Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
SRI MADRY.A.CHA.RYA R.
BY
C. II. PIDMANABHA CHAR, B.A. B.L.,
High Cou,-1 Vakil (Madras) residing at Coimhalore.
AUTHOR ~F DHRUVA''> PENANCF, GovARDHANI!.SHA VILA<;A, (SANSKRIT
FIRST EDITION.
Copy-Rt'g!tt Registn-ed.
DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR.
MAP OF SOUTH CANARA.
CONTENTS.
PART l.
The Life of Sri Madhva.
1. Introduction ... Chapter .. pp. 1- 9
2. Sri Madhva's Parents
and Birth ... do II ... pp. 9- 25
3, Date of Sri Madhva ... do II I .. . pp. 2fJ- 33
4. Childhood do IV ... pp. 33- 41
n. Boyhood up to Upa-
nay&na .,. do V ... pp. 41- 50
6. Upanayana and early
Studies do Vl .• pp. 50- 61
7. Fro.r.n Upanayana to
Sanyasa do VIl ... pp. 61- 69
8, The young Sanyasin ... do VIII ... pp. 69- 82
9. Other dialectical tri-
umphs do IX ... pp. 82- 93
10. Sri Madhva's tour thro'
Southern India do X ... pp. 93-109
11. First tour to Badari do XI ... pp. 110-122
12. Return Home do Xll ... pp. 122-133
13. Reforms at Udupi do XIII ... pp. 134-149
14. Second tour to Badari do XIV ... pp. 150--168
15. The return journey do XV ... pp. 169-178
16. Pandit Trivikrama
converted do X VI ... pp. 179·-198
17 Vishnu Theertha &
other Sishyas do XVII ... pp. 199 ... 207
18. The last days do XVIJI ... pp. 208-216
VI CONTENTS.
PART IJ.
SRI KRISHNA.
TffE hlfE ABD TEACHINGS
OF"
SRI MADHVACHARYA.
CHAPTER I.
I N T R 0 D u c T 0 R Y.
TRADITION is strong on the West Coast that the
land of milk and honey known as Malabar and Canara,
was, within a comparatively recent geological age, a
submerged area of the Arabian Sea. This country is
a sharp slope from the Western Ghauts, known as the
Sahya Hills, in Sanskrit Literature. It is a narrow
strip of land hemmed in by a long wall of mountains
on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. This
country is generally known to the orthodox as Parasu-
ramakshetra. Parasurama is a well-known Brahmin
Rishi of the Puranas, who is said to have waged
repeated warfare against the Kshatriyas and relieved
oppressed India from the tyranny of wicked kings.
After accomplishing this mission of his Avatar, tradition
goes on to say that he wanted a secluded spot for
his own retirement and asked of the Ocean (the
Arabian Sea)for a strip ofland. An extent that could be
measured by the throw of Parasurama's battleaxe was
granted to him in response to his wish. Parasurama
availed himself of the grant by making a good use of
the concession, by throwing his battleaxe, which in its
flight, covered the whole country now comprising both
Canaras, both Malabars, Travancore and Cochin. So
'2 THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF SRI MADHVA lcHAP.
CHAPTER II.
SRI MADHVA's PARENrs AND BIRTH.
CHAPTER III.
DATI: OF SRI lVIADHVA.
The date of Sri Madhva's birth is not free from
doubt and controversy. The District Manual of South
Canara fixes 1199 A.D. as the correct date. This
view seem~ primarily based on the enquiry of Buchan-
an, who tra veiled through M ysore, Canara, and
Malabar, in or about I 799, and published a large
volume about his travels. It seems that Buchanan
gathered all the leading Pandits at Udupi and got
the information about the date. Mr. C. N. Krishna-
swamy lyer too adopts the same conclusion. He
bases it on the authority of Sriman Mahabarata
Tatparya Nirnaya, Chapter XXXII, verse I.)I, and
Chapter IX, verse xoo. These verses look as if the
author (Sri Madhvacharya himself) l1as give~ the
date ot his birth as 4300 of Kali Yuga, which corte$-
ponds to 1199 A. D.
i
JQ6 'tHE l.IE'E AND TEACHINGS Ot SRI MADliVA (cliAI;' .
CHAPTER IV.
CHILDHOOD.
,•:!.
.. .' ~- . ,.
.,:'1/::.flil!'·•· .·
'~·
·_.-:·.:
No 1.
" He received the payment, delighted beyund measure "- P, 3\J·
IV.] CHILDHOOD. 39
he was thus in a fix and racking his brain for a solution
of the difficulty, Vasudeva came bounding up to him in
blissful ignorance and innocence, and asked him
(Madhyageha) to go in for dinner as it was late already.
Madhyageha evaded the child by some pretext ot
other, but the intelligent Vasudeva was not to be
brushed aside so hghtly. He pressed his father again
and again, until at last the latter had to address the
child, saymg, " Dear. I owe money to this creditor
as the pnce of a bullock bought of him, and he insists
on Immediate payment; you better go and have your
meals. I shall take my food latter on, after he is
satisfied."
Vasudeva left his father, realising the situation,
and promptly made up his mmd how to act. He went
round the house and beckoned to the Sowcar to go
with him. The Sowcar did so. Whoever set eyes
on Vasudeva's face was powerless to resist his mag-
netism They went to a shaded place beyond the
tank now known as Vasudeva Theertha, and stood
under a big tree. Vasudeva picked up in the hollow
ot both hands Joined together, a quantity of tamarind
seeds, and poured them into the Sowcar's hands. At
first, the Sowcar probably took It as fun, and was not
disinclined to have a little sport with the radiant boy.
To his unutterable surprise, he observed that the seeds
had turned out to be coms amounting to a full
discharge of the dues He received the payment,
delighted beyond measure. Vasudeva quickly left the
scene, and ran home unseen by his father. The
Sowcar returned to Madhygeha and told him that he
was free, because the boy had repaid the debt in full.
CHAPTER V.
BoYHOOD uP To UPANAYANA.
CHAPTER VI
UPANAYANA AND EARLY STUDIES.
No) 2,
"The son tore up a cloth, and challenged his father "-P. 66.
IR.OM tJPANAYANA. TO SAINYASA..
CHAPTER VIII.
THE YOUNG SANYASIN.
CHAPTER IX.
OTHER DIALECTICAL TRfUMPHS.
CHAPTER X.
SRI MADHYA'S TOUR Tl1ROPGH SOUTHERN INDIA.
, ••1
:\¥.,' •
...
,r:
~
No. 4·
Sobhana Bhatta and Sami Sastry.-P. 127.
xn.] RETURN HOME. 127
The crowd made way for the Master and the king to
enter the temple. In the biggest hall (mantapam) the
assembled multitude settled down eager to see and
longing to listen. Sri Madhva sat on a slightly
raised seat, facing the assembly of numerous Pandits
surrounding him. One of the disciples, Hrishikesa
t88 THE LIFE A.l\lD 'tEACHINGS OF SRI MADHVA (CHAP.
CHAPTER I
SRl MADHVA'S PERSONALITY.
A GENERAL VIEW.
~ ~ ~'i'E!('t?t'\:r ~~ II
~tm=rql~ ~ !!(R::Ilii~ ~ 11
<throughout.
Before we get from the unmanifest Prakriti to
well-developed forms of created objects, it is not
unnatural that there should be a sort of transition-
stage in which we find certain things which bear
,the hall-mark of creation but imperfectly. Sri
Madhva calls these by the name of AsamsrishtAnitya,
i.e., imperfectly-created things. These objects are
the 24 principles forming the basic components of
all future creation. They are Mahat, Ahankara,
Budhi, Manas, the ten sense-organs (to· be enumer-
.ated below) the five sense-objects, (sight, hearing,
taste, smell, and touch) and the five great elements,
·(ether, air, fire, water, and earth).
• .1 These 24 principles represent the transition, be-
·cause these exist in the primordial -Prakriti in subtle
Jtorms ·as such before tlkeir evolution. Being derwed
A:oHtT.
Thus tabulated :
'' *NNife:sftGi~"',.''ti""*~«•fa...Os~ u
~q
t'iJ•'i"" '-'--- ... ~ e.. .... ~
.'•-'tJ.,L'-;JJ._'J~.'i.!.~_.)).'J)J:;,_'J.:;;_•JJ.C-.J-~'-'JJhJ -..Efl~ "'
BAGAVAD GEETA II, 22.
11
ust as a man having a settled and definite purpc>se
)
'!f.l:+tifats:c#NE4"diw~ I
~+it41.,lE4tltats:c~aaE4tf.1fd II
Q(i{~~~~:l
,,... ,.,'E\'!4!!1~ :~:quits~: 11
" We now tell you of the Lord's being endowed
with knowledge, mind, body, and limbs. He is of
imperishable body. He is fragrance. He is radiant
with knowledge He is of unthwarted prowess, of
immense wisdom, of immense bliss. He is the Lord,
Vishnu, Supreme, and imperishable."
The book known ~l: " Sri Krishna" by Baba
Bharati, contains some very forcible observations on
this point. He sees no reason to think that God
should be formless. He says that it is absurd to think
of forms emanating from anything formless. Just as
the sun has a form-centre, from which rays of heat and
light emanate and radiate, far and wide, so, God
may have form-centres from which sparks may
emanate, pervading as much space as he chooses
to bless. He may increase or decrease their number,
or may make them innumerable. He may make any
form as brilliant as he chooses, and subdue or increase
its splendour to suit himself to his creatures. He
may descend as incarnations on the earth, or may takt:
forms beyond the earth in other planets or upon other
planes. It may be that Divine Forms are not composed
of material stuff, It may be that they are con.summately
IX.] SC\ME CONCEPTS OF GOD.
45
CHAPTER X.
IS GOD KNOW ABLE ?
·Sri Madhva's answer to this question is an
emphatic affirmative. As interpreted by him, the
3rd and the sth aphorisms of the Vedanta Sootras,
declare that Brahman is known through the Shastras
(scriptures), and that He is not beyond knowledge
and expression. The two aphorisms are ~:1H.'l'Qfl~fi41~
·and (2) ~•:rh~; "For, it is that of which the means
of cognition is the authoritative word," (2) "since it is
the object of perception, it is not what cannot be
spoken of.'" Other commentators whose philosophy is
different, interpret the aphorisms, differently.
It is not difficult to quote scriptural texts
whose apparent meaning puts God beyond the range
of thought and words. Nothing is more common than
the description of God, in theological literature, as
something utterly unknowable. Man is limited and
conditioned ; he cannot possibly know the ' unlimited
and unconditioned'. This argument is fair enough in a
sense. To say, however, that no devotee can have
any glimpse of the Almighty by means of any sense
or faculty, physical or spiritual, seems subversive of
all religions. It is necessary to investigate the point
somewhat closely, in order to see whether we should
consistently with intellectual honesty, surrender
religion as the figment of fevered brains.
A great writer describes religion as meaning, in
the broadest sense, the theory and practice of
duties which result from the relation between God
and man. Max Muller says " Real religion requires
x.) IS GOD KNOWABLE ? 3~5
more thaJII a belief in God : it requires a bel'ie( in
man also, and a'n intimate relation between God
and man." Cardinal Newman says l:hat 'nei.ther
a belief in God ·by itself nor a belief in the soul
by itself would constitude religion, and real
religion is founde-d on a true perception of the
relation of the soul to God and of God to the soul'.
~4if4(1(1<1f.::Eil~:snn-:
a:NQJ!ttEt'EtJti'\,dl\i ;:ll~it+llit{&t(( II
~ 1Et(ii$ti~itSiff I
dt~ .. 'EEI:tl Q@fi'Et~cljl!fifQdlit(: 41
3,88,8ooo years
tt
u :i\'llr\4Ei'1Wl~~ ~ ~ I ~ ... srtGrft I ~
NEIIiii'-=(((lfll('¥1( 1~ ft ~ ~~ 1~ Pa'dit4al:~l !*'ii~EII~
-=«(Olfll('¥11 I~ ft ~ 'E\q'iR1fl: I~~ I fWM ~ l
~~ I .'(Jt4i1Mt'h' I fl~"'lfld¥tlcefd I QJ:i~NII: I 'IQ*-"1
~...lfl\t'll~q1e ~ I ~-~~ ~ I ~ f'lt8Ri ffi~ t
;r #q:~ I '1Jw4il~l" I dllO<tiEiP(tl ~ "'--T Sit ft
~;u"
s~J;eQ.-<;i~r ..
,H& ~ho, seek$ union by knowledg~,,~
Gpana .Yogip ... The wise Rishis seek ,He-1\ven· by
constant ,de':otion .to stu9y and intense knowledge. a!ld
meditation. 'Pie who cultivates 'lm'e of God 'by good
works, 'and' sound knowledge, is a Bhakti Yogin. By
the blessing of God, Devas attain this God-love in a
superior measure. It is common ground for all these
classes of worshippers that all of them seek to reach
God as the goal. Their heartsyearn after Him. They
'are not happy until they are gathered up in His busom,
never more to revert to Samsara.
Yoga is thus not a technical name for the science
of breaths alone. Sri Madhva does not put this science
out of court altogether. He concedes that, meditation
by harnessing breaths, restraining respiration, taking
postures, focussing eyes on the tip of the nose and
thoughts on Om, has its value. But this kind of Yoga
is not indispensable.
As indicated above, there arc 3 classes of devotees
who are all on the right path, Karma Yogins, Gnana
Yogins and Bhakti Yogins. Temperaments, capacity,
and aptitude, determine the class to which any Jeeva
belongs, All men in general are fit for being Karma
Yogihs alone. They cannot help being ceaselessly
engaged in works. Their salvation lies through
works. Dedication of fruits <fit'SNI•l is the (Yoga) means
for them.
'lftfi(~ ~'I~~~ ~I
'l'tiQ~~ ~'I' ~<iiiq ~II
SECTION II ; BHAKTI.
SECTION 3· UPASANA.
God-Vic-ion.
· Aparoksha is the penultimate stage of the path.
It is the reward of Bhakti and U pasana continued
for·· a sufficient period and in the proper manner.
lt'Js the cohsurilination devoutly wished for in crores
of ages. ·
Aparoksha is God-Vision. It takes place when
the Lord chooses to take a form and flashes as an image
of light before the inner gaze of the Bhakta.
Every kind of meditation or introspection implies
a mental image. No thought is possible without
pictures presented before the mental eye. But this
is not Aparoksha. One who is engaged in deep
prayer, invariably thinks of God m some kind
of form, however opposed, he may be, in
profession, to image-worship~ but the vision thus
met with is not God but only an ·image composed of the
mind-stuff, the in-dweller whereof is God. It is as
much 'Image-worship' as the worship of exterior idols
or pictures.
In Aparoksha, however, what is visioned is not a
vehicular form, but God Himself, directly choosing to
become the object of direct, mental, or ~piritual
perception. The mind educated by prolonged study
and concentration reaches a highly attenuated subtlety
of perception to become capable of standing this
God-Vision. '~~~~~M~:'is the
declaration of Sruti. " God is visioned by the
attenuated intellect of very subtle seers.''
Among commentators of some authority, there is
possibly a divergence of view in this respect, some;:
•
~Rt.J APAROKSJfA.