VALERIE STOKER
Wright State University \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 valerie.stoker@wright.edu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THE MULTIVALENT CONCEPT OF T\u012aRTHA<\/em> IN M\u0100DHVA VED\u0100NTA<\/p>\n\n\n\n This paper explores the M\u0101dhva Ved\u0101nta tradition\u2019s distinctive and extensive use of water imagery as key to the tradition\u2019s founding and historical development. It does this by focusing on two texts from the founder Madhva\u2019s native Tulunadu region that centralize the concept of t\u012brtha<\/em>. The Samprad\u0101yapaddhati<\/em>, a putatively 14th<\/sup>-century text by the first-generation M\u0101dhva H\u1e5b\u1e63ike\u015bat\u012brtha, describes Madhva\u2019s founding of various t\u012brtha<\/em>s or holy sites consisting of ponds and wells in his native region of Tulunadu. By describing Madhva\u2019s miraculous abilities to transform the local landscape with water holier than the Ganga, the text emphasizes the revolutionary nature of Madhva\u2019s movement while carefully aligning it with certain well established and historically prominent religious institutions. Simultaneously, the text uses water imagery to establish lineages of authority between Madhva (whose name is etymologized as \u201csweet water\u201d in the text) and his first followers, who are described as drops of rain nurturing the movement\u2019s growth. The text thereby offers perhaps the earliest explanation for why M\u0101dhva monks with leadership roles append the term \u201ct\u012brtha\u201d as an honorific title to their names. The second text is the T\u012brthaprabandam<\/em>, a 16th<\/sup>-century 99-verse poem by the Madhva monastic leader V\u0101dir\u0101jarat\u012brtha. It is a more standard pilgrimage text that enumerates a variety of holy sites throughout the subcontinent that V\u0101dir\u0101ja is encouraging other M\u0101dhvas to visit. It does similar historical work to the Samprad\u0101yapaddhati<\/em> in that it charts the expansion of the M\u0101dhva movement throughout south India and enumerates distinctive M\u0101dhva practices that have emerged at these religious sites as well as the corresponding narratives that explain them. Both water itself and water imagery feature prominently in many of these locations. By examining these two texts, each composed in the Tulunadu region but at different points in the tradition\u2019s history, we can understand more fully both the practical importance of water to the development of M\u0101dhva religious networks as well as water\u2019s related symbolic resonances in early modern Hinduism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VALERIE STOKERWright State University \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 valerie.stoker@wright.edu THE MULTIVALENT CONCEPT OF T\u012aRTHA IN M\u0100DHVA VED\u0100NTA This paper explores the M\u0101dhva Ved\u0101nta tradition\u2019s distinctive and extensive use of water imagery as key to the tradition\u2019s founding and historical development. It does this by focusing on two texts from the founder Madhva\u2019s native Tulunadu region that centralize the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2293","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2294,"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2293\/revisions\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dicsep.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}