Jayatirtha
Encyclopedia
Seer Jayateertharu was the sixth pontiff of Sri Madhvacharya
Peetha. He is one of the most important seers in the Dvaita
philosophy on account of his elucidations of Sri Ananda Teertha's masterpieces. He is the one who elucidated Sri Madhvacharya’s philosophy clearly and simply so as to be understood by the common man which helped much to spread the Madhva philosophy.
Once, a young Dhondupant was crossing the river Bheema on horseback, chasing a group of bandits. Tired as he was, he bent down without dismounting or even stopping the horse and drank water directly from the river. Sri Akshobhya Teertha, a direct disciple of Sri Ananda Teertha, who happened to witness the event, addressed him in Sanskrit “kim pashuH pûrva-dehe?” meaning “Were you an animal in your former body (birth)?”. This triggered the memory of the previous birth within young Dhondupant and reminded him of his duties to Sri Ananda Teertha. He was overcome by a desire to renounce material life and devote his life to the services of his master. Sri Akshobhya Teertha then initiated him in to Sanyasa. When Raghunatha Deshpande, Dhondupant’s father, came to know about this, he was very angry with Sri Akshobhya Teertha and he forcibly took his son back home in order to get him married. Forced into marriage against his wishes, Dhondupant took the form of a snake on the first night, causing the newly-wed bride to scream and run away from the room; this made his father realize that his son was no ordinary being, but someone born with a divine purpose. He acquiesced to Dhondupant’s sainthood, for which he was blessed with another son who would continue the lineage. Later, Dhondupant attained to sainthood and became Sri Jayateertha.
He is also credited with commentaries on Sri Madhva's Dasaprakaranas and two out of ten Upanishad Bhashyas.
His independent works are Vadavali, Pramana Paddati and Padyamala.
Madhvacharya
Madhvācārya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda "Philosophy of Reality", popularly known as the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedānta philosophies. Madhvācārya was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in...
Peetha. He is one of the most important seers in the Dvaita
Dvaita
Dvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....
philosophy on account of his elucidations of Sri Ananda Teertha's masterpieces. He is the one who elucidated Sri Madhvacharya’s philosophy clearly and simply so as to be understood by the common man which helped much to spread the Madhva philosophy.
Early life
He was born as Dhondupant (a.k.a. Dhondurao) to Raghunath and Sakubai Deshpande. His birthplace is Mangalavedhe which lies near Pandharapur in today’s Maharashtra. Because he was born to a local Brahmin chieftain’s family, he had all the wealth, power, affection. He was very handsome, healthy, intelligent, endowed with physical vigor, and given to outdoor activity such as horse riding.Legend
Sri Jayateertha was supposed to have been born as a bull in his previous life – the bull that traveled with Sri Ananda Teertha (another name of Sri Madhvacharya), carrying the volumes of his philosophical works. With such close proximity, the bull would stand and listen to Sri Ananda Teertha’s teachings. When some disciples approached Sri Ananda Teertha to seek the privilege of writing commentaries on his works, he told them it would not be any of them but the bull that would get the privilege. This resulted in jealousy amongst some of the disciples and the bull being cursed by them to die of a snakebite. Sri Anand Teertha came to know about this and changed the wordings of the curse such that the snake that bit the bull would die, and not the bull!Once, a young Dhondupant was crossing the river Bheema on horseback, chasing a group of bandits. Tired as he was, he bent down without dismounting or even stopping the horse and drank water directly from the river. Sri Akshobhya Teertha, a direct disciple of Sri Ananda Teertha, who happened to witness the event, addressed him in Sanskrit “kim pashuH pûrva-dehe?” meaning “Were you an animal in your former body (birth)?”. This triggered the memory of the previous birth within young Dhondupant and reminded him of his duties to Sri Ananda Teertha. He was overcome by a desire to renounce material life and devote his life to the services of his master. Sri Akshobhya Teertha then initiated him in to Sanyasa. When Raghunatha Deshpande, Dhondupant’s father, came to know about this, he was very angry with Sri Akshobhya Teertha and he forcibly took his son back home in order to get him married. Forced into marriage against his wishes, Dhondupant took the form of a snake on the first night, causing the newly-wed bride to scream and run away from the room; this made his father realize that his son was no ordinary being, but someone born with a divine purpose. He acquiesced to Dhondupant’s sainthood, for which he was blessed with another son who would continue the lineage. Later, Dhondupant attained to sainthood and became Sri Jayateertha.
His significance
Nyayasudha is known as Sri Jayateertha’s magnum opus and is the exhaustive and detailed commentary (Teeka is Sanskrit for commentary, hence he also known as Teekacharya) of Sri Madhvacharya’s Anuvyakhyana which in turn itself is a commentary on Brahma Sutras by Veda Vyasa. Sri Jayateertha has brilliantly and, more importantly, sincerely captured the pithy statements of his master in a lucid and simple language. It is universally admitted in the Dvaita tradition that the depth and breadth of the philosophical ocean of Tatvavada can only be appreciated with the help of the Nyaya Sudha. In a very attractive and lucid style, Sri Jayatirtha not only presents and strongly defends almost all the important philosophical and epistemological issues from the Dvaita point of view, but also severely criticizes other major philosophical systems of India such as the Bauddha, Jaina, Nyaya-Vaisesika, Bhatta-Prabhakara Mimamsa, Advaita and Visishtadvaita. Thus, in the Dvaita tradition, the work is held in very high esteem and it is believed that scholarship in Dvaita Vedanta is incomplete without a thorough study of this monumental work.Brindavana
Sri Jayateertha's Brindavana(place of burial) is at GajaGavhara (Nava Vrandavana.Hampi) Bellary District in the north of modern Karnataka as per Teertha Prabandh of sri Vadiraja Teertharu. However some of Madhva Followers contradict this & accept his Moola Vrandavana is at Malakhed (Gulbarga).Works
There are totally 18 works accredited to Sri Jayatirtha, most of them are direct commentary (Tika) on Sri Madhvacharya's work. Some well known works of Sri Jayatirtha are- Nyaya sudha (Nectar of logic) - a commentary on Sri Madhvacarya's Anuvyakhyana
- Tattva prakashika (The light of truth) - a commentary on Sri Madhvacarya's Brahma Sutra BhashyaBhashyaBhashya - It is especially used with reference to a text or religious work.A typical Bhashya would be an interpretation of a Sutra or other classical work...
- Prameya deepika (The light of object of knowledge) - a commentary on Sri Madhvacarya's Geeta Bhashya
- Nyaya deepika (The light of logic) - a commentary on Sri Madhvacarya's Geeta Tatparya
He is also credited with commentaries on Sri Madhva's Dasaprakaranas and two out of ten Upanishad Bhashyas.
His independent works are Vadavali, Pramana Paddati and Padyamala.