33 Facts About Vyasatirtha

Vyasatirtha's Nyayamruta caused a stir in the Advaita community across the country requiring a rebuttal by Madhusudhana Saraswati through his text, Advaitasiddhi.

Vyasatirtha is considered as an amsha of Prahlada in the Madhva Parampara.

Vyasatirtha studied the six orthodox schools of Hinduism at Kanchi and subsequently, the philosophy of Dvaita under Sripadaraja at Mulbagal, eventually succeeding him as the pontiff.

Vyasatirtha served as a spiritual adviser to Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya at Chandragiri though his most notable association was with the Tuluva king Krishna Deva Raya.

Politically, Vyasatirtha was responsible for the development of irrigation systems in villages such as Bettakonda and establishment of several Vayu temples in the newly conquered regions between Bengaluru and Mysore in-order to quell any rebellion and facilitate their integration into the Empire.

Information about Vyasatirtha is derived from his biography by the poet Somanatha Kavi called Vyasayogicharita and inscriptional evidence.

Somanatha mentions at the end of the text that the biography was approved by Vyasatirtha himself, implying the contemporary nature of the work.

Vyasatirtha was born Yatiraja into a Madhva Brahmin family to Ballanna and Akkamma in a hamlet called Bannur.

Sharma conjectures that the education Vyasatirtha received in Kanchi helped him become erudite in the intricacies and subtleties of Advaita, Visistadvaita, Navya Nyaya and other schools of thought.

Vyasatirtha was sent to the Vijayanagara court of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya at the behest of Sripadaraja.

Somanatha speaks of several debates and discussions in which Vyasatirtha was triumphant over the leading scholars of the day.

Around the same time, Vyasatirtha was entrusted with the worship of the Venkateshwara deity at Tirupati and undertook his first South Indian tour.

At the behest of Narasa, Vyasatirtha moved to Hampi and would remain there for the rest of his life.

Some scholars argue against the claim that Vyasatirtha acted as a spiritual adviser to Saluva Narasimha, Narasimha II and Vira Narasimha due to the lack of inscriptional evidence.

At Hampi, the new capital of the empire, Vyasatirtha was appointed as the "Guardian Saint of the State" after a period of prolonged disputations and debates with scholars led by Basava Bhatta, an emissary from the Kingdom of Kalinga.

Sharma contends that it was around this time that Vyasatirtha had begun his work on Tatparya Chandrika, Nyayamruta and Tarka Tandva.

Vyasatirtha was sent on diplomatic missions to the Bijapur Sultanate and accepted grants of villages in newly conquered territories for the establishment of Mathas.

Vyasatirtha died in 1539 and his mortal remains are enshrined in Nava Brindavana, near Hampi.

Vyasatirtha authored eight works consisting of polemical tracts, commentaries on the works of Madhva and a few hymns.

Vyasatirtha asks whether, for an Advaitin, the body ceases to exist after the veil of illusion has been lifted and the unity with the Brahman has been attained.

Stoker conjectures that the strong responses Vyasatirtha received were due to the waning power of Advaita in the Vijayanagara empire coupled by the fact that as an administrator of the mathas, Vyasatirtha enjoyed royal patronage.

The goal of Vyasatirtha here is to prove the supremacy of Madhva's Brahma Sutra Bhashya by showing it to be in harmony with the original source, more so than the other commentaries.

The doxographical style of Vyasatirtha is evident in his copious quotations from the main commentaries and their respective sub-commentaries under every adhikarna or chapter.

Vyasatirtha refers to and critiques standard as well as contemporary works of Nyaya: Gangesha Upadhyaya's Tattvachintamani, Nyayalilavati by Sri Vallabha and Udayana's Kusumanjali and their commentaries.

Vyasatirtha's claim put him at odds with the Vedanta community with Appayya Dikshita being his most vocal opponent.

Vyasatirtha's claim was defended by Vijayendra Tirtha in Upasamhara Vijaya.

Vyasatirtha is considered to be one of the foremost philosophers of Dvaita thought, along with Jayatirtha and Madhva, for his philosophical and dialectical thought, his role in spreading the school of Dvaita across the subcontinent and his support to the Haridasa movement.

Sharma credits Vyasatirtha of converting Dvaita from an obscure movement to a fully realised school of thought of philosophical and dialectical merit.

Vyasatirtha contributed to the spread of Dvaita by establishing 732 Vayu idols across Karnataka.

Vyasatirtha is considered as a major influence on the then burgeoning Chaitanya movement in modern-day Bengal.

Vyasatirtha was influenced by his predecessors such as Vishnudasacharya, Jayatirtha and Madhva in that he borrowed from their style and method of enquiry.

Vyasatirtha was the initiator of social change within the Dvaita order by inducting wandering bards into the mainstream Dvaita movement regardless of caste or creed.

The political influence of Vyasatirtha came into view after the discovery of Vasyayogicharita.