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Sripada Madhvacharya
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Sripada Madhvacharya
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From: nparker@crl.com (Nathan Parker)
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Date: 19 Mar 1995 08:28:50 -0800
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From nparker@crl.com Sun Mar 19 11: 18:48 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [Login: guest]
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MADHVACARYA
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Madhvacarya was born around 1238 A.D. eight miles south-east of
the modern town of Udipi, in the Karnataka State. He is reputed to be the
incarnation of Bhima, taking birth in Kali-yuga to destroy the daityas.
Others refer to him as Vayu himself and it w as his lifes mission to
defeat the followers of Sankaracarya.
He was born in the family of very elevated brahmanas and from his
early childhood performed many amazing pastimes, such as the killing of a
huge serpentine demon named Maniman, simply with the big toe of his left
foot.
Madhava was only eight years old when he received spiritual
initiation and at the age of twelve he accepted the sannyasa order and
began to travel the length and breadth of India.
He enjoyed a long life of robust health. He engaged in various
forms of sport and physical exercise in his youth, such as wrestling,
swimming and even mountaineering, which he kept up to the very end. He had
very handsome features with a strong muscular frame, tall and
strong-limbed with graceful carriage and dignified bearing. Endowed with a
magnetic personality and traditional thirty-two laksanas, he had a deep
sonorous voice and good musical talent, which he used to advantage in
Vedic recitation and i n singing the soulful strains of his own devotional
compositions and in giving open air discources on the Bhagavata Purana,
with its rolling melody of verses.
His life, as described in the Madhvavijaya, is the narrative of a
born leader of men. Madhva recognized the soul of man to be potenially
divine; but man, in the ignorance of his true status, has lost his soul to
his body and its cravings, and needs to be awakened by God himself or His
devotees.
He became a student under Acyutapreksa, who came in the order of
Ekanti-Vaisnavas of the Ekadandi order. Madhva entered the sannyasa order
and was given the name Purnaprajna.
During his study of the sastras he became convinced about the
inherent weakness in the Advaita philosophy and developed a keen desire to
revive the theistic science of Vedas with his own thorough
reinterpretation of the texts.
After only a short time in his studies, frequent disagreements of
views arose between himself and his teacher. Acyutaprajna could see that
Purnaprajna was destined to make history for himself and made him head of
the Math. On that memorable occasion Purn aprajna was given another name
"Anandatirtha" and later adopted the name Madhva.
Madhvacarya spent some time teaching and engaging outstanding
scholars belonging to Buddhist, Jain and Advaita Sampradayas, in logical
and philosophical discussions and vanquishing them in debates. He set out
to propagate his teachings and travelled exte nsively throughout South
India. He visited Kanyakumari, Ramesvaram and Srirangam holding discources
on the Brahmasutras and openly criticizing Sankaracaryas Bhasyas on the
Sutras. Giving his own interpretations he soundly defeated all he
encountered and naturally roused a good deal of opposition from the
leaders of the old schools of thought. At Kanyakumari he met with stiff
opposition from an Advaitic monk of great learning who challenged him to
write a fresh commentary on the Brahmasutras before he ven tured to
criticize the time honored one of Sankaracarya. Madhva assured him that he
would be doing so, in good time. At Srirangam he came in contact with the
followers of the Ramanuja school and after exchanging veiws with them,
noted his own points of ag reement and difference with them. This South
Indian tour gave him great resolve to set out on his first tour of the
north.
Madhvacarya was anxious to go to Badarikasrama and receive
personal inspiration from a visit to the asrama of Vyasadeva. After
staying forty-eight days at Badarinath, fasting, praying, meditating and
dedicating his Gita-Bhasya to the Lord, Madhvacarya wa s inspired to go to
the hermitage of Vyasa. He went there all alone and after gaining the
personal darshan of Vyasadeva himself and learning from him, returned
after some months, glowing with divine inspiration and wrote his Bhasya on
the Brahma-Sutras.
Journeying through Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, Andhrapradesa, Maharashtra and
Karnataka, he returned to Udipi. On his way back from Badarikasrama,
Madhvacarya challenged many eminent scholars of the day. Prominent among
these were two outstanding scholars, Swa mi Sastrin and Sobhana Bhatta,
known as masters of the six systems of philosophy. Madhvacarya soundly
defeated these two who subsequently became his disciples known as Narahari
Tirtha and Padmanabha Tirtha respectively.
Madhvacaryas fame and prestige had grown considerably and his
commentaries on the Gita and Brahmasutras had made their mark and were
widely recognized and respected. In his Math in Udipi he introduced strict
codes of conduct for his followers, introduce d the system of
Pistapasuyagas (offerings made from flowers), in place of actual animal
sacrifices in yajnas and imposed the rigorous observance of fasts on
Ekadasi. To foster a sense of fellowship among his disciples he installed
a beautiful deity of Lor d Krsna.
"Once, as Madhva was travelling in the association of his disciples
he arrived in Sri Navadwipa and decided to spend some days within the
forests of Modradumadvipa.
One night, as Madhva lay sleeping, Lord Gauranga appeared to him
in a dream. The Lord told Madhava, "It is well known to everyone that you
are My eternal servitor. When I appear here in Navadwipa, I will accept
your sampradaya. Travel everywhere and care fully uproot all the false
scriptures of the mayavadis and reveal the glories of worshipping the
personal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Later, when I appear,
I will personally broadcast your pure teachings." The Lord then
disappeared.
When Madhva awoke, he was astonished and as he remembered the Lord
he began to cry in separation, saying, "Will I ever see that beautiful
golden form again?" A celestial voice from the sky replied, "Worship Me
secretly and you will come to Me."
Carrying these instructions within his heart, Madhva continued his
travels more determined than ever to defeat the mayavadi philosophers."
(Extract from Sri Navadwipa Dham).
During a meeting between King Jayasimha, the Ruler of Kumbla and
Madhvacarya, a historic disputation developed with the Rulers Court
Pandit, Trivikrama Pandit, who was the foremost authority on
Advaita-vedanta. Trivikrama engaged Madhvacarya in a vigoro us debate for
fifteen days, at the temple of Kudil and was defeated by the Acarya. He
sought to become a disciple of Madhvacarya and was readily admitted. He
was then commissioned to write a commentary on the Brahma-Sutra Bhasya,
and named it Tattva-pradi pa.
An interesting incident took place during his second trip to North
India. With the country under tight control of the Persian invaders,
travelling became very hazardous. With Madhvacaryas knowledge of Persian,
his courage and tact in handling difficult situations and his ability to
rise to equal occasions with dignity and complete self-possession, he was
able to escape from potentially dangerous encounters. One such episode
took place with his meeting with Sultan Jalal-uddin-Khilji. Political
hostilitie s were on at the time. Madhvacarya and his party were forced to
swim across the Ganges to the other side. They were halted on reaching the
shore and were taken to the Ruler who called upon Madhva to explain his
conduct in disobeying orders and crossing th e river when hostilities were
on. Madhvacarya spoke to the Ruler in his own language, convincing him on
the importance of his mission in the cause of Theism.
After completing many commentaries and original erudite works,
establishing prominant Maths and sending out well-chosen veterans to
preach and propagate his siddhanta all over the country, while seated
during a shower of flowers, Madhvacarya disappeared from vision and
transferred himself to Badarikasrama. There he still remains.
His philosophy is dvaita. Brahman is Hari or Visnu definable to an
extent by the Vedas. He has a transcendental form, Vyuhas, Incarnations
are His parts and Laksmi is distinct. The qualities of Brahman are it is
fully independent, the cause of all causes , supreme bliss, devoid of
false attributes but possesses all qualities. The soul is atomic, it
pervades the body by intelligence, infinite in number, Karta and Bhokta.
Creation is the actuation of what is in the womb of matter and soul by the
action of B rahman. The cause of bondage is the divine will of the Supreme
and ignorace of the soul (svarupa). The process of release is through
whole hearted devotion, study of the Vedas and detached karma. The goal is
to gain release from samsara and restoration of one's own individual form.
All powers except creation and there is no return.
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