Pranam Mantra
“Brahmanta guravah sakshadistam daivam Shriyapatih
Acharyah Srimadacharyah Santu me Janmanjanmani.”
Madhvacharya was a renowned Hindu philosopher who advanced the Vedanta school of thought. This philosophy emphasizes the nature of Brahman or Ultimate Reality.
Appearance of Acharya Madhva:
There was a beautiful ancient village in the northern part of south Kannada district in the southern part of Karnataka State. The name of the village was Udupi. Acharya Madhva appeared in this village in around 1160 Shaka era. He was the son of Madhya Geha Bhatta and Vedavidya in Pajaka Kshetra. His ancestors belonged to the Shivali lineage. Shri Madhya Geha Bhatta named his son “Vasudeva”.
Scriptural evidence of Madhvacharya’s incarnation:
Acharya Madhva’s direct disciple Hrishikesha Tirtha Mahabharata has declared the date of Acharya’s appearance. In the Moksha Dharma chapter of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata, Bhishma Deva told the Pancha Pandavas that the five Pandavas will reappear in this world after four thousand years from the beginning of Kali Yuga. The “Mahabharata-Tatparya-Nirnaya” quotes:-
“Catuh sahasra tri shatottare gate, Samvatsaranantu kalau prithivyam
Jatah punah vipra tanuh sabhimo, Daityair nigudham hari tattvamahi ॥”
Translation: When the four thousand three hundred years of the Kali Yuga are over, Bhimsena will again incarnate in the earth as Brahmana. He will preach the Vaishnava philosophy covered by the demons.
Miraculous childhood pastimes of Vasudeva:
In childhood, Vasudeva’s miraculous pastimes produced amazement in his friends and relatives. His father had some debts. Vasudeva took some tamarind seeds and converted those into gold coins. He paid off his father’s debt with those coins. He was a genius student. Within a very short time, he learned the Bengali alphabet. At the age of five, he attained upanayana samskara. There lived a demon called “Manimana”. He is mentioned in Mahabharata. He lived there in the disguise of a serpent. After Upanayana, Vasudeva vanquished the serpent with the thumb of his left leg. Whenever his mother was worried about him, he used to appear before her in a single leap from wherever he had to be.
Vasudeva’s study of Vedas:
Vasudeva approached a Brahmin scholar who belonged to the Pugavana Gotra tradition and lived at Dandatirtha, about three kroshas west of Pazaka Kshetra. But there he used to be engaged in various games with his classmates. He did not show interest in Vedic literature. One day his teacher reprimanded him for always being engaged in sports. But he immediately recited all the Vedic texts with fluency. This surprised the teacher. In this way, Vasudeva completed his studies within a very short time and returned home.
Vasudeva accepting Ascetic order:
Vasudeva had deep enthusiasm in preaching Vaishnavism and refuting opponents. Seeing this, Vasudeva’s father understood that his son would never be engaged in household life. He decided to arrange his marriage. Intelligent Vasudeva understood his father’s intention. Vasudeva was empowered by Lord Vishnu to propagate vaishnava theology and refute the opponents. Who can bind those who are extremely eager to get free from the bondage of the material world and deliver the fallen souls? Vasudeva knew all these things very well. So despite his father’s disapproval, he took Sannyasa at the age of twelve. His spiritual master was ‘Achyutapreksha’ from Rajata pitha pura. His monastic name is ‘Purnprajna Ananda Tirtha’.
Victory of Acharya Madhva:
After taking Sannyasa, Acharya Madhva started to ‘practice’ and ‘preach’ Vaishnavism. His austerity surprised his own spiritual master. He started campaigning to spread Vishnu Bhakti throughout India. He received the ‘Jayapatra’ from a scholar by defeating him in a philosophical debate. He acquired many titles like”Vadisimha”, and “Vuddhi-sagara” as an honor of the victory. He refuted many Mayavadi scholars with his logic. At this, the Vaishnavas became very happy. through classical logic. After some time Acharya Madhva came to Anantashayana Kshetra to visit Sri Rameswara.
Obtaining divine knowledge from Vyasadeva:
After that Acharya Madhva came to Vadarika ashrama with his disciples. There he began to teach his own Gita Commentary to his disciples. Then the disciples saw that a wonderful light was moving through the sky and suddenly it merged into the face of Acharya Madhva. Madhva realized that Vyasadeva himself was calling him to Vadarika ashrama. Following the instruction of Vyasadeva, he met with him alone. From Vyasadeva, he received the knowledge of the entire Vedas, Vedanta Sutra, Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavatam, and all Vedic scriptures. Then he got the darshan of Nara-Narayana. As Nara-Narayana and Vyasadeva instructed him, he returned to his disciples. From the Himalayas, he traveled to the Vishnu Tirthas of Dwaraka, Kurukshetra, Naimisharanya, Prayaga, Kashi, Gaya, etc. Then he reached a gathering of Vedic scholars. There he refuted them and established Vaishnava Siddhanta. On his return from Vadarika ashrama to ‘Ananda Matha’ Madhvacharya completed the ‘Sutra Bhasya’. His companion and disciple Shri Satya Tirtha helped him to write the commentary.
Obtaining the Krishna deity miraculously:
Then he went to Ganjam in Godavari province. Sobhana Bhatt and Swami Shastri Pandit met him there. They are the ones who got the names of Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha in Sri Madhva Parampara. On his return to Urupi, Madhavacharya composed the first five chapters of his famous Sri Krishna Stotra while going for a sea bath one day. Sitting on the seashore, he saw a boat full of goods grounded on the sand and almost in danger; Despite best efforts, the mariner was unable to steer the boat. Madhavacharya saw it and showed a gesture with his hand. Immediately the boat floated. The mariner was greatly astonished at such an extraordinary opulence of the sea-side hermit. He requested Madhvacharya to accept some gifts from his boat in gratitude. Madhvacharya asked for only a large chunk of Gopichandana from the ship. But while bringing it by road, the chunk broke at a place called ‘Barabhandeshwara’. Inside it, a wonderful ‘Bala Krishna’ deity was found.
History of Shri Krishnamurti:
It is said that at the end of Dwapara Yuga King Vajranava, the great-grandson of Lord Krishna installed three Krishna deities in Vraja Mandala. Long before this, a ‘Vala Krishna’ deity was installed by Lord Krishna Himself when He was present in this material world. When Krishna concealed His manifested pastimes and entered into His eternal abode, Arjuna installed that very deity at the Gopi lake by the seashore of Dwaraka. Over time it goes under the public eye.
In the Kali Yuga, Madhvacharya, inspired by Lord Krishna, went to the seashore for a bath, and in the boat, a sailor was coming from Dwaraka. That Krishna deity appeared before Madhvacharya from a huge chunk of Gopi Chandan. In one hand of the deity, there is a curd churning stick, and in the other hand churning rope. after getting the Krishna murti, Madhvacharya composed the remaining seven chapters of ‘Dwadasha Stotra’ on that same day. Thirty strong men were unable to lift the Krishna idol. Then Madhva himself, who was an incarnation of Lord Hanuman and Bhima Sena or Vayu, took the Bala Krishna deity to his monastery. The deity was coated with Gopichandana. So he bathed the deity in the huge lake of Udupi. Then he installed the deity in the temple there.
Arrangement of the worship of Sri Krishna:
Madhvacharya chose eight of his Brahmachari disciples to whom he gave sannyasa. He entrusted them with the responsibility of the daily worship of the Sri Krishna deity and the propagation of his philosophy. Then he gave sannyasa to a householder-disciple and gave the name ‘Padmanabha Tirtha’. He fixed two years of service for each of the eight sannyasi disciples and directed them to spend the rest of the time on propagating his philosophy. Here are the names of the eight disciples of Madhvacharya — (1) Sri Hrishikesha Tirtha (2) Sri Narahari Tirtha (3) Sri Janardana Tirtha (4) Sri Upendra Tirtha (5) Sri Bamana Tirtha (6) Sri Vishnu Tirtha (7) Sri Rama Tirtha and ( 8) Shri Adhokshaja Tirtha.
Disappearance of Sri Pada Madhvacharya:
Even the demigods were surprised and pleased at Madhvacharya’s preaching campaign. One day Sri Rudra and other demigods appeared in front of Sri Ananteshwara temple at Rajata Pitha Pura through aerial path. Acharya Madhva was then explaining the Aitareya Upanishad to his disciples. The demigods were delighted hearing his explanation and showered divine flowers like Mandara & Parijata upon him. Madhvacharya disappeared in Anantesvara devalaya on the ninth day of Maghi Shukla Navami while explaining Aitareya Upanishad. He was 79 years old then. The famous Panditacharya Badiraja Swami has written in his book ‘Sarasa Bharati Vilasa’ that Sri Madhvacharya eternally resides at Urupi invisibly and at Badrikashram in his physical form.
Literary works of Madhvacharya:
Sri Madhvacharya has authored many books set up monasteries and arranged service pujas there. He propagated dualistic Vedanta in the world. The names of his books, enlisted in ‘Granthamalika-Stotra’ by Sri Jayatirtha are as follows—(1) Gita Bhasyam (2) Sutra Bhasyam (3) Anu vyakhyanam, (4) Anu Bhasyam, (5) Gita -Tatparya-Nirnaya:, (6) Aitareya-Bhasyam, (7) Brihadaranyaka- Bhasyam (8) Chandogya- Bhasyam (9) Taittiriya-Bhasyam ( 10) Kathaka- Bhasyam’ (11) Atharvarna Bhasyam (12) Mandukya – Bhasyam, (13) Isha Vashya – Bhasyam(14) Talvakara- Bhasyam (15) Prashna- Bhasyam, (16) Rig Bhasyam (17) Tattva samkhyanam, (18) Tatta vivekaha (19) Tattvodyotah , (20) Mayavada Khandanam, (21) Mithyattva anumana Khandanam, (22) Upadhi Khandanam, (23) Katha-lakshanam, (24) Pramana-lakshanam, (25) Karma nirnayah, (26) Visnu-tattva Nirnaya, (27) Nyaya Vivaranam,(28) Krsnamrita Maharnavah, (29) Tantrasara, (30) Sadacara Smriti:, (31) Dvadasa-Stotram (32) Narsimha-Nakha- Stuti, (33) Jayanti Nirnaya, (34) Sri Krishna-gadyam, (35) Sri Mahabharata- Tatparya- Nirnaya, (36) Sri Bhagavata Tatparya-Nirnaya, (37) Yamaka bharatam, (38) Pravana Kalpa and so on.
