Swami Vidyaranya

As I turn a quarter of a century, I contemplated on some of the people who have influenced me the most in my spiritual path. The obvious few would be Swami Vivekananda, with his Guru Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, Adi Shankara, Appar, Yogananda, Ramana Maharishi and ofcourse my own self perception on various scriptural dogmas. I wanted to thank someone/god or being for bringing me this far in life with both intellect and philosophical inquiry. As such I thought about writing a short biography of one the above saints only to realize that they are already infinitely famous (at least within Hinduism) and there would not be much of a tribute to my system of thought and as such I decided upon the patron saint Vidyaranya. He is not very well known amongst most Hindus but his very existence is one of the core reasons for the existence of Hinduism itself.

This great swami was born to Māyaṇācārya and Śrīmatīdevī in Pampakṣetra (modern day Hampi) around 1268 CE. What you ask is so special about this man? Well, he was born at a time when Hinduism faced a real threat from Islamic conversion. The Muslim kings had decided on making Bharata Varsha an Islamic state at all costs and were burning thousands of priceless scriptures. One half of all Indian astronomy was burnt to crisp as it did not gain appreciation with the 'Koran', thousands of Vedic texts, and their associated commentaries burnt as they posed a threat to the holy Koran. As a young boy, Madhava (Pre-ascetic name of Vidyaranya) had a high commitment to the preservation of knowledge. He decided that at all costs he would lay his life for the preservation of this knowledge.

Madhava learned the tenents of Hindu thought under the great scholar Shankarananda and later Sri Vidya Tirtha in Kanchi. The knowledge of Sri Vidya Tirtha was so great that he was known as an avataram of dakshinamurthi (the god of wisdom). However despite all the learning, one thought still burdened him.`I must try to remove the dangers which Hinduism and its culture are facing in South India. I must propitiate the mother goddess Bhuvaneshwari and bring back the knowledge India has lost to the Muslims.' His guru was touched by the ambition of Madhava. He blessed him in his mission and Madhava left for his mission.

Just then Mallik Khafur with his army of Muslims invaded Sri Rangam. They plundered the entire temple, defecated the idols and burnt the copies of the Bhagavada Purana and the Bhagavad Gita. They killed over 150,000 innocent civilians and the residing priests all died of shock and grief. Madhava came to learn of this atrocity and great flame burnt into his chest. He decided even at the cost of his life, he will not stop until he manages to establish a Hindu kingdom. 

He wandered throughout India to establish a good spot for his meditation. He decided to meditate in the Vindhya mountains. While he was doing so a brahmarakshasa arrived. A brahma-rakshasa is a spirit. When a very learned person fails to impart his knowledge and lives an irreligious life, he becomes a brahma-rakshasa. This spirit asked him for food and water as it was eternally thirsty and hungry. Being a monk, Madhava said he did not have anything to offer him, to which the spirit said "Let me take you to the great sage Veda Vyasa, who will impart you all the 64 Shastra and in turn you can teach it to me which will feed me."  The name of the spirit was called Shringi. Madhava agreed and the two went to Varanasi (the Jerusalem of India) and on the way, the Shringi pointed to a paraiya (low cast usually a hunter) with 4 dogs. The intuitive Madhava at once realized that this was no paraiya, but the great sage Vyasa himself and the 4 dogs were the 4 Vedas. He prostrated before him and requested to know the 64 scriptures. The great sage readily blessed him and initiated him into the esoteric Sri Vidya upasana (a specific method of worshipping the divine mother). He is said to have written the Sri Vidyanarva tantra which a complete encyclopedia on Sri Vidya.

After learning the secret mantra from the great Sage Vyasa, Madhava meditated on that Mantra. Days passed to weeks, which passed to months, then years. Madhava lived at first on roots & grass, then on just water and finally just air. The weather turned harsh on his body, but his will was fixed. This he did for 12 years and after 12 long years of sincere meditation, the great goddess appeared before him, "Oh great saint, for your austerities, I confer the title Vidyaranya, now ask any boon so that I may fructify it" She said. Vidyaranya was overwhelmed by the deity and replied "Oh great goddess! I am perfectly happy here, I have no other desire but to see your grace!" The deity knew what he was truly desirous of and told him "Oh Child, I know what you truly desire, you will bring back the lost knowledge of the Veda and restore the glorious state of Karnataka but. . ." immediately the Saint replied "why mother? Why stop?"
"But you will not be able to accomplish this in this lifetime. Only in your next birth" the goddess replied.
"Mother! I cannot wait this long, my mother-land cannot wait this long!" Vidyaranya pleaded.
"In that case you must become a celibate and rule through a king who is young enough to lay the foundations." The goddess said.
"I will do so immediately," the saint replied and the goddess, pleased, replied "Be it so my son" 

And soon enough, two young men arrived at the ashrama (hermitage) of Vidyaranya. "Who are you?" the saint asked. "We are brothers, Harihara Rayya and Bukka Rayya, Alas we were once rulers of this land but the evil King Mohammed Bin Tughlaq plundered our city and mercilessly killed everyone. We managed to escape just in time. The sage made up his mind to ensure that this two were the progenitors of the dynasty. He chose a spot near the Tungabhadra river (modern day Hampi) established the legendary Kingdom of Vijaya Nagara. It was initially intended to be called Vidyanagara (land of knowledge) but instead became known as Vijayanagara (land of victory).

The great sage, not only ruled the entire city of Vijayanagara, but also wrote the Sarva Darshana Sangraha where he refutes every philosophy known at the time and establishes the truth of Advaita (non duality) Vedanta. He also wrote the Panca Deshi which is a concise treaty on Advaita.

Legacy:

Brought the 64 arts/Culture back to India
Wrote the Shankara Dig Vijayam (Legend has it he saw the whole life of Adi Shankara through his meditation and wrote this text)

Wrote the Sri Vidyanarva

Became the pontiff of Sringeri Madham

It is believed that even today in the Shringeri madham,  food is offered to Shringi the brahma rakshasa.