Vidyamadhava

VidyÃÂmÃÂdhava was an Indian astrologer and poet who flourished around 1350 CE. He lived in a village called GuÃ¡Â¹ÂavatÃÂ« (today better known as Gunavante) near Gokarna, Karnataka, on the west coast of India and later settled in a nearby village named Manki. His father was one NÃÂrÃÂyaÃ¡Â¹Âa PÃÂ«jypÃÂda, a scholar in the court of King Mallappa.

According to some authors, he was a member of a Tulu Brahmin family NÃÂ«lamana whereas others consider him to have been a Havyaka Brahmin; the Gunavante village is part of the region historically inhabited by the Havyakas whereas the Tulu-speaking region is much further south.

The best known work of Vidyamadhava is MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana, a treatise in fifteen chapters dealing with fixing the most auspicious day and time for performing all sorts of religious and other ceremonies. Vidyamadhava's son ViÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹ÂuÃÂarman has authored a highly acclaimed commentary called MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana-dÃÂ«pikÃÂ. Both the original MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana and its commentary MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana-dÃÂ«pikÃÂ have been highly popular among the astrologers in Kerala. As many as six commentaries, two of which are in Sanskrit and the rest in Malayalam, have been composed by Kerala astrologers. And, because of this, even though the place where Vidyamadhava flourished is not within the geographical boundaries of the present-day region referred to as Kerala, K. V. Sarma has considered him as an illustrious member of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics.

Because of the huge popularity of MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana, later authors have referred to MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana by different names like MuhÃÂ«rtamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â and VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â. The complete text of VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â with the commentary MuhÃÂ«rtadarÃÂana-dÃÂ«pikÃÂ by ViÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹ÂuÃÂarman edited by Dr Shama Sastri has been digitized and is now available in the Internet Archive for free down load. The titles of the fifteen chapters in the book give an idea of the topics discussed in the work: saÃ¡Â¹ÂjÃÂ±ÃÂ (sign, signal), doÃ¡Â¹Â£a (harm), apavÃÂda (defame), guÃ¡Â¹Âa (virtue), balÃÂbala (strength and weakness), niÃ¡Â¹Â£ekÃÂdi (insemination etc.), vidyopanayana (initiation to learning, sacred thread ceremony), vivÃÂha (marriage), vÃÂstu (architecture), kÃ¡Â¹ÂÃ¡Â¹Â£i-bÃÂ«jÃÂvÃÂpa (agriculture, sowing), deva-pratiÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹ÂhÃÂ (consecration of idols), yÃÂtrÃÂ (travel), prakÃÂ«rÃ¡Â¹Âaka (tuft of hair), tÃÂrÃÂdi-lakÃ¡Â¹Â£aÃ¡Â¹Âa (indications by stars etc.), puÃ¡Â¹Â£pa-graha-gocara (domain of flowers and planets).

Full text of VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â

The full text of VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â with the commentary by ViÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹ÂuÃÂarman has been published by University of Mysore in three parts during 1923-1926 which are available in the Internet Archive at the following links:

VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â Part I Chapters 1-5 (385 pages)
VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â Part II Chapters 6-10 (359 pages)
VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â Part III Chapters 11-15 (300 pages)

Vidyamadhava's other works

PÃÂrvatÃÂ«-RukmiÃ¡Â¹ÂÃÂ«ya, a kÃÂvya with the marriages of PÃÂrvatÃÂ« and ÃÂiva and KÃ¡Â¹ÂÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹Âa and RukmiÃ¡Â¹ÂÃÂ« as the theme. This is a bitextual work which is a genre of work in Sanskrit literature in which the same text can have two or more different meanings. In PÃÂrvatÃÂ«-RukmiÃ¡Â¹ÂÃÂ«ya, each verse has two meanings one applicable to the marriage of ÃÂiva and PÃÂrvatÃÂ« and the other applicable to the marriage of KÃ¡Â¹ÂÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹Âa and RukmiÃ¡Â¹ÂÃÂ«. Thus the work simultaneously describes the two marriages.
Commentary on KirÃÂtÃÂrjunÃÂ«ya, a sixth century CE epic poem by BhÃÂravi.

References

External links

Article on Importance of Muhurta by Shyamasundara Dasa

Vidyamadhava

Full text of VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â

Vidyamadhava's other works

See also

References

External links

Full text of VidyamÃÂdhavÃÂ«yaÃ¡Â¹Â