Bharat Mata

We look at the land of India as Mother India, which in local parlance is called Bharat Mata. We not only revere our motherland as our Mother, but look upon the whole World as our Mother.

In the Indian thought, we look upon our planet as Mother Earth, and refer to Her as Bhu Maa Devi, Bhu meaning “One who can bear”, for she bears us.

While all the planets like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and also the Sun and the Moon are expressed as masculine, it is only earth that is expressed as feminine, in the Indian thought. This is because only Earth supports life.

From time immemorial, this concept of the land, earth and country being feminine has been a part of the ethos of this land, and is ingrained in the Vedic and Puranic thought. Bhu Sutra is one of the Veda Samhita on Mother Earth.

Bharat Mata

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Yeti – Elusive and Benign

Indian Army has sighted something peculiar in the Himalayas.  On April 30^th, 2019, they came upon 32 inch footprints at the Makalu basecamp in the snow borne Himalayan ranges.

They have put up the image of this huge footprint in the public domain, and have also sent the same to subject matter experts to study the phenomenon.

Makalu is the fifth highest peak in the world located in Nepal-China border, going upto 8485 metres. Makalu basecamp is the place from where trek to the Makalu Mountain is undertaken.

The mountaineering expedition team of the Indian Army, who were on an expedition to Makalu sighted these footprints at a height of 3500 metres.

Makalu Barun National park is the popular site where these footprints have been sighted from time to time, but footprints in such large numbers have been sighted only now by the Indian Army.

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Swami Vidyaranya Jayanthi

Many great souls have walked this land in the last millennia, and one such saint who impacted his times was Vidyaranya. He was a saint as well as a king maker.

Vidyaranya

Vidyaranya was born, around 1300 CE at Shalivahan in South India, into a Brahmin family.

Establishing the Vijayanagara Empire

He was the one who guided the brothers Harihara-1 and Bukka Raya 1 in establishing the Vijayanagara kingdom.

Before being identified by Vidyaranya, these two brothers had infact converted to Islam. This patron saint convinced and reconverted Harihara and Bukka Raya to Hinduism. He trained them and persuaded them to start the kingdom, as a response to the Deccan Sultanate.

This Vijayanagar kingdom went on to become a big and prosperous empire, covering whole of Peninsular India.

 

Harihara and Bukka Raya

Vidyaranya later served as a mentor and guide to three generations of kings, who ruled over the Vijayanagara Empire.

Vijayanagara Empire

He also served as the Prime Minister of the empire, over a period of time.

All this was on the political front.

Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sarada Pitham

On the spiritual front, Vidyaranya was the 12^th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sarada Pitham, which was established by Adi Shankaracharya.

Sringeri Sarada Pitham

This position also implies that Vidyaranya was a follower of the Advaita school of philosophy, propounded by Adi Shankara.

Adi Shankara

Well known works

He is well known for his works such as Parasara Madhaviya and Sarvadarsanasangraha, a compendium of the school of philosophies.

Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, the former president of India, was attracted by the works of Vidyaranya.

Speaking on Sarvadarsanasangraha, Radhakrishnan says, “Sarvadarsanasangraha sketches sixteen systems of thought so as to exhibit a gradually ascending series, culminating in the Advaita Vedanta – non dualism.” 

The sixteen systems of philosophy expounded by him are

1. Cārvāka
2. Buddhism
3. Arhata or Jainism
4. Ramanuja System
5. Purna-Prajña Darsana or Dvaita
6. Nakulisa-Paśupata
7. Shaivism
8. Pratyabhijña (Kashmir Shaivism) or Recognitive System
9. Raseśvara or Mercurial System
10. Vaisheshika or Aulukya
11. Akshapada or Nyaya
12. Jaimini
13. Pāṇiniya
14. Samkhya
15. Patanjala or Yoga
16. Vedanta or Adi Shankara

Panchadasi, is another work by Vidyaranya, on the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.

Of all his famous works, the biography on Adi Shankara, titled Madhaviya Shankaravijayam is perhaps the most famous and circulated books. This books traces the life and mission of Adi Shankaracharya.

Vidyaranya’s brother, Sayanacharya wrote a commentary on the four Veda, which was centuries later used by Max Muller for his commentary on the Veda.

Statues and Sculptures of Vidyaranya

Today, sculptures of Vidyaranya can be traced in the ruins of the Vijayanagar Empire, especially at Hampi, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire.  His statue is established at the Virupaksha temple, in Hampi.  Another temple, the Lakshmi temple of Anagundi, also in Hampi, has a rock stone carving of this saint.

Rock stone carving at Anagundi temple, Hampi

 He is a saint who helped in preserving Sanatana Dharma.