Prameya shloka
The prameya śloka is a shloka composed by Sri Vyasatirtha, a leading philosopher in the Dvaita school of Vedanta. The shloka summarises the nine basic tenets of Dvaita or Tattvavada,[1] which is a school of philosophy founded by Sri Madhvacharya.
A correct understanding of this shloka is equivalent to obtaining a firm grasp of the fundamental principles of Tattvavada.[2]
The Prameya Śloka
The śloka in the Kannada script is:
ಶ್ರೀಮನ್ಮಧ್ವಮತೇ ಹರಿಃ ಪರತರಃ ಸತ್ಯಂ ಜಗತ್ತತ್ವತೋ
ಭೇದೋ ಜೀವಗಣಾ ಹರೇರನುಚರಾ ನೀಚೋಚ್ಚಭಾವಂ ಗತಾಃ |
ಮುಕ್ತಿರ್ನೈಜ ಸುಖಾನುಭೂತಿರಮಲ ಭಕ್ತಿಶ್ಚ ತತ್ಸಾಧನಂ
ಹ್ಯಕ್ಷಾದಿತ್ರಿತಯಂ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಮಖಿಲಾಮ್ನಾಯೈಕವೇದ್ಯೋ ಹರಿಃ ||
In Devanagari:
श्रीमन्मध्वमते हरिः परतरः सत्यं जगत्तत्त्वतो
भेदो जीवगणा हरेरनुचराः नीचोच्चभावं गताः।
मुक्तिर्नैजसुखानुभूतिरमला भक्तिश्च तत्साधनम्
ह्यक्षादित्रितयं प्रमाणमखिलाम्नायैकवेद्यो हरिः ॥
In English:
- hariḥ parataraḥ (Hari [Viṣṇu] is supreme)
- satyaṃ jagat (the world is true)
- tattvato bhedaḥ (the difference is real)
- jīvagaṇāḥ hareranucarāḥ (the soul-classes are servants of Hari)
- nīcocca bhāvaṃgatāḥ (…and will achieve lower or higher states)
- muktirnaijasukhānubhūtiḥ (liberation is one’s own experience of joy)
- amalā bhaktiśca tatsādhanam (…and pure devotion is its means of accomplishment)
- hyakṣāditrityaṃ pramāṇam (the triad beginning with perception is the authority)
- akhilāmnāyaikavedyo hariḥ (the one object of knowledge of the entire scriptural canon is Hari)