MADHAVACARYA

born 1296? died , ?1386, Sringeri, Kashmir, India also called Vidyaranya Hindu statesman and philosopher. He lived at the court of Vijayanagar, a southern Indian kingdom. Madhavacarya became an ascetic in 1377 and was thereafter known as Vidyaranya. He was part author of Jivan-muktiviveka and Pacadasi, works of Vedanta philosophy; Dhatuvrtti, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar; Nyaya-malavistara, a work on the Mimamsa system, one of the earliest orthodox systems of Vedic philosphy; and Parasarasmrtivyakhya, an elaborate comment on the Parasarasmrti. His younger brother Sayana, the minister of four successive Vijayanagar kings, is famous as the commentator of the Vedas. Sayana's commentaries were influenced by Madhavacarya, who was a patron of the scholars collaborating in his brother's great work.