om yasya dvirata vaktradya parisadya parasata vighnam nighnanti satatam visvaksenam samasraye "I take refuge of the plenary portion of the Personality of Godhead, Lord Visvaksena, the elephant faced one, the leader of the assembly. It is He who constantly destroys all obstacles." PREFACE - Tamal Krsna Gos.? - Jagadisa Maharaja ? - Raghupati Rao THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF SRIPADA MADHVACARYA BHAGAVATAPADA INVOCATION .....dhayasirsa mam pathi deva helanat..... "As I begin some auspicious activity, may Lord Hayagriva protect me from being an offender by neglecting to offer obeisances to the Supreme Lord, Krsna." SB (6.8.17) tam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram tam devatanam paramam ca daivatam patim patinam paramam parastad vidama devam bhuvanesam idyam na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate svabhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca "The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and He is the greatest of all the diverse plenary leaders. Everyone is under His control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves. He is also worshipful by all the demigods and is the supreme director of all directors. Therefore, He is transcendental to all kinds of material leaders and controllers and is worshipful by all, there is no one greater than Him, and He is the supreme causes of all causes. "He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity for there is no difference between His body and soul. He is absolute. All His senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence." Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.7-8) naivopayanty apacitim kavayas tavesa brahmayusapi krtam rddha mudah smarantah yo'ntar bahis tanu bhrtam asubham vidhunvann acarya caittya vapusa sva gatim vyanakti "O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in the spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of the creator Brahma, for You appear in two features - externally as the acarya and internally as the caitya guru - to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You." SB (11.29.6) ***-------- -------***----------------*** mantra guru ara yata siksa-guru-gana tanhara carana age kariye vandana "I first offer my respectful obeisances at the lotus feet of the initiating spiritual master and all my instructing spiritual masters." om anjana timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri guruve namah "I was born in the darkest of ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him." srimad visnvanghri nisthatiguna gurutama-srimad anandatirtha trailokyacarya padojjvala jalaja lasat-pamsavo' sman punantu vacam yatra pranetri tribhuvana mahita sarada saradendu yotsna bhadra smitasri dhavalita kakubha premabharam babhara "May we be sanctified and blessed by the shining dust particles coming from the lotus-like feet of Srimad Anandatirtha, the preceptor of the three worlds, who is adored for his steadfast devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so much so that upon the Lord's order Bharati (Saraswati), The Goddess of Speech, bestowed her favourable glowing smile in Anandatirtha's direction out of great love and appreciation for his service to the Lord. That full moon of smile now beams in all directions." Vayu Stuti 3 asyaviskartukamam kalimalakaluses sminhane jnanamargam vandyam candrendrarudra dyumaniphani-vayonayajadyairihadya madhvakhyam mantrasiddham kimuta krtavato marutasyavataram pataram paramesthyam padamapa vipadah prapturapanna pumsam "It is obvious that I am incompetent in respect of glorifying Vayudeva. Vayudeva, who reaches the status of four-faced Brahma, who fears no dangers, who has taken the avatar of Madhva on this earth specifically to enlighten men that had become clouded by the poisonous philosophies of Kali Yuga. Vayu is worshipped by Candra, Indra, Rudra, Surya, Garuda and other devas. He gives them shelter when they take refuge of him. His glories are celebrated in the Vedic mantras." Vayu stuti 6 vande tam tva supurna pramatim anudinasevitam devavrndaih vande vandarumise sriya uta niyatam srimadandatirtham vande mandakinisat sarid-amalajalaseka sadhikya sangam vandesham deva bhaktya bhavabhaya-dahanam sajjanan modayantam "I bow down to you; Purna Prajna, you are always surrounded by the devotees who constantly adorn you with praises. I bow down to that same Anandatirtha who is himself worshipful and who engages himself in the service of Lord Visnu and Mother Laxmi. I bow down to him who is a walking place of pilgrimage; his association is more pure than even the sacred Ganges which touches the lotus feet of the Lord, for Madhva's life is surrendered at those same lotus feet. Again I bow down to Vayudeva incarnate with devotion, who destroys fear of repeated birth and death and confers his blessings upon the Lord's devotees." Vayu stuti 42 ananda tirtha nama sukhamaya dhama yati jiyat samsararnava taranim yamiha janah kirtanyaniti budhah "Let Ananda Tirtha (Madhva Muni) be glorified for he is the source and abode of happiness and knowledge. Learned personalities have glorified him especially for his commentary of Srimad Bhagavatam, saying that definitely he is a good boat in which to cross this ocean of material existence." From:— Prameya-Ratnavali "I yearn to be able to write as well as Lord Caitanya's Rupa Goswami, but I cannot write as well as he, and neither can I write as well as his follower's who wrote many wonderful, perfect books, which everyone should read and remember. Compared to their books my little book can hardly be considered poetic." Verse 4, Sri Vraja-riti-cintamani ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I must give due recognition and gratitude to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada for having changed my existence. He is the Lord of my life. By Srila Prabhupada's mercy the western world has come to hear of Vaisnavism and the loving service of Lord Krsna in His multifarious forms such as Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Sri Radha and Giridhari, (Krsna, Who is the lifter of Govardhana Hill) and Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Lady Subhadra, and the Swayam Vyakta (self manifesting) form of the Saligram Sila. Although I came in contact with His Divine Grace for only a very short time, it was long enough for me to be inspired to take up his mission. I am eternally grateful to you, Srila Prabhupada. I offer my obeisances to the disciples of Srila Prabhupada, and in turn to their disciples - my diksa and siksa gurus, by who's mercy this humble effort of trying to glorify the Lord and His pure devotee has been possible. In gratitude I thank the late Jayatirtha Prabhu and Bhavananda Prabhu for all of the help they have given me in the past in the development of my spiritual life. I would also like to thank His Holiness Srila Jayapataka Maharaja who is my initiating guru, and who, having been very kind to me, even though I am unqualified, he has taken me under his wing and given me shelter there. Also I would like to thank His Holiness Srila Tamal Krsna Goswami Maharaja for his tolerance, kindness and encouragement. Both are a constant source of inspiration for me. To the catalyst who is directly responsible for prompting this book, who said it could be done and who gave me encouragement throughout, H.H. Bhaktibikash Swami Maharaja (Illapati Prabhu), thank you. Special thanks must go to His Holiness Suhotra Swami Maharaja for his time spent, and advice given on the rough manuscript. Let our hero, Sripad Madhvacarya, be glorified like anything. I cannot forget H.H. Indradyumna Swami Maharaja who propped me up in times of fatigue, and by who's kindness, friendship, tolerance, and sane association we seem to be able to maintain these life airs, thank you. To Sriman K. Raghupati Rao, the secretary of the Dharmaprakash Press in Madras (Akhila Bharata Madhva Maha Mandala) has helped me by endlessly supplying little pieces of nectar, and answering my questions, and who's dynamic preaching of the philosophy of Acarya Madhwa has given me a taste of the required conviction that Madhwa has established. Our mutual friend, Sriman D.R. Vasudeva Rao has made a first class translation of Narayana Panditacarya's "Madhva Vijaya" direct from the original Sanskrit prose, and he also helped me greatly. I wrote a letter asking for his permission to see if I could use any of his fine book in my work. I was very pleased when he replied saying I could make the best use of all of his book, so using it to expand and summarize upon, his precise translation helped me endlessly and was my constant companion. So doing, I am extremely grateful to Sriman D.R. Vasudeva Rao for being so kind. Discussions with His Holiness Visvapriya Tirtha, Admar Mutt Junior Swami, and the subsequent correspondence after my return to Australasia helped me very much. Also I have to show my gratitude by mentioning the hospitality of all the Vaisnavas in Udupi who always treated me nicely, making me feel at home. In this regard I would like to take an opportunity to especially thank His Holiness Visveswara Tirtha Swami (Pejawar Swami) and also His Holiness Vidyamana Tirtha Swami (Palimar and Bhandarakere Mutts) for spending a few moments of their time with me. Junior Admar Swami gave me the format for research - Madhva Vijaya, Hari Vayu Stuti and the books of BNK Sharma. I tried to contact BNK Sharma on several occasions but alas couldn't meet with him due to his failing health.