Madhavacharya

For twelve years Madhyageha Bhatta would regularly travel the eight miles north from his village of Belle to Udupi. There at the Anantesvara temple he would pray for a son.

One day a devotee in a trance like state climbed the temple flagpole and announced that to reestablish the purest principles of religion, a male child, an incarnation of Vayu, the demigod in charge of air, would soon be born. Madhyageha understood within his heart that this would be his own child.
Soon his wife, Vedavati, gave birth to a son. The happy couple named him Vasudeva.

According to the Sri Kurma inscriptions of Narahari Tirtha, his direct disciple, Sripad Madhvacarya was born between 1238 and lived for 79 years, until 1317 A.D. This is confirmed in the Anu-Madhva-Carita. According to the authorized biographies compiled by his disciples shortly after his passing away, Sripad Madhva was born in the village of Tulunada, which is located about 8 miles to the southeast of the city of Udipi in Karnataka. He came from a family of sivalli-brahmanas and was the son of Madhyageha Bhatta and Mother Vedavati devi.

In his Caitanya Caritamrta commentary (CC Madhya 9.245), Sripad Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada Comments as follows: "Çrépäda Madhväcärya took his birth near Uòupé, which is situated in the South Kanara district of South India, just west of Sahyädri. This is the chief city of the South Kanara province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Uòupé. Near the city of Uòupé is a place called Päjakä-kñetra, where Madhväcärya took his birth in a Çivällé-brähmaëa dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhaööa, in the year 1040 Çakäbda (A.D. 1118). According to some, he was born in the year 1160 Çakäbda (A.D. 1238).

There are some wonderful stories surrounding him. It is said that once when his father had piled up many debts, Madhväcärya converted tamarind seeds into actual coins to pay them off. When he was five years old, he was offered the sacred thread. A demon named Maëimän lived near his abode in the form of a snake, and at the age of five Madhväcärya killed that snake with the toe of his left foot. When his mother was very much disturbed, he would appear before her in one jump. He was a great scholar even in childhood. From infancy Vasudeva showed extraordinary intellect, so much so that he was given brahminical initiation at age five, three years early.
Whatever he heard or read, even just once, he could remember. His body was unusually strong, lustrous, and beautiful.

At age eleven, Vasudeva left home for Udupi, to live with Acyutapreksa, an ascetic widely respected for his scholarship and saintly character.

After one year, despite strong protests from his father, Vasudeva renounced the world.
Acyutapreksa named him Purnaprajna.

Less than forty days after taking sannyasa, Purnaprajna defeated Vasudeva Pandita, a famous wandering scholar, in public debate.
The pandita was known for his hair-splitting dialectical ability, but he was no match for the young Purnaprajna.
The pandita spoke for three days and then dared anyone to refute his conclusions.
Purnaprajna shocked the crowd when he accepted the challenge.
First, to show he had a full grasp of the issues, he repeated almost verbatim the pandita's arguments.
Then, one by one, he smashed them all.
His victory was the talk of Udupi.
Acyutpreksa gave him the title Anandatirtha, in recognition of his mastery of Vedanta.

Word spread far and wide about the debating skill of the young ascetic in Udupi.
Challengers and admirers converged on the town.
Buddhisagara and Vadisimha, two Buddhist monks who had converted many to their fold, challenged Anandatirtha.
After a day-long skirmish, they promised to return the next day.
That night, however, they secretly fled from Udupi.

Anandatirtha went on a tour of South India.
The most notable events on this tour were two encounters with Vidyasankara Swami, the lineal successor to Sripad Sankaracarya, who was the original propounder of the monistic theory of the Absolute Truth.
Some basic tenets of Sankaracarya's philosophy are as follows :
God and the soul are identical; the formless, senseless, impersonal Absolute is the only reality; all else is illusion; and the incarnations of God are all products of illusion.

Anandatirtha was toughly familiar with this philosophy, so he knew all its weak points.
With firmness and courage he challenged the venerated Vidyasankara, and a fierce debate ensued.
Vidyasankara could not defeat his opponent, yet he refused to accept defeat.
They met again, in Ramesvaram, during the monsoon season, at which time Vidyasankara taunted and harassed Anandatirtha.
But the young saint tolerated the abuse.

On his return journey, while addressing an assembly of learned men, Anandatirtha stated that every Vedic utterance conveyed a triple meaning, that each verse of the Mahabharata had ten meanings, and that each of the thousand prominent names of Lord Visnu had a hundred meanings.
When the astonished assembly demanded he prove his statement, Anandatirtha explained a hundred meanings of Visva, the first name of Visnu.
Before he could proceed further, however, they begged him to stop, admitting they did not have the intelligence to comprehend his elaborate explanations.

After traveling all over India, he finally discussed scriptures with Vidyäçaìkara, the exalted leader of Çåìgeri-maöha. Vidyäçaìkara was actually diminished in the presence of Madhväcärya. Back in Udupi, Anandatirtha, who was now known as Madhva, wrote a commentary on Bhagavad-gita and gave a copy to Acyutapreksa for his approval.
Madhva's next tour was to Badarinatha, high in the Himalayas accompanied by Satya Tértha.

In Badarinatha he met Srila Vyasadeva, the author of the four Vedas and their voluminous supplementary literature.
In preparation for this meeting, Madhva had observed complete silence and complete fasting for forty-eight days.
He learned the full meaning of the Vedanta-sutra, the distilled essence of the Vedic wisdom, from the transcendental author himself and promised to write a commentary on the sutras, one that would be faithful to Srila Vyasadeva's original intent and purport.
By the time he came down from the Himalayas, his commentary, Sutra-bhasya, was completed.
He sent a copy ahead to Udupi for Acyutapreksa's approval.


By the time he came to the Änanda-maöha from Badarikäçrama, Madhväcärya had finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gétä. His companion Satya Tértha wrote down the entire commentary. When Madhväcärya returned from Badarikäçrama, he went to Gaïjäma, which is on the bank of the river Godävaré. Here, Srila Madhvacarya converted two learned scholars named Sobhana Bhatta and Sami Sastri to Vaisnavism.
They later became successors to Madhva, as Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha.
Madhva refused to let Narahari take sannyasa, ordering him to remain in his high government position, in return for which he was to obtain the Deities of Mula Rama and Sita, lying in the King of Kalinga's treasury.
For many years Narahari remained in that service, until finally, just three months before Madhva's departure from this world, Narahari brought the ancient images of Sita-Rama to his guru.
These were the original Deities of Rama and Sita, worshiped by Maharaja Iksvaku and then by Maharaja Dasaratha, the father of Lord Rama.
Then during the time of Lord Krsna's advent, the Pandavas gave them to the Gajapati kings of Orissa.
Eventually the Deities were kept in the kings' treasury.

When he returned to Uòupé, he would sometimes bathe in the ocean. On such an occasion he composed a prayer in five chapters. Once, while sitting beside the sea engrossed in meditation upon Lord Çré Kåñëa, he saw that a large boat containing goods for Dvärakä was in danger. He gave some signs by which the boat could approach the shore, and it was saved. The owners of the boat wanted to give him a present, and at the time Madhväcärya agreed to take some gopé-candana. He received a big lump of gopé-candana, and as it was being brought to him, it broke apart and revealed a large Deity of Lord Kåñëa. The Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As soon as Madhväcärya received the Deity of Kåñëa in this way, he composed a prayer. The Deity was so heavy that not even thirty people could lift it. Yet Madhväcärya personally brought this Deity to Uòupé. Eight of Madhväcärya’s sannyäsa disciples became directors of his eight monasteries. Worship of the Lord Kåñëa Deity is still going on at Uòupé according to the plans Madhväcärya established.

While still in his twenties, Srila Madhvacarya undertook a second tour to Badarinatha, this one after he had founded Sri Krsna Matha in Udupi.

While he was passing through Devagiri in Maharashtra, the local king was digging a big lake (reservoir) for the public benefit thus they pressed Madhva's party into it.
Madhva, however, persuaded the king himself to take part in the digging and then left with his party. As Madhväcärya passed through that area with his disciples, he was also obliged to help in the excavation. After some time, when Madhväcärya visited the king, he engaged the king in that work and departed with his disciples.

Often in the province of Gäìga-pradeça there were fights between Hindus and Muslims. The Hindus were on one bank of the river, and the Muslims on the other. Due to the community tension, no boat was available for crossing the river. The Muslim soldiers were always stopping passengers on the other side, but Madhväcärya did not care for these soldiers. He crossed the river anyway, and when he met the soldiers on the other side, he was brought before the king. The Muslim king was so pleased with him that he wanted to give him a kingdom and some money, but Madhväcärya refused. While walking on the road, he was attacked by some dacoits, but by his bodily strength he killed them all. When his companion Satya Tértha was attacked by a tiger, Madhväcärya separated them by virtue of his great strength. When he met Vyäsadeva, he received from him the çälagräma-çilä known as Añöamürti. After this, he summarized the Mahäbhärata.
The pilgrims had many other hardships and adventures, but Madhva always saved them with his quick thinking and mystic powers.
In Badarinatha, Madhva again heard from Vyasa, who gave him eight sacred Salagrama stones.

On the return trip Madhva stopped in Goa, where he enacted an amazing gastronomical feat.
Previously he had eaten a thousand bananas in one sitting.
But in Goa, he out did his earlier record.
He ate four thousand bananas and then drank thirty pots of milk.

When asked to prove that plants indeed respond to music, Madhva took a few seeds in his hand and began singing in his melodious voice.
The seeds sprouted, Madhva continued singing, and the plants grew, swaying to the melody.
Madhva continued singing.
The plants grew into full maturity and yielded fruits and flowers.
News of this feat spread everywhere.

From Udupi Madhva travelled south again.
In Visnumangalam he debated with Trivikramacarya, a logician and grammarian of remarkable skill, who was able to make the Sanskrit language convey any meaning that suited his purpose.
The debate lasted fifteen days, and in the end Trivikrama surrendered at Madhva's feet.
A full account of that debate is given the Madhva-vijaya, written by the son of Trivikramacarya.
News of Trivikrama's conversion brought hundreds more men and women into Madhva's fold.
His life's mission thus became firmly rooted in India.

Srila Madhvacarya wrote thirty-nine books clarifying the tenets of Vaisnavism and showing Vaisnavism to be the true Vedic religion.
In many of his works he attacked the monistic creed of Sankaracarya's followers, exposing their doctrine as subversive to genuine spiritual understanding.
Unable to defeat Madhva by argument, certain groups of monists conspired to impede Madhva's mission by less honourable means.
They tried to defame him, declaring him to be a heretic and all his followers outcastes.
They even stole his writings and his valuable collection of ancient books, thinking that without literature his mission would be finished.

Somehow, King Jaya Simha of Visnumangalam acquired the books and returned them to Madhvacarya.
Madhva had appeared in two other incarnations.
During the time of Lord Krsna's appearance on the earth he appeared as the warrior Bhima, one of the five Pandava brothers.
During the time of Lord Rama, he incarnated as the beloved Hanuman, the ideal servant of the Supreme Lord.
And, as in those incarnations, Madhva performed many feats of strength and displayed mystical perfections.

As a child he would appear suddenly in one mighty leap from anywhere in response to his mother's call.
In school he cured a friend's headache by blowing into his ear.
To help his father out of debt he turned tamarind seeds into money.
On two occasions he made seeds sprout into plants by singing.
An enormous rock in Ambu Tirtha, requiring at least fifty men to move it, bears an inscription stating that Madhvacarya placed it there with one hand.
Many times Madhva made small quantities of food increase for distribution to hundreds of people.
At the age of seventy-nine, his mission well established, Srila Madhvacarya passed away.
His devotees say he went to Badarinatha to join Srila Vyasadeva.

Madhväcärya’s devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship became known throughout India. Consequently the owners of the Çåìgeri-maöha, established by Çaìkaräcärya, became a little perturbed. At that time the followers of Çaìkaräcärya were afraid of Madhväcärya’s rising power, and they began to tease Madhväcärya’s disciples in many ways. There was even an attempt to prove that the disciplic succession of Madhväcärya was not in line with Vedic principles. A person named Puëòaréka Puré, a follower of the Mäyäväda philosophy of Çaìkaräcärya, came before Madhväcärya to discuss the çästras. It is said that all of Madhväcärya’s books were taken away, but later they were found with the help of King Jayasiàha, ruler of Kumla. In discussion, Puëòaréka Puré was defeated by Madhväcärya. A great personality named Trivikramäcärya, who was a resident of Viñëumaìgala, became Madhväcärya’s disciple, and his son later became Näräyaëäcärya, the composer of Çré Madhva-vijaya. After the death of Trivikramäcärya, the younger brother of Näräyaëäcärya took sannyäsa and later became known as Viñëu Tértha.
It was reputed that there was no limit to the bodily strength of Pürëaprajïa, Madhväcärya. There was a person named Kaòaïjari who was famed for possessing the strength of thirty men. Madhväcärya 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. Çréla Madhväcärya passed from this material world at the age of eighty while writing a commentary on the Aitareya Upaniñad. For further information about Madhväcärya, one should read Madhva-vijaya, by Näräyaëäcärya.
The äcäryas of the Madhva-sampradäya established Uòupé as the chief center, and the monastery there was known as Uttararäòhé-maöha.

A list of the different centers of the Madhväcärya-sampradäya can be found at Uòupé, and their maöha commanders are:-

(1)Viñëu Tértha (Çoda-maöha),

(2) Janärdana Tértha (Kåñëapura-maöha),

(3) Vämana Tértha (Kanura-maöha),

(4) Narasiàha Tértha (Adamara-maöha),

(5) Upendra Tértha (Puttugé-maöha),

(6) Räma Tértha (Çirura-maöha),

(7) Håñékeça Tértha (Palimara-maöha), and

(8) Akñobhya Tértha (Pejävara-maöha).

The disciplic succession of the Madhväcärya-sampradäya is as follows (the dates are those of birth in the Çakäbda Era; for Christian era dates, add seventy-eight years.):

(1) Haàsa Paramätmä;

(2) Caturmukha Brahmä;

(3) Sanakädi;

(4) Durväsä;

(5) Jïänanidhi;

(6) Garuòa-vähana;

(7) Kaivalya Tértha;

(8) Jïäneça Tértha;

(9) Para Tértha;

(10) Satyaprajïa Tértha;

(11) Präjïa Tértha;

(12) Acyuta Prekñäcärya Tértha;

(13) Sri Madhväcärya, 1040 Saka;

(14) Padmanäbha, 1120; Narahari, 1127; Mädhava, 1136; and Akñobhya 1159;

(15) Jaya Tértha, 1167;

(16) Vidyädhiräja, 1190;

(17) Kavéndra, 1255;

(18) Vägéça, 1261;

(19) Rämacandra, 1269;

(20) Vidyänidhi, 1298;

(21) Sri Raghunätha, 1366;

(22) Rayuvarya (who spoke with Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu), 1424;

(23) Raghüttama, 1471;

(24) Vedavyäsa, 1517;

(25) Vidyädhéça, 1541;

(26) Vedanidhi, 1553;

(27) Satyavrata, 1557;

(28) Satyanidhi, 1560;

(29) Satyanätha, 1582;

(30) Satyäbhinava, 1595;

(31) Satyapürëa, 1628;

(32) Satyavijaya, 1648;

(33) Satyapriya, 1659;

(34) Satyabodha, 1666;

(35) Satyasandha, 1705;

(36) Satyavara, 1716;

(37) Satyadharma, 1719;

(38) Satyasaìkalpa, 1752;

(39) Satyasantuñöa, 1763;

(40) Satyaparäyaëa, 1763;

(41) Satyakäma, 1785;

(42) Satyeñöa, 1793;

(43) Satyaparäkrama, 1794;

(44) Satyadhéra, 1801;

(45) Satyadhéra Tértha, 1808.

After the sixteenth äcärya (Vidyädhiräja Tértha), there was another disciplic succession, including:-

(1) Räjendra Tértha, 1254;

(2) Vijayadhvaja;

(3) Puruñottama;

(4) Subrahmaëya; and

(5) Vyäsa Räya, 1470–1520.

The nineteenth äcärya, Rämacandra Tértha, had another disciplic succession, including:-

(1) Vibudhendra, 1218;

(2) Jitämitra, 1348;

(3) Raghunandana;

(4) Surendra;

(5) Vijendra;

(6) Sudhéndra; and

(7) Räghavendra Tértha, 1545.

To date, in the Udupi monastery there are another fourteen Madhva-tértha sannyäsés. As stated, Udupi is situated beside the sea in South Kanara, about thirty-six miles north of Mangalore.
Most of the information in this purport is available from the South Känäòä Manual and the Bombay Gazette."

The essential principles of Sri Madhvacarya's teachings-where they run parallel to the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu-have been summarized in ten points by Baladeva Vidyabhusana in his Prameya-Ratnavali.

These ten points are as follows:-
shri madvhah praha vishnum paratamam akhilamnaya vedyam ca cisvam
satyam bhedam ca jivam hari carana jusas tartamyam ca tesham
moksham vishnv-anghri-labham tad-amala-bhajanam tasya hetum pramanam
pratyaksadi trayam cety upadisati hari krsna-caitanya chandra

"Shri Madhvacaharya taught that:-
1) Krishna, who is known as Hari is the Supreme Lord, the Absolute.
2) That Supreme Lord may be known through the Vedas.
3) The material world is real.
4) The jivas, or souls, are different from the Supreme Lord.
5) The jivas are by nature servants of the Supreme Lord.
6) There are two categories of jivas: liberated and illusioned.
7) Liberation means attaining the lotus feet of Krishna, that is, entering into an eternal relationship of service to the Supreme Lord.
8) Pure devotional service is the cause of this relationship.
9) The truth may be known through direct perception, inference, and Vedic authority. These very principles were taught by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu."

In his Caitanya Caritamrta commentary (CC Madhya 9.245), Sripad Bhakdivedanta Swami comments:
"For further information about Madhvacarya, one should read Madhva-vijaya by Narayana Acarya."