Uma-maheshvara (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Umāmaheśvara), also known as Abhinava-Kālidāsa ("the new

Kalidasa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviv ...

"), was a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language philosopher and grammarian from present-day southern India. He is variously dated to c. 1465 CE or c. 1750 CE.

Biography

Uma-maheshvara was born in a family belonging to the

Vellala Vellala is a small village in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is near the town of Proddutur in the Kadapa District. The village got its name from the locally famous "Vellala Sanjevaraswami ", a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman. This templ ...

social group. He was a disciple of Akshaya-suri (or Akkaya-suri) of Mokshagundam family. According to the ''Rajashekhara-charita'' (or ''Shabharanjana-shataka'') of his disciple Kavi-kunjara, Uma-maheshvara "put an end to the machinations" of Durjaya, the court poet of the

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara

king Raja-shekhara. P. Sriramamurti of
Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...
tentatively identifies the ruler as prince Raja-shekhara (the son of Deva Raya III), and on this basis, dates Uma-maheshvara to c. 1465 CE. However, Harold G. Coward and K. Kunchunniraja date him to c. 1750 CE.

Works
Uma-maheshvara wrote the following works on the Advaita Vedanta philosophy: * ''Advaita-kamadhenu'' * ''Tattva-chandrika'' or ''Nirguna-brahma-mimamsa'' * ''Virodha-varudhini'' * ''Vedanta-siddhanta-sara'' * ''Santana-dipika'' Uma-maheshvara defended
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedanga, Vedic scholar, Hindu philosophy, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and h ...
's Advaita Vedanta against
Ramanuja Ramanuja ('; Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmānuja; 1077 – 1157), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and social reformer. He is one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavi ...
's
Vishishtadvaita Vishishtadvaita (IAST '; ) is a school of Hindu philosophy belonging to the Vedanta tradition. Vedanta refers to the profound interpretation of the Vedas based on Prasthanatrayi. Vishishta Advaita, meaning "non-duality with distinctions", is a ...
. In ''Virodha-varudhini'' (or ''Virodha-varuthini''), he proposed to show 100 self-contradictions in the works of
Ramanuja Ramanuja ('; Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmānuja; 1077 – 1157), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and social reformer. He is one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavi ...
and other Vishishtadvaita works such as ''
Satadushani The ''Shatadushani'' () is a polemical treatise written by the Hindu philosopher Vedanta Desika (1278-1369). Literally translating to "one hundred defects", the ''Shatadushani'' is a refutation of the hundred central tenets of the philosoph ...
'', but fell ill after discussing 27 contradictions. Ramanuja's followers Rangacharya (''Ku-drishti-dhvanta-martanda'') and Shrinivasa-dikshita (''Virodha-varuthini-pramathini'') wrote refutations of Uma-maheshvara's criticisms. Other works attributed to him include: * ''Paniniya-vada-nakshtra-mala'' (IAST: ''Pāṇinīya-vāda-nakṣatra-mālā''), a work on grammar * ''Shrngara-shekhara Bhana'' (IAST: ''Śṛṅgāra-śekhara Bhana''), a Sanskrit play * ''Tapta-mudra-vidravana'' * ''Prasanga-Ratnakara'' * ''Ramayana-tika'' P. Sriramamurti identifies him with the Abhinava-Kalidasa (or Nava-Kalidasa) who wrote ''Bhagavata-champu'', a work on the life of
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
.

References
{{Authority control Medieval Sanskrit grammarians Advaitin philosophers Sanskrit writers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown