| Brahma Sampradaya |
| In the beginning of the creation, Brahma is born first without any father and mother because before Brahma there were no other living beings. Brahma is born from the lotus which grows from the abdomen of the Garbhodakasayi Visnu, and therefore he is known as Aja. This Brahma, or Aja, is also a living being, part and parcel of the Lord, but being the most pious devotee of the Lord, Brahma is inspired by the Lord to create, subsequent to the main creation by the Lord, through the agency of material nature. The Vedic knowledge was therefore first impregnated within Brahma, and it appears that Brahma distributed the Vedic knowledge. Brahma is undoubtedly the speaker of the Vedic knowledge, but actually he was inspired by the Lord to receive such transcendental knowledge, as it directly descends from the Lord. The Vedas are therefore called apauruseya, or not imparted by any created being. Before the creation the Lord was there (narayanah paro 'vyaktat), and therefore the words spoken by the Lord are vibrations of transcendental sound. There is a gulf of difference between the two qualities of sound, namely prakrta and aprakrta. The physicist can deal only with the prakrta sound, or sound vibrated in the material sky, and therefore we must know that the Vedic sounds recorded in symbolic expressions cannot be understood by anyone within the universe unless and until one is inspired by the vibration of supernatural (aprakrta) sound, which descends in the chain of disciplic succession from the Lord to Brahma, from Brahma to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa and so on. No mundane scholar can translate or reveal the true import of the Vedic mantras (hymns). They cannot be understood unless one is inspired or initiated by the authorized spiritual master. The original spiritual master is Lord Krishna Himself, and the succession comes down through the sources of parampara, as clearly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita. So unless one receives the transcendental knowledge from the authorized parampara, one should be considered useless (viphala matah), even though one may be greatly qualified in the mundane advancements of arts or science. "Brahma is mahajana. Or there are twelve, twelve mahajanas stated in the sastras, and Brahma is one of them. Brahma's name is Svayambhu. Or Atmabhu. Because he is born out of the abdomen of the father, not of the mother. ...Father is the seed-giving, life-giving agent. So this life was not transferred to anyone else to take the body. The life-giver, father, gave him the body. Therefore Brahma is called Svayambhu." Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10-21-74, Mayapur "Thus Brahma was initiated by the Krsna mantra, by Lord Krsna Himself, and thus he became a Vaisnava, or a devotee of the Lord, before he was able to construct the huge universe. It is stated in the Brahma-samhita that Lord Brahma was initiated into the eighteen-letter Krsna mantra, which is generally accepted by all the devotees of Lord Krsna. We follow the same principle because we belong to the Brahma sampradaya, directly in the disciplic chain from Brahma to Narada, from Narada to Vyasa, from Vyasa to Madhva Muni, from Madhva Muni to Madhavendra Puri, from Madhavendra Puri to Isvara Puri, from Isvara Puri to Lord Caitanya and gradually to His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, our divine master." Srimad-Bhagavatam 2:9:6 This line of disciplic succession from Brahma is spiritual, whereas the genealogical succession from Manu is material, but both are on the progressive march towards the same goal of Krsna consciousness." Srimad-Bhagavatam 3:13:8 "All the four Sampradayas ... are after worshipping the Supreme Lord Visnu, in His different Expansions, and some of them are in favor of worshipping Radha Krishna." Srila Prabhupada Letter to Upendra, 02-13-68 "Out of the four sampradayas, the Sri Madhvacarya-sampradaya was accepted by Madhavendra Puri. Thus he took sannyasa according to parampara, the disciplic succession. Beginning from Madhvacarya down to the spiritual master of Madhavendra Puri, the acarya named Laksmipati, there was no realization of devotional service in conjugal love. Sri Madhavendra Puri introduced the conception of conjugal love for the first time in the Madhvacarya-sampradaya, and this conclusion of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya was revealed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when He toured southern India and met the Tattvavadis, who supposedly belonged to the Madhvacarya-sampradaya." Caitanya-caritamrta, Madyam lila 4:197 "Perhaps you know the picture of Madhvacarya, one of the great Acaryas in our line, who is holding two fingers up to indicate Krishna and jiva. The impersonalists hold up one finger because their idea is that everything is one. So if we make the Spiritual Master identical with Krishna, then we will also become impersonalists. If we say that our Spiritual Master is Krishna, then the conclusion is that if we become Spiritual Master some day, then we will also become Krishna. Please try to understand how dangerous this kind of reasoning is. Each of the bonafide sampradaya has its own distinct commentaries on Vedanta. Sri Madhvacarya's Purnaprajna-bhasya establishes suddha-dvaita-vada, or purified dualism. While the Mayavadi scholars do not accept the Puranas, Srila Madhvacarya and all other authorities accept them as the authoritative histories of the world. The Puranas are not chronologically recorded, but the incidents mentioned in the Puranas are actual histories of bygone ages. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the Maha-purana, the essence of all the Puranas. The Brahma Sampradaya is divided into two schools: the Gaudiya Vaisnavas and the Tattva-vadi Madhavas (the Dvaitas). Of the Dvaita school, the Haridasa movement is prominent. The founding acarya of the Haridasa was Sri Narahari Tiirtha, a direct disciple of Madhavacarya, who preached a simplified version of Madhava's tattva. The Haridasa's worship Vittala and other manifestations of Lord Krishna. "Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu accepted the chain of disciplic succession from Madhva Acarya, but the Vaisnavas in His line do not accept the tattva-vadis, who also claim to belong to the Madhva-sampradaya. To distinguish themselves clearly from the tattva-vadi branch of Madhva's descendants, the Vaisnavas of Bengal prefer to call themselves Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Sri Madhva Acarya is also known as Sri Gaudapurnananda, and therefore the name Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya is quite suitable for the disciplic succession of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Our spiritual master, Om Visnupada Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, accepted initiation in the Madhva-Gaudiya-sampradaya." Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi lila 1:19 |
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| Lord Brahma |
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| Sri Madhvacarya |
| "Sripada Madhvacarya took his birth at Udupi, which is situated in the South Kanarada district of South India, just west of Sahyadri. This is the chief city of the South Kanarada province and is near the city of Mangalore, which is situated to the south of Udupi. In the city of Udupi is a place called Pajaka-ksetra, where Madhvacarya took his birth in a Sivalli-brahmana dynasty as the son of Madhyageha Bhatta, in the year 1040 Sakabda (A.D. 1119). According to some, he was born in the year 1160 Sakabda (A.D. 1239). In his childhood Madhvacarya was known as Vasudeva, and there are some wonderful stories surrounding him. It is said that once when his father had piled up many debts, Madhvacarya converted tamarind seeds into actual coins to pay them off. When he was five years old, he was offered the sacred thread. A demon named Maniman lived near his abode in the form of a snake, and at the age of five Madhvacarya killed that snake with the toe of his left foot. When his mother was very much disturbed, he would appear before her in one jump. He was a great scholar even in childhood, and although his father did not agree, he accepted sannyasa at the age of twelve. Upon receiving sannyasa from Acyuta Preksa, he received the name Purnaprajna Tirtha. After traveling all over India, he finally discussed scriptures with Vidyasankara, the exalted leader of Srngeri-matha. Vidyasankara was actually diminished in the presence of Madhvacarya. Accompanied by Satya Tirtha, Madhvacarya went to Badarikasrama. It was there that he met Vyasadeva and explained his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita before him. Thus he became a great scholar by studying before Vyasadeva. By the time he came to the Ananda-matha from Badarikasrama, Madhvacarya had finished his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita. His companion Satya Tirtha wrote down the entire commentary. When Madhvacarya returned from Badarikasrama, he went to Ganjama, which is on the bank of the river Godavari. There he met with two learned scholars named Sobhana Bhatta and Svami Sastri. Later these scholars became known in the disciplic succession of Madhvacarya as Padmanabha Tirtha and Narahari Tirtha. |
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| Udupi Krsna |
| When he returned to Udupi, he would sometimes bathe in the ocean. On such an occasion he composed a prayer in five chapters. Once, while sitting beside the sea engrossed in meditation upon Lord Sri Krsna, he saw that a large boat containing goods for Dvaraka was in danger. He gave some signs by which the boat could approach the shore, and it was saved. The owners of the boat wanted to give him a present, and at the time Madhvacarya agreed to take some gopi-candana. He received a big lump of gopi-candana, and as it was being brought to him, it broke apart and revealed a large Deity of Lord Krsna. The Deity had a stick in one hand and a lump of food in the other. As soon as Madhvacarya received the Deity of Krsna in this way, he composed a prayer. The Deity was so heavy that not even thirty people could lift it. Madhvacarya personally brought this Deity to Udupi. Madhvacarya had eight disciples, all of whom took sannyasa from him and became directors of his eight monasteries. Worship of the Lord Krsna Deity is still going on at Udupi according to the plans Madhvacarya established. Madhvacarya then for the second time visited Badarikasrama. While he was passing through Maharashtra, the local king was digging a big lake for the public benefit. As Madhvacarya passed through that area with his disciples, he was also obliged to help in the excavation. After some time, when Madhvacarya visited the king, he engaged the king in that work and departed with his disciples. Often in the province of Ganga-pradesa there were fights between Hindus and Muslims. The Hindus were on one bank of the river, and the Muslims on the other. Due to the community tension, no boat was available for crossing the river. The Muslim soldiers were always stopping passengers on the other side, but Madhvacarya did not care for these soldiers. He crossed the river anyway, and when he met the soldiers on the other side, he was brought before the king. The Muslim king was so pleased with him that he wanted to give him a kingdom and some money, but Madhvacarya refused. While walking on the road, he was attacked by some dacoits, but by his bodily strength he killed them all. When his companion Satya Tirtha was attacked by a tiger, Madhvacarya separated them by virtue of his great strength. When he met Vyasadeva, he received from him the salagrama-sila known as Astamurti. After this, he summarized the Mahabharata. Madhvacarya's devotion to the Lord and his erudite scholarship became known throughout India. Consequently the owners of the Srngeri-matha, established by Sankaracarya, became a little perturbed. At that time the followers of Sankaracarya were afraid of Madhvacarya's rising power, and they began to tease Madhvacarya's disciples in many ways. There was even an attempt to prove that the disciplic succession of Madhvacarya was not in line with Vedic principles. A person named Pundarika Puri, a follower of the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, came before Madhvacarya to discuss the sastras. It is said that all of Madhvacarya's books were taken away, but later they were found with the help of King Jayasimha, ruler of Kumla. In discussion, Pundarika Puri was defeated by Madhvacarya. A great personality named Trivikramacarya, who was a resident of Visnumangala, became Madhvacarya's disciple, and his son later became Narayanacarya, the composer of Sri Madhva-vijaya. After the death of Trivikramacarya, the younger brother of Narayanacarya took sannyasa and later became known as Visnu Tirtha. It was reputed that there was no limit to the bodily strength of Purnaprajna, Madhvacarya. There was a person named Kadanjari who was famed for possessing the strength of thirty men. Madhvacarya placed the big toe of his foot upon the ground and asked the man to separate it from the ground, but the great strong man could not do so even after great effort. Srila Madhvacarya passed from this material world at the age of eighty while writing a commentary on the Aitareya Upanisad. For further information about Madhvacarya, one should read Madhva-vijaya, by Narayanacarya. The acaryas of the Madhva-sampradaya established Udupi as the chief center, and the monastery there was known as Uttararadhi-matha. A list of the different centers of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya can be found at Udupi, and their matha commanders are (1) Visnu Tirtha (Soda-matha), (2) Janardana Tirtha (Krsnapura-matha), (3) Vamana Tirtha (Kanura-matha), (4) Narasimha Tirtha (Adamara-matha), (5) Upendra Tirtha (Puttugi-matha), (6) Rama Tirtha (Sirura-matha), (7) Hrsikesa Tirtha (Palimara-matha), and (8) Aksobhya Tirtha (Pejavara-matha). The disciplic succession of the Madhvacarya-sampradaya is as follows (the dates are those of birth): (1) Hamsa Paramatma; (2) Caturmukha Brahma; (3) Sanakadi; (4) Durvasa; (5) Jnananidhi; (6) Garuda-vahana; (7) Kaivalya Tirtha; (8) Jnanesa Tirtha; (9) Para Tirtha; (10) Satyaprajna Tirtha; (11) Prajna Tirtha; (12) Acyuta Preksacarya Tirtha; (13) Sri Madhvacarya, 1040 Saka; (14) Padmanabha, 1120; Narahari, 1127; Madhava, 1136; and Aksobhya 1159; (15) Jaya Tirtha, 1167; (16) Vidyadhiraja, 1190; (17) Kavindra, 1255; (18) Vagisa, 1261; (19) Ramacandra, 1269; (20) Vidyanidhi, 1298; (21) Sri Raghunatha, 1366; (22) Rayuvarya (who spoke with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu), 1424; (23) Raghuttama, 1471; (24) Vedavyasa, 1517; (25) Vidyadhisa, 1541; (26) Vedanidhi, 1553; (27) Satyavrata, 1557; (28) Satyanidhi, 1560; (29) Satyanatha, 1582; (30) Satyabhinava, 1595; (31) Satyapurna, 1628; (32) Satyavijaya, 1648; (33) Satyapriya, 1659; (34) Satyabodha, 1666; (35) Satyasandha, 1705; (36) Satyavara, 1716; (37) Satyadharma, 1719; (38) Satyasankalpa, 1752; (39) Satyasantusta, 1763; (40) Satyaparayana, 1763; (41) Satyakama, 1785; (42) Satyesta, 1793; (43) Satyaparakrama, 1794; (44) Satyadhira, 1801; (45) Satyadhira Tirtha, 1808. (For approximate Christian era dates, add seventy-nine years.) After the sixteenth acarya (Vidyadhiraja Tirtha), there was another disciplic succession, including Rajendra Tirtha, 1254; Vijayadhvaja; Purusottama; Subrahmanya; and Vyasa Raya, 1470-1520. The nineteenth acarya, Ramacandra Tirtha, had another disciplic succession, including Vibudhendra, 1218; Jitamitra, 1348; Raghunandana; Surendra; Vijendra; Sudhindra; and Raghavendra Tirtha, 1545. To date, in the Udupi monastery there are another fourteen Madhva-tirtha sannyasis. As stated, Udupi is situated beside the sea in South Kanarada, about thirty-six miles north of Mangalore. Most of the information in this purport is available from the South Kanada Manual and the Bombay Gazette." Caitanya-caritamrta, Madyam lila 9:245-278 Dvaita of Madhvacarya "Sripada Madhvacarya's philosophy is known as Dvaita. While strongly establishing the status of Visnu as Supreme Being, he emphasizes that there are two categories of realities: svatantram asvatantram ca prameyam dvividham matam (Tattva viveka 1) The aim of philosophy, he says, to realize the distinction or difference between the Independent Reality (The Supreme Lord) and dependent realities (jivas, world etc). There is order, regulation, mutual adjustment and harmony in creation. This shows that there is no unrestricted independence to all to act as they please. The realities that constitute this existence are dependent on the Independent Reality, the Supreme Lord, Vasudeva who explains, controls and inter-relates the dependent realities into this existence. Doctrine of Difference It shows that matter, souls and God constitute the three major realities of Madhva's system. The number of souls is unlimited and the modifications of matter are numerous, in various states. These three are conceived as distinct entities. The reality of God is of the independent grade. That of the rest is dependent. Between matter and souls, the former is of a lesser grade of reality. The reality of things in space and time involves the differences in name, form, attributes, relations, and tendencies. He has given a scheme of "five-fold difference" (Pancabheda). jivesvarabhida caiva jadesvarabhida tatha jivabhedo mithascaiva jadajivabhida tatha mithasca jadabhedo'yam prapanco bhedapancaka (1) the distinction between Isvara and jiva (2) the distinction between Isvara and jada (prakrti) (4) the distinction between the jiva and the jada (5) the distinction among the jadas, i.e, distinction between one inanimate object and another. This fivefold difference is collectively spoken of by Madhva as "Pra-panca". It is real and eternal. (Visnutattva nirnaya) paramesvarena jnatatvat raksitatvatca na dvaitam bhrantikalpitam nahisvarasya bhranti This scheme of pancabheda is not illusory - as it is cognized, maintained and controlled by the Supreme Lord; for there can be no illusions for God. - (Visnutattva nirnaya) Scriptures Sripada Madhvacarya quotes profusely from an exceptionally wide range of Vedic literatures like the Mantras, Brahmanas, Khilas, Aranyakas, Upanisads, Itihasas, Puranas, Pancaratras and the Smrtis. He has drawn to the largest extent upon the Rg Veda. He refuses to give a secondary place to the Vedas as apara vidya - dealing only with karma and demigods without any philosophical content. He treats the ocean of Vedic literatures as an integral legacy (samanvayatva) and not as fractional revelations of truth and religion. He covers the entire range of the sastras and establishes the running unity (gatisamanya) in establishing the dependency of everything on Vasudeva. |
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