Sri Vadiraja Tirtha, one of the stalwarts of Dvaita School of Vedanta and author of hundreds of works, has written a treatise titled “Bhugola Varnanam” that deals with the brahmAnDa that we live in. [Sources: Kannada & English Translations by Sri V. Badarayana Murthy] Bhugola Varnanam has 35 topics related to the earth, planets, stars, cosmos…
SRI SRIPADARAJA TIRTHA & INTER-RELIGIOUS HARMONY Today is the 515th ArAdhana of Sri Sripadaraja Tirtha (Lakshmi Narayana Muni), vidyA guru of great Vyasatirtha & gaurdian-saint of Saluva Narasimharaya. This thread deals with the inter-religious tolerance shown by Sripadaraja who, otherwise, wrote terrific polemical writings. His much acclaimed work ‘vAgvajra’ is known for its sharp criticism of such…
Sri Vyasatirtha also known as Vyasaraya or Vyasaraja Tirtha acted as spiritual master for 6 Vijayanagara emperors from Saluva Narasimha to Achyuta. But his reach and influence were not limited to Vijayanagara Empire or South India but got spread in the North and more particularly in the Eastern India as well. This article is about…
A PROVEN METHOD TO UNDERSTAND PURANA & ITIHASA Recently a heated debate raged over a Telugu piece on Sitadevi. The person who wrote that is a Xtian missionary & a known Hindu hater. I didn’t read that piece but read the snippets posted on the Facebook updates by a few friends. Such attempts are not…
BERTRAND RUSSEL ON BOLSHEVISM [COMMUNISM] & MOHAMMEDANISM Bertrand Russel wrote “Bolshevism [Communism] is to be reckoned with Mohammedanism.” He also said that “Both are practical, social, unspiritual, concerned to win the empire of this world.” [B. Russel, Theory & Practice of Bolshevism, 1921]. What Russel wrote in 1921 has become true in India. From 60’s which…
Sri Vijayindra Tirtha is the bulwark of Dvaita Vedanta from post-Vyasatirtha period. This write-up is a humble contribution about a great yati who foresaw the difficult times for Vijayanagara Empire & forewarned Ramaraya to take measures. Vijayindra was born in c.1514 as ‘Vitthala.’ Got initiated into sanyAsa by Vyasatirtha as ‘Vishnutirtha.’ But subsequently…
For those readers who are new to this subject, I wish to give them the gist of the story. Sri Akshobhya Tirtha, the 4th successor of Acharya Madhva has ascended the Dvaita Vedanta Peetha in the year c.1350. He has succeeded Sri Mādhava Tirtha (Ascendance:1333 Brindavana: 1349/50) and prevailed over the Peetha till c.1365. The…
THE BELL IN HANUMAN’S TAIL [As told by Sri Vidya Vijaya Tirtha Sripadaru of Sri Vyasaraja Matha-Sosale] The Bell in Hanuman’s tail – is an interesting feature that can be seen not just in Vyasa-Anjaneya pratima-s but also in many pratima-s across Bharata bhUmi. I have learnt one legend associated with it from elders. Here is…
HISTORIC MEETING OF SRI RAGHAVENDRA TIRTHA & CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI This small write-up is about the historical meeting between Sri Raghavendra Tirtha of Mantralayam and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. As per tradition, he is the reincarnation of Sri Vyasatirtha who flourished during Vijayanagara’s golden epoch i.e. Krishnaraya’s reign. It is well documented that Vyasatirtha was the…
Recently, an audio clip that contained a legend associated with a popular polemical work titled Advaita Siddhi written by Madhusudana Saraswati from Sankara’s Advaita School gone viral. This Advaita Siddhi is a rebuttal of Vyasatirtha’s Nyanamruta. Here is a translation (not verbatim but the essence of the speech). “Madhusudana Saraswati was an erudite Advaita scholar. He wrote ‘Advaita Siddhi’…
