Shri Gaudapadacharya Math (, ), also known as (), located in Kavale, Ponda, Goa, is the oldest matha of the Smarthan Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community. It was founded by Gauḍapāda around 499 BCE, whose student was Govinda Bhagavatpada, the guru of Adi Shankara, a highly influential figure in Hinduism.http://www.vidya-ashramvidyaorder.org/index.V.html | Under Page: Biographical Notes About Sankara And Gaudapada There is also a belief that Gauḍapāda himself established the Shri Gaudapadacharya matha when he lived in Gomantak (Goa). Thus, the matha came to be known as Shri Saunstan Gaudapadacharya matha. Unlike other mathas, Shri Gaudapadacharya matha is not a polemical center established to influence the faith of all Hindus, its jurisdiction is limited to only Dakshinatya Saraswat Brahmins. The Peetadhipathi "head monk" is Śrī Gauḍapadācārya. Hindu Shaiv, Smarth Sampradayi, and Goud Saraswat Brahmin Samaj are its main disciples.
History Śrī Sansthāna Gauḍapadācārya Maṭha was founded in 499 BCE at Kushasthali near Keloshi (Quelshim) in Goa by Shri Vivaranananda Saraswati, who along with Adi Shankara was a disciple of Govinda Bhagavatpada, who in turn was Gaudapada's disciple. There is also belief among people that the matha was established by Gaudapada.
During the Portuguese rule in Goa in 15th and 16th century, Hindus were forcibly converted to Christianity, | Section : The Second Exodus (16th century) and many Hindu temples and mathas were destroyed. : Under Section : The founding of Gaudapadacharya or Kavale Mutt In 1564, the Gaudapadacharya matha at Keloshi was destroyed by the Portuguese. Challenged by the Portuguese atrocities, to safeguard the tradition, legacy of the matha and the Sanatan Dharma, 57th guru Shrimat Purnananda Saraswati Swami Gowdapadacharya had to leave Goa and find shelter at the Golvan matha ashram. 58th Guru Shrimat Sahajananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya and 59th Guru Shrimat Vidyananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya also stayed at the Golvan matha. 60th Guru Shrimat Ramananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya stayed in Chinder matha. 61st Guru Shrimat Sadananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya left for Varanasi along with his disciple the 62nd Guru Shrimat Bhavananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya, as the hostile situation in Goa did not improve for Hindus.
Later as the peace returned to Goa, Shri Vittal Shyama Sharma Shenavi Ranganekar of Kaundinya Gotra from Kushasthali along with a group of Saraswats went to Varanasi to persuade the 62nd Guru to return to Goa from Varanasi. During those times, it used to take 6 months or more to reach Varanasi and return to Goa. The guru listened to the plea's to return to Goa, but politely refused to oblige due to his old age and his desire to spend his remaining life in sacred place of Varanasi, abode of god Shiva. This forced the group of people to return to Goa; however, Ranganekar decided to remain with the guru and serve him in order to get some more time to persuade him to return to Goa. Unrelenting, Ranganekar later one day threatened to go on fast-unto-death if the guru would not return to Goa. When several requests of the guru to Ranganekar to reverse his decision did not yield any results, in presence of several important Hindu religious leaders and Sants and Sadhus of Varanasi, performed the religious rituals and gave Sanyasa deeksha to Ranganekar and made him his disciple and renamed him Shrimat Sachidananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya.
After giving diksha, Shri Bhavananda Saraswati ordered Shri Sachidananda Saraswati to return to Goa and perform the duties of dharma guru of Saraswats according to the Śrī Sansthāna Gauḍapadācārya Maṭha's tradition. In his journey, on the way to Goa Shri Sachidananda Saraswati Swamiji was felicitated and assisted to make his journey comfortable by the kings and general public. Mean time news of Ranganekar taking sannyasa diksha spread among Saraswat Brahmins in Goa, but some people refused to believe that as truth which led to division of Saraswat Brahmins into 2 groups.
There was couple of reasons why people refused to believe because as per the tradition, only a brahmacharin can take sannyasa diksha and Ranganekar was a Grihastha and the sannyasa diksa was not performed in presence of the disciples from Goa. So some people believed that Ranganekar is trying to enjoy the special status and power of being Peetadipathi and thereby own the property of the matha. Moreover, Shrimat Sachidananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya was not carrying any documents signed by Shri Bhavananda Saraswati authenticating his new status.
All these developments forced Shrimat Sachidananda Saraswati swami Gauḍapādāchārya to return to Varanasi in mid-way and appraised Shrimat Bhavananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya about the situation. Then Shrimat Bhavananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya invited the religious leaders of Varanasi to a gathering at Mukthi Mantap to discuss the matter and wrote a letter stating that Shri Sachidananda Saraswati swamij Gauḍapādāchārya was indeed his disciple and Uttaradhikari of Shri Saunstan Gauḍapādāchārya matha in Goa and he would be the spiritual guru of Saraswat Brahmins of Gomantak region and which was signed along with other religious leaders gathered there and handed over to Shrimat Sachidananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya.
Shrimat Sachidananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya then decided to stay few more days with his guru Shrimat Bhavananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya in Varanasi and later returns to Goa where a grand welcome awaited him and he stayed in Sonavade Matha in Ratnagiri.
As peace prevailed in Goa region, in 1630 new Matha building was built in Kavale, Ponda, Goa, which in those days was a part of Sonde Kingdom, under Hindu rule. The land for this matha was gifted by then ruler Shri Basavalinga Soundha. After the Math building was built, Shrimat Satchidananda Saraswati Swami Gauḍapādāchārya who was staying in Sonavade matha moved to this new matha and became the first Peetadhipathi to stay in this matha and it was made the headquarters of the Shri Saunstan Gauḍapādāchārya Matha.
Other Saraswat mathas Smartha Saraswats who flourished on the banks of the River Saraswati in the Himalayan region, north of Kurukshetra were forced to migrate southward initially because of the drying up of the sacred river and subsequently due to the repeated assaults made by Muslim invaders. The elders of this group of Smartha Saraswats offered penance at the banks of the Kotiteerth in Gokarna and were blessed with a Guru - Pujya Parijnanashram I and founded the Shri Chitrapur Math in 1708.
Since the matha was established, all Dakshinatya or southern Saraswat Brahmins were the disciples of this matha and all Saraswat Brahmins were followers of Smartism. In the 12th century A.D. Madhvacharya propagated the Dvaita philosophy and promoted Bhakti movement centred around god Krishna which gave fillip to Vaishnava sect and a large section of Saraswat Brahmins converted to Vaishnavism. under sub section "Conversion to Vaishnavism" Later in 1476 A.D. Gokarna Math and in 1542 A.D. Kashi Math was founded under Vaishnava sampradaya and those Saraswat Brahmin converts to Vaishnavism started following these new mathas.
Shree Gaudapadacharya
In Kali Yuga Sri Gaudapadcharya is the first preceptor to imbibe the Vedanta Wisdom and imparted it to his disciples, thus he is the first historical exponent of Advaita Vedanta.http://www.vidya-ashramvidyaorder.org/index.V.html | Under Page: The place of Gaudapada in the Advaita Tradition. He is the guru of Govinda Bhagavatpadacharya (the guru of Adi Shankaracharya), thus he is the Parama Guru (Grand Guru) of Adi Shankaracharya.
Gauḍapādāchārya authored which is known by several names such as , Mandookya Vartika, Mandukopanishad Gaudapada Vakyan, Aagama Granth, Upadesha Granth and also by the name a commentary on Mandukya Upanishad. Gauḍapādāchārya describes the subtle meanings locked in the mantras of Mandukya Upanishad, one of the shortest but most profound Upanishads, or mystical Vedas, consisting of just 13 prose sentences. Although it is a small book by its length, its philosophical contents are very profound and far reaching, and it is considered one of the greatest works of fundamental philosophy by all scholars. Gaud.apa-da Ka-rika- is the earliest known systematic exposition of Advaita Vedanta.Sharma, C. (1997). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, , p.239 That is why this book is also known as 'Vedanta Moola' meaning the basis of Vedanta philosophy. He explained the illusionary nature (maya) of the world and the reality of the Parabhrahman.
Gaudapadcharya wrote commentary on Sāṁkhya Kārikā of Iśvarakṛṣṇa (3rd century), and his other works included Anurgeeta-bhasya, Uttargeeta-bhasya, Chidananda Kelivilas.Shri Gowdapadacharya & Shri Kavale Math (A Commemoration volume). pp. 43-44.
Adi Shankaracharya at the end of his famous commentary to the addresses the following salutation to Gauḍapādāchārya as his 'Parama Guru' (grand teacher) and compliments him for recovering Advaita Vedanta from Vedas. That verse in Sanskrit goes like this:
Prajnā-vaishākha-vaighashrubhit-Jalanidhe-vaidn-āmnontarastam | Bhutānyālokya magnānya-virat-janan-agrahdhore samudre | Karuna-yadudhrdh-dharamrat-amidam-marairdhurlabham bhuthetoho | Yastam poojyābhipujyam paramaguru-mamun pādpatairnimāmi ||
In English it means: 'I prostrate before the Master of my Master (ParamaGuru), the most venerable among the venerable who, seeing the beings immersed in the ocean of this world, ocean infested by frightening sharks such as birth and death, has given, out of compassion towards all beings, this nectar difficult to drink even by the gods and that is hidden in the depths of the great sea of the Vedas, Vedas that he reveals by the power of his enlightened intellect'.
Though there is not much written details about Gaudapadcharya's past life, according to a legendRajapura Saraswata Brahmanara Sanskrita Itihasa, Kannada book. Author: Kadtala M. Shrinivasa Hariappa Nayak, Parkala. Gaudapadacharya was born to Shri Vishnudatta and Gunavathi in a devout Saraswat Brahmin family at Bhupalam near Vitta in the present district of Sangli, and his name was Shukadatt.Shri Gaudapadacharya Math Guru ParamparaShri Gowdapadacharya & Shri Kavale Math, page 78. He renounced his life at a very younger age and went to the nearby hill forest in quest of spiritual wisdom. There he was instructed by God through Nabhovani (inner voice) to march towards North to fulfill his spiritual wisdom. Dattadeva received the wisdom of Vedanta through the grace of Lord Narayana and the blessings of Shri Vedavyasa at Badrikashrama.
Shri Govinda Bhagavatpadaacharya Govinda Bhagavatpadacharya (IAST ) was the Guru of the Advaita philosopher, Adi Shankara, and it is mentioned in all the traditional accounts (Shankara Vijayams. He is also mentioned in the very first verse of Shri Adi Shankaracharya's Prakaraņa grantha (treatise) Viveka Chudamani. Shri Adi Guru Gaudapadacharya was his Guru (Teacher).