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These manuscripts copyrighted in 1992 of Jaya Tirtha Charan dasa. jtcd@xtra.co.nz
PREACHING SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM:
Some time after Purnaprajna's initiation into the sannyasa order, being renowned as a great Vaisnava exponent and having been firmly established, this Purnaprajna Tirtha (Madhva) was in great acclaim by the people in general. They had seen him firmly defeat even Acyutapreksa, and now he was boldly preaching from the Srimad Bhagavatam. Acyutapreksa showed by his own actions that he himself was actually a great Vaisnava, and indeed a humble follower of Purnaprajna Tirtha. His attitude towards his disciple is not really explicable without due appreciation of the way the great Mukhyaprana carried out his pastimes on this earth. Being instructed correctly by this plenary portion of the empowered Vayudeva, Acyutapreksa was completely pure and non-envious, in fact loved Purnaprajna. Day by day Purnaprajna Tirtha revealed his good qualities more and more, and more and more Acyutapreksa became attached to his wonderful disciple who was becoming famous for his pure renditions.
By now, Purnaprajna Tirtha's unwritten commentary on the Srimad Bhagavatam was developing according to his bold philosophy, as daily he lectured to large crowds. Embellished by the well wishes of Acyutapreksa and encouraged by the ever eager crowd, like hungry swans they accepted the new understanding in a pure Vaisnavite way, and rejected any previous misconceptions.
srnvatam sva kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam
"Sri Krsna the Personality of Godhead, Who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to heat His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted."
This is also the qualities of Vaisnava guru — to eradicate the misconceptions which have been collected due to mental speculation, jnana, or one's particular sensual taste based around furtive material desire.
nasta-prayesu abhadresu
nityam bhagavata sevaya
bhagavaty uttama sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki
"By regularly hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and the loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, Who is praised with transcendental hymns, is established as an irrevocable fact."
tada rajas tamo bhavah
kama lobhadayas ca ye
ceta etair anaviddham
sthitam sattve prasidati
As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire, and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy."
evam prasanna manaso
bhagavad bhakti yogatah
bhagavat tattva vijnanam
mukta sangasya jayate
"Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association."
bhidyate hrdaya granthis
chidyante sarva samsayah
ksiyante casya karmani
drsta evatmanisvare
"Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of furtive actions is terminated when one sees the self as the master and not a sensual slave."
ato vai kavayo nityam
bhaktim paramaya muda
vasudeve bhagavati
kurvany atma-prasadanim
"Certainly, therefore, since time immemorial, all transcendentalists have been rendering devotional service to Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, with great delight, because such devotional service is enlivening to the self."
uttama sloka caritam
cakara bhagavan rsih
nihsreyasaya lokasya
dhanyam svasty-ayanam mahat
"This Srimad Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of Godhead. It is meant for the ultimate food of all people, and it is all successful, all blissful and all perfect."
krsne sva-dhamopagate
dharma jnanadibhih saha
kalau nasta-drsam esa
puranarko 'dhunoditah
"This Bhagavat Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana."
And so the great son of Vayu preached this great science of bhakti yoga to all the fortunate souls who came there. Everyone flocked far and near to hear this full transcendental message of Srimad Bhagavatam now being placed in the embodiment of the Bhagavatam.
Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.18, "..... that there are two types of Bhagavatas, namely the book Bhagavata and the devotee Bhagavata. Both the Bhagavatas are competent remedies, and both of them or either of them can be good enough to eliminate the obstacles. A devotee Bhagavata is as good as the book Bhagavata because the devotee Bhagavata leads his life in terms of the book Bhagavata and the book Bhagavata is full of information about the Personality of Godhead and his pure devotees, who are also Bhagavatas. Bhagavata book and person are identical.
"The devotee Bhagavata is a direct representative of Bhagavan, the Personality of Godhead. So by pleasing the devotee Bhagavata one can receive the benefit of the book Bhagavat. Human reason fails to understand how by serving the devotee Bhagavata or the book Bhagavata one gets gradual promotion on the path of devotion. But actually these are facts explained by Srila naradadeva, who happened to be a maidservant's son in his previous life. The maidservant was engaged in the menial service of the sages, and thus he also came into contact with them. And simply by associating with them and accepting the remnants of foodstuffs left by the sages, the son of the maidservant got the chance to become the great devotee and personality Srila Naradadeva. These are the miraculous effects of the association of Bhagavatas. And to understand these effects practically, it should be noted that by such sincere association of Bhagavatas one is sure to receive transcendental knowledge very easily, with the result that one becomes fixed in the devotional service of the Lord. The more progress is made in devotional service under the guidance of the Bhagavatas, the more one becomes fixed in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The messages of the book Bhagavata, therefore, have to be received from the devotee Bhagavata, and the combination of these two Bhagavatas will help the neophyte devotee to make progress on and on."
The book Bhagavatam itself goes on to say in SB 1.1.3:
nigama kalpa taror galitam phalam
suka mukhad amrta drava samyutam
pibata bhagavatam rasam alayam
muhur aho rasika bhuvi bhavukah
"O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Sukadeva Goswami. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although it's nectarean juice was already relish able for all, including liberated souls."
Bhagavata paragiya bhagavata sthani - one should understand Srimad Bhagavatm from the devotee Bhagavat who has realised Bhagavatam.
In the Srimad Bhagavatam the transcendental patimes of the Lord are narrated, and the narration is systematically depicted by Srila Sukadeva Goswami. Thus the subject matter is appealing to all classes of persons, including those who seek liberation and those who seek to become one with the supreme whole. In Sanskrit the parrot is also known as Suka. When a ripened fruit is cut by the red beaks of such birds, it's sweet flavour is enhanced. The Vedic fruit which is mature and ripe in knowledge is spoken through the lips of Sukadeva Goswami, who is compared to the parrot, not for his ability to recite the Bhagavatam exactly as he heard it from his learned father, but for his ability to present the work in a manner that woud appeal to all classes of men.
In the same way, Purnaprajna Tirtha, the empowered devotee of Lord Visnu, preached to all classes of men purely from the Bhagavatam, and so doing, changed their hearts. Thus he was given the title "Bhagavatpada" by those who could understand that he was the Bhagavatam personified as previously explained.
Acyutapreksa, seeing his glorious disciple preaching so nicely, resolved that actually Purnaprajna should take to the Vedanta Pitha as the Yuvaraja or heir apparent on the Pontificial seat. Preparations were made and Purnaprajna was formally installed as the Pontif, and was given the new name of Anandatirtha. The formal installation was done in much the same way one would install the Deity in the temple, with purified articles, and bathing with sanctified waters poured from conch shells.
ANANDATIRTHA TAKES ON AND DEFEATS ALL COMERS:
Acyutapreksa was always respected for his great learning by all scholars and devotees alike. One incident came about to depict how Acyutapreksa felt about his disciple now known as Anandatirtha.
A sadhu friend of Acyutapreksa came accompanied by many disciples to debate with the learned Acyutapreksa. They were well trained in Nyaya (logic) and a little proud of their learning. Acyutapreksa told them that he had stepped down from the pitha or sea and that now they should debate with his disciple Anandatirtha, who was most qualified for discussion on any subject they may choose.
The challengers choose their own subject in which they specialized. It is said that Nyaya or logic, Vaisesika, that of argument, and that of sankhya or deduction are the philosophies that uphold Anumana or inference as an authority. Though inference doesn't really supercede pratyaksa or perception or that of sabda (sruti-vedas) - testimony of the sastra in any way is non the less accepted as philosophy by which one may understand things as they are.
In the discussion that followed, Anandatirtha argued that if inference did not rest on perception or on testimony as it's final basis, speculations of all kinds could be made by one's own limited sensual perception based on guess work or inductive thinking. The tiny conditioned soul, being clad with four defects, doesn't always understand things as they are as we have imperfect senses, the propensity to cheat, and to become illusion and to make mistakes. Every stance the challengers tried to make, Madhvacaya (Anandatirtha), who is full in all divisions of knowledge of the Absolute, proved his pure points against their false controversy. One of Anandatirtha's arguments went like this:
"If we choose not to recognize the authority of sensual experience, and if we set aside the testimony of speech, writings, and revelations, pure unaided reasoning cannot establish any subject as an absolute truth whatsoever, for every argument implies that it lends itself to some kind of sense experience, either that of the arguer or that of an authority, be he a spiritual teacher or the Lord Himself or that of the sastra (scripture) written by one of the same."
In this way, the challenging party tried to argue this way and that, desperately trying to establish their theories about the tiny jiva soul and the Super soul (Paramatma), but Anandatirtha firmly established that the tiny jiva soul is easily seen as being different from the super soul in as much as the jiva is controlled and the super soul is the controller, like the king and his servant.
The tiny jiva has some freedom to act, but even that freedom is witnessed by the super soul. He may, with the permission of the controller, use his allotted part of this material world, just as the servant of the King resides at the palace and is well kept, but if the servant tries to usurp the property of the king as his own, then he is punished. This is the swarupabheda principal.
They tried to introduce another controversy that the sky is false because you cannot touch it like silver which is reflected in an oyster shell. But Anandatirtha stated that it is not that they are false for one has that experience of seeing silver in a pearl, and it is a fact that the sky does exist, but they are not seen by the eye in a regular way. Anandatirtha stated the philosophy of abhinava-anyatha khyati-vada in a new way. If a thing is to be seen, then there should be some contact with the eye of the seer and the object. But as there is no direct contact between the eye and the silver in a pearl or the eye and the sky, it can be said that it is not seem, as the observations does not occur.
And so they argue back and forth, Anandatirtha always establishing the absolute truth as being personal and dispelling the arguments of illusion - Mayavada. At the end of these discussions they gave Anandatirtha the title "Anumana Tirtha" due to his complete understanding of the anumana (logic and argument).
THE DOWNFALL OF BUDDHISAGARA AND VADISIMHA
The next to come to challenge were Buddhisagara, a Buddhists who was a renown Bauddha - hater of the Vedas, who is the inflicter of defeat on those eminent scholars who are like elephants among men. Buddhisagara came to challenge Acyutapreksa along with the Jain (Tarkika) scholar of the name Vadisimha. Madhva Vijay explains how Acyutapreksa quickly defeated their attack by taking an arrow in the form of the great Ananda Tirtha from his quiver (his mutt). There it says how Anandatirtha, who has excellent intelligence and who is skilled in conquering any opponents, looked out over the large concourse of people who had come to listen to his debate. Umpires were appointed to decide philosophical issues as to who made the true points.
Vadisimha was first to lead the attack. His lead was that of eighteen alternative positions, trying to destroy Anandatirtha by his weighty arguments. Anandatirtha now only refuted each point, but he smashed the envious rascal Vadisimha who was so badly philosophically defeated with just a few quick and unbearable sentences. Vadisimha was impelled to show his real self, shouting loudly trying to present more arguments, but in a cool and dignified manner was the best of all Vaisnava philosophers. Powerful and controlled, Anandatirtha resembled Bhimasena in a fight. Anandatirtha dismembered Vadisimha's every word and Vadisimha fell silent. Everyone knew that this was his sign of his total defeat.
Buddhisagara, whose name means an ocean of intelligence, came forward next with pride to try to make his points against Anandatirtha. Coming in contact with him, he realized too quickly how he, Buddhisagara, had vastly over-estimated himself. With only a back hand slap of a sentence, Anandatirtha smashed the arrogant Buddhisagara, but then the cheating rascals, Vadisimha and Buddhisagara, addressed Anandatirtha and requested, "Let the disputation of philosophies take place tomorrow and today not be counted." The victorious Anandatirtha, the acarya, replied, "If you have something to discuss then discuss it now." but their reply was that it was evening and in an inauspicious muhurta, etc. They made so many excuses to appear undefeated, but all the people knew that they had met their match. The next morning Vadisimha and Buddhisagara's room was empty. In fear of their reputation they had run away overnight. It was plain to see that Anandatirtha had gained a wealth of reputation without any effort and to even a higher degree than by Buddhisagara and Vadisimha, who had earned theirs over a long time of wandering throughout Bharat Bhumi.
Now everyone was inspired to hear from Anandatirtha. His attacks on the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya's sararaka Sutra Bhasya were so powerful that it left Sankaracarya's work torn to shreds philosophically. Anandatirtha's constructive criticism of any philosophy which did not give full credit to the Supreme Personality of Godhead ended in the same way, after thorough exposure to Anandatirtha's sword-wielding philosophy. This was just what everyone had been praying for, and the people now urged him to tell everyone everywhere the detailed truths which had been hidden for so long, and to establish this "new" philosophy which would benefit all mankind.
Once when Anandatirtha was giving a commentary in the form of discourse on the Brahma Sutra Bhasya, he criticized particularly the Bhasya of Sankaracarya. With a derisive smile on his face, he forcefully progressed to fulfill the request and mission on the demigods who approached Lord Narayana on behalf of the suffering people in general for a pure philosophy. This commentary was like a river of flowing nectar for those assembled devotees intently listening. The learned pandits, who knew Sruti and Smriti, begged Anandatirtha to write his own commentary on the Brahma Sutra (Vedanta Sutra).
Just as one who has developed bad habits in connection with learning to play a musical instrument has to be retrained out of their bad habits before training of a purely positive nature can begin, so Anandatirtha's Brahma Sutra verbal commentary first kicks out all bogus philosophies that the people had acquired out of ignorance. It is actually quite a strange thing that they respected Sankaracarya's Bhasya in the first place.
ANANDATIRTHA IS NOW GIVEN THE TITLE OF ACARYA:
Whoever makes big propaganda in this fallen age of Kali will become recognized irrespective of qualities and qualification. The dog who barks the loudest becomes the leader of the pack. However this is not the case in Vaisnava society, in fact it is just the opposite. The humble devotee of the Lord commands respect. He does not demand respect. His boldness is not like that of the cunning dog, but that of the surrendered devotee. Being completely surrendered to the will of the Lord and only preaching so that everyone can come to know the Lord, Madhva became recognized as being materially unmotivated. Anandatirtha, now accepted as the acarya, became known as Madhvacarya.
Let us look at why Anandatirtha was given the name Madhvacarya. "Madhu" means nectar of pleasing thing, and "Ananda" means bliss or happiness, so when one looks at the content of the name, one can see that Madhu is a synonyn for Ananda, but specifically Madhvacarya means that teacher (Acarya) who gives the required happiness, nectar of bliss in the form of his urgently needed and prayed for philosophy, and his ever pleasing pastimes through which he taught his message to the devotees (nityasuris).
First he spoke his commentary. The way Madhvacarya's Brahma Sutra Bhasya was composed, it contained statements and meanings properly related to one another in an easily understandable fashion, and everyone could actually understand and realize who is the Personality of Godhead and how everything is coming from Vasudeva (Krsna). vasudevam sarvam iti. This easily understandable Sutra was soundly based on the authority of the Smrtis in conjunction with the Vedas.
In Madhva Vijay 5.22 it mentions how Madhvacarya defeated all of the old schools. Some were highly intelligent due to their intense study of the sastras and they knew well all the laws of logic. Some were even free from envy and desirous of knowing Madhva's Sutra, while others however possessed envy and were desirous of just conquering Acarya Madhva.
Madhvacarya's now aged father, Madhyageha Bhatta, from time to time would come to visit his beloved son, the partial incarnation of Vayudeva, watching him with loving intent as the Acarya dismantled and re-assembled those who came to present their case. This learned brahmin would relish seeing the bodily form and luster, the dynamic and yet sanguine form of the bull among men who took his birth in that best of brahmins' house. It is said that he drank with hollowed palms the nectar seen through his old eyes, that ocean of nectar Madhvacarya. Through the cavity of his ears he drank that pure sabda brahman - that transcendental sound vibration emanating from Madhvacarya's lotus mouth. Deep in his heart he remembered, how with love, he used to hold him in his arms as a child and play games with him, and recall all his ecstatic childhood pastimes. His heart would melt and swim, almost drowning in absorbs ion on his great son. Finally tears of love would wash away his vision of Madhvacarya.
ACYUTAPREKSA PRESSURES MADHVA TO WRITE:
During one visit of Madhyageha Bhatta, Madhva Vijaya records a discussion between Madhvacarya and his sannyasa guru. Acyutapreksa made a profound statement for the purpose of getting his required result, knowing well that Madhvacarya could not, would not bear to hear any bogus statements of Mayavadi philosophy. "I have an objection." Madhvacarya interjected. Acyutapreksa said, "If you know the Brahmasutra, then compose it in the form of a written commentary."
Madhvacarya accepted this pure challenge just as the hamsa swan accepts only milk giving up the water mixed with it. Madhvacarya knew Acyutapreksa's heart, that it was not so much that he was challenging, but out of compassion for all the soft-hearted Vaisnavas who are demigods on earth, he challenged to aid this great mission to satisfy and glorify the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Visnu. Acyutapreksa went on to say, "If all the various Bhasyas, beginning with this Bhasya of Sankara are of an impersonal nature and thus opposed to the settled opinion of the great sages and rsis who know Brahmasutra, that's alright. Let it be. What harm can this do? Instead you please tell us the real and intended meaning of this pure Brahmasutra (Vedanta Sutra) and Upanishads."
Some say it was the conditioning of Acyutapreksa that was saying that it's alright, that Sankara's Bhasya be of an impersonal nature. Madhva Vijay indicates however, in canto 5.29, that this best of ascetics was of the same swanlike nature as Madhvacarya, overlooking the insignificant effulgence of stars, and was only interested in the full moon which brightened up all directions in the form of Acarya Madhva. The Acarya, who in no doubt was self eminent, spread the glories of the personal form, attributes pastimes, etc of the unlimited incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the full moon shines it's moonshine brightening the sky, or as a beautiful rain cloud pours it's merciful rains on everyone. No-one had to come forward to point out that the full moon was in the sky; all rascal-like philosophies were immediately exposed just as a thief is exposed on a full moon night.
ACARYA MADHVA PREACHES THROUGH SOUTHERN INDIA:
In Madhva Vijay it is mentioned that one day Madhvacaya, who is perfect in intellect, was desirous of preaching in the direction protected by the great Dikpalaka - Yamaraja (the south), knowing well that the pandits of these areas in the south followed various philosophies such as the Mayavada philosophy of Sankaracarya, the mystic yoga system of Patanjali, the Karma Mimamsa philosophy of Jaimini, Nyaya logic of Gautama Muni and the materialistic Sankya philosophy of Kapilasura. There were also Buddhists and those of mixed philosophies. Acyutapreksa didn't mind him going on this preaching tour, providing he could also go along, and so accompanying Madhva, they set out for Visnumangala. According to Padmanabhacar's book "The Life and Teachings of Sri Madhvacarya" there is the following statement. "Authentic evidences fixes Visnumangala as a village about twenty seven miles south of Mangalore." Visnumangala was always a favorite place of Madhva who opted to spend much time at the temple of Lord Visnu there. The name Visnumangalam is specifically given here due to this Deity being said to be the bestower of all auspiciousness to the world.
At Visnumangalam, just as Madhva had finished an enormous meal of Visnu prasadam, a local householder approached the acarya with alms of two hundred 'raja kela' plaintain fruits, and begged Madhvacarya to eat them. These bananas are one and a half feet in length and ten inches in circumference, but this plenary portion of Vayu, who had previously appeared as Vrikodara (Bhimasena) ate every single plantains in a very casual manner, without the slightest exertion or heaviness to his body. Everyone was amazed, as most persons could maybe eat three of four at the most. They implored Madhvacarya to tell them the truth how this was possible. Madhvacarya answered very seriously with his mind fixed on Lord Hari, "Oh, the fire in my stomach is the size of my thumb, and is burning brightly. Therefore it is always ready to perform it's service for the body and digest anything. In fact, it could be compared to the fire at the time of the devastation of the universe, such is it's potency."
Madhva Vijay tells how Madhvacarya, Acyutapreksa and their party headed further south, crossing at the flag-staff near Visnumangala and going down into Kerela. Cress-crossing over the many waterways in the area, they went on to the sacred Payasvini River which purifies the minds of those who bathe there. After coming to the river Payasvini, Madhvacarya approached the temple of Ananta Sayana Padmanabhaswami, Who is glorified as having a luster like that of a blue lotus, and Who has a lotus flower in His navel, lying on Ananta Sesa with Laxmi Devi massaging His lotus feet, and Whose body is made of nearly 18,000 Saligrams.
In the town of Ananta, Madhvacarya delivered powerful lectures on the Brahma Sutra, specifically explaining the name, qualities and form of the infallible Lord Acyuta. His disciples and the local brahmins came to hear how the tiny conditioned soul is different from the mighty infallible Lord. The Mayavadis propose that there is only one living being, and one power of illusion (avidya) which covers that person, producing an illusory appearance of plurality. But this hypothesis leads to the absurd conclusion that when any one individual living being becomes liberated, everyone attains liberation. But how is that? If on the other hand there are many illusions (avidyas) which cover only some part of the living entity, then we would have to talk about his becoming partly liberated at a particular time while his other parts were in bondage. Thus the philosophical conclusion of difference (Dwaita - plurality or dualism) is the unavoidable conclusion.
To try to say that everything is the same was just the kind of fuel that Madhva was looking for to fully propound his Vaisnava philosophy. Madhvacarya points out five kinds of differences. (1) The difference between the tiny jiva and the infallible Lord. There is one verse from the Srimad Bhagavatam (10.87.30) which substantiates the difference between the living entities and the Lord.
aparimita dhruvas tanu-bhrto yadi sarva-gatas
tarhi na sasyateti niyamo dhruva netaratha
ajani ca yan-mayam tad avimucya niyantr bhavet
samam anujanatam yad amatam mata-dustataya
"O Supreme Eternal! If the embodied living entities were eternal and all-pervading like You, then they would not be under Your control. But if the living entities are accepted as minute energies of Your Lorship, then they are at once subject to Your supreme control. Therefore real liberation entails surrender by the living entities to Your control, and that surrender will make them happy. In that constitutional position only can they be controllers. therefore, men with limited knowledge who advocate the monistic theory that God and the living entities are equal in all respects are actually guided by a faulty and polluted opinion."
Sripad Madhvacarya's point is driven home with the verse from Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.41
bhutendriyantah karanat
pradhaaj jiva samjnitat
atma tatha prthag drasta
bhagavan brahma samjnitah
"the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as param brahma, is the seer. He is different from the jiva soul, or individual living entity, who is combined with the senses, the five elements and consciousness."
(2) The difference between the Lord and matter — how the Lord is completely original and spiritual, and matter is a temporary manifestation of the Lord's external potency or energy, which is always changing and is put into motion merely by the glance of the Lord. (3) The difference between individuals, that definitely I am not you and by feeding you I am not full, nor by dressing you am I clothed. (4) The difference between the tiny living entities and the material energy. He explained how the marginal living entity is purely a spiritual entity, but due to misidentification with this material body, which is made of combinations of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego, he can be temporarily bound by illusion. Dull matter, which is constantly changing, does not go with the purified soul (entity) upon leaving this body. As they say, earth to earth and ashes to ashes. The body may be eaten by worms or by vultures, or burned to ashes and again return to it's material elements, but the eternal spirit soul, which is different by nature, leaves that place and either takes birth again in the material world to wear another body tailor made to fit his particular mentality, or go to the place where Lord Sri Krsna resides (the living entities' natural abode). Here we can clearly see that the living entity is of the superior nature or energy of the Lord while the inferior energy is matter. The cosmic manifestation comprised of material elements has no power to act unless it is moved by a superior energy which is the living entity. (5) The fifth is the difference between different kinds of matter. This can be seen in an example of a tree in the forest and a tree in the fire; the basic elements that go to make up a tree are the same, but by the adding of another element, fire, a different reaction takes place. One can appreciate that in earth the element of aroma is present; in water taste is present; in fire form is present; in air touch is present; and in ether sound is present. So again differences are there. More examples - the original fire, it's flame, it's sparks and it's smoke are all one (fire), yet as fire is still fire but is different from flame, so the flame is different in quantity from the sparks, and sparks are different from smoke. Yet in everyone of them fire is still present, but each and every one of them are differently situated with different attributes or qualities of fire.
Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.40 supports this statement:
yatholmukad visphlingad
dhumad vapi sva sambhavat
apy atmatvenabhimatad
yathagnih prthag ulmukat
"the blazing fire is different from the flames, from the sparks, and from the smoke, although all are intimately connected because they are born from the same blazing wood."
So every one of these five differences that have been cited, namely the material nature, the cosmic manifestation, the living entities and the individual natures of each are all but different energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
All throughout South India Madhvacarya opened everyone's eyes with his philosophy of Dwaitavada. To depict Madhva's concept of difference, he says, "That there is a concept, a visesa, which gives substance and attributes showing distinctions and similarities to an object, whilst still having it's separate existence." For example, a statement can be made. "The pot is white." The "pot" and "white", however, cannot be necessarily taken to always be the same, for the pot is something more than it's whiteness. If one were asked to fetch a white thing, one may not necessarily bring the pot, for there may be other white objects - some may or may not be pots; all white things are not pots. One could say bring that pot there next to the ... not mentioning it's attribute of colour, or a blind man may be asked to bring the pot. then what? Definitely it is not all one, for separate identity can be found in both the pot and in white objects. Therefore identity and difference is outlined with the concept of visesas or forms. Different words are given to different forms with different attributes by different persons at different times in different places. Then how can it be adwaita, or one? Difference is there, so we have dwaita.
In this system of Dwaita, by the definitive terms, one can see quite easily how the potency of a given thing determines the "non-synonymous" nature of anything, but at the same time giving some synonymous attributes, such as the jiva is spiritual by nature being qualitatively synonymous with the nature of the Supreme Lord, but the attributes in quantity to which the tiny jiva soul possesses characteristics such as fame, beauty, wealth, knowledge, etc are quite miniscule.
In this way, Madhvacaya presented the authorized view of Brahma Sutra to the assembly. he also invited pandits seated there, who were maybe not convinced or of a different philosophy, to reply to his statements. Even he requested his disciples to take a false stand and present a particular philosophy so the pure dwaita vedantist philosophy could be preached. defeating the impersonal treatise of Sankara who took his birth at Kalady just nearby, Madhvacarya stood firm, powerful and undefeated by anyone. With a kind and gentle smile he preached and preached his new composition of Brahma Sutra Bhasya.
During the tour in the extreme south, Madhvacarya visited many places, including one place in the Anamalai Hills in the district of Udamalpet. On one side of a mountain, which stretches as far as the eye can see, flows a river parallel to the mountain. The bed of the river is made of solid rock and not a grain of sandstone or mud settles there, and so the water is crystal clear. Opposite to this place stands the ancient temple of the Gunavataras (Visnu, Siva and Brahma). In the river there is a formation of boulders with a flat one on top, making a natural bridge by which the current of the river flows undisturbed under the flat stone and around the three boulders. The flat stone is big enough to seat one hundred men comfortably and is solid. Madhva, on his tour through this area, used to sit on this rock in the river and think of his mission after bathing in the river. The local people of the area were so taken back by Madhvacarya that they had a Deity made of him, which is still there to this day.
MADHVACARYA MEETS VIDYA SANKARA OF SRINGERI:
After Madhvacarya's visit to the Padmanabha Swami temple in Trivandrum, he found himself face to face with his arch enemies' descendent, the followers of Sankaracarya from Sringeri, Sankara's headquarters who were touring in the same areas at the same time as Madhva. It is not that the Vaisnava has enemies or really hold enmity to anyone, but still, those who wantonly blaspheme the eternal, factual, blissful, bodily form of the Lord, the Vaisnava is not pleased to see. In their meeting, Madhvacarya dismantled the poor philosophy coming from the mouth of the elderly Vidya Sankara. He didn't stop for even a moment, and when the Sankarite monist was bitterly defeated, he tried to criticize Madhva. Philosophically he had no hope, so he and his followers tried to say that Madhva was too fat, though every honest soul could see his body marked with all thirty two auspicious signs.
One could easily see that due to being soundly defeated by Madhva in philosophy, Vidya Sankara had taken to the boldily concept of life trying to find fault. In due course, Madhva and Vidya Sankara left Trivandrum heading south, but did not meet again until the Caturmasya was about to begin. Madhva, as a staunch sannyasi, decided to observe the vows of the four months of the rainy season in Ramesvaram. Vidya Sankara had also taken to this idea, and so after thier individual tours, which took them to Ananta Sayana, Kanya Kumari and to just outside Ramesvaram, they took their baths there at the place where the bridge was built for Lord Rama to cross to Lanka. From there they went to Dhanuskodi, and on to Ramesvaram for Caturmasya.
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