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For Madhvacharya the proponent of Dvaita philosophy, see Madhvacharya.

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Vidyāraṇya (also known as Mādhavācārya or Mādhava Vidyāranya) is variously known as being a king maker, patron saint and high priest to Harihara Raya I and Bukka Raya I, the founders of the Vijayanagar empire. He was born to Māyaṇācārya and Śrīmatīdevī in Pampakṣetra (modern day Hampi) in 1268 CE. Another account has it that he was born in Ekasila nagari (modern Warangal). He helped the brothers establish the empire sometime in 1336 AD. He later served as a mentor and guide to three generations of kings who ruled over the Vijayanagar empire. Vijayanagara or Hampi, the capital of the empire, has a temple dedicated to this saint. People offer their prayers to this day. He is the author of Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha (सर्वदर्शनसङ्रह, aka Sarvadarsanasangraha, Sarvadarshanasamgraha), a compendium of different philosophical schools of Hindu thought and Pañcadaśī, an important text in the Advaita Vedanta tradition

Mādhavācārya (aka Madhavacharya or Madhava Vidyaranya, not to be confused with Madhvacharya) fl. C. 1380 CE was an exponent of the Advaita school of philosophy in Hinduism. He is said to be the brother of Sāyaṇācārya who wrote a commentary on the four Vedas. Mādhavācārya was elected, in 1331 CE, the head of the Smarta order in the Math of Sringeri in Mysore territory, founded by Ādi Śaṅ̇kara (aka Adi Shankara), the great Vedantist teacher of eighth century. He was a Hindu statesman and philosopher who lived at the court of Vijayanagara, the Southern Hindu kingdom. He is believed to have served as a minister under King Bukka of Vijayanagara empire. His younger brother Shyapa (d. 1387) was associated with him in the administration and was a famous commentator on the Rigveda. Shyapa's commentaries were influenced by and dedicated to Mādhava.

Mādhavācārya's most famous works are PārāśaraMādhavīya and the Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha (Compendium of Speculations - a compendium of all the known Indian schools of philosophy)(1380). Mādhavācārya wrote in Sanskrit. To quote Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, the Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha “sketches sixteen systems of thought so as to exhibit a gradually ascending series, culminating in the Advaita Vedanta (or non-dualism).” The Sixteen systems of philosophy expounded by him are:

1. The Cārvāka System
2. The Buddha System
3. The Arhata or Jaina System
4. The purna-prajna System
5. The Nakulisa-Pasupata System
6. The Saiva System
7. The Pratyabhijna System
8. The Rasesvara System
9. The Vaiseshika or Aulukya System
10. The Akshapada or Nyaya System
11. The Jaiminiya System
12. The Paniniya System
13. The Sankhya System
14. The Patanjala or Yoga System
15. The Vedanta or System of Adi Shankara

It is to be point out here that Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha itself doesn’t contain the 16th chapter (Advaita Vedanta or the System of Sankara), absence of which is explained by a paragraph at the end of the 15th chapter (The Patanjali-Darsana). It says: “The system of Sankara, which comes next in succession, and which is the crest-gem of all systems, has been explained by us elsewhere, it is therefore left untouched here”

Sarvadarśanasaṅ̇graha is one of the few available sources of information about Lokayata, the materialist system of philosophy in ancient India. To propound his own system of philosophy, he tries to refute, chapter by chapter, the other systems of thought prominent in his day. However, it also has to be added that in this work, with remarkable mental detachment, he places himself in the position of an adherent of sixteen distinct philosophical systems. In the very first chapter, The Cārvāka System, of the book he critiques the arguments of Lokayatikas. While doing so he quotes extensively from Cārvāka works. It is possible that some of these arguments put forward as Lokayata point of view may be a mere caricature of Lokayata philosophy. Yet in the absence of any original work of Lokayatikas (all of which seems to have been destroyed by their opponents) these are the only very few sources of information available today on materialist philosophy in ancient India. Madhava also wrote a commentary on the Mimalps Sutras. He died as abbot of the monastery of Sringeri.

1. The Sarva-darsana-sangraha: Madhavacharya, Motilal Banarasidas Publishers, Delhi
2. Indian Philosophy - a Popular Introduction: Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, People's Publishing House, New Delhi, 7th edition 1993
3. Indian Philosophy-Volume I: Dr.S.Radhakrishnan- Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 11th impression, 2004

• Sringeri Sharada Peetham
• Advaita Vedanta
• Vijayanagara Empire

• Biography of Sages

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.