जयतीर्थ विजय: Jayatirtha Vijaya of Sri Chalari Sankarshanacharya with His Own Commentary

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Vyasayogicharita of Somanatha kavi published last year, was the first in the series of biographies of saint scholars being brought out by the Dvaita vedanta foundation. Now we are happy to publish Jayathirtha Vijaya composed by Chalari Acharya. It carries a commentary written by the poet himself.

Sri Jayathirtha alias Teekacharya is a celebrated commentator on Sri Madhvacharya's works. His commentaries, particularly Nyaya Sudha have enriched Dvaita Vedanta literature. There are seven biographical poems that describe his life and works. Among these the present work gives more details than the others. This work is therefore selected for publication. Extracts from other works are also added.

In most of the works on Dvaita Vedanta, one or two verses that pay homage to Sri Jayathirtha are included. These bring out the excellance of Sri Jayathirtha's work. A few of such verses are also added. A detailed note on Sri Jayathirtha's works is given.

Prof. Prabhanjanacharya, a well known scholar and an exponant of Dvaita vedanta has edited this work. He is already known to the World of Dvaita scholars by his more than two dozen publications. He is a Member of our Academic and Research Committee. We thank him for editing this work.

We are happy to release it on the ocassion of the Seventeenth Akhila Bharata Madhva Tatvajnana Sammelana which is being held at Bangalore, under the presidentship of Prof. Prabhanjanacharya. We hope to publish a few more biographies of Saint Scholars in this regard.

Present work Sri Jayatirtha Vijaya is a biographical work on Sri Jayatirtha, the well-known commentator of the Dvaita School of Vedanta. Chalari Sankarshanacharya, son of Chalari Seshacharya, is its author. Jayatirtha Vijaya Prakashika is its commentary written by the poet himself. Sathyanathab-hyudaya, Sathyanathamahatmyaratnakara, Satyabhinavodaya, Anusatyanathabhyudaya (gist of Satyanathabhyudaya in 33 verses), Vishnutattvapramanadeepavali(with his own commentary) are some of his other works. Chalari Subrah-manyacharya well-known through his commentary on Manimanjari of Narayanapanditacharya, was his brother.

Sri Jayatirtha and his works

Sri Jayatirtha, more popularly known as Sri Teekacharya, is the commentator of almost all the major works of Sri Madhwacharya (1238-1318), the founder of Dvaita School of Vedanta.

Sri Jayatirtha was the only son of Dhondo Narasimha. Deshpande (Chieftain) of Malkhed, situated on the banks of the river Kagini. Mangalavedhe, a small village near Pan-dharapura was his place of birth. He was a warrior and a good rider of the horses. About twenty he renounced the worldly life and became an ascetic. He became the diciple of Sri Akshobhya tirtha one of the direct disciples of Sri Madhwacharya. Akshobhya tirtha enjoys the reputation of defeating the famous Vidyaranya in a historic disputation over the sruthi passage 'Tattvamasi". This fact is supported by number of evidences including an inscription at Mulabagal, (Kolar District) Sri Jayatirtha succeded him as a pontiff and ruled the Vedanta peetha for 23 years (1365-1388 A.D). He toured: all over India propagating the Madhva Philosophy. Jayeendrodaya of Sri Karikehalli Srinivasacharya gives a detailed account of his tour.

Sri Jayatirtha spent major part of his life at Eragola (near Yadgir), writing commentaries on the works of Sri Madhwacharya. Malkhed was another place of his main activities. Finally he entered brindavan at Malkhed, the historic capital of Rastrakutas of Karnataka.

Sri Jayatirtha authored twenty one works in all; Eighteen of them are the commentaries on Sri Madhva's works, and the remaining three being the independent works. They are as follows:-

Numbers in the brackets indicate number of grantha (32 syllables)s.

1-10. Commentaries on the Ten Prakaranas

1. Tattva Sankhyana Teeka (200)

2. Tattva Viveka Teeka(160)

3. Pramana Lakshna Teeka (Nyayakalpalatha)(1450)

4. Katha Lakshna Teeka (354)

5. Mayavada Khandana Teeka (175)

6. Upadhi Khandana Teeka (360)

7. Prapanchamithyatvanumana Khandana Teeka (275)

8. Tattvodyota Teeka (1600)

9. Vishnu Tattva Vinirnaya Teeka (5116)

10. Karma Nirnaya Teeka (922)

11-l2. Commentaries on the two Upanishad Bhashyas

1. Ishavashyopanishad Bhashya Teeka (450)

2. Shatprashnopanishad Bhashya Teeka (500)

13-14. Commentaries on Gita Prasthana

1. Gita Bhashya Teeka (Prameyadeepika) (4000)

2. Gita Tatparya Nirnaya Teeka (Nyayadeepika) (3750)

15. Commentary on Rig Prasthana

1. Rig Bhashya Teeka (Sambandhadeepika) (3500)

16-18 Commentaries on Sutra Prasthana

1. Brahmasutra Bhashya Teeka (Tattvaprakashika) (8000)

2. Anu Vyakhyana Teeka (Nyaya Sudha) (26,600)

3. Nyayavivarana Teeka (460)

19-21 Independent Works

1. Pramanapaddhati-Dealing with the epistemology of Dvaita System

2. Vadavali - A polemical work reviewing the jaganmithyatva theory of Advaita

3. Padyamala (130 verses) - A work on daily worship based on Tantrasara Sangra of Sri Madhwacharya.

Nyaya Sudha - the commentary on the Anuvyakhyana of Sri Madhwacharya is his magnum-opus. It is the highest of work of the Post-Madhwa period.

In importance he is next only to Sri Madhwacharya. His commentaries bring out all the intricacies, complexities, subtleties and mysteries of Metaphysical mind of Sri Madhwa's System. His works are marked with elegance of style, lucidity of narration, brilliance of thought, richness of vocabulary and chastity of language.

According to tradition in his previous birth he was in the form of a bull carrying the load of Sri Madhwa's library during his tours. The fact that he renounced two charming wives, wealth, power and prestige has made him an ascetic par-excellence.

He is honoured by the tradition with the title Teekacharya or Teekakruthpada. He is familiar to the Madhwa world as "Sarvajna Kalpa".

The present work Sri Jayatirtha Vijaya is one of the important biographical works on Sri Jayatirtha.

The other works are :-

1. Jayatirtha Vijaya of Sri Vyasatirtha, Sri Jayatirtha's direct disciple, consisting of five cantos (200 verses).

2. Anu Jayatirtha Vijaya of the epitome of the above by the same author in thirty four verses of Sragdhara metre.

3. Jayeendrodaya-Sri Karikehalli Srinivasacharya in six cantos.(390 verses).

4. Jayatirtha Vijayabdhi-Krishnacharya in four cantos (tarangas)(146 verses).

5. Jayatirtha Gunarnava-Sri Arkad Narasimhacharya of Kolhapur consisting of five sargas (283 verses).

6. Jayatirtha Vijaya-Sri Raghudanta tirtha in fifty six verses.

7. Jayatirtha Gunaratnamala-Sri Raghushanta dasa.(3 cantos-215 verses)

Other biographical works like Raghavendra Vijaya, Sathyanidhi vilasa, Poornabodhaguruvamshakathakalpataru also contain Sufficient information regarding the life and works of Sri Jayatirtha. Songs of famous haridasas like Sri Vyasaraja, Sri Vadiraja, Sri Purandara dasa, Sri Vijaya dasa and Sri Jagannatha dasa also give useful information. Almost all the works of the post Jayatirtha period contain verses in praise of Sri Jayatirtha. Several Stotra works, were also written on him from time to time. Some of them are given in the appendix.

Sri Jayatirtha was succeded by Sri Vidyadhiraja tirtha, well-known through his commentaries on Vishnusasranama and Bhagavad Gita. Sri Vyasatirtha was his another prominent disciple. He is primarily known for his commentaries on the eight upanishad bhashyas of Sri Madhwacharya; his commentaries on Mahabharata tatparya nirnaya and Tantra sara are also availabe.