Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva: lives, works and mathas

Core facts

Sankara (Adi Shankaracharya, Shankara Bhagavatpada)

School: Advaita (non-dualism): Atman and Brahman are one; the world is maya.
Born at Kalady (Kaladi), Kerala, on the Purna (Periyar) river; parents Shivaguru and Aryamba. Usual dates 788–820 CE (the Kanchi matha's tradition says 509 BCE); lived only 32 years.
Guru: Govinda Bhagavatpada, at Omkara kshetra on the Narmada. Govinda's guru was Gaudapada (author of the Mandukya Karika), so Gaudapada is Sankara's parama-guru.
Four chief disciples: Padmapada, Sureshwara, Hastamalaka, Totaka.
Main works: bhashyas on the Prasthanatraya: Brahma Sutra Bhashya (also called Shariraka Bhashya; its opening is the Adhyasa Bhashya), Upanishad bhashyas, Gita Bhashya.
Bhashyas on the ten principal Upanishads (Dashopanishads): Isha, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Taittiriya, Aitareya, Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka.
Prakarana granthas (short primers on Vedanta, by tradition): Vivekachudamani, Upadesha Sahasri, Atma Bodha, Tattva Bodha, Aparokshanubhuti, Shatashloki, Dashashloki, Manisha Panchakam, Prashnottaramalika (Prashnottara Ratna Malika).
Stotras: Bhaja Govindam (also Moha Mudgaram), Soundarya Lahari, Shivananda Lahari, Kanakadhara Stotram, Dakshinamurthy Stotram, Kalabhairavashtakam; also a Vishnu Sahasranama Bhashya.
Founded the four amnaya peethas (Chaturamnaya Peethas), one in each direction (table below).
Organised sanyasis into the Dashanami order (ten names); called Shanmata Sthapanacharya: he reconciled the six sects (Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakteya, Ganapatya, Saura, Kaumara = Skanda) through Panchayatana puja: Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganapati, Surya on one pedestal (not Brahma).
Reformer: condemned human sacrifice and Vamachara of the Kapalikas; taught Mayavada (the world appears but is not ultimately real).
Bhamati (on Sankara's Brahma Sutra Bhashya) was written by Vachaspati Mishra, not by a disciple.
Shankara Jayanti: Vaishakha Shukla Panchami.

The four amnaya peethas of Sankara

Direction	Peetham (place)	Veda / Mahavakya	First head
South	Sringeri Sharada Peetham (Karnataka, on the Tunga)	Yajur / Aham Brahmasmi	Sureshwara
West	Dwaraka Sharada Peetham (Gujarat)	Sama / Tat Tvam Asi	Hastamalaka
East	Govardhana Peetham, Puri (Odisha)	Rig / Prajnanam Brahma	Padmapada
North	Jyotirmath (Joshimath, near Badrinath, Uttarakhand)	Atharva / Ayam Atma Brahma	Totaka

Ramanuja (Ramanujacharya)

School: Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism); founder-preacher of the Sri Vaishnava Sampradayam.
Born 1017 at Sriperumbudur (Tamil Nadu); parents Asuri Keshava Somayaji and Kantimati; traditional life of 120 years (1017–1137).
First teacher Yadavaprakasha (an Advaitin) at Kanchi, who turned against him (tradition says he even plotted to kill him) and later became his disciple. Gurus named in the course book: Periya Nambi, Tirukkachi Nambi, Goshtipurna (Tirukkottiyur Nambi). Spiritual heir of Yamunacharya (Alavandar) of Srirangam, whom he never met alive.
Took sanyasa at Kanchipuram; titles Yatiraja, Udayavar, Emperumanar, Bhashyakara, Ilaya Perumal. Seen as an amsha of Adisesha (Lakshmana).
Commentary on the Brahma Sutras: Sri Bhashya.
His nine Sanskrit works (the Navaratnas) include the Sri Bhashya, Vedartha Sangraha, Vedanta Sara, Vedanta Dipa, Gita Bhashya, Gadya Trayam (Sharanagati, Sriranga and Vaikuntha Gadya) and Nitya Grantha.
Social reform: proclaimed the Ashtakshari (Om Namo Narayanaya) to all from a temple gopuram; first to give temple entry to the Panchamas (called them Tirukulattar, "Lakshmi's clan") at Melkote.
Made the Pancharatra Agama popular in temple worship; head of the Srirangam temple.
Path to liberation: bhakti and prapatti (sharanagati, total surrender to Vishnu).
God appears in five forms: Para, Vyuha, Vibhava, Antaryami, Archa.
Three realities (tattva-traya): chit (souls: countless, eternal, dependent on God), achit (matter, ever changing), Ishvara (Narayana: Saguna, full of auspicious qualities, the indweller of all), against Sankara's Nirguna Brahman (Kevaladvaita).
Fled Chola persecution to Melkote (Tirunarayanapuram, Karnataka); the Hoysala king Bittideva became Vishnuvardhana under his influence.

Madhva (Madhvacharya)

School: Dvaita (dualism): God, souls and matter are eternally different.
Born 1238 (some sources give 1199) at Pajaka, near Udupi (Karnataka); childhood name Vasudeva; parents Madhyageha Bhatta and Vedavati. Traditional dates 1238–1317.
Guru Achyuta Preksha of Udupi (an Advaitin who came round to Madhva's view); sanyasa name Purnaprajna; also Anandatirtha. Held to be the third avatara of Vayu (after Hanuman and Bhima).
Works (the 37 Sarvamula granthas): Brahma Sutra Bhashya, Anubhashya, Anuvyakhyana, Gita Bhashya, Gita Tatparya Nirnaya, Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya, Bhagavata Tatparya Nirnaya, Vishnu Tattva Nirnaya, Dvadasha Stotra, ten Upanishad bhashyas.
Installed the Krishna image at Udupi; set up the eight (Ashta) mathas of Udupi.
Three classes of jiva: Mukti-yogya, Nitya-samsarin, Tamo-yogya.
Five eternal differences: Pancha-bheda. Only Vishnu is Swatantra (independent); souls and matter are Paratantra. Motto: Hari sarvottama, Vayu jivottama.
Four kinds of mukti: Salokya (in God's world), Samipya (near God), Sarupya (a form like God's), Sayujya (in God, yet distinct).
His influence gave rise to the Dasakuta ("band of God's servants", the Haridasas) movement of Karnataka: Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa; they sang of Vitthala of Pandharpur.
Madhva Jayanti: Vijaya Dashami; Madhva Navami (his disappearance): Magha Shukla Navami.

Raghavendra Swami (Raghavendra Tirtha), a Dvaita saint

Born 1595 (traditional date) at Bhuvanagiri (Tamil Nadu) as Venkatanatha; guru Sudhindra Tirtha of the Kumbakonam matha.
Entered Brindavana alive (jiva samadhi) in 1671 at Mantralayam on the Tungabhadra (Kurnool district, AP).
Held to be an incarnation of Prahlada; known as Parimalacharya for his Parimala, a gloss on Jayatirtha's Nyaya Sudha.
Aradhana: Shravana Bahula Dvitiya (August), the main festival at Mantralayam.

Explained

The three schools side by side

Point	Advaita (Sankara)	Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja)	Dvaita (Madhva)
Brahman	One, without qualities (nirguna)	One, full of auspicious qualities, with souls and matter as its body	Vishnu (Hari), supreme and independent
Soul and God	Identical	Distinct but inseparable (body and indweller)	Eternally different, soul fully dependent
World	Appearance (maya, vivarta)	Real, a mode of Brahman	Real and distinct
Way to moksha	Jnana (knowledge)	Bhakti and prapatti	Bhakti with knowledge, by Vishnu's grace

Sankara.

Key line of Advaita: Brahma satyam jagan mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah (Brahman is real, the world is unreal, the self is Brahman alone).
Adhyasa (superimposition): we mistake the self for the body as one mistakes a rope for a snake. Avidya (ignorance) causes it; knowledge removes it.
Three levels of reality (satyas):
- Pratibhasika (apparent): a dream, or a rope taken for a snake in the dark; known false on waking or when light comes.
- Vyavaharika (empirical): everyday life, where "I, you and the world" seem real until Brahma-jnana dawns.
- Paramarthika (absolute): Brahman, unchanged in all three times; the only reality left after knowledge.
Life (Shankara Digvijaya tradition): took sanyasa as a boy after the "crocodile" episode at the Purna river, with his mother's consent; met Govinda Bhagavatpada at Omkareshwar on the Narmada; after a stay at Kashi wrote the bhashyas at Badari (Badrinath); defeated Mandana Mishra (a Mimamsaka) in debate at Mahishmati, judged by Mandana's wife Ubhaya Bharati; Mandana became the disciple Sureshwara (tradition identifies the two).
Travelled all of India (digvijaya), debating Mimamsakas, Buddhists and others. Tradition says he passed away at Kedarnath (Kanchi tradition says Kanchipuram).
Disciples' works: Padmapada Panchapadika; Sureshwara Naishkarmya Siddhi and varttikas on the Brihadaranyaka and Taittiriya bhashyas; Totaka Totakashtakam.

Ramanuja.

Five teachers (disciples of Yamunacharya): Periya Nambi (Mahapurna, gave him pancha-samskara at Madhurantakam), Tirukkottiyur Nambi (Goshthipurna, taught him the secret Ashtakshara mantra), Tirumalai Nambi (Shailapurna, his maternal uncle, taught him the Ramayana at Tirumala), Tirumalai Andan (Maladhara, taught him Nammalwar's Tiruvaymozhi) and Tiruvarangapperumal Arayar. Tirukkachi Nambi (Kanchipurna) carried messages from Lord Varadaraja of Kanchi.
The secret mantra: Tirukkottiyur Nambi told him to keep the Ashtakshara (Om Namo Narayanaya) secret; Ramanuja proclaimed it to all from the temple tower, saying he would gladly suffer if all others were saved.
Yamunacharya's three folded fingers: when Ramanuja reached the body of Yamuna at Srirangam, three fingers were folded, read as three unfulfilled wishes: write a commentary on the Brahma Sutras (done: Sri Bhashya), honour Parashara (author of the Vishnu Purana) and honour Nammalwar (Shatakopa).
Five forms of God (taken from Pancharatra): Para (in Vaikuntha), Vyuha (Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha), Vibhava (avataras), Antaryami (dweller in the heart), Archa (the consecrated temple image).
Body–soul relation (sharira–shariri bhava): souls and matter are the body of God; they cannot exist apart (aprthak-siddhi).
Appointed 74 Simhasanadhipatis (heads of Sri Vaishnava families) to spread the teaching; organised Srirangam temple worship.
Ramanuja Jayanti: Ardra (Tiruvadirai) star in the Tamil month Chittirai (April–May).
Two branches after Ramanuja:

Branch	Leader	Stresses	Grace (analogy)
Vadakalai (northern)	Vedanta Desika	Sanskrit Vedas and karma	Markata Kishora Nyaya: the baby monkey clings, so the soul must also strive
Tenkalai (southern)	Pillai Lokacharya, later Manavala Mamuni	Tamil Divya Prabandham, prapatti	Marjara Kishora Nyaya: the cat carries its kitten, God does all

Madhva.

Pancha-bheda: God–soul, God–matter, soul–soul, soul–matter, matter–matter differences are real and eternal.
Svatantra and paratantra: only Vishnu is independent; souls and matter are dependent.
Taratamya: souls are graded, even in liberation. The three classes: mukti-yogya (fit for liberation: gods, sages, good people), nitya-samsarin (forever in rebirth), tamo-yogya (bound for darkness).
Udupi Krishna image: tradition says it came in a block of gopichandana clay from a ship near Malpe. The eight mathas (Pejawar, Puttige, Palimaru, Adamaru, Sodhe, Kaniyur, Shirur, Krishnapura) take turns at worship: the Paryaya, now every two years (fixed by Vadiraja Tirtha).
Later Dvaita teachers: Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha, Jayatirtha (Tikacharya; Nyaya Sudha), Vyasatirtha (raja-guru of Krishnadevaraya; Nyayamrita, Tarka Tandava), Vadiraja Tirtha, then Raghavendra Tirtha. The Kannada Haridasa singers (Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa) grew from this school.

Raghavendra Swami.

Grew up in a family of scholars; studied at Kumbakonam under Sudhindra Tirtha, who gave him sanyasa at Thanjavur (1621) with the name Raghavendra Tirtha.
Wrote Parimala, Tantra Dipika, Nyaya Muktavali and glosses on Madhva and Jayatirtha.
Tradition: in earlier births he was Prahlada, Bahlika (Mahabharata) and Vyasatirtha. The village of Manchale (Mantralayam) was granted by Siddi Masud Khan, the Adoni governor under the Adil Shahis.

AP angle

Mantralayam (Kurnool district) on the Tungabhadra holds Raghavendra Swami's Brindavana; it is among the most visited Dvaita centres in India. Tradition says he did penance at Panchamukhi nearby, where Anjaneya appeared with five faces.
Tirumala and Ramanuja. Tradition credits him with confirming the deity as Vishnu (Venkateswara), systematising the Tirumala kainkaryas under the Vaikhanasa Agama, installing the Govindaraja idol at Tirupati (1130 CE; the town grew around this temple) and setting up the Pedda Jeeyar and Chinna Jeeyar mathas that oversee temple rituals. Worship at Tirumala still follows Vaikhanasa, not Pancharatra.
Vaishnavism in Andhra grew strong with Ramanuja's visit in the 11th century: he is linked with Tirupati, Simhachalam, Srikakulam (Andhra Mahavishnu) and Srikurmam.
Ahobilam (Nandyal district) is the seat of the Ahobila Matha (Vadakalai Sri Vaishnava), founded in the 14th century by Adivan Satakopa Jeeyar.
Chattada Srivaishnavas (Satanis), a non-Brahmin temple-service community of Andhra, follow Ramanuja's philosophy.
Srikurmam (Srikakulam district): inscriptions of Madhva's disciple Narahari Tirtha, who served in the Eastern Ganga (Kalinga) kingdom.
Srisailam: tradition says Sankara visited and composed the Shivananda Lahari and a hymn to Bhramaramba there.
Statue of Equality (216 ft) of Ramanuja at Muchintal near Hyderabad was unveiled in 2022 during the celebrations of his millennium (1,000 years from his birth in 1017; Telangana).

Common traps

✗ "Sankara's guru was Gaudapada." ✓ Govinda Bhagavatpada; Gaudapada was Govinda's guru.
✗ "Bhamati was written by Sureshwara (or Padmapada)." ✓ Vachaspati Mishra.
✗ "Shariraka Bhashya is Ramanuja's." ✓ It is Sankara's Brahma Sutra Bhashya. Ramanuja's is the Sri Bhashya; Nimbarka's is the Vedanta Parijata Saurabha.
✗ "Vidyaranya founded the Chaturamnaya Peethas." ✓ Sankara founded them; Vidyaranya was a later Sringeri head.
✗ "Puri's mahavakya is Tat Tvam Asi." ✓ Puri Prajnanam Brahma; Dwaraka Tat Tvam Asi; Sringeri Aham Brahmasmi; Jyotirmath Ayam Atma Brahma.
✗ "Ramanuja made the Vaikhanasa Agama popular." ✓ Pancharatra; Tirumala keeps Vaikhanasa.
✗ "Ramanuja's God has eight (or twelve) forms." ✓ Five: Para, Vyuha, Vibhava, Antaryami, Archa.
✗ "Madhva's Dvaita is Dvaitadvaita." ✓ Dvaitadvaita is Nimbarka's school; Madhva is Dvaita.
✗ "Madhva classes jivas into five types." ✓ Three: mukti-yogya, nitya-samsarin, tamo-yogya. Five is the number of differences (pancha-bheda).
✗ "Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya is by Sankara." ✓ Madhva. Anubhashya in the EO key is also Madhva.
✗ "Raghavendra's Brindavana is at Udupi." ✓ Mantralayam, on the Tungabhadra.
✗ "Padmapada was the first head at Dwaraka and Hastamalaka at Puri" (the course book's table). ✓ Puri (Govardhana): Padmapada; Dwaraka: Hastamalaka.
✗ "Brahma is one of the five Panchayatana deities." ✓ Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganapati, Surya; no Brahma.
✗ "Sankara's ten Upanishad bhashyas include the Shvetashvatara." ✓ The Dashopanishads are Isha to Brihadaranyaka; Shvetashvatara is not among them.
✗ "Kalabhairavashtakam is a prakarana grantha." ✓ It is a stotra; Vivekachudamani, Atma Bodha, Tattva Bodha are prakaranas.
✗ "Tenkalai uses the monkey analogy." ✓ Tenkalai: cat (Marjara); Vadakalai: monkey (Markata).
✗ "Ramanuja wrote the Vedanta Sangraha" (the course book's spelling). ✓ Vedartha Sangraha.

Quick revision

Sankara: Kalady on the Purna, Shivaguru and Aryamba; guru Govinda Bhagavatpada (parama-guru Gaudapada); died at 32; Panchayatana (no Brahma).
Disciples: Padmapada (Puri), Sureshwara (Sringeri), Hastamalaka (Dwaraka), Totaka (Jyotirmath).
Sankara works: Shariraka Bhashya, Dashopanishad bhashyas; prakaranas (Vivekachudamani, Prashnottaramalika); stotras (Bhaja Govindam); Bhamati by Vachaspati Mishra.
Ramanuja: Sriperumbudur 1017, Adisesha's amsha; Vishishtadvaita; 9 works (Navaratnas): Sri Bhashya, Vedartha Sangraha, Gadya Trayam.
Ramanuja: Pancharatra, prapatti, Ashtakshari from the gopuram, Panchamas (Tirukulattar) into Melkote; Vadakalai monkey, Tenkalai cat.
Madhva: Pajaka near Udupi 1238; Purnaprajna, Anandatirtha; Vayu's avatara; Dvaita.
Madhva works: Anubhashya, Anuvyakhyana, Gita Tatparya Nirnaya, Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya.
Madhva: pancha-bheda, three classes of jiva, four muktis (Salokya, Samipya, Sarupya, Sayujya), 37 Sarvamula works; Dasakuta (Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa).
Raghavendra: Venkatanatha, guru Sudhindra Tirtha, Parimalacharya, Brindavana at Mantralayam 1671.
Distractors: Nimbarka Dvaitadvaita, Vallabha Shuddhadvaita, Chaitanya Achintya Bhedabheda.

Go deeper: Deeper, Mains writing (beyond what APPSC Paper I usually asks)

Deeper Advanced

Two Advaita sub-schools. Bhamati school (from Vachaspati Mishra's Bhamati, named after his wife; 9th–10th century, Mithila) and Vivarana school (from Padmapada's Panchapadika and Prakashatman's Vivarana). Later Advaita: Vidyaranya (Sringeri head, 14th century, author of Panchadashi, guide to Harihara and Bukka of Vijayanagara), Madhusudana Saraswati (Advaita Siddhi, answering the Dvaita Nyayamrita).
Dashanami names by peetham (standard list): Sringeri Saraswati, Bharati, Puri; Dwaraka Tirtha, Ashrama; Puri Vana, Aranya; Jyotirmath Giri, Parvata, Sagara.
Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham claims Sankara as founder; it is not one of the four amnaya peethas.
Shanmata: worship of Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Surya, Ganapati and Skanda, the base of the Smarta tradition and the Panchayatana puja (five deities together).
Prashnottaramalika. APPSC credits it to Sankara. A Sanskrit work of nearly the same name, Prashnottara Ratnamalika, is credited in Jain tradition to the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha I; do not mix them.
Yamunacharya's own works: Siddhi Traya, Agama Pramanya (a defence of the Pancharatra Agama as Vedic), Gita Artha Sangraha, Stotra Ratna. Nathamuni (his grandfather) compiled the Alwars' hymns.
Ramanuja's influence in the north: Ramananda came from his line but made Rama the focus of devotion and took disciples from every class (Kabir, Ravidas).
Ramanuja and the two Agamas. He spread Pancharatra worship but did not change Tirumala, which keeps the Vaikhanasa Agama.
Other Vedanta schools (distractors): Nimbarka Dvaitadvaita (Vedanta Parijata Saurabha; Radha-Krishna; Vrindavan), Vallabha Shuddhadvaita (Pushtimarga; his Brahma Sutra commentary is also called Anubhashya), Chaitanya Achintya Bhedabheda (Gaudiya), Bhaskara Bhedabheda.
Madhva's Brahma Sutra works. Four: the Bhashya, the Anuvyakhyana (a fuller verse defence), the Anubhashya (a very short summary in verse) and the Nyaya Vivarana.

Mains writing Mains writing

Frame: the three acharyas answer one question, how the self relates to Brahman, from the same sources (Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Gita), and each answer shaped a living institution.
Points:
- Sankara's Advaita gave Hinduism a unified philosophy and an all-India monastic network (four peethas, Dashanami order).
- Ramanuja joined Vedanta with Tamil devotion (Alwars) and temple worship (Pancharatra), opening bhakti to wider society.
- Madhva's realism and devotion grew into the Udupi mathas and the Haridasa music tradition of Karnataka.
- All three operate today as mathas that manage temples, a direct link to the Endowments administration.
Example: Mantralayam and Udupi as mathas under the Endowments framework (section 6(d) institutions in AP law).

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8.1.2 Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva: lives, works and mathas

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