Madhwa Nama – I

One of the luminaries of our Madhwa lineage, Sri Sripadarajaru, the Guru of yatikula tilaka Sri Vyasarayaru, has written shastric granthas in Sanskrit and beautiful krutis (songs) in Kannada as well, which reflect the essence of the Vedas and Upanishads. Sri Sripadarajaru realized the gap between a layman and the very potent shastras which are the only ways and means to know who is our Lord, what He does, how and why is He supreme and to seed and develop bhakti(devotion) towards our supreme Lord Srihari. Shastras, being in Sanskrit, a common man could not understand the complications in understanding the meaning conveyed there. So Sripadarajaru composed numerous krutis in Kannada in order to enable even them to enjoy the essence of the sweet nectar flowing out of the Sanskrit Vedas. One such treasured composition in the form of 27 Kannada shlokas is Madhwanama. It portrays the greatness of Hanumanta Devaru, Bheemasena Devaru, Srimad Anandateertha Bhagavatpadacharyaru and Vayu Devaru who is the moola roopa of the three avataras.

Next to Sriman Narayana and Sri Lakshmi Devi, Mukhyaprana is the most powerful amongst all devatas and the abode of all good qualities. He is the giver of true knowledge, wealth, sound mind and body. He fulfils all the desires of an able satvik individual. He is the remover of all obstacles and bestows us the strength and wisdom to walk in the righteous path in life. An embodiment of bravery, victory, wisdom, knowledge, devotion, Mukhyaprana Devaru is the daunting mountain against all evil forces who is the only guard, next to SriHari and Lakshmi Devi, who is capable of winning over any wicked force and protecting us.

The pallavi of the Madhwanama padya is:

Jaya Jaya Jagatraana Jagadolage sutraana
Akhila guna saddhaama Madhwanama

Let’s take a look at the phrase one by one.

Jaya – O Mukhyaprana Deva! You are the supreme amongst all jeevas. You are the most perfect jeeva among all and the dearest to Lord Srihari, more than anybody else (after Lakshmi Devi).
Lord Mukhyaprana is not only the safest but also the saviour of the world. He is accorded with the position and has the ability to protect the entire world bereft of any kind of discrimination. How did he earn such ability? His ability stems from the fact that he is akhila guna saddaama.

Jaya – Again reiterating the same meaning.

Jagatraana – Mukhyaprana Devaru is the one who gives protection to the world from evil forces.

Jagadolage sutraana – Mukhyaprana Devaru is the only saviour for us in the entire world who guides us in the correct path, the supreme warrior who fights back any wicked force that comes our way, gives courage and wisdom to carry out our tasks.

Akila guna saddhaama – Mukhyaprana Devaru is the embodiment of all divine auspicious qualities. That is why He is the fondest devata to Lord Srihari.

He is the refuge of virtuous people. He is a repertoire of all virtues himself and is an embodiment of auspicious qualities. He is the dearest dwelling of the Lord. Since the Lord who has infinite auspicious qualities dwells within him, he is the most secure and exists for eternity. One who clings tight to the Lord and holds Him closest is safe and those who repose faith in such a devotee of the Lord automatically become secure too.

Once, all the devatas came together for a purpose. They wanted to resolve who among all the devatas is the perfect sanctorum to make Lord Srihari dwell inside and offer Him undiluted pure devotion. They instilled the presence of the Lord in each devata one by one, starting from Agni devata even upto Rudra Devaru. When they tried worshipping the Lord inside, evil forces started attacking them, disturbing the sanctity in their devotion. The devatas could not whole heartedly render their prayers to the Lord, could not enjoy the bliss of seeing the Lord inside. Then the devatas made Mukhyaprana Devaru as the sanctorum (pratima) to house our Lord inside. Again evil forces started disturbing their worship. But they could not even get near Mukhyaprana Devaru. They were totally defeated and thrashed away by him. When we throw sand balls on a big boulder, it is only the sand balls which get bashed away by the boulder. The boulder stays stronger and unaffected by the sand balls falling on it. Mukhyaprana Devaru is like the boulder who slays off all the ill effects thrown by the evil forces. Mukhyaprana Devaru is the only guard who can protect us from the invasion of kali. In His presence, the ill effects posed by the kali are destroyed. So all the devatas right from Rudra Devaru unanimously declared that none other than Mukhyaprana Devaru is the right and the only holy sanctorum inside which Lord Srihari can be instilled for ideal worship i.e. the Lord accepts our worship offered only through Mukhyaprana Devaru who helps in surrendering to Him purely with the right knowledge. So Mukhyaprana Devaru is called “Aakanashma sama” in the Vedas.

Let’s see the greatness of the avatars of Mukhyaprana Devaru – as Hanumanta who worshipped Sri Ramachandra Devaru, as Bheemasena who worshipped Sri Krishna Devaru and as Sriman Madhwacharya who worshipped Vedavyasa Devaru, in subsequent editions.

Gayathri Sudarashna Rao