Sripad Madhvacarya

According to the Sri Kurma inscriptions of Narahari Tirtha, his direct 
disciple, Sripad Madhvacarya was born between 1238 and lived for 79 
years, until 1317 A.D. This is confirmed in the Anu-Madhva-Carita. 
According to the authorized biographies compiled by his disciples 
shortly after his passing away, Sripad Madhva was born in the village 
of Tulunada, which is located about 8 miles to the southeast of the 
city of Udupi in Karnataka. He came from a family of sivalli-brahmanas 
and was the son of Madhyageha Bhatta and Mother Vedavati devi.

In his Caitanya Caritamrta commentary (CC Madhya 9.245), Sripad 
Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada comments: "Sripada Madhvacarya took 
his birth near Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanara district 
of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the 
South Kanara province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is 
situated to the south of Udupi. Near the city of Udupi is a place 
called Pajaka-ksetra, where Madhvacarya took his birth in a 
sivalli-brahmana dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhatta, in the year 
1040 Sakabda (A.D. 1118). According to some, he was born in the year 
1160 Sakabda (A.D. 1238).

In his childhood Madhvacarya was known as Vasudeva, and there are some 
wonderful stories surrounding him. It is said that once when his 
father had piled up many debts, Madhvacarya converted tamarind seeds 
into actual coins to pay them off. When he was five years old, he was 
offered the sacred thread. A demon named Maniman lived near his abode 
in the form of a snake, and at the age of five Madhvacarya killed that 
snake with the toe of his left foot. When his mother was very much 
disturbed, he would appear before her in one jump. He was a great 
scholar even in childhood, and although his father did not agree, he 
accepted sannyasa at the age of twelve. Upon receiving sannyasa from 
Acyuta Preksa, he received the name Purnaprajna Tirtha. After 
traveling all over India, he finally discussed scriptures with 
Vidyasankara, the exalted leader of Srngeri-matha. Vidyasankara was 
actually diminished in the presence of Madhvacarya. Accompanied by 
Satya Tirtha, Madhvacarya went to Badarikasrama. It was there that he 
met Vyasadeva and explained his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita before 
him. Thus he became a great scholar by studying before Vyasadeva.

By the time he came to Ananda-matha from Badarikasrama, Madhvacarya 
had finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. His companion Satya 
Tirtha wrote down the entire commentary. When Madhvacarya returned 
from Badarikasrama, he went to Ganjama, which is on the bank of the 
river Godavari. There he met with two learned scholars named Sobhana 
Bhatta and Svami Sastri. Later these scholars became known in the 
disciplic succession of Madhvacarya as Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari 
Tirtha. When he returned to Udupi, he would sometimes bathe in the 
ocean. On such an occasion he composed a prayer in five chapters. 
Once, while sitting beside the sea engrossed in meditation upon Lord 
Sri Krsna, he saw that a large boat containing goods for Dvaraka was 
in danger. He gave some signs by which the boat could approach the 
shore, and it was saved. The owners of the boat wanted to give him a 
present, and at the time Madhvacarya agreed to take some gopi-candana. 
He received a big lump of gopi-candana, and as it was being brought to 
him, it broke apart and revealed a large Deity of Lord Krsna. The 
Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As soon 
as Madhvacarya received the Deity of Krsna in this way, he composed a 
prayer. The Deity was so heavy that not even thirty people could lift 
it. Yet Madhvacarya personally brought this Deity to Udupi. Eight of 
Madhvacarya's sannyasa disciples became directors of his eight 
monasteries. Worship of the Lord Krsna Deity is still going on at 
Udupi according to the plans Madhvacarya established.

Madhvacarya then for the second time visited Badarikasrama. While he 
was passing through Maharashtra, the local king was digging a big lake 
for the public benefit. As Madhvacarya passed through that area with 
his disciples, he was also obliged to help in the excavation. After 
some time, when Madhvacarya visited the king, he engaged the king in 
that work and departed with his disciples.

Often in the province of Ganga-pradesa there were fights between 
Hindus and Muslims. The Hindus were on one bank of the river, and the 
Muslims on the other. Due to the community tension, no boat was 
available for crossing the river. The Muslim soldiers were always 
stopping passengers on the other side, but Madhvacarya did not care 
for these soldiers. He crossed the river anyway, and when he met the 
soldiers on the other side, he was brought before the king. The Muslim 
king was so pleased with him that he wanted to give him a kingdom and 
some money, but Madhvacarya refused. While walking on the road, he was 
attacked by some dacoits, but by his bodily strength he killed them 
all. When his companion Satya Tirtha was attacked by a tiger, 
Madhvacarya separated them by virtue of his great strength. When he 
met Vyasadeva, he received from him the salagrama-sila known as 
Astamurti. After this, he summarized the Mahabharata.

Madhvacarya's devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship became 
known throughout India. Consequently the owners of the Srngeri-matha, 
established by Sankaracarya, became a little perturbed. At that time 
the followers of Sankaracarya were afraid of Madhvacarya's rising 
power, and they began to tease Madhvacarya's disciples in many ways. 
There was even an attempt to prove that the disciplic succession of 
Madhvacarya was not in line with Vedic principles. A person named 
Pundarika Puri, a follower of the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, 
came before Madhvacarya to discuss the sastras. It is said that all of 
Madhvacarya's books were taken away, but later they were found with 
the help of King Jayasinha, ruler of Kumla. In discussion, Pundarika 
Puri was defeated by Madhvacarya. A great personality named 
Trivikramacarya, who was a resident of Visnumangala, became 
Madhvacarya's disciple, and his son later became Narayanacarya, the 
composer of Sri Madhva-vijaya. After the death of Trivikramacarya, the 
younger brother of Narayanacarya took sannyasa and later became known 
as Visnu Tirtha.

It was reputed that there was no limit to the bodily strength of 
Purnaprajna, Madhvacarya. There was a person named Kadanjari who was 
famed for possessing the strength of thirty men. Madhvacarya placed 
the big toe of his foot upon the ground and asked the man to separate 
it from the ground, but the great strong man could not do so even 
after great effort. Srila Madhvacarya passed from this material world 
at the age of eighty while writing a commentary on the Aitareya 
Upanisad. For further information about Madhvacarya, one should read 
Madhva-vijaya, by Narayanacarya.

The acaryas of the Madhva-sampradaya established Udupi as the chief 
center, and the monastery there was known as Uttararadhi-matha. A list 
of the different centers of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya can be found at 
Udupi, and their matha commanders are (1) Visnu Tirtha (Soda-matha), 
(2) Janardana Tirtha (Krsnapura-matha), (3) Vamana Tirtha 
(Kanura-matha), (4) Narasinha Tirtha (Adamara-matha), (5) Upendra 
Tirtha (Puttugi-matha), (6) Rama Tirtha (Sirura-matha), (7) Hrsikesa 
Tirtha (Palimara-matha), and (8) Aksobhya Tirtha (Pejavara-matha). The 
disciplic succession of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya is as follows (the 
dates are those of birth in the Sakabda Era; for Christian era dates, 
add seventy-eight years.): (1) Hansa Paramatma; (2) Caturmukha Brahma; 
(3) Sanakadi; (4) Durvasa; (5) Jnananidhi; (6) Garuda-vahana; (7) 
Kaivalya Tirtha; (8) Jnanesa Tirtha; (9) Para Tirtha; (10) Satyaprajna 
Tirtha; (11) Prajna Tirtha; (12) Acyuta Preksacarya Tirtha; (13) Sri 
Madhvacarya, 1040 Saka; (14) Padmanabha, 1120; Narahari, 1127; 
Madhava, 1136; and Aksobhya 1159; (15) Jaya Tirtha, 1167; (16) 
Vidyadhiraja, 1190; (17) Kavindra, 1255; (18) Vagisa, 1261; (19) 
Ramacandra, 1269; (20) Vidyanidhi, 1298; (21) Sri Raghunatha, 1366; 
(22) Rayuvarya (who spoke with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu), 1424; (23) 
Raghuttama, 1471; (24) Vedavyasa, 1517; (25) Vidyadhisa, 1541; (26) 
Vedanidhi, 1553; (27) Satyavrata, 1557; (28) Satyanidhi, 1560; (29) 
Satyanatha, 1582; (30) Satyabhinava, 1595; (31) Satyapurna, 1628; (32) 
Satyavijaya, 1648; (33) Satyapriya, 1659; (34) Satyabodha, 1666; (35) 
Satyasandha, 1705; (36) Satyavara, 1716; (37) Satyadharma, 1719; (38) 
Satyasankalpa, 1752; (39) Satyasantusta, 1763; (40) Satyaparayana, 
1763; (41) Satyakama, 1785; (42) Satyesta, 1793; (43) Satyaparakrama, 
1794; (44) Satyadhira, 1801; (45) Satyadhira Tirtha, 1808. After the 
sixteenth acarya (Vidyadhiraja Tirtha), there was another disciplic 
succession, including Rajendra Tirtha, 1254; Vijayadhvaja; 
Purusottama; Subrahmanya; and Vyasa Raya, 1470-1520. The nineteenth 
acarya, Ramacandra Tirtha, had another disciplic succession, including 
Vibudhendra, 1218; Jitamitra, 1348; Raghunandana; Surendra; Vijendra; 
Sudhindra; and Raghavendra Tirtha, 1545.

To date, in the Udupi monastery there are another fourteen 
Madhva-tirtha sannyasis. As stated, Udupi is situated beside the sea 
in South Kanara, about thirty-six miles north of Mangalore.

Most of the information in this purport is available from the South 
Kanara Manual and the Bombay Gazette."

From Bhaktivedanta Vedabase


There are literally hundreds of incidences, stories, to be relished, 
but here we have just placed a few to give a taste of the nectar to be 
had in "The Life and Legacy of Sripad Ananda Tirtha - Madhwacarya" by 
Jaya Tirtha Charan dasa that is waiting to be published.

Lamenting, and in separation from such detailed pastimes, let us 
continue on. When he was only 12 years old, Madhvacarya left home but 
his mother insisted that she would leave her body if their only son 
left. So Madhva then blessed them to have another son, he was born and 
then after taking his parents permission went off to the ashram of 
Acyutapreksa, his sannyasa-guru.

Madhva's sannyasa name was Purnaprajna Tirtha. His deep study of the 
scriptures was unparalleled, and had convinced him of the uselessness 
of the Advaita interpretation of Vedanta. He was inspired to revive 
the original and pure interpretation of Vedanta which promotes 
personal theism. He was to do this on the basis of a profound and 
innovative interpretation of the scriptures, for which he was to 
become famous. This interpretation is known as Dvaita-dvaita-vada, or 
pure dualism.

After his initiation, Purnaprajna spent some time in the asrama of 
Acyutapreksa where he carefully studied the Vedanta commentaries of 
different acaryas, beginning with the Istasiddhi of Vimuktatman. But 
soon, Purnaprajna's expertise in scriptural argument and his 
determination to establish personal theism as the conclusion of 
Vedanta grew to the point where he could defeat Acyutapreksa in 
argument. Recognizing Purnaprajna's superior scholarship, Acyutapreksa 
made him the head of his asrama. Purnaprajna was also awarded the 
title Ananda Tirtha, by which he is often referred to in various 
scriptural literatures.

After he became the temple authority in the asrama of Acyutapreksa, 
Purnaprajna began training disciples, preaching his interpretation of 
Vedanta and defeating many scholars from different schools of 
philosophy, including Buddhists, Jains, Advaitins, and various 
impersonalists, agnostics, logicians, and the practitioners of 
materialistic religion. His success in defeating all opposing scholars 
inspired him to tour South India in an attempt to preach the 
philosophy of personal theism and devotion to Visnu far and wide. At 
this time, he had completely formulated all the details of his 
philosophical system, but had not yet committed his system to writing.

His tour of South India was quite extensive: it took him from Udupi to 
the southernmost tip of India (Kanyakumari), and from there to 
Ramesvaram, Sri Rangam, and many other important holy places of 
pilgrimage. Wherever he went he debated the prominent scholars of the 
impersonal school, smashing their interpretations of Vedanta with his 
brilliant advocacy of dualistic theism. His scathing criticisms of 
Sankaracarya's impersonal Vedanta met with stiff opposition, but no 
one could overcome him in scriptural argument or logical debate. It is 
said that when Madhva was at Kanyakumari he was challenged by a great 
impersonalist scholar of the Sankara school to write his own 
commentary on Vedanta if he disagreed with the teachings of the 
master. At that time, it is said that Madhva promised to write his own 
Vedanta commentary, fully elaborating the proper conclusions of 
personal theism. At Sri Rangam he also expressed a certain degree of 
dissatisfaction with the conclusions of Ramanuja's visistadvaita-vada, 
in that he felt it did not go far enough to refute the dangerous 
speculative philosophy of Sankaracarya. This further added to the 
young Madhva's firm determination to someday compose his own 
commentary incorporating his own unique interpretation.

After completing his South Indian tour, Madhva decided to tour North 
India as well. With his resolve to complete his own Vedanta commentary 
growing day by day, he was eager to begin the work. But Madhva wanted 
to have the blessings of the author of Vedanta, Vedavyasa himself, 
before beginning such an ambitious project. He set out for North India 
and the Himalayas in order to achieve the benedictions of Vedavyasa, 
for it was said Vyasa, being immortal, still resided in his asrama at 
Badarinatha, although he never made himself visible to mortal eyes.

After a long journey by foot, Sripad Madhva finally arrived at the 
Anantamatha at Badarinatha. There he remained for seven weeks, 
absorbed in fasting, prayer, and devotional meditation. Inspired from 
within, he hiked further up to Badarikasrama, in upper Badari, where 
Vyasadeva has his hermitage. There he met Vedavyasa and explained his 
commentary on Bhagavad-gita to Vyasa himself, who approved. When he 
met Vyasa, he was given eight Shalagrama-silas which are known as 
Astamurti. After discussing the scriptures with Vyasadeva, Sripad 
Madhvacarya's understanding of their inner meaning became even more 
profound. He remained at Badarikasrama for some months until he 
finished composing his commentary of Bhagavad-gita, whereupon he 
returned to the Anantamatha. At that time Madhva's companion Satya 
Tirtha wrote down the entire commentary. At this time, Madhva also 
wrote his commentary on Vedanta.

Bidding farewell to Badarinatha, Madhva began the long journey home. 
On the way, he again met with and defeated many scholars of various 
philosophical schools. He traveled through Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, and 
Andhradesa.

Bhavishya Purana and Navadwip Dham Mahatmya depict how he went to 
Navadwip and mystically met and discussed with Sri Chaitanya 
Mahaprabhu, who residing in His eternal abode was due to appear some 
250 years later to preach a similar message to Madhva, and so he, the 
Supreme Lord discussed with Madhva to prepare for His own divine 
appearance in due course.

Madhva-vijaya describes how when Madhva reached Ganjama, on the banks 
of the river Godavari, he met two prominent scholars, who were 
well-versed in all the important scriptures: Sobhana Bhatta, and Swami 
Sastri. After converting them to his school, these scholars became 
renowned as important followers of Sripad Madhva. They became famous 
at Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha and are regarded as the 
principle acaryas of the Madhva school after Madhva himself. Narahari 
Tirtha is famous for his commentaries on Madhva's Gita-bhasya and 
Karma-nirnaya. He was the Prime Minister of Kalinga between 1271 and 
1293. Padmanabha Tirtha wrote commentaries on many of Madhva's works, 
including Madhva's Brahma-sutra-bhasya, his Anuvyakhyana, and his 
Dasa-prakaranas. He was the first commentator on many of the major 
works of Madhvacarya.

After converting Sobhana Bhatta and Swami Sastri, Sripad Madhvacarya 
journeyed through Andhrapradesa, Maharastra and Karnataka arriving at 
last in Udupi. Upon his return to Udupi from North India, Madhva 
confronted Acyutapreksa, who had refused to accept his ideas 
previously. Now the roles were reversed guru became disciple and 
disciple became guru. Some say that Madhva converted Acyutapreksa from 
Sankara's Vedanta to the cause of Vaisnavism and accepted him as a 
follower, but they do not know the full picture behind the gurus who 
remained in hiding in which Acyutapreksha came in the line of for fear 
of attacks by the mayavadis.  There were over four hundred years of 
gurus and disciples who couldn't dress as Vaishnavas, but instead had 
to go undercover as impersonalists. (full documentation is in Jaya 
Tirtha Charan dasa's "The Life and Legacy of Sripad Ananda Tirtha -
Madhwacarya")

As a result of Madhva's success in defeating opposing scholars and 
gurus, his reputation spread, and enthusiasm grew for his new system 
of Vedanta philosophy. As his commentaries on Bhagavad-gita and 
Vedanta gained wider and wider acceptance, followers and new converts 
began to join his camp from all over India, attracted by his 
charismatic personality, invincible logic and scriptural knowledge, 
and his inspired faith.

While he stayed in Udupi, it was Madhva's regular habit to bathe in 
the ocean. One day, he was sitting on the beach absorbed in 
contemplation upon Sri Krsna. At that time, he spotted a ship, bound 
for Dvaraka, that was about to founder on a sand bar. He signaled the 
ship to safety, and it was able to safely approach the shore. The 
captain of the ship wanted to bestow some present upon Sri 
Madhvacarya, and he accepted a large chunk of gopi-candana-tilaka. As 
it was being presented to the acarya, the large chunk of tilak broke 
in half, revealing a huge deity of Balaram. This deity was installed 
in the temple on the beach at Malpe, and Madhva carried the rest to 
the temple tank and submerged it there where it was revealed that 
there was also a beautiful deity of Lord Krsna. (These deities were 
originally carved by Vishvakarma and given to Rukmini Devi, Krishna's 
consort in Dwaraka, to worship prior to His leaving this world.)  
Everyone was astonished to find a Krsna deity within the block of 
tilak, but Madhvacarya was not unaccustomed to miracles and accepted 
it as the Lord's grace. At that time he composed some beautiful 
prayers glorifying Sri Krsna, and soon after that the Deity was 
installed at the temple in Udupi where it remains today. The Deity 
weighed so much that even thirty men had difficulty moving it. Madhva, 
however, was superhumanly powerful - it is said that he was an 
incarnation of Vayu, and managed to personally carry the Deity to 
Udupi.

After installing the Deity of Krsna in Udupi, he revised the system of 
Deity worship, establishing a strict regimen of ceremonial ritual and 
proper conduct among his followers, imposing among other things the 
rigorous observance of fasting on Ekadasis.

Having achieved such great success at home, it was time for Madhva to 
one more travel afar. He began a second pilgrimage to North India, 
where he once again visited Badarikasrama. The Madhva-vijaya, written 
by the son of one of Madhva's disciples describes how Madhva used his 
sharp wits, his knowledge of many languages such as Turkish and 
Persian, and his courage to overcome great obstacles in his preaching. 
While on his North Indian tour, Madhva and his disciples arrived at a 
place in the province of Ganga Pradesh where political tensions 
between Hindus and Muslims prevented them from crossing the river. The 
Hindus were on one side of the river and the Muslims on the other 
side. No one dared cross, and no boat was available. Madhva and his 
followers, without regard for the Muslim soldiers who guarded the 
crossing, swam across the river. The entire camp was placed under 
arrest. Madhva himself was taken before the Muslim King, Sultan 
Jalal-uddin-Khilji, who demanded an explanation. When Madhva was 
finally allowed to speak on his own behalf, he spoke in high class 
"chaste Persian", addressing the king at length on devotional theism. 
Seeing the intensity and saintly purity of Sripad Madhvacarya, the 
Sultan's heart was softened. So impressed was he with Madhva that he 
wanted to offer him land and money, but Madhva set the example of 
renunciation by humbly declining the Sultan's offer.

Where wit would not help, Madhva would sometimes use his superhuman 
strength to save a situation. Once his traveling companion and 
sannyasi disciple Satya Tirtha was attacked by a fierce Bengal tiger. 
Fearless, Madhva went to the rescue. After wrestling the tiger away 
from Satya Tirtha, he sent it away with its tail between its legs. 
Another time, while walking on pilgrimage through a dangerous part of 
India, he was attacked by murderous dacoits, but he easily held them 
off.

Madhva was a multi-faceted personality who lived a long and healthy 
life. He was a natural leader who believed in physical culture as well 
as intellectual, moral, and spiritual culture. He took part in many 
athletic activities, such as wrestling, swimming, and 
mountain-climbing, which served him well in the Himalayas. As he came 
from a family of brahmanas that had descended from the warrior 
brahmana and incarnation of Godhead, Parasurama, he was tall, strong, 
and robust. It was reputed that there was no limit to his bodily 
strength. The Madhva-vijaya records how a strongman named Kadanjari 
who was said to have the strength of thirty men once challenged 
Madhvacarya to a contest of strength. Madhvacarya placed the big toe 
of his foot firmly upon the ground and asked Kadanjari, the famous 
strongman, to see if he could lift it. Straining with all his brawn 
again and again, the mighty Kadanjari was unable to move even the big 
toe of Madhvacarya. According to Trivikrama Pandita, Madhvacarya was 
endowed with all the thirty-two bodily symptoms of a great 
personality. He had a deep, sonorous, and melodic voice and was an 
expert singer. His recitation of the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam was 
regarded as being especially sweet.

In this way, Madhva traveled extensively throughout the whole of 
India. He returned to South India after having visited Badarinatha, 
Delhi, Kuruksetra, Benares, and Goa. After this, his travels were 
mostly limited to those provinces of South India near Udupi. After 
Sankaracarya, who had also traveled extensively, he was the second 
important Vedanta acarya to travel throughout India, and his broad 
preaching campaign had a lasting effect. Gradually, his following 
grew, as great personalities from all parts of India accepted him as 
guru. The Madhva-vijaya mentions that he had disciples from many 
lands, and his present day followers still include the speakers of 
eight different languages - Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, Maratha, Telugu, 
Southern Saurastri, Bengali, and Hindi.

After returning to Udupi, Madhva once again immersed himself in 
prolific literary activity. He wrote commentaries on the ten major 
Upanisads. He wrote ten major philosophical treatises, the 
Dasa-Prakaranas, as well as what many consider his most important 
work, the Anu-Vyakhyana. He wrote a summary of Mahabharata called the 
Moksa-dharma, and he also commented on Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Madhvacarya's dedication to the Lord and his deep scholarship made him 
a feared and hated enemy of the followers of Sankaracarya, who had a 
vested interest in maintaining their position as the only bona fide 
Vedantists. It has been said, "Of all the plagues with which mankind 
is cursed, ecclesiastical tyranny's the worst." The tyranny of the 
acaryas of the Srngeri-matha founded by Sankaracarya led them to 
attack Sripad Madhva with every means at their disposal. They employed 
various means to harass the followers of Madhva. They tried to prove 
that Madhva did not come from any authorized disciplic succession. 
Finally they challenged Madhva to a debate.

The Sankarites chose as their champion pandita a highly learned 
scholar named Pundarika Puri, who was famed for his erudition and 
expertise in argument. In the debate with Madhva he was humiliated. In 
arguing with Madhva Pundarika was like a schoolboy facing a professor. 
Aching for vengeance, the defeated pandita arranged for one of his 
cohorts, a sannyasi named Padma Tirtha, to steal a priceless 
collection of ancient Sanskrit scriptures from the library of Sripad 
Madhvacarya. The books were later recovered with the help of King 
Jayasimha of Kumla.

After Jayasimha Raja recovered the books of Madhvacarya, an audience 
was arranged between the Jayasimha and Madhva. The pandita, Trivikrama 
Pandita, a resident of Visnumangala, was the foremost authority on 
impersonal Vedanta in the land of Kumla and an expert poet. They met 
in the temple of Kudil. At the end of the day's discourse, Trivikrama 
Pandita had failed to defeat Madhva, but he refused to surrender. The 
debate was continued on the following day. The next day, Trivikrama 
Pandita used all of his learning, his wit, and his power of argument 
in an attempt to embarrass Madhva, but after exhausting himself was 
again unable to defeat him. This went on for fifteen days, when 
Trivikrama Pandita, his intellect spent, his doubts destroyed, 
recognized Sri Madhva as his guru. He surrendered to the lotus feet of 
Sripad Madhvacarya and was accepted by him as a disciple. Madhva 
ordered him to write a commentary on Vedanta. Trivikrama Pandita's 
commentary is called the Tattva-pradipa. His conversion was a turning 
point in Madhva's preaching mission. After his conversion, Trivikrama 
Pandita's own brother and seven other important scholars took sannyasa 
from Madhva and became the first directors of the eight Madhvaite 
monasteries in Udupi. Trivikrama Pandita's son, Narayanacarya, later 
wrote the Madhva-vijaya.

In the final years of Madhva's life, he wrote further commentaries on 
the scriptures, including the Nyaya-vivarana, the Karma-nirnaya, the 
Krsnamrta-Maharnava, and others. By this time, Madhvacarya was growing 
old. He had completed what he set out to do. He had preached his 
message far and wide, elaborated his philosophical system in numerous 
commentaries, and had many trained missionaries who could carry on his 
work with great energy. He had written original works of such a 
profound character that they would continue to influence devotional 
theism well into the 20th century. He had established the worship of 
Krsna in Udupi and had given sannyasa to expert scholars and veteran 
preachers such as Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha, Madhava Tirtha, 
and Aksobhya Tirtha, who would succeed him in promoting the 
philosophical ideals of pure dualistic theism. As he finished his 
commentary on the Aitareya Upanisad, on the verge of his eightieth 
birthday, Sripad Madhvacarya passed away from this world and entered 
the eternal Vaikuntha realm with Srila Vyasadeva at Uttara Badri on 
the ninth day of the full moon in the month of Magh (corresponding to 
January-February) in the year 1317.

The essential principles of Sri Madhvacarya's teachings - where they 
run parallel to the teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu - have been 
summarized by Baladeva Vidyabhusana in his Prameya-Ratnavali. These 
points are as follows:

shri madhvah praha vishnum paratamam akhilamnaya vedyam ca visvam 
satyam bhedam ca jivam hari sarana jusas tartamyam ca tesham moksham 
vishnv-anghri-labham tad-amala-bhajanam tasya hetum pramanam 
pratyaksadi trayam cety upadisati hari krsna-caitanya chandra

Shri Madvacaharya taught that:

1. Krishna, who is known as Hari is the Supreme Lord, the Absolute.

2. That Supreme Lord may be known through the Vedas.

3. The material world is real.

4. The jivas, or souls, are different from the Supreme Lord.

5. The jivas are by nature servants of the Supreme Lord.

6. There are two categories of jivas: liberated and illusioned.

7. Liberation means attaining the lotus feet of Krishna, that is, 
entering into an eternal relationship of service to the Supreme Lord.

8. Pure devotional service is the cause of this relationship.

9. The truth may be known through direct perception, inference, and 
Vedic authority.

In his Caitanya Caritamrta commentary, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami 
Prabhupada comments, "For further information about Madhvacarya, one 
should read Madhva-vijaya by Narayana Acarya."

We obviously do not have time or space to include all of Madhwa's 
wonderful pastimes on this page, what to speak of go into each pastime 
in detail as I have in my manuscript. Then that would only be a part 
of Madhwa's pastimes, as he appeared as the Triple incarnation of 
Vayudev called Mukhyapran; first as Hanuman; then as Bhima; then as 
Madhva.

