maThas and maThAdhipatis

[Balaji Hebbar]

Mr.Sundaresan:

The  three  premier  maThas  of  the  "Deshastha"  MAdhvas  are  the
UttarAdi,  DakShiNADi  (renamed  "VyAsarAya"  MaTha  and  now  based  in
Sosale,  KarnATaka)  and  the  PUrvAdi  (renamed  "RAyara"  MaTha  and
now  based  in  MantrAlaya,  AP)  MaThas.  Normally,  a  maTha  does
not  move  with  its  reigning  abbott.  Because  RAghavendra  TIrtha
happened  to  be  a  extraordinarily  charismatic  abbott,  this
happened.  Similarly  in  the  case  of  the  "VyASarAya"  MaTha.
However,  VyAsa  TIrtha's  brindAvana  (cenotaph)  is  at  Anegondi
tho'  the  maTha  is  at  Sosale.  Further,  it  has  been  the
pontiffs  and  paNDits  of  these  3  maThas  that  have  been  the
intellectual  defenders  and  fortifiers  of  Dvaita  VedAnta  over  the
centuries.

As  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  posting,  there  are  no
Tamil-speaking  MAdhvas.  The  MAdhvas  in  TamilnAd  speak  either
MarAThI  or  KannaDa  at  home.  (DeshabhAShA  of  course  is  Tamil).

Regards,
B.N.Hebbar