Sripadaraja

Sripadaraja (श्रीपादराज; ) or Sripadaraya, also known by his pontifical name Lakshminarayana Tirtha (1422 - 1480), was a Hindu Dvaita philosopher, scholar and composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulbagal. He is widely considered the founder of Haridasa movement along with Narahari Tirtha. He has influenced both Carnatic music and Hindustani music through his compositions. His songs and hymns, written under the mudra of Ranga Vitthala, contain the distillation of Dvaita principles infused with mysticism and humanism. He is also credited with the invention of the suladi musical structure and composed 133 of them along with several kirtanas. He was the advisor of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya and mentored the young Vyasatirtha. He also authored a commentary on Jayatirtha's Nyaya Sudha called Nyayasudhopanyasa-Vagvajra. Sripadaraja is believed to be the incarnation of Dhruva. Sripadaraja was born in a Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family in Abbur, a village in Channapatna taluk, Karnataka. His father, Sheshagiriappa, served as an accountant while young Sripadaraja looked after the cattle, studying Sanskrit texts in his spare time. His mother was Giryamma. Tradition asserts that Sripadaraja was the cousin of Brahmanya Tirtha, who served as the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Abbur and the guru of Vyasatirtha. Legends speak of Svarnavarna Tirtha encountering young Sripadaraja on his way to Abbur and after a brief rapport, being amazed by the youth's innate intelligence. He would later tutor the youth and ordain him as a monk with the name Lakshminarayana Tirtha. Lakshminarayana Tirtha eventually succeeded Svarnavarna Tirtha as the pontiff of the mutt at Mulbagal. Sripadaraja was a contemporary of Vibhudendra Tirtha, the progenitor of the Raghavendra Math and Raghunatha Tirtha of Uttaradi Math, who conferred upon him the title Sripadaraja or Sripadaraya. Sripadarajashtakam mentions Sripadaraja's joint pilgrimage with Raghunatha Tirtha of Uttaradi Math to Benares.