Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

under the designation of Ananda Theertha. Eminent scholars came to Udupi to listen to him and Madhva began to employ his powers to attack Shankara's Advaita. While allowing the force of his argument, the Guru pointed out that he had not replaced that system by a cogent commentary of his own which could stand the test of time. The Guru challenged him to write one if he could. He accepted the challenge.

appellations of Teertha, Asrama, Vana, Aranya, Giri, Parvata, Sagara, Saraswati, Bharati and Puri. When Shankara went to Kamarup (modern Gauhati) he met Abhinava Gupta and defeated him in argument. It is said that in revenge his followers used occult means to harm Shankara who began to vomit blood. He recovered and went to Kedamath. But Shankara's work in the world was done. Entering a cave in the Himalayas he dis- appeared at the age of 32. RAMANUJACHARYA (1017-1137 A.D.) Ramanuja, the Vaishnavite philosopher who propounded the doc- trine of Vishistadvaita or qualified monism, was born in 1017 A.D. in Sriperumbudur, near Madras on the road to Kancheepuram. His mother was a grand-daughter of Sri Yamunacharya, the religious head of Srirangam. He had his early educa- tion under his father. When he was 15 he was taken to Kancheepuram where he was put to school along with a consin of his Hearing about his intelligence Sri Yamunacharya travelled to Kancheepuram to find out whether he could make him his successor. He observed Ramanjuja unobtrusively and returned satis- fied. When he was 25 years old, in compliance with his mother's wishes, he married and began to lead the life of a householder. At this time Yamunacharya sent his disciple Mahapoorna to Kan- cheepuram to fetch Ramanuja so that he might formally instal him as his successor. Unfortunately Yamunacharya passed away just before Ramanuja reached Srirangam. Three fingers of the body remained folded indicating three unfulfilled wishes. On enquiry Ramanuja was told that the Acharya had left three commands for him. The first was that he should dedicate himself to the elucidation of the sacred scrip- tures. The second was that he should popularise the Divya Prabhandas. The third was that he should train a line of worthy disciples to carry on the tradition of Sri Vaishnavism. Ramanuja took a vow to fulfil these commands. Ramanuja returned to Kancheepuram. Mahapoorna later went to Kancheepuram and stayed with Ramanuja for some time. Sri Ramanuja's wife was not very helpful in his pursuit of spiritu- ality. She frequently quarrelled with Mahapoorna's wife. This led to Mahapoorna leaving Kancheepuram. After another incident, Ramanuja decided to break with his wife and home. He was then 32. He put on the ochre robe, the robe of renunciation. Srirangam became the head quarters of his work. He undertook a pilgrimage from Rameshwaram to Badrinath, travelling northwards along the west coast and returning along the east coast. He went to Kashmir. He passed away in Madhva, who propounded the philosophy of Dvaita or dualism, was born in a village near Udupi. His childhood name was Vasudeva. His parents were Shivalli Brahmins. After he had completed his studies he went in search for a guru. He was accepted by Purushothama Theertha of the Bhandarkara Math in Udupi as a novice on probation. He was given the new name of Poorna Prajna. In course of time the Guru thought it was not necessary to keep him as a noviate and decided to make him the heir apparent to the pontifical throne. He was admitted Srirangam in 1137 at the age of 120. MADHVACHARYA (1199-1278)

Together with his Guru he set out from Udupi and passed through Mangalore, Cochin and Trivandrum reaching Rameshwaram. From there he proceeded through the Pandya and Chola Kingdoms to Srirangam, Chandragiri and other places before returning to Udupi. Soon after his return he wrote a commentary on the Bhagvad Gita, He placed it before his Guru and sought his permission to go on a pil- grimage to Badri. In the company of a brother disciple, Satya Theertha, and a few other followers, he started. He reached Banaras, bathed in the Ganges, and proceeded to Badri pitching his camp at a place called Ananda Math. He began writing his commentary on the Brahma sutras as soon as the party reached the plains on the return journey. The party travelled along the east coast. Madhva began preaching his philosophy and converting people to his fold. He exhorted them to renounce Advaita and banish the delusion that man is or can be God. He taught Bhakti and whole-hearted surrender to God. It is said that one day when he went for a bath in the sea he saw a ship in distress and prayed for its safety. When it reached the shore, its captain presented to Madhava a huge lump of earth. When it was taken to the math, it broke in two revealing an image of Krishna inside. It had come from Dwaraka where it had lain covered by earth. Madhva built a temple, installed the image and became its worshipper. Later, he ordained eight ascetics, placed them each in charge of a separate Math and made them responsible for the worship and festivals in the Sri Krishna temple. Madhva lived for 79 years. His system of philosophy differs radically from both Advaita and Visishtadvaita which is a qualified form of monism. He is one of the leaders of the Bhakti movement. KABIR (1440-1518) This great saint - poet lived in the 15th century. There is no firm evidence regarding the place of his birth. It is believed to be either Kashi (modern Banaras or Varanasi), Magahar (near Kashi) or Be- lahara Village in Azamgarh. About Kabir's parents and his caste too there are different versions. One is that he was a discarded child born of a Brahmin widow (the father being unknown) who was picked up by a Muslim weaver couple, Niru and Nima. The other version is that he was born to this couple. In one of his poems he says that his parents died when he was young. This is the only reference to them in his poems. Though Kabir was a weaver and weaving was his profession, his heart was not in his profession. He was more concerned with God- seeking meditation and philosophic thought. In one of his hymns he says: "Kabir has renounced all spinning and weaving. The name of Hari (God) is imprinted all over the body ." Kabir was far from being honoured in his lifetime. He was ignored because of his birth in a low caste and jeered at for assuming a preacher's role.