Narahari Tirtha ( 1243 - 1333) was a

Dvaita Dvaita Vedanta (); (originally known as Tattvavada; IAST:Tattvavāda), is a sub-school in the Vedanta tradition of Hindu philosophy. The term Tattvavada literally means "arguments from a realist viewpoint". The Tattvavada (Dvaita) Vedanta ...

philosopher, scholar, statesman and one of the disciples of

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 ...

. He is considered to be the progenitor of the

Haridasa 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 ...

movement along with

Sripadaraja Sripadaraja ( sa, श्रीपादराज; ) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (1422 - 1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mul ...

. Though only two of his scholarly works are extant, they are characterised by their verbosity and lack of digressions. A few songs of his survive under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

''Raghukulatilaka''. As a minister of considerable influence to the Eastern Ganga rulers and later as the pontiff of Madhvacharya mutt, Narahari converted the

Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam, also known as Sinhachala or Simanchala is a Hindu temple situated on the Simhachalam Hill Range,which is 300 metres above the sea level in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It is dedicated to V ...

temple into an educational establishment of renown and a religious centre for

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as ...

Life

Nothing is known about his early life except that he served as a minister in the Eastern Ganga Kingdom in Kalinga (modern day

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

) and later as a regent in the stead of Narasimha Deva II before his ordination as a monk. Information about his life is derived from a

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

called ''Narahariyatistotra'', Narayana Pandita's '' Madhva Vijaya'' and inscriptions from the

Srikurmam Sri Kurmam also known as Srikurmu or Srikurmais a village near Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Srikurmam village is situated at a distance of 14.5 km to the South-east of Srikakulam town. It is in the Gara mandal of Srikakulam district. T ...

and

temples, all of which attest to his regency. The inscriptions also allude to his expertise in scriptures and swordsmanship. Sharma conjectures from the presence and contents of the inscriptions that post 1281 C.E., he was "the virtual overlord of the country". At the height of his power, he built the Yogananda Narasimha Temple in

and defended the city from attacks of vandals. There is also evidence that he was patronised by Bhanudeva I and his ward Narasimha Deva II and also that he disseminated the philosophy of

Madhva 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) schoo ...

throughout Kalinga. His mortal remains rest at Charkratirtha near

Hampi Hampi or Hampe, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi town, Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th&n ...

Works and Legacy

Narahari's treatise on the ''Gita Bhashya'' of

called ''Bhavaprakashika'' is considered to be an important work in the Dvaita canon, being referenced by Jayatirtha and Raghavendra Tirtha. Sharma notes that Narahari expands upon the obscure passages in the source text and directs polemical barbs against the commentaries by Sankara and

Ramanuja Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents ...

. Though presumably not of Kannada origin, many of his works were in that language although only three of his compositions in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

survive. Narahari and

are considered to be the forerunners of the

movement by penning songs and hymns, mostly containing the teachings of Madhva in simplified terms and set to music in the vernacular

language. Traditionally, Narahari is also considered to be the founder of Yakshagana and

Bayalaata Bayalāṭa ( kan, ಬಯಲಾಟ, or Bayalāṭada ) is a generic term for all open air theatre form, including form of Yakshagana found in southern Indian region of Karnataka.The Mask and the Message By Ke Chinnappa Gauḍa · Madipu Prakashan ...

, a dance form which still flourishes in parts of Karnataka and Kasargod in present-day

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

Notes

:1. The songs are ''yanthu marulade nanenthu'' and ''hariye idu sariye.''

References

Bibliography

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External links

Biography of Narahari Tirtha
{{Caitanya sampradaya History of Karnataka Kannada literature Dvaitin philosophers Dvaita Vedanta Uttaradi Math 13th-century Indian people Madhva religious leaders People from Odisha