The Laghu Vayu Stuti by Vadiraja

The Vayu Stuti was first composed by Trivikrama Panditacharya. It is a poem in Sanskrit or Stuti in praise of Madhwacharya.

One day, Trivikrama Panditacharya saw all the three incarnations of Hanuma, Bheema and Madhwacharya together worshipping Rama, Krishna and Vedavyasa in Udupi. Overcome with devotion, he then went on to compose this stuti celebrating the three avatars.

The Vayu Stuti comprises 41 paras. It is usual practice to chant the Vayu Stuti by starting and ending it with the Narasimha Nakha Stuti, a short two-para composition by Madhwacharya in praise of Lord Narasimha.

When Trivikrama Panditacharya presented the Vayu Stuti to Madhwacharya, he insisted that the work should not be dedicated to his praise alone and instantly composed the Nakha Stuti and instructed that it be chanted before and after the Vayu Stuti.

The four lines composed by Madhwacharya are:

“pAntvasmAn puruhUtavairibalavanmAta~NgamAdyadghaTA-
kumbhoccAdrivipATanAdhikapaTupratyekavajrAyitAH .
shrImatkaNThIravAsyapratatasunakharA dAritArAtidUra-
pradhvasthadhvAntashAntapravitatamanasA bhAvitA nAkivR^indaiH”

Since then, the Vayu Stuti also came to be known as Hari Vayu Stuti.

After this Stuti, Kalyani Devi, the sister of  Madhwacharya also composed a smaller version of the Hari Vayu Stuti which she called Laghu Vayu Stuti.

After her, another woman by the same name of Kalyani Devi, who happened to be the daughter of Trivikrama Panditacharya also composed a Laghu Vayu Stuti.

Two centuries later, Variraja (1480-1600), the saint from Sode, composed the Laghu Vayu Stuthi in praise of Madhwacharya.

The composition is as follows:

shrImadviShNvaaj~jadiMda janisi pavananu kEsarI kShEtradalli
kaMjaakShi sItegaagi lavaNajaladhiyaM laMGisi laM<keyalli |
iddaMthaa raavaNannu raghupana karadi niMgisi bhUmiyiMda
kUDiddaa raaGavannu  bhajisi meredi kiMpuruShaa khaMDadalli     ||1||

A vaayu bhImanaagi suravara baladiM kObbidaamaagadanannu
kirmIraM kIcakannu bakamuKakhalaraM duShTaduryOdhanannu |
kUMdu raajaashvamEdha pramukhamakhagaLaM maaDi kRuShNaarpaNeMdu
raajaadhiraajanaagi sujanarapatiyu meradanu saadhu baMdhu        ||2||

praag janmadvEShadiMda kaliyali maNimaan saMkaraacaaryanaagi
brahmaahaM nirguNOhaM vitatha vacanadiM ellaraM keDisalaagi |
aj~jaanaakhyanadiMda  sujanara matiyu mlaanavaM poMdirallu
shrISaj~jaa shiradi vahisi kurukula patiyU  AdanU madhvasUrYaa        ||3||

sarvaj~ja shrIshanEvE vidhibhavamukharu  shrIhari daasarEnE
satyEvE Ijagattu janavu trividhavu nitya paMcaprabhEda |
IshaadhInEvE sarvashrutigidanuguNaa aMdadEvE pramaaNaa
hIgeMdu madhvasUrya tiLisi sujanake adanu divyamOdaa        ||4||

kELeMdu maayivaadI sakalasuravanu maMdigaLyaj~janallaa
jij~jaasya brahmanaaraayaNa  sakalajagatparimitiyannu balla |
nInariyO ninna naari hagalu iraLali jaaravaamaaDuvOdu
brahmaahaM nirguNeMdO vitatha vacanavu hyaaMga nIADavOdu    ||5||

maayaavaadige maanahInajanake shuddhilladaanaayige
maayi saMkarage samIranagadaa peTTiMdalE muktiyu |
nityaMdhatama ahudu eMdu tiLidu aj~jaanavaM varjisi
shrImudraasaha gOpicaMdanavannu dEhaMgaLalyarcisi    ||6||

||iti shrIvaadiraajaviracita kannaDalaGuvaayustutiH samaaptaa||
||shrIkRuShNaarpaNamastu ||

The lyrics in Sanskrit:

श्रीमद्विष्ण्वाज्ञदिंद जनिसि पवननु कॆसरी क्षॆत्रदल्लि
कंजाक्षि सीतेगागि लवणजलधियं लंघिसि लंकेयल्लि ।
इद्दंथा रावणन्नु रघुपन करदि निंगिसि भूमियिंद
कूडिद्दा राघवन्नु  भजिसि मेरेदि किंपुरुषा खंडदल्लि     ॥१॥

आ वायु भीमनागि सुरवर बलदिं कॊब्बिदामागदनन्नु
किर्मीरं कीचकन्नु बकमुखखलरं दुष्टदुर्यॊधनन्नु ।
कूंदु राजाश्वमॆध प्रमुखमखगळं माडि कृष्णार्पणेंदु
राजाधिराजनागि सुजनरपतियु मेरदनु साधु बंधु        ॥२॥

प्राग् जन्मद्वॆषदिंद कलियलि मणिमान् संकराचार्यनागि
ब्रह्माहं निर्गुणॊहं वितथ वचनदिं एल्लरं केडिसलागि ।
अज्ञानाख्यनदिंद  सुजनर मतियु म्लानवं पोंदिरल्लु
श्रीशज्ञा शिरदि वहिसि कुरुकुल पतियू  आदनू मध्वसूर्य़ा        ॥३॥

सर्वज्ञ श्रीशनॆवॆ विधिभवमुखरु  श्रीहरि दासरॆनॆ
सत्यॆवॆ ईजगत्तु जनवु त्रिविधवु नित्य पंचप्रभॆद ।
ईशाधीनॆवॆ सर्वश्रुतिगिदनुगुणा अंददॆवॆ प्रमाणा
हीगेंदु मध्वसूर्य तिळिसि सुजनके अदनु दिव्यमॊदा        ॥४॥

कॆळेंदु मायिवादी सकलसुरवनु मंदिगळ्यज्ञनल्ला
जिज्ञास्य ब्रह्मनारायण  सकलजगत्परिमितियन्नु बल्ल ।
नीनरियॊ निन्न नारि हगलु इरळलि जारवामाडुवॊदु
ब्रह्माहं निर्गुणेंदॊ वितथ वचनवु ह्यांग नीआडवॊदु    ॥५॥

मायावादिगे मानहीनजनके शुद्धिल्लदानायिगे
मायि संकरगे समीरनगदा पेट्टिंदलॆ मुक्तियु ।
नित्यंधतम अहुदु एंदु तिळिदु अज्ञानवं वर्जिसि
श्रीमुद्रासह गॊपिचंदनवन्नु दॆहंगळल्यर्चिसि    ॥६॥

॥इति श्रीवादिराजविरचित कन्नडलघुवायुस्तुतिः समाप्ता॥

The Kannada lyrics are as follows:

ಶ್ರೀಮದ್ವಿಷ್ಣ್ವಾಜ್ಞದಿಂದ ಜನಿಸಿ ಪವನನು ಕೇಸರೀ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ
ಕಂಜಾಕ್ಷಿ ಸೀತೆಗಾಗಿ ಲವಣಜಲಧಿಯಂ ಲಂಘಿಸಿ ಲಂಕೆಯಲ್ಲಿ |
ಇದ್ದಂಥಾ ರಾವಣನ್ನು ರಘುಪನ ಕರದಿ ನಿಂಗಿಸಿ ಭೂಮಿಯಿಂದ
ಕೂಡಿದ್ದಾ ರಾಘವನ್ನು  ಭಜಿಸಿ ಮೆರೆದಿ ಕಿಂಪುರುಷಾ ಖಂಡದಲ್ಲಿ     ||೧||

ಆ ವಾಯು ಭೀಮನಾಗಿ ಸುರವರ ಬಲದಿಂ ಕೋಬ್ಬಿದಾಮಾಗದನನ್ನು
ಕಿರ್ಮೀರಂ ಕೀಚಕನ್ನು ಬಕಮುಖಖಲರಂ ದುಷ್ಟದುರ್ಯೋಧನನ್ನು |
ಕೂಂದು ರಾಜಾಶ್ವಮೇಧ ಪ್ರಮುಖಮಖಗಳಂ ಮಾಡಿ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾರ್ಪಣೆಂದು
ರಾಜಾಧಿರಾಜನಾಗಿ ಸುಜನರಪತಿಯು ಮೆರದನು ಸಾಧು ಬಂಧು        ||೨||

ಪ್ರಾಗ್ ಜನ್ಮದ್ವೇಷದಿಂದ ಕಲಿಯಲಿ ಮಣಿಮಾನ್ ಸಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯನಾಗಿ
ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಹಂ ನಿರ್ಗುಣೋಹಂ ವಿತಥ ವಚನದಿಂ ಎಲ್ಲರಂ ಕೆಡಿಸಲಾಗಿ |
ಅಜ್ಞಾನಾಖ್ಯನದಿಂದ  ಸುಜನರ ಮತಿಯು ಮ್ಲಾನವಂ ಪೊಂದಿರಲ್ಲು
ಶ್ರೀಶಜ್ಞಾ ಶಿರದಿ ವಹಿಸಿ ಕುರುಕುಲ ಪತಿಯೂ  ಆದನೂ ಮಧ್ವಸೂರ್ಯಾ        ||೩||

ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ ಶ್ರೀಶನೇವೇ ವಿಧಿಭವಮುಖರು  ಶ್ರೀಹರಿ ದಾಸರೇನೇ
ಸತ್ಯೇವೇ ಈಜಗತ್ತು ಜನವು ತ್ರಿವಿಧವು ನಿತ್ಯ ಪಂಚಪ್ರಭೇದ |
ಈಶಾಧೀನೇವೇ ಸರ್ವಶ್ರುತಿಗಿದನುಗುಣಾ ಅಂದದೇವೇ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಾ
ಹೀಗೆಂದು ಮಧ್ವಸೂರ್ಯ ತಿಳಿಸಿ ಸುಜನಕೆ ಅದನು ದಿವ್ಯಮೋದಾ        ||೪||

ಕೇಳೆಂದು ಮಾಯಿವಾದೀ ಸಕಲಸುರವನು ಮಂದಿಗಳ್ಯಜ್ಞನಲ್ಲಾ
ಜಿಜ್ಞಾಸ್ಯ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮನಾರಾಯಣ  ಸಕಲಜಗತ್ಪರಿಮಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಬಲ್ಲ |
ನೀನರಿಯೋ ನಿನ್ನ ನಾರಿ ಹಗಲು ಇರಳಲಿ ಜಾರವಾಮಾಡುವೋದು
ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಹಂ ನಿರ್ಗುಣೆಂದೋ ವಿತಥ ವಚನವು ಹ್ಯಾಂಗ ನೀಆಡವೋದು    ||೫||

ಮಾಯಾವಾದಿಗೆ ಮಾನಹೀನಜನಕೆ ಶುದ್ಧಿಲ್ಲದಾನಾಯಿಗೆ
ಮಾಯಿ ಸಂಕರಗೆ ಸಮೀರನಗದಾ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಂದಲೇ ಮುಕ್ತಿಯು |
ನಿತ್ಯಂಧತಮ ಅಹುದು ಎಂದು ತಿಳಿದು ಅಜ್ಞಾನವಂ ವರ್ಜಿಸಿ
ಶ್ರೀಮುದ್ರಾಸಹ ಗೋಪಿಚಂದನವನ್ನು ದೇಹಂಗಳಲ್ಯರ್ಚಿಸಿ    ||೬||

||ಇತಿ ಶ್ರೀವಾದಿರಾಜವಿರಚಿತ ಕನ್ನಡಲಘುವಾಯುಸ್ತುತಿಃ ಸಮಾಪ್ತಾ||

The making of the Hari Vayu Stuti

It was a normal day in the routine of  Madhwacharya. He had just completed giving his discourse on his favourite Aiteraya Upanishad in the Ananthashwara Temple in Udupi.

Many of Madhwacharya’s disciples, including Trivikrama Panditacharya, Hrishikesha Theertha and others had attended the discourse and they were all marvelling at the scholarship of their Guru when he suddenly disappeared.

Trivikrama, who had been converted from Adwaitha to Dwaitha, was puzzled. He did not know why his Acharya disappeared every day at a specific time and why he returned afterwards, glowing with energy and looking radiant.

Trivikrama asked his colleagues but all they knew that their Guru went to Krishna to offer Naivaidya and he returned after some time. Beyond this, they did not know anything.

Trivikrama then resolved to find out the answer himself.  He began accompanying Madhwacharya to the Krishna temple everyday. The Acharya and Trivikrama would go to the Sanctum.While Trivikrama stood outside chanting Dwadashi Stotra, the Acharya would go inside offer Naivaidya to Krishna ring the bells and come out.

This was the routine that the Guru and his Shishya followed everyday. One day even after the time for Naivaidya was over, the bells did not ring. Nor did he hear any sound of Pooje or any activity from the sanctum.

Curious as to what the acharya was doing, Trivikrama opened a small window and peeped into the sanctum. What he saw astonished him and filled him with great happiness and contentment.

He saw all the three avatars of  Madhwacharya worshipping Gods.

He found Hanumantha, the first avatar of  Madhwacharya worshipping Rama and Bheema, the second avatar folding his hands and praying to Krishna.

The third avatar of Madhwacharya, he found, was praying to Vedavyasa or Narayana.

Trivikrama thus saw all the three avatars and all three incarnations of God at one time and one place. He realised that he had been blessed and privileged to see the Gods at one place and one time. He realised the holiness of Madhwacharya and then and there decided to compose a hymn praising Madhwacharya.

This hymn was the Vayu Stuti or Hari Vayu Stuti. It is the usual practice to chant it standing. The two-line Narasimha Nakha Stuti is chanted at the beginning and end of the Vayu Stuti.

This is because when Trivikrama presented this composition before Madhwacharya, he composed this two lined Stuti and added it to what Trivikrama had written. Madhwacharya did not want the Stuti to be in his praise only. Therefore, it is also called Sri Hari Vayu Stuti.

The Narasimha Stuti goes as follows… “Paan Twasmaan puruhu ta vain balawan matanga…. skaantha praviua manasaa bhaavita naaki vrundaihi.”

The Hari Vayu Stuti comprises eight sections of 40 paras. The two shlokas of Nakha Stuti, prefixes the Shloka beginning with mangacharane (6 shlokas), followed by Moola vayustuti (10 slokas), Hanumantha avatara (5 shlokas), Bheemasena avatara (7 shlokas) and Madhwa avatara (12 shlokas) ending with one shloka of Phala Stuti.

An ode to a brother

The pioneer of the Dwaitha system and saint philosopher Madhwacharya not only write several books but he was also instrumental in inspiring all people around him to write, compose and even give discourses on Dwaita Siddantha.

All the four direct disciples of  Madhwacharya-Padmanabha Theertha, Narahari Theertha, Madhava Theertha and Akshobya Theertha have left behind an important body of work, mainly in the field of philosophy.

Similarly, Narayana Panditacharya and Trivikrama Pandit who were closely associated with the Acharya (Madhwacharya) wrote on their Guru himself and his teachings.

Madhwacharya’s sister, Kalyani Devi, and brother Vishnu Theertha, too were inspired by the Acharya and wrote to express their support to Dwaitha system.

Kalyani Devi too was a scholar and she too along with Vishnu Theertha had been given education in Shastras and other religious texts by her parents.

Her father is believed have been her first teacher and late she came under the influence of her brother-Madhwacharya.

She is known to have authored  three works Krishna Stotra,  Anu Vayustuti and Laghu Taratamya Stotra.

All the three books are in Sanskrit and they form an important part of the Sanksrit writing during the Hoysala period.   
The Laghu Taratamya Stotra starts with an invocation to Vishnu and places him among the first in the hierarchy of Gods and Goddesses. The rest of the Gods come later.  

Both Anu Vayu Stuti and Laghu Taratamya Stotra deal with the gradation of gods and they place Hari at the top, with the rest of the gods following him.

The third work-Krishna Stotra- as the name itself suggests, is a work on Krishna. Kalyani Devi is believed to have written it after seeing the Krishna idol her brother consecrated in Udupi-the Sri Krishna Temple.

The Krishna Stotra comprises eight verses and it was first printed from Kumbakonam. It is out of print now.

However, apart from these three works, nothing else is known about her.

Another Kalyani Devi we come across almost during the same period is the sister of Trivikrama Panditacharya.

She too wrote a short composition on Vayu, extolling his virtues and referring to the three incarnations. This work too is called Laghu Vayu Stuti. It is in six verses. It is a short composition of  22 lines with five paragraphs of four lines each and the last paragraph has just two lines.

The Stuti too is a short work. Here, Kalyani Devi praises Vayu and his incarnation. It uses a constant refrain in the second line of each verse- “Anandatheertha mahamunirajam govinda bhakta shikhamanimide”.

This means that I worship Ananda Theertha, another name of Madhwacharya. The Stuti dwells on the three avatars of the Acharya-Hanuma during the Ramayana, Bheema in the Mahabharata and now Madhwa.  

The Stuti is a beautiful play on Sanskrit words and it gives us several meanings. If one meaning of Ananda Theertha is Madhwacharya, another means he is the head of a monastic order, the chief of an order and the first among equals.

Govinda can be broken into Go which in Sanskrit means cow. A deeper meaning is one that gives and one which is a Kamadhenu. Madhwacharya here is the Kamadhenu who has given us the nectar of Dwaitha.

The word Go in Govinda can also mean Vedas, rays of the Sun God, Varuna or water, Indra's weapon Vajra and even the sky or Akasha. It could also depict the Earth, Heaven or Swarga, and some of the organs like a hair or eye.

Thus, the Stuti yields multiple interpretation

Kalyani Devi remained unmarried and she spent time at her house near Vishnu Mangala in Kasargod, Kerala.

Her brother, Trivikrama Panditacharya, wrote the more famous and comprehensive work, Sri Hari Vayu Stuti, during this time.

Trivikrama Panditacharya also wrote commentaries on the Dwaita philosophy and a poem narrating the story of Usha and Aniruddha called Ushaharana.

Narayana Panditacharya composed Madhwavijaya, Manimanjari and a poem called Parijataharana. The daughter of  Trivikrama Panditacharya was also known as Kalyani Devi. She too is known as an author but there appears to be no information about them.

Thus, Madhwa, inspired a number of people to write. Even after he disappeared, his influence continued with the Haridasa literature in Sanakrit and Kannada where all the Madhwa saints and composers who came after him, accepted him as their inspiration and his teachings as their Neethi.