Avatars of the Acharya

Who has not heard of the sloka “Pratamo Hanuman Namo, Dwithiyo Bheema yevacha SaYeva Poorna Pragnya Bagavat Karya Sadhaka”.

This sloka tells us of the three avatars of Vayu-Hanuma, Bheem and Madhwacharya.

Madhwacharya, otherwise also known as Poornaprajnya or Ananda Theertha (1199-1278), was a saint-philosopher and social reformer  of his times.

It was he who propagated the Dwaitha concept in which the Pancha Beda plays an important role. It was for the first time ever in Indian philosophy that Madhwacharya distinguished the souls into three categories. It was also he who upheld the Taratamya or gradation of gods in which he placed Vishnu or Hari as supreme.

Madhwacharya has in several works of his indicated that he was the third avatar of Hanuma-Bheema-Madhwa trinity.

Also known as Sukha Theertha and Purnabodha,  he showed all the three avatars to Trivikrama Panditacharya (1258-1320), his disciple and author of the Sri Vayu Stuti.

It was after Trivikrama Panditacharya saw all the three avatars in a temple in Udupi that he composed the Sri Hari Vayu Stuti. His son, Narayana Panditacharya wrote the Madhwa Vijaya wherein he gives us a complete picture of the life and times of Madhwacharya. Of course, he too believes in the Hanuma-Bheem and Madhwa avatar.

However, the very first mention of such a avatar is in the Rig Veda. Ananda Theertha is commonly identified with Madhwa in the third Balittha or Balitha Sukta of the Rig Veda.

The Rig or Rg Veda says

“yasya trinyuditani veda vachane rupani divyanyalam.
bat.htad.hdarshatamitthamevanihitam devasya bhargo mahat.h
vAyo ramavachonayam prathamakam pr^iksho dvitiiyam vapuh
madhvo yattu tr^itiiyametadamuna granthah kr^itah keshave”

It is in this sukta that we see Vayu Devaru being mentioned as taking three avatars -Hanuman during Ramayana,  Bheema  during Mahabharata and finally as Madhwa during Kali Yuga.

The Vayu Purana too makes a mention of the three avatars.

It says,

“Vayurdivyani rupaani padmatrayayutaani ch | trikotimurthy sanyuktastretaayaam raakshasaantakah || hanumaniti vikhyaato Ramakaarya dhurandharah | sa vaamurBheemsenoabhuuddwaparaante kurudvah || Krishnamsampoojayamaas hatva duryodhanaadikaan | Dvaipayanasya sevaartham badaryaam tu kalao yuge || vayushch yatirupeNa krutva dushashtra Khandanam|

tatah kaliyugeh praapte tritiyo Madhwanamakah | bhurekha dakshiNeh bhagehmsnimadgarvashaantaye | dhikkurvanstprabhaam sadyoavateernoatra dvijaanvaye ||

Madhwacharya himself in Vishnu Tatwa Nirnaya says he came down during Kali Yuga and that he was earlier Hanuman and Bheema.

Madhwacharya had all the physical features, attributes or 32 shubha lakshanas that characterise a person, including the prescribed height, (shannavati angulo apetam) quoted in the Mahabharata-Tatparya Nirnaya.

By the way, only Hanuman is supposed to have all these 32 attributes. Even Gods like Shiva had only 28 attributes. The Balittha sukta speaks of the trinity of Hanuma, Bheema and Madhwa and here is part of a text from the Balittha SuktaBalittha tad.hvapushhedhayi darshatam devasya bhargah sahaso yato.ajani |

yadImupahvarate sadhate matirr^itasya dhena anayanta sasrutah || 1 ||
pR^ixo vapuh pitumannitya ashaye dvitiyamasaptashivasu matR^ishhu  |
tr^itiyamasya vr^ishhabhasya dohase dashapramatim janayantayoshhaNaH || 2 ||

niryadIm budhnanmahishhasya varpasa ishanasah shavasa krantasurayah  |
yadimanupradivo madhwa adhave guhasantam matarishva mathayati || 3 ||

prayatpituh paramanniyateparyapr^ixudho virudho dansu rohati  |
ubhayasya janushham yadinvata adidyabishhtho abhavad.hdhr^ina shuchih || 4 ||

adinmatr^iravishadyasva shuchirahimsyamana urviya vivavr^idhe  |
anuyatpurva aruhastanajuvoni navyasishhva varasu dhavate  || 5 ||

The suktas are very similar to stutis and stotras and they form a vital part of hymns and prayers. Some of the suktas include Devi sukta, Narayana sukta, Purusha sukta, Vishwakarma sukta, Devi sukta, Sri sukta, Medha sukta, Ratri sukta, Agni sukta, Ayushya sukta, Balitha sukta, Neela sukta, Bhagya sukta, Vishnu sukta, Bhu sukta, Durga sukta, Shanna sukta, Parjanya sukta and

Saraswati sukta.

Incidentally, Raghavendra Swamy (1595-1671) has written a short gloss on the Balitha sukta. 

The philosopher Trinity of India

Madhwa Navami is a highly important event for all Madhwas and it was held a few days ago. All mathas in Bangalore and Vaishnava temples celebrated the day with free food, religious discourses and special poojas.

It was on this day that Madhwacharya, the Viashnava saint philosopher of the 12^th century, disappeared amid a shower of flowers from the Anantheshwara Temple in Udupi after giving a lucid lecture on the Upanishad.

A master commentator, philosopher and writer, Madhwacharya is ranked among the trinity of saint-philosophers of India who have given a solid foundation to Indian philosophy and religion. The trinity are Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madhwacharya. The first of the trinity was Shankaracharya who propagated the concept of  monoism or Adwaitha.

Shankara or Adi Shankara (788-820) wrote several works in Sanskrit and established the four Shankara Peethas across India to support his doctrine of Adwaitha Vedanta.

He preached the unity of the atma and and nirguna Brahman (one which has no attributes) and extensively based this concept on the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and, of course, the Bhagawath Geetha. He took on the Mimamsa school of thought and pioneered what later came to be known as Shanmata tradition of worship.

His philosophy can be summarised in his own words as,

 

“ Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah,”

meaning that Brahma (paramathma) is the only truth and that the world is an illusion  and that finally there is no difference between  Brahma and Atma (individual self).

After Shankara came Ramanujacharya (1017-1137) with his concept of  Vishistadwaitha. This concept stresses that Brahma is ultimate and that it has several attributes. Ramanuja says that Brahma or truth (paramathma) is different from the individual.

He further says that all jeevatmas will join Paramathma.

He set out five basic steps of his philosophy of Vedanta. They are 

Taapa or the branding of the symbols of conch and discuss on the shoulders of a person. These two symbols will help eliminate past sins and also serve as a reminder to the person that he is a servant of Narayana.

The second is Pundra or the application of sacred marks on twelve places on the human body. This, Ramanujacharya, said is protection against temptation and also a reminder that the body is a temple.

The third step is Dasya Nama or securing a name that constantly reminds one that the person is a servant of god. 

The fourth is Mantra Upadesha or instruction of the three sacred mantras and their meaning. Ramanajucharya was certain that recitation of these mantras will redeem one from the cycle of birth and death (Karma and rebirth).   

The fifth and last step was Yaga or complete surrender to Narayana.

The third of the trinity was Madhwacharya (1199-1287). It was Madhwacharya who for the first time opposed the concept of Shankara and his monoism.

Madhwa said the world is not an illusion as set out by Shankara. He said the world is not maya and that it is as real as a human being. The pain, suffering and desires of man were also as real as other human attributes. 

Madhwacharya preached what is known as Dwaitha or Bhedavada. This is also known as Tatwavada and Bimba-pratibimba-vada. He has a huge volume of works which are collectively known as Sarvamoola Grantha. He based his philosophy on the Vedas, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Pancharatra Agamas

Madhwacharya distinguishes between Atma or bodily soul and Paramathma, the supreme being and this is the essence of  his philosophy.

For Madhwacharya, the supreme being was none other than Narayana or Vishnu. For him, the soul of an individual was not created by God but nonetheless they depended on God for their existence or survival.

For the acharya, the supreme being is personal and one who has several attributes. This supreme being is none other than “brahmashabdashcha vishnaveva” or Vishnu.

Vishnu thus takes on the role of a guardian of the Universe and all others Gods are subordinate to him. It is in his “Vishnu tatwavinirnaya” that he establishes the supremacy of Vishnu.

Interestingly, Madhwacharya’s principle of Dwaitha is not similar to the concept of Western dualism. For Madhwacharya, the jeevatama or individual Jeeva or prana are dependent on Paramathma. Thus, he says there are two worlds and one is dependent on the other.

Madhwacharya enunciated five main differences and they are  the differences:

Between the individual soul (jeevatma) and God (Brahmatma or Vishnu).

Between matter (inanimate-jata) and God.

Among individual souls (jeeva)

Between matter (jata) and jeeva.

Among various types of matter (jata-jata).

All these five differences go on to make up the universe which Madhwacharya calls prapancha.

However, the Jeeva or atma for Madhwacharya is not one. He not only attributes characters to them but also distinguishes them into three categories.

The souls are classified as Mukti (which can get liberated), nitya which means rebirth and andhatmas which are condemned to hell. This is the first time that an Indian philosopher makes such a distinction. No other Indian philosopher or theologician or even school of thought has held such thoughts or propagated them.

It was Jayatheertha or Teekacharya who interpreted the works of Madhwacharya so that even a common man could understand them. This was further simplified by Vyasa Raja (1447-1539).

Today, we have a huge volume of works on Dwaitha philosophy. The essence of this philosophy is Taratamya and the five-fold differences which is commonly called Pancha Beda.

Moving a mountain

It is as massive as it comes. It is 32 feet long and more than 180 tonnes in weight. This is nothing but a huge Koira granite rock which has been transported all the way from a granite quarry in Doddaballapur which comes in Chikaballapur district to a village near Udupi.

The sheer weight and bulk of the rock is so much that it needed a 120 wheeled truck with pneumatic brakes and flat bed surface to transport it over road for over 460 kilometres.

The huge truck was the cynosure of all eyes and of course whosoever was using the road at that time as the massive rig wended is way slowly and surely along the National Highway to Udupi.

The rock is a single one and the massive three trailer train carrying it passed through the towns of Tumkur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Hubli, Yellapura, Ankola, Kumta, Honnavara, Bhatkal and Kundapur before finally reaching a small village eleven kilometers from the famous Madhwa temple town of Udupi.

The massive stone laid on three carriages or trailers, each with 40 wheels, left Doddaballapur on July 29 and reached Udupi on August 20, which was almost a month long journey.

The rock reached Kunjargiri Hill, near Udupi where it will finally rest. It was near Kunjargiri that Madhwacharya, the famous pioneer and propagator of the Dwaitha system was born (Pajaka Kshetra) sometime in 1197.

The Palimar Matha, which is one of the eight or Astha Mathas that Madhwacharya founded to look after the Sri Krishna Matha in Udupi had decided to install a 32 feet statue of Madhwacharya at the top of the Kunjargiri Hill.

The monolithic statue of Madhwacharya is being sculpted from a single rock at a cost of Rs. 1.50 crores.

Kunjargiri is the place where Madhwacharya was brought up and also where he spent his childhood and early years. The present pontiff of Palimaru Matha, Vidyadheesha Theertha, was instrumental in conceiving this  project.  

Before the rock reached its destination, it was given a ceremonial welcome at Karavali junction on National Highway 66 by Raghupathi Bhat, the manager of  Palimar Matha and hundreds of devotees.

Pooje was also done to the rock at the famous Anegudde Sri Vinayaka Temple in Kumbhasi. The monolith rock was then escorted to the hill in a procession comprising of hundreds of vehicles. It was first taken to Subhas Nagar and from there transported amid the playing of trumpets to the top of Kunjaragiri.

The statue would be installed atop a eight-feet-high and 80-tonne peetha that is being readied at Kunjargiri hill. The statute is being sculpted by national award winning sculptor Ashok Gudigar.

The statue would be sculpted as per the rules laid down in Tantrasara Sangraha, a work by Madhwacharya himself.

The Sangraha is an excellent book on worship. It has an exclusive chapter devoted to sculpture and installation of idols. It is a small work though comprising of 420 slokas.

(There is another book by the same name and it is by Abhinava Gupta, a Shaivite scholar  in the tenth century. It deals with topics such as: Tantric spiritual practice, the nature of the ultimate reality, consciousness, the creative energy underlying all manifestation).

Sri Madhwacharya was born in Pajaka Kshetra about 14 km from Udupi. He spent his childhood at Kunjargiri. It is at this place that  a 80-tonne peetha is being created for placing the statue and it is in final stages.

Initially, the stone was 300 tonnes its size but it had to be reduced to 180 tonnes to permit its transport. Ashok Gudigar from Sagar will be assisted by 20 sculptors to sculpt the statue.

By the way, the rock is called Koira as it comes from Koira village near Doddaballapur. The rock here is slightly grayish in colour. As far as Gudigar is concerned, he is an expert at sculpting statues.  Gudigar and his team plan to complete the work within ten months

Madhwacharya's Mahabharata

India is a land of a billion people. Of this number, only a handful can lay claim to have met or seen God and only a miniscule of these numbers can say that they were asked by God to educate people and write a book.

Madhwacharya is among such rare persons. He not only met the venerable Veda Vyasa (Narayana) twice in Badari but he was also asked to write the Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya to correct the imbalances that had crept up in the epic.

The epic had been written thousands of years earlier and it had undergone several interpolations, additions and even subtractions. It was left to Madhwa to reinterpret both the Ramayana and Mahabharata correctly and in context of the events that had occurred.

As Madhwa was Hanuman in his first avatar when the Ramayana  occurred and Bheem in the second during the time of the Mahabharata, he was eminently qualified to write a commentary on the Bharata or Mahabharata.

This can be termed as  one of the rarest of rare books as it deals with both the epics-Ramayana and Mahabharata simultaneously. It gives us a beautiful and evocative exposition of the epics and also several concepts of religion and philosophy.

The Nirnaya comprises of 32 chapters and each chapter deals with a different issue. It runs into more than 5,000 verses. The work can be categorised into three parts. The first part covers the first three chapters and gives us a beautiful summary of Mahabharata and entire scriptures. It is these chapters that lays the foundation for the other two sections to follow.

The second section comprises chapters 4 to 9 deals and with the story of Ramayana. The last section details the story of Mahabharata from chapters 11 to 32. The final chapter deals with the Pandavas’ ascent to heaven. The tenth chapter is all about Vyasa (Narayana).

In the Nirnaya, Madhwa explains some of the finer aspects of the Bharata (Mahabharata) by drawing upon other religious texts such as Vishnu Purana, Vedas, Hari Vamsha and Bhagavath Geetha.

Since Madhwa was the earlier avatar of Hanuman and Bheema, here Bheema is the hero of  almost all the episodes or rather incidents.

What makes this work invaluable is that Madhwa himself writes about the reason for penning the work. This is contained in the second chapter called Vakyoddharah. He says here that he wants to give us the correct interpretation of the verses written by Veda Vyasa.

Madhwa was asked by Veda Vyasa himself to write the Nirnaya. He had visited Badari the second time and after coming back to Udupi, he wrote the Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya.

The Nirnaya is not mere a book on the epics. It gives us a new and more correct interpretation of the events and incidents of the Ramayana and Mahabharata in relation to the Puranas and Shastras.  We have to take this as the most authentic and correct interpretation as it is Hanuma through whose eyes we see the Ramayana being told and Bheema through whom the Bharata is being narrated.

This can be called the first research work on the epics. It also gives us a correct version of many events of both the epics and proves beyond doubt that over centuries some incidents, passages and slokas have either been added or interposed with the original, twisting the real meaning.

 Here Madhwa establishes several concepts of the Dwaitha Siddantha (philosophy) such as the greatness and supremacy of Hari or Vishnu, the high position of Vayu, the concept of Bheda  which is integral to Dwaitha philosophy and the Taratamya or hierarchy of Gods.

“Taratamyam tato gyeyam sarvocchatvam harestatha

tatadvina nakasyapi vimuktih syath kathanchana”, says our Acharya about the hierarchy of Gods.

Here, Vishnu is the giver of all knowledge and he then imparted it to Brahma and other Gods. 

He also illustrates the difference between the Atma and the Paramathma. Thus, this work built the foundation for the Tatwavada of our Acharya.

But please remember this is a critical work and it does not offer a line-by-line commentary of the Bharata. For that you have to go to Vadiraja Theertha’s  Mahabharata-Prasthana which gives us an explanation of one hundred thousand difficult words in the Bharata.

Apart from Raghavendra Swamy, a commentary on Nirnaya was also written in Kannada by Vadiraja Theertha. This book is also called Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya.

Kambalur Ramachandra Theerta of Vyasaraja Matha, whose brindavana, is in Vellore, has also written a tippani on the Nirnaya.   

For a easier understanding of the Nirnaya, it is better to read the Bhava Sangraha written by Raghavendra Swamy.  This is a work of 32 slokas and each sloka summarises one of the 32 chapters of the Nirnaya.

Satyaabhinava Theertha, one of the pontiffs of Uttradhi Matha has written a Vyakhana on Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya.

The Nirnaya cannot be read in isolation as it has several layers of meaning. It can be read alongside one of the commentaries for a better and truer understating of the epics.

The ten monographs of Madhwacharya

The Sarvamoola Grantha are a collection of 37 works written by Madhwacharya during the 13^th century and early part of the 14^th century.

These works are the fountainhead of the Dwaitha philosophy. It is in these works, that Madhwa refutes the Adwaitha way of life or rather philosophy and takes the Dwaitha Siddantha to a higher plane than the Adwaitha or Buddhist philosophy.

These texts formed the basis for the subsequent saints of the Madhwa order such as Sripadaraja Theertha, Vyasa Theertha, Jaya Theertha, Raghavendra Swamy, Vadiraja Theertha, Raghuttama Theertha and others to base their preachings and also their texts.

It is the very philosophy in the Sarvamoola Grantha that led to the development of Haridasa literature.

The fist ever interpretation of a work of Madhwa is by his first disciple Padmanabha Theertha. The next, and thios was in the form of a torrent, was by Jaya Theertha, whose commentaries on Madhwa earned him the sobriquet Teekachar. His Nyaya Sudha is perhaps the most important interpretation of  Madhwa and this ha formed the core of further interpretations of  Madhwa’s work.

In between Padmanabha Theertha and Jayatheerta, came Akshobya Theertha who took on Vidyaranya in an argument in Mulabagal, Akshobya Theertha based all of his arguments on Madhwa’s interpretation and won.  

All the ten works, except the Vishnu Tatwa Nirnaya, are short. However, the language is tough and one needs the texts of Jayatheerta or Raghavendra Swamy to understand them.

In the Sarvamoola Grantha series, these ten short monographs are also called as Dasha prakaranas. They are:

1. Pramaana Lakshana

2. Kathaa Lakshana

3. Upaadhi Khandana

4. Maayaavaada khandana

5. Mithyaatvaanumana Khandana

6. Tatwa Samkhyana

7. Tatwa Viveka

8. Tattvodyota

9. Vishnu Tatwa Nirnaya

10. Karma Nirnaya.

These ten books too are important as they deal with a variety of subjects. Pramana lakshana talks about the theory of knowledge and various other issues related with it, while Katha lakshana is a book on the subject of debate, its varieties and the rules and regulations governing its conduct.

The next three-Upaadhi, Maayaavaada and Mithyaatvaanumana Prakaranas- take on the Adwaitha tenets and refute them. In Mithyaatvaanumana, the Acharya takes on the Adwaitha theory of “Jagath mythyatva”.

The Tattva samkhyana and Tatwa Viveka deal with the ontology according to the Madhwa school of Vedanta.

The Tattvodyota is belived to contain the arguments that Madhwa actually put to use against two Adwaitha scholars Pundarika Puri and Padmatirtha in Udupi. To the Adwaitha scholars’ argument  “Vishwam mithyaa drshyatvaat”, Madhwa retorts “Chandrapraadeshatvaadivishayam tu

Doorasthatvaadidoshayuktatvaadapatu.”
The Vishnu Tatwa Nirnaya  is the most important work of the Dasha prakranas. It details the concept of Bheda and comes down heavily on Adwaitha concepts.

These books can be easily understood today, thanks to the commentaries on all ten of them by Jayatheertha and subsequently by Vyasa Theertha.

The four main works of Jayatheertha- Maayaavaada khandana Teeka,  Mithyaatvaanumaana khandana Teeka, Upaadhi khandana Teeka and the Tatwa Viveka Teeka-are further elaborated upon and digressed by Vyasa Theertha. Raghavendra Swamy too makes it much more easy for us to understand Madhwa Tatwa.

Raghavendra Swamy wrote Mantrartha manjari to elucidate  Madhwacharya;s Rig Bhashya for 40 hymns.

It is always said that the original is much better than the copy. But in this case, the original has to be read with others as otherwise it would be next to impossible to digest.

As Naarayana Panditacharya aptly pointed out in his biography of Madhwa called “Madhwa Vijaya”,

“Vaadaadayh prakaranasphulingah tanavopyalam.

Vipakshaksham kshinvanti maaruten tvayeritaah.

Maayaavaada khandana “

The Dwaitha hierarchy of gods

Some time ago, a friend of  my uncle, Dr. M.S. Prasad, had come to our house in Jayanagar, Bangalore.

Dr. Prasad is a food scientist of Mysore and he had held a high position in the Central Food Technology and Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore.  He had gone on an assignment to the Food University near Amsterdam, Holland and one of the food scientists from Holland had come to visit India.

The food scientist, whose name is a mouthful and I can only spell and write his last name-Whitte-came to our house for a day. He seemed to be genuinely interested in India and in Hindu religion.

He was particularly fascinated by Yoga, Yogasana and of course the innumerable Gods and Goddesses. A little hesitantly, he asked me whether we had 33 crore gods and whether we prayed to all of them.

He said Christians, whether they are Protestants or Catholics had accepted one person either as God or as Prophet. How then had the Hindus managed to accept so many gods?, he asked.

He asked me about our customs and traditions and I told him that we are Madhwa Brahmins. He then wanted to how many of the 33 crores Gods we worshipped and whether we remembered the names of all those whom we worshipped.

I told him politely that for Madhwas, the one God is Hari or Vishnu. He is the supreme being and all the others come after him. Mr. Whitte looked all the more confused and he did not understand the rationale of having one supreme being in a pantheon of 33 crores.

I then decided to simplify things for him. I took him (and of course I was accompanied by my wife and my uncle) to Lalbagh, I showed him the trees and birds and asked him whether they are all the same. Mr Whitte looked surprised and said they are classified in botany and zoology under different categories. Exactly, I exclaimed. This is how we have classified our gods. Vishnu is the head of this classification and all others are lesser gods and there are lakhs of God like beings.

Just as Botany classifies trees, zoology classifies animals and the Periodic table the elements, we too have classified our Gods.

I told him we worship those who have helped us and they include the Sun, Moon, Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. These are elements of life and there is no harm in acknowledging them and giving them our respect.

Mr Whitte looked a little convinced and he then started off on a new tangent. “You spoke about the hierarchy of Gods. Tell me about it”, he said.

I then decided to tell Mr. Whitte about the Dwaitha hierarchy of Gods.

I educated him about Madhwacharya and his philosophy and he looked suitably impressed about the philosophy of dualism. He had read about philosophers Kant and Emanuel and he could immediately connect to the philosophy of Madhwa and his stout denial of the philosophy of  illusion.

We spoke on Indian philosophy and its many streams and the influence it had on English, French and German philosophy.

Finally, before leaving for Holland, he asked me for a chart of the Dwaitha hierarchy of Gods. I prepared one for him and I though this blog would be an appropriate forum to post it.

The Dwaitha hierarchy or Taratamya of Devathas is as follows:         

The first of the Gods is Paramathma. He is also known as Hari Vishnu (Sarvottama; Purusha). Next comes Rama Devi, Mahalakshmi (Avyaka Tatva; Mula prakruti). The founder of  the Universe, Brahma, is third along with Vayu Devaru.

Fourth is Saraswathi, who is also the wife of  Brahma and Bharathi who is the wife of Vayu (Mahadavyaktha)

Garuda, Shesha and Rudra (Ahankara Tatva) come next, followed in the sixth place by Nila, Bhadra, Mitra Ninda, Kalandi, Lakshna, Jambavathi and Tulasi.

The seventh in the hierarchy is Swuparni or Garuda Pathni, Varuni or Shesha Pathni and Parvathi or Rudra Pathni. Next to them is Indra and Kama (manaswathva). The ninth in the hierarchy is Ahamkarika Prana (Tyjasahamkara, Tvagindriya). They are followed in the tenth place by Daksha (Panindriya), Aniruddha and Kamaputra, Rathi and Kamapathni, Swayumbhuva Manu (Upastheindriya) Brihaspathi (shabda), Sachi and Indra pathni.

Next comes Pravahavayu (Vayutatva, Bhutavayu) followed by Surya (Chakshurindriya), Shataroopa or Swayambhuva Manupathni, Chandra (Shotendriya) and Yama.

In the thirteenth position is Varuna (Aaptatva, Rasanendriya). Then comes Sage Narada followed by Prasootha Devi, Bhrigu and Pradhnagni (Vagindriya, Tejotatva).

After these Gods come the Sapta Rishis, Prahlada and Vyvaswathamanu. Then comes Mitra, Pravahi Devi and Tara, the wives of  Brihaspathi.

In the 18^th place are Vishyaksena, Ashwini Devatas  (Pranenindriya), Ganapathi (Akasha Tatva) Kubera and Shata Devatas.

The Madhwa mathas

The Madhwa or Dwaitha tradition traces their lineage to one of the most renowned and influential philosophers of all times-Madhwacharya. It was this great philosopher who gave an added impetus to the Dwaitha school of thought and brought it to the forefront.

Though Madhwacharya did not start any Matha on his own, he was instrumental in anointing eight disciples to look after the Krishna Temple in Udupi.  The eight disciples came from different villages around Udupi and today these mathas are better known as the Asta Mathas or eight mathas of Udupi.

Apart from these eight disciples, the Acharya had four disciples all of  whom he initiated into the Dwaitha pontificate. The four in order are: Padmanabha Theertha, Narahari Theertha, Madhava Theertha and Akshoba Theertha.  

There have been divisions and sub-divisions of  the mathas right from the time of Padmanabha Theertha. Today, we have nearly 30 main mathas and a host of smaller ones.

I do not wish to go into the reasons for the division of the mathas as they can lead to unnecessary controversy which is always best avoided, I will endeavour to place the facts as it is. I have depended on the History of Dwaitha literature by Mr B,N, K Sharma, the writings of  many Dwaitha scholars and several other credible sources.

The first Peethadhipathi of the Dwaitha kingdom, accepted by all the mathas, is Narayana. He is followed by Chaturmukha Brahma, Sanakaadi, Durvasa, Jnananidhi, Garudavana, Kaivalya, Jnanaesha, Parathirtha, Satyaprajna, Prajuna Theertha, several others and then comes Achuta Preksha Theertha.

Achuta Preksha Theertha gives Deekshe to Madhwacharya. The Acharya in turn passes on the baton to Padmanabha Theertha (His brindavana is at Nava Brindana). In 1324, Padanabha Theertha gives Deekshe to Lakshmidhara Theertha who starts the Sripadaraja Matha. Padmanabha Theertha  was followed by Narahari Theerta (brindavana at Chakretheertha, Hampi), Madhava Theertha (brindavana at Mannur ) and Akshoba Theertha (brindavana at Malkhed). Madhava Theertha appoints Madurai Theertha to head the Thambihalli Matha.

Madhava Theertha selects Akshoba Theertha to succeed him. Akshoba Theertha helps set up two mathas. He is succeeded by Jaya Theertha or Teekachar. Jayatheertha is followed by Vidyadhiraja Theertha.

It was during the time of Vidyadhiraja that the first division of Madhaw matha took place. He had nominated Rajendra Theertha as his successor. Rajendra Theertha had gone on sanchara (travel) and did not come when Vidyaraja was ill. Therefore, Rajendra Theertha’s brother Kavindra Theertha was named as the head of the Dwaitha matha. When Rajendra returned, he found Kavindra had already occupied the post. Rajendra Theertha then came to south Karnataka and founded the Vyasaraja Matha. (The pontiffs after Rajendra Theertha in the Vyasaraja matha were Jayadwaja Theertha, Purushottama Theertha, Bramanye Theertha and Vyasa Theertha).

Kavindra Theertha was followed by Vagisha Theertha (He gave Deekshe to Vadiraja). The brindavanas of both Kavindra Theertha and Vageesha Theertha are at Nava Brindavana.

Vageesha  Theertha was succeeded by Ramachandra Theertha (Brindavana at Yeregol in Gulbarga) when the second division of the Matha took place. Ramachandra Theertha had nominated Vibhdendra Theertha as his successor. When Ramachandra Theertha fell ill, he could not hand over the reigns of the matha to Vibhdendra as he was on tour. He then handed over the peeta to Vidyanidhi Theertha.

Vibhdendra Theertha goes to Kumbakonam and founds the Kumbokanam Matha. This later transforms into the Raghavendra Swamy Matha. Vidyanidhi Theertha is followed by Raghunatha Theertha. This unbroken line of  peetadhipathis is called Uttaradhi Matha.

Decades after Vyasa Theertha, the Vyasa Raya matha splits into Abbur (Kundapur) and Sosale Vyasa Raya Matha.  In the context of all these happenings, the asta mathas continue the tradition of looking after the Krishna Temple in Udupi. There is no break in their matha history.

Madhava Theertha is the founder of Kanva matha or Veda Matha. His brindavana is at Buddhini. Lakshmi Manohara theertha of Shirur matha gave deekshe to Madhava Theerthe to set up the Kanva Madhwa Matha.

The first patron of the Madava matha of Tambihalli or Majjage halli Matha of Kolar is Madurai Theertha. Sagarkatte is the youngst of the Madhwa mathas. It was set up in 1920 by Pradyumna Theertha.

Some of the main mathas are as follows:                     

         

1.        Palimar Matha

2.        Adamar Matha

3.        Krishnapura Matha

4.        Puttige Matha

5.        Shirur Matha

6.        Sode Matha or Vadiraja Matha

7.        Kanioor Matha

8.        Pejavara Matha. (These eight are the Asta Mathas)

9.        Uttaradhi Matha

10.   Sripadaraja Matha

11.   Bhandarakeri Matha

12.   Subramanya Matha

13.   Chitrapura Matha

14.   Bhimanakatte Matha

15.    Kanva Matha

16.   Sagarakatte (Vyasaraja) Matha

17.   Kashi Matha

18.   Partagali Jeevottama Matha

19.   Raghavendra Matha

20.   Sosale Vyasaraja Matha, T Narsipura

21.   Kundapura Vyasaraja Matha, Abbur

22.   Baligaru Arya Akshobhya Tirtha Matha

23.   Kudli Arya Akshobhya Tirtha Matha

24.   Tambihalli or Majjagehalli Matha

I have relied on the parampare of the maths and several Madhwa texts to source material for this article. Readers can write if there is any discrepancy in the article. They can also send in their suggestions.