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THE FOLLOWING IS FROM ENGLISH EXORDIA TO THE GRANTHA:
The Oriental Research Institute, Mysore is happy to present the “Raghunathavijaya” of Sri Raghuvarya Teertha to the lovers of Sanskrit and admirers of devotional poetry.
It is hoped that this work will be received warmly by the scholarly world.
The Work: The Raghunathavijaya is a charming work possessing special merits.
Firstly, it is a poem suffused by Bhakti and devoted to delineate the immortal story of Sri Rama.
Secondly, it intends to teach
prosody in a unique way. Each verse is composed in a different metre and is actually an illustration of one of the various metres expounded in the Vrittaratnakara of Kedara Bhatta.
prosody in a unique way. Each verse is composed in a different metre and is actually an illustration of one of the various metres expounded in the Vrittaratnakara of Kedara Bhatta.
The order of the metres in the Vrittaratnakara is also faithfully followed. All the Matravrittas and the Aksharavrittas as well as Dandakas are thus illustrated.
Thirdly, it is a work by a famous pontiff of Udupi Phalimaru Matha, a haven of great scholars in the Dvaita Philosophy. Hence it contains valuable philosophical matter fused in poetic descriptions.
The Author: As already stated, the author of the present work was a pontiff of the well-known Phalimaru Matha of Udupi.
Sri Madhvacharya, who founded the Dvaita school of Philosophy, established eight Mathas at Udupi for propagation of his teachings. The Mathas are situated around the Krishna temple at the town of Udupi. Each of the Mathas has a guruparampara starting with a direct disciple of Madhvacharya, One such Matha is called Phalimaru Matha.
The Chief Deity adored in that Matha is Lord Rama. Hence, it is quite befitting that the author, being an adorer of Rama, wrote the present poem.
The author’s name was Raghuvaryateertha. His precesptor was Ramabhadra Teertha, who took the Samnyasa from Raghuttama Teertha. Both these gurus were alive during the author’s time (A.D. 1630-1712) and both taught him many Sastras.
Following the tradition of Dvaitacharyas, Sri Raghuvarya Teertha taught the famous Nyaya-sudha of Jayateertha seven times to his disciples.
He also travelled extensively all over India. Besides the present work, he has many other works to his credit. Laghupariksha (or Raghupariksha) on nyaya, a commentary on Narayana Panditacharya’s Prameyaratnamalika and a Krishna stuti in Kannada are some of his known works.
Other details regarding the author and the work are dealt with in detail by the editor in his Sanskrit Introduction.
