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{{Short description|VidyaaraNya}}{{EngvarB|date=March 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| name = Shri Vidyaranya
| honorific_prefix = His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya
| honorific-suffix = Mahaswami
| title = 12th [[Jagadguru]] [[Shankaracharya]] of [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham]]
| image = Harihara_and_Bukka_meeting_Vidyaranya.jpg
| caption = [[Harihara Raya I|Harihara]] and [[Bukka Raya I|Bukka]] meeting Vidyaranya
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| birth_date = 1296
| death_date = 1391
| nationality = [[India]]n
| ordination = 1380
| module = {{infobox officeholder|embed=yes
|title = [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham]]
|term_start = 1380
|term_end = 1386
|predecessor = Bharati Tirtha
|successor = Chandrasekhara Bharati I
}}
}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}
'''Vidyaranya''' ([[IAST]]: Vidyāraṇya) is variously known as a [[kingmaker]], [[patron saint]] and [[high priest]] to [[Harihara I]] and [[Bukka Raya I]], the founders of the [[Vijayanagara Empire]]. He was the 12th Jagadguru of the [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham|Śringeri Śarada Pītham]] from 1380-1386.<ref>Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mādhava Āchārya". Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref>

Vidyaranya helped the brothers establish the empire sometime in 1336. He later served as a mentor and guide to three generations of kings who ruled over the Vijayanagara Empire. Vijayanagara ([[Hampi]]), the capital of the empire, had a temple dedicated to Mādhavācārya.

He was also a reputed [[Sanskrit]]-language author.<ref>{{cite book |author=Emmie Te Nijenhuis |author-link=Emmie te Nijenhuis |title=Indian Music: History and Structure |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NrgfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA42 |year=1974 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-03978-3 |page=42 }}</ref> Some people identify him as '''Madhavacharya''',<ref>not to be confused with [[Madhvacharya]]</ref> the author of the ''{{IAST|Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha}}'', a compendium of different philosophical schools of [[Hindu philosophy]] and ''[[Panchadasi|Pañcadaśī]]'', an important text for [[Advaita Vedanta]].

== Early life ==
One theory identifies Vidyaranya as Madhava, the brother of [[Sayana]].{{sfn|Roshen Dalal|2010|p=455}} This suggests that he was born to {{IAST|Māyaṇācārya}} and {{IAST|Śrīmatīdevī}} in {{IAST|Pampakṣetra}} (modern-day [[Hampi]]).<ref>{{cite book|title = Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography Vol.2|author = Subodh Kapoor|year = 2002|publisher = Genesis |page = 620|isbn = 9788177552997|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8897ridkczoC&q=Panchadasi+of+Vidyaranya&pg=PA620}}</ref>

However, according to the records of the [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham]], Vidyaranya was a different person, and Sayana and Madhava were actually his disciples. According to this account, Vidyaranya was born in c. 1296 CE in Ekasila Nagara (present-day [[Warangal]]). He was the elder brother of Bharati Tirtha, who preceded him as the ''acharya'' of Sringeri. This account also claims that Vidyaranya wrote some Veda ''bhashya''s, and his disciples Sayana and Madhava completed these works.{{sfn|Roshen Dalal|2010|p=455}}

Yet another theory states that Bharati Tirtha and Vidyaranya were the same person, although the Sringeri records clearly identify them as two different persons.{{sfn|Roshen Dalal|2010|p=455}}

== Career ==
=== Sringeri Matha ===
Vidyaranya was the spiritual head of the [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham]] (Sringeri matha) during 1377-1386 CE. He died in 1391 CE.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Panchadasi.by.Vidyaranya.Swami.Hindi|title=Panchadasi|last=Vidyabhaskar|first=Ramavatar|publisher=Krishnakumar Sharma, PO. Ratangarh, Dist. Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh|language=hi}}</ref>

=== Vijayanagara Empire===
Vidyaranya served as a prime minister in the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] and played an important role in the establishment of the empire. According to one narrative, the empire's founders [[Harihara Raya I]] and [[Bukka Raya I]] were two brothers in the service of the [[Kampili Chiefdom|Kampili chief]]. After Kampili fell to the Muslim invasion, they were taken to Delhi and converted to [[Islam]]. They were sent back to Kampili as the [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultan]]'s vassals. After gaining power in the region, they approached Vidyaranya, who converted them back to the Hindu faith.<ref>{{cite book |author=R. Blake Michael |title=The Origins of Vīraśaiva Sects: A Typological Analysis of Ritual and Associational Patterns in the Śūnyasaṃpādane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wclA8r5f_LcC&pg=PA26 |year=1992 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0776-1 |pages=26–}}</ref><ref>''[[A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar]]'', [[K.A. Nilakanta Sastri]]</ref> The historical authenticity of this narrative is a matter of debate. The contemporary documents, including the inscriptions issued by the earliest rulers of Vijayanagara, do not mention this account. The contemporary Muslim records refer to Harihara (as "Harip" or "Haryab"), but do not mention anything about his conversion to Islam, although they contain details of other converts from Deccan. The first works to mention this narrative were written over 200 years after the establishment of Vijayanagara.<ref>{{cite book |author=Phillip B Wagoner |editor=David Gilmartin and Bruce B. Lawrence |title=Beyond Turk and Hindu: Rethinking Religious Identities in Islamicate South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZhT5Ilq5kAC&pg=PA300 |year=2000 |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=978-0-8130-3099-9 |pages=300–301}}</ref>

A local legend goes like this: Once, during a hunt, Harihara saw a big [[rabbit]] and sent his hunting dog after it. However, the rabbit bit the dog and escaped. While returning from the hunt, Harihara saw a holy man, and narrated the strange incident to him. The holy man was Vidyaranya. The two men went to the place where the rabbit had escaped. Vidyaranya told him that the place was sacred, and advised him to establish the capital of his new kingdom there.<ref>{{cite book |author=B. R. Modak |title=Sayana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2rL1RtLr2KkC&pg=PA6 |year=1995 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-7201-940-2 |page=6 }}</ref>

== Literary Works ==

===''Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha''===
Vidyaranya's most famous works are ''Pārāśara-Mādhavīya'' and the ''Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha'' "Compendium of school of philosophies", a compendium of all the known [[India]]n schools of philosophy. To quote [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]], the ''Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha'' "sketches sixteen systems of thought so as to exhibit a gradually ascending series, culminating in the Advaita Vedanta (or non-dualism)." The sixteen systems of philosophy expounded by him are:<ref>Cowell and Gough, p. 22.</ref>
# [[Cārvāka]]
# [[Buddhism]]
# Arhata or [[Jainism]]
# Ramanuja System or [[Sri Vaishnavism]]
# Purna-Prajña Darsana or [[Tatva-vaada]] or [[Dvaita Vedanta]]
# [[Pashupata Shaivism|Nakulisa-Paśupata]]
# [[Shaivism]]
# Pratyabhijña ([[Kashmir Shaivism]]) or Recognitive System
# [[Raseśvara]] or Mercurial System
# [[Vaisheshika]] or Aulukya
# Akshapada or [[Nyaya]]
# [[Jaimini]]
# [[Pāṇini]]ya
# [[Samkhya]]
# [[Patanjali|Patanjala]] or [[Yoga]]
# [[Vedanta]] or [[Adi Shankara]]

The ''Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha'' itself doesn’t contain the 16th chapter (''Advaita Vedanta'', or the system of [[Adi Shankara]]), the absence of which is explained by a paragraph at the end of the 15th chapter, (the Patanjali-Darsana). It says: “The system of Shankara, which comes next in succession, and which is the crest-gem of all systems, has been explained by us elsewhere, it is, therefore, left untouched here”.<ref>Cowell and Gough, p. 273.</ref>

Vidyaranya tries to refute, chapter by chapter, the other systems of thought prominent in his day. Other than Buddhist and Jaina philosophies, Vidyaranya draws quotes directly from the works of their founders or leading exponents<ref>Cowell and Gough, p. vii.</ref> and it also has to be added that in this work, with remarkable mental detachment, he places himself in the position of an adherent of sixteen distinct philosophical systems.

''Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha'' is one of the few available sources of information about ''lokayata'', the [[materialism|materialist]] system of philosophy in ancient India. In the very first chapter, "The Cārvāka System", he critiques the arguments of ''lokayatika''s. While doing so he quotes extensively from Cārvāka works. It is possible that some of these arguments put forward as the ''lokayata'' point of view may be a mere caricature of ''lokayata'' philosophy. Yet in the absence of any original work of ''lokayatika''s, it is one of the very few sources of information available today on materialist philosophy in ancient India.

===Pañcadaśī===
Vidyaranya's [[Panchadasi|Pañcadaśī]] is a standard text on the philosophy of the Advaita Vedanta tradition. It consists of fifteen chapters which are divided into three sections of five chapters each, which are designated as Viveka (Discrimination), Deepa (Illumination) and Ananda (Bliss). The text elucidates many Vedantic concepts, such as, the five sheaths of individuality, the relation between Isvara (God), Jagat (world) and Jiva (individual), the indistinguishability of cause and effect, etc.<ref>Krishnananda, p. 4,5.</ref>

===Madhaviya Shankara Vijaya===
Vidyaranya wrote Madhavia Shankara Vijaya also known as Samkshepa-Shankara-Vijaya. The book is about the life and achievements of Shankara Bhagavat-Pada ([[Adi Shankara]]).

Vidyaranya also wrote a commentary on the ''Mimamsa Sutras''. He attained Siddhi after a six-year term as an acharya of the [[monastery]] of [[Sringeri]].

==See also==
*[[Sringeri Sharada Peetham]]
*[[Advaita Vedanta]]
*[[Vijayanagara Empire]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Cowell |first=E.B. |author-link=Edward Byles Cowell |author2=Gough, A.E. |title=Sarva-Darsana Sangraha of Madhava Acharya: Review of Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy |year=1882 |publisher=Indian Books Centre/Sri Satguru Publications |location=New Delhi |isbn= 81-703-0875-5 }}
* ''Indian Philosophy - a Popular Introduction'': [[Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya]], People's Publishing House, New Delhi, 7th edition 1993
*{{cite book |last=Krishnananda |first=(Swami) |author-link=Swami Krishnananda |title=The Philosophy of the Panchadasi |publisher=The Divine Life Society Sivananda Ashram |location=Rishikesh }}
*{{cite book |last=Radhakrishnan |first=S |author-link=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |title=Indian Philosophy, Volume 1|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.202128 |edition=2nd |series=Muirhead library of philosophy |year=1929 |publisher= George Allen and Unwin Ltd. |location=London }}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Mādhava Āchārya}}
* {{cite book |author=Roshen Dalal |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC&pg=PA455 |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 }}

==External links==
* [http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/sages/vidyaranya Biography] at freeindia.org
* {{Gutenberg author | id=36796}}
* {{Internet Archive author |search=("Mādhava Vidyāranya" OR "Vidyāranya, Mādhava" OR "Vidyaranya, Madhava" OR "Madhava Vidyaranya" OR "Madhava Acharya" OR "Acharya, Madhava" OR "Vidyaranya" OR "Vidyāraṇya" OR "Vidyāranya")}}
* [https://archive.org/details/Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha.by.Madhavacharya-Vidyaranya.tr.by.E.B.Cowell ''Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha'' by Madhavacharya (Vidyaranya Swami) - tr by E.B.Cowell (1882)] at archive.org
* [https://archive.org/details/Vivarana.Prameya.Sangrah.by.Vidyaranya.Swami ''Vivarana Prameya Sangrah'' by Vidyaranya Swami (Sanskrit Text with Hindi Translation)] at archive.org
* [https://archive.org/details/Panchadasi.by.Vidyaranya.Swami.Hindi ''Panchadasi'' by Vidyaranya Swami, with Hindi translation] at archive.org
* [http://www.celextel.org/othervedantabooks/panchadasi.html ''Panchadasi'' by Vidyaranya Swami, with English translation] at archive.org
* [https://archive.org/details/Taittiriya.Upanishad.Bhasya ''Taittiriyaka-Vidyaprakash'' of Vidyaranya] at archive.org
* Shankara Digvijaya [https://archive.org/details/Shankara.Digvijaya.Satika] [https://archive.org/details/Shankara.Digvijaya.Mula.Matram] at archive.org
* Sankara-Dig-Vijaya by Madhava-Vidyaranya translated to English by Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai-600 004, India

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box| before = [[Sri Bharati Krishna Tirtha]] | title = [[Jagadguru of Sringeri Sharada Peetham]] |years = 1380–1386 | after = [[Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati I]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Indian philosophy|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Advaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:Medieval Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Sringeri Sharada Peetham]]
[[Category:Vijayanagara Empire]]
[[Category:14th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Hindu priests]]
[[Category:1296 births]]
[[Category:1391 deaths]]

Vidyaranya - Revision history

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imported>V Raamamurthy 1936sgs at 05:27, 8 June 2021