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No 25.)
SRIKURMAM INSCRIPTION OF NARAHARITIRTHA.
261
Among the three Vaishnava teachers named in the inscription, Purushottama-mahâtirtha is not mentioned in the lists of the Madhva teachers preserved in the Mathas, which begin with Anandatartha. The Madhvavijaya, a kdvya by Narayanapaņdita, the son of Trivikramapaņdita, which describes in detail the life of Anandatirtha and his dialectical victories over the Mayavadins or followers of Sankaracharya, mentions as the spiritual Guru of Anandatirtha & certain Achyutaprekshacharya, who had the surname of Purushottamatirtha, by which he is referred to in verse 1 of the subjoined inscription.
Ånandatirtha, the second of the teachers mentioned in the inscription, is the famous founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy and occupies in the history of Indian religion a position not in any way unequal to those of the great Sankaracharya and of Ramanujachfry&. Vaishpavism, the most characteristic feature of which is bhakti, or love for god, that may be freely practised by one and all, irrespective of creed and caste, was first started by Râmánujachårya in the 11th century, was eagerly spread by Anandatirtha in the 13th century, and eventually assumed large proportions in the 16th century under Krishna-Chaitanya, the celebrated Vaishṇava teacher of Bengal. Ânandatirtha is known by three other names, vix. Pürņaprajfia, Madhyacharya and Madhyamandára. His system has been explained in the Barvadardanasangraha of Sayanacharya under the heading Purnaprajña-darsana. Anandatartha's direct disciples were Padmanabhatirtha, Naraharitirtha, Madhavatirtha and Akshobhyatirtha, who succeeded one after the other to the pontifical seat after the death of Anandatirtha.
Several interesting facts regarding the life of Naraharitirtha, the third teacher mentioned in the inscription, are recorded in a stôtra entitled Narahariyatistótra, which is included in the Stotramahôdadhi, Part 1.6 It states that, before conversion to the Madhva faith, the Tirtha was called Såmaskstrin, and that he was styled Naraharitirtha after receiving initiation from Purņaprajia. The latter ordered his pupil to go at once to the capital of the Gajapati king and to be a ruler there. Naraharitirtha, who had learnt the true import of the Bhashyal from his teacher, would have preferred to become a samnyásin and said:"Lord! what do I gain by ruling a kingdom ?” The master replied :-"There in the Gajapati kingdom are the images of Ráma and Sita, which you must try to acquire with great skill, in order that I may worship them." Accordingly Naraharitirtha went to the country of the Gajapati king and was hailed there by the people and the infant king as a fit ruler for their country. The stótra continues to say that the teacher ruled the Kalinga country for twelve years. When the prince attained his majority, he handed back the kingdom to him and, as a present and compensation for the services rendered, requested the king to give him the images of Rama and Sita, which were in the royal treasury. These being secured, Naraharitirtha returned and gave them to his master Anandatirtha. The latter worshipped the images for 80 days and made them over to his first pupil, Padmanabhatirtha, who in his turn worshipped them for six years and handed over the charge of
Several Matar or schools of the MAdbyes are known to exist. The Karnataka and Désastha Brabmaņas follow three of them, pit. the Uttaradimatha, Vydsarkyamatha and Raghavendrasvaminatba. Most of the Siva!ļi, Kota and Kotdivar. Brahmaņas of South Caoars are adherents of nine other Hathas, viz. eight Mathas at Udipi and one at Subrahmanya (with a branch at Bhandarakori near Barukdr). Lists of Madhya Gurua are preserved in esch of the three chief Matha, and are available for inspection. A similar list bas been pablished by Dr. Bhandarkar in his Report on the Search for Sanskrit Manuscript for 1882-83, Appendix II. p. 203.
• The chief incidents in the life of Madhvacharys u related in the Madhradijaya have been put together in #Pamphlet entitled "Madhwacharya.- A short historic sketch," by Mr. C. N. Krishnasvami Aiyar, M.A., of the Coimbatore College.
• Madhanjaya, vi. verse 33.
• The pine Mathar of South Canars recognise only PadmapAbbattrtba and their nice founders as direct disciples of Anandatirtos.
Printed at Bombay by the Nirnayasdgars Press in 1897. • The lists (one note 1 xbove) give the name Ramasastria. * This probably refers to the commentary of Amandatfrths on the Praathanatraya; nee below, p. 265, note 6.
