The first disciple of Madhwacharya

He is universally regarded as the first disciple of Madhwacharya, the saint-philosopher who pioneered the Dwaitha concept. He is also the first Adwaitha scholar to have been converted to Dwaitha system by Madhwacharya himself.

He has several other distinctions as he is the first person ever to write commentaries on several works of Madhwacharya. He is also ranked as among the first to propound the Dwaitha Siddantha and the first Madhwa seer to ascend the Dwaitha peeta after Madhwacharya disappeared from view in Udupi.

He is also the first to enter Brindavana and the second after Madhwacharya to give deekshe to another Madhwa saint to found a new Madhwa matha. A high ranking minister in a kingdom in Andhra Pradesh which covered present day Godavari and surrounding areas, he was essentially a Telugu speaking Brahmin. But after accepting Madhwacharya as his guru, he spent all his life in Karnataka and spread the gospel of dualism throughout the State. 

On several occasions, he expounded the doctrines of the Vedas before a galaxy of scholars and among those in the audience was Madhwacharya himself. His commentaries on the many works of Madhwacharya, particularly the Bhashya, helped scholars and people of the times in understating the hidden meaning of the works.

These commentaries remained the only sources for people and scholars to interpret Madhwacharya till Jayatheertha or Teekacharya came up with his erudite interpretations and they supplanted the works by this seer.

This seer is none other than Padmanabha Theertha, one of the leading lights of the Dwaitha movement and a close disciple of Madhwacharya. He was born as Shobana Bhatta, an Adwaitha, and he took to Dwaitha when he was defeated in a debate by Madhwacharya himself.

Born in a small town on the banks of the Godavari, he quickly rose to become a minister on the Kingdom of Raja Mahendra. However, his place of birth near the Godavari is disputed by the renowned scholar BNK Sharma who says he was a Kannadiga.

BNK Sharma says Madhwacharya met Padmanabha Theertha, then called as Shobana Bhatta, when he was returning to Udupi from a pilgrimage to north India. This was sometime in 1265. Padmanabha Theertha was not only a leading scholar of his times but also an eminent logician. He was an expert in fourteen arts and he was silenced in fourteen seconds by Madhwacharya. References to this debate between Madhwacharya and Shobana Bhatta can be found in Madhwa Vijaya  by Narayana Panditacharya. This is a biography of Madhwacharya.

By the way, Hrikesha Theertha, another disciple of Madhwacharya talks of Padmanabha Theertha in his work, Sampradaya Paddathi, as “the teacher of good folk of Karnataka and others”. Another work, Gurukarya, clearly stats that he was a native of Uttara Kannada.

The reason why he is associated with a region close to Godavari is because of a reference in the Madhwa Vijaya by Trivikrama. It is in this work that Padmanabha Theertha is said to be a native of a country near Godavari.

Scholars and researchers say Padmanabha Theertha wrote 15 works but most of them are lost. He is also the author of commentaries on all the ten Prakaranas or the Dasa Prakaranas of Madhwacharya.

His Sannyayaratnavali is the precursor of Nyaya Sudha of Jayatheertha who has quoted from this work as has Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha in his Chandrika.

Jayatheertha in his Nyaya Sudha gratefully acknowledges his debt to Padmanabha Theertha by saying,

“Sa padmanAbhatIrthakhyagogaNostu dR^ishe mama

na tattva mArge gamanaM vinA yadupajeevanam.”

The Sannyayaratnavali is considered to be one of the biggest works of  Padmanabha Theertha and it runs into 5304 granthas.

Madhwa Matha sources place his period as the Mathadipathi for seven years. He handed over the reigns of the Dwaitha Matha to Narahari Theertha before entering Brindavana in Nava Brindavana near Hampi in 1325.

Padmanabha Theertha also handed over the reigns of a matha in Mulabagal near Kolar which he established to Lakshmidhara Theertha and this later came to be known as Sripadaraja Matha. This was sometime in 1324. The idol of Gopinatha that the matha has today was the one which Madhwacharya gave to Padmanabha Theertha who in turn handed it over to Lakshmidara Theertha.

Some of his works include Geetha Bhashya Teeka, Mayavada Khandana Teeka, Sattarka Deepavali, Tatvaviveka Teeka, Upadhi Khandana Teeka (Nyaayavali), Ananda Mala, Prapancha mityatvanumana Kandana Teeka, Katha Lakshana Teeka, Geetha Tatparya Nirnaya Teeka,  Tatvodyota Teeka, Tatvasankyana,  Teeka,  Pramanalakshana Teeka, Karmanirnaya Teeka,  

Vishnutatva nirnaya Teeka and Vayuleela vistarana.

The aradhana of  this great saint as held at Nava Brindavana on November 11.

There is a Mrithika Brindavana of Padmanabha Theertha in the Sripadaraja Matha in Mulabagal and also at the Vyasa Vittala temple near Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bangalore.  

The Haridasa tradition

There are more than a thousand Haridasas from Karnataka alone and all of hem have contributed their mite to the development of Haridasa or Vaishnava literature.

Unfortunately, many of these Haridasas are only heard of and their compositions have either disappeared or lost forever. Though the first ever recorded Haridasa would be Naraharti Theertha, one of the four disciples of  Madhwacharya (1238-1317), the Haridasa tradition is believed to have started sometime around 880 When Achalananda, who lived near Bangalore, began composing songs.

However, Achalananda’s songs and the compositions of others, which Prof. B.N.K. Sharma calls as Adyas, has not survived.

Prof. Sharma surmises that these Adyas could be Smarthas and that they could have lived and composed songs in the period between Narahari Theertha and Sripadaraja of Mulabagal.

Whatever be the context and setting, there is not much Haridasa literature till the advent of Madhacharya and his disciples.

Narahari Theertha, therefore, must be regarded as the first Madhwa saint to have written several Devara Namas and he can therefore be rightfully considered to be the first Haridasa.

However, Haridasa experts say the Dasa tradition goes back several centuries earlier to Narahari Theertha. They agree that the Haridasa tradition got a huge boost during the life and time of Madhwacharya.

Though Madhwacharya composed several works and many of them are still existing, all of them are in Sanskrit. Since he lived in and around Udupi, and since his parents belonged to the same area, there is no doubt that he knew and spoke Kannada and Tulu. Yet, there are no composition and works of his in Kannada though he is believed to have written a few.

By the way, only three songs of Narahari Theertha has been discovered so far. They are “yanthu marulade nanenthu”. Narahari here is saying that he has so far been deluded and it is only now that he has become enlightened. His second composition is “hariye idu sariye”. This could perhaps be the first ever composition on Hari and here Narahari is asking Hari himself whether this is proper. The third composition is “tiliko ninnologe neene” meaning knowing within thyself. He had his Ankita as “Narahari” or “Narahari Raghupathi’’.

Before Narahari, it was the turn of Padmanabha Theertha to inspire people to take to the Dwaitha way of life. An ardent disciple of  Madhwacharya, he was the first to write commentaries on works of  Madhwacharya. Though he is credited with having written 16 works,  he appears not have written any Devara Namas. Yet, his influence over other Madhwa seers such as Jayatheertha, Sripadaraja, Vyasaraja cannot be underestimated and the last two are among the foremost among Haridasa composers.  

Similarly, while many hundred compositions of Purandara Dasa out of his supposed 4,75,000 are available, that of  his wife who too was a composer and their sons, including Madhwapathi, are lost. However, only a few compositions of Madhwapathi are available though he was as prolific a composer as his father. Very few compositions of Purandara’s other two sons-Hebbana Dasa and Lakshmana Dasa- are available.

Even before Purandara turned to god, his wife Saraswati Bai, was a highly religious person and it was she who had brought up her sons and a daughter in a highly religious and orthodox manner. Except for this fact, very little is known of her literary achievements.

He had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasaraja in 1525 when he was about 40 years old.

Purandara then writes his first song. This is Ana Le Kara in Shudha Savaeri raga and set to Triputa tala, where he laments how he wasted so many years of his life in going after materialistic things.

We also have no information about the literary career of  Gopikambe, mother of Raghavendra Swamy. Even she is supposed to have composed several Devara Namas and she sang them even as her husband, Thimanna Bhat, played the Veene. No wonder, our Rayaru too was proficient in both-playing the Veene and composing.

Another prolific composer is Mahipati Dasa (1715-1790). He hailed from Kakandhiki in Bijapur district. His son too was a well-known Haridasa of the times but Krishna Dasa’s compositions are very few. While we have a fairly large body of literature belonging to Mahipati, the same cannot be said of Krishna Dasa.

There is also little information on the life and times and of course compositions of  Vittala Dasa, Vijata Dasa, Venkata Dasa and Krishna Dasa. The last three dasas belonged to Udupi. Nekkar Krishna Dasa  or Krishna Dasa was also called Varaha Thimmappa. He was a scholarly  person of the Dasa Parampara. Many of his poems are reported to have been plagiarised by singers.

Varaha Thimmappa Dasa lived during the time of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. When Sagar in Shimoga district fell into the hands of Hyder, he fled to Tirupathi. He was a contemporary of Madhwa Dasa of Udupi.

So, we see that not all Dasas have got their rightful due. There are several other Dasas whose compositions are not well known or have disappeared, but that is for another post to report.  

The Hindu and Muslim rocks

Thousands of years ago, when Hanuman was returning back home-flying in the air- from Sri Lanka, he saw a huge boulder which was slowly rolling down from its perch on a hill.

He saw the havoc that the boulder would pose to the people of the village below the hill if it rolled down. He then pushed back the huge boulder with his thumb and ensured that it would remain firmly rooted to the ground.

To prove this legend, there is still a thumb mark that you can see on the face of the boulder. The thumb impression is frozen on the rock and it is popularly called the “Hand of God”.

The rock stands as it is today, precariously perched at the edge of the hill. It would look as if it is going to fall any time but it has remained as it was put back by the money God. In case it falls today, it still has the potential to destroy at least half of the town below the hill.

Locals believe that the rock would stay as it is as long as civilization exists. There are so sure of the hand of Hanuman that nobody talks of the boulder or even fears that it would roll down.

This rock has got its own name, one of the few to do so. It is the Hindu rock. By the way, there is a Muslim rock too.

The Muslim rock too has romantic tale to narrate.

A little over two and half centuries ago, a Muslim soldier, who was the son of a Palegar of Budhikote, climbed the rock here and offered prayers. He was born in Budhikote and he knew the area around very well. A devout Muslim, he clambered on to the rock and offered prayers facing Mecca.

There are impressions or marks visible on the rock even today which testify to this act. The name of the man who prostrated on the rock and prayed regularly every day for several years: Hyder Ali, the father of Tipu and among the first Mysoreans, to take on the British.   This  perhaps could be the only hill which has rocks named after two religions and each with its own fascinating history.

This is the hill of Mulabagal in Kolar district. The hill rises over the ancient temple town and looks like a guardian of the area.

For the uninitiated, Mulabagal is on the way from Bangalore to Tirupathi. As people crammed in all types of vehicles whiz by, only a few care to stop at the once bustling Eastern capital of the Vijayanagar. Even among them, only a handful make it to the hills, which for the most part of the year lies deserted and desolate.

Even trekkers, climbers and Nature give this hill a miss. They  prefer several other hills around Mulabagal which are more tall or more difficult to climb than this hill.

The hill presets an interesting study in geology. It mainly  comprises a series of rocks of various shapes and sizes and of course the most prominent among them is the Hindu and the Muslim rocks.

The hill is not only a place of trekking climbing but it has its link with history too. Epigraphs and history suggests that on October 4, 1768, the Battle of Mulwagul, which was part of the First Anglo-Mysore War was fought on this very ground.

It was here on October 3 , that Hyder  saw the army of the Nawab of Arcot, Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah. The Nawab had allied himself with the British  in their war against Hyder.

Hyder was on his way back to Bangalore from Guuramkonda when he saw the Nawab’s garrison billeted at hill here.

Hyder then quickly fell on the Nawab’s men and the British sent reinforcements under Colonel Wood.

The combined forces of the British and the Nawab recovered the lower fort of Mulabagal but were unable to beat Hyder out of the upper fort. The next day-October 4- Colonel Wood went out with a few companies to investigate movements and he was quickly surrounded  by Hyder soldiers.

When the battle began, another office, Colonel Brooks, and two other British men of arms dragged two cannons to the top of a nearby hill. Brooks then called out saying “Smith! Smith!, even as he fired the cannons at Hyder’s well-tuned army.

Both Hyder and the British thought that Colonel Smith was arriving with reinforcements. Hyder ordered his troops to fall back, enabling the almost defeated Colonel Wood to rejoin with Brooks and other reinforcements from Mulwagal.

Hyder realised his tactical error and renewed his attack, but the British and the Nawab held firm. Both sides lost men-Hyder close to 1,000 and the British 200.

However, the ferocious manner in which Hyder had attacked the British convinced Colonel Smith that he would be unable to effectively besiege Bangalore without first defeating Hyder in open battle.

The East India Company was left redfaced at the result of the battle and it  blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder. It  recalled him to Madras.

Hyder then regrouped from here and took the opportunity to besiege Hosur. Here again both Hyder and Wood met. Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town. As Wood approached, Hyder  raised the siege, attacked Wood's column and overran his baggage train in the Battle of Bagalur.  Hyder  captured supplies and arms and  drove Wood in disgrace toward Venkatagiri.

Wood was recalled and the East India Company replaced him with Colonel Lang. This was off no consequence as Hyder went from strength to strength and even came upto the gates of Madras and the British were forced to negotiate with him.  

Nothing remains of the battle now save the name of the town Mulabagal. In ancient days, it was known as Mudalabagilu meaning the eastern-door.

It was the eastern most frontier and, therefore, the entrance to the Vijayanagar empire. The town boats of a massive Hanuman temple with the idol being consecrated by Arjuna. Sage Vasishta is believed to have installed the idols of the main deity Srinivasa, Padmavati and Rama-Sita-Lakshmana at the temple.
The town is associated with the Ramayana and there are several tales about it. One of the hills still has the ruins of a fort which is worth a visit.

Another hill nearby is famous for being the first point the sun rises throughout Karnataka.

Mulabagal is about 100 kilometres from Bangalore and it is easily accessible by road. It is situated on the four-laned national highway.

The only Sanskrit work from the Bard

“Tham vande narasimha theertha nilayam
Sri vyasaraja poojitham
Dhayantham manasa nrusimha charaaam
Sripadarajaram gurum.
Pada Vakya Pramatabhyam Vikreedana
Visharadam LakshmiNarayana Muneem
Vande Vidya Gurunmama”,

so said Vyasa Raja of his guru, Sripdaraja Theertha of Mulabagal.

Here, Vyasa Raja is paying his respects to his Guru who he says is an ocean of knowledge.

Vyasa Raja was among the first of Sripadaraja’s students along with Hayageeva Theertha (successor to Sripadaraja of the matha) of the Veda Patshala at Mulabagal.

The pathashala had been started by Sripadaraja Theertha and it taught shastras, Mimamsa, Taraka, Ganitha and other elated subjects apart from Sanskrit. However, what distinguished this patashala from others like in Kanchi or even Vijayanagar was that Kannada was the medium of instruction along with Sanskrit.

Sripadaraja not only taught students in Kannada but also sang, composed and spoke in Kannada, thereby bringing the scriptures nearer to the people.     

Many of Sripadaraja’s works and even almost all his compositions are in Kannada. His sole work in Sanskrit is Vagvajra and that is a classic. 

The Vagvajra  is a brilliant work and it shows its author as a brilliant scholar and vedantha pandit.

The style is classical and it closely  resembles the Sanyayarathnavali of Padmanabha Theertha, the first disciple of Madhwacharya. The Sanyayarthnavali is perhaps the first ever commentary or note on the works of Madhwacharya, particularly the Brahma Sutras.  

Just like Padmanabha Theertha, the seer of Mulabagal in Vagvajra uses skillfully his mastery over Sanskrit in playing with words, giving us a variety of meanings. This text is essentially based on the Nyayasudha of Jayatheerta or Teekachar whom Sripadaraja so admired.

Many of the “pearls of wisdom” in Nyaya Sudha have been simplified and put forward in Vagvajra in both prosaic and poetic styles.

Sripadaraja was the most apt person to write on Nyaya Sudha as he had studied it for years and even given discourses. His discourse on Nyaya Sudha at an assembly of Madhwa saints and personalities in Koppara in Raichur district so amazed the then Uttaradhi Matha seer, Raghunatha Theertha, that he gave Lakshminarayana Muni the new name Sripadaraja.

The Yukthis are not repeated, instead anumanas are. Therefore, the work is also called  Nyaya Sudhopanyasa Vagvajra.

It contains 3500 shlokas and each shloka is a gem in itself.

A part of the Vagvajra reads like this,

“Sri manyaya sudha grantha......tharka sangraham”.

The Vagvajra has inspired several people, including Vyasa Raja who wrote Vyasa Traya, which is based on his master’s work.

William J Jackson, in his book, Vijayanagar Voices” Exploring South Indian History and Hindu Literature”, has translated some of the suladhis of Sripadaraja Theertha and even given a brief commentary of the Vagvajra.

The Madhwanama

What Sri Hari Vayu Stuti is in Sanskrit, the Madhwanama is in Kannada. If the former was written by Trivikrama Panditacharya, one of the disciples of Madhwacharya, the second is by Sridapadaraja Theertha.

Both the stutis sing the praises of  Madhwacharya and his earlier two avatars-Hanuma and Bhaama. If Trivikrama Panditacharya managed to see the avatars of Madhwacharya only in the Kali Yuga, the venerable Sripada had seen them thousands of years ago when he was Dhruva.

Thus both the works are inspired by God.

I  had dealt with the Sri Hari Vayu Stuti in an earlier post and, hence,  this will be on Madhwanama.

The Madhwanama is one of the many compositions of Sripadaraja in Kannada and perhaps also the most evocative. It extols the virtues of Vayu and his three incarnations-Hanuman, Bheema and Madhwa.

The idea of composing Madhwanama took root when Sripadaraja realised that many Kannada speaking people were not able to appreciate the Sri Hari Vayu Stuti and the nuances of Madhwa philosophy as they did not know Sanskrit.

Sripadaraja then decided to teach his students in Kannada. He also preached, gave discourses and even conducted poojas in Mulabagal in Kannada. He composed many songs which were sung for the evening poojes at Mulabagal, Incidentally, they are till sung today too.

Sripadaraja decided to make the people of Karnataka aware of the greatness of Vayu by writing on his three incarnations. Since Sri Hari Vayu Stuti was in Sanskrit, he decided to write on the same subject in Kannada. Thus was born the Madhwanama.

The Sri Hari Vayu Stuti and Madhwanama are sung in all the Madhwa households even today and they best represent in a concise manner the greatness of Hari.

The Madhwanama follows the structure of Sri Hari Vayu Stuti. The difference between both is that in Madhwanama, Sripadaraja has cleverly written several but little known ideas and incidents from the two epics-Ramayana and Mahabharata.

As Dhruva, he perhaps had the best credentials to wrote about God whom he had meditated upon, seen and even been blessed.

Several centuries after Madhwanama, Jagannatha Dasa, the author of Harikathamrutasara,  wrote the phala stuti for this beautiful composition of Sripadaraja Theertha.

This is the Enlgish translation of the Madhwanama. However, the beauty of the composition can be captured only if you read and sing it in Kannada.

sri guru sripadaraja virachita madwanama

jaya jaya jagatrana, jagadolage sutrana

akhila guna sadhdhAma madhwanama

ava kachchhapa roopa dinda landodakava

ovi dharisida sheshamurutiyanu

avavana balvididu hariya suraraiduvaro

avayu namma kula gururayanu

Avavanu dehadolagiralu hari ta nelasihanu

avavanu tolage hari ta tolaguva

avavanu dehadolahorage niyamakanu

avayu namma kulaguru rayanu

Karanabhimani suraru dehava bidalu

kuruda kivuda mukanendenisuva

parama mukhyaprana tolagala dehavanu

aritu penanendu pelvaru budhajana

Surarolage nararolage sarvabhutagalolage

parataranenisi nemadi nelasiha

hariyanallade bageyanannyaranu lokadolu

gurukulatilaka mukhya pavamananu

Hanumanta avatara

Trteyali raghupatiya seve maduvenendu

vatasuta hanumantanendenisida

potabhavadi taranibimbake langhisida

itagene yaru murlokadolage

Taranigabhimukhavagi shabdashastrava pathisi

uravanisi hindumundagi nadeda

parama pavamana udayasta shailagala

bharadi aidida etagupameyunte

Akhilavedagala sarava pathhisidanu munnalli

nikhila vyakaranagala iva pelida

mukhadalli kinchidapashabda ivagillendu

mukhyapranananu ramananukarisida

Taranisutananu kayda sharadhiyanu neredati

dharanisuteyala kandu danujarodane

bharadi ranavanemadi gelidu divyastragala

uruhi lankeya banda hanumantanu

Harige chudamaniyanittu harigala kudi

sharadhiyanu katti bahu rakkasaranu

orisi ranadali dashashirana hudiguttita

mereda hanumanta balavanta dhira

Uragabandhake siluki kapivararu mai mareye

Taranikulatilakana gnayane tali

girisahita sanjivanava kittu tandittha

harivarage sariyunte hanumantage

Vijaya raghupati mechchi dharanisuteyaligiye

bhajisi mouktikada haravanu padeda

ajapadaviyanu rama koduvenene hanumanta

nijabhakutiyane bhedi varava padeda

Bhima avatara

amarutane bhimanenisi dvavaradi

somakuladalli janisi partharodane

bhimavikrama rakkasara muridottida

amahima namma kulagururayanu

karadinda shishubhavanada bhimana bidalu

giriyodedu shatashrungavendenesitu

harigala harigalim karigala karigalim

areda viranige sura nararu sariye

Kurupa garalavanikke nereyundu tegi

uragagala melbidalu adanorasida

aragina maneyalli uriyanikkalu dhira

dharisi jahnavigoyda tannanujara

Alle idda baka hidimbakaremba rakkasara

nilladorisida lokakantakaranu

ballidasurara gelidu droupadi karavididu

yella sujanarige harushava birida

Rajakula vajranenisida magadhana sili

rajasuyayagavanu madisidanu

Ajiyolu kouravara balava savaruvenendu

mujagavariye kankaNakattida

Danavara savarabekendu byaga

mananidhi droupadiya manadingitavanaritu

kananava pokku kimmiradigala muridu

maninige sougandhikavane tanda

Durula kichakanu droupadiya cheluvikege

marulagi karakariya madalavana

garadimaneyolu barasi orisi avananvayava

kurupanattida mallakulava savarida

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Kouravara bala savari vairigala neggotti

orante kouravana muridu mereda

vairi dushyAsanana ranadali edegedehi

viranarahariya lIleya torida

Gurusutanu sangaradi narayanastravanu

uravanisi bidalu shastrava bisutaru

harikrupeya padedirda bhima hunkaradali

hariya divyastravanu nere attida

Chandavikrama gadegondu ranadolage bhu

mandaladolidiradanta khalaranella

hindi bisutida vrukodarana pratapavanu

kandu nilluvararu tribhuvanadolu

Narirodana keli manamarugi gurusutana

harhisidu shiroratna kitti tegeda

niroladagidda duryodhanana horagedahi

uruyuga tanna gadeyinda murida

madhwa avatara

Danavaru kaliyugadolavatarisi vibhudarolu

venana matavanaruhaladanaritu

gyani ta pavamana bhutaladolavatarisi

mananidhi madhvakhyanendenisida

Arbhakatanadolaidi badariyali madhvamuni

nirbhayadi sakala shastragala pathisida

urviyolu maye biralu tatvamargavanu

orva madhvamuni torda sujanarge

Sarvesha hara, vishwa ella ta pusiyemba

durvadigala matava nere khandisi

sarvesha hari, vishwa satyavendaruhida

sharvadigirvana santatiyali

Ekavimshati kubhashyagala beranu taridu

shrikararchitanolume shastra rachisi

lokatrayadolidda suraru alisuvante

akamalanabhayati nikaragoreda

Badarikashramake punarapiyaidi vyasamuni

padakeragi akhila vedarthagalannu

padumanabhana mukhadi tilidu brahmatvavaidida

madhvamuni rayagabhivandipe

Jaya jayatu durvadimatatimira martanda

jaya jayatu vadigajapanchanana

jaya jayatu charvakagarvaparvata kulisha

jaya jayatu jagannatha madwanatha

Tungakulaguruvarana hrutkamaladolu nelesi

bhangavillada sukhava sujanakella

hingade koduva guru madhwantaratmaka

rangavithala nendu nenasasiri

Jagannatha Dasa phala stuti

Somasuryoparagadi go sahasragala

bhumidevarige suranadiya tatadi

shri mukundarpanavenuta kotta phalamakku

ei madhwanama baredodidarge

Putrarilladavaru satputraraiduvaru

sarvatradali digvijayavahudu sakala

shatrugalu keduvaru apamrutyu baralanjuvudu

sutranamakana samstuti matradi

Sripadaraja pelida madhvanama

santapa kaledakhilasoukhyavanivudu

shripati srijagannathaviththalana tori bhava

kuparadinda kadehayisuvudu

The first Madhwa seer to use Kannada

He was a teacher par excellence. His ambition was to teach, preach, sing and even compose in Kannada and he did so with utmost success.

The preceptor to several Emperors of the Vijayanagar dynasty, he was instrumental in fashioning a young Vyasa Theertha into the foremost scholar of the day. It was also he who advised and sent Vyasa Theertha to Vijayanagar around 1485-86 to guide the royal family, he himself declining the offer.

Among the first of the Madhwa saints to be bestowed with royal honors, he lived like a regal king, so much so that the then Uttaradhi Matha pontiff Raghunatha Theertha was forced to remark in an assembly of saints, “ Navy Ellaaru Sripadangalu, Neevu Sripadararu”  (When roughly translated it means we are all only holy men, you are the chosen one of  Hari).

Sripadaraja settled down in Mulabagal which is today in Kolar district of Karnataka and enroute to Tirupathi from Bangalore. His ambition was to set up a Veda and Shastra Patashala in Mulabagal and he strived hard to achieve this goal.

Achieve he did and what an amazing centre of learning Mulabagal turned out to be. Sripadaraja’s cousin, Bramanye Theertha had picked up a young Yathiraja (Poorvashrama name of Vyasa Theertha) from Bannur. Bramanye Theertha, the saint of Abbur (now in Chennapatna taluk) and the disciple of Purushottama Theertha, decided to send Vyasa Theertha to Mulabagal for further studies sometime in 1478.

It was here that Sripadaraja took personal care of  Vyasa Theertha. The relationship between the two was similar to what the relationship was almost a century ago between Akshobya Theertha and Jaya Theertha (Teekechar). If Akshobya had spared no effort to make Jaya Theertha the master of Shastras, Sripadaraj too did the same.

Even today there is a small cave in the Sripadaraja Matha at Narasimha Theertha where Vyasa Theertha was taught. Local folklore has it that it is at this very cave that Sripadaraja give some of his finest discourses on Sarvamoola Grantha to Vyasa Theertha and others.

Sripadaraja Theertha was a teacher with extraordinary ability. What set him out from other Dwaitha saints of the time, was his ability to interpret religious texts, including the Sarvamoola Grantha in Kannada.

Till then, all Madhwa saints and even teachers generally spoke and interpreted the works of Madhwacharya, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Gita, Puranas and other religious texts in Sanskrit. They rarely used the local language.

It is here that we have to recognise Sripadaraja’s contribution in the field of education. Apart from Sanskrit, Kannada also became the language of communication and even education at his Gurukula or Patashala.

A master of almost all religious texts, Sripadaraja had an extraordinary grasp of the Sarvamoola Grantha, the collected works of Madhwacharya. During his lifetime, he taught Sarvamoola Granthas forty times along with the teekas or commentaries.

Everytime he started a class about the Grantas, students flocked to the classes. He just wrote one work in Sanskrit-Vagvajra- the rest of all being in Kannada so that the local people could understand them.

Apart from teaching in Kannada, he also sang in Kannada during Pooje and other religious functions at the matha in Mulabagal and the patashala. 

Sripadaraja asked  Vyasa Raja to study “Tathparyanirnaya” of Madhwacharya and give him a critical analysis. Vyasa Theertha did so to the pleasure of Sripadaraja who remarked,

“Nirnayam sarva shastranam

Bharathaartha nirnaya”.

Apart from Vyasa Theertha, the bard of Mulabagal had several other scholars and saints as his disciples. Apart from teaching, he also inculcated the love of  Carnactic music and Haridasa sahitya to Vyasa Theertha and others, including Vadiraja Theertha.

The life and times of Sripadaraja Theertha can be mainly found in the works and songs of Vyasa Theertha like his Sanskrit composition “Pancharatnamala Stuti”, suladis of  Vijayadasa, the Sripadarajastakam of Shrinidhi Theertha and Bhimacharya's Shri Purnabhoda Guruvamsha Kalpataru.

The best grurdakshine we can give a teacher is if we can excel him in scholarship or at least reach his level, Vyasa Theertha was a apt disciple of Sripadaraja and he can be said to have excelled his teacher. No wonder, if today one talks of Vyasa Theertha, you cannot do so without taking the name of his teacher-Sripadaraja.   

The Seer who saw Sripadaraja

It was in the early years of the twentieth century and Medhanidhi Theertha (1908-1926) was heading the Sripadaraja Matha.

The seer had come to Mulabagal where he was performing daily pooje to the Moola Brindavana of  Sripadaraja Theertha (1412-1504) at Narasimha Theerha near Mulabagal in Kolar district.

One day, the seer was slightly discomforted when he was performing the pooje of  Sripadaraja Brindavana. He thought that the steps should be evened out and placed properly so that it would not inconvenience anyone,

Medhanidhi Theertha completed his pooje and before retiring to his quarters, he asked some of his disciples to remove the steps leading to the Brindavana and lay them again properly. He asked them to exercise care and ensure that the Brindavan remained untouched.

The disciples did as they were told. They had already removed some of the stone slabs on the steps when they found a gaping hole. They thought that the hole had resulted in the steps sinking down and making them uneven. They removed more stones when suddenly they saw a binding flash of light.

The disciples ran back to Medhanidhi Theertha scared and anxious about what had happened. The seer rushed back to the Brindavana and peered into the dark hole.

What he saw in the hole astonished him. He saw Sripadaraja  sitting in Padmasana with a lamp burning near him. The Nandadeepa was burning bright and he could clearly make out the luminous feature of Sripadaraja.
The Seer could make out that Sripadaraja was sitting in deep meditation and that the Mudra was clearly visible on the upper part, hands and head of  Sripadaraja. Quickly prostating before the Dhriva avatar, Medhanidhi Theertha decided against going any further with the repairs to the steps.  

He then called his disciples and asked them not to go ahead with any repair of the steps. He direcetd them to carefully close the steps  as they were. Even today, the steps remain as they were during his time.

Several centuries earlier Sripadaraja was teaching Vyasa Theertha at Narasimha Theertha in the Vyasa cave. (The cave exists even today). Sripadaraja went out for same time and when he was about to return, several disciples came running to him. They were out of breath and there was fear on their face. They told Sripadaraja  that a huge snake had coiled itself around Vyasa Theertha who was meditating. They feared the worst, saying that Vyasa Theertha was not moving.

Sripadaraja came back to the spot and found the serpent coiled around Vyasa Theertha. Instead of chasing away the serpent, he began speaking to it.

The disciples and even Vyasa Theertha were later astounded to know that the snake was none other but Padmanabha Theertha, the first disciple of Madhwacharya.

Sripadaraja had immediately recognised Padmanabha Theertha and he had conversed with him. The serpent vanished after talking to Sripadaraja All the while, Vyasa Theertha was so engrossed in meditation, that he had not seen the serpent.

When Sripadaraja was in Srirangam, he had worshipped Ranganatha. He saw that all songs praising Rannganatha were in Tamil and that devotees from Karnataka could not enjoy the songs as they did not understand the language. He then decided to translate “Harisarvothamatatwa”  into Kannada and also write in Kannada so that common people could understand the work. Thus, Sripadaraja became the first Madhwa saint to wrote in Kannada. He then composed several Devara Namas in Kannada.

His inspiring works in Kannada led to the birth and even growth of the Haridasa movement. He is, therefore, called teh Nheeshma Pitama of Haridasa Sahitya. 

Some of his famous Devara Namas are Bushanake Bushana, Baro Manege Govinda, Nee Ittahange iruveno hariye, Kangalidyathako Cauvery rangana nodada, Daya madi salahayya and many others. His ankita nama was Ranga Vittala.

Some of his important compositions are Bhramaragita, Venugita

Gopigita and Madhvanama.

His only work in Sanskrit is Vagvraja. However, he contoiuned writing and even preaching in Kannada but asked his favourite disciple, Vyasa Theertha, to write in Sanskrit.

Vyasa Raja spent years at Mulabagal imbibing everything from Sripadaraja. It was due to his efforts that Vyasa Theertha could become the foremost scholar of the day. No wonder Vyasa Theertha honors his Guru, saying  “Vedashastrapuranadali Adisheshana polva Muni” in one composition and also as “Vadigaja masthakankusha” in another.

Born in Abbur in Channapatna taluk of Ramanagar district, Sripadaraja’s poorvashrama name was Lakshminarayana Muni. His parents were Seshagiri and Giriamma. He was a cousin brother of  Bramanye Theertha of Abbur Kundapur Vyasaraja Matha.

Sripadaraja headed the Mulabagal Matha for several decades before handing over the reigns in 1504 to Hayagreeva Theertha. He entered the Brindavan on Jeshta shudha chaturdashi at  Narasimha Theertha near Mulbagal.

The Bard of Mulabagal

It is really unfortunate that the blog has taken so much time to focus on one of the most outstanding Madhwa saints of all times. Herein, we place a write up on this saint who was also a  writer and an educationist.

An avatar of Dhruva, this saint was known as Lakshminarayana Muni during his poovarshrama days. He was given the honorific Sreepadaraja Theertha when the Madhwa world came to know of his holiness and scholastic bent of mind.

A true yogi, Sripadaraja is considered to be the bard of Mulabagal.

He has several firsts to his credit. He is the Bheeshmapeeta of Haridasa literature in India. He is also the first saint of the Dwaitah order to sing compositions in Kannada and also use them in his daily worship.

He spoke, wrote, sang and even composed in Kannada-the language of the people. He also started a Veda Patashala in Mulagabal which during his times reached a preeminent state in the realm of education.

Sripadaraja took Vyasa Theertha under his care and tutored him. It is to him that Vyasa Theertha owes his scholarship. Sripadaraja also set Vyasa Theertha on course to become the Rajaguru of Vijayanagar when he declined that invitation himself and sent Vyasa Theertha instead.

Not many know that Sripadaraja was also a man who could perform miracles. Once he performed one of his many miracles before a huge gathering of  Madhwa saint.

The Vijayanagar Kingdom was known for its patronage to Hindu religion and culture. The kings were all patron of arts, architecture and learning.

It was sometime in the mid 1500s that then Vijayanagar King decided to organise an assembly of saints and holy men in Koppara in Devdurg taluk of Raichur district.

This is how the miracle unfolded.

Koppara was known for the Aswatha Narasimha temple on the banks of the Krishna. The Vijayanagar King invited many Madhwa scholars and saints to observe Chaturmasa here.

Vibhudendra Theertha, accompanied by Lakshminarayana Muni, camped here begin their four month long Chaturmasa programme.

Lakshminarayana impressed everyone with his knowledge and his lecture on Nyaya Sudha was well received.

Unfortunately, the crown Prince drowned in the Krishna and a tearful King placed the body before the saints and requested them to revive his son. As the saints looked at each other, Vibhudendra Theertha, pointed to Lakshminarayana and asked him to proceed towards the body.

Lakshminarayana first invoked Aswatha Narasimha and poured holy water from the Kamandala into the mouth of the dead prince.

The youngster stunned the entire audience when he prayed to Narasimha saying that if Nyaya Sudha was really the Srikara Grantha and if the holy gathering had performed Sudha Mangala correctly, all the merits accrued should go to the God and from him to the price so that he can be revived.

The Prince jumped up and became alive. The king prostrated himself before Lakshminarayana and ordered his throne to be brought to the spot. He wanted to do Kanakabhisheka to Lakshminarayana nut he said the honor should first go to his Guru.

Vibhudendra Theertha and al the assembled saints urged Lashminarayana to allow the King to perform Kanakabhisheka.

A modest Lakshminarayana foirst placed Nyaya Sudha on the throne and performed Mangalarti. He then held it onto his lap and sat on the throne.

By then he had been named as Sripadaraja Theertha and he decided to settle down at Mulabagal. It was Narasimha Theertha near Mulabagal that he built his ashrama.  

He then went on to become the Raj Guru of the Vijayanagar Kings, a task which he later handed over to Vyasa Theertha, his favourite disciple. He was the first among the Madhwa saints to be honored with Ratnaabhiskeha.

(This is the first in a series of articles on Sripadaraja Theertha. The others will follow soon.)   

The Thonde Kai Swamy

India is home to numerous systems of medicine and perhaps the most popular among them is Ayurveda.

Ayurveda as system of medicine is mentioned even in the Puranas and ancient Indians had mastered the art of Ayurveda. The God of healing, Dhanavantari, was an expert in Ayurveda.

Legendary figures in Hindu mythology such as Ravana were experts in Ayurveda. Ravana has also authored books on Ayurveda. Hanuman carrid the Sanjeevanai hill which was full of medicinal plants.

The study of  shastars in ancient days included the study of Ayurveda and this perhaps made several religious leaders, saints and seers masters of the Ayurveda.

Medicines and tablets till the 18^th century in India were made out of plants and creepers and mathas and homes grew shunti (ginger), sweet potato, saffron powder or turmeric, soppu (leaves), vegetables not only for coking but also for preparing Ayurvedic products.

The close connection between mathas (religious institutions), religious heads and Ayurveda continued from the ancient times till recently. It was only with the advent of the British that the allopathy made headway in India.

One of the seers who was also an expert in Ayurveda was Lakshmipathi Theertha of Sripadaraja Matha, Mulabagal.

Lakshmipathi Theertha  succeeded Lakahmi Manohara Theertha as the pontiff of Sripadaraja Matha.

Lakshmipathi Theertha had a deep interest in Ayurveda and he became a expert at dispensing Ayurvedic medicines. He himself prepared the medicines from herbs and plants

He continued treating people even after he headed the Sripadaraja Matha. He was the matha head till 1715.

Lakshmipathi Thertha had become such an expert in Ayurveda, he knew the medicinal value of plants, herbs and even vegetables. The seer had realized the  nutritional and medicinal value of certain vegetables centuries before researchers and food scientists had zeroed in on them.         

 The Madhwa Mathas have a rigid system of diet  where some  vegetables cannot be consumed at all. Certain types of vegetables and fruits can be consumed only during certain periods of the year or masas as they are called, All the Madhwa mathas follow this system and the Sripadaraja matha is no exception.

 Lakshmipathi Theertha, however, managed to distinguish between Sampradaya (tradition) and need. He realized the value of certain vegetables in Ayurveda and felt that they had to be used in the herbal decoction or paste. He thus used Thonde Kai extensively in preparing Ayurvedic preparations.

Thonde Kai is known as Coccinia or Manohi. It is a small greenish vegetable with high nutritional value. Lakshmipathi Theertha realized the invaluable medicinal properties of Thonde Kai and used them in almost all his regular Ayurvedic preparations.

Even as his fame as an Ayurveda expert spread far and wide, his use of Thonde Kai was grudgingly accewpted by the orthodox Brahmoi community then. This is because Thonde Kai is not prepared by followers of the Uttaradi and Ragjhaveendra Swamy Matha.  To these two mathas, Thonde Kai is a nishidda tarakari  (banned vegetable).

Indeed, so famous did Lakshmipathi Theertha become, that he came to be better known as Thonde Kai Swamy. Even today, the Sripadaraja Matha serves Thonde Kai in memory of this saint.  

So, he was also known as Thondekai Swamy.

More than 300 years after he first made systematic use of Thonde Kai, researchers and doctors of the Institute of  Population Health and Clinical Research, Bangalore,  say that regular and daily use of Thonde Kai can normalize your blood sugar levels.

The research said coccinia could reduce post-prandial glucose after a meal by 18 per cent. The sugar count level can come down by sixteen per cent by just ingesting this vegetable.

Some of the findings of this research was first published in the international journal of Diabetes Care.  

Lakshmipathi Theertha used Thonde Kai to cure people of diabetes and sugar urine.

The Thonde Kai is also called Kundru. In Telugu, it is called Dondakai and Kovvaikai in Tamil. In Malayalam, it is called Kovakka.

It was not only Lakshmipathi Theertha who was an expert on Ayurveda. Medhanidhi Theertha, also a pontiff of the Sripadaraja  Matha was an expert Ayurvedic. He was the pontiff of the Sripadaraja Matha from 1908 to 1926.

Thus, long before science came out with the medicinal values of herbs, plants and vegetables, our ancestors discovered them and used them for the good of the people. Let us, at the least,  acknowledge the contribution of Thonde Kai Swamy.

 

The Arjuna Temple that Todar Mal renovated

Less than a hundred kilometer from Bangalore is the old temple town of Mulabagal.

 Located on the bust Bangalore Tirupathi Highway, Mulbagal is today a small town in Kolar district.

Mulabagal and surrounding villages such as Avani, Kurudumala, Bangaru Tirupathi, Virupaksha and other places have several ancient temples with history dating back to  the times of the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

But did you know that one of the temples in Mulabagal has a ling with the Mughals too. And that this Mughal was instrumental in renovating the temple and also enlarging it.  

Mulabagal has become famous over the last few decades as the final resting place of  the great Madhwa saint Sripadara Raja.

Sripada Raja was known for his immense contribution to the field of Dasa literature and philosophy. He stayed in Mulabagal for several decades and made it a centre for leaning and literature. His brindavana is at Narasimha Theerta, a few kms from the town of Mulabagal.

Mulabagal is a very old town and it finds mention in the Mahabharata. During the period of the Vijayanagar dynasty, it was the capital of the eastern provinces and the gateway to Tirupathi.

Surrounded by rocky hills, Mulabagal earlier was known as Mudala Bagilu.

This town has one of the oldest Hanuman temples in India. While every one is aware of the legend that credits the Pandava, Arjuna, with consecrating this temple, very few know that Raja Todar Mal, the Finance Minister of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar, renovated and enlarged it.

The history of the temple is as follows.

The Kurukshetra war had just ended. Arjuna for just a moment, felt proud that he had vanquished so many mighty warriors. In a vain moment, he boats about this to Krishna, who is his charioteer.

Krishna does not reply but asks Arjuna to alight from the chariot. He then dismounts from the chariot. The moment, Krishna steps down, the chariot is engulfed in flames,

Krishna tells Arjuna that if he had allowed Arjuna to still be seated in the chariot, he would have perished in the fire. He says the chariot was doomed to burn as several great warriors like Bheeshma, Drona, Karna, Duryodhana had fired weapons at it, “The chariot did not catch fire only because of me. The moment I got down, the divine cover that my presence gave top the chariot vanished. You see the consequences”, says Krishna.

Arjuna is humbled. He is happy that the standard on the chariot, a drawing if Hanuman, has been saved. Arjuna then comes to Mulabagal and consecrated the idol of  Hanuman here.

Centuries after the temple was consecrated, Mulabagal and

Surrounding areas came under the Chloas and Nolamba kings. The kings of both these dynasties built several temples in and around Mulabagal and Kolar.

When the Hoysala dynasty collapsed after Mailk Kafur invaded it, this region came under the Vijayanagars. Sripada Raja made Mulabagal his home and he is said to have prayed at the Hanuman Temple here as did Vyasa Theertha or Vyasa Raja his disciple.

The Vijayanagar Empire declined after the battle of talikota in 1565 and Mulabagal and surrounding areas, including Bangalore, became the battle ground for the Adil Shahis and Mughals.

Raja Todar Mal was the Finance Minister of Akbar from 1560 to 1586. He is believed to have come here during this period.

Todar Mal was a Khatri from Punjab. The Silk Gurus were from the Khatri community.

Todar Mal is said to have renovated and repaired the Hanuman Temple here.

The Hanuman Temple also houses the deities of Srinivasa, Padmavathi, and Rama, Seetha and Lakshmana. These idols were consecrated by Vasistha.

There is an engraving of a lizard on the temple wall. This is believed to bring good luck.
There is a statue of Todar Mal at the temple. Todar Mal also did contribute to the Srinivasa Temple at Tirupathi. There is a statue of Todar Mal at Tirupathi too.  

The temple has been renovated recently.