Dasa Sahitya is the literature of bhakti movement composed by devotees in honor of Lord Vishnu or one of his Avatars. Dasa is literally servant in Kannada and sahitya is literature. Haridasas were preachers of bhakti to Lord Vishnu or one of his avatars. The bhakti literature of these Haridasas is collectively referred to as Dasa Sahitya. It is in the Kannada language. Dasas are Dvaita scholars and poets.
Raghavendra Tirtha was a Hindu scholar, theologian and saint. He was also known as Sudha Parimalacharya. His diverse oeuvre include commentaries on the works of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, interpretation of the Principal Upanishads from the standpoint of Dvaita and a treatise on Purva Mimamsa. He served as the pontiff of matha at Kumbakonam from 1621 to 1671. Sri Raghavendra Swamy was also an accomplished player of the Veena and he composed several songs under the name of Venu Gopala. His shrine at Mantralayam attracts lakhs of visitors every year.
Madhvacharya, sometimes anglicised as Madhva Acharya, and also known as Purna Prajna and Ānanda Tīrtha, was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta. Madhva called his philosophy Tattvavāda meaning "arguments from a realist viewpoint".
Vyāsatīrtha, also called Vyasaraja or Chandrikacharya, was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya's Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vijayanagara Empire, Vyasatirtha was at the forefront of a golden age in Dvaita which saw new developments in dialectical thought, growth of the Haridasa literature under bards like Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa and an amplified spread of Dvaita across the subcontinent. Three of his polemically themed doxographical works Nyayamruta, Tatparya Chandrika and Tarka Tandava documented and critiqued an encyclopaedic range of sub-philosophies in Advaita, Visistadvaita, Mahayana Buddhism, Mimamsa and Nyaya, revealing internal contradictions and fallacies. His Nyayamruta caused a significant stir in the Advaita community across the country requiring a rebuttal by Madhusudhana Saraswati through his text, Advaitasiddhi. He is considered as an amsha of Prahlada in the Madhva Parampara.
Sripadaraja or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha, was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulbagal. He is widely considered the founder of Haridasa movement along with Narahari Tirtha. He has influenced both Carnatic music and Hindustani music through his compositions. His songs and hymns, written under the mudra of Ranga Vitthala, contain the distillation of Dvaita principles infused with mysticism and humanism. He is also credited with the invention of the suladi musical structure and composed 133 of them along with several kirtanas. He was the advisor of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya and mentored the young Vyasatirtha. He also authored a commentary on Jayatirtha's Nyaya Sudha called Nyayasudhopanyasa-Vagvajra. Sripadaraja is believed to be the incarnation of Dhruva.
Sri Vadiraja Teertharu was a Dvaita philosopher, poet, traveller and mystic. A polymath of his time, he authored many works, often polemical, on Madhva theology and metaphysics. Additionally, he composed numerous poems and as the pontiff of Sodhe Mutt, renovated the temple complex at Udupi and established the Paryaya system of worship. He is also credited with enriching the Kannada literature of the time by translating Madhvacharya's works to Kannada, giving impetus and contributing to the Haridasa movement. He has influenced both Carnatic and Hindustani music through his compositions. His compositions are mainly in Kannada and Sanskrit. His mudra is 'Hayavadana'. His works are characterised by their poetic flourishes, incisive wit and humour.
The Haridasa Bhakti Sahitya devotional movement (sampradaya) originated in Karnataka, India, after Madhvacharya, and spread to eastern states such as Bengal and Assam of medieval India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India in general and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual influence over the masses and kingdoms that ruled South India.
Sri Narayana Panditacharya, is an Indian scholar and philosopher in the Dvaita Vedānta tradition. He was the youngest son of Trivikrama Panditacharya, one of the direct disciples of Sri Madhva He is the author of Sri Madhva Vijaya, a metrical biography of the rejuvenator of the Dvaita school of philosophy, Sri Madhvacharya. Indologist B. N. K. Sharma writes, "Narayana has earned a lasting fame for himself by his great metrical biography of Madhva".
Padmanabha Tirtha was an Indian Dvaita philosopher, scholar and the disciple of Madhvacharya. Ascending the pontifical seat after Madhva, he served as the primary commentator of his works and in doing so, significantly elucidated Madhva's terse and laconic style of writing. His pioneering efforts in expanding upon the Dvaita texts to uncover the underlying metaphysical intricacies was taken forward by the 14th Century philosopher, Jayatirtha. Padmanabha is also credited with disseminating the philosophy of Dvaita outside the Tulunadu.
Sadh Vaishnavism, , is a denomination within the Vaishnavism—Bhagavata tradition of Hinduism. Sadh Vaishnavism was founded by thirteenth century philosopher-saint Madhvacharya, who developed the Tattvavada (dvaita) Vedanta sub-school of Hindu philosophy.
Jagannatha Dasa (1728–1809), a native of Manvi town in the Raichur district, Karnataka state, India, comes in the preceptorial line of Madhvacharya and is considered one of the notable Haridasa of Dvaita Vedanta of Madhva saint-poets of the Kannada language. Apart from authoring numerous well-known devotional songs that propagate the Vaishnava bhakti ("faith") of Dvaita Vedanta of Madhvacharya, Jagannatha Dasa wrote the Harikathamritasara in the native shatpadi metre and Tattva suvali in the native tripadi metre. He was also an accomplished scholar in the Sanskrit language.
Shri Uttaradi Math, is one of the main monasteries (matha) founded by Madhvacharya with Padmanabha Tirtha as its head to preserve and propagate Dvaita Vedanta (Tattvavada) outside Tulunadu region. Uttaradi Math is one of the three premier Dvaita monasteries or Mathatraya that descended from Madhvacharya in the lineage of Padmanabha Tirtha through Jayatirtha. After Jayatirtha and Vidyadhiraja Tirtha, Uttaradi Math continued in the lineage of Kavindra Tirtha and later in the lineage of Vidyanidhi Tirtha. The Moola Rama and Moola Sita idols worshipped in the Uttaradi Matha have a long history and are revered for their great divinity.
Sri Vyasaraja Math is one of the three premier Dvaita Vedanta monasteries (matha) descended from Jagadguru Śrī Madhvācārya through Jayatirtha and Rajendra Tirtha and their disciples.
Nava Brindavana ;, is located on an island in the Tungabhadra River at Anegundi, near Hampi, Karnataka, India. The Brindavanas of nine Hindu Madhva saints present in Nava Brindavana belongs to Uttaradi Math, Vyasaraja Math and Raghavendra Math. All these saints are descended from Padmanabha Tirtha, direct disciple of Jagadguru Madhvacharya.
Vijayīndra Tīrtha(also known as Vijayendra Tīrtha) was a Dvaita philosopher and dialectician. A prolific writer and an unrelenting polemicist, he is said to have authored 104 treatises expounding the principles of Dvaita and defending it against attacks from the contemporary orthodox schools of Vedanta. He held the pontifical seat at Kumbakonam under the rule of Thanjavur Nayaks where he participated in polemical discussions with the Advaita philosopher Appayya Dikshita Inscriptions from that era record grants of villages received by Vijayindra for his triumph over theological debates. Legend ascribes to him mastery over 64 arts and his erudition, writes Sharma, "is evident from a few of his works bearing on Purva Mimamsa, Nyaya and Kavya literature".
Madhva Brahmins, are Hindu Brahmin communities in India, who follow Sadh Vaishnavism and Dvaita philosophy propounded by Madhvacharya. They are found mostly in the Indian states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Sumatindra Tirtha was a Dvaita scholar and the 20th pontiff of the Madhva matha at Kumbakonam. Succeeding Surindra Tirtha in 1692, Sumatindra extended the reach of the matha from Kumbakonam to Thanjavur, Madurai and Srirangam. Through his travels and a close association with the royalty, Sumatindra was able to proliferate the principles of Dvaita in the Tamil region. An accomplished scholar and poet, he has authored numerous works on poetics, drama and music as well as commentaries on Vedanta.
Raghuttama Tirtha ; IAST:Śrī Raghūttama Tīrtha), was an Indian philosopher, scholar, theologian and saint. He was also known as Bhavabodhacharya. His diverse oeuvre include commentaries on the works of Madhva and Jayatirtha. He served as the fourteenth pontiff of Madhvacharya Peetha - Uttaradi Math from 1557 to 1595, which he occupied, with remarkable distinction for thirty-nine years. He is considered to be one of the most important seers in the history of Dvaita school of thought. His shrine at Tirukoilur attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Shri Vidyadhisha Tirtha, was an Indian philosopher, scholar, theologian, saint and dialectician. He served as the sixteenth pontiff of Uttaradi Math from 1619 to 1631. He is considered to be one of the important stalwarts in the history of Dvaita school of thought on account of his sound elucidations of the works of Madhvacharya, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha. He is also the most celebrated pontiff of Uttaradi Math after Padmanabha Tirtha, Jayatirtha and Raghuttama Tirtha.
Satyadhyana Tirtha was an Indian Hindu philosopher, scholar, yogi, mystic, theologian and saint. He was the 38th pontiff of Uttaradi Math and served the pontificate from 1911-1942. He was considered most active and zealous pontiffs of 20th century. He was an untiring propagandist, the best debater of his days and almost a terror to his adversaries in philosophical polemics. It was at his initiative and inspiration that a splendid Marathi translation of Madhva's Brahmasutra Bhashya, with the Tatvaprakashika of Jayatirtha was published for the benefit of a large number of followers of Madhvacharya in Maharashtra. He made extensive tours all over India, held disputations and published polemical tracts and phamplets in many languages in North and South India for free distribution. He started, Sriman Madhva Siddhanta Abhivruddhikarini Sabha around 1905-06 and registered in 1930 to promote the study of Sanskrit literature and philosophy, particularly the study of Dvaita Philosophy, to hold meetings and conferences of Madhva scholars.
