Gopal Gopinath and Vasu Murthy
Note
[This article was extracted with the consent of both the authors from the souvenir volume of the SSVT temple commommerating the 2022 Sri Rama Bhakta Samrajya Mahotsavam. The authors hope to continue this initial piece with more detailed narrative of various works in subsequent parts. The complete volume of this event and earlier publications from the temple are archived at: https://sites.google.com/ssvt.org/public-archive-publications/souvenir-archives?authuser=7]
This archive also contains two souvenirs brought out for Haridasa day containing number of good quality articles on Haridasas.
Introduction
The genius of the three ācārya-s from southern India have been spoken about for centuries. In retrospect, it would only be appropriate to again recognize how these three mahāpurushas who walked on the lands during the most troubled times in the history of bhārata, had redefined the practice and understanding of sanātana dharma texts and ways. The contemporary Hindu dharma we practice today owes her reinvigoration to these three pioneers from southern India.
Historical background
It has been recognized by Indologists that the religious environment of the sub-continent in the 7th-8th century was chaotic at minimum. Resurgent Buddhism and Jainism were again eating into the roots of the ancient Hindu dharma. The decay of the socio-religious environment was facilitated by a deep distrust in vedic texts, a corrupted social structure, and religious conversations marked by sectarian violence and linguistic antagonism. Sri Shankara from Kerala was the first āchārya who with his advaita ‘Smārtha Vedanta’ platform started to stem the rotting of the roots. Sri Rāmanuja of the 11th century, the stalwart from the Tamil lands, created a vibrant archetype of theism called ‘Sri Vaishnavism’ unified Hindu society like nothing before and also gave bhakti a stratum above jnana and rituals. It was Sri Madhwa (13th century) from Udupi in Karnataka who stood above the chaos and maladies of the times to provide hope and nurture faith as a visionary, intellectual leader with a compassionate heart of a saint and a divine-sanctioned talent for world-building with logic and faith.
Critical contributions of Sri Madhwacharya
The third ‘āchārya for the world’, Sri Madhwāchārya, seamlessly fused jnana and karma with bhakti mārga. He upheld the ancient ways of truth-seeking using new designs of religious traditions and different logical interpretations of shruti summed up as ‘tattva vāda’. He re-formulated our understanding of shruti, smruti, purāna and itihāsa that accommodated every jiva or soul in its own level of yogyata or fitness to seek ultimate liberation, appealing to both the scholar and man on the street. His lucid interpretation schema for Rig veda called ‘Rig Bhāshya’ and his encyclopedic work on mantra and agama shāstrās called ‘Tantra sāra tantra’ are examples of his original contributions that bridged the old and new ways towards a practical and universal Hindu religion. His deft use of the smruti texts in imbibing devotion in ritualistic-minded, use of logic to clarify the doubts of the intellectuals and most importantly, making Sri Rāma and Sri Krishna accessible to the common man by music, simple methods of worship and devotion translatable to any language – was a timely success formula for Hindu resurgence. Such is the magnitude of Ācārya Madhva (Srimadācārya)’s contributions that every Hindu philosopher since Sri Madhwa has been bearing a mark of his influence when rendering a theistic explanation or teaching. Let us try to get a brief glimpse of his works on Sri Rāma along with that of his disciples and successors who followed in his footsteps in spreading Rāma bhakti over the last few centuries.
Sri Madhwācārya’s “Madhwa Rāmāyana ” from Māhābhārata Tatparya Nirnaya (MBTN)
Sri Madhvāchārya wrote Prasthāna grantha-s or foundational texts that collated source materials from various older texts and function as authority posteriorly. Māhābhārata Tātparya Nirnaya (MBTN) [Ref 1,5] is one such text written as a Itihāsa-purāna Prasthāna. This work has 32 chapters and is a combination of Vaishnava philosophy, Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata. The first chapter is called Sarva-Shāstrārtha-Nirnaya or a summary of all Shāstras. Second chapter is called Suvakyodhdhara and gives quotes from different puranas, vedas and other shastras towards Vishnusarvottamatva– supremacy of Vishnu. Chapters 4-9 contain the summary of Rāmāvatāra. Srimadācharya summarizes findings from Rāmāyana , Māhābhārata, Bhāgavatha and Harivamsha in these chapters.
Sri Madhvāchārya has elaborated on crucial aspects of Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata, bringing out subtle nuances for various events and clarified any doubts that people may have in those works. This is why it is said that “Māhābhārata Tātparya Nirnayam samshayachichidam” (meaning “Māhābhārata Tātparya Nirnaya removes all doubts”). Sri Madhvāchārya has stated at the end of Chapter 9 that he has described Sri Rāma’s Avatāra by obtaining information from Pāncharātra, Bhārata, Rāmāyana and the entire Itihāsa, Purāna literature and reconciling apparent differences and bringing out deeper meanings [Ref 2]. Sri Madhvachārya has indicated that information about Rāmāyana was obtained from “Mula Rāmāyana”, a pre-Valmiki era work that he refers to as Pramāna. Matsya Purāna and Adhyatma Rāmāyana refer to this work. This work is not available today, but works by Sri Narayana Panditacharya described later refer to this work as well.
Example of Special interpretations of Rāmāyana in MBTN
Sri Madhvāchārya interprets the ‘Sita apaharaṇa’ in a different way based on Brahma vaivarta purāna and Kurma purāna [ Ref 3] references. This is how this episode is described in this work:
देव्याः समीपमथ रावण आससाद सादृश्यतामगमदप्यविषह्यशक्तिः
स्रुश्ट्वात्मनः प्रतिकृतिं प्रययौ च श्रीघ्रं कैलासमर्चित पदा न्व्यवसच्चिवाभ्यां ||5. ३७||
Rāvana then approached Sita devi. Sita Devi who is an incarnation of Lakshmi devi is capable of killing Rāvana, she creates a replica of her and leaves the scene. Sita devi who disappears is worshiped by Shiva and Pārvati devi and goes to Kailāsa. Indra enters the replica and enlivens it. Rāma played the drama acting as though Sita is missing and goes through his actions. When Rāvana is killed and Sita does Agni pariksha, the original Sita comes back from the fire to be with Rāma. Episode of Rama being sad and searching for Sita is all done for loka shikshana. Sri Tulsi Das also describes this episode in a similar way in Ram Charit Manas [Ref 8].This is just one example of Srimadācharya’s special interpretations. There are numerous such nuances given by Sri Madhvacharya. His authoritative texts on itihāsa-purānas have enabled later authors and composers to seamlessly present Rāma-katha to the masses as we would see in the following snapshots of Dvaita/Tattvaādva literature after him.
Vāyustuti
Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya was a well-respected advaitin before he had a change of heart and path after conceding to Srimadācharya in a philosophical debate. In recognition of his master’s glory, he composed Vāyustuti in which he describes the three avatāra-s of Vāyu or Mukhya Prāna that descended to serve the Vedas and accompany Sri Hari in His own incarnations in every yuga. The hymns sing the praise of Hanuman (Rāma avatāra), Bheemasena (Krishna avatāra) and Sri Madhwa (Kaliyuga, establishing the truths propounded by Sri Vedavyāsa, an incarnation of Sri Nārāyana). There are three slokas in this text that mainly address the doings of Hanuman in service of Sri Rāma.
Sloka 17, vandeham tam hanuman: Oh Lord Vāyu, I bow down to your first Avatāra
I worship Hanuman, the strong and sturdy God
You burn down all the calamities of the devotees
You remove their sin, passion and ignorance
You always show ideal devotion at the feet of Rāma
Immortal, celibate, powerful Hanuman, I bow down to you
(Tr. by Sri Pramod, public archives) Sri Trivikrama Panditāchārya then describes the heroic deed of Hanuman in bringing sanjeevani mountain by flying over the ocean again to revitalize unconscious Lakshmana and vānara army in the battle field (prākpancha shat.. sloka 18). He then describes the ekagrata bhakti – focused and stable devotion – of Hanuman who was meditating on Rāma’s virtues even while tending to the afflicted (kshipta: paschāt.. sloka 19). In praising Hanuman who tested the exiled Bheemasena, Vāyu’s second avatāra who was searching for sougandhika flowers, the poet recalls the encounter of Bheema with Hanuman (sloka 27) and praises their leela enacted deliberately as entertaining to please the virtuous and delude the haters of dharma.
Sri Madhva Vijaya by Sri Madhwa’s biographer Sri Narayana Panditacharya (1287-1350)
Sri Narayana Panditacharya was the youngest son of Sri Trivikrama and spent considerable time by Srimadaacharya’s side to express his bhakti and adulation of the great Master. His masterpiece was the biography of Srimadācārya in 16 chapters set in a sweet meter called Manjubhashini. Chapter 8 of this work is considered to be the essence of bhagavata purana. In the verses 14- 40, the devout poet presents an account of dasha avatārās and other purposeful incarnations of Sri Nārāyana. For our interest here, let us take a glimpse of verses 19-34. These verses, actually a play on Sanskrit words and the legends, could be read both as the story of Rāma and Krishna. For example, in the sloka 8: 26, the poet describes the wedding of Rāma with Sita and Krishna with Rukmini using the same terms like: kamalāmayam kamala patra lochanam (Mahalaksmi, the resident of lotus, and one who is lotus eyed: Sita/Rugmini), bhuvamāgatham (descended to earth as) nrupa-sudhām (a daughter of a king: Janaka/Bhishmaka respectively), gruhiitavān (he married); nija -leelaya vijita raja shātravo (defeated the enemy of kshatriayas – Parasurāma – as Rāma / defeated enemy kings who were there to woo Rugmini in her Svayamvara- as Krishna) mudamāpad āpya (reached, with great glory) puram abdhi durgamam (capital city impregnable like the sea- Ayodhya / capital city fortified by sea – Dwaraka). In a similar vein, the poet covers the story of Rāma and the exploits of Krishna, in each of the 16 delectable slokas dedicated to the two avatāras of Sri Hari closer to the heart of Srimadācharya.
It is important to point out here that in the Mādhwa tradition it is said that ādhi kavi Valmiki relied on ‘Mula Rāmāyana ’ taught by Sri Hayagreeva to Brahma to Narada to Valmiki and Sri Madhwa outlined the tenets of Rāmāyana in his MBTN chapters 3 to 9 (referred to as Madhwa Rāmāyana ). Following this model, the poet Narayana rendered ‘Sangraha Rāmāyana’ as an extensive and elaborate metrical version of Rāmāyana . It is spread over 8 khands, 64 chapters and 3,456 slokas. Within the framework of Madhwa Rāmāyana and relying on Valmiki’s work, the poet has presented Rāma katha with poetic beauty and class. Sri Bannanje Govindacharya has published his commentary of this work and it is available in the public domain.
Significance of Rāma Katha and Krishna Bhakti propagated by the Mādhwa saints
In any narration on how Hindu dharma survived and remained revitalized in an era of hostile rule by foreigners, religious intolerance, hostile and punishing royal restrictions, breakdown of social fabric in the kingdoms defeated by foreigners between 12th to 16th centuries, it is inevitable to come across Mādhwa saints and haridāsās who wandered among the masses propagating the glory of Nāma – Bhagwān’s Names. Sages, saints, poets and scholars of the Tattvavāda school adroitly used the stories of Rāma, Krishna and avatārs of Sri Hari to bring home lofty philosophical truths understandable to laymen. Let us consider the contributions of some of those personalities immortalized in their works and words.
Sri Vādirāja Tirtha Swamiji’s works
Sri Vādirāja Tirtha has recorded his travels between 1530 to 1547 ( the early bleak periods of hostile empire in many pilgrim centers all over India) in his pilgrimage travelog called ‘Tirtha Prabandha’. He describes Ayodhya in an obtusely bleak way by remembering it as the city ‘that considered the paduka as its Rāma Himself even when the Lord had gone to the forest’. Scholars tend to connect this description, due to the timing of the savant’s well-documented visit, to the notoriety of Babar, the first king of Mughals and the destruction of the ancient Rāma temple at the site of His janmasthāna (birth place).
Samkshepa (abridged) sundarakanda as a Haridasa kruti
Yeshtu Sahasavanta Neene Balavanta is a song in Kannada [Ref 4] composed by Sri Vādirāja Tirtha which is a summary of Sundara Khānda. It has beautiful lilting lyrics and is filled with madhura bhakti bhava highlighting the valiant deeds of Hanuman. A contemporary rendition sung by Sri Vidyabhushana with full bhakti and melody is available at https://youtu.be/J52TTXUqbmQ. Many people who don’t know Kannada at all have remarked that this is a powerful song that puts them in a devotional trance. This song describes the journey of Hanumantha to Lanka over the ocean, talking to Lankini, Giving Mudrika of Rāma to Sita, battle with Indrajit and other Rakshas etc.
Sri Raghavendra Tirtha Swamiji’s Rāma chāritra manjari
Even though in the span of 200 years after Srimadācharya many stalwarts nurtured dharma far and wide, it was the all-spanning genius of Sri Raghavendra Tirtha Swamiji (1595-1671), the saint of Mantralaya, who stands as the lion among these great exponents. Like Sri Madhwa, Sri Raghavendra Thirta Swamiji has touched all aspects of the religion. Not coincidentally, his Ishta devata and the deity for the mutt lineage is Sri Mula Rāma vigraha once worshiped by Srimādāchārya. He has composed a short work on Rāma and Krishna (respective ‘charitra manjari’) in his inimitable style of simplicity and lucidity that makes them easier for even children and those who are not learned in Sanskrit to follow. Rendered in 11 verses, the saint starts Rāma charitra manjari [ref 6] with the act and purpose of avatāra and completes the 11th verse with return of Sri Rāma to his native abode of Vaikunta, regaining His poise. The text follows the tenets of Madhwa Rāmāyana in some critical places like, for example, the defeat of Parashu Rāma. The verse 2 describes, accordingly, the killing of asura Atula hidden in the body of the sage by Rāma’s arrow at the behest of Parasu Rāma himself, an encounter Valmiki describes in a slightly different way. Typical of Sri Raghavendra Tirtha, each verse ends with a plea of surrender to Rāma. This compact rendition of Rāma by this saint is worthy of daily pārayanam.
Rāmāyana in Haridāsa sāhitya:
One of the greatest by-products of Sri Madhwa’s monumental efforts to rebuild and sustain bhakti has been the emergence of Haridāsā lineage. There are reports on up to 300 haridasas starting from Sri Narahari tirtha, a direct disciple of Srimadācārya. Not surprisingly, the stories of Rāma and Krishna, dashāvatara and other episodes from purana and itihāsa are pervasive in the works of Haridāsas. In addition to Sri Vādirāja’s rendering of Sundara khānda in Kannada verses described earlier, there have been other saintly dasas of early phase like Purandara Dasa and Kanaka dasa whose kritis on Rāma have been immortalized by the artists of Indian music traditions. Sripādarāja who composed ‘Madhwa nāma’ in chaste Kannada tracing the three avatāras of Mukhya Prāna as in the original Vāyustuti, has seven stanzas in adulation of Hanuman in service to his Master, Rāma. Inspired by once-Sri Rangam-resident Sripādarāja, Purandara dasa carried the bhakti mantle of Tamil āzhwārs to Kannada lands. He established the melodious adoration of many deities in the pantheon of Sri Vishnu, a perspective handled thoroughly by all the haridāsas who followed him. In one of his songs, another poet-saint Kanaka dasa imagines Rāma as a baby throwing tantrums demanding for the moon to play with (angaladhollu ramaniddha…). Such dāsara padās of these pioneers echoed the styles and sentiments of contemporaneous ‘Bhakti movement’ in northern India where the devout-poets used nava-rasas and nine modes of bhakti to imagine the lives of Rāma and Krishna in different stages of their avatāra lives. Vijaya Dasa (1682 -1755) has composed ‘Moola Rāma devaru sulādhi’ in praise of Sri Rāma vigraha in Sri Raghavendra mutt lineage. He has also composed a musical story of Rāma as ‘Rāma suladhi’ and ‘Hanumanta suladhi’. A charming ‘Rāma Sita uruttani padha’ by Mohana dasa (1728-’51) imagines Rāma and Sita playing a merry game of rolling coconuts as part of their wedding celebrations. A recent figure in the Haridāsa lineage, Harappanalli Bheemavva (1823-1902) has composed ‘Ungura Sandhi’ in which Rāma and Sita playfully act as though they were separated with Hanuman trying to help as usual. Orvāyi Lakshmi Devamma presented a traditional rendering of ‘Shri Rāma Katha’, in which she extolls all Rāma bhaktās to take up ‘shanivāra vrata’ of doing Rāma puja with a simple naivedya and sharing one’s fortunes with the less fortunate ones. These story-telling songs in conversational Kannada are even now rendered in mādhwa weddings and household celebrations.
Other works:
It is not surprising if anecdotal references, symbolism, moral import and the sheer innerving spirit of Rāma katha appear in philosophical and religious texts, devotional slokas by saints and scholars of the school, or Haridasa lyrics. Recently, in addition to his commentary of Sangraha Rāmāyana mentioned earlier, Sri Bannanje Govindacharya, a renowned Dwaita scholar, has compiled six commentaries on Sri Rudra Prashna (700 yajus or prose sections from Yajur Veda traditionally considered as a praise of Sri Siva) called ‘Shata Rudreeyam’ [Ref 7]. This includes his novel interpretation of some segments of the scriptural text to be in praise of the divine attributes of Sri Rāma along with other forms of Sri Hari. Let us fold our hands in reverence to Srimadācharya who envisaged Rāma katha as an ever-lasting spring of hope to one and all in centuries after him and for future generations.
[Ref 1] Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya bySri Madhvacharya : https://ia800900.us.archive.org/15/items/MahabharathaTatparyaNirnayaVol1/Mahabharatha_Tatparya_Nirnaya_part1.pdf
English Translation: http://mahabharata-resources.org/mbtntrans/mbtntrans.html
[Ref 2] MBTN- 9.125 and 136
[ Ref 3] Kurma purana on Sita apaharana -अथावसत्याद भगवान् हव्यवाहनः महेश्वरः । आविरासीत सुदीप्तात्म तेजसा निर्दहन्निवा ।
सृष्ट्वा मायामयीं सीतां स रावणवधेच्चया | सीतामादाय रामेष्टां पावकोन्तरधीयत
[Ref 4] Haridasa Kriti Yeshtu Sahasavantha by Sri Vadiraja Theetha Swamiji : https://bvplyrics.com/yestu-sahasavanta-neene-balavanta-bhajan-lyrics-in-kannada/ https://honnadevi.blogspot.com/2014/12/eshtu-sahasavanta.html (English transliteration)
Singing by Sri Vidyabhushana https://youtu.be/J52TTXUqbmQ.
[Ref 5] Sri Madhvacharya’s contribution to Ramayana – Sulibhavi https://ia801707.us.archive.org/16/items/madhvacharyas-contribution-to-ramayana-s.-m.-sulibhavi/Madhvacharya%27s%20Contribution%20to%20Ramayana%20-S.M.%20Sulibhavi.pdf
[Ref 6] Ramacharitra Manjari by Sri Raghavendra Theertha Swamiji :http://madhwamrutha.org/Rāmacharithra-manjari/
Recitation by Sri Vidyabhushana :https://youtu.be/_Ig2PMWUcKY
[Ref 7]Shata Rudriyam: https://archive.org/details/ShataRudriyam
[Ref 8] Differences between Valimiki Ramayana and Ramcharitamanas https://www.templepurohit.com/difference-valmiki-ramayana-tulsidas-ramcharitmanas/
[Ref 9] Scriptural Evidences related to Rama in the Dvaita/ Tattva-vada tradition: http://swatantramag.com/scriptural-sculptural-evidences-related-to-rama-in-the-dvaita-tradition/
The authors acknowledge the use of generic Google searches that led to information-feed for the development of this article, ex [Ref 9]. They duly recognize the webpages and their authors for their contributions.
Musings on Philosophy and Personalities 