shrI padmanAbha tIrtaru

-From Gurucharitre Published by SRSMutt

Considering Padmanabhatheertha fit, Acharya endowed him with the responsibility of carrying on the heritage of Sadvaishnaiva tradition established by Sanakadis and protected by Prajnatheertha. It was Padmanabhatheertha who was coronated as Acharya’s successor in Vedantha Samrajya. His name before sanyasa was Shobhanabhatta. He was from a place on the banks of the Godavari. He was a scholar in the royal court of Warrangal.1 Harihara and Bukka had held him in high esteem. Shobhanabhatta was a great scholar, intellect and wore a brilliant look. He had taken sanyasa in about A.D.1263 after his defeat in a debate with Acharya. Afterwards his erudite scholarship and renown spread far and wide. Teekakrithpada has been all praise for Padmanabhatheertha’s scholarship.2

Sri Padmanabhatheertha has many books to his credit. He has written Sattarka Rathnavalee and Sannyaya Rathnavalee as commentaries on Acharya’s ‘Bhashya’ and ‘Anuvyakhyana’. Apart from these two he is also known to have written two more books ‘Anandamala’ and ‘Vayuleelavistharana’. The latter is said to contain eight Cantos, 1101 verses.3 In addition, he has written commentaries on ‘Mayavadakhandana’ and ‘Upadhikhandana’.

Thus Padmanabhatheertha who had widely become known for his great books and reigned Vedantha Samrajya for seven years worshipping Sri Moolarama fell at the Lotus feet of Lord Krishna to rest eternally on the fourteenth day of Kartheeka Bahula of Rakthakshi Samvatsara in A.D.1324 entrusting the Samsthana and the idols to the care of Naraharitheertha, his successor, as ordained by Acharya.

As Harihara and Bukka had great reverence for Padmanabhatheertha, they espoused the installation of Padmanabhatheertha’s Brindavan on an island of the Tungabhadra near Anegondi of Kampli kingdom.

Padmanabhatheertha after entrusting Mahasamsthana to Naraharitheertha, handed over the idol of Sri Gopinatha inherited by Acharya to one Lakshmidharatheertha, his disciple. It is that heritage which is now known as Sreepadaraja Mutt.

- From Uttaradimath Website uttaradimath.org

Sri Padmanabha Tirtha is foremost among the direct disciples of Sri Madhvacharya. He was a distinguished scholar and was recognized and honoured by people of those times as 'THE DISCIPLE OF SRI MADHWACHARYA'.

He has the greatest honour of lecturing on the Vedas before an assembly of great scholars and was acclaimed to be a master in expounding the meanings of the Vedas. He is known for his learning, intelligence, ever lasting devotion, detachment to worldly affairs, service to His guru, etc. With all these extraordinary qualities, he has rightly succeeded Sri Madhva in the pontificial seat of Sri Uttaradi Math.

Sri Padmanabha Tirtha's purvashrama name was Shobhana Bhatta. He was a renowned Advaita Scholar, accomplished logician and one with great faith in Veda, Mahabharata and Puranas. He is said to have hailed from a region close to the river Godavari. He has won many a great scholar in debates and refuted all the prevalent systems of philosophy before he was defeated by Sri Madhava in a famous debate. His defeat at the hands of Sri Madhva made the bold Shobhana Bhatta to renounce the world and accept sanyasa from Sri Madhwacharya.

Our scriptures explain how difficult it is to be blessed with a guru who knows the real nature of the disciple. It requires several thousands of years of sadhana before one is blessed with such an opportunity to meet an all-knowing Guru. We can think how blessed Sri Padmanabha Tirtha was to have had the opportunity of being the direct disciple of the Sarvagna Jagadguru Sri Madhwacharya himself.

After he drank the 'makaranda' - nectar called Bhasya from Madhva, Sri Padmanabha Tirtha found other's bhashyas to be shallow and tasteless.

He was so impressed by the teachings of Sri Madhwacharya that he used to enthrall the audience by comparing the works of Sri Madhva to a divine Kalpavriksha, capable of fulfilling all of one's desires. His conviction in the doctrine of Sri Madhva can be known from his statement before the audience that the result one gets by studying the works of Madhva is beyond words and thoughts.

He was accredited to be the first to write a commentary, on the great Bhasya of Sri Madhva, which ably brings out the true meaning of the Bhasya. The prolific commentator of Madhva, Sri Jayateertha, honors this great saint in his magnum opus Sriman Nyaya Sudha and pictures him as the serene land, auspicious enough to be the home of the lord of Laxmi, and an ocean which gave rise to a bunch of invaluable pearls called Sannyaya Ratnavali.

Sri Jayateertha owes his scholarship to Sri Padmanabha Tirtha while saying

"sa padmanAbhatIrthakhyagogaNostu dR^ishe mama

na tattva mArge gamanaM vinA yadupajeevanam"

We cannot proceed in the direction of truth without whose blessings, let the light called Sri Padmanabha Tirtha lead me in the right path.

His Brindaavana is at Navabrindavana, near Hampi.

Works by Shri Padmanabha Teertharu :

Sutra Prasthaana

1. Sattarkadiipaavali - Commentary on Shrimad Ananda Tiirtha's Brahma-Suutra Bhaashya

2. Sannyaayaratnaavali - Commentary on Shrimad Ananda Tiirtha's Anuvyakhyana)

Works relating to the Bhagavad Gita

1) Gitabhaashya-Bhaavadiipikaa

2) Gitataatparya-Nirnaya-Prakaashikaa

Others

1) Commentaries on the ten Prakaranas