The dynasty that made Kannadigas proud

They were counted among the four major Kingdoms of the world and Arab travelers lavished praise on the Kingdom. They had for two centuries and more the most powerful army in India and they ruled over large parts of  southern, central and north India.

What makes their achievement all the more significant for Kannadigas is that they were essentially a Kannada Empire.

Their Kings were Kannidagas and Kannada was the mother tongue. Several seminal Kannada works came to be written during the period.

This dynasty was known for its patronage to art and architecture apart from literature between the sixth and the tenth centuries. At its peak, the dynasty controlled more than 17 lakh square kilometers in India, including almost the whole of the Deccan.

The capital of the dynasty was such a magnificent structure that it was said to rival Krishna’s Dwaraka. Sadly, the capital was destroyed and today only a few ruins dot the almost dry and barren landscape.

The few remaining temples that the Kings of this dynasty built are so stupendous that they all have become world heritage monuments. They are in Karnataka and Maharashtra and they attract hordes of tourists.

Unfortunately, their downfall was as sudden as their rise. Centuries later, the Vijayanagars would again hold aloft the Kannada flag but their empire was not the size of this first Kannada Empire that straddled large parts of India.

The earliest known inscription of this dynasty is dated to the seventh century. A copper plate grant of that time mentions that this dynasty-which is known as the Rastrakutas-reigned from Manpur in the Malwa region of modern Madhya Pradesh to entire Karnataka, Maharashtra and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Other ruling Rashtrakuta clans from the same period mentioned in inscriptions were the kings of Achalapur, which is modern Elichpur in Maharashtra, and the rulers of Kannauj. Though several controversies exist regarding the origin of the early Rashtrakutas, their native home and their language was Karnataka and Kannada.

History tell us that the clan that ruled from Elichpur was a feudatory of the Badami Chalukyas and it was during the rule of  Dantidurga, it overthrew Chalukya Kirtivarman the second and went on to build an all India Empire with Bidar and Gulbarga regions its base.

This is how the Kingdom came to be known as the Rastrakutas of Manyakteha, which today is known as Malkhed. The Rastraukta first came to prominence in 753 and they were engaged in bitter rivalry with the  Palas of Bengal and the Prathiharas of Malwa. All the three held on to Kannauj for some time and their wars against each other weakened them.

Three Arab visitors came to India during the Rastrakuta overlordship and  the Arabic text, Silsilatuttavarikh (851),  labels the as  one of the four principal empires of the world.

At their peak, the Rastrakutas of Manyakheta ruled a vast empire stretching from the Ganga  and Yamuna in the north to Cape Comorin in the south. The early Rastrakuta kings were Hindus, while the later embraced Jainism.

One of the most famous rulers, Amoghavarsha, the first, wrote Kavirajamarga,  one of the first literary work in Kannada. The Rasrakutas built the Kailashnath temple in Ellore, the Elephanta caves near Mumbai and the Kashivishvanatha temple and the Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal in Karnataka. All of them are world heritage sites.

The earliest ancestors of the Rastrakutas go back in history to the times of Emperor Ashoka  in the 2nd century BC.

However, the connection between the several Rashtrakuta dynasties that ruled in northern and central India and the Deccan between the 6th and 7th centuries is yet to be established.

Sulaiman (851), Al Masudi (944) and Ibn Khurdadba (912), all Arab travelers, lavished praise on the Rastrakutas and it was Sulaiman who called them one among the four great contemporary empires of the world.

According to Al Masudi and Ibn Khordidbih, “most of the kings of Hindustan turned their faces towards the Rastrakuta king while they were praying, and they prostrated themselves before his ambassadors. The Rastrakuta king was the King of kings who possessed the mightiest of armies and whose domains extended from Konkan to Sind.”

Since the Rastrakutas successfully captured Kannauj, levied tribute on its rulers and also ruled over large parts of Central and north India, their two century era could also be called the “Age of Imperial Karnataka”.

They disappeared as a central figure in Indian polity sometime in 982. Their capitals, Manyakheta in Gulbarga district and Mayurkhindi in Bidar district are today in ruins. The Rastrakutas are almost forgotten today and few are even aware in Karnataka-the land of Kannadigas-that they were perhaps the first to take the Kannada flag right upto the Himalayas.    

Jayatheertha-the bard of Malkhed

It is a remote village in Gulbarga district but it is a shining star in the Madhwa galaxy where no less than sixteen saints of the Dwaitha order are entombed.

Once the capital of the Rashtrakutas from 818 AD to 982 AD, the village is now more known for its Madhwa Brindavanas than for its history. The memories of the once powerful Rashtrakuta is seen in the ruins of the place.

The once powerful city of the Rashtrakutas has lost its glory but what still remains and continues to shine as bright as the Sun is the is one of the most prominent Brindavanas of the Madhwa order.

The Brindavana belongs to one of the most revered and scholarly Dwaitha saint-the one who dared for the first time ever to interpret the works of Madhwacharya also called as Madhwa or the Acharya.

This saint is nine other than Jayatheertha or Teeka Char and his Brindavana is located in the small town of Malkhed, which was in ancient times known as Manyakheta. It is one the banks of the serene Kagina.

Manyakheta has a hallowed history. It was the capital of the Rashkrakutas but by the time of Jayatheertha, it had lost its standing in history and was already in ruins. One of Karnataka;s greatest ruler, Amoghavarsha, the first, had shifted the Rashkrakuta capital from Mayurkhandi in Bidar district to Mānyakheṭa.

This was also the city which the Kalyani Chalukyas, after the fall of the Rashtrakutas, made their capital till 1050 AD. Malkhed is also the place where Sri Vijaya, the eminent poet and Aasthana  Vidwan of  one of the greatest Rashtrakuta Emperor Nrupatunga, resided.

The famous Mahapurana (Adipurana and Uttarapurana) was composed here by Acharya Jinasena and his favourite pupil Gunabhadra in 9th century AD . Somadeva Suri’s Yasastilaka Champu was written in Malkhed as was the brilliant mathematics treatise Ganita Saara Sangrahae by Mahaviracharya.

Another obscure fact is that the well-known Apabramsha poet Pushpadante lived here. Yet, almost all these figures are almost forgotten but not Jayatheertha. With each passing day, his stature and fame seems to increase.   

Jayatheertha was the direct disciple of Akshobya Theertha, his uncle. Akshobya Theertha was the fourth disciple of Madhwacharya and he had left his home in Jamkhandi in erstwhile Bijapur district to join the Dwaitha bandwagon of Madhwa.

One day when Akshobya Theertha was sitting in meditation on the banks of the Bheema, he saw a horseman called Dondupant gallop into the river , bend down and drink water from the river.

Struck by this event, Akshobya Theertha asked the horseman whether he was an ox in his previous birth. The remark triggered past memories of the horseman who recollected that he was an ox which had carried the works of Madhwa on its back.

He also recollected that the Acharya, in the course of his discourse, had remarked that the ox would write commentaries on his works. This had enraged some of the disciples who had poisoned the ox.

The ox was reborn as Jayatheertha.  The horsemen immediately jumped down from the animal and urged Akshobya Theertha to give him Sanyasa.

When Dondopant’s father heard of what had happened, he came to Akshobya Theertha and berated him for giving sanyas to a man in the prime of his youth. He forcibly took Dondopant home and got him married.

When the bride entered the bridal chamber in the night, she was shocked to see a huge serpent sleeping on the bridal bed. She immediately called for help. Jayatheertha’s father came running and was astonished at what he saw. He immediately sensed that his son was no ordinary mortal and he came back to Akshobya Theertha and handed over Donupant to him as his Shishya.

It is now that the real training of Jayatheertha began. Akshobya Theertha spent all his life teaching his favourite disciple about Shastras, Vedas, Upanishats and other texts.

Akshobya Theertha was particular in teaching to Jayatheertha about all the works of  Madhwa. To his great astonishment, Jayatheertha was a hard working pupil, brilliant in several topics, including Teeke.

Days passed into months and months into years and Alshobya Theertha spared no effort to make Jayatheertha the most well-known and knowledgble scholar of his time.

Akshobya Theertha entered Brindavana in Malkhed and Jayatheerta personally oversaw the construction of the Brindavana. He then sat down to write his commentaries, which are relevant even today and are taken as the first and foremost guide to interpret the works of Madhwa.

He headed the Madhwa Matha for 22 years and seven months. During his period, there was none to challenge him and even Vidyaranya, the Raja Guru of  Vijayanagar, acknowledged the ability and scholarship of Jayatheertha.

Vidyaranya had been defeated several years ago in a debate by Akshobya Theertha in Mulabagal in Kolar district. Soon after the debate, the adversaries had gone their ways-Vidyaranya to Sringeri and Vijayanagar and Akshobya to Malkhed.

After several years, Vidyaranya desired to meet Akshobya and he came down to Malkhed where he was told that Akshobya had entered Brindavana and that Jayatheertah was his disciple.

Vidyaranya wanted to test how much Akshobya had taught Jayatheertha and he came to a cave at Yeragol where Jayatheertha was residing. As can be expected, Jayatheertha proved his mettle and Vidyaranya was gracious in his compliments.

He is said to have remarked that Akshobya taught his disciple well. He then placed the works that Jayatheertha had written on an elephant and took it out in a procession.           

Jayatheertha composed almost all his works and, of course, commentaries in this cave in Yeragol which is near Malkhed.

By all accounts, it was in this cave that the Nyaya Sudha, one of the seminal works in Dwaitha literature came to be composed. The author-who else but Jayatheertha. This one works alone is enough to place Jayatheertha on a pedestal next to the venerable Madhwa. It is this work that earned him the nomenclature Teekachar.

Jayateertha is believed to be an avatara of Indra with aavesha of Shesha and personally blessed by Goddess Durga with a writing instrument and a piece of areca nut.

Another legend has it that he was Arjuna during the Mahabharata war. Soon after the Mahabharata war, Arjuna thought to himself that it was because of him that the war was won. He thus for a moment forget Vasudeva or Krishna. For this sin, he was cursed to be reborn as a mortal. His mortal birth was as Jayatheertha.

Whatever his previous antecedents, one thing is for sure. No mere mortal could have so beautifully interpreted Madhwa and in such a manner that all Madhwa saints following him, be it Vyasa Raja or Raghavendra Swamy, Sripadaraja or Raghuttama, have referred to Jayatheertha and his Nyaya Sudha.

Today, if one has to understand Madhwa and his teachings, the first thing one has to do is to get the commentaries of  Jayatheertha.    

Jayatheertha entered Brindavanan near his Guru at Malkhed itself after handing over the reigns to yet another illustrious scholar-Vidyadhiraja Theertha.

However, one puzzling fact is why Jayatheertha and others chose a territory in north Karnataka under the Muslim Bahamani kings to enter Brindavana, while the Hindu Vijayanagar Kingdom was so prominent in south Karnataka. 

One reason is that Jayatheertha acknowledged Malkhed as the place where the saint Brigu     

Malked is just 40 kms from Gulbarga. There are frequent bus service from Gulbarga, Sedam and nearby places to Malkhed. The Uttaradhi Matha and other mathas in Malkhed offer Theerthaprasada and accommodation.

Malkhed is also famous for the Uttaradhi Matha and the Jain Bhattaraka Matha.  The Jain temple of Neminathm built in the 9^th century AD  is a remarkable structure with iodls of all the 24 Jain Theerthankaras. The temple is home to the Panchdhatu shrine with 96 images.