Madhava Tirtha

Madhava Tirtha
Personal
Born	Vishnu Shastri North Karnataka
Died	1350 A.D at Mannur Near Gulbarga
Religion	Hinduism
Organization
Order	Vedanta
Philosophy	Dvaita Vedanta
Religious career
Guru	Madhvacharya
Predecessor	Sri Padmanabha Tirtha
Successor	Sri Akshobhya Tirtha
Disciples Akshobhya Tirtha Madhuhari Tirtha

Madhava Tirtha was a Hindu philosopher, scholar and the 3rd pontiff of Madhvacharya Peetha. He succeeded Narahari Tirtha as the pontiff of the Madhvacharya peetha from 1333 - 1350.

Life

Previously known as Vishnu Shastri,Shri Madhava Theertha was the third to be anointed to the seat of Sri Uttaradi Mutt after the disappearance of Shri Madhwacarya. The idol of Vamsha Rama that we see today was blessed to Shri Uttaradi Mutt during his period.The senior most direct disciples of Sri Madhvacharya were Sri Padmanbha Teertha, Sri Narahari Teertha, Sri Madhava Teertha and Sri Akshobhya Teertha. In the same order they were the pontiffs of Sri Uttaradi Matha. Once when Sri Madhava Tirtha was engaged in the worship of Digvijaya Rama,Moola Rama and Moola Seeta along with other idols of Uttaradi Matha, All of a sudden he moved from his place and prostrated to a great personality visible only to his holiness. The whole pooja was over and Sri Madhava Tirtha most reverently took the sacred teertha (holy water) from one who was invisible. The whole incident was clarified afterwards by Sri Madhava Tirtha to satisfy the curiosity of the devout spectators. He said - "The Deity of Vamsha Rama which I have now acquired with Providential grace has been endowed with special sacredness of SriMadAcharya (Madhwacharya) who came in person to worship the Deity. He worshipped in his usual grand way, took teertha (charan-amrita) himself and blessed me with teertha afterwards". The whole gathering was astounded at the great event.Brindavana(Sacred Tomb or Samadhi) of Shi Madhava Tirtha is at Mannur.

Works

According to S. K. and Gurucarya, He wrote a commentary on Parasara Smriti called Parasara Madhwa-vijaya. He also made commentaries on Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda. His disciple Sri Madhuhari Teertha founded a mutt which exists under the name Majjigenahalli Matha near Mulbagal.

Bibliography

• Rao, C. R. (1984). Srimat Uttaradi Mutt: Moola Maha Samsthana of Srimadjagadguru Madhvacharya. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sharma, B. N. Krishnamurti (2000). A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, Vol 1. 3rd Edition. Motilal Banarsidass (2008 Reprint). ISBN 978-8120815759. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)