Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c14.s2.67

c14.s2.67

Another feature of the religious movements of the period was the holding of controversies between eminent religious teachers. In the latter half of the sixteenth century there were two such notable scholars belonging to rival faiths. Appayya Dīkṣita was a staunch Advaitin with a partiality for Śiva while Tātācārya was a devout Vaiṣṇava. In one of such religious controversies, it is said, Appayya Dīkṣita defeated his opponent for which the royal guru cultivated a deep hatred for the Dīkṣita, and according to tradition, even plotted to put an end to his life.¹¹¹ A similar controversy was held at Kumbakōṇam between Vijayīndra Tīrtha, a great Madhva celebrity, and the guru of the Vīra Śaiva maṭha at that place. According to the condition they had entered into before the controversy, Vijayīndra Tīrtha was to join the Śaiva maṭha if he was defeated in the controversy, but if he succeeded, the Śaiva guru was to make over his maṭha and its property to Vijayīndra. At the end of eleven days of controversy, the Vīra Śaiva guru admitted his defeat. As a result of this, Vijayīndra Tīrtha took possession of the maṭha at Kumbakōṇam.¹¹² Likewise controversies were held between Vijayīndra Tīrtha and Appayya Dīkṣita. Both of them wrote works each condemning the philosophy of the other.113