Mohit Raj: started data

2025-05-30T12:03:41Z

started data

New page

{{short description|Indian scholar}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
| name =Narayanacharya
| honorific_prefix =
|honorific_suffix =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| birth_name = Narayanacharya Vaishvanathi
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Present day [[North Karnataka]]
| death_date =
| death_place = Present day [[North Karnataka]]
| resting_place =
| honors =
| order =
| guru = [[Vedavyasa Tirtha]]
| successor =
| disciples =
| philosophy = [[Dvaita]], [[Vaishnavism]]
| literary_works= ''[[Advaita Kalanala]]''
|father =
|mother =
}}
{{DvaitaInfobox}}

'''Narayanacharya Vaishvanathi''' ([[IAST]]:Nārāyaṇācārya Vaisvānati; was a 16th century [[Indian people|Indian]] [[scholar]] and [[philosopher]] of [[Dvaita Vedanta|Dvaita Vedānta]] tradition. He was the disciple of [[Vedavyasa Tirtha]] of [[Uttaradi Math]] and is the most celebrated name in the annals of the great [[dvaita]]-[[advaita]] debate.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}} Narayanacharya is notable for his work ''[[Advaita Kalanala]]'', which is a refutation work to ''Madhvamatamukhamardana'' of [[Appayya Dikshita]]. [[Indologist]] [[B. N. K. Sharma]] writes, "The ''[[Advaita Kalanala]]'' is a scathing criticism of the ''Madhvamatamukhamardana'' of [[Appayya Dikshita|Appayya]]. The carping criticisms and bitter personal attacks of the [[Appayya Dikshita|Dikshita]] are vigorously returned by Narayana. He loses no opportunity to pay the critic in his coin and with compound interest. The tone of the work is thus retaliatory and bitingly sarcastic".{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}} Sharma also writes, "Narayanacharya was one of the fiery champions of the [[Dvaita]] school, that rose to defend it against the slashing attacks of [[Appayya Dikshita]] and others".{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}} American [[historian]] [[Anthony Grafton]] and [[classicist]] [[Glenn W. Most]] considered the work ''[[Advaita Kalanala]]'' along with the [[Abhinava Gada|Abhinava-Gada]] of [[Satyanatha Tirtha]] as a new mace which broke the heads of non-dualists like [[Appayya Dikshita]].{{Sfn|Grafton|Most|2016|p=108}}

==Life==
Almost nothing is known about Narayanacharya's early life but according to some [[hagiographies]] he was born in [[North Karnataka]] and his father name was Vishvanatha. Tradition asserts that Narayanacharya was the elder brother of Vyasa Ramacharya, who was the author of the famous Nyayamrta Tarangini. [[Indologist]] [[B. N. K. Sharma]] says, Narayanacharya gives about himself is that he is "Vaishvānathih", son of Vishvanatha and his guru was [[Vedavyasa Tirtha]] of [[Uttaradi Math]] in the sixth introductory verse of his ''Madhvamantrarthamanjari''.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}} Scholar Gaudagiri Gopalakrishnacharya said the same and scholar [[Vyasanakere Prabhanjanacharya]] supported this in the December and January issues of ''Tattvavada'' (1979–1980).{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}} Tarangini Ramacharya has given us ample information about himself about his father name Vishvanatha, his gotra Upamanyu, and his family surname "Vyasa", besides mentioning that he had an elder brother Nārāyaṇācārya who was a veteran scholar in Vyakarana and other Shastras and that he had his scholastic training under him. {{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}}

==Works and legacy==
Narayanacharya authored three works consisting of polemical tracts, commentary and Independent treatise. Except ''Advaitakalanala'' his two other works, ''Madhvamantrarthamanjari'' and ''Vishnutattvaviveka'' remaines unprinted.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=432}}{{Sfn|Bhattacharya|1970|p=310}}{{Sfn|Fisher|2017|p=117}}

===Advaita Kalanala===
{{Main|Advaita Kalanala}}
''Advaitakālānala'' is a polemical and expositional work in five chapters and runs to about 8,000 stanzas.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=433}} It is a refutation work for the theological controversies provoked by [[Appayya Dikshita]] by his work ''Madhvamatamukhamardana''. [[Indologist]] [[B. N. Krishnamurti Sharma]] says, "In this work carping, criticisms, and bitter personal attacks of the Dikshita are vigorously returned by Narayanacharya".{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=434}} Sharma writes, "He writes a vigorous and animated style, full of repartees, spicy anecdotes, and colorful analogies. [[Indologist]] [[B. N. K. Sharma]] writes, "The work is could be pronounced to be a thoroughgoing and final refutation of [[Appayya Dikshita|Dikshita]]'s work".{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|p=433}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|title = A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, Vol 1. 3rd Edition|first = B. N. Krishnamurti| last = Sharma| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (2008 Reprint) |isbn = 978-8120815759| year= 2000 }}
*{{Citation|title=Canonical Texts and Scholarly Practices: A Global Comparative Approach|first1=Anthony|last1=Grafton|first2=Glenn W.|last2=Most|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1107105980}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Indian philosophies, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_DrAAAAIAAJ|first=Sibajiba|last=Bhattacharya|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1970}}
*{{Cite book|title=A Prehistory of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZJdDwAAQBAJ|first=Manu V.|last=Devadevan|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|year=2016|isbn=978-3110517378}}
*{{Citation|title=Hindu Pluralism: Religion and the Public Sphere in Early Modern South India|first=Elaine M.|last=Fisher|publisher=University of California Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0520293014}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Dvaita Vedanta]]
[[Category:Uttaradi Math]]
[[Category:Scholars from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Dvaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:17th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Hindu philosophers and theologians]]
[[Category:1660 deaths]]
[[Category:1600s births]]

Narayanacharya Vaishvanathi - Revision history

Mohit Raj: started data