Sri Uttaradi Math (also written as Uttaradi Matha or Uttaradi Mutt) (IAST: Śrī Uttarādi Maṭha) (also known as Uttaradi Pitha), is one of the main monasteries (matha) founded by Madhvacharya with Padmanabha Tirtha as its head to preserve and propagate Dvaita Vedanta (Tattvavada) outside Tulunadu region.
Uttaradi Math is an important institution among the Madhvas and also respected among the Vaishnavas and the other .
The Uttaradi Matha is one of the major Hindu monastic institutions that has historically coordinated monastic activities through satellite institutions in India, preserved Sanskrit literature and pursued Dvaita. The Uttaradi Matha has been a library and a source of historic Sanskrit manuscripts.
Etymology
According to tradition, "Uttarādi" (Sanskrit: उत्तरादि) refers to "
Lord Vishnu who lifts us from the cycle of Saṃsāra" and "Matha" (Sanskrit: मठ) refers to "cloister, institute" or temple for spiritual studies.
It is the 494th name of Vishnu in
Vishnu Sahasranama.
Historian C. Hayavadana Rao says, "The Uttarādi Mutt ( i.e., the original North Mutt as it was first presided over by men drawn from the North or Uttara Desa ) is the prime pontifical seat of Madhvācharya".
As per traditional accounts, Uttaradi Matha was the main matha that descended from Madhvacharya through Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha, Madhava Tirtha, Akshobya Tirtha, Jayatirtha, Vidyadhiraja Tirtha, and Kavindra Tirtha, hence this matha is also known as "Adi Matha" or "Moola Matha" or "Moola Samsthana" or "Moola Maha Samsthana of Sri Madhvacharya" or "Padmanabha Tirtha Matha". Uttaradi Matha was also once used to be called "Sri Satyabodha Swamy Matha" after its famous peetadipathi and saint Satyabodha Tirtha of Savanur.
History
During the time's of Satyaprajna Tirtha there was a continuous conflict between the followers of
Dvaita and
Advaita Vedantas. According to Manimanjari and
Sri MadhwaVijaya,
Ananda Tirtha was born as an incarnation of
Vayu (the Wind God) to give correct interpretation of
Vedanta and challenge the doctrine of
Adi Shankara, who taught
Advaita Vedanta in which the individual souls or
were considered same as
Brahman. Some Shankara's followers who were egoistic, destroyed the
Matha of their opponents and indulged in a sinful acts. The teacher Satyaprajna Tirtha was also killed, his disciple and successor Prajna Tirtha was converted to faith of
Advaita by force.
However, the disciples of Satya-prajna Tirtha and Prajna Tirtha remained secretly attached to true Vedanta and continued to practice their doctrine secretly. Achyuta Preksha Tirtha, the teacher of
Madhvacharya was of this line.
According to tradition, it was said that at the time of Achyuta Preksha who was the pontiff of Adi matha, on the ordain of Veda Vyasa, Vayu incarnated in this world as Madhvacharya on the day of Vijaya Dashami in 1238 AD for the purpose of consolidating Hindu dharma.
Spread of Dvaita
Padmanabha Tirtha and his descendants are responsible for the spread of
Dvaita Vedanta outside
Tulu Nadu region. Sharma says
Narahari Tirtha is considered to be the forerunner of the
Vaishnava devotional movement of the
Dasakuta of
Haridasa movement in
Kannada. The doctrine of Tattvavada was further carried on and was spread all over the country by
Jayatirtha and his descendants.
In the first quarter of the 17th century, Vidyadhisha Tirtha (16th pontiff of Uttaradi Matha) was able to gain some converts to the Madhva fold, in Bihar, from among the Gayawal Brahmins, who still profess allegiance to Madhva school. Satyanatha Tirtha during his time as the peetadhipathi of Uttarādi matha visited Gaya and strengthened the hold of the matha among Gayapalas, who had been converted to Madhvism by his predecessor Vidyadhisha Tirtha.
Deities worshipped
Moola Rama is the supreme deity worshipped at Utttaradi Matha. Moola Rama and Moola Sita deities worshipped in Uttaradi Matha are "Chaturyuga Murthy's" (these deities has been in worship since
Four Yugas). These two deities were brought by Sri
Narahari Tirtha as per the orders of Sri
Madhvacharya from
Gajapati Empire.
Madhvacharya passed them on to his disciple Padmanabha Tirtha. Along with the Moola Rama and Moola Sita deities, the deity of Digvijaya Rama, which Madhvacharya got sculpted for himself, Vamsha Rama deity obtained by
Madhava Tirtha and Prasanna Vittala deity obtained by
Akshobya Tirtha are also worshipped in the matha.
Madhvacharya was presented with 8 Vyasamushtis by Vedavyasa during his return from Badrikashrama. Quoting about these Vyasamushtis, Germany Indologist Helmuth von Glasenapp says, five Vyasamushtis out of the eight Vyasamushtis are in Uttaradi Matha. Purandara Dasa glorified 28 main deities worshipped at Uttaradi Matha along with Moola Rama and Moola Sita deities, the 5 Vyasamushtis (4 Vyasamushtis, 1 Kurma Saligrama) in one of his songs "Madhvarayara Devatarcaneya Prasiddha Raghunatharu Poojisuva Sobagu".
Bifurcation of mathas
Madhvacharya initiated Padmanabha Tirtha as his successor to the main matha and instructed to spread Tattvavada (Dvaita) outside
Tulunadu region, especially in the
North Karnataka and
Maharashtra regions since Padmanabha Tirtha was from
Puntamba (now in
Maharashtra). After Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha continued as the peetadhipathi of the matha and continued to spread Tattvavada in
Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana. After him
Madhava Tirtha,
Akshobya Tirtha,
Jayatirtha and Vidyadhiraja Tirtha occupied the throne of the main matha. As per the traditional accounts, this main matha was divided twice, so we end up with three mathas. They are Uttaradi Math, Vyasaraja Math and
Raghavendra Math.
Out of these three
, Uttaradi Math is the largest.
- First bifurcation
During the times of Vidyadhiraja Tirtha (successor of Jayatirtha) the first bifurcation of the main matha took place. Main Matha continued in the lineage of
Kavindra Tirtha (a disciple of Vidyadhiraja Tirtha) as Uttaradi Matha to spread Tattvavada (Dvaita) in the Northern part of
Karnataka and beyond. At the same time, Rajendra Tirtha (a disciple of Vidyadhiraja Tirtha) established "Poorvadi Matha", which is now known by the name of Vyasaraja Math to spread Tattvavada (Dvaita) in the Southern parts of Karnataka and beyond until
Tamil Nadu.
- Second bifurcation
The second bifurcation of the main matha took place during the times of Ramachandra Tirtha. Initially, ashrama was given to Vibudendra Tirtha by Ramachandra Tirtha, and even named as his successor. It is not known what happened but Vibudendra Tirtha couldn't return from the pilgrimage tour during Ramachandra Tirtha's last phase of life. So Ramachandra Tirtha chose to initiate another pontiff and named him "Vidyanidhi Tirtha" and declared him as his successor. Vibudendra Tirtha returned from the pilgrimage tour after the death of Ramachandra Tirtha. Hence two
were established. Uttaradi Matha continued in the lineage of Vidyanidhi Tirtha and the other matha was formed by Vibudendra Tirtha. It was known as "Dakshinadi Matha" or "Kumbakona Matha (which is now known by the name of Raghavendra Matha). These lineages were formed and continued for the benefit of the Madhva philosophy so that more and more individuals consequently have access to the philosophy and get Upadeśa (spiritual guidance).
According to Surendranath Dasgupta, Uttaradi Math was divided twice, and so we end up with three mathas, the other two being Vyasaraja Math and Raghavendra Math.
Uttaradi Math, along with Vyasaraja Math and Raghavendra Math, is considered to be the three premier apostolic institutions of Dvaita Vedanta and are jointly referred as Mathatraya.
Pontifical lineage
Origin
As per authoritative
Hinduism scriptures,
"The Supreme God also wanted to bless the souls with divine knowledge, by which they can attain salvation. For this purpose, the Supreme God — Śrī Nārāyana Himself incarnated as Śrī Hamsa and adorned the pontifical seat called the Hamsa-Pīṭha."
Indian anthropologists Surajit Sinha and Baidyanath Saraswati says that:
List of aacharyas
The complete list of (
pithadhipati/
ācāryas who had taken the seat of this math is as below:
[Sūrya Siddhānta Pañcāṅgam (astrological almanac) of Śrīmad Uttarādi Maṭha, 2010-2011 AD]
This list represents the authorized
guru-paramparā (disciplic succession) of Śrī Uttaradi Math till date.
-
Vishnu (A name of The Supreme Person/Supreme Godhead, Vishnu or Śrī Hari; Paramātmā)
-
Brahma
-
Four Kumaras
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Durvasa
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Śrī Jñāna-nidhi Tīrtha
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Śrī Garuḍa-vāhana Tīrtha
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Śrī Kaivalya Tīrtha
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Śrī Jñāneśa Tīrtha
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Śrī Para Tīrtha
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Śrī Satya-prajña Tīrtha
-
Śrī Prājña Tīrtha
-
Śrī Acyuta-prekṣa Tīrtha or Acyuta-Prājña Tīrtha
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>+ The list of Pithadhipatis beginning from Madhvācārya | Sr.
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Followers
Authors Surajit Sinha and Baidyanath Saraswati says, "An overwhelming majority of
Madhvas, widely scattered all over India owes its allegiance to the Uttaradi Matha".
Most of the Deshastha Madhvas of
Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh and
South India, and the whole
Gayawal Brahmin community of
Bihar are followers of this Matha.
In
Karnataka, Majority of Madhvas in the districts of Bijapur,
Belgaum district,
Dharwad district, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga),
,
Raichur district,
Bagalkote,
Haveri district, Shivamogga,
Bidar district, Vijayanagara,
Hassan district,
Chikmagalur and
Mysore district are followers of this matha. Scholar B. N. K. Sharma says, Majority of Madhvas in
Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, northern
Karnataka and
Maharashtra are followers of Uttaradi Matha. Sharma says in
Maharashtra, followers of Uttaradi Math are spread in the districts of Kolhapur,
Solapur district,
Satara district,
Pune district,
Nasik district and Ahmednagar. According to Times of India, there are more than 2 lakh followers of Uttaradi Math in
Pune city alone.
Sharma says all the Thanjavur Marathi Deshastha Brahmins of Madhva Sampradaya, who migrated from Bombay-Karnataka region and Maharashtra to
Thanjavur and old
Mysore State when
Maratha Empire rulers occupied
Thanjavur were all followers of Uttaradi Math. Sharma even says Deshastha Madhva Brahmins in former
Hyderabad State are all followers of Uttaradi Math.
Vidyapeethas and organizations
The Sri Matha has established many Vidyapeethas most prominent among them being Sri Jayateertha Vidyapeetha in
Bangalore and Sri Satyadhyana Vidyapeetha in
Mumbai (Old Hindu Style Gurukuls) with boarding facilities where in students stay and continue their study in
Vedas and Madhwa Shastras. Students are rigorously trained here in various branches of knowledge like
Grammar,
Linguistics,
Logic,
Mimamsa,
Sankhya,
Yoga,
Veda,
Jyotisha,
Advaita,
Vishistadvaita and
Dvaita systems and Modern Philosophies.
Sri Jayateertha Vidyapeetha
Indian Author and Scholar Radhavallabh Tripathi says, "Sri Jayateertha Vidyapeetha was established by Sri Satyapramoda Tīrtha Swamiji in the year 1989, which presently holds more than 200 students and 15 teaching faculty members".
The uniqueness of this institution is that its students are specially trained under the guidance of
Satyatma Tirtha for 12 years with initial 9 years of training at the Jayateertha Vidyapeetha Residential Campus where they attain mastery over Kāvya, Vyākaraṇa,
Dasa sahitya,
Vedas,
Sankhya,
Yoga,
Jainism,
Buddhism,
Shaktism,
Advaita,
Vishistadvaita and
Dvaita Philosophies under the guidance of Kulapati (chancellor) Guttala Rangacharya, Principal
Vidwan Satyadhyanacharya and several other experienced Adhyapakas. During the last 3 years of the course, the students are given extensive classes in Shriman Nyaya Sudha, Tatparya Chandrika, Tarkatandava etc., on tour directly by the learned Swamiji, thus giving the student an opportunity to expand his knowledge base by way of getting exposed, at an early age, to the scholarly world, with the opportunity to meet several esteemed scholars and conducting debates and discussions with them in esteemed centres of learning across the entire country like
Varanasi,
Allahabad,
Delhi,
Pune,
Rajahmundry etc. After successfully completing the 12-year course, the students are awarded the title "Sudha Vidwan" in a grand convocation function called the "Sudha Mangala", held at various prime centres of learning.
To make themselves eligible for the title the students have to present a paper orally before distinguished scholars and also take an oral exam in Shriman Nyaya Sudha, the magnum opus of Dvaita Philosophy. The candidate is tested for all-round skills and then declared to be eligible for the title by a jury of scholars headed by
Satyatma Tirtha.
Sri Satyadhyana Vidyapeetha
Satyadhyana Vidyapeetha was founded in the year 1956 in
Matunga,
Mumbai by Gopalacharya Ramacharya Mahuli, a disciple of Satyadhyana Tirtha.
Satyadhyana Vidyapeetha is an institution of advanced learning. It caters for the needs of scholars interested in higher studies and research. By 1972, It has brought out 26 authoritative volumes on philosophy.
Mahuli Vidyasimhacharya is the present Kulapathi of Satyadhyana Vidyapeetha, now located in Mulund, Mumbai.
Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat
Satyatma Tirtha the present Peetadhipathi of Uttaradi Math founded Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat, a
non-profit, religious and social organization in 1998. Thousands of books have been published so far by the Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat. Every year a 5-day All India Madhwa Convention is held in
Dharwad under the leadership of
Satyatma Tirtha Swamiji, Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat and Vishwa Madhwa Manahandal, featuring discourses and debates on Nyaya, Tarka, Mimamsa, Dasa literature. Pontiffs of all Madhva Mathas grace the occasion. Every year, more than 1 lakh devotees attend the congregation.
See also
Notes
Bibliography
External links
