreciated the gymnast but, commented that using support like rope and bamboo to display the gymnast talent is common. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha called some of his students and told them to connect the pedestle(Gopura) of two temples Sri Kumbeswara & Sri Saaranga pani using banana leaf thread. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha went up the pedestle of Sri Kumbeswara temple and started walking on the banana thread and reached the pedestle of Sri Saaranga paani temple. The thread was so delicate that even touching the thread would cut it and Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha walked on this kind of thread. The gymnast was shocked to see such a miracle and accepted his defeat.

2. Deva Daasi accepts the defeat

A deva daasi challenged Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha to defeat her. It seems the deva daasi was a master in Kaama Shastra. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha called one of his desciple and gave him a flower garland and told him to tie to the right hand of deva daasi. The very moment the flower garland touched the woman, she experienced great happiness and fainted. After some time she woke up, surrendered to Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and told all the people that 'What a kind of surpraise?', I got defeated by touching a flower garland given by a desciple of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha.

3. The secret of Indriya Nigraha(Control of senses), Jeethendra(control of mind) Sri Vijayiindra

A couple of days have passed after Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha defeated the deva daasi, a Bramhin from Kerala wanted to know how the saint can control his mind (Jeethendra). The Bramhin was accompanied by a couple of beautiful women and they were irresitable. The bramhin said that these women would perform their tallent in front of you(Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha) and you should not become unstable(Should have a stable mind). Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha accepted the talent and to make the test more interesting, he called one of his student and told him to bring a banana leaf and used the banana leaf as a Koupeena. The beautiful woman started showing their talent in front of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and tried to win the heart of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha kept his mind at the lotus feet of Sri Moola Raama and started meditating on Lord Sri Naaraayana. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha started thinking on the word 'Naaraayana' which means 'Naaraanaam Ayanaha Naaraayanaha' i.e. the one who is full in good qualities and the one who is praised by the Apourusheya Vedas as the one who does not have any weakness(Dhosha). The beautiful women group started to sing with their great voices and started dancing in front of the saint but, it all failed. The women were shocked at Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha's control of senses but, continued to play lot of tricks. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha kept his mind at the lotus feet of Manmatha Manmatha(Father of Manmatha) Lord Vishnu and kept all his senses at the lotus feet of ParaBramha(Supreme) who is Lord Naaraayana. The group of beautiful woman failed to accomplish their task and were terribly shocked seeing the control of senses Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha had. The group of woman surrendered at the feet of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and asked him for forgiveness. All the people who were witnessing the contest cheered on Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and shouted 'Ajeya Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha victory victory to you, Jeethendra Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha Victory to you'.

4. Victory against a Buddhist from China

The glory of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha was spread over India and other countries. The title 'Ajeya'(victorious) to Sri Vijayiindra thertha was most appropriate as the saint used to win against all who were talented in sixty four arts. It so happened that a Buddhist wanted to contest against our Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha easily conquored the buddhist by showing lot of proof in the Vedas and Shastras. The buddhist was amzed at Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and told to the mass of people that he had never in his life seen such a scholar like Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha.

5. Mastery in jewelary art.

There were some people in Kumbakona who were jealous of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and they inspired a jeweler named Vinayaka Ramachandra joshi to contest against the saint. The jeweler invited Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha to the contest. The jeweler and Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha started to work on a ornament. Both of them worked for many hours for a couple of days and each of them came up with a beautiful ornament made up of nine different pearls. The judges saw both the ornaments and the ornament created by Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha was much superior than the jeweler. The jeweler was stunned seeing the art work of the saint and told the judges that this kind of jewelery work is not possible by a normal human being and the saint must be a 'Devamsha Sambootha' i.e. a Sura or Deva. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha had carved the Lord Sri Raama, Sri Seetha and Sri Laksmana in the ornament and this ornament (Sri Raama padaka) can be seen even now in Sri Raghavendra Swamy mutt.

6. Sri Basava(Ox) transformed into Sri Hanuma

Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha's fame started growing day by day and this became a real pain to some people who could not resist it. There were a group of wicked people who were supporters of Sri Lingaraja who was defeated by Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha, waiting for a chance to bring a black mark to the saint. As mentioned earlier, the management of all the temples belonging to the sects of Advaita and Vishishtadvaita in Kumbakonam were held by Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and the people beloging to these two sects were living in peace and harmony. The wicked group worked out a plan wherein they tried to separate the people belonging to the sects of Advaita and Vishishtadvaita. The wicked people thought that by separating these two sects, it would bring a black mark on Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. The temples of Sri Kumbeswara and Saaranga Paani were separated by a lake. Right from ancient times, the lake belonged to Sri Saaranga Paani temple. The wicked group of people approached the priests of Sri Kumbeswara temple and told them that the lake belonged to Sri Kumbeswara temple and not Sri Saaranaga Paani temple. The priests beleived the wicked people words and this slowly spread to the sects of Advaita and Vishishtadvaita which created a cold war between the sects. The wicked people convinced the Advaita people sect that the lake has many signs belonging to Lord Shiva and so the lake belonged to Sri Kumbeswara. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha came to know about this cold war and decided to stop this cold war. A test was arranged to see if there were really signs of Lord Shiva in the lake. It was decided that if the lake had Shaiva signs then the lake will be the property of Sri Kumbeswara and if it had Vaishnava signs it would remain the property of Sri Saaranga Paani. On the night before the test day, the wicked group of people brought thousands of Lord Shiva Linga stones and they drowned them in the lake. The next morning was the test day and Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha came near the lake, meditated on Lord Sri Moola Raama and poured some MantraAkshita(Red colored sacred rice) into the lake. A team of four to six people dived into the lake and they started bringing the items that were found in the lake. What a surprise!! All the items taken out from the lake were idols of Lord Sri Hanuman and Sri ShaaliGraama stones. The wicked group of people could not beleive themselves as they had personally poured thousands of Lord Shiva Linga stones into the lake. It was the miracle and the great devotion of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha that all the Sri Basava and Lord Shiva linga stones were transformed into Sri Hanuma and Sri Shaaligraama stones. This proved that the lake belonged to Sri Saaranga Paani temple and the sects of people belonging to Advaita and Vishishtadvaita who beleived the words of wicked group nodded their heads in shame and surrendered to Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha to pardon them. The wicked people group who were desciples of Sri Linga Raaja fled the scene in shame.

Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha names Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha as his successor

There was a great scholar named Sri NaaraayanaAcharya who was a desciple of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. Sri NaaraayanaAcharya was a expert in Nyaaya & Vedanta shastra, was a great poet and belonged to Shastika community. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha offeres the Paramahamsaashrama to Sri NaaraayanaAcharya and the new saint was named Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha.

For many years, Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha served Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha with great devotion and respect. On 28th June 1614, Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha decides to make Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha as his prime successor and placed him on the throne sat by Srimad Acharya. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha gave the keys to Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha for the boxes containing Sri Moola Raama and other sacred idols and the library having the sacred works composed by Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and other saints. Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha performed the pooja of Sri Moola Raama the same day he was named the prime successor. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha preached many upadeshas to Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha and to his devotees.

Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha completes his incarnation

Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha gave his final upadesha(teachings) to his devotees by telling that the teachings preached by him were the same preached by Srimad Acharya. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha urged his devotees to follow the path shown by Srimad Acharya and said that this path will lead a person to the doors of Sri Vaikunta (the home of Sriman Naaraayana). Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha then started meditating on the lotus feet of Sri Moola Raama and started chanting 'Om namo Naaraayanaya'. The sacred word 'Naaraayana', 'Naaraayana' started coming out of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and there was a bright shine of Bramha tejas coming out of the saint. Finally, Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha, offered his 'Aatma Phuspa'(life) at the lotus feet of Lord Sri Naaraayana and the saint successfully completed his incarnation on this earth. Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha was very respectfully and with great devotion was placed in a Brindavana in Kumbakonam.

Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha could not resist the separation of his guru Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha and started crying like a small child. Sri Sudeendra Tiirtha accompanied by great scholar devotees took a holy dip in the river Cauvery and performed the pooja of Sri Moola Raama in front of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha brindavana. After the pooja, Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha placed the idols of Sri Moola Raama, Sri Jaya Raama and Sri Digvijaya Raama in a gold plate and placed it over the the sacred Brindavana of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha. Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha then performed kanakaabhisheka(pooja by pouring items made of gold), mahamangalaarathi(seva of many lights) and bowed at the brindavana. Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha then composed the charama sloka of Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha as shown below.

BhakThaaNaam MaanaSaam Bhoja Bhaanave Kaamadhenave NamaThaam Kalpatharuve Jayeendra Guruve Namaha

Born by the grace of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha in 1517, Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha got his education from Sri Chandrika Acharya. The saint was then gifted by Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha to Sri Surendra Tiirtha, ruled the throne of Srimad Acharya, served his guru Sri Surendra Tiirtha, showed many great miracles, won many scholars which proved that he was undoubtedly victorious(Ajeya), got respected by many kings and emporers, composed 104 great works, reestablished the siddanta of Srimad Acharya, in the year 1614 offered the throne of Srimad Acharya to Sri Sudheendra Tiirtha and at the orders of Lord Sri Vishnu and Srimad Acharya completed his incarnation by offering his 'Aatma Phuspa' at the lotus feet of Lord Sriman Naaraayana.

Some of the 104 works by Sri Vijayiindra Tiirtha

Bramhasutra Bhasyaa Tippani Tatva Maanikya Peete Bramhasutra Nyaaya Sangraha Nayamukuraha Nayanamanjari Madhva Siddanta Saarodhara . . and other works to be added here.....

Sri Guru Vijayiindra Thiirtho Vijayathe. Sri Man Moola Raamo Vijayathe. Samastha Sanmangalaali Bhavanthu.

Sri Vjayeendra Tiirtha Guruvanthargatha Sri Bharathi Ramana Mukya Praananthargatha Sri Moola Raama Sri Krishna Sri Veda Vyaasatmaka Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Preeyatham Sri Moola Gopaala KrishnaArpana Masthu.

[gokulkr]

Sri Sri Raghavendra Swamy

 

 

Purvashram

 

Sri Raghavendra Swami was born in 1595 in Kaveripattana, Tamil Nadu to Thimmanna Bhatta and Gopikamba. His ancestors were of the Gautama Gotra. He was named Venkatanatha as he was born by the grace of Lord Venkateshwara. When his father was performing akSharAbhyAsa, Venkatanatha asked how a small letter like Om can explain the great God. The father was overjoyed that his son understood that the God cannot be fully explained by one small letter. Venkatanatha's Upanayanam was performed in chaitra mAsa, when he was 8 years old. Although his father passed away by then, Venkatanatha did not consider himself an orphan, as he considered Sri Narayana as his father and Gayathri, who reveals Him, as every twice-born's real mother.

 

Venkatanatha studied yajur veda, maNimanjari, and anumadhvavijaya at Madurai.His powers of meditation were shown when his water from doing sandyAvandan happened to fall on a dry seed, which sprouted. He also developed an expertise in playing the Veena, so he became known as Veena Venkata Bhatta. This is not surprising, since Venkatanatha came from a family skilled in music. His great-grandfather, Krishnabhatta, tutored the King of the Vijayanagar kingdom, Krishnadevaraya, in vina, and his father was skilled in music as well. Upon returning from Madurai, he was married to Saraswati, who was from a noble family. His marriage, just like his Upanayanam and schooling, was arranged by his brother Gururajacharya.

The Shastras say that for one who has control of his senses, wedded life does not hamper learning. For Venkatanatha, most of his learning occurred after marrying Saraswati, through the blessings of Goddess Saraswati. So Venkatanatha went to Kumbhakonam, the seat of learning at the time. There, he studied under Sri Sudindrateerta.He used to stay awake past midnight to write his own comments and notes on the lessons that had been done. Once, he engaged in a debate and defeated a mAyAvAdi at Rajamannar temple. Though his victory was not unexpected Sri Sudhindra tirtha was surprised at his scholarship in grammar, profound knowledge and rare debating skill, and called him "Mahabhashya Venkatanathacharya" Similarly he explained the significance of taptamudra dhAraNa quoting several smR^iti-s that the opponents had to accept his arguements were irrefutable. He had a son, Lakshminarayana. Although he and his family were in stark poverty, he was unaffected by it, being immersed in the sweet nectar of the Madhva philosophy. Not even once did he give up his teachings and learning; he was steadfast in his determination to live by whatever came to him unsought and unasked. Still, when his master asked him to take sanyAsA, he found himself in a grave dilemma. For one thing, he knew that if he took sanyAsA, he would eventually have to take control of the maTha. While trying to find a solution to this problem, Vidya Lakshmi herself appeared before him. She told him that if such great people like himself did not spread the right philosophy, that of Sri Madhvacharya, the maTha-s would fall into ruin. The light of Tattvavada would be extinguished by the darkness of Mayavada. Understanding where his true duty lay, Venkatanatha obeyed Vidya Lakshmi and took sanyAsA. Sri Sudhindra initiated Venkatanatha on the second day of the bright half of PAlguNa mAsa in the year durmati corresponding to the year 1621.He was given the holy name "Raghavandra Tirtha".

Sri Raghavendra Tiirta started his services by teaching all the works of Srimadacharya to his disciples. He propagated right knowledge and vanquished several opponents. Apart from imparting knowledge and guiding his disciples,he composed works for the benefit of future generations

Soon after becoming the pIThAdipati, he began a series of piligrimages that took him to several places. After visiting Dyupuri and Paripurnadevanagara( Paripurnadevanagara in Sanskrit means "place where God, who is complete in every way, resides"). At Manishrunga, he taught works such as pramaaNa paddhati and realized that it would benefit the public, if sub-commentaries were written on these major works, to make it easier to understand them. So it was here, that Raghavendra Swami wrote glosses on pramANa paddhati, vaadaavaLi, pramaaNa lakshaNa and many other works, many of which are known as bhAva dIpas.

He visited Rameshvaram and Madurai. Madurai was the seat of learning in those days, and one of the experts there was Neelakanta Dikshit. After seeing the lucid yet powerful style with which Raghavendra Swami debated, he was convinced that Raghavendra Swami's master was really pUrNaprajna. When Neelakanta tried testing Raghavendra Swami on various sutras, Raghavendra Swami showed him the work he had just finished-Bhatta Sangraha. Neelakanta was so thrilled by the depth of this work and how well it propounded Sri Madhvacharya's philosophy, that he had it placed on an elephant and taken on a ceremonial procession.

At Srirangam, he gave extensive discourses on upanishads especially the Ishaavaasya upanishad. His disciples requested him to write a book, explaining the meanings of all the mantras, as well as their commentaries and glosses, of all the Upanishads. He wrote glosses on the Ishaavaasya, thalavakaara, kaataka, ShaTpraShNa, mundaka, maanDukya, taittarIya, bR^ihadAruNyaka, and chanDogya Upanishads. He was about to write one for the aitareya, as well, but he wanted to give the honor to his disciple, Smrutimuktavali Krishnacharya, who had already completed the work. Raghavendra Swami wanted to keep his oath of writing a gloss on all the Upanishads, so he wrote a gloss on only the mantra part of the Upanishad-aitareya mantraartha sangraha

He visited Vishnumangala,where Trivikrama Panditacharya had debated Madhvacharya for fifteen days,and finally had become an ardent worshipper of Madhvacharya. Sri Raghavendra,then visited Subramanya and then Udupi,where he started giving discourse on Sarvamula Granta. He wrote a gloss for the Vyasaraya Tattparya Chandrika, called Chandrika Prakasha. Seeing his students struggle to understand this tough text, he wrote the meanings of the Sutras, called Tantradipika and the meanings of adhikAranas, known as Nyayamukthavali. At Udupi, he sang his famous "Indu Enage Govinda" song upon seeing Udupi Sri Krishna.

At Bidarahalli he met Srinivasacharya who was a unique householder. The glosses that he had written were already well known. Sri Raghavendra examined his works and was filled with admiration for Srinivasacharya, who, though being a householder,dedicated himself completely to the spreading of knowledge and learning. Raghavendra Swami bestowed upon him the name Srinivasa Tirtha, as a mark of his high learning.

After leaving Bidarahalli, he went to Pandarapur, Kohlapur, & Bijapur defeating Mayavadins, spreading Tattvavada philosophy, and giving Taptamudhradaran, thus initiating them into Vaishnavism. While residing on the banks of river Krishna, he wrote a tippani for Tattva Prakashika called Bhavadipa. He wrote a direct commentary on Anubhashya, called Tattva Manjari

At Malkhed he celebrated the Suddha Mangala of his teachings and discourses. Malkhed is situated on the Kagini River and is the place of Sri Jayatirtha's Brindavan. Raghavendra Swami explained that, just the way Kagini River joins Bhima river, then Krishna River, and finally the ocean, Sri Jayathirtha's work explains Bhashya of Sri Madhvacharya, who in turn tells us of Lord Krishna, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities.

Raghavendra Swami undertook extensive tours, under so many odds, visiting Tirupati, Srisailam, Kumbakonam, and Kanchi. He neither stopped teaching his devotees nor did he stop writing books. He took a vow to write Tippanis for all the Tikas of Sri Jayathirtha. When he had completed tippanis for 17 of the 18 Tikas of Sri Jayatirtha, Lakshminarayanacharya, his son, shows him his work on Rig Bhashya, written along Raghavendra Swami's line of teaching. This great saint felt that his disciple's teaching should be shown to the rest of the world, so instead of writing a Tippani, he wrote a Rigartha Manjari, a vivritti, which gives the meaning of the first 40 suktas. He wrote Mantroddhara, which gives details of all mantras according to Tantrasara.. By understanding the mantras according to Tantrasara, it is possible to perform many impossible tasks, through the grace of Sri Hari, by leading an austere life.

During his pilgrimages, Raghavendra Swami not only covered a vast area geographically in the days when road conditions were poor and travel was arduous, but also wrote several works covering a vast area of the Tattvavada philosophy. He convincingly defeated many Advaitin pandits, through the grace of bhArati ramaNa mukhyaprANAntargata srIlaxmInArAyaNa.

 

Miracles

 

Although Raghavendra Swami performed various miracles, the most significant miracle lies in the vast literature he left behind & his contribution to the philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya. He wrote extensive commentaries on the upanishads, bhagavad gIta, vedAs, as well as several granthas that Madhvacharya wrote.

 

The Tanjavore district was under a great drought at that time. Raghavendra Swami made the ruler perform appropriate rituals and ceremonies. Soon afterwards, rain once again fell upon the lands. The king, to show his gratitude offered Raghavendra Swami a priceless necklace, which Raghavendra Swami in turn put into the Yajna as an offering to Lord Vishnu, who had really brought the region out of the drought. The king grew angry at what he thought was an insult. Raghavendra Swami immediately brought back the necklace from the fire. The king, realizing that for one who renounced the world a necklace meant nothing, asked for Raghavendra Swami's forgiveness.

 

Raghavendra Swami visited Bijapur, where the scorching heat was unbearable. One brahmin was overcome by the heat and fell down, unable to get up. Raghavendra Swami recited a mantra, and water sprung up from the scorching sands, which saved the Brahmin's life. In another instance, a child was traveling with an entourage, through a desert. The heat was so unbearable that the child started to cry. Raghavendra Swami threw his upper cloth towards the child. Flying through the air, it gave shade to the child for the rest of the journey

At that time there was a Desai who had no faith in God or the Vedas. He would challenge scholars to make a twig sprout, using Vedic mantras. No one was able to do this. So then the people called Raghavendra Swami to prove to the Desai the power of the Vedas. He sprinkled some water on the twig while reciting a Vedic mantra. Right before the Desai's eyes, the twig began to sprout. This incident instilled deep faith in the hearts of many scholars who were present. They had heard that Raghavendra Swami, in his earlier days, had made the cool sandalwood paste burn, by reciting the Agni Sukta, then made it cool again by reciting Varuna Sukta. After witnessing the twig sprout with their own eyes, they believed that such miracles were possible through the grace of the Lord. The Desai, himself, who used to scoff the Vedas, became a true believer in God and upheld the Vedas, with Raghavendra Swami as his guiding light.

 

Raghavendra Swami, while performing miracles clearly stated that what he did was not magic or sorcery or witchcraft. It was not Patanjali's yoga, but the yoga of the Bhagavad Gita. The aim of his miracles was to remove the suffering of those who seek refuge in him and thus draw them towards God and religion.

Last speech of Raghavendra Swami

 

The day that Raghavendra Swami had chosen to enter Brindavan (Virodhikruth Samvatsara, Shravana Masa, krishna paksha, Dvitiya : 1671 A.D.) had come. Thousands of people had congregated there, hearing that Raghavendra Swami would enter Brindavan. The crowd contained devotees as well as doubters. Some people had come just to make fun of what was going on. The devotees were filled with anxiety; they didn't want their revered Guru to leave them. There were also people who were merely curious, just to see what would happen-although Sri Vadiraja Tirtha had entered the brindavan in the same manner, alive, in the year 1600 A.D, there were few who had witnessed that. Those who had only heard about it were greatly curious to see such a miracle with their own eyes.

Sri Raghavendra, as was his daily practice, got up before dawn meditating on Sri Hari and finished his bath during the early hours itself. After his japa and dhyana he conducted the morning discourse. His disciples were in deep sorrow at the thought that this was going to be their master's last discourse. Their master was filled with an overwhelming desire to teach as much as possible and the disciples were anxious and eager to absorb everything. The subject matter was as usual Srimadacharya's Bhashya and Sri Jayatirtha's commentary for it. That day's discourse was the culmination of his life's mission. For the thousands that had gathered there the realisation that such a treasure-house of knowledge would leave them forever filled them with pain and agony. The discourse came to an end. After bathing once again, he started the puja of Sri Rama and other icons of the samsthan. After going through all the details of the puja he blessed the entire gathering with tirtha, prasad and phalamantrakshata. As the appointed time was nearing he went to the spot that was already chosen and sat in padmasan. He had his japa mala in his right hand and in front of him were all the moola granthas, sarva moola, tikas and tippanis on the vyasa peetha. For a while he was lost in contemplation; then Sri Raghavendra started his soul-stirring speech.

"Hereafter I will disappear from your sight. The Lord who sent me to you has Himself ordered me to return to Him today. I have completed His task. Everyone has to obey His orders - coming here and returning when He calls us back. You need not feel sad that I am leaving you. The moola granthas, sarva moola and their commentaries will be your guiding light. Never give up their study under a worthy master. The Lord has blessed us with this priceless life just to study them. The shastras have an answer for all our mundane problems. Follow the shastras and listen to the words of the enlightened. Put into practice as much as you can whatever you learn. The shastraic way of life is the royal road to peace, prosperity and happiness.

The search for knowledge is never easy. As the Upanishads say it is like walking on the razor's edge. But for those who have strong faith and put in sustained effort and have the blessings of Sri Hari and Sri Madhvacharya, this is not difficult. Always keep away from people who merely perform miracles without following the shastras and yet call themselves God or guru. I have performed miracles, and so have great persons like Srimadacharya. These are based on yoga siddhi and the shastras. There is no fraud or trickery at all. These miracles were performed only to show the greatness of God and the wonderful powers that one can attain with His grace. Right knowledge (jnana) is greater than any miracle. Without this no real miracle can take place. Any miracle performed without this right knowledge is only witchcraft. No good will come to those who perform such miracles and also those who believe in them.

The Lord is full of auspicious qualities and absolutely faultless. There is no virtue that does not exist in Him. He is the Lord of Ramaa, Brahma and all other devathas at all times and in all ways. His form is beyond prakrithi (nature). His body is made up of jnana and ananda. He is omnipresent and omniscient. All the jivas are subservient to Him. Mahalaksmi who is ever liberated is His consort. All jivas (souls) are not equal. There is gradation amongst them and they are of three types. Whatever state they attain finally is in keeping with their intrinsic nature. The sattvik souls attain moksha which is a state of eternal bliss. The tamasic souls attain eternal hell where there is all pervading darkness. This is a state of eternal sorrow. The rajasic souls keep rotating in samsara always, experiencing both happiness and sorrow. The shastras declare such a three fold classification and gradation of souls. It can be seen everywhere in this world. There are several schools of philosophy which go against these tenets and declare that there is no God, no dharma, this world is false; there is nothing but void; the jivas and Brahma are the same; there is no three fold classification or gradation, all the jivas are equal to Brahma, the Vedas are not true, Brahman is nirguna (attribute less), nirakara (formless). None of these philosophies are correct. The world that we see is real; this world has a master; he is neither nirguna nornirakara. The shastras declare Him to be nirguna and nirakara because He is devoid of the three qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas (unlike us). For the suffering soul His grace is the only means to attain salvation which is eternal bliss. Those who forsake Him will never be truly happy.

Without right living, right thinking will never come. Right living is performing one's ordained duties according to one's station in life without hankering after the fruits of the actions and on the other hand offeringall one's activities to the Lord. This is real sadachara (right living). This is real karma yoga. Another facet of right living is performing right rituals and observing fasts. Fasting on ekadashi and krishnashtami is compulsory for everyone. Both men and women belonging to all walks of life have to observe this. Those who give up this will always have the doors of the Lord's home closed. This is what the shastras declare. Observance of chaturmasya vrata is another compulsory mode of worship. Along with this, vishnupanchaka and other vaishnava vratas can be performed according to one's capacity. The main goal of all such vratas is to earn His grace and love.

One should always be careful never to harm or hurt another. Philosophical thought is very necessary for the soul's growth. Without philosophical thought we can not arrive at the right conclusions. But let there be no personal enmity. Social work done for the good of worthy people should also be considered as the Lord's worship. In short our life itself is a worship.Every action is a puja. This life is precious. Every second of our life is precious. Not even a second that has gone will come back. Listening to the right shastras and always remembering Him is the highest duty. Without this life becomes meaningless. Have devotion to the Lord. This devotion should never be blind faith. Accepting the Lord's supremacy wholeheartedly is true devotion. Blind faith is not devotion. It is only stupidity. We should have devotion, not only for the Lord, but also for all other deities and preceptors in keeping with their status. In short having devotion to those above us, goodwill amongst those who are our equals and having affection for those who are below us are the excellent values of life. Anybody who approaches you should not go heavy at heart or empty handed. Spirituality can never exist without social grace. And social life without spirituality is no life at all. Spirituality never denies any virtue. But always remember that the Lord is the home of all values. The world does not exist for our sole pleasure and enjoyment. The thought that we are here for the good of the world is real spirituality. While incorporating right thinking and right values in our life we should also make it a habit to give up wrong values and wrong thinking. If we do not fight against them it amounts to approving them. But such disapproval should never turn to cruelty. It should be within the limits of justice. The outstanding feature of this should be love for truth and not personal hatred.

This is our philosophy. This is Srimadacharya'a philosophy. This is the philosophy all the shastras proclaim. This is the philosophy that kings and sages like Janaka and Sanaka believed and followed. The Lord's devotees like Dhruva and Prahlada incorporated this philosophy in their lives. Those who believe and live by this philosophy will never come to any harm is the assurance of the Lord.Being God's devotees you should honour and respect His devotees. Help as much as you can those who seek your aid. But always remember your duties. Offer all your actions to the Lord and never hanker after temporal gains. All actions performed with a selfish motive is like milk turned sour. There can be no higher motive than the motive to please God and the motive of earning jnana (right knowledge). But giving up all actions and following unworthy methods is like taking poison which will destroy us completely. It was Srimadacharya who preached this wonderful philosophy. The same Vayu who manifested as Hanumantha to serve Lord Sri Rama and as Bhimasena to serve Lord Sri Krishna also manifested as Srimadacharya and preached this philosophy. This was his service to Lord Sri Vedavyasa. His life, like his works was philosophy itself.

Now I take leave of you. Though I will not be with you in person my presence will be in my works and in my brindavan. You can serve me best by propagating, studying, preserving and listening to my works. My blessings to you."

The message of the master gave new light to all the people gathered there. He had revealed to them the secret of his philosophy which he believed in, the philosophy which he preached and the philosophy by which he lived all his life. But the pain of separation made them forget the happiness that his message gave them. As they were hearing his sermon, they realized that he was a true jnani, a yogi, a scholar and a radiant monk possessing a soft and compassionate heart. Fear of displeasing him was the only reason why they held back their tears. After this Sri Raghavendra began reciting the pranava mantra. In a very short time he was lost in meditation. He reached the highest point in mediation. His face was serene. He was shining with a rare brilliance. All the learned people who had gathered there were reminded of the sloka from the Bhagavad Gita :

omityekaksharaM brahma vyaaharan.h maamanusmaran.h

yaha prayaathi tyajan.h dehaM sa yaathi paramaaM gathim.h

At one stage the japamala in the master's hand became still. Venkanna and other disciples who understood this sign started arranging the slabs around him. They arranged the slabs up to his head and then, as per his earlier instructions, they placed a copper box containing 1200 Lakshminarayana saligramas that had been specially brought from Gandaki river. Then they placed the covering slab over it and filled it with earth. They poured twelve thousand varahas (abhisheka) over the brindavan that they had built.

Appanacharya was very close to Raghavendra Swami. At the time that Raghavendra Swami entered Brindavan, he was on the other side of the river Tungabhadra. Appanacharya wanted to be with his revered guru, but the river was flooding. He jumped into the Tungabhadra, singing Sri Poornabhodha stotra, realizing that if Raghavendra Swami could lead him across the ocean of samsara, a mere river could not hold him back. And he did cross the river safely, only to see that Raghavendra Swami had already entered Brindavan. Appanacharya was in such a profound state of grief, that he could not finish the stotra he had started to compose-it was missing 7 aksharas. These final 7 aksharas came from inside the Brindavan. Not only did this show that Appanacharya's Sri Poornabhodha had Raghavendra Swami's approval, but it also showed that Raghavendra Swami was still with them. This was the first miracle he showed after entering Brindavan, and even today miracles happen to people who go to Mantralaya Brindavan to seek his blessings.

 

The speech that Sri Raghavendra Swami gave just prior to entering Brindavan, is a concise summary of the philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya. In this materialistic world, such values and morals that Sri Raghavendra Swami, and many other great souls propagated will lead us to true happiness. It is our 'saubhAgya' that we have such people like these to both guide us on the path of right knowledge and lead us away from the path of incorrect knowledge.

[Guest guest]

You are repeating the same thing again and again like a worn out record plate.

 

None of the arguements are concincing.

[gokulkr]

the mahAnArAyaNa U. of the Black YV, which

says `tadeva brahma paramaM kavInAm.h' (1.3.6),

 

"He alone is the

Supreme Brahman of the wise."

 

(This dismisses the Advaitic view that there is a Formless Brahman who is the object of meditation for the wise, with the Saguna only being for the less-competent.)

 

[gokulkr]

One who equates the individual soul with the Supreme Lord is an infidel, an atheist.

 

10. 40

 

aparimita dhruvas-tanu-bhrto yadi sarvagata-

starhina sasyateti niyamo dhruva netaratha

ajani ca yan mayam tada vimucya niyastr-bhavet

sama-manujanatam yadamatam mata-dusthataya

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.30)

 

O Lord, although the living entities who have accepted material bodies are spiritual and unlimited in number, if they were all-pervading there would be no question of their being under your control. If they are accepted, however, as particles of the eternally existing spiritual entity - as part of You, who are the Supreme Spirit Whole - we must conclude that they are always under Your control. If the living entities are simply satisfied with being identified with You as spiritual particles, then they will be happy being controllers of so many things. The conclusion that the living entities and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are one and the same is a faulty conclusion. It is not a fact.

(Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.30)

 

[gokulkr]

And for references in the purANAs about Shankara being a demon, there is one in Garudapurana (Brahma kanda, 16th adhyAya. The verse no. and possibly the chapter no. is different in different editions):

 

maNimAnnAma daityastu shaN^karAkhyo bhaviShyati |

sarveShAM saN^karaM yastu kariShyati na saMshayaH ||

tena shaN^karanAmA.asau bhaviShyati khageshvara |

dharmAn.h bhAgavatAn.h sarvAn.h vinashyati sarvathA ||

 

A Demon by name maNimAn will come into being as Shankara, who will, no doubt, pollute everything. This is why, O King of birds (Garuda), his name will be Shankara; he will pollute and destroy all BhAgavata Dharmas.

 

Further passages reveal that he will bring in monism.

 

There are others in kUrma, vAyu purANAs. Srimushna kshetra mahima also has some references.