Part 1:

सर्व विघ्न प्रशमनं सर्व सिद्धि  करं परम् |
सर्व जीव प्रणेतारां वंदे विजयदं हरिम् ||

Sri HarikathAmruthasAra (HKS) of Sri JagannAtha dAsArya is one of his magnum opus work.  He is known to be an Aparoksha gnani.  In this immortal work, dAsArya has revealed the secrets of Srimanmadhwa philosophy.  Sri JagannAtha dAsArya has picked and narrated the gist of brahmasUtras, vEdOpanishads, itihAsa purAnas like picking the invaluable pearls from the ocean.  Sri dAsArya had great knowledge in sanskrit, tattvashAstra, and with his inner experience (anubhAva) he wrote this kruti. 

This is the one and only Kannada work that has vyAkhyAna (exposition) in Sanskrit which shows the importance and depth of this work.  The HKS is the only Kannada work that has ten expositions (eight in Kannada and two in Sanskrit) written by various scholars.  No other work in Kannada language (any existing or foregone philosophy) can come close to HKS in narrating the shastra pramEya.

Following the footsteps of Sri AnandatIrta bhagavat padAcharya on pramEyas based on sankhya, Sri JagannAtha dAsArya has used sankhya abundantly in his HKS.  The numbers make this kruti (work) a fascinating one.  Learners (who have inclination towards math, science, and riddles) will enjoy reading this work; at the same time, they can learn a lot about Adhyatma (philoshophy).  

In this article, our attempt is to introduce some of these numbers and not delve into them in detail.  This article does not attempt to provide the meaning of each verse of HKS in any format.

Hari kathAmrutasAra gurugala|
karuNadindApanitu pELuve |
paramabhagavabhaktaridanAdaradi kELuvudu||

• Let us look at the numbers in the construct of this magnum opus work.  HKS has 32 chapters and 988 verses.  Each verse is written in bhAminI Shatpadi (6 rows) one of the most popular prosodic meter used in Kannada poetic literature and has 102 mAtras in total with first, second, fourth, and fifth row consist of 14 mAtras each; third and sixth row consists of 23 mAtras each. 

• Because this work is all about bimbha rUpi Sri Hari’s dhyanOpasana (reflecting and meditating his infinite qualities).  We can interpret that Hari is the very embodiment of auspicious unique attributes.  He is also an epitome of beauty and measured with 32 sallakshAna, therefore dAsArya chose 32 chapters to describe the gist of Sri Hari’s Story.  In addition, Sri mukhyaprANa is also having these 32 sallakshAna.
  
  dAsArya has followed the pattern as in Prameya Nava Malika (Anu Madhwa Vijaya) of Sri nArAyAna panDithAcharya, wherein acharya wrote the grantha in 32 shlokas which aptly reflects the 32 attributes of Sri Madhwacharya.  Also, it follows the mahAbhAratha tAtparya nirnaya chapter pattern of SrimadAcharyamadhwa.

• The word choice of the title harikathAmruthasAra (inspired by krishnAmruthamaharnava of SrimadAcharya), and numbers behind the word hari (हरि):  ha (ह) is 8^th in the avargiya vyanjana and ri=ra (रि=र) is 2^nd in the avargiya vyanjana.  Which gives it a numerical value of 82, and with the rule of (अंकानाम वामतो गति:) the numbers move from right, thus, the value of word hari = 28.  It depicts 28 forms of Lord (24 entities in sthula sharIra, 3 gunas in lingasharIra, and 1 bimbha rUpi in swarUpadEha).

As per mAtruka nyAsa (मातृकन्यास) hari (हरि) stands for, हं(ह) = हंसाय नमः and रं (र) = रामाय नमः, which means Lord Sri hari is ananthakalyAnaguna paripUrna, samasta doShadUra, sarvOttama, sarvaniyAmaka, sarvaprEraka, bimbha rUpi (as stated in manasa smriti: “जीवांतः प्रेरकोविष्णुः अंतरात्मेति यं विदुः | सचोपास्यःसदैवेष्टः सदाजीववरोहरिः ||”).

Katha stands for his creation, sustenance, destruction, et all lIla (सृष्टियादि लीलाविशेष).  Thus, this word harikathA can be corelated to “ॐ अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा ॐ.” 

amrutha stands for mOksha and by reading, understanding, and following this work will lead one to mOksha and this is the sAra (essence).

sAra also means is Srihari is the main entity (sArabhuta) as SrimadAcharyamadhwa sang in his dwadasha stotra

“कुरु भुंक्ष्व च कर्म निजं नियतं हरिपाद विनम्रधिया सततं |
हरिरेव परो हरिरेव गुरुः हरिरेव जगत् पितृमातृगतिः ||”

• dAsArya has sought blessings from 12 gurus, as Sri Madhwacharya told us in his tantrasAra: 1. Lakshmi Narasimha (bimbha rUpi), 2. Sri Lakshmi Devi, 3. Brahma deva, 4. Vayu deva, 5. Sri sarasvati Devi, 6. Sri Bharathi Devi, 7. Sri vEdavyAsa dEva (granthas pratipadya), 8. SrimadAnandatIrta, 9. maharudra dEva, 10. All dEvas, 11. Rishi, pitru, Kings, 12. All yatis (saints).

• dAsArya when praising Srilakshmi, he calls her as triguNamAni

“triguNamAni mahAlakumi santaisalanudinavu”

Tri means three and SridEvi is the controller of satva, rajas, and tamas qualities (guNa), and she manages in the form of Sri, bhU, and durgA.  In addition, these three qualities are the cause for jadaprakruti and SridEvi is abhimAni of it (jadaprakruti) and hence called as chitprakruti.

• dAsArya has used multiplication and addition in various verses to hide the significance of the verse and make it understandable only to the right person.  For example,

ArumUreraDondu sAvira
mUreraDu shatashwAsa japagaLa
mUruvidha jIvaroLagabjaja kalpa pariyanta
tA rachisi sAtvarige sukha sam
sAra mishrarigadhamajanariga
pAraduHkhagaLIva gurupavamAna salahemma | 1-4

In this verse, dasarya has coded the information of breath cycle and how Vayu Deva is doing ajapajapa (hamsa-हंस mantra japa) on behalf of us.  Here the numbers are 6, 3, 2, 1, 1000, 3, 2, and 100 in the first line and three in the second line.  To decipher the number, one must multiply and add numbers (6*3 +2 +1)*1000 + 3*2*100 = 21600 breath-japas per day in every living creature in the three jIva categories:  sAtvika (mukti yOgya), rAjasa (nitya samsari), and tAmasa (tamO yogya) or Kechara (that flies), bhuchara (one who moves on earth), and jalachara (one which lives in the water). One takes 4 seconds for a breathing cycle, two sec for inhaling and two sec for exhaling.  With this base, if we calculate: in a minute one performs 15 breaths (60/4), for one hour it is 900 (15 * 60), and for a day it is 21600 (900 * 24).  100 years is the life term for a man as per inner time, a man cannot live more than 100 years.  That is 1 day = 21600 breathing cycle, for 1 year = 360 days = 7776000 cycle, and for 100 years = 777600000.  For example, BIshmacharya completed one cycle in 16 seconds, and therefore, he lived for 800 human years.

• dAsArya while praising Sri bhArati dEvi, calls her as “chaturaviMshati tatvapati dEvategaLige guruvenisutiha mArutana nijapatni”

krutiramaNa pradyumna nandane
chaturaviMshati tatvapati dE
vategaLige guruvenisutiha mArutana nijapatni
satata hariyali gurugaLali sa
dratiya pAlisi bhAgavata bhA
rata purANa rahasya tatvagaLarapu karuNadali | 1-6

Where in chaturaviMshati tatvapati dEvategaLige guruvenisutiha mAruta means, mukhyaprANa is the principal entity amongst the 24 tattvas (jnAnEndriyas=5, karmEndriyas=5, panchabhUtAs=5, panchatanmAtra=5, manas tattva=1, buddhi tattva=1, ahaMkAra tattva=1, and avyakta tattva=1).  Sri Lakshmi is the abhimAni of avyakta tattva.  However, sarasvati and bhArati are considered as the intermediate abhimAni of avyakta tattva.  Keeping in this mind, dAsArya calls mukhyaprANa as principal entity.

Where in chaturaviMshati tatvapati mArutana nijapatni means, bhArati Devi is the niyata patni of mukhyaprANa, as SrimadAnandatIrta bhagavtpadAcharya quotes in his MBTN, bhIma as 24 wives (1.  draupadi, 2. kALi (kAshirAja’s daughter), 3. Hidimba, 4. dEvi (rOhiNI putri), 5-14.  digabhimAnidEvatas, 15-24.  ababhimAnidEvata; amongst these 24 bhIma’ s wives, only draupadi and kALi has rUpa of bhArati dEvi is called as nija patni, and in other 22 of them had Avesha of bhArati Devi.

• dAsArya while praising SrimadAcharya,

kshitiyoLage maNimanta modalA
dati durAtmaru ondadhika vim
shati kubhAShyava rachise naDumaneyemba brAhmaNana
satiya jaTharadoLavatarisi bhA
ratiramaNa madhvAbhidhAnadi
chaturadasha lOkadali merada pratimagOndisuve | 1-8

he calls him as the destroyer of 21 different kubhAshyas (the bad bAshya on brahmasUtras are bhAratIvijaya, samvidAnanda, brahmaghOsha, rAmAnuja, bhartuprapancha, dravida, brahmadatta, bhAskara, pishAcha, vuttikAra, vijayabhaTTa, vishNukrAnta, vAdIndra, mAdhvadAsa, and sankara) and he was praised and glorified in chaturadasha lOka (14 realms – bhu, bhuva, sva, maha, jana, tapa, satyam, atala, vitala, sutala, talAtala, rasatala, mahAtala, and pAtAla).

• dAsArya mentions SrimadAcharya’s five principles, and how the word pAncha used many times in a verse signifies different elements.

panchabhEdAtmaka prapanchake
pancharUpAtmakane daivaka
panchamukha shakrAdigaLu kinkararu shrIharige
panchaviMshatitatvataratama
panchikegaLanu pELda bhAvivi
rinchi yenipAnanda tIRthara nenevenanudinavu |  1-9

The first pancha talks about the five-fold difference (bheda) between the three entities (God, Jeeva, and innate things) as known as jIveshwara bheda, jIvajIva Bheda, Jadajada bheda, jIvaJada bheda, and Ishwarajada bheda.

The second pancha talks about the five forms of Moola Narayana (Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Sankarshana, vAsudeva, and nArAyaNa).

The third pancha talks about the devatas with five faces (brahma or Vayu (hanumath: nara, simha, varaha, Garuda, and Haya OR prAna, apAna, vyAna, udAna, and samAna) or Shiva (sadyojata, vamadEva, aghora, tatpurusha, Ishana) and Indra are subservient to Sri Hari.

The fourth pancha talks about the 25 tattvas, its abhimAni devatas, and its hierarchy, that starts with

1. avyakta tattva
2. mahat tattva
3. ahankAra
4. manas
5. Five jnAnEndriyas (ShrOtra-ear-shabdha, chakshu-eye-rupa, ghrANa-nose-gandha, tvak-skin-sparsha, and jihva-taste-rasa)
6. Five karmEndriyas (mouth, hand, leg, and two excretory organs)
7. Five tanmAtras-viShayas (rasa-taste, gandha-aroma, rUpa-sight, sparsha-touch, and Shabdha-hearing)
8. Five bhUtas (pruthvi, Apa, tEja, vAyu, and AkAsha)

These 24 are called as aparatattva, and above these is paratattva (Sri Narayana, who is independent)

• dAsArya when praying to Sri rudradEva chants about very minute pramEya about his sAdhana:

kruttivAsane hiMde nI nAl
vattu kalpa samIranali shi
Shyatva vahisi akhiLAgamArthagaLOdi jaladhiyoLu
hattu kalpadi tapavagaidA
dityaroLaguttamanenisi
purushOttamana pariyaMka padavaidideyO mahadEva | 1-11

rudra dEva spent 50 brahma kalpa in prArabdha sankshaya (dissolution of prArabdha karma), in the reminder 50 kalpa he did sAdhana.  Before he came to rudra post as ugratapa, In the 98^th kalpa of brahma, he learnt (all agamas and shAstras) from lAtavya for 75 years. 

“hiMde nI nAlvattu kalpa samIranali shiShyatva vahisi akhiLAgamArthagaLOdi“  Next, as rudradeva he learnt all agamas and shAstras under vAyudEva for 40 kalpa (brahma’s dinakalpa).

“hattu kalpadi tapavagaidA” means for 10 kalpa (manukalpa and not brahmakalpa) he did penance in lavana samudra.

Thus, Sri jagannatha dAsArya sang with sankhya in his mangala sandhi of HKS emphasizing that Srihari is perceived (known) by each jIva according to one’s own capacity.  One who desires to attain the love and kAruNya of Srihari must fall to the lotus feet of his Ekantabhaktas and get their blessings to get Srihari’s paramaprasAda.

Any mistakes in this article is due to my inability to understand SriJagannAtha dAsAryara antarya and lack of my shastric knowledge.  I pray to

Sri bharatiramaNa mukhyaprANantargata shri krishnarpaNamastu