Person · Dvaita scholar & matha head
Rāghavendra Tīrtha
Also known as Raghavendra Swami, Raghavendra Tirtha, Rayaru
Head of the Kumbhakonam maṭha in the Madhva line, a formidable commentator whose Parimala and Nyāyamukatāvalī are standard Dvaita texts, and an accomplished vīṇā player. He is said to have entered his brindāvana alive at Mantrālayam in 1671, declaring he would remain in it seven hundred years.
- Date
- c. 1595 – 1671
- Function
- Science & medicine
- Tradition
- Rāghavendra Vijaya; Dvaita commentarial corpus
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Worth knowing
The land at Mantrālayam is said to have been given by the local Muslim governor, Siddi Masud Khan, after an encounter the shrine's own tradition records — which is why the brindāvana of a Dvaita ācharya is also visited by Muslims, and why the story is told rather than quietly dropped.
Connections (2)
- Samadhi atMantrālayam
Rāghavendra is said to have entered the brindāvana alive at Mantrālayam in 1671 and to be present in it for seven hundred years, which makes the shrine a residence rather than a memorial in its own tradition's terms. The stone was brought from Madhyārjuna, where Rāma is said to have sat on it.
- Teaching lineageMadhvāchārya
Rāghavendra stands in the line Madhva began three and a half centuries earlier, as head of the Kumbhakonam maṭha. His Parimala is a commentary on Jayatīrtha's commentary on Madhva, which is how the Dvaita tradition works: it advances by annotation rather than by fresh statement, and a great scholar is one who explains his predecessors better.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Raghavendra Tirtha”. The subject’s own writings where they survive, and the standard biographical literature.
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