Shri Shri Vyasathirtha Swamigalu : a brief

Vyasatirtha [ from pages 132-133 of Dvaita Vedanta by Shri R.K Pramahamsa]
General
Vyasatirtha, Vyasaraya or Vyasaraja Svamin, as he is
variously known, was born in 1478 and passed away in 1539.
His birth name is Yatiraja. He was given the name of
Vyasatirtha by his guru Brahmanyatirtha at the time of his
ordination as a monk. The complete and reliable account of
Vyasatirtha’s life and career is recorded in the biographical
account of Somanatha, titled Vyasayogicarita.
Vyasatirtha was almost the second Founder of the
system of Madhva. In him, the secular and philosophical
prestige of Madhva’s system reached its zenith of recognition.
That the system is a living and flourishing faith in South India
as a whole today, is due to the strength and labours he
infused into it. His three works - the Nyayamrta, the
Chandrika and the Tarkatandava are considered to uphold the
philosophy of Madhvaism in the fields of logic and
metaphysics, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vyakarana and Vedanta. His
religion of service, sympathy and effort is a direct corollary of
his philosophy. He was no inciter of hatred against Siva
though personally a staunch Vaisnava himself. He composed
a stotra in praise of Siva and, to this day, a special service is
held in the Vyasaraja Mutt at Sosale on the Mahasivaratri day,
when the Sivalinga installed by Vyasatirtha there is
worshipped.
His mission is two-pronged-religious and
philosophical. In both the areas, he eminently succeeded.
Among his disciples were Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa

both of whom are among the greatest poet-saints of India
hailing from Karnataka. Both of them are part of Dasa-Kuta
which has evoked popular enthusiasm for the philosophy of
Vaisnavism in Karnataka. Its influence on the ethical uplift of
the masses is well known. Even the Chaitnya Movement in
Bengal flourished wholly in the lifetime of Vyasatirtha, and
owed a great deal of its inspiration to the philosophy of
Madhva as expositioned by Vyasatirtha. Chaitanya’s
biographer Kavikarnapur speaks reverentially of the great
three works of Vyasatirtha as the Visnu-samhita