 The Entrance toSri Krishna Matha at Udupi | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Karnataka,Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh | |
| Religions | |
| Vaishnavism (Hinduism) | |
| Scriptures | |
| Vedas,Upanishads,Bhagavat Gita,Brahma Sutra,Pancharatra,Bhagavata Purana,Mahabharata,Ramayana,Sarvamula Granthas | |
| Languages | |
| Sanskrit,Kannada |
Sat Vaishnavism (Sanskrit:सद्वैष्णवसम्प्रदाय; also speltSad Vaishnavism[note 1]), also referred to asMadhva Vaishnavism, theMadhva Sampradaya, orTattvavada, part of theBrahma Sampradaya, is a denomination within theVaishnavism—Bhagavata tradition ofHinduism.[2][3] Sat Vaishnavism was founded by the thirteenth century philosopher-saintMadhvacharya, who developed theTattvavada (Dvaita Vedanta) ("arguments from a realist viewpoint") sub-school ofVedanta inHindu philosophy.[4]
The tradition traces its roots to the ancientVedas andPancharatra texts. The Madhva Sampradaya or Sat-Vaishnava Sampradaya is referred to as theBrahma Sampradaya, referring to its traditional origins in the succession of spiritual masters (gurus) have originated fromBrahma.[5]
Madhva championed the ultimate reality as personal andSaguna Brahman ("the absolute with qualities") and it is LordVishnu (Narayana). Hence godVishnu (Narayana) along with his consortLakshmi, and their divine incarnations and forms are revered and worshipped in this tradition. In Sat-Vaishnavism, the creator is superior to the creation, and hencemoksha comes only from the grace ofVishnu, but not from effort alone.[6] In Sad VaishnavismJnana,Bhakti andVairagya are necessary steps for moksha and doing Karma is also considered a form ofpuja. Hence in Sad Vaishnavism,Jnana Yoga,Bhakti Yoga andKarma Yoga are equally important in order to attain liberation (moksha) compared toSri Vaishnavism where bhakti yoga alone is enough to attain moksha. However Madhva holds the perspective that not all jivas are destined for liberation and rejects the idea of an inherent principle linking a jiva's existence with liberation. However, he acknowledges the presence of divine grace at work within chosen individuals.[7]
The termSat-Vaishnavism is derived fromsat, meaning "true", and the Hindu deityVishnu, whose worshipers are known as Vaishnava; this name of the tradition may thus be translated as "true Vaishnavism." The termMadhva is derived from the name of the tradition's founder, Madhvacharya. The termsampradaya refers to a Hindu religious tradition.[8][9][10] The followers ofSat-Vaishnavism are known asSat-Vaishnavas.[11]
Sat-Vaishnavism's philosophical foundation was established byMadhva, who started his Vedic studies with Achyutapreksha in an Advaita Vedanta monastery.[12] But there was constant disagreement between the master and the disciple and the studies soon ended. However, he sought initiation at the hands of this guru under the name of Poornaprajna and wrote his commentaries under the name Ananda Tirtha.[13] Madhvacharya converted his own guru Achyutapreksha toDvaita Vedanta, like Ramanuja converting his Advaita guru Yadavapreksha renaming him Govindasure to Vishistadvaita.[14] Madhva brought Vedantic and Upanishadic ideas to this tradition, and wrote texts on dualism, calledDvaita in the Hindu tradition. His ideas are one of three subschools inVedanta, the other two are known asAdi Shankara's Advaita (absolute monism) andRamanujacharya'sVishistadvaita (qualified monism).[15]
According to Madhva, the Divine and the soul are completely distinct from each other.[16] The Madhva Sampradaya worships Vishnu as the highest Hindu deity and regardsMadhva, whom they consider to be an incarnation of Vishnu's son,Vayu, as an incarnate saviour.[17] Madhvism regards Vayu asVishnu's agent in this world, andHanuman,Bhima, andMadhvacharya to be his three incarnations; for this reason, the roles of Hanuman in theRamayana and Bhima in theMahabharata are emphasised, and Madhvacharya is particularly held in high esteem.[18] Vayu is prominently shown by Madhva in countless texts.[19][20]
Madhvacharya was a staunch Vaishnava who pushed strongly the belief that Vishnu was the highest of Hindu deities, and refused to accept any claims that other Hindu deities might be equally as high. Madhvacharya says that in the beginning there was only one God and that wasNarayana orVishnu.[21] Madhvacharya states that the ultimate divine reality, which Hindu traditions refer to asBrahman, and the individual souls, known asjīvātmans, exist as independent realities and that these are distinct. Madhva states "brahmaśabdaśca Viṣṇaveva", that Brahman can only refer toVishnu. According to Madhvism, Vishnu was not just any otherdeva, but rather the one and only Supreme Being.[22][23] Madhvacharya also asserted,yathecchasi tatha kuru, which Sharma translates and explains as "one has the right to choose between right and wrong, a choice each individual makes out of his own responsibility and his own risk".[24]
Madhva rejects Shankara's conception of theNirguna Brahman—that is, Brahman without characterisations—and accepts the conception of theSaguna Brahman—that is, Brahman with characterisations—as the ultimate divine reality. In Madhva philosophy, Brahman possesses all positive qualities; at the root of these are existence, consciousness, and bliss. An impersonal Brahman, such as Shankara's Nirguna Brahman cannot perform these functions. For Madhva, the personal Brahman is not different from Vishnu, whom Vaishnavas consider to be the creator, the maintainer and destroyer of the world. According to the Madhva viewpoint, nothing can condition Brahman. According to Madhva, Brahman is neither the limited infinite divine reality of theNyaya school nor a being in inseparable relation with matter and selves as in the philosophy ofRamanuja. Rather, Brahman is viewed as completely independent, but whilst the jivas are viewed as dependent upon Brahman for activity, knowledge, and existence. According to the Vaishnava viewpoint, Vishnu creates the world by his will and brings into existence the world of objects and selves. Objects and selves, though real and irreducible to each other, are dependent on Brahman. At the time of dissolution of the world, material and objects are considered to be transformed into undifferentiated matter and selves into disembodied intelligence by Brahman; it is believed, even in the state of dissolution, that Brahman, matter, and the jivas remain distinct from one another, and do not merge with one another.[25][26]
The devotional movement of theHaridasa ofKarnataka was an expression ofMadhva's religious thought. The Haridasa movement initiated by Madhva has had a deep impact on the people in different parts of the country.[27] The Haridasas were mostlyMadhwas and almost exclusively of the Brahmin community.[28]
According to Sharma, the influence of Dvaita Vedanta ideas have been most prominent on the Chaitanya school ofBengal Vaishnavism, whose devotees started theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - known colloquially as theHare Krishna Movement.[29] and also inAssam.[30]Chaitanya Mahaprabhu(1496-1534) 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 ofVyasatirtha(1469-1539) of Madhvacharya's Sampradaya.[31] Gujarat Vaishnava culture is also influenced by the Madhva philosophy.[32]
Madhvacharya established many Mathas by defeating various acharyas of different sampradayas. The followers ofMadhva are of many distinct groups, they are, theTuluvas, theKannadigas, theMarathis, theTelugus, theTamilians, theBiharis, theMalayalis, and theKonkanis. Thus there are twenty-four separate institutions of the Madhva-Vaishnava faith.[33][34]
The mathas present in the Tulu region are calledTuluva Mathas.Most of theTulu-Speaking in theTulu region andMalayalam-Speaking people in theKerala region who followMadhvacharya's philosophy are followers of the twelve Madhva Mathas. The twelve Madhva Mathas arePejawara Matha, Palimaru Matha, Adamaru Matha, Puttige Matha, Sodhe Matha, Kaniyooru Matha, Shiroor Matha,Krishnapura Matha, Bhandarakeri Matha,Subramanya Matha, Chitrapura Matha,Bhimanakatte matha.[33] Out of these twelve Tuluva mathas, eight are part of theAshta (eight) mathas of Udupi who take turns once every two years (Paryaya) to worship Lord Krishna in at Udupi.[35][36] These twelve mathas are descended fromMadhvacharya's direct disciples, Adhokshaja Teertha, Hrishikesha Teertha, Narasimha Teertha, Upendra Teertha, Rama Teertha, Vamana Teertha, Janardhana Teertha andMadhva's brotherVishnu Tirtha.
Along with Ashta Mathas of Udupi Madhvacharya also founded a matha with his disciplePadmanabha Tirtha as its Peetadhipathi to spreadTattvavada (Dvaita) Vedanta outside the Tulunadu region with instructions that his disciplesNarahari Tirtha,Madhava Tirtha,Akshobya Tirtha should be future successors of this matha. According toSurendranath Dasgupta, Uttaradi Math is the main matha of Madhvacharya and it was divided twice, so we end up with three mathas, the other two beingVyasaraja Math andRaghavendra Math.[37] All the mathas outside Tulunadu region are one way or other descended from Padmanabha Tirtha. Since Padmanabha Tirtha was fromDesh region all the mathas descended from him are known asDeshastha Mathas or Deccan plateau Mathas.Marathi,Kannada,Telugu,Hindi,Bihari,Tamil, speaking people following Madhvacharya outsideTulunadu andKonkan regions are all followers of these ten Madhva Mathas. Most of peetadhipathis who presided over these ten mathas belonged to Deshastha Brahmin community.[33] These ten Madhva Mathas are,Uttaradi Matha,Vyasaraja Matha,Raghavendra Matha, Sripadaraja Matha, Kanva Matha, Kudli Matha, Tambehalli Matha (also known as Majjigehalli Maṭha), Kundapura Vyasaraja Matha, Sagarakatte Matha, Baligaru Matha.[33]
Mathatraya are the three mathas which are descended in the lineage ofMadhvacharya's direct disciples,Padmanabha Tirtha,Narahari Tirtha,Madhava Tirtha,Akshobya Tirtha.Jayatirtha succeeded the main matha after Akshobya Tirtha.[38][39][40] Uttaradi Matha, Vyasaraja Matha and Raghavendra Math are descended fromJayatirtha.Uttaradi Matha,Vyasaraja Matha andRaghavendra Matha are considered to be the three premier apostolic institutions ofDvaita Vedanta and are jointly referred asMathatraya .[41][42][43] It is the pontiffs and pandits of theMathatraya that have been the principle architects of post-Madhva Dvaita Vedanta through the centuries.[44] As a matter of fact, these have taken the lion's share in the task of developing and propagating the philosophy ofMadhva. For this reason they can unhesitatingly be regarded as the intellectual heirs to the legacy ofMadhva,Jayatirtha andVyasatirtha.[39][45][46][47]
| Matha | Present Swamiji |
| Uttaradi Matha | Satyatma Tirtha |
| Raghavendra Matha | Subhudhendra Tirtha |
| Vyasaraja Matha | Vidyashrisha Tirtha |
Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and other Saraswat Brahmins who follow Madhvacharya and his philosophyDvaita Vedanta are followers of two Madhva Mathas. They are mainly concentrated in theKonkan coast (includingGoa),Malabar Coast of Karnataka and Kerala, andUttar Pradesh mainlyVaranasi and surrounding areas. These two Saraswat Mathas areKashi Math andGokarna Math.[33]
Some of the prominent Madhva teachers include:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)The Desastha or Kannada-Marathi Madhvas have a few mathas, of which the Uttaradimatha is the largest." The Uttaradimatha is the original matha of Madhva and his teacher (although both of them were tauluvas from West coast, that it was founded by Lord Vishnu himself and that over 80 per cent of all Madhvas are its followers.
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