Madhva was named Vasudeva by his parents and was a child prodigy. He never learnt from his first teacher as he knew better than him. The father himself taught to some extent and performed Upanayanam. Vasudeva was not convinced with Advaita of Shankara prevalent then and wanted to clear doubts which no one did. As believed he is an Avatar of Hanuman, he was dipped in the milky ocean of Bhakti yoga, from birth. He set off to Udupi to seek blessings of Achyutaprajna, a swamiji there and prostrated before him seeking Sanyasa Deeksha. The Guru was reluctant and at last had to oblige. When Madhva’s Father came to know about this, he begged him touching his feet. Poornaprajna as he was called now said a father salutes a son only when he becomes a Yati. Hence permission was predestined by Sri Hari and promised he will be blessed with another son soon. Only later he would take up Sanyaasa. The father has to agree and return home. After an year a son was born and Vasudeva was anointed as Poornabodha.
At the age of 16 he decided to propagate his thoughts as he was not convinced with Advaita, which his Guru half mindedly followed, amidst much trouble and resistance from people, mainly scholars. He sought his permission to go on tour and presented to him his commentary written on on Geeta. The Guru has to oblige. Poornaprajna toured till Himalayas, visited the shrine of Narayana there. Nara & Narayana, the dual form of Vishnu, blessed him on his tour. It is believed that Badarinaryana Temple was as seen now, is installed by Shankaracharya. This is because the priest there is a Namboodiri.
He later visited upper Badari, keeping away all his disciples down the mountain, as only Madhva was supposed to meet Sri Bhagavan Badarayana Vyasa. Before he set out, Acharya wrote on the white sands of Himalayas, like this:
नेदृशं स्थालमलं शमलघ्नं नास्ति गाम्गसद्रुशंखलु वारि
नास्मदुक्ति सदृशं खलु वाक्यं नास्ति विष्णुसद्रुषं खलु दैवं ||
- There is no place like this which removes all your sins, there are no waters equal to those of Ganga, there is nothing equal to my words of advise to you all, there is no God equal to Lord Vishnu. What else you can expect from Sri Mukhyaprana himself? He just says, listen to me, worship Bhagavan Krishna, you are on the right track of Life.Sri Madhva learnt the real purport of Brahmasutras, Upanishads and the Geeta, in their right prespective from their own Composor Vyasadeva , showed his unique commentary Geeta bhashyam , which was duly appreciated by Vyasadeva himself and was asked to write commentaries on Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavatam also.
The task was completed successfully. Madhva , was his nome de plume, (a man of sweet talk), now returned to Udipi with blessings of Vyasadeva. His Guru was proud to have such a Shishya. He had to face tough opposition from Advaitic and Jain monks as well. Vadisimha and Buddhisagara ran away half the debate.
One day, as tradition has, Madhva, when meditating near the sea shore, found a lump of Soil which was used to balance a small ship. To his yogic eyes he could see two idols of Krishna and Balarama. He installed Balarama, there called odabhandeshvara and brought Krishna idol singing Dwadasha (12) Stotras on Krishna. The idol was installed in a small temple with all rituals under the leadership of his brother, on a Makara Sankranti Day. Now Udupi became a temple town, though earlier there were Ananteshvara and Chandramouleesvara temples which were very old.
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| Sri Krishna installed at Udupi |
Soon Madhva was called Ananda Teertha since anyone who came to his fold was happy. His teachings were practical way of Karmayoga. Kuru bhumkshva svakrama nijam niyatam, Haripada vinamradhiyaa satatam…. Do your ordained duty and leave the result to God you will enjoy Life here and after this Life. Soon many scholars, who came to refute him became his disciples. He organized Pooja at the Temple regularly and gave Deeksha to 8 boys as Sanyasins. They were supposed to worship Krishna 5 times a day from 3.30 am to 8.30 pm.
Works of Madhvacharya
Sri Madhva composed 37 or 39 Books on Tattvavaada, his explanation of vedic thoughts applicable even today. He appointed 8 yatis to worship Krishna and ordained 4 disciples to propagate his Tattvavaada.
1. Sri Padmanabha Tirtha who hailed from Punatamba ( Shobhana Bhatta a great scholar)
2. Narahari Tirtha, a minister to king of Orissa.
3 Akshobhya teertha from Gulbarga (Govinda Bhatta)
4. Madhava Teeertha from Andhra Pradesh (Krishna shastri)
Each one of them was sent to different directions to preach Bhakti Vedanta. After assigning responsibilities to his scholarly disciples, he left to Badari in Himalayas to be with Sri veda vyasa muni in 1317 AD, The Day is celebrated as Madhva Navami all over the World with Devotion. ISKCON also respects Sri Madhva as their Adi Guru.
The Biography of Madhva can be read in Sumadhva Vijaya authored by his junior contemporary, Sri Narayana Panditacharya, son of Trivikrama Panditacharya whom Madhva had defeated in debate and subsequently accepted them as his disciples. This is the most authentic work on Madhvacharya available.
Message of Acharya Madhva
He says- Do your ordained Duty and leave the results to the Lord.
Social Service is a part of service to God.
Have satsanga, the company of good natured people, who possess positive feelings on this life.
Hari, is the ultimate Truth. Try to worship him, your own way.
Have belief in whatever you do. Then it shall yield positive results. Do not bother about what others think of you, if you are in the right path of spiritual path.
Never think you will become God. You are always under his control & protection of mother's love.
A Guru's help is needed to take you on the Right Path of Bhakti Yoga. He will lead you to Sri Hari. ( Mukndabhatai Haribhaktijaayaayai)
Each person in this Universe is diversified, as it is natural.
This life is real, not permanent.
Enjoy the fruits of your good work and remember Him always.
Acharya Madhva's words are like guiding lights on the spiritual path.The Message of Madhva is not as popular as that of Shankara, since it has not been well presented in English & other languages. Another reason might be that in Madhva's Philosophy, Salvation is possible only through the royal path of Bhakti. Bhakti is the ultimate step and not an elementary one, as in Advaita.
Acharya Madhva, a rational thinker, also in philosophy, realised the in- built, natural differences in all beings similar to a much later theory in Physics, Pauli's Exclusion Principle which sees difference between two electrons in a Single atom. Many understood it otherwise, that in his school of thought, there is no salvation for all and it is partial to only Vishnu Bhaktas!! Hence his thoughts did not cross the sea, as was that of Shankara till recent years. That is the case with every thinker, from the time of Socrates. But Madhva's thoughts are unparalleled, pithy and rational. Is not blind Bhakti Yoga, it is Bhakti, with complete faith in Him, Sri Hari.
February 12, 2011 Saturday happens to be Madhva Navami, this year. This is the day Acharya set off to Badari from Udupi. Let us all remember him, who breathes for us, guides us all and takes care of us, without being asked for.
व्यासाय भवनाशाय श्रीशाय गुणराशये ।
हृद्याय शुद्धविद्याय मध्वाय च नमो नम: ॥
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