Śrī madhvācārya – the third avatara of mukhyaprāṇa
Jagadguru śrī madhvacharya, also known as śrī ānanda tīrtha and śrī pūrṇaprajña, was a prominent vedāntin, philosopher and theologian who lived in bhārata during the 13th century. He is considered one of the greatest exponents of tattvavāda, a realist-theist-synthesist school of vaidika hindu philosophy that emphasizes the eternal ontological dependence of the jīva-s (~ individual soul) on the Brahman (~ supreme being).
Being born in a devout, orthodox yet humble brāhmaṇa family known as naḍillāya, in a quaint village known as pājaka, in the present day udupi district of karnataka, bharata, he was named as vāsudeva, and received early education from his father and later on at a gurukula nearby. From a young age, he displayed exceptional intelligence and a deep interest in philosophical matters. Since udupi at the time was well known for both trade and intellectual pursuits owing to equal royal patronage, vāsudeva had the advantage of gaining exposure to a wide range of philosophical systems like māyāvāda, śrīvaiṣṇava, bauddha, jaina, śākta, śaiva et cetera extant at the time. In addition, with his father being a renowned narrator of the purāṇa-s, whom the young vāsudeva often accompanied, his mind was incessantly engaged in philosophical pursuits, eventually strengthening his resolve to adopt sannyāsa, which he did from the renowned māyāvādi mendicant śrī acyutaprajña, who conferred the sannyāsa dīkṣa and named the young (about 12 years old) vasudeva as śrī pūrṇaprajña. Soon, śrī pūrṇaprajña gained mastery over the extant philosophical systems. Fame of his intellectual prowess spreading far and wide, also got him the opportunity to debate and defeat proponents of various schools like bauddha, jaina, śaiva, etc who came to udupi seeking to engage with śrī pūrṇaprajña. In the meantime, realising the innate erudition of his pupil, śrī acyutaprajña deemed it fit to begin with one of māyāvāda’s advanced works viz., vimuktatman’s iṣṭasiddhi, in which śrī pūrṇaprajña readily pointed out two of many errors in the very first śloka much to the bewilderment of his guru! It didn’t take long for śrī pūrṇaprajña to recognize the anāraṁbhaṇīyatva – unworthy of study by the wise – of the said school of thought and set out to re-establish the original vaidika philosophical system which he referred to as tattvavāda.
He assumed the vaidika synonym “madhva” while composing the bhāṣya-s and nirṇaya-s on the bhagavadgītā, brahmasūtra, upaniṣad-s, first forty verses of ṛgveda, mahābhārata, and the bhāgavata, in addition to other shorter works on ontology, epistemology, theology etc, the corpus together referred to as the “sarvamūla grantha-s”. He also proclaimed his identity with the mukhyaprāṇa – the primordial vital breath, and as the third avatāra of vāyu, hanuman and bhīma being the earlier two. He not only established this through several scriptural evidences but also by his deeds on various occasions.
Key Tenets of Tattvavāda
Śrī bannanje govindācārya, one the renowned scholars of tattvavāda school of vedanta, summarises the philosophy as follows:
विष्णुः सर्वोत्तमोऽथाखिलपदगदितः सर्ववेदाभिदेयः श्रीनाथः सद्गुणाब्धिः जगदुदयलयाद्यष्टकर्ताऽन्तरात्मा ।
ब्रह्माद्या उच्चनीचा हरिचरणरताः पञ्चभेदः प्रपञ्चः सत्यः स्त्रीपुंसभावः सततमनपगा योग्यता च स्वभावः ॥
जीवास्त्रैगुण्यभाजः परमगतियुजो नित्यबद्धास्तमोगाः सत्त्वोद्रेकात्तु मोक्षे निजसुखनियतिः साधनं ज्ञानभक्ती ।
इष्टं दैवं मुकुन्दः परमगुरुरसौ मारुतिर्मध्वनामा विश्वं ताभ्यामुभाभ्यां नियमितमखिलं चेत्ययं तत्त्ववादः ॥
इममाचार्यगोविन्दोविनेयजनवाञ्छया । वितेने तत्त्ववादस्य प्रमेयनवमालिकाम् ॥
—— श्री बन्नञ्जे गोविन्दाचार्याः ।
The significance of śrī jagadguru madhvacharya
The advent of jagadguru śrī madhvācārya amidst the intellectually fragmented vaidika society on the one hand and the tumultuous tyrannical rampage of the invading &/or reigning foreign invaders turned out to be a vanguard against the cumulative onslaught on vaidika dharma.
Some of his unique contributions to the revival of vaidika dharma can be summarized as follows:
1] re-established the vaidika vaiṣṇava dharma without compromising on the immanent-yet-transcendent nature of brahman viz., nārāyaṇa or viṣṇu
2] reemphasised and revitalised the vaidika dharma siddhānta involving yajña, dāna, and tapas, based on authoritative vaidika corpus, as efficient means for sustenance of dharma and attainment of mokṣa. Whereas, the śramaṇa systems had denounced the veda-s, the so-called vedāntin-s had relegated these as contemptible karma-kāṇḍa, in effect rendering the hindu society almost spineless against both intellectual & tyrannical onslaughts.
3] reinvigorated the bhakti tradition by traveling on foot throughout the length & breadth of erstwhile bharata, inspiring millions of deserving aspirants including the likes of purandara dasa, kanaka dasa, vijaya dasa, gopala dasa, nearer home and meera bai, sant haridas, caitanya, et cetera.
