Madhava

“ They that are powerful should be indifferent to avoid disputes with the weak who always bow down. The father, the king, and he that is venerable in years, always deserve regard. Dhritarashtra, therefore, O Janardana, is worthy of our respect and worship. But, O Madhava, Dhritarashtra’s affection for his son is great. Obedient to his son, he will reject our submission. What dost thou, O Krishna, think best at this juncture? How may we, O Madhava, preserve both our interest and virtue? Whom also, besides thee, O slayer of Madhu, and foremost of men, shall we consult in this difficult affair? ”

“ He is the refuge of all creatures. He is without beginning and without destruction. He is unmanifest. He is the high-souled slayer of Madhu. Endued with mighty energy, He has taken birth (among men) for accomplishing the purpose of the gods. Verily, this Madhava is the expounder of the most difficult truths relating to Profit or Wealth, and he is also their achiever. O son of Pritha, the victory thou hast obtained over thy enemies, thy unrivalled achievements, the dominion thou hast acquired over the whole earth, are all due to thy side having been taken up by Narayana. ”

“ The seventh system in Mádhava's Sarva-darśana-saṅgraha is the Śaiva-darśana. This sect is very prevalent in the South of India, especially in the Tamil country; it is said to have arisen there about the eleventh century a.d. Several valuable contributions have been lately made to our knowledge of its tenets in the publications of the Rev. H. R. Hoisington and the Rev. T. Foulkes. The former especially, by his excellent articles in the American Oriental Society's Journal, has performed a great service to the students of Hindu philosophy. ”

“ Let alone the Pandavas, O slayer of Madhu, the very gods are not competent to vanquish Bhishma, Kripa, Drona and Karna, in battle. If, O Madhava, we are, in the observance of the practices of our order, cut off with weapons in battle, when our end comes, even that will lead us to heaven. Even this, O Janardana, is our highest duty as Kshatriyas, viz., that we should lay ourselves down on the field of battle on a bed of arrows. If, without bowing to our enemies, ours be the bed of arrows in battle, that, O Madhava, will never grieve us. ”

“ Let the virtuous listen with a mind from which all envy has been far banished; who finds not delight in a garland strung of various flowers?
FOOTNOTES:
[5] Dr. A. C. Burnell, in his preface to his edition of the Vaṃśa-Bráhmaṇa, has solved the riddle of the relation of Mádhava and Sáyaṇa. Sáyaṇa is a pure Draviḍian name given to a child who is born after all the elder children have died. Mádhava elsewhere calls Sáyaṇa his "younger brother," as an allegorical description of his body, himself being the eternal soul. ”

“ She was a very intelligent lady and was respected by all. The two friends concert a plan with the priestess to throw the young people in each other's way and to connive at a secret marriage. In pursuance of this scheme, [Pg 36] Madhava is sent to finish his studies at the city of Padmavati with the ostensible object of studying Logic under the care of the priestess, who takes great care of her pupil and endeavours her utmost to fulfil the promise of her two friends. By her contrivance and with the aid of Malati's foster-sister Lavangika, the young people meet and become mutually enamoured. ”

“ The intelligence reaches the lovers. They are thrown into despair.
Requested by Lavangika, Kamandaki thus describes Madhava in the presence of Malati:—
"The sovereign of Vidarbha boasts for minister the wise and long-experienced Devarata, who bears the burden of state and spreads throughout the world his piety and fame. Your father knows him well. For, in their youth, they were joined in study and trained to learning by the same preceptor.
In this world we rarely behold such characters as theirs. Their lofty rank is the abode of wisdom and of piety, of valour and of virtue. ”

“ Except thee, O foremost of men, what other person is there that is able to even behold that lady of eyes red like copper in wrath and exceedingly afflicted with the ills that have befallen her children? That thou shouldst go there, O Madhava, is what I think to be proper, for pacifying Gandhari, O chastiser of foes, who is blazing with wrath! Thou art the Creator and the Destroyer. Thou art the first cause of all the worlds thyself being eternal! ”

“ Madhava thus describes to his friend Makaranda his first interview with Malati, and acknowledges himself deeply smitten:—
"One day, advised by Avalokita, I went to the temple of the god of love. I saw there a beauteous maid. I have become a victim to her glances. Her gait was stately. Her train bespoke a princely rank. Her garb was graced with youth's appropriate ornaments. Her form was beauty's shrine, or of that shrine she moved as the guardian deity. Whatever Nature offers fairest and best had surely been assembled to mould her charms. Love omnipotent was her creator. ”

“ The picture is restored to Mandarika and brought back to Malati. [Pg 41]
The mutual passion of the lovers, encouraged by their respective confidants, is naturally increased.
Madhava thus addresses Makaranda,
"It is strange, most strange! wherever I turn, the same loved charms appear on every side. Her beauteous face gleams as brightly as the golden bud of the young lotus. Alas! my friend, this fascination spreads over all my senses. A feverish flame consumes my strength. My heart is all on fire. My mind is tossed with doubt. Every faculty is absorbed in one fond thought. ”

“ THE SARVA-DARŚANA-SAṄGRAHA. THE PROLOGUE.
1. I worship Śiva, the abode of eternal knowledge, the storehouse of supreme felicity; by whom the earth and the rest were produced, in him only has this all a maker.
2. Daily I follow my Guru Sarvajña-Vishṇu, who knows all the Ágamas, the son of Śárṅgapáṇi, who has gone to the further shore of the seas of all the systems, and has contented the hearts of all mankind by the proper meaning of the term Soul.
3. The synopsis of all the systems is made by the venerable Mádhava mighty in power, the Kaustubha-jewel of the milk-ocean of the fortunate Sáyaṇa. ”

“ Story of Śiva and Mádhava.
There is an excellent city rightly named Ratnapura,7 and in it there were two rogues named Śiva and Mádhava. Surrounding themselves with many other rogues, they contrived for a long time to rob, by making use of trickery, all the rich men in the town. And one day those two deliberated together and said—“We have managed by this time to plunder this town thoroughly; so let us now go and live in the city of Ujjayiní; there we hear that there is a very rich man named Śankarasvámin, who is chaplain to the king. ”

“ Madhava is unrivalled in Diagnosis, Vagbhata in Principles and Practice of Medicine, Sushruta in Surgery, and Charaka in Therapeutics. In his old age Madhava became an ascetic, and assumed the name of Vidyaranya ('forest of learning') .
The next celebrated writer on Hindoo medicine is Bhava Mishra, author of the "Bhava Prakasha." This physician lived in 1550 A.C, and was considered to be the best scholar of his time in Madra Desha (in North-West of India) , "a jewel of physicians and master of the Shastras." In his work he summarises the practice of all the best previous writers on Medicine. ”

“ Madhava after having passed a short time in pleasant conversation, and made a favourable impression on the priest, returned to his own dwelling.
The following day he again sent two robes of honour, and then presented himself to the priest, saying: "We are anxious as early as possible to enter the service of the king, for time hangs heavily on our hands; let our sole recompense be the honour of attending him, for we have sufficient treasures for all our wants." ”

“ The Madhava sect believe that there is a personal All Soul distinct from the human soul. Their proofs are detailed in one of the Maha Upanishads.26 These two groups of sects, however, agree perfectly with the ancient orthodox Brahmans in accepting the fundamental dogma of a judicial metempsychosis, wherein each one is fastened by his acts and compelled to experience the uttermost consequences of his merit or demerit. They all coincide in one common aspiration as regards the highest end, namely, emancipation from the necessity of repeated births. ”

“ Śiva having thus finished his speech, Mádhava said, " Do not his, you are honourable, but what fault have I committed in the matter? I never received anything either from you or from Śiva; I had some wealth inherited from my father, which I had long deposited elsewhere; then I brought that wealth and presented it to a Bráhman. If the gold is not real gold, and the jewels are not real jewels, then let us suppose that I have reaped fruit from giving away brass, quartz, and glass. ”

“ Upon hearing this the king learned the chanting of the Ṥrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, Ninth Chapter, from the brahmana. Gradually he managed to attain the lotus feet of Lord Govinda. When Madhava heard this discourse from the goat, he immediately freed the goat and started to engage in reciting the Ninth Chapter of Ṥrīmad Bhagavad-gītā daily, and thus he also gained the lotus feet of Lord Govinda. ”

“ Both shooting keen arrows and both aiming countless shafts, each of those mighty car-warriors made the other invisible in that battle. And Satyaki, pierced by the Kuru king, looked exceedingly resplendent as blood copiously ran down his body, like a sandal tree shedding its juicy secretions. Thy son also pierced by Satwata with clouds of shafts, looked beautiful like a stake set up (at a sacrifice) decked all over with gold. Then Madhava, O king, in that battle, cut off with razor-faced arrow, smiling the while, the bow of the Kuru king. ”

“ There is dwelling here a very rich Rájpút from the Deccan, named Mádhava, and he, being ill, is desirous of giving away his whole property: if you consent, he will give you that treasure which glitters with many ornaments made out of priceless gems." When Śiva heard that, he slowly broke silence, and said,— " O Bráhman, since I live on alms, and observe perpetual chastity, of what use are riches to me? ”

“ Although participation in the divine nature of Śiva belongs to liberated souls and to such beings as Vidyeśvara, &c., yet these are not independent, since they depend on the Supreme Being; and the nature of an effect is recognised to belong to the worlds, &c., which resemble him, from the very fact of the orderly arrangement of their parts. And from their thus being effects we infer that they must have been caused by an intelligent being. ”

“ Not the mere knowledge, for then it would follow that the study of any system would be superfluous, inasmuch as without any institutional system one might, like the uninstructed, attain emancipation by the bare cognition that Mahádeva is the lord of the gods. Nor is presentation or intuition of the deity the cause of emancipation, for no intuition of the deity is competent to sentient creatures burdened with an accumulation of various impurities, and able to see only with the eyes of the flesh. ”

“ The pupil asks "why is a stolen marriage intended?"
The priestess answers, "Nandana, a favourite of the king of Padmavati, sues him for Malati. The king demands the maiden of her father. To evade the anger of the king, this ingenious device has been adopted. Let the world deem their union was the work of mutual passion only. So the king and Nandan will [Pg 37] be foiled. A wise man veils his projects from the world." The pupil says, "I take Madhava to walk in the street in front of the house of the minister Bhurivasu." ”

“ If you hesitate to concede that a niyama could have this future influence called apúrva, the same doubt might equally invalidate the efficacy of a vidhi [as the two stand on the same level as to their enjoining power] . Nor is the supposition a valid one that heaven is the fruit, according to the analogy of the Viśvajit offering, since, if there is a present and visible fruit in the form of a knowledge of the meaning of the sacred text, it is improper to suppose any other future and unseen fruit. Thus it has been said—
"Where a seen fruit is obtained, you must not suppose an unseen one ”

“ It is also well known that he has a remarkably beautiful daughter, whom, if we once are able to gain his confidence, one of us must receive as a wife from his own hands."
After this, these two rogues, Siva and Madhava, having first matured their plans and resolved upon the parts each individually was to play, took their departure from the city of Ratnapura and soon arrived at Ujjayini.
Madhava, disguised as a Rajput, remained with his followers in a small village outside the city; but Siva, more versed in all the arts of deceit, entered the town alone, garbed in the habit of a devout penitent. ”

“ All of them are of awakened souls, endued as they are with true knowledge. They are, again, entirely devoted to the foremost of Beings, viz., the Supreme Lord of the universe. They are always engaged in worshipping that great Deity, and the latter always sports with them. The holy and Supreme Soul is always fond of those that are devoted to him. He is fond also of the regenerate ones. Always fond of those that are devoted to Him, He sports with those worshippers of His. Enjoyer of the universe, pervading everything, the illustrious Madhava is ever affectionate towards his worshippers. ”

“ The path [101] of emancipation consists of knowledge, intuition, and conduct. There are two means of proof (pramáṇa) in the Syád-váda doctrine,—sense-perception and inference. All consists of the eternal and the non-eternal; there are nine or seven tattwas. The jíva, the ajíva, merit and demerit, ásrava, saṃvara, bandha, nirjará, mukti,—we will now explain each. Jíva is defined as intelligence; ajíva is all other than it; merit means bodies which arise from good actions, demerit the opposite; ásrava is the bondage of actions, [102] nirjará is the unloosing thereof ”