SRI VIDYAADHIISHA TIIRTHA 
  yadvidyaadhiishaguroH shushrUshhaanyaa na rochate tasmAt.h  |
  astveshhaa bhaktiyuktaa shriividyadhiishapaadayoH sevaa  ||

Ananda Bhattaraka, the father of Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha

On the bank of river Godavari there is a small town called Punuyastambhapura. (This Town is now called Punatambe. It is in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra). In this town the ancestor of the Pandurangi family i.e., Pandurangi Ananda Bhattaraka lived during 1500-1580. He was not a learned man initially though he belonged to a learned family. He propitiated Goddess Mahalakshmi at Kolhapur for twelve years. Goddess Mahalakshmi appeared in his dream and told him that she would appear before him in the form of a serpent next morning and he should hold her. Accordingly she appeared before him when he was meditating upon the Goddess standing before her. The serpent moved round the image of Goddess Mahalakshmi thrice. Anandabhattaraka remembered the dream and tried to take the serpent by hand as it was entering into a nearby hole. He could touch tip of the serpent once by his ten fingers and once again by one. Thus he secured learning, wealth, and noble progeny for eleven generations with the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi. He then proceeded to Varanasi to study shaastra-s. He became a great scholar and returned to his native place Punyastambhapura.

Anandabhatta was a contemporary of Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha, the famous pontiff of Sode MaTha, one of the eight MaTha-s of Udupi. Once an Advaita scholar wanted to have philosophical debate with Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha and invited him to Paithan for a debate. When Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha went there, the Advaita Pandit wanted time and went on postponing the debate. As Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha had to return urgently to Udupi to take charge of his paryaaya, he appointed Anandabhatta to debate with that pandit and gave him mantrakshata. Later Anandabhatta defeated that pandit in the debate and brought Jayapatrika from him. Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha was pleased with this service of Anandabhatta and blessed him that he would get a son similar to Sri Vaadiraaja Tiirtha himself. This event is recorded in Sri Vadirajaguruvaracharitamrita composed by Ramachandracharya. (The verses giving these details are included in the Sanskrit text).

As a result of this, Anandabhatta begot a son Narasimha, the would-be Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha. Anandabhatta already had a son Srinivasacharya. Later he got a third son Keshavacharya who became well known as Gururaja. It is also reported that Keshavacharya was the son of Timmannabhatta, the elder brother of Anandabhatta. In any case, Anandabhatta's three sons became great scholars in due course.

Anandabhattaraka is also known for his work Nyayamritakantakoddhara. This is a commentary on the Nyayamrta (of Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha). It criticizes Advaitasiddhi of Madhusudana Sarasvati. Anandabhatta is remembered for this great work and his great son Narasimhacharya. Anandabhatta was a disciple of Sri Raghuttamatiirtha of Uttaradi Matha.

NARASIMHACHARYA'S EARLY CAREER

Narasimhacharya studied the shaastra-s under his father. He became a great scholar in Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vyakarana and Vedanta when he was just sixteen years old. He started teaching these shastras at Trivikrama temple in Punyastambhapura. He defeated Sivapandita and Visvapandita in a debate in Vyakarana Shastra. Similarly he defeated Golinga pandita in Nyaya and Tanabhatta in Srautasutras.

Around 1600 A.D. there was a Muslim invasion of Punyastambhapura. Narasimhacharya had to leave that town with his family and disciples. He went to Nasika Tryambaka and lived there for two years. Later Dattapandita the son of Naganatha invited him to Sangamner and Paithan. This Naganatha Dattapandita was a subedar at Paithan under Shahaji the father of Shivaji. He later became the subedar of Bangalore. From Paithan Narasimhacharya went to Pandharpur. There was an old MaTha at Pandharpur established by Sri Padmanabha Tiirtha. Sri Madhvacharya had visited this MaTha. Narasimhacharya renovated this Matha. Here one Narasapandita was defeated in a debate by Narasimhacharya. This Narasapandita went to Bijapur and was given shelter by one Lingojipandita. This Lingojipandita was a member of the team that went to meet the Moghal Emperor on behalf of Adilshah of Bijapur. Narasimhacharya was also invited to Bijapur by one Lakshmanapandita. Here Narasapandita once again debated with Narasimhacharya and was defeated.

NARASIMHACHARYA WAS GIVEN SANYASA AND NAMED AS VIDYAADHIISHA TIIRTHA

At this time, Sri Vedavyasa Tiirtha of Uttaradi MaTha was camping at Mannur on the bank of the river Bhima. He asked Narasimhacharya to meet him. He gave him sanyaasa, made him his successor for the piiTha, and named him Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha. With the blessings of his Guru, Sri Vidyadhiisha Tiirtha undertook a tour. He went to Sangli on the bank of the river Krishna for his first chAturmAsya. Then he went to Karavirapura or Kolhapur. He toured Karhad area consisting of the present Satara and Sangli districts in Maharashtra. He returned to Penugonda to meet his guru Sri Vedavyasa Tiirtha.

Then he was invited by Sri Chamarajendra of Srirangapattana. This ruler was suffering from food allergy. Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha cured his allergy by sprinkling tiirtha (sanctified water) over his food. Pleased at this, Chamaraja donated three villages to him. Sri Vidyadhiisha established Mukhyaprana image in a village called Chandaguru and also Sriranga- pattana in the premises of Uttaradi MaTha. He toured the whole of South India. After visiting Rameshwaram he went to Udupi. From Udupi he went to Ikkeri and defeated Rangojibhatta in a philosophical debate. The event of this debate is recorded by Kondabhatta in his work Vaiyakaranabhushanasara in the closing verses. There is a small manuscript named Rangojibhattaparajaya giving details of this debate. Then he returned to Penugonda. At this time Sri Vedavyasa Tiirtha entered his vrndaavana. Sri Vidyaadhiisha performed his guru's aradhana in a fitting manner. He distributed five thousand gold coins as dakshina to the pandits assembled on the occasion.

SRI VIDYAADHIISHA'S TOUR OF SOUTH INDIA AND GODAVARI PRADAKSHINA

Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha once again visited Udupi and performed his chAturmAsya. During this stay he composed a commentary, viz., Vakyarthachandrika on the first five adhikaraNa-s of Nyaaya-sudha. Then, he proceeded to conduct a pradakshina of the river Godavari. He started the pradakshina from Nasikatrayambaka where the river originates. From this place he proceeded along the bank of the river with hundred pandits, visited Bhadrachala, Konasima, and Antarvedi. From there he took the round of the seven streams of Godavari and started his return journey. He went to Dharmapuri on the way and finally returned to Nasikatrayambaka.

Then he proceeded to Chola country again. On his way he visited Tirumala and offered his services to Lord Venkateswara. He visited Kalahasti and reached Srirangam. He performed his Guru's ArAdhana at Srirangam in a grand manner. Tirumala Nayak, the chieftain of Trichanapally came and paid his respects to Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha and provided all the supplies for the ArAdhana. Then he went to Tanjavur and was honoured by Raghunatha Nayaka. Further, he went to Kumbhakonam. He met Sri Sudhindra Tiirtha who was camping at Kumbhakonam. The two honoured each other. Then he proceeded to Madurai and finally reached Rameswaram. From Rameswaram he returned to Dharmapuri on the bank of river Godavari. This was an important center of Uttaradhimatha in those days. Sri Vasudevayati Purnabodhacharya, etc., prominent disciples of that town, welcomed him. He performed his chAturmAsya at Dharmapuri. Sri Yadavarya, his purvasram younger brother Keshavacharya (Gururaja), Srimushnam Anandacharya, Rotti Venkatabhatta, Dharmasuri and several other distinguished scholars used to sit at the feet of Sri Vidyadhiishatiirtha and study Sri Nyayasudha. During his stay at Dharmapuri two Advaita Scholars, Ramabhadrashramin and Kamadeva were engaged in philosophical debate and were defeated.

SRI VIDYAADHIISHA'S NORTH INDIAN TOUR

Then he decided to tour North India and visit Badarikshetra. He entrusted the worship of Sri Mula Rama to his disciple and successor Sri Vedanidhi Tiirtha and proceeded towards Prayaga. After taking a bath at the Triveni confluence and worshipping Veni Madhava he went to Varanasi. He discoursed on Dvaita philosophy at Varanasi in the assembly of great scholars. The well-known Advaita scholar Brahmendra Saraswathi who was then residing in Varanasi was disturbed by this programme. However, a confrontation was avoided and Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha proceeded to Gaya. The `gayAvADa-s demanded high fees for piNDadAna from the disciples of Uttaradi MaTha. They were Tantrikas and were proud of their position. Sri Vidyadhiisha showed his miraculous power to them by making the ancient Vatavriksha, which had gone dry for some time, grow anew by tiirthaprokshaNa. They were wonderstruck and received Maadhvadiiksha from Sri Vidyadhiisha. They follow Dwaita faith even now. He got a building for Uttaradi MaTha built in the premises of Vishnupada temple. He established a Mukhyaprana image at the Uttaradi MaTha. Uttaradi MaTha here has the privilege of offering puuja & naivedya to Vishnupada everyday even today.

From Gaya he proceeded to Ayodhya, Mathura, Vrindavana, Kurukshetra and finally reached Badarikshetra. He worshipped Lord Narayana with great devotion. Returning from Badari he reached Ekachakranagara (Capital of Virataaraja during Dvapara yuga) situated in the valley between Yamuna and Ganga. He informed his disciples that he proposed to enter Vrindavana. A Vrindavana was prepared on the banks of river Ganga and he entered the same with Yogic power in the presence of his disciples. His disciples brought the images of the deities worshipped by him to Dharmapuri and handed them over to his successor Sri Vedaninidhi Tiirtha. Sri Vedaninidhitiirtha worshipped the deities keeping them by the side of Sri Mula Ramadeva Pratima that was already given to him. Thus, Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha added a great chapter to the history of Sri Uttaradi MaTha and Dvaita sampradaya.

An image of Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha was prepared when he was at Prayaga at the request of one Narasappa, a great devotee of Sri Vidyaadhiisha. This Narasappa later took sanyasa from Sri Vidyaadhiisha and became Narasimhayati. He brought this image to Dharmapuri. It was there for about a century. This Narasimhayati has written Khandhartha-s for the Upanishads. Later Pandurangi Balayyacharya brought the image to Masuru in Dharwad District which was then the head-quarters of Pandurangi family. After another century Pandurangi Huchchacharya of Tumminakatti brought it to Ranibennur. A Matha was established there and ArAdhana is being performed every year. Thus, now Ranibennur is the head-quarters of Pandurangi family though three are only two or three families left over now.

Works of Sri Vidyaadhiisha Tiirtha

vyAkyArtha chandrikA -- A commentary on Sriman Nyayasudha for first five adhikaraNa-s
vishnutattvanirnayatippaNi -- A commentary on Srimad Achaarya's VTVN (not available)
pramaNalakshaNatippaNi -- A commentary on Srimad Achaarya's PramANa-lakshaNa (not available)
kathalakshaNAtippaNi -- A commentary on Srimad Achaarya's KathAlakshaNa (not available)
talavakopanishidkhandartham -- commentary on TaLavakAropanishhad (not available)
ekadashinirNaya -- An independent work on how to determine ekadashi
janmAshhTaminirNaya -- An independent work on how to determine kR^ishhNa jayanti (janmAshhTami)
vishNupaJNchakanirNaya -- An independent work on how to determine days for vishNupanchaka vrata
tithitrayanirNaya -- An independent work on how to determine tithi
OMkAravAda -- An exposition on the word OM

This page is due to Prof. K.T. Pandurangi, Upakulapati, Poornapragna Vidyapeetha, Bangalore 560028, INDIA.
Transcription and HTML conversion by Ramachandra Budihal.

Created September 23, 1996; last updated September 27, 1996.