Madhvācārya
13th century · Uḍupi, Karnataka · Dvaita Vedānta
Madhvācārya, also called Ānandatīrtha and Pūrṇaprajña, was born near Uḍupi in coastal Karnataka. He taught Dvaita, “dualism”: God (Viṣṇu) is supreme and independent, while souls and the world are real and eternally distinct from him and dependent on him. Liberation comes through God’s grace, earned by knowledge and devotion.
He wrote commentaries on the Brahma Sūtra, the Gītā and the Upaniṣads, and works on the Bhāgavata and Mahābhārata. He installed the famous image of Kṛṣṇa at Uḍupi and founded the eight maṭhas whose heads still take turns in its worship. His followers revere him as an incarnation of Vāyu.
Tradition says a ship caught in a storm off the coast was saved when Madhva waved his cloth from the shore. In gratitude the captain offered him anything aboard, and he chose a lump of gopīcandana clay used as ballast. Inside it was the image of Kṛṣṇa that he installed at Uḍupi.
Dvaita Vedānta · Uḍupi Kṛṣṇa · Aṣṭa maṭhas