MadhvacharyasLibrary

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Please, find text of chapter "Bramha Tarka" from the work :

Madhva and Brahma Tarka

C.R.Krishna Rao, B.A., B.L.,

Retired Dist. & Sessions Judge,

Author of

Madhva, His Life and Doctrine

The Majestic Press

Udupi.

1960.

MADHVA's LIBRARY

Madhva was a great lover of books. He collected them from far and near. His tours enabled him to acquire many rare manuscripts. They were his precious possession. We learn from the Madhva Vijaya that Madhva's adversaries purloined the books, which were later restored to him at the instance of the local chieftain, Jaya Simha. In its heyday the entire library could not have consisted of more than five hundred books, which would be considerably more than any philosopher who preceded him could boast of.

Madhva divided the acceptable authorities, that is the Sadagamas, into six broad classes., viz. the Vedas, the Pancharatras, Bharata, Moola Ramayana, the Puranas and others which were in conformity with the foregoing. If a classification of his library is now to be attempted from the quotations found in his works, it would comprise the following classes;

(1)Vedic works with all their Sakhas,

(2)Ancient commentaries on these such as Aitareya Samhita, Yahus Samhita, Sama Samhita, etc.,

(3)Pancharatra Works,

(4)Bharata,

(5)Puranas,

(6)Logic,

(7)Grammar

(8)Dictionaries,

(9)Miscellaneous Works.

We find that Madhva quotes, in round figures, from fifty Srutis forty Samhitas, twenty five Puranas, ten Tantras, five Dictionaries two works on logic, one grammar and hundred forty miscellaneous works. The more of these are (1) the Rig Veda and Yajur Veda and the Sakhas of the Sama Veda, Paingi Sruti, Bhallaveya Sruti, Pippalada Sruti, Narayana Sruti, Mahopanishad, Paramopanishad, Svetasvatara Upanishad and ten classical Upanishads.

(2)Bharata, particularly the Moksha Dharma and the Gita.

(3)Bhagvata, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Brahma, Garuda, Koorma, Narada,Padma, Skanda, Varaha, Matsya, Agneya, Vishnu and Hari Vamsha.

(4) Aitareya Samhita, Rik Samhita, Sama Samhita, Yajus Samhita, Maha Samhita,Vyoma Samhita, Parama Samhita, Prakasa Samhita, Brihat Samhita, Vishnu Samhita.

(5) Brihat Tantra, Tantra Mala. Purushottama Tantra

(6) Brahma Tarka, Brihat Tarka

(7) Maha Vyakarna

(8) Abhidana, Sabda Nirnaya

(9) Adhyatma, Brahma Sara, Mahameemamsa, Sattatva, Pravritta, Vayu Prokta,Vyasa Smriti. It is from these works, that most quotations are drawn.

It is difficult to say whether all these works quoted from are independent works, or are, in some cases at least, parts or chapters of a larger work having a different name. For example, a reference is made to Nirnaya. One cannot say whether it refers to Vakya nirnaya or to Tattva Nirnaya or, is a seperate work. The same work is referred to in different contexts in different ways., e.g. the Gita is variously referred to Bharata, Smriti and Bhagavad Vachanam. Often times no reference at all is given and the modern editor has to search and find the correct reference as best he can. We have the same trouble with Samkara also, who contends himself by saying Srutyantara or Smrityantara without mentioning the name of the Sruti or Smriti. This would have presented no difficulty to contemporary scholars who are well versed in this kind of literature. What became of Madhva's library, Ramanuja's library, or of Sankara's library? All of them did possess libraries big or small as their successors do today. If one could produce now a book which Samkara possessed or, which he had written with his own hand, one could make a fortune. The Bodleian paid 3000/- Pounds for a copy of the first folio of Shakespeare in 1905, which that library had sold for trifle in 1664. Einstein’s manuscript of the special Theory of Relativity was destroyed as soon as it was printed. In 1943 he transcribed it from a printed copy, which was sold in 1944 for six million dollars ! This manuscript now reposes in the Library of Congress, New York. What would not our Maharajas give for a copy of Samkara's Bhashyas written by himself or to his dictation ? It is too much to hope that any of the works of our great Acharyas is now extant in its first edition, that is the original prepared by their disciples to their dictation.

It is equally hopeless to expect that any of the works which they quoted from that is, the very copies they used, would be still available to us.

Madhva's works were printed within the last sixty or seventy years. Till then they were all in manuscript. Most were palm leaf books and a few paper books. The orthodox had objection even to the use of paper. The copies from which the works were printed were not the original copies made in the Acharya's lifetime, but copies made several times over. Considering the kind of writing materials used, the copyist could not have had the inducement, the energy and the time to make copies even of the more important works which had been used by the Acharyas to support their interpretations. Because Madhva had quoted a passage or two from Pravritta, and Samkara had made a reference to Bhallvinam Sruti, no copyist would think it necessary to copy the whole of Pravritta or the whole of Bhallavinam Sruti. There are still an enormous number of Sanskrit manuscripts deposited in great libraries in Europe, America and in our own country. Large quantities of manuscript were carried away from the country during the British regime. In Lord Curzon's time, six thousand Sanskrit manuscripts were sent from Nepal to the Bodleian. It is just possible, that some of the works now deemed to be lost may be quietly slumbering in a public or private library. But for our present purpose it must be presumed that most of which formed such a notable collection of Madhva's library are not now accessible to us. We must be content with the quotations found in Madhva's works, without any hope at present of a more extensive acquaintance with Sat-tattva, Sabdha Nirnaya, Brahma Tarka and the rest.

In the world opf books, as in animate nature there is a struggle for existence. The more powerful swallow up the weaker ones. The bhashyas of Bhartrprapancha, Bodhayana, Bravida were outclassed and outmoded by Samkara's Bhashyas. Madhva's bhashya on the Brahma Sutras is said to be the twenty second bhashya. The names of the previous bhashyas are unknown even to scholars. If this is the fate of the commentaries which gave rise to distinct schools of thought, one can imagine why so many works referred to by our Acharyas are not now forthcoming.

The Vedas, the Bharata, the Puranas and similar works have survived, as all of them had a special interest of their own. The Vedas had to be recited, the Puranas had to be expounded to popular audiences, the Dharma Shastras had to explain our duties, and so different groups had specialized in these departments of study. We may regret that so many works which undoubtedly existed about a thousand years ago are now lost, but the explanation is not far to seek.

Sri Krishnarpanamastu

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