and known from fifteenth-century inscriptions. Heads of S ́rı ̄vais.n.ava monaster-
ies generally were (and still are) Brahmins and bore the title ofcı ̄yar(Jeer, Jiyar),
though there are historical instances of non-Brahmin Eka ̄n.gı ̄ cı ̄yars. These
monasteries were instrumental in the conversion to S ́rı ̄vais.n.avism of lower
castes and even of non-Hindu tribes, according to some sources. Several monas-
teries like the Ahobilam Mat.ha and the Paraka ̄la Mat.ha (which initiated the
seventeenth-century rulers of Mysore into S ́rı ̄vais.n.avism) belong to the
Va t.akalai division or were later affiliated to it. Among the well-known Ten
̄
kalai
monasteries, mention should be made of the Va ̄namamalai Mat.ha (which had
a special importance for the Ra ̄ma ̄nandasamprada ̄ya, a Vais.n.ava tradition of
north India), the Tirukkurungudi Mat.ha and the S ́rı ̄ran.gana ̄ra ̄yan.a-cı ̄yar Mat.ha
which were probably founded about the fourteenth century (Appadurai 1977;
Jagadeesan 1977: 147–68; Lester 1992; Clémentin-Ojha 1999: 74).
The school of Dvaita
Madhva (probably 1238–1317), also named A ̄nandatı ̄rtha, A ̄nandajña ̄na,
A ̄nandagiri, and Pu ̄rn.aprajña, is the founder of the Dvaita, that is, dualistic
school of Veda ̄nta later known as “Brahmasamprada ̄ya” in the north Indian
Va i s.n.ava milieux. Information about his life comes mainly from the Madhvavi-
jaya, a hagiography by Na ̄ra ̄yan.apan.d.ita ̄ca ̄rya, the son of one of his direct disci-
ples. Born of Tul.u brahmin parents in the village of Pa ̄jakaks.etra near Udipi in
Karnataka, Madhva became a renouncer at the age of 16 as an unmarried
perpetual religious student (nais.t.hikabrahmaca ̄rin). He acknowledged no other
teacher than the mythical Vya ̄sa, but according to hagiography an Advaitin
ascetic, Acyutapreks.a (Purus.ottamatı ̄rtha), was his master and initiated him.
Though Madhva refused his doctrine, he succeeded him as the head of his
monastery. The debates he had with scholars in the course of his tours all over
India strengthened his conviction against Advaitic doctrine and he converted his
master to his own views. He installed an image of Kr.s.n.a in Udipi and promoted
several ritual reforms like the substitution of a flour-made sacrifice animal
(pis.t.apas ́u) in the place of a living one. The prestige of his school increased
notably after the conversion of Trivikrama, a then-famous Advaitin and proba-
bly the court-pandit of King Jayasim.ha, to Dvaita.
Thirty-seven works are attributed to Madhva. Several of them consist of
commentaries on basic texts of the Veda ̄nta (Upanis.ads, Brahmasu ̄tras, and
Bhagavadgı ̄ta ̄), on the Maha ̄bha ̄rata and the Bha ̄gavatapura ̄n.a, a text to which,
unlike Ra ̄ma ̄nuja, Madhva gave much importance. His ta ̄tparyas on Bha-
gavadgı ̄ta ̄, Maha ̄bha ̄rata, and Bha ̄gavatapura ̄n.a, give the essential teachings of
these texts important to Dvaita school. Madhva summarizes his main doctrinal
principles in 10 very brief treatises called the Das ́aprakaran.as. Several devo-
tional hymns are attributed to him. He also wrote several ritual treatises like the
Yatipran.avakalpa, which explains how to enter the renunciative way of life.
history of vais.n.ava traditions 251