The Three Incarnations of Sri Vaayudeva

Prathamo Hanuman Nama Dwitheeyo Bheema Eva cha
Poornapragna Treetiya thu Bhagavat Karya- saadah

The first Avatar of Sri Vayu is Hanuman son of Anjana Devi in Tretayuga. His wonderful feats and service to Rama Devaru are described in RAMAYANA.

The second Avatar is Bheema, in Dwapara Yuga, Sri Vayu Deva appeared as Bhimasena and played the most important part in the destruction of the enemies of God. In the whole of Mahabharata, Bhimasena is the most important person who never slipped from the path of righteousness and served Sri Krishna.

The Third Avatar is Sri Madhwacharya in kaliyuga. He was born near Udipi on Vijayadasamiday in the year 1238 A.D. He took to Sanyasa in his 16 th year and became known as 'Ananda Teertha'. Sri Acharya disappeared, while teaching Aitereya Upanishad Bashya to his disciples, in Ananteswara Temple at Udipi in the year 1317 A.D., He is still alive in the Badrikashram on the Himalayas with his Guru Sri Vedavyasa Devaru. The full Biographical details of Sri Madhvacharya are told in "Sri Madhva Vijaya". he chose to serve the Lord and Propounded a Philosophy known as Dwaita Vedanta.

Sri Hanuman

Hanuman was born the son of Kesari and Anjani. His mother Anjani was previously an Apsara (celestial lady) named Punjikasthala who took birth in the monkey race as a result of a curse. Despite this her beauty was unrivalled and once attracted Vayu, the powerful god of the winds. Hanuman was born as a result of the union of Anjani and Vayu-deva, but as Vayu-deva revealed that this was not a sinful activity since the appearance of Hanuman was ordained by the great Lord Vishnu Himself.

Ramayana is an epic portraying exemplary characters. Rama is the ideal king, Sita the perfect wife and Hanuman the perfect devotee. The character of Hanuman exemplifies how devotional service is practiced in its perfection, how a pure devotee relates with his worshippable Lord and how the Lord reciprocates.

The relationship between Rama and Hanuman demonstrates the perfection of devotion in the mood of service (dasya-rasa). In an almost classical manner Hanuman demonstrated the symptoms of pure devotional service. Everything that he did was only for the pleasure of Lord Rama, whether it was building bridges, fighting rakshasas or flying across the country to fetch life saving herbs, his constant meditation was how to best serve Rama. When he sought out Sita in Ravana's Lanka, he was not merely satisfied at delivering to her the message of Lord Rama. He also destroyed the forest, killed many rakshasas and burnt down half of Lanka. That is the mood of a pure devotee. To consciously cultivate everything that is positive to the service of the Lord and reject everything that is not. Even though Lord Rama reciprocated very sweetly with gratitude, praise or benedictions for Hanuman, he never had any expectation for them. Hanumanoften presented himself as a simple ignorant monkey in front of Rama.

When Hanuman returned from Lanka with news of Sita, an overjoyed Rama embraced him tightly. However a clearly uncomfortable Hanuman stated that his position could only be at the feet of his Lord. The highest reward for him was to serve Lord Rama. Service to Rama was the most exalted destination for Hanuman, and he constantly endeavored to perfect himself in this respect.Glories to HanumanAfter ruling for eleven thousand years when the time came for Lord Rama to return to His eternal abode, most of His close associates, including Sugriva, accompanied Him. However Lord Rama ordered Hanuman to stay back, to protect and inspire His future devotees. Lord Rama gave Hanuman the benediction that he would live for as long as His glories would be sung in any corner of the world. Even though Hanuman appeared in the Treta-yuga, millions of years later he made an appearance again in the Dwapara-yuga to help his younger brother Bhima. In order to serve Krishna, in the battle of Mahabharata, Hanuman personally resided in the flag on the chariot of Arjuna. During the battle, the fierce cries of Hanuman struck terror in the hearts of the opposition and greatly encouraged the Pandava warriors.

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Sri Bheemasena

In Dwaparaayuga Vaayudeva ( God of Wind ) , took the form as Bheema, Second of the Pandavas (Pandavas – Sons of King Paandu as told in the Great Indian Epic Mahabharatha)
In Mahabharatha, Bheemasena served Lord Krishna.

He was a man of vast size, and had great strength. He was wrathful in temper, and given to abuse, a brave warrior, but a fierce and cruel foe, coarse in taste and manners, and a great feeder, so that he was called Vrikodara, `wolf's belly.' Half of the food of the family was allotted to him, and the other half sufficed for his four brothers and their mother. The weapons he generally used were a club, which suited his gigantic strength, and he had been trained in the use of it by Drona and Balarama.

His great strength excited the envy of his cousin Duryodhana, who poisoned him and threw his body into the Ganges; but it sank to the realm of the serpents, where it was restored to health and vigour, and Bhima returned to Hastinapura.

In the great battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas, Bhima took a very prominent part. On the first day he fought against Bhishma; on the second he slew the two sons of the Raja of Magadha, and after them their father, killing him and his elephant at a single blow. In the night between the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the battle, Bhima fought with Drona until the rising of the sun; but that redoubted warrior fell by the hand of Dhrishtadyumna, who continued the combat till noonday.

On the seventeenth day he killed Duhsasana, and drank his blood, as he had long before vowed to do, in retaliation of the insults Duhsusana had offered to Draupadi.

On the eighteenth and last day of the battle Duryodhana fled and hid himself in a lake. When he was discovered, he would not come out until he had received a promise that he should not have to fight with more than one man at a time. Even than he delayed until he was irritated by the abuse and the taunts of the Pandavas. Bhima and Duryodhana fought as usual with clubs. The battle was long and furious; the parties were equally matched, and Bhima was getting the worst of it, when he struck an unfair blow which smashed Duryodhana's thigh, and brought him to the ground. Thus he fulfilled his vow and avenged Draupadi. In his fury Bhima kicked his prostrate foe on the head, and acted so brutally that his brother Yudhishthira struck him in the face with his fist, and directed Arjuna to take him away. Balarama was greatly incensed at the foul play to which Bhima had resorted, and would have attacked the Pandavas had he not been mollified by Krishna. He declared that Bhima should thenceforward be called Jihmayodhin, `the unfair fighter.'

After the conclusion of the war, the old king, Dhritarashtra, asked that Bhima might be brought to him. Krishna, who knew the blind old man's sorrow for his son, whom Bhima had killed, and suspecting his intention, placed before him an iron statue, which Dhritarashtra crushed in his embrace. Dhritarashtra never forgave Bhima, and he returned the ill feeling with insults, which ended in the old king's retiring into the forest.

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Sri Madhwacharya

Sri Madhwacharya regarded as an incarnation of Vayu, the Wind-God was born in the year 1238 A.D. He was born of Madhya Geha a Tulu Barhmin and Vedavati at Paajaka near Udipi in South Kanara district of Karnataka. The father gave him the name Vasudeva.

Madhwa distinguished himself in physical exercises and field games. He had a wonderful physique. He could wrestle, run, jump and swim. So people gave him the nickname Bhima. Madhwa took to the study of the Vedas and the Vedandas and became well versed in them. He was performed upanayanam in the age of five. He took Sannyasa in his eleventh year. Sri Madhwa was born or became a Sanyasi (in his 11th year) on Vijaya Dasami day of the Indian year, Vilambi. Mostly this day comes in October. Even today, Maadhwas celebrate Vijaya Dasami as Madhwa Jayanti also. Achyutaparajnyaacharya initiated him. Madhwa was now known by the name Purna Prajna.

Achyutaparajnyaacharya put Madhwa as head of the Mutt in his place. Madhwa received the name of Ananda Tirtha now. He went on an extensive tour in Southern and Northern India to preach his gospel of Bhakti. He had written thirty-seven gradhas like Geetha Bhasyam, Suthra Bhasyam, Anuubhasyam. Anuvyakyam. It is believed in pronouncing the names of those thirty-seven grandas itself one gets sanctified.

Sri Madhwacharya had performed many miracles. Then Sri Madhwacharya was camping in Srimushnam a place twenty-six Km from Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, observing the Chathur masa vritha. To squelch the thirst of a pregnant lady he produced water with his Danda. The Danda Teertha in Srimushnam is a notable holy spot for Maadhwas. On an occasion he stilled the waves of the ocean when he went to take bath. On an another occasion he was on the beach of Malpe composing a hymn. He sighted a ship that was caught in the storm and by waving his hand, saved it from being capsized. The captain of the ship had offered him a lump of Sandal paste as a gift, which the Sri Madhwacharya took. When the Sandal paste was broke and disclosed the presence of the idol of Lord Krishna. Sri Madhwacharya had a pre-sentiment that this idol of Lord Krishna is the one, which was worshiped in Dwaraka by Shri Rukmani. He installed the same, at Udipi. He had established the eight mutts in Udipi to spread the Dvaita philososhy and to worship of the Lord Krishna in Udipi.

Sri Madhwacharya is the great exponent of the Dvaita School of philosophy. Dvaita is employed to indicate this difference between God's infinite perfection and the finiteness of everything else. His Vaishnavism is called Sad-Vaishnavism in order to distinguish it from the Sri-Vaishnavism of Ramanujacharya. According to his philosophy, the Supreme Being is Vishnu or Narayana. This universe is real and is not Mithya or an illusion. The finite beings comprising the universe are subject to a system of gradation, beginning with the Goddess Laxmi, followed by other minor gods, seers, human beings and undivine beings. The rank of any soul in this scheme of gradation depends on the degree of its devotion to God. God is an embodiment of all virtues and excellences and ever remains untouched by any kind of blemish (Dosha). He has countless Roopas and forms.

Every follower of the Madhwa School should have a firm belief in the Pancha-bheda—five real and eternal distinctions. The distinction between one Jiva and another Jiva (jeeva-jeeva), between the Jiva and matter (jeeva-jata), between one piece of matter and another (jata-jata), between matter and spirit (Jata-Deva), between the Supreme Being and the individual soul (Deva-Jeeva).

The worship of Vishnu consists in (i) Ankana, marking the body with His symbols, (ii) Namakarana, giving the names of the Lord to children and (iii) Bhajana, singing His glories. Sri Madhwacharya laid much stress on constant practice of the remembrance of God (Smarana). He says, "Form a strong habit of remembering God. Then only it will be easy for you to remember Him at the moment of death".

Renunciation, devotion and direct cognition of the Lord through meditation lead to the attainment of salvation. The aspirant should equip himself with the study of the Vedas, control of the senses, dispassion and perfect self-surrender, if he wants to have the vision of the Lord. These are some of the important teachings of Madhwacharya, the renowned exponent of the dualistic school of philosophy.

Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya, contemporary of Sri Acharya Madhwa had a unique sight of seeing Sri Madhwacharya worshiping Lord Krishna, and he was wonder struck to see the divine sight – Hanuman performing puja to Sri Rama, Bhima to Sri Krishna and Madhwacharya to Sri Vaashsta Krishna (Sri Veda Vyasa). . It seems that Sri Madhwacharya had reveled to Sri Trivikrama Panditacharya that he is the third avathara of Vayu, the Wind God.

It is believed that even now Sri Madhwa is ever residing in Bhadrinath and learning from Sri Veda Vyasa.

Works of Madhwacharya

During his lifetime, Madhva wrote 37 works in Sanskrit, mostly commentaries on Hindu sacred writings and treatises on his own theological system and philosophy. He insisted that knowledge is relative, not absolute.

suggesting that Madhva may have written works in other languages that are not mentioned here. These merely show that the person who wrote the piece on Madhva was as careless about his/her usage as about his/her research. Madhva's works include commentaries on the prasthaana-traya (the triad of Vedanta, consisting of the apowrusheya texts, the Brahma-suutra of Baadaraayana aka Veda Vyaasa, and the Bhagavad Gita). In fact, Madhva wrote two commentaries on the Brahma-suutra; one of them is called the Anu-vyaakhyaana, and is the one most often read and cited. The other, a mere four or so pages long, is called the An_u bhaashya (I use n_ in place of n to indicate that the 'na' sound as in 'Gan_apati' is appropriate). Madhva's commentary on the Mahaabhaarata is called the Mahaabhaarata-taatparya-nirn_aya.

Independent works by Madhva include the Vishnu-tatva-vinirn_aya, a text that starts from the very fundamentals, and goes on to establish Vishnu's supremacy in no uncertain terms. This text is referred to in the Sumadhva Vijaya as being akin to Arjuna, who was himself more than a match for a whole army that included several renowned warriors, during the battle to
save Viraata's cows. Another work of great importance is the Pramaan_a lakshan_a, which deals with the concept of pramaan_a, and which is a wonderful exposition of epistemology. Other works by Madhva include the Upaadhi-khandana, the Kathaa-lakshan_a, the Mithyaatva-anumaana-khandana, etc.

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