madhvÄcÄrya-sthÄne ÄilÄ yÄá¹…hÄ 'tattvavÄdÄ«'
uá¸upÄ«te 'kṛṣṇa' dekhi, tÄhÄá¹… haila premonmÄdÄ«
madhva-ÄcÄrya-sthÄne - at the place of MadhvÄcÄrya; ÄilÄ - arrived; yÄá¹…hÄ - where; tattva-vÄdÄ« - philosophers known as TattvavÄdÄ«s; uá¸upÄ«te - at the place known as Uá¸upÄ«; kṛṣṇa - the Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa; dekhi - seeing; tÄhÄá¹… - there; haila - became; prema-unmÄdÄ« - mad in ecstasy.
Caitanya MahÄprabhu next arrived at Uá¸upÄ«, the place of MadhvÄcÄrya, where the philosophers known as TattvavÄdÄ«s resided. There He saw the Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa and became mad with ecstasy.
ÅšrÄ«pÄda MadhvÄcÄrya took his birth near Uá¸upÄ«, 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 Uá¸upÄ«. Near the city of Uá¸upÄ« is a place called PÄjakÄ-ká¹£etra, where MadhvÄcÄrya took his birth in a ÅšivÄllÄ«-brÄhmaṇa dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhaá¹á¹a, in the year 1040 ÅšakÄbda (A.D. 1118). According to some, he was born in the year 1160 ÅšakÄbda (A.D. 1238).
In his childhood MadhvÄcÄrya was known as VÄsudeva, and 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 MaṇimÄn 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, and although his father did not agree, he accepted sannyÄsa at the age of twelve. Upon receiving sannyÄsa from Acyuta Preká¹£a, he received the name PÅ«rṇaprajña TÄ«rtha. After traveling all over India, he finally discussed scriptures with VidyÄÅ›aá¹…kara, the exalted leader of Śṛṅgeri-maá¹ha. VidyÄÅ›aá¹…kara was actually diminished in the presence of MadhvÄcÄrya. Accompanied by Satya TÄ«rtha, MadhvÄcÄrya went to BadarikÄÅ›rama. It was there that he met VyÄsadeva and explained his commentary on the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ before him. Thus he became a great scholar by studying before VyÄsadeva.
By the time he came to the Ä€nanda-maá¹ha from BadarikÄÅ›rama, MadhvÄcÄrya had finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. His companion Satya TÄ«rtha wrote down the entire commentary. When MadhvÄcÄrya returned from BadarikÄÅ›rama, he went to GañjÄma, which is on the bank of the river GodÄvarÄ«. There he met with two learned scholars named Åšobhana Bhaá¹á¹a and SvÄmÄ« ÅšÄstrÄ«. Later these scholars became known in the disciplic succession of MadhvÄcÄrya as PadmanÄbha TÄ«rtha and Narahari TÄ«rtha. When he returned to Uá¸upÄ«, 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 ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, 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 gopÄ«-candana. He received a big lump of gopÄ«-candana, and as it was being brought to him, it broke apart and revealed a large Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As soon as MadhvÄcÄrya received the Deity of Kṛṣṇa 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 Uá¸upÄ«. Eight of MadhvÄcÄrya’s sannyÄsa disciples became directors of his eight monasteries. Worship of the Lord Kṛṣṇa Deity is still going on at Uá¸upÄ« according to the plans MadhvÄcÄrya established.
MadhvÄcÄrya then for the second time visited BadarikÄÅ›rama. While he was passing through Maharashtra, the local king was digging a big lake for the public benefit. 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 GÄá¹…ga-pradeÅ›a 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 TÄ«rtha was attacked by a tiger, MadhvÄcÄrya separated them by virtue of his great strength. When he met VyÄsadeva, he received from him the Å›ÄlagrÄma-Å›ilÄ known as Aá¹£á¹amÅ«rti. After this, he summarized the MahÄbhÄrata.
MadhvÄcÄrya’s devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship became known throughout India. Consequently the owners of the Śṛṅgeri-maá¹ha, established by Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya, became a little perturbed. At that time the followers of Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya 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 Puṇá¸arÄ«ka PurÄ«, a follower of the MÄyÄvÄda philosophy of Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya, came before MadhvÄcÄrya to discuss the Å›Ästras. It is said that all of MadhvÄcÄrya’s books were taken away, but later they were found with the help of King Jayasiá¹ha, ruler of Kumla. In discussion, Puṇá¸arÄ«ka PurÄ« was defeated by MadhvÄcÄrya. A great personality named TrivikramÄcÄrya, who was a resident of Viṣṇumaá¹…gala, became MadhvÄcÄrya’s disciple, and his son later became NÄrÄyaṇÄcÄrya, the composer of ÅšrÄ« Madhva-vijaya. After the death of TrivikramÄcÄrya, the younger brother of NÄrÄyaṇÄcÄrya took sannyÄsa and later became known as Viṣṇu TÄ«rtha.
It was reputed that there was no limit to the bodily strength of PÅ«rṇaprajña, MadhvÄcÄrya. There was a person named Kaá¸añjari 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. ÅšrÄ«la MadhvÄcÄrya passed from this material world at the age of eighty while writing a commentary on the Aitareya Upaniá¹£ad. For further information about MadhvÄcÄrya, one should read Madhva-vijaya, by NÄrÄyaṇÄcÄrya.
The ÄcÄryas of the Madhva-sampradÄya established Uá¸upÄ« as the chief center, and the monastery there was known as UttararÄá¸hÄ«-maá¹ha. A list of the different centers of the MadhvÄcÄrya-sampradÄya can be found at Uá¸upÄ«, and their maá¹ha commanders are (1) Viṣṇu TÄ«rtha (Åšoda-maá¹ha), (2) JanÄrdana TÄ«rtha (Kṛṣṇapura-maá¹ha) (3) VÄmana TÄ«rtha (Kanura-maá¹ha), (4) Narasiá¹ha TÄ«rtha (Adamara-maá¹ha), (5) Upendra TÄ«rtha (PuttugÄ«-maá¹ha), (6) RÄma TÄ«rtha (Åširura-maá¹ha), (7) HṛṣīkeÅ›a TÄ«rtha (Palimara-maá¹ha), and (8) Aká¹£obhya TÄ«rtha (PejÄvara-maá¹ha). The disciplic succession of the MadhvÄcÄrya-sampradÄya is as follows (the dates are those of birth in the ÅšakÄbda Era; for Christian era dates, add seventy-eight years.): (1) Haá¹sa ParamÄtmÄ; (2) Caturmukha BrahmÄ; (3) SanakÄdi; (4) DurvÄsÄ; (5) JñÄnanidhi; (6) Garuá¸a-vÄhana; (7) Kaivalya TÄ«rtha; (8) JñÄneÅ›a TÄ«rtha; (9) Para TÄ«rtha; (10) Satyaprajña TÄ«rtha; (11) PrÄjña TÄ«rtha; (12) Acyuta Preká¹£ÄcÄrya TÄ«rtha; (13) ÅšrÄ« MadhvÄcÄrya, 1040 Åšaka; (14) PadmanÄbha, 1120; Narahari, 1127; MÄdhava, 1136; and Aká¹£obhya 1159; (15) Jaya TÄ«rtha, 1167; (16) VidyÄdhirÄja, 1190; (17) KavÄ«ndra, 1255; (18) VÄgÄ«Å›a, 1261; (19) RÄmacandra, 1269; (20) VidyÄnidhi, 1298; (21) ÅšrÄ« RaghunÄtha, 1366; (22) Rayuvarya (who spoke with ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu), 1424; (23) RaghÅ«ttama, 1471; (24) VedavyÄsa, 1517; (25) VidyÄdhÄ«Å›a, 1541; (26) Vedanidhi, 1553; (27) Satyavrata, 1557; (28) Satyanidhi, 1560;(29) SatyanÄtha, 1582; (30) SatyÄbhinava, 1595; (31) SatyapÅ«rṇa, 1628; (32) Satyavijaya, 1648; (33) Satyapriya, 1659; (34) Satyabodha, 1666; (35) Satyasandha, 1705; (36) Satyavara, 1716; (37) Satyadharma, 1719; (38) Satyasaá¹…kalpa, 1752; (39) Satyasantuá¹£á¹a, 1763; (40) SatyaparÄyaṇa, 1763; (41) SatyakÄma, 1785; (42) Satyeá¹£á¹a, 1793; (43) SatyaparÄkrama, 1794; (44) SatyadhÄ«ra, 1801; (45) SatyadhÄ«ra TÄ«rtha, 1808.
After the sixteenth ÄcÄrya (VidyÄdhirÄja TÄ«rtha), there was another disciplic succession, including RÄjendra TÄ«rtha, 1254; Vijayadhvaja; Puruá¹£ottama; Subrahmaṇya; and VyÄsa RÄya, 1470-1520. The nineteenth ÄcÄrya, RÄmacandra TÄ«rtha, had another disciplic succession, including Vibudhendra, 1218; JitÄmitra, 1348; Raghunandana; Surendra; Vijendra; SudhÄ«ndra; and RÄghavendra TÄ«rtha, 1545.
To date, in the Uá¸upÄ« monastery there are another fourteen Madhva-tÄ«rtha sannyÄsÄ«s. As stated, Uá¸upÄ« 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 KÄnÄá¸Ä Manual and the Bombay Gazette.
