ABSTRACT
MADHVA (1199-1260): One of the leading Vedanta thinkers, along with Shankara and Ramanuja, Madhva (also called Pūrnap-rajnā Anandatirtha) was born in a village near Udipi, about sixty miles north of Mangalore. A highly successful debater, Madhva could walk on water, an ability which seldom failed to impress judges. He toured South India debating against Shankara’s doctrine of Non-Dualism. When he toured the north, he had less success, possibly because there was less water. He had to walk on the land, and suffered persecution from his opponents. His patron deity-he was said to be his manifestationappropriately enough, for a public speaker, was Vāyu, the god of wind.
