Vyasatirtha
Sri Vyasatirtha | |
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Dvaita | |
Religious career | |
Guru | Sripadaraja, Bramhanya Tirtha |
Predecessor | Bramhanya Tirtha |
Disciples
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Honors | Chandrikacharya, Vyasaraja |
Language | Sanskrit, Kannada |
Part of a series on |
Vaishnavism |
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Part of Dvaita |
Hinduism portal |
Vyāsatīrtha (c. 1460 – c. 1539
Three of his polemically themed
Born into a
Politically, Vyasatirtha was responsible for the development of irrigation systems in villages such as Bettakonda and establishment of several
For his contribution to the Dvaita school of thought, he, along with
Historical Sources
Information about Vyasatirtha is derived from his biography by the poet Somanatha Kavi called Vyasayogicharita and inscriptional evidence. Songs of
Context
The philosophy of Dvaita or Tattvavada was an obscure movement within
Philosophical improvements were pioneered by
Subsequent authors such as Vishnudasacharya further expanded upon these texts and authored commentaries branching into diverse fields such as
Early life
Vyasatirtha was born Yatiraja into a
After the death of Bramhanya Tirtha during the
At Chandragiri
Vyasatirtha was received by Saluva Narasimha at
At Hampi
At Hampi, the new capital of the empire, Vyasatirtha was appointed as the "Guardian Saint of the State" after a period of prolonged disputations and debates with scholars led by Basava Bhatta, an emissary from the Kingdom of Kalinga.[26] His association with the royalty continued after Viranarasimha Raya overthrew Narasimha Raya II to become the emperor. Fernão Nunes observes that "The King of Bisnega, everyday, hears the teachings of a learned Brahmin who never married nor ever touched a woman" which Sharma conjectures is Vyasatirtha.[27] Sharma also contends that it was around this time that Vyasatirtha had begun his work on Tatparya Chandrika, Nyayamruta and Tarka Tandva.[27] After the accession of
Vyasatirtha was also sent on diplomatic missions to the
Time Period of Kuhu Yoga
Kuhu yoga parihara – Once Krishnadevaraya had Kuhu yoga. Sri Vyasarajaru, noticing that the kingdom is in trouble, asked the king to donate to Vyasarajaru, who ruled the state before the kuhuyoga period and during the period. When the Kuhuyoga came in the form of Krishna sarpa, he kept his kaavi on the simhasana which was burnt into ashes. Then after the Kuhuyoga period was over, the very next day itself, he asked the king to take back his kingdom. King Krishnadevaraya was reluctant to take back the kingdom, as he himself had donated the same to Sri Vyasarajaru, which would amount to Dattapahara dosha. But Sri Vyasarajaru insisted and ordered him to take back, so he took it.[33]
Later years
There was a period of "temporary estrangement" from the royalty due to internal political friction, during which Vyasatirtha retreated to Bettakonda.
Works
Vyasatirtha authored eight works consisting of polemical tracts, commentaries on the works of
Nyayamruta
Nyayamruta is a polemical and expositional work in four chapters.
In the second chapter, Vyasatirtha examines role of
Nyayamruta caused a furore in the Advaita community resulting in a series of scholarly debates over centuries. Madhusudhana Saraswati, a scholar from Varanasi, composed a line-by-line refutation of Nyayamruta titled Advaitasiddhi.[47] In response, Ramacharya rebutted with Nyayamruta Tarangini [48] and Anandabhattaraka with Nyayamruta Kantakoddhara.[49] The former is criticised by Brahmananda Saraswati in his commentary on Advaitasiddhi, Guruchandrika.[50] Vanamali Mishra composed a refutation of the Bramhananda Saraswati's work and the controversy eventually died down.[51] Stoker conjectures that the strong responses Vyasatirtha received were due to the waning power of Advaita in the Vijayanagara empire coupled by the fact that as an administrator of the mathas, Vyasatirtha enjoyed royal patronage.[16]
Vyasatirtha's disciple
Tatparya Chandrika
Tatparya Chandrika or Chandrika is a commentary on Tattva Prakasika by Jayatirtha, which in turn is a commentary on Madhva's Brahma Sutra Bhashya (which is a
Tarka Tandava
Tarka Tandava or "The Dance of Logic" is a polemical tract targeted towards the Nyaya school. Though Vyasatirtha and his predecessors borrowed the technical language, logical tools and terminologies from the Nyaya school of thought and there is much in common between the two schools, there were significant differences especially with regards to epistemology.[54] Jayatirtha's Nyaya Sudha and Pramana Paddhati were the first reactions against the Nyaya school.[36] The advent of
Mandara Manjari
Mandara Manjari is the collective name given to Vyasatirtha's glosses on three (Mayavada Khandana, Upadhi Khandana, Prapancha Mithyavada Khandana) out of Madhva's ten refutation treatises called Dasha Prakarna and one on Tattvaviveka of Jayatirtha. Vyasatirtha here expands only on the obscure passages in the source text.
Bhedojjivana
Bhedojjivana is the last work of Vyasatirtha as it quotes from his previous works. The main focus of this treatise is to emphasise the doctrine of difference (Bheda) in Dvaita as is evident from the title, which can be translated to "Resuscitation of Bheda". Sarma notes "Within a short compass, he has covered the ground of the entire Monistic literature pushed into contemporary prominence and argued an unexpurgated case for the Realism of Madhva".[57]
Legacy
Vyasatirtha is considered to be one of the foremost philosophers of Dvaita thought, along with
Spread of Dvaita
Sharma credits Vyasatirtha of converting Dvaita from an obscure movement to a fully realised school of thought of philosophical and dialectical merit.[59] Through his involvement in various diplomatic missions in the North Karnataka region and his pilgrimages across South India, he disseminated the precepts of Dvaita across the sub-continent. By giving patronage to the wandering bards or Haridasas, he oversaw the percolation of the philosophy into the vernacular and as a result into the lives of the lay people. He also contributed to the spread of Dvaita by establishing 732 Vayu [note 6] idols across Karnataka. Vyasatirtha is also considered as a major influence on the then burgeoning Chaitanya movement in modern-day Bengal.[60] Chaitanya Mahaprabhu(1486–1534) is said to be a disciple of Isvara Puri who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri who was a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha who was a disciple of Vyasatirtha (1469–1539).[61] Stoker postulates that his polemics against the rival schools of thought also had the effect of securing royal patronage towards Dvaita.[1]
Scholarly Influence
Vyasatirtha was influenced by his predecessors such as Vishnudasacharya, Jayatirtha and Madhva in that he borrowed from their style and method of enquiry. He exerted considerable influence on his successors. Vadiraja's Yuktimalika derives some of its arguments from Nyayamruta,
In his dialectics, Vyasatirtha incorporated elements from such diverse schools as Purva Mimamsa,
Contributions to the Haridasa Movement
The contribution of Vyasatirtha to the Haridasa cult is two fold: he established a forum of interactions for these bards called Dasakuta and he himself penned several hymns in the vernacular language (
Political influence
The political influence of Vyasatirtha came into view after the discovery of Vasyayogicharita. The court of Vijayanagara was selective in its patronage thereby creating competition between the sectarian groups.[1] Stoker contends that Vyasatirtha, cognizant of the power of Smartha and the Sri Vaishnava Brahmins in the court, targeted them through his polemical works.[16] Though his works targeted the philosophy of Ramanuja, Vyasatirtha maintained a cordial relationship towards the Sri Vaishnavites, often donating land and money to their temples.[68]
In his role as a diplomat, he interacted with a variety of people including tribal leaders, foreign dignitaries and emissaries from the North India.
Notes
- ^ Quote from Sastri: It was Vyasatirtha, who, for the first time took special pains to collect together from the vast range of Advaitic literature, all the crucial points for discussion and arrange them on a novel, yet thoroughly scientific and systematic plan.[3]
- ^ Quote from Paes: Raya being washed by a Brahmin whom he held sacred and who was a great favourite of his. Sharma conjectures that the washing of the disciple by the guru is found only among the Brahmins adhering to the Madhva tradition (mentioned in Madhva's Tantrasara).[28]
- ^ In 2019, his tomb was dismantled by miscreants in search of a treasure. [35] It was rebuilt the subsequent day by the devotees.
- ^ According to Madhva, there exists five kinds of differences (called panchabheda) in the world. According to this doctrine: 1. no two individual souls or Atmans are alike. 2. Atman and Brahman are distinct and separate 3. Atman is distinct from Matter (called 'jada'). 4. No two particles of matter are alike 5. Brahman and matter are separate and distinct.
- ^ Bhamati, Panchapadika, Vivarana and Kalpataru of the Advaita school, Srutaprakasha and Adhikaranasaravali of the Visistadvaita school and Tattva Prakasika and Nyaya Sudha of the Madhva school.
- .
References
- ^ a b c d Stoker 2016, p. 2.
- ^ "Royal Carpet Carnatic Composers: Vyasaraya". karnatik.com. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ Sastri 1982, p. 36.
- ^ "Vyasarajaru – Sumadhwa Seva". 29 March 2013.
- ^ a b Dasgupta 1991, p. viii.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 24.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 252-253.
- ^ Rao 1926, p. xviii.
- ^ Sarma 2007, p. 157.
- ^ a b Verghese 1995, p. 8.
- ^ Dalmia 2009, p. 158.
- ^ Sharma 1961, p. 255.
- ^ Sharma 1961, p. 183.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 330.
- ^ Rao 1959, p. 101.
- ^ a b c d Stoker 2016, p. 3.
- ^ Jackson 2000, p. 802.
- ^ Hebbar 2005, p. 93.
- ^ Jackson 2000, p. 902.
- ^ a b Sharma 2000, p. 26.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 286.
- ^ a b c Jackson 2000, p. 903.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 27-28.
- ^ Farooqui 2011, p. 121.
- ^ Sarma 2007, p. 156.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 29.
- ^ a b Sharma 2000, p. 29.
- ^ a b Sewell 2000, p. 249-250.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 39-40.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 30.
- ^ a b Sharma 2000, p. 33.
- ^ Karmarkar 1939, p. 40.
- ^ "Vyasarajaru – Sumadhwa Seva". 29 March 2013.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 78.
- ^ Hindu 2019.
- ^ a b Williams 2014.
- ^ a b McCrea 2015.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 105-111.
- ^ a b c d Nair 1990, p. 20.
- ^ Timalsina 2008, p. 63.
- ^ Timalsina 2008, p. 67.
- ^ Timalsina 2008, p. 10.
- ^ Timalsina 2008, p. 66.
- ^ a b Sharma 2000, p. 40.
- ^ Lochtefeld 2002, p. 520.
- ^ Sharma 1961, p. 181.
- ^ Nair 1990, p. 21.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 145.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 150.
- ^ Nair 1990, p. 22.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 155.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 45.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 301.
- ^ Potter 1972, p. 240.
- ^ Sharma 1972, p. 508.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 53-54.
- ^ Sarma 1937, p. 15.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 97.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 103.
- ^ Sharma 2000, p. 104.
- ^ https://gaudiya.com/pdf/Is_the_Gaudiya_Vaishnava_sampradaya_connected_to_the_Madhva_line.pdf Connection between Gaudiya and Madhva Sampradayas (pdf)
- ^ Bhatta 1997, p. 366.
- ^ Vilas 1964, p. 162.
- ^ Bagchi 1953, p. 125.
- ^ Karmarkar 1939, p. 40-42.
- ^ Karmarkar 1939, p. 68.
- ^ Karmarkar 1939, p. 49.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 74.
- ^ a b Stoker 2016, p. 4.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 33.
- ^ Stoker 2016, p. 136.
- ^ "Vyasarajaru – Sumadhwa Seva". 29 March 2013.
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