Akshobhya Tirtha ( 1282- 1365) was a Dvaita philosopher, scholar and theologian. Born as Govinda Bhatta, he received

sannyasa ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

from

Padmanabha Tirtha Padmanabha Tirtha (attained Siddhi 1324) was a 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 elucidat ...

and later succeeded

Madhava Tirtha Madhava Tirtha was a Hindu philosopher, scholar and the 3rd pontiff of Madhvacharya peetha. He succeeded Narahari Tirtha as the pontiff of the Madhvacharya peetha from 1333 - 1350. Life Works According to S. K. and Gurucarya, He wrote a ...

as the pontiff of the

Madhvacharya Madhvacharya (; ; CE 1199-1278 or CE 1238–1317), 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) sch ...

peetha from (1350 - 1365). A non-extant work titled ''Madhva Tantra Samgraha'' is attributed to him. Sharma contends that Akshobhya retired to

Pandharapur Pandharpur (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əɳɖʱəɾpuːɾ is a well known pilgrimage town, on the banks of Chandrabhaga River, Candrabhagā River, near Solapur, Solapur city in Solapur district, Solapur District, Maharashtra, India. ...

in his twilight years where he encountered a youth called Dhondu Pant on the banks of

Bhima river The Bhima River (also known as Chandrabhaga River) is a major river in Western India and South India. It flows southeast for through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five k ...

, who would later go on to be his disciple and successor,

Jayatirtha Sri Jayatirtha (), ''also known as'' Teekacharya () (1345 - 1388), was a Hindu philosopher, dialectician, polemicist and the sixth pontiff of Madhvacharya Peetha from (1365 – 1388). He is considered to be one of the most important seers in ...

. His mortal remains rest at

Malkhed Malkhed originally known as Manyakheta ( IAST: Mānyakheṭa, Prakrit: "Mannakheḍa"), and also known as Malkhed,Village code= 311400 Malkhed (J), Gulbarga, Karnataka is a town in Karnataka, India. It is located on the banks of Kagina river ...

. He holds the distinction of defeating the celebrated Mayavadin of Sringeri Peetha , Sri Vidyaranya in a historic debate of the interpretation of the shruti-passage Tat-tvam-Asi. This incident is recorded by Sri Vaishnava biographers of Sri Vedanta Desikar - the celebrated Sri Vaishnava theologian. The verdict was in favor of Sri Akshobhya Tirtha, as pronounced by Sri Vedanta Desikar. A portion of what was told is re-produced below according to the Vedanta Desika Vaibhava Prakashika by Cholanaraimhapuram Chandamaaruta Doddacharyariar attvamasinA asinA tam vidyAraNyam muni: tadA akshobhya: , acchinadityavadadya: tam seve tattvanirNaye caturam , , "I serve the wise person who is clever at judging and refereeing the debate on philosophy who declared that then Akshobhya muni wielding the sword of "tattvamasi" cut VidyAraNya's jungle of philosophy into pieces". Sri Akshobhya Tirtha installed the idol of Sri Narasimha in Mulbagal . There are 2 Mutts started by his followers - one at Kudli and the other at Balagaru.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Akshobhya Tirtha on Uttaradi Matha
{{authority control Madhva religious leaders Dvaita Vedanta Dvaitin philosophers Scholars from Karnataka Uttaradi Math History of Karnataka 14th-century Indian philosophers