Jagadguru Sri Vidyaranya Tirtha was a sage, philosopher, able administrator and founder mentor of Vijaya Nagara Kingdom. He was Jagadguru of Sringeri Shanrada Peetham for a short span of 6 years from 1380 AD - 1386 AD. The Hindu Community of South India, Brahmin community in particular must be thank ful to Him for thier life time for the wealth He has given them. Had He not established Vijaya Nagara Kingdom, Hinduism in South India would have been wiped out by other religions in 14th century itself. It is the boon of Sri Vidyaranya to every brahmin in South India that he is able to perform Sandhya Vandanam every day as prescribed in scriptures.Vidyaranya was born as Madhava in Ekashilapuri - the present day Warangal. Ekashilapuri was capital city of Kakatiya Kindom that ruled the present day Telangana before Nizams took over it. There is a huge shila or stone in that city. If you stand on that Shila, you can see entire city. Thats how the city got the name Ekashilapuri. We can find this stone even today. This city also had another name - Orugallu. He is hardly known to any common person in this region.
Madhava had a younger brother named Keshava. These two brothers adorned Sringeri Sharada Peetham one after the other - the younger being first with a yoga patta of Sri Bharathi Krishna Tirtha for 47 years (1333 AD - 1380 AD). To best of my knowledge, Keshava and Madhava are the only brothers who headed a major monastery in the world in any tradition.
It was Keshava who first left home and started travelling in South India in persuit of Atma Gnanam. Keshava finally reached Sringeri where Jagadguru Sri Vidya Shankara Tirtha Mahaswamigal readily accepted him as a disciple. The Jagadguru gave him Sannyasa deeksha with ascetic name of Sri Bharathi Krishna Tirtha in 1328 AD.
Some time later, Madhava also left home in search of his younger brother and reached Sringeri. Upon reaching Sringeri, He realized that Keshava was given Sanyasa Deekha. Madhava also took Sanyasa Deeksha under Sri Vidya Shankara Tirtha and was given ascetic name of Sri Vidyaranya Tirtha in 1331 AD. It is very clear that they both were brahma chari's before they took Sannyasa deeksha. In Sringeri Guru parampara, all Jagadguru's are Brahmachari's before they took Sannyasa with an exception of Sri Sureshwaracharya. It is also very rare that two sibblings accept Sannyasa deeksha.
In 1333 AD, Sri Vidya Shankara Tirtha entered lambika yoga after installing Sri Bharathi Krishna Teertha as Head of Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri. Even though Sri Bharathi Krishna Tirtha was younger to Sri Vidyaranya, the former headed Sharada Peetham first by virtue of His seniority in accepting Sannyasa. After this, Sri Vidyaranya Tirtha went on for a Desha Sanchara - visiting holy places in India.
When Sri Vidyaranya Tirtha was meditating in Matanga Hills, two Kshatriya brothers - Harihara and Bukka approached Him. They were forcibly converted to Islam by Mohummad-bin-Tuglaq. Vidyaranya blessed them and converted them back to Hinduism. He guided them to build a new Hindu Empire to rule South India. This city was initially named as Vidyanagara in respect of Sri Vidyashankara Tirtha. Later on it became popular as Vijaya Nagara. The city is in the form of a Sri Chakra with Virupaksha temple at it's center. Since then, Sringeri Jagadguru's are called as "Karnataka Simhasana Pratishtapanacharya" .
Vidyaranya was Royal Guru, Minister & Mentor in Vijaya Nagara Kingdom. Once there was a draught in the empire. King Harihara approached Vidyaranya. Vidyaranya told the king that he would pray Goddess Lakshmi to shower gold in the kingdom. The king collected the gold that fell in his fort. What ever gold that fell in citizen's houses / farms was taken by the citizens. He worshipped Mahalaksmi using Kanakadhara Sthavam of Shankaracharya. In past 1400 years, there was a rain of gold only twice in India - first as requested by Adi Shankara & second being this incident of Sri Vidyaranya Tirtha.
The name Vidyaranya means forest of education. He had done justice to the name given to Him. He is the greatest among all scholars in Adwaitha philosophy in post Shankara period. Jagadguru has written more than 1800 works. When Vijaya Nagara kingdom collapsed, His disciples had hidden all His works in caves and under ground storages. Now only 80 works are available. Importantworks among them are Bhashyam (commentary) for 4 Vedas, Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam, Sarva Siddantha Sangraham, Vedantha Panchadashi and many others. He has given pointers on usage of various matra's on various ocassion. We see lot of self declared guru's using Veda Mantra's with out any knowledge in the present world. He has given us the biography of Adi Shankara - Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam. There are many Shankara Vijayam's available to us in the literature. But most widely accepted biograpgy is Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam. Sarva Siddantha Sangraha compares Adwaitha philosophy with 16 other major schools of thought like Charvaka, Jaina & Bhauddha etc. It is not at all a criticism of those traditions.
Madhwa's argue that Vidyaranya was defeated in a debate with Akhyobhya Tirtha. I feel that it is a baseless statement. Vidyaranya was busy with establishing a Hindu Empire in South India. He had written 1800 vedantic works. I dont think that He would waste time in useless discussions. Added to this, Madhwa's say that Sri Vedanta Deshika, a Sri Vaishnava follower of Sri Ramanujacharya, was the Judge for this debate. The cooked up story mentions that the debate was on Mahavakya "Tatwamasi". Already Sri Ramanujacharya has written in favour of "Tatwamasi". I dont really think an ideal disciple would give his verdict againt His Guru's words. This story is completely a fake story. Vidyamanya Tirtha of Palimar Mutt, Udupi has been doing some thing similar in the recent past and declaring himself that he won against Jagadguru's of Sringeri. It is better if we dont spend much time on this topic.
During His time, many branches of Sringeri Mutt were established. They are Kudli Mutt, Virupakha Peetham in Hampi, Bandigade Mutt & Tirtha Mattur Mutt . Hariharapura - a small village near Sringeri is the agraharadonated by King Harihara. Hariharapura Mutt was established during the time of Sri Sureshwaracharya - the first Jagadguru of Sringeri. Vidya Shankara temple was constucted under his guidance.
Vidyaranya was a constructive force in the times he lived. He inculcated unity among the citizens of the region. Now a days, we find lot of self declared Swamiji's. They are more interested in money making business than real welfare of their visitors. The modern day self declared guru's have are interested to travel to Western countries & donations than spending time in Dhyana / Meditation. Vidyaranya was an ideal Guru. Even though He mentored Harihara & Bukka to establish a Kingdom that spanned whole South India, He never lived a luxurious life in Palaces. He lead 100% monastic life as prescribed by Vedas. Even though there was a rain of golden coins in Vijaya Nagara, He never touched a single gold coin. He is a role model for all of the present day Sannyasi's.
The vision of Sri Vidyaranya lead to preserving of Sanatana Dharma in South India. Other foriegn religions could not penetrate beyond Vindhya Mountains as they did in North India. This vision clearly lacks in present day selfish politicians. Vidyaranya's vision helped the integrity and soverignity of the region. He preserved the native's regions rich culture and tradition. The present day politics are divisive. Politicians do not possess even 1% of the vision of Vidyaranya. The politicians divide the people based on many factors for their personal benifits. Neither the rulers nor the ruled show any interest in preserving our rich Indian culture and tradition.
The democratic Governments of Karntaka & Andhra Pradesh are showing little interest in recognising Vidyaranya. As I mentioned in the beginning, people of Warangal & Telangana region hardly know Him. The hereditary democratic poloiticians encroach hundreds of acres of land in the name of trusts and memorials. But there is no memorial for Vidyaranya so far in Telangana region.
Vidyaranya is role model for all of us - youth, students, writers, rulers, administartors, vedantic scholars and Sannyasi's. He had been through all these phases in his life of 90+ years. Sri Vidya Shankara - Bharathi Krishna Tirtha - Vidyaranya period marks the rise of Sringeri Sharada Peetham and Sanatana Dharma in particular in South India.
Homage to this serene Vidyaranya, Who holds aloft the torch of discrimination, Knowledge of the Real form unreal and helps the devoted across the sea of birth!!
References:
4. A talk on Vidyaranya in Bhakti TV by Brahmasri Mudigonda Shankara Sharma on April 11, 2009
