Vidyaranya

The Story

Born as Madhava in the early fourteenth century, he and his brother Sayana were among the most learned men of their age. When the south was ravaged by invasions, tradition says the sage guided the brothers Harihara and Bukka — who had been captured and converted by the invaders — back to their faith, and blessed the founding of a new kingdom that would restore Hindu rule and learning to the south.

That kingdom was Vijayanagara — the city of victory — which for over three centuries became the greatest bastion of Hindu culture, art, and faith in Bhārat, attracting poets, philosophers, and traders from across the world. Vidyaranya served as its spiritual head and guide, and his monastery at Sringeri remains one of its living monuments.

His own scholarship was immense: with his brother Sayana he composed commentaries on the entire Vedas, and his works on Advaita philosophy, including the Panchadasi, are among the most studied texts of the tradition. He is honoured as both the sage who saved the south and the scholar who illuminated the Vedas.