Madhwanavami
January 30th 2023
Madhwanavami is the day Jagadguru Madhwaachaarya vanished from the physical world, in 1317 AD. It is said that as he was explaining the Aithreya Upanishad to his disciples, suddenly, there was a heap of flowers (showered by celestial beings) in the place of the Aachaarya. This incident took place in the temple of Anantheshwara, which is a few feet away from the main Shri Krishna temple in Udupi. Visitors can see an inscription, in Kannada, on a side wall of the temple, with the words, “This is the spot where Acharya Madhwa disappeared.”
Where did he disappear to?
Whether Madhwaachaarya vanished dramatically as the legend goes or whether he actually left the place to go elsewhere, the fact remains that from that day on, he was not visible to anybody. He is believed to have left for Uttara Badri to be with his spiritual preceptor, Veda Vyaasa, and continues to remain there even today, unseen. Uttara Badri exists on a transcendental dimension and is not visible to ordinary human eyes.
Badrinath
Madhwaachaarya walked across the length of the land, to Badrinath thrice. The third time was his last, at the age of 79.
Anantheshwara temple
Interestingly, the Anantheshwara temple, that bears the inscription of Madhwaachaarya’s disappearance, indicating the end of Vayu devaru’s third avataara, also features at the beginning of Vayu devaru’s avataara as Madhwaachaarya.
Preceding the birth of ‘Vasudeva’ (as Madhwa was called before he became an ascetic), in Pajaka, in 1238 AD, a person is said to have climbed the garuda kambha at the entrance of the temple and made an announcement to the large crowd below, that Vayu would soon take birth amongst them.
Madhwaachaarya is the third avataara of Vayu devaru, the first avataara being Hanuman and the second avataara being Bheemasena.
Tattvavaada
Madhwa’s philosophy is called “Tattvavaada” amongst his followers. The world at large refers to it as “Dwaita” philosophy or “dualism”. Amongst the various tenets of Tattvavaada, the primary and the most well-known is the concept of “Hari Sarvotthama”, that is, Hari/ Vishnu/Narayana is the supreme being and the only independent entity (swatantra) while all other beings including Lakshmi, the various celestial beings, humans etc. are dependent (paratantra). Thus, there is none equal to or greater than Hari.