Satyanatha Tirtha

Satyanatha Tirtha (also known as Satyanatha Yati) (Sanskrit:सत्यनाथा तीर्थ); IAST:Śrī Satyanātha Tīrtha) (c.1648 – c.1674), also called Abhinava Vyasaraja, was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, theologian, logician and dialectician belonging to the Dvaita order of Vedanta. He served as the twentieth pontiff of Uttaradi Math from 1660 to 1673. He was a fiery and prolific writer and very ambitious of the glory of Dvaita Vedanta. He is considered to be one of the stalwarts in the history of the Dvaita school of thought, on account of his sound elucidations of the works of Madhvacharya, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha. Three of his polemically themed doxographical works (Abhinavamruta, Abhinava Chandrika and Abhinava Tarkatandava) are reminiscent of "Vyasatraya" (the three eyes of the man-lion of Madhva Siddhāntha). His refutation work Abhinava Gada is a devastating criticism of Appayya's Madhvamathamukhamardhana. His independent treatise Abhinava Chandrika is considered a brilliant work relating to the Brahma Sūtras, being a commentary on Jayatirtha's Tattvaprakashika. His work Abhinava Tarka Tandava refuted the works of rival systems, especially those of Prabhākara of Mimamsa, Ramanuja's Visistadvaita, and Gangesha Upadhyaya, Raghunatha Siromani of the Nyaya school, on the same lines as Vyasatirtha's Tarka Tandava. Indologist B.N.K.Sharma wrote, "His energy and determination to crush out the rivalry of Monism is reflected even in the choice of the titles of some of his works, four of which go by the name "Paraśus" (the Axe)".

Born into a family of scholars, Satyanatha Tirtha studied the six orthodox schools of Hinduism and subsequently, the philosophy of Dvaita under Satyanidhi Tirtha of Uttaradi Math, eventually succeeding him as the pontiff. B.N.K.Sharma wrote, "Satyanatha Tirtha made a bold pronouncement that women and Shudras are eligible for Aparokshajnana exclusively through shravana of Tantra". Sharma also wrote, "Satyanatha holds the memory of Vyasatirtha in warm admiration and refers him reverentially as Vyāsatīrthasrimaccaranah". He composed 12 works, consisting of commentaries on the works of Madhva, Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, and several independent treatises criticizing the tenets of contemporary schools, especially Advaita, while simultaneously elaborating upon the Dvaita thought. His dialectical skill and logical acumen is often compared with that of Vyasatirtha.